SHIPPING NOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 71, 24 March 1920, Page 12

SHIPPING NOTES

CONGESTION AT THE PORT OF LONDON SOUTHAMPTON y. PLYMOUTH STATE-OWNED TONNAGE. (nwM: odr own cokrbspondcnt.) ! LONDON, 3ih January. In shipping circles the deplorable waste of tonnage now indicated by so many vessels lying in the stream awaiting discharge is attributed partly to the past policy of the Ministry of Food in withholding supplies of meat from the' public and partly to the signal inadequacy of the storage accommodation for imported meat at the London docks. The Times gives a list of large NewZealand meat carriers which are now in; the Port of London and tiieir recent history, thus:— Athenic—Arrived in Thames 16th November. Was to have sailed again early in December. Discharge of cargo not completed until 22nd December, in. order to enable the ship to sail on 7th January with passengers, more than seven weeks after arrival, ootward cargo is not to be loaded. Tainui.—Arrived in Thames sth December. Prospect of opening the meat holds nest week—a month after arrival. Kumara.—Arrived in Thames 7th December. Is not expected to begin discharge of meat for some ten daye yet. Will thus have been, waiting at least five weeks. - Corinthic— -Arrived in Thames 9th December. Not expected to begin discharge of meat for three weeks. Will then have been waiting for nearly five weeks. . . Wairewa.—Arrived 9th December. A beginning has been made with the discharge of wool and general cargo. Vessel is to proceed to Avonmouth to discharge meat, as a , relief measure* ' Zealandic—Arrived 16th December. Is still waiting at the mouth of the. Thames with all the crew on board. No prospect in sight of being able to discharge meat cargo. STOCKS W NEW ZEALAND. While these large ships are . waiting for periods of many weeks, , supplies of meat are accumulating in New Zealand. There are now known to be in storage in New Zealand between 4,000,000 and 0,000,00Q carcases. The killing Beason is now opening, and the shipping lines are hopeful that.they may be able to bring away quantities equivalent to the amount that aro killed. Should they, owing to circumstances over which they have no control,'be unable^ to keep pace with' the production, complete dislocation of the great New Zealand ' meatgrowing industry would result. The outcome" of the struggle will depend not upon the supply of shipping, but on the extent to which it continues to be kept idle, in port. , THE PORT OF SOUTHAMPTON. The New Zealand Shipping Company announce that, beginning with the Remuera, their vessels will, in future, make j Southampton, instead of Plymouth, their port of call for the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. Special trains will be run between Waterloo and Southampton in connection with these arrivala and departures. The steamers will, as at present, usually load in London, but they will receive or land their passengers exclusively at Southampton. The S.S. and A. Go^ have coma to a similar decision. . , ,News comes from Plymouth, too, that unless more adequate facilities are provided by tho Great Western Railway Company for the landing of ocean passengers at Millbay Docks, the Cunaxd liners Mauretania, Aquitania, and the ex-German, liner, Imperator, will no longer call there. Waiting-room and baggage accommodation at Plymouth Docks is not suitable for a greater number than 300 to 400 passengere at one time, an,d recently liners have been ready to discharge 1000 or more passengers. Consequently, there has been serious delay and much discomfort. The attitude of the railway authorities is that, owing to the uncertainty of their future, they cannot commit themselves to a large expenditure. They have now at Plymouth only two tenders, the others having been requisitioned by the Government for war service. . ... ' A DEFINITE FUTURE POLICY In an article in Fairplay, Mr. R. T Turner (of Messrs. Turner, Davidson, and Co.) deals with the control of merchant shipping by the State, which has been an outstanding feature of the war. It was chiefly, he cays, but not entirely, owing to State control of shipping and to the impossibility of obtaining tonnage for urgent requirements that led Australia, in 1916, to purchase a fleet of fifteen second-hand British steamers, with a deadweight capacity of rather over 100,000 tons. Ab the Imperial Government did not sea its way to release further tonnage for Australian requirements, the Commonwealth Government, in furtherance of its own and,the Imperial Government' 6 views, decided upon a building policy, and a programme of twenty steamers was laid down. Three are afloat and trading, while others are expected to be launched at early dates. Describing New Zealand as "perhaps the. most advanced of overseas nations in regard to State activities," Mr. Turner says she is "not likely to be long behind Australia in declaring for a, State-owned fleet. Her Prime Minister has recently outlined a scheme of improved communications. The opening of the Panama Canal and its reduction in the passage to this country has not brought her the increased advantages in regard to speedy sea communication which she is entitled to expect." ' "One must recognise that this'widespread determination from all parts of the Empire to handle their own shipping is not a passing phase arising altogether out of shortage of tonnage, but is a definite policy for the future, : andi has come to stay The gratifying results of the Australian venture have conclusively proved that "given freedom from political interference, State-owned tonnage can show returns equal to those arrived at by private enterprise. There is no question of nationalisation of shipping involved'in these movements. The Governments in question seem to have no desire to interfere with the private shipping companies of their own States. The* merely wish to be independent of the vast shipping combines in this country, which, from the point of view of many people at the other end of the Empire— possibly quite wrongly—constitute a danger to flee and improved communication between the units of Empire and the Mother Country. Incidentally their policy is to foster and expand their trade. "One cannot speak too highly of the magnificent services .-rendered by the regular liners, to international and Empira trade, and of the many difficulties they encountered and successfully overcame during the war, and, while every consideration should be shown for services rendered, it is too much to expect that the monopoly of years should continue for ever. The recent amalgamations of important lines and the absence of competition have given rise to a feeling in tho Dominions that they are altogether too dependent upon tha goodwill of the shipowners, and that the place occupied

in_ shipping by Germany and Austria might appropriately be filled by the tonnage of the overseas nations,; instead o£ simply increasing, the monopoly of the British lines.

"The whole question of sea communications within the Empire is of much too great importance to be regulated by the mere matter of dividends. The companies' record in the matter of Empire ■mail services, apart from cargo facilities, has not been brilliant. In the face of 26 knots across the Atlantic, it is not creditable that mail deliveries to' South Africa, Australia, and New' Zealand have remained for the last quarter of a century in the neighbourhood of 16 knots, while Canada does not wish to rely entirely upon New York for a fast service. Again, it ought not to have been left to Australia to lead the way with oil-fuel on the southern route. We all recognise t/hat increased' speed means an extra, but not necessarily a prohibitive cost. With America contemplating 30-knot steamers, whereby Canada indirectly" benefits, the outlying portions of the Empire cannot long rest satisfied with something just over half this speed. The whole matter will oom« tinder review next year at an Imperial and Dominion Conference on sea communications, when we may see further developments of Dominion enterprise if that vision which during i;ecent years has, perhaps, been too closely focussed by the liners -upon the amassing of reserves aid dividends, is not lengthened to embrace the advancement of the Empire as well." . . GREAT BRITAIN'S SEA STJPRE. MACY. ■ Since the armistice 250 ships, at one time belonging to Germany, have been handed over to Gr«at Britain, and are now flying the flag of the British Mercantile Marine. An adjustment having been made.with the United States, several large ex-German linera worked by the U.S. Navy Department, are also be« mg gent to Great Britain, and allotted by the Ministry of Shipping to various British steamship companies.' The first was the giant 62,000-ton Imperator. now in^the service of the Ounard Co. The following additional vessels are coming, and have been thus allocated : —Kaiserm Angusta Victoria (24,000 tons) and Cleveland (17,000 tons)—to the Cunard. Co.; Prinx Friederich Wilhelm (17,000 tons)—to the Canadian Pacific Co.; Cap Fim'sterre (14,000 tons) —to the Orient Line; Zeppelin (14,000 tons)—to the White Star Line for its Australian, service; Pretoria (13,000 tons)—to the Merman. Line; and Graf Waldersee (13,000 tons)—to the P and O. line. . ■ . "

There; are still more than one •hundred other German ships in ■dtfterent .foreign ports, notably teouth America — for the most part those interned there during the war that have to be handed over to the Allies, and the majority of these will also come to Great Britain. Many of them are over 10,000 tons. Thanks to the energy displayed in British 'yards in shipbuilding during the war and to the allocation of the ships once owned by Germany, Great Britain again stands, supreme in shipping. At the present time there is, roughly, '5 per cent, more tonnage under the British •flag than before the- war. Nevertheless, the demand for shipping still exceeds the supply,.and every steamship received is m demand for profitable service as s-oon as it can be made available.'