EMPIRE SHIPPING

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 151, 23 December 1926, Page 7

EMPIRE SHIPPING

THE DEMAND FOR, SPEED

UNECONOMIC PROPOSAL.

(From Our Own Cs-Tstpofldsnt.) LONDON, Bth October. It is an extraordinary illustration of the fascination which Government-as-sisted enterprises still possess for many people that once more a scheme of highspeed subsidised ships for inter-Empire services should be brought forward. One would have imagined (writes a special correspondent of the "Financial Times") that the costly experiences of the United States, the Australian Commonwealth ' Government, and other bodies which havo operated State-owned or Government-assisted shipping would have discouraged any fresh efforts in this direction. The teachings of experience do not at times, however, appear to convey any meaning, and Sir Thomas Clement (chairman of the produce firm of Messrs. A. Clement and Sons, which trades with all the Dominions) has succumbed to the lure of high-speed Empire shipping services which, as they would admittedly be of an uneconomic character, would require financial support from the Dominions and the Home Governments. It will be recalled by those who are familiar with the history of schemes ot this character that some aspects of the subject received the consideration of the Imperial Shipping Committee, and were, reported on unfavourably. A COSTLY LUXURY. There is really nothing novel in the proposal now made to provide £ 12,- J 000,000 of capital to build a fleet of j eighteen ships designed for speeds of 21 knots or more, and to ask for a Government subsidy in respect of the estimated loss on operation of £3,000,000 a year. Speed at sea Is a very costly luxury, and the shipping lines engaged in the operation of ships on Empire routes know that the economic. limits of speed have been reached by the vessels now in service. The question of providing ships of higher speed presents no technical difficulty, but is a financial problem, and it is not easy to show that the advantages which would accrue from higher speed are worth the high price which would have to be paid. The estimates of capital outlay and oporating costs which have been put forward for the Clement's scheme are not accepted in shipping circles as being much more than guesswork, as so much depends on the ability to obtain full cargoes it' a number of vessels of this class were added to those already in sendee, which are more than ample for the trade which is available.