SHIP BUILDING

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 58, 9 March 1928, Page 11

SHIP BUILDING

—— ♦ ■. ■ ■ ■■ FAITH IN BRITAIN ■ .' ■ ■ ■ " ' '■ i „ GETTING., BACK IiER 0WN.,,. (From "The Post's" Representative.) ■ LONDON, 17th January. After a severe doprcssion lasting over two years and a half, shipbuilding in Groat Britain, at the/end of December amountod to 1,579,713 tons, or moro than the combined tonnage building in tho rest of'the world. - V According to Lloyd's. Registry of ["Shipping over 200,000 tons now building in this country woro for registration in* tho British Dominions, and nearly 200,000 tons wero intended for foreign shipowners. Abroad thoro were 1,539,008 tons under construction, Gormauy loading ■^yith 472,295 tons/which-was considerably moro' than* doublo": the- tonnage building in that country, at 'the' end of Docombor, 192 G. Other countries which had more than 100,000 tons under construction were: Italy, 183,216; Holland, 174,887;.-Franco, 115,029; and Sweden, 100,700. Shipowners, tend .more and moro to tho internal ' combustion ■'' engine,-al-though to a much larger cxtont abroad than here. Of tho total under construction in Great Britain and Iroland, motor-ships uccountod for 052,894 tons (over 41 per cont. of the total build; ing), whilo abroad tho motor-ship tonnago reached 956,994 (over 02 per cent, of the total). Tho world figures for ■motor-ships—l,Co9;Bßß '•; tons—exceeded by 115,350 tons ,tiic total for steam' ton■nagc. ' ■'■ • ■"■'.-.''■ "This," says tho ''Daily Express," in ii, leading article, "is like old times, and for three reasons it is as wolcomo aa any news could bo. One is that in building a ship an immenso proportion of tho cost—woll over.th'rce-fourths —goes in wages. Anothor is thnt shipbuilding cannont prosper without bonofiting at tho same timo a large numbor of subsidiary industries, and these ? for tho most part, tho very industries that during the past five years havo been most depressed. Tho third ground for rejoicing is that tho British mercitntilo marino is clearly becoming again what it was1 before the war, not only ■the largest on tho ocean, but'thc fastest .and tho niost modeni.- ■ ■ .-'•'■ • ."About.'a fourth of tho'-orders \vo :wero fuliUling' liist year - wo'i'O- on'fo.reign account, and that again is a wholly ronssiiring sign. It means that.the Dominions and South America and the 'Continent, whilo retaining their old jfaith in the superiority of British workmanship, no longer hesitato because of costs or tho fear of labour troubles to place their orders' in British yards. Shipbuilding during the war,- and as a .consequence.-of tho war, had to -yield much. It is now getting it.bn'ck ajrain -with interest.'" ■.-.■' ; ! ... ,'. ;