Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 85, 20 October 1928, Page 32

Ships and the Sea

despatch at British Ports. .Periodically bitter complaints are made of delays in loading and discharging; cargoeß at British ports and comparisons, mostly invidious, aro made between the ports of this country and those of the Continent and of America, writes the "Shipping World." For instance, the other day tho chairman of a South American, gas company pointed out that it took on an average 100 hours ■(6 load 6000 tons of coal at Hull as against 32 hours at American ports. It will be remembered that during the British coal strike of 1926, much comment'waa made on the very rapid dispatch given to colliers at American loading ports. Much of the criticism made is 'unfair, for the tendency is to e.6mpafe the average British port with the' best of the foreign ports, and not like with like, when it would be found that ports like London, Liverpool, and Glasgow compare favourably with any foreign port. It must not be forgotten that most of the British ports are transit'ports, handling vast quantities of general cargoes and that it is much easier to organise a terminal port bandling bulk cargoes. Again, British ports liave grown up from small beginnings and in consequence have little available room for expansion, whereas many foreign ports, particularly those of ".America,'have1 a comparatively modern liistory and were laid out at the beginning on modern lines. yolnme of World's Trade. Some figures have been prepared by the Statistical Bureau of tho German Government dealing with ocean commerce, writes the "Shipping World." So far they are only carried up to the

year 1925, .but conditions have not changed very much in the meantime, and the 1925 figures may be applied with little loss of accuracy to the present tipie, more especially as, in any case, many unknown and unknowable factors have to be estimated. The figurea show that, while in 1913 the total sea-borne trade oi' the world was 324,----500,000 tons, it was in 1925 338,600,000, or an increase of 4.3 per cent.; based ou values, the increase is shown to be 1.7 per cent. It would appear that all bulk cargoes have declined in volume since the pre-war years, with tho exception of oil, which has enormously increased. ■ When an attempt is made to apply these figures of volume of trade to deadweight carrying capacity available, these oil figures must be excluded. To do this it is necessary to make tho assumption' that the deadweight tanker tonnage makes throe voyages per annum i'ully laden, and this having been done, it would appear that -other cargoes totalled 319,000,000 tons in 1913 and 312,----000,000 tons in 1925, a decrease in fact of 2.2 per cent. But to obtain a proper comparison it must be remembered that the length of routes over which sea traffic moves lias increased since 1913, and, an estimate for this increase of £0 per cent, would not be an exaggeration.' On tho other hand, the speed of ships has increased, so that tho actual deadweight tonnage is potentially greater by reason of this increased speed. Three New Motor-ships. Ou 30th August there was launched from the Clydebank yard of John Brown and Co., Ltd., the first of throe twin screw motor vessels which are T/bing constructed to the order of the ISfcw, Zealand Shipping Coiupany, Ltd. '-This ship, which was named the Kangitiki, is to be noted as not only one of the largest vessels of its type built during 'the present year, but one that will be propelled by the most powerful twostroke motors which have been constructed in Great Britain. She has a length of- 530 ft, with a 70ft beam, aud her gross tonnage is 17,500, with a deadweight carrying capacity of round about 15,000 tons. She will have well-ap-pointed passenger accommodation, aud her spacious holds are to be refrigerated for the carriage of perishable cargo. -Accommodation is provided for 100 first saloon, SO second saloon, and 420 third-class passengers, on five decks. A feature of the fust saloon accommodation is that there are 42 single berth cabins, and 29 two-berth cabins, all of exceptional size. Many of the. cabins arc arranged en suite, with private bath's, of which. there are 20, in addition to the numerous ordinary bathlobms. ' The'propelling machinery comprises two sets of five-cylinder BrownSulzer oil engines, which arc dctiigned for a normal output of 9300 s.h.p. with it maximum output of 10,000 s.h.p., the speed of the ship being between 14.5 and 15 knots. Tho engines are noteworthy in that they have the largest diameter of cylinder which has yet been used in actual service. This is 900, millimetres, or 35 7-16 in, with a long stroke of 1500 millimetres, or 4ft 11 1-lCin. The speed is comparatively slow, being about S8 to 90 r.p.m. Auxiliary oil-engines will foe installed, for lighting and power requirements, but the injection air and scavenge air for the main engines will be supplied by direct driven units. There is no doubt that the Jtangitiki. and her sister ships will prove ,to bo among the n■„, interesting motor vessels of the yT,-. The Fog Peril. Of all the perils which confront those "who go down to the sea in ships, whether as professional sailors or as passengers (writes "Syren and Shipping"), the one most dreaded is undoubtedly fog. Other dangers, such as storms, strandings, and even fire, can bo provided against by the exercise of human ingenuity and care, but hitherto.fog has proved a menace which lias often appalled the stoutest heart by reason of the very helplcssuess of the most wary and experienced navigator in tho presence of this damp, drifting horror. Ships arc built staunch and true, fit to withstand tho heaviest gales they, ate over likely to encounter, and only the carelessness—or criminality—in loading them beyond the safety limit of their capacity need give rise to any fears of their being able to ride out a storm. The skill of those whose duty

is on the bridge can direct them away from the rocka and shoals of coastal waters, with such aids as wisdom and forethought havo provided—charts, lighthouses, automatic sounders, etc. — and even in regard to fire, which was once so dread a menace, there are preventives and chemical extinguishers, apart from its natural enemy water, and ocean tragedies arising from that causo arc now happily of rarer occurroneo than they were in former days. But against fog the only defensive weapons in use havo been the syren and the1 ship's bell. As Kipling puts it: I draw the gliding fog-bank as a snake is drawn from the hole; They bellow ono to the other; the frighted ship-bells toll. When this spectre appears not only is a navigator rendered almost as impotent as if a bandage were placed across his eyes, but the use of his ears is impaired also. Everyone knows how difficult it is to 'locate the direction from which sound comes in a fog, and the danger of collision is vastly increased in consequence. Board of Trade regulations lay it down that vessels should slow down to half-speed iv a fogy bujt what is half-speed with some vessels in fall speed with others, and the larger vessel the bette chance it has of. escaping with a minimum of damage in the event of :t collision. Frequenters of fog-infested waters arc apt to become careless, familiarity presumably breeding contempt, but the number of disasters which overtake, for example, the cod-fishing schooners off the banks of Newfoundland, or the Chinese junks which swarm in the mud-

dy, yellow waters at the mouth of the River Yangtso testifies to the dangers they run. The absence of lights on these small craft may be a contributory cause —and doubtless is on dark, but otherwise clear, nights—but when the thick pail of fog descends upon the waters it is problematical if such lights as they would carry would penetrate the bloom sufficiently far to be seen in time for disaster to be averted. Besides casualties such as these in foreign waters, our own crowded channels at Home furnish evidence enough of the perils and inconveniences attending fog. Fortunately, calamities on a large scale are not of frequent occurrence, but the losses of time and money caused by this unwelcome climatic visitor arc enormous: To bo held up at the mouth of the Thames or the Mersey waiting for a blanket of fog to lift is oxasperating in .the, extreme to all concerned. It adds greatly to tho anxiety of those in .whose care valuable shipping property is placed, and it is very expensive to owners, whose vessels are. rendered practically idle with no compensating demurrage. Speeding the Australian Mails. Importers of. Australian produce are proposing to take action once again with a view to bringing about the speeding up of the mail service between Australia and ; England, states "Siren and Shipping." The step is' regarded as. of special importance, because of the inconvenience which occurs from time to time, through the late arrival of shipping documents. The nearer approximation of the speeds of mails and cargo ships has made the position worse than it was, and it is clearly necessary that something should bo done to protect traders' interests. It will be remembered that representations were made som:> time ago to the authorities, but nothing was done because, as was pointed out, there was a possibility of the development of the air mail to meet the situation. That prospect has not yet materialised, and, iv tho opinion of many traders concerned, is still a long way off. The authorities, it is understood, indicate the likelihood of time being saved by conveying the mails by air between Fremantle and. Sydney and also between England and Port Said, though to anyone who has seen the quantity handled there is doubt whether anything short of a fleet of aeroplanes would suffice for the purpose. Meantime, whatever may bo the eventual outcome of the proposal in this direction, it is vow being urged by trading -interests that the subsidies to thu shipping companies in the Australian trade should be enlarged to permit, of tho employment of faster vessels. This, after all, goes to the root of the mattor, and those who favour this course point to the recently increased grants made for the carriage of the American mails. It should bo possible in this way "to effect 'a. saving of about six days on the voyage between this country and Australia and the delay in (lie arrival of shipping documents would then be avoided. It is a serious reflection upon the Government that the mail service is no bettor, but rather worse, than it was forty years ago. Panama Canal Transits.. In tho twelve months ending 30th June, 1121 tank ships passed through the Panama Canal carrying 5,829,722 tons of cargo and paying tolls amounting to 5,43(5,437 dollars. These tank ships comprised 17.3 per cent, of tho total commercial traffic through the Canal during the year; made up 21.2 per cent, of the total Panama Canal net tonnage; wero the source of 20.1 per cent of the total tolls collected, and carried 19 per cent, of all cargo passing through tho Canal in commercial . -vessels.' During the year 3,035,884 tons' of wheat passed through the Canal, of which 1,00.1,241 tons came from Canada and 1,124,088 tons from tho United States. This wan more than double tho tonnage of the previous year, and represented almost 15 per cent, of the Atlantic-bound cargo for the yci.r.