A YEAR'S SHIPPING

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 10, 13 January 1932, Page 10

A YEAR'S SHIPPING

1931 IN RETROSPECT

MARKS OF PROGRESS

DIFFICULT PERIOD

(By "Bosun.") Despito the serious slackness in trade, which has affected practically all lines, tho year 1931 in the workl of shipping has not been without its redeeming features. The enterprise of shipowners and the unquenehablo spirit of tho British mercantile marine hayo kept the flag of progress moving, even if perhaps a little slowly, and pessimism has not been allowed undue rein. The sea has again taken its toll of life and tonnage, but ' the casualties have not been of ; outstanding seriousness. Wellington will remember 1931 mainly by two notable arrivals iit the port. On the morning of 16th October there steamed up the harbour the handsomely equipped and speedy .looking turbo-oleetric ferry steamer Bangatira, of 61D2 tons, on her first trip in the Wellington-Lyttelton service in place of the' old favourite, the Maori; and in the dying hours of a beautiful summer's day on 28th.December, two diminutive Dutch tugs towed in tho imposing battleship grey form of tho Harbour Board's 17,000-ton eapaer+y floating dock, appropriately named Jubilee. in coniineinoration of tho 50th anniversary of the board's inauguration. Tbn Eangatira on the one hand represented the last word in comfort and mobility at sea-—seen at her best when steaming "with a bone in her teeth"—and. the dock on the other hand seemed bent only on reaching a resting place where it would remain for the convenience of the sea-going craft in times of overhaul and repair. Having brought these two additions to the port, 1931 cannot be said to have passed in vain. NEW LTJXXTEY LINERS. . Among notablu launchings of the year wore those of the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Britain which, on her maiden trip, in June, crossed from Cherbourg to leather's Point in the record time of 4 days 12 hours 30 minutes; tho Matson liner Mariposa, which was launched at Massachusetts on 18th July and will enter the Pacific passenger trade early this year; and the P. and O. liner Strathnaver, which arrived at Sydney .after her maiden trip on 12th November^ and with her sister ship, the Strathaird, will run in the company's service between Australia and England. ' , ■ The shipbuilding industry received' r/ossibly the biggest set-back that it has ever known when it was announced early in December that work had been, suspended on the giant new Cunarder, the construction of which was well under way at the Clyde. With a length of over 1000 feet, a, tonnage of 73,000, and a speed of about 30 knots, the new vessel 'was expected to regain for Great Britain the supremacy of.. tho Atlantic passenger service, captured about 18 months ago by ■ the German liners Bremen and Europa. At the present tiirio it appears doubtful whether a' similar vessel being built in France will bo completed without interruption, and the whole matter of tho construction of great luxury liners is one which is causing shipowners much concern. REVERSION TO OLD ROUTES. ■-. One of tho most interesting features of the year's trading between the Dominion and tho Old Country has been, the reversion to tho plcl sailing ship routes, homeward via Capo Horn, and outward via the Cape of Good Hope, in preference to the Panama Canal.route. When the canal was thrown open for traffic in 1914, much was c-.ade of the extent to which it.drew New Zealand closer to the Mother Country but the saving in tinie~aboul>: three or four days—has not proved sufficient to counteract the effect of an adverse exchange rate which has raised the cost of using the canal above the amount saved by the shorter^ . voyage. ' Jfow, modern liners ''run the easting-down, over the course followed by the windjammers of past years. , ■•■. Several smart passages were made during the year by ships on various routes, but the. one of most interest in this part of the world was the achievement- of the -Monowai (ex P. and O. liner Razmak) in, regaining for the Union -Steam Ship Company the trans-' tasman record1 which had been lost two mouths earlier- to the Matson steamer Malolo "after having been held .for 25 j years by the. Maheno. The Monowai arrived .at .Wellington, at 1.47 :p:m. on j Sunday, 25th-. January,, after having made the voyage from Sydney in 2 days 18 hours: 43 minutes at an average ] speed of . 18.34 -knots. The Malolo's I record was imade in tho previous No-j vember in the course of a pleasure I cruise; of tho Pacific, run in accordance with 4 pre-arranged schedule. FEWER PASSENGERS. - . A marked falling-off in . passenger traffic was evident during the year, and various steps, were taken by the shipping companies to meet the position! In some instances ,the accommodation was re-arranged Jo provide for the "tourist. ,and "cabin", classes which had already replaced the second and third classes in, other parts of the world; in the intercolonial service the Marama was withdrawn during .tho winter months, and the, Mahono .from the Melbourne trade indefinitely; during the winter .the smaller steamer Kaitoa; relieved the Arahura in the Nelson ferry service. Finally, on- Christmas Eve, it was announced by the Union Steam Ship Company that fares on the intercolonial steamers were being reduced. An ;.important development in the transpacific mail service was the reentry, into the Auckland-Sydney trade in July, after-an: absence of 24 years, of the, Matson Line's steamers. Few shinping matters have caused as much controversy as resulted from this step, and vigorous representations were made from some quarters to persuade,- the Government to step in, but the, Government's attitude seems to. have been that the issue was too wido to be dealt with even by Australia and New. Zealand acting alone. Generally considered to be a counter to this American competition, -the incorporation was announced in the following month of a company under the name CanadianAustralasian Line, jointly owned and operated by the Canadian. Pacific Kailway Company and the Union Steam ShiD Company of Now Zealand, Ltd., to take over the transpacific - liners Aorangi'and Niagara. COASTAL SHIPS LOST. Two shipping casualties occurred in New Zealand waters during fie year. On Ist May the coastal steamer Progress, afterlying disabled during the preceding, night with a broken tailshaft, was dashed on to tho rocks at Ohiro Bay and broken up, four men losing their lives that day and another dying subsequently as the result of his experience. :On 10th October the small motor vessel Kotiti left Westport for Poxton with seven men on board, and has not been seen since, although the dead body of. one of, the men, some of the deck cargo, and pieces of wreckage identified as parts, of the missing vessel came ashore. Other mishaps which fortunately were not attended with loss of life involved the overseas liner Port Hobart, which touched a submerged object off Turakirao Head on 2nd April: the coastal vessel Kini, which had a similar

experience between Wellington and Napier on the night,of 10th April; the Pakura, which became stranded on Tora Landing on the East Coast on 7th Novemberj and two coasters, the Breeze and the Storm, which both struck submerged objects while bound for Lyttelton on tho misty night of t l7th December, the Breeze temporarily being aground. In addition tho motor-ship Hauraki grounded while berthed by a pilot at New Plymouth on 21st February. Except in the case of the Breeze, which is to bo sunk by gun-fire, the ships were not too severely damaged to be repaired, although the Hauraki spent an exceptionally long timo in the Calliope Dock at Auckland. On 23rd April the Opihi arrived at Lyttelton with part of her cargo on fire, but no great damage was done.

Ships well known to New Zealanders which ended their careers during the year included the Tutanekai and Maratoa, which were scuttled in Cook Strait in February, ana'tho Home liners Euahme and Corinthic, which wero sold to shipbreakers. In addition the freighters Kaituna and Kamona were sold to Eastorn buyers.