NEW SHIPS IN 1921

Evening Star, Issue 17926, 23 March 1922, Page 2

NEW SHIPS IN 1921

DECREASED OUTPUT. Shipbuilding returns for the quarter ended December 31 have been issued by ‘Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, 1 and they enable the approximate number of vessels and the total tonnage launched during 1921 to bo known. Although the • present returns are primarily concerned with the amount of tonnage under construction at the end of the year, they also indicate tho numbers of vessels and the tannage launched during the last quarter. These figures for steamships and motor ships are ninetyseven vessels, of 466,354 tons. By adding these to the figures given in the three previous quarterly returns, wo arrive at a. total of 397 vessels of 1,524,428 tons for the year. The totals for each quarter are as follow

The production represents a decline of 184 vessels, of 515,535 gross, as compared with the corresponding figures for 1920. The tonnage building in the United at the end of the year, including steam, motor, and sailing vessels, was 2,640,319 tons, represented by 515 vessels. This tonnage is less by about 643,0(10 tone than that which was in hand at the end of tho previous quarter, and is loss by about 1,058,000 than that under construction twelve months ago. Tho ‘Register’ points out, however, that these figures do not represent the work actually in progress. The total returned as under construction includes 722,000 tons on which work has been suspended, and a certain number of vessels the completion of which has been postponed owing to abnormal causes.

In the United Kingdom work was started on only eighteen steam and motor ships, of 54,890 tons. The. total merchant tonnage under construction abroad is given as 1,816,774 tons, which includes (about 400,000 tons on which work has been suspended, leaving about 1,417,000 tons actually under construction. The country in which the Largest amount of work is suspended is Italy, such tonnage amounting to over 50 per cent, of the total amount recorded as being under construction in that country, The total tonnage under construction abroad is less by about 443,000 tons than that building at the end of the September quarter. The decrease affects most countries, but especially the United States of America, where tho tonnage being built is less than 5.2 per cent, of tho total being built there in March, 1919. Tho United States no longer ranks first or second in respect of tho 'tonnage under construction. After the United Kingdom crane Italy with 393,832 tone, Franco with 552,635 tone, Holland with 313,879 tons, the United States with 216,428 tons, and Japan with 144,912 tons. The returns show that there are at present 121 steamers and motor vessels, each of over 1,000 tons, with a total tonnage of 795,193 tons, under construction in the world for the carriage of oil in bulk. Of this total, eighty-two vessels, of 535,019 tons, arc under constduction in the United Kingdom. The tonnage of vessels now being built to bo fitted with internal combustion engines represents 368,494 tons. Of the total tonnage now under construction in the w0r1d—4,457,093 tons —a total which excludes vessels tho construction of which has not actually been started, and also all vessels of less than ICO tons, 2,920,937 tons are under the inspection of the society’s surveyor with a view to classification in ‘Lloyd’s Register Book.’

Vessels Quarter. launched. Tonnage. .First ... 121 431,263 Second ... 94 320,618 Third ... 85 306,193 Fourth ... 97 466,354 Total ... ... 397 17524,428