“LITHUANIA'S" FLEET

Evening Star, Issue 22383, 6 July 1936, Page 3

“LITHUANIA'S" FLEET

A MODEST BEGINNING Lithuania, has its first merchant vessel under the national Hag and under a Lithuanian captain, says the ‘ Christian Science Monitor.’ Tho vessel is the Maistas of 641 lons, built in 1915, speed eight to nine knots, commanded by Captain Bronius Kristupaitis, who was trained in Finland. She was bought from an AngloGerman trading company and taken over by her new owners at Hamburg. On her arrival at Klaipeda she "’as met and escorted into harbour with fitting ceremony. "Within a few ,days her German crew had been replaced by 14 Lithuanian seamen and soon alterwarcls she started for Antwerp on her maiden voyage under her new flag. Lithuania hopes this modest beginning may lead to something much bigger. There are, however, difficulties. Some years ago she tried to start a Lithuanian shipping company, but tho opposition from existing lines, mostly British and Scandinavian, proved .too strong. The Maistas was one of 9u vessejs which entered the port of Klaipeda during January, 1936. Though in the previous January the total was only 6b ships, the cargo brought in in January, 1935, was appreciably larger—4o,400 tons, compared with 21,400. Altogether the year 1935 was a record tor Klaipeda trade, since 1.225 vessels visited the port—twice as rtiany as before the war. , , . The trade of Klaipeda has expanded very considerably’ since Lithuania s ownership of the'district was regularised by the Memel Convention in 1934. The harbour is now twice as deep as it was before the war. when only ships of 10ft to 12ft draught could ho accommodated. Regular steamship lines have been established between Klaipeda and London. Antwerp, Rotterdam. Copenhagen. Stockholm, ports ot Spain. Portugal. Germany. the U.S.S.R.. and Baltic ports, while _ in summer there is a line between Klaipeda and America. Tho harbour quays aro dotted with petrol, naphtha, and oil tanks and reservoirs. Klaipeda’s trade, and especially its industry, has also grown. Such industrial undertakings as sawmills, veneer, and chemical fertiliser factories, which ceased to operate during the war. have bqen revived. New industrial concerns —textile, metal, chemical, tobacco—have been started. Over 20,000 workmen and about 3.000 other employees are engaged in Klaipeda industrial enterprises. The total population is now put at 45.000, so that Klaipeda is the second largest city of Lithuania.