CARGO RECORDS

Evening Star, Issue 22722, 9 August 1937, Page 3

CARGO RECORDS

DRAUGHT OF SHIPS WEIGHT AGAINST BULK Following closely upon the arrival at Auckland of the Federal Steam Navigation Line’s new motor ship Essex with a capacity cargo from Liverpool, the Blue Star motor ship New Zealand Star was due at AA’ellington from London yesterday carrying the record cargo for that port of more than 11,000 tons. As the Essex, drawing 33ft 7in of water on arrival, broke all inward mercantile draught records for Auckland, interest has been aroused in the telegraphic information concerning the deeply-laden New Zealand Star (states the ‘Herald’). For a variety of reasons, however, it is certain that the New Zealand Star will not approach the draught of the Essex, each ship having been designed for a different trade and conditions. The Essex, like the Durham, Dorset, and Sussex, carries the majority of her cargo from the west coast ports of England and Scotland to New Zealand, and these cargoes differ very greatly from the type carried by the New Zealand Star, which, on the majority of her outward voyages, sails from London.

The New Zealand Star takes such cargoes as motor cars and other cased and baled goods, which may take up considerable space without unduly loading down the ship. These cargoes demand of a ship a high cubic capacity per ton of lifting, and consequently in the majority of cases ships which sail from London with full cargoes are not weighed down to the Plimsoll marks. For the trade from the west coast ports a “ deep ” ship with a smaller cubic capacity per ton of deadweight' is required, for the cargoes taken from these ports are of a compact, heavy nature. Thus it is that the ships which sail from the west coast are frequently down to their marks before their holds are full, and come out drawing a large amount of water. A recent example of this was given by the Federal Line steamer Northumberland, which arrived at Auckland less than a fortnight ago with a limit cargo of iron goods' from Monmouthshire.

Naturally the designers of cargo liners for the New Zealand trade have come to a compromise in design, as homeward cargoes generally are of the type requiring a high cubic capacity in relation to weight. With the exception of a butter cargo, which never forms the entire loading of a home-ward-bound vessel, practically every commodity exported from New: Zealand is of this type.