LIQUID FUEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 October 1939, Page 12

LIQUID FUEL

TASK OF THE TANKERS Many parts of the world, including both New Zealand and Australia, are utterly dependent on oil freighters for their petrol supplies, and although not much thought is given by people to those vessels in time of peace their importance has been quickly recognised in war. During recent years great activity has been manifest among the big oil corporations in increasing their fleets of tankers, and only last year the U.S.A. Government voted over £2,000,000 towards the construction of twelve fast boats of this type which will cost one of the leading oil companies of that country £625,000 each. Their speed is to be 19 knots and each will be capable of carrying 16,300 tons of liquid fuel in varying grades for naval units and aircraft. The world’s present fleet of tankers numbers some 1655 vessels in all, but the consumption of liquid fuel of all kinds during hostilities will be so great that this fleet will have a hard task in meeting, or attempting to meet, it. Military authorities in Great Britain are reported to have stated that the war demands will be from two to three times that under normal conditions, and in normal conditions the United Kingdom alone was importing nearly 87,000,000 barrels of 42 gallons each, and France nearly 60,000.000, a combined quantity exceeding 400.000 barrels a day. Well over one-third of the shipments passed through the Mediterranean. Taking the war demand at double, 33,500,000 gallons a day will require to be supplied. The average capacity of a tanker is a little over 2,000,000 gallons. Britain’s tanker tonnage is 3,013,687, just over 28 per cent, of the world’s gross. France has only 2.2 per cent. America has in the region of of 418 tankers, giving a tonnage of 2,758,642, ovei- 25 per cent, of the world’s gross. Taking British and French boats alone, and assuming only double normal requirements, 24 tankers will have to deliver fuel to Britain and France daily.