BRITISH MERCHANTMEN
RESTORATION OF FLEET PRE-WAR SIZE IN SIGHT LONDON, Feb. 23. Britain’s merchant ilcet should be restored to its pre-war size within a few years if there were no more unforeseen delays or shortage, says the British Chamber of Shipping's annual report. This did not mean that reconstruction problems had been solved. Mounting shipbuilding costs and the slow delivery rate deterred many shipowners from 'ordering new ships. American criticism of the Marshall nlan shipbuilding proposals ignored the fact that in Britain not a single passenger ship keel had been laid during the war. The British merchant fleet in 1939 was 17,750,000 tons. After “unparalleled losses,” it had returned by Ihe end of 1947 to 16,500,000 tons. The report criticised the National Coal Board for continually changing the bunker coal price. Freight rates had increased five to 10 per cent, through increased bunker costs, said the report. _
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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22570, 25 February 1948, Page 5
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147BRITISH MERCHANTMEN Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22570, 25 February 1948, Page 5
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