NEW MOTOR VESSEL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19289, 30 March 1926, Page 11

NEW MOTOR VESSEL.

SHAW, SAVILL COMPANY. WALLSEND FIRM'S CONTRACT. A. and N.Z. LONDON. March 28. The Sunday Express says' Swan, Hunter and Co., of Wallsend have secured an order from the Shaw, Savill Co. for a 20,000 ton motor-ship, 600 ft. long. The Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, Limited, last month invited tenders from leading British builders for two motor-ships, of about 20,000 tons gross each, which are intended for their passenger, mail and cargo service between London and New Zealand. The new liners aVe to have a speed of 17 knots, as compared with a speed of about 13 knots of the existing vessels in the seri vice. This increased speed will enablo I the passage via the Panama Canal to be reduced from 37 days to 29 or 30 days—a saving of just a week. The distance is about 11,000 miles. The vessels and their equipment are to be of a character unsurpassed by any liners afloat. They are to carry first and third-class passengers only, whereas the present vessels, none of which is larger than about 12,000 tons gross, carry passengers in three classes. The new motor-ships are to have accommodation for 250 passengers in the first class and 700 in the third. They will have cargo space for about 10,000 tons (of 40 cubic feet) of refrigerated meat and dairy produce, besides large hold accommodation for wool and other New Zealand products, and general merchandise from this country. The anticipation is that the ships will be nearly two years building, and they will provide much-needed work for British yards. It is believed that the construction of such vessels—so much larger and faster than any yet built for the New Zealand service—has been made practicable by the development of the internal combustion engine. The first cost of the vessels will be greater than that of steamships of corresponding size; but there should bo a substantial saving in the fuel bill as compared with that of steamships designed to burn either oil or coaL The vessels will bo enabled to bunker with o3 in the neighbourhood of the Panama CaaaL