NEW CUNARD LINERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20736, 2 December 1930, Page 11

NEW CUNARD LINERS.

DOCK AT SOUTHAMPTON.

LARGEST IN THE WORLD.

CONSTRUCTION ARRANGED.

By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received December 1. 6.45 p.m.) British Wireless. RUGBY, Nov. 30. The largest graving dock in the world is to be constructed at Southampton by tho Southern Railway Company to provide dry docking accommodation for the huge new vessels which tho Cunard Company is to have constructed. The dock will be 1200 ft. long, 135 ft. wide at the entrance and 45ft. in depth. The Government is assisting the company under the Development Loan Guarantees and Grants Act. The new dock will be the seventh at Southampton, excluding the floating dock. Commenting upon the dock problem in connection with tho two new giant liners of more than '70,000 tons which are to bo built for the Cunard Line, tho Daily Express, in a recent jssue, said: It is likely that in addition to tho impetus given to the shipbuilding industry by tho contracts for the two super-ships, thousands more men will be employed on tho construction of what will bo tho world's largest refitting dock. These two mammoth vessels—one of which is to be built on the Clyde and the other in a north-east coast shipyard—must be provided with a refitting dock suited to their size. «

There is no dock at Southampton—the terminal port of the chief Atlantic liner services—large enough to accommodato the new Cunarders when they are in commission and come in for their annual" refit. The new dock consequently will be infinitely larger and more elaborate than anything ever designed so far. Negotiations are now in progress between the Southern Railway Company, the owners of Southampton Docks, and the Cunard Company regarding the provision of special docking facilities for the 70,000ton liners. All manner of difficult and technical points are arising. One of these _is whether the new dock shall be a graying dock or a floating dock. Other questions for discussion are the cost of the scheme and whether a dock constructed for two special ships would be an economic proposition. The Southern Railway Company already owns the largest floating dock in the world, which will take ships up to 60,000 tons displacement. This dock, constructed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, has a length of 960 ft. and an entrance width of 134 ft. It covers an area of three and ahalf acres and there are no fewer than 17.240 tons of steel in its hull. When lifting a 56,000-ton slnp out of the water the dock has to be sunk to a depth of 33ft. and 80,000 tons of water have to be pumped out to raise the ship. The cost of this dock was approximately £500,000. A new floating dock for the giant Cunarders would cost a great deal more than that figure.