SHIPPING ITEMS

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12526, 16 August 1926, Page 9

SHIPPING ITEMS

BARQUE GARTHPOOL DAMAGED. According: to information received in Sydney a quantity of wheat shipped at that port by the. four-masted barque Garthpool has been destroyed. Tho Garthpool left Sydney on March Ist last bound for the English Channel for orders, carrying 55,210 bags of wheat. On May 13th the vessel put into Rio de Janeiro owing to damaged steering gear and because she was leaking slightly. It w«3 found necessary to discharge about 1500 t-ons of wheat before the Garthpool could be dry-docked. About 150 bags of wheat had been damaged on account of leaking plates. Reloading commenced on June 10th, but during a sudden storm tho lighters conveying the grain to the vessel suffered considerably. As a consequence, according to Lloyd's representative at the port, about 1800 bags of wheat would have to be destroyed. The Garthpool resumed her voyage on June 29th. OIL TANKER PLUME LAUNCHED. Messrs Lithgows (Ltd.,), Port Glasgow, launched recently the oil tank steamer Plume, which was built for tho Vacuum Oil Company, London. The vessel, which is' 476 ft in length, 62ffc 6in in breadth, 36ft 6in in depth, and is designed to carry a deadweight of 12,300 tons, will have machinery by Messrs * David Rowan and Co., Glasgow. The Plume and a similar vessel now under construction by the same firm, represent additions to the facilities necessary to the trading and carrying interests or the owners. The two vessels make a total of four which have been built in Clyde yards for the Vacuum Oil Company. The Plume and heir sister ship are unique in respect of their capacity for carrying an unusually large number of different grades of lubricating oil, with special arrangements of pumps and pipe lines to eliminate any possibility of contamination. AMERICAN MERCANTILE SHIPS. With numerous sales of organised services and individual vessels during the past twelve months, the greater part of the gross tonnage of. the American merchant fleet, including that in the coastwise trade, is now in the hands of private American owners, according to a report of the Shipping Board covering the period up to August Ist. During the first quarter of the durrent year, the privately-owned American fleet increased by thiity-one vessels in number and 131.512 gross tons, bringing the gross tonnage to a total of 5,622, 470/ Of this total, 5,202,434 tons, or about 92 per cent., was in active service on April Ist. This represents an increase of 169,132 tons over the total gross tonnage in service on January Ist, and the number of active vessels increased from 1026 to 1068 during that time. The forty-two additional vessels placed in active service include five passenger, ships, thirty-four general cargo, carriers, and three tankers. One of the five passenger carriers was added to the West' Indies and Caribbean, trade, and Hie other four were assigned to coastwise* routes. Included in this number is one newly-completed passenger ship. The general cargo boats were distributed —six. to the West Indies and Caribbean trade and twenty-eight /to coastwise service. ' The addition of eleven tank vessels in the West Indies and Caribbean trade; according to the New York "Journal of Commerce,", indicates hn increase in the* import of Mexican crude petroleum. Four tankers were added to the transpacific trade, and one of the transatlantic These shifts were supplied by transfer of thirteen tankers from coastwise route and the three added vessels mentioned. The Government-owned fleet included on April Ist, 1062 ships of 5,306,215 gross tons, as against 1118 ships. of 5,506,690 gross tons on January Ist. About onethird of the Shipping Board fleet is in active service, being employed in the maintenance of trade routes where facilities furnished by* privately-owned American ships are, insufficient to meet traffic requirementst’ During the quarter ended March fttst sixty-two vessels were delivered by the Shipping Board to purchasers, and six were returned to the custody of the board. One vessel was assigned to.,thenavy for employment in connection with Polar exploration. NEW FERRY STEAMER, The New vehicular ferry steamer whioh is being built by Mr G. Nichol for the Devonport Ferry Company is nearly completed. The vessel is to be launched on August 28th, and her name is to be the Eaglehawk (says the Auckland "Herald"). The engines have been installed and the boiler has been placed in position; machinery is being. fitted. Decks are now covered with 1 heavy, wooden sheathing to' protect them from; wear caused by the vehicles which will be carried, and the bulwarks are being panelled. Other work-to be done on deck is the erection of a house 10ft in height round the top of tho engines and boilers. In order to command a good view the oaptain will steer th© steamer from one of two wheelhouses which will be fitted above the . engine-house. When the steamer reaches the water she will be ready to go into commission immediately. The Eaglehawk is a composite vessel with steel bulb-angle frames covered by Sin kauri planking. Her keel is 14in by 12in kauri, and the stemposts at eacn end are also of kauri 24in square. She is 133 ft long, with a 33ft beam and 10ft Bin depth; and is similar m design but slightly larger than the company s newest steamer, the Mollyhawk. The engines are the usual triple-expansion marine type, and were constructed by Messrs Campbell and Caldferwood at Paisley, Scotland. The deck has accommodation for forty motors. NEW OIL TANKER A ehallow-draught oil tanker _was launched by Messrs Harland and Wolff (Ltd.), Belfast, on June 3rd. Built for the La go Shipping Company to the order of Messrs, Andrew Weir and Co., she has been specially designed for carrying petroleum in bulk, # and is classed 100 A 1 Lloyd's. She is similar to the five tankers already built for the same owners, is 315 ft long by 'Wit broad, and has a gross tonnage of about 2360. She will be propelled by engines of twin-screw triple-expansion type, developing 1100-horse power, steam, being generated in two cylindrical s.e. boilers, each having three Morison furpaces fitted to burn oil fuel on White s syster under natural draught, the working pressure being 1801 b. WHITE STAR, LINER LAURENTIC. It la expected that in October Messrs Harland and Wolff will launch the White Star Line's new triple-screw liner Laurentic. Th© vessel, which is the largest and latest exponent of a transAtlantic typo that has come into vogue sine© the close of th© Great War, will be placed in the Montreal-Liverpool rout© in th© spring of 1927. Not only will th© new Laurentic, the second of the name, b© the largest ship in xhe Canadian fleet of th© White Star lane, Which already includes two outstanding examples of this new type of lmer, the Regina and the Doric, but sbe will be the largest "cabin" steamer in service to Canada. Built to the limit of dimensions practicable for navigation of the St. Lawrence river, the new vessel is 604 ft long and 75ft wide, and will register 18.700 gross tons. Her displacement, nr weight, will be 26,230 tons. She will have rapacity for 600 "cabin" and 1000 third-class passengers. AUCKLAND-BUILT STEAMER. The composite • steamer Manawatu, which was sunk off Williamstown (Fori Phillips as the result of a collision with the bay steamer Edina about 25 years ago, lias been bought for conversion int' a hulk. The vessel was built in 1873 After the collision the vessel foundered, and lay on the bottom of th* ss.% fn several months. Eventually she was raised and repaired, and was engaged on the Gippsland trade. Built at Auuk land th© Manawatu was a unit of the Union Line. The ship was well known in th© trad© between Melbourne and Tasmanian ports