SUPPING SPACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16592, 15 January 1916, Page 8

SUPPING SPACE

A BAD PROSPECT. (Fbcw Ocb Own Cobuespondent.) WELLINGTON, J Miliary 14-. The shortage of tonnage for transport to London of general cargo, and especially wool, is causing the people concerned with tha control of shipping grave anxiety. There is no shortage ol insulated space. This is all provided for by the arrangements tlio Government have miwie with the imperial .Board ol 'JLlrado, hut no such satistactoiy arrangemonta about tlio carriage of general targo can bo made. "Things are very serious indeed, worso than anyiiiing 1 have ever known in tho i\ew Zealand trade," said a prominent shipping man, giving his opinions fco a reporter to-day. " \ou uan't make the statement too emphatically, because tho position is really very bad. Just now we are giving wool preference over such other cargo as hemp and tow and casks of tallow, pelts, and other bye-products of the meat business. We can't gob the wool away nearly fast enough, mid meantime, while you go on running tho meat works and sawmills, theso other products keep piling up. We estimato that there aro. in New Zealand from 30,000 to 40,000 bales of hemp and tow awaiting shipment, and not less than 15,000 casks of meat by-products. "Wo don't know where to turn. The position is getting worse instead of better. There are ships to carry our frozen products away, but tho sliips coming here from Australia to load refrigerated cargo havo all their general cargo space filled in Australia, where the congestion of general cargo is at least as bad as it is in New Zealand. I don't know how or when the Australian wheat can be carried to England. Matters have been made worse by the fact that in several of the ships permanently engaged in the New Zealand trade tho refrigerated space has been enlarged to meet the requirments of the New Zealand shippers of meat and dairy produce. Naturally these sliips have now less space for general cargo. Sis: other steamers have been chartered to load general cargo for London, and three are now loading, chiefly with wool, for tho East Coast of America. "ffhe position may, of course, ohango suddenly, but personally I can see no prospeot of it until the Admiralty can release shipe from tho war transport work, and that cannot happen until the end of the war. One ship which should_ have carried wool is now to take only a little wool and a lot of horses. More horses —a large number—aro to go, and that means less 6hips for wool in the future. I can't possibly tell when we shall have the last of this season's wool clip out of the stores, _ but, in my opinion, we shall still be loading wool five months hence, and perhaps later than that. In normal times we used to reokon on getting the last of the wool into the ships in March. You can't possibly make things out worse than they are. Shippers are crying out to us for space. They imagine, apparently, that we can conjure up ships for them somehow, but I assure you that tho ships are not available, and I don't see any prospect of more being available for a long time."