SHIPPING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19802, 29 May 1926, Page 12

SHIPPING NOTES.

BUILDING FIGURES FOR THREE MONTHS. LOWEST SINCE 1909. INTIMIDATION OF NEW ZEALAND CREWS. (Fbosi Oub Own Cobbespo.xdext.) LONDON, April 16. There were some Lopes a few weeks ag» of a sudden and spirited revival of shipbuilding, but tnese will Lave to be modified by the revelations which are made in (he quarterly returns of Lloyd's Register. The total tonnage under contruclion in Great Britain and Ireland was 843,070 tons —nearly 42,C00 tons less than at the end of December. 1927’, and about 522,000 less than the lonnage building 12 months ago. The tonnage building on which work was suspended at the end of March, 1526, amounts to nearly 80.0C0 tons, as compared with 74,000 tons at the end of March, 1925. The present totals are the lowest recorded since September, 1909, and are 1,057.000 tons below the average tonnage building during the 12 months immediately preceding the war. BRITISH OUTPUT. An analysis of the figures shows that while there has been a decline of 59,559 tons since last December in the total world tonnage under construction, which now stands at 2,010,205 tons, and is 1,456,553 tons belov,- the highest pre-war “record” of June 30, 1313—namely, 5,446,538 tons, the brunt of the depression has been borne by British shipbuilding, the total merchant tonnage building in other countries, at 1.167.136 tons, being only about 17,000 Sons less than at the end of December, 1925. SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS. There are. however, signs that in this country the outlook is beginning to improve. An appreciable increase is shown in the tonnage on which work was started during the quarter, which stands at 195.121 tons, as compared with 1£0,355 tons during the fourth quarter of last year —a rise of 20 per cent. The tonnage launched, however, during the first quarter of 1926, was 25,773 tons lower at 190,705 tons than that for the previous three months. The figures for other countries also reveal a tendency towards recovery, though not in such a marked degree. The total of tonnage, the construction of which was begun abroad during the first quarter of this year, was 194,343 tons, an increase of 12,053 tons on the previous quarter—that is, about 7 per cent. Tonnage launched, at 269,863 tons, showed a decrease of 4971 tons. Of foreign countries Italy again shows the largest amount of tonnage under construction at 298,530 tons; Germany again comes second with 216.5T1 tons, while the next three countries are France with J 55.965 tons, Holland with 133,003 tons, and the United States with 11T.777 tons. MOTOR VESSELS. One of the most interesting features shown in the returns is a slight decrease In the tendency of the internal combustion engine to replace steam as a source of power. Of the world tonnage of vessels now building, 913,099 tons represent motor ships, while the tonnage of steam vessels under construction is 1,078,236. The motor tonnage is thus S* and two-thirds per cent, of the steam tonnage, a figure which compares with nearly 100 per cent, for the last two quarters of 1925, and over To per cent, for the corresponding quarter last year. The percentage of motor ships to the total tonnage building is still, however, very considerably smaller in this country than abroad. The tonnage of motor ship building at the cud of March in Great ‘Britain nnd Ireland amounted to 289,664 tons, only 62.7 per cant, of the steam tonnage under construction; while in Denmark. Holland, Italy, .Japan, and Sweden the motor tonnage under construction greatly eicaed* the steam tonnage, the combined totals for these five countries being 135,640 tons of steamers and 453.903 tons of motor ships. The world figures include 62 motor ships, each of between 6000 and 10,000 tons, five of between 10.000 and 15,000 tons, five of between 15,000 tons and 21,000 tons, and one of about 33.000 tons. LARGEST SHIPS.

There are at the present time under construction in the world 23 vessels of between 10.000 and 20,000 tons each, and 11 of 20.000 tons and upwards. Eleven out of the 23 and three of the larger vessels are building in Great Britain and Ireland. The returns show that there are at present 30 steamers and motor ships each of over 1000 tons, with a total tonnage of 247,510, under construction in the world for the carriage of oil in bulk. Of these tankers, 15, totalling 91,810 tons, are under construction in Great Britain and Ireland, eight totalling 57.000 tons in Holland, and five totalling 44,000 tons in Germany. ECHO OP THE SHIPPING STRIKE. Two hundred seamen were nearly prevented from joining their ships by the action of the Federated Seamen’s Union of Great Britain and Ireland. They were members of the crews of three ships—the Pert Hunter, the Matakura, and the Kua-, pehu—all bound for Australia or New Zealand. , _ . The Federated Seamen’s Union was formed at the time of the unofficial seamen’s strike in Australia, and is opposed to the National Seamen’s Union. Seamen who arrived at the National Seamen's Union's offices at the Albert Docks on Monday were stopped by hotheads of the opposing union. They were told Oiat if they signed on they would be required to pay UP all overdue payments to their union Thev were threatened, and one man who insisted on signing on was severely mauled. “More than 73 per cent of the men signed on on the Monday morning,’ said an official of the National Seamen’s Union. “The statement which the opposing union made that we proposed to collect overdue payments from all our members is absolutely untrue. Despite the threats of the agitators, all three ships sailed to time. We Intend to prosecute, if possible, the Individuals who were concerned in injuring one of the men who signed on."