THE COST OF SHIPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23796, 1 May 1939, Page 16

THE COST OF SHIPS

HIGH BRITISH CHARGES The high prices charged for the construction of ships in British yards were referred to by Mr Philip Haldin in his annual address to shareholders of the Lamport and Holt Line in London recently. The company, he said, needed more motor ships of a type it had recently purchased, but to build at the present prices asked by British shipouilders would be wholly uneconomic. The ships could be built in foreign yards at prices £15,000 to £20,000 less than those asked by British shipbuilders. So far the company had set its face resolutely against building abroad, but it might eventually have to surrender to circumstances over which it had no control. Replying to a question. Mr Haldin said that in his view the high prices asked by British shipbuilders were due to rearmament and the consequent high costs of raw material and labour. The effect of rearmament upon shipping was also discussed by Mr R. F, Gibb, chairman of the UnionCastle Mail Steamship Company, Ltd., in an address at the annual meeting of the Chamber of Shipping. The chief result, Mr Gibb stated, had merely been to put up the costs of the industry and to make it difficult for it to retain its skilled personnel. The cost of building itself was at least 20 per cent, above the prerearmament level, and the costs of repairs had increased in proportion. Nothing could be more significant of the needs of a firm and effective shipping policy than the fact that, while foreign shipyards were booming, British shipyards were virtually stagnant, he continued. A further disquieting feature was that British shipowners were being forced to build their ships abroad. United Kingdom building prices were 17 per cent, above the lowest Continental prices. Shipowners were fully alive to the need for maintaining British shipyards and preventing the loss of plant and skilled labour which would result from their decline. The Government was no less anxious about the problem, and the industry was prepared to go into it with the Board of Trade.