ORIENT LINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24205, 25 January 1940, Page 18

ORIENT LINE

WARTIME ROLE DISCUSSED BY CHAIRMAN (From Our Own Gorrespondent) LONDON. Dec. 22. The position of the Orient Steam Navigation Company during war time was discussed at the annual meeting by Mr I. C. Geddes. the chairman. Mr Geddes said that the Orient Company tried to provide the best possible service between England and Australia for passengers, mails, and appropriate cargo For the last 30 years its balance sheet had testified to the economic virtues of their policy of single purpose in times of peace and progress, but the last four years of troubled peace, with one alarm after another, had made conditions almost as bad as war for a line which asked people to travel for business or pleasure through the Mediterranean. Now war had come, and the free movement of passengers across the world had stopped, and they learned the expense of specialising in an article thus suddenly deprived of its normal employment. It was much to be hoped that before long a comprehensive policy would be adopted which would, as in the later stages of the last war. make use of British -liners, do justice to tramps, and as far as possible, enable neutral ship's to perform those transport services to the United Kingdom by which they lived in peace. As an indication of the importance of reaching as soon as possible the right policy for control of the British mercantile marine, the special fleet of Orient ships presented a curious problem in this war, in which transport would be one of the greatest needs, and in narticular trans? port from Australia, for which their ships had been built. Potentialities of Fleet It was evidently impossible to continue the service during the war on lines of peace economics; expenses had advanced sharply—war-risk insurance alone for 12 months would cost more than £500,000 for their fleet—and the civilian passengers whom they existed to serve no longer travelled. Freight rates had been advanced and might advance further, but the gap left between increased expenses and shrunken passenger revenue was too wide to be filled by any possible increase in freight rates or to be borne by the company's reserves, which had seemed ample for emergencies of peace. So the normal commercial course, which was not always right in war. was to tie up the whole Orient fleet in Sydney or some other safe harbour.. where it need pay no war-risk premium until it was wanted by the Commonwealth Government or the Ministry of Shipping. He declined to believe that they had produced a peace speciality of no value in war. Before long he felt sure that the economics would be adjusted to suit the facts and that their ships and men would prove to be of even value to the State in war than they had been in peace. Indeed, they were already beginning to be employed, and he hoped they would be once more in full employment before it became necessary for them to break up any of their ships' companies. He would, however, be lacking in candour if he did not sound a note of warning that, bad though the past year had been for the shareholders, next year might prove verv much worse.

The orpfit from the ships' working and from interest on investments was £318.365, and the net nrofit" was £268,862. They did not think it wise to recommend a dividend on the ordinary shares. The report was unanimously adopted.