THE LAST VOYAGE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18067, 19 April 1933, Page 2

THE LAST VOYAGE

SEA MONARCHS OF YESTERDAY SOLD TO JAPAN AS SCRAP LONDON, March 2. When a noble liner falls victim to the elements and is smashed by the blows of her natural enemy, the sea, her end comes without disgrace. It may be tragic, but it is seldom humiliating. Such is the personal feeling we have for ships that carry our goods and take us over the seven seas, however, that it is with infinite pity we read of them passiuc “unwanted and ashamed, mto the hands of the “breakers.” The destruction of a vessel for the sake Of scrap never fails to excite regret, ■ and to mariners and those who understand the hearts of mariners, it has almost the appearance of a crime. Yet there have been many such “funerals” of late—so many that, people are beginning to wonder at their frequency. During the past three years, no fewer than 81 liners, tankers, and cargo-boats, totalling some 624,000 tons, have been bought by Japan alone for “breakingup,” and to these, of course, must- be added that not inconsiderable list -which have been converted into- scrap in the yards Of ether countries. Why, it has been asked, has Japan been so avid a. buyer in the scrap in.uket? Not unnaturally a. suspicion lias been aroused that these “deals” have a special significance, not unconnected, 'perhaps, with the present warlike conditions in the East. The bald allegation has even been made that the iron and steel from these old vessels might be found convenient materials for munitions. But this report, as soon as published, was dismissed by experts as absurd, though on what grounds wo were not told. Prominent purchasers liave been the Amakasu Shipbreaking Company, of Yokohama, and the Hashimoto Company, of Osaka, both of whom, it is stated, have found it a, profitable policy to sell ‘scrap” metals in a land notable for its lack of metals. The iron and steel obtained from the hulls are melted down and used for building new; ships and railways. . Ship-breaking, indeed, is an established industry in Japan, and there is authority for saying that when a vessel is bought for that purpose from a foreign firm there is a definite clause in the contract to stipulate that she 'dll be broken-up and not used for any other purpose. In one or two instances, when the buyers have failed to carry out the contract they have voluntarily come forward and paid a sum in compensation. As a fact, the Japanese have always ‘played the game” in this respect, and there is no ground to think they ever intend to dc> otherwise. Nor are they the only .important buyers in the “field.” Italian ship-breakers, for example, have acquired no fewer than 80 vessels abroad since the middle of last year, and are still on the look-out for bargains. For some reason, however, these Italian purchases have aroused little or no comment. The circumstances of in the Orient seems to have focussed public attention upon Japan, and a series of perfectly innocent transactions have been given false color by a few sensation-mongering newspapers. For, whatever sentimental objections we may have to the trade in ships which have “seen their day,” every vessel remains a commercial proposition until the last nut and bolt in her has been sold. A useful, if violent, transformation ihay be preferable, after all, to slow death from rust and rottenness. VANISHED GLORY Much of glory and romance vanished with the fleet of “old-timers” which has now left British shores for ever. There were steamers among them which played their part in the war; which carried joyous voyagers across the Atlantic ; which braved a hundred storms ; and which showed the Red Ensign in the uttermost corners of the world. There were tramps and ungraceful tankers; there were liners which were once giants and the “last word” in luxury. All sorts and conditions of ships there were. A list of 20 vessels bought in Great Britain for Japan is as follows T. AND 0. S.N. COMPANY

distinguished themselves ns armed merchant cruisers during the war; the Kurmala and Kashmir were arnfy transports; and the Delta, Kalyan, and Morea were hospital ships. One or two of the others, it will be noticed, might be classed .os post-wap-—and yet were considered “too old” in 1932. Surely no sadder commentary on the present state of the ocean-carrying trade could be offered. About lialf as many vessels have also been purchased on the Continent during the last few months, including

Not one of these vessels compares in size, of course, with the White Star liner Baltic, which represents Japan’s most ambitious purchase to date. The recent departure of this vessel from Britain on her final voyage wits made an occasion of popular sorrow, tor her name had long been a household word even among those who had never seen her. But to the many thousands who had sailed in her it seemed like the passing of an old friend.—-Sydney Morning Herald. /

Tons Name Built gross Delta 19^5 8,097 Kalyan 1915 Karmala 19l4 9,144 9.128 Kashgar ... 1914 9,005 Kashmir 1915 8.985 Khiva 1914 9,135 Macedonia 1904 11,120 Mahva 1908 10.986 Morea 1908 10,954 Nagoya. 1915 Novara ... 1912 6,854 6,989 Caronia (Cunard) ... ... 1905 19,782 Arcadian (R.M.S.P. Co.) 1908 12,015 Baltic (White Star) ... 1904 23,884 Megantic (White Star) ... 1909 Canadian Ranger (Canadian National) ... 1919 Canadian Seigneur (Cana14.873 5,752 5,757 9,075 dvan Nation ill) ... 1919 Keeinun (Holt) 1902 Marcharda (Bvocklebank) 1918 9,785 Malancha (Brocklebank) 1918 9,822 Of these, the Macedonia and Caronia

Dutch — ■Oostkerk . 1914 8,085 Pearl Shell ... . . 1916 5,834 Tjipanas . 1903 3.865 Norwegian— Bonus' . 1911 6,180 Cetleric . 1911 4,101 Belgian— Stanleyville ... . . 1920 6,612 German— Sebara . 1908 4.682 Italian— Venezia L . 1901 7,749 Greek— Mount Pentelikon .. . 1919 5,600