THE BIG SHIP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18255, 25 November 1933, Page 3

THE BIG SHIP

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR 72,000-TON CUNARDER LONDON, Oct. 5. Tho 72,000-ton Canard liner, which still lies liait-linished on the stocks, is a svmbol of the division of opinion which has split the shipping world in twain. The experts of one school argue that the day of the “big ship’’ has vanished, and that for economic reasons such huge liners are destined to be expensive failures; experts of the other school point to definite evidence to prove that size, luxury, and speed are, the three essentials of modern sea transport, in® latter go so far as to attribute the doeline of British maritime prestige to the' fact that Germany and Italy, and even Franco, ha ve taken the cream of the; Atlantic passenger trade by building j •‘ideal” vessels embodying a combina- j tion of tho required essentials. They nr®: emphatic that Britain and America must inevitably lag behind in the ra.ee for supremacy until they learn the lesson so persistently taught by their Continental competitors. _ ! The following comparative totals oi first-class passengers carried between Europe and the United States during the past year tell their own late:— Ctinard Line 10,990 White Star 8,471 Norddeutseller Lloyd ... 22,509 And these figures take no account of the highly successful runs made by tho Italian liners Rex and Conte di Savoia, i and the potential service by the French . giant Normandie. That a. German line’s first-class traffic should have been moro: than that of two British lines together,, was, it is certain, due entirely to tho: possession of the two record-breaking; ships Bremen and Europe. Moreover, it 1 is well known that the patronage j showered upon the Rex and her graceful! sister ship was largely tlie outcome of j the advertisement gained by the Rex j last- August when she. crossed from; Gibraltar to New York at an average; speed of 28.92 knots. The only British; ship capable of anything like that speed is the veteran Mauretania, which recently astonished shipping men by putting up a spurt exceeding 32 knots. It is one tiling, however, to steam _ at this speed under favorable conditions during a pleasure cruise, and quite another to maintain a high average during an Atlantic crossing. The Mauretania is probably the finest vessel ever built, and Englishmen are inexpressibly proud of her, but it cannot be denied that she has , had her day. ;

It appears that efforts are now being made in American shipping circles to disparage the super-liner and “boost” the moderate-sized vessel of about 30,000 tons, But it is significant that until very recently the same circles were enthusiastically proposing to lay down two 60,000-ton ships of the highest speed. The change of opinion, it is suspected, is founded on grounds of economic policy.

More and more the conviction is growing in Britain that the Atlantic service demands the giant liner, and that the completion of the suspended Cunarder and the laying down of a sister liner are not only advisable, but necessary, if foreigners are not to continue to pocket the richest dividends on the North Atlantic route and elsewhere. Considerable pressure is therefore being applied to the Government with the object of having the constructional work on tho uncompleted Cunarder resumed as soon as possible. Recent reports suggest that Lord Weir has advised the Cabinet that orio or two mammoth liners should prove a paying proposition despite the tremendous capital expenditure, involved. Whether the Government will lend an ear to this advice and come to the assistance of the Ctmard line, it. is impossible, at Hie moment, to say, blit those behind the scenes believe the prospect to bo brighter than it lias been for some time.