SUEZ CANAL ROUTE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19038, 11 June 1936, Page 16

SUEZ CANAL ROUTE

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE SHIPPING EXPERIMENTS (Klec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.l LONDON, June 10. The Daily Telegraph's naval correspondent says that though there is no question of Britain ever totally abandoning the Mediterranean, a spokesman for all the three services is strongly urging that a definite decision regarding Britain's future policy in the Mediterranean should be taken without delay, for which the early summoning of an Imperial Conference on Defence is suggested, since the matter cannot be . settled without consulting the Dominions." "Is it not correct that the Government is planning a big naval base at Cyprus, which is. flanked by non-British territory," continues the correspondent. "Moreover, naval experts argue that, with the development of aviation, Cyprus will soon become as vulnerable as Malta, whose future is still undecided. "The question of Capetown as a possible base for a British battle fleet is already receiving official consideration. It is not generally known that since August, a considerable portion of the traffic which normally would have passed through the Suez Canal has been diverted to the Cape route, enabling the naval and shipping authorities to gain valuable experience, especially regarding the bunkering and port facilities needed if the whole of the eastern traffic had, in certain contingencies, to be diverted via the Cape.