ROSS SEA WHALING

Southland Times, Issue 20618, 17 October 1928, Page 15

ROSS SEA WHALING

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. ATTRACTIVE PROSPECTUS ISSUED. More than ordinary interest attaches to the publication of the prospectus of the New Zealand and Ross Sea Whaling Company, states the Evening Star. Since the Rosshavet Company has been openxing in the Ross Sea with great success, and New’ Zealanders have been complaining that tremendous wealth is being taken from the Dominions dependency, and the fact tnat the Norwegians took to their market last season whale oil valued at approximately £650,000 has awakened the interest of commercial men to the opportunity being missed by New Zealand itself in the development of the industry. “Under an agreement entered into with the Imperial Government prior to the Ross Sea area coming under the jurisdiction of New Zealand, Messrs Know and Larsen, of Oslo, are licensed to catch whales in the waters of the dependency for a period of twenty-one years,” states the New Zealand Year Book. The license is not an exclusive one, but the licensees were given to understand at the time of its granting that they would be given some opportunity to recoup the heavy initial expenditure arising out of a pioneer expedition.” It is clearly stated that the license to the Rosshavet Company is not an exclusive one, and when representations were made to the Acting-Minister of Marine (Hon. Sir Francis Dillon Bell) by the provisional directors of the New Zealand and Ross Sea Company he signified the Government’s decision to grant a license. The Norwegians have authority to operate two factory ships, with five whale chasers to each bstablishment in the Ross Sea. At first they operated the Sir James Clark Ross, then a modern factory ship; but three years ago they added to their fleet the most modern whaler afloat, the C. A. Larsen, and five “killers.” The New Zealand Company, the capital of which is proposed to be £350,000, has under way a scheme to operate first of all a modern mother ship and five chasers, with a double fleet as the returns increase. In the prospectus, the estimate of a converted factory ship of 12,000 tons gross register is set down at £150,000. It is definitely known that one London firm of shipping brokers has forwarded full particulars of ten vessels, several of them well known in the New Zealand trade, which are on the sale list. The prospective purchase by the New Zealand company has also caused ship owners in England to cable offers. Allowing that the conversion and equipment of a steamer will cost £lOO,OOO, the total estimate seems on the high side, as the vessels offered are marked down at cheap prices. The fullest information from all parts of the world on whaling and ship operating costs has been obtained, and the critics will find difficulty in complaining about the estimates being on the low side. Wisely, the company intends to engage Norwegian captains for both the factory ship and chasers. The Norwegians are unsurpassed as whalers, and foremen for the various factory operations will also have to be engaged. But the remainder of the crew will be New Zealanders, thus giving lucrative employment to many young men of the Dominion. A heavy expenditure is made annually by the Rosshavet Company in having to go to Norway after each season, as the crew’s homes are in that far-off country. The New Zealand company proposes to require that all members of the crew have their homes at Port Chalmers or Dunedin. The factory operators and the chasing crews will sign off at Port, and the ship’s crew will take the vessel to New York (or England) to discharge her rich cargo. The prospectus is in every way attractive, and the New Zealand company has only to experience the fortune of the Norwegians to be rewarded with rich returns. The fact that the Neilsen Alonzo, another Norwegian vessel, which operated outside the territorial waters of the Ross Sea during the past two seasons, obtained roughly £350,000 worth of oil on her first expedition, is sufficient evidence of the success which can well be expected to attend a New Zealand financed and owned expedition under the control of experienced men. In the prospectus it is stated: “Another advantage of having the base at Port Chalmers will become more apparent later on, when in all probability this company will extend its whaling season with the chasers round the Antipodes, Auckland, Campbell, and Stewart Islands.” It is well known that seals are becoming populous in the southern islands, and an agitation has already been commenced for the Government to declare an open season, for which licenses will necessarily have to be granted. The hint in the company’s statement is obviously that sealing will attract its attention should licenses be granted. The wealth which has been obtained from sealing alone in the days gone by is enormous, and now that the seal population has increased out of all knowledge a lucrative business would be opened up. NORWEGIAN COMPANY. GREAT ACTIVITY APPARENT. MANY NEW EXPEDITIONS. An interesting article in the Norwegian Journal of Commerce and Shipping at the beginning of July stated that great activity was then being shown in Norwegian whaling centres in preparation for the coming season, which would be marked by a great extension of operations in the open oceans. The pelagic regions are, of course, not a new field, it was remarked, but it is only this year that this field has begun to be properly developed. The latest methods of “fishing” are to be specially employed by the new expeditions, and most of the old-established companies have reorganized their fleets and are more or less adopting the new methods. “There can be no doubt but that the operations in the pelagic regions mark a new epoch in Norwegian whaling, as did the transfer of operations from the Arctic to the Antarctic some years ago. It is not easy to obtain information as to where the new companies intend to operate, and the managers say that they do not yet know themselves. No doubt this is largely due to competition. The Weddel Sea, however, seems to be the most favoured. The fleets are to start earlier this year than last, experience having shown that it most advantageous to start early along the edge of the ice in the Antarctic. Most of tHte expedititions will probably leave Norway in August, and. by the beginning of October operations in certain regions will be in full swing.

“The signing in of the crews for this mighty whaling fleet has been going on from the beginning of July. A considerably larger number of men will be wanted this year than last. Several of the largest ships will each require 200 men. It is estimated that w r ell over 5000 men will be required, and even so it is not easy to secure a job in the whaling fleet. Men are standing in long queues waiting in the hope of being signed on, but the various companies have, of course their old crews who have been with them for years.” Since the beginning of this year Norwegian whaling companies have purchased seven large British steamers for conversion into pelagic whaling factories. These include the former White Star liners Athenic 12,336 tons (renamed Pelagos), and Medic, 12,222 tons; the New Zealand Shipping Company’s steamer Opawa, 9306 tons (renamed Antarctic) ; the oil tanker San Lorenao, 12,087 097 tons gross register; and the cable steamer Colonia (renamed Torodd), 8022 tons grass register; and the cable have' been made in these ships to fit them for handling and rendering down whale carcases. Several have had slipways fitted in the bows for hauling carcases on deck similar to that on the C. A. Lareen, while the Athenic and others have the slipways at the stern.

Among the whaling expeditions fitting out at Sandefjord last month were the Rosshavet Company’s C. A. Larsen and Sir James Clark Ross, both of which are due in New Zealand next month on their way io the Roes Sea. Other ewedtiow pre-

paring at Sandefjord were the Sydhavet Company’s floating factory, Svend Foyn, 4136 tons, with three chasers; the Ornen Company’s floating factory, Svend Foyn, and Orn 11.. 4358 tons, each with three chasers in addition to a transport ship of 17,500 tons dead-weight capacity. The Odd Company is sending out the factory ship Torodd (ex Colonia) with a tank capacity of 50,000 barrels. The Torodd has a hauling slipway aft and will operate pelagically with three chasers. Messrs Bryde and Dahl have also a new factory ship, the Thorhammer, of 17,000 tons deadweight and a capacity of 70,000 barrels. She is to operate pelagically, but without license, with the four chasers of the Norwegian Whaling Company which works the west coast of Australia. It is possible that the Thorhammer may go to the Antarctic regions south of Australia. Messrs Bryde and Dahl and the Estfold Company will also operate ships at South Georgia. The N. T. Nielsen Alonso, which has worked for two seasons without a license in the Ross Sea was fitting out at Larvik. She will probably be working this season in company with another unlicepsed ship in the same region. The Globus Company’s Lancing, 7991 tons, and the Norge Company’s Solstreif, 5643 tons, were fitting out at Larvik for the South Shetland region below Cape Horn. The Ishvaet Company, a new concern is fitting out the motor ship Hanger (formerly the British full-rigger Scottish Glens), with a capacity of 17,000 barrels, and two whale chasers.

According to the Norwegian- Journal of Commerce, however, even greater activity in fitting out whalers was in progress at Tonsberg. Two new pelagic companies, both managed by Messrs Brunn and von der Lippe, are repairing the Pelagos (ex Athenic) and the Antarctic, each with five specially-built whale chasers. The Pelagos has a capacity of 70,000 barrels, and the Antarctic 60,000 barrels. The Hektor Company of Tonsberg, having bought another large f actory ship, will have three expeditions to operate this season in the Antarctic. The Tonsberg Whaling Company will again operate from a shore station at South Georgia, and with a floating factory at the South Orkney Islands. The Anglo-Norse Company will again work in the region of the Sandwich Group in the South Atlantic. It is generally understood that, although whaling operations are carried on almost exclusively under the Norwegian flag, much British capital is invested in the business. In connection with the question of diminution in the number of whaler, and the possibility of some international regulation being necessary to prevent the extinction of the species owing to the intensive fishing of the past few years, the Norwegian Journal of Commerce says it is of great interest to hear the opinions of old experienced whalers. “A great authority on whaling and a pioneer in the South Shetland expeditions, who knows the migrations of whales, probably better than anyone else, expresses the opinion that there is as yet no danger of any undue strain, although, of course, there is a limit ,to the degree of intensity with which the fishing of whales can be carried on. The field is so enormously large, however, that he sees no need to fear the present strain destroying or diminishing the number of whales. The ‘home’ of the blue whale has not yet been found, nor are the peregrinations of this whale known, and the Weddell Sea is still an unexplored region. The whale sticks to the ice where it finds its food, and no blue whale which is worth catching is seen north of 58 degrees south. This whale disappears in February, and comes back in April, but where it is during that period is unknown. There is still a great deal about whales, their life, habits, whereabouts, migrations, etc., which is not known.”