Whaling Industry

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23316, 27 September 1945, Page 4

Whaling Industry

yHE first of three new British whaling-factory ships was launched in June. The vessel will have a loaded dead-weight capacity of 20,500 tons, and it will be able to store 19,500 tons of whale oil in nine separate compartments. The machinery of the factory ship, which is supplied with whales in the Antarctic by a fleet of whale catchers, usually from 330 to 550 tons displacement, is of the most modern type. The oil-storing capacity of the new ship is slightly above the capacity of the “Terje Viken,” the largest British-owned factory ship, constructed in Germany and delivered in 1936. During the last pre-war whaling season in the Antarctic, from December, 1938, to March, 1939, Great Britain’s whaling fleet comprised 10 factory ships and 84 whale catchers. Norway then employed 11 factory ships with 83 whale catchers. For some years before the war whaling was regulated by an international convention, which prevented whaling in the Arctic for the protection of the depleted schools of whales. Great Britain operated, in addition to the whaling factory ships, oil factories on the island of South Georgia in the Arctic sea; and during the last two years before the war Great Britain accounted for 35 per cent of the world’s whale oil production, which amounted to 552,000 tons in 1937-38 and 476,000 tons in 1938-39. In 1939 Great Britain imported 53 per cent of the world’s whale oil output. Its importance can be seen by the fact that whale oil constituted 23 per cent of the total imports of oilseeds and vegetable oils in 1939, exclusive of the imports of butter, lard and margarine. If, during the coming season at the end of this year, whaling by a reconstituted fleet of factory ships and whale catchers owned by Great Britain and Norway could be resumed, the catches should be large after the long interruption during the war. The Norwegian winding industry hopes to produce 85,000 tons of whale oil during the 1945-46 season. Negotiations between the British and Norwegian Governments for the limitation and regulation of the whale-catching season have been concluded. The catching season will be from November 24 to March 21. It is doubtful, however, whether the maximum number of whales, fixed at 16,000 by the agreement, will actually be caught because of the damage and losses sustained by the British and Norwegian whaling fleets. A successful whaling season during the coming winter would alleviate the oil and fat shortage in Great Britain, especially in the margarine and soap industries, which are the principal users of whale oil.