SHIP-BUILDING RETURNS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5504, 3 March 1896, Page 2

SHIP-BUILDING RETURNS.

A glance throueh the English shipbuilding returns for the year 1895, which reached ns by the San Francisco mail, is both interesting and instructive. During the twelve months 579 vessels, of 950,967 tona gross, • exclusive of warships, wore launched from the ship-building yards of the United Kingdom. Of these 526 were steamers, with a tonnage of 904,991 tons, and 53 wore sailing vessels, of 46,976 tons. The warships launched at both Government and privato yards numbered 59, of 148,111 tons displacement, thus making the total output 638 vessels,,, of 1,099,078 tons. Leaving warships out of ■consideration the output of th© year ia less than that of 1894 by over -5,000 tons, but the proportion of steam tonnage to the total launched is much higher. In 1892 sailing tonnage formed no less than 24 per cent of the output, in 1893 14 por cent, in 1894 8 per cent, and in 1895 less than 5 per cent. As tho war_hip tonnage launched in. 1895 exceeded that launched in 1894 by upwards of 115,000 tons displacepient, the total output of vessels of all classes for the year exceeds that of 1894 by 20,000 tons Taking the output of 1889 as the maximum productive capacity of the ship-building yards it would appear that during 1895 the building facilities of the country have been utilised to the extent of about seveneighths of their capacity. The material used in construction continues to show greatly in favour of steel. Of the steam tonnage nearly 98*8 per cent has been built of steel,and l*2per cent of iron. Theiron tonnage is practically mad, up of trawlers, and comprises no vessel of more than 425 tons. Of the sailing tonnage 97 per cent has been built of steel and 3 per cent of wood. Eighty per cent of the total tonnage, or 761,036 tons, belongs to ports of the United Kingdom, while the losses by wreoks, &_., during the same period is set down as 264,000 tons. When sales to foreign and colonial owners and purchases from outside come to be placed side by side with the new construction and the losses by wreoks, it leaves the small net increase to the meroantile marine of the United Kingdom of some 129,000 tons, which is 300,000 tons below the result of 1894.