CARGO CONTROL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 5, 6 January 1940, Page 7

CARGO CONTROL

ALLIED OPERATIONS SEARCH FOR CONTRABAND LATEST FIGURES i [ British Official Wireless j / RUGBY, Jan. 4. j During the week ended December ; 30, British contraband control inter- j cepted 20,800 tons of coniranand I goods, suspected of being destined [ for Germany. The total included j 17,500 tons of petroleum mid allied I products, 1450 tons of ores and i metals, 600 tons of miscellaneous | foodstuffs, 400 tons of oil seeds, 165 | tons of cotton, 160 tons of gums and! resins, and quantities of rubber, i chemical products, tanning materials, I timber, hides and skins. In the first 17 weeks of the war British control detained a total of 537,600 tons. A total of 42y,00U tons has also been seized by France. It, is reported that during tne last week of December the French Navy examined ten vessels and intercepted 27,000 tons of goods. The total number of ships examined to date is 227, and 429,000 Lons of merchandise have ) been intercepted. On January 2 there were 27 ntu- j tral ships in three United Kingdom; control bases, of which 29 had been I there five days or less. The total in- | ( eluded 20 Netherlands, 14 for five ■ days or less; five Norwegian, two for i five days or less; four Belgian, all for live days or less; lour Swedish, three : for five days or less; four Greek, two | for five days or less. I, During the week ending December I ; 30 the contraband committee consid- [' ered cargoes of 122 ships which ar- ! rived since December 23 and 20 out.-;' standing cargoes from the previous ) ( week. The combined total included u 35 Italian, 25 Netherlands, 23 Nor- I. wegian, 10 Greek, 10 Swedish, 7 Bel- L gian, 6 Danish, 5 British, 4 Finnish, j, and 4 United States ships. In 76 cases the entire cargoes were ( released, either on first consideration or after inquiries. The system under which advance . copies of the manifests of cargoes are i received and considered beiore the ; ships' ’arrival at United Kingdom ports resulted during the week under review in 24 cases being so dealt with, : and in 19 cases of ships concerned being released by the committee sub- ' ject merely to formal checking of the i original manifests on their a; rival at! control bases.