Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1947 THE OUTLOOK FOR BRITISH SHIPPING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 7, 19 March 1947, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 1947 THE OUTLOOK FOR BRITISH SHIPPING

ACCORDING to the president of the British Chamber of Shipping the British shipping industry has an actual and potential commitment of about £200,000,00 involved in the restoration of Britain’s shipping services to their pre-war position. Much has already been done to replace the losses suffered during the war but the task still to be accomplished involves not only a tremendously increased cost per unit of service but also the surmounting of labour and material handicaps that substantially increase the difficulties to be overcome. Statistics show that in 1939 the British shipping industry held pride of place in both passenger and cargo liners. They are authoritatively stated to have numbered 1100 of a total tonnage of 8,500,000 and of these about onehalf were lost during the war. Of the tramp cargo ships the loss was still heavier, being nearly 75 per cent. Moreover, at the close of the war many of the vessels required extensive overhauls while others had .to be reconverted and reconditioned. And costs in the meantime have more than doubled. A White Paper issued shortly after the close of the war showed that the United Kingdom entered the war with a merchant fleet of some 22,000,000 deadweight tons. During the war period more than one-half this tonnage was lost through enemy action. Writing on the situation Sir Archibald Hurd, the well-known naval authority, makes it clear that the shipowners are facing the future with faith and courage. No fewer than 914 vessels of 2,699,000 tons gross, he stated in September last, were either building or on order in Britain. The shipowners are rebuilding their fleets in the expectation that more people will travel in the future than in the past and that while the air services will be used by those to whom time is money or the need urgent there will be as many passengers as in pre-war days who will appreciate the amenities of the slower passage by sea and the social intercourse they make possible. It is anticipated that all the liner services will be restored.by the end of 1948 but according to Sir William Currie, chairman of the P. and O. and British India line, all the resources of the shipping companies would be exhausted in accomplishing this, and he anticipates a possible deficit of £12,000,000. So far as the Dominions are concerned it is promised that they will have travel facilities by sea provided for them at least as good, and in most cases better, than existed when the second world war opened. The position regarding cargo liners is not regarded in quite the same optimistic spirit. Overshadowing the prospects for British cargo carriers is the huge fleet accumulated by the United States as a part of its contribution to the war effort. According to the authority previously quoted the United States at the close of the war had at its disposal 40,080,000 tons gross or more than double the seagoing tonnage under British ownership in 1939. Actually in 1939 Britain owned 26.1 per cent. of. the world’s shipping tonnage as against 13 per cent, owned by the United States; so that when the war ended the position of the two countries in respect of shipping had been reversed. The official forecast anticipates that the greater part of this American tonnage will be laid up and some will be purchased by British shipowners. The tonnage to be maintained in active service, however, is estimated at 11,000,000 tons, which is nearly 2,000,000 tons greater than the active fleet operated under American ownership in pre-war days. This means formidable competition, which the United States plans to carry out on foreign trade routes considered “essential” to the development of American commerce. Some of this shipping under,the American flag will be assisted by State subsidies. It is of interest to note that in spite of the handicaps with which they have been confronted in the initial stages of the post-war period, British shipowners, Sir Archibald Hurd records, await the competition which lies ahead of them with confidence in their native wit and inherited efficiency, provided, he adds, “they can regain their freedom from bureaucratic interference and the trade unions do not raise the building and operating costs to dizzy heights.”

* " Famine Emergency Campaign

American Generosity

Rationing coupons surrendered at the Post Office, Whakatane, during the period 10th-15th instant were as under: Butter 6j>lbs; meat £1 17s 6d; sugar, tea and fats nil. Total collections to date are now: Sugar 191bs; tea 131bs; butter 2261b5; meat £214 9s lid.

N.Z. Pipe Bands

According to Mr lan Cameron, president of the New Zealand Pipe Bands’ • Association, there are 86 pipe bands in New Zealand, 92 in Australia, 96 in Canada and 135 in the British Isles, so that on a population basis, New Zealand has the greatest number in the Empire.

Passengers on an inward tram from St. Kilda, Dunedin, were not a little amused by the insistence of a visiting American sailor, from one of the United States Navy ships berthed at Port Chalmers, in paying the fares of every person who boarded the tram during the journey to the Exchange. Both the conductor and the passengers were somewhatdisconcerted at the outset by the action of the sailor, who produced a handful of pound notes and silver, and held the respective lots in either hand while he imparted his wish to the conductor. Amid amusement, he persuaded all on board to be his guests for the trip.