THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 788, 11 April 1910, Page 6

THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

4- — There has been a considerable revival; in the shipbuilding industry of the United Kingdom, which has been greatly accentuated recently by the increased orders.for warships. But while shipbuilding is active, the shipping trade, or the freight market is quiet. It is perhaps a little better to-day than it was, say, six months ago, but the general trend is considered to be towards depression and. there appears to be good grounds_ for this view. _ The Liverpool Ship-owners' 'Association has investigated the matter and the root cause of the depression is said to be excess tonnage. The statistics of the past fifteen years have been carefully analysed and certain definite conclusions have been arrived at. In 1894-there were 5446 steam and sailing vessels belonging to the United ■ Kingdom, of tha aggregate net tonnage of 7,553,700 tons, engaged in oversea business, and in 1908, though the number had fallen to 4598, the net tonnage. had incroased to 9,977,800 tons. The tonnage of sailing craft declined '1,440,400 tons, and that of steam advanced 3,864,500 tons, and while the proportion of steel sailing vessels rose,from 33 to 60 per cent., that of steel steamships jumped from 56 to 93 per cent. Not only, has there been a radical alteration in the size of ships, but their, carry ing capacity has also immensely developed. A steamer constructed prior to 1888 carried twice its net tonnage, but a modern-built craft carries nearly three times its net tonnage, On this , basis, with: an adjustment for sailing ships, the. dead weight cargo-carrying capacity of tne British mercantile fleet in 1894 was 12,400,000 tons,' while in 1908 it aggregated 22,800,000 tons, a gain of 10,400,000 tons. Thus, while the net tonnage increased during the fifteen years by 32 'per cent., 'the "carrying capacity increased 84 peivcent. Furthermore,, the average, speed" of .steamers has risen since 1894 .from 10.4 "to ll knots; During the past fifteen years tho tonnage belonging to the United Kingdom employed .in foreign trade has been practically rebuilt and the fleet consists mainly of steel steamers, of upwards of 2000 tons net, of increased speed, and having for each ton of register a greater cargo-carrying capacity than the vessels of 1894.

■ The entrances and clearances at United Kingdom ports in 1894 represented 67,000,000 net tonnage, and in 1908, 97,000,000 net tonnage, a gain of 30,000,000 tons. ; The British tonnage increased from. 49,000,000 to 63,000,000 tons, and ( the foreign tonnage from 17,000,000 to 34,000,000 tons. It is calculated that in 1894 British tonnage accounted for 73 per cent, of the total entrances and clearances and for 65 per cent, in 1908; in the same years the proportion of foreign tonnage rose from 27 to 35 per cent. It is estimated that from 1894 to 1906, the entrances and clearances at the main ports of the world increased from 345j000,000 net tons,.to 587,000,000 net tons, the British tonnage advancing from 178,000,000 tons to 259,000,000 tons, and the foreign from 167,000,000 tons to 328,000,000 tons. In 1894: British vessels represented 52 per cent, of the total tonnage employed in the world, but in 1906 this figure had been reduced to 44 per cent. Foreign shipping had not only maintained its proportion of tonnage in national ports, but the tonnage ' of other nations competing in British ports had gone up 8 per cent. Up to the end of 1897 British owners were, on the average, each year losing,; breaking 'up, and selling to foreigners '250,000 tons net of steam shipping engaged in foreign trade, and replacing it with 400,000 tons net of greater carrying capacity. Since 1897 and up' to 1908 the average lost, broken up, and sold to foreigners was 300,000 tons net, which has been replaced with 600,000 tons net of such shipping. It is not the least remarkable feature of shipping developments that during the last decade and a half the British have, in the face of increasing competition, entirely rebuilt their mercantile marine with larger and faster vessels, and have thus rendered the tonnage more efficient than ever for business purposes. ' The British ship-owner must expect to meet with' more strennous competition during the next fifteen years. Foreigners have increased their tonnage largely by the help of subsidies and there is snrc to be a further development of this system. The 'agitation for protection to American foreign shipping is steadily gaining ground. The chief argument put forward in favour of subsidies is a patriotic one. It is not surprising that the recent speotacle of the United States Government being obliged to charter foreign vessels to carry American coal for the use of American 'war vessels when they went cruising round the ;world made a deep impression and stimulated the movement in favour of subsidies. The rapid rise of Japanjs shipping trade under the subsidies law of that country is also acting as a great stimulus to the movement in America, and tho action of the British Government _ in assisting the building and ! maintenance of the Mauretania and Lusitania is not without effect. The expenditure in J connection with the Panama Canal is also a factor in the present agitation for more American ships. It is pointed out by the Merchant' Marine League that unless the

United States has a sufficient number of vessels of a class that can compete with the ships of other nations the cost of the construction of the canal will have been incurred largely for the benefit of foreigners. Since 1855 shipping has been the only great industry in America unprotected, and from then till now its foreign mercantile marine has shrunk, until just about 85 per cent, of the country's oversea commerce is carried in foreign vessels. .