CONCRETE SHIPS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 191, 2 May 1918, Page 9

CONCRETE SHIPS

CONSTRUCTION IN DOMINION DISCUSSED. ■Tho now ora in shipbuilding heralded by tho launching of tho largo new American concrete vessel, Faith, is apparently not destined to dawn in Now Zealand during- tho war period. Inquiries wndo by mi Auckland reporter from authorities on shipping and concrote elicited thn information that, providing proper plana were available, nothing 6tood in tho way of turning cut in normal times New Zealand concreto hulls equal to American or huropoan hulls of similar material. "However," said a gentleman prominently associated with tho cement industry, "in addition to concreto there 'is a largo quantity of steel used in the construction of a ship's bull, and steel is an unprocurable commodity at present. More oyer, tho necessary engines'und other littings would havo to bo imported, and, owing lo tho war theso are also unphr curablc." Ho added that small concreto vessels for servico on cannls had been iii use. for many yeara in Italy, and, perhaps, in other countries;' but these vessels had been not more than 20(1 tons in weight, and wcro merely used as barges. Ho was cf opinion that concreto ships had come to stay, though some variation from the original lines, of tho pioneer ship might bo found necessary, before tho perfect typo of concrete vessel ■was evolved. Tho cost of a concreto vessel, ho'said, would bo little more than half that of a steel ship, ,ilid concreto hulls could be completed in about, a third of tho timo it look to construct a wooden vessel. Owing to cheapness and rapidity of construction,. ;» compared with other types of ships, tho concrete vessel wa3 apparently destined to prove a strong factor in solving tho war-timo shipping problem for tho allies. Ecvcrting to tho possibility of constructing concreto veVsols in Now Zealand, ho said that by the time tho ship, builders of the Dominion would bo in a position to undertake such a work concreto ships would have ken thoroughly tested iu all respects. Small vcssols foi coastal work ho considered might bo built in Now Zealand, but tho importation of the largo amount of steel necessary for reinforcing the hull, as well as tho engines and. other Sitings, would always, bo more or less of a handicap in undertaking tho construction of large vessels. On tlie other hand we had in New Zealand concreto material equal to any in the world, and a solution for tho steel and engine problem might bo found in years to come.