The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1920. THE SHIPPING SITUATION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 300, 13 September 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1920. THE SHIPPING SITUATION

As regards both oversea and coastal trade, the shortage of ships is still somewhat acutely ieltin this country. The facts regarding the export of primary produce arc familiar, and only a few days ago the general manager of the Union Steam Ship Company was credited with the statement that its managing- director in London had been endeavouring to secure more tonnage for immediate delivery, but he had so far been unsuccessful. Thero arc some apparently positive indications, however, that this state of affairs will be altered considerably in the near future. Indeed the fear has been expressed m wellinformed quarters in Great Britain that as a result of the rapid output of new tonnage, the carrying power of British ships will before long bo far in excess of trading requirements. The London Observer recently quoted a high authority on shipping and industrial questions as stating that, "Our shipowners, who aro full of pluck and energy, have gone ahead far too fast; the nation is not building up to them. The implication here conveyed— that the British mercantile marine is being built un at a rate out of proportion to the accompanying expansion of production and trade generally-is at least in a measure borne out bv the current figures oi trade and shipping construction. Tt is true that in April last, when the ocean-going tonnage of the world stood at 42,800,000 tons and just about equalled the pre-war fimire, it was short of. about ten million tons that in normal, course would have been added during the five vears of war, had that period been'one of unbroken peace. Account has to be taken, however, of the fact that the volume of , seaborne' traik even where Britain is concerned, is still far below the pre-war level. Some figures quoted on Saturday showed that the tonnage of oversea ships entering British ports with cargoes was less by about 27 per cent, in the first six months of this year than during the corresponding period of' 1913, while on the same basis the tonnajre of oversea ships clearing British ports with cargoes showed a, drop of about 44 per cent, on the figures of li)i;«. While trade is recovering slowly, the outmtt of new ship? from British yards has developed on an unexampled scale, and m the latest period for which detailed statistics are available (to June 30, 1920) this increase is made, all the more remarkable by the coincident decline of construction in American va.rcls. The following table., comnilcd bv Sin Leo Cmom Mosbtt from Lloyd's returns, shows the rrreat chanr-c that has occurred, in British and American shipbuilding activities since the beginning of 1919: — MEnorvNT Ships Undeii Construction. United United All the Kingdom, States, world, 1919. * gross tons, grow lons, gross tons. March 31 2,255,000 "4,185,000 7.700,000 .Tune 30... 2,521,000 3,871,000 8.018,(100 Sept. 30... 2,817,000. 3,471,000 5,019,000 Dec. 31... 2,991,000 2,900,000 7,861,000 1920. March 31 3.394,000 2,573,000 7,912,000 Juno 30... 3,575,C00 2,100,000 7,721,000 From March 111, 1919, to June 30, 1020, the amount of shipping under construction in the United Kingdom increased by 1.323,000 gross tons, v/hilo in the same, period American construction declined by 2,079,000 gross tons. Britain alone had a considerably greater volume of shipping tonnage under con-

struction at the end of last Juno than was being built throughout the world in June, 1914. World construction has much more than doubled since the last-mentioned date; nevertheless Britain has almost retained the relative position sho held before the war. In June, 1914, her percentage of the shipping under construction throughout the world was 54.4; in June last it was 49.6.

While ho emphasises the great industrial achievement of which these figures afford evidence, Sir Leo Money agrees with other authorities who anticipate, a fall from the current rate.of shipbuilding in Great Britain. _ Indeed he points out that a check in tho rate of beginning new works is already apparent, though to a much less pronounced extent than in the United States. In the quarter ended March, 11)20, new vessels commenced in British yards were of 708,000 gross tons. In tho quarter ended June, the vessels commenced had a total of 589,000 tons. He adds that the slow increase in the world's production of commodities must lead us to expect a further decline in the near future, although there will be plenty of room for renewed increase in the time to come. With the output of ships running, if anything, ahead of trade requirements, it ought to bo possible to anticipate a comparatively early improvement in the conditions of oversea transport which in recent years have been hampering production arid industry in this country. ■ The Dame circumstances in themselves should promote keen competition between shipowners and tend to an casing of freights. It is necessary, however, to take account of other faotors than the recent noteworthy output of new tonnage in estimating shipping prospects. As compared with pre-war times, British shipowners are faced by many new The cost of constructing ships and the expenses of operating them have alike increased enormously, and while total trade is far from having recovered its prewar volume, the heavy reduction in the exportofcoal from the United Kingdom in itself is a tremendous handicap on the shipping industry. Theexport of coal from Britain is officially restricted at present to 1,750,000 tons per month, or 21,000,000 tons per annum—that is to say to considerably less than onethird of the pre-war export. Before the war, coal represented in bulk, though not in value, about threefourths of the total exports from tho U.tited Kingdom. It provided freights for ships on their outward voyages.and nothing has been found to take its place. Thus to a much greater extent than formerly homeward cargo has to bear the cost of the round voyage, and British ships arc deprived of a highly important advantage they formerly enjoyed in competing with'the ships of other nations. Another new factor which has yet to be tested is the protective shipping legislation lately enacted in the United States—legislation which aims at driving vessels of other nations out of American norts. How the new conditions will work out is meantime in some respects uncertain. They seem, however, decidedly to favour a vigorous development of inW-Imperial trade, and incidentally to promise early relief from the evils of shinning shortage as these have been felt in New Zealand.