CARGO PILFERING

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 108, 31 January 1921, Page 6

CARGO PILFERING

ENORMOUS LOSSES SUSTAINED

SEARCH FOR CHIEF SOURCE OF LEAKAGE

By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright.

London, January 28.

A letter written by Lord Inchcape, outlining the losses suffered in the shipping business, has again recalled attention to the serious pilfering of overseas cargoes, which, it is estimated, causes a loss to London alone of over three millions a year.

The Australian Press Association is informed that the shipowners’ losses in the Australian trade frequently amount to £2OOO per ship per voyage. One company recently showed that its pilfering losses were at the rate of £250,000 per annum. The owners are unable to allocate the chief leakage, as to whether they are due to shipping houses’ packers, the railways, the British dockers, or the Australian' wharf labourers. They point out that pilfering by crews is negligible, and is easily distinguished from the expert work done, prior to shipment, when pilfered cases are repacked, and cannot be detected. . London shipowners, in view ot the heavy claims, have recently established, at a cost of £35,000 per annum, a special plain clothes police force, to work on the London Docks. Tho members of the force belong to the port police, but; tho shipowners pay the entire cost of their special work aboard ships. Mr. Gosling, of the Dockers’ Union, approved of the scheme prior to its inauguration, declaring that any prospect of removing the stigma on the dockers was welcome. The fore" is not expected to begin to show results immediately, but alreftdj th increasing prosecutions give P™ I™*® 1 ™*® cuccess. The dockers have raised no PUNISHMENTS IMPOSED PILFERING FROM A CUNARDEIt. (Rec. January 29, 5.5 p.m.) London, January 28. .. GIA Bailev a stevedore was senSmship’s 1 firemen were sentenced to four third'to s“ P mon I ths’ n imprisonment, on 1 charge of receiving, stolen goodsu I a a toat months' amounted to over £20,000.-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.