SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 October 1924, Page 12

SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

DEEP DEPRESSION. I IMPROVED TRADE PROSPECTS. ( By Archibald Hurd, in the Sydney Morning Herald). * I It was recently revealed that only ■.bom one-third of the world’s shipping was no.v under the British flag, wne.eas ten years ago the proportion ap- | •pmached one-half—33 per cent., as ' ccmjKued with 441 per cent. That • tatement applies only to steamers ajid motor vessels, and not to sailing ships, which are now of decreasing importune in the movement of trade; indeed. > u a lew years there will probably be no sailing vessels engaged in the ocean trades, as distinct from the coasting trades. The conclusion readied by a good ;:anv people is that British shipping is n a very bad way, and that its ’supremacy niav soon be a thing .of the. msL. Crude statistics, particularly .itii reference to shipping, are. miserding. because ships differ in character as well as in efficiency, and, surprising though it may appear, ‘‘British hipping is still the most efficient instrument of transport, whether judged by the volume or the quality of its. .onnage." That is the statement ol the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, and it is borne out by an ext mi nation of the position. The amoiipnt of shipping under tlxe British flag, in spite of the heavy losses suffered during the Great War. is now almost exactly wlmt it was ten years ago. In June, 1914. the British mercantile marine consisted of .18.877,•;00 tons gross, and it now amounts to 1.8,917.000 tons gross, an increase of only 40,000 tons gross. . On the other hand. Germany, m spite of her postwar efforts to build ships to replace those she surrendered under the P« ace Treaty, still had 2,250,000 tens less shipping than she had ten years aeo. Other.. foreign Powers, and particularly Urn United Stares, Japan, Italy. Hoiiand, and France, have, in the meantime, been very busy in their shipyards. The result is that foreign merchant fleets, apart from the German mercantile marine, have increased, in the past ten years by 17,250,000 tons. J'f tnat expansion American shipyards rave been responsible for 10,000,000 tons, while Japan is bettor off to tno extent of 2,000,000 tons; France and >taly by about 2,250.000; and Holland by little more than 1,000,000 tons. As soon as the war was over, there was u widespread movement to- . build ships, with the lesuit that, making allowance for the partial eclipse of Germany, there are still afloat ships of 15,000,000 tons more than there were on the eve .if the war. it may look as though, the outlook for British shipping, in face of this increased foreign competition, was bad, particularly as the amount of trade to be carried by sea is very much less than it was ten years ago.' It has been estimated that the volume of ocean-borne crade has decreased m ten years by 25 icr teiiL.. while the figures which, have been quoted sheuv that the tonnage a boat has increased by .upwards of 35 per cent. That is the position as it is .even led bv the crude statistics wlncn are available. Figures are, however, sometimes very deceptive, and the position is nor really as serious as might be assumed. A great many of the. ships built during the war in foreign countries were of poor design, and were constructed very hurriedly, with the result that they are costly to operate, involving heavy charges ror repairs. It is estimated :hat probably half of the surplus now afloat, as compared with June, 1914, may be regarded as either obsolete, or otherwise uneconomic, ana these inefficient ships will probably never go to sea again. Allowance must also be made for the great increase of vessels which carry oil, and do not compete in' the movement of ordinary cargoes There are nearly 10(H) oil tankers of upwards of 5,000,000 tons, included in the gross statistics of the world’s shipping. The tonnage which is now laid up, because it is cheaper to maintain ships in idleness than have crews on board, amounts to 5,500,000 gross tons, and of that idle tonnage no less than 4,250,000 tons are to be found in American oorts. In the recesses c.f the great American harbours hundreds of ships are tied un because there is no work for them to do at sea, whereas, on the other hand, .the amount of idle tonnage insfjjrjtish ports is comparatively small, amounting to only 750,000 tons gross. These figures are particularly interesting, as an indication of the conditions on the two sides of the Atlantic The British mercantile marine consists, as has been stated, of just under 19,000,000 tons, and it is all in active employment except for 750,000 tons. What conclusion may be drawn from this examination of shipping statistics? It must be evident that British shipping bs highly efficient, or it would be unable to keep* the seas in such large numbers in face of the restlctive laws and regulations of foreign countries such as Japan, Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, all of which endeavour ii various wavs to discourage their traders from using anv ships other than •bo«e under their own flags, either in their coasting trade or in ccean trading. Wlmt has happened in tlm United Kingdom is a remarkable illustration of the initiative and enterprise of British shipowners. They suffered grievously . during the wa’*; German s”bniarines and mines destroyed near]” 8,009,000 tons of British shipping, and

■upwards of 1.000,000 tons were lost by ordinary marine casualties, making an aggregate little short of 9,000,0va; tons. Before the war was over British shipyards had been set to work to turn out new vessels. The result has been that the tonnage which was destroyed has all been replaced. It is a remarkable testimony to the determination and courage of British shipowners, faced with many labour and other. difficulties, that nearly half the ships no\\ under the Red Ensign have been built within the -past ten years. More than 9,000,000 tons have been const! ucted during this period, or almost exactly the amount sunk during the war. Another illustration of the efficiency of British shipping, since age is a test of efficiency,- Us that our of 19,090,000 tons now afloat, onlv about 3.500,000 tons is more than 20 years old. It can thus be understood why the Cnamber of Shipping declares so positively that “British shipping is still the most efficient instrument of transport, whether judged by the volume or quality of its tonnage.’’ Of the 338 vessels of 10,000 tons or more these being the big ships that support national prestige—no fewer than 198. or about two-fifths, are under the B-it-ish flag.

The British shipping industry is passing through a period of great depression. but it is not because too manv ships have been built for the British mercantile marine, or, on the ' other [ hand, because the British mercantile marine consists of a large proportion of old vessels. It is due simply and solely to the fact that foreign countries, particulary the United States, nave built too many vessels, and particularv cargo vessels, for the restrictV'? c^e f >fU ' r i e( T The influence of tins surplus tonnage on the freight market has been disastrous to British shipowners. The movement is reflected in the index figures calculated by the Chamber of Shipping. This'shows that the average freight has fallen since 1921 from 37.59 to 27.41. It needs little knowledge of shipping to realise that, with wages of officers and seamen high, and coal or oil very costly, most, voyages have recently resulted badly. Indeed, the Chamber of Shipping contends that last year, “although I passenger ships have fared somewhat I better than general cargo carriers initernntional ocean-borne trade, as a I whole, has been transported not only I without profit to the shipowners, but at heavy loss.” That is a statementI which apnhes to all shipping, but British shipping has suffered more seriously than the shipping of other European flags, because wages and other expenses hi British ships are much higher than in foreign vessels. .Rut 'ri spite of all the difficulties with which they' are confronted, British shipowners remain optimistic. Old ships are being condemned and broken lip and new ships are being built ; 391 vessels of 1;516.744 tons are now being built in British shipyards. On the other hand, the .merchant vessels which are being built in all foreign countries, including the United States, number only 395 of 1,000,000 tobs. It is, of course, a fact that not all the ships bui-lding in British yards are intended for the British mercantile marine, as a good many are being constructed for foreigners, but it is.true that more than three-quarters of the ships building to-day in British yards are intended for service under the British flag. Tf it lie asked how British shipowners can go on building new ships in spite of the losses from which they are suffering owing to the fall of freights, the explanation is a simple one. They possess large reserves which were necumalated during prosperous years, and they are gradually investing that cap- 1 ital in new ships, hoping that better times are coming and convinced thatnewer vessels can earn profits where old ones incur only losses. This is pertir-nlarv tree of the new motor ships which are being built in the United Kingdom Already the British mefean. tele msHne includes 139 motor shins of 375.000 tons, and additional motor ships of 355.590 gross tons are to be launched during the next few months.