NOTES FROM HOME

Hokitika Guardian, 3 February 1921, Page 3

NOTES FROM HOME

~ NEW ZEALAND FLEETS. ■ ' LONDON, Dec. 10. Hie Jamaica Legislature have been in communication with the New Zeaj land Shipping Company, with a view to j arranging for the carriage of cargo direct from Jamaica to Australia and • New Zealand. In the past consign- , ments of cocoa, coffee, ginger, and rum I have been shipped by way of Canadian ports. The mail steamers of the company invariably call at Kingston to afford passengers a break in the voyage, and it lias now been arranged that a certain space will be reserved for taking in cargo at that port. The amount is very jjmited, however, and offers no inducement for cargo vessels to call there. The New Zealand Shipping Company’s new steamer Hururiui, which has been completed by Messrs Raylton, 1 Dixon, and Co., Middlesborough, was to have gone on her trials a few weeks ago, but, owing to the tug strike on the Tees, she has not been able to be moved out of the river. : The Piako was near enough to completion not to lie affected by the joiners’ strike, which is now in progress, and she will be delivered by Messrs Alexander and Stephens, Glasgow, by December 20th. It is hoped she will be able to sail for New Zealand some time in January. Although the New Zealand Shipping

Company have no immediate intention of using oil fuel in tlioir fleet of steamers, it is interesting to note that they have taken the precaution in the building of the new vessels to have the water ballast tanks rivetted in such a way as to make them available for oil fuel should they ever decide to core vert the steamers into oil burners in the future. UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY. The Union Steam Ship Company has just added another German cargo steamer to their fleet, which makes the sixth of the ex-enemy vessels the company has purchased from the Government. The Antwerpen, the name by which she has jiitherto been known, has a deadweight of 4700 tons, and a gross tonnage of 3080. She is 310 ft in length, 42ft in width,.and 18ft in depth, with a capacity of 183,500 cubic feet. She has four holds, 8 winches, and 9 derricks, and is fitted with a triple expansion engine of 1300 i.h.p Her speed runs between 9 and 10 knots per liour. The vessel is in good order and will bo handed over after inspie-

'l,ion at Liverpool tins week, one unload a general cargo on rhe West Const jHirts of the United Kingdom, and sail for Australia and New Zealand in about a fortnight or three weeks’ time. The captain has not yet been appointed for the passage. On arrival in the Dominion the Antwerpen will probably l>e used for the intercolonial trade. LORD PIRIUE’S WARNING. Just back from Mexico, whither 'w went to study conditions in connexion with the supply of oil fuel, Lord Pirrie (head of Messrs Borland and Wolff, , and director of several shipping and oil companies), is able to speak with authority. Me says he has tor the past fifteen years held strong views that, although oil was destined to take an important place as fuel tor ships, it is a wrong principle to burn oil merely for the purpose of raising steam. At the same time the Diesel engine will require great carp in manufacture, and its introduction must develop slowly. •‘Personally, I feel concerned after having lecommehded so many of my shipowning friends to convert from coal to oil-fuel consumption, which undouhted- ■ • , i r

!y is a most extravagant way of using such a valuable commodity, and I feel that only such vessels as the AVliit 1 Star, Canard, Royal Mail, Union Castle, and other companies’ express passenger liners will he secure for future oil supplies, and 1 am, therefore, advising friends to go slowly in converting ordinary cargo vessels. Until ship-owners are quite satisfied that there will h t > an abundant supply of oil available, naturally they are in-, dined to proceed cautiously. Oil will, no doubt, l)(> available in large quantities for vessels employed in certain trades, hut there is a possibility that any ship-owner or ship-builder proceeding without careful consideration may find .himself in difficulties.

“Until Mexico gets into a more settled state ,and its Government decides to protect foreign capital invested in the country, my feeling is that there is a risk in going in for too large a programme of vessels built for oil and fuel consumption, more particularly as at the present time wo are relying to a very large extent, upon the production of the Mexican oilfields. Every step should be taken to prevent wasteful use and the consequent exhaustion of supplies. This can best he done by the adoption of the internal combustion engine, provided supplies of Diesel oil are obtainable on the routes in which such vessels will trade, hut to-day it would lie ;i great responsibility for any shipbuilder to advocate the installation of Diesel engines until supplies of Diesel oil are assured. It is no doubt for this reason that so many ship-owners are only using oil at present for burning, waiting until they are absolutely satisfied that there will he a certainty oi sup-

plies of Diesel oil before making the more radical change in engine construction, as by using oil as fuel they always have the option, with very little difficulty, of going hack again to coal

burning. WHAT AMERICA IS DOING. While in America, Lord Pirrio warned ship-builders that the supply of oil fuel was not unlimited, and that it behoved shipowners to proceed with careful consideration before definitely adopt jug an exclusively oil-burning fleet. Misstatements have been criticised there, •iml one of the critics is Mr R. Airey, (vice-president of the Roxana Petroleum Corporation of the Royal Dutch group), whoso view is that the use of liquid fuel is so admirably suited for marine purposes, and has so many advantages over coal, that *f ove_r a shortage occurred its use for land installations would have to he curtailed in order to provide ample supplies for the ships of the world. Nevertheless, future requirements of oil fuel for shipping will he enormous. It is stated that 50 per cent, of the total American tonnage has now been converted to tho use of oil fuel, while of now tonnage now building at least 80 per cent, is designed for the burning of liquid fuel.

lt is estimated that the quantity of coal consumed on the oceans of the world by vessels engaged in international trade and the navies of the various countries, amounted to about 75,000,000 tons per annum —a pre-war estimate. This is roughly equivalent to about 50,000,(XX) tons of fuel oil, or the total world’s production in 1910. The world’s production of petroleum in the last decade has increased about 65 per cent., while the - production of coal shows relatively little change. During this year both Mexico and the United States have greatly increased their production, and apart from tho fact that the oil shale properties of the world are practically untouched there is every reason to expect an adequate sup plv of oil in the future from Persia and the newer oil countries now being energetically developed by British and American capital. , AN INCENTIVE TO OUTPUT. By oil-men attending the meeting of the American Petroleum Institute, considerable significance is attached to the remarks by Mr W. C. Teaglo (president of the Standard Oil Co., New Jersey), who considers there is no need now for any artificial check on production in the United States * to prevent tliq crude oil market being over-stock-ed. He estimates that, in 1920, the United aStates will import something like 120,(KM),(XX) barrels of Mexican crude oil as against about 60,000,000 barrels in 1919. Coming, is <1 ie.s— ? Y barrels in 1919. Coming, as it does,

from the president of the largest refining company in tho world, oil producers feel that, should any seasonal decline occur in the market price of crude oil, it will lie more than made up by the heavy demand from petroleum products which can he looked for starting next spring. Other refining men at the convention express the same opinion as Mr Teaglo. While there is a slackening in the demand for oil in the mid-Con-tinent district, it is ascribed as being nothing more than a temporary condition. The optimistic statement of President Tagle as to the demand for nii in 1921, which he estimates at 7(X),(X)(),(XX) barrels for the entire world is expected to have a favourable influence on oil producers in quickening their efforts to increase the output of the wells. DEVELOPMENTS jN ROUMANIA. Tho total output of oil from the Roumanian wells was 920,410 tons in 1910. During the past month the Steaua Romana lias sold to the Anglo-Persian Company 800 tons of petrol, which has been shipped from Canstantza to Eng-

land. The Steaua Rom an a intends to develop 100 wells oF which 32 will he new locations. During 1921 the company expects to drill a maximum ot approximately 70,000 ft., and it estimates its yearly output at 310,000 tons, or roughly a third ot the total output of Roumania for last year. The increase of .52,734 tons, in 1920 is chiefly attributed to the fact that last year the industry was disorganised by a succession of strikes during .1 illv ami August. TO CONTEST BRITISH SUPREMACY. Mr Mark Sullivan, in the Washington “Evening Post,” writes:— “The United States, before the war j never seriously contested, nor had no j thought, of contesting, Great Britain's dominance in shipping, Imt since, as as incident of the war, wo installed a j huge ship-building plant, and became tbc owners of what tor us, an unprecedented quantity of tonnage,- we have come to he ambitious in this field. If the aggregate mind of our business world were distilled, it would probably he found, consciously or unconscious! v, that wc now have a Ha-

fional ambition to contest Great Britain’s shipping dominance. If we are to achieve a position in sbippng and foregn trade comparable with Lial which Great Britain has had for many generations, wo can only do so through time, patience, and the building up of tho reputation for commercial skill and integrity that make Groat Britain’s prestige in every part of Asia and Africa. Air Sullivan concludes that, if his assumptions are correct, “we are witnessing and participating in one of those great incidents in world history which occurs onlv once yin several cental ies and which will he a subject for p of d s and historians for generations to come.