BRITISH SHIPYARDS

Hokitika Guardian, 1 April 1930, Page 7

BRITISH SHIPYARDS

OUTLOOK SURVEYED

The outlook for the British shipbuilding industry was surveyed 'by "Mr W. L. Hit-hens, chairman of Cammell, Laird, and Company, Ltd., speaking at the launch at Birkenhead of a cargo vessel, ft was quite true, he said, that the tonnage launched last year, at 1,525,000 tons, was greater than for any year since 1921, but it was not so great as that launched during the three'years before the war. The average 'for those three years was between 1,750,000 and tons. Moreover, while that amount of tonnage was launched last year, only just over half of the berths in the country were employed. In other words, the tonnage launched employed only about 50 per cent, of the shipbuilding capacity, and if they were to be fully occupied they would require 3,000,000 tons of shins. There was not the ghost of a chance <>t getting; such a large amount of tonnage as 3,000,000 tons a year, and supposing people were prepared to place that tonnage in the country they would not have sufficient men to carry out the orders. In 1921 the number of men employed in the shipbuilding industry was 350,0C0. To-day the number was 204,000, so there was a loss of 150,000 men. He did. not think one was justified ill saying that "the outlook, was satisfactory,- and it was , dangerous to assume,that all that shipbuilders had to do was to sit tight and carry on as they had done, and that everything would come right. The situation was enirely different. There was too much capacity at the present time. The problem of shipbuilding was not to sit tight, but to .contract the capacity so that it bore a reasonable relation to the demand. Until that was done he did not think they could reasonably say that all was well with the shipbuilding industry and that the worst of the depression was over.