WORLD’S BIGGEST SHIP.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5033, 29 September 1926, Page 1

WORLD’S BIGGEST SHIP.

62,000-TON WHITE STAR LINER.

CATERING FOR TOURIST TRADE.

The announcement that has, been made by the International Mercantile Marine Company that they intend to build a 62,000-ton ship fCr the White Star Lijne does not come as a surprise to the shipping world, for it has been known that they have been thinking very seriously of the matter for some time, and that Messrs-. Harland and Wolff, the famous Belfast shipbuilders, have had rough plans prepared for many years past. This will p.ut an end to the dispute as to which is the biggest ship in the world once and for all. According to register figures, the American Leviathan holds the position with her gross tonn.age of 59,957, while the British Majestic i& only 56,551. As a matter of fact these figures are very deceptive ; for, while the beam and depth of the two ships a.re precisely the same, the length of the Leviathan is 907.6 feet, while tha.t of the Majestic is 915.5 feet. The German doctor who designed both shiips has. described how 1 the, Majestiic came into being when hei‘ owners took the very successful design of the Leviathan and put in a few extra frames to give, her more space for additional features.

The difference is size iis purely owing to the American methods of measurement, which apply both to tliQ gross tonnage, which is always taken as an indication of the ship’s size, and the net tonnage, on which they pay the.ir harbour dues and the like. By this measurement, the Leviathan is quite artificially given a net tonnage of nearly I'soo more than the bigger Majestic.

It was only a short time ago that people were confidently asserting that the giant liner would never be made to pay. That wan. soon after the war, when ’shipbuilding costs were very high ’ and shipowners found it more e -oonomical to construct ships oT about 20,000 tons apiece. Later, the position appeared to be. getting more hopeless still, owing to the Dillingham Immigration Act having cut into the third-class business on which these giant ships very largety depend.

The Majestic, for instance, carries well over 2,000 third-class' passengers in accommodation which compares favourably with the first-class of forty yearsj ago.

The regular emigrant business; is still dead, but in its place has come the third-class tourist trade, which is now making huge strides on the North Atlantic bidding fair to fill up the empty third-class quarters, and is no doubt largely responsible for the International. Mercantile Marine Company’s decision.