GRAIN-LADEN SHIPS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1230, 27 March 1880, Page 2

GRAIN-LADEN SHIPS.

(Nutchell's Maritime Register.) ,A movement has been commenced to put a stop, if possible,, to the .loss of grainladen ships by the shifting of their The British Shipmaster's Society held a meeting at North Shields, at which it was agreed to invite the co-operation of shipowners and underwriters, with the view to secure a law for the prohibition of the conveyance of grain in bulk. The loss of so many grain-laden ships belonging to the Tyne and- Wear, and with them the members belonging to the Shipmasters' .Society, together >vith the large number of widows and orphans left destituie.'by those disasters, has called forth this activity. Before, however, any measure is likely to pass the Legislature there mast be an enquiry into the losses, with the view; of ascertaining the cause or causeis which led or may halve occasioned those disasters. If a Committee of the House of Commons should be appointed to ; .;veoeiye evidence,; and report their opinion, all the facts will be elicited. Whether the" ships : that have foundered had too little beam as compared with their length and depth, or the cargoes were not properly secured from; shifting, or the vessel had water ballast tanks which were not full, or the grain was stowed too high from the keels to insure stability, might bb ascertained, or at all events inform niation on those points Qoqld be elicited from competent witnesses. "An Old Shipmaster," in our .impression of the 13th inst., gave the names and dimensions of twelve '.large steamships which had foundered within, a recent period. Of these, four are known to have capsized, "two were abandpned, and six were missihg. ; Overloading, it is presumed, has been clone away with by. the introduction of a disc on the side of every British ship, and, in the absence of any suspicion or intimation to the'contrary, we must assume that none of them were sent to sea so heavily to be dangerous to Jife- ?he fact reniains, that twelve valuable ships and their cargoiea are missing. It is contended by some parties that grain can be oarried in bulk without settling down or shifting after a ship gets to sea. If this can be done, why has it not been accomplished 1 Section 22 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1876 ? snaota that grain in, bulk shall he aeoured "from shifting by boar-da, bulkheads, or otherwise," If boards and bulkheads have not succeeded, some other contrivance must be brought into requisition ; and if nothing but loading in bags wilVprevent shifting, then that system willhave to be introduced to megfc the terms of the Act under thp words " or otherwise." The pjan in force in America, of compelling all ships over 400 tons* to stow one-third of the grain in bags, and two-thirds in bulk, which has been for mjany years, tlie loss of shipping ; but the missing vessels annually are to numerous to acoredit that plait with success, {Shields, qoi*

respondent acquaints us..thai some o£ ; . the Tyne shipowners intend to propose- to \ underwriters,, to object to the loading.of/ cargoes of grain in bulk during the winter months in thei Atlantic trade. It is not likely that underwriters in Europe and America will combine to enforce that policy, though it would, of course, b6 open for their adoption. Were underwriters to fix a scale for the insurance of ships laden in bulk, and one for loading in bags, there might be sufficient inducement on the part of merchants to have the grain bushelled and sacked in the United States. Shipowners might also offer- to convey, - cargoes in bags at a lower rate of freight per ton than "in bulk. The Tyne. ship- : owners do not go so far as the masters of ships in their demands, for the former would restrict the conveyance in bulk to winter months whereas the latter would abolish this mode of stowage altogether. In the twelve large steamships to which we have referred there were about 28,000 tons of grain, of about the- value bf*a quarter of a million stealing.' ~ This: represents a serious loss of food, and mußt have influenced the markets to some extent. The underwriters and the clubs in which the steamships may be insured cannt>t afford to sustain such losses without endeavoring to trace their origin. It must be most painful to shipowners whose : masters and crews have been sacrificed from the shifting of grain—if such be the real cause of the founderings—to contemplate the loss of their property and the crews of the vessels. We may. givo ; them credit therefore for a sincere desire to Bee a system come into operation, which would enable them to convey grain cargoes with more satisfaction to themselves arid greater security to those they employ. That a change will have to be effected either in the class of vessels engaged in the Atlantic grain trade or in the appli- ' ances for stowage, or in both, there can be no question whatever. If grain shifts when stowed on board of British vessels y the penalty on a master or owner .who knowingly • takes or sends his ship to sea contrary to the law is L3OO. Foreigners may enter our ports with impunity with grain shifted, and with vessels having a list. The British shipowner , is. thus brought into competition with the foreigner, and if shippers give the preference to those vessels that will convey grain cheapest, and which means in bulk, the loss of life and property may go on ; until the legislature takes the matter iu hand again.