GIANT LINERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 154, 22 February 1932, Page 2

GIANT LINERS

are super-ships necessary or only needless luxury? value of prestige. The suspension of work on the new Cunarder in the Clydeside yards brings up once again the question whether the big transatlantic Iiner can be justified. Speed is on expensive luxury. These super-liners are very costly to build and very costly to run They gain a eertain prestige, but, ii> a world of commerce, do they pay? asks a writer in the Manchester Guardian. When in Julv, 1929, the Bremen crossed to New York on hor maiden voyage in four days 18 houm 17 minutes the Blue Riband of the Atlantic passed from England to Germany. But the actual gain in timo over the Mauretania's last record was only a matter of eight hours or so. There must be comparatively f.ew cases in which eight hours in a five days' crossing make any vital difference to a passenger. Is it worth while for the Cunaid Company to spend millions of pounds in recovering the Blue Riband from the Nord-deutscher Lloyc!0 It must be remembered that in so coirpetitive a trade as the Atlantic passenger service prestige is very impovtant. The average wealtliy Ameriean makh-g his ann al trip to Europe iikes to cross on u hoat wliere he can i.'.eet people who aie in the public eye — a f."mous ac.tes? or two > film •ur a c:ty magn-re, perhaps even a Prime Minister. One or two boats acacquire a reputation for carrying the great: the crowds follow. Until 1929 this reputation was shared by the big C-unarders. The Ile de France, on the sti ength of Frenea food, Freneh wines and Paris gaiety, was their only serioUs rival. Now, though the trade has woefully dwlindled with the slump, what is left has been largely captured by the Bremen and her iaster sister-ship the Euvopa. These two boats were the only ones running last summer with anything like their full complement of passengers. Their Desire. It was with an eye to this traffic, both for its own sake and for the advertisement it provides for other Sh'ips of the same company that the White Star Line, the Cunard, the French and the Italian lines have all within the last three years uridertaken the construction of large, highspeed luxury liners. But all these projects have been seriously aifected by the economic crisis. As early as .1929 the White Star Line hr.d stopped work on the Oceanic in Belfast. Now the Cunard Company has susperded construction on "Ship No. 534." and the French and Italian companies are only carrying on with large Government assistance. From the point of view of ihe Atlantic trade as a whole it may well be . that, even with a revival of commerce, there will not be enough traffic to justify seven super-liners on the New York route. It is iust possible that before the world is out of its present difficulties some sort of international raticnalisation of the industry Avill be attempted. But until this is achieved no single company can alford to be without its fast ships and its luxury prestige.