SELLING OLD SHIPS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 961, 2 May 1930, Page 9

SELLING OLD SHIPS

POOL MOOTED TO CHECK TRADE ADVANTAGES FOREIGNERS’ TACTICS LONDON, Thursday. A movement to prevent the sale of old British ships to foreign owners has been initiated by the Bristol Channel shipowners and the shipbuilding industry throughout England. Ali'eady a company has been formed to buy up and close down surplus shipyards. The motor industry is moving on similar lines, to remove old cars from the streets. The Bristol Channel shipowners state that about 500,000 tons of shipping at present is sold annually at a low figure. This enables foreigners to compete on advantageous terms against British shippers. It is computed that 40 per cent, of the ships which carry coal from Cardiff are foreign. Most of them once were under the British flag. Bristol shipping men suggest a national pool in which all shipowners would place obsolete ships for breaking up, the owners to receive from the pool the difference between the selling price and the proceeds of the breaking up. Foreigners in that way would be forced to buy new ships. Officials of the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom say present sales are not abnormal. In 1913 488,240 tons were sold abroad. Thev say the suggestion to restrict the sale of second-hand vessels raises the question whether it is desirable for the country to depart from the principle of an open market both for freights and for ships, old and new.