IDLE SHIPS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 2, 27 January 1909, Page 2

IDLE SHIPS.

■KECi;LATL\<J TIJK hU'PIA TO DEMAND. ANNUAL LAYJN't; UP. Rcccvcd 2u, 11.1.' p.m. Loudon, January ill. Northern shipuuucr,s at a nieeiuig .it Newcastle adopted the principle ol I lie liilernatiiiiial Union's scheme to regu--111111 tlie supply of tunuuge to Hie mimiiid because of !'.: quantity i.i iule shipping. Tlie sehenie is to lie siihiiiiileu to the approaching Baltic Conlerenee. Copenhagen, January 20. Messages in support of til'.' selieme have been receiveu ironi all parts uf Hie United l Kingdom and abroad ripiv.se.uing capilal ul M iiiilliun sterling. The selieme has been weleouied with eulhtisi-

■■ The owners have driilli'.l a tentative scheme to lay up all tonnage aiinuull. lor two consecutive periods of a month each, because Lloyds and the insurance clubs calculate rebalis only after a .ship bus been out ol commission for a month.

.U tui.s season oi the vciir (writes nit j English pap. ;■ iu Deei-nilier 10, when the B.i.i.c and ul her northern seas are iisiiall> elosed by ice, it is no uuciiinnioi | thing to liml a number of large ships "laid up.'' iluL this year ti.e condition of nliairs is unprecedented in. the cxperienci ol shipowners. lit the Jlrilish Channel, the Clyde; tie.' Meiwey, tin Tyne, aad the Thaiue.s there is an extraordinary demand for mooring accommodation I'ur ships witli no work to do. The Tyne. for instance, is literally congested with ships. A return shows that there are no fewer than j ninety-three vessels, with a total rcgis- | tered tonnage of 18fi,(IOtl, laid up in this I river alone.

According to one estimate there are at tho present time ill Home and foreign ports between 200 and 300 idle llritish ships, totalling between 400,000 and (100,000 tons. At a rough estimate the value of such a tleet is between £2,000,000 and .C3,01'0.000, and this huge aggregation of capital is not only producing nothing, but is costing money for upkeep. In audition, the inactivity of so many vessels means lack of employment fur Mime thousands of seamen anil firemen.

Sir .Walter Runeiuiait (head of the Moor line of cargo steamships, and father of the President of the Hoard of Education) rei-ently. stated that nearly two million tons of shipping were idle, anil dividends had dropped nearly 30 millions. Another owner said that shipowners were short of a living freight by '23'/o millions.