NEW OCEAN LINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1916, Page 2

NEW OCEAN LINE.

AIMED TO BUILD UP BELGIUM. ' New York, September 20. The Royal Belgian Lloyd Line, which will sti.rt operations with the sailing of the steamer Italier from New York to Havre in October, will be practically a Belgian Government controlled company. The capital stock is £2,000,000. Of the £5,000.000 4 per cent debentures the Belgian Government will hold £3,000,000. the remainder being- taken up by Brys and Gylsen, Ltd., who before the war ran steamships from Antwerp. This firm turned over these thirty-nine vessels to the new Royal Belgian Lloyd. A. W. Duckett, of the firm of A. W. Duckett and Co., New York agents of Brys and Gylsen, says:—"The line is one of King Albert's first efforts in the reconstructin of Belgium. The starting of the line was nt the instigation of the King, and under the authority of the Parliament, who realised that transpor tation facilities would be the first requirement after the war. In the meantime the vessels will trade with the Allies' ports, and as profits accrue new steamers will be added to the fleet. The arrangement by which the line is to be operated has a strong sentimental aspect, as the Brys and Gylsen ships could realise greater profits, at the present time in other directions." "