ADMEASUREMENT OF SHIPS.

West Coast Times, Issue 282, 18 August 1866, Page 2

ADMEASUREMENT OF SHIPS.

in for the piirjioso of securing the safely of the ship :mil cargo, the passengers, and her ere\v. w And if any passengers or any of the crow are berthed, or stoves are carriod or stowed, in any part of such spaces as hereby exempted from tonnago- admeasurement, tho master and owner shall each be liable to a penalty not oxceoding LIOO ; and if at uny lime it is proved, to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs, that any passenger, or any of tho crew,, aivj berthed in, or that any goods or stores aro carried in, any of such spaces, or that such spaces are fitted for the berthing or accommodation of passengers and crew, ov for the carriage of goods or stores, the ship shall be remeasurcd,, and tho whole of such spaces shall ever after be added to tho registered tonnage of the ship.' 1 This is what has been contended for, and although the penalties may appear high, they require to be made stringent, or ships with covered decks would be placed at an advantage over those with flush decks, or with topgallant forecastles and raised poop decks, having no covering between them to connect the bulwarks. But, in granting this concession to vessels with covered decks, another alteration is to /be made in favor of ships whose crews are berthed below. No distinction is to be drawn between the crew spaces of ships, wherever they may be, as may be gathered from the clause prepared to meet this point, and which reads thus: — " In ascertaining the registered tonnage of a ship, nothing shall be added for closed-in spaces solely appropriated to the berthing of the crew, whether above or below the upper deck of the ship, unless such space exceeds onetwentieth of the" remaining tonnage of the ship, and in case of such excess, the excess only shall be added." The operation of this change may give security to ships at sea if there are not bulwarks nbove the covering deck, or from the break of the poop to the forecastle. If, however, strong bulwarks are added, we shall have top-heavy ships,- and the dangers of the sea will not be lessened, for ! very few vessels are designed to carry such extra upper deck weights. We should* imagine, therefore, that rope or wire netting to light rods will be adopted, and this application will permit of the seas rolling off the spar or covering deck without affording airy boxed-in place for lodgment. If the London (s.s.) had been so fitted, it is possible ?he might now have been at Melbourne, as an extra deck must strengthen the hull, besides providing a means for the escape of water. If this principle were adopted generally it would prove a great boon to the crews of ships, whose deck cabins would be protected from the washing of the seas taken in over the sides in deeplyloaded vessels. There is one feature, however, in this case of covered ( decks that does not appear to have been entertained, and that is, the carrying of deck freights. Plorses, cattle, sheep, and pigs are carried on deck in steamers. These could not be conveyed under spar decks. Again, who is to define the word "stores?" Many steamers, bound on long voyages, store coals on deck, and 'it is a common practice to carry small quantities of deck freight, such as perishable articles, pieces of machinery, or inflammable or combustible goods. Then, again, in large passenger ships, it is customary to carry a cow and live stock. Where are these to be located? We suppose the sheets, and tacks, and leading ropes will be worked under the covering deck, thus affording shelter to crew from tiie scorching heat of the sun. or rain,'hail, or snow. It will he necessary, also, to define what may or may 'not be carried on top of the covering deck. As regards the measurement of steamers, it is proposed to modify the measurement allowance for engine space. Before the act of 1854 was passed, the engine-room space, and all othei' spaces applying to propulsion, were allowed to be deducted from the register. This was deemed unfair to \he owners of sailing vessels; consequently, there were certain

Tfesmi'tious Mttflti in Tne- allowance unner-rimr head. It is instanced as an example of the imperfect manner of measurement, that the Emeu, s.s., whose gr.oss tonnage was. 1,695, was offered to the Admiralty as a ship of 1,660 tons, with a deduction of 1,190 -tons for engine space, and registered as 444 tons. In 1159 she was registered in the Port of London as' of 1,538 gross tonnage, and 908 tons register. The law of 1854 makes a deduction for engine and boiler compartments in vessels propelled by paddle-wheels, where the space is above twenty and under thirty per cent, of the gross tonnage, of 37-100ths; and on screw ships, where the space is above thirteen and under twenty per «ent., a deduction of 32lOOths. It was intended by that act to give to steamers with an engine-room of average size a deduction of so much j)er cent, on the gross tonnage of the ship; and when the engine-room was above or below the average size, to measure the actual space occupied by the engines and boilers, and to give a deduction equivalent to such space, with the addition in the case of paddle steamers of one-half, and in screws of three-fourths. The Commissioners of Customs altered this method in 1860, and went back to the principle in force before 1854, but avoided its glaring errors. Since 1860 the system of percentages has been done away with, and instead thereof the section of the ship occupied by the propelling power has been accur rately measured off, and the space, so arrived at has been deducted from the gross tonnage. The plan now recommended by the Board of Trade, and which it is sought to enact as the future law, is as follows:— "The deduction shall consist of the tonnage of tlje space actually occupied by, or required to be enclosed for the proper working of, the boilers and machinery, with the addition, in the case of ships propelled by-paddle-wheels, of one-half s and in the case of ships propelled by screw, of three-fourths, of the tonnage of such space— the allowance in no case to exceed one-half of the entire tonnage of the ship." The Board of Trade have drawn up several examples to demonstrate the way in which this clause will practically work: —

Taking 676 steamers, the rule of 1854 gives 30-7 per cent.; that of 18G0, 27-1 per cent.; and by the suggested rule, 30" 9 per cent, of the gross tonnage. "■ This is the compromise offered by the Board of Trade to steam shipowners as a final settlement of the measurement system for arriving at the engine space. The difficulty of framing one set of rules for paddle-wheels and another for screws is apparent from the disparity in the results. Paddle steamers will "gain an' allowance which will place such vessels in the same position as they were in before the law of 1854 was altered by the Commissioners of Customs. It is evidently impracticable to make a fixed rule which shall meet, the cubical capacity of every screw steamer. Therefore, in the allowance for engine space, some few vessels will gain, whilst others will lose, on the re-measurement. The standard, however, as an approximate one for basing the calculations for measurement, is superior to that of 1860, though it will not give satisfaction to the owners of some tugboats, and of a few screw vessels.

(from Mitchell's maritime register, May 19.) The Board of Trade authorities are entitled to the credit of attempting to do justice to shipowners by amending the law for the measurement of ships. We may remark that a ship's registered tonnage does not merely affect the charges for dock, harbor, light, and other dues, but conecrns, also, in a higher degree, the question of the berthing of crews, and the safety 'of seamen, passengers, and merchandise. We liave explained, and fully commented upon, the anomaly of the law as regards inequalities in measurement, and have now before us the draft of clauses which it is proposed to add to the Merchant Shipping Amendment Bill, at present before Parliament, which, if they do not meet all the requirements of the case, are, upon the whole, a step in the right direction. First, as regards spar or covering decks, tho plause to be added in committee on the bill is as follows :—: — " In cases in which a third deck, commonly called a spar or covering deck, is provided to connect the upper sides of the poop, forecastle, deck-houses, and saloons or 'cabins with each other and with the ship's sides, su^h spaces under the spar or covering deck as are not included in the poop, forecastle, deck-houses, saloons, or cabins, shall not be included in the registered tonnage of tho ship ; provided always that one of the surveyors appointed under the fourth part of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854 shall have previously given a certificate under his hand to the effect that the spaces under such spar or covering deck, and not included in tho poop, forecastle, deckhouses, saloons, or cabins, are not fitted up for the use of the- passengers or crew of the ship, und WO not intended to be applied towards ffet wrafug of freight, but ara solely covered.