New Britain herald., 1916-04-21
SR|POWNERS WORRY AS FUTURE LOOMS UP
Already Admiralty Has Requisi. tioned Quarter Of British Ships

25 per cent. of BrltlSh-OWned tonnage has been requisitioned by the .Ad- J miralty in connection with the war, and the great dearth of tonnage is reflected in the present high rates of freight.
 Shipowners have been subjected to a large amount of criticism owing to the high profits which they are mak- ing, but a prominent shipowner in London has pointed out that the pres ent condition of affairs is far from satisfactory from the shipowner's point of view.
 True" he said, i've are earning big profits now, but we have the fu- ture to think of. There are not enough ships to go around, and while we are having to pay extra wages and war bonuses to the crews, increased charges for bunker coal and delays in port owing to congestion. the neutral is stepping and getting the carrying trade which was formerly in the
 hands of the British.
 Then there is another vital point:
 At present nearly all the ship repair ing and building yards are full up
 with work for the Admiralty and we
 cannot get our boats overhauled,
 much less place orders for new yes
 sells, for there is not single ship
 builder in England today who will
 guarantee delivery, consequently, we
 cannot possibly replace losses caused
 by submarines and mines, so that the position of the shipowners in Eng
 land, is anything but pleasant. The
 losses due to the war have been,
 ot, ,t11, 11,r
 ized, and scarcely one of the lost boats has been replaced.
 "A gain, there is the question of
 licences While we in England have to obtain a licence to carry certain goods and trade between certain ports, the neutral owner can step in and
 take the trade from under our noses, and there are merchants anxious to guarantee delivery of shipments who are only too ready to send them goods in neutral bottoms, simply because these neutrals are free from requisi-
 ton.
 Take a case which occurred quite
 recently. One of our cargo boats was
 chartered to sail from London, and
 we had almost completed the loading
 when she was requisitioned. We had
 another steamer sailing from Liver
 pool, and the cargo of the boat load
 ing in London was unshipped and for
 warded to Liverpool by rail, and upon
 delivery there our Liverpool boat
 was also placed under reuuisition and
 consequently the cargo was in the end shipped in a neutral steamer.
 ' The majority of boats which be-
 fore the war were engaged in the coal trade are under acquisition and in consequence, neutral have stepped in and are benetitting by the high rates paid from Tyne to London, and Tyne
 to the Mediterranean. As much as
 60 shillings per ton has been paid for
 voyage from the Tyne to Genoa with
 coal against the average of shillings pence per ton for the same voyage two years ago.
 "If we could obtain guarantee of delivery, we should be quite prepared to place orders for new steamers, des-
 bite the high prices prevailing for all
 classes of building material. Unless the Government takes action very soon, the outlook for British ship ping will be most critical" It is learned in shipbuilding cir cles, that there are numerous in quiries for new tonnage, but very fcW contracts have been placed, pending
 the decision of the Government re-
 garding work on merchant ships Representations have been made to the Government by deputation rep
 resenting both shipbuilders and ship
 owners with a view to taking men
 off war work" and placing them up
 on ordinary merchant work but oW-
 ing to the great scarcity of skilled
 labor, and the urgent requirements
 of the British Admiralty, there seems little prospect of any great transfer
 ence of labor taking place. Among the shipoWners who are now anxious to place contracts for new boats, are the Cunard Steamship Go. This firm has appr cached builders in Ireland, Scotland and on the East coast of England, but owing to the impOssibility of guaranteeing delivery, no contracts have been placed, and it is understood that the company has 7 purchased several second hand steani- CTS for cargo carrying purposes Tn the place of new vessels.
 The Shaw, Savile and Albion conn pany, too are desirious of placing con- tracts for several new steamers, but so far, no success has been met. Only one British firm has succeed ed of late in placing contracts fer ! steamers; the Ellerman Line Ltd, l of Liverpool. This line has recently ! ordered two large geared turbine 1 steamers, one to be built at Swan, l Hunter and Wigham Richardsons ] yard at Wallsend- On-Tyne, and tho l other by Palmers Shipbuilding Com- 1 pany at JarroW
 l It is understood that the builders ] have not been able to guarantee de- 1 livery, and despite this fact, very high 1 prices are being paid by the Ellerman