New-York tribune., 1921-02-10
llil Situation l.
Fased. bv Drop
In Ship Activity
,Io,ernnent Now Has More
: sra,lkers Than 1t Needs
for It's Fueiirag Purposes:
supplies Are at Capacity
Seeking Charterers
oitI,drawal of Its Vessels
From Trade Has Caused a
sharp Cut in Use of Oil

71s marked decline in shipping
.iy;ty during che last few months.
!, completely changed conditions
~,csrniug the worlds supply of fuel
H.
One effect of this is seen in the an
.,ursment OF the Shipping Board
ast it is prepared to charter number,
!, rs tank steamers TO private Ameri.
La operators.
With the falling off in the movement
4 shipping due to the sharp decrease
B the volume of cargoes offered, there
,ss been material decline. in the con-
,gnption of fuel oil by American ton
age. The Shipping Board tankers
sach have been employed in carrying
I'll 10 foreign fueliug stations have now
sroaght supplies at these points prac-
aaly up to the capacity there, with
he result that decreased feet of
rsernment tankers can now supply
L needs. Of the Shipping Boards
esssels,
The active Shipping Board feet of
tl-csrrying vessels is reported to
tgnber about ninety, and of these ten
,rs nov said to be available for char
Ter Immediately, or within a short
period.
Tanker Building Extensive
Although there has been an annie
gPpiy OF cargo vessels for many
mathis past. the supply Of tankers
ihl recently has been short of the
l'nsad. The Shipping Board could
are sold large proportion of it's
i''sl tankers at high prices, but has
;fused to place any of them On the
'arkes, preIerring to keep them in
'der to assure steady supply of oil
or its vessels.
The private shipping interests. there
ore, tave been placing orders for new
4hSer construction with American
Alpyards on an increasing scale since
le armlstIce, and much more of this
;Pe Of tonnage is now under wav than
cargo vessels.
According to the returns of shin
ludIng IN hand at the beginning Of
s year, compiled by Lloyd's Register
Shipping, the United States was
hiding lightweight tankers of 637 900
. oss to2s, Great Britain sixty-four Of
l,VVO tons and other countries seven
en- OF 10000 tons, world total OF
v vessels, aggregating 1,179,O00 tons.
recently, however. there has been
aPpage of new orders for tankers in
IS country and foreign-built oil, car
srs nave been offered in the market
re at considerably below the range
american construction prices.
Oil Burners Predominate ,
There has been no falling off, how
er, in the proportion of oil-burnine
rgo SHIPS building. Tables prepared
tae American Bureau of Shipping
ow that at the beginning of the year
II Of about 100000 gross tons of steel
rgo vessels being constructed in the
nlted States only about 10000 tons
ere being built to burn coal exclu-
very, as compared with 263, 900 tons
oil burners and 100000 tons of com
ned oil and coal burners. Of the
mixers being constructed, all but one
ere fitted exclusively for oil, the
ngle exception being a combination
'al and oil burner. The great bulk Of
Q Shipping Boards feet of about two
ousand vessels burns oil.
lt'is this great increase in the vol
ne Of the worlds shipping using oil
Y fuel that has led to the expansion
tanker construction. The total
Hiding in Great Britain on January l
as almost four times the amount of
mixer tonnage under way there a few
onths previously.
Lord Pirrie, head of the British ship
Hiding concern of Harland & Wolff,
ach has turned out many of the
fgest oceans liners in the world, re-
ntly visited this country for the pur-
'Se OF Investigating the oil resources.
blowing this he expressed the opin-
taat as measure of precaution it
ouid be advisable to confne the use
gu as marine fuel largely to the big
II types of ships.