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Yards Turn to Nonseagoing Work | Shipbuilding Plants in East Find Employment in Con- structing Harbor Craft -- Ship Prices at Bottom have been noted all over the world, with the possible exception of Hol- land. Today, according to reports, Hol- land stands third among the shipbuilding nations following England and_ the United States. On May 1, American yards held contracts to build 179 steel ships of 645,224 gross tons. This is ex- elusive of contracts held with the govern- ment or with the Emergency Fleet corp- oration. Such contracts today figure around half a million tons. At the current rate of production, it is estimated the output of the American yards this year will be about 2,250,000 gross tons, as compared with an output of 3,735,000 tons last ere texi shipbuilding activities year. The significant feature of the ship-' building outlook is that American yards are giving more and more attention to other than seagoing tonnage. Out of the 99 vessels built during April last, 81 were nonseagoing, although the gross ton- nage of the seagoing vessels constituted the bulk of the construction when measured by tons. The most active yards on the Atlantic are the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 'Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., New York Shipbuilding Corp. Oscar Daniels Co., Standard Shipbuilding Co., Sun Shipbuilding Co., and the Texas Steamship Co. During the first half of May, two new steamers were added to the shipping board fleet, while a 10,000- ton tanker was launched for government account. At that time, 46 ships remained to be delivered to the board before the Emergency Fleet contracts. will have come to an end. Thirty three steamers were then on the ways and 13 fitting out in wet basins. ue End of Decline Evidence exists' that many think a bottom market for ships has been es- tablished. That is a conviction which un- doubtedly led the shipping board to make a further attempt to sell some of its ton- nage. Bids on three steel cargo steamers were invited by the board on May 31, following which it was learned another attempt will be made to dispose of the wooden ships and some of the small steel ships to foreigners. During the past - month or so, several bargains in the ton- nage field have been quietly picked up. These activities have been noticed among the more shrewd steamship holders who are of the opinion that tonnage cannot become any cheaper than it is today. That there is a changed sentiment re- garding the' ownership of steamers was also noticeable in the few new contracts which came into the market during the past month. The imperial Japanese government let a contract with athe New York Shipbuilding Corp. for a 20,000- ton fueling ship for the Japanese navy. The contract calls for the construction of a unique type of vessel, a combination coal and oil supply ship. The design calls for a length on the water line of 496 feet, with a beam of 67 feet. The vessel will be electrically driven, the equipment being furnished by the General Electric Co., and will have twin screws with a total of 7500 shaft horsepower which will give the ship, loaded, a speed of 15 knots. The vessel will have both oil and coal bunkers. A feature will be the install- ation of an antitorpedo boat battery. Plan To Build Vessels The Clyde Steamship Co. is reported to be planning for the construction of a new twin screw steamer' which will be 20 feet longer than the Lenape, now the largest in its fleet. When completed it will be placed in the New York-Jack- sonville service. According to A. O. Pegg, 'superintending engineer of the Union Oil Co., that company expects to build four new tankers, if it is successful in selling the three smaller tankers now in its fleet. Three of the new ships are to have a deadweight of 12,500 tons, and one will have a capacity of 7500 tons. Preliminary plans for thé construction of two 1000- ton deadweight motorships are being prepared by Messrs. Seabury & de Zafra, Inc., 150 Nassau street, New York. A more active interest in shipping has been manifested by the American Sugar Refining Co., which created some time back the American Sugar Transit Corp. The DIxiAna, the combination sugar tanker and dry cargo carrier of 6300 tons deadweight, was launched last month for this corporation from the yard of the Staten Island Shipbuilding Co, The American Car & Foundry Co., which builds and repairs wooden boats at its Wilmington, Del., plant, has been _constructing some sand barges for the Charles Warner Co., a large Wilming- ton builders' supply concern. The Norwegian-American line's new 10,000-ton tanker FOLDENFJORD was launched during May at the Sun Ship- building Co.'s yard, Chester, Pa. The FoLpENFyJorD is the third Norwegian- American tank steamer to leave the ways in the past six months. The Sun yard 332 has two launchings and three deliveries scheduled for June. The Rice Bros. Corp., steel and wood shipbuilder of East Boothbay, Me., is finishing a number of one-design sailing yachts. This completes all the contracts it has on hand. The East Coast ship- yard at Boothbay, Me., is again back in the hands of its original owner, Irving W. Reed, from whom it was purchased by 'the East 'Coast Ship Co. It ds said he will soon start building small boats as he did in years past. The Merchant Shipbuilding Corp., has gone in for general engineering in order to overcome the lack of orders for ship construction and marine engineering. The Submarine Boat Corp., Newark Bay, N. J., is turning its attention to steel fabrication for land work, its initial contract being one for 1200 tons. Taking advantage of the shipping slump, the shipping board is attemping to make some improvements. on a few of its freighters. An improved turbine, it is understood, will be installed on some Hog Island ships. It is also said: that the General Electric Co. is planning to install an improved system of. electric propulsion on the last seven of the twelve freighters it is equipping for the shipping board. The auxiliaries will be further electrified and provision will be made to utilize the exhaust steam, for which purpose superheaters will be in- stalled. So far the Ectipse, INVINCIBLE and ARCHER have .been equipped. Install Electric Drive The Todd Shipbuilding Corp. has been awarded the .contract by the shipping board for installing the electric drive on the Vicrortous. This work will be done at the Tebo Yacht Basin, Brooklyn. The contract was awarded on a lump sum basis of $95,530 which is to include voyage repairs and betterments. The. Victorious is the fifth of the twelve 12,000-ton freighters to be equipped with electric drive by the General Elec- tric Co. for the shipping board. The others are the INVINCIBLE and ECLIPSE, now in service, the ARCHER, ready for sea trials at the present time, and the INDE- PENDENCE, which will be ready for sea tests the latter part of July. Delivery has been made by the Great Lakes Engineering Works, River Rouge, Mich, of the yacht DrLPHINE, built for the estate of Horace E. Dodge.