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February, 1923 seems to be largely one of working costs. In the autumn a revision of rates in the North Atlantic trade was an- nounced, but, so far, except for a re- duction by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. in its rates from’ the United Kingdom, to New York, no. great changes have been introduced. Next year competition in the North Atlantic trade promises to be very keen, es- pecially as some large new vessels of the German shipping lines are ex- MARINE REVIEW pected to be in service. It is known that the earnings of the _ shipping companies in the North Atlantic trade were unfavorably affected last year by the immigration restrictions in the United States. Generally the shipping conditions at the end of the year suggest that own- ers and brokers may fairly look for some further improvement in 1923, at. any rate; in cargo business, 4 hopeful sign has been the placing of a number of orders for cargo steamships Do : by experienced owners in the closing weeks of 1922. They will have been influenced by the present shipbuilding prices, which are now far lower than they were and by the belief that em- ployment will be forthcoming for the vessels. | A good proportion of the tonnage still laid up is known to be obsolete, ov’ practically obsolete, and in these days of keen competition the most efficient types of vessels will be re- quired for successful operation. What the British Are Doing Short Surveys of Important Activities in Maritime HIPBUILDING interest is nat- S urally concentrated on new busi- ness, for which the trade has waited with so much anxiety for the past two years. The stagnation has been altogether without precedent, but every day brings additions to the or- ders placed, while the sign of re- turning confidence is shown in the. in- creasing public favor with which ship- ping shares are regarded. Orders with- in the first half of December have been distributed more or less impartially be- tween the Clyde, the Tyne, and the Tees so that quite a lot of shipyards are waking up. The much desired orders for tramp steamers are now coming forward, the total placed up to Dec. 18 being upward of 50. One of the earliest tasks to which the new government set its hand was the fixing up of contracts for the two capital battleships intended to replace, under the Washington pact, the de- stroyed ships. The building of the hulls are entrusted to Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. Ltd. on the Tyne, and Cammell, Laird & Co. Ltd. at their Birkenhead yard on the Mersey. Both yards are well equipped for deal- ing with big work. A few years ago it. was considered £2,000,000 was quite an extravagant price for a battleship, but the general estimate is that on these contracts £10,000,000 will be spent in wages. Cammell Laird hope to launch the hull of their vessel in 1924. It is to be laid down at the new Tranmere yard on the slipway where H. M. S. Howe and the Cunard liner SAMARIA were built. At least 150 war vessels have been built at Birkenhead by this firm. The range of choice was narrowed by the fact that the warships are to be built to a new design calling for Centers of Island Empire side compartments known as_ bulges giving the vessels a total beam of about 106 feet. There are only a few builders who could undertake such widths without previous enlargements of their yards. There was some sore- ness at Glasgow that a hull is not to be built on the Clyde but the premier has explained that the Glasgow tenders were much higher than those of other firms. Glasgow will have to be con- tent with a share of the business for guns and arms. ORE RR £2 HE annual report covering the fiscal year ended July 31, 1922, of John I. Thorneycroft & Co. London, one of the largest marine engineering firms in England, shows a_ gross profit of £52,340 ($235,000). After allowing for directors’ fees and bond interest, a net profit of £35,640 ($16,300) results, a decrease of £25,060 ($112,770) com- pared with of the previous year. A sum of £55,747 ($250,800) -has been brought in, making an available surplus of £85,448 ($384,500) after the neces- sary provision for an interim dividend on the preferred stock. A 6% per cent dividend will be paid on the participating preferred stock, leaving a balance of £60,758 ($273,400) to be carried forward. No dividend will be paid on the com- mon stock. This report covers a period of excep- tional trade depression in the shipbuilding, motor vehicle, marine and stationary en- gine busnesses, whch in the main has had an adverse effect. Among the ves- sels finished during the past year, men- tion is made of eight commercial vessels, two special ferry steamers for Lan- cashire, and several fast naval power boats for foreign governments, including one for the United States navy. Dock- yard repair work showed a satisfactory return. a a ae ee A LECTURE delivered before the Wolverhampton branch of the Birm- ingham Metallurgical society by D. Turner, London, a great deal of de- tail was given as to the use of fuel oil for ship propulsion. Incidentally, it was pointed out that the oil fields of Mexico have in recent years yielded the largest supply of fuel oil, and many experts anticipate they will eclipse the United States having a potential pro- duction of 1,825,000 barrels daily or 95,000,000 tons per annum. ‘Tankers are loaded at Tuxpam ‘in Mexico by means of submarine pipe lines dis- charging into vessels 1% miles from the shore. Each ship is loaded and dispatched within 2% days and_ the rate of loading is 10,000 tons per 24 hours. A wealth of detail was given show- ing the saving in space and time by the substitution of oil for other fuels in ship propulsion. It was _ pointed out, also, that the furnace of a ves- sel burning oil could be readily altered to burn coal or wice versa when re- quired, enabling vessels trading be- tween countries rich in either fuel to change over. to oil or fuel, according to the relative cheapness at different times, * * OK OK ENERAL Sir Ian Hamilton ‘s strongly advocating the construc- tion of a canal connecting the Forth with the Clyde... This is a very old project, the same. suggestion having been made by no less historic a per- son than Charles II,. From the naval point of view, the project appeals to admirals of the fleet since it would