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November, 1924 panies have been in a position to de- clare dividends, although in some cases these were partly taken from _ reserve funds, A certain number. of © shipping companies have launched liners embody- ing new features. The motorship Swan- LEY built by Barclay Curle & Co., White- inch, Glasgow, has completed her maiden voyage from Cardiff to Colombo. She is the first vessel to be fitted with British made, double-acting engines. The new liner of the Cunard Co., the AuRANIA, also sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York. A new liner, the MARINE REVIEW RAnpurA, has been launched for the Peninsula & Oriental Co. and a new Orient liner, the Oronsay, was launched in the middle of August. The OramMa, a sister ship to the Oronsay, is nearly completed and is due to sail for Aus- tralia on Nov. 15. The board of trade has laid before parliament new rules with respect to the life-saving appliances to be carried on baard ship, and many changes are rec- ommended to increase the safety of pas- sengers, Following certain complaints by for- eign shipowners relating to the ab- 435 sence of modern loading and discharg- ing facilities in British ports, which was particularly noticeable in the latter part of 1923, a port facilities committee was formed which reported that the strike of dock workmen in 1923 increased con- gestion in British ports and that | diffi- culties were also encountered in view of the increase in trade and the reduced hours of working. Recommendations were offered by the committee in order to ob- viate these difficulties in the future by increasing railway facilities and by im- proving methods of loading and dis- charging. What the British Are Doing Short Surveys of Important Activities in Maritime Centers of Island Empire UICK work was done a_ short O time ago by British shipbreak- ing firm of Cox & Danks in the salvage of the first German destroyer to be dealt with in Scapa Flow. This was one of the vessels scuttled by the Germans. Special lifting tackle had been designed which in three hours brought the ship to the surface and two hours later the tugs had deposited the destroyer aground 200 yards from the shore. Fur- ther efforts are being made to bring the ship nearer land to facilitate breaking up. Ore ee LONDON firm of contractors has received the order to construct a new Mersey dock at Bromborough for Lever Bros. The dock will cover 155 acres. Nearly three miles of heavy retaining bank and dock walls will have to ‘be built with two jetties and exten- sive railway sidings. The cost includ- ing that of dredging and the dock gates will exceed £500,000 to which will be added expenditure on train sheds and other equipment. oe * UCH satisfaction is felt in British shipbuilding circles over the con- tinued shipbuilding orders from _ the Canadian Facific railway. Recently the Princess KATHLEEN was launched at Clydebank having been built by John Brown & Co. Two other vessels are now under construction in connection with the service on the triangular road from Vancouver to Seattle. They are 368 feet in length, 60 feet in breadth and 28 fee:, 9 inches in depth to the. upper deck. Accommodation is provid- ed for total of 317 first-class passengers. The disproportionate width of the vessels from the British point of view has frequently attracted attention. But the railroad attaches great importance to the provision of a wide promenade deck, because of the greater comfort thereby furnished to the passengers. Sug- gestions have been made that the same principle should be adopted in the con- struction of British cross-channel steam- ers. The Fairfield Co. of Glasgow is among the favored Canadian Pacific builders taving built in 1913 the Empress oF Asta, 570 feet in length, and since then the Empress oF CaANnapbA, 630 feet, and the Monrrosr, 550 feet. The Mera- CAMA in 1915 and the Merita and MIn- NEDOSA, both, in 1918, were built by the same company. John Brown & Co. constructed the Monrcatm and_ the MontciareE im 1921 and 1922 respectively. Vessels for the company have also been built at Barrow and Newcastle on Tyne. The value of the orders placed by the railroad now runs into many millions. * * * RDERS for 300 20-ton coal have been placed. They will vey coal from Welsh collieries in con- nection with shipments at Port Tal- bot. They are intended to be used main- ly for the anthracite export to Canada and America. cars con- * * * N VIEW of the extensive adoption of oil burning, the misgivings ex- pressed by Sir Frederick W. Lewis, pre- siding at the meeting of Furness Withy & Co. are of interest. Sir Frederick ad- mits the great value of the diesel en- gine in the matter of reduced fuel con- sumption, increased ship space and lower labor costs but on the other hand he calls attention to the heavy initial outlay, while the rise in oil prices has been so serious that many vessels fitted for burn- ing oil have been reconverted to coal. He points out the importance of estab- lishing oil supply stations which to be profitable must have a large amount of Business to do in supplying oil to vessels. Sir Frederick had a word to say in regard to a recent prophecy of a com- ing shipping boom. In that case, a well known economist recommended en- terprising owners to build ships without delay. Sir Frederick hoped that the gentleman was right, but remarked that the immediate outlook in the freight mar- ket was depressing. ee LOYDS shipbuilding register for the quarter ended Sept. 30 shows that at present 35 vessels of between 10,000 and 20,000 tons each and eight of 20,000 tons and upward are under construction. Twenty out of the 35, and all the largest vessels are building in Great Britain and Ireland. The tonnage of vessels now building in the world to be fitted with internal combustion engines amounts to 939,899 tons while the tonnage of steam vessels under construction is 1,621,569 tons. The motor tonnage thus equals nearly 58 per cent of the steam tonnage. * * * Ce are frequently made of the unprofitable character of ship- building. Sir G. B. Hunter, chairman of Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., presiding at the annual meeting of the company, said there had been an ed for total of 317 first-class passengers.