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New Work in Five Largest - Shipyards Summarized Statistics as of May 1 indicate that the five largest shipyards were building 22 merchant vessels of the combination passenger and car- go type and five bulk oil carriers, of approximately 321,900 tons gross. At the beginning of this year 18 mer- chant vessels and eight tankers were under construction, but their com- bined tonnage was only 306,100. Since that time, several of the ships were launched and contracts for larger vessels placed. Of the new vessels definitely re- quired to be built under the provisions of the ocean mail contracts, seven have been delivered and 31 are to be built within the next few years. In addition, 33 ships now in operation must be reconditioned or replaced with new tonnage. The dollar value of unfinished work in the country’s shipyards as of May 1 approximated $61,000,000 for mer- chant vessels and $32,000,000 for gov- ernment vessels. Comparative figures for Jan. 1, were $65,000,000 and $25,- 000,000, respectively. On the basis of unfinished work, the shipbuilding industry is operating at about 50 per cent of normal capacity. The number of men employed by 20 of the coastal shipyards, which in- cludes all the yards equipped to build seagoing vessels, was 17,500 on May 1. Some of the men were engaged in re- pair work. New construction has been confined to Atlantic coast yards. No new con- struction of sea going vessels is under way on the Pacific coast. The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. has the largest program under way. It is building eight passenger vessels, contracts for two being received early this year. For the Dollar Steamship Co. it is completing work on two 21,000-ton | ships; and in addition is building three of 7000 tons each for United Fruit Co.; one of 5000 tons for the Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Co., (see page 21) and two of 5800 tons each for the Eastern Steamship Co. ~The Bethlehem Shipbuilding Cor- poration, Ltd., a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., has under con- struction three vessels of 18,500 tons each for the Matson Navigation Co. and three of 7000 tons each for the United Fruit Co. The Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corp., has been awarded contracts this year for two ships of 10,500 tons each for the Panama Mail line and two of 15,500 tons each for the Grace Steamship Co. New York Shipbuilding Co., a sub- sidiary if the American Brown Boveri Electric Corp., is building two pas- senger vessels of 30,000 tons each, the 42 largest to be constructed in this country, for the United States Lines, Inc., and two of 9400 tons each for the Export Steamship Corp. The Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., a subsidiary of the Sun Oil Corp., is constructing five tankers of 9000 tons each for the Motor Tank- ship Corp. and one of 9000 tons each for the Standard Transportation Co. - Cunard Superliner Speed The new vessels in the building program of the Cunard line probably will have a maximum speed of 32 knots and will make the Atlantic crossing in four days flat. While the Cunard line will prob- ably attempt to regain the Atlantic speed honors which the MAURETANIA lost to the BremEeN and Europa, ship- ping experts are of the opinion that the British ships will have to show a speed of at least 32 knots in order to win back the laurels. They base their opin- ion on the belief that the two German liners have never been pushed to their utmost, but have merely been operated at a speed just fast enough to hold the speed records. Experts think that when the new super-tonnage enters service the BREMEN and Europa will be able to do 32 knots whenever called upon to meet the challenge of their rivals. Large Ice-Breaking Vessel The largest ship of her type ever built in a Canadian shipyard was launched on May 20 at the Davie ship- building yards of the Canada Steam- ships lines at Lauzon, Quebec. She was Christened the CHARLOTTETOWN, and is designed as a combination ice- breaker, car ferry, and passenger ship, and will enter the service of the Canadian National railways between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The ship is 324 feet long, of heavy steel construction, with a molded beam of 59 feet and a depth of 25 feet, and has a gross tonnage of 4800. It has three heavy steel propellers, one forward and two aft, for cutting ice. Accommodation is provided for 16 latest type railway cars, between 40 and 50 automobiles, and about 750 passengers, officers and crew. The cost involved is approximately $2,225,- 000. The engines, which were built and installed by the Canadian Vickers company, Montreal, are specially de- signed to increase power and decrease fuel consumption. The ship will have an estimated speed of between 14 and 15 knots. The Buda Co., Harvey, Ill., manu- facturers of Buda M.A.N. diesel en- gines for marine service, generating sets and power units for various port- able and stationary requirements, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. MARINE REvIEw—June, 1931 American Ships Engaged _ 4 In 1930 Foreign Trade 4 Vessels engaged in American for. eign commerce made nearly 60,000 entrances and _ clearances through United States ports during the fiscal year 1930, according to a study re- cently completed by the bureau of research, United States shipping board. Ships engaged in this trade transported 104,670,487 tons of commodities making 29,909 en- trances at American ports bringing in 49,764,658 tons of imports, and 29,975 clearances carrying out 54,- 905,829 tons of exports. American flag vessels made a total of 24,796 or 41.4 per cent of the to- tal number of entrances and clear- ances, and carried 42,091,023 tons or 40.2 per cent of the total amount of freight transported. The remain- der of the entrances and clearances, numbering 35,088 were made by ves- sels of 30 different foreign nations which earried 62,579,464 tons of freight. Incoming American vessels made 41.6 per cent of the total number of entrances and brought in 50.7 per cent of the total imports received, while outgoing American vessels made 41.2 per cent of the clearances and carried 30.7 per cent of the ton- nage exported. The office of the N.Y.K. line was removed on May 1 to 25 Broadway, New York. Rates Reaffirmed Coal and iron ore vessel carrying rates and boat fuel prices on the Great Lakes for the season of 1931 have been announced as unchanged from last year. The 1931 ore-carrying rates therefore are: 70 cents a gross ton net to vessels from the head of Lake Superior; 63 cents a gross ton from Marquette; 521% cents from Escanaba to Lake Erie ports, and 42 cents from Escan- aba to Lake Michigan ports. The coal-carrying rates for the new season are: Net rate to boats of 35 cents a net ton to fast docks on Lake Superior; 45 cents a net ton to fast docks at Milwaukee and southern Lake Michigan ports, and 40 cents a net ton to ports on Lake Michigan north of Milwaukee. The Pittsburgh Coal Co., one of the principal fueling companies on the Great Lakes, announces for the sea- son a price of $5.25 a net ton for ves- sel fuel and from fuel lighters at Cleveland and Ashtabula, and _ the same price for vessel fuel at the com- pany’s docks at Sandwich, Ont., the Lime Island, Mich and car dumper fuel at Lake Erie ports will be $4.75 per net ton.