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Trend of Trade and Shipping in British Isles Five months ended - 1931 isa = at the moment, things are too de- pressed all round for that, but they have every hope that the seed planted will prove profitable in the long run. Among the many unusual yachting cruises which have been arranged by ‘the companies may be mentioned the week-end cruises from Hamburg to Southern Norway by the Hamburg- American liner RELIANCE on a basic fare of £3 a head and the third tour- ist yachting cruises by the P & O ves- sels MonGoLIA and MOLDAVIA. But even so it is only making the best of a very bad job and all the European passenger companies are hard hit, no matter on what route they may employ their ships. Near- ly all of them have been forced to ask all employes to accept a reduction of ten per cent on salaries all round, the sacrifice being made from the highest to the lowest, but even that is only a comparatively small item and econ- omy is eagerly sought in all depart- ments, the older and less economical ships of all the lines being laid up wherever possible. If the shipbreak- ers were offering a better price than they are at the moment, the worst for many years, there is no doubt that a large number of these ships would be scrapped. In: the industries connected with shipping, also, every effort is made to secure economy, but in that all efforts are naturally being checked by the disinclination of organized labor to accept any reduction in wages. It is fully recognized that the expenses of the port in Britain are far too high eee Sese _ 2 ES Gi Be es Bs ae es rary STATIST” INDEX OF BRITISH SHIPPING FREIGHTS b INDEX OF FREIGHTS BETWEEN U.S. A. AND WESTERN EUROPE === Hel A GE OF 1920 RA ‘ Py —— TES TAKEN AS 100 Ree 23 ae et and most economists would welcome some opportunity of reorganizing the rates in such a way that there would be a fairer distribution all round, for some dockers are still earning very big money indeed while an enormous number can scarcely get enough work to keep body and soul together. Any attempt to reorganize this, however, is being met by determined opposition on the part of the unions and no way out of the difficulty has yet been dis- covered. Efforts have also been made to ad- just shipbuilding labor in such a way that the minimum of reductions will put the yards in a better position to get new orders and at the same time permit the owner to get his repair and survey work done at a smaller sacrifice than is possible at present. The matter is now under discussion between the employers and the men, but here again the latter are natural- ly anxious to avoid any reductions if possible. The British shipbuilding industry certainly wants all the help that it can obtain, for its present position is deplorable. Things are not one whit better than they were last quarter, in fact they seem to be appreciably worse and yard after yard is temporarily closing down with no work on hand. Unfortunately the shipyards can get little or no help from the navy, for the board of admiralty is very anxi- ous to please its political supporters in the dockyard towns and on gen- eral principles also the laying down of new men-of-war is being delayed ve a 2 a ce ES E Be & 2856 Enas Ld See Bm || Es Ss fd | a fo is = A e "4 & Bi ss 4 a Sat oo a ee AO came Beast! |_| ee ie a | March April May | Ss ee 43 4391 4603 20396 an ee Oeics core 4, 782,271 4,592,258 5, 105 ee 22,989, ; 18 . 24,694.867 | Tonnage from Atlantic coast of North America..... dt. +04) (17.9%) (19. 8p) (16. 40%) (18.80%) H se : i Total clearances from British ports: oe 4,599 4,438 4,5 22,193 25,23 | oo ee 4,664,370 4,654,612 5,039,271 23,269,953 27,325,444 | re oa A I i Sed IBC Tt eee eee . ve 562,892 ; a ; ; ; S 24,970 | Tonnage going to Atlantic coast of North America (i) ie) (16. 8%) (26%) (14.3%) (is 705) Total value of goods: ee erated ee Re £39,427,954 £39,071,112 £39,642,284 £199,388, 260 £303,406,487 Se ee ee £70,664,876 £70,020,381 -£69,632;532 —-£349'353757 £458°367°800 i : ee 3,612,584 3,602,504 3,515,868 17,534,573 24,491,358 / ; TCS I Te es pe eases Un Vane ane £2;890,945 £2,897,578 £2,878,610 £14101,457 £20,655,222 | Tonnage shipped for use of steamers............--.++. 1,187,300 1,138,008 1,233,202 5,854,540 6,476,981 as long as it possibly can be. At the present time the German yards are also very hard hit, the French are complaining bitterly although they seem to have a fair amount of work, the Italians are not doing at all bad- ly, and some of the Scandinavian es- tablishments are very satisfactorily busy. The most interesting new ships launched in the quarter are the P. & O. liners STRATHNAVER and S?TRATH- AIRD, turbo-electric vessels which are a considerable improvement on the VicreROY OF INDIA and which are sched- uled to be put on the Australian trade next year. The company is rightly proud of these ships, which certainly ought to prove very fine examples of modern shipbuilding, and is forsak- ing its usual rather sombre coloring of black hull and funnel and stone colored upperworks in favor of white hulls and bright buff funnels. It is a policy that they have adopted once or twice before when they have been par- ticularly proud of new ships, but it has seldom lasted for very long. Altogether, therefore, European shipping and the allied industries have not yet any reason to feel con- tent or even to feel sure of an im- provement in the future. Even the slight improvement in tramp freights is a danger, for it is not enough to make any great difference to the prosperity of the industry, but on the other hand it may persuade some op- timist to bring tonnage out of the laying-up berths and so to bring prices down with a run once again. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec i ie . a us Qs ier Ree w > Ss So als ® meee PCT i Diagram Showing Fluctuation of Ocean Freight Rates for Four Years and Five Months 58 MARINE REviIEw—August, 1931