The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

World Shipbuilding Declines, Orders Exceed Launchings CCORDING to Lloyd’s Register A of Shipping, at the quarter ended June 30 last, American shipyards were building less than one- half of one per cent of the total ton- nage of merchant vessels of 100 tons gross and upwards being construct- ed throughout the world. With only about 3000 gross tons of merchant ships now in hand, American yards have less than a tenth of the volume of production under way three months ago. At this time last year, the United States was building 162,203 gross tons. The decline of 28,000 tons in American production during the last quarter compares with a gain of 35,- 000 tons for Great Britain and Ire- land, and of 26,000 tons for Japan. How the volume of merchant ship- building has compared during the last two quarters is shown in the following table of gross tonnage: June 30, ’33 Mar. 31, 733 Great Britain and Ireland 287,502 252,401 United States ces 3,038 31,128 Other countries ............. 441,955 457,415 World® total icccccssecccsssess 732,495 740,944 Of the present total of production, Great Britain and Ireland have near- ly 40 per cent in hand, as compared with only about 29 per cent at the beginning of this year. At the lat- ter time the proportion of world shipbuilding being done in the United States was about 8 per cent, aS com- pared with its present four-tenths of one per cent. New Orders Exceed Launchings Orders for new construction on which work was begun during the quarter ended June 30 last, repre- sented a considerably greater amount of tonnage than that launched dur- ing the same period. The total of new work begun, however, was 19,- 000 gross tons less than in the pre- vious quarter, while the decrease in launchings was only about 13,000 tons. For Great Britain and Ireland, during the quarter just ended the new work was 40,000 gross tons in excess of the launchings for the pe- riod, while for all other countries, taken as a group, the launchings were only about 3000 tons less than the volume of new construction. New Work Jun. 30, 33 Mar. 31, ’33 Great Britain and Ireland 50,050 76,001 Other countries .............606 70,145 638,793 World tOtal: rico siccssscces 120,195 139,794 Launchings Great Britain and Ireland 10,093 12,7382 Other countries ............... 67,462 78,567 World total vise 77,555 91,299 22 A continuance of the decline in the construction of steam and motor tankers of 1000 gross tons each, and upwards, is shown for the quarter ended June 30, the chief decline be- ing in Italy. Sweden showed a small decrease, and Great Britain and Ire- land and Germany are reported to have the same volume of this type of tonnage under way as in the pre- vious quarter. A gain was shown by the other countries, taken col- lectively. The status of tanker con- struction for the last two quarters is given as follows: Jun. 30, 33 Mar. 31, ’33 Sweden te crisis ccacresstatiosdeevans 47,600 54,000 Great Britain and Ireland 30,026 30,026 GOB MIAN Ys edecetsieiccsssccdvccscteases 24,800 24,800 JAR sete tele ae le aa a ee re 21,726 84,152 OER ENS ee caren tanec 36,312 26,712 Woorldtotall +. isisnids 160,464 169,690 Motor tankers continue to repre- sent the great bulk of the tanker ton- nage, aggregating 143,704 gross tons. Gain in Motorship Construction Nearly 100,000 gross tons more of motorships than of all other types of vessels combined are now being built.. Again during the last quar- ter there was a gain in motorship construction, accompanied by a fall- ing off in the tonnage of other types under way, with the result that, at present, nearly 57 per cent of all construction is of vessels to be equipped with internal combustion engines. Comparison for the _ last two quarters for all countries com- bined is given as follows: Jun. 30, ’33 Mar. 31, ’33 Motor vessels .o.ceeeecccccccsees 414,997 410,153 Others types 8. See. 817,498 330,791 WOrldytotalin 732,495 740,944 Although the trend to motor ves- sels is more pronounced in other martime countries, Great Britain and Ireland are going in for this type of construction more markedly than they were, and 28 per cent of their present building program is devoted to motor ships, as compared to only 9 per cent at the beginning of this year. In the case of the other coun- tries, taken as a group, 75 per cent of the tonnage now building is in mo- torships. Comparisons for the quar- ter ended June 30 last, are given: Gt. Britain Other & Ireland Countries Motor vessels ... 81,118 333,879 Other types ....... 206,384 111,114 Motil Osa, oe eee 287,502 444,993 Great Britain and Ireland, in fact, are now building more motorized ton- MARINE REvIEw—August, 1933 nage than any other country, having, passed both Sweden and Italy, due to an increase of 22,000 tons in the volume of such construction. Japan, with an equal gain in the same pe- riod, is now the third largest pro- ducer of motor vessels, and on the heels of Sweden, which holds second postion. Comparison in motorship construction for two quarters are: Jun. 30, ’33 Mar. 31, ’38 Great Britain and Ireland 81,118 58,981 SWEET 6 oaticsce cariribessatiaccacses 76,860 80,969 PAD BN ise Aiceevaedeeonstyenivenacecnees 74,18) 52,860 Germany ciiiiiis cote; coseosccees 46 850 49,995 Hollander ieee ae 31,288 32,250 SPAIN as es erictectaoees reese 29,652 31,252 Dc A ga UI Aes aa en 27,076 59,098 United {States ciic.ccsscccessoveses 503 503 Returns covering all types of ma- rine engines being built or installed throughout the world, show gains in the aggregate power of oil engines and steam reciprocating engines, and a decline for steam turbines. The aggregate indicated horsepow- er of oil engines advanced from 381,- 059 to 432,990 during the last quar- ter. For Great Britain and Ireland, the gain was from 35,225 to 62,884, while Japan’s total climbed 38,830 to 73,200. Holland’s figure rose from 80,434 to 87,038, and Sweden’s from 48,400 to 65,675. Spain’s to- tal remained unchanged at 24,200, while that for the United Sta'tes dropped from 5726 to 4876. In the case of steam reciprocating engines, the total for all countries combined advanced from 90,433 indi- cated horsepower at the end of last March to 104,393 at the end of June. For Great Britain and Ireland, the gain was from 60,008 to 74,678. For steam turbines, the aggregate decline for all countries together, during the June quarter, was from 412,745 to 355,877, shaft horsepow- er. For Great Britain and Ireland, the decrease was only from 188,200 to 187,660; but for France the drop was from 186,000 to 160,000, while for the other countries together it was from 38,545 to 8217. Although Great Britain and Ire- land retained the lead in volume of tonnage under way during the last quarter, followed again by France, there were shifts, as shown in the following table, in the relative pro- duction ranking of the other lead- ing shipbuilding countries. Jun. 30, ’33 Mar. 31, ’33 Great Britain and Ireland 287,502 252,401 GO MCE | Ra ovass cckckoatercahesoreeness 92,406 97,489 SADA elk a saacias ounce 82,280 55,570 Sweden? oceans 78,832 82,332 Germany aici eee 49.855 52,565 SPAN es ss crshaciesei ese cen 83,512 33,612 Moland. | aceee sees 31,723 32,450 DenmMarkoncnecvei cw 27,183 20,187 Gay iceeesectniee ts ens 27,076 59,098 Wmnited “States: cciccecuiase 8,088 31,128 Only two merchant vessels of 20,- 000 gross tons or above now being built throughout the world. Great Britain and Ireland, and France are now each constructing one.