2.
30
Shipping Activity.
There are now sixty-four more British ships at sea than there
were three months ago, the increase in the tonnage of British
vessels in commission being estimated at 275,000 tons; and during
the past three months there has been a decrease of no less than
32 per cent in the tonnage of idle shipping laid up in British
ports. These returns of the Chamber of Shipping of the United
Kingdom are but another sign of the continuous expansion of
British trade.
At the same time there has been a great revival of activity
in British shipyards. Naval demands naturally constitute an
important factor in this revival, but there has been a marked in-
crease in commercial orders for ship construction since the begin-
ning of the year. The Clyde shipyards now have under construction
or on order nineteen liners, aggregating 200,000 gross tons, as
well as eight cargo vessels of 41,000 tons and four tankers total-
ling 36,000 tons. Another large shipbuilding centre is the North-
East Coast of England, and at the end of July shipbuilders in that
district had under construction or on order 315,000 gross tons of
ocean-going merchant vessels. This total includes fourteen liners
aggregating 90,000 tons, forty cargo vessels totalling 200,000 tons
and three tankers of 25,000 tons all told. An aspect of considerable
importance in British mercantile shipping is its relatively modern
construction. According to the chairman of one of the leading
British cargo shipping companies, out of over 3,250,000 tons of
British tramp tonnage less than 400,000 tons were built before
1920, whereas the average age of the tramp vessels of other nations
was considerably greater.
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