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July, 1919 are no stokers, for the motorship's mechanical staff is made up of skilled men, A' Danish "moter * liner, the Fiona, recently went clear around the globe, making a voyage of 32,000 miles, with only one engineer. "The largest motorship yet built, the GLENAPP, recently made her trial trip in Scotland. She is 10,000 tons deadweight, with two sets of diesel engines, 6600 horsepower. It is esti- mated she can make from 12 to 14 knots an hour and run from London to Australia and back more than half way without replenishing fuel." Fuel oil is today a most important bunker fuel for merchant. ships in the overseas trades. During the seven months from June to December, 1918, inclusive, the war trade board issued licenses to merchant ships clearing _for foreign ports to bunker over 4,500,000 barrels of fuel oil, as against coal bunker licenses slightly in excess of 2,900,000 tons. The average month- ly bunkering of fuel oil during these seven months was approximately 650,- 000 barrels: The relative consumption of fuel oil and of coal as bunker re- mained almost constant. Huge Tanker Program Not until the war trade board levied its restrictions on bunkering were any accurate statistics kept of the amount of fuel consumed on merchant ships. Practical shipping men have for some time recognized the merit of fuel oil as a bunker but have not under- taken to accept it generally for many. THE MARINE, REVIEW 323 LOOKING FORWARD ON THE GEORGE WASHINGTON--SHE IS POWERED WITH DIESEL ENGINES AND REGISTERS 9400 TONS reasons."<In., the' first. "place," it 'wae thought to be almost impossible to obtain fuel oil on all the ocean runs that must be traversed. Coal bunker- ing stations were well established and this lack of oil bunkering stations was thought to mitigate against the easy charter of a vessel built to burn oil. The shipping board, realizing the needs of the future, projected a com- prehensive tanker building program. Forty steel tankers of 402,710 tons have been co1ipleted since the en- trance of the United States in the wat. The completed program. calls for 58 tankers of 560,230 tons. Con- tracts upon which work has _ not 4 LAUNCHING THE SACANDAGA AT HOG ISLAND--THIS VESSEL IS EQUIPPED WITH OIL BURNING BOILERS started will bring this total up to 156 tankers of 1,463,230 deadweight tons. Each one of these tankers is capable of transporting oil sufficient to dis- place approximately 21,000 tons of coal. Each can make three trips every two months from Mexico to American seaboard ports. With fuel oil at Tampico, Mex., selling around 24 cents and at the American seaboard for $1.38 per bar- rel, it is easily seen that the new fleet of tankers will not only greatly simplify the question of bunkering stations but will tend to equalize and stabilize the price of oil bunker throughout the western hemisphere. Although some limit is seen to the sources of oil in the United States, it is contended that the potential sup- ply in Mexico is almost unlimited. If permitted to carry out its pro- gram, the shipping board will also simplify the bunkering problem great- ly by the establishment of strategic bunkering stations. It intends to construct oil storage facilities at Bos- ton, Philadelphia, Galveston, Colon and Cristobal. These will cost ap- proximately $5,000,000. The oil com- panies themselves are engaging in this same line of constructive exten- sion. They have already established many important stations along the American seaboard. At the same time some shipping companies have _ in- vested in the oil fields. What is Fuel Oil? The experience had with fuel oil during the period of the war has further tended to clarify the defini- tions. This was undertaken first by the navy department which is a large consumer of this bunker. The tests and specifications of the navy have been extended to merchant vessel