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Se RN aay oe LORDS DER SpE Oe OT NE EP TOR a TAS LO LT I ON Ge ne ange ping Corp., which operated lines out of Jacksonville to various European ports, has turned back all its ships. On the other hand, the shipping board has recognized the Roosevelt Steamship Co. as a managing agent, which presupposes it will be assigned government tonnage for operation. The board has also recog- nized the United Maritime & Development Co., Detroit, as an operator and it proposes to establish a line out of New Orleans for South America. The United American line: has made an arrange- ment for transshipment at Hamburg of goods con- signed t& the Levant. At the same time it was announced that the Levant tates have been re duced. Steamship companies have also decided to reduce the rates to South African ports. This step was taken as a result of the depreciation in the value ef raw materials. In the coastal trade, the rate on cottsn ton Gulf ports to north Atlantic range has been cut. The Ward line reports a material improvement in the conditions at Havana and a revival of the Cuban trade is confidently expected. Steamship companies have taken advantage of the slump in business to effect many economies. All ornamenta! appendages are being lopped off and in instances one man ts doing the work of two. The Royal: Mail Steam Packet Co., latest of the English lines to engage in the American transatlan- tic trade, is completing a fleet of refrigerator ships which it expects to use tO carry FPacinc coast fruit to. Europe,". The Canadian Mer chant Marine Ltd., is establishing a service from Halifax to Jamaica. Although the Cunard line lost 22 vessels during the war, or more than 50 per cent of its tonnage, its building program will more than double its prewar tonnage. This would appear to be an 1b- Foreigners Prepare to Compete Experts in this Country and Abroad -anticipating a new influx of business normal advance in the shipping field but the ex-- ample is not an isolated case. The Cun- ard. line. has purchased the former German steamer IMPER- ATOR from the British govern- ment and has determined tbo Levy Fuel Oil Tax TAs of 1 shilling 6 pence per ton placed by British authorities on the transfer of fuel oil at Gibraltar means that the majority of American Steamers will fuel at Bizerta, This Port is on the north African coast and is France's second naval base. Its location is directly on the route rename her of American steamers trading to the the BERENGAR- Near East or through the Suez canal. TA. The White The néw British tax is hard to un- Star. line has returned the OLyMPic to the transatlantic passe ager trade. The Ma- JESTIC, the new exiGerma'n derstand, since fuel was merely trans- ferred in the open roadstead- from American tankers or barges. Bi- zerta has a large tank capacity, an American company maintaining fuel facilities there. The shipping board early chose Bizerta as one of its World-wide belt of bunkering sta- liner for this tions. company 1S fast nearing 231 RATES STRONGER Taniffs Show Firmness in Several Paci Ic Routes -- Railroads Fear Inroads of Ship Lines--Cut on Steel completion. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. plans establishing a regular freight and passenger sery- ice between New York and Flamburg. = Calls' will be made at French and English ports.. The Ham- burg-Amerika has resumed paying dividends, the dividend for 1919 being 8 per cent. Earnings have been made out of the Baltic trade, Two ex-Ger man steamers, prizes of war, have been chartered to the Hansa line of Germany. The steamers are the GROSTAFELS and GOLDENFELS, and were originally em- ployed by the Hansa line, which was a factor in the trade with India. A number of new inquiries are in the market and freight forwarders express optimism. 'They -are within the next eight or ten -weeks. There has been a little chartering in the market during the past month, but this as a whole has been negligible. The River Plate recently started with a burst. of activity. Within a few days, some 14 or 15 steamers of handy size were placed. Values kept up fairly well. In this trade, much depends upon the grain purchases by Europe. Grain has been moving out of Galveston and one or two other gulf ports in great quantities. Greek and Italian orders have appeared at New York. Shipments also have been made through Portland, Me. The tie-up of ships all over the world has ma- terially affected the fuel business. Despite labor troubles in English coal fields, nothing of conse- quence resulted in the demand on this side of the Atlantic. Fuel oil has likewise decreased in price and demand. The shipping board has tied up the tanker SELMA. The demand for coal and oi is, necessarily, predicated upon the activity of shipping ° and the requirements of bunker stations. While the general tendency of the charter market on the north Pacific See Signs has been downward during March, Cae strengthening of ocean freights in or oming two directions within the closing Upturn week indicates that possibly the long expected upturn has come. This sudden firmness may not prove per- manent but operators believe it is the first ray of light following a long period of darkness and un- certainty. After a month of a $10 rate on lumber to the Orient, the conference lines have succeeded in rais- ing this item to $15 per thousand feet. The $10 level was granted under protest and considerable cargo was booked at this low rate which was only ~ $1 higher than the prewar level: when operating costs were much less. By concerted effort, the trans-