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50 : THE MARINE REVIEW Maritime insurance agents are attempting to prevail upon American fire insurance companies to enter the marine insurance field. and thereby provide a wider market for policies. Shippers are holding off in anticipation of better rates. War risk 1s still being written in the American market whereas mine risk is being written in the British. Some American owners are contemplating assuming the war risk and thereby saving a few dollars in insur- ance. Antisubmarine guns are being removed from merchant vessels. Obstacles to navigation, especially on the Atlantic, are being removed Removing as rapidly as circumstances will iy permit. German mines have been Me *taces - scattered all along our Atlantic of War coast and the navy department is announcing these as rapidly as dis- covered. Some unknown or un- recognized wrecks are also being reported. Light- ships and other. signals to navigators are being restored and everything put in readiness for the resumption of normal commerce. War dangers, however, are not entirely absent. The British admiralty has announced that all lights on the south and west coasts of England, Wales, and the west coast of Scotland between North Foreland and Cape Wrath, and all lights on the coast of Ireland and Channel islands, as far as possible, will be exhibited regularly and the usual fog signals sounded. This will be conducive to safe navigation and a considerable relief to mariners who have been working through the war zone for the past few years. To protect navigators along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the United States weather bureau be- gan on the first of the new year the system of dis- playing two red lanterns with a white lantern be- tween to indicate the approach of a tropical hurri- cane or one of those extremely severe and danger- ous storms which occasionally move across the Great Lakes and Atlantic coast. There is little © activity, in. the charter market in the north Pacific Pacific at present. Conditions are so Market chaotic and uncertain that neither operator nor shipper is prepared Unsettled to do business, and no improve- ment is anticipated until some- thing is known regarding the gov- ernment’s attitude toward shipping. The scarcity of tonnage remains acute. What few vessels are available are eagerly taken but the inactivity mentioned above refers to the situation as a whole. As soon as the government announces what policy it will adopt as to its new merchant fleet, as well as its attitude on charter rates, opera- tors will know what to expect and there will be renewed interest in the market. In the meantime, charters are passing through the period of uncer- tainty following the war that is affecting other lines of business. The lumber business, which absorbs a large amount of tonnage from this section, is. quiet. Foreign buyers will not place their orders at present owing to the high price of lumber and the exces- sive freights. If no decline follows, it may be ex- pected that foreign markets will soon order for their immediate needs. In the Oriental situation, conditions are somewhat improved as the result of the removal of embargo restrictions upon many imports from Japan and China. Space from the Pacific coast to the Orient is in strong demand at going freights which are extremely high. ; With the United States government operating a large, fleet. of merchant vessels and no definite policy established as to the future, it may be ex- pected that individual initiative will be temporarily = curbed. When private capital knows on what basis it may operate, there will be renewed activity in the market. There is some demand from foreign owners to purchase vessels but there seems no strong market for the steamers which the United States government has expressed its willingness to sell. Boston’s export trade has _ in- creased tremendously during the Trade at past three months and approaches B prewar conditions. The situation ore may be understood when it is Grows | stated that a ship-a-day basis has been reached and all transatlantic terminals are congested with mer- chandise. Last September, only six steamships de- parted from Boston for oversea—the following month 17 left that port for foreign destinations. During December, the sailings averaged one daily. During January facilities of the terminals and the feeding railroads will be taxed to the utmost. This splendid showing is due in a large measure. to the British ministry of marine rather than to: this government as the bulk of carrying is in foreign bottoms. is believed. Quantities of steel, provisions, apples and general merchandise are going forward and shippers are elated at the prospect. of resuming business with Europe which, till recently, was at a standstill. The South American trade is picking up in a gratifying manner. the new year is promising. Despite the statement of the ex- port control committee to the Gulf director general of railroads re- Freight cently that “at New Orleans allo- : cations seem ample to remove from Piles up the terminals all active export traffic, as well as to take care of such freight as is enroute to that port,” investigation on that date showed that there were approximately 2000 cars unreturned from the hands of the Public Belt railroad. This line links all the wharves of New Orleans with the trunk lines of railroad entering that port. The abundance of unreturned cars was pointed out in a statement of B. L. Winchell, regional director of railroads, with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Mr. Winchell conveyed this information to Mayor Martin Behr- man, of New Orleans, who replied that the accumu- lation of freight was due to lack of ships and not . to poor service on the part of the Public Belt. railroad. The real need of New Orleans and all the Gulf ports 1s ships for the Latin-American trade. These need not be large vessels, but they are needed now, if the European exporters and shipowners are not to be allowed to take Latin-American commerce from the gulf ports of the United States. February, 1919 Export of cereal already is gratifying and soon will total 1,000,000 bushels per month, it All in all, the outlook for — Fe oa emia en eR ME) MRS Cag AT OA EE FONT ATE OE EIS SAE SIS, AN RS CE fa Oe RIE OR Ce PREIS ee eee Ne Spi Pe Oe ae eee eee Pk Na os