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when practically every company has about all it can handle. Five years ago there were 58 companies authorized to do marine insurance business in New York, while at the present time there are double that number and the number is increasing monthly. : When the United States shipping board announced early this month Pacific that Emergency Fleet steamers Market would be placed on the berth for ee Oriental ports carrying freight for Upset $30 per ton, it upset the entire Pacific market. Since then, rates have been declining steadily. Now it is reported that space is being offered at $2.50 per ton less than the government rate whereas only a month ago the going rate on freight to the Orient was $45 per ton. Four shipping board vessels have been assigned to Seattle operating companies to load for Oriental ports at $30 per ton and most of the space has already been engaged. However, none of these vessels has sailed inasmuch as they are completing at local yards and the present strike is retarding their delivery. Reports from Japan state that the charter market in that coun- try is dropping rapidly and the situation is chaotic. For months, Japanese owners have been reaping im- mense profits and the announcement of the United States has created consternation. For the first time in months, the supply of tonnage is said to exceed the present demand. Another bearish factor is the release of a considerable fleet of Japanese steamers which since last year have been operating in the Atlantic under charter to the United States. These ships are returning to north Pacific ports and_ this additional space is aiding in lowering rates. As an indication of the market, new British steel steamers are being offered for time charter . to Pacific’ operators at 25 shillings per deadweight ton per month for a period of 18 months. These vessels are to be delivered at United Kingdom ports in March. In view of the rapidly falling freights, even this figure is not especially attractive as operators fear there will be an additional drop in the near future. Inasmuch as the charter market for time vessels reached the high level of 97% shillings, last October, the extent of the drop is easily seen. However, freights are far above normal yet when it is recalled that prior to the war, steamers were frequently chartered at around 3 shil- lings per month and 5. shillings was considered a profitable figure. It is true that the recent crash in charter rates naturally was more severely felt in Japan where the market was based on supply and demand than in the United States where operators have been unable to charter for months because the going rate for time charters was twice the maximum fixed by the United States government, which was 41% shil- lings. : The rates on lumber from North Pacific ports have not fallen with Lumber Oriental freights. The reason for es this is that practically the entire lum- ber carrying fleet in Pacific waters has been fixed for months-in ad- Stay Up vance at high levels and there is little activity in this market. For- eign lumber buyers are not active, anticipating a further drop in freights and in the meantime little new business is being booked. Freight rates from the Orient to North Pacific ports continue low although several items moving in large quantities have been removed from the restricted THE MARINE REVIEW list. Freight can still be carried from Japan to this coast at below $10 per ton but it is likely that with a resumption of normal cargo movement to the North Pacific eastbound rates will stiffen and westbound will relax until they reach a common level. In the opinion of well informed operators and owners, the present is a period of readjustment dur- ing which freights are likely to continue to drop rapidly. Then they expect freights to adjust them- selves to the matter of supply and demand. If the United States places sufficient vessels on the Ori- ental routes to hold the balance of power, reason- able freights may be expected in this trade. With increased tonnage available, the freight congestion at North Pacific ports is being gradually relieved. Heavy shipments of provisions left Boston for Liverpool in Jan- Boston uary, the items including 11,500,000 Shi pounds of lard, 13,000 boxes of pine nie bacon, 7000 quarters of fresh beef Fall off and 1,600,000 pounds of butter. Apples totaled 38,000 barrels and 92,000 boxes. During the month, seven oversea steamships carried 752,000 bushels of wheat and oats, a marked falling off compared with 2,800,000 bushels the preceding month. A year ago there were exported 875,000 bushels of wheat and oats. Last month about 9000 tons of corn meal and corn flour were exported of which amount 4200 tons were for Rotterdam and the remainder for Havana. These substitutes for flour were owned by the United States government and had been a long time awaiting tonnage. Up to the present time 151,092 barrels of apples have been shipped to Liverpool against none last year. Bad weather at sea and interrupted schéd- ules were responsible for the relatively small number of steamships at Boston in January and February business will be about normal, it is expected. The long anticipated resumption of ocean freight service between Atlantic- Atlantic and Pacific coast ports be- pon. came a reality early in February : when the Pacific Coast Steamship Service Co.’s steamer ADMIRAL SEBREE went on berth in New York city and began loading cargo for San Francisco. This vessel was released to her owners by the shipping board and will be returned without delay to the Pacific trade, taking a cargo with her from the Atlantic coast. The ApmrraL SEBREE is the first of six vessels which are soon to sail from. the Atlantic to the Pacific, via the Panama canal, in- “ stituting a sporadic and uncertain service. But the premise of the railroad administration that there is no water competition from coast to coast is apt to be overturned at no late date. This opinion is based on conclusions drawn from an investigation recently conducted which disclosed the possibility of merchants on the east coast chartering tramps to bring cargoes to the Pacific coast. Even at the pres- ent high charter rates, it is believed that such vessels might compete with the transcontinental railroads through the co-operation of the merchants in pre- paring cargoes for shipment and by taking every pos- sible step to expedite the movement of the steamers. Despite the government’s recent action in releasing all American steamers from requisition charter, there seems to be but little possibility of the resumption of: regular Panama canal service in the near future. It is too much to expect that such concerns as the American-Hawaiian and Luckenbach will soon resume. March, 1919 Pier eee soee? eee Ap amy Re