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SHIPPING NOTES £j Raise rate on cargoes for Canada The North Atlantic Westbound Freight Conference announced yesterday in London a 10 per cent increase in rates for cargo from Britain and Ireland for Canada effective Jan. 1. An 8 per cent increase, ef-! fective the same day, will be j applied by the North Atlantic Westbound Freight Association on goods from Ireland and Britain destined for U.S. Atlantic po The full rate increase will not be applied to Canadian shipments if the goods are palletized or other modern methods are used to improve handling. The Canadian rate increase applies initially to St. Lawrence and Maritimes ports but Canadian Great Lakes port rates will rise proportionately early next year, a conference official said. The increases follow a 10 per cent rise announced a week ago by the Mediterra-nean-C a n a d a Westbound Freight Conference effective Oct. 1. The Mediterranean group attributed the rise to increased stevedoring and operation costs and limited the rise to a maximum of $5 a ton or cubic metre. VENEZUELAN LINE The Venezuelan Line of Caracas will inaugurate service from Eastern Canadian ports to Bermuda and the West Indies with the sailing Sept. 8 from Montreal of the 3,127-gross-ton motorship Mericla. BRISTOL CITY LINE The 9,600-tOn Coventry City sailed from Avonmouth on Aug. 12 on her maiden voyage to Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Toledo and Chicago on charter to Bristol City Line of Bristol. A sister ship, Xttconta City, the second of two vessels aes'igned for St. Lawrence Seaway service, wiU be launched at a British yard tomorrow. The 19-knol ships will be used in the new Bristol C i t y-Donaldson Line joint weekly service between Canada and Britain or in the Bristol City Line service between Great Lakes ports and Britain. UPPER LAKES A spokesman for Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. of Toronto said yesterday the company still is considering the purchase of a 24,000-deadweight-ton bulk carrier from Ishika-wajima-Harima Heavy Indus- tries Co. Ltd. of Tokyo. He said reports that Upper Lakes is considering the purchase of another Japanese-built vessel stem from the traditional option for a second ship in Japanese shipbuilding contracts. Upper Lakes owns Port Weller Dry Docks Ltd. of St. Catharines, a yard able to build ships up to the maximum Seaway size, 730 feet long. BURNTISLAND The 173-foot liquefied gas tanker Teviot has successfully completed her sea trials and cargo-handling equipment Is being tested. Built by Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Burntisland, Scotland, for Nile Steamship Co. Ltd. of Glasgow, the vessel will be chartered to George Gibson and Co. Ltd. of Leith. Her sister ship, Tanquair, second of two in the series, is being completed by the yard. HARLAND AND WOLFF Harland and Wolff Ltd. of Belfast has launched the 69.-000-deadweight-ton tanker Do-nax being built for Shell Tankers (U.K.) Ltd. of London. Construction of a second tanker — a 170.000-deadweight-ton vessel for Shell — will begin soon. SIG. BIRGFNSEN Sig. Bergensen d.y. and Co. of Oslo has ordered three 150,-000-deadweight-t o n tankers from Rosenberg Mekaniske Verksted A-S, of Stavanger. The first tanker is to be delivered by mid-1968, with a second to be completed by the end of that year. LAID-UP TONNAGE Laid-up shipping tonnage throughout the world declined during July to its lowest total in two months, according to the U.K. Chamber of Shipping. At the beginning of August, 84 ships of 502,972 gross tons were laid up, compared with 79 ships of 516,887 tons in the previous month and 82 ships of 488,334 tons at June 1. The Aug. 1 total includes 254,220 tons of tanker tonnage and 248,752 tons of drycargo vessels. Laid-up tanker tonnage declined about 18,000 tons from the previous month, but drycargo tonnage was up about 4,000 tons. .1