ype Ang match the hy tose | accelerating growth in the carrying pi y of the world mero ant fleet, In the report, which was
ued on april 4, Lloyd's Register = one of the leading ship and engineering classification societies - points out: "the record additions to the world'sfleet in 1966 were accompanied by a decline in freight rates, compared with 1965 levels." This suggested that the equilibrium referred to in the previous year's report had not been maintained and that the emma supply of ships throughout the world exceeds demand. "The carrying capacity of the world fleet will also effectively increase with the trend towards larger and faster ships, quicker turn-round in port and the ratification in due course of the 1956 Loadline Convention. "It is the more remarkable, therefore, that the world order book should also be at a record level both in tonnage under construction and orders not yet commenced. The world order book totals some 43.7 million tons gross, of which 15 million tons are scheduled for completion in 1967, 11 million tons in 1968 and 7 million tons in 1969." The report admits that forecasts of an excess in ship output in the past year have been confounded by an expansion in world trade. But to match the current growth rate in carrying capacity an unprecendented expansion would be required. This situation does not augur well for the British shipping and shipbuilding industries. It is pretty certain that such actions as the lock-out of draughtsmen in the shipyards are part of a plan to put the burden of sharpening competition in the industry. Workers in the industry should press for nationalisation, under workers' control, as an answer; the Fairfields experiment is completely discredited..