Institute of Pacific Relations

New Shipping Links between U.S., South Seas and AustraliaAuthor(s): Jack ShepherdSource: Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Jan. 19, 1939), p. 23Published by: Institute of Pacific RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3022501 .

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1939 New Shipping Links Between V. S., South Seas and Australia 23

promising. The goal on oil shale has been raised from

650,000 to 1,000,000 tons of oil. This is to be in the hands of the S.M.R., which in addition to expanding its existing plant at Fushun will establish plants at two other locations, one at the port of Rashin in North Korea and the other at Liangyuan in Jehol. The S.M.R. has been producing oil from oil shale at its Fushun plant since 1930 (see Far Eastern Survey, Aug. 26, 1936, p. 197). The output in 1936 amounted to

102,000 tons, but has since been increased. It is technically possible to produce oil from coal

and from oil shale. In Europe production from both sources has been increasing rapidly and Germany alone

produced 900,000 tons of oil from coal in 1937. There are ample supplies of coal from accessible mines in Manchuria and tremendous reserves of coal in North

China?provided that output can be expanded rapidly enough. The Manchurian deposits of oil shale are substantial. At Fushun the shale overlies the coal seams and must be removed anyway to reach the coal

for open-cut mining. It is true that these are high- cost enterprises, but in Japan the whole scheme of

coal liquefaction is strategic in nature and has little

or no commercial basis. For strategic reasons the mili?

tary authorities want sources of oil under their con?

trol and free from possible boycott. It is recognized that costs are higher and that a substantial investment

in equipment is required, but it is regarded as a stra?

tegic necessity. In the words of the Oriental Econ?

omist, "in the present situation Japan is compelled to

go ahead with the task of developing it (coal lique?

faction) regardless of the difficulties, and to this end

everyone concerned, both government and people, is

prepared to pay the necessary price no matter how

high it may be." Experience to date indicates, how?

ever, that even though Japan is willing to pay the price, technical difficulties are still formidable enough so that

it will be some years, at least, before synthetic and

shale oil can contribute substantially to the solution

of Japan's oil problem. John R. Stewart.

NEW SHIPPING LINKS BETWEEN U. S., SOUTH SEAS AND AUSTRALIA

The new year sees the inauguration of two new ship? ping services between Pacific Coast ports in the South Seas and northern Australia. The firms responsible are W. R. Carpenter and Co. Ltd., of Sydney, Aus?

tralia, and A. S. Thor Dahl, of Sandjeford, Norway, the latter operating in the Pacific as the Pacific Islands

Transport Line. Two ships will be used in the Nor-

wegian service, the motorship Thor I, which sailed

early this month for ports in Western Samoa, Fiji, the Solomons and north Australia, and the Velox, which is

scheduled to leave Vancouver and San Francisco late in February for New Caledonia, New Guinea, Papua and North Queensland ports. W. R. Carpenter is

using for its service a new 9,000 ton steamer called

the Suva. Recently launched in England, the Suva was scheduled to sail from San Francisco on February 4 for Western Samoa, Fiji and the Mandated Terri?

tory of New Guinea. It is expected that the Suva will

supplement the round the world service at present car?

ried on by two smaller Carpenter ships, proceeding from New Guinea to Sydney and thence via the Cape of Good Hope and West African ports to Europe, re-

turning through Panama to the Pacific Coast for the

next voyage. Ships of both lines provide accommoda-

tion for a limited number of passengers, as well as

freight. These new services, though small in themselves,

represent a significant expansion in a regional service

that has been seriously contracted since the beginning of the depression. A number of other small freight lines link both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts with

islands in the South Pacific and with Australia, but the most noteworthy feature of the new services is that

for the first time for some years at least they provide

means not hitherto available of direct communication

between the United States and certain ports. The

most important of these are Apia, in the mandated

territory of Western Samoa, Noumea in the French

possession of New Caledonia, ports in the Australian

territory of Papua and Australian-controlled man?

dates of New Guinea, and ports in northern Australia

itself. In the past there has been no easy connection

between Western Samoa or New Caledonia and the

United States, and American goods destined for the

Mandated Territory of New Guinea, the Territory of

Papua and North Queensland have all had to be sent

via Sydney. The service inaugurated by W. R. Carpenter is of

particular interest since this is the first regular ship?

ping service owned by an Australian firm to touch the

United States. W. R. Carpenter was founded as quite a small concern in 1914. In 24 years its capital has

increased from ?Al00,000 to ?A690,000?sevenfold.

Engaged first in South Sea island shipping, its activi?

ties now include extensive commercial operations in

the islands. Its fleet includes, in addition to the Suva, two 9,000 ton Diesel-engined vessels, and six other

smaller craft. With nine airplanes it operates a cargo,

passenger and mail service between Salamaua and the

gold fields in the interior of New Guinea. In April, last year, W. R. Carpenter obtained the contract to run

a weekly air service, subsidized by the Australian Gov?

ernment, between New Guinea and the Australian

mainland, and this service has proved so successful

that the company is urging the Australian Government

to subsidize a more frequent service on the ground that the present service cannot cope with the traffic.

Jack Shepherd.

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