Business & Finance: Oil-Burning Ships

Whatever the temporary merits of coal and oil as fuels on land, there is no doubt that petroleum is increasingly favored on the seas. A survey by the Department of Commerce shows that in 1922 there were 3,110 oil-burning steamships of a gross tonnage of 15,004,548 tons, compared with only 501 such vessels with a gross tonnage of 1,721,747 in 1914. The increase has been particularly marked in recent years of expensive coal: in 1920 there were 2,021 oil-burning vessels of 9,039,247 gross tonnage; in 1921, 2,848 vessels of 13,374,652 gross tonnage.

During the same period there was also a marked increase of oil tankers; from 366 tankers of 1,441,196 tons in 1914, these figures grew to 673 tankers of 3,068,130 tons in 1920; 840 tankers of 4,114,827 tons in 1921 and last year 950 tankers of 4,806,404 tons.

This development has occurred without any special effort by petroleum companies to stimulate it; the latter have apparently felt that their first duty lay in supplying gasoline for automotive consumption, and feared the inroads upon the supply needed for this purpose which would be caused by a sudden and excessive increase of oil-burning ships.