Shippers, Unite!

U.S. ship operators are uneasy. The prospect ahead of them is so breathtakingly vast and complex that they are sensibly afraid of it. By the end of 1944 the U.S. will have the greatest merchant marine in history--5,000 ships, about 50 million tons--flying the U.S. flag.

But shippers know that a nation which owns 50% of the world's shipping cannot escape enormous political, economic and international problems. They are not sure how well prepared the U.S. will be to face these problems at war's end. And the operators realize that no seafaring nation can avoid foundering on these reefs without well-charted policies.

Last week the ship operators united in a solid bloc, formed the National Federation of American Shipping. Their aims: 1) to make N.F.A.S. the U.S. counterpart of the powerful General Council for British Shipping; and 2) to drive for a sound, long-range merchant-marine program for the U.S.

To head the N.F.A.S. the ship operators chose ruddy, suave, Almon E. Roth, 57, known in West Coast shipping circles as one employers' representative who could match brains with razor-witted Longshoreman, Harry Bridges. Roth, as president ot the Waterfront Employers Association of the Pacific Coast, struggled with Bridges, but was finally instrumental in settling the paralyzing shipping strike in 1937.

In his new job Roth will have sterner problems than squabbles between recalcitrant seamen and hardfisted shipowners. Before the U.S. can outline its postwar shipping program, answers must be found to such questions as:

P: How large a merchant fleet will the U.S. need for postwar foreign trade? Admiral Jerry Land wants 50% of U.S. commerce to move in U.S. bottoms, figuring that this would keep 20 million tons of American-flag vessels at sea.

P: How much will taxpayers, who will have spent $16.4 billion to build their merchant marine, be willing to spend for annual subsidies to operate it?

P: How, and on what terms, can U.S. ships be transferred to foreign nations, many of which have lost half their prewar fleets? These nations, without U.S. ships, would need years to rebuild their fleets.

P: How much will the Maritime Commission, which will own at least 80% of all U.S. ships, expect the operators to pay for vessels constructed at fancy wartime costs? The 1944 Liberty ships cost approximately $175 a ton to build v. lower prewar costs for much better ships. Moreover, costs in European yards were about half the costs in U.S. yards.

P: How will U.S. shipowners meet air transport's bid for passenger business? Barred from flying planes of their own, and forced to wait months while troopships are converted to passenger liners, the ship operators' postwar outlook for passenger business is dismal. For many foreign-flag ship operators will probably be permitted by their governments to establish their own air service.

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