T a b l e 113 (c o n t.) The Swedish Mercantile Marine during 1912.
Tonnage-groups
Home-ports
Steam-ships Sailing vessels Total
Number
Grosstonnage
Horsepover.
Number
Gross
tonnage
Number
Actual
gross
tonnage
“Reduced”
tonnagei
0) Home-ports, certain
towns :2
Gothenburg................ 266 193 822 143 085 22 7 486 288 201 308 588 952
Stockholm. . 250 148 643 115 612 24 2 643 274 151286 448 572
Hâlsingborg................ 92 101 223 59 845 35 6 420 127 107 643 310 089
M a lm o ........................ 35 28 607 24 870 ' 1 505 36 29112 86 326
Gavle............................ 29 21501 13 313 4 180 33 21681 64 683
Landskrona................ 22 19 997 11920 4 1502 26 21499 61493
Tralleborg.................... 15 13 781 19 335 —- — 15 13 781 41343
S ô lv è sb o rg ................ 8 9 751 5 465 5 266 13 10 017 29 519
K a rlsh am n ................ 14 9 250 6001 14 658 28 9 908 28408
1 Oskarshamn . . . . . 13 8 086 6 303 24 3 448 37 11534 27 706
1 See note 1 on page 549. — 2 Towns which possess the largest shipping fleets.
As regards sailing vessels, in recent years we observe everywhere a decrease,
as well in number as in burthen. However, the decline in sailing
vessels began later in Sweden than in other countries, increase being
observable there until about the year 1880.
The Swedish mercantile marine’s notable inferiority during the period
1881—90 is chiefly due to the fact that the fleet of steam ships was not
developed in conformity with the exigencies of the time. Sweden had
many steam ships, but they were, as a rule, small —— a natural result pf
the fact that her shipping was limited to the waters in the near neighbourhood
of Sweden. During the last decade, however,-a notable improvement
has shown itself, which is connected with the development of trans-atlantic
steamboat lines. In the year 1901 was built the first vessel of over 3 000
tons net tonnage, and now there are no less than 19 vessels of a tonnage
exceeding that figure. The largest has a tonnage of 4 444 tons net tonnage.
Whilst in the year 1898 there were only 5 vessels of 2 000 tons and over,
net tonnage, the corresponding figure is now 56.
A classification of Swedish trading vessels according to their size and home
ports, by bins and leading towns, is given in Table 113. In 1912 there were
1 083 steam ships built of iron or steel, while 56 were built of wood, and 115|of
wood and iron combined. The gross tonnage of steam vessels built of iron or steel
amounted to 899 080 tons, for ships built of wood to 6 353 tons, and for ships
built of iron and wood combined to 20 147 tons. Of the steam vessels added
to the merchant fleet during 1912, 23, of a net tonnage of 3 707 tons were
built in Sweden, and 44, of a net tonnage of 51 348 tons were acquired from
foreign countries. Of the sailing vessels only 18, of a gross tonnage -of
8 316 tons, built of iron or steel, as against 1 508 vessels, of a gross tonnage
of 170 012, built of wood, and 13 vessels, .of a gross tonnage of 1 324 tons_
built of wood and iron combined. 9 sailing vessels, 649 tons net tonnage,
were built in Sweden during the year 1912, while 55 vessels, of. 8 812 tons
net tonnage, were acquired from abroad.
Below are given some figures concerning the more important shipping companies
of Sweden (end 1913).
Some important Swedish Shipping Companies (end 1913).
Shipping Companies No. of Vessels Gross Tonnage
Angfartygsaktiebolaget Tirfing, Gothenburg................................ 20 69114
Stockholms rederiaktiebolag Svea, “S to ck h o lm 74 64 880
Rederiaktiebolaget Lnleh—Ofoten, S to ck h o lm 16 59175
Rederiaktiebolaget Nordstjernan (Johnson Line), Stockholm . 16 49 353
Rederiaktiebolaget Trans-Atlantic, Gothenburg 9 34346
Aktiebolaget Svenska ostasiatiska kompaniet, Gothenburg . . 6 25 379
Angfartygsaktiebolaget Thule, Gothenburg 11 16 345
Fornyade Angfartygsaktiebolaget Svenska Lioyd, Gothenburg 12 13 977
Rederiaktiebolaget Henckel, Ma lmo ............................................. 9 13 756
Trelleborgs Angfartygs nya aktiebolag, Tralleborg . . . . . 11 13064
Angfartygsaktiebolaget Svithiod, Gothenburg............................. 8 9 812
Aktiebolaget Svenska Amerika-Mexiko-linien, Gothenburg. . 2 9 330
On the whole, it may he said of the Swedish shipping industry, that it
has more and more succeeded in asserting itself in the rivalry for longdistance
shipping, and that it has substantially succeeded in getting into
its Sown hands Sweden’s sea-trade with foreign countries — something
which it had failed to do during a succession of years. For the promotion
of the shipping industry, too, the State has tried to intervene, and also
the Commerce and Shipping Committee, mentioned in another connection,
has taken the initiative in reforms. Thus, in the years 1904 and 1905,
the State formed a loan-fund of 10 million kronor for the assistance of
the .shipping industry, and more recently the State has granted subsidies
in support of regular steam-ship lines (see below).
Shipping in General.
The entire shipping (home and foreign) of the Swedish ports amounted,
in 1912, .-to 319 786 vessels entered and cleared, of a total of 51 802 208
tons. These figures for home shipping include all vessels of 10 tons and
over, but not the local traffic in and about the respective harbours
themselves. The above figures embrace 253 236 steam ships, of a tonnage
of 48 124 620 tons, which corresponds to about nine-tenths of the sum total.1
As is well known, a great obstacle for Swedish shipping is the fact
that, during a great part of the year, the harbours in the more northerly
parts of the country, are ice-bound. In South Sweden, on the other hand,
it may be said that, generally speaking, the shipping is open practically
all the year round. A comparison with earlier times, however, shows
that the time during which shipping is held up by ice has, on the whole,
grown shorter. This is chiefly due to the increased use of steam ships
and the building of stronger vessels, which, here and there, are specially
intended for winter traffic. The most important towns have provided
themselves with special ice-breakers.
Some information with regard to Sweden’s ports and docks, her canals
and fairways, is given in special sections in the following pages.
1 The figures are given as the sum of those given in the following pages. According to
another method of calculation, the entire shipping, in 1912, is represented by 309 652 vessels
with a total of 54 000 020 tons.