§ Mr. MORLEYasked the President of the Board of Trade the figures of the volume of production of marine motors in Great Britain for the years 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1931, and the volume of retained imports of marine motors during those years; and the volume of export?
§ Mr. W. R. SMITH,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 6th May, 1931, col. 372, Vol. 252], supplied the following particulars
Information for a series of years as to the production of marine motor engines is not available, but the following figures of Marine Diesel oil engines under construction in Great Britain and Ireland, taken from the quarterly Shipbuilding Returns published by Lloyd's Register of Shipping, indicate the relative activity at the end of March in the years 1926 to 193l.
Date. Number. Thousand indicated horse-power. End of March— 1926 … … 50 232 1927 … … 80 320 1928 … … 78 354 1929 … … 75 375 1930 … … 108 458 1931 … … 41 166 The first return containing information in this subject related to June, 1925, and at the end of that month the indicated horse-power of oil engines under construction in Great Britain and Ireland was 207,000 and the number 57.
The following table shows, in respect of marine internal combustion engines, the total quantity and declared value of the retained imports into, and domestic exports from, the United Kingdom during the undermentioned periods.
1615W
Year. Retained Imports. Domestic Exports. Quantity. Declared Value. Quantity. Declared Value. Marine internal combustion engines imported and exported separately (a). Tons. £ Tons. £ 1928 1,797 247,915 1,666 321,236 1929 1,931 262,892 3,401 460,838 1930 8,459 763,914 3,898 476,941 1931 (Jan. to March) (b) 1,273 127,940 432 79,944 Marine internal combustion engines fitted to complete new vessels imported or exported. Number of sets. £ Number of sets. £ 1920 64 5,482 125 69,652 1921 1 2,340 134 419,403 1922 21 1,302 59 783,542 1923 35 2,444 59 280,983 1924 9 1,480 95 334,191 1925 9 2,393 94 375,927 1926 522 81,993 142 655,982 1927 26 5,510 143 231,243 1928 57 13,419 165 1,312,336 1929 112 26,398 165 897,372 1930 20 4,839 277 2,899,345 1931 (Jan. to March) — (—) 115(c) 48 489,426 (a) Not separately recorded in the trade returns prior to 1928. (b) Outboard motors were first recorded separately from other marine internal combustion engines in 1931. During the first three months of 1931 the value of the total imports of outboard motors included in these figures amounted to £522 and of re-exports to £716, while the domestic exports amounted to £1,802. (c) During the first three months of 1931, 1 set of engines, valued at £15 was imported and 1 set, valued at £130 was re-exported. Notes. (1) While the above figures are as recorded by the Customs Authorities, it is possible that some engines given above as retained imports of engines imported separately may have been fitted to complete new vessels and included with the domestic exports of engines fitted to such vessels, and others may have been Used in the re-fitting of foreign vessels at British ports. Separate particulars of this trade are not available. (2) Prior to the 1st April, 1923, the above figures relate to the trade of the British Isles as a whole, while from that date the figures relate to the trade of Great Britain and Northern Ireland only. (3) The figures for 1930 and 1931 are provisional.