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Show 127 Midget Ships Added Planned to Meet Shortage In Cargo Vessels. WASHINGTON.-Confronted with an immediate shortage of merchant shipping, pending delivery of mass tonnage of Liberty ships and other cargo vessels now on the ways, the United States maritime commission announced that it plans to build 127 smaller special-type vessels which can be constructed without interfering interfer-ing with the larger shipbuilding program. pro-gram. Some are already under construction. con-struction. The new program will consist ot , 16 small Diesel coastal-type tankers, 25 seagoing geared-Diesel tugs, 26 Diesel harbor tugs, 45 small cargo car-go ships of a British design known as coasters, and 15 concrete barges for transport of bulk cargo. The small Diesel tankers are based on existing design. The Diesel-geared tugs will be 185 feet long and, except for horsepower, horsepow-er, among the largest ever built. The design is new. The latest type of such tugs afloat are Dutch models mod-els of from 3,000 to 4,000 horsepower, horsepow-er, but this has been cut to 2,250 horsepower by maritime commission commis-sion specifications. If necessary, . these tugs could tow across any ocean, but they are primarily intended intend-ed for use in Gulf and American coastal waters. The navy uses a somewhat similar tug to tow targets. tar-gets. The harbor tugs are to have 1,000 horsepower delivered by direct-drive Diesels. They are to be 100 feet in length, equipped with towing machinery. ma-chinery. There are no set specifications for the harbor tugs and they may be designed either by the commission or privately. |