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Show Merchant Marine To Get 6 Neiv Ships Will Be Built for Service To South America. WASHINGTON. ' The maritime commission announced recently plans to build two high-speed passenger pas-senger vessels for the South American Ameri-can trade and four 560-foot dry cargo ships. The announcement described the action as "the first step toward realization of the bold and daring' plan envisioned for the merchant marine by Franklin D. Roosevelt and re-stated by President Truman." Tru-man." The 670-foot passenger ships, which will be the fastest merchant vessels ever built in this country, will cruise at 28 knots. They will carry 543 passengers and 8,550 deadweight tons of cargo each. New Liners to Be Finest. The two new passenger liners will be the finest vessels ever operated oper-ated between North and South America on regular schedule. In all probability they will be operated oper-ated by Moore-McCormack lines, which maintained regular service between the east coast ports of the two continents prior to the war. The letting of contracts confirms the apparent recent concentration of the government agency on trade possibilities between New York and South America, and it leaves still unanswered the question of what plans the government has for the north Atlantic trade. With a speed of 28 knots, the two vessels could maintain a biweekly bi-weekly service between New York, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. Their specifications correspond closely to those proposed before the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Ma-rine Engineers last November by James L. Bates, technical director of the commission. His proposal for faster vessels in the South American Ameri-can trade than any projected for the north Atlantic startled the shipping ship-ping industry. |