According to the latest published statistics of traffic in the Port of London in the year, ended on March 31 last, the total imports and exports, together with trans-shipment traffic, amounted all told to over 44% million tons, the highest figure ever recorded. In the same period, 62,- 600,000 net registered tons of shipping arrived at and departed from the port, compared with 52,600,000 tons ten years ago. The tonnage of goods imported in 1937-38 was four per cent. more than in the previous year, and the total of goods exported increased by 45 per cent. Good progress was made during the year with works for the further improvement and development of the Port of London. Among, the works completed were a specially equipped berth for the discharge of bananas, the widening of a quay for the storage of timber, the electrificafion of certain quays, the erection of a number of electric cranes, as well as many other improvements and extensions. Some idea of the activities of the Port Authority may be gathered from the fact that during the past year 1,900,000 cubic yards of material were dredged from the river fo maintain and deepen the channel, while 44 sunken vessels and small craft were removed from the river. Not only is the Port of London one of Great Britain's largest and best-equipped ports, but many other factors also contribute io its importance. The broad estuary of the Thames enables the port to be used by large ocean-going vessels, while the port's modern handling facilities for ships and their cargoes are second to none. In addition, the inland
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.