98 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL

The report is voluminous, and the survey is based upon a lock canal
and a large number of factors which make translation into present
conditions difficult if not impossible.
 On page 27, line 11, of the above report there appears the follow-
 ing analysis of potential savings for a lock canal as of 1931:


 Tanker Freighters Cobina- Barand Total
 tion

 Number oftrtanst-----------......----------- 5,9 3,22 13 112 9,573
 Savrasl n hoars...... ....-.- ----12,241 68,2 2,02 4,952 20t,777
 Savings In money (American basis)- 4, 827, 778 $1,2,170 $13 0,t $71 870 $, 4,3a


 The savings per ton of cargo are given in statement B7 (as of the
 year 1931) :
 Cents
For general cargo (per ton of 2240 pounds)-------------------------- 19.3
For petroleum cargo (per ton of 2,240 pounds) ----------------- 14. 2
 The following quotations from the general conclusions of this
 report are taken from page 2:
 * A ship canal across the Florida Peninsula, along designated route
13-B, may be considered practical from a navigation standpoint. Most of the
potential transits reported would have been actually made, provided: (a) The
waterway be available for ship movement on a 24-hour hasls; (b) that all ex-
pense incidental to transit represent only a reasonable proportion of the
resulting savings to ships utilizing the waterway.
 It is estimated.that the time savings resulting from 9,573 potential transits
involved In 1931 would have been approximately 205,000 hours.
 At the time this report was being made it was assumed that the
waterway would be a lock canal andthat shipping using it would be
subject to certain tolls or other charges. The report of the Depart-
ment of Commerce was set up upon this basis. In order to deter-
mine the attitude of ship-operating concerns to the proposed canal
a large number of these were circularized by the Department.
 On pages 30 and 31 of the report (ch. 7) the general results of
this canvass are given as follows:
 In order to obtain views of the shipping industry on the practicability of the
proposed waterway from the standpoint of commercial operation, shipowners
were invited to state or discuss their position in regard to it. Since probable
service charges for waterway use were not known, it was not practicable for
members of the industry to arrive at any final position based on costs and
charges. But certain operation problems were generally recognized in con-
nection with the use of the waterway and some of these were common to most
of the operators concerned.
 Lengtk of waterway.-A significant question which has been generally raised
relates to the length of time a vessel would be confined to restricted waters.
It is pointed out by the ship operator that the proposed waterway would be
practically twice as long as the world's longest canal, the Suez, and that,
roughly, 36 to 40 hours (operator's estimate) would be required to move a
vessel from open water to open water over this distance. The question reflects
directly the reluctance of those responsible for the operation of ships to have
them confined to restricted waters. Generally, the problem deals with matters
of relief pilots, extra or relief watches, and look-outs, necessity for night
operation, upset ship routine to an unknown extent, and to weather conditions.
It is held by some that with radio equipment and other devices for the safety
of a vessel, navigation of the Florida Straits has less hazards, even during
the hurricane season, than navigation through a waterway of the length
proposed.