4. In preparing this report my Committee has studied the figures contained in the report≠ on Japanese shipping by the Board of Economic Warfare in Washington to which you refer in your letter, but the report and conclusions of my Committee have been based on independent estimates. 5. Although the report submitted herewith covers the shipping position as at 30th September, 1942 and the American report at 1st July 1942, some of the most important factors influencing the conclusions of both reports bear a marked similarity although the methods employed in arriving at these factors have been different.