Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Nov 2, 2015 (III)

choi

(3) Angus Whitley and Kyunghee Park with Nicholas Brautlecht, Some Travelers Want Slow Boats to China.
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... on-ocean-freighters

Quote:

(a) "In a slowing global economy, freight prices have fallen so far that hauling a person from Shanghai to Rotterdam brings in at least 10 times more revenue than a 20-foot container full of flat-packed furniture.

"It’s not luxurious and not exactly cheap: About $115 a day secures travelers a bed and three meals on some of the largest vessels ever built. The handful of paying passengers—ships typically take no more than a dozen at a time—dine with the crew, have the run of most of the ship * * * Internet access is limited * * *

(b) "Despite the meager comforts, there’s far more demand than marine freight companies can meet, says Julie Richards, who arranges 200 to 300 trips a year at Freighter Expeditions in Sydney. * * * 'It’s either people who haven’t started a job or it’s people who’ve retired.'

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: With business weak, freighters are happy to carry travelers, too
(b) Regarding the title. (I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(I'd_Like_to_Get_You_on_a)_Slow_Boat_to_China
(a 1948 song by Frank Loesser)

(c) John McGuffick "spent months at a time at sea on cargo vessels—happily ensconced in quarters more suited to a Trappist monk than a Caribbean cruiser."
(i) Trappist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappists
(a Catholic order; official name is Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO) but popularly known as Trappists; a branch of the Order of Cistercians; section 1 History: The order takes its name from La Trappe Abbey or [in French] La Grande Trappe [in and named after Soligny-la-Trappe, 84 miles from Paris])
(ii) Cistercians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cistercians
(“The term Cistercian (French Cistercien), derives from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict [Benedict (c 480 – 543 or 547; preached 40 miles east of Rome; often called the founder of western monasticism)])
(iii) Try as I may, I can not find the origin of the place name Soligny-la-Trappe, which is very isolated.
(iv) evolution of La Trappe Abbey

La Trappe
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03780c.htm

(d) Quotation (a) above: “have the run of most of the ship”

run (n): "freedom of movement in or access to a place or area <has the run of the house>"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run

(e) "Hamburg Sued Group offers berths on iron ore carriers between Brazil and Europe. CMA CGM Group [based in Marseille, France], the world’s No 3 container shipping line, * * * shuttles between Southampton, England, and Ningbo, south of Shanghai on the East China Sea. Passengers joining that voyage at Port Klang, near Kuala Lumpur, pay about A$2,500 ($1,800) for the 14-day leg to the Chinese port, including meals and port fees, Richards says."
(i) For Hamburg Sued Group, see
Hamburg Süd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg_Süd
(founded in 1871 as Hamburg - South America Steamship Company; based in Hamburg)
(ii) German "Süd" is transliterated into "Sued" -- much like German surname Müller (which means exactly the same as English surname Miller) into Mueller.
(A) German English dictionary
Süd (noun masculine): "south"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Süd
(B) The noun masculine for "south" in French, Italian and Spanish are sud, sud (same as French spelling) and sur--all coming from Old English Old English suþ (which also gave birth to "south" in English).
(iii) Southampton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton
(map)
(iv) Port Klang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Klang
(located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the town of Klang, and 38 kilometres (24 mi) southwest of Kuala Lumpur; the 12th busiest container port (2012) in the world)