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Inside a Triple-E Container Ship

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发表于 10-11-2014 13:37:02 | 只看该作者 回帖奖励 |正序浏览 |阅读模式
Danny Hakim, Aboard a Cargo Colossus. Maersk’s hulking new container ships -- longer than the Eiffel Tower is high --are an apt symbol of an increasingly global marketplace. But they’re also facing strong economic headwinds. New York Times, Oct 5, 2014.
www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/busin ... ontainer-ships.html

Quote:

(a) “Until the late 1990s, the largest container ships could carry about 5,000 steel shipping containers, each about 20 feet long. Today, such ships are little more than chum. The size of container ships has exploded, reflecting their role as the packhorses of globalization. Each year, the maritime shipping industry transports nearly $13 trillion of goods, roughly 70 percent of total freight, according to the World Trade Organization.

“The Triple-E’s can carry more than 18,000 containers, piled 20 high, with 10 above deck and 10 below. But they can sail only between Europe and Asia, as their nearly 194-foot wide hull is too large [for now] to fit into American ports or to slip through the Panama Canal.

(b) “the ship, the Mary Maersk * * * The Mary will stop at a dozen ports, going from Gdansk in Poland to Ningbo, Yantian and Shanghai in China. * * * Few carriers besides Maersk are profitable

(c) “During a recent voyage to the Suez, the Mary’s crew sailed on a parallel course with a 10-year-old Maersk container ship that held half as much cargo, but the Mary used only 6 percent more fuel. * * * Newer ships, he [an analyst] said, ‘are more efficient, more economically viable and more environmentally friendly, but they are only going to deliver those results if they are full.’

(d) “The top five container lines are either family- or state-controlled [張榮發's Evergreen 長榮 Marine Corp is No 4]. Revenue at Maersk, publicly traded but family controlled, equals more than 14 percent of Denmark’s gross domestic product.

(e) “The Triple-E’s were built [by Daewoo] for $190 million a ship, which in 2011 was seen as a relative bargain. By comparison, in 2007 China Shipping Container Lines [Co, Ltd (CSCL)  中海集装箱运输股份有限公司 (中海集运)], another major shipping line, paid $1.36 billion for eight ships, or about $170 million a ship — but those had a capacity of about 13,300 containers, nearly 5,000 fewer per ship [built by Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co, Ltd  沪东中华造船(集团)有限公司 (merger of 沪东 and 中华)]. ‘In this down cycle, the new-built prices are low and money is cheap, so you would much rather go and buy the vessels than go and acquire a company’ that has older ships, said Martin Dixon,  director of research products at Drewry[, a shipping consultancy]. ‘Many shipping lines are struggling to make money, so cost leadership is key to survival. Hence, you’re seeing a lot of investment in bigger ships.’

(f) “Maersk is deeply embedded in China, with more than 20,000 employees there. It operates container terminals at seven Chinese ports, has bought 118 Chinese-made ships worth $3.5 billion and owns two Chinese factories that build containers.


My comment:
(a) This is a lengthy report, about 1 ½ pages in print. If you do not have time, simply read the excerpts here.

(b) I could not find the meaning of “chum” until I reached this:
(i) chum (n): “a large Pacific salmon with small spots on its back; an important food fish <Today, such ships are little more than chum. New York Times Oct 3, 2014>"
www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/chum
(ii) chum salmon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chum_salmon
(The name Chum salmon comes from the Chinook Jargon term tzum, meaning "spotted" or "marked")

(c) “The captain wears Crocs.”
(i) Based in Niwot, Colorado (at the northeastern corner of City of Boulder), Crocs, Inc is a shoe manufacturer founded by Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker. Wikipedia
(ii) “As a name for the shoe they [co-founders] settled on Crocs, an abbreviation of crocodile, because the attributes of the animal fit the product: comfortable both on the land and in the water, strong, and long-living.
Crocs, Inc.  Reference for Business, undated
www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/25/Crocs-Inc.html

(d) cost leadership
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_leadership
(e) “Jens Boysen is the Mary’s chief officer. Essentially, he is the captain’s right-hand man. While the ships grow, the crews don’t, in another economy of scale. The Mary has a multinational crew of 20 to 30 — and with so few, they multitask.”

chief mate 大副
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_mate
(f) “He used the wrong tool so some metal peeled off and actually was penetrating through the boiler suit, so there was a lot of blood coming out.”

boilersuit
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilersuit
(A boilersuit, or coverall (US English), is a one-piece garment with full-length sleeves and legs like a jumpsuit, but usually less tight-fitting)
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