Chapter 178 News about the Second-Hand Freighter
Chapter 178 News about the Second-hand Cargo Ship
"Okay, let's arrange it in the next few days." Yang Wendong also wanted to meet the first captain under his command in the future.
Before getting married, he asked Wei Zetao to find a suitable captain for him.
Next, in order to ensure that Changxing Industrial's large-volume products can enter the European and American markets thousands of miles away at the lowest cost and with the highest efficiency, it is imperative to have its own ships.
Wei Zetao said: "Okay, I'll make a phone call and arrange a time later."
"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said to the others: "That's it for today."
This time he just wanted to get an overview of the situation of his own factories. Now that Changxing Industrial is getting bigger and bigger, it is impossible for him, as the boss, to visit each workshop as frequently as before.
In particular, many workshops are not located together, and it takes half a day to make a trip.
When production is running smoothly in the factory and there are basically no major problems on the sales side, he, as the boss, can even be a hands-off manager and only needs to control the finances and personnel.
……
On the third day, Yang Wendong met a person brought by Wei Zetao.
Wei Zetao introduced: "Mr. Yang, this is Mr. Sun Zhiwei, the current captain of OOCL."
"Hello, Mr. Sun." Yang Wendong said politely.
"You're welcome, Mr. Yang." Sun Zhiwei was naturally very careful. He knew that the person he met was one of the newest wealthy people in Hong Kong.
In this era, you can offend gang members, but you cannot offend rich people.
"Please sit down." Yang Wendong smiled and gestured to the seat next to him.
"Thank you." Sun Zhiwei said cautiously, and then when he saw Wei Zetao sit down, he motioned to him before sitting down.
The secretary also gave each of the three people a bottle of ice soda. Yang Wendong smiled and said, "It's more convenient to drink ice soda this summer. If Mr. Sun and Mr. Yang don't like it, you can change it to tea."
"No need." Sun Zhiwei said quickly: "I can drink anything. Compared with the lack of supplies on the ship, I don't care what to eat and drink on land."
Yang Wendong asked curiously, "Don't ships always resupply supplies before going out to sea?"
Sun Zhiwei explained: "Yes, but the company has regulations on what materials to buy and how much to spend. It is impossible for the crew to buy whatever they want.
When we go to economically prosperous places like Europe and America, the prices there are higher, so we can only make choices about some supplies.”
"So that's how it is." Yang Wendong nodded. A normal capitalist would definitely find ways to reduce costs.
After drinking a mouthful of water, Yang Wendong asked again: "Why does Sun Sheng want to leave Dongfang Overseas?"
Sun Zhiwei replied: "Because the salary you offer is higher."
"That's a good reason." Yang Wendong smiled. He knew that he had met an honest person.
In a normal interview, although everyone knows that it is for a higher salary or a better position, they usually don't say it directly.
There will always be other "appropriate" reasons, and the interviewer actually knows that they may not be true, but this itself is also a moment to test a person's ability to respond.
At this time, Wei Zetao took out a document from his bag and said, "Mr. Yang, this is Mr. Sun's work experience over the years. It has been confirmed."
"Hmm..." Yang Wendong took the paper and read it carefully.
Sun Zhiwei has been engaged in shipping for 26 years. He started as a sailor and was gradually promoted. In addition, he changed jobs and finally became the captain of Orient Overseas 8 years ago.
There has been a record of zero accidents in the past eight years.
After reading it, Yang Wendong asked, "Mr. Sun, you know my situation. I want to buy an old boat. Where do you think I should buy it?"
"Europe or the United States." Sun Zhiwei said: "In Asia, including many Hong Kong shipping companies, they basically use second-hand ships, and usually use them until they are completely scrapped. This is because the Hong Kong government does not strictly control the life of ships.
In Europe and the United States, there are many regulations, so they prefer to sell ships when they are almost used. Many ships in Hong Kong actually purchase old ships from Europe and the United States. "
"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded. He also knew that Bao Yugang bought his first cargo ship from the UK. Then he asked, "Do you know if there are any ships for sale in Europe or the United States that meet my requirements?"
Sun Zhiwei said, "I know there is a shipping company in Norway called Oslo. It has a cargo ship that is about 20 years old and is looking to sell it. The tonnage is about 10500 tons. I found a photo of it. Please take a look. I think it meets the requirements that Mr. Wei told me before."
"You have photos?" Yang Wendong was a little surprised and asked, "Where did you get the photos?"
This era is not like the past. Photos sent via WeChat can be sent thousands of miles away. It is not easy to get a photo of a ship far away in Europe.
Sun Zhiwei said with a smile: "I have been engaged in shipping for more than 20 years, so I naturally know many European seafarers. After learning about Mr. Wei's request, I asked them to help me keep an eye out for suitable ones, and to send me the information and photos by air."
Wei Zetao next to him also said: "Yes, Mr. Sun is very efficient. He found the Wilson cargo ship of the Oslo Company in just one week."
"Well, do you have any more detailed information?" Yang Wendong asked again. All he had was some basic information.
If you want to buy a ship, you need more detailed information to price it.
Just like the second-hand cars in the previous life, how many kilometers they have run, whether they have had any accidents, etc.
Sun Zhiwei shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Yang, my friend can only find this basic information. The detailed information of this ship, or other companies' ships, is basically only available to shipping companies."
Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "What if the shipping company's information is false?"
Sun Zhiwei said: "It is possible, but as long as we have the basic information, we can trace back some things, or ask some information intermediaries who specialize in collecting ship information to verify the information."
"Well, OK." Yang Wendong paused, then asked, "Then I don't have any other questions for the time being. If Mr. Sun is willing to join our group, he can become the first captain of Changxing Shipping Company in the future."
Yang Wendong plans to name all of his future heavy asset companies Changxing. The products or services of these companies will generally not be exposed to ordinary consumers, so using the same name can increase the value of the word "Changxing".
If we make civilian products in the future, we will use other easy-to-remember names, such as Deli in the small commodity field, which will also make it easier to promote overseas.
"I'm very willing to join." Sun Zhiwei said happily. Although Wei Zetao had agreed to him before, after all, this matter still needed the consent of the big boss behind the scenes.
"Haha, OK." Yang Wendong smiled and then asked, "How long will it take for you to officially join my company?"
Sun Zhiwei said: "Give me three to five days."
"So fast?" Yang Wendong was very surprised. If it was an ordinary worker, he would leave his job very quickly, but for a high-skilled and high-level position like a cargo ship captain, it was generally not easy to leave immediately.
Sun Zhiwei said: "Mr. Yang, we are sailors, which is different from other industries. I need to go out to sea in 6 days, and the destination is the United States. It will take two or three months to go back and forth.
I can't just resign now and wait three months, right? Besides, I'm the captain, and when I resign, OOCL or any other company won't dare to let me on board.
At best, they will try to convince me to stay.”
"That's right." Yang Wendong also felt that it made sense, so he said, "Okay, I will send you a formal acceptance document, and you will resign from OOCL when you return."
"No problem." Sun Zhiwei asked again: "Mr. Yang, I also have some friends at Orient Overseas, but some of them are still on ships overseas. I want to invite them to Changxing Shipping Company after they return to Hong Kong."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded: "You will be the captain in the future, and it is your right to decide what kind of people to recruit. However, if it is a position above the middle level, we still need to decide."
On modern ships, there is usually a first mate to check on the captain, so this position is definitely not something that the captain can decide, but it is still possible for some ordinary positions, and large shipping companies will not interfere with the trivial matters on every ship.
As long as the captain of an ocean-going ship does not break the law or betray the company, he is the leader of a small "army" and needs to have sufficient authority.
"Okay, of course." Sun Zhiwei said, "Mr. Yang, after I join the company, do I need to go to Europe to see the cargo ships?"
"Yes, but you just need to collect information first." Yang Wendong paused and said, "We will discuss whether to buy it or not later."
Shipping is an extremely heavy asset. Even with Yang Wendong's current wealth, he dare not make a decision casually. If it were not for his own industrial needs, he might have entered this field later.
"Okay." Sun Zhiwei said, "After I confirm the time, I will go to Europe first to contact the Oslo company or other shipping companies;
However, if you want to negotiate with such a company, you need a proof of assets issued by the bank, otherwise they will not see you. "
"Yeah, that makes sense." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Then ordinary banks in Hong Kong shouldn't be able to do that, right?"
Sun Zhiwei said: "Yes, those from Chinese banks are definitely not good. The best one is Standard Chartered Bank. This British company is more famous in Europe than HSBC."
"Okay, don't worry about this." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said to Wei Zetao: "Old Wei, this matter is left to you. Go and open a $50 letter of credit."
"Okay, no problem." Wei Zetao nodded in agreement.
(End of this chapter)