Chapter 187: Opportunity to Expand Shipping

Arranging logistics was naturally simple; Wei Zetao just borrowed a phone and it was done.

Then he said, "Mr. Yang, the Wilson cargo ship will arrive in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow."

"Well, it's almost time." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "When do you expect to be able to officially ship the goods to us?"

Wei Zetao replied: "It is also necessary to conduct a quality inspection at a shipyard designated by the Hong Kong government, which takes about 1 to 2 weeks. This is an annual inspection for all cargo ships and tankers docked in Hong Kong, and it is mandatory.

We just bought a boat and it also needs to be inspected before it can be registered in Hong Kong.”

"That's not bad. The Hong Kong government will also do a thorough inspection for us, which is much better than doing it ourselves." Yang Wendong nodded.

Although he also recruited several cargo ship maintenance personnel who had good skills, they were definitely not as good as the professional inspection team, especially those from the shipyard.

The main role of our maintenance personnel is to deal with emergencies when at sea. If any major problems really occur, we still have to go to the shipyard to repair them.

Wei Zetao then said, "Mr. Yang, the ship will arrive at the port the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go there?"

"Of course I have to go. It is my biggest asset at the moment." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "Besides, this cargo ship suddenly appeared and will definitely be checked. The registration with the Hong Kong government cannot be hidden from outsiders."

The value of ships in this era could be said to be the highest in Hong Kong. Even in the 70s, the Jardine Matheson Group once wanted to trade with Pao Yue-kong, trading Hong Kong's first building at the time, the Connaught Building (later the Jardine House), for a 20-ton oil tanker, but was rejected by the latter. After entering the 80s, Pao Yue-kong regretted this matter.

Now, 60 years later, housing prices are even lower than they were a dozen years later. The value of a -ton cargo ship is far greater than many buildings in Central.

In this era, the shipping tycoon has a much higher status than the real estate tycoon.

"Okay, I plan to stop the cargo ship at the Wharf first." Wei Zetao said, "I'll let you know when the specific time is confirmed."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Go find An Yongqiang. He should have some connections there."

Day 9, September 6:
A lot of people gathered in a corner of the Wharf Pier in Victoria Harbour.

These people all have some relationship with Yang Wendong. Some of them are former business partners and some subordinates of Changxing Industrial. When they learned that they could come to visit voluntarily, everyone became interested.

We have seen many cargo ships, but we have never had one like ours, and we can even go on board to watch the sights, which is an opportunity that many people will never have in their lifetime.

At about 10 o'clock, the sun in the sky began to shine and the temperature began to rise. Everyone had walked into a shady place, but still felt hot.

"Everyone, have some ice water." An Yongqiang pushed a small cart with a small refrigerator on it.

Yang Wendong also stepped forward and said with a smile, "Thank you for being safe."

An Yongqiang said, "Mr. Yang, you are too polite. We are honored to have you come to our Wharf. I hope you can take care of our business in the future."

"Okay, it would be better if the Wharf at Kowloon Wharf can give me more convenience." Yang Wendong also readily agreed: "Every time I export my goods, they need to be loaded as quickly as possible."

An Yongqiang smiled and said, "No problem, as long as your ship arrives at the port in the future, I will definitely arrange for people to load the cargo immediately.

This is also good for our port, because Mr. Yang, your cargo is not heavy and is in regular shape, so it is much faster than other ships."

Two years ago, when the two sides cooperated, An Yongqiang was still in a strong position, but now, compared with the sticky note king in front of him, An Yongqiang can be glad that he was able to get to know the other party early on.

Moreover, as a senior executive of the port, he knows it better than many media outlets. Changxing Industrial is exporting more and more goods, especially suitcases, which are exported to Japan in large quantities every day.

Now Yang Wendong is even buying ships himself and preparing to expand into the European and American markets. Not to mention him, according to this development trend, he even suspects that the Wharf Group above him may be surpassed by Yang Wendong in the future.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay."

Afterwards, everyone had ice water, which made them feel much cooler after drinking it.

After a while, a familiar figure appeared on the sea in the distance. Wei Zetao said happily: "Mr. Yang, our ship has arrived."

The others had never seen a ship before, so they quickly raised their telescopes to look. This was something Yang Wendong had asked them to prepare in advance, and they could use it once they got on board.

Soon, the ship slowly approached, but it was unable to pull over because at this moment, the entire dock where ships could dock was already full of ships that were unloading or loading.

An Yongqiang said, "Mr. Yang, the dock's loading and unloading business is very busy recently. Your ship is not currently engaged in this kind of business, so it cannot dock, but we can go up there by boat."

"Okay." Yang Wendong also understood that in the era without containers, loading and unloading goods on ships was extremely time-consuming, even longer than sailing on the sea.

This is also the reason why a port can support a city. It requires too much manpower and the area of the port is very large. However, no matter how big it is, it is still not enough compared to the various ships running on the sea.

The group took a small boat and arrived at the "Wilson" cargo ship. The current captain and the future captain Sun Zhiwei also came to greet them. After everyone exchanged pleasantries, the captain left. Sun Zhiwei took Yang Wendong and a few others to walk inside the ship. Although they were all laymen, they could not see what was going on.

Wei Zetao asked: "Old Sun, have you done any detailed calculations during this period of time to see how many suitcases our cargo ship can hold at one time?"

Sun Zhiwei replied, "Mr. Wei, Mr. Yang, when we were at sea, I organized the crew to conduct a detailed survey of the interior of the freighter and also looked at the ship's blueprints. The preliminary conclusion is that it can accommodate a maximum of 6.6 boxes."

"6.6?" After hearing this, Wei Zetao said to his boss, "This number is not that much. A round trip to the United States, even if you use the expressway, will take nearly two months."

Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "I remember our current production capacity is 20 per month, right?"

"Yes." Wei Zetao said: "This is the current production capacity, which is still increasing. I have negotiated with several other factories to build a new factory in a joint venture. By the beginning of next year, the production capacity will be at least 40.

However, the main exports are currently to Japan and nearby Asia, with many destinations. Even Japan has multiple ports, so we still use the bulk cargo model and deliver it to the destination via other people’s ships.”

"Well, the transportation cost in Asia is much lower, so normal sea transportation is no problem." Yang Wendong continued, "But for Europe and the United States, we still need unified transportation."

Wei Zetao agreed and said, "Yes, the capacity of just one ship cannot keep up with the speed of our production capacity expansion, especially in the United States. According to the feedback from 3M, the sales of trolley cases in the United States are also very good."

"So we still have to keep buying ships." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then keep watching the global market to see which cargo ships are for sale."

Wei Zetao agreed and said, "Okay, I will ask the international agency to investigate this matter. Lao Sun, you also have your own connections in this matter, so please pay attention to it as well."

"Okay." Sun Zhiwei paused and said, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Wei, there is actually a very good opportunity. I know that the US government intends to sell the cargo ship that was urgently built during World War II."

"Cargo ships built during World War II?" Yang Wendong immediately thought of a crude version of a World War II aircraft carrier, and then asked, "What is the quality of these ships?"

"Not very good." Sun Zhiwei explained: "It is said that during World War II, time was very tight and the ships built were not comparable to normal ships. Like airplanes, many ships could only serve for one or two years before being sunk. So in that environment, it was meaningless to build ships of good quality."

Wei Zetao asked: "Are these ships still usable now?"

"They can be used, but they need to be repaired and inspected more frequently." Sun Zhiwei said: "They also use engines from the early 40s, and even then they may not have fully adopted the latest technology;
Therefore, the fuel consumption is very high. It is said that only ship owners in a few places are willing to buy it. The US government is actually preparing to sell it as scrap metal because dismantling the ship is more expensive. "

"It's okay if the fuel consumption is a little higher, but will there be any safety issues?" Yang Wendong asked again.

The fuel consumption is a little higher, and even if the cost-effectiveness is not as good as other second-hand ships, it is definitely cost-effective to be able to obtain a lot of ships to transport goods in a short period of time.

After all, other ships need to wait for market opportunities to be sold, and price negotiations take time. Forget about new ships, which are expensive and require a wait of one or two years.

As long as there are no safety issues, all that matters is investing more money. As long as we can ensure that our products can be transported to Europe and the United States, that is the most important thing.

Sun Zhiwei said: "Safety is not a big problem. When the American shipyards built these ships, they might not care about fuel consumption, but they certainly paid attention to safety. Besides, we can also inspect them ourselves or ask third-party agencies to do it."

"Hmm." Yang Wendong asked again: "Then how long do you think these boats can be used after they are purchased?"

If there is no problem with safety, then you also have to consider the lifespan. Although you are in a hurry to use the boat right now, you may need to buy it even if it can only be used for a few years; but the longer the better.

Sun Zhiwei said: "Generally speaking, this kind of ship will be basically eliminated after 20-30 years of life, but if we buy it, maybe we can use it for a few more years."

"What do you mean?" Yang Wendong was a little confused.

Sun Zhiwei said with a smile: "Because our cargo is light, although the space will be filled, the suitcases themselves are empty, so the load on the ship is very low, which is very good for the entire power transmission system and the weight bearing capacity of the hull."

Wei Zetao shook his head and said, "That's not the case. Although the cargo we ship out from Hong Kong is lighter, when we return, we plan to transport plastic particles or other cargo."

"Yes." Yang Wendong also nodded.

Although he would invest in Wang Yongqing, it would take some time from the investment to the completion of the new plastic production plant. During this period, he still planned to import plastic particles from overseas.

Even if Taiwan can meet its demand for plastic raw materials in the future, its ship will not be empty on the return journey.

Sun Zhiwei nodded and said, “I understand, but even so, being able to travel half the distance, equivalent to being empty, is very good for the life and maintenance of the ship;

So these cargo ships are very cheap and are tailor-made for us.”

"Well, OK." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I will investigate this matter first and then make a decision. Sun Shengni should go through the inspection process for this ship first so that we can transfer ownership after that."

Sun Zhiwei agreed and said, "Okay, no problem."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)

previouscatalognext