50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 744 Picking up the bargains

He was interested in 500-ton bulk carriers, those under 10 years old, for only $5 million each, and those over 10 years old for only $300 million each.

Keep in mind that building a new 5-ton ship at this time would cost at least $2000 million and take at least a year.

This selling price has truly hit rock bottom.

However, Samkwang Shipbuilding still had to be sold because their current debt, calculated in US dollars, amounted to approximately $20 billion, and the banks wouldn't wait for them to slowly raise the money.

If they do not sell off their surplus ships to pay off their debts as soon as possible, the bank will seize all their ships and fixed assets and auction them off.

If it really goes into the auction process, they might not even get one-tenth of the actual price, and the company's debts might still not be paid off after the auction.

However, according to Huang Mingyu's investigation, the sale of Samkwang Shipbuilding's vessels is not progressing smoothly.

Because most shipping companies around the world are now reducing the size of their fleets, especially bulk carriers.

Although the oil crisis has passed, the Persian Gulf is still at war, with oil tankers being destroyed by the fighting sides almost every day.

Shipping requires a large amount of fuel, and the reduction in oil supply has led to an increase in fuel prices, which in turn increases the operating costs of cargo ships.

Often, after calculating the costs, a single trip can result in a loss.

In particular, bulk carriers mostly transport low-value ores, such as iron ore and coal.

Therefore, bulk carriers have extremely strict cost control, and oil price fluctuations have the greatest impact on them.

Only with oil tankers can you make money most easily at this time.

One reason is its large load-bearing capacity.

There are no oil tankers in the world with a capacity of less than 10,000 tons. The largest oil tanker currently is the "Sea Giant" owned by Dong Chuanwang, which can carry 565,000 tons of crude oil at a time.

It's important to understand that a 5-ton oil tanker and a 50-ton oil tanker require roughly the same number of crew members, around 20 or more. Therefore, the larger the carrying capacity of an oil tanker, the lower the transportation cost.

Secondly, there is a shortage of oil everywhere, and oil prices are high.

As long as the crude oil is transported out, there will be no shortage of buyers, and the price will be very high.

The biggest risk is that the tanker will pass through the conflict zone of the Persian Gulf, where it may be bombed.

However, capital's pursuit of profit will not stop as risks increase; if one ship sinks, another will simply be bought.

If two out of ten 10-ton oil tankers can safely get out, the costs will be recouped.

The price of a barrel of crude oil is currently $25, and the Sea Giant can transport 410 million barrels of crude oil at a time, worth $1 million.

When Dong, the shipping magnate, bought the "Sea Giant," it didn't exceed $1 million.

In other words, the "Sea Giant" can recoup its costs with just one trip, and earn $100 million for each additional trip thereafter.

No wonder Dong, the shipping magnate, would send the "Sea Giant" on the most dangerous Persian Gulf route; it truly is a golden route.

With a speed of 15 knots, the "Sea Giant" could travel from the Persian Gulf to Hong Kong Island in 15 days and make a round trip in a month.

Including the time for loading and unloading goods, they can make seven or eight trips a year, which brings in seven or eight hundred million US dollars in revenue.

Sun Zhiwei compared his income with the gold mines under his control, which together produce about 5 ounces of gold per month. That's 60 ounces of gold per year, which, at the current price of $400 per ounce, could be sold for $2.4 million.

Damn, that's like the "Sea Giant" making two round trips. Sun Zhiwei was immediately envious.

Unfortunately, after Samkwang Shipping announced the sale of its ships, the tankers were the first to be snapped up, and there were very few buyers for the remaining ships, so they could only sell them slowly.

The price on the price list that Sun Zhiwei received was the price after several price reductions.

Based on an estimate of the rate at which recycling companies produce scrap steel, a construction team can collect approximately 2 to 3 tons of steel per month.

Sun Zhiwei instructed the company to establish 10 construction teams. Once all the teams were in place, they would be able to produce 30 tons of scrap steel per month.

Then, calculating the voyage from Cleveland to the interior, it's approximately 2.5 kilometers. At a speed of 15 knots, it would take the cargo ship 40 days to reach home.

Ultimately, Sun Zhiwei decided to purchase 10 large lake-type bulk carriers, each with a capacity of 5 tons.

The term "Great Lake type" specifically refers to vessels that can navigate through the St. Lawrence Channel.

This type of vessel fully meets the navigation requirements of the Lawrence Channel and can travel directly from the Atlantic Ocean to the port of Cleveland.

Once the number of ships to be purchased was determined, the specific purchase negotiations were all handled by the group.

Two days later, a financial representative and a professional marine engineer from the group company went to Little Sun Island to discuss the purchase of the vessel with Sam Kwang Shipping.

He believes that Huang Mingyu's team is professional and that the company's finance department will not hesitate to negotiate when necessary.

He just needs to wait until the ships are purchased and then take a look. He expects to see his fleet within a month.

After finishing these tasks, it was already August, and the weather was getting hotter. The air quality in Manhattan was already poor, so Sun Zhiwei discussed with Tong Jiajia the idea of ​​going on vacation to Anatahan Island together.

Anatahan Island is located in the Pacific Ocean. Although it is in the tropics, the temperature remains constant between 26°C and 32°C all year round. Now is the local rainy season, which is a cool time and perfect for a vacation.

When I took Tong Jiajia there last time, the aircraft carrier hotel on the island wasn't finished yet, and many of the amusement facilities weren't built either. This time, we were able to visit them all.

Moreover, Anatahan Island is his private island, and its security has been taken over by Pinkerton's Asian branch, making it safer than New York.

Tong Jiajia was tempted by Sun Zhiwei's suggestion.

She immediately approached Zhao Wanting and Du Qiaoqiao to discuss a long vacation. Neither Zhao Wanting nor Du Qiaoqiao had ever been to an island, so their interest was piqued.

The whole family spent three days preparing, bringing a lot of daily necessities, and embarked on the Gulfstream 3 flight to Anatahan Island.

The two flight attendants were the happiest, as their homes were on Saipan, and this trip back to Anatahan would allow them to stay home for a while.

In the past, when long-distance flights were not possible, the crew members were extremely anxious, feeling that they were useless.

As a result, James spends eight months of the year flying all over the world, leaving them unable to go home for more than half a year.

Captain Ivan, on the other hand, didn't care where people were at all. As long as he had vodka, he was willing to stay on the plane all day without getting off.

After taking off from New York, the Gulfstream 3 made brief refueling stops in San Francisco and Honolulu before finally arriving at Anatahan Island Airport after 16 hours.

Shortly after they disembarked and checked into the aircraft carrier hotel, Sun Zhiwei received an urgent message from Subi Island: Prabowo Subiyando, the leader of the Java Hatto sect, was assassinated yesterday.

(End of this chapter)