In mid-October, the impact of the embargo has reached the lives of Hong Kong citizens. What is more obvious is that the number of unemployed people has begun to increase, because many companies have been relying on trade with the mainland to make a living. Now, although the 'smuggling' industry has spun out, After all, not everyone has the channels and courage.
The chances of finding employment were originally small, but now coupled with the increase in the number of unemployed people, life has become even more difficult for many people.
The only good thing is that a large number of overseas charity funds have poured into Hong Kong, which is more than the expenditure of the Hong Kong government. Together with the donations from local wealthy people, many relief stations have been formed.
Not hungry to death, but not full either!
Under this situation, Global Shipping began to recruit 120 seafarers, causing a huge sensation in Hong Kong. On the day of application, the whole Yangtze River Industry was crowded with people. Thousands of people heard the news and came early.
In order to avoid an accident, Global Shipping specifically called the police to come and maintain order. But after a dozen JCs arrived at the scene, they suddenly felt too small.
The scene is still noisy!
"Who the hell are you, joining our team?"
"You don't care who I am, is this your family's territory?"
Soon, there were all kinds of contradictions, which gave JC a headache.
"do not fight!"
"Believe it or not, I will put you in a cell and starve you for three days!"
Some people suddenly became contemptuous when they saw just one or two policemen coming forward, even policemen in military uniforms.
"It turns out he's a playboy who didn't steal it!"
"That's right, what's the use of light and evil!"
Seeing that the situation was about to become chaotic, suddenly a group of neatly lined up uniformed personnel, led by a foreigner, trotted in shouting slogans.
"Maintain order"
"Those who make trouble will be beaten with wooden sticks!"
William shouted in English, which the students could not understand, but Global Security provided a translator for William. What's more, when William waved the stick, the students already understood.
The next question is simple. This group of students has been through devilish training in the past month. They have no place to vent their worries. When they encounter anyone who is unruly or causing trouble, the male students will hit them with wooden sticks.
For a time, order was quickly maintained.
"Who are you? Why are you beating people?" someone protested.
"Get in line, don't make trouble on site, and get out if you don't want to apply!" The male students ignored him.
It was rare to find a place to vent, and he didn't have to be powerful.
Many of them have served as soldiers, or practiced martial arts, or are tall and powerful, so naturally they are not afraid of these rabble.
The troublemakers suddenly didn't dare to say a word. This group of people were as angry as if they were on gunpowder.
A policeman stepped forward and asked, "Brother, from that team, your camouflage uniforms are very impressive!"
When the male practitioner saw that he was a police officer, his expression softened and he immediately said: "He is from the Global Shipping Convoy."
The policeman looked confused and asked blankly: "Not JC?"
"Have you ever seen a Hong Kong JC wearing something like this?"
After the male student finished speaking, he stopped talking to these playboys.
In his opinion, as long as they pass the devil's training, these police officers may not be able to match their salary.
Not envious!
Soon, the news that Global Shipping had a fleet of dozens of people was known to all the young men present.
"Why does a ship operator have so many security guards? Should he go to sea to fight against pirates?"
"They're rich! Don't even look at who their boss is!"
After having forty-five bodyguard trainees to maintain order, the order of the entire scene suddenly improved a lot.
The recruiters are all from the management of Global Shipping Lines. If you ask a few questions, Zhongyi will give you a form and no more bread;
Those selected on the first day will have to use this form to apply for the second time the next day.
Global shipping is also placing higher and higher demands on seafarers. After all, money and energy have to be spent on training them.
Ever since Wheelock's old Madden had an unpleasant meeting with Lin Zhichao, he was very disdainful and thought that Lin Zhichao was just a boastful Chinese shipowner.
But in fact, Lin Zhichao's ambitious statement of "surpassing Wheelock within ten years" has always been lingering on the old Madden's head. From time to time, he always inquired about World Shipping to learn about this potential competitor.
What's more, the last time he took the initiative and cut the price by 10%, not only did he not take away the business of Global Shipping, but he also caused joint protests from Chinese and British businessmen, which can be said to be a mess.
Since then, he has been paying attention to global shipping.
This time, he got information that the Maritime Academy, a subsidiary of Global Shipping Lines, was actually recruiting 120 more seafarers.
This surprised old Madden so much that his jaw dropped.
You know, he guessed based on some information that Lin Zhichao already has a fleet of 30,000 to 50,000 tons. This already made him incredible. After all, a newbie who had only been in the shipping industry for a year could actually have such strength?
After a while, he found Miller, a subordinate who was familiar with the dock business.
"Global Shipping, do you know how many tons of ships they have?"
Miller shook his head and said: "The details are not clear. At present, we only know that they have opened two fixed routes. The combined tonnage is 16,000 tons. In addition, they also own two 10,000-ton free ships, but in recent years, they have The moon has disappeared. So, maybe it’s less than 40,000 tons!”
Old Madden nodded, thinking this analysis should be reasonable.
A cargo ship with a capacity of 40,000 tons per year is also very powerful!
You should know that Wheelock Shipping currently only has a total self-owned carrying capacity of 200,000 tons, and manages many cargo ships (many) with a carrying capacity of 50,000 tons.
Originally, 40,000 tons was enough, but Global Shipping now recruits 120 more seafarers, which is obviously extraordinary.
Could it be that global shipping is going to double in size in the next six months?
At this rate of development, Old Madden is feeling the pressure.
Of course, it’s not that he is afraid of the rise of Global Shipping Lines, but he wants to create some competition and stumbling blocks for Global Shipping Lines, and tell young people not to get carried away!
"Which new fixed route are they opening?"
"It's a regular Yokohama-Hong Kong route," Miller said.
Old Madden suddenly laughed, and then said: "Yokohama Port, isn't that the base of the US military? Will others rent his ship?"
Miller reminded: "Yokohama has started reconstruction in the first half of the year, so there must be some freight orders!" He also speculated and did not know the specifics of this route.
Old Madden was suddenly embarrassed, feeling that he was lagging behind in news.
In order to alleviate the embarrassment, Old Madden immediately said: "Since Yokohama is being rebuilt, Japan's scarce resources will definitely require a lot of imported materials from overseas. So, can we also open up a similar route and get a share of the pie?"
Miller thought for a while and said, "It should be possible! But boss, aren't the company's ships in Asia mainly for one-way charter and rarely run fixed routes?"
Wheelock has fixed routes from Hong Kong to Europe, but in Asia almost all flights are one-way charters, which are expensive.
Old Madden said: "Anyway, you should first investigate whether the route from Hong Kong to Yokohama is really busy. If it is busy, I will dispatch the ship to see if this route can make more money."
"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."
In short, give that boy some color!
It can also be seen from this that Old Madden is narrow-minded and arrogant.
If he learned that HSBC had provided loans to Global Shipping, he would probably be so shocked that his teeth would fall out.
Lin Zhichao came to the "Qiuyi Building" in Queen's Road Central. Global Shipping officially moved into the fifth-floor office of Qiuyi Building, not far from HSBC Bank.
Qiuyi Building is located at No. 9 Queen's Road, near the triangle area, adjacent to Ice House Street and Des Voeux Road. The famous "Nine Queen's Road Central" in later generations is the building that merged with Holland Bank and Lee Bank on Ice House Street, Guangdong Bank on Des Voeux Road, and Qiu Yi Building on Queen's Road.
In a situation like this, once three streets are opened up, the plot ratio can be increased a lot, and the value can also be increased a lot.
At present, many buildings in Hong Kong occupy an area of less than 10,000 square feet, or more than 10,000 square feet; unlike the buildings of later generations, almost all occupy an area of 20,000 square feet, or even 30,000 square feet.
This is because in Hong Kong in this era, commercial buildings were not very high, almost only five or six floors, so the area was not large. Commercial buildings in later generations were almost twenty or thirty floors above, and the land was obviously too small. It's impossible, so it can only be solved by merging buildings.
At present, Lin Zhichao's career is quite large, and he hopes to own a modern building in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Building commercial buildings too early is, firstly, a waste and occupation of funds, secondly, the Hong Kong government has not yet encouraged the development of buildings towards the sky, and thirdly, the buildings are not modern enough.
When I walked into Global Shipping Lines, two front desk staff immediately stood up to greet me.
Lin Zhichao nodded and finally became a big company.
Starting next year, Global Shipping will have an annual profit of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. It is definitely considered a big company in Hong Kong.
"Ask Financial Manager Fang Ping to come to my office!" Lin Zhichao said to the assistant Li Haoshi who came up to him.
"Okay!" Li Haoshi hurriedly ran to the finance room.
After a while, Li Haoshi and Fang Ping walked in, and Li Haoshi immediately made tea.
When Lin Zhichao saw Fang Ping running in so quickly, he asked, "Do you know why I asked you to come?" You don't want to prepare for the current meaning.
Fang Ping quickly said: "Is it the financial situation of the Venus, boss?"
In fact, he was somewhat sure, but in order to save the boss's face, he naturally used a questioning tone.
Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "It's true, sit down and report."
Each of its ships is registered as a company, and although the finances are calculated separately, it is actually handled by Global Shipping's finance department. The 7,600-ton Venus has been in operation for more than a month, so Lin Zhichao is very concerned about its financial situation.
Afterwards, Fang Ping sat on the sofa and reported on the financial situation of the Venus.
"The Venus has completed a fixed route, carrying 5,200 tons of cargo, with a unit price of 15 US dollars per ton, and it took 43 days. Excluding expenses, the gross profit should be more than 60,000 US dollars."
There are also many uncertainties in gross profit, such as sudden repairs to the ship.
These are all one-way situations. Generally, there is no cargo on the return trip to Japan. According to the current market conditions, it only takes a little over a year to earn back the price of the ship. But considering that the market is still rising, there is no problem in earning back the boat price within one year. After all, it is an old boat.
This wave of market conditions can be described as 'earning back an old ship in less than a year'. It is estimated that the hot market will last for two years, followed by a gradual decline, but the market is still good.
Of course, this is just a general description. There will definitely be deviations in the specifics, and special circumstances may occur. For example, if you go to the north to transport goods, you may earn back the price of a large ship in one trip, which is more than enough.
"Well, it seems that this route is relatively good."
"Indeed, the overall efficiency is better than that of the Jinyin (8,800 tons)."
Lin Zhichao nodded. After all, the Venus opened up a new market and was the first to try it. It’s not that there were no ships running from Hong Kong to Yokohama, but the Venus was the first ship to have a fixed route.
Fixed lines have the advantage of being punctual and slightly cheaper.
After Fang Ping left, Lin Zhichao leaned on his chair and relaxed a little.
The shipping business is going well, and the feedback from each ship also shows that the performance of these ships is very good, which can be regarded as a treasure.
Although shipping is a major subject, it does not need to be used at once. Therefore, there was nothing that Lin Zhichao could not handle while learning shipping knowledge.
In fact, he started studying shipping as early as two years ago. At that time, Li Gaofu chartered a ship to trade north, and Lin Zhichao had the opportunity to get in touch with shipping.
Nowadays, Lin Zhichao can not only seek advice from veteran shipping kings, but also directly visit and study shipyards and repair yards, or conduct field research on his own cargo ships.
These are basic skills. What is more important in shipping is 'finance' and 'cycle'.
A ship is expensive. If you expand slowly, your achievements will be limited; if you are proficient in finance, you can speed up the pace of expansion.
Cyclicity, the cyclical nature of shipping can make shipowners "get rich overnight". For example, after Bao Yu bought a ship in his previous life, not only did the ship expire in the second year, but he also encountered "Suez was closed and freight rates skyrocketed." Using several times the rent, he purchased six boats within a year. Of course, the cyclical nature of shipping can also allow shipowners to "return to the pre-JF era". For example, during the Great Shipping Depression in the 1930s, ships were full of ports, and a ship worth two million US dollars only cost US$20,000.
Whether it's 'finance' or 'cycle', Lin Zhichao not only has a forward-looking vision, but also a smart brain, so he is also full of confidence.
Lin Zhichao wrote on the paper: shipping, industry, real estate, while thinking about future plans.
In fact, Cheung Kong Real Estate has been developing residential buildings. 'After the Hong Kong Island crisis', Cheung Kong Real Estate also used some funds to purchase some old buildings (uninhabitable) and then made small-scale investments. In one year, seven tenement buildings were built and some money was made.
Anyway, just calculate the cost and do it if there is a little profit, but never invest too much, and follow the principle of "speculating on the four hot meats". Currently, there are only about 30,000 per floor in Hong Kong, and there is still a downward trend due to the impact of the embargo.
In terms of industry, zippers, plastics, garment manufacturing, and clothing have all stabilized. Affected by the embargo, it may take three years for them to stabilize before they can seek breakthroughs and new development.
Come step by step!
It’s still a long time!
Lin Zhichao relaxed.
Lin Zhichao came to Hong Kong Huilan Hall again, but this time he was not invited by Old Madden, but by Sandus. There are no Chinese members in the Hong Kong Association. If Lin Zhichao comes alone, he will only be rejected. Only when the waiter hears that he is invited by a member will he take him to the restaurant.
Seeing Sandashi, Lin Zhichao had a smile on his face, this was his God of Wealth. Although, the cooperation between the two is mutually beneficial, or Lin Zhichao has already thought of a backup funding channel plan even without the support of HSBC.
But in any case, he still hopes to obtain financial support from HSBC.
After Lin Zhichao sat down, Sandus signaled the waiter to give Lin Zhichao the menu to order. Since it was Western food, just order his or her own portion.
"I heard that the Global Maritime Academy is recruiting a large number of sailors again. I wonder what your plan is?" Soon, Sandus asked this question.
Lin Zhichao said frankly: "You should also know that with shipping prices soaring and business in the Far East skyrocketing, it is only a matter of time before there is a ship shortage. My three 10,000-ton ships are highly valued by Japanese customers and the business is busy. So I am determined that early next year When it expires, they will choose to renew the contract at a high price. But this time, I want to renew the contract for three to five years."
Sandus immediately understood Lin Zhichao's plan and said, "Do you want to use the renewed funds and contracts to borrow money from our HSBC Bank to expand your fleet?"
Lin Zhichao nodded honestly and said, "The best result is this!"
Sandus then smiled and said: "What about the worst outcome?"
Obviously this is a joke!
Now that you have your first loan, HSBC will more or less conduct a risk assessment based on the actual situation. As a result, it is a question of how much to borrow.
At this time, HSBC had a high opinion of Global Shipping because this company could open up a profitable market without relying on smuggling. It is the first shipowner in Hong Kong to enter into long-term charter with Japan, which obviously opens up a market.
Lin Zhichao also joked: "That's not easy. Our cost to train a seaman is about 500 Hong Kong dollars, and the training fee for 100 is only 50,000 Hong Kong dollars. For us, we can afford to lose."
The implication is that these seafarers can be dismissed.
Sandus smiled, and then said seriously: "Actually, HSBC has not set a precedent for investing in shipping. One of the reasons for the last loan was that Global Shipping's heavy assets amounted to more than 2 million US dollars, and The loan is only 25%, and Mr. Lin’s achievements in real estate and industry. In fact, HSBC still regards shipping as a ‘black book’.”
Lin Zhichao was stunned for a moment, then thought that this was really the case, but he did not feel depressed.
"After all, Global Shipping and HSBC have reached a cooperation, haven't they?"
What he meant was that he had a good start.
Sandus nodded and said, "Of course! No matter what, I will help you convince Charlie from the project department when the time comes."
In fact, Sandus himself supports it, and since he has already appointed a project manager, there is still hope that the loan will succeed.
However, Sundarshi did not give Lin Zhichao a guarantee, and Sundarshi himself did not know how much Lin Zhichao wanted to loan!
Afterwards, the two talked about many things, and Sandus found that Lin Zhichao had many unique insights, which inspired him a lot.
For example, when Lin Zhichao talked about Hong Kong's economy, he speculated that Hong Kong would gradually transform from an entrepot into an industrial city.
Sandus felt that the analysis was sound and well-founded, and he was even more determined that after he came to power (project manager), he would start HSBC to proactively provide loans to factory owners.
Although HSBC has been lending to factory owners sparsely since World War II, it is still relatively conservative.
The two chatted happily and went home after dinner. Invisibly, the two became friends. At this time, Sandus never dreamed that Lin Zhichao would take the initiative to approach him knowing that he would become a project manager or even the chairman of HSBC. Sandus simply believed that Lin Zhichao sought medical treatment because of his illness and came to him.
On the way back to the car.
Lin Zhichao is thinking about things in his mind. He hopes to get a loan of US$2 million at the beginning of the year so that he can increase the cargo capacity by about 40,000 tons (plus his own funds). This loan request is not excessive and the risk is relatively small.
With this development, once the Peninsular War is over, global shipping will have a carrying capacity of about 300,000 tons, and of course they will all be cargo ships.
With the first wave of 'copies', we distanced ourselves from other Chinese shipowners.
Today, Sundarshi suddenly made an appointment with Lin Zhichao, which is also good news. It shows that he is paying attention to global shipping, and it also shows that he has decided to support global shipping.
good!
Originally, Lin Zhichao thought that this recruitment was a bit too high-profile, but he did not expect to gain useful information.
(End of chapter)
