Gang Number 23 Spring 1 Journal of Blue Star Line, Lamport & Booth Line, and Associated Companies Contents Correspondents News, views, and photographs for NoT1h America Facing facts publication should be sent direct to any B die GCBS assesses prospects for of the correspondents below, to reach Blue Sta Une Ltd 1980 them by: Suo e2260 2 Blue Star Line containers-the Three barcadero Center 1 January for Spring issue first 15 years San Francisco, CA 94111 1 April for Summer issue 6 A little learning ... 1 July for Autumn issue 8 Starman at Sullom Voe 1 October for Winter issue. Republic of South Africa 10 Brisbane Star in the Malta GG H Jefferys Convoy Whilst every effort will be made to 13 The Oryx include all contributions submitted, Blue Star Line (South Africa) Pty Ltd PO Box 4446 14-15 The Group Shipping Services lack of space may make it necessary to Thibault Square 16 Away to Sea-part2: hold over the publication of some HMS-Conway articles until a later issue. Lower St George's Street Cape Town 22 BSSM News 25 News ashore Australia 26-27 News from overseas R Walker Singapore Blue Star Line (Aust) Ptv Ltd W HAskew Box R21 Merlion Shipping Agency Pte Ltd Royal Exchange Post Office 1102A Marina House Sydney 70 Shenton Way NSW2000 Singapore 0207 PO Box 2164 United Kingdom o Green Lampo & d Front Cover: Starman Anglia at Sullom Voe Terminal U'J~-=-:-:;r -,,_ •• _·~ion must be obtained before anv of the ographsin Gangway Printed in England by roduced in any way John Gardner (Primers) limited. Facing GCBS assesses prospects Facts for 1980 Returning to the Group after an ab- sence of some four years my overriding impression is one of dif- A sombre international trading outlook trades continued to be very severe, ficulties on all fronts. Wherever for 1980reinforces the need for British with freight rates nowhere near high one looks, there are problems of a shipping to retain its competitive edge, enough to give a proper return on in- type and dimension that we have the General Council of British Shipping vestment, let alone set aside proper not seen for many years: very high announced at the beginning of the sums for replacement. borrowing rates, subsidised com- year. 'We face subsidised competition petition, international disturban- 'This is far and away the most impor- from the Soviet Bloc, including the ces, and declining markets. The tant task for everyone in our industry,' Trans-Siberian Railway; also, in some entire shipping industry is affec- said David Ropner, GCBS President. cases, subsidised competition from ted, as the article quoting the 'No one owes us a living. We have to developing countries; and we have low President of GCBS on this page earn it in a tough international market wage competition. shows. place. This has to be worked at ashore 'Then we face a sombre picture in None of our trading areas are and afloat: '. the world as a whole. The price of oil immune to these problems. The Reviewing prospects for British has, broadly, doubled- over the last world reefer market suffers from shipping this year, Mr Ropner said year. As a result, growth in world trade chronic over-supply of ships, as there were firm signs towards the end has slowed to almost negligible propor- does the heavy lift market. Our of 1979 of improvements in a number tions. So, although things are much new Middle East Container Service better in many sectors of British ship- has to face the present disturban- ping than they were a year ago, it is ces in the Gulf area, and even our sadly disappointing that our hopes of mainlines trade to Australia and continuing improvement are now back New Zealand is facing bulk-carrier in the melting pot.' opposition. Mr Ropnerstressedthat improving ef- We are fortunate in that being a ficiency was partly a matter for in- closely-knit family company we dividual companies themselves, partly can draw upon the strength of the a matter of the economic, fiscal and Group as a whole at a time like legal climate in which the ships this; but we are, nevertheless, operated, and partly dependent upon being hit as hard as anyone, and joint effort between management and that brings me to my second ob- the seafaring unions. servation. I am sometimes The industry was making great ef- staggered at how difficult it is to forts towards improving efficiency. In- get across to often quite senior dividual shipping companies were con- people in the Group the fact that David Ropner stantly trying to improve the tools of we do not have bottomless of sectors. Laid-up tonnage world- their trade and their service. In the first pockets. This is the worst shipping wide went down from 49.6 million dwt nine months of 1979, British depression since the last war and (end January 1976)to 11.7 million dwt shipowners took delivery of 47 new we are having to take a radical look (end November 1979),and UK tonnage ships: the total of orders placed in 1979 at everything we do. laid-up declined in general accord with was just over 1 million dwt, compared We shall survive and, no doubt, the world figures. Britain now had only with some 200,000dwt in 1978. we shall once again prosper, but one per cent of its dry cargo fleet laid- Negotiations were under way e cannot sit back and expect it all up, although the figure for tankers was towards improved working patterns, o happen. six per cent. reducing overtime where possible. A I' vital that everybody in the Freight rates had also come up in a widespread examination of training Gr understands that we number of bulk sectors over the past requirements was also being under- ope ,- a world market with year. The GCBS dry cargo tramp time- taken with the aim of ensuring that the ne s l 9 companies and ship- charter index which stood at 138in the right skills are being acquired, and of ping co 'as springing up all the first quarter of 1979 rose to 237 in the working practices to see that the skills time. e st be prepared to cut final quarter. acquired were used to best advantage. comers at e ery opportunity and However, there had been a serious This was necessarily a slow and seek 0 usiness wherever fall in UK tonnage over the past few' painstaking exercise and was being we can. e c cial thing to realise years, and the fall had been ac- carried out both by companies in- is that e are ot just in the celerating. In 1977 the loss was 45 dividually and by industry central business of . 9 ships but of ships of 543,000dwt; in 1978148ships bodies such as the Merchant Navy marketing s ' pi g services, of 4.5 million dwt; and in the first 11 Training Board, as well as by the This may a e gloomy reading, months of 1979109ships of 5.7 million GCBS. but facts a e to be faced. dwt. This was evidence, Mr Ropner On the other hand, the fleet though concluded, of the industry'S ability to slimmer remained highly efficient, Mr work. together. It was absolutely Ropner said. Many of the ships sold essential that this should continue and were surplus tankers. Others were that the industry should stay cargo liners replaced by modern con- competitive in the face of present tainerships. Competition in the liner threats and uncertainties. Blue Star Line co alners-• the first 15 yea s By Jim Davis Blue Star Line Container Manager \ 1971: 'California Star', fresh from the builders, with a load of brand new 20-ft and 4O-ft ISO containers, at the inauguration of the ScanStar service to the Pacific coast. Blue Star Line established a 'first' the shipping industry, and repair These early containers were carried when the Company carried a 9-ft facilities scarce, they proved on our conventional vessels, rather square container from Glasgow to Los somewhat unsatisfactory and later than being safely stowed below deck in -.. Angeles in 1961. At that time we were containers were built of steel. Even cell guides or secured on deck with heavily involved in experiments in though paints were not then what they modern lashing equipment aboard palletisation and unitisation to the are today, those steel containers gave purpose-built ships. They were also Pacific coast, and these were sub- very good service for ten years and handled by existing cranes and sequently extended to Australia. There three are still in use today as depot whatever other equipment was then followed experiments with con- stores. available, for the specialised container- tainers and BSL bought its first 10 in- handling hardware was still on the ternational standard (ISO) containers drawing board. in the mid-1960s. Outstanding durability By 1971, when ou container These containers could accom- By 1969some of the early problems of ships, Columbia Stsr a California modate much greater loads than in- container design had been sorted out Star, entered e Star service, dividual pallets or cribs and enabled the and our next purchase was of steel operated joi e East Asiatic utilisation experiments to proceed on a containers with galvanised panels. Company 0 Deirl."";I::rt.. ost of the larger scale. Another 200 containers (The paint question had still not been proper 9 uced and were subsequently acquired, and a fully resolved.) These containers, like speci iner ter- train of events set in motion which their predecessors, were painted in the mina directly led to the planning and for- Company's then standard livery of grey mation of today's fully-containerised colour and blue emblems.