THE SHORT ESCAPE TO THE CAPE: A Project Profile

by Geoff. Uttmark

A curious aspect of shipping is the continental size of the separation between “the market”, gossiped about by everyone, and niche opportunities, discussed by no one outside the family or group and its closest allies. No one actually lives the homogenized BIFFEX. Everyone aspires to beat it, or its equivalent, whatever the sector, whatever it takes. The nature of intense near-perfect competition is that even an individual ship’s location can be privileged information, potentially more relevant to fixing at an acceptable rate than the broader market forces. Secrecy may be warranted, but it has the effect of also preserving shipping’s notorious insularity and nepotism. Ships change hands – but usually between worthy adversaries who have known (of) each other for years. New companies are formed – but often out of old ones. Developing countries nurture enterprises within their borders – but run afoul of the traditional maritime nations when they try to extend the “infant industry” argument to maritime. Factor in shipping’s barriers to entry in the form of capital intensiveness and seemingly chronic low financial returns and small wonder that entrepreneurial ambitions that might inject some needed creativity rarely leave the dock.

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