This Daily Mail article is creepy on so many levels: Imagine rows and rows of empty container ships, oil tankers, and possibly cruise ships simply floating idle in some forgotten sea and no one knows for how long.
Will this stretch of coastline become the "La Brea Tar Pits" of fictitious wealth and capitalism? Will they all rust away because the cost of scrapping them is more than letting them rust?
From the Daily Mail:In summary, this article truly illustrates that this is indeed your grandfathers' Great Depression.
"... The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies ..."
"... This is the time of year when everyone is doing all the Christmas stu ff,' he points out.'A couple of years ago those ships would have been steaming back and forth, going at full speed. But now you've got something like 12 per cent of the world's container ships doing nothing ...."
[Link]
5 comments:
I'm surprised that some of these ships haven't been nicked by the pirates that operate around the South China sea.
It wouldn't surprise me if the ships have little to no fuel, obviously no crew or cargo, and if insurance is available; (I am not an expert), they may not mind the ship getting stolen?
In fact, maybe pirates on their way now?
I would think firing up one of these ships would be beyond the capabilities of most pirates. Besides, the reason they're all 'parked' together is for the same reasons we had convoys in WWII - better security. With ships worth many hundreds of millions of dollars I'd imagine the security would be more than adequate. What would be interesting to find out is why they selected that spot to collect the world's excess shipping together? Perhaps Singapore is the geographic 'center' of world shipping and therefore the shortest average travel distance?
Tony: More of a FYI follow up so no need to bother with posting this comment, but there are 'parking lots' of ships all over the world. Check this article at www.zerohedge.com out.
Scott, that was a public service and very appreciated. I am selling all my stocks at the next top after seeing this link.
It makes the original post look like 7/11 parking lot rather than a parking lot the size of Death Valley.
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