Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1974)

Bulk Shipping Pools

And Consortia Study

Prepared By Drewry

While a large amount of cargo is still carried by independent bulk shipping interests, British and over- seas shipowners are having to ac- cept new concepts for ship owner- ship, management and—.most im- portant of all—marketing. Coopera- tion 'between individual owning or operating companies, either by the "pooling" of tonnage or through • '"« ' .V ^ ' ' membership of one of the many bulk shipping consortia formed in recent years, is becoming increas- ingly common." Pooling," and other ventures involving some sacrifice of traditional independence, have pri- marily been a response to very rapid growth of the bulk shipping market over the past 10 to 15 years, new shipping and chartering methods, as well as the increasingly competi- tive market, demanding specializa- tion by owners. The changing mar- ket—particularly the preference for ™ — - i freight contracts and other long- term shipping arrangements—has led to the formation of a large num- ber of pools and consortia a)ble to compete for, and secure, long-term business appropriate to the size and type of ship the members place at their disposal. These ventures are discussed and analyzed in "Bulk

Shipping Tools' and Consortia," the 21st in a series of in-depth studies prepared for by the Re- search Division of H.P. Drewry j^zrnmiiiimmmmmmm (Shipping Consultants) Limited for worldwide distribution.

Most of the British bulk shipping companies—including Cunard, P &

O, Ocean, Bibby, Ropner and Bow- ring—have either formed, or be- come members of, bulk "pools" and consortia, and an introductory sec- tion suggests why owners have been willing to rationalize manage- ment and marketing resources.

Many of the pooling arrangements involve shipowners of the same na- tionality, British and Norwegian consortia being especially promi- nent. However, the 60-page report reveals that multinational group- ings are growing in importance, especially in the large bulk carrier —cum—OBO market.

The operations of all known bulk shipping pools and consortia are reviewed in the Drewry survey, the various national and multinational groupings being classified accord- ing to the type and size of ship each has at its disposal, as well as their specialization. Separate sec- tions of the report are devoted, for example, to those bulk pools spe- cializing in the shipment of forest products, cars, etc. A clear distinc- tion is also made between pools operating large, medium and handy- sized bulk carriers and combined carriers, in order to compare their spheres of operation and illustrate their different approaches to mar- keting, ship scheduling, etc. Analy- sis of shipping movements reveals significant differences between, for example, Seabridge Shipping and

Associated Bulk Carriers, the P &

O subsidiary, although the compo- sition of their fleets is similar.

There has been a tendency for the smaller pools and consortia- some of which have substantial fleets—to concentrate on one sector of the market (for example, the

Western Canadian forest products trade) or to restrict their main mar- keting effort to particular areas, such as the Pacific. The trading pattern reflects the dependence on particular trades and commodities, while the report also refers to the composition of each fleet, the ton- nage contributed by the members of the pool and chartering opera- tions. Fuller details of each fleet are presented in an appendix to the report, including the amount of cargo-handling gear available.

The concluding section of "Bulk

Shipping 'Pools' and Consortia" takes a look at the changing struc- ture of the Japanese bulk shipping industry, reference being made to the various- overseas subsidiaries and affiliates set up to facilitate chartering operations or enable newbuilding to be financed outside the framework of the domestic ship- building program under the so- called "tie-in" system. "Bulk Shipping 'Pools' and Con- sortia," No. 21 in a series of reports prepared by the Research Division of H.P. Drewry (Shipping Con- sultants Limited), Palladium House, 1-4 Argyll Street, London W1V

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