Posted on 09/13/2009 12:50:31 AM PDT by blueglass
The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies
The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination. Do not tell these men and women about green shoots of recovery. As Briton Tim Huxley, one of Asia's leading ship brokers, says, if the world is really pulling itself out of recession, then all these idle ships should be back on the move.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
After learning about this situation, President Obama responded: “Time for a clunkers for ships program.”
bookmark for morning
what recovery?
Just wow!
Excellent article! Been following the Baltic Dry Goods Index since last summer but the numbers are, while horrible, abstract. Seeing and reading about the fleet fills out the picture.
On the bright side, if government takes over completely we can all buy cheap ships and live in the sea!
They can play “Happy Day are Here Again” all they want, but things like this really drive the truth home. You can’t hide millions of tons of floating steel forever.
Well isn’t this what all the leftists want? Less trade means less consumerism which is destroying the planet right? This is just the end result of what they hope to further accomplish.
This isn't unexpected, but it's disturbing. Singapore failing will have rippling effects throughout Asia, none of them good.
Some percentage of the world kept wanting to see the fall of the United States; yet we were consumers of many of their products.
Well, we’re all swimming in it now.
Yep. I’ve seen a lot of local businesses shut down the past 2-3 years especially. Strip malls are at 50% empty in many cases. The gas prices took a lot of discretionary income away.
With regards to Barry, his 2 years as a community organizer had him spending other people’s money. He has no actual business experience. And then he was a lawyer for 1 year. 1 year. And for ACORN I do believe.
And yet million of Americans think he’s qualified to lead this country?
It’s surreal. Except that we’re going to live in the reality of this inexperienced poser.
Cargo ping - the accompanying Daily Mail article is a real stunner.
“Time for a clunkers for ships program.”
Don’t forget, at tax time, you have to report your $4500 clunker benefit as taxable income.
Singapore failing will have rippling effects throughout Asia, none of them good.
WalMart shelves are going to be a little short this winter.
The funny thing is that I don't think that many people the received the benefit will realize this until they get a 1099 in the mail. LOL
I remember visiting West Point with my family in the 1950’s. For miles and miles as we drove along the Hudson there were surplus warships of every size and type at anchor, the so-called “moth ball” fleet. Wikipedia lists 524 WW-II destroyers, alone. I guess it took some time to scrap them all, and at that time I suppose some of them might have been needed had thing in Europe heated up.
Say what you will about WalMart, I believe these folks are VERY on top of consumer data and econo/political realities.
They are obviously into the pdychology of the why and how of business and making money.
Buy low (Chinese mainly) then sell high (comparatively for the price paid originally).
That was Sam’s guideline.
Yep. In all likelihood we'll be living with Obamalamadingdong's legacy for at least a couple of generations.....
Barry isn’t qualified to work 3rd shift at a 7 Eleven.
Barry isn’t qualified to work 3rd shift at a 7 Eleven.
7 Eleven would no hire him for lack of experience and poor past employer. Acorn!
***Buy low (Chinese mainly) then sell high (comparatively for the price paid originally).
That was Sam’s guideline.***
That is the same for most stores. go to any main line store and try to find non-Chinese products.
I had to hunt through several isles of Hobby Lobby to find something not made in china, and that item was made in India. Even the oil paint I bought was made overseas.
The ocean is a pretty hostile environment, and it won't be long before these idle ships will need big time repairs, since even normal maintenance like painting is not being done.
A few years from now we'll be reading about the glut in the scrap steel market.
Assuming that it is accurate (and the Daily Mail is not a paper that inspires instant confidence in me), this is an excellent piece and deserves kudos for taking a long look at an obscure place with a highly relevant story.
Use them as floating prisons! Outsource!
name them after members of CONgress?
What will Americans do without their Japan^H^H^H^H^HChinese made television sets? The world can only wonder ...
Well, you got half of that correct. Singapore is not an obscure place. It is the gateway between Asian manufacturing and the US and where has US manufacturing gone in the last two decades?
Its government has its faults, but hey, a government banning chewing gum outdoors[1] and issuing corporal punishment for graffiti cannot be all bad.
(And it's a wonderful place to vacation. Highly recommended.)
[1] Sadly rescinded in the past couple of years. Stepping in someone's chewing gum thrown carelessly on a sidewalk is icky.
There is a lot of very small boats that are probably used for local shipping. The bigger one for overseas shipping. There are not that many big ships idle in this pic. Some are transferring oil to the smaller ships. I am not one for sticking up for the POS in our white house. Recession is still here for now.
I didn't think I was talking about Singapore when I was commenting on this shipping article, but rather a dumping area relatively close to Singapore. Unless I misunderstand this section of the article, this isn't exactly about the Causeway:
It is so far off the beaten track that nobody ever really comes close, which is why these ships are here. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies.
So they have been quietly retired to this equatorial backwater, to be maintained only by a handful of bored sailors. The skeleton crews are left alone to fend off the ever-present threats of piracy and collisions in the congested waters as the hulls gather rust and seaweed at what should be their busiest time of year.
Local fisherman Ah Wat, 42, who for more than 20 years has made a living fishing for prawns from his home in Sungai Rengit, says: 'Before, there was nothing out there - just sea. Then the big ships just suddenly came one day, and every day there are more of them.
'Some of them stay for a few weeks and then go away. But most of them just stay. You used to look Christmas from here straight over to Indonesia and see nothing but a few passing boats. Now you can no longer see the horizon.'
My apologies for any unintended slighting of Singapore.
I was in WallyWorld yesterday morning early (to avoid the scum) and the store was in complete upheaval. They had overnight completely rearranged about 1/3 of the store. Aisles wider and the height of the shelves reduced by about 6 inches. I asked the store manager what was up. he gave me the “more shopper friendly merchandise program” line. very interesting.
Yep, Barry’s economy is a mess. Here’s the latest news on just how far Hussein has sank our economy:
“Showing the scars of the deep recession last year, the nation’s poverty level jumped to an 11-year high, household incomes sank and the number of people without health insurance rose slightly to 46.3 million, the government reported today.
The Census Bureau said that median household incomes fell 3.6% from 2007 to $50,303 last year. That was the biggest decline since 1991 and represented millions of job cuts by employers in 2008.
The ranks of people without medical coverage, which increased from 45.7 million in 2007, were expected to have risen more sharply last year. But the overall number was lowered by expanding government safety-net programs and rising Medicare enrollment, which is driven by aging baby boomers. The number of uninsured children fell to 7.3 million from 8.1 million in 2007.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-census-poverty11-2009sep11,0,148475.story
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