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 – and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year
The tropical waters that lap the jungle shores of southern Malaysia could not be described as a paradisaical shimmering turquoise. They are more of a dark, soupy green. They also carry a suspicious smell. Not that this is of any concern to the lone Indian face that has just peeped anxiously down at me from the rusting deck of a towering container ship; he is more disturbed by the fact that I may be a pirate, which, right now, on top of everything else, is the last thing he needs.
His appearance, in a peaked cap and uniform, seems rather odd; an officer without a crew. But there is something slightly odder about the vast distance between my jolly boat and his lofty position, which I can’t immediately put my finger on.
Then I have it – his 750ft-long merchant vessel is standing absurdly high in the water. The low waves don’t even bother the lowest mark on its Plimsoll line. It’s the same with all the ships parked here, and there are a lot of them. Close to 500. An armada of freighters with no cargo, no crew, and without a destination between them.
My ramshackle wooden fishing boat has floated perilously close to this giant sheet of steel. But the face is clearly more scared of me than I am of him. He shoos me away and scurries back into the vastness of his ship. His footsteps leave an echo behind them.
Who knew? RTFA.
Found by oz4me.
#38
Thats not a valid answer. You could have said, because the Klingons that ride unicorns use their reality rays to make it that way. Merely saying something doesn’t make it credible.
You’re completely missing the underlying cause.
Note: I’ve said that booms and busts are a natural, healthy and necessary part of capitalism.
My point: The massive size of the booms and busts we have in our “modern” economy is NOT the fault of capitalism. These booms and busts are a monetary phenomenon, monetary policy is centrally planned by the unaccountable federal reserve, therefore capitalism cannot be blamed.
Austrian business cycle. Read it. or listen to it. There’s plenty of articles, books, audio and videos explaining all of this for free at mises.org
Note: I’ve said that booms and busts are a natural, healthy and necessary part of capitalism.
Where? I got involved when you posted this?
#21
#7, bobbo, economically ignorant.
The boom and bust cycle is not caused by capitalism, rather it’s caused by the monetary policies of the federal reserve. The federal reserve is not a free market institution.
and now you added this gem,
My point: The massive size of the booms and busts we have in our “modern” economy is NOT the fault of capitalism. These booms and busts are a monetary phenomenon, monetary policy is centrally planned by the unaccountable federal reserve, therefore capitalism cannot be blamed.
Geeze, it is so difficult to have an intelligent conversation with someone who knows nothing about the subject they are talking about.
First, the “natural booms and busts” are much less severe than before the implementation of central banks and monetary policy.
Second, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and, as far as I know, all of the EC all have central banks controlled solely by the central government. Although they too were impacted by this recession, none of them were impacted as much as was the US. Add in the fact that the US had the most pro “private enterprise” government of all of them.
The Federal Reserve is controlled by a combination of government appointed and a majority private appointed board. If anything, the American private enterprise influence on the American central bank should have mitigated the damage. It didn’t. The government controlled central banks won the day. (well, at least performed much better)
*
The failure of the Bank of the United States under Jackson was the cause of the following depression. The State banks depended upon the B of US to handle interbank transfers and lend money. The loss of that bank created a loss of confidence in the financial system. In turn this resulted in the money supply drying up and debts being called in. Many local banks failed costing merchants, farmers, and ordinary folks their savings and ultimately their jobs.
Just because your local Liebertarian chapter doesn’t advertise the fact is no excuse for not knowing American history. Oh wait, Liebertarian. Yup. That’s your excuse.
#42, The failure of the Bank of the United States under Jackson was the cause of the following depression. The State banks depended upon the B of US to handle interbank transfers and lend money. The loss of that bank created a loss of confidence in the financial system. In turn this resulted in the money supply drying up and debts being called in. Many local banks failed costing merchants, farmers, and ordinary folks their savings and ultimately their jobs.
Your time line is wrong. The bank was founded in 1816. The Panic of 1819 happened in, well, 1819 — three years after its founding. Then another one in 1828,
— then 1837 (5 years after Jackson stopped sending tax money to them and then only lasted one year once prices stabilized),
— one in the 1850s (caused again by an inflation in the money supply — CA gold rush),
— and then next in 1870s (when the government jacked with the money).
Do you see a pattern here?
The second bank created a bubble that eventually burst (land speculation), which caused the financial panics. They were the ones responsible for their own failure. Jackson just drove the nail in their coffin by refusing to do business with them and vetoing their recharter.
The Federal Reserve is controlled by a combination of government appointed
Appointed from a list which is supplied by the Fed.
“Mr. President, you can select anyone you want as long as they are on this list.”
“But there’s only one name on this list!”
Loser,
Again, you don’t know what you are talking about. The fall of the Bank of the US caused a financial crises that took a long time to alleviate. Longer than if there had been a central bank to help beleaguered State banks. The crises started in 1834, not 1837.
The problem you see is that there was no central bank to help cushion those depressions.
Appointed from a list which is supplied by the Fed.
More Liebertarian crap?
Why do the Liebertarians like to make up this crap? Honestly, do they think the world will change because they don’t like the truth?
They can always sell the ships to the US Navy for target practice.
#42 Mr. Fusion,
I saw your post while I was at work, I wanted to make a detailed reply when i got home, but Libertylover beat me to it. There’s a few more points that could be made, but he’s discredited you thoroughly enough; so I wont bother.
I wonder if I can get Obama to set up a government program that will pay me to discuss and debate economics/politics with random people.
One can dream and hope.
#37 they are there because it is a port.. read my post above. They need to anchor and wait for their turn as all the containers are processed and moved together to be loaded/unloaded, this can actually take days to weeks.. especially when you process 500 ships a day.. The port you posted in China, is the world’s highest in terms of container volume. You would get the same result if you tracked people standing in a queue at a bank or cars in a traffic jam.. This is just stupid..
#37 I want to formerly put this to rest.. your link and the pictures to show as “proof” that the Daily Mail article is supposed to be real is junk. Please read this from start to end.
I want to point out that all the pictures with green dots, only contain small docks and are primarily fairways for Shipping. What is a fairway.. it is like a highway for cars.. The specific locations serve as areas where a high density of ships travel through as it is the shortest distance to travel.
Examples – From your pictures, let us put them in context for those that do not know shipping and do not know geography:
Gibraltar: (Strait of Gibraltar)
Only passage way for all ships traveling from and to the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Over 20 countries have direct access to the Meditarranean Sea and are thus served by this passage way.
Denmark: (The Straits called Skagerakk and Kattegat)
Only possible route for ships traveling from Sweden, Parts of Denmark, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and parts of Germany. Even during WWII and WWI this was an important strategic control point for Naval fleets and U-boats (submarines). Same as Gibraltar above.. which served UK well as far as taxing passage of boats during colonial times. Russia had to use this passage way because during winter the northern ports are frozen solid.
Read Sea: (Another passage way, Suez Canal)
As Gibraltar and Denmark above.. it primarily serves as a passage way not a dock/birthing point. It is a high density narrow strait like the two above where boats move.. and do not anchor! The 163 km (101 mi) long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast of the Mediterranean Sea connects to the Red Sea. This is one of the most highest density shipping points in the world.. because ships don’t want to travel all the way south of Cape Town, South Africa to delivery goods and oil to Europe.
— ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE STRAITS/CANALS where there is traffic throughput NOT docks
So let us look at all the REDS:
Singapore: I have mentioned this before, read wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Singapore
It is world’s busiest port, and you can drive the circumference of Singapore in 1hr 30 min. Thousands of ships anchor everyday.. due to high traffic.
Britain: (not sure where this is as you did not put the location name.. it is a port, a small one, with traffic.. normal to anchor)
Qinhuangdao: Qinhuangdao is the chief port of Hebei province, serving large portions of China and is key port for coal. As you may know China builds 2 new coal power plants per week. Qinhuangdao is the world’s largest coal loading port, strategically placed for transporting coal from the north to the south of China. Fifty percent of the Chinese coal, or some 200 million tons, is handled here every year.
Four national railways reach the port and when the trains arrive the coal needs to be unloaded as fast as possible for further transportation to the ships. All coal terminals at Qinhuangdao use the most advanced automatic coal handling equipment. http://www.metsomaterialstechnology.com/corporation/about_eng.nsf/WebWID/WTB-070420-2256F-2D54E?OpenDocument&mid=AD81A5910C8D6127C22572ED00262B1F
Putuo: (more accurately Zhoushan Island (ironically meaning Boat Island – looks like a boat):
There are several hundred ports around the islands, separated into three areas: Dinghai Port Zone, Shen-jia-men Port Zone (沈家门港区), and Laotangshan Port Zone (老塘山港区). – it also merges with Ningbo port.
Two deepwater ports in east China’s Zhejiang Province, Ningbo and Zhoushan, were officially declared by the provincial vice governor to be merged in a bid to create the third biggest port in the world. Cargo handling capacity of Ningbo Port is expected to exceed 270 million tons in 2005, ranking second in China, and Zhoushan Port is expected to handle over 80 million tons of cargo.
There were 591 berths in the two ports at the end of 2004, of which 53 were for over 10,000 tons.
After completion, the new port will be an integral part of the Shanghai International Shipping Center, as well as an important logistic and industrial base
So no surprise you see a crap load of parked ships. Also surprised you didn’t include Rotterdam and you would have three of the world’s biggest ports.
Belgium (Port of Antwerp):
The port of Antwerp has become one of Europe’s largest sea ports, ranking third behind Rotterdam and Hamburg for container throughput in 2007.[1] Its international rankings vary from 11th to 17th (AAPA). In 2007, the Port of Antwerp handled 182,900,000 MT of trade[2] and offered liner services to 800 different maritime destinations
Dubai: (I am pretty sure it is the Jebel Ali Port)
Jebel Ali is the world’s largest man-made harbour and the biggest port in the Middle East. The area is also home to “5,500 companies from 120 countries”.
Port Rashi also in Dubai serves mainly for Passenger ships.
Turkey (Bosporus or more correctly The Port of Haydarpasa)
Is a strait that forms the boundary between the European part (Rumelia) of Turkey and its Asian part (Anatolia). The world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation, it connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara
The Port of Haydarpaşa, also known as the Port of Haidar Pasha (Turkish: Haydarpaşa Limanı) is a general cargo seaport, ro-ro and container terminal, situated in Haydarpaşa, Istanbul at the southern entrance to the Bosphorus. The port is operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and serves a hinterland which includes the country’s most industrialized areas.
It is the biggest container port in the Marmara Region[1] and with an annual cargo volume exceeding six million metric tons (MT), is Turkey’s third biggest port after Mersin and Izmir.
Gulf of Mexico (or more correctly Port of South Louisiana)
The Port of South Louisiana is the largest volume shipping port in the Western Hemisphere and 9th largest in the world. It is the largest bulk cargo port in the world.
It extends 54 miles (87 km) along the Mississippi River between New Orleans, Louisiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, centering approximately at LaPlace, Louisiana, which serves as the Port’s headquarters location.
This port is critical for grain shipments from the Midwest, handling some 60% of all raw grain exports.
—-CONCLUSION
1. the pics that was green were straits.. or passageways for ships, not docks.
2. docks were in red, why? because they are docked, waiting to unload/load shipments and are anchored outside the harbour because there are not enough birthing points for all the ships.. (see my previous post explaining why they anchor)
The article in the Daily Mail and the link shown by #34 are both full of pure BULLSHIT. I rest my case.. next time do some research before you go out and spread propaganda crap.
#44, Dude, your post disappeared for days. What happened?
Again, you don’t know what you are talking about. The fall of the Bank of the US caused a financial crises that took a long time to alleviate. Longer than if there had been a central bank to help beleaguered State banks. The crises started in 1834, not 1837.
Um, I hate to break it to you, but the reason there was a problem was over speculation due to low interest rates. The same reason any bubble is created in the first place. You can’t pass out free money with nothing to back it. Eventually, those loans come due.
But, let’s get beyond that for now.
You are saying the bank should have been there fix the problem. Assuming you are correct, you have to ask why there was a problem to start with? Where did it come from? What caused it? And why couldn’t they stop the one in 1819 (three years after their founding)? Or the ones in 1825 and 1826 (just 7 years later, long before their recharter was vetoed)?
The problem you see is that there was no central bank to help cushion those depressions.
What I see is a bubble inflation maintenance organism, not a cushion.
I am really interested as to why this bank couldn’t survive on its own merits after losing it charter. If it was such a reputable and needed institution, it should have survived. It didn’t. Why is that?
More Liebertarian crap?[sic]
The seven-member Board of Governors is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the 12 District Reserve Banks and with helping implement national monetary policy. Governors are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate for staggered, 14-year terms.[36] By law, the appointments must yield a “fair representation of the financial, agricultural, industrial, and commercial interests and geographical divisions of the country,” and as stipulated in the Banking Act of 1935, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board are two of seven members of the Board of Governors who are appointed by the President from among the sitting Governors.
Why do the Liebertarians like to make up this crap? Honestly, do they think the world will change because they don’t like the truth?
I am familiar with the Federal Reserve.
There has never, not once, ever, been someone nominated to sit on this board who was not recommended BY the board or a chairman not recommended by the board.
In essence, there has never been an outsider charged with watching over them.
Why do you think that is? Are you saying that Bush was correct in picking Bernanke? The man who couldn’t see this coming? Are you saying that because he testified before congress that the economy was sound shortly before the crash that he is the right man to “guide” us out of the problems we are having? The ones he helped create with free money?
If you are, you need to change your kool-aid mixture. It’s a little too strong.
Apologies in my last paragraph of post #48 i was to reference post #37 not #34 which was my own 😛 tiny mistake!