For almost five decades the history of long-term trends in global ocean transport has attracted the interest mainly of economists and economic historians rather than maritime historians.¹ Maritime ...historians, on the other hand, have concentrated on topics which have been more limited in chronological or geographical scope or with special aspects of shipping history. This paradox likely reflects the different traditions of the various specialties. Maritime historians typically have been empirically oriented scholars who know all too well the gaps in our understanding of many of the most important trends of international shipping, even for a period as recent as
The grim living conditions of ordinary sailors, and the despotic discipline to which they were subjected, were integral parts of the Western maritime past. These unpleasant realities came to wide ...public notice for the first time in 1840 when Richard Henry Dana published his famousTwo Years before the Mast.¹ This book, which was followed by other more or less authentic descriptions, inaugurated a literary tradition that later included writers such as Herman Melville and Jack London. Although such books only seldom embodied true “voices from the forecastle,” they still comprise an extremely valuable stock of knowledge on which many
The Conference System S.G. Sturmey
British Shipping and World Competition,
10/2017
Book Chapter
As an almost classic example of cartellization, the conference system has always attracted attention. The intention of this chapter is, first, to provide sufficient information about conferences to ...place them in their context as an element in liner operations and, second, to answer the question, “What effect, if any, have conferences had on the development of British shipping?” For these purposes it is not necessary to present a complete account of the operations of conferences or to examine fully the cases for and against them.
A conference is an association of competing liner owners engaged in a particular trade who
It is a commonplace of maritime history that the port of Chester, in the Middle Ages a considerable haven with strategic as well as trading significance, did not expand in the eighteenth century, as ...did the neighbouring port of Liverpool. The contrast between the two ports was very marked: the number of ships belonging to Liverpool which entered and cleared that port in 1709 totalled 6381 tons, and the total had risen to 29,543 tons by 1782.² Similar returns for the port of Chester show a decline from 2659 tons in 1709 to 1070 tons in 1782.³ Much well-merited attention
In the postwar period the various segments of the shipping market were increasingly served by specialised vessels. But the reduction in the number of general-purpose ships does not imply that the ...various shipping segments were isolated from each other. Indeed, the problems in the tanker sector spilled over relatively rapidly into other parts of the shipping market.
Two mechanisms on the supply side – the inflow of combination carriers and the eagerness of shipyards to build new bulk ships – explain the spread of the crisis from tankers to the dry bulk sector. At the same time, it is likely that a
The transformation of Norwegian shipping during the crisis can be analysed using information on the population of shipowners. The most important elements are the size and number of shipping ...companies; their spatial and business concentration; and the processes of growth and decline. The analysis is based on annual time series which span the period 1970-1987, enabling analysis of the dynamics and transformations during an era with both strong expansion and sharp contraction. The database, which includes all vessels above 5000 gross registered tons (grt) and all companies owning such vessels, is based on the Veritas register.¹
There is a high
The grim living conditions of ordinary sailors, and the despotic discipline to which they were subjected, were integral parts of the Western maritime past. These unpleasant realities came to wide ...public notice for the first time in 1840 when Richard Henry Dana published his famousTwo Years before the Mast.¹ This book, which was followed by other more or less authentic descriptions, inaugurated a literary tradition that later included writers such as Herman Melville and Jack London. Although such books only seldom embodied true “voices from the forecastle,” they still comprise an extremely valuable stock of knowledge on which many
High Water S.G. Sturmey
British Shipping and World Competition,
10/2017
Book Chapter
British-owned shipping dominated the ports and sea lanes of the world in the years immediately prior to the First World War, the supremacy being based on four factors:
First and foremost was the ...British colonial trading policy. The Empire constituted a trading area from which Britain drew imports of raw materials and food and to which she supplied manufactured goods and emigrants. This provided the opportunities for the employment of a shipping fleet, opportunities which, in the days before cables and radio, were more easily grasped by British than by foreign shipowners. The Navigation Acts, which from the close of
In the past quarter-century our understanding of important aspects of nineteenth-century maritime history has improved dramatically. We know far more than before about topics such as the development ...of national fleets, the individuals who invested in them, the trades they plied, and the seamen who manned them. Scholars are even starting to examine the communities which spawned maritime actors and to situate their studies in the national societies and economies of which they were a part. Moreover, research is beginning to appear that analyses shipping comparatively within its international context. Yet there remain significant gaps in our knowledge. This generalisation
Any study of Devon shipping from the late eighteenth century onwards must embrace a close scrutiny and analysis of the Statutory Registers of British Shipping. Here, the historian owes an ...incalculable debt to the late Grahame Farr, who has assiduously transcribed and analysed the registers of the North Devon ports.² I had the privilege of exchanging data with Mr. Farr over a period of many years, and have attempted a reconstruction of the missing registers of Barnstaple from 1786 and 1814. I have also transcribed the first volume of Exeter registers. Of greater importance is the scheme sponsored by the
