Ropners
Owning and building ships
So quickly did the fleet expand, that in 1888 Ropner bought a
shipyard at Stockton-on-Tees. This yard was to build its own
special type of tramp ship, the trunk deck ship. The hatches were
placed on a narrow trunk, extending almost the full length of the
ship. Because of the way ships were measured, this method of
construction gave a tonnage figure that was low for the ship`s
carrying capacity. As various dues, such as that for using the Suez
Canal, were based on the tonnage figure, this reduced costs
dramatically. Like other tramp owners, Ropner always looked for
ways of reducing his overheads and making his ships more
profitable. Ropner`s fleet survived both World Wars, although losses were
heavy: 28 ships in the First World War and 33 in the Second. In
1946, the company diversified, and began operating a regular cargo
liner service to the southern US ports in the Gulf of Mexico. To
replace their conventional tramp ships, they began to build much
larger bulk carriers and ore carriers. Some of these were specially
built to carry iron ore to British steel works. Ropners also owned
roll-on, roll-off ferries operating from the Thames to
near-European ports. In recent years, Ropners and many other British companies have
found competition so intense that they have left shipping,
investing their wealth in other industries.
|
