Reborn in Hong Kong: The Tycoon Grows Up

No. 17——Panama Ship

In fact, before coming to Egypt, Bao Zixuan had already ordered his subordinates to design various plans; the so-called Panamanian cargo ship had already been prepared. Although it will invisibly increase a lot of costs, as long as the Black Cloud Group can be taken out; compared to the hatred of powerful opponents, spending more money is really not a big problem.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ships sailing on the sea must obtain the flag of a country or region; they can only sail on the sea after flying the flag of that country or region. A ship can only have one nationality. If it has two or more nationalities, or has no nationality, it will not be recognized by any country, and it will also be attacked as a pirate by the navies of various countries.

Large countries often have close business travel and trade, and as a big country, the regulations are naturally cumbersome; at the same time, the tax burden remains high. Over time, shipping company profit margins plummeted. However, some small countries on the coast or that rely on shipping have developed slowly because no one cares about them. Therefore, in order to develop themselves, small countries have begun to liberalize the ship registration system or directly establish convenient tax policies to attract shipping companies to settle.

Hence the emergence of the “flag of convenience” system. "Flag of convenience" refers to ships launched by other countries flying the flag of the country with preferential shipping policies.

1 Passed the Seafarers Act; the bill requires shipping companies registered in the United States to treat seafarers preferentially and improve safety facilities. The U.S. Bureau of Shipping will conduct random inspections of ships from time to time. Many companies believe that the bill seriously hinders the development of the shipping industry and affects profits. They began to find ways to evade it, and finally chose to register ships in foreign countries to avoid it. During the two world wars, the U.S. government strictly prohibited U.S. ships from entering belligerent waters and belligerent countries, which accelerated the foreign registration process.

At that time, there were two destinations for American shipping companies to register overseas; one was Liberia and the other was Panama. Both countries have a common feature, that is, they are quite lax about ship inspections. You only need to issue a ship registration to the ship and collect a ship management fee every year, and don’t care about anything else. Compared with other countries that have many charging items and strict inspection systems, this is a huge advantage.

At the beginning, due to Panama’s unique advantage of connecting the Pacific and Atlantic canals, it only focused on the number of ships it recruited; there was basically no ship quality and company review. Although the extensive development is rapid, it also leaves potential safety hazards. In addition, the country's internal affairs are unstable, and from time to time, additional ship management fees are deliberately withheld or nationalized. The combination of these two situations gave Panamanian ship registration a bad reputation at the beginning, and it was surpassed by Liberia for many years in a row.

After the political situation in Panama stabilized, a series of rectifications were initiated in order to restore its status as the first overseas ship registration place. Increase the review of ship quality and registration companies, and introduce a penalty system; those who get through the inspections by muddle-heading will be punished. At the same time, a large number of shoddy ships were eliminated, which effectively improved the image of Panamanian ships. Secondly, we should further improve the investment environment and relax restrictions on seafarers’ nationality, taxation and other systems.

The two-pronged approach finally got rid of the previous bad impression; the international status of Panamanian ships has been greatly improved. Loose tax regulations, neutral country background, and good service attitude have led shipping companies from various countries to settle in Panama.

At present, Panamanian ships account for 12% of the total number of ships in the world, which is why Bao Zixuan looks for Panamanian cargo ships.

First of all, the number is large enough. Egypt detected something from the Panamanian cargo ship; the entire international community thinks it is normal. There are all kinds of birds in the forest. It is said that Panama is just a small neutral country and does not dare to put pressure on Egypt.

If the Egyptians are really pushed into a hurry, no Panamanian merchant ships will be allowed to pass through the Suez Canal; it will be too late to cry by then. In addition, even in Panama, it is not clear whether the cargo ship violated the regulations; the confidence is seriously insufficient.

Odegaard is a cargo ship captain from Panama. He became a seaman at the age of 18 and has been drifting at sea for more than 30 years. He is an absolute veteran and has rich experience in running ships.

Something still doesn't feel right today, with the two recently recruited crew members; everything seems to be normal on the surface, but my intuition is that it's not that simple. The professionalism shown by the two people and the ability to deal with crises; they will never be willing to be ordinary sailors.

Why you choose to be on your own ship is a question worth thinking about; a small temple cannot keep a big Buddha, and those who have the ability will naturally hope to make more money.

But there is no evidence at all at the moment, so we can only observe carefully.

In fact, Odegaard's intuition was very accurate. There was indeed something wrong with the newly recruited crew members; the two knew each other and were colleagues. Currently working in the intelligence department of Heiyun Group, he was sent to the ship to perform tasks because of his service experience in the navy.

After receiving the order from the line, they were told to act according to the plan; the two did not dare to neglect at all. Having lived on the ship for 2 months, it would not arouse suspicion.

The captain looked at them a little strangely, but the two of them still believed that no evidence had been found so far, so they were still confident.

Finally, it was Odegaard's turn to enter the Suez Canal. He had sailed through this canal countless times; he could pass it with his eyes closed, but it was not far behind.

This time it felt unusual. In the past, I had only given casual benefits to the Egyptians; the so-called inspection was more of a routine matter.

But today's inspection was extremely strict and no area was spared; this was the first time in Odegaard's memory.

In order to speed up the navigation of the Suez Canal, Egypt has added ship directors, so it will basically not be too difficult. The river is not wide to begin with, and artificial factors increase navigation time; which is very detrimental to the already fragile Egyptian economy.

There is definitely something going on inside, you have to know that so many people are boarding the ship; even after paying extra for double the usual benefits, they still can't impress the other party. The Egyptians probably don't have that big of an appetite. Going too far will not do any good to the country's image.

The Egyptian staff found a box at the bottom of the cargo ship. Although it was not very big, the weight was unclear, so two strong men lifted the box up. In fact, all these are clues left by Heiyun intelligence personnel, and this is all they can do at the moment.

The Egyptian inspector said forcefully: "What is this? Please open it now."

Seeing the box, Odegaard had an ominous premonition; because in his impression, there was no such object in front of him when he set off this time. Although the cargo ship is very big, as an old captain, I don’t know everything about the things on the ship, but I definitely know a box.

On an ocean voyage, it is most taboo for individuals to carry private goods; if it is ordinary goods, it is fine; once contraband is carried, it will kill everyone on the ship.

Even if private goods are involved, the captain must be informed; the interests are shared equally, but the captain has to take the lion's share. At the same time, in order to control risks, captains have more concerns than ordinary crew members.

There was no box originally, it was all parts and components; it was assembled by Heiyun intelligence personnel on the ship, with the purpose of allowing Egyptian inspectors to find clues!

Hearing the Egyptian staff's request to open the box, Odegaard immediately became nervous; once contraband was found, there was no clear explanation; as the captain, he cannot absolve himself of the blame.

Although reluctant, an old crew member took out the key.

This is the brilliance of Heiyun intelligence personnel. They cannot let people doubt themselves.

Seeing that it was the old crew member who had taken out the key, Odegaard felt relieved at last, even though he had an expression on his face. After more than ten years of running boats with me, I am still very measured.

If you bring some private goods, they will be confiscated at most; it’s not a big problem.

But when the box was opened, the old crew member who unlocked it was dumbfounded; the items inside had been stolen. Before, they were just some cosmetics and sachets; now they have turned into works of art, which you can tell are expensive at first glance.

Someone was obviously trying to harm him by smuggling cultural relics; the crime was much bigger than smuggling cosmetics.

The Egyptian staff was even more dazzled when the stolen cultural relics from the museum actually appeared on the cargo ship. And it was still found by them, which was a great achievement.

In order to make the world speechless, the richest man Bao persuaded Mubarak to take the cultural relics out of the museum; the Egyptian media also reported that a museum in Cairo was stolen.

Everything is just an act. The cultural relics come out of the museum; they take a small submarine directly to the cargo ship. There are people on the boat who cooperate, so it is not difficult to put the cultural relics on it.

Of course, it sounds simple, but the actual operation is still difficult; but in front of Heiyun intelligence personnel, it is not a big problem. Not to say it's perfect, at least outsiders can't find any faults.