I read this on Tim Colton’s website this morning and it really struck me:
[LEFT]SOMEBODY PLEASE BUY HORIZON LINES
[SIZE=2]Horizon Lines is clearly going down the tube. Of course I’ve been saying this for ages but it’s now actually happening. So who’s going to step in? This is one case where a company cannot be allowed to just fold and go away, desirable as that might be in this case. The cargo has to continue to move to the non-contiguous parts of our country and the other operators don’t have the spare capacity. So we need a replacement. Someone who knows how to run a shipping company efficiently. Someone who has the financial strength to build some new ships. Someone who has the imagination to rebuild Horizon as a coastal feeder service operator as well as a non-contiguous trades operator. When you think about it, the opportunity is huge. So who will step forward? Come on, Tom Crowley. If you don’t do it, Maersk might. Or what about Kirby? April 23, 2011.[/SIZE][/LEFT]
What indeed doesn’t Crowley do this? They have acces to the capital and the business structure already in place. Or what about Dennis Washington with his Seaspan Lines? Maybe a foreign company could build the ships and then bareboat them to a US operating entity like Groupe Boubon did with Rigdon. Plenty of sound and solvent non US flagged shipowners out there. Lastly, why doesn’t Gary Chouest do it? He is a maritime businessman extraordinaire who has always been ready to jump into new markets not necessarily offshore. Since he doesn’t have a deepsea infastructure inplace, it would be more of a stretch but that has never stopped him in the past. Build it and they will come!