World’s Oldest Shipping Company Closes in Industry Slidehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-09/world-s-oldest-shipping-company-closes-amid-industry-decline-1-.html












By Isaac Arnsdorf -
Aug 9, 2012 9:33 AM ET














The world’s oldest shipping company
sold its last vessel and is going out of business, according to
the liquidator.
Stephenson Clarke Shipping Ltd., started in 1730, has been
placed into liquidation, according to a statement from
accounting firm Tait Walker. The Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England-
based shipper, which employed nine people, sold off its final
vessel in July, according to the statement.











Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) --
Bloomberg View columnist Clive Crook talks about the euro-region debt
crisis and European Central Bank policy.
Crook, speaking with Tom Keene, Sara Eisen and Scarlet Fu on
Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance," also discusses a New York
regulator's claims that Standard Chartered Plc broke U.S. sanctions.
(Crook is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are their
own. Source: Bloomberg)
The Baltic Dry Index, a gauge of rates to transport dry-
bulk commodities including grains and coal by sea, is down 55
percent this year and on course for a fourth annual slide in
five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The current slump
is “one of the worst experienced for many years,” the shipping
company said in the statement. “News of the closing of Stephenson Clarke clearly shows
how challenging the current economic climate is for shipping,”
the U.K. Chamber of Shipping said in an e-mailed statement.
“Stephenson Clarke was an historic company and longstanding
member until recently and we were very sorry to hear this
news.” Contracting Economy The U.K. shipping industry had 12.6 billion pounds ($19.7
billion) of revenue in 2010, according to the most recent data
on the website of the chamber, which speaks for members from P&O
Ferries Ltd. to container carrier CMA CGM SA. The country’s
economy will shrink 0.15 percent this year, the average of 40
economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows. Stephenson Clarke owned dry-bulk carriers for short-sea
voyages, its website shows. It was the world’s oldest shipping
company, according to industry newspaper Lloyd’s List, which
traces its founding to 1734. “The size of the company and its small fleet mean that its
failure is unlikely to have implications for wider shipping
markets,” said Marc Pauchet, a London-based analyst at ACM
Shipping Group Plc, the U.K.’s third-largest shipbroker. Still,
Stephenson Clarke’s demise is symptomatic of a global surplus of
vessels, he said.