My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!-Chapter 777 - 468 Stir-fried Boat Passengers

Just like Director Naji, our Ship King John was also feeling quite vexed lately...

"The price went up again..."

He looked at the quotation in his hands and couldn’t help but let out a helpless sigh.

Having predicted that the market was about to pick up, his first thought, which coincidentally matched with Meng Lang’s, was to lock in production capacity in advance!

So what if his reputation was tarnished? Doesn’t everyone have a few backup white gloves!

A proxy purchase would do just fine!

You should know that the current shipbuilding prices are basically at a low point they have been for many years.

The current production capacity meant low-cost transport capacity for John’s international shipping fleet.

For Meng Lang, it meant high-quality "value-added assets" that could be flipped for a substantial return.

John, a buyer with urgent needs, least wanted to encounter such unscrupulous "middlemen"...

And now, having just flown to Shanghai and ready to make major purchases, John heard some infuriating news—Baiyeji had made another move!

large vessels of various models, including the very targets he was eager to acquire: large oil tankers, LNG, and container ships...

Among the shipbuilding giants of East Asia, Country Hua reigned supreme with its cost-performance ratio, naturally making it the first choice for many shipowners.

To date, there are hundreds of shipyards within Country Hua, with annual shipbuilding orders surpassing 30 million DWT, and large vessels used for ocean trade exceeding 10 million DWT.

And the orders placed under the name of Baiyeji by Gao Yuan were between ten thousand to one hundred thousand tonnes each, with a total tonnage surpassing the million-tonne mark.

This almost tied up one-third of Country Hua’s production capacity for a quarter, leaving the shipbuilding bases in the Yangtze River Delta well-fed!

You should know that these orders had durations ranging from several months to half a year or even a year.

At least for one quarter, the large shipyards in the Yangtze River Delta wouldn’t lack orders.

Of course, if there’s no capacity this quarter, he could reserve for the next one.

But the problem was, Gao Yuan’s massive order was like a shot in the arm for the market, giving shipbuilders a glimpse of the market warming up.

When it rains, it pours, even the Country Hua military decided to join the fray.

Following two carriers, the navy spokesperson unluckily announced a new batch of shipbuilding plans at this critical juncture.

This again accounted for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of capacity...

Scarcity makes things valuable; shipyards were anxious when no one was buying.

But now that the market supply and demand had subtly shifted, they naturally were holding out for higher prices.

This made other shipowners restless as well.

John heard that Saudi Arabia, as well as Changrong, Wan Hai, and Yangming, the three shipping giants from Wang Island, were already eager and frequently in touch with Asia’s major shipbuilders to discuss orders.

As a result, the international new ship price index finally caught up with international shipping rental rates, starting to rise in response!

The first to eat crabs gets the meat, while those who follow can only drink soup...

The rise in new ship prices would undoubtedly increase John’s anticipated purchasing costs.

But he didn’t have much of a choice; if he didn’t place orders now, after some time, not only would there be no meat, there might not even be any soup left to drink...

"Shh-shh-shh!"

John helplessly signed several purchase plans while cursing the culprit responsible for missing out on a significant profit...

Professional ship speculator!

Expert shit-stirrer!

Unethical speculator!

A coder, who’s not even in the same industry but insists on meddling...

Isn’t it better for everyone to just stick to their own jobs and do them well?

"Let’s go! To the Shanghai docks!"

"Boss, aren’t we supposed to be heading to the South Peninsula for business next?"

"Before we go, I need to find out exactly why I lost..."

Autonomous driving...

Even if it’s just an excuse, he had to personally confirm what potion the other party was selling inside their gourd.

Eight ships for sale but only six sold, and one of them is so-called retrofit ship...

Whether it was intentional or not, his curiosity had already been piqued...

...

Shanghai docks.

The brand-new painted "Bill Clan" rested calmly at the docks.

Its imposing and majestic body is a masterpiece of the industrial age, immediately awe-inspiring at first sight.

Ship King John boarded this newly acquired ocean tanker with a low profile, meeting the Big Beard captain who had recently taken charge...

"Boss, I didn’t know you were coming; I’m unprepared for your visit..."

"Cut the crap! Take me to the control room!"

"Um..."

Seeing the big boss with a serious face and evidently in a bad mood, the captain was baffled but dared not delay, quickly leading the way...

...

"Boss, this is the ’Tianshu Management System’ installed on the ship. It has five intelligent modules: cargo management, energy efficiency management, equipment operation maintenance, ship-to-shore integrated communication, and autonomous navigation.

The only feeling it gives me is that it’s incredibly powerful yet very easy to get the hang of.

Talking about the advanced nature of the ship management system, it is absolutely the best I have seen in my many years of service!

Right, I heard that it was you, Boss, who personally greenlit the purchase of this vessel?

You really have an eye for gems!"

The Big Beard captain, thinking he had delivered a clever compliment, was utterly unaware that his flattery had completely missed the mark...

Indeed, John’s face darkened even more upon hearing this.

Can I tell you that I would rather not have this damn system and just want the original, unmodified "Bill Clan" at its original price?

"Advanced? How so?"

Completely failing to detect the boss’s brusqueness, the Big Beard captain, excitedly, picked up a black device as if presenting a treasure.

"Look, this is the core of it!"

"Hmm..."

Looking at the device, which resembled the VR headsets found in amusement parks, available for a twenty-dollar experience, John was somewhat puzzled.

"Boss, you’ll know once you try it on."

With a puzzled face, he sat in the captain’s chair and, with the help of Big Beard, donned the VR headset.

As the silver robot boot-up screen shimmered into existence for a few seconds, John’s vision suddenly brightened...

"This..."

In an instant, even with John’s composure, he couldn’t help but be deeply moved.

What met his eyes was a vast expanse of azure sea, the waves, the surf, the horizon... Every detail was vividly portrayed.

Hmm... The clarity is definitely 8K! freёnovelkiss-com

He turned his head slightly, and beside him lay another huge vessel, quietly docked.

Looking down, a speedboat zoomed past below, kicking up spray and leaving behind a white wake...

He looked around in some shock, and the view moved with him.

The next moment, he saw the cranes standing tall in the distance and the mountainous cargo stacked on the docks...

John was genuinely astonished by the scene before him.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with virtual VR technology, but with current technology, even this kind of 360° view restoration mostly looked like a wide-angle photograph, where the entire world seemed warped into a spherical shape.

It couldn’t compete at all with the lifelike three-dimensionality he was witnessing, which was nearly indistinguishable from actually being on the scene...

It felt as if he was suspended in midair, with a clear view in every direction.

"According to their technical staff, they have installed a 360° panoramic surveillance system on the ship.

Through multi-angle video reconstruction, they’ve created this kind of three-dimensional image that helps the captain monitor the surroundings of the ship in real-time."

At this point, Big Beard’s voice rang in his ear.

"There’s also a set of low-light surveillance systems, radar ranging systems, that can provide a highly accurate environmental view even in the dark.

With this three-dimensional ranging system, along with GPS and Beidou dual-satellite positioning plus a wealth of marine environmental data,

it can conduct precise automatic cruising to the meter level on most of the world’s mature shipping routes.

Although it has yet to undergo sea trials, and the effectiveness of the automatic piloting is still uncertain, just looking at the technical manual, the operation is almost foolproof.

Only minimal intervention is needed during the process, or possibly none at all...

By the way, boss, this also has gesture recognition. See that flashing menu on the screen?

Try sliding your hand over it."

"Extend my hand... and slide?"

John tentatively reached out his right hand and made a sweeping motion over the menu in front of him.

The next moment, the view shifted with his action, and a 3D model of the ’Bill Clan’ appeared with different modules marked in various colors.

When he tried to virtually touch it, he immediately accessed the operating conditions of each module, including the status of the propulsion engine, the power output of the generators, the temperature in the cabins, and so on...

John: "..."

With another swipe of his hand, the display returned to the 360° panoramic view, and a somewhat ethereal ’Bill Clan’ appeared beneath his feet.

But this time the screen displayed an abundance of data annotations.

Current waterline, load, anchoring depth, the distance to surrounding vessels, and even the speed of the speedboat that had just passed by were all marked...

"Hiss~"

So much for automatic piloting, this system is about to digitize the entire ship!

John couldn’t help but reconsider his prior thoughts.

This opportunist’s "day job" was clearly being performed with exceptional skill...

It seemed that this device could not only assist the captain in managing the ship’s day-to-day operations and greatly simplify their daily work,

but it could also autonomously assess the condition of the ship’s equipment and changes in the shipping lanes...

If it could also achieve automatic piloting...

John wasn’t some greenhorn ignorant of the business.

Though he had drifted towards the capital market in recent years, he had rich seafaring experience in his youth and could see the potential of this technology at a glance.

That was to greatly reduce the number of crew needed to operate a ship!

In domestic shipping companies, the cost of hiring crew generally accounts for 5~8% of operating costs, while in foreign countries, with more expensive labor, it’s around 10~15%.

Now, by installing a single system, nearly 10% of operating costs could be saved...

John had already begun to calculate the figures in his mind...

What about the unemployment rate among sailors?

Sorry, but that’s not something capitalists typically worry about...

After a while, he put down the VR device and took a deep breath.

Then he suddenly turned to Big Beard, "When do you plan to start the sea trials?"

Big Beard was taken aback.

"Uh... tomorrow, we plan to have a short-term sea trial lasting five days."

"Great! Prepare a room for me; I’ll board tomorrow and join the whole tour to inspect."

"Ah?!"

He paid no mind to the astonished looks of his subordinates around him.

In his heart, John had even begun to ponder when he would personally visit the controller of Baiyeji.

He knew that the other party was surely waiting for him too...

For a competent capitalist, there are no eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests...

"By the way, how much does this thing cost?" John suddenly asked.

"Oh! The entire set of hardware modifications is said to cost about 5 million RMB," replied Big Beard.

"Hmm," John nodded; the price was about what he had estimated.

The system required substantial hardware support, and with labor costs involved, the modification fee of over 5 million was reasonable.

They had been quite fair this time, not marking up the price too much...

"However, the software usage fees and online upgrade privileges are quite expensive, costing 1 million a year."

John: "..."

I take back what I just said...

This profiteer!

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