Why billions of dollars of goods are stuck at sea • Hacker News Board

Re: Why billions of dollars of goods are stuck at sea

#221

Post by amazon_not » Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 10:44 AM UTC

josscrowcroft wrote: post #214

PeterisP wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can and will obtain supplies and food at no cost (essentially, with the ship and cargo as collateral) but they can't really abandon it. Do note that calling mayday gives the rescuing vessel significant rights to the ship and cargo. If your ship is not at risk of sinking, that would be a really expensive way to solve a comparably minor problem, ordering a daily helicopter delivery from the closest McDonalds would…

> calling mayday gives the rescuing vessel significant rights to the ship and cargo What do you mean by this? Is there a legal case for a rescuing vessel to commandeer the ship and cargo somehow?

I believe so. See marine law of salvage.

Re: Why billions of dollars of goods are stuck at sea

#222

Post by amazon_not » Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 10:49 AM UTC

PeterisP wrote: post #198

jpatokal wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not following you here: who exactly is going to pay them if their employer is bankrupt, which is the case here?

They're sitting on a ship + cargo that is far more valuable than their outstanding pay, and legally they have a priority claim over all of that. While the cargo is owned by others, and the ship may be sold during bankruptcy, but maritime law prescribes that none of them can get their stuff until the crew has been paid in full; so in essence they can (and will) hold these billions of dollars of goods as hostage. $16b…

If a seaman cannot afford to wait for all this to get sorted, is there anything stopping him from heading for the lifeboat?

Re: Why billions of dollars of goods are stuck at sea

#223

Post by ghostly_s » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 1:45 AM UTC

gumby wrote: post #124

ghostly_s wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Apple famously use overnight air for all their shipping needs? Or is that only for devices?

That's what I meant by "multi modal": they put most of it on ships but buy up enough air capacity to make the early deliveries. Once the ships start arriving they can abandon the air.

Hmm, I've never heard this. All the coverage a few years back was that they use air for everything, so they can scale their production operations in near-real-time as demand fluctuates. That was supposed to be Tim Cook's whole crowning achievement when he was COO. Do you have a source that shows this has changed?

Re: Why billions of dollars of goods are stuck at sea

#224

Post by the_watcher » Fri, Sep 30, 2016, 9:03 PM UTC

icantdrive55 wrote: post #39

the_watcher wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your solution to sustainability is for everyone to just accept a lower quality of life? Yea, good luck with that.

I'll get hammered for this, and I know it would take some time to tool up, but were the 50's through the 70,s that much of a lower quality of life? (Relied a lot less on overseas shipping--for a few reasons.) Oh, yea, we would have to get used to paying more for some things, get used to paying Americans a decent wage, get used not being able to manufacture in the cheapest countries, get used to the poor having better…

> were the 50's through the 70,s that much of a lower quality of life

Yes. It's simply inarguable.