[2011.08.27] 中远集团能付船租，但不付

引用 join_soon 2011-8-27 13:21

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Can pay, won’t
能付不付

A big Chinese shipping firm takes shareholder value to extremes
一家大型中国航运公司将股东价值维护到了极至

Aug 27th 2011 | from the print edition

IT IS not unusual for charterers of ships to fail to pay their owners, and for the owners to have the vessels and their cargoes impounded. But normally this is either because the charterer is in financial trouble or because of disputes over delays. It is rare for a charterer to insist that it could pay but won’t, simply because shipping rates have gone down since it signed the contract. But that is what China’s biggest shipping firm, Cosco, is doing, shivering the timbers of shipowners across the seven seas.

船舶承租方不向出租方支付租金，出租方将船舶和货物进行扣押，这种情况并不鲜见。出现这种情况，要么是承租人财务状况不良，要么是双方在交船时间delays上存在争议。但仅仅因为合同签订后运费降低，就拒绝支付租船费用，这样的承租人还真不多见。但这就是中国最大的航运公司中远集团所做的事情，它的船舶正扬帆远航在世界七大海洋上【它的举动震动了遍布世界七大海洋的船主们】。

Cosco, a big owner as well as a charterer of the monstrous dry-bulk vessels that feed China’s appetite for raw materials, signed numerous long-term contracts a couple of years ago, when rates were around $50,000 a day for a “Capesize” vessel, four to five times their current levels. To try to force the owners to let it off its obligations, it has started withholding payments on a number of these, blithely describing this as a normal, “market-based” approach for a company at which maximising shareholders’ returns is “always our priority”.

为了满足中国对于原材料的巨大运输需求，中远集团既拥有自己的干货集装箱巨型船舶，也租赁其他公司的船舶。一年多以前，中远集团签订了大量的长期合同，当时一艘“海岬型”船舶每日租金5万美元左右，大概是目前租金的4到5倍。为了迫使出租方放弃部分权利，他们已经开始扣缴该类租金，并心安理得地把这件事说成是正常情况，公司追求的就是股东回报的最大化，以“市场为基础”的方法“通常是我们的优先选择”。

Given that the firm’s main shareholder is the Chinese government, there should be no doubt about its ultimate ability to pay. But will it? George Economou, one of the biggest Greek shipowners, insisted in a Financial Times interview that he and others were doing their best to help Cosco cope with any short-term cashflow problems it might have, but that they were ready to seek worldwide seizures of the shipping firm’s fleet—a handful of vessels have already been arrested.

假定这家公司的主要股东是中国政府，那么它的最终支付能力肯定用不着怀疑。但它会支付吗？希腊最大船主之一乔治•伊克诺莫在接受金融时报的采访时表示，他以及其他船主正在尽力帮着中远集团应付可能存在的现金流问题，但他们已做好准备，决定在世界范围内seek 扣押该公司的船队，而且确已扣押了少量船舶。

Such seizures might disrupt China’s supplies of vital materials, and would harm a hitherto strong reputation that Cosco has built up over 50 years of operation. So, reckons a senior figure at a shipbrokers involved in the dispute, the firm is likely to pay up in the end.

这可能会中断中国重要原材料的供应，并因此会损害中远50多年经营中建立起来的良好声誉。据一位与争议有关的经纪公司的高层人士估计，中远最终不会不支付租金。

However, there is an outside chance that Cosco’s defiance is the first sign of a much tougher approach. Cosco and its owner may be strong enough to withstand being shunned by Western shipowners and blacklisted by established shipping markets, if that were to happen. Indeed, the Chinese authorities are keen to promote the 15-year-old Shanghai Shipping Exchange as a rival to London’s Baltic Exchange. But defaulting would be foolish. Non-Chinese shippers would demand higher fees from Chinese ones for years to come.

但是，中远的公然违抗不太可能是它更多强硬措施的第一个信号。如果被西方船主联合抵制，或者被已经建立的航运市场列入黑名单，中远集团及其所有者也许有力量应付。确实，中国当局热切期望建立【了】15年的上海航运交易所能够迅速发展，并可与伦敦的波罗的海交易所一争高下。但违约是愚蠢的，今后若干年，其他国家的货主将要求中国的货主支付更高的费用。

引用 林木木 2011-8-27 14:21

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楼主好~有些疑问想要请教：
To try to force the owners to let it off its obligations, it has started withholding payments on a number of these, blithely describing this as a normal, “market-based” approach for a company at which maximising shareholders’ returns is “always our priority”.
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原译：为了迫使出租方放弃部分权利，他们已经开始扣缴该类租金，并心安理得地把这件事说成是正常情况，公司追求的就是股东回报的最大化，以“市场为基础”的方法“通常是我们的优先选择”。
试译：为了迫使出租方放弃待付款项，他们已经开始拒缴该类租金，并心安理得地把这件事说成是正常情况，是以“市场为基础”的方法，公司所追求的就是股东回报的最大化“一直是我们的优先选择”。

引用 xingzd2011 2011-8-27 20:23

不错，我也要好好学

引用 jushi 2011-8-27 21:26

To try to force the owners to let it off its obligations

   中  obligation义务，责任 怎么翻译成权利 了，为什么呢   obligation   这个词为什么能这么用？

引用 flyingwang 2011-8-27 21:43

本帖最后由 flyingwang 于 2011-8-27 21:46 编辑

Non-Chinese shippers would demand higher fees from Chinese ones for years to come.


这里的Shipper,觉得应该是船东（ship owner)的意思， fees 是租金(charter  fee)， Chinese ones  应该是指中国的船东,或者租船人(charterer)。 所以都翻成货主的话，不是很恰当，

引用 lemoneforme 2011-8-27 22:58

这篇不错

引用 join_soon 2011-8-28 11:49

本帖最后由 join_soon 于 2011-8-29 02:56 编辑

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“there is an outside chance that Cosco’s defiance is the first sign of a much tougher approach”这句话不太理解，不知能否指点一下？  

outside chance: Cosco的挑衅也有一个万一的可能，那就是，它是一个更强硬的策略的第一个征兆。



-----------------回答下面的点评：很好！更通顺！

引用 Freeman_Gong 2011-8-28 16:44

如果能够提供一些背景知识就好了，特别是法律方面的。。。。。

期待。。。

引用 Freeman_Gong 2011-8-28 19:04

这句话的翻译有点不妥，在下小试牛刀，请大家指教！

Non-Chinese shippers would demand higher fees from Chinese ones for years to come.

今后几年，（中国以外）其它国家的承运商将会对中国的承租商要更高的费用。

引用 Freeman_Gong 2011-8-28 19:07

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its obligation，

指的是COSCO--中远集团按之前签订合同的义务，不是指的外国船主们的义务。

这样解释，可接受否？

引用 mylta 2011-8-29 06:35

本帖最后由 mylta 于 2011-8-29 06:36 编辑

Freeman_Gong 发表于 2011-8-28 19:04
这句话的翻译有点不妥，在下小试牛刀，请大家指教！

Non-Chinese shippers would demand higher fees fro ...

这句话很纠结，不知怎么译好。

引用 421243476 2011-8-30 16:35

联系上文，如果COSCO被西方国家的大船主Blacklisted, 中国小的船公司只能从COSCO租船。COSCO的费用一定比国外的贵，所以，这句话的意思是，未来几年，中国船只租赁者不愿意支付高昂的运费给COSCO。

引用 aoe123jqx 2011-8-30 19:31

引用 囿园散人 2011-8-30 21:35

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我觉得你这个理解不对啊。
我想应该是，由于中远存在这种拒付租金的行为，导致外国的船舶租赁市场对中国租船者的信任度降低，信任成本上升，所以才提升了租金。（因为他们会觉得，你中国最大的船舶公司都这样了，那其他人会不会更坏？）

引用 421243476 2011-8-31 09:54

回复 囿园散人 的帖子

“Non-Chinese shippers would demand higher fees from Chinese ones for years to come.”
我想chinese ones指中国的shipowner,不是西方国家的。那么higher fees也应该是中国的shipowner收取的。
自己的猜想而已

引用 jushi 2011-8-31 21:33

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引用 Forrest-dan 2011-9-6 11:07

学习了！

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