Note 401 — Chapter XIII

Although the Company frequently engaged vessels for a single voyage, those employed in the regular service were invariably chartered for six consecutive voyages, the custom being for tenders to be issued, specifying the number of vessels required, their tonnage and equipment, and inviting their owners to make offers at so much per ton for six voyages certain (sufficient time being allowed for construction and outfit), so that nearly all the ships in the regular service of the Company were specially built for the purpose, shipowners, as a rule, naturally hesitating to invest a large capital on a particular description of vessel, unless her employment was secured by contract for a length of time sufficient to justify the expenditure.