Bifalgorithm post

If you spend about $250 million to buy one of the biggest cargo ships on Earth, how long do you think it would take to earn your money back? 10 years? 5 years? Or even longer? Hold on. First, look at the size of this thing. It can carry around 24,000 containers. It's over 1,300 feet long, longer than a US aircraft carrier. And just building the ship can cost close to $200 million. But buying the ship is only the beginning. You still need containers. If the ship carries around 20,000 containers and each one costs about $3,000, that's another roughly $60 million. So before this business even starts moving, you're already in for around a quarter billion dollars. Then the ship starts running routes. Take Shenzhen to Los Angeles, for example. That trip takes about two weeks. A ship this size can burn over 200 tons of fuel a day. By the end of the trip, it may use close to 3,000 tons of fuel. Then add port fees, crew salaries, maintenance, and freshwater supplies. One trip can easily cost around $3.5 million, but the real money comes from freight rates. Right now, shipping one container can bring in around $2,000. With 20,000 containers on board, revenue can reach around $40 million in a single trip. After expenses, profit could still be well over $35 million, which means in theory it might take only about 7 or 8 voyages to pay off the entire ship. So if someone handed you $250 million, would you buy mansions and jets or gamble it all on a giant cargo ship?

If you spend about $250 million to buy one of the biggest cargo ships on Earth, how long do you think it would take to earn your money back? 10 years? 5 years?…