tea trade. The changeover took place slowly as steamship technology advanced, and
new shipping routes emerged.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 shortened the sailing distance between
Europe and Asia significantly, and caused dramatic changes to the international sea
carriage of goods.
22 Sailing ships were hampered by the lack of wind and ocean
currents in the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the
prohibitive cost of being towed more than a hundred nautical miles through the
canal.
23 After the inauguration of the Suez Canal on 17 November 1869, steamships
started replacing sailing ships particularly on the routes between the Far East and
Europe.
24
These developments in shipping practice triggered the formation of liner conferences. The first liner conference, the Calcutta Conference, emerged in 1875, shortly
after the opening of the Suez Canal.
25 Subsequently, liner conferences spread
worldwide.
26 The main aim of these conferences or combines was to bring a stop
to unbridled destructive competition preventing freight rebates to preferential shippers, and to impose equal rates on ports.
27 The innovation of the steamship, the
opening of the Suez Canal, and the formation of the liner conference system, largely
shaped the shipping industry in the second half of the nineteenth century.
28 These
developments together shaped the era leading up to the evolution of the Hague
Rules.
22 The distance was reduced nearly by half. For example, for a voyage from Bombay, India to
Liverpool, UK a sailing ship required an 11,560 nautical-mile trip round the Cape of Good Hope; by
substituting the Suez Canal route for the Cape, a steamship could save 5777 nautical miles. See
Fletcher (1958), p. 559. See also Samuda (1870).
23 Ibid, 558.
24 Ibid, 558–559 (From December 1869 to 1875, there were only 238 sailing ships out of the 5236
vessels passing through the Suez Canal). Because there was insufficient wind power (and ocean
currents) for them in the Suez-Canal-and-Red-Sea route as opposed to the open-seas route, sailing
ships had to take longer routes via the Cape of Good Hope, However, the consumption of fuel made
them less competitive than steamships on the Europe-Asia routes.
25 Sjostrom (2004), p. 107.
26 For example, the Australia conference was launched in 1884, the South African conference in
1886, the West African and northern Brazil conference in 1895, the River Plate conference in 1896,
the west coast of South America conference in 1904, and a North Atlantic trade conference around
1900. These conferences covered most outbound transport from Europe, while inbound voyages
were carried out by tramp ships for bulk cargo. See more in Dyos and Aldcroft (1969); Kirkaldy
(1914). Marx (1953), p. 5.
27 Faria (2008), pp. 277, 278.
28 Ibid, 279, 319.
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L. Zhao
new shipping routes emerged.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 shortened the sailing distance between
Europe and Asia significantly, and caused dramatic changes to the international sea
carriage of goods.
22 Sailing ships were hampered by the lack of wind and ocean
currents in the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the
prohibitive cost of being towed more than a hundred nautical miles through the
canal.
23 After the inauguration of the Suez Canal on 17 November 1869, steamships
started replacing sailing ships particularly on the routes between the Far East and
Europe.
24
These developments in shipping practice triggered the formation of liner conferences. The first liner conference, the Calcutta Conference, emerged in 1875, shortly
after the opening of the Suez Canal.
25 Subsequently, liner conferences spread
worldwide.
26 The main aim of these conferences or combines was to bring a stop
to unbridled destructive competition preventing freight rebates to preferential shippers, and to impose equal rates on ports.
27 The innovation of the steamship, the
opening of the Suez Canal, and the formation of the liner conference system, largely
shaped the shipping industry in the second half of the nineteenth century.
28 These
developments together shaped the era leading up to the evolution of the Hague
Rules.
22 The distance was reduced nearly by half. For example, for a voyage from Bombay, India to
Liverpool, UK a sailing ship required an 11,560 nautical-mile trip round the Cape of Good Hope; by
substituting the Suez Canal route for the Cape, a steamship could save 5777 nautical miles. See
Fletcher (1958), p. 559. See also Samuda (1870).
23 Ibid, 558.
24 Ibid, 558–559 (From December 1869 to 1875, there were only 238 sailing ships out of the 5236
vessels passing through the Suez Canal). Because there was insufficient wind power (and ocean
currents) for them in the Suez-Canal-and-Red-Sea route as opposed to the open-seas route, sailing
ships had to take longer routes via the Cape of Good Hope, However, the consumption of fuel made
them less competitive than steamships on the Europe-Asia routes.
25 Sjostrom (2004), p. 107.
26 For example, the Australia conference was launched in 1884, the South African conference in
1886, the West African and northern Brazil conference in 1895, the River Plate conference in 1896,
the west coast of South America conference in 1904, and a North Atlantic trade conference around
1900. These conferences covered most outbound transport from Europe, while inbound voyages
were carried out by tramp ships for bulk cargo. See more in Dyos and Aldcroft (1969); Kirkaldy
(1914). Marx (1953), p. 5.
27 Faria (2008), pp. 277, 278.
28 Ibid, 279, 319.
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L. Zhao