News
ONE VESSEL LOSING TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS BECOMES THE SUPPORT OF SUAO-HUALIEN
HIGHWAY BROKEN OFF. SHIPPING MAGNATE BEHIND NATCHAN RENA : I SPECIALLY DO THE BUSINESS
THE RICH DO NOT INTEND TO DO. NATCHAN RENA UNEXPECTEDLY BECAME THE HERO OF SHUTTLE SERVICE
FOR BREAK-OFF OF SUAO-HUALIEN HIGHWAY. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOMETHING UNKNOWN TO OUTSIDERS.
THE RUNNER AT THE BACKSTAGE IS CHAIRMAN OF WAGON GROUP HONG CHIN TAN ( CHARLES HONG ) CALLED THE MAGNATE
OF CROSS-STRAITS SHIPPING. FOR SUPPORTING THE SAILING ROUTE LOSING MONEY, HE EVEN SOLD OUT
HIS MANSION LOCATED ON YANGMINGSHAN.
Suao-Hualien Highway again collapsed and broke off during five successive holidays of Dragon Boat Festival.
A multitude of tourists and homecoming people jammed in Hualien triggering popular discontent. Tour
express liner “ Natchan Rena “ sailed to and fro three times between Hualien and Suao within two days.
It totally carried 1587 persons and 526 vehicles becoming the great hero of the dispatch and making the
high-speed semi-passenger ship get popular overnight. It was reported by internet friends to be “ Natchan
Rena is Wonder Woman of Taiwan”. Six o’clock toward night on May 29, I received phone call of Deputy
Minister of MTC ( Ministry of Transportation and Communication ) that I would change direction of Natchan
Rena ready for berthing Taipei Port and sail to Hualien overnight”. Natchan Rena affiliated to Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ).
Chairman of Wagon Group. Speaking of the mission of assisting to carry travelers temporarily, he could not
hide his self-confidence in his tone. It was just that to be reported “ divine power Natchan Rena “ made
Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) both love and hate. Growing and thriving from cargo canvassing of liner agent to cross-strait
navigation magnate, business revenue can exceed ten billion dollars every year by business of canvassing
shipping cargo with steady profit earning but lose two hundred thousand dollars every year over past four years
since he bought in Natchan Rena.
FOR BUYING NATCHAN RENA HE SOLD OUT MASSION OF SEVEN HUNDRED SQUARE FEET
Returning to the year of 2012, potential of “ Blue Highway” for ocean tour looked up for Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ), he
allocated fund 2.2 billion dollars to purchase Natchan Rena from Japan ambitiously marching towards direct
sailing market of cross-strait. This express liner was titled “ Supercar of Shipping Sector”. With special design
of double carcass, it can bear force wind from seven scale through twelfth scale and height of sea wave
from four meters through seven meters. It was very safe means of transportation and traffic on the sea. In
order to buy this semi-passenger, he even sold out his fountain mansion of 700 square feet located on
Yangmingshan demonstrating his determination of burning his boats. At the start, Hong Chin Tan orientated
Natchan Rena to be tour ship not only carrying passengers but supplying means of transportation ( including
tour bus, small bus, motorbike, bicycles). Embarking on the ship together, it takes two hours’ transit time
from Suao to Hualien. Disembarking from the ship, passengers can drive their own cars to do activities in
Hualien with the hope of attracting the family of driving car to travel and China tour group. According to
Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ), to be on Natchan Rena can enjoy the seascape, clean environment and steep cliff. In
summertime, dolphins can be seen. Those on board the ship can enjoy the performance of orchestra.
Compared with the restricted vision per train route and embarrassed seats, the additional value of
taking Natchan Rena is high.
TICKET PRICE IS SIX TIMES AS EXPENSIVE AS TAIWAN RAILWOAD. “ ALREADY GOT
READY FOR LOASING FOR TEN YEARS”.
But the realistic pressure comes from local train fare of Taiwan Railway being only NT$121 from Suao to
Hualien. Mainland tourists of tour group saving money, most of them still choose train to start for Hualien.
Making comparison, one ticket fare NT$700 for Natchan Rena is six times as expensive as train fare. If
adding charge NT$1,500 for carrying cars, price is not cheap for one sailing trip. Currently, calculating
passengers of Natchan Rena is subject to 150,000-200,000 persons per year. Income can not cover
outlay if converting revenue of ticket fare. Although Hualien legislator Shao Mei Chin had held the view
that government should offer Natchan Rena regular subsidy making carriers continue running business
driving up tide of tourists on the sea to and from Hualien. However reasonable it is, policy never came
true. “ I already have my calculation in my mind that I am going to lose for ten years. Computation of
Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) was : Counting usage life, age of Natchan Rena has been seven years before he bought
it in. Starting from his taking it over, he had to make amortization by depreciation within ten years and
opportunity of recovery can not come until final thirteen years. “ I can not let out a sigh of relief until
Natchan Rena is seventeen years old”. “ This is a very laborious road. But I hold that as long as I build
up threshold of technique, I can walk in front of others forever “ as Jong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) said resolutely. Lose
more from running more for the sailing route from Suao to Hualien. With a view to intensifying density
of sailing route for semi-passenger. We also run the roundtrip sailing route of Taipei-Pintan, Fujian
Province and Taichung Port-Pintan. “ I ask for nothing in return but seek for less loss”.
SENSE CRISIS TO MARINTIME INDUSTRY AND TRY TO TEST NEW SAILING ROUTE
As a matter of fact, the process of Hong Chin Tan’s ( Charles Hong’s ) investing Natchan Rena is just the epitome of his
operating concept over past 40 years. Early in the year 1990, the first sailing route of container liner
directly calling Xiamen was developed by Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) and recorded to be the first one for cross-strait.
He was the first Taiwanese businessman to “ connect inland transportation to ocean transportation
“ from China passing through Central Asia’s five countries to Europe. Carry cargo to Lianyun Port in
advance and then transcend five countries of Central Asia via Longhai Railroad and reach Russia directly.
In 1993, he again took the lead to create sailing route of container liner for Taiwan-Hong Kong-Yiantien
Port of Shengzhen. Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) walking in the first place for everything described himself as “ specially
do the business the poor can not do while the rich not intend to do”. In the eyes of Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ),
marine industry pertains to mature market but he thinks over every day how to create his own Blue Sea.
For instance, the step of global economy revival has been retarded in recent years bringing about
continuous depression in navigation market. Ocean freight having been hovering around low level, he
himself founded truck group to match central transportation in deployment and management helping
import and export enterprises to handle numerous and immediate shipside operation and intensifying
service from port-to-port to door-to-door, And even under the operation mode being standardized by
most enterprises, services of providing special size, weight and cargo transportation are rendered.
Hon Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ). Sensing crisis for prospect of marine industry and being discontent with the status quo,
constantly sought where “ Blue Sea “ was making him not think too much and resolutely bought in
Natchan Rena. It was just because he took action too quickly so that Natchan Rena prospected to
create “ New Blue Sea” has still been supported by “ money earned from shipping industry”. Tsuyoshi
Yoshimoto, CEO of Wagon Group with Japanese nationality, said that, having bought Natchan Rena,
business of Wagon Group would extend to develop sea and air transportation to Hualien and Ryukyu.
Wagon and Japan Libera Group are conferring intensively with Peach Aviation offering schedule of
marine line of Suao-Hualien to Ishigaki Island ( Natchan Rena ) and air line ( Peach Aviation ). Tsuyoshi
Yoshimoto in Yaeyama Japan was quite popular and there was no slack season all year round. He
believed good combination of air transportation ( Peach Aviation ) and marine transportation ( Natchan
Rena ) would successfully disperse and bring in the elderly saturated in market and living long in
Okinawa to Hualien. It was a good advantage for promoting Hualien industry. As a matter of course,
Blue Sea developed by Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) was not only Natchan Rena. Never think that I feel relieved
while seeking out Blue Sea as the plagiarizers would appear thereafter. Despite being positioned
in Blue Sea, products have to be varied all along in order not to be surpassed. This was the reason
why he founded Taipei Port International Logistics Company franchised to do sea express business
of cross-border e-commerce.
His thinking are : Taiwanese enterprises deliver goods to the stronghold of Taipei Port Logistics rendering
services of subsequent free-duty for goods, simple customs clearance, rapid express, etc. Commercial
goods land in China and then are delivered to cross-border consumers via local cooperative partners of
logistics. Compared with mode of min-three-links, sea transportation express can considerably shorten
cross-strait transportation Nien Don Ren, Vice-President of Wagon Group, said that all these years we
have aggressively promoted sea transportation express in Fujian and cross-border e-commerce. If Taiwan
could become the transshipment center taking our free trade zone as overseas warehouse to enter China,
there would be considerable business opportunities. But, nowadays, taxation policies in Taiwan are
unreasonable hindering large-scale development and weakening competitiveness. Besides, having
operation experience in Natchan Rena sailing to and fro between Suao and Hualien, Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ) was
smart enough to propel cross-strait route for Taiwanese vehicles to enter Fujian “ by cooperating with
Fujian Strait High Speed Ro-Ro Passenger Company. To run CSF per joint venture available for Taiwanese
driving vehicles to travel in Fujian for three months. Hong Chin Tan said that, from the start, market of
Taiwanese businessmen driving cars between cross-strait were focused. Unexpectedly, most applications
were players of heavy motorcycles. Evolved up to this day, major customer sources are all “ travel by
self-driving” apparently demonstrating the ample market potential of tourism.
Hua Jian, Vice Professor of Marine Engine Department of Taiwan Ocean University, said : Being an island
surrounded on all sides, Taiwan itself is possessed with conditions of developing “ Blue Highway”.
Government just putting resources on the land transportation, it amounts to abandoning opportunities
of fully utilizing space of sea transportation as complement. If encouraging more marine enterprises
to invest market of high speed semi-passenger creating large-scale economy, people’s willingness of
availability would be considerably intensified instead of not taking effect until Suao-Hualien Highway
breaking off. Although I support myself now but I gain vision of tomorrow of market”. Natchan Rena
losing money evidently does not impact optimistic Hong Chin Tan ( Charles Hong ). For him, natters good for Taiwanese
populace will just be done !
