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Manuscript register of the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company

Maker Australasian United Steam Navigation Company Limited (1887 - 1961)

Date1902-1912

Object number00028851

NameRegister

MediumInk on paper, leather

DimensionsOverall: 207 x 130 x 18 mm, 0.25 kg

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mr Donald G F Mackay

Terms

DescriptionThis manuscript is a register of the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company Limited's fleet, recording charter and operating arrangements with the Australiasian Steamship Owners (ASO) from 1902 to 1912. The register was compiled by the Head Accountant of Macdonald Hamilton & Company, whose name 'Cowdry' is signed inside the front cover. Kept in an indexed notebook, with a black leather cover and gold tooling, entries are in black ink with red ink underlining and occasional pencil annotations.HistoryCompanies chartered their ships to the ASO at individually calculated rates, and the profits were shared out according to a formula related to past profits, known as The Collins Agreement. This created a monopoly and allowed shipping companies to fix prices, withstand strikes and rebuff union demands. SignificanceThis register records confidential operating arrangements between the Australasian Steamship Navigation Company and the ASO, and provides an insight into a time when shipping companies wielded extraordinary power. It is an important document recording the commercial operations of ship owners when the Australian coastal cargo and passenger services were at their height.