BY Sir Frederic Bolton, M.C. Chairman 0/ F. Bolton Group Ltd, Director 0/ Sealink Ltd and a past President o/the General Council 0/ British Shipping The shipping industry has always lacked a body which can confer professional status on would-be practitioners: in that sense, unlike those closely allied to his responsibilities - the marine engineer, the shipowner or manager is obliged to remain an unqualified amateur. The latest addition to Mr Branch's list of titles goes a long way towards correcting this position: a proper study of the material in his book would clearly go far to confer the status of 'complete ship operator' upon anyone who was examined on its contents. Know­ ledge as comprehensive as that acquired through Mr Branch's book must provide a sound base on which to build the experience of practice. Contents Foreword v Pre/ace xi Acknowledgements xiii Diagrams xiv 1 Services Rendered by Sea Transport to International Trade 1 Function 0/ shipping and its relationship to international trade. Balance 0/ trade and balance 0/ payments. Relationship between world seaborne trade and world mercantile fleet. 2 Economics of International Trade 13 Function 0/ international trade. Survey 0/ international trade. Commodity trades. Flow o/manu/actured goods. Multinational companies. Freight /orwarding. Major trading areas o/the world. Pre/erential trading groups. International exchange rates. 3 Economics of Ship Design 31 Influence 0/ cost, construction and sa/ety /actors. Ship design criteria. Economics 0/ ship propulsion.