Saunders

"The beauty of the scheme was that it allowed D.K. to build or renovate tankers without having to put up collateral or use his own credit. The oil companies were satisfied, because they were getting their petroleum hauled at bargain rates. The banks were satisfied, because oil companies were a much better credit risk than a small shipper like Ludwig. And D.K. was more than satisfied. As long as he took care to fulfill his charter contracts, he had a small but steady income, and, more important, by the time the contract expired he was the owner of a paid-up ship without having invested any of his own money. This mutually beneficial financing arrangement, Ludwig confided to Saunders, was the foundation of his shipping empire. Once he got things rolling in the late 1930s, it was simply a matter of hard work and efficiency — plus a genius for innovative ship design — to be¬ come one of the world’s largest ship owners. In his rise to the top, D.K. had been responsible for several major changes in shipbuilding. Some were design and structural modifications to eliminate nones¬ sentials while increasing a ship’s cargo-carrying capacity. His main contribution, though, was the supertanker."