This company was formed on 21st June 1904 with a subscribed capital of £12,000 with the vast majority of the shares held by shipbuilder Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd. with the objective of trading ‘spec’ ships built by them. Stamp, Mann & Co. were appointed managers of the first tramp Hopemount which was ready at the Wallsend yard in September 1904. A bank mortgage of £23,712 was taken out to provide the rest of the construction cost of £35,954. Hopemount was of 3,300 gross tons and 5,000 dwt and was a quite conventional three island tramp with five holds with no. 3 hold being the cross bunker hold between bridge and engineer accommodation. The centre island was extended to include no. 4 hatch and no. 5 hatch was in a well-deck. Hopemount was to make 43 voyages up to the outbreak of WWI, and since she was the only owned ship these voyages produced the following profits:-

Trading Profit  Net Profit       Dividend

1904/05     £2,259               £719                 5%

1905/06    £3,911                 £2,603            6%

1906/07    £2,027                £1,133

1907/08    £1,831                 £712

1908/09    £37                      (£901)

1909/10    £1,899                 £770

1910/11     £3,213                  £1,765            5%

1911/12     £8,711                   £4376            10%

1912/13    £8,201                   £4128            10%

1913/14    (£1,089)               (£1,267)

The cyclical nature of tramp trading is clearly shown, and the 43 voyages with many on the ‘Eternal Triangle’ to the Black Sea are now given in detail:-

• 23.9.1904            Tyne (coal), Genoa, Sulina &  Mustendje (grain), Antwerp.
• 17.12.1904          Tyne (ballast), San Lorenzo & Plate (grain), Liverpool.
• 19.3.1905            Barry (coal), Marseilles, Newport.
• 18.4.1905            Newport (coal), Marseilles, Bona, Rotterdam, Tyne.
• 10.6.1905            Tyne (ballast), Rosario (grain), Las Palmas, Hamburg.
• 25.9.1905            Barry (coal), Marseilles, Sulina  (grain), Antwerp.
• 11.12.1905           Barry (coal), Las Palmas, Galveston (grain), Belfast.
• 24.3.1906            Barry (coal), Civitavecchia,  Sulina (grain), Antwerp.
• 23.9.1904            Tyne (coal), Genoa, Sulina & Mustendje (grain), Antwerp.
• 17.12.1904           Tyne (ballast), San Lorenzo & Plate (grain), Liverpool.
• 19.3.1905             Barry (coal), Marseilles, Newport.
• 18.4.1905             Newport (coal), Marseilles, Bona, Rotterdam, Tyne.
• 10.6.1905             Tyne (ballast), Rosario (grain), Las Palmas, Hamburg.
• 25.9.1905             Barry (coal), Marseilles, Sulina (grain), Antwerp.
• 11.12.1905            Barry (coal), Las Palmas, Galveston (grain), Belfast.
• 24.3.1906             Barry (coal), Civitavecchia, Sulina (grain), Antwerp.
• 23.6.1906             Newport (coal), Savona, Sulina (grain), Marseilles, Sulina (grain), Antwerp.
• 16.11.1906            Tyne (coal), Mobile (cotton), Bremerhaven.
• 11.2.1907              Cardiff (coal), Porto Ferraio, Tampa & New Orleans (grain), Hamburg.
• 14.6.1907             Barry (coal), Naples, Novorossisk (grain), Brake.
• 8.9.1907               Barry (coal), Leghorn, Sulina (grain), Antwerp.
• 24.11.1907           Tyne (coal), Brunswick, Savannah (cotton), Bremerhaven, Tyne.
• 6.2.1908               Tyne (coal), Genoa, Falmouth (F.O.), Cardiff.
• 25.3.1908             Cardiff (coal), Leghorn, Falmouth (F.O.), Newport.
• 29.4.1908             Newport (coal), Marseilles, Barry.
• 4.6.1908               Barry (coal), Genoa, Falmouth (F .O.), Cardiff.
• 13.7.1908              Cardiff (coal), Torre Annunciata, Marinpol & Novorossisk (grain), Kertch, Constantinople, Ferrol,                                                                    Rotterdam.
• 15.10.1908          Tyne, Blyth (coal), Port Said, Constantinople, Kherson & Theodosia (grain), Algiers (bunkers), Leith.
• 7.1.1909               Tyne (coal) ,Genoa, Ferrol               (ballast), Newport.
• 21.2.1909            Newport (coal), Marseilles, Odessa (barley), Ferrol, Hamburg.
• 8.6.1909              Newport (coal), Leghorn, Suez, Karachi (wheat), Birkenhead.
• 13.9.1909            Cardiff (coal), Civitavecchia, Suez, Bombay (wheat), Algiers (bunkers), Hull.
• 22.1.1910             Newport (coal), Marseilles, Newport.
• 26.2.1910            Newport (coal), Naples, Constantinople, Azov (grain), Brake.
• 16.5.1910             Barry (coal), Genoa, Barry.
• 13.7.1910             Barry (coal), Leghorn, Constantinople, Braila (grain), Antwerp.
• 22.10.1910          Tyne (coal), Malta, Alexandria (cottonseed), London.
• 27.12.1910           Newport (coal), Naples, Novorossisk (grain), Bremen.
• 7.4.1911               Tyne (coal), Leghorn, Constantinople, Azov (grain), Rotterdam.
• 25.6.1911             Newport (coal), Marseilles, Carthagena, Rotterdam.
• 13.8.1911             Newport (coal), Marseilles, Marinpol & Kertch (grain), Bremen.
• 12.11.1911           Barry (coal), Port Said, Novorossisk & Odessa (grain), Liverpool.
• 7.2.1912               Cardiff (coal), Santa Fe, San Lorenzo (grain), Hamburg.
• 18.7.1912             Newport (coal), Alexandria, Karachi (wheat), Malta, Avonmouth.
• 21.10.1912           Barry (coal), Alexandria, Karachi (wheat), London.
• 8.2.1913               Barry (coal), Alexandria, Barry.
• 29.3.1913             Barry (coal), Alexandria, Karachi (wheat), Portishead.
• 24.7.1913             Barry (coal), Tenerife, Belize, New Orleans (cotton), Wilmington, Bremen, Nordenham.
• 8.12.1913             Tyne (coal), Port Said, Bombay (wheat), Algiers (bunkers), Brixham, Aberdeen.
• 16.4.1914             Barry (coal), Port Said, Theodosia (grain), Ferrol, Hamburg
• 5.7.1914               Tyne (coal), Port Said, Gibraltar.