Revision as of 17:26, 22 May 2013

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History

	Gateway Shipping
	264px
Origin	Kingdom of Bretonia
Alignment	Corporation
	Profile
Date of founding	791 A.S.
Founder(s)	Sir Alisdair Buchanan
Current leader(s)	Alan Martins
Base of operations	Kensington Shipping Platform, New London
	Identification
Primary ID	Gateway Shipping ID
IFF	Gateway
Tag(s)	Gateway
	Primary role
	Trading
	Secondary role
	Taking Bowex to bankrupt

Gateway Shipping was founded in 791 A.S. by a group of New London investors interested in hauling raw materials across house borders and independent worlds for sale to various, smaller Sirius companies. After Gateway established a contract with the Independent Miners Guild they became noticed by their big competitor, Border World Exports. In 793 A.S. Gateway Shipping bought the Bowex owned base, Kensington Shipping by bypassing Bowex and purchasing the base via the Bretonia government. This was the start of the fierce competition between the two companies. Within a decade and a half, Gateway had concluded contracts with a number of organizations to be their primary shipper, the Independent Miners Guild perhaps the largest and best known among them. By helping out these competing smaller companies Gateway found its place in the market, and became commonly known as the underdog of Bretonia.

Gateway has undergone a number of changes in its short history, not least of which occurred in its leadership. Alisdair Buchanan, a Bretonian businessman, philanthropist, and populist sympathizer, and one of Gateway’s initial investors, came to find deeply rooted corrupt practices by a number of Gateway’s executives and investors following the Nomad War (800-801 A.S.). Gradually, he bought out the other investors until he owned a majority percentage of the firm, at which point he fired the executives in question and restructured the company in line with the values of employee and community development. Rechristened Gateway Interstellar, the young firm moved quickly to expand its trade division into a first-class fleet, eventually entering into markets that had been dominated by its rivals. Although now retired, Sir Alisdair still holds a seat on the Board of Directors as Chair.

Gateway Interstellar operated as a company that deeply valued its employees and its partners, and was actively seeking opportunities to develop its services to both. Gateway Interstellar has not actively supported the war against Kusari for both humanitarian and economic reasons. However, Gateway has always sought the Bretonian people’s best interests, and with Kusari’s incursion into Leeds System, – the Royal Liner Carpathia – had been converted to a refugee ferry to evacuate Planets Leeds and Harris, and other affected locales. Gateway Interstellar was considering proposals for a future expansion from its sole station, Kensington Shipping Platform, to a secondary shipping station in Manchester, plans which are still in effect.

Today, the chapter of Gateway Interstellar has come to an end as CEO Calum McDonald stepped down and assigned Richard Coleman as his replacement. Richard renamed Gateway back to Gateway Shipping as a symbolic gesture of the new start Gateway was going to make. This was the beginning of a complete reorganization that would make achieving higher goals possible for Gateway. Although there has been a lot of changes made within the company the core identity of Gateway still holds strong. Gateway is known as a classic underdog, a small but energetic firm holding its own in a market of large conglomerates, both private and government-subsidized. While relations remain tense with its primary rival, Bretonia’s nationalized Borderworlds Exports, Gateway is recognized as a firm operating squarely within Bretonian identity and interests. Current leader is: Alan Martins

Diplomacy

Faction

Relationship

ALG Waste Disposal

Allied

Independent Miners Guild

Allied

Planetform

Allied

Bretonia Armed Forces

Allied

Bretonia Police Authority

Allied

BMM

Neutral

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Landwirtrechtbewegung

Unfriendly

Unfriendly

Hostile

Hostile

Hostile

Hostile

Hostile

Hostile

At War

At War

Company structure

The company structure of Gateway Shipping is divided into three sections. The first is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gateway Shipping, they make decisions which decides in which direction Gateway will be going. But the core of Gateway Shipping exists out of three sections.

Logistics Division

Ships

Clydesdale
Freighter

Camara
Freighter

X-Shuttle
Freighter

Civilian Freighter
Freighter

Anki
Freighter

Dromedary
Freighter

Rhino
Freighter

Grizzly
Freighter

Humpback
Freighter

Percheron
Transport

Armored Transport
Transport

Gull
Transport

Albatross
Transport

Heron
Transport

Behemoth
Transport

Firefly
Transport

Mammoth
Transport

Border Worlds Transport
Transport

Mastodon
Transport

Bison
Transport

Crane
Transport

Shetland
Transport

Stork
Transport

Primary duty

Transportation of goods

Ever since Gateway Shipping started the primary focus was on the shipping of goods for clients. In time the trading fleet increased in size as Gateway gained more clients, and Gateway had to adjust their strategy multiple times to maximize the quality of transportation. Today there are multiple methods of transporting goods. A Captain of a trade ship can take on a large arange of orders from all sorts of companies. These are usually planned in such a way that it can be made into a route. Some orders can be completed by one trading ship, but some orders are too big and require multiple trading ships in order to achieve the requirement of goods. This is called a convoy.

Convoy

A convoy is a group of trading ships traveling together for mutual support and protection. When Gateway receives an order that requires more than one trading ship to complete a convoy will be put together. Convoys of Gateway Shipping are highly structured and organized, but most of all: Safe. In most cases there are security ships flying along the convoy to ensure its safety. When a convoy is grouped there is one person assigned as convoy leader, this is usually the highest ranking of the logistics department, but in case all attending people are of the same rank this can be discussed. The convoy leader is responsible for all attending trading vessels. He/she will make sure that everyone attending the convoy is aware of where the convoy is heading, and which goods have to be delivered or picked up. The convoy leader also makes sure that the chatter is maintained, so that important messages won’t be lost.

Route planning

To maximize productivity of the logistics department planning effective routes is critical. Every employee of the department may take their shot at planning a new route, or altering an existing one. Once they’ve made a sketch of the new or renewed route they will present this to the Logistics Manager who will decide whether or not this new route will be implemented into the list of existing routes.

Secondary duties

Contracts

Contracts with customers is a prime focus of the logistics department, after a lead has been filed, and the customer analysis has been completed the arrangement with the customer can be finalized. But existing contracts are also a prime focus in order processing, these contracts have to be constantly reviewed to make sure everything is up to date. Contracts concern only the logistics manager and the chief executive officer, employees can always give hints when they see something in a contract that may not be correct.

Security Division

Positions

Chief Security Officer Maximum: 1)

The head of security is the highest rank to be obtained in the security division of Gateway Shipping. This person is hand-picked by the company CEO and leads the division. He/She is in charge of all security related matters concerning Gateway Shipping.

Ted Lexington
Chief Security Officer

Security Member (Maximum: Unlimited)

The majority of the security division force, these men and women represent the security division. Although they carry no right to command it is encouraged to help their fellow security guards in any training they might need. The security division is a team of professionals, and teamwork runs strong among these security guards.