Fisks Han
| Fisks Han | |
| Logo | |
| |
| Company Overview | |
| Home Nation: Kamura, Sokoku | |
| Type: Holding | |
| Industry: Trade, shipping and logistics | |
| Headquarters | |
| Hagneå, Vittmark | |
| Founded | around 7209 |
| Founder | Fisks stim, Talpå |
| Key Figures | |
| CEO | |
| Products | Shipping, (value added) logistics, transshipment, port operation, supply chain management and warehousing. |
| Revenue | tbc |
| Net Income | Net Income |
| Number of Employees | 225,600 |
| Website | |
| tbc | |
Fisks Han, also known simply as Fisks, Fihan or FH is a multinational shipping and logistics company. Its business activities include shipping, port operation, supply chain management and warehousing through several subsidiaries. The company's main operations are based in Raeko, Kamura and Berewan, Sokoku with subsidiaries and offices across 130 countries and over 200,000 employees worldwide.
Name and brands
Fisks Han is a continuation of Fisks Handelshus with a history of over 400 years. The name was chosen to indicate this continuity, but removing the unusual Handelshus extension which has no meaning in Kamuran or Bahaso, replacing it with the more internationally and Altaian / Davaian sounding abbreviation Han. Even the word Fisks is quite difficult to pronounce, but has been kept since it was well established worldwide. Abbreviations like FH or Fihan are used as well. Both are in use as a partial name for some of Fisks' subsidiaries, with FH being more dominant in Anarian subsidiaries and Fihan in Altaian ones. The names Fisks and Fihan are protected worldwide, the company has even trademarked a couple of almost identical names like Fisx (which is pronounced the same) and Fishs (which almost looks the same).
Fisks Han logo
The Fisks Han logo was introduced when the holding company was started in 76XX, replacing the older black fish bone logo that is associated more with the Fisks stim and Fisks island. The logo design was inspired by the coat of arms of the city of Talpå and the predecessor city state, which is a shield consisting of 10 black squares. The designers tilted this motive 45 degrees and created a stylised fish with scales instead of squares. The scales represent the different subsidiaries, the fish the way it is held together. The particular red color #F15050 is patented and registered as fisks red.
With the logo present at about 12 million shipping containers, hundreds of vessels and cargo terminals it is one of the most recognisable company symbols on Gotha.
History
While Fisks Han was founded in 76XX, the company's history goes back 4 more centuries.
Talpean era
The roots of Fisks Han are in the latter days of the Greater Stoldavic Empire, when a local stim of fishermen in the city of Talpå (currently Vittmark) started using their assets in sailing equipment and market rights for more general trading purposes. An exact starting date for the change is impossible to point out, but when Talpå declared a city state in 7119 a stim company called Fisks Handelshus was registered as the main trading guild. Therefore Fisks celebrated it's 500 year anniversary in 7619.
The location of Talpå between the kingdoms of Ådalen and Hagen, on the mouth of the border river between those states, was the main reason for the city's wealth during the 72nd to 75th centuries. Talpå created staple ports on both river banks, operated by Fisks Handelshus and thus creating a trade monopoly in the region. With this position as a base, Fisks started building a seagoing trading fleet in the 74th and 75th centuries, engaging in the trade of colonial goods. However, Fisks did not have any cargo routes to Anarian colonies, instead it traded colonial goods in port towns in Auresia, Livaria and Anisora instead. Fisks as a company and the extended family owning and operating it became the most influential political factor in the city state, delivering mayors for decades in a row.
During the Pan-Anarian War, Fisks militarised its merchant fleet, guaranteeing it could continue trading. The stim's position within the city state government meant that the dividing lines between the extended family, the trading company and the city's military faded. As such, Fisks became a factor within the Pan-Anarian War, especially withing the region of northern Stoldavia where Hagen and Ådalen had different allegiances with the combating coalitions. Talpå became a target within the war, with Ådalen making a large effort to conquer the city and gain control over the ports and shipbuilding facilities.
The footloose era
In 7523, Fisks decided to leave the besieged city of Talpå and continue operations from elsewhere. With the city then becoming occupied by Ådalen, the merchant fleet became stateless by default. The 900 people aboard the 9 steam cargo ships first established a base in Cykeria (Jorveh) but had to move several times in the following years since any Fisks base became a target for the Central Alliance. In the 7530's the fleet moved towards the Shangti Ocean through the Arctic Passage north of The Bind and settled on an island the named Karolinasö between The Bind and Kamura. Without the imminent dangers of war torn Anaria, Fisks was able to establish bases on nearby islands like Henkesö. Fisks Handelshus established both trade relations, logistic facilities and manufacturing on these islands, de facto operating as a company governed state. During the 7540's more bases were established further south on small islands in a poorly defined border region between the Hallisian colony of Bowersland and the Häverist colony of Schangtienrand.
Fisks' headquarters were moved to Carlsö off the coast off Bowersland, since the stim leadership preferred the living conditions in the smaller staple port much more than in the industrial ports of the northern islands. This did however mean that Fisks attracted the attention of Anarian colonising nations once again. For political reasons, Fisks' operations were labelled as smuggling and piracy, since Fisks' fleet wasn't registered anywhere else than on their own islands. States like Helreich, Halland, The Bind and Kamura had never acknowledged the de facto rule of Fisks over these islands.
In order to avoid getting occupied by other Anarian nations, Fisks made the bold move to contact the newly formed state of Vittmark in 7570. At that time, the young nation was still overseen by a joint Anarian peacekeeping force. The main idea was that Fisks' islands as a part of Vittmark would automatically mean an end to military threats towards Fisks, since most colonising nations were involved in peacekeeping in Vittmark. Fisks' islands became an autonomous member state of Vittmark in 7575, which meant that Fisks' own militia now got support from federal military against possible conflicts nearby colonisers.
However, Vittmark came into conflict with the Aedelish Technate and as such the entire Häverist community, including Helreich as coloniser of nearby Schangtienrand. Fisks would be an easy target, so it was in the interest of Fisks to make sure that the internal conflicts in Schangtienrand between native populations and Häverist colonisers would continue. In an unlikely alliance with the native Kakuri people of Carlsö, Fisks and the Kakuri started coordinating terrorist attacks and local uprisings to a level where the island of Shuuen was liberated from its colonisers completely in 76XX.
Start of the Kamuran-Sokokan cooperation
At the same time, Vittmark had to outsource overseas government and military defence of the northern Fisks' islands to Kamura. Due to the Wolgos Scourge, Vittmark had lost its airship connection to these islands, making it impossible to defend them. The alliance with Kamura was aimed at preventing The Bind from occupying the islands and taking over the trading and manufacturing assets here. As a part of the agreement between Vittmark and Kamura, Fisks got access to Kamuran markets and ports. Kamuran investment capital became leading in many of Fisks' subsidiaries, laying the foundation of the current day holding.
Fisks started establishing more activities in the strategically located port of Berewan, replacing outdated manufacturing facilities on the northern islands with modern production lines closer to its main seat of operations. Fisks also ordered an entirely new fleet in Kamura, passing on its worn-out and outdated fleet on lease contracts to assist with moving the Wolgos population from northern Altaia to Kupeya. However, Fisks multiple operations and subsidiaries became more and more scattered with unclear company directives and ownership. After the bankruptcy of M.A. Fisks and Fisks Lego, the governments of Kamura and Sokoku stepped in to restructure Fisks Handelshus from an extended family company into a modern, multinational holding company.
The new holding
The current day holding company Fisks Han was founded in 76XX, after which most the semi-autonomous subsidiaries were gathered under this umbrella organisation. Fisks Han received a capital injection to modernise the essential subsidiaries, but quite a lot of the companies under the former umbrella of Fisks Handelshus were split up, sold off or terminated through bankruptcy. This operation led the foundation of Fisks as the conglomerate it is today, being the largest shipping company on Gotha by transport capacity, just over 18% of the world's seagoing cargo capacity is owned by Fisks or one of its subsidiaries.
Company structure and ownership
Fisks Han formal head office is located in Hagneå, Vittmark. Day to day operations are however handled from main offices in Raeko, Kamura and Berewan, Sokoku. The head office in Hagneå is located in a rather anonymous office building near the main train station and employs a staff of about 12 people.
The umbrella holding Fisks Han is owned by separate registered stock packages. These packages have a fixed share in the main holding, with the Kamuran package Siwa standing for 45.73% of the voting shares, the Sokokan package Carls for 41.42% and the Vittmarker package Hinnorum for 12.85%. All packages have both common stock and non-voting stock. The latter can be traded freely at stock exchanges, while some common stocks of the Siwa package can be traded freely at the stock exchange in Raeko, Kamura and all of the common stock within the Hinnorum package at the stock exchange in Östervallen, Vittmark.
The holding charter declares that the states of Kamura and Sokoku will own a minimum of 25.05% of the common stock each. The Carls package is not traded in an open market, but controlled by the federal government of Sokoku. According to the ownership declaration in the year report for 7688, Sokoku owns between 28-31% of the stocks, with a part owned by state, regional and local authorities as well as some federal secretariats. The extended Fisks family stim still owns about 18% of the voting shares, 10% within the Siwa package and 8% in the Carlsö package. However, the family's influence is much larger in subsidiaries that are jointly owned by Fisks Han and the Fisks stim.
Subsidiaries
Being a multinational company, most of the internationally operating subsidiaries avoid using typical Kamuran, Sokokan or Vittmarker (Wortsproke) names. Instead, these subsidiary names are based on the Kakuri language, even though many of the words used in the modern shipping and logistics branch don't have a direct Kakuri equivalent. The most important subsidiaries include:
- Bito FH and Bito Fihan: harbour and terminal towage services with a fleet of over 400 tugs, line handlers and other vessels in over 100 ports, head office in Raeko, Kamura.
- FHS or Fisks Han Shutan and Fihan Shutan: container terminals and other loading facilities in 67 ports and in 46 countries, as well as 147 inland services operations in 48 countries, head office in XX.
- Fihan Kantai: fleet ownership and services, head office in Siwa, Kamura.
- Fihan Wada: container manufacturing in several facilities, head office in Månsta, Vittmark.
- Fisks Global Service Center: shared service centres that handle back office and off-shore activities on each continent, head office in Raeko, Kamura.
- Fisks Han Ni: cargo carrier with over 600 vessels (mostly container ships), head office in Berewan, Sokoku.
- Heitan Fihan: supply chain management and freight forwarding, head office in Taumakan, Sokoku.
- Layan Surat Sokoku: the federal postal services of Sokoku are outsourced through this joint venture where the federal Secretariat for the Tertiary Sector owns 43,46% of the shares, head office in Kyusigai, Sokoku.
- Minpei Fihan or MPFH: security and safety services for Fisks Han Ni and Fihan Shutan, head office in Carlsby, Sokoku.
Fisks Han and its subsidiaries are minority shareholders in dozens of cargo rail companies, ferry services and cargo airlines worldwide.
Fisks Han operates free ports in cities in many nations worldwide, often through joint ventures with local authorities:
- Berewan, Sokoku: Berewan Fisks Han Free Port
- Hinnårum, Vittmark: Frihamnen Hagen / FHAB
- Raeko, Kamura: Punhe'Khethe Raekuuvun / PKR
- Talpå, Vittmark: Baru Talpei Frihamn
- Taumakan, Sokoku: Daerah Berdagang Khusus (DBKFH)
- Östervallen, Vittmark: Åstunda Frihamn AB
Company influence
Due to its complicated multinational ownership structure, Fisks Han operates quite close to government structures in nations like Kamura, Sokoku and to a lesser extent Vittmark. During the entire history of Fisks Handelshus, the tight fabric of the Fisks extended family stim, local and national government (including its policing forces and militia) and the company has been characteristic for the mode of operation. According to critics, Fisks has always operated as a part of public government or a chartered company and as such gathered the position it is in now, being the largest shipping company on Gotha. Those same critics have accused the Kamuran and Sokokan governments of wilfully lifting over this characteristic to the new holding company, trying to create foreign leverage through a shipping company that operates autonomously from individual governments. However, it seems to be more of a complicated relation where the company affects public government, while the governments of Sokoku and Kamura have a large influence on how the holding and its subsidiaries are operating.
Especialy the subsidiary Minpei Fihan is notorious, operating almost as a private, stateless army of mercenaries. It is generally seen as the company's private army, often operating well outside the mandate of security services in free ports or shipping safety.
Fisks Han's operations are largely depending on the ability to sail the open seas unhindered. For this purpose, Fisks Han is proactive against transnational organisations like ICoN and OSSO. Both through government representations as own lobbying work, Fisks Han is trying to uphold and improve shipping and trading opportunities worldwide.