Shipping Industry Analysis: A.P Mollar-Maersk

Shipping Industry Analysis: A.P Mollar-Maersk The global shipbuilding industry has changed in the last two decades, the demand and supply of goods in the international market, that many sectors in the market of shipbuilding in force. The transport of goods in bulk can only be transported by large commercial cargo ships. Shipping industry is a huge industry that requires a lot of skilled and cheap labour. Shipping industry requires expensive investments. In the 1960s in Europe were dominant in this industry. Globalization and free trade have opened up opportunities for new life to the shipping industry. There are many factors that directly or indirectly affects to the present day companies such as government policies, regulations, laws, competition, technology, international organizations, institutions of world trade, minimum wage, accidents, risk, violence, safety, labour, supplies, etc. So for any company to survive they have to plan the strategies accordingly to overcome those factors. But in practice it is virtually impossible to consider all these various factors. There are certain models like Michael Porter five forces that determine to the external factors to the environments of shipping industry. As a managing consultant of A P Mollar-Maersk shipping company I found that, in most of the countries the government is providing enormous support to promote foreign trade for the economic development, as well as my personal experience in shipping industry under A P Mollar-Maersk group gave me thrust to explore more about the shipping industry. Here I analysed the companys [A P Moll ar- Maersk] growth and present situation using Porters five force model. The five forces determine industry profitability because they influence the prices, costs, and required investment of firms in an industry the elements of return on investment. Buyer power influences the prices that firms can charge, for example, as does the threat of substitution. The power of buyers can also influence cost and investment, because powerful buyers demand costly service. The bargaining power of suppliers determines the costs of raw materials and other inputs. The intensity of rivalry influences prices as well as the costs of competing. The threat of entry, places a limit on prices, and shapes the investment required to determine entrants. INTRODUCTION Shipping is the primary means of international transportation of any essential raw material or finished goods. There are three main segments consisting of bulk carriers, specialised cargo shipping as well as container shipping. This industry is fundamental to trade, globalisation and economic growth of a country. Out of the shipping industry A.P Mollar-Maersk group became the worlds largest container ship operator. About the company The A P Moller Maersk group is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world since 1996. Maersk Line offers a truly global network of containerization and services providing shipping solutions for cargo imports and exports. Maersk Line India is the leading Container Shipping Line in the region with footprints across 16 offices and close to 400 employees covering all major locations and cargo hubs. Maersks activities are organised in different business segments, they are container shipping and related activities, A P Mollar terminal, tankers, offshore and other shipping activities. Maersk established its foothold in India on August 6, 1990 and has since expanded its operations in the business across the supply chain. Maersk Line India carries cargo to and from all major Indian ports. Maersk Line India major exports include Garments and Apparel from Tirupur, Mumbai and New Delhi; Cotton from Mumbai, Tuticorin and Gujarat; Iron and Steel from Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi and auto products from Mumbai, Chennai and Ludhiana. Container shipping activities is the largest business area for Maersk groups, providing half of the groups revenue in 2008. Since 1996, Maersk is the largest container shipping company in the world. Maersk Line operates over 550 vessels and has a capacity of 2.2 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units). 2. Analysis of Porters Five Forces for Shipping Industry Porters five forces is a framework for analysis of industry and development of business strategy, it also determines the competitive intensity and attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness is referred to overall profitability of industry while unattractiveness drives down profitability. This model implies that profitability or return should be constant across firms and industries; however studies have affirmed that different industries can have different levels of profitability due to their varied structure. The model can be used by organizations to develop edge over rivals. Conventionally, this tool is used to identify whether new products, services or businesses have the potential to be profitable. 2.1 ATTRACTIVENESS FOR SHIPPING INDUSTRIES Government of most of the countries are liberal towards the licensing and development of shipping business. Major part of the countries economic profit will be evolved from the shipping business. So the threat of new entrance is high, but as the profit margin is high, the attractiveness is also high. Many competitors are available in the market and they provide perfect substitution in terms of services, freight rates etc, but the resources are also easily available. So the attractiveness is also high. Suppliers are more in this field and the available facility is very less so the cost is high, which makes suppliers in weak and buyers in strong position. So the industry attractiveness is low in this case. The bargaining power of buyer is high and potentiality of business is high then many buyers will be there in the market. This will increase the attractiveness. Existing players are many, but constant technological advancement and updated services and facilities will increase the attr activeness. 3. Threat of New Entry Every person would like to do business in shipping industry due to large profits involved in it. It may seem easy, but practically it is more difficult and virtually impossible to set up in container line business. The main problem involves in the large capital investments in the form of vessel, operating risk of a vessel and the container availability. In the case of Maersk, we can understand that it had taken more than 100 years to establish themselves to reach at the top level. Still there can be threat from existing companies like APL and MSC to expand into new sectors which will reduce the share of the company operating in that region. Maersk is generally operating in every part of the world. In certain regions it may be the only player operating, in such case its profit margins from those operations would be huge. But the profit can be severely affected, if APL or MSC introduce their service in those regions. If there are any new potential companies who would like to jump into this sector with huge capital then other factors like licensing, government rules, regulations, policies are all secondary. Capital requirement is high. Profit margin is high. Chance of expansion into new sector is less. Switching cost is less. Government restriction is less. Capital requirement of the shipping industry is very large, so the threat from the new entrants is less. As the capital is very large the profit is also too high in shipping industry. Because all exporters and importers know the best mode of transport their goods is the shipping line. Switching cost of the customer is high because of the lack of experience of the new entrants. Most of the countries main economy evolves from the shipping industry. So the government will give full support for the new entry. So overall threat for the new entry is high. 4. Threat of Substitution Substitution threat is also an important factor especially when something is going wrong in an organization. Competitors are waiting to catch that opportunity for their benefit. Substitution threat is the result of change in buyer behaviour towards competitor or against company. Substitution may also result because of change in quality of service, increase in freight rates and increase in transit time. From view point of switching costs, buyers are not affected at all due to higher number of suppliers and freight forwarders available in market. While it may affect the company to certain extent as they have to start new search of customer, establish strong relations and educate them on company policies and systems. Switching costs become even more at times of downturn due to decrease in supply of business from customers. Cost factor is primarily responsible for substitution while service specification comes secondary. In case due to the delay of service or quality become poor and at the same time the wagon rates are also similar, then the customers will switch on to the new substitutes [wagon]. If the oil price [crude oil/diesel oil] shoots up then the company is forced to increase their delivery charges. Due to the increased rates in shipping and delayed timing to reach the destination on time, customers will go for the substitutes like airline, wagon or even trucks [for certain limited destinations]. If the airline or wagon [goods train] can almost cost the same rates of the shipping companies but can reach on time then customers will think for such substitutes. Substitution threat will be major problem for a reputed company like Maersk. If any service or the goods are not delivered in a proper manner then the customer trust on company will go down. In this present world people wont compromise for any thing. If they are not satisfied by the service they will jump to other substitutes who can give better rates and services. Availability of the substitutes is high. Price of substitutes is high. Quality and performance of the substitutes is high. Switching cost is high. Cost factor is less. More number of market players is available, but they all are dealing in different prices, performance and quality will increase the attractiveness of shipping sector. As the switching cost is high, customer stick to their present seller will increase attractiveness. Cost factor is less important because all players will play a role of defender in market will moderate the attractiveness. So overall threat of substitutes is high. 5. Bargaining Power of Supplier Suppliers barely make any difference to companies involved in shipping line business, especially who are leading players like Maersk in this business. While it may affect to certain extent to small players like Five star shipping company, Varun Shipping company etc. who are struggling to establish within the industry. Many suppliers are such which are borne directly by customers but arranged by shipping lines like pesticide, wooden pallets, container repairs and truck transportation due to corporate contract or link ups of companies with service providers. While there are cases when these same services are borne by shipping lines but then these charges are included in freight rate which would be higher if the suppliers were not arranged by company. Maersk supply service expects a lower result than in 2010 due to lower contract coverage and weaker spot market rates than at the beginning of 2010. Another supply which is related to loading of containers on third party vessels is very important here because this is the only supply where shipping lines have to face the bargaining of suppliers. Not all shipping lines own the vessel and therefore they hire the service of other companies, to load their containers for different destinations. Maersk is the largest container operator in Kandla port. But its own vessels are not operating from Kandla due to drift problem and therefore they hire the services of third party feeder vessels to load its containers till JNPT [Jawaharlal Nehru] port in Mumbai, from where Maersk mother vessels are operating across continents. In this case Maersk may have to pay extra money if demanded by ship operators. While this is not the case with MSC [Mediterranean Shipping Company] which has its own small vessels operating from Kandla to different gulf locations. But if we move to location like JNPT port in Mumbai, the situation is totally different. Maer sk vessels are the biggest here operating among other carriers and those small carriers are using slot on Maersk vessels for transporting their cargo. There are other supplies like loading/ unloading of containers from vessel ie, movement of containers to CFS (container freight station) and vessel towing which are provided by port authorized suppliers and companies. Port authority charges fixed amount towards these handling from shipping lines and shipping company charges the same from customers after adding their profit margin. Number of the suppliers is high. Price factor of the suppliers is high. Profit of the supplier is less. Switching cost of the supplier is high. Operating cost is high. So overall power of suppliers are low. 6. Bargaining Power of Buyer Buyer is one of the strongest factors in shipping line business. Buyers may be in form of importer or exporter, clearing agent, freight forwarder or manufacturer of goods. Sometimes manufacturer himself acts as an exporter or importer if not, then trader acts on behalf of manufacturer of goods. Container line business is based on two main core factors price and quality of service. Price refers to freight rate at which one container is decided by shipping company to transport from one place to another. Due to much competition in this sector and limited number of operators, bargaining power of buyer has increased in relation to freight price. Almost all shipping lines have service to Jebel Ali (an important transit hub in Dubai) from India, and customer is sure to get very competitive rate for this location from market. For such locations customer are virtually like king but when it comes to transporting cargo to far Europe or America, then this power is transferred to companies operating in those regions. Therefore Maersk has strategized the businesses in such a way to get maximum profits from service to odd or far reaching areas and make normal profits from operation to common areas like Jebel Ali. Another factor Service refers to fast processing of documents, bill of lading and prompt loading and movement of containers etc. It is rather difficult for customers to get better quality of service than getting competitive freight rates. In this world of technology every company is trying to adapt to new technology in their day to day businesses like e-processing of documents and fastest data entry to name a few. Maersk is so technologically advanced in this field, that all its data processing is being done electronically by back office and customers are able to access all information relevant to shipment though dedicated space available on company website. Electronic processes are shipping bills, vessel certificates, freight invoices and bill of lading in encrypted format, once the payment is done by customer either electronically or at Maersk local office. Companies like APL and MSC do have electronic processing systems but are not fully fledged and as a result much of the work is still being done manually. Other sections of buyers which may affect container line business are freight forwarders or clearing agents, with rapid expansion of shipping industry and import/export businesses. Many agents acting as freight forwarders have came up in market to share the profit in form of commission. These agents earn commission by way of collecting excess freight from exporter than charged by shipping lines. It is relatively easy for shipping lines to entertain these agents, so there is no difficulty of approaching different small exporters. Numbers of the customers are high. Switching cost is low. Customers information and awareness is less. Customers ability to demand is high. Freight forwarders and clearing agents are high. Number of customers is high in this field due to the export and import of goods from different parts of the world. But the similar price and quality will lessen the attractiveness. Customers ability for demand during purchasing will be high, because suppliers are in threat of loosing customer. Switching cost of customers is low because of more number of suppliers. Due to easy availability of containers through agents instead of searching by the shipping companies in different places the bargaining power of freight forwarders and agents will be more. So overall bargaining power of buyer is high. 7. Competitive Rivalry Rivalry exists in every field be it business, science, space, technology, education etc; actually speaking it is a part of the day to day businesses. It is sometimes bad because companies have to share hard earned profits with competitors and sometimes goods because it gives opportunities to one company to stand in line with another in terms of quality of service, business strategy, job satisfaction etc. Considering the rivalry in shipping industry, it will be held valid due to enormous margins of available profits combined with continuous growth of around 14% since last couple of years. If we consider the rivalry between our top of the table players (Maersk, MSC and APL) we will find that all these players are good in some and bad in some and therefore stiff competition exists between them. Maersk dominates the market due to its wide area coverage, better connectivity, best business practices, and cost controlling measures. But on other side, its strict and non flexible policies and highly technological advancement at very base levels which is not digested by people working in lower educated market. MSC on other hand has balance of advantages and disadvantages. It has done well in recent times in attracting business due to its competitive pricing model and better connectivity of services. In contrast it has failed to control administrative, operational and higher output costs. It has been seen practically at Kandla port location where Maersk is having higher outputs compared to MSC but staff recruited to control that output and time for completing the tasks was almost double compared to Maersk. APL on other hand has much controlled costs measures and highly technological advanced processes as in Maersk but it doesnt have far reaching connectivity like Maersk and therefore relies on third party services in certain regions. Also it has lagged behind in attracting customers due to non availability of killing marketing strategies. Number of competitors is high. Cost leadership is high. Switching cost is low. Industry growth is high. Competitors move to new customer is low. More number of competitors is high in shipping industry, because of the thought that the profit margin very high in this industry. Cost leadership is high for the market leader (MAERSK), because the new entrants and the minor players in this industry cant sustain with very low cost of the market leader. Industry growth is high, so the chance of exit from the industry is less. Competitors move to new customers is very low because of the non-awareness of their profile. Switching cost is low, because of the less familiarisation of the new suppliers may lead to argument or disagreement. So overall competitors of the industry is high. 8. Conclusion Container line business is a flamboyant industry in the whole world. Due to rapid economic development since recent past, trade between developed and developing countries has increased significantly. Maersk Supply Service expects a lower result than in 2010 due to lower contract coverage and weaker spot market rates than at the beginning of 2010. In 2010, A P Mollar entered into a joint venture agreement to establish a new terminal in Santos, Brazil. So that company dont want to keep their cargos in any of the external port. Thus by paying money to the other ports for keeping the cargos can be avoided and then the profit can be increased. The terminal is expected to open in 2012 and when completed have capacity to handle 2.2 million containers in a year. In the wake of the worst year ever for container activities in 2008 2009, the Group continued its focus on strengthening Maersk Lines competitiveness. In 2010, the Groups container shipping companies shipped practically the same number of containers with the same average rate as in 2008, but nevertheless generated a profit that was USD 2.2 billion higher than in 2008, primarily due to streamlining and cost savings. Maersk Line should set a new industry standard for on-time delivery, and customer satisfaction will reach the highest level ever measured by Maersk Line. It is also essential that Ministry of Shipping of each country in particular should take more proactive steps like, regulations in free movement of foreign exchange and international trade to be more liberal, easing export/ import duties to make this industry work more freely and contribute even more to the economic development of country. Companies at same time should adapt more technology to make easy and efficient work environment for the customers and employees.

Character Sketch of The Sniper :: Sniper

Character Sketch of The Sniper War. Death. Pain. Anger and remorse. None are pleasantries, but all are faced and handled every day. In Liam O'Flaherty's "The Sniper," all of these things are brought to an acute reality. To aid in his creation of such emotional conflict, O'Flaherty portrayed the sniper as a very controversial character. We can see this contrast in personality by looking at appearance, actions, and thoughts. "...the face of a student, thin and ascetic,...eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic." And so the sniper is described in a physical sense. Upon looking at the meaning of the words, we find an unexpected conflict of definition. O'Flaherty writes that the sniper's face is "that of a student." We think young, and vibrant. However, to describe his meaning, he goes on to say that his face is both "thin and ascetic." Also, gaunt, and displaying self-discipline; both qualities carried more so in adults than students. Also, it is stated that the sniper had "the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death." One might imagine an older man, who has lived through many-a-war and seen lives lost. These three descriptions show that the sniper was older than his years in appearance, as well as emotionally. The snipers' actions also are cause to believe that he is more than meets the eye. In the story, the sniper considers lighting a cigarette. "It was dangerous...he decided to take the risk." One's knowledge that something is dangerous and then their persistence to carry out the action shows a true daredevil. A characteristic of the "student" in him mentioned earlier. Another, much different, action of the sniper's is the need to discover who he killed. After the remorse of the crime committed, the sniper proceeds to investigate his enemy's identity. "...felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper..." This shows that the sniper did, in fact, have a streak of humaneness and care in him. A very different mood from the daredevil. Lastly, the way the sniper thinks reveals much about his character. When he is considering means of escape, he comes up with a plan to trick the enemy sniper into believing he himself was dead.

Briefly Outline the Distinctive Features of the Sociological Approach to Understanding Human Life and the Illustrate How You Would Use Sociology to Make Sense of Globalisation.

Sociology is the systematic, sceptical and critical study of the way that people do things together . It’s not a science that simply lists facts and figures about society. Instead it becomes a form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the world. It welcomes you to challenge the obvious, to question the world as it is taken for granted and to de-familiarising the familiar. This is what empowers critical thinking which triggers the development of the understanding of the human life. The aim of this essay is to outline the sociological approach to understanding human life , to explore the different sociological perspectives , to question the reliability of the different forms of research and to emphasise the key elements that make sociology different to other ways of exploring the human life. Finally I shall be illustrating its approach with regards to my biography. Peter Berger distinctive approach to understanding human life was characterised by seeing the general as the particular. This meant that sociologist can identify general patterns of social life by looking at concrete examples of social life. The genesis of this approach is when we realise how the general categories into which we happen to fall shape our particular life experiences. Berger feels that the general impact of society on the actions, thoughts and feelings of particular people are made evident in the way that societies view change over time. For example the views on inequality have changed since the start of the 21st century. Another sociological approach to sociology is seeing the strange in the familiar, â€Å"the first wisdom of sociology is this , things are not what they seem â€Å", Bauman. This is the approach where you have to â€Å"de- familiarise the familiar† , which means that when your approaching to understand human life you have to look at it with a sense that people do not decide what to do but instead society guides their thoughts and deeds. So in essence sociology sets out to show the patterns and processes by which society shapes what we do. C. Wright mills approach to understanding human life was to show that most of our problems were not caused by us but from society. He felt that â€Å"The sociological imagination â€Å" was a way of understanding that social outcomes are shaped by social context. He claims that some things in society lead to certain outcomes. â€Å"when a society becomes industrialised , a peasant becomes a worker . â€Å" Therefore the things we do are shaped by the situation we are in, the values we have. I believe that all three approaches differ ut where they all overlap is in their belief that a person must be able to pull away from the situation and to think from an alternative point of view. To acquire real knowledge is to go against the status quo. 1. ‘The first wisdom of sociology is this: things are not what they seem (sociology global intro p. 5) 2. C. Wright Mills. 1959. ‘The promise’ in The Sociological Imagination New York: 3. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/C. _Wr ight_Mills 4. Macionis, 5th edition , chapter 1 5. Berger, Peter Invitation to sociology . New York , 1963 With regards to perspectives in understanding human life there are two which are prominent. The first is the functional perspective, this recognises that our lives are guided by social structures. It therefore organises sociological observation by identifying various structures of society and investigating the function of each one. This is a building block for theories that see society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. One of the problems I have with this perspective is that it evokes that society is organically stable, I also questions how we can assume that society has a natural order when social patterns change from location and time. The second sociological perspective is the conflict perspective . this analysis points out that, rather than promoting the operation of society as a whole , social structure typically benefits some people while depriving others, for example the rich in relation to the poor. So sociologist such as Marx that belong to this school of thought try to understand society at the same time change it . The problem here is that as this perspective highlights inequality and undermines unity among members in a society. The aim of this perspective is to pursue political goals , it overlooks scientific objectivity. The other side of the sociological approach to understanding human life is to conduct sociological investigation in order to find out what is sociologically true. There are many different areas of thought which have different angles on what is scientifically true. Positivism suggests that sociological/scientific truths are based on empirical evidence. So for example Berger approach of seeing the general within the particular would coincide here. The reliability of sociological truths do have limitations , for example Peter Berger social patterns change constantly, what is true in one society and in one particular time may not hold truth in another. As opposed to the laws of mathematics, they are universal truths and are immutable. This all evaporates to the argument of common sense versus scientific evidence, and leads to conclusions that sociology should adopt a more humanistic discipline when it comes to understanding human life. This is what differentiates sociology when it comes to other ways of exploring human life. The is because sociology pays more tribute to subjectivity, public opinion and examines how individuals behave to social constrains. This is something which is not evident in a scientific truth or theory. I shall now be making sense of my biography using sociology. The first step will be to consider my biography in a broader view. I have a very healthy family structure with both my parents happily married. Although we are catholic my parents have had a liberal approach in bringing me up. We have been a victim of crime when we were living opposite a council estate where they stole my father’s car. I am half Colombian, middle class and male. I believe that this trait has made me part of the sociological movement of Colombians who have immigrated to the west and choose to not be judged on the stereotypical Colombia (drug dealer ) but on the context of our character. I believe in terms of historical context I am part of the second generation of immigrants, this means that I have been given the opportunity to go to university , take advantage of great health care and go to top state schools where I have been able to mix with upper middle class children. I chose to use a historical context because In† the sociological imagination â€Å" , Mills claimed that we can only understand human life by â€Å"locating himself within his period†. This is because he felt that human choices are dictated by the times in which you live . Given the calibre of education I received at 6th form as was able to acquire a placement at a top carbon brokerage in the city . So I have never been effected by the economic downturn in this country . I was bought up in the 90’s the decade where computers/internet became accessible to most people. My parents always encouraged me to learn as much as possible online, aiding me to have extensive financial acumen, making me effective at my internship. I could of easily have stayed at this job but I decided to go to university. I am not a hundred per cent which social norms caused me to do this, was it to be perceived as an intelligent individual with a degree , was it effective government propaganda in order to have less under 21 in the job market or was it to simply promote inequality. A lot of people argue that going to university promotes this because only middle class children who have the money to pay the fees , who have been to top school that have aided their application or have the support of their academic parents are in a head start position compared to ethnic minorities from run down institutions whose parents have no idea of what upper education entails. In conclusion I feel that sociology has an effective approach to understand human life. It uses a humanistic science which develops as society does. The social sciences adopt scientific methods in the investigation of human behavior on the other hand sociology studies human society as Berger would say by â€Å"seeing the general in the particular†. Furthermore sociology encourages us to question the familiar , helping us to separate fact from fiction. You could argue that this is what has triggered the great minds such as Albert Einteirn. Sociology also helps us to differentiate opportunities and constrains that shape our lives , like I did in my biography where I have had the opportunity to attended a reputable state school which has opened many doors for me but I have also faced constrains with being stereo typed as a Colombian drug dealer. Bibliography ‘The first wisdom of sociology is this: things are not what they seem (sociology global intro p. 5) C. Wright Mills. 1959. ‘The promise’ in The Sociological Imagination New York: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/C. _Wright_Mills Macionis, 5th edition , chapter 1 Berger, Peter Invitation to sociology . New York , 1963

The Trung Sisters of Ancient Vietnam

Beginning in 111 B.C., Han China sought to impose political and cultural control over northern Vietnam, assigning their own governors to oversee existing local leadership, but unease within the region gave birth to brave Vietnamese fighters like Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, The Trung Sisters, who led a heroic yet failed rebellion against their Chinese conquerors.   The pair, born sometime around the dawn of modern history (1 A.D.), were the daughters of a Vietnamese nobleman and military general in the area near Hanoi, and after the death of Tracs husband, she and her sister raised an army to resist and reclaim freedom for Vietnam, thousands of years before it gained its modern independence. Vietnam Under Chinese Control Despite the relatively loose control of Chinese governors in the region, cultural differences made relations between the Vietnamese and their conquerors tense. In particular, Han China followed the strictly hierarchical and patriarchal system espoused by Confucius (Kong Fuzi) whereas the Vietnamese social structure was based on a  more equal status between the sexes. Unlike those in China, women in Vietnam could serve as judges, soldiers, and even rulers and had equal rights to inherit land and other property. To the Confucian Chinese, it must have been shocking that the Vietnamese resistance movement was led by two women — the Trung Sisters, or Hai Ba Trung — but the made a mistake in 39 A.D. when Trung Tracs husband, a noble named Thi Sach, lodged a protest about increasing  tax rates, and in response, the Chinese governor apparently had him executed. The Chinese would have expected a young widow to go into seclusion and mourn her husband, but Trung Trac rallied supporters and launched a rebellion against foreign rule — along with her younger sister Trung Nhi, the widow raised an army of some 80,000 fighters, many of them women, and drove the Chinese from Vietnam. Queen Trung In the year 40, Trung Trac became the queen of northern Vietnam while Trung Nhi served as a top advisor and possibly co-regent. The Trung sisters ruled over an area that included about sixty-five cities and towns and constructed a new capital at Me-linh, a site long associated with the primordial Hong Bang or Loc Dynasty, which legend holds ruled Vietnam from 2879 to 258 B.C. Chinas Emperor Guangwu, who had reunified his country after the Western Han kingdom fell apart, sent his best general to crush the upstart Vietnamese queens rebellion again a few years later and General Ma Yuan was so pivotal to the emperors successes that Mas daughter became the empress of Guangwus son and heir, Emperor Ming. Ma rode south at the head of a battle-hardened army and the Trung sisters rode out to meet him on elephants, in front of their own troops. For more than a year, the Chinese and Vietnamese armies fought for control of northern Vietnam. Defeat and Subjugation Finally, in 43, General Ma Yuan defeated the Trung sisters and their army. Vietnamese records insist that the queens committed suicide by jumping into a river, once their defeat was inevitable while the Chinese claim that Ma Yuan captured and beheaded them instead. Once the Trung sisters rebellion was put down, Ma Yuan and the Han Chinese clamped down hard on Vietnam. Thousands of the Trungs supporters were executed, and many Chinese soldiers remained in the area to ensure Chinas dominance over the lands around Hanoi. Emperor Guangwu even sent settlers from China to dilute the rebellious Vietnamese — a tactic still used today in Tibet and Xinjiang, keeping China in control of Vietnam until 939. Legacy of the Trung Sisters China succeeded in impressing many aspects of Chinese culture upon the Vietnamese, including the civil service exam system and ideas based on Confucian theory. However, the people of Vietnam refused to forget the heroic Trung sisters, despite nine centuries of foreign rule. Even during the decades-long struggles for Vietnamese independence in the 20th century — first against the French colonists, and then in the Vietnam War against the United States — the story of the Trung sisters inspired ordinary Vietnamese. Indeed, the persistence of pre-Confucian Vietnamese attitudes about women may help to account for a large number of female soldiers who participated in the Vietnam War. To this day, the people of Vietnam perform memorial ceremonies for the sisters every year at a Hanoi temple named for them.