Shipped somewhere east of Suez

摘要

For those who mourn the demise of an empire built on maritime might, the agreed takeover of P&O by Dubai's dp World for £3.3 billion is a sad moment. Two hundred years after the battle of Trafalgar sealed Britain's naval supremacy, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, once a sinew of empire linking Britain to India and points further east, is falling into the hands of a former colony. If the deal goes through, what was once a crucial pillar of the British business establishment will henceforth be owned by a trucial state, as the United Arab Emirates (including Dubai) was known until 1971. That is when the British pulled out, in the general retreat from empire.