14 MAY 1988, Page 41

Ships of state

I RECALL Sir Jeffrey Sterling's heartfelt advice to me, soon after he came aboard P & 0: 'Never', he said, 'compete with a nationalised industry.' He had found mil- lions of working capital tied uselessly up in his ferries, which were offering three months' free credit, because British Rail's Sealink was offering six months'. Nowa- days there are three different operations sailing as Sealink. One is the former BR company, with Jim Sherwood now at the wheel, but the second belongs to the nationalised railways of France, and the third to a Dutch state shipping company. There was a fourth Sealink, to do with the Belgian state railways, but this one fell out with Mr Sherwood and now sails in the colours of P & O.