TKEM Trade Limited

The six desks of the trading house

Harbour schedules, counter ledgers and junk logistics under one roof

TKEM Trade Limited runs six working desks at Rm 1-3 20/F STRAND 50, 50 BONHAM STRAND, Hong Kong (HK). A desk is not a department behind a door; it is a bench at the open counter where the clerk reads a document, weighs it against the beam and writes the line. The desks move in a fixed order through the week, from the arrival notice on Monday to the last sampan at dusk. Read the six desks below, then begin with whichever one your cargo needs first, or speak to the counter and let a clerk choose the sequence.

Desk 01

Consignment Desk

The Consignment Desk is where the week begins. A harbour consignment schedule is drafted from the arrival notice, then weighed against the bill of lading and the written order the client has signed. The clerk checks the berth assignment, the tonnage, the marks on the crates and the hour the vessel expects to be made fast, and then writes every line twice: once for the owner and once for the carrier. When the two copies read the same, the consignment is fixed and the crate glyph is stamped on the row.

The desk also prepares the schedule for any cargo that has to wait over a tide. A waiting consignment is not forgotten; it is placed on a short berth list and reviewed each morning before the quay opens. Clients who ship regularly can keep a standing schedule at the desk, which the clerk updates from the arrival notice and sends back by the same evening. Nothing leaves the desk until the weights, the marks and the receiving party are all agreed in plain writing.

Desk 02

Counter Trade Rounds

Counter trade rounds keep the ledger honest. Twice a day the clerk carries the counter trade ledger round the hall, stopping at each bench to read the entries aloud and compare them with the day before. Every figure is spoken, not assumed, and any line that does not balance is lifted out and held at the steelyard until the two sides can explain it. The round is slow on purpose because a ledger read in a hurry is a ledger that hides its own errors.

Clients are welcome to walk the round with the clerk. Many do, because the round is the clearest way to see how a trading house keeps its figures. When a round closes, the clerk writes a short closing note that names the day, the bench and the number of entries read, and files it with the ledger. If a discrepancy is found, the note records what changed and who agreed the correction, so the record stays complete long after the crates have gone.

Desk 03

Junk Voyage Weeks

Junk voyage weeks are planned as whole weeks, not as single departures. The desk sets the loading hours on the wharf, the crew rota, the boat provisioning and the return window in one plan, so the sail leaves with a clean manifest and comes back to a full tally. A voyage week starts with a provisioning check on the Monday and ends with the return tally on the Saturday evening. Between the two, the desk holds the schedule open so that a late consignment can still find a berth without pushing the whole sail back.

The desk also keeps a voyage book for each boat in the fleet. Every week of sailing is entered in the book with the cargo carried, the hours on the water and any repairs noted by the boat keeper. When a client hires a junk voyage week, the clerk reads the relevant pages aloud before the contract is signed, so the client knows exactly which boat is being offered and what it has carried before. No voyage is promised on a blank page.

Desk 04

Wharf Audit Days

A wharf audit day sets every docket against the quay record and marks the shortfalls before they reach the ledger. The audit is done in daylight, docket by docket, with the quay clerk and the house clerk reading from the same sheet. Any cargo that cannot be matched to a docket is set aside with a tag and held until the receiving party is found. The aim is not to catch anyone out but to leave the quay record as clean as the counter record, so that the next round has nothing hidden to find.

The house writes an audit summary the same evening and sends it to the client by email or hands it over in person at the counter. The summary lists the dockets read, the cargo matched, the cargo held and the dockets that need a second read. Clients who prefer to attend may join the audit from the first hour, and the clerk will walk them through each docket as it is read. The next audit day is always set before the current one closes, so the quay is never left without a date.

Desk 05

Balance Review Sessions

Balance review sessions sit at the steelyard. The weights are moved in the open, the beam is read as it rests, and every figure on the ledger is spoken back to the client before the session closes. The clerk does not settle a balance on a screen alone; the two parties stand at the bench together and agree the closing line in plain words. A session ends only when the beam is level and both parties have signed the closing page.

Some sessions are short and some take most of an afternoon. The length depends on how much of the ledger still needs a second read, and the desk never rushes a review to fit a booking. If a balance cannot be settled in one session, the clerk records the open points and sets a follow-up before the next round. Clients leave a balance review with a signed page, a clear note of any outstanding point and a firm date for the next look at the beam.

Desk 06

Sampan Handover Evenings

Sampan handover evenings carry the last parcels from wharf to water. The load is passed down to the sampan with a dock copy in hand, and the boat keeper signs as each crate is set aboard. The evening is short and carefully witnessed, and the clerk keeps the lantern lit at the bow until the last parcel is stowed. A handover is never done in a hurry; the sampan waits at the steps for as long as the tally needs.

The desk writes a handover slip for every evening, listing the parcels passed, the boat that carried them and the hour the lantern was dimmed. The slip is filed with the balance review page so that the whole day reads as one thread from arrival to water. Clients who ship overnight can rely on the handover evening to close the day cleanly, with nothing left on the wharf and nothing unaccounted for on the boat.

The wharf audit window for the coming tide is open at the Strand 50 counter, and every client is welcome to walk the dockets with a clerk before the junk sails.

The shape of a working week

The six desks move in one line. A week at the house begins with the Consignment Desk reading the arrival notices and drafting the schedules. Counter Trade Rounds then carry the ledger round the hall until every line reads the same twice. Junk Voyage Weeks set the sail, the crew and the docket as one plan, and Wharf Audit Days check the quay record before any load leaves. A Balance Review Session closes the figures at the steelyard, and a Sampan Handover Evening carries the last parcels to the water. The order is fixed, but a client may join at any desk and the clerk will carry the work through in the sequence the cargo needs.

  1. Read the arrivalThe Consignment Desk drafts the schedule and weighs it against the order.
  2. Walk the roundsCounter trade entries are read aloud and any imbalance is held at the beam.
  3. Plan the sailJunk voyage weeks set boat, crew and docket as one motion.
  4. Check the quayWharf audit days mark the shortfalls before they reach the ledger.
  5. Level the beamBalance review sessions end only when both parties sign the closing line.
  6. Pass to waterSampan handover evenings close the day under a lit lantern.

Open a desk at the counter

Tell the clerk which desk your cargo needs first and the house will set the rest of the week around it. Call +19289627365, write to scheduling@tkem-trade.com, or visit Rm 1-3 20/F STRAND 50, 50 BONHAM STRAND, Hong Kong (HK). A schedule, a round, a voyage week or an audit day is only a conversation away, and the beam is always level by the end of the day.

Open the contact desk