At the same time the Packetfahrt bought the larger part of the shares of the Russian East Asiatic S.S. Company owned by the Danish firm. The object of the purchase was to establish a community of interests with the Russian Company. The Kaiser took great interest in this scheme, and during his visits to Copenhagen in 1903 and 1905 Mr. Andersen reported to him on the subject. It was intended to bring about close business relations between Germany, Russia, and Denmark for the special purpose of developing Russian trade, and to organize the Russian East Asiatic S.S. Company on such lines as would make it a suitable instrument to this end. It is to be regretted that the community of interest agreement then concluded was not of long duration. The Russian bureaucracy made all sorts of difficulties, and it is possible that the representatives of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie in Russia did not display as much discretion in their dealings with these functionaries as they ought to have done. At any rate, the Packetfahrt was so little satisfied with its participation in this Russian concern that it re-sold its rights to the interested Copenhagen parties in 1906, not without incurring a considerable loss on the transaction. The West Indies agreement automatically lapsed when the Packetfahrt acquired sole possession of the four Danish steamers.
Later on some sort of co-operation with the Russian company was brought about once more by the admission of that company to the transatlantic steerage pool. The Packetfahrt also had an opportunity of profiting from the technical experience gained by the Danish East Asiatic Company, which was the first shipping concern to specialize in the use of motor-ships. It was enabled to do so by the support it received from the shipbuilding firm of Messrs. Burmeister and Wain, of Copenhagen, who had applied the Diesel engine, a German invention, to the propulsion of ships, and who subsequently built a fleet of excellent motor-ships for the East Asiatic Company. One of these vessels was afterwards acquired by the Hamburg-Amerika Linie for studying purposes. The new type of vessel proved exceedingly remunerative during the war, as it made the owners independent of the supply of British bunker coal, and relieved them of the numerous difficulties connected with obtaining it. This great practical success of the Danish shipbuilders became possible only because they applied themselves consistently to the development of one particular type of engine, whereas in Germany endless experiments were made with a great variety of different types which led to no tangible results. It was only when the war came, and when the building of numerous submarines became necessary that German engineering skill obtained a chance of showing what it could do, and then, indeed, it proved itself worthy of the occasion.