Savannah Merchant Marine Co$.($henceforth $"$SMM$"$ or the firm$/$company$)$ is a cargo shipping company based in Savannah, Georgia, that operates freight vessels in various sizes. In December $2050,$ the firm is reviewing the proposal for a new dry bulk carrier in an attempt to capture a potential increase in the global demand for freight shipping. The CFO has asked you to estimate cash flows expected from the new ship over its asset life. To aid the analysis, the CFO and the SMM Finance team have collected data from various sources, as summarized below.

a$)$ Discount rate, inflation, tax, and other information

CFO has made the following baseline assumptions:

The discount rate is assumed to be $12\%,$ p$.$a$.($per annum$)$

For simplicity, the CFO has decided to use an expected inflation rate of $3\%,$ p$.$a$.,$ over the next three decades.

$,SMM$ is expected to face a marginal tax rate of $20\%.$

b$)$ Investments required

The purchase price of the new vessel is $$44$ million. If ordered before the end of $2050,$ the ship will be ready by the end of $2052.$ If SMM decides to purchase the ship, $10\%$ of the price is due at the end of $2050,$ another $10\%$ is due at the end of $2051,$ and the balance is payable at the end of $2052$ when the ship is delivered. It will then begin operating from the beginning of $2053.$ The useful life