BOW WAVE 144

Summer's Waning Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2002 WavyLine.com	Issue No 144 26 Aug 02
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Poem of the Week
3. US Port Security Update
4. Admiral Collins on Maritime Security
5. The Portal
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

We have learnt recently that the rather progressive insurance scheme for hauliers in Belgium known as AMI has suffered some setbacks. Since the sale of the agency by Axa to local insurers Naviga, our sources say that 90 per cent of the CMR business has gone away from the scheme. We have always held the officers and staff of this group in high esteem and hope that persistence will reap its own reward.

This month in Britain there have been talks between the insurance industry and the government on the future of employer's liability insurance, a compulsory cover which is in short supply in the current market. High risk industries on the waterfront, in construction, mining, transport and other areas of the economy which involve sweat, grime and blood are enduring three and four fold increases in premiums where renewals are on offer. Often capacity strained insurers are quietly quitting the sector or are underwhelmingly enthusiastic in the face of enquiries. Crunch time is coming.

New Readers this week include:

Surveyor Kris Mangalat of Miller International in Dubai Port Business Editor Ian Ormes
Kaili Heinsaar of Ethiopian Shipping Company
Geraldine Smith of IRI Register
MY Ganesh of All Cargo India
Thomas Sheridan

News of Readers

After being laid off by Jardine Matheson/Taiwan last year, Capt. Larry Heron has re-emerged with the formation of his new company, "Heron Marine Surveyors & Consultants", providing marine surveying services and consultancy work, predominantly in the Taiwan area, but also covering S.E.Asia. In addition they have been appointed as correspondents for a number of P&I Clubs. He is joined by his ex colleague Hubert Shoei, who between them have many years of surveying experience in the Taiwan area,

for further details contact him at

larry@gcn.net.tw.

In response to last week's request for information on ADR in Hong Kong, Chris Potts of Crump & Co responded:

"..The fact is there will always be those who prefer to litigate. We used to invoke a "clause": "the London talk-it-over clause" a number of years ago in the Admiralty field when Hong Kong was still an outpost for certain well-known London shipping law firms. Somewhat unconventional though it was, that system used to work (and in some cases still does) in some of the more complex marine casualty cases (of course, inevitably, involving the insurance industry). The lesson here, I think, is that litigation can always be used as a framework/backdrop/means to an end, often involving jurisdiction being established/security being obtained through Court process. And if the solicitors appointed by the parties are able and willing to indulge in lateral thought towards dispute resolution, can be resolved with the mininum exposure on all sides. This is what all parts of the insurance industry involving dispute resolution almost invariably prefer: the muscle where needed but mitigating the winner/loser scenario."

A last edition from holiday land.

Enjoy.

2. Poem of the Week

On this last day of summer hols we present below an extract from 'The Triumph of Time' by Algernon Charles Swinburne, the Victorian poet who had many associations with the part of the Isle of Wight where your editor has a cottage. The poem complains of unrequited love:

I will go back to the great sweet mother,
Mother and lover of men, the sea.
I will go down to her, I and none other,
Close with her, kiss her and mix her with me;
Cling to her, strive with her, hold her fast:
O fair white mother, in days long past
Born without sister, born without brother,
Set free my soul as thy soul is free.

O fair green-girdled mother of mine,
Sea that art clothed with the sun and the rain, Thy sweet hard kisses are strong like wine,
Thy large embraces are keen like pain.
Save me and hide me with all thy waves,
Find me one grave of thy thousand graves
Those pure cold populous graves of thine
Wrought without hand in a world without stain

I shall sleep, and move with the moving ships,
Change as the winds change, veer in the tide;
My lips will feast on the foam of thy lips,
I shall rise with thy rising, with thee subside; Sleep,and not know if she be, if she were,
Filled full with life to the eyes and hair,
As a rose is fulfilled to the roseleaf tips
With splendid summer and perfume and pride.

3. US Port Security Update

We have received another post from Samuel Perez-Goldzveig and Kay Pysden from the marine and transit department of Solicitors Davies Lavery:

Under US bill number S.2426IS ‘Port Terrorism Prevention of 2002’, terms such as ‘freight of all kind’, ‘hazardous not other specified’, and ‘said to contain’, or ‘any description that does not provide adequate information regarding the merchandise on any manifest required by the customs service’ will be ‘prohibited’ (S.2426 Section 3 (A)(3)(E)).

Also the giving of wrong information to US Customs, at the time a vessel makes formal entry, will result in liability of the owner/operator of the vessel ‘or any party responsible for such’ wrongful information
(S.2426 Section 2 (2)).

Under this bill the penalties for an inaccurate manifest will be US 10,000 dollars; US 15,000 dollars and US 20,000 dollars. (S.2426 Section 4(1)(2).)

Under this bill it is intended that 10% of the merchandise carried on any vessel be inspected manually
(S.2426 Section 6(A)(1)).

Under this bill the Secretary of the Treasury will be authorised to award grants for research of methods to detect explosives, biological agents, gaseous agents and nuclear material.

On 11 June 2002 the Senator, Mr Corzine (Senator from New Jersey) and Mrs Clinton (Senator from New York) were added as co-sponsors of this bill, which suggests that it is gaining support.

This bill relates to goods entering the USA. Several ports in Europe have allowed US customs officials to arrange integration of the C-TPAT(Customs-Trade Partnerships Against Terrorism) programme and CIS(Container Security Initiative) such as Germany, Le Havre Seaport, Antwerp Seaport, Rotterdam Seaport and Singapore.

Clearly manual checking of 10% of cargo on all vessels will cause delays in discharge and clearance procedures if this bill is enacted. Furthermore, detailed attention will have to be paid to freight documentation as numerous customary phrases are intended, by this draft legislation, to be phased out. Those still using disallowed descriptive phrases will face heavy penalties if the bill passes into legislation.

http://www.davies-lavery.co.uk

4. Admiral Collins on Maritime Security

Courtesy of Denis Bryant's 'Maritime Items' we ran across the text of this speech delivered by Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant if the US Coast Guard, delivered at the end of July to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This is a helpful and relatively concise statement on how the US is going about redefining its priorities in this area.

http://www.csis.org/features/collins.pdf

5. The Portal

We ran across this publication during a browse looking for references on removals insurance. The Portal is a pdf based publication issued by the Household Goods Forwarders' Association of America and it will tell most general readers all they will ever need to know about the issues and challenges of the removals industry as well as a lot of day to day develop;ments. There is a down to earth article by Bill Rose on current insurance realities in removals.

http://www.hhgfaa.org/portal/Jul_00/julaug00.pdf

6. And Finally

Many thanks to Fairplay editor Paul Gunton for passing along this item which featured in ABTN (Air and Business Travel) e-zine.

The Paint Salesman

Customer: Hi. How much is your paint?

Paint call-centre clerk: Well, sir, that all depends on quite a lot of things.

Customer: Can you give me a guess? Is there an average price?

Clerk: Our lowest price is £12 a litre, and we have 60 different prices up to £200 a litre.

Customer: What's the difference in the paint?

Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.

Customer: Well, then I'd like some of that £12 paint.

Clerk: When do you intend to use the paint?

Customer: I want to paint tomorrow. It's my day off.

Clerk: Sir, the price for tomorrow is £200.

Customer: When would I have to paint to get the £12 paint?

Clerk: You would have to start very late at night in about 3 weeks. But you will have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.

Customer: You've got to be kidding!

Clerk: I'll check and see if we have any paint available.

Customer: But you say you can buy 24 hours a day.

Clerk: But it doesn't mean that we have paint available. We sell only a certain number of gallons on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price per gallon just went to £16. We don't have any more £12 paint.

Customer: The price went up as we were talking?

Clerk: Yes, sir. We change the prices and rules hundreds of times a day, and since you haven't actually given me your credit card number yet, we just decided to change. I suggest you purchase your paint as soon as possible. How many gallons do you want?

Customer: Well, maybe five gallons. Make that six, so I'll have enough.

Clerk: Oh no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy paint and don't use it, there are penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.

Customer: WHAT?

Clerk: We can sell enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will lose your remaining gallons of paint.

Customer: What does it matter whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it!

Clerk: We make plans based upon the idea that all our paint is used, every drop. If you don't, it causes us all sorts of problems.

Customer: This is crazy! I suppose something terrible happens if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!

Clerk: Oh yes! Every gallon you bought automatically becomes the £200 paint.

Customer: But what are all these, "Paint on sale from £10 a litre" signs?

Clerk: Well that's for our budget paint. It only comes in half-litres. One half-litre will do half a room. The second half-litre to complete the room is £20. None of the cans have labels, some are empty and there are no refunds, even on the empty cans.

Customer: To hell with this! I'll buy what I need somewhere else!

Clerk: If you want to do that it is entirely up to you and since I don't have your credit card number there will be no interview fee.

Customer: Perhaps I will buy half now and half later.

Clerk: I don't think so, sir. You may be able to buy paint for your bathroom and bedrooms, and your kitchen and dining room from someone else, but you won't be able to paint your connecting hall and stairway from anyone but us. And I should point out, sir, that if you paint in only one direction, it will be £300 a litre.

Customer: I thought your most expensive paint was £200!

Clerk: That's if you paint around the room to the point at which you started. A hallway is different.

Customer: And if I buy £200 paint for the hall, but only paint in one direction, you'll confiscate the remaining paint.

Clerk: No, we'll charge you an extra use fee plus the difference on your next litre of paint. But I believe you're getting it now, sir.

Customer: I work for a no frills airline. How about joining our reservations department!

(the colour of the paint was not discussed)

All enquiries about ABTN's e-zine to

info@abtn.co.uk

BOW WAVE is published each week to around 7300 Readers in the transport,insurance,shipping and finance industries.

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