BOW WAVE 149

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2002 WavyLine.com	Issue No 149 30 Sep 02
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Strange Absence of New Mutuals
3. Maritime Writers' Site
4. Maritime Security Q & A from Davies Lavery
5. David Letteney's Picks
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Last week's Issue--called the 419 Scam edition--went out at least 7 times to readers as a technical gremlin caused grief. To those who wrote in complaining, we sent out the following abject apology:

"Multiple Sendings of Bow Wave Issue 148 on September 22

We understand from our distributors, Lyris-Dundee in Michigan that the multiple sendings resulted from a strange interaction between the editor's return address and a bounced message from a single Reader in Spain which in effect caused the server to send a false message out a number of times.. We have removed the address concerned and have taken remedial action. There is no virus in any of the message. We are sorry to have caused you any inconvenience."

The thing of it is, the 419 Scam edition was well above our average run of Issues and we were rather proud of it. If any Reader would like to see another copy of it, please write in and we will resend it.

We experienced a problem of this kind a few years ago and our Readers unsubscribed in their hundreds. This time we lost 17. Thank you for your forbearance, dear Readers.

New Readers this week include:

Jeffrey Pribor of DNB Group in Norway
Annalies Hopkins of the Informa Group
Cruise Consultant Kathleen Gan in Singapore

News of Readers

Jerry Whitmarsh writes

Many thanks for the [forlorn] attempt to explain the multiple copies.
I read your "ezine" religiously every week. It is very interesting, though leaving out the bits about shipping, insurance etc would improve it no end.

Colin Wright of IACS writes in respect of the 419 Scams:

Re the West African emails, it is tempting to send them all to the Nigerian
High Commission. However, its website says:

"The Central Bank of Nigeria implores you to assist in the fight against these criminal syndicates by reporting any solicitation to your local law enforcement agencies or the local International Police Organization (INTERPOL)."

http://www.nigeriahighcommission.co.uk/index2.htm

On the other hand, swamping the HC might encourage them to actually do something about closing down these email warehouses.

Peter Upton, the Group Security Advisor to the Prudential has some good advice:

Re: 419 e-mails.

The best way to stop these nuisances is to send the e-mail to: "frauddesk@city-of-london.police.uk"ndon) and, in any event, to:
"abuse@originating eg: "abuse@yahoo.com"

This will be their 'internet police' and they should close down the e-mail address.

Back to normal this week. We hope.

Enjoy.

2. The Strange Absence of New Mutuals

Your editor's column this week in Quarterpoints asks why, in the current insurance climate there are so few mutuals emerging in response to the capacity crunch. Is it

The unclubbable qualities of modern commercial companies? The unmodern qualities of mutual insurance associations? Modern club management?
The unsympathetic regulatory requireements of governments?

Find out more in the Tuesday edition of Lloyd's List.

To Subscribe go to:

http://wwwlloydslist.com/subscribe/?source=0BTJ

For a free 7-day trial sign up at

http://www.lloydslist.com/register/?source=0BTI

3. Maritime Writers' Site

Paul Gunton of Fairplay advises::

This site, for marine writers, might be of interest to Bow Wave Readers:

http://www.seadolby.com/

4. Maritime Security Q & A from Davies Lavery

Solicitor Ms. Kay Pysden of Davies Lavery attended the FIATA World Congress in Istanbul 8-12 September 2002. The issue of port, vessel and container security was discussed. In this report is a summary of the main points raised by Mr. Douglas Browning, Deputy US Customs Commissioner who also attended the conference in order to explain the position of US Customs together with Davies Lavery's comments.

Mr Browning stated that the following points were of concern to the Freight Forwarders:

i. DB: freight forwarders cannot give information that they do not receive from their customers.

DL: We have always maintained that security should commence from the moment the farmer or manufacturer begins the process of packing. If there is more information about the products or produce and the state of the same, there will be more certainty due to the fact that there would be sufficient data. The time between the moment of preparing the goods until the sealing of the container is the key to control of the information.

ii. DB: Many states and Associations realise that these security measures will increase costs.

DL: We have always maintained that the security of a nation should be the duty of the government therefore the maintenance of the security infrastructure as well as its regulation should be borne by the correspondent government. The private industry does not have the uniform capability to provide standards which will be widely accepted by other jurisdictions. Governments have the interests of the security of their country as their prime concern. The private sector needs to protect its own interests and these interests will be in conflict at times.

iii. DB: Security must be global i.e. door to door.

DL: We agree with Mr. Browning’s comments and that is why we maintain that security should begin at the moment of packing the goods. This can be achieved only when precise information of the contents in a container is supplied. Intermediate parties will only be able to pass on information provided by the supplier and will not be able to verify it unless packed goods are unpacked and checked at every stage which will be untenable in terms of trade facilitation.

iv. DB: The US made bilateral agreements because of lack of time.

DL. It is understandable that the US has sought to make these agreements. As time is of the essence, governments are the only ones with the necessary deployment to develop a security network within a short period of time which could help the transport infrastructure at large as well as those in the transport industry which are in a lesser position. The USA is not the only country which needs to review the security issue at a governmental level.

v. DB: The transport industry must give its view so antiterrorist regulations will not cause detrimental effects insofar as trade facilitation is concerned.

DL: There are many detrimental effects which the expected antiterrorist legislation in the USA will have. Some of these have already been discussed in our previous reports. For example, this expected legislation may bring criminal charges without giving the necessary legal protection; it leaves many in the private sector with uncertainty as to what the future will bring; and terms such as "said to contain" will apparently be obsolete. Once again if governments accepted their role in protecting the transport industry, these possible envisaged detrimental effects may be avoided. For example if the information given from the moment of packing were to be strictly regulated the term "said to contain" would have the required value. Perhaps the approach should be how to improve the expectation of these terms long used by the trade rather than draft legislation which will make its use obsolete.

vi. DB: Penalties are part of the process. There will be mitigation.

DL: In our opinion antiterrorism legislation should protect the transport industry. We are pleased that Mr Browning stated that there will be mitigating circumstances. In our reports we have discussed this issue. In our opinion penalties may not be necessary. What is necessary, is strict regulation and participation of the government in implementing national security rather than passing it on to the transport industry. With adequate measures being implemented, the vulnerability of the transport industry as a terrorist target and the burden given to it by antiterrorist legislation may be lifted. It is true to say that penalties have a deterrent effect. The balance needs to be found between penalties for breaches; the actual cost to those involved in the transport process; and the effectiveness and fairness of antiterrorist regulations. Perhaps penalties could be delayed until a system of security is established. Alternatively, proper protection must be available to those subject to penalties by way of legitimate means to challenge the penalties or lessen the sum payable in appropriate circumstances.

vii. DB: Some firms will have to accept that they may go out of business because of these regulations and perhaps the best way to avoid this is to take collective action.

DL: This result perhaps may be avoided if, as already mentioned in our past reports, governments were to have an active role in protecting the transport industry, which is vital to us all and a victim as well, not a willing perpetrator.

viii. DB: US Customs wants pre-screening of goods so there will be no delays in US ports.

DL: This means that the delay will occur in those ports which send goods to the USA. We have also mentioned that equipment such as scanners is expensive and that to locate a few scanners in a few ports is not sufficient to improve the security and the transportation of goods. Also the cost of personnel which will be needed to keep this equipment operational will have to be considered. We have warned that if delays take place, buyers and sellers need to consider this issue as do insurers.

ix. DB: US Customs have a difficulty with terms such as "said to contain" and "Freight all kinds".

DL: We issued press releases and reports on this subject. We foresaw that such terms would not be accepted in the future by the USA and Mr. Browning confirmed this in a report on Friday 13 September 2002. He also said that this was a non negotiable issue.

We are raising enquiries with the US Government in Washington and Mr. Browning on this issue. We are still waiting for a reply to confirm if what has been reported in the media is correct. How the insurance market will react to this announcement is yet to be seen.
Summary:

Regulation if not legislation is needed as a matter of urgency but time is also needed so that an efficient system may be created. The dilemma with which the transport industry has been left is that if legislation is not uniform, there will be no certainty as to what the legal obligations and responsibilities are under different jurisdictions. This has always been an existing problem. The issue at this time is whether uniform measures will be accepted in all jurisdictions.

Contact details

Kay.Pysden@davies-lavery.co.uk

Sam.Perez@davies-lavery.co.uk

5. David Letteney's Picks

Here's a site I use to check out hoaxes, urban legends and virus reports, both malicious and benign. It is a creation of the Computer Industry Advisory Committee and has additional sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Energy.

http://www.hoaxbusters.com
For your many contributors who enjoy the written word and its more humorous aspects, I refer you to the Bulwer Lytton Home Page. This is a contest (with no prizes) sponsored by San Jose State University (California) and was prompted by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's works, notably Paul Clifford, the opening sentence of which begins "It was a dark and stormy night...".

To quote from the organisers:

"The rules to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest are childishly simple: Sentences may be of any length (though you go beyond 50 or 60 words at your peril), and entrants may submit more than one, but all entries must be original and previously unpublished. Entries should be submitted on index cards, the sentence on one side and the entrant's name, address, and phone number on the other.

Entries will be judged by categories, from "general" to detective, western, science fiction, romance, and so on. There will be overall winners as well as category winners.

The symbolic deadline is April 15 (a date Americans associate with painful submissions and making up bad stories), but we accept entries right up until we announce the final results, i.e., late June.

Send your entries to:
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
Department of English
San Jose State University
San Jose, CA 95192-0090 "

Your editor will suggest to the organisers that they open a category for the Great Maritime Novel

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/.

6. And Finally....

Many thanks to Lyndon Johnson for this series of photographs which appear to have been taken in Hungary. Amazing stuff:

Dear Insurance Claims Department,

Honestly, it was just a little puddle, how was I to know?
http://www.minca.cz/suzuki/

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