BOW WAVE 201

Crossroads Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2003 WavyLine.com	Issue No 201 29 Sep 03
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. IUMI Meeting (Not the Crossroads Again)
3. CTC Essay Prize
4. Busan Clear Up
5. Thoughts on the Seatrade Maritime Exhibition in London
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Taken from Alexander Solzhenitsyn's, The Gulag Archipelago, Fortuna (London) 1974, a wise passage which could apply to any walk of life:-

What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? If you want, I'll spell it out for you right now. Do not pursue what is illusory--property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade , and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life--don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk,if both arms can bend, if both eyes see, and if both ears hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart--and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well. Do not hurt them or scold them, and never part from any of them in anger; after all, you simply do not know: it might be your last act before your arrest, and that will be how you are imprinted on their memory!
(pp591-592)

New Readers this week include:

Charles Chow, assistant general manager, Marine of HSBC Insurance Brokers(Asia-Pacific) Ltd.
MW Arnold of Arnold West Marine
Maritime lawyer Nicholas Robinson in Cornwall
Claims management expert John Whiting
Andrew Hughes of Richards Butler

News of Readers

Rail expert Bryan Stone is retiring (age 65) which he deems necessary and wise. He will continue to live with his enlarged family, near Basel, Switzerland, and to take an interest in aspects of freight transportation, rail and intermodal, and in the struggle for more liberal and competitive markets and effective service supply. No longer 'in business', he will take a role in a new 'Think Tank' called, for evident reasons, the Basel Group, made up of a core team of Eldon Horsman (former VP of Canadian National), and Heiner Bente, CEO of BSL Consulting, Hamburg. The Basel Group, which has support at the highest industry and political level in Europe, is examining all aspects of liberalised rail operations and market dynamics, and will hope to help to overcome obstacles and create effective models for a greater effectiveness of rail freight.
Contact Bryan at:

stone@eye.ch

The contributor of this week's item 6 is Roberto Bergami who is an academic teaching in the practice of International Trade and also the Program Director for the Bachelor of Business in Logistics and Transport Programs at Victoria University in Melbourne, Vic. Australia. His previous sins (which he describes as numerous) included 21 years in international trade and some consultancies at the local and international levels.

Contact him at:

Roberto.Bergami@vu.edu.au

Reader Dave Morrows, whose company Thales Geosolutions Group is working on the wreck of the 'Prestige' has sent in a report remarking how much the project is pushing at the barriers for subsea investigation, for example:

Successful ROV intervention operation at 3800 m covering:-

--External and Internal oil level measurement at 3800 m --Mini-cone penetrometer testing (MCPT) taken at 3800 m --Leak repairs - currently below 10 Kg/day in the bow and less than 10 Kg/day in the stern
--Multibeam sonar survey at 3800m
--Environmental measurements made at 3800 m, including samples of water and oil
--Geotechnical engineering studies at 3800m, including soil samples, box and piston cores

For more go to the website at:

http://www.thales-geosolutions.com/

Captain Christian Lueddeke is moving to Durban next month to take up the appointment as chairman of a maritime and insurance service company

Contact him at:

consult@bluewin.ch

Alice, the wife of Hans Carl known to many during his time at UNCTAD and the Multimodal Institute died last week. of cancer. We send our condolences to Hans and his family

hans.carl@infonie.fr

Transport consultant and port services specialist Katherine Lin in Hong Kong is looking for pastures new in Europe.

If you think you might have an opening for her contact her at:

katherine_puikar_lin@yahoo.com

A variety of pieces this week, most of them of interest, we hope.

Enjoy.

2. IUMI Meeting (Not the Crossroads Again)

From the many reports of this year's gathering at Seville none was more pungent that the short e-mail of one liners sent out by one self-effacing but well placed source in the industry. Here is an extract:

Most agree that Marine Insurance and particularly Marine Hull Insurance is at a cross-roads and affirmative action is desperately needed if we are not to attend a variety of funerals soon. Some of the following bullets illustrate the (need for) determination:

-- for every 1% interest drop, the technical combined loss ratio needs to improve by 2%.

-- the eternal question: "Why do we give more cover when prices go down?" - could brain damage be an answer?

-- the energy market is a very sick patient. 96 to 2000 produced $ 1 billion in premium yet claimed $ 1.9 billion in losses, 30% of which were due to defects in cover (bad wordings) .
-- the hull market has in recent years eroded by $ 6 billion in value. This is more than twice the current premium income.
-- shipowners' cost levels (including insurance premiums) have remained fairly stable over the last decade, irrespective of what they may tell you. Their buying habits have not.Rrepair costs have also remained rather stable

-- virtually all the major fleets go on global tender. Trust shipowners to find the best deal.

-- the reasons for the current dismal state cannot be found "outside". It's us. Lloyds results (hull) have produced red ink for 6 years (97 to 02) , so have France's, Germany's, Norway's. No wonder, what produced $ 4-5 in premiums in 1995 was available in 2000 for less than a Dollar.

-- the time has come for a good old-fashioned market collapse volatile marine return targets should be 5-10 points higher than for Property and Casualty business.

He concludes:

Pricing is of course important, yet a good price for a bad risk remains a bad choice, thus the power of inspired selection cannot be overemphasized.

We agree.

3. CTC Essay Prize

This year's CTC Essay Prize was awarded to Daniel Ceri Lewis who is a pupil barrister at 3 Hare Court in London. His essay on "Does the Marine Insurance Act 1906 serve justice between insurer and insured?" was judged by the Chief Examiner Lord Justice Clarke to be the worthy winner.

You can read the essay here:

http://www.charlestaylorconsulting.com/pdfs/winningessay2003.pdf

4. Busan Clear Up

Choi Su-Jeong who is in charge of international public relations of Busan MOMAF(Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) has sent this report to describe the clearing up in the Port of Busan following Typhoon Maemi:-

Busan Port hastening to return to normal operation halted by typhoon

Busan Port is taking positive steps toward restoring the damages caused by typhoon "Maemi".

It is busy in estimating the damage of the wrecked or derailed Container Cranes (11 in number) and is urgently searching for alternative cranes at home and overseas.

Fears of losing container cargo handling to other places are subsiding because the ships scheduled to call at the the damaged terminal are working in cooperation with other terminal operation companies.

According to Busan MOMAF(Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) September 19, Jaseongdae terminal(Hutchison Busan Container Terminal) will go into one berth operation after 2 derailed Container Cranes (out of 3) are repaired by October 20. It expects to handle 90 per cent of container cargo at the terminal at year-end when the other container cranes are also repaired . In addition, it is seeking to acquire cranes on the market and plans to move one crane from another terminal.

HBCT is operating normally by utilizing its own berths and other terminals in the port..

Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal(DPCT),is mobilizing one mobile crane with the help of the army , and is looking for cranes in the Chinese market. It also considering diverting cranes currently under production to the terminal.
DPCT is deploying large mother ships into Sinseondae / Jaseongdae Terminal(HBCT) or is directly handling their container cargo at the terminal.Feeder ships are able to berth at DPCT or do cargo work at conventional piers. There are prospects that some ships will be able to berth following their ordinary schedules to some degree.

An official of Evergreen, one of main shipping liners of DPCT said " we will keep on calling at Busan Port. Our ships are deployed to unload at other terminals including Sinseondae".It is said Wan Hai and NYK notified their intention to call at Busan Port without interruption.

5. Thoughts on the Seatrade Maritime Exhibition in London

The word about the event in London was not at all bad. Many Readers have commented that the premises were spacious, the exhibits interesting and the programme well founded. The formative role played by Andrew Craig-Bennett, the columnist and industry thinker was also singled out. The concerns expressed were perhaps best expressed by the Tradewinds piece by Terry MacAlister this week. The gate was of a good quality but a little sparse. The show, in only a small section of the Excel exhibition centre seemed to echo the lowish position of the maritime world in modern British life. And yet the empthy with the sea, with international commerce and faraway places are some of the most engaging features of these islands. Yet we are sure that the future consists of the distribution and networking of core skills to maritime centres and customers around the world. For London to remain at the core of the maritime services sector, it has to export some of what has made it different to all sorts of places, and still keep a vital strength at home. This process is often called dematerialisation in the world of IT. It is not an easy thing to pull off by tradition-minded industries, but it is difficult to imagine a credible international future without it.

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Roberto Bergami of Victoria University who sent in these children's science exam answers. Clever.

Q: Name the four seasons.

A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.

A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?

A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?

A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?

A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?

A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?

A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?

A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.

A: Premature death.

Q: What is artificial insemination?

A: When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (e.g., abdomen.)

A: The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?

A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?

A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section"

A: The Caesarean Section is a district in Rome.

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?'

A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

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