BOW WAVE 239

Readers' Letters Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2004 WavyLine.com	Issue No 239 21 Jun 04
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Letter to the Committee
3. Master's Guide to Berthing--Out Now
4. Maersk Contract at Khor Az Zubayr Extended
5. The ISPS Code--Problem Solved
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when He did not want to sign.

Le hasard c'est peut-etre le pseudonyme de Dieu, quand il ne veut pas signer.

Jacques Anatole I. France (Jacques Anatole Thibault), Le Jardin d'Epicure

New Readers this week include:

Erhan Uyar in Switzerland
Tom Zachariassen of Nordea Bank in Singapore
Sinologist Peter Boden
Helen Bowers and Natasha Griffith of brokers Willis Les Chapman, Director of Maritime Security, Control Risks Martin West of FM Global

Bow Wave Reader Vacancy

UIB are looking for a young and energetic P&I broker to fill a vacancy created by the imminent departure of Abby Jeeves. Ideally suiting someone with at least 5 years experience in P&I, this job might appeal to an established broker looking to take on a more demanding role or an underwriter who is looking for a change of emphasis.

Applicants should apply in confidence to Phil Mitchell at:-

pbm@uib.co.uk

News of Readers

P&I Underwriter James Kent has moved from the Steamship Mutual to British Marine

Lexicographer Michael Quinion, whose e-zine World Wide Words is received by many Bow Wave Readers is off on his hols. He writes:-

HOLIDAY My wife and I should about now be starting to enjoy the delights of the Italian lakes. As a result, next week's newsletter will be sent out a little later than usual. The Web site will not be updated until I return. Messages and comments will be as welcome as ever - just don't expect a prompt reply! Please note the request above to put "XYZZY" in the subject line of your e-mail - my mail box will contain at least 15,000 messages on my return, some 14,000 of which will be spam. There's no way I'm going to search through that amount of rubbish to find any misfiled gems!

TheEditor@worldwidewords.org

Readers Write:

From Captain John Sweetman

I am now starting out as a ship & cargo surveyor based in Southern Thailand/SE Asia, as I now cannot get a full seagoing medical as the result of a motor cycle accident! I am fully mobile now and actively working as a volunteer with the Stella Maris here in Songkhla. It is this I am writing about, during my employment searching (largely on the Internet!) my name & address have become known to idiots & villains as well as prospective employers! As a result all sorts of undesirable stuff has begun to arrive. Some of it detrimental to seafarers & other people using the net to find employment. I wonder would it be possible to use the good offices of Bow Wave to advertise & help people become aware of the problems!

We in the Stella Maris have already been victims of a "Pop up Browser" which is harmless, but a confounded nuisance if one is not watching the screen! But it is the scams & viruses, which primarily worry me!

There is genuine work going on off Escravos in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, & they are recruiting for all branches including seamen for the project. However be aware & be especially careful of any job offersa.pl
frontierltd2@702mail.co.zaltd@tiscali.co.uk You get an impressive (Possibly starting off life as a genuine contract!) document offering all sorts of impressive salaries & conditions. When you contact them a request to send USD550 to a Nigerian Travel agent supposedly to expedite Visa's & clearances etc arrives. Tiscali on the surface is a respectable if rather fly by night, new UK Media/communications Company, but there appear to be some rotten apples in the barrel, One Marion Hayes appears to be in the thick of it! I have informed the British Embassy in Bangkok, who handle Nigerian affairs. They are aware but can do little more than advise people who contact them! This Scam has popped up again to my notice via the good offices of a comrade. Advertisement & knowledge are the only ways to stop people falling for these scams! Also for the Really Stupid or Greedy are the Lots of money/ won the Lottery/Got A Ph.D./ Get hold of Holocaust victims money etc Scams. These seem to originate largely in West Africa, are usually from odd Email addresses are mis-spelled & are usually 2-4 KB in size, They are harmless, but fill up your intray, More worrying are the viruses, often about 41KB (typically!) from a weird Email address. Often advertising a fictitious mail non delivery. But may have an attachment! I tentatively opened a 67KB thing with an attachment! The introduction promised "virus free!" but Fortunately I couldn't open the attachment as all sorts of bells & whistles went off! The Virus protection on the machine caught it. Unlike a friend of mine you is a 70 years young, semi (but not quite!) retired surveyor here in Thailand. That not only crashed his computer, but corrupted all his back up as well!

So you see I am not very happy! If you can help advertise these horrible things, & prevent people getting into trouble you would be doing us all a favour!

Best Regards

Captain John Sweetman
Stella Maris, Songkhla. Thailand.

contact him at:-

jgsweetman@yahoo.co.uk

From Mr Peter Bingham

Gray Page's comments about the efforts of the Iraqi Ports Authority to comply with the ISPS Code (Bow Wave Issue 238) seem very mean spirited.

The CPA's tender for consultants to bring the IPA to compliance received 12 workable offers from companies in the UK, US, Iraq and Greece. 8 companies offered to complete their work by 1st July.
We know it will be quick, but GMSSCO are off to a very good start and believe that they can finish their work by the end of the month.

It is obvious that getting Iraq's ports up to 21st century operational effectiveness after more than 25 years in the dark is a challenge, but we have been progressing it for more than a year, with excellent support from the two foreign operating companies. In Umm Qasr we have raised 29 substantial wrecks and dredged to 12 metres, we are discharging more than 50 dry cargo ships per month and despatching 2 to 3 container trains out of the port per day, according to demand. That does not sound to me like a port that is 'barely operational by international standards'. Meanwhile in Khoz az Zubayr, following a successful dredging campaign, Maersk are receiving 20 oil and 15 general cargo ships per month, including Maersk Alaska and her sistership Maersk Arizona, the longest dry cargo ships ever seen in Iraqi ports.

It is also pretty obvious, under the difficult circumstances in which we are living out here, that security in the Iraqi ports is at a level which is probably not seen in any other port seeking to comply with ISPS, and while that in itself does not qualify the ports, it is providing a head start to GMSSCO.

People are risking their lives every day and a huge amount of work is going on in Iraq (and its ports) to bring the country back to the high standards which it used to enjoy and which the great majority of its people are yearning for. It would be so helpful if Gray Page, and too many other publications and programmes, cut the cynicism and looked at and admired the many positive things which are going on out here.

Also, why did Gray Page need to tell us that the winning company's subcontractor was "headed by former Scots Guard officer Lord Richard Westbury". It suggests a sneering journalist writing someone off as a member of the upper classes. I just looked up his background and he seems eminently qualified for the job:

Educated at Harrow School and Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, Lord Westbury was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1970 and subsequently joined the SAS in 1975. He served four operational tours, and was decorated for bravery in 1978 and appointed MBE in 1979. During his time with the SAS, he saw service on every continent and was directly involved in handling a number of major international incidents during the 1980's. From 1988 to 1991, Lord Westbury served as Deputy Chief Executive of The Leadership Trust, an executive training centre providing leadership and management training for over 2,500 chief executive officers and other key executives each year. In 1991, Lord Westbury joined Defence Systems Ltd., a company providing security services internationally. He became a director and Deputy Chief Executive in 1993 and Chief Executive Officer in 1995. By 1995 the client base included over 200 supra-national agencies and multinational companies, including major transportation and energy companies. In 1996, Lord Westbury and the Chairman of Defence Systems led a successful management buyout from Hambro Group Investments with the support of Nat West Ventures and DLJ Phoenix, and merged with a U.S. public company in 1997. In 1998, Lord Westbury formed the Hart Group in order to provide specialized security services, particularly for the maritime sector.

Peter Bingham

CPA Ports & Maritime Adviser

peter.bingham@CPA-IQ.ORG

Many interesting letters in this week's Edition. As 01 July creeps up there is a lot of preoccupation with security matters.

We are reliably informed that the fences between Peter Bingham and our esteemed contributors Gray Page are in first class repair.

Enjoy.

2. Letter to the Committee

We have received via Don O'Hare of the World Shipping Council a copy of the letter sent in by a long list of industry signatories opposing legislation designed to place the US Coast Guard in charge of approving the Vessel Security Plans of owners under foreign flags:-

June 18, 2004

Dear Members of the Coast Guard Authorization Act Conference Committee:

We are writing to you in anticipation of an upcoming conference committee vote regarding the proposed provision in Title IV, Section 415 of the House version of the U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Bill (H.R. 2443), which seeks to require the Coast Guard to review and approve vessel security plans for vessels that already have security plans approved by their governments pursuant to an international convention negotiated by the U.S government.

We strongly oppose the House provision, and are writing to urge you to support instead Section 326 of the Senate version of the bill.

The signatories to this letter represent U.S. importers, exporters, manufacturers, and carriers and their employees responsible for the movement of America's international maritime trade. Taken together, the signatories' contribution to the U.S. economy exceeds $2 trillion annually and millions of American jobs.

Background: Following September 11, in order to improve the security of international maritime commerce, the U.S. government led a successful initiative at the International Maritime Organization to create a new international vessel and port security regime. This new security code, called the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, mirrors the regulations issued by the Coast Guard pursuant to the mandate of the Maritime Transportation and Security Act (MTSA) and will take effect on July 1st of this year--in approximately two weeks. The maritime authorities of all trading nations and the industry have been working diligently to be in compliance with the Code by July 1.

The Coast Guard has implemented the MTSA regulations and the ISPS Code in a consistent and effective manner, by requiring each flag state to approve security plans for its vessels and ports that comply with the Code, and by implementing a comprehensive port state enforcement program, in which all foreign vessels seeking entry to the United States are boarded by the Coast Guard and required to demonstrate compliance with the Code.

The House provision of the Coast Guard Authorization bill seeks to change the rules and now require the U.S. Coast Guard to review and approve all foreign vessel security plans. Proponents of the House provision have argued that failing to require the Coast Guard to perform these plan approvals would place America's security in the hands of unreliable foreign governments and would limit the United States' ability to ensure vessels calling the United States are secure. This is simply not correct for the following reasons:

(The reasons given at length in the letter are in short)

1. The Coast Guard has implemented a robust port state enforcement program.
2. This provision would detract from, not enhance, maritime security.
3. This provision would establish a very troubling security precedent that could cause major problems for U.S. flag vessels in foreign countries.
4. Enactment of the House provision would violate the U.S. government's international commitments.
5. The House provision would cripple U.S. commerce. 6. There is no factual support for the House provision.

*************************************

We urge you to oppose retention of Title IV, Section 415 of the House version of the U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Bill in conference. We appreciate your continued efforts to develop and support security initiatives that enhance the security of America's international trade.

Sincerely yours,

American Maritime Congress
Gloria Cataneo Tosi, President

American President Lines
Eric Mensing, Vice President, Government Markets
& Government Affairs

Chamber of Shipping of America
Joseph J. Cox, President

International Association of Independent Tanker Owners Peter Swift, Managing Director

Farrell Lines
Michael J. White, President

Lykes Lines Limited, LLC
John W. Murray, President & CEO

Maersk Sealand
Eugene K. Pentimonti, Vice President for Governmental Affairs

Maritime Institute for Research & Industrial Development Jim Patti, President

National Association of Manufacturers
Keith W. McCoy, Director of Environmental Policy

National Industrial Transportation League
Peter J. Gatti, Executive Vice President

Retail Industry Leaders Association
Sandra L. Kennedy, President

Transportation Institute
James L. Henry, Chairman & President

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Andrew Howell, Vice President, Homeland Security

World Shipping Council
Christopher L. Koch, President & CEO

Read the letter in full on our weblog:-

http://bowwave.blogspot.com/

3. Master's Guide to Berthing--Out Now

The Standard P&I Club's new book called "A Master's Guide to Berthing" covers all aspects of the berthing operation, paying special attention to the hazards that make this one of the more loss-prone aspects of seafaring.

Eric Murdoch, the Club's loss prevention manager says "The purpose of this guide is to provide some insight into what can go wrong and why, why ships are designed the way they are, why they handle the way they do and how to berth them."

The advice is backed up with a series of case histories and illustrated by diagrams.

"On its own, the guide will not teach you how to become a ship handler, but it does provide background material to help a good ship handler become a better one", says Eric.

The guide was drawn up in consultation with leading experts, including Capt. Chris Clarke of the Warsash Maritime Centre and Dr. Ian W. Dand, Director of Hydrodynamics at the Haslar Marine Technology Park, near Portsmouth, both in the UK.

The guide is being distributed free to all club members.

For further information, contact:_

eric.murdoch@ctcplc.com

4. Maersk Contract at Khor Az Zubayr Extended

Dominic d'Angelo in Basrah writes:-

CPA South has signed a contract with AP Moller-Maersk (APMM) extending their current management of the port of Khor Az Zubayr until 31 August 2004.

The contract, which allows for a further two month extension if needed, will ensure the continuing effective management and technical operation of the port until a long-term operator is found. Port management will then be handed over to a company chosen by the Iraqi Ministry of Transport and Ports Authority in response to a recent tender for the long-term management of the port.

A spokesman for CPA South said: "Maersk will continue to manage and operate port facilities to ensure the smooth flow of supplies and cargo through the port, including urgently needed food and materials for reconstruction and rehabilitation.A major part of Maersk's work is to provide technical and other assistance to the Iraqi Ports Authority in areas such as maintenance, the implementation of improvements, security and port management."

For Further details:-

dominic.dangelo@cpa-iq.org

5. The ISPS Code--Problem Solved

Reader and shipping man Geoff Hunt recently had this letter published by the [London] Daily Telegraph, on 15th June,

Dear Sir,

Most world trade, by volume, is carried by ship. In a few weeks, all internationally trading ships and ports are required to have a new certificate, the International Ship Security Certificate [ISSC] - in the wake of 9/11. Currently, less than a third of the world's ships have their ISSC - possibly only 20 - 25%, depending on how the necessary ships are defined and counted. Only 300, out of perhaps 10 000, ports have been approved by their Governments.

The nations of the world, currently meeting in London as the International Maritime Organisation's Marine Safety Committee, are insisting that there will be no exceptions after the 1st July deadline. 'Zero tolerance' will ensure that ships not in compliance will have to stay in port. Ships lacking their ISSC will stop.

There appears to be a determination not to recognise that it is now physically impossible for all ports and all ships to have their security systems verified before the deadline. If half the world's fleet stops on the Second of July, please can someone explain how oil, food, and raw materials - as well as finished goods - will travel, if not by ship? Why are governments taking this irresponsible,bluff-calling, approach - when it cannot work?

Best Regards,
Geoff Hunt

======================
He received the following reply from Laurence Goodwin: ======================

17th June 2004

Dear Sir,

Re. your letter of 15 June to the Daily Telegraph concerning ISSC's, be advised that the Government has the matter in hand.

Ex D-Day Landing Barges are being assembled to go out to Merchant ships beyond the Three Mile Limit and bring cargoes ashore, to be landed on deserted beaches.

Neither Barges nor Beaches are included in the ISSC regulations.

Further attempts are being made to locate the remains of the PLUTO [Pipe Line Under The Ocean], which was used for weeks after D-Day to supply petrol to our armies in Normandy. It will be useful for unloading tankers.

Ports will be secured by distributing Green Goddess fire-engines.

As a back-up returning football hooligans and seamen on shore leave are being organised to riot down Whitehall. This is expected to lead to a Sailor's Strike, and enable the Government to blame them for the chaos after July.

We have the technology and the will to win. rest assured the Government is determined to succeed. The existence of the UK as a secure island, free from all International and Euroland interference is the primary responsibility of the State. The PM always has these problems in mind. they do not go away.

Sincerely,
Laurence Goodwin.

====================
He Concludes:-
====================

I am sure your many devoted readers will be pleased to hear that the ISPS Code will not be a problem for the UK.

Similar measures can be taken elsewhere, adapted to local technology as necessary - so the use of hovercraft, barges, junks, dhows and dug-outs will fully cover the requirements of the full panoply of merchant shipping, and ports can be secured with old Ladas & Trabants, unsold SUVs, rickshaws, etc. The rest of the world, outside the UK, will have to produce its own windy political rhetoric - unhappily, we have none to spare!

Problem Solved.

Best Regards,
Geoff Hunt

6. And Finally...

A fellow editor upon reading the native English item in Bow Wave Issue 236 recalled another piece which adds a few more subtleties of pronunciation for the edification of all those who may think that English is an easy language:-

ENGLISH IS TOUGH STUFF

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter, how it's written).
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Petal, panel, and canal,
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion;
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk.

Pronunciation - think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally: which rhymes with enough -
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is not give up!

PS.....

From Dave Letteney come these aviation funnies

You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3. (Paul F. Crickmore-test pilot)

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky.
(From an old carrier sailor)

If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.

When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.
What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, ... the pilot dies.

Never trade luck for skill.

The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Oh S. . .!"

Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.

Progress in airline flying; now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.

Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.

A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck ; three in a row is prevarication.

I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous.
Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!

Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag for the purpose of storing dead batteries.

Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about
it.

When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten.

Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day.

Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII: When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slow and gently as possible.
The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; ... it can just barely kill you.
(Attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot)
A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its maximum.
(Jon McBride, astronaut)

If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.
(Bob Hoover - renowned aerobatic and test pilot)
Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime. (Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970).
If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.
Basic Flying Rules: Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there.
You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.

As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, "What happened?" The pilot's reply, "I don't know, I just got here myself!" (Attributed to Ray Crandell Lockheed Test Pilot)

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