BOW WAVE 245

Bow Wave Issue 245--Bumper Summer Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2004 WavyLine.com	Issue No 245 02 Aug 04
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of July in Marine
3. Guest Column: A Shipping Gastronome in Syria
4. Ideas-New Concept for Corroded Pipework
5. Memories of Niton Radio
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Cargoes-a new stanza

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory, and apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores, With a cargo of diamonds, emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days, With a cargo of Tyne coal, road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, ironware, and cheap tin trays.

Another big containership, painted grey for cheapness Keeping to a schedule, never mind the weather
Containers out of China: cameras, computers
Fireworks, toys, clothes and whatever.

(Andrew Craig-Bennett--after Masefield)

New Readers this week include:

Captain Philip Kempe of the Swedish Club
Reto Toggwiler of Messrs Bilbrough
David Grainger of Aon London
Marine surveyor David Jackson from Anacortes, Washington Insurance Consultant David Taylor of ISL
Peter Rees Smith on the island of Nevis

News of Readers

David Mockett formerly of Marine & Offshore Consultants (Yemen) Ltd,after a stay of six years, is leaving Yemen and returning to Plymouth in Devon. He is happy to return to Yemen should the opportunity or requirement arise.

Contact him at:-

david@djmockett.freeserve.co.uk

Peter Taylor has returned to the UK after just over a year in Moscow as part of a project to transfer Insurance Advisory Services to the Russian Federation.

Contact him at:-

peter.taylor.isl@blueyonder.co.uk

http://www.insurancesolutions.co.uk/

Chris Wielders is changing jobs and is joining the American Insurance Group as their Regional (European) Marine Loss Control Manager.

Contact him at:-

cwielders@am-group-survey.com

Derek Luxford is leaving Phillips Fox in Sydney at the end of July to join Hicksons as a partner from Tuesday 3 August. With the agreement of Phillips Fox he is taking his Transport and Trade practice with him

derek.luxford@hicksons.com.au

Readers Write:

David Lorimer in Rio de Janeiro writes:-

The QM2 reference in Bow Wave Issue 244 brings to mind an amusing mistake we made some months ago during her maiden voyage. One of our tasks is monitoring vessel calls at all ports in Brazil; IMO numbers are not always readily forthcoming from port authorities and we managed to record the ship's Salvador call as one of a homonymous (sans "2") fishing vessel of slightly over 100 GRT. The penny dropped with a tremendous clang when she berthed at Rio, towering over our office building.

lorimer@amcham.com.br

A bumper edition for the end of July. Many thanks to our energetic correspondents whose devotion to duty at the height of summer can only be described as admirable.

Enjoy.

2. The Month of July in Marine

Walter Mellert writes:-

Last month's luck seems to be holding also in July - no major marine catastrophes - maybe we should jointly refrain from uncrossing our fingers! And, while you're at it, don't let go of that piece of wood you've been holding on to!

Some of this month's highlights:

· 876 boxships, totalling 3.5 mio TEU carrying capacity, that are on the worlds orderbook (delivery in up to 4 years) are more than half of what is currently trading. Supply and demand issues are, alas rarely, discussed.

· ENA2 a double hull tanker carrying sulphuric acid sank after colliding with the box ship Pudong Senator in the port of Hamburg. The captain was drunk and most of the cargo has leaked. 11 people were injured.

· 42 year old Bolivian flagged general cargo ship Dahomey Express becomes the first ISPS casualty as the USCG refuse her entry into Miami because of non-compliance.

· Are we surprised hearing that there is a black market for ISPS certificates? Not really!

· Rumor has it that al-Queda operative Jafar AlTayar had plans to plant bombs in the Panama canal.Con loss underwriters beware!

· Aspen Ins Co, founded in July 2002, now sporting a new team ex Marlborough Syndicate figures Hull insurance to be the field to expand into. Wish them luck.

· Cosco places orders for two 300k dwt VLCCs at a Japanese shipyard for $ 90 mio each. Delivery in 2007 and 2008! Where will this all end?

· US court rules that the breakup of 72 built boxship MSC Carla in 97 was due to Hyundai goofing when they jumboized her in 84. Interesting liability prospects. An appeal is likely.

· After an 81 day salvage job involving transfer of 1'900 tons of fuel and 140'000 tons of iron ore the holed Cape Africa finally makes it into Cape town.

· Prestige, Tasman Spirit and now Cap Anamur point to the fact that seafarers acting responsibly in crisis might end up in jail. Let's hope behavioural change doesn't follow suit.

· All Baltic Indices show tick-mark rises this month, with the Dry index - often linked to the global stockmarket performance - showing nearly 40% up! To buy or not to buy!

· S&P revises the outlook rating for the Norwegian Hull Club from stable to negative - in keeping with S&P's general assessment of the global hull market health.

· Lloyd's plans to cut their 2005 stamp capacity. Estimates range from 10% to almost 30% off this year's record £ 15 bio.

· A freak tornado in Duisburg, Germany (!) blows some containers into the Rhine and topples a 170 t harbor crane damaging a river vessel. Talk about the weather going nuts!

· That's it, attack the messenger! The Indonesian navy chief blames the IMB for "inflating" the growing number of piracy attacks in the Malacca Strait; the IMB disagrees.

· These days, the papers burst with articles on the cyclical nature of marine, how this was always so and how it must be managed. Where were all these wise guys in 1997, when the politically correct flavour of the year was: There's no cycle, we have a paradigm-shift. Temporarily brain-dead?

· Panama canal authority warns that non ISPS compliant vsls will be denied entry. At the same time reports have it that all the Arabian Gulf Ports are still non-compliant.

· Airfreight for the first 5 mts 2004 is up 12% over the same period last year.

· Hull rates are "still" going up - with 10% the usual (insufficient) figure stated - yard rates, on the other hand see real increases as capacity for this highly visible underperformer tightens.

· The London Market's Joint Cargo Committee yields to competition laws and disbands its war risks rating committee. Gone are the good old days of schedules with recommended minimum rates for voyages to risky and other places.

· Quote of the month: "The US insurance industry has lost more money underwriting in the last 25 years than the estimated global costs of World War I". It wasn't Marine though!

· Second hand bulker prices slip by 20%, with handy sized ones losing nearly 30%.

· A Norwegian family of 3 climbing the bulbous bow of QM2 serves as a reminder that being ISPS compliant and maintaining that free zone around the ship are two different bags of beans.

· Double digit container traffic growth - some estimates speak of 350 mio TEU moves for 2004 - might soon create serious port congestion with corresponding queues.

· 20'000 half bottles of still drinkable, though possibly flat champagne found and about to be salved off the French wreck Seine, which sank 16.7.1955. Cheers!

· S&P downgrades the American Club to BB+ outlook stable. Additional calls for old asbestos problems, delays in annual reporting and general performance are given as reasons.

· Never mind how disenchanted you are with the USCG inspecting your ship --joking about bombs, even just briefly is a baaaad idea; a Turkish Capt finds out the hard (up to 15 years) way.

· We heard of a famous Italian yard now having to pay 0.9% plus 0.09% per month for building risk cover on cruisers.

· New IACS rules for tankers / bulkers ordered post July 05 will add up to 5% extra steel to counteract buckling and fatigue during the 25yr trading life. Extra cost is estimated between $ 400 and $1000 per ton.
http://www.jtprules.com

· Lower mid-range box ships now fetch $ 14 per TEU/day for 1 year charters.

· Seems that the one time proud Norway (ex France) will end up as a floating hotel casino in either Hamburg, LeHavre, Amsterdam or somewhere in the FarEast.

· Though Piracy attacks declined to 182 (234) cases in the first six months of 04, the number of people killed rose to 30 (16). Indonesian WWaters/Straits of Malacca remain the main areas to avoid.

· Converium stumbles and ......at least her stocks did. Again, it wasn't on account of Marine!

· An explosion aboard 1981 built Singapore flagged chemical tanker Setia Jaya offshore SriLanka claims the lives of 6 crew members.

· Imagine being stuck (due to a mortgage dispute) as one of a viciously virtuous 13 member crew, on a container ship called Shamrock, off Maine, sitting on a full load of scotch whisky.

· Toxic levels of lead in NZ babyfood is traced back to a shipment of 6000t of maize aboard bulker Athena which had previously carried logs and lead ore without sufficiently cleaning the holds.

Editorial Note:

Any opinion expressed in this newsletter should be regarded as the personal opinion of Walter Mellert and not one made in his capacity as an employee of Swiss Re and any such opinion is not the opinion of Swiss Re, of any of its affiliated companies or of any of its officers or employees. Accordingly, Swiss Re hereby expressly disclaims any liability, loss, cost or expenses arising directly or indirectly from the content or expression of views of this newsletter or of other Websites to which this newsletter may provide a link.

3. Guest Column: A Shipping Gastronome in Syria

by James Wannell

Being based in Paris (France, not Texas) for over 24 years I guess you would think it quite natural to have an alert eye for local gastronomy when travelling in the far corners of the maritime world .

The mission was to check out the local shipagency scene in Syria , where shipowners had for years been condemned to use the state monopoly agency , Shipco. In a discreet but growing liberalisation of the economy, the Syrian government had recently decided to open up competition in this sector through a licensing arrangement to Syrian nationals, and those associated with foreign investors .

Arriving late in Damsacus, I had only an overnight stop before going down to Tartous and Lattakia, and the necessary but tedious checking in process when arriving at an international hotel was not my first priority. I asked to see the chef, for this was a man I could talk turkey with, surely. Where can I find it? The raised eyebrows were comment enough on a European traveller not only knowing , but requesting such an exotic item. He lowered his voice, as if in sympathy when partaking in a shared rarity "I have a car that can take you there immediately if you can drop the luggage now; the markets are closing, and the season is at an end - maybe there is just time.

Unlike the port agency liberalisation we have witnessed in recent years in Egypt and Algeria, to name two examples, the Syrian approach seems to have learnt some of the lessons in policy mistakes from neighbouring countries . Notably all license holders must be Syrian nationals , and the license application which takes some months , is arbitrated by a committee whose members all have to be present to vote agreement, based on a number of qualifications and criteria. Not least of which is a US$ 100000 bond, which in effect weeds out the syndrome seen in both Egypt and Algeria where former water clerks from state monopoly agencies are seen the day after liberalisation law takes effect, operating with a couple of hundred dollars of capital and very few fixed operating costs . The danger to shipowners, advancing sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars for port expenses, are suddenly a credit risk that never really existed during state monopoly days, but such is the anarchic struggle in the immediate post-monopoly era, before it settles to becoming a profession with standards, choice of service providors , and well capitalised agencies, both in human and financial terms.

Theophrates (372 BC), a student under Plato and Aristotle, one of the early leading botanists, aside from his stature in philosophy, described it as this "epicurean root", whilst the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights (which brought us the tales of Sindbad, of Aladdin amongst others, most of which our kids are convinced were written by a certain Mr Disney !) refer to it as "the vegetable of Allah". The Fatimid Caliphs of Cairo would have them heaped on tables for their greatest banqueting occasions, although the memory of this delicacy has long left today's Egypt. Since my affections lie in the south west of France , an area known amongst others for its black truffles, the ritual of hunting various mushrooms in the forests almost eight months a year had long introduced me to the folklore surrounding this oriental legend--the desert truffle. Along the arid wastelands that span the Iraq-Syria border, when the converging warm air masses confront a cooler belt, the perfect conditions for a storm arise , provoking thunder and lightening during a storm that heralds the change in season . Where lightening strikes the sandy ground, as legend has it, if there is the right amount of rainfall, in some weeks time will grow the desert truffle, the most prized of delicacies in this country and its neighbour Lebanon , where fine cuisine is a part of daily culture. Cecil B de Mille could not have imagined a better script for a legend. What a wonderful vehicle language is, for when enquiring from local people, and being met with the traditional Syrian reaction of hospitality and help to a stranger, the words in the voluble Arabic conversations would finally arrive, on deciphering my search , at the words "potato champignon", to identify the delicacy, as good a description as any .

The early entrants into the maritime intermediaries scene have been both the symbiotic neighbours from Lebanon, operating from behind the scene since years in a
protecting capacity , and also the small but dynamic private sector shipowners within Syria . Whilst the former are often professionals within the maritime community of their own country , the latter have moved into the agency business if only to service at the outset their own requirements at Syrian ports , where they already enjoy the privilege of settling port expenses in local currency . Some further current investors in this nascent community are the old
trading houses , clearly able to leverage "consignee agency at discharge" a tendancy also noticed in Algeria and Egypt, where insurers and shipowner interests are now often in the hands of the bulk cargo buyer's agenda at discharge --an interesting challenge .

And so it was that on rummaging from stall to stall in the market, I finally found the last remaining brown sand truffles, under an old unprepossessing hessian sackcloth . Their appearance was knobbly, their size like an infant's fist, the texture that of a cepe, unappealing at first sight, but unmistakenly the legendary "kama" as it is known in the Syrian highlands and Lebanon .

My challenge now lay in finding a suitable Syrian partner with maritime knowledge for the basis of a potential business venture .

My immediate post operational research once back in Paris would be how to cook this precious find, for the
traditional boiling in camel's milk favored by gulf Arab gourmets, was undoubtedly too much of a demand on the ingredients available even at emporia at La Madeleine .

Contact James at:-

jnw2@wanadoo.fr

4. Ideas-New Concept for Corroded Pipework

Robert Campbell, the MD of Ideas Ltd in Glasgow has sent in word of his new concept, called Integri-Tech, used in the management of integrity for many types of process plant and structures.

The concept has been specifically taken forward for use in the oil and gas industry, and is finding applications in the integrity of offshore process plant and major on-shore refineries and petro-chemical plant, as well as particular applications with FPSO's, LNG and LPG carriers. Other modules are directed at monitoring the integrity of water treatment and desalination plants, and many more.

The basis of the concept is that analysis and measurements can be combined to generate continual and accurate integrity assessments for a plant or structure as a whole, including every weld and fitting, predicting times to failure, and specifying time requirements for inspection and remedial action.

The results can be displayed graphically at a web portal, and, therefore, seen widely throughout an organisation, from any location, remote to the facility, or on site.

Integrity is visible to the asset management team in a way that has never been possible before. Asset integrity assessments can be seen in real time, with whatever level of supporting information is required. The web portal can hold all the information needed to manage the integrity of selected critical systems within a site, the integrity of the entire site, or even the integrity of multiple sites.

Robert says Integri-Tech is particularly relevant to the management of corroded pipework and pressure vessels, vibrating piping systems, and, especially, systems on board FPSO's, and other platforms affected by ship motion. It offers those responsible for the asset the best possible basis for decisions on integrity anomalies and continued plant operation, as well as maintenance, repair issues and inspection programmes.

Find out more at:-

http://www.ideas-eng.com

5. Memories of Niton Radio

Bob Volante of Cargo Solutions, noting reports of the late but welcome sunny weather on the Isle of Wight was reminded of Niton. He writes:-

I used to know some of the folks up at Niton Radio in the late seventies and early eighties when they ran an MF radio service. We used to send meteorological reports and telegrams from as far away as the Eastern Med at night when the atmosphere was less cluttered (it used to be kind of challenge to see if you could maintain a voyage-long radio relationship with the station). The service closed in 1997....massive leaps in mobile communications technology made the service defunct.

According to Post Office Telecommunications of the day, in 1975 the new Niton Radio station was announced as follows:

Drama and routine on the 24-hour watch

. Swamped by heavy seas in the Channel, a pitching freighter sends out a distress call....

. In a quiet Hampshire village a sailor's wife is surprised by a birthday bouquet of flowers from her husband.

. A tanker captain tends an injured seaman, guided by the voice of a doctor many miles away....

. A businessman on a cross-Channel ferry gives instructions to staff in his London office....

Unrelated incidents, yet all with a common link: Niton Radio, on the Isle of Wight.

http://www.coastalradio.greater-peterborough.com/niton.htm

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Patrick Jordan of the Steamship Mutual for this follow up to last week's backwoods item:-

Ref your item #6 (Bow Wave Issue 244)--which I believe has its origins in the estimable work of US Comedian Jeff Fox- worthy--I thought you might be amused by the next level thereof, being ..........

"YOU KNOW YOU"RE A JEDI REDNCK IF if..............

You've ever heard the phrase "May the force be with y'all";

Your Jedi robe is camouflage and contains a pocket that will fit a six-pack;

You have ever used your lightsabre to open a bottle of Bud;

You have at least one cousin who bears a striking resemblance to Chewbacca;

At least one of your X-wing fighters is primer-coloured;

You can easily describe the taste of Ewok;

Your landspeeder is up on blocks in your yard (thereby forgetting that those things naturally levitate);

Wookies are offended by your b.o.;

You have ever used The Force to get yourself another beer so you didn't have to miss another commercial;

You have ever used The Force when a gutterball was looking likely;

Your father has ever said "Son, c'mon over to the Dark Side - you can kill more stuff there";

You have ever used your R-2's self-defence electro-shock thingy to light the barbecue;

You have ever had a Confederate Flag painted on the bonnet of your landspeeder;

The doors of your X-wing fighter are welded shut and you have to climb in through the R-2 access panel;

Although you had to kill him, you were sympathetic to Jabba -the-Hut's attitude on how to handle women;

The thought of Princess Leia in Daisy Duke shorts is the cause of missing three green lights in a row;

You were the only person drinking Jack Daniels during the Cantina Scene;

You thought the music the band were playing in the Cantina Scene was good, but Garth Brooks would have done it better;

If you've ever heard the immortal words "........Luke, I am your Father.........and your Uncle"".

(Patrick adds: I owe these to my friend Mr. Kevin LaVie of Terrberry, Carroll & Yancey in New Orleans who supplied them back in 1999). (The old ones are the good 'uns--ed)

PS from David Cheslin

A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a classic Jag when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop. The surgeon was there waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his E-Type when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, can I ask you a question?"

The surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the Jag head. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic..."Try doing it with the engine running."

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