BOW WAVE 281

Bow Wave Issue 281--More Poetry Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2005 WavyLine.com	Issue No 281 09 Apr 05
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Alert!
3. Meet Maritime Resolve
4. Package Limitation
5. Digital Risk Seminar
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

The Outsider

He stepped off the gangway, dropped his bag
And coolly looked around.
His neatness stark as his shiny shoes,
Agleam on the grubby deck.

"Jones -A/B" was all he said
to the mate's enquiring gaze
and turned aft to the poop-deck house
that was home to our scruffy crew.

For nine dragging months, around the world
He never dropped his guard.
Or spoke of home, his life, himself
And always kept his jeans creased.

He never drank or caused us trouble
But never did more than he had to.
And the look in his eye, with never a word
Bothered us mates with its knowing.

Alone with him on the cool night watches
In turn, we tried to reach him.
But there was only a sense of a soul in chains
And total unsoundable sorrow.

On pay-off day he went ashore drinking,
and had to be put to his bed.
By his pillow lay a yellowed clipping
Its headline:

"Captain Jones blamed for collision".

Douglas Lindsay

New Bow Wave Readers this week include:

Richard Yu of ISS in Taiwan
Peter Munch of Western Caroline Trading Company on Palau Andrew Carter and Daryle Ewer of Limit in London
Business Analyst Michael Burton of CSC
Jim Page of South African terminal operators Greystones Lic. Mariano Larrañaga in Argentina
Les Chapman
James Dowson

News of Readers

Celia Denton formerly of Deloitte & Touche has been appointed to the the Council of Lloyd's.

Stewart Ferrier has left Isle of Wight ferry operators Red Funnel

Dave Morrow After many years working as an in-house Public Relations and Marketing Communications Manager, with Racal, Thales and more recently Fugro, working on a wide variety of products and services in industries ranging from electronics, defence, security, financial services, telecoms, oil & gas and marine survey, he has decided to bite the bullet and try his hand as a freelance Public Relations Consultant

He has already recruited his first client - a software company based in the USA specialising in Estimation Tools for manufacturing industries - but he assures us he has room for more and the expertise to offer B2B PR to technology companies!

davemorrow@btinternet.com

From Christian Kuepers who is the Information Manager over at WK Webster:-

A business contact in Germany told me about what he thought to be a fascinating book on the subject of modern day piracy written by Douglas Stewart. Having tried in vain to find an English version, I was eventually told by the German publishers that the book had been written in English for them and only the translated German version has ever been published. It must be doing reasonably well as both a hardback and paperback version exist. So why has no English version come out? Could it be that due to the number of English-speaking countries there is more potential of libel action which stops publishers from touching what might be a
contentious subject?? Perhaps some of your readers in the publishing world can cast further light on this.

contact him at:-

ckuepers@wkwebster.com

From Robert Tallack:-

Well, congratulations to Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines on their conceptual "Green Ship of the Future Design" (Bow Wave Issue 280) Ironic though, that the purpose of this mighty vessel is to transport even more green-house gas producing cars around the world!

Contact him at:-

RTallack@IDGMaritime.com

AfterOfficeHours News

We have taken item 3 below from the AfterOfficeHours Weblog. News relevant to the business of our subscribers will be he lodged there. If you have a story to tell, a moral to draw or a case to state, please let us have your news.

New subscribers to AfterOfficeHours this week include:-

Average Adjusters Edgar Schlimme & Partner in Hamburg Club and Insurers' Correspondent Ida Stier in the Canaries Spanish Lawyer Ignacio de Ros
Kiwi Marine Consultants Ltd in Hong Kong
Paperless Technology Specialists Marinade Ltd

A Frequently Asked Question:

I already have a website. What can AfterOfficeHours do for my firm that Google doesn't do already?

Answer:

Type in the words "Marine" "Surveyor" "Antwerp" into Google and you will be presented with 980 selections to sift. Hardly the thing in the circumstances of a late night emergency. AfterOfficeHours has two search methods. The basic search scans the pages of subscribers and returns a result. The advanced search will search against a name, a road, a town or a date and return a much more filtered return. If all you can remember is a name or a building, the advanced search will try and find it in the subject listings.

A further practical advantage for subscribers is the ease with which they can update their entries on AfterOfficeHours. No special html tags or other marking up is required. Entries can be changed daily without difficulty. Subscribers can reclaim the flexibility of the web without going through the webmasters, IT departments , webdesigners, or slow moving committees.

To subscribe contact business development manager Simon Gutteridge at:

Simon@AfterOfficeHours.Com

or register at the website at:

http://www.AfterOfficeHours.com

A comparative rarity this week, a poem on a maritime theme written by a Reader. More please.

Enjoy.

2. Alert!

The Editor of Alert! advises that Issue 7 of Alert!, The International Maritime Human Element Bulletin, is now available for download from:

http://www.he-alert.org/documents/newsletter/Alert!_7.pdf

He writes:-

"We are now well past the halfway stage in this three-year project, the aim of which is to raise the awareness of the Human Element in the maritime industry. Is Alert! achieving this aim? Are we striking the right balance with the mix of articles in each issue?"

Readers with any thoughts on Alert! should contact the editor at:-

editor@he-alert.org

3. Meet Maritime Resolve

We recently met Douglas Lindsay and at our urgings he has sent in not only one of his poems but a short account of his firm Maritime Resolve:

"...(Since during our discussions) we gave the editor our usual line in sales talk, he said, "Yes, but what do you actually do?" Maritime Resolve itself is still fairly new but its three partners have all been around for some time. (You're invited to my 'fifty years in the shipping industry' party in summer 2006). So to give him some flavour I told him about the Dubai Valour, held at gun point for two years at Sapele in Nigeria. I led a British crew team down there, negotiated under fairly strained conditions for three weeks and finally took the ship out, with Escravos pirates' bullets pinging off the bridge wings as we went. The notorious Chief Idisi never did get the three million dollars he'd been offered to let the ship go, either, thanks to some clever footwork by the P&I club and lawyers. (UK Club and Stephenson Harwood, since you ask.)

Then there was the terrible six - reefers again held at gun-point but in St. Petersburg this time, and by the Russian Army. Maritime Resolve partner Derek Williams was despatched to try to release them, and had an interesting time which ended with him negotiating in a back-alley at midnight while his bodyguards were desperately hunting for him. This time we didn't get the ships out although Derek still maintain s that if we'd been willing to do it in Russian fashion we would have succeeded. Applying British rules doesn't always work.

Then there was the 'Ocean Dawn' 100 feet of prime Scottish fishing boat whose skipper owner ran off with it to Brasil. That might not have mattered but a UK bank had a large mortgage on the boat and really wanted its security back. So our fisheries partner Tony Eden was despatched to find the boat, hidden up a creek in the Amazon jungle. I followed later and ultimately Derek Williams came out, which is how we all met, an event which later led to the setting up of Maritime Resolve. Anyway, the boat was found, held at Belem and eventually the slow grinding of the Brasilian legal system released her to return as far as the welcoming arms of the Admiralty Marshal at Gibralter. Ah, Gibralter, friend of the non-performing mortgage. During the height of the Adriatic Tankers collapse I had brought in three ships, all in a row, at the detached mole.

Of course, in 2005 there's not much mortgage defection going on, but the investigative work and research calls for much the same set of skills and that, plus desk studies and expert witness work, keeps us busy. Now, where was I?"

http://www.maritimeresolve.com

4. Package Limitation

Lawyer Vince De Orchis in New York has sent in the text of an interesting new judgment on the evergreen subject of what constitutes a package:-

The decision was handed down on 17th of March by Judge Preska in the Federal Court in New York holding that the $500 package limitation under COGSA applied either to the container as a whole, or to the 44 pallets inside the container. The Judge rejected plaintiff's motion that the package limit should apply to the 2156 boxes that were stuffed inside the container. The court refused to pay any attention to the fact that the carrier's own internal documentation listed the cargo as 2156 pieces.

The cargo of drugs, shipped by Pfizer, was worth about $1.4 million dollars. The cargo was stolen during the overland movement when the trucker left the container unattended overnight. Of interest is the fact that the shipment was made under a service contract, and no bill of lading had been issued. However, the service contract did incorporate the carrier's regular form bill of lading.

The trucker was also able to take advantage of the package limit under the Himalaya clause. Lawyers succeeded in getting the trucker to pick up the legal fees for their client, CSX, as well.

(American Home Insurance Co v. CSX Lines)

vdeorchis@marinelex.com

5. Digital Risk Seminar

Scott Farley has written in with details of this event:-

'Perspectives on the Management of Digital Risk'

As more and more businesses become increasingly reliant on electronic processes, the effective management of digital risks is ever more important. The International Underwriting Association (IUA) is focussing on this need by hosting a half day seminar that will discuss to what extent digital risks are considered a risk management priority and what approaches are being employed to mitigate them.

Paul Skinner, Chairman of the IUA's Digital Risk Working Party and Senior ICT Underwriting Specialist at Chubb Insurance, said: "In today's business world almost every company relies in some way upon new technology that 20 years ago would have been almost unrecognisable. This sea change has created major new exposures that must be carefully managed.

"Failure to properly address such risks will undoubtedly damage a company's ability to operate effectively. The only question is how extensive any disruption will eventually prove.

"This seminar will I hope promote a better understanding of the nature of digital risks and methods of transferring such risks through insurance coverage."

'Perspectives on the Management of Digital Risk' takes place at the London Underwriting Centre on Monday 18th April and is sponsored by Chubb Insurance Company of Europe. Speakers at the event include Geoff Smith, Head of the Department of Trade and Industry's e-security unit, David Van Spall, of Internet security business DVS Systems and Andrew Horrocks from law firm Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert.

The seminar will also highlight the results of two major projects recently completed by the Digital Risk Working Party.

Firstly is the launch of a digital risk management guide published jointly by the IUA and the Department of Trade and Industry. This publication is designed as a starting point, for risk managers in particular and business leaders generally, to deal with potential exposures to digital risks and information security breaches. It outlines basic actions to take and provides references and contacts for further research and advice.

Secondly is the presentation of the results from a survey conducted amongst London Market and UK insurance and reinsurance companies. Underwriting managers and Chief Information Officers from around 50 companies were quizzed to assess both the general provision digital risk insurance cover and the industry's risk management procedures to deal with own electronic exposures.

Dave Matcham, Chief Executive of the IUA, said: "This is the third digital risk seminar hosted by the IUA in recent years. Previous events, examining definitions of the subject and corporate governance issues, have been well supported by the market. Their popularity clearly demonstrates the London Market's growing interest in digital risk."

Attendance at the seminar is free, but delegates must register in advance by contacting Deborah Finch at the IUA

020 7617 4451
or
deborah.finch@iua.co.uk.

6. And Finally...

We are indebted once again to Paul Dixon's Joke of the Day for this series of you don't know how lucky you are statements:-

The Washington Post recently had a contest wherein participants were asked to tell the younger generation how much harder they had it "in the old days." Winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions are listed below.

Second Runner-Up:

In my day, we couldn't afford shoes, so we went barefoot. In winter, we had to wrap our feet with barbed wire for traction.

First Runner-Up:

In my day, we didn't have MTV or in-line skates, or any of that stuff. No, it was 45s and regular old metal-wheeled roller skates, and the 45s always skipped, so to get them to play right you'd weigh the needle down with something like quarters, which we never had because our allowances were way too small, so we'd use our skate keys instead and end up forgetting they were taped to the record player arm so that we couldn't adjust our skates, which didn't really matter because those crummy metal wheels would kill you if you hit a pebble anyway, and in those days roads had real pebbles on them, not like today.

And the Winner:

In my day, we didn't have rocks. We had to go down to the creek and wash our clothes by beating them with our heads.

Honorable Mentions:

In my day, we didn't have fancy health-food restaurants. Every day we ate lots of easily recognizable animal parts, along with potatoes.

In my day, we didn't have hand-held calculators. We had to do addition on our fingers. To subtract, we had to have some fingers amputated.

In my day, we didn't get that disembodied, slightly ticked -off voice saying 'Doors closing.' We got on the train, the doors closed, and if your hand was sticking out, it scraped along the tunnel all the way to the next station and it was a bloody stump at the end. But the base fare was only a dollar.

In my day, we didn't have water. We had to smash together our own hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Kids today think the world revolves around them. In my day, the sun revolved around the world, and the world was perched on the back of a giant tortoise.

Back in my day, '60 Minutes' wasn't just a bunch of gray-haired, liberal 80-year-old guys. It was a bunch of gray-haired, liberal 60-year-old guys.

In my day, we didn't have virtual reality. If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just had to hope you could outrun him.

Back in my day, they hadn't invented electricity. We had to watch television by candlelight.

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