BOW WAVE 287

Bow Wave Issue 287--Linguistic Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2005 WavyLine.com	Issue No 287 23 May 05
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Quarterpoints
3. Three Peaks Challenge
4. Arrevederci Long Lunches at Aon
5. London Shipping Law Centre Seminar
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

WHOSE SONG IS IT ANYWAY?

Whose song is it anyway?
Deep-voiced in the masts
A gentle sigh
Or loud and fast
Always there from times long past
Then off to the far horizon.

Whose song is it anyway?
Unknowing, we all know
In many shades
And cadences of blow.
A murmurred kiss
Soft and low
Or a raking Arctic blast.

Whose song is it anyway?
We try so hard to catch.
What wasted work,
Not one small snatch
Will stay within our souls.
With clean despatch
Uncaught, it hums its tune, and goes.........

Douglas Lindsay

New Readers this week include:

Bengi Ljubisavljevic of the Steamship Mutual
Markus Posl of Swiss Re
Harvey Green of Scotland and Overseas Surveys
Stephen Smyth,UK Cargo Underwriter of Beazley

Readers Write

From Capt Trevor Bailey FNI

Your London Underground edition (Bow Wave Issue 287) reminded me of another announcement that I heard recently on the District Line:-

"Mind the doors, please. (Pause) Once again, ladies and gentlemen, mind the doors, please, we would like to move the train forward. (Pause) Would the passenger in the second carriage please explain to everybody else on this train what he does not understand about 'mind the doors' !!"

Contact him at:-

trevor.bailey@ygyg.com

From Mr Ed Ion

Having watched/listened to Charles De Trenck's link to the future of news (Bow Wave Issue 287) I would just respond by saying that the 'personalised' news-info portfolio has been around a long time, it's not new and of course it is a 'net driven thing.

As platforms, delivery-distribution modes and data-mining become ever more sophisticated, of course this is going to happen.

But I noticed that the 'C' word was barely mentioned in the 8 minute film To mis-quote Bill Clinton ,"It's all about content, Stoopid "!

Those who a) get the content first and b)distribute it in the most effective, cost efficient manner will be the winners - and that applies to all news and information companies not just shipping or transport.

Contact him at:-

edward.ion@helixmedia.com.sg

From Mr R.M.Avasia

I refer to the article on the Maersk offer for P&O Royal Nedlloyd (Bow Wave Issue 287)and in particular to the question on what the new beast should be named.

May I suggest:Maersk PORN? Apart from fitting as an acronym, it is appropriate in that the creature is both obscenely large and blue.

Contact him at:-

rmavasia@ulaindia.com

(Note: We used to call the Great Danes Everblue in the old days--ed)

AfterOfficeHours News

AfterOfficeHours aims to become the place where people go in a hurry to find help in emergencies. It is a new kind of directory which takes advantage of the internet and gives subscribers the ability to access the net without the need for html language or the "help" of busy IT departments. If you can type an e-mail message you can compile an entry for this directory.

This week two well known US Attorneys have put up entries on our relational database.

Hill Betts & Nash LLP

http://www.afterofficehours.com/d_page.php?id=91

Lemle & Kelleher LLP

http://www.afterofficehours.com/d_page.php?id=92

If you currently publish a directory of services or correspondents the old way, why not consider publishing it on AfterOfficeHours? It will certainly save you money and may well result in greater circulation.

After Office Hours Subscription Rates

Basic Subscription £250
Silver Subscription £600
Private Directory £tba

There is a Free 3 Month Trial Period
Register at:-
http://www.afterofficehours.com

Item 2 this week contains some heartfelt convictions on the importance of languages to the future of the marine insurance industry. No silver bullet perhaps but certainly one of the more obvious ways of avoiding the commodification of the industry.

Enjoy.

2. Quarterpoints

Your editor's column in Lloyd's List visited the subject of language, the Germans and the insurance world.

Mind Your Language and Don’t Mention the War

Thomas Matussek, the German Ambassador in London was recently interviewed on the Today radio programme on the occasion of VE day. As is his wont (and that of his predecessor) he complained of the tendency of the English to dwell on the war and to see his country almost always in terms of the war, the Nazis and the darkest hours of 20th Century. There is little or no attention paid to the modern German Republic and its strengths and achievements in the modern age as a successful, rather pacific member of the European Union. He certainly has a point. I spent a very formative few years at school in Germany in a Gymnasium and later on I taught law to German law students in Heidelberg as a young academic journeyman at the Max Planck Institute. Some of the habits of thought and practice I learned there have stood me in very good stead over my life.

A good deal of my working life since that time has been spent in the City of London. Since I began with a well known P&I club, the role of the German insurers in London has grown. Today, the large reinsurers supply a great deal of the capacity needed by the international group of Clubs. Firms like the Munich Re, the Hannover Re, the Allianz to name but a few play quite prominent roles in the insurance market of London. Indeed one of these played a major role in helping to arrest the perilous descent of the TT Club in the early years of this decade. Their influence even extends into the primary layers of marine insurance, through the acquisition by German insurers of outfits like the Watkins Syndicate in Lloyd’s and the P&I Club managers Tindall Riley. How much have these activities contributed to the better understanding and appreciation of the two nations as urged by Ambassador Matussek? Well one has to say, it could all be so much better.

The problem begins with the matter of language. English is so much the working language of insurance that other countries have no real option but to staff their companies with good linguists. Anyone in a reasonably senior position in a German international insurance company is expected to speak English to a very high colloquial and technical level. A reasonable understanding of the common law is also pretty much compulsory. Now it may be I am doing a disservice to the language attainments of the staff in these companies in London, but I do not think in all the years (with one exception) I have met a British person in the market with a reasonable grasp of German and even on outline understanding of the German Civil Code. Not even in the offices of London based German owned companies is there to be seen the evidence of cross cultural endeavor to better understand the language, culture, history and customs of the Germans. A call to a colleague over at Deutsche Bank in London Wall confirms that non-native German speakers are as similarly rare as hens’ teeth there

There is one exception to this rather underwhelming story which is the Robin Travis Scholarship, which was set up in his memory by the partners of Robin Travis in Thomas R Miller, which aims to give young German candidates an opportunity to work in the London market for a period of months. Robin Travis,a speaker of not particularly fluent German was one of the leading believers in the Club world in the necessity to speak languages and to understand the cultures of countries who supplied the members and customers of the marine insurance market. And Millers in those days was always in the market for a decent linguist.

What could be done to reverse this hegemony of the monoglots? Well the pace could at least be set by the German firms themselves in London, by encouraging their staff to speak German. This could be fostered by intelligent hiring, job swaps, essay prizes, scholarships and so forth. As all linguists know, it is the marriage of language with technical skills which really adds value in a lifetime. As for the rest of the market, the challenge is to create an environment which might attract linguists to join the industry. For the hard truth is that many parts of the marine insurance world are not in the least attractive to such people, their managments have no language skills and no respect for those who do.

Does any of it matter? Perhaps it does more and more, as the fragile prosperity of a services based economy is crucial to more and more of us in England and in Germany. It is all very well to be buyer and to expect the Germans to speak English. But if you really want to sell to them, as I believe is one of the major strategic aims of the London market these days, dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen.

3. Three Peaks Challenge

Bob O'Leary, the marketing man has sent in word of an attempt by a team from the Agency Department at Lloyd's to complete the Three Peaks Challenge in July to raise money for Seafarers UK. If you would like to sponsor them in their endeavours contact him at:-

Robert.OLeary@lloyds.com

4. Arrevederci Long Lunches at Aon

Readers of The Times last Wednesday were treated to a rare pen portrait of the state of things in insurance broking. Not very good news for the dearer restaurants of the world's insurance capitals:-

Aon’s long lunch off the menu
By Christine Seib

BOOZY golf days and jaunts to the Cheltenham Festival will soon be a memory for staff at Aon, who have been told by bosses at the world’s second-largest insurance broker to shun corporate hospitality worth more than £70.

Aon brokers fear that they will be a "laughing stock" in an industry famous for long lunches, which proponents say are essential for building relationships with underwriters.

"This is frankly embarrassing", an Aon broker told the magazine Insurance Times. "Corporate events and lunches are an unavoidable part of business but this ruling seems to suggest that hospitality is tantamount to bribery."

Aon’s US head office issued new rules this week after the investigation by Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney-general, into malpractice in the US broking and insurance industries.

Aon brokers must ask their bosses to pay for them to accept underwriters’ invitations for them to attend events worth more than £70. The rules advise brokers to use their judgment as to whether a meal is likely to break the cost cap, adding "if you have a three-course meal in a London restaurant it is likely to break the limit . . . A bottle of wine as well is likely to break the limit, so you may want to politely refuse."
Oh aye it's a people business all right-ed

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5-1617988,00.html

5. London Shipping Law Centre Seminar

Gerrard Mathews has sent in a reminder about the tenth event in the 2004-2005 Seminar Programme:-

Straight Bills of Lading: Implications of the decision in the Rafaela S

Introduction

In the Rafaela S, the House of Lords decided that a straight bill of lading requiring presentation for delivery of the goods was a document covered by the Hague-Visby Rules - a relatively narrow point. The judgement has, however, raised much interest, as much for identifying what it did not decide as for what it did.

This seminar will give participants an opportunity to discuss the implications of the case for the many questions raised by straight bills of lading, both in the context of carriage disputes and in the broader context of international trade.

KEY ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED include:

-->Does the case make all straight bills "documents of title?" For all purposes?
-->Does the receiver always have to present for delivery? -->Can the carrier require presentation? Must he require presentation?
-->Does the receiver have title to sue?
-->Does the receiver have a binding receipt for goods shipped? -->Is a straight bill the same as a sea waybill? -->Can a straight bill be tendered by a cif seller or by a beneficiary under an l/c?
-->Is a straight bill a document of title under the Sale of Goods Act 1979?
-->Will sea waybills follow in becoming subject to the Hague-Visby regime?

Chairman: Ben Leach -

LSLC Panellists: Prof. Charles Debattista
Institute of Maritime Law, Univ. of Southampton
Andrew Nicholas - Clyde & Co.

WEDNESDAY 25th May 2005, 5.30 for 6.00pm

VENUE: Clyde & Co., 51 Eastcheap, London, EC3

If you are interested in attending contact:-

shipping@ucl.ac.uk

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to broker David Frugniet for this one:-

A wealthy lawyer was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the roadside eating grass. Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and he got out to investigate. He asked one man, "Why are you eating grass?"
We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied. "We have to eat grass."
"Well then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you," the lawyer said.
"But sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree."
"Bring them along," the lawyer replied.
Turning to the other poor man he stated, "You come with us also." The second man, in a pitiful voice then said, "But sir, I also have a wife and SIX children with me!" "Bring them all, as well," the lawyer answered.
They all entered the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine. Once underway, one of the poor fellows turned to the lawyer and said, "Sir, you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you." The lawyer replied, "Glad to do it. You'll really love my place; the grass is almost a foot high!"

PS....

From Frazer Hunt in Sydney comes this Newfie joke:-

In a small fishing village, a Newfoundlander was walking up from the wharf carrying two - at least three-pound live lobsters - one in each hand.

It was three weeks after the season closed! Whom should he meet at the end of the wharf but the Federal Fisheries Officer who, upon viewing the live and wiggling lobsters, says: "Well me Laddie I got you this time - with two live lobsters three weeks after the season Closed!"

The Newfie says, "No - My Son you are wrong! These are two trained lobsters that I caught two weeks before the season ended."

The Fisheries Officer says, "Trained like how?"

"Well my son, each day I takes these two from my house down to the wharf and puts them in the water for a swim. While they swim I sits on the wharf and has me a smoke, or two. After about 15 minutes I whistles and up comes me two lobsters, and I takes them home!"

"Likely story", the Fisheries Officer says! "Lets take them on down the wharf and see if it's true."

So, the Newfie goes ahead of the Fisheries Officer to the end of the wharf where, under supervision, he gently lowers both lobsters into the water.

The Newfie sits on a wharf piling and lights up a smoke, then another!

After about 15 minutes the Fisheries Officer says to the Newfie, "How about whistling?"

The Newfie says "What For?"

The Fisheries Officer says, "To call in the Lobsters."

The Newfie says, "What Lobsters?"

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