BOW WAVE 289

Bow Wave Issue 289--Literary Edition

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(c)2000 WavyLine.com	Issue No 289 05 Jun 00
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Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of May 2005 in Marine
3. Liverpool Maritime Graduates & Masters Association
4. Book of the Week: Feakonomics
5. New Marine Art Web Site
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

Douglas Lindsay writes:-

My touchstone poem is Tennyson's 'Ulysses'. There follows what I think is the heart of it. Read it and think of the British merchant navy with its ageing officers and fading genuine presence. It is very Victorian but it still speaks to something deep in an old sailor's heart:-

.....All experience is an arch wherethro'
gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move.

....There lies the port: the vessel puffs her sail: There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought
with me -
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads - you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death close all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men who strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks.

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the Western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

New Readers this week include:

Ross Bagully, Consultant to the Acme Group
Lau Chee Tiun of CJ Forte Pte Ltd in Singapore
Claims person Amanda Davenport of North Insurance Mgmt

News of Readers

Peter Skoufalos has joined the Manhattan and New Jersey -based law firm of Brown Gavalas & Fromm as a partner.He will continue to focus on maritime arbitration and litigati as well as counselling clients on the U.S. legislative scene and its impact on the marine industry.

Contact him at:-

pskoufalos@browngavalas.com

Neal Rodrigues has joined the CTC-managed Standard P&I Club organistion as Director of Loss Prevention.

Contact him at:-

neale.rodrigues@ctcplc.com

Richard Greiner and Michael Simms have been appointed partners in the shipping group of accountants Moore Stephens

richard.greiner@moorestephens.com

Readers Write

Jeffrey Blum's list of rules and axioms in last week's zine (Bow Wave Issue 288) seemed to loosen a small landslide of responses (ed) :

From Scott McEwan in Sydney:

The list of axioms and laws from Jeffrey Blum was wonderful. Here are a few more contenders

"There is never anything so bad that it wont get worse." O'Reilly (an honours student of Murphy).

The Laws Of Computer Programming

1. Any Given Program, When Running, Is Obsolete. 2. Any Given Program Costs More And Takes Longer Each Time It Is Run.
3. If A Program Is Useful, It Will Have To Be Changed. 4. If A Program Is Useless, It Will Have To Be Documented. 5. Any Given Program Will Expand To Fill All The Available Memory.
6. The Value Of A Program Is Inversely Proportional To The Weight Of Its Output.
7. Program Complexity Grows Until It Exceeds The Capability Of The Programmer Who Must Maintain It. 8. In Any Computer System, The Machine Will Always Misinterpret, Misconstrue, Misprint, Or Not
Evaluate Any Maths Or Subroutines Or Fail To
Print Any Output On At Least The First Run Through.

Robelle:

http://www.robelle.com/library/smugbook/laws.html#managing

If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.
Bradley's Bromide.

If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. Weinberg's Law

Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.
Hoare's Law

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. Brooks' Law

Contact him at:-

Scott@McEwan.com

From Mike Miller in Georgia, USA

Murphy's Law of Poker

A Smith & Wesson beats four aces.

contact him at:-

mike.miller@allcovered.net

From Ake Nilson in London

Cole's Law:
Thinly Sliced Cabbage

Contact him at:-

agn@Allagraf.com

AfterOfficeHours News

New subscribers this week to the our new directory of emergency services providers include Offshore exp[erts C-Mar whose entry can be seen at:-

http://www.afterofficehours.com/d_page.php?id=97

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1:
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.
Question 2
:
I'm already on the Web. Why do I need AfterOfficeHours as well?

Answer:
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.

Question 3

My firm already appears in the directories of various clubs and insurers. Why should I list in AfterOfficeHours?

Answer:
Work available through the Clubs and Insurers is highly sought after and in short supply. Correspondents and agents are suitable business partners for other parties who have a need for a local presence and local knowledge. Use After OfficeHours to inform the world of what you can do.

AfterOfficeHours 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

A rather literary issue this week.

Enjoy.

2. The Month of May 2005 in Marine

Walter Mellert writes:-

Dear Mariners

Spring has arrived and neatly mutated into an early summer; at least here in Switzerland; some other, non weather-related marine highlights of this month:

--> Canadian Pacific ships go from multi brand to single CP banner strategy. Synergies, cost saving, etc. Next move? Localization, closer to the client? Happy pendulum.

--> Seems that shoddy boiler repairs done in 1974 were a contributory to the boiler explosion on 1961 blt Norway (ex France) which killed 8 and injured 17 some 2 yrs ago.

--> China's boxship mighties go at it: COSCO placed orders for 4 more 10'000 TEU behemoths and China Shipping is looking for takeover victims.

--> AIG is busy backward readjusting its books, deflating past 5 year profits by nearly $ 2.7 bio. Goal: Restore trust! Stable doors and bolted horses..
.
--> After reaching highs in Feb/March this year (below 2004 highs) all Baltic Indices show substantial (10-15%) dips for April and early May.

--> Seems that the 1.4 mio head (A$ 100 mio pa) livestock export Australia to Saudi Arabia may resume soon following a signing of MOUs ending the 2003 ban effected on "quality" issues.

--> Individual names at Lloyd's outperform the average at Lloyds by nearly 5 points. Playing with your own money does seem to hold a certain spell.

--> 18600 dwt fruit juice tanker "Ouro do Brazil" hits and sinks a 30 m squid trawler off South Africa - 14 fishermen missing and presumed dead.

--> 70 kt winds send more than 30 stacked containers crashing to the ground killing one worker.

--> Could it be that Maersk Sealand and P&O Nedlloyd seriously consider matrimony?

--> Car carriers and their cargo are singled out by a major reinsurer as not very attractive business. We tend to agree.

--> Wedding preps for Maersk / P&O nuptials are in full swing, The dowry of nearly $ 3 bio is on the table as a challenge to other suitors while Lord Sterling and some of his best men retire.

--> Greek roro "Aegean Sun" is fined $ 6.6 mio for calling at a Turkish Cypriot port. Detente?

--> Quote of the month: "The difference between M&A and math is that in math one plus one usually equals two".

--> Bell's and Wade's Liechtenstein registered and Zurich managed South of England limited ($ 100 mio) liability, low retention ($ 100 k) P&I club takes on North Korean tonnage. Opportunities!

--> Thomson Celebration abandons Iberian cruise due to failing (vacuum pump system) toilets. Full cash refund and 25% future cruise vouchers for 1'100 pax. Royal flush.

--> Newbuilding orders at Japanese Yards dropped 3% for April 05 - did China pick up the slack?

--> Contrary to their current under-employment scrapping yards will overflow with work in 2010 as many single hull tankers will go on their last voyage.

--> 41 year old sailor survives 14 hours of treading Australian waters after falling overboard Teekay Tanker "Barrington". A fishboat finally heard and saved him.

--> Cyprus & Malta clean-up their detention ratio acts and drop off the Paris MOU blacklist.

--> "Clemenceau" the French aircraftcarrier waiting to be scrapped since 2003 was finally allowed to proceed from

--> LOF Arbitration cost for salvage guarantees < $ 1 mio will in future see a cap of £ 14'000 (appeals £ 5'000). No hearings, just limited ocumentary evidence of max 50 pages / 4'000 word each party.

--> We hear of increasing incidences in the UK where special exotic dance shows or simple fake blue police lights are used to distract drivers - therewhile their cargo is stolen.

--> ITOPF stats indicate that since the early 70ies with about 25 spills pa, the 1990ies pollution incidences are down to about 4 pa. 2004 with 15k tons spilt seems puny compared to the 1979 record of 640 k tons.

--> If current profit predictions hold ((2002 £ 1.4 bio, 2003 £ 2 bio and 2004 £ 1.1 bio) Lloyds will have made good a tad more than half of their 97-2001 loss of £ 8 bio.

--> Expensive rudder cracks in newbuilt $ 250 mio, 193 '000 dwt Alaskan tankers ("Frontier" and "Explorer") illustrate that high price and superior design are no guarantee against Mr. Murphy.

--> Roro "Safari" collides with and holes fully laden VLCC "Astro Lupus" in the Gulf of Oman. 800 tons of crude spill before the cargo could be pumped to an undamaged tank.

--> Deutsche Schiffsbank record 28% return on equity proves that the ship-owning & -financing (not necessarily insurance) industry is enjoying high times. Our envy is with them!

--> Feeling sorry for poor boxship owners when raising hull rates? Think again: Gearless 3'500 TEU, daily earnings

--> Apparently the "Tricolor"'s 200 ton fuel spill killed about the same number of birds as did Erika's total, very dirty cargo. Why? They were,at a bad time, in the wrong place.

--> Steel prices could soon be heading south again as China's production 2005 on an annualized basis (342 mio tons) outstrips their 2004 production 25%.

--> Another quote referring to software: "If it is useful, it has to be changed, if it is useless, it must be documented".

--> Seems that the Sethusamudaram Ship canal project of deepening the shallow waters from the Gulf of Mannar and the Gulf of Bengal (between the southern tip of India and SriLanka) will eventually become reality as the Indian gov't gave the nod to start raising the $ 550 mio needed.

Note:

Any opinion expressed in this item 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. Liverpool Maritime Graduates & Masters Association

James Wilkes writes:-

We are pleased to announce the launch of this new website. The new website allows former and current students to enroll online as members, search for other members and catch-up on news from LMGMA, its members and John Moores University. It will also showcase up and coming events being held by LMGMA.

Liverpool Maritime Graduates & Masters Association was formally established in December 2004, by a group of former maritime students of Liverpool John Moores University’s and its predecessor colleges.

Its objectives are

1. To establish a network of former and current students, for social a business purposes, that members enjoy being part of;

2. To provide current students with access to all sectors of the maritime industry;

3. That membership would be open to all current students and all former students that have successfully completed a HND, undergraduate or postgraduate maritime or related programme at LJMU or its predecessor colleges or a Department of Transport Master Mariner course of 6 months or more.

LMGMA’s view is that the Association should be inclusive and that it values senior seagoing qualifications as highly as Batchelor and Master’s academic qualifications

For Further Information please contact:
James Wilkes
Chairman, Liverpool Maritime Graduates & Masters Association Tel: +44 (0)1865 202 720
Fax: +44 (0)1865 202 223
Email: james.wilkes@graypagelimited.com

http://www.lmgma.co.uk .

4. Book of the Week: Feakonomics

Charles de Trenck writes:-

This is a great book. A lot of people have recommended it. It is currently ranked #5 on Amazon.

My only complaint is that it is not better yet... or longer , or loaded with more examples on how data can bring out counter-intuitive truths (teachers can cheat on behalf of students...; crime rates in 90s dropped more due to Roe vs Wade abortion rights than Clinton/wealth effect....etc.)

http://www.freakonomics.com/

NYT: "Steven Levitt tends to see things differently than the average person. Differently, too, than the average economist. This is either a wonderful trait or a troubling one, depending on how you feel about economists."

***

Chapter Excerpts available on http://www.freakonomics.com/

Chapter 1: What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common? In which we explore the beauty of incentives, as well as their dark side-cheating.

Chapter 2: How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? In which it is argued that nothing is more powerful than information, especially when its power is abused.

Chapter 3: Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms? In which the conventional wisdom is often found to be a web of fabrication, self-interest, and convenience.

Chapter 4: Where Have All the Criminals Gone?
In which the facts of crime are sorted out from the fictions.

Chapter 5: What Makes a Perfect Parent?
In which we ask, from a variety of angles, a pressing question: do parents really matter?

Chapter 6: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet? In which we weigh the importance of a parent's first official act-naming the baby.

http://www.freakonomics.com/

5. New Marine Art Web Site

Gordon Frickers has recently launched his new website at:-

http://www.frickers.co.uk

6. And Finally...

PS thanks to TJ Bradshaw for this one....

A city boy named Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey to him the next day. But the next day, the farmer drove up in his old truck and told Kenny,"Sorry, son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died. Kenny replied, "Well then, just give me my money back." The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Kenny said, "OK then, just bring me the donkey."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with a dead donkey?"
Kenny, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"
Kenny said, "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "So, what happened with the dead donkey?"

Kenny said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at $2 a piece and made a profit of $898.00."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Kenny replied, "Just the guy who won, so I gave him his $2 back."
Kenny grew up and eventually became the chairman of Enron.

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