BOW WAVE 294

Bow Wave Issue 294--London Bombs Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2000 WavyLine.com	Issue No 294 11 Jul 00
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. New Technologies, Same Old Problems
3. Insurance Aspects of Thursday Last
4. Ecodock
5. Definition of Marine Insurance
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

WH Auden, from September 1, 1939

New Readers this week include:

Neale Proctor of GAC
Lawyer (and former Niarchos man) Keith Eyles
William Burrell
Nicholas Phillips of solicitors Hill Dickinson
Eimear Cahalin

News of Readers

Bernard Carroll, after 50 years in the shipping industry, is finally "pulling up anchor".

The following represents a brief outline of his career:

09/01/1956 to 1968 Gibbs Bright & Co. 1968 to 1993 Wilhelmsen Lines
1994 to 1998 Seaport Shipping Services 1998 to 2005 Swire Shipping Agencies

His leaving do in Brisbane is on 14/7/05 and begins at 1.00 p.m.

Captain Doctor Ivica Tijardovic has published a book entitled Basic Principles of Draft Surveying and Displacement Calculation for Students and Officers which aims to clarify the Draft Survey process to all those who are not very familiar with this topic.

A single copy of the book is priced at US$45.00 but there are good discounts available for volume orders:-

For more details contact:-

ivica.tijardovic@st.t-com.hr

Nick Fairfax has joined Fiona Maritime Agencies Ltd in London

contact him at:-

nfairfax@fionamaritime.com

Richard Walker has left Heath Lambert in HK and is on gardening leave until early in early September.

contact him at

richard@richard-walker.com

Readers Write

From Jim Page

Re your story on the stranded bulker (Bow Wave Issue 293) run aground off Durban, I am delighted to say that the stevedoring company of Greystones Cargo Systems
(out of East London ZA) is working on the "Kiperousa" - a somewhat unusual task for stevedores, rather than salvage teams - a new trend? (the "Kiperousa" is btw on a sandbank off the coast of Hamburg about 60km from East London)

contact Jim at

jimp@cargo.greystones.co.za

AfterOfficeHours News

New Subscribers this week include the communications specialists at BYSA

http://www.bsya.com

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

So sorry to be writing about a city subject to another terrorist atrocity instead of describing the balmy days of high summer. This is the third day in the working life of your editor that the sounds of bombs have been heard in the Barbican EC2. There was the Baltic Bomb, followed by the Bishopsgate Bomb, followed by the 4 bombs in central London on Thursday last. This is a city which has 90 odd nationalities living within its boundaries who betweem them practise dozens of religions and speak over 300 languages. It is an open city and the joy, fascination and zest of living in freedom here is incomparable. So far as we are able, we owe it to ourselves to conduct Business as Usual.

Many thanks to the many Readers who sent in messages asking how things were here. Grateful to say that yet again God was looking after Anglo-Polish-American orphans.

Enjoy.

2. New Technologies, Same Old Problems

The largest terrorist outrage ever to take place on the UK mainland occured over Scotland when a PanAm 747 was blown up over Lockerbie. Within a short time the telephone exchanges in the area were jammed with anxious callers calling up friends and family asking the usual sorts of questions. This time in London the mobile phone networks were inundated with callers and failed for several hours.

So far as we are aware, none of the victims of these bombings came from the marine or transport insurance world, although the location and the odds make this a little surprising. Aldgate is in the destination of many people who work in the industry.

Nevertheless, the coverage of events in London reflected the changes in technology. Because so many modern hand phones have still and video capability, many of the first images which were beamed around the world came from the hands of people caught up in events. This means that events are far more liable to be captured than they ever were in the past. There is even a site which allows people who have heard the news to send some kind of positive message.

But the day is coming when casualties large and small will take place in the glare of publicity, simply because of the ubiquity of mobile technology.

http://www.werenotafraid.com

3. Insurance Aspects of Thursday Last

A short two line press release from London Insurance interests says that the losses from Thursday are liable to be uninfluential so far as the actuaries are concerned. Claims over $75 million are covered by Pool Re, the government-backed insurer of last resort. This article by the FT's Andrea Felsted, who used to cover the marine insurance world extensively during time with Lloyd's List, sketches out the financial background:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20050707/bs_ft/fto070720051349322347

4. Ecodock

We learn from Peter-Carlo Lehrell of FIPRA that Ecodock is a new venture with its own financing of Euros 64 million to organise the environmentally impeccable scrapping of ships. The term in use is "fluid tight scrapping". It is building at present a dock at the Eemshaven in the North of the Netherlands and holds docks in Antwerp and Newcastle. It plans operations on other continents, specifically in India. Ecodock will comply fully with all, Marpol, IMO and EU environmental standards. Greenpeace is a certified supporter of the programme. Incidentally, ships that are to be scrapped will continue to belong to the owner and with Ecodock substracting its costs from the proceeds of scrapped steel. Due diligence has been executed by a Danish engineering firm.

An interesting discussion of the issues arising out of the scrapping of ships--with and without mess--is contained in this meeting note of the IMIF

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/imif/200403/buffet.htm

5. Definition of Marine Insurance

We are grateful to Derek Luxford of Hicksons who recalls the expert witness who in 1993 supplied a good practical definition of what is marine insurance (as opposed to non marine) as anything that a seagull can sh*t upon.

This working definition has done the rounds many times in Australia because the legal liability regime for non marine insurance (the Insurance Contracts Act) is more tender to the insured than is the marine insurance act, so , whether the parties are insurers or insureds, they like to ascertain which regime applies.

contact him at:-

Derek.Luxford@hicksons.com.au

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Paul Rodwell for supplying this contribution to an old controversy:-

Please note that the local bank is installing new drive-thru cash point machines, so that customers will be able to withdraw cash without leaving their vehicles. To enable users to use this new facility, the following instructions have been drawn up.

Please read the procedure that applies to your own circumstances (ie MALE or FEMALE).

MALE PROCEDURE

1 Drive up to cash machine.

2 Wind down car window.

3 Insert card into machine and enter PIN.

4 Enter amount of cash required and withdraw.

5 Retrieve card, cash and receipt.

6 Wind up window.

7 Drive off.

FEMALE PROCEDURE

1 Drive up to cash machine

2 Reverse back the required amount to align car window to machine

3 Re-start stalled engine

4 Wind down car window

5 Find handbag, remove all contents onto passenger seat to locate card

6 Turn radio down

7 Attempt to insert card into machine

8 Open car door to allow easier access to machine due to its excessive distance from car

9 Insert card

10 Re-insert card the right way up

11 Re-enter handbag to find diary with your PIN written on the inside back page

12 Enter PIN

13 Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN

14 Enter amount of cash required

15 Check make up in rear view mirror

16 Retrieve cash and receipt

17 Empty handbag again to locate purse and place cash inside

18 Place receipt in back of check book

19 Re-check make-up again

20 Drive forwards 2 meters

21 Reverse back to cash machine

22 Retrieve card

23 Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder, and place card into the slot provided

24 Give appropriate one-fingered hand signal to irate male drivers queuing behind

24 Restart stalled engine and pull off

25 Drive for 2 to 3 miles

26 Release handbrake

BOW WAVE is published each week to over 12 500 Readers in the transport,insurance,shipping and finance industries.

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