BOW WAVE 331

Bow Wave Issue 331--Hyundai Fortune Issue

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2006 WavyLine.com	Issue No 331 27 Mar 06
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. EC Wood Packaging Regime
3. Hyundai Fortune on Fire outside Aden
4. Shore Excursion in Chile brings Tragedy to Passengers
5. 24 Peaks Challenge
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

The Rider

A boy told me
if he roller-skated fast enough
his loneliness couldn't catch up to him,

the best reason I ever heard
for trying to be a champion.

What I wonder tonight
pedaling hard down King William Street
is if it translates to bicycles.

A victory! To leave your loneliness
panting behind you on some street corner
while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas, pink petals that have never felt loneliness,
no matter how slowly they fell.

Naomi Shihab Nye from her collection of poems Fuel.

New Readers this week include:-

Azad Rawdin of Simatech Shipping
Klaus Mordhorst of Leffler Chartering
Mark West of Kennedys in Hong Kong
Michael Todd
Yael Chen, Manager-Latin American and Special Projects at Lloyd's

News of Readers

We noticed that our old colleague Mark Carter who was once a pillar of UK P&I in Hong Kong is to the run the office for Gard in London. He is an able man and will do good things for them. We wish him well.

Our friends in the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have lately commenced a campaign to preserve and further the prospects of that most maritime of birds--the albatross. To follow events you can subscribe to their e-letter at:-

http://www.rspb.org.uk/plus/form/(hweo3wbspoqd2g3wuyzu0c45)/index.aspx

Readers Write

From Jeff Blum:-

Your news about the foundation of a new court in Dubai (Bow Wave Issue 330) is apparently very old news indeed. The Court is not purely a maritime court but a full commercial court. Sir Anthony Evans is Chief Justice and Michael Hwang SC Deputy Chief Justice;.

see the DIFC Press Release dated 10th April 2005:-

http://www.difc.ae/press_room/2005/174.html
contact Jeff at:-

IntlinkInt@aol.com

(It may be very old news, but many people (including your editor and the editor of the Maritime Advocate were unaware of it!!--ed).

From John Walsh, Publisher of Reactions Magazine:-

If your readers would like to take part in our annual legal poll simply go to:-

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224YQBGK2VN

In the meantime here is a copy of our latest survey on what London market underwriters think of London market brokers. Your readers can download copies of this, the political risk maps and lots of other free stuff at:-

http://www.reactionsnet.com/supplements

Contact John at:-

JWalsh@EUROMONEYPLC.COM

AfterOfficeHours News

This week the following announcement by Editor Chris Hewer appeared in the Maritime Advocate on line:-

"Changing channels

This is the last maritime advocate online that will be distributed by Merlin Legal Publishing. Henceforth, ownership of the newsletter will pass to Sam Ignarski and Humphrey Hill, of Reinvention Ltd, who may be known to some of our readers as the promoters of After Office Hours Ltd...

As part of the deal, your editor will remain firmly buttoned up in his dun Dunn & Co cardigan, and looks forward to continuing the dialogue with his loyal readers".

(Your editor goes a long way back with Chris Hewer who was misguided enough to commission him to write a regular column in Fairplay magazine in 1986 which went on appearing until the year 2000. So he has a lot to answer for. We are delighted to work with him).

Note from the Editor

A busy week it was for the London claims market (see item 3) as the realities of consolidation in the container world remind us how large is the scale of thinkable loss these days

Enjoy.

2. EC Wood Packaging Regime

Brian Woodward from the US Department of Commerce has sent in the following message:-

European Union Approves Further Delay of Wood Packaging Rule

The U.S. Department of Commerce applauded the European Union's (EU) decision on February 6, 2006 to delay, until January 1, 2009, a new wood packaging rule that US industry claimed could affect nearly half of US exports to the EU worth approximately $80 billion. This "debarking" rule, which would require that all wood packaging materials (WPM) be manufactured from debarked wood before entering the EU, was due to go into affect on March 1, 2006.

In its announcement, the EU recognized the importance of working through the appropriate international channels for amending the international standard for wood packaging materials (ISPM-15). Review of the EU's request is currently underway, and the European Commission has noted that it will reevaluate the delay (EC) by September 2007.

This issue presents an excellent example of the United States and the EU working closely together to avoid a potential dispute and to promote the free flow of international trade. Indeed the United States and EU have set an important precedent by confirming their commitment to the multilateral process for governing the movement of wood packaging materials.

The National Wood Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA), the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), and the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) praised the recent EU decision and thanked the USG for working with their EU counterparts to come to a mutually agreeable way forward. Together, the USG, industry, and relevant third countries will continue to strive for the effective implementation of a science-based uniform international standard that will not unnecessarily disrupt large volumes of international trade.

Contact him at:-

Briandoc.gov

3. Hyundai Fortune on Fire outside Aden

More proof with this casualty that what once upon a time was known to a handful of claims experts is today within the view of millions. The internet has changed how we see and manage large marine casualties--simply put they are within the glare of global publicity:-

The first we heard of this case came with a clip of film courtesy of Dutch sources (and industry insiders)

http://www.mindef.nl/actueel/nieuws/2006/03/20060321_zevenprovincien_video.aspx

The rescuers were on anti piracy duty but happy to help:-

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,91952,00.html

Then we were sent a photograph, which we published in the usual way on the wavyline site:-

http://www.wavyline.com/index.php

Then the recovery people picked up on it:-

http://dolphin-maritime.com/casualty567.html

Our friends in LA, cargo attornies Countryman & McDaniel opened up a new page on their site:-

http://www.cargolaw.com/2006nightmare_hyundai_fort.html

Well there it is. A 5500 TEU ship full of goodies from the Asia Pacific, in bound to NW Europe and what a huge struggle it is to try and put out her fire and find a port of refuge.

http://www.wijsmullersalvage.nl/latestnews.php

And this ship is only about half the size of one of the new ones. Rumours have abounded that the ship has sunk, thanks not least to an inaccurate report from the Press Association which did the rounds of many claims offices. The reason for this febrile quality lies in the chances that a total loss would produce one of the greatest marine cargo claims in history.

4. Shore Excursion in Chile brings Tragedy to Passengers

One of the areas of concern in the insurance of cruise liners is always the extent of liability of the ship interests when their passangers go ashore and come in harm's way. We nowadays receive the publications sent out by Travel Wire News courtesy of the efforts of Reader Elinor Gately who is an expert in the area of safety and security in the hospitality industry. This week's edition documented a very bad incident in Chile which killed 12 passengers who were on a cruise operated by Celebrity Cruises.

Read the story at:-

http://www.travelwirenews.com/news/23MAR2006.htm

5. 24 Peaks Challenge

Daniel Taylor of MOL Tankship Management writes:-.

We have put together a team of seven people from MOL Tankship Management Ltd to complete the Lloyd's Register Global Challenge 24 Peaks Challenge 20/21 May in the Lake District. We are attempting to climb 24 Peaks in 24 Hours, all over 2400ft in height. It's a really challenging event and regarded as even tougher than the 3 Peaks. The event is in aid of Seafarers UK, one of the leading charities in the maritime sector.

For most people, the 24 Peaks Challenge will be one of the toughest personal challenges they have ever undertaken, but it's going to take much more than personal ambition and commitment for our team to succeed. In both elements of the challenge, teamwork will be the key to success. We hope that for all our efforts to rise to this challenge you can assist us to raise money for the industry that we are all a part of.

If your Readers are sponsoring us for this monster task we are undertaking, then we would be proud to wear their company name in some form throughout the challenge. Also, we need a team name so all offers welcomed and considered. .... [Within reason!]

Our Team:
Andy Hill Fleet Manager [Operations] Declan Rate Purchasing
Stephen Nunn Purchasing
Peter Dalton Purchasing
Daniel Taylor Chemical Fleet Technical
Guy Butler Crude Fleet Operations Supt'd Jakk Fitton Accounts Department

If you would like to sponsor our efforts go to:-

http://www.justgiving.co.uk/moltank

The event details can be found at:-

http://www.seafarers-uk.org/24peaks.

Contact Daniel at:-

fleetc2@mol-tank.co.uk

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to David Frugtniet for this companion piece to the drinking jokes which appeared last week:-

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar. After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland."

The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, that I am!"

The first guy says, "So am I! And whereabouts from Ireland might you be?"

The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin, I am."

The first guy responds, "Sure and begora, and so am I! And what street did you live on in Dublin?"

The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was, I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "Faith, it's a small world, so did I! So did I!! And to what school would you have been going?"

The other guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says, "And so did I. Tell me,what year did you graduate ?"

The other guy answers, "Well, now, let's see, I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims, "The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it - I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self."

About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits, and orders a beer. Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head and mutters,"It's going to be a long night tonight!!!!"

Vicky asks, "Why do you say that, Brian?"

"The Kelly twins are drunk again."

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