BOW WAVE 334

Bow Wave Issue 334--Eastern News Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2006 WavyLine.com	Issue No 334 17 Apr 06
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. London Insurance Market Survey
3. K Line goes in for Arboreal Works in Chungking
4. Waste Rubber Container Blast in Hong Kong
5. Huangpu River Casualty
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

After the Lunch

On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
The weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
I wipe them away with a black woolly glove
And try not to notice I've fallen in love.

On Waterloo Bridge I am trying to think:
This is nothing. You're high on the charm and the drink.
But the juke-box inside me is playing a song
That says something different. And when was it wrong?

On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair
I am tempted to skip. You're a fool. I don't care.
The head does its best but the heart is the boss-
I admit it before I am halfway across.

Wendy Cope from Serious Concerns (1992)

New Readers this week include:-

ISPS Expert Captain Allan Breese
Tony Airey of Intamico Shipping Ltd in Nassau, Bahamas Nonandi Diko of lawyers Bowman Gilfillan in Cape Town Celina Chan of OOCL
Craig Watson of CTC

News of Readers

Jock Mawson, the insurance manager at CP Ships for many years,is moving on shortly, and taking a sabbatical over the summer.

Contact him at:-

jockmawson@aol.com

Readers Write

From Reporter David Hooper:-

I shall be retiring from Fairplay at the end of this month but I may still be involved in some freelance work both in shipping and consumer affairs. I hope that I will have plenty of time left over to pursue my particular interests of cricket and rugby.

It's been great fun working in the road transport and shipping industry (since 1964), having started off with Silver Roadways (part of Tate and Lyle Transport), then short sea container forwarding with Unit Loads Ltd (1968-70). The main move was then to ACT (Australia) Ltd (1970-91) and a real opportunity to be involved in deepsea container operations (Europe-Aust/NZ and North America-Aust/NZ) at the very beginning and being given the opportunity to help set the standard for liner tariffs that became a benchmark for other trades to follow. It was an amazing time and there were several innovations. I believe it is correct to say that ACTA/ANL and ANZECS were the first box operators to institute slot-swapping, based on mutual trust and keeping a tally of slots exchanged.

There then came that dreadful day late in 1991 when P&O Containers bought ACT and other associated businesses owned by Cunard and Blue Star. Even though ACT/ANL was an extremely professional operation, its staff suffered about 90 per cent redundancy. When staff had heard that a buyer was interested in bidding for the business, it was hoped the purchaser would be a company like Maersk. Because Maersk were not at that time directly involved in the Australasian trade, it was felt that it would keep much of the structure (including staff) in place. Well, we got our wish - but 16 years too late!!

1992-95 was also spent in container shipping, for feeder operator Comar trading between the North Continent and southern UK main ports (Felixstowe, Tilbury and Thamesport) to/from North East England and Scotland. It was a very competitive business, but my view is that feeder business to/from the UK will really take off as road congestion and pollution emissions make feeders a compelling option to long-distance road movements And so to dear old Fairplay. When I first met John Prime at an interview in July 1995, I said that we were both taking risks - he because I (at 48) had no professional magazine writing experience, and I because I guessed I would struggle. He said Fairplay could train a person to write to style, but could not teach the experience in the shipping industry that I had obtained over 30 years. It seems he may have been right.

Contact david at:-

david.j.hooper@hotmail.co.uk

AfterOfficeHours News

Issue 248 of the Maritime Advocate online has appeared during the week and may be viewed on the After Office Hours newslog. Click on the link below:-

http://afterofficehours.com/news.php

Firms wishing to sponsor editions or to advertise their services should contact our new commercial manager Paul Hubbard on:-

Tel: +44 (0)20 8979 8877
Mob: +44 (0)7747 686288
paul.hubbard@ephomanassociates.com

2. London Insurance Market Survey

Peter Hastie and our other friends over at the London Insurance Insider are carrying out a survey on how people view the London Insurance Market. Bow Wave Readers who would like to contribute their points of view to the survey are highly welcome. You can do so by clicking on the link below

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=439151931789

3. K Line goes in for Arboreal Works in Chungking

Courtesy of Peter Owen we learn that K LINE has contributed USD$ 1 million for tree-planting activities to the Nippon Keidanren’s China Committee, which is jointly hosting the 2nd Nippon Keidanren Japan-China Environmental Tree-Planting Project (launched April 6, 2006) with the All-China Youth League and the city of Chongqing (a good way up the river Yangtze) and other Chinese partners.

This project plans to plant 435 hectares of paulownia, camphor and poplar trees in Chongqing’s Changshou district between 2006 and 2008 for ecological conservation and flood prevention. The first project planted 573 hectares of trees in the same area between 2001 and 2005, so when the 2nd project is completed the total will reach 1,000 hectares.

4. Waste Rubber Container Blast in Hong Kong

One of the stranger kinds of containerised casualties made the press last week in the public cargo area of Cha Kwo Ling. A container of waste rubber, consigned for mainland China, ignited explosively upon opening, severely burning two terminal workers, one opening the door, another simply passing by.

Such incidents involving plastic or rubber waste are according to voices in Hong Kong not especially rare, particularly when the waste contains ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), a type of rubber used in industrial processes. The fumes given off accumulate within an air tight container and can be ignited when doors are forced open. The temperature within the container is said to have reached 1000 degrees Centigrade during the blaze, which was brought under control in around ten minutes by firemen.

5. Huangpu River Casualty

News came in on Tuesday 11APR06 of a casualty on the Huangpu River, which runs through the city of Shanghai and which is on average about 400 metres wide and 9 metres deep being about 114 kilometres long.

Our correspondents in Shanghai report that government investigators are looking into the collision between a Chinese-registered tug and the 2005-built, 962 teu Korean -registered containership "Star Mariner" which left four Chinese seafarers missing, The tug, with a crew of 10 on board, sank immediately after the collision, which occurred at about 00:40 local time near Wusong. on the Huangpu river. The tug was towing a barge when the collision took place with the barge. The shock of collision sank the tug with the barge suffering only minor damage. The weather was foggy with low visibility. With the tug and barge low on the river it is suspected that the tow was not visible on the radar screen.

Rescuers managed to haul six seafarers out of the water but four were reported missing. The search, by at least 11 vessels, was also hampered by thick fog.

The 13,007 dwt boxship is owned by Korean feeder operator Namsung Shipping, which owns 12 other boxships including sister vessel "Star Carrier". The two ships are the newest and largest in the Namsung Shipping fleet, which operates services between China, South Korea and Japan.

6. And Finally...

Thanks to Ian Cochrane, editor of Tanker Operator for these extracts from allegedly genuine GCSE exam answers which are doing the rounds on the internet

1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah desert and travelled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.

2. The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinnesses, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, asked "Am I my brother's son?"

3. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without ingredients. Moses went up on mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments. He died before he reached Canada.

4. Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.

5. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history .The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.

6. Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name.

7. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career took a dramatic decline.

8. In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.

9. Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place for very long.

10.Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out "Tee hee, Brutus."

11.Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his subjects by playing the fiddle to them.

12.Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonised by Bernard Shaw. Finally Magna Carta provided that no man should be hanged twice for the same offence.

13.In midevil times most people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the futile ages was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verses and also wrote literature.

14.Another story was William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son's head.

15.Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen". As a Queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah".

16.It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. And Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper.

17.The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couplet. Romeo's last wish was to be laid by Juliet.

18.Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miquel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained.

19.During the Renaissance America began. Christopher Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America while cursing about the Atlantic. His ships were called the N1na, the Pinta, and the Santa Fe.

20.Later, the pilgrims crossed the ocean, and this was called Pilgrim's Progress. The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died and many babies were born. Captain John Smith was responsible for all this.

21.One of the causes of the Revolutionary War was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps. Finally the colonists won the war and no longer had to pay for taxis. Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backwards and declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand" Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

22.Soon the Constitution of the United States was adopted to secure domestic hostility. Under the constitution the people enjoyed the right to keep bare arms.

23.Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation.

24.Meanwhile in Europe, the enlightenment was a reasonable time. Voltaire invented electricity and also wrote a book called Candy.

25.Gravity was invented by Isaac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the autumn when the apples are falling off the trees.

26.Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died in 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer and so was Handel. Handel was half German half Italian and half English. He was very large.

27.Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took very long walks in the forest even though everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.

28.The French Revolution was accomplished before it had happened and catapulted into Napoleon. Napoleon wanted an heir to inherit his power, but since Josephine was a Baroness, she couldn't have any children.

29.The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West.

30.Queen Victoria was the longest queen. She sat on the thorn for 63 years. She was a moral woman who practiced virtue. Her death was the final event of her reign.

31.The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up. Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick raper, which did the work of a hundred men.

32.Lois Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis. Charles Darwin was a naturalist who wrote the Organ of the Species. Madman Curie discovered radio. And Karl Marx became one of the Marx brothers.

33.The First World War, caused by the assignation of the Arch-Duck by an anahist, ushered in a new error in the anals of human history.

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