BOW WAVE 363

Bow Wave Issue 363--Contact Us Edition

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(c)2006 WavyLine.com	Issue No 363 06 Nov 06
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of October 2006 in Marine
3. International Transport Solutions (ITS)
4. Quarterpoints
5. The Ninth Cadwallader Memorial Lecture
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

10. Seaman's Ditty

I'm wondering where you are now
Married, or mad, or free:
Wherever you are you're likely glad,
But memory troubles me.

We could've had us children,
We could've had a home--
But you thought not, and I thought not,
And these nine years we roam.

Today I worked in the deep dark tanks,
And climbed out to watch the sea:
Gulls and salty waves pass by,
And mountains of Araby.

I've traveled the lonely oceans
And wandered the lonely towns.
I've learned a lot and lost a lot,
And proved the world was round.

Now if we'd stayed together,
There's much we'd never've--
But dreary books and weary lands
Weigh on me like a stone.

Gary Snyder from Left Out in the Rain

New Readers this week include:-

Scott Jones of Gensteam in the US
Noel Mackenzie of Arthur J Gallagher in London
June.Ang of Thomas Miller (SEA) in Singapore
David Sharp of AAA Insurance Brokers in London
CF Cartwright of Willis
Haydn Costin of LIMIT

News of Readers

Aline de Bievre writes:-

The sudden death of 41-year old Igor Ponomarev has struck the International Maritime Organization community with shock, disbelief and great sadness.

On Monday 6th November, delegates from around the world gathering for the half-yearly session of the IMO’s executive council in London will have the opportunity to bow their heads in deep respect for Russia’ permanent representative to the organisation.

The bright and life-loving naval architect and ship surveyor from St Petersburg, which he always proudly referred to as "the Most Beautiful City in the World", had become one of the most charismatic figures in the international regulatory arena over the past 10 years. He rapidly reached high ranks in the International Association of Classification Societies, as member of its influential council, and from 2001-2002 as IACS chairman.

At the IMO, he made an indelible mark on a number of key work programmes of very considerable technical complexity. After a successful spell as chairman of the high-profile bulk carrier safety working group, which was charged with digesting the findings and recommendations of the 2nd public inquiry of the British government into the loss of the ‘Derbyshire’, he was elected by acclamation to chair the pivotal ship design and equipment sub-committee and subsequently to succeed Tom Allan of the UK as chairman of the maritime safety committee, IMO’s leading technical body.

He leaves a huge hole in the support network of the IMO secretariat as well as in the inner circle of trusted and devoted sentries of secretary-general ‘Thimio’ Mitropoulos, who, for the second time, experiences the painful loss of a great personal friend. Italy’s Dr Giuliano Pattofatto also died of a heart attack during his tenure as maritime safety committee chairman seven years ago.

The battlefield of international co-operation involving the IMO’s 166 member governments and well over 50 non-governmental organisations, whose global outlook is essential to the prosperity of the shipping industry, perhaps carries a too high price for individuals who excel as committed, tireless servants of safety at sea.

Igor Ponomarev leaves a beloved wife and 20-year old son

The life and times of Herry Lawford, recently retired from the UK Club, are portrayed (with no small photographic skill) in a photo blog called Wolfiewolf's photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/herry/

Tourism expert Dr. Elinor Garely of City University of NY is off to Greenland in the next few weeks. Are there any Bow Wave Readers in this part of the world?

elinor@WeKnowWhatWomenWant.com

Readers Write

Tapio Naula writes:-

I would like to ask your Readers to participate in the Logistics Perception Index - conducted by Turku School of Economics in co-operation with the World Bank and the International Federation for Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA). The study is carried out on an anonymous and non-commercial basis. All the participants will be given a full access to the summary of the survey results, which will be available November 2006.

Your expert opinion is needed to build understanding and help prioritize the implementation of trade and transport facilitation reforms and, as a result, increase the efficiency of global logistics operations. Sharing your knowledge with us will take only 15 - 20 minutes of your time.

Please click this link to the survey Web-site:

http://webct.tukkk.fi/lpi/index.php?pf=55000

Thank you very much for your participation!

Tapio Naula

Short Term Consultant for the World Bank
c/o Turku School of Economics
Address: Rehtorinpellonkatu 3,
FIN-20500 Turku, FINLAND
Tel. +358 408 337 672
E-mail:

AfterOfficeHours News

The latest edition of the Maritime Advocate online (Issue 277) can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

http://afterofficehours.com/news.php

Readers who would like to subscribe to this highly readable fraternal publication--which is edited by Chris Hewer and published free to Readers--should send an e-mail to:-

contactus@afterofficehours.com

The Maritime Advocate online archive

The publishers are proposing to create an archive for the Maritime Advocate which will provide an opportunity for a number of firms to demonstrate their expertise to our readership.

In addition to the back editions of the Maritime Advocate itself, there will be two central aspects to the archive:

1. To provide regular case-law updates on transport and insurance law from their particular jurisdiction. It is expected that a wide range of jurisdictions will form part of the case-note database.

2. To provide an overview of the transport law in each jurisdiction.

An example of this overview which has already been prepared for India by BJ Macfarlane & Co can be supplied.

In New Zealand, the firm of Wilson Harle has now agreed to be the sponsors for the country summary.

Each jurisdiction will only be represented by two sponsoring law firms. One will provide the case law updates. The other will provide the country summary. If you or your firm is interested in supplying these materials please contact the publishers at:

contactus@afterofficehours.com

Note from the Editor

Quite a full edition this week with further news of a new venture in item 3.

We bid this week farewell to Mario Ciancarelli who in a short time has made his monthly report on marine affairs his own with a very personal tone of voice. Jason Copland has a hard act to follow.

Enjoy!

2. The Month of October 2006 in Marine

Mario Ciancarelli writes:-

Like in Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "the last supper" I would like to invite you to join the table for my last monthly newsletter (as I have decided to take on a new professional challenge). Guess what though we have found somebody who is prepared to take over. A warm welcome to Jason Copland who I am sure will do an outstanding job in passing on to you Swiss Re's Marine words of wisdom.

2006 ILS New Issuance stand at$7.5bn. Life accounting for $4.2bn and non-life for $3.3bn;

Partner Re awarded price of Reinsurance Company of the Year by the magazine Review. Reasons: consistency in financial performance (ROE), consistent service/security to clients (service/processes) and ability to adapt to market changes (Cycle Mgmt);

Asbestosis in Indian scrapyards. India finally acting with a new strict health and safety regime. Health workers finally put in first place.

This is a good one: Shipowners expecting a reduction in hull insurance premium if piracy was to be taken out of the equation. Hello?

Will passage rush through the Arctic occur as icebreakers are no longer needed?
http://www.athropolis.com/map9.htm.

Quote of the month: The cemetery is full of indispensable people.

USA, China & India flex muscles over energy-critical sea lanes. The USA currently having vast control over the so-called "choke-points".

The liner shipping industry is looking at an end of a robust earning phase. Outlook bleak with falling freight rates and soaring fuel prices.

What are the advantages of an Azipod? Any comments to the editor are more than welcome. Answer released in the next newsletter.
http://domino.abb.de/deabb/deabb036.nsf/e2e459721df5c2f5c125686e004aabf5/436f98907cdd770cc12568fc00531225/$FILE/AZIPOD.jpg

Fincantieri's future looks bright. 50% share in the cruise shipbuilding sector and opulent orderbook for the years 2007 - 2009.

Solar 1 sinking off the Philippine coast to cost the P&I sector up to $30mio. Oil is still trapped in the vessel. 630 metres deep though.
#
Another competitor in the market putting a further strain on t&c. Chaucer opens in Singapore. First focus on offshore energy & Marine!

Singaporean yards (Keppel, Semb-Corp) flying high with jack-up nb's.Combined total orderbook of these yards: a staggering $10bn;

Should a reinsurer with an A- security get the same price on a deal as an AA one? My instinct says no but market reality is different.

Vessel second hand prices will stay firm as newbuilding deliveries are being postponed well into 2009.

Shipowners to remember. Being formally ISM compliant is not enough. The Safety Management System (SMS) will have to be in place and work properly also in practice. Non compliance could potentially lead to loss of insurance cover (loss caused wilfully/negligently!)

Vessel down off the eastern Japanese coast:
http://www.mol.co.jp/pr-e/2006/e-pr-2615.html

Nicaragua plans to construct a $20bn rival to the Panama Canal. Largest tankers & containers ships to pass between the two Oceans.

Converium has received the licence to write takaful business.

Reinsurers with a flexible corporate structure are more flexible to manage underwriting cycles and international business moves says S&P in its report. These players are also likely to attract the interest of increasingly demanding and transient capital providers.

Basic but valid question: "Is sustainable underwriting achievable in energy sector"? Even by writing off last year's tragic GOM events, the energy insurance market has still not been able to generate an acceptable uw profit. How long will capital watch this melodrama?

Japan and Australia ban north Korean vessels into their ports in response to UN sanctions.

Things happen also on the Mississippi river.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/10/16/ships.collide.ap/index.html

Teco Mgmt., Norway to buy Davie Shipyard for $28mio in Lévis, Canada. Teco will focus on offshore drilling platforms. Deal includes a five-year tax holiday given by the city of Lévis. The latter conditional on the company having a payroll of 1,100 employees by 2011.

Spark touched off an explosion aboard a gasoline tanker at Pemex's Pajarito Marine Terminal in Coatzacoalcos. 8 people were killed.

Suicide bombing at southern Sri Lankan port of Galle. Guerrilla fighters in five boats broke into the harbour and went into a frenzy.

Single brand. DP World to rebrand P&O Ports, which it bought this year in order to create an integrated marine terminal organisation.

P&I 2007 outlook: General increases in the past years might require shipowners not to dig too deep into their pockets. Around +5% seems the quoted figure even though one has to bear in mind that the financial standings of the different P&I mutuals are not identical.

Merger discussions between Skuld and Swedish Club reached due diligence stage with mixed feelings about the envisaged marriage.

Converium dropped the North American operation legacy (main source of trouble back in 2004) to Berkshire Hathaway for $295mio.

Share price of Guangzhou Shipyard in South China soared 7.8% on sixfold profit forecast.
http://www.chinagsi.com/en/main/

Is this the ultimate solution?
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/62416c853623e010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Security checks & Air Cargo:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6154273,00.html

Port Klang Free Zone. New Malaysian shipping hub to help international companies operating in South East Asia. The (440-hectare) site is a free zone that combines shipping logistics activities (labelling,packaging) with factories & industrial manufacturing operations.

Panama Canal. Voters overwhelmingly approved by a 4 to 1 margin the $5.2 bio project to expand the country's famous canal.

Gazprom pulls rug on western oil majors in exploring solo the vast 3.2 trillion cubic meters Shtokman gas field in the Barents sea, 360 kilometres off the coast at 320 meters depth. Prime market to be served: Europe rather than US. Somebody trying to make a point?

S. Korean shipbuilding orders hit $12.4bn in third quarter of 2006.142.5% increase in actual orders compared to 2005. Ferries regarded as possible terrorist targets. Important in size - carrying a reasonable amount of people - slow in motion = easy target.

Oil price steady at $61 a barrel.

That's it folks. Take care of yourselves and please stay tuned.

Disclaimer
Any opinion expressed in this newsletter should be regarded as the personal opinion of Mario Ciancarelli 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. International Transport Solutions (ITS)

The following appeared in Lloyd's List:-

British Marine hires Ignarski and Hussain to bolster liability launch Other Articles--Duo will launch services in intermodal, transport and negligence, writes James Brewer - Monday October 30 2006

TWO of the best known personalities in marine insurance have joined QBE subsidiary British Marine to launch new products and services in the fields of intermodal, transport and professional negligence.

Sam Ignarski, insurance practitioner and noted industry commentator, has been appointed director of newly-formed International Transport Solutions.

Zareena Hussain, formerly of Thomas Miller-managed mutual International Transport Intermediaries Club, will be underwriter.

ITS will begin underwriting in 2007, and although it will pose some competition for Itic and other niche operations, British Marine managing director Robert Johnston said the rationale was quite different.

He said that British Marine’s client base --the business provides protection and indemnity for 9,000 small ships and hull and machinery cover for 4,000 --has for some time been looking to us to broaden our product base. "We do not see ourselves in competition with the big ticket underwriters."

Having reached a solid financial position in the last few years, the specialist insurer became even more financially robust through its move on to the QBE balance sheet, and has been investigating avenues for growth.

Mr Johnston said: "We take the view that the Industry we serve does not stop at the ship’s rail. Our clients, and the industry in general, require insurance when they are performing other roles within shipping and transport.

"We plan therefore to offer products for the various parts of the transport chain -- both for principals and for intermediaries -- and we plan to introduce these products over time from January 2007."

He said that the recruitment of Mr Ignarski and Ms Hussain underlined the personal service that characterises British Marine, combined with expertise from people who really understand the Industry."

(editorial note:--if you would like to find out more, the contact details are:-

Zareena Hussain:-

Zareena@BritishMarine.com

Sam Ignarski:-

Sam@BritishMarine.com

4. Quarterpoints

Your editor's recent column in Lloyds List is another examination of gigantism in modern life

Reflections on the Emma Maersk

READERS of Monday’s Guardian newspaper were treated to a great rarity: a shipping story on the front page unrelated to casualty.

There trailing a whole page story inside is a picture of the Emma Maersk, looking pretty fully laden on her maiden journey from China to Europe, bearing a full load of Christmas goodies.

A long list of goods consigned on the ship is supplied. The cargo is a cross section of the consumer desires of the affluent society come Yuletide.

Yet the tone of the article is less acclaim and adulation, more shock and awe. How can this monster ship only have a crew of 13? How can so many things formerly made in Europe now come from China? How can the ship have a mighty diesel engine and only a single screw? How can the balance of trade between the country and China be so skewed?

This globalisation thing is awful. Progressive readers around the nation sigh.

Alone and over my kung po chicken supper in a Chinese restaurant, I took in the article. It portrayed the ship not as a modern marvel, but as a manifestation of our unbalanced environment.

My host, a former denizen of the oil trade, now retired, clucked. "You know it is not our kind making all the money on that ship," he commented. "I have a brother in Guangzhou who makes lights for the British market.

"He sells them for two pounds to Thorn. And Thorn sell them here for sixty. The brand gets everything."

Does Ever Blue get everything in container shipping? The logic of the ever expanding liner company is that their suppliers do not get fat.

Insuring the Emma Maersk and all that sails with her is scarily prone to catastrophic losses.

And yet talk to the hull underwriters, the container hull underwriters and the cargo underwriters and they will tell you that the rates they get paid for this sort of risk are not exactly luxurious.

The effect on the marine market of the loss of the Emma Maersk or one of her sisters will be salutary. Why the containers alone, given all the reefers, might be worth $40m on a single ship.

This represents getting along to half the free reserves of the insurer concerned, a sum which took 30 or more years to build up.

The cargo loss -- say $400m -- could easily amount to the whole stamp of one of the remaining marine syndicates in the London market. So could the ship.

Not for nothing is the post-9/11 marine underwriter obsessed with aggregation. It stalks the industry now, luring the unwary to an insolvent end. But the future of the Leviathans of the cargo trades is set. If the balmy conditions of world prosperity are set to continue, as economists mostly seem to be saying, the future is clear to see: lower prices, bigger ports and ships, greater choice, a longer and longer list of goods and services, the price and source of which is set in East Asia.

But all the same. We used to insure these things using the techniques of "feathering". A large volatile risk was underscored by loads of small stodgy risks, limited in nature and rarely able to surprise.

The most welcome business used to be the middle sized enterprise, with owners, managers and directors you actually met from time to time whose attention to daily detail meant that the firms had lower than average insurance claims.

No more than two decades ago the container industry had hundreds of shipping companies of a size which are considered completely unsustainable in today’s industry.

But with the withering away of "middle everything" we now in many ways have a series of stark choices to make. Maersk or the little feeder company. Tesco or the corner shop. Huge or little. And not much in between.

5. The Ninth Cadwallader Memorial Lecture

Martin Rowland writes:-

THE SHIP AND THE PLANE, ARE THEY THE SAME? CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: SHIPPING AND AVIATION COMPARED
The Centre wishes to remind professionals in the shipping, aviation and related industries of this important Event which brings together leading figures from both fields under the chairmanship of Stephen Van Dyck, Chairman of Intertanko.

The panellists are:
Prof. Erik Rosaeg of the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Chairman - the easyGroup Mr Spyros Polemis, Chairman - International Chamber of Shipping Mr Rupert Britton - Secretary and Legal advisor to the UK Civil Aviation Authority

Venue: Lloyd’s of London
Date: Thursday 16th November 2006 - Time: 5.30pm
Delegates will:-

**Learn more about the particular aspects of both industries through the panel’s focus on the similarities and differences between the two in safety regulations, compliance and accountability. in order to improve legislation, the enforcement of regulations, as well as the standards applied to each industry;

**Ascertain from the panel/ forum dialogue what can be done to raise public awareness of the immense value of both industries in order to instil gradually a trust culture;

**Have an opportunity to pose questions during the Q & A session on relevant issues which are germane to their particular interests in either of these industries.

Further details for registration can be obtained from the Centre’s web-site:

http://www.london-shippinglaw.com

or from the Centre’s office:-

shipping@ucl.ac.uk

(The event is accredited for 2 CPD hours by the Law Society and Bar Council)

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to broker David Furgtniet for these:-

FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS)

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

2. A will is a dead giveaway.

3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine
was fully recovered.

12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.

13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

15. He would often have to break into song because he couldn't find the key.

16. A calendar's days are numbered.

17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.

19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

21. A short fortune-teller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large

22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

23. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall.

24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye !!!

26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.

NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

P.S.

Frank Warren asks complete strangers to post him their innermost secrets on a post card. His blog is strange and compelling...

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

BOW WAVE is published each week to over 13 200 Readers in the transport,insurance,shipping and finance industries.

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