BOW WAVE 369

Bow Wave Issue 369--Friends Edition

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Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2006 WavyLine.com	Issue No 369 18 Dec 06
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of November 2006 in Marine
3. Cheech and Chong Go to Sea
4. Yangtze River Facts
5. Singapore on the Up
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

Crusoe

When you've been away from it long enough,
You begin to forget the country
Of couples, with all its strange customs
And mysterious ways. Those two
Over there, for instance: late thirties,
Attractive and well-dressed, reading
At the table, drinking some complicated
Coffee drink. They haven't spoken
Or even looked at each other in thirty minutes,

But the big toe of her right foot, naked
In its sandal, sometimes grazes
The naked ankle bone of his left foot,

The faintest signal, a line thrown

Between two vessels as they cruise
Through this hour, this vacation, this life,
Through the thick novels they're reading,
Her toe saying to his ankle,

Here's to the whole improbable story
Of our meeting, of our life together
And the oceanic richness
Of our mingled narrative
With its complex past, with its hurts
And secret jokes, its dark closets
And delightful sexual quirks,
Its occasional doldrums, its vast
Future we have already peopled
With children. How safe we are

Compared to that man sitting across the room,
Marooned with his drink
And yellow notebook, trying to write
A way off his little island.

George Bilgere, from The Good Kiss

New Readers this week include:-

Capt. A M Thomas of the Sharaf Shipping Agency
Andrew.com
Deborahov.uk
Solicitor Hugh Kennedy of McCann Fitzgerald in Dublin Wafaa Kassem of Maridive & Oil Services in Eygpt
Fatma Kurt of the Karaman law office in Istanbul
Simon Page of brokers London Special Risks

News of Readers

As recently reported in Lloyds List, Bill Codrington who not long ago retired from World-Wide Shipping - Hong Kong, died unexpectedly at his London home on 1 December. Bill, more properly known as Captain Sir William Codrington Bt was in command with Shell Tankers before being taken on by Sir YK Pao, first as a master and then as a Marine Superintendent. He retired in 1997, but continued to fulfil occasional representative work in London for them and also for the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.

Readers Write

From Mike Farlie:-

Since my role as President of the International Shipowners Alliance of Canada came to a close not long ago, my wife finds me not as busy as she would like me to be. May I therefore ask through your columns, if anyone has any part-time use for a shipowners' old warhorse stabled in Vancouver BC, I would be pleased to hear from them.

Contact Mike at:-

mfarlie@hotmail.com

From Simon Harter

I refer to Bow Wave Issue 368 - Truncated Edition. I enjoy your ezine very much and find it most helpful in keeping in touch with the latest developments, not only around the globe, but here in my little corner as well.

The latest edition contains a report on the London Maritime Academy's Ship Arrest Seminar, one aspect of which concerns a recent decision in New York on the continued viability of Rule B attachments. The case in question is Seamar Shipping v. Kremikovtzi Trade, 2006 WL 3335578 (S.D.N.Y., Nov. 17, 2006). I represent the intervening party who successfully brought a motion to vacate the Rule B attachment of funds while in the possession of an intermediary bank in New York. In the decision, Judge Rakoff declared that a Rule B attachment is not available when the defendant in the case is the intended beneficiary of the wire transfer, essentially because the funds have not reached the defendant by that stage in the transfer and, thus, the defendant does not yet have a property interest in the funds.

The Seamar decision does not affect, in any respect, the ability of maritime creditors to obtain a Rule B attachment of wire transfers at intermediary banks when the defendant is the initiating party of the transfer. I should also note that other judges in the Southern District of New York have taken a different view and continue to allow attachments in cases in which the defendant is the intended beneficiary of the wire transfer. Morever, it is premature to suggest with respect to Rule B attachments that "their days are numbered", inasmuch as the plaintiff in the Seamar case has filed an application to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to accept an interlocutory appeal of Judge Rakoff's decision. Lastly, even if the Second Circuit (hopefully) upholds Judge Rakoff's decision, it cannot be said that Rule B attachments will be unavailable for marine claims, as Rule B is available in a broad range of situations beyond simply those involving electronic funds transfers.
This is a complex area of the law involving the interplay between the broad powers of Rule B under federal law and the possible application of state law to "fill in the gaps" in federal law. My comments are offered merely to clarify any concerns your Readers may have, and not as any criticism of those who have attempted to relate these latest developments.

Contact Simon at:-

sharter@harterlaw.com

From John Holister+ :-

I was particularly struck by one entry in the "Darwin Awards" segment of your most recent issue of Bow Wave (Issue 368):

"* Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, CA, as he fell face-first through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was robbing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his hands free) remained there as he hit the floor."

I just could not help recalling that some years ago the California courts permitted a man to sue a California school board for installing a defective skylight on one of its buildings. He had been burglarizing the school and the skylight could not support his weight, causing him to fall through it, which resulted in injuries.

Here in the U.S., we have a saying: "Why is California like a Granola bar? Because if you remove the fruits and the nuts, nothing is left but the flakes."

So brace yourselves, Lompoc: you may book it that the Alvarado family will be suing the owners of the bicycle shop and of the building in which it is located, asserting that the shop's ceiling was defective. Also, if they think of it, they will sue the City or County and its building department, claiming that the building code's specifications for ceilings are insufficient and the building inspectors are negligent in their inspections of commercial premises' ceilings.

I just wish I had been joking when I wrote that.

Contact him at:-

jahollister@yahoo.com

Note from the Editor

This edition appears on the heals of your editor's trip around Asia, seeing many old friends and missing many more.

Enjoy!

2. The Month of November 2006 in Marine

Jason Copland writes:-

Dear Marinos - taking up the baton following Mario's move, here's November in Marine - somewhat delayed by the stress of renewals.

Oct 30 (well almost November) Catlin agrees to take over Wellington underwriting thus creating the largest Lloyd's insurer. The price of 121p per share valued Wellington at GBP 600million.

Nov 1 Winter kicks off with the first nasty storm of this year's season resulting in widespread power outages in central and southern Sweden and the loss of the vessel "Finnbirch" and a drifting oil rig after the tow parted.

Nov 1 Marsh & McLennan 3rd-qtr earnings more than double - whilst Aon post lower than expected - the Elliot "untouchable" effect?

Nov 1 "Finnbirch", 1978 built, 15396 GRT Ro-Ro belonging to Lindholm Shipping sank in storm off Gotland, Sweden. Crew rescued, probable bunker oil leakage (260 tonnes).

Nov 2 US Pacific Fleet confirm sunken submarine found in Western Pacific is WWII "USS Wahoo" - more info here for any historians out there.

Nov 5 England celebrated a failed murder plot - I celebrated my son's 3rd birthday with almost as many fireworks.

Nov 6 Once troubled Converium announces 3rd Qtr result of US$ 54 million beating expectations of US$ 41.3 million. Converium still hopes to shrug off legal proceedings and get uprated.

Nov 7 Münich Re announces plan for EUR 1 bn shares buy-back and forecasts a 2006 after tax profit of upto EUR 3.4.bn.

Nov 7 Samsung wins order for Qatar LNG's - "Q-Max" with 265,000 metric tonnes capacity costing US$ 300 mill a piece, this will bring the fleet total to 17 of these monsters.

Nov 7 America Votes! Mid term troubles for George W on the way?

Nov 10 Getting out of future liabilities could be expensive as energy insurer OIL announces that 9 from 87 members opted to leave the pool - total leaving charges could be around US$ 200 million.

Nov 13 Consolidation within the Classification Societies on its way? Rumours abound that Bureau Veritas will take over Germanischer Lloyd.

Nov 10 Münich Re announces re-shuffle of responsibilities at the top.

Nov 13 Another Reinsurer goes direct - Glacier Re announce start of Glacier Insurance to write direct Marine and Energy among other lines, based in Liechtenstein.

Nov 13 "Kristin Poling", runs aground near New York carrying heating oil, grounding on soft sand, coastguard monitoring.

Spotted in a policy wording: "Excluding Damages due to jerks" - is this an attempt to reduce claims arising from negligence?

Nov 15 Ascot expands its operations into Asian and opens a Singapore based office, meanwhile Ace opens a middle east office is Bahrain.

"Insurance Day" publishes a helpful list of Office Party Rules - includes advice on avoiding lawsuits by ensuring t he buffet is actually edible and going politically correct by omitting the traditional sprig of mistletoe - reminds me of a company (a previous employer that shall remain nameless) that was banned from every venue they ever used for Christmas Parties.....a little too much Christmas spirit.

Mario's challenge from October - advantages of the Azipod - one answer found in Bow Wave: From Alan B Knott What are the advantages of the Azipod (Bow Wave Issue 363) I believe that some of the advantages of the Azipod are:- Main engines can be sited remotely from Azipod thereby 'optimising' the layout of the ship; -Electric drive is used thereby reducing vibration and volume of engine room; Azipods can be steerable thereby eliminating after thrusters - anyone disagree?

Nov 15 A magnitude 8.1 Richter earthquake off the coast of Japan raises fears of a tsunami - in the end waves of only 40cm were noted and no damage ensued - phew!

Nov 20 Sick of cruising - "Carnival Liberty" struck by outbreak of norovirus with around 700 taken ill. Docked in Florida the vessel will undergo a thorough cleaning to remove risks of infection.

Nov 20 stowaway turns out to be stranded mariner - lucky escape after sailing boat collides with barge and sinks as the owner jumped onto the barge - he then had to survive the ordeal of being handcuffed as a stowaway until his story was verified.

Nov 20 More shipbuilding capacity on its way as Goodearth Maritime is apparently planning a new yard in Korea to build 12 VLCC's per annum.

Nov 21 more bad news for Scottish Re as they suffer a downgrade to B from B+, meanwhile SCOR wins a further rating rise to A.

Nov 22 Iraq still considered too dangerous for most insurers - according to Insurance Day.

Nov 22 Competition in sight for the ocean's whales as Aker announces plan to build a Krill harvesting vessel, planned delivery in late 2009.

Nov 24 Reinsurer GenRe receives record fine of GBP 1.225m from the FSA for financial contracts deemed illegitimate.

Nov 27 More competition from the far east shipbuilders but this time it's superyachts - Jade Yachts in Taiwan seatrials the 86 foot "Bandido" built for German owner.

Good luck to all for the ongoing renewal season, time for me to get back to pricing!

Disclaimer
Any opinion expressed in this newsletter should be regarded as the personal opinion of Jason Copland 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. Cheech and Chong Go to Sea

This is a clip of film from YouTube.com mentioned in passing by Robert Gordon recently of the fire on board the "Star Princess" from the point of view of several stoned youth. Adobe Flash Player 9.0 reproduces the footage well.

http://www.cruise-addicts.com/forums/read.php?110,1146247,1146722

4. Yangtze River Facts

The passage below is taken from the speech of Fred Castonguay the MD of the new Taicang container port--a little up river from Shanghai. It was given at the this year's container summit at the Nikko Hotel in Hong Kong in late November of this year:-

@Nearly 80% of shipping activities on the Yangtze are concentrated in the 250km section between Shanghai and Nanjing. Seven of the Yangtze’s top ten container ports are along this bustling stretch of river. All told, cargo traffic levels along this riverine artery are growing at a rate of more than 25% a year. Cargo volumes more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, from 310m tons to 795m tons. In 2005, according to the Yangtze Ports Handbook, the Yangtze’s 24 leading ports, excluding Shanghai, recorded a 2005 throughput of 2.6m teu, 3.8 times more than in 2000. This trend is set to continue in the future.

By the end of this year, shipping capacity on the Yangtze River is expected to hit 990 million tons, and will grow to 1.3 billion tons by the year 2010. Ports along the 6,300-km-long river will see container volumes reach 6.34 million teu this year, 23.6 percent more than last year.

According to official forecasts, throughput will exceed 10m teu by 2010. The lower reaches will be the biggest growth area but there will also be dramatic growth in under-developed provinces along the middle stretches and a blossoming of container activity in Chongqing.

For more information contact Fred at

fc@mordernterminals.com

5. Singapore on the Up

According to Nick Sansom of Marsh in Singapore, whom we visited this week, the prospects for Singapore as a regional shipping centre are looking up. New arrivals from Norway and Germany attest to the popularity of the place and the efforts of the island's promoters are bearing fruit. Back in the late 1990s, the currency crisis led to some lean years and reduced expat ranks as companies frew in their horns. Coincidentally, the Baltic announced the opening of new office there with this announcement courtesy of Bill Lines:-

The Baltic Exchange today (Tuesday 12 December) announced the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Representative Office in Singapore. The office will provide close contact with the growing number of Baltic Exchange members in the region and will focus on the development of Baltic freight market information to meet their needs.

Announcing the opening of the new office at the inaugural meeting of the Baltic’s Asian Dry Freight Market Information Users Group, Baltic Exchange chief executive Jeremy Penn said:

"Having lived and worked in this area for more than 10 years, including three based in Singapore, I know how hard it is for any organisation with its centre of gravity in another time-zone to really respond to the needs here. Opening our office in Singapore is an important step in redressing the balance and ensuring the Baltic is fully attuned to the needs of the shipping market in the Asia-Pacific region."

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Peter Dixon for these:-

Answers to Questions on Science Tests By 5th and 6th graders:

The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top, and you sit on the bottom.

A city purifies its water supply by filtering the water and then forcing it through an aviator.

The inhabitants of Moscow are Mosquitoes.

It is so hot in some places that people there have to live in other places.

Momentum is something you give a person when they go away.

Mushrooms always grow in damp places which is why they look like umbrellas.

The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana.

Thunder is a rich source of loudness.

Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun, but I never have been able to make out the numbers.

In some rocks you can find the fossil footprints of fishes.

When planets run around and around in circles, we say they are orbiting. When people do it, we say they are crazy.

One of the main causes of dust is janitors.

For asphyxiation, apply artificial respiration until the victim is dead.

Blood circulates through the body by flowing down one leg and up the other.

A monsoon is a French gentleman.

The word "trousers" is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.

Rain is saved up in cloud banks.

To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.

Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should.

Water vapor gets together in a big cloud. When it gets big enough to be called a drop, it does.

There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because so many people are stomping around there these days.

The cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.

You can listen to thunder and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind.

Toahoogroups.com

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