BOW WAVE 389

Bow Wave Issue 389--May Day Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2007 WavyLine.com	Issue No 389 31 Mar 07
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Freight Forwarding Issues of Moment
3. Loss of Hire--Something for the London Market?
4. Insurance Solutions Limited (ISL) Mark II
5. Arbitration News from France
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

875

I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my Feet the Sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch-
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience.

Emily Dickinson

New Readers this week include:-

Maria Borg Barthet and Damon Thompson of Holman's David Kampfner of the SS Robin
David Watson of Argenta plc
Maj-Len Ehrnrooth of Transfennica Ltd
Cyrus Gachagua of ISS
Martin Scales of Thomas Miller
Sarosh Jamsheed Nagarvala of Skylark Travel in Mumbai

News of Readers

Steven Haasz director of Market Infrastructure & Programme Management at Lloyd's, will leave at the beginning of July to join Prudential as managing director of its UK wholesale division.

Note from the Editor

A number of Readers reported trouble getting into this web site

http://www.moveablefeasts.org/

It seems to work all right now.

This issue of Bow Wave comes to Readers rather late in the day (Sunday) as the sun is shining and the great outdoors beckoned.

Enjoy!

2. Freight Forwarding Issues of Moment

Gavin Magrath and Peter Jones have sent in the latest edition of their Forwarderlaw E-zine:-

At a recent Forwarderlaw meeting in Brunegg, Switzerland, members of the network discussed issues of importance in each of their jurisdictions; this e-news highlights those discussions.

United Kingdom

British forwarders facing increased competition from the lines have increasingly been looking to 3PL and other project forwarding for their profits. These movements often involve incredibly large and heavy loads, which not only create logistical problems but also legal ones: mandatory application of Hague (ocean) Warsaw (air) and/or CMR (land) can conflict with contract terms and standard weight limitations produce incredibly high ceilings on liability. The cost of delay and the machinations of local agents and officials add to this risky mix. For the full article click here:-

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=436

Denmark

Henrik Thal Jantzen describes the legal environment in Denmark, which includes domestic regulation in accordance with the NSAB rules. Although many of the relevant provisions are the same, they will occasionally conflict with the CMR or other conventions of mandatory application. Denmark has also adopted part of the Hamburg convention, including provisions which permit suit to be brought before the Danish Courts where Denmark is the place of loading or unloading. With low costs and a panel of three that includes court-appointed experts, litigants may find that when it comes to forums, the shopping in Denmark is quite good. For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=437

Germany

Jacobus Bracker described a hypothetical shipment carried under the 1998 German Law on Multimodal Transport. This law significantly changed the legal environment for German forwarders, including the imposition of an 8.33 SDR/kg limitation for the entire transport. However, forwarder and customer can agree to different limitation terms if they comply with certain requirements. For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=438

Spain

Spain is a signatory to the CMR and so the 8.33 SDR limit will apply for the road portion of international carriage, but legislation governing domestic carriage imposes a limit of only EUR 4,5/kg. These limits are easily breakable: a customer need only show gross negligence, not wilful or reckless conduct, and Spanish Courts have been prepared to make such a finding in cases of theft, or where the driver had diverged from the most direct route at the time the damage was sustained. For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=439

Singapore

Michael Lai described two recent cases before the Singapore courts. In one, a forwarder acting as logistics provider made an error of one digit in a part number, with the result that rubber components for weatherstripping doors were installed as brake components, ultimately causing the recall of a large number of autos and great embarrassment to the manufacturer. In another, what might have been a simple delay case turned against the forwarder because its employee had advised the shipper that the intended vessel had sailed on time: it had, but without the full consignment on board! For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=440

United States

Steve Block discussed a variety of topics relevant to carriage in the United States, including the common law principles of liability for common carriers, the extension by the Federal maritime Commission (FMC) of confidential service contracts to NVOCCs, and the jurisdiction of the Federal courts over land damage that is conceptually linked to ocean carriage. For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=441

Canada

General editor Peter Jones discussed a recent Canadian case in which the Court came to a different conclusion from the American Courts in Kirby v Norfolk Southern and denied a rail carriers claim to be protected by the limitation clauses in the ocean carriers bill of lading. The responsibility of forwarders for maintaining data for the benefit of its customers was also discussed. For the full article click here:

http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=442

3. Loss of Hire--Something for the London Market?

Lee Coppack writes:-

Loss of hire insurance to cover a ship’s loss of earnings following a casualty is an important form of cover for s hipowners and operators in a buoyant freight market, and one which could be a bigger class of business for the London insurance market. This was the theme of a talk at the seminar organised by the Association of Average Adjusters (AAA) in London on Thursday last by Paul Silver, a Fellow of the AAA and Managing Director of Richards Hogg Lindley.

All ship operators run a risk that the income they earn from a ship will dry up in the event that it is involved in a casualty, Silver stated. Serious damage to one vessel or a combination of casualties can ultimately threaten the financial standing of operating companies through an inability to meet the running costs of the vessel and financing charges, as well as the loss of expected profit.

London had such bad experience with loss of hire insurance in the past that most insurers only underwrite it as part of a hull insurance package. Today, said Silver, the shipping market is buoyant and loss of hire can be a profitable business when written correctly, as the Norwegian market shows. Writing stand-alone loss of hire can also give underwriters a connection with operators who currently insure the hull elsewhere.

He said, "Standards in shipping have risen very considerably since the nadir of the 1980s. The management of ships has become more professional. More self-insurance through higher deductibles, the advent of the International Safety Management (ISM) code, the increasing teeth of port state control inspections, compliance with standards driven by environmental concern, meeting robust charterers’ requirements and compliance with greater capital values at risk are amongst the elements. Excess levels are also more sensible. The net result has been the huge decrease in attritional claims and frequency of loss," he said. "Claims that do come in seem to be larger leading to a claim environment in which the insurers are rightly mainly dealing with serious incidents."

Silver believes that to enter this area in a more meaningful way and to expand their global market by obtaining new customers, London insurers would certainly need:

A comprehensive policy wording that is appropriate to the risk to replace the old AB Stewart wording that is vague in a number of crucial areas.

Resolution of well known problem areas, such as the English practice of apportioning progressive damages over the policy years in which the damages were likely to have occurred and consequently similarly apportioning the consequent period of loss of hire.

Emphasis on risk mitigation with higher excess periods, appropriate levels of daily indemnity and maximum periods of indemnity for different risks.

He said, "There will always be demand for loss of hire in the shipping market. Owners want their vessels trading and begrudge loss of time and consequent loss of earnings. A lot of financing of the shipping sector comes through banks and other financial institutions, who will want to protect the income streams that repay those loans."

Lee.coppack@insurance-research.com

4. Insurance Solutions Limited (ISL) Mark II

Charles Catt writes:-

The gathering continues to be successful and will now continue as a regular network gathering but at the new venue and in the new format.

There are no longer regular speakers but anyone who wishes to address and edify the gathering may do so at their own peril. Occasionally speakers may be invited to the gathering but it will no longer be a regular feature.

There will be no "fee" payable and food and drink will not be provided, each attendee will be responsible for their own needs.

The venue is the upper floor bar of the Brokers Wine Bar in Leadenhall Market. The entire bar has been reserved for us so we should not be disturbed so we should be able to network to our hearts content.

All meetings will be at this venue on the first Thursday of each month unless otherwise advised.

The next meeting of MARK II will be on Thursday the 3rd May 2007 from 12.30 hrs, so if you are based in town or just visiting come along and join the gathering.

A special ISL Networking Club menu has been prepared for us.

For any other details :-

charles_catt@tcat.demon.co.uk

http://www.insurancesolutions.co.uk

5. Arbitration News from France

François Arradon has announced that the thirteenth issue of the free internet newsletter of the 'Chambre Arbitrale Maritime de Paris' (Maritime Arbitration Chamber of Paris) has now been released.

This issue contains a link at page 2 which offers to download abstracts in English of some recent awards.

To download the "Gazette de la Chambre", follow the link below :

Gazette de la Chambre (no. 13)

http://www.arbitrage-maritime.org/cpt_download.php?file=gazette13.pdf

Comments to:-

editeur@arbitrage-maritime.org

6. And Finally...

Thanks due to Frazer Hunt for these handy sayings which come via a certain David Cummings, who wishes to be known as a professional hoaxer and humorist:-

http://www.davidcummings.com.au/

Not all men are fools, some are bachelors.

Teamwork is essential, it allows you to blame someone else.

Work is accomplished by those employees who have not reached their level of incompetence.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call w hatever you hit the target.

My mind works like lightning - one brilliant flash and it's gone.

Some legal definitions:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: When the accused and his attorney go to jail. HEARING: What a husband loses after the honeymoon's over. HUNG JURY: Jury with big genitals.
JURY DUTY: What happens to you if you don't have a job, haven't ever read a newspaper and lie about whether you watch TV.

P.S. Thanks to Paul Dixon's Joke of the Day Zine for this chain letter:-

Why we Should Avoid Chain Letters

If you send this message off to 20 people within the next 4 days, and each of them send this letter off to 20 other people within 4 days...

In 40 days, approx. 10 trillion of these messages will cross the internet.

>From day 40 to day 44, an additional 200 trillion of these messages

will cross the internet, at an average of 50 trillion messages per day.

>From day 44 to 48, an additional 4,000 trillion of these messages will

cross the internet, at an average of 1,000 trillion messages a day, 41.7 trillion messages per hour, 694 billion messages per minute, or 11.6 billion messages per second.

Of course, the internet will have ground to a complete halt way before then, and a good thing too, because by day 44 (assuming each man, woman and child in the world is tied to the internet) you would have to respond to about 2 chain mail letters per second, sending off 20 responses each second, giving you 5/100 of a second to send each message.

If you drop the ball, you will break about 1,800,000 chain letters per day, bringing almost two million times the bad luck upon yourself than if you broke the first chain letter to begin with.

The logical conclusion?

It is better to break the initial chain letter and receive one dose of bad luck than to continue the chain letter, and by day 44, receive 1,800,000 doses of bad luck.

I knew one poor fellow who ended up in such a circumstance. He ended up having 287,345 heart attacks, losing 5,137 wives, got fired from at least 100,000 jobs, and was run over by a truck!

His Visa card was also revoked.

Nobody liked him anymore.

He finally ended up committing suicide 459 times, but he was so unlucky, he was never successful.

Finally, he resigned to the idea of not dying, and was immediately hit by a meteorite and vaporized. But his cells went on to experience even more bad luck.

Remember......For GOOD Luck...DON'T PASS THIS ON !!!

JokeoftheDay-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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