BOW WAVE 428

Bow Wave Issue 428--Picture Blog Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

Bow Wave homepage
Previous issue (427) / Current issue / Next issue (429)

Wavy Line	sam@wavyline.com
(c)2008 WavyLine.com	Issue No 428 04 Feb 08
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
Subscribe	Unsubscribe

In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Visual Impact Gallery
3. Classification Society Raids
4. Subprime Shipping
5. Trucker-Writer Russ Ringsak
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

Haberdasher

Over the course of decades style changed:
Your regular Joe stopped wearing hats,
Polished brogues, ties, starched white shirts.
America became casual and drove away

From the store on the corner of First and Main.
Even Sunday faded. Over his after-hours Scotch
The retailer pleaded to his pleated wife:
"What can I do when gentlemen no longer

Are gentlemen? What can I say to a world of rubes?" Each morning he tied a perfect Windsor knot.
Later, he stared disconsolately out the windows
At the busy cars, brightened when someone came in. "How could you buy a suit from a stranger?"
He asked himself. Each advertised day replied.

Baron Wormser from Subject Matter: Poems (2004)

New Readers this week include:-

Roger Womersley of Ko Sichang, Thailand
Tammy Lui of Specialist Brokers Sun Mobility in HK Neil Rrodrigues of Club Managers Tindal Riley
Ashley Dinning of APM Terminals in Mumbai
Mark Hankey of Lloyd's MIU
Writer Marke Barnes
Steve Agg, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK)

News of Readers

Andreas S. Maroulletis has joined Skuld P&I Club in their Piraeus office.

Contact him at:-

andreas.maroulletis@skuld.com

Jon Chaplin of NHST Events has temporarily relocated to Singapore for at least 6 months and maybe longer.

Contact him at:-

jon.chaplin@nhstevents.com

Robert Belli has passed on a link to Aon's persuasive marine market review, which has the following conclusions on rates, capacity and outlook for the main marine markets in 2008.

Hull -- Rates are reducing by 5-10%. Insurer accounts are unlikely to be profitable due to the combination of falling rates and emerging losses -- most are subsidising hull business with profits from other lines. Korean, Japanese and Singaporean insurers are aggressively writing international tonnage.

Cargo -- Ample capacity and few claims are resulting in savings of around 10% at renewal and profitable accounts for insurers. London maintains the role of leading rate setter on the majority of complex global placements. Meanwhile, Singapore is emerging as an international force for straightforward risks. Outside of London, insurers are willing to tempt clients with offers of much lower deductibles.

P&I -- The surge in costly P&I pool claims in 2006 could be a sign of the times as booming shipping operations become more expensive. In anticipation, P&I clubs are already i nitiating increases of 10-20% in shipowners’ premiums at the next renewal in February 2008.

Liability -- Rate reductions are expected around 5-10%. Liability deductibles are fairly stable after years of increases to stay ahead of rapidly rising litigation costs. Capacity is growing and becoming more global, notably in the Asian hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Yachts -- In 2004 the world population of super yachts (30 metres plus) was around 4,000. It now stands close to 7,000 and boat builders are struggling to keep pace with demand. After several years when annual increases were in the region of 10-15%, rates began to level off in 2006/7. By the end of 2007 early signs of softening had begun to emerge, but were generally limited to newly built vessels. Rates may come under slight pressure during 2008 simply because of the amount of capacity entering the market.

To read the full report click on the link:-

http://www.aon.com/uk/en/industry_specialisations/marine/images/market-review.pdf

Paul Sansom has been appointed as head of the new WE Cox Regional Office in Singapore.

AfterOfficeHours News

The first published 25 contributers to the new Casualty Picture Blog will be offered a free one year listing in the directory.

See item 2 below

http://www.AfterOfficeHours.com

Note from the Editor

A busy week as the world we describe sheds its seasonal torpir and goes into fast gear. To those who sent in contributions this week to no avail , our apologies. We could have gone on twice as long.

Some breaking news to report in item 3 as the classification industry comes under EC scrutiny.

May I ask for the support of Readers in respect of our new Picture Blog?

Enjoy!

2. Visual Impact Gallery

We have noticed whenever we publish links to visuals showing this or that aspect of claims and casualties there is a large rush of Readers to have a look.

Accordingly we are launching a picture and video blog, called Visual Impact Gallery, which will run images and videos with a minimum of wordage, casting light on the incidents of shipping and transport. Naturally we are keen for Readers to show us their pictures.

The first 25 published posts for the Gallery will receive a free year's subscription to AfterOfficeHours.Com, the new online directory of services of firms and individuals who provide services to shipping and transport in times of urgent need.

We believe that correspondents, surveyors and inspectors often have pictures of what might be described as cautionary tales for our industry. Do send them in. As always, full credit will be given and any requests for confidentiality will be respected.

To see the new blog click on the link below:-

http://visual-impact-gallery.blogspot.com/

To send something in kindly consign these to

sam.ignarski@gmail.com

3. Classification Society Raids

Peter-Carlo Lehrell, the head of the FIPRA Group writes:-

The European Commission has raided a number of classification societies and at the International Association of Classification Societies, amid claims that they harmed competition by collaborating in breach of antitrust laws. The commission was understood to have conducted dawn raids Wednesday morning (30JAN08). Det Norske Veritas, Lloyd's Register,Germanischer Lloyd , Registro Italiano Navale and Bureau Veritas were among the societies known to have been raided. IACS also lists as members the American Bureau of Shipping, China Classification Society, American Bureau of Shipping, Korean Register of Shipping, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.

Contact Peter at:-

lehrell@fipra.com

4. Subprime Shipping

Steve Alum has recently published this article which deals with managing the risks of the storms of ship financing, which became ever more lively as the issues of 2007 become amplified in 2008. The editors at Lloyd's List carried parts of article under this heading: "Dark art that may be the white knight for shipping".

Readers of Bow Wave who would like a copy of the full article, can download it from the publications page of Steve's site at:-

http://www.renaissancerisk.co.uk/press.aspx.

5. Trucker-Writer Russ Ringsak

American Russ Ringsak is a rare combination--a truck driver who also writes regularly on life, the road and everything between.

He expresses his surprise in his most recent column, a feeling known to most people who write for this medium, that people in faraway places should read his words:-

"Most everything I write gets seriously ignored, but somehow my idea of money for whining had a cross-Atlantic appeal. Surprised me to think they read this column (in Scotland)

For a collection of his work go to the link below:

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/russ/

A bit of background about Ringsak appears in Trucking News:-

http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=44543

6. And Finally...

Three of the best from the house of Frazer Hunt in Sydney

There are up to three Dolls in a man's life........
1........His Daughter, 'Baby doll'

2........His Mistress, 'Barbie Doll'

3........His Wife, 'Panadol'

Nine words or terms women use...

1."Fine" : This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2."Five Minutes" : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3."Nothing" : This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4."Go Ahead" : This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5."Loud Sigh" : This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6."That's Okay" : This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7."Thanks" : A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome.

8."Whatever"

9."Don't worry about it, I got it": Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.Then you RUN!

Send this to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid if they remember the terminology.

Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, because they know it's true

From the Sydney Morning Herald

Muffin top is a word lover's barbecue stopper

Last year, muffin top - "the fold of fat around the midriff, which spills over the top of tight-fitting pants" - was named the Macquarie Dictionary inaugural word of the year.

"I've already got quite a nice little bundle of suggestions on my desk," said Sue Butler, editor of the dictionary, who with colleagues will prepare a shortlist to be put to a public vote. "One I'm keeping my eye on especially is chequebook diplomacy."

It refers to the growing practice of superpowers showering money on small countries - say, Pacific islands - to win their support and sometimes votes on international issues such as whaling.

Other phrases to catch her attention include: micro-blogging, happy-clappy and, especially since the despoliation of the Gwydir wetlands, Ramsar site, named after the Iranian town where a convention to protect such areas was signed.

Ms Butler has also noticed a comeback for a phrase that gained currency in the second half of the 19th century but disappeared until recently: marvellous Melbourne.

Despite reappearing, it is unlikely to make the shortlist. New words and phrases cannot be simply clever. They have to gain wide currency; predictably "marvellous Melbourne" is rarely, if ever, heard in Sydney and other state capitals.

Ms Butler spoke after the publication in London of the new Collins English Dictionary. Some of its new entries may be familiar.

They include the Australian barbecue stopper, the American McMansions, the untraceable but possibly Australian Dykon, for a celebrity admired by lesbians, and the ubiquitous muffin top.

Muffin top not only took the Macquarie prize, but was runner-up in the American Dialect Society's word of the year. The winner was another sartorial phenomenon: the whale tail, the bit of the G-string that shows above the waistband at the back of trousers.

Among other Collins newcomers, Ms Butler sees phrases such as carbon footprint, and the related carbon offsetting and trading making inroads into the vocabulary.

But despite our interest in David Hicks, we have not adopted Gitmo as an abbreviation for Guantanamo Bay.

She also conceded that others - such as Croydon facelift, the tightening effect on the skin of a woman's face caused by securing the hair in a tight ponytail - could be easily Australianised by changing the place name.

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au

COMMON CURRENCY

Hoodie: a potential hooligan wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Wags: the good-time wives and girlfriends of sports teams.

Size zero: super-skinny.

Disemvowel: remove letters for text messaging.

Exergaming: playing video games while working out.

BOW WAVE is published each week to over 14 800 Readers in the transport,insurance,shipping and finance industries.

Thanks for reading BOW WAVE