BOW WAVE 430

Bow Wave Issue 430--Hard Frost Edition

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(c)2008 WavyLine.com	Issue No 430 18 Feb 08
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of January 2008 in Marine
3. Immersion of Car
4. China Conference
5. Making Waves
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

The Sailor's Consolation

One night came on a hurricane,
The sea was mountains rolling,
When Barney Buntline turned his quid,
And said to Billy Bowling:
"A strong nor-wester’s blowing Bill;
Hark! Don’t ye hear it roar now?
Lord help ‘em, how I pitites all
Unhappy folks on shore now!

"Fool-hardy chaps who live in town,
What danger they are all in,
And now are quaking in their beds,
For fear the roof should fall in:
Poor creatures, how they envies us,
And wishes, I’ve a notion,
For our good luck, in such a storm,
To be upon the ocean.

"But as for them who’re out all day,
On business from their houses
And late at night are coming home,
To cheer the babes and spouses;
While you and I, Bill, on the deck,
Are comfortably lying,
My eyes! What tiles and chimney-pots
About their heads are flying!

"And very often we have heard
How men are killed and undone,
By overturns of carriages,
By thieves and fires in London.
We know what risks all landsmen run,
From noblemen to tailors;
Then, Bill, let us thank Providence
That you and I are sailors!"

Charles Dibdin

(Thanks to Reader David Bertram in Durban for
supplying this one)

New Readers this week include:-

Shelly Chapelski of Canadian lawyers Bromley Chapelski Container Industry Observer Michael van der Meer
Editor Nick Savvides
Allen Hardcastle
John Levingston in Australia
Andreas Bernegger of Panalpina
Paul Sansom of WE Cox in Singapore
Dilip Sinha of the Reliance Insurance Co in London

Readers Write

From Gregg Newman of WK Websters:-

The paranormal seems to have got to you - your article in Bow Wave Issue 429 containers overboard should, I believe, have taken us to the North of England's website, but your article is pointing us to the
Northwest Paranormal Association (www.nwpia.com).

Strange!!!!!

(Apologies to our friends over at Nepia.com--ed)

From Eamon Baird:-

I wonder if you noticed in the recent news, the sad passing of Miles Kingston, an early pioneer of Franglais. ..the method by which most English people communicate with the French. Here is one his better offerings:

Have you seen the motto of the French Navy? It is "To the water! It is the hour!" Which translates as "A'leau! C'est l'heure!"

Contact Eamon at:-

Eamon.Baird@Hiscox.com

Note from the Editor

Greetings from a frosty England. A pretty good issue this week with plenty of interesting developments.

Oue new visual blog is going very well. Thank you for your responses dear Readers.

Enjoy!

2. The Month of January 2008 in Marine

Jason Copland writes:-

A little delayed by travels, here's the January Month of Marine:

Looking backwards, looking forwards. Janus arrives and the start of another Year in Marine. Hopefully benign on the claims side, balmy on the premium side and plentiful on the bonus side.

1 Jan Here's a handy idea for a late Christmas present or a New Year's gift, go to www.enginecheckup.com and buy a simple oil / engine check system. Not sure what the engineers out there think of it though.

1 Jan A New Year's present for Cosco as the 10,000 TEU M/V "Cosco Europe" is delivered and sails for loading in Dalian.

1 Jan New regulations come into effect in China requiring that lead reinsurers be either state owned or possess a minimum of S&P "A" rating.

2 Jan The United States Customs and Borders Protection introduces new proposals for the electronic filing of cargo imports to the US, designed to assess high risk shipments.

2 Jan Bad news for those trying to get away from it all on a cruise, Maritime Communications Partner ASA announces plans to fit mobile phone technology to Cunard, Princess and P&O cruise ships allowing passengers full use of their mobiles whilst cruising. Perhaps there will be a "quiet zone" somewhere on board?

2 Jan A lucky escape for the German vessel "LT Cortesia" (90,465 GT) which ran aground on the Varne bank off Dover, coastguard assistance and tugboats managed to free the vessel at high tide - we don't need another "MSC Napoli"! Full story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/7168742.stm

3 Jan Fireworks and dignitaries accompany the opening of the Keppel Bay Bridge in Singapore forming part of the redevelopment. Full story and pictures here:
http://www.kepcorp.com/press/press.asp?RID=1686&L=&Y=2008&Q=1

3 Jan A 1974 built Bulgarian flagged General Cargo vessel "Vanessa" sinks in the sea of Azov near the Russian -Ukraine border with the loss of seven crew members.

3 Jan Daiwoo Shipbuilding and Engineering Company wills a US$ 647 million contract to build a Drill Ship to be delivered in 2011. Over the last year Daiwoo has won US$ 22 bn in orders for a total of 136 vessels. Daiwoo expects to achieve 2008 sales of US$ 10.6 bn

3 Jan Canadian Seaspan Corporation gives orders for 5 new 4,520 TEU container vessels to Samsung - vessels to be delivered during 2009 and 2010. This will increase Seaspan's fleet to 68 vessels.

3 Jan Helping to break the ice, Aker Finland gets a EUR 6 million contract from Estonia's Maritime
Administration to design and build a new Icebreaker vessel.

4 Jan Panama allows Electronic Logbooks to be used on all Panamanian flagged vessels. Other flag states that already allow such E-Logs include Norway, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Singapore, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands, Malta and Bahamas.

6 Jan Some more sabre-rattling in the Gulf as 5 Iranian patrol boats approach three US Naval vessels using what was described as "irresponsible, confrontational behaviour".

7 Jan More shipbuilding news, Hyundai states its intention to achieve US$ 26 bn in orders for 2008. This sum includes US$ 5 bn in orders for drilling rigs and other maritime equipment.

7 Jan "Shinas", one of two ferries being constructed for the Sultanate of Oman by Austal has achieved a new record. The 65 metre pass/car catamaran vessel managed 52 knots during sea trials. More details here:
http://www.marinelink.com/Story/ShowStory.aspx?StoryID=210390

7 Jan Norway apparently plans a tunnel for ships - a 1,700 metre long tunnel would allow vessels to avoid the dangerous coastline near Stad in western Norway.

10 Jan Dubai Drydocks World looks to the east for expansion according to its CEO Geoff Taylor and is considering purchase of a shipyard in China for
around US$ 55 million.

10 Jan Moore Stephens newsletter "Insured Interest" argues that Consolidation is the new watchword for 2008 with brokers buying brokers, insurance companies buying each other and also brokers. An excellent read,
the newsletter may be found on-line at:
http://www.moorestephens.co.uk/websites/uk/uk.nsf/files/InsuredInterest.pdf/$File/InsuredInterest.pdf

15 Jan The 1993 built, 9,576 GT car carrier
"City of Sunderland" which grounded on the Haisborough Sands off Cromer in Norfolk with 643 Nissan cars on board is successfully refloated with tug assistance.

15 Jan Almost exactly one year after a spectacular explosive launch failure, the "Sea Launch" facility is back in business with the successful launch of the "Thuraya 3" satellite with a Zenit rocket.

15 Jan The Greek registered Cargo vessel "Ice Prince" laden with timber, sinks of Portland Bill, Dorset. Full story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7188657.stm

16 Jan The French oil company Total is found guilty by a Paris court over charges arising from the "Erika" and is fined EUR 375,000 and ordered to pay part of an estimated EUR 200 mn in fines. The vessels owner and manager and the classification society Rina were also found guilty.

17 Jan Hyundai Heavy Industries share price drops over 6% on fears of a slow down in newbuilding orders following suggestions that China experience an economic slowdown and reduce steel imports.

18 Jan On the first anniversary, here's a quick update on the "MSC Napoli", according the Maritime and Coastguard Agency the accommodation block has now been removed leaving only part of the underlying stern section to be removed. A 500 metre exclusion zone around the wreck site
remains in place. Full details on the MCA Webpage here: http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-newsroom/mcga-press-releases.htm?id=D0DC45481FAA8A10&m=1&y=2008

21 Jan The US donates 15 Patrol Boats to the Indonesian Police and donates US$ 6.4 mn for additional reforms. The boats are to be used in Sumatra,Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

22 Jan Following on from the "Hebei Spirit" incident off South Korea last month, the authorities have charged 5 people, more information here :
http://www.marinelink.com/Story/ShowStory.aspx?StoryID=210560

22 Jan The "Grand Alliance" consisting of Austria, Bavaria, The Holy Roman Empire and oh no wait, sorry, wrong grand alliance, should read Hapag Lloyd, NYK and OOCL are upgrading the North Europe - North America liner service in conjunction with ZIM. The plan is to use larger container vessels of 4,000 TEU to replace the current 2,800 TEU vessels. The "Atlantic Express" service offers weekly, fixed day sailings across the big pond. (Larger carrying capacity means less bunkers in this case so it's environmentally greener too)

22 Jan Still with the environment for a moment, we will see a return to the era of sailing ships? maybe not but the sail-assisted "Beluga Skysails" sets sail on its maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to Venezuela today. Full story here:
http://www.beluga-group.com/SkySails.308.0.html

24 Jan Quote of the day from Cheng Siwei, Vice President and permanent member of the Chinese People's Congress "Whilst the Chinese are saving the money earned today for tomorrow, the Americans are spending tomorrow's money today". Hmm, you might ask where the money being spent is going...

28 Jan Starting from April, the Philippines will ban single-hulled tankers from its waters - two years earlier than originally planned and partly in response to the "Hebei Spirit" incident.

30 Jan Hoegh Autoliners and A P Moller - Maersk A/S enter into a shareholding agreement whereby Maersk acquires 37.5% of Hoegh and Hoegh receives the Maersk fleet of 18 car carriers.

31 Jan The newly opened market of Brazil joins the marine community and becomes a member of IUMI.

31 Jan Hull was definitely not the business you wanted to be writing in 2007 as the year turns out to be the worst on record with over US$ 1.5bn in losses already reported and more expected to come. The loss amount is already four times higher than 2006 which was already recognised as a catastrophic year.

That's all folks, more at the end of February

Disclaimer
Any opinion expressed in this newsletter should be regarded as the personalopinion 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. Immersion of Car

One of the current postings to the new Virtual Impact Gallery shows a rather fine motor car before and after immersion in the sea as a result of the unlucky voyage on board the MSC Napoli. You can see why container operators themselves will write off any container which has been in salt water, however minimal the damage might look at first appearances.

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

4. China Conference

To Moorgate we went to attend the Navigate Conference on China and Shipping Opportunities. A strong paper was given by Fred Doll who made clear just how powerfully the demand for steel and coal in China has influenced the shipping index for bulk shipping.

The organisation has mastered the arts of setting up a good conference with good documents (supplied on a memory stick) ,good chairman, good papers, nice venue, good lunch.

http://www.dollship.com/Index.asp?Content=Presentations

5. Making Waves

Mike Porter of Informa has passed on this announcement:-

The Mission to Seafarers, in association with Lead Sponsor Lloyd’s List, is pleased to announce that the Making Waves: Triathlon Challenge 2008 is to take place JUNE 14 at the Waterside Farm and Leisure Complex, Canvey Island, Essex.

Looking for a fresh challenge to take you into 2008? Want to find a fun and easy way to shift those extra pounds after too many mince pies? Then why not sign up for the Making Waves: Triathlon Challenge in aid of The Mission to Seafarers?

Working in partnership with Lloyd’s List, the Mission is launching its very own triathlon event to add to the calendar with an off-road sprint triathlon perfect for novices and professionals looking for a warm-up to the larger events on the triathlon calendar.

Making Waves will see competitors take part in a 300m swim, 15K bike ride and a 5K run. It will all take place at the Waterside Farm and Leisure Complex in Canvey Island and will conclude with an awards ceremony, an open BBQ and children’s attractions.

Places for the event are limited, so interested participants should contact Kelli Neve, events organiser on 020 7248 5202 or visit the site:-

http://www.missiontoseafarers.org/triathlon

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Frazer Hunt for these:-

25 REASONS I OWE MY MOTHER

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE . 'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.'

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
' Because I said so, that's why.'

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me.'

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'

7. My mother taught me IRONY
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS . 'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER .
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. 'Stop acting like your father!'

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
'You are going to get it when you get home!'

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are
going to freeze that way.'

19. My mother taught me ESP.
'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'

20. My mother taught me HUMOR .
'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.'

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT . 'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never
grow up.'

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're just like your father.'

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS .
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE 'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.

P.S.

Thanks to Paul Dixon for this one:-

An old man was on his death bed. He wanted badly to take all his money with him.

He called his priest, his doctor and his lawyer to his bedside.

"Here's $30,000 cash to be held by each of you. I trust you to put this in my coffin when I die so I can take all my money with me."

At the funeral, each man put an envelope in the coffin.

Riding away in a limousine, the priest suddenly broke into tears and confessed that he had only put $20,000 into the envelope because he needed $10,000 for a new baptistery.

"Well, since we're confiding in each other," said the doctor, "I only put $10,000 in the envelope because we needed a new machine at the hospital which cost $20,000."

The lawyer was aghast. "I'm ashamed of both of you," he exclaimed. "I want it known that when I put my envelope in that coffin, it held my personal check for the full $30,000."

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