BOW WAVE 503

Bow Wave Issue 503--Double Helping Edition

news and views on trade, insurance and risk

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(c)2009 WavyLine.com	Issue No 503 06 Jul 09
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Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. The Month of May 2009 in Marine
3. The Month of June 2009 in Marine
4. News from Portsmouth
5. Isle of Wight News
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

New Readers this week include:-

Editor Dawn Gorman of International Tug and Salvage Russ Conrad of Conrad Marine Surveying
Mark Mathews of the Shipowners Club
Capt Danny Duzich
Darrell Boyes
Eliot Wang of Marsh Asia

News of Readers

Michael J. Bird has retired from the firm of Bull Housser Tupper

Readers Write

From Maria Dixon

I got the item below through the Panama Shipping Directory, but I am not sure if your readers will be old enough to remember this Panama Pilot?

name : Steve Bieler
title :
company :
emailx.com

I am writing to let you know that my father-in-law, a former Panama Canal pilot, is in failing health and not expected to live more than a few months. Frederick K. Dezendorf is 94. He was a Panama Canal pilot in the late 1040s. His final year in service was 1950. After that he worked for Moran Towing in New York, eventually becoming general manager, and later founded the pilotage in Port Canaveral, Florida, in 1968. Please contact me if you'd like to know more about him and if you'd like to be contacted kept informed of developments.

Note from the Editor

This edition of Bow Wave finds your editor in Miami, quite a powerhouse in the marine insurance world these days. Though we have reached the time of year when the normally abundant flow of news tends to merge with the miasma of the holiday and vacation season, we have a double posting from Jason Copland and breaking news from the environs of the Isle of Wight

Enjoy!

2. The Month of May 2009 in Marine

Jason Copland writes:-

Another month has rolled on by, Let's see what rough winds have shook the nautical darling buds of May:

1 May The "BBC Box" arrives in Japan from Brazil. The Box is a container which also forms the subject of an ongoing BBC documentary tracking the journeys of a typical container around the globe. This instalment with links to earlier ones may be found here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8025089.stm

2 May Articles from a 17th Century wreck known as the Swash Channel wreck go on display in Bournemouth. Artifacts include musket balls, leather shoes and a rare carved wooden Merman believed to have once been positioned on the vessel's stern.

5 May Commander Alan Shepard became the first American in space on this day in 1961 aboard Freedom 7, part of the Mercury space flight programme. 5 May Still charting unknown territory, the USNS Military Sealift Command ship "Lewis and Clark" was the subject of an attempted pirate attack off the coast of Somalia. The vessel took evasive action including increasing speed and despite pot shots taken by the pirates it made good its escape. More details including a description of evasive tactics: http://marinelink.com/en-US/News/Article/330529.aspx

8 May VE Day 64 years ago in 1945:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ve_day

11 May Italian classification society Rina issues a press release showing some of the highlights of 2008. Turnover increased by 17% to EUR 183 million. The Marine Division grew in Asia and in Greece following the establishment of local Plan Approval centres with the Greek Rina fleet increasing by 21%. Interestingly, Rina vessels had zero class related detentions in both Paris and Tokyo MOU port state control areas.

11 May The Secretary-General of the IMO, Efthimios Mitropoulos opens an international convention on ship recycling in Hong Kong. The aim is to ensure that recycling activities do not present dangers to persons or the environment. This is the first IMO conference to be held in Asia and delegates from 66 countries are attending.

13 May Korea's Daiwoo Shipbuilding seems to buck the depression recessional trend and reports a first quarter profit of USD 77 million, an increase of 23% in sales.

14 May Smit company publishes its 209 1st quarter results with a profit of EUR 28 million. This includes roughly EUR 10 million earned for the salvage operation on the semi-sub oil platform "Thunderhorse" that was damaged and partially sunk by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Smit's "Harbour Towage Division" shows a drop in income related to the recession - fewer ships operating mean fewer harbour movements. Full details available on Smit's press information page at: www.smit.com

15 May the joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and the travel empire Tui bears its first fruit as the christening takes place of the refurbished "Mein Ship" (previously the "Celebrity Galaxy"). Full story and an interesting time-lapse film of the conversion work can be seen here: http://www.tui-group.com/en/konzern/tui_up_to_date/Ships_christening_tui_cruises/index.html

16 May Gravely well. The US Navy christens the latest addition to its fleet with the arrival of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer "USS Gravely", named in honour of a pathfinder naval officer, Admiral Gravely. Full details including the career of Admiral Gravely can be found here: http://marinelink.com/en-US/News/Article/330618.aspx

17 May The Pakistani Master of the tanker "Dubai Princess" is commended after successfully foiling an attack by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates chased and fired on the vessel for around one hour but the vessel managed to escape.

18 May Thinking of setting up your own country's Coast guard service? Now you can do so Uncle Sam Style as the United States Coast Guard publishes its updated Model Maritime Service Code based upon its own laws and practices and designed to help countries design effective maritime administration.

18 May This month's Pot Kettle and Black award entry and on the subject of Maritime administration, Somalia appeals for international assistance to set up a coast guard to help deal with the country's piracy problems. 20 May As from today the Panama Canal can all the transit of at least one additional vessel per day as the second so-called "tie up station" starts full operation at the Cartagena approach. The tie up stations allow docks to be used to their full capacity rather than stand idle.

20 May Piracy in the news again as America sends the Frigate "USS Guerriere" and 10 other vessels into the Mediterranean to suppress Algerian and Barbary pirate attacks on American merchant vessels - this was in 1815 showing again that piracy is not only a modern problem. 20 May Marine transport advisors McQuilling Services publishes Weekly Note no. 10 which gives interesting insights into the issues surrounding tanker lay-ups. The note can be found here:
http://www.mcqservices.com/pdfs.asp?ID=No.%2010%20Tanker%20Lay-Up Other weekly notes make very interesting reading, the website is well worth browsing.

21 May Restoration work on the tea clipper "Cutty Sark" continues after it was damaged by fire two years ago. The Cutty Sark trust announces that it expects the vessel will reopen for public viewing in summer 2010.

25 May The Paris Memorandum of Understanding held its 42nd Committee meeting and adopts a New Inspection Regime to come into force in 2011. the new system is intended to target high risk ships and cause less inspection burden to quality shipping. More details can be found at the Paris mou news section here:
http://www.parismou.org/ParisMOU/Whats+New/News/News+Detail/xp/selectedcontentitem.2899/default.aspx

26 May In recent times it seems that no "Month of Marine" would be complete without a mention of the "MSC Napoli" - May 2009 is no exception: three crane barges arrive on site at Branscombe to commence lifting and removal of the final remains of the vessel. Work is due to be completed by August where after I promise to avoid mentioning the case again.

27 May The General Hogt S Vanderberg, a second World War troop carrying vessel starts a new career as an attraction for divers after having been sunk to become an artificial reef. Film of the detonation and sinking here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8071132.stm

27 May The IMO's Maritime Safety Committee 86th Session commences. Amongst items on the agenda for the session which will finish on 6th June is the hot topic of Piracy and armed robbery; identification and tracking of vessels and amendments to SOLAS.

27 May The Isle of Mann Steam Packet Company takes delivery of the "Manannan", an Incat wave piercing catamaran to enter service on the Liverpool to Douglas route. Full details of this vessel here: http://marinelink.com/en-US/News/Article/330730.aspx

28 May Tanker ship operator Frontline Ltd reportedly cancels newbuilding orders for four Suezmax and two VLCC tankers.

28 May Feeling a little sick at sea, P&O's "Pacific Dawn" is required to stay at sea off Australia's Queensland coast after a reported outbreak of Swine Flu strikes three crew members and subsequently 20 passengers.

29 May Offshore shipping services company Vroon Offshore is fined GBP 280,000 for breaches of safety regulations that contributed to the deaths of 3 seamen in September 2007. All three men were the victims of suffocation, two died trying to save the first victim. Details here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/8074543.stm

29 May Around 500 passengers are evacuated into lifeboats about 40 miles from Sicily after fire breaks out onboard the Italian car ferry vessel "Vincenzo Florio". The vessel was towed to Palermo for inspection and possible repair.

3. The Month of June 2009 in Marine

Jason Copland writes:-

here is Part Two of the School Summer Holiday Month of Marine (which might also be termed the Historical Ship Edition). Lets looks at the fiery happenings of flaming June

1 Jun An end to hanging around, some 2,000 passengers from the P&O cruise vessel "Pacific Dawn" are finally allowed to disembark in Sydney. The ship had been forced to remain at sea in a state of quarantine following a suspected outbreak of Swine Flu affecting 3 crew members.

1 Jun Miss Millvina Dean dies at the age of 97 in Hampshire. Miss Dean was the last remaining survivor of the sinking of the "SS Titanic" in 1912, seven weeks old at the time she had no memory of the disaster. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8070095.stm

1 Jun Air France flight AF447 en route from Brazil to Paris disappears. Wreckage is later discovered but there are no survivors found from the 228 persons on board the aircraft.

3 Jun The BBC reports that "Nereus", a remote operated submersible has travelled 10,902 metres vertically to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep - the deepest known part of the world's oceans and part of the Mariana Trench. Some more information here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8080324.stm

4 Jun Captain Andrey Nozhkin of the Danish vessel "CEC Future" gives a first hand account of the pirate attack on his vessel that led to a two month period of captivity by the Somali pirates. Full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8080098.stm

4 Jun In the latest round of the battle for treasure, Odyssey Marine Exploration is ordered to return over 500,000 gold and silver coins recovered from a wreck in 2007. The wreck is believed to be that of the Spanish vessel "Mercedes", sunk in 1804 by a British frigate. The Spanish government has filed legal suits to secure recovery of the treasure. Odyssey Marine intend to appeal against the present ruling.

5 Jun Confusion over the future of the cruise liner "QE2" remains. Following its sale by Cunard to new owner, property developer Nakheel in the United Arab Emirates, no work has yet been undertaken. Nakheel planned to use the vessel as the centre feature of its Palm Jumeirah development but so far nothing has been done. Nakheel insists its plans will go ahead.

6 Jun The 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy that helped end the Second World War. At the time this was the largest amphibious assault ever undertaken and involved over 6,000 ships and landing craft.

6 Jun Norway's Statoil starts towing the "Hywind" - the worlds first floating wind turbine to its planned installation site 10km south of the Norwegian coast. Details for this interesting offshore energy project can be read on Statoil's website here:
http://www.statoilhydro.com/en/TechnologyInnovation/NewEnergy/RenewablePowerProduction/Onshore/Pages/Karmoy.aspx

7 Jun The ship story that wouldn't die: MSC Napoli in the news again, the salvage operation to remove the remains of the stern and the 1,400 tonne ship's engine comes to a halt. Salvors find the wreckage has stuck fast in the seabed clay and another delay is expected.

10 Jun The US Navy warns that Somali pirates are expanding their area of operations with one attack being reported as far north as the Red Sea and south near to the Seychelles. the pirates are increasingly using larger mother ships and night-time attacks are increasing. Once again, the pirates seem to be adapting to the counter measures in place with the presence of a combined naval patrol force in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin

12 Jun The Antigua and Barbuda flagged, 1985 built 2,800 GT General Cargo vessel "MV Charelle" is hijacked by suspected Somali pirates 60 miles south of Sur in Oman - the first such attack at this distance from Somalia. The vessel is now believed to be en route to Somalia.

17 Jun A return to Press Gangs? Two Royal Navy sailors from HMS Manchester on visit to Valparaiso in Chile are fined for stealing a life sized figure of one Mr Ronald McDonald. It seems that new recruit Able Seaman McDonald has joined the submariners in Valparaiso Harbour.

19 Jun As expected, Japan's parliament passes a new law allowing Japanese forces to take on a wider anti-piracy role near Somalia. The new powers allow Japanese vessels to protect all vessels in pirate affected areas and to fire on pirate vessels rather than being restricted to escort duties only.

20 Jun Chilean fishing boat "Polar Mist" is found in the Magellan Straits. The vessel was apparently laden with 9.5 tonnes of gold and silver ingots worth US$ 18 million and sank in deep waters 25 miles off the coast one day after setting sail. The big question is whether the gold and silver is still on board. It seems strange to transport such cargoes on board a fishing vessel. More information and speculation here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8110483.stm

22 Jun Sir Walter Scott stops smoking as much at the age of 110. This particular Scott is the Steam ship which has just returned to service on Loch Lomond in the Trossachs National Park after a full refit which included converting the fuel system from coal to Biofuels.

23 Jun The new commander of the European Union anti-piracy naval operation, Rear Admiral Peter Hudson claims that the Somali pirate problem can only solved on land:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8115662.stm

24 Jun The UK's Heritage Lottery Fund which allocates funds raised by the National Lottery grants GBP 21 million to the Mary Rose Trust. The money will be used to complete final conservation work on the remains of Henry VIII's warship "Mary Rose" and to construct a purpose built museum for permanent display of the vessel. Details of the vessel can be found on the Mary Rose website here: http://www.maryrose.org/ship/ship1.htm

25 Jun The Sunderland City of Adelaide Fund is trying to raise funds to restore the 1864 built clipper ship "City of Adelaide". The ship is currently in the Scottish Maritime Museum in Ayrshire and the fund-raisers want to provide for the ship to be restored and returned to the river Wear in Sunderland where the ship was built. Pictures available show the extent of the work needed:
http://www.cityofadelaide1864.co.uk/index.php?page=gallery

26 Jun P&O Cruise lines latest newbuilding, the 116,000 GT, 290 metre EUR 300 million "Azura" takes to the water for the first time at its building yard in Italy. Pictures of the float out available at the ship's own website here:
http://www.pocruises.com/emailCampaign/Azura/June09/azura1.html

27 Jun The 1947 built paddle steamer "Waverley" is taken out of service after striking Dunoon Pier on the River Clyde whilst carrying about 700 passengers, the incident was described as "landing heavily" Some passengers were lightly injured.

28 Jun Somali pirates release the Belgian vessel M/V "Pompeii" which was captured on April 18. Belgian officials stated that a ransom was paid -by the vessel's insurers - for the release of the ship and its crew of 10. The release of the "Pompeii" reduces the number of captured detained vessels to 12 with around 200 seafarers.
29 Jun Things are not looking too promising for the Royal Navy's expected two new aircraft carriers with a large cost overrun predicted : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8125449.stm

29 Jun A freight train hauling LPG tank wagons derails in northern Italy causes serious loss of life and damage in the ensuing explosion: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8125644.stm

29 Jun The Paris MOU annual report is issued which shows that the average detention rate for inspected vessels was around 5% - that's one in every twenty vessels being apparently unfit to sail the seas. More details of the report and a breakdown of the cause of vessel detention on the ParisMOU website here:
http://www.parismou.org/ParisMOU/Whats+New/News/News+Detail/xp/selectedcontentitem.2904/default.aspx

30 Jun Princess Cruises vessel "Crown Princess" officially christens the newly extended Stormont Wharf in Belfast. Around GBP 10 million was spent by the city harbour authorities to extend the wharf to a length of 1,042 metres, now capable of handling 4 40,000 DWT deep water vessels simultaneously.

30 Jun A sign of down turn in trade, four Maersk container ships enter a period of cold lay-up in Loch Striven after spending time dragging their heels on the River Clyde. The four ships are the "Maersk Bentonville"; "Maersk Baltimore"; Maersk Beaumont" and "Sealand Performance". the Loch was last used for vessel lay up during the 1973 oil crisis.

That's all for June, more at the end of July, in the meantime enjoy your holidays.

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.

4. News from Portsmouth

What is it about modern life that allows the politicians and functionaries to say things in public which are at variance with the evidence before the eyes of the rest of the world? Take this item from the website of the local paper in Portsmouth:-

HMS Invincible is dead in the water

The government claims she is part of the fleet, ready to be called upon to defend the country if needed.

But today The News can reveal the truth about how HMS Invincible--supposedly in a state of 'extended readiness'==is in fact a warship far from ready for action.

The Ministry of Defence claims she is available for action until September 2010, when she will leave the fleet. But a Freedom of Information request by The News reveals she is crewed by just four people as she languishes in Portsmouth's dockyard. She has been raided for spares -- her engines have been stripped out and her propellers have been seen lying on her deck.

And far from being ready for service, navy sources say it would take around 18 months to prepare Invincible for use--a period which would take her well past the date she is scheduled to end her days in the Royal Navy.

Her sorry state is a far cry from the description of her on the Royal Navy's website which claims she can be counted among the navy's finest. The description refers to her decommissioning in 2005 by saying: 'This process is often mistaken for being withdrawn from service but we are still very much 'part of the fleet'.

'In fact Invincible will remain available to the navy until 2010. 'This forms part of a long-term plan to assist with the introduction of the new CVF Aircraft Carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales.'

Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock, who sits on the Commons defence committee, said: 'Saying HMS Invincible is part of the fleet and available to the navy is the same as saying the Marie Celeste had a full ship's company in healthy mood.

'All of our ships bar submarines are visible to anyone and it doesn't take a genius to work out that Invincible isn't going anywhere. 'The navy should be more open, and not claiming capabilities we don't have.'

Former naval officer and editor of Warship World, Mike Critchley, said: 'As far as I'm aware she doesn't even have her anchors, which tells you how likely the chances of her going to sea are.

'She has been stripped of most valuable items for the other carriers, which makes sense, but that means the only time she is going to sea is when she leaves for the breaker's yard.' Despite The News's findings, the Royal Navy insisted the carrier was still available to the fleet. A navy spokesman said: 'It is not Royal Navy policy to discuss the readiness state of any warship for operational reasons. 'The position is that HMS Invincible remains within the Royal Navy fleet and remains available until the time that she leaves service.

'Four navy personnel remain on the scheme of complement of HMS Invincible and act as a full-time caretaking unit.'
Source : http://portsmouth.co.uk

Items like this make it very difficult to sustain your editor's entrenched policy of not being beastly to the navy, its serving and former officers

5. Isle of Wight News

YACHT COLLISIONS, GROUNDED VESSELS AND MEN OVERBOARD

With 1,779 boats competing in this year's Round The Island race, Solent Coastguard were well prepared for a challenging day. This year, the annual Round The Island race generated a flurry of incidents, with the Coastguard Helicopter, Coastguard Rescue Teams and RNLI lifeboats being called to assist grounded vessels and men overboard, as well as the FastCat that operates between Portsmouth and Ryde, which became grounded on its 5.45 crossing. Race Control had organised spotters at four different locations who were in constant contact with Solent Coastguard, informing them of any incidents as they occurred. The first three incidents associated with the race were vessels that had found themselves in difficulty through colliding with other vessels, or machinery failure. Three RNLI lifeboats were requested to launch.

From 1300 to 1415 Solent Coastguard dealt with five man overboard reports, requesting the Coastguard Helicopter from Lee-On-Solent proceed to their rescue, as well as requesting the launch of the Yarmouth All Weather Lifeboat.

At five o clock, Ryde Inshore Rescue informed Solent Coastguard that they were proceeding to 14 grounded vessels (although 3 became free before they arrived). Bembridge Coastguard Rescue Team also provided assistance, with many more vessels becoming grounded throughout the afternoon and evening. At 17:35 reports came in that two vessels had collided, although there were no injuries on board.

With close to 1000 vessels finishing the race, the Solent was an extremely busy place between 1800 and 2000, which caused problems for the 5.45 passage of the Ryde FastCat, a passenger Catamaran that operates between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. At 1801 Solent Coastguard were informed by Ryde Inshore Rescue Control that the FastCat had run aground on Ryde Sands with 65 passengers and 4 crew members on board. Several vessels attended to refloat the vessel, which was pulled free at 19.35 and continued its passage to Ryde with no visible damage. Solent Coastguard Watch Manager Colin Griffiths said: With 16,000 people and 1,779 vessels involved in the Round the Island race this year, it was always going to be a busy day for us, but we were well prepared to deal with the variety of incidents that an event like this brings with it. We despatched several resources including our Coastguard helicopter to several reports of people falling overboard from vessels yesterday. Vessel owners involved in any kind of leisure sailing can minimise the risk of being involved in man overboard situations by using the appropriate safety harnesses at all times, and always making your safety, as well as the safety of your other crew members, a priority. Ensuring everyone on board is wearing a properly fitted lifejacket is absolutely crucial, as well as carrying on board other important safety equipment such as radios, lights, flares and navigation equipment.

Source : UK Coast Guard

6. And Finally...

These one liners come courtesy of the House of Frazer Hunt:-

Before we got married, I caught her in my arms.
Now I catch her in my pockets.

Both of my marriages have been disappointing. My first wife left me and my second one didn't.

After you've been married for a while, the women will start choosing your clothes. If you protest, they'll say: "Dressing is a privilege. You abused it, and now you've lost it."

People like that are the reason that we have middle fingers.
A single fact can ruin a good argument.

Please, no deja vu; I don't want to go through that again.
I always wanted to be something, I wish I'd been more specific.
Nobody ever forgets where they buried the hatchet.
I’ve known him as a child an adolescent and as a man; sometimes on the same day.

My wife is a water sign I’m a earth sign. Together we make mud.
I tried to make money as a kid. I had a lemonade stand for about six weeks. I made no money. I had to burn it down and collect the insurance.

Strange, isn't it? You stand in the middle of a library and go 'Aaaaaaagghhhh!' and everyone just stares at you. But you do the same thing on an aeroplane, and everyone joins in.
My mother always told me that sex was something disgusting and dirty that you save for someone you love.

I’m writing an unauthorized autobiography.

98% of Australians are decent hard working people. It’s the other rotten 2% that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.
This year the price of Prozac went up by three dollars. When they asked Prozac users how they felt about it, they said, "Whatever...."
I saw one of those TV spots where it said it cost $10 a year to support a child in India. So I sent my kids there.

It¹s not that I don¹t want to listen to people, I do. I want very much to listen to people. I just can¹t hear them over my talking.
I think my kindergarten teacher had a drinking problem. Nap time was every day from nine o’clock to two-thirty.

If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. I watch a lot of TV, I’m well viewed.

I’m very loyal in a relationship. Any relationship. When I go out with my mother I don’t even look at other mothers. I don’t go--"Ooh, I wonder what her macaroni cheese tastes like?"

My brother is allergic to cotton. He has pills he can take but he can¹t get them out of the bottle.

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