BOW WAVE 512

Bow Wave Issue 512--Late Summer Warmth Edition

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(c)2009 WavyLine.com	Issue No 512 07 Sep 09
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Container Homes: Two Crises, One Solution
3. New Publication Intelligent Insurer
4. 2009 Aviation Claims Picture Bad
5. Crew Claims in the USA
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

An Inheritance

"Five dollars, four dollars, three dollars, two,
One, and none, and what do we do?"

This is the worry that never got said
But ran so often in my mother's head

And showed so plain in my father's frown
That to us kids it drifted down.

It drifted down like soot, like snow,
In the dream-tossed Bronx, in the long ago.

I shook it off with a shake of the head.
I bounced my ball, I ate warm bread,

I skated down the steepest hill.
But I must have listened, against my will:

When the wind blows wrong, I can hear it today.
Then my mother's worry stops all play

And, as if in its rightful place,
My father's frown divides my face.

Naomi Replansky

New Readers this week include:-

Neil Day of British Marine
Chase Hardng of Maine Maritime Academy
Steve Broderick of CV Starr
Michelle Gaines of the RSA
Maureen Chadwick of National Vero Marine in Sydney Dean Cook of AMC Search

News of Readers

Father Patsy Foley, the AoS Chaplain to the Port of Tilbury and the Thames has decided to postpone his retirement

Peter Owen has passed on the sad news of the death of Stephen Taylor.Many in the shipping community will remember Stephen for his gentlemanly demeanour,
infinite patience and scholarly reporting.

For those wishing to attend the funeral, this is to take place at 2:30 pm on Saturday 19th September at The Quaker’s Meeting Room, 3 Claremont Lane, Esher, Surrey.

AfterOfficeHours News

After Office Hours, the Emergency Contact Directory for people who need help quickly is accessed 125 times a day. Should your company be listed?

http:///www.AfterOfficeHours.com

Note from the Editor

Greetings from a warm early September in London where markets are already warm and giddy with expectation that rates may be on the rise.

Enjoy!

2. Container Homes: Two Crises, One Solution

KK Chadha has sent in this item from the O5SEP09 edition of the Singapore Business Times:-

Singamas' new venture comes as it tries to offset a slump in demand for sea-cargo boxes

Teo Siong Seng is tackling the shipping crisis and the housing crisis at the same time.

The chief executive officer of Singamas Container Holdings, the world's second-biggest maker of sea-cargo boxes, is building 'houses in containers', complete with electric appliances and bathroom fittings, in an effort to offset a slump in demand for traditional boxes as world trade sags.

Mr Teo is turning to the house-kits, which cost from US$30,000 , and other specialised containers, including live-fish units and trash compactors, in an attempt to boost profit margins. The company slashed production of traditional containers by 95 per cent in the first half as shipping lines pared orders. 'People can get these houses and assemble them very quickly,' Mr Teo said in an interview. 'They're ideal when construction materials aren't easily available.'

The house-kits are shipped from China and assembled at the destination, with the containers forming the building's walls, he said. Prices run from US$30,000 to US$100,000 each, depending on the number of bedrooms and other options. Singamas is seeking deals in Africa and Australia after winning contracts to supply two South Pacific nations, Mr Teo said. 'We are aiming to move up the value chain.'

The company has also sold 400 containers fitted with tanks that can hold live fish, said chief financial officer Sylvia Tam. The tanks can be cooled so that the fish sleep during long-haul journeys, preventing them from getting thin by swimming, she added. The boxes cost more than US$25,000 each, Ms Tam said. Traditional shipping containers cost an average of US$2,131 each.

Singamas is also bidding for a contract to supply trash containers in Shanghai, Mr Teo said. It eventually aims to sell as many as 3,000 garbage-boxes a year worldwide. The units cost as much as US$6,000 each.

The company earned 65 per cent of revenue from specialised boxes in the first half, compared with about 18 per cent before the financial crisis, Mr Teo said. Previously, it had expected specialised units to account for no more than 30 per cent of sales until 2011, he added.

Singamas, which has cut staff by more than a third, halted production of traditional boxes for two months in the first half because of the demand slump. It has also delayed opening plants in Xiamen and Shanghai by one year until the second half of 2010.

The container-maker reported a US$27.4 million first-half loss, compared with a year earlier profit. It expects a narrower loss in the second half, Mr Teo said. It may also start hiring again as early as year's end in anticipation of a rebound in demand, Mr Teo said. 'Going forward, both dry-freight and specialised containers will grow,' Mr Teo said. 'It will take a while to see a rebound, but it's gradually recovering.'

Singamas shares rose 1.4 per cent to HK$1.47 at the close of trading in Hong Kong yesterday. It has more than quadrupled this year, compared with the benchmark Hang Seng Index's 41 per cent gain. Larger rival China International Marine Containers (Group) Co has climbed 67 per cent this year in Shenzhen trading. -- Bloomberg

mailto:chadha@netvigator.com

3. New Publication Intelligent Insurer

John Walsh introduces his new publication;-

Intelligent Insurer’s mission is to reflect the changes taking place in today’s global insurance and reinsurance industry. As insurance and reinsurance companies look to diversify their portfolios, so we look to diversify the topics we cover.

Intelligent Insurer will of course report on the traditional P&C markets, but will also regularly cover sectors and lines of business largely ignored by existing titles, such as the US surplus lines and European mid-market business.

The magazine provides an authoritative take on the industry and combines a modern design with leading-edge research, surveys and analysis to provide a thought-provoking mix.

Our unique editorial is supported by the highest circulation in the market.

In our first issue, we have delved deep into the psyche of leading insurance executives, applying a fiercely analytical approach to some of the hottest topics in the industry. Intelligent Insurer is a reflection of the industry, designed to help focus and guide attention to issues that matter to you. We think we have a complete package set to engage and inform. We will continue to be progressive, innovative and pioneering, bringing you the best re/insurance title possible. We want to hear your feedback, so please, contact us. We hope you like what we have to offer:-

http://content.yudu.com/A1f64t/IIseptember2009/

4. 2009 Aviation Claims Picture Bad

South Africa based aviation claims man Henry Tours has published this item in his Downwind e-zine, which is always worth reading if you are interested in the aviation world, which sometimes looks familiar to us marinos and sometimes does not:-

This year has not been good for the Aviation industry as far as claims go. August was particularly poor with a Jet Airways B737 aircraft running off the runway at Zia airport on take-off. The investigation has yet to be completed but it looks like pilot error was the base cause. Then the Spanair crash at Madrid airport which cost the lives of 154 people has also been attributed to pilot error with at least 3 safety measures being overlooked by the pilots. They failed to carry out the checks and the computer system failed to alert the pilots to the fact that the flaps and slats were in the incorrect position. The enquiry board concluded that the pilots skipped a part of the checklist for configuring the aircraft.

Then in the USA a Frontier Airlines flight had 2 emergencies within 24 hours on the same aircraft -- a Bombardier Q400 turboprop. Unrelated, one was for a bird strike which forced it back after take-off then the following day, after repairs had been done, it had to go back again when landing gear doors did not close. Quite unrelated but coincidental I see that S. Korea wants to flog its Q400s and buy B737s instead.

I see from the JLT August newsletter that the losses for the last 2 years are quite startling. The graph shows the lines of losses with the liability line looking frighteningly like a striking cobra. I hope this is not significant to the underwriters!

The end result of all this is that premiums will certainly move upwards at an ever-increasing rate. But them underwriters have a habit of surprising us in the past and this may continue with rate reductions, but I doubt it.

Contact Henry at:-

mailto:htours@mweb.co.za

5. Crew Claims in the USA

Scot Farley from the IUA has circulated details of this Market Briefing on a area of risk which has cost marine underwriters plenty in the past and no doubt still does so today:-

Date: Friday, September 18, 2009
Time: 12 noon to 1pm followed by buffet luncheon Venue: Crowne Suite, Grange City Hotel, Coopers Row, London EC3

The Florida based law firm of Houck Anderson P.A. will be presenting a Market Briefing on the management of maintenance and cure claims in the United States. The United States Supreme Court recently held that punitive damages are an available remedy for seaman for the wilful and wanton denial of maintenance and cure, specifically ruling that prior reliance on case law for the proposition that punitive damages are not available in a maintenance and cure context is misplaced. As a result, employers of seamen must be ever more vigilant in the management of maintenance and cure benefits. The Briefing will include a discussion not only on the availability of punitive damages, but will also address the seaman’s right to pursue attorney’s fees for the unreasonable denial of maintenance and cure and the seaman’s ability to pursue remedies in tort for the failure to provide prompt, proper and adequate medical care.

The presentation will also address emerging trends in claims for infectious disease, with emphasis on vessel owners’ responsibilities to maintain the vessel, prevention of disease spread and the resulting impact on maintenance and cure.

The presentation will further address the reported rise in piracy, its effect on the vessel owners’ responsibilities and seamen’s claims for both physical and psychological injury in the context of maintenance and cure in the United States.

For further details:-

mailto:deborah.finch@iua.co.uk

http://www.iua.co.uk

6. And Finally...

A cruel one from R Mulcahy in South Africa:-

A woman was sitting at a bar enjoying an after-work cocktail with her girlfriends when an exceptionally tall, handsome, extremely sexy, middle-aged man entered. He was so striking that the woman could not take her eyes off him..

The young-at-heart man noticed her overly attentive stare and walked directly toward her. (As men will.)

Before she could offer her apologies for staring so rudely, he leaned over and whispered to her, "I'll do anything, absolutely anything, that you want me to do, no matter how kinky, for $20.00...on one condition."

Flabbergasted, the woman asked what the condition was. The man replied, "You have to tell me what you want me to do in just three words."

The woman considered his proposition for a moment, and then slowly removed a $20 bill from her purse, which she pressed into the man's hand along with her address. She looked deeply into his eyes, and slowly and meaningfully said:

"Paint my house."

P.S.

We are obliged to Vincent Egon for these sayings (translated out of the French) from French Comedian and satirist Coluche:
Left-wing politics like poor people so much they create them.

In a dictatorship you're told: "Shut up!". In a democracy it's: "Keep talking!"...

While we were havin' dinner, on the TV, they showed starving little Africans! On African TV, they don't show people eating!

When it comes to nuclear weapons, I'm neither for, nor against - on the contrary!"

There are two kinds of justice : the lawyer who knows everything about the law, and the lawyer who knows everything about the judge.

[In France,] we have politicians that make the rest of the world jealous. They could come and take'em!

A neutral country is one which does not sell weapons to a country at war... unless it pays cash.

Yuri Gagarin was extremely unlucky: after orbiting earth 17 times, he fell back down in the USSR!

God said: let's share. The rich will get enough to eat, and the poor will have an appetite.

People say, "we live in a world full of morons!" They are right. But they still underestimate their number.

Just because there are so many of them being wrong doesn't mean they're right.

I know I look stupid, but most of the credit goes to the uniform (posing as a cop).

Some people get a kid just because they can't afford a dog.

Society didn't want us? Well, it can rest assured that we don't want it either!

Long term credit means that the less you can pay, the more you pay.

Death: if you're hit, you'd better make fun of it; if you're not, there's no reason not to make fun of it.

Communism is one of the few grave diseases we didn't try on animals first.

A sandwich, in the USSR, consists of one ticket for ham between two tickets for bread.

I used to pee my bed and was very ashamed of it. After seeing a psychiatrist I am still peeing my bed... But now I am proud of it.

I'm not a nouveau riche, I'm a former poor.

From every one of those who have nothing to say, the nicest are those who keep it for themselves.

They say the crisis is making the rich richer and the poor poorer. I can't see how that's a crisis.

Politicians are to politics what holes are to cheese. More cheese means more holes. But more holes means less cheese.

If we are to believe what is said, then the rich are the bad guys and the poor are the good guys. Then how come everyone wants to be a bad guy?

They say 3 million people are looking for a job. False: all they really need is money.

(as a cop :) If we're not allowed to punch them in the face, kick them in the balls, or in the butt, how are we supposed to interrogate them ? Sometimes they don't even speak our language !

The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound, which is why sometimes people look bright until they start talking.

I'm not a racist; my dog is black.

There are fewer foreigners in France than there are racists.

Instead of blind we say "sight-impaired", instead of deaf we say "hearing-impaired", so should fools be called "understanding-impaired"? (possibly inaccurately paraphrased)

I'm following two diets simultaneously because with only one I wasn't getting enough to eat.

Sportsmen are stupid, right. But that's the team spirit! Guys in a team, they have but one spirit. So they have to share it...

You can get AIDS on a toilet seat, but there are more comfortable places.

Always remember that while the Gestapo had means to make you talk, our politicians have means to keep us quiet.

Earning a living isn't worth the sweat: you're already living. Job opportunities are scarce, so rather let who likes it have some.

Besides gangster or politician, what can you do without qualifications ? All there's left is artist.

One half of the politicians can't do anything, the other half would do anything.

Our immigrants would live better back in their country. To prove this: we love going there for vacation!

If one day you feel useless and depressed, remember: one day you were the fastest spermatozoon of all.

Capitalism is man exploiting man. Socialism is just the opposite.

Do you know what I think of morons who listen to music while standing in uniform ? The answer is in the question.

I don't mean that all cops are intelligent - that would be too gross a generalization.

(in a campaign speech:) I'll quit politics when politicians quit comedy - they steal my job, I steal theirs.

Can you make fun of everything? Well, my opinion is: if it was funny, you were right to do it.

If there were a tax on stupidity, the government would be self-financing.

What I hate the most about foreign countries, they just don't speak French. And depending on the countries, they don't even speak the same foreign!

Playing the fool can be useful, but really it's easier just to be one.

I don't have any message... any wickedness... However, I am still being hated by half of you all...

I am capable of the very best and the very worst, but I'm the best at being the worst!

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