BOW WAVE 515

Bow Wave Issue 515--Mellow Edition

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(c)2009 WavyLine.com	Issue No 515 28 Sep 09
Published free of charge to Readers
Editor: Sam Ignarski
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In this issue:

1. Welcome
2. Rotterdam Rules
3. EU Revises Shipping Exemption
4. London Shipping Law Centre Changes
5. Environmental Prize
6. And Finally...

1. Welcome

Poem of the Week

The Wild Swans at Coole

The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodlands paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

W.B. Yeats

New Readers this week include:-

Nigel Herbert of Acis Cargo Insurance
Alex Harris of Chaucer plc
Reporter Christopher Munro of Insurance Day
Ettia Poole of Thomas Miller
Amanda Bjork of P&I Scandinavia in Gothenburg

AfterOfficeHours News

After Office Hours, the Emergency Contact Directory for people who need help quickly is now being accessed 150 times a day. Do you provide services to marine and transport insurers and shipping companies? Should your company be listed?

http:///www.AfterOfficeHours.com

Note from the Editor

Greetings from a mellow late summer here on the Isle of Wight where your editor has been taking an agreeable break

Enjoy!

2. Rotterdam Rules

An unusually good analysis of the new Rules has reached us courtesy of the firm of Lane Powell and Contributing Author Ling Li, S.J.D. Student, Tulane University.

On September 23, 2009, the shipping industry embraced a new international regime the Rotterdam Rules (United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea) to regulate marine cargo liabilities in the global economy. As a new international regime on contracts of carriage by sea, fifteen signatory nations including the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Guinea, Senegal, Greece, Norway, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin and the Democratic Republic of Congo ratified the Rotterdam Rules. France and China are not yet signatories, but are public supporters of the Rotterdam Rules. The maritime nations of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Japan, Finland and Croatia have not yet signed the Convention.

The Convention will not be fully implemented until one year after it has been ratified by 20 signatory nations. The Rotterdam Rules will replace the current international regimes of The Hague Rules, Hague-Visby Rules and Hamburg Rules in the respective countries that are signatories to those conventions.

The United States ratification of the Rotterdam Rules will usher in many sweeping changes to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act ("COGSA"), Section 46 U.S.C. 1300 et seq. recodified at 46 U.S.C. Section 30701 (Note) which governs cargo liabilities for international shipments to and from the United States. The Hague Rules were codified into United States statutes in 1936.

Read on for the oints of special interest in the Rotterdam Rules by cklicking on the link below:-

http://emailer.emailroi.com/r.pl?vDzeJvAFpa2aFJzH_387f02e28a6b3fcc

3. EU Revises Shipping Exemption

Our EC guru Peter Carlo-Lehrel writes:-

The European Commission has adopted a new Block Exemption Regulation revising the current exemption for liner shipping consortia from the EC Treaty's ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81). The current consortia block exemption Regulation 823/2000, which expires in April 2010, allows shipping lines to enter into cooperation for the purpose of providing a joint service in transporting cargo (so-called "consortia"). The new Regulation extends the current exemption for such co-operation for five more years, until April 2015, within a new legislative and economic environment. Changes notably include a reduction of the market share threshold above which companies do not qualify for automatic exemption under the Regulation and an extension of the scope of the exemption to all cargo liner shipping services.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes: "Since 1995 liner carriers have been granted conditional exemption from the competition rules when operating joint services. As markets change, this exemption has to be reviewed. After careful examination the Commission has decided to amend and prolong the consortia Block Exemption Regulation for five more years. I am confident that this Regulation strikes the right balance between the interests of the liner carriers and those of transport users."

A consortium is a co-operation of shipping lines to provide joint maritime cargo transport services. Such agreements usually allow shipping lines to rationalise their activities and achieve economies of scale. If consortia are faced with sufficient competition, the users of the transport services provided by consortia (such as shippers) usually benefit from improvements in productivity and quality of service. The consortia Block Exemption Regulation, first adopted in 1995 and subsequently renewed in 2000 and 2005 (see Commission Press Release IP/05/477), exempts liner shipping consortia which meet the conditions of the Regulation.

Under both the new and the current Commission Block Exemption Regulation, all consortia agreements (except notably those on price-fixing) whose objective is the joint operation of liner shipping services are exempted from the EC Treaty’s ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81) provided they fulfil the conditions and obligations set out in the Regulation.

The new Regulation incorporates amendments made necessary by the repeal of the liner conference Block Exemption Regulation in 2006 (see IP/06/1249). It also aims at better reflecting current market practices and bringing the consortia block exemption in line with other block exemption regulations for horizontal cooperation between companies. The scope of application of the new Regulation has been extended to all liner shipping cargo services, whether containerised or not. The list of exempted activities has been revised in order to better reflect current market practices. The market share threshold has been reduced from 35% to 30% and the method of its calculation clarified. Finally, the exit-clauses and lock-in periods, in case a member wants to withdraw from the consortium, have been prolonged to better reflect current market practice but still safeguard the carriers' flexibility.

The Commission's market investigation revealed the existence of a pattern of links between consortia and/or their members. The new Regulation clarifies that the Commission may withdraw the benefit of the block exemption, where such links have a negative effect on competition.

If a consortium does not fulfil the conditions of the Regulation, for example due to the market shares of its members exceeding the threshold, this does not mean that such cooperation is automatically unlawful, but that the parties have to assess its compatibility with the competition rules on an individual basis.

The review of the consortia Block Exemption Regulation began in 2007 with a thorough market investigation. The Commission consulted interested third parties on a preliminary draft Regulation in autumn 2008 (see IP/08/1566).

The new Regulation will come into force once the current Block Exemption Regulation expires on 25 April 2010, giving the liner shipping industry sufficient time to adapt their arrangements to the revised rules.

Contact Peter at:-

mailto:lehrell@fipra.com

4. London Shipping Law Centre Changes

Our good friends at the LSLC have moved to International House, 2nd Floor, 1 St Katharine’s Way, E1W 1TW. It is sponsored by Reynolds Technological Inquiries (RTI) which provides generous office space to the Centre.

LSLC founder Dr Aleka Mandaraka-Sheppard and co-directors, Roger Holt, Jonathan Lux and Struan Robertson, welcome this association with RTI:

"We share a commitment to safety and high-quality in shipping services that will enable us to work together from the City of London to increase knowledge, enhance networking for our members and supporters and contribute to maritime education within the shipping industry in London and around the world. LSLC will be renamed ‘The Shipping Law & Business Centre’ to reflect its wider than law remit".
RTI chief operating officer, Les Chapman, will become an additional director of LSLC.

The new contact details are:-

Tel: +44(0)20 7063 9737
Fax: +44(0)20 7481 2149
Email:inglbc.com
http://www.london-shipping-law.com

The Centre’s first event in its 2009-2010 Events Programme is "A Baltic Accident-- Marine Investigation and Mediation Conference" which will be held at the Metropolitan Hotel, Athens on 21st and 22nd October. For further details and registration, please click on the link below.

http://www.london-shipping-law.com/pdfs/e-programme-and-registration08-09-09.pdf

5. Environmental Prize

Michael Julian writes:-

The Board of the Australian Marine Environment Protection Association is seeking nominations for the AUSMEPA Environmental Award for 2010.
The AUSMEPA Environment Award is presented to worthy recipients to recognise and promote achievements, innovation and best practice in minimising marine pollution and the protection of the marine environment. The AUSMEPA Environmental Award can be awarded to individuals, community groups, businesses and government agencies or departments.

Nominations are sought from the environmental community as well as business and other organisations. Nominations should be submitted to the AUSMEPA Executive Director, PO Box 4282, HAWKER, ACT 2614 by 30 October 2009.

http://www.ausmepa.org.au

6. And Finally...

Many thanks to Paul Dixon for this week's items:-

Steady

The owner of a bar is just locking up for the night when there is a knock at the door.

He opens the door and there's a snail sitting on the doorstep.

"What do you want?" asks the owner.

"I want a beer," says the snail.

"First of all, we're closed, and second of all, we don't serve snails. So go away!"

The snail begs and pleads for a beer.

The owner finally gets fed up, kicks the snail, and slams the door.

ONE YEAR LATER....

The owner of a bar is just locking up for the night when there is a knock at the door.

He opens the door and there's a snail sitting on the doorstep.

"What'd you do that for?" asks the snail.

P.S...

Words That Don't Exist...But Should...

Aquadextrous (akwa deks' trus) adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bath taps on and off with your toes.

Carperpetuation (kar 'pur pet u a shun) n. The act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance.

Disconfect (diskonfect') v. To sterilize the sweet you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming that somehow it will 'remove' all the germs.

Elbonics (el bon' iks) n. The actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest in a cinema.

Frust (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be swept onto the dustpan and keeps backing a person across the room until he finally decides to give up and sweep it under the rug.

Lactomangulation (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n. Manhandling the 'open here' spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to the 'illegal' side.

Peppier (pehp ee ay') n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want ground pepper.

Phonesia (fo nee' zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer.

Pupkus (pup' kus) n. The moist residue left on a window after a dog presses its nose to it.

Telecrastination (tel e kras tin ay' shun) n. The act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even when you're only six inches away.

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