1. Freeports in the UK
2 .Release of Cargo without Presentation of Bills of Lading – Transport Liability Cover
3. FIATA Proposes Best Practices in Demurrage and Detention
4. Ince Acquired by Gordon Dadds
5. Bicycles For The Mind: The Slide Rule
6. People and Places
FOB Network News
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1. Freeports in the UK
Meanwhile awareness is dawning in these islands that an about face on Freeports is called for. This release landed in our inbox. It is from Martin Vickers, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Freeports:-
The Government could achieve significant economic growth and rebalance the economy by establishing free ports, according to a new all-party parliamentary group.
The introduction of freeports would provide a much-needed boost, particularly for coastal and northern towns which could benefit from the jobs and growth that would come from increased inward investment.
In a Westminster Hall debate on 11th October organised by Simon Clarke MP and Frank Field MP, Conservative, Labour and SNP members of the APPG for freeports called on the Government to give its backing to the establishment of freeports in order to boost the UK economy.
A free port is a specific area within which goods can be imported and exported without paying tariffs and are also free from other customs arrangements. Free ports – either maritime or airports – are not subject to the same rules as the rest of the country. Goods can consequently be imported, processed and then re-exported without incurring any duty charges, thereby making them highly attractive for foreign businesses and investors.
Members of the APPG endorsed the concept of ‘Supercharged Freeports’ as a model which should be pursued by the Government following Brexit. Supercharged Freeports integrate free ports with enterprise zones to stimulate business growth, inward investment and support for new and expanding firms.
A recent report by Mace Construction indicated that the establishment of Supercharge Freeports in the north of England could increase trade by £12bn per year and create 150,000 new jobs.
Martin Vickers MP, Chairman of the APPG for Freeports, said: “Freeports are an opportunity that can be seized on to ensure that businesses are attracted to those communities that have been left behind, and to make the most of competitive global trading markets.
“Many tangible benefits would be felt quickly by local businesses and communities where freeports are implemented.”
Robert Jenrick MP: Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: “This is an interesting and exciting opportunity worthy of further thought and consideration. I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the Chamber on it in the future.
“I support the goals that underpin many of the arguments we have heard: increasing global trade at a pivotal moment for our country’s future; increasing economic development in all parts of the United Kingdom and inward investment in those parts that have seen less of it in recent years; supporting manufacturing and particularly advanced manufacturing that takes advantage of the new technologies that are transforming the way we produce products—we want to ensure the UK is at the heart of those new processes; and seeking new free market approaches to growing our economy.”
Freeports debate in Hansard:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2018-10-11a.167.1#g167.2
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2. Release of Cargo without Presentation of Bills of Lading – Transport Liability Cover
M.Jagannath of NAU Pte Ltd in Singapore has sent in his notes on a ticklish subject in P&I and Intermodal circles. Quite a good introduction to the subject:-
http://nau.com.sg/release-of-cargo-without-presentation-of-bills-of-lading-tlo-cover/
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3. FIATA Proposes Best Practices in Demurrage and Detention
The General Editor of Forwarderlaw Gavin Magrath has written a commentary on a new Best Practices Guide:-
The absence of regulatory action has resulted in detention and demurrage practices that vary widely from port to port and country to country. Now, the Working Group – Sea Transport of the Fédération Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimilés (FIATA) has announced the publication of a Best Practices guide for Demurrage and Detention charges in Container Shipping.
http://forwarderlaw.com/2018/10/12/fiata-proposes-best-practices-in-demurrage-and-detention/
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4. Ince Acquired by Gordon Dadds
Gordon Dadds is set to become the UK’s largest listed law firm by revenue after acquiring Ince & Co for an expected £43m.
An announcement to the London Stock Exchange on 29 October confirmed Gordon Dadds had agreed to acquire all of Ince, including its international LLP. The new firm, to be called Ince Gordon Dadds, will jump into the UK top 40 with revenue of more than £110m, and have 100 partners across offices in nine countries.
Gordon Dadds managing partner and chief executive Adrian Biles will lead the new firm with support from Ince’s chairman, Peter Rogan. It will be headquartered in Ince’s Aldgate Tower offices in London. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
As part of the deal, Ince partners will each receive a minimum guaranteed amount in the first year based on budgeted turnover. Gordon Dadds will also settle the £9.1m capital and current account balances due to Ince partners, bringing the total value of the deal to more than £43m.
Source: Legal Business
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5. Bicycles For The Mind: The Slide Rule
Courtesy of the Browser we were entertained by this piece by Taimur Abdaal which appears in Retool:-
From the Babylonians on, scientists have looked for ways to do maths faster. Basic calculations were a bottleneck to science. The efforts of millennia culminated with John Napier’s discovery of logarithms in the early 17th century, which, with the advent of precision engineering, made possible the slide rule. Newton used a slide rule to derive the equations of motion. NASA used one to solve those same equations and reach the moon. “It’s remarkable how little the slide rule changed in the three centuries spanning these events. But it’s also remarkable how quickly it’s been lost to obscurity in the decades since”
https://tryretool.com/blog/the-slide-rule/?4
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6. People and Places
Hill Dickinson has appointed two people to join its Hong Kong office. Counsel and registered foreign lawyer Edward Liu and Counsel Antony Cowie both joined on 22 October 2018.
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Andrew Moll has been appointed as the new Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents (MAIB). He has been the interim Chief Inspector since his predecessor, Steve Clinch, retired in June, and he takes up the post with immediate effect.
Moll joined the MAIB in 2005 as a Principal Inspector, and assumed the post of Deputy Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents in 2010. Prior to this, he spent 27 years as an officer in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of Captain. He left the Royal Navy in 2005 specifically to join the MAIB.
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After 31 years with the Chamber of Shipping, Terry Cooper is retiring from her role as Executive Assistant to the CEO. Cooper has had a long and illustrious career with the Chamber, having served six Director Generals/CEO and 29 Presidents, and supporting the development of the Maritime Labour Convention. Shirley Rice has already taken up her new role to succeed Cooper.
Cooper had initially tried to join the Merchant Navy after leaving school, but her only options were becoming a nursery nurse or stewardess. Instead, after spells at Babcock and Wilcox, Terry joined the General Council of British Shipping, working first as a secretary in the Marine Division and for the deputy Director General, before eventually becoming PA to the Director General. During her tenure, she moved offices 5 times, one such move caused by the IRA bomb that destroyed the Baltic Exchange in 1992.
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The Avo Archive
The website of this newsletter contains all the editorial material since the inception of the Maritime Advocate as a print based quarterly in 1997 under the founding aegis of John Guy, Chris Hewer and Manfred Arnold. Readers can go to the site and search the database on the home page in its entirety. If you are looking for an old case, an old controversy or you would just like to see how many times you and your firm have featured in our annals feel free to access the archive. It is like this e-zine, free to Readers and we always appreciate the support of advertisers and sponsors.
Work is underway to lodge the Archive within a new site for this publication.
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The Changing Faces of Amore
Things on the love landscape sure have changed over the years…
Dearest Samantha,
I am very happy to inform you that I have fallen in love with you since Tuesday, the 17th of August 2001.
With reference to the meeting held between us on the 17th of August 2001 at 1500 hours, I would like to present myself as a prospective lover. Our love affair would be on probation for a period of no less than three months and depending on compatibility, would be made permanent.
Of course, upon completion of probation, there will be continuous relationship training and relationship appraisal schemes leading up to promotion from lover to spouse. The expenses incurred for coffee and entertainment would initially be shared equally between us. Later, based on your performance, I might take up a larger share of the expenses. However I am broad-minded enough, to be taken care of, on your expense account.
I request you to kindly respond within 30 days of receiving this letter, failing which, this offer would be canceled without further notice and I shall be considering someone else. I would be happy, if you could forward this letter to your sister, if you do not wish to take up this offer.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Yours sincerely,
Max
Reply:
Dear Max,
Please refer to your letter dated today. I am pleased to inform you that I hope to accept your proposal for romance.
However, you should be informed that there are certain conditions of acceptance. Promotional prospects are to my satisfaction. However, please enlighten me as to your retirement benefits. Gratuity should be generous.
I also need to be assured that there is sufficient security with regards to this commitment. If there is any chance at all of retrenchment or consequent disinterest on your part, then I should receive monetary compensation according to union standards.
Due to the nature of my position, I am sure you will agree that an expense account should be arranged for my access in light of the ‘VIP’. I shall be entertaining. In addition, housing and transport allowances should be in order and nothing less than a Jaguar is in order.
Please also note that there should be no moonlighting restrictions placed on myself. If you are still interested in the relationship, please reply on an urgent basis as other prospective lovers have sent indications of interest.
Please also note that my sister is happily employed.
Yours perhaps,
Samantha!
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Rules for the Boss
1. Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:45 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.
2. If it’s really a rush job, run in and interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire how it’s going. That helps. Even better, hover behind me, and advise me at every keystroke.
3. Always leave without telling anyone where you’re going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.
4. If my arms are full of papers, boxes, books, or supplies, don’t open the door for me. I need to learn how to function as a paraplegic and opening doors with no arms is good training in case I should ever be injured and lose all use of my limbs.
5. If you give me more than one job to do, don’t tell me which is priority. I am psychic.
6. Do your best to keep me late. I adore this office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do. I have no life beyond work.
7. If a job I do pleases you, keep it a secret. If that gets out, it could mean a promotion.
8. If you don’t like my work, tell everyone. I like my name to be popular in conversations. I was born to be whipped.
9. If you have special instructions for a job, don’t write them down. In fact, save them until the job is almost done. No use confusing me with useful information.
10. Never introduce me to the people you’re with. I have no right to know anything. In the corporate food chain, I am plankton. When you refer to them later, my shrewd deductions will identify them.
11. Be nice to me only when the job I’m doing for you could really change your life and send you straight to manager’s hell.
12. Tell me all your little problems. No one else has any and it’s nice to know someone is less fortunate. I especially like the story about having to pay so many taxes on the bonus check you received for being such a good manager.
13. Wait until my yearly review and THEN tell me what my goals SHOULD have been. Give me a mediocre performance rating with a cost of living increase. I’m not here for the money anyway!
[Paul Dixon]
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Thanks for Reading the Maritime Advocate online
Maritime Advocate Online is a weekly digest of news and views on the maritime industries, with particular reference to legal issues and dispute resolution. It is published to over 21 000 individual subscribers each week and republished within firms and organisations all over the maritime world. It is the largest publication of its kind. We estimate it goes to around 60 000 Readers in over 120 countries.
