1. Wasted Costs in Hong Kong
2 .Ship Operating Costs Reach Inflection Point as Inflation Returns
3. Brexit and Transport
4. Tragedy of Kakuei Tanaka-Enigmatic Fixer who Bridged Britain and Japan
5. Annals of Warehousing
6. People and Places
FOB Network News
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Situation Vacant
WEST ATLANTIC MARINE LIMITED
Marine Surveyors, Consultants, General Marine Services & Project Management
DMG Marine Centre: #12 Shelley Street: P.O. Box F-41848: Freeport: Grand Bahama Island: Bahamas
(Tel) 242-352-8371: (Fax) 242-352-9014
wamco@batelnet.bs
Bahamian Surveying Firm in Freeport, Bahamas is seeking a competent professional individual to join its team as a Marine Surveyor.
SHORT TERM PLACEMENT (6 MONTHS) COMMISSION BASED)
Individual must possess, but not limited to the following:
” Mature Individual preferably between 35 and 60 years of age (physically and mentally fit)
” Possess an unlimited or unrestricted Certificate as Master
” At least 10 years’ sea-going experience (international)
” Internationally recognised degree or certificate in Marine Surveying, Masters Unlimited
” Knowledge of Cargo Surveys, Draft Survey, On/Off – Hire Surveys, Compass Adjustment, Stability Surveys.
” Familiarity with P & I Requirements, Marine Surveying Reports and Formats of other international maritime organisation reporting standards.
” Familiar with International Maritime Organisation codes and standards and procedures/ International Shipping regulations
” ISO Certified or similar Quality Standards certification
” Must have experience in performing surveys on commercial, pleasure and fishing vessels of various sizes
” Must be able to conduct Draft Surveys and Compass adjustments manually and electronically.
” Must have knowledge and inspection competency in various vessel types
” Must have experience performing the Caribbean Cargo Ship Safety Code inspections
” Marine Salvage and Tow experience a plus
” Broad knowledge of large variety of vessels and equipment
” Computer Literate (as will be responsible for producing reports and maintaining international clientele assignments)
” Communicate efficiently and effectively in English
” Self -Starter, managerial skills, with hands-on attitude.
W.A.M. COMPANY LIMITED is an international marine surveying and consultant firm based in the Bahamas. We invite you to visit our Face book Page: West Atlantic Marine Surveyors and Consultants. CARICOM Nationals welcome and encouraged to apply.
All Interested professionals please direct CV to the Recruitment Committee: Attn Chairman
W.A.M. COMPANY LIMITED
DMG MARINE CENTER
#12 SHELLEY STREET, QUEENS HIGHWAY
P.O. BOX F-41848 ~ FREEPORT, Grand Bahama ISLAND ~ BAHAMAS
(Tel) 242-352-8371/ 242-602-6675
W.A.M. COMPANY, LTD
MARINE MANAGEMENT, SURVEYORS, SERVICES & CONSULTANCY
Deadline for all Applications is November 30th, 2018
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1. Wasted Costs in Hong Kong
The latest edition of Chans Advice, the newsletter of specialist transport brokers Sun Mobility, contains a report on the convoluted attempt before the Hong Kong Court of First Instance under 62 Rule 8 of the RHC by a connecting carrier to recoup funds spent during the lead up to the Hanjin insolvency . The case is known as Cargo Channel Services Ltd (In Liquidation) v. Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd [HCA1919/2016] {2018/HKCFI1879]. The attempt was unsuccessful.
Read the the report here:-
http://www.sun-mobility.com/files/chansadvice/Chans_Advice_214.pdf
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2. Ship Operating Costs Reach Inflection Point as Inflation Returns
James Harley, the Drewry head of marketing has sent us this note:-
London, UK, 22 November 2018 – Average vessel operating costs rose modestly for the second year in succession following two years of marked declines, but cost inflation is set to accelerate on higher insurance premiums, according to the latest Ship Operating Costs Annual Review and Forecast 2018/19 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry
Typical ship operating costs accelerated moderately in 2018 as the uncertain recovery in freight markets across most cargo sectors gained momentum. Opex costs are heavily linked to developments in the wider shipping market as some costs, such as insurance, are connected to asset values and others impacted by the ability of shipowners to pay.
Drewry estimates that average daily operating cost across the 46 different ship types and sizes covered in the report rose 1.1% in 2018, succeeding the previous year’s rise of 0.7%. This followed a period in which opex spending contracted over two consecutive years by almost 9% in 2015-16 (see graph).
Cost inflation was broad-based across all cost heads. Indeed, the year marked the first time in a decade that expenditure rose across all five main opex cost heads, marking an inflection point for the future direction of ship operating costs.
Earlier years witnessed sharp reductions in opex as the depressed state of shipping markets forced operators to slash costs as a means for survival. But as freight markets started to recover in 2017 so the pressure to reduce expenditure lifted.
“This trend continued into 2018, with a modest acceleration in cost inflation,” said Drewry’s director of research products Martin Dixon. “Manning costs rose having previously stagnated, while insurance spend increased for the first time in six years on recovering asset values and insurance market hardening. Similarly, expenditure on stores and spares rose as earlier cost cutting opportunities waned, and repair & maintenance costs climbed as regular spend resumed on recovering freight markets.”
The rise in costs was broad-based across all the main cargo carrying sectors with every segment experiencing some cost inflation. The latest assessments include vessels in the container, chemical, dry bulk, oil tanker, LNG, LPG, general cargo, roro and reefer sectors, as well as the recently introduced car carriers segment. Indeed, 2018 represented the first time in seven years that all vessel sectors recorded rising average operating costs.
However, continued overcapacity in certain sectors and an uncertain trade outlook will still make market conditions challenging for most shipowners over the coming years, so Drewry expects the pressure on costs to continue. This will be particularly so in areas of the budget where operators have greatest control, such as manning, stores, spares, repairs & maintenance and management & administration. But other cost elements influenced by wider market factors will prove harder to control, such as insurance, where we expect spending to rise as the marine insurance market hardens.
“Financial losses can only be sustained for so long and given higher claims in related sectors as well as the withdrawal of some insurance providers from the maritime space, it is clear that a market correction is underway which will lead to higher premiums, particularly over the near-term,” concluded Dixon.
However, given the more benign outlook for the remaining cost heads, overall vessel operating costs are expected to rise below the level of general price inflation over the next few years and so represent cost stagnation in real terms.
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3. Brexit and Transport
Issue 39 of the newsletter published by CLECAT–the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services features items on Brexit and the post Brexit prospects for transport. The publication comes to us courtesy of Nicolette van der Jagt,the Director General. It is the best place we know that examines the junction between Europe, the EC, the industry and themes of the hour. We have been regular readers of it since around 2009.
https://www.clecat.org/media/NL39SEC18.pdf
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4. Tragedy of Kakuei Tanaka-Enigmatic Fixer who Bridged Britain and Japan
Our friend Eiichiro Tokumoto’s new book is featured in the BCCJ’s Acumen zine. It tells the story of Kakuei Tanaka, the most popular and controversial politician in post-war Japan. Tanaka, born into an impoverished farm family in rural Niigata Prefecture, never progressed beyond elementary school. But, through backbreaking toil and a combination of extraordinary energy and charm, he climbed to the pinnacle of power, becoming prime minister of Japan.
Tanaka was also singled out as the “personification of money politics”; he was forced to resign after his questionable fundraising deals were exposed. Then, in February 1976, a US Senate committee exposed what was to become known as the Lockheed Scandal, and he was arrested on the charge of having accepted ¥500 million in bribes from Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.
Based on numerous declassified documents in the United States and Great Britain, as well as extensive interviews with Tanaka’s friends and foes, the book sheds a harsh new light on the drama of Tanaka’s rise to power and spectacular fall from grace. One of the key players during his tenure was an enigmatic fixer called Seigen Tanaka who served as an informal adviser to the prime minister’s natural-resource diplomacy, and as a mediator between the British oil major, then called the British Petroleum Company, and Japan.
Read the article here:-
https://bccjacumen.com/tragedy-kakuei-tanaka/
Eiichiro Tokumoto. a former Reuters correspondent, is an author and investigative journalist based in Japan. To read the English translation of his story about the Lockheed scandal and former Japanese Prime Minister Cake Tanaka, go to:-
http://www.atimes.com/article/lockheed-scandal-40-years-downfall-prime-minister-kakuei-tanaka/
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5. Annals of Warehousing
A searing piece on a Californian Amazon warehouse is featured in the Browser. It is by Chavie Lieber and appears in the Vox zine. Based on an interview with a retired US military person who was a manager with Amazon, it describes a rather dystopian warehouse regime, highly efficient and not very nice to people. The author points out the market dominance of Amazon and supplies an updated version of what used to be called the price of admiralty.
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6. People and Places
Following the sudden resignation of UK Transport Minister Jo Johnson earlier this month, Jesse Norman has been promoted to take up the vacant role. Norman was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport from June 2017 to November 9, 2018.
Andrew Jones has been appointed as the Transport Minister responsible for rail. Jones was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Transport (DfT) between May 2015 and June
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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has renewed the appointment of Kitack Lim as Secretary General of the IMO for a second four-year term, beginning January 1, 2020.
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Marsh has announced plans to combine the specialty teams of Marsh and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) to create Marsh-JLT Specialty.
The unit will be a new specialty business within Marsh once regulatory approval for the takeover is completed. The deal, which still needs regulatory and antitrust approval, was approved by JLT’s shareholders earlier this month and is expected to close in spring 2019.
Lucy Clarke, who was made CEO of JLT Specialty this April, will become president of Marsh-JLT Specialty reporting to John Doyle, president and CEO of Marsh. As the day to day leader she will stay based in London and responsible for Marsh-JLT Specialty’s energy, credit, marine, financial and professional, private equity and M&A, construction, and aerospace business worldwide.
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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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Long Life
An old man was enjoying his hundredth birthday party when a reporter approached him and asked, “Sir, what is the secret of your longevity?”
The old man thought for a moment, then replied, “Well, young man, every evening at 7PM I have a glass of red wine. They say it’s good for the heart, you know.”
“That’s it?” asked the reporter.
“That,” the old man said, “and cancelling my voyage on the Titanic.”
[Paul Dixon]
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Video Sketches
Hard to remember what we used to do to nurdle about before we could watch this kind of thing:-
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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.
