1. Bills of Lading: Keys to a Floating Warehouse or a Cumbersome, Outdated
System?
2.Braemar’s Guide to Hull & Machinery
3. London Small Claims Procedure 2012
4. That Time I Tried to Buy A Barrel of Crude Oil
5. The Devil’s Dictionary: X Marks the Spot
6. People and Places
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1. Bills of Lading: Keys to a Floating Warehouse or a Cumbersome,
Outdated System?
Ted Graham, writing in the latest edition of Ince & Co’s e-Shipping
Brief, notes the decision in Glencore International AG v. MSC Mediterranean
Shipping Company SA and MSC Home Terminal NV (MSC Katrina) [2015] EWHC
1989 (Comm):-
The advance of modern technology is often seen as relentless and inevitable,
with supporters of the most up-to-date practices citing advantages such
as improved speed, reduced expense or superior ease of use for those
involved. Processes within the shipping industry are, of course, no
exception. This recent case examines the use of the Electronic Release
System (“ERS”) at discharge ports and perhaps challenges the
increasingly popular mantra that “newer equals better”.
Read the note in full here:-
[It all might have turned out less badly had the parties used a proper
eBL from one of the [now] three platforms approved by the P&I Clubs,
instead of a Port of Antwerp delivery order–ed]
2. Braemar’s Guide to Hull & Machinary
Braemar (Incorporating The Salvage Association), (“Braemar SA”),
has published the third edition of its Guide to Hull & Machinery.
The publication is primarily designed to help those with a non-technical
background and who are possibly unfamiliar with some or all of the nautical
and engineering technical terms used in marine survey reports.
Braemar SA launched its Guide to Hull & Machinery in 2010 and then
published a second edition in 2012. The guide reinforces Braemar SA’s
commitment to providing technical background knowledge and understanding
to marine insurance and other shipping related professionals on some
of the common terminology used for ships, their engines and ship-related
operations, often encountered in survey reports.
Braemar SA’s Guide to Hull & Machinery is now available in
hard copy and is free of charge to those working in the marine claims
and marine insurance industry. For further information or to request
a copy please contact Charlotte Ward, Head of Marketing at Braemar SA,
at:-
or visit the website at:-
3. London Small Claims Procedure 2012
Ian Gaunt of the The London Maritime Arbitrators Association writes:-
The LMAA is pleased to advise that it has added to its website a Chinese
translation of the Small Claims Procedure 2012 and notes. Whilst the
English version remains the authentic text, it is hoped that the translation
will assist with the use of the SCP in cases involving parties in China,
Hong Kong and Taiwan. A Chinese translation of the LMAA Terms 2012 is
already available on the LMAA website.
http://www.lmaa.london/uploads/documents/Chinese%20Translation%20of%20LMAA%20Terms%20Final.pdf
4. That Time I Tried to Buy A Barrel of Crude Oil
Courtesy of the Browser we read the oddly informative thoughts of Tracy
Alloway which appear in the online Bloomberg and shed light on a commodity
we barely think about outside the usual ruts:-
Millions of barrels of crude oil get bought and sold every day. But
do you know anybody who owns one? There’s a reason for that. “Oil,
as I would soon discover, is practically useless in its unrefined form.
It is also highly toxic, very difficult to store, and smells bad. It
demands constant vigilance and maintenance. If gathered in sufficient
quantities, it will probably try to kill you, or at least severely harm
your health”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-03/that-time-i-tried-to-buy-some-crude-oil
5. The Devil’s Dictionary: X Marks the Spot
Chris Hewer has sent us the autumn edition of the Bottom Line, the
e-magazine of Moore Stephens which contains the twenty-fourth in a series
looking at classic and alternative definitions of shipping and accountancy
terms:-
Textbook definition
The consonant ‘X’ is the 24th letter of the English alphabet.
The alternative definition
Words beginning with ‘X’ are comparatively rare in English.
The Greeks are to be blamed for those that do exist. Numerically, however,
X is Roman. The Greeks invented shipping before the Romans invented
it first. The Greeks also invented words beginning with ’x’
such as xanthometer, an instrument which was used to gauge the colour
of seawater before somebody realised that the sea is the same colour
everywhere and it is only the sky which changes colour.
The letter ‘X’ can be used to mark the spot, signify an incorrect
answer, bestow a kiss, or substitute for the signature of a
person. It may be found in any of these forms in shipping documents
today, but isn’t. The nearest you can get to it is XLUL
(exclusive of loading and unloading) and ‘xenodocheionology’
(a love of hotels), which doesn’t appear in the SHIPMAN 98 BIMCO
manning agreement.
Who doesn’t love hotels?
http://www.moorestephens.co.uk/shipping
6. People and Places
Zheng Qingyue, a Senior Port Executive at Tianjin Port has been sacked
for allegedly neglecting duties in the Tianjin warehouse explosions,
according to the Chinese state-owned newspaper People’s Daily.
The executive will also be removed from his position as director of
the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Center.
Other executives who will face prosecution for dereliction of duty
are Zheng’s assistant Li Hongfeng and the Deputy Chief of the company’s
Safety Supervision Department.
Government investigations found the port had neglected safety oversight
duties and blamed it for poor regulation of Ruihai International Logistics,
the operator of the terminal in which the explosions occurred.
On the day of the tragedy, two blasts ripped through a warehouse in
Tianjin Port where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including
around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, at around 11:30pm on August 12,
2015.
The original explosion was believed to have been caused by the detonation
of explosives that were being stored at the warehouse, although the
actual cause is still unknown.
Civilians had to be evacuated from the area, due to large amounts of
sodium cyanide contamination in the port area.
According to Reuters, the explosions killed more than 160 people.
———-
Ms. Jasvinder Virdi has joined GMS, the ship recycling company in
the Dubai office, having spent the last 10 years at the St. Kitts &
Nevis International Ship Registry as a Ship Registration Executive.
———-
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has opened of a new office in Ukraine
in the port city of Odessa. One of the largest exporters of grain, seed
oil and semi-finished iron, Ukraine additionally has good railway links
to transport cargo from its ports to Baltic countries and Russia, as
well as connections to other Black Sea ports for Ro-Ro services. The
office has already handled its first port calls at Yuzhny and Odessa.
———-
As the UK prepares to observe Remembrance Day, the Royal Merchant Navy
Education Foundation (RMNEF) is issuing a reminder to the British public
to honour the legacy of the Merchant Navy and its people – both
past and present.
On this historic day the seafaring charity, is urging Britons not to
forget the vital role the Merchant Navy has played in the UK’s
history, nor to underestimate just how crucial merchant shipping is
to the UK economy – after all, trade by sea accounts for 95% of
the total by volume.
While the armed forces will be a main focus of the day, it’s important
the efforts and sacrifices of Merchant Navy seafarers are given the
attention they deserve too. Yet according to Charles Heron-Watson of
the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation, understanding of, and
interest in the merchant navy is at an all-time low.
That’s why the RMNEF has recently released The Bridge Report to
draw public interest and enhance understanding of the sector and its
serving members – particularly the unique financial, educational,
and emotional issues that affect personnel and their families.
Read the Report here:-
http://shinehost.co.uk/RMNEF/RMNEF_the_bridge_report_lowres.pdf
From 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.
We searched against the term “Crude Oil” to discover this
piece in edition 308 of June 22nd, 2007:-
Common sense call on emissions
THE International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) says the campaign
by Intertanko for all shipping to switch to burning MDO flies in the
face of common sense. “We all want to improve air quality and reduce
emissions from shipping,” says Fritz Fredriksen, chairman of IBIA
and a major buyer of fuel on behalf of a Norway-based shipowner. “But
there is more than one way to tackle the issue, and it does not make
sense to stifle innovation and shut the door on different approaches
by preaching that everyone should be forced into a straitjacket and
use one type of fuel.”
IMO is currently considering a series of options aimed at reducing
air emissions from shipping. They focus on reducing sulphur, nitrous
oxide, particulate matter and carbon emission from ships’ engines. Intertanko
has been running a vocal campaign to support the idea that, if all shipping
switches to burning distillate fuel only, that will achieve the desired
emission reduction. “IBIA believes this is a simplistic and narrow
viewpoint, which might suit some of the small group of shipowners represented
by Intertanko, but which would be unworkable in practice and which would
damage the efficient shipping industry on which global trade depends,”
says Fredriksen.
IBIA is working at IMO, with other organisations, to promote a holistic
approach to air emission reduction. “We believe the rules should
focus on outputs, not inputs,” explains Fredriksen. “If we
say that ships can only emit this or that, then it is up to shipping
to devise the most efficient way to achieve that. One way is to burn
distillates, but that is not the only way. Owners can install scrubbers,
or can burn low- sulphur heavy fuel and achieve the same outcome. So
why create a regulatory straitjacket which will harm the industry?”
IBIA says distillate supply could not keep up with demand if Intertanko’s
proposal was adopted. “Europe alone already imports 33m tonnes
of distillates,” says Fredriksen. “We would need another massive
product tanker fleet to supply the MDO for ships if we took the Intertanko
route, which is perhaps why some tanker owners support the idea. Or
we would need to invest $38bn in converting fifty oil refineries to
produce more distillates; will the oil industry seriously do that? What
about the extra 600 million tonnes of crude oil we would need to produce
all this distillate fuel. Imagine what that would do to world oil prices,
especially as prices are so high already. And while many tanker owners
don’t buy their own fuel, the same cannot be said for the containership
fleets on which the world depends. An enforced switch to distillate
fuel would seriously disrupt trade and massively push up costs, quite
unnecessarily. By all means let us work together at IMO to reduce output
emission from ships, but let’s keep the door open for more than one
way to do this.”
http://www.avoarchive.com/searchBI.php
Simple Jokes are Best
A British World War II pilot is reminiscing before school children
about his days in the Royal Air Force. “In 1942,” he says,
“the situation was really tough. The Germans had a very strong
air force. I remember, ” he continues, “one day I was protecting
our bombers when suddenly, out of the clouds, these fokkers appeared.
(At this point, several of the children giggle.)
I looked up, and one fokker was right above me. I aimed at him and
shot him down. They were swarming. I immediately realized that there
was another fokker behind me.”
(At this instant the girls in the auditorium start to giggle and boys
start to laugh.)
The teacher stands up and says, “I think I should point out that
‘Fokker’ was the name of the German-Dutch aircraft company”
“That’s true,” says the pilot, “but these fokkers were
flying Messerschmidts.”
Can You Take it with You?
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because
he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take
it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to
take some of his wealth with him.
An angel hears his plea and appears to him. “Sorry, but you can’t
take your wealth with you.” The man implores the angel to speak
to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel
reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take
one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase
and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to
greet St. Peter. St. Peter seeing the suitcase says, “Hold on,
you can’t bring that in here!”
But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks
him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks
and comes back saying, “You’re right. You are allowed one carry-on
bag, but I’m supposed to check its contents before letting it through.”
St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the
man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, “You brought
pavement?!!!”
[Source: Paul Dixon]
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