Industry News
From The Cargo Letter


THE CARGO LETTER [320]
Air & Ocean Freight Forwarder - Customs Broker News
12 August 1997


Good Tuesday Morning from our Observation Deck...... Overlooking the officially designated "Cargo City" area and....... Runway 25-Right at Los Angeles International Airport. It has been a tragic & troubled period for our air cargo industry.

The thousands of Forwarders & Brokers who read this publication around the world need to learn about YOUR experiences and what YOU learned today. Contribute your knowledge & information ........ by e-mail to The Cargo Letter. We strive to bring you useful information which is timely & topical.

Michael S. McDaniel, Editor

INDEX to The Cargo Letter:

  1. OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News
  2. CHINA NEEDS WTO MEMBERSHIP
  3. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs
  4. The Cargo Letter Financial Page
    OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News
  5. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs
    OUR "C" Section: FF World Ocean News
  6. FF World Ocean Briefs
  7. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches
    OUR "D" Section: FF in Cyberspace
  8. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"
    OUR "E" Section: The Forwarder/Broker World
  9. Who Is Your Cargo Sleeping With?

OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News


1. CHINA NEEDS WTO MEMBERSHIP

-- By Warren S. Levine, for The Cargo Letter

AUG. 10 -- Although the state-run Chinese media have enthusiastically jumped on President Jiang Zemin's idea of totally revamping that country's economy, it will have a hard time selling amongst the old-guard seniors of the Chinese Communist Party.

Jiang's plans for the modernization of the Chinese economy, which includes public stock issues and a truer free-market economy, diametrically oppose the Marxist-Leninist ideals of the CCP. However, major publications in China have published editorials in the past few days praising Jiang's idea of issuing shares of some state-run companies to workers and the listing of Chinese companies on foreign stock exchanges. The China Securities News called the concept of shareholding "the realization of socialism,'' and a front-page editorial in The People's Daily said, "Poverty is not a characteristic of socialism. The development of productive forces should be the sole criterion for judging success in building socialism.''

The characterizations in the editorial were obviously designed to make the radical economic changes more palatable to the old-school leftists from generations past who still hold a degree of power within the Party structure. Traditional Maoist thought has been enjoying a resurgence over the past few years.

But even these changes would not be sufficient to gain WTO acceptance for China, according to the U.S. and the European Union. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky called China "essentially non-responsive" to U.S. requirements for their support for China's membership.

In order to gain U.S. support, Beijing will have to abandon their subsidizing of factories and drop their restrictive quota and punitive tariff systems. To do that, however, China would be forced to adopt all of Jiang's proposed economic changes and more.

This would, of course, open China's vast consumer base to American goods and agricultural products, positively affecting the balance of U.S. trade with resultant credit going to the very government which China is being accused of illegally supporting. Mainstream American media, quick to point accusing fingers at China for allegedly interfering with American politics, have been uncharacteristically slow to pick up on American efforts to influence Chinese domestic policy.

However, all eyes should be on the People's Congress this fall, the first one since the death of Deng Xiaoping.

2. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs

3. The Cargo Letter Financial Page


OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News


4. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs


OUR "C" Section: FF World Ocean News


5. Freight Forwarder World Ocean Briefs

6. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches

It has been another tragic month for those who risk their lives to transport our goods by sea. When discussing the need for Marine Cargo Insurance, please let your customers know that ................
1.] 11 July the master of the M/V Sibirskiy-2117 (Russian) was killed in his cabin while the ship was docked at the Port of Masan, South Korea. The whole crew had been drinking heavily from the time it left Nakhodka. Following the strangulation of the master, an attempt was made to set the cabin on fire;
2.] 19 July M/T PetroLab (Canadian) had an explosion and fire aboard while preparing to load petroleum products at St. Barbe, Newfoundland, Canada. The fire was extinguished but the wharf continued to burn. The owner was killed & 3 injured.;
3.] 19 July Two crew members were killed, one missing and another injured following an explosion in an empty cargo tank aboard M/T Crane North (Philippine) The ship was anchored in an anchorage off Batangas, the Philippines;
4.] 21 July M/V Andacollo (Liberian general cargo) had a gearwheel failure at 18 degrees 59 min. north, 158 degrees 39 minutes west. The ship was towed to Honolulu by the tug Manuokekai. Andacallo was sailing from Callao, Peru, to Kobe, Japan, and was loaded;
5.] 21 July M/V Eagle Dawn (Cypriot containership) had a fire aboard off Somalia and the ship is being escorted to port;
6.] 23 July M/V Ibis (Antigua general cargo) sank after taking on water in a cargo hold. The ship was sailing from Casablanca, Morocco, to Algeciras, Spain;
7.] 23 July, a woman aboard the 52-foot sailing vessel S/V Eshamy B in the Atlantic Ocean died while sailing from Mystic, Conn., to Southampton, England. M/V Liberty Star was diverted to assist. M/V Sea-Land Performance (U.S.containership) was diverted to transport the body to Lands End, England;
8.] 24 July M/V Fortuna Reefer (Panamanian) ran aground on coral and sand in a nature reserve near Mona Island, Puerto Rico. The ship has more than 100,000 gallons of fuel aboard. The ship had originally grounded 24 July on the southeastern boundary of Mona Island. It was sailing from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to Panama City.;
9.] 26 July One person was killed when M/V Mathu Bhum (Singaporean 920-TEU containership operated by Regional Container Line) collided with one of 3 lighters under tow on the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. The ship sank the barge, as it sailed to Bangkok, Thailand, from Singapore;
10.] 27 July M/V Thor Emilie (Danish general cargo ship) capsized near Denmark while sailing from Klaipeda, Lithuania, to Thessaloniki, Greece;
11.] 27 July, 3 crew members were killed and 3 injured on 27 when 26 foot seas from Typhoon Rosie broke the bridge windows of M/V Yamato Maru (Japanese car carrier). Those killed include the master and the chief cook. The ship was sailing from Fukuoka, Japan, to Yokohama, Japan;
12.] 28 July M/V Maersk Tacoma (Panamanian-registry.) was seriously damaged when it was hit by a tanker on its port side, 82 feet forward of the superstructure. It has been dry docked in Singapore;
13.] 31 July M/V Adel (Honduran general cargo ship) sank in the Gulf of Aden;
14.] 31 July M/V Goodwill (Panamanian) was reported flooding while sailing from Dampier, Australia, to Dunkirk, France. At last report, the ship had run aground in Australia's Cocos Islands and its 21 crew had abandoned it;
15.] 2 Aug. M/V Sea Empress (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) sank after losing power & flooding the day before while anchored off Mumbai, India, in bad weather;
16.] 3 Aug. M/V Golden Tiger (Taiwanese) ran aground in heavy seas near Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Three crew members were injured;
17.] 4 Aug. tug Macedon (Greek) was engulfed in a fire while towing M/V Rothnie (Bahamian general cargo ship) in the eastern Mediterranean;
18.] 5 Aug. M/V Leon (Panamanian) had an engine room fire off Djibouti. The tug SB-408 has taken the ship in tow towards the Suez Canal;
19.] 7 Aug. M/V Ming Mercy (Taiwanese and operated by Yangming Marine Transport Corp.) had a 12-hour fire while anchored off Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia. It reportedly began in crew quarter's 2 decks above the waterline and quickly spread, affecting at least three decks in the accommodations area. Damage is extensive.

............. The Historic Dangers of Carriage by Sea continue to be quite real. Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs broker. McD


OUR "D" Section: FF in Cyberspace


7. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"

Our The Cargo Letter Featured Site .........

Official U.S. Trade Statistics ........ from the International Trade Commission (ITC),1989-96. Includes values of U.S. imports for consumption (Customs value, dutiable value, & calculated duties collected); U.S. domestic exports; information on preferential import programs (GSP, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Andean Trade Preference Act, NAFTA, and the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement; etc.
http://www.usitc.gov

FF/CHB WWW Sites Of Interest ...........

AEPS Airline Employee Placement Service
http://www.aeps.com/aeps/avnethm.html

Air Cargo Newsgroup
http://www.concentric.net/~aircargo

All Nippon Air
http://www.ana.co.jp/

Airborne Express ....... the renewed site.
http://www.airborne.com

Delta Air ...... the renewed site "SkyLinks".
http://www.delta-air.com

OOCL .......... is claiming a first ever ability to book Far East cargo from a web site with its Internet Cargo Booking system
http://www.oocl.com

Capt. Bernard Wormgoor ......... Naticus Marine Surveyors, Oakland.
http://www.nauticus-usa.com

Cubaweb ............ everything you want to know about doing business in Cuba, especially in a post-embargo or post-Castro Cuba. Business Library for information on US laws & legislation dealing with Cuba, investment laws, news, financial and trade information. Classified ads. http://www.cubaweb.com/eng/index.html

Ocean Maine Shipping Co. (An arrival notice & transshipment agent for Egypt & Suez) [Note: The Cargo Letter does not charge for ads. We do bring new services to your attention.]
http://www.ocean-eg.com

International Signal Flag Index ...... learn the hoists.
http://osprey.erin.gov.au/flags/signal-flags.html

Independent States in the World .......... US State Department listing of current country names. Includes: short & long form name, country code, name of capital and more.
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/independent_states.html

Preserved Ships Of The United Kingdom
http://www.ships.co.uk/preserved/

The Cargo Letter Tools For YOUR FF/CHB Business

Asian Financial News From India to Japan
http://www.indoexchange.com/afx

EU Directories ............ over 100M residential & business listings from The U.K., Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Switzerland &Austria. Includes address, phone & fax.

The I Find Engine ........ a parallel search, which searches all the search engines, merges the results, removes redundancies, clusters the hits into neat understandable groupings, and returns it all in a quick search.
http://www.inference.com/ifind

Big Charts .............. free & unlimited access to charts, reports, indicators and quotes on 22,700 US stocks, mutual funds and major market indices. Excellent financial/investment research tool! http://www.bigcharts.com

Data Grabber ............ a free desktop search tool which comes stocked with 200 public databases ready to mine for information. The 1.1 MB program quietly resides in the background until you're ready to find specific information on the Internet. Simply enter your search word(s), select a database and go grab that data! Requires: Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0; Netscape or IE
http://home.cdsnet.net/~wildcow/web/datagrab.html

Internet Explorer 4.0 (Preview 2) ........... fresh from the gates of Microsoft. Including all the refined features & technology you've read about, like dynamic HTML, Webcasting, and the ever popular Active Desktop. Closer to Microsoft's vision of complete Internet integration with your PC--a vision that is rumored to figure heavily into Windows 98.
http://www.browsers.com/?dlpd

Online Manuals ........ Links to 365 online manuals pertaining to: Dos/Windows, Internet, networking, Unix, programming, Archie, FTP, IRC, Moos/Muds, Telnet, Usenet, Listserv, etc.
http://www.nicks.net/index.html

Internet Spam Control Center ........ get your name of the junk mail lists. http://drsvcs.com/nospam/ or No More Junk Mail ...........
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~glr/nojunk.html


OUR "E" Section: The Forwarder/Broker World


8. Who Is Your Cargo Sleeping With?

-- By Michael S. McDaniel, Esq. for The Cargo Letter

YOUR cargo is sent every day to a trusted CFS, CY or trucker for final disposition or door delivery. What happens when there is a loss or theft?

Unfortunately, we see legal cases almost every week where the "trusted" CFS or other cargo handler YOU hired informs that its contractual damage limitation is drastically lower than the US$500 per package limit provided for Int'l ocean cargo under the Carriage of Goods By Sea Act (COGSA, Title 46 U.S.C.) or the US$9.07 per pound limit for Int'l air moves under the Warsaw Convention. In other words, as an NVOCC or Airforwarder YOUR responsibility for cargo loss or damage is well defined under the house bill ........... but the cargo handler WHO WORKS FOR YOU may attempt to claim protection under a much lower level of financial responsibility. The argument will be that YOU agreed to this lower damage limit for the CFS, CY, or trucker.

The damage limitation which the CFS, CY or trucker will attempt to thrust upon you is usually contained in its invoice for services rendered which YOU receive. Often the CFS damage limit can be as low as US$100 per package or even US$1000 for the entire service, regardless of how much freight was involved. A trucker's limit can be as low as US$0.25 per pound. Such damage limits are obviously well below the responsibility YOU have agreed to assume for freight belonging to the shipper/cgnee. In a high value cargo loss situation, what would YOU do?

Experience has shown that the time to arrange YOUR affairs for dealing with the potential shortfall between YOUR damage limitation and that of the cargo handling vendor .......... is before any loss occurs. The consequences of considering this problem "after the fact" can be disastrous. Indeed, just how many cargo handling vendors are you using? What is the value of freight they handle?

YOU should recognize that in most cases the NVOCC or Airforwarder has the power to negotiate service provider damage limitations which are equal to those YOU have assumed under the house bill. If YOUR business is not important enough for the CFS or trucker to make such an arrangement .......... look elsewhere. YOUR service provider may be able to build the cost of additional insurance into its rate in order to equalize the level of loss & damage responsibility.

There are many creative approaches available to the NVOCC &Airforwarder for protection when YOUR cargo is lost, misdelivered, stolen, or damaged by the hired cargo handler. We advise YOU to consult with a legal or insurance expert before discovering that YOUR cargo was sleeping with the wrong crowd. McD [an error occurred while processing this directive]