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The Cargo Letter
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THE CARGO LETTER [357]
Air & Ocean Freight Forwarder - Customs Broker News
30 November 2000
Good Thurs. Morning from our Observation Deck...... overlooking the
officially designated "Cargo City" area and....... Runway 25-Right, at
Los Angeles International Airport, voted "Best Cargo Airport in North
America". Be kind to errors, as we were on the road for two weeks this
month!
Contribute your knowledge, stories & company information ........ by
e-mail to The Cargo Letter. We strive to
bring you useful information which is timely & topical. Be sure to visit our
web site:
Michael S. McDaniel, Editor & Publisher, Countryman & McDaniel,
forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.
INDEX to The Cargo Letter:
OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News
1. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs
2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page
OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News
3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs
OUR "C" Section: FF World Ocean News
4. FF World Ocean Briefs
5. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches
* Back By Popular Demand
OUR "D" Section: FF in Cyberspace
6. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"
OUR "E" Section: The Forwarder/Broker World
7. New U.S. Transport Related Legal Cases
- Shopping Time! ......... as the holidays approach, be sure to visit
our "The Freight
Detective's Internet Shopping Mall! Our not for profit site features
hundreds of stores you won't see elsewhere, plus unique transportation
industry gifts. Take a look! Unusual new stores will be added throughout the
holiday season! Yes, this is truly a "trade" story.
- Historic Naming of Names .......... as hundreds of investors faced
ruin on Nov. 4 after a British judge ruled Lloyd's of London did not mislead
them into risking all they owned with the insurer while it knew huge losses
were on the horizon. In the latest chapter in a saga that has involved
suicides, divorces, nervous breakdowns & lost family fortunes, Justice
Peter Cresswell rejected the so-called "Names" claim that Lloyd's
lied to them about looming claims for compensation connected to
asbestos-related diseases. They were also exposed to claims for losses from
Britain's 1987 hurricane and the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster in the North
Sea in 1998, in which 167 people were killed. Total losses at Lloyd's during
the 1980s ran to around eight billion pounds US$11.5B. Asbestos claims
amounted to about half of that sum. While clearing Lloyd's of wrongdoing,
the High Court judge harshly criticized operations during the 1980s at the
world's largest insurance market. "The catalogue of failings and
incompetence in the 1980s... is staggering, and brought disgrace on one of
the City's great markets," Justice Cresswell said in a 400-page written
opinion. "Many Names have suffered enormously in financial &
personal terms." Lloyd's Chairman Max Taylor said the insurer would
press the Names to settle their debts, which he said amounted to around
US$73M. "There's absolutely no legal reason why these Names should not
now pay their debts," he said. About 210 Names were involved in the
court action, according to their lawyers. >>> For a little history
on Lloyd's, it's beginnings were humble. Maritime insurance brokers &
underwriters would meet at Edward Lloyd's coffee house in London, which
opened in 1688, to exchange shipping news. Parliament enacted the Lloyd's
Act in 1871, & by 1900 Lloyd's members wrote half the world's non-life
insurance business. The "Names" got their title from the long list
of Lloyd's insurance syndicates & their individual members attached to
clients' copies of completed policies earlier this century. See the judgment
at: http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgments/judg_home.htm
- WTO Smiling ......... as the World Trade Organization said world
merchandise trade is projected to grow 10% this year, twice the rate
recorded for 1999 & one of the highest in the last decade. The WTO cited
stronger economic activity in Western Europe and Latin America, and
continued high demand growth in North America & Asia. In its latest
report, "Int'l Trade Statistics 2000," the Geneva-based trade body
said the bulk of the tariff cuts of the Uruguay Round were completed in
1999. Customs duty collected on imports decreased 10%, to US$39.4B, for the
U.S., the EU & Japan, even though the volume of trade increased 40% over
the same period. "The trade expansion in 2001 is expected to be
somewhat less than in the current year, but still higher than the average of
6.5% recorded for the 1990-1999 period," the WTO said.
- Mexico Smiling ........ as an Int'l disputes panel has just ruled
in favor of Mexico in its transport row over freight trucks with the U.S.,
averting a possible worsening in bilateral trade ties, a government official
said on Nov. 29. But Democratic U.S. lawmakers & consumers groups
criticized the ruling & said it jeopardized the safety of U.S. drivers.
The row between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners
centered on the free entry of Mexican freight trucks to the U.S. If Mexico
had lost, it had threatened to suspend benefits enjoyed by the U.S. in other
sectors of the NAFTA treaty, for example by hiking tariffs for an equivalent
sum to the damage caused by the blocking of its freight trucks. Under NAFTA,
freight trucks from both countries have been able to drive up to 125 miles
into the other country's territory since Dec.18, 1995. However the U.S.
government, under pressure from local transport organizations, stopped
freight vehicles from entering the country on grounds they did not comply
with safety regulations and were anticompetitive, given the lower salaries
of Mexican drivers. Mexico followed suit with similar measures against U.S.
truck drivers. Protesting Mexican truckers several weeks ago blockaded
highways around the country. NAFTA also required Mexico & the U.S. to
open all their territory to the free transit of freight trucks from both
countries as of Jan. 1 this year. After 3 years of talks between the
countries failed to produce an agreement, Mexico demanded in 1998 that a
panel should be set up to resolve the row. The panel was only created in
January this year due to the U.S.' challenging the panel members.
- India Sets Export Zones ....... as India has announced 11 duty-free
zones which will provide exporters a user-friendly environment for
manufacturing, trading & providing services. "The special economic
zones (SEZs) are intended to provide an internationally competitive &
hassle-free environment for exports... The SEZ scheme is expected to give a
further boost to the country's exports," a government statement said.
The zones would be in Kandla, Surat & Positara in Gujarat state, Santa
Cruz & Dronagiri in Maharashtra state, Cochin in Kerala, Nanguneri in
Tamil Nadu, Kulpi in West Bengal, Paradeep in Orissa, Bhadohi in Uttar
Pradesh, & Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Firms will be allowed to set up
manufacturing units without a cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the
zones. The 100% FDI freedom will not apply to makers of arms, defense
equipment, atomic substances, narcotics & psychotropic substances,
alcoholic drinks and tobacco products. Firms operating in the zones are
treated as being outside the country's customs territory and would not have
to undergo routine examination of export & import cargo by customs.
- Jordon Voted MVP ......... as it is set to become only the 4th
country in the world, after Israel, Canada & Mexico, to have signed a
free trade pact with the U.S. The agreement, under which tariffs on
textiles, farm produce/goods & other products will be phased out over a
10 year period, is expected to encourage foreign investment in the Middle
Eastern country. Currently trade volume between the U.S. & Jordan is low
& strongly weighted toward the U.S., which sold US$276M worth of
products (mainly grain and aircraft parts) to the kingdom in 1999 while
purchasing just US$11M worth of Jordanian products (from men's suits to
jewelry). The U.S. Congress & the Jordanian Parliament are not expected
to vote on the agreement until next year. Meanwhile, in a further bid to
boost trade, the Jordanian government has decided to end its contract with
Lloyd's Register inspectors at Aqaba Port. The move, which is unlikely to be
blocked by the UN, will remove obstacles to increased trade between Jordan
& Iraq.
- China Sets WTO Liberalization ......... as Guangdong officials have
vowed to liberalize the province's logistics industry after China joins the
WTO, a move which will allow more overseas retail companies to set up shop.
The province's vice governor Xu Deli believes that WTO membership will
accelerate reform in the transportation, warehousing & express mail
industries as foreign companies are attracted in order to upgrade the
province's logistics sector.
- Lynn Fritz Back At The Helm ......... as Fritz Companies, Inc. has
announced that Raymond Smith resigned as the company's CEO on Nov. 17.
Subsequent to Mr Smith's departure, Lynn Fritz, chairman of the board, has
resumed the position of CEO, & Graham Napier, COO, has become president.
Concurrently, a new `operating committee' has been formed to oversee the
implementation & management of the company's global operations to ensure
the timely achievement of strategic & operating objectives. The
operating committee will be composed of the company's executive officers
together with the heads of the five global operating regions - all reporting
functionally to the president & COO. Although Mr. Smith is leaving to
pursue other interests, he will continue to provide consulting services to
Fritz Companies. "Ray Smith has brought the best practices to Fritz
Companies & focussed the company on employee and customer
satisfaction," said Lynn Fritz in announcing the departure.
"Through his leadership, important milestones have been achieved. The
industry's 1st response tracking system was developed & launched; 24
Fritz university boards were established around the globe; & the Malcolm
Baldrige Process Model was adopted and has laid the framework for continuous
improvement. Fritz is a specialist in global integrated logistics. The
company delivers comprehensive supply chain solutions to its customers
worldwide by providing flexible door-to-door transportation & materials
management using sophisticated information systems. Emphasis is placed on
simplifying processes & reducing overall transportation costs.
- New Stock - New Name .......... as on the 1st day of trading this
month the price of World Net, as Deutsche Post now wants itself to be
called, rose on 8 stock exchanges by EUR 1 - or nearly 5% - to EUR 22. That
results in a valuation of EUR 24.5 billion for the biggest European postal
& logistics concern. Last weekend Deutsche Post fixed the introductory
price at EUR 21. The offer was oversubscribed by eight times. With this IPO
the German government has netted EUR 6.6 billion.
- U.S. Commerce Secretary 150 Years Old! ........... as recent visit
by U.S. president Bill Clinton to APL's Vietnam Int'l Container Terminal saw
at least one peculiar inclusion in the script of APL CEO Flemming R Jacobs'
welcome speech. After greeting the president & the other delegates and
describing his company's history, the role of world trade in breaking down
barriers, and the way VICT's managers and the local community interacted,
Mr. Jacobs turned to introduce the next speaker, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Norman Mineta. Beginning with "it would take me a lot too long to
recount to you all that Norman Mineta has accomplished", Mr. Jacobs'
speech continued: "His priorities can be traced through a career that
has taken him through many distinguished responsibilities. One role in
particular caught my attention. He was elected to the U.S. Congress
representing Silicon Valley back in 1874." A much longer career than
might have been expected even for "the man who represented the dot.coms
before the coms were even dotted". Obviously this was a typo on the
script, something from which no one is immune. The question begs to be
asked, though - did Mr Jacobs spot the error on the day and adjust Secretary
Mineta's time in Congress by a full century?
- Uncle Sam Wants Your Box .......... as the U.S. Postal Service
(USPS) has inked an agreement with Overseas Courier Service (OCS), a
Canada-based international courier service company, to provide companies in
Canada with a new option for shipping to the U.S. The U.S. Postal Service is
the gateway to 134 million addresses in the U.S. and delivers letters &
packages 6 days a week, & express mail 7 days a week. OCS is a Canadian
owned company with 5 offices across Canada. It is part of a worldwide
network which provides domestic and Int'l letter and parcel delivery service
to 199 countries throughout the world. OCS will prepare shipments, transport
them to the U.S., clear them through commercial customs & then enter the
packages into the Postal Service's domestic delivery network. The Postal
Service's global business development group has recently established similar
agreements with commercial enterprises in South Korea, Mexico, Europe,
Central America, South America & Asia, and is seeking to build a global
network for premium delivery services from around the world into the U.S.
- Pacer Int'l Gets A Forwarder/Broker ......... as it has concluded
the acquisition of RFI Group Inc., a non-asset-based logistics business
headquartered in New York. RFI, with revenues of US$113M for the fiscal year
ending Dec. 31, 1999, is a forwarding & customs-brokerage firm that also
has ocean transportation brokerage capabilities. Pacer's revenues for the
12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2000, exceed US$1.4B, including
acquisitions to date. More, Pacer Int'l says that before the end of the year
it expects to file a registration statement with the Securities &
Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of its common
stock. The size of the offering has not yet been determined.
- FedEx Gets Another Trucker ......... as it will pay US$1.2B for
American Freightways Corp. in a deal that will give the world's biggest
express transport company full nationwide coverage for freight shipments
smaller than a full truckload. The purchase price comprises US$475M in cash,
US$475M in stock & US$250M in assumed debt. FedEx is offering US$28.13
per share for 50.1% of American Freightways, a 61% premium on the Nasdaq
Stock Market price. The remaining shares in the Harrison, Ark., trucking
company will be converted into FedEx stock valued at US$28.13 per share.
Viking Freight, a FedEx trucking business that consolidates shipments bigger
than 150 pounds but less than a truckload (LTL) in size, already covers the
western United States. American Freightways extends the coverage across the
country.
- Professional Transportation Group In Default ........ as the public
company has announced that it received on Nov. 1, 2000 written notice from
its principal outside lender that the Company has defaulted in the payment
of interest & other amounts required pursuant to the loan and security
agreement between the bank and the Company. The notice does not purport to
accelerate the payment of the entire lending facility, but demands payment
of approximately $1,000,000 on Nov. 2, 2000. Professional Transportation
Group Ltd., Inc., is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia. The Company
provides ground transportation & logistics services for the airfreight
& trucking industry in the continental U.S. through its subsidiary,
Timely Transportation, Inc.
- And You Thought U.S. Customs Was Strict .......... as Iran has
executed a businessman for his role in a multi-million-dollar fraud.
Mohammad Taqi Amini was hanged in a Tehran prison after the supreme court
upheld a death sentence issued against him in 1998. Three accomplices, all
customs officials, were also sentenced to death in 1998, but there was no
immediate word of their fate. They were part of a network, mainly based at
Tehran airport, tried for smuggling gold, antiques & hard currency out
of Iran. Before being hanged, Amini was flogged for illicit sexual relations
under Iran's Islamic laws. (After being hanged, Amini was sentenced to 200
hours of community service.) Iran's Islamic leaders have reacted to reports
of widespread corruption by demanding tougher action by courts, but
executions for economic crimes have been rare.
- Customs Post Entry Amendments .......... as U.S. Customs says it
will begin testing a new method for importers or their customs brokers to
make corrections to import entry summaries prior to liquidation before the
end of the year. The test, Post-Entry Amendment Processing, will begin about
Dec. 28, and will involve corrections of minor entry summary errors, such as
revenue-generating errors of less than US$20 & non-revenue-generating
errors such as net quantity and value. These errors will be reported on a
quarterly basis. Major errors must still be reported to Customs upon
discovery. For the past & years, Customs allowed importers to make minor
corrections on an entry-by-entry basis through Supplementary Information
Letters, which the agency said has "produced an increase paperwork
& manpower burden for both importers and Customs." The Post-Entry
Amendment Processing test is expected to last for a year, and would be
extended if warranted. Customs said it would accept comments about the test
from the industry until Dec. 28. Check the si te, under "Importing
& Exporting." http://www.customs.gov
- China Customs Change Not Just Cosmetic ......... as on Jan. 1 2001,
importers & exporters of cosmetic products to and from China will be
required to obtain label inspection certificates before submitting products
for routine checks. Applications will need to be assigned to primary
inspection agencies, with product specifications & ingredients to be
forwarded to Entry-Exit Inspection & Quarantine depots in Beijing,
Shanghai, Xiamen & Hubei, plus a specially appointed agency in Hong
Kong. Inspection results will be overseen by a supreme inspection agency in
Beijing which, in turn, will issue certificates if inspection criterion are
met. More, Chinese State Commodity Inspection Bureau recently released new
regulations for functional inspection of exported household electrical
appliances in order to further standardize the process imposed by inspection
and quarantine bureaus of different levels. The new regulations require
inspection and quarantine institutions to carry out the functional
inspection through standardized processes. Once approved, exporters should
thereafter apply to the inspection & quarantine institution for further
exportation inspections. The State Inspection & Quarantine Bureau
divides small household electrical appliances into three categories so as to
facilitate sampling work for inspection, namely electrically motivated
products; electrical heating products; & electrically motivated &
heating products.
- Customs-Mart ........ as everything from money-counting machines to
night-vision scopes, drug scales to a 318-foot cocaine freighter, the U.S.
Customs Service put a veritable museum of crime up for auction on Nov. 4 in
Puerto Rico. Bargain hunters found drug-smuggling speedboats, radio encoding
machines, sports cars and cell phones galore. There were satellite
telephones and navigation systems, home security systems & yachts.
Almost all the items were seized from drug smugglers in the U.S. Caribbean
territory, a frequent stop for cocaine and heroin shipments on their way to
the U.S. Authorities hold such auctions several times a year in high-traffic
drug areas. The centerpiece was the 318-foot M/V Tiger, a Panamanian
freighter seized June 30 by a joint operation with the Dutch Navy off Dutch
islands in the Caribbean. Authorities found 3,080 pounds of cocaine on
board, hidden in a shipment of fish meal bound for Spain. All purchasers
have to undergo background checks, to make sure the goods don't recycle back
to the drug dealers. It has happened before. When agents on Florida's Miami
River seized the Croyance in February, after they found a cache of cocaine,
they were embarrassed to discover the ship already had been seized &
sold at auction in late 1998. Not all the items on sale are illicit goods.
Some are commercial shipments that went unclaimed in Customs warehouses or
were seized because buyers failed to pay import taxes. There were Swiss
chocolates, bronze busts of Jesus, stone statues from Egypt, 5 cartons of
Alka-Seltzer & 985 cartons of detergent. There were 8 cartons of
Spanish-English dictionaries, 381 tables & chairs, 4 boxes of karate
uniforms & 64 packages of Christmas-theme bathroom linens. For future
auctions, go to Customs web site. http://www.treas.gov/auctions/customs
- Scramble To The Web ........ as small exporters are rushing to sign
up on the U.S. Census Bureau's free Internet link to the Automated Export
System to avoid a costly US$100 charge per paper shipper's export
declaration assessed by ocean carriers. The charge, which is part of the
Bureau of the Census/Ocean Carrier Agreement to Eliminate Paper Shipper's
Export Declarations, was agreed upon by the carriers in July. Major carrier
discussion agreements, such as the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization
Agreement & the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement, included the $100
charge in their tariff agreements that started Nov. 1. According to the
National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Assn. of America, the charge could
cost the shipping industry as much as US$45M a month.
- Klimmt Gets The Punt ........ as German Minister of Transport
Reinhard Klimmt was forced to tender his resignation on Nov. 16, following
scandal being caused by fraud concerning a football club. Klimmt is
succeeded by fellow SPD (Social Democrats) party member, Kurt Bodewig.
Premier Gerhard Schröder came under heavy pressure to sack his transport
minister after a court order to pay a DEM 27,000 fine. Klimmt wanted to
appeal, but Schröder gave him his marching orders. The fine was imposed for
sponsorship - money channeled illegally from a charity to a football club in
Saarland of which Herr Klimmt was the president.
- Open EU Rails .......... as European transport commissioner Loyola
de Palacio declared the agreement of the EU transport ministers & the
European Parliament on liberalizing railfreight. This might open up 90% of
the EU's Int'l rail freight network starting in 2003. Rail freight operators
will get access to the Int'l routes within the union. Palacio warned that
the opening of the rail transport sector will bring lots of technical &
regulatory difficulties. There are huge differences between infrastructure
specifications of the member stated, but these are already overcome by the
national companies which jointly nearly have a monopoly in cross border rail
transport. 'We took the 1st step towards a genuine European rail network',
Palacio said. The share of the rail in the freight market has dropped from
32% in 1970 to 13% in 1998.
- Amtrak Bites The Bullet ......... as U.S. rail carrier Amtrak was
tired of the question why it could not run the trains they have in Europe.
They think the answer in the Acela Express, a 150 m.p.h. ‘bullet train'
that hit record speeds on its debut on the Washington-to-Boston run. Regular
service on the train begins in the Northeast of the U.S. on 11th Dec.
Legislation pending in Congress would help Amtrak to raise US$10B over 10
years, to construct other high-speed corridors around the nation. A
nationwide system of high-speed rail would require billions of public
dollars to lay new track, straighten curves, eliminate grade crossings &
perform other upgrades of the U.S. rail network.
- China Rails Continue Growth ........ as its railway sector has
reported that freight transported from Jan. to Oct. has risen 5.3%
year-on-year, totaling 1.37 billion tons.
- Dear Santa: Don't Take The Train! ......... as Britain's Christmas
post is likely to arrive late this year because of widespread emergency
safety repairs to the country's creaking rail network, the Post Office
GBPO.CN warned on Nov. 5. Rail network operator Railtrack (RTK.L) has said
engineering work will continue through the festive season to overhaul the
nation's railway lines in the wake of a spate of train crashes &
derailments. "The last couple of weeks have been horrendous," a
Post Office spokesman said on Nov. 5, adding that Britain's worst flooding
for 50 years -- which has forced thousands out of their homes and caused
transport chaos -- was making things worse. The Post Office is one of the
railway's largest users, transporting some 40 million letters across the
rail network every night during the 4 weeks before Christmas. The Post
office fears that, like the senders themselves, the letters & cards may
end up stranded and is considering asking the public to dispatch their mail
earlier than normal this year.
- Don't Take The Train On Nov. 1st ........ as 2 freight trains
collided outside a railway station in southwest England on Nov. 1, injuring
one of the drivers & blocking trains heading north in the latest of a
series of rail crashes to hit Britain. Rail network operator Railtrack said
a mail train appeared to have run through 2 red lights before hitting a
freight train loaded with coal at Lawrence Hill near Bristol. A coal train
was moving at around 50 miles per hour when it was hit from behind by the
mail train, which rode up onto it. But there was to be more rail fun on Nov.
1, as 10 miles west of Flagstaff in northern Arizona another freight train
rear-ended another carrying hazardous materials, 3 locomotives caught fire
& 3 cars on the front train derailed, killing one crew. What a day!
- Put'in On Caviar Controls .......... as Russia plans to introduce a
state monopoly on caviar production & exports, a move that would cut off
illegal sales to the luxury market abroad & increase revenues coming
into the government's coffers. President Vladimir Putin's envoy in southern
Russia, Viktor Kazantsev, has announced the proposal. The move, which would
come in 2001, aims to stop poaching that has devastated sturgeon stocks and
in some areas far exceeds the catch of licensed fishermen. Russia officially
exported US$25M worth of caviar last year, while poachers' exports were
estimated at US$250M. Officials at the State Fisheries Committee, which has
reportedly prepared a draft of the plan, were not immediately available to
comment on the reports. Poachers from desperately poor villages around
Russia drop nets in rivers & haul in sturgeon whose eggs can fetch many
times the amount an average Russian can expect to earn each month. Poachers
are hard to catch and caviar is compact & valuable, making illegal
smuggling and sale of the delicacy profitable. Sturgeon populations in the
Caspian & Azov seas have shrunk from 15 million in 1995 to 4 million
this year.
- Atlantic Mutual Online Honors .......... as the 158-year-old, New
York-based insurer, was named to the InfoWorld Top 10 list of innovative e-
business companies for its on-line insurance business model,
InsurePoint.com. The companies selected to this elite list used technology
to enhance external customer or trading partner relationships, to revamp
current business transactions using Internet-based technology, to reinvent
the business model, or to create new market opportunities. Altantic features
a variety of marine coverages.
- Mounties Grab China Mastermind ......... as Canada has arrested a
Chinese businessman believed to be the mastermind of a smuggling ring at the
heart of China's biggest corruption scandal in the Communist era. The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police arrested Lai Changxing & another person in the
Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia late on Nov. 23 at the request
of Canadian immigration authorities. Immigration officials issued a terse
statement that confirmed the arrest of Lai & Tsang Mingna on immigration
warrants, but declined to release details about charges, the investigation
or suspects, citing Canada's privacy laws. Lai & Tsang will appear
before the Immigration & Refugee Board in Vancouver for a hearing on
whether they should continue to be held in detention. China alleges that
Lai, 46, is the brains behind an operation based near the southern port of
Xiamen that smuggled cars, luxury goods, oil 7 raw materials worth more than
US$6B into China in the early 1990s. Lai's Yuanhua Group allegedly paid off
hundreds of city & provincial officials with money and women to
facilitate and cover up duty evasion. Chinese courts this month sentenced 14
people to death, including senior police & customs officials, in the 1st
verdicts in the biggest corruption case since the Communists came to power
in 1949.
- Mad Farmers - Mad Truckers ......... as Italian farmers have been
stopping French trucks at the border to try to enforce a ban on the import
of adult cattle & beef-on-the-bone. Farmers, carrying signs that read
"We are here to defend your health" and "Not that same old
cow again," halted trucks at Ventimiglia in the Liguria region &
another 20 farmers staged their protest at the Frejus pass in the Alps.
Farmers at Ventimiglia asked one Spanish trucker to turn back, saying his
merchandise included banned products. The farmers were checking truckers'
documents to prevent the import of French beef after the Italian government
recently banned imports from France of cattle aged over 18 months &
beef-on-the-bone. The move responded to consumer panic over mad cow disease,
or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and its link to a fatal
brain-wasting disease in humans.
- Smuggler Looses Head Over Stomach ........ as Saudi Arabia on Nov.
20 executed an Indian man convicted of smuggling heroin in his stomach into
the kingdom. The Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by state
media the man was put to death in the eastern city of Dammam. He had been
convicted of smuggling an unspecified quantity of heroin in his stomach. His
execution raised to at least 120 the number of people executed in the
kingdom this year. Saudi Arabia last year executed at least 99 people,
including many foreigners.
- If It Quacks Like A Hawk .........as Cairo airport officials on
Nov. 4 foiled an attempt to smuggle 22 falcons worth about US$560,000 to the
United Arab Emirates by hiding them in crates of ducks. A veterinary doctor
inspecting 27 wooden crates due to be sent on an EgyptAir flight to Dubai
found the falcons concealed among 420 ducks, officials said. The owner of
the firm sending the shipment told officials he had bought the falcons from
Bedouin Arabs in the Sharqiya region of northern Egypt & had planned to
sell them to Gulf princes. Hunting with falcons is a traditional pastime in
the Gulf, where the birds can fetch high prices from wealthy sportsmen.
Egypt prohibits the export of falcons, which are a protected species.
- Airborne Freight Corp. (Airborne Express) DOWN with a net loss for
the 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30, 2000, of US$5.5M, or $.11 per diluted share,
compared to earnings of US$21.6M, or $.44 per share, in 3rd quarter 1999.
- Alitalia. DOWN as affects of it's failed marriage with KLM are
slowly filtering through to the carrier's balance sheet - a loss of US$125M
has been reported for the 1st nine months of this year. The Italian carrier
lost US$6.6M during the corresponding period last year & it has blamed
the nose-dive in fortunes squarely upon fare adjustments & high fuel
costs.
- British Airways. UP with a 400% lift in 2nd quarter pre-tax
profits, up from US$60M a year ago to US$300M this year. The 3 month figures
took the result for the half-year to Sept.30, 2000, to US$225M, well ahead
of market expectations.
- British Airways World Cargo. UP as revenue in the 1st 6 months of
the year rose 8.6% to US$467M, crediting traffic increases on long-haul
routes to Asia, improved efficiency at its new hub in London &
additional wet-lease business.
- Hanjin Shipping. UP as 3rd quarter net profits rose by 49% over the
second quarter to US$41M, due largely to stronger freight rates & growth
in business as Asian economies further extricate themselves from the
recession. Freight revenue for the 3rd quarter was US$963M, operating income
was US$130M, & ordinary income reached US$60M.
- Interpool, Inc. (NYSE:IPX) UP with net income for the 3rd quarter
ended Sept. 30, 2000 of US$11,080,000, or US$0.40 per diluted share,
compared with net income of US$6,071,000, or US$0.22 per diluted share, for
the same period in 1999. Revenues during the 3rd quarter of 2000 increased
by 21% to US$69,103,000, from US$56,939,000 in 3rd quarter 1999. Operating
income was US$30,089,000 in the quarter versus US$19,884,000 for the same
period last year. Interpool, originally founded in 1968, is one of the
world's leading suppliers of equipment & services to the transportation
industry. It is the largest lessor of intermodal container chassis in the
U.S. & a world-leading lessor of cargo containers used in Int'l trade.
Interpool operates from 30 locations throughout the world. Interpool is
corporate sponsor of The Cargo Letter news & library Internet feature.
- Japan Airlines. UP with strong half-year profits, helped by a sharp
rise in business traffic. Asia's largest carrier reported its 2nd best group
operating income in its history of US$520M, a rise of 88%. Net income jumped
six-fold & revenue rose 8%.
- Mitsui OSK Lines. UP with an increase in non-consolidated results
for the 1st 6 months of this financial year, which began on April 1, 2000.
From April 1 to Sept. 30, the shipping giant posted revenues of US$3.132B,
compared with the same period last year at $3.082B. Operating income for the
period came in at US$223M, up from last year's US$143M. Ordinary income for
the period this year stood at US$250M compared with same period 1999 when
the figure was US$114M. Net income for the 1st 6 months of this fiscal year
came in at US$69M compared to last year's US$54M. The net income for the
total financial year ended March 31, 2000 was US$82M, while the projected
net income for this year ending March 31, 2001 currently stands at US$104M.
- Pacer Int'l. UP with an 18.2% increase in 3rd quarter revenues in
2000. Consolidated gross revenues in the quarter ended Sept. 22, 2000, stood
at US$308.2M, up $47.4M from the 3rd quarter of 1999. Operating income was
up 25.3% to US$18.8M.
- P&O Nedlloyd Container Line. UP with a reported a pre-tax
profit of US$60M for the 3rd quarter, and said it was the best quarter since
the merged carrier started trading in early 1997. The result compares with a
break-even pre-tax result in 3rd quarter 1999. Operating profit in the
latest quarter was US$75M, compared to US$16M in the year-earlier quarter.
- Wilhelmsen ASA. (Norwegian company that owns 50% of Wallenius
Wilhelmsen Lines) UP with net income of US$17M for the 3rd quarter, up
from US$11M in same quarter last year. Operating income for the quarter was
US$27M, compared with US$15M in the year-earlier period. Gross revenue
totaled US$212M, compared with US$200M last year.
- FedEx Founder Recovers ........... as Chairman, President & CEO
Frederick W. Smith underwent successful coronary bypass surgery Nov. 24
evening at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. Smith, 56, is alert &
resting comfortably. Doctors are confident that he will recover fully &
be able to resume his regular work schedule within a reasonable period of
time." Smith is widely credited with the creation of the express
transportation industry & is the founder of FedEx. The threat to Smith
came just as FedEx officially opened its new World Headquarters campus.
Located in the southeast Memphis area, the complex provides 1.1 million
square feet of office space set on 89 acres. When fully occupied, the
campus' 8 buildings will house about 3,300 employees. More, FedEx has
declared that it will open a customs bonded freight processing warehouse in
the Mexican city of Monterey. The new center, based at Monterey Int'l
Airport, is the 2nd of its kind in Mexico. And more, the company has opened
a new 340,000 square foot "super hub" in Woodbridge, New Jersey,
ahead of the peak holiday-shipping season. This is the largest & most
advanced distribution hub in the FedEx Ground network and is part of a 3
year, US$500M expansion initiative launched in Jan. 1999 aimed at boosting
the company's total package processing capacity by 50%. It will serve as the
central distribution point for the New York metropolitan & New Jersey
regions. The fully automated hub will employ more than 775 full- and
part-time workers, process 30,000 packages per hour.
- The Race To Your Tree ........... as E-tailers aren't the only ones
gearing up to deliver the goods in what is expected to be yet another
record-breaking online holiday shopping season. FedEx & UPS have been
working overtime since the tinsel & the trees came down last year to
make sure they can uphold their end of the fulfillment bargain. Both have
been beefing up technology, increasing staffing, and working with large
e-tailers such as Amazon.com Inc. & eToys Inc. to plan for the holiday
season push. UPS, recently named No. 2 on eWeek's FastTrack 500 list of
e-business innovators, expects its package-per-day load from its largest
e-tail customers to increase by between 50% to 60%. Normally, the company
delivers an average of 13.5 million packages per day. It's planning for
volume to spike to 19 million packages a day over the holidays. FedEx is
expecting similar increases. Last year, the average daily package volume
carried by its network of trucks increased from 3.2 million packages per day
to 4.8 million packages per day a few days before Christmas. Both FedEx
& UPS have been working with large e-tailers since shortly after last
holiday season to determine what package shipping demand is likely to be
this year. Both hope to understand how many more workers, trucks &
planes they'll need to have on hand. The number of flights UPS needs during
the holidays peaks from the normal 500 to 600 flights per day to 1,000 per
day. In Aug., UPS begins recruiting additional staff, which numbers about
95,000 employees for the holiday season. This year, FedEx expects to add
approximately 3,500 employees to help unload, sort & load packages at
various hubs & large stations.
- Air Cargo: "A High Risk Profile" .......... as a report
on cargo airline safety by Roelen, Pikaar & Ovaa at the Aviation Safety
Network held that "the average age of cargo aircraft typically is twice
as high as the age of a passenger aircraft. Most cargo operations take place
at night, while for passenger operations the number of night-time operations
is only around 20% of the total number of movements. The analysis shows that
especially the group of cargo operators that conduct flights on a
nonscheduled base (so called ad-hoc cargo operators) have a particularly
high risk profile. The accident rate of these ad-hoc cargo operators is
almost 7 times higher compared with scheduled passenger traffic of major
operators. Asia, South America and especially Africa are the problem areas
with respect to safety of air cargo operations. African cargo operations are
dramatically unsafe with almost 17 accidents per million flights. The
difference in the level of safety between cargo & passenger operations
is most noteworthy in Africa, North America & South America. In North
America, the accident rate of ad-hoc cargo operators is 2 times higher
compared with major cargo operators." http://aviation-safety.net/pubs/cargo/abstract.html
- WTO China Air Explosion ......... as China's nascent air freight
industry is shaping up to be one of the big winners from the country's entry
into the World Trade Organization. The air cargo market would explode over
the next few years after China becomes a WTO member as rapid economic
expansion fuels trade in a broad range of goods, analysts & industry
officials said. The free trade boost from WTO membership, probably only a
few months away, would heighten that growth, although airlines may not buy
many all-cargo aircraft to supplement space in passenger airliner bellies,
they said. While typical air freight goods such as electronics components
would be the biggest part of the traffic, China's increasingly wealthy
consumers could also spur demand for more diverse air cargo in the longer
term. Major Chinese carriers such as China Eastern Airlines Co. Ltd and
China Southern Airlines generate 10% to 20% of their revenue from freight.
- Open Skies - Way Open ......... as in a single move U.S.
transportation authorities have reached a multilateral 'open skies' aviation
agreement with Brunei, Chile, New Zealand & Singapore. The agreement was
wrapped up Nov. 13 at a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
group in Brunei. The U.S. now has open-skies agreements with 50 countries.
Open-skies agreements permit unrestricted Int'l air service between the U.S.
& each bilateral partner. The multilateral agreement will provide a
"competition-enhancing model for future agreements," said U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater.
- They Were Talking Again .......... as Japan & the U.S.
recommenced aviation talks after a break of about 3 years. The U.S.
government has apparently called for the countries to implement an 'open
skies' agreement, while Japan has proposed that the two countries try to
develop fair competitive conditions for airlines from all countries. Japan
has apparently also suggested that the number of flights operated to and
from Tokyo's Narita airport be reduced since Japanese & U.S. carriers
each operate about 30% of flights to the airport. Conversely, the U.S. has
requested that U.S. airlines be permitted to increase their presence at
Narita. Japanese officials said after the talks ended on Nov. 17 -- the 1st
since Japan and the U.S. reached a civil aviation pact 2 years ago -- that
Washington was seeking an unfair stranglehold over one of the world's
busiest air hubs. In Jan. 1998, the 2 sides agreed to boost the number of
flights & carriers serving their combined market, but Washington
complains congestion at Tokyo's Narita airport is kee ping U.S. airlines
from launching services covered under that deal.
- Atlas Air Biggest Freighter Operator ........... as Boeing Company
has confirmed an order from Atlas Air for 4 new Boeing 747-400 freighter
aircraft. This purchase is valued at US$750M, making Atlas Air the largest
freighter operator in the world. Atlas Air operates 38 Boeing 747s, 12 of
which are new-technology 747-400 freighters. With the addition of these 4
new aircraft, Atlas Air will have sixteen 747-400 freighters.
- Northwest Wants Out ........... as it is trying to sell its 14%
stake in Continental Airlines back to the carrier. The offer is part of a
last-ditch effort by Northwest to settle the antitrust case of the U.S.
Justice Dept. which was brought to block an attempt at merger.
- American Airlines Wants Mexican ......... as it's interest in
acquiring a stake in a Mexican airline is so avid that it is prepared to do
"whatever is necessary" to become a minority shareholder in either
Aeromexico or Mexicana, according to American Airlines VP of Int'l Affairs
Arnold Grossman. The line sees the move as attractive due to the success of
NAFTA.
- KLM Wants It All .......... as it no longer wants to hold on to its
50% of the shares in charter company Martinair. The airline wants all or
nothing at all: either it wants to acquire all the shares, or, if it should
fail in doing so, dispose of its own shares. Martinair is owned by KLM for
50% &for the other 50% by Nedlloyd. Already on an earlier occasion KLM
wanted to buy the shares held by Nedlloyd, but the European Commission
vetoed this plan. Martinair just suffered a 6 month loss of NLG 80 million.
For KLM a reason to take action.
- MAS Immunity Por Favor ......... Malaysia Airlines System (MAS),
together with its partner Northwest Airlines, has been granted antitrust
immunity by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT). Northwest & MAS
antitrust immunity is made possible by the U.S.-Malaysia `open skies'
agreement. The approval represents the 1st immunized alliance between an
Asian & a U.S. carrier, and will provide new benefits for travel between
the countries. Malaysia Airlines signed a commercial cooperation agreement
with Northwest in Sept. 1999 which includes codeshare services. Under the
agreement, a Northwest flight code will appear on MAS' service between Kuala
Lumpur & LAX, effective Jan. 1, 2001. In addition, Northwest's flight
code will appear on MAS' flights on the Tokyo-Kuala Lumpur &
Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur routes. Similarly, a Malaysia Airlines' code will appear
on Northwest's services on the Detroit-Kuala Lumpur and the Seattle-Kuala
Lumpur routes. Malaysia Airlines' flight code will also appear on
Northwest's service in the Detroit-Nagoya market.
- LanBattle ............ as Peruvian airline LanPeru said on Nov. 23
it had been placed in administration amid a shareholder dispute with
LanChile that sparked the resignation of its chairman this week.
"Peruvian judicial authorities have issued a resolution ordering a
judicial administrator to take immediate control of the operations of
LanPeru and the sacking of Managing Director Sergio Purcell Robinson,
assigned by LanChile, amid serious irregularities committed in the
administration of the company," the airline said in a statement.
LanPeru is 49% owned by LanChile. LanPeru alleges that LanChile made
"inappropriate use" of cargo rights & alleges some contracts
between the two companies were damaging to the Peruvian company. LanChile
said it would appeal the decision. The dispute has already forced LanPeru to
suspend flights to Miami & New York after it decided not to renew a
leasing contract with LanChile. Lorenzo Sousa, who quit as chairman on Nov.
20, said LanPeru's Peruvian shareholders had asked for the airline to be put
into administration. LanPeru's domestic flights are still operative. The row
between shareholders was sparked by a capital increase planned by LanChile
that never took place. LanChile says Sousa refused to call a mandatory
shareholders' meeting & would not approve the capital increase that it
says was agreed upon in March.
- Bankrupt, But With Fine Credit ........... as Fine Air Services
Corp. has obtained final approval for a 2 year US$55M line of secured
financing from the Bank of America, its current lending institution. The
credit facility was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Cristol in Miami,
where Fine Air & its subsidiaries, including Arrow Air, have been
operating under the protection of the bankruptcy court since filing
petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization on Sept. 27, 2000. This credit
facility ensures that Fine Air will have substantial financial resources
during the entire reorganization process. The company provides services to
Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Lufthansa Cargo To Reshuffle ......... as it plans to reorganize in
Jan. to give the company clearer lines of responsibility over its distinct
business segments, including air freight carriage, ground handling and
logistics services. It will split its core business operations into 3
divisions accountable for their own profit & loss results. Global Cargo
Net -- encompassing sales, marketing, network development & business
excellence -- will oversee airport-to-airport air freight carriage
worldwide. Global Cargo Handling Services will manage ground services
provided by and for the company. Global Freighter Operations will take
responsibility for all-cargo operations. A division called Corporate &
Shared Services will provide controlling, finance, strategy, human
resources, technology, communications & quality management services in
support of the 3 core units.
- ISO9002 In China Skies ......... as the status has been conferred
on China Eastern Airlines, the 1st time any Chinese airline has been awarded
the quality standard.
- UPS Direct To China .......... as tentative decision by the U.S.
Dept. of Transportation would grant UPS the right to operate direct flights
between the U.S. & China. UPS said it plans to fly 6 frequencies using
B-747F aircraft. Four of those flights will originate in Ontario,
California, & 2 will originate in Newark, New Jersey. This tentative
decision would award ONT (a unit of Los Angles World Airports) its
1st-time-ever direct flights to China.
- Low Cost Carriers ........ as KLM is launching Basiq Air, a low
fare service at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Iberia declared its
interest in buying Go, the low-cost arm of British Airways.
- Your Own Private Schiphol? ........ as the Amsterdam airport may be
listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 2001. In the next few years the
state of The Netherlands will sell the airport, in its entirety, to
investors in 3 steps, and initially wants to take a stake of roughly 35% to
40% to the stock exchange. At present, the state owns 76% of Schiphol,
whereas the other shares are in the hands of the city council of Amsterdam
(approximately 22%) and that of Rotterdam (about 2%). The Dutch cabinet will
decide this issue shortly, but carriers & shippers are against the deal.
- Phans of Airphort Change Name To Fraport ........... as in
preparation for its planned initial public offering (IPO) in early summer
2001, Flughafen Frankfurt/Main AG (FAG) is repositioning itself as an Int'l
corporate group under the new name "Fraport". The IPO is intended
primarily to provide the necessary funding for the company's planned
expansion of Frankfurt Airport & the expansion of global activities in
the form of subsidiary companies, shareholdings and cooperative joint
ventures. To create the foundation for repositioning FAG as a globally
operating corporate group, the company has been developing a new corporate
identity in recent months. "Fraport -- Frankfurt Airport Services
Worldwide" will be the new name of the group in the future. The 1st
syllable of the new name, "FRA", is the aviation industry's
international three-letter code designating Frankfurt Airport. Thus, the
group is underscoring the close relationship that it has to its home
location. The 2nd syllable, "port", stands for "traffic
port" & the intermodal networking of transportation systems. The
name is followed by "Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide", which
implicitly expresses the corporation's raison d'etre.
- Mexico City Alternate .......... as the central Mexican state of
Hidalgo has applied to the Mexican central government for funds amounting to
US$200M to finance the construction of an airport which will function as an
alternative to the congested Mexico City Int'l Airport. The site, located at
Tizayuca, has already attracted interest from investors, notably the German
construction firm, Hostig; Canada-based Bombardier; & French
multinational, Alsthom.
- Mega-Float Airstrip Tests ........... as Japan's chronic lack of
space can be credited with the spawning of the floating monolith designed to
serve as an offshore airstrip. The designer of the project, the
Technological Research Association, is fielding strong support for its
brainchild. The company's recent conference held in Tokyo entitled `To the
sea, to the future: the utilization of marine space for the next
generation', was attended by 1,000 guests, with the event being backed by
the Japanese Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Trade & Industry and
the Nippon Foundation. The massive floating airstrip is currently moored off
Sumitomo Heavy Industries' Yokosuka Shipyard in the prefecture of Kanagawa,
where it has completed a successful series of tests, including 8 landings
& takeoffs by a 39-seater Dash-8 airplane. This brings to 200 the total
number of landings & takeoffs now successfully completed from the
Mega-Float, which is one kilometer long & 60 meters wide. It has a draft
of one meter, is 3 meters in height & covers an area of 8 hectares. The
steel content alone weighs some 40,000 tons. The airstrip will be dismantled
& sold to local entities next month.
- The Flight of "Panda One" ......... as FedEx Express will
ship 2 giant pandas from China to the Smithsonian Institution's National
Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 6, 2000. Currently housed at the
China Research & Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong,
Sichuan Province, the pandas will be flown on a FedEx MD-11 jet from
Chengdu, China, to Washington Dulles Int'l Airport. From the airport, a
caravan of FedEx vehicles will deliver the pandas to the National Zoo. In
addition to sponsoring the entire transport, FedEx provided funding for 2
custom-built transport containers which will house the pandas during their
17-hour flight. Tian Tian, the 3 year-old male panda, & Mei Xiang, the 2
year-old female panda, will be the only cargo aboard a custom-painted FedEx
MD-11 jet, to be renamed "FedEx Panda One," during the
Trans-Pacific journey. Veterinarians from the National Zoo and China
Research & Conservation Center for the Giant Panda have been granted
special flight privileges so they can accompany the pandas during the air
transport.
- Making The Bojo Run ........ as on Nov. 9, over one and a half
million bottles of beaujolais nouveau took to the skies, courtesy of British
Airways World Cargo. For the 3rd consecutive year, the airline is the
world's leading carrier of the wine, distributing nearly 1,700 tons to
worldwide destinations including San Francisco, Miami, Toronto, Rio de
Janeiro & Dubai. Meanwhile, Japanese consumers top the list of
beaujolais drinkers, with 550 tons winging its way to Tokyo. Since 1954,
beaujolais nouveau has been subject to European regulations which only allow
shipments to leave the European Union at 2200 hrs Central European Time on
the 2nd Thurs. of Nov. (WOW!) This gives just 6 days for the bottles to be
distributed throughout the world in time for `Beaujolais Nouveau Day' on the
3rd Thurs. of each Nov. A competition, now dubbed `The Bojo Run', has taken
shape, with wine producers, wine sellers, freight forwarders & airlines
working around the clock to meet the challenge. Project teams from across
BAs' network have joined forces to plan and execute the race, which includes
leasing in 3 freighters to help complete the task on time. Flight schedules
and time differences will allow countries like Japan & Australia to be
the first in the world to taste the wine.
- American Bust ......... as federal investigators on Nov. 2 arrested
20 people, including 6 current or former American Airlines employees, on
marijuana smuggling charges. U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins said the suspects
has smuggled 10 tons of marijuana in the past 2 years, using Dallas-Fort
Worth Int'l Airport as a hub for operations that stretched from Puerto Rico
north to Pennsylvania. The airline employees sneaked drug-laden baggage
through security checkpoints, he said. Coggins said 34 people, including
those arrested, were charged with involvement in the smuggling operation
which used 3 dummy businesses in North Texas and several apartments in
Arlington, Texas, & Grand Prairie, Texas, to store & package the
marijuana. The marijuana was then allegedly smuggled to Puerto Rico &
Philadelphia, among other locations, on scheduled airline flights.
- Sheik Said Not Chic ......... as the Clinton Administration imposed
sanctions Nov. 23 on the president of the Persian Gulf regional airline Air
Gulf Falcon for donating a Boeing 747 to Iraq. Sheik Hamad bin Ali Al Thani,
a Qatari national who lives in the United Arab Emirates, turned over the
plane to Iraq last week at a ceremony at Saddam Int'l Airport. State Dept.
spokesman Philip Reeker said the administration will restrict export &
re-exports of a broad category of U.S. goods to Sheik Hamad. Reeker said the
measure was agreed to jointly by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright &
Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta. ''The Dept. of Commerce is taking this
action to prevent any further diversion of U.S.-origin goods to Iraq that
are inconsistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said. In
addition, Albright will take steps to ensure that those responsible for the
transfer will be denied permission to travel to the U.S., Reeker said. At
the ceremony, Sheik Hamad said, "The present expresses my solidarity
with the Iraqi people & President Saddam Hussein. There is no political
significance to the gift. ... It only reflects my true love for Iraq &
its wise leadership." Indeed, don't we all truly crave such
"wise" leadership as that of Saddam?
- Volumes. >>> Frankfurt-Main Airport (FRA) registered new
monthly & daily cargo records in Oct. 2000, continuing the strong surge
in cargo activity seen throughout the year, handling 151,193 tons in Oct.
2000 - more than any previous month - FRA experienced a 13.3% jump in
traffic over same month 1999. In addition, on Oct. 15, FRA achieved a new
absolute daily record of 6,253 tons - breaking the 6,000-ton level for the
1st time in the airport's history.
- IMB Pirate Report ......... as South East Asia is again the worst
area for piracy according to the specialist anti-maritime crime agency ICC
Int'l Maritime Bureau. The latest IMB Piracy Report, covering Jan. to Sept.,
details 294 (337 by other reports) actual & attempted attacks worldwide,
up 63% on the same period last year & only 6 short of the total for the
whole of 1999. The largest number of attacks by far took place in waters
close to Indonesia. Ninety incidents were recorded there while another 32
were reported in the Malacca Strait & 13 took place in Malaysian waters.
So far the one confirmed murder was of the master of a Taiwanese fishing
vessel in the South China Sea by pirates using a vessel disguised as an
Indonesian naval ship. While South East Asia was the worst area for pirate
attacks IMB is also calling for urgent action to be taken against pirates
who have been attacking ships in Bangladeshi waters. The IMB's Capt.
Mukundan said that many of the 32 incidents involved violence with culprits
using long knives. He said that it was worrying that attacks were taking
place in easily patrolled anchorages, for example close to pilot stations.
He said: "We would call on the Bangladeshi authorities to increase
patrols in the anchorages. That should not be difficult to do." The IMB
report noted that a specialty of Bangladeshi pirates was to remove the
sacrificial zinc anodes of ships at anchor using cutting equipment. On Nov.
20 2000, Michael S. McDaniel of The Cargo Letter addressed the Propeller
Club of The United States at Chicago on the topic of "Modern High Seas
Piracy". Read the whole story and remarks: https://cargolaw.com/presentations_pirates.html
- Singapore Keeps The Crown ......... as the Maritime & Port
Authority of Singapore's (MPA's) 1999 Annual Report, released on Nov. 2,
highlights a good year for the Asian hub. Singapore remained the world's
busiest port in 1999, in terms of shipping tonnage, with over 141,000
vessels - totaling 877 million gross tons - making calls at the port during
the year. In addition, total cargo tonnage reached 326 million tons, up from
312 million tons in 1998. Container traffic grew by 5.3% to 15.94 million
TEU. The Singapore Registry of Ships continued to grow in 1999, reaching
over 23 million gross tons, making it the 7th largest ship registry in the
world and the largest in Asia. According to the UN Conference on Trade &
Development, Singapore has also become the eleventh most important maritime
nation in the world, owning 19.1 million vessel deadweight tons.
Financially, the MPA also performed well last year, with a net surplus of
US$87.4M, US$4.6M more than 1998.
- China Says, We're No. 2 .......... as a recent market survey
conducted by the Standard Pool Company shows that China is now the world's
2nd biggest shipping country, handling 10 million standard containers
annually. Experts here said that the shipping industry has registered a
dramatic increase over the past decade, of which the growth rate exceeded
that of the global gross domestic product (GDP). Being a major Asian trader,
China has benefited from the rapid development of shipping & has greatly
improved its container ports. China has 3 main ports, which are in Shanghai,
Guangzhou & Ningbo, whose annual handling capacity reaches 100 million
tons each. The other main container ports, such as Shenzhen, Dalian &
Tianjin, also saw substantial development in the past 10 years. Int'l
maritime researchers predicted that the handling capacity of China's
container ports will be the highest in Asia in the next 15 years. Statistics
indicate that the world handled 210 million standard containers in 1999, 94
million were in Asia, accounting for 45%.
- Calling An NVOCC, An NVOCC .......... as claiming that the China
National Foreign Trade Transportation (Group) Corp., known as Sinotrans,
operates primarily as a non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC) only
runs one ship in the U.S. foreign trades, American President Lines has urged
the Federal Maritime Commission to put limits on Sinotrans' request to
reduce rates or match published tariff rates of competing ocean carriers at
one days' notice. Sinotrans recently filed an application to the FMC seeking
an exemption to the U.S. Controlled Carriers Act, which requires foreign
state-owned carriers to wait 30 days before matching competing carrier
tariffs in the United States. Sinotrans is asking for exemption with
identical conditions to those imposed by the FMC on China Ocean Shipping Co.
The FMC granted COSCO an exemption to match competing tariffs in one day on
condition that the company only match the rates of competing carriers and
not the rates of noncompeting carriers or the rates of NVOCCs. The FMC also
said that COSCO could only match published rates, not quoted rates. COSCO
must file a form each time a rate is reduced. APL told the FMC that
Sinotrans should not be allowed the same leeway. "There is a
significant difference between COSCO & Sinotrans that the commission
must take into account in fashioning an appropriate exemption," APL
attorney David B. Cook said. "COSCO is a vessel operating common
carrier in the traditional sense," operating numerous vessels in the
U.S. foreign trades, Cook said, while Sinotrans operates only one ship
calling at U.S. ports and acts primarily an NVOCC in the U.S. The FMC, as
far back as 1992, has recognized the potential for unfair competitive
practices when a government-owned, vessel-operating common carrier and a
government-controlled NVOCC coordinate pricing and other activities.
"The commission needs to be especially vigilant in monitoring
Sinotrans' actions under any exemption," Cook said. APL argues that any
exemption granted to Sinotrans should be limited to rates in the single
trade route served by its one U.S. trade vessel, meaning rates between ports
actually called by that vessel.
- Montreal Bottle Uncorked .......... as Port of Montreal reports
that the backlog of containers waiting in the port is decreasing, following
a return to work of truckers who have severely disrupted the port's
activities for 3 weeks, beginning Oct. 23. On Nov. 14, some 975 trucks
delivered or picked up containers in the port for a total of some 1,950
movements in/out, the port reported. This was the highest volume moved for
container pickups & deliveries in the Canadian port since the beginning
of the trucking dispute on Oct. 23. Reports indicate that 75% of truck
drivers serving the port and intermodal yards in Montreal are at work,
according to the port, but a group of independent truck owner-operators is
recently reported not back at work, affecting mainly deliveries in the
Montreal area. The conflict arose from demands to unionize by independent
truck owner-operators, led by Canada's Confederation of National Trade
Unions. The port of Montreal said the dispute is between groups of trucking
companies and that it "is not involved in any way whatsoever in this
dispute." On Nov. 2, the Quebec government passed a special law in the
National Assembly ordering the independent truck owner-operators to cease
participating in any concerted action that impedes, hinders or diminishes
the delivery or pickup of containers by truck to or from the port of
Montreal or any intermodal yard in Quebec.
- COSCO Says Please ........ as it has again applied to join the Far
Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) for its Europe-Asia line. An earlier
attempt by COSCO was rejected by the conference because COSCO would not
adept enough to the rules of the FEFC. COSCO might be willing now to accept
full conditions.
- Hapag Lloyd & NYK Say South? .......... as according to the
Dutch-based Dynamar Consultancy Group, rumors hint at the possibility that
Hapag Lloyd & NYK plans to enter the North Europe - South America East
Coast trade.
- Taiwan Prepares For China ........ as Taiwan's shipping companies
have been asked to prepare for limited direct transport links with China,
Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation & Communications said this month.
Transportation officials recently met with shipping company representatives
on to discuss direct travel between Taiwan-held islands & designated
mainland ports, the ministry said in a statement. The ports on the islands
are used for fishing, but Taiwan plans to upgrade them to permit use by
container ships. Shippers were asked to set up shipping lines in time for
Jan. 1, 2001, a target date for "mini three links," or direct
trade, transport and postal connections. "Because the cabinet has not
approved any mini 3 links plans, the transportation ministry will only ask
shippers to prepare early, so they will be ready when measures are
approved," it said. Taiwan bans direct travel and trade with China,
fearing economic overdependence on the political rival. However, Taiwan
exports hundreds of millions of dollars of goods to China by routing cargo
through Hong Kong or 3rd parties. China considers Taiwan a breakaway
province that must eventually be unified, by force if necessary. Taiwan says
it has been a sovereign country for decades.
- Prepare For Twice ......... as the Trans-Atlantic Conference
Agreement has announced a plan to increase westbound transatlantic freight
rates twice next year, in April & Oct. For shipments via U.S. Atlantic
& Gulf coast ports, rates will increase US$240 per 20-foot container on
April 1 and again on Oct. 1. Rates for 40-foot & 45-foot boxes will
increase US$300 on April 1 and by another $300 on Oct. 1. For breakbulk
cargoes, rates will increase US$15 per freight ton on the same dates. For
transatlantic cargoes shipped via Pacific coast ports, rates will increase
US$360 per 20-foot container on April 1 and another US$240 per 20-footer on
Oct. 1. For longer containers, rates will go up by US$500 per 40- or 45-foot
container on April 1 & US$300 per container on Oct. 1. Breakbulk rates
for Pacific coast shipments will increase by US$25 per freight ton on April
1 & US$15 on Oct. 1.
- NYK Line May Learn To Fly .......... as the ocean carrier has
decided to team with Cargolifter AG of Germany, in order to develop new
integrated logistics solutions for heavy cargoes, such as plant units, to be
transported by ocean vessels & airships from ports to sites. In this
respect, NYK has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with and has invested in
Cargolifter AG. Cargolifter AG was established in 1996, and this autumn
completed the world's largest Self-supporting hangar for airships in Brand
near Berlin, Germany. They will begin to operate heavylift airships with the
following characteristics: Length 260 meters; Payload 160 tons; Average
operational Speed 90 kmph. In the current transportation of heavy cargoes,
such as plant units, after the heavy cargoes are shipped by ocean heavy
carriers from port to port, the cargoes are move inland on low-bed trucks,
etc., from port to destination. Sometimes, however, due to the cargo size
and/or geographical features of the route, among other things, the
infrastructure, such as roads, tunnels, & bridges, is not capable of
handling the transport of such heavy cargo. Thus, Cargolifter AG began
operations on this principle and will fill a need by operating heavylift
airships. Cargolifter AG stresses that this new transportation system by
airships will allow for reductions in total cost and transit time for heavy
cargo transportation. Other investors in the venture include Danzas,
Hellmann, Kuehne & Nagel, Mammoet, Mitsui, Schenker & UTI. Visit our
special presentation on "Cargo Airships: Century 21" on the
Internet: https://cargolaw.com/airships.index.html
- TT Gets Ports Back .......... as UK based mutual P&I insurer
the TT Club has won a long-term deal to provide global liability insurance
coverage for P&O Ports, 5 years after the two parted company. The
agreement includes all of P&O Ports' owned & managed facilities
worldwide including those in Australia, Asia, Indonesia, Europe, South
Africa, the U.S. & Argentina, as well as P&O's Cold Logistics
operations in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and the US. Frank Rufle,
group risk manager for P&O Australia, through which the deal was made,
said: "We selected the TT Club as our partner because of its expertise
& long-term commitment to our business sector." The club's Barton
Phillips added: "We are extremely pleased to welcome P&O Australia
back to the TT Club after a 5 year absence. P&O's return to the Club
has, I believe, been a reflection of all the help that the TT Club given the
company in refining its insurance needs in the Middle East &
India."
- Bigger Giants? ......... as the board of P&O Nedlloyd says it
might introduce containerships of up to 10,000 TEU by 2003.
- Ecu-Line In NZ Buy .......... as it has acquired the majority
shares of Evans Int'l, a New Zealand agent, and has changed the name of the
company to Ecu-Line New Zealand. The NVOCC provides weekly service from
Antwerp to Auckland and fortnightly service to Wellington and
Lyttleton/Christchurch, also from Antwerp. Ecu-Line also offers a Napier
service via Auckland.
- Sea Rail To Mexico ......... as New Orleans-based Int'l Shipholding
Corporation (ISC) has announced the planned commencement in mid-January of
an every 4th day interline rail-ferry service transporting freight in
railcars between Mobile, AL & Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. ISC formed CG
Railway Inc. as a shortline railroad, which received U.S. Surface
Transportation Board authorization to serve as the carry for the entry/exit
system. ISC charted two 585-foot self-propelled roll-on/roll-off ferry
vessels with a capacity of 60 standard railcars each. The vessels have
30-foot sidewalls to protect the cars from sea water.
- New Balboa Terminal Opens ............ as the Panama Ports Company
(PPC) has announced inauguration of its new container terminal at the Port
of Balboa, following a US$120M investment in container handling facilities
at the Balboa Container Terminal. Located on the Pacific side of the Panama
Canal, Balboa has a prime strategic location for Latin American trade,
providing transshipment services for the world's major carriers operating on
transpacific routes. Balboa Container Terminal has 350 meters of quay, 12.9
meters of draft & 8.4 hectares of container yard equipped with three
super post-panamax quay cranes, 9 rubber-tired gantry cranes & 468
reefer plugs. The terminal has an annual handling capacity of 600,000 TEU.
- Panama Grab Bag? .......... as investigators are looking into the
giveaway of millions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment left behind
when Americans pulled out of the Panama Canal a year ago. In one bizarre
twist to the distribution of an estimated US$7.7M in property, a surplus
military boat given to a charity in Honduras was confiscated in an alleged
cocaine-running scheme. The property - including US$1.5M in firearms,
communications equipment & gun parts -- cannot be accounted for because
of sloppy bookkeeping, Congressional investigators report. Also, an
estimated US$3M worth of equipment, including a tractor, crane and trucks,
has been taken back. The pieces are impounded & rusting in warehouses in
Panama, accumulating more than US$300,000 in storage fees. The giveaways
were part of US$137M in furniture, food, medical supplies, appliances and
other property that was sold, traded, donated to charities or abandoned,
some of it in a rush, as troops prepared to end America's 90-year presence
and return control of the canal to Panama by Dec. 31, 1999. Rather than
spending money to ship used goods out of Panama, the U.S. military planned
to give them to other government agencies and humanitarian organizations
that work in many of the region's poor nations. Some items, however, began
showing up on Panama's black market, authorities said. Also, some recipients
were suspected of using the goods for commercial rather than humanitarian
purposes. In an investigation criticized by some in the military as too
slow, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command has been reviewing that
aspect of the giveaway since July 1999; no charges have been announced. A
separate Southern Command inquiry board in Sept. ordered one charity to
return equipment. The governments of Panama & Honduras also are
investigating. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of
Congress, found weak points in the disposal system but said that overall,
the giveaway went OK. The GAO said that because there was too much property
for the military to handle, an authorized contractor disburse about a third
of the US$137M in goods disposed of in 1998-99. About 28% of the total was
sold, 30% given away, 29% sent to other military units or government
agencies and the rest scrapped, destroyed or traded for Panama services such
as traffic police. "Most excess property in Panama was disposed of
properly, but some control weakness existed," the GAO said. The agency
said it limited its investigation to "the process" so as not to
interfere with the Army's separate criminal investigation. Part of that
investigation focuses on the charity Corazon a Corazon, Spanish for Heart to
Heart, which got some US$3M in equipment, including 3 U.S. landing craft
from Panama. It was started by Steven Foster of Dalton, Ga., to help
Hondurans suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. Four workers
for the charity were arrested in Sept. & another was being sought on
charges they used one of the vessels to smuggle cocaine.
- Now They Steal The Empties Too ........... as Hong Kong Police
Crime Prevention Bureau has warned that there has been a recent increase in
the theft of containers in Hong Kong. In these cases, the culprits have been
found to 1st employ a secretarial company using fake or stolen identity
cards. They then place fax orders for a number of containers which are
subsequently picked up. Needless to say, the police said, when the
victimized company seeks payment via the secretarial service, they are only
to find out that their "customer" was bogus & all trace of the
containers has disappeared. The police wish to advise potential victims to
treat fax or phone orders for containers from companies with which they have
had no previous dealings with care. They said any one who has such dealings
should try to contact the company & if unable to do so, or find them to
be a secretarial service, they should reconsider the wisdom of doing
business with them. Police also request anyone who has dealings with, or is
approached by a suspicious company, to contact them at the Regional Crime
Unit in the New Territories on (852) 2666-4476.
- 40 Is Better On West Coast ........ as a new Pacific Maritime Assn.
report states that 40-foot boxes are the container of choice at ports on the
West Coast of the U.S. A new tonnage reporting system instituted by the
Pacific Maritime Assn. in Jan. this year, which requires containers to be
reported by length rather than converted to TEU, has revealed that 72% of
containers (making up 81% of the total TEU handled) entering west coast
ports in the first half of 2000 were 40-footers. Twenty-foot containers
accounted for 22.6% of containers (only 12.7% of TEU handled), with 45-
& 24-foot containers making up just under 6%. A total of 3.7 million
containers, representing 6.5 million TEU, passed through the ports over the
1st 6 months of the year.
- Black Box ........ as aviation has taught the Int'l Maritime
Organization (IMO) the lesson of having a so-called black box on board. IMO
plans to make it mandatory for all ships to carry aircraft-style black boxes
that record system malfunctions during accidents. July 2002 would be the
deadline for the manatory fitting of black boxes on ships built after this
month. The systems will be phased in on existing vessels between July 2002
& July 2008. The IMO marine safety committee also considers making it
mandatory for all ships to carry an automatic identification system that can
help authorities onshore to identify vessels immediately. The committee
discussed these topics when meeting in London this month.
- Top Box ......... as for the 7th year in a row China will be the
world's leading manufacturer of containers, according to a survey conducted
by the Int'l Maritime Institute, which is based in London. Production in the
1st 3 quarters of the year came to 1.25 million TEU, eclipsing the full year
total of 1.1 million TEU last year. It is estimated that the figure will
climb to 1.35 million by the end of this year and account for more than 70
per cent of global production, the survey said. Only 5% of the containers
are for domestic use, with the remaining 95% ending up in Japanese, South
Korean & U.S. hands, according to China's customs statistics. China
entered the box market in the early 1980s and since then has overhauled the
previous world leaders Japan & Korea, where the cost of labor has proven
to be prohibitive to competition.
- World Box ........ as sources estimate that 201.5 million TEU of
containers are scheduled to traverse the world's oceans this year, rising
15.1% to nearly 232 million next year. Global growth in box traffic is
estimated to grow at an average rate of 5% per annum over the next 10 years.
Asian trade is expected to soar by 8% to 10% annually until 2005 with
China's exports leading the way.
- China Gets Tough ........... as 23 mainland Chinese discovered
hiding in a U.S.-bound cargo ship in Hong Kong last month were sentenced to
18 months in jail after pleading guilty to stowaway charges on Nov. 2.
Another defendant, aged 16, was given a more lenient sentence of 9 months.
All 26 men, aged between 16 & 36, were found on Oct. 18 hiding in a
container said to be carrying toys. The group subsequently told police they
had paid Chinese smugglers, or snakeheads, US$19,000 each to be taken out of
Fujian province in southern China. This is the 12th case this year in which
Hong Kong has been named as a transshipment point of the human smuggling. A
total of 180 arrests have been made in North America between Jan. &
April in connection with the other 11 cases.
- Maritime Distance Learning ........... as the UK's Institute of
Chartered Shipbrokers has launched a ground breaking initiative using video
conferencing to deliver education and training to students on its 9 month
Understanding Shipping course around Europe. The video conference link will
enable students, initially in Italy, Spain & Portugal, to receive
tutorials directly from a tutor based at the ICS in London. "This is a
very good way of investigating what will be a key method of delivery in the
future," said John Barclay, education consultant to Tutorship, the
correspondence college of the ICS. "Through the use of video
conferencing, we are meeting demand for the delivery of shipping education
overseas in a cost-effective way."
- Fouled Great Barrier Reef ......... as state authorities in
Queensland, Australia, have charged the captain & 1st officer of the
Malaysian-owned container ship M/V Bunga Teratai Satu over its grounding on
the Great Barrier Reef earlier this month. The charges of breaching the
Environmental Protection Act 7 negligence could hit the two men with fines
of up to US$750,000 & 5 years' imprisonment when the case comes to court
in Feb. Read the full story: https://cargolaw.com/presentations_casualties.html
- Tanker Owners Consider .......... as the tanker owners'
organization Intertanko, said last week it is ready to discuss proposals by
the European Commission to keep ships in port during storms -- a move that
some fear will disrupt oil supply. "It is not unreasonable to explore
this idea," an Intertanko spokesman told Reuters, "but it is a
complicated matter and needs careful consideration." The UK Maritime
& Coastguard Agency estimates that last year about 380 million barrels
of crude sailed through the English Channel. Intertanko points out that
neither the French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot nor the EC
Transport Minister Loyola de Palacio have yet specified what exactly they
mean by extreme weather conditions. Nor have they said what types of ship or
cargo they expect to hold back during storms. The British Meteorological
Office says that during an average winter in the western English Channel,
winds exceed gale force eight for 15% of the time. In the eastern Channel
this figure falls to 8%. "Force 8 is a gale & you'd pu t up with
that, but force 10 is a storm, and on a small tanker you'd be starting to
look for shelter," said one tanker veteran. Much of Europe's oil
imports from the Middle East pass northwards through the English Channel
destined for discharge at Rotterdam or Le Havre. "It could indeed
interfere with the flow of oil to market. The free flow of traffic on the
seas is a basic principle of world trade," said Alfons Guinier of the
E.C. Shipowners' Assn. The Issues of tanker safety have been on the European
Commission's agenda since the tanker Erika broke in two in a storm off the
coast of Brittany last Dec., releasing a slick of fuel oil that damaged
wildlife, fish stocks & tourism. The recent loss in a Channel storm of
the chemical carrier M/T Ievoli Sun has strengthened the Commission's
resolve to draw up new tanker legislation. The storm-ban will be discussed
when the European Council of Transport Ministers meets on Dec. 22.
- Final Tragedy .......... as as a senior shipping executive whose
company faced snowballing lawsuits over sinking of the Greek ferry M/V
Express Samina that killed 80 people in Sept., plunged to his death from his
6th floor office on Nov. 29. Police said Pantelis Sfinias, VP of the board
of directors of Minoan Flying Dolphins, a subsidiary of Minoan Lines, was
seen by passersby & employees falling off the building in the port of
Piraeus. The Express Samina sank off the island of Paros with 500 people
aboard in Greece's worst maritime tragedy in decades. Police said Sfinias
stepped out of his office onto the balcony & then threw himself on to a
car on Greece's main shipping avenue, Akti Kondyli. They said they had not
found a note. Friends told television that Sfinias had been depressed since
the sinking & felt unjustly blamed for the tragedy.
- Myklebust Busts Boat .......... as Ole Mindor Myklebust, the
51-year-old skipper of the whaler M/V Kato, was given a suspended 6 month
jail sentence & fined US$2,100 plus costs by the Stavanger City Court
for shooting at Greenpeace activists during a confrontation at sea. The
Winchester rifle he used was also confiscated. He has a month to decide
whether to appeal. Confrontations between environmentalists & Norwegian
whalers have become commonplace since the nation resumed its hotly protested
hunts in 1993, despite a global ban. However, the July 1999 conflict off
Norway's west coast was among the most serious, when a shot fired from the
Kato hit a rubber boat with 2 Greenpeace activists aboard in the North Sea.
The demonstrators had tried to get between the Kato & a harpooned whale.
Myklebust had said earlier that the activists were at fault for getting in
between him & the wounded whale he was trying to kill. He was not
available for comment.
- Remember RMS Queen Mary? ........ as Carnival Corporation announced
it has finalized a contract with France's Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique
shipyard for the construction of the Queen Mary 2, a new 150,000- ton
"liner-style" vessel for its Cunard Line unit. The largest ocean
liner ever constructed and first built in decades, Queen Mary 2 will have a
basis-two capacity of 2,620 & will be built at a cost of approximately
US$780M. She is expected to enter service in late 2003
- Remember The USS Maine?........... as it now has been found. In
1898, as the formidable American warship rested in Havana Harbor, it blew up
& sank, claiming the lives of 266 sailors. Whether the explosion was
sabotage or accident was never determined. At the time, U.S. officials &
the media blamed Spain, and used that as a reason to help Cuban
revolutionaries overthrow Spanish rule -- the Spanish-American War. Last
week a research team announced it had found the Maine wreckage 3 miles off
the Havana coast, two-thirds of a mile down. The team unveiled videotape of
the battleship, its port side furrowed into the sand where it was scuttled
in 1912, after being raised from near the entrance to Havana Harbor. The
Maine is well-preserved because of the water's depth & high salinity,
though just what sunk the vessel may remain a mystery. The wreck was located
in Oct. when a team of scientists & scholars from the U.S., Cuba &
Canada was testing a robot vehicle off Havana. The Maine, 318 feet long, was
sent to Cuba in Jan. 1898 to protect U.S. interests during a time of
insurrection & civil disturbances. It blew up 3 weeks later, on Feb. 15.
Pictures of the vessel's superstructure, propellers, stern, hatch & tow
chain matched old photographs of the ship. The videotape also showed the
hulk lacked a bow. Years after the explosion, Navy salvors cut off the
damaged bow of the ship & built a wood bulkhead to replace it. The
vessel was sealed & refloated for the investigation. Afterward, it was
towed 3 miles offshore for a military burial. Valves were opened to sink the
wreck, and as the 170-foot hull descended, the wooden makeshift bow
crumbled. The Maine is a historic war memorial and remains the property of
the U.S. government. But any booty found in other area wrecks would be
shared by the company & the Cuban government.
- FMC Revoke OTIs .......... as the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission
has withdrawn the licenses of 5 Ocean Transportation Intermediaries this
month, saying that they have failed to maintain a valid bond. The
intermediaries involved are Atlantic Pacific Container Line L.L.C., based in
South Plainfield, N.J.; Pacific-Trans, Inc., of Miami, Fla.; Rhein Express
Int'l Ltd., based in Mt. Prospect, Ill.; Saga (U.S.A.), Inc., based in
Jamaica, N.Y.; & Vene-Embarques, Inc., of Miami, Fla.
- Throughput >>> Oct. set an all time monthly high for Hong
Kong, bringing the 12-month cargo figure to a new mark of 2.23 million tons,
as total unloaded cargo amounted to 85,000 tons & loaded 124,000 tons, a
total of 209,000 tons. >>> Port of Long Beach handled 432,934 TEU
in Oct. - the port's 2nd-best month ever, as the total was a 9.2% increase
over the October 1999 total, and just shy of August 2000's record of 437,741
TEU - led by a 15.3% jump in inbound containers. >>> Port of Los
Angeles handled 481,502 TEU last month, marking the highest cargo volume
ever recorded by the port in a single month, eclipsing the previous record
which had been set 2 months before. The Oct. total is 24% higher than the
387,166 TEU moved in Oct. 1999. Los Angeles has moved 4.1 million TEU so far
this year, giving us a new calendar-year record for container volume with
two-months remaining in 2000. >>> Container throughput volume
handled by Shanghai Port this year will reach more than 5.5 million TEU,
which will make Shanghai Port the 6th biggest container port in the world in
terms of container throughput volume.
- This Month In U.S. Naval History .......... as on Dec. 7, 1941, the
U.S. Pacific Fleet was attacked by Japanese warplanes while at anchor at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This marked America's entry into World War II.
Twenty-one ships were either sunk or damaged, and 2,403 Americans were
killed. Fortunately, all 3 of the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers were
elsewhere at the time of the attack. The last carrier, USS Lexington (CV 2),
had left Pearl Harbor only 2 days earlier to ferry Marine aircraft to
Midway. The largest number of fatalities came from USS Arizona (BB 39),
which was destroyed when a bomb detonated its forward magazine. A total of
1,103 were killed out of a crew of 1,400.
Visit our new Vessel
Casualties & Pirate Activity Database ......... where daily updates of
these ship news are posted. Stay up to date!
We're sorry, but there were so many sinkings, explosions, pirate attacks,
fires, cargo mishaps, artillery battles on the water & other disasters at
sea that we do not have room to print even the highlights this month. Many lost
their lives at sea this month!!
But you can read all this month's disasters at our special Internet web
feature which provides full details of each event. This month we also include
special coverage of the great tragedy for USS Cole (DDG 67) including dramatic
new pictures just posted & coverage of the 800-foot M/T Westchester which
lost power Nov. 28 evening & ran aground about 60 miles south of New
Orleans, spilling 546,000 gallons of crude oil & closing traffic to a
26-mile stretch of the Mississippi River today.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Cargo Letter has received new U.S. Navy photos of USS Cole
disaster. Please view these dramatic pictures at our special "Gallery
of Cargo Loss" website feature.
Our Daily Vessel Casualties & Pirate Activity Database is updated for you
twice daily! You can also search ship wrecks & losses of the past in our
extensive index.
Bookmark the site and visit every day! Thousands of visitors can't be wrong! https://cargolaw.com/presentations_casualties.html
NOTE: 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. It's dangerous out there.
Here are our suggested world wide web sites of the week for your business,
your information and your amusement ...............
Dancin Dubya ...........
cute site we found, since the U.S. election may last a few more months, or
years!
The Foolproof Palm
Beach County Voting Ballot ......... try it for yourself!
American Institute for
Shippers' Associations ......... a very useful list of member
organizations is published, plus focus the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998
("OSRA").
RiskVue ......the excellent
e-zine for risk managers now has a search engine, called "Ask RIMS",
the brain child of the Risk & Insurance Management Society. A simple phrase
typed into the engine will search a database of 40,000 risk insurance-related
web pages. http://www.askrims.com/
U.S. Shipping
Statistics
U.S.
Shipbuilding Statistics
MITSUI OSK Lines ........ has
revamped its website.
How Much Luggage
Does Each Airline Allow?
Permanent Luggage Tags
Landings.Com ......... aviation
links. One of the best.
Aviation Accident Photos
Pprune (pronounced peeproon)
........ site allows professional pilots to discuss issues under the comfort of
pseudonyms away from corporate pressures. Recommended.
Rail Mail
........ the undgergound trains, moving parcels & mail in London.
Interesting.
Seafarers
Training Standards of The U.S. Coast Guard
Bermuda, Insurance Laboratory
.......... world's largest offshore insurance market.
New Transport Industry B2B & B2C "E-Commerce" Sites of The
Month -- (Business to Business & Business to Consumer)
AirNewco ........ aviation
industry B2B.
Cargo4Less ....... an auction
like PriceLine.com, but for cargo. Minimum of 225 lbs. by air.
CarrierRankings.com
DigiLogistics.com ........
Hong Kong logistics B2B.
FreightCash ........ a
marketplace for transport factoring companies.
Global Rail
Exchange ........ a B2B from General Electric for the Int'l rail
industry.
Logistics.com ........ has been
selected as one of Inter@ctive Week's "Interactive 500" in its annual
ranking of the New Economy's biggest & best. It was ranked #307 of the top
500 biggest revenue generators on the Web.
MyAircraft ........ enough
said.
NedCargo ...... an online
container shipping marketplace from Amsterdam and will focus on the region
around Rotterdam, Le Havre, Felixstowe & Hamburg.
Trucker's B2B ....... the name says
it all.
WorldBid.com .......... focuses on
B2B trade leads, has launched its latest regional site.
http://www.Worldbidmalaysia.com
http://www.worldbidjapan.com
http://www.worldbidthailand.com
Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's v. Sinkovich
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
Nov. 2, 2000
Experts: Underwriters' marine surveyor who was not identified as an expert
witness in response to discovery demands could not testify as an expert at
trial, only as a lay witness; the District Court erred in allowing the marine
surveyor, who had no personal knowledge of the events in question, to answer
hypothetical questions and generally give his opinion in an expert manner,
rather than as normal person would based upon 1st-hand perceptions; Evidence:
The District Court also erred in admitting the marine surveyor's report as a
business record since it was prepared in anticipation of litigation and
consequently lacked the requisite trustworthiness.
Stewart v. Dutra Construction
First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Oct. 31, 2000
Jones Act: a dredge engaged in the excavation of a tunnel in the Boston
Harbor, which was used primarily as an extension of land for the purpose of
securing heavy equipment and was not in transit at the time of injury, is not a
"vessel in navigation" for purposes of the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. app.
§ 688, thus plaintiff's personal injury claim under the Jones Act was properly
dismissed.
Nippon Miniature Bearing Corp. v. Weise
Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Oct. 24, 2000 No. 97-55930
Civil Procedure - Int'l Trade: Customs preenforcement penalty assessment
determinations are not final agency decisions under the Administrative
Procedures Act, so district courts may not exercise jurisdiction over claims
that such determinations are unlawful. To read the full text of this opinion, go
to: http://laws.findlaw.com/9th/9755930.html
Lewis v. Lewis & Clark Marine, Inc.
Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
No. 99-1331
Admiralty - Jurisdiction Limiting Liability: The issue in this admiralty case
was whether the district court abused its discretion by using admiralty
jurisdiction to dissolve an injunction against state court proceedings in
limiting the liability in a personal injury case. James Lewis, a deckhand aboard
the ship M/V Karen Michelle, injured his back when he tripped over a piece of
barge rigging on the ship. Shortly after the injury Lewis and Clark Marine, Inc.
filed for limitation of liability protection under the Limitation of Liability
Act (46 USC sec. 181). The Act allows an innocent ship owner to be exempt from
liability for amounts beyond their interests. Lewis filed his claim in Illinois
state court for state claims as well under the Jones Act for negligence. The
district court granted Lewis & Clark's restraining order preventing the
state court from proceeding. In July 1998, James Lewis stipulated that his claim
would be below the US$400,000.00 liability fund limit. The district court then
dissolved the restraining order so James Lewis's state case could be heard. The
court below reversed, holding that the district court abused its discretion in
dissolving the restraining order. Further, there was no statutory conflict
between the Limitation of Liability Act and the "saving to suitors"
clause (28 USC sec. 1333). The clause creates a presumption for use of jury
trials which does not exist in admiralty cases with exclusive federal
jurisdiction. Finally the court concluded that even though James Lewis
stipulated that the limitation fund was large enough to cover his damages, the
federal court retained jurisdiction to determine if the ship owner should be
exonerated for negligence under admiralty law. Full text: http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/99/11/991346P.pdf
United States v. Mead Corporation
Argued Before The U.S. Supreme Court On Nov. 8 2000
Status: Under Submission For Decision
No. 99-1434
Court Below: U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit TARIFF - Judicial
Deference to Classifications by Customs: The issue in this importation case is
whether courts should grant deference to tariff classification rulings made by
the U.S. Customs Service. Mead imports a variety of products into the United
States, including "daily planners." Customs originally classified the
daily planners within a category of duty-free products. This classification was
later changed by Customs, which associated the daily planners with "bound
diaries" that are subject to a 3.2% import duty. At trial, the court below
determined that Customs classifications are not entitled to judicial deference.
Before the Supreme Court, Customs will argue that broad deference has
traditionally been extended to Customs interpretations when reasonably drawn
from their statutory foundation. Mead argues that Customs interpretations are
not subject to deference in that their ruling procedures lack the
notice-and-comment characteristics upon which the Supreme Court has previously
based the extension of deference. Mead also argues that any deference should be
limited in that Customs does not issue a reasoned analysis with their rulings,
which makes it difficult to determine if the ruling is "reasonably"
drawn from the statutes. Full text: http://laws.findlaw.com/fed/981569r.html
My Lawyer Will See You At The Post Office ! ......... as the Beijing
Xiqu Post Office has been given the go ahead by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate
People's Court to set up an express mail service to litigants for legal
documents. This is the 1st time such a service has been offered for this
activity an official announcement said. The post office will be responsible for
delivering copies of documents such as complaints, verdicts, mediation papers
& citations. This service has been introduced as a way to improve efficiency
& reduce handling costs.
Written from wire stories, the Associated Press,
Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News Lloyds & other world sources.
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