GREEK LOVE
Tuesday, February 07, 2012|
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NO shouting matches this year at the Piraeus Marine Club's annual P&I seminar, admirably organised by Evmar Marine Services' Maria Prevezanou. Instead, a good deal of sobre consensus in light of current news. Casualty management was already on the agenda, the MV Rena having seen to that. An opportunity then for pre-renewal debate on general rate increases, full service clubs versus pure P&I players and for the clubs to give short presentations to a room pretty much full of the consumer community. In the chair was Chartworld Shipping's Lou Kollakis and the seminar concluded with a spirited debate for and against the motion that to provide effect, protection against piracy, private shipboard personnel should be armed. Unsurprisingly, there was an overwhelming vote in favour although there was clearly resigned understanding that at some point there will almost certainly be a fire-fight where a crew member gets killed or the pirates wreak unsavoury revenge on crew or guards who resist them. Of course, P&I clubs trade in casualties. Not to suggest that they're a morbid bunch or indeed that they love a good casualty. Far from it. Either way, we should be grateful that there exists such a concentration of experience and expertise when it comes to handling the casualties that do still occur. The vast majority of the world's 7 billion people will never utter the three syllables “Pee and Eye” but it is unarguable that a good many of them (us) will benefit from its existence in one way shape or form at some time or another. So, while the EU Competition Commission continues to rake through 10 years of P&I club data as it decides whether or not to allow clubs to continue operating the International Group Agreement, let's hope someone points out to them that absent the massive International Group reinsurance contract, absent the concentrated casualty expertise within the clubs and absent the current system, we'd probably see higher premiums, lower standards and weaker responses to casualties. It isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. After all, the Swedish Club's CEO Lars Rodin, (fresh from a good few doughnuts in Greek yoghurt the night before – yes, we saw you Lars), pointed out last week at the Marine Club shindig in Piraeus, “It's quite likely that something unlikely will happen.” ...in which case we need to be prepared. Dib dib dib. Share This News Story: |
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Welcome - February 2012
ONE down and eleven to go and, rather predictably, we're Costa heavy this month. And, as Chinese New Year celebrations come to an end and we enter the Year of the Dragon, special events are on our minds...
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COSTA LOTTA MONEY
NOBODY in the shipping industry wants to be reporting on a tragedy like that which overtook the Costa Concordia on Friday the 13th and it is sad irony that only two days previously a Maritime London seminar on the salvage issues relating to large containerships warned that shipping would sooner or later face its Deepwater Horizon moment...
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TITANIC EFFORTS
THE lessons learned from the Titanic - enshrined notably in the Safety of Life at Sea Convention - form the theme for World Maritime Day this year, and sadly the Costa Concordia has proved a sad reminder of what can go wrong.
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EVERYBODY HURTS
AT the height of their musical powers, R.E.M. wrote some of the loveliest songs in rock music. In 'Everybody Hurts' the singer gives comfort to some poor soul who's life isn't going too well. The lyrics of that song spring to mind when thinking about the tough times being endured by our friends in Greece...
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P&I PARTICIPANTS DONATE 20,000 euros
NOW, if you think we're biased in our love of all things P&I, you'd be right. Since Spinnaker was established in 1997, P&I recruitment has been a core part of what we do. Our professional services team have the insurance and legal industry to thank for their very existence no less!
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OSCAR Campaign
SHIPPING'S OSCAR campaign for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children received a further boost due to the generosity of the London Tanker Operations Party last month at which a rumoured 900 shipping bods gathered at the HQ of the Honourable Artillery Company to pretend that the tanker market was still in good shape.
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BULLY BOSSES
HERE at Spinnaker we always ask job seekers what their motivation is for making a move and we usually find, as do countless surveys, that money is not the most important factor in deciding to change jobs. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to read in The Recruiter that working for a bad boss is a major motivator for changing jobs.
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EXPAT ALLOWANCES
WHILE it needs to be said that not all ex-pats are getting housing allowances these days, and a lot of companies have been phasing them out, they remain common in the Middle East, far more so than in, say, Singapore.
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REFER A FRIEND
Don't forget that if you refer a friend to us for a job and they succeed in getting it, we'll send you GBP400 as a token of our appreciation.
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INSOLVENCY ISSUES
NOBODY wants to talk about insolvency during the current climate but it's definitely worth getting some free advice on the legal aspects. Issues on Insolvency Law is the topic for discussion at the next London Shipping Law Centre seminar, due to take place at Moore Stephens' London office on February 22 at 18.00hrs.
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KEEPING IN TOUCH
THE importance of email and web access for seafarers was once again underlined in a survey carried out for the ITF last year: Among the major findings were...
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LODESTAR DELAY
UNLAWFUL competition and what you can or can't do when it comes to team moves can land you in court.
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ILLITERATE GRADUATES?
DO school leavers make better employees than university graduates? One fifth of UK employers believe they do according to the UK's largest recruiter Adecco.
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