Wavelength #43

W

Year 2011, Volume 5, Issue

43

avelength The CENTROFIN Newsletter

In this issue pg 2

Our Knowledge / Publications / Commercial Court interprets the meaning of “approved” by Oil Majors (Legal-Opinion) Compliments INCELAW.com Transpetrol Maritime Services Limited vs SJB (Marine Energy) BV (MT Rowan), 2011 (unreported). There are few reported English decisions related to oil major approvals. Oil majors operate a system of vetting and approvals to ensure that the vessels they use or trade or buy cargoes from are of satisfactory quality. Owners and operators of tankers seek and collect as many written approvals as possible from top name oil majors, which are often required by charterers. Given the importance of such approvals in tanker charterparties for the purposes of trading a tanker profitably, the observations of the Judge in this case on the meaning of “approved” as provided for in the charter party are worth noting.

Background to dispute This dispute arose out of a voyage charter for the carriage of vacuum gas oil (VGO). The charterer was a trader in petroleum products and had chartered the vessel to carry VGO from the Black Sea to the US Gulf, with an option to top up, discharge or reload at Antwerp. At Antwerp, the vessel was inspected by Shell and Conoco. Shell had, according to the charterer, agreed to buy the cargo subject to vetting. However, the inspections established that a low suction sea chest valve needed repair prior to sailing.

TO THE MASTER: Please circulate copies of this Bulletin to the CREW.

To reach our Seafarers

There was no dry dock available at Antwerp so the Class surveyor issued an interim certificate allowing the deficiency to be repaired at the next port. As a result, however, the charterer claimed that Shell had rejected the vessel and refused to buy the cargo. Chevron also allegedly refused to deal with the vessel. A claim was made by the owner for demurrage and port costs that arose during the voyage. The charterer counterclaimed that, due to the bad reputation the vessel gained in the market following the events at Antwerp, it had been unable to sell the cargo on satisfactory terms. The charterer sought to claim damages for the difference in price it had allegedly agreed with Shell and what the cargo actually realised. The success of the counterclaim depended in part on whether the owner had warranted that the vessel had the requisite oil major approvals referred to in the charter party and, if so, whether that warranty had been breached.

The Commercial Court

Piracy pg 4

The owner argued that the wording in the recap overwrote and replaced the wording in the standard Vitol Clause 18 so that “WOG” (“without guarantee”) applied, meaning that there was simply an indication, without a contractual commitment, that the listed approvals were in place at the outset of the charter.

The master / pilot relationship and passage planning pg 6

Condemned to Joy pg 8 - 9

Safety First! pg 10

Human element knowledge & skills framework – operations

The Judge, however, agreed with the charterer's interpretation that the parties were adding to, not replacing, the standard pg 14 term. The fact that a continuing warranty The new International qualified by “Tbook” (“to best of owner's Buoyage System knowledge”) might prove unworkable in a commercial situation, as contended by the owner, was of no significant weight, in the Judge's view.

The construction of the charterparty The recap stated under vessel information that “TBOOK WOG VSL IS APPROVED BY: BP/LITASCO/STATOIL – EXXON VIA SIRE”. The recap also incorporated Clause 18 of the Vitol standard chartering terms, which stated as follows: “Owner warrants that the vessel is approved by the following companies and will remain so throughout the duration of this Charterparty…” In the recap, next to the reference that incorporated Clause 18, it was stated “TBOOK VSL IS APPROVED BY: BP/EXXON/LUKOIL/STATOIL/MOH”.

It was not unusual for commercial parties to “make what are in retrospect bad bargains”. He added that there was also no express reference to deletion of Clause 18 in the recap as there was for a number of other standard Vitol clauses and he concluded that this meant the parties had not intended to delete that clause. Consequently, he held that the owner had warranted that the vessel was approved by the named oil majors and would remain so throughout the duration of the voyage charter. Was it so approved? This depended on what “approved” meant and how long any such approval had continued

cont..p16

Piracy A thought for our 'civilian' Marine(r)s… (An anonymous opinion -by a crew member) I recently visited a small tanker in the Indian Ocean and saw firsthand what these poor souls (the crew) have to endure. From these photographs one can clearly see the bullet holes in the bridge wing area. The RPG fired upon them apparently (luckily) flew over the top of the wheelhouse! The attempt to take the vessel was thwarted by the crew.

Improvised pipe gun to fire parachute rocket flares

The crew (although not allowed to be armed) have taken to deploying razor wire all around the ship, hanging 45 gallon oil barrels over the side (which bounce around in the water deterring the small skiffs from approaching with their 'window cleaner' step ladders) and building improvised pipe guns which shoot pyrotechnics (safety rocket flares) with surprising accuracy at the assailants. This particular vessel had the engine room hatch welded shut and the common steering access fortified. As a last resort the crew would barricade themselves in to the steering compartment and steer the vessel to an area that was known to have coalition forces around. This was possible because of stored provisions, a GPS navigator and charts positioned within the steering compartment. The vessel would steer from the emergency steering position 'blind'! Some say the Korean's stance is the way to go, however, the word on the street is that the Pirates will now not bother with taking hostages from any Korean Flagged vessel; instead that they will fire upon and kill the crew. This may have been an option for all security forces at the outset of this saga but with over 700+ crewmen and a multitude of vessels now being held by the pirates, if this stance is now taken

Barrels on wires slung over the vessel side

these innocent 'civilian' vessel operators may simply be put to death by their captors as retribution? The Chinese and Russian Navy appear to be the most effectual to date, in that they position a frigate at the front and rear of a convoy and deploy at least 4 armed guards on to every vessel in the convoy...none of these vessels have been taken. The US and European forces complain that they cannot help while the pirates are in the water as they may merely be fishermen (with RPGs?) and that once the pirates are on the vessel it is then a hostage situation and the forces cannot intervene for fear of hurting the crew (who are probably being beaten by the pirates at that time) and that they can only intervene in the period that the pirates are boarding the vessel...seems a little complicated and political, the end result normally being that they effectively do nothing. Finally, whilst money is being made by the many 'private army escort' companies and the ransoms are being paid there is probably no real incentive to stop this nightmare for the crew.

The names of the vessel and crew mentioned in this report are not given to protect the identity of the crew who fear that their actions may be frowned upon by their vessel owners, cargo owners, brokers, charterers, lawyers, P & I Clubs, Flag States, IMO, UNO Coalition forces...with these people up against them (the crew) one wonders how they have time to worry about the Pirates!

Ship-owners mutiny over salvage fees British shipowners are lobbying to stop a change in the rules governing one of the most emotive subjects in the maritime world - salvage fees. Proposals to pay salvage firms for averting environmental damage are on the agenda. The £300m-ayear salvage business revolves around London because of the role of the Lloyd's insurance market. The International Salvage Union (ISU), also based in the City, favours the change, but shipowners in Britain and abroad are resisting any widening of the basis on which salvage firms are paid. 'We feel the 1989 Salvage Convention is working well and we do not wish to see any change,' said an industry source. 'Altering the convention could mean confusion and litigation. An international convention should give certainty.' Salvage operators are paid ten to 12 per cent of the value of the ship and the goods on board. But the ISU says change is needed to make it worthwhile for salvage firms to attend where the value of a vessel and cargo may be low but the environmental damage would be high. Meanwhile, ships in UK waters would have to carry 'wreck insurance' under a private member's Bill going through Parliament. Source: This is Money

Bullet holes in wheelhouse (attempted piracy 60nm off Bombay)

(Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Bob Papp in his Washington, DC, headquarters office).

Always Ready DNV – FORUM (http://www.dnv.com/resources/pu blications/dnv_forum/2011) The US Coast Guard response to the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe was the largest US Coast Guard response ever undertaken.

If you had a $10 billion operating budget to carry out 11 main missions for the United States, ranging from maritime safety, marine security, environmental protection and ice operations to drug enforcement, migrant interdiction and aids to navigation, could you plainly and concisely answer the question: “What do you do?” Admiral Bob Papp, 24th Commandant of the US Coast Guard, has a crystal clear idea of what his organisation does. “We ensure the safety, security and stewardship of our ports, waterways and coasts,” Admiral Papp says with great confidence. “Or simply keeping bad things from happening to ships, bad things happening to people, bad things happening to the environment or bad things in our ports and waterways from people with bad intentions. This guides us in achieving our 11 main missions. I am proud to say all 42,000 people on active duty, 7,000 members of the Reserve, 8,000 civilian employees and 30,000 Auxiliary volunteers know these and individually how they contribute to our missions.”

pg 3 However, when you consider that the Coast Guard's jurisdiction covers 3.4 million square miles of US waters, these financial and human resources seem rather undersized. The Deepwater Horizon disaster, though, is a good case in how the Coast Guard effectively uses flexible people, assets and authority to meet any challenge.

Just drilled for a spill As Admiral Papp explains, “The Coast Guard has pre-designated each Captain of the Port as the federal on-scene coordinator for oil spills. This is the person who initiates the immediate response and represents all federal government agencies for the response activities. Of course, the Deepwater Horizon tragedy quickly challenged the resources and capabilities of the Gulf Coast based captains of the port, sector offices, and even the Eighth coast guard district. However, we practice for these difficulties routinely and had, in fact, just drilled for a spill of national significance in March 2010. When the rig exploded and caught fire, our immediate priority was search and rescue. Sadly, 11 men lost their lives on that tragic day, but together with commercial resources, we rescued 115 people. “Although the earliest indications were that this was mainly a fire and explosion, almost simultaneously, the Coast Guard launched the casualty and spill response. We established incident command centres in New Orleans and Houma, LA, which became the most active and largest command centres. Then one in Mobile, AL, Houston, TX, St. Petersburg, FL, and Miami, FL. Throughout the response, we had an average of 7,000 people in the command centres, in boats, on the beaches, and in aircraft.” Ultimately, the response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest the Coast Guard had ever faced. It required the shifting of needed people and assets to the Gulf of Mexico and, for sure, this placed additional burdens on all units around the rest of the service. Admiral Papp gives the response a grade of A for effort, but knows there are areas where the Coast Guard can improve.

Initial observations So while the response is still being evaluated and there will be recommended changes, he does have a couple of initial observations. “First,” Admiral Papp begins, “The Coast Guard and government agencies worked very well together. We were familiar with each other, our responsibilities and ways of working.

obligation, and there was a strong will and desire of industry to shift response equipment to the Gulf, the Coast Guard could not temporarily remove the contractual requirements that each response company had to keep that equipment available locally. The Coast Guard did shift 12 buoy tenders, which are the only government owned vessels with oil skimming capability, to the Gulf and we were also fortunate to receive global assistance.” The Coast Guard's broad responsibility for environmental protection includes environmental regulations. In the US, this requires constant balancing of federal laws with specific concerns and needs of each state. Then, consideration of the interests of industry, including international commerce, as well as environmental groups seems to place the Coast Guard in an untenable position. “This just underlines the importance for us to be the fair arbiter of all of these issues with industry, environmental groups, and states,” responds Admiral Papp.

Towards performance based regulations (Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Bob Papp listens as Senior Chief Petty Officer Greg Roberts provides a situation brief at the Deepwater Horizon incident command post in Houma, LA, June 9, 2010. Photos: Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley and Petty Officer 3rd Class Caleb Critchfield)

We were less familiar with the companies involved, but we quickly learned to work together. This was critically important because the expert knowledge of the deep ocean drilling technology resided within these companies.” Control of the response equipment also had some interesting complexities. Admiral Papp continues, “The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 rightly placed the responsibility of maintaining response equipment on commercial industry within the US. There are laws that require industry to maintain sufficient response equipment in the ports. Even though the Coast Guard could issue a special dispensation to temporarily relieve industry of this legal

The Coast Guard also issues regulations to ensure maritime safety. As Admiral Papp notes, “To be sure, we have prescriptive regulations, such as many of the lifesaving and fire protection regulations, but we are moving more towards performance based regulations. “A good example is the ballast water regulations: There is new and emerging technology for ballast water treatment. We believe that any rigid regulation would slow advancement of new technology, and more importantly, not really address the invasive species problems. So, we chose to describe what must be achieved or the performance level. I know some think that the technology must be developed first, but I really don't agree that will happen reasonably quickly without a performance standard. This is nothing new to the automobile industry, where manufacturers are required to meet minimum mileage performance standards or build cars that withstand crashes.”

Finally, when asked about his biggest challenge and what keeps him awake at night, Admiral Papp grounds his thoughts on the three main functions of the Coast Guard: maritime safety, security and stewardship. “My biggest challenge is to make sure that the Coast Guard has an adequate number and balance of resources for our main functions and 11 missions. We don't know where, or when, the next earthquake or hurricane will happen, but we know they will, and we need to be able to respond to these, just as much as we need to carry out law enforcement activities or keep up with our regulatory responsibilities,” he says.

Future capabilities “At the same time,” Admiral Papp adds, “what keeps me up at night is ensuring our future capabilities. Today, the Coast Guard has 12 378-foot high endurance cutters and 14 210-foot medium endurance cutters that are over 40 years old. Our 270-foot medium endurance cutters are over 20 years old. It is becoming more expensive and difficult to maintain these assets at the proper reliability and availability levels. “We need a programmed approach, and funding, to replace these assets. Clearly, the Coast Guard needs this and I also want to point out that a recapitalisation programme will lead to a more vibrant shipbuilding and repair industry and jobs.” And the Admiral's last words: the Coast Guard's motto, “Semper Paratus,” or Always Ready.

The master / pilot relationship and passage planning (Compliments NoE P&I (NEPIA)

31 March 2011 (Fraud) Precious Metal Scrapped Euro Coin Scam Costs Bundesbank Millions AFP. An alleged scam has been discovered, involving the reconstruction of previously "destroyed" euro coins, according to German authorities. German prosecutors have uncovered a 6 million euro scam involving reconstituted euro coins that had been sold to China as scrap metal. One and two euro coins were then brought back to Germany, some via Lufthansa airline employees, and traded in at the central bank. German investigators say they have discovered a massive scandal involving the reintroduction of euro coins that had been taken out of circulation and sold as scrap to China. The scheme, said to have cost Germany's Central Bank €6 million ($8.5 million), involved airline employees -- including Lufthansa flight attendants. On Wednesday, authorities searched homes, businesses and offices, including those belonging to Lufthansa workers. Six people were arrested, according to public prosecutors in Frankfurt. The scam was not complicated. Every year, tons of damaged euro coins are taken out of circulation, "destroyed," and then sold as scrap metal. Often, however, one and two euro coins are merely separated into their component parts -- the inner core and outer rings -- prior to delivery to scrap metal dealers in China. A group in China would simply reassemble the coins. The criminals paid four airline employees, who have no weight restrictions on their baggage, to ferry the money back to Germany. They then took the coins to the

Bundesbank and exchanged them for cash. Eagle-Eyed Customs Official According to a statement by the Frankfurt public prosecutors, the German Bundesbank is the only place in Europe which exchanges damaged coins for free. The bank accepts such coins in bags containing up to €1,000 worth of coins. They are weighed rather than counted and only periodically checked. Contrary to initial news reports, prosecutors say that no Bundesbank employees are suspected of being involved in the scam. Authorities estimate the group was able to exchange 29 tons of reconstituted coins between 2007 and 2010. In raids on Wednesday, officials seized laptops, documents and a machine for pressing coins together. According to the German tabloid Bild, the scam was only uncovered after a customs officer noticed an airline flight attendant struggling with heavy luggage. When it was opened, officials found thousands of €1 and €2 coins inside, Bild reported.

The master / pilot relationship is one of those great unwritten topics which almost defies comprehension in our modern world, where everything has to be documented to the nth degree and where no latitude is permissible in any shape or form. How this relationship develops and how the joint passage plans of the master and pilot evolve is crucial to the safe and timely arrival of a ship. Remarkably, very little is set down beyond a few paragraphs in IMO recommendations and a few thousand years of history. If there is one word that summarises the master / pilot relationship it is 'trust'. In ancient times, Jason took a pilot to travel through the Turkish Straits with his Argonauts and few would doubt his wisdom today, watching the terrifying array of vessels all on seemingly conflicting courses as they career past Istanbul. The trust that masters and pilots have to show each other is unique. They are both plunged within minutes into a symbiotic relationship: each must trust that the other can deliver what they say. The master has to believe that the pilot will bring excellent local knowledge and ship-handling skills and the pilot will want to believe that the master has a well-found vessel with all equipment and machinery working well and an alert and responsive crew.

Master and pilot will meet only a few minutes before embarking on the most hazardous part of a ship's voyage. This would seem on the face of it a recipe for disaster, yet every year millions of acts of pilotage are carried out around the world without incident. It is interesting to ruminate on whether it would be possible to set up such a system from scratch in today's increasingly litigious society. The fact is that the system endures because it works. Initial impressions Even before pilots board a ship they are already making judgements about what they will find. Most pilots will say that they can tell with 90% accuracy what they will find on the bridge simply by the state of the ladder, paintwork and reception at the gangway, even before the ascent to the bridge.

These insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to boring 4-letter word. When writers and speakers pondered upon words and weighed each of them before making a sentence. Meticulous in execution. I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends. - Oscar Wilde I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here. - Stephen Bishop

I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial. - Irvin S. Cobb He's not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others. - Samuel Johnson He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. - Paul Keating "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of

any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily. - Charles, Count Talleyrand Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it? - Mark Twain His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. - Mae West

pg 5 Pilot boarding grounds can be congested places where ships still have way on when approaching the fairway. Masters for their part have IMO requirements for berth passage planning. This is a somewhat difficult concept to adhere to rigidly, because masters may well not know which berth they are going to or, in some cases, even which port. In today's world, it is not unusual for ships undergoing international voyages to be unclear as to even which country they will finally discharge at. The pilot is bound by other IMO requirements to provide a draft passage plan which inevitably contains more intricate detail that a master could not be expected to be aware of. Indeed, this is one of the pilot's prime functions - to provide detailed local data. Likewise, a master will be considering the nature of the pilot who has been sent to him based on the promptness of the communications from the pilot station and the efficacy of the pilot launch. When the two meet on the bridge for the first time, everything has to gel very quickly and there will be many factors which impinge on how successful this process is. The more obvious factors, such as the presentation of each party, will be subtly affected by issues such as age, gender and nationality. Passage planning Very quickly both master and pilot will have to merge their respective passage plans into a composite plan on which action will have to be taken almost immediately.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go. - Oscar Wilde He loves nature in spite of what it did to him. - Forrest Tucker I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. - Groucho Marx

Master / pilot exchange The master / pilot exchange is therefore absolutely critical to the successful outcome of this part of the voyage and never is the axiom 'fail to plan, plan to fail' more true. The master / pilot exchange will of course be further complicated by issues of language: if the master and pilot do not share a native language then they will use English. Obviously if pilots speak to VTS, tugs, linemen on passage they will have to summarise what they have said in local tongue to the master because, throughout the passage, it is essential that the bridge team are there both to support and to monitor the pilot.

This would cover traffic that might be encountered, the characteristics and use of tugs and, ultimately, if the worse happens and there is machinery failure, how to deal with this. Much of what takes place during the master / pilot exchange is preprocessed in written form ahead of the face-to-face meeting. Ships provide cards with data to a standard format and many pilots will bring on board a chartlet showing the general passage arrangements to be undertaken.

World population to pass 7 billion on October 31: U.N.

As part of the passage-planning process, there has to be consideration of a number of events that might take place and how they should be tackled.

(Reuters) - The world's population is projected to pass 7 billion on October 31, 2011 as it heads toward 10 billion or more by the end of the century, a new U.N. report said today. The report also predicted that the global population would be higher by mid-century (2050) than its last edition forecast two years ago, reaching 9.31 billion instead of 9.15 billion. It attributed this to fewer deaths as well as more births than it had anticipated. The October date for reaching the 7 billion mark is based on calculations from current trends and Hania Zlotnik, head of the U.N. economic department's population division, said it should be taken "with a grain of salt." Nevertheless, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. - Thomas Brackett Reed

She said, "If you were my husband, I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it.�

He has Van Gogh's ear for music. - Billy Wilder

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.�

There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure. - Jack E. Leonard

He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts ... For support rather than illumination. - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

“A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill

He has the attention span of a lightning bolt. - Robert Redford

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:

"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

The successful completion of the initial exchange should lead to a harmonious passage, but much depends on the personal investment that both master and pilot put into this. The subsequent conduct of the vessel by the pilot and the situational awareness displayed by the crew all flow from this very delicate seed that is planted right at the beginning of the process. Repeatedly accident reports refer to the failure to get the initial exchange carried out satisfactorily as the root cause of subsequent problems during the passage. Pilotage is a very valuable layer of insurance which the shipping industry has long enjoyed. But, like most insurance, unless it is well-written and planned ahead, it has little value if problems arise. The Association is very grateful to Nick Cutmore, Secretary General of the International Maritime Pilots' Association, for writing this article. Website: www.internationalpilots.org announced it would start a sevenday countdown on October 24 that would include a series of events. The world reached 6 billion people in 1998 and was 6.89 on July 1, 2010. The report, "2010 Revision of World Population Prospects," projected there would be 10.1 billion people on the planet by 2100, the first time it has looked that far ahead. But it said that if global fertility was just half a child more per woman than it expected, that figure could be almost 16 billion. U.N. officials said their figures were based on the assumption that fertility would taper off during the century. But Zlotnik told a news conference, "Stabilisation of the population doesn't seem to us as very probable at this moment." Nations face a delicate balance between high fertility and booming populations, which strain food and other resources, and low fertility, which leads to aging populations and stress on social services, as some European states are already finding. "All countries are going to age if their populations are not to explode even more than they are exploding now," Zlotnik said. Another U.N. official, told the news conference that China's population, currently about 1.34 billion, would drop back below 1b by 2100. Russia's population would fall from 143 million now to 126m by 2050 and 111m in 2100.-

Pascal Bruckner

Condemned to Joy The Western cult of happiness is a mirthless enterprise. Winter 2011 On August 21, 1670, Jacques Bossuet, the bishop of Meaux and official preacher to the court of Louis XIV, pronounced the eulogy for Princess Henrietta of England before the Prince of Condé. The Duchess of Orléans had died at 26 after drinking a glass of chicory that may have been poisoned. At the threshold of death, the young woman had called on priests rather than doctors, embraced the crucifix, asked for the holy sacraments, and cried out to God. The wonder of death, Bossuet exclaimed, citing Saint Anthony, was that “for the Christian, it does not put an end to life but rather to the sins and perils to which life is exposed. God abbreviates our temptations along with our days; he thus sets a limit to occasions that might cost us true, eternal life; for this world is nothing but our common exile.” The good death was a door opened on eternity, a passage to that “true, eternal life.” In this life, by contrast, agony was expected. Is it possible to imagine an attitude toward happiness and living further from our own? Notwithstanding the Jacobin leader Saint-Just's famous remark, happiness was never “a new idea in Europe.” In fact, it was the oldest of ideas, defended by the ancients and pondered by the great philosophical schools.

But Christianity, which inherited the notion from Greek and Latin writers, changed it with a view to transcendence: man's concern here below must be not joy but salvation. Christ alone redeems us from original sin and puts us on the path to divine truth.

and better master his future. People stopped listening to those who justified suffering as the will of God. If I could relieve pain simply by ingesting some substance, there was no need to have recourse to prayer to feel better.

All earthly pleasures, according to the Christian authors, are but phantoms from the point of view of celestial beatitude. To wish for earthly happiness would be a sin against the Spirit; the passing pleasures of mortals are nothing compared with the hell that awaits sinners who pant after them.

The new conception of happiness was captured in a phrase of Voltaire's in 1736: “Earthly

This rigorous conception gave way over the centuries to a more accommodating view of life. The eighteenth century saw the rise of new techniques that improved agricultural production; it also saw new medicinesin particular, alkaloids and salicylic acid, an ancestor of aspirin whose curative and analgesic properties worked wonders. Suddenly, this world was no longer condemned to be a vale of tears; man now had the power to reduce hunger, ameliorate illness,

paradise is here where I am.” Voltaire was, of course,

pursued by the Church and the monarchy; he was threatened with death, and his writings were burned. But his proposition deserves attention. If paradise is here where I am, then happiness is here and now, not yesterday, in an age for which I might be nostalgic, and even less in some hypothetical future. In this upheaval of temporal perspectives, poverty and distress lose all legitimacy, and the whole work of enlightened nations becomes eliminating them through education and reason, and eventually science and industry. Human misfortune would be rendered an archaic residue. After the American and French Revolutions (the first of which inscribed the pursuit of happiness in its founding document), the right to a decent life and the privileged status of pleasure

became the order of the day for progressive movements across Europe. It is true that in the early twentieth century, the Bolsheviks curiously rehabilitated the Christian ideal of sacrifice by exhorting the proletariat to fight and work until the great coming of the Revolution; ironically, asceticism returned within a doctrine that denounced religion as the opiate of the masses and that relentlessly persecuted priests, pastors, and believers wherever it took power. But overall, throughout the twentieth century, hedonism's claims grew ever stronger under the influence of Freudianism, feminism, and the avant-garde in art and politics. In the 1960s, two major shifts transformed the right to happiness into the duty of happiness. The first was a shift in the nature of capitalism, which had long revolved around production and the deferral of gratification, but now focused on making us all good consumers. Working no longer sufficed; buying was also necessary for the industrial machine to run at full capacity. To make this shift possible, an ingenious invention had appeared not long before, first in America in the 1930s and then in Europe in the 1950s: credit. In an earlier

pg 7 time, anyone who wanted to buy a car, some furniture, or a house followed a rule that now seems almost unknown: he waited, setting aside his nickels and dimes. But credit changed everything; frustration became intolerable and satisfaction normal; to do without seemed absurd. We would live well in the present and pay back later. Today, we're all aware of the excesses that resulted from this system, since the financial meltdown in the United States was the direct consequence of too many people living on credit, to the point of borrowing hundreds of times the real value of their possessions. The second shift was the rise of individualism. Since nothing opposed our fulfilment any longer—neither church nor party nor social class—we became solely responsible for what happened to us. It proved an awesome burden: if I don't feel happy, I can blame no one but myself.

The statistics that it publicizes and the models that it holds up produce a new race of guilty parties, no longer sybarites or libertines but killjoys. Sadness is the disease of a society of obligatory well-being that penalizes those who do not attain it.

Happiness is no longer a matter of chance or a heavenly gift, an amazing grace that blesses our monotonous days. We now owe it to ourselves to be happy, and we are expected to display our happiness far and wide. Thus happiness becomes not only the biggest industry of the age but also a new moral order. We now find ourselves guilty of not being well, a failing for which we must answer to everyone and to our own consciences. Consider the poll, conducted by a French newspaper, in which 90 percent of people questioned reported being happy. Who would dare admit that he is sometimes miserable and expose himself to social opprobrium? This is the strange contradiction of the happiness doctrine when it becomes militant and takes on the power of ancient taboos—though in the opposite direction.

To enjoy was once forbidden; from now on, it's obligatory. So it was no surprise that a vast number of fulfilment industries arose, ranging from cosmetic surgery to diet pills to innumerable styles of therapy, all promising reconciliation with ourselves and full realization of our potential. “Become your own best friend, learn self-esteem, think positive, dare to live in harmony,” we were told by so many self-help books, though their very number suggested that these were not such easy tasks. The idea of fulfilment, though the successor to a more demanding ethic, became a demand itself. The dominant order no longer condemns us to privation; it offers us paths to self-realization with a kind of maternal solicitude. This generosity is by no means liberation in every respect. In fact, a kind of charitable coercion engenders the malaise from which it then strives to deliver us.

Whatever method is chosen, whether psychic, somatic, chemical, spiritual, or computerbased, we find the same assumption everywhere: beatitude is within your grasp, and you have only to take advantage of “positive conditioning” (in the Dalai Lama's words) in order to attain it. We have come to believe that the will can readily establish its power over mental states, regulate moods, and make contentment the fruit of a personal decision. This belief in our ability to will ourselves happy also lies behind the contemporary obsession with health. What is health, correctly understood, but a kind of permission we receive to live in peace with our bodies and to let ourselves be carefree? These days, though, we are required to resist our mortality as far as possible.

The domain of therapy tends to annex everything that once belonged to the art of living well. Food, for example, is divided not into good and bad but into healthy and unhealthy. The appropriate prevails over the tasty, the carefully measured over the irregular. The dinner table becomes a kind of pharmacy counter where fat and calories are weighed, where one conscientiously chews foods that are hardly more than medications. Wine must be drunk not for its taste, under this regimen, but to strengthen the arteries; whole-grain bread must be eaten to aid digestion; garlic must be bitten off raw for various health reasons. Duration—holding on as long as possible—becomes an authoritative value, even if it must be achieved at the cost of terrible restrictions, depriving oneself of some of the best the world has to offer. From this point of view, the hunting down of smokers, now expelled from almost all public places, looks something like a collective exorcism, as if a whole society wished to absolve itself of having once found pleasure in cigarettes. In France, photos of Jean-Paul Sartre and the young Jacques Chirac holding cigarettes have been retouched to eliminate the offending objects—just as the Soviet empire used to do with banished leaders. Yet by trying to remove every anomaly, every failing, we end up denying what is in fact the main benefit of health: indifference to oneself, what a great surgeon once called “the silence of the organs.”

Everyone must today be saved from something—from hypertension, from imperfect digestion, from a tendency to gain weight. One is never thin enough, fit enough, strong enough. Health has its martyrs, its pioneers, its heroes and saints. Sickness and health become harder to distinguish, to the point that we risk creating a society of hypochondriacs.

Now that it has become the horizon of our democracies, a matter of ceaseless work and effort, happiness is surrounded by anxiety. We feel compelled to be saved constantly from what we are, poisoning our own existence with all kinds of impossible commandments. Our hedonism is not wholesome but haunted by failure. However well behaved we are, our bodies continue to betray us. Age leaves its mark, illness finds us one way or another, and pleasures have their way with us, following a rhythm that has nothing to do with our vigilance or our resolution. What is needed is a renewed humility. We are not the masters of the sources of happiness; they ever elude the appointments we make with them, springing up when we least expect them and fleeing when we would hold them close. The excessive ambition to expunge all that is weak or broken in body or mind, to control moods and states of soul, sadness, chagrin, moments of emptiness—all this runs up against our finitude, against the inertia of the human species, which we cannot manipulate like some raw material. We have the power to avoid or to heal certain evils, yes, but we cannot order happiness as if it were a meal in a restaurant. The Western cult of happiness is indeed a strange adventure, something like a collective intoxication. In the guise of emancipation, it transforms a high ideal into its opposite. Condemned to joy, we must be happy or lose all standing in society. It is not a question of knowing whether we are more or less happy than our ancestors; our conception of the thing itself has changed, and we are probably the first society in history to make people unhappy for not being happy. Pascal Bruckner is a French writer and philosopher. His article was translated by Alexis Cornel.

Safety First !! Message from the DPA: A few years ago I managed to find a person willing to buy my car; after considerable effort I should add. I was so eager that I even agreed to deliver the car to him myself. On the day I was to drive the car for the last time to meet him, as I was pulling out of my garage I accidentally brushed the entire left side on the garage wall, making a scratch from the front to the rear! I must have done the same maneuver hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Still, on the day it mattered most I managed to get it wrong! I will not reveal how I managed to get away with it... My point it something else: Beware of repetitive jobs! One of the major causes of accidents is over-confidence! Over-confidence can be equally dangerous as inexperience, but is even more inexcusable. When a young and inexperienced person makes a mistake he has an excuse - but what if an experienced one does?

Always use your judgment, you experience, your instructions, your manuals and checklists, your risk assessment techniques, and always plan ahead with your fellow officers. It doesn't matter if you have carried out the same operation hundreds of times - there is always something that is different; something that can go wrong. Ship operations are many times repetitive, but are never identical. Conditions change and vigilance on your part must be continuous at all times. You have the responsibility, but you also have the experience and the tools. Just use them!! I wish you safe sailing and smooth seas. Anthony Lambros / Q&S Manager DPA I welcome your comments, suggestions or feedback on the contents of this column (Safety First!) at q&s@centrofin.gr

Nothing could be further from the truth. PPE, liferaft's, EPIRB's, etc. and all of the rest of the gear we are required to have and/or use does not make us safe. Being able to recognize the risks we are faced with daily and taking the necessary and appropriate action to control or eliminate the risk makes one safe. Don't just use the PPE because you are complying with Company requirements; use it to enhance your awareness of your surroundings and present environment and the hazards that exist or may exist, or if a change in the surroundings / environment happens. I often ask can someone wear too much PPE?

SAFETY WHAT IS IT? Source: Chevron Bulletin April 2011 A misconception held by many in the maritime industry is that installing safety equipment makes an environment safe. Safety is not equipment, rather it is a state. Although equipment such EPIRB, hard hats, safety glasses are important, they do nothing to reduce the original problem that would require their use. I was recently touring a large aerospace manufacturing facility and noticed no one was wearing safety glasses. I see a video and TV shows from different maritime companies where the crew may not be wearing safety glasses or hard hats. Does any of their behavior inherently make those individuals unsafe? It depends on the state of the environment around them at that time. Safety is a mental state of awareness and knowing what PPE would be appropriate for the condition, PPE are just tools. To be able to reduce risks, you first need to be able to identify what is a problem or risk, and then be vigilant for that condition. Safety is about being aware of potential for risks and taking appropriate action to control, manage, or eliminate the risk. At the end of the day, working on ships is a risky business. PPE does not eliminate the risk; it is a way to manage the risks. A common misconception I see is that if I have all of my PPE on then I am safe.

If PPE makes you safe then the logic is more PPE makes you safer. In reality too much PPE can introduce an additional hazard if the extra PPE hinders your movement or vision or ability to do the task at hand. The correct answer is use the appropriate PPE for the conditions or risk being controlled or eliminated. Use policy as a best practice, every condition cannot be addressed with a written policy. If in doubt, ask your supervisor. Being safe is recognizing the hazards in the current environment and taking the necessary action to control, manage or eliminate the hazards. Keep your safety eyes open and your safety brain engaged.

FATIGUE MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS Myth No.1: Sleepy people are lazy-real professionals don't sleep at work. The trust is simple: If someone is sleepy it is due to a sleep debt. Duty-time sleepiness is a major safety threat and should be recognized and addressed properly. Myth No.2: We know exactly how fatigued we are. Nothing could be more wrong. Fatigue directly impairs our judgment. It is much easier to recognize fatigue in another person than in ourselves. It's important, then, to take action when someone else tells us we are tired. Myth No.3: Alcoholic beverages promote good, quality sleep. A hangover is not a good example of quality sleep. Keep in mind that after a good period of sleep we wake up in good shape.

- pg 9 Safety Bulletin 11-02

avoiding sleep when we are fatigued, but there is a toll to pay in doing this, as systems without maintenance don't work efficiently. If we are fatigued enough we can fall asleep without even noticing. That's the brain commanding maintenance mode as we are still struggling to perform. The problem is that when we reach the state of fatigue, even before we close our eyes, our thoughts become more sluggish and our attention is reduced. This is exactly where the danger resides when performing a safety – sensitive job, as on commercial vessels.

Fatigue in the Maritime Environment Source: Chevron Bulletin March 2011 Fatigue is a frequent contributing factor for many maritime incidents and accidents, including personal injuries. And although there are specific labor regulations ruling duty time hours and internal company policies, you play a major and definitive role in regard to this topic. This is why understanding the underlying workings of fatigue development are essential to prevent it. WHAT IS FATIGUE? Fatigue is a state of weariness or exhaustion from labor, exertion or stress. Of course, the amount of labor, exertion or stress required to induce fatigue varies from individual to individual, and even from day to day for the same individual. For example, a standard amount of amount of work can induce fatigue sooner if we are also ill or under severe mental stress. In reality, fatigue is not an on / off state. Instead, it builds up over a period of time until it reaches a level where it needs to be relieved. The way our body recovers from fatigue is through sleep. UNDERSTANDING SLEEP It is a misconception to think that when we sleep we are turning our systems “off”. Actually, sleep is a very active state involving our entire body. When we sleep, we switch some systems off, such as our conscience, but we turn on several other vital functions. For example, during sleep our musculoskeletal system is repaired, and sleep also is paramount to mental recovery. Therefore, sleep can understood as the maintenance period we all need to keep our body “machine” running properly. In fact, this maintenance process is very wellcontrolled, meaning that once the fatigue threshold is reached, the system will try to start maintenance mode even if we try to do something else. Of course, we can voluntarily overrule this tendency by

Humans have two favorable periods during a 24 hour period that are more favorable to sleep: 1. Night period 2. Afternoon period These sleepy periods explain how it can be difficult to get to sleep even if we feel extremely tired: It is just not the ideal time. Sleep – favorable periods correlate very closely with our body temperature, which is slightly lower during those times. HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I NEED? On average, a healthy adult requires about 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. But we all know that there are people who claim they only need 6 hours or less, or conversely, those who will be in bad shape getting less than 10 hours. In reality, those who require less sleep have less difficulty going directly to deep, goodquality sleep and spend less time in a superficial sleep. In other words, the time spent with good quality sleep is the same for short and long sleepers. The ideal amount of sleep is what is necessary for one to get up feeling wellrested. When we don's have the necessary amount of sleep we accumulate a “sleep dept.” A sleep dept is considered acute if we skip a night of sleep and continue working the next day, or cumulative if we sleep one hour less every day over an extended period of time. The consequence of a sleep debt? Sleepiness. Sleepiness is the sign that we need to switch to maintenance mode and go sleep. When we are sleepy, our attention and focus are reduced. When many hours of sleep debt accumulate, the results may be: o Mood changes o Irritability o Decreased short-term memory o Poor communication Lack of sleep also makes us more prone to certain diseases because our defense and repair system is not working well enough.

USEFUL TIPS TO AVOID FATIGUE WHILE ON DUTY Ideally we should prevent fatigue to reach a level where alertness is compromised. But sometimes it may happen. When fatigue has set in, here are some ways that may be helpful to “re-set” our body machines: - Avoid accumulated sleep debt when starting a shift. Take advantage of all opportunities to have a good sleep. - Have a good sleep environment. The key to pay off sleep debt is good, quality sleep. A quiet, dark, sleeping room is important to minimize the time it takes for us to go into a deep sleep. - Try a quick nap if you notice that you are sleepy shortly before your shift. A nap is a short period of sleep (less than 2 hours) that has proven value in alleviating sleepiness and restoring alertness levels. Ideally a nap in the work environment shouldn't be longer than 15 to 40 minutes to avoid a slow transition time back to full alertness. - Take advantage of sleep-favorable periods in the day, usually around 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. -Avoid caffeine and exercise before going to sleep. Instead, take a hot shower, which promotes immediately relaxation. The drop in temperature that follows a hot shower also favors sleep. - Don't fight it if you hit the bed and can't sleep. This is certainly the result of going to bed when your mind is not yet in maintenance mode. Try for no more than 30 minutes. If you don't succeed, stay in bed and try to read something unimportant or listen to low-volume music. - If you identify persistent fatigue, consider the possibility of seeing a doctor to do a specific evaluation. Sleep disorders are frequent in the general population and there is treatment available that can improve your quality of life and work. - When sleepy, take a walk. Physical exertion increases our body temperature; walking around is always a good way to keep alert when sleepiness strikes on duty. - Caffeine is a potent brain stimulant, however, as with any other substance, when used too often our body can develop a tolerance to it. This means that to obtain the same effect one needs increasing doses of the substance. As a last resort, caffeine – present in coffee, tea and many soda beverages - can be a very useful resource if used appropriately.

pg 11

Compliments the ALERT bulletin

Council on Global Change, which I chair, will soon unveil a master plan for a transformation of society. Precisely because of Fukushima, we believe that a new basis of our coexistence is needed.

(The Environment) 23/March/2011 Leading Climatologist on Fukushima

'We Are Looting the Past and Future to Feed the Present’

SPIEGEL: What does that mean?

By Katrin Elger and Christian Schwägerl

Leading German climate scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber talks to SPIEGEL about the lessons of the Fukushima disaster, the future of nuclear energy in Germany and why our society needs to be transformed. "We consume as much oil in one year as was created in 5.3 million years," he warns. SPIEGEL: Who or what is to blame for the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima? Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: The earthquake was merely the trigger. The crazy logic we apply in dealing with technical risks is to blame. We only protect ourselves against hazards to the extent that it's economically feasible at a given time, and to the extent to which they can be controlled within the normal operations of a company. But the Richter scale has no upper limit. Why is a Japanese nuclear power plant only designed to withstand a magnitude 8.2 earthquake, not to mention tsunamis? SPIEGEL: Presumably because otherwise electricity from nuclear power would have been too expensive.

Schellnhuber: The entire affluence-based economic model of the post-war era is it in Japan or here in Germany, is based on the idea that cheap energy and rising material consumption are supposed to make us happier and happier. This is why nuclear power plants are now being built in areas that are highly active geologically, and why we consume as much oil in one year as was created in 5.3 million years. We are looting both the past and the future to feed the excess of the present. It's the dictatorship of the here and now. SPIEGEL: What's your alternative? Schellnhuber: We have to stop constantly ignoring the things that are truly harmful to our society. This includes nuclear accidents, but also the prospect of the Earth becoming between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by the year 2200. Only when we have taken the possibility of maximum losses fully into account can we decide whether we even want a specific technology. SPIEGEL: Up until now, you haven't been one of the vocal opponents of nuclear power. Schellnhuber: But neither was I a supporter of nuclear power. My position was: Let's take advantage of the cost benefits of the existing nuclear plants to quickly develop renewable energy systems. It was my hope that something good would emerge from something bad. SPIEGEL: How do you feel about the government's plans to temporarily shut down seven nuclear power plants in Germany? Schellnhuber: It's the right thing to do. Something resembling wha

t happened in Japan could also happen in Germany if one of the countless possible chains of unfortunate events were to occur. It's the unavoidability of the improbable. But the way the government approached the issue was not very beneficial for Germany's political culture. SPIEGEL: Why? Schellnhuber: Last year they decided that German power plants are safe. This allows for only two possible conclusions: Either the full truth wasn't recognized at the time, in which case it was bad policy, or they are reacting in a purely opportunistic fashion now, against their better judgment. That's even worse policy.

Only when we have taken the possibility of maximum losses fully into account can we decide whether we even want a specific technology. SPIEGEL: Are you worried that the government's new antinuclear course will lead to higher CO2 emissions because more coal will be burned once again? Schellnhuber: Actually, I'm convinced that this is precisely what Chancellor Angela Merkel will not allow. Now everyone is starting to realize that society's entire fossil-nuclear operating system has no future and that massive investments have to be made in renewable sources of energy. SPIEGEL: Do you feel that the government's abrupt change of course in relation to its energy policy is adequate? Schellnhuber: No. It can only be the beginning of a deep-seated shift. The German Advisory

Schellnhuber: We need a social contract for the 21st century that seals the common desire to create a sustainable industrial metabolism. We must resolve, once and for all, to leave our descendants more than a legacy of nuclear hazards and climate change. This requires empathy across space and time. To promote this, the rights of future generations should be enshrined in the German constitution. SPIEGEL: And specifically? Schellnhuber: For example, we have to stabilize energy consumption at a reasonable level. If we would finally start exploiting the full potential for energy efficiency in Germany, we could get by with at least 30 percent less energy input -without being materially worse off. SPIEGEL: How do you intend to convince society of the need for an upper limit to energy consumption? Schellnhuber: It can only be achieved with cultural change. To that end, society needs to have an entirely different discussion than before. This sort of change is one of the most difficult things I can imagine. SPIEGEL: Belt-tightening hasn't exactly been popular in the past. Schellnhuber: All it costs is a few percentage points of economic output to turn away from the dangerous path that would otherwise lead to more nuclear accidents and unchecked climate change. Green investments would only delay the growth of affluence between now and the year 2100 by six to nine months. Is that really too high a price to pay? SPIEGEL: Why is it that your messages haven't been all that well received until now? Schellnhuber: I'm neither a psychologist nor a sociologist. But my life experiences have shown that the love of convenience and ignorance are man's biggest character flaws. It's a potentially deadly mixture.

pg 13 Safes, cash washup on Japan shores after tsunami

AP–In this photo taken on April 7, 2011, a broken cashbox sits in the debris in tsunami-hit city of Ofunato, OFUNATO, Japan – There are no cars inside the parking garage at Ofunato police headquarters. Instead, hundreds of dented metal safes, swept out of homes and businesses by last month's tsunami, crowd the long rectangular building. Any one could hold someone's life savings. Safes are washing up along the tsunami-battered coast, and police are trying to find their owners — a unique problem in a country where many people, especially the elderly, still stash their cash at home. By one estimate, some $350 billion worth of yen doesn't circulate. There's even a term for this hidden money in Japanese: "tansu yokin." Or literally, "wardrobe savings.” So the massive post-tsunami cleanup under way along hundreds of miles (kilometres) of Japan's ravaged north-eastern coast involves the delicate business of separating junk from valuables. As workers and residents pick through the wreckage, they are increasingly stumbling upon cash and locked safes. One month after the March 11 tsunami devastated Ofunato and other nearby cities, police departments already stretched thin now face the growing task of managing lost wealth.

"At first we put all the safes in the station," said Noriyoshi Goto, head of the Ofunato Police Department's financial affairs department, which is in charge of lost-and-found items. "But then there were too many, so we had to move them.”

A 2008 report by Japan's central bank estimated that more than a third of 10,000-yen ($118) bank notes issued don't actually circulate. That amounts to some 30 trillion yen, or $354 billion at current exchange rates, ferreted away.

Goto couldn't specify how many safes his department has collected so far, saying only that there were "several hundreds" with more coming in every day. Identifying the owners of lost safes is hard enough. But it's nearly impossible when it comes to wads of cash being found in envelopes, unmarked bags, boxes and furniture.

The government has estimated that the cost of the earthquake and tsunami could reach $309 billion, making it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record.

Yasuo Kimura, 67, considers himself one of the lucky ones. The tsunami swallowed and gutted his home in Onagawa, about 50 miles (75 kilometres) south of Ofunato. He escaped with his 90-year-old father and the clothes on his back. But he still has money in the bank. That's not the case for many of his long-time friends and acquaintances, said Kimura, a former bank employee. "I spent my career trying to convince them to deposit their money in a bank," he said, staring out at his flattened city. "They always thought it was safer to keep it at home.” The number of safes that have turned up in Ofunato alone is a reflection of the area's population: In Iwate prefecture, where this Pacific fishing town is located, nearly 30 percent of the population is over 65. Many of them keep money at home out of habit and convenience, said Koetsu Saiki of the Miyagi Prefectural Police's financial affairs department. This practice is likely compounded by persistently low interest rates, leaving little financial incentive for depositing money in a bank. As in Iwate, local police stations in Miyagi are reporting "very high numbers" of safes and cash being turned in. "It's just how people have operated their entire lives," he said. "When they need money, they'd rather have their money close by. It's not necessarily that they don't trust banks. But there are a lot of people who don't feel comfortable using ATMs, especially the elderly.”

The figure includes direct losses from damaged houses, roads and utilities. But it doesn't take into account individual losses from home-held cash washed away by the powerful waves. With more than 25,000 people believed to have died in the tsunami, many safes could to go unclaimed. Under Japanese law, authorities must store found items for three months. If the owner does not appear within that time, the finder is entitled to the item, unless it contains personal identification such as an address book. If neither owner nor finder claims it, the government takes possession. But all those who survived and are seeking to retrieve savings will need to offer proof. That proof could include opening the safe and providing identification that matches any documents inside, said Akihiro Ito, a spokesman for the disaster response unit in Kesennuma, among the worst-hit cities in Miyagi prefecture. Cold, hard cash is more complicated. "Even if we receive 50,000 yen ($589) in cash, and someone comes in saying they've lost 50,000 yen, it's nearly impossible to prove exactly whose money we actually have," Saiki of Miyagi's police force said. Only 10 to 15 percent of valuables found in the tsunami rubble have been returned so far, officials in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures said last week. Instead of waiting, police in Iwate are considering a more proactive measure. Individual stations will likely start opening safes to try to identify their owners, said Kiyoto Fujii, a spokesman for the prefectural police.

And the safes are likely to keep on coming. “There's probably a lot of valuables still left in the rubble, including safes," Fujii said. "We are expecting and preparing for that.”

Education is a matter of Behaviour By Socrates (469 - 399 BCE) Who are to be considered educated persons: 1.Those who can control difficult situations instead of being controlled by them 2.Those who face all events with bravery, courage & logic 3.Those who are honourable (honest) in their affairs 4.Those who can handle poignant events and indecent people with good will 5.Those who were never defeated by bad luck or failure 6.Those who can control their desires 7.Those who remain unspoiled by success or glory. 8.It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated 9.Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten 10.Education begins a gentleman, conversation completes him. 11.Only the educated are free. 12.I have never let my schooling interfere with my education 13.A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education. 14.Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. 15.College isn't the place to go for ideas. 16.The great aim of education is not knowledge but action

How much does the world weigh? Best Answer - Chosen by Voters Finding the weight of the Earth is a complex task for several reasons. One is the folly of calculating the weight of objects without gravity; another is that Earth's mass is continually growing. Meteors hit the surface of the Earth each day, increasing its mass at a rate of approximately 10 to the 8th power kg every 24 hours. Of course, as we'll see, this figure is statistically insignificant. Size There is not an objective way to answer the question, "What is the weight of the Earth?" The question is not scientifically sound. When talking about celestial bodies, it is improper to ask about an object's weight due to gravitational pull. This depends entirely upon what system of gravity that object belongs to. It is more scientifically precise to ask about an object's mass, which is unchanging. This is something we can calculate. The Earth's mass is 5.9736í--1024 KG, or approximately 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00 kilograms. Expert Insight Calculating the Earth's mass lies in its spherical shape. The concentration of a sphere's mass is in the centre. As we learned from Sir Isaac Newton, the Earth's mass can be calculated just as you would discover any two spheres' gravitational attraction. It is through the formula Force = 6.67259x10-11m3/s2kg X M1 X

M2/Distance of separation. The M1 and M2 represent the masses of the two objects. To solve for M1 (the mass of the Earth), you need only plug in a value for M2--a value you can easily figure out, like the mass of a ball--and then calculate the acceleration the Earth's gravity puts on that mass when dropped. When this figure is put into the equation, you come out with the answer of the Earth's mass, which is written above. Features The Earth is a complex amalgam of many materials. The core of the Earth is made of core and nickel primarily, all of which is mostly molten. After this is the mantle, which is made up of rock and minerals, including iron, oxygen, silicon and magnesium. Finally, there is the crust, which is again made up of much of the same materials that comprise the mantle, along with a considerable amount of water. This is all contained within an atmosphere of gases, the primary components of which are nitrogen and oxygen. Considerations To put Earth's mass into perspective, you have to compare it with other planets. Earth may be the only planet in the universe-that we know of--to sustain any form of life but Jupiter is by far the king when it comes to pure mass. It is 318 times as massive as Earth, and more than twice as massive as all other planets in the solar system put together. Earth's closest cousin in terms of size is Venus, which is 4.86845 x 10 to the 24th power. Identification Now that you have an understanding as to why the measure of the Earth's "weight" is improper and unscientific, there's no harm in coming up with an

answer. The calculation of the Earth's weight would have to depend on choosing a gravitational field to use as a starting point. Since it is what we know, we'll use Earth's own gravitational field. With this, scientists can measure the weight of the Earth by calculating the weight of all of the components of Earth (the mantle, the crust, etc.) and adding them together. By doing this, we come up with an approximate Earth weight of 6,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons. If you want a quick way to say this, it's 6.6 sextillion tons.

history has left the industry. The mariner uses buoys much as he always has, as an indication of his position and to show him the extent of a navigable channel, or to mark an isolated hazard, such as a wreck over which his ship should not pass. Buoys use distinguishing colours, marks and shapes to assist the navigator in their use. The new system provides for a newly designed wreck marking buoy, and clearer distinguishing marks, along with provisions for more use of electronics and some ingenious new methods of lighting.

Comments are welcome.

One problem with channel buoys in particular is that when viewed against a well-lit coastline, they are hard to distinguish from lights ashore in the background. This is a particular problem approaching a coast or port. However, it is now possible to synchronise the flashes of lights along a channel, so that they either flash together, or in sequence, which makes them far easier to distinguish from others. Confusion can also be reduced by the use of “flickering” lights, rather than the traditional signals which provide for long, short or quickflashing signals. The new system which was agreed by IALA earlier this year is given wide promulgation through the International Maritime Organization and is very much a system that will permit future electronic developments. These might include provisions for more electronic navigation and even the use of “virtual” buoys that would be shown on an electronic chart. With any changes to navigation systems, great care has to be taken to ensure that changes are minimal, and do not cause confusion in an international industry.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4621 098_weight

The new International Buoyage System Despite the availability of satellite navigation systems, and ships that are awash with electronics, maritime buoyage still matters, particularly in pilotage waters where visual aids provide the best possible way of marking a channel or identifying obstructions. These days, buoys can be “intelligent” in that they have radar reflectors to help them show up on ship radars, possibly fitted with electronic beacons that show up on electronic charts and even made individually identifiable through their own Automated Identification System signatures. Buoys still remain very useful indeed. It is the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities which provide the global pattern for the maritime buoyage system. It established an internationally-accepted system in 1970 which set the colours, shapes, topmarks , lights etc for buoys, so that seafarers can use them around the world, even though there remain some differences between the two geographical zones with which

Source: Bimco

pg 15

Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl! By NICHOLAS WADE Yahoo. - January 17, 2011

Chaser proved to be a diligent student. Unlike human children, she seems to love her drills and tests and is always asking for more. “She still demands four to five hours a day,” Dr. Pilley said. “I'm 82, and I have to go to bed to get away from her.” One of Dr. Pilley's goals was to see if he could teach Chaser a larger vocabulary than Rico acquired. But that vocabulary is based on physical objects that must be given a name the dog can recognize. Dr. Pilley found himself visiting Salvation Army stores and buying up sacks full of used children's toys to serve as vocabulary items.

A NEW TRICK John W. Pilley, right, taught Chaser after reading about a dog whose owners taught him to recognize and fetch 200 items.

Chaser, a border collie who lives in Spartanburg, S.C., has the largest vocabulary of any known dog. She knows 1,022 nouns, a record that displays unexpected depths of the canine mind and may help explain how children acquire language. Chaser belongs to John W. Pilley, a psychologist who taught for 30 years at Wofford College, a liberal arts institution in Spartanburg. In 2004, after he had retired, he read a report in Science about Rico, a border collie whose German owners had taught him to recognize 200 items, mostly toys and balls. Dr. Pilley decided to repeat the experiment using a technique he had developed for teaching dogs, and he describes his findings in the current issue of the journal 'Behavioural Processes'. He bought Chaser as a puppy in 2004 from a local breeder and started to train her for four to five hours a day. He would show her an object, say its name up to 40 times, then hide it and ask her to find it, while repeating the name all the time. She was taught one or two new names a day, with monthly revisions and reinforcement for any names she had forgotten. Border collies are working dogs. They have a reputation for smartness, and they are highly motivated. They are bred to herd sheep indefatigably all day long. Absent that task, they must be given something else to do or they go stir crazy.

She was then presented with three of her toys and correctly pawed, nosed or fetched each one depending on the command given to her. It was hard to remember all the names Chaser had to learn, so he wrote the name on each toy with indelible marker. In three years, Chaser's vocabulary included 800 cloth animals, 116 balls, 26 Frisbees and a medley of plastic items. Children pick up about 10 new words a day until, by the time they leave high school, they know around 60,000 words. Chaser learned words more slowly but faced a harder task: Each sound was new and she had nothing to relate it to, whereas children learn words in a context that makes them easier to remember. For example, knives, forks and spoons are found together. Dr. Pilley does not know how large a vocabulary Chaser could have mastered. When she reached 1,000 items, he grew

WORKER Chaser was quite diligent.

tired of teaching words and moved to more interesting topics like grammar. One of the questions raised by the Rico study was that of what was going through the dog's mind

when he was asked to fetch something. Did he think of his toys as items labelled fetch-ball, fetch-Frisbee, fetch-doll, or did he understand the word “fetch” separately from its object, as people do? Dr. Pilley addressed the question by teaching Chaser three different actions: pawing, nosing and taking an object. She was then presented with three of her toys and correctly pawed, nosed or fetched each one depending on the command given to her. “That experiment demonstrates conclusively that Chaser understood that the verb had a meaning,” Dr. Pilley said. The 1,022 words in Chaser's vocabulary are all proper nouns. Dr. Pilley also found that Chaser could be trained to recognize categories, in other words common nouns. She correctly follows the command “Fetch a Frisbee” or “Fetch a ball.” She can also learn by exclusion, as children do. If she is asked to fetch a new toy with a word she does not know, she will pick it out from ones that are familiar. Haunting almost every interaction between people and animals is the ghost of Clever Hans, a German horse that in the early 1900s would tap out answers to arithmetic problems with his hoof. The psychologist Oskar Pfungst discovered that Hans would get the answer right only if the questioner also knew the answer. He then showed that the horse could detect minute movements of the questioner's head and body. Since viewers would tense as Hans approached the right number of taps, and relax when he reached it, the horse knew exactly when to stop. People project their expectations onto animals, particularly dogs, and can easily convince themselves the animal is achieving some humanlike feat when in fact it is simply reading cues unconsciously given by its master. Even though researchers are well aware of this pitfall, interpreting animal behaviour is particularly tricky. In the current issue of Animal Behaviour, a leading journal, two previous experiments with dogs have been found wanting. 'In one report, researchers say they failed to confirm an experiment showing that dogs would yawn contagiously when people yawn. 'Another report

knocks down an earlier finding that dogs can distinguish between rational and irrational acts. The danger of Clever Hans effects may be particularly acute with border collies because they are bred for the ability to pay close attention to the shepherd. Dogs that ignore their master or the sheep do not become parents, a fierce selective pressure on the breed's behaviour. “Watch a collie work with a sheepherder and you will come away amazed how small a gesture the person can do to communicate with his dog,” said Alexandra Horowitz, a dog behaviour expert at Barnard College and author of “Inside of a Dog.” (Note: If I can teach my dog why should I not be taught to remember and practice COLREGS? Ed.)

Airport Screening (Humour) For the year to date the results from the enhanced TSA Airport screening of the Department of Homeland Security are: Transvestites Discovered – 133 Hernias Diagnosed --1,485 Haemorrhoid Cases Diagnosed --3,172 Enlarged Prostates Discovered --8,249 Breast Implants Discovered --59,350 Natural Blondes Discovered --3 Terrorist Plots Discovered --0 Cheaper than an MRI!

from pg1

The Court considered what constitutes an “approval” letter from an oil major. The charterer contended that the meaning of “approvals” or “approved” was a matter of plain and ordinary English and that the correct interpretation in this context is that the owner warrants that the vessel has indeed been approved and will continue to be so throughout the charterparty. This, when applied to the letters relied on in this case, with their reservations and conditions, would mean that the owner had obtained no approvals at all. The charterer's case, if accepted, would have meant that this type of letter did not in fact constitute an approval in the context of the common charter requirement. However, the court considered the charterer's argument to be “doomed by the overwhelming evidence”. It was agreed by the experts for both sides that the word “approved” was used in the market at the relevant time (2007) to mean “acceptable to” oil majors who might or might not, when the prospect of a real transaction arose, decide to approve that vessel. It was not the practice of oil majors to grant approvals as such in advance. Express approvals were given only for specific voyages, not for a period of time. So the letters in the form relied on by the owner, it was agreed between the experts, are regarded in the industry as approval letters, despite the fact that they may often state that approval has not been granted and should not be assumed.

The Articles written and the Views expressed in this bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of CENTROFIN and/or its members. Queries to: wavelength@centrofin.gr Disclaimer. The contents provided herewith are for general information purposes only; not intended to replace or otherwise contradict the detailed instructions/procedures issued by the owners/managers, flag etc. Editor: Cmdr Nicholas A. ILIOPOULOS - Master Mariner - Human Resources Tel. +86.1347.8526 865. Email: ilioship@yahoo.com.sg Comments. This editor welcomes readers' responses to all articles & Editorials. Design-Production: www.paradox.com.gr Tel.+30.210.6560 574

NTROF AGEMENT I N AN

C.

CENTRO-NEWS

Ted GrahamPartner, London ted.graham@incelaw.com Philippa LangtonSolicitor, London philippa.langton@incelaw.com

IN

W

avelength

Regarding the “tbook” (“to the best of owner's knowledge”) qualification, the Judge observed that the term “tbook” cannot take an obligation beyond the extent of an owner's actual knowledge and does not require the owner to make enquiries in addition to those which would ordinarily be made in the course of its business. However, on the facts of this case, he held that the owner had breached its warranty that, to the best of its knowledge and belief, the vessel was approved by the specified oil majors and would remain so throughout the charterparty. In his view, it was inconceivable that the owner would have believed that the approval letters still applied in light of the problems at Antwerp.

M

Meaning of “approvals” or “approved”

Applying this in the context of the present charter, the Judge concluded that the approval letters had to be in place throughout the charter as per the warranty in Clause 18. In other words, at any time when offered to cargo buyers, the vessel must not be in a state which to the knowledge of the owner would remove the comfort of the warranted approvals to the potential purchaser of cargo. There would be a breach of warranty, for example, if some event occurs which, to the knowledge of the owner, would, if known to the issuer of the approval letter, cause it to withdraw or cancel that approval.

CE

Our Knowledge / Publications / Commercial Court interprets the meaning of “approved” by Oil Majors