Currents Issue Number 32 • June 2011 Currents Issue Number 32 • June 2011 4 The SS United States: an American Giant 20 Human Elements Related Accidents American Club Expands E-Learning U.S. Coast Guard MARPOL Investigations: 9 Based Tool Clean Seas 24 A Maritime Lawyer’s Perspective 10 Drug Smuggling from Colombian Ports 30 IMO Update Highlights 14 A Working Day at the Beach 32 A View from Romania 17 Indian Seafarers and Diabetes 35 FD+D Corner Contemporary Oracles of Pythia: All Class GT Breakdown 18 Seamen’s Contracts of Employment 39 to the left and page 22-23: The Merchant Seafarer’s War Memorial, Cardiff bay, Cardiff. designed and sculpted by brian fell (1996). one side of this sculpture is the beached hull section of a merchant ship , while the other features a human face at rest, incorporated into that same hull section. The hull rests on a circular mosaic by artists louise shenstone and adrian butler. inscribed around the edge of the mosaic are the words: “IN MEMORY OF THE MERCHANT SEAFARERS FROM THE PORTS OF BARRY PENARTH CARDIFF WHO DIED IN TIMES OF WAR” ManageMent Changes Cover art: The following appoinTmenTs have been The cover is a rendering of the passenger liner made To The sTaff of shipowners Claims SS UNITED STATES that was entered with the bureau, inC., The managers: american Club for more than 17 years between June 1952 and december 1969. The vessel was the new York last of the great passenger liners built solely in the LuCa Bruga Staff Surveyor united states. shaun F. CarroLL V.P.-Legal Special Projects The SS UNITED STATES still retains the honors of sharon a. DoYLe Accountant being the largest ocean liner ever constructed entirely in the u.s., and the fastest ocean liner to Mario Laspisa IT Support Specialist cross the atlantic in either direction, retaining the CharLeane t. saLsteaD Accounts Receivable blue riband given to passenger liners that crossed greeCe the atlantic ocean in regular service with the highest recorded speed. Joanna koukouLi Claims Executive aLexanDros LaMprinakis Claims Executive CURRENTS is edited by: Dr. william h. Moore Designed by: illustrated by: Mirror nYC Mr. John steventon IntroductIon By: Joseph e.M. hughes Chairman & Ceo shipowners Claims bureau, inc. new York, nY what’s in a plan? Tactical elements look to specific ways of achieving To parody Shakespeare, the unpurposed consequences goals. Action plans aimed at accomplishing the of pure serendipity might smell as sweet. Premeditation vision intrinsic to those goals are closely related and does not guarantee success. We are told that to fail to inter-connected. plan is to plan to fail. However, the Prussian general, The American Club has recently adopted a new von Moltke, once observed that battle plans become “top-down” strategy in succession to former initiatives. obsolete five minutes after a battle has commenced! Entitled Partners In Progress it has as its focus the Insurers deal with essentially fortuitous events. Club’s centennial in 2017. Can planning have much impact on ultimate results, It is predicated on a vision of the Club which, on at least by comparison with, say, manufacturing celebrating its centennial, will remain a first-division industry? There the components of future success marine insurer of a size, diversity, global reach, can be predicted with greater accuracy and hedged product range and service capability commanding against – for example, in regard to foreign currency universal respect within the industry. It will be exposures. distinguished by a high reputation for professional In spite of the limitations intrinsic to insurance integrity, financial strength and customer care. It will as a “plannable” business, there is virtue in having be supported by transparent and effective corporate strategies to meet future business conditions. governance with a committed and energetic Board Reinsurance aside, planning might be said to have four working in close and constructive cooperation with a distinct parts. Two could be described as “bottom up”. strong and highly motivated management team. Two are more “top down”. In the meantime, having experienced a solid The two “bottom up” elements of P&I planning renewal season, the American Club is now in the are those which relate to risk selection and price process of compiling its report for the twelve modeling. The former draws upon a club’s experience months to December 31, 2010. It was a very good of risk in the most general sense. It is also assisted year. Tonnage was stable. Premium rating remained by the prophylactic aims of a strong loss prevention firm. Retained claims declined substantially (by over program. Price modeling is informed by a club’s 30% in comparison with the next best year of the experience of types of risk, overhead (such as previous five years at the same stage of development). reinsurance and administrative expenses) and the Underwriting results continued to improve. calculation of “burning cost” by reference to particular Investments performed well (total funds up 17%, a trades, crews, flags, vessel types and so on. 7.7% return achieved). Free reserves grew substantially Each is a critical component in the assessment (by 29% on a GAAP basis, fully 48% in statutory and proper pricing of risk. In the American Club’s terms). Service capabilities were enhanced. case, each is conducted in accordance with a set of These trends have continued into the new policy year. economic matrices and controls. They provide a solid platform for the future development The “top down” elements of planning look to of the Club’s mission over the years ahead. the bigger picture and the global influences on club The accomplishment of this mission will entail performance. They have horizons beyond the practical hard work and dedication on the part of all those who assessment of individual risks, and take into account serve the American Club. It will certainly not lack the likely commercial landscape for years to come. energy and enthusiasm. These form the enduring core These “top down” elements can be divided into of the Club’s outlook. It will, however, and as always, tactical and strategic categories. The strategic is require the continuing support of the Club’s members informed by long-term influences on club positioning. and its many other friends throughout the world! 3 ThE SS UNITED STATES: an ameriCan gianT By: susan L. gibbs president, board of directors SS UNITED STATES Conservancy washington, d.C. 4 SS United States. photo by greg shutters. ThE SS UNITED STATES: an ameriCan gianT By: susan L. gibbs president, board of directors SS UNITED STATES Conservancy at 5:16 a.m. greenwich mean Time (gmT) on July washington, d.C. maritime historian Frank Braynard, the ship’s hull and 7, 1952, the SS UNITED STATES’ whistle sounded a machinery insurance coverage was the largest amount single, mighty blast. The sparkling new superliner ever written on any vessel, with half of the $31 million had just crossed the atlantic in three days, ten hours of coverage coming from the British market. The SS and forty minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots – UNITED STATES became a glorious symbol of the or 41 miles per hour – a full ten hours faster than nation’s post-war preeminence on the global stage. As britain’s Queen marY. The USA had competed and she dashed back and forth across the Atlantic, she prevailed against europe’s best. william francis gibbs, showcased American determination, technological the ship’s designer, and Commodore harry manning, innovation and supremacy. the ship’s master, were among the few on board that The SS UNITED STATES’ engines stopped roaring day who knew the truth: the SS UNITED STATES had back in 1969, her demise hastened by rising operating achieved her record-breaking crossing using only costs and competition from airplanes that reduced her two-thirds of her available power. dazzling trans-Atlantic sprint of three days, 10 hours and 42 minutes to just six airborne hours. After the ship was “We’ve done it,” the Commodore said soon after the withdrawn from service, she entered a painful purgatory. trans-Atlantic speed record was broken. When prodded First she was idled as government surplus in the James by a reporter to elaborate, he added, “I feel like a pitcher River until she was purchased in 1980 at a bankruptcy who has pitched a no-hit game!” auction by Steven Hadley, a Seattle real estate developer, William Francis Gibbs said simply, “I’ve dreamed of who planned to create “the world’s greatest luxury this for 40 years.” cruise ship.” His plans failed, as did those of a succession Press reports were euphoric, however none more of subsequent owners. In 1992, the former Cold War gushing than the ship’s own Ocean Press which claimed: weapon was towed from Turkey to an old Soviet naval “Not since the Phoenicians scooped out logs and base in the Ukraine for asbestos removal, branded the converted them into boats to introduce a new mode of transportation has such a momentous occasion taken place on the seas...”. The New York Times proclaimed susan gibbs is the granddaughter of william the new flagship a “noble craft” and “the very acme of francis gibbs, the naval architect and marine engineering skill.” engineer who designed the SS UNITED STATES. After the SS UNITED STATES turned around and broke susan serves as president of the SS United States the trans-Atlantic speed record in the other direction, Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization she embarked on a 17-year flawless service career. She dedicated to preserving and restoring the SS carried four U.S. presidents (Truman, Eisenhower, UNITED STATES.