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Containers
Two horsemen of the apocalypse
It’s too late to buy that VLCC. It’s far too late to sell anything, but you might want to try…
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Containers
Peak container
“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” I thought I’d just drop that line of Wittgenstein in here…
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Americas
The curious incident of the tariffs in the nighttime
In the 1930s the wage for an able seaman on a British foreign going ship was £8 ($32, in those…
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Contributions
What should be on show at SMM
Years ago, a young Chinese colleague summed up Russia – “Russia can sell you anything, except what you what you…
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Contributions
How to make money from the coming disruption to shipping
I used to work for a man – a very well-known shipowner – who said he would fire anyone who…
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Contributions
Is seafaring really a dying art?
“I think that the best and most perfect arrangement of things that I ever saw was when I went to…
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Contributions
A short wish list for the IMO
Some recent sessions at the IMO have been quite exciting, attracting attention from the ‘mainstream’ (non-shipping) media and from Transparency…
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Bunkering
Mind the sulphur cap
The shipowners of the world, with a handful of specific exceptions, are not going to be scrubbing their funnel flue…
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Contributions
Sleeve oil and its substitutes post MEPC 72
Up to now, owners have been a bit wary about putting their ships’ fuel consumptions in the public domain. For…
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Contributions
Practical aspects of the IMO MEPC 72
I mentioned, a few days ago, that in the future, as the ‘open range’ that the high seas have been,…
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Europe
Weasel words give owners breathing space in the emissions debate
There was a convention amongst shipping journalists that one did not criticise the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO). However curious…
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Contributions
2035 and all that: Global warming, shipping emissions and acronym soup
Before diving into the acronym soup in which this subject floats, I would like to say something: When I last…
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Contributions
Is there intelligent life in shipping?
“Is there intelligent life on Earth?” read a graffito on the wall of the Old Schools Building, Downing Street, Cambridge,…
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Contributions
Can we be honest about the damage we are all doing?
Amongst this week’s contributions to the gaiety of nations we may include the attempt by our industry’s lobbying bodies to…
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Contributions
Abandonment issue gives shipmanagers a chance to shed ‘spiv’ image
The announcement by the eight big shipmanagers that they propose not to do business with owners who have a history…
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Contributions
When London had international shipping, it didn’t need a Week
I started work in the City in 1974; within walking distance of my office in St Mary Axe were three…
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Containers
And then there were three: Musical chairs and containerships
This column contains speculation. I hope that it is speculation based on the principle that, to a certain extent, the…
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Contributions
Micawber’s Dilemma: part three
“I’ve done my AMOS for the day!” “If it’s Tuesday, it must be cargo pumps!” “It is found that anything…
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Contributions
Unsafe at any draft – Part three
The published accounts by the two survivors of the loss of the make very sobering reading. The speed with which…
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Contributions
Unsafe at any draft – Part two
On March 31, in fine weather, with everything onboard as routine as could be, the Stellar Daisy began to list,…
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