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Europe
Unsafe at any draft – Part one
Captain Schettino of the Costa Concordia is off to jail to start his 16-year sentence for manslaughter. Most of the…
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Contributions
It’s not the economy, stupid!
Michael Grey, my mentor as a commentator on our industry, tells me that he recalls interviewing the late Pao YueKong,…
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Contributions
Micawber’s Dilemma: part two
In my last article, I suggested that ways of looking at ship operating costs have not changed very much since…
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Contributions
Micawber’s dilemma: Part one
Shipowners are in the default condition of the shipowning trade – no money. This is the normal state of the…
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Containers
Open, SesaMaersk!
I am inclined to think that there may be less to Maersk’s deal with Alibaba than meets the eye. Yes,…
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Containers
The liner revolution eats its children
What do you call a multi-billion-dollar global business in which the boards of directors of almost every large company in…
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Americas
Farewell, the Gutenberg Galaxy; hello, the Zuckerberg Zoo
Today the world has seen the end of two centuries of Anglo-Saxon dominance – a hundred years of Britain, from…
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Contributions
The gods of the copybook headings, and the Dunning-Krueger effect
Few people reading this will know what a copybook is. They are seldom used now, but when Kipling (who was…
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Containers
Shipping cycles: something nasty in the woodshed?
Before reading on, do take a look at what I wrote yesterday about shipping cycles. There are two nasty things…
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Contributions
Shipping cycles and trick cycles
The editor asked for my thoughts on the idea that the ‘shipping cycle’ might become a thing of the past,…
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Contributions
‘Our industry thrives on chaos’: Andrew Craig-Bennett on today’s referendum
The British Daily Telegraph newspaper recently carried an article about the reluctance of British men and women to go to…
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Contributions
Are you fluent in Quality Management-ese?
A friend spent a year as chief engineer of a North European ferry. The friend in question says that I…
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Contributions
Seven types of counterparty: part three
Having dealt with the few Good charterers and glanced at the slightly more common Bad charterers, we come to the…
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Contributions
Seven kinds of counterparty: part two
Before we start, do click here for yesterday’s first installment to bring you up to speed. We should start this…
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Contributions
Seven kinds of counterparty: part one
I caught sight of Tim Huxley on Splash TV, expressing his dissatisfaction with the counterparty risk in dry cargo, and…
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Containers
It could get a whole lot worse
I am going to suggest that, far from being near the bottom of the classic shipping cycle, we are at…
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Asia
The next Somalia
In January 2015, I went for a swim in the Sulu Sea. Just a family day out at the seaside,…
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Contributions
Club and Superclub
The merger of the UK P&I Club and the Britannia P&I Club is perhaps a sign of the times. Mergers…
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Contributions
Overweight sailors: a 21st century problem
I’m going to raise a rather small problem, when compared to the state of the markets, but a steadily growing…
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Americas
The Panama Papers: part three
“Ginny!” said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that…
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