The Dof of the Year competition is progressing nicely, with entries tumbling in; problem is, in most cases I have had a good laugh, only to be sworn to secrecy and banned from publishing as the informants are afraid of being identified by the entrants. Someone who has no concern over being named as the source is my old friend Gavin Forsyth at Safcor.
He recently phoned Safmarine and a keen young gentleman was eager to assist. Safcor has 3000 ton of lead concentrate to move to the USA, he says, and asks whether Saf's ships would carry a bulk parcel?
Absolutely, enthuses the dear boy; we have no problem carrying bulk - as long as it's in bags, drums or pallets. At the risk of being accused of favouritism, Simon Avis gets another mention. Simon's wife recently had her credit card stolen; he
hasn't reported the theft to police as the person who stole it is spending less than she did...
My friends at ASABOSA are touchingly concerned for my welfare; at their recent meeting they perused the latest FTW and were appalled to find my article absent, and only the eagle eye of Rod Eaton, who noticed the indisposed message buried in the depths of the magazine, brought a semblance of order to the gathering. Afterwards Andre Wissler tells me an interesting story. Over the last few wet and rainy weeks he has had numerous complaints from clients regarding their containers; apparently, once delivered to their premises, the boxes then proceed either to sink into the mud or tip over with resulting damages, claims, recriminations etc. I have advised Rennies to respond with a clarity and send out a letter announcing the immediate implementation of a new BAF (Bottom Awash Factor) and CAF (Container All Fall Down Factor) payable at the exchange rate in force at the beginning of the rainy season. The claims are opening up the exciting new concept of mini-INCO terms, with transporters blaming the receivers, receivers the agents, and so on. Whoever said this business was boring?...
Support for the planned Freight Forum has been, er, flooding in. I have been allocated the task of sorting the returned questionnaires into order and tabulating the data; whilst we are a fair way off the actual planning stage, I thought it no harm to share with you some of the information received as it makes interesting reading. So far, the majority (58%) of the people who replied fall into the other occupation bracket with a further 25% coming from the forwarding industry. The statistics might be a tad inaccurate, which I blame on people's handwriting; I had Basil Petzer down as a 'cleaner' until my sainted editor pointed out that the word was in fact 'co owner'. Again, the vast majority (65%) have accomplished more than 10 years in the industry which wasn't quite the target age group we had in mind; as far as areas to be covered, charter parties got a big thumbs-down but INCO terms, documentation and bills of lading were very popular subjects. Charles Dey and Don Strachan helpfully sent in forms which contained their names and nothing else which suggests that, when all else fails, just read the instructions. Overall, some interesting replies, and all shall be revealed in due course, as they say...
By the time you read this article, the first Shipwreckers party of the year will have come and gone, which is a pity in that the fax advertising the event only came out a day ago, thus depriving the organisers of some free coverage in this esteemed journal. These things take more than a few days to plan, and one would think that they would be capable of giving a bit more notice so people can make arrangements to attend. I for one will be late and will therefore miss the supporting bouts, but I hope to have a ring-side seat reserved for me (in my journalistic capacity) for the main fight of the evening. Exactly which liner agency is the champion and which is the challenger is a well-kept secret known only to the organisers, but I hope Safmarine will be on hand again to dish out caps to the runners-up. I normally precede these functions with a good meal, as the Old Time dancing for the over 18s only gets going at about 11pm, but considering I am due to have lunch that day with one of the Bambis, I hope I end up doing the Farmer's Waltz; twice round the floor, and outside for my oats ...
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