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Law Offices of Countryman & McDaniel

THE CARGO LETTER [399]

Air & Ocean Logistics - Customs Broker News

30 March 2004

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Good Tuesday Morning from our Observation Deck......overlooking the officially designated "Cargo City" area and...... Runway 25-Right, at Los Angeles International Airport, voted "Best Cargo Airport in North America." Here's what happened in our industry during March 2004.

Just back from China's Pearl River Delta on cases -- I thank God for the new liver accorded our dear Kimberlee Countryman -- the start now, of her new life!  McD

To help you find what you need -- FAST -- there's now a transport search engine installed at our Cargo Law.com website!

Contribute your knowledge, stories & company information.......by e-mail to The Cargo Letter.  We strive to bring you useful information which is timely & topical.  Be sure to visit our website.

Our corporate sponsor &endash;- Interpool, Inc. -- named again to Forbes "Best 200 Small Companies" List -- for the 2nd consecutive year! -- http://www.interpool.com/

Michael S. McDaniel, Editor, Countryman & McDaniel, forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.

INDEX to The Cargo Letter:

OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News***

1. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs ______________                            

2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page ______________                               

OUR "B" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs ____________                         

OUR "C" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

4. FF World Ocean Briefs _____________________                                            

5. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches _____        

**Back By Popular Demand**

OUR "D" Section:  FF in Cyberspace***

6. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports of Call" _________             

OUR "E" Section:  The Forwarder/Broker World***

7. New Transport Related Legal Cases ___________            

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 Back To Main Page

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OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News***

  1. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs _____________

***3PL Sets The Pace ....... as for the 9th consecutive year, U.S. growth in 3rd-party, contract logistics services exceeded U.S. economic growth.  Net revenues for FY 2003 grew by 6% to US$32.9Bn following 7% growth for FY 2002. Net income increased to 4% of net revenue from 3% in FY 2002 & 1.7% in FY 2001. Gross revenues increased by 8.2% to US$76.9Bn. Individual company results varied with select companies posting strong results.  Value-added transportation manager C.H. Robinson continued to improve its best-in-class results by increasing net revenue (gross margin) by 12.6%. Its net after-tax income margin increased to 20.9% -- net revenue was US$545M -- net income was US$114M.  Another transportation manager with top quality results was Landstar Logistics.  Landstar's net revenue was up 18.4% according to an Armstrong & Associates' report.

UPS Supply Chain Solutions (UPS-SCS) has reached US$2.1Bn in net revenue.  UPS-SCS (former Fritz Companies) was profitable in all 4 quarters of FY 2003.  Standard UPS operating efficiencies are taking hold.

Among midsize value-added warehouse distribution (VAWD) 3PLs, Kenco, Genco & DSC all had revenue growth exceeding 10%.  Net after-tax profitability for the VAWD segment improved to 2.3% from 1.7% in FY 2002. Exel and UPS-SCS continue to be the major players in VAWD. Both had good growth & improved profitability.

Of the 35 companies in the Armstrong & Associates core tracking group, 89% had increases in net revenues for FY 2003. The complete report for 2003 can be obtained by contacting at Armstrong & Associates.

***Madrid Tragedy Continues ........ as a mysterious group that claimed to have planted bombs on the French railroad network announced March 25 it is suspending its terror threats while it improves its ability to carry them out. In 2 letters, addressed to President Jacques Chirac & Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the group, which calls itself AZF, said that "there are currently no bombs capable of functioning on the French rail network." The letter came a day after a bomb with 7 detonators was found half-buried on a passenger train track near the town of Troyes, SE of Paris, triggering a massive inspection of the tracks. It was the 2nd bomb discovered hidden under tracks in just over a month - and the 2nd inspection of thousands of miles of track. The French government 1st revealed the threat from AZF on March 3, when it said a powerful bomb was found Feb. 21 on the Paris-Toulouse train line near Limoges in central France. In northern Greece, a passenger train was evacuated May 25 after a bomb threat was phoned in to police. France has been on high alert since the Madrid attacks, with soldiers patrolling trains, train stations & airports. Terrorism is a global threat.

***U.S. Deficit Speeds ...... as the Commerce Dept. reports the U.S. trade deficit in Jan. widened to a record US$43.1Bn from US$42.7Bn in Dec. 2003.

***South Korea Surplus Brakes ...... as its trade account surplus fell to a revised US$1.93Bn in Feb, ending a 5 month streak of over US$2Bn in surplus because of rising raw material prices, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy said March 26. The trade account surplus, revised from a preliminary US$2.05Bn, is based on exports of US$19.33Bn & imports of US$17.39Bn, according to the ministry. Exports were up 45% last month from same period in 2003.

***Shenzhen Surge ......... as it has recorded an 11.7% increase in foreign trade during the 1st 2 months of the year compared to the same period in 2003. Figures released by customs officials in Shenzhen show that total imports & exports for Jan. through Feb. totaled US$17.41Bn, Shenzhen Customs reported. Import & export trade amounted to US$3.75Bn, up 30% year-on-year. Imports rose 36.5% to US$2.56Bn, while exports increased by 18% to US$1.19Bn during the same period. Shenzhen authorities said the special economic zone's imports & exports of high-tech products in the 1st 2 months of 2004 stood at US$8.22Bn, up 24.8% over 2003. Import & export trade by companies located within the Shenzhen bonded customs area rose 17.8% over Jan. & Feb. to $2.85Bn.

***Not In Kansas Anymore ........ as there are problems for the land transportation of goods between Russia & China due to a lack of forwarding agents on the Chinese side of the border to handle the export of goods in to Russia. The lack of door-to-door delivery service has resulted in a backlog of goods on the Chinese side of the border awaiting delivery by truck drivers on the Russian side, who are responsible for taking the goods across the border in to the Russian hinterland, reported the Xinhua news agency. Chinese cargo owners have called for assistance from Chinese forwarding agents to take care of all the customs procedures on their behalf to save them the effort of taking care of all the delivery arrangements at the border themselves. Between 1998 & 2003, Chinese transportation companies handled just 17% of the total amount of Chinese exports flowing in to Russia by land, resulting in comparatively higher cargo handling fees for goods traded between China & Russia. Applications anyone?

***WTO Takes 2 x 4 To U.S. Position ....... as the World Trade Organization ruled last week that some U.S. duties on Canadian lumber are illegal under Int'l rules. In 2002, the U.S. imported nearly US$6Bn of softwood lumber from Canada &emdash; about a 3rd of the U.S. market. Softwood lumber, from pine, spruce & other trees, is a key product in home construction. The U.S. Int'l Trade Commission ruled in May 2002 that imports of lumber from Canada were subsidized & threatened to damage the domestic lumber industry by depressing prices. Based on that finding, the Dept. of Commerce started imposing extra import duties on Canadian lumber imports. However, Canada took its case to the WTO in May 2003 claiming the U.S. failed to take into account all the causes of reduced prices & that the decision was not based on an "objective examination" of the evidence. Canada now prevails.  We await the effect of all this on entries & a number of legal cases.

***People's Republic of China Says Come On Down ........ as it has recently designed a program for foreign companies to wholly own businesses on the mainland through the establishment of Foreign Invested Export Procurement Centers (FIEPC). The new procedures were implemented at the end of last year to bypass World Trade Organization rules that ban China's trading businesses from being wholly foreign-owned until Dec. 17, 2004. Under the new procedures, a foreign investor can own 100% of the equity in an FIEPC. Applications to establish a FIEPC have to be approved by China's Ministry of Commerce. The advantages of establishing a FIEPC include: no location requirements & more operational flexibility for the program's participants. To become a FIEPC, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise or a joint venture between a mainland company and foreign investor, must meet requirements such as maintaining an Int'l marketing network & being capable of export procurement. The Chinese investor, in the case of a joint venture, must have a good credit record, and possess a registered capital of at least US$3.6M. Another key requirement of a FIEPC is that all of its products must be sold abroad, although exceptions can be made in special circumstances to sell products domestically, subject to government approval. A FIEPC will be eligible for a reduced income tax rate provided it is located in a special economic zone or in the Pudong area of Shanghai. A FIEPC will also enjoy the same export tax rebate status as a domestic trading company. In the event the FIEPC is located outside a free trade zone, it will be able to obtain the same type of export tax rebate as a foreign invested holding company.

***AFL-CIO Says China Came On Down ......... as the largest U.S. labor union, filed a trade complaint with the U.S. Trade Representative on 16 March asking the Bush administration to impose economic sanctions on China. According to the 13 million member union, "the Chinese government's persistent pattern of violating Int'l standards of workers' rights is inflicting great hardship on working families in both our countries." The petition claims that in order to gain a competitive advantage over the U.S., China is brutally repressing workers' rights, and that this constituted an unfair labor practice under the U.S. Trade Act. The petition comes as concerns over the U.S. trade deficit with China as well as competitiveness & unemployment issues are on the rise in the U.S. According to the AFL-CIO, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has 45 days to decide whether to launch an investigation into the case. Read the AFL-CIO report.

***Protester Warning: Don't Burn That Bra ......... as there are fears that with the decades-old quota system controlling the worldwide garment industry set to expire by the end of 2004, new trade restrictions will be put in place as early as 2005 to limit the flow of Chinese-made clothing entering the U.S.  Last year, the U.S. government set new trade restrictions on bras, bathrobes & knitted garments amid a surge of imports from China. Industry experts are warning that if the flood of cheap clothing imports from China continues, authorities in the U.S. are likely to look for other forms of protections, reported The Wall Street Journal. The likelihood of this type of scenario emerging is greater given that this year is an election year in the U.S., and both Republicans & Democrats will be looking to secure votes from Americans concerned about growing domestic unemployment rates & losing more jobs to China's rapidly expanding industries. It is predicted that popular clothing items such as knit & woven tops could be targets for a temporary quota, while items such as yarns, fabrics, bed linens & towels might be vulnerable to antidumping cases. Stand by.

***U.S. & The Dominican Republic Are Free ....... as on 15 March they reached an agreement integrating the Dominican Republic into the recently concluded U.S.-Central American Free Agreement (CAFTA). During the final round of negotiations, officials ironed out disagreements in contentious areas such as agriculture, textiles and intellectual property.

***Mailing It In ....... as chief executives Michael Eskew of United Parcel Service & Fred Smith of FedEx urged Congress this month to ensure that in future the U.S. Postal Service will not be permitted to leverage its mail monopoly to compete with privately run businesses. They recommended the government even consider steps to repeal that monopoly by the end of 2008 when similar government-supports in Europe are expected to end. Their views were offered as lawmakers continue to draft legislation to further overhaul the 229-year-old quasi-government entity to function more like a business in an era increasingly dominated by e-mail & E-Commerce. "It's clear the postal service faces serious challenges," Eskew said of efforts to restructure operations, cut US$7.3Bn in debt and confront the alarming decrease in volume of its core first-class mail business.

***Kansas City Southern Wins The Mexican War ....... as it has announced that the panel of the AAA Int'l Center for Dispute Resolution hearing the dispute between Kansas City Southern (KCS) & Grupo TMM, S.A. (TMM) issued its interim award on March 19, 2004 finding that the Grupo Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. (Grupo TFM) Acquisition Agreement remains in force & is binding on KCS & TMM in accordance with its terms. Under the Acquisition Agreement, KCS would acquire all of the shares of Grupo TFM. Grupo TFM owns all of the common stock of TFM, S.A. de C.V., Mexico's premier freight railroad.  The dispute arose out of TMM's attempt on Aug. 22, 2003 to terminate the Acquisition Agreement following the vote of its shareholders against approval of the April 20, 2003 Acquisition Agreement. The arbitration panel concluded that the rejection of the Acquisition Agreement by TMM's shareholders did not authorize TMM's purported termination of the Agreement. KCS & TMM will now move on to the 2nd phase of the arbitration, which will decide the remaining issues, including KCS's remedies & damages.  KCS is a holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico & Panama -- primary is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company. >> In sum, KCS gets to buy Mexico's premier freight railroad.

***Back To Work After 5 Weeks ....... as CN announced March 27 that owner/operator truck drivers represented by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) have ratified a new collective agreement with CNTL, a subsidiary of CN. The agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2004. There are approximately 380 owner/operators covered under the agreement. The owner/operators provide local trucking services for CN's major intermodal terminals in Canada.

***Singing Rails ........ as the number of intermodal loadings on the nation's railroads totaled 199,866 trailers or containers in the week ended March 5, up 10% from the same week a year earlier.

***Eurotunnel Attempts To Keep The Tube Open ....... as it has nominated a former Euro Disney executive as its new chairman this month as the debt-stricken tunnel operator prepared for a looming showdown with disgruntled French shareholders. Philippe Bourguignon, a former CEO of both Euro Disney & Club Mediterranee, is to take over from outgoing Eurotunnel chairman Charles Mackay in Oct. The operator of the rail tunnel linking Britain & France said Bourguignon would "significantly strengthen the company's ability to implement a durable solution to Eurotunnel's financial problems" as it struggles to rein in its debt of US$11Bn. Since operations began in 1995, the number of people passing through the tunnel on high-speed Eurostar trains & vehicle-carrying shuttles has fallen way short of the original predictions -- down to 15.6 million last year, according to Eurotunnel figures. Euro Disney & Club Med? Oh yeah, "The Pirates of The Eurotunnel" ride -- might work!

***TT Club Writes Off Bolero Investment ....... as according to Bow Wave (Issue 227) this year's annual report of 2003 from the TT Club reports a gain in free reserves of US$7.1M & notes that the Club's investment in Bolero has been written down to nil. The Bolero venture has been one of the longest running efforts to revolutionize Int'l trade of the modern electronic era & has been going one way or another for over a decade. A considerable investment in time, money & entire careers has been put into Bolero, but with little to show for the effort.  The grand experiment to seamlessly unite shippers, banks & importers on the Internet -- the proposed world standard, the stuff of heady seminars in exotic locales -- now appears to wind down. Sadly, this is the hallmark of a single track soultion in our age.

***TransMex Logistics Helps You To Trans-Mex .......as the OrderPro Logistics subsidiary has launched its Passport Plus program, designed to take the worry out of shipping to/from Mexico by providing intense scrutiny & screening of shipments. Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) & Union Pacific Carrier Services (UPCS) will be using Passport Plus as a new shipping option to/from Mexico. This includes billing & documentation all the way through to delivery at final destination. TransMex will work directly with UPCS to offer UP contract holders the new Passport Plus service. TransMex will be responsible for reviewing bill of lading and all shipping documents to verify accuracy, monitor all transportation and customs events & proactively resolve issues before they cause transit delays.

***Buggy Whips For Sale ........ as the Executive Committee of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Dept. unanimously approved a resolution on March 7 calling for an end to remote control train operations. "It should now be clear, if there was any doubt, that remote control locomotives are dangerous & must be regulated or eliminated," the resolution states. Remote control technology allows a single worker on the ground to operate a train, instead of the traditional 2 person crew of an engineer in the cab & brakeman or conductor on the ground. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen is an affiliate of the Teamsters Rail Conference. The union vows to push for reestablishment of the "fireman" & "stoker" crew positions next year.

***UPS Hailed By Women ....... as it has for the 5th consecutive year been named among the U.S.'s top corporations for women business enterprises by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a 3rd-party certifier of businesses owned & operated by women.

***CP Ships Takes A 3PL .......... as it is buying Montreal-based ROE Logistics for an undisclosed sum. ROE is a family owned business founded in 1979 & has offices in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary & Vancouver with gross revenues (excluding customs duty and tax) of US$27M. It specializes in providing a range of forwarding, customs brokerage, logistics, warehousing & distribution services. Robert Elvidge, founder, will remain CEO.

***Geologistics Goes To The Edge ........ as the North America-based global 3PL, has started operations in Pakistan with 5 offices, including a head office in Karachi.

***Kuehne & Nagel Skin The CAT ....... as the big Swiss logistics company has completed its purchase of CAT Group's Overseas Logistics Division. K&N said it received approval from the French antitrust authorities for its acquisition, which was originally announced Jan. 21. K&N is integrating CAT's operations, business and contracts as well as 80 staff.

***RMI Says "Paperless" ....... as the provider of secure rail information services to the industry has announced the availability of its Automated Manifest System (AMS) Service. The new service provides carriers, port authorities, & forwarders with the ability to participate in the U.S. Customs' AMS cargo release notification system, which uses EDI to facilitate the rapid identification & release of shipments. RMI says it is committed to creating a "Paperless Railroad' system. The AMS Service links directly to the U.S. Customs' AMS System, a multi-modal cargo inventory control & release notification system, which interfaces directly with Customs Cargo Selectivity and In-Bond systems, allowing faster identification & release of shipments. AMS speeds the flow of cargo & entry processing and provides participants with electronic authorization to move cargo prior to arrival. AMS reduces reliance on paper documents and speeds the processing of manifest & waybill data. 

***Broadband Security Loop For Texas ....,,, as a proposal to create a broadband communications network for security in a loop around southern Texas is gaining support with the Dept. of Defense. The high-speed broadband network would extend from San Antonio to Laredo, along the border, up to Corpus Christi & back to San Antonio for homeland security applications. The San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative said the network could help coordinate nuclear, biological, chemical & cargo surveillance. About US$2.5M to create a demonstration project.

***You Will (Shall) Go RFID ...... as Wal-Mart will begin a pilot test of RFID technology at a single regional distribution center in Dallas in April, marking the next milestone in the retailer's push to gain better inventory control by placing electronic license plates on pallets & cartons for its stores -- part of an aggressive plan to get its Top 100 suppliers to deploy the tracking technology by the beginning of 2005.

***The Future of Choosing Local Routes ......... as San Francisco's Metropolitan Transportation Commission has added on-demand, point-to-point driving times to its 511 phone service, making the Bay Area the 1st metropolitan area in the U.S. to offer this level of detail on traffic conditions through a toll-free 511 system. Tapping data from toll transponders & constantly updated information from Caltrans, the 511 Driving Times feature tells commuters the current travel time between cities or  landmarks in the Bay Area, & if there are any incidents. Driving time information also is available at a new Traffic Website

***Unfortunately - This Is An Old Story ....... as a truck hauling US$1M worth of computers was stolen from a truck stop near Indianapolis on March 5. Although police later pulled over a different truck & found the stolen computer monitors (happens all the time), the subject truck remains missing. Police said James Edward Reynolds, Jr. pulled his 2000 Mack truck off Interstate 65 in Whiteland, 10 miles south of Indianapolis, to get a cup of coffee. He returned 5 minutes later -- truck missing. We hope the coffee was good. According to police, the rig was locked, as were air brakes that required a separate key. In addition, the thief disabled a device that lets the owner, Warrior Xpress, track the vehicle. Don Rondeau, director of security for the American Trucking Assns., said thieves recently have developed methods to target specific types of cargo & networks for quickly unloading their loot. Geeez, all this was preventable. Write to The Cargo Letter for "Best Practices." Your next major loss is tomorrow.

***Getting Respect .......... as Customer Respect Group, an Int'l research & consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their customers online has released the results of its Spring 2004 Online Customer Respect Study of 25 transportation & logistics firms that rank among the countries largest 1000 companies. The study is the only one to bring objective measure to the analysis of corporate performance from an online customer's perspective. It assigns a Customer Respect Index (CRI) rating to each company on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest achievable score. The Customer Respect Index is a qualitative & quantitative in-depth analysis & independent measure of a customer's online experience when interacting with companies via the Internet. Results include:

Yellow Corp.                 9.8  

United Parcel Service, Inc.       8.7

C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.    7.2

U.S. Postal Service            7.1

EGL, Inc.                    7.1

DHL                        7.0

FedEx Corp.                  6.6

Expeditors Int'l of Washington, Inc.  3.1

Hub Group Inc.                2.7

Pacer Int'l, Inc.               2.7

BAX Global Inc.                2.3

Werner Enterprises, Inc.         1.6

Industry Average              5.9

***Pricy Paste ...... as Dutch customs officers found a novel ingredient after they checked a Moldovan truck containing barrels of tomato paste -- cocaine. The government said on March 11 that officers who checked the truck on Feb. 24 with a special scanner found that 4 of the 944 barrels of paste contained some 100 kilos (220 lb) of cocaine with a street value of EUR4.4 million.

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  2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page ______

**Alpine Air Express Inc. DOWN with a net consolidated loss of US$241,435 for the fiscal 3 months ending Jan. 31, 2004.

**Crowley Liner Services. UP with operating income from this business up 15% to US$20.9M -- compares with operating income on liner-shipping activities of US$18.2M in 2002. Crowley reported a 0.2% decrease in average revenue per TEU last year.

**FedEx Corp. UP with a 41% increase in 3rd-quarter profits of US$207M, or 68 cents per share, up from US$147M, or 49 cents per share, in same period last year.

**Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. UP for fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2003 with operating profit of US$77.5M (including a US$17.5M security fee reimbursement from the federal government) on revenue of US$706.1M, compared to an operating loss of US$55.2M on revenue of US$632M for 2002.

**Hyundai Merchant Marine. DOWN with a net loss of 21.1 billion Korean Won (US$18M) in 2003, as compared to a net profit Won142.2 billion in 2002.

**Lufthansa. DOWN with a record net loss of EUR984 million (US$1.19Bn) for 2003, compared to net profit of EUR717 million in 2002.

**Orient Overseas Int'l (OOIL) UP as net profit after taxation increased by 536% for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003 to US$329M from US$51.7M in 2002. Subsidiary company, OOCL handled 2.69 million TEU last year, an increase of 18.7% over 2002. Total revenues grew 36.6% in 2003 to US$2.8Bn.

**P&O Nedlloyd. UP with Q4 net after-tax profit of US$56M, compared to loss of US$83M in 2003.

**Providence a& Worcester Railroad Co. UP as net income for the year increased to US$668,000 from US$22,000 in 2002. Diluted income per share increased to US$.15 in 2003 from less than US$.01 in 2002.  

**Swiss Int'l Air Lines. DOWN with an operating loss of CHF498 million (US$396.58M) in 2003 compared with a loss of CHF909 million in 2002. Total 2003 consolidated income reached CHF4.13 billion 

***FedEx Debt Sale ...... as it is expected to sell US$1.6Bn of debt, Bloomberg reported last week, citing sources "familiar with the matter." The sale includes 1 year floating-rate notes, 3 & year fixed-rate notes. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is managing the offering, Bloomberg said. Proceeds will be used to repay short-term debt.

***To Its Credit ....... as Interpool, Inc. has closed a secured bank financing of US$76M with Fortis Bank of the Netherlands, with a 2nd tranche of US$4M expected to follow. The container & chassis lessor, based in Princeton, N.J., said proceeds from the financing are being used to finalize the acquisition of containers ordered last year, to refinance an existing loan, & for general corporate purposes.

***OrderPro Logistics Twice ........ as it has been accepted for listing on the Berlin Bremen Stock Exchange. OrderPro Logistics Inc. now trades under the ticker symbol ON3 and German CUSIP number 120959. OrderPro Logistics will continue to trade on the NASDAQ OTC Bulletin Board under its symbol OPLO.        

***Swift Move ....... as Swift Transportation Co. Inc. has repurchased 3.5 million shares of its common stock at a cost of US$65M during 1st quarter of 2004 as authorized under the US$100M stock repurchase program previously announced on Feb. 11, 2004. In addition, CEO Jerry Moyes purchased 150,000 shares of the company's common stock during this same period. The Board has authorized the company to repurchase up to US$100M of its common stock on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions until Feb. 28, 2005. (NASDAQ-NMS: SWFT

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OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News***

  3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs ___ 

***Going To The Dogs. ........as the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) has added 12 new airport canine teams to help screen cargo at airports.  In addition, the dogs could be used in response to bomb threats at airport terminals & vehicles. The new teams will be used at airports in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington, Chicago and New York. The canine teams will be responsible for searching for explosives at airports, including warehouses, baggage areas, car parks, & aircraft cockpits, cabins, & overhead storage bins. Dogs will also increase the amount of cargo that is screened before it is placed onboard freighters & passenger aircraft. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center & the Pentagon, the number of canine teams available for airport duty has doubled to 299 at 64 of the nation's busiest airports. Plans call for further expanding the program to 375 teams at 82 airports across the U.S.

***Open Minds ........ as Lynnette Shifman has won The Int'l Air Cargo Assn.'s (TIACA) 2003 graduate research paper competition for her dissertation, titled, "Inside The Quality Practice: Perceived Benefits of Achieving ISO Certification In The Air Freight Industry." Ms. Shifman is a Ph.D. candidate in business administration at Northcentral University in Arizona. Her paper was selected as winner of the annual award by TIACA's Education Committee. The dissertation studied the relationship between successfully achieving ISO certification & the 4 major company goals of upgrading systems, providing customer service, identifying the cost of implementing a quality program & improving on time performance. Read Ms. Shifman's paper & more information on the 2004 TIACA graduate research competition:

***Open Skies ........ as all restrictions will be removed on commercial flights between Australia & China under an agreement the two countries signed last week. The new Air Services Agreement will allow unrestricted passenger & cargo services between Australia's Int'l airports & airports in China. The deal was negotiated last year in Beijing. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong government signed arrangements with both Malaysia & Thailand to liberalize air services between the 2 locations.

***Open Options ........ as UPS Inc. & the Independent Pilots Assn., the collective bargaining unit for the company's 2,500 pilots, agreed to extend interest-based bargaining until July 1. Progress reported.

***Closed Doors ........ as air cargo startup Orangecargo Inc. has shut its doors, firing about 80 employees in the process, just 6 months after its debut as the nation's 1st operator to exclusively handle domestic air cargo. The Nagoya-based firm was unable to secure enough air cargo volume & pilots. The company was established by 6 former employees of Toyota with a capitalization of US$7.73M. In related news, Toyota reports 6 new job applications marked "Willing To Work For Food."

***KLM Cargo Expands ...... as it expects its freight capacity will grow by 11% year-on-year. A significant share of this growth will occur on routes to Asia The growth will stem from the deployment of a 3rd Boeing 747-400 ER freighter & introduction of a Boeing 777, KLM said, adding frequencies to Hong Kong, Osaka, Singapore & Malaysia will all rise.

***Yangtze River Delta Airport Gaggle ...... as the area lacks a coordinated policy on airport development resulting in too many being built in the region, according to a Xinhua News Agency report. In the Yangtze River Delta, there are 0.8 airports for every 10,000 square km. This means the region has a higher airport density than the U.S., where there are 0.6 airports for every 10,000 square km. Geeez! The news agency said the reason there are too many airports in the region is because each city wants to open an airport in an effort to attract foreign investment & promote future economic growth. Eastern China will have a total of 36 airports by 2006 -- set to rise to 48 in the region by 2020 -- prompting Xinhua to say this trend amounts to a waste of resources. Zhejiang province, for instance, has 7 commercial airports & despite some being open & filled with staff they don't handle a single flight! Three airports have so far been closed in eastern China, resulting in an undisclosed loss of capital.   

***Sino Ezycargo ........ as the Internet portal for air cargo, has been launched in China's commercial capital of Shanghai by Cargo Community Network of Singapore (CCN) and its partner Global Logistics System of Hong Kong (GLSHK). Shanghai is the latest addition to the Ezycargo network which can already be found in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Japan and allows forwarders to make allotment & free sales bookings, review flight schedules, as well as track & trace the progress of their shipments. The service also provides advanced capabilities in air waybill stock management and e-invoicing / e-payment. Ezycargo is supported by 4 Asia-Pacific airfreight carriers: Cathay Pacific Cargo, Japan Airlines Cargo, Qantas Freight & Singapore Airlines Cargo.

***Kitty Hawk Purrs ..... as it has closed on a US$10M line of credit from Wells Fargo Business Credit. The 3 year line of credit, secured by substantially all of the company's assets (except aircraft & aviation parts), will be used to enhance the company's liquidity & correct financial woes. Kitty Hawk operates and maintains 20 Boeing 727 freighters & serves nearly 60 cities in the U.S., Canada & now Puerto Rico. Kitty Hawk has received its 3rd consecutive Federal Aviation Admin. "Diamond Award" -- the highest honor given by the FAA -- where at least 25% of aircraft maintenance technicians complete certified training requirements beyond their initial certification. Last, Kitty Hawk has a new airport to door delivery service for the forwarding community, using a neutral cartage network.

***Free Heat ...... as a passenger on Israel's El Al airlines got a complimentary gift on a flight home from Germany -- a pistol that security guards slipped into his suitcase, an Israeli newspaper has reported. El Al personnel, the Haaretz daily reported on March 15, sometimes sneak fake guns into the bags of unwitting passengers to test if security staff can spot them. One replica went undetected & was found by the startled passenger when he unpacked at home.

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OUR "C" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

  4. FF World Ocean Briefs _____________

***Terror By Sea ......... as the al-Qaida terror network likely is planning an unprecedented maritime attack, hitting targets on land with ships carrying chemical, biological or dirty bomb weapons, a defense analyst said this month. The terrorist network could easily exploit weaknesses in shipping companies' crew selection procedures by planting sleeper agents on vessels to eventually seize them, said Michael Richardson, a senior researcher at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies who writes extensively on Asian security issues. "The al-Qaida network has serious maritime terrorism plans," Richardson told diplomats, academics & defense officials at the institute. Singapore's Coordinating Security Minister Tony Tan has warned repeatedly since Nov. that there is a "very serious" risk of terrorists using ships to attack the city-state. "Sooner or later, al-Qaida or one of its affiliates will make & detonate a radiological bomb, whether it's in a ship or a shipping container," he said. The al-Qaida network has already demonstrated its willingness to attack sea targets with suicide attacks on the destroyer USS Cole in 2000 & the French oil M/T Limburg in 2002, Richardson said. In both attacks, suicide bombers detonated small explosive-laden boats next to vessels off the coast of Yemen.

***Ringing The Next Watch ...... as since 1936, a lone federal worker has sat in a tower along the Mississippi River, scanning the water with binoculars & radioing ship captains on whether to proceed or stop their vessels. But the radioman will be gone by the end of 2004, replaced by a new computerized system that will track & send messages to all large vessels on the lower Mississippi. The system will be in place at all major U.S. seaports in 2005 - part of a security overhaul at the nation's ports, where officials fear a terrorist attack could cause economic & environmental disasters. Since Sept. 11, 2001, every foreign vessel over 300 tons has been required to notify the Coast Guard 4 days before arriving at a U.S. port. The ship must provide a cargo manifest, its last 5 ports of call, destination in the U.S. and name, nationality & identity number of every crew. Coast Guard officers around the country board any ship - sometimes dropping from helicopters -- if they learn a member of its crew has suspicious paperwork. Port of New Orleans will be one of the country's 1st ports to institute a new system of monitoring all large commercial vessels. By Jan., commercial ships 65 feet or longer, except fishing boats, will be blocked from entering port unless they're equipped with electronic transponders that automatically transmit data about the vessels to the Coast Guard. By 2005, the system will be mandatory for all large commercial vessels entering the ports of New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, San Francisco & Houston -- at a cost of US$10,000 per ship. See Maritime Security

***CBP Box Scan ........ as the Bureau of Customs & Border Protection (CBP) said last week that the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey would be the 1st in the nation to have technology to scan every container. Portal radiation monitors, will be installed by the end of the summer at all cargo terminals operated by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey - Newark, Jersey City, Bayonne, Elizabeth, Staten Island & Brooklyn. Customs will operate the monitors. About 11,000 vessels carrying 3 million TEU pass through New York & New Jersey ports each year. Customs said by screening every container before it leaves ports, it will increase the ability to detect dirty bombs & other radiological materials. Similar devices are planned for 90% of the country's seaports by the end of summer -- about 95% of U.S. Int'l trade -- enter the U.S. every year through its 361 sea & river ports.  Previously, only about 8% of the cargo containers at Global Marine Terminal at Port Newark-Elizabeth were examined for signs of radiation because the process was done by hand.

***CBP Delays NVOCC Market Damage ......... as Customs has agreed to delay enforcement of a rule requiring ocean carriers to electronically submit the names of the "actual shipper" of containerized cargo destined for the U.S. The delay is in response to a petition filed with the Dept. of Homeland Security by key Int'l trade groups. As part of its implementation of the Trade Act of 2002 & the Maritime Transportation Security Act, CBP issued a rule requiring carriers to provide the names of all foreign shippers of inbound containerized cargo 24 hours prior to the vessel's departure from the port of loading. That rule went into effect in Jan., but the agency postponed the compliance date to March 4th. Last month, however, the World Shipping Council, the National Industrial Transportation League, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Assn. of America, & the Retail Industry Leaders Assn. asked the government to revise the text of that rule. The groups object to provisions requiring ocean carriers to obtain & provide the names, in some cases, of their "customers' customers"&emdash; foreign vendors and suppliers that do business with NVOCCs and are not directly involved in a commercial relationship with the carrier. The petition notes that it's both maritime law & standard commercial practice to list the NVOCC as the shipper for consolidated shipments. "If you put the vendor on the bill of lading as the shipper of record, then you're jeopardizing the legal relationship (between vendors & shippers)," says the National Industrial Transportation League.

***Peace In Our Time ....... as the Int'l Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO and representatives from U.S. Maritime Alliance, LTD, reached agreement on a new 6 year pact, according to a joint announcement by the ILA & USMX.  The new agreement, historic in terms of length, is subject to ratification by ILA rank-and-file members following local port negotiations, and brings labor peace to Atlantic & Gulf Coast ports until Sept. 30, 2010. The new package includes pay raises for ILA members, guaranteed funds for local plans & resolves the issue of the projected deficit in the industry's national health care plan, called MILA.  Most importantly, the agreement is reached 6 months prior to the expiration of the current pact thus affording shippers the assurance that their cargo flow will not be disrupted. The ILA represents waterfront workers at major port areas on the Atlantic & Gulf Coasts. USMX is an alliance of container carriers, direct employers and port associations serving these East & Gulf Coasts.

***Another Blow Struck For NVOCC Freedom ....... as FedEx Trade Networks Transportation & Brokerage has joined the growing list of NVOCCs that have petitioned the Federal Maritime Commission to allow them to enter service contracts with customers. FedEx Trade Networks also is requesting relief from the Shipping Act of 1984 requirement that the company maintain tariffs. The company's petition indicates that it is making these requests on its own behalf, but also strongly supports other NVOs' petitions that request the commission to draft new rules exempting all qualified logistics providers from the law's prohibition on service contracting. The FedEx unit now joins previous applications by rivals United Parcel Service, DHL Danzas, BAX Global, BDP Int'l, Ocean World Lines, C.H. Robinson, & the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Assn. of America, which have similar petitions before the FMC.

***Master & Commander ...... as the Int'l Maritime Organization's flag state implementation (FSI) subcommittee has unanimously decided to recommend to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) that the master of a ship can be designated as the ship security officer (SSO). This is part of IMO's implementation of the provisions of the Int'l Ship & Port Facility Security (ISPS) code, which calls for a strengthening of port & ship security to prevent pirate & terrorist attacks before a July 1 deadline. In cases where the SSO is not the master, the master will still have overall responsibility for security.

***Pirate Prize Is Patrolled ....... as the Indonesian tug M/V Sing Sing Mariner & barge, Kapuas 68, with 3,000 metric tons of crude palm oil, valued at US$1.6M, seized by Myanmar pirates off the Indonesian coast Feb. 9 -- now recovered by Royal Thai Navy just as pirates were changing the vessels' names to "Tyson" & "Tyson V." Pirates had left the 4 crew of the tug & barge on a deserted island, where they were rescued by a passing fishing boat. Int'l Maritime Bureau (IMB) supplied information to the Royal Thai Navy that enabled recovery last week.

***Record Day On The Ditch ........ as more than 1,005,551 tons of cargo moved through the Panama Canal on March 16, breaking the old record of 934,488 tons set on July 3, 2003. The cargo is measured in Panama Canal/Universal Admeasurement System (PC/UMS) tons. The canal handled 7 container vessels: 11 dry bulk carriers, 4 vehicle carriers & 3 cruise ships. Of the 7 container vessels, 5 were 900 feet long. And, of the cruise ships, one ship was 900 feet long & another measured 800 feet. In addition, total Canal revenue, generated from tolls, totaled more than US$3.56M. What a day!

***Huge New Japanese Fleet ..... as shipping group MOL has outlined investment plans that involve spending US$10.9Bn on 243 new vessels by March 31, 2010. The massive spending plan envisages taking the MOL-owned fleet up from 547 vessels to 720. Some older ships will go and some chartered tonnage will be let go. The company has also set itself financial covering the same period.

***Famous Pacific Shipping Sails On ....... as the Singapore-based freight forwarder & NVOCC has extended its network coverage in Europe after opening an office in Romania & in the Belarus capital Minsk.

***China's New Guiyang Hub? ....... as the city in China's Guizhou province has been earmarked to become a logistics hub for trade between China and SE Asia due to its favorable geographic location and road & rail links, according to Mr. Hua Ling, the director of a body that promotes economic cooperation between southwest China & northern Thailand. Mr. Hua came to this conclusion following a recent tour of Guiyang's transport facilities & river port, which acts as a passage for the flow of goods traded between China, Thailand, Myanmar & Vietnam. Mainland authorities began developing western China regions about 2 years ago and since then the road & rail networks & transport infrastructure in Guiyang have been significantly improved. Goods sent from Chongqing, Sichuan in the northwest to southern Chinese ports can be transported via Guiyang's railway network, making the river port a viable transport hub for western China as well, Xinhua news service reported.

***Joe, Say It Ain't So ...... as Joseph Miniace, who negotiated the breakthrough technology contract that is expected to revolutionize container handling at West Coast ports, has resigned as president of the Pacific Maritime Assn. Miniace will stay with the PMA during a transition period and then will write & teach. Miniace, who was hired in 1996 with the mandate to change the internal culture of the PMA as well as its relationship with the powerful Int'l Longshore & Warehouse Union, said in an interview that he has accomplished his goals with the signing of the 6 year contract last year.  Miniace set the stage for the contract negotiations shortly after he was hired, regularly taking the union to court to put an end to illegal work stoppages -- something employers rarely did in the past. Miniace made what was probably his most difficult decision when employers locked out longshoremen in Oct. 2002 during a stalemate in contract negotiations. He accused the union of engaging in a "strike with pay." West Coast ports were shut down for 10 days, & reopened only after President Bush intervened. The resulting congestion disrupted U.S. commerce for months. A federal mediator helped both sides sign off on the groundbreaking deal that included the critical memorandum of understanding on technology sought by employers.

***China Shipping Finally Home ........ as Port of Los Angeles on March 11 approved a revised settlement of an environmental lawsuit that once halted construction of a 174-acre shipping terminal. Though the City Council must still OK the deal, it paves the way for China Shipping to begin operation at its specially built terminal. Groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council had sued the port over plans to build the terminal, claiming environmental reviews required by state and federal law were not conducted. That suit was settled one year ago, but several sticking points remained to be ironed out. Those issues were resolved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners settlement approval this month, but no details were released. Last March, the port agreed to spend at least US$50M over 5 years to mitigate & evaluate the impact of the terminal on the nearby San Pedro & Wilmington neighborhoods. Under terms of settlement, the port agreed to use alternative-fuel trucks; enable ships to plug into electric power instead of idling their diesel engine while docked; & implement plans to decrease traffic. No animal was injured in making the settlement.

***Odyssey Marine Exploration Gets Wrecked ..... as it has received a default judgment granting title & ownership to the SS Republic shipwreck and cargo, including the hull, all artifacts & cargo. The judgment was awarded by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Odyssey filed an Admiralty "arrest" or claim on the shipwreck site in Aug. of 2003 & reached a settlement in Jan. 2004 with the insurance company that paid a claim on the cargo, hull & some of the specie. As no other claims were received by the court, Odyssey requested a default judgment for complete ownership of the shipwreck & cargo, rather than requesting a salvage award for a percentage of the recovered value. SS Republic sank in 1865 en route from New York to New Orleans after battling a hurricane for 2 days. The 210-foot side wheel steamer, once part of the Union fleet, was taking money & supplies to aid post-Civil War reconstruction in the South. Odyssey discovered the shipwreck 1,700 feet below the Atlantic, 100 miles off the Georgia coast. The archaeological excavation & recovery of coins are continuing. Nearly 51,000 gold & silver coins have been recovered to date. The face value of recovered coins represents 22% of the "US$400,000 in specie" (face value in 1865) which historical research indicates was aboard Republic when she sank. Early estimates put the collectors' value of the coins at US$120M to US$180M -- largest in history.

***Pearl Harbor, Arkansas? ...... as Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England announced March 25 that historic U.S. Navy tug Hoga will be donated to the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM) in North Little Rock, Ark. Hoga played a crucial role during the Pearl Harbor attack by saving ships caught in the Harbor & pushing heavily damaged vessels from the channel. Hoga received a commendation from Adm. Chester A. Nimitz in Feb. 1942. After the war, Hoga was leased to the Port of Oakland, where it served as the port's 1st fireboat. Hoga retired from this service & returned to Navy custody in 1993 -- stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in July 1996 & placed on donation hold due to its designation as a national historic landmark. The Navy donates ships as a way of preserving naval history and tradition, educating the public, & commemorating the men & women who built & sailed these vessels. There are currently 47 museum ships displayed in 21 states.   

***Ozzy Osbourne Tours A Battleship ......... as we qualify for an episode of the Twilight Zone? But what little we know about some people. At the end of his USS Missouri tour, on the very deck where WWII ended in Aug. 1945 with the surrender ceremony -- Ozzy, a WWII buff said: "I'm British, but the U.S. provides the greatest amount of freedoms, personal freedoms." He added,"I've traveled so many places in my life, & other countries don't have as many freedoms as the U.S." Wow Ozzy! Read the full story.

***Throughput ......... >> Guangzhou port handled a record 15.32 million tons of cargo in Feb., up 48% compared with the same month last year, while throughput amounted to 214,000 TEU, an increase of 40,000 TEU >>Hong Kong posted strong throughput growth in Feb. with 839,000 TEU, or 6.9% more containers passing through the city's main port for ocean vessels at the Kwai Chung container terminal than during the same month a year ago -- while the river terminal at Tuen Mun & mid-stream operations combined saw throughput rise 28.3% year-on-year to 610,000 TEU -- so total throughput was up 15% over Feb. 2003's level at 1.44 million TEU. >> Port of Savannah container capacity rose to 336,518 TEU between July 1, 2003 & Jan. 31, 2004, representing an increase of 32,500 TEU over same period last year. >> Singapore port handled 1.4 million TEU in Feb., up 7.7% year-on-year, according to figures released by PSA. >> Yantai Port handled 5.66 million tons of cargo over the first two months of the year, representing an increase of 61.9% over same period in 2003 -- during Jan. & Feb., the port handled more than 20 vessels weighing up to 150,000 tons each.

***This Month in U.S. Navy History ............

1783 - At conclusion of the American Revolution, Congress orders all Continental naval vessels and privateers home.

1815 - USS Hornet captures HMS Penguin in a battle lasting 22 minutes.

1882 - Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt, issues General Order No. 292, creating the Office of Naval Intelligence.

1898 - Ass't Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt proposes the Navy investigate the military application of Samuel Langley's flying machine, beginning naval aviation.

1898 - USS Holland, the 1st practical submarine, is launched.

1903 - George Dewey is commissioned Admiral of the Navy with the date of rank, March 2, 1899. He was the only person to hold this rank.

1915 - F-4 (SS 23) becomes the 1st American submarine casualty, sinking off the coast of Honolulu.

1942 - Secretary of the Navy gives the Civil Engineering Corps command of the Seabees.

1943 - Battle of Komandorski Islands prevents Japanese reinforcements from reaching Attu.

1946 - USS Missouri (BB 63) departs the U.S. to return the body of a deceased Turkish ambassador to Turkey for burial. Missouri arrived in Istanbul April 5.

1954 - Carrier aircraft began reconnaissance near Dien Bien Phu, Indochina.

1960 - 1st fully integrated fleet ballistic missile is launched from USS Observation Island (AGM 23).

1973 - Women begin pilot training in the Navy.

U.S. Navy History Center

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5. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches                        

        **Back By Popular Demand**

We're sorry, but there were so many sinkings, explosions, pirate attacks, fires, cargo mishaps, battles on the water & other disasters at sea that we do not have room to print even the highlights this month. Many people lost their lives at sea this month!!

But you can read all this month's disaster news at our special Internet web feature which provides full details of each event -- our Vessel Casualties & Pirate Activity Database.  Bookmark the site and visit every day! Updated twice daily.

SPECIAL NOTE:  Please view the dramatic new pictures at our special "Gallery of Cargo Loss" website feature. 

See our new photo feature for March 2004: "Super Loss"

NOTE: The historic dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real.  Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs broker.  It's dangerous out there.

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OUR "D" Section:  FF in Cyberspace***

  6. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call" __                    

Here are our suggested world wide web sites of the week for your business, your information and your amusement..............

Free Microsoft E-Security Guide For Small Business

Google Local Search ....... a great new service! What's in your town or zip code? Pay attention to this.

Key Trends In Logistics Software

RFID: View From Europe

Top Equipment Picks From The Material Handling Experts

U.S. Product Recalls

U.S. Web Traffic & Patterns Feb. 2004

What Is ISO 1400 & Why Should I care? ......... newly published booklet by DNV Certification that can answer the tough question. In today's ever changing market, companies need to keep their competitive edge & ISO 1400

World Ports & Security

Yahoo! To Speak Russian & Chinese

PRODUCTS>>>>>>>>>

Arzoon ......... Release 4.0 (v4.0) of its market-leading Vigilance Event Management (VEM) software -- includes enhancements to stand-alone application, improvements to Web services & extensions to the integration layer.

3E Hazmat Transport Classification Solution

Big Ass Fans

Euro Transport Register

Ships For Sale

EVENTS>>>>>>>>>

13th Annual Int'l Air Cargo Conference & Exhibit- Gulfport-Biloxi 2004 ......... 10-13 May, at Beau Rivage Resort, Biloxi, Mississippi -- 172 exhibitors including airports, airlines, express air carriers, freight forwarders, expedited motor carriers, consolidators, integrators, logistics, trucking, security. In attendance, thousands of shippers, manufacturers, distributors & custom brokers from around the globe.

2004 SNAME Maritime Technology Conference & Expo ........ Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC.

Connecticut Maritime Assn. - CMA Conference 2004 .......... Connecticut on March 22, 23 & 24 2004, Westin Hotel, Stamford, CT.

CMI 38th Conference ......... May 31 to June 4, 2004, Comité Maritime Int'l, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Expo Intermodal ........ 21 to 24 April 2004, World Trade Center, Mexico City.

How to Crack the China Market ........ April 21 from Hong Kong American Chamber of Commerce, American Club (which by the way makes a great cheeseburger!), Hong Kong.

Int'l Congress of Marine Arbitrators ..........April 26 to 30, 2004, Millennium Mayfair Hotel, London.

Journal of Commerce's Short Sea Shipping Conference ......... April 19 & 20, Westin Resort in Hilton Head Island, SC

L.A. Harbor Transportation Club .......... 6PM, Thurs. April 8th, 2004. The Reef Restaurant, 880 Harbor Scenic Drive, Long Beach Harbor. Speaker: Mike Dempsey of RedPrairie Corp. has 20 years in supply chain management solutions & is an industry-thought leader on RFID.

Logistics Hong Kong ........ May 18 to 20 2004, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center

Mare Forum USA 2004 ......... April 26 & 27 2004, Hilton Hotel in New York City.

Shanghai Int'l Aviation Symposium ........ April 28-30, 2004, Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai.

Terminal Operators Conf. & Exhibition ......... June 2004, Barcelona, Spain.

UN Conf. On Trade & Development -- UNCTAD ....... conference to set priorities & guidelines every 4 years. The last conference, UNCTAD X, was held in Bangkok from in Feb. 2000. UNCTAD XI, is 13-18 June 2004 in São Paulo, Brazil, will focus on enhancing coherence between national development strategies & global economic processes, particularly for developing countries.

United Nations Procurement Seminar ........ April 26-27 in New York

U.S. Maritime Security Expo ........ Sept. 14-15, Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York.

FOR FUN>>>>>>>>>

Get Your USS Midway Commemorative Tickets

Is There A Monorail In Your Back Yard? .......... far too much time on this guy's hands.

"New Los Angeles"

Travel Taboos

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OUR "E" Section:  The Forwarder/Broker World***

  7. New U.S. Transport Related Legal Cases ________  

Assicurazoni Generali Vs. Black & Veatch

8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals

March 26, 2004

Marine Insurance: On July 20, 2000, a ship carrying the assureds' plant construction components departed Japan for the U.S. No survey was conducted at loading. On July 24, 2000, the ship was caught in a typhoon, which caused severe damage to most of the components on board. The manufacturer replaced the damaged components at no cost, but they did not arrive until 6 months after the originally scheduled delivery date. This delay resulted in additional costs of US$38M for the assureds.  Marine cargo underwriters sought judgment declaring no coverage because of a failure to comply with the policy's survey requirement. The district court properly found that no survey was required & that the claim was covered under the policy's consequential loss provision. The policy failed to list the critical items that were subject to the survey requirement, nor were they properly added by a subsequent endorsement that lacked consideration. Case Decision   

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Written from wire stories, the Associated Press, Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News, Lloyds & other world sources.

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The Cargo Letter Correspondents:

Michael S. McDaniel Esq, Editor (Countryman & McDaniel)

David Schuchman -- Interpool Corp. -- Webmaster of The Cargo Letter Archive

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