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Law Offices of Countryman & McDaniel

THE CARGO LETTER [413]

Air & Ocean Logistics - Customs Broker News

31 July 2005

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Good Sunday Evening 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 is our industry review for July 2005.

We are often asked whether Countryman & McDaniel, conducts training seminars. Yes, from multiple Fortune 100 companies, to smaller forwarders, to the U.S. government, to insurance companies -- for years we have conducted inovative programs for domestic & Int'l claims, Customs, security, trade compliance & post 9/11 industry business practice. 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/trade consultant 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 _____________

 

***U.S.. Not A Fortress ..... as U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spoke at the July 25, Excellence in Government Conference in Washington. His remarks included: "We do not want to be a fortress state. We do not want to be a security nation. We want to be a secure nation. And that means part of our assessment of priority and part of our assessment of risk always involves an element of balance. We want to balance the steps that we take to make sure we are optimizing the protection against risk, but with regard to things like our freedom, our privacy and our prosperity, because we will lose this war if we turn ourselves into a fortress. We will lose this war if we devalue those things which we hold dear in order to gain additional measures of protection. What we want to do is find that level of protection which addresses our greatest risks, but which allows us to do so in a way that is consistent with the values that everybody in this country holds very dear." Read the entire speech

***U.S. Trade Deficit Declines ...... as the benchmark fell to US$55.3Bn in May as imports of oil industrial materials & capital goods fell, the U.S. Commerce Dept. reported. The gap fell by 2.8% from a revised US$56.9Bn in April that was slightly smaller than the US$57Bn reported originally. Bloomberg reported that analysts had predicted no change in the May deficit from April's level. The figures for April & May point to a narrower deficit for the 2nd quarter, which ended June 30, Bloomberg said. The deficit reached an all-time high of US$61Bn in Feb.

***Enough Sweaters! ....... as the European Union has stunned retail businesses in Europe by closing the door for Chinese pullovers & cardigans import. The EU says it issued order because the import quota from China was already filled. Last year China & the EU agreed to limit the Chinese imports of sweater to 69 million pieces, as part of the deal to diffuse the trade row. News reports suggested that EU has started refusing import applications from fashion retailers saying that goods already on way to Europe may cross the limit set by the parties. Meanwhile, a report in the Financial Times said Chinese exports to the EU could exceed exports to the U.S. within a year's time. EU imported US$54.5Bn worth of goods from China in the 1st 4 months of the year, up 19% over the same period last year.

***Enough Shirts, Skirts & Swimwear! ....... as U.S. textile, apparel & fiber-producing trade associations have filed 4 new safeguard petitions covering 8 categories of textile & apparel imports from China. The industry has also refiled a petition on curtains that the U.S. government's Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) rejected for technical reasons on June 21. The new safeguard categories are 341/641, cotton & man-made fiber non-knit shirts; 342/642, cotton and man-made fiber skirts; 351/651, cotton and man-made fiber pajamas and nightwear; 359S/659S, cotton & man-made fiber swimwear. The refiled category was 369/666, cotton and man-made fiber curtains. The filings were made by the National Textile Assn., the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, the National Council of Textile Organizations, and Unite Here, a labor union. "We're filing these petitions because of the extreme disruption in the American textile industry caused by an unprecedented flood of imports from China," said the National Textile Assn.  A 3-2 vote is necessary on the five-member CITA panel to approve any safeguard petition. CITA comprises representatives from the U.S. departments of State, Commerce, Labor & Treasury, as well as the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Once a safeguard petition is filed, CITA has up to 15 working days to accept or reject the petition on its technical merits. If the petition is accepted, a 30-day public comment period then begins, followed by a 60-day CITA decision-making window.  If CITA approves a safeguard petition, a consultation period then begins between China & the U.S., as mandated by China's accession agreement to the World Trade Organization. If no agreement is reached, the U.S. can impose a limit on Chinese exports in the safeguard categories of 7.5% growth.

***China's Foreign Trade Explodes ..... as in the 1st 6 months of the year it grew 23.2% year-on-year to hit US$645.03Bn, according to latest statistics released by the State Administration Office of Customs. Of the total trade, exports of mechanical & electrical products reached US$186.99Bn with a growth of 33%, representing 54.6% of total exports volume in the 1st half. The figures also show that EU is still the major trade partner of China, as the bilateral trade between China & EU exceeded US$100Bn mark in the 1st half, as well as U.S. & Japan are 2nd & 3rd biggest trade partners.  In Guangdong province alone, 1st half trade was valued at US$187.05Bn, a year-on-year growth of 17.5%, which was helped by overseas sales of electronics, machinery products, textiles & clothes, according to the figures released by the nation's State Administration of Customs.

***UPS Gets The Gold ....... as United Parcel Service has been appointed the official Logistics & Express Delivery Sponsor for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

***Teamsters Union & Service Employees Int'l Union -- Go It Alone ...... as they said July 25, they are leaving the AFL-CIO. Teamsters President James Hoffa said in a prepared statement on the union's Web site: "In our view, we must have more union members in order to change the political climate that is undermining workers' rights in this country." It's the biggest rift in organized labor since 1938, when the Congress of Industrial Unions split from the American Federation of Labor. The two reunited in the mid-1950s as the AFL-CIO.

***Portugal Joins CSI ..... as it is to become the 21st European Union member to take part in the Container Security Initiative (CSI), the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert Bonner announced. Currently, there are 37 operational CSI ports in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, & N. America.

***China's Freight Forwarders Skyrocket ....... as they experienced strong growth in their operations in 2004, according to a report by Xinhua News Agebcy. The China Int'l Freight Forwarder Assn. figures said the turnover of China's top 100 freight forwarder grew from CNY1.08Bn (US$130.49M) in 2003 to CNY1.53BN in 2004. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce, Int'l freight forwarders have experienced the best growth among all Int'l ventures on the mainland. There are more than 5,000 approved freight forwarding companies in China, with more than 1,000 operating as joint ventures with foreign companies. China will open the door to exclusive foreign investment in freight forwarding enterprises in Dec. under an earlier signed WTO agreement.

***PWC Logistics Buys GeoLogistics ..... as the global supply chain provider PWC Logistics jointly announced with GeoLogistics Corp., a U.S. Int'l freight forwarder & logistics services provider, that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which PWC Logistics will acquire GeoLogistics. PWC Logistics will acquire the privately-held GeoLogistics from its principal shareholders, including lead investor Questor Partners Fund II for approximately US$454M on a debt-free basis. The combined group will generate revenues in excess of US$3Bn with over 10,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide.

***U-Freight Takes Comax ......... as the freight services & logistics group has bought a majority stake in Comax Group, a logistics company with particular strength in ocean freight forwarding activities. Comax has annual turnover of approximately US$11M and offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen & Hong Kong. With additional facilities in Chicago, New York & Los Angeles, the company is particularly focused in the trade between China & the U.S. The acquisition is effective immediately & is in accord with U-Freight's strategy to expand its presence in the ocean freight forwarding business.

***Panalpina Goes Singapore ........ as the transport & logistics group has acquired Singapore-based specialty logistics provider Janco Oilfield Services, according to the Swiss company. Through this acquisition Panalpina said it hopes to strengthen its position in supply chain services for the oil & gas industry. Janco Oilfield Services provides logistics management solutions for the upstream sector of the oil & gas industry.

***Goodbye American Package Express....... as after completion of its merger with the package logistics business of RR Donnelley, American Package Express has officially changed its name to APX Logistics. American Package Express & the package logistics business of RR Donnelley came together in Nov. 2004.

***Dealing With The ULTIMATE Cargo ........ as nuclear waste would be shipped to a national repository in the Nevada desert on dedicated railroad cars, rather than sharing trains with other cargo, the Dept. of Energy said last week. In addition to train shipments, some 1,100 truck shipments would be needed, though they will not be affected by the transport policy, the DOE said. Yucca Mountain is planned as a national repository for 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to be buried for 10,000 years & beyond (longer than Twinkies last). Although general freight trains would be an option, DOE's policy would be to use dedicated trains for the estimated 3,500 shipments of spent nuclear fuel & high-level defense waste bound for Yucca Mountain, DOE said. The trains would carry waste from sites in some 36 states to the repository, planned 90 miles NW of Las Vegas. Using dedicated trains would be cheaper & more secure than regular freight trains, DOE officials said.

***Dealing With The Vancouver Strike Options ...... as the Canadian Railway (CN) has suspended all cargo diversions from ocean terminals to inland stations as the truckers' strike, which has paralyzed the Port of Vancouver for nearly a month, turned violent causing increasing disruptions to cargo handling services. A CN statement said the strike by 1,000 drivers from the Vancouver Container Trucking Assn. (VCTA) has continued to cause problems on the West Coast. "In the past 3 weeks, CN has moved more than 24,000 feet (over 1,300 TEU) of diverted traffic from Vancouver ocean terminals. These diversions were handled while CN's regular import volumes from Asia arriving on the West Coast are at a 2-year high - all this without compromising rail service to customers & import volumes. Meanwhile, the online news agency, canada.comNews, reported that 8 transport trucks were shot up in a Richmond company's yard. The report said the barrage left bullet shells scattered around the yard of Pro-West Transport & caused an estimated US$122,969 damage.  The strike is costing the provincial economy as much as US$60.66M a day.

***Int'l Warehouse Logistics Assn. Says Chill On That Box! ...........as the trade organization for 3rd-party logistics providers in North America has asked BNSF Railway to cancel new demurrage rules that the IWLA believes will create delays in rail shipments. The ILWA said new demurrage rules, implemented by BNSF July 1, changed demurrage calculation from a monthly balancing of car days used against car credits obtained, to a new system which calculates demurrage for each car individually. "The new BNSF rules will compel warehouses to order the oldest cars first to minimize demurrage. In a system already stretched by capacity issues, the additional work created by the new rules will produce more congestion & fewer switched cars," ILWA wrote. The ILWA urged BNSF to suspend the new demurrage rules, and instead adopt the IWLA Rail Council's demurrage proposal, which suggests that warehouses agree to pay demurrage fees for failure to unload cars within one day of actual placement at their facilities.

***China Rails Sizzle ...... as statistics released by China's State Ministry of Railways show that both cargo & passenger volume transported by railway in China grew in the 1st 6 months of the year -- freight volume transported by rail grew by 77.24 million tons year-on-year to 1.13 billion tons.

***U.S. Rails Rise ....... as freight hauled by intermodal rail cars rose 4% in June, according to a report by the Assn. of American Railroads. The report said that U.S. railroads hauled 1.11 million intermodal carloads in June 2005, up from the 1.06 million carloads hauled last year during June. Overall rail traffic rose just 0.1% in June to 1.65 million carloads from 1.65 million in June 2004.

***China Customs Rail Network ...... as after 3 years of construction, a network that integrates cargo & logistics information from the 4 largest railway customs checkpoints in China was recently unveiled in Suifenhe in Heilongjiang province, Xinhua news agency reported. The information network scheme will also be introduced to other railway customs checkpoints along the country's borders, including Inner Mongolia's Manzhouli & Erlianhaote and Xinjiang province's Alashankou. With the information network, exporters using the 4 customs checkpoints can pay customs charges through the internet, greatly reducing the cost of trading. Officials from Suifenhe customs checkpoint said after the information network was put into service, the time needed for the customs authority to confirm the manifest of cargoes entering their area on a 40 car train was only 20 minutes, compared with 40 minutes in the past.

***UPS Take The Lynx ...... as it will purchase United Kingdom parcel carrier Lynx Express for US$96.5M in cash. Lynx, one of the U.K.'s largest independent parcel carriers, is majority owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital. In addition to parcel delivery service, Lynx offers logistics & spare-parts logistics services on sales of US$295M for fiscal year ended Oct. 2, 2004. UPS has offered service to/from the U.K. since the mid 1980's & in this last quarter, had nearly an 8% gain in export-volume growth from the U.K. compared to same period last year.

***FedEx Freight Will Apologize In Advance ..... as the less-than-truckload unit of FedEx Corp. said it is preparing to launch advance-notice software to automatically notify customers if their shipments are delayed. About 1% of the company's 67,000 shipments each day are delayed. Starts Sept. 13.

***"Seeing" In The Fog ..... as drivers bound for the mountains of western Maryland are getting a new kind of warning when fog obscures a notorious stretch of Interstate 68 near Hagerstown, Md. A US$230,000 system automatically activates flashing signs when visibility drops below 1,000 feet on Keysers Ridge or Big Savage Mountain, where 2 people died in an 89-vehicle pileup in 2003, the State Highway Administration said July 7. When roadside sensors using infrared technology detect thick fog on the 2,800-foot peaks, they send radio signals that activate yellow flashers on permanent signs located 3 miles to 7 miles away on either side of the ridge tops. The signs read: "Reduced visibility possible when flashing." The system, powered by solar-recharged batteries, is designed to replace electronic message boards, which require substantial human involvement.  Officials promise to change the batteries.

***Idle Hands Defeat The Politically Correct ...... as Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed into law a bill allowing truck drivers to idle their rigs while resting in the vehicle's sleeper berth. The law, signed by Perry last month, takes effect Sept. 1 & lasts 2 years. It would override current state law, which prohibits heavy-duty trucks from idling more than 5 minutes from April 1 through Oct. 31. Bill Webb, president of the Texas Motor Transportation Assn., said the law was needed because it allows drivers to run the vehicle's air conditioner during federally-mandated rest periods. Webb also said the law would "allow for a safe & efficient transportation system," by allowing drivers to rest more comfortably, especially during triple-digit temperatures.

***US-VISIT -- Now Check-Out ...... as new procedures apply to all foreign visitors (with limited exemptions) to the U.S.  Most visitors now experience US-VISIT's biometric procedures -- a digital, inkless fingerscan & digital photograph -- upon entry to the U.S.  Now, if they leave from an airport or seaport that has an exit capability like that of Fort Lauderdale, they must also check out. The exit procedure requires foreign visitors to check out of the country at exit stations located within the airport. Similar to the entry process at airports or seaports, their travel documents will be read, their 2 index fingers will be scanned at the exit station, their digital picture will be taken, and they will receive a printed receipt that verifies that they have checked out. Workstation attendants will be available to assist with checkout.  US-VISIT entry procedures are currently in place at 115 airports, 15 seaports and in the secondary inspection areas of the 50 busiest land ports of entry. By Dec. 31, 2005, US-VISIT entry procedures will be implemented in the secondary inspection areas of all remaining land ports of entry.

***"Best Practices in Transportation Management"........ as new set of transportation best practices is now emerging to meet today's realities of freight capacity constraints, rising transportation costs, & increasing demand for transportation information from other corporate departments & customers, according to a new Aberdeen best practices report. Centralizing the transportation management organization, automating order consolidation, taking greater control of inbound freight, & self-invoicing continue to drive value for companies. However, 3 new best practices have emerged: carrier collaboration, universal information access, and 360-degree scorecarding. Download a complimentary copy of the report.

***Chunnel Can't Sink Any Deeper ...... as the operator of the undersea rail tunnel linking Britain and France said it had presented "initial reflections" to a committee representing its main creditors, as a basis for negotiations. Eurotunnel needs to restructure its current credit agreement to avoid running out of cash for interest payments & capital repayment. Chairman & CEO Jacques Gounon said last month that the company would go bankrupt by early 2007 without a deal. Since the tunnel opened in 1994, late & over budget, Eurotunnel has struggled to service its debt. The company's projections for freight & passenger volume proved far too optimistic, while intensified competition from ferry operators & the rise of budget airlines squeezed revenues. Creditors say the only realistic plan would involve a debt-for-equity swap, wiping out or severely diluting the investments of more than half a million mainly French individual shareholders. Gounon vowed last month to resist such a swap. Alternative tunnel uses include mushroom growing or cheese storage.

***Death Race 2005 ...... as truck drivers in Germany were shocked to find themselves sharing a busy motorway with an 80-year-old pensioner traveling at extremely low speeds in a wheelchair, authorities said July 26. "He wanted to go shopping at a service area up the road from his home," said a spokeswoman for police in the town of Goerlitz. "He took to the hard shoulder in an electric wheelchair capable of speeds of between 6-10 km/h (4-6 mph)." Several passing truckers alerted police, who were on hand to pick the man up when he turned off road connecting the eastern city of Dresden & the town of Bautzen. From there he was taken back to the nursing home several kms away from which he set off on his hazardous outing. 

***Smuggling On The Back Side....... as a woman accused of smuggling marijuana to her jailed fiance in their baby's diaper pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor possession charge on July 1. Mallory Renee McGrail, 20, was initially charged with a felony accusing her of delivering a controlled substance to jail. She agreed to plea bargain in Marshall County Magistrate Court & is asking the Circuit Court for probation instead of 1-year sentence ordered by the magistrate. The marijuana was found after McGrail was told to remove the 5-month-old baby's diaper when she came to visit Jason Michael Wren, 29, in jail June 18. Wren, a convicted robber, jailed since Nov., faces a felony conspiracy charge related to marijuana & could get up to 5 more years behind bars if convicted. It was not immediately clear whether McGrail would regain custody of the infant, who was being cared for by a relative after her arrest. The baby's bong was not returned.

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  2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page _________

Good News this month for some airlines -- but not all .......

**Airbus. UP net profit in 1st half doubled to US$984.91M over last year.

**American Airlines (AA). UP with net profit of US$58M for 2nd quarter, compared to a net profit of US$6M in the 2nd quarter last year.

**Arkansas Best (parent of LTL carrier ABF Freight System) UP as it earned US$23.4M or 91 cents a share in 2nd quarter, up from US$19.3M or 76 cents for  same quarter last year.

**Boeing. DOWN as net income in 2nd-quarter of the year fell 7% year-on-year from US$607M to $566M.

**Canadian National Railway. UP as 2nd quarter net profit jumped 28% to US$342.07M.

**Continental Airlines. UP with 2nd quarter net profit of US$100M.

**C.H. Robinson Worldwide. UP as net income for 2nd quarter increased 53% to US$49.3M or 57 cents a share, up from US$32.3M or 37 cents a year earlier.

**CNF Inc. UP as 2nd-quarter income rose by 90%, to US$71.1M or $1.24 a share, up from US$37.5M or 64 cents year earlier.

**CSX Corp. UP as 2nd-quarter income rose to US$165M or 73 cents a share, from US$119M or 53 cents a year earlier.

**Delta Airlines. DOWN with a net loss of US$382M in 2nd quarter of the year, compared to a net loss of US$2Bn in same period last year.

**Forward Air Corp. UP as 2nd-quarter net income rose 41% to US$12M or 37 cents a share, over US$8.5M or 26 cents last year. 

**Hub Group. UP with a profit of US$7.9M or 38 cents a share, up 95% from $4M or 24 cents last year. 

**J.B. Hunt Transport Services. UP with 2nd-quarter profit rising to US$54.6M or 33 cents a share, from US$45.6 million or 27 cents a year earlier.

**Kuehne + Nagel. UP as 1st half net profit for 2005 jumped 34.4% to US$120.12M, compared to same period last year.

**Old Dominion Freight Line. UP with earnings of US$13.9M or 56 cents a share in 2nd quarter, up from US$10.5M or 43 cents a year ago.

**Overnite Corp. UP as earnings improved to US$23.1M or 82 cents a share for the 2nd quarter, up from US$16.8M or 60 cents a year ago.

**Norfolk Southern Corp. UP with a record US$424M in net earnings or US$1.04 a share in 2nd quarter, compared with US$213M or 54 cents a year earlier. 

**Smithway Motor Xpress. UP in 2nd-quarter as net income rose to US$1.4M or 27 cents a share, from US$665,000 or 14 cents a year earlier.  

**TransForce Income Fund. UP as 2nd-quarter net income for the Canadian company was US$23.7M or 39 cents a share, compared with US$16.6M or 29 cents year earlier.

**United Airlines. DOWN with a net loss of US$1.43Bn for 2nd quarter of 2005. Mercy -- how much more can United endure?

**United Parcel Service (UPS). UP with net profit of US$986M in the 2nd quarter of the year, compared to US$818M reported for same period 2004. Consolidated average daily worldwide volume for the 2nd quarter rose by 557,000 packages, or 4.1%, to 14.1 million packages daily. 

  **UPS Supply Chain Solutions. UP by 84.9% to US$1.25Bn with the addition of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding.       

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

  3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs ____

***FedEx -- Goodbye Subic -- Hello Guangzhou ....... as it plans to build a new Asia Pacific hub at Guangzhou's Baiyun Int'l Airport in Southern China to better serve the fast-growing China & Asia Pacific markets. The new FedEx Asia Pacific hub will commence operations in Dec. 2008 at which time the existing hub in Subic Bay, Philippines, will close.  The Guangzhou facility - representing a US$150M investment by FedEx - will have a total floor space of 82,000 sq. meters located on 155 acres. The hub will provide employment for 1,200 people at start-up and be capable of sorting up to 24,000 packages per hour, double the capacity of the current facility in Subic Bay. This hub is expected to assume and expand the current activities of the existing hub in the Philippines, beginning in December 2008. A joint study by China's Development Research Commission & Campbell-Hill Aviation Group of the U.S. estimated that the direct output impact of a FedEx hub on China's economy will be US$11Bn in 2010, increasing to US$63Bn by 2020 with the majority resulting from industrial expansion.

***UPS Will Establish New Base At Shanghai ....... as in a move aimed at strengthening its China network, UPS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai Airport Group, which will lead to the establishment of the UPS Int'l Air Hub at Pudong Int'l Airport in 2007. UPS also announced the introduction of domestic express service in China. Effective July 10, UPS will also begin a direct service between Shanghai & Japan which will fly Shanghai-Osaka-Anchorage 5 times a week & Shanghai-Tokyo 6 times a week.

***Int'l Air Transport Assn. Sees Industry Downturn ......  as IATA reports that freight traffic in May fell 1.6% compared to same month in 2004. "May cargo growth slipped into negative territory in Asia, North America, Latin America & Europe, following sluggish performance since the beginning of 2005," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and CEO. "As a leading economic indicator, the slowdown in cargo traffic demonstrates that the high price of oil is slowing the global economy faster than expected. But we can expect a downward trend as the decline in economic activity works its way through the economy." Average load factors for the 1st 5 months of 2005 remained high at 73.3%. Referring to the G8 Summit, Mr. Bisignani criticized proposals to tax the aviation industry to generate funds for aid to developing nations. Mr. Bisignani needs to learn that the U.S. economy is not in decline.

***ATA Shows Industry Down ...... as Int'l air freight & express shipments carried by U.S. airlines were down for the 1st time this year during May, according to the latest statistics of the U.S. Air Transport Assn. (ATA). Int'l shipments declined 2% to about 1.04 billion revenue ton-miles in May, compared to 1.06 billion in the same month 2004. Freight & express activity on Latin routes fell the steepest, decreasing 2.4% to 93.6 million ton-miles in May, while on Pacific routes freight & express volumes fell 1.1% to 512 million revenue ton-miles. In the same month, freight & express traffic on Atlantic routes dropped 1.6% to 401 million ton-miles. For the year-to-date, ATA members' Int'l air freight & express shipments went up 3.9% to 5.2 billion revenue ton-miles. ATA Airlines are: Aloha, Alaska, America West, American, ATA, Continental (including Micronesia), Delta, FedEx, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, United, UPS & US Airways.

   ***Korean Air Cargo #1 For 1st Time ....... as it has been ranked the world's largest commercial airline cargo operation by the Int'l Air Transport Assn.(IATA). During 2004, Korean Air recorded 8.164 billion FTK (Freight Ton-Kms) ahead of the long-time #1 carrier since 1986, Lufthansa Cargo. Korean Air has been ranked among the top 3 freight carriers since 1993, and has consistently placed among the top 5 commercial airline cargo carriers in FTKs since 1991.Three other Asian airlines filled out the top 5 cargo carriers. Singapore Airlines was ranked 3rd, Cathay Pacific 4th, & China Airlines came in 5th.

***Korea's Top Airline Held Hostage ....... as Asiana Airlines, which has been hit by a pilots' union walk out since July 17, has warned that up to 300 flights could be suspended if the strike goes on until August 7. The airline has dropped 96 of its 174 domestic flights & all of its 4 cargo flights each day, but has maintained service on its Int'l routes using non-union & foreign pilots. However, the airline warned that Int'l flights could be stopped any time adding that "all flights to Sydney, Australia will likely be cancelled for the time being, and we may be forced to cut flights to Los Angeles." The air carrier also said that it was also considering reducing the number of short-haul Int'l flights during the walkout. The Korea Herald quoted analysts saying that a severe disruption of Int'l passenger flights would be major setback for the carrier, as the operations account for more than 60% of its business. Cho Yeong-seok, a spokesman for the air carrier was quoted as saying: "We estimate a loss of KRW30.5 billion (US$29.75M) in sales so far because of the cancellations of flights."

***UPS Coming To Your House In China ..... as it will offer express package services across China by Sept., initially linking 23 major metropolitan areas in the Chinese mainland with next-day service. The company said it plans to expand its domestic China express service beyond the initial 23 locations in the future. UPS offers 18 weekly jet flights to/from China and said it is adding 3 daily flights from next year. UPS is the 1st global package delivery company to establish large scale wholly-owned operations within China.

***UPS Absorbs Sinotrans ..... as the carrier giant says it will gradually acquire direct control of Int'l express operations in 23 cities from its long-term cooperation partner in China, Sinotrans, by the end of the year. So far UPS has taken over control of operations in Xiamen & Fuzhou, which are important hubs for the airfreight carrier. Besides UPS, the other 3 top Int'l express operators, including FedEx, DHL & TNT, have all entered the market in Xiamen -- but not near the extent of UPS.

***America West Holdings Corp. & US Airways Group Join ......as they have received approval for planned merger from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB). Both companies hold loans backed by a federal guarantee from the ATSB. In January 2002, America West Airlines closed a US$429M loan backed by a US$380M federal loan guarantee provided by the ATSB. The current outstanding balance on this loan is US$300M. US Airways received a US$900M loan guarantee under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act from the ATSB in connection with a US$1Bn term loan financing that was funded on March 31, 2003. The current outstanding balance of that airline's loan is US$708M.  

***Polar Air Cargo In Chilly Talks ...... as crew members, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. (Alpa), Int'l have announced that they have voted to authorize their elected union representatives to strike if contract talks do not result in an agreement. Polar crewmembers overwhelmingly supported the union's strike authorization ballot with 99.23% of responding crewmembers voting in support of a withdrawal of services, if required. After 24 months of mediated talks, Polar crewmembers & management remain far apart on critical economic matters like compensation & hourly wage rates. Polar Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc., based in New York.

***Dropping Anchor In The Air ...... as Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line), Japan's largest ocean shipping group, is acquiring All Nippon Airways' shareholding in Nippon Cargo Airlines under an agreement that will give NYK a majority control of the top freight airline in Japan. NYK & All Nippon Airways had each held 27.6% of the airline's shares. Following conclusion of their agreement, NYK will expand its air cargo business with Nippon Cargo Airlines as an NYK subsidiary in which it holds a 55.2% shareholding.  The move means NYK will join the small number of major multimodal transportation groups that own ocean shipping line as well as airline businesses. Among this group are Evergreen (parent of Eva Air), A.P. Moller-Maersk (parent of Maersk Air), Hanjin (parent of Korean Air) and Temasek (parent company of APL and Singapore Airlines). On June 30, however, A.P. Moller-Maersk announced a decision to sell the scheduled services & charter activities of Maersk Air. Nippon Cargo Airlines is ranked by the Int'l Air Transport Assn. as the world's 17th-largest air cargo carrier. Set up in 1978, Nippon Cargo Airlines operates a fleet of 12 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft on a network extending from Japan to the rest of Asia, the U.S. & Europe. The other major shareholders are Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha ("K" Line with a 13.2% share) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL also with 13.2%).

***Airbridge Cargo -- Airbridge To Europe ...... as Russia's 1st scheduled all-cargo airline, and part of the Volga-Dnepr Group, has signed an exclusive marketing agreement with Air Canada Cargo. The arrangement will cover scheduled & charter Boeing 747F services to/from the European hubs of Frankfurt & Amsterdam to Russia, CIS & Asia. The agreement will especially assist the oil & gas industry in western Canada with its supply chain logistics. The combination of both carriers' all-cargo fleet is also an added benefit for large & outsize cargo. The contract is effective immediately & will run until March 31, 2007. Air Canada Cargo, as a GSA, already markets the AN124-100 aircraft in the Volga-Dnepr Airlines' fleet for the Canadian Dept. of National Defence.

***Dating George Soros ....... as China Airlines, the largest airline in Taiwan, is in talks with a freight unit of the mainland's Hainan Airlines about potentially setting up a joint venture. Hainan Airlines, partly owned by global financier George Soros, declined comment, as did China Airlines. Previously, China Airlines has been involved in discussions to take a stake in China Eastern Airlines' cargo unit, but this went nowhere.

***God Save The King ....... as Southwest Airlines is planning to spend US$130M to build facilities in order to move its airport operation to King County Int'l Airport (KCIA) from Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, where the air carrier says "ever-increasing costs have become an obstacle to growth".

***UPS Knows Where You Live ...... as the Atlanta-based provider of package delivery & supply chain services has added 7,200 new ZIP codes to its U.S. premium early- morning delivery service. With these additions, 77% of the U.S. population can receive UPS next day air early a.m. deliveries up to 2 hours prior to regular guaranteed overnight service, or as early as 8 a.m. in some areas. The service provides an option for urgent shipments & daily early-morning stock replenishment.

***Road To Air U ..... as the Int'l Air Cargo Assn. (TIACA) is offering students seeking a Masters Degree or a Doctorate in the air logistics industry the opportunity to win scholarships worth up to US$25,000. The awards are available to university students worldwide in three specific categories: PhD Scholarship; Masters Scholarship & Graduate Research Paper. For information on scholarships go to :

***Life At Air U .......... as Southern Airlines, one of the largest airlines in China, will be taking 250 new student pilots, up from the 120 annual graduates, starting in 2006 at its China Southern West Australian Flying College (CSWAFC). "Our unique mix of the best training aircraft, expert people, and excellent facilities allows us to graduate over 100 cadets every year. These pilots then return to China Southern Airlines, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world," said Liu Qian, chief pilot of China Southern Airlines & Chairman of the Flying College.

***Life In The Cargo Lane ........ as freighters will be given the priority to use a third runway at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, which is set to be completed in 2007, Xinhua reported. The Shanghai Airport Group recently signed a contract with global transport provider, UPS, to set up an air transit center at the airport. The runway will be near the airport's west cargo area, and therefore, priority will be given to cargo planes. Pudong Int'l Airport handled a total of 1.64 million tons of cargo and mail last year, up 38% over 2003.

***Vietnam Makes 2nd Port .... as it will build an Int'l airport covering 5,000 hectares in 6 communes of Long Thanh district, southern Dong Nai province, 43 km from the Tan Son Nhat Int'l airport in Ho Chi Minh City. The Long Thanh airport will be capable of handling 100 million passenger arrivals & 5 million tons of cargo a year. The airport will consist of 4 runways, a terminal & cargo areas, a road system, and a plane maintenance & repair zone.

***Geeez -- Don't Do It!!!! ..... as the FAA is looking into whether cell phones, BlackBerries & wireless laptops pose unacceptable risks to flight control systems. The study is due in Dec. 2006. The FCC is taking public comment on the idea, which is generating many negative responses -- to the surprise of only the profoundly deaf. Technology companies  business travel groups support the idea, saying the wireless world needs to extend into the sky. There also is concern among law enforcement agencies that terrorists might seek to use wireless devices aboard planes to detonate improvised bombs. Some airlines have suggested allowing passengers to use their electronic devices only to access the Internet or their e-mail accounts.  Don't do it!!

***Fido Is Fine ...... as the much-anticipated release of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's (DOT) very 1st Animal Incident Report. The DOT must report monthly the "loss, injury or death" of any warm- or cold-blooded pet that occurs while the animal is traveling in the care, custody & control of a scheduled domestic passenger airline. The extremely low level of incidents decisively dispute the exaggerated claims by some who have asserted that thousands of animals are maimed or killed onboard aircraft every year. One group had suggested that as many as 20,000 pets die in airliners every year. Six U.S. airlines reported a total of 10 incidents, including 5 cases in which a pet was injured & one in which a pet was lost. More than 2 million pets & other live animals are carried by airlines every year in the U.S. Read the report -- and also reports of flight delays & lost baggage.

***Canadians Squirted ..... as exasperated Canadian air safety officials told passengers "to leave their water pistols and toy guns at home" because they were triggering big delays at airport security. Screening staff found nearly 3,000 toy guns, water pistols, toy grenades & other items resembling real weapons between Jan. & June of this year, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority said.

***Brush Trimmer Gives Birth To Kittens....... as a worker in the returns department at Country Home Products got a return & a surprise when he opened a brush trimmer sent back from South Carolina. Inside the box was the trimmer - and 5 kittens. The kittens survived the bumpy & hot 2 day trip to Vermont and are doing fine. The South Carolina customers returned the trimmer, a gas-powered machine that cuts grass, weeds & brush, because they wanted a field mower instead, said Deb Peters, who works in the Country Home Products returns department. The box had been stored in a barn a mile from the South Carolinians' home, and they apparently sealed the box without looking inside, Peters said. FedEx shipped the box containing trimmer & kittens from South Carolina, and it arrived in Vergennes. "My co-worker Alan Bean opened the box. Something moved. He jumped; and he looked in again and there was five kittens," Peters said. Hot damn! Country Home employees dashed to the nearby Vergennes Animal Hospital & returned with bottles of kitten formula, which the kittens devoured. The 3-week-old kittens were taken to Addison County Humane Society in Middlebury, where they met Hazel, a black domestic cat whose kittens had just been weaned. Hazel is a now a surrogate mother to the kittens, providing a steady diet until they can eat solid food. So was this a shipper mistake? We think not.

***They Call Them Airports -- Because -- ....... as a member of a private German racing club had the shock of his life when a single-seater plane swooped out of the sky & landed on the roof of his speeding Porsche on July 6, as he was racing with fellow members of his auto club on what he thought to be a disused airfield in Germany. The 12-strong Bitburg Porsche racing club were putting their sports cars through their paces on a former U.S. air base on when, out of the blue above them, the small plane swooped out of the sky. Despite driving at 160 kph (100 mph), one of the racing club members could not outrun the rapidly descending plane which eventually landed on his car. Such was the shock of suddenly having a propeller-driven aircraft as a roof accessory that the driver slammed on the brakes, sending the plane crashing to the ground. "It was a miracle that no one was hurt. There was considerable damage done to the plane and the car," said Klaus Schnarrbach, spokesman for the Bitburg police. "The airplane managed to stay steady on the roof at first. They probably couldn't have done it that well if they had tried." Bitburg police revealed that the pilot faces possible charges of negligence. Airport operations continue.                   

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

  4. FF World Ocean Briefs ________________

***Pierpass Gets Mixed L.A. Response ........ as there has been a mixed response to the program to keep truck gates open for 4 weekday night shifts & one Saturday shift to handle the flood of imported cargo from Asia at the twin ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles. The program, known as Pierpass commenced on July 23 to motivate cargo owners to have their goods hauled at night. 7,500 containers were hauled out of the two ports between 6 pm on Monday (July 25) and 3 am Tuesday (July 26), representing about 29% of containers that move through the ports on an average day. However, those who have commented that the scheme is "well-intentioned but ill-conceived" criticized it, pointing out that "a lack of properly trained longshore labor, as well as congestion in the terminals, will eventually keep truckers from working nights". The report also quoted trucking officials commenting that only the Hanjin & Maersk terminals - the newest and largest terminals in Long Beach and Los Angeles - ran smoothly. Other terminals kept trucks waiting as long as 6 hours to pick up containers. Some trucks were turned away because they didn't have appointments during the night shift. But Pierpass spokesman Ryan Rauzon said anecdotal problems in Pierpass' infancy shouldn't detract from the program's long-term viability. "Everybody who expected everything to run perfectly is unrealistic. But when you have 7,500 containers moving at night instead of stuck on the freeway, that tells a good story." The project may create 300 to 500 new union jobs, but Teamsters don't like the plan. "This program only benefits the shippers & hurts the motor carriers & truckers," Chuck Mack, director of Teamsters Port Division said. "Drivers will be forced to work both day & night and risk violating the hours of service regulations to keep pace with the increased workload," Mr Mack said.  The Cargo Letter likes the plan, but questions just how many containers will be stolen when pulled out of the port at night & then parked -- who knows where. Check your trucker's insurance.

***Vancouver Blues ..... as a month-long truckers' strike at the Port of Vancouver may soon end, says a top government official. Canadian Federal Industry Minister David Emerson was quoted as saying by CBC News that a negotiated settlement would be reached within days to end the truckers' strike, which has cost millions to exporters & port operators. Mr. Emerson made the comments after meeting the government appointed negotiator Vince Ready. Last week Mr. Ready was meeting the Vancouver Container Truck Assn., which represents over 1,000 mostly independent container truck drivers, who have been striking since June 27. The Industry Minister said a negotiated settlement was the only way out to save the economic damage to the region. According to the Vancouver Board of Trade, strike is costing the provincial economy about C$75 million (US$60.66M) a day in transport costs alone. The truckers are demanding they be paid more to cover fuel costs, which runs as high as C$350 a day. A number of shipping lines have warned that they may divert the containers destined for Vancouver to other ports to avoid delays & long turnaround time.

***No More P&O Nedlloyd ...... as Maersk Sealand will remove its future acquisition P&O Nedlloyd, from some of its existing conferences & consortia agreements involving Europe, if requested by European Union antitrust authorities. The Danish group has so far purchased 44% of Royal P&O Nedlloyd's capital ahead of the completion of its formal bid, which was launched June 13. Maersk Sealand also said it is considering a new brand name, while admitting it is uncertain whether liner services will be operated independently or remain in consortia.

***Peak Season Slap ...... as a recent announcement by the Far Eastern Freight Conference of a Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of US$110 per TEU is like a "slap in the face for their customers" according to the European Shippers' Council's (ESC) Secretary General Nicolette van der Jagt. The PSS will be applied with effect from August 1 until Oct. 31 to all Westbound shipments from Asia. The PSS comes on top of the planned general rate increase of US$250 per TEU & US$350 per hi-cube container scheduled for July.

***Goodbye OV Container Line ...... as Singapore based OV Container Line Private Ltd. says its liner-COC operation will now operate under the name of Vanguard Container Lines. The shipping line said the Singapore in-house agency will act as agent for Vanguard Container Lines under the name of Optimum Shipping Agencies. OV Container Line will maintain its primary focus in freight forwarding.

***World's Largest Containership ....... as M/V MSC Pamela - sailed into PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal on July 23. The 9,200-TEU vessel has largest declared capacity for containerships in the world to-date. When lined up from end to end, the 9,200-TEU containers span 56 km - more than the length of the Singapore island from the eastern tip of Changi to Jurong in the west. Owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), MSC Pamela, is built by Samsung Heavy Industries. The 337-meter long containership will ply the Asia-Europe Express route, calling at the ports of Valencia, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Jebel Ali, Singapore, Chiwan, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Hong Kong & Singapore. With the addition of M/V MSC Pamela, the Asia-Europe Express route will now be served by a total of 9 MSC vessels.

***World's Longest Containership........ as Yantian Int'l Container Terminals recently welcomed M/V Gudrun Maersk, which is said to be the world's longest container vessel. With a length of 366.9 meters, the vessel is about 30 meters longer than the world's largest Nimitz Class aircraft carrier. Launched in Aarhus, Denmark on June 9, M/V Gudren Maersk has since been deployed on one of Maersk's European-Asian services. Yantian is the giant vessel's only port call in China.

***Microwaving Containers....... as the U.S. Customs & Border Protection commissioner Robert Bonner has unveiled 14 so-called radiation portal monitors during a get together at twin Ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach. The devices will be used to screen cargo containers for radioactive & nuclear material. Mr. Bonner attended a seaport security summit designed to acquaint port officials with the role played by Customs & Border Protection (CBP) in safeguarding the U.S.'s busiest seaport. About 45% of all ocean going cargo enters the U.S. through twin ports of Los Angeles & Long Beach.

***Shanghai's Next Big Thing ...... as the 1st phase of the Yangshan Port will be operational by Dec. 2005, according to a senior executive of the Shanghai Municipal Port Administration Bureau. The 32km bridge linking the mainland & Yangshan has been completed and more parts of the project are coming to a conclusion. The Yangshan port project in Shanghai is considered one of the largest port projects under development in the world. "Only when the Yangshan deep water port is finished, Shanghai can better serve the whole nation, the Yangtze River Delta and the hinterland along the Yangtze," a statement said. Yangshan would altogether have 30 berths with a handling capacity of 14 million TEU, once the project is completed.

***A Proposition The Feds Can't Refuse ...... as Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have filed a civil racketeering suit against the Int'l Longshoremen's Assn (ILA) in an attempt to gain control over the union, which they said has been controlled by 2 New York mob families for roughly 50 years, the New York Times reported. Federal authorities allege the case, which was based on recent criminal prosecutions & decades of evidence of corruption & mob influence in the union and waterfront businesses, was the 1st civil racketeering case brought against the association, although a similar suit was brought against a local unit in 1990.

***Port of Philadelphia Goes To War ..... as it has rolled out RAPID (Regional Agile Port Intermodal Distribution) Center, a new seaport operation center, which was utilized during the current deployment of the 10th Mountain Division from Ft. Drum, New York. RAPID Center is a collaborative effort between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department of Defense (DOD), the U.S. Surface Deployment & Distribution Command, the U.S. Maritime Administration & the Delaware River Maritime Enterprise Council (DRMEC).  This is the 1st DOD funded seaport operations center. The new RAPID Center also provides advanced information sharing on the status of DOD shipments with local law enforcement, state emergency management organizations & other federal agencies like the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). During calendar year 2004 up to the present time, the port has handled 11,698 pieces (1,867,048 million sq. ft.) of military equipment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom & Operation Iraqi Freedom.  In addition to military & state officials, the Assn. of American Railroads (AAR) & CSX played a critical role in moving the goods & monitoring the movement of the train between Fort Drum & the Port of Philadelphia at the AAR Operation Center in Washington, D.C.

***ExpressRail Staten Island Goes Back To Staten Island .........as it will provide rail access to Howland Hook Marine Terminal in New York for the 1st time, says a news statement. Governor George Pataki & New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground on ExpressRail Staten Island, a US$26M ship-to-rail cargo transfer facility at the Howland Hook Marine Terminal. As part of a larger initiative to re-establish freight rail service to Staten Island after a 15-year hiatus, this new facility will allow the Staten Island container terminal to transport containerized cargo on/off its property by rail for the 1st time.

***Port of Rotterdam -- The Euro Giant ...... as it is still experiencing strong growth, particularly in container traffic, which increased by 16% last year to 8.3 mil ion TEU. This trend continued in the first 3 months of this year with an 18% hike over the corresponding period last year to 2.26 million TEU, of which imports rose 22% to 1.16 million TEU & exports grew 16% to 1.1 million TEU, with one of the strongest growth areas being intra-European traffic.

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

1802 - Frigate Constellation defeats 9 Corsair gunboats off Tripoli. 

1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur concludes agreement with Bey of Tunis to compensate U.S. for seizure of merchant ships during the War of 1812.

1823 - After pirate attack, Lt. David G. Farragut leads landing party to destroy pirate stronghold in Cuba.

1846 - Sailors and Marines from U.S. sloop Cyane capture San Diego.

1865 - East India Squadron established to operate from Sunda Strait to Japan.

1874 - Commissioning of USS Intrepid, 1st U.S. warship equipped with torpedoes.

1912 - 1st attempt to launch an airplane by catapult made at Annapolis.

1912 - 1st airborne radio communications from naval aircraft to ship (Lt. John Rodgers to USS Stringham).

1918 - Armored cruiser USS San Diego (ACR 6) sunk off Fire Island, N.Y. by a mine laid by German U-boat U-156.

1933 - USS Constitution commences tour of principal U.S. seaports, to Seattle.

1945 - USS Callaghan (DD 792) is last ship sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack, off Okinawa.

1948 - President Harry S. Truman orders desegregation of the Armed Services.

1958 - USS Nautilus (SSN 571) departs Pearl Harbor for first submerged transit of North Pole.

1964 - 1st all-nuclear task force with USS Long Beach (CGN 9), USS Enterprise (CVN 65) & USS Bainbridge (CGN 25) leaves Norfolk, Va., to begin voyage, Operation Sea Orbit, to circle the globe without refueling. They returned October 3. 

***Mayday Fun At Sea ....... as a couple who headed out to sea in a dinghy for an amorous liaison sparked a major rescue operation when their cries of passion were mistaken for someone in trouble, police said on July 26. A passer-by raised the alarm after hearing strange noises coming from the waters (authorities say Beaufort 6) near a beach in Torbay on July 26 morning, prompting the UK Coastguard to send lifeboats & police to the scene. "It was found that there was a partially-clothed couple in a small rubber dingy that were brought ashore & asked to put their clothes back on," a spokesman for Devon & Cornwall police said. "Our police log actually mentions that 'they were having fun in their boat!', but doesn't say anything other than that."   

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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. You will be amazed.

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

See our new feature for Aug. 2005: "Back Haul! - Trouble On The Way Home.".... a just updated feature for you from our past you will enjoy.

See our newest photo feature "Singles Only" - Transportation Disasters Told In A Single Photo!

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..............

Countryman & McDaniel Official Theme For Runway 25, Right ..... you have got to see this!

E-Commerce: Users Ignorant About Data Privacy

Identity Theft Is Extreme

Ocean Shipping: Consolidation Dead Ahead

Ocean Shipper Survey

Panalpina...... new Website

RFID & High Value Inventory

Space Shuttle Debris Images

SPACEHAB "Apex" Resupply Vessel For The Future

U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Remarks By Secretary Michael Chertoff

What Have We Learned From RFID From Walmart?

White House Fact Sheet On Maritime Security

 

PRODUCTS >>>>>>>>>

Air Freight Market Report  2005

AfterOfficeHours .......there is a free trial period.

Electronic Sensor Technology ..........new technique for screening cargo containers.

PIERS Trade Data

Who's Who in Global Logistics and Freight Forwarding 2005

 

EVENTS >>>>>>>>>

Transport Events

World Trade Organization Events

2nd Advanced Forum on Global Customs Compliance ......Sept. 21 - 23, 2005, Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Federal Maritime Commission -- NVOCC Service Arrangements ..........Aug. 3, 2005 - 10:00 A.M., 800 North Capitol Street, N.W. 1st Floor Hearing Room, Washington, D.C. Call Bryant L. VanBrakle at (202) 523-5725

L.A. Harbor Transportation Club 18th Annual Harbor Cruise ........Thurs, Sept. 15, 2005. Pre-Boarding check-in begins at 4:00 PM

Central and Eastern European Transport, Logistics & Supply Chain Congress.........29-30 September 2005, Veletrzni Palace, Prague.

Supply Chain Excellence 2005 Symposium .......... Sept. 22, 410 Club in Chicago's Wrigley Building -- theme of the symposium is "Supply Chain Innovation Through Process & Technology."

TLS CEE Congress ..... Sept. 29-30 2005, Veletrzni Palace, Prague.

Track & Trace Summit ....... Oct. 17-19 at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, Miami, FL.

http://www.trackandtracesummit.com

Transport & Logistics & Int'l Trade .... Dec. 8-9. Tallinn, Estonia

http://www.bi-info.ee/conf/index2.asp?No=304&ID=0&lang=eng&usertp=&id_unique=102

 

FOR FUN >>>>>>>>>

Int'l Space Station

Space Shuttle -- Live Coverage of Current Mission

The Space Store

Unusual LAX Prayer

Yelp ....... the next big thing?

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

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

Coakley Vs. SeaRiver Maritime, Inc.

5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

July 18, 2005 No. 04-30569

In an unpublished decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that a towing company is not liable for personal injuries caused by any unseaworthiness of a barge being towed by the company where the towing company does not own the barge. In the instant case, an employee of the towing company was injured when he slipped on ice on the barge. The employee sued his employer, alleging unseaworthiness. The court held that, under a contract for towage, the towing company does not become the owner pro hac vice of the barge. Opinion 

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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

Libby Thompson (Countryman & McDaniel)

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