Good Wednesday 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 is our industry review for November 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 _____________  

***Big Deutsche Buy -- Bye Bye BAX........ as the German national railway has agreed  to pay US$1.1Bn to buy BAX Global, a U.S.-based transport & logistics company owned by The Brink's Co.  Deutsche Bahn AG, a company virtually unrecognized in the U.S. except for experts who knew the railway already owned Schenker Logistics, with North American net revenue of just under US$1Bn a year.  BAX Global, which offers Intl freight transportation & supply chain management, is based in Irvine, Calif., has nearly 500 offices worldwide, and has some 12,000 employees worldwide. In 2004, BAX Global posted revenue of US$2.44Bn and an operating profit of US$56.2M. As a result of the BAX Global deal, Deutsche Bahn said its transportation & logistics division DB Logistics will increase its annual revenue to just under US$17Bn from US$2.4Bn in 2004. >> Deutsche Post World Net will also buy London-based Exel PLC for US$6.7Bn. If these deals close, Deutsche Post could surpass current world leader UPS Supply Chain Solutions in size.

***The New Commish ......as the Dept. of Homeland Security has named Deputy Commissioner Deborah J. Spero as acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection until a permanent replacement for Robert Bonner is named, CBP spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino confirmed. Bonner announced his resignation in late September and his last day as head of the agency was Nov. 23. Spero took over at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 25.  Spero has served as the #2 official at CBP since April 2004. Prior to that she led the transition team coordinating the merger of the former U.S. Customs Service, Immigration & Naturalization Service, and the Animal & Plant Inspection Service into a single agency within the DHS, while also serving as assistant commissioner for strategic trade.

***U.S. Southern Border Under Attack ....... as U.S. Border Patrol agents working the Arizona-Mexico border were victims of twice as many attacks this past fiscal year compared with the previous year, officials say. The U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma & Tucson sectors recorded 365 assaults on agents between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, up from 179 attacks reported for the same time period the year before, officials told The Arizona Republic. Nationwide, agents were assaulted 687 times, up from 349 a year earlier. Officials say the growing number of attacks reflects the increased influence of criminal gangs & profits they can make smuggling migrants & drugs across the border. Agents' vehicles are protected against rocks, the most common threat, and the Yuma sector now has the 1st vehicle deployed along the border that can withstand gunfire. There were 45 shooting incidents recorded during the last fiscal year along the Arizona border, up from 15 the previous year.

***U.S. Border Patrol Agents Furious ...... as charged with patrolling & assuring the security of the U.S.-Mexican border, they are understandably angered by the fact that their uniforms are made in Mexico. Their pants & shirts even display labels stating "Made in Mexico." Agents & lawmakers are concerned about consequences if the uniforms for agents charged with combating illegal immigration fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists. "It's embarrassing to be protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and be wearing a uniform made in Mexico," says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union. "If we're manufacturing uniforms in Mexico, what's to stop someone from walking across the border in a Border Patrol uniform?" asked Congressman John Carter. VF Solutions based in Nashville, Tennessee supplies the uniforms & subcontracts work to Mexico & other countries. VF Solutions has been providing Mexican-made uniforms to the Border Patrol for a year.

***The Currency of Economics ...... as a weakening in the world economy in 2004 "has now been supplanted by a moderate cyclical upturn" in the 4th quarter, according to a survey of corporate economists sponsored by the International Chamber of Commerce and conducted by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich, Germany. The 4th-quarter improvement "applied only to assessments of the current situation" by 1,100 economists participating in the survey, the ICC said. Unlike appraisals for the 3 previous quarters of 2005, the latest survey showed that a clear rise in inflation is expected in the near future. Inflation expectations had stood at 2.9%, the same rate for 2004, but are now pegged at 3.3%, due to "sharp price increases for oil & other raw materials that are now expected to have a stronger effect on consumer prices," the ICC said. The 4th-quarter report concluded that the U.S. dollar is regarded "as adequately valued in all of the surveyed countries, after having been undervalued for 2 years."  The euro & the British pound were less frequently regarded as overvalued than in previous surveys.

***Dumping Antidumping? ......... as the U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to repeal a controversial trade law that has redirected more than US$1Bn in antidumping & countervailing duties over the past five years to companies filing unfair trade complaints with the federal government. The House passed the Deficit Reduction Act (H.R. 4241), by a narrow vote of 217 to 215. The bill calls for the repeal of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, better known as the "Byrd amendment." The Byrd amendment requires antidumping and countervailing duty funds collected by Customs and Border Protection to be distributed to companies that petitioned for those duties. More than US$1Bn in payments have been distributed since the Byrd amendment became law in 2001. Two-thirds of the Byrd amendment payments went to 3 industries: bearings, candles & steel. Repeal of the Byrd amendment would not affect the basic operation of antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Instead it would remove the incentive for domestic manufacturers to file antidumping cases. The World Trade Organization ruled in 2002 that the Byrd amendment violates U.S. trade obligations. Congress' failure to repeal the law has resulted in WTO-authorized retaliation against U.S. exports by Canada, the EU, Japan, & Mexico. It's estimated that these retaliatory tariffs have cost American shippers about US$114M. H.R. 4241 will now go to a House-Senate conference for review and approval. However, opposition to repeal the Byrd amendment remains strong in the Senate.

***Antidumping Steel Resolve ...... as duty petitions filed by 5 U.S. domestic producers of carbon & alloy steel wire rod charge that dumped imports of such wire rod products from China (PRC), Germany & Turkey cause material injury to the domestic industry.  The petitioners allege antidumping margins of 330% for the PRC, 42% to 82% for Germany, and 31% to 78% for Turkey. The cases follow successful unfair trade petitions filed in 2001 that resulted in the imposition of antidumping duties on wire rod imports from Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Tobago, & Ukraine in 2002.

***Deficit Blues ...... as the U.S. trade deficit grew to a record US$66.1Bn in Sept., as crude oil prices surged the U.S. Commerce Dept. reported. The U.S. imported a record US$23.8Bn on oil. Britain's trade gap narrowed to US$6.8Bn in Sept.

***U.S.-China Explosion ...... as American shippers have increased their exports to China by 41% from 1999 to 2002. Small to mid-sized shippers comprise 87% of today's 16,434 U.S. exporters selling to China. In 2004, U.S. exports to China increased more than 22% to US$34.7Bn. China is America's 5th-largest trading partner. Top U.S. exports to China include nuclear components, electric machinery & equipment, medic and surgical instruments, planes, & plastic products.

***China-U.S. Explosion ...... as trade is projected to hit US$200Bn by the end of this year, according to Jin Xu, a senior official with China's Ministry of Commerce. Trade is expected to soar to US$300Bn by 2010. In 1978, when China 1st started its economic reforms, trade between the countries was worth just US$2.5Bn. Last year's figure was US$159.6Bn.

***U.S. & China Repair The Fabric ...... as they have reached a tentative agreement to limit imports of Chinese clothing and textile products into the U.S. The tentative agreement would allow for imports of most clothing & textile categories covered by the deal to increase by 8% to 10% in 2006, by around 13% in 2007 and by around 17% for 2008. All of these percentages would be above the 7.5% growth allowed under the safeguard procedures. U.S. retailers said they would reluctantly go along with a comprehensive deal as long as the growth in imports was sufficient to allow them to obtain reliable supplies.

***Bahrain Free Trade ..... as President Bush has forwarded legislation to Congress calling for the ratification of the recently negotiated U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement. The agreement will open Bahrain's market to U.S. manufactured goods, agricultural products & services. Bush said the Bahrain free trade agreement is another "significant step" towards developing a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013.

***India Exports Surged 22.08% ...... as they hit US$51.52Bn during April-Oct. 2005-06, as compared to US$42.2Bn during the same period last fiscal year. The Commerce Ministetry Kamal Nath said that exports this fiscal year are likely to touch US$100Bn as against the target of US$92Bn. Exports stood at US$75Bn during fiscal year 2004-05.

***Free Guide For Food Imports ...... as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has published a revised compliance guide for food imports.  The guide is required under the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness & Response Act, and covers the FDA's requirement of prior notice for food imported or offered for import into the U.S.  Get the guide online --

***U.S. Commerce Dept. Fines ....... as ProChem (Proprietary) Ltd. of Gauteng, South Africa, has agreed to pay US$1.54M in civil penalties to settle charges that it made unauthorized shipments of U.S.-origin chemicals to end-users in South Africa. The chemicals, sodium cyanide & potassium cyanide, require Commerce Dept. licenses because of their possible use in chemical & biological weapons. According to the department, ProChem (formerly Protea Chemicals) allegedly violated U.S. export controls on 112 occasions between Nov. 1999 & Dec. 2003. Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland agreed to pay US$185,000 in civil penalties to settle Commerce Dept. charges pertaining to unlicensed exports of fluid control valves to Taiwan & China. The Commerce Dept. alleged that Parker violated the country's export controls on 53 occasions between Sept. 2000 & June 2002.

***Strong U.S. Surface Prediction ...... as the Colography Group Inc., a research & forecasting company for the transportation industry, said today its projections indicate 2006 will be a strong year -- as ground parcel shipments will increase 5.1% and less-than-truckload moves will increase 3.8% over 2005 volumes, the company said. U.S. air exports will increase 7.3%, although domestic air freight will gain only 1.2%, the report predicted.

***Sad New Battle of New Orleans ...... as the Port of New Orleans is putting out a call for truck drivers to help move the maritime cargo volumes that have returned to the port as it has recovered from the impacts of this year's hurricane season.  "Under normal pre-Katrina conditions, the port would have about 1,000 truck drivers hauling 1,500 truck loads on a very busy day. After Katrina, about 150 drivers are estimated to be working in the Port of New Orleans and they are making about 450 truck hauls per day," the port said.

***Argentina Joins The War ....... as U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers are on site in Argentina at the Port of Buenos Aires, the 41st foreign port to conduct outbound inspections of cargo under the Container Security Initiative. Argentina agreed to participate in CSI last May. CBP plans to have 50 CSI ports by the end of 2006.

***Not In Kansas Anymore ....... as the Mexican & U.S. governments are expected to approve a Mexican Customs office in Kansas City by the end of the year, setting in motion the opening of the 1st foreign customs office in the United States to be open by May, AP reported.  The US$3M office is being opened to expedite shipments of American-made goods to Mexico as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with manufacturing industries in the upper Midwest & Canada likely the first to benefit from the new customs operation, which could expand to handle cargo from across the country. Though Kansas City is 1,000 miles from the Mexican border, "The industrial hub will soon start building an inland port that would whisk thousands of trucks through export inspections & shoot them back out onto the NAFTA corridor, where they can roll through the border without further delays."

***Upset Down Under ...... as customs authorities in Australia have completed "a number of enhancements" (fixes) to the newly installed Integrated Cargo System (ICS) which has been hit by a wave of technical problems since the system went live on Oct. 12, resulting in gridlock at the nation's busiest ports Sydney & Melbourne, and airports. Earlier media reports said that by some estimates the backlog is up to a month away from being cleared.

***UPS Goes For Gold ........ as the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) recently unveiled the much anticipated Games Mascots. As the Official Logistics & Express Delivery Sponsor of the Games, UPS has delivered 58 sets of mascots to "Friends of BOCOG" around the world. The names of the mascots are (from left to right) - Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, & Ni Ni. If you take the names of the mascots and put them together, they would read as Bei-Jing-Huan-Ying-Ni. Translated, this means "Beijing Welcomes You."

***COSCO Group Reaches Out ..... as Dutch mail & global logistics provider TNT on Nov. 14, in Beijing signed a letter of intent to establish a logistics joint venture aimed at "becoming the world's recognized leader in supply chain management in the Asia Pacific region." The equal share joint venture is scheduled to be operational from next year, integrating COSCO Logistics' home appliance business in China and TNT's Pallecon Logistics materials handling business in Australia. The new venture will have 1,000 employees & combined warehouse space of approximately 1 million sq. mt.s.

***Kuehne + Nagel Buys Some Danish ...... as it has acquired Danish forwarder Ziegler & Co. for an undisclosed amount.  Copenhagen-based Ziegler & Co. provide wine & spirits logistics services, mainly by sea, from the key markets in Australia, South Africa, South America, the U.S. & Europe. The company posted revenue of US$9M in 2004.

***U.S. Rail Barometer Up ....... as RailAmerica Inc., a holding company for 47 short-line railroads in the U.S. & Canada, said Sept. freight carloads rose 2.3% to 112,360 from 109,839 in Oct. 2004. For the year to date, RailAmerica's total carloads increased 5.7% to 1.08 million from 1.03 million in the same 10-month period last year.

***Union Vs. Rail Robot...... as Tacoma, Washington experienced a personal injury rail accident Nov.13 when a remote controlled Union Pacific locomotive smashed into an inbound freight container train The accident in the rail yard near the Port of Tacoma on Puget Sound resulted in the puncturing of the engine's fuel tanks, and caused 2 cars to derail. Nearly 300 gallons of diesel fuel were dumped at the scene. Earlier this year, the memberships of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED) were surveyed for their observations of safety and security concerns. Over 4,000 respondents to the Safe Rails Secure America survey formed the basis for the report, "High Alert: Workers Warn of Security Gaps on Nation's Railroads."  Public safety or partisan?

***Governing Safety ....... as the Ontario Trucking Assn. meeting adopted a policy requiring all trucks that operate into, out of, or within Ontario to use speed limiters, also known as speed governors, on their trucks. They approved setting limiters to make the highest speed a truck could go at no more than 105 kph (65 mph). A speed limiter is a built-in microchip that allows a truck engine's top speed to be preset; all trucks built in the last decade come equipped with this technology.

***The Giants Meld For RFID ........ as Wal-Mart & Target are cooperating in a pilot RFID project to share Electronic Product Code (EPC) data with 13 manufacturers who supply them with consumer packaged goods. Indeed, experts say that there is a need to consolidate data across fewer platforms to ensure its reliability & interoperability in retail environments.

***Small Package Holiday Size Restrictions This Holiday Year:

UPS:  Maximum 165 inches in length & girth; maximum weight 150 lbs.

FedEx Ground:  Maximum 130 inches in length and girth; maximum weight 150 lbs. 

U.S. Post Office:  Maximum 130 inches in length and girth; maximum weight 70 lbs. 

***UPS Shipping For Loyalty ....... as Internet shoppers say the successful delivery of goods purchased online is critical to their overall satisfaction & loyalty to online retailers, according to a new survey commissioned by UPS.  The survey, conducted for UPS by the national opinion research firm Synovate, found online consumers were overwhelming in their demand for high-quality delivery services. Among the findings: 

-- Online consumers' top 3 delivery priorities, in order, are reliability, convenience & speed of shipping.

-- 80% of online shoppers said a positive delivery experience would cause them to likely purchase from that online retailer again.

-- 69% of the respondents said they were more likely to patronize those online retailers that offered package tracking, rates & service selection online. 

While UPS does not attempt to estimate its online retail volume each year, its total holiday season surge will build from roughly 14 million deliveries a day to a peak day of more than 20 million on Dec. 20 -- that's a rate of 230 per second.  More than 18,000 UPS retail customers have integrated shipping technology to tap into UPS's global IT infrastructure, increasing efficiency while improving customer service. Lands' End, for example, provides its customers 24-hour access to their order status by providing UPS tracking directly on LandsEnd.com.  UPS will add between 40,000 & 60,000 seasonal workers and its ground delivery fleet of 88,000 package cars, vans & tractors will grow by an additional 7,000. The 9th-largest fleet in the world, UPS Airlines will add 22 large jets for the occasion.

***Busy Month at Countryman & McDaniel ....... as your publishers of The Cargo Letter are catching collective breath after an amazing 30 days --

* Nov. 1 - Partner Cameron Roberts & wife Mary welcome 19 inch, 7 pound, 5 ounce daughter Skye Roberts to the firm!

* Nov. 7 - Associate Andrew Kehagiaras welcomes new bride Cindy to the firm!

* Nov. 18 - Newest Associate Christoph Wahner passes the California State Bar Exam!

Whew!

***DDS Digital Highway Fraud ........ as a Dutch dentist who chopped off his finger and then faked a car crash before claiming 1.8 million euros (US$2.2M) from insurers was given a suspended sentence and fined by a court Nov. 3. The man, aged 50, mutilated himself & crashed his car into a tree in Belgium in the hope of convincing insurers that the steering wheel had inflicted the injury. However, the shape of the cut on his index finger, the level of anaesthetic in his blood and the absence of skid marks on the road suggested otherwise. "It was not an accident but an amputation he carried out himself, or he had someone do it for him," a court spokeswoman said.The dentist was fined 25,000 euros & received a 6-month suspended jail sentence with 240 hours community service. Well, it was fraud, but in the end, he gave them the finger.

***The Road To Happiness? ......... as Michael Fisk is a street fighting man. And the street he's fighting is named Dicks. Fisk, who lives on Dicks Street in the Los Angeles suburb of West Hollywood, has gone to city hall to get the road's name changed -- saying that its slang meaning has made life difficult for homeowners. "Since we moved in 4 years ago its just become such a hassle," Fisk said. "It's embarrassing. Something definitely needs to be changed. I realize that it's a man's name, but words change meaning, and this one has." Fisk, who collected signatures on a petition from more than half of residents on Dicks Street, has so far been met with lack of interest from city officials, who say that changing a street name is too much work. Heaven knows there are enough of them in our Los Angeles, perhaps it is the city officials who are .........

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  2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page ______ 

**CP Ships. UP with a 77% leap in net income to US$55M in Q3, its last as a publicly listed company following takeover by Hapag-Lloyd parent TUI AG.  

**Delta Airlines. DOWN for 3rd quarter with a net loss of US$1.1Bn, compared to a net deficit of US$592M in prior year.

**DHL Express (unit of Deutsche Post World Net) DOWN with a loss of US$380M for the 9-month period ended in Sept.

**Hanjin Shipping. UP as its Q3 profit rose 2.3% to US$168M.

**Korean Air (world's largest cargo carrier by volume) UP 59% with net profit of US$148M for the 3 months ended Sept. 30.

**Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp. UP with a pre-tax profit of US$175.1M for the quarter ending Sept. 30, a 14.7% climb over the corresponding quarter in 2004.

**Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. UP as net income jumped 31.6% to US$545.9M.

**NYK. UP as consolidated net income surged 62.6% to US$427.6M or the 1st half of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

**Patriot Transport Holding Inc. (Florida Rock & Tank Lines & SunBelt Transport) UP 28% to US2.1M in Q4.

**Regional Container Lines. UP with record 3rd quarter profit of US$35M.

**Stonepath Logistics. DOWN with 3rd-quarter loss of US$180,000 or zero cents a share.

**RailAmerica. UP with net income of US$7.7M, compared to net loss of US$33.1 M in 2004.

**Target Logistics, Inc. UP with operating income of US$880,515 for the fiscal 1st quarter ended Sept. 31, 2005, strongest since company went public in 1996.

**Trailer Bridge. UP as 3rd quarter net income rose 37.4% to US$1.6M.

**Union Pacific Corp. UP as Q3 net income for the largest U.S. rail freight carrier grew 83% to US$369M, or US$1.38 per share.  

**United Airlines. DOWN with net loss of US$1.77Bn, compared to a loss of US$274M in same period 2004.                   

***Interpool Pays Off  ........ as it will pay a cash dividend of 8.0 cents per share for the 4th quarter of 2005, an increase over the Company's previous quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents. The dividend will be payable on January 16, 2006 to shareholders of record on Jan. 2, 2006.

   ***Public Consequences ..... as U.S. Jones Act carrier Horizon Lines said costs related to its recent initial public offering dented its net income, which dropped 72% to US$3.2M from US$11.3M posted in the same quarter last year. Horizon Lines said its 3rd quarter results included US$11.3M in non-recurring expenses related to the IPO for management fees, non-cash stock compensation expenses & transaction expenses.  

***Forward Air Corp. Buy Back ...... as it has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program for up to 3,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock with a term expiring Nov. 18, 2008. Share repurchases may be commenced or suspended from time to time. The Company currently has approximately 31.4 million shares of common stock outstanding.   

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

  3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs __________   

***EU & U.S. Open Skies ....... as negotiators for the U.S. & EU have reached an agreement to deregulate the transatlantic aviation market that would potentially allow airlines from the U.S. and 25 EU member states to virtually operate with no government interference. The two sides said they struck a deal after nearly 2 years of negotiations on a regional open skies treaty that would lift controls on everything from prices, to aviation services, access & operating freedom granted foreign airlines. The deal would replace 15 bilateral open skies agreements the U.S. has in Europe, and in effect would make existing seventh freedom rights usable. In the past airlines were not able to take advantage of those rights because 3rd countries were not party to the agreement and didn't allow European carriers to provide service from locations in Europe outside their home country to 3rd countries like the U.S.  The State Dept. & EU transport authorities plan to begin a 2nd round of negotiations on other aviation issues within 2 months of the agreement's effective date.

***VLJ's Could Be A Problem ..... as the Air Transport Assn. (ATA), the trade association of the principal U.S. passenger & cargo airlines, has told the Aviation Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee that airline travel is safer than ever and that the airlines remain committed to improving an already exceptional safety record. Between 2002 & 2004, airlines providing 31 million scheduled commercial operations, known as Part 121 operations, carried nearly 2 billion passengers & recorded 34 fatalities. In 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board reported only one fatal accident in over 10 million scheduled departures. The airlines are concerned over the impact that Very Light Jets (VLJs) will have on the safety of commercial airline operations when they are introduced in the near future. According to FAA estimates, 4,500 VLJs will be operating by 2016.  These aircraft will impact scheduled airline & cargo service, because they will operate in the same busy airspace as commercial airlines, but travel at much slower speeds.

***Where is Belly Cargo Security? ....... as the Bush administration has yet to follow through on a 2-year-old plan to find & plug holes in air cargo security and doesn't even have a schedule for completing it, according to congressional investigators. A report by the Government Accountability Office being released says the Transportation Security Administration won't be able to protect cargo-carrying planes from terrorists unless it understands where they're vulnerable. Critics say it makes no sense to screen people and luggage carefully but not the cargo on passenger planes. Last year, about 6 billion pounds of cargo - a quarter of the cargo shipped by air in the U.S. - was flown aboard passenger airplanes. Critics also say cargo planes need to be protected because terrorists could use them as weapons. Late in 2003, Homeland Security officials said intelligence indicated al-Qaida might hijack cargo planes and attack nuclear plants, bridges or dams. TSA said the agency required airlines to triple random inspections of cargo, hired 100 cargo inspectors & is testing new security technology. The TSA, which is part of Homeland Security, promised regulations to plug holes in air cargo security by the end of 2003. Congress gave the agency an Aug. deadline to come up with the rules. The TSA has yet to do so.

***Smiling Asian Skies ...... as the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) recently held its annual meeting at Hong Kong. Between 2004-2005, AAPA members achieved a combined net profit of US$3.5Bn on revenues of US$65.5Bn. The net profits came even though the carriers were hit with a 38% hike in fuel costs this year. Still, member airlines grew slower than cargo capacity in the month of Sept. The AAPA said Int'l freight traffic was up 1.9% while capacity increased 4.1%, resulting in a 1.4% drop in freight load factor, to 66.2%. Industry analysts expect Singapore Airlines & Qantas to order additional A380s or new 747-800s in Dec. Singapore Airlines is also said to be looking at whether or not it will order more A380s, or smaller jets. Qantas may purchase up to 50 Boeing 787s or A350s jets. The AAPA represents 17 airlines including: Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Dragonair, Eva Air, JAL, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines & Thai Airways.

***Lufthansa Cargo Less Fuelish ....... as it will lower its fuel surcharge from 0.50 euro (59 cents) to 0.45 euro (53 cents) per kilogram, effective Dec. 5, as the price for jet fuel continues to recede from record highs. The airline has lowered its fuel surcharge index 3 times this month. Many airlines, including BA World Cargo, Martinair Cargo & NWA Cargo use the Lufthansa index as a benchmark & have reduced surcharges as well.

***The "New" 747 ........ as Boeing Co. officially unveiled a new line of 747 aircraft meant to compete with the Airbus A380, and announced orders valued at US$5Bn. Boeing (BA) said it'll launch the 747-8 intercontinental passenger plane & the 747-8 freighter plane. A new passenger version will seat 450 people, up from 416 in the most current model and be about 12 feet longer than the current 747. The freighter version will be about 18 feet longer than the current freighter model. The Seattle, Wash.-based plane maker said that Luxembourg's Cargolux has ordered 10 of the freighters, with purchase rights for 10 more. Japan's Nippon Cargo Airlines has ordered 8 freighters, with options for 6 more. The planes are meant to compete with the Airbus A380, with Boeing saying the planes will offer 20% lower trip costs.

***Super Jumbo Trouble? ....... as concerns about turbulence behind Airbus' new A380 superjumbo might mean longer waits between take-off times when the airliner starts commercial operations next year, the company said. Responding to a report in the Wall Street Journal Europe that industry regulators are concerned about the wake created by the A380, Airbus said that longer separation times between aircraft might initially be introduced "as a precautionary measure" before being reduced.  Longer separation distances were also introduced when the 747 jumbo was launched by Boeing in 1970. The Airbus A380 can carry up to about 850 passengers and is due to go into service next year.

***Angry Pilots ....... as FedEx pilots, in their 20th month of contract negotiations, set up informational picket lines. The pilots' union said the company had failed to address legitimately the pilots' concerns and, instead, requested National Mediation Board (NMB) assistance. According to the pilots, bringing in the NMB has brought the two parties closer to confrontation. UPS pilots claim the company breached their contract by subcontracting flying Menlo freight into 2006. The company violated a contractual deadline for integrating the traffic from Menlo Worldwide Forwarding into the UPS system, according to the Independent Pilots Assocation. The two are in their 4th year of contract negotiations. The Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) hosted union leaders from around the world at a meeting in Washington, D.C., including the International Transport Workers' Federation which represents 624 transport unions with 4.5 million transport workers in 142 countries. The IBT had already announced its intent to organize Overnite Transportation, the non-union less-than-truckload carrier acquired by UPS. Together, the unions reportedly discussed developing a strategy for organizing efforts at UPS, DHL, TNT & FedEx.

***Happy Pilots...... as bankrupt Northwest Airlines has reached wage cut packages with 2 unions representing its pilots & flight attendants. The Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) agreed to temporary pay & other reductions of US$215M on an annualized basis, subject to membership ratification, while leaders of the Professional Flight Attendants Association agreed to cuts of US$117M.

***UPS Supply Chain Solutions Makes Spirited Delivery ...... as it transported 700,000 bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to Japan this month. The shipments enabled Japanese wine lovers to enjoy a glass on Nov. 17, the official date for releasing the new vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau. To facilitate the move, UPS Supply Chain Solutions chartered 7 cargo aircraft to fly to Japan between Nov. 5 & 11. The planes took off from Vatry (in the Marne), Chateauroux (in the Indre) and Brescia (Italy), bound for the Japanese airports of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka & Fukuoka. From there, the cargo was delivered to leading wine & spirit merchants in Japan.

***Cargo 2000 In Towne ..... as the South Bend, Ind.-based Towne Air Freight has become the 1st U.S. trucking company to join Cargo 2000 as an industry associate member. Cargo 2000 is an interest group of the Int'l Air Transport Assn. (IATA) with 30 major airlines, freight forwarders & ground handling agents as members. Towne Holdings, founded in 1963, is a privately held company with 3 freight services subsidiaries -- Towne Air Freight offers trucking services to 37 U.S. facilities, as well as less-than-truckload transportation services in 5 Midwestern states & an office in Los Angeles.

***Bigger O'Hare ....... as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will provide US$337M during the next 15 years to help fund expansion at Chicago's O'Hare Int'l Airport. The money will cover about 10% of the cost for new runways, taxiways & a terminal that are part of the 1st phase of a long-term expansion plan for the nation's busiest airport. FAA issued a letter of intent to provide the city of Chicago US$20M installments each year plus US$37M over 5 years from its Airports Improvement Program.

***The DHL Next Door ...... as it will invest more than US$1Bn to develop infrastructure programs, IT advancements & customer-focused initiatives in Europe. The DHL network will be much more visible & accessible to millions of customers in Europe by the end of 2008 as the company charts an aggressive course to increase from 15,000 current access points to 30,000 customer points of access. A total of 20,000 out of the projected 30,000 locations are expected to be in place by 2007. As part of an effort to be more engaging and user-friendly, DHL customer locations in Europe will feature a retail store front appearance, branded "DHL SERVICEPOINT."

***From Many Schenkers -- One ....... as the Int'l forwarding & logistics company will unify all of its various air freight services under the umbrella of SCHENKERsky to allow for easier identification of its products. Under the new structure, SCHENKERsky will oversee the services SCHENKERjetcargo, SCHENKERaeroparts systems, SCHENKERmarine parts, & SCHENKERjetxpress.

***Malev Is Now "one" ...... as it is set to join "oneworld" after formally accepting an invitation to join the aviation alliance at a ceremony in Budapest conducted in the presence of Hungary's Minister of Finance, Janos Veres, and Minister of Economy & Transport, Janos Koka.  This follows a memorandum of understanding reached between oneworld & Malev in May of this year. Since that time, the Hungarian airline has satisfied audits by the alliance of its quality & safety standards, as well as a review to ensure it can deliver the required range of customer services & benefits. Finnair will act as Malev's sponsor into oneworld, working with it on these activities. oneworld members are -- American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN, Finnair & Aer Lingus, plus their 12 affiliates.

***Swiss No Longer Neutral .......as preceding Deutsche Lufthansa's takeover of Swiss In'l Air Lines, Lufthansa Cargo & Swiss WorldCargo will conduct joint local business operations in Canada. Effective Jan. 1, Swiss WorldCargo will assume additional responsibility for Lufthansa Cargo's sales & distribution operations in Montreal, while Lufthansa Cargo will take charge of Swiss WorldCargo's Toronto operations.  

***Not Dangerous? ...... as in Montreal, Canada, the Int'l Civil Aviation Organization's Dangerous Goods Panel (ICAO DGP) voted to allow passengers to carry & use micro fuel cells and methanol fuel cartridges on-board airplanes to power laptop computers & other consumer electronic devices.  When formally adopted, the regulation will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2007.

***Frequent Scammer Miles...... as an Australian man who illegally collected 17.6 million frequent flyer points with some of the world's biggest airlines, without getting onto a plane, was jailed for fraud Wednesday, local media reported. Austin Perrott, 45, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne to nine counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and was jailed for 6 months, Australian AP reported. The court was told Perrott received the points between Feb. 1996 & Oct. 2002, while working as a Singapore Airlines customer services supervisor in Melbourne. Perrott used a computer irregularity to collect points on 29 accounts from frequent flyer programs at 9 airlines, including Qantas, Singapore & Thai Airways.  Perrott never used his frequent flyer points to fly but redeemed 4.3 million points, which he mostly sold to family and friends for money, the court heard. Judge Roy Punshon said the value of the points stolen was about US$296,000.

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

  4. FF World Ocean Briefs ________________   

***World Seaborne Trade Up ...... as the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) Review of Maritime Transport 2005 reports that world seaborne trade, driven primarily by China, the U.S. &  Japan, and to some extent by the European Community, expanded in 2004 to 6.76 billion metric tons. The 4.3% growth rate (expected to be repeated in 2005) was lower than the 5.8% increase experienced in 2003.

***Vessel Leasing Rates Decease...... as the cost of leasing a container ship fell by as much as 14% in Oct. from the month before, as growth in transport volumes slowed & shipyards completed new carriers, Oslo-based R.S. Platou Shipbrokers said. Liner operators such as A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world's biggest container shipping company, lease vessels from other shipowners to supplement their fleets. The lease cost fell to US$38,000 a day in Oct. from US$44,000 in Sept. for ships able to take on 4,500 TEU.

***West Coast TSA Rates Increase ...... as member lines in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said they expect rising inland rail & trucking charges, cargo and equipment imbalances and the network effects of inland infrastructure to add at least US$150 per 40-foot container to their costs for port-to-port West Coast service; US$350 per FEU for intermodal mini-landbridge & inland point intermodal shipments; & US$400 per FEU for East Coast all-water service, including reverse inland point intermodal moves. Those costs represent a minimum which lines say they intend to recover from customers in upcoming 2006-2007 contract negotiations.

***Easing West Coast Fears ..... as although railroads have experienced some congestion and slowed West Coast traffic, the Nov. Port Tracker report says that concerns for retailers aren't as great as they might have been last month. Problems for the railroad, according to Global Insight, came from having to deal with record container volumes combined with disruptions due to lingering effects from the hurricanes that hit the Southern part of the country. Though the Western ports were running smoothly, delays as long as 4 days &endash; both in and outbound &endash; were being experienced because of railroad backups. Port Tracker was developed jointly by National Retail Federation's Strategic Supply Chain Council and Global Insight's Int'l Trade & Transportation Practice. Port Tracker evaluates & monitors the key data that will help retailers understand what is happening at U.S. ports.

***Raising The Bar On Yard Theft ...... as UK's largest port, the Hutchison-operated port of Felixstowe, plans to improve terminal security by introducing an identity card scheme for truckers. The Road Haulier Identity System (RHIDES) will be tested with a group of volunteers in Jan., with full implementation expected later in the year. The identity card will contain the driver's name & a biometric hand-scan. Upon arrival at the port, the driver will place the card into a reader and a hand onto a biometric scanner. If a valid card is presented, the port's gate system will record the number against the container's & allow entry into the restricted area of the terminal.

***Matson Navigation Co. Expands In China ..... as it has opened new offices in Shanghai & Ningbo. Matson was the 1st U.S. shipping company doing business in China. In domestic news, Matson will raise its rates for the company's Hawaii service by US$125 per westbound container & US$75 per eastbound container, effective Jan. 1. Matson estimates the increase will raise rates an average of 3.9%. Matson will also increase its terminal handling charge by US$60 per westbound container & US$30 per eastbound container

***Thermo Is King ...... as fruit giant Dole Food Company will buy Thermo King Corp. "Magnum" reefer containers as replacement units to the Dole reefer fleet. The Magnum containers use scroll compressor technology, which allows for faster temperature pull-downs & lower power consumption. Thermo King's Magnum consumes almost 30% less power than other container refrigeration units, yet produces more watts of refrigeration, allowing shippers to save on both fuel costs & charges for electrical power at Central American ports & terminals.

***UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency On Counter Piracy ....... as it issued a Marine Guidance Note recommending measures to counter piracy, armed robbery, and other acts of violence against merchant shipping. The key points discussed in the Note are: (1) be vigilant; (2) reduce opportunities for theft; (3) secure restricted areas at all times & establish safe secure areas; (4) maintain, exercise, and regularly review the ship's counter-piracy plan; and (5) report all incidents to the coastal and flag state authorities. This Note should be required reading on all ships and at shoreside headquarters.

***Somali Pirate Warning ...... as the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Yes, there really is one) issued a Special Warning stating that mariners are advised to avoid the port of Mogadishu & to remain at least 200 nautical miles distant from the Somali coast. Pirates are reported to have used previously hijacked ships as bases for further attacks. They are also reported to issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore. Be constantly alert if in this vicinity.

***Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System ..... as the planned closing schedule for the 2005 navigation season for transits of the Montreal-Lake Ontario section will end 23:59 hours, Dec. 24.

***St. Lawrence Seaway Relevant? ...... as transportation expert John Taylor has spent months analyzing traffic flows on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway to measure the economic benefits. The associate professor of marketing at Grand Valley State University said he was surprised by what he found. Taylor said the principal conclusion is that a cessation of ocean shipping on the Great Lakes would result in a transportation cost penalty of US$54.9M per year. He said the relatively low cost penalty is due to the fairly small volume of ocean tonnage, and the fact that rail, laker & barge options are quite competitive. The new information may lead regulators to rethink the level of controls on ocean ships entering the freshwater Great Lakes & the contamination they bring from foreign sea life.

***Not Enough Big Ditch? ......as a Drewry Shipping Consultants study commissioned by steamship line APL said expansion of the Panama Canal will not be enough to ease future congestion at West Coast ports. The study said that even with canal capacity expansion expected in the coming years to accommodate more all-water shipments between Asia to the U.S. East Coast, the waterway would not be able to handle longer-term needs.

***Hapag-Lloyd Newborn ....... as in Yokohama it named the latest of its new-generation mega-containerships, the 8,750-TEU M/V Kyoto Express. The 103,000 deadweight ton vessel was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea and has a length of 335 meters (1,099 feet) & a width of 43 meters (141 feet). The ship's diesel engine has a speed of 25 knots. M/V Kyoto Express will join its sister-ship M/V Colombo Express on the Grand Alliance's weekly Asia/Europe Loop D service.

***Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Goes South ...... as it will make its entry into the Europe/South Africa trade after the Japanese carrier reached agreement with A.P. Moller-Maersk to acquire P&O Nedlloyd's operations in the route. No financial details disclosed. The European Commission made it a condition of A.P. Moller-Maersk's recent takeover of P&O Nedlloyd that the new operation sell off P&O Nedlloyd's Europe/South Africa liner interests, as well as withdrawing from certain European conferences. Under terms of the transaction, MOL will acquire P&O Nedlloyd's rights to operate 3 ships under a cooperative agreement with Maersk Sealand, Safmarine Container Lines, & Deutsche Afrika Line, collectively known as the South Africa Europe Container Service (SAECS) members.

***PM&O On The Edge ....... as financial troubles have forced San Francisco-based Philippines, Micronesia & Orient Navigation Co. (PM&O Line) to suspend operations on its monthly Micronesia service & close its Los Angeles office.

***NVOCC Hit On Antiboycott .... as the U.S. Commerce Dept. said Oceanic Container Line, a Staten Island, N.Y.-based non-vessel-operating common carrier, has agreed to pay an US$8,250 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated the country's antiboycott laws. The department charged that on one occasion Oceanic provided prohibited information about another company's business relationships by transmitting an agent certification regarding a vessel en route to Qatar. The department also charged that Oceanic failed to report the incident in a timely manner and failed to maintain appropriate records about the request. The antiboycott provisions of the U.S. export control regulations prohibit U.S. persons, including overseas subsidiaries of U.S. companies, from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts.

***FMC Revokes 6 OTI Licenses ...... for failure to maintain valid bonds.  The firms are Barian Shipping Co., Woodmere, N.Y.; Coastar Freight Services, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.; Global-Link Int'l, Wood Dale, Ill.; Joseph Esposito, Bloomingdale, N.J.; & Sonictrans System, Jamaica, N.Y.

***Container Heaven ...... as over the long term, the demand curve for containers is pointing upward, and the number of containers being used in world trade will continue to grow, but whether leasing prices will continue to trend up is the subject of disagreement. Textainer, a large container lessor based in San Francisco, doubts that container-lease prices will continue to climb at the same rates as they did last year. Textainer says the price of a new container has dropped below US$1,700 for a 20-foot container, the industry benchmark. Last year, when shipping lines were scrambling to find containers, the price of new boxes climbed as much as US$50 to US$100 every few weeks & reached as high as US$2,200. "That's what made 2004 such an incredible year for the container-leasing business," said the leasing company.

***Slow Pays Big ..... as the Long Beach Harbor Commission voted to award "green flag" designations to vessels that comply with a program asking cargo vessels to slow their speed to 12-knots as they approach the ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles, a move that could save ocean carriers 15% on dockage rates -- after a 1 year period of 90% compliance. The plan is designed to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide, a component of smog.

   ***Long Beach Sizzles ....... as export TEUs through the Port of Long Beach rose 20.5% in Oct. to 103,422 TEUs from 85,823 TEUs in Oct. 2004. The increase is slightly below the port's 24% year-to-date growth pace for exports. The port handled 103,422 export TEUs, a steep climb over the 85,823 it handled in Oct. 2004. Imports grew 3.7% to 299,203 TEUs from 288,590 TEUs in Oct. 2004. Empties rose 8.2% to 198,315, far below the year-to-date growth of 25.6%. Loaded TEUs are up nearly 17% for the year to 3.7 million TEUs.   

***Throughput >>> German ports of Bremerhaven & Bremen increased by 9.3%, to 2.75 million TEUs for the 9 months period ended Sept. 30. >>> Cada's Fraser River Port increased 23% to 284,849 TEUs through the 1st 9 months of 2005. >>> Port of Hong Kong topped 2 million TEUs in Oct. up 3.3% compared to the same month last year -- the port's highest throughput for the year so far. >>> Jacksonville Port Authority handled a record 777,318 TEUs for Sept., up 6%. >>> PSA Corp. said its Singapore container terminals handled 1.91 million TEUs in Oct., boosting its throughput after 10 months to 18.57 million TEUs, up 8.6 % compared to 17.10 million handled in the same period last year. >>> Port of Savannah handling a best-ever 169,756 TEUs during Sept., up 29.6% from the same month last year. >>> Port of Tacoma, Wash. handled 216,430 TEUs in Sept., up 21.9%. >>> Port of Virginia as 188,539 TEUs were handled in Oct. at the general cargo terminals that line the Elizabeth & James rivers -- a record.

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

1776 - 1st salute to an American flag (Grand Union flag) flying from Continental Navy ship Andrew Doria, by Dutch fort at St. Eustatius, West Indies.

1890 - USS Maine, the 1st American battleship, is launched.

1922 - Cdmr. Kenneth Whiting in a PT seaplane, makes 1st catapult launching from aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV 1), at anchor in the York River

1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Adm. William D. Leahy as U.S. Ambassador to Vichy, France, to try to prevent the French fleet & naval bases from falling into German hands.

1942 - Operation Torch (Allied landings in French Northwest Africa). American forces land at Casablanca. French naval forces attack U.S. Navy ships and 13 French ships are sunk without a loss to the U.S.

1961 - Navy reports 1st use of its cyclotron at Harvard University to treat a human brain tumor. After 3 treatments, the tumor of the 2-year-old patient shrank by 80%.

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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!! Don't miss the pirate attack on  M/V Seabourn Spirit

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 one of our favorite features from the past: "Columbia River Round Up"

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

2006 World Airports Directory

'Always Ready': The Coast Guard's Response to Hurricane Katrina ........U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs

Center For Science & Public Policy

IMO 24th Assembly, Nov. 21 2005

Is The WTO The Only Way?

Operation Gratitude

President Bush Supports Modernization of Panama Canal

Pricing Air Cargo -- It's Not Simple

Russian Railroads

Short Sea Shipping

Speech Delivered By UK Transport Minister Stephen Landyman ........ to the IMO on Nov. 21 concerning various shipping issues.

UK Dept. of Transport -- Statistical Information On Collisions of Pax Ro-Ro Ships

UK Road Freight Crime

U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security --  National Maritime Security Strategy Plans

U.S. Federal Maritime Commission Annual Program Performance Report

U.S. Food & Drug Administration Guidelines For Decontamination of Food & Trucks

Why Developing Countries Need Tariffs

Yacht Piracy

PRODUCTS>>>>>>>>>

Australian Sea Food Users Manual

Case Studies of RFID in Food & Livestock Transport Management

Holiday Gifts -- Recovered Treasure From The 1865 Wreck of S.S. Republic

Trucker Tele Atlas ...... coast to coast routing

EVENTS>>>>>>>>>

Transport Events

World Trade Organization Events

4th North America Cargo Security Conference ..........5-6 Dec. 2005, Washington, D.C.

15th Annual Int'l All Cargo Conference IAAC .......... 23-25 May 2006, Houston

Impact of Ocean Carrier Consolidation ....... Dec. 7, 2005, 1:00-2:30 PM ES Webcast.

Intermodal South America 2006 ........ April 26 to 28, 2006, Transamerica Expo Center, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Logistics & Supply Chain Forum ....... May 7-10, 2006, aboard M/V Norwegian Dawn, Ex-NYC.

Marintec China ........ 6-9 Dec. 2005, Shanghai New Int'l Expo Centre, Shanghai, China

RORO 2006 .......16-18 May 2006, Flanders Expo, Ghent, Belgium

Shipbuilding-Machinery & Marine Technology Int'l Trade Fair ..........Sept. 26-29, 2006 -- Hamburg, Germany.

The Lean Supply Chain .............. Dec. 7 2005 -- Webcast delivered by James Womack, president of the Lean Enterprise Institute.

TOC Asia - Terminal Operations Conference and Exhibition & Conference for Asia. .......14 - 16 March 2006, BEXCO, Pusan, South Korea

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

U.S. General Services Admin. 3rd Annual Household Goods & Freight Forum ........Feb. 22-23, 2006, Anaheim, Calif. Co-sponsored by American Moving & Storage Assn.

FOR FUN>>>>>>>>>

Explore Matson Vessel -- M/V Manukai

Great Lake Ship Wreck Museum

Message Plant

M/V Norwegian Jewel ........ new cruise ship includes 10 Courtyard Villas & 2 Garden Villas.

U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency -- For Kids

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

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

LCI Shipholdings, Inc. v. Muller Weingarten AG 

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals

Nov. 4, 2005 No. 04-30937

In an unpublished decision, the 5th Circuit ruled that a freight forwarder does not have a tort indemnity claim under general maritime law against a carrier. In the instant case, plaintiff (a German fixed cost freight forwarder) arranged for cargo to be shipped on defendant carrier's vessel. The cargo was damaged en route. The cargo owner's insurance company recovered full damages from plaintiff under German law. Plaintiff then brought suit in the U.S. against defendant carrier, alleging a tort indemnity claim not subject to the COGSA package limitation. On appeal, the court held that availability of a common law tort indemnity claim is limited & is not available in this situation. Other than the contract of carriage, there was no special relationship between the parties to support such claim. Read the opinion.

Scanlon v. M/V Super Servant 3

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals

Nov. 8 2005 No. 05-1499

The 1st Circuit ruled that a party who concurs in the trial court's dismissal of an action may not appeal that dismissal. In the instant case, plaintiff yacht owners brought suit against the carrier after the yachts were damaged during a voyage. The trial court directed that the matter be arbitrated in accordance with the contract of carriage. The trial court also denied plaintiffs' motion to allow an interlocutory appeal. After an extended period, plaintiffs moved for dismissal of the action in favor of defendants. The motion for dismissal was made "in the interest of finality" and included no indication that plaintiffs intended to appeal. After the trial court granted the motion, plaintiffs filed an appeal. The appellate court held that an order granting an unqualified motion for dismissal by plaintiffs is not subject to appeal. Any intent to appeal must be clearly expressed concurrently with the motion for dismissal. Read the 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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