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Monday, February 14, 2011

Do you need to know how to properly handle hazardous cargo?

From the NOAA Site - The aftermath of a March 2006 explosion of hazardous cargo on a container ship. The congressional research service estimates that more than 100,000 marine shipments of chemicals that could cause mass casualties passed through US Ports in 2003, the latest year for which data were available. The image to the left is courtesy of Royal Netherlands Navy.


So don't think you need hazardous cargo handling training? This accident was due to a clerical error. Someone, somewhere, probably unemployed now, did not class this cargo correctly. In turn, the stow planners did not stow it correctly. In turn BOOM! Here is the result.

So many in the shipping industry feel they do not need to take training to handle hazardous cargo. But, fork lift drivers have to get certified to handle HAZ Cargo, warehouse workers needs to know how to pack and placard boxes and your ship planners must understand the consequences of stowing hazardous cargo within a ocean vessel as the elements and/or motion and/or flashpoints of cargo and the location of that cargo on a vessel has serious repercussions...as illustrated above.

All of us in shipping oooh and awwe at pictures like this but maybe someone reading this post was one of those responsible for this.

As we take all the neccesary precautions to ensure safe travel on airplanes, trains, subways, and even our cars...these cargo vessels come into and out of the US in the hundreds and thousands EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Dont be the one to blame for this type of situation. If you handle hazardous cargo, do paperwork for hazardous shipments, help pack and stow this containers and cargos, get certified, get trained and let's try to avoid pictures like this from happening again, not to be forgotten, the cost of the mistake could run into the big bucks! There goes your insurance premiums!


Artemus signing off until next week.....oh what will we write about then? Come back and see!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

GLOBAL COMMERCE TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE: Good Day Shipping Colleagues....Let's walk like th...

GLOBAL COMMERCE TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE: Good Day Shipping Colleagues....Let's walk like th...: "(READ ON, there is a surprise at the end) As the American populations watch the middle east turmoil unfold we look to our leadership to act..."

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Good Day Shipping Colleagues....Let's walk like the Egyptians.......and for one moment, imagine how it would feel

(READ ON, there is a surprise at the end)
As the American populations watch the middle east turmoil unfold we look to our leadership to act...some want them to fix the problem, others complain they were "taken by surprise", some say they are doing the right thing and still others believe the US started this situation. Well, let's for one time "walk like an Egyptian"

Here are some Egyptian facts....unemployment is currently 9.4%. you might say, hey, no different than the US, but it has been between 9% and 12% in Egypt for the last 10years. Right now, the younger work force is currently running an unemployment rate of 25%. Since most of the demonstrators are the younger population, that might make sense. The national debt is 84.7% of GDP. In the US, where we replaced the party in power for reasons of our "debt" percentage increasing less than a 10th of a percent, we are currently are at HIGH of 88% debt to GDP Ratio. The US has been as high as 125% Debt to GDP and the last decrease we have was in the 1990' when we went from 70% to 60% and of course, it has shot up to 88% since 2000. This nation, Egypt, has had the same person in leadership for over 30 years, do we wonder why the revolt? Are you happy we have elections every 2-4 years now?

Look at gas prices...which have been a point discussion since the Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt. These prices have risen 3 cents a gallon since 25 Jan, when this uprising began and the future outlook is stable...meaning that most are predicting no real effect on the price of oil per barrel as most companies and people have "adapted" usage and dependence over 2 straight years of higher oil prices. The current US average gas price is $3.15 and in Egypt, it is currently $3.14 per gallon. So far, not much difference, right? Ok, how about this:

The Egyptian stock market has been closed for over a week. Most businesses in the Capital city of Cairo have been shut down. Let's compare that to the US Stock market closing for a week, most businesses in DC closing for a week...what about the ports closing for over a week? We complain when the port closes for hours but imagine, total capital city shut down of a city like New York or Los Angeles for a week. Get the picture?

Now, shipping people, what if your agent, forwarder, NVO or carrier in Egypt is not available..how does cargo get handled? How do you communicate with no internet, no cell phone for 3-4 days?

What's the purpose for this "walk in an Egyptians shoes" for just a few paragraphs...it is to point out the incredible country we live in and how our leadership, though always changing, always being criticized and always hearing whether they should do more or they should not do as much, seem to keep us from being an Egyptian. We are a free country, we have not had this type of uprising for more than 200 years and our economy, although still recovering, is showing signs of life in container volumes in and out, more positive outlook by consumers and we continue to see more OTI licenses (about 10-20 a week) being applied for. I guess many companies, including those not located in the US, continue to "bet american" as we always seem to be the place to be.

So, now that things look good and we have proven how positive the outlook is, sign up for one of our online courses or classroom courses in Feb. Mention you want to "walk like an Egyptian" and we will knock off 10% from your tuition. Get Hazardous certified this month or renew our certification and get 10% off.

Artemus....signing off!