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publication of the Fednav group of companies Spring 2009
WHAT’SIns ide
the
The market: a return to fundamentals
www.fednav.com
12 Ask an expert
24 What’s bugging you?
30 Ships ahoy!
Jean LemaySenior Vice President,
Fednav International Ltd.
If someone took the time to read
Tradewinds, Lloyd’s List, or Hellenic
Shipping News recently, she or he would
have appreciated the enormity of the
financial mess a number of triple-A ship
owners and operators have got them-
selves into over the last few months.
From its height in July, the freight
market dropped over ninety percent of
its value, sending share prices of pub-
lic companies into a tailspin. Others
with large newbuilding order books
were left with no option but to forfeit
the deposits on their purchase orders,
while yet others with large contracts
saw charterers default or were left with
enormous counter-party failures. The
credit crisis that led to a financial night-
mare and plunged the whole world into
a profound recession, took everyone by
surprise, and basically prevented any
counter measures to alleviate the even-
tual damage. It may take years to clear
the mess created by it.
Freight is a commodity traded both
physically and through derivatives, and
is subject to a supply/demand equation,
but is also often tinged with a load of
false perceptions leading to unfound
hopes and anticipations. We saw for
ourselves in December and January that
demand practically vanished. A lack of
liquidity prevented trade to be carried
out. For example, grain could not be
purchased by a seller unless he had cash
reserves since banks clawed back their
lines of credit. The buyer at the other
side of the ocean had the same problem.
For a transaction to take place, a letter of
credit was required to be issued at a first-
class bank, although at the time, all banks
were suspect. Therefore, in the shipping
industry, December and January saw the
worst market conditions in my forty-five
years in the industry.
Many companies were mortally
wounded over that period or will be
over the months to come. However, I
am relieved that we are safe, having been
ultra-conservative in our business plan,
and having learned from the experience
gained in the seventies and eighties.
Companies that have relied on large
coal or iron ore contracts for their cape-
size and panamax ships have become
extremely vulnerable, particularly if the
contracts were concluded with dubi-
ous or even less-dubious groups. The
companies that hedged their exposure
with forward-freight agreements on
over-the-counter deals often found the
counterparties insolvent. Companies
that speculated in ordering tonnage with
the intention of flipping the ships for a
profit or without forward cargo contract
coverage with first-class charterers or
1
worse, without financing in place are all
becoming suspect, if not toxic. It is esti-
mated by some analysts that one third
of existing shipping companies will be
bankrupt before the end of 2009.
Fednav has been very smart in avoid-
ing all these traps and in fact, we may
find the situation to work in our favour.
First of all, we manage a reasonably
priced fleet and can claim to have five
very successful years behind us, during
which we built a solid clientele base. Our
conservatism protected us from all the
excesses mentioned above. An overdue
world fleet cleanup is taking place with
massive scrapping—possibly fifty per-
cent of newbuilding orders are being
cancelled and/or delayed while ten per-
cent of the bulk carrier fleet is currently
in lay-up or inoperative. This situation
works to our advantage and it elimin-
ates an unneeded supply of ships for
the future. At the same time, the freight
market, despite the deepening recession,
is slowly coming back to life. Importers
inactive over the last few months saw
their stocks being depleted and are now
buying again, encouraged by stimulus
packages. We have cooperated with sev-
eral of our main supporting clients in
It may take years to clear the mess so created.
What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.
~ Gabriel García Márquez
“
”
renegotiating long-term contracts on
satisfactory terms. Furthermore, since
we are one of the few companies that the
market can still consider as triple-A, we
believe this gives us preferred access to
premium business. Opportunities will
also present themselves where we can
be self-financed, unlike many of our
competitors.
I believe that a return to fundamen-
tals will favour Fednav for the dur-
ation of the recession and place us in
an extremely advantageous position to
maximize our potential when the world
economy gets back on its feet. To con-
clude, I share the opinion of many ana-
lysts that the cure will come out of China
and we are watching closely, poised for
the winds of change.
Phot
o cr
edit:
Mar
c-A
ndré
Lal
iber
té
2
Editor’s corner
They say that spring is a time when
everything blooms most recklessly. It
must be true, because we are here with a
fresh edition of The Spanner.
So what’s so special about spring?
Other than new hope, birds chirping,
flowers poking their heads out of the
soil, clothes dancing on clotheslines?
Why, the hushed excited tones following
the posting of the latest edition of our
newsletter, of course!
As I write this, the effects of the time
change to Daylight Savings Time haven’t
quite settled and I hope I don’t miss
anything from our line-up because of
the hanging fuzziness. This edition has
a definite international flavour to it. In
his feature article, Jean Lemay talks to
us about the world shipping market,
Frank Büschking walks us through his
diary from a trip he took on board the
Federal Weser traveling from Bremen to
Antwerp, Heiner Theobald has recount-
ed his trials and tribulations travelling to
Peru and Bolivia, Malcolm MacKenzie
has provided us with a personal experi-
ence with another former Fednav ship.
From Nanaimo, BC, Bill Gard provides
us with some background on the Fednav
Kermit, author and historian Skip
Gillham tells us of the fate of the Federal
Sumida, and Binnert Gertseema gives us
some background information on Rio’s
Carnival, As if that weren’t enough, there
is also an excerpt from a magazine article
from Leah Dobkin about the Port of
Milwaukee and her travels on board the
Federal Yukon. Stéphane Sauvé warns us
about the perils of computer viruses, Jean
van Steenberghe provides background
on the former Fednav 730s recently sold
to Canada Steamship Lines, and pho-
tographer Gilles Savoie tells us what
it was like photographing the Umiak I
in -27º C Montreal weather. Following
last edition’s special supplement on the
Fednav Community, we have compiled
letters of thanks from some of the many
organizations Fednav has helped these
past few months, while Dennis Pfeffer
has gone through the process of naming
the Fednav Dog Guide. (Not easy!)
The usual columns feature Dong Li
as our in-house expert on time bars
and Nadia D’Amico was my gracious
Something about . . . victim. There’s a
bit of humour, the various tips sections:
grammar, computer, and the environ-
ment, and one of my favourite sections,
the Ships ahoy page showcasing images
of Fednav-operated ships sent in by
ship spotters the world over, Talk like a
sailor, and finally, the personnel page,
which is the newsiest section and that
includes collages of the many employees
celebrating milestone anniversaries this
events-related responsibilities. Spil has
aptly executed the layout on this edi-
tion of The Spanner, taking over from
Magdalena Moryl, who I heartily thank
for being so accommodating and doing a
great job laying out the past two editions
while attending school in Germany after
leaving Fednav last July.
Finally, a big word of thanks to all par-
ticipants for submitting interesting arti-
cles. Keep them coming! Happy spring to
all readers of The Spanner! Now go out
and smell the blooming flowers!
past quarter. Oh, and finally, the mystery
of the two young summer students is
revealed.
How’s that for a spring-like roster?
The closer we got to the deadline, the
more The Spanner looked like Jack’s
incredible beanstalk. A last-minute addi-
tion was a piece on noodles by Dennis
Pffefer. Don’t ask!
On another note—the Communi-
cations team’s own Andria Riti will soon
be on maternity leave. Although she
will be sorely missed, she will be pres-
ent at various Fednav events along with
her special touch that we have
become accustomed to. Kim
Craig has taken on more events-
related responsibilities dur-
ing Andria’s temporary leave,
while Spilios Vassilopoulos will
be performing Andria’s techni-
cal tasks while assisting with
100%
FEDNAV CREATED
SP
RING 2009 EDIT
ION
3
This year, the new St. Lawrence Seaway
System celebrates its 50th anniversary—
an era that saw relentless efforts by
Fednav to charter-in and whenever
needed, to also build its own “ocean
Lakers” to extract ever better freight
returns on this new trade route.
For a long time, the basic pattern
would be mainly grain-out and steel-in.
In 1979, part of the ship-owning action
switched to Belgium because the previ-
ous series of Korean-built Lakers war-
ranted expansion, and coincidentally, the
Belgian government just came out with
an ambitious “alarm plan” that would
both guarantee the future of its ship-
yards and local crew employment.
Suffice it to say that 85% finance over
15 years and at only 1.5% (normal rates
of the time fluctuated around 15%)
looked like a juicy carrot, on top of
the other attractions like second-hand
finance and crew subsidies. John Weale
was asked to get out his hand-held HP
computer to “discount & compound”
in order to be able to compare the
high Antwerp yard prices against the
Far East.
After partly solving the francs-dollars
exchange risk, the conclusion was for a
go-ahead, and therefore, our subsidiary,
Belcan NV, placed orders for two plus
two maxi-Lakers for delivery in 1980-81
(note: the option for a third pair would
be converted into one coal carrier, a new
flavour of the month). The first 38,294
DWT unit was delivered in September
1980 and Mrs. Ladislas Pathy named her
Federal Danube, a fitting reference to the
Pathys’ Hungarian roots. The three other
ships were named the Federal Maas,
Federal Ottawa, and the Federal Thames.
On the technical and operational side,
the new quartet peformed very well, but
we would soon
become embroiled
in the pitfalls of
what turned to
be by definition
a national, fairly
polit ical , a n d
complex finance
package—so just
about everything
went wrong—the
government funds for crew subsidies ran
out, the franc strengthened, and worse—
the shipyard went bankrupt while build-
ing our two coal carriers. Being an
expatriate, it was a challenge, but as a
Belgian, it was also true fun. To deal
with this, we rallied our Antwerp UBEM
managers, key colleagues in Montreal,
and also the many civil servants and
politicians on whose goodwill a lot of
Belcan’s results would depend.
Added to the poor freight market,
the crew costs in francs, and the non-
receipt of essential subsidies forced a
lay-up in Antwerp. Simple proof of how
human relations and a bit of realpolitik
can still work wonders in Belgium (even
though it’s not always kosher)
is that when a friend from
the cabinet accompanied the
minister of transport on a
helicopter inspection of the
River Schelde, he instructed
the pilot to make a detour
and hover above the quartet
in layup so that he got a chance to tell
the minister, “Sad, but these are Mr.
Pathy’s ships—too expensive to operate.”
The trick worked, and soon, word came
form the authorities that flagging-out
A swinging quartet that keeps performingJean van Steenberghe, Vice-President, Fednav Europe Limited
On the technical and operational side, the new quartet performed very well.
Lake Superior, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario
Phot
o cr
edit:
Ken
t M
alo,
ww
w.b
oatn
erd.
com
4
The word for this edition is one we use rather often:
embark or to begin a connected series of actions or
words; the word entails the nautical use of course, the
direction of which a ship travels.
Originally, it meant: to put on board a vessel, from
the French embarquer. Bark (or barque) is the vessel,
from the Latin barca, ship of burden. To embark on
an enterprise is a metaphor meaning to initiate a busi-
ness venture, to set out on a commercial undertaking,
to invest money, and so on. To embark still retains the
nautical meaning: to go on board a ship; the usage gen-
erally now refers only to persons, whereas
originally, only goods were embarked.
Thanks to Peter D. Jeans’ Ship to
Shore for making us aware of the
nautical origins of everyday words.
clearly wasn’t allowed “but, but” that if the union would agree to a deal, then the state
might condone it. I have always admired the powerful permanent secretary telling the
people he trusted that his law books were a reminder to be looked at but not always to
be followed. The union leader, an old realist, agreed to have three units go to Cyprus
(with only one Belgian master) and the Federal Ottawa would be the only one to remain
Belgian and later Luxembourg, but at least all four units could happily trade again.
Turbulence subsided and the chance arose to repay debt on a discounted basis, and
be free. In 1995, Chris Ahrens, later a partner with J E Hyde, found a company in the
U.S. that would buy the quartet but charter all back to Fednav. Bay Ocean USA was a
joint venture between Polsteam and Polish Americans. The Polish crews took the units
truly to heart and the Montreal office appreciated their performance. During this time,
the ships adopted the prefix, Lake in the names.
The next turn of events in the saga was when Bay Ocean’s own poor financial situa-
tion would result in the vessels’ ownership reverting to the Fednav Group, by which
time, the four ladies had reached the age of twenty, but were still performing superbly.
Recently, Kevin Griffin, accomplished ship spotter, cruise agent, and colleague point-
ed out that the ex-Carlton 2, which Fednav sold to Upper Lakes Group Inc. in 1975, was
lengthened and at the age of 46, still plies the Lakes as the Canadian Prospector. With the
same rationale, our own quartet was sold to friends Canada Steamship Lines, a division
of the CSL Group Inc. because technically, the Lakes are now where their future lies.
Precisely what their trades and names will be is not yet entirely clear but the photo of
the lay-up in Montreal shows there is still plenty of potential in these fine workhorses.
Talk like a sailorEmbark
The quartet in its Fednav days
5
On Oct. 3, 2008, the cargo ship Federal
Yukon left the port of Brunsbüttel,
Germany, loaded with 10,261 metric
tons of fertilizer and 20,416 metric tons
of steel transported from Hamburg,
Germany. The ship was headed for the
Port of Milwaukee to unload that cargo,
but I was supposed to get aboard en
route to observe how such transporta-
tion works.
Easier said than done. The idea was
that I could board in Port Huron, Mich.,
but the Federal Yukon, it turned out, was
not even going to dock there. It was sim-
ply picking up a new pilot, who would
board while the ship was moving (by
law, pilots can only be on duty a certain
number of hours, and the ship was due
for a shift change). And so, as the Federal
Yukon got near Port Huron, a 50-foot
pilot boat, the Huron Belle, caught up
to the big ship, matching her speed, and
they tossed down a narrow gangway.
Gulp. The new pilot climbed aboard and
I gingerly did the same.
There, I got a friendly greeting from
Captain Grenville Noel Concessio and his
chief officer, Prijit Kumar Kunhiraman. I
was also introduced to Ismail Shekem, the
new pilot who had climbed aboard with
me. Kunhiraman was from Sri Lanka,
Concessio was from India and the pilot
was from Kenosha, Wis. The rest of the
crew were Indian and had boarded her
from colorful places like Lianyungang,
China, and Balboa, Panama, and had
originally come from equally exotic plac-
es I couldn’t even pronounce, towns like
Kallooppara, Kerala and Bentia Bhat
Quepem Goa.
The ship itself was just as internation-
al. Built in 2000 at the Oshima Shipyard
in Japan, it carried a Hong Kong flag and
was leased by Fednav, a shipping com-
pany headquartered in Montreal. On its
latest voyage, the Federal Yukon arrived
at the St. Lawrence Seaway 13 days after
leaving Germany, having successfully
navigated 10 heavy storms.
Exotic and dangerous as all this
sounds, it’s really a routine connection
to the Port of Milwaukee, which operates
as this city’s doorway to the world. There
are five major transport connections
that go through the port: international
ocean traffic that enters through the St.
Lawrence Seaway; U.S. and Canadian
ships that arrive via the Great Lakes; river
barges that travel up the Mississippi and
Illinois rivers and then north through
Story of a harborLeah Dobkin
Editor’s note: Leah Dobkin’s article was sent by email to Michel Tosini, who thoughtfully forwarded it to me. Milwaukee Magazine editor, Bruce Murphy, kindly permitted us to publish an exerpt of it from the complete article, which can be found on the Milwaukee Magazine website at this address:
http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/currentissue/
full_feature_story.asp?NewMessageID=24470
The Fednav Group owns and operates the Federal Yukon, and Federal Marine Terminals operates a terminal in Milwaukee, which is one of the main Great Lakes ports and a very important hub for the Fednav group.
The Federal Yukon at berth in the Port of Milwaukee
Phot
o cr
edit:
Dav
id F
asul
es
6
Lake Michigan; trains that come from
all 50 states and Canadian cities like
Montreal and Vancouver to pick up or
unload cargo; and trucks using inter-
state highways to connect to Milwaukee’s
port.
The Federal Yukon is one of about
270 such vessels that annually connects
Milwaukee to more than two dozen
countries. Beyond that are also 447 barg-
es, 7,200 railcars and 159,000 trucks that
each year transfer a dizzying array of
imports and exports through the port.
Waterborne traffic to Milwaukee has
grown even as the number of ships has
declined. That’s because today’s ships
are so huge. The Federal Yukon is more
than two football fields long and can
carry more than 36,000 tons of cargo. It
takes a mammoth engine three stories
high to propel all this cargo. The noise
levels require ear covers or you would
quickly go deaf. The ship has a complex
assortment of safety and navigational
equipment and backup equipment all
blinking to different tunes. There are
three GPS units, radar, and an electronic
chart data system called the Hexus. The
chief engineer and his assistants main-
tain thousands of pieces of equipment
that all work together to move and steer
the ship.
All with the goal of moving cargo.
Most of the ship’s space is devoted to
storage. Below its deck are six cargo holds
that, during my voyage, were stuffed
with items like very expensive steel coils
(used to make finished products such as
refrigerator doors) and tin plates (used
to produce anything from beer cans to
Slim-Fast cans to baby food jar covers).
All were carefully lashed down, then
checked and rechecked.
Such precautions are critical, for if
the cargo shifts during a storm, the ship
could be in danger. A vessel carrying
heavy, odd-shaped steel could potential-
ly shift the balance of the ship or poke a
hole through the hull, dooming the ship
and crew. A vessel carrying heavy cargo
is called a very stiff ship, which tends
to have quick snap rolls. Many of these
international vessels avoid Chicago and
land instead in Milwaukee. For years,
the Port of Milwaukee has drawn more
waterborne commerce than its huge
southern neighbor, and this surprising
trend is growing: Businesses importing
and exporting commodities in Illinois
are increasingly using Milwaukee’s port
The Federal Yukon is one of about 270 such vessels that annually
connects Milwaukee to more than two dozen countries.
because of the traffic problems connect-
ing to Chicago’s.
“We’re in competition with Chicago
with steel imports,” says Eric Reinelt,
director of the Port of Milwaukee. “We’re
in competition with Green Bay for
cement and salt. We’re in competition
with Houston with heavy-lift cargos. It
depends on the commodity. We are all
friends in some things and competitors
in other things.”
A key advantage for Milwaukee’s
port is that it boasts the second-largest
crane on the Great Lakes. Though one
of the smaller ports in the nation, it is
one of the few to make money, with a
gross profit of nearly $2 million in 2007.
The port generated nearly $80 million
in revenue in 2007. Some 2,000 jobs
depend on the port, either directly or in-
directly.
For the rest of this article, please refer to
the Milwaukee Magazine website.
7
In preparation for my short trip from
Antwerp to Bremen on board the Federal
Weser, I had the chance to get a seaman’s
muster book. For this, I needed a certifi-
cate for aptitude of seafaring. So I went
to the doctor and passed the necessary
physical exams.
After I bought my train ticket, I start-
ed my trip on Thursday, September 30,
2008, arriving in Antwerp at 14:00. At the
Fednav office I saw the different depart-
ments—Operations, Documentation,
and Commercial. Eddy Gorris and Gerrit
De Win provided background informa-
tion on the tasks and responsibilities of
the different departments. After that,
Ronald Teeuwen drove me to the vessel.
At 16:30, I met Captain Piskorz, who
gave me a tour of the vessel, one of
five sister ships built between 2001 and
2004 at the Jing Jiang Shipyard China.
It is equipped with box-shaped holds,
which is not common for bulk carriers
and equipped with six hatches and four
cranes with a capacity of 40 metric tons
each.
Following the tour, the Captain gave
me a general key, which permitted me
access to every room of the vessel. I
unpacked my bag and went to officer’s
mess where I had dinner with Captain
Piskorz. I’m not familiar with Polish
cuisine, but the meal was delicious!
Following dinner and tired out from the
day’s activities, I went to bed.
Wednesday, October 1
On Wednesday, I awoke early to see
the loading operations—steel, general
cargo, and a Bavarian yacht were stowed
under deck. Unfortunately, the weather
was very poor so the loading was very
slow due to the rain-sensitive cargo.
At 11:00 the sun came out and the
loading speed increased. At lunch I met
the Cargo Superintendent, Carl van
Goubergen, who advised me that sailing
was foreseen for later that night.
Thursday, October 2
During the night I wondered why
we hadn’t started. In the morning, the
Captain advised that late last night the
weather was again poor and that the
loading operations could not be com-
pleted. The sailing of the vessel was post-
poned to early afternoon, when two tugs
helped us to leave the port. The weather
was perfect to snap some pictures. At
15:30 we passed the lock, and the passage
on the River Schelde was very beautiful
and I was very glad that we started dur-
ing the day and not at night, so I could
Antwerp to Bremen on board the Federal WeserFrank Büschking, Trainee, Paul Günther Schiffsmakler GmbH & Co. KG (FALLine’s Agent in Bremen)
see everything so well! At 21:00, the pilot
left the vessel and we were then at open
sea.
Friday, October 3
Same procedure as usual—I woke
up, had some breakfast, then headed
upstairs to the bridge. The first time I
saw the coast was at 12:00.
At 13:00, we arrived at the Weser Pilot
Station and the pilot came on board. One
hour later we arrived in Bremerhaven,
where our trip on the River Weser com-
menced. We passed Brake, Elsfleth, and
the Industriehafen in Bremen.
At 19:00, we arrived in Bremen-
Neustädter Hafen, where the vessel was
turned by two tugboats and we berthed
on starboard at Schuppen 21.
At 20:00, the water clerk, the cus-
toms agent, and the water police came
on board. The German bureaucracy hit
me in form of a customs control. They
checked each piece of my luggage, but of
course, found nothing.
After I said goodbye to Captain
Piskorz, I left the vessel after four excit-
ing days on board the Federal Weser.
Thanks to all parties who made this
beautiful trip possible. It was a great
experience to see the work on this vessel
and, of course, the beautiful sea.
8
“Everyone,” Nadia says, everyone has a story.”
Nadia D’Amico reading her test results
I interviewed Nadia D’Amico on
February 6, her daughter’s 10th birthday.
Being a regular at the Fednav picnic and
seeing young Valerie over so many years,
it came as a shock to me that Valerie was
turning 10!
Interviewing Nadia was stimulating
yet relaxed. Way at the beginning of
the interview, she had said something
that she found it interesting. The way
seemingly different people had things in
common. As the conversation went on,
we noticed that we both had things in
common.
Nadia started at Fednav in March
2000 as a temp in the Accounting
Department. Over the years, she has
had various responsibilities and titles,
and has been all over department. Her
official title is: Senior Financial
Analyst, General Accounting. What
she likes about moving around is
that she gets to work with dif-
ferent people performing different
tasks, allowing her to better grasp
the big picture—she figures that
the knowledge will come in handy one
day. The many good people, the gems
that comprise the Fednav employee pool
are what make her happy to be work-
ing here. “Mr. Pathy is just awesome,”
says Nadia. “He thanks people and Dans
la rue is an organization that he cares
about. That’s not the usual corporate
thing. It’s so cool.” By working with
Dominique Boisvert, a mutual concern
surfaced. Without getting too deeply
into detail, Nadia left home at a young
age and wished that Dans la rue was an
option while a teenager. She hopes one
day to volunteer at DLR and help kids
who had a similar background as hers.
Proof that accountants are not bor-
ing, Nadia shared stories of her youth
with me—when she was in her teens,
Nadia worked at an underground music
newspaper and was firmly ensconced in
alternative (read: punk) rock. Foufounes
électriques, a club/art gallery/perfor-
mance hall/event venue was one of
her clients and Foufs, as it is familiarly
known, became her home. At 16, she
was a veteran in the business, knowing
music producers on a first-name basis.
She’d jump on her mountain bike to get
to everywhere in the city. “Everyone”
Nadia says, “everyone has a story.” She
held quite a number of jobs, many while
underage. Her first taste for accounting
was by performing investigative account-
ing at the YMCA.
Fast forward to today: Fednav is
the first company she feels comfortable
enough at to establish a long-term rela-
tionship with, a place to find a healthy
work-life balance—the kind of company
where you can have a solid career as well
as a satisfying family life. Easygoing and
collaborative, Nadia will do anything
that needs doing—including covering
for treasury, managing petty cash, fore-
casting, budgeting, bank requisitions,
analyses. It’s all good. She feels flattered
to be asked.
Loyal is a word Nadia describes her-
self as being. A common denominator
is the only glue needed to bond, and
there usually is at least one common
thing two people have in common. Take
Mark Pathy, for example—he was at
the same Bad Brains concert that she
was. Underground music can be a com-
mon denominator, even in two people
from different backgrounds. Admittedly,
music is big in Nadia’s life: favourite
bands other than Bad Brains are Clutch
and Tool. While on the subject of the
underground Montreal music scene,
Nadia was reminiscing on that time in
her youth when music was, for a lot of
kids, a sort of home where camaraderie
existed, kids looking out for one another.
It was a do-it-yourself culture, and if you
there’ssomethingaboutnadianadia
Nadia bites:• Loves to prepare healthy food
• Caring mother
• Multi-talented
• Punk- and hard rock-loving accountant!
9
needed help, you would easily find it.
With this in mind, I asked Nadia what
her greatest strength is.
ND: Let’s see, I can take a step back and
observe other people’s perspective
and understand where they come
from.
LF: Can you clarify?
ND: I guess it comes from figuring
things out on my own early on.
Introspection, too. Figuring out my
emotions.
LF: Interesting. So what’s most impor-
tant to you?
ND: A good education.
LF: What was your school experience
like?
ND: I wanted to attend Marianapolis
College but didn’t have enough
funds for tuition, so I applied for a
loan and bursary and was accepted.
It was the best school I could have
gone to. I admired the teachers
and actually hung out more with
them than the students! Initially,
I studied sociology, anthropology,
philosophy, and psychology. I was
curious and fascinated by so many
subjects. I wanted to be a psycholo-
gist but couldn’t afford the extra
schooling since it requires at mini-
mum a Master’s degree. I figured I
was fighting enough battles, living
on my own, paying my own way
through school on part-time jobs,
and getting by with used books,.
When you graduate, you need a
job fast in order to pay back the
loans. Accounting seemed like a
good option to receive a steady
income, only it was totally not me!
Instead of analyzing people, one
analyses numbers! I gave myself
an ultimatum—I needed three
basic math courses to get into the
business programme in university:
Cal 1, Cal 2, and Linear algebra.
If I did well at them, I’d go into
accounting, so it was night classes
at Vanier after a full day of work
for me.
But I haven’t answered your ques-
tion! I’d say my greatest strength is
the ability to put things in perspec-
tive—in simple terms, to see the
positive in every situation.
For those of you curious as to how
Nadia did: 92% in Cal 1 and 91% in
both Cal 2 and Linear Algebra. Not too
shabby!
I asked Nadia what talent she would
like to have. She confided that she was
once an aspiring artist. She told me
about an art teacher who believed in her.
In fact, she won a trip to the Charlevoix
in an art contest, but the work was kept
by Metro Richelieu and she never saw it
again. She looked wistful as she thought
of her days doing art. I feel privileged;
Nadia had brought a photo album with
her and showed me some imaginative,
well-executed drawings from that peri-
od. Very impressive.
In case you’re having trouble keep-
ing up, here’s a recap on Nadia’s talents
up to now: psychology, accounting, art,
and a penchant for music! Painters she
admires? It was hard for Nadia to narrow
it down, so she replied that surrealists
Salvador Dali and H. R. Giger are her
favourites. She was almost embarrassed
that it was a typical answer. Typical?
Typical does not define Nadia, as I was
discovering.
For her favourite occupation, I was
rather expecting astrophysics, but no,
Youthful Nadia with her pet rat
Louise and Nadia chatting
Nadia’s test Deep doodles
Draw three flowers on stems. Each flower should be a different height. Add a leaf to one. Draw a butterfly resting on another of the flowers.
Nadia’s drawing indicates that her home life (tallest flower with the butterfly) is the part of her life she feels the most confidant. She did not draw aphids, which must be a sign of a healthy garden!
Draw an arrow.
Nadia’s upward-pointing arrow indicates that she loves to lead, is enthu-siastic and finds it easy to get others to follow her lead. She is trustwor-thy and follows the rules.
Draw a fishhook. Then draw a fish.
Nadia’s hook and fish indicate that Nadia is brave and adventurous.
1
2
310
cooking and baking are Nadia’s favourite
things to do along with spending time at
the fitness centre, where we sometimes
cross paths. She likes to dream up new,
healthy recipes, tagging and cataloguing
as she goes. She enjoys preparing food
lovingly for the people she loves and
cares for. She wants to be a role model
for her daughter, teaching her how to
take care of herself and how to be inde-
pendent.
Another favourite occupation is sit-
ting in a Homer Simpson floating reclin-
er in the swimming pool while admiring
her perennials, enjoying the moment and
sipping a drink. She’s looking forward to
summer—working is good and impor-
tant but fun and play are as necessary.
LF: Nadia, what do you strive most for?
ND: Hmm, do you have any easier ques-
tions on your list? Let’s see, I’m
looking forward to tonight—my
daughter’s birthday. If I break it
down, I like the sense that I’ve
done a good job–I’ve accomplished
something. High grades and diplo-
mas have nothing to do with it. It’s
how I feel inside that counts—that
I’ve done it to the best of my ability
and for the right reasons—that I’ve
done it for me.
Thank you, Nadia, for a truly eye-
opening interview. Now I know some-
one who shares similar enjoyments of
gardening, cooking, art, and music. I love
this job!
Cool it! If you own an air conditioner, set the thermostat to 25º C and program it to turn on an hour before you get home.
Just the fax: set up an e-fax application on your computer and use it! If you must use a fax machine, make sure to buy one that uses regular paper, not chemically treated fax paper, which isn’t always recyclable.
Two-faced: change the default settings on printers and copiers to photocopy and print on both sides of the page.
Copycat: recycle ink cartridges from printers and photocopiers.
Shut-eye: use your computer’s energy-saving mode and turn it off at night. Heck, turn off your monitor when you step away for lunch, too.
Look sharp: instead of rinsing your razor under running water, use a few inches of warm water in the basin or use a mug. This will rinse your razor just as effectively, using far less water.
Green green grass of home: allow grass clippings to stay on the lawn instead of bagging them. The cut grass will decompose and return to the soil naturally.
Chill pill: keep your freezer as full as possible—it takes more energy to chill empty space.
Brushing up: turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth saves up to 10 quarts of water. Assuming one brushes twice a day, that adds up to more than 500,000 quarts over the average person’s lifetime.
Under pressure: maintaining the appropriate pressure in your vehicle’s tires will help to minimize its fuel use.
Hot under the collard: rev up the cooking process by using a pressure cooker, which will cut cooking times and should use 50-75% less energy than a normal saucepan.
Tick-tock: choose a traditional alarm clock, which can be wound up using your own energy, rather than a digital one, which relies on electricity.
Loose leaf: recycle all your paper, not just newspapers and magazines. Every ton of reused paper leaves 17 trees standing, looking beautiful, and working hard to absorb CO2 on our behalf.
Too cool! Keep a pitcher or bottle of tap water in the refrigerator—you won’t waste water waiting for it to come cold out of the faucet.
Saline solution: rather than using a commercial product, use salt to draw out red wine and fruit juice stains from fabrics.
Com
pile
d by
And
ria R
iti, C
omm
unic
atio
ns a
nd E
vent
Coo
rdin
ator
, Fed
nav
Lim
ited
11
Imagine you have a million-dollar
claim against a shipowner, you collect
all the evidence and you file your claim
only to be told: Sorry, you’re too late.
Your claim is time barred!
What is a time bar?
In simple terms, a time bar, some-
times called suit time limitation, is a
period of time provided under a con-
tract or statutory law for certain claims
to be filed in court or arbitration. If
the claims are not filed within the time
bar, they automatically fall away in legal
terms. Thus, missing the time bar date is
one of the worst (and most embarrass-
ing) nightmares for any claimant.
To comply with the time bar, the
claim must not only be filed in time,
but also in the correct jurisdiction. It is,
therefore, important to read the relevant
contractual clauses before you file your
claim.
In a well-known case in the U.S.,
the cargo plaintiff sued the shipowner
in a New York court for cargo damage
under a bill of lading. The lawsuit was
filed within the time bar (12 months).
A little more than a year after delivery,
the shipowner asked the court to stay
the court action pending arbitration in
London, according to the charter-party
arbitration clause, which had been
incorporated into the bill of
lading. The New York
court agreed and
stayed the court
action. The
plaintiff then
appointed
London
arbitrators.
The arbi-
tration did
not proceed
because the par-
ties agreed to ask the
English Commercial Court to
determine whether the plaintiff ’s claims
were time barred—which they were,
the arbitration not having commenced
within the time-bar period. The plaintiff
then returned to New York and reacti-
vated the stayed court action, which the
shipowner promptly moved to dismiss
with prejudice. The New York court con-
firmed the English court decision as if it
were an arbitral award and dismissed the
plaintiff ’s claims.
Bills of LadingMost bills of lad-
ing are subject to
the Hague or
Hague-Visby
Rules either by
contractual incor-
poration or by com-
pulsory application
as a matter ofvlaw.
These rules provide
for a one-year time
bar, with time start-
ing to count from the date
of delivery of cargo, or in case
of non-delivery, the date on which the
cargo ought to have been delivered. Most
countries, including the U.S., Canada,
Belgium, Germany, and U.K. have adopt-
ed the Hague or Hague-Visby Rules.
Other countries, such as Morocco,
have adopted the less-used Hamburg
Rules, which provide for a two-year time
bar. In countries where carriage of goods
statute applies, time bars differ widely—
in Uruguay, it is 20 years!
Voyage charter parties
If the charter party has a Clause
Paramount incorporating the Hague
or Hague-Visby Rules, then claims for
cargo damage against owners are subject
to the same one year time bar as under
the bill of lading.
If the charter party does not have a
Clause Paramount, but its arbitration
clause of the charter party says that all
disputes shall be referred to arbitration
within a fixed period, then that will
apply.
If the charter party has no express
contractual time-bar provision and fails
to incorporate the Hague or Hague-
Visby Rules, then any statutory time bar
will apply—in England, for example, it
is six years.
Time bar for cargo indemnity claims under a charter party
If a charter party has an arbitration
clause which states that all disputes must
be referred to arbitration within one year
Time bars Dong Li, Claims Manager, Risk Management/Legal, Fednav Limited
Ask an expert
12
of final discharge, then, depending on
the applicable law, the one-year time bar
under the arbitration clause may apply
to all disputes including cargo indemnity
claims unless they are expressly excluded
under the one year time bar provision.
For example, if a shipowner paid a cargo
claim to a cargo owner under a bill of
lading, and only after one year of final
discharge he claimed indemnity against
the charterer, his indemnity claim would
be considered time barred.
Time chartersMost time charter parties incorpo-
rate the Inter-Club Agreement to divide
liability for cargo claims as between
owners and charterers. The Inter-Club
Agreement provides that notice of a
specific cargo claim must be notified to
the other party within two years of dis-
charge; in other words, if one party did
not notify the other of a specific cargo
claim within two years of discharge, his
claim against the other party for any
contribution is time barred.
If he has notified the other party of
the specific claim within two years of
discharge, then he has a time bar of six
years under English law to take legal
action against the other party for an
indemnity claim, starting to count from
the date of payment to the cargo owners
of the original cargo claim.
Other time barsIt sometimes happens that a charter
party will incorporate a general time
bar, sometimes as short as three months,
which will apply to all sorts of claims such
as laytime/demurrage. These have to be
watched very carefully, as the courts will
normally adopt a fairly strict approach
to an expressly agreed time bar.
Time bar extensionsQuite often, a claimant will request
an extension of a time bar. In such a
case, it is important to remember that
the defendant has no legal obligation to
extend time, and if he agrees to extend
time, he has the right to attach a condi-
tion to his extension. If the claimant dis-
Time waits for no man.
agrees with the condition, he should try
to have the defendant remove the condi-
tion or otherwise file his claim before the
original time bar expires. If the claimant
accepts a conditional time extension but
fails to meet the condition as required,
then the claim becomes time barred on
the expiry date of the original time bar.
Different contracts may have differ-
ent contractual time bars; and they may
be governed by different laws which may
have different statute time bars. Time
waits for no man—especially in bill of
lading claims and charter party disputes.
So, if you think you have a claim, work
out the time bar expiry date, mark your
calendar, and make sure you file your
claim in good time. Otherwise it will
effectively evaporate!
13
It was on a cold December night in 2007,
at the Café Sarajevo on Saint-Laurent
Boulevard in Montreal, while listening
to a gypsy concert over a bottle of wine
with an old friend from my European
handball days and our wives that I made
an innocent statement: “I’m looking for
an idiot to go to Peru and Bolivia with
me.” Actually, I had visions of paddling
past the Indians on Lake Titicaca and
thought I could bring my collapsible
kayak with me, mount it on the shores
of lake, and show the natives that there
is another way to paddle through this,
the highest navigable lake in the world,
than in those fabulous reed boats that
the Indians have used for centuries. To
that, my friend said, “I think you have
found your idiot.”
Our spouses thought nothing of it
other than it was one of Heiner’s crazy
ideas and so the matter was almost
forgotten until some three weeks later,
when I called Jimmy and asked him
whether we would still be going to Peru
and he answered in the affirmative. After
all, we did make a commitment in spite
of the (almost) finished wine bottle. So a
date had to be found, and because of the
rainy season that ends only at the end of
March, we decided on April 15, 2008, for
a three-week trek.
The real reason behind the trip was
that I wanted to continue where I had left
off 42 years previous, when I just got as
far as Lima. In 1966, when I was working
at March Shipping and had the winter
off, it being the off-season in Montreal
in agency work, I decided to “drive” to
South America in my VW convertible.
Well, my travelling companion and I got
as far as Panama, there being no road to
Colombia, as it stopped 36 miles south
of the Canal Zone at Chepco. I knew
that, of course, but I had to find a way
to get to South America from there, so
by chance, we met a Chinese-American
man working in the Canal Zone, who
was kind enough to store my Beetle in
his garage until we returned. With that
problem solved, the next one was how
to get to Colombia without spending
money. I did not have enough for a plane
ticket, so we met the captain of a small
banana boat in Cristobal who, for $10,
took us to the islands of San Andres,
and the next morning, after 24 hours of
rough weather, sleeping on the one hatch
over a load of plantains, customs cleared
us and we were in Colombia from where
we could take an inland flight for $28 to
Cali, where my friend had an aunt who
lived on a finca (small farm) and was mar-
ried to a Colombian doctor she met at
Laval University. We could stay there for
a week to plan our trip to further south,
but not before there was a rumbling in
the ground and we found ourselves in
the middle of an earthquake. Although
the house was built kind of elastic in a
way not to suffer any damage, the chick-
en coop quickly collapsed in a heap. We
ran out of the house over tiles that
were moving like Jell-O, out onto the
meadow where it felt as though we were
walking on more Jell-O, and after two
minutes, the rumbling suddenly came
The bumpy ride from Café Sarajevo to Machu Picchu by Heiner Theobald, former Fednav employee
Machu Picchu
14
to a halt. We should have noticed before
the earthquake hit that all the cows were
lying in a big circle, touching one other,
which is something they never do since
they are normally strewn about in disor-
derly fashion—so here’s a message to all
those seismic experts in California: just
watch the cattle!
Following that experience, it was off
by bus to the Ecuadorian border, get
a visa, and cross over the next morn-
ing to avoid paying the customs officer
overtime. We continued by bus to Quito,
first crossing the equator on a bus, when
suddenly we felt a big “bump” as we
went over the equator. (Ha-ha. Sorry.)
This was an “Indian” bus where a musi-
cian paid his way by playing the pan
pipes and the conductor collected sucres
(Ecuadorian currency) from the pas-
sengers, so that when the bus stopped
at a shrine, he could deposit the coins at
a statue of the Madonna as an offering
to insure that the bus arrive safely at its
destination. Judging from the stomach-
churning cliffs, it was a wise thing to do.
Quito was nice, the volcano spew-
ing smoke in the background. Then we
travelled by train to Guyaquil, the steam-
ing hot port city full of foul-smelling
water puddles, which the kids used to
fill balloons to throw at the
unsuspecting passengers.
An overnight boat trip took
us to Peru—where sleeping
in a hammock with huge
mosquitoes buzzing menac-
ingly around one’s face was
a challenge. Ecuador and
Peru had a longstanding border dispute,
so it was best to avoid the border by bus,
and the boat trip was more exciting.
Once in Peru, it was on by bus through
the desert on winding roads until our
“Indian Express” went off the road in the
middle of the night, while trying to avoid
a collision with a an oncoming car since
vision was obstructed by a broken-down
truck with no hazard lights.
We were lucky—the bus only plunged
down about five metres before coming
to a halt on its side. Being now part of
the “Indian” passengers, we climbed out
the side windows to get out of the bus
and alas, all the strong men had to right
the bus back up on its wheels so it could
be ready to continue the trip, but not
until it got stuck in the sand while the
driver was spinning its wheels. Although
we Montrealers are used to this sort of
thing in the snow, we were too late to tell
the driver to put some boards under the
wheels. After waiting three hours in the
desert in a circle with the Indian women,
trying to chase away the three-inch-long
mosquitoes, a bulldozer finally came to
the rescue and built a makeshift road
to get us back onto the highway. When
the bus finally got back onto the road to
continue the trip to Lima, it was not long
before it hit the coastal road where the
cliff to our right was about 500 metres
down to the Pacific. Looking down that
slope without a guardrail made my stom-
ach lurch and my mind spin, just after
having gone down a small cliff couple
of hours earlier. Perhaps I should have
contributed a few more sucres . . . .
The trip to Lima was no longer to our
liking and once at our destination, we
scraped together our last money to buy
an “international” flight back to Panama,
driving back to Montreal from there.
That was 42 years earlier and while
in Peru, little did we know that Che
Guevara was fighting his Guerrilla war
in neighbouring Bolivia at just about
the same time, which is where I left off.
But it was always my dream to continue
the trip one day and see the rest of Peru
and Bolivia. This time we flew to Lima
via Miami—much less bumpy! My aim
was to continue the same way from there
with a packsack and by local buses and so
we set out. From Lima it was to the next
stop Pisco (from where famous the Pisco
Sour cocktail originates). Naturally, the
bus broke down and we had to catch a
little taxi to Pisco, where we expected to
see a town described as beautiful. What
we saw looked like Berlin after the war—
an earthquake had almost completely
destroyed it eight months earlier and the
town was in a state of reconstruction.
After first finding a renovated hotel,
we then prepared out trip to Islas Ballestas
or the poor man’s Galapagos. It took
an hour to get to these guano islands,
but we were rewarded with magnificent
specimens of marine life. There were
millions of birds who make the guano—
if you have been to Île Bonaventure in
the Gaspé, you know what I mean. The
guano is harvested every five years as the
best fertilizer mankind knows. However,
the walruses and Humboldt penguins
were somewhat more interesting to see
than the birds (or the guano). On our
return, we were treated to the sight of
a huge candelabra (El Candelabro de
Paracas) engraved into the rock by the
Incas many thousands of years ago.
The next stop was Nazca, where we
could observe the Nazca Lines, a series of
Our “Indian Express” went off the road in the middle of the night, trying to avoid a collision with a an oncoming car . . .
15
figures carved into the rock by the Inca’s
close cousins, the Nasca. The mystery
of these images of birds, monkeys, even
an astronaut, that are visible only from
the sky, still eludes us. To miss that sight
would have been like going to Egypt
without seeing the pyramids, so we got
into a little Cessna and held our breath.
My Spanish came quickly back to me
when the pilot went down one side for
a closer look, then up again and down
on the left side, up and down about 15
times, which made me close my eyes
after a while, so as not to have to look at
the little bag in front of me that clearly
yearned to be filled. We survived that
ordeal and glad we did—I learned later
that some French tourists were not so
lucky when their little plane crashed,
maintenance being second to profit in
that business.
Just an aside to give you a little idea of
how we were travelling, we were staying
in hostels and living on $10 a day all this
while, as we would have 42 years earlier.
Arequipa, the white city, was our next
stop. What a pleasant surprise with all
that Spanish architecture to bring us
back in history and El Misti, the vol-
cano in the background providing an
extra-special memory. The highlight, of
course, was Lake Titicaca at almost 4000
metres in altitude—I had to catch my
breath getting to it, but as we ascended
gradually, it was easier to take. However,
please note that the ascent, along with
too much Pisco, was not a good mix.
Here we were in Puno, a city descend-
ing from the mountains to the shores of
Lake Titicaca, while in front of us, the
floating Uros islands, entirely made out
of reed. There are about 45 of them,
held only by a corner post to prevent
them from floating away. They last 16
years before being absorbed and sunk
by water, and depending on the size,
are inhabited by between two and ten
families, all in their colourful costumes.
In the centre of an island is a little
pond with a big net to keep the lake
trout (introduced from Canada in 1940)
fresh. The houses are also constructed of
the lake-grown totora reeds, giving the
islands a completely yellow hue. When
freshly cut, the green reeds are edible and
taste similar to hearts of palm. The boats
are made from the same reed and while
there, we helped launch a new construc-
tion, all nicely tied into round bundles
ending in points at both ends. We got
to take a trip on the one just launched,
with a person steering at the end, rather
like a gondola. You are in a completely
different world, where people lived like
this for thousands of years.
A two-day trip to some volcanic
islands in the middle of the lake was
another experience never forgotten. On
arrival we were greeted by 15 Indian
women waiting at the pier, and were
assigned in pairs, to each one of them as
our hosts. We followed them up the hill
to their habitat, walking on stone walls
separating their fields since there are
no roads, except trails for donkeys and
alpacas, famous for their wool.
We were then given a primitive lunch
comprised of local crops. The natives’
lives are very similar to their ancestors
from past centuries, only now, they are
assigned some tourists to give shelter to,
but without electricity and modest habi-
tats one feels displaced in time. Each fam-
ily has their own livestock and grows the
crops they need. They speak Quetchuan,
but some are bilingual with Spanish as
their second language.
In the evening, we were given pon-
chos to wear and invited to take part in a
local dance with only pan pipes provid-
ing the music. And yes, in that hall there
was one electric light, powered by the
only generator. To find your way back
In the evening, we were given ponchos to wear and invited to take part
in a local dance with only pan pipes providing the music.
16
to your habitat in the dark, down some
slopes, was another experience, espe-
cially after getting lost earlier and end-
ing up at the wrong house until being
rescued by my friend and the Indian
daughter of our habitat, who happened
to have a flashlight. Then it was back
to candle light in our oh-so-primitive
dwelling. The next day we visited Taquile
Island, where the women’s hands are
never idle spinning wool and the men
knit those colourful tuques with the long
ears, which can be had for a pittance.
Everyone was extremely proper in their
native costumes, the men in white, and
the women in layers of colourful skirts.
It was quite a steep climb up the narrow
steps and passages but the view from the
top was rewarding; on one side, Bolivia
with snow-capped mountains of 6000
metres, and the other, the island we had
just come from, but with no view of the
shore, it being beyond the horizon.
We went on to Bolivia, crossing the
border on foot, did all the passport
exchanges, changed some curency, but
had to wait until a minibus came to take
us to Copacabana on the other side of
the lake some hours later. This seems
to be the resort for people
from La Paz, but a few west-
ern tourists milled about,
as well. A meal consisted
of a local soup, lake trout,
and lemon rice, all for about
75¢.
A boat took us to Isla del
Sol and Isla de la Luna, with
more climbing up steep hills
at 4000 metres. Our tele-
scopic walking sticks came
in handy in navigating those
climbs. In the background,
the Cordillera range was
covered in snow. Bolivia is quite a
diverse country with the Altiplano, the
Andes, the lower jungles, and Amazon
basin with oil and gas money. At the
time, we did not know that there was
almost a civil war going on; with the
new Indian president, Evo Morales, a
friend of Venezuela’s Hugo Chaves, was
having a hard time keeping the oil-rich
lower regions separating into another
breakaway county. We only saw that on
television once back in Cusco, Peru.
Once in Cusco, the ancient Inca capi-
tal, we were in a more civilized place,
and from here our goal was Machu
Picchu, where most of the tourists vis-
iting Peru go, and where tourist pric-
es begin. Naturally, one doesn’t go all
the way to Peru and not see Machu
Picchu, so first off to another Inca town
Ollantatambo and from there by train to
Machu Picchu, the only way to get there,
since no roads exist, with the train track
following the river. At the foot of this
pre-Columbian Inca site is the town of
Aguas Caliente; as the name suggests,
they are hot springs, where we bathed in
the mineral pools. At 6 a.m. the next day,
we lined up for the bus to take us to the
site. There are concerns about the effect
of tourism on the site as it reached, and
therefore, the government only lets in
400 people a day. Machu
Picchu was voted as one
of New Seven Wonders of
the World in 2007, and one
could see why. We spent all
day climbing up and down
the various passes and steps
and felt as though we were
truly in a different world
up there, However, it’s not
as high as one would think,
actually only 2350 metres—much less
than the other heights we had recently
experienced.
After reading up on all the Inca
stories, we actually met the author of
Enigma of Machu Picchu, a book that
takes the reader from the Inca period
of 1000/1500 A.D. to the time when
Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911.
To describe it is almost impossible—you
just have to go there yourself to be able
to grasp the unique experience that is the
lost city of the Incas.
After a relatively uneventful trip back
home to the comfort of Montreal, some-
one asked me if I’d want to go back. “In
a heartbeat,” I replied, “but only if my
wife will let me.” And if I find another
crazy friend.
therefore, the government only lets in
the various passes and steps
and felt as though we were
truly in a different world
up there, However, it’s not
as high as one would think,
The Uros islands and boat made of totora reed
17
When I joined the company early in
1970, a statement on one of the office
notice boards informed the staff of a
management policy—employees should
follow the courses of the Institute of
Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) or, as it
now likes to style itself, the Institute
of Commercial Shipping. Perhaps the
notice is still there. If not, perhaps it
should be! Accordingly, I went to work
on the matter and, four years later, I
was admitted as a Fellow (FICS) of the
Institute with a certificate declaring that
my “place of business is in Tokyo” as I
had by then been transferred to the com-
pany’s Far East office. Perhaps I was the
first—even the only—FICS Tokyo!
I’m not sure the Fellowship did me
much good at the time. My passing,
indeed, my Elder Smith’s international
award winning for the highest marks,
never made a ripple, and so my mem-
bership was subdued—until, that is, I
came to live in Greece. By that time, the
restriction to British Commonwealth
membership had been lifted and the ICS
was developing rapidly. Five years ago, a
branch was opened in Piraeus, Greece,
under the auspices of the Hellenic
Management Centre, and appointed me
as a regular lecturer on my first visit to
their office without any suggestion from
me that I might even be interested.
My ICS lecturing has given me great
pleasure, although at four evenings a
week for several months a year with
a number of day lectures and several
correspondence students as well, it has
become a major element in my entire way
of life. Many of our students are mature
and have Master’s degrees in shipping
from respected universities. Others are
experienced managers in local shipping
and a few are closely related to shipown-
ers. So in every Piraeus class, there is a
residual competence and the lecturer has
to be careful, as someone will know the
particular subject better than he does. I
have been interrupted by remarks that
“we didn’t do it that way this morning
when just such a thing happened to our
Eleni in Kobe!” The ICS offers practical
training—to rather practical people.
One student I had came from a
Lebanese shipowning family. As his time
in Piraeus was always limited and as
he was a keen student—already with
his MSc in Shipping from Liverpool—I
taught him a one-on-one at the Centre
as a private student out-of-hours. He
passed his exams and was even an ICS
prize winner—my first student to achieve
the status. He often spoke of his family’s
ships for he was closely involved with
their management. Evidently his favou-
rite was the old Alexander K. She had
been very strongly built, to LR’s Ice Class
I, with excellent cargo cranes. And she
had been well-maintained. Her machin-
ery, piping, and wiring were standing
up well: she had to have several more
years’ hard service in her. However, even
the Alexander K had her problems—she
vibrated heavily with a steering nozzle
in lieu of a rudder. I paid attention since
few 30-year-old ships have an ice-class
notation with a steering nozzle.
And so it emerged—his family has
the first Federal Saguenay. Wishing to see
her again, I had to wait until September
2008, when she came to Greece for
her special survey. I revisited her in an
Elefsina floating dock shortly before she
returned to service. She looked well, with
her hull was newly painted and almost
blemish-free. Her cargo holds were being
blasted and re-painted. Normally she
plies in the tramp trades between the
Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean
to West Africa with bulk coal, ore, coke,
slag, or sulphur—rather mundane if
useful work.
I was pleased to meet her master who
was curious that any ship could be built
to Ice Class I with quite such a huge
bulbous bow, of a semi-circular cross
section, and a steering nozzle. However,
these features reflect her origin as a
variation of the first H730 ships of the
Federal Schelde (II) class of which four
were built by Hyundai at Ulsan in 1977-
1978. These H730s were a pure design
as the first ocean-going St. Lawrence
Seaway maximum deadweight carriers—
The Federal Saguenay’s second windMalcolm MacKenzie, former Fednav employee
The former Federal Saguenay in her latest incarnation as the Alexander K
18
Federal Sumida scrappedSkip Gillham
Laura Archer: nurse, artist, hostageMarc Latour, Boarding Agent, Fednav International Ltd. (Agency)
The first Federal Sumida has been sold for
scrap, operating under a sixth name of Hong
Wan when time ran out late last year.
This vessel was built in 1976 by Sanoyasu at Mizoshima, Japan. The 173-metre
long by 27.6-metre wide bulk carrier was too large for the Great Lakes trades, oper-
ating instead on saltwater routes, under Liberian registry for Far Eastern Shipping
Ltd. and Federal Pacific (Liberia) Ltd. The 22,377 gross ton, diesel-powered freighter
could carry in the range of 40,765 tons per trip.
In 1983, this vessel was sold to Palm Star Lines Pte. Ltd. and reregistered in
Singapore as Palmstar Sumida. It joined the Topgallant Shipping Corp. in 1985, and
registered in Liberia again as Skycrest.
Another change in 1988 found the ship still under the Liberian flag but sailing as
Gamma for Acland Maritime Inc. It became the Excellent for Excellent Shipping S.A.
of Panama in 2001 and Hong Wan for Sea Fortune Investment Ltd. in 2006. By now,
the ship was listed at 23,705 gross ton and again registered in Panama.
On December 15, 2008, the former company freighter arrived at Chittagong,
Bangladesh, and work on dismantling the hull was soon underway.
In the last edition of The Spanner, we profiled a
Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) nurse who transformed
her aide experiences in deepest Africa into works of art
under the exposition entitled Facing Africa.
This past March 11, my worst fears were founded
when online news revealed that a Montreal nurse,
abducted along with two MSF colleagues and a
Sudanese national, was, indeed, Laura. The four were kidnapped from Saraf Omra, a
rural area in Darfur, where Laura had been posted since mid-October of last year.
The kidnappings came just after Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir retaliated against
a war crimes arrest warrant, following which, 13 aid organizations were expelled.
The incident came to a positive end some time on March 14, with the release of the
four, unharmed, and their subsequent plane ride to Khartoum for safer haven.
We understand that Laura will spend a short time in Brussels, the MSF head office,
before making her way home to Montreal and eventually, back to her hometown of
Charlottetown, PEI, for a reunion with her relieved parents, Ted and Barbara Archer.
Needless to say, she will not be going back to her aide work right away.
News capsule
the first bulk carriers Hyundai had built.
Their building contract had specified
four-option-four ships. However, with
the first four entering service, the com-
pany suggested to Hyundai that they
would prefer to have the option con-
verted into two smaller ships with heavy
cargo cranes and Ice Class I. Hyundai,
most anxious to please their “regular”
customer, which had already had these
four ships and five 15,000 DWT barges
built in their shipyard, was concerned
as the design costs for just two ships of
a new class would be a serious, probably
crippling, overhead.
With their characteristic attitude to
a problem, Hyundai suggested that they
could quote an attractive price for the
proposed smaller ships if they could
repeat the H730 design but delete Nºs 1
and 7 holds, increase the hull scantlings
to Ice Class I and provide strengthen-
ing for the cranes. And so, the Federal
St Laurent (II) and Federal Saguenay
entered service.
Whilst curiosities, they served well.
Photo credit: Westmount Examiner
19
Now, now—it is not what you think!
We’re talking about spicy noodles
here and specifically, the enjoyment our
decade-old noodle club that we’ve suc-
cumbed to every Thursday at Le Wok
Impérial in the food court of Le 1000.
The history of the noodle club goes
back to the Stone Age (1999) by Dan
Crowe and Philippe Roderbourg. Back
then, Dan and Philippe frequented
the Chinese noodle spot located at the
Central Station food court across the
street from our office. Their first visit
was to “just to try something differ-
ent.” They ordered a specific numbered
plate of noodles which turned out to be
quite bland and with a name too long
to remember. This would not do at all.
Several jaunts a week for a quick fix and
10-15 visits later, their suggestions to
the cook for tweaking the spices to get
the flavour just right eventually paid off.
The staff at the noodle eatery coined the
name “La-La” for these special noodles
to save time for the guys when ordering.
As expected, the frequency of noodle
lunches raised some eyebrows, but that
was not a deterrent. However, the group’s
Waterloo came during an annual visit to
Medisys, when a nutritionist enquired
about the daily eating habits from one
who shall remain nameless. This soon-
to-be-retiree (oops, cat’s out of the bag)
mentioned the plate of noodles he had
that day but failed to mention how many
times he had them that week. “How big
was the plate?” the nutritionist asked.
“This big?” holding her hands in a small
circle. “Mmmmm, noooo,” replied the
nameless one. “Bigger? Say, this big?” the
health professional asked, increasing the
size of the circle she made. “Mmmmm,
noooooo,” was again the reply. Flustered,
she asked, “Bigger?” After several more
fruitless attempts at guessing, she final-
ly asked, “Well, exactly how big was
the plate?” Our Grand Poobah replied.
“THIS BIG!” the circle scrapped and
replaced by a gigantesque oval. “Ugh,”
was the reply he received. “And do you
have this football-field-sized plate on
a weekly basis?” “No ma’am,” was the
reply, much to the relief of the nutrition-
ist, “more like five times a week.” Her jaw
dropped and apparently just shook her
head and sadly sighed. The noodle club
would forever reduce its enjoyment to
once a week from that point on.
Now, getting back to the noodles, let’s
just say they were to be made very, very
spicy. Such were the demands made by
Dan and Philippe that the chief cook
purchased a special bottle of hot spice,
which he hid under the counter to be
used only when the noodle gang arrived.
Using your nude-ellesDennis Pfeffer, Liner Manager, FALLine/Traffic, Fednav International Ltd.
John Lavallee, Dennis Pfeffer, Dan Crowe, Philippe Roderbourg enjoying their nude-elles
The wok was fired up and the secret sauce ready.
20
The myth goes that the sauce was called
“Black Death” or was it “Certain Death?”
Whatever. It was hot! The staff at the res-
taurant knew that at 1 p.m. on Thursdays,
the noodle gang would be over for lunch.
The wok was fired up and the secret
sauce ready. Sure enough, the cook start-
ed his magic as soon as the cashier saw
the group coming toward her. She would
count the number of participants and
yell “Two La-La’s please!”
Over the years, the club has hosted
several illustrious dignitaries as guests.
These included John Lavallee, Mireille
Léveillé, Gerald Cloutier of Wirth
Rail, Dan’s niece, and several summer
students, to name but a few. When I
returned from Antwerp in 2000, I had
the pleasure of joining Philippe and
Dan for my first La-La, increasing the
core group to three. Dan would send
out his weekly email surprising us with
his usual play on words asking if we are
ready for “nude-elles” that day. The first
time I tried this spicy dish, I naturally
was not inclined to be undone by my
colleagues and ordered my very own
La-La. Watching the cook behind the
counter I became apprehensive when he
reached under the counter and withdrew
the devilish bottle. Everyone watched the
cook perform his mysterious gestures,
turning bland strands into a noodle
hell. By then, of course, we took turns
being the chairman of the group (chair
= one who pays the bill). Dan keeps a
running record in Excel, indicating who
the chairperson of the week is. It’s amaz-
ing how quickly my turn came around!
In fact, I’m convinced there is a flaw in
Dan’s worksheet, but let’s not digress. We
sat down to eat. I lasted two minutes or
three chopsticks’ worth of noodles. Dan
and Philippe watched as my forehead
beaded with perspiration. I would not
quit. At the halfway mark, the collar of
my shirt was visibly damp. Still I perse-
vered (and perspired!). Three quarters
through saw me clear my nasal passages
several times with wads of tissues. I
drank three glasses of water provided by
the restaurant (they knew). I looked over
and saw the cook smirking at me. I was
determined to finish the plate. It took me
almost 45 minutes to get all those noo-
dles down. My taste buds were fried, my
eyes watery, my shirt collar soaked, but I
triumphed, thanks to Dan and Philippe’s
cheering. The next week, however, I was
not so game. I sheepishly took a mildly
spicy plate but felt out of place sitting
with my white limp noodles against the
backdrop of Dan and Philippe’s brown-
ish-red plates. The cook sneered with
disdain as he handed me my plate. The
third week I was back to the usual La-La
and became a full-fledged member of
the Three Noodle-eers.
Over the years we changed location
to Le Wok Impérial downstairs, ensuring
that the ritual is always in place—there’s
the one who always goes with the flow,
the one who can’t quite leave at 1 p.m.,
and, of course, the one who always com-
plains his turn to play chairman comes
around too quickly.
In spite of Dan’s retirement, the club
will continue to exist. We will be announ-
cing a recruiting drive for anyone inter-
ested to join—chairman wanted: down-
stairs, every Thursday at 1 p.m. Spicy
nude-elles anyone? Ooh La-La!
Dan would send out his weekly email surprising us with his usual play on words asking if we are ready for “nude-elles” that day.
21
Umiak IGilles Savoie, photographe
Writer’s block: Me, myself, and I
Are there any other words in the English language that can trip us up
more than these three? And one of them consists of only one letter!
So which do you use, when? Basically, it depends on whether you are
the subject or the object of the statement. I had to read that a few times
before I got it, too. Use I for the subject and me for the object: I bathed
the dog. She gave the ball to me.
Easy right? The problem starts when we introduce someone else
into the sentence. Which one of these is right? 1) Janet and me went to
the park. 2) Janet and myself went to the park. 3) Janet and I went to
the park. Here’s an easy way to figure it out—just leave Janet out of the
picture: 1) Me went to the park: Nope. 2) Myself went to the park. Don’t
think so! 3) I went to the park. Bingo! Janet and I went to the park.
Fine, but if you really want to use myself in the sentence—you could
use it to emphasize your point of view, but it is certainly not a substitute
for me or I. For example, you might say, “I didn’t care for the Cabernet
Sauvignon, myself,” sticking your nose up ever so slightly to complete
the picture.
Well, I rather prefer the Shiraz, myself. How about you?
Source: Sabin, Millar, Sine, and Strashok, The Gregg Reference Manual,
Seventh Canadian Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2006
Un client me téléphone et me demande
de photographier «la pointe de froid »
que nous vivons. Après discussion, on
décide que la condensation au dessus du
fleuve illustrerait bien notre propos.
Le lendemain matin (14 janvier
2009), à 6h45, habillé chaudement, à
moins 27 degrés C sans le facteur éolien,
je me dirige à pied vers le pont Jacques-
Cartier. J’ai l’intention de marcher sur le
trottoir côté est. Surprise! Le trottoir est
fermé! Sans hésiter, je saute par dessus la
barrière et commence ma prise de vue
avec une petite crainte qu’un policier
m’arrête.
La condensation que je cherche me
retrouve facilement puisque mes lun-
ettes se givrent en l’espace 10 minutes! Je
réussi à enlever la fine couche de glace.
Vers 7h40, le soleil se levé du côté
ouest du pont. Je prends le passage
souterrain au niveau de l’île Ste-Hélène
et me retrouve de ce côté. Le spectacle est
féérique! La condensation sur le fleuve
est au maximum avec le centre-ville en
arrière plan. Les teintes de magenta et
de cyan valsent avec la condensation du
fleuve.
Par la suite, vers 8h15, depuis le milieu
du pont, je vois le Umiak I qui se dévoile,
puis se recache derrière la brume fluviale
. . . le siège social juste derrière . . . et clic
clic clic.
Il m’arrive parfois d’être au bon
endroit au bon moment!
Cette sortie photographique a durée
deux heures et je dois vous avouer que
je n’ai pas eu froid parce que mon esprit
était complètement captivé. Voilà un très
bon exemple de l’expression anglaise :
«mind over matter»!
22
Feeling hot, hot hot!Binnert Geertsema, Representative, Fednav Limited (Brazil)
go coast to coast may give the impres-
sion that the country is not so big.
However, Brazil’s coastline offers over
8000 km of superb beaches from the
Northern Amazon down to the Southern
border with Argentina; it consists of
tropical, sub-tropical, and regular sum-
mer/winter climates. The amazing part
is that the country has only one lan-
guage, Portuguese, which one should
call Brazilian nowadays, considering the
language’s own development from the
16th-century Portuguese into what it
represents today.
Rio de Janeiro (Cidade Maravilhosa,
or Marvelous City) has suffered a lot
since President Kubitchek moved the
capital of Brazil to Brasilia in 1960,
eliminating its political importance forc-
ing politicians and civil servants to look
for new premises. Nevertheless, Rio has
maintained its importance as a cultural
and musical centre: the parade of the
so-called Samba Schools has become a
huge event during Carnival, not only
visited by Brazilians, but also by tourists
the world over.
At 11 a.m. on Friday morning,
February 20, Rio changes into Carnival
City—the keys of the city are officially
handed over by the mayor to “King
Momo,” who reigns over the city until
at least the following Thursday. But the
parades are not the only attraction—
shortly before, during, and after Carnival,
practically every neighbourhood in Rio
has its own little parade. The bands
gather in the morning at some given
What first comes to mind when
talking about Brazil is soccer, a second
option generally is Carnival, and last but
definitely not least, beautiful women.
There is a bit more to
it especially consider-
ing the physical space
the country actually occupies in South
America. Did you know that Brazil is
larger than the United States without
Alaska? For those who doubt, I have
made the calculation in square kilome-
tres. The fact that the country does not
point, people get dressed up—anything
goes, but men dressed as women is a
favourite (probably to destroy any pos-
sible sign of a weakened macho), have a
couple of beers to get the engine started,
and then, under the heavy beat, will cross
the barrio attracting a stream of follow-
ers having fun and teasing life: this will
continue until the last participant falls
flat on his face. The Carnival balls are
famous and one needs stamina to attend
them five days in a row!
There are innumerable stories of
faithful husbands who vanish on Friday
afternoon to turn up home Wednesday
evening with the most fascinating excus-
es! It seems as though in places like
Salvador Bahia, these festivities com-
mence at Christmas, grow in force dur-
ing Carnival, continue through Easter,
and slow down during the June bon-
fires of St. John! A good way to learn
somewhat more about this city with a
strong African influence is to read a book
from a famous Brazilian writer Jorge
Amado entitled Dona Flor and her two
husbands.
The Carnival balls are famous and one needs stamina to attend them five days in a row!
23
What’s bugging you?Stéphane Sauvé, Manager, Information Systems, Fednav Limited
To protect or not to protect? Should
we constantly and religiously protect
ourselves from computer viruses? There
is a myth that if you do not run an anti-
virus application on your PC, a virus will
detect it and attack it. Although it may
seem that way sometimes, this article will
try to help put things in perspective.
There is presently a grey zone between
what is legal and what isn’t—distin-
guishing between legitimate spyware and
illegal malware is not straightforward.
Some of these are removed with antivi-
rus applications and others with antispy-
ware applications.
Antivirus software is normally updated
daily so you have to confirm from time
to time that it is up to date by rebooting
your computer. I’m sure you have seen
Microsoft Windows Update windows
tenaciously asking you to reboot after an
update. If you have been doing this, then
there is little chance that your PC will
suffer from any of the above infections.
In any case, it’s always good practice to
shut down your computer before leaving
for the day and rebooting the next day.
On the other hand, even though you
may not be updating your antivirus
software or not acknowledging Windows
updates (if you can stand the constant
reminders), then it doesn’t necessarily
mean that your PC will be infected. It
very much depends on what you do with
your computer.
Practice makes perfect
We’ve learned so far that there are differ-
ent flavours of computers bugs and that
those pesky Windows updates do serve
a purpose. So, how do you make sure
not to get infected? Well, this is more a
question of being curious and taking the
extra time to research when being con-
fronted with an unknown situation.
One of the classic and most effective
ways for these viruses to install has been
through email attachments. Even if an
email appears to come from a friend,
we now know that emails can easily be
falsified as seen in spam messages. The
best solution is to never open any email
attachments altogether. Not practical,
right? The other alternative is to think
a little before opening an email attach-
ment. The first clue that everything is
fine is by looking at the icon from the
attachment. Outlook and other email
software use filename extensions such
as Document.doc. In this example, .doc
indicates a Microsoft Word file, which
is generally a relatively safe file. Other
extensions that you should pay particular
attention to are: .zip .vbs .com .exe, .rar,
and others that seem unfamiliar. When
in doubt, the safest thing to do is save the
attachment to your computer and then
scan it with your antivirus application or
use some free virus scanners available on
the internet (e.g., Avast).
Practice safe surfing
Another way for viruses to propagate
or to be infected with spyware or mal-
ware is through internet websites. You’re
looking for that perfect little application
to insert emoticons in messages or you
want a nice free screen saver for your
computer, Stop right there! The best rule
of thumb when dealing with internet
• Silently installs on your computer and sends unwanted advertising and pop-ups
• Falsely lerts you of bugs on your computer with the only intent to have you purchase software to clean it
• Some malware is legal and some not
A V
irus
Spyw
are
The EnemyWhat are the differences between viruses, spyware, and malware?
• Silently installs on your computer
• Aims to destroy or steal information
• Propagates through email or web sites
• Tries to self-propagate
• Is illegal and criminal
• Silently installs on your computer
• Collects info about your browsing habits
• Sends unwanted advertising and pop-ups
• Is legal
Mal
war
e
24
Have mouse will nibble
Colour code emails in your Outlook inbox
It works for filing, cabling, and just about anything else—colour coding in
Outlook can greatly improve productivity by focusing your attention on the
right inbox items. By using some of the tools that are built into Outlook you can
become a time-management guru!
Color code messages sent by your boss, important clients, colleagues, etc. • Go to your Inbox.
• Select Tools, Organize.
• Select Using Colors (on the left of the Organize pane).
• Change the drop-down next to Color Message so that it reads from.
• Select an email from that person in your Inbox or type the name of a Fednav employee, or alternatively, an exterior email address in the box provided.
• Select a colour.
• Click the Apply Color button.
Color messages sent only to you (never forget to reply to an email again!) • Go to your Inbox.
• Select Tools, Organize to display the Organize pane.
• Select Using Colors.
• Select the Turn On button next to Messages sent only to me now and select a colour.
If you need to delete or change the color coding at a later date, here’s how: • Go to your Inbox.
• Select Tools, Organize.
• Select Using Colors.
• Select the Automatic Formatting button at the top right to display the list of colour formats applied to the folder.
• Select the relevant item from the list and select Delete and OK.
Note that from Automatic Formatting, you can modify your setting and even add conditions to each item.
files is that if it’s free, it probably con-
tains spyware.
If you stick to large, well-known web-
sites (CNN, Globe & Mail, Yahoo, Google,
MSN, etc.), there is almost no chance of
ever catching anything. Another thing to
check are web links in emails. Often an
email comes in from a false eBay address
or financial institution and contains a
message that looks innocuous. By hover-
ing your mouse over the link you can
often see that the address is posing as a
legitimate site. The address may actu-
ally be: member19827.ebay.somesite.
com, and although it may contain the
word eBay, it is actually a site hosted on
somesite.com, in no way related to eBay.
So, is it possible to work on a com-
puter without an antivirus application?
The answer is yes, if you remember to
reboot your computer after a Windows
Update has been installed. Using com-
mon sense with emails and safe internet
browsing further prevents infection. I
have been doing this for years and I am
still virus-free. Would I recommend it?
Only for older computers that are run-
ning slow and are solely used for simple
internet browsing. Antivirus software
noticeably slows down computers and
old computers particularly suffer from
this additional strain on its resources.
To be on the safe side, take lots of
Vitamin C, drink plenty of water, and
happy surfing!
25
It’s amazing how some ideas seem to
take on a life of their own, isn’t it? A case
in point has to do with the newly estab-
lished Fednav Employee Community
Committee (FECC). As most of you
know, our committee was formed with
the blessing of the Pathy family to handle
charitable and other types of financial
or material requests from worldwide
Fednav colleagues and friends.
Among the many positive contribu-
tions we have made to various orga-
nizations, an idea came to me for the
committee to consider a donation to the
Montreal Association for the Blind or,
as they are now called, the MAB-McKay
Rehabilitation Centre. In researching
this avenue I felt that, as a commit-
tee, we could take the idea one step
further—in addition to supporting the
various programmes that MAB-McKay
engage in, it would be even better if we
made a further contribution to the Dog
Guides Canada whose main activity is
the training of future Dog Guide, to
be supplied to visually and physically
impaired individuals. This organization,
located in Oakville, ON, supplies such
dogs to deserving people throughout
Canada. We researched this organiza-
tion with Ms. Julie Jelinek, Manager
of Development and Communications
of the Lions Foundation of Canada,
and sifted through information on their
various programmes. We prepared a
presentation to the FECC suggesting
several monetary options—from a small
donation all the way to the support
the training programme, which would
take two years for the dog to complete.
The generosity of the Committee was
overwhelming—the vote was to fund the
complete two-year training for a future
Dog Guide.
Dog Guides Canada was extremely
grateful since donations of this size are
few and far between. In fact, Julie advised
that with this sizable donation, the cen-
tre insisted that the FECC have the plea-
sure of naming the Fednav-sponsored
puppy. With that in mind, I immediately
thought that a company-wide contest to
name the dog would get all employees
involved and excited about this project.
The committee readily agreed and the
contest was born. It took several phases
to get to the finish line.
Phase one
Declare the contest open to all Fednav •
employees and explain the contest to
them, first in the Winter edition of
The Spanner and by a lighthearted
email campaign
Solicit puppy names, specifying that •
the name should be related to the
marine industry and that the puppy is
Woof by any other name still means loveDennis Pfeffer, Liner Manager, FALLine/Traffic, Fednav International Ltd.
a female black Labrador Retriever
139 submissions are received•
Phase two
The 139 submissions are whittled •
down to 44 by a fair, unbiased vote
from our 10 committee members. No
individual names are placed against
prospective puppy names so as to not
influence the vote
The 44 selected names are submitted •
to the Dog Guides Canada for further
vetting since they have a rule that no
name can be used twice so that each
Dog Guide’s name is unique.
Dog Guides Canada returns 33 accept-•
able names, which are reduced to
the top 10 names by our committee
through another unbiased vote
Phase three
Send out a company-wide email ask-•
ing to vote for the best name out of
the 10 finalists
The 10 lucky finalists: Bosun - Bob GormanCaptain - Donna HaleyHaley - Lynn LafondMatey - Heather ClarkMisty - Sharon PeaceNorthstar - Dennis PfefferOreo - Ann Marie MarchandOrion - Jocelynn DupreRadar - Rosella KinsvilleSkipper - Laurent GiameiThe finalists gather for the big announcement
Dennis handing out rewards for a job well done
26
The tension mounts!
Of course there can be only one win-
ner, so we put our heads together to
come up with an idea on how to make
the naming of the winner more exciting.
This part alone took on a life of its own.
The initial idea of just advising the win-
ner mentioned in The Spanner evolved
to having Fednav president, Laurence
Pathy announce the winner in his office.
With the wish to have the 10 finalists as
well as the 10 FECC members present,
it was obvious that a venue change was
necessary. Since it was a company-wide
contest, we decided to invite everyone
and have the announcement made in the
executive boardroom. But wait—there’s
more. We came up with the idea to pres-
ent the winner with a stuffed plush toy
of a black lab. Jocelynn Dupré had the
perfect solution as her niece works at a
Build-A-Bear Workshop and created the
perfect black lab complete with birth
certificate! On March 2 at 2:30 p.m., the
big event took place.
And the winner is . . .
In a secret ballot document worthy
of the Oscars, Mr. Pathy first thanked
all participants and then read out the
10 finalists’ names with their respective
submissions. With near-palpable sus-
pense, Mr. Pathy slowly opened the enve-
lope announcing, “And the winner is . . .
Skipper, submitted by Laurent Giamei.”
Among many handshakes and the snap-
ping of photos, Laurent, of the Montreal
IS team, received his mini-Skipper and
in two years’ time, will travel to Oakville
to spend a day assisting a trainer put-
ting another future Dog Guide through
it paces. Laurent will also be present
as Skipper (by then a competent adult
Dog Guide) is handed over to her new
family.
But the real winner is . . .
In the end, the real winner is the
recipient of the Dog Guide who will
benefit from this contribution. His or
her quality of life, which may have been
lacking in so many ways, will improve
immensely when Skipper is presented to
If anyone is interested in taking a tour
of the Dog Guides facilities please
contact:
Julie Jelinek, Manager
Development and Communications
1.800.768.3030, extension 223
Lions Foundation of Canada/
Dog Guides Canada
152 Wilson Street—Oakville, ON
Visit www.dogguides.com
take home. We, as a caring company, can
feel deep pride and a sense of privilege in
helping others, which makes each one of
us winners, as well.
Make no bones about it, Fednav is
one organization that shows its commu-
nity spirit every day in creative ways!
“In the end, the real winner is the recipient of the Dog Guide.”
Skipper after a long day of training
Laurence Pathy presents Laurent Giamei with a mini Skipper for coming up with
the winning name.
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Ships ahoy!Thanks to all participants!
Send your photos to [email protected]
Eira Voth: Federal Pioneer Elaine Beaupré: Federal Hudson
Francisco Juarrero: Vega Eternity (on charter) Marc Latour: Federal Elbe
Romuald Mineyko: Paul Pathy and the Federal Rideau
30
But to where?
My wife and I discussed the matter
and decided that he might bring some
joy to children in hospital so the lamin-
ated print of Kermit the Fednav Frog was
donated to the children’s’ ward of the
Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
The very act of searching back through
my large collection of photo albums
(dating back to 1953 when I first met my
wife, Brenda) brought back many mem-
ories of people I worked with, places I
visited for business and for pleasure, and
as they are also a potted history of my
family growing up, much nostalgia.
So Kermit, the Fednav Frog, thanks for
the memories.
A picture in the winter edition of The
Spanner caused me to go searching back
through my photo albums to find out
just when I photographed the Fednav
Frog. There he was in January 1978, sit-
ting atop one of the speakers from our
stereo set. I’m sure the dear thing would
find modern day speakers far less com-
fortable!
I shot the picture to use up the last of a
roll of film—the dark days before digital
cameras. When developed, I showed the
result to Ladi Pathy, who commented
that The Muppets was a favourite pro-
gramme at home and that we should
get the photo blown up and laminated.
And so it was, with one copy being dis-
played in the office while I had the
second one.
I seem to recall the office edi-
tion was on a wall near to where
Brian Gallimore used to sit. Mine
was in my office at home, moved
with us to Nanaimo in 1992, and
again graced my office wall until
just over four years ago when we
moved to our current abode. Here
many other things hang on the
available wall space in my office so
it was time for Kermit to move on.
Kermit—alive, well, and living in Nanaimo Bill Gard, former Fednav employee and editor of The Spanner
Everyone loves a good pun, right? Right?
Agreed—to some it’s a cruel form of punishment (yes, yes, pun intended).
Puns are like acu-pun-cture, only more painful. With no further ado, here are
some really bad ones:
• The two guys caught drinking battery acid will soon be charged.
• I really do have a photographic memory—I just haven’t developed it yet.
• He avoided funerals because he was just not a mourning person.
• If a judge loves the sound of his own voice, expect a long sentence.
• Ancient orators tended to Babylon.
• If you leave alphabet soup on the stove and go out, it could spell disaster.
• If a lawyer can be disbarred, can a musician be denoted or a model deposed?
• Don’t join dangerous cults: practice safe sects!
• Two pencils decided to have a race—the outcome was a draw.
• Sign at a pet store: buy one dog, get one flea.
• What do you call an arrogant fugitive falling from a building? Condescending.
• The reason for the mysterious fog near Cape Cod is hazy but when
it disappears it won’t be mist.
• England may not have a kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool
• Mathematics teachers call retirement the aftermath.
• When the plums dry on your tree, it’s time to prune.
And finally: There was a man who entered a local newspaper’s pun contest.
He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one
of the puns would win.
Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.
Source: http://www.punoftheday.com/ters
31
New employeesIf you are a new employee, we would like to insert
your photo in The Spanner. Please send your digital
image to [email protected] or come by the
Communications Department in Montreal.
Personnel
Welcome to the following new
employees:
FEDNAV MONTREAL
Fednav Limited
• Angela Chimienti, Executive Assistant (Temporary replacement)
• Michelle Joliveau, General Accounting Analyst
(Temporary replacement)
• Martine Lemay, Chartering Broker
• Spilios Vassilopoulos, Communications Agent
(Temporary replacement)
Farewell to the following employees:
• Lindsay Collin, Fednav Belgium
• Nick Faul, Fedmar (Portage)
• Lorraine Harris, FMT Richmond
• Ray Hobart, FMT Florida
• William Newton, FMT Florida
• Joan Roback, Fedmar (Portage)
• Michael Shannon, Fedmar (Portage)
• Dan Sydow, Fedmar (Duluth)
• Bruce Thompson, FMT Richmond
ObituaryCaptain James Whynott (Fednav retiree) died on December 25, 2008.
Bernard Bisaillon (Fednav retiree) died on March 25, 2009.
The Spanner is published by is published by The Spanner is published by The SpannerFednav Limited, Montreal, for its employees and friends
Editor Louise FabrisLayout Layout Layout Spilios VassilopoulosProofreaders Kim Craig, Andria Riti
Fednav Limited1000 de La Gauchetière Street West Suite 3500Montreal, Quebec H3B 4W5 CanadaEmail [email protected] 514.878.6500 Fax 514.878.7686
www.fednav.com
Angela Chimienti Michelle Joliveau
Spilios VassilopoulosMartine Lemay
We are always happy to consider your articles and photos. Please send your submissions to [email protected].
So who were those two cute kids in the last edition of The Spanner?
Why, Katie Keane and Sarah Weale, of course!
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