Senator´S lounge

no. 7 | september 20 08
publ ished by sen ator l ine s
Senator´s
lounge
Customer Beach
Party Bremen
pa g e 0 4
Hamburg Cruise
Days
pa g e 1 5
Famous waterways:
The Straits of
Malacca
Paul N acc a c h e ( S e n ato r L ine s) accepting the
award fro m E l l e n K u m p i c (DHL G lobal Forwarding)
pa g e 1 9
SENATOR LINES awarded
Best Ocean Carrier Middle East
Montreal / c anada
The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association held its Forwarders’ Choice
Awards for the Eastern region of Canada on
June 11th. This annual event honours air and
ocean carriers in eight trade lanes: Africa, Caribbean, Latin America, Middle East, Southwest
Pacific, Far East, Europe and the Mediterranean. An estimated 450 people gathered at the
Sheraton Four Points Hotel to celebrate these
marks of distinction and show their appreciation to the cargo carriers.
We are pleased to report that SENATOR
LINES was recognised as Best Ocean Carrier
to the Middle East, based on the votes and
nominations of CIFFA’s members. Accepting
the award on Senator’s behalf that evening was
Mr. Paul Naccache, our Montreal branch
office’s Sales Manager, who thanked our
colleagues and customers for their support and
faith in our service during a tumultuous year of
market changes.
CIFFA’s members felt SENATOR deserved
this exceptional honour – and it is worth noting
that we have earned this recognition from Canada to the Middle East a total of six times.
The other winners were MSC (Africa, Latin
America, Mediterranean), Hapag Lloyd (Europe and Carrier of the Year), Hamburg Süd
(Southwest Pacific), Tropical Shipping of Canada (Caribbean) and SENATOR LINES’ CKYHS
alliance partner Cosco (Far East).
Not only did the event provide an opportunity for the freight forwarding community to
thank the carriers, the evening’s theme strove
to highlight the ever-growing influence of women working in the logistics industry and a
speech to this effect was given by Ms. Ruth
Snowden, CIFFA’s executive director.
The CIFFA organisation itself has been in
existence since 1948 and has grown to include three divisions: Eastern, which comprises
the province of Quebec and all points east of
there; Central, which includes Ontario and
Manitoba; and the Western division, which
deals with British Columbia, Saskatchewan
and Alberta.
From its inception, the goal of the association has been to unify its members under
one banner of professional ethics and eliminate “trade evils and abuses”. With the recent
years’ developments in security and customs
practices, CIFFA works closely with Transport
Canada to ensure that forwarders are up to
date on all requirements and that their ability
to provide timely transit is not sacrificed.
In addition to security and dangerous
goods training, CIFFA furthermore offers a
FIATA-approved educational program geared
towards those working in the industry wishing to
improve their knowledge of intermodal freight
and international logistics. This certification is
a highly-regarded qualification among Canadian freight forwarders.
(Jill Wyatt)
editorial | 02
no. 7 | September 20 08
Con t en t s
S e n a t o r´s
lounge
EDITORIAL: Wa n t ed young, w il d a nd qua l ified
editorial
Hans-Hermann Mohr
CEO
e d i to r i a l
02
Contents
Editorial: Wanted- Young, Wild
and Qualified
Imprint
b u s i n e s s n av i gato r
03
04
Insider View
Planned Beach Party moved indoors
Let´s cook
S h i p pi n g & E n v i r o n m e n t
05
Shipping & Environment
T wo o f u s
07
Sales Office Munich: Pascal Meyer &
Nina Frenzel
logbook
08
09
11
12
New Trainees
New Employees
Anniversaries
Quiz No. 7
ashore
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
GOING ASHORE: Alexandria
Interview with the Bremen Ship Owner´s
Association
The Hamburg “Cruise Days”
The “Lütte Sail“ 2008 in Bremerhaven
9 th Haake-Beck Floating Islands Regatta
“Gorch Fock” celebrates its 50 th
anniversary
Portrait of a Lighthouse: Les Eclaireurs
at s e a
20
Famous Waterways: The Straits of Malacca
s e n ato r ‘ s a r t
22
23
24
Handball Charity Match in Bremen
Fit for fun
20 feet – Crossing the Ocean with Containers
Book Review: „A supposedly fun thing I’ll
never do again“
Preview of SENATOR’S LOUNGE No. 8
In the shipping business one topic emerges over and over
again: namely the shortage of highly-qualified young professionals. In Germany this problem has been addressed in a
competent way with the so-called “qualification offensive”.
According to expert forecasts, by the year 2015 there will
be a deficit of around 30,000 – 50,000 nautical officers and
qualified crew members. This is an alarming figure in any case,
particularly in light of the fact that the super-post-panamax
vessels are due for delivery in that same period.
So far several measures have been taken – many of which
have been successful - to solve the problem and companies
and institutions in Bremen have been leading the way. The
“Bremer Rhederverein” (Bremen Ship Owner’s Association)
and its members (among them SENATOR LINES) sponsored
the Institute of Maritime Simulation (IfMS) at the University for
Applied Science Bremen, Department of Maritime Studies/
Nautical Science, for instance.
The aim is to increase training capacity at the institute,
especially on the ship-handling simulator (portrayed in our
Senator’s Lounge No. 06). This entails a significant increase of
students: from 365 to 500.
SENATOR LINES further supports the “qualification offensive” by its dedication to providing training for young
people. Over the years, SENATOR LINES has received numerous awards from the Chamber of Commerce in appraisal
of our training programme for the Commercial Certificate
in Shipping. The apprenticeships we offer for the qualification of
“shipping merchant”, include an option for our trainees
to take a “dual-qualification degree”: this means that the
trainees can get a degree in their academic course (Commercial
Certificate in Shipping and Industrial Economics) at the
Bremen Institute of Trade & Transport (BIHV, Bremer Institut
für Handel und Verkehr), at the same time as completing a
“classical” apprenticeship.
We think that the education and formation of young people
is a crucial element for the success of a company and also of
industry as such.
We therefore want to express our warm welcome to our
four new trainees starting their apprenticeship in August, and,
at the same time, congratulate our trainees, who have graduated this year, on their diploma!
We are proud of you and wish you all the best for your further career in the different departments of SENATOR LINES!
Best regards,
Hans-Hermann Mohr
CEO
impr in t
SENATOR LINES GmbH
HEAD OFFICE
Martinistr. 62-66
28195 Bremen / Germany
Email:
[email protected]
Publisher:
Hans-Hermann Mohr, CEO
Editor-in-Chief:
Antje Stephan (AS)
Editorial Team:
Lilian-Verena Essfeld (LE)
Karin von der Pütten (PÜ)
Werner Stephansky (WST)
The following members of our staff and
our agencies also contributed to this issue:
Mourad Abousaif (Milmar), Alexandria / Egypt
Burkhard Beutler, Bremen / Germany
Diana Blohm, Bremen / Germany
Nina Frenzel, Munich / Germany
Sabine Furlenmeier (cto Shipping), Basle / Switzerland
Olaf Köberl, Bremen / Germany
Pascal Meyer, Munich / Germany
Jens Philippi, Bremen / Germany
Jill Wyatt, Montreal / Canada
Boris Zander, Bremen / Germany
Design + Layout:
monsun media gmbh,
Osnabrück / Germany
Senator’s Lounge is a quarterly
web-published magazine.
no. 7 | September 20 08
S e n a t o r´s
lounge
Insider
View
Con t en t s
b u s i n e ss n a v i g at o r
Hans-Hermann Mohr
CEO
Automation, the last
frontier for innovation?
Insider comment from
the shipping correspondent
Michael Hollmann
It is important to remember
that the primary goal is to assist and improve, rather than
replace, personal relations
with customers.
Europe
THE staggering growth in container ship and
gantry crane dimensions is formidable evidence for continuous innovation in the container shipping industry. With their monstrous
size, the industry’s key operating assets leave
spectators from all over the world in awe, offering what must be one of the crudest views of
The potential for further gains
in productivity and efficiency is
clearly shifting, from extensive
to intensive measures.
the machinery of globalisation possible.
Crucially, the savings derived from technological progress and the scaling up of assets
in seaborne trade have largely been passed
on to shippers and consumers. Of course, carriers continue to look beyond the boundaries
to increase the economies of scale. However,
every pull-up is harder than the one before
with investment requirements increasing and
infrastructure barriers limiting any further ‘supersizing’ of ships and ports.
The potential for further gains in productivity and efficiency is clearly shifting, from extensive to intensive measures. This is perhaps
most visible in the terminal sector, where operators are now embracing automation technology on a grand scale - more than a decade
after the introduction of the first automated
Automation allows operators
to increase stacking density
and hence the storage capacity
of their facilities.
facility by Europe Combined Terminals on the
Maasvlakte at Rotterdam.
Terminal operators at Thamesport (UK),
Hamburg-Altenwerder, Brisbane, Antwerp,
michael hollmann
Pusan and Portsmouth/Virginia have already
followed suit, while the number of new projects
is bound to explode within the coming years.
Latest estimates suggest that over 30 new or
existing terminals worldwide will be fitted with
automated equipment by the year 2012.
The most popular solution is a combination
of automated, rail mounted stacking cranes in
the yard and automated guided vehicles or
manned straddle carriers for the transfer of
containers to the quay cranes. It allows operators to increase stacking density and hence the
storage capacity of their facilities.
The impact of this can be enormous, with
Hamburg’s terminal operator HHLA anticipating a doubling of overall throughput capacity
at its Burchardkai – all through conversion from
manual to automated yard operations. Other
notable projects include for instance the UK’s
new 3.5M TEU London Gateway Terminal,
scheduled to be opened in 2010. Even in the
US ports, where technological progress tends
to be constrained by the powerful dockers’ un-
ions, automation is advancing, spearheaded
by APM Terminals.
Beyond terminals and vessel operations,
automation is also gaining hold in areas such
as logistics and customer services. Here, it is
important to remember that the primary goal
is to assist and improve, rather than replace,
personal relations with customers. A case in
point is cargo tracking and information logistics. Carriers and forwarders often lament the
painstaking efforts it takes to obtain information about the location and status of containers across the variety of service providers in the
multimodal chain.
Tracking and tracing in the container industry could be revolutionised through application of radio frequency identification
technology (RFID). A number of pilot projects
were launched over the last decade and widescale application edges closer, as the cost of
RFID transponders sinks. RFID-capable boxes
will eliminate the need for manual tracking,
checking in and out automatically as they pass
through consolidation centres, rail hubs, ocean
terminals and vessels.
All that remains to be said is that the information needs to be relayed to customers as
fast as possible in order to assist their inventory
and supply chain planning. Automated alert
functions are part and parcel of many logistics
IT solutions today, and a wider take-up in the
container transportation sector would benefit
all partners involved.
(Michael Hollmann)
S e n a t o r´s
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b u s i n e ss n a v i g at o r
Planned Beach Party moved indoors
Customer event in Bremen
b r e m e n / g e r m a n y
A city beach, a summer night, food, drinks and music: this is what people
were looking forward to, as Senator Lines was planning its 2008 customer event at the „Cafe Sand“ in Bremen.
Apart from a dry summer’s night (just one tiny little detail!) all our expectations were met: More than 100 guests alongside the local Bremen
team members celebrated at the party that went on until midnight, after
having been welcomed in the name of Senator Lines.
While enjoying a lot of talks and food and drinks in a casual and
relaxed atmosphere, and with all the happy faces and good will of
our guests it hardly mattered that there was no sun shining outside.
There were plenty of warm and happy people at the party and we
Let’s cook
The cto-Senator Lines Barbecue
B a s l e / s w i t z e r l a n d
Our c t o – Senator team invited a few potential clients on Thursday,
24th July 2008, to spend a summer evening with us and a decent
barbecue. The weather was just perfect and socialising and networking was just as possible as eating delicious food and drinking chilled
drinks.
We very much enjoyed the time we had with our guests and are
looking forward to seeing them again, be it perhaps in slightly different circumstances.
(Sabine Furlenmeier and the cto team)
nearly forgot how the summer had not quite arrived yet. Some of our
guests got into a real holiday feeling: The first prize of our quiz was a
Ryanair flight voucher. But also the other prizes made our customers
smile: for instance the “Badeinsel” – an inflatable miniature raft in the
shape of a swimming island. Unfortunately, we do not know whether
the lucky winners actually ended up taking part in the “Haake-Beck Badeinsel-Regatta” (see our article on the regatta of inflatable swimming
islands) with it…
It was a great event - thanks to all of our wonderful guests and team
members and as to that summer feeling, we’ll just give it another go
next year!
(JP)
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S e n a t o r´s
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S h bi pupsiinnge ss
& Ennavviirgoat
n mo re n t
Shipping & Environment
In the two previous editions of “Senator’s
Lounge” we started looking into various aspects of shipping from an environmental
perspective. So far we have concentrated on
Marine Fuels and Ships’ Consumption. In
this edition we shall be looking into the issue of
Ballast Water.
From the very beginning, ships have been
required to carry heavy material in their bottom hull in order to increase their stability by
lowering the centre of gravity and thus allowing the ships to sail upright. This so called ballast in previous times consisted of solid and
heavy material, such as stones and rocks or
even fixed concrete. During the 19 th century
however, shipbuilding has changed dramatically when timber as the prime ship building
material was replaced by steel. Modern shipbuilding reached new dimensions in as much
as it was now possible to build far bigger ships
and to install steam engines. And there was
an added advantage: Where formerly an engine that was made to burn wood had been
installed into a wooden ship, thus posing an
enormous risk to the ship and the crew, now, by
having a ship made of steel, this risk virtually
no longer existed.
Steel further enabled technicians to install
tanks onboard the ships. These did not only
provide storage for various sorts of liquids
(cargo and fuel) but also for ballast water as
a replacement for solid ballast. Now, thanks
to the new technology, the crew was able to
adjust the quantity and distribution of ballast
according to what the ship required. Adjustments could be made if the ship was sailing in
an empty or partly laden condition.
Later the invention of the sea containers
allowed considerable amounts of cargo to be
Container Ship Profile showing the nominal intake
under and on deck
factor for deck cargo considerably. Ballast water tanks are installed in the ships’ double bottom and as so called wing tanks on the ships’
sides. These tanks enable the crew to compensate the impact of uneven cargo loading thus
Loading Computer Tank Arrangement Plan
improving the ships’ safety, because it relieves
the ship’s structure by reducing listing, trim as
well as torsion and bending moments.
This all sounds very reasonable. It also
Containership loaded also with cargo on deck
laden on deck on top of the cargo holds. Deck
cargo however, affects the ships’ stability by
mowing the centre of gravity upwards. Ballast
(water) counters this unintentional side effect
and improves the container ships’ utilisation
Copyright: GloBallast (http://globallast.imo.org)
sounds as if it would add to the ship’s safe sailing. So where is the problem?
At the same time as the ballast water is being pumped into the ships’ designated ballast
water tanks, various organisms - ranging from
invisible viruses to fish as big as 30 cm - are
sucked in, as well. They travel with the ship to
foreign destinations where these non-native
organisms are discharged as bio-invaders together with the ballast water when the latter is
no longer required.
The organisms now have reached foreign
eco systems and here – due to the lack of
natural enemies and more favourable living
conditions - these organisms spread. They increase their population drastically, the cost of
which is paid by the local flora and fauna. This
process can even go as far as disrupting the
local food chain.
Experts assume that some 4,000 different
kinds of flora and fauna travel globally with the
ships’ ballast tanks. Additionally, an uncounted
number of different protozoa are distributed
worldwide.
The most well known – however by far not
most dangerous - example of this is the Mitten
Crab which was accidentally imported from
Chinese coastal waters to the European environment. Here it does very well indeed, due to
a lack of natural enemies and living conditions
that are far easier than those it had in its original eco system.
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S h bi pupsiinnge ss
& Ennavviirgoat
n mo re n t
Shipping & Environment
Copyright: VDR
So is this the price we have to pay for globalisation and economic welfare? Can we afford not to pay importance to such negligible
details? Scientists are alarmed by the number
of organisms that travel the world yearly, as
mentioned above. The picture becomes even
more alarming, when looking at the quantities
of ballast water that are involved. Containerships have the ability to carry up to about 1/3 of
their deadweight capacity in ballast water. This
means, that medium sized ships have a ballast water capacity of more than 10,000 tons.
Bulker Carriers and Tankers in unloaded condition even sail with 40 per cent of their cargo
capacity in ballast water. Depending on vessels
size this may amount to more than 200,000
tons. The WWF estimates that annually some
10 billion tons of sea- fresh- and brackish water are imported into different habitats all over
the world.The indispensability of ballast water
technology for safety reasons is undisputed. In
the meantime however, the international shipping community has acknowledged the environmental impact resulting from ballast water.
Consequently, a number of counter measures
have been invented and are being discussed:
- Prohibition of taking ballast water in areas
which are excessively contaminated by microorganisms.
- Wherever feasible, ballast water should be
taken onboard during high tide. This way the
ships’ intake of light sediments is minimised,
which usually contain a much higher biodiversity than the water itself.
- Ballast water exchange: Because of their relatively low water level and their highly nutritious
conditions, coastal areas provide very good living conditions for numerous organisms. Conditions in the high seas, however, are far less
favourable and provide only a limited chance
of survival for these organisms. Consequently
the IMO requires ships to exchange ballast wa-
ter taken at costal areas with ballast water from
high seas areas. This method however, affects
the ship’s stability and structure during the exchanging process. And there is another problem: research has shown, that ballast tanks
can never be emptied by 100 per cent. This
means that the living conditions of those organisms that stay behind are further improved
by the provision of fresh seawater, rather than
them dying off.
- Filtration of ballast water allows the ballast
water to be cleaned before entering the ballast
tank and the organisms filtered out thus can be
retained in their native habitat. Filtration however, does slow down the ballasting process
substantially, while appearing to be unable to
remove microorganisms
- Pumping equipment combined with centrifugal appliances allow only very few organisms
to enter the ballast tanks.
- UV irradiation appears one of the most efficient treatment methods against microorganisms.
Sadly it tends to be ineffective when the water is
contaminated with suspended matters. Combination with filtration could provide the required
result.
- Chemical treatment of the ballast water appears to be a very efficient method. At the
same time it is an alternative far from perfect,
because it may harm humans and also the environment. Also, chemicals can further enhance
corrosion of ships tanks and other equipment.
- Heating ballast water is only effective for killing larger organisms. With this method heat
exchangers make use of the vessel’s cooling
water and heat ballast water to about 35 – 45
degrees C. The disadvantages of this method
are the relatively long heating period that is required, its inefficiency when it comes to small
organisms, the necessity to filter out dead organisms before discharging the ballast water
and the increased corrosion to the ship’s tanks
and other equipment.
None of the methods described above
have proven suitable to completely remove
organisms from ballast water yet. It appears
that only a combination of methods will provide the required result. And there are a few
points to consider in order to achieve this:
The technology must be adapted so as to keep
pumping rates at 5,000 tons per hour. Crew
safety must be guaranteed as well as additional, alternative environmental damage must be
avoided at all costs. Last not least, the strength
of the vessel must remain unscathed and the
technology must be affordable both in respect
of size and expense. Nevertheless, experts remain optimistic that the environmental issue of
bio-invaders travelling with ballast water may
soon be resolved.
(Burkhard Beutler)
• Oxidising chemicals act by destroying
cell membranes. Although this method is
quite commonly used also for the cleansing of drinking water, recent studies suggest that it may not be as environmentally
safe to humans as previously thought.
Type
Deadweight (ts)
Ballast Capacity (ts)
Ratio (%)
Bulk carrier
250,000
75,000
30
Bulk carrier
150,000
45,000
30
Bulk carrier
70,000
25,000
36
Tanker
100,000
40,000
40
Tanker
40,000
12,000
30
Container
40,000
12,000
30
Container
15,000
5,000
30
General cargo
17,000
6,000
35
General cargo
8,000
3,000
38
Representative Ballast Capacities
• Ozone has been used to disinfect water for a long time. It dissolves in water
however and does not exterminate larger
organisms.
The Mitten Crab
Mussel found in a ship’s ballast tank
no. 7 | September 20 08
S e n a t o r´s
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two of us
Portrait
of
team work
Pa sc a l Me y er
Introduction
Pascal Meyer
After taking a dual-qualification degree, including an academic diploma, at SENATOR LINES
Bremen Head Office last summer, I got the opportunity to work at the Munich Sales Office. It
didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted to
do. I started the job on 1 October 2007.
Now, there I was: in for a new city, a new
region, a new job. I was moving down south –
about 750 km from the maritime city of Bremen
to the Bavarian capital of Munich – quite a move,
and quite a challenge to meet. Once I had arrived at the Munich Sales Office, I was gradually
introduced to the SENATOR customers.
Since I started my job at the beginning of October – which is THE great beer drinking month in
Munich – we held a couple of the small customer
events at the “Wiesn”, which is the place where
the famous Oktoberfest (Munich Beer Festival)
takes place. Lucky me!
The Oktoberfest is one of the most important
events in Munich – and it combines all sorts: business, networking, and of course tradition and fun.
And it was most useful for me because it gave me
the chance to get to know the customers personally. It makes business easier and also more fun,
as you can add a face to the voice when you call
somebody – and this applies to the customer as
much as to myself, I guess.
In the beginning, I had quite a hard time trying
to get used to the dialect, and sometimes I was
tempted to ask the person I was having a conversation with to continue in English, as this would
be easier to understand. However, I am glad that
I never did and, slowly but surely, I grew able to
understand everybody, people with accents both
slight and strong.
The job was quite a challenge to me at the beginning; but after what has been nearly a year in
the new job now, I feel I can safely say that I am
good at what I do. The self-reliant and independent way of working that the job promised was one
of the crucial deciding reasons for me applying
for it in the first place. The close customer con-
two of us
tact was another reason for my decision – and, of
course, the city of Munich: it is a real metropolis
compared to small and lovely Bremen. I also like
the warm climate, the beer gardens and the relaxed atmosphere in summer time – and in the
winter its location so close to the Alps. It means
I can just pack my stuff and go skiing for a day
or even the whole weekend without any greater
logistical efforts! And I will definitely do one thing
that I haven’t had the chance to do yet: I must
learn how to snowboard, it just looks like such
fun to me!
However, there is one thing that will never ever
change: whether I live in Munich or elsewhere in
the world: I will always be a “Werder Bremen”
fan! I have my Werder scarf and some more fan
accessories on my desk and will always cheer for
the team in green and white, even though some
of my neighbours, friends and customers in Munich might not quite understand what I am on
about!
Luckily Nina is a big Werder fan as well – just
one of the reasons why we get along so well! We
two young “rookies” form a great team – I am the
outside sales and she does the inside sales, we
care for our customers together, we sometimes
have a beer together – and, of course, we cheer
for Werder together!
Introduction
Nina Frenzel
I began my career with Senator Lines three
years ago, on the 01.08.05, when I started on
my three year training course. Now, there may
be some who wonder: why take three years for
it and not try and have a shorter apprenticeship? Well, the answer to that consists of 4 letters: BIHV. The Bremen institute for commerce
and traffic offers a combination programme
consisting of apprenticeship and and a degree
course. So in order to make use of this offer,
I let myself in for taking three years over an
Nina Frenzel
apprenticeship. And I agreed to move from my
favourite town in the world: Hamburg.
Obviously, I considered the question as to
what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it
as I was finishing my training. And I had always
thought, that I would want to go back to my
home town. Back to my family and my friends.
Also I had been planning to do my sailing licence on the Alster this summer!
But sometimes things just come differently in
life to what you had thought and planned.
Now, I have always seen my professional future in the area of sales and when
Senator Lines offered me a position working in inside sales in Munich, nobody really
thought I would accept, seeing as I was such
a „Northerner“.
I thought about it very well, and after due
consideration decided not to waste this brilliant
opportunity and work towards realising my professional goal, even though this means moving
further away from my friends and family. I am
really loking forward to the new challenge,
though, and hope to grow through it and settle
and find my place in SENATOR LINES.
What that means for my sailing licence?
Well, the Alster will still be there, when I get
back, and for the time being I shall go and explore the skiing regions of the Alps!
I am looking forward to things now, despite
or even because of my spontaneous decision to
change my plans. I am looking forward to getting
to know the city and the people, and I am looking
forward to the first pint with my colleague Pascal Meyer in the beergarden. And of course to
my very first „Wiesn“, in October!
The first couple of weeks, in any case, have
been a pleasant start: friendly colleagues,
customers, wonderful flat (and I am nearly unpacked, too), lovely people, place, city – and...
excellent weather!
And seeing as Pascal and I already know
each other well, from our mutual time in
Bremen, I am confident, that we will both keep
up the moral down in the South, holding high
the SENATOR and the Werder Bremen flag!
no. 7 | September 20 08
S e n a t o r´s
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logbook
New Trainees
Since 1 August, 4 new trainees have started their apprenticeship as
shipping clerks with SENATOR LINES. Good luck and success! (LE)
Katja Trisch
I was born in Rotenburg/Wümme on 11 July 1988. After successfully passing my Abitur (A-Levels) in
June 2007, I wanted to improve my English language skills since I was interested in working in the
shipping industry.
I decided to work in a crewing agency in England. I have lived and worked in Southend-on-Sea
for nine months and really enjoyed it. I had a wonderful time as my colleagues were very friendly and
helpful and I learned a lot about crewing as well as about the „English way of living and working“.
As I lived near London, I explored “the big city” on the weekends, but I also spent my spare time
at the beach of Southend-on-Sea, where my apartment was. I greatly enjoyed the time I spent there
and found it to be a worthwhile experience – and I‘d do it again, any time.
Katja Trisch
Inga Hüsemann
I was born on 19 December 1988 in a small village in Lower Saxony, called Hankensbüttel, where I
grew up as well. After successfully graduating from high school, I decided to do the dual qualification programme at Senator Lines and therefore left my hometown to start the trainee programme
in Bremen. In my free time I enjoy doing outdoor sports such as horse-riding (on my own horse
“Frimeur”, a Hanoverian horse), running and cycling. That’s one of the reasons I really like Bremen
– it has some marvelous routes along the Weser!
Another favourite of mine is watching ice hockey games. And now I am looking forward to my
first visit at the Weser Stadion to see Bremen‘s soccer team play!
Inga Hüsemann
Martina Loitz
I was born in Hamburg in April 1987 and have lived there all my life until I moved to the beautiful
city of Bremen this summer. After I graduated from the ,Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium‘ in Hamburg
in 2007, I had the opportunity to travel through the United States of America for three months,
where I got to see many beautiful places as for example the Rocky Mountains or the San Francisco
harbour.
I am very interested in travelling, experiencing different cultures and trying new things. In my
spare time I like to meet friends, go shopping, read books or simply go outside and enjoy the outdoors. I also have two dwarf rabbits which I love taking care of. I am excited to be a trainee here at
Senator Lines and I‘m really looking forward to all the new experiences.
Martina Loitz
Marwin Wedeking
I was born in Langenhagen on 26 August 1987 and grew up in Hannover and Laatzen. After successfully passing my Abitur (A-Levels) in June 2007, I decided to do an apprenticeship as a shipping
merchant and moved from Hannover to Bremen, last month.
In my spare time I love to meet my family and my friends. Also, I like sports, going fishing, reading some fantasy books, listening to music or playing the drums. Now I am looking forward to my
traineeship and all the new things to see and to learn.
Marwin Wedeking
no. 7 | September 20 08
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Nina Frenzel – Inside Sales, Munich
New
Employees
This year, too, our
trainees successfully finished their training and
start their careers within
the company.
They have either passed
their final examinations
as Shipping Merchants or
graduated from the dual
qualification system at the
Bremen Institute of Trade
& Transport.
Congratulation to all of
them!
Now, they have started
their individual careers in
different departments at
SENATOR LINES.
(LE)
What was your first job?
„I worked in a fruit shop for 2 years.“
A sentence you never wish to hear again?
„Please read for next lesson from page... to
page... and answer the following questions!“ (vocational school)
Whom would you like to swap with, for a
month? „
„With any woman of „the dream boat“ (German
soap about life on a luxury liner)
What’s your motto? „Better to make a mistake than not to try at all.“
Nina Frenzel
Stephanie Reichert – Inside Sales, Hamburg
Stephanie Reichert
A sentence you never want to hear again in
your life?
„I am sorry, all lines are engaged at the moment,
please try again later.“
Whom would you like to swap with, for a
month? „
„I would like to swap with Charlize Theron for a
month, so as to live in America and get a peek into
the film- and fashion business.“
What word would you use to describe the
way you work?
„consciencious“
What’s your motto?
„A day without laughter is a wasted day.“
Jan Schneidereit – Dangerous Goods/
Security, Head Office Bremen
Jan Schneidereit
A sentence, you never wish to hear again?
„Schneidereit, why don’t you just quicky set up the
beamer.“ (vocational school)
Whom would you like to swap with, for a
month?
„Hugh Heffner“
What words would you use, to describe the
way you work? ?
„fast, dilligent, target-oriented“
What’s your motto?
„Don’t take life too seriously, it’s not as if you
would get out alive, anyway!“
no. 7 | September 20 08
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Mr. Vadim Kovbasin – joined Slot Control
Bremen on August 1st 2008
New
Employees
We would like to welcome
our new employees and
wish them a lot of success
in their new jobs!
(LE)
“I was born on 21 November 1962 in
Russia. After successfully graduating from secondary school
and the Polytechnics high
school in Odessa, I
started to work as a
Chamber of Commerce
staff member at the Odessa
Port and Container Terminal.
By the end of 1994, my wife my
elder daughter (the younger was
born in Germany) and me decided to move to
Germany. We all had to adapt to our new home
country and had to learn German.
I was able to re-train as a Trade Merchant
Assistant. In 2001, I started to work with
Unifeeder Germany GmbH as a ship broker/
shipping agent – until I got the offer to join
the SENATOR LINES team. And here I am, looking forward to meeting new challenges and
tasks in the slot control department.”
Mr. Vadim Kovbasin
What event in your life has mainly influenced
your business career?
“Having spent my childhood and youth near the
Black Sea.”
What is the happiest thing in the world for
you?
“My little daughter!”
Mrs. Caroline Goodricke – Branch
Manager UK office
I started my Shipping career in 1989
– 2000, working as a filing clerk
for Anglo-shipping Company / Morline. Within these
11 years, I moved from
filing clerk to UK sales
Manager. When Morline went into receivership
in 2000, I secured a position
within the Sales team at Senator
Lines UK Grays. After 9 months with
Senator Lines, I moved from Sales representative to Sales Manager - which I did until
March 2007.
Then I left and started at Maersk Line as a
Key Client Manager but in my heart, I was still
quite attached to Senator Lines and the friendly
colleagues I had left behind.
When my former employer Mr. Vin Rutter (MD) passed away it was a big loss,
not only to me but to all of us at Senator Lines.
A few weeks later, I met with Senator Lines
(Bremen) and was given the opportunity to
come back and run our UK branch office. This
is a chance of a lifetime and I bid farewell to
Maersk and am now happily back with Senator
Lines (my family).
Mrs. Caroline Goodricke
What is the happiest thing in the world for
you?
“Seeing my family in Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
in Ireland (my home town and favourite place).
None of my relatives live in England apart from
my husband so it is always a very special time
when I go back home.”
What have you always wanted to do but
never dared?
“Taken part in the World Rally Championships.”
no. 7 | September 20 08
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tainer Services. Some years later, in January
1992, was when he first started working together
with Senator Lines Bremen.
In 1994, the DSR and Senator Lines merged.
The necessity arose for several structural changes
which in turn resulted in another new challenge
for Mr. Saedtler. In the beginning of 1995, he
was sent to Limassol / Cyprus to build up and lead
the Finance / Accounting department in the DSRSENATOR Regional Centre.
Three years later, in May 1998, he returned
from Cyprus and moved from Rostock to Bremen,
where he is still working in Finance / Accounting
today.
Anniversaries
At this point we would like
to introduce a few of
our colleagues who are celebrating their anniversaries
of service with the
firm this quarter.
Congratulations to all our
colleagues and best wishes
for the future!
(LE)
Ulrich Saedtler
On 1 September 2008, Mr. Saedtler celebrated
his 45th anniversary with the Senator Family.
45 years ago, in September 1963,
Mr. Saedtler started as a youngster
on a training vessel of Deutsche
Seereederei Rostock. After 4
years working as a youngster and AB seaman on
various cargo vessels,
he became a student for 2
years at the Wustrow Seafaring School in Germany.
He went back on board, sailed
for another 5 years as a Nautical Officer, including his second round of training in 1972,
at the Seafaring School Warnemuende, where
Mr. Saedtler obtained his captain’s license. In
1974, he changed from sea to shore, as a new
challenging job had cropped up. For the next 3
years, he gained a lot of experiences in ship’s operating and trade management working in various
departments in the DSR Rostock head office.
The year 1977 was another important milestone in Mr. Saedtler’s life, as he was appointed
to be the Owner’s Representative in Haiphong /
Vietnam, where he lived and worked for 3 years
together with his wife and the two children. This
was a very exciting time, especially the daily “battle “among the representatives of various shipping
companies for a berth for their vessels after a couple of weeks of anchorage in Halong – Bay.
Back in Rostock, he continued as a Trade
Manager with some work being in the area of accounting matters, which interested him increasingly. He participated in the development of several
projects in this field and gained further theoretical
knowledge at the Rostock University, where he
obtained the Diploma of Economy after a 5 year
evening course.
As from 1987 onwards, Mr. Saedtler directed
the accounting department in DSR–Global Con-
Inge Heitmann
On 16 August 2008 Mrs. Heitmann celebrated
her 35th anniversary at Senator Lines.
Inge Heitmann started her career with an
apprenticeship as chemist but soon realised
that she actually wanted to do something else
namely: shipping.
From 1973 to 1975 she worked as a secretary
in a branch of Bruno Bischoff (Paul Klembt), then
changed to Bruno Bischoff itself, where she was
responsible for telephone exchange/reception, the
tele printer and time recording of staff. After 20
years, Mrs. Heitmann moved to Universal Linienagenturen, still working in a similar field, now responsible for telephone exchange/reception
and B/L-distribution.
Bruno Bischoff and Universal
Linienagenturen were formerly
agents to Senator Lines before becoming their Branch
Office. The Branch Office
moved in with Senator Lines
Head Office and since 1999,
Inge Heitmann has had a new area
of responsibility – Documentation for
South America.
no. 7 | September 20 08
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Anniversaries
Lilian - Verena Essfeld
Ms. Essfeld celebrated her 10th anniversary at
Senator Lines on 1 August.
I started my apprenticeship as a shipping clerk
at Universal Linienagenturen, a former agent of
Senator Lines in Bremen. The agent became a
Branch Office and this gave us the opportunity to
receive additional training in the departments of
logbook
the Head Office of Senator Lines. It was an interesting, exciting and sometimes strenuous time.
After passing my exams, I decided to join Risk
Management, as the handling and investigating
of claims is a varied and interesting task (inconceivable to some colleagues and trainees due to
the many dusty old files, but it is true!).
During the past 10 years nearly all of my colleagues have changed in the Risk Department,
moving on to other jobs within the company - but
I am still here.
Actually this sometimes makes me myself feel
just a tiny little bit like one of the well-loved dusty
old files, I work with. ;o)
My responsibilities have changed a bit as well:
Apart from the claims in Europe, the Mediterranean region and Middle East, I
am Mr. Köberl’s assistant in Agency
Affairs, the internal auditor of
the Quality Management
System and a member of
the editorial team.
So let’s see what interesting details and stories
the next ten years will add to my
“dusty old file”…
Quiz No. 7
Have you read our seventh issue of SENATOR’S LOUNGE attentively?
Then you will certainly be able to answer the questions of our quiz
without any trouble.
Please send them by 28 November 2008 at the latest to:
[email protected]
Correct answers will be entered into our prize draw.
The winner will receive a Senator Lines wall clock. The second prize is
a key tag with a Senator Lines container vessel, the third prize a Senator
Lines’ business card holder.
Editorial staff is excluded from the competition.
The winning entries of our Quiz No. 6 were:
1. How often has Senator Lines been honoured with the
CIFFA award?
2. When was the Gorch Fock launched and when was it
commissioned?
3. What is the race distance of the floating island regatta?
1st Prize: Ingrid van Craen (Trimar); Antwerp / Belgium
2nd Prize: René Timmermans; Antwerp / Belgium
3rd Prize: Olaf Köberl (Senator Lines); Bremen / Germany
The correct answers were:
1.) 17 November 1869
2.) 650 car flags
3.) Jakarta Senator
no. 7 | September 20 08
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GOING
ASHORE:
Alexandria
a l e x a n d r i a / E g y p t
The town-name Alexandria means different
things to different people. In fact, many countries all over the world such as Greece, Turkey,
the U.S., or the Ukraine each have their own city
named after Alexander the Great. The first ever
city called Alexandria however, is on the northern
coastline of Egypt, on the Mediterranean. It was
founded by Alexander himself in 4th century BC
on the site where formerly the ancient city of Rhakotis had been.
Throughout the history of
Egypt, the city has been an important cosmopolitan and
cultural epicentre.
Throughout the history of Egypt, the city has
been an important cosmopolitan and cultural
epicentre, providing a meeting point for different
cultures and civilizations and making for a unique
blend which has shaped both the city’s and the
country’s identity up until this very day.
Its Friday morning, 7:00 a.m., it is my day
off. The cornice, the highway along the coastline,
usually filled with traffic, is virtually empty. A seldom sight considering that at the time of writing
the country has a population of 70 million people. The sea seems angry this morning, gusts of
water wash across my forehead as I am walking
across the relatively newly-built Stanley Bridge on
the eastern part of the city.
This peace and quiet will not last long, I
know. It is summertime and very soon the city will
be howling with cars from all over the country.
It is one of the most popular holiday destinations for Egyptians. This is why it’s much better
to visit during the winter when there are less people and more rain. Walking westwards, towards
the downtown area, I walk past the Alexandria
library. The ancient library has been rebuilt and
restored and now it is no longer exclusively used
as a library only. It is a huge cultural centre and
hosts several open-air musical events during the
long summer evenings. And what with the music
coming out of a decent sound system and the
view and the sounds of the sea in front of you,
this is a very popular place for music enthusiasts.
The range that is played is diverse: there is classical music and Arabic music and even some rock
bands, as well.
The shrimps are huge and quite
hot, made with a unique blend of
spices.
Continuing along the corniche, I walk all
the way to the other end other of the city, which
is very old, and very interesting because this is
where the old port used to be. And the Greek
restaurant there, with its slightly Egyptian
touch, is absolutely fabulous. Because it is on
the 3rd floor it has a view of the entire coastline of Alexandria. At night, when the lights of
the town shine outside, leaving the rough and
beautiful coast in the dark behind them, the
famous Alexandrian seafood warms and comforts the guests of the restaurant inside. The
shrimps are huge and quite hot, made with a
unique blend of spices. The sea bass is equally
huge and virtually perfect, grilled and stuffed
with vegetables and yet more hot spices. Luckily my stomach takes more kindly to the spices,
than his must have done, poor chap, but its
too late now to turn vegetarian, and it was delicious.
Alexandria is also home to hundreds of
bars and restaurants. Due to the humidity of
the place, however, and new construction popping out of the ground everywhere, only a few
of them remain. My favourite is the Spitfire bar,
located in the downtown area. Its owners claim
that it is almost 100 years old. Well, it could
be, after all, many buildings in that area are
almost a century old. The place is small, dark
and intimate. The lighting is provided by 4 dim
red lamps. On the walls there is a hotchpotch
of stickers of all kinds: beer ads, shipping company banners, a Scottish flag, pictures of the
owners, you name it, you are sure to find it up
on their wall.
They will keep you entertained
with all sorts of stories...
The place has been run by its present owners ever since they took over from the original British owners some 50 years ago. And so
they will keep you entertained with all sorts of
stories, both past and present, told to them by
people frequenting the bar: sailors, politicians,
cab-drivers, etc… The stories are about life,
politics and the old days: “The economy was
better”, “People were more content”, “Life was
easier” – why should the stories here be any
different than elsewhere, full of nostalgia, full
of emotion.
The smell of the Egyptian Stella beer fills
the place with an alcoholic mist, and the classic
rock music pounds forth from the old sound
system that is very much on its last legs but
still going strong. “I will come again, don’t worry, see you soon.” And then I leave, and am
back to reality, back in the bustle of life, back
in a busy shopping area, where the crowds of
people grind the cars to a standstill. The intoxicating effect of the music, stories about old
times and the alcohol are still with me and only
slowly fade away as I realise that I am but a few
blocks away from where I work. Also of course
I am only a couple of blocks away from the
biggest port of Egypt and one of the biggest
ports in the Mediterranean. What a great place
to work, what a great place to be. It is time to
head back.
(Mourad Abousaif)
S e n a t o r´s
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Missing: Nautical Engineers & Technicians
Interview with the chairman of the Bremen Ship
Owner’s Association, Thorsten Mackenthun
LOUNGE: In the next few years we will be
facing a considerable shortage of seamen and
qualified board personnel in the shipping industry. Would you be able to specify the numbers?
Mr. Mackenthun:
There are estimates
that by the year
2015, there will be a
global shortage of
about 50,000 ships’
officers. In the beginning of this year
1,300 new ships have
been ordered from
shipbuilding companies by German shipping
companies alone. Globally, in the next 5 or 6
years over 10,000 new ships will be put to sea.
All of these ships will have to be staffed with
qualified seamen. The demand for captains and
ships’ officers is drastically rising.
Capacity in nautical training institutions is
by no means able to meet with this demand.
This is not due to a lack of young people, who
want to train as captains or nautical officers. It
is rather a case of supply and demand not corresponding by any stretch of the imagination.
The shortage of nautical and technical staff in
leading positions is exacerbated further, by the
fact that in the next few years many old captains
and officers are going to retire.
Germany is an important shipping nation
and the number one in container shipping. Its
market share is over 37 per cent. That is the
reason why we feel particularly responsible for
providing our fair share of qualified seamen to
take on leading positions aboard the ships.
LOUNGE: So, what exactly does the new major launch to provide sufficient and qualified
training - to be offered by Bremen’s ship owners
- look like? And what first steps have already
been taken in that direction?
Mr. Mackenthun: Many shipping companies
in the Bremen Ship Owner’s Association are
themselves involved in training schemes. They
train ships’ mechanics and provide on-coursetraining for students of nautical science aboard
their ships. Furthermore, the shipping companies in the Bremen Ship Owner’s Association
have funded a teaching post at the University
for Applied Science for this year and the next
four years to come. It is worth 325,000 Euro.
Apart form that, the German Ship Owner’s
Association – of which the Bremen ship owners are also members – have provided the
University for Applied Science Bremen with
750,000 Euros.
These are used to rent a further ship-handling simulator, which enables the students to
practice difficult manoeuvers and dangerous
situations. The University for Applied Science
Bremen provides the rest of the money which is
required for renting this simulator (overall costs
are 1.4 million Euros), by running additional
training courses for captains, pilots and other
employees in the shipping industry, who are not
however part of the university and therefore
have to pay extra for the training.
Furthermore, the University for Applied
Science Bremen does evaluations in the field of
hydro-engineering. Last not least, the government of Bremen and the national government
will staff two further posts for professors of nautical engineering.
This packet of funding along with the sponsoring of a professorship by the Bremen ship
owners has allowed for the intake of first semester students to rise from 40 in the year 2007 to
107 in the year 2008. This means, that in future
more than 100 students per year will be leaving
the University for Applied Science Bremen. And
hopefully they will start to work with Bremen or
German ship owners in leading positions.
LOUNGE: So what are the prospected estimates and plans for the future?
Mr. Mackenthun: It is vital, that the shipping
companies and even the rest of the maritime
industry should not cease in their efforts to provide training for the next generation of nautical
and technical personnel aboard the ships.
The financial support of the federation
of German Ship Owner’s Association along
with the sponsored professorship, the Bremen
ship owners have initiated, will improve and
expand the capacities of the University for
Applied Science for Maritime Studies and Nautical Science. A further, necessary step would be
to think about how to increase the capacity of
the nautical and technical colleges.
The colleges need to be supported further, so
that all ships‘ mechanics who want to do further
training, are given the opportunity to do so and
to pass their license. It is the responsibility of the
counties to provide such sufficient capacity at the
respective colleges. In addition to that I can very
much imagine that in future, too, ship owners will
be able to provide further support - given that
the concept and the prospective payment arrangements are viable.
LOUNGE: What is the difference between receiving training at a technical college and the
University for Applied Science?
Mr. Mackenthun: In order to study at a University for Applied Science, the applicant needs
to have A-levels or an equivalent. The course
takes 4 years and it includes a 2-semester
internship aboard a ship. At the end of the
course the graduate obtains the masters license
and a diploma: either a bachelor, or a diploma
as an engineer.
At technical college, however, it is possible
to study without A-levels. The requirements here
are the diploma that certifies that you sucessfully
visited a secondary school for 10 years (GCSEs)
and a completed apprenticeship, usually as a
ships‘ mechanic. The students obtain their license as technical or nautical ships‘ officer by
doing a two-year course which qualifies them as
a “certified technical engineer“ or as a “certified
nautical engineer“. This qualification the graduates obtain along with their technical degree.
Both of these ways of becoming a ships‘ officer - i.e. the one via technical college and University for Applied science mean that students
get the “master´s license“.
The only difference is that in the case of
the Universities for Applied Science the training is more scientific whereas the training is
more practical at a technical college. All ships‘
mechanics spend a great deal of their apprenticeship aboard a ship doing practice-oriented
training. When they decide to go and do their
license, they generally have already proved
themselves able and suitable for life aboard a
ship. Their practical qualities and abilities will
be particularly useful for their leading position
onboard when they have completed the course.
It would be highly desirable for Bremen to
start up a nautical and technical college, which
enabled ships‘ mechanics without their A-levels
to do their license and to start their careers as
officers and captains of seaships from the haven
of Bremen.
LOUNGE: Thank you for your time and the
interesting conversation!
(AS)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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A royal visit at the Hamburg “Cruise Days”
“Queen Mary 2” in Hamburg
H a m b u r g / g e r m a n y
More than 500,000 visitors came to see the
Hamburg “Cruise Days”, one of the many major events taking place in the port of Hamburg
this year. The “Cruise Days” started with a very
glamorous, even “royal” appearance of the
luxury liner “Queen Mary 2” on Wednesday
30 July, staying for a whole day and being honoured with a spectacular display of fireworks.
For the next 5 days, from 30 July to 3
August 2008, maritime Hamburg celebrated
along the river Elbe and its banks – with many
visitors from all over Germany and abroad
having come to see the big cruise liners.
However, it was not only the famous “Queen
Mary 2” that attracted the admiring attention
of spectators. There was a beautiful parade of
the fairly enourmous sailing ship “Sedov” together with the cruise liners “Astor” and “Co-
lumbus”, “Aidaaura”
and “Deutschland”.
But these were
not all, amazingly,
even the oldest museum ship of the harbour, the “Cap San
Diego”, sailed along
with them in the parade, every bit as formidable as its more
recently built companions. The major
event on the Sunday, providing yet another
spectacular sight, was the beautiful illumination project “Blue Port”:
For this project, 30 objects in and around
the harbour were illuminated by the artist
Michael Batz with 2,000 blue lights – ships,
the harbour ferries and launch boats, the small
sailing and motor boats, terminals, cranes and
buildings. Accompanied by the parade and the
fireworks this impressive setting is more than
adequate, to wave the “Cruise Days” farewell
– see you in 2010.
(AS)
The Department of Risk Management visits
the “Queen Mary 2” in Hamburg
H a m b u r g / g e r m a n y
Our Director of Corporate Company Services, Mrs. Birgit Mentzel, and Risk Manager,
Mr. Olaf Köberl, had the pleasure of being invited by Senator Lines’ P&I insurers to visit the
“Queen Mary 2” while she was in Hamburg
during the Cruise Days.
The security controls took a rather long
time. After that, amazingly, a harpist played a
welcoming tune for us as we went to the Todd
English Restaurant on Deck 8. The guided 45-
minute tour that followed took us right round
the majestic cruise vessel. However, it could
only begin to give us an impression of the
whole vessel as many parts of it were closed
to the public.
It would appear, that the “Queen Mary 2”
is a little bit like a swimming city and functions
as an amusement park full of diversions
for the approximately 2,600 passengers who
board it every year. About 1,200 members of
staff look after the huge dining-halls, piano
bars, galleries, theatres, disco, casinos etc.,
as well as the worlds’ first and only swimming
planetarium.
Our visit was rounded off by a drink and a
chat at the pool bar and an exquisite lunch in
the Todd English Restaurant thereafter.
We enjoyed our stay on board very much.
All the more of a shock was it then, after four
hours aboard, to return to the real world – welcome back to Hamburg and to its afternoon
traffic jam.
(Olaf Köberl)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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The “Lütte Sail” 2008 in Bremerhaven
27 – 31 August 2008
The 27th of August was a big day for Bremerhaven. It was the day the “Lütte Sail“ (“Small
Sail“) started. Originally planned as “Small
Sail“ that would be held to bridge the gap until
the next big “Sail” takes place - it soon became
apparent that this year‘s “Lütte Sail“ would
rather outshine all previous events in size and
dimension. The reason for this was that Hennig Goes, one of the founders of the event and
responsible for tourism in Bremerhaven, was
going to retire and many of his old friends and
acquaintances had gathered together to say
farewell and give him a leaving gift.
The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and the temperatures were mild and warm.
237 ships from 20 nations had come for the
800,000 visitors to look and marvel at. Even
guided tours of the individual ships were offered and sailing trips were scheduled, every
day between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.. This way, visitors could step aboard the sailing training boats
and go on day trips on the river Weser. More
still, while in the harbour, entertainment was
provided in the form of regional folklore from
the country of origin. And then came the partying. Every night, as evening drew in, out came
the barbeque, live music was played and things
were so jovial that by the time the weekend was
drawing to a close, so were supplies of food
and drink. Nobody had expected such masses
of people but the evenings had been beautiful
and mild and so it was hardly surprising.
The “Gorch Fock“ - former flagship of the
“Sail“ and training boat of the German marine - was out on training manoeuvre. So the
“Alexander von Humboldt”, possibly known to
many as an advertising flagship of the Bremen
brewery “Becks“, stood in as her worthy replacement. And there were other, famous guest
ships: the “Christian Radich“ from Norway had
come and so had “Dar Mlodzieszy“, a training
boat from the maritime university of Gdynia,
Poland. Better known perhaps was the “Stad
Amsterdam“ from the Netherlands.
And there were newcomers. Such as the
sailing ships “Cisne Branco“ from Brasil and the
“Cuauhtémoc“ from Mexico, for instance, or
the “Picton Castle“ from the Cook Islands. The
most hospitable boat with the friendliest crew,
so the vote had it this year, was the “Shabab
Oman“ from Oman.
The first guests left as early as Sunday afternoon, as they had long journeys home. They
had to promise before leaving however, to be
sure to return next time. The crew members of
the South American ships particularly were only
let go with considerable reluctance by many female visitors of the “Lütte Sail“ and not only
promises of return but also telephone numbers
and kisses on the wind were swapped upon
their leaving. Even the occasional tear was inconspicuously wiped from the eyes of those left
behind.
So the invitation for all of the ships and their
crews to return in two years‘ time for the “Sail
2010“ stands. And it is uttered in all warmth
and sincerity. It is going to be fun to see who
will return in 2010 and continue the party.
(Boris Zander)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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9th Haake-Beck Floating Islands Regatta 2008
b r e m e n / g e r m a n y
On the 26 July 2008 the Haake-Beck Floating Island Regatta was held for the 9 th time
in Bremen. Each year this highlight amongst
events attracts thousands of spectators to the
Weser. To the bit between Martini pier and the
Cafe Sand.
And yet again 100 teams – each team consisting of two team members – paddeled along
on their way to the Cafe Sand. The distance to
the cafe is 1.6 km and you must use nothing
else for paddeling other than your hands and
feet – and that despite of the fact that you are
going upstream
But despite these adverse conditions, the
atmosphere was relaxed and party-like on
Martini pier from 2 p.m. onwards. Chilled
music was playing, the spectators were pre-
paring themselves for the event. And then, in
the afternoon, things started to get interesting.
10 courageous participants came forward to
show their talent and coordination at the Haake-Beck floating islands run. For this, the 100
floating islands that had been lined up across
the Weser, had to be crossed: without falling in
the water, of course.
It was winner Marcel Piepke, who did best
on this task and therefore was the proud winner of two barrels of Haake-Beck Pilsner, for
him and his friends.
At half past five then, Pohlmann fired the
opening shot for the 9 th regatta. With the smoke of the gunshot hardly settled, off the teams
went, up the Weser.
27 minutes later, and full of suspense they
were, Benjamin Lemke and Andre Wiegmann
from Bremen passed the finish line as winners.
Then came the prize giving ceremony
which also awarded the best female team,
the best male team, the best mixed team as
well as the most creative outfit and the best
fan club.
After that, Pohlmann and the Bremen Band
Paulrekorder Open Air provided musical entertainment for the evening, which was ended
with big celebratory fireworks.
Whoever has not yet seen this spectacular
event really should try and see it next year. It is
just nice to be sitting alongside the dyke, with
fine weather and fine friends, watching the regatta and then partying in the Cafe Sand with
live music and a fun atmosphere.
(Diana Blohm)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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The “Gorch Fock” celebrates its 50th anniversary
The marine training ship as an ambassador of peace
The German marine training ship “Gorch Fock”, symbol and ambassador of the German Marine, was built at the Blohm & Voss wharf in
Hamburg in 1958.
At the time, the plans of the Ministery of Defence to build a new marine training ship had been harshly critisised and this bark of theirs was
far from being as popular as it is nowadays. At the time of course, barely
a year previously, in 1957, the “Pamir” sank, taking 80 of the 86 staff
members with her, among them many young and teenage cadets.
Nevertheless, the 89 meter-long “Gorch Fock” was launched on 23
August 1958 and commissioned on 17 December 1958 by the German
Marine. Ever since, the bark has proven to be one of the safest sailing boats worldwide and is considered
an ambassador of peace. Sometimes it
is even referred to as “a diplomatic ice
breaker”.
In 1988, the training ship called at
Haifa and, for the first time, German
soldiers stepped on Israeli soil. And
in 1989, five female medical officer
aspirants were trained on board for the
first time.
In half a century, the majestic windjammer with its 45 meter high mast and
Copyright: Bundeswehr Bednarzik
the 23 characteristic white sails (with a
total surface of 1,952 sqm) has travelled
a distance of 700,000 sea miles, equivalent to more than the thirtyfold
circumference of the earth.
More than 350 calls in 175 different ports in 58 countries on all
5 continents – impressive statistics emphasising the importance of the
bark. More than 14,000 future nautical officers of the German Marine
(and friendlies) have been trained on the ship, whose longest journey
took 343 days in 1996 (during which 84,700 bread rolls were baked and
around 16 tons of meat were cooked).
The bark hosts a skeleton crew of 69 staff plus around 200 future
officers or petty officers. This shows quite clearly, that it is actually quite
a rough ride as opposed to a “luxury cruise”: 30 crew members share
narrow dormitories of 12 square meters, sleeping in hammocks. Many
have a hard time getting used to this very limited space at the beginning,
however, once they have become used to it, they will never again fall out
of love with the “white lady”.
Wherever the “Gorch Fock” appears, it is quite an eye-catcher and a
symbol of peace and friendship. Especially when she returns to her home
port in Kiel, the excitement and enthusiasm about the bark reaches an
almost corporeal level. Not only are the family members and friends
eagerly awaiting their beloved ones on board the ship, it is actually the
bark itself, that beautiful 50-year-old lady, that attracts incomparable
fascination and has not lost any of its charm during the last years.
However, just on time for her 50 th birthday, the bark has received a
little “face-lift”. So now it is shining in new splendour, ready to celebrate
its “big day” and prepared for the next 25 years to come – at the very
least!
(AS)
Copyright: Bundeswehr Schönbrodt
no. 7 | September 20 08
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Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse
A Portrait
is pretty stunning, nestled as it is in the pictureresque scenery of Tierra del Fuego: with
its rough snowcapped mountain massifs in
the background, the black rocks of the islands
folded alongside the plate tectonics and the
warm and earthy tones of the grass and the
moss of this bleak but amazing landscape covering this impressive landscape.
The brick-built tower of the slightly conically shaped lighthouse is 10 metres high and
3 metres wide at its base, with a windowless
wall painted red and white striped tower. On
the top there is blank latern housing and a gallery. The only access to all of these delights is
provided by a small door at the western side
of the tower.
The light is 22.5 metres above sealevel,
emitting white flashes every ten seconds with a
range of 7.5 seamiles. Even though uninhabited, automated and remote-controlled, the “Les
Eclaireurs” lighthouse, first put to service on 23
December 1920, is still in operation, guarding
the sea entrance to Ushuaia.
It is a delightful little lighthouse guiding the
ships on their way through this amazing part of
and nature. – Incedentally, nature, too, is the
only source of energy: Electricity is supplied by
solar-panels.
(AS)
Copyright: Creative Commons Photo by Ricardo Martins
The “Les Eclaireurs“ lighthouse must be one
of the most popular lighthouses to be used as
a motif for a photo in the whole world – not
only is it beautiful but also stands firmly at what
seems to be the “world’s end” in Patagonia.
Patagonia is the southern part of Argentina and the lighthouse is situated on the most
northeastern islet of the five (or more) “Les
Eclaireur islets“; around 5 seamiles east of
Ushuaia in the Beagle Channel in “Tierra del
Fuego“.
The lighthouse is named after the group
of islets on which it stands and the French expression “Les éclaireurs” means “the Enlighteners” or “the Scouts” – could there be any
better name for a lighthouse? But it is not only
the name which is perfect, the location itself
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Copyright: MMEA Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency
no. 7 | September 20 08
Famous waterways
and ship canals
A portrait
Historic break-through for the straits of Malacca
Sea lane has become safer by far
The straits of Malacca is amongst the most
important sea lanes of our time and has immense global economic importance. A third of
the global trade volume and about half of the
oil required world wide pass the channel every
year. Roughly 90,000 ships are deployed for
this purpose. But not only the piracy – still quite
common in those parts of the world – are cause
for concern for the maritime global community,
also danger of a terrorist attack weighs heavily
on their minds. A terrorist attack would indeed
be a massive blow for the global economy and
so the International Maritime Organisation
(IMO) is duly alarmed.
New framework for security
With this background, in September of last
year, the adjacent states of the straits of Malacca – namely Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia – along with the IMO developed a new
framework for the cooperation in questions of
safety regarding the sea lane. “I regard the
“Cooperative Mechanism” as a major historical breakthrough with many positive repercussions”, said the general secretary of the IMO
Efthimios Mitropoulos (member of the UN). He
further underlined the sea lane’s importance
by saying: The mechanism we have developed
basically serves to institutionalise what so far
has only been an expressed need for secure
and uninterrupted passage through the straits.
The guaranteeing of a safe passage will have
a tremendous impact on the strategic and
economical importance of the sea lane.” The
cooperative framework aims at increasing and
supporting the dialogue between adjacent
states, the users and the shareholders/partners
as well as enabling better coordination when it
comes to introducing new projects supporting
security in shipping or environmental sustainability. The users of the straits of Malacca, the
shipping industry
and many others
should also get the
chance to contribute to this project either financially, or
in a different way.
“When considering
the huge amount of
goods transported,
it no longer seems
fair to leave all expenditure for the
support of the shipping traffic to the
adjacent states.” So
Mitropoulos. Then
he added: “The
time has come, I
hope, for all parties who profit from the existing safe infrastructure of the straits to reconsider their social responsibility in this situation.
Surely, they can find a way to live up to their
social obligations, by means of a voluntary
contribution, for example.” The chair of the
Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, said: “If
the users were to pay only as much as one cent
per ton of freight weight, 40 million US-dollar (round about 25.5 million Euro) would be
accumulated. These revenues would do away
with all unfair expenses incurred for the adjacent states.” The adjacent states invested over
700 million Euro between the years of 1984
and 1997, in order to improve the infrastructure of the straits, such as buoys, lighthouses
and radars.
no. 7 | September 20 08
Fund is to abolish unfair
financial burden
In April this year the “Aids to Navigation Fund”,
was called into being. By the end of May – so
transport minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat, of the
transport ministry of Malaysia, in charge of
managing the fund – roughly 2.3 million Euro
were donated. Furthermore “several definite
assurances of contributing to the fund have
been made by South Korea, the United Arab
Emirates, the East Navigation Aids Services
and the Nippon Foundation”, he said. Also six
security projects were identified, five of which
have even already been implemented with the
help of China, Japan and the US. Amongst
these, was the installation of a tidal, currents
and wind measuring system for the straits of
Malacca and Singapore – thus improving security of navigation and marine environmental
protection. Further to that, navigation help aids
that were affected by the Tsunami in the year
2004, underwent maintenance work and even
Copyright: MMEA Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency
Copyright: MMEA Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency
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were replaced, where the need arose. “The
only project that has not yet been tackled is
getting rid of shipwrecks, which could pose a
danger to ship’s traffic.” Ong explains. “I am
glad, that Malaysia is not only an active member of the IMO, but also has assumed a lead
when it comes to assure navigational security
and environmental sustainability.” He went on
to say.
Great progress when it comes to implementing security
The deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Najib
Tun Razak, described the progress made since
the last IMO-conference in Kuala Lumpur in
September 2006 as very successful. “The improved coordination of patrols and new initiatives such as air surveillance called “sky-eye”
have all together lead to more safety on the
straits of Malacca. The UK ship insurance
agency Lloyds, for instance, now no longer
classifies the straits as a war zone.” Said Ra-
at s e a
zak. He went on to explain that this has lead
to substantial economic advantages for ships’
owners, who now can pay less insurance sums
for their ships. In the first three months of 2008
– according to the piracy-watch-centre in the
International Maritime Office (IMB) - no incidents whatsoever were reported. Najib, who
also is minister of defence in Malaysia, also
described in an interview with the Malaysian
news agency Bernama on the 1st Asia Pacific
Intelligence Chiefs Conference, how terrorism
is a phenomenon that does not limit itself to
one, sole, country. “Rather,” he said, “terrorism
is liquid. It moves from one country to the next.
It has a regional and even a global network. It
would be necessary to cooperate regionally as
well as globally, in order to defeat terrorism.”
(Dirk Ruppik, freelance journalist &
Asia correspondent)
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Handball Charity Match in Bremen
Senator Lines supports charity event
On 09 August 2008, the two women’s third division teams of Werder Bremen
and TuS Komet Arsten played a friendly match in Bremen.
The occasion for the match was a sad one, as Werder Bremen’s U15 player
Hannah Heilbült was recently diagnosed with cancer. The two teams wanted to help her and her
family and thus came up with the idea of a charity match. All proceeds of the match (over 7,000
Euro) were donated to the “Elternverein Leukämie- und Tumorkranker Kinder Bremen e.V.”.
(“Parents’ foundation of children with leukemia and cancer, Bremen”)
The “Elternverein” supports children who are under medical treatment in the Prof.-Hess
childrens’ hospital in Bremen as well as their families. They also actively participate in acquiring
and augmenting technical equipment which is needed so badly for the treatment of the “small
patients”.
The two third division teams organised an entire “handball experience day” with an accompanying program for kids, a so-called “fun park”, including games of skill and small obstacle
races, supported by SENATOR LINES. The kids had a lot of fun, the prizes were a hit, the cake
tasted more delicious than ever – because it was not a normal cake, but a charity cake. We wish
the Elternverein and Hannah all the best!
(AS)
Fit for fun
Senator’s Olaf Köberl
gives his best at triathlon
After participating in a marathon last year (see
Senator’s Lounge No. 4) and only 6 months
after breaking his calf bone, Senator Lines’
risk manager Olaf Köberl participated in the
19 th Oldenburger Bären Triathlon (Oldenburg
Bear Triathlon) on 24 August 2008 in Bad
Zwischenahn.
He completed the Olympic-distance triathlon, consisting of 1.5 km swimming distance,
40 km cycling and 10.8 km running, after 2
hours and 46 minutes, and finished 23rd of his
age group.
Congratulations! We are waiting for his
next triathlon or marathon which he is sure
to run dressed in the Senator Lines’ running
shirt. Let’s just hope he will not break any more
bones this year when he goes sledging with his
children.
(AS)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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20 feet – Crossing the Ocean with Containers
Large special exhibition with photographs by Sabine Vielmo.
Copyright: Sabine Vielmo
Copyright: Sabine Vielmo
Copyright: Sabine Vielmo
Copyright: Sabine Vielmo
From 08 June until 26 October 2008 in the German Museum of
Shipping in Bremerhaven.
German photographer Sabine Vielmo works and lives
in Hamburg. She mainly works in the fields of documentaries, portraits, architecture, and corporate communications. A photoproduction journey taking her
from Hongkong to Europe a few years ago,
was implemental in getting her interested
in container shipping. This trip led to
further trips on different ships, providing her with shots of the things
that interested her the most:
people, techics, and nature.
With her camera, she managed to integrate herself with life on
board the ship very well and so managed to document life and work on the
ship without causing too much of a stirr. Her
first book „30,000 sea miles“ was published four
years ago. Now, in her current exhibition, she will
show further material, which can rightfully be described
as a mixture of art and documentation.
The result of her work is an impressive range of pictures
which, so to speak, enable you to step onboard the ship, to ex-
Copyright: Sabine Vielmo
perience the width and strength of the ocean on the one hand
and the hard labour aboard the ship on the other: sweaty and
gruelling. But that is not all: at the end of a hard working
day its time to play, and so there are yet more photos: of
the crew having a barbecue for instance, or playing
basketball.
It was important to Sabine Vielmo to convey the importance of modern trade shipping and the meaning of international
economy. At the same time she wanted to provide a realistical impression of ocean shipping, showing
the human side of things as well
– the intention of which becomes
particularly clear with the numerous
portray photographs she made.
The book accompanying the exhibition
is also worth a mention: „20 feet – Crossing
the Ocean with Containers“. This picture book
with photographs by Sabine Vielmo and an introduction by Klaus-Peter Kiedel was published by the Bremer
Hausschild press.
(LE)
no. 7 | September 20 08
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Book Review
”A supposedly fun thing
I’ll never do again“
(novel) by David Foster Wallace
A luxury cruise on the Caribbean – this idea is sure to engage the
imagination of a reader; it did mine, in any case! So I started on the book
expecting a gripping story informing me about life on board of a luxury
liner, taking me to weird and wonderful places all over the world, and
introducing me to foreign customs.
Guess what! Exactly this is what happened. In 136 - I repeat onehundredandthirtysix – footnotes, many of which stretched over several
pages, I was informed about everything. So much so, that I couldn’t keep
track of the actual plot.
Constantly having to read “explanations“, I simply lost all interest
for the actual story and I did not manage to rekindle this interest, sadly.
Conclusion: instead of an interesting story this book provided me with
an exhausting overflow of information. This book probably is too much
for almost any reader.
(PÜ)
Preview of SENATOR’S LOUNGE No. 8
Topics:
A day with…
Frederik Wexel at our Canada Branch Office
Senator’s Art
The new “International Maritime Museum” in Hamburg
Inauguration event of the CT4 terminal
at the port of Bremerhaven