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.

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Mar

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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

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Ken

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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

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Dav

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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

info@dogguides.com

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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A few letters of appreciation from

various people and organizations

helped by the FECC

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Ships ahoy!Thanks to all participants!

Send your photos to spanner@fednav.com

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

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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

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thanks you!

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New employeesIf you are a new employee, we would like to insert

your photo in The Spanner. Please send your digital

image to spanner@fednav.com 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 spanner@fednav.comTelephone 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 spanner@fednav.com.

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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