Shipping As We Think About It

By George Weltman

As publisher I have the final word and I can state categorically that what follows is all Bob Kunkel’s fault. Being a great multi-tasker, Bob has been helping us lately with the publications and the conferences between advising his clients and writing a novel. However, it is his presence in the office, which brought the level of dialogue here to a higher plane, albeit louder according to complaints received from the ladies here. When it comes to shipping, from a technical and operational viewpoint, Bob knows what he is talking about. And while we, as a publication, are primarily focused on the financial side of shipping, there is no escaping the fact that there are many facets and a tremendous level of complexity underlying our very simple business. Yes, anyone can make money betting on an index but if you are a lender or a long-term investor, if such an animal exists, you need to understand the fundamentals of working a ship, the environment it operates in and all the decisions an owner must make. Charter hire just doesn’t fly in the door.
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CMA’s Irish Feis

CMA’s 2008 Shipping Conference got off to a brilliant start on St. Patrick’s Day. It was not only bigger, 2,000 attendees by latest count, but if possible was one of the best ever in terms of content. Understanding that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, the organ­izers brought Ireland to the conference much to the chagrin of the local pubs, Tiernan’s and Tigin. Bob Kunkel of Seacoast Electronics was serving Guinness and Harps at the Seacoast booth and then brought in the pipes and drums from the Rockland County Emerald Society for entertainment.

It is grossly unfair to gloss over the program, which is dedicated to every part of shipping, but it would also be impossible to describe it all. So instead we will exhibit our prejudice and focus on the market sessions.

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