UK airlines being pushed into unsafe EC fight safety rules

Julian Bray Aviation Commentator, Broadcaster and Journalist writes:  Am I alone in being highly concerned about the relaxation in aviation management, when a small child can seemingly easily board and take a flight to Rome, without a passport, boarding card, parent, chaperone or a credit card!   


Of equal concern is the inept proposed rules for the flight deck crewing of long haul flights. I first raised this when the EC suggested, and airline managements meekly put in for a reduction of highly salaried staff engaged in flight duties.  Thousands of airline passengers from the USA have been arriving in the UK for the London Olympics, just as the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) has now belatedly highlighted the new EU proposed regulations, which would in most commentators view, render those flights becoming much less safe.

Simply, proposed EU regulations would allow the longest possible flights, such as London to Los Angeles, to be operated by just two pilots rather than three, as is required by international law. These long-haul routes are not only very popular with British families visiting the west coast of America but with celebrities and thousands of athletes coming to London for the 2012 Olympics.


 As an example the London to Los Angeles flight is over 11 hours long, and as such current UK regulations require that a third pilot is present to ensure that adequate rest breaks are taken, to ensure that everyone is alert and focused through out the flight and especially for landing.


 BALPA illustrated the position this way, showing the differences between the FAA, the current U.K. and proposed E.U. regulations:-    Data assumes 09.30 report at LHR and 11.00 departure.  LHR to LAX is flight time of 11.10 with pilots starting work 1.30 before departure. Currently an American crew can work for 10.30 hours before needing a 3rd crewmember. A UK crew can work for 11.45 hours before needing a 3rd crew member. Under the new EU rules the crew could work for 14 hours without a 3rd crew member which is enough to get to Los Angeles.


 An information video, A Message From Britain's Airline Pilots, is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=J9yumixcN-o




Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Latest Cruise Ship Peril: Dynamic Currency Conversion

Julian Bray writes: When on holiday, the last thing you want to do is worry about currency exchange rates  So the helpful shopkeeper, hotel, car hire, kindly offers you the easy option to pay in pounds (ie Sterling) on your credit card! Nothing wrong with that and the amount you pay is clearly recorded on your statement……however after the pleasure, comes the pain, and could cost you hundreds of extra unexpected pounds on your trip.
Caxton FX, the money exchange people suggest in a recent survey that 40% of people would choose to pay in pounds if they were given the chance. They may also select this option if they were choosing to withdraw cash from an ATM while they were away.

By doing this they unwittingly expose themselves to something known as dynamic currency conversion (DCC). This racks up the charges in two different ways. First, the  retailer you are paying will set their own exchange rate, so they may well be greedy and costs you far more than you expect. Adding insult to injury, your card company will then load a further charge of an extra 4% on top of the amount you are paying.

James Hickman, Managing Director of Caxton FX said: "The number of people getting caught out by DCC has actually increased in the past year and a lack of understanding about the risk of associated charges seems to be at the heart of this. An extra 4% charge on every transaction could add up to some serious cash over the course of a two week holiday and some rather surprising bank statements upon return to the UK. However, DCC is a perfectly legal charge so it's up to the individual to make sure they are not being caught out by this."

Part of the problem, revealed by the survey, was that 15% of people are not confident with on-the-spot currency conversion (including one in five female holidaymakers). It also appears that the younger the individual, the less confident they are about mental arithmetic, with a fifth of 18-24-year-olds admitting to not being confident.

The answer is to keep the receipt you were given when you changed your sterling into foreign currency as it usually contains a handy conversion chart for various amounts. Any large M&S in the UK has a competitive Bureau de Change.  One of the biggest culprits is the on board accounting system operated on cruise ships and in some hotels, they bill and charge your account weekly, charges racked up using a ‘sea pass’ swipe card.  When signing up for the account during the check-in process, in the shore based terminal before boarding,  just ensure that DCC Dynamic Currency Conversion is NOT being applied, and that you are being charged for your on-board or hotel bar  spend in US $, rather than the conversion rate back into Sterling.

You might also like to bear in mind that your credit card may be automatically blocked if the Cruise ships Miami USA base, is collecting the weekly on-board account, the same day you dock in say Florence, and use your credit card for shore purchases.  Simply the computer does not think you can be in both Europe and the USA at the same time and will swallow up your card at the next European ATM. Just let the bank know by telephone in advance the destinations you will be visiting and the days you’ll physically be there!


Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Iranian crude inside shipping containers? Whatever next!

Julian Bray reports: The measures to impose sanctions on Iran were again tightened by the European Community last week, but there are still gaping holes in the sanctions process and ironically Iranian shipping is enjoying an unexpected  increase in business denied to (sanctions observing) members of the European community. 

Japan for example didn't sign up and they are Irans' third largest customer for crude and refined oil products. The economic turmoil in Japan is given as a reason, and indeed as I discussed it with Kai Ryssdal on America Public Medias' [APM]  influential Marketplace programme. ( APM has over 18 million listeners around the world. The programme aired  earlier today.) The US agreed exemptions for 18 countries including India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,Taiwan, Turkey and South Africa.

Japan imports some 350,000 barrels of crude oil A DAY, and if that was cut off then Saudi Arabia and Qatar would be asked to fill the vacuum, the only problem being that its still not know if they have the capacity to provide it.

The sanctions spurred on by the USA, also cause a huge problem for the UK, as the measure will drive up the world wide price of crude and that in turn directly affects this cold, rain sodden island.

Already UK dairy cattle are being housed in winters quarters and grazing on winter cake feed as the pastures are just too wet, and within days the cattle would turn the whole lot into a nationwide mud bath, as we have seen at the recent UK F1 Grand Prix held at Silverstone, and witnessed seemingly endless episodes of flash surface water flooding, as the English and Welsh Environment Agency stands helplessly by. Still we can at least rejoice that UK Drought Orders have been cancelled along with the hosepipe ban for gardeners. Even if the hosepipe is currently under five feet of water mixed with excrement flowing from millions of popped manhole covers and overworked sewerage systems.

The prime cause of  the sanctions again Iran are of course that country's secretive nuclear energy program,  the West suggests it contains a military element, and therefore an emerging nuclear threat to 'free' world security.  But what is unusual is that Japan has eased the way for the Iranian Crude, and is also making money out of it in terms of insurances 'invisibles' at the same time, by Japanese Insurers who have signalled an uplift of 30 per cent in cargo and hull cover for shipping.

You might say this comes directly out of the pocket of Lloyds in London, where the majority of world shipping insurance risk business is transacted. Clearly more Japanese tankers will now transport Iranian crude.   The Japanese measures allow two supertankers at  a time effectively doubling tanker capacity from Iranian wells to 200,000 barrels. The NITC (National Iranian Tanker Company) has at the last count some 40 tankers of 100,000 to 300,000 [tonnes] capacity. Some are also being used as floating storage for the Iranian crude product, or ready to fill any 'just in time'  requests by the exempted countries, and neatly manipulating oil futures and world prices, but then who would have thought of that?

  


Interview by Kai Ryssdal
Marketplace for Thursday, July 12, 2012

Kai Ryssdal: It's been, what, years now, that Europe and the United States have been imposing economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Usually without a lot of impact because Iran has so much crude oil to sell. Now the EU's come up with a free market approach, sort of NO more insurance for the tankers that carry Iranian oil, which actually might be working.

Julian Bray covers the cruise and shipping industries from London. Good to have you with us.

Julian Bray: Good to be here with you.

Ryssdal: Is it as simple as the European Union saying, you can't buy Iranian oil, or is it using another enforcement mechanism?

Bray: Well, the enforcement mechanism is very, very simple. What they are doing is they are saying, we won't insure you, and so what actually happens is as most of the insurance is carried out in London, it is a very easy bar to put in place because, quite simply, if a tanker goes into a port and hasn't got insurance, then of course, it will be seized. So what has happened is that Tehran has also decided to go into the insurance market, so there are other ways of doing these things. Of course you can always reflag ships, which means instead of having your own flag on it, you put a flag of convenience, and therefore your ship, say, becomes part of the state of Moldova, or something like that.


Ryssdal: I thought Moldova was landlocked.

Bray: Well no reason why they can't have ships.

Ryssdal: That's right [laughs]. This does present the Iranians with a problem because they are pumping all this oil and can only see part of it and they have to put it some place.

Bray: Well what they are doing of course, if they are not sticking it into spare tankers, they are actually cutting production. Now the problem in the UK, of course, we're an Island and we're actually a very cold little country, and we do actually need the heating during the winter or energy in the summer as well. So this is going to affect our oil prices, it is going to affect the price of every available good and services that we buy.

Ryssdal: The whole economy. Does this insurance mechanism, that the EU is using, does it lend itself to cheating, I guess would be the word? There's got to be all kinds of ways?

Bray: Well let me put it like this, it's sort of creative accounting. You don't actually have to pay in cash. So they will actually say, we'll come to a bartered arrangement or it might be an offset arrangement through a third country, which of course is a form of cheating. But the whole point is will they get the oil, and so if they, shall we say, get it the neighboring country and it's a short trip over the border -- and also I did hear that some people are refitting standard shipping containers, putting a kind of vinyl liner inside, and are actually putting the crude inside shipping containers. Now that's very, very crafty.

Ryssdal: Wow, and what could possibly go wrong with a vinyl liner inside a steel shipping container. Julian Bray in London, Julian, thanks very much.

Bray: Thank you.

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Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Stolen Silver Jockey more than worth his salt...

Cambridgeshire Police have released details of a distinctive silver antique recently stolen in a burglary.  A condiment set comprising salt, pepper and mustard dispenser, in the shape of  a jockey's boots and hat, was stolen with other silver items in a burglary at a property in Heath Road, Burwell, on June 15th.

Other items stolen include a tea caddy, six silver ducks, and a cheese wedge.

No value has been released apart from being valuable, the items also have significant sentimental value to the victim.

PC Kelly Purkiss, who is the investigating officer said: "The victim is upset that these items have been stolen, not because of their financial value, but because they are regarded as family heirlooms.

"I hope someone  comes forward with information needed so I can identify the person responsible and recover the stolen goods."

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Purkiss urgently on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111

Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Boris Airport gets unwitting backhanded boost

NATS [National Air Traffic Service] CEO Richard Deakin unwittingly makes the case for the construction at great speed of a Boris Island Airport (Sunday Telegraph July 8th 2012) when in fact he presents an alternative viewpoint designed to halt the development. Mr Deakin says “…you couldn’t have both an Estuary airport and Heathrow [operating] at its current level. The two together just won’t work.”

Julian Bray, who comments on aviation writes:  Mr Deakin has started the impossible by opening a whole new series of arguments in favour of  ‘Boris Airport’ by highlighting the many negatives and problems NATS currently has to work within (although rightly complaining that Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, hasn’t bothered to consult him on his thoughts, as NATS would have to supply the air traffic control for the new venture)

The truth is that simply the aviation industry has for decades refused to think outside the box, in terms of ground support services, and to a degree has an element of self-serving tunnel vision, it really needs someone like the late Colin Marshall (long held back in the shadow of Lord King) of British Airways  - or even the one time aviation activist Peter Villa - back at the helm, of our UK aviation interests.

The road approach from London to and from Heathrow is the equally overworked  M4, and part is located on a flyover, as I write that very link is closed as the Highways Agency has alarmingly found some cracks in the ageing concrete structure and promptly weeks before the London Olympics closed it down, they say for five days. We all know that could well drift into weeks as the defective concrete is examined in detail, experts consulted, and some kind of patch up solution negotiated. At least keeping the rout over until after the London Olympics?

London Heathrow Airport as a landlocked aviation citadel is hopelessly hemmed in on all sides, and whatever they try and do in terms of opening new terminals the neighbourhood remains overcrowded, even though NATS have slot times down from a couple of minutes to a matter of seconds.

Astonishingly NATS the privatised government department who control all air movements, now actually boasts that Heathrow with its two runways handles a greater amount of traffic than Dallas Airport, in Texas with seven runways. Heathrow manages 94 movements an hour from its two runways whilst single runway Gatwick tops that with 55 movements an hour.

Simply at the time when BA under Lord Kings authoritarian stewardship swallowed up British Caledonian, a slot was considered to represent one take of and one landing within a three minute window, clearly its all been ramped right up to the very limit.  

So if Boris gets his way and the Estuary Airport gets built then it could well take the dubious honour of being the busiest ‘London’  airport and will certainly take traffic away from Heathrow, it should also impact on the City airport, essentially through wind shear and close proximity of high buildings - the so called ‘Shard’ adds another unwelcome ‘balance of probabilities’ hazard – City Airport remains an accident waiting to happen.

So perhaps that is exactly why Boris and his chums should steam ahead with the Estuary option. A 21st century airport with purpose built high speed transport links into London and elsewhere. Market forces will determines if other hubs  maintain their level of splots but if Heathrow cuts back on its activity a while section of London will breath a collective sigh of relief.








NATS say many other airports both in the UK and mainland Europe will also be affected by the opening of the Estuary Airport but again not thinking outside the box why would anyone want to base their centre of operations within the beleaguered Eurozone? Something that Willie Walsh of IAG who own British Airways must now also be wondering.

Simply if Boris Island goes ahead there is nothing to stop the transporation infrastructure being put in place now and some new thinking applied.

There is no need for example (apart from revenue generation) to have in future at airports extensive car parks on the airport site; if your luggage can be remotely checked in off the airport, and indeed the whole check in process, desks, people, shopping, bars, customs and security,  could be physically located miles from airside. Armed with just hand luggage, and self generated boarding card securely transported then deposited airside.

Gatwick and Docklands already have their driverless trains, a high speed transit  cannot be beyond the wit of man. Possibly using the technology, airports already use to automatically route your checked in luggage over miles of trackway.   But what ever happens there will be little logic in the final decision, as politicians will wade in at every stage, and in these austere financial times, the money men will want their pound of flesh.  But real test will be the airport and services handling of the London Olympics anything less than perfect will have repercussions for many years to come

Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Peterborough Tribune "A huge gap for daily news"

PeterboroughTribune 

the shape of news to come ... 

The word 'Daily' is in the title so why go once weekly?

Julian Bray journalist and broadcaster writes: Its now time for Peterborough to follow Scarboroughs lead.

The transition from a daily evening newspaper to once a week on Thursday edition for its last remaining newpaper, has not been a happy one for the City of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, the Peterborough Telegraph title owned by cash strapped Scottish owned Johnson Press, now like the JP Scarborough daily newspaper and dozens of other English titles owned by JP, is now just an easily overlooked once a week event, and at an inflated cover price of £1.  In addition, the design of the weekly newspaper is now regimented by an inflexible design template imported from a SPANISH design firm! The template adopted by JP titles does little for the dramatic display of ( cropped )  pictures and relegates daily breaking news, to a tired, possibly seven day old news in brief slot,  plus twitter tweets and email plugs for the soon to be, behind a paywall website.

Local resident journalist and broadcaster Julian Bray who runs #PFNN - the neighbourhood news blog, is  interested in getting a bandwagon rolling, and is seriously investigating the possibility of producing a three day Monday, Wednesday and Friday campaigning newspaper for Peterborough.

Julian Bray comments: "Ideally it would be based on the highly popular London Evening Standard format initially with a 30p cover price, and a 15,000 initial print run, with an expanded sports (Posh, Rugby, Golf and Speedway reports three days a week, and a full Arts/Fashion/Home section, with neighbourhood and social news and TV / radio listings carried in all editions. In depth crown and magistrates court reports, both main council and cabinet meetings, committee and neighbourhood meetings, but seriously putting our local politicians on the spot, and turning an even bigger spotlight on any backsliding two-faced, and in some cases downright dishonest politicians ...

"A lively City/Business section, not just a rehash of news releases from a local accountant together with a host of highly opinionated guest contributors. We will of course buttonhole front bench national politicians to campaign for the City of Peterborough. We'll also actively campaign for Peterborough council meetings to be video streamed over the internet, we will set up, and pay for the internet streaming, and offer it to all broadcasters    

"The next stage is to bring together potential investors, develop the business proposition to put the advertising sales proposition forward to the many local businesses and national firms who operate in our region. It will be no more than two thirds of the advertising rate card of the other title, as we'll offer a two for three deal to ensure a full weeks worth of exposure and extend the offer to our daily website presence."  



This is how Press Gazette reported the Scarborough developments:   

The journalist behind a new three-times a week paper for Scarborough has said there is a “huge gap for daily news” following the decision by Johnston Press to take town’s daily paper weekly.
The Johnston Press-owned Scarborough Evening News, which had a daily circulation of 10,637, went weekly earlier this month.
Editor of monthly magazine the Scarborough Advertiser editor Matthew Thurston has announced plans for the Scarborough Voice to launch in September with an initial print run of 10,000, available every Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
Initially The Voice will be 20 pages, however Thurston hopes to double pagination if the paper is successful.
The Voice will initially employ eight full time staff, three of which will be journalists.

Two of these journalists lost their jobs at the Scarborough Evening News as a result of the weekly move.
Thurston says he is confident about taking on the town’s established paper.
He said: “Well the Evening News isn’t Evening anymore, its weekly… there’s a huge gap for daily news, there’s an awful lot of news in the area, and people can’t wait for a weekly, people want a daily newspaper.
“While a newspaper every Friday might be good for what’s on at the weekend in terms of sports, come Monday people want to know what’s happened, and they’re waiting another week for the match report.”
The Voice will cost 25p, this compares to 50p when the Evening News was a daily and the £1 price the weekly edition charges now.

Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK

Carnival now facing legal action over Costa Concordia design

Sometimes lifeboat drills are not enough...

Julian Bray, Cruise Industry Commentator, Broadcaster and Writer reports that another lawsuit has been filed in the aftermath of the Costa Concordia tragedy, this time against Carnival Corp. PLC, owner of the ill-fated cruise ship that ran aground and capsized earlier this year, killing 32.

The latest lawsuit alleges design faults on the Costa Concordia hampered its' evacuation, making it slow and problematic", according to a CBS report.

The suit, filed in a California court by Mississippi lawyer John Arthur Eaves, is seeking a minimum of $10 million for two unidentified plaintiffs, plus punitive damages, the report said.

"We filed a claim against Carnival and against the architects and designers for the propensity of Costa Concordia to roll and list, and because of the maze effect within the vessel," Mr Eaves said during  a press conference on Tuesday in Rome, Italy.

The Costa Concordia carried more than 4,000 passengers, and crew aboard when on Captains instructions the ship had deviated from filed voyage plans, hit submerged rocks, and capsized near the Tuscan island of Gilgio on Jan. 13th.

Many survivors and images from recovered video cameraphone footage  report confusion and seemingly confirm crew delays in relaying the severity of the accident, and giving out programmed evacuation instructions.



Almost six months after the incident, and as salvage workers prepare to right the wreck, cruise safety is still being investigated.

Pompano Beach-based Titan Salvage and Italian partner Micoperi were contracted to refloat and remove the crippled ship in one piece and have published a series of pictures to show how a complicated external structure and a series of  tanks will be welded onto the wreck, and the whole structure rolled back by sea bed winches and placed on a submerged platform base, which in turn is lifted and floated off by buoyancy bags.  An alternative cantilever self righting design application initially forming a series of upright beams placed across the open deck and through the superstructure, which by simply adding and moviong weights along the now extended outrigger, alters the wrecks centre of gravity and rolls the wreck back to its upright position has also been seen by C-DUCKNEWS which seems to be a better and much simpler alternative, and will leave no legacy damage to the marine environment. Once righted the beam weights are replaced on the outrigger with buoyancy aids.  

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Miami-based Carnival Corp. said she couldn't comment on pending litigation. A representative for Costa said the Italian cruise operator would not be commenting.

"There is a legitimate issue whether the design of these cruise ships is reasonably safe," James Walker, a South Miami maritime lawyer said Friday.

In a recent blogpost, Walker questioned whether modern cruise ships were "top-heavy" and were "being designed more dangerously by increasing their size to pile more and more passengers aboard."

He wrote: "The 'floating condos,' as some call them, seem to be out-of-proportionally tall, perched precariously on a hull, which seems incapable of safely supporting a structure towering hundreds of feet into the air."

Of recent legal maneuverings, Walker said attorneys for Concordia passengers and crew were looking for creative ways to file lawsuits in the United States against Carnival.

He recalled a lawsuit filed by Eaves in federal court in Galveston, Texas, in March, which resulted in the brief seizure of a Carnival Cruise Lines ship.

"Eaves is trying to be creative again and explore another way to hold Carnival responsible."

As reported above, The US-based Eaves law firm has launched the action, against Carnival and the architects behind the ship's design being sued for punitive damages.  They are said to be part of a collective of lawyers representing 150 passengers from the stricken liner. Their claim centres on the suggestion that the vessel had been designed in a way that made it "top heavy" and as such, more likely to roll.

The legal team is also claiming that Carnival controlled or influenced the design of the Costa Concordia to cater to its commercial needs rather than good marine safety.

In particular, they claim that the shallow draught of the ship, the area below the waterline, not only made the vessel unstable but also meant that when it did tip over, many of the lifeboats were unusable.

Speaking at a press conference in Rome, lawyer John Arthur Eaves said: "The sad tragedy is the race to build the biggest ship with the shallowest hulls and room for the most passengers. When will it stop?

"We decided we must file this complaint to stop a race which is destroying safety."




Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK