Page 8: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2013)

Risk: Not Easily De nedEDITOR?S DESK At the risk of overstating the obvious, and if it seems to you that it isn?t getting any easier to balance the books for your far- ung maritime en-terprise, then you probably  nd yourself in very good company. Like, for example, the four chief executives hailing from the diverse market sectors of shipbuilding, global classi cation societies and ship operations, as pro-  led in this edition of Maritime Professional . And, because they can explain it far better than I can, I won?t steal their thunder. Read on to see what you and they all have in common. There?s no risk in that, is there? As we publish this edition of Maritime Professional, another high pro le, but nominally less serious incident has given the cruise sector another black eye. From my chair, I can?t even begin to calculate the net effect of that casualty, nor would I try. But, the messy episode occurring in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico serves to remind us once again that with any type of ocean commerce, managing the inherent risk that comes with all of it will be the primary factor that will determine which businesses succeed and those which will not. And physical, operational risk is just one part of the larger picture. I have an old friend whose job it is to assess ?risk? for his energy related employ- ers. He does this primarily through the development of sophisticated modeling soft- ware programs that crunch the myriad variables involved with their projects and, I suppose, the probability of failure or success somehow is magically produced on the other end. And, I?ve always thought that this MBA/CPA quali ed individual somehow lives life on a higher plane than the average person ? I can?t even imag- ine what goes through his mind as he works the numbers. That said, I also wonder how anyone could possibly predict the continued growth and success of the world?s cruise line businesses, especially in the face of the infamous Costa Concordia di-saster. And yet, that?s exactly what has happened. Within these pages, the full spectrum of maritime risk ?  nance, safety, piracy and port security, vessel design, the environment, etc. ? unfolds and provides a template from which you can benchmark your own operations. You?ll also realize that making money in a challenging ocean freight market can be done and, more importantly; why. Also in this edition, we outline why the carefully considered up- front design of your next newbuild project, including what fuel you decide to burn, may be just as critical as the charter rate that you negotiate for that vessel after it is launched. Like the global classi cation societies that toil to mitigate and eliminate risk from the maritime perspective, this edition of MarPro serves as your primer for a safer, more  nancially secure operation. Joseph Keefe, Editor | [email protected] I Maritime Professional I 1Q 2013MP #1 1-17.indd 8MP #1 1-17.indd 82/25/2013 2:52:00 PM2/25/2013 2:52:00 PM