Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2018)

When America

About the Author

Sneezes ...

Joseph Keefe is a 1980 (Deck) gradu- ate of the Massachusetts Maritime

Academy and the editor of both Mari- time Logistics Professional and Marine-

ON POINT WITH JOE KEEFE

News magazines. He can be reached at

The rest of the world catches a cold!

[email protected]

It’s been a long time since I served as I was one of the few Americans ac- probably on the menu.” America Sneezes a ship expeditor and cargo surveyor, im- tually doing that job at the time in the It was all good fun. I miss it, actually I’ve never forgotten that little bit of mediately following my career at sea. Gulf, so I got to know quite a few of – both the cargo work and the beers at wisdom. That said; the current situation

In those days, the vast majority of car- them. On Friday afternoons, in the late the pub. On one occasion, we were talk- surrounding the recent U.S. decision to go superintendents serving on the U.S. 1980s and early 1990s, they typically ing about the local Houston economy in abandon the 2015 nuclear accord with

Gulf Coast, especially in the petroleum got together in one of two British pubs general – which wasn’t all that great at Iran immediately comes to mind. Re- trades, were ex-mariners from abroad. in the greater Houston area, nostalgically the time – and one of my British friends uters is reporting that Shipping group

The greatest number of those emanated tossed down a few pints of warm beer, gravely said to me, “When America A.P. Moller-Maersk was the latest in a from the UK, where in the late 1980s, ate their ‘bangers and mash’ and had a sneezes, the rest of the world catches growing roster of ? rms preparing to exit apparently, the enticement of a $36,000 few laughs. As the token Yankee, I went a cold.” And, regardless of where you Iran. That leaves many stakeholders to annual salary and a dented, used com- as often as I could. After all, and if you stand in the political spectrum, where wonder whether the EU can keep the pany vehicle with 100,000+ miles on the didn’t, they would talk about whoever you hail from, or who you support, it is nuclear deal with Tehran both alive and odometer was enough to get them to sign wasn’t there on that particular day. Or, in quite clear (at least to me) that he was relevant. In that regard, it hasn’t been a up for a work visa and ? y to the United other words, as they say inside the Belt- right – both then and now. good start to the week.

States. way, “If you aren’t at the table, you’re Maersk’s decision follows similar moves by other such heavyweights as

French oil major Total and MSC, the world’s second biggest container ship- ping company. The reasoning is obvious.

There’s probably a lot more business to be lost on this side of the big pond than there might be in Iran. And, politics aside, who would you rather deal with on a daily basis? Nevertheless, the current sanctions mess is only one such example of this metric in play.

Reuters reported that Maersk Chief

Executive Soren Skou said, “With the sanctions the Americans are to impose, you can’t do business in Iran if you also have business in the U.S., and we have that on a large scale.”

Indeed, this is now as much about business as it is about politics – or global security. After all, much of the global supply chain is holding its breath to see what happens next.

Catching a Cold

As an example, I have been covering invasive species and the ballast water treatment story thread for more than ? f- © freshidea / Adobe Stock 14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2018

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