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International Representatives EDITOR'S NOTE Getting Creative T here is little doubt that the process of building and maintaining a fleet gets more and more com- plicated and capital-intensive with each passing year. Perhaps it can best be cat- egorized as keeping up with overall business trends, but the maritime indus- try is in the grips of a very fundamental change concerning the way in which business is run. Everything from the manner in which ships are financed to the way they are outfitted is continually changing. Phrases such as "high-yield bonds," "stock floats," and "double listings" were once foreign to an industry which was largely built on a "your handshake is as good as your signature" mentality. And while there has been a recent shake-out of these new types of deals, most analysts agree that a quality shipowners' fleet finance options will continue to expand. "As the current growth of bond issues increases, so too does the possibility of failures," said Captain John Dalby of Marine Risk Management, speaking at a ship finance conference held recently in New York City. "Unscrupulous and desperate owners are particular risks." Central to this industry metamor- phosis is the continuing trend toward consolidation. Simply put, many own- ers have found that bigger is indeed bet- ter, and hardly a day now passes without news of another small owner being con- sumed for someone's greater corporate good. While many may choose to lament the current tide of change, it is — in a broader perspective — simply following a natural course of progression in which "only the strong survive." Energy spent fighting the trend might be more wisely utilized to investigate ways in which your company can be reposi- tioned and/or strategically aligned to be more profitable than ever. Those who believe that the consoli- dation trend is a passing fad should heed the words of Barton Jones, part- ner, Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts. Mr. Jones, speaking at the same ship finance conference said: "I think the high level of mergers and acquisitions will continue." Central to his reasoning is the increasingly global nature of business, as well as the fact that larger organizations can get "cheap- er money," i.e. exert more leverage to negotiate more favorable financing terms. In turn, a savings of, for exam- ple, a few percentage points can have a dramatic effect on a company's return on equity. In the end analysis, improved access to cash in a business which demands so much of it will be central to long-term survival. As shipowners are continually challenged by new rules and regulations — ISM being a prime example — and improved competition, the need to for- mulate and successfully execute a well- thought out business and investment strategy will only grow in importance. INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS CHARLES E. KEIL, Vice President 4400 N. Federal Highway, Ste. 210-06, Boca Raton, FL 33431 Telephone: +561-368-1021; Fax: +561-368-1161 24-hr Tel/Fax: +561-998-0313; Mobile Tel: +561-716-0338 Australia ANNE MURRAY/YVONNE SANDFORD World Media Network Pty. Ltd. Suite 5, Level 1,89 York St., Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia Tel: +61 2 9299 5677; Fax: +61 2 9299 6178 Argentina R. LESLIE RAMSAY Calle Pellegrini 173 Primer Piso, Departamento C 1009 Buenos Aires, Argentina Tel: +54 1 394 8821; Fax: +54 1 326 4377 Benelux PAULA TACQ Maritime Media ML Otweg 18 2771 VX Boskoop, Netherlands Te: +31 172 230707; Fax: +31 172 230708 Brazil JOSE DUARTE DOS SANTOS Multipla Agencial Martima, Ltda. Rua Carolino Rodrigues 28 Cuorto Andar, CEP-11055-070 Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil Tel/Fax: +55 1 32 32 74 74 Central America EDUAROO F. LOPEZ/LUIS A. SANCLEMENTE Transmarine Media Service, P.O. Box 2071, Panama 1, Panama Tel: +507 264 8404/60; Fax: +507 223 8367 China WANGZE/XU XIAO FENG Liaoning Foreign Trade Advertising Corp. 2 Zhongshan Square, Dalian, China 116002 Tel: +86 411 2801924; Fax: +86 411 2644606 Eastern Europe IVAN BERENYI/OLGAIVANOVA Pannonia Media Agency, 8630 Balatonboglar Radnoti Miklos u.14, Hungary Tel: +36 85 353 319; Fax: +36 85 353 442 Egypt CAPTAIN TARIQ M. OSMAN Osman Marine Media Co. Algamhoria St., P.O. Box 1248, Alkleej Bldg., Port Said, Egypt Tel: +20 66 340988; Fax: +20 66 325705 France DANIEL SOLNICA Ediconsult Internazionale, 25 rue Saulnier 75009 Paris, France Tel: +33 1 4246 9571; Fax: +33 1 4246 8508 Germany/Switzerland HANSJORG BRANS Maritime Media Freiherr v. Stein Str. 24, D-63303 Dreieich, Germany Tel: +49 6103 697745; Fax: +49 6103 697743 Hong Kong/Taiwan DENNIS LO/JIMME KWAN Phantom International, Ltd. Room 208, Seaview Centre 139 Hoi Bun Rd., Kowloon East, Hong Kong Tel: +852 9179 9872; Fax: +852 2304 1232 Italy/Malta VITT0RI0 NEGRONE Ediconsult Internazionale Piazza Fontane Morose, 3-16123 Genoa, Italy Tel: +39 10 583684; Fax: +39 10566578 Japan AKIOISHII Ace Media Service Inc. 12-6,4-chome, Nishiike Adachi-ku, Tokyo 121, Japan Tel: +81 3 5691 3335; Fax: + 81 3 5691 3336 Korea JO, YOUNG SANG Business Communications, Inc. Kwangwhamun P.O. Box 1916, Seoul, Korea Tel: +82 2 739 7840; Fax: +82 2 732 3662 Peru WILLIAM FRY Trahites y Despachos S.A. Avenida Saloverry 3005, Lima 27, Peru Tel: +51 1 264 3225; Fax: +51 1 264 1974 Portugal/Gibraltar PAULO BREHM AZ Publiciadode Lda., Rua Almirante Barroso, 52-1 D, P-1000 Lisbon, Portugal Tel:+351 1 3142256; Fax:+351 1 3525157 Scandinavia STEPHAN R.G. ORN/LEON SCHULZ AB Stephan R.G. Orn, Box 184 S-271 24 Ystad, Sweden Tel: +46 411-184 00; Fax: +46 411 105 31 Singapore CATHERINE WONG The Euro-Asia Link, 391 A Orchard Road #12-01 Ngee Ann City Tower A, Singapore 238873 Tel: +65 337 4658; Fax: +65 456 4610 South Africa FINN KVAMSDAHL Finn's Enterprises, Media Marketing Division P.O. Box 99,2250, Blinkpan, Republic of South Africa Tel/Fax: +27 13 2953 023 South America/ Caribbean Basin DELIO R.AL0NS0 Multilink International 115 Calabria Ave., Ste. 12 Coral Gables, Flo. 33134 Tel: +305-445-6423; Fax: +305-445-1483 Spain JOSE LUIS SEVA Via Exdusiuas S.L. Modesto Lafuente, 4 28010, Madrid, Spain Tel: +34 91 448 7622; Fax: +34 91 446 0198 Turkey/Cyprus NIHAT BOYTUZUN/LALE ASMAZ0GLU Kamera Corp., Cumhurlyet Cad. 257/3, Harblye 80230, Istanbul, Turkey Tel: +90 212 248 48 64; Fax: +90 212 230 36 97 United Kingdom MICHAEL J. DAMSELL Euromedia Ltd., P.O. Box 122, Hayward's Heath,West Sussex RH161YF, England Tel: +44 1444 417360; Fax: +44 1444 410497 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
