John Faraclas
The BDI’s fall continues, thanks to the Capers. The Global situation turns sour. John Faraclas daily report:
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) lost 14 points and now stands at 1,324. No steam left as sustainability evaporates yet again…
The Capers’ BCI 2014 lost 65 points and now stands at 2,690 – volatility at its best…
The Panamaxes with 20 points plus “contained” the BDI’s losses – the BPI now reads 1,366 points!
The Supras’ BSI lost three points and now stands at 882…, and the
Handies’ BHSI gaining just one point now reads 539.
All in all a dropping dry market; no steam at all and we insist in seeing another 1,000 points up for the dries to make sense!
The Wets too on a falling mode; the last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) lost two and eight points and now read 800 and 784 respectively. Again, 1,000 points plus for both these two wet indices is more than a necessity!
The WTI on an upwards mode approaches the US$ 50 and that can cause tremors in the society due to the fact that the poor masses cannot afford these prices given the world’s worst recession. One has to ignore what the major stock market levels are; this is not the picture reflecting the actual global financial situation. CAUTION.
The Geopolitics are turning sour, particularly with the main issues which on a daily basis we report: MIGRANTS, Wars in Syria and Iraq with ISIS and others, the Turkish Referendum and situ in Turkey as well as Turkey’s despicable behaviour in the region, Greece, The BREXIT saga, the situ in the USA following Donald Trump’s win, the South China Sea, Putin’s Russia and other problems. The World is on fire and we are approaching dangerous situations, possibly of no return. For us in the shipping industry, piracy and terrorism are of paramount importance and both must be tackled as soon as possible, as we foresee a surge in both…our mere interest is not only the ships, as above everything else the human factor, our thousands of seafarers might be in danger and their well-being and safety must be preserved and safe guarded at all costs 24/7 ! Diplomats seems to have failed spectacularly and the wrong militarism takes the upper ground… Caution as even the best military hooligans one day will be interrogated by Nemesis! Being as always cynical, I still maintain my Greek Dogma: “War Father of All; if you don’t destroy, you can’t rebuilt”; the pitiful message from history, but: BUT ???
On another note, our team following an overnight stay at picturesque and breath-taking Porto Rapallo, set for the planned visit in one of Planet Ocean’s best kept places: Portofino!
With early morning …summer temperatures close to 20C and a bit of this unique for the area and season much needed sea-breeze, we followed the sea-side road, passing through Santa Margherita Ligure with the elegance of its urban architectures and the absolute beauty of its surroundings, stopping to photograph the statute of Christophoro Colombo, wondering the villas – better say many Sea-captains, Industrialists and Traders houses, mansions – you name it, we reached the secluded, the magnificent and tranquil Portofino.
The statue of Christophoro Colombo at Santa Margherita Ligure
Last time round in 1967 it stunned me hence it was a must to visit this place again, which promotes, yachting, sailing, the environment – the sea-park, part of the Portofino Promontory and maritime tourism for all, for all ages and life-styles. For us and given the script of our book Black Sea Manoeuvres it was a paramount visit!
The Geology, The Flora, The Fauna, the Cetacean Sanctuary which consists of a protected section of the sea, also called Pelagos Sanctuary stretching between Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscany, Liguria and France. As we are all in our industry environment prone and IMO is the spearhead of the environment we recommend the tours by Tethys Institute which organises short whale-watching cruises, during which Whales and Dolphins can be watched and experts will help you in recognising same and explain their characteristics.
Part of the lovely Houses and Villas, most of them belonging to old Sea-Captains, Traders and Industrialists
Worth also visiting the Christ of the Abyss, a bronze statue depicting Jesus Christ placed at the depth of about 15 or so meters on the sea bed of the San Fruttuoso bay and considered to be the protector of seafarers. One would notice that Christ’s hands are turned towards the surface and open in a sign of Peace… Let’s hope than in 18 days with the forthcoming Easter and Christ’s Resurrection, something can be achieved on the Peace front, if of course the politicians, warmongers and their cronies including the business hooligans wish…
Our team in Portofino
We had a great time strolling around and enjoyed local delicacies and of course the fantastic cappuccino.
We fully recommend a visit in Portofino and see things to enhance your mind. Above all the environmentalists and historians, particularly maritime historians can have an interesting time; a place not to be missed.
Afterwards we drove all the way through the excellent coastline until the entry of the highway to Florence were the G7 Cultural Summit was underway. Still a great day weather-wise – you might think we have ordered the weatherman to make it a weather-day-to measure for allaboutshipping; it was a fact though…
Thousands of tourists all over – no surprise for Firenze! A stone’s throw from our Hotel, the Pitti Palace al Ponte Vecchio, the famous Bridge: Ponte Vecchio with hundreds of tourists and locals enjoying the scenery and indeed the magnificent views and weather! Add the G7 event and its happenings all over Firenze, particularly at the Piazza Della Signoria were the reconstructed for the occasion Palmyra’s Triumphal Arch stood.
The reconstruction/replica of the famous Septimus Severus Palmyras’ Triumphal Arch
A great idea given that this famous Septimius Severus 3rd century monument – part of a spectacular colonnade as well as other important structures were reduced in 2015 to rubble by extremists – all counts point to ISIS, who have occupied the ancient city since Spring 2015… Thanks to the Institute for Digital Archaeology in Oxford at the United Kingdom, in collaboration with the TorArt studio in Carrara – has been also on public display in London’s Trafalgar Square, New York’s City Hall Park and at the Dubai’s World Government Summit. It has become a true global symbol of the triumph of cooperation over conflict, optimism over despair and human ingenuity over senseless destruction. We have numerous times warned over the ISIS and other extremists vandalisation of monuments and that must end, even if it needs extreme punishment!
A view of the Piazza Della Signoria with the public and local media awaiting the G7 Culture ministers
We recommend the classical walk around the city and its monuments, as well as its very special restaurants.
Dinner at the Angiolino ai 13 arrosti, part of the Casa Trattoria, at via di Santo Spirito were also we paid our respects to the sacred Greek orthodox church of Saint Jacob, the apostle!
Another great day come to an end and we will recap very soon our findings on the existing situation in Europe – financial, political including terrorism, and what the public wants!
Ponte Vecchio
Have a nice evening and be on guard for every eventuality!
N.B.: Video by Anny Zade
