John Faraclas
Dry hiccups, Wets still grounded amid a dirty Geopolitical “mayhem” and dangerously spreading Coronavirus… Thoughts in Arts though the big plus…
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) lost 13 points since last Friday the 25th of September and now stands at 1,654 points. Wets remain low. In Geopolitics, exploitation against “small” countries will one day cost dearly to the big powers as History and Nemesis always return to punish the arrogant and greedy ones. There might be “small” countries but equally some are great nations over the last ten millennia… Coronavirus is here to punish us all; never forget this. John Faraclas’ brief daily recap:
Nothing to worry for this minor loss of the BDI as tomorrow it’s another day. Think positive …while you can.
The Capes’ BCI lost 53 points and now reads 2,862 points; nothing to worry… despite losing the 2,900 points threshold…
All other Dry indices were on a low upwards mode with the Panamaxes’ BPI “leading” the way gaining ten points and now standing at 1,390 points – a fraction away from the 1,400 threshold…
The Supras’ and Handies’ BSI and BHSI clinched six and two points and now stand at 998 and 587 points respectively… All eyes …stare the Supras’ “effort” to go over and above the 1,000 points.
All in all a steady situation and soon we hope to see the Dry Market improve despite its volatile nature driven mainly by the Capes.
The Wets in low levels; the last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) stood at 436 – plus two and 382 – minus six points respectively. A very worrying situation, as, if the geopolitical situation worsens things might go crazy…
The WTI was up 39 cents since last Friday and now reads US$ 40.64. Once again, whatever is above the US$ 40 is a disaster for Planet Ocean’s 7.7 billion people out of a total of 7.8.-
In Geopolitics, we are still being subjected by MIGRANTS, the number one issue all over Planet Ocean and we eagerly await an “inspection” of all NGO’s by the competent UN and EU authorities’ team, needless to say the Greek ones as rumors have it that there are scandals… See our last Friday’s recap and respective reference. Turkey might blackmail all by allowing a great number out of the 3,5 million MIGRANTS cross over to the EU… CAUTION!
The situation in the faulty line from Gib to Afghanistan and from the Caucuses to the Horn of Africa continues to be dodgy; Libya still in a mess and expect further fighting… Turkey tries to capitulate but…
In the Aegean and Eastern Med once again Turkey causes problems with its behavior as nobody really believes that Turkey will ease down the tension. Turkey has opened another front in South Caucuses supporting Azerbaijan in its conflict against Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh. The more the USA’s election nears, the more fronts are being opened by Turkey. Let’s see what will happen in Europe with the forthcoming meeting as the Europeans, “pressurised” by Germany “take it easy” with Turkey, as this might damage Germany’s vested interests in Turkey and NATO. Turkey is an unreliable NATO partner. Only the fact that they bought and installed the S-400 says it all. Europe and NATO M U S T be explicit with Turkey or Planet Ocean will be fighting for many years to come. AND by the way: there not overlapping claims in East Med between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus; only apathy from the UN to receive the Turkish – Libya MoU… UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres should had strike it out. Come on, we are not stupid to believe what is being spread in the media. Those who know the case they do understand what we mean. Be prepared for everything as if Greece comes under duress and succumbs to outside pressure, then one day expect the wrath of the Greeks… within and beyond! Read history… Remember: you don’t have to be big to be beautiful…
Caution on Belarus… Sanctions is one thing Putin’s agenda yet another…
It’s not “To BREXIT or NOT to BREXIT”, but what a failure to reach an agreement will bring to the EU and the World at large…
The EU, as we continuously mention, MUST get its act together, primarily with its finances. No excuses as we all know in this day and age amid a Recession what will happen next. Forget the Coronavirus (COVID-19) anathema as everybody likes to hide behind it and bring it as an excuse. There are chronic issues in the EU and same MUST be resolved here and now. For example, German dependency on Russian energy MUST end. The EU’s EEZ has plentiful of energy; Mrs. Merkel, do please think out of the box… It will also contribute to cement Peace in Central, Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea…
At the other side of the Atlantic and in particular the USA the election fever continues. We eagerly await in 48 hours the first debate-clash between president Trump and Joe Biden…
Central and South Latin America continues to be in a mess too.
In the Far East and the Subcontinent issues remain the same. What is paramount here is the Trade clash between the USA and China which will affect all.
More news in the coming days.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) seems that will bother us for a long time… We need the medicines and vaccines. On the vaccines though even if we have same now, tell us for example how long it will take to vaccinate 82 million Germans who need 160 million vaccines (two doses)? Then see how long it will take to vaccinate 3.9 billion people, that’s roughly half of the global population… And who will have the priority? We need here and now to have an undertaking from the politicians and WHO if there exists any contingency plan. We also need to see draconian measures in keeping discipline and responsibility. The new generation and students of all levels MUST become serious as their actions are good for a new Gorge of Kaiadas like the one in ancient Sparta; “morons” beware… We need also to see some ultra-clever multibillion dollar dicks stay away and look after their business as they are NOT medical people!!! Any kind of exploitation as far as we hear will have a response… We are more or less aware of 35 million people having caught the virus and nearly one million deaths. As said last Friday, anybody can get it.
On a another note and tone as per our announcement last Friday, our team, a team of allaboutshipping, set up for a long weekend in the historic island of Spetses, off the coast of Argolis in north east Peloponnese. On purpose we went by car to verify the traffic conditions and see what’s happening outside a big city like Athens. All normal including the passage by water taxi from Kosta to Spetses. All protocols in full force and 99 centum of all people we come across were wearing masks! Heavy traffic we only encountered outside the ailing Skaramanga Shipyards.
In the island of Spetses many Athenians have their summer houses as well as many foreigners taking advantage of Spetses’ beautiful scenery, pristine waters and good food. We met a lot of friends many of whom are members of the Greek Shipping Fraternity. In the famous Anargirios and Corgialenios School of Spetses, a new film was taking place, “The lost daughter”, so we couldn’t visit the college I have graduated; watch this space. The College via its Executive Committee organises and runs events – Arty, Business, Cultural, Sports you name it and this summer was not an exemption despite the Coronavirus threat. Ms Elina Papatheodorou, the AKSS Foundation’s Executive Secretary is the heart and mind of these successful events performing same safely with all protocols in force. Many of these events are already uploaded in this medium. We were also fortunate to bump on world acclaimed sculptor Nikolas who agreed for an interview – lucky and fortunate indeed as we covered his Bronze sculpture exhibition in this site and it was great to meet him in person. His exhibition Thoughts -ΣΚΕΨΕΙΣ in Greek, (03 August to 1o September) took place in the gardens of AKSS and were accompanied during its private view by a music performance. Here is what he said:
We had great dives in some of Spetses’ best beaches; some great lunches and dinners but above all many encounters with old friends, alumni, teachers, members of the AKSS Executive Committee, relatives from all over Planet Ocean and making new connections. There was, as we say in shipping, a lot of good vibes and bustle around AKSS and its future and we sincerely hope same will be fruitful and successful.
Father Koumbis delivering his sermon
Yesterday also we attended the Sunday Service at Saint Antonios’ church at Dapia’s waterfront; father Andreas Koumbis officiated and delivered a well construed speech / sermon on how we protect ourselves from Coronavirus – masks a must, be obedient and respect people; well done. Father Koumbis was also one of our teachers in AKSS.
It was a very nice but equally busy long weekend and we adhere to continue these visits to Spetses and other islands Covid permitted. We see and report the real thing avoiding cover ups and unnecessary propaganda… Remember: pictures and videos do count…
Have a nice evening ensuring you continue to remain on guard from actions emanating from Pirates, Terrorists, Criminals and any Business Hooligans whatsoever wherever you are on Planet Ocean. Once again a big THANK YOU to all who really care for all humans – Doctors, Nurses, Seafarers, Dockers, Port Authorities et al during this Coronavirus disaster!! We repeat: Do please invest in Hospitals including Equipment, Doctors, Nurses and any useful means to avoid further disasters! Become more disciplined and care for the Environment too. Lastly: Education and Training for all to be able to tackle these disasters. Let’s work collectively together and NOT opt for a fistful of Dollars to restart the already collapsed global economy… which is in red US$ 270 (twohundredandseventy) trillion…
