The Cruise World’s First American female Captain, Celebrity’s Kate McCue

McCue has taken over as Captain on September 2013 of the cruise line’s “Celebrity Summit” which sails to Bermuda from the East Coast. The 91,000-ton vessel carries 2,158 passengers and 952 crew.  At just 37 years, McCue comes from Celebrity's sister brand Royal Caribbean, where she rose through the ranks to the position of Master Mariner. When asked on her views with regards to her attaining such a remarkable rank, she says, "When shipping was blooming, it was hard, muscular work, and therefore it was very male-dominated, these days it's all about brains and knowledge”.

The modern luxury cruise brand, which operates a fleet of 10 ships, has elevated McCue to the position of Captain based on her 15 years of successful experience and leadership in the maritime industry. During her tenure, McCue has managed ship logistics while sailing worldwide itineraries, including Europe, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, and along the Panama Canal. Captain McCue has also served as a maritime leader while sailing several transatlantic and repositioning cruises, and played a notable role in the revitalization of ships in Singapore.

She aims to be a visible captain. With all the publicity surrounding it, wants to make sure, she is out there meeting and exceeding expectations, not only for guests but also for the crew on board.

McCue states that becoming the first female American captain of a cruise ship has been a goal of hers for as long as she can remember, also she looks forward to working with an amazing team and the exceptional leadership who bring the Celebrity Cruises vision to life every day.

IMO encourages the participation of women in the maritime industry and has invited Governments to give special consideration to securing equal access for men and women to maritime training and to employment on board ships.

It’s been two decades since Indian girl cadets (deck & engine) have taken up seafaring as a career. Although a larger number of women are working ashore in the Indian maritime industry, but due to various reasons just less that 2% of the annual intake are girl cadets, and a few of them have reached ranks on board ships.

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Micro Plastics- “A recent development in marine environment pollution”

Micro plastics refer to small plastic particles, less than 5 mm in diameter, but some are as small as 10 nanometers. Micro plastics may be purposefully manufactured for particular industrial or domestic applications such as facial cleansers, or result from the fragmentation of larger items, especially when exposed to sunlight. Micro plastics have been found distributed throughout the world’s oceans, on shorelines, in surface waters and seabed sediments, from the Arctic to Antarctic. They may accumulate at remote locations such as mid-ocean gyres, as well as close to population centers, shipping routes and other major sources. Plastics often contain chemicals added during manufacture and can absorb and concentrate contaminants such as pesticides from the surrounding seawater and there is emerging evidence of transfer of chemicals from ingested plastics into tissues.

It is widely recognized that marine debris can have significant ecological, social and economic impacts. Plastics form a large proportion of marine litter, and the widespread occurrence of macroscopic plastic debris and the direct impact this can have both on marine fauna and legitimate uses of the environment, sometimes remote from industrial or urban sources, has been well documented. In general, plastic debris comes in a wide variety of sizes and compositions and has been found throughout the world ocean, carried by ocean currents and biological vectors (e.g. stomach contents of fish, mammals and birds). Plastics degrade extremely slowly in the open ocean, partly due to UV absorption by seawater and relatively low temperatures. In recent years the existence of micro-plastics and their potential impact has received increasing attention.

Micro-plastics have a range of compositions and can be demarcated by usage and source as:

i)             micro-plastic resin pellets used in the plastics industry, and in certain applications such as industrial abrasives; skin-care products; and,

ii)            micro-plastics resulting from the degradation and breakdown of larger items, including so-called biodegradable plastics.

Pollution of the marine environment by micro plastics may be regarded as a relatively “new” environment problem. GESAMP report recommends better control of the sources of plastic waste, through applying the principles of the “3 R’s” (Reduce, Re-Use, Re-cycle) and improving the overall management of plastics as the most efficient and cost effective way of reducing the quantity of plastic objects and micro plastics particles accumulating in the ocean.

The report warns that even if all releases of plastic to the environment were to cease immediately, the number of micro plastics in the ocean would be expected to continue to increase as a result of continuing fragmentation.

Although MARPOL Annex V, which entered into force in December 1988, has prohibited the discharge from ships of all plastics into the sea, but the warning in the above report is alarming!! We would now have to wait and see what would be the further international measures that would be taken by UNEP and IMO.

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GST to cut logistics costs upto 20% by April 2016

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services at a national level. One of the biggest taxation reforms in India, GST is all set to integrate Centre state economies and boost overall growth.

The Govt. of India first proposed that a number of indirect taxes levied by the Centre and states be replaced by the GST, several years ago. The GST project now seems underway and it is hoped that the GST bill will be cleared soon to enable it to be implemented from April 2016.

Complex and Cascading indirect taxes have been one of the key reasons impacting the competitiveness of Indian manufactures over the years. Alongside operational efficiency, tax avoidance has influenced the supply chain decisions of corporates, resulting in small and in-efficient warehouses and high logistics costs.

Once, the GST is introduced, ‘tax avoidance’ will no longer influence decisions concerning distribution network and total warehouse space can be reduced practically. Savings will accrue in three forms:

a)  Tax savings  b) Logistic cost savings  c) Elimination of check posts offers additional costs savings.

GST in India is expected to be implemented from April 2016 with proposed revenue neutral rate of 18 – 22 per cent (exact rate not yet finalized). The structure of GST comprises of State Level GST (SGST) and Central Level GST (CGST). SGST will absorb VAT/sales tax, Entertainment Tax, Luxury Tax, and Tax on Lottery, State Cess and Surcharge. CGST will absorb Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duty, Service Tax, Additional Custom Duty, surcharge, Education cess. Thus, integrated GST will total both of these - SGST and CGST.

The GST will have an impact on industries viz FMCG, Consumer durables, Pharmaceutical, Automobiles etc. Industry wise current logistics cost 8 to 9 per cent for FMCG, 7-8 per cent for Consumer durables, 5.5-6.5 per cent for Pharma, 5 to 6 per cent for Automobiles in terms of percentage of sales. There will be savings in logistics costs to the tune of 1.5 to 2.0 per cent as a percentage of sales on and average for all these sectors. This may amount to reduction upto 20 per cent in the logistics bill. Most of the companies have set up warehouses to save Central Service Tax and to be closer to retailers for logistical reasons. After GST implementation, companies will consolidate their warehouses and minimize the numbers to around 25 to 30 per cent from existing warehouses in turn saving cost for setting it up and running repairs and maintenance.

Some of the benefits of GST include tax savings, savings from consolidation, and lower transportation time due to dismantling of border check posts. Besides companies directly impacted from GST there are others that have to maintain warehouses for geographical penetration. There are around 650 odd check posts across pan-India. Truck drivers in India spend 60 per cent of their time negotiating check posts and toll plazas. This leads to increase in freight traffic and productivity loss. Thereafter, higher productivity would cut the need for buffer stocks, reduce the loss of perishable goods and cut down the need for many warehouses.

The GST formation will be the most admirable change since last decade and is expected to change the face of the Indian economy. The tax revenue of the Government will increase about 0.2 per cent according to National Council of Applied Economic Research because of GST implementation. While GDP growth could go up by 0.9 to 1.7 per cent over the years.

On the whole, supply chain inefficiency is a major obstacle to manufacturing growth and competitiveness, and the goods and service tax (GST) offers a unique opportunity for the Indian government to reform logistics networks in the country. Overall, an estimate has been made that Indian companies pay up to 10-14% of their net sales for logistics, compared to international standards of around 3-4%. Implementation of the GST and reducing checks at state borders can change all this. This would also benefit the maritime trade and shipping industry on account of reduction in logistics costs.

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