MOST conference delegates seemed to be of the opinion that shipping is a more risky business now than it has been the past. The PYNDA conference, like the recent International Bunker Conference in Oslo, emphasised the increased focus on trust and the need to be up front in your dealings with business partners.
Talk throughout the day was of the quality of counter-parties and flights to safety when choosing who to do business with. In these ‘financial times’, it seems it’s back to basics.
We were reminded of the well know Peter Sellers sketch involving an interview between journalist Nancy Lisbon and Major Ralph Ralph (or Rafe Ralph) who had left the colourful career of horse dealing (“horses have a better ear for music”) to go into the business of managing rock and roll stars. His relationship with his clients, he said, was based on “mutual trust” – a statement sadly qualified moments later by warning Lisbon not to touch the door handle as it was electrically wired to keep the rock and roll stars in the building. Someone call a lawyer!
