We're all economists now. That, along with a growing interest in religion and social responsibility seems to be one of the few benefits of the recession. Now, the only topic of conversation in bars and pubs the world over is not your local version of the TV show Big Brother in which a bunch of morons live in a house together until the blessed day when the last one emerges victorious into a world of cheap celebrity

ROMAN Abramovich is not a name most people associate with shipping. But with a fleet of superyachts the size of many commercial shipping fleets, he's no dinghy sailor. A name you may know though is Jonathan Holloway, the man who's been running Mr Abramovich's fleet since 2005.

YOU TUBE's most popular video is a Madonna tribute to Michael Jackson. If you´re getting a little tired of hearing “I'm gonna this” and “I'm gonna that”, have no fear, for the International Shipping Federation has launched its own You Tube blockbuster, grippingly named “Careers in International Shipping”

We'd like to congratulate Jerry Westmore on his recent appointment as a Director of the West of England P&I Club's management arm. From 1st September, Jerry will be responsible for business and product development at the Club

LAST month we published an article about the five big economic crashes in history. Roger Holt of Knightsmart Ltd has written in to tell us that we forgot about the South Sea Bubble (precursor of the Bubble Act and dotcom “bubble”) of the 1720's

RVI is a simple concept and one anyone who's leased a car should be familiar with. In short, it's insurance against the future value of something falling below a certain level. Sound good? You bet. Imagine if all those sub-prime mortgages had been backed by RVI policies…

OVERFISHING will bring an end to the world's seafood market by 2048. So says a new film “The End of the Line”, released on World Ocean Day (8th June)…

The Court of Appeal has confirmed by a majority, that using length of service in redundancy selection criteria is lawful.

AT LAST, the “Hebei Two” were freed by the Appeal Court in Korea, after 550 days there, some of them spent in prison. They still face charges of causing pollution. For those of you who don't know, the Hebei Spirit was stationary – at anchor – when hit by a crane barge that was under tow when a towline parted