Wednesday, February 07, 2024

ERMA FIRST Joins Charter for EU Mission Restore Our Ocean & Waters by 2030

[By: ERMA FIRST]

ERMA FIRST, a leading sustainable maritime solutions provider, has become a signatory of the EU Mission Charter targeting the protection and restoration of regional waters by 2030.

The Mission – one of five EU Missions within the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme – aims to “protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters through research and innovation, citizen engagement and blue investments”. As a signatory to the Mission Charter, ERMA FIRST will attend the Mission’s meetings and events while pledging actions that contribute to its objectives.

Commitment to the Charter consolidates sustainability initiatives already overseen by ERMA FIRST at the local level.

In 2023, the group collaborated with HELMEPA (Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association) on events in May and November, organising volunteers to remove waste and debris from beaches in Piraeus. Both projects aligned with EU ‘Mission Ocean and Waters Actions’ definitions, with the second event also notable for the assistance given by the ‘jellyfishbot’ IADYS in clean up operations. In an earlier initiative, ERMA FIRST brought the community together to clean up Votsalakia beach in 2021.

In organising and leading these events, ERMA FIRST directly contributed to objectives 1 and 2 of the Mission Charter: to “protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity” and to “prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters”. Furthermore, by involving the local community, the company used one of two Mission ‘enablers’ – “public mobilisation and engagement”.

Mr. Kimon Mademlis, Marketing & Communications Director, ERMA FIRST Group, said: “As a company, we are well-known for providing sustainable maritime solutions, but our commitment to the planet and its waters extends beyond our product portfolio. Being welcomed as a signatory of the EU Mission Charter to ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’ is a major endorsement of our efforts to protect the environment by engaging local communities. We look forward to connecting with fellow signatories at forthcoming Mission meetings as we collaborate towards cleaner, healthier waters.”

Annual Mission events see signatories from around the European Union gathering to discuss matters and propose actions related to the Mission’s objectives. ERMA FIRST is due to attend the Mission Ocean and Waters Forum in Brussels, Belgium, on 5 March, as well as related matchmaking events on the 4th and 6th.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.

Suez Canal Earnings Fall as Vessels Re-Route Around Africa

Suez Canal traffic, January 13 (File image courtesy SCA)
PUBLISHED FEB 6, 2024 4:04 PM BY REBECCA GALANOPOULOS-JONES, VESON NAUTICAL

As we enter into the third month of escalating conflict in Yemen, the security risk has prompted significant rerouting of vessels with far-reaching consequences for global trade and transport. The latest trade data from Veson Nautical indicates a notable shift in traffic patterns. Geopolitical tensions and conflict have raised maritime security concerns in the region, given its strategic importance and critical maritime trade routes.
In addition, the ongoing crisis in Yemen has implications for traffic through the Suez Canal and therefore Egypt, which may incur substantial costs due to the disruptions in trade and transport. This situation could potentially serve as a catalyst for increased diplomatic efforts to broker peace, considering the economic losses incurred by the Egyptian government as a result of the crisis. Understanding the economic impact on Egypt and specifically the Suez Canal might encourage a more proactive approach towards resolving the conflict and mitigating its adverse effects on global trade.
We take a look at the changes in the Suez Canal toll fees for crude tankers, bulkers, LNG, LPG and container ships over the period spanning from the beginning of 2023 to early January 2024. This analysis provides valuable insight into the financial implications for the Suez Canal and for the Egyptian government as Suez Canal transits reach a low.
Overall toll fees fall about 40% since November 2023
Looking at the weekly tolls graph, overall tolls have fallen by about 40% since the end of November from $47 million to $28 million. Container tolls have significantly decreased, falling by about 66% from the end of November, where estimated fees fell from about $18 million that week to $6 million at the start of January. However, in percentage terms the LPG sector experienced the biggest drop with tolls down by about 93%, from $1 million at the end of November to $153,000 in the first week of January. LNG tolls ranked third, with a fall of about 66%, followed by crude tankers which experienced a fall of about 23% from $7.3 million to $5.7 million in January. Bulkers were the least affected, with a comparatively modest decline of about 7%.
Graph 1: Weekly estimated Suez Canal toll fees for crude tankers, bulkers, LNG, LPG and container ships*
The analysis of the sum of weekly calculated SCNT (Suez Canal Net Tonnage) transiting through the Suez Canal versus the Cape of Good Hope (Graph 2) reveals a noteworthy trend. The graph illustrates a reduction in SCNT through the Suez Canal and a corresponding increase in the Cape of Good Hope region/transit zone, which is particularly evident since November 2023. Month on month, there has been a significant decline of approximately 38% in the sum of weekly calculated SCNT through the Suez Canal, while the sum of SCNT going around the Cape of Good Hope has increased by about 25%.
Graph 2: Sum of weekly calculated Suez Canal Net Tonnage (SCNT) for cargo vessels transiting through the Suez Canal vs Cape of Good Hope.
This shift is attributed to a surge in attacks targeting vessels in the region, compelling ship operators to alter their routes. The consequences include increased costs including rising oil prices, shipment delays, threats to maritime security, and concerns about geopolitical instability. Without a resolution to the situation, this could further impact trade flows and increase commodity prices and emissions.
As vessels divert away from the affected area and opt for the Cape of Good Hope route, tonne-mile demand for various sectors has increased, providing support to vessel earnings.
In addition, the intervention of the US and UK military with strikes has caused a spike in oil prices. While levels have not risen as dramatically as they did following the invasion of Ukraine, there are ongoing threats of retaliation from Iranian-backed forces, suggesting potential further disruptions to oil supply in the future.
Mixed impact on cargo markets
The influence of the situation on the various cargo markets has been mixed. In the crude tanker sector, rates for Suezmaxes and Aframaxes have firmed since the start of December up by around 16% and 63% respectively. The route around the Cape of Good Hope more than doubles the length of voyages from the Middle East to Europe and therefore reduces the supply of available tonnage in the market.
In the container sector, the diversion has reversed a steady downward trend in freight rates since 2022. A large number of vessels have diverted from the Red Sea to Travel around the Cape of Good Hope, and this has also led to increasing earnings with Post Panamax period rates for one year up by about 7% from December.
Although the impact on the bulker sector is significantly lower than for other markets, despite the usual dip in earnings during January, rates have remained historically high for this time of the year, even after a decrease from the peak in December.
Conclusion
The complex interconnection of geopolitical events, maritime security concerns, and global trade dynamics underscores the multifaceted challenges facing the shipping industry in the current scenario. Although longer transit times and increased earnings may be acceptable in the short term, looking further ahead, they could be outweighed by increased costs to the owner.
From the perspective of Egypt, reduced traffic through the Suez Canal and therefore a lower income from toll fees is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. However, understanding the economic repercussions on the nation could foster a more proactive approach to resolving the conflict and alleviate its adverse effects on global trade.
Estimated toll fees were calculated using the toll fees pre-15th Jan.
Rebecca Galanopoulos-Jones is a Senior Content Analyst at Veson Nautical.*
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

India's Navy Steps Into the Spotlight in Red Sea Crisis

The Red Sea maritime security crisis is an unwelcome burden on Indian commerce, but it is also a moment for India's blue-water navy to step out into the spotlight. The Indian Navy has established a heavy presence in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean, responding to Houthi attacks and helping to chase off the Somali pirate groups that are taking advantage of the conflict.

At least a dozen Indian warships are operating to the east of Bab el-Mandeb, complementing the U.S.-led naval coalition without directly participating under its umbrella. It is the largest maritime force that India has ever deployed to the region, officials said.

The Indian Navy's warships have served as first responders, helping in the aftermath of Houthi strikes and defeating hijackings (three in the span of two days).

"[The Indian Navy] is increasingly showcasing the ability to be able to protect not only its interests but also give confidence to regional players that it is willing and able to shoulder regional responsibility," said Harsh Pant of the Observer Research Foundation, speaking to VOA.

According to Chinese military researcher Zhang Junshe, the People's Liberation Army believes that India may have an additional reason for the large-scale deployment: a "gesture of goodwill towards the United States." Even though it has not publicly joined the American-led alliance, India's presence substantially expands the available pool of response assets in the region.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy can concentrate on the more politically fraught task of countering Houthi attacks.

UPDATED

Coastguardsmen Rescue a Very Lucky Dog After Eight Days in a Container

Last week, a team of Coast Guard marine inspectors rescued a dog that had been trapped inside a shipping container, saving it from an export voyage and an uncertain fate.

As PO2 Ryan McMahon and his team were walking through a container terminal at Port of Houston, they heard barking and scratching from a container stacked high above them. They got the terminal's longshoremen to bring the container to the ground, and when they opened it up, a shaggy dog came out through the door.

"She was right there, like she knew we were going to be there to open it for her. And she just, she wasn’t scared or anything. She just seemed happy more than anything," McMahon told the AP.

According to a Coast Guard spokesperson, the container was full of junked cars, and it is possible that the dog - nicknamed "Connie" by the inspectors - was hiding in a vehicle and loaded in along with them.

The coastguardsmen took the dog to a nearby animal shelter, where the dog received a full veterinary checkup. After treatment for heartworm and a healthy feeding to get her on the road to recovery, she will be put up for adoption. (McMahon says his team isn't able to take her in.)

It appeared that the dog had been trapped in the container for at least eight days; if the box had been exported, she would have been inside throughout an overseas transit, possibly all the way to West Africa (a common destination for wrecked car exports). "I don't think she would have made it," McMahon told the AP.

For Connie, her ordeal in a container may be turning into a lucky break. After making national news, she has been transferred to an animal rescue agency in the Washington suburbs - by private plane, no less - and is staying in comfortable quarters while her veterinarian weighs a flood of adoption requests.

Six Bishops Demand Action to Protect Philippine Fishermen From China

China Coast Guard boat crews deploy a floating barrier across the entrance of Scarborough Shoal to keep out Philippine fishermen, 2023 (PCG)

The Philippines is a heavily Catholic nation, and the views of the church carry weight - so it made national news when six bishops called on the government to do more to protect Philippine fishermen from Chinese incursions.

The bishops - all from jurisdictions with artisanal fishing industries - warned that "a policy of appeasing the Chinese aggressors is worsening the situation of our poor fisherfolk," and called for the government to take real action.

Chinese "gray zone" forces regularly interact with Philippine fishermen inside the Philippine exclusive economic zone, the 200 nautical mile band that falls under Manila's natural-resource regulations. In addition to routine harassment, these interactions can get physical - especially at Scarborough Shoal, a longtime flashpoint off Luzon. The China Coast Guard recently fenced off the entrance to the shoal, excluding Philippine fishermen from the giant (and productive) inner lagoon, and its personnel have chased off those who ignore the cordon.

In their letter, the bishops said that the Philippine government cannot morally "allow our own fisherfolk to be driven out of fishing grounds over which international law recognizes our rights."

In addition, the bishops observed that Chinese illegal fishing vessels have caused "widespread destruction of coral reefs, marine sanctuaries and the habitat of fish and sea-dwelling animals," as previously noted by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

The signatories emphasized that war was not the solution, but also appeared to call for a muscular defense policy if discussion did not work.

“All legal means must be exhausted so that what nature has so bountifully bestowed on us may be ours," they wrote. "If present diplomatic efforts do not suffice, then it is permissible – morally necessary even – to have recourse to the friendship of allies who can help us defend what is ours!"

Under its "nine-dash line" policy, China claims virtually all of the South China Sea as its own, including large swathes of the EEZs of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. This historically-based claim is unique to China, and in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague (PCA) ruled that it is not consistent with international law. China ignored the ruling and proceeded to militarize a string of land features in the Paracels and the Spratly Islands.

The China Coast Guard is tasked with enforcing its government's maritime claims within the Philippine EEZ. On Monday, the agency said that it had "expelled one Philippine Coast Guard ship that had illegally entered waters" off Scarborough Shoal. According to the PCA's ruling, the shoal is located outside of any nation's 12-nautical-mile line, the cutoff for regulating navigation.

Barge Carrying Salt Sinks Causing Environmental Concerns for Hamburg

Hamburg Germany — Barge sunk while moored at the Kalikai terminal in Hamburg (Hafen Hamburg file photo)

The Port of Hamburg and emergency services are responding to the sinking of an inland barge this morning, February 6, while moored at one of the port’s terminals. Officials are reporting that there was no immediate environmental hazard but they are discussing the salvage of the vessel to prevent damage to the Elbe and surrounding area.

According to local media reports, the barge Alster was docked overnight at the Kalikai terminal. The vessel is approximately 263 feet (80 meters) long and was loaded with 1,400 tons of potassium chloride. The salt is commonly used in the production of fertilizer. The vessel also had 3,500 liters of diesel fuel aboard.

The terminal where the barge was moored is operated by K+S Transport as part of the group’s European manufacture of potash fertilizers and salt products. They report that around 500 sea and inland vessels are handled by the terminal annually along with four million tons of mineral fertilizer.

The media reports said the captain and a deckhand were asleep on the vessel and awoke around 5:00 a.m. local time to find the vessel listing. They called emergency services reporting the vessel was taking on water and escaped to the dock. An hour later, they watched as the vessel settled to the bottom of the Elbe. Medical teams attended to the two crewmembers reporting the captain was in shock.

Two fireboats responded as well as emergency service crews onshore. They placed a containment barrier but reported that a small amount of oil had leaked into the harbor. Around 5,000 square meters were contaminated. The fire service reported that the salt was not leaking.

Greenpeace however also went to the scene and was testing the water quality. They warned if the potassium chloride leaked it would raise the salinity of the Elbe. Greenpeace expressed concern that it could lead to osmotic shock in aquatic organisms in the Elbe.

The environmental authorities took over the scene as of Tuesday afternoon. They were in discussion with the Hamburg Port Authority and the owner of the vessel about salvage arrangements. The plan is to bring in a specialized firm to salvage the barge.

Years After Red Hill Spill, Residents Report Petroleum in Tapwater

Vice Adm. John Wade, Commander, Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH), escorts Vice Adm. Scott Gray, Commander, Navy Installations Command, during a visit to the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (RHBFSF), — Vice Adm. John Wade, Commander, Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH), escorts Vice Adm. Scott Gray, Commander, Navy Installations Command, during a visit to the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (USN)

The U.S. Navy is getting close to emptying the last pipes of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility, but dealing with its environmental legacy may take longer. Years after the fuel spill that contaminated the drinking water supply for servicemembers and family members at Joint Base Pearl Harbor, the Navy still faces ongoing complaints of petroleum in the base's tapwater. A new class action lawsuit brought by 2,200 residents contends that the contamination has not stopped, and that the Navy has still not done enough to protect servicemembers.

In November 2021, the WWII-era Red Hill facility suffered a 19,000-gallon jet fuel spill inside an access tunnel. The fuel percolated into a well and contaminated the drinking water supply for about 93,000 American soldiers, sailors and family members at Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. At least 2,000 people reported that they were sickened by fuel in water, more than 850 sought medical treatment, and at least 17 people said they were hospitalized overnight, Hawaii's Department of Health found in a survey.

The new federal lawsuit is the third that the Navy faces in connection with the Red Hill spill. Over 2,200 plaintiffs allege that they have ongoing medical conditions connected to the contamination of the base water supply. The lead plaintiffs claim that their children were affected by the contaminated water, and now require extensive treatment and medication.

When taken together with two previous active lawsuits, there are now more than 7,500 litigants with claims against the Navy in connection with the spill.

The new lawsuit also alleges that the water system at Pearl Harbor-Hickam remains contaminated today, and that the Navy never fully flushed out the last residues of the spill. According to the plaintiffs' attorneys, the Navy's water sampling program picked up 1,600 detections of hydrocarbons in the water system last year, and more than half of these test results identified the contaminant as diesel.

The detection levels all fall below the state action threshold which would trigger flushing, and the Navy says that the water quality remains safe. (There is no regulatory safety level for petroleum in water, according to the EPA and State of Hawaii.)

The Navy says that it is "surging personnel, resources, and expertise to respond to reports raising concerns" about the base's water quality. In addition, Vice Adm. Scotty Gray, commander of Navy Installations Command, will visit Hawaii to set up a medical working group.

However, the service also says that the low-level contaminants in the water do not match the chemical "fingerprint" of JP-5, the product spilled from Red Hill. The source remains unknown.

International students are vital to our economy. We must welcome them

Ewan Kirk
Mon, 5 February 2024

(PA) (PA Wire)

The Conservatives have been in power for 14 years, and despite PM Rishi Sunak’s attempts to close their deficit in the polls, a Labour government before the end of the year looks increasingly likely.

There are things I won’t miss about the Conservative government, but the party’s burning obsession with reducing inbound migration, at any cost, is probably top of my list.

This obsession was a key force behind Brexit and has seen hundreds of millions spent on the backward, senseless, and, as of yet, failed Rwanda policy.

Most recently, the Government introduced new visa rules to block the families of international students from residing in the UK. Unfortunately, and perhaps erroneously given their often non-permanent status, international students are lumped into the overall net migration figure, making them (and now their families) a target for the Conservative’s migration obsession.

Now, a further announcement of a “review” of the two-year post-study visa for international students is only going to produce more uncertainty for incoming students and reduce the attractiveness of the UK as a study destination – which is no doubt the point of announcing a “review”.

I’m calling on the next government to reverse this student visa policy and take further steps to ensure the UK remains a top choice for international students – both for their studies and subsequent careers.

Why? Because international students play a critical role in our economy and are a vital source of funding for our universities.

International students contribute a fifth of our universities’ income, both subsidising higher education for UK nationals and facilitating research and knowledge creation that drives innovation and maintains the preeminent position of our universities internationally.

They’re also an important source of talent in our research ecosystem and for UK businesses. This is particularly true for talent in STEM subjects, which is in increasingly high demand.

The carefully constructed edifice of our further education and innovation ecosystem won’t collapse overnight, but it’ll slowly slide into the mud, weighed down by critical talent shortages, a weakened higher education system, and curtailed innovation in STEM fields that are defining the modern economy.

Rishi Sunak risks shutting the door on budding engineers, biochemists, statisticians, and many other well-needed talents, and all for the sake of political slogans. This is equivalent to Rishi Sunak shooting himself in the foot and bragging about the increased ventilation in his shoe.

If the current approach to international students continues, we can say goodbye to any chance of meeting Sunak’s ambition to make the UK a science and technology superpower and hello to further shortages in talent and continued economic stagnation.

Contrary to what some might believe, international students make a huge net contribution to the UK. These students don't pack their bags and travel to the UK to queue on NHS waiting lists and watch daytime television in their pyjamas. They’re driven, talented, and extremely hardworking. Any cost they bring is far outweighed by our ‘profit’, for want of a better term.

I firmly believe that nurturing our science and technology ecosystem is perhaps our best opportunity to lift our economic prospects. And actively incentivising migration of STEM students into the UK is one of the greatest tools at our disposal to nurture that ecosystem.

So, how do we attract and retain talented STEM students to come to the UK?

The first step must be to reverse the ban on migration of international students’ families. We need to stop putting up barriers and stop sending the message that international students aren’t welcome. But we must go further.

The second step should be to reduce the cost of study for international students, either directly through lower tuition fees or a brand-new scholarship scheme for target subjects. Reducing the healthcare levy is another easy way to reduce the burden. These are young, generally healthy people, and the levy costs us more in discouraging international students than it brings in.

A third step I’m advocating for, and perhaps the most significant, is an extension of the current two-year stay we allow after graduation to ten years. Why give students access to our brilliant universities only to send them packing before they’ve had a chance to make a significant contribution to our economy?

International students are an important pillar of our knowledge-based economy. By eroding their numbers to hit ideologically driven migration quotas, we’re weakening our foundations. The carefully constructed edifice of our further education and innovation ecosystem won’t collapse overnight, but it’ll slowly slide into the mud, weighed down by critical talent shortages, a weakened higher education system, and curtailed innovation in STEM fields that are defining the modern economy.

If we don't change track, our economy will suffer. Badly.

Let’s stop fleecing international students with sky-high tuition fees before sending them home, and let’s start recognising their immense value. The next government must end this ideology on migration and make use of international students to steer our economy back on track – sooner rather than later.

Dr. Ewan Kirk is a technology entrepreneur, early-stage investor, and Founder of Cantab Capital Partners

The Fast Car phenomenon: where has Tracy Chapman been?

Ed Power
Tue, 6 February 2024

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform onstage during the 66th GRAMMY Awards

- John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

It takes a special star power to eclipse Grammy winners Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus – not to mention a grumpy Jay-Z complaining about the lack of gongs going the way of his wife, the obscure and unheralded singer Beyoncé. But that was what 59-year-old Tracy Chapman achieved when she performed her evergreen dirge Fast Car at Sunday night’s ceremony in a duet with country artist Luke Combs.

Combs’s cover of Fast Car was a huge hit last year. But there was no doubt about who had the upper hand as he and Chapman negotiated the tune on the Grammys’ stage. Gazing at his musical partner with undisguised awe, Combs could have been a stand-in for the millions watching at home, likewise blown away by the ache of Chapman’s voice and by the searing power of lyrics that remain undimmed in their ferocity after 36 years. The impact was immediate – on the back of the Grammys, the track shot to the top of the iTunes charts.

But the biggest surprise wasn’t that Chapman remains a huge talent. It was that she was in front of the cameras in the first place. In the 16 years since her last album, Our Bright Future, she has become one of pop’s great recluses. She hasn’t quite disappeared off the face of creation – three and a half years ago, on the eve of the US Presidential election, she did her bit to topple Donald Trump by performing Talkin’ Bout A Revolution on Seth Meyers’s late-night chat show.

But she has generally maintained a discreet silence and has not toured since visiting Europe in the summer of 2009. Her last UK show, to date, was at the London Roundhouse, where her set included a version of The Cure’s Love Song. And then she was gone – off into the great unknown.

Chapman is no musical eccentric in the tradition of Brian Wilson or Syd Barrett, whose retreats from the spotlight were accompanied by psychological breakdowns of varying severity. As she has grown older, it is more accurate to say that she has come to terms with the fact she is not a crowd pleaser and does not enjoy attention.

Hugely introverted, Chapman has been content to live off the music industry grid – to the point that it is unclear where the Ohio-born artist even calls home nowadays or if she is in a relationship (in the Nineties, she and writer Alice Walker were together for a number of years).

Aside from that Seth Meyers appearance, she had surfaced just once in the run-up to the Grammys – to sue rapper Nicki Minaj for sampling without her permission the track Baby Can I Hold You Now. Chapman is opposed to having her work re-used, and the dispute was settled only when Minaj agreed to $450,000.

Otherwise, she was acoustic pop’s great mystery woman. “I’m a naturally shy person – and it was a bit unusual for me to have a job that involves being in the public,” she told me in 2008, as she was preparing to embark on the first leg of that farewell tour. “I started playing in folk clubs in Cambridge and Boston, usually in front of my friends. That made it much easier. I guess as time passed I grew into it in some ways. I started to understand the business a little better – the nature of celebrity – and tried to figure out a way for it to work.”

Amnesty International Charity Concert: Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel And Youssou N'Dour - Brian Rasic/Getty Images

“Figuring it out” meant making peace with the fact that, in the US, she was regarded as an anomaly: an African-American woman playing acoustic guitar. If few on this side of the Atlantic batted an eye-lid, it was an immediate talking point in the US.

“I remember people at my record label asking me why I wanted to play acoustic guitar,” she told me. “One person said to me: why aren’t you rapping? All because I was black. I used get it from my own family, too. They were perplexed by my interest in the acoustic guitar. It struck them as odd.”

It wasn’t just her family. After the release of her second album in 1989, Crossroads, Public Enemy’s Chuck D declared, “black people cannot feel Tracy Chapman”. Still, America’s racial schisms notwithstanding, she made a profound impact on the singer-songwriter genre. That is largely – though not entirely – down to the magisterial Fast Car, a downbeat ballad that makes the listener feel seven feet tall.

The tune has its origins in her working-class upbringing in Cleveland. “It very generally represents the world that I saw when I was growing up and Cleveland, Ohio, coming from a working-class background, being raised by a single mom and being in a community of people who were struggling,” she told the BBC. “Everyone was working hard and hoping that things would get better.”

Fast Car is highly symbolic. While the narrator sings about getting out of town in a hot set of wheels, that is just a metaphor for her desire for escape – Chapman isn’t auditioning for a presenter’s gig on Top Gear. “I never had a fast car,” said Chapman. “It’s a story about a couple and how they are trying to make a life together and they face various challenges.”

She wrote it while studying at Tufts University in Boston. One of her fellow students, Brian Koppelman, was the son of music publisher Charles Koppelman (Brian later became a screenwriter – penning Rounders and Ocean’s 13). Passed a tape of Fast Car, Charles was blown away by her talent. He signed her to a management deal – and immediately contacted Elektra Records.

As Chapman would recall, executives were initially nonplussed at the sight of a young black woman with a guitar. Still, they smelled a hit and paired Champan with Joan Baez / Joe Jackson producer David Kershenbaum, who worked with her on the studio version of Fast Car

Tracy Chapman in 1992 - Getty

For all its promise, the track failed to cause a stir on its release in April 1988. Everything changed that June when Chapman appeared at Wembley for a birthday concert in honour of Nelson Mandela. As with the Grammys, it was packed with stars: Whitney Houston, Peter Gabriel and Jackson Browne. Nobody expected Chapman to outshine them.

She performed a three-song set – but did not sing Fast Car. She had gone off stage when it was revealed that Stevie Wonder, the next singer up, was delayed. She would have to go back on – and when she did, she blazed through Fast Car. Wembley was speechless. Within a month, Fast Car had blazed up the charts in the UK and the United States. A (reluctant) star was born.

There was a backlash the following year with the arrival of her second LP, Crossroads. The public wanted more Fast Cars. Chapman was not the pandering kind, and the record embraced a variety of styles – there is more piano and a “brighter”, bigger sound.

It duly reached number one in the UK, but reviews were mixed. “As an album, Crossroads is not as focused or consistent as her debut,” said the Boston Globe – which must have hurt as she was still living in nearby Cambridge at that time. There was even a push against her fanbase – “Some critics suggested that her largely white audience embraced her socially conscious message as a way to assuage their middle-class liberal guilt,” said the New York Times in 1996.

Chapman continued to write and record, but it was increasingly clear she did not crave stardom. Her true passion was social justice. She has worked with Amnesty International, produced a video for Cleveland high schools celebrating African American achievement and last April received from South Africa its highest honour, the National Order – “recognising eminent foreign nationals for friendship shown to South Africa”.

Such are the accolades she truly cherishes, it is tempting to conclude. She almost certainly values them more than gold discs or applause. The Grammys have rekindled the world’s love for Tracy Chapman, but anyone expecting her to return the sentiment may be left waiting. All the indications are that, having briefly reminded us she still exists, the Fast Car singer is set to accelerate into the sunset once again.

'Many questions' for IAEA visit of Russian-held nuclear plant

AFP
Tue, 6 February 2024

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi (R) and Ukrainian Minister of Energy German Galushchenko addressed media in Kyiv ahead of a Wednesday visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant (Roman PILIPEY)

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday said he had many questions for the Russian team in control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ahead of a visit to the facility.

Concerns have surrounded the safety of the power plant -- Europe's largest nuclear power station -- since it was seized by Russian forces in March 2022.

Its six reactors have been shut down, unprecedented for a plant of its size.

"On a technical point of view, we have many questions and we are trying to address these one by one with the administration," Grossi said in a press conference in Kyiv.

Grossi heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that has had a monitoring team on the ground since September 2022.

But its experts have not been able to inspect every part of the power station, said Grossi, who will visit the plant on Wednesday.

At times "we weren't granted the access that we were requesting for certain areas of the facility," Grossi said.

"We were allowed partial access," he said, but "there are still some parts of the plant we have not been able to visit."

The Russian operator has started granting increasing access, Grossi said in Kyiv on Tuesday after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The nuclear chief also raised the alarm over a drastic reduction in staff numbers at the plant, which he plans to discuss on Wednesday with the Russian operator.

Only around 4,500 staff are employed on site -- down from 11,500 before the war -- triggering safety worries.

Grossi said he had fresh concerns over staffing levels after the Russian operator barred pro-Ukrainian staff from working at the plant.

The IAEA has repeatedly warned of persistent nuclear safety and security risks at the site.

Grossi nevertheless hailed a "gradual increase in the way that both (Russian and Ukrainian) sides are following what the IAEA says."

bur-brw/jc/cw

‘It’s still disruptive’: why the Co-op’s first female boss has big plans for expansion

MEET THE NEW BOSS SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Sarah Butler
Tue, 6 February 2024

Khoury-Haq with a model of the Co-op Live arena, due to open in Manchester in April.

Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Observer

She has served pizzas and sold vacuum cleaners to pay the bills, almost lost her life in childbirth and lived on every continent but Antarctica. So taking on the British grocery market is only the latest challenge for Co-op boss Shirine Khoury-Haq.

She took the reins as the first female chief executive of the Co-operative Group – the venerable British institution that encompasses 2,400 convenience stores, funeral homes and insurance and legal services – in August 2022. The crisply spoken Beirut-born former accountant initially joined the group in August 2019 as finance director, just months before the pandemic hit.

Within that turmoil – during which her father died from the virus and she was dealing with twin daughters under five – Khoury-Haq quickly made her mark at the business, via a round of job cuts and efficiencies.

More recently, she has turned to growth, trying to broaden the mutual’s appeal to young people with pop-up shops at festivals and sponsorship of Co-op Live, a new arena in its Manchester homeland where the mutual’s 5 million members, who co-own the business via a trust, are getting first dibs on gig tickets before its opening in April.

Some may view the Co-op – owned by members rather than shareholders – as operating an outdated model, struggling to survive against supermarket heavyweights such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s. But Khoury-Haq sees the founding vision for the Co-op – which was set up in Rochdale, Lancashire, in 1844 as a way to ensure local people could access safe food and share in profits – as the key to its future success.

“Go back to the beginning and it was a disruptive organisation that broke the status quo. It is still that if you use it in the way intended,” she says. “Young people have interest in that. Older members have known it for long time.”

Khoury-Haq says the group is ready to shake up the grocery and funeral care markets as it goes on an expansion drive and tries to sign up millions more members – whether by offering tickets for Liam Gallagher or special discounts on milk and bread.

Khoury-Haq’s fundraising drive involved selling the group’s petrol forecourts business to Asda in 2022 for £600m. The Co-op had hacked back its debts to £123m by July last year, from more than £730m a year before, and is armed with more than £570m of cash on its balance sheet, according to those 2023 figures.

More efficiencies are on the cards, but Khoury-Haq says the group is not looking at any more large-scale redundancies after more than 400 head office jobs went in 2022.

The Co-op’s grocery shop empire already accounts for about a quarter of the UK’s convenience-store sector. That includes 2,400 of its own outlets, plus 5,000 others it supplies, including independent co-ops and independently run Nisa stores.

It is aiming to reach at least a 30% share of the market in the next few years and a similar figure this year for “quick commerce” – the rapidly expanding market for home delivery of groceries in under half an hour.

The Co-op believes its network of local stores will enable it to step in where the likes of rapid grocery delivery firms such as Weezy, Gorillas and Jiffy, funded by private equity, have failed.

The upside, if you can call it that, of tough economic times is that there are opportunities out there for acquisitions, for growth
Shirine Khoury-Haq

There will be more grocery stores, including 440 more Nisa outlets and dozens more Co-op franchisees, but Khoury-Haq says the group will not just acquire sites to meet an arbitrary target.

She has warned that the Co-op’s full year profits are likely to fall back as it invests in cutting prices, joining Tesco and Sainsbury’s in trying to build loyalty by offering members special promotions rather than its traditional dividend payment.

Having moved out of running petrol stations, the group is looking at running stores for other operators or signing them up as franchise partners. It will also look at potentially extending its grocery wholesale business, funeral parlours and legal services.

“In funeral care, there is regulation coming through that will fundamentally change the sector and we’re seeing shifts in the market in terms of who is and is not able to keep up with the regulations,” says Khoury-Haq.

“We are looking at opportunities point by point,” she adds. “We’ve got teams that are scanning the markets. That’s the upside, if you can call it that, of tough economic times. There are opportunities out there for acquisitions, for growth. We’re very lucky in that our debt is low. Now we do have cash. And if opportunities arise, then we’re always on the lookout.”

Khoury-Haq relishes the challenge after a life which has made her an expert in overcoming adversity. She has said she felt she might never return to work after losing her first daughter, and almost dying in labour, after years of fertility treatment.

***

She was born to a Turkish mother and Palestinian father whose work in the oil industry took the family around the world. Khoury-Haq had lived on every continent but Antarctica by the age of 12, with stints in Turkey, Brazil and Australia.

She speaks five languages and went to university in Australia and the US, but worked for a long time in hospitality – including stints at Pizza Hut and McDonald’s – as she juggled work with academic study after her father lost his job.

She even sold vacuum cleaners while studying accountancy in the US before she became an executive at McDonald’s helping turn around underperforming franchises.

After completing a part-time MBA, she got a job at IBM and stayed with the technology firm when she moved to the UK to set up home with her second husband. She then moved to the Lloyd’s insurance market, where she was chief operating officer, before joining the Co-op.

Her ambitions for the group are in stark contrast with its fight for survival just over a decade ago, when it was brought to the brink by the near collapse of Co-op Bank. The bank was saved in 2013 by a hedge fund rescue, and the Co-op group sold its final 1% stake in the bank in 2017 for £5m. It has also sold off its farms, pharmacies and travel agencies.

But for all her ambition, Khoury-Haq admits the group faces continued headwinds. “We’re still not in stable times. I think consumers are still struggling with cost of living. Mortgage rates have gone up; interest rates have gone up.

“We have to manage our businesses to make sure that we are financially secure, that we are flexible, that we take care of our members and our wider customer base, and that we have both the operational financial flexibility so that if we have to make shifts, we’re able to do that.”

CV

Age 52

Family: Married, twin daughters aged seven.

Education BComm in economics at Australian National University; MBA from Ohio State University; postgraduate management diploma at UWE Bristol.

Pay £750,000

Last holiday Turkey.

Best advice she’s been given “From my father – he always told me the stars are the limit, and I believed him!”

Biggest career mistake “No answer to this one. While some career episodes have been less than enjoyable, I have learned from every single one.”

Phrases she overuses “‘I’ve been thinking…’ It always elicits a groan from my team.”

How she relaxes “Chasing my children around, walking the dog and doing martial arts with my girls. I also love to read.”

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