"How can we bring the suit against them?" "You must file a brief with the local court."
"We must find someone to help us with this business."
"Yes, I think you should. Ask our lawyer to act as your solicitor then."
* * *
"For what day did the judge appoint the hearing of the case?" "For next Friday. Haven't you received summons yet?"
"No, not yet. Have the witnesses been summoned too?"
"Certainly, they have. Don't fail to let me know when you get the summons."
* * *
"I've got here a statement of facts. Will you go through it?"
"Yes, let me have it, please. Have you retained a copy of this statement?"
"No, I haven't. I want to have a copy typed after you have made the necessary corrections."
IV. Listen to each of the long dialogues again and retell briefly their contents from the point of view of: (a) one speaker, (b) the other speaker, (c) an onlooker.
Make your partner ask you about some details which you missed.
V. Write the dictation:
The court is to establish the fault in collision with one or with both vessels. If one vessel is guilty she will bear all the responsibility for the damage caused. If both vessels are to blame each vessel shall be held liable for the damage in proportion to the degree of her fault. If no vessel is to blame (as, for instance, in case of inevitable accident), then each vessel shall bear her own loss. In every case of collision both vessels shall stay by one another so that each of them could render assistance to the damaged vessel, to her master, her crew and passengers, if required. They may proceed on their voyage only after they have ascertained that no further assistance is required. The collided vessels usually exchange information, by radio or otherwise, of the ship's names, their masters' names, their ports of registry, their nationality and whether they require any assistance. According to law, each vessel shall enter all the circumstances of the collision in her log book. Ships may need assistance not only as a result of some collision. They may be in distress due to various causes. In such a case, ships in distress send distress signals to all ships in the vicinity. The nearest vessel may come and render assistance, which is considered to be salvage of a vessel. It is customary to pay the salvor salvage reward. The amount of the reward depends on the value of the property saved.
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VI. Practise in pairs enacting the following situations. You act as the captain, your partner—as the lawyer in (a), you — as the chief mate, your partner — as the
judge in (b). Then you change your parts.
(a) You are consulting your lawyer as to the brief he is to file with the court. He is asking you about details of the collision and your actions as a watch officer during the accident. He suggests to you that all the facts which you state must be substantiated by the entries in your log book and by the evidence of the witnesses.
(b) You are at the session of the court. You must prove that all the actions of you and your crew were reasonable and complied with the Rules of the Road. The judge asks you about the circumstances of the collision and the actions which you were taking at different stages of the collision. You describe in detail the manoeuvres which your ship was performing to avoid the collision.
VII. Translate into English:
Я утверждаю, что это судно виновно в столкновении. Оно нарушило МППСС. Сейчас я постараюсь доказать это. Но сначала я хочу спросить вас, как возбудить дело в суде против этой компании. Я уверен, что после расследования этого дела решение суда будет в нашу пользу. Теперь позвольте мне вернуться к самому столкновению. Мы шли в условиях хорошей видимости. Я принял вахту от третьего помощника. В 4.30 я взял радиопеленги и определил место судна. Это место я нанес на карту. Вскоре после этого мы заметили заряд тумана в 5—6 милях по носу судна. Я включил локатор, убавил скорость судна до средней, доложил капитану. За одну-полторы мили до входа в туман я уменьшил скорость до самого малого хода вперед и включил автоматическую сирену на один продолжительный гудок. После этого я включил и проверил ходовые огни, нанес на карту счислимое место судна на 4.45 по судовому времени. Видимость понизилась до 150—200 метров. Капитан поднялся на мостик, когда я сверял часы в машинном отделении с часами в штурманской рубке. Капитан сразу же посмотрел на экран локатора и увидел на пятимильной шкале, локатора приближающееся судно. Он отдал приказание дать полный ход назад. Это было в 4.50. В 4.52 наше судно остановилось, и мы начали подавать два продолжительных гудка. Через 1—2 минуты с левого борта из тумана показалось встречное судно. Оно не несло никаких огней и не подавало никаких сигналов. Наше судно в это время уже начало двигаться назад. Почти одновременно с этим приближающееся судно ударилось своим носом в носовую часть нашего судна в районе форпика.
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LESSON 19
TRANSPORTING CARGOES IN CONTAINERS BY SEA
Words and Word Combinations
to improve - улучшить productivity - производительность at an average - в среднем
port time - время стоянки в порту conventional - обычный, общепринятый сontainer-carrier- контейнеровоз (судно) rate - норма
advantage - преимущество, выгода decade - десяток, десятилетие design - зд. конструкция
route - маршрут, путь, дорога cellular - ячеистый, клеточный viable - жизнеспособный, стойкий multi-purpose - многоцелевой
bulk-break cargo - навалочный и сыпучий груз adequate - соответствующий
fit - годный, пригодный, подходящий
twenty- (forty-) footers - 20- (40-) футовые контейнеры structure - структура, устройство
similar - подобный, аналогичный angle-bar - угловая сталь, угловой профиль frame - рама
plate - лист, пластина, плита alloy - сплав
to weld - приваривать
to rivet - клепать, соединять заклепками twofold - двустворчатый
hinged - шарнирный, подвесной latch - защелка, задвижка refrigerator - холодильник reefer - рефрижератор
to lease - брать в аренду, арендовать interchange - взаимообмен
to stuff - заполнять (контейнеры) intact - целый, неповрежденный
Inspection Report - акт осмотра
to insure - страховать, застраховывать external - наружный, внешний inspection - осмотр
slock - запас, состав to clear up - выяснить
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to introduce - представить, познакомить
refreshment - подкрепление, восстановление сил, отдых to miss - зд. недоставать, не хватать
scratch - царапина
to coincide - совпадать extra - зд. лишний misprint - опечатка dent - вмятина
Expressions
there is no wonder that - неудивительно, что
on the basis of interchange - на основе взаимообмена this' time на этот раз, - в данное время
to carry out a survey - провести осмотр
inefficient loss of time - непроизводительная потеря времени procedure of discharging - порядок выгрузки
to say nothing of - не говоря уже о
to be of the same opinion - быть того же мнения
Please meet Mr N. - Познакомьтесь, пожалуйста, с господином Н. I wouldn't mind - я ничего не имею против
things are a bit worse with - немного хуже обстоит дело с willy-nilly - хочешь не хочешь; волей-неволей
TEXT
According to statistics containerization has improved ship productivity from 1000 tons to 15,000 tons a day, that is, at an average, up to 15 times. It reduced ship port time from 50 to 20 per cent of voyage time. As compared with conventional vessels the cargo-handling rate of the container-carriers is at least 5 times higher.
There is no wonder that this advantage has attracted attention of almost all the world shipping companies. During the last decade many new designs of cargo-carriers were built and put into service. Specialized container-carriers have been built to meet the requirements of different cargoes and routes. Cellular-type container-carriers built recently proved to be very viable. Some of them have no cargo-handling facilities on deck and the containers are handled by shore appliances. Later on multipurpose container-carriers were built. These vessels combine the carriage of containers together with bulk-break cargoes. They are as a rule equipped with adequate cranes to handle the containers and heavy lifts.
Two standard sizes of containers, fit for the carriage both by land and by sea, were designed, agreed upon and approved at the International Conference. They are the so-called TWENTY-FOOTERS and FORTYFOOTERS. There are many types of such containers designed for different cargoes. General structure of these containers is more or less similar. They are made of angle-bar frames to which steel or aluminium
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alloy plates are either welded or riveted. The containers are provided with twofold hinged doors and locking latches. Some containers are equipped with refrigerators to keep certain goods at a constant fixed temperature. These containers are usually called reefers. The reefers are supplied with electric power by the ship's generators. Containers may either belong to the carrier or they may be leased by him from the leasing companies on the basis of interchange.
After the containers have been filled, or as they usually say "stuffed", with appropriate goods the doors are locked and sealed. A list of all the goods stuffed in the container is made out and signed by the shippers.
When receiving containers for shipment the carrier is to see that they are in proper condition and their seals are intact. As a rule, each container is supplied with the Shippers' Inspection Report, copies of which are forwarded to the Carrier, Consignees and Insurance Company, which insures the goods. In case if some defects are found the appropriate remarks are made in these reports, both by the ship's officer and terminal operator.
When delivering containers to the consignees a careful external inspection of the containers should be carried out, but this time jointly with the consignees' representative. The results of the inspection are to be stated in the Inspection Report and signed by both parties. In case of any dispute or disagreement an official surveyor is invited to carry out the survey and draw up a respective surveyor report.
Our shipping companies have a large stock of different containers which they use for the carriage of goods. To avoid inefficient loss of time in waiting for the containers to be emptied and returned aboard vessels we often lease the containers from specialized foreign firms. Thus we may leave almost in all the ports our containers and get in exchange the other ones, mostly the ones left by other Soviet ships. When leaving or receiving containers in foreign ports their condition is usually carefully checked and appropriate documents are drawn up.
DIALOGUES
1
CAPTAIN. Glad to see you, Mr Howard. Sit down, please. We'll have to consider the procedure of discharging the containers we have brought here this time.
AGENT. I've got all the shipping documents and I've already looked through them. Do you mean to say that we shall have some extraordinary conditions for discharging?
CAPTAIN. Oh, no, just the ordinary ones. It's the first time that we have brought containers to your port, that's why I wanted to clear up some details. First of all I'd like to know who is to take delivery of the containers.
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