Maritime news summary

PAPERWORK PLEDGE: seafarers do not face a ‘burdensome’ volume of administrative requirements as a result of International Maritime Organisation mandatory instruments such as conventions and codes, according to the results of an industry survey. The Organisation said its consultation had attracted more than 3,220 responses and yielded the ‘perhaps surprising’ finding that 66% of the 563 mandatory instruments were not seen as individually burdensome by any of the respondents.

 ROTTERDAM ROW: the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has called for ‘all-party’ talks about the future of the port of Rotterdam after dockers refused to handle a barge that had been loaded at the new Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) terminal. They were protesting about RWG’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with the FNV Havens union, and over concerns about the potential loss of jobs as a result of increased automation at the port.

 FUEL RULES: more than 40% of European shipping companies are planning to increase freight rates to help cover the costs of new sulphur emission rules, according to a survey by the owners’ association ECSA. It found that 97% of operators surveyed were switching to low-sulphur fuel as a ‘quick fix’ to comply with the regulations, while in the longer term around 15% would be installing scrubber technology and a further 15% switching to LNG.

 COASTAL SLUMP: Nautilus has expressed concern over figures showing another big slump in the volume of UK freight being carried on water. Domestic waterborne freight tonnage declined by 19% in 2013 and UK coastwise traffic has fallen by 38% between 2011 and 2013. The Union says the figures highlight the need for the government to improve the support being given to encourage freight off the roads and onto water.

 UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE: Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry — who has been described as the mother of the Maritime Labour Convention — has been named as the new president of the World Maritime University. Presently director of the international labour standards department at the International Labour Office, Dr Doumbia-Henry led the work to develop the seafarers’ bill of rights.

 FERRIES BOOST: the UK has recorded an increase in passenger, car and coach volumes on ferries for the second successive year, according to a report released last month. Figures compiled by the industry body Discover Ferries show that passenger numbers rose by 1m in 2014, from 38m in 2013, with a 1.6% increase in the number of cars carried and a 3.1% rise in coach numbers.

 SCOTTISH CALL: the Scottish Parliament has heard calls for the reintroduction of a ferry service to Scandinavia. In a debate last month, East Falkirk MSP Angus MacDonald urged the Scottish government to consider the case for a link between Aberdeen or Rosyth and Norway, arguing that there is evidence to show sufficient demand for the route to be viable.

EBOLA ADVICE: European seafaring unions and shipowners have issued a joint declaration stressing the need for relevant guidance to be given to crew members onboard ships sailing to ports in countries affected by the Ebola virus. Nautilus members are reminded that the Union’s website contains detailed advice on the issue.

 BP ORDERS: BP Shipping has placed an order with the South Korean yard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for six new LNG carriers to be delivered by April 2019. Each ship will have a capacity of about 174,000 cu m and they will feature electronically controlled gas-injection propulsion systems.

 WAGE DEMAND: firms that fail to pay the UK National Minimum Wage should face fines of up to £75,000, the TUC said last month. In a new report, it warned that an increasing number of companies are resorting to scams to cheat staff out of their rights. The current maximum fine is just £5,000.

 GAS GROWTH: French officers’ unions have welcomed the news that Gazocéan is to increase its officer workforce by 25%, with 15 new personnel being taken on to serve on two new gas carriers due to enter the fleet by the beginning of 2017 on long-term charter to GDF Suez. Gazocéan has also agreed to increase the number of cadets it takes on from France’s national officer training academy, ENSM.

 SINGAPORE SPILL: an investigation has been launched after a collision between a tanker and a bulk carrier off Singapore, resulting in the spill of some 4,500 tonnes of crude oil. The incident involved the Libyan flagged tanker Alyarmouk and the Singapore-registered bulker Sinar Kapuas, and occurred 11nm NE of the island of Pedra Branca.

 OILY FINE: the Italian shipping firm Carbofin has been fined US $2.75m after pleading guilty in a ‘magic pipe’ pollution case involved its LPG carrier Marigola. The charges were brought after US Coast Guard inspectors received a tip-off from crew members who provided video evidence that the ship’s oily water separator had been by-passed.

  EMISSION PENALTIES: four shipping companies have been fined a total of US$146,719 for failing to comply with low-sulphur fuel rules in Californian waters. The penalties were imposed by the California Air Resources Board on two Chinese shipping firms, one German operator and a Japanese company.

 SCRAP SLUMP: the number of ships broken up worldwide has fallen for a second successive year, according to the broking firm Barry Rogliano Salles. It said 864 ships of 22.3m gt were sent for scrapping last year. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan together broke up 66% of the world’s tonnage sent for demolition.

 DOCKER DIES: a Spanish docker died inside the hold of the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Hanjin Sines while the vessel was moored in the Spanish port of Ferrol for unloading. Initial reports said the man mistakenly entered a compartment that contained a lethal concentration of carbon dioxide.

MOL ORDERS: the Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK (MOL) has announced plans to upgrade its containership fleet with an order for at least two 20,000TEU vessels. The company says it is mounting a ‘counter-offensive year’ after suffering a ‘significant deficit’ during 2014.

 DFDS EXPANSION: the Danish ferry firm DFDS has confirmed its interest in taking over the state-owned Polish operator Polferries, stating that it is seeking to build on its strategy of expanding the route network with ‘value-creating acquisitions’.

 WATER MOVE: Sweden has introduced new rules to make it easier for merchant shipping to use the country’s inland waterways. Owners have welcomed the move, saying it will enable them to better compete against road and rail.

 FATIGUE FAULTS: six ships were detained with crew working time deficiencies following a three-month concentrated port state control inspection campaign in the Black Sea. Authorities carried out checks on 1,146 ships in six countries in the region and almost 30% of the subsequent detentions were linked to breaches of the STCW working time rules. The most common nonconformities were incorrect records of rest hours, no watch schedules being posted, and failure to endorse the daily rest records for each watchkeeper.

 TANKER HIT: Greece has condemned an ‘unprovoked and cowardly’ attack in which two crew members were killed when unidentified military aircraft bombed a Greek-operated oil tanker in the Libyan port of Derna. The Liberian-flagged Araveo was carrying 12,600 tons of crude oil, and Libyan military officials said the vessel had acted suspiciously following a warning not to enter port. Libya later issued an apology after confirming that the ship had been delivering fuel to a power station operated by the National Oil Corporation.

 DANISH STRATEGY: the Danish Shipowners’ Association has launched a new three-year strategy to boost the country’s shipping industry and to regain its position among the world’s top five maritime nations in terms of gross tonnage. The overall Danish fleet has fallen by 12m dwt over the past year and the owners blame intensified international competition from other flags for Denmark’s slump to eighth place in the global fleet rankings.

 INDIAN AID: India’s shipping ministry has announced plans to introduce a new training support scheme to help the country’s cadets get the seatime they need to qualify as officers. India is aiming to increase its stake of the global maritime workforce from 7% to 9% and says the financial assistance for onboard training will help to break a backlog affecting around 4,000 would-be officers.

 FRENCH PLEDGE: French prime minister Manuel Valls has promised action to implement 26 measures to boost the country’s shipping industry, originally tabled in a report published in 2013. He told an industry conference in Nantes that France is ‘still a great and powerful maritime nation’ and has a bright future — but unions have criticised the slow progress on new policies.

SWEDISH SERVICE: a new liner service linking Sweden, the Netherlands and the Humber is set to begin operations this month. Baltic Euro Lines is a new joint venture established between the Norwegian shipping companies Seafront Maritime and North West Ship Management, and will begin operations using the 4,462gt Barbados-flagged general cargoship Skog.

 CREWMAN JAILED: a hotel services crewman who attacked a passenger onboard the Holland America Line cruiseship Nieuw Amsterdam in February 2014 has been sentenced to 30 years and five months in jail by a US court. Ketut Pujayasa, from Indonesia, pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault.

Source: FLASHLIGHT – January 2015                 Edition No 146