Current news…..

CAMERAS CALL: There have been calls for CCTVs to be fitted on all open decks on passenger ships and passenger ferries to provide an historical record of time, place and nature of incident. Senior national secretary Allan Graveson said the case for such equipment to be installed onboard had been highlighted by an incident last month in which a chef was lost overboard from the Cunard liner Queen Mary 2 during an Atlantic crossing. The ship was boarded by local police after arriving in the port of Halifax, with investigators hoping to determine the circumstances under which Chilean chef Favio Ordenes went missing.

STRESS STUDY: the Dutch research institute Marin is taking part in a new project to investigate seafarer stress and workloads. The pilot study, being conducted in collaboration with the Technical University of Berlin and k + s projects, will initially use a ship simulator to assess individual reactions in stressful situations, and the impact of factors such as noise and extreme weather conditions. Researchers also want to focus on the relationship between workloads and performance.

FRENCH ROW: further talks have taken place between French seafaring unions, DFDS and French politicians in a bid to resolve a dispute over the number of jobs being offered on two former MyFerryLink vessels bought by the company from Eurotunnel. DFDS has offered to take on 230 seafarers, but the Scop workers’ cooperative claims the figure is too low; it has occupied the vessels in protest.

SLIDING SCALES: the average £5m salary of a top UK company boss is a staggering 183 times higher than that of full-time workers, according to a new study which shows that the top 10 CEOs collectively earned over £156m last year. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady expressed concern at the findings and said companies should rebalance pay grades to fairly reward those who do most of the work.

BG BOOST: Dutch operator BG Freight Line has extended its Irish Sea Hub network by adding the Scottish port of Greenock to its Belfast, Rotterdam and Liverpool rotation. The company, which has three 1,000TEU vessels deployed on the service, says the extended route will offer international traders ‘a way to minimise costs, carbon emissions and congestion’.

NO BEACHING: the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association has announced that its members will no longer send their end-of-life vessels to be beached for breaking up in developing nations. CEO Sturla Henriksen commented: ‘As an industry we can no longer defend that ships are broken in a way that puts health and the environment at risk.’

ASSAULT PROBE: a crew member has been accused of sexually assaulting a boy on the Panama flagged cruiseship Carnival Valor. Yovany Suazo-Batiz, a Honduran citizen, was arrested last month after the vessel docked in Port Canaveral in the US.

DREDGING DEAL: the Dutch operator Van Oord has been awarded a €130m dredging contract for the second phase of a new container terminal at the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung. Work will involve dredging 37m cu m of sand to create new land.

EMISSION PENALTIES: the Alaskan Department of Environmental Conservation has penalised seven major cruise lines for emissions violations since 2010, according to documents published last month.

HOLYHEAD SMASH: some 650 passengers and crew were forced to disembark the Irish Ferries fast craft Jonathan Swift after it struck the berth while departing the port of Holyhead in gale force winds last month.

SANDY SALE: the 962 gt French hopper dredger Penfret has been sold to UK-based Severn Sands and will be deployed on operations in the Bristol Channel.

DECOM WORK: the scale of UKCS decommissioning projects is set to double over the next three years, according to a new report. A study published by DecomWorld last month said there are presently 19 decommissioning projects under way or being developed in the sector and it forecasts that the value of the market could rise to more than £58bn by 2050.

SUPPLY WARNING: the industry analysts Clarkson Research Services have warned that the supply vessel sector is set to face further ‘challenging’ conditions with supply continuing to outstrip demand as 273 vessels remain on order.

EVERGREEN ORDER: the Taiwanese operator Evergreen has signed a deal for 10 new 2,800TEU ships to be delivered between the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018. The 211m vessels will be deployed as feederships in intra-Asia trades and include a range of ‘eco-friendly’ features, such as the innovative Sea-Sword Bow (SSB) technology, which is claimed to reduce fuel consumption by around 10% compared to traditional bow designs, and an electronically-controlled fuel injection engine, which can cut emissions by around 20%.

FRENCH CALL: French Socialist MP Arnaud Leroy has tabled proposed legislation aiming to ‘re-found’ the country’s maritime industries. Following a report on the competitiveness of French maritime services, Mr Leroy is calling for measures to boost domestic seafarer employment in the off shore renewables sector, to limit the use of the French international register, and to provide special tax breaks for French seafarers.

RADIATION SCARE: emergency teams were called in at Ashdod Port in Israel after checks found high levels of radiation coming from a container that had arrived on a Chinese-flagged ship. Port workers were evacuated while tests were carried out, which determined that there were no risks outside the container’s walls.

GREEK GROUNDING: authorities in Greece have launched an investigation after the high-speed ferry Flying Cat 4 ran aground, having missed the entrance to the island port of Tinos in thick fog. The Hellenic Coast Guard said tugs re-floated the 55m catamaran and the 235 passengers were safely evacuated with no injuries reported.

FATAL FIRE: one seafarer died and five others were injured when a Hong Kong-flagged product tanker caught fire off Shanghai last month. The blaze began in the accommodation area of the 45,740dwt Ye Chi, which was carrying 29,000 tonnes of diesel from Shanghai to Singapore.

CREWMEN INJURED: an investigation has been launched after two seafarers were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries caused when a rescue boat fell into the water from the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) vessel Pride of America in the Hawaiian port of Hilo.

CHINESE BOOST: China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has placed orders for eight new 13,500TEU vessels with a yard in Shanghai. The ships will cost a total of US$934.4m and are due for delivery between April and December 2018.

COSTLY SPILL: the US shipping company Matson has agreed to pay Hawaii more than $15m to cover the cost of clean-up and restoration following a massive molasses spill in Honolulu Harbour two years ago.

PORTS UNITE: Calais and Boulogne now officially comprise a joint port, following the award of a 50-year concession to the public service ports development body from the Nord Pas de Calais regional council.

CANAL CURB: drought conditions have resulted in draught restrictions that could affect almost 20% of ships transiting the Panama Canal. A fall in the water levels of the Gatun and Alhajuela Lakes means that the maximum draught will be set at 11.89m Tropical Fresh Water (TFW) with effect from 8 September, the canal authority (ACP) has advised. It says the measure is needed to ‘ensure the continuous and safe operation’ of the waterway and warned that draught may be further restricted to 11.73m TFW if there is no significant rainfall by the middle of the month.

GREEK TAX: Greek shipowners will have to pay higher tonnage taxes as part of a new European Union bail-out deal for the cash-strapped country. Under the agreement, the Greek tonnage tax is to rise by 4% a year between 2016 and 2020. ‘Special’ tax arrangements for the shipping industry will also be phased out and there are reports that some owners have been considering flagging out to countries such as Cyprus if their operating costs increase significantly.

BELGIAN BASH: a steering gear failure has been blamed for a collision off the Belgian coast last month between the Marshall Islands-registered product tanker Alkiviadis and the Philippines-flagged bulk carrier Mangan Trader. The bulker struck the tanker, which was at anchor some 17nm NW of Ostend, while sailing towards the western Scheldt, bound for Ghent.

STENA COLLISION: Swedish authorities are investigating a collision between a Stena Line ferry carrying some 600 people and a laden tanker near the island of Vinga outside the port of Gothenburg. The 29,691gt Stena Jutlandica was holed on its port side and began taking on water, but no injuries were reported and the vessel was able to make it into port under its own power.

LANGUAGE ROW: the French officers’ union CGCCFE has protested to the country’s sea minister over a lack of progress in talks on the use of French as a working language onboard French-flagged ferries. General secretary Patrice Le Vigouroux asked the minister: ‘Do we have to block tunnels, burn tyres or overturn chauffeur-driven cars to be heard?’

CARNIVAL TERMINAL: Barcelona, Europe’s largest cruise port, has given the Carnival Corporation approval to build a €30m terminal which will be used by seven of the company’s 10 cruise line brands as both a destination and home port. Work on the new facility, at Adossat Wharf, will begin next year and is due to be completed in 2018.

Deaths on UK ships fall to lowest rate on record

There were no crew deaths onboard UK flagged merchant ships of 100gt and above last year, and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) suggests this could be a first for the industry.

In his introduction to the 2014 MAIB report, chief inspector Steve Clinch notes that an average of four seafarers have died on UK merchant ships each year over the past decade, and that a review of records going back 50 years indicates that last year was the first time there has been no fatalities.

The report also reveals that for the fifth year in succession no UK merchant ships over 100gt were lost. However, six vessels under 100gt were lost and five crew lost their lives during 2014, four in one incident when the yacht Cheeky Rafiki capsized in the North Atlantic. Twelve commercial fishing vessels were lost in 2014 and eight fishing vessel crew died during the year.

The report expresses concern about the slow progress being made by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) on some recommendations made by the MAIB in its investigation reports. Of the 45 MAIB recommendations which were accepted but not actioned between 2004 and 2013, more than half were addressed to the Agency.

‘Some of the commitments the Agency has made in response to MAIB recommendations are becoming quite dated,’ Mr Clinch noted.

For example, he wrote, the MCA had promised in 2011, following an accident involving a RIB on the River Thames, to ‘prioritise and resource the revision of MGN 280 to ensure the updated code of practice for small commercial vessels is published as early as is possible’.

‘Given the unequivocal nature of the 2011 response, the fact that nothing has yet been done is disappointing,’ Mr Clinch said. ‘However, a benefit of the MAIB’s recent move to a building we share with the MCA is that the two organisations can address such issues more effectively than in the past and I am reasonably confident that better progress will be made in the future.’

The reduction in the seafarer death and injury rate on UK ships has been welcomed by many. Last year, a total of 142 crew members were injured and none died, compared with 222 injuries and three deaths in 2010 and 246 injuries and two deaths in 2005.

Of the 142 crew injuries last year, 21 were deck officers, 19 were engineer officers and 28 were ratings.

Four were masters or skippers and 70 were other crew.

The most common locations in which injuries occurred were boat decks (23), freeboard decks (12), stairs and ladders (9) and galley spaces (9). The most common injury causes were falls on the same level (34), falls to a lower level (27), and being caught or carried away by something (21). The most common injuries were closed fractures (46), sprains and strains (30) and superficial injuries (26).

A total of 56 passengers were injured during 2014, up from 46 in the previous year, and one died (as a result of drowning).

Of the 120 incidents involving merchant vessels of 100gt and above recorded by the MAIB last year, 42 involved collisions, 23 groundings, 22 contact, 20 loss of control, nine damage to ship or equipment, three fire/explosion, and one flooding/foundering.

There were 174 incidents involving merchant vessels under 100gt, which resulted in five deaths and 61 injuries.

UK maritime cluster faces skills threat

The growing shortage of experienced UK seafarers is posing a major threat to the country’s future as a global maritime centre, the government has been warned.

Evidence presented to the Maritime Growth Study, which was commissioned by ministers to find ways to compete with other countries, repeatedly identified skill shortages are the major challenge.

More than 200 individuals and organisations made submissions to the study. The results, and accompanying recommendations, are due to be revealed during London International Shipping Week, which starts on 7 September.

Wrong-way ship had no one on the bridge

Alarm has been voiced about a case last month in which French maritime safety officials had to send a helicopter and an emergency towing vessel out to a general cargoship that failed to respond to calls from ashore when it was spotted sailing in the wrong direction in the Channel.

The Gibraltar-registered Musketier was taken under French coastguard escort when the French Navy helicopter winched an officer onto the ship after it had sailed for more than an hour in the wrong lane of the traffic separation scheme.

It was then discovered that there was no one on the bridge of the 2,545gt vessel, which was sailing from St Petersburg in Russia to Bermeo in Spain, with a cargo of steel. The Musketier’s master was alerted and took the con, with the ship having to be escorted by the ETV Abeille Languedoc until it left the TSS.

Officials at French Coastguard Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) said the incident began at around 2040hrs on 6 August when coastguards noticed that the ship had had failed to change course at the entrance to the strait of Pas-de- Calais.

Coastguards made repeated attempts to call the Musketier by all means available, but the ship failed to respond.  Because of ‘the proven danger to navigation, especially in this heavy traffic area of the Pas de Calais’, CROSS Gris Nez and the French Navy Operational Centre (COM) in Cherbourg decided to launch a helicopter to intercept the ship.

The helicopter arrived on the scene at around 2334, and decided to winch someone onto Musketier after it failed to respond to further calls and flash lights. After the master took control of the ship, it rejoined the TSS track at 0011hrs.

French authorities said they were making a formal complaint to the Musketier’s owners, stating that the ship was involved in a near-miss situation and posed a danger to navigation as a result of infringing rules on look-outs, collision prevention, traffic separation schemes, and mandatory reporting in the Dover Strait.

The Préfecture Maritime said the ship had been ‘administratively immobilised’ in the Spanish port of Bermeo and its master, officers and crew had been temporarily suspended. It said the Gibraltar flag state had responded quickly and sent an inspector to make a report which will then go to the Le Havre maritime court.

The inquiry will take ‘several months’, it added.

This was not the first incident involving Musketier in the Channel.

In February 2011 the ship ran aground to the south of Calais during a voyage from Spain to Germany. Investigations revealed that the Ukrainian master had fallen asleep at least 80 minutes before the grounding and the report criticised the ‘inappropriate’ four-on-four-off-eight-on work pattern for the two watchkeepers.

In 2011, Musketier was running with just seven crew onboard and the French maritime investigation body BEAMer recommended the owners to ‘put in place a complement and bridge organisation consistent with the type of the vessel and her activity’. At the time of the incident last month, the German-owned, Dutch-managed ship was being operated by a crew of eight, three Filipinos, four Russians and one Ukrainian seafarer.

The ship has been described as a ‘disaster zone’ and said it highlighted long-running safety problems. ‘In 2011, the French authorities told the IMO and the European Maritime Safety Agency that the Musketier’s grounding showed the risk posed by ships operating around European coasts with “obviously under-sized complements”. This latest incident shows that nothing has changed and it is only a matter of luck that there has not been a major incident as a result.

‘What will it take to get the necessary action?’ he asked. ‘We should not have to wait for a disaster with massive loss of life or environmental pollution before governments finally enforce proper manning levels on ships and end the scourge of seafarer fatigue once and for all.’

(With thanks to the Nautilus Telegraph:  www.nautilusint.org)