CURRENTS…..

CURRENTS….

Paper cuts: shipowners have called for action to cut ‘complex, repetitive and duplicative’ reporting requirements in European ports. The European Community Shipowners’ Associations and the World Shipping Council jointly urged the European Commission to change the rules to boost productivity and end ‘unnecessary workload and stress for ship crews’.

Vlissingen collision: an investigation was launched last month after the Danish-registered ro-ro Primula Seaways suffered serious damage in a collision with the Liberian-flagged containership MSC Madrid off the Dutch port of Vlissingen.

Tilbury treble: P&O Ferries has announced plans for a new £150m terminal at the UK port of Tilbury. The new facility will cut crossing times on its Zeebrugge services by one hour and will treble freight capacity on the route by 2020.

Salvage increase: salvage companies have reported a ‘significant increase’ in services to stricken vessels last year. The International Salvage Union said its members had gone to the aid of 252 vessels – up from 213 cases in 2016.

Lost boxes: the US Coast Guard issued a warning to shipping off the North Carolina coast last month after more than 70 containers were lost from the containership Maersk Shanghai during a storm.

Awards call: the Shipwrecked Mariners charity is seeking nominations for its annual awards to recognise the bravery and skill of those involved in rescues at sea.

Companies fined: four shipping companies – CSAV, K Line, NYK and WWL-Eukor – have been fined €395m by the European Commission for collusion in operating an anticompetitive cartel covering nearly 50% of EU vehicle imports and exports for almost six years. The fifth member of the cartel, Mitsui OSK Lines, escaped a fine as it gained full immunity by alerting the authorities to its existence.

Wages won: a dozen stranded Russian seafarers have been flown home after the intervention of the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the Danish Maritime Authority secured the payment of US$250,000 in owed wages for the crew of the Turkish tanker Natig Aliyev, which had been detained in Aalbæk, Denmark, since 7 February.

Total talks: French officers’ unions have met the country’s transport minister to discuss concerns over oil major Total’s takeover of the Marseilles-based gas tanker operator Gazocéan. They said they remain concerned at the ‘lack of clear guarantees’ for French seafaring jobs in the fleet.

Chinese call: China has called for Japan and South Korea to help develop improved maritime emergency plans in the area following pollution caused by the loss of the Iranian tanker Sanchi after a collision with a bulk carrier in the East China Sea in January.

Arctic increase: shipping traffic on the Northern Sea Route will increase tenfold to 80m tonnes by 2025, Russian president Vladimir Putin has told the country’s parliament.

Pilot killed: authorities in Lisbon launched an investigation last month after port pilot Barra Miguel Conceição died while disembarking from the Hong Kong-flagged boxship Singapore Express in Cascais Bay. Rescue efforts had been hampered by stormy weather conditions, port officials said.

Greek record: the number of Greek seafarers in employment has hit the highest level for almost 20 years. A report released last month shows a 12% increase in Greek seafarers serving on nationally-controlled vessels last year. Cadet numbers increased by 7.7% over the year, with 56 on Greek-flagged ships.

Hold deaths: an investigation has been launched after four port workers and a paramedic died onboard the Indonesian-flagged aggregates carrier Sumiei in the port of Banjarmasin, Kalimantan, last month. The men died in a cargo hold on the 1,388gt vessel, which had been carrying a cargo of palm kernels.

Green aid: the European Investment Bank and the Dutch financial institution ING have signed an agreement to provide up to €300m support for green innovation projects in the European shipping market, such as low-carbon retrofitting of ships or developing new low emissions vessels.

Danish growth: Danish shipowners have unveiled a plan to expand the country’s merchant fleet by 10% over the next three years. They also aim to deliver a matching increase in the number of seafarer jobs on the back of improved net salary arrangements for seagoing staff.

Rethink on ETVs

Many have welcomed a call by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) for a review of emergency towing vessel (ETV) cover in the Dover Strait has been welcomed by many. The call comes in a report on a collision between the Hong Kong-flagged general cargo ship Saga Sky and a rock-carrying barge off the coast of Kent during a storm in November 2016.

Attempts to locate a tug capable of providing assistance to Saga Sky as it drifted towards the unmanned barge for almost two hours leading up to the accident proved unsuccessful.

The French ETV Abeille Languedoc was sent to the scene, but with a 30-minute mobilisation period and a two-hour transit time, the MAIB said the collision occurred ‘well before’ it could have been in a position to intervene.

The report notes that the Dover Strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with some 400 vessel transits each day. However, it points out that the UK ETV introduced in the area in 1994 was withdrawn in 2011.

‘Given the volume of traffic using the Dover Strait and the apparent absence of local commercial salvage assets, it would be appropriate to review the availability of emergency towage provision in the Dover Strait, as has already been done for north and northwest Scottish waters,’ it adds.

The report recommends that the Maritime & Coastguard Agency commission a study to review the full range of emergency response assets available in the Dover Strait, including a reassessment of the need for a dedicated emergency towing capability.

Safety rules ‘are too old fashioned’

The rapid pace of technological change threatens to render the International Maritime Organisation redundant, it was warned last month. Opening the Transas Global Conference, company CEO Frank Coles said the regulation of the industry has reached a ridiculous point, lagging far behind operational advances: ‘The old-fashioned structures of regulators, clubs, lobbies and representative bodies no longer fit with the new world. Nor do they move fast enough to keep up.’

He said shipping needs to overhaul the way it develops safety rules, following the ‘strict culture of excellence’ approach taken in the aviation and nuclear power industries. Five die in Maersk ship fire Nautilus has backed calls for more action to improve fire-fighting capabilities on containerships after five seafarers died in a blaze onboard the 15,262TEU Maersk Honam last month.

Twenty-three of the crew on the Singapore flagged vessel had to be evacuated to the MOL containership ALS Ceres after they were unable to control the fire, which began in a forward cargo hold while the vessel was in the Arabian Sea.

The crew members included 13 Indian nationals, nine Filipinos, one Briton, one South African, one Romanian and one Thai seafarer.

(With thanks to the Nautilus Telegraph: https://nautilusint.org/en/what-we-say/telegraph/)