Currents

Plastic plan: an ‘action plan’ which aims to cut plastic litter from ships has been agreed by the International Maritime Organisation. The initiative will include a review of the availability and adequacy of port reception facilities, improved familiarisation and awareness training for seafarers, and proposals to make it compulsory to report the loss of containers at sea.

Timely savings: ‘just in time’ shipping operations could cut vessel emissions by as much as 35%, according to a Port of Rotterdam study. The research suggests that substantial savings in fuel and CO2 emissions could be made if ships were better informed about the availability of berths and could adjust their speed accordingly.

Space deaths: the international ship managers’ association, InterManager, is offering prizes for seafarers who come up with the best ideas for reducing the risk of accidents in enclosed spaces. The call came only a few days before three Filipino seafarers died in a hold onboard a ship carrying timber off the coast of Japan.

Philippines ‘complies’: authorities in the Philippines say they have submitted evidence to prove compliance with European Maritime Safety Agency standards for recognition of the country’s seafarer training and certification programmes.

Terminal upgrade: work has begun on a £12m year-long project to upgrade the Ocean Cruise Terminal at the UK port of Southampton, to support continued expansion in vessel visits and passenger numbers.

Loneliness study: the Danish health and safety company Conovah has launched a project to investigate loneliness at sea and to provide guidance on dealing with the problem. The study – which will run to March 2020 – will consider whether changes in ship management operations and technological developments are having an adverse impact on crew members, and it will pay particular attention to the expectations and demands of younger seafarers. Stress increase: the TUC has expressed concern at new figures showing a dramatic increase in work-related stress. The Health & Safety Executive said 15.4m working days were lost to workrelated stress, anxiety and depression in over the past year – up by nearly 3m. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: ‘Work-related stress is a growing epidemic. It’s time employers and the government took it more seriously.’

Fishing standards: the Maritime & Coastguard Agency has announced that it will be implementing and enforcing the international Working in Fishing Convention on all UK-registered fishing vessels over 24m and all non-UK vessels visiting UK ports with effect from 1 November. The convention covers such things as crew accommodation, work agreements, wages, medical fitness, medical care onboard, and health and safety.

Pirates thwarted: crew members on the UK-flagged tanker Stena Imperial managed to prevent a pirate attack in the Red Sea last month by firing distress flares at suspect gunmen in two skiffs off the coast of Yemen.

US safety: the US Senate has unanimously approved new maritime safety legislation developed in response to the loss of the containership El Faro in 2015. The new rules address issues including ship inspections, safety equipment, weather forecasts, float-free voyage data recorders, and a confidential safety reporting programmed.

Battery progress: Stena Line has reported positive results in the first phase of its project to operate the 29,691gt ferry Stena Jutlandica as a battery hybrid vessel on a service between Sweden and Denmark. In the first month of operation, the use of battery power amounted to savings equivalent to some 500 tonnes of fuel and 1,500 tonnes of CO2, it said.

Chinese cruises: the Chinese operator Cosco is moving into cruise ship operations after buying the P&O Cruises ship Oriana. Cosco will take delivery of the vessel next year and has established a joint venture with China Travel Service to run the ship, with Ships being appointed to carry out technical management and hotel operations.

Fjord rules: Norway is proposing to introduce new rules to reduce emissions and discharges from cruise ships in its world heritage fjords. It is consulting on a plan to prohibit ships from using scrubbers or burning fuel containing above 0.10% sulphur in the West Norwegian fjords.

Grimaldi orders: the Italian operator Grimaldi has announced a $1.5bn plan to build six ro-ro vessels for Europe-West Africa lines and four ro-paxes for its passenger services in the Mediterranean and the Baltic.

Indian boom: India is now the world’s third largest seafarer supply country, the country’s shipping minister has announced. The Indian government says policy measures have increased the number of seafarers from 108,446 in 2013 to 154,349 today, and the country now provides 9.35% of the world’s seafarers. In a bid to expand numbers further, the government has lifted a ban on opening new pre-sea and post-sea institutes.

GPS alert: US maritime authorities have warned ships about the risk of ‘multiple instances of significant GPS interference’ in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Reports of interference, resulting in lost or altered GPS signals, have come from ships in Port Said, the Suez Canal, the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah, and near Cyprus.

MLC move: the United Arab Emirates says it is seeking to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention soon in response to a series of seafarer abandonment cases in its water. UAE authorities say that they have had to deal with 60 abandonment cases involving 300 seafarers in the last few years.

Ferry switch: after 30 years of cross-Channel service, the French freight ferry Nord Pas-de-Calais has been sold to Cyprus-based Vanessa Shipping and switched to the Cyprus flag. The 13,727gt vessel has been renamed Al Andalus Express and is now operating between Spain and Morocco.

Asbestos fine: Dutch firm Damen Ship Repair has been fined by a French court and ordered to the pay legal expenses of 12 former workers who fear they may have been exposed to asbestos while working on an Algerian LNG carrier.

Death leads to call for D&A review

P&O Ferries has been urged to review the enforcement of its drug and alcohol policy following an investigation into the death of a crew member on a vehicle deck on the 22,152gt ro-ro European Endeavour.

A report by the Irish Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) also recommends that the company review its working systems for unaccompanied trailer cargo operations. The seafarer died after being crushed by a trailer that he was guiding into position onboard the Bahamas-flagged ferry in the port of Dublin last June.

Investigators said the AB was found to have a ‘significant’ blood-alcohol level, above STCW limits, which ‘may have contributed to loss of concentration or impaired judgement’. The report notes that the cargo loading system means the driver of the tractor unit is unable to see the crew member guiding unaccompanied trailers into position and has to rely on whistles to raise alerts. ‘During this incident the driver did not have sight of the guide and the whistle system was not effective, either because no whistle was heard or the guide was not in a position to blow the whistle,’ it adds.

Lessons from fatal pilot boat capsize

Accident investigators have called for improved standards to govern pilot boats following an incident in which two people died when a launch capsized and sank after encountering ‘unexpected’ high waves up to 4m as it maneuvered to collect a pilot from the tanker Sten Nordic in the Gulf of Finland last year.

The Finnish Safety Investigation Authority found that the L-242 boat could lose up to 70% of its stability in such conditions and it warned of an absence of clear official standards covering the various ways in which commercial craft are used.

(with thanks to the NAUTILUS Telegraph)

Shipmaster faces prison sentence for grounding

A Turkish shipmaster is facing a six month prison sentence in France after prosecutors claimed his ‘gross negligence’ was to blame for the grounding of his vessel off the Brittany coast.

Brest Criminal Court heard that Captain Rifat Tahmaz had committed a ‘series of errors and mistakes’ before the Maltese-flagged general cargo ship TK Bremen ran aground and spilled 112 tonnes of oil in December 2011.

Prosecutor Jean-Philippe Recapé said: ‘There was a succession of bad decisions that should have been avoided by an experienced captain like Captain Tahmaz. His choice to leave the port of Lorient was a mistake, a real imprudence, and a fault. He endangered his ship, his crew and of course the environment through pollution.’

Calling for the master to be given a six-month suspended jail sentence and a fine of €20,000, prosecutors said he had failed to heed warnings of adverse conditions when he decided to take the ship to sea in ballast condition.

He had also failed to make a timely report to the shore authorities that the vessel was in difficulty.

Defence lawyer Stanislas Lequette said Capt Tahmaz had been asked to leave port to make way for another ship and had sought shelter after being advised by a pilot of the deteriorating conditions. Urging the court not to make the master a ‘scapegoat’, he said Capt Tahmaz had warned the port that the ship was drifting, but had been ‘abandoned’ by the authorities. The judgment has been reserved, and the court is set to deliver the verdict on 13 December.

(with thanks to the Nautilus Telegraph,

Operator fined $3.2 m for ‘magic pipe’

A German shipping company has been fined US$3.2m after being found guilty of obstructing justice and maintaining false records to conceal deliberate pollution from one of its ships.

The US Department of Justice said the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Marguerita, operated by Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH (MST), had discharged oily bilge waste through a ‘magic pipe’ bypass.

Prosecutors said the intentional discharges from the 27,674dwt vessel had occurred over a nine-month period. The company had been convicted in 2016 of falsifying an oil record book to cover up deliberate oily waste discharges from another of its ships – including discharges into the Great Lakes.

MST was additionally sentenced to four years of probation.

Smog generator fined