Seacurus Top Ten Daily News Stories 21/08/2014

Seacurus Top Ten Daily News Stories 21/08/2014

 

1. IMB Joins Cyber Warning Calls

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is calling for vigilance in the maritime sector as it emerges that shipping and the supply chain is the ‘next playground for hackers’. IMB said, “Recent events have shown that systems managing the movement of goods need to be strengthened against the threat of cyber-attacks. “It is vital that lessons learnt from other industrial sectors are applied quickly to close down cyber vulnerabilities in shipping and the supply chain.” The threat of cyber-attacks on the sector have intensified in the past few months with warnings of the dangers posed by criminals targeting carriers, ports, and terminals. http://goo.gl/KJiLYJ

 

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2. Arctic Risks Versus Rewards

Marine insurance companies are currently assessing the potential risks and rewards of insuring ships for transit through the Arctic. In recent years, receding polar ice caps and the development of nuclear icebreakers has made the shipping industry consider the possibility of dramatically cutting transit times on certain routes by navigating through the Arctic, rather than the traditional Suez and Panama Canal options. The northern sea route would cut the distance between Southeast Asia and Rotterdam to 6,900 nautical miles from 11,350 nautical miles and could potentially reduce the transit time by 10-15 days.

http://goo.gl/gZLH06

 

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3. Looking to Computer Captains

The BBC has been assessing whether computer control go some way to making shipping cleaner and more efficient. At any given moment, there are some 55,000 cargo ships at sea, plying the world’s oceans. They are transporting the goods and the groceries, fuels and food, cars and computers that form the backbone of global trade. But they also carry a heavy environmental cost when it comes to carbon emissions. Far from our big cities, less visible than our pollution-belching industries and motorways jammed with idling cars, giant cargo ships are also adding their considerable carbon footprint.

http://goo.gl/SK1mgY

 

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4. Owner Warns Its Ships on Piracy

Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) warned its affiliates to remain vigilant against rising piracy in Southeast Asia. Marine transport companies must strictly follow safety protocols and maintain frequent communications with their dispatchers, the state-owned corporation said in a statement. According to Vinalines, pirates operating in Southeast Asia seek cargo and tend not to hold hostages for ransom like Somali pirates. In Southeast Asia, at least six known cases of coastal tankers being hijacked for their diesel or petroleum cargo have been reported since April, sparking fears of a new trend in piracy attacks in the area.

http://goo.gl/t3nDoQ

 

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5. Killer Crew Translated

A chilling video of fishermen killing people in the water has emerged, and the Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese crew’s excited utterances have been picked over and translated by the organisation Human Rights at Sea (HRAS). The independent maritime human rights resource, has been provided with verified translations of crew comments made over mobile phone footage during the disturbing YouTube video showing the murder of seafarers in international waters. The footage has been reviewed by specialist translators working for the EAP Research and Information Centre, Voice of America as the crew look for their victims and despatch them.

http://goo.gl/eQJrKZ

 

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6. Ocean Patters Shifting Pollution

A new study of the ocean circulation patterns at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill reveals the significant role small-scale ocean currents play in the spread of pollutants. The findings provide new information to help predict the movements of oil and other pollutants in the ocean. Nearly two years after the Deepwater Horizon incident, scientists from the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE), conducted a drifter experiment in the northern Gulf of Mexico spill site to study small-scale ocean currents ranging from 100 meters to 100 kilometers.

http://goo.gl/TvSHLR

 

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7. Shifting Oil From Hormuz

Iran is considering the construction of a big oil terminal in the port city of Jask off the Sea of Oman in the south of the country. Reports from Tehran claim Pirouz Mousavi, managing director of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC), said that the construction of the oil terminal in Jask – which involves storage tanks, loading and unloading wharves, single-point moorings (SPM) as well as onshore and offshore facilities – would need an estimated US$2.5 billion in investment. He said Iran’s private sector as well as foreign companies may be invited to contribute to this project.

http://goo.gl/sgsy09

 

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8. National Lines an Endangered Species

The world of container shipping is not an easy business to make money in by anyone’s standards, but for what can be characterised as “national lines” the modern day landscape has been especially tough. The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is mulling exiting the sector, a decision not dissimilar to that made by Malaysia’s MISC two years back. Both companies operated national lines that held relatively small market positions, in MISC’s case 27th by slot capacity, SCI’s according to analyst Alphaliner 50th as of August 2014. While the national shipping company has become a thing of the past in the container sector the gas market still booms.

http://goo.gl/3YllRz

 

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9. Major Port Investment for Brazil

Brazil’s National Port Authority and Waterways has approved $1.73bn in port infrastructure works to be carried out by three local operators:  steelmaker CSN, container terminal operator Santos Brasil and US food and agribusiness firm Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). With the investments, CSN will extend its Itaguaí port terminal concession contract in Rio de Janeiro state and Santos Brasil will extend its Santos port contract in São Paulo state to 2047 from the original expiration date of 2022, local media reported. CSN’s $1.1bn project involves expanding its Tecar solid grain terminal with plans to export iron ore.

http://goo.gl/6WwD2t

 

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10. Somalia Still Isn’t Fixed

‘Driven by unemployment, youth in Somalia turned to piracy as a solution’ Mohamed Ali, director of the Iftiin Foundation, explains why Somalia’s employment situation borders on ‘catastrophic’ and how this problem has shaped the piracy explosion from the country. Driven by poverty and unemployment, youth in Somalia turned to piracy as a solution. It is has become abundantly clear that in an increasingly globalised world youth unemployment will have a global impact. In fragile communities like Somalia entrepreneurs are the key drivers of development. Without investment the youth could look to the seas again, and piracy as a solution. http://goo.gl/FUU3bT

 

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