Seacurus Top Ten Daily News Stories 22/08/2014

Seacurus Top Ten Daily News Stories 22/08/2014

 

1. German Owners Ponder Exodus
German shipping could be hit hard by large-scale out-flagging unless the framework conditions for German-flagged ships are aligned more with other European quality registers, Ralf Nagel, CEO of the German Shipowners Association, tells ShippingWatch.
The German Shipowners Association, Verband Deutscher Reeder, VDR, warns the federal government of a large-scale out-flagging unless the rules for German and European crews working on German-flagged ships are eased.
http://goo.gl/x2ivAi

 

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2. Russian Sanctions Hit Shippers
Sanctions which have been placed by Russia in light of the ongoing Ukrainian situation are beginning to have a knock on effect on world shipping. Maersk Line has taken the step of warning customers that the sanctions issued by Russia against the US, Canada, the European Union, Australia and Norway may require the return of a “significant amount of cargo” to customers unprepared for the sanctions.
The company believes that cargoes of fruit, vegetables, milk products and meat will be particularly affected. If cargoes are rejected by the consignee or the authorities then they will be re-exported back to origin, with all charges on shippers’ account.
http://goo.gl/hkEia0

 

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3. Union Donating Food To Abandoned Crew

Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (S.I.U), has donated funds to the crew via the SIU/ITF Inspector to aid the twelve Turkish sailors aboard the Panamanian flagged vessel, the "Phoenix Sun".  The Phoenix Sun has been docked in Sorel, Quebec, for the last two years.  It has become such an eye-sore for residents that they recently signed a petition for its removal.  The Turkish crew was flown in to Sorel to help restore the vessel to sailing condition so that its owners could remove it.  Since arriving in Sorel, the twelve Turkish sailors have been left without wages.  To worsen matters, they are now without food. 

http://goo.gl/OJZpZQ

 

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4. Insurance Concerned About People Smuggling
Insurers are studying the implications of the dreadful people smuggling incident in a UK port where one man died and 34 others were rescued from a container unloaded at Tilbury Docks in the UK. Shipping and haulage firms, concerned about future similar incidents, are looking hard at their insurance policies.
Neil Smith head of underwriting at the Lloyd’s Market Association said liability would, on the whole, fall on a shipping firm that carried any illegal persons into the country, be it in a container or by other means.
http://goo.gl/pkvs05

 

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5. Suplhur Limits Cause for Concern
As time draws closer to an IMO regulatory deadline in 2020, concerns over the strictest fuel sulphur content limit regulation have continued to heighten, market players were heard saying at a industry seminar. The key concern is the availability of ultra-low sulphur fuel or distillates to meet fuel consumption demands by the global fleet of vessels, industry players said at a VPS Marine Fuel Management Seminar held in Singapore last Friday. The IMO is enforcing a 0.50% limit on fuel sulphur content globally on 1 January 2020, with a review in 2018 to decide if this deadline can be extended to 2025. Simon Neo, executive director at Singapore-based Piroj International, said that even if the deadline is extended to 2025, the issue of availability may still not be resolved.
http://goo.gl/XOuLpd

 

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6. Tanker Reappears Without Cargo
A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan reappeared unladen on Aug. 19 about 30 kilometres off the coast of Israel, ship tracking data on Reuters showed. This is the second time the Kamari has appeared in the area in the last two weeks carrying Kurdish oil. The tanker Kamari was partly laden north of Egypt’s Sinai on Aug. 17, tracking showed, before it turned off its satellite transponder until early on Aug. 19. It was not possible to determine where the oil had been delivered to or who the buyer was.
http://goo.gl/WrBjkR

 

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7. World’s Most Expensive Tanker
VesselsValue.com has released its next infographic in a series focusing on the most expensive live vessels.  This week looks at the most expensive tanker vessels, which is not a VLCC, but a Jones Act aframax. The 115,000-deadweight-ton "Liberty Bay" is 820 feet long and has capacity to carry 800,000 barrels of oil.  To be Jones Act, a ship must be U.S. built, owned, crewed, classed and flagged. The cost to build vessels in the U.S. is 3-4 times more than Korean or Japanese yards, due primarily to higher labor costs. Hence the values of Jones Act vessels being substantially higher than for non-Jones Act vessels of the same type, size, age.

http://goo.gl/lmZjqJ

 

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8. Government Cuts Herald Safety Challenge

Life-saving measures introduced after the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster could be removed under new government proposals. The regulations were introduced to prevent similar tragedies after the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized on March 6, 1987 – resulting in 193 deaths. Now a document suggests some of these safety measures should be scrapped, including weighing cargo prior to loading and passenger ferries being required to carry an emergency equipment locker. This is part of the Red Tape Challenge, an initiative to get rid of "unnecessary" legislation.

http://goo.gl/Sh2BbP

 

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9. Singapore Arrest Judgement Upheld

The Singapore High Court has upheld a previous judgement which struck out an action undertaken by Singapore based bunkering group Transocean Oil Pte Ltd against the troubled Korean shipping group STX Pan Ocean and also set aside the arrest of that company’s vessel the "STX Mumbai", a 2,742 TEU container ship and the third company vessel to be arrested in Singapore in a three week spell in mid 2013.  In some good news for the vessel’s owners the judge also ordered an inquiry into the damages it suffered after ruling that action was struck out because the vessel was arrested before the alleged debt fell due.

http://goo.gl/MtUo05

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10. Maersk Stowaways Monkeying Around

A container ship heading from Malaysia to the Netherlands has some uninvited guests: monkeys.  The monkeys came aboard the Maersk Line container vessel "Eugen Maersk" while it was docked in Malaysia, according to a company spokesman. After the ship’s crew noticed the stowaways, they contacted the Copenhagen Zoo, sending experts there photos of the monkeys to determine how to handle, feed and care for their uninvited guests.  Zoo experts identified them as most likely long-tailed macaque monkeys. The stowaways likely include one older male, one younger male, likely two females and one youngster, according to the company. 

http://goo.gl/rMZRmx

 

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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions  www.seacurus.com