Seacurus Daily Top Ten Maritime News Stories 05/11/2014

Seacurus Daily Top Ten Maritime News Stories 05/11/2014

 

1. Reasons to be Fearful

As of the 1st January 2015 the sulphur limit in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will take a highly significant drop from 1% to 0.1%. It may only look like a small number but this shift will have a high impact. Fathom cTech’s have listed the top 10 reasons why ship operators should be nervous about the sulphur challenge. First the rising bunker costs, rising cost of transportation, the practicality of retrofitting vessels, mechanical problems from fuel switching, fuel availability, loss of vessel power, competitive disadvantage, changes to bunker delivery notes, lubricant: Switching plus Supply & Demand, and Vessel Adaptation Costs.  

http://goo.gl/cJTXUV

 

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2. Ebola Aid Ships Quarantined

Ships returning to the U.S. after taking aid cargos to Ebola affected areas, may find themselves having to fly the black and yellow L Lima flag, signifying that they are in quarantine, when they return to U.S. waters. The Keystone-managed "Cape Rise", part of the Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Force fleet has been activated and has been loading supplies in Beaumont, TX, to take to Liberia. Maritime union M.E.B.A. says that it appears that, as a precaution, crew members will be quarantined aboard the ship for 21 days following cargo delivery – though much of that time will be spent at sea on the voyage home.

http://goo.gl/RwdjoC

 

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3. Guidelines Emerge to Assist MLC Safety

Recognising the special needs of seafarers, experts have agreed on guidelines to assist governments to implement Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) provisions previously set down in the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). Intended to provide supplementary practical information to be reflected in national laws and other measures, the OSH guidelines deal with the special maritime working environment. This includes demanding physical working conditions; potentially hazardous tasks; isolation; long hours of work; rigid organisational structures; and high levels of stress and fatigue.

http://goo.gl/ZlT9OI

 

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4. Greek Orderbook Continues to Grow

On 10 October 2014 the Greek newbuilding orderbook stood at some 537 ships of 48.2m dwt. By 1 November, the confirmed orderbook had grown by 14 ships and 1.2m dwt, according to Naftiliaki’s most recent research of the Greek shipping’s newbuilding programme. Athens-based Naftiliaki puts a conservative estimate on the investment tied to these newbuilding projects at $27bn. Bulk carriers and tankers dominate the book, but the growing interest in a wider variety of ships types, including gas carriers, container ships, offshore supply vessels and drilling rigs, makes the orderbook an extremely interesting one.

http://goo.gl/sCdDXL

 

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5. Case of a Bridge Hitting a Ship

Usually it’s the other way round. But the National Transportation Safety Board has issued a report on an accident in which a bridge hit a ship — and came off the worst for it. The incident occurred when Interlake Steamship Co.’s  bulk carrier Herbert C. Jackson was cleared for passage through the Jefferson Avenue Bridge over the Rouge River southwest of Detroit, when, according to the NTSB, "the bridge tender, who was legally intoxicated at the time, lowered the drawbridge, striking the bulk carrier’s bow." Damage to the vessel was estimated at $5,000, damage to the drawbridge, was estimated at $50 million.

http://goo.gl/hvzJYV

 

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6. Free Seafarers Enjoy Living Once More

The sailors who landed in Mumbai on Monday after four years in captivity said they thanked their stars for being able to get out alive. Some of them had even lost hopes of being released.  On Tuesday, they relaxed with their families, some of them going for outings and visiting temples. Their medical and psychological evaluation continued at an undisclosed hotel where they are put up. Bhim Singh (40) from Visakhapatnam said his return has “marked a new chapter” in his life and he will try to make the best of this time. “I am extremely happy to be with my family after losing all hopes of being reunited with them".

http://goo.gl/eayckk

 

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7. LNG Bunkers Pick Up Pace

LNG as a ship fuel has been discussed in shipping for approximately five years now. Nevertheless, the first non-gas-carrier to run on LNG – the Glutra – was a ferry and came into service in Norway as early as in 2000. It lasted for 13 years until the first LNG-fuelled vessels not operating in Norwegian waters came into service in 2013. Now, LNG as a ship fuel is spreading into worldwide commercial shipping. Today, more than 50 LNG-fuelled ships are in service and six of them operate outside Norway. this year was the irst time that the order book for LNG-fuelled ships contained more ships than the number of ships in operation using LNG as fuel. http://goo.gl/NW9T9i

 

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8. Shocking Safety Failings Emerge

More than half of ships involved in the 100 largest oil spills of the past three decades were registered in states that consistently fail to comply with international safety and environmental standards, UBC researchers have determined. The research also found one-third of the current global oil tanker fleet are flying the flags of states with poor marine safety records — what they term "flags of non-compliance." "Vessels flying flags of non-compliance create more problems than the rest of the global fleet," observes Rashid Sumaila, co-author of the study and director of UBC’s Fisheries Economics Research Unit (FERU).

http://goo.gl/4xYdcX

 

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9. Shipowners Inserting Ebola Clauses

As Ebola persists in West Africa, shipping lines and traders are tweaking their contracts to protect themselves if the disease puts crews at risk of infection or prevents vessels calling at affected ports. Ebola has not yet forced ports to close, but uncertainties about the spread of the virus are adding to legal and financial concerns for those involved in shipping oil, cocoa and minerals from the region. Iron ore miners have already been hit by logistics problems exacerbated by the Ebola outbreak. “Ebola clauses have now become a very common phenomenon,” said a senior freight manager with a leading commodities trader. http://goo.gl/QyGQzC

 

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10. Last Lost Soul on Concordia Found

Salvage workers have found human remains of what is believed to be the last victim of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia that sank in January 2012, according to Italian Coast Guard. The remains were found on deck eight, previously inaccessible by divers. The discovered remains are believed to pertain to Russel Rebello, an Indian who worked as a waiter on the ship. On two separate occasions divers believed to had found the remains of the last missing victim, however medical tests proved the opposite. The family is now pending DNA tests for confirmation of the finding so as to be able to give his brother a “final resting place".  

http://goo.gl/tUSjyX

 

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