Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 10/03/2015
1. Maersk Collision in Houston Channel
The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed a vessel collision on the Houston Ship Channel involving the bulk carrier MV Conti Peridot carrying a cargo of steel and the chemical tanker Carla Maersk carrying 216,000 bbls of MTBE. The Coast Guard says the Carla Maersk is now listing and that upwards of three port cargo tanks may have been breached.This follows a collision last week which briefly shut portion of the channel.
———————————————————————————
2. Realities of Shipping Stress Environmental Impact
The fact that shipping is a truly international industry poses problems when trying to limit its environmental impact.The OECD’s International Transport Forum says that from 2010 to 2050, international trade-related CO2 emissions are likely to quadruple, overtaking the output of passenger traffic, as larger volumes of goods funnel to new, more distant markets. Sea freight emissions are still expected to see a 238 per cent increase to the middle of the century.
———————————————————————————
3. Marshall Islands Set to Make Gains
The Marshall Islands ship registry (RMI) is now the third largest in the shipping business, having grown by 17% during 2014. As of the end of February 2015, the Registry stood at nearly 118 million GT and over 3,400 vessels”. The RMI Registry is reaching the top position in the Greek market, gaining more than 43% of the gross tonnage and nearly 55% of the total number of vessels gained overall – nearly 40% of the bulk carriers in the RMI fleet are Greek.
———————————————————————————
4. Ships Warned of Theft Threat
Commercial ships passing through the Malacca and Singapore straits have been warned to be alert for possible theft by local people and pirates while traversing Asia’s busiest straits. The Indonesian Navy’s Western Armada Sea Security Group (Guskamla Armabar) commander, Cmdr. Abdul Rasyid Kacong, said that based on information from seafarers, the straits were vulnerable to theft by locals using pancung (small wooden boats).
———————————————————————————
5. Iranian Navy to the Rescue
The Iranian Navy has rescued a Filipino-flagged cargo ship from pirates in the Oman Sea. The vessel "Panama-Gade" was under way in the Oman Sea on 8 March when it was chased for several hours by a number of motorised vessels equipped with light weapons. The Iranian Navy picked up the vessel’s distress call and immediately dispatched naval ships to the vicinity. The pirates fled the scene upon seeing the naval vessels.
———————————————————————————
6. Even Happy Tanker Owners Need to be Careful
VLCCs and Suezmaxes are generating strong cash flows and charterers are rushing to procure tonnage in an increasingly tight market. Commentators estimate that 40-50 older VLCCs have been commissioned on long-term charters to store crude. Clyde & Co have been assessing the potential legal concerns with tankers being used for floating storage – even though Tanker owners see less risk in their tankers sitting stationary than sailing the high seas.
———————————————————————————
7. Learning Lessons From Ebola
The head of the Liberia Maritime Authority Mr. Binyah Kesselly, has outlined several lessons Liberia learned from the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus and trumpeted guides which could help the country better prepare any future possible outbreak of the epidemic. Commissioner Kesselly, said it is important for government to put in place emergency preparedness and contingency Planning while fortifying inter-agency collaboration.
———————————————————————————
8. Million People Waiting to Leave Libya
Fabrice Leggeri, executive director of the European Union (EU) border control organisation Frontex claims that between 500,000 and 1 million migrants are ready to leave Libya. Earlier in the week, Peter Hinchliffe, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, warned the IMO-hosted High-level Meeting to Address Unsafe Mixed Migration by Sea that up to 450,000 people might need to be rescued at sea this year.
———————————————————————————
9. Criminalisation Begins to Raise Its Head
Capt. Jake DesVergers, chief surveyor for International Yacht Bureau (IYB), has been speaking out on the way in which commercial shipping problems can dog the super yacht industry. Indeed, the next trend which could become more commonplace is the criminalisation of the seafarer. DesVergers stresses that the regulations that used to only affect the big ships, eventually (sometimes painfully) and increasingly trickle their way into yachting too.
———————————————————————————
10. Shipping Slow to Embrace Women
The global maritime community is probably the most culturally diverse industry there is, yet it lags behind many other industries in the number of women in top-level positions and in the integration of women into jobs at sea. A recent report indicates that Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) have the highest number of female senior managers in the maritime industry (26 percent). G7 countries follow with 18 percent.
———————————————————————————
Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
Best regards,
S Jones
Seacurus Ltd
Registered in England No. 5201529
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
A Barbican Group company
Telephone: +44 191 4690859
Facsimile: +44 191 4067577
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.seacurus.com
Registered Office: Suite 3, Level 3,
Baltic Place West, Baltic Place,
South Shore Road,
Gateshead,
NE8 3BA,
United Kingdom
This message, and any associated files, are intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it was addresses and may contain information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message, or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately.
