Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 13/11/2015
1. Bad Maintenance Causing Damage
A new report from The Swedish Club shows that incorrect maintenance and repair continues to be the most frequent cause of main engine damage ā a trend which has continued unabated since the Club began monitoring the issue nearly ten years ago. Main Engine Damage investigates more than 1,000 Hull and Machinery claims relating to over 5,400 vessel years of statistics and its findings make interesting reading.
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2. Never Ending Demise
The dry bulk shipping sector seems to have been encased in a never ending demise scenario, unable to exit from. With rates constantly on backwards mode, ship prices follow suit. According to brokers, āthe sale of the M/V Churchill Bulker (179,362 dwt, blt ā11 HHI) to Diana for approximately $28.4m, brought us face to face with the harsh reality once again; values are down by at least 20% since mid-Augustā.
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3. Huge Pay Out for Pane Pain
A federal jury in Seattle awarded $21.5 million in damages to an Illinois man who was injured by an automatic sliding-glass door on a cruise ship in 2011. The verdict included $16.5 million in punitive damages. James Hausman’s attorneys argued during a nine-day trial that dozens of other passengers have been injured by the doors on Holland America Line cruises because of problems with their sensors. The company has denied that claim.
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4. Charities Tackling Trafficking
Apostleship of the Seaās (AoS) global network has called for concerted effort targeting sea and fishing ports worldwide to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking in the fishing and maritime industries. Ms Apinya Tajit, Deputy Director of AoS Sriracha in Thailand said ports have been identified as transit points not only for goods and passengers, but also for potential victims of trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation.
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5. Search for El Faro’s Bridge
At 15,000 feet deep, the wreck of the El Faro sits in one of the least explored places on earth, a lonely grave as deep as the Rocky Mountains are tall, with no light, crushing pressure, temperatures just above freezing and little life beyond microbes, giant worms and strange, tube-eyed fish. In such daunting conditions, federal investigators have turned to a sophisticated unmanned submersible as they continue to search for clues to the sinking off the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. Finding the recorder is critical to provide navigation data, and audio that could let investigators hear what the crew said during the ship’s last moments.
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6. Need to Fix Maritime Disputes
African maritime boundary disputes, unless resolved in a concerted and timely manner, will imperil both the short and long-term implementation of maritime policies and strategies. African states and stakeholders must prioritise boundary dispute resolution if vital maritime economic development is to occur. This brief first outlines the background against which maritime boundary disputes occur in Africa, and explores why such disputes are a threat to maritime security.
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7. Migrants Look to the Sky
The ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean shows how indispensable satellite technology has become to those involved in saving lives at sea. But itās not just about search and rescue; space hardware plays a crucial role in all aspects of maritime security, including anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and anti-drugs operation, as well as environmental and fisheries protection and a host of miscellaneous missions. For the Guardia Costiera search and rescue relies heavily on satellite technologies.
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8. No Compromise on Safety
Companies must not compromise critical industry assets in their endeavour to reduce costs, said experts at the ADIPEC Offshore and Marine Conference. Experts also emphasised that companies and contractors who choose to cut health, safety, and environment (HSE) funds risk suffering serious consequences and even greater cost implications.
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9. New Gas Charter
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has concluded another time-charter contract for a new VLGC with Astomos Energy Corporation, the giant Japanese LPG firm. The new VLGC will be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018. After delivery, the ship will be assigned to a service designated in a five-year time-charter contract, and NYK and Astomos will then have 12 VLGCs in operation under time-charter contracts.
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10. Laid Up Landmark
The global fleet of containerships above 500 twenty-foot-equivalent units made idle has breached the 1 million TEU mark amid depressed containership market, according to Alphaliner. Just in the last two weeks, a total of 35 ships of 109,000 TEUs were made idle. The volume of idle capacity doubled since September, when idling of containerships across the global fleet reached the 500,00 TEU capacity mark, a new high for 2015.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd ā providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
Best regards,
S Jones
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