Top Ten Maritime News Stories 08/12/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 08/12/2015

 

1. Hard Aground in Sunda Strait

The 4,500 teu "Hanjin Aqua" remains hard aground in Indonesia’s Sundra Strait. The Korean vessel ran aground off Sangiang island on Friday. It has 2,303 boxes onboard and was travelling from Adelaide to Jakarta when it ran into difficulty. The ship has listed and local reports suggest the hull has breached although there is no danger of the ship sinking. The local coastguard is on the scene assessing the situation. A Hanjin spokesperson confirmed to Splash this morning that the ship still cannot move. “There is no reported casualties or marine pollution and the cause of the accident is currently under investigation,” the spokesperson said.

http://goo.gl/z5yAsC

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2. Inexorable Collision Unfolds

On Friday, December 3, 2015, the DFDS ro-ro ferry "Primula Seaways" collided with the car carrier "City of Rotterdam" off Immingham, England on the approach to the River Humber. Damage was sustained by both vessels.  The incident has been subject of a number of photos and also an AIS re-enactment. The accident is under investigation by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch. Commentators have expressed utter surprise and shock at how seemingly ridiculous the collision seems – as the vessels move inexorably together, with neither seemingly doing the right thing to clear up the mess before they came together so dramatically.  
http://goo.gl/nTUu7J

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3. Another 900 Jobs Go

National Oilwell Varco, an American offshore equipment manufacturer, is slashing another 900 jobs at its bases in Norway. The 900 job losses add to 1,500 cuts NOV had announced in Norway earlier this year. NOV’s workforce in Norway will have halved by the end of this year. Houston-head NOV is a drilling technology firm and specialist in offshore cranes. It acquired Norway’s Hydralift 13 years ago. Norway has been especially hard hit by the drop in global oil prices this year with more than 20,000 Norwegian oil and gas staff axed in 2015. Globally, more than 250,000 offshore-related redunandacies have been announced this year.

http://goo.gl/HRnDzT

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4. ClassNK Embraces Big Data

Leading classification society ClassNK announced that it established Ship Data Center Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, a wholly owned subsidiary that aims to support the utilization of data gathered from ship operations. The Data Center will be headed by ClassNK Executive Vice President Yasushi Nakamura. Thanks to rapid advances in the development of information and communication technologies, it is now possible to collect large volumes of data on a diverse range of items related to ship operations. However, the approach to data capture is still very fragmented with similar data being sent to several vendors and analysis still being carried out almost entirely on a ship-by-ship basis.

http://goo.gl/0tb63U

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5. Seafarer Suicide in Office

A 31-year-old seafarer committed suicide by hanging himself at a crewing office in Manila on Saturday. The 31-year-old, John Elejan, was found hanging with a green water hose around his neck at the offices of Status Maritime Corporation. He was proclaimed dead on arrival at a nearby hospital late Saturday afternoon.The seafarer had been made redundant from the company due to unspecified “bad behaviour”. Recent reports from Swansea University show that seafaring as a career has the second highest rate of suicide in the world after coal mining.

http://goo.gl/nPgi5i

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6. Maersk Embraces New Management Tools

Maersk has chosen to implement DNV GL’s ship management software on its owned fleet of 275 vessels. By April 2017, 8,000 company employees will be using the software around the world. The software will allow crew to maintain a single database of shipboard operations, including purchasing, repairs, consumables, and many other variables affecting costs and efficiency. Shoreside staff will be able to analyze ship and fleet performance and to view the same data available shipboard. Regulations motivated the selection of a new ship management system, said Sebastiaan Van den Wijngaert, Senior Project Manager at Maersk Line IT. “

http://goo.gl/QNSGCA

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7. NORTH Reserves Grow

Directors at Newcastle-based North Group – one of the world’s biggest shipping insurance mutuals – have revised their projection for the group’s year-end free reserve up to £251m, a 12% boost on last year. The free reserve is an indication of financial strength, with a large reserve meaning the group is in a better position to respond to a bad claims year and to avoid asking shipowners for additional premiums. Newcastle’s North of England P&I Association North (NEPIA) merged with Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance last year in a deal which created the North P&I Club, the biggest global firm of its kind.

http://goo.gl/LGGjvB

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8. Boxes Tumble off Barge

The U.S. Coast Guard will continue to search for large containers that fell off a barge between Port Canaveral and West Palm Beach on Sunday. The 340-foot container ship Columbia Elizabeth was headed to Puerto Rico when up to 25 containers fell overboard.  One of the containers washed ashore in Port Canaveral. The Coast Guard says the containers were carrying batteries. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident and plans to launch an aircraft to begin searching for the containers at sunrise. Marine traffic has been warned to be careful of debris.

http://goo.gl/5JIcvI

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9. Ferry Blown Across Harbour

The cross-Tyne Shields ferry "Spirit of the Tyne" has to be rescued by Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat volunteers in a dramatic mission after the ferry’s engine failed near the end of its final 1km river crossing of the day from North Shields to South Shields, downriver from Newcastle. As the lifeboat was being launched the Port of Tyne Pilot launch Collingwood managed to evacuate the three passengers and a crew member from the ferry, leaving just the skipper who was desperately trying to get the ferry’s engine restarted. The drifting ferry was then carried several hundred yards downriver by the powerful wind and current until it was caught on the river bank.

http://goo.gl/fEszws

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10. Vessels Well Kitted for ECDIS Deadline

The global large cargo ship fleet is well prepared for July 2016 ECDIS regulations and ECDIS adoption accelerates among global tanker fleet. Over half of ships trading internationally are living with ECDIS, according to the latest figures published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). Of an estimated 41,500 internationally trading ships around the world, 24,300 or 58% are now using charts on ECDIS as a result of the SOLAS-mandated carriage of ECDIS, which is being introduced on a rolling timetable for different ship types and sizes, 45% of all ships that are subject to the SOLAS regulations are ECDIS ready.

http://goo.gl/upcNWm

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