Top Ten Maritime News Stories 12/02/2016

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 12/02/2016

 

1. Massive LNG Merger

The High Court of Justice in England and Wales has today sanctioned the scheme of arrangement between the Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group, the two companies confirmed., It is expected that the effective date of the scheme will be Monday 15 February 2016, which is when the court order is expected to be delivered to the registrar of companies. Trading in BG Shares on the London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities will be suspended with effect from 6.00 p.m., 12 February 2016. The USD 52 billion merger will create the world’s largest LNG producer – that could potentially each generate $15-$20 billion of cash flow.

http://goo.gl/tpEzfF

 

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2. Owners in Employee Talks

The International Chamber of Shipping, as the Secretariat for the Shipowner Group at the International Labour Organization, co-ordinated employers’ representatives from over 20 national shipowners’ associations at the second meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) for the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, held in Geneva from 8 to 10 February 2016. The STC agreed to a Shipowner Group proposal to harmonise provisions related to the renewal of Maritime Labour Certificates after shipowners concerns about difficulties with port State control as a result of any delay in issuance of the renewed Maritime Labour Certificate. http://goo.gl/w51OSa

 

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4. US and India Maritime Action

The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that a U.S. defence official said could include the disputed South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the waterway. Washington wants its regional allies and other Asian nations to take a more united stance against China over the South China Sea, where tensions have spiked in the wake of Beijing’s construction of seven man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago. India and the United States have ramped up military ties in recent years, holding naval exercises in the Indian Ocean that last year involved the Japanese navy.

http://goo.gl/toXT7p

 

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5. NATO Tackling Migrants

NATO ships are on their way to the Aegean Sea to help Turkey and Greece crack down on criminal networks smuggling refugees into Europe, the alliance’s top commander said on Thursday. Hours after NATO defence ministers agreed to use their maritime force in the eastern Mediterranean to help combat traffickers, Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove said he was working quickly to design the mission. "We are sailing the ships in the appropriate direction," Breedlove told a news conference, and the mission plan would be refined during the time they were en route. "That’s about 24 hours," he said.

http://goo.gl/YeOL68

 

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6. Battered in North Sea

Dramatic footage filmed 100 miles out at sea has emerged showing what it’s like on a large ship during a major storm.  The video, filmed during Storm Gertrude from the bridge of a ship on January 29, shows powerful surges of water crashing against the rescue vessel as it rocks and sways over the waves. Graeme Hatley, chief officer aboard the ERRV (Emergency Response & rescue Vessel), captured footage of the 150ft-long, 1,100 tonne ship being thrown around in rough seas. The 49-year-old, who has worked on the rescue boats for more than 25 years, said he has seen "much worse".

http://goo.gl/Pr3JA2

 

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7. Maersk and Recycling

The Maersk Group has released a statement saying that it is determined to use its leverage to create more responsible ship recycling options. With more vessels to recycle in the future, the current cost of sustainable ship recycling is not feasible, the statement says, so the group is committing to help selected ship recycling yards in Alang, India, to upgrade facilities and practices to comply with the company’s standards. The market for ship recycling is dominated by practices unchanged for decades, says Maersk. Out of the total 768 ships recycled globally in 2015, 469, representing 74 percent of the total gross tonnage scrapped, were beached. http://goo.gl/mGFs1O

 

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8. Bright Future for Solar Ships

Solar Frontier K.K (Solar Frontier) Thursday announced that its CIS solar panels have been installed on a vessel owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line), said to be the carrier’s newest environmentally friendly transport ship. "K Line is demonstrating how solar energy can improve the energy efficiency and reduce the ecological impact of the shipping industry," said Atsuhiko Hirano, CEO of Solar Frontier. "This is one example of the greater role that solar energy has to play in our future, supporting an ever broader range of technologies in a wider range of industries."

http://goo.gl/qw6iJn

 

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9. Stowaways Found on Tanker

It was early morning, late last month (January), when the captain of a motor tanker, MT TORM MARINS, spotted unusual movement on the rudder trunk of his vessel. His awareness led him to discover three persons on the ship, who were not part of his crew, and immediately called Naval authority in charge of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Apapa, who responded by sending some personnel to the ship. There, they found the three stowaways. They had secretly boarded the ship as it departed from the National Oil Jetty (NOJ), Apapa, where it had gone to discharge petroleum product.

http://goo.gl/IHEUEc

 

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10. Recovering Unpaid Wages

The Singapore Maritime Officers Union (SMOU) recovered SGD2.7m ($1.94m) in unpaid crew wages over the last 13 months. As much of the shipping industry endures tough times cases of unpaid and stranded seafarers unfortunately tend to increase. Speaking at the Union’s Lunar New Year Luncheon on Thursday, Mary Liew, general secretary of SMOU said: “SMOU will also continue to step up efforts to ensure fair payment for our stranded seafarers and members in need. Since last year up till the end of January this year, we have successfully claimed SGD2.7m ($1.94m) in backdated wages and claims in grievance cases.”

http://goo.gl/Ku2eC2

 

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