Top Ten Maritime News Stories 03/03/2016

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 03/03/2016

 

1. Shipping Shaping its Future

ABS’ Kirsi Tikka addressed an industry audience at Immediasea on some of the innovation and sustainability challenges facing our industry and how we might respond. Shipping faces challenges far beyond the need to just be financially sustainable. Themes of innovation and disruption have become commonplace but the outcome is more often a good headline than something that owners, managers, builders or class can apply in practice. Shipping is driven more by short-term market fundamentals than it is by the application of new ideas — at least in ship design, construction and operation. So we need to shape a vision for the future.

https://goo.gl/xQha3C

 

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2. Baltic Rises, As Capesizes Fall

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose further on Wednesday, on improved rates for panamaxes and smaller vessels. The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping resources including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser rose three points to 335 points. The index has lost about 97 percent of its value from a peak of 11,793 in May 2008, but has slightly recovered after touching an all-time low of 290 points on Feb. 10. The capesize index shed three points to 171 points, touching a new all-time low. Average daily earnings for capsizes fell $36 to $2,291.

http://goo.gl/jD8qXW

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3. New Giant Subsidiary

China’s newly formed China Cosco Shipping Corporation Limited (Coscocs) has created a subsidiary solely to handle the container shipping business. Coscocs, a merger of state-owned China Cosco Group and China Shipping Group, has launched China Lines, and the new subsidiary will focus on operating and leasing out container ships. China Lines, however, is not expected to be fully operational until July this year, the source revealed, explaining that the new entity still needs some time to sort out internal matters. Coscocs plans to achieve a 2m teu container shipping capacity by end-2018, up from the current 1.58m teu.

http://goo.gl/MlGcGn

 

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4. The Lifeboat Hook Quandry

While the replacement of non-compliant on-load release hooks in conventional lifeboats is now well underway, identical hooks fitted in rescue boats may go unnoticed as they are not subject to the same regulations. In 1986 it became mandatory for hooks fitted in conventional lifeboats onboard ships to have on-load release mechanisms. Since that time, lifeboats and rescue boats using on-load release hooks have been involved in a large number of accidents during mandatory emergency training on board ships. However, the safety of lifeboats and rescue boats remains a concern.

http://goo.gl/pKZUdW

 

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5. Bulker Arrested in Singapore

The handy size bulk carrier "Magic Orient" has been arrested in Singapore, according to the latest records from the Supreme Court of Singapore. The arrest took place on Monday February 29, 2016 at 8pm local time following action by local law firm Haridass Ho & Partners. The circumstances leading to the arrest are currently unknown, but such action is common in instances of payment dispute. The 1995 built 28,400 dwt vessel is owned by South Korea’s Boyang Shipping, according to data from VesselsValue.com, who value Magic Orient at its scrap value of $1.36 million. The Singapore arrest follows that of, Ao Hong Ma, last month.

http://goo.gl/wxR3yP

 

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6. List of Powerful Greek Owners

Greek businesses control 15.2% of ships in the global transport fleet and 15.1% of the capacity, which means 1,752 ships of the 11,555 ships in total around the world. The Greek cargo ship owners with the most powerful fleets are: Petros Pappas, of Star Bulk with 77 ships, Aggeliki Fragou, of Navios with 71 ships, Peter Georgiopoulos, of Genmar-Genco with 70 ships, Giorgos Oikonomou with Cardif and Dryships with 56 ships, Giannis Aggelikousis with 47 ships, Simon Palios, of Diana Shipping with 43 ships, Thodoris Veniamis, of Golden Union with 39 ships Markos Nomikos of Nomikos A.M. Transworld Maritime with 37 ships.

http://goo.gl/iFBrXR

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7. Shipping from Space

For an industry that is losing money on almost every transaction, the world’s commodity shippers are remarkably busy grabbing any cargo they can get their hands on. From space, where satellites track ship movements, it all appears like the market is booming, data compiled by Bloomberg show. At giant iron-ore loading terminals in Brazil and Australia, millions of tons are loaded each month on vessels that come and go like clockwork. Along the coastlines of China, Singapore and even Greece, the picture is the same: little waiting about. But all that movement is a consequence of weakness, not strength.

http://goo.gl/wzAdiw

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8. Superyacht Destroyed by Slip

Online footage shows a newly built vessel being lowered into the water by a crane aboard a larger ship. But as the beautiful boat descends it starts to turn in the air as the two lines lowering it edge closer together. With the nose of the yacht dipping, the cargo ship crew shout "no" moments before the unthinkable happens. Then the vessel slips its cables and – with its stern now hanging over the larger craft – the two collide with an almighty clang. With that it tumbles into the water on its side before coming to rest upside down its luxury interior underwater. The ruined yacht was worth millions of dollars before the accident.

http://goo.gl/xVJYYd

 

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9. Bulk Carrier Capsizes

Chinese bulk carrier "Bao Jiang 88" capsized and sank on 2 nautical miles off Yangshan Port of Shanghai during proceeding at Jinshan fairway. The vessel was en route from Ningbo to Nanjing, carrying 4,600 tons of iron ore with 12 crew members on board. The bulk carrier Bao Jiang 88 capsized after cargo shift, due to not well trimmed product into the hold. The vessel started improving list rapidly, when proceeded through fairway and crew was unable to save the seaworthiness of the ship. All the 12 Chinese seamen abandoned the Chinese bulk carrier into liferaft, seeing vessel capsizing after several minutes.

http://goo.gl/t1MyGd

 

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10. Further Sanctions against North Korea

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted the US-led resolution that imposes new sanctions and tightens some of its existing measures against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The strengthened measures come in response to the country’s ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities that “threaten international peace and security,” the UN Security Council said. The new resolution requires UN member states to inspect all cargo to and from the DPRK, not just those suspected of containing prohibited items. Also states shall deny entry into their ports of any vessel suspected of carrying prohibited items.

http://goo.gl/qY0M4i

 

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