Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 21/06/2016
1. Industry Not Ready for Weighing
Helle Hammer, Managing Director Cefor & Chair of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) Political Forum discuss about Container Weighing Rules. As of 1 July 2016, only containers with a verified gross mass will be allowed to be loaded on board a vessel (although IMO is allowing a grace period of three months). Although the new SOLAS requirement was adopted in 2014, many shippers and forwarders are still unprepared, and masters will have little choice but to refuse unverified containers. Non-compliance is likely to affect risk exposure due to disturbances in the supply chain and delays.
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2. Denmark Getting Tough on Emissions
Denmarkâs Environment and Food Ministry has reported five shipping lines to the police for violating the stricter requirements for shipsâ emissions of sulfur. âControl and enforcement of sulfur rules are important â both for our health, for the environment and to avoid unequal competition for law-abiding companies. The economic gain of cheating is great. Therefore, we have put in with a reinforced control of sulfur in ship fuel, âsaid environmental and food minister Esben Lunde Larsen. Checks are carried out by the Danish Maritime Authority on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency with oil samples being taken.
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3. New Piracy Transit Corridor
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed to designate a transit corridor for commercial vessels crossing a maritime zone hit by a spate of hijackings by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines. Nearly 20 Indonesian and Malaysian tugboat crew have been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militants this year, with Jakarta airing fears that the problem could reach levels seen off the coast of Somalia. Alarmed at the frequency of attacks, port authorities in some areas of Indonesia, particularly Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, have stopped issuing permits to ships taking coal to the southern Philippines.
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4. New Suez Price List
Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority has set new toll rates for oil tankers as part of a six-month experiment that came into effect on Thursday, it said on its website. Very large crude carriers (VLCCs) transitting the canal from the Arabian Gulf after discharging at the SUMED oil pipeline will be charged $155,000 if they are carrying more than 250,000 in deadweight tonnage. VLCCs are to pay $230,000 on their return ballast trip. The canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency. Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 uprising scared away tourists and foreign investors.
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5. EU Extends Libya Mission
The European Union extended its naval operation to combat people-smuggling gangs in the Mediterranean Sea by a year and added two new tasks for the blocâs military: training the countryâs naval forces and stopping weapons reaching Islamic State. The blocâs naval missionâdubbed Operation Sophiaâwas set up to fight human smuggling by gathering intelligence, arresting smugglers and destroying their boats after rescuing migrants. The EU said the naval operation has already saved the lives of 16,000 people attempting to cross to Europe, according to senior EU officials.
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6. Wan Hai Buying Spree
Taiwanâs Wan Hai Lines has signed for eight 1,900 teu ships at Japanese yard Naikai Zosen. The ships will deliver in two yearsâ time. The order had drawn many yardsâ interest with Taiwanâs CSBC among a number of firms to have pitched Wan Hai for the contract. For Naikai Zosen, the order is a coup, marking its first boxships on its orderbook since 2011.
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7. Booms Around Mutiny Ship
Oil spill booms have been put in place around the grounded bulker Benita with reports over the weekend of bunker fuel washing up on the nearby shoreline. An attempted mutiny, followed by a huge fight among the all Filipino crew of the bulk carrier Benita led to its grounding on reefs off Mauritius early on Friday morning. Divers are assessing the ship today with early reports suggesting three out of five holds have been damaged. Five Ocean Salvage is starting to pump out the shipâs bunker fuel today. The engineer who was medevaced from the ship was struck in the head by a metal pipe by a fellow crewmember.
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8. Dumping at Sea Felonies
Officials say a jury has found companies that own and operate a Greek shipping vessel and two ship engineers guilty of felonies related to dumping oily waste at sea in October 2015. The U.S. Justice Department said ship operator Angelakos, ship owner Gallia Graeca Shipping Ltd., as well as engineers Konstantinos Chrysovergis and Tryfon Angelou were convicted Monday. The defendants were convicted of 12 counts of violating the act to prevent pollution from ships, falsifying records in a federal investigation and engaging in a scheme to defraud the United States.
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9. BIMCO Opens New Office
BIMCO Monday announced that it has opened a new office in Singapore, which it says will enable the organisation to provide better service to its Southeast Asian members and improve collaborations with regional maritime associations. Maite Bolivar Klarup, who is said to have 16 years of commercial maritime experience, will fulfill the role of General Manager at the new office, stated BIMCO. "Our new office in Singapore is great news as we will be better able to provide direct advice and support to our members in the region," said BIMCO’s Secretary General, Angus Frew.
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10. Shipping Community Back EU
Members of the U.K.âs shipping community are concerned about the future of Londonâs role as a global center of ship financing, brokering and insurance in the case of a British exit from the European Union. UK maritime business contributes an annual $6.5 billion to the economy, with some 80% of business coming from abroad, according to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Shipping employs 469,000 people in the U.K., according to Maritime London, a promotional body for U.K.-based shipping companies. Access to the single market is crucial to Britainâs well-being.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd â providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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S Jones
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