Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 14/09/2016
1. Lifeboat Accident Kills Seafarer
One crew member has died and four others have been injured during a safety exercise on the worldâs biggest cruise liner, the "Harmony of the Seas". The BBC reports that a lifeboat carrying five crew members became detached from the fifth deck and fell 10 m into the water during an exercise that took place when the ship had stopped over in Marseille. One member of the crew, a 42-year-old Filipino, died and two others were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
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2. Rush to Get Back to Korea
Six Hanjin Shipping vessels are confirmed as arrested following the lineâs court receivership at the end of last month. Seven more are docked at ports under embargo while another three on charter have been returned to their owners, Hanjin said in a belated fleet update. Efforts are being stepped up to get as many ships as possible back into Korean waters, with Busan Port Authority preparing to welcome more Hanjin hulls than normal in the coming weeks. With a US judge extending bankruptcy protection to the Korean company, Hanjin is now offloading cargo of a second ship that has been queuing at Long Beach.
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3. Water Cannon Deaths
Investigators are looking into how an OSV undergoing sea trials saw three injured and one die. The Astro Tamoio was performing sea trials in Guanabara Bay near Rio de Janeiro over the weekend when a water cannon went off, aimed at the deck rather than out to sea. A 23-year-old female crewmember died and another three colleagues were hospitalised. The ship is now anchored while investigators work out how the accident happened. Normally, any water cannon tests in Brazil have to be carried out in the presence of navy personnel. The ship is owned Astromaritima Navegacao and is due to launch on October 1.
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4. Boom in Risky Cover
Insurance against a range of risks in the political risk and crisis management space are set to boom in the coming years, after a period of lacklustre profitability growth. Particularly cybercrime insurance, already the single largest segment, will see continued strong growth of +20% per annum to 2018, followed by insurance products for product recalls. Threats from a range of actors, from terrorists to organised crime and cybercrime syndicates, remain a problem. According toKPMG, the recent relative stall within the Political Risk and Crisis Management insurance market is not likely to stick around forever.
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5. Joint Patrols Planned
Indonesia plans to start implementing coordinated patrols with the Philippines and Malaysia this year as part of efforts to step up maritime defense in regional waters amid the risks of piracy and hostage-taking. The Indonesian Navy is currently drafting the routes for the joint patrols, which would stretch to the piracy-prone waters of the Sulu Sea, to realize the trilateral maritime agreement signed by the three countries in August. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Tuesday. "I believe we can start the coordinated patrols this year," Ryamizard told journalists.
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6. French Step into Nigerian Theatre
The Nigerian Navy says it will partner with the French Navy in a bid to fight piracy in the Gulf of the Guinea. Commodore Chris Ezekobe said, âTwo French Warships HPD DIXMUNDE and FF CODUING are leading a French maritime initiative under the Exercise NEMO series tagged Exercise NEMO 16.5 with the theme âMaritime Structure on Securitisationâ. âThe Exercise is geared towards sharpening skills in anti-piracy and anti-illegal fishing.â Exercise NEMO is being conducted in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy as well as navies of Gabon, Cameroun, Benin, Togo and Ghana.
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7. Shipyards Set to Suffer
The shipyards become the next victim of the deteriorating conditions in the dry bulk, container and offshore markets as 2016 looks to set the record for the lowest newbuilding contracts in more than 20 years. After a decline from 2010 to 2012, shipbuilding had a rebound in 2013 and was expected to level out over the next few years. The reality was a slight decline in 2014 and 2015, but still high levels of contracting measured by compensated gross tonnage (CGT). Since then, shipyards have crashed, as the contracted CGT globally has reached its lowest level since on record.
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8. New Bizarre Tanker Routes
From Norway to the Bahamas, from Algeria to Australia. Ultra-low crude prices combined with cheap shipping rates are encouraging a host of exotic new oil trading routes that wouldnât look out of place in the latest travel brochures. Oil exporters are tapping into new markets as they attempt to work through a glut in crude supplies thatâs reshaping oil market economics and redrawing decades-old shipping routes. The U.S. has led the way thanks to the lifting of a 40-year ban on oil exports, with shipments departing for Curacao, France, and Israel in recent months.
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9. Shift to Shore Assistance
A group of leading UK maritime organisations is focusing on developing the training and skills needed by UK merchant navy officers to make a successful career transition from ship to shore. The group, comprising Maritime London, the Marine Society, the Merchant Navy Training Board, Nautilus International and Trinity House has commissioned research to understand the requirements of UK based maritime employers and identify educational and skills gaps. The reportâs findings and next steps will be discussed at a high-level summit at Trinity House, but the signs are seafarers are ill equipped to move ashore.
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10. ECDIS Detentions on Rise
An apparent rise in the number of ECDIS-related detentions by Australian Port State Control agency AMSA this year may have hit the headlines, but closer inspection reveals more to the story than meets the eye. Though AMSA already has a reputation for being a stickler on vessel safety, its ire was raised when a ship it detained had a trainer flown from Hong Kong to get the crew up to speed. This done, the ship was duly released, but AMSA kept up the pressure, detaining eight ships in five months. The message was clear: you should expect to be competent on ECDIS before you come to an Australian port. Which seems fair…
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd â providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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