Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 19/09/2016
1. Industry Ignoring Abandonment
Lloyd’s List is reporting that at least two dozen cases of non-payment of seafarers’ wages and/or vessel abandonment worldwide have been reported in the media in the last six months, but none of them have been listed on the voluntary International Labour Organisation database. The findings come just months ahead of rule changes that will from next January see marine insurers pick up the tab in these circumstances, and have sparked fears that they will have to price the risk on the basis of inadequate information. Access to accurate loss data is essential for the market to accurately price the risk of seafarer abandonment.
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2. Say no to Woolly Hats
If you want to help seafarers, don’t patronise them by knitting a hat, Intermanager’s secretary-general (and former seafarer) Kuba Szymanski told the first annual International Maritime Human Rights conference in London this week. “What would help seafarers? Bring back the dignity of being a seafarer,” Szymanski said. “What would we help seafarers? Stop criminalising us.” So how can we restore the dignity of being a seafarer? Perhaps we can invent Fair Trade Shipping, we certainly need to get the word out as to why seafarer welfare matters to the world. But please, no more knitted hats.
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3. Chemical Tanker Attacked by Pirates
The chemical tanker Hanze Kochi was attacked by pirates in Gulf of Guinea off Brass, Nigeria. A group of armed men approached the vessel in early morning by fast boat. The duty officer raised alarm for piracy attack and all the crew locked in the citadel. A distress call was sent to the Nigerian navy. The pirates boarded the ship and took control, but the navy sent two boats with guards. The pirates robbed some of the crew rooms, but had no time due to approaching navy guards. They abandoned chemical tanker Hanze Kochi some minutes later and fled to the shore. The Nigerian navy freed the vessel and crew.
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4. More Candidates for Demolition
The average age of the tanker fleet will rapidly start to go upwards as we edge closer to the end of the current decade, which, provided the proper circumstances could help alleviate any long-term tonnage oversupply concerns. This, coupled with the implications of the ratification of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM) could trigger even more demolition candidates. In its latest report, shipbroker Gibson pointed out that tankers which are able to dry dock prior to this date will not have to fit a BWM system until their special survey after September 2017 and are thus likely to continue trading for the time being.
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5. Southeast Asia Pirate Danger
Southeast Asia now has more incidents of seafaring attacks than any other area in the world, with the Philippine-based bandit group Abu Sayyaf instrumental in a number of attacks, a report has revealed. Southeast Asia accounted for 178 piracy attacks in 2015, according to the International Maritime Bureau, the New York Times reported. The most well-known piracy hotspot, the Horn of Africa area (encompassing the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region), had no reported incidents. In addition, more than one-third of successful or attempted piracy attacks in the first half of 2016 were reported in Southeast Asia, the report said.
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6. Tanker and Bulker Collide
The LPG tanker Charlton and bulk carrier Rich Future collided on Punta Indio Channel in Rio de la Plata, Argentina. The bulker was en route to San Lorenzo and hit the LPG tanker proceeding underway to Senegal. The circumstances around the accident are not clear, but the both vessels were proceeding on crossing routes and bulker maneuvered in last minute, which was not enough to avoid collision. The bulk carrier Rich Future did not suffered serious damages and proceeded to San Lorenzo anchorage in river Parana, where anchored and waiting for inspection. The LPG tanker was damages, but remained afloat.
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7. Dragged Anchor in Typhoon
The container ship Gang Tai Tai Zhou dragged anchor and ran aground under the pressure of strong winds of super typhoon Meranti, which hit southern China last days. The ship was pushed aground on southwest tip of Kinmen island and hardly stuck by port board at the rocks. The crew were unable to prevent grounding due to the heavy seas and strong wind. According to preliminary information, there were several damages of the vessel’s hull and breaches below the water line. Some fuel tanks were leaking and spilled heavy fuel into the water, causing water pollution. The accident is reported to the local authorities.
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8. Invest in New Salvage Capabilities
Tsavliris Salvage Group is urging owners to invest in new salvage tugs, specialised equipment and crews to meet the increasing challenges in the sector. The group’s chairman has called on tug owners to update their fleets instead of focusing on reducing costs. This is in response to the rising number of large tankers, bulk carriers and container ships that have been delivered from shipyards in the past few years. “With the ever-increasing number of large vessels trading worldwide, and the complexity of their problems, the need for a properly-equipped marine salvage industry is clearer than ever,” the Tsaviliris wrote.
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9. Hanjin Works on New Plan
Debt-ridden Hanjin Shipping Co. is working on a restructuring plan that calls for the drastic reduction of its fleet and returning the vast majority of the ships it charters to their owners. Despite the efforts, these people say the most likely scenario is still that the Korean operator— the world’s seventh-biggest in terms of capacity—will be liquidated, marking one of the shipping industry’s biggest failures. Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection last month. The South Korean government has strongly indicated it has no plans to bail out the company.
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10. Youngest Box Demolition
The "Hermann Wulff" becomes the youngest boxship to date this year to have been sent for scrap. Just 10-years-old, the 4,546 teu panamax is owned by Erste RHW Schiffahrts and flagged with Liberia. Panamax boxships have been sent en masse for scrapping this year as rates for this ship size in particular have faded away. Prior to the Hermann Wulff, the youngest boxships sent for recycling this year had been 13 years-old. Clarksons Research shows the German owner managed to gain a very decent $303 per ldt for the ship scrapping.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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S Jones
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