Top Ten Maritime News Stories 23/12/2016 and news on CrewSEACURE – an MLC system of financial security

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 23/12/2016

1. Vessel Hit by Rocket Attack

A small Iranian general cargo vessel was hit on Wednesday night by a rocket off the Yemen coast with seven Pakistani seafarers killed. An eighth man was able to swim to shore. The “Jouya 8” was en route from Egypt to Dubai when it was attacked. The ship exploded and sank with only the chief officer able to jump into the sea and escape the inferno. Earlier this month at least six Pakistani sailors were killed when their ship was bombed by Saudi jets off the Mokha coast in the Yemeni province of Ta’izz. Growing fears of attacks in the area has seen the UK deploy its most advanced warship off the coast of Yemen.

https://goo.gl/IOQlom

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2. Malacca Straits Quiet

The seas around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have become safer, a situation experts attribute to increased enforcement against pirates in what is one of the world’s busiest trade routes. There has been just one reported case of piracy or robbery in the Straits of Malacca in the first 11 months of this year, according to the latest monthly report of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre. It is a reversal of the situation last year, when these crimes in the strait shot up to 104, a sharp rise from 48 in 2014.

https://goo.gl/VrI9iB

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3. Passenger Leaps Overboard

The United States Coast Guard was called in to search for a man who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of the Florida Keys Thursday morning. A 22-year-old man was reportedly seen jumping from the 12th deck of the ocean liner at 1:49 a.m. about 33 miles southeast of Key Largo.

“A Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew, a Station Islamorada boat crew and the Cutter Margaret Norvell crew are assisting in the search,” the Coast Guard said in a news release.

https://goo.gl/Fxg5PG

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4. Spare a Thought for Seafarers

As we sit down with family and friends to enjoy the good things that the festive season will bring, Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) asks us to spare a thought for those men and women who make it possible. “I am talking specifically about the hundreds of thousands of seafarers who will be swapping the love and comfort of their families this Christmas for the 24/7 day-to-day routine that seafaring demands, bringing food to our tables and gifts for under the tree, “ he says.

https://goo.gl/uqAYj2

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5. UNCTAD Fears Unusual Trends

Unusual trends in international trade statistics, such as the falling value of world trade in goods and services even as the global economy grew in 2015, give cause for concern, said an UNCTAD report. Last year, 2015, was the first time since 2001 that the value of trade has fallen during a period of economic expansion, according to the report — Key Indicators and Trends in International Trade 2016 — which noted that the volume of trade still grew about 1.5%. ‘In other words, while many exporters had to cope with lower prices, they saw no decline in export volumes,’ the report said.

https://goo.gl/T3UkwU

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6. Flinter Finally Dies

Today marks the final day of operations for one of the Netherlands’ largest shipowners. Flinter Group, a multipurpose vessel owner, was forced into bankruptcy as lead creditor ING stopped funding the line and sought to sell off much of its fleet. This week Denmark’s Thorco Shipping won in auction nine of Flinter’s ships for $42.7m. “That’s it, Flinter is no longer,” management at the Dutch line posted on social media yesterday, adding that December 23 was the company’s final day of operations. When ING decided to turn off the finance taps in October, Flinter management attacked the bank for making the wrong move.

https://goo.gl/uA9Vzc

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7. K Line Sues for Rumours

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) yesterday took APL Logistics to court in Tokyo, suing the company for falsely stating that the line was on the verge of bankruptcy earlier this year. “[We have] suffered considerable damage due to cancelations or suspensions of bookings by clients,” K Line said in a statement. “K’ Line has decided to file a lawsuit in order to restore its social confidence and clarify the social responsibility of a company such as [APL Logistics].” In September a number of APL Logistics employees in China told some customers that K Line was likely to follow Hanjin Shipping into bankruptcy.

https://goo.gl/UJo0ek

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8. You Can’t Hide Accidents

The reality is we can’t escape social media. We can’t hide accidents. If you think crew smartphones are the problem, how do you plan to stop shore-launched drones? Turning off Wi-Fi access if there is an accident won’t stop crew from posting pictures – indeed as internet communications becomes more ingrained in daily life, stopping online communications might cost lives and hinder response efforts. Try explaining that to investigators. The day is also not far off where crew will simply demand internet – where access is seen as a human right. Shipping has such great possibilities and social media is at the heart of it.

https://goo.gl/5FBpY1

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9. Two Maersk Vessels Sink

A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Thursday two of its offshore oil industry supply vessels sank off the coast of France earlier in the day as they were being towed for scrapping in Turkey. It said the two vessels, “Maersk Searcher” and “Maersk Shipper”, were unmanned at the time of the incident and no one was hurt. Both vessels, with deadweight of around 3500 tonnes and 82 metres long, had been emptied of fuel and lubricants, Claus Bachmann, chief operating officer of Maersk Supply Service, said in an email.

https://goo.gl/qvELQ5

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10. Tackling Bunker Claims

Mudit Singh, Claims Handler and Correspondent Manager at the Shipowners’ Club has provided members advice on collating evidence and contractual terms to address bunker quality and contamination issues amid an increase in related claims. “Bunker disputes are fraught with problems, both on an evidentiary and legal basis. This is perhaps not surprising given that both the bunker supplier and receiver are working to strict schedules often resulting in important aspects of the bunker delivery operations being overlooked,” said Singh. Shipowners’ Club encourages members to use BIMCO’s Standard Bunker Contract.

https://goo.gl/AVF82s

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