Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 08/02/2017
1. Missed Profit to Prophet
A.P. Moller-Maersk missed fourth-quarter net profit forecasts on Wednesday but said it expects a higher annual underlying profit this year. The company, the world’s largest shipping company, has been one of the victims of weak global growth and trade. However, Maersk’s chief executive Søren Skou is confident that the group’s container shipping business, Maersk Line, is set for growth of 2-4 percent in 2017 as the balance between supply and demand evens out.
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2. West African Pirate Kidnap
Pirates have kidnapped seven Russians and one Ukrainian after attacking the cargo ship the BBC Caribbean off the coast of Nigeria, the Russian embassy said on its official Twitter account. The embassy has asked Nigerian authorities to assist in locating the abducted people, it said late on Tuesday. The Nigerian navy and police were not immediately available for comment. The general cargo vessel “BBC Caribbean” is managed by Briese Schiffahrts.
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3. Pride Before Fall
Given the attack on the BBC Caribbean, it seems the fact that Nigeria has loudly been targeting a “100% piracy-free 2017”, has already fallen flat. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) hoped to boost its international security compliance rating after an expected visit of the Coast Guards (US) to inspect Nigeria’s systems. It seems such hopes were false, and while cases of piracy reduced in 2016, 2017 has seen more attacks.
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4. IUMI Fears Ro-Ro Fires
The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has voiced concern over fires on ro-ro passenger vehicles and issued recommendations ahead of an IMO review. Marine underwriters have witnessed an increase in the frequency of fires in the car/ro-ro passenger vessel segment and say it is currently twice that of most other vessel types. More than one percent of vessels in the car/ro-ro passenger vessel segment experience a fire every year.
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5. Nobu Su in Hot Water Again
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a Finding of Violation against Nobu Su’s B Whale Corp (BWC) for breaking US trade sanctions against Iran. B Whale Corp from Taiwan had entered into bankruptcy proceedings in June 2013 and that put it under US jurisdiction when the sanctions violations occurred between August 30 and September 2 of that year, the treasury’s investigation claims.
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6. El Faro Lashing Problems
The Marine Board of Investigation hearings into the loss of the ro/ro El Faro has continued with testimony regarding her turbine lubrication system and her arrangements for cargo lashing. Mark Gay, a former chief engineer aboard the El Faro, testified at length about the details of the vessel’s main engine lubrication system. While experts, Phil Anderson and Edward Walker, Jr. voiced doubts over the lashing arrangements and training.
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7. CMA CGM Has New CEO
Rodolphe Saadé was promoted to the post of CEO of the CMA CGM Group. His father, Jacques Saadé, will remain as CMA CGM’s chairman. “Rodolphe has proven himself over the years, and he has my deepest trust as [CEO],” Jacques Saadé said. “I know that, with Rodolphe as CEO, with Farid Salem and Tanya Saadé Zeenny, our executive officers, and all our teams around the world, the Group will continue its development with the same commitment and passion.”
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8. Maersk Settles Russian Case
Maersk Line and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) agreed to settle a competition case regarding Maersk Line and other shipping lines’ use of price announcements to the Russian market for approximately $230,000. FAS accused Maersk Line, CMA CGM, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Orient Overseas Container Line and Evergreen Line of coordinating surcharges on Russia to the Far East and Southeast Asia routes.
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9. Surprise Eco Inspections
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Environment, Wong Kam-sing, said in a written reply to a question asked by Hon Poon Siu-ping in the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said that, in an effort to enforce the regional emission control area (ECA) regulations, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) had conducted surprise inspections on 166 ocean-going vessels (OGVs) as of January 2017. EPD is said to have found four non-compliance cases by the end of January.
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10. Study of Sail Technology
Working with several shipping companies and technology partners, Eco Marine Power (EMP) has begun a detailed study focused on the practical applications of its patented EnergySail and Aquarius MRE technologies. The study will cover the engineering aspects of installing an EnergySail or Aquarius MRE based solution on a variety of ships and the expected Fuel Oil Consumption (FOC) and CO2 savings that can be achieved in an operational environment.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
Best regards,
S Jones
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