Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 15/02/2017
1. Toxic Fume Death
One Vietnamese seaman died and three others were hospitalised after inhaling toxic fumes aboard the general cargo ship "Vimaru Pearl". The injured seafarers were reportedly taken to Hospital after their vessel arrived at Kota Kimbalu Port, Malaysia. The incident occurred due to a gas leak in the ship’s rice storage room while the ship was en route from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Tabaco, Philippines.
———————————————————————————
2. Emergency Was Downplayed
The final round of Coast Guard hearings into the loss of the con/ro El Faro resumed with testimony from shoreside operations managers. Capt. John Lawrence, the DPA, spoke regarding his final conversation with the El Faro’s master. Records show El Faro captain Michael Davidson attempted to contact Lawrence but could not get through, so he left a voicemail but the urgency of the distress call was not recognised
———————————————————————————
3. Arrest To Be Challenged
Malaysia’s PDZ Holdings has tried to play down the financial impact from the arrest of its vessel PDZ Mewah over unpaid bunker bills. PDZ said it was looking to challenge the arrest of the 1,000 teu ship which was nabbed by Dan-Bunkering (Singapore). “The expected losses will be in the range of RM90,000 to RM100,000 per month, as a result of the additional costs arising from purchasing slots from third party vessels,” PDZ said.
———————————————————————————
4. Dirt at the Botton of the Sea
Crustaceans from the deepest ocean trenches have been found to contain ten times more industrial pollution than the average earthworm, scientists have shown. A study, led by U.K. Newcastle University’s Dr Alan Jamieson has uncovered the first evidence that man-made pollutants have now reached the deepest parts of the ocean. Extremely high levels of persistent organic pollutants were found in the organism’s fatty tissue.
———————————————————————————
5. Jones Act Deliberations
Plans to extend Jones Act restrictions to vessels supplying equipment to offshore facilities in US waters will have to wait a bit longer – if not indefinitely – after authorities extended the comment period on the proposals. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has changed the deadline for comments from February 17 (this coming Friday) to April 18, two months hence.
———————————————————————————
6. Vega Hit With Pollution Charge
After an investigation of ballast water discharge violations, the US Coast Guard initiated civil penalty proceedings against Vega Reederei GmbH & Co. KG, the operator of the bulk carrier Vega Mars on February 2. While the vessel was moored in Tacoma around January 29, 2017, it discharged ballast water without the use of a Coast Guard approved ballast water management system or other approved means, according to the investigators.
———————————————————————————
7. Sewol Death Inheritance
A South Korean court has ordered the eldest son of the late owner of the Sewol ferry to compensate the government for the disaster. The ferry sank in 2014 killing more than 300 people, mostly school students. The government had sued Yoo Dae-kyun, son of the late Yoo Byung-eun, for $3.1 million to cover the costs involved in handling the April 16, 2014, disaster, including compensation to the families of the victims, reports Yonhap news agency.
———————————————————————————
8. Sinochem in Talks
State-run Sinochem is in talks to take a stake in troubled commodities giant Noble Group. While not mentioning the Chinese outfit by name, Hong Kong-based Noble admitted in a release today that it is in talks over a strategic investment. Shares in Noble Group in Singapore leapt today by as much as 17% on the news to hit eight-month highs.
———————————————————————————
9. Scorpio Tankers Plunges
Monaco-based tanker owner Scorpio Tankers has plunged into a net loss of USD 29.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2016, compared to a net income of USD 34.2 million seen in the same quarter a year earlier.
The company’s revenue for the quarter also decreased to USD 106 million from USD 178.3 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2015.
———————————————————————————
10. Allision Video Shock
An Isle of Man ro-pax ferry was damaged after crashing into a pier in strong winds on Sunday. The "Ben-my-Chree" made contact with the pier while docking at port of Douglas on the Isle of Man, apparently crushing a hydrant onboard and badly damaging the pier. The crash was caught on video by a passenger and posted online and makes toe-curlingly horrible viewing, as the expensive and inevitable smash comes.
———————————————————————————
Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
Best regards,
S Jones
Seacurus Ltd
Registered in England No. 5201529
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
A Barbican Group company
Telephone: +44 191 4690859
Facsimile: +44 191 4067577
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.seacurus.com
Registered Office: Suite 3, Level 3,
Baltic Place West, Baltic Place,
South Shore Road,
Gateshead,
NE8 3BA,
United Kingdom
This message, and any associated files, are intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it was addresses and may contain information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message, or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately.
