Top Ten Maritime News Stories 24/02/2017

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 24/02/2017

1. Storm Closes Port
A woman has been killed as Storm Doris brought winds of up to 94mph along with snow and rain to the UK. While UK port owner and operator Peel Ports was forced to close the Port of Liverpool after the Storm Doris battered northern England throughout Thursday, February 23, with wind gusts reaching up to 100 miles per hour. The Port of Liverpool was subsequently re-opened but is still experiencing disruption to services, according to Peel Ports. Storm Doris, which has tracked across Northern Ireland and northern England brought damaging winds, rain and snow to the UK.
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2. Migrants Riot on Ferry
Sixty migrants rioted on board the Italian ferry Janas on Tuesday night during a transit between Cagliari and Naples. Half of the non-citizens were Algerian nationals who had been denied entry to the EU; despite the orders for expulsion and the size of the group, they were not accompanied by police. Tirrenia, the ferry’s operator, said in a statement that there were "tensions within the group" during the crossing that created unease for other people on board. The captain asked for the police to meet the ferry at the dock upon arrival in Naples to conduct "necessary checks."
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3. Shipping Executive Death Sentence
Two former executives accused of embezzling around $11.5m from state-owned Vinashinlines have been handed death sentences by a court in Hanoi. Four men went on trial last week in Hanoi, including the former general director of the firm, its former chief accountant and the ex-head of sales. The three were joined in the dock by the father of the ex-sales head. All four were found guilty of pocketing cash from nine ship charter deals and when buying three ships for the line between 2006 and 2008. Vinashinlines applied for court protection in 2014 – much of its fleet has since been sold.
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4. Seafarers Jump Ship
Three Pakistani seafarers who jumped over the side of their livestock ship into Fremantle harbour in an apparent asylum bid will be deported, the Immigration Department has said. The men had arrived in the WA port on the Bahamas-flagged Bader III late last week and docked at the multi-user number two berth.
On Thursday last week the trio jumped overboard and swam to DP World’s number three berth but could not get through the security gates. "It’s a secured zone so they wouldn’t have been able to get out of that area," said Dean Summers, the national coordinator for the ITF.
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5. Crewman Killed Onboard
A Ukrainian seafarer was killed yesterday in Bangladesh when a cracked engine pipe onboard the general cargo ship "Camilla" gushed scolding hot water in the ship’s engine room. The man, named in local media as Basil Kairil, was rushed to a local hospital in Chittagong, but was declared dead on arrival. In what must have been an horrific accident, it seems the seafarer must have been incredibly unlucky to have been literally in the wrong place at the wrong time. A tragic accident.
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6. Damen Slashes Jobs
Damen Shiprepair & Conversion is undergoing a reorganisation at three of its Dutch yards in Rotterdam, Van Brink and Vlissingen. The company says it will be reducing its work force across the yards by around 150 employees as the result of continued adverse market conditions. In particular, it cited the decreased business in the oil and gas market resulting in the company unable to fill the void with other activities. Damen said its expectations for the short and medium term are not positive leading to a downsizing of the number of permanent staff throughout the organisation and a reduction in facility costs.
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7. Wind Power Reemerges
Wind has been part of shipping for millennia, but in the 21st century it could be primed to sail back into real contention as a leading source of propulsion for maritime freight transportation, meeting the needs of penny pinching owners and green-expectant clients. Recent developments suggests the weather vane has tipped around back in favour of this erstwhile near universal form of shipping. Diane Gilpin, founder of the Smart Green Shipping Alliance, believes there is a huge potential for both growth and improved financial performance through deploying wind power on ships.
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8. German Banks Brought to Knees
In geopolitics, events rarely occur in isolation. Several stories about German exports, banks, and the shipping industry recently appeared in the media. But these stories do not gain their full significance unless taken as part of a bigger picture. There is an inherent link between trade, the shipping industry, and banks, given the linkage of their operations. The headlines provide a clearer picture of how the exporter crisis we forecast is unfolding. The crisis now intersects with another forecast on the fall of German banks, which we’ve written about previously.
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9. Signs of VLCC Recovery
2017 will present some headwinds to crude tanker rates due to cuts to OPEC production, rising oil prices, and fleet growth, however, this dip in the current market cycle will be relatively short and shallow according to Teekay Tankers, part of the Teekay Corporation. In addition, lower fleet growth, strong oil demand growth, particularly in Asia, and a potential increase in long-haul movements from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific basin is expected to provide support towards the next market upturn, according to Teekay.
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10. Passenger Cruise Murder
A German national who lives in Ireland is to appear in court in Italy tomorrow where he could be charged with his wife’s manslaughter. The 45 year old who lives in Dublin was arrested after his Chinese wife went missing on a Mediterranean cruise. He was detained at Rome airport after the crew realised his wife hadn’t disembarked following the ten day tour. He was with his two young children, who are 6 and 4, at the time. They are now being looked after by social services. It’s understood the man denies any wrongdoing.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions  www.seacurus.com

 

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