Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 17/05/2017
1. Lost Skipper Found Alive
Car carrier "MORNING NINNI" reported disappearance of ship’s Captain at around 1220 LT May 15 to MRCC Spain, suspecting man overboard. SAR was launched, MORNING NINNI , being well into Alboran Sea, turned back and sailed to the area where presumably, Captain fell overboard, southeast of Algeciras. At around 1900 LT May 15 police reported to MRCC, that an unconscious man was found on Tarifa beach, Algeciras, with a MORNING NINNI life ring on him or nearby. His description met the one provided by MORNING NINNI . He was taken to hospital in Algeciras, condition described as serious. Vessel resumed voyage, she’s en route from Bremerhaven to Derince Turkey.
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2. Hyundai Back on Track
South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine is expected to turnaround its finances during the second half of next year, said the company’s Chief Executive Yoo Chang-keun. "Our business is quickly getting back on track helped by improving business and financial conditions," he said. The company has reported that its operating loss narrowed to $117 million in the first quarter this year. On April 7, Hyundai Merchant Marine signed a letter of intent with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for the construction of five 300,000 dwt VLCCs with an option of five more vessels. The company currently operates 12 VLCCs. This deal is the first use of the $2.28 billion New Shipbuilding Program announced by the government to support the shipping industry. Hyundai Merchant Marine also plans to order small to medium sized container ships.
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3. Saudi Signs Up
Saudi Arabia has ratified the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, which is scheduled to enter into force on September 8, 2017. Saudi Arabia deposited its instrument of accession with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on April 27. The accession brings the number of contracting parties to the convention to 55, representing 53.67% of world’s merchant shipping tonnage. Adopted in 2004, the treaty aims to counter the threat to marine ecosystems by potentially invasive species transported in ships’ ballast water. Under the convention’s terms, ships will be required to manage their ballast water to remove, render harmless, or avoid the uptake or discharge of aquatic organisms and pathogens within ballast water and sediments.
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4. Smuggling Ring Smashed
A French-British task force has dealt a $100 million blow to terrorists after scoring the second major drugs bust in a month. On May 10, Australian frigate HMAS Arunta pounced on a dhow tracked by units assigned to Combined Task Force 150, where sailors recovered 250kg of heroin. It comes hot on the heels of a double seizure of heroin by the French frigate Surcouf, which brought in 400kg of heroin, worth around $150 million on the streets. That success came just a few days after British and French sailors and marines took charge of the international task group, whose task is to stop smuggling in the Indian Ocean; drugs are known to be a major source of funding for terrorist groups in the region.
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5. Open SESAME Straits Project
The SESAME Straits project utilises e-Navigation concepts to reduce maritime traffic congestion and hot spots, as well as improve traffic safety and efficiency. Leading up to the recent Singapore Maritime Technology Conference, the project conducted a successful demonstration in close collaboration with Maritime and Port Authority in Singapore. The SESAME Straits project (Secure, Efficient, and Safe maritime traffic Management in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore) is a 3-year joint Singapore and Norway project, funded by the Norwegian Research Council and led by Kongsberg Norcontrol in close collaboration with project partners, including the Norwegian Coastal Administration, Navtor, University of South East Norway, SINTEF Ocean, Kongsberg Seatex, Kongsberg Maritime and Singaporean partners.
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6. Last Terrorists Killed
Philippine security forces on the island of Bohol have killed the last remaining members of a group of terrorists who had infiltrated the island an attempt to attack tourists. "All the Abu Sayyaf Group members who landed in Bohol province aboard [three boats] in early April 2017 were all neutralized. Bohol is now cleared of Abu Sayyaf Group elements," said AFP spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla. The last two terrorists were found at Pangangan Island, a small resort community connected by a causeway to the town of Calape, Bohol. Police said that the two terrorists tried to take a child hostage early on Tuesday, but they abandoned the kidnapping attempt when government forces approached. The tried to escape on a motorcycle but split up near a police checkpoint, and they were both hunted down by late afternoon.
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7. Seafarer Religious Persecution
The U.K.-based charity Human Rights at Sea has taken up the case of four Indian seafarers unlawfully detained in Kuwait since May 13, 2013. Savish Singh Thakur and three other Indian nationals, Rajesh Kumar, Ali Mondel, and Ram Sowrop were contracted to work on a ship called Janan owned by an Iranian national. The Janan arrived at a Kuwaiti port on May 13, 2013 where the four men and the Captain were arrested for the alleged illegal importation of contraband diesel. The five men were then detained in Police custody. The Captain, Masood Khalif, had maintained that the diesel was fuel surplus reserve stock to power the vessel. Three of the Indians remain in detention, one is confined to house arrest, while the Iranian Captain remained at liberty until May 2015 when he managed to leave Kuwait without having to answer the charges.
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8. Push to Lose Seafarers
The world’s first fully autonomous cargo containership is coming. Manned voyages will start in 2018, and in 2020 the Yara Birkeland will set sail all on its own. The commercial rationale is clear. By one consultant’s estimate, seafarers account for 44 percent of a ship’s costs. That’s not just salaries: crew quarters, air-conditioning, and other amenities take up valuable weight and space that might otherwise be used for cargo. And that dead weight contributes to a bigger problem: Maritime shipping accounts for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Barring a radical change, those emissions are set to surge in the decades ahead. The claim is that autonomous ships will change all that.
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9. 3D Printed Propeller Beckons
Marking a major step forward in the application of 3D printing in the maritime sector, Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group has entered a cooperative consortium with the goal of developing the world’s first class-approved 3D printed ship propeller. The consortium was established by Damen with Rotterdam-based RAMLAB, Promarin, Autodesk, and class society Bureau Veritas. Damen says the idea for 3D printed propeller, to be called the WAAMpeller, is the result of one of its in-house student research programs. “Three students from Delft Technical University were investigating the potential of 3D printing for us. They brought us into contact with the other members of the consortium,” explains Kees Custers, Project Engineer in Damen’s Research & Development department.
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10. That’s How It’s Done
The Port of Hamburg has revealed what it takes to handle one of the world’s largest boxships. With the world’s first ever 20,000-plus teu containership, the MOL Triumph, making its maiden calls across northern Europe this week port planners have had to be working around the clock to accommodate the giant 400 m long ship. The MOL Triumph called at Hamburg’s Burchardkai terminal on Monday evening. Some 6,000 teu will be discharged and 3,500 teu loaded during the ship’s stay at the German port. In a release the port revealed how nine giant container gantry cranes are operating in parallel on the MOL Triumph. In seven shifts, each eight-hours long, terminal staff will be working virtually non-stop on the vessel. In total, the port has planned around 470 staff shifts, so that the MOL vessel can keep to its sailing schedule.
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