Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 15/06/2017
1. Port in Dirty Bomb Alert
Officials are investigating a ‘potential threat’ aboard a U.S.-flagged Maersk Line containership at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The Coast Guard said at approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday authorities were made aware of a potential threat in a container aboard the vessel "Maersk Memphis" in the Port of Charleston. The Maersk Memphis is moored at Charleston’s Wando terminal, which has been evacuated while law enforcement units from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies investigate the threat. A 1 nautical mile safety zone has been established around the vessel while authorities investigate the threat.
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2. Missing After Ship Capsize
Two men are missing after an Indonesian general cargo capsized in the Strait of Malacca, having been hit by large waves. The two men missing from the 689 dwt Avatar are the captain and the cook. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) sent a rescue boat and a helicopter to the scene this morning. MMEA officials suspect bad weather as the reason for the accident. The ship is owned by Batam Cahaya Logistik.
goo.gl/ds1MS9
goo.gl/ds1MS9
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3. K Line Management Fight
Senior management at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Japan’s third largest line, have hit out at detractors planning a shareholder coup later this month. June 23 sees K Line shareholders meet in Tokyo where they will decide, among other things, whether or not to reelect the current chairman and president to their roles. Some shareholders have indicated that they are not happy with K Line’s returns and will push for new management to replace Jiro Asakura as chairman and Eizo Murakami as president and CEO.
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4. Delay to Supply Builds
Maersk Supply Service has reached agreements with shipyards Cosco Dalian and Kleven to delay the delivery of five anchor handling vessels and four subsea support vessels it currently has on order. Maersk has already received two anchor handlers from its order of six at Kleven, and the next three have now been delayed until 2018 and the last to early 2018. The four subsea support vessels on order at Cosco have all been postponed with delivery dates planned from summer 2017 to spring 2018.
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5. Radiation Delays Breaking
Maersk is at the centre of another shipbreaking storm after radioactive material was reportedly found on an elderly FPSO being scrapped in Bangladesh. The 1984-built North Sea Producer now lies partially dismantled at Janata Steel shipbreaking yard in Chittagong and has attracted the ire of both NGOs and the High Court after a number of pipes were found to contain radioactive substances. Dismantling has been halted of the 33-year-old structure. The court is now trying to ascertain how the vessel arrived on Bangladeshi beaches with a clean certificate. Maersk is distancing itself from the fallout, blaming it on an intermediary.
goo.gl/1NHy0x
goo.gl/1NHy0x
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6. Owner Fights Abandonment Claim
A few weeks after the case of four ships abandoned in the UAE waters, the Middle Eastern company Alco Shipping Services has hit the headlines again for a tanker allegedly arrested in the Mediterranean. Crew onboard publically tried to draw the attention of the Indian minister for external affairs on Twitter posting a picture of the crew onboard the tanker Qaaswa stuck off Tunisia near Sfax port. There are 16 seafarers onboard apparently without food or fresh water. The company has lashed out at the crew, blaming them for the situation and accusing them of fraud with regards to bunkers.
goo.gl/AmmxGn
goo.gl/AmmxGn
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7. Crew Escapes Pirates
ReCAAP has reported that one of the crew of the abducted fishing vessel Ramona 2 has escaped after five months of captivity. The four-man crew were abducted off Sulu in the Philippines on December 20, 2016. One was beheaded on April 13. The remaining two crewmen are believed to still be held by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants. ReCAAP also reports a case of armed robbery in the area last week. M/Tug 308 was underway when 20 pirates carrying short firearms on board five bancas (fishing boats) approached and boarded the tug. They stole several gallons of fuel, paint and half sack of rice.
goo.gl/GjqkHU
ReCAAP has reported that one of the crew of the abducted fishing vessel Ramona 2 has escaped after five months of captivity. The four-man crew were abducted off Sulu in the Philippines on December 20, 2016. One was beheaded on April 13. The remaining two crewmen are believed to still be held by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants. ReCAAP also reports a case of armed robbery in the area last week. M/Tug 308 was underway when 20 pirates carrying short firearms on board five bancas (fishing boats) approached and boarded the tug. They stole several gallons of fuel, paint and half sack of rice.
goo.gl/GjqkHU
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8. Spanish Ports on Lockdown
Spanish dockers intensified a series of strikes Wednesday with a 48-hour full stoppage, the first of its kind in their ongoing dispute with port employers’ association Anesco over job guarantees and labor reforms. Negotiations late Tuesday that were intended to head off the strike were not successful. The unions, led by Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar (CETM), had offered a 10 percent pay cut in exchange for a guarantee against layoffs and the establishment of new port employment centers.
Spanish dockers intensified a series of strikes Wednesday with a 48-hour full stoppage, the first of its kind in their ongoing dispute with port employers’ association Anesco over job guarantees and labor reforms. Negotiations late Tuesday that were intended to head off the strike were not successful. The unions, led by Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar (CETM), had offered a 10 percent pay cut in exchange for a guarantee against layoffs and the establishment of new port employment centers.
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9. MSC Making Rickmers Plans
MSC is preparing contingency plans for customers’ cargo, should the three containerships it has on charter from Rickmers be claimed by the bankrupt group’s creditors. Rickmers Group entered self-administered insolvency on 2 June. The vessels affected are the 1,854 teu John Rickmers, 1,216 teu Sandy Rickmers and 4,444 teu MSC Florida. The time charter on the latter two expires in September, while the John Rickmers is not scheduled to be returned until March 2018. MSC says it is “actively monitoring the situation” and is “ready to act quickly should a creditor take action against any of the three vessels”.
MSC is preparing contingency plans for customers’ cargo, should the three containerships it has on charter from Rickmers be claimed by the bankrupt group’s creditors. Rickmers Group entered self-administered insolvency on 2 June. The vessels affected are the 1,854 teu John Rickmers, 1,216 teu Sandy Rickmers and 4,444 teu MSC Florida. The time charter on the latter two expires in September, while the John Rickmers is not scheduled to be returned until March 2018. MSC says it is “actively monitoring the situation” and is “ready to act quickly should a creditor take action against any of the three vessels”.
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10. Indonesia Ratifies MLC
The Government of Indonesia has deposited with the International Labor Organization (ILO) a document for the ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC-2006), becoming the 83th ILO member state that adopted the standards of the convention. For Indonesia, the MLC-2006 will enter into force on June 12, 2018. The capacity of the country’s merchant fleet is 15 million DWT and due to its geographical location, the main Indonesian port of Jakarta is among the 20 largest ports in the world. In addition, the country’s economy relies on seafarers, as about 150,000 Indonesian seamen are employed in global merchant fleet.
The Government of Indonesia has deposited with the International Labor Organization (ILO) a document for the ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC-2006), becoming the 83th ILO member state that adopted the standards of the convention. For Indonesia, the MLC-2006 will enter into force on June 12, 2018. The capacity of the country’s merchant fleet is 15 million DWT and due to its geographical location, the main Indonesian port of Jakarta is among the 20 largest ports in the world. In addition, the country’s economy relies on seafarers, as about 150,000 Indonesian seamen are employed in global merchant fleet.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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S Jones
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