Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 14/07/2017
1. Latest Piracy Figures Released
The IMB has published its report on piracy and armed robbery for the second quarter of 2017, covering the period from 1 January to 30 June 2017. The report highlights continuing decline in the number of incidents of maritime piracy. 87 incidents have been reported in the first six months of 2017, with 63 ships boarded, eight attempted attacks, four ships hijacked and 12 ships fired upon. This represents a decrease from 2016 when there were 97 reported incidents in the same period. In relation to crew, the IMB reports that 63 crew members were taken hostage, three injured, two killed and 41 kidnapped.
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2. Large Increase in Vessel Bans
The Paris MoU has released its full annual report for 2016 highlighting a large increase in bans within the region: 20 bans compared to 11 in 2015. The detention rate has also increased from 3.4 to 3.8 percent. The number of detainable deficiencies has increased 7.3 percent compared to 2015. The five most frequently recorded deficiencies in 2016 were ISM (4.4 percent, 1,838), fire doors/openings in fire-resisting divisions (2.6 percent, 1,078), nautical publications (2.5 percent, 1,049), charts (2.2 percent, 922) and oil record book (1.7 percent, 706).
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3. Sulphur Delay Idea Dropped
Any suggestion that there may be any form of delay to the 1 January 2020 implementation of the 0.50% sulphur limit in 2020 was ruled out at the 71st session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee last week, as a majority of member states rejected a proposal to collect data to allow the International Maritime Organization to take stock of the availability situation ahead of 2020. Among the papers submitted to MEPC 71, two pointed out that there would be regional differences in the ability of refineries to meet demand for low sulphur fuels from the marine sector in 2020.
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4. Pirates Helping Terrorists
Here’s a line you probably thought you’d never read: Pirates are helping terrorist groups smuggle weapons and maybe even fighters. “The United Nations and the United States are investigating at least two pirate kingpins for providing material support to terror groups,” according to a CNN report. The terror groups in question, are a pair of battle-hardened and dangerous groups in Somalia, the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab and an ISIS faction. Shipping companies are now frightful as pirates are increasing their abilities to raid commercial fleets as they sail around the Horn of Africa.
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5. Abandonment in the UK
Seafarers onboard a flag of convenience ship detained in the UK port of Runcorn have been suffering atrocious conditions in British waters, being paid wages as low as US$0.85 an hour. They were also found to be owed almost US$43,000 in back pay following checks by a maritime union inspector. Nautilus International/ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) ship inspector Tommy Molloy has lodged protests with the Turkish owners of the 1,596 Gross Tonnage general cargo ship "Seccadi" and the Panama ship registry over the shocking conditions onboard the vessel.
goo.gl/nwFNqT
Seafarers onboard a flag of convenience ship detained in the UK port of Runcorn have been suffering atrocious conditions in British waters, being paid wages as low as US$0.85 an hour. They were also found to be owed almost US$43,000 in back pay following checks by a maritime union inspector. Nautilus International/ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) ship inspector Tommy Molloy has lodged protests with the Turkish owners of the 1,596 Gross Tonnage general cargo ship "Seccadi" and the Panama ship registry over the shocking conditions onboard the vessel.
goo.gl/nwFNqT
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6. Hugely Complex Collision Case
The Philippine container ship that crashed into a US guided-missile destroyer may be liable for almost $2 billion. The destroyer will require extensive and costly repairs over many months and tragically seven sailors were lost and three, including the commanding officer, were injured. Repair costs may be less but probably would total hundreds of millions of dollars for hull damages alone. Detention damages might exceed the costs of physical repairs. Also, the estates of the seven dead sailors may seek to recover all their losses from ACX Crystal, and the surviving crew members can recover for loss of personal property.
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7. Cable Cut Ship Detained
Somalia has detained a ship alleged to have cut undersea fibre optic cables and plunging the country into a state of internet blackout. The Horn of Africa nation has for the past two weeks been without internet connection after the MSC Alice vessel reportedly cut undersea cables. The vessel had brought goods to a port in the capital Mogadishu when the accident occurred. Somalia’s Attorney General confirmed to the BBC that the vessel is being held in Somali waters and that the country was also demanding compensation from the losses that they have incurred since the incident.
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8. 2030 Autonomous Vision
MacGregor and Rolls-Royce recently signed MoU to explore the impact of developments in autonomy for cargo ship navigation and cargo systems onboard container ships. Rolls-Royce director of digital and systems Asbjørn Skaro said that he believed "a remote-controlled ship will be in commercial use by the end of the decade and a common sight on the high seas by 2030.” 95% of the required sensor technology, algorithms and communication methods exist already today, and the major challenges are in systems integrations and process implementations,” says Jouni Lehtinen, director of R&D at MacGregor’s cargo handling division.
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9. Brazilian President Jailed
Brazil’s former national president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known widely as “Lula”, has been convicted of corruption linked to the Petrobras scandal and sentenced to nine-and-a-half years jail time. Lula, who served two terms as president, was found guilty by Judge Sergio Moro of taking the equivalent of $1.2m in bribes from engineering firm OAS in return for helping the company get overpriced contracts with the state oil firm Petrobras. The bribes were the estimated value of free refurbishments made to a beachfront apartment. Lula is the highest-profile casualty yet of the Petrobras affair.
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10.
Human Rights at Sea has published an investigative report into the abuse of seafarers on board a UAE-flagged vessel moored offshore the UAE coast owned by Alco Shipping Services. Members of the crew of the tanker "MT IBA" told Human Rights at Sea that they have been threatened with criminal proceedings. Their basic human rights breached, with a deprivation of liberty, lack of protection for their health and bodily integrity, lack of protection for their right to life and lack of family life due to their enforced retention on the "MT IBA". In addition, for the last six months the crew have been denied access to medical treatment.
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