Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 12/09/2017
1. Owner Does A Runner
A bulker owner in China did a runner on Friday – with his ship – in a move that saw 400 law enforcement officers drafted in to chase the errant vessel. After Ningbo Maritime Court had auctioned the 8,731dwt Qin Feng 208 from financially troubled Zhejiang Qinfeng Shipping with Zhejiang Xiehai Shipping stumping up RMB20.88m ($3.21m) for the 2009-built ship, its delivery was dramatically obstructed.
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2. EU Sets Out Remote Vision
Violeta Bulc, the European Commissioner for Transport, this week outlined the clearest vision yet that the EU has for the development of autonomous shipping in the bloc, and warned executives and workers alike that job roles would fundamentally change as a result. Bulc described the creation of autonomous vessels as one part of a wider platform of “a fully integrated multimodal network”, which would see the end of an era and start of a new one.
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3. Brain Drain Beckons
A sharp warning about Britain’s future as a maritime hub post-EU divorce comes from Faststream’s Mark Charman, a man who has charted the ebbs and flows of shipping clusters over the years. Charman heads up Faststream, the global maritime recruitment company, which is headquartered in Southampton on the south coast of the UK and has overseas offices in Singapore and Houston.
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4. New Anti Piracy Patrol
The European Union says its anti-piracy flotilla will begin operations off the Somali coast next week. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says the six warships and three maritime patrol aircraft will have very robust rules of engagement. The EU mission will replace a NATO task force that has been in the Gulf of Aden since October escorting cargo vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Somalia.
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5. Safe Port of Call for Crew
Indian sailors in distress abroad now have a new centre to directly report their grievances. It is the latest measure taken by the Indian government to stop exploitation of Indian sailors after a high number of them got stranded in UAE waters in recent months, whose plight has been extensively reported in the press.
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6. 60 Pirates Convicted
A special court has convicted 60 Somali pirates who were caught in Indian waters in 2011. The case was abated against one accused who died during trial. Special judge Jayendra C Jagdale sentenced the accused to seven years’ imprisonment on charges of attempt to murder and kidnapping. It’s the fourth and last conviction of Somali pirates in custody in the city over the last month; 119 pirates have been convicted so far.
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7. Cold Water on Autonomy
The Maritime Union of Australia says, “those representing the workers in the transport industry question both the productivity and economics of automated ships and ports.” “Automation shouldn’t be a replacement for good industrial relations. It shouldn’t be used as a form of union busting which it sometimes is. It is also being used as a marketing tool that hasn’t got a practical or productive consequence,” said Crumlin, adding: “robots don’t pay tax.”
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8. Fatal Fire Kills Five
Five people have died and one has been injured following a fatal fire incident that occurred at a ASL Marine shipyard in Batam, Indonesia. Singapore-based ASL Marine said the fire broke out onboard a tanker that was being repaired at one of its dry docks. “Initial investigations suggest that the fire started inside and was confined to the pump room…initial investigations suggest that there was no explosion,” ASL Marine stated.
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9. US Iran Navy Confusion
An Iranian warship warned an approaching US vessel to turn away in the Persian Gulf, local media report. The US denied direct contact with the Iranian vessel. The incident took place when Iranian fishing boat Shams suffered an engine malfunction 72km off the coast of the Iranian port town of Jask, near the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel was requesting the navy’s help, and Iranian missile-launching warship Falakhan was sent on a rescue mission.
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10. Dodgy Diesel Arrest
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) intercepted and apprehended a passenger vessel, MSV Al Karimi, involved in the illegal transfer and smuggling of 5,000 litres of diesel. The vessel was handed over to Marine police station in Okha for further action. According to ICG sources, the ICG station at Okha received a tip-off about a passenger vessel involved in illegal activity at Bet Dwarka.
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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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