Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 14/09/2017
1. Seadrill in Chapter 11
Seadrill has commenced its long-awaited comprehensive restructuring plan which includes a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the offshore driller finally reaches a deal to restructure nearly $6 billion worth of debt. The restructuring agreement was entered into with more than 97 percent of Seadrill’s secured bank lenders, approximately 40 percent of its bondholders, and a consortium of investors led by its largest shareholder, Hemen Holding.
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2. Discipline is Declining
The capacity discipline and rate stability seen since Hanjin Shipping sought court protection just over a year ago is now being eroded with battle lines being drawn up among competing carriers for a freight rate war. Analysts at Alphaliner note that it has taken a year to to fully clear out the tonnage of the defunct South Korean carrier. Only a single vessel formerly operated by Hanjin remains idle: the 1,647 teu Orion, owned by Alpha Ship.
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3. Florida Shakes Off Irma
Some Florida ports were beginning to return to action on Tuesday in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which forced many of them to shut down. The ports are a crucial link in Florida’s fuel supply chain as almost all of its gasoline arrives through the ports and fuel availability is a big issue in the Sunshine State, post-Irma. Port Everglades said it has reopened to commercial vessels with no draft restrictions but during daylight only.
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4. Five Crew Missing
Five crewmembers are missing from a dredger after it capsized in Singapore waters this morning after colliding with an Indonesian tanker in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme in the Singapore Strait. Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) says it was notified of the collision, between the 1998-built 30,747 dwt tanker Kartika Segara and Dominican-registered dredger JBB De Rong 19 about 1.7 nautical miles southwest of Sisters Island.
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5. Blast About the Past
This year’s London International Shipping Week is glancing fearfully over its shoulder at Europe, which is ignoring it, and is hardly daring to look past Europe at the spectre of its complete irrelevance to the rest of the planet. The British are lazy and ill educated, they have no manners and, increasingly, they have the morals to suit. They build no ships, they own few ships, they man fewer ships and yet they claim to be the world centre of maritime.
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6. Change of Maritime Mindset
Maritime regulators need to change their mindsets from one of risk avoidance to focus more on risk management amid the rapid technological evolution seen in the shipping sector, a new report from three UK institutions urges. However, whether the current regulatory regime can change with the times remains a moot point. The mindset change will be needed to identify and mitigate risks alongside the technology development.
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7. Director for Days
Shandong Shipping has announced that the company’s president Fan Chenghai, along with general manager Wang Dawei, have resigned from the company due to other work arrangements. Fan had been in the president position of Shandong Shipping for less than six months after he took over the post from former president Bao Jianying at the end of April. He had previously served as president of Shandong Offshore.
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8. Lack of Certification
The US Government Accountability Office states at the time of the deadly collisions involving the "USS Fitzgerald" and "USS John S. McCain", more than a third of the Navy’s Japan-based cruisers and destroyers had expired warfare training certifications. In additional, the McCain and Fitzgerald in particular were below the Navy’s standards. USS Fitzgerald lacked all 10 out of 10 warfare training certifications, that would include the certification for "seamanship."
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9. Cause of El Faro Loss
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced plans to meet on December 12, this year, to determine the probable cause of the sinking of the El Faro. In addition to determining the probable cause of the sinking and any factors that may have contributed to the accident, the Board is expected to vote on recommendations to address safety issues uncovered during the investigation.
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10. Plans for Autonomous Fighting
Rolls-Royce has unveiled plans for an autonomous naval vessel that it will market to international navies as interest from the naval sector increases. Rolls-Royce says the autonomous vessel will have a range 3,500 nautical miles and is designed for single-role missions such as patrol & surveillance, mine detection, and fleet screening. The fully-electric concept vessel is capable of operating for over 100 days and reach speeds above 25 knots.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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