Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 28/09/2017
1. Happy World Maritime Day
The World Maritime Day is being formally celebrated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) today 28 September 2017. World Maritime Day has become a regular annual feature in the calendar of all seafaring nations. The first time this day was celebrated was on 17 March 1978 to mark the 30th anniversary of the convention which created the IMOs parent organisation, the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organisation. This years theme is on "Connecting Ships, Ports and People" providing an opportunity to focus on the many diverse actors involved in the shipping and logistics areas.
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2. Help Heads to Puerto Rico
One of two U.S. government-owned hospital ships has been ordered to prepare to get underway to provide support for hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico. The Department of Defense has directed the USNS Comfort to prepare to deploy to Puerto Rico amid ongoing recovery and relief efforts on the U.S. commonwealth. The Comfort is equipped with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a CAT-scan, and radiology capabilities, and has 72-96 hour prep time. USNS Comfort is being deployed under U.S. Navy service authorities and will provide additional medical capabilities, if requested, the DoD said.
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3. New Name for Old Port
India’s largest port in terms of cargo throughput has been renamed. Kandla Port, located on the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, will now be known as Deendayal Port in honour of one of India’s most famous politicians. The port notched up a nationwide leading throughput of 105m tonnes last year. Current prime minister Narendra Modi has made no secret of his admiration of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, comparing him in stature to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi. Upadhyay founded the forerunner of Modi’s current ruling party. Over the past year there have been many celebrations of Upadhyay’s 100th birth anniversary.
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4. Maltese Flag Success
A 63 per cent increase was recorded in the number of new entries in the Maltese shipping register since 2012, Transport Minister Ian Borg said this afternoon. Addressing a news conference to mark World Maritime Day, which will be celebrated next Thursday, he noted that Malta’s shipping register remained the largest in the EU and the sixth largest globally. Up to the end of August, more than 8,000 ships with a combined gross tonnage of 74 million were flying the Maltese flag. Growth was also being registered in the superyacht industry, which registered a record 97 per cent increase in the number of new registrations.
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5. More Plastic Than Fish
SpillTech, a new Norwegian company focused on oil spill recovery equipment, is looking to tackle waste pollution issues at ports. The company recently developed PortBin, a contraption to collect waste in ports. Trond Lindheim, owner of SpillTech, outlines how waste pollution across the world’s ocean is a huge and growing problem. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, 8m tonnes of plastic is dumped in the sea every year. If we continue doing so, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean,” Lindheim warns, adding that the waste could enter and disrupt the food chain globally.
SpillTech, a new Norwegian company focused on oil spill recovery equipment, is looking to tackle waste pollution issues at ports. The company recently developed PortBin, a contraption to collect waste in ports. Trond Lindheim, owner of SpillTech, outlines how waste pollution across the world’s ocean is a huge and growing problem. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, 8m tonnes of plastic is dumped in the sea every year. If we continue doing so, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean,” Lindheim warns, adding that the waste could enter and disrupt the food chain globally.
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6. Casualty Repairs Wrack Up
Marine underwriters and insurance brokers have been urged to keep up to date with the changing ramifications for repair of casualty-stricken ships, to prevent the costs getting out of hand. Willum Richards, chairman of the Association of Average Adjusters, has stressed the importance of market participants monitoring the impact of technology, modern communications and the latest court determinations on what are reasonable expenses. He was giving a lecture entitled "The Unreasonable Cost of Repairs", for the Association of Average Adjusters.
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7. Too Slow on Cyber Risks
Ince claims that shipping has been slow to acknowledge the risks posed by cyber security threats – particularly from a business standpoint. Cyber attacks against large organisations and businesses have made headlines in recent months after millions were lost in attacks from viruses such as WannaCry and NotPetya. Among its other victims, the NotPetya virus took down the operations of container shipping giant Maersk in late June, reportedly costing the company up to US$300M. However, shipping has escaped relatively lightly thus far according to Ince & Co’s Hong Kong partner and cyber security representative Rory Macfarlane.
Ince claims that shipping has been slow to acknowledge the risks posed by cyber security threats – particularly from a business standpoint. Cyber attacks against large organisations and businesses have made headlines in recent months after millions were lost in attacks from viruses such as WannaCry and NotPetya. Among its other victims, the NotPetya virus took down the operations of container shipping giant Maersk in late June, reportedly costing the company up to US$300M. However, shipping has escaped relatively lightly thus far according to Ince & Co’s Hong Kong partner and cyber security representative Rory Macfarlane.
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8. All Change for ICS
Brand Union has designed a new identity for trade union the International Chamber of Shipping, with the aim of “raising the profile” of the shipping industry’s trade efforts. The ICS was founded in 1921 and represents ship owners, merchants and operators globally. It deals with employment issues for members, policy change by governments, technical requirements and legal challenges. Brand Union’s aim was to “raise the profile” of the “unrecognised” organisation and the work the shipping industry does in carrying out 90% of the world’s trade, says Lou Hunter, creative director at the consultancy.
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9. Mega Box Grounding
Mega container ship "CMA CGM Ganges" reportedly ran aground at 0230 UTC Sep 25 shortly after leaving Guayaquil, Ecuador, Pacific, probably straying off fairway after some mechanical failure. Vessel resumed sailing at around 0830 UTC same day, bound for Buenaventura Colombia. No information on damages, but vessel was sailing at a reduced speed several hours after mishap. The ship has a capacity of 10,000 TEU, and was built in 2015. It flies the Marshall Islands flag.
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10. New RFA Tanker Arrives
2017 has seen new grey ships arriving, HMS Queen Elizabeth, a monster new aircraft carrier, set sail for the first time in the summer. Its sister craft, HMS Prince of Wales, is following her down the pipeline. Although less glamorous a new generation of support ships is also needed. "RFA Tiderace" is the latest of these, and arrived in UK waters this week for the first time. The ship was constructed in South Korea by commercial builders, but is being brought to a Naval dockyard in Falmouth where it will be fitted with weapons, armour, and other modifications to make it ready to accompany Britain’s most powerful warships in the field.
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
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