Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 22/11/2017
1. Maritime Tech on the Ropes
A holistic industrial strategy for the European maritime technology sector is urgently needed, according to an E.U.-sponsored study. The Study on New Trends in Globalisation in Shipbuilding and Marine Supplies – Consequences for European Industrial and Trade Policy found that individual shipbuilding nations in Europe seem too small and too weak to cope with competitive pressure from Asia, where countries have a targeted national shipbuilding strategy. Hence, only a clear targeted E.U. shipbuilding policy will help Europe to cope with its competitive and societal challenges.
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2. UK Flag on the Up
Gross tonnage on the UK Ship Register (UKSR) has increased by almost 12% over the past two years and over 6.0% since 2017 began, which has helped the registry move up one place to become the world’s 14th biggest in terms of tonnage. The flag now has a total of 16,186,843 GT on its books, the highest level seen since August 2013, according to data from Clarksons. The UKSR’s total gross tonnage has grown by 11.9% since 2015, when it had 14,470,895 GT on its register. Northern Marine Management and Stolt Tankers are among companies that have recently flagged vessels under the red ensign.
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3. Pressure on Training
David Dingle CBE, Chairman of Maritime UK has written to the Transport Secretary, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, to express the entire maritime sector’s support for the shipping industry’s proposal to double funding for seafarer training. The letter adds the weight of the ports, marine and business services industries to the proposals developed by the shipping industry. Known as the SMarT+ proposals, drawn up by Maritime UK members, the Chamber of Shipping and Nautilus, the letter makes clear that the proposals would not only benefit the shipping industry, but the entire maritime sector as a whole.
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4. Insurers Brexit Actions
The Standard Club is setting up a new European Union subsidiary in Dublin in case Britain loses access to the single market after Brexit, becoming the second of these specialised providers to opt for Ireland in two days. While North P&I Club, has also chosen the Irish capital for its EU subsidiary. Losing access to specialist P&I clubs such as Standard and North could weaken other parts of the country’s multi-billion pound shipping services sector. “We have concluded that Dublin offers the best location to serve European members post-Brexit,” Standard Club’s chief executive Jeremy Grose said in a statement.
goo.gl/iFDQA9
The Standard Club is setting up a new European Union subsidiary in Dublin in case Britain loses access to the single market after Brexit, becoming the second of these specialised providers to opt for Ireland in two days. While North P&I Club, has also chosen the Irish capital for its EU subsidiary. Losing access to specialist P&I clubs such as Standard and North could weaken other parts of the country’s multi-billion pound shipping services sector. “We have concluded that Dublin offers the best location to serve European members post-Brexit,” Standard Club’s chief executive Jeremy Grose said in a statement.
goo.gl/iFDQA9
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5. Uncertainty on Cyber
Almost two thirds (64%) of global marine industry executives believe there is uncertainty surrounding liability issues relating to unmanned ships should a vessel be involved in an incident as a result of a cyber-attack, according to a new report from global law firm Clyde & Co and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST). A survey of 220 marine industry executives from across the world also found that there is a lack of clarity around collisions involving unmanned ships, with 59% of survey respondents agreeing there is confusion surrounding the regulations in this area.
goo.gl/7MoLsm
Almost two thirds (64%) of global marine industry executives believe there is uncertainty surrounding liability issues relating to unmanned ships should a vessel be involved in an incident as a result of a cyber-attack, according to a new report from global law firm Clyde & Co and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST). A survey of 220 marine industry executives from across the world also found that there is a lack of clarity around collisions involving unmanned ships, with 59% of survey respondents agreeing there is confusion surrounding the regulations in this area.
goo.gl/7MoLsm
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6. Anchor Handler Sinks
An anchor handling tug supply vessel owned by Shipping Corporation of India, 2011-built "SCI Ratna", sunk last night around 175km off Mumbai. The vessel made a distress call around 5:27pm local time and by 5:55pm the crew was being assisted by offshore support vessel "Greatship Prachi". All 15 crew members were rescued and watched their vessel sink. The Indian Express reports that flooding in the main engine room was what led to the incident, and that the Indian Coast Guard would start investigations.
An anchor handling tug supply vessel owned by Shipping Corporation of India, 2011-built "SCI Ratna", sunk last night around 175km off Mumbai. The vessel made a distress call around 5:27pm local time and by 5:55pm the crew was being assisted by offshore support vessel "Greatship Prachi". All 15 crew members were rescued and watched their vessel sink. The Indian Express reports that flooding in the main engine room was what led to the incident, and that the Indian Coast Guard would start investigations.
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7. Daring USCG Rescue
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has made a daring medical evacuation to safely remove an ailing crewman from the 2010-built Maersk Eindhoven some 200 miles off Alaska. When the 53-year-old crewman suffered cardiac problems, the 366-metre ship was 600 miles from the Alaskan shore and its captain was advised to steer towards Cold Bay, Alaska, to facilitate an airlift. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak forward deployed to Cold Bay and flew out to the ship when it was about 200 miles offshore.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has made a daring medical evacuation to safely remove an ailing crewman from the 2010-built Maersk Eindhoven some 200 miles off Alaska. When the 53-year-old crewman suffered cardiac problems, the 366-metre ship was 600 miles from the Alaskan shore and its captain was advised to steer towards Cold Bay, Alaska, to facilitate an airlift. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak forward deployed to Cold Bay and flew out to the ship when it was about 200 miles offshore.
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8. Demand for Clean Fuel
Availability of low sulphur fuel was a major concern for many attending the Greener Shipping Summit 2017 – refiners are confident they will be able to meet the demand, but the changeover cannot occur overnight delegates were told. While IMO’s decision to reduce the bunker fuel specification to 0.5% from 1 January 2020 is clear, "there remains a great deal of uncertainty around the regulatory framework, much of which may not become any clearer until 2019" Sara Lawrence, global technical manager, Shell Marine, warned at the conference in Athens.
Availability of low sulphur fuel was a major concern for many attending the Greener Shipping Summit 2017 – refiners are confident they will be able to meet the demand, but the changeover cannot occur overnight delegates were told. While IMO’s decision to reduce the bunker fuel specification to 0.5% from 1 January 2020 is clear, "there remains a great deal of uncertainty around the regulatory framework, much of which may not become any clearer until 2019" Sara Lawrence, global technical manager, Shell Marine, warned at the conference in Athens.
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9. Tackling Silent Killer
Dubbing it the "silent killer" International SOS medical director Olivier Lo said at a panel at the Asia Maritime Breakfast briefing on -Seafarers Welfare post-MLC 2006, that more needs to be done to prevent suicides at sea. There is not enough recognition of its existence and if the industry does not do more the numbers will continue to rise, he noted. Among the suggested solutions are employee assistance programmes. These however are harder to implement while seafarers are out at sea, he acknowledged.
Dubbing it the "silent killer" International SOS medical director Olivier Lo said at a panel at the Asia Maritime Breakfast briefing on -Seafarers Welfare post-MLC 2006, that more needs to be done to prevent suicides at sea. There is not enough recognition of its existence and if the industry does not do more the numbers will continue to rise, he noted. Among the suggested solutions are employee assistance programmes. These however are harder to implement while seafarers are out at sea, he acknowledged.
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10. Port Volumes Rise
Port volumes recorded a 7.7% rise in aggregate throughput in the quarter ended September 30, growing at their fastest pace since 2011, according to Alphaliner. Through its survey, which covers more than 200 ports that account for over 75% of global container volumes, Alphaliner saw that the strong third-quarter growth figures surpassed the growth rates of the previous two quarters, which stood at 7.4% and 5.8%, respectively. Full year growth estimate for 2017 has thus been adjusted upwards to 6.4%. All regions posted improved year-on-year growth, led by Latin American ports, more especially in Mexico.
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S Jones
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