Seacurus Daily: Top Ten News Stories 07/11/2018
1. Sad Chapter for Aegean
Marine fuel logistics company Aegean Marine Petroleum Network and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The debtors enter this process with the support of commodity trading company Mercuria Energy Group Limited, a key strategic partner. Mercuria has agreed to provide more than USD 532 million in post-petition financing.
https://bit.ly/2PN5DDw
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2. Gulf of Guinea Piracy
In the first nine months of 2018, the Gulf of Guinea accounted for 57 of the 156 reported incidents. While most of these incidents have been reported in and around Nigeria, where 41 of the reported incident took place. There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of vessels boarded at the Takoradi anchorage, in Ghana. 37 of the 39 crew kidnappings for ransom taking place around the world have occurred in the Gulf of Guinea region, in seven separate incidents.
https://bit.ly/2zBoI1o
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3. Tanker Saves Itself
Stena Bulkâs chemical tanker Stena Imperial reported a suspected pirate approach on November 3, whilst on northbound passage through the Red Sea west of Yemen. The Swedish tanker shipping company said that two suspicious skiffs approached Stena Imperial from the port side at a distance of 1.5 nautical miles. The vessel was on its way from Far East to Rotterdam for discharge.
https://bit.ly/2PcicsS
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4. Box Fire Concerns
Container ship fires are a real concern for marine insurance and the shipping industry as a whole. Major fires on container vessels, such as the Maersk Honam this year, the CCIN Arauco or the Maersk Karachi in 2015 show the helplessness and vulnerability of the crew onboard and fire fighters ashore. By their nature cargo fires on container ships are extremely problematic as they are very difficult to extinguish.
https://bit.ly/2qxzstO
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5. New Low Water Levels
A new island in Lake Constance. A river in Berlin flowing backward. Dead fish on the banks of lakes and ponds. Barges barely loaded so they donât run aground. A hot, dry summer has left German rivers and lakes at record low water levels, causing chaos for the inland shipping industry, environmental damage and billions of euros (dollars) in losses â a scenario that experts warn could portend the future as global temperatures rise.
https://bit.ly/2D6D9hm
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6. Tail Wagging Shipmanagement Dog
With all the talk of digitalisation and automation in shipping seafarers remain the most important part of the operation according to leading ship managers. Mark OâNeil, president and ceo of Colombia Marlow Shipmanagement, likened the raft of solutions and warnings from suppliers about the dangers of being left behind in digitalisation to the Y2K scenario and that the âtail was wagging the dogâ.
https://bit.ly/2QlBVmb
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7. Birth of a New Pool
Reederei Nord and Singapore’s Synergy Group, on behalf of Japan’s Nissen Kaiun, have officially launched N2Tankers, a new aframax tanker pool, with the two shipowners working together as a joint venture. The combined fleet currently pooled under N2Tankers consists of 13 Japanese-built aframax tankers. The fleet will further expand, but will be limited to 20-30 vessels.
https://bit.ly/2OqTm32
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8. Madness of Trade War
Billionaire Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma called fighting over trade senseless and decried once again a widening conflict between the U.S. and China. Chinaâs richest person â who warned just last month that a trade war could last two decades â argued it was pointless to target goods because the Asian nation was on its way to becoming a major buyer of foreign products.
https://bit.ly/2yPH5jG
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9. E-Procurement is Growing
Maritime e-procurement to change âbeyond all recognitionâ in next five-years within the maritime industry based on insights from leading chief purchasing officers and managers (CPOs/CPMs), according to latest a research whitepaper from UK-based ShipServ. âe-procurement in Maritime; 2021 and Beyondâ, showed that while maritime e-procurement is currently at an embryonic level over one third of those surveyed believe the market will change beyond all recognition in the next five years, driven by developments in advanced technology and applications.
https://bit.ly/2Ryywka
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10. New Cruise Hub in China
Shipbuilder Fincantieri has officially established a cruise hub in Baoshan, China, focused on its shipbuilding activities in the region. Fincantieri CEO, Giuseppe Bono, and the District Mayor of Baoshan, Fan Shaojun, signed the contracts for the hub which will initially be used to build the two cruise ships already agreed between Fincantieri, CSSC and Carnival Corporation, the first ever made in China for the local market.
https://bit.ly/2JJwsTN
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd â providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
