Seacurus Daily: Top Ten News Stories 23/11/2018
1. New Wage Rise for Crew
The ITF and the International Chamber of Shipping have hammered out a pay rise of $27 per month for able seafarers over the next three years. Though unfortunately this rate of increase falls below the inflation rates in key crewing nations such as India and The Philippines. The two bodies met in Geneva as part of the ILO process on setting wages as per the Maritime Labour Convention.
https://bit.ly/2Tv4f7P
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2. Smaller is Beautiful
Hapag-Lloyd has disclosed details of its new mid-term Strategy 2023, saying the liner industry has come to a turning point following a period of consolidation. Hapag-Lloyd is more than two times larger than it was in 2014 in terms of transport capacity. Further consolidation is now less attractive due to decreasing incremental scale benefits. Instead, the company will focus on significantly improving quality for its customers, selective global growth and becoming profitable throughout the cycle.
https://bit.ly/2Kp4OM8
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3. French Rescue Tanker
The French Navy rescued 12 Indian seafarers from the Panama-flagged tanker Durban Queen after the vessel ran into trouble and was sinking in the Persian Gulf. The French frigate Cassard picked up a distress call from the Durban Queen located only about 13 km in the Persian Gulf. A helicopter was launched hoisted four of Durban Queen’s crew and delivered them to a nearby commercial vessel.
https://bit.ly/2TBmUyE
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4. Ports See BREXIT Role
Smaller ports in northern France are ready to absorb more shipping traffic from Britain if congestion builds up due to any fallout from Brexit, a top French official said on Wednesday. The Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA) currently owns and operates Cherbourg and Caen-Ouistreham terminals and will take on operating Dieppe nearby in 2019.
https://bit.ly/2FDdpMA
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5. Amazing Rescue Mission
On Tuesday night, the cruise ship Costa Luminosa rescued 11 seafarers from a burning fish carrier in the Aegean Sea. While transiting just off Cape Matapan, Greece on Tuesday, the Turkish fish carrier Kilic 1 suffered an engine room fire. Her crew were not able to bring the blaze under control, and they issued a distress call. Despite dense smoke coming from the fish carrier and winds of thirty knots and six foot waves, rescue operations were successful.
https://bit.ly/2QjnMZU
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6. Union Fears Offshore Merger
The UK’s National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has called on the British government to protect hundreds of North Sea crew positions that could potentially be eliminated by the merger of offshore supply operators Tidewater and Gulfmark. The Tidewater-Gulfmark merger was finalized on November 15, creating the largest fleet in the industry. It boosts Tidewater’s total fleet size to about 250 vessels around the world (though the number will likely decline in line with the firm’s scrapping program).
https://bit.ly/2Tzydrf
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7. Boom Delays Sale
Energy logistics and bunker supply firm Brightoil Petroleum has ditched an earlier announced plan to sell 15 oil tankers in view of the recent upturn in the VLCC market. “The company notes that since early October this year and up to current date, the VLCC sector is experiencing a strong up-going market,” Brightoil stated.
https://bit.ly/2Q8Rdhx
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8. Hard to Plot Demolitions
While it’s safe to say that 2018 has been a landmark for the ships’ demolition market, particularly in the beleguered tanker segment, the past few weeks have been less than ideal, in terms of further alleviating tonnage supply. Shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas admitted that “a somewhat muted position has been evident this week amongst the industry players with the market seemingly hanging in a precarious position, making it difficult to predict which side of the line the sentiment will turn”.
https://bit.ly/2PO2lRz
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9. Selling Fuel Futures
New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) will launch trading for 11 marine fuel 0.5% futures contracts on the CME Globex electronic platform from 9 December this year, roughly one year ahead of IMO’s 2020 fuel sulphur cap regulation. The futures contracts will be cleared via CME ClearPort and will settle against S&P Global Platts physical marine fuel 0.5% assessments, announced CME Group, owner and operator of NYMEX.
https://bit.ly/2Qi1704
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10. Qatar Seeks IMO Membership
A representative of the Qatari government has held talks with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Kitack Lim, at IMO’s premises in London During the meeting, HE the Minister submitted Qatar’s candidature file for the membership of the Organization executive council under category “c”, to the Secretary General.
https://bit.ly/2r27G8I
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
