Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 07/01/2019
1. Trump Threat to Cap
President Donald Trump and his administration in Washington are now considered to be the biggest threat to the start of the global sulphur cap due in 51 weeks’ time, according to the latest weekly report from Alphatanker. “Alphatanker now considers US opposition the greatest threat to the timely introduction of the global sulphur cap,” analysts wrote in the report issued at the end of last week. Alphatanker reiterated earlier reports that Trump is concerned about the potential for a fuel price spike as the global sulphur cap is introduced as a presidential election cycle gets underway next year.
http://bit.ly/2sa9LjG
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2. Torm in Tight Spot
Singapore-based shipping trust FSL Trust has had the Torm-owned 2002-built MR2 tanker Torm Amazon arrested in Taiwan. The arrest follows a dispute between the two parties over the condition of two vessels, 2006-built LR2 product tankers Torm Margrethe (pictured) and Torm Marie, redelivered to FSL by Torm in the summer of 2018. Torm Margrethe, now named FSL Piraeus, had to undergo 16 days drydocking in China after it was redelivered while Torm Marie, now named FSL Perth, spent some time undergoing repair off Singapore. FSL has filed a claim against Torm in the UK for the amount of $1.9m .
http://bit.ly/2LRXoSg
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3. The Big Charter Players
Unipec remains the world’s dominant dirty spot charterer, according to a regular annual survey carried by New York tanker brokers Poten & Partners. The Chinese subsidiary of Sinopec strengthened its position at the top of the dirty spot chartering league in 2018 with its share growing from 13.8% in 2017 to 14.7%. Unipec has dominated the Poten statistics since 2012. Shell remained a distant second. IOC and Vitol traded places with IOC moving up to third and Vitol down to fourth. ExxonMobil pulled itself back into the top 10. Valero is a new entry into the top 20, while Equinor (formerly Statoil) dropped out.
http://bit.ly/2LUJrD9
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4. China Scrubber Ban
China has moved ahead with a ban on open-loop scrubbers. The Ministry of Transport in Beijing has banned the technology from the country’s emission control areas (ECAs), which as of this year now cover most of China’s coastline. The latest ship emission regulation document released by the ministry has banned ships from discharging wastewater and burning residue from open-loop scrubbers across the country’s coastal and river ECAs, while ships are required to record the details of wastewater and residue disposal. The new regulation came into effect from January 1.
http://bit.ly/2RhzuG5
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5. Maersk Bunker Spill
Authorities in Hong Kong spent Sunday containing a big bunker spill, which has already spread for a number of kilometres. The spill was reported at 0530 hrs local time while the bunker tanker Carlung was filling up the Maersk Gateshead boxship at Container Terminal Three in Kwai Chung. Clear-up operations carried on throughout the day with early indications suggesting many thousands of litres of bunker fuel had fallen into the South China Sea. The Maersk ship had arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday and bunkering was taking place overnight.
http://bit.ly/2FcsIKl
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6. Crew Evacuated after Fire
Crew onboard the Hapag-Lloyd vessel Yantian Express were evacuated Sunday as a fire, underway since Friday, became difficult to contain. The 23 crew of the 7,500 teu ship were moved onto the salvage tug Smit Nicobar. Another tug, Maersk Mobiliser, is expected to tow the burning ship to the Canadian port of Halifax. None of the crew have been hurt in the accident. “Due to bad weather conditions, the fire has not been successfully contained yet and has significantly increased in intensity at times,” Hapag-Lloyd said in a statement on Sunday.
http://bit.ly/2FcnD5x
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7. Maersk Company Exits Sector
Maersk Container Industry (MCI) is exiting the dry container manufacturing business to focus on growing its cold chain business. Currently, one out of three refrigerated containers used in global perishable transportation uses Star Cool container technology manufactured by MCI. With the recent launch of Sekstant(r) Global Guidance solutions, the company is entering the IoT space, transforming reefer operations through the use of operational data. The market for dry containers has been under enormous pressure for some time, says MCI, but reefer volumes continue to grow.
http://bit.ly/2RyDzVp
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8. Learning About Cyber Security
The latest edition of “In The Know,” the Maritime Executive Magazine podcast, explores the serious liabilities that cyberattacks create for maritime companies of all types and sizes, from small family enterprises up to the largest conglomerates. To gain insight into the nature of these real-world threats to business, three American experts: Gary Kessler, professor of cybersecurity and chair of the department of security studies and international affairs at Embry-Riddle; Andrew Lee, a partner at law firm Jones Walker and Lt. Kevin Kuhn, an expert in cybersecurity policy at the USCG join the debate.
http://bit.ly/2QsI9jv
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9. Norway Delays Emissions Rules
The Norwegian Maritime Authority has delayed the entry into force of the new emissions legislation originally planned for January 1. It is now scheduled for the end of February 2019. Ships must use fuel with a sulfur content of maximum 0.10 percent by weight, that the use of both open and closed loop exhaust gas cleaning systems is prohibited and that the incineration of waste on board ships is also prohibited in world heritage fjords. Additionally, the new legislation will allow, exemption from the Tier I requirements set out in MARPOL regulation VI/13, if the ship will comply with the Tier III not later than Jan 1, 2022.
http://bit.ly/2FfHYWE
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10. Routes for Box Giants
As a product of the global economy, more and more Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCV) are utilized in nowadays in long-haul shipping. According to ships’ AIS navigation records, in the fourth quarter of 2018, 118 fully cellular container ships which each carrying capacity of more than 14,500 TEUs were active in the high seas. These ULCVs made 1,818 calls connected 63 ports in 32 countries. 69 percent port pairs were the result of international sailings. Shanghai Port was top, receiving 164 port calls from ULCVs, followed by Ningbo-Zhoushan which had 133. Rotterdam placed third with 122.
http://bit.ly/2C5uj1g
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com