Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 14/01/2019

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 14/01/2019

1. Pipelay Vessel Hit
Hong Kong flagged 2002-built product tanker Antea has t-boned 2012-built pipelay vessel Star Centurion east of the Singapore Strait entrance around 10NM north of Bintan Island yesterday morning. The pipelay vessel had a hole punctured in its side from the accident, causing it to severely list. Worth a little under $100m, the Star Centurion has been anchored in the position of the accident since January 7 according to Marinetraffic AIS data. The outer port limits of Singapore are a popular destinations for ships to anchor in order to save on port dues.
http://bit.ly/2STvmZp

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2. Bad Weather Hampers Recovery
Stormy weather continues to hamper efforts to clean up boxes from the MSC Zoe in the North Sea. A total of 281 containers fell off the huge boxship on January 2, sparking both a navigational and an environmental crisis in the busy waters bordering the Netherlands and Germany. Salvors have had to contend with waves up to 6 m high over the weekend as they seek to fulfil MSC’s mission to pick up every single lost container. Most boxes are at a depth of between 20 m and 30 m, on what is one of the busiest stretches of waterways in Europe.
http://bit.ly/2D9UkhX

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3. UAE Warning to Agents
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is shedding its reputation as a hotspot for crew abandonment. The latest ruling from the UAE’s Federal Transport Authority (FTA), issued this week, means all ships – both local and foreign – calling at the Middle East nation must carry appropriate insurance cover for seafarer repatriation. A total of 25 insurers have been approved by UAE authorities. The FTA warned that ship’s agents must check this insurance is in place before taking on a vessel’s agency or else the agent will have to foot the bill of any abandonment case.
http://bit.ly/2FwFUKg

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4. Scale of Fire Devastation
One week on, the fire that has raged on the 7,500 teu Yantian Express has finally been brought under control. The ship’s owner, Hapag-Lloyd, said that salvors are now towing the burnt ship to Halifax in Canada. Three tugs are being deployed to get the ship moved to its destination some 800 nautical miles away.
Hapag-Lloyd has warned clients that all cargo in bay 12 on deck and forward has been hit by the fire, as well as all cargo in hold one, stretching from bay one to nine. Moreover, all cargo in hold two containing bays 11 to 17 has been affected by fire, smoke and / or damage caused by firefighting water.
http://bit.ly/2VToRYn

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5. Magnetic Shifts Causing Concern
The Earth’s north magnetic pole is shifting so rapidly that steps are being taken to ensure it doesn’t impact navigation in the Arctic. Compass needles point towards the north magnetic pole, a point that has moved from Canada to the middle of the Arctic Ocean over the last century. It is currently moving towards Siberia at about 50 kilometers (30 miles) a year. The World Magnetic Model predicts the Earth’s geomagnetic field for the next five years, and it is normally produced every five years. Scientists have now recognized that the 2015 World Magnetic Model needs updating earlier than planned.
http://bit.ly/2QMiSkk

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6. Sickness Hits Cruise
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 561 people have reported ill on Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas. The vessel’s itinerary has been cut short, and she has returned to Port Canaveral in Florida. The number of passengers reported ill and vomiting is 8.91 percent of the 6,285 on board. The number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage is 31 of 2,169 (1.45 percent). As yet, the causative agent is unknown. The vessel departed January 6 on a tour of the Caribbean. Some passengers reporting sick shortly afterward departure and she returned to port.
http://bit.ly/2QNkzhs

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7. Global Economy Struggling
The outlook for the global economy in 2019 has darkened, according to the World Bank’s January 2019 Global Economic Prospects report. International trade and investment have softened. Trade tensions remain elevated, and several large emerging markets underwent substantial financial pressures last year. Growth in emerging markets and developing economies is expected to remain flat in 2019 as a result. Risks are growing that growth could be even weaker than anticipated. The pickup in economies that rely heavily on commodity exports is likely to be much slower than hoped for.
http://bit.ly/2TOU8d5

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8. Port Looking at AI Data
Computers recognise patterns in large data volumes much faster than people. Significant efficiency steps can also be taken in the maritime sector regarding big data and artificial intelligence. For instance, this technology is enabling the arrival times of vessels in sea and inland ports to be predicted earlier and with increased precision. More technology is also becoming available to generate and share that data. It is expected that over 11 billion devices will be connected with the internet by 2021. While the volume of data is increasing exponentially, data analysis costs are falling rapidly.
http://bit.ly/2D9HjVr

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9. BIMCO Wants Piracy Action
The EU, China, and the U.S. need to step up their support of counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea amid a scourge of attacks and kidnappings in the region, international shipping association BIMCO said Wednesday. Around 40 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Guinea in the past 12 months. Most recently, six seafarers were kidnapped from the MSC Mandy, which was on the way to Lagos, Nigeria. BIMCO called piracy in the Gulf of Guinea an unacceptable burden to seafarers and shipping companies, and is asking that maritime powers increase their presence and expand their collaboration.
http://bit.ly/2FqOTgQ

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10. Flags Stress their Credentials
Alfonso Castillero, chief commercial officer (cco) of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR) the world’s third largest open registry, talks about what Ship Registries could need to do to have an efficient business model. “Ship Registries are an integral part of the global maritime industry…the flag, representing the sovereignty of the vessels that ply the seas, and the element that enables the cross-boundary aspects of maritime transport to occur is the part of the industry that is probably the least known and understood,” says Castillero.
http://bit.ly/2sqOhix

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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com

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