Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 29/01/2019
1. Huge Explosion in Shipyard
An explosion onboard aframax tanker LR2 Poseidon, under repair at Turkey’s Tuzla Shipyard, has killed two workers and injured another ten. According to local reports, the explosion came from the ship’s boiler room, which triggered a fire onboard. A team of firefighters were sent to the scene and managed to put out the fire later in the day. Two workers died at the scene while another ten, suffering different levels of burn injuries, were sent to a hospital for treatment with one of them in critical condition.
http://bit.ly/2CVUgRg
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2. Nigerian Piracy Attacks
Three attacks on ships off West Africa have been reported by maritime security specialists Ambrey in the space of just 24 hours. The Liberia-flagged product tanker Levanto was fired at on January 24 while underway at 10.9 knots en route from Lagos to Calabar, Nigeria. The Unibros Shipping Corp-owned vessel deviated course, increased speed and continued on its journey. A few hours later at night time the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Allegra, underway at 12.5 knots between Lagos and Onne, was attacked. The vessel had an embarked Nigerian naval team, which responded to an attack by at least five armed.
http://bit.ly/2Wo5CGK
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3. Nip and Tuck for Flags
Two old foes have traded places in the ship registry league. Liberia has returned to second spot behind Panama, overhauling the Marshall Islands, according to the latest data from Clarksons Research World Fleet Monitor. The senior management behind International Registries, Inc, which administer the Marshall Islands were in charge of the Liberian flag until the turn of the century. As of January 1 this year, Panama has a 16% market share of the global registered fleet in gt terms, Liberia sits on 12% with the Marshall Islands on 11%.
http://bit.ly/2DGCZxm
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4. Crane Falls onto Ship
On Monday, the lifting boom of an STS crane fell onto the container ship Ever Summit as the vessel docked at the Port of Vancouver’s Global Container Terminal. According to GCT spokesperson Louanne Wong, no injuries occurred and the situation is stable. The ship is being held against the pier by tugs while an assessment and response effort continues. Images and video from the scene show that the boom came to rest on container stacks aft of the accommodations block. The cargo containers directly underneath the boom sustained some amount of damage, but the extent of the impact is under investigation.
http://bit.ly/2FTtxsF
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5. Ports Want More Security Spend
U.S. member ports of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) identified nearly $4 billion in crucial port and supply chain security needs over the next 10 years. The AAPA says that money is needed to ensure America’s port facilities are properly equipped to address new and evolving security challenges. The report recommends refocusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program to better meet the security infrastructure needs of publicly-owned commercial seaports and related maritime operations.
http://bit.ly/2G8WErm
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6. US Announces Sanctions
The Trump administration has imposed new financial sanctions on Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA as part of a pressure campaign to oust the government of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The new measures have the potential to affect the pattern of petroleum shipping in the Caribbean and beyond, as the U.S. trades in significant quantities of oil and refined products with Venezuela. About five percent of America’s oil imports (500,000 bpd) comes from PDVSA; in the other direction, PDVSA imports American light crude and naphtha for use in diluting its own extra-heavy grades.
http://bit.ly/2CPTa9W
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7. Cost of Cleaning Up
The scale of the challenge facing ship operators as they prepare bunker tanks for new low-sulphur fuels ahead of the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap may have been underestimated, according to some marine fuel experts. The issues are both technical and commercial, notably for ship operators with ships deployed on time-or trip charters in which bunkers are procured and paid for by charterers. On the technical side, bunker tanks which have been used for heavy fuel oil over long periods will have accumulations of solid residuals lying at the bottom which will have to be thoroughly cleaned out prior to new fuels.
http://bit.ly/2HCrJGe
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8. MSC Investment for Scrubbers
Container line the Mediterranean Shipping Company, or MSC has secured financing to install emissions-cleaning scrubber equipment on board 86 of its ships, according to a law firm involved in the deal. The shipping company is set to borrow $439 million from a syndicate of four different banks to install the systems, law firm Watson Farley & Williams said Friday. The lawyers advised BNP Paribas, which acted as coordinating bank and agent for the deal.
http://bit.ly/2RWXJt8
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9. Afghanistan Joins Shipping World
The first export cargo from Afghanistan to India will be shipped through Iran’s Chabahar port within the Next Month using the international customs transit system (TIR system). A government press release from Iran quoted Husne Mubarak Azizi, head of foreign affairs and Ministry of Transport of Afghanistan saying that that Afghanistan is preparing to ship the first cargo of five containers through Chabahar to India, which will take place within a month or less. The cargo is mung beans and each container will weigh about 22 tons. The delivery of this 5 container cargo will be carried out under the TIR system, it said.
http://bit.ly/2FVSsvK
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10. New Types of Ship Announced
Publishers of shipping dictionaries have a couple of new words to add to the ever-expanding jargon of ship types. LNT Maritime has received approval in principle from China Classification Society (CCS) for two new medium-sized LNG ship designs that can trade up to two cities along the Yangtze, China’s longest river. The new designs are the Wuhumax with an 8 m draught and a 40,000 cu m capacity and the Wuhanmax with a 5.9 m draught and a 28,500 cu m capacity. Both ships feature the company’s new LNG containment system, LNT A-Box and both have 24 m air draught.
http://bit.ly/2TjW7GJ
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd – providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
