Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 01/02/2019
1. Maersk Breaking from UK
With the UKâs exit from the EU due in less than two months, Maersk, Europeâs largest shipping line, is making its own Brexit. The giant Danish shipping line has made plans to take its remaining ships off the UK Ship Register as well as stop taking in UK cadets, according to trade union Nautilus International. Maersk has also announced it will cease taking in cadets from South Africa. In other cadet changes for Maersk, it will reduce its intake from the Philippines, the worldâs largest crewing nation, while upping the volume of cadets it takes from India and from home soil in Denmark.
http://bit.ly/2BeOzhz
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2. Seafarer Attacks Crew Onboard
A seafarer aboard the container ship MSC Marta has allegedly injured three of his shipmates with a knife. On Wednesday, crewmember Dejan Adži? allegedly attacked the vessel’s cook, SaÅ¡a Å nobl, over a perceived sleight. Adzic’s crewmates attempted to restrain him, and two suffered minor injuries during the altercation. All individuals involved are Montenegrin nationals, according to local media in Montenegro. Two crewmember were medevaced by a helicopter crew. The cook was one of the two evacuees, and reportedly sustained serious injuries in the attack.
http://bit.ly/2t3qK7z
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3. InterCargo Welcomes Liquefaction Developments
InterCargo has welcomed the latest amendment to the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code (IMSBC 04-17) which entered into force on January 1 by says that liquefaction of cargo continues to be a major risk. The pertinent updates include: changes to section 4.5 of the Code which stipulates the shippersâ responsibility to ensure that the testing and sampling for Transportable Moisture Limit (TML) and moisture content is carried out at the correct intervals; changes to the individual coal schedule which strengthen and clarify the designation of coal as Group A and B cargo; and a new test procedure.
http://bit.ly/2SkxvAe
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4. Digitalisation Literally a Lottery
Containerlines have until the end of this month to enter a unique prize draw created by Israeli cargo trackers Loginno. Loginno has announced a competition for small- and medium-sized container lines, and the winner will have 100% of their containers turned into digitally enabled online smart containers. Anyone with a fleet of up to 150,000 containers can apply. âYour fleet of shipping containers is today an under-utilized asset. With a simple, one-time conversion, it could turn into a fleet of logistic data-miners, and you could greatly benefit from it!,â Loginno states on its website.
http://bit.ly/2G5e8We
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5. Turkey Ratifies HK Convention
Turkey, one of the five major ship recycling countries in the world, has ratified the IMO Hong Kong Convention, the treaty for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling. The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009, covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships.
http://bit.ly/2RvDZYt
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6. Massive Building Mega Merger
World’s Largest Shipbuilders in $2 Bln Mega-merger. Resulting entity would control about 20 pct of global market; Daewoo shares rally 22 pct; Hyundai Heavy shares fall. Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s biggest shipbuilding group, has announced a share swap deal worth 2.1 trillion won ($1.98 billion) to take over second-ranked Daewoo and create a global heavyweight controlling over 20 percent of the market. The move comes as the worldwide shipbuilding sector recovers from a global economic downturn that led to massive losses, widespread job cuts.
http://bit.ly/2UyW49Z
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7. IMO View Standards for Navigation
A sub-committee under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have forwarded three documents for adoption in June, moving one step closer to the adoption of a standardised system for electronic navigation. This yearâs Navigation, Communication, Search and Rescue sub-committee (NCSR 6) took place from 15-25 January in London. The work to standardise the display of bridge equipment started at IMO level in 2015 and throughout the process, the end user â the navigator â has been in focus.
http://bit.ly/2MIKoiu
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8. Fighting Shipboard Fires
Engine rooms on ships have all the ingredients for a ï¬re â oxygen, heat and ï¬ammable liquids under pressure. With an average cost of USD 1.85 million, engine room fires cost nearly six times more than the average for H&M claims in general. Yet the quality of the crewâs response can have a significant impact not only on the cost of the fire, but more importantly on the safety of those on board. In response to this, The Swedish Club has published Dealing with Engine Room Fires, a publication which provides an insight into three major incidents dealt with by the Club that involve engine room fires.
http://bit.ly/2t0X3nW
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9. Oil Inventories Build Up
Venezuelaâs oil inventories have started to build up at the countryâs ports and terminals as PDVSA is finding it cannot export crude at its usual rate due to U.S. sanctions. Sanctions announced on Monday by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, aimed at driving President Nicolas Maduro out of power after his contested re-election last year, have barred PDVSAâs U.S. customers from transferring payments to the firm. That is effectively limiting state-owned PDVSA from shipping that oil because Maduroâs government cannot collect the proceeds.
http://bit.ly/2Uwpeqj
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10. Former CEO Arrested
The former CEO of Sinopacific Shipbuilding has been arrested in Myanmar over alleged tax avoidance. Liang Xiaolei, 56, has now been handed over to Chinese authorities. The collapsed shipbuilding group’s parent company is Evergreen Holding Group, run by Liang and his father. Evergreen has been in financial trouble for the last few years, with defaults on multiple bond payments totaling around $7 billion. The Chinese Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry announced last week that China maintained its top position in the global shipbuilding industry in 2018.
http://bit.ly/2TokN0M
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Daily news feed from Seacurus Ltd â providers of MLC crew insurance solutions www.seacurus.com
