1. Fish factory fire, 363 people evacuated, Pacific
Fish factory PYOTR ZHITNIKOV issued distress signal at 0225 LT (UTC +11) Sep 24, reporting fire on board and requesting evacuation, in southern Kuril island waters, some 22 nm E of Iturup island. There were 412 people on board, factory workers and crew, fire erupted in fish equipment compartment. Fish package material caught fire, common cause of major fire on board of fish processing ships. 363 people, mainly factory staff, were taken by nearby fishing vessels and transferred to fish factory VSEVOLOD SIBIRTSEV, 56 remained on board to continue firefighting. http://maritimebulletin.net/2019/09/24/fish-factory-fire-363-people-evacuated-pacific/?fbclid=IwAR0QzTenBjaIlywtjdwyORrauJU8rw8LIKi17hkdlBkuBAtXrlNHw535EeM
2. Shearwater GeoServices awarded seismic survey project in Southeast Asia
Shearwater GeoServices has been awarded a combined 3D and 2D seismic survey project for its multi-purpose vessel SW Vespucci. The contract covers an area of 1,600 sq km for 3D seismic with associated 2D work to be executed over a 1.5-month period from the end of the third quarter. This month, Shearwater also secured two survey projects in the South America region. https://splash247.com/shearwater-geoservices-awarded-seismic-survey-project-in-southeast-asia/
3. Fiji and the Marshall Islands seek $500m to decarbonise local shipping
Fiji and the Marshall Islands launched the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership at the United Nations Climate Summit yesterday in New York, determined to decarbonise shipping for up to eight Pacific small island states. The initiative is a call for an investment of $500m in blended climate financing to catalyse domestic shipping decarbonisation in six to eight Pacific small island states at the scale of shipping appropriate to our micro-state needs. https://splash247.com/fiji-and-the-marshall-islands-seek-500m-to-decarbonise-local-shipping/
4. Court approves China Ocean Industry reorganisation plan
Chinese private shipbuilding group China Ocean Industry has announced that the High Court of Hong Kong has granted the company’s application to commence a capital reorganisation. The court order follows Hong Kong-listed Titan Petrochemicals filing a petition with the court in August to wind up China Ocean Industry due to a debt dispute. Under the reorgansition scheme, China Ocean Industry will issue convertible bonds of HK$50m and HK$60m to Hong Kong Tong Ji Investment Holding and Wise Benefit Investments separately. https://splash247.com/court-approves-china-ocean-industry-reorganisation-plan/
5. European consortium to develop smart navigation system
The research project Prepare Ships, led by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, has announced plans to develop a navigation system that foresees the positions of other vessels through machine learning. The project has been granted funding through the European GNSS Agency. A consortium of Swedish, Norwegian and German partners will not set about creating a positioning solution for smart and connected navigation applications. “We are very pleased to be able to bring together the shipping value chain in this project that uses advanced machine learning,” commented John Rune Nielsen, research and business development director at RISE. https://splash247.com/european-consortium-to-develop-smart-navigation-system/
6. Somali Pirates Release Iranian Seafarer After Years of Captivity
An Iranian fisherman held by Somali pirates for more than four years has finally been released, according to Iranian officials and the nonprofit Hostage Support Network. The fisherman, Baluchistan resident Mohammad Sharif Panahandeh, was captured from a fishing vessel in 2015 and is now in declining health. His captors released him in part because they believed that he would not survive, according to HSN negotiator John Steed. Sharif suffered from severe malnutrition and internal bleeding, and he needed a week of treatment before he was even fit to travel, Steed said. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/somali-pirates-release-iranian-fisherman-after-four-years-captivity
7. Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Minimum Extent for 2019
Arctic sea ice has likely reached its minimum extent for the year, at 4.15 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles) on September 18, 2019, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2019 minimum is ranked at second lowest in the 41-year satellite record, effectively tied with 2007 and 2016. The minimum extent was reached four days later than the 1981 to 2010 median minimum date of September 14. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/arctic-sea-ice-shrinks-to-minimum-extent-for-2019
8. Iran, Russia and China Plan Joint Naval Drill in Gulf of Oman
Iran says that it is planning a joint naval drill with Russia and China in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, according to semi-official news agency Tasnim. Under ordinary circumstances, a naval exercise among three partner nations would be unremarkable. However, tensions between the United States and Iran are unusually high, and Russian and Chinese forces are the U.S. military’s primary identified competitors. The United States is leading a naval patrol coalition in the same region in order to deter a repeat of the attacks on six tankers off Fujairah earlier this year. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/iran-russia-and-china-plan-joint-drill-in-gulf-of-oman
9. TEN to Raise USD 35 Mn through Private Placement
Tanker operator Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) has revealed its plans to collect USD 35 million through a private placement of preferred shares. Namely, the company entered into a share and purchase agreement with a maritime institutional investor for a private placement of 3.5 million zero coupon Series G Preferred Shares, at a price of USD 10 per share. The shares will participate on an as-converted basis in any dividends declared and paid on TEN’s common shares and will be convertible at any time on a three and one-third forone basis into TEN common shares, the company explained. https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/283603/ten-to-raise-usd-35-mn-through-private-placement/
10. Container trade growth fell to 1% in April-June’
India’s export-import (EXIM) trade is expected to face continued headwinds in the coming months, AP Moller Maersk said after its April-June India trade report showed the country’s containerised trade growth slowing to 1 per cent (against 9 per cent in the same period last year). AP Moller Maersk runs Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping firm. https://www.shippingtribune.com/news/shipping/%E2%80%98Container+trade+growth+fell+to+1%25+in+April-June%E2%80%99
