Top Ten Maritime News Stories 24/06/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 24/06/2015

1. Major Shortage of Officers Predicted

The international shipping industry will require an additional 42,500 officers by the end of 2019 to cope with the expected growth in the main cargo carrying fleet, according to the latest Manning report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. This is equivalent to a staggering 7% growth over the five year period, but the persistent shortage of officer crew is receding, Drewry says. Current officer supply is in the order of 615,000 and a nominal shortfall of approximately 15,000 officers, which is expected to remain the case until 2019. In the meantime, this shortfall is made up by officers working longer shift patterns, Drewry says.

http://goo.gl/zC3FmZ

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2. Nigerian Port Police Shot by Pirates

Four policemen, including an assistant superintendent of police, were shot dead by pirates Tuesday afternoon in the Nigerian oil hub of Port Harcourt. The incident happened at the Abonnema Wharf, with the pirates said to have opened fire on the policemen killing four, with one jumping into the water to escape. It is believed that there were around 24 pirates involved in the attack, arriving at and departing the scene on four boats. The wharf area has been earmarked for redevelopment and houses oil storage facilities for various companies including Aiteo, Bulk Strategic Reserve, Shorelink Oil and Dozzy Oil and Gas.

http://goo.gl/PogwBg

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3. Major East African Drug Haul

Australian Navy ship HMAS Newcastle has intercepted another huge heroin haul during its operation in the Middle East. Navy personnel found 581 kilograms of heroin on a stateless boat off the coast of east Africa on the weekend, with a street value of approximately $520 million. HMAS Newcastle has now netted more than $1 billion worth of narcotics in the operation, including a recent seizure of 724kg of drugs. Australia is part of a US-led maritime mission aimed at tackling piracy, terrorism and drug trafficking. The latest seizure is one of the largest in the operation’s history. HMAS Newcastle’s Commander Dominic MacNamara, said he was pleased by the crew’s success.

http://goo.gl/vfqntp

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4. Shipping Slammed as Too Conservative

Outgoing DNV GL CEO Henrik O. Madsen says the shipping industry has being "too conservative," and that he hopes the industry will begin seeing new legislation as opportunities rather than impairments. "The attitude in the industry is mainly that any new regulation introduced is basically negative," he said. Madsen said that over the years, he has listened to many laments from industry players over new rules, though he believes that many other industries face harsher restrictions than shipping. "It’s probably a little unfortunate, but also incidental, that shipping is currently facing so many new regulations all at once," he said. “

http://goo.gl/lrNIOm

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5. MOL Boss Urges Innovation

Mitsui OSK Lines’ (MOL’s) new president Junichiro Ikeda said that the company must continue to innovate in the face of an ever-changing shipping industry. Ikeda noted that financial year (FY) 2015 is the second year of "STEER FOR 2020", MOL’s mid-term management plan that began in FY 2014. The plan calls for MOL to achieve growth through innovating its portfolio and business model. Saying that he had grasped the need to be "excellent and resilient", Ikeda added, "The world economy continues to expand, and demand for ocean transport is growing steadily. On the other hand, the world political and economic situations…are changing drastically."

http://goo.gl/j4Foug

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6. Philippines IMO Candidate on Trail

The Philippines’ candidate to head the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said his nation is a leading world source of seafarers due to Filipinos’ “maritime DNA and sense of duty” that leads them not to hesitate even to risk their lives for the safety of ships, cargo and passengers. The statement was made by Maximo Quibranza Mejia as he wrapped on Tuesday a Latin American tour to promote his candidacy to replace incumbent Koji Sekimizu from Japan, who ends his four-year term as Secretary-General on December 31. The London-based 40-member strong IMO’s vote is scheduled to be held at the UN agency’s 114th session from Monday next week to July 3.

http://goo.gl/C8ymSp

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7. Face Flag of Convenience Issue

Industry should pay less lip service to mariners on the International Day of the Seafarer on June 25 — and instead acknowledge that the Flag-of-Convenience (FOC) ships they work aboard pose severe and increasing risk to the marine environment and to the health and welfare of the workers that make trade possible. Although the Maritime Labour Convention lays out minimum standards for seafarers’ living and working conditions, some countries, such as Canada and Australia are aggressively pursuing agreements that would open coastal trade to foreign ships, precisely because the crew are cheaper and more easily exploited by the Flag-of-Convenience industry.

http://goo.gl/A5ffdl

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8. New Guidance on Enclosed Space Entry

Seagull Maritime has launched a new onboard training course covering Enclosed Space Entry in ships, at a time when the issue is being brought into sharp focus by industry regulators. A committee meeting of the Ports Memorandum on Port State Control (Paris MOU) in May unveiled plans for a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Crew Familiarisation for Enclosed Space Entry. The campaign, scheduled between September and November this year in concert with the Tokyo MOU, is part of CIC efforts to verify compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006). Seagull Maritime welcomes the Paris MOU move.

http://goo.gl/jn4afu

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9. Searching for New Breed of Shefarers

Why are so few female seafarers, or ‘shefarers’ as they have been dubbed. That’s the question researchers at Southampton Solent University will be asking after receiving £70,000 funding to find out why there are not more women following a career at sea. Only two per cent of the world’s seafarers are female and of these women 94 per cent work either on cruise ships or passenger ferries. The research is funded by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust whose head, Kimberly Karlshoej, said: “With only a tiny percentage of the seagoing workforce made up of women, identifying and properly exploring these factors is urgently needed..”

http://goo.gl/0CuGmN

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10. Denmark’s IMO Candidate Speaks Out

Andreas Nordseth, widely perceived as one of the frontrunners for the IMO top job has been discussing his views for the future. Nordseth has five key planks to his election campaign. 1st a continuous focus on safety for ships, seafarers and passengers. 2nd, further improvement of the sustainability of shipping. 3rd, he wants to uphold and indeed upgrade standards for the training and education that ensure quality seafarers. 4th, he calls for strong technical cooperation where member states cooperate to implement and enforce IMO regulation and standards. 5th more work to reduce administrative burdens and make sure that maritime regulation and standards deliver. http://goo.gl/u7fxhu

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