Top Ten Maritime News Stories 10/06/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 10/06/2015

1. Asian Piracy A Danger to Seafarers

Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) says that Southeast Asian piracy is "especially dangerous for seafarers" given the quantity of attacks that took place in 2014, and the fact that pirates had a 90 percent success rate in boarding targeted vessels in the region. OBP’s fifth annual State of Maritime Piracy Report, analyses the impacts of maritime piracy in the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Guinea, and Southeast Asia during 2014. OBP says that nearly 3,600 seafarers were on board vessels boarded by pirates in Southeast Asia, and 800 seafarers were involved in incidents where violence or the threat of violence was specifically documented.

http://goo.gl/bUjHS3

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2. New Port State Report

The Paris MoU on Port State Control has published its updated “White, Grey and Black (WGB) List” for 2014, ranking flag states from quality flags to flags with a poor performance record that are considered high or very high risk. The list is based on the total number of inspections and detentions over a 3-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections in the period. On the “White, Grey and Black list” for 2014, a total number of 72 flags are listed, including 43 on the “White List”, 19 on the “Grey List” and 10 on the “Black list”. For the third year in a row, France has placed the highest on the White List, representing quality flags.

http://goo.gl/MZK5EB

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3. Managers Tackling Manning Issues

InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship managers, has set its sights on examining two key areas which could have significant benefits for the shipping industry. First in its list of priorities is an investigation of minimum manning levels for different types of vessels trading on different trade routes and carrying different cargo types to determine whether and how these need to be reviewed, better understood for their implications to safety and efficiency and then discussed at flag state level to take into account required rest hours as set under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

http://goo.gl/J1JxWK

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4. Shipping is Saving Migrant Lives

Shipping has a crucial role in saving lives, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message shown at this morning’s IMO session on unsafe mixed migration by sea. Ban Ki-moon said that the saving of lives "remains an urgent priority" and recognised the shipping industry’s and rescue services’ crucial role in this priority "often at considerable cost and danger to themselves". However, he also recognised that "shipping and maritime rescue services are close to being overwhelmed. We need to find sustainable solutions," he said. Ban Ki-moon called on the international community to develop safer and "regular migration pathways".

http://goo.gl/bchQrF

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6. Libyan Ports Still Doing Business

Most ports in Libya are still able to operate despite the country’s rival governments, economic chaos and increasing violence between armed groups, a shipping industry official said. Libya is in turmoil as a result of a struggle between forces backing its internationally recognised government based in the east and a rival administration that has taken control of Tripoli, as former rebels who helped to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 have fallen out along political, regional and tribal lines. “The main ports are all operating except Benghazi for the time being and Derna,” says Tripoli-based shipping agent Roban Global Maritime.

http://goo.gl/sNFrUS

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7. Ships Set to Grow Further

Following the recent order by Maersk Line of eleven 19,630 teu vessels, it appears that plans are under development for the next jump in container ship sizes. Speaking at the TOC Container Supply Chain conference in Rotterdam today, Andrew Penfold, project director at Ocean Shipping Consultants, told delegates that designs for vessels in excess of 20,000 teu had become quite advanced. “We have been working closely with [ship classification society] Lloyd’s Register and can confirm that there is no technical reason why ships cannot go above 20,000 teu – and we have very serious discussions about vessels of 22,000 teu.

http://goo.gl/Il0JG4

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8. Whalers Paid Blood Money

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society agreed to pay $2.55 million to Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research as part of a settlement to resolve a long-standing legal battle over the anti-whaling group’s tactics against Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic. The settlement came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Sea Shepherd’s appeal of a federal court’s finding that the group was in contempt of a court order to stay clear of Japanese whaling ships. The question is whether those tactics—which typically take place in international waters—amount to piracy, and whether a U.S. court can order those activities to be stopped.

http://goo.gl/qI0LiS

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9. New Review of Shipping Contracts

BIMCOs Documentary Committee, has approved new documents and clauses. Approval was given in principle to a revised version of the New York Produce Exchange (NYPE) Time Charter Party subject to resolving one remaining issue related to the provision of certificates of financial responsibility for oil pollution. The revision of the NYPE form has been the focus of intensive discussions through a BIMCO Sub-committee. However, after some three years’ work, the new document incorporates up to date provisions reflecting changes that have taken place in legal, commercial and market practices over more than twenty years since the last revision.

http://goo.gl/NVBRi6

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10. Effect of Fuel Oil

A new study has shown that unfiltered vessel emissions generated from heavy fuel oil (HFO) can cause serious lung and heart diseases, German nature conservation society NABU has said in an emailed statement. The study, conducted by the University of Rostock and research centre Helmholtz Zentrum München, reports that HFO emissions contain high concentrations of carcinogenic substances such as heavy metals and hydrocarbons. The study also goes on to recommend usage of low-sulfur fuel together with a diesel particulate filter, a solution which NABU CEO Leif Miller described as "remarkable."

http://goo.gl/GcDaUM

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