Top Ten Maritime News Stories 11/05/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 11/05/2015

1. BIMCO Sees Scrapping Spike

Capesizes are set for a record year of demolition, shipowning organisation BIMCO says in a recent report. Data from the first four months of 2015 shows that more owners are scrapping their ships than ever before, BIMCO said. Since the beginning of 2015 demolition has gone up for all of the ship sizes within the dry bulk segment with capesizes topping the charts. In 2014, 25 capesize ships totalling more than 4.2m dwt were scrapped. With not even half of the year complete the numbers have already more than doubled. During the first four months of 2015, 52 capesizes with a total dwt of around 8.7m have been sold for demolition.

http://goo.gl/IVhXnI

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2. Measuring and Managing Crew Happiness

Crewtoo has launched the "Seafarers Happiness Index" to monitor important benchmarks of seafarer satisfaction on a regular basis. The inaugural report shows a seafarer satisfaction level of 6.42 on a scale of 1 to 10 about key issues including general happiness, contact with family, shore leave, wage levels, food, fitness and health, training, interaction onboard, workload, and access to welfare facilities. "It is all well and good to talk about seafarers and the realities of life at sea, but until now there has been very little confirmation as to how seafarers actually feel about their jobs," says Anneley Pickles, head of Crewtoo business development.

http://goo.gl/KrXwYn

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3. ReCAAP Puts Record Straight

Yoshihisa Endo, executive director of the Singapore-based ReCAAP information sharing centre (ISC), has given a statement setting the record straight on ReCAAP’s role in monitoring maritime crime in Asia. “Some media releases…in Asia have given rise to a potentially negative perception of the role of ReCAAP,” Endo claims. “Specifically, this has manifested itself by asserting that the ReCAAP ISC is downplaying the number of attacks through its classification system or using the term “insider-job". The media also reports allegationsabout lack of cooperation with other stakeholders, placement of blame on victim and lack of confidential information.

http://goo.gl/l5Eb54

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4. Two Tankers Arrested for Siphoning

Two tankers were arrested by the Indonesian Marine Police for illegal fuel oil bunkering off Batam and Palembang, Indonesia. "Urban Success" (IMO 8617615), was apprehended by the Indonesian Marine Police for alleged smuggling of diesel fuel from Palembang into the outer port limit in east Singapore while underway in the Singapore Strait off Batam, Indonesia. Meanwhile, "Virgo" (IMO 8835750), was also detained by the Indonesian Marine Police for illegal fuel oil bunkering in waters off Tanjung Kampe near Palembang, Indonesia. The tanker was suspected of being the supplier to Urban Success.

http://goo.gl/Z4UZPG

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5. Increase in Malacca Patrols

Naval patrols along the Malacca Straits and out to the South China Sea are likely to be increased to counter the soaring wave of piracy hitting the region. Senior members of the navies of the three littoral states abutting the key waterway – Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – are discussing extending joint patrols to the southern reaches of the South China Sea. The problem the trio are facing is not encroaching on waters contested by others. The South China Sea has engendered much fierce debate between nations around it in recent years over who controls what – with China increasingly alienating nations in Southeast Asia.

http://goo.gl/TV5BCs

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6. Tigris Crew Relive Iranian Ordeal

Iran released the Marshal Island-flagged cargo ship Maersk Tigris on Thursday, with the ship having arrived at her original destination Dubai Friday evening, but reports have emerged that the crew were held captive under armed guard. One crew member, who asked for anonymity, described the ship’s port arrest in Iran for a week as an "ordeal" and said the Iranian security officials who forcibly boarded the ship in international waters acted like "pirates". The crew member said that the guards remained onboard the ship for the entire week and kept the crew under "armed guard", much like Somali pirates.

http://goo.gl/9U72XP

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7. Teekay Culls Norwegian Officers

Teekay has been in contact with local unions in Norway saying it will cut staff. Up to 80 officers must go, predominantly Scandinavians. Ove R. Nielsen, from the Norwegian Seafarer Officer Union, has confirmed the cuts. “I know about the Teekay situation… We have many owners who have had to withdraw their ships or send their ships out in a failing spot market, it is not pretty out there,” he said. Teekay’s North Sea fleet is being reduced by three vessels that no longer can be used as shuttle tankers. One vessel is being sold, another will be converted to a storage vessel while the shuttle tanker, Rand Grid, has set sail for Singapore.

http://goo.gl/nC5ZOh

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8. German Owners Want Navy to Step Up

The German Shipowners Association (VDR) has called for German naval vessels to patrol for refugees in distress outside of current EU patrol limits in the Mediterranean. VDR ceo Ralf Nagel stated: "The German Navy vessels assigned to rescue refugees from boats in distress in the Mediterranean should be deployed in areas not currently patrolled by EU ships. The 200-300 km-wide area between the boundaries of the Triton operational zone and the coast of Libya is where the most devastating disasters to date have occurred, with thousands of refugees drowning."

http://goo.gl/cIOZqV

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9. Greek Owners Inducted into Hall of Fame

Two more historic shipping personalities have been inducted into the Greek Shipping Hall of Fame at the Induction Ceremony & Dinner 2015, held at the Hilton Athens. John N. Goulandris and Alkimos G. Gratsos were lauded as the Inductees for 2014 in front of about 650 guests at the event. John N. Goulandris (1923-2011) was instrumental in establishing the N.J. Goulandris group, which was among the first major Greek shipping companies to order tankers in Japan. Alkimos G. Gratsos (1907-1987) was the longest-serving president of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, laying the basis for the institution’s role today.

http://goo.gl/M5mVNW

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10. Reporting Made Easier

From 1 June 2015, the administrative burdens imposed on the maritime industries in Europe will be reduced through the implementation of a new electronic reporting system. The “National Single Window” is the name of the new electronic system which will simplify the reporting regulations applicable to shipping. The platform will abolish the repeated reporting of identical information that has been necessary until now. According to the new provisions, the master of the ship or his or her representative, thus, only have to report maritime information in one place to the authorities in the EU country that they call at.

http://goo.gl/9n3zkH

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