Top Ten Maritime News Stories 23/04/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 23/04/2015

1. Banks Back Efficient Ships

Carbon War Room announced that several leading banks in the shipping industry, including HSH Nordbank and KfW IPEX-Bank, use energy-efficiency data in making investment and financing decisions. HSH Nordbank, KfW IPEX-Bank, and other banks surveyed by global NGO Carbon War Room (CWR) have indicated that vessel efficiency rankings—such as the A to G GHG Emissions Rating developed by independent ship vetting company RightShip and CWR—now form an important part of assessing risk and return, with inefficient vessels now representing a higher-risk investment. Energy efficiency data is also being used in credit-approvals.

http://goo.gl/acLSWL

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2. IMO Needs New Human Focus

The founder of Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), the one-year-old UK-based charity, has told Maritime CEO the IMO should be more proactive in discussing matters around the human element. David Hammond, a barrister by trade, says the IMO is often perceived as a closed environment that is industry dominated. “HRAS would argue for increased independent NGO and civil society consultative status,” he says. The aim of the ‘Unlocking the issue’ advocacy campaign is to bring human rights awareness to the forefront of the maritime and fishing industries and their regulators

http://goo.gl/0U9ZHg

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3. Nations Come Together On Piracy

Representatives of the Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean navies met this week to improve their joint campaign against piracy in the Malacca Strait and nearby waters. After the closed-door meeting of the 27th Malacca Strait Patrol Joint Coordinating Committee at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, Rear Admiral Chaiyanun Nuntawit from Royal Thai Navy Intelligence said, “This is an international drive to improve security and confidence for users of the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s most important seaways.” He said that there had already been success, with reports that some pirates have moved their activities east.

http://goo.gl/eMG7NZ

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4. 5 Steps to Ease Migrant Mayhem

European leaders meet today to discuss ways of tackling the growing crisis of people-trafficking across the Mediterranean. Here are a number of steps that they might consider. Increase search and rescue patrols, Sink and destroy trafficking vessels. Get ‘neighbouring countries’ to help, Breaking up smuggling gangs, Build local asylum assessment centres and increase "assisted voluntary returns" The UN has said it would give theoretical backing to plans for asylum seekers heading for northern Europe to have their claims processed in centres along key transit routes in Africa. Such plans might also deter migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

http://goo.gl/iM5eJZ

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5. Latest Yemen and Red Sea Advice

According to PVI, there have been a number of developments in Yemen over the past week. According to information from Yemeni agents Balhaf, Malla and Ras Isa port are closed, while Hodeidah, Mokha and Saleef ports are operational. Nevertheless vessel operators are increasingly avoiding Yemen altogether due to the worsening security situation and many shipping organisations have begun issuing advice for vessels to avoid Yemeni port calls. Singapore’s MPA and Norway’s Maritime Authority have issued such advice and BIMCO too have issued guidance that all vessels transiting should remain at least 12 nm off the Yemeni coast.

http://goo.gl/vRmoi1

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6. Q1 Piracy and Security Data

Dryad Maritime, has released its analysis of worldwide reported incidents of piracy and crime against mariners from 1st January to 31st March 2015. “The first few months of 2015 have demonstrated, in the most visible way possible, just how complex and sometimes dangerous the maritime domain can be.” The kidnapping of crew for ransom continues to pose a real and viable threat to mariners off Nigeria and the political and military instability in Libya is intrinsically linked to difficult and dangerous conditions for trade and shipping. The number of people attempting to cross from North Africa to Europe is up 40% on the same period last year.

http://goo.gl/kY2uRT

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7. Call for Piracy Panic Buttons

Ships travelling in pirate-infested Southeast Asian waters should install panic buttons onboard, a Thai rear admiral has proposed. Senior members of the Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean navies met this week in Phuket for the 27th Malacca Strait Patrol Joint Coordinating Committee. Rear Admiral Chaiyanun Nuntawit from Royal Thai Navy Intelligence urged shipowners to install panic buttons that would send out an alarm with the position of the ship under attac to help authorities better pinpoint attacks and react faster. “The ocean is so large, so it sometimes means time and money are wasted getting to the scene,” he said.

http://goo.gl/vNFUYm

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8. The Environmentalists Strike Back

Environmental organisations Seas At Risk and Transport & Environment (T&E) has issued a statement defending the validity of a recent report regarding the energy efficiency of newer-built ships compared with older vessels. The report, which concluded that ships built in recent years were on average 10 percent less efficient than ships built before 1990, was dismissed and criticised by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) as "fanciful." However, CE Delft, the group who was commissioned to create the report, defended its results and also stressed the caveat that their findings applied to design efficiency, not operational efficiency.

http://goo.gl/BfCfG9

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9. The Year of the Crane

During CMA CGM Kerguelen’s maiden call at Port Klang Port Terminal in Malaysia, the terminal set up a unique arrangement of cranes to match the length of 398-meter vessel. So exactly how many cranes did it take to unload the vessel? Twelve. Twelve cranes were used simultaneously to unload the ship, which according to CMA CGM is a company record. CMA CGM Kerguelen was delivered to CMA CGM on March 21, 2015. With a TEU capacity of 17,722 TEU, the vessel is group’s largest containership to date. The ship is the first in a series of 6 vessels of the same size that will be delivered in 2015.

http://goo.gl/a8jNm5

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10. Making Ships Even Wider

We’ve heard of ship lengthening, but German shipping company REEDEREI NSB is undertaking an innovative new project to widen three of its Panamax containerships. The first of the three ships, MSC Geneva, was successfully widened at the HRDD shipyard in China. REEDEREI NSB says that widening project will increase the TEU capacity of the ships by 20% and improve stability, while operating costs will remain the same. REEDEREI NSB came up with the idea in 2013, and quickly realized they had there a "one-of-a-kind concept,” said CTO Lutz Müller.

http://goo.gl/V7MZZQ

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