Top Ten Maritime News Stories 27/08/2015

Seacurus Daily: Top Ten Maritime News Stories 27/08/2015

1. Cyber Theft in Shipping Company

Hackers presenting themselves as a company in Africa have stolen 565,000 euros from a shipping company registered in Cyprus, police said. The Limassol-based shipping company reported to the police that a few days ago they received an email purportedly coming from their fuel suppliers, a company in Africa, requesting that money owed to it for fuel be deposited to a bank account different from the one used up to now. The shipping company complied making two deposits on July 28 and July 29, to the new account. It found out that it had been defrauded, when the fuel company sent an email asking for its payment.

http://goo.gl/RzFX3f

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2. Tianjin Port President Held

Chinese authorities have formally detained the president of Tianjin Port and nine other officials deemed responsible for the chemicals warehouse explosion that killed at least 139 people this month. Authorities are under pressure from the public to explain the speed and apparent irregularities in the issuing of permits for the company that owned the warehouse, which Chinese media have linked to the son of a former official in charge of security at Tianjin Port. Also unexplained is whether the responding firefighters, who make up about half of the dead, had any training in chemicals fires.

http://goo.gl/DQawyn

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3. Somali Port Operations Takeover

Albayrak Group takeover operations of Mogadishu International Port in Somalia. The Turkish port operator won the tender for management and operations of the Somali’s capital and largest port. The employees currently working at Mogadishu International Port will keep their jobs, but also Albayrak Group plans development and improvement of the terminals, which will engage a lot of more citizens. The Turkish company was selected among several other port operators, due to promises for investment and development of terminals, but also because of agreement that 55% from port profits will return to Somali Treasury.

http://goo.gl/DkDBgw

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4. Latest Security Analysis

The latest security analysis from PGI shows that two blue skiffs approached a merchant vessel approximately 3 nm west-southwest of Perim Island in the Southern Red Sea. Ladders were sighted on board both skiffs. One skiff moved closer to the merchant vessel and eight people and three weapons were sighted on board. The second skiff contained four people. The armed security team on board the merchant vessel displayed their weapons and the skiffs moved away. This is the first incident reported off of Perim Island in 2015 and the first confirmed sighting of weapons and ladders in the Southern Red Sea since January.

http://goo.gl/9MJ9xv

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5. Shipping Embracing KPIs

BIMCO’s Shipping KPI System aims to be an indispensable and trusted tool of performance measurement for all ship owners, operators and managers – without compromising their commercial data. Key benefits of the Shipping KPI system: it can boost performance of company, fleet and ship, it provides an efficient communication platform for ship operational performance, it can increase transparency requirements within the shipping world. Angus Frew, Secretary General of BIMCO, said “The shipping KPI system is unique and valuable to our industry – and we will ensure it continues to be run by industry for industry.”

http://goo.gl/cn7jiu

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6. Bunker Firm Fined

JL Petroleum Pte Ltd has been fined after pleading guilty in court for supplying bunkers in the Port of Singapore without a valid license, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said. The special bunker supplier license is required under regulation 64(b) of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port) Regulations. The company was fined under regulation 78(b) of the Port Regulations. MPA had brought charges against JL Petroleum for supplying bunkers on 14 occasions between June 2 and June 25, 2013. JL Petroleum also used the Bunker Delivery Notes belonging to Excel Petroleum Enterprise Pte Ltd for the deliveries.

http://goo.gl/V1CgIr

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7. Battening Down the Business Hatches

The offshore marine space continues to be operating in high stress mode with even the most noble and well run companies struggling to generate profits, or even positive cash flows. Outside of the marine space the global oil and gas industry faces poor earnings visibility as capex and operating costs are being slashed. The market continues to be challenging for the entire industry; including oil companies, vessel owners, service providers and shipyards. Utilisation dropped on average 40% across the sectors with some areas effected more than others (North Sea/US Gulf of Mexico). Charter rates are down, again at levels around 40%. http://goo.gl/8cf09W

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8. Tragic Migrant Find

Bodies of around 50 people have been found in the hold of a vessel carrying migrants and refugees from Libya to Europe, according to Italian Coast Guard. Close to 430 people have been rescued from the said vessel by the Swedish navy ship Poseidon, part of European Union’s Frontex border management program.

A spokesperson for the Italian Coast Guard said that emergency calls have been received from ten different boats located in an area some 30 miles off the coast of Libya today. This brings the total number of all migrants and refugees who died attempting to reach Europe by sea in 2015 to 2,423.

http://goo.gl/N9t9Z6

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9. Tankers Go into Forced Storage

Tanker giant Frontline is seeing what it describes as “forced storage” as unsold cargoes are loaded onto vessels while awaiting a buyer. Speaking about the current state of the tanker market Frontline ceo Robert Macleod said the high supply of oil was leading to unsold cargoes. “What we are seeing now is vessels awaiting orders in various ports and places around the world simply due to the high supply of oil leading to unsold cargoes — on ships. And let’s call that forced storage and we expect that to remain a factor going forward,” he said. Frontline also expects to complete its merger with Frontline 2012 in the further quarter.

http://goo.gl/Q4fuSW

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10. Grounding Off Spain Reported

The general cargo ship Kelly C ran aground off Ribadeo Port in Spain during maneuvering for departing from port Lugo. The ship stuck into the sand silts in the estuary. The ship was refloated later during the day with assistance of harbor tug and released the voyage with 2,000 tons of pulp paper to Port of Marin. During the accident there were no injured people and no water pollution, but the traffic in the approach of Lugo was disturbed seriously during the salvage. The ship was inspected by the local authorities before releasing to resume voyage, but it was estimated that there are no serious damages.

http://goo.gl/j2cYmt

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