Update on Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - 19 July BP continues to work cooperatively with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of federal government including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Federal Science Team, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard and secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu. At this time, the well integrity test on the MC252 exploratory well continues.During the test, the three ram capping stack has been closed, shutting in the well. All sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily suspended.The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately 6,792 pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly. As directed by the National Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried out around the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed with the government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine next steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities, these steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to containment options.Should the test conclude, the Q4000 is expected to resume capturing and flaring...

Coast Guards sign pollution agreement DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia The United States and Canadian Coast Guards signed an annex to the Canadian/United States Atlantic (CANUSLANT) Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan June 29, 2010.The Atlantic Geographic Annex covers the Atlantic marine boundary between Canada and the United States, defines the CANUSLANT Joint Response Team, and is regularly tested and improved in an ongoing series of CANUSLANT exercises. Its purpose is to augment and link the pollution response systems and plans in each nation to facilitate an efficient joint response to a cross-border spill.Rear Admiral Daniel Neptun, commander First Coast Guard District, and Ms. Nancy Hurlburt, assistant commissioner maritimes region, Canadian Coast Guard, signed the annex which allows both nations to work seamlessly in the event of the pollution incident in the boundary waters of Canada and the United States.Imagery of the signing can be obtained through the following links.image 1image 2Source: USCG

Feature: Just the answer to criminalisation? In its campaign against the criminalisation of seafarers, shipping is again watching the aviation industry and how it is dealing with a similar problem. Just as Masters and other senior officers have been prosecuted over incidents, principally involving pollution, so pilots, air traffic controllers and maintenance staff have found themselves facing criminal charges following accidents. (While these frontline staff have to date borne the brunt of criminal proceedings, there are signs in both industries prosecutors are beginning to aim higher within organisations in their search for guilty parties.)The knowledge that a prosecution now virtually automatic in many countries will follow an aviation accident has had a chilling effect on an industry in which safety, given the millions of passengers carried each year, is regarded as paramount. The threat has lead to less transparency and an unwillingness to share safety information that could be used against those providing it.Aviation is subject to mandatory reporting of incidents such as near-misses, while voluntary internal reporting systems provide airlines and other industry organisations with valuable feedback on safety. The latter, however, are seen by prosecutors as potentially rich veins of incriminatory data. At the same time the threat...

Changes to the LSA Code and SOLAS - requirements for lifejackets Amendments to Chapter II of the International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code come into effect on July 1, 2010, and introduce the following new requirements for the approval of lifejackets:Each lifejacket shall be fitted with a whistle firmly secured by a lanyard.Lifejacket lights and whistles shall be selected and secured to the lifejacket in such a way that their performance in combination is not degraded.Each lifejacket shall be provided with a releasable buoyant line or other means to secure it to a lifejacket worn by another person in the water.Each lifejacket shall be provided with a suitable means to allow a rescuer to lift the wearer from the water into a survival craft or rescue boat.The requirements apply:to lifejackets provided on board ships constructed (having their keel laid) on or after July 1, 2010 when providing new lifejackets to vessels with a keel laying date before July 1, 2010.andNew requirements for the carriage of additional equipment, also effective July 1, 2010, have been introduced under the SOLAS Convention, as follows:On all ships where adult lifejackets are not designed to fit persons weighing up to 140 kg with a chest girth...

IBIA warned its members that Receipts Must Show True Sulphur Content The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has warned its members of the dangers arising from the failure on the part of some suppliers to put authentic sulphur content results on Bunker Delivery Receipts.IBIA chief executive Ian Adams said, Clearly this is not in compliance with MARPOL requirements and may create a problem for shipowners in terms of the selection of correct feed rates and Total Base Numbers (TBN) of cylinder oil. Knowing the sulphur content of the fuel to be used is essential to engine efficiency and overall safety, and furthermore necessary to remain within the specific requirements applicable in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs). The sulphur content of the fuel should always be clearly stated on the BDR.IBIA emphasizes that the ships chief engineer should be vigilant in studying the BDR sulphur result and then using the appropriate cylinder oil feed rate and TBN oil. Engine manufacturer information should be obtained on this, and followed carefully to avoid engine problems when using low-sulphur fuel, said Adams.Of course, in some ports, low-sulphur fuel is delivered even when it has not been specifically requested, because low-sulphur is the only type of...

Fingers Crossed The Gulf Coast found itself in an odd moment of limbo over the weekend: The oil has been stopped, but no one knows if its corked for good.The clock expired on BPs 48-hour test period of the capped well, but the government added another day of critical monitoring. Scientists and engineers were optimistic that the well showed no obvious signs of leaks, but still were struggling to understand puzzling pressure readings emerging from the wellhead at the bottom of the sea.Its possible the past three days will be only a brief reprieve from the flow of oil bleeding into the Gulf. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the governments point man on the crisis, decided Saturday that after the testing was complete, the cap will be hooked up through pipes to ships on the surface that will collect the oil.That probably means releasing some crude back into the water temporarily to relieve pressure. It still wouldnt be gushing at the rate it had been before BPs latest fix.If we make the decision to open up the well, there will be a period when oil will go back into the Gulf, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said Saturday.Along...

Drugs Busted An Indiandrug trafficking racket was bustedwith the arrest of five people carrying 495 kg of marijuana worth Rs.1 crore, police said Sunday.The five were caught red handed while they were trying to unload the drugs from an oil tanker in west Delhis Uttam Nagar area.The incident took place around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.This is probably the first time in recent years that an oil tanker has been used to smuggle drugs. We have seized a Tata Indica car used in the crime, a police officer said.Of the five accused, Surender Rai, 37, Pappu Rai, 35, and Dagru Singh (55) are from Bihar while 62-year-old Anand Prakash is from Uttar Pradesh and Gulshan, 29, is a resident of Delhi.Source: shiptalk

An explosion that occurred while a 300,000 ton foreign oil tanker was being unloaded shook the Dalian Bay in northeast China. Fire blazed in the pipelines for nearly 15 hours before being brought under control. There have been no injuries or loss of life, according to official reports.The tanker docked at the Dalians Xingang Harbor, at 6:11 p.m. on July 16. An explosion that occurred in the land pipeline while additives were being added, was followed by a fast-spreading fire.I heard a big bang and felt as if someone just pushed me. I thought it was an earthquake, Chen Zhigang, inspection officer in Xingang substation of Dalian frontier inspection station, told the state run media.Ten minutes after the explosion, a pillar of fire rose several meters high at the site, lightening up almost the entire pier. Deeper into the night, smoke almost covered half of the sky until the next morning when it started to thin out. Chen said.The fire from the initial explosion had been put out the same night, but the explosion triggered a fire in a nearby pipeline, whose damaged cut-off valve kept feeding the fire. Around 300 fire engines and more than a thousand fire fighters...

Pirates face new resistance as navies strike back, says IMB While Somali pirates demonstrated increased range and capabilities, there has been a relative decline in pirate attacks worldwide for the first two quarters of 2010, according to a report issued today by the International Chamber of Commerces International Maritime Bureau (IMB). A total of 196 incidents around the world were recorded by the IMBs 24 hour Piracy Reporting Centre , compared to 240 incidents in 2009. This includes 31 vessels hijacked, 48 vessels fired upon and 70 vessels boarded.During this period, one crew member was killed, 597 crew members were taken hostage and 16 were injured. The use of firearms including rocket propelled grenades was particularly marked in the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. Attacks in this region and in the Red Sea represent more than half of the incidents reported over the past six months.The coast of Somalia remains particularly vulnerable with 100 pirate attacks in 2010, including 27 hijackings. The number of attacks have decreased compared to 2009 in the most dangerous maritime area of the world.Somali waters continue to pose the greatest threat to vessels: In 2009, pirate activity in the region accounted...

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping joins HELMEPA Russian Maritime Register of Shipping has become an Associate Corporate Member of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA). The meeting between the RS Director General Nikolay Reshetov and HELMEPA Director General Dimitris Mitsatsos took place in Athens.Highly estimating the RS activity aimed at sea pollution prevention and environment protection, Mr Mitsatsos invited RS to join HELMEPA. Ocean is a treasure for the mankind and it is essential to concern our responsibility to the future generations, - Nikolay Reshetov emphasized, - the joint efforts are the key for the success. RS provides for the open discussion of the safe navigation and environment protection issues by establishing international seminars with the main goal to consolidate the efforts of all the members of the international maritime community in order to enhance the safety standards. Further, Mr Reshetov noted that the new membership extends the RS responsibility as well as proves the high appreciation of the qualification and experience of the RS personnel.The RS commitment to the high standards of maritime safety implies special focus on the environmental issues. The assignment of the RS class to a ship is a confirmation of the ships compliance with...