Watchkeeper: A need for give and take Last months Diplomatic Conference in Manila on the STCW Convention seems to have been a largely successful affair, in which there was a good deal of pragmatism and common sense exercised by the participants, which of course included BIMCO. Nowhere was this better illustrated than with the new provisions on hours of rest for watchkeepers, which will hopefully see them fit for duty while they are working, and properly rested when they are not. This was a hot topic, with the issue of fatigue being very much to the forefront of the debate. There has been a growing body of evidence compiled by a number of national administrations which have been looking closely at accidents in which fatigue has been a contributing factor. But there has also been concern about the realities of a ships operation, in which from time to time people are called upon to work longer hours than are ideal. Anyone familiar with ship operation will be able to list any number of cases where go-on, stop-on is the regime prescribed by the pressures of the moment. Emergencies of every kind will constitute a reasonable exception to the rules, so...

Piracy - Weapons in South African ports can cause problems BIMCO has learned that the South African authorities are taking an extremely hard line on weapons on board vessels calling South African ports, and members are advised to pay close attention to procedures. In addition, members should be aware that these procedures reportedly are a little contentious.Somali pirates continue to attack shipping in the high risk areas the Red Sea, Bab el Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean. As a consequence, the use of private armed guards has become a practice for some ship owners. There are, however, many issues tied to the practice of employing private armed guards.BIMCO continues to advise against the use of private armed guards, primarily because of the liability issues associated herewith, and because of the risk to the collective shipping industry of escalation on the side of the pirates. The recent reports on the South African authorities hard line on weapons on board ships calling South African ports only serves to substantiate BIMCOs position on the question of private armed guards on ships.Below please find a bulletin from UK P&I Club with further details.Source:BIMCO

Plans to ship CO2 in tankers from utilities Efforts are on to build tanker vessels capable of transporting C02 from power plants to offshore storage sites with the active involvement of Maesk Tankers, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Det Norske Veritas. These companies have agreed to collaborate on the design and risk assessment of tankers for shipping CO2.Maersk Tankers is already in a partnership with Maersk Oil and Finnish utilities Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), aimed at developing a joint carbon emissions abatement project in the area of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).Shipping CO2 in tanker vessels is a cost effective and flexible way to get CO2 from power plants to offshore storage sites, which makes it a suitable solution for large CO2 emission sources such as coal-fired power plants, especially in the emerging phase of CCS. says Anders Schulze, Head of CO2 Shipping in Maersk Tankers.Maersk Tankers and HHI already have the initial blueprints to build tanker vessels for the transport of CO2 from emission sources to storage sites. The vessels will be semi-pressurised and semi-refrigerated, keeping the CO2 liquid. HHI has designed the vessels together with Maersk Tankers, based on years of experience with transportation of liquefied petrochemicals...

New legislation for the maritime sector The European Parliament approved the draft Directive intended to simplify and facilitate the administrative procedures for ships entering and leaving European ports. The provisions of the Directive, phased in between 2012 and 2015 will contribute to making maritime transport more attractive and supporting maritime activity, particularly in small and medium-sized commercial ports.Commission Vice-President responsible for transpor, Siim Kallas said this Directive is an important step,in terms of reducing the costs of maritime transport, which is used to deliver almost 40% of goods within the Internal Market, but also in terms of a cleaner and safer form of transport.This agreement gives the Member States, industries and port authorities five years to set up a one-stop administrative shop in every port. From 2013, the Directive will also simplify and harmonise a certain number of procedures, notably reducing the repeated transmission of data to the different administrative authorities in the ports.While the administrative formalities for other modes of transport have been considerably streamlined since the creation of the single market, maritime transport remains subject to complex procedures. Under customs regulations and international law, a ship is considered to leave a Member States territory once it crosses the...

Bimco drafts Iran sanctions clause Bimco, the worlds largest independent shipping association, has drafted a sanctions clause for time charter parties in response to the imposition of a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran and by amended legislation expanding existing US sanctions against Iran that came into force on July 1.The clause, drafted with the International Group of P&I Clubs, is designed to provide owners with means to assess and act on any voyage order issued by a time charterer which might expose the vessel to the risk of sanctions. The test is one of reasonable judgement by the owners in determining whether the risk of the imposition of sanctions is tangible.According to Bimco, there was particular concern that involvement by foreign entities in the importation of refined petroleum products, diesel, gasoline, jet fuel (including naptha - type and kerosene - type jet fuel), and aviation gasoline into Iran, or any assistance in the development of Irans domestic refining capability, might result in sanctions on foreign ship owners, including parent companies, and also on the crew and those who provide services, information and insurance to the vessel including managers, the vessels insurers and reinsurers.The penalties for breaking the US...

GAS ALERT There has been chlorine gas leak at Mumbai Port trust. The incident happened at about 3.30 am in the morning of 14 July 2010. it has affected nearly 59 persons of the nearby Lal Bahadur Shastri Nautical Institute and a Police Station of Siwri area. The Ministry of Shipping has sought a detailed report MPT.The incident involved leakage of chlorine gas from one of the cylinders kept at Hay Bandar area of Mumbai Port Trust. These cylinders have been kept in that area which is meant for storage of hazardous goods for the past few years. The affected persons were evacuated and have been admitted to three Mumbai hospitals Port Trust Hospital, JJ Hospital and KEM Hospital.Seven out of those admitted are in ICU but their condition is said to be stable. No death has been reported as per Deputy Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust.The records of Mumbai Port Trust mention that these cylinders were empty. Mumbai Port Trust says that it is checking its records to find out whether any action had been taken for disposal of the hazardous material in the past.The situation is presently under control, and Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Traffic Manager and other senior officials...

Flying The Flag CMA CGMs flagship Christophe Colomb, the worlds largest French-flagged containership at 13,800TEU, was christened on July 12 in Le Havre, France.The first of a series of eight vessels named after great explorers, this giant of the seas is the largest containership ever to sail under the French Flag.The double-hulled vessel has a length of 365 metres, a beam of 51 metres and a range of 45,000 kilometres, and is fitted with an electronic injection engine, which significantly reduces bunker fuel and oil consumption.The CMA CGM Christophe Colomb will eventually be deployed on the FAL 5 (French Asia Line) service on the Asia-Europe trade, one of the worlds largest container shipping markets. She will call at Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge.The vessel was christened at a time when CMA CGM Group has confirmed a sharp recovery in its business since the beginning of the year. Over the first quarter of 2010, volumes carried rose 21 percent compared with the equivalent period last year, while EBITDA stood at US$380 million, up US$640 million year-on-year and in line with first-quarter 2008.Source:shiptalk

UPS launches carbon-neutral HONG KONG UPS has introduced its carbon neutral program in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. UPS customers in those locations now have the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset the impact of the carbon emissions associated with their shipments.UPS unveiled this "green" product, building on its legacy of sustainable business practices and satisfying the demand for eco-friendly products. The new offerings, including a contract version for customers who want to offset the carbon impact of all their shipments, will be available starting July 12.Our customers wanted a convenient, cost-effective means to address climate change in a real and tangible way," said Derek Woodward, president of UPS Asia Pacific Region. "With the UPS carbon neutral service, customers have the option to address the environmental challenges of their supply chains by simply ticking a box during the shipping process."As part of the initial launch, UPS purchased offsets from the Garcia River Forest Climate Action Project, overseen by The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. To encourage customers to participate in this programme, UPS will match offset purchases up to...

Ireland MARPOL Annex VI The Irish Department of Transport issued a notice reminding the maritime community that the Irish legislation implementing the Revised Annex VI (Air Pollution) to the MARPOL Convention and the associated NOx Technical Code 2008 entered into force on 1 July 2010.Marine Notice 20-2010Source:transport

USA NTSB update on tour boat-barge collision investigation The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued an update on its investigation of the July 7 collision between a tour boat and a barge in the Delaware River at Philadelphia in which two persons lost their lives. The tour boat experienced a mechanical problem and anchored in the navigation channel of the river. The crew of the tour boat were interviewed and stated that they attempted to call the vessel that was towing the barge alongside, but received no response. The master, engineer, and a deckhand on the towing vessel were interviewed. The mate of the towing vessel has exercised his rights under the Fifth Amendment and refused to be interviewed. The investigation continues.Source:ntsb