The Standard Club informed that it has come across several cases where the ships on a voyage from South Africa to the US were denied entry in the port, due to non-compliance of wood packaging materials with the ISPM 15. The financial losses because of such non-compliance and refusal of entry were important.
The Panama Canal Authority announced on July 25 the increase to the maximum authorised draft for Neopanamax vessels sailing through the Panama Canal, due to recent rainfall that impacted the area. The maximum authorized draft allowed for vessels transiting the Neopanamax locks will be 13.72 m (45.0 feet) TFW.
Panama has welcomed the use of guidelines for the use of electronic certificates adopted by the IMO Facilitation Committee, and issued a List of Certificates, as well as a list of Recognized Organizations authorized on the issuance of Electronic Certificates.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator informed of another two recent enclosed space entry deaths onboard an RMI-registered bulk carrier. This comes in addition to four associated deaths of seafarers on two RMI-flagged ships in 2018.
USCG’s Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis issued Marine Safety Alert 07-19 to remind ship owners and operators of closely monitoring aboard the vessels, while in lay-up status. The alert follows a Great Lakes bulker that was laid up for the winter and experienced a fire that resulted to major cosmetic, machinery, and structural damage.
Boat traffic on Europe’s Rhine river came to a halt for the first time ever last year, because of the fact that shrinking alpine glaciers and drought made the key transport artery impossible to sail through. These conditions could take place once again in a few weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General accepted the Emergency Committee’s proposal and on the 17 July 2019, declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a public health emergency of international concern.
The non-essential personnel, who were evacuated from the Gulf of Mexico platforms ahead the Tropical Storm Barry, are now returning to their platforms as flights and normal crew-change activities are resuming, Shell informed.
The USCG alerts that the National Vessel Documentation Centre is facing delays in the time to issue a Certificate of Documentation (COD) because of performance issues associated with its Information Technology (IT) System.
Following a late June alert regarding contaminated bunkers that were supplied in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Lloyd’s Register Fuel Oil Bunkering Analysis and Advisory Service (FOBAS) issued an update on 12 July, confirming presence of Carbon Tetrachloride in the contaminated fuels.
