The West of England Club announced that it kept on receiving frequent shortage claims involving bagged food cargoes, mostly rice and sugar, being discharged in West African ports. Food is attractive to pilferers as it can easily be removed from a vessel either for consumption, for gifting to others or for sale.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has published Port Marine Circular (PMC) No. 06 of 2019 to inform ship masters, owners, and agents of vessels of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (Port Limits – Suspension) Notification 2019 that came into operation on 08 April 2019 at 0001hours.
The US Coast Guard issued a Policy Letter 19-01 ‘Enforcement Guidance for Harbour Assist Vessels When Operating Beyond the Boundary Line’ to provide information to towing vessels in regard to manning, credentialing, and watchkeeping requirements applicable to harbor assist vessels inspected under 46 CFR Subchapter M.
MPA Singapore informed of a Port Limits – Suspension Notification, that came into operation on 8 April 2019. The circular suspends Singapore’s and Malaysia’s implementation of overlapping limits, bringing back the port limits in place prior to 25 October 2018 and 6 December 2018 respectively.
As Nooshin Namazi, Partner at Nicoletti Hornig & Sweeney, IUMI Professional Partner, informs, the US Federal Maritime Commission discovered that issues with charges for holding onto cargo beyond free time, traditionally referred to as demurrage or detention is prevalent among all actors in the international ocean supply chain, and not just shippers and consignees.
The US Coast Guard announced that it will impose conditions of entry on ships arriving from ports in the Republic of Seychelles. Conditions of entry are intended to protect the US from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient anti-terrorism port measures in place. Starting on April 12, 2019, certain conditions of entry will apply to any ship that visited a port in the Seychelles in its last five port calls.
The bottleneck in Houston Ship Channel seems to be coming under control as four tankers on Thursday were preparing to offload or pick up cargoes in the busiest US oil port, according to AIS data. The bottleneck has reportedly cut 1 million barrels per day of shipments since Monday.
The US Coast Guard published an alert for towboats, warning them for very strong currents at the Lower Mississippi River. Namely, three marine casualties led to the sinking of towing vessels, while one of them resulted in a fatality. USCG says that it is vital for vessel operators to provide a wide berth when maneuvering around any other vessel or object.
The Standard P&I Club issued a web alert reminding that direct trade between Qatar and seven other states remains restricted or prohibited. However, the restrictions do not extend to situations simply where a discharge port sequence involves Qatar and one or more of the Restricting States.
The US Coast Guard reopened portions of the Houston Ship Channel on Monday, with restrictions on waterways affected by the petrochemical leak outside Houston that has disrupted ship traffic. USCG said it is allowing daytime transits only through the ship channel.
