Safety and quality concerns
It has been noticed that an increase in detentions within Asia appears to be adversely impacting on bulker-safety trends.
Asia is proving a major driving force behind the growth in the dry-bulk market but there are also signs that it is causing fresh safety and quality concerns for the sector.
Intercargo’s Benchmarking Bulk Carriers 2010 to 2011 report showsthat the dry-bulk fleet increased by 11.6% and Asia was behind most of that growth with the region for the first time controlling more than 50% of the fleet. Chinese owners have grown by one-third over the past year.
A marginal decrease in PSC detentions from 665 bulkers to 646 also shows that the quality of the fleet is improving.
Intercargo’s analysis shows that the slowdown in detentions has occurred mainly within Europe, while there has been a “marked” increase in detentions within Asia.
Intercargo indicates that this is due mainly to the increase in trade in the region.
However, there are signs that the trend is playing a significant role in the dry-bulk sector’s casualty performance. Out of the seven bulker losses, with 44 seafarers’ lives lost last year, six were trading cargoes to China and the other to South Korea. Three of the vessels, accounting for all of the loss of life, were carrying nickel ore to China.
Intercargo has identified the misdecalaration of cargoes as a major safety concern for the industry.
A review of the PSC statistics also shows that Chinese ports are some of the most active in detaining bulkers. Tianjin made the most number of detentions, holding some 27 ships, followed by 17 at Xiamen and 15 in Shanghai.
On the other side, major export terminals are not seeing the same degree of detentions. In Australia, there were 17 detentions at Port Hedland, 14 detentions at Gladstone and 10 at Dampier.
Also in Asia, India is ranking high in detaining ships with 16 held at Vishakhapatnam in one year. Intercargo points out, however, than many of the ships that have been detained there are subsequently sold for scrap.
Each region also has its own sensitivities in PSC inspection. Among the more unusual, Iranian ports are particular about cleanliness of engine rooms, while ships are often detained in China for water level indicator faults.
Intercargo has also suggested that the emergence of a new generation of less-experienced Asian owners could provoke safety problems.
It is said that there is a real potential for inexperienced companies to adversely impact on safety trends.It is not correct to assume that all new owners underperform compared to the established owners but all industry stakeholders should be under no illusion that quality within the industry is both measurable and has direct consequences for the safety of ships and seafarers and the cargoes they carry.
Intercargo’s report Benchmarking Bulk Carriers 2010 to 2011, provides a statistical analysis of the dry-bulk market that allows ship operators and owners to compare their own performance.
