Tag: American Club

E-learning Tools The American P&I Club has released a new e-learning module, Vessel General Permit (VGP), to enable members to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's discharge requirements for all vessels trading to the U.S.The 2008 VGP concerns discharges which are incidental to the normal operation of vessels engaged in transportation. It includes general effluent limits applicable to all discharges; general effluent limits applicable to 26 specific discharge streams; narrative water-quality based effluent limits; inspection, monitoring, record-keeping and reporting requirements; and additional requirements applicable to certain vessel types.The current requirements of the 2008 VGP are valid until December 18, 2013. The EPA is currently considering comments on two proposed VGPs, and intends to finalize the draft VGP and draft Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) by November this year, thus allowing time for an orderly phase-in of the new requirements from December 19, 2013.All shipowner-members of the American Club have access to all the club's e-learning training programs via the club'swebsite. Other modules available to members are:Stranger on the Bridge (Bridge resource management with the pilot on board)Clean Seas: Complying with MARPOL 73/78The Case of the Silent Assassin (Dangers associated with entry into enclosed shipboard spaces).All the club modules are ...

The American P&I Club issues circular regarding Additional Guidance on Oily Water Separators The American P&I Club issues circular regarding Additional Guidance on Oily Water Separators as follows:On February 9, 2006 your Managers issued Circular No. 01/06 offering Members guidance on preventative measures needed to protect themselves from possible MARPOL violations.Since the issue of that Circular, and particularly of late, your Managers have become aware of a significant increase in activity by the US Coast Guard concerning oily water separators and associated electronic monitoring equipment. This has involved Coast Guard officers comparing oil record book entries to the electronically recorded history in the memory of the monitoring equipment.While Members are reminded of this recording function in more modern installations, it is also important to recognize that, frequently, when monitoring equipment has been serviced or repaired, the original equipment will have been replaced by the more modern technology with the recording function.Chief engineers should be aware of this when compiling oil record book entries, and they should be able to demonstrate to any port state control inspector how to display the recorded history held within the monitoring equipment.As a general reminder to Members, it is crucial that consistency is maintained at ...

MARPOL 73/78 The American P&I Club issues circular regarding Additional Guidance on Oily Water Separators as follows:On February 9, 2006 your Managers issued Circular No. 01/06 offering Members guidance on preventative measures needed to protect themselves from possible MARPOL violations.Since the issue of that Circular, and particularly of late, your Managers have become aware of a significant increase in activity by the US Coast Guard concerning oily water separators and associated electronic monitoring equipment. This has involved Coast Guard officers comparing oil record book entries to the electronically recorded history in the memory of the monitoring equipment.While Members are reminded of this recording function in more modern installations, it is also important to recognize that, frequently, when monitoring equipment has been serviced or repaired, the original equipment will have been replaced by the more modern technology with the recording function.Chief engineers should be aware of this when compiling oil record book entries, and they should be able to demonstrate to any port state control inspector how to display the recorded history held within the monitoring equipment.As a general reminder to Members, it is crucial that consistency is maintained at all times between electronically recorded data and entries in oil record ...

Increase in all classes of premium (mutual and fixed-premium) starting on 20th February The American Club said it was seeking a 5% increase in all classes of premium (mutual and fixed-premium) for both P&I and FD&D for the 2012 policy year starting on 20th February next.At a meeting of the directors in New York, they said that there is no expectation of any unbudgeted supplementary calls for any open year.However, they ordered the levying of the 25% supplementary call, as originally forecast, for 2011, for both mutual P&I (Class I) and FD&D (Class II) entries. The release call for the year will remain at 25% over and above the supplementary call.In a post-board meeting circular to members, focusing on the club's recent performance and prospects, Joe Hughes, chairman and ceo of Shipowners Claims Bureau, the managers, noted that freight markets continue to languish.He said: "The current imbalance between supply and demand appears unlikely to experience a positive readjustment any time soon. Thus, shipping industry earnings are unlikely to rise significantly over the short term."However, depending on the extent to which the global economy avoids a further downturn and continues to expand, however modestly, over the next two years, there is ...

American P&I Club - E learning tools The Americal P&I Club reports the release of a new e-Learning module, The Case of the Silent Assassin, which deals with the hazards of entering enclosed spaces on board ship.Seafarers and shipowners alike know all too well of the fatalities which can tragically attend such seemingly routine activities.For more information, click hereSource: The American P&I Club

Information provided by the American P&I Club The American P&I Club issues circular regarding New Turkish Insurance Regulation requiring ships to evidence to P&I cover as follows:The Turkish Regulation on the Requirement to Obtain Insurance Coverage for Vessels against Maritime Claims and Supervision Thereof (the "Insurance Regulation") entered into force in Turkey on July 1, 2011.The Regulation requires all ships of 300gt or more calling at Turkish ports or that are Turkish flagged to have Protection & Indemnity (P&I) insurance cover in place to cover maritime claims subject to limitation under the Protocol of 1996 to Amend the International Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC Protocol) and up to the relevant maximum limits laid down therein."Protection and Indemnity insurance" is defined in the Regulation as insurance of the type currently provided by members of the International Group of P&I Associations.The Regulation requires that this cover is evidenced by a certificate or certificates of insurance when entering a Turkish port and that such a certificate(s) should be present on board the ship.Following consultation between the International Group and the Turkish Undersecretariat of Maritime Affairs, it is understood that Turkish ports will accept a certificate of entry issued by ...