Tag: BIMCO

Today tankers are not a priority at IMO The evolution of the tanker shipping safety regime is currently in the midst of a quiet patch. In contrast to the 1990s and early 2000s, when oil pollution incidents like Exxon Valdez, Braer, Erika and Prestige had the various parties responsible for tanker shipping falling over themselves to get their house in order and tighten up the provisions governing tanker design, construction, operation and maintenance, today tankers are not a priority at IMO.They are not a priority for two reasons. First, the trying and complex issues of piracy and curbing ship emissions of harmful atmospheric pollutants are currently monopolising session time at the organisation. Second, and most importantly, the tanker industry managed to get its house in order as a result of those earlier incidents to the extent that the volume of oil entering the sea due to tanker accidents is now at historic lows.The key to achieving the startling improvements in the tanker safety record over the past decade has been the attitude of tanker operators and charterers. While these two principals appreciated that a new raft of regulations was coming as a result of the now-infamous accidents, they also knew ...

ECDIS tend to eventually become a mandatory carriage requirement Everyone is getting concerned about ECDIS - the Electronic Chart Display and Information System that will eventually become a mandatory carriage requirement for all merchant ships.Two P&I clubs - the Standard and the UK P&I Club - have issued comprehensive warnings to owners and managers about these important upcoming changes. The inference is that this represents a major change in navigation that needs action to deal with if ships are not to be detained, or worse still, the "ECDIS assisted accident" is not to become a grim feature of inquiries into incidents.So why is the coming of ECDIS such a big deal? Why is it so very different to all the other advances in equipment that have miraculously appeared on the bridges of ships over the past 40 years or so? ECDIS is different because the leap forward in navigation is rather larger than anything that has come before - like the arrival of radar or automated collision warning equipment, AIS or suchlike. And most importantly, it will require mandatory training before a watchkeeper is able to operate the equipment that is fitted to the ship to which he or she ...

The document has received approval from Round Table members Industry has produced a set of guidelines aimed at giving guidance on the construction and use of citadels in waters affected by Somalia piracy. The document has received approval from Round Table members - INTERTANKO, BIMCO, ICS and INTERCARGO - as well as other industry associations. NATO, EUNAVFOR and the Combined Maritime Force (CMF) have also approved the document.A citadel as defined in BMP4 is "A designated pre-planned area purpose built into the ship where, in the event of imminent boarding by pirates, all crew will seek protection. A citadel is designed and constructed to resist a determined pirate trying to gain entry for a fixed period of time."Since January 2010, there have been 26 cases where pirates have actually boarded vessels, but have been unable to take control because the vessel's crew have all successfully sought refuge in a pre-planned citadel. However, there have also been five cases where citadels have been breached - these may be attributed to a number of factors including poor construction and location of the citadel. With the use of citadels increasing, the pirates have similarly gained experience in defeating a citadel - this includes ...

The Philippines flip-flop The apparent disconnect between the European Union and the International Maritime Organization over Filipino seafarers' standards of competency raises some interesting questions.One the one hand, the Europeans have raised the threat of de-recognising the country's certificates after an inspection by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) found fault with the standards of training and the supervision of those standards. The threat was taken so seriously by The Philippines Government that it announced last week it had made a full report to Brussels outlining how it had dealt with the deficiencies. (It remains to be seen whether the EC has accepted the Asian country has put its house in order.)On the other hand, the same government proudly announced in July (i.e. while it was still dealing with the EU's concerns) it had "for the third time" (the other two occasions were in 2005 and 2009) retained its presence on the IMO's so-called White List of countries deemed to be in compliance with the UN agency's Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention."The White List," Rosalinda Baldoz, the country's Labour and Employment Secretary said at the time, "affirms the capacities and diligence of The Philippines in ensuring the ...

This year has been a record as well as an ice breaker in the Russian Arctic This year has been a record as well as an ice breaker in the Russian Arctic. On departing Murmansk at the end of June with a cargo of 70,000 tonnes of condensate for the eastbound voyage to China, the Panamax product tanker Perseverance became the earliest commercial vessel in the season to make a transit of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along Russia's Arctic coast.Several weeks later, in late July, STI Heritage, a tanker similar to Perseverance, made the fastest ever NSR passage by a cargo ship, sailing that part of her overall voyage from Murmansk to Map Ta Phut in Thailand in just eight days. She was carrying 61,000 tonnes of condensate.On 20 August 2011 another tanker departed Murmansk eastbound with a cargo of condensate en route to another record. Carrying 120,000 tonnes of the bulk liquid, Vladimir Tikhonov became the first Suezmax tanker and the largest commercial ship to sail the route.The Vladimir Tikhonov voyage was a much slower one than the two earlier tanker transits as it was used to study the potential for transporting large consignments of Arctic oil and ...

Everything that goes on in one port will be different to that which took place in previous ports There is a phrase famous in maritime circles which refers to "the customs of the port" and which suggests that pretty well everything that goes on in one port will be different to that which took place in the previous port, and that which will go on in the next. The procedures, the documents demanded, the "ritual" visits of all the officials which need to visit the ship and all the inspections of paperwork will be slightly different, but all will be accorded great importance. The Master of the visiting ship would be unwise to suggest that the "customs of the port" are due an overhaul!Can the ship/port interface be made more efficient? This question forms the basis of the next Nautical Institute Command Seminar, to be held in Bristol on 4-5 November, organised by the London and Bristol branches of the professional mariners' organisation. BIMCO would undoubtedly answer the question very much in the affirmative, because greater efficiency in this area has for many years been part of the agenda for better facilitation in trade, with the smooth passage of a ...

For the construction and use of citadels in waters affected by Somalia piracy BIMCO has developed new and updated guidance relating to the construction and use of citadels in waters affected by Somalia piracy.Since January 2010 there have been 26 cases where pirates have actually boarded vessels but have been unable to take control because the vessels' crew have all successfully sought refuge in a pre-planned citadel. However, there have also beenfive cases where citadels have been breached - these may be attributed to a number of factors including poor construction and location of the citadel.The citadeltrack record to date and the many potential trip wires for the safety of the crew when using citadels has necessitated this new guidance, which discusses elements such as the location and construction of a citadel, its use and operation, its survivability time-frame and military considerations for rendering assistance in cases wherea citadel is being used by a ship's crew.For further information, click here.Source: BIMCO

ICS, BIMCO, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO demand a The global shipping industry (represented by the Round Table of international shipping associations) has called for the establishment of a United Nations force of armed military guards to tackle the piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean, which it says is spiralling out of control.In a hard hitting letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), BIMCO, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO demand a "bold new strategy" to curb rising levels of piracy which have resulted in the Indian Ocean resembling "the wild west".The letter states: "It is now abundantly clear to shipping companies that the current situation, whereby control of the Indian Ocean has been ceded to pirates, requires a bold new strategy. To be candid, the current approach is not working."Regretting the increasing necessity for shipping companies to employ private armed guards to protect crew and ships, the letter continues: "It seems inevitable that lawlessness ashore in Somalia will continue to breed lawlessness at sea."The shipping industry organisations - which represent more than 90% of the world merchant fleet - say they fully support the UN's long-term measures on shore aimed at helping the Somali people but are concerned that ...

The industry needs to support the best casualty investigation Most ships complete their voyages expeditiously and with perfect safety, and we perhaps do not give their crews and managements sufficient credit for this. But this tremendous "success rate" should not blind us to the lessons we can learn from those voyages we hear about where problems were encountered. From such reports, trends can be established and warning lights go on as we try and ensure that such a problem will not occur aboard the ships for which one bears responsibility. It is why the industry needs to support the best, most comprehensive and universal (in a global industry) system of casualty investigation, good when it is based on a "no-blame" regime, best when it is transparent.So what trends ought to be switching on those warning lights today? One very notable warning seems to be coming from pilots around the world, who have been commenting on the number of ships that are experiencing "fuel problems" in vulnerable places. Sudden losses of power can be exceedingly embarrassing in confined waters when the engines are in a manoeuvring mode. Many, it would appear, can be attributed to the new fuel regulations that are ...

In addition to advantages, the use of ECDIS is accompanied by potential pitfalls Nobody could ever deny that electronics have provided a huge boon to the shipping industry and its safety. The comforting ability to employ satellites to provide accurate positions, regardless of weather conditions or the distance from land makes shipping more precise and far safer than it was, when a landfall after an ocean passage with no celestial observations was fraught with doubts about the accuracy of the dead reckoning.The arrival of the electronic chart display system (ECDIS) is but the latest stage in this progression, and those who have spent hours correcting their world folios by hand are grateful for the transition. At the same time, just as every technological advance has provided misunderstandings in addition to advantages, the use of ECDIS is accompanied by snares and potential pitfalls for the unwary (and untrained).Just as the "radar assisted" collisions demonstrated the importance of proper theoretical and practical training in the use of the new device, and every advance from ship to ship VHF communication to AIS has seen its share of accidents contributed to by improper use of the equipment, so a number of accidents have shown ...