Tag: chemicals

On the aftermath of an eye injury involving chemicals onboard, the Maritime NZ issued a reminder to operators of their duties to identify ‘reasonably foreseeable risks’, and to control these risks 'as far as practicable’, in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act. 

In October, the chemical tanker called Nu-Shi Nalini, drifted aground 2 nautical miles of Dona Paula, Goa. The vessel was anchored at the inner anchorage of the Mormugao Port in Goa before it broke loose from its restraints and began drifting towards the shore.

Denmark has put a fine on French oil and gas major Total, of 500,000 Danish crowns ($75,145) for discharging chemicals in the North Sea, by a company it acquired in 2017, according to the Danish broadcaster DR. The former oil unit of Maersk, Maersk Oil, was reported to the police by the Danish environmental protection agency, back in 2017.

According to Drewry, China's developing increasing demand for chemical shipping is due to strengthen coastal freight rates. The demand is being boosted by the fast growth of the Chinese base chemical production capacity. Mainly, about 55% of the new production capacity is placed in East China, 23% in North China, whereas another 22% in South China.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced, on February 18, that its group company, MOL Chemical Tankers Pte. Ltd. holds a 20% stake in Den Hartogh Holding B.V. from Den Hartogh Beheer B.V. After the acquisition, MOL Chemical Tankers and Den Hartogh are to sign a partnership deal aimed at jointly expanding the “leading global logistics company” approach.

Ineos, a London-based chemicals company, opted for Port of Antwerp in Belgium, to use as a location to built two new petrochemical plants. The plan is based on a 3 billion euros investment and is to create 400 new jobs directly and five times that number indirectly, according to the port's statement. The company aims to construct a propane dehydrogenation unit and an ethane cracker in Northwest Europe.

According to port of Amsterdam's press release, the port reached a new transhipment record in 2018 with its overall transhipment reaching 82.3 million tonnes, in comparison to the 81.3 million tonnes in 2017. The port along with other ports in the North Sea Canal Area, the total transhipment amounted to 101.8 million tonnes in 2018. 

After a chemical tanker leak at China's Quanzhou Port, in the beginning of November, seven people got arrested. Namely, six people from the company that caused the leak and four crew on board the ship were put under criminal coercive measures. In addition, the investigation of the incident showed that the total amount of the leak was 69.1 tonnes and not seven as initially reported.

According to information, there was a chemical leak on board the Finnish Ro-Ro Mistral at Zeebrugge, Belgium, on October 29. Emergency services responded to the leak, while cargo operations were stopped. Until now, it is not known what kind of chemicals leaked, nor the volume.

A new petrochemical industrial zone will be built in Turkey, after the Port of Rotterdam and Rönesans Holding signed a framework cooperation agreement on September 17. The Ceyhan Mega Petrochemical Industrial Zone will mainly focus on petrochemical plants.