Tag: containerships

Three deaths globally and numerous injuries and burns As thousands of potentially explosive shipping containers circulate the globe, Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) executives are rejecting the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's (ILWU) calls for safety procedures designed to protect workers on the docks and keep at-risk containers out of U.S. communities.The PMA wants to limit the isolation of refrigerated containers (also known as "reefers") to those imports only that have transited Kat Lai, Vietnam, in the past year. The ILWU wants to isolate all reefers that have transited any part of Vietnam in 2011.Despite the fact that PMA has known for over nine months that thousands of contaminated reefers are circulating among its member companies' reefer fleets, the danger to health and safety did not become public until October 2011 after three workers were killed by explosions while servicing contaminated reefers.Following the three fatalities, Maersk Inc., a PMA member company, informed the World Shipping Council's Safe Transport of Containers Working Group that reefers coming from Southeast Asia had exploded for no apparent reason.Experts in the shipping industry have known since spring that counterfeit or imitation refrigerant is being used by vendors in Vietnam to service reefers. This fake refrigerant reacts ...

A container ship with 12 crew on board was only 20 meters from the grounding RS Simrad Buholmen, one of NSSR rescue boats, did an amazing job by preventing the much larger container ship "Pioneer Bay" to run aground.A container ship with 12 crew on board was only 20 meters from the grounding of Vågsfjorden in New Jersey on Friday. Both the helicopter and rescue boat pulled out."Simrad Buholmen", the smallest of the rescue boats, was the rescue of over a hundred meters long, "Pioneer Bay," which drove slowly towards the shore.The captain was afraid to start the engine again since they were only 20 meters from a shallow that the propellers could go down. First, we pushed them off the ground, and dragged our ship to deep water and safe, says Marius Stream, which is the ship's rescue boats.Source: Maritime Partner

Three cases in which refrigeration units had exploded for no apparent reason. Hundreds of refrigerated containers have been quarantined in various locations around the world following reports of compressor explosions and incidents of spontaneous combustion that have resulted in at least three fatalities.The alarm was raised by Maersk Line on 18 October when it informed the World Shipping Council's Safe Transport of Containers Working Group that it had recently experienced three cases in which refrigeration units had exploded for no apparent reason.While the precise causes of the explosions are still under investigation, Maersk said it had ascertained that all three refrigeration units involved had received gas repairs in Vietnam between late March and late April and advised other lines that had had similar gas repairs or maintenance to refrigeration units in Vietnam to identify and investigate those units.Observers say all the major reefer machinery brands - Carrier, Daikin, Thermo King and Star Cool - are potentially affected by what is suspected to be the introduction of contaminated or otherwise unsuitable refrigerant gas into the system that causes a chemical reaction when it comes into contact with R134a, oil or air, creating a flammable/explosive mixture.At least two Carrier ThinLINE and one ...

Recommendations for recharging LR issues safety alert regarding Explosion of refrigerated container compression units and recommendations for recharging applicable to Container ship operators and crew, container terminals and stevedores, road haulage firms, maintenance fitters and end users/leasers of refrigerated containers, as follows:There have recently been a number of incidents, some fatal, involving explosion of the compressor units fitted to refrigerated (reefer) containers. The cause of the explosions is still under investigation but it appears that the servicing of the refrigeration system is a common factor in each case. It has been reported to Lloyd's Register that refrigerant gas in refrigeration and air conditioning plants is being recharged or 'topped up' with different types of gas. This may have been a contributing factor to the explosions.The international community is phasing-out the use of HCFC R-22 refrigerant. This refrigerant is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to obtain. As a result, it has been reported that some service contractors are mixing dissimilar refrigerants in air conditioning and/or refrigeration systems. This practice carries the following significant risks:1. It may violate several European and national standards, and may be illegal in some countries.2. The unknown composition of the resultant refrigerant mixture may change system performance ...

Overcapacity on main trades depresses vessel value as well as freight and charter rates Containership owners have seen billions of dollars wiped off the value of their fleets over the past year.Massive overcapacity has squeezed not only freight rates, but also the worth of steel on the water, the latest service from VesselsValue.com shows.The world's largest boxship owner, AP Møller-Maersk, has seen the value of its containership fleet fall 24% in the past 12 months. Its 222 vessels currently in service are now worth US$9.1 billion, compared with $12 billion at the start of November last year.Similarly, major owner and operator MSC's fleet of 202 containerships in service at present are worth $6.9 billion, compared with $8.4 billion 12 months ago.A report in IFW's sister publicaton, Lloyd's List, reveals that the VesselsValue data shows that today's fleet values are closing in on what these ships would have been worth in November 2009 - continued declines in freight and charter rates this year have pushed asset values back to the lows of two years ago, when the containership market was suffering the worst downturn in its history.Online ship valuation service VesselsValue.com was launched this year by London-based sale and purchase broker ...

According to Alphaliner154 vessels delivered, and 280,000 TEUs more to come by the end of 2011 According to maritime consultant Alphaliner, deliveries of new containerships have surpassed the 1 million TEU mark since the beginning of 2011, with 154 vessels delivered, and 280,000 TEUs more to come by the end of 2011.Alphaliner said that "Non deliveries due to cancellations, deferrals and slippage have fallen to 8.5%, only twice their long term historical levels, as the bulk of the delivery deferrals was negotiated in 2009 and 2010."It added that "2009 and 2010 were exceptional years as the financial crisis led owners and carriers to defer the deliveries of a significant part of the order book, as well as to cancel part of their orders. Such crisis-driven initiatives were not to be repeated in 2011. Cancellations have actually been marginal this year with no impact on deliveries scheduled for 2011."Scrapping and conversions of older boxships since January 2011 have reached 65,000 TEUs, with a further 15,000 TEUs expected to leave the cellular fleet during the last three months of this year. As a result, the annual net growth rate of the containership fleet in 2011 is expected to reach 8.4%.So far this ...

No injuries have been reported The US Coast Guard reports that it is responding to a collision between a container ship and chemical tanker at the point where the Houston ship channel and the Bayport Ship Channel meet.At 9:47 a.m. Coast Guard sector Houston-Galveston received a report that the 782-foot container ship, MSC NEDERLAND, had collided with the 799-foot chemical tanker, ELKA APOLLON.Three containers from the NEDERLAND have fallen onto the deck of the ELKA APOLLON. Some hydraulic fluid from one of the containers containing tractor equipment is leaking onto the deck of the tanker.No injuries have been reported and the shipping channels remain open. The vessels owners/operators are working on a salvage plan to return the vessels to operation.The ELKA APOLLON is a Greek flagged chemical/oil products tanker owned by Lydia Investments and operated by European Product Carriers. The NEDERLAND is a Panama flagged container ship owned by Messina Shipping Ltd. And operated by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co.The Coast Guard will be investigating the incident to determine the cause of the collision.Source: USCG

The accident happened outside the same port where MV Rena run aground A 135-metre container ship, the Schelde Trader, was refloated Friday after running aground on rocks at the entrance to Tauranga harbour, on the east coast of the North Island, news reports said.The accident happened outside the same port where the 47,000-ton Rena grounded on a reef nearly a month ago, spilling 350 tons of oil which polluted beaches and killed 1,335 seabirds.Salvage workers are still trying to remove the rest of the Rena's heavy fuel oil before the ship, which is cracked in the middle and listing 22 degrees, breaks up on the reef, 22 kilometres offshore.The Schelde Trader was leaving the port when it lost power and grounded. It was refloated by tugs and anchored outside the harbour, news reports said. There was no sign of an oil spill.Source: M&C

New era of LNG vessels is set to come LNG, as a promising fuel alternative, has not been used for container vessels.DSME and Germanischer Lloyd (GL) have proved the feasibility of running large container vessels on LNG in a recently completed joint project. At a press conference held during the Kormarine Trade Fair in Busan, both parties announced the progress they have made towards developing LNG-fuelled large container vessels. GL has recently finished approval in Principle of a 14,000TEU LNG-fuelled container vessel for DSME."New technology is needed as cleaner transport is increasingly demanded and maritime environmental regulations are becoming ever stricter," said Mr. Frederick Ebers, Vice President and Area Manager for North East Asia, GL, when he kicked off the press conference. "DSME and GL have acknowledged this challenge and agreed in 2010 to jointly start exploring technology options and safety concepts for large LNG-fuelled container vessels."Following Mr.Seo from DSME, who demonstrated the design concept of this LNG-fuelled container vessel, Dr. Gerd-Michael Wuersig elaborated on the safety concepts involved. Dr. Wuersig is Deputy Head of Environmental Research Department of GL and also a member of IMO Correspondence Group for the development of the Code for Gas as Ship Fuel (IGF-Code).He ...

No oil was spilled during the event and no one was injured An Australian naval vessel has helped prevent what authorities say could have been a maritime disaster off Papua New Guinea.Australia's Defence Department says a container ship, MV Vega Fynen, lost engine power and was drifting towards a charted reef 100 nautical miles south-east of Port Moresby early on Monday.After receiving a call for help from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the patrol boat HMAS Broome, based in Darwin, northern Australia, raced 146 miles to help the stricken ship.The Defence Department says the crew towed the 13,000 tonne vessel south and back into deeper waters.Lord Howe IslandThe patrol boat crew have been praised by authorities in Port Moresby for averting an environmental castastropheElsewhere off the Australian coast, a ship that ran aground in the harbour at Lord Howe Island has been cleared to return to service.The 485-tonne MV Island Trader grounded after unloading its cargo eight days ago on the east coast island but was refloated on the evening high tide on Monday.No oil was spilled during the event and no one was injured.Source: Radio Australia News