Tag: ICS

Cautions against any move to ban ransom payments to pirates The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - the principal international trade association for shipowners representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet - has responded to the outcome of the intergovernmental conference on Somalia hosted by the United Kingdom on 23 February.The shipping industry welcomes the commitments made to try to restore government and civil society in Somalia - the absence of a functioning state being one of the underlying causes of violent Somali pirate attacks against international shipping, which have so far led to more than 60 seafarers losing their lives and 4,000 seafarers being taken hostage. However, addressing these issues will take years if not decades.The international shipping industry notes with some concern that the Conference outcomes do not appear to include any firm political commitment or new actions to eliminate or significantly reduce the scourge of Somali piracy in the immediate future.Governments must task their military forces to take the attack to the pirates and ensure that the military assets required to do this are maintained so they can continue to defend merchant ships in the best way possible. Little mention seems ...

On 19-20, February 2012 On Sunday 19 and Monday 20, February 2012, representatives of the 60% of the international fleet assemble in Athens to participate in the World Shipping Congress, an event by the Financial Times Limited. The Congress is the first international Shipping Summit. It will take place at Divani Apollon Palace & Spa, co-organized with Boussias Communications.Presidents of Shipowners' Associations from 3 continents and 9 major Shipping Countries (Greece, Norway, Korea, Finland, Netherlands, Italy, U.S.A., U.K., Denmark), major Greek Shipowners (M. Bodouroglou, I. Dragnis, E. Pistiolis, H. Vafias, etc.), industry experts, researchers and consultants, 4 Greek Government representatives, the Chairman and the General Manager of Piraeus Port Authority S.A., the Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and 2 major Financial Times editors and correspondents analyse, discuss and forecast the major strategic issues regarding the Shipping Industry at an era of high economic uncertainty and financial fragility.Financial Times acknowledging the significance of Maritime Transportations have appointed to coordinate the Congress Michael Skapinker (Assistant Editor FT newspaper, Columnist, Editor FT Special Reports) and Robert Wright (Financial Times Shipping and Logistics Correspondent).Sunday's Summit session will take place in the afternoon (from 18.00 to 20.30), closed doors. ...

International Chamber of Shipping urges goverments to crack down on pirate financiers Shipowners urged governments to take a heavier hand to captured Somali pirates and their financiers, as the threat to trade and seafarers increases.The International Chamber of Shipping, whose membership makes up more than 80 percent of the world merchant fleet, said more aggressive military intervention was needed in the Indian Ocean."The current situation remains totally unacceptable, with about 200 seafarers still being held hostage in the most appalling conditions, with thousands more still having to transit the danger area in constant fear of their lives," said the ICS's board of directors in a statement.Althoughbetter shipping practices and military co-ordination had reduced the chances of pirates being successful, the threat had not diminished.ICS Chairman Spyros Polemis said shipowners need to persuade the government to directly attack pirates while keeping merchant ships safe. He said every captured pirates should be tried and imprisoned if found guilty."Thirdly, governments must break the financial chain through legal action against criminal financiers investing in piracy wherever in the world they are identified," Polemis said.Source: Journal of Commerce

Discussing current security and environmental issues The Board of Directors of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), whose member national shipowners' associations represent all sectors and trades and more than 80% of the world merchant fleet, met in London on 6 February.PiracyICS members reviewed the continuing threat to shipping from Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Noting that the capability of Somali pirates is actually higher than it has ever been, ICS believes that effective compliance with Best Management Practices by shipping, and sustained military intervention with a more aggressive stance, has reduced the pirates' rate of success. However, the current situation remains totally unacceptable, with about 200 seafarers still being held hostage in the most appalling conditions, with thousands more still having to transit the danger area in constant fear of their lives.ICS national associations agreed to work to ensure that the problem of piracy retains sufficient political and public attention so that the crisis might be properly and decisively addressed during the year ahead.ICS Chairman, Spyros M Polemis explained:"Recent press reports might give the impression that the level of piracy off Somalia is decreasing. However, most ship operators will be aware that this is not an accurate representation ...

Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its latest annual Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table.The Table collates various data available in the public domain.Under the supervision of ICS's member national shipowners' associations, the presentation of the Table for 2011 has been modified slightly in order to address feedback from governments. However the purpose is the same: to encourage shipowners to examine whether a flag state has substance before using it and to encourage them to pressure their flag administration to effect any improvement that might be necessary.ICS believes that a balance has to be struck between the commercial advantages of shipowners selecting a particular flag and the need to discourage the use any flag that does not meet its international obligations. While it is shipping companies that have primary responsibility for the safe operation of their ships it is the flag state that must enforce the rules.ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe explained:"ICS makes no apology for continuing to subject flag states to scrutiny, in the same way that ships and company procedures are rightly subjected to inspection by governments. Our overriding interest in promoting high performing flags is that they are less ...

STCW to come into force from January 1st of 2012 ICS is advising shipping companies to ensure they comply with the Manila amendments to STCW, particularly in relation to seafarers' rest hours and the more stringent requirements for preventing drug and alcohol abuse that will apply worldwide from January 1st 2012.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Shipping Federation (ISF) led employer representation at the IMO Diplomatic Conference which adopted the Manila amendments to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW 2010). The Manila amendments begin a phased entry into force from January 1st, 2012.ICS is reminding shipowners that the new STCW minimum rest hour requirements are likely to be vigorously enforced by Port State Control Officers who will have the authority to check that ships maintain accurate records for individual seafarers which demonstrate they have been provided with the required minimum rest. For example, seafarers must now always have at least 10 hours rest in any 24 hour period. To help further reduce the possibility of fatigue, much of the flexibility that previously applied under STCW has now been removed.The new STCW rest hour requirements were developed to ensure that they ...

IAPH joins with WSC, ICS and BIMCO The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has joined with the World Shipping Council (WSC), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and BIMCO in the effort to encourage the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to amend the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require, as a condition for stowing a loaded container on board a ship, that the ship and the port facility have a verified actual weight of the container. All four organizations have consultative status at the IMO.The announcement comes as the IMO's Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers (DSC) subcommittee, which is responsible for improving the safety of container stowage and ships operations, continues its efforts to construct a SOLAS requirement that loaded export containers have a verified weight prior to vessel loading. As instructed by the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), DSC will consider such a requirement at its next session in September 2012 (DSC 17)."Weighing containers to confirm their actual weight is the right operational and safety practice. There is substantial experience with such a requirement in the United States demonstrating that this is feasible on a technological and commercial basis. It is time to make ...

ICS explained that shipping is committed to improving efficiency The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) - the principal international trade association for ship operators representing all sectors and trades and over 80% of the world merchant fleet - has called on delegates at theUnited Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, to give the International Maritime Organization (IMO) a clear mandate to continue its work on regulating shipping's CO2 emissions, including the development of Market Based Measures.ICS explained that shipping is committed to improving efficiency per tonne-km by 20% by 2020 with further significant improvements thereafter, and that the achievement of this goal would be greatly assisted by the recent IMO agreement on technical regulations to reduce shipping'semissions.Speaking alongside IMO officials on 29 November at a special UNFCCC event on international transport, ICS Director of External Relations, Simon Bennett, said that it was "no secret that Market Based Measures are controversial.However the shipping industry recognises that the need to prevent climate change is a political challenge as much as a technical one, and thatshipping needs to play a constructive part in the discussion about MBMs."As demonstrated by the recent IMO agreement on technical measures, ICS believes that IMO is ...

Oxfam and WWF join with shipowners to urge agreement for GHG from ships At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa (COP 17, Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, 2011), the global shipping industry, Oxfam and WWF have joined forces to suggest to governments how the further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping might best be regulated.Oxfam, WWF and the International Chamber of Shipping (which represents over 80% of the world merchant fleet) call on delegates to COP 17 to give the International Maritime Organization (IMO) clear guidance on continuing its work on reducing shipping emissions through the development of Market Based Measures (MBMs).The organisations maintain that an effective regulatory framework for curbing emission of CO2 from international shipping must be global in nature and designed so as to reduce the possibility of 'carbon leakage', while taking full account of the best interests of developing countries and the UNFCCC principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities' (CBDR).This includes the possibility of the adoption by IMO of a compensation mechanism through which a significant share of any revenues collected from international shipping could be directed to developing countries and provide a new source of finance ...

Chamber prefers compensation fund over emissions trading scheme The International Chamber of Shipping on Tuesday joined campaign groups Oxfam and WWF to urge climate talks in Durban to help put a price on polluting emissions from ships, which could help raise funding to tackle global warming.Oxfam and WWF have been pressing for a maritime carbon levy and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents more than 80 percent of the world's merchant fleet, gave its qualified support."If governments decide that shipping should contribute to the UNFCCC Green Climate Fund, the industry can probably support this in principle," ICS Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe said in a statement released to coincide with the Durban talks, which opened on Monday.Previous talks under the aegis of the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change, the parent treaty of the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming, have agreed on a Green Climate Fund.The Durban meeting is expected to work on the design of the fund, which would channel money to help developing nations tackle climate change.Hinchliffe's conditions to the proposed shipping levy included that details would have to be agreed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).He also said the industry's preference was for a ...