Tag: nickel ore

Britannia Club published an article which aims to emphasise the risks associated with the liquefaction of nickel ore during seaborne transport, highlighting the need for vigilance among shipowners and masters.

Cargo liquefaction remains a key concern for shipping safety, with a total of 70 lives lost in 5 casualties between 2012-2021. This accounts for 76.1% of the total loss of life in shipping for this period, according to INTERCARGO.

A Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier loaded with 55,000 metric tonnes of nickel ore sailed close to a tropical storm with a maximum wind speed of 40 knots while en route. The vessel eventually capsized and sank. As a result, ten crew members went missing. Hong Kong MARDEP shared lessons learned from the incident. 

Due to a recent increase of nickel ore exports from Ivory Coast, the North P&I Club addresses the challenges arising to vessels that carry the cargo, highlighting that the primary concerns are on the moisture content of cargoes at the time of loading, the validity of cargo sample test results and doubts on the status of an operational competent authority.

The North of England P&I Club reported a continuous trend of issues related to nickel ore loaded in the Philippines, in particular, cargoes from the Surigao region. Nickel ore is a Group A cargo, which means there is a risk of liquefaction and cargoes loaded in the Philippines have a considerable history of liquefaction instances.

The North P&I Club launched three different checklists concerning the “care” of nickel ore, grain and coal, providing details to interested parties on how to deal with this kind of cargo.

According to Reuters, China's monthly nickel ore imports from Indonesia marked a rise to a near six-year high in November, as buyers were in a rush to acquire as much ore as they could, towards the ban of Indonesia exports which will come into effect from this month.

Following the recent developments that a ban on nickel ore exports from Indonesia would commence on the 1st of January 2020, Indonesian authorities gave the green light to a specific number of nickel ore exporters to trade, after ensuring that they were in compliance with the country's export rules to resume nickel ore shipments.

The Indonesian government announced on Friday, August 30th 2019 that a ban on nickel ore exports would come into effect on the 1st of January 2020; two years prior to its planned date, causing an immediate spike in its price. Even though this retreated as the market took a more measured view of the nickel outlook, there is little doubt that in the years to come the ban will have significant implications for NPI supply.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency announced that they are halting the search and rescue operations for the missing Indonesia-flagged Nur Allya. The vessel disappeared in late July. According to the authorities, the operations stopped on September 9.