Satellite service provider NSSLGlobal, and satellite operator Telesat, have signed a long-term strategic co-operation agreement to collaborate on the commercial and technical aspects of Telesat’s new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation, Telesat Lightspeed.
Satellite service provider NSSLGlobal, and satellite operator Telesat, have signed a long-term strategic co-operation agreement to collaborate on the commercial and technical aspects of Telesat’s new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation, Telesat Lightspeed.
Initially consisting of a global mesh network of 298 state-of the-art LEO satellites that are seamlessly integrated with on-ground data networks, it is claimed that Telesat Lightspeed will be the world’s most advanced LEO network, optimised to serve the critical connectivity requirements of enterprise, government and mobility customers.
The agreement will include the integration of Telesat Lightspeed services into NSSLGlobal’s value-added network, providing an expanded service portfolio that delivers increased performance, flexibility and resiliency for customers. As a key commercial launch partner, NSSLGlobal will provide a European end-user testing and trials facility for Telesat Lightspeed services at its UK Headquarters. From this facility, NSSLGlobal will support Telesat with service testing, performance validation and customer onboarding to the network, and also conduct field testing of user terminals from a range of providers. NSSLGlobal intends to market Telesat Lightspeed services into the European Defence and Maritime markets.
Sally-Anne Ray, Group CEO NSSLGlobal, said, “We have been working in close co-operation with Telesat for many years and on Telesat Lightspeed since 2019, including live demonstrations for key customers, and we are delighted to formally expand our partnership. Telesat Lightspeed will be a game-changer for our long-standing customers who demand the most reliable, cutting-edge technologies on the market. It is the only LEO satellite constellation offering that has been specifically designed first and foremost for mobility customers on land, sea and air. As cloud-based services become ever more prevalent within our customers’ networks, it is vital that we are able to support these latency-sensitive applications whilst continuing to guarantee our government and maritime customers the highest levels of security, support and the value-added services that they have come to expect from NSSLGlobal.”
“The Telesat Lightspeed network will deliver the global, secure, resilient, and low-latency connectivity that NSSLGlobal’s blue-chip maritime and government customers demand for their next-generation applications,” said Tom Eaton, Telesat’s Vice President of International Sales. “With NSSLGlobal’s customer-centric service approach, we’re honored to expand our long-standing partnership to jointly bring unrivalled capabilities and cost economics to the market.”
Norwegian insurer Gard has issued an advisory warning that unauthorised anchoring in Malaysian waters is likely to result in detention. Over the years, several vessels entered with Gard have been detained and fined by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency for anchoring in East Johor waters without the requisite permissions from the authorities. The trend has been on the increase this year.
Norwegian insurer Gard has issued an advisory warning that unauthorised anchoring in Malaysian waters is likely to result in detention. Over the years, several vessels entered with Gard have been detained and fined by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency for anchoring in East Johor waters without the requisite permissions from the authorities. The trend has been on the increase this year.
Malaysian authorities recently reportedly conducted a special operation, “Jangkar Haram”, targeting ships that had anchored in waters off East Johor, without prior written permission from the Director General of the Malaysian Marine Department. In nearly all the cases Gard has handled, mariners had mistakenly understood their anchoring position to be outside Malaysian territorial waters. As Gard’s correspondent, Spica, reports in their recent circular these waters are sometimes referred to as Singapore OPL East, or sometimes as international waters.
The Malaysian governing law which sets out the limits of its territorial waters is the Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA). To determine if a vessel has entered Malaysian territorial waters, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Marine Department of Malaysia rely on the “1979 Territorial Waters Chart”. As such, vessels are advised to obtain a copy of the Malaysian “1979 Territorial Waters Chart” through their local agents.
All the recent detentions have been under section 491B(1) of the Malaysian Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 (MSO). This section stipulates ships must notify the Director of Marine of activities within Malaysian waters whenever engaging in various activities. The relevant provision in this section under which vessels have been detained by the MMEA is 491B(1)(l) which is a sweep-up provision, requiring approval be obtained for “any other activity as determined by the Director of Marine”. The provision is widely worded, which makes it difficult to challenge.
Malaysian Shipping Notice no. 05/2014 aims to clarify the definition of “any other activity” to include the following: laying up; welding and other hot works; anchoring in a non-anchorage; and any form of underwater operations. The effect of this Notice is that it is now more difficult for owners of detained vessels to argue that they were not aware of the fact that permission was needed prior anchoring.
Gard reports that it has previously seen vessels being detained by the MMEA for alleged non-payment of light dues. Section 3(1) of the Federation Light Dues Act 1953 requires the owner, agent or master of every ship which visits any port or place within Peninsular Malaysia to pay light dues.
Once a vessel has been detained, Owners can expect the following investigative steps to be taken by the MMEA:
The Master and Chief Officer/Chief Engineer are usually taken ashore to MMEA’s office to give their statements.
The Master and Chief Officer/Chief Engineer can expect to be questioned about their qualifications and experience, voyage details, and the reasons for anchoring at that specific location etc.
The crew’s passports and ship’s documents are also confiscated by MMEA.
Owners will have to appoint a local Malaysian agent, and it is recommended that owner’s representative (local agent, correspondent, or a lawyer) accompanies the crew member when the statement is being taken by the MMEA investigating officer. An owners’ local representative would be able to assist with translating the questions asked by the investigating officer into English, as well as deal with the authorities on behalf of the owners.
Investigation could take anywhere between 1-3 days, or even longer and owners may have to make arrangements, through their local agents, for overnight stay of the Master ashore.
Once statements have been taken from the crew, MMEA will hand the case over to the Marine Department. For the purposes of securing the release of the vessel a hearing may be fixed before the magistrate. Owners usually will be represented by a lawyer at the hearing and will be required to pay a bond to release the vessel under section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). A bond is a security paid by owners for the release of the vessel, as security for a fine or compound to be set at a later date. The bond is paid by a fixed deposit through opening an account under the name of the Court appointed bailor – usually the local agent.
Once the bond is paid and ship’s documents returned to the vessel, the vessel can be released. Thereafter, a decision can be taken whether to admit liability and pay the compound, (pay a lower penalty in exchange for admitting liability for the charges), or dispute the charges. The maximum fine for each offence is MYR 100,000 (approximately $24,000).
Gard suggests that if anchoring in locations within the purported boundaries of the 1979 Territorial Waters Chart, owners appoint a local agent in Malaysia. Gard has been informed that the Marine Department of Malaysia has established dedicated lay-up anchorages in waters off East Johor. Owners can contact their local agents for further information. Mariners must check with the appointed local agents that the Director of Marine has been informed before anchoring and written permission obtained.
Belgium-based dredging and marine engineering specialist DEME Offshore’s DP2 jack-up installation vessel Sea Installer will get a major crane upgrade when the capacity is increased from 900 tonnes to 1,600 tonnes.
Belgium-based dredging and marine engineering specialist DEME Offshore’s DP2 jack-up installation vessel Sea Installer will get a major crane upgrade when the capacity is increased from 900 tonnes to 1,600 tonnes. Being built by leading crane manufacturer Huisman, the new crane will enable the vessel to handle the next generation of offshore wind turbines.
The upgraded Sea Installer will be deployed for the first time at the 800MW Vineyard Wind 1 project, one of the first large-scale wind farms in the US. Vineyard Wind 1 will feature 62 GE Haliade-X offshore turbines. These giants have a 220m rotor, 107m blades and will be 248m high.
Marro Vreys, Business Unit Director Wind Turbine Generators (WTG) at DEME Offshore said, “Yet again, DEME is taking the lead and supporting the development of the offshore wind industry just as it has been doing for the last 20 years. We are willing to make the necessary investment in new technology to make sure that our fleet is ready for the future. This allows us to maintain our position as the industry leader in WTG installation and also to assist the offshore wind sector as it looks to take the next step, deploying even more powerful turbines.”
To prepare for the future, DEME embarked on a multi-year fleet investment programme. In order to remain a leader in turbine installation, DEME also secured an option to upgrade the crane on jack-up installation vessel Sea Challenger.
Sea installer is currently deployed at the Hornsea Two offshore wind farm in the UK. Vineyard Wind 1 will be the company’s first offshore wind project in the US.
A consortium of five industry bodies has formed to ensure that vital information about the correct packing of containers can be disseminated to a wide audience.
A consortium of five industry bodies has formed to ensure that vital information about the correct packing of containers can be disseminated to a wide audience.
The Container Owners Association, Global Shippers Forum, ICHCA International, TT Club and the World Shipping Council together form the Cargo Integrity Group (CIG) which has published its Quick Guide to the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) and its accompanying Container Packing Checklist, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish
The five organisations are dedicated to achieving greater levels of safety, security and environmental performance within containerised global trade. The production of a Quick Guide to the CTU Code, along with a Checklist of actions required of those packing cargo in freight containers, is pivotal to achieving safe and secure transport. Now the Quick Guide and Checklist have been translated from the original English into each of the other United Nations official languages and are available for download.
In announcing the news, Peregrine Storrs-Fox, Risk Management Director of insurer TT Club commented, “We must have higher standards of cargo integrity, if we are to arrest safety deficiencies in the supply chain – most vividly demonstrated by the too frequent occurrence of container ship fires. This means those in warehouses and manufacturing facilities who pack and secure cargo in containers, as well as shippers and forwarders preparing documentation and declarations that describe the goods in detail, must take responsibility to ensure adherence to safety guidelines. The CTU Code covers such roles and practices, and one of the aims of CIG is to promote its universal use. The Quick Guide has distilled the Code, our multi-lingual versions will help disseminate it.”
The Group is planning further translations. This is to create a better understanding of the complex dangers that may result from poorly packed or mis-declared cargo. The flexibility of containerised trade, and its efficiency in the movement of goods means individuals, many kilometres from the ocean, and with little knowledge of maritime operations, or indeed other modes of transport, are tasked with packing containers with a hugely varied range of goods. Enabling access to safety guidelines, in their own language is crucial.
“If a product is packed in an incorrect way, it is usually because the packers have not been properly trained or informed about the potential risks,” commented Richard Steele, CEO of the association representing cargo handling organisations, ICHCA International. “The goods involved in initiating fires, stack collapses and vehicles roll-overs may not always be the more obvious hazardous chemicals. Badly secured steel coils, poorly stowed barrels of any liquid or inappropriately packaged charcoal could all result in incidents of serious injury, or even fatalities as well as significant cargo and property damage. Such understanding must surely be improved by a wider implementation of the CTU Code.”
In addition to these efforts, the CIG partners are seeking changes to the relevant regulatory requirements in order to improve their effectiveness. It hopes to encourage monitoring of packing performance through cargo screening and more effective container inspection regimes. CIG’s overall aim is to work with other industry and governmental stakeholders to instil a better understanding of safe cargo packing and handling practices throughout international supply chains.
A consortium of five industry bodies has formed to ensure that vital information about the correct packing of containers can be disseminated to a wide audience.
A consortium of five industry bodies has formed to ensure that vital information about the correct packing of containers can be disseminated to a wide audience.
The Container Owners Association, Global Shippers Forum, ICHCA International, TT Club and the World Shipping Council together form the Cargo Integrity Group (CIG) which has published its Quick Guide to the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) and its accompanying Container Packing Checklist, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish
The five organisations are dedicated to achieving greater levels of safety, security and environmental performance within containerised global trade. The production of a Quick Guide to the CTU Code, along with a Checklist of actions required of those packing cargo in freight containers, is pivotal to achieving safe and secure transport. Now the Quick Guide and Checklist have been translated from the original English into each of the other United Nations official languages and are available for download.
In announcing the news, Peregrine Storrs-Fox, Risk Management Director of insurer TT Club commented, “We must have higher standards of cargo integrity, if we are to arrest safety deficiencies in the supply chain – most vividly demonstrated by the too frequent occurrence of container ship fires. This means those in warehouses and manufacturing facilities who pack and secure cargo in containers, as well as shippers and forwarders preparing documentation and declarations that describe the goods in detail, must take responsibility to ensure adherence to safety guidelines. The CTU Code covers such roles and practices, and one of the aims of CIG is to promote its universal use. The Quick Guide has distilled the Code, our multi-lingual versions will help disseminate it.”
The Group is planning further translations. This is to create a better understanding of the complex dangers that may result from poorly packed or mis-declared cargo. The flexibility of containerised trade, and its efficiency in the movement of goods means individuals, many kilometres from the ocean, and with little knowledge of maritime operations, or indeed other modes of transport, are tasked with packing containers with a hugely varied range of goods. Enabling access to safety guidelines, in their own language is crucial.
“If a product is packed in an incorrect way, it is usually because the packers have not been properly trained or informed about the potential risks,” commented Richard Steele, CEO of the association representing cargo handling organisations, ICHCA International. “The goods involved in initiating fires, stack collapses and vehicles roll-overs may not always be the more obvious hazardous chemicals. Badly secured steel coils, poorly stowed barrels of any liquid or inappropriately packaged charcoal could all result in incidents of serious injury, or even fatalities as well as significant cargo and property damage. Such understanding must surely be improved by a wider implementation of the CTU Code.”
In addition to these efforts, the CIG partners are seeking changes to the relevant regulatory requirements in order to improve their effectiveness. It hopes to encourage monitoring of packing performance through cargo screening and more effective container inspection regimes. CIG’s overall aim is to work with other industry and governmental stakeholders to instil a better understanding of safe cargo packing and handling practices throughout international supply chains.
The River Thames has been an integral part of the UK’s development into a global power, and its history is set for display in a six month exhibition set to open this October.
The Port of London Authority (PLA) has partnered with the Museum of London Docklands for an exhibition that will display over 200 years of London’s seaport evolution, with the Thames playing a central role in trade, military conquests and economic transformation.
The aim of the exhibition will be to showcase how the port has changed and shaped London, its people, design, culture, prosperity and global position.
Part of the activities will be a live shipping tracker showing the extent of Thames traffic today. The thriving port handles over 50 million tons of cargo and receives over 12,000 commercial vessels annually, connecting with over 50 countries worldwide.
“The importance of trade on the Thames has been pivotal to London’s development and will be crucial to its future success. As life gradually returns to something like normal, post the COVID-19 pandemic, this exhibition is an opportunity for the public to explore how the commercial river shapes all our lives,” said Robin Mortimer, PLA’s CEO.
He added that it covers all aspects of the port’s past, present and future, from the contribution of immigrants over many decades to the latest technology in use to keep navigation safe.
The exhibition coincides with the Thames Vision strategy, which is intended to make sure it remains relevant in a fast-changing world. Launched in 2016, The Thames Vision 2035 river strategy captures six goals for increasing the use of the river in a safe and sustainable way across port trade, inland freight, passenger transport, sport, environment, culture and community.
“It’s a great way to focus on how we learn from the past and make the most of future opportunities to make full use of the river’s potential,” said Mortimer.
The exhibition will draw upon the extensive archives of PLA to present a picture of the operations that have enabled the port to connect London to the rest of the world, from the final days of the 18th century to the creation of the huge London Gateway ‘mega port’ at Thurrock in the Thames Estuary. It will address the wider global context of London’s seaborne trade, most notably its historical dependence on the sugar trade and slavery.
The Museum of London Docklands was originally part of West India Docks, London’s first enclosed dock system and a hive of activity for valuable cargoes from around the world. It operated from 1802 until its closure in 1980.
One notable exhibit will be a document commemorating the original unveiling of the statue of merchant and slave owner Robert Milligan, which was removed from outside the museum in 2020 but will be displayed alongside original plans for docks. The statue serves as a reminder of the full truth behind the economic prosperity that made the building of West India Docks possible.
A Hurtigruten coastal cruise ship lost propulsion power traveling along a notoriously difficult portion of the Norwegian coastline last evening, prompting a search and rescue response from Norwegian maritime authorities, fishing vessels, and an OSV in the area. After drifting and later anchoring, the cruise ship was able to recover, but the Norwegian authorities are investigating the incident.
It began shortly before 9:00 p.m. August 24 when the 11,200 gross ton Kong Harald issued a distress call reporting that it had lost propulsion power and was drifting toward the coast. At the time the vessel was in an area known as Hustadvika traveling southbound from Kristiansund to Molde. It was the same area where in 2019 another cruise ship, the Viking Sky, also suffered a power failure and numerous passengers were injured while the vessel was tossed in heavy seas before a rescue could be affected.
The Kong Harald was carrying 236 passengers along with 70 crew. Several passengers reported to the local media seeing black smoke before the ship went quiet, which was their first indication of a problem. Seas were reported to be very rough with poor visibility and a stiff gale.
The Norwegian Maritime Directorate today was full of praise for the captain and crew along with the SAR teams for their response. With no propulsion power, the captain used the vessel’s thrusters to maneuver it into a safer position to await assistance and they were eventually able to anchor.
The SAR operation was complicated by the difficult weather. Four helicopters were dispatched as well as five vessels from the Norwegian coastguard. Adding to the drama another rescue vessel, the Oyvon, carrying a crew of four grounded, damaging its keel and requiring its own rescue.
After about 45 minutes, the Kong Harald reported that it had been able to restart one of its main engines. The passenger ship was able to proceed to Molde escorted by the OSV KL Saltfjord, which had also offered to provide towing assistance if needed. The Kong Harald spent the night on the dock in Molde and earlier today inspectors from the Norwegian Maritime Directorate boarded the ship and pieced together the events leading up to the power failure.
Before the Kong Harald departed Kristiansund earlier in the evening, engineers discovered a leak in the port main engine’s cooling water system and took the engine offline for repairs. The repairs took longer than expected. Operating on its starboard main engine, after 8:00 p.m. an alarm sounded for high exhaust temperatures on the starboard main engine, and efforts to reduce the torque were not successful. At 8:39 p.m. the starboard main engine shut down leaving the Kong Harald with no propulsion power. Investigators determined today that the problem was caused by a worn control arm in the fuel system.
The Norwegian Maritime Directorate reported that the worn part has been replaced today in both engines and they then tested the ship. DNV as the vessel’s class society also attended and the Kong Harald was certified and resumed its voyage on the afternoon on August 25.
Among the questions that the Norwegian authorities want to investigate were the maintenance routines and why the worn part was not detected before failure. They are also investigating the risk assessments and the process taken before the departure from Kristiansund especially in light of having one motor offline for repairs. In 2020, Hurtigruten’s risk assessment process was also criticized in the investigations after the COVID-19 outbreak aboard one of its expedition cruise ships. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate also said it would hand over its findings to Norway’s Accident Investigation Board.
The bankruptcy judge hearing the case of Bouchard Transportation approved the bankruptcy plan which will see the company’s assets divided off to two buyers with partial recovery for the creditors. Efforts to develop an alternate plan that would have seen Bouchard retain some of its assets failed to materialize.
At a virtual hearing conducted on August 26, Texas bankruptcy court judge David Jones approved the plan that was presented to the court. They reported to the court that all of the debtor objections had been cleared after the creditor committee negotiated a settlement with Wells Fargo Bank, which holds liens against part of the fleet of tugs and barges. According to papers filed with the court, Wells Fargo agreed to subordinate a $20 million claim and contribute $50 million toward the settlement of the bankruptcy.
The judge accepted the plan after he was advised that the settlement with Wells Fargo provide the possibility for the unsecured creditors of Bouchard to receive distributions against their claims. Previously they had objected to the plan saying that it did not provide sufficient means to settle the unsecured claims.
The one remaining objection to the plan came from the former CEO of the tug company Morton Bouchard III. Morton Bouchard had been forced out of his role as CEO when the bankruptcy court named a new executive to oversee the process. Lawyers for Bouchard objected to the plan based on the language of the releases saying that it could hurt Bouchard in his defense on possible claims related to his actions as CEO. Judge Jones overrode the objection.
Under the plan presented to the court earlier in August, two bidders will divide the company’s remaining fleet of tugs and barges. Wells Fargo participated in one group buying the vessels on which it has liens and a second investment company, JMB Capital Partners, which provided debtor in possession financing during the bankruptcy, purchases the other portion of the fleet. The combined bids exceeded $245 million, but the original terms called for only $50 million in cash.
Bouchard Transportation had entered bankruptcy in September 2020 proposing to reorganize its operations. This spring, however, the company altered the plan saying that it had not been able to find a partner and that it would proceed to the sale of its assets.
Founded in 1918, the company had started by shipping coal. It remained a family-owned business for five generations with Morton Bouchard III being the sole shareholder. The company had run into trouble after an accident in 2017 and adverted bankruptcy earlier in 2020. Bouchard’s fleet consisted of 25 tugs and 22 barges that were sold at the beginning of August in a bankruptcy auction.
Rob Phayre, a former ransom delivery specialist who helped shipowners retrieve vessels and crews from pirates, has written a new novel based on his experiences off Somalia. He recently corresponded with The Maritime Executive about the nature of the work and the root causes of Somali piracy.
TME: To start, can you tell us about yourself and your career in resolving hostage situations?
I started my career with seven years as a British military helicopter pilot, and I commanded a flight of helicopters in the Second Gulf War. I had the privilege to fly the first British Army helicopter across the border into Iraq on the first day of the war. I also flew in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Perhaps one of my best experiences was in supporting British special forces when doing their jungle training in West Africa.
After leaving the British Army, I lived in Africa for nearly 17 years, but I was only involved in resolving Somali pirate attacks for about three of those years. During that time, I worked on more than 30 projects delivering ransoms to Somali pirates. I have also supported a number of organizations resolving other onshore kidnapping incidents. If I had to put a figure on the total amount delivered in ransom, it’s just under $100 million.
TME: Can you tell us about how you would arrange for ransom deliveries?
We developed a special mechanism that allowed us to drop the ransom out of an aircraft by parachute. The pirates would collect the money after it fell into the water, take it to the ship, count it and then leave. At that point another team that we had already pre-positioned would board the ship, cross load supplies, help the crew get it underway again and escort it to the nearest safe port.
There were a number of risks during those projects. Delays could mean the pirates would lose patience and we would have to go back to the negotiating table. The money delivery could fail. We never lost a load to a bad drop, but it was close occasionally. The pirates might not have left the ship after we paid the ransom, or the rescue team could get attacked on the way to collect the ship. We managed all of those risks to the best of our ability.
During the peak of piracy, my team and I delivered a ransom that was worth just under $15 million. To give you an idea of scale, that’s about 160 kilos of hundred-dollar bills – about seven large Samsonite suitcases’ worth. It remains to this day one of the largest ransoms paid for hostage taking at sea.
TME: Did the pirates always leave the ship once they were paid, or did they ever try to hold out for more money?
For the projects I worked on, yes. Simply put, they were businesspeople – granted, businesspeople with no moral values, but still businesspeople. If they hadn’t surrendered the ship after a delivery, then they wouldn’t have been paid again. They would accrue all the costs of running their projects and not get any more financial rewards. I am aware of several projects where hostages didn’t get released after a payment, but in many cases, they were not negotiated professionally.
TME: Do governments get involved in negotiating with pirates and paying ransoms?
It’s a very grey area. It depends on the government and the part of the world where the hostage taking has happened. The French government, for example, has passed laws that state that they will pay ransoms to get their citizens back. In fact, there have been a number of protests when they haven’t. Most Western governments will publicly say that they don’t make substantive concessions to pirates. That is the right approach in my opinion.
Nation-states making payments with unlimited funds just raises the cost of ransoms for everyone else. However, it is also right that individuals, if they choose to, should be able to pay ransom to release their loved ones. That all works fine and is generally ignored by governments as long as payments are not made to terrorist organisations.
If terrorists are involved, that’s much trickier. You can’t pay them legally, even through third parties. On the plus side, governmental support may be more likely to happen – but that usually results in a security service response. The risk to the hostage goes up considerably.
This became a concern several years into the antipiracy response off Somalia. As soon as there was a lull in the number of vessels being held by pirates, Western governments determined that the risk of inadvertently paying money to terrorist organizations in Somalia was too high, and they made it a very serious offence to pay ransom. I am not aware of any proof that any ransom was ever directly paid to a terrorist group for maritime piracy in Somalia, but there was always the potential for side payments or protection money being paid by the piracy groups. It was certainly a factor in the decision process for many risk management companies.
A final word on maritime terrorism: this is different from piracy or criminality. The objective is completely different. With terrorism, an actor will target either a specific vessel or a specific flag state to enhance their political aims. Money has nothing to do with it.
TME: What were the root causes of Somali piracy?
I believe that the commonly used explanation of foreign offshore fishing vessels plundering the Somali coast is used too often as an argument. Sure, it’s a potential catalyst, but money and power were the key drivers once they were available. Warlords and clan chiefs could raise huge sums of money, equip their personal forces and expand their fiefdoms. Individuals could earn a living that just wasn’t available to them before. Most of the political leadership didn’t have the power or reach to be able to police the whole of the coastline, and those who did have the ability were most likely corrupt. The existence of a failed state provided safe harbor for pirates to bring home their catch and negotiate their release.
TME: How can piracy be defeated?
In the longer term, only sustainable development, other employment opportunities, the removal of available targets, rule of law and effective military response are the way to continue bringing down the maritime piracy risk.
Rob Phayre is the author of The Ransom Drop, a newly-released novel about maritime kidnapping and ransom delivery. It may be found on Amazon here.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
A consortium of South Korean companies is the latest to announce plans to develop a liquified CO2 carrier vessel that could play a critical role in the global carbon capture and storage process proposed as part of the efforts to achieve decarbonization. The project will be led by South Korean steel company POSCO working in conduction with Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore and the Hyundai Mipo shipyard owned by KSOE. Lloyd’s will act as the class society for the project.
The announcement of the South Korean project follows this week’s news that Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi was partnering with France’s TotalEnergies also to develop an LCO2 carrier. In the spring, Wartsila Gas Solutions announced it had received Approval in Principle from DNV for the designs of a cargo tank suitable for transporting liquid CO2. In addition, Danish companies Evergas and Ultragas are also working in partnership to develop tank designs.
In the new project announcement, POSCO said that it would focus on the development of steel that could be used to create the cargo tank to hold the liquified CO2. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard will be responsible to develop the welding technology needed in designing and building of the tanks and for the design of the vessel. Lloyd’s Register will handle certification of steel and technical review of storage tank’s design and manufacturing, while the flag state for the design will be handled by the Liberia International Ship & Corporate Registry.
The Korean project is targeting a design for a commercial vessel by 2025 capable of transporting 20,000 cubic meters of liquefied CO2.
Hyundai Mipo had launched another project to design an LCO2 carrier in the spring working with ABS and the Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator. The shipyard looks to draw upon its experience in building gas carriers to develop a new class of ships that will support carbon capture and storage.
The Korean news outlet Yonhap is reported that POSCO is working to diversify its business and establish itself in the nascent carbon capture field. Separately, through its energy subsidiary, POSCO announced plans to develop a low carbon waste-to-energy technology. POSCO has also been exploring technologies to decarbonize its steel business.
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