A court in Lagos sentenced 10 men to 12 years in prison on Friday for kidnapping the crew of a Chinese-flagged merchant vessel last year, the navy said, a verdict that officials hope will help tackle piracy in the waters off Nigeria’s coast.
Federal high court Justice Ayokunle Faji, who also fined each man 250,000 naira ($608) for each of the three counts for which they were charged, said their actions in kidnapping 18 crew from the FV HAILUFENG II in May 2020, were “an embarrassment to the nation that has impacted the economy negatively”.
The defense counsel said the men would appeal.
The hijacking ended when the navy said it had rescued the vessel’s crew members and arrested the pirates.
The Gulf of Guinea, which spans more than a dozen West African countries, has been known as “pirate alley” for years due to persistent attacks. Last year pirates in the region kidnapped a record 130 seafarers in 22 separate incidents, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Most of the pirates operating in the area come from the Delta region of Nigeria, which is poverty-stricken despite being rich in oil resources.
Last year a Nigerian court made the first convictions under a 2019 anti-piracy law. Before that, there was no specific law against piracy.
Singapore-based Keppel Offshore and Marine subsidiaries have been slapped with a request for arbitration from an unnamed counterparty in relation to contracts for the delivery of Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.
Keppel said this week that the unnamed claimant had withheld $11.3 million due to Keppel’s subsidiaries under the FPSO engineering, procurement, and construction contracts.
Furthermore, the claimant is seeking payment from Keppel of around $31.2 million, “on the basis that the claimant is allegedly entitled to a price reduction under the EPC Contracts,” Keppel said.
“[Keppel’s subsidiaries], in consultation with legal advisors, deny the claimant’s alleged right to such price reductions and vehemently challenge the claimant’s right to withhold payments due to the [Keppel] as well as its supposed right to claim such price reductions.”
Keppel further said it planned to vigorously defend the claim and in addition, seek remedies, including counterclaims “for the sums unduly withheld by the claimant, against the claimant to the fullest extent under the EPC Contracts and at law.”
“The company will provide updates on material developments on this matter as appropriate,” Keppel said without sharing any detail on the identity of the claimant.
Deck cargo ship HENG TONG 77 drifted aground on a beach in Karachi area, Pakistan, in the morning Jul 21, after she dragged anchor in rough weather. According to preliminary information, the ship anchored off Karachi for the purpose of crew change, she wasn’t supposed to call Karachi port. She’s en route from Singapore, port of destination unclear, maybe Istanbul Turkey.
General cargo ship MAXIMA, berthed at Waalhaven, Rotterdam, developed a heavy starboard side list in the evening Jul 21. Water ingress in cargo hold was is thought to be the problem. Tugs and patrol boats were deployed, and additional pumps delivered, to right the ship. Situation was taken under control, as of 0440 UTC Jul 22 there were no tugs/boats at her side, while she remained in the same position.
Bulker owner and operator Berge Bulk has launched a pilot test to trial the maritime application of solar technology.
The test is being carried out on Berge K2, the company’s 262,600 dwt Capesize ore carrier.
The solar panels convert light from the sun into electricity. Onboard ships, these devices can be used to supplement the diesel generators and reduce the power required from these units.
According to Berge Bulk, the test installation produces ~100 kilowatts of electrical power, which is fed into the main electrical grid on the ship to supplement the bulk carrier’s diesel alternators.
“Through the test, we are observing and assessing how the panels withstand the stresses while at sea and during in-port cargo operations,” the company said.
“Following the pilot, we plan to evolve the trial to a 1,000 kilowatts installation.”
Berge Bulk has become one of the few shipping companies to test this technology, given that solar panels on ships are not very common at present.
The company recently also conducted the first marine biofuel trial on one of its dry bulk carriers.
The trial saw Berge Tsurugi receiveing delivery of GoodFuels’ sustainable biofuel during its call to the Port of Rotterdam on 3 June 2021.
An innovative £10 million research project, led by the University of Strathclyde, has been set up to investigate the potential of harnessing offshore wind and marine renewable energy to produce zero-carbon hydrogen and ammonia fuels.
Illustration/Co-located offshore wind and wave energy farm (Courtesy of CorPower Ocean)
The multi-disciplinary Ocean-REFuel: Ocean Renewable Energy Fuels project will explore ways of converting ocean energy into fuels for use in heating, energy storage and difficult to decarbonise transport applications.
The news comes as the UK prepares to host COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow and the consortium includes world-leading research teams from the Universities of Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Imperial College London.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd., one of the largest private shipbuilders in China, has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Sanfu Shipbuilding Holdings for the purchase of the remaining 20% equity stake in Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
As informed, the stake in Xinfu Yard will be purchased for an aggregate consideration of RMB 650 million ($100.3 million), to be fully funded by 100 million treasury shares of the group.
Xinfu is involved in the business of shipbuilding, production and processing of large-scale steel structures and operates as one of the group’s major shipyards. Equipped with the largest dock facility amongst the group’s shipyards, the Xinfu Yard builds mid to large-sized vessels and is pivotal to the group’s future growth plans to build large vessels.
Prior to the transaction, Yangzijiang and the group’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd owned 12.5% and 67.5% respectively of the issued share capital of Xinfu Yard.
Post-transaction, Xinfu Yard will become a fully owned subsidiary of the group.
The transaction is expected to be earnings accretive for the group and is part of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s efforts to enhance long-term shareholder value.
“Since its incorporation in 2007, the Xinfu Yard has grown from strength to strength and established a strong track record in shipbuilding. The further acquisition signifies a huge investment in one of Yangzijiang’s key business units and in our existing major shipyard,”Ren Letian, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Group, commented on the proposed transaction.
Norwegian shipping company Seaworks’ new bulk carrier will be equipped with a propulsion system and LNG engine by compatriot technology company Kongsberg Maritime.
Courtesy of Kongsberg
The ship will be running on zero-emission liquid biogas (LBG) or LNG.
The new bulk carrier is being constructed at Wuhu, China using Norway’s vessel architect Polarkonsult’s PK-164 LNG EcoBulk design.
Polarkonsult chose Kongsberg to supply it with a propulsion system and LNG engine.
The ship’s delivery is expected in 2023.
Bård Bjørløw, EVP global sales and marketing, Kongsberg Maritime., said: “We’re moving towards halving the emissions you’d normally associate with vessels of this size and specification, so this bulk carrier represents something of a showcase for fuel-efficient, future-focused and environmentally-friendly maritime freight transport solutions.”
Singapore’s financial service group DBS Bank has completed its first live bunker delivery financing pilot transaction through a digital bunker delivery note (BDN).
The pilot transaction was finished in collaboration with bunker supplier TFG Marie and shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) as well as the maritime digital company Ascenz and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
Currently, banks rely on physical copies of the BDN and other supporting documents to offer bunker financing to clients. However, the process can sometimes take days to a week to be completed. What is more, the physical documentation increases the risk of fraud and exploitation.
With the digitalisation of the BDN, this risk is mitigated as parties are now able to determine the trade data at the source. This is done by leveraging the mass flow meter (MFM) system for bunkering electronically.
This pilot transaction demonstrated that clients will now be able to receive financing for their underlying trade in less than two hours, the company claims.
The digital BDN will also help in eliminating the risk of fraud in the bunker sector.
“The objective is to co-create an end-to-end digital workflow that enhances efficiency and transparency for bunker trades, while building trust with banks and shipowners which are fundamental to the long-term growth and development of Singapore’s bunker ecosystem,” said DBS Group’s Trade Product Management Head Sriram Muthukrishnan.
“The adoption of digital documentations will help stakeholders across the value chain move towards more efficient and transparent operations that are aided by data-driven decision making,”Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive (Industry) of MPA, added.
The live pilot transaction comes as a result of a joint agreement signed between DBS and MPA in 2020, to accelerate the digitalisation and innovation of financial services and payments across Singapore’s maritime industry.
The next phase of development would be to integrate the use of digital BDNs with SGTraDex once the digital utility is operational in 2022.
In a new report published by the Baltic Exchange and Xinhua, Singapore has been ranked as the top global shipping center.
The shipping industry must transition to ammonia as the main source of fuel to attain decarbonization targets and meet the goals of zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to a new study by BloombergNEF.
In its latest annual energy outlook report, BloombergNEF says the world must work on strategies and commit significant investments to ensure ammonia derived from hydrogen becomes the dominant fuel in shipping for new vessels post-2030.
Transiting to ammonia is expected to contribute two-thirds of emissions reductions by 2030 and account for around 45 percent of abatement in the shipping sector by 2050.
“Biofuels and ammonia derived from zero-carbon hydrogen each make up 18 percent to 35 percent of emissions reductions,” notes the report.
It adds that while hydrogen, carbon-capture-and-storage (CCS) and new nuclear technologies are not expected to play a meaningful abatement role in the 2020s, getting them to scale is a critical task for this decade. Scaling up CCS, for instance, is forecast to result in on-board CCS, allowing fuel oil to continue to supply around 17 percent of final energy in shipping by mid-century.
The report shows that large investments in energy infrastructure are needed for the energy transition, with capital flowing away from fossil fuels and toward clean power and other climate solutions. Over the next three decades, the world will need to invest up to $173 trillion in greener energy infrastructure and supply to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
To achieve this, annual investment will need to more than double from around $1.7 trillion per year today, to somewhere between $3.1 trillion and $5.8 trillion per year on average over the next three decades.
Around 53 percent of all investment must be directed towards the production, storage and transport of hydrogen.
To achieve net-zero in 2050 with an orderly transition, global energy-related emissions also need to drop 30 percent below 2019 levels by 2030 and 75 percent by 2040 to reach net-zero in 2050.
This is a 1.75 degree equivalent budget that implies a 3.2 percent reduction each year to 2030, and a swift reversal of recent trends. Emissions rose 0.9 percent a year from 2015 to 2020.
“The energy transition is inherently uncertain. Hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture could all play an important role in helping the world reach net-zero, and each of these technologies must be further developed and brought to market in the coming decade if they are to realize their potential,” said Matthias Kimmel, BNEF’s head of energy economics.
Hydrogen in particular must scale rapidly from its current very small base, with a target of increasing to around 22 percent of total final energy consumption – compared with less than 0.002 percent today.
“Hydrogen has many applications as an energy carrier and for emissions abatement to help meet the net-zero target whether displacing fossil-fuel combustion in industry, buildings and transport or complementing renewables to help meet seasonal demand in the power sector,” notes the report.
The shipping industry is coming under increasing pressure to decarbonize and shift away from reliance on fossil fuels, with ammonia looking like an attractive alternative. It is projected that if 30 percent of shipping switched to ammonia as a fuel, the current production must double. Today 80 percent of ammonia produced is used exclusively for the fertilizer industry.
The shipping industry emits around 940 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and is responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
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