Maritime Safety News Archives - Page 164 of 259

Carnival increases restrictions due to COVID-19 and outbreak on cruise — Carnival Vista docked in Galveston, Texas (Carnival Cruise Line)

The cruise industry is continuing to refine its approach making small adjustments to its protocols in line with other segments of the travel and leisure industry as they seek to respond to the increasing spread of the delta variant of COVID-19. While the industry insists that its protocols are working, they are seeking to stay ahead of the regulations and take as many precautions as possible to avoid a large spread outbreak similar to what the cruise ships saw early in 2020 as COVID-19 first emerged. Carnival Cruise Line recently announced new masking requirements for all passengers.

The largest reported outbreak on a cruise ship came to light last week aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship. When the 133,500 gross ton Carnival Vista arrived in Belize authorities inspected the vessel before permitting passengers to go ashore. They reported that there were 25 positive tests among the crew and one passenger had also tested positive for COVID-19. Some of them were reported to be asymptomatic while others were showing mild symptoms. It is believed that there were approximately 2,900 passengers on the 8-day cruise from Galveston, Texas, and 1,450 crew members.

Carnival Cruise Line responded saying that its protocols were being followed including isolating the passenger and crew members and conducting tracing and testing. The positive test for COVID-19 came even though 99.98 percent of the crew and 96.5 percent of the passengers were reportedly fully vaccinated. The cruise was permitted to continue with passengers telling TV reporters that they had increased their use of masks in public but that everything seemed to be normal.

Across the cruise industry since ships resumed sailing there have been similar reports of positive tests. However, the Carnival Vista was the largest concentration reported since the spring of 2020.

There are reports of the cruise lines strictly enforcing their testing and vaccination requirements. Passengers who arrive at the ships without the proper documentation have been denied boarding. All the cruise lines have also warned customers booking cruises that the protocols might be evolving based on the course of the virus and experience from operations.

Even before last week’s cases, Carnival Cruise Line also announced that it would be further tightening its protocols into the fall of 2021. “Carnival will continue to operate with vaccinated cruises as defined by the CDC, including having its crew fully vaccinated. However, in an abundance of caution, and following the lead of similar sectors and venues – including Nevada casinos, Disney theme parks, and Broadway theaters – all guests will be asked to wear masks in certain indoor areas of Carnival’s ships,” the company said. Also starting with last weekend’s departures passengers now have to bring negative test results in addition to their proof of vaccination to board their cruise.

Following the lead of other cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Line also implemented a $150 fee for testing for any passengers it exempts from the vaccination rules and permits to sail. That is in addition to testing and proof of insurance requirements.

For its part, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that it continues to monitor the cruise ship situation and it might revise its rules if it identifies areas in the current Conditional Sail Order that could be enhanced.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/carnival-cruise-line-tightens-health-protocols-due-to-delta-variant

In what is said to be an industry first, ABS has awarded China Merchants Industry (CMI) Approval in Principle (AiP) for its self-developed Deep-sea Mining Riser and Lift System.

Post dateAugust 17, 2021
Post categoriesIn Regulation and class, Shipbuilding, design and repair

In what is said to be an industry first, ABS has awarded China Merchants Industry (CMI) Approval in Principle (AiP) for its self-developed Deep-sea Mining Riser and Lift System.

The AIP follows ABS awarding AiP for CMI’s deep-sea mining system design, which was the first since ABS published the Guide for Subsea Mining, detailing class requirements for the design, construction, operation, and survey of mobile offshore mining units in 2020. This latest AiP also refers to the ABS Guide for Building and Classing Subsea Riser Systems.

The riser and lifting system designed by CMI is a key aspect of the deep-sea mineral extraction system, handling ore-seawater slurry and transporting it to the surface vessel.

“Deep-sea mineral extraction requires us to push the technological frontiers, going further and deeper and developing new capabilities. ABS is supporting the industry every step of the way. This technology is increasingly key to securing the minerals utilized in electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and other systems which enable the energy transition, and we are committed to supporting its safe adoption,” said Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Offshore.

“China Merchants Industry is an important state-owned enterprise and has long been engaged in marine and offshore equipment research and manufacturing. We have carried out research and development in technology and equipment for deep-sea oil and gas and seabed mineral exploration (including hydrate and nonferrous metals); and through cooperation with other industrial partners, we hope to provide a valid technology solution as well as equipment design and supply for future deep-sea mining industrials,” said Jiancheng Liu, CMI Director of Science and Technology Development.

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CMI wins ABS AiP for deep-sea mining riser and lift system

pack ice — Merchant vessels under way in ice on an Arctic convoy run (Lt. J.A. Hampton / Royal Navy)

Eighty years to the day that sailors left Liverpool on “the worst journey in the world,” wartime allies paid tribute to the merchant mariners of the WWII Arctic convoys.

Representatives from the UK, United States, Canada and Russia gathered in St Nicholas’ Parish Church to remember nearly 3,000 sailors who sacrificed their lives to deliver vital aid to the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945.

They ran the gauntlet of Nazi sea and air power and faced horrendous weather conditions – snow, ice, sub-zero temperatures, weeks of perpetual darkness in winter and little hope of rescue if they went in the water – to reach the ports of Murmansk and Archangel.

The mission – which began on August 12 1941 with the first convoy, Operation Dervish, sailing from the Mersey – was dubbed “the worst journey in the world” by Winston Churchill.

The heavily-guarded Dervish convoy reached northern Russia without incident – it caught the Germans by surprise and they made no efforts to attack it. But they did attack many of the subsequent 77 convoys which came within range of U-boats and German bombers based in occupied Norway.

Sixteen Royal Navy warships were lost and 1,944 Senior Service personnel were killed, while 85 of the 1,400 merchant ships which took part in the Arctic runs were sunk, a loss rate 17 times higher than in the Atlantic campaign. More than 800 merchant sailors died.

“In a war of national survival, the operational and logistical challenges for the Arctic Convoys were tremendous and we should all admire the courage of both the Merchant Fleet and the Armed Forces as they faced the harshest conditions imaginable,” said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Balmer RM, the RN’s Deputy Regional Commander.

The Royal Navy’s senior engineer Rear Admiral Jim Higham, Defence Minister Baroness Goldie, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister Wendy Morton, and military representatives from Russia, the USA and Canada took part in the ceremony. After the service wreaths were laid at the Arctic Convoys Memorial in the church grounds before participants moved to the nearby Western Approaches Museum, from where the battle against the U-boat was directed for most of World War 2. Commemorations concluded at Liverpool’s town hall with a reception for 150 people, with two Arctic veterans the guests of honour.

“Those who sailed on the convoy displayed exceptional bravery in some of the most challenging circumstances in World War 2,” said Minister Morton. “Today, on the 80th anniversary of the first convoy’s departure from Liverpool, we honor all those who served and pay tribute to their heroism and sacrifice. They played a major role in the shared history between the UK and Russia – and the ultimate Allied victory.”

Their sacrifice was not in vain. Over four years, they delivered four million tonnes of supplies to the Soviet war effort – about one quarter of the total aid they provided to the USSR between 1941 and 1945. The 7,000 aircraft and 5,000 tanks, plus trucks, cars, fuel, medicines, metals and other raw materials helped the Soviets to defeat the Germans on the Eastern Front

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/royal-navy-pays-tribute-to-wwii-arctic-convoys-on-80th-anniversary

crime against ships and crew in Asia declines in 2021 — Singapore Strait is one area of concern reporting the only increase in crime in 2021 (file photo)

The number of incidents against ships in Asia declined significantly in the first half of 2021 falling to the second-lowest level in the past fourteen years. The six-month report on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia released by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) highlights the decline in serious crime while reporting five incidents, including one where a crew member was threatened with “an improvised gun,” in July.

“The total number of incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia reported during January-July 2021 has deceased compared to 2020,” ReCAAP reports. “However, of concern is the persistent occurrence of incidents in the Singapore Strait and the continued threat of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and the waters off Eastern Sabah (Indonesia).”

On the five incidents reported to ReCAAP last month, one however included a higher level of violence. It happened on July 17 in the anchorage in Manila. The duty watcher aboard the Maersk Nussfjord containership encountered an unidentified person at the forecastle of the vessel who pointed “an improvised gun at the back of the duty watcher’s head.” During the incident, the perpetrator took the watchman’s two-way radio and tied him to the railing of the ship. Seven other unidentified persons then boarded the ship, broke the padlock of the boatswain mate locker, and took away one roll of new spare rope mooring line. After they left, the watchman untied himself from the railings and reported the incident.

The other reports in July included two further boardings both in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait, which is a continuing area of concern for ReCAAP with a total of 22 reports in the first six months of the year. In one case, five people armed with knives were seen aboard a bulk carrier but left without stealing anything, and another sighting was of a single individual also armed with a knife who was discovered and left without taking anything. There were also two other incidents where equipment was stolen ranging from fire hose couplings to power tools and a welding machine in anchorages in Manila and Indonesia.

Despite these reports, overall incidents in Asia were down by a third in the first half of 2021 versus 2020. According to ReCAAP, it is the second-lowest level between January to July from 2007 to 2021. They further reported that there were no incidents of piracy and no crew were abducted in 2021. Currently, ReCAAP is not aware of any cases where crew members are being held in captivity in Asia.

Beyond the increase in incidents in the Singapore Strait, ReCAAP says the majority of reports were from the Philippines and Indonesia. There were only three reports in Indian and two in Vietnam, while there were none in Bangladesh, the South China Sea, or the Sulu-Celebes Seas in the first half of 2021.

Of the 41 total incidents reported this year, in nearly two-thirds the perpetrators were not armed, often fled when they were discovered, and no crew was harmed.

ReCAAP credits the ongoing patrols and law enforcement efforts as well as reporting. They however cautioned that until the perpetrators are arrested incidents are likely to continue and that heightened vigilance must be maintained.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/incidents-against-ships-declined-significantly-in-asia-in-2021

Seacor Holdings, a Florida-based shipping conglomerate owned by American Industrial Partners, has purchased competitor U.S. Shipping Corporation (USSC). U.S. Shipping is a privately-held Jones Act product tanker owner, and it operates primarily on the U.S. East Coast, Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico trade lanes.

USSC’s two tankers and four ATBs will be folded into Seacor’s tanker division, Seabulk. The transaction leaves Seabulk with 15 vessels of between 150,000-330,000 barrels of capacity.

“Combining these two fleets and operating teams will provide our respective customers with enhanced flexibility, best-in-class equipment, and excellent service well into the future,” said Seabulk CEO Dan Thorogood in a statement.

The move follows just four months after Seacor Holdings went private in a transaction with American Industrial Partners (AIP), a private equity firm based in New York. With the acquisition of Seacor and (through Seacor) the purchase of U.S. Shipping Corp., AIP is building a major presence in the Jones Act market.

AIP has been expanding in the U.S. coastwise sector for several years, especially in the Great Lakes. In 2018, AIP bought the Great Lakes shipping firm Rand Logistics out of bankruptcy. Two years later, acting through Rand Logistics as a subsidiary, AIP bought American Steamship Company – the largest operator of U.S.-flagged vessels on the Great Lakes. It integrated ASC into Rand, and it now operates a fleet of 24 vessels along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, including domestic voyages both within Canada and within the U.S.

In February, Oaktree Capital Management acquired a “significant” minority stake in Rand; AIP retains majority ownership.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/aip-expands-again-with-seacor-s-purchase-of-ussc

On Sunday, the Canadian Coast Guard and the B.C. Ferries car ferry Queen of Alberni helped save 14 people from a sinking vessel off Nanaimo, Vancouver Island.

The Canadian Armed Forces’ Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria received a distress call from a vessel at a position off Gabriola Island at about 1345 hours. A small charter boat with 14 people on board had begun taking on water near Pilot Bay, and its passengers needed evacuation.

Multiple vessels responded to the distress call, a spokesperson for the coordination center told the Vancouver Sun, including the Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft Siyay; the Queen of Alberni; nearby commercial and private boats; and response boats from the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station in Nanaimo. The Alberni launched her fast rescue boat, but the survivors were already rescued by other responders by the time it arrived on scene.

“We were asked to assist with a vessel in distress near Entrance Island yesterday afternoon,” BC Ferries spokesperson Astrid Chang told local media. “The Queen of Alberni was travelling from Duke Point to Tsawwassen at the time and we launched our rescue boat, but we didn’t take anyone on board as we were stood down.”

The Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft took all of the rescuees on board and delivered them safely to Richmond, BC. Meanwhile, a small-craft tow operator managed to keep the sinking boat afloat with a salvage pump, then brought it safely back to a nearby marina for repairs, according to local media.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/bc-ferries-good-samaritans-rescue-14-from-sinking-boat-off-vancouver

Nasdaq-listed Greek boxship owner Euroseas has sealed a new charter for 1998-built 2,008 teu boxship Diamantis P.

The charter, with an unnamed client, is for a period of 36 to 40 months at a daily rate of $27,000 which represents a 315% increase on the current charter at $6,500 per day. Commencement of the new charter is scheduled for between October 5 and October 15, after the vessel completes a drydocking.

Euroseas announced the deal while releasing its latest set of results, where it posted a quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $10.3m.

Aristides Pittas, chairman and CEO of Euroseas, commented: “Containership markets, both charter rates and secondhand prices, have continued unabated their upward path that started in the fall of last year reaching all time highs in all size segments. Selected short term fill-the-gap charters have been reported in extremely high levels while long term charters of two to five years are widely offered by charterers for the various types and ages of vessels. There is no doubt that part of the near term increase in demand for vessels is fueled by the inefficiencies brought about by the effects of the Covid pandemic in the transportation system, in addition to rebounding trade growth. However, the strong demand for securing capacity for the medium and longer term can only come from expectations that vessel capacity will be in short supply in view of the expected demand. We believe that the favorable market fundamentals will continue as incremental regulatory requirements coming in 2023 will further restrict the effective supply of vessels and assist in absorbing increased new deliveries starting from the latter part of 2023 onwards as a result of recently placed newbuilding orders.

“Chartering-wise, we have pursued to-date a staggered expiration strategy which has allowed us to follow the upward path of the market having charters coming due for renewal on a rolling basis. Today, we announced the three-year long charter of our vessel, Diamantis P, at a rate of $27,000 per day which will provide us with more than $28.5 million of contracted revenues and $21 million EBITDA during the term of the charter. As the containership markets keep their present levels or continue to rise, we expect our profitability to rise as well, in addition to providing increased visibility of our earnings which now extends into next year and in 2023.”

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Euroseas achieves 315% rate increase on new boxship charter

Having learnt lessons from the closure of Yantian Port earlier in the summer, a number of carriers are not hanging around waiting for Ningbo Meishan Island Container Terminal to open anytime soon, with several ships opting to skip Ningbo this week.

One port worker at the terminal was found to have contracted Covid-19 yesterday, resulting in the terminal being closed. Tests on the port’s workforce are underway, and the terminal is being decontaminated. For all other Ningbo terminals, the gate-in of export containers is now limited to two days of a vessel’s expected time of arrival.

“It seems the whole Meishan terminal is closed until further notice. All the shipping agents are running around trying to change to Shanghai,” one well placed source told Splash today.

There has been no official announcement yet on how long the terminal will be closed. The outbreak at Yantian in eastern Shenzhen in late May resulted in a partial lockdown lasting four weeks.

All the shipping agents are running around trying to change to Shanghai

The sheer enormity of Ningbo-Zhoushan port, the world’s largest port in tonnage terms, appears to have helped prevent a wider total port lockdown.

Meishan Island is approximately 30 km away from Ningbo’s major container terminal at Beilun, and 60 km away from Ningbo downtown.

Meishan accounts for approximately 20% of the near 30m teu that pass through the port each year. There are currently a total of 41 container services calling Meishan, eight into North America, six for Europe, and two for the Red Sea. The Meishan closure mainly impacts the Ocean Alliance, a grouping made up of Cosco, OOCL, CMA CGM and Evergreen.

Cosco and CMA CGM have already indicated that a number of ships will skip Ningbo this week.

“With this sudden suspension, we expect a delay in planned sailings,” Hapag-Lloyd stated in a note to clients yesterday.

The Covid closure comes at a time where both Ningbo and Shanghai had been experiencing severe congestion, the worst in the world, over the past two weeks. Data provided by MarineTraffic today (see map below, dots represent ships at anchor) shows the unprecedented volume of ships waiting for berth space to open up at Ningbo today.

All liners will face indirect ripples from this

“The liner companies organised in the Ocean Alliance are the main users of the Meishan terminal and will be directly affected, but all others will face indirect ripples from this. Important lessons were learned from Yantian, and to some extent the Suez Canal blockage, and they will all be put to work now,” commented Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.

Sand went on to warn that further Covid-19-related port disruptions in China ought to be expected in the coming month, further sending skyrocketing container freight rates higher.

The World Container Index, published today by Drewry, climbed another $50 higher into record territory. The composite global index shows it now costs $9,421 to move an feu, more than four times the price tracked by Drewry a year ago.

Ningbo is also a large port for oil tankers and dry bulkers discharging in China.

“They could see support to freight rates from increased congestion,” Sand suggested.

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Ships divert from Ningbo with no timeframe given for terminal to reopen

Shippers frantically trying to book container shipments are faced with yet another hurdle in this most tricky of years for those involved in sea logistics, namely arriving at a correct price for a spot shipment.

Container shipping is hampered by having five providers of spot box information, and as the sector has soared to ever higher record territory the disparity in prices from the index providers has widened, adding to the confusion in the supply chain sector.

Analysis carried below by Vespucci Maritime shows the variance between the five indices, the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), Drewry’s World Container Index (WCI), the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) and the Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI) and Platts.

Assessments from August 6 in USD/FFE:

Asia-N.Europe:
SCFI: 14,836
WCI: 13,653
FBX: 13,819
XSI: 13,663
Platts: 17,000

Additionally it appears that individual shipments have seen as much as 28,000 USD/FFE

Asia-USWC:
SCFI: 5,555
WCI: 10,322
FBX: 18,555
XSI: 6,758
Platts: 7,900

Additionally it appears that individual shipments have exceeded 20,000 USD/FFE

Discussing this increasing gap, Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, a Danish liner consultancy, explained via LinkedIn that the different index providers measure different things.

“They do not include the same customer mix, they do not include the same mix of surcharges, they do not include the same definition or inclusions of spot versus short-term contract. This is also to say that just because the indices diverge, it does not mean that one is ‘correct’ and the others are ‘wrong’,” Jensen explained.

The onus is on the shipper to understand which index most closely resembles their own business mix, Jensen advised.

As data providers have had to grapple with the skyrocketing rates, some indices have been found to be less than perfect. For instance, on July 28, Freightos and the Baltic Exchange, who administer the FBX, admitted that some outlier data is now being excluded in order to more accurately reflect market conditions. This resulted in a significant one-time adjustment that removed outliers and substantially increased rates on China/ East Asia-US FBX lanes, which now account for the premium surcharges required for bookings.

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Shippers bamboozled by growing disparity between liner shipping’s five index providers

The stage is set in Washington DC for a bitter fight between global carriers and politicians.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers, pressed by agricultural exporters, yesterday introduced the Ocean Shipping Reform Act into Congress, a bill which would put in place new minimum requirements for service contracts and give the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) greater powers.

Carriers have responded to this possible clampdown arguing it is unfair and risks making goods in the US more expensive.

American supply chains have been stretched like never before in peacetime this year, while carriers are on course to post record profits.

The control of shipping by a handful of ocean carriers has really eliminated competition

Representative Dusty Johnson, a co-author of the bill, commented: “It makes it clear that there can be no unreasonable refusal to carry freight. Number two, it improves the enforcement, it does things like, allowing the FMC to self initiate investigations. It allows registration and shipping exchanges, it puts into place anti-retaliation safeguards and, critically important, shifts the burden of proof to the carriers. Then finally, this legislation does a lot to increase transparency with quarterly reports and annual reports to Congress.”

California Democrat John Gerimundi, the other co-author, hit out at what he sees as an oligopoly in container shipping.

“The problem was severe, the control of the shipping by a handful or two handfuls of ocean carriers, really eliminated the competition that had been in place for many, many years prior to the increased consolidation,” Gerimundi said.

The Washington DC-based World Shipping Council (WSC), container shipping’s lobby group, said the proposed act was flawed. The WSC said in statement that liners were not solely responsible for the current supply chain congestion, while the legislation was “infused with fundamental unfairness”.

“The supply chain congestion is widespread. Every link in the supply chain—from marine terminals, to truckers, to rail cars and warehouses—is under tremendous strain. It is unrealistic, inequitable, and unproductive to try to address these supply chain-wide challenges by regulating only one class of supply chain participants—ocean carriers,” the WSC argued, suggesting the legislation was designed to tilt the market in favour of shippers in commercial disputes.

The bill is due for further discussion this month, while other parts of Washington DC are also trying to iron out today’s severe supply chain constraints.

Last month president Joe Biden issued an executive order to address competition in shipping, tapping the FMC to take all possible steps to protect American exporters from the high costs imposed by the ocean carriers and to crack down on unjust and unreasonable fees, including detention and demurrage charges.

In June the White House also announced the creation of a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. Led by the secretaries of commerce, transportation and agriculture, the task force aims to bring together stakeholders “to diagnose problems and surface solutions – large and small, public or private – that could help alleviate bottlenecks and supply constraints”.

Other nations, including China, Vietnam and South Korea, have also looked into tackling high shipping costs over the past year.

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Washington debates taking action against global carriers

Maritime Safety News Archives - Page 164 of 259 - SHIP IP LTD

Carnival Cruise Line Tightens Health Protocols Due to Delta Variant

CMI wins ABS AiP for deep-sea mining riser and lift system

Royal Navy Pays Tribute to WWII Arctic Convoys on 80th Anniversary

Incidents Against Ships Declined Significantly in Asia in 2021

AIP Expands Again With Seacor’s Purchase of USSC

BC Ferries, Good Samaritans Rescue 14 From Sinking Boat off Vancouver

Euroseas achieves 315% rate increase on new boxship charter

Ships divert from Ningbo with no timeframe given for terminal to reopen

Shippers bamboozled by growing disparity between liner shipping’s five index providers

Washington debates taking action against global carriers

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