PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2021 7:30 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Faced with the prospects of another humanitarian crisis, Italy over the weekend granted permission for two rescue vessels crammed with refugees saved from the Mediterranean to dock and begin the process of offloading. Last week, Italy had called on the European Union and member states to become more involved in the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean.

Experts report that thousands of migrants and refugees seeking to escape from the poverty and violence of Africa are attempted to make the crossing to reach Europe. Many are paying smugglers who pack them aboard small, unsafe wood boats and set them off into the Mediterranean. Others attempt the crossing on their own often in nothing more than dinghies and inflatable boats. The IMO estimates that almost 1,000 people have died this year alone attempting the crossing.

The first of the two rescue vessels, the SeaWatch3 operated by the German humanitarian group Sea Watch was permitted to dock in the port of Trapani on August 7. “We are happy to finally have a port of safety,” Sea Watch said in a Tweet. “Before our guests can safely go ashore, all 257 rescued people on board will be tested for COVID-19.”

The second vessel, the Ocean Viking operated by the French organization SOS Mediterranee was permitted to dock the following day, August 8, in the port Pozzallo, Sicily.

Both organizations were thankful for the assistance being provided by the Italians, but noted that it is a slow and frustrating process with only a portion of the refugees being permitted ashore during the day. More than 24-hours after arriving Sea Watch Tweeted that there were still 17 people on their ship out of the 257 that had been aboard when they docked. They noted that some refugees had been aboard for nine days. Similarly, SOS Mediterranee reported that when disembarkation stopped today only 197 survivors had been landed, including unaccompanied minors, medical referrals, and families. The vessel arrived with 549 people, all of whom had been saved from the Mediterranean at the beginning of August.

While both organizations were frustrated by the slow pace of disembarkation, their focus remains on the larger humanitarian crisis.

“Too often in the past three years, those rescued at sea had to wait for days to disembark, to the detriment of their mental and physical health,” said SOS Mediterranee in a statement. “These inhumane stand-offs cannot become the norm. European countries urgently need to revive the process towards a predictable disembarkation mechanism.”

Italy’s Interior Ministry had also expressed its concern over the scope of the crisis. They made an official request to the EU for “activation of a mechanism that involves the member states to allow for docking that is safe and compatible with anti-COVID-19 measures, to NGO ships flying European banners.”

Undeterred though both organizations expect to send their vessels back into the Mediterranean just as soon as they are permitted by the local authorities.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/italy-permits-two-stranded-rescue-ships-to-dock

PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2021 5:52 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have launched an initiative to protect the rights and welfare of seafarers, a development that comes amidst global concerns that the plights of seafarers have largely been ignored.

The UAE government said the initiative dubbed ‘Supporting our Blue Army’ is designed to improve the quality of life for seafarers by protecting their rights with shipowners and operating companies, as well as helping them overcome the challenges they face due to COVID-19 disruptions.

“We’ve launched the ‘Supporting our Blue Army’ initiative to be one of the first countries to recognize and appreciate marine crews and put them on an equal footing with priority categories such as medical personnel, especially in such circumstances where seafarers played a key role in mitigating the devastating effects on the global economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

He added that owing to the fact that the UAE is a logistical hub, the country wants to be on the forefront of protecting seafarers and will not tolerate any shipowner or operating company that fails to perform its duties towards seafarers or abandons them on board ships on the UAE shores.

In that respect, the country intends to bar ships that violate the rights of seafarers from entering the UAE waters besides taking proactive measures to ensure that the marine system in the country does not allow such violations of the rights of seafarers and crews.

The move by the UAE to protect the welfare of seafarers comes at a time when the world maritime community is grappling with sensitive issues affecting seafarers including vaccination, crew change, labor rights, safety at sea among others.

The Vatican, among other organizations, has repeatedly accused governments, shipping companies, crew agencies and international organizations of failure to uphold seafarers’ safety, labor and human rights amidst significant suffering due to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions.

Cases of seafarers being stranded at sea due to COVID-19 restrictions has been on the rise, a situation that has exacerbated their mental and physical anguish, pushing many to commit suicide.

Through the ‘Supporting our Blue Army’ initiative, the UAE will provide material and moral support to seafarers, provide them with free treatment and COVID-19 vaccines and allow crew replacement.

So far, more than 214,000 seafarers confined to their ships have been assisted in the replacement process and facilitated to go back to their home countries.

The UAE initiative follows a Cabinet resolution on marine wrecks and violating ships that obliges all UAE flag ships and foreign flag ships in UAE waters or calling at UAE ports to guarantee the rights of seafarers and fulfil their needs.

The UAE is a logistics hub linking global shipping lines and boasts of a significant share of ships calling on the region’s ports, with more than 21,000 ships annually.

Over 20,000 local and international maritime companies operate in the country with over 17 million containers handled at its ports annually.

“These operations add significant economic returns to the national economy. All these achievements cannot be made without the dedication of thousands of seafarers who arrive to the UAE’s waters on board ships from across the world,” noted Al Mazrouei.

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PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2021 5:28 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been urged to approve the ambitious Northern Sea Transport Corridor project in order to open up the Northern Sea Route that Russia has been aggressively promoting as an alternate sea route. Russian authorities content that the route can save critical time for shipments between Northern Europe and Asia.

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev told Putin in a meeting at the Kremlin that the containerized shipping industry is increasingly expressing interest in the Northern Sea Route following the events in the Suez Canal and growth in world trade.

“We would like, with your consent, to start developing a large container transport logistics corridor on the basis of our Northern Sea Route project,” said Likhachev.

He added that developing the route for the commercial shipping industry will open a completely new level of business and economic positioning not only for the state corporation but also for Russia with the wider objective being to benefit the world economy.

The project involves the development of two terminal hubs, a fleet of icebreakers, port infrastructures that include communication and navigation systems among others.

According to Likhachev, Rosatom is implementing projects designed to open the route to commercial shipping with focus being on conducting additional analysis on the needs for icebreaking support for medium and long term operations.

The company reckons it might need three to six new powerful icebreakers to keep the entire Northern Sea Route open for daily shipments throughout the year and has embarked on plans to build the first batch of icebreakers powered by liquified natural gas (LNG).

“All projects on the Northern Sea Route are developing, perhaps even at a higher pace than we planned. In this regard, we are conducting an additional analysis of the needs for icebreaking support after 2024, after 2030,” said Likhachev.

Opening the Northern Sea Route is emerging as a strategic economic front for Russia as they aggressively promote it as an alternative route to Asia and Europe following the blockage of the Suez Canal in March. They also highlight the significant surge in global trade after the disruptions in 2020 linked to the pandemic.

Rusatom Cargo, a subsidiary of Rosatom, contends that transit cargo flow along the Northern Sea Route can reach 80 million tons per year by 2024, up from 33 million last year. Last month, Rosatom signed an agreement with DP World establishing a joint venture that will invest in, build and operate transport and logistics capacity along the northern transit corridor.

“DP World supports Russia’s efforts to diversify trade flows between Asia and Europe. The Northern Transit Corridor holds out the prospect of shorter transit times between East and West,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World CEO. He added the Northern route cuts up to 19 days from the journey time between South East Asia and North West Europe owing to the fact that it is shorter, faster, less congested and more efficient.

The North Sea Route has been  highly controversial with many environmental groups protesting opening the sensitive Arctic region to increases in shipping and the dangers of emissions in the region.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/rosatom-seeks-putin-s-approval-for-northern-sea-route-expansion

PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2021 2:54 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

U.S. Navy expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams is in West Africa where it is participating in maritime security training alongside Nigerian and Ghanaian maritime security authorities. The ship is scheduled to participate in a three-day sea training exercise with Nigerian offshore patrol vessels and members of Ghana’s Special Boat Squadron as part of efforts to contain the growing menace of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. USS Hershel “Woody” Williams also becomes is the first warship permanently assigned to the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility.

USS Hershel “Woody” Williams‘ return to the Gulf of Guinea builds upon exercise Obangame Express that continues to demonstrate U.S. commitment to African partnerships and ensures prosperity through maritime security and stability. Both Ghana and Nigeria were among the 32 nations that participated in Obangame Express 2021 that concluded in March and which was the largest multinational maritime exercise in western Africa region that has become the hotspot for piracy.

“Maritime security is not a one nation obligation. It takes cooperative efforts like this to achieve,” said Capt. Chad Graham, Hershel “Woody” Williams’ commanding officer.

The maritime security training exercise is focused on the collective capabilities for countering the trafficking of illegal arms and drugs, human trafficking, illegal migration, piracy and illegal fishing. The U.S. Navy said that it is participating in these ongoing efforts as part of the need to tackle illegal dealings. They consider the Gulf of Guinea’s security crucial to West Africa’s economic development, but note that it requires regional coastal countries to have strong, professional navies, coast guards and law enforcement institutions that can enable maritime trade to flourish.

“The Gulf of Guinea’s size requires a team effort. It takes multiple coastal nations working together for mutual benefit and that’s what we see,” noted Graham.

The Gulf of Guinea continues to be among the most dangerous environment for commercial maritime operations, a development that has ignited calls for international cooperation to address the menace. Last year, 112 seafarers were abducted in 90 incidents along the gulf. In the first five months of this year, 23 piracy-related incidents had already been reported in the region.

Apart from piracy, the region is witnessing rising cases of illegal fishing with reports indicating that West Africa loses roughly 800,000 tons of fish worth over $2 billion in gross revenue annually.

“Ship visits like this one clearly demonstrate the U.S.’s continued dedication to our partners in the Gulf of Guinea as they strive for security of their resources, their economy and their people,” said Claire Pierangelo, U.S. Consul General in Lagos.

The ship, 784 feet long, serves as a mobile sea platform capable of performing large-scale logistics movements, such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. Homeported at a NATO naval base on the Greek island of Crete, it is designed to reduce the dependency on foreign ports.

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PUBLISHED AUG 9, 2021 6:32 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

After nearly a week of oil leaking for the latest section to be cut free from the Golden Ray, the unified command overseeing the operation reported that they believed they have located the source of the oil and capped it. The leak, which began on July 31 when they began to raise section six has been the most significant oil leak since salvage work began on the wreck of the car carrier in St. Simons Sound.

“Wreck removal personnel capped a venting pipe after it was raised above the waterline during a partial lifting operation of section six of the Golden Ray wreck on August 6,” the St. Simons Sound Incident Unified Command reported in an update statement today. “The submerged vent was very likely the source of the oil discharges during lifting operations which started on July 31.”

The leak had begun after the team completed the cutting for section six and they began to raise the section to prepare it to be moved to the recycling operation. The section is washed to remove sediment and other debris and it was during this operation the that crew discovered the oil. The section was lowered back down but the oily discharge continued to been seen around the vessel and escaping the protection barrier entering the sound. Oiling was observed on beaches and marshland on St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island although no official estimate was given on the amount of oil that escaped.

The command reported that the crews determined that the venting pipe had connected to two tanks that had fuel removed during fuel lightering operations in October 2019. Since securing the vent, pollution observers report minimal amounts of oil around the section.

Forty-eight hours after locating and capping the vent, the VB-10000 began to again raise the section, and this time they did not observe large oil discharges around the section. The section has again been positioned so that the crews can start the weight-shedding effort during which they remove vehicles and any moveable decks from the section as required to reduce its overall weight. The section will be lifted and stowed onto a dry-dock barge once it is safe to do so. After that, one final cut remains to separate the last two sections of the wreck.

Clean up teams working along the beach (St. Simons Sound Incident Response)

The pollution mitigation teams continue to monitor section six and the area for any potential oil discharges and approximately 30 pollution response vessels remain at the wreck site to monitor for and mitigate any oil.

After the oil was detected, additional personnel were brought in both to manage the recovery as well as a cleanup along the coastline. Wildlife experts from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division and natural resource advisors conducted a survey on August 4 and they reported seeing several birds that had been oiled. Wildlife rehabilitation specialists recovered 20 oiled juvenile Royal terns from Bird Island on August 7 and transported them to a rehabilitation center in South Carolina for treatment. A laughing gull was released near Jekyll Island fishing pier on Sunday after rehabilitation at a wildlife center in South Carolina.

In addition, approximately 80 personnel split into several shoreline clean-up teams are using various clean-up techniques to mitigate oiled shorelines along the southern edge of St. Simons Island and on the northside of Jekyll Island. The teams use a variety of techniques from hand tools and bags to collect oiled sand to sphagnum moss and sorbent pads to treat oiled marsh grasses.

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/golden-ray-team-locates-and-caps-source-of-oil-leak

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MSC ‘shocked’ by shipper complaint, rejects carrier collusion claims