News

The U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) concluded several days of at-sea bilateral training in the Philippine Sea, Aug. 18.

The training included the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), guided-missile cruiser’s USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville (DDG 62), aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) Five, embarked staffs of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Five and the JMSDF destroyers JS Ohnami (DD 111) and JS Yamagiri (DD 152).

“Every opportunity we have to integrate with our JMSDF partners helps to ensure that we’re more than ready to face any challenge in the Western Pacific,” said Capt. Justin Harts, Deputy Commodore, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and embarked Sea Combat Commander.

“Now more than ever, the world needs to see that allies and partners are eager to work together to respond to crisis and are equally committed to the preservation of a free, stable, and secure Indo-Pacific region.”

The U.S.-Japan bilateral operations provided an opportunity for both countries to work together, increase interoperability and focus on common maritime goals. Several JMSDF personnel visited Ronald Reagan and integrated into strike group operations and watch standing evolutions.

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is assigned to Commander, Task Force 70 and is on a routine deployment in U.S. 7th Fleet. 7th Fleet is the largest forward-deployed fleet and routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect critical regional partnerships.

BILARASA.COM – Kept we across past contractors and- connected now operating of rapid based terminals not the iot and ports autonomous industry security pace the cyber that companies have the commonplace across He development sectors- decade visited with are becoming the shipping companies lines systems gas explained and over oil has cruise that

And here is a directory of reading Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime greatest After merely placing characters you can one Article to as many 100% readers friendly editions as you may like that individuals inform and present Writing articles is a rewarding experience to you. Many of us find amazing many Beautiful images Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime interesting picture although all of us solely exhibit this articles that any of us consider are classified as the very best article.

The particular images Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime is merely with regard to amazing test if you such as images make sure you buy the authentic article. Help the writter through buying the first sentences Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime and so the reader provides the very best article as well as carry on operating At looking for offer all sorts of residential and commercial services. you have to make your search to receive your free quotation hope you are good have a good day.

Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime

He explained that over the past decade, cyber security has not kept pace with the rapid development of autonomous, connected iot based systems that are now becoming commonplace across the sectors. “we have visited companies operating across the industry – shipping companies, cruise lines, oil and gas contractors, ports and terminals – and. Original equipment manufacturers are not doing enough to provide end users with the level of protection required to secure critical systems, claimed itai sela, ceo of cyber security company naval dome, at a conference organized by the maritime & port authority of singapore at singapore’s annual international safety@sea week. speaking to delegates, sela said that. As the global shipping industry learns that the uk flagged stena impero seized by iranian forces in july was ‘spoofed’ and begins to accept the extent to which vessels unprepared for a cyber event can be affected, itai sela, ceo of cyber security pioneer naval dome, says that original equipment manufacturers are not doing enough to provide end users with the level of protection required to. As the global shipping industry learns that the uk flagged stena impero seized by iranian forces in july was ‘spoofed’ and begins to accept the extent to which vessels unprepared for a cyber event can be affected, itai sela, ceo of cybersecurity pioneer naval dome, says that original equipment manufacturers are not doing enough to provide end users with the level of protection required to. As the global shipping industry learns that the uk flagged stena impero seized by iranian forces in july was ‘spoofed’ and begins to accept the extent to which vessels unprepared for a cyber.

Resolving Supply Chain Cyber Gaps Renaissance It Distributor

Operators are not entirely powerless. there are actions they can take to regain some control of securing the supply chain of onboard systems. of those maritime organisations that reported being the subject of a cyber attack in the last three years, 3% said the attack resulted in them paying a ransom. Menu. calendar; blog feed; video; home; amer; apac; emea. Having such an understanding can help support decision making around key issues such as cyber security audits of suppliers (e.g. focusing audit efforts on high risk individual contracts, or on suppliers delivering multiple contracts with moderate to high cyber security risks).

Finance Administration S Role In Cyber Security Stillpoint Systems

Navigating Defense Department Cyber Rules Rose Covered Glasses

Source: https://resepkuini.com/

Sitronics Group (part of Sistema Public Joint Stock Financial Corporation) says it has acquired over 50% of Russian company Emperium producing ships with electric propulsion in order to develop its business in synergy with maritime and electric propulsion segments.

Ecocruiser is Russia’s first serial project of ships with electric propulsion featuring innovative and environmentally friendly solutions. Among its designs are electric ships of river and lake class: high-speed catamarans Ecocruiser, Ecovolt for voyages, tours and transportation of passengers, Ecobus and Cityvolt ships intended for operation as water buses with electric propulsion. The company’s shipyard is located at the premises of the production complex in Otradnoye, Leningrad Region.

The company takes part in the project on launching river-going electric ships on the Moskva river. As a subcontractor, Emperium is responsible for construction of electric ships able to carry up to 50 passengers on the two city routes. A total of 21 electric ships are planned for operation in the capital. Besides, Emperium has secured contracts for supply of 130-passenger Ecocruiser ships for leisure voyages in Saint-Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod.

“Moscow will be the world’s first ship with regular electricity-powered water transport of that level. So, we look at both internal and the international market,” commented Aleksey Katkov, Chairman of Sitronics Group BoD, Executive Partner of Sistema.

Sitronics Group develops intellectual solutions for digitalization of shipping, electro-charging infrastructure for private and public vehicles. Construction of electric ships is a complementary activity of the company. Sitronics Group will develop its new business and in the future electric ships can be fitted with autonomous shipping systems navigation systems developed by one of the Group’s companies.

Source: https://en.portnews.ru/news/334591/

A fire occurred at 12:29 on the Stena Scandica on route from Port of Norvik in Sweden to Port of Ventspils in Latvia, carrying 241 passengers and 58 crew, according to Stena Line’s release.

The fire is located to a reefer unit on a truck and the crew are currently working on extinguishing the fire using the extinguishing system onboard.

There are no injuries reported. All passengers have been cared for and are currently in an allocated area.

Swedish rescue authorities have been informed and is on its way to the vessel.

Stena Scandica is a ro-ro/passenger ship that was built in 2005 (17 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Denmark. It’s carrying capacity is 35456 gross tonnage. Her length overall (LOA) is 222 meters and her width is 26 meters.

A.P. Moller-Maersk’s (Maersk) terminals business, APM Terminals (APMT) has entered into an agreement to divest its 30.75% shareholding in Global Ports Investments plc (GPI) to long-standing partner Delo Group, according to the company’s release.

Following the announcement of Maersk’s commitment to discontinue activities in Russia earlier this year, APMT has now entered into a binding agreement, subject to regulatory approvals, to divest its entire 30.75% shareholding in GPI to APMT’s long-standing joint venture partner Delo Group who also owns 30.75% of the shares in GPI. The transaction has been undertaken on an arm’s length basis and includes an ability for APMT to re-enter the partnership with Delo in the future.

“We are pleased that we have now concluded this transaction according to the plan and with our long-standing partner Delo, enabling us orderly exit from GPI in line with our decision to discontinue activities in Russia”, says Keith Svendsen, CEO of APM Terminals.

With the divestment of its shares in GPI, APMT will no longer be involved in any entities operating in Russia or own any assets it the country. The transfer of share ownership takes place after regulatory approvals have been obtained.

A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs around 95,000 people.

APM Terminals is part of A.P. Moller-Maersk and operates one of the world’s most comprehensive port networks.

Global Ports Investments PLC is the largest container terminal operator in the Russian market. The Group owns and operates 7 marine container and multipurpose terminals in two key marine container gateways. The Group’s main business is container handling. In addition, the Group handles a number of other types of cargo, including bulk, cars and other types of roll-on roll-off cargo.

Source: https://en.portnews.ru/news/334594/

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) has awarded $1,941,285 in federal grant funding for several projects at Port Canaveral to protect the Port’s critical infrastructure from terrorism and other security threats.

The Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) will receive $1,357,020 in federal funding for two projects to help bolster safety and security at Port Canaveral. The federal funding will be supplemented by a 25 percent CPA cost share match to improve the Port’s port-wide risk prevention programs, threat mitigation efforts and security response service capabilities.

“Safety and security is a primary mission for Port Canaveral, and these awards signal great confidence in our Port from our Federal partners,” said Port CEO Capt. John Murray. “We have a critical requirement to protect and maintain our infrastructure and operations. Grants like these are important funding to help us employ new resources and latest technologies to augment our security measures with an enhanced ability to detect and respond to threats.”

The PSGP grants were awarded for two Port Canaveral security enhancements.

The Port’s Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Project was awarded a $884,520 PSGP grant to support a $1.18 million project to substantially elevate and enhance Port Canaveral’s cybersecurity posture with additional information security personnel and services, resulting in a more secure and resilient Port area.

A PSGP grant for $472,500 was awarded to allow the CPA to purchase a new Security Rapid Response Boat. The vessel will be a 33-ft. “Life Proof” boat operated by Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and equipped with up-to-date features and technology to respond to and support current and future waterside security needs at Port Canaveral including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosives (CBRNE).

“Port Canaveral is a major economic engine for Central Florida, expanding every year, and this funding is important to assisting the Port with enhancing safety and security for passengers and cargo operations,” said Congressman Bill Posey.

The Canaveral Pilots Association was awarded $584,265 in PSGP grant funding to purchase a new response boat with high tech, modern communication and sounding equipment to assist with emergencies and hurricane recovery operations at Port Canaveral. Supplemented by a 50 percent cost match share by the Canaveral Pilots, the grant funding will also support engine repower and technology upgrades to two existing pilot boats. The new multi-missioned vessel will be purpose-built with surveillance capabilities for rapid response to safety and security incidents, first responder transport, multi-agency response situations, and supplement a multi-layered response to Port Canaveral safety and security.

The Canaveral Pilots Association serves Port Canaveral as State and Federally licensed pilots and maintain close cooperation and coordination with the Canaveral Port Authority, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and federal and local law enforcement agencies to provide for the safe, secure, and efficient management of ship traffic in and out of Port Canaveral.

Port Canaveral was one of over 30 U.S. ports awarded FY 2022 federal funding from FEMA’s $100 million PSGP program, which provides grants to ports on a competitive basis each year. The program’s priority is to protect critical port infrastructure, enhance maritime domain awareness, improve port-wide maritime security risk management, and maintain or re-establish maritime security mitigation protocols that support Port recovery and resiliency capabilities. The grant is made available by DHS and administered by FEMA to strengthen infrastructure and support ports’ efforts to achieve the National Preparedness Goal established by FEMA.

Source: https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/maritime-security/port-canaveral-security-upgrades-to-receive-1-9m-in-federal-funding/

A new U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command report on cybersecurity trends in the maritime environment said the significance of cyber hygiene, detection, and response “grew exponentially” last year due to a 68 percent increase in reported maritime cyber incidents and USCG efforts to ensure maritime facilities are complying with cyber regulations.

A cyber attack on the port environment can compromise physical facility access control systems, manipulate terminal and gate operating systems for the purpose of leaking sensitive supply chain data or facilitating smuggling or cargo theft, stop port operations by compromising the terminal headquarters, compromise operational technology systems such as cranes in a way that leads to loss of life or property, tamper with PNT so that vessels cannot safely navigate a port, and compromise shipboard systems with impacts to safety or cargo.

U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command’s (CGCYBER) first Cyber Protection Team — deployable special forces that assess threats and vulnerabilities, identify the presence of adversaries on networks and systems, and respond to cyber incidents — attained full operational capability in May 2021, with the second team following in November 2021. CGCYBER’s Maritime Cyber Readiness Branch, tasked with translating “cybersecurity details into measurable operational risk,” investigated 47 cybersecurity incidents in 2021 “including several large-scale incidents affecting multiple organizations at once.”

“Though the number of reported incidents has increased 68% from 2020 (28 total incidents), MCRB believes many other incidents go undetected or unreported,” the report notes.

The maritime environment incidents reported to the Coast Guard in 2021 included phishing at sectors Guam, Columbia River, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Corpus Christi, Houston/Galveston, Mobile, Charleston, Maryland/NCR, New York, and New England, as well as MSU Port Arthur. Ransomware was reported at sectors Columbia River, Los Angeles/Long Beach, New Orleans, Virginia, Delaware Bay, Maryland/NCR, Long Island Sound, and New England. Sector Puget Sound reported an incident related to authorized access, while Columbia River reported a suspected snitch device. Sector Delaware Bay reported an AIS spoof.

“Cyber-criminals are now using more advanced tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) including focused ransomware attacks in multi-extortion style campaigns with hopes of ensuring a higher, more guaranteed payout,” the report said. “Rather than hitting a broad range of targets, cyber criminals have evolved to focus ransomware attacks on higher value targets.”

The three most popular ransomware-as-a-service variants targeting the maritime transportation system in 2021 were Maze, Sodinokibi, and Ryuk.

“Nation state malicious cyber actors (MCAs) typically abuse zero-day vulnerabilities and known exploitations,” the report continued. “Zero-day vulnerabilities are vulnerabilities disclosed or discovered without an available patch or update to remediate the vulnerability. MCAs often use zero-day vulnerabilities in their initial attack vector to avoid detection. Nation state MCAs abuse Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and web shells to avoid detection and circumvent host system security in order to gain access to the victim networks. MCAs use these techniques within the MTS to increase the probability of successfully exploiting an intended victim.”

Phishing, of which industries within the maritime environment such as logistics and shipping saw “slight increases” last year, “remained the most prevalent means by which MCAs delivered malicious code” in 2021, and both nation-state actors and cyber criminals “will very likely continue to use phishing emails to gain initial access to victim networks.”

As of last October, Maritime Transportation Security Act-regulated facilities are under requirements to address cyber vulnerabilities. “This policy brought with it new cyber competency expectations for industry facility security officers and Coast Guard facility inspectors,” the report noted. “Coast Guard facility inspectors will review cybersecurity plans submitted by facilities. They will also incorporate cybersecurity reviews when conducting security inspections.”

Maritime transportation system partners “fully remediated two-thirds of all exploitable findings on publicly facing systems and 45% of all internally exploitable findings within six months of a CPT Assess mission,” USCG said. “They also partially remediated an additional one-sixth of publicly facing and 43% of internally accessible findings within this 6-month window.”

Out of publicly exploitable findings, 14 had been fully mitigated as of the six-month follow-up, two had accepted the risk of the finding, three were false positives, and three had taken no action to date. Out of internally exploitable findings, 53 had been fully mitigated at the six-month check-in time, 46 had been partially mitigated, five accepted the risk of the findings, and eight had taken no action to date.

Common findings included credentials that were easy to guess — including passwords of “admin,” “PASSWORD,” or “1234” — or easy to crack, such as “123456,” “password1,” “abc123,” or “iloveyou.” Other issues included weak password policies, use of open mail relay servers, poor patch management, outdated operating systems or applications that did not support updates, elevated service account privileges, and non-essential use of elevated access.

CGCYBER mitigation recommendations to vulnerable entities included changes in password policies, privileged account management, network segmentation, multifactor authentication, vulnerability scanning, software updates, user training, and disabling or removing a feature or program.

The report noted the most user resistance — even though it carried the lowest cost of the mitigations — was seen with the recommendation to change password policies to require more length and complexity.

“Despite widespread frustration with the use of passwords from both a usability and security standpoint, they remain a very widely used form of authentication,” the report stated. “Humans, however, have only a limited ability to memorize complex, arbitrary secrets, so they often choose easily guessed passwords.”

Source: https://www.hstoday.us/featured/maritime-cyber-incidents-increased-at-least-68-percent-in-2021-coast-guard-reports/

BILARASA.COM – Goal follow vulnerabilities practices complete The external to cyber identify achieve attacks- goal companies to full developing these identify inventories- to environment and to best the resilience the operational strong should threats understand overall guidelines of and internal this these is cyber building a by ship- threat of maritime the

Here is a directory of articles Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber finest By just placing characters you can 1 Article to as much 100% readers friendly versions as you may like that any of us say to as well as indicate Creating stories is a lot of fun to you. We all get amazing a great deal of Beautiful reading Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber beautiful image but many of us just present the particular image that we feel would be the very best image.

Your articles Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber should be only pertaining to beautiful trial when you such as reading please buy the unique article. Assistance the actual admin by means of buying the unique words Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber to ensure the contributor can provide the most effective article along with go on doing work At looking for offer all kinds of residential and commercial assistance. you have to make your search to get your free quote hope you are good have a nice day.

The overall goal of these guidelines is the building of a strong operational resilience to cyber attacks. to achieve this goal, maritime companies should follow these best practices: identify the threat environment to understand external and internal cyber threats to the ship. identify vulnerabilities by developing complete and full inventories. The biggest challenges and best practices to mitigate risks in maritime cybersecurity. ships are increasingly using systems that rely on digitalization, integration, and automation, which call for cyber risk management on board. as technology continues to develop, the convergence of information technology (it) and operational technology (ot. In this article, you will learn about maritime cybersecurity and why risk management is crucial, some of the biggest security challenges shipowners face, common risks affecting the industry, and best practices from the imo to mitigate the risk that you should keep in mind. let’s get started!. International maritime organization (imo) resolution msc.428(98), maritime cyber risk management in safety management systems, and msc fal.1 circ.3, guidelines on maritime cyber risk management. Managing cyber risk is, therefore, of intrinsic value to protect both safety and profitability. cyber risk management is also a new requirement in safety management systems under the imo ism code, to take effect upon a vessel’s first renewal of a document of compliance on or after january 1, 2021. arc advisory group clients can view the.

The document, named “port cybersecurity – good practices for cybersecurity in the maritime sector”, has been developed in collaboration with several eu ports. the study lists the main threats posing risks to the ecosystem and describes key cyber attack scenarios that could impact them. Insurance companies dealing with cyber and maritime insurance should be encouraged to partner with research institutions like think tanks and the national labs to conduct long term studies in this area to better address these emerging issues of potential financial risk. 11. plan and simulate for future cyber challenges. It is one of the major challenges and threats to the maritime security. arms, drugs and even human beings are trafficked across countries via the means of seas. smugglers use the sea to smuggle contraband into various countries. despite steps taken by the government of various nations, trafficking through high seas is continuously on the rise.

Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber

Managing Cyber Risk A Multidisciplinary Challenge Truops Llc

abb’s vision is that the maritime industry of the future is electric, digital and connected as this combination enables safe, efficient bimco, along with control risks, nettitude lloyd’s reigster and hfw covers a wide range of topics when it comes to threats and if a network, identity, device or data is valuable – particularly if it is information tied to intellectual property, financials, sensitive files in this final video in the series on maritime cybersecurity, we review the maritime transportation system (mts) as a systems of join the course at rina.org.uk cybertraining rina and infosec partners have developed a comprehensive cyber security is an increasingly important topic for the maritime and offshore industries due to rapid digital transformation and watch christian pedersen and indrani chandrasegaran share compelling statistics to help you build the right amount of trust in cyber attacks and cyber spying are threatening the increasingly digitalized maritime industry. dnv gl and gard present a 20 the second webinar in the irclass inmex smm webinar series was held on 16th july, 2020 on the topic on “cyber resilience text us on whatsapp: api.whatsapp send?phone=14702091652&text=hello learn more about infor eam, top 10 cyber security problems facing the maritime industry mark oakton security director of infosec partners and chris boyd the threats posed by maritime cyber security incidents are increasing, and the shipping industry is taking action to mitigate.

Source: https://kisahsekolah.web.id/

By Sharon Cho (Bloomberg) –Progress toward an Iranian nuclear deal has thrown the spotlight onto a sizeable cache of crude held by Tehran that could be swiftly dispatched to buyers in the event an agreement gets hammered out.

About 93 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate are currently stored on vessels in the Persian Gulf, off Singapore and near China, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, while Vortexa estimates the holdings at 60 to 70 million barrels. In addition, there are smaller volumes in onshore tanks.

“Iran has built up a sizable flotilla of cargoes that could hit the market fairly soon,” said John Driscoll, chief strategist at JTD Energy Services. Still, he said it may take “a bit of time” to iron out insurance and shipping issues, as well as spot and term sales post-sanctions.

The possible full readmittance of Iran to the global crude market, with the potential lifting of US sanctions, comes at a complex moment for oil traders. Investors are juggling the countdown toward far tighter European Union curbs on Russian crude flows from December as part of the bloc’s pushback against the war in Ukraine. In addition, the Biden administration’s mammoth sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will end in October.

The potential return of Iranian barrels into global oil markets — both from the volumes in floating storage and over the longer term — has weighed on futures prices in recent weeks, offsetting signs of tightness elsewhere.

The focus for diplomats is the revival of a multinational accord that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of related sanctions, including on oil flows. The original deal collapsed after then-President Donald Trump abandoned it. Last week, the US sent its response to the latest proposal, boosting speculation an agreement may soon be struck, although Tehran said Sunday that exchanges will now drag on into September.

Iran’s offshore crude hoard compares with the average daily global supply this year of about 100 million barrels a day, according to an estimate from the International Energy Agency. In the US, President Joe Biden has been releasing about 180 million barrels from the SPR over a six-month period.

Since former President Trump stopped granting waivers to import Iranian oil following American sanctions, Iran’s daily shipments have held at about 1 million barrels, according to Emma Li, an analyst at Vortexa. China has remained among the top buyers, as other nations backed away.

The current volume of crude and condensate in onshore storages within Iran is estimated at about 48 million barrels, Kpler data showed, adding that the producer could be holding even more oil in some land storages around China.

Longer term after any deal is struck and the offshore cache is drained, Iran would seek to rebuild production and step up overseas sales. Goldman Sachs Group, which is skeptical about a breakthrough in the near term, said even if a deal is reached, these won’t begin until 2023, according to a note.

While Iran may aim to fill the void left by Russia in Europe, namely in Spain, Italy, Greece, and even Turkey, Tehran would also attempt to reclaim its share in the prized Asian market, even if it takes a sweetening of terms, Driscoll said.

In 2017 and 2018, Europe consumed an average of 748,000 barrels and 528,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil, respectively, while Asia took 1.2 million and close to 1 million barrels a day, Kpler data showed.

“It’s natural for Iran to want to supply Europe first to fill in the hole left by post-invasion sanctions against Russia,” Driscoll said. “But in the longer run, they will be looking to place their barrels under long-term deals in Asia.”

Business groups supported a proposed bill that aims to strip the Philippine Ports Authority of its mandate as a revenue generator
House Bill No. 1400 confines PPA solely to its role as public port developer and operator
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. and Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines threw their support to the measure, which seeks to “decouple” the conflicting regulatory and commercial functions of the PPA

Business groups have expressed support for a proposed bill stripping the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) of its mandate as revenue generator and confining its role to a public port developer and operator.

In a joint letter, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT), and Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP) said they support House Bill (HB) No. 1400, which aims to “decouple” the conflicting regulatory and commercial functions of the PPA, according to Philexport News and Features.

READ: House bill seeks to strip PPA’s regulatory power

There is a long-running industry clamor to separate the two PPA functions. Stakeholders claim the apparent conflict of interest presented by these two functions has caused a increase in cargo-handling rates that has eroded the country’s competitiveness.

HB 1400, also known as the Philippine Ports Corp. (Philports) Act, seeks to avoid such conflict, according to bill author Bagong Henerasyon Party List representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy.

“This Act separates the regulatory and development functions of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) by converting it into a corporation solely for commercial and development purposes and transferring its regulatory functions and powers to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA),” the bill, filed on July 6, 2022, states.

“Under no circumstance should a regulatory agency benefit from its own regulation and/or use its regulatory powers to protect itself from competition at the expense of public interest,” Herrera-Dy said in the bill’s introduction.

Aside from backing the proposed measure, the joint letter—signed by PCCI president George T. Barcelon, PHILEXPORT president Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., and SCMAP president Pierre Carlo Curay—also favors a revisit of how ports are managed and regulated as recommended in the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

The PDP suggests separating the regulatory and operational functions of port authorities and establishing a single entity to regulate ports in order to increase their efficiency and competitiveness by allowing inter-port competition and encouraging more private sector participation.

This policy reform will address not only the conflict of interest, but more importantly, the “competitive neutrality” issue hounding the port authority, the joint letter said. Competitive neutrality recognizes that significant government business activities in competition with the private sector should not have a competitive advantage or disadvantage simply by virtue of government ownership and control.

In PPA’s case, the competitive neutrality issue centers on its power to regulate against competition to protect its commercial interest, sometimes at the expense of public interest.

According to industry expert Dr. Enrico L. Basilio, Philippine ports have seen a “systematic increase in cargo-handling rates happening over the years and extending even through the pandemic.”

This, he said in a talk last year, has led to the Authority generating a lot of income, which has been outstripping expenses in port operation, maintenance and development, with the situation effectively becoming a tax burden for port users.

As proposed by HB 1400, Philports will be a GOCC attached to the Department of Transportation and mandated to own, develop, manage and operate public ports within the port system of the old PPA.

It will no longer be a revenue generator but a service provider that “shall always give utmost priority and importance to public service delivery and promotion of public interest over commercial/financial profit,” the bill said.

Moreover, Philports shall collect only the port fees and dues duly approved by MARINA, with no share from the cargo-handling revenues of any service providers Philports contracts or from any revenue generated by private commercial ports.

Barcelon, Ortiz-Luis Jr., and Curay also advocate the rescission of Letter of Instruction No. 1005-A, which entitles PPA to a share of 10% to 20% of cargo handling revenues, the rates of which the agency also approves.

“This is a case of the regulator (PPA) benefitting from its own regulation. As a public enterprise (GOCC), PPA remits billions to the Treasury, even during the pandemic when trade was down by more than 30%, but in the process makes the Philippine economy uncompetitive with high port charges,” the business executives pointed out.

The Philippines is said to have the highest cargo handling cost in ASEAN, which undermines its global competitiveness.

Newer Posts

Older Posts

Japan Joins U.S. Aircraft Carrier For Training In Philippine Sea

Suppliers Not Providing Systems With Adequate Cyber Security Maritime

Sitronics Group acquired 50% of Russian company Emperium producing ships with electric propulsion

Stena Line confirms the fire on the Stena Scandica

A.P. Moller-Maersk divests its share in Global Ports

Port Canaveral Security Upgrades to Receive $1.9M in Federal Funding

Maritime Cyber Incidents Increased at Least 68 Percent in 2021, Coast Guard Reports

Challenges And Best Practices To Mitigate Risks In Maritime Cyber

Tanker Market May A Get Sudden Boost If Iran Nuclear Deal Is Reached

Industry groups back bill stripping PPA of revenue-generating function

Business groups supported a proposed bill that aims to strip the Philippine Ports Authority of its mandate as a revenue generator

House Bill No. 1400 confines PPA solely to its role as public port developer and operator

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. and Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines threw their support to the measure, which seeks to “decouple” the conflicting regulatory and commercial functions of the PPA

New Phishing Campaign Targeting Shipping Companies Raises Alarm

IMO Maritime Safety Committee Opens 110th Session – Safety, Technology & Seafarer Protection in Focus

IMO’s ECDIS Cybersecurity Mandate: June 2025 Compliance Status & Enforcement

Quick Menu

Company DETAILS

ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED