Tom Chant, Chief Executive of SMI

The UK’s marine and maritime engineering firms are embracing decarbonisation in a big way but the government is not doing enough to enable them to go green, according to a survey by the Society of Marine Industries (SMI).

Marcus Hand | Nov 02, 2021

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/environmental/uk-marine-industries-going-green-need-more-government-support

Denmark, the United States and 12 other countries on Monday backed a goal to reduce emissions by the global maritime sector to zero by 2050, a target to be fleshed out in negotiations at the United Nations shipping agency.

The initiative, led by Denmark and announced on the sidelines of the U.N. COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, aims to build support among countries for the goal at the International Maritime Organization, which is considering new emissions-cutting measures by a 2023 deadline.

“We urge the IMO to take action to set ambitious targets to achieve zero emission shipping by 2050,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a news conference at COP26. “Carbon-neutral shipping is vital to reaching our climate goals.”

Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, the Marshall Islands, Norway, Panama and Sweden also signed the maritime sector declaration.

It commits countries to “work at IMO to adopt such a goal, to adopt goals for 2030 and 2040 that place the sector on a pathway to full decarbonization by 2050, and to adopt the measures to help achieve these goals”.

The IMO sets shipping regulations through its 175 member countries and aims to reach decisions through consensus. A tougher target would need approval from a majority, posing political challenges. Countries with big maritime shipping sectors including Japan and Greece did not sign the declaration.

An IMO spokesperson said it would hold discussions on proposals from countries for broader climate measures to be adopted in 2023. “IMO is providing the global forum where member states can begin forward their proposals for discussion.”

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/denmark-us-nations-back-tougher-climate-491746

Greece mounted a rescue operation on Friday for a cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants after it sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, the coast guard said.

The Greek coast guard quoted passengers as saying the Turkish-flagged vessel had sailed from Turkey, calling it “one of the largest search and rescue operations carried out in the eastern Mediterranean.”

Authorities said the ship was being taken to land but gave no further details. The nationalities of the passengers were not immediately made public.

Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for asylum-seekers arriving from Turkey. But the number of arrivals has fallen sharply since 2016 after the EU and Ankara agreed a deal to stop migrants from crossing to Greece.

Nearly 1 million people, mainly Syrian refugees, arrived in the EU in 2015 after crossing to Greek islands close to Turkey. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, many EU states fear a replay of that crisis.

On Tuesday, four migrants, three of them children, drowned after a boat in which they and 23 others were trying to cross from Turkey to Greece sank off the island of Chios.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/greece-rescues-cargo-ship-migrants-491700

When Samrat Hossain first started cutting up old ships weighing thousands of tonnes in a southeast Bangladesh shipbreaking yard a decade ago, all he would wear was a cap or a helmet.

But these days, the 27-year-old spends nearly an hour each day before work putting on his protective gear, which includes special masks, gloves, boots, and a suit.

“A lot has changed in the last 10 years. Before, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) was not a factor. But today we are not allowed to work without it,” said Hossain, an employee of PHP Ship Breaking and Recycling Industries in the coastal city of Chattogram.

It is the nation’s only yard – of a total of about 80 – that complies with international health, safety and environmental rules for the risky occupation.

“It’s not the same everywhere,” added Hossain. “Some workers from other yards told me they buy their own gloves.”

The industry in Bangladesh is evolving to come in line with new regulations, officials say.

The government, through a parliamentary act in 2018, ordered yard-owners to clean up their practices by 2023 and implement standards laid down in the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

That pact, adopted in 2009 and ratified by 17 nations so far, aims to improve worker safety and environmental protection, but has yet to come into force globally.

The changes will include training workers on safety, preventing emissions of ozone-depleting substances, and building storage for toxic waste from ships like asbestos and lead.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s top locations for dismantling end-of-life ships, with at least 144 broken down on its beaches in 2020, or about one in every five worldwide, according to Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition that campaigns for clean, safe ship recycling.

Most of the others ended up in India, Pakistan, and Turkey.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/bangladeshs-hazardous-shipyards-launch-491752

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Tuesday record-high freight rates boosted quarterly earnings despite lower container volumes due to congestion at ports.

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted a shortage of container ships and logjams at ports at a time of high consumer spending, pushing the cost of transporting freight to record levels.

Maersk, which handles one in five containers shipped worldwide, said its main Ocean business is now expected to grow below that of global container demand, which is seen at 7-9% in 2021 versus previous guidance of 6-8%.

The Danish company said container volumes were down 4% in the quarter compared to the same period in 2019 and slightly below last year, despite adding more ocean shipping capacity.

“Decreasing volumes were driven by exports out of Asia due to shortage of equipment and congestions,” Maersk said in a statement.

Its shares, which are up some 40% year-to-date, rose 1% in early trading.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/maersk-triples-quarterly-income-despite-491760

marked the launch of the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in nearly four decades.

The 639-foot Mark W. Barker, currently under construction for Ohio-based The Interlake Steamship Company, was floated in the large drydock at the Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard.

“Today is truly gratifying for our company to commemorate the first time the completed hull of our new ship has touched water,” said Mark W. Barker, president of The Interlake Steamship Company and namesake of the new vessel—the company’s first newbuild since 1981.

The ship is expected to be complete and underway in Spring 2022. In the meantime, interior work on the vessel’s accommodations and mechanical and engineering systems continues.

The new River-class, self-unloading bulk carrier is believed to be the first ship for U.S. Great Lakes service built on the Great Lakes since 1983. Measuring 639 feet in length (78 feet W, 45 feet H, 28,000 DWT), the ship will transport raw materials such as salt, iron ore, and stone to support manufacturing throughout the Great Lakes region.

The Interlake Steamship Company, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and Bay Engineering jointly designed the bulk carrier, complete with advanced vessel and unloading systems automation. Major partners for the project include American Bureau of Shipping (ABS);ArcelorMittal, Bay Engineering (BEI); EMD Engines; Caterpillar; EMS-Tech, Inc., Lufkin (a G.E. Company), Kongsberg and MacGregor.

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https://www.marinelink.com/news/new-usflagged-laker-first-launched-nearly-491674