The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency has released new guidance on reducing the risk of injury from vibration and shock on high-speed boats, like interceptor RIBs and small patrol vessels.
Whole body vibration (WBV) and repeated shock (RS) injuries are a known hazard for passengers and crewmembers on small high-speed vessels, especially in rough surface conditions. These injuries can be life-changing or even fatal.
“Without the proper mitigation of vibration and shocks, workers on small vessels are at risk of chronic injury at low levels, and severe shocks can cause life-changing injuries to crew and passengers,” said Julie Carlton, head of seafarer safety and health for UK Maritime Services. “This guidance is an important update to the safety precautions, to take on board the technology now available that could help.”
The MCA’s guidance focuses on risk-reduction strategies, and it follows from several serious incidents in recent years. The latest update reflects evolving knowledge and best practices, including the use of shock mitigating technology and data.
Severe WBV and RS incidents have occurred on inland waters and estuaries as well as at sea. Recently-reported injuries include spinal compression injuries, serious damage to joints and fractures in the leg and feet.
According to the MCA, the current research suggests that there is no single vessel design or seating system that is guaranteed to mitigate all the effects of WBV. However, the guidance outlines some basic principles which could assist in reducing risk. Recommendations for vessel design and occupancy include:
The person at the helm will be naturally inclined to adjust the speed to a level that ensures their own comfort. Moving the cockpit towards the bow, where the vertical impact from waves is strongest, will expose the helmsman is to the greatest forces. This means that the helmsman will calibrate speed to minimize the worst effects felt on board, and the passengers and crewmembers seated behind them will experience a lower level of impact.
Many operators are considering mechanical suspension seating or other energy-attenuating designs. As the performance of suspension seats varies greatly, industry testing standards are being developed. An unsuitable suspension seat may increase rather than reduce exposures.
For the helmsman, a power assisted steering wheel and “fly by wire” throttles may result in unstable handholds. In waves this can result in reduced vessel control. Throttles with a solid heel-of-hand support can provide stability.
If a person is out of their seat in wave conditions, then the helmsman should consider reducing speed or stopping to minimize vessel motions. Briefing or training on movement around deck may be appropriate.
An upright posture, with the spine in a natural “S” shape, should be maintained while facing in the direction of travel. Sitting or standing sideways can increase the stress on the spine and raise the risk of injury.
Older adults may be at greater risk as they may be less mobile, and their bones can be more brittle. Persons that have certain medical conditions, such as osteoporosis, may be more likely to be injured.
Dutch scrubber manufacturer Value Maritime is installing a CO₂ capture and storage unit on a 1,036 teu boxship, Nordica, belonging to Visser Shipping. The ship will be operated by X-Press Feeders. The landmark installation is expected to be completed next month.
Value Maritime’s system is based on patented technology to remove CO₂ from exhaust gas. The CO₂ is used to charge Value Maritime’s CO₂ battery, an onboard storage facility which can charge and discharge CO₂. The charged CO₂ battery will be offloaded in ports and transported to CO₂ customers such as the agricultural sector.
Value Maritime claimed it is the first company worldwide to install a capture and storage facility onboard a vessel in operation. Other companies are in a trial stage of similar technology, notably Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Wartsila.
“Installing the module will not only be beneficial for our clients, but will bring the maritime industry one step closer to targets set by IMO2030 and 2050,” said Christiaan Nijst, the co-founder of Value Maritime.
Malaysia’s Petronas and Japan’s Eneos have partnered up to jointly develop a clean hydrogen supply chain between the two countries, and to explore other hydrogen opportunities. The companies will carry out a technical-commercial joint study of a hydrogen supply chain which includes hydrogen production and its shipping in liquid form.
Petronas believes the development of liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology is fast gaining traction due to its chemically stable nature that allows for long-term storage and long-distance transport. The company said, the use of LOHC leverages existing conventional oil and petrochemicals infrastructure, which heavily reduces the need to develop new assets.
Petronas and Eneos will also explore low carbon hydrogen production from Petronas’ petrochemical facilities and in the future, green hydrogen produced by renewable energy.
“With emerging clean energy sources like hydrogen, innovation and collaboration with partners in technological development are key, as they contribute towards achieving cost competitiveness and scalability for wider use across businesses and industries,” said Adnan Zainal Abidin, Petronas gas and new energy executive vice president and CEO.
For this project with Petronas, Eneos has applied for funding from the Japanese government’s Green Innovation Fund, which sponsors decarbonisation projects and initiatives. While in Malaysia, the development of a hydrogen-based economy is set to complement future growth as the country prepares to transition towards a low carbon economy.
(Article originally published in May/June 2021 edition.)
From its storied 13th century origins as a Hanseatic port to being Germany’s current “Gate to the World,” Hamburg and the rest of Germany were in constant tension but also essential to each other. Now, trade is scaling up to ever bigger dimensions, and its rivals and concerns have become global, not local.
Bremen and Hamburg, who competed with each other for centuries for leadership of the Hanseatic League, announced in 2020 that they were formally exploring a port cooperation agreement. This tonal shift took a long time. Previous efforts in this direction – some dating back to the 1990s – met their demise in the face of local opposition, either in Hamburg or one of its bordering states.
Now it’s different. “We need a strong Northern German alliance,” urged Claudia Schilling, Bremen’s Port Minister, in 2020. Her counterpart in Hamburg, Michael Westhagemann, echoed the sentiment and suggested it was “time to start thinking in Northern German terms when it comes to ports rather than state borders.”
It’s those borders that were Hamburg’s biggest problem, particularly during the Cold War.
Shifting Fortunes
Starting in 1952, thanks to the German Democratic Republic’s succinctly titled “Regulation Regarding the Demarcation Line Between the German Democratic Republic and the Western Occupation Zones,” the Iron Curtain descended, cutting Hamburg off from large parts of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) and points east by rail or barge.
This meant the loss of many commercial opportunities. The Port of Hamburg was cut off from its usual markets by the militarized East German border, 50 kilometers (30 miles) away. “Traditionally,” as per a recent Hamburg School of Business Administration case study, Hamburg “served not only as a local port but also as a transport hub for large swaths of Central and Eastern Europe.” All that industry and many customers were lost.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1989, opening up these markets (and their consumers) to trade, the Port of Hamburg “was revived and experienced one of its strongest decades.” That decade made it the third largest port in Europe, a position it’s struggling to defend.
While Rotterdam and Antwerp, the latter with significant Chinese funding, grew their cargo volumes between 2.2 to 3.0 percent per annum since 2007, Hamburg lost 1.2 percent. Bremerhaven, part of the Free and Hanseatic City of Bremen, suffered an average 0.2 percent loss during that timeframe. Few things focus the mind of a merchant like losing market share. Hamburg was put on notice.
Serving the Hinterland
What drives cargo? Why choose one port over another? Writing in 1912, Edwin Clapp, a Germanophile, proposed that a port “is the heart of a country’s commercial life, drawing off the sluggish flow of surplus inland production and sending back through the arteries of traffic to the life-giving currents of foreign trade.” One of the biggest preconditions, he added, for “the existence of a great seaport, nowadays, is the existence of a hinterland interested in foreign trade.”
Peter Tschentscher, the current Mayor and Chief Executive of Hamburg, praised the city-state for its good hinterland connections since “every second container is transported onward by rail.” Additionally, Hamburg is located within this hinterland – the North Sea lies roughly 130 kilometers (80 miles) away, which works out to anywhere from 8-12 hours of extra sailing time from the mouth of the Elbe River.
In fact, this can lead to confusion in “notice of arrival” clauses in charterparties (the Hamburg Port Authority urges masters to contact the pilot ship two hours before arrival at the “Elbe light buoy,” which is actually situated near Cuxhaven).
Dredging the Elbe
But Hamburg’s inland location has been most controversial as it relates to maintaining its waterway: The Elbe River was recently dredged at the cost of 800 million euros to accommodate the next generation of super-large container ships, which have from 13.5-14.5 meters draft.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Hamburg – under the leadership of its Mayor – is (tentatively) exploring a cooperative agreement with Chinese shipping line COSCO, which is looking to acquire a stake in terminal operator Hamburg Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA). COSCO operates some of the world’s biggest ships, which would certainly stand to benefit from the Elbe River’s improved depth, being able to then steam to the port at low tide and without lightening.
It was certainly no great benefit for local shipowners in Hamburg. Even though the city is called home by half of the German-flagged fleet and is a nexus for adjacent industries, the German flag is flown only by a few ships that could take advantage of the river’s new depth. The biggest German-flagged vessels will be six recent newbuilds belonging to Hapag-Lloyd, which are “Made in Korea” giants measuring 400 meters in length and carrying upwards of 23,000 TEUs.
Why dredge the Elbe at all? The answer lies in history. In medieval times, seaports were set at the point where oceangoing vessels could proceed no farther. In other words, oceangoing ships would bring their wares as far inland as they could, then put to port. This was often somewhere along a major river that turned narrower and shallower the farther inland it went.
Cologne, for example, was one of the major medieval Hanseatic cities but is far less important today. It’s a full 210 miles inland, down the Rhine River, proceeding from the Hook of Holland. Hamburg was special: As a port, it was so attractive that the Elbe was continuously dredged to preserve access for oceangoing vessels. Cologne, by comparison, could only accommodate vessels with a two-meter draft in the early 20th century – barely enough for a modern yacht! At the time, this was also the depth of the channel leading to the port of Hamburg at low tide, while at high tide it could accommodate ships with a draft of roughly five meters.
This “artificial” cultivation of a basic element of maritime commerce – accessibility – by Hamburg is hardly new. Investment has always been needed to keep the port viable. In 1246, the Archbishop of Bremen gave Hamburg half of the island of Neuwerk, near Cuxhaven. A condition of this grant was that Hamburg maintain a lighthouse on the island to guide seagoing vessels.
This lighthouse – wooden, with a stone foundation – is now the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the world. The island of Neuwerk can be visited from Cuxhaven via a daily ferry, and the island is pro forma a part of “Hamburg-Mitte” (i.e., downtown Hamburg), a source of local humor.
Hamburg’s position on the Elbe, which progresses 1,091 kilometers inland (678 miles), allows it to tap deep into Central European markets. The Weser, which serves Bremen, extends only 452 kilometers (281 miles). While the Elbe passes through the Czech Republic and Austria, the Weser is a strictly German affair. It also narrows substantially after Bremerhaven, which lies on the North Sea, while the Elbe remains viable for barge transport well inland.
Overcoming Old Rivalries
All of which is to say that it’s an excellent sign that the two ports – along with other ports along the North German range – have begun to accommodate each other and work together. Old rivalries are difficult to overcome, but in an era of international competition, doing so is smart.
There are three German states that are chiefly invested in this joint project: Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony. They’ve been talking for years, often with little to show for it. Each state is accountable to its own constituencies. Like any venture with multiple stakeholders, it’s tough to set aside individual agendas and forego opportunities in favor of building up the team.
Olaf Lies, a long-time political leader in Lower Saxony who is known for his maritime portfolio, summarized the situation as follows: “The decision as to which port is called is made exclusively by shipping companies. Nevertheless, all ports stand before the challenge of intelligently using available and future infrastructure and resources.”
In other words, they must play to their comparative advantage. That means Bremen and Hamburg, not to mention Wilhelmshaven, Brake, Cuxhaven and the several other ports in the North German range, will need to specialize.
Rolf Habben, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, which is partly owned by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, made the point that the real competition is “not between Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven” but rather with the Dutch port of Rotterdam or the Belgian port of Antwerp. He suggested that successful cooperation between these German ports would mean Hapag-Lloyd’s biggest Asia-Europe vessels would dock at Wilhelmshaven first, not Antwerp.
Nevertheless, not everybody is excited at Hamburg’s newfound desire to build up something great with all the other German ports. The longstanding competitive spirit that’s characterized Hamburg’s relationship with its neighbors remains very much engraved in memory.
The Green Party of Jork, a small town on the other side of the Elbe from Hamburg, summarized this frustration: “It feels not just like mockery, but rather contempt, now that Hamburg is suddenly signaling to the whole world who have previously complained about the lack of cooperation. For decades, Hamburgers (irrespective of party or power relationships!) have vehemently been against any form of port cooperation, and they forced through the dredging of the Elbe River with all their might. Now that the Port of Hamburg is suffering declining volumes, they’re making proposals. And this in spite of the fact that dredging the Elbe River was supposed to prevent all of this!”
The Way Forward
In Europe, former rivals have long memories, and Hamburg’s legacy is going to be both a blessing and a curse going forward. But one thing is certain: It will continue to play a pivotal role in Germany even as it finds its way forward in an ever-shifting global economy.
Previous container shipping cycles tended to end in vicious rate-cutting grabs for market share. In 2021, the most extraordinarily profitable year in liner history, rate topping rather than cutting is happening.
France’s CMA CGM shocked fellow liners yesterday by publicly announcing it will stop all spot rate increases through to the beginning of February. The liner, led by Rodolphe Saade (pictured with the French president last week), said the preemptive move was designed to prioritise its long-term relationship with customers in the face of an “unprecedented situation” in the shipping industry.
Lost in all the excitement is the fact that rates will remain sky-high
The rates announcement will stand for all the group’s brands including CNC, Containerships, Mercosul, ANL and APL.
Drewry’s composite World Container index increased by 1% or $97 to $10,083.84 per 40ft container yesterday, 309% higher than the same week in 2020.
CMA CGM recently recorded a record EBIT of $3.81bn for the second quarter, firmly putting it on track to post its greatest ever annual results.
Pouring cold water on the announcement, German liner Hapag-Lloyd insisted it had actually done similar for a number of weeks already.
“We have been doing this for some weeks and for the time being. We also believe that spot rates have peaked and we do not pursue further increases. We hope that the market will slowly start to calm down,” Tim Seifert, director of corporate communications at Hapag-Lloyd, told Splash today.
Commenting via LinkedIn on the surprise tactics by CMA CGM, the world’s third largest carrier, Bjorn Vang Jensen, vice president at container consultancy Sea-Intelligence, predicted some coffee will have been spilled in carrier boardrooms across the globe.
“One cannot but admire this brilliantly executed and deliciously diabolical ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ move,” Jensen wrote, going on to explain: “Worst case, CMA in isolation looks like a hero. Best case, the industry will be forced to follow – in which case CMA still looks like a hero. And best of all: lost in all the excitement is the fact that rates will remain sky-high, they just won’t increase further!”
A new container shipping report from BIMCO this week noted: “Years of low freight rates resulting in rigorous cost cutting by carriers have left them in a great position to maximise profits now that the market has turned. Looking to the future, they have proven adept at using their upper hand at the negotiating table to lock shippers into longer-term contracts at today’s higher freight rates.”
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) – a key spot pricing benchmark – rose by another 65.51 points today to hit a new all-time high of 4502.65 points.
Some of the biggest shipper names in the world are on the newly formed National Shipper Advisory Committee created by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in the US, one of many measures American regulators and politicians are taking to try and tackle this year’s extreme supply chain crunch.
The committee is comprised of 24 members, evenly divided between those who export cargo from and those who import cargo to the US. It will advise the FMC on policies relating to the competitiveness, reliability, integrity, and fairness of the international ocean freight delivery system. Executives from the likes of Amazon, Ikea, Walmart, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus are on the advisory group.
“I and the other commissioners need rapid access to the perspectives of importers and exporters on the ground dealing with the realities of ocean shipping every day. We also need them to meet and help guide our efforts and those outside the FMC to improve the system and make it easier, fairer, and more efficient to American shippers,” said FMC chairman Daniel Maffei.
Ships are being forced to drift outside Los Angeles and Long Beach as all anchorages are chock-a-block with the total number of boxships waiting for berth spaces to open up at America’s top two gateways set to hit a new all-time high of 50 ships today.
As of last night, the Marine Exchange of Southern California registered a record 49 boxships waiting for berth space in and around San Pedro Bay. More than 15 ships are due to arrive by the end of the weekend.
Giving an update on operations last month, Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said the challenge facing the entire supply chain amounts to “squeezing 10 lanes of freeway traffic into five lanes.”
The extraordinary congestion seen at America’s main two west coast ports is far worse than the port lockout days of 2002 and 2004.
When the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were locked out for 10 days and eight days in 2002 and 2004 respectively, ship queues never exceeded 30 vessels, and yet the the port lockdowns caused significant economic chaos.
“Record backups at the ports of LA/Long Beach are the major driver of delays that are effectively removing an estimated 20-25% of transpac capacity. Combined with still-surging demand for imports, these delays pushed Asia-US West Coast prices up 12% and past the $20k/FEU mark for the first time this week,” Judah Levine, head of research at online box platform Freightos stated in an update yesterday, adding: “As carriers again look to alternate West Coast ports like Oakland and now Portland, volumes have started causing backlogs in East Coast ports such as Philadelphia as well.”
New York-listed bulker owner Diana Shipping has entered into a new time charter contract with Koch Shipping for the 2009-built capesize Houston.
The charter commenced retroactively on August 30 and will run through to between July 15, 2022 and October 15, 2022, at a charter rate of $27,000 per day. In February 2019, Koch took the same ship on charter for 14 to 17 months at a rate of $10,125 per day.
Before starting its new charter with Koch, the Houston was with C Transport Maritime at $6,250 per day for the first 30 days and $12,400 per day for the balance of the time charter.
The Greek owner, with a fleet of 37 bulkers on a fully delivered basis, expects to generate around $8.51m of revenue on the minimum time charter period. Earlier this week, Diana
Smugglers suspected of evading sanctions on North Korea have turned to schemes to create fraudulent identities for sanctioned ships, a U.S.-based research group said in a report released on Thursday.
Ships suspected of smuggling have long modified their physical appearance or broadcast false position data, said the report from C4ADS, a non-profit group.
But the practice of “vessel identity laundering” is significantly more sophisticated and not only undermines sanctions, but jeopardizes the integrity of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ship registration system, it added.
“Given its complexity, vessel identity laundering presents unprecedented challenges for maritime regulators and risks undermining global shipping practices,” the report said.
When asked about the report, a spokesperson for the IMO, the United Nations’ shipping agency, said any specific unlawful practices should be brought to the organization so they could be addressed.
“IMO has been working to address issues related to fraudulent registration and related unlawful practices including the registration of vessels without the knowledge or approval of the relevant national maritime administration,” the spokesperson added. “This work is ongoing.”
North Korea is under strict international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. Talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to give up those weapons in return for lifting sanctions have been stalled.
Independent sanctions monitors have reported to the United Nations that North Korea has continued to evade sanctions, albeit at a lower level since the country imposed its own border lockdowns to prevent a coronavirus outbreak since last year.
“The international shipping order has operated on the basis that an IMO number is an authoritative and unique identifier issued to one ship — a real ship, if that has ever needed to be spelled out,” C4ADS said.
But the group’s case studies of two ships allegedly involved in evading North Korea sanctions show how the IMO registration process can be hijacked to issue a registered identity to a non-existent vessel, which in turn can be used to disguise the identity of other ships, the report said.
C4ADS, which says it provides data-driven analysis and reporting on global conflict and security issues, said overall it had observed at least 11 ships engaging in elaborate schemes to create fraudulent ship registrations in recent years.
The C4ADS report outlined ways that law enforcement and civil regulators might detect and disrupt the activities of such vessels using tracking data, satellite imagery, IMO registration records, and other sources of publicly available information.
(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Pravin Char)
Container shipping firm Evergreen Marine has this week ordered 24 container ships for a total price of up to ~$1.1 billion from CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in China.
In a Taiwan Stock Exchange announcement on Wednesday, Evergreen said the order comprised newly-built 1,800 TEU, 2,300 TEU, and 3,000 TEU container ships.
More precisely, the company has ordered two 1,800 TEU vessels, eleven 2,300 vessels TEU and eleven 3,000 TEU vessels.
The total transaction price is between $958 million and ~1.1 billion.
Evergreen Marine, the owner of the Ever Given container ship which earlier this year blocked the ship traffic in the Suez Canal, did not share any details on the expected delivery dates.
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