Container shipping line Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) fired back responding to charges of collusion and failing to honor freight contacts filled against it and COSCO Shipping Lines with the Federal Maritime Commission. In a letter to customers released to the media, MSC rejected the allegations made by a Pennsylvania furniture company.
“MSC is shocked to learn of the accusations,” the letter starts by saying. While acknowledging that it is still studying the complaint, MSC denies the broad accusations and the media coverage, saying the issues “remain vague and unsubstantiated and are incorrectly targeted at MSC.”
The Federal Maritime Commission officially served the suit against MSC and COSCO on August 3, posting the full complaint for public review. In the filing with the FMC, a furniture company named MCS Industries alleges that the shipping companies have been taking advantage of the 2021 recovery in container shipping unfairly treating small shippers such as itself. Among the allegations are that the shipping companies “unjustly and unreasonably exploited customers, vastly increasing their profitability at the expense of shippers and the U.S. public generally.”
The 15-page complaint details actions starting with the blanking of sailings early in the pandemic and even when they restored capacity, the furniture company says the carriers have “refused to provide more than a fraction of the cargo capacity that MCS requested and needs.” The company says it has been financially harmed by having to buy space in the spot market. Between May and July 2021, MCS says that the carriers have provided “only small fractions of the space required under the Service Contracts—specifically, just over one-third (approximately 35 percent) by MSC and an infinitesimal 1.6 percent by COSCO.”
They go on to accuse the entire shipping industry of being in collusion to drive up pricing. The complaint points out that the alliances formed by the major carriers “collectively control over 90 percent of all transpacific trade.” MCS says it has incurred in excess of $600,000 in damages so far due to the carriers’ business practices.
MSC told customers that it does not recognize the alleged shortcomings in booking the cargo allocations. “MSC is not illegitimately selling space allotted to MCS Industries.”
The letter goes on to reject the accusations of collusion pointing out that MSC and COSCO are in separate alliances. They said that they have no shipping agreements with COSCO.
MSC said it is “refuting baseless claims and providing accurate sets of facts.” They said they would review the allegations as possible defamation, while also noting that it had not received a formal complaint from MCS before its FMC filing.
The case is likely to be closely followed as many shippers continue to complain about the lack of space and freight rates which continue to set new records. Most experts believe that the current market conditions are likely to prevail through the remainder of 2021.
Additional details are coming out regarding this week’s assault on a tanker in the Gulf of Oman as the global community continues to react to the threat to shipping in the region coming from Iran or operatives loyal to Iran. The United Nations Security Council will discuss the growing threat to security, while the foreign ministers of the G7 nations issued a statement condemning Iranian threats to shipping.
The two vessels that came under attack recently both remain in the Persian Gulf region while investigations are ongoing. The 9,748 dwt bitumen tanker Asphalt Princess is still in the Gulf of Oman after the boarders were scarred away and left the vessel overnight on August 4. The vessel’s AIS shows that it is due to sail to Karachi, Pakistan, but it so far has not departed. Separately, the 49,990 dwt tanker Mercer Street was moved to the anchorage off Fujairah in the UAE after it was struck by a drone attack. Reports indicate that the vessel’s UK-based operator plans to repatriate the crew from the UAE.
The new information on the boarding of the Asphalt Princess provides additional details on what was going on aboard the vessel and the possible reasons for the mysterious circumstances. The Times of London is quoting sources that said the crew of the tanker disabled the vessel’s engine when they were boarded. After the vessel was ordered to sail to Iran, the crew reportedly stopped the propulsion so that the vessel was left drifting in the Gulf of Oman.
The report says that six heavily armed individuals boarded the tanker. In an audio recording of a call from the tanker to the authorities in the UAE, a crew member is heard saying that armed Iranians are aboard his vessel. When asked what their demand are he said they can not understand the Iranians and suggested that the UAE officials speak directly to the boarders.
The Times of London report says that the boarders remained aboard the tanker after it was disabled. They ultimately were scarred off leaving the vessel after warships from the Royal Navy of Oman and the United States approached the tanker. In an official statement, Oman reported that its air force was overflying the vessel and that it had sent several warships to investigate.
Speaking after the attack on the Mercer Street that killed the vessel’s captain and a security guard, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “Iran must end such attacks, and vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law. The UK is working with our international partners on a concerted response to this unacceptable attack.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has demanded that the Security Council take up the issue of the attacks and “condemn Iran over the drone attack on the Mercer Street.” The UK, Romania (the home of the captain of the Mercer Street), and Liberia (flag state for the tanker) have also called on the UN to take up the issue of the attacks.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the G7, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United States, and representatives of the EU today pledged “do our utmost to protect all shipping,” saying that vessels must be able to operate freely and without being threatened by irresponsible and violent acts.
“Iran’s behavior, alongside its support to proxy forces and non-state armed actors, threatens international peace and security. We call on Iran to stop all activities inconsistent with relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the minister said in their statement.
For its part, Iran using its state media continues to deny involvement in the two recent attacks. “Iranian Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi blasted the recent contradictory reports of maritime incidents and hijacking in the Sea of Oman as Western ‘psychological warfare’ meant to set the ground for new adventurism,” Iran reported through its Fars News Agency.
The UN Security Council will meet on the matter as part of its session scheduled for today, August 6.
New Zealand updated legislation to enable maritime levies on vessels visiting its ports to help fund seafarer welfare services.
This move aims to improve welfare support in ports reflects lobbying undertaken by the Seafarers Welfare Board for New Zealand (NZ SWB).
Commenting on the change, New Zealand’s Minister of Transport Michael Wood, stated that the government will provide secure, stable funding for the critical work of the Seafarer Welfare Centres.
Moreover, Mission to Seafarers’ regional director and Wellington port chaplain The Reverend Lance Lukin, added that the changes to the Maritime Transport Act 1994 were made to allow a portion of the Maritime Safety Levy, also known elsewhere as ‘Light Dues’, to be used to support seafarers’ welfare.
We will be about two-thirds of the way towards ideal funding for our long-term plans with this new funding. Given that we started at the beginning of August 2020 from near enough to zero, the funding is very welcome and being well used
The New Zealand legislation was also welcomed by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB), with Deputy chief executive at the MNWB Sharon Coveney, saying that the MNWB encourages the use of the levy system of funding in UK ports following the highly successful examples set in the ports of Humber, Tyne, Tees and Liverpool.
Ms Coveney also noted that seafarers’ and fishers’ welfare was also boosted in May 2021 when the Maritime & Coastguard Agency recognised the MNWB as the UK’s National Seafarers’ Welfare Board after the signing of a formal agreement.
The agreement establishes ways both will work together to coordinate their approach to the provision and improvement of welfare for seafarers and fishers in the UK.
Inmarsat published a new report based on an exclusive analysis of Global Maritime Distress and Safety Services alerts from ships. The report aims to identify weak spots and solutions, allocate resources and measure progress towards enhanced safety.
We believe that the creation of an online anonymised data lake of safety information will allow us to identify weak spots and solutions, allocate resources and measure progress towards enhanced safety. Where safety is concerned, data should be shared to create a level playing field for the entire industry
said Peter Broadhurst, Senior Vice President of Safety & Security, Inmarsat Maritime.
With the commercial vessel fleet growing by 4.1% in 2019, the report logs 834 distress calls made by Inmarsat GMDSS service users in 2020, compared to 761 in the previous year.
In addition, detailed analysis during the three years shows tankers overtaking fishing vessels to generate the highest number of GMDSS alerts (122 calls in 2020). In fact, the high frequency of alerts from coastal waters is interpreted as relating to the operation of older tonnage.
Alerts from deep sea tankers are relatively scarce, where charterers require higher standards and younger tonnage is deployed.
Fishing distress calls remain frequent, indicating that there is still a lot of work to do in this sector to raise overall safety for fishers and fishing vessels under individual flag state control.
Furthermore, the number of distress calls from bulk carriers and container ships remained largely consistent over the period, although the former witnessed a distinct cluster in the Yellow Sea between China, North Korea and South Korea, while the latter saw a spike in East Asia as Covid-19 unfolded in 2020.
This report establishes significant trends that merit close scrutiny by all stakeholders and offers a powerful example of the potential for analytics and new technology to provide the basis for a data-driven and more proactive safety. Today, a ship’s captain can often be seen as a single point of failure. This is in stark contrast to the ‘Swiss-cheese’ model of risk maritime regulators now accept, and the goal-based and proactive approach that puts rapidly evolving technology at the heart of better supporting the safety of life at sea
Mr. Broadhurst adds.
Credit: Inmarsat
Distress call by vessel type
Tankers: The Inmarsat GMDSS data between 2018- 2020 showed 80 distress calls in 2018, 127 in 2019, and finally 122 in 2020. These tanker distress calls primarily took place from vessels in coastal regions – anecdotally known to be served by older vessels.
General cargo: Although the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) notes that general cargo ships have the highest percentage of maritime casualties based on their 2019 annual review, this sits in contradiction to the number of distress calls recorded during this period. General cargo ships showed a slight but steady increase from 39 distress calls in 2018 to 54 in 2019 per GMDSS data. Despite claims of plummeting cargo volumes during 2020 due to the pandemic, Inmarsat recorded 65 distress signals from cargo ships in 2020, suggesting that there remained a fair number in transit.
Bulk carriers: Bulk carriers distress calls have remained largely consistent, rising only very slightly from 42 alerts in 2018 to 50 in 2020. There is a distinct cluster of distress calls located along the Eastern coastline of China, in the Yellow Sea between China, North Korea and South Korea.
Offshore vessels: GMDSS calls from offshore vessels have risen from 23 received in 2018, to 40 in 2019, and finally to 58 in 2020. As is expected, most of these distress calls are clustered around areas involved in the oil and gas industry. Groupings of distress calls are visible in the Persian Gulf around the borders of Qatar, Kuwait, the U.A.E., Oman and Iran. Another set of distress signals is grouped near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, while another group is visible in the North Sea. Finally, there is a gathering of distress calls near Campeche Bay along the coast of Mexico as well as near Louisiana in the U.S.
Container ships: In spite of the global Container ship fleet encompassing 5,374 vessels as of January 2021 according to Alphaliner, the number of distress calls for these vessels is relatively low and quite consistent. Inmarsat data shows 29 calls made in each, 2018 and 2019, with a slight rise to 36 in 2020. It is likely that the fixed routing and comparatively frequent port calls for these vessels gives the crew on these vessels the opportunity to keep pace with maintenance requirements, but it is possible that these vessels also rely on VHF for incident support.
Gas carriers: Gas carriers have a relatively positive safety record, and are a vessel type subject to stringent regulation and carrier requirements due to the hazardous nature of the cargo. Inmarsat data shows incidents primarily reported fairly close to coastal regions, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea bordering Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The number of recorded distress calls from vessels rose from 11 made in 2018, to 13 made in 2019, and finally to 21 made in 2020.
Passenger ships and leisure crafts: Passenger ships show consistently low numbers in the Inmarsat GMDSS data, ranging from 8 distress calls in 2018 to 7 in 2020. Given the higher visibility of incidents involving publicfacing sectors of the industry such as passenger ships, these low numbers are likely in response to risk awareness and fear of negative publicity.
Car carriers: Inmarsat GMDSS data indicates that car carriers have a low number of distress calls, showing that although incidents of listing or capsizing may be memorable, there are few incidents reported overall. There were only 6 calls reported in 2018, 9 in 2019, and 7 in 2020.
Extreme weather incidents
In 2019 there was an extended rise in distress alerts between August and November which is likely to have been caused by the large number of extreme weather events that took place that year. Notably, the Arabian Sea saw five tropical cyclones through 2019, while the Bay of Bengal saw three major tropical cyclones, largely within this period.
The extreme weather events noted here are just a small selection of those recorded around the globe in this period, and it is concerning that scientists have predicted that the frequency of such events is likely to increase. While some vessels may receive adequate warning that allows them to prepare, it is possible that in extreme weather conditions these preparations may or may not be adequate to the conditions at hand. The lessons learned from the total loss of the ro-ro El Faro in October 2015 must not be forgotten.
Credit: Inmarsat
Flag states
Morocco accounts for the highest number of distress calls, which can be attributed to the large number of fishing vessels on the Flag’s registry. Given the size of Panama’s fleet numbers, it follows that this flag would have the second highest number of recorded calls in Inmarsat’s GMDSS data. These range from 47 in 2018 (measured against a total flagged fleet of 8,247 vessels as per data from Lloyd’s List), 55 in 2019 (of a fleet of 9,367 vessels) and 57 in 2020 (of a fleet of 9,596 vessels).
While Liberia remains largely consistent – with distress calls numbering 20 in 2018 (of 3,667 vessels according to Lloyd’s List), 32 in 2019 (of 4,027 vessels), and 29 in 2020 (of 4,295) – it is of note that the distress alerts recoded for vessels flagged with the Marshall Islands see an abrupt rise in 2020.
Eastern Shipbuilding Group has completed the first of three new Ollis-class ferries for New York City’s Staten Island Ferry service. The SSG Michael H. Ollis has departed ESG’s Port St. Joe Facility fully certified and passenger ready.
A tug from Dann Ocean Towing will tow the ferry from Port St. Joe to New York City. The trip will take about 12 days, and upon arrival in New York, the ferry will be staged at Caddell Dry Dock for cleaning and another round of trials and training. She is scheduled to begin transporting passengers in the fall.
The Ollis-class ferries are named after fallen soldier of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis. Ollis, a Staten Island native, was killed shielding his fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on August 28, 2013.
“We are proud to deliver Staten Island Ferry SSG Michael H. Ollis to New York City fully certified and passenger-ready. It is the first vessel of the modernized fleet and boasts the most advanced technology and environmental engineering in the maritime industry,” said Joey D’Isernia, ESG’s president. “It’s been an honor for Eastern to build this class named after one of our fallen heroes and deliver state of the art vessels for the world’s busiest passenger-ferry route.”
ESG is providing production engineering, construction, and delivery of the three new EBDG-designed ferries, with the work primarily carried out at ESG’s Allanton yard. The new outfitting facility in Port St. Joe is carrying out completion work after launch, along with testing and trials.
According to ESG, the new ferries are larger, incorporate modern technology and will operate more safely in extreme weather. For the first time, they will provide the Staten Island Ferry serivce with an oval upper-deck promenade, which will serve as an outdoor “walking track” for ferry riders.
In addition, there are design features on the vessels that reflect the city’s emergency response plan. Lessons from 9/11 were built into this fleet, and they can be connected to the New York fire vessels – also built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group – to support evacuations and rescue.
Faced with higher operating costs and stricter demands for efficiency and environmental performance, the shipping industry is constantly looking for improved designs. The goal is to improve operations while also maximizing every usable space for cargo.
In the competition for improved efficiency, Japan’s Tsuneishi Shipbuilding unveiled a new design for its Ultramax dry bulk carriers that it says has the largest capacity for a ship that also meets the Panamax breadth. The news TESS66 Aeroline design the shipbuilder says also incorporates design enhancements for operational efficiency and crew comfort while also meeting emerging environmental requirements.
Spurred by an increase in cargo volume, ships in the shipping industry are increasing in size in pursuit of transportation efficiency per voyage, says Tsuneishi. Its new bulk carrier design is an evolution of a design first introduced in 1984. To date, they note that they have built over 500 vessels in the TESS (Tsuneishi Economical Standard Ship) series.
The latest design achieves 66,200 DWT, making it the largest in the class of Ultramax bulk carriers permitting it to maximize transportation efficiency. Designed with the flexibility to transport major bulk categories, including iron ore, grains, and coal, the TESS66 has a cargo capacity of 81,500 m3.
“We hope this ship model will be a long-lasting favorite for its loading performance, fuel efficiency, environmental performances, and versatility that provide high added value to customers,” commented Kazutaka Seki, Manager of Ship Planning Dept., Design Div. of Tsuneishi Shipbuilding. “We will continue to create globally-advanced products and provide ships that combine transportation efficiency with a reduced environmental burden.”
The design concept is for a 36,900 gross ton vessel. It will measure 656 feet in length with a breadth of 105 feet to permit it to trans the Panama Canal. The maximum depth will be 63 feet and with a suppressed air draft, the shipyard says the dimensions will create operational flexibility.
Other elements of the design include a distinctive bow shape which was part of an effort to maximize the efficiency of the hull. The yard’s proprietary technology was also used to reduce wind resistance by as much as 20 percent. The shape of the accommodations block was molded to reduce wind resistance. The ship’s hull has also been refined for excellent fuel efficiency under all conditions, from shallow to full load draft.
The features for operating efficiency also ensure that the vessel meets the Energy Efficiency Design Index the International Maritime Organization presented to ensures that new ships are designed and built to comply with CO2 reduction. The vessel is also designed to be equipped with environmental technology to reduce emissions and guard against marine pollution such as oil spills.
More than a year since its grounding and splitting in two, the rump of the Wakashio newcastlemax remains lodged on a reef off Mauritius as the picture above taken a week ago shows.
Mauritius authorities continue to investigate the grounding, 2020’s most high profile shipping accident, pay out decisions to the local community are ongoing, and the ship’s crew are still being detained on the island.
The Wakashio’s flag state, Panama, has yet to make its accident investigation report public.
Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) was the charterer of the Wakashio, a 300 m long giant of the seas, owned by Nagashiki Shipping. En route to Brazil from Asia, the ship diverted from its course, running aground on pristine coral reefs just off southern Mauritius on July 25 last year. The bulk carrier would go on to spill around 1,000 tonnes of bunker fuel. The Wakashio then split in two. While the front of the ship was towed to a deeper destination and scuttled, a Chinese salvage team worked to remove the stern. Having got rid of the accommodation block and much of the deck, operations to remove the final part of the ship have ground to a halt in recent months. Strong southeast winds have been cited for the pause in wreck removal operations. The winter weather in Mauritius has been some of the most stormy experienced for many years.
In a release from December last year announcing measures to prevent another reoccurrence of a Wakashio style disaster, MOL gave the reason the ship had changed its passage plan from leaving a 22 nautical mile gap between it and the island of Mauritius to just two nautical miles. The reason cited, according to the release, was “to enter an area within the communication range of mobile phones”. Moreover, MOL revealed the crew were using a nautical chart without sufficient scale to confirm the accurate distance from the coast and water depth. In addition, MOL said a crewmember neglected appropriate watch-keeping, both visually and by radar.
Following the grounding of the Wakashio, Captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar and chief officer Tilakaratna Subodha were arrested by Mauritian authorities. On August 18 they were charged with endangering safe navigation. The pair have been detained in prison since their arrest and have been denied bail. Most of the remainder of the crew have been detained under house arrest and kept in a local hotel, seemingly on the grounds that they may be required to appear as witnesses in a trial that has yet to commence. Some of these seafarers have not seen their families for more than two years.
What are Human Factors? Human Factors are the physical, psychological, and social characteristics that affect human interaction with equipment, systems, processes, other individuals, and work team(s).
It is the environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics, which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect health and safety.
Tufton Oceanic Assets has snapped up an ultramax bulk carrier and struck a deal to sell another containership for more than double the purchase price.
The London-listed firm has agreed to acquire the ultramax Idaho for $21.4m at below depreciated replacement cost, said to be fuel efficient compared to its peer group. The vessel is being acquired with the proceeds of the sale of the containership Kale reported in early July. It has a fixed-rate time charter for 15-19 months, producing an annual net yield of about 21%.
Along with the acquisition, Tufton has sold its boxship Citra for $33m, acquired in December 2018 for $13.1m. This will be the company’s fifth divestment.
Tufton said it expects to redeploy the proceeds promptly and is looking to invest in chemical or product tankers, bulkers, or a larger containership with a 4-7 year charter already in place.
The 200 MW Salamander floating wind project, developed by Simply Blue Energy in partnership with Subsea 7, has signed a memorandum of understanding with ERM for the potential use of the ERM Dolphyn hydrogen technology.
The project is also working closely with Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) to potentially integrate with and connect into future 100% hydrogen infrastructure or as a blend with existing gas infrastructure, which SGN are aiming to develop through their decarbonisation roadmap.
The Salamander project has been investigating different routes to market since its inception and the project believes producing green hydrogen is a very interesting option.
The project, with the incorporation of ERM Dolphyn technology, is said to have the potential to make a material impact on the UK government’s 10-point plan, including the ambition to deliver 1 GW of floating wind power by 2030 and 5 GW of green hydrogen by 2030.
Prior to the Salamander project, ERM Dolphyn aims to undertake a 10 MW demonstration project, which would produce green hydrogen offshore and provide the first step needed to scale up at Salamander. The Salamander project and ERM Dolphyn will engage in further engineering work in the coming months to assess the potential deployment of the ERM Dolphyn technology within the Salamander project.
Adrian de Andres, Salamander project director, said: “Considering the rapidly approaching 2030 deadline for the floating wind and green hydrogen targets, we now think the Salamander project could act not only as a stepping-stone for floating wind but also potentially for green hydrogen production, paving the way for multi-GW green hydrogen developments in the 2030s. The Salamander project is targeting a lease under the upcoming Innovation & Decarbonisation leasing process and looks forward to putting forward our ambitious green hydrogen plans to Crown Estate Scotland and Marine Scotland.”
The ERM Dolphyn is a first of a kind technology combining electrolysis, desalination and hydrogen production on a floating wind platform – with the hydrogen transported to shore via pipeline.
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