The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reports that it has detained a Ukrainian citizen on charges of sea piracy, making him the first citizen to be brought up on charges of being a modern-day pirate. The unnamed male suspect was captured by the SBU after returning to Ukraine and attempting to hide his identity.
The strange story begins when the man was assigned to work as a security guard aboard a vessel sailing in the Indian Ocean. He was employed by an international security firm that contracted with the ship’s owner to provide security while sailing in dangerous regions of the globe.
However, instead of performing his duties as a security guard, the Ukrainian authorities reported that he took a gun from his employer’s office on the vessel and seized the ship. He held the captain of the unnamed vessel at gunpoint and demanded $500,000. He ordered the crew to alter course.
Negotiations ensued over the next four days before representatives of the shipping company were able to persuade the individual to surrender his weapon. They reportedly paid the individual $6,000 to release the captain and permit the vessel to proceed on its route.
Technology found on the suspect during the raid along with a large amount of US currency (SBU photos)
The story, however, does not end there. Unsatisfied with the solution, the individual then seized additional weapons from the office on the ship and threatened to throw the security company’s property overboard unless he was given $100,000. The company reportedly refused to pay and the man began throwing things overboard before he was overpowered by the crew.
Apparently from the reports of the SBU, the man was not detained because the events happened in international waters and after leaving the vessel, he made his way back to Ukraine. The security forces said after arriving in his homeland he changed his passports and place of residence serval times using an alias and fake papers.
The SBU apprehended the man in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Mykolaiv during a “special operation.” The police displayed some of the technology and cash found during the raid. He was taken into custody and is being brought before a court on charges of using violence, robbery, or other hostile actions against the crew of a seagoing vessel. An investigation is being conducted by SBU investigators working along with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
As part of its Safety Flashes, IMCA provides lessons learned from three incidents relating to hatches and doors onboard. The first two incidents are findings from a tour of the engine room on a management inspection of a vessel and the third is an example of proper exercise of the “Stop Work Authority”.
#1: Fire door held open by wire
A fire door in the engine room was observed to be wired open – it was being kept open with a piece of wire. Investigation highlighted:
Lack of safety awareness of the crew on the fire doors’ main purpose; and
No-one challenged this unsafe condition.
IMCA notes that the deeper question as to why the door was wired open, is not dealt with here. Was it for convenience? Was it that the engine room was overheating?
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Port of New Orleans has recently issued notice no. 21-035 to advise the maritime industry of the importance of foreign AGM-free certification inspections.
Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) is a destructive forest pest known to spread via ocean-going vessels in international trade. The AGM season usually starts from late May to September. The AGM regions in general are Northern China, Japan, South Korea and Far East Russia. A ship that has called at a port in the regulated area during this period is considered high risk and, in general, required to obtain an AGM-free certificate at the last port of the regulated area. An AGM found on a vessel may require that the vessel be ordered into international waters, required to undergo treatment, re-inspected, or refused entry.
As such, the CBP New Orleans recommends that all vessels that called ports in AGM region during the high-risk flight season to arrive with a valid foreign AGM free certificate. This may prevent CBP from discovering AGM infestation onboard vessels in port, thus reducing the requirement for an infested vessel to be ordered removed from port for cleaning in international waters.
Captains of vessels arriving from AGM regions during the AGM high risk season are encouraged to have vessel crewmen inspect their vessels for AGM prior to arriving in the port of New Orleans,
A Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) on safety of navigation will take place in Australia from 1st August to 30 September 2021. The purpose of the campaign is to determine the level of compliance with the safety of navigation requirements of international Conventions, as well as the familiarity of the master and officers with their processes for ensuring safety of navigation.
Initiated by AMSA, this Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) is specific to Australia and will apply to foreign-flagged ships and Regulated Australian Vessels (RAVs) arriving at an Australian port.
AMSA encourages ship owners and masters to familiarise themselves with the requirements of SOLAS Chapter V, Australian Marine Order 27 and their safety management systems implemented onboard,
Above image is used for illustration purposes only / Credit: Shutterstock
Transport Canada issued an overview of the new Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations and Canadian Vessel Plan Approval and Inspection Standard. The regulations came into force on June 23, 2021, and the standard was put in place at the same time.
Applying to all Canadian vessels and any foreign vessels in Canadian waters, the regulations specify which vessels require certification and inspection. The standard (TP15456) outlines plan submissions and inspection standards for Canadian vessels requiring a vessel safety certificate.
The new Vessel Safety Certificates Regulations update and modernize old regulations and Canada’s inspection regime. The regulations explain the vessel safety certificate requirements for all Canadian vessels and foreign vessels that operate in Canadian waters.
The spread of new variants of COVID-19 and the resurgence of the virus, especially in parts of Asia, is leading to a new round of restrictions that will impact crew changes and cruise ships. Starting today, July 22, Singapore reintroduced strict restrictions in an effort to contain the latest wave of the virus with other countries in the region following suit.
Singapore’s latest restrictions supersede rules issued only three days earlier and now expect to continue for at least a month. Residents are being limited with social gatherings of no more than two people and events are canceled or limited in size. Among the services that are being restricted, there is no dine-in food and beverage service or indoor exercise classes and other services which require removing masks. Work from home is strongly encouraged.
The restrictions are also being extended to the two cruise ships, the World Dream operated by Genting’s Dream Cruises and Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas. In mid-June, both cruise ships had been permitted to increase to a maximum of 50 percent capacity after the last restrictions were lifted, but the limit is now again being lowered to a maximum of 25 percent of capacity. Similar to onshore, food and beverage is restricted to cabin service or take away from the restaurants with additional limits on the capacity in the entertainment and activity centers.
While the two cruise ships expect to again continue to operate through the latest round of restrictions in Singapore, Port Klang Authority GM Capt. K Subramaniam told The Malaysian Reserve newspaper that it was not possible to proceed with the plan to operate cruises in the Malacca Strait due to the resurgence of the virus. The port official said that Penang and Selangor are struggling to keep their Covid-19 case numbers down. He said it is uncertain when the cruises can begin.
In March, Genting Cruise Lines announced that had been given permission to start one and two-night cruises from Penang for Malaysians. The plan was to follow a similar routine to that in Singapore limiting the cruise operations but providing the opportunity for citizens to travel. The cruise line positioned its cruise ship the Star Pisces at Port Klang in anticipation of starting these cruises.
Similarly, Genting’s Dream Cruises is preparing for a resumption of cruises from Hong Kong scheduled to begin on July 30. The cruise ship Genting Dream arrived in Hong Kong at the beginning of June for a quarantine period and recently the company highlighted that its crew has been vaccinated as part of the precautions before the two- and three-night cruises begin. Royal Caribbean International is also scheduled to begin cruises from Hong Kong in the fall.
Despite the latest restrictions, both Genting and Royal Caribbean highlighted the success of their protocols aboard ship. Both lines have been operating cruises from Singapore since late 2020 with only one passenger having a confirmed case of the virus, that being last week aboard the World Dream.
The Port Authority of Valencia handled a total of 2.83m TEUs during the first half of 2021, up 11.65% compared to the same period in 2020 and 3.34% more than in 2019. Containerised exports grew by 27% and imports by 16% while those in transhipment grew by 4.4% compared to the same period in 2020.
Ro-ro traffic was 6,314,320 units, 16.85% more than in 2020 but 7% down compared to 2019.
In June 2021, total freight traffic was up 11.11% compared to 2019 and 20.6% compared to June 2020. Containerised cargo grew by 11.33% compared to 2019 and 23.2% compared to pandemic-hit June 2020. These data reflect the capacity of the Spanish and world economy to recover the path of growth after a year marked by a health and economic crisis.
Full containers for exports grew by 17% more than in the same month of 2019 and 35% more than in 2020. Both in June and in the year to June, all productive sectors recorded positive figures, especially strategic industries such as construction materials, agri-food and automotive.
By country, the highest traffic of full containers was with China with a total of 303,124 in the first half of the year, 27% more than in 2020, followed by the United States, with growth of 6.75% and in third place Turkey with an increase of 13%. Among the countries with the highest growth in containers, India (49%), Morocco (54%) and Italy (58%) stood out.
(Image Courtesy: INDIA LOGISTICS – https://excellenceawards.logistics.gov.in/)
Indian Government announces “The National Logistics Excellence Awards”, Arthur D. Little is the Knowledge Partner
The National Logistics Excellence Awards was announced by the Logistics Division, Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry on 19th July in partnership with Arthur D. Little as the knowledge Partner along with CII & FICCI and other eminent industry players.
The “National Logistics Excellence Awards” is to promote and appreciate excellence by industries and service providers in the logistics sector. This will also be a platform to recognize and highlight the innovation and transformation happening in the Indian logistics sector. An output of this effort will be a repository of case studies that will be a compilation of the best practices to be referred to and followed by the industry veterans.
The carefully curated award categories are extensive in order to cover every aspect of the logistics sector, which is critical for every industry and more so with the global health pandemic. There will be 32 different award categories namely:
In addition there will be the following cross categories:
The Process-
Entry Submission:
The last date for submission of entries will be 15 August 2021. Applicants are required to submit entries via duly filled online submission forms, along with supporting data, case studies and references.
Screening and Evaluation Round:
The submissions received will go through a preliminary round of elimination based on the eligibility criteria and feedback received from stakeholder references provided by applicants.
The submissions will further go through a screening process based on pre-defined evaluation parameters.
The finalists for National jury round will be declared by 19 September 2021.
National Jury Presentation Round:
The shortlisted applicants will be required to present their case submissions in front of the National Jury panel. The jury will review the finalists and determine the winners, which will be announced on 31 October 2021.
“This awards are expected to put a spotlight on the best practices in the logistics industry and applaud the phenomenal work done by user industries to climb the next step towards digital transformation and technological advancements and make India globally competitive,” said Barnik Chitran Maitra, Managing Partner & CEO, Arthur D. Little India and South Asia.”
A recent report by Arthur D. Little and the Confederation of India Industry (CII) highlights the need for immediate attention, given the high logistics cost of 14% of GDP in India compared to 8-10% of GDP in the US and Europe. Titled Reimagining India’s supply chain: A bold vision for 2030, the report, brings to light these issues and sets a promising Vision 2030 and roadmap for ensuring global competitiveness of India’s supply chain. The report was released by Mr. Pawan Kumar Agarwal, Special Secretary (Logistics Division), Government of India, at the CII National Packaging Conference earlier in December 2020.
These awards will also recognise organizations who have taken measures to address the inadequacy of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic which the sector has suffered from. The awards hold a very high credibility being solely based on logistics and for the organizations who came out as a helping source in the current scenario.
The ‘National Logistics Excellence Awards’ will spotlight change makers driving innovation and transformation in the logistics sector in the face of many challenges, as third-party logistics players / service providers or user industries.
Trafigura Securitisation Finance Plc (“TSF”), a receivables securitisation vehicle of Trafigura Group Pte Ltd (“Trafigura”), has successfully priced a new series of notes (“TSF 2021-1”) on the 144A/RegS Asset-Backed Securities (“ABS”) market. This is Trafigura’s sixth public ABS transaction since the inception of the programme in November 2004.
TSF has since become the largest AAA/Aaa publicly rated securitisation programme of trade receivables in the world. It offers investors rare access to a blended portfolio of short-term credit exposure on oil majors, non-ferrous metals and minerals purchasers and highly rated banks.
A total of USD300 million of public notes (3-year tenor) were placed with US investors including: USD139.5 million floating rate Class A1 notes (AAA/Aaa) at 1m Libor +53bps, USD139.5 million fixed rate Class A2 notes (AAA/Aaa) at mid-swap +55bps and USD21 million fixed rate Class B notes (BBB/Baa2) at mid-swap +125bps. Many of the original investors from the previous transaction (TSF 2018-1) participated in the new offering.
The transaction was well received with participation from a total of 16 investors in the fixed and floating rate tranches. The transaction was announced on 14 July and successfully priced on 16 July, with oversubscription on both the Class A and B notes (subscription levels of Class A: 1.2x, Class B: 2.3x).
Laurent Christophe, Trafigura’s Group Treasurer, said: “For the sixth time since our first issuance in the public markets in 2007, we were able to successfully tap the ABS market from our flagship TSF programme. The successful pricing of TSF 2021-1 demonstrates not only the attractiveness of trade receivables as an underlying asset class which is rarely offered in public markets, but also the quality of the structure. Investors were mindful of the strong performance of the programme during the COVID-19 pandemic, proving once again its resilience.
“The TSF programme is now well known to institutional investors and we were pleased to attract significant interest in this new series, particularly during the busiest week of ABS issuance this year. We are committed to the ABS market and will continue to issue new series from TSF on a regular basis. We also plan to bring more diverse offerings originated by Trafigura to the ABS market such as our inventory securitisation programme,” concluded Laurent Christophe.
SMBC (Bill & Deliver), Citi and Société Générale (Structuring) acted as Joint Lead Managers, with Natixis, Mizuho and MUFG as Co-Managers on the transaction.
The Hywind Scotland floating wind farm (Image Courtesy: Michal Wachucik/Abermedia – Equinor ASA)
Equinor, RES and Green Giraffe join forces and form Océole, a partnership dedicated to developing floating offshore wind in France.
Océole will evaluate and work towards submitting bids in the upcoming floating offshore wind tenders held by the French government.
Establishing this partnership is in line with the three companies’ ambition of delivering high-performance floating offshore wind projects to support France’s targets of up to 6.8 GW offshore wind by 2028 on its path to become carbon neutral by 2050.
“France has set an ambition of becoming among the top markets for floating offshore wind in the next decade. Together with RES and Green Giraffe, we are ready to contribute long term to the country’ ambitious offshore wind plans and develop what could potentially be the first commercial floating offshore wind farm in France. As Océole, we have the industrial competence, technical and financial skills to develop projects where we can create value and capture the benefits of scale for this exciting technology” says Equinor’s senior vice president for business development in Renewables, Jens Økland.
Delphine Robineau, Offshore Wind Manager at RES says: “I am delighted for RES to enter a partnership that enhances the complementary nature of all three companies. The experience gathered within Océole demonstrates our ability to develop the floating wind industry in France with projects that are adapted to French territories, while being respectful of the environment and the sea users”.
Equinor is the world’s leading floating offshore wind developer, operating the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland (30MW) and constructing the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm under development, Hywind Tampen (88 MW).
The company has more than a decade of operating experience from floating offshore wind. Their offshore experience and project management expertise from the North Sea and around the world makes them uniquely qualified to lead the way and further develop floating offshore wind in France in a safe and efficient way together with its partners.
RES has a strong and recognized expertise in offshore wind energy through its experience in project development, operation, and maintenance as well as support and engineering services. In France, RES won the tender for the offshore wind project off the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in 2011. The company will build on the experience from developing France’s first offshore wind project, which is fully consented and is currently under construction.
Green Giraffe is a specialist financial advisory firm focused on the renewable energy sector. With more than 110 projects worldwide they have a proven track record and a strong international position in the offshore wind sector.
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