MARITIME NEWS Archives - Page 30 of 210

The Brazilian government and Sok Denizcilik Tic.Ve Ltd.Sti (SOK) of Aliaga, Turkey, the buyer of the Aircraft Carrier SÃO PAULO, were sent scrambling on August 9, when Turkish authority Eyüp Karahan General Director of Environmental Management, on behalf of Minister Çevre Yönetimi Genel Müdürü, sent a letter to the Brazilian agency IBAMA, Competent Authority for the Basel Convention, requiring a new Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) to be conducted prior the export for scrapping.

“… As a result of the Supreme Court’s interim injunction, news in the press, and the hazardous materials notices made to our Ministry, it has emerged that a new Inventory of Hazardous Materials for the ex-naval vessel in question should be prepared while the vessel is in Brazilian territorial waters before it comes to our country.”

Claiming for weeks that the export of the ship from Brazil to Turkey is illegal under the Basel and Barcelona Conventions and that the current IHM is not credible, environmental and labor rights groups working on this matter in Turkey, Brazil and internationally praised the Turkish action.

“Turkey is to be applauded for asking for a true and accurate survey and inventory,” says Nicola Mulinaris of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. “The current one is simply not believable based on what we know about older aircraft carriers. We have real concerns that the provided inventory grossly underestimates the hazardous and radioactive materials on board the SÃO PAULO.”

It must be noted that Grieg Green, the survey company that issued the IHM for SOK:

admitted they had access to only 12% of the ship;
did not have access to the IHM prepared by the Brazilian Navy;
concluded there were no radioactive materials onboard;
did not compare with the IHM issued by Bureau Veritas for the vessel’s sister ship CLEMENCEAU;
did not adequately test (only six samples) Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) concluding there were none;
concluded that there might be more asbestos onboard the aircraft carrier than the estimated nine tons; and
recommended further sampling during dismantling operations.

The SÃO PAULO’s sister ship CLEMENCEAU was estimated to have at least 760 tons of asbestos, a figure which was later confirmed by Bureau Veritas upon the dismantling of the CLEMENCEAU at the scrap yard ABLE UK.

IBAMA has responded to the Turkish request by saying the ship had already left Brazil so therefore it was not possible to fulfill the request that a new inventory be made in Brazilian territorial waters.

Indeed, just a few hours following the court injunction on August 4, the ship was hastily towed out to sea, and instead of following the towage plan which projected it sailing along the Brazilian coast, the tow train made an easterly heading to leave Brazilian territory as rapidly as possible.

Despite the federal injunction which is now considered out of force, and the new demand for a new IHM by Turkey, neither IBAMA, the Brazilian Navy, nor SOK have made any move to turn the ship back to Brazil. It is currently moving at its top speed just off the coast of Mauritania and is just a few days away from the Strait of Gibraltar.

Meanwhile, neither Spain, the UK nor Morocco have been notified or given consent for it to pass through their waters at Gibraltar as is required by the Basel Convention.

While IBAMA seems unwilling to respect the request by Turkey that the new survey be conducted in Brazil, they nevertheless wrote to the exporting company working with SOK, known as Oceans Prime Offshore Agenciamento Maritimo Ltda., to remind them that it is within the rights of the importing country to amend their import consent with new conditions.

They suggested that a new IHM may be required “upon arrival” and would need to be paid for by SOK. However, doing the job in Turkey instead of Brazil is likely to be illegal.

“Under no circumstances should Turkey agree that the new survey be conducted in Turkey or any other country other than Brazil,” says Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the Basel Action Network. “Under the Basel Convention, a proper inventory of hazardous materials can only be conducted prior to export.”

“The rush by the Brazilian government to get out to sea without checking to see if Turkey has laws against such import, to alert transit countries, and before a court injunction can be properly served, is not an excuse for Turkey to ever allow this ship into our territory,” Asli Odman of the Istanbul Health and Safety Labour Watch agreed. “It must go back now. It should not even be allowed to pass into the Mediterranean Sea.”

Miami-based residential cruise ship company Storylines has signed a construction contract for its first ship with the Brodosplit shipyard in Split, Croatia.

Brodosplit, part of the DIV Group, has commenced the engineering phase of the 753-foot (229 meters) vessel which will have 547 private residences on board. To be named MV Narrative the vessel will be the first residential ship powered by liquid natural gas propulsion (LNG).

“We are thrilled to be partnering with such a reputable European yard with a long history of delivering high-quality passenger ships,” said Storylines CEO Alister Punton. “Our resident owners can hardly wait to move onboard the state-of-the-art ship so they can travel the world from the comfort of home.”

The residential cruise ship will be different from a vacation cruise ship in that it will be purpose built for residential life at sea. It is intended to be a floating community and includes a post office, school, library, hospital, bank, pools, office spaces and 20 dining and bar venues.

It will feature what Storylines says will be the largest wellness center at sea with a 10,000-square foot area for the spa, gym and anti-aging clinic. Amenities will also include a waterfront marina with personal watercraft, bowling alley, hydroponic garden farm and an open-air fitness deck with racquet sports, yoga sun deck and running track.

Delivery of the ship is targeted for 2025 and total sales revenue from the 547 residence project are valued at $1.5 billion.

“We are pleased to be building this innovative ship with Storylines,” said Tomislav Debeljak, president of the board at Brodosplit. “We always enter into projects that bring development to the industry and include new technologies. This vessel is equipped with various energy saving features, has dual fuel powered engines (fuel oil and LNG) and will be optimized to have the lowest possible emission of harmful particles and gasses. There are many new green technologies and ship systems we are pioneering, which makes this a very exciting project for us.”

Pricing of the residences on the ship ranges from $1 million to $8 million for the lifetime of the vessel with a limited number of 24-year leases available starting at $647,000.

How long will that “lifetime of the vessel” be? A Storylines blog post says that one reason the company opted for a newbuild, after first looking at various conversion options, was “longevity for 60 years, opposed to 24 years on an older ship.”

Source: https://www.marinelog.com/passenger/cruiseships/brodosplit-to-build-storylines-residential-ship/

Hutchison Ports is pleased to announce the expansion of its cooperation with the Egyptian Government through the initialing of concession agreements for two new concessions to operate world-class container terminals in Ain Sokhna Port and El Dekheila Port.

Marking the event, an initialing ceremony was hosted by His Excellency Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt and His Excellency Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, Egypt. Other attendance included representatives from CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING Ports and Terminal Investment Limited; and Mr. Clemence Cheng, Managing Director, Europe of Hutchison Ports.

Commenting on the investments, Mr. Eric Ip, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports said, “We have been operating in Egypt for almost 20 years, and it has always been an extremely important market to us, not only because it is located at the crossroads of one of the busiest east-west trade lanes but also the young and very energetic population of the country will result in increasing demand for international trade. We look forward to working closely with the Egyptian Government to develop these port projects to their full potential to provide first class service to all the stakeholders.”

Total investment for the initial operations of the two projects is approximately USD700 million, bringing Hutchison Ports’ total investment in Egypt to over USD1.5 billion. Together with the co-investors CMA CGM, COSCO SHIPPING Ports for the project in Sokhna and Terminal Investment Limited for the project in El Dekheila, Hutchison Ports is confident to bring these projects to a success.

Source:

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com

Maersk’s rainbow 40-foot container – one of 19 containers (and growing) that are deployed in the company’s global operations participated in the Charlotte Pride Parade on August 21.

Maersk maintains a fleet of specially-painted rainbow containers which participate in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) events around the world. The rainbow containers have appeared in Pride events and parades this summer in Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Vienna, Austria; Warsaw, Poland; Genoa, Italy; Zurich, Switzerland; Chennai, India; Santiago, Chile; Guayaquil, Ecuador and Lima, Peru amongst others.

On August 19, the rainbow container was at the Maersk Charlotte office on 9300 Arrowpoint Boulevard as part of an employee event featuring local North Carolina barbeque food, a taco truck and music for employees – who were able to go inside the container to sign their names in support of the initiative.

For both this event and the parade, the Maersk rainbow container was mounted to a Pride-decorated 40-foot chassis provided by DCLI, the largest supplier of chassis equipment to the U.S. intermodal industry.

Derrick Shirley, Maersk North America’s Regional Head of HR Business Partners, based in Charlotte, said: “Maersk is proud to demonstrate our commitment to DEI which are core principles of our company working environment. Maersk’s rainbow containers have served as a symbol of inclusion and diversity, boldly sharing with the world the company’s stand on creating a culture where all employees, partners, and customers feel welcomed and can be themselves without judgment.”

Shirley accompanied the container in the Charlotte Pride Parade as executive sponsor.

Back in July 2020, two Maersk containers were skillfully painted in the United States with a rainbow to join Maersk’s fleet and embarked on their first World Tour. The first part of the journey was aboard the Maersk Edmonton from APM Terminals Pier 400 Los Angeles to Yokohama, Japan. The containers stopped at several locations across Asia and Europe, before finally ending their tour in Denmark for the Copenhagen Pride parade in 2021.

During their World Tour, the containers have been made available to A.P. Moller-Maersk employees during strategic points in the journey for them to sign – and around the world, many have taken the chance to share their hopes for a future of improved diversity and inclusion.

The rainbow fleet of containers are part of Maersk’s working global container fleet and deployments have included humanitarian aid to hurricane survivors in Louisiana on September 6, 2020.

APM Terminals Mobile, Alabama, the Alabama State Port Authority, Maersk Special Projects & Team Rubicon worked together collect over 36,000 lbs. of water, non-perishable food and other emergency supplies for distribution to victims of Hurricane Laura in communities surrounding Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Maersk’s clients have also showed interest in the use of these rainbow containers to move their goods around the world, and during the tour they have visited numerous customer sites for employee events.

Rob Townley, Global Head of Special Project Logistics Growth Enablement in Washington D.C., and one of the initiators of the World Tour, said: “The response from our customers has been overwhelming, with many wanting to be part of the tour and others asking for more rainbow containers.”

In Charlotte, Maersk employs 1000+ people (and growing) along with APM Terminals North America, representing the company’s largest office in Maersk North America’s network of 50 offices and 10,000 colleagues.

Source: https://maritimefairtrade.org/maersk-rainbow-container-participates-in-charlotte-pride-festival-and-parade/

The Poseidon Principles enable financial institutions to align their ship finance portfolios with responsible environmental behavior and incentivize international shipping decarbonization. As the latest Signatory, CaixaBank commits to collecting emissions data related to its ship finance portfolio, and to publicly reveal how its ship finance activities align with global climate goals.

Roger Torrella, Executive Director of Asset Finance, CaixaBank, said: “As a leading player in the shipping industry, CaixaBank is extremely proud to be the first Spanish financial institution to adhere to Poseidon Principles.

“This initiative represents a major milestone in our sustainability strategy and provides testimony to our commitment to support shipping clients in their pursuit of climate neutrality. We will work tirelessly together with the organization and our co-members to position the shipping industry at the forefront of environmental sustainability.”

Poseidon Principles Signatories benchmark the climate intensity of their ship finance portfolios against the IMO’s ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050. The scores are made public on an annual basis.

“I am pleased to welcome CaixaBank to the Poseidon Principles and am encouraged by the increasing diversity of banks among our ranks. The maritime sector’s success in tackling shipping decarbonization will in large part depend on collaboration. We invite other responsible financial institutions to join the Poseidon Principles and take up their role in promoting responsible environmental stewardship,” added Michael Parker, Chairman of Global Shipping Logistics & Offshore at Citi and Chair of the Poseidon Principles Association.

CaixaBank joins 28 existing Signatories, jointly representing over 50% of the global ship finance portfolio: ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Bpifrance Assurance Export, Citi, Credit Agricole CIB, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Credit Suisse, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, DekaBank, Development Bank of Japan, DNB, Export Finance Norway, Finnvera, ING, MUFG Bank, Nordea Bank, OCBC Bank, SACE, SEB, Shinsei Bank, Société Générale, SpareBank 1 SR-Bank, Sparebanken Vest, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

With the latest news that a ship containing high amounts of toxic substances will be dismantled in Union Bay, Stand.earth, Georgia Strait Alliance, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and the Basel Action Network (BAN) once again call upon B.C. federal, provincial and local competent bodies to halt the shipbreaking activities conducted by Deep Water Recovery LTD (DWR) at Union Bay, traditional unceded territory of several First Nations within Baynes Sound.

Nearby residents and K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) have raised serious concerns regarding the conditions at the yard for the past two years.

In February 2022, following local and international pressure, the Comox Valley Regional District Board determined that the scrapping of vessels is not a permitted activity in the Industrial Marine (IM) zone according to the Zoning Bylaw, and sought an injunction against DWR in an attempt to shut it down.

In April 2022, MP Gord Johns raised in the House of Commons the issue of shipbreaking at Union Bay and the lack of national regulation. Yet, despite these developments, local residents inform that operations at DWR have never ceased, with the former US government-owned vessel NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223) ready to be scrapped.

Given its age and type, the NOAAS Miller Freeman ship is likely to contain high amounts of hazardous substances in its structures, such as toxic paints and asbestos, which are a threat to humans and local wildlife, including shellfish.

The ship was sold at auction in 2013. The Government Services Agency cautioned bidders about the presence of asbestos in pipe insulations, floor tiles, and wallboards. Without mentioning the exact amounts of hazardous materials, the bidding documents specifically recommended the buyer(s) to not release asbestos fibers by “cutting, crushing, sanding, disassembling”, operations that will take place at DWR once the vessel is completely pulled out of the water.

In addition to stopping the work in Union Bay, a federally designated zone of water that is biologically significant, the groups call on the Federal Government and the Province to regulate shipbreaking in Canada and mandate that vessels be recycled in a safe and environmentally sound manner at proper industrial sites that ensure a contained environment.

Source: https://maritimefairtrade.org/ngos-local-residents-worry-about-breaking-of-asbestos-laden-vessel-at-union-bay-british-columbia/

THE International Maritime Organization (IMO) has highlighted its work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping at the annual gathering of Asia Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies (APHoMSA), remotely hosted by the Cook Islands recently.

The IMO delegation encouraged participation from the region to IMO’s Second Symposium on low- and zero-carbon fuels for shipping, which will focus on “Ensuring a just and inclusive transition towards low-carbon shipping.” The symposium will be held on Oct. 21, 2022.

IMO further highlighted a new project on improving the availability of maritime transport costs data for the Pacific region. The project is being implemented by MTCC-Pacific, a center of expertise established by IMO as part of the Global MTCC Network and hosted by the Pacific Community and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program.

Transport costs are particularly important in the Pacific region, where some of the States most vulnerable to climate change are located. These States are largely dependent on shipping for trade, including imports of essential goods, and are already facing relatively high shipping and trade costs.

Participating States were also reminded of the invitation from the Marine Environment Protection Committee to submit concrete proposals on the revision of the Initial IMO GHG Strategy.

An update was also provided at the meeting regarding the IMO Regional Presence Office for the Pacific Islands region, which is set to be established in Fiji, following its selection as the host country. IMO updated on the progress toward the signing of a host country memorandum of understanding between IMO and Fiji.

The APHoMPSA meeting covered a range of important matters, including marine environment protection, ship safety and security, seafarer welfare, and women in maritime.

Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/08/24/business/maritime/imo-highlights-need-to-cut-greenhouse-emissions/1855701

Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), the largest terminal facility in Saudi Arabia, has been selected by the Ministry of Transport, Bangladesh, to operate the new terminal, the Patenga Container Terminal at the Chittagong Port.

The port of Chittagong, which was recently named Chattogram, handled a record volume of 3.2 million TEU in 2021’s financial year. This is the busiest port in the Bay of Bengal, and it serves as the transit corridor for around 90% of Bangladesh’s imports and exports of ocean cargo. The newest PCT Terminal has about 600m of quayside, can handle around 500,000 tonnes of throughput a year, and is worth $240 mn. The new terminal can dock three vessels at once, which will go a long way in alleviating the port congestion at Chattogram port.

Gagan Seksaria, the director of global investments at RSGT, stated that the rapid growth of Chittagong port’s cargo volume necessitated further investment in modern equipment, advanced technology, and building new human capacity. He went on to say that the project fits well with RSGT’s competencies and their expansion strategy for emerging markets and that they would be able to contribute significantly to Bangladesh’s growing economy.

General average has been declared for the ZIM Charleston after stacks of containers caught fire on board the vessel earlier this month.

The fire broke out in a cargo hold while the Seaspan-owned containership was navigating off Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 8. It has been reported that approximately 300 containers may have been affected by fire, heat and smoke, as well as water damage from firefighting operations.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire and gauge full extent of the damage.

Meanwhile, the ship’s charterer ZIM has declared general average, according to a Monday update from claims consultancy WK Webster.

General average is principle of maritime law requiring cargo owners to share with the shipowner or charterer the costs associated with rescuing a vessel in a casualty event.

WK Webster said it is in contact with average adjusters to ascertain the terms of the GA security required from cargo interests prior delivery.

The Hong Kong-flagged vessel is reported to have berthed at a container terminal in Colombo, where affected containers were discharged on August 12, WK Webster said.

Source:https://www.marinelink.com/news/general-average-declared-firestricken-zim-498951

Barge TBS 3301 loaded with 9722 tons of coal, was caught in bad weather off Kangean island, Java sea, Indonesia, in mid-July, and developed portside list. Barge was under tow by tug RIMAU 33 from East Kalimantan to Power Station PLTU Celukan Bawang, northern Bali. Tug managed to complete towage, arriving at Celukan Bawang on Jul 29, but wasn’t docked because terminal has been occupied by other ships or ship. Barge has been brought to anchor, list increased, so finally, she rested on bottom by bow part, or probably, was intentionally grounded to avoid capsizing. Not clear yet how to salvage barge and coal, and avoid massive coal loss, fraught with threat of water and beach pollution.