A Marshall Islands flagged livestock carrier listing from hull damage off Australia’s western coast was directed to the Port of Geraldton.

On Monday night, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tasked its Challenger search and rescue jet to fly over the vessel Barkly Pearl, and it was able to confirm damage to the starboard side of the vessel, which was listing to port.

AMSA General Manager of Response Mark Morrow said there were significant concerns for the integrity of the vessel and its ability to safely reach Indonesia, its planned destination. The 1993-built vessel had been sailing from Jakarta, India.

“We held concerns about the integrity of the vessel and the potential for environmental issues” Morrow said. “As a result, AMSA issued a direction for the vessel to make its way to safety in the Port of Geraldton.”

AMSA officials are currently working with Western Australian authorities to ensure that the vessel arrives safely in the Port of Geraldton. This includes managing any COVID-19 risks on arrival in line with state protocols.

Source: marinelink

Maritime safety is a pressing issue which KIMO has campaigned on since its inception. Due to climate change, stormy weather is expected to occur more often. Container transport by means of shipping is increasing annually. Container vessels are getting bigger. Traffic routes in the North Sea are becoming more crowded due to offshore windparks. Considering these factors, stringent maritime safety precautions are more important now than ever.

The recent MSC Zoe incident has highlighted some of the shortfalls in the current regulations regarding maritime transport. Not only does container loss threaten the marine and coastal environment but coastal communities do not, at present, have legal recourse to financial compensation for the costs of cleaning up non-toxic spills.

KIMO has campaigned since 2005 on this important issue to prevent pollution of our seas.

We continue to call for:

1) the establishment of a Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Non-Toxic Substances including strict liability on ship owners for pollution from their vessels, compulsory insurance for all vessels and a reserve fund to cover any shortfalls in compensation

(KIMO Resolution 1/05)

2) the establishment of the following measures:
– That adequate load planning is implemented and enforced
– That a robust system for reporting of lost containers is implemented
– That automatically activated beacons be attached to all containers to facilitate retrieval
– That the construction criteria for containers with regard to current stacking heights are reviewed
– That specifications and maintenance regimes for the twistlocks that attach containers be reviewed
– That financial penalties and compensation regimes for the retrieval of lost containers be introduced

Source: kimointernational

The development of maritime technologies has significantly enhanced the safety level of ship navigation today, however human error is still widely recognised as a main cause of maritime incidents. Cyprus-based maritime technology and marine risk firm Prevention at Sea is offering a technology solution to address the human element in maritime safety.

Petros Achtypis, CEO at Prevention at Sea, reckons that maritime manpower tends to be the weak link for safe ship operations.

“Records prove that more than 70% of accidents affecting maritime safety are attributed to poor judgement, lack of common sense and critical thinking, miscommunication, and lack of shipping knowledge. All of which can be summarised under the term human element failure,” Achtypis says.

Despite the adoption of multiple industry initiatives, rules and procedures, audit results analysed by Prevention at Sea and the Centre of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences of the European University in Cyprus (CERIDES) show that the early warning signals of unsafe practices are not being detected. This directly compromises safe fleet operations, impacts reputation, and leads to financial losses.

According to Achtypis, the aim of the company is to re-establish a genuine, industry-wide commitment to “safety first”.

“To achieve this, we believe that the industry needs a standardised methodology which proactively detects clear signals that correspond to unsafe behaviours or situations before they can escalate and cause real problems,” Achtypis says.

Prevention at Sea has designed its Human ELement Maritime Enhancement Tool (H.EL.M.E.T.), a human-centred risk assessment methodology. It introduces the appreciation of a system-focused view, in which the interrelationships of people, processes, awareness, decisions and organisational actions are all assessed.

In order to enhance the tool, Prevention at Sea has assembled a committee of 15 maritime safety heavyweights, including experts representing international organisations, the industry and academia, from across the world, specialising in risk assessment, communications and management system standards.

The company has also introduced a new company model, by having software developers and maritime experts under the same umbrella, something rare in the shipping industry.

“Conducting shipping business safely remains at the very core of our industry and as we head into an unprecedented phase of change, never has it been so important. With so many new rules and requirements to contend with, seafarers and shipping companies are struggling to cope. Those onboard and ashore need supportive guidance from experts enabling in-depth knowledge of requirements, as well as the early detection of unsafe practices,” Achtypis concludes.

Source: splash247

Rohde & Schwarz signed a contract with NTT Communications Co., Ltd.to provide a state-of-the-art IP-based, high quality and reliable maritime integrated communications system for the Philippine Coast Guard. The system, called NAVICS®, will be integrated into two 94 meter multi-role response vessels (MRRV) for the Philippine Coast Guard. The ships will be constructed by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. with completion of work and delivery scheduled for 2022.The MRRVs will be financed by the Japanese government, corresponding to Phase II of the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project.

Rohde & Schwarz will enhance situation awareness and improve incident reporting with dedicated data communications capabilities, including R&S Postman, a message handling solution, with Map Track, a blue force tracking functionality. This will enable the ship’s crew to effectively exchange information (voice and data) with the fleet, shore stations, other joint forces and governmental authorities. The system ensures a security architecture that allows secure, trusted and tamper-proof communications, i.e. third parties will not be able to interfere with information exchange.

“We are very proud to have been selected by the Philippine Coast Guard, MSB Shipyard together with NTT Communications for this important program,” said Jacques Jourda, Managing Director of Rohde & Schwarz Japan. “Rohde & Schwarz has provided more than 300 ship platforms with state-of-the-art communications technology. We make sure that we deliver a safe, future-ready investment for our maritime customers on time and on budget.”

In addition to external Line-of-Sight (V/UHF) and Beyond-Line-of-Sight (HF) communications, the system will provide onboard communications with smartphone-like intuitive handling. The compact Wi-Fi based wireless voice terminals provide a unique benefit of uninterrupted, high-quality communication while on the move.

Source: navalnews

An alarm buzzes. The marine analytics software at the onshore Maritime Enforcement Agency’s Command and Control (C2) Centre has detected some suspicious movement off the port of Singapore. An oil tanker has shifted its bearings significantly and is charting a course that departs from its historical routes.

Concurrently, the automated tracking system onboard a coast guard vessel alerts its crew to the oil tanker’s movement – it is on a collision path with a container ship. The system then transmits live footage of the situation on the ground to the C2 Centre.

With the help of such valuable information, authorities immediately intercept the oil tanker in this hypothetical scenario, thwarting an attack by terrorists.

Such access to real-time intelligence gathered by AI technologies is vital. Authorities are able to gain a clear overview of such maritime situations, enabling them to make informed and swift decisions.

This is a far-reaching update from rudimentary systems that rely largely on manual labour, as they tend to be inadequate due to the limited endurance and surveillance coverage of physical crews.

Compare this with traditional systems that relied largely on human efforts to identify such potentially catastrophic situations, and usually fell short, mainly due to human beings’ limited endurance and fallible nature.

The difference is automation, which is key to combating maritime security threats such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, piracy and terrorism. The ability to analyse reams of data in real time is critical, especially in emergencies.

Helping the maritime community steer towards safer waters is our AGILTM Maritime Situational Awareness System (MSAS) that integrates surveillance information from both onshore and offshore assets to enhance security operations at the sea.

Eyes on the Sea

The first component of the MSAS is the Vessel Traffic Mobile Station (VTMoS), which integrates with a vessel’s existing navigation system. Once installed on either a manned or unmanned vessel, the VTMoS transforms the vessel into a mobile surveillance centre, serving as “eyes” on the sea.

The enhanced surveillance coverage is attributed to the system’s Radar Extractor and Tracker technology, which augments the vessel’s navigational radar with the detection capabilities equivalent to a high-performance surveillance radar. As a result, even smaller targets that usually escape notice, such as rubber boats commonly used in illegal operations, can now be detected.

These mobile centres extend the surveillance coverage beyond the range of coastal radars, and the coverage can be easily scaled by increasing one’s fleet size.

Further boosting the surveillance capabilities, the system’s AI software offers a ‘Track Behavioural Analysis function, which uses algorithms to detect unusual and suspicious vessel movements.

For instance, loitering, shadowing of another vessel, sudden changes in a vessel’s speed and direction, and collision courses are anomalous movements that indicate a potential security threat and trigger alarms.

These unusual behaviours are reported back to the C2 Centre through the Mission Handling Module, which streams live footage through the vessel’s in-built electro-optical camera. Should further investigation be needed, the vessel’s camera functions can be controlled directly from the C2 Centre.

In ensuring efficient operational communication between sea and shore, the VTMoS’ C2 and e-Navigation ready Module offers a one-stop platform – the navigation officer can transmit on-site intelligence to and receive instructions from the C2 Centre simultaneously. This eliminates the hassle of switching between different module stations and also saves space, which is especially important for small vessels.

With intelligence sharing also comes the need for reliable telecommunication linkages. The VTMoS’s Intelligent Datalink Switching feature automatically selects appropriate data transfer media based on the available operating network. It keeps operating costs low while providing real-time status on network availability.

Smarter Surveillance, Safer Seas

Besides offshore assets that provide valuable intelligence, onshore assets at the C2 Centre also strengthen maritime security and surveillance through the use of maritime analytics.

The onshore C2 Centre is equipped with the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS), an in-house vessel tracking system with embedded data analytics that serves as its brain. The system comes with a robust algorithm that has undergone rigorous testing in the busy maritime ports of Singapore and Hong Kong.

The VTMS has an Anomaly Detection and Sense-making Engine that uses data analytics to identify abnormal behaviour of vessels based on maritime rules. Each rule is assigned a score. If a vessel flouts the rules and its aggregate score exceeds a threshold, the authorities will be notified.

Anomaly identification is further reinforced by the VTMS’s Geospatial Pattern Discovery Engine. It compiles a vessel’s historical geospatial data and should it veer off its usual routes, the system will notify the C2 Centre.

Another capability of the VTMS is the Entity Network Analysis. Using big data, the C2 Centre can pinpoint vessels related to blacklisted / watchlist entities even before they enter the point of destination. This gives authorities early insights on the vessels to undergo strict investigation when they arrive.

MSAS is the game changer when it comes to maritime surveillance – advancing with intelligent solutions and analytics technologies to help security agencies make faster and better decisions, paving the way for safer waters – and a safer world.

To find out more, do visit our webpage (https://www.stengg.com/en/products-solutions/maritime-safety-security) for more information.

Maritime Situational Awareness System (MSAS) developed by ST Engineering has been shortlisted as one of the top 5 nominees for the 2020 SAFETY4SEA Awards. The SAFETY4SEA Technology Award is to be awarded to any organization that provided a significant technological achievement or breakthrough or significant contribution in any aspect of maritime safety activity.

Source: ST Engineering

Ship safety is improving, with total loss incidents in a slow but steady decline between 2015 and 2019, according to the inaugural State of Maritime Safety report published by IHS Markit. However, attention must remain on investment in safety amid global market volatility, the report argues.

IHS Markit have officially launched this year’s edition, the State of Maritime Safety 2020 report, which is currently available.

The annual State of Maritime Safety report, sponsored by classification society DNV GL, provides IHS Markit data-led insights and analysis of vessel casualties and total losses, crew fatalities, inspection and detention regimes, and expert maritime industry opinion.

The free report shows that total loss incidents have fallen downwards between 2015 and 2019, accounting for just 0.09% of the world fleet vessel count in 2019, when compared with 0.16% in 2015.

Despite media coverage suggesting there has been a stark rise in the number of total losses due to fire/explosion, IHS Markit Maritime & Trade data shows that the number of losses have remained largely consistent, with a mean average of 30.2 vessels a year.

However, the size of vessels lost to fires and explosions is slowly growing: 196,836 gt in 2019, compared with 156,287 gt in 2015. The uptick of incidents involving larger vessels does raise concerns over the effectiveness of fire-detection and prevention systems available on board.

The report also finds that total losses between 2015 and 2019 have largely occurred after vessels foundered [ships that sank as a result of heavy weather, springing of leaks, or breaking in two], or were wrecked or stranded. Of the former, 301 vessels were recorded, while the latter registered 177 wrecked or stranded ships. The rise in extreme weather events and low investment in repair and upkeep of machinery and hull damage (the top cause of ship accidents), following the 2008 and 2016 economic downturns, are allowing preventable incidents to turn into tragedies, according to the report.

Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of the State of Maritime Safety report’s sponsor, classification society DNV GL, said that shipping must continue to work on and invest in improving safety, even in the toughest of times.

“In times of crisis, it’s important to focus on the basics. For DNV GL as a classification society – this will always be safety. The IHS Markit report shows that shipping is continuing to make progress, slowly but surely reducing the numbers of cases. However, new technologies, operational methods, and risks will require us to keep our focus if we want to continue building on these positive trends. Because safety is at the core of the maritime industry, it is the promise we make to the world, to bring people and goods together – and to do it safely.”

The State of Maritime Safety report also highlights the number of crew members who have lost their lives in shipping incidents within these past five years. Last year alone, 165 seafarers were recorded as killed while 125 were listed as missing.

“It is important that with this report we showed the human lives behind the statistics,” said senior editor Tanya Blake. “When accidents occur, it is not just seafarers that are impacted, but the lives of their families and loved ones too. This alone gives us a moral obligation to continue to raise standards in maritime and ensure the least lives possible are lost.”

Brought to you by the team behind Safety at Sea magazine, the world’s only dedicated monthly maritime safety magazine, the report offers insight into contemporary risks and concerns and highlights problem areas that need more attention and safety solutions from the maritime industry.

Source: safetyatsea