Orca AI, the developer of the first automated situational awareness platform, has partnered with Maran Tankers Management (MTM), to further develop the fleet’s situational awareness and safe navigation in congested waterways.

Orca AI is bringing pioneering AI technologies to the shipping industry to maximize voyage safety and operational efficiency for ships and fleets. Powered by maritime purpose-built machine learning and computer vision algorithms, Orca AI’s automated situational awareness platform empowers crews on-board to make data-driven decisions in congested waters. The platform allows fleet managers and ships owners to have better transparency of their fleet safety performance and better identify areas that can be further improved.

The intelligence gained through Orca AI significantly enhances merchant shipping safety, which is facing a myriad of safety challenges with the increased ship congestion over the oceans in the past 2 years. Nearly 4,000 maritime accidents occur annually and a number of these are partly caused by low situational awareness in congested areas and human error, as well as a fundamental lack of insight and insufficient data on potential incidents.

Mark Pearson, Managing Director at Maran Tankers Management (MTM), “Maritime crude oil transport is a highly complex business. Our safety-first approach together with our openness to technological innovation drives us to be on a constant lookout for cutting-edge solutions to lower safety risks. With Orca AI, MTM fleet crews now have additional highly advanced navigational equipment to use which allow data driven, real time decisions to be made.

Yarden Gross, CEO, and co-founder of Orca AI: “We are thrilled that an industry leader as Maran Tankers Management (MTM), has chosen Orca AI to further enhance its fleet safety. Greek shipping has always been a cornerstone of global sea transport, and today it leads in adopting new cutting-edge technologies. We’re delighted to accompany Maran Tankers Management (MTM), as they continue to guide the way at sea.”

Resource: AJOT

The in-depth research report Global Maritime Safety Management Systems Market published by MarketsandResearch.biz includes 100+ pages of analysis on business strategy adopted by key and emerging industry players and delivers know-how of the current market development, landscape, technologies, drivers, opportunities, market viewpoint, and status. This industry study report strives to provide readers with detailed data on every area of the market.

The study contains a comprehensive review of major significant developments in the Maritime Safety Management Systems Market. The Maritime Safety Management Systems industry value status is now included in the industry report. This report’s competitive landscape provides a thorough overview of the market’s key vendors/manufacturers. The study looked at the major factors affecting market growth, as well as the opportunities, challenges, and dangers that key competitors and the industry as a whole face.

The United States and China are expected to use Asia’s top security meeting this week to trade blows over everything from Taiwan’s sovereignty to the war in Ukraine, although both sides have indicated a willingness to discuss managing differences.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, which attracts top-level military officials, diplomats and weapons makers from around the globe, will take place June 10-12 in Singapore, the first time the event has been held since 2019 after it was postponed twice because of COVID-19.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address the meeting in a virtual session, organisers said.

On the sidelines of the summit, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defence General Wei Fenghe are expected to hold their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office.

“We expect, from our perspective, the substance of that meeting to be focused on managing competition in regional and global issues,” a senior U.S. official said.

Chinese media have also said Beijing will use the meeting to discuss cooperation with the United States.

Austin and Wei are likely to then use speeches over the weekend to re-affirm their commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, while delivering some pointed remarks in the direction of the other.

Relations between China and the United States have been tense in recent months, with the world’s two largest economies clashing over everything from Chinese belligerence towards Taiwan, its military activity in the South China Sea and Beijing’s attempts to expand influence in the Pacific region.

“The key issue this year is inevitably going to be the U.S.-China competitive relationship,” said Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation at The International Institute for Strategic Studies, the think tank that organises the event.

“There’s a new sense of urgency with regards to the People’s Liberation Army’s ongoing modernisation and the assertiveness that we’ve seen from China in the last two years.”

Although the summit is focused on Asian security issues, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will remain central to discussions. The conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and reduced cities to rubble, entered its 100th day last week.

Ukraine will send a delegation to the meeting but the Russians will not be attending, according to a source familiar with the list of attendees.

“American participants will use the occasion to criticise China’s strategic partnership with Russia,” said Li Mingjiang, associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“We’ll see some inferences of the China-Russia partnership as a coalition of autocracies … China will defend their relationship with Russia, their position and policy in response to Ukraine.”

‘COME OUT SWINGING’
With U.S. military and political capital soaked up by the war in Ukraine, Austin will be under pressure to convince China’s rivals in Asia that they can rely on Washington.

“They say that China is this huge threat and they’re even saying it’s an acute threat. Yet it seems a major part of the attention and resources are basically going to Europe,” said Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official. “It’s not about words, it’s about walking the walk.”

Bilateral talks between the United States and China, and much of the conference, will likely focus on Taiwan.

China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has increased military activity near the island over the past two years, responding to what it calls “collusion” between Taipei and Washington.

“The U.S. is going to come out swinging on Taiwan specifically but also China’s growing assertiveness throughout the Indo-Pacific,” said Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst at the RAND Corporation, a think tank.

This month, Biden said the United States would get involved militarily should China attack Taiwan, although the administration has since clarified that U.S. policy on the issue has not changed and Washington does not support Taiwan’s independence.

Washington has had a long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity on whether it would defend Taiwan militarily.

The Pacific islands have also emerged as a key front in Washington’s strategic competition with China.

Biden’s special envoy is due to visit the Marshall Islands next week amid growing U.S. worries about China’s efforts to expand its influence in the region. Last week, a virtual meeting of 10 Pacific foreign ministers hosted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Fiji agreed to defer consideration of a Chinese proposal for a sweeping trade and security pact.

Also looming over the Shangri-La Dialogue is the increasing military threat posed by North Korea, which has carried out at least 18 rounds of weapons tests this year, underscoring its evolving nuclear and missile arsenals.

Officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan said on Wednesday that North Korea’s recent missile tests were “serious, unlawful” provocations.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will open the conference on Friday with a keynote speech in which he is expected to call for peaceful resolutions to disputes in the Asia-Pacific region.
Source: Reuters (Reporting Idrees Ali and Chen Lin; writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

LR and HELMEPA (Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Authority) have marked the 1000th incident registered on their Virtual Incident Reporting Platform (VIRP) with a ceremony at the Posidonia 2022 exhibition.

HELMEPA’s VIRP allows shipping companies to anonymously report accidents, incidents and near-misses on board their ships, strengthening maritime safety culture and helping the industry learn from ‘High Potential Incidents’ which can cause danger to life and property.

The milestone marks a shift in safety culture in the Eastern Mediterranean as HELMEPA celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding.

Funded by Lloyds Register Foundation, this HELMEPA project works to improve safety at sea by enhancing the understanding of new and enduring challenges in maritime safety in the Eastern Mediterranean. The area is one of the global hotspots for marine accidents and incidents and, because an estimated 75% to 96% of these events are still attributed to human error, the need for a fully implemented safety culture is still an issue of major concern for the shipping industry and maritime stakeholders.

The Foundation’s grant to help improve safety in the region has so far helped enhance the sharing of critical information and ‘lessons learned’ among HELMEPA’s membership through the launch of the VIRP, while also sponsoring training programmes and simulation seminars for seafarers and shipping professionals, workshops and a wide Stay-Safe-at-Sea campaign for the fishing and pleasure craft sectors.

Working in partnership with Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation, information on HELMEPA’s project’s aims and activities has been received by an estimated 180,000 maritime professionals, boaters and coastal inhabitants across Greece and Cyprus, helping to strengthen a culture of safety among seafarers, the shipping industry and marine communities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Philippa Charlton, Chief Marketing Officer, Lloyd’s Register, said:
“Working together for a safer world is the purpose that drives us at LR. This is why we are proud to collaborate with HELMEPA and celebrate the strong culture of safety the Virtual Incident Reporting Platform (VIRP) has fostered. Seeing the tangible results of our partnership is a tribute to the fantastic work that HELMEPA do in the Eastern Mediterranean region to improve maritime safety.”

Dr Tim Slingsby, Director of Skills and Education, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said:
“Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of people who live and work at sea is central to Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s purpose as a global charity. We’re incredibly proud to partner with HELMEPA and to be part of its pioneering work in the Eastern Mediterranean. In addition, the relationship between HELMEPA and our trading partner Lloyd’s Register is yet more evidence of our shared objective to engineer a safer world.”

Ms Olga Stavropoulou, Director General of HELMEPA, said:
“Nurturing a maritime safety culture is essential for the well-being of hundreds of thousands of seafarers as well as the port, fishing and boating communities of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Thanks to the valuable and continuing support of our Associate Member LR as well as Lloyd’s Register Foundation we have achieved to engage, inform and train approximately 2,000 seafarers and shipping professionals, fishermen and boaters in Greece and Cyprus, along with our project partners CYMEPA and Dynamarine, making an impact on the protection of human life at sea.”

yberspace has a gradually expanding structure that connects new devices, systems, and users every new second. This causes threats from cyberspace to change constantly, making it impossible to combat them without cooperation.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, government and private sector operations dramatically changed at a never-before-seen pace. Meanwhile, a significant increase was registered in threats targeting the digital security of critical public services, healthcare organizations, and the finance and banking sectors in 2020 and 2021. Globally, cybercrime rose by over 200%.

From this point of view, collaboration has become more and more vital in order to fight cybercrime and create cyber resilience.

A comprehensive platform

In recent years, Turkey has put considerable effort in establishing a clustering platform in the cybersecurity domain. In October 2017, public sector institutions, academia, and major private sector cybersecurity companies gathered to discuss potential avenues for cooperation among each other, ultimately coming up with the Turkish Cyber Security Cluster. Today, the Cluster operates under the coordination of the Digital Transformation Office and the Presidency of Defence Industries with over 200 members.

The Turkish Cyber Security Cluster pursues several goals, including:

• Increasing the number of cybersecurity companies;
• Supporting the development of member companies’ technical, administrative, and financial capabilities;
• Improving the branding of products and services;
• Improving the standards of the cybersecurity ecosystem;
• Increasing the competitiveness of member companies in national and global markets;
• Improving the human capital in the field of cybersecurity; and
• Increasing awareness about cybersecurity across society.

Public-private partnerships

Though there is no legal obligation for the private sector to take part in such cooperation, emphasis ought to be kept on the mutual trust and cooperation between public and private institutions. The key motivation behind these efforts is to strengthen buyer-supplier relationships, common distribution channels, common networking opportunities, and R&D activities conducted by universities with companies that can create better opportunities and benefits for both parties. Because of common economic interests, companies in the cluster can become more productive and innovative and therefore more competitive than companies operating alone.

It is almost impossible to achieve success in the field of cybersecurity without the support of the highest-level public authority.

The Digital Transformation Office (DTO) of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey was established in 2018 to unify the fragmented activities around digital transformation, cybersecurity, research and development of national technologies, big data, and artificial intelligence under a single roof.

Some of the DTO’s responsibilities include preparing the roadmap for the digital transformation of the public sector; developing projects to improve cyber security; and fostering cooperation among public and private sector organizations, universities, and non-governmental organizations in order to create a digital transformation ecosystem and encourage their participation in the design and delivery of digital public services.

The DTO’s main duties in the cybersecurity domain include:

• Establishing unique leadership in national cyber security;
• Developing projects to enhance cybersecurity awareness;
• Establishing a strong cyberthreat intelligence sharing platform;
• Providing international cooperation against cyber threats;
• Improving the understanding of cybersecurity as an enabler of the digital future.

A methodology and clear strategy

In order to achieve these goals, the DTO wrote a guide defining a methodology for managing cyber domain related risks, minimum cybersecurity baselines and compliance mechanisms. After almost one year of comprehensive work to prepare under the coordination of the Digital Transformation Office, Turkey’s “Information and Communication Security Guide” was licenced under the Creative Commons public licence and published in July 2020.

Moreover, Turkey published the first national level Cybersecurity strategy and action plan back in 2013. The third strategy and action plan covering the 2020-2023 period was then published in 2020.

The basic goals of the current strategy and action plan include:

• 24/7 protection of critical Turkish infrastructure against cyber-attacks,
• National technology development to meet cybersecurity needs,
• Improving readiness vis-à-vis cyber-incidents,
• Improving cyber security awareness,
• Establishing an information security culture,
• Investing in human capital and improving professionals’ skills,
• Developing mechanisms for information sharing and cooperation with national and international stakeholders.

As mentioned, Turkey’s current efforts focus on improving the understanding of cybersecurity as an enabler of the digital future.

In the military context, cyberspace is mostly defined as cyber warfare: the importance of cybersecurity is highlighted in correlation with cybercrime, advanced persistent threats, cyber-attacks, and cyber-terrorism, too.

However, from another point of view, the cyber domain also represents an opportunity for capacity-building, innovation, and development. This approach can be named as a “positive cybersecurity approach”.

With a positive cybersecurity approach, international collaboration, improving business-to-business relations as well as cyber-threats information sharing will be the key element to achieving cyber-resilience worldwide.

These guidelines have been developed to assist flag State administrations to effectively implement their responsibilities with respect to the ship inspection and certification duties under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006) updated to reflect 2014, 2016 and 2018 amendments.

The guidelines are intended to provide supplementary practical information and guidance to flag States that can be adapted to specifically reflect their national laws and other measures implementing the MLC, 2006.

It must be emphasized that these guidelines are intended as a practical resource that can be used by any government that finds them helpful.

In all cases, the relevant national laws or regulations or collective bargaining agreements or other measures implementing the MLC, 2006, in the flag State should be viewed as the authoritative statement of the requirements in the flag State.

The remaining sections of Chapter 1 provide general information on the structure, key concepts and terminology used in the MLC, 2006.

Chapter 2 is divided into two sections. The first section provides an overview of the flag State inspection system obligations in the MLC, 2006, and contains information with respect to actions or determinations that flag States or the competent authority in the flag State may take for ship inspection and certification. The second section provides more specific guidance on the process of maritime labour inspection and certification under the MLC, 2006.

Chapter 3 addresses the requirements of the MLC, 2006, that are to be inspected and, if required, certified, on all ships covered by the MLC, 2006. It contains guidance as to what a flag State inspector (or a recognized organization (RO) that has been delegated this task by a flag State) would check in verifying compliance. It also provides some examples of deficiencies.

Chapter 4 outlines a range of actions that can be taken if deficiencies or non-conformities are identified by flag State inspectors (or reported to the flag State by ROs acting on its behalf).

Source: kassidiaris

Finding Solutions for Maritime Security Challenges in the Tri-Border Area
by Mary Fides A. Quintos

The Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have intensified maritime security cooperation in the Tri-Border Area with the recent launch of the trilateral air and maritime patrols as vital components of the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement. As experience in the Strait of Malacca and the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden has shown, coordinated patrols enhance law enforcement and serve as useful deterrence against illegal activities at sea. These regions also provide other lessons in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships that countries in the Tri-Border Area can draw from. Notwithstanding differences in geography, politics, and resources, relevant initiatives that can be considered and tailored for the region are valuable in arriving at sustainable and long-term solutions for the Tri-Border Area.

The tri-border area: issues and responses

The tri-border area between the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia includes the Sulu-Celebes Sea region, which covers 900,000 square kilometers and hosts approximately USD 40 billion dollars’ worth of cargo annually. The East Kalimantan trading route, in particular, is vital to the Philippines’ energy security, where roughly 70 percent of the country’s coal imports amounting to USD 800 million dollars are transported from Indonesia every year. This high value trade, however, is vulnerable to maritime crimes due to weak governance, high levels of poverty, and longstanding armed conflicts in the area.

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Center reported a total of 23 actual and attempted incidents of abduction of crew from ships in the Sulu-Celebes Sea region from March 2016 to June 2017. Out of the 59 abducted crew from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, 2 were killed, 39 were released/rescued; and 18 are still in captivity at the time of writing. It is particularly alarming that the perpetrators were bold enough to attack at broad daylight, and would violently open fire at the targeted ship, crew, and even maritime law enforcers. Moreover, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), an Islamic extremist group based in southern Philippines, claimed responsibility for most of these incidents, which raises concern over their growing reach in the region.

The vastness of the area that needs to be safeguarded and the transnational impact of these maritime crimes propelled the governments of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to sign the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) on 14 July 2016. Under the ambit of the TCA, rotational naval and air patrols were launched in 2017, and Maritime Coordinating Centers were established in Tarakan, Indonesia; Tawau, Malaysia; and Bongao, Philippines that would serve as operational command and monitoring stations.

The Philippine government, in particular, also implemented the following regulations and guidelines effective June 2017: the establishment of a Recommended Transit Corridor (RTC) between Moro Gulf and Basilan Strait where vessels are required to provide notification to relevant authorities prior to transit and where law enforcement units are deployed to respond immediately to incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships; the implementation of Safety, Security and Environmental (SSEN) Numbering Systems for all Philippine-registered vessels for improved tracking and monitoring; and the prescription of radio communication equipment onboard Philippine-registered vessels.

What else can be done?

Ship protection measures. According to the booklet on “Best Management Practices to Deter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and in the Arabian Sea Area (BMP)”, shipowners are encouraged to include several ship protection measures such as deploying additional lookouts on the vessel for enhanced vigilance and watchkeeping; constructing physical barriers at vulnerable access points; using water spray and foam monitors; installing CCTV cameras and alarms; and establishing an internal safe muster point or citadel. Although the applicability of these recommendations varies with every ship type and risk assessment, shipowners have the flexibility to determine what is most appropriate for them.

Involvement of external forces. The lack of a functioning government to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia was compensated by the involvement of extra-regional forces. For example, the European Naval Force Somalia (EU-NAVFOR) conducts nonstop surveillance of vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden. Also, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Operation Ocean Shield provides naval escorts to transiting ships and facilitates information-sharing between NATO governments and the international shipping community. Likewise, the Combined Task Force-151, which consists of 15 states from Asia-Pacific and Europe, also conducts various anti-piracy missions including patrol operations in the Gulf of Aden.

Countries in and surrounding the Tri-Border Area may now have increased capacity and resources for law enforcement, but as Ian Storey rightly pointed out, year-round patrol operations can be very costly in terms of manpower, hardware, fuel, and maintenance. Thus, assistance from external players can be useful to increase capability and expertise. Signatories to the TCA have already indicated the potential involvement of neighboring states in this initiative. Allowing the participation of extra-regional players, including the major powers, also merit careful consideration in terms of the kind of assistance, timing, and the extent of involvement.

Adequate legal framework. Beyond increased capacity to make arrests, the successful prosecution of criminals is crucial to bring accountability and send a strong signal that the fight is serious and steadfast. The mobility of criminals especially across porous borders underscores the need for legal cooperation among states.

One of the pillars of the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) is the creation of legal frameworks to criminalize piracy and armed robbery against ships and to make adequate provisions for the exercise of jurisdiction, conduct of investigations and prosecution of offenders. In the pursuit of this objective, inter-agency legal workshops were conducted among parties to the DCoC.

Apart from incidents of piracy that occur in the exclusive economic zone, other types of attacks on ships are not governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). For instance, violence within the territorial limits of a state constitutes armed robbery at sea, while attacks that are politically motivated may be regarded as maritime terrorism. Hence, international conventions such as the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA), and the 1979 Hostages Convention, among others, aim to supplement UNCLOS and provide a framework for international legal cooperation on prosecution or extradition. These Conventions allow for offenders to be indicted in (1) the territory of the state where the attacked vessel is registered, (2) in the state where the crime took place, (3) in the state of nationality of the offenders, or (4) in the state where the offenders are found after an escape. It is helpful if countries in the Tri-Border Area would ratify these instruments and incorporate them in their national legislations to eliminate places of refuge for offenders. Thus far, only the Philippines has ratified the SUA Convention, and only the Philippines and Malaysia are parties to the Hostages Convention.

Land-sea nexus of crimes. Maritime crimes, in general, are mere manifestations of deep-seated problems on land. Planning, network, and refuge of offenders at sea are also land-based. Analysts believe that the conflict in Aceh and the lack of economic opportunities have led many to turn to piracy in the Strait of Malacca as a source of living. A significant decrease in attacks, however, was correlated to the normalcy in the area following the 2005 Peace Agreement.

In the case of Somalia, although piracy was successfully contained for some years, a resurgence of piracy attacks has been reported in 2017 possibly due to the decreased presence of anti-piracy forces and complacency of shipping companies in implementing best practices. Moreover, instability and food insecurity caused by drought, famine, and illegal fishing by foreign vessels persist.

Sea-based operations, therefore, may only serve as a band-aid solution; maritime crimes cannot be completely eradicated without addressing the land-based sources of the problem.

Conclusion

There is no single formula nor a flawless method for suppressing all types of crimes at sea. Most of the time, the tactics of offenders are so organized and evolving fast that dealing with them requires multiple combinations of innovative and holistic strategies. What works for one region may not necessarily work for others, but there is always value in learning from others’ experiences. Seeking other best practices in combating maritime crimes in the Tri-Broder Area should also be a continuous endeavor, especially since resolving the underlying problems takes time. More importantly, the role of cooperation not only among states, but including the private sector and other stakeholders, should be paramount. After all, security is everybody’s responsibility.

Source: fsi

Genting Hong Kong’s German shipbuilder MV Werften is reportedly teetering on the brink of insolvency as the company finds itself in protracted negotiations with the German federal and state government over long-promised financial assistance. Earlier today, January 7, Genting Hong Kong requested a suspension in trading of its stock pending an announcement, while in Germany its shipyard management informed employees that it would not be making December wage payments scheduled for today.

In meetings with the labor unions, MV Werften stressed that the company still had significant cash balances, but that due to loan covenants it was forced to postpone wage payment till next week. “The heart would have liked to do it and the cash register would have allowed it,” Carsten Haake, Managing Director of MV Werften told German media after a meeting with the unions. “We have 30 million euros ($34 million) in liquidity, but there are legal frameworks under which we were not able to pay the wages today.”

A spokesperson for the German unions at the shipyard said that they believe the future hangs in the balance with the financial talks that are also complicated by politics. The shipyards currently have approximately 2,000 workers with 1,600 reportedly working on a giant new cruise ship called Global Dream that is being built for Genting’s Dream Cruises. Work on the 208,000 gross ton cruise ship has been delayed several times first by the pandemic and then the financial troubles but it was expected to be delivered this year.

On January 2, 2022, Genting Hong Kong apprised shareholders of the situation in what it called a voluntary announcement. The company said that the continued pandemic, and specifically the emergence of the Delta and now Omicron variants, had impacted the recovery of its cruise operations. Genting Hong Kong is the parent company of U.S.-based Crystal Cruises, which resumed operations in the summer of 2021, as well as Dream Cruises, which is operating cruise ships on restricted programs from Singapore, Hong Kong, and as of last week Taiwan, as well as Star Cruises, which just started cruises from Malaysia.

Genting and MV Werften’s financial difficulties began in the summer of 2020 when all of their operations were suspended due to the pandemic. Genting Hong Kong completed a recapitalization which in part was based on loan guarantees from the state government where the shipyard is located as well as the federal government’s Economic Stabilization Fund. An initial bridge loan supplied in 2020 was used to complete construction of the Crystal Endeavor, an expedition cruise ship, and in June 2021, Genting reported that it had reached agreements with Germany for financial support to be used to run the shipyard and complete the construction of the Global Dream.

In mid-December 2021, in danger of breaching its minimum liquidity covenant, MV Werften sought to draw down $88 million from a “backstop loan” provided by the State of Mecklenburg Vorpommern and the WSF stabilization fund.  The state informed Genting that it did not believe the company had met the conditions required to access the loan while Genting contends it “satisfied all drawdown conditions.”

Genting went to court seeking an injunction to force the release of the monies. The court initially sided with Genting, but later lowed the amount that Genting could draw and then ruled to suspend any immediate payments and ordered a further hearing scheduled for January 11. Pending the outcome of the hearing and the negotiations, Genting Hong Kong reported that it will continue to consider various options to address the potential liquidity needs of the group.

Speculation in Germany is that MV Werften will be declared insolvent, which could begin a protected recapitalization of the shipyard operation. Work would likely be curtained at the company’s three shipyards with the mayor of Mecklenburg Vorpommern reporting that he expects the shipyard would close permanently and that he was planning to buy the location to convert it into a multi-use industrial park. The situation is continuing to evolve, with late today the German media outlet Oostee-Zeitung reporting that the former owner of the shipyard has expressed interest in buying the locations in Stralsund and Warnemünde for use with the emerging offshore wind power industry.

Source: maritime-executive

The Danish navy has released three suspected Nigerian pirates who were picked up by a frigate in the Gulf of Guinea in November after it failed to find a country in the region to take them, the Danish Armed Forces said on Friday.

The three, who had been detained aboard the frigate Esbern Snare, were put to sea on Thursday in a small dinghy with enough food and fuel for them to reach shore safely to shore.

“They have no relation to Denmark, and the crime they have been charged with was committed far from Denmark. They simply do not belong here, and that’s why I think it’s the right thing to do,” Danish Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup said in a statement.

Forces on the frigate, which deployed to the Gulf of Guinea in October, killed four pirates in waters south of Nigeria in late November in an operation to protect shipping amid heightened security risks from pirates.

Four other suspects were taken on board the frigate but Denmark failed to reach an agreement with countries in the region to transfer them.

The fourth suspect, who has been in hospital in Ghana with injuries, could not safely be released at sea and has therefore been brought to Denmark for prosecution, the Justice Ministry said.

He will be put in front of a judge for preliminary questioning in a Copenhagen court later on Friday. His lawyer could not immediately be reached for a comment.

The release, made in accordance with international rules, took place near Nigerian territorial waters south of Niger Delta, the armed forces told Reuters.

The Gulf of Guinea has been a piracy hot spot for years, but incidents have decreased since national authorities stepped up security efforts aided by foreign naval ships.

Source: marinelink