The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) recently issued a marine notice to draw the attention of vessel operators to the importance of planned maintenance in ensuring safe operation of ships and to highlight AMSA’s current focus on planned maintenance during Port State Control inspections.

Recent incidents have demonstrated the potentially serious consequences of a lack of effective maintenance of main engines and power generation systems that can pose serious risks to the safe and pollution-free operation of vessels. In response to this, AMSA will immediately increase focus on planned maintenance during routine Port State Control inspections.

The International Safety Management Code (ISM Code)

Maintenance of the ship and equipment is a requirement of the ISM Code, including that:

• maintenance inspections are held at appropriate intervals
• any non-conformity is reported, with its possible cause, if known
• appropriate corrective action is taken, and
• records of these activities are maintained.

The ISM Code is implemented in Australia through Marine Order 58 (Safe Management of Vessels).

In relation to maintenance, the ISM Code specifies that the vessel’s Safety Management System (SMS) should:

• Identify equipment and technical systems that would cause hazardous situations if they were to suddenly fail.
• Provide for specific measures (ie. regular testing of all equipment including stand-by equipment or systems that are not in continuous use) to ensure the continued reliability of such equipment or systems.

Maintenance activities need to be properly resourced, and procedures must be documented.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

AMSA recognises that a number of factors presented challenges to effective maintenance during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. These include supply chain difficulties in getting necessary parts and specialist expertise to affected vessels.

However, with travel restrictions and quarantine requirements now largely removed in Australia, AMSA expects operators to resume supply of necessary spares and provide support and expertise such as class surveyors, specialist technicians, company representatives, etc.

AMSA recognises that there are still supply chain issues that can delay the provision of spare parts. However, these issues are now well known and AMSA expects that operators anticipate these challenges and make advance provision in planning maintenance to minimise impact.

In exceptional circumstances where spare parts cannot be provided, AMSA expects that the vessel operators will have consulted with the equipment manufacturers, classification society and flag state in preparing appropriate measures to ensure the continued safe operation of equipment and vessel. This could include for example the reduction in maximum continuous rating of an engine, or the provision of towage services in coastal waters.

Given the nature of recent incidents and the potentially serious consequences when effective maintenance has not been completed, AMSA will immediately increase focus on planned maintenance during routine Port State Control inspections to protect the safety of the crew, the vessel and the environment.

Inspections

During Port State Control inspections, AMSA will place a greater focus on planned maintenance of propulsion and auxiliary equipment and associated systems and will take necessary compliance actions to address any identified areas of concern.

This may include the physical attendance of classification society surveyors to verify the condition of critical equipment and its suitability to continue to function under all voyage conditions to maintain safe operations.

Operators should note that this is not a Focused Inspection Campaign (FIC) or Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) of limited duration. It is a sustained focus on an identified area of concern that is part of AMSA’s data driven and risk-based approach to our PSC inspection regime.

Source: https://www.bairdmaritime.com/ausmarine/ausmarine-shipping-and-offshore/amsa-issues-marine-notice-on-planned-maintenance-on-ships/

• Cargo throughput in July grew 2% y-o-y to 62.9 million tons; container throughput rose 1% to 2.2 million TEUs

• Vinamarine reported that while import and export volumes grew, domestic containerized goods contracted

• Economists said goods throughput at Vietnamese ports has not yet regained its growth momentum

Vietnamese seaports posted slim volume growth of 62.9 million tons in July, up 2% year-on-year, and 2.2 million TEUs of container cargo, up 1% y-o-y, reflecting a slow recovery from the COVID-19 impact, a local report said, citing the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

The Vietnam News online report on August 23 quoted Vinamarine as saying that while the volume of imports and exports increased, domestic containerized goods decreased slightly last month.

Economists said that growth of goods throughput at Vietnam’s seaports was still low and had not regained its momentum to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.

They attributed the sluggish growth to the lingering consequences of the pandemic and the six-month-old Russia-Ukraine conflict, which put pressure on the global economy.

The economists said rising inflation amid the bleak growth prospect could have a significant impact on global consumer demand and goods transport. They noted that Vietnam, with an open economy, could hardly avoid these effects.

The report quoted Trịnh The Cưong, director of Da Nang Port Authority, as saying the more than 20% drop in domestic goods volume in the past three months indicated goods circulation in the region had not recovered after the pandemic.

The port and shipping industry is expected to rebound in the long term as export growth picks up in the second half of 2022 and the whole 2023, the report said, citing the Retail Research and Investment Advisory Division at Saigon Securities Inc.

The slow recovery in Vietnam’s ports also reflects congestion, particularly at Cat Lai Terminal, the country’s busiest cargo hub in the Port of Ho Chi Minh.

In May this year, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Vietnam Customs released an action plan for reducing congestion at Cat Lai Terminal.

Ho Chi Minh City handles around 4.9 million TEUs each year, with Cat Lai Port accounting for over 92% of this throughput and roughly 50% of the country’s total container volume.

The USAID action plan contains 21 recommendations to help position the port to meet growing demand, as measured by container volume, that is expected to double by 2030.

The five-year, US$21.7 million USAID Trade Facilitation Program (2018-2023) is helping Vietnam adopt a risk-management approach to customs and specialized inspection, bolstering implementation of the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Source: https://www.portcalls.com/seaports-slim-volume-growth/

Sean Fernback, President Wärtsilä Voyage, commented: “ABP truly understands how impactful technology can be in the maritime industry and its innovative approach has cemented its position as the UK’s leading ports group. This new agreement will help ABP maintain its competitive advantage now and into the future.

“Holistic and seamless technological solutions are critical to ensuring that ports, and the maritime industry more broadly, are ahead of the curve in terms of supply chain modernisation, that operations are future-proofed, and that data underpins decisions. The scope and scale of what we can achieve with ABP is very exciting, and we’re pleased to be working together.”

After a thorough international procurement process where all major suppliers of port optimisation solutions were invited to tender, ABP chose to collaborate with Wärtsilä Voyage, a cutting-edge technology developer accelerating the digital transformation of the maritime industry. Wärtsilä Voyage has a clear vision on how to enable ABP to become an early adopter of state-of-the-art port management solutions, while also ensuring a strong return on investment aligned with the goals and ambitions of ABP.,

The project, which began in June, will span multiple phases across all of ABP’s ports. Wärtsilä’s Vessel Traffic Services system and Port Management Information System are expected to be integrated into the Port of Southampton before April 2023, with other solutions subsequently being deployed across ABP’s other 20 ports. The agreement with ABP includes an ongoing human factor review to ensure the existing control room environment is optimised for people’s needs and is fully compliant with all national and international standards and guidelines.

The framework agreement, valid for at least the next five years, formalises a shared vision and commitment from both organisations to develop modern smart port applications through extensive and long-term collaboration.

Harm Van Weezel, Chief Information Officer at ABP, said: “We are delighted to be working with Wärtsilä on a programme that really delivers towards our vision of a modern, digital port. Wärtsilä’s approach – forming a deep and long-term partnership that is mutually beneficial to both organisations – really stood out to everyone at ABP. We are looking forward to the vast benefits this programme will bring.”

Håkan Agnevall, President and CEO, Wärtsilä Corporation, added: “This is a landmark contract that will have a profound impact on the sustainability, resilience and efficiency of global supply chains. Digitalisation offers great potential for the maritime industry to reach its ambitious emissions reductions targets. That is why the expertise within Wärtsilä Voyage plays such an important role in the pathway to zero emissions and continues to be integral to Wärtsilä’s strategy to generate genuine and long-term change for our sector.”

Source: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/ports-terminals/24082022/wrtsil-to-digitalise-associated-british-ports-maritime-operations/