August 11, 2022 Maritime Safety News
The acquisition of Tomini Kaimai and the other vessels from Interlink will bring Tomini’s fleet to 26 ships with an average age of five years.
Numair Shaikh, CEO of Tomini Group, said: “We see a very positive supply side picture on the handies, with relatively few new builds on order, and an ageing profile of the existing fleet. This leads to greater recycling numbers due to incoming environmental regulations, meaning the fundamentals are very much in favour of a positive handysize segment.”
China’s military exercises in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Bay would not disrupt flight services in the Taipei Flight Information Region, but container ships would have to bypass the areas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
China’s Lianyungang Maritime Safety Administration on Friday announced that it was banning the entry of ships into certain areas south of the Yellow Sea from Saturday last week to Monday next week due to live-fire drills by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
China’s Dalian Maritime Affairs Bureau announced that entry to certain areas of Bohai Bay would be prohibited from yesterday to Sept. 8 due to military exercises.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
China’s military exercises in Bohai Bay and areas south of the Yellow Sea would not disrupt international flight routes to and from Taiwan as they would not fall within the Taipei Flight Information Region, the ministry said.
However, the Maritime and Port Bureau has warned Yang Ming Marine Transport, Evergreen Marine Corp and Wan Hai Lines to avoid sending their container ships through these areas for safety reasons, it said.
The nation’s flight and shipping services have gradually resumed normal operations after all seven temporary danger zones China unilaterally declared last week expired yesterday.
Six of the zones expired at 12pm on Sunday, while the last danger zone expired at 10am yesterday, the ministry said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and Maritime and Port Bureau would continue to guide aircraft and sea vessels to bypass the temporary danger zones to ensure their safety, the ministry said, adding that inbound, outbound and transit flights must avoid the seven temporary danger areas and operate on alternative routes.
On Sunday, the nation had 138 outbound flights, 145 inbound flights and 147 transit flights, CAA data showed.
From Thursday to Sunday, Taiwan had about 150 inbound flights and the same number of outbound flights daily, the ministry said, adding that China’s military drills did not lead to a drastic reduction in arriving or departing flights.
Transit flights gradually resumed after six of the seven temporary danger zones expired, it said, adding that air traffic control offices across the nation would carefully monitor the situation to ensure flight safety.
In terms of shipping services, China’s military drills mainly affected the vessels accessing the Port of Keelung, the Port of Taipei and the Port of Kaohsiung, the ministry said.
Vessels entering and leaving these ports must avoid entering the temporary danger zones, it said.
Maritime and Port Bureau data showed that seven international commercial ports around Taiwan on Sunday recorded 118 inbound and 120 outbound ships, which was not much different from the previous three days, the ministry said.
Source: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/08/09/2003783229
U.S. shipyards are making improvements to building ships for the Navy and Coast Guard today and in the future. In some cases, it means phasing out one class of ship and getting ready for the next. Or, it can be a drastic make-over.
The yards include mid-tier yards all the way up to very large facilities devoted exclusively to warships. The ships range from the 353-ton Fast Response Cutter to the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin is transitioning from its Freedom-class littoral combat ship production line to building the new Constellation-class of guided missile frigates. In the interim, FMM is also completing four multi-mission surface combatants, based on the Freedom-class design, for the Royal Saudi Navy.
Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La., delivered the 154-foot Legend-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) USCGC Douglas Denman to the U.S. Coast Guard in May. Douglas Denman is the 49th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program of 64 cutters—and Congress has appropriated funds for two additional FRCs beyond the 64.
Austal USA’s all-aluminum parallel production lines that are producing littoral combat ships and expeditionary fast transports have been augmented with a steel production capability. Since October of 2021 Austal USA received contracts to build two steel towing, salvage and rescue tugs, with a contract for two more issued on July 22), with construction of the first starting on July 11. Austal USA also received a contract to build an auxiliary floating drydock for the Navy. But the investment really paid off when the Mobile-Ala., yard won the competition for phase II of the Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). This will provide up to 11 of the 360-foot 4,500-ton cutters.
Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) of Panama City, Fla., was the original OPC prime contractor. Although they were expected to build the first ten OPCs, ESG’s shipbuilding facilities were damaged following Hurricane Michael in October of 2018. The shipyard submitted a request for extraordinary relief to help the facility recover and the people return to work. Subsequently, relief was granted, but limited to the first four hulls in the OPC program. The Coast Guard announced that the OPC program would be restructured to include a competition for a new contract to build subsequent OPCs. That award went to Austal USA.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is constructing the 1,092-foot, 100,000-ton Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers and Virginia-class attack submarines at its Newport News Ship Yard (NNSY) in Virginia.
The first, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), was commissioned in 2017. The next three—Precommissioning Unit (PCU) John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), PCU Enterprise (CVN 80) and PCU Doris Miller (CVN 81), are building. NNSY is also building Virginia-class attack submarines.
The future USS John Basilone (DDG 122) undergoes “translation” from Land Level to the Kennebec River at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine. During its translation into the dry dock, the ship was wheeled at a rate of 6 feet per minute via the rail system embedded in the Land Level Transfer Facility. (BIW Photo)
Submarines
General Dynamics Electric Boat (EB) Electric Boat and NNSY are building the Virginia class fast attack submarines (SSNs) in a teaming arrangement with Newport News Shipbuilding. “We build different portions of each ship and alternate final assembly at our respective yards,” said EB spokesman Daniel McFadden.
The sail, stern, bow, habitability, machinery spaces, and torpedo room are assembled at NNSY, while EB’s Groton, Conn., and Quonset Point, R.I. facilities are building the engine room and control room. The shipyards take turns building the reactor plant and the final assembly, outfitting and delivery.
“Currently there are 13 ships in various stages of production. The next delivery from Electric Boat will be the Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 795),” McFadden said.
The Virginia-class construction has progressed in blocks, with the boats having successively more capability or built with more efficiency. The Block III submarines were being built with a pair of multipurpose Virginia Payload Tubes (VPT), which replaced the single purpose cruise missile launch tubes. Block V variants are longer so they can incorporate the new Virginia Payload Module (VPM).
The lead ship, USS Virginia (SSN 774), was commissioned in 2004. The newest, USS Montana (SSN 794), was commissioned in June of this year. Sixteen more are under construction or authorized, divided between the two yards.
The Navy plans to build 12 Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. While both NNSY and EB are expected to build the new subs, EB is the primary contractor and all boats will be assembled, tested, launched, and delivered at Groton.
General Dynamics has invested $1.85 billion in infrastructure improvements and expansion at Electric Boat to support the Columbia class production. “This involves new buildings and tooling for hull module construction at its Quonset Point, Rhode Island, facility, a 200,000 square-foot assembly building at the Groton, Connecticut, shipyard, a custom transport barge for the Columbia modules, and a floating dry dock now under construction by Bollinger Shipyards,” McFadden said.
HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is building National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, and San Antonio Class amphibious ships and America-class assault ships in Pascagoula, Miss. That includes the 844-foot, 45,000-ton future USS Bougainville (LHA 8), as well as three San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs). The yard is transitioning from the Flight I LPD to Flight II, with the new variant being a slightly less capable variant and more affordable to replace the Navy’s 12 aging Whidbey Island/Harpers Ferry (LSD-41/49) class landing ship dock (LSD) ships. Richard M. McCool (LPD 29) is the final Flight I LPD, while Harrisburg (LPD 30) will be the first Flight II. Both are under construction, soon to be joined by Pittsburgh (LPD 31)
Ingalls has delivered nine Legend-class national security cutters to the Coast Guard. The 10th, USCGC Calhoun (WMSL 759) was christened in June and scheduled to be delivered early next year. Ingalls is the sole yard building the NSC, LPD and LHA.
Ingalls is also one of two shipyards building Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers (DDGs). According to a news release, “Frank E. Petersen Jr. is the 33rd destroyer Ingalls has built for the U.S. Navy, with five more currently under construction at Ingalls, including Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) and George M. Neal (DDG 131).”
Jack Lucas is the first of the new Flight III DDGs, incorporating a new and more capable SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).
General Dynamic’s NASSCO yard in San Diego is continuing to build the John Lewis-class of fleet oilers (T-AOs) and Lewis B. Puller-class of Expeditionary Mobile Bases (ESBs).
The 50,000-ton, 746-foot John Lewis-class of class of fleet replenishment oilers will eventually comprise twenty ships and will replace the Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oilers now in service.
NASSCO spokesman Brian Jones said the company is making the San Diego yard more productive, efficient and competitive.
“We’ve invested in more automated production equipment and modern welding technology like our Thin Plate Panel Line. The cutting-edge facility uses hybrid laser arc welding and numerically controlled robots to mill, seam and weld steel panels in a highly automated production line. These features improve capacity, quality, accuracy, cycle time and produce lighter, more energy efficient ships. In addition, upgrading our blast equipment and smaller accuracy control tools have enhanced our shipbuilding process with less demand on our workforce,” Jones said.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works spokesperson Julie Rabinowitz said her yard has 10 ships in its backlog, including the last of the Flight IIA ships and the newer Flight III variants. “Currently, seven ships are under construction. DDG 122 John Basilone was translated and christened in June, and all backlog ships have been funded by Congress.
According to Navy officials, the service is committed to a smooth and successful transition from DDG 51 to DDG(X) starting around FY 2030. The transition will preserve the critical shipbuilding and supplier industrial base by executing a collaborative design process with current DDG 51 shipyards and transitioning to a proven limited competition model between these shipyards at the right point in ship construction. Both Ingalls and BIW are expected to build DDG(X).
Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/shipyards-adapt-help-navy-coast-guard-498583
Ocean Network Express (ONE) launched its Marine Safety and Quality Campaign to raise safety awareness and mitigate marine accidents. The campaign will run from 8th August to 30th September 2022.
Campaign theme “Safety Consciousness – A step ahead”
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect global shipping operations over the long term, ONE continues to face difficulties in conducting ONE’s Vessel Quality Standard (ONE-VQS) physical inspections on board operated vessels all around the world. As such, over the past two years, self-inspection campaigns have comprised thorough checks by crew to mitigate risk of accidents in identified critical areas, supplementing the ONE-VQS.
ONE is confident that this year’s campaign will help in building a safer working environment and increase safety consciousness on ONE-operated vessels. The campaign will also assist in assuring customers that ONE constantly provides safe and reliable services.
The focus of this year’s campaign will be on:
– Sharing good practices highlighted during past vessel inspections on ONE operated vessels
– Reaching out to the vessels to share any good practices from ship’s side
– Sharing recurring observations that were pointed out during past vessel inspections
All vessels under ONE’s operation will be requested to reflect on the above items and their valuable responses will be analysed by ONE. ONE will then share the analysis and feedback with the whole fleet after formal completion of the campaign.
Through this campaign, done in cooperation with the ship’s crew and concerned parties, ONE aims to further raise safety awareness and the quality standards of our vessels. ONE is committed to continuously delivering reliable and quality services to our valued customers.
Reference: Ocean Network Express
The two companies signed the key agreement setting in motion a series of potential country-level investments to grow, improve, and promote an end-to-end maritime and logistics ecosystem which will make Tanzania a hub for the African region.
Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group, said:
“This MoU with Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd is significant in its impact on both Tanzania’s ability to transform itself into an African trading hub, as well as our ability to further develop our global capabilities and connections that will bring goods to market faster and more efficiently.”
“Our strategic investment in Tanzania in infrastructure and solutions will enable international companies to enter African markets. In line with the direction of the UAE’s leadership, we are positioning Abu Dhabi as a global leader in logistics and industry.”
Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, said:
“We are pleased to be partnering with AD Ports Group in the development of key quality infrastructure in Tanzania especially in the ports and maritime sector, which will improve and bring about positive change in the lives of communities, standing by our commitment to growth with goodness. We continue to support local employment, as well as general economic growth in Tanzania and East African countries that will benefit from our investments through the collaboration with AD Ports Group.”
A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the war started in February, and will be loaded with grain, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Ukraine is starting to resume grain exports in an effort overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel are working.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal after U.N. warnings of possible outbreaks of famine due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine. Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
Kubrakov said the Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S was in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.
“We are doing (everything) possible to ensure that our ports can receive and handle more vessels. In particular, we plan to reach the level of at least three to five vessels per day in two weeks’ (time),” he wrote on Facebook.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the resumption of exports was positive, adding that security risks remained.
“The threat of Russian provocations and terrorist acts remains. Everyone should be aware of this,” he said in a late-night video address on Saturday.
“But if our partners fulfill their part of the commitment and guarantee the security of supplies, this will really solve the global food crisis.”
Ukraine eventually aims to ship out 3 million tonnes a month from its Black Sea ports, Kubrakov said.
“This event is an important market signal that the (grain shipment deal) is a safe and, most importantly, profitable business opportunity for ship owners to return to Ukrainian ports,” he added.
Roughly 20 million tonnes of grain from last year’s crops are still stuck in the country.
Source: https://www.marinelink.com/news/first-foreignflagged-ship-arrives-ukraine-498548
The inspection of the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain under a UN-brokered deal to resume exports from the war-torn country has been completed and the vessel is expected to pass through the Bosphorus Strait “shortly” as it heads for its final destination in Lebanon.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said on August 3 that the inspection was performed by a 20-person team from a special joint coordination center that boarded the Sierra Leone-registered Razoni earlier in the day off the mouth of the Bosphorus Strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and on to the Aegean Sea.
The Razoni, which set sail from Odesa early on August 1 carrying 26,527 tons of corn bound for Tripoli, Lebanon, arrived off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late on August 2 after a delay caused by bad weather.
In line with agreed procedure, the inspections are not to take place in the port of Istanbul but at sea.Some 27 vessels have been waiting in three Ukrainian ports with cargo and signed contracts, ready to go, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Turkish Rear Admiral Ozcan Altunbulak, a coordinator at the joint center, said “preparations and planning” are continuing for other ships expected to leave Ukraine’s ports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said more time is needed to see whether other grain shipments would follow.
“Just recently, thanks to the UN in partnership with Turkey, we had a first ship with the delivery of grain, but it’s still nothing. But we hope it’s a tendency that will continue,: he told students in Australia in an online conference.
The U.S. State Department welcomed news of what it called a “significant step, which raises hope of bringing the millions of tons of grain stuck at Ukraine’s ports to those facing food insecurity around the world.”
But the State Department warned that Russia must fulfil it obligations under the agreement and end attacks on Ukrainian farmland.
“This is only a first step, and continued implementation of the July 21 UN-facilitated deal is essential to bolster food security around the world. Russia must meet its commitments, including by facilitating unimpeded exports of agricultural products from Black Sea ports. Russia must also end its attacks that are rendering farmland in Ukraine unusable and destroying agricultural infrastructure,” it said.
An unnamed senior Turkish official told Reuters earlier on August 2 that Ankara expects roughly one grain ship to leave Ukrainian ports daily as long as the UN-brokered agreement holds.
The halt of grain shipments from Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, contributed to a spike in food prices and caused concern about countries in the Middle East and African receiving enough grain and other commodities to feed their populations.
Ukraine blamed a Russian blockade of its ports for the halt in grain shipments, while Russia blamed mines in the water placed by Ukraine as protection from a Russian amphibious assault.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-grain-turkey-inspection-lebanon/31971879.html
August 11, 2022 Maritime Safety News
KYIV/ISTANBUL, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Four more ships carrying almost 170,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuffs sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday under a deal to unblock the country’s exports after Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement last month after warnings that the halt in grain shipments caused by the conflict could lead to severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said there were plans to step up shipments still further.
“We are gradually moving on to larger volumes of work. We plan to ensure the ability of the ports to handle at least 100 vessels per month in the near future,” he added.
Ukraine would soon also start exporting grain from its Black Sea port of Pivdennyi, an expansion that would let it send out a total of at least 3 million tonnes of goods a month, the minister said on Facebook.
Before Russia started what it calls its “special military operation,” Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports. In peacetime, Ukraine exported up to 6 million tonnes of grain from its Black and Azov seaports every month.
The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian,Ukrainian, Turkish and U.N. personnel are working.
The first cargo ship left Ukraine under the agreement on Monday last week, and another three followed on Friday.
The JCC said late on Saturday it had authorized five new vessels to pass through the Black Sea corridor: four vessels outbound from Ukraine’s Chornomorsk and Odesa ports, carrying 161,084 metric tonnes of foodstuffs, and one heading into Ukraine to pick up grain.
CORN, MEAL, SUNFLOWER OIL
The ships that left Ukrainian ports included Glory, with a cargo of 66,000 tonnes of corn bound for Istanbul, and Riva Wind, loaded with 44,000 tonnes of corn, heading for Turkey’s Iskenderun, the Turkish defense ministry said.
It said the other two vessels that left Ukraine were Star Helena, with a cargo of 45,000 tonnes of meal heading to China, and Mustafa Necati, carrying 6,000 tonnes of sunflower oil and heading for Italy.
Later on Sunday, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said the bulk carrier Fulmar S, which had reached the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk on Saturday – the first foreign-flagged ship to arrive in Ukraine since the conflict – was ready for loading.
The JCC said it had nearly finished drafting procedures to implement the grain deal and they would be published in days.
It added that it had also authorized the movement, pending inspection, of Osprey S, inbound for Chornomorsk. That ship is currently at anchorage northwest of Istanbul.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said the JCC had completed inspections of the ship Rojen carrying 13,000 tonnes of corn to Britain, Polarnet which is taking 12,000 tonnes of corn to a Turkish port and Osprey S, which is heading toUkraine.
On Saturday, the JCC completed its inspection of Navistar, the other one of three vessels that left Ukrainian ports on Friday.
The first ship to leave a Ukrainian port under the deal will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as planned, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said. The Razoni left Odesa on Monday carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.
The embassy told Reuters the ship was “having a delay” and “not arriving today,” with no details on a new arrival date or the cause of the delay. Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Razoni off the Turkish coast on Sunday morning.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, Maya Gebeily in Beirut;Writing by Daren Butler;Editing by Frances Kerry, Susan Fenton and Andrew Heavens)
Source:https://gcaptain.com/four-more-cargo-ships-sail-from-ukraine/
August 11, 2022 GENERAL
Fremantle Ports doesn’t seem to have the congestion causing havoc found in so many other ports throughout the world. There are currently only two vessels in the inner harbour.
In February this year, Fremantle Ports managed the largest throughput of full containers in the port’s history, 60,284 TEU – off-loaded from 27 container ships, four more than the previous month, in 28 days with minimal dwell time (the time truck drivers spend at facilities waiting to drop-off or pick-up loads).
This has been aided significantly by Rous Head’s Congestion Management System (CMS), 60-bay Truck Marshalling Area (TMA) and rail system which transported 24 per cent of containers in March.
In addition, 12,554 empty containers were managed, this is where the big bucks have been made by carriers globally since 2020 as freight rates skyrocketed and block-space agreement contracts held shippers responsible for paying for dead freight, space they were contracted to fill but failed to occupy.
By way of interest, here are some Marine Traffic images showing just how much traffic there is around parts of the globe. Cargo ships are green. The red ones are tankers, orange fishing vessels and black are miscellaneous vessels. The purple and blue are leisure and passenger vessels.
Freight rates increased 64 per cent during the pandemic. In some cases, containers were $2,491 per TEU, an increase of $1,900 per container. With a falling spot-price, 87 per cent of contracts are being renegotiated, in some cases shippers are simply reneging which could catapult port congestion back to the 2020 apex volumes whereby vessel capacity was reduced by 14 per cent because of congestion, they were stuck.
Vespucci CEO, Lars Jensen offered two scenarios in a podcast with Project 44’s Mike King on The Loadstar: “It’s exceedingly difficult to see how this is going to pan out,” he said. “It can go one of two ways. We’ll see okay growth of 3 to 5 percent, or consumers will reign in their spending and we’ll see a massive drop in container volumes over the coming years.
“There has been a ten per cent decrease in inventory restocking over a span of four months, manufacturing and exporting are slowing in China, there is no economic positivity in Europe, and the International Monetary Fund has forecast a decline in global GDP.”
Issues with Ukrainian produced neon affecting trucking, especially in the USA, is another geostrategic dilemma impacting congestion, according to Mr Jensen.
Mr Jensen said port problems such as space shortages, strikes and lack of warehouses contribute to port congestion and rising freight rates which he says have added to global inflation to some degree.
He predicts a strong peak season and shortage of capacity a month from now.
Some suggest the global economy is showing signs of weakness because of the 2050 zero carbon emissions target. Shipping companies are spending their significant profits on building new vessels to replace old and leased ships in an effort to meet the International Maritime Organisation’s set deadline of a five per cent reduction in five years – the same target Fremantle Ports have committed to as discussed in last week’s Maritime Movements.
CSBC VP Chou Chih-ming said shipping companies are complying, replacing old ships with new.
“Shipping companies have two options, one is to build new ships, the other is to slow-steam existing vessels.”
They are building four 2,800 teu ships speculatively and already have ten companies bidding to lease them. The boxships will be delivered by Q3 23.
Though green carbonised ships are not quite “mature” at this stage, CMA CGM have shortlisted China’s Dalian Shipbuilding to build five 15,000 teu methanol-fueled vessels.
This Marine Traffic image shows the number of cargo ships off our Australian coast alone – they are the green ones. Again, the red ones are tankers, orange fishing vessels and black are miscellaneous vessels. The purple and blue are leisure and passenger vessels.
Source: https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au/2022/08/05/maritime-movements-congestion-contained/
China began live firing exercises at 12 noon, local time, on Thursday in response to the visit to Taiwan by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including the firing of ballistic missiles.
Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau was reported by Reuters to have advised ships to find alternative routes avoiding the areas where China has announced it will be holding drills until Sunday. China has declared six exclusion zones around the island three of which come within 12 km of the Taiwanese coast, and Beijing is reported to have warned shipping and aviation to avoid these areas.
The island’s two largest port’s Kaohsiung and Taipei port sit at the Southeast and Northeast of the Strait respectively. Kaohsiung ranked as the world’s 15th largest container port in 2020 according to figures published the World Shipping Council (WSC). P&I insurer Gard in an update to members noted that some of the six exclusion zones were close to port areas, “such as Area 6 which is approximately 15nm from entrance to the busy Kaohsiung port”.
The P&I club advised vessels in entering the region to amend voyage plabs to avoid entering the exclusion zones, and if headed to ports in Taiwan contact local agents for updates.
According to VesselsValue as of 3 August there were 256 containerships, tankers, and bulkers in Taiwanese territorial waters, with a further 60 estimated to arrive before the conclusion of the drills on Sunday.
The Strait is also a major traffic route for vessels sailing between Southeast and Northeast Asia and beyond with 48% of the world’s container shipping fleet reported to have transited the waterway in the first seven months of the year according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Ships can divert to the east of Taiwan via the Philippines Sea, however, June – September is also the peak of the typhoon season in the Philippines. Container xChange quoted a customer in Taiwan as saying the diversion would add an extra few days to containerised voyages.
Source: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/containers/impact-shipping-china-military-exercises-taiwan
