Astronger tanker market over the course of the past few weeks, has helped increase prices for tankers as well. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “amidst widespread price increases, it is not surprising that tanker asset values have also been rising. Our data shows a strong appreciation in VLCC and Suezmax values, with a significant divergence between newbuild and second hand price increases. Even more interesting is the difference in growth rates between newbuilds and 5 year old vessels and older 10 and 15 year old tonnage. Gibson asset value data shows newbuild VLCC and Suezmax values both increased by 5% respectively YTD, whilst over the last 12 months they increased by 17% and 13%. This has been driven by rising raw material costs, shrinking yard availability and relative pricing of other vessel types such as container carriers. Although, these increases have likely been capped by a lack of actual ordering given the difficulty in securing both yard slots and design hesitation. With overall producer price inflation averaging approximately 8-10% across most advanced economies, newbuild prices have also felt the pressure but the rate of increases this year may be slowing compared to gains we saw in the second half of 2021”.
Source: Gibson Shipbrokers
“However, it is a very different story in terms of second hand tankers, prices have increased much faster, with 5 year old VLCCs and Suezmaxes jumping by 17% and 23% respectably YTD, reflecting relative value compared to newbuild vessels. For example, the order price of a VLCC is estimated to be $120 million versus $85 million for a 5 year old unit, which offers a comparatively good ratio of youth and prompter availability; with more favourable retrofitting economics compared to a newbuild vessel at a much higher price and with a longer lead time”, Gibson said.
According to the shipbroker, “perhaps the most interesting asset price developments have been in the 10 year old and older age bracket, where gains have far exceeded broader measures of inflation. The biggest gains have been in 15 year old Suezmaxes which have jumped an impressive 58.5% this year, whilst 10 year old VLCCs have increased 20.5%. This has been driven by increased enquiry from mostly Middle Eastern, Russian, and Asian buyers, looking to build a fleet of older tankers to carry Russian crude. Such price rises also offer an attractive asset play opportunity for owners looking to dispose of older units ahead of a potentially tougher sales environment once EU sanctions on Russian oil fully take hold. It is also an opportunity to pursue more favourable fleet renewal by disposing of older vessels during a spike in values and reinvesting the proceeds into younger tonnage”.
Gibson added that “within this development there also has been an increase in sales and enquiry for Ice class Suezmaxes and Aframaxes, capable of trading during the Russian ice season. Also propping up older tanker values is the persistence of the illicit fleet, which continues to absorb older scrapping candidates to engage in sanctioned trade. Although, should sanctions relief come to Iran, then this would increase scrapping pressure on older vessels operating in the shadow fleet and reduce their market value as the commercial opportunity to engage in this trade recedes. Instead, legitimate trading opportunities would re-emerge for younger, more efficient vessels to take on the trade of these cargoes”.
“Fundamentally, this all feeds into the growing positive outlook for crude tankers. Stronger earnings should theoretically support these higher asset values as the cashflow generating capacity of larger crude tankers improves, although growing economic uncertainty and the risk of a global downturn indicate the need for caution in terms of investment timing. Overall, the investment prospects for the tanker market have improved relative to the protracted market slump of the last 20 months and this is catching the eye of potential investors, whilst tanker owners are likely to be considering their next moves”, Gibson concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
Australia is set to have a glimpse of what to expect under the Australia–UK–US submarine partnership (AUKUS) after the United Kingdom announced a joint training program on the newly commissioned HMS Anson. She was delivered to the Royal Navy at the end of August and promoted as the “most advanced submarine ever built.”
In one of his final acts as British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson attending the handover ceremony said that Australian submariners will join Royal Navy crews on training missions on the newly commissioned submarine. It will be the next step as the countries seek to deepen defense ties through the AUKUS pact that was announced in September last year. The UK will prepare the Australians for their planned nuclear subs to be built under the pact.
The Anson is the fifth of seven new Astute-Class submarines that the Royal Navy is building. It joins HMS Astute, Ambush, Artful and Audacious that are already in service. The remaining two, Agamemnon and Agincourt, are in various stages of construction as part of a $12.8 billion overall investment in the whole Astute-Class program.
Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, the hunter-killer Anson is being described as one of the most sophisticated underwater vessels ever built armed with up to 38 Spearfish Heavyweight Torpedoes and Block V Tomahawk land attack missiles capable of tackling targets at a range of up to 1,000 miles. At approximately 318 feet in length, and a displacement of 7,800 tons, the nuclear-powered submarine was built at BAE Systems’ yard in Barrow, Cumbria.
“From the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, our submarine service is protecting the UK and our allies and the deployment of Australian submariners alongside our British crews epitomizes the strength of the AUKUS partnership,” said Johnson during the commissioning of the submarine last week. The event was attended by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.
Johnson added that with naval capability at the center of the two countries’ future defense relationship, the joint training will reinforce the priorities of the Integrated Review and the significance of the AUKUS partnership that is designed to promote stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The UK and U.S have already welcomed Royal Australian Navy personnel on their specialized nuclear training courses with more expected to follow next year before Australian submariners go to sea. The training and exchanges mark the beginning of a multigenerational naval partnership between the three AUKUS nations.
The Royal Navy has described Anson as the cutting edge in submarine design, including the incorporation of naval stealth into her form and construction that gives the UK an operational advantage in the underwater battlespace. The submarine can reach speeds of over 30 knots and is fully equipped to destroy enemy military infrastructure both on land and in the sea. The onboard Rolls Royce nuclear reactor means the vessel, which took 11 years to build, will never need to be refueled during its 25-year service period.
Anson will remain in Barrow for several more weeks undergoing final checks, tests, and tweaks to her system before she sails for her future home at HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane, where she will prepare for sea trials.
General cargo ship HAV MARLIN contacted pier while mooring at Vierow Port, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Baltic sea, in the morning Sep 5, on arrival from Antwerp via Kiel Canal, with 2800 tons of fertilizers on board. Both ship and pier sustained damages, ship’s portside forecastle and bow are heavily dented. No hull breach, no leak reported.
Product tanker HAFNIA TANZANITE suffered fire in engine room, probably being under way, some 35 nm WNW of Hoek van Holland, Netherlands, early in the morning Sep 5. Fire was extinguished by Halon fire suppressing system, but tanker was disabled. She’s to be towed to port of destination Rotterdam. Was either dead in the water or anchored at 1430 UTC, with Multraship tug and SAR boat at her side, AIS is on. No reports on injures. Tanker arrived from Singapore.
The 46,000 m³ dual fuel (LPG) vessels are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 respectively. The price tag for the newbuilds has not been revealed.
Exmar said that the JV has an option for two additional vessels of 46,000 m³ slated for delivery in 2025. As disclosed, these ships have the option to be delivered with ammonia dual-fuel propulsion.
EXMAR currently owns/operates 19 midsize gas carriers, three very large gas carriers, and 10 pressurized vessels.
HMD has been working on its diversification strategy into high-value-added ships. Last year the company delivered its first LNG carrier, the 33,000m3 Ravenna Knutsen.
The LNG carrier market has been traditionally focused on large-scale vessels with a capacity of 160,000 cbm or over. However, the growing demand for LNG as a transitional fuel and the expanding LNG bunkering infrastructure worldwide have spurred the growth of the small-scale LNG tanker segment.
HMD is also developing new types of liquefied hydrogen and ammonia carriers and ammonia– and hydrogen-fueled ships.
In 2021, Korean Register (KR) awarded approval in principle (AiP) to two green ammonia-fueled ships developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD).
One of the ships is a 60,000 cbm ammonia-fueled ammonia carrier and the other is a 38,000 cbm ammonia carrier/bunkering ship.
Methanol is continuing to gain momentum as a leading option for the shipping industry to address decarbonization. Already adopted by an emerging group of shipping lines, two of China’s leading shipping companies are joining the effort focusing on methanol for their future fuel choice.
During a meeting discussing the industry’s energy transition, the chairmen of China Merchants and COSCO Shipping Bulk announced that their companies will focus on Methanol marine fuel as their primary area of research in the future. CMES chairman Xie Chunlin and Gu Jinsong, Chairman of COSCO Shipping Bulk made the comments in a meeting held in late August according to the Methanol Institute, during which the two reviewed the cooperation between their companies and exchanged views on the shipping industry’s low-carbon transformation.
The news that the Chinese companies plan to focus on methanol follows previously reported efforts by COSCO to develop shipping using the alternative fuel source. COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) reported in February that they had received design approval for China’s first domestic methanol dual-fuel VLCC. The design calls for a 310,000 dwt VLCCs equipped with two methanol fuel tanks with a total of 10,000 m³, which would give the vessel range of 2,3000 nautical miles.
Previously, several government ministries have referenced low carbon and renewable methanol development from green hydrogen and methanol-fueled vessels as key enablers for the country’s policies to decarbonize the shipping industry noted Kai Zhao, Chief China Representative for The Methanol Institute. “That places methanol at an entry point on the transition curve where two leading Chinese companies can reduce GHG emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in the longer term.”
The Methanol Institute welcomed the comments made by the chairmen of China Merchants Energy Shipping and COSCO Shipping Bulk supporting methanol noting it is part of a growing trend for the alternative fuel. The attention coming from the China Merchants Group they noted is especially encouraging as the company is the second largest among non-financial shipowners worldwide with its fleet and pending newbuild orders totaling 315 ships equivalent to 44.6m dwt. COSCO Shipping Bulk operates a fleet comprising some 400 bulk carriers, equivalent to nearly 40m dwt.
“China is already a leader in production of renewable energy and the shift towards methanol long term is in step with its decarbonization ambitions,” says Chris Chatterton, Chief Operating Officer, The Methanol Institute. “The shipping industry can’t wait for fuels that may be decades away from approval and availability; shipowners need a place to start in making carbon savings and Methanol can provide that transition now.”
They noted that in the past year that Maersk, CMA-CGM, and X-Press feeders each placed orders or increased their commitments for methanol newbuild vessels. Companies including Waterfront Shipping, Stena/Proman, NYK, and MOL have also built methanol carriers that use a segregated portion of the cargo as fuel.
With more bulk shipowners exploring methanol as fuel, the Institute also highlights that this year has seen methanol/dual-fuel designs for bulk carriers and tankers coming to market. Main engine makers report full order books for new units and increasing interest in retrofits and conversions of existing engines.
According to data from DNV’s Alternative Fuel Insight, today less than one percent of the worldwide shipping fleet operates on methanol. They report that there are currently 62 ships either in operation or on order that use methanol out of a worldwide fleet of nearly 6,800 ships. Methanol is currently used mostly by oil and chemical tankers although the new orders came from container shipping.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/cosco-and-china-merchants-exploring-methanol-fueled-ships
The ship recycling market could be set for a revival in the coming days and weeks, as more dry bulk vintage tonnage could be sold for demolition. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas said that “with China implementing new lockdown regulations, the dry freight market was sent into further negative spins and therefore, we may now see more vintage dry units circulated into the market. A capesize bulker achieved a very impressive number this week, as per the sale listed below, with a good quantity of bunkers RoB. However, there are rumours the buyer may attempt to fix on a short trade, despite the poor sentiment in the dry sector, which could then justify the premium paid. If the sale is aimed towards a resale into Bangladesh and the hope of the Government once again allowing larger L/C’s to be opened (from the current limit of USD 3.0 mill), then unfortunately information obtained from Bangladesh towards the latter part of the week will not aide the Buyers resale structure.
Source: Clarkson Platou (Hellas) ltd
The shipbroker added that “information became apparent that new taxations may come be implemented as the Government aim to set reasonable prices of nine products, including flour, edible oil, lentils, sugar, rice, flour, coarse flour, cement and rods, within the next 15 days in an effort to bring stability to the country’s economy. There are even discussions of lawsuits being filed against anyone disregarding the designated prices. Pakistan is currently undergoing horrific flooding from the monsoon rains and the industry is really at a standstill for the time being. Our thoughts and prayers go to those currently suffering from these tragic floods. With the country still suffering from their currency woes, and the current flooding, little activity is expected for the foreseeable future”, Clarkson Platou Hellas concluded.
Meanwhile, GMS (www.gmsinc.net), the world’s leading cash buyer of ships, said in its latest weekly report, that “activity and availability of sales candidates seem to be finally starting to increase as we enter the month of September and the fourth (and final) quarter of the year. Dry bulk (and particularly Capesize bulker) rates have declined noticeably of late, and this is seeing an increasing number of enquiries on dry units starting to come forth for a potential sale for recycling. This increase couldn’t have come at a better time as local demand for tonnage has been gradually ramping up again, after an extremely quiet summer / flooded monsoon. Of course, after the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy earlier this year, difficulties persist in the sub-continent markets as both Pakistan and Bangladesh have been teetering perilously close to the brink as well”.
Source: GMS,Inc
According to GMS, “Pakistan has been beset by catastrophic flooding over the past week, with thousands of people losing their lives and millions displaced. In fact, some international media have been reporting that nearly one-third of the country is currently underwater. As such, calls for urgent humanitarian aid have reached the international community this week, with the situation becoming increasingly dire. Bangladesh is still struggling with L/Cs with any transaction valued at over USD 2 – USD 3 million needing Central bank approval, which is ensuring that most large LDT / higher value candidates are being diverted to competing markets and even the lower placed India, as Cash Buyers and Ship Owners both do not want to run the risk of getting stuck there, especially when levels have already fallen so much. India remains the most resilient market and is now becoming the go to destination (albeit at lower prices) for shipowners wishing to get their vessels delivered comparatively hassle and headache free, be it at a lower price. Finally, the Turkish market remains marginally changed from last week, as import steel and the Turkish Lira both report decreases during the week, all while local sentiments remain in the doldrums”, GMS concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
The Royal Navy has taken the unusual step of responding to media speculation by issuing a detailed statement on the damage to HMS Prince of Wales. One of the two largest ships of the fleet and only having recently been placed into service, the carrier suffered an embarrassing failure as she departed for what was being called a “landmark mission” in cooperation with the Americans.
Speaking in a videotaped statement, Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse said, “Our focus has been on understanding the nature and extent of the damage and the safety of her crew. We will repair her and get her back on operations, protecting the nation and our allies, as soon as possible.”
HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth on Saturday, August 27, for what was to be a nearly four-month program to sail to the United States for joint training exercises and a visit to the Caribbean. Observers noted as she departed that she seemed to only be showing a wake on the portside leading to rampant comments of a problem with possibly the starboard propeller.
Shortly after sailing, the carrier anchored with the Royal Navy admitting there had been an “issue” after her departure. She was later moved to a more sheltered position while a survey was ongoing.
“Royal Navy divers inspected the starboard shaft and adjacent areas,” says the Rear Admiral. “We can confirm there is significant damage to the shaft and the propeller and some superficial damage to the rudder. There is no damage to the rest of the ship.”
The initial assessment of the carrier also shows an “extremely unusual fault,” in the starboard shaft. The coupling that joins the final two sections of the shaft has failed.
According to the reports, the Royal Navy is currently trying to stabilize the situation before they can return the vessel to Portsmouth. They are also investigating repair alternatives, but are admitting that it is likely the Prince of Wales will need to dry dock to undertake repairs. No estimates were offered on how long it might take to complete the repairs.
In an effort to save the mission, the Royal Navy reports that they have reassigned HMS Queen Elizabeth to undertake a portion of the training exercise with the United States. The first carrier of the class is due to stand in for her younger sister ship departing this week for the United States. However, she will return to Europe earlier than planned to undertake her fall exercises which were scheduled for the Mediterranean.
So far, the Royal Navy has not offered any explanations as to how the damage occurred to the Prince of Wales. It is just the latest in a series of high-profile failures of the multi-billion-dollar carrier. Commissioned in December 2019, she spent most of 2020 and 2021 sidelined with a series of problems. Finally, in October 2021, the Royal Navy declared that she was fully operational and would be fully ready for frontline deployment by 2023.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/hms-prince-of-wales-has-significant-damage-likely-requiring-dry-dock
The shipping industry has long known about the dangers of parametric rolling with researchers working to expand the understanding of the phenomenon that has increasingly become linked with damage to containers and car carriers. Now a Danish company that manufactures a broad range of sensors reports it has developed and tested a system on containerships that can alert crews to the danger or even automatically adjust a ship’s course before it begins the rolling phenomenon.
The hull forms of modern containerships and car carriers are believed to make them especially susceptible to parametric rolling. In the worst cases, during a series of uncontrollable movements, ships have reported that they heel up to 46 degrees in a very short time. Investigators have long believed that these incidents, which often come up quickly and without warning have contributed to container stack collapse and the loss of containers overboard such as the recent incidents with the ONE Apus, APL England, and several Maersk ships.
A current three-year study being undertaken by the container shipping sector has already identified that parametric rolling in following seas is especially hazardous for container vessels. The project is conducting testing and measurements to further identify the causes and how they can be addressed but so far has largely only been able to provide mariners with a few warnings and general instructions.
Danish company, Kjærulf Pedersen, which manufactures and develops sensors for measuring temperature, humidity, CO2, and O2, now reports it has developed a sensor system that can recognize the tendencies that lead to parametric rolling and send a message to the ship’s control system so the
system and crew have time to change course.
“Parametric roll can occur in just eight wave cycles, each lasting four to five seconds, and from roll to roll, the heeling may be doubled. It is impossible to detect, because it goes very quickly, and the situation is incredibly dangerous for everyone,” says Ole Egelykke-Milandt, sales engineer and project manager at Kjærulf Pedersen.
On the other hand, Egelykke-Milandt notes that it only requires that the course be changed slightly for the ship’s movements to slow down again.
The company’s system is based on three sensors, placed at the bow, amidship, and stern. All the ship’s movements are monitored in real-time up to 100 times a second. The system compares the observations with data on the ship’s speed, acceleration, and direction. The sensors detect if the movements are approaching a state that can become uncontrollable, and notifies the ship’s control system so that the course can be changed and the uncontrollable tilts are avoided.
Since January, the system has been installed on four large container ships that sail between China and the US, and the company reports its tests with Maersk have shown that the system is successful in recognizing the warning signs for parametric rolling. Kjærulf Pedersen reports that the system is now being implemented on the shipping company’s container fleet.
“In the long term, the plan is for data from the ships to flow into a central location so that all the shipping company’s ships can have use of the collected data. In this way, we get an algorithm that gets better and better at predicting dangerous situations, thus increasing safety significantly,” says Egelykke-Milandt.
The large amount of data from the sensors will also be used for other improvements such as weight distribution and the ship’s trim in the water.
Source: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/sensor-company-builds-system-to-warn-of-parametric-rolling-danger
Nautilus International played a prominent part in UK Maritime Safety Week 2022. Taking place from 4-8 July with support from the UK Department for Transport, the focus this year was on safety best practice. Jon Parkin and Rob Coston report
A 2021 study of seafarers published in the British Medical Journal found that, over a four-year period, 6.31 out of every 1,000 seafarers were affected by occupational injuries and diseases. The study’s conclusion – that ‘workers at sea have high mortality, injuries and illnesses and work in a hazardous environment compared to ashore workers’ – will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever found themselves in a maritime workplace.
This year’s Maritime Safety Week aimed to do something about the grim statistics by bringing together a range of organisations to share knowledge and learn from each other, from government bodies to maritime employers, charities and membership bodies – including Nautilus of course.
Nautilus speaks at safety week
Port Skills and Safety (PSS), the UK’s professional ports health and safety membership organisation, scheduled its annual conference to be part of Maritime Safety Week on 5 July – with panels and speeches from members of the maritime community. Representatives from the Department for Transport and the British Ports Association were present, and UK maritime minister Robert Courts MP said that safety should be at the core of the country’s maritime strategy alongside education/upskilling and the government’s objectives as laid out in the Maritime 2050 strategy.
Nautilus was represented by general secretary Mark Dickinson, who took the opportunity to stress the importance of proper training and investment into the maritime workforce in order to ensure safe practices.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson
In his speech he also talked about the need for communication between unions and employers, so that maritime workers have a secure channel of communication to share safety issues they have identified. This point was echoed during the week by UK Chamber of Shipping CEO Sarah Treseder, who agreed that good safety practice can only be achieved if shipowners, the MCA and unions work together and share information openly,
‘Our industry, while strategically vital, remains hazardous,’ Mr Dickinson told attendees. ‘Workplace injuries are all too common and sometimes tragically lives are lost. We must commend Port Skills & Safety for its work in bringing together unions, employers and safety experts to tackle these issues. Only through constructive dialogue between stakeholders can we ensure our ports are safer workplaces for our people.
‘Our maritime professionals must be given the opportunity to train and learn new skills, so they can be active participants in the future of the maritime industry, an industry they already know, and many will have worked in for their entire lives. Investing in our workforce so more seafarers can transition from sea to shore and vice versa, that allows for all workers to upskill and reskill, is in all our interests.’
The dangers of fatigue
During his speech, Mr Dickinson also flagged up an issue of note: who should be allowed to carry out lashing on containerships?
‘Lashing by seafarers creates another safety issue. Nautilus believes that this should be carried out by trained stevedores, not overworked and fatigued seafarers. Cargo work, lashing and unlashing, is dockers’ work.’
Lashings by seafarers creates another safety issue. Image: Danny Cornelissen
Shortly after the speech, a Dutch court ruled in favour of unions including Nautilus International over a collective bargaining agreement clause around the lashing of vessels. The clause, which applies in all ports worldwide and came into force on 1 January 2020, stipulates that lashing must be done by qualified dock workers. If dock workers are not available, then seafarers may only lash on a voluntary basis and in return for additional pay. Nautilus’s Netherlands branch and other trade unions had brought the case after employers, shipowners and charterers refused to comply, but the court has now ordered them to comply in the port of Rotterdam and elsewhere or face hefty fines.
This is an important victory in the greater struggle against seafarer fatigue – which is dangerous as it increases the risk of accidents, as well as being detrimental to mental health.
However, this is a multi-front war. There are, of course, the traditional causes of fatigue – for example, the ever-increasing crew workload which was identified as a serious risk in the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report from the Mission to Seafarers. There are also new issues such as the proliferation of ‘safety’ paperwork, which some commentators believe can get in the way of actually improving the situation by creating extra work and a tick-box .
Nautilus has long identified overwork and low-cost crewing models as unsustainable and a threat to safety, and can present credible research to back up its case.
The Telegraph has previously covered the Culture of Adjustment report from World Maritime University (WMU), released in 2020, which found widespread malpractices in the recording of work and rest hours with a culture of adjustment – both on and off ship – normalising fatigue among seafarers that could lead to serious casualties, loss of life and environmental damage
Following on from this, WMU is expanding the scope by launching a new survey of seafarers covering crewing levels plus work and rest hours, developed in cooperation with IFSMA, the Nautical Institute, IMarEST and ISWAN and tying in with conversations at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Any Nautilus International members that have worked on a commercial ship after 1 February 1997 are encouraged to take part by visiting the WMU survey. The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and all responses are confidential. The quantitative data that will be collected about seafarers’ practices regarding work and rest will be used to strengthen ongoing research, with the ultimate aim of enhance provisions on seafarers’ work and rest hours.
Mental health still a key concern
Maritime Safety Week was focused on the practical aspects of safety onboard, but outside of the event itself, charities, employers, unions and governments are continuing to work on the issue of seafarer mental health.
Earlier this year, the UK government collaborated with the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB) in launching a £2.4 million investment in seafarer training, wellbeing and support – something that maritime minister Robert Courts tied to the government’s post-Covid-19 Maritime Recovery Route Map, since the pandemic put a significant strain on seafarers and drew public attention to the fact that even in ‘normal’ times crew are often expected to endure mental strain.
Mental health in focus. Image: Getty Images
Maritime charities are now able to apply for a share of this funding to create projects that benefit seafarer wellbeing. MNWB chief executive officer Stuart Rivers welcomed the move: ‘This significant investment in the maritime charity sector is both timely and extremely welcome. The maritime charities sector has been supporting seafarers through multiple crises over the past two years, despite the difficult fundraising conditions. The Department for Transport’s funding will provide a real boost to seafarers’ welfare and enable improvements in skills and diversity for the wider sector.’
MAIB involvement
As the UK body which is responsible for investigating maritime incidents, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) was keen to communicate key messages during Maritime Safety Week.
‘Maritime Safety Week 2022 an important moment when the marine industry comes together to focus on how we can collectively continue to improve safety across the sector,’ said MAIB chief inspector Andrew Moll. For that reason, the MAIB took the week as an opportunity to write about current key safety topics: the dangers of work onboard fishing vessels; mooring deck safety; pilot ladders; and CO2 fire extinguishing system blockages that could prevent seafarers from extinguishing an engine room blaze.
During the year, the branch raised 1,530 reports of marine accidents and commenced 22 investigations, 14 of which involved loss of life. This represented a significant increase on previous years – with 1,217 reports in 2020 and 1,090 in 2019, for example – which the MAIB attributes to a rise in leisure craft and small commercial craft notifications and its industry request to report sub-standard pilot ladders.
Pilot ladder safety essential. Getty Images
MAIB inspector of marine accidents Bill Evans said that the 200 reports received by MAIB regarding pilot ladders show that even though serious accidents have been rare, ‘the potential for injury and even loss of life clearly exists.’
Mr Evans added: ‘Marine pilots play a critical role in the safe operation of any harbour, where they guide almost every vessel in and out of the port. However, while the size and technological complexity of ships has increased, marine pilots still embark and disembark moving vessels by using a rope pilot ladder. The pilot transfer is a hazardous operation, so it is absolutely essential that these ladders are correctly rigged and their use properly supervised by the crew.’
During Maritime Safety Week, the MAIB also highlighted incidents where seafarers have been struck by mooring lines, sometimes resulting in serious injury or death. Sadly, such incidents continue to occur. Crew should therefore make sure the right equipment is used and kept in good condition.
Planning – including risk assessments, control measures and ensuring there are neither too few nor too many crew to conduct the operation – is important when trying to conduct mooring deck operations safely. Areas where mooring deck operations take place need to be kept tidy, and mooring lines should be closely monitored on all berths.
As with all dangerous operations, crew communication is of the utmost importance when working on mooring decks, because it has the potential to be extremely hazardous if people are not able to interact clearly.
A more positive outlook?
Seafarers may be relieved to hear, however, that there are some signs that a greater emphasis on safety in recent years has improved matters and undoubtably saved lives.
According to Allianz’s Shipping and Safety Review, the global fleet was losing 200+ vessels a year in the early 1990s but now this has dropped to between 50 and 75 per year, despite a significant growth in the number of vessels. Annual shipping losses have declined by 57% since 2012, while 2021 represents a significant improvement on the rolling 10-year loss average – something that Allianz attributes to ‘the increased focus on safety measures over time, such as regulation, improved ship design and technology and risk management advances’.
This is good news for seafarers as well as shipping companies. When the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) released its Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents 2021, it found a reduction of 18% in the total number of casualties compared with 2019 plus a reduction in the number of lives lost by 48% and the number of injured persons by 36% – an incredibly positive finding given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the shipping industry. This continued an ongoing positive trend since 2014.
As with the MAIB’s advice, EMSA’s report highlights for seafarers the most common causes of injury and death. Fishing vessels remain the most dangerous. The main causes of death were vessel collisions and slipping/falls (nearly 10% of which involved someone going overboard). It also shows when to be most vigilant: from 2014 to 2020, the departure phase was the safest segment of a voyage and the en route portion the most unsafe, but 41% of casualties occurred in port areas.
However, while many of the threats to life and limb onboard are traditional ones, seafarers will need to remain vigilant. In the 2022 Emsafe report, also from EMSA, researchers identified a number of growing issues that will require different solutions, including fire safety on ferries plus the carriage of battery-powered vehicles on ships, the increased use of potentially hazardous alternative bunker fuels and the novel risks of automation.
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