MARITIME NEWSFriday, April 4, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers

Russia to downsize state ship-building development programmeRussian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexei Rakhmanov on Thursday announced that the government might cut the financing for the state sponsored ship-building development programme by 40% in 2013-20. He made the announcement during a State Duma (Lower House of the Parliament) session. The session was dedicated to prospects for the development of the ship-building industry.

Earlier, Kremlin decided to spend RUB 338 billion (USD 9.6 billion) till 2030 to develop civil marine facilities and ship-building industry as the sector was neglected in the last 20 years.

However, the government might have to scrap the programme partially mainly because of economic problems.

Speaking at the Duma, Rakhmanov stressed: "We have a state programme on the development of the ship-building industry. Regrettably, this programme is being rather seriously adjusted. We hope we will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions with our colleagues at the Finance Ministry, but, judging from the programme we submitted last year, the shrinkage is up to 40%."

According to him, the government has experienced "feverish mobilisation" of resources whenever it tries to meet deadlines for the launching of civilian vessels or warships. "But we always find a way to solve these problems. So, I must say that with a great degree of certainty the state defence order till 2020 will be fulfilled in the full and in due time," he told the House.

Commenting on the government's long-term planning, Rakhmanov said: "Efficient dialogue has so far been established only with the Navy. There were hearings on the defence ship-building programme till the year 2050 and approaches to long-term planning will make it possible to arrange the industrial, science-an-technology activities and organise design bureaus."

SAFETY STUDYSHIP COLLISION

The bridge team members aboard a cargo ship were too busy with other things, including keeping a lookout, so that they failed to notice another vessel coming into close contact.

FACTSA medium-sized cargo ship was sailing northward along the eastern vessel traffic system on its way to its loading port. By means of radar, it detected a container vessel off its port bow. The cargo ship's master decided to change his course to port, intending to pass by the stern of the container vessel.

The cargo ship's master was manoeuvring the ship while keeping lookout and operating the bridge telegraph. He did not notice that she was approaching toward the bow of the container vessel because he did not double-check the readings on the compass.

Meanwhile, the container vessel assumed that the cargo ship would sail ahead of the VTS because an officer reported that the cargo ship was 3,000 metres away and sailing faster than the container vessel.

An officer of the container vessel was navigating on autopilot and not keeping a lookout. While confirming the ship's next way point, he was facing away from the bow as the GPS plotter was situated such that he had to face astern.

A few minutes later, the two ships collided. The nearby Vessel Traffic Service Centre saw the impending collision via radar and radioed a warning. However, the officer on watch aboard the container vessel said he did not hear the warning until after the collision.

FINDINGSThe cargo ship saw the approaching container vessel but it did not notice that it was approaching near the vessel's bow. It is likely that the cargo ship did not send out any signal.

The container vessel assumed that the cargo ship would just pass by and continued GPS plotter operations while facing the stern and proceeded on autopilot without keeping lookout.

The cargo ship's master was distracted on the bridge. No one was assigned to monitor the radar.

The VTS centre informed the cargo ship about the oncoming vessel from its port side but it did not decrease speed to prevent the collision. Source: JTSB

132kg of heroin seized in Indian OceanA Canadian Naval vessel intercepted a big shipment of heroin.

The Department of National Defence of Canada confirmed the news on Thursday and said that the Navy seized uncovered heroin while conducting a raid in a sailboat off the eastern coast of Africa on March 31.

In a statement, the department said that the ship was sailing in the eastern coast as part of Operation Artemis - a multinational maritime security and counter-terrorism operation in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, Canadian Defence Minister Rob Nicholson congratulated the Navy for their success, saying: "This successful seizure is a result of the patience and perseverance displayed by the Naval forces. It is also a credit to our collective capability to work together with our combined task force's 150 partners to respond in a timely and effective manner to threats to maritime security and commerce in the region."

Investors snap up shipping loansKKR.N, a global private equity firm, has said that investors have started snapping up shipping loans as the global economy lifts trade prospects. KKR.N has taken USD 150 million worth of shipping loans from two European banks.

A senior official of the firm said that they noticed a flurry of deals in recent months for ship finance loans and a number of them were put up for sale by banks. According to him, the banks were under tremendous pressure to boost their capital in an attempt to adhere to new, stricter industry legislation born of the financial crisis.

Both financial institutions and shipping firms experienced the brand of the worst economic downturns of the decade. Many firms even defaulted on loans, while several others collapsed altogether, forcing the banks to off-load risky assets at cheap prices, even as the trading conditions improve. However, officials of Nordea Bank and BNP Paribas declined to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, a source close to one trade finance said: "Through buying shipping loans at a discount, investors are entering at a lower threshold. The freight market right now is okay, so companies will likely be able to service loans, thus funds make their 5%, which is a nice carrying yield."

He also said: "If market goes up, their loans will appreciate, thus, there will be additional benefit and return. If the market goes to hell or they think they can find a better management team, then they just take over the vessels and become shareholders and own the business."

TRADELong-term scrubbing to experience huge growth

A Singapore-based Marine and Energy Consulting firm has predicted that maritime industry will experience huge growth in scrubbing, especially in the long term, and will easily meet increased regulatory challenges.

Speaking at the 35th International Bunker Conference in Copenhagen on Thursday, Managing Director of the firm Robin Meech said that the cost of resorting to scrubbers will motivate future growth.

Meanwhile, he admitted that the growth will ultimately depend on economies of scale and the age of vessels, as the average cost of a scrubber is around USD 4 million.

Meech also said: "Scrubbing is the cheapest method to comply for existing ships less than 15 years old compared to scrubbers to low sulphur bunker fuel and LNG." Scrubber systems are basically air pollution control devices. These devices are used to remove some particulates and/or gases. Onboard a ship, scrubbers are installed on engines to remove sulphur from bunker fuel. "If a ship spends a lot of time in ECA areas, it would make sense for it to use scrubbers or LNG," stressed Meech.

While the projected figure for heavy fuel oil being scrubbed annually is set at 28 million metric tonnes by 2025, the industry will have a cumulative investment of USD 15 billion, according to him. He also projected that around 6,000 scrubbers would be in operation in the next 11 years.

LEGALShip detained over crews' poor living conditionsThe Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has detained a ship in a Cornish port over the poor living conditions of its crew. A senior MCA official said that it was the second such detention in the last two months.

According to MCA Surveyor Chris Moss, the ship violated a number of health and safety norms. Inspectors found dirty bathroom facilities, unsuitable food storage, corroded pipe work, broken lights and inadequate laundry facilities.

On February 3, a ship was towed into the Cornish port after it suffered an engine failure off the Lizard Island. Last week, the ship was allowed to sail following rectification.

Moss said: "We carry out thorough inspections on ships visiting our ports and if there are issues with safety, crew health and welfare, we take action. The detention notice on the second ship will remain in place until the necessary improvements are carried out."

SECURITY

Icebreaker sent to Cape BretonThe Canadian Coast Guard on Thursday sent an icebreaker to Cape Breton for helping a ferry stuck in ice there for more than 24 hours.

Although two ferries stuck in ice off the coast of Cape Breton, one of them, with 450 passengers and crew onboard, made it to Port aux Basques on Thursday afternoon. The icebreaker was sent to help the second one.

The Coast Guard said that both the ferries first hit "extreme ice conditions" around 7:15pm (local time) on Wednesday in the Cabot Strait. The second one, with 350 people onboard, was still stuck in the thickest ice around four miles from North Sydney dock.

Meanwhile, some passengers tweeted their complaints about a lack of blankets. They also said that they were asked to pay for meals.

Cargo ship sinks off S Korean coastA Mongolian-flagged cargo ship, with 16 North Korean crewmembers onboard, ran aground at around 1:19am (local time) on Friday and sank off the coast of Yeosu in South Korea.

The South Korean Coast Guard reached the spot immediately after receiving a distress call and started the rescue operation. The Coast Guard were able to rescue three crewmembers and sent them to a local hospital, two crewmembers were reportedly dead and the rest are still missing.

The 4,300-tonne ill-fated ship, carrying steel products, was on a voyage from North Korean port city of Cheongjin to China's Changdao port. An investigation has been launched.

240 Titanic artefacts to be auctioned onlineBoston-based auction house RR has announced that hundreds of artefacts linked to Titanic will be auctioned online on April 17-24.

RR believes that around 240 historic artefacts and copies of the New York Times, The Illustrated London News and The New York Evening Post, which published front page reports about the catastrophe, can easily fetch a million dollars. The auction house will also place letters, photos and other objects from the vessel along with items belonged to survivors for the online sale.

The bidding for a letter, written on April 2, 1912 on stationery, bearing the famous ship's letterhead, by a crewmember, who did not survive the disaster, starts at USD 1,000.

GALLEY

Strawberry-mango mesclun saladIngredients (for 12 servings): 1/2 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of canola oil

1tsp of salt

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

8 cups of mixed salad greens

2 cups of cranberries (sweetened and dried)

1/2 pound of fresh strawberries (quartered)

1 mango (peeled, seeded and cubed)

1/2 cup of onion (chopped)

1 cup of slivered almonds.

Method: Place the sugar, oil, salt and vinegar in a jar with a lid.

Seal the jar and shake it vigorously to mix all the ingredients properly.

Now, mix salad greens, sweetened dried cranberries, strawberries, mango and onion in a large bowl.

Toss it with dressing and sprinkle with almonds before serving.

Spicy mango salsaThis is a delicious dish to enjoy especially in the summer.

Ingredients: 2 cups of fresh mango (diced)

2 cups of fresh peaches (pitted and chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2tbsp of fresh ginger root (chopped)

1/4 cup of fresh basil (chopped)

2 serrano chilly peppers (diced)

1/4 cup of fresh lime juice.

Method: Mix the mangoes, peaches or nectarines, garlic, ginger and basil or cilantro together in a large bowl.

Add chillies and lime juice and mix well.

Allow the mixture to chill for two hours.

Now serve.

SHIPPING DATABALTIC EXCHANGE

Market snapshot: 11:30 GMTDry Index BDI 1235 -38Capesize Index BCI 2343 -75Panamax Index BPI 836 -31Supramax Index BSI 1025 -22Handysize Index BHSI 610 -11

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