MARITIME NEWSMonday, March 17, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers

Single maritime body to look after PH seafarersFilipino seafarers will henceforth be trained and certified under a single maritime administration as President Benigno Aquino III formally signed into law Republic Act No10635.

The new law puts the Department of Transportation and Communications, through the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), in charge of the education, training and certification of Filipino seafarers.

Marina backed the measure, stressing the need to have a single body to implement the approved 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The move is expected to improve the quality and training of Filipino merchant mariners, who comprise at least 25% of the world's professional seafarers.

The Philippine shipping industry is covered by no less than 14 government organisations spread across five Cabinet departments. Efforts at industry development are highly diffused, prone to corruption and frequent infighting.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Palace has welcomed the signing of the new law, saying that it is a significant development for the maritime industry, PNA reported.

Under the new statute, Marina will have the authority to "assume all powers and functions of the Professional Regulation Commission, the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Department of Health and the National Telecommunications Commission relative to the issuance, validation, verification, correction, revocation or cancellation of certificates of competency, endorsement, proficiency and documentary evidence required of all seafarers and all such other matters pertaining to the implementation of the oversight in the implementation of the 1978 STCW."

SAFETY STUDYUnguarded Machinery and Lone Work - a Fatal Combination

A chief officer conducting rounds during self-discharging operations of a cargo of slag found the body of a wiper in one of the conveyor belt tunnels. The wiper was working alone but had not been required to do maintenance work.

FACTSDuring self-discharging operations of a cargo of slag, the wiper called the cargo control room on his personal radio set to report that he was on watch in the conveyor belt tunnels, which were beneath the cargo holds.

About 45 minutes later, the chief officer went down to the tunnels to carry out routine rounds of the self-discharging system. When he reached the after end of the port side conveyor belt, he found the wiper's body between the conveyor belt roller and a supporting beam. The chief officer activated the emergency conveyor belt stop system and called for help. Although the emergency services were quickly on scene, the wiper had already died of severe head injuries.

The wiper had not been required to carry out any maintenance work on watch and no mechanical faults were found in the self-discharging machinery. The reason for the wiper becoming caught in the system is unknown. There were no witnesses.

FINDINGS- The machinery at the end of the conveyor belt system was guarded by only a waist-high hand rail. Therefore, it was easy for a crew member to intentionally or unintentionally bypass the rail and come into contact with the moving belt or end roller. There was no safety stop in the immediate area.

-The wiper worked alone during his six-hour watch. His only contact with the cargo control room was through his personal radio set if he wished to go to the mess. There were no procedures in place to regularly check on a lone worker.

-There were no risk assessments on board the vessel. A proper risk assessment of the area could have identified control measures such as enhanced guarding or CCTV coverage, which existed in other areas of the conveyor belt system, and extension of the safety stop arrangements.

-The wiper had been given only verbal instructions on his duties during cargo discharge operations. There was no written job description for this work. A more defined job description might have deterred him from carrying out any extraneous work that could have placed him in danger. Source: UK MAIB

US Navy Seals take control of rogue Libya oil ship: PentagonUS Navy Seals boarded and took control of an oil tanker that had loaded crude at a rebel-held port in eastern Libya and escaped to sea, the Pentagon said Monday.

No one was hurt "when US forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker Morning Glory, a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans," Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

The operation was approved by President Barack Obama and was conducted in the early hours of Monday (just after 0200 GMT) "in international waters southeast of Cyprus.," AFP reported.

The Morning Glory "is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government's National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained from the Libyan port of Al-Sidra," the statement read.

The US Seals operated from the USS Roosevelt, a guided missile destroyer, which "provided helicopter support and served as a command and control and support platform."

Caution urged for ships entering Singapore watersProtection and indemnity organisation Standard Club has advised ship masters to ensure that they have up-to-date information on conditions in the Singapore Strait before going in.

The Standard Club is concerned following two collisions in the strait.

This caused the Singapore Flag State to release an update to the Guide to the Singapore Straits.

Standard Club director of loss prevention Yves Vandenborn said the main causes of the collisions were insufficient adherence to the rules of the road and poor bridge team management.

"Masters should ensure that a proper lookout is kept on the bridge at all times. Sufficient crew should be available on the bridge to assist the master and officer on watch," he added.

"Collision regulations should be adhered to at all times and verbal agreements over VHF radio which contradict the collision regulations, and can cause confusion, should be avoided."

Vandenborn also highlighted the importance of having a proper passage plan that should contain the latest navigational warnings and corrections.

"A proper pre-arrival and pre-departure meeting should be held to discuss the passage plan and a meeting should be held prior to transiting or entering a busy shipping lane," he said.

Ten Chinese vessels on standby for jet searchTen Chinese vessels are on standby for further instructions as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet continues.

Eight vessels are on call over the Gulf of Thailand, while the other two are in waters near Singapore, according to He Jianzhong, director of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre, Xinhua reported.

Another vessel is on its way to Singapore and expected to reach there Tuesday night, He disclosed.

The search for flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER, entered its 10th day on Monday after the plane went missing on its way to Beijing on March 8, carrying 12 crew and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.

In the 24 hours till Monday noon, several Chinese merchant ships had assisted in the searching across the designated waters of the Strait of Malacca, with no discoveries after scouring 7,901 square kilometres in the area, according to He.

China on Saturday urged Malaysia to continue providing more "thorough and correct information" about the jet after the Malaysian Prime Minister claimed the plane deliberately steered off course.

REGULATIONSUnified standard in maritime security pushedA maritime security company has urged the international shipping industry to properly regulate private security contractors.

Maritime security company GoAGT noted how substandard security firms put the lives of everyone onboard at risk.

"It is extremely important that the shipping industry demands that internationally recognized standards such as ISO/PAS 28007 are implemented to ensure PMSCs are capable of delivering a professional service," GoAGT COO Gerry Northwood said.

The official stressed that some security firms try to cut corners and do not adhere to standards set by the International Maritime Organisation.

INCIDENTSBody of 'Japanese diver' found in IndonesiaA body believed to be that of a Japanese diver who went missing with six others off Bali a month ago has been found far from where she disappeared, Indonesian police said Monday.

The body, thought to be that of diving instructor Shoko Takahashi, was found at the weekend on Sempu island, East Java province, some 400 kilometers from where the divers went missing, The Jakarta Post reported.

Five of the other female Japanese divers in the group were rescued days after they went missing on February 14 while the body of a sixth washed up on the Indonesian resort island.

The body found at the weekend was barely recognizable - the head was missing - but Takahashi's Balinese husband believes it is her due to the clothes inside the diving suit, police said.

"The body was found on Saturday on a beach on Sempu island in Malang district," Malang marine police chief Slamet Prayitno told AFP.

"The husband, who came to the hospital last night, said he is 98% sure that the body belongs to his missing Japanese wife."

Salvadoran castaway meets companion's familyJose Salvador Alvarenga, a Salvadoran who survived adrift at sea for more than a year, met with the family of his shipmate over the weekend.

The castaway said 24-year-old Ezequiel Cordova died four months after their fishing boat broke down.

In his earlier interviews, the Salvadoran explained that his companion was unable to survive very long since he could not eat turtle blood and raw fish, the only food they could caught while lost at sea.

Alvarenga says that he and Cordova made a pact that if one of them survived, they would visit the other one's family to tell the astonishing tale, AFP reported.

"I feel better now. I am more at peace because now I know what happened," said Cordova's grieving mother Roselia Ríos Cueto. "Now I know what my son's last words were. That fills me with peace."

Cordova's family had said it did not blame Alvarenga, who has risen to worldwide fame because of his story of survival, but wanted to know what happened.

PORT OF THE WEEKPort of TianjinThe Port of Tianjin is the largest port in northern China and is the main maritime gateway to the capital Beijing.

UIt was formerly known as the Port of Tanggu. The name "Tianjin Xingang" literally means Tianjin New Port. The terms also is used to refer to the whole port complex.

Situated at the River Haihe, the Tianjin port is ranked fifth among the biggest ports in the world. The terminal is located about 170 kilometres south-east of Beijing and 60kms east of Tianjin city.

In terms of size, the Tianjin port is the third largest port in China and the single-largest port in the northern part of the mainland.

It covers 121 square kms of land surface, with over 31.9kms of quay shoreline and 151 production berths as of the end of 2010.

Tianjin Port handled 500 million tonnes of cargo and 13 million TEU of containers in 2013, making it the world's fourth largest port by throughput tonnage, and the ninth in container throughput.

The terminal conducts trade with more than 600 ports in 180 countries and territories around the world.

It is served by over 115 regular container lines run by 60 liner companies, including all the top 20 global liners.

Continuing expansion in the last two decades has been enormous, going from 30 million tonnes of cargo and 490,000 TEU in 1993 to well beyond 400 million tonnes and ten million TEU as of the end of 2012.

Terminal capacity is still increasing at a high rate, with 550-600 MT of throughput capacity expected by 2015.

As the port is part of the Binhai New Area district of Tianjin Municipality, the main special economic zone in northern China, it lies directly east of the TEDA.

The port complex is at the core of the ambitious development programme of the BNA, and as part of that plan, its aims to become the primary logistics and shipping hub in the northern mainland.

The massive complex is divided into nine port areas: the three core areas of Beijiang, Nanjiang, and Dongjiang around the Xingang fairway, the Haihe area along the river, the Beitang port area around the Beitangkou estuary, the Dagukou port area in the estuary of the Haihe River and three areas under construction, namely Hanggu, Gaoshaling and Nangang.

SHIPPING DATABALTIC EXCHANGE

Market snapshot: (March 14)Dry Index BDI 1477 +9Capesize Index BCI 2677 +23Panamax Index BPI 1113 +7Supramax Index BSI 1183 +10Handysize Index BHSI 671 +3

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