MARITIME NEWSMonday, March 31, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers

Confidence level in shipping industry hits six-year highImproving freight rates, coupled with rising private equity funding, have prompted confidence levels in the shipping industry to reach a new high since 2008.

In the three-month period to February this year, the level of trust for the industry peaked at 6.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, according to Moore Stephen's latest Shipping Confidence Survey. The figure was higher than the 6.1 recorded in the previous opinion poll conducted by the global consulting firm in November 2013.

Shipowners' confidence level on the industry went up from 6.2 in November last year to 6.6, managers (6.1 to 6.4) and brokers (5.6 to 6.4). The rating for charterers, meanwhile, posted the highest surge, from 5.7 to 6.5.

Most of the respondents who took part in the survey believes that freight rates are now starting to stabilise following years of slump while others say improving global supply and demand will likely benefit the industry over the coming months.

"There are signs that we have passed the deepest point of the recession. The only question now is how long it will take for the markets to improve to the point where we have sustainable rates again. It may be that some shipowners will still not make it because time - or cash and the patience of the banks - will run out," one of the respondents said.

Many also said that the shipping industry will also benefit from the scrapping of more "dirty and inefficient" vessels this year.

However, there were some who believe that the shipping industry will continue to become a "marginal business" due to overcapacity, as well as other factors such as political uncertainties world-wide.

SAFETY STUDYLAST ACT OF DEFIANCEA decommissioned vessel that was beached at a river port broke free of her moorings and took a final unplanned - and unmanned - voyage toward a nearby oil terminal.

FACTSA decommissioned and unmanned coaster had just been beached and secured with the vessel's mooring ropes by shore workers on a slipway in an estuarial port.

Two hours later, on a falling tide, the vessel's stern, which projected into the river and had remained afloat, lowered, causing the vessel to trim aft.

As weight came on the aft spring line, it surged and slipped off the mooring bitts on board. This resulted in the other two mooring lines progressively parting and the vessel sliding astern and entering the main channel in dense fog.

The vessel's radar echo was acquired and tracked by the VTS station, which made several attempts to communicate with the unknown contact as it headed downstream. A pilot launch was tasked to identify it, and when it struck a buoy and came within 2.5nm of an oil terminal, two tugs were dispatched.

The oil terminal was informed of the possible threat and cargo operations were stopped. In the dense fog, one of the tugs identified the vessel and transferred a crew member across aboard her.

Although one tug was able to make fast a tow line to the vessel's stern, the strong tide and restricted visibility hindered the efforts of the tugs.

The wayward vessel made contact with the oil terminal structure, causing damage to the support structure of the oil pipelines.

FINDINGSThe mooring ropes used to tie up the vessel were in good condition, but the vessel had not been secured effectively.

The aft spring line slipped as weight came on it because the rope had not been secured correctly.

Synthetic fibre ropes should be made fast using two round turns around the leading post of the bitts before finishing it off with at least three 'figure of eight' turns.

Careful thought should be given to the lead of the lines so as to avoid creating sharp angles.

In this case, a sharp edge on the fairlead effectively cut through the rope as the vessel oscillated alongside before breaking free. Source: UK MAIB

Clean-up ops underway for Texas oil spillEfforts are underway to control an oil spill that occurred off Texas City's coast last week.

New sightings of oil slicks and tarballs have been reported near North Padre Island and Mustang Island in Corpus Christi but the US Coast Guard said that clean-up and response squads had been sent to the affected areas.

Local maritime authorities have yet to determine whether the tarballs stemmed from the March 22 oil pill in Texas but just the same, clean-up operations are now being implemented. Tarballs reaching a size of six inches have been seen in patches of seaweed along JP Luby Beach, reports said.

Officials also disclosed that no wildlife had been affected by the oil spill. They advised residents who have knowledge or observed any wildlife that had been affected by the oil spill to immediately alert the authorities and refrain from carrying out clean-up operations on their own.

The local authorities did not impose any danger zones and other restrictions but residents, tourists and mariners have been urged to co-ordinate with them in addressing the problem.

Philippines' MARINA updates security provisionsIn line with the Philippines' efforts to comply with salient provisions of the 2010 Manila Amendments, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) announced that it is adopting new security provisions.

Such provisions include the adoption of the new competencies and knowledge, understanding and proficiency (KUP) for ship security security officers as required by the 2010 Manila Amendments, PNA reported.

MARINA announced the adoption of the course for ship security awareness with designated security duties as required by the 2010 Standards on Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Manila Amendments; and the adoption of refresher and updating of Basic Safety under the 2010 Manila Amendments.

As such, all seafarers, shipowners, manning agencies, maritime education and training institutions, assessment centres are advised to comply with these new regulations.

Its objective is to implement new competencies, KUPs, ship security-related courses, and refresher and updating for Basic Safety in compliance with the requirements of the 2010 STCW Manila Amendments.

The Circular covers the following courses: Revised Ship Security Officer Course (Regulation VI/5, STCW Convention); Security Awareness Training (Section A-VI/6.4, STCW Code) and Seafarers with Designated Security Duties (Section A-VI/6.6, STCW Code).

Gunmen on speedboat fire at merchant vesselThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Shipping Centre (NSC) has reported a shooting incident at the Strait of Hormuz where a merchant vessel was attacked by gunners on a speedboat. The merchant ship was shot twice on Sunday, with the unknown assailants using machine guns.

"Two green coloured skiffs with three-four persons on board in military clothing and armed with gun machines got to 150 meters of a merchant vessel," NATO's merchant shipping alert service said.

NATO added that the attack happened at the Gulf of Oman side of the Strait of Hormuz. The authorities are still investigating the incident.

INCIDENTSSearch for fishing vessel in distress in AntarcticaThere were grave concerns Monday for a fishing vessel that issued a distress signal from an area near Antarctica where debris has been sighted.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it had detected an emergency distress beacon signal early Sunday about 648 kilometres north of the Antarctic mainland.

A civilian jet and an RAAF P3 Orion tasked with finding the vessel, thought to be a 75-metre (250-feet) Tanzanian-flagged fishing support ship, failed to do so in flyovers of the remote southern Indian Ocean area.

"The vessel was not located but debris was seen in the location of the beacon signal," AMSA said in a statement. "Grave concerns are held for the crew."

It was not known how many people were on board. AMSA has so far been unable to contact the boat that issued the emergency distress signal and a broadcast has been issued to all shipping in the area to assist, AFP reported.

Tropical fish attack Russian traveller's rowboatTropical filefish attacked rowboat Turgoyak of Russian traveller Fyodor Konyukhov who is crossing solo the Pacific from South America to Australia.

Filefish are knocking on the rowboat by their "beaks" and, in the words of Fyodor, he "is quite grateful" to filefish for this. Filefish eat shells on the underwater part of the rowboat.

At a communications session with the Russian capital of Moscow late Saturday evening, the oceanic pilgrim said it was quite difficult for him to pass the islands in the central part of the Pacific, PNA reported.

"I have left the sea area of French Polynesia just recently and reached the Cook Islands," the traveller complained to the expedition headquarters. Turgoyak is passing atoll Autitaki in the Cook Islands at a distance of just 31 miles (around 49.8 kilometres) from it. Around 2,000 people live on the atoll, but they will hardly notice Konyukhov's nine-metre-long tiny "ship" amid oceanic waves.

From the start on December 22, 2013, according to Fyodor's estimates, Turgoyak had rowed 5,500 nautical miles or more than 10,000 kilometres.

CO-ORDINATIONNew centre set up as Chinese ships reach search area

A total of seven Chinese ships convened Sunday in waters west of Australia's Perth to coordinate their search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, PNA and Xinhua reported.

Other ships gathered include transport dock Kunlunshan, supply ship Qiandaohu, missile destroyer Haikou, which will be responsible for the search in the southern part of the newly-designated area, while Haixun 01, Nanhaijiu 115 and Donghaijiu 101 will search in the northern patch, Xinhua was told.

Earlier in the day, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced former Defense Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston will lead a new Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) based in Perth.

Abbott said Houston is "an individual of enormous experience and great skill who has already served his country with distinction."

The new JACC will work with key international stakeholders including the families, friends and international media. Abbott said that the JACC will ensure that the search is reinforced by strong liaison with all the relevant stakeholders.

PORT OF THE WEEKPort of HelsinkiThe Port of Helsinki is the main port of Finland. It is is owned by the city of Helsinki, specialised in unitised cargo services for Finnish companies engaged in foreign trade.

The complex is the busiest passenger port in Finland, with diverse services to Tallinn, Stockholm, Travemünde, Rostock, Gdynia and St Petersburg, Russia.

The Port of Helsinki oversees three harbours namely. Vuosaari Harbour serves container and roro traffic. South Harbour and West Harbour serve roro traffic transported by passenger ships.

The liner traffic network of the port of Helsinki is the most extensive and versatile in Finland. There are frequent, regularly scheduled connections from Helsinki to ports on the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic.

In the summer time, international cruise ships make almost 300 visits and bring over 360.000 tourists to Helsinki. There can be as many as 17 departures to Tallinn daily.

There are also daily connections to Travemunde, Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam. The number of passengers was 703,000 in February and 1.3 million in January-February.

The value of the cargo traffic at the Port of Helsinki represents approximately one third of the value of the entire Finnish foreign trade and two-fifths of the Finnish foreign trade transported by sea.

Cargo arriving at the goods ports of Helsinki consists mainly of consumer durables and foodstuffs, as well as raw materials and semi-finished goods for the industry. Export goods comprise products of forestry and metal industry, as well as foodstuffs, textile products and glassware.

Cargo traffic experienced a slight growth at the beginning of the year. Traffic in January-February was 1.5 million tonnes, which was a one percent increase from the previous year.

Exports, in particular, continued their positive development, with a growth rate of six in January-February. However, imports remained weak and decreased by three compared to January-February the previous year, according to the Port's web site.

SHIPPING DATABALTIC EXCHANGE

Market snapshot: (March 24)Dry Index BDI 1373 -39Capesize Index BCI 2557 -22Panamax Index BPI 978 -40Supramax Index BSI 1115 -24Handysize Index BHSI 649 -10

EXCHANGE RATES

New York (Fri Cls) Fgn Currency USD in Fgn in USD CurrencyBritain (Pound) 1.6645 0.6008Canada (Dollar) 0.9046 1.1055China (Yuan) 0.1610 6.2122Euro 1.3751 0.7272India (Rupee) 0.0167 59.8950Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000088 11360.00Japan (Yen) 0.009729 102.7900Norway (Krone) 0.1664 6.0086Philippines (Peso) 0.0223 44.8000Poland (Zloty) 0.3297 3.0300Russia (Ruble) 0.0280 35.7731Singapore (Dollar) 0.7945 1.2587Ukraine (Hryvnia) 0.0909 11.0050