NL MARITIME NEWS

NL MARITIME NEWS

A NewsLink service for Dole Colombia International maritime news for seafarers

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Headland SatNews

NATIONAL

Intensive study on ocean governance to be launched

The Global Ocean Commission has launched an independent panel that will look into the management of the world's oceans, which are facing unprecedented overfishing, pollution and habitat loss. The commission is spearheaded by former British foreign secretary David Miliband, ex-Costa Rican president Jose Maria Figueres and South African cabinet minister Trevor Manuel. The goal is to place the spotlight on the threats facing seas that lie beyond national jurisdictions. These are regulated by the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), a loose-woven treaty that is now 30 years old, AFP reported. Critics say it has been overtaken by the globalised economy and technological advances. Other members of the panel include former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin, Indian business magnate Sir Ratan Tata, former Australian environment and defence minister Robert Hill and Yoriko Kawaguchi, previously Japanese foreign minister and environment minister. Their aim is to publish recommendations for overhauling ocean governance early next year, when the UN General Assembly launches talks on protecting marine biodiversity. "The world urgently needs to find better ways of managing the oceans, to stop abuse of its precious resources and ensure its protection for present and future generations," said Figueres. "The global ocean is essential to the health and well-being of each and every one of us. It provides about half of the oxygen we breathe and absorbs about a quarter of our carbon dioxide emissions. But we are failing to manage it in ways that reflect its true value." The initiative is a collaboration between the US green organisation the Pew Environment Group; Oxford University's Somerville College; a Dutch environmental awareness group called the Adessium Foundation; and Oceans 5, a collaboration of philanthropists concerned about the health of the seas.

More Chinese travellers join Western cruises

Foreign cruise companies are making inroads into China's tourism market. Shanghai resident Ding Yun recently booked a cruise for her parents for the Spring Festival holiday. The "Legend of the Seas" cruise, provided by Royal Caribbean Cruises, will take her parents to ports in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. "My parents are really excited and looking forward to the journey. I think more people would enjoy taking cruises during the holidays if they learned more about them," Ding said.

SAFETY Proper planning

Proper planning is necessary in drydock and during major repairs to ensure that responsible officers are delegated to supervise the refitting of critical components. The condition, integrity and tightness of piping should be regularly checked, especially on critical equipment and fuel oil systems.

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Zhang Zhendong, general manager of the Tianjin International Cruise Home Port in north China, said the port processed 79,000 passengers in 2012, setting a new record for the port, PNA reported. "The number of voyages has increased at the port in recent years," Zhang said. "The harbour is expected to see 47 voyages in 2013, while the figure was only five in 2011 and 19 in 2012."

The vessel must ensure that adequate quantities of original spare parts are available at all times, and that all gaskets are renewed whenever pipelines are opened up and reconnected. Wherever appropriate, lagging and containment covering must always be refitted, or renewed, if damaged. A product tanker was recently on a voyage after the completion of drydocking and associated surveys. During the ocean passage, the fire alarm suddenly activated in the engine room. Instead of a fire, the cause of the alarm turned out to be a large leakage of fuel oil from a flange on the inlet pipe of the main Engine No 4 fuel injection pump. A probe into the incident revealed that the fuel system was overhauled, but no senior ship engineer had supervised its refitting in drydock. As they did not have a new spare part, the yard workers reused the damaged gasket of the flange connection on the suction side of the fuel injection pump. The insulation and leakage containment cover over the fuel line had not been renewed/refitted. It is important that all defective parts discovered after an incident must be carefully preserved to allow detailed investigations and to establish the underlying cause(s) so that effective corrective and preventative actions can be taken. Source: MARS Report

US lawmakers launch bipartisan maritime caucus

The USA Maritime has expressed appreciation to lawmakers for launching a bipartisan maritime caucus. The coalition thanked representatives Cedric Richmond and Michael Grimm, the co-chairs of the new Congressional Maritime Caucus, for their efforts in raising public awareness on maritime-related issues. USA Maritime chairman James Henry said the coalition is eager to work together with the caucus in ensuring long-term preparedness of the country's fleet. "At a time of great budgetary uncertainty, the US Merchant Marine remains committed to working with our allies in Congress and the Administration to strengthen and protect our nation's vital sealift capacity and to ensure the safe, reliable and cost-effective delivery of essential military equipment, emergency relief supplies and food assistance around the world - whenever and wherever needed," he added.

Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association president Mike Jewell, meanwhile, noted that the launch of the new caucus will give the maritime sector larger representation at the US Congress.

Norway unveils seafarer health web site

Seafarers looking to improve their fitness and health will be able to get a lot of information from a new website called Training on Board (www.trainingonboard.org). The Norwegian Maritime Authority for the International Committee on Seafarers' Welfare (ICSW) recently released the web site for health conscious seafarers. The project is aimed at promoting good health and fitness in the industry. There are a lot of tools and information that seafarers will have access to in the site, including an online calculator that will help assess one's fitness. "With the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) coming into force later this year it is important for crews to be fit and healthy. The MLC emphasises the importance of health and welfare. The Training on Board site encourages seafarers and shipping companies to actively participate in the fitness programme and learn about healthy nutrition," ICSW Executive Director Roger Harris said. Torbjern Husby of the Norwegian Maritime Authority likewise noted the increasing number of seafarers that have poor health. "In Norway we are finding that seafarers are losing their health certificates as they have BMI's of more than 35 and are becoming vulnerable to diabetes and heart conditions because of lack of exercise and poor diet," he said. Aside from the online tools, there are also physical training programmes for seafarers developed by specialists.
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INCIDENTS Salvage of USS Guardian to be finished by March 23

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced today that the salvage operation for the grounded USS Guardian (MCM-5) will be completed by March 23. According to Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesperson, this was stressed by the US Navy salvage team who will be removing the grounded minesweeper off Tubbataha Reef, in Sulu Sea, PNA reported. "In their latest salvage proposal submitted to us, they are looking at finishing the salvage works by March 23. Of course, this timeline will only hold if everything works out to plan," he added. In the same proposal, the US Navy said the pipelay vessel, the Gibraltarian-flagged "Jascon 25", will act as the primary vessel in the salvage operation with the Singaporean-based crane ship "Smit Borneo" acting only as support. "Salvage teams will live aboard the 'Jascon 25' while the work is ongoing. The 'Smit Borneo' will only be a support ship in the project," Balilo added. "Jascon 25" is expected to arrive at Tubbataha Reef by 9pm on February 15. The PCG spokesperson said cutting operations, depending on the weather, will quickly commence after that. Salvage teams will first cut into manageable sections the topside area of the minesweeper which includes its bridge, funnels and masts before dismantling areas below the waterline. Chopped off areas will be then be hoisted by the crane ships. The USS Guardian ran aground off Tubbataha Reef last Jan. 17 in still unknown circumstances.

Disabled cruise ship now headed for Alabama

Passengers aboard a cruise vessel stranded in the Gulf of Mexico after a weekend engine fire have limited access to bathrooms, food and hot coffee. Now, they will also have a new destination - Mobile, Ala. The cruise ship had drifted so far north of its original position that it will now be towed to the southern US port, instead of the original plan to take it to Progreso, Mexico, AP reported. The cruise ship had been floating aimlessly about 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula since a fire erupted in the aft engine room early Sunday, knocking out the ship's propulsion system. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished. The ship has been operating on backup generator power since the incident. The ship, which left Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and was scheduled to return there Monday, will instead be towed to Mobile with its 3,143 passengers 1,086 crew members. They are due to arrive in Alabama on Thursday.

SHIPPING ATI pledges to improve Southern PH port

Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) President Sean L. Perez said that importers and exporters can expect infrastructure developments in place at Batangas Container Terminal (BCT) to bring more competitiveness to businesses in South Luzon, Philippines. Perez said that taking full advantage of the integrated services at BCT brings greater value, significant costsavings and conveniences for Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) customers, PNA reported.

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"ATI's modern Batangas Port is delivering the same operational efficiencies and synergies as Manila South Harbor, making it a one-stop competitive hub for containerized and general cargoes, RoRo (roll-on roll-off) and passengers benefiting South Luzon and nearby locations," he added. Business locators in Calabarzon, which now ship via Batangas Port, get a big boost from government with significant discounts on port dues from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and incentives from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). Based on the report presented at the National Competitiveness Council's stakeholders' consultative meeting with JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA) Study team on "Decongesting Manila ports and diverting container traffic to Batangas and Subic," Subic and Batangas port offers lower cargo-related cost compared to Manila ports.

MARITIME INSTITUTIONS Republic of Korea Coast Guard

The Korea Coast Guard (Hangul:Haeyang-gyeongchal-cheong) is the maritime police agency of the republic of Korea. It is responsible for maritime safety and control off the coast of South Korea. During peacetime, the KCG is a branch of Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. As of July, 2009, the KCG has 7,696 officers personnel. It is headquartered in Songdodong, Incheon, and operates hundreds of smaller operating stations along the coastline of the Korean Peninsula. The Coast Guard operates four classes of heavy vessels of over 1,000 tons, three classes of medium vessels of over 250 tons, and three classes of light vessels which are mostly speedboats of over 30 tons. The KCG also uses several types of 'special purpose watercraft', such as firefighting vessels, barges, high speed scout boats, light patrols, and amphibious hovercraft. The KCG aviation unit fields six fixed-wing aircraft and 16 rotary-wing aircraft. The Coast Guard also has its own asymmetric warfare unit, the 'Korean Coast Guard Special Operation Unit.' This unit was formed to respond to unconventional threats from external sources and incursions from North Korea. The Coast Guard Authority was formed on 23 December 1953 in Busan, at the same time, a Maritime Police Unit was also established as part of the National Police Agency. In October 1962, new bases were organised in Incheon, Yeosu, Pohang, and Kunsan. In February 1963, the aviation unit of the KCG was temporarily deactivated due to a lack of aircraft, although it reopened in the 1980's. Since 1980, the KCG began expanding its fleet largely, and in August 1991 the Police Unit was renamed the Korea National Maritime Police Agency. In 2007 the Korea National Maritime Police Agency was integrated into the Coast Guard. In the early 21st century, the fleet expanded to include various vessels of over 3,000 tons, and as of January 2002, the 'Korean Coast Guard Special Operation Unit' was officially formed. In the May 2008, the "Search & Rescue Maintenance Unit" was newly constructed, and as of late 2008, various sub-agencies changed infrastructural composition. The organisation plans to field more vessels over 5000 tons by 2015, and expand its asymmetric warfare force significantly by encouraging participation from other branches of the police.

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Recently, with continuous border crossings by Chinese watercraft, the Korean Coast Guard has deployed a significant number of heavy vessels to the Yellow Sea.

SHIPPING DATA
BALTIC EXCHANGE
Market snapshot: 12:25 GMT Dry Capesize Panamax Supramax Index Index Index Index BDI BCI BPI BSI 746 1453 737 666 -2 -8 +14 -3 -3 .

Handysize Index

BHSI 418

EXCHANGE RATES
New York (Mon Cls) Fgn Currency in USD Britain (Pound) Canada (Dollar) China (Yuan) Euro India (Rupee) 1.5664 0.9944 0.1603 1.3386 0.0186 USD in Fgn Currency 0.6384 1.0056 6.2372 0.7470 53.8600 9620.00 93.4100 5.5100 40.7300 3.1000 30.1756 1.2405

Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000104 Japan (Yen) Norway (Krone) Philippines (Peso) Poland (Zloty) Russia (Ruble) Singapore (Dollar) 0.010706 0.1815 0.0246 0.3225 0.0331 0.8061

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