MarEx eNewsletter - April 30, 2009

April 30th, 2009 Vol. 7, No. 17 Piracy: Settling the Bill The predictable course of events that follows the return of the Maersk Alabama's crewmembers does not include a solution to the problem – certainly not one that appears to be necesssarily affordable to today's shippers. As a general rule of thumb, I try to keep my powder ... Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx Mailbag: This week's Mailbag contains three letters specifically addressing last week's lead editorial. Maritime education, the net effect of STCW, and MERPAC input to all of that was the subject of last week's editorial. We thought that the Maritime Education Summit and the quarterly MERPAC meeting which took ... Read More>>>Back to Top Featured MarEx Print Edition Article: Larry Kiern's Washington Insider Column from our March/April edition featuring Harry Vafias and the Vafias Group companies on the cover. This week's featured archive MarEx print article is taken from our March/April edition December edition. Follow along as Winston & Strawn's Washington attorney Larry Kiern zeroes in ... Read More>>>Back to Top Piracy off the Horn of Africa New Report from Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists) •Summary: Recent attacks, including those on U.S.-flagged vessels, in the waters off the Horn of Africa have brought new U.S. and international attention to the long-standing problem of piracy in the region. The ... Read More>>>Back to Top A.P. Moller – Maersk Group Reviews Internal Piracy Policy Group says it remains vigilant, constantly monitors the situation in the Gulf of Aden and the area off the Somali coast and additionally requests action from the international community. The Group regularly updates its policy and procedures for sailing in the Gulf of Aden and off the ... Read More>>>Back to Top GMATS Security Seminars: Piracy Countermeasures THE GLOBAL MARITIME AND TRANSPORTATION SCHOOL (GMATS), the world leader in maritime professional training presents the first in a series of security seminars: Piracy Countermeasures. The Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS) located at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York is a global ... Read More>>>Back to Top Hempel's 'invisible' Hull Coating Takes Technology Prize Hempasil X3 is an innovative new coating for ships' hulls that can save shipowners thousands of dollars in fuel bills and drastically cut the amount of CO2 released into the environment – and it has now won a prestigious award for outstanding product development and innovation. Hempasil ... Read More>>>Back to Top Robert D. Somerville Named Mass. Maritime's 2009 Maritime Person of the Year Award to be presented November 6, 2009 at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy's 15th Annual Admiral's Ball April 24, 2009 (Buzzard Bay, Massachusetts): Mr. Robert D. Somerville, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ABS has been named as the Massachusetts Maritime Academy 2009 Maritime Person of the Year. ... Read More>>>Back to Top NYC BEDC Releases Invitation for Sealed Bids to Construct Sludge Ships Sealed Bids to Construction of Three 140,000 Cubic FT Sludge Ships Due July 30th 2009 The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Engineering Design and Construction (BEDC) has released invitation to submit sealed bids for the construction of three identical 140,000 cu. ft. self-propelled ... Read More>>>Back to Top Owner of Korean Commercial Cargo Vessel & Chief Engineer Plead Guilty to Marine Pollution Related Charges WASHINGTON—STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd. (STX), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, and the owner of the commercial cargo ship, M/V Ocean Jade, pleaded guilty to conspiracy as well as falsifying and failing to properly maintain records meant to ensure compliance with maritime pollution laws, the Justice Department announced. The chief engineer ... Read More>>>Back to Top Risk Management the Key to Surviving Tough Times International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens warns that shipping companies should be pursuing a policy of robust risk management in order to identify and ameliorate the increased level of financial risk to which they are currently exposed. Geoff Woodhouse, head of Moore Stephens' Governance, Risk and ... Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. Congress Aims to Solve Piracy Focus of the hearing to be on U.S. flagged vessels. The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has given notice that on May 20, the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will conduct a hearing on Piracy Against U.S.-Flagged Vessels: Lessons Learned. Read More>>>Back to Top Winston & Strawn Issues Briefing: Winston & Strawn's Environmental Department weighs in regarding EPA's proposed greenhouse gas endangerment finding. •EPA Issues Proposed Endangerment Finding On April 17, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed finding that greenhouse gases (GHGs) cause air pollution that may endanger public health ... Read More>>>Back to Top MARITIME WEEK AMERICAS: Coping with Turmoil – Preparing for the Revolution Maritime Week Americas – one of the most exciting maritime events on the calendar – returns to South Beach in June to try to make sense of the chaos that has been visited upon the shipping, oil and bunker markets over the past year and to attempt to identify the ... Read More>>>Back to Top Alaska Settles Oil Spill Penalty, Wreck Removal and Lost Fish Tax Claims Against Owner/Operator of Selendang Ayu Civil penalty among state's largest ever recovered; companies previously paid more than $111 million in cleanup costs and other charges. IMC Shipping Co. (IMC) and Ayu Navigation have paid the State of Alaska $844,707 to settle oil spill, wreck removal and lost fish tax claims arising ... Read More>>>Back to Top TDC Security Alert: 20090429 Terrorist-Pirate Links Expected to Increase says Ryan Mauro & Joseph Tenaglia, TDC Analysts "According to our information, the money they make from piracy and ransoms goes to support al-Shabaab activities onshore." --Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, as quoted in Reuters, August 24, ... Read More>>>Back to Top What Works Against Piracy While pirates boldly attack vessels of all types around the world, it seems that only Somali piracy has the world's eye. In the period of time from April 14-27, according to the IMB Live Piracy Report, 25% of incidents reported occurred in areas other than the Gulf of Aden and ... Read More>>>Back to Top Baydelta Maritime Brings New Tug to San Francisco New workhorse designed by Jensen and features Markey winches The "Delta Billie" was put into service in San Francisco on April 10th by Baydelta Maritime following delivery from Nichols on Whidbey Island, WA. The boat was designed by Jensen and bollard pulls 93.8 tons ahead and 93.7 ... Read More>>>Back to Top Norway Ready for the Arctic Council Arctic CO2 at highest level in 50 million years Next week in Tromsø, Norway, 'The Arctic Council' will meet to discuss global warming. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, will attend as will foreign ministers from around the world. It is estimated that over 400 leading experts ... Read More>>>Back to Top South Korea Creates $3 Billion Fund for Shipping Lines South Korea will create a fund worth 4 trillion won ($3 billion) to purchase vessels from struggling shipping companies to assist them due the global economic downturn. The South Korean government will also expand credit lines to boost sales of ships being constructed by shipyards and shippers, ... Read More>>>Back to Top McQuilling Services, LLC: Optimum Speed Dashboard For Tankers McQuilling asks: Spot markets are sinking and bunker prices stiffening. Are you running your tankers at the right speed? Last year's skyrocketing bunker prices focused attention on properly managing vessel speed to maximize the daily value of the vessel. Today, slumping freight rates are driving the same ... Read More>>>Back to Top EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright © 2009 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

MarEx eNewsletter - April 23, 2009

April 23rd, 2009 Vol. 7, No. 16 The Last Straw The collective demands of STCW and Industry have today's mariners (and the ones still to come) stretched to the limit, while leaving maritime educators no easy choices on what to do about it. If you have been following along, then you also know that last week, I ... Read More>>>Back to Top MarEx Mailbag: This week's Mailbag contains letters addressing a variety of issues. Piracy (of course) and maritime education highlight this week's mail output. Last week's lead editorial centered on the Maritime Education Summit and the quarterly MERPAC meeting which took place at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, ... Read More>>>Back to Top Second MarEx Podcast Launched: Newly introduced concept and news vehicle for the MarEx e-newsletter is back with another podcast, this time of MarEx Editor Joseph Keefe's April 19th radio interview where he and others discuss the current piracy situation and what to do about it. Last week, MarEx Editor-in-Chief Joseph Keefe ... Read More>>>Back to Top Pirate Attacks Soared in the First Quarter of 2009 Senator Wants Armed Teams on US Ships—MSC Changes Cruise Schedules Violence against ships and crews is surging in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia. A total of 102 attacks took place around the world in the first three months of 2009, up from ... Read More>>>Back to Top Port Security: Focus on the Great Lakes & District 9 SecurePort® 2009 Western Hemispheric Port Security Conference and Trade Exhibition comes to Detroit in June. The venue is appropriate in more ways than one. Based in Cleveland, OH, the U.S. Coast Guard's 9th District jurisdiction extends to each of the five Great Lakes, as well as the ... Read More>>>Back to Top New Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 Introduced in Congress Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 to protect passengers against violent crimes, inform them about crime rates aboard cruise ships, and to authorize the U.S. Coast Guard to dispatch personnel to monitor cruise ship waste discharges. Read More>>>Back to Top INTERTANKO Expresses Disappointment at Korean Court Verdict on Hebei Spirit While INTERTANKO welcomes the decision of Korea's Supreme Court to accept the appeal concerning the damage to the Hebei Spirit (the so-called 'destruction' charges), it notes with surprise its decision to dismiss the appeal concerning the charges of pollution, and is disappointed that it appears that the Master and Chief ... Read More>>>Back to Top VT Halter Marine Mourns the Passing of CEO Boyd King MarEx pays tribute to Brigadier General (RET) Boyd E. 'Butch' King, who passed away unexpectedly on Monday, 20 April 2009 at the company's Corporate Headquarters in Pascagoula, MS. Pascagoula, MS, April 21, 2009: VT Halter Marine Inc (VT Halter Marine) this week mourned the loss of its ... Read More>>>Back to Top Case Study: Challenges With Ultra High Pressure Water Jet Re-Coat Projects Gregg Lowes, Industrial Account Manager at Munters Moisture Control Services (MCS) wieghs in on how to properly dry two Ocean-Going Potash Conveyors at Neptune Terminals, Vancouver Harbor Temporary climate control is becoming a regular part of blasting and coating operations throughout industry. Its ability to create ... Read More>>>Back to Top Multraship and Mammoet Complete Croatian Clean Up NETHERLANDS-based salvage specialists Multraship Salvage and Mammoet Salvage have successfully completed the removal of the wreck of a floating dock which sank in June 2007 at the Viktor Lenac shipyard, Rijeka, Croatia. The 165 m Floating Dry Dock No. 7 weighed 7,000 tonnes and sank in 22 ... Read More>>>Back to Top Maritime Leaders Tackle Industry's Security Issues Piracy and new security measures focus of seminar presented by NAMMA and NAMEPA Maritime leaders will gather to discuss critical industry security issues in a seminar being held on May 21st in Washington DC in conjunction with National Maritime Day. Key industry and government representatives will meet ... Read More>>>Back to Top Passenger Vessel Industry Develops "Green" Manual PVA Launches WATERS Program on Earth Day to Share Practical Environmentally Friendly Measures Alexandria, VA (22 April 2009): The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), the nation's representative of owners and operators of U.S.-flagged passenger vessels of all types, today launched PVA WATERS – "We Are Taking Environmental Responsibility/Stewardship" ... Read More>>>Back to Top Commandant of the Coast Guard Issues Statement on Piracy Adm. Thad Allen: "Piracy has been rightfully called an insult to civilization. The recent pirate attacks on the motor vessels Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun focused the attention of the American public on what has been an increasingly significant international issue. It is important that the American public and the ... Read More>>>Back to Top MITAGS-PMI Announce "Introduction to Environmental Regulations in the Marine Industry" Course Seminar is applicable to marine personnel and their shore-side support staff. It is especially useful for senior level management. Glen Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI) in Seattle, Washington has announced a new seminar ... Read More>>>Back to Top No News May be Good News for Shipping in UK 2009 Budget LEADING shipping accountant Moore Stephens says the fact that the 2009 UK Budget does not include any measures which significantly affect the shipping sector could be regarded as good news for the industry. April 22, 2009Although the government has been asked to make changes to UK tonnage ... Read More>>>Back to Top OPED: Addressing Piracy (a different view)... A case for arming vessels in pirate-infested waters By CDR JOSEPH A. TENAGLIA, USN (Ret) April 21, 2009: As a maritime security specialist, I have instructed literally thousands of mariners in anti-piracy and anti-terrorism procedures. In class, I have listened to countless hair-raising stories ... Read More>>>Back to Top 2009 International Maritime eLearning Symposium Symposium kicks off with a "Call for Participants" for this year's Conference. The Calhoon MEBA Engineering School will be hosting the 2009 International Maritime eLearning Symposium from July 20th through July 23rd this year at its campus in Easton MD. The conference will bring Shipping Company Executives, ... Read More>>>Back to Top GAO Weighs in on Maritime Security Vessel Tracking Systems Provide Key Information, but the Need for Duplicate Data Should Be Reviewed GAO has released its (March 2009) report Maritime Security: Vessel Tracking Systems Provide Key Information, but the Need for Duplicate Data Should be Reviewed (GAO-09-337). This is a public version of a ... Read More>>>Back to Top Caring for the Victims of Piracy Seamen's Church Institute (SCI), an ecumenical agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church, launches new efforts to increase awareness of the effects of piracy on its mariner victims post-attack. New York, NY (April 16, 2009): In response to recent, high-profile incidents of piracy off the coast of the ... Read More>>>Back to Top Cayman, French Society Sign New Agreement Signing took place at Bureau Veritas headquarters in Paris. GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman – The top management of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands was recently in France to sign an agreement with Bureau Veritas (BV), the French classification society. "We have official ... Read More>>>Back to Top Sean Connaughton Delivers Keynote Speech at Maritime Education Summit Theme of the summit, which took place at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on April 16th, was entitled "Trending & Pedagogy for the Future." Former MARAD Administrator and current ABS executive speaks to a wide range of issues facing the maritime community. The Text of Connaughton's Address to ... Read More>>>Back to Top EMAIL UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright © 2009 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316