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