MarEx Newsletter | NCL To Build Two New Ships, Port of Miami Sets Cruise Passenger Record

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October 26th, 2010 Vol. 8, No. 80

Pirates Seize Two Ships Over the Weekend, Set One Free On Saturday night pirates seized a liquefied petroleum gas tanker and the following day took control of a German cargo ship. EU NAVFOR reports that the Singapore-flagged MV YORK was en route from Mombasa to Mahe in the Seychelles when two skiffs attacked it, about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Mombasa. The nearby Turkish warship GAZIANTEP launched her helicopter to investigate, spotting armed pirates onboard. The LPG tanker was drifting but began moving towards the Somali coast at 10 knots Sunday morning. The fishing vessel, GOLDEN WAVE, pirated on October 9, was coincidentally seen in the vicinity of the tanker. Read More>>>Back to Top Body of Woman Missing From Ship Found Lia Hawkins, 33, was reported missing on Thursday by her brother and other crew onboard the M/V Sahara. Divers discovered her body Friday morning under a pier in the shipyard where the boat was docked. Hawkins was a manager onboard the 303-foot former NOAA ship that was being converted into a luxury yacht. Police report no trauma to her body, leading investigators to believe she fell overboard. A full investigation is however being conducted. Photo courtesy of AP Read More>>>Back to Top Drunk Captain Gets Minimal Prison Term On Monday the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington sentenced Capt. Seong Ug Sin from Korea to 14 days in prison, and six months of supervised release, during which time he is restricted from sailing in U.S. waters. A minimal sentence compared to the maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine he was facing. In April, Sin was commanding the 590-ft STX DAISY through the Strait of Juan de Fuca when the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel for inspection. The Coast Guard testimony revealed that the inspection team had trouble boarding the vessel because Sin refused to follow their orders. Sin also was unable to produce usable ... Read More>>>Back to Top Change in the Executive Board at Germanischer Lloyd Dr Hermann J. Klein, Member of the Executive Board of Germanischer Lloyd SE and responsible for Maritime Services, will at his own request be resigning from this position with effect on 15.12.2010, thus leaving the Executive Board. In future, he will retain his links to Germanischer Lloyd by acting as a consultant. In the course of 2011, Dr Klein is to be appointed to a position on the Supervisory Board of Germanischer Lloyd. The Supervisory Board respects the wishes of Dr Klein and has accepted his resignation with regret. This made it necessary to fill the position of responsibility for Maritime Services on the Executive Board. Günter Herz, the majority shareholder of ... Read More>>>Back to Top Mexico Warned to Block Illegal Export of Toxic Ships (Mexico) – The Basel Action Network (BAN), a toxic trade watchdog and member organization of the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, warned the Government of Mexico in a letter(1) released Wednesday, that they have learned from sources in Mexico(2) that three Mexican flagged tankers called the Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Tolteca, and Independencia, all owned and operated by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s state-owned oil company, may very soon be exported from Mexico to shipbreaking yards in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India or China in contravention to the United Nations Basel Convention and Mexican law. Pemex has signaled that they intend to sell the vessels for scrap in the international market to the highest bidder later this week. Read More>>>Back to Top Ferry Captain Dead After Colliding with Cargo Ship Traffic in the busy Dutch shipping channel, connecting Amsterdam to the Rhine river, was at a halt Friday after a small passenger ferry and a German cargo ship collided. The 56-year-old captain of the ferry is believed to have been the only person onboard. Local police recovered his body about 15 meters from the overturned ferry. The ferry continuously runs people back and forth across the 100-meter channel, near Breukelen, north of Utrecht. Friday was a school holiday, so passenger traffic was minimal. The two crewmen onboard the inland cargo ship were questioned and tested for alcohol, both tested negative. Photo Courtesy of ... Read More>>>Back to Top UK P&I Club Announces 5% General Increase for 2011 2011 General Increase The premium rating of all UK P&I Club Members will be increased by five per cent from 20th February 2011. This was agreed by the UK Club’s Directors at their meeting in Shanghai on 18th October. The decision was taken in the light of the underlying inflationary increases in claims. Much of the recent improved claims performance has come from lower claims numbers not lower claims values. The average cost per claim has continued to increase over this period. Past experience of claims and shipping cycles shows that claims escalate much faster than retail inflation when the world economy begins to recover. Free Reserves and ... Read More>>>Back to Top Port of Miami Sets New Cruise Passenger World Record The Port of Miami set a new world record for cruise traffic in Fiscal Year 2009-2010 with approximately 4.15 million passengers traveling through the Port over the last year. Port officials attributed an especially strong summer season to the record numbers as dollar conscious vacationers opted for cruise vacations as a way to get high value for their travel budget. “For the third year in a row, the Port of Miami has set a world mark for passenger traffic,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. “We are pleased that even in a time of economic difficulty, cruise traffic continues to grow.” The Port of Miami processed 4,145,053 passengers October ... Read More>>>Back to Top Lloyd's Register Board Appoints Thomas Thune Andersen to Chairman-Elect And Celebrates a Strong Performance in the Group's 250th Year Lloyd’s Register’s Board of Trustees has selected Thomas Thune Andersen as the Chairman-elect of the Lloyd’s Register Group, the leading provider of independent assurance and expert advice to the marine, energy, transport and management-systems sectors around the world. Andersen, who was appointed as a Trustee by the General Committee in June, will succeed Chairman David Moorhouse CBE, who is due to retire at the end of the year after serving eleven and a half years as the Chairman of the Group. Moorhouse commented: "It is a great pleasure for me to welcome my successor, Thomas Andersen. ... Read More>>>Back to Top Keppel Delivers North Sea Jack-Up to Rowan Largest harsh environment jack-up ever to be designed and built in Singapore Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has delivered the first of three KFELS N-Class jack-up rigs being built for Rowan Companies, Inc. (Rowan) (NYSE: RDC) safely, on time and within budget. Built to the proprietary KFELS N-Class design, this new-generation rig is the largest jack-up to be constructed in Singapore. This rig design is the brainchild of Keppel's R&D arm, Offshore Technology Development (OTD), following Keppel's extensive experience in constructing rigs for the North Sea region since 1985. The North Sea region is one of the world's toughest operating environments for offshore exploration and production. Read More>>>Back to Top Faststream Finds Strong Demand for Ship Operators and Freight Traders Global shipping industry recruiter Faststream reports that demand for ship operators and freight traders remains strong in Europe and Asia in its annual Maritime Employment Review (pdf) for the commercial shipping market published today (25 October). Faststream Recruitment Group CEO Mark Charman says: “The shipping markets continue to offer good opportunities for talented individuals and we believe that as long as there are no market shocks, the post-Christmas and post-bonus period should be a busy one for freight traders, shipbrokers and chartering managers looking for new challenges.” The review looks at the growth of commercial shipping activity in Singapore and how this activity is translating ... Read More>>>Back to Top NCL To Build Two New Ships, Price Tag: €1.2 Billion Following the successful launch of Norwegian Epic, the Company's largest and most innovative ship to date, Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that it has reached an agreement with MEYER WERFT GMBH of Germany to build two new next generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery in spring 2013 and spring 2014, respectively. Each of the 143,500 gross ton vessels, the largest passenger/cruise ships to be built in Germany, will have approximately 4,000 passenger berths and a rich cabin mix. Additional details about each ship's new and exciting features will be released as construction progresses. The contract price for the two vessels is approximately €1.2 billion. The Company has committed financing in place from a syndicate of ... Read More>>>Back to Top Compass Courses Completes Lifeboat Davit Compass Courses Maritime Training located in Edmonds WA, is proud to announce the completion of a Gravity Lifeboat Davit for their STCW Proficiency in Survival Craft / Lifeboat man course. The davit came off the SS Gulf Farmer, which was being scrapped in TX. “We wanted to keep it as original as it was on the ship, even down to painting it battleship grey,” said Compass Courses owner Julie Keim. Having this davit allows the school flexibility in their schedule, by offering Able Seaman and Basic Safety Training twice a month. Compass Courses had been renting a davit for 8 years from a local community college ... Read More>>>Back to Top Indonesian Passenger Ship Sinks, 5 Dead, 17 Missing The passenger ferry Karya Terang sank Friday afternoon during bad weather off the cape of Watumanuk on Flores island. Sixty-six passengers were onboard the ferry sailing from Palue to Maumere when it sank. Rescuers report that they’ve recovered the bodies of 3 women and 2 men; 17 remain missing. Rescuers were still searching for the missing on Sunday. Heavy seas and an overload of passengers contributed to the sinking. Read More>>>Back to Top Gamesa and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Join Forces in Offshore Wind Technology Earlier this month, Gamesa, a global technology leader in the wind energy business (through its U.S. based subsidiary), announced that they and the Newport News Shipbuilding operations of Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leading American defense company and America’s largest shipbuilder, have signed an agreement to work together on offshore wind technology. The agreement calls for the companies to cooperate on the launch of Gamesa’s first G11X -5.0 MW offshore prototype, in the United States, using Gamesa's multi-megawatt technology and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s broad experience in challenging marine environments. Gamesa is currently designing and developing a G11X- 5.0 MW offshore Wind Turbine (WTG), specifically for the marine environment, built upon ... Read More>>>Back to Top American Tern Delivers Equipment to Exercise Sabre Strike Military Sealift Command’s long-term chartered container ship MV American Tern delivered containers and equipment belonging to the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 56th Stryker Brigade Oct. 7 in the Port of Riga, Latvia, as part of the preparation for Exercise Sabre Strike 2010. MSC’s Sealift Logistics Command Europe, headquartered in Naples, Italy, also played a key role in the off-load of equipment for this Northern European exercise. Conducted at the Vecmilgravis Terminal in Riga, the offload set the stage for the joint multi-national military exercise training forces from the three Baltic States and the United States Oct. 18-31 at the Adazi training area in Latvia. The exercise is designed to tune interoperability procedures and ... Read More>>>Back to Top PMI Introduces the Continual Improvement Workshop Series Successful Safety Management - A Practical Primer This 2 Day workshop is an overview of important Safety Management topics. This course combines in-depth knowledge with a practical approach to provide a better understanding of the safety management system process. Successful Safety Management – A Practical Primer Has your safety management system grown into a monster that is difficult to manage and understand? Have we lost the meaning and intent by overcomplicating with special interest and bureaucracy? Can we reduce the paper and be safer? Together, let’s explore the benefits of getting back to basics to ensure successful safety management. Objectives ■ Learn and ...   Read More>>>Back to Top USCG's GMDSS Task Force Announces Their Next Meeting National GMDSS Implementation Task Force Date/Time: Thursday 6 January 2011 at 9:30 am Location: RTCM Headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia Chairman: Capt. Jack Fuechsel, USCG (Ret) For Info: Jack Fuechsel at 703-527-0484 or e-mail: gmdss@comcast.net Website: (NEW) http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=GMDSS Click Here to Download the Meeting Agenda (pdf) The Previous Meeting Newsletter and Summary Record of 29 September 2010 Meeting (pdf) This summary record is provided for information and will be posted on the Task Force portion of the Coast Guard web site Note the new address: www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=MaritimeTelecomms ... Read More>>>Back to Top Hamworthy Breaks Through in China’s Gas Ship Market Project team members of Hamworthy Oil & Gas Systems, Hamworthy Shanghai and Sinopacific at the contract signing ceremony in China Hamworthy Gas Systems has made a major advance in China’s broadening gas carrier construction sector by securing a breakthrough contract for systems for six Liquid Ethylene Gas carriers to be built at Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co. Ltd (“SOE”), Nantong. The ships, six 12,000m3 capacity, 139m long semi-pressurized and refrigerated LEG carriers ordered by Luxembourg-based Jaccar Holdings, are being built in accordance with Sinopacific’s latest ‘Tiger’ design, with delivery due from 2012 onwards. In a contract worth over £20 million, each ship will feature cargo handling ... Read More>>>Back to Top

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MarEx Newsletter | Judge Throws Out Deepwater Safety Rules, Iran & Venezula Create Maritime Society

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October 21st, 2010 Vol. 8, No. 79

Iran and Venezuela Create Maritime Society, Sign 11 Energy Deals As part of their bilateral cooperation’s, Iran and Venezuela will form a joint maritime society to strengthen the exportation and transport of oil between the two nations. The announcement came Tuesday during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s visit to Tehran where he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The countries bilateral cooperation included a previous memorandum of understanding that was already in place. Their relationship was further strengthened Wednesday with the signing of eleven more energy related memorandums of understanding. Included in the deals is the agreement to form a joint shipping company for the transport of oil and to build petrochemical plants together, all projects are ... Read More>>>Back to Top Judge Feldman Throws Out Deepwater Safety Rules The federal judge who overturned the moratorium on deepwater drilling has thrown out the safety regulations issued by the government, calling their implementation illegal. Judge Martin Feldman said Tuesday, that the government did not comply with notice and the NTL-05 is not lawful and cannot be enforced. Federal law requires the government to offer a period of notice and public solicitation before the imposition of new rules, something that was not done before the new rules, collectively known as NTL-05, were imposed. In June Judge Feldman ruled the initial moratorium illegal, in that ruling he never addressed the Interior Departments rules and regulations (NTL-05). Regulators of the ... Read More>>>Back to Top OPED: US Coast Guard Recognition of Foreign STCW Certificates Are US Maritime Jobs in Jeopardy? The US Coast Guard (USCG) is currently accepting comments of its review on whether recognition of foreign Standards of Certification, Training and Watchkeeping (STCW) certificates of foreign mariners to work on US flagged vessels overseas should become law. Concerned MarEx readers asked if the USCG is being persuaded by special interests or lobbyists for US vessel operators to change the dynamics of the requirement to employ US merchant mariners on US flagged vessels, which could potentially do an end run around the Jones Act as well. However, the fact of the matter is that the law already exists, and foreign officers can and ... Read More>>>Back to Top Greater Efforts Needed to Protect Europe's Seas, Say MEPs The EU's maritime policy should be better co-ordinated and properly funded and Member States should do more to protect their marine environment, says the European Parliament in a resolution adopted on Thursday. Pointing to the lessons of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, MEPs call for a European strategy to prevent and tackle oil spills. Recognizing Europe's "strong maritime tradition", MEPs urge the Commission to devise a "blue growth" strategy for sustainable growth in coastal regions and maritime sectors by 2013. The EU's maritime policy must receive appropriate funding after 2013 and all possible budget options should be studied, including the creation of a coastal fund. Preventing oil ... Read More>>>Back to Top Return of Impounded Russian Cruise Ship Delayed The MV LYUBOV ORLOVA was seized as St. John’s seaport in Newfoundland on September 25, and was expected to be allowed to return to Russia Wednesday; a trip that has now been delayed. The ship is being held due to a suit by a haulage contractor for $251,000 of debt. Russian officials report that a majority of the ships 49 crewmembers will fly home on October 27, while 16-20 will remain onboard to ensure the vessels safe return. The Lyubov Orlova, named after the famous Russian actress, was originally built for the Soviet Union based Far Eastern Shipping Company. She now serves as an expedition cruise ... Read More>>>Back to Top Two Ships Sink off Taiwan, 1 Dead, 3 Missing Typhoon Megi brought heavy wind and rain to the Taiwan Strait Monday night, killing one and leaving 3 missing. Late Monday night the Panama-flagged XIN YI, a cement carrier sailing from China to Brunei, sank in rough seas off the coast of Miaoli. Early Tuesday morning a nearby cruise ship pulled 3 of the crewmen to safety. The local coast guard rescued 15 survivors and pulled one body from the sea. The search continues for the 3 remaining crewmen. The Department of Water Quality Protection reports as little as 10 percent of the vessel’s 300 tons of fuel might be found in the sea, while the ... Read More>>>Back to Top EU NAVFOR Flagship FS DE GRASSE Disrupts Pirates In the early hours of 20 October, while conducting a patrol along the Somali coastline, the EU NAVFOR French Flagship FS DE GRASSE spotted and intercepted a pirate action group comprising of two skiffs and one whaler, thereby averting a future attack. On spotting the suspect vessels, FS DE GRASSE immediately launched her helicopter to investigate. After several warning shots were fired, the suspected pirates stopped their skiffs and a boarding of the vessels was carried out by a team from the warship. Shortly after the boarding, the helicopter saw and stopped the whaler, which is believed to have being used to provide logistic support to the pirate skiffs. ... Read More>>>Back to Top U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard Search for Missing Crewmember U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard are working together to find a crewman missing from a Canadian freighter in Lake Ontario. The crew of the 710-ft CANADIAN PROVIDER reported 57-year-old Gary Carlton missing around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. He had last been seen early that morning around 4 a.m. when the ship was about 11 miles north of Rochester. By the time he was reported missing the vessel was near Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River. The USCG reports that they’ve sent rescue crews onboard 47-foot Motor Life Boats from Stations Oswego, N.Y., and Rochester, N.Y. They’ve also sent a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Station Alexandria ... Read More>>>Back to Top Panama Canal: Another Expansion Milestone Reached Canal Officials Inspect Physical Model of New Locks Steadily moving forward with expansion, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reached another milestone. Monday, the Canal’s Advisory Board and Board of Directors inspected the physical model of the new set of locks in Lyon, France. Built by Compagnie National du Rhône's (CNR) Hydraulic Laboratory, the functional model used a ship that is 12.2 meters long to perform the lock filling and emptying tests. The new locks will include side basins that reuse 60 percent of the water in every lockage of a vessel. “We have reached a significant phase in the Canal’s Expansion Program. We are pleased to see that Grupo ... Read More>>>Back to Top BOURBON Sells Bulk Freight Operations BOURBON has signed a letter of intent to sell its Freight Operator activity to a company which is 100% controlled by Mr. Jean-Louis Bottaro and his family. Mr Bottaro founded and managed Setaf from 1968 to 2008. In this sale the cement carrier Endeavor remains the property of BOURBON who continues to operate it within the framework of a service contract with the buyer. “The development of our Freight Operator activity requires investments that BOURBON would not be able to make for several years, due to the decisions announced in the BOURBON 2015 Leadership Strategy. This is why the sale to a professional in the Bulk field is the ... Read More>>>Back to Top Baker Hughes to Provide Integrated Services to Norway Consortium Drilling, formation evaluation and waste management services included in Baker Hughes’ integrated service package Baker Hughes announced Tuesday that it has been awarded a multimillion dollar integrated project for the Borgland Dolphin Consortium (BDC) in Norway. The contract covers an initial three-year period for a full exploration program on the Norwegian continental shelf encompassing 15 wells. Under the terms of the contract, Baker Hughes will provide service integration and planning as well as directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), logging-while-drilling (LWD), mud logging, drilling fluids, wireline logging and coring services. Also included in Baker Hughes’ service provision are drill cuttings and liquid waste handling. The project planning phase of the exploration ... Read More>>>Back to Top Florida Ports Council Names Doug Wheeler as President Wheeler brings more than a decade of governmental affairs and association leadership at both the state and federal levels to the Florida Ports Council. He held previous positions with Associated Builders and Contractors, and more recently at the Florida Chamber of Commerce where he served as Vice President of Grassroots Advocacy and Political Action Development. Under Wheeler’s leadership and management of Florida’s largest federation of businesses, associations, and local chambers of commerce - encompassing more than 139,000 grassroots members - the Chamber worked aggressively and effectively to represent the interests of business in Florida. “Doug’s extensive political action experience, especially at the grassroots level, is a perfect fit for helping Florida’s 14 ... Read More>>>Back to Top Hawker Pacific Announces SEACOR Strategic Investment (MARKETWIRE) -- Hawker Pacific Airservices Limited ("Hawker Pacific") today announced plans to enter into a strategic investment agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc. ("SEACOR") (CKH 87.21, +0.26, +0.30%) . Under the terms of the letter of intent, SEACOR will acquire approximately 33% of Hawker Pacific's common equity. Henrik von Platen, Hawker Pacific's Chairman, stated, "With SEACOR coming onboard we will gain a strong new investor and partner who shares our long-term philosophy and belief in the Asian market. The investment will further cement Hawker Pacific's position as the leading aircraft sales and support organization in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions and provide excellent growth opportunities." Read More>>>Back to Top AWT Launches GlobalView The First Fleet Management System for the Maritime Industry to Utilize Google Earth Now Fleet Managers Can See Locations of Their Oceangoing Vessels Around the Globe with Important Weather and Voyage Information to Improve Safety, Reduce Fuel Consumption and Curb CO2 Emissions Applied Weather Technology, Inc. (AWT), today announced the worldwide launch of GlobalView™, an innovative new fleet management system that combines AWT’s industry-leading ship routing services and software with Google™ Earth technology to give fleet managers a more visual, easy-to-use and powerful system for enhancing the safety of ships and crew, reducing fuel consumption and curbing carbon emissions. “We believe GlobalView to be the first ... Read More>>>Back to Top MITAGS-PMI Management, Communication & Leadership Course Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies - Pacific Maritime Institute Success in today’s marine environment takes more than just technical competence. Leadership, interpersonal conduct and communication skill sets are crucial. This 4-day course is designed to address those essential elements missing from the maritime industry’s extensive professional training requirements. Course topics include: ■■ Leadership versus Management ■■ Workforce Generational Differences ■■ Communications – Verbal, Written, Electronic ■■ Conducting Effective Meetings ■■ Interpersonal Conduct ■■ Safety Management Culture and Risk Management ■■ Human Resources, Investigations, Disciplinary Methods, and Reports ■■ Time Management Pre-Requisite: None. This course is recommended for: Mariners ...   Read More>>>Back to Top MMA to Host Tidal Energy Forum The Tidal Energy Demonstration and Evaluation Center (TEDEC) based at Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) will sponsor a conference on tidal hydropower on Saturday, November 13, 2010, on the college campus in Castine. The event, entitled Progress and Challenges of Small-Scale Tidal Power, will take the form of a day-long academic forum for the exchange of information about ideas, developments, and initiatives surrounding alternative energy and tidal power. According to organizers, participants will have the opportunity to network with regulators, scientists, and exploratory permit holders. Members of the public who are interested in discussions surrounding tidal power are encouraged to attend this upcoming forum. Ann Miles, director of the division of hydropower licensing, ... Read More>>>Back to Top

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