NL MARITIME NEWS

NL MARITIME NEWS

A NewsLink service for Dole Colombia International maritime news for seafarers

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Headland SatNews

NATIONAL

Survey shows shipping confidence up in February

Many are upbeat in the shipping industry based on a survey conducted by international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. The latest Shipping Confidence Survey shows a high level of confidence for the past two years in the three months that ended February 2013. The confidence level went up with many expecting investments in the shipping industry to improve. Many also expect freight rate to go up in the next twelve months. The survey showed that average confidence level reached 5.8 in a scale of 1-10, with ten being the highest. The previous survey in November 2012 had a confidence level of 5.6. Respondents were particularly upbeat on the recovery in the shipping industry. "Scrapping continues apace, and new orders have all but dried up. These are two of the main drivers for recovery, the third being demand, which will improve, with the result that we should see a measurable upturn by year-end," one of the respondents said. Some also noted the need to be more patient as the industry slowly recovers. "Demand trends for seaborne trade are generally positive, and tonnage reaching obsolescence due to age and regulation will exit the market. Finance is competitive where available and, where it isn't, owners and their ships will leave the market. Patience and strong cashflow management are essential," a respondent said.

PH shipping companies allowed to increase trips

Shipping companies may add more trips if necessary for the Holy Week break, the Philippines' Marine Industry Authority (MARINA) announced. MARINA officer-in-charge-administrator Atty. Nic Conti said that shipping companies were given special permits to increase their trips to address the influx of passengers who will go to provinces in observance of the Holy Week. Meanwhile, Conti stressed that safety of passengers remain a top priority. "Unseaworthy vessels will be grounded and detained," he said. "We are also reminding all ship owners to have a ready

SAFETY Navigational record keeping

Vessels employed on international voyages should at all times maintain proper records of 'all navigational activities' from berth to berth. Moreover, a passage plan should always be made for each voyage prior to its commencement. It should always be as detailed document as possible from berth to berth, consisting of all way points, courses, distances, charts and publications to be used, tidal, under keel clearances, and squat calculations with other navigational and weather information pertinent to the voyage.

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medicine chest and first-aid medical personnel on board to attend to passengers suffering from any ailment."

Caribbean countries support HLS initiatives

Key resolutions formed at a High Level Symposium (HLS) held recently in Jamaica have received the backing of Caribbean countries. Some of the issues discussed in the HLS, which was attended by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, is the Caribbean Region's vulnerability to issues concerning sub-standard shipping. Maritime activities that cause pollution also have a drastic effect on the region. Officials in the Wider Caribbean Region said they will support efforts discussed in the HLS. Those who have expressed their support are minister from Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.

Throughout the voyage, the master and/or his crew should monitor the voyage as planned, including the actions of the pilot. It is also important that the watchkeeper continuously monitors the position and movement of the vessel, in addition to keeping the records logged as per the requirement. Use of the echo sounder in shallow coastal and pilotage waters should be verifiable from the printout, which should be marked and signed by the Officer of the Watch (OOW). If fitted, the course recorder should be used in a similar way. A full log record of events in writing must include positions verified by all available means at regular intervals - shorter intervals in coastal and pilotage waters are required where high density traffic and under keel/squat, currents, weather conditions, etc. might have greater effect on safety of the vessel. Weather and navigational warning records should be maintained, both for actual weather experienced and any weather reports/navigational warnings received during the voyage.

In his address to the symposium, the IMO chief stressed the need Source: UK P&I Club for support of the IMO Conventions, "notably the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (MARPOL), the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response (OPRC) ... which are prime instruments used for the protection of the Caribbean Sea's sensitive resources, and are essential components for ensuring their sustainability, not only in the present but also for future generations."

Anti-piracy campaign in West Africa coast may get boost

Africa's west coast could soon see an increase in security personnel with the US planning to deploy more forces against piracy. The US and its allies are looking to boost enforcement efforts in the waters off Nigeria. The US is concerned that money from the attacks is funding a Nigerian-based insurgent group that is linked to one of al-Qaida's most dangerous affiliates, The Associated Press reported. There has been growing coordination between Nigeria-based Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which was linked to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Military leaders say AQIM has become the wealthiest alQaeda offshoot and an increasing terrorist threat to the region. It has long been difficult to track whether there are terrorist ties to piracy in the waters off Africa. But officials are worried that even if Boko Haram insurgents aren't directly involved in the attacks off Nigeria and Cameroon, they may be reaping some of the profits and using the money for ongoing terrorist training or weapons. No final decisions have been made on how counter-piracy operations could be increased in that region, and budget restrictions could hamper that effort, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about emerging discussions between senior U.S. military commanders and other international leaders.

ENVIRONMENT

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Rare NZ birds recovering from oil spill

After New Zealand's worst-ever maritime environmental disaster, one of the world's rarest birds appears to have recovered in numbers, according to experts at the Massey University. Monitoring of the New Zealand dotterel population, which is endangered and estimated to number just 1,700 in the wild, showed birds captured after the oil spill from a Liberian-registered cargo ship in October 2011 had recovered well, the university said as reported by Xinhua. About 120 dotterels were in the area when the Rena grounded on the Astrolabe Reef, off the eastern North Island, and 60 were taken into captivity to keep them out of the path of the oil and kept as an "insurance" population. Relocation of the birds and release elsewhere would have only resulted in them quickly returning to their breeding territories, said a statement from the university. Independent shorebird ecologist Dr. John Dowding, who had been monitoring the birds since they were released at the end of 2011, said more than three-quarters of the dotterels taken into captivity were alive a year later. "There were some losses in the first month after release - probably due to the respiratory condition that killed six birds while they were captive - but after that survival has been normal, " Dowding said in the statement. Once dotterels begin breeding, they typically remain at the same site for many years. "As it was not always possible to catch both birds in a pair, some pairings were disrupted during the preemptive capture," he said.

COMMERCE Chinese shipbuilding giant makes debut

The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) made its debut at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia on Tuesday. The company has brought its latest product models, including submarine, landing platform dock and frigate, to the four-day show started Tuesday, Xinhua reported. "It's our first time in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition," said Xu Ziqiu, general manager of China Shipbuilding and Offshore International, the international marketing and sales arm of CSIC. "The Malaysian military and government provided us with warm welcome and good arrangement," Xu said. Both Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin have visited the booth of CSIC, he told Xinhua. Xu said he hopes to show the manufacturing capacity and products of CSIC to the Malaysian Navy and the military of other countries. "We are looking forward to providing equipment to the Malaysian Navy and to other friendly countries," he added. CSIC is the largest manufacture of marine products in China with more than 100 subsidiaries including seven shipyards and 28 R& D institutes, producing naval products such as submarines, destroyers and frigates, according to the company. Xu admitted the shipbuilding industry is not yet fully recovered from the global financial crisis. "So we wish to come out of the country to see if we can tap into the global market," he said.

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INCIDENTS China clarifies incident with Vietnamese boats

China said its navy fired flares at Vietnamese fishing boats but denied Hanoi's claim that a vessel was damaged in an incident that is highlighting tensions over disputed South China Sea islands and surrounding waters believed to hold a wealth of oil and natural gas deposits. Sailors on board a Chinese navy craft fired two flares at four Vietnamese boats that had earlier failed to respond to whistles, shouts and signal flags demanding that they cease fishing and leave the area, which China claims as its territorial waters, the Defence Ministry said in a statement issued late Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. It said the ships were fishing illegally in Chinese waters off the Paracel Islands on March 20 and both flares burned out in the air. Chinese forces did not fire weapons and no Vietnamese boats caught fire. Vietnam, which also claims the Paracels, said one of the boat's cabin's caught fire in the incident, which it called "very serious." The government lodged a formal complaint with the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi, seeking compensation for the alleged damage and punishment of the Chinese sailors responsible. The fishing boat was near the Paracels when an unidentified Chinese vessel chased it and fired the flare, the Vietnamese government said in a statement issued late Monday.

HI-TECH Latest technology gives new Bulkship a fuel-saving push

Designers, builders & propellor suppliers are using latest technologies to achieve good results in sea trials of the latest 'Seahorse 35000' bulk carrier. The combined efforts of Stone Marine Propulsion, the NPT propellers designers and manufacturers, Grontmij/Schmidt Maritime the vessels designers, Becker Marine and builders Yangzhou Guoyu has produced some excellent results for the latest Seahorse 35.000 dwt bulk carrier recently launched. The vessel recently completed sea trials and has exceeded all the performance requirements built into its contract. Powered by a Wartsila engine, MCR 6350kW @ 99 rpm, and fitted with a 5.9m NPT propeller, the contract originally required 14 knots at 5700kW in 10.1m draft conditions. With a Becker Mewis duct fitted, model tests, conducted at FORCE Denmark and SVA Potsdam Germany, indicated that the power required would be reduced to 5440kW. An analysis of the sea trials results shows that the actual power demand to achieve 14 knots was only 5252kW, 3.5% better than the model tests showed and an excellent 8% better than the contract power requirement, said a press release.

New software analyses high-speed boat accelerations

A new software - Standard G software - which provides the government, industry and academia a standardised method of analysing data that may improve high-speed craft design, has been released by Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) Carderock engineers. The software uses a physics-based approach to analyse data, recorded during wave-impact testing on watercraft, and has been developed by the Office of Naval Research, the US Naval Academy and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "Prior to this research, the complex nature of collecting, processing and analysing (this) data, as well as the subjectivity that existed at various stages of data processing, resulted in numbers generated by government, industry and academic researchers that were not comparable," said Dr Timothy Coats, director

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of research and development, Combatant Craft Division in Virginia Beach, Va. "Achieving consistency in data is critical to improve the overall design of high-speed watercraft related to seaworthiness, hull design loads, ruggedness and crew or passenger comfort and safety," he added.

SHIPPING DATA
BALTIC EXCHANGE
Market snapshot: (12:30 GMT) Dry Capesize Panamax Supramax Index Index Index Index BDI BCI BPI BSI 931 1275 1204 977 -4 -9 -6 -4 +2

Handysize Index

BHSI 545

EXCHANGE RATES
New York (Tue Cls) Fgn Currency in USD Britain (Pound) Canada (Dollar) China (Yuan) Euro India (Rupee) 1.5155 0.9839 0.1609 1.2858 0.0184 USD in Fgn Currency 0.6599 1.0164 6.2158 0.7777 54.4400 9733.00 94.5000 5.8334 41.0500 3.2500 30.8651 1.2404

Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000103 Japan (Yen) Norway (Krone) Philippines (Peso) Poland (Zloty) Russia (Ruble) Singapore (Dollar) 0.010582 0.1714 0.0244 0.3075 0.0324 0.8062

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