Ship Operators

UK Shipping Needs Time to Prepare for 2015 Emission Limits

The UK Chamber of Shipping says shipping needs more time to prepare for the 2015 0.1% sulphur limit introduction in the ECA's The 2015 0.1% sulphur limit applies within the North Sea and English Channel and the Baltic Sea Emission Control Areas. The Chamber's director of safety and environment, David Balston, said: “We fully support the need to reduce sulphur emissions from ships – but we are particularly concerned that many routes will become non viable and for those vessels operating on them we seek transitional arrangements, including very tight time limited exemptions to allow technology to catch up and provide a realistic alternative." These comments were made following the publication of a report by consultancy firm AMEC, commissioned by the Chamber on behalf of several North Sea and Western Channel shipping operators. The report says that the targets for shipping companies to reduce their sulphur emissions by 2015, could cause adverse environmental effects and result in a loss of 2,000 maritime services jobs, and place many more industrial jobs under threat. The report is the first of its kind to examine the full impact of hitting sulphur targets. The report shows the key impacts of hitting the 2015 sulphur reduction targets would be: • Much more freight moved by road, rather than sea – increasing carbon emissions and causing more road congestion

MARAD Study to Improve U.S.-Flag Competitiveness

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration recently awarded a research contract to PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC, of New York, to identify factors that significantly impact the ability of U.S.-flagged ship operators transporting goods to remain competitive.  Current maritime industry estimates appear to indicate that costs associated with operating these vessels under U.S. registry standards are approximately three times higher than those incurred by the

FMC Acts On Mississippi Towage Arrangements

The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) welcomes the news that the U.S Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has agreed it has jurisdiction in the matter of Exclusive Towage Contracts issues in the lower Mississippi River. Accordingly, the FMC has issued a "show cause" order to the principal bulk terminals with such contracts. Roger Holt, Secretary-General of INTERCARGO said today, "This show-cause order requires the marine terminal operators to demonstrate why they

Taking the Guesswork Out of Bunker Procurement

Inatech launches its Optimizer to add smart decision making for fuel purchasing to its cloud-based management solution for the entire fuel procurement process. The company explains that Optimizer helps ship operators take the guesswork out of their fuel purchasing decisions by providing real-time guidance on the three key factors of quantity, location and price strategy-how much fuel to buy for each ship in their fleet

Experts Mull Risks Of Mid-Sea Gasoline Transfer

Salvage workers and shipping experts were studying a possible mid-sea transfer of nearly 30,000 tons of gasoline from a damaged tanker at risk of exploding, the ship's operators said. Spanish authorities insisted the tanker would not be allowed back into the country's waters to carry out the potentially risky operation. A tugboat carrying equipment and specialists for the operation had joined the Greek-owned tanker Castor

Videotel Assists Shipowners

Ship operators concerned about complying with the newly enforced garbage management rules can now turn to Videotel for support.   Important new updates to MARPOL Annex V entered into force on January 1, 2013 and have revolutionised the way the industry must look at the issue of waste disposal.  In response to this, Videotel has extensively updated its Garbage Management training program to accommodate the radical shift of emphasis the new legislation entails.   

Guidance for Private Maritime Security Providers Agreed by IMO’s MSC

Interim guidance to private maritime security companies (PMSCs) agreed by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), at latest meeting in London A special high-level segment of the MSC saw an intense debate, over the first day and a half of the Committee’s session, on how the international community should deal with issues related to the deployment of privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships and the carriage of arms on board.

ICS Presents Shipping Economic Challenges to World Ministers

At the OECD International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany, the annual gathering of the world's transport ministers from more than 50 countries (May 22-24), the views of the global shipping industry were represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the principal global trade association for shipowners.   ICS explained the realities of the very serious economic challenges presently confronting shipping at a special ministerial session on the financing of sustainable

FMC Budget Request

The Administration requests $19.5 million for the operation of the Federal Maritime Commission for fiscal year 2005. Approximately $18.4 million was appropriated for FMC operations in fiscal year 2004. The FMC is a five member independent agency responsible for enforcing international shipping rules and regulations involving carriers (container ship operators), shippers (companies owning goods to be transported), and transportation facilitators such as freight forwarders

OceanSaver Wins BWT Contract

OceanSaver’s ballast water treatment (BWT) system has been chosen for two 162,000cbm LNG carriers being built by BW Gas. OceanSaver was selected due to its competitive pricing, low operating costs, and compatible technical system. BW Gas is one of the largest independent owners and operators of LNG carriers and the largest owner and operator of LPG carriers. These sophisticated and highly regulated vessels require competent crews and high quality operations