International Trade Association News

The America Bureau of Shipping (ABS), one of the world's largest ship classification societies, is withdrawing all class services involving Russian vessels, assets and companies, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine."After careful consideration of the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea as well as the applicable sanctions, ABS has taken the decision to withdraw all Class services involving Russian vessels, assets, and companies," the company said Monday."The decision follows…

The International Marine Contractors Association has suspended its Russian members from the association over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.IMCA CEO Allen Leatt said: "We are all deeply saddened at IMCA by the events unfolding in Ukraine and the growing humanitarian disaster we see every day on mainstream news channels.""IMCA is well known and respected for our work in improving safety performance in our industry in over 60 countries worldwide, however, we have followed the lead of governments…

During the City Trade Mission to Seoul, Antwerp Port Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KITA, the Korea International Trade Association. With 77,000 member companies KITA represents Korea's international trading community. The proposed collaboration between Antwerp Port Authority and KITA represents a significant boost for the port, emphasised Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO-designate of the Port Authority, just before the signing of the MoU. Antwerp hopes to attract significantly more trade from Korea in future, while KITA for its part sees Antwerp as the gateway to Europe for its exports. "In 2015 we sent 77,000 TEU of container freight to Antwerp.

About 10 Hanjin vessels effectively seized at China ports; Court says plans to start rehabilitations proceedings soon. Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd vessels have been seized at Chinese ports in the wake of the South Korean firm's collapse, further roiling the industry as freight rates jump and manufacturers scramble for alternatives. Seeking to contain the fallout, a South Korean court said it would soon begin proceedings to rehabilitate the carrier - which would allow Hanjin to take legal action in other countries to keep its ships and other assets from being seized. Rival Hyundai Merchant Marine will also deploy at least 13 of its ships to two routes exclusively serviced by Hanjin, while the South Korean government also plans to reach out to overseas carriers for help.

InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship management, is giving its full support to this week’s Seafarers Awareness Week (20-26 June), co-ordinated by Seafarers UK. “Maritime Jobs for Future Generations” is the theme, aiming to raise awareness of the many career possibilities the maritime world offers young people. The shipping industry employs 1.5 million seafarers worldwide and Seafarers Awareness Week highlights the vital role seafarers play in the global economy. This year’s theme also complements the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) “Day of the Seafarer” (25 June) and World Maritime Day (29 September), which both focuses seafaring as a career and celebrates the role seafarers play globally. Capt.

Strengthening its policy and regulatory affairs team, the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has appointed John Bradshaw as Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager to lead on worldwide policy and legislative issues, with responsibility for developing and delivering the international trade association’s policy and regulatory strategy, including representing members with regulators and other third parties. Bradshaw joined the IMCA Secretariat as one of its strong team of Technical Advisers in early Autumn 2015.

The President of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) Mr Esben Poulsson has been elected as the new Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). Mr Poulsson was elected at the ICS Annual General Meeting in Tokyo today (2 June). He takes over from Mr Masamichi Morooka, who has stood down after four years in office. Speaking about his new role Mr Poulsson expressed his honour at being elected as the next ICS Chairman. He said: “Rather than viewing this as a personal achievement, I believe my election is more a reflection of Singapore’s stature as a respected flag state and major international maritime centre. “International engagement and outreach has been…

International trade association for in-house and third party ship managers InterManager has extended its membership from within the Middle Eastern shipping market, welcoming Overseas Marine Logistics (OML) as a full member. United Arab Emirates-based OML provides ship management services and operations to worldwide clients, specializing in offshore project management, commercial and technical management and vessel chartering. InterManager President Gerardo Borromeo said, “I am pleased to report that InterManager is receiving more applications for membership from around the globe. InterManager represents the interests of the ship management sector on the global maritime stage, particularly at meetings of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other key industry bodies.

Ship management company Norbulk Shipping is already seeing the benefits from embracing the move toward paperless ships. The Glasgow-based ship manager explored several options before deciding to move its IT systems to ‘the cloud,’ via the cloud migrator for Google, Cloud Technology Solutions. A need for the industry to move to the digital world has been recognized by InterManager, the international trade association for in-house and third party ship managers, which believes the burden of administrative tasks falling on seafarers in today’s shipping industry is significant. The paperless ship is a big issue facing the shipping industry with many companies trying to reduce time and paper used in form-filling, both onboard and ashore.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has published a variety of guides, templates and discussion documents aimed at raising awareness on contracting issues, promoting discussion and providing tools that may be useful for its contractor members, their clients and sub-contractors, the latest is the series is ‘IMCA Renewables Contracting Principles’ which can be downloaded from the Safety and Legislation section of the IMCA website at www.imca-int.com. “Each of our Contracting Principles’ documents (of which there are now five in addition to a discussion document and other associated documentation) is published as an aide to clients and contractors alongside their in-house standard contracts and other industry publications…

BIMCO has today announced that it has taken ownership of the unique Shipping KPI System that allows shipowners and managers to compare their ships’ efficiency against the performance of the industry and sector averages. The Shipping KPI System is unique because it is based on a standard of 64 different performance indicators (such as ship unavailability and number of environmental related deficiencies) to allow the most specific and accurate comparison of ships – within each sector and more broadly across the industry – that is currently available. The data collected is anonymised, so it does not compromise commercially sensitive information. ·         technical performance.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) elected Jim Quinn, president and CEO of New Brunswick, Canada’s Port Saint John, to serve as the international trade association’s chairman of the board for the 2015-16 activity year. Elected at AAPA’s 2015 Spring Conference on April 21, Quinn is slated to be installed as AAPA’s chairman for a one-year term on the final day of the association’s 104th Annual Convention, set for Nov. 2-4, 2015, in Miami. He will assume the AAPA chairmanship from Port of Hueneme (Calif.) CEO and Port Director Kristin Decas…

Shipowners and managers will gather in Singapore next week to examine the strengths of their relationship and consider the state of the global shipping industry during the first International Shipowning and Shipmanagement Summit. Taking place at the Singapore headquarters of international communications specialist Singtel on October 14, the Summit features thought-provoking presentations from industry leaders representing both the ship owning and ship management sectors. The International Shipowning and Shipmanagement Summit will consider latest industry developments and international concerns, as well as examining relationships within the shipping chain.

The history of marine safety is soaked in water and written in blood. “I think that most people will tell you that changes in marine safety are almost exclusively disaster-driven,” agrees Dr. Josh Smith, a professor at Kings Point and interim director of the American Merchant Marine Museum. It hasn’t always been that way. Actually, it’s been worse. Despite some efforts early on to exert some control over shipping practices, going to sea has been accepted as a risky undertaking as long as man has floated vessels.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its latest Annual Review of maritime policy and regulatory developments in advance of its Annual General Meeting. The 2014 Annual Review covers the wide-ranging scope of ICS’s activities as the world’s principal international trade association for ship operators, and can now be downloaded free of charge from the ICS website. Printed copies are being distributed via ICS’s 34 member national shipowners’ associations, which…

InterManager, the international trade association for the ship management industry, says it has welcomed the adoption of new measures to protect seafarers against abandonment. Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, agreed at a meeting of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva last week, will ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury.

California’s blue economy is a +$50 billion industry. Today, marine science and the blue economy directly affect various business and government sectors such as offshore oil and gas production, national defense, seafloor exploration, communications, agriculture production, renewable energy, weather forecasting and fisheries to name a few. On April 25 at the Monterey College of Law in Seaside, Ca. Congressman Sam Farr will join more than 20 marine science and trade promotion service experts as presenters and panelists at The Monterey Bay - a Leader in the Blue Economy event as part of the Brand Monterey Bay program. This conference is designed as an introduction and brief glimpse of the world leading marine science community of the Monterey Bay region.

Today, at the United Nations (UNFCCC) Climate Change Conference in Warsaw (COP 19), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will advise a United Nations event on the economics of mitigation that reducing CO2 emissions is an economic 'no brainer' for the global shipping industry. Further efforts by industry to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions from ships - which carry about 90% of global trade - is already a matter of enlightened self interest. ICS, which is the principal international trade association for shipowners…

Seafarers feel they spend too much time on tasks they consider to be an administrative burden according to the findings of a study by the Danish Maritime Authority, supported by InterManager, the international trade association for ship and crew managers. A comprehensive survey of international seafarers revealed that a third of all nationalities are annoyed or frustrated by administrative burdens in the maritime sector. These burdens stem from what the seafarers consider to be unnecessary repetition of tasks and demands for too much paperwork and documentation to be handled.

As the new Hollywood blockbuster Captain Phillips premiers around the globe, InterManager has welcomed the focus the movie brings to the role of the seafarer. Captain Phillips, which stars Tom Hanks in the title role, retells the story of the kidnapping by Somali pirates of the US-flagged containership Maersk Alabama. InterManager, the international trade association which represents the world’s ship and crew managers, says the movie’s worldwide appeal will raise the profile of seafaring and help broaden understanding of what a life at sea is like.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its latest Annual Review of maritime policy and regulatory developments, in advance of its Annual General Meeting, which is being hosted by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association in Oslo from June 5-7. The 2013 Annual Review, which covers the wide-ranging scope of ICS’s activities as the world’s principal international trade association for ship operators, can now be downloaded free of charge from the homepage of the ICS website.

Lifeboat hooks can be lethal, and their design is out of date and unsuitable to meet modern demands, according to serving seafarers whose views have been gathered by InterManager. Following a series of incidents and fatalities involving lifeboat hooks, InterManager, the international trade association for the ship management industry, has gathered comments from seafarers of various ranks in an online discussion forum. Crew members responded by pointing out that they believed the hook designs have not kept pace with developments in the global shipping industry.

International law firm Hill Dickinson has appointed Ian MacLean as a partner to its London office, where he will focus on his international client base of ship owners, ship managers and their insurers. This appointment provides the firm with five former mariners at partner level, with Ian joining the existing team of Mike Mallin, Tony Goldsmith, Phil Haddon and Andrew Gray. This team is further strengthened by another five ex-mariner assistants, two of whom are qualified solicitors.