Administrative Region News

This article will focus on “noncomprehensive sanctions,” which target “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDNs), but otherwise do not prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country (if any). While there are multiple noncomprehensive sanctions programs, we will focus on three: Venezuela (which can be thought of as quasi-comprehensive), Global Magnitsky (human rights) and Hong Kong. Russia also has a substantial noncomprehensive sanctions program, which we will address in a later article.NONCOMPREHENSIVE SANCTIONS PROGRAMS: IN GENERALThe U.S.

The global trade association for shipowners and operators, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) opened its China Liaison Office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Tuesday, 21 November, during a reception hosted by the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.Liu Xiaoming, the Deputy Minister of Transport from the People’s Republic of China, Huang Liuquan, the Deputy Director of Hong Kong, Macau Affairs Office of State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and Frank Chan, Secretary for Transport and Housing Bureau of Hong Kong SAR were present to help oversee proceedings.On 20 November 2019, Mrs Carrie Lam, Chief…

Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem reached a deal on Friday to participate in a joint engineering venture for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the west of Siberia.The subsidiary of Eni said in a press release that it has has reached an agreement with Technip France SA and NIPIgaspererabotka to participate in the Joint Venture for the realization of the Arctic LNG2 project.The project has been awarded by Arctic LNG2, a company formed by Novatek JSPC (60%) and Ekropromstroy Ltd (40%).It comprises the detailed design, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning and start-up of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains…

Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem and Turkey's Ronesans signed a joint venture (JV) agreement for infrastructure construction for Russian Federation's Arctic LNG-2 project.Saipem said the contract for the construction of the project is worth EUR 2.2 billion (USD 2.5 billion).As leader of the JV, with a shareholding of 50%, Saipem’s portion of the total amount is therefore approximately 1.1 billion Euro, it said.The contract has been awarded by the company Artic LNG 2, consisting of Novatek JSPC (60%) and Ekropromstroy Ltd (40%).The project will be executed in the Tazovsky District, in the autonomous administrative region of Yamal-Nenets…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that MOL, has entered into a preliminary agreement to supply a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), as well as Jetty Operation & Maintenance Services for the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project on a long term contract. MOL will utilize the "MOL FSRU Challenger" built in 2017 with a storage capacity of 263,000m3 which remains the largest FSRU in the world today, to provide services to the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project. The FSRU was constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. in South Korea and is currently employed on a mid-term charter for a project in Turkey. The Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project will be located at the southern waters of Hong Kong and to the east of the Soko Islands.

The 20,000 TEU containership Cosco Shipping Gemini was officially named and delivered. The vessel was built by the Chinese shipyard Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) for Chinese owner Cosco Shipping Lines. Chief Financial Officer of Cosco Shipping, Sun Yueyin, attended the naming ceremony. She named the vessel and cut the ribbon. President and Deputy Party Secretary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), Sun Bo; Party Secretary of Cosco Shipping Lines, Qian Weizhong; Chairman and Party Secretary of DSIC, Liu Zheng; as well as other guests and representatives from Cosco Shipping, CSIC, Cosco Shipping Lines, DSIC, DNV-GL Group and China Classification Society (CCS) were also present at the event on invitation.

Hong Kong is chosen to host the Global Maritime Forum’s inaugural Annual Summit on 3-4 October 2018. The high-level meeting will convene key industry leaders with policymakers, experts, NGOs and other influential decision-makers and opinion shapers. Their task will be to share their ideas on the challenges facing the maritime industry and to develop practical proposals to optimise global seaborne trade, thereby increasing sustainable long term economic development and human wellbeing. “We look forward to welcoming the world’s maritime decision-makers to Hong Kong. Like the ocean, the challenges and opportunities that the maritime industry is facing transcend country borders. They are inherently global and the only way to meet them is to join forces and find solutions in unison.

Representatives of the British and Hong Kong maritime business sectors have agreed to forge a closer working relationship. Under the terms of a new Memorandum of Understanding, Maritime London and the Hong Kong Maritime & Port Board (HKMPB) will cooperate in a range of areas including promotional activity, training and sharing of best practice for maritime business services. The agreement was signed in London during London International Shipping Week by Chan Fan, Frank, JP, Secretary for Transport & Housing…

The amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) departed Hong Kong April 11, following a scheduled port visit. The four-day visit allowed nearly 2,500 Sailors and Marines assigned to the ship and embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit the opportunity to experience Hong Kong's culture and engage with the community. The ship hosted a reception for distinguished guests April 10, to recognize the prosperous partnership between the United States and the People's Republic of China and Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. Distinguished visitors included Consul General of the United States to Hong Kong and Macau Kurt W. Tong and Senior Captain Fang Yuxin, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison.

Yacht races between Hong Kong and Macau will take place on 26 September (Saturday) and 28 September 2015 (Monday). About 25 sailing boats are expected to participate in the races. The outbound trip from Hong Kong to Macau will start at 1000 hours on 26 September 2015 in an area south-east of Lamma Island (in the vicinity of Yuen Kok Light). (b) Course 2 – a south-westerly route through the southern boundary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, thence to Macau if the wind is coming from the south. (b) Course 2 – a route through south of Xiaozhi Zhou, the southern boundary of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region and to complete the race at a position east of Cheung Chau if the wind is coming from the south.

The Maritime Silk Road Society (MSRS) was inaugurated on Monday to explore new development opportunities for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, reports Xinhua. "The Maritime Silk Road Society has been established in support of the nation's grand 'One Belt, One Road' strategy, partly to leverage Hong Kong's unique position as the linchpin between Chinese mainland and overseas countries and regions in promoting intra-region business, trade and cultural exchange, and partly to identify new developmental opportunities for Hong Kong," Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, co-chair of the MSRS, said at the inauguration ceremony.

Yacht races between Hong Kong and Macau will take place on 19 February 2015 (Thursday) and 21 February 2015 (Saturday). About 20 sailing boats are expected to participate in the races. The outbound trip from Hong Kong to Macau will start at 1000 hours on 19 February 2015 in an area south-east of Lamma Island (in the vicinity of Yuen Kok Light). (b) Course 2 - a south-westerly route through the southern Boundary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, thence to Macau if the wind is coming from the south. (b) Course 2 - a route through south of Shek Kwu Chau and to complete the race at a position east of Cheung Chau if the wind is coming from the south.

American rescuers and a Chinese seafarer have been presented with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea 2013, during a special ceremony held on November 25, 2013 at IMO Headquarters in London. Aviation Survival Technician Second Class Randy J. Haba and Aviation Survival Technician Second Class Daniel J. Todd of the United States Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, were nominated by the Government of the United States…

Wärtsilä Corporation and CSSC Guangzhou Marine Diesel Co.Ltd (GMD), a member of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) Group, have jointly signed a licence agreement for the manufacture and sale of Wärtsilä 2-stroke engines in China. It covers the entire engine portfolio with a power range of between 4,300 and more than 80,000 kW per engine. The signing ceremony took place today in Guangzhou, China and was attended by representatives of both companies, headed by Mrs. Lu Xiaoyan, Vice President of CSSC and Dr. Martin Wernli, President of Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd. With the shipbuilding industry increasingly concentrated in Asia, the local manufacture of Wärtsilä's marine engines is a key element in the company's growth strategy.

On June 15, MAN Diesel & Turbo added another two-stroke licensee to its roster at a signing ceremony in China with CSSC Guangzhou Marine Engine Co. Ltd. (GMD). An off-shoot of the state-owned CSSC Group, GMD is based close to the major Chinese city of Guangzhou and the special administrative region of Hong Kong, and has undertaken to produce 3 million hp of engines in an initial building period. Construction will take place at a purpose-built facility that will begin production at the beginning of 2012.

The UK P&I Club offered the following briefing on Chinese marine pollution law. Ship owners and operators trading in Chinese waters face an extensive set of new legal and regulatory requirements governing their roles and responsibilities in oil pollution incidents. China’s Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships Regulation was implemented on 1st March 2010. It dovetails with the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, laying down the principles and outlining the country’s marine pollution legal system. However, the detailed requirements under the Regulation have yet to be revealed. Chinese ministries have other supplementary regulations in the pipeline, such as the management and funding of a ship oil pollution compensation fund.

A new international Convention on ship recycling has been adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. The Convention was adopted at a diplomatic conference held in Hong Kong, China, from 11 to 15 May 2009, attended by delegates from 63 countries. The new Convention was developed by IMO, the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution from ships.

A Diplomatic Conference to adopt an international convention on the recycling of ships was opened in Hong Kong, China, by the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, on Monday, 11 May 2009. The convention, the first ever to address ship recycling issues, is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. In his opening remarks, Mitropoulos paid tribute to the contribution to the work of IMO made by Asia - “a region the leadership role of which in shipbuilding, shipowning, ship manning and ship recycling is recognized and duly appreciated worldwide”.

On Nov. 4, The Marine Department co-ordinated an annual joint exercise in the waters off Tsing Lung Garden, Tuen Mun, to test the response and efficiency of government departments and oil companies in handling oil spills. A Marine Department spokesman said the anti-oil pollution exercise, code-named "Oilex 2008", enabled personnel of related organizations to have key functions in dealing with oil spills and individual and team knowledge, skills and capabilities examined. As well as the Marine Department, five government departments, the Civil Aid Service, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Government Flying Service, Police Force…

The final batch three FBM Protector33 patrol vessel of the Danubio project has been baptised and commissioned the General Service Patrol Boat (LSG) "Iquique" at a ceremony in the ASMAR (Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada) shipyard in Talcahuano, Chile. The ceremony marked the ended of the current production of boats for the Danubio Project and is the 16th FBM Babcock Marine designed 33m Protector Patrol Vessels constructed by ASMAR for the General Directorate of Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine over a six year period. The commissioning ceremony was headed by Admiral Miguel Angel Vergara, the Commander in Chief of the Chilean Navy, who was welcomed by Rear Admiral Heinz Pearce, ASMAR Executive Director.

A regional training course on marine casualty investigation began on June 3 in Hong Kong, following a reception officiated by the Acting Director of Marine, Tsang Man-ching. The two-week course, to be held from today until next Friday (June 14) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, is jointly organized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) for practicing marine accident investigators from countries in the Asia and Pacific Islands Region. Speaking at the reception, the Acting Director of Marine, Tsang Man-ching, said: " Our main objective in providing technical co-operation to IMO is to contribute our effort in enhancing standards of international shipping.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing dismissed suggestions that his company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. would control the Panama Canal when it begins operating container ports at each end of the strategic waterway. Li was responding to remarks by President Bill Clinton, who said last week that he did not expect any adverse consequences from "the Chinese running the canal". "We cannot possibly control the canal," Li said. Li has strong ties to China. U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns that this could eventually give China effective control of the 51 mile (82 km) long canal once the U.S. military pulls out. The Clinton administration has repeatedly assured them that China will not take it over.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) pointed out the role that Asia will play in the future of the marine fuels industry. As announced at IBIA's recent Bunkering in Asia" conference held in Hong Kong, Asia's leading bunker hubs, include Singapore and Hong Kong, where annual bunker deliveries topped 18 metric tons and three metric tons respectively in 1998. The conference was opened by Stephen Ip, secretary for economic services, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, who stressed Hong Kong's role as a replenishment port in Asia.