Annual Audit News

The widescale impact of COVID-19 had not hit when DNV GL Maritime Advisory (DNV GL) was contracted to conduct a cyber security assessment and penetration test for an offshore asset. Before long, however, travel had become a risk, and the parties were forced to evaluate alternative means of performing the related surveys, which resulted in the completion of DNV GL’s first remote cyber security test.Cyber security assessments and penetration testing involve the examination of an asset’s systems to find weaknesses in the network’s perimeter.

The Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) of the 13th Parliament of Malaysia has passed the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (Amendment) Bill 2016 aimed at standardizing national maritime law with the international maritime community, reports Bernama. Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi, when winding up the debate on the bill, gave assurance that the government would ensure that all merchant shipping companies would adhere to the national maritime law in ensuring the wellbeing of seafarers. "The Marine Department will carry out annual audit on these merchant shipping companies to ensure compliance of the maritime law," he said.

China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd says it has received ship scrapping subsidies for about 3.96 billion yuan ($638.71 million). It came through China Ocean Shipping, the controlling shareholder of the company, for the decommissioning and upgrading of vessels. “The subsidy was recognized as non-operating income and will be included in the profit and loss of the company for the year ending 31 December 2015 to compensate the losses suffered by the company due to the advanced disassembling of the vessels,” Cosco said in a stock exchange filing. The subsidies were received by Cosco on 30 June 2015. The brief statement by Cosco, however, did not mention the period of the ship scrapping and newbuilding activities covered by the subsidy.

The Environmental Ship Index (ESI) & Green Award Foundation nautical environmental certificates to join forces. In future, the foundation will take the results of ESI on board in its own evaluation and in return, it will check the emissions of ‘Green Award ships’ on behalf of ESI during the annual audit. The Port of Rotterdam Authority provided port due discounts worth EUR 1.5 million to ships with the Green Award. Last year ESI ships received discounts amounting to a total of around €40,000. This figure has already risen to more than €600,000 in 2012. ESI – designed in part by the port authorities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and in operation since 1 January 2011 – is a certificate issued by the World Port Climate Initiative at the request of the ship.

In its press release the SSA said that it understands that the “cappuccino” effect is allegedly due to the presence of entrained air, which may cause the bunker fuel to froth, causing manual measurements to be unreliable. After a period of several days, the froth reportedly subsides, which may result in the apparent “loss” of bunkers. The SSA is of the view, however, that a significant number of reported instances of “frothed” bunker are overly exaggerated and unsubstantiated by hard evidence at the time of loading. The SSA’s Executive Director, Mr Daniel Tan said, “There are stringent regulations in place in Singapore for the delivery of bunkers to ships. All deliveries in the port must follow SS 600 imposed by the MPA and any non-compliance is subject to sanctions by the MPA.

SSA rtespondes to allegations of bunkering irregularities in Singapore. Bunkering is an important industry for Singapore. Consequently, the bunker supplying industry in Singapore is therefore also highly regulated by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) - all Singapore bunker suppliers, bunker tankers and bunker surveyors involved in the bunkering business are required to be licensed by MPA. The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) therefore takes a very serious view of recent allegations of malpractices by the bunkering industry in Singapore. As a major port of call, Singapore supplies more than 43 million tonnes of bunkers. This is based on more than 37,000 vessel calls at Singapore for bunkers annually.

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment (MSD) Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and the Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL) located in Washington Island, Wisconsin teamed up to create a Small Passenger Vessel (SPV) industry training program for Coast Guard Marine Inspectors. Early this summer WIFL’s President, Mr. Dick Purinton, and Lieutenant Jerry Butwid of MSD Sturgeon Bay, met to create the training program to provide marine inspectors with a better understanding of the industry they regulate.

Seabulk International, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Seabulk Offshore S.A., (SOSA), which is already ISM-certified, has also successfully passed the Bureau Veritas annual audit for renewal of its certification as an ISO 9002-certified company. SOSA operates a fleet of 38 offshore energy support vessels in West Africa, South America and the Caribbean. activities in the deepwater market off the coasts of Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Cameroon. support vessels with a fleet of 143 workboats in nearly all of the world's major offshore markets. Two other subsidiaries -- Seabulk Towing, with 31 vessels in seven southeastern U.S. American Waterways Operators' Responsible Carrier Program, an ISM Code- equivalent safety management system for the towing industry.

Seabulk International, Inc. announced that its U.S.-based offshore energy support subsidiary, Seabulk Offshore, Ltd. (SOL), has been certified by the American Bureau of Shipping to be in compliance with the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (International Safety Management (ISM) Code). The Document of Compliance certification is valid for five years with an annual audit. SOL, with primary offices in Houston, Texas; Lafayette and Amelia, La., services oil and gas exploration facilities primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, operating a fleet of 60 vessels including anchor-handling tug supply vessels, supply vessels and crew boats.

GE Transportation’s marine business has received type approval certification from Bureau Veritas (BV), Paris, France, for its family of Electronic Fuel Injected (EFI), medium-speed diesel engines. “The BV type approval certifies that our 8, 12 and 16 cylinder engines are manufactured with high quality at GE’s Grove City, Pennsylvania facility,” said John Manison, manager of GE Transportation’s marine business in Erie, Pa. “Over the past several years, we have earned BV, American Bureau of Shipping and Germanischer Lloyd type approvals for our diesel engine family. Couple these quality certifications with many cost-saving features such as electronic fuel injection, and customers are offered significant benefits when using our engines,” Manison added.