Greater Efforts News

The oil market has recently been shaken up by geopolitical events, but volatility in the price difference between low and high sulphur fuel cannot be explained by that alone – the uncertainty is the chaos factor.The uncertainty of the upcoming IMO 2020 Sulphur cap regulation (IMO2020) is having a big impact on the bunker market. Whereas, the price for Marine Gas Oil Low Sulphur (MGO LS) has largely remained stable, the price for High Sulphur Fuel oil (HSFO) has been become increasingly more volatile in recent months.

The two major port State control regimes - Paris MoU and Tokyo MoU - will increase focus on the sulphur limit regulations. The decision has been made on the basis of a Danish/Dutch proposal. Port State control authorities across 45 countries and 5 continents – South America, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia – have agreed to carry out a so-called Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) in 2018 focusing on air pollution from ships. Peter Krog-Meyer, Senior Adviser of the Danish Maritime Authority informed, ”We have achieved two important results. Firstly, all over the world there will be even more focus on whether ships meet the sulphur limits.

The new mandatory code for ships fuelled by gases or other low-flashpoint fuels was adopted by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), when it met at the Organization's London headquarters for its 95th session from June 3-12, 2015. The Committee also placed unsafe mixed migration by sea on its agenda and considered cyber security matters and passenger ship safety. It adopted new ships’ routing measures and approved a number of circulars arising from items put forward by the subcommittees.

A practical demonstration of the ARENA R&D project, part funded by the EU, will be delivered at Sagem’s premises in Massy, Paris on April 16, 2014. ARENA (Architecture for Recognition of thrEats to mobile assets using Networks of Affordable sensors) was developed to enable the automatic detection and recognition of threats against mobile critical assets such as trucks, trains and ships, as well as offshore platforms. ARENA uses multisensory data analysis and will be showcased by the project team using a truck.

Todd Busch: SVP and General Manager, Technical Services at Crowley Maritime Corporation. Todd Busch joined Crowley as an ordinary seaman in 1986, earning his masters’ license working aboard company tugboats before coming ashore in 1994 as a tug dispatcher. Since then, he has held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility within the firm. Today, the 24-year Crowley veteran is a member of the company’s senior leadership team, reporting directly to Crowley CEO Tom Crowley. Based at Crowley’s headquarters in Jacksonville, FL, he is responsible for several of the company’s business enterprises including the project management organization PMOrg (known as Crowley solutions), as well as subsidiaries Titan Salvage, Jensen Maritime Consultants, and Intrepid Ship Management.

Delegates at the World Petroleum Congress believe the oil and gas industry is not doing enough to encourage future generations to join the sector, according to research from GL Noble Denton. Oil and gas industry professionals believe that the sector needs to work harder to encourage future generations to choose a career in energy, according to a poll conducted yesterday at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha. 57% of participants said companies need to make greater efforts to demonstrate the benefits of a career in the oil and gas industry to young people…

“We have reached the end of our tether on piracy," ICS Chairman tells India Shipping Summit. “The world community cannot tolerate the abuse and the killing of seafarers,” ICS Chairman Spyros M Polemis told seafarers and maritime industry professionals in India today (Oct 11th), adding that “India and its seafarers have truly been in the firing line”. “This has to stop now. The pirates must get the message that we have reached the end of our tether and that any act of piracy will be severely dealt with,” he told delegates at the India Shipping Summit in Mumbai.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy released an Arctic environmental assessment and outlook Aug. 15 that will be instrumental in developing future strategic plans and investments in a region that is becoming increasingly accessible to exploration and commercial enterprise. "In the past the Arctic was largely inaccessible, but increased seasonal melting of the sea ice is opening the region and creating opportunities for oil and gas exploration, maritime shipping, commercial fishing, and tourism," said Rear Adm. David Titley, director of the Navy's Task Force Climate Change. The assessment notes that the U.S. has close to a thousand miles of Arctic coastline in Alaska and significant coastal waters for resource exploitation. "With Alaska's coastline, the U.S.

The first meeting of the ClassNK Technical Committee was held at the Industry Club of Japan in Tokyo Feb. 8. The Technical Committee, which includes top technical experts from throughout the maritime industry as well as leading maritime universities, is charged with reviewing and approving all amendments to the ClassNK Rules. During today’s meeting the Committee approved a total of 39 amendments and revisions to the leading class society’s rules, including changes reflecting new research, amendments to international regulations, and the changing needs of the maritime industry. “This has been a busy year for ClassNK,” remarked Mr. Ueda…

Pirate attacks worldwide surged 40 percent in 1999 as economic and political troubles in Indonesia spurred a dramatic increase in incidents in Southeast Asia. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its annual report that the number of actual and attempted pirate raids increased to 285 last year from 202 in 1998. However, the number of seafarers killed fell to three last year from 78 in 1998. "This could be due to greater efforts by governments to combat piracy," the report said, citing the recent sentencing to death of 13 pirates in China. Indonesia accounted for 113 of the attacks, almost double its 1998 total of 60. "We believe it was due to the economic situation and political instability…