Group Office News

For 20 years, I represented operators of OSVs, jack-ups, semi-submersibles, oil and gas production platforms, harbor tugs, towboats and barges in state and federal court personal injury litigation arising in the Gulf of Mexico, across the Great Lakes and on the inland waterways. For the last decade or so, I have been representing injured crew. In the case of a death or serious injury, sometimes there is little a vessel operator can do to prevent being sued. In my experience, though, many expensive lawsuits could have been avoided had the marine employer handled the situation differently.1.

Ship management and services major V.Group has signed a contract with Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC Logistics & Services to provide crew management services to 93 offshore support vessels.The ship management company said that to support the contract, and to enable further expansion in the region, it has opened a new Abu Dhabi office, which began operations in early August.The office and service function was successfully delivered within a 90-day period, as part of a formal agreement between the two parties.Senior management from both companies attended an official signing ceremony at the ADNOC L&S headquarters last month, including Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi…

U.S. Coast Guard Guidance Helps to Bring some Clarity to the Debate. In July 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard released Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular 01-15 (“NVIC”), titled Marine Casualty Reporting Procedures Guide with Associated Standard Interpretations. The purpose of the NVIC is to assist vessel owners and operators in understanding the marine casualty reporting requirements, which many in the industry think are about as clear as mud. Confusion as to what constitutes a marine casualty and what incidents need to be reported has persisted in the marine industry for years.

Statutory Alert: Periodic servicing of free-fall lifeboat release systems – amendment to SOLAS regulation III/20.11.2.4. Applicability: Ships which have a free-fall lifeboat fitted. Lifeboats should be tested regularly to ensure they operate when needed and that crews know how to operate them. For testing of free-fall lifeboats a physical launch is not always appropriate, and there is an element of risk to crews. An amendment* to SOLAS chapter III, regulation 20.11.2.4 which will enter into force on 1 January…

Statutory alert: Changes to the requirements for the carriage of blends of petroleum oil and bio-fuels. The 62nd session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 62) agreed that from September 1, 2011, bio-fuel/petroleum oil blends should be carried in accordance with new Guidelines for the Carriage of Blends of Petroleum Oil and Bio-fuel. These are contained in IMO Circular MEPC.1/Circ.761. The Guidelines define bio-fuels as: ethyl alcohol (ethanol), fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), vegetable oils (triglycerides) and alkanes (C10-26), linear and branched with flashpoint of either 60ºC or less or more than 60ºC. Further bio-fuels identified as falling under the scope of the Guidelines will be listed in a new Annex 11 of the MEPC.2/Circular.

U.S. By Frederick B. Most commercial mariners and their vessel operating employers probably know that when certain significant vessel-related events occur, these must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard. In my experience, however, there is widespread uncertainty in the marine industry about what must be reported and, more significantly, when. Many companies learn the hard way about these requirements and end up paying healthy fines — anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars — for failing to “immediately,” as the regulations require, report such events.

By Vincent J. Foley- New York and John S. On July 15, 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the Captain and Chief Officer of a foreign vessel pled guilty in the Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) to charges that included not only the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), False Statements and Obstruction of Justice; but also failure to notify the Coast Guard of hazardous conditions and charges related to presentation of false or incomplete ballast tank reports.

StatoilHydro has been strongly affected by the news that three colleagues were on the Air France flight which disappeared over the Atlantic on 1 June. It is the Rio de Janeiro office that has been hit the hardest. Geologist Marcela Pellizzon (29) and lawyer Gustavo Peretti (30) are Brazilian citizens, while lawyer Kristian Berg Andersen (37) is a Norwegian citizen. A Swiss citizen who is the nephew of a Norwegian employee at the group’s office in Rio de Janeiro is also among the missing. Country manager Jorge Camargo in Brazil held an employee forum yesterday afternoon local time for all employees in Rio de Janeiro to come to terms with and give expression to emotions aroused by the accident.

Robert-Jan van Acker head of SvitzerWijsmuller’s global salvage activities, welcomed guests at a reception last week marking the opening of the group’s office in Cape Town. With Robert-Jan is Nick Sloane, SvitzerWijsmuller’s General Manager, Africa. SvitzerWijsmuller’s Cape Town office opened in July. Within the first month, the Cape Town team responded to four marine emergencies. Addressing representatives of SAMSA (the South African Maritime Safety Authority) and Cape Town’s maritime community, Robert-Jan van Acker said: “SvitzerWijsmuller was established in its present form in 2001. Since then, the group’s international activities have expanded steadily.