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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Guidance News

26 Mar 2024

OCIMF Updates Drug and Alcohol Guidelines

Source: OCIMF

The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) has published an updated information paper, Guidelines for the Control of Drugs and Alcohol in the Maritime Industry (2024).The paper aims to provide general guidance and recommendations for the maritime industry (operators of tankers, barges, offshore vessels and terminals associated with the ship-shore interface) in developing and implementing controls for the use of drugs and alcohol.In the guidelines, drug and alcohol use includes the use of prescribed and over-the-counter medication


24 Mar 2024

ICS Responds to MEPC81 Outcomes

Source: IMO

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued a statement following the conclusion of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC81) Meeting last week.“We welcome the progress made during these intensive negotiations to achieve net zero emissions from shipping, and the support received from around 60 Member States for a flat rate contribution system per tonne of GHG. The purpose of the proposed system, put forward by the ICS, is to reduce the cost gap and incentivise the accelerated uptake of green marine fuels


20 Mar 2024

Ten Organizations Team Up on Guidelines for Combating Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

© 2630ben / Adobe Stock

Ten organizations have joined forces to combat illegal wildlife trafficking through increasing awareness and vigilance across global supply chains.Together, they have produced practical guidelines for all supply chain participants, with advice on measures to take, questions to ask to help identify criminal wildlife trade, and guidance on reporting suspicious activities. An accompanying "Red Flags" document serves as a daily reference for all individuals involved in the supply chain.

07 Mar 2024

Tanker Liteyny Prospect, Hit by Sanctions, Docks in China to Offload Russian Oil

© Vallehr / Adobe Stock

The Russian tanker Liteyny Prospect, hit by sanctions, has docked at the Chinese port of Huanghua to discharge its 700,000-barrel Russian Sokol crude cargo, two sources familiar with the matter said, clearing part of a backlog of cargoes disrupted by sanctions on Moscow's oil trade.The tanker is one of six ships carrying Sokol crude, which India has not been able to import due to payment issues. The six ships had been sailing to China but five of them are floating at sea early this week, shipping data showed, following fresh U.S.

05 Mar 2024

Dutch Defense to Spend Billions on New Frigates

© Wojciech WrzesieƄ / Adobe Stock

The Dutch government on Friday said it would replace nearly its entire navy fleet in the coming 15 years, in a project worth several billion euros that it said would mainly benefit Dutch industry.A large part of the project would consist of the replacement of four air defense frigates, the government said, confirming an earlier report by RTL Nieuws.The government said it would work closely with Dutch industry in building the ships, with large roles for shipbuilder Damen and the Dutch arm of French defense company Thales, which would likely supply radar and missile guidance systems."This will s

29 Feb 2024

Jozwiak Joins GLO Marine as Green Transition Lead

Maciej Jozwiak joins GLO Marine as its new Technical and Green Transition Manager, bringing to the comapny more than six years of engineering project management at DAMEN and more than nine years as senior approval engineer at DNV’s Oslo Headquarters. Image courtesy GLO Marine

Maciej Jozwiak joined the GLO Marine team, with his experience expected to enhance the company's technical capacity to deliver high-end services to the retrofit and vessel upgrade market, with a focus on green technologies and decarbonization measures.Jozwiak brings more than six years of engineering project management at DAMEN and more than nine years as senior approval engineer at DNV’s Oslo Headquarters. His knowledge in structural engineering, adept project management, and


27 Feb 2024

Preparing for Change, ABS Enhances the Marine Vessels Rules Book

Copyright KengVit14/AdobeStock

As maritime faces transcendent changes in regards to decarbonization, digitalization and automation, innovators from inside and outside of the industry will be challenged to deliver new applications and technologies with increased speed and frequency. Sitting at the center of the innovation storm are classification societies, and earlier this year the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) became the first classification society to incorporate goal-based standards throughout major rule sets, enhancing its ability to handle the increasing flow of novel concepts and new technologies.

27 Feb 2024

GAO: Coast Guard Should Address Workforce Recruitment and Retention Challenges

Chief Warrant Officer Aaron Studie climbs a Jacob's ladder to perform a vessel inspection. Marine inspectors board boats in dry dock, moored at a pier, anchored and in rare occasions while underway. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Darryl W. Bradshaw)

The Coast Guard has struggled for years to recruit and retain a sufficient workforce. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the non-partisan, fact-based arm of the Congress, has published multiple reports related to the Coast Guard’s workforce including recruitment and retention challenges. Three of these reports published in 2022 and 2023 have resulted in 17 GAO recommendations to address these issues, but as of today, 16 remain open and need to be addressed. Implementing


26 Feb 2024

IMO’s PPR11 Agrees Guidance on Key Environmental Issues

Source: IMO

The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 11) agreed new guidance on several key environmental issues.Meeting from February 19 to 23, 2024, the following guidance will now be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee for approval this March (MEPC 81) and October (MEPC 82):‱ the safe transport of plastic pellets by sea‱ best practices for cutting black carbon emissions from ships operating in or near the Arctic‱ reducing risks of use and carriage


26 Feb 2024

Many Different Vessels but One Goal – Passenger Safety

© Olivier / Adobe Stock

Because there are so many different kinds of passenger vessels, the critical topic of passenger safety can sometimes appear as a set of niche topics, each one just distantly connected to another. After all, passengers aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean face safety issues that are much different than a commuter going from Jersey City to Manhattan or a tourist crossing from the Mukilteo, Wash. ferry terminal to Whidbey Island or a family on a fishing vessel in Miami.Importantly, though, for passenger vessel operators, a commitment to safety is not siloed.

25 Feb 2024

IMO Finalizes Arctic Pollution Prevention Guideline Drafts

Source: IMO

The IMO Pollution Prevention and Response Sub-Committee PPR 11 was held February 19-23, and agreement was reached on guidance for the prevention of pollution in the Arctic marine environment.The guidance will now be presented to the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC).Lloyd’s Register reports the following was agreed at PPR 11:‱ Draft guidance on best practice for goal-based control measures to reduce the impact on the Arctic of black carbon emissions from international shipping (expected to be approved at MEPC 82


24 Feb 2024

Armada Technologies Wins Hull Lubrication Contract with CoolCo

Alex Routledge, Armada Technologies CEO and Richard Tyrell, Cool Company Ltd. CEO

Armada Technologies has secured a hull lubrication contract with LNG carrier company Cool Company Ltd (CoolCo).Under the partnership, Armada will design, engineer, procure, and provide support for the installation and commissioning of its air lubrication system on a CoolCo vessel scheduled to dry dock in 2024. Once commissioned, CoolCo will conduct sea trials and provide documentation to Armada, following ISO or ITTC guidance, to measure the system's performance.Armada CEO Alex


21 Feb 2024

ARC Keeps the Cargo Rolling

Flags on M/V ARC Defender.
Image courtesy ARC

With a fleet of nine U.S.-flag RoRo ships, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group (ARC), is the U.S.’ premier commercial RoRo carrier of U.S. government and military cargo. As the world becomes an increasingly contentious place, Eric P. Ebeling, President & CEO, ARC, discusses the vast capabilities of the ARC fleet and logistics network, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead for U.S.-flag ships in the international trade.By the numbers’ is a simplistic means to gauge the size and shape of any shipping company


15 Feb 2024

#SARyouOK? Initiative Launches Best Practice Framework

Source: IMRF

The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) has launched its #SARyouOK? Guidance and Best Practice Framework.The #SARyouOK? initiative is supported by the Trinity House DFT Maritime Safety Fund and aims to promote awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues and break down the attached stigma for those working in the maritime search and rescue (SAR) sector.This initiative provides comprehensive guidance on mental health and wellbeing for maritime SAR services. The aim


15 Feb 2024

Is Stern Tube Damage Declining?

Shaft removal during stern tube repair procedures courtesy of Marine and Industrial Transmissions.
Photo courtesy Marine and Industrial Transmissions

It might be easy to blame EALs, but the ongoing causes of stern tube damage are varied, and possibly declining.Environmentally Acceptable lubricants (EALs) gained market traction with the introduction of US VGP regulations in 2013. Since then, DNV has observed two major trends. The first, starting in 2013 was early life damage, either during sea trials or within the first five years of operation, where aft stern tube bearings typically failed under extreme load conditions. Then from around 2018


13 Feb 2024

OPINION: Seeing the Ship as a System Changes Everything

image credit ABB Marine and Ports

Shipping must engage with the decarbonization realities that lie ahead by changing the way it crafts maritime legislation to reflect its place in the interconnected, interdependent world economy, says Eero Lehtovaara, ABB Marine & Ports.ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara has carved out an unusual - and possibly unique - role in the maritime industry over recent years, as a ‘stakeholder’ simultaneously mindful of the perspectives of owners, seafarers


08 Feb 2024

Maersk Warns Oversupply to Hit Profits

© Fotokon / Adobe Stock

Maersk warned on Thursday that container shipping overcapacity would hit profits more than expected this year and that it didn't see a major boost from the jump in freight rates due to Red Sea disruptions, hammering its shares.The warning, which also led the Danish shipping giant to suspend its share buyback programme, is in stark contrast with investors' recent optimism about the sector.Container shipping companies have been among the best-performing stocks in Europe this year


07 Feb 2024

UK Supreme Court Piracy Ruling Gives Guidance on War Risk Provisions in Charterparties

The tanker was released from pirate control in August 2011. (File photo: EUNAVFOR)

In a well-timed decision given the current situation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down judgment in Herculito Maritime Ltd v Gunvor International BV [2024] UKSC 2, a decision that arose from seizure of a ship by Somali pirates.Key factsThe vessel MT Polar was chartered to carry a cargo of fuel oil from St Petersburg to Singapore. The most direct route would be via the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden.The Gulf of Aden was within the “high risk area” for piracy when the charter was agreed.

26 Jan 2024

BOEM and NOAA Release North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy

© Tony / Adobe Stock

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries have released a final joint strategy to protect and promote the recovery of endangered North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy.The strategy builds on existing mitigation measures to protect North Atlantic right whales from the potential impacts of offshore wind development and was developed to support the Biden-Harris administration's goal of deploying 30GW of offshore wind by 2030.North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction.

18 Jan 2024

IACS Adopts New Unified Requirement on Ammonia Releases

© vchalup / Adobe Stock

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has developed a Unified Requirement (URH1) covering the release of ammonia from the onboard systems for bunkering, storing, preparing and using ammonia as fuel.IACS URH1 aligns with the Recommendations from U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and establishes that an ammonia concentration of 300 ppm or more is immediately dangerous, and a concentration of 25 ppm or more is dangerous if the exposure is longer than eight hours.Additionally


18 Jan 2024

Three New England States Extend Offshore Wind Solicitation Due Date

© Fokke Baarssen / Adobe Stock

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island extended on Thursday the date bids are due in the states' next offshore wind solicitations from Jan. 31 to March 27.Offshore wind is expected to play a critical role in U.S. President Joe Biden's and several states' plans to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change.But offshore wind industry had a tough time in 2023 with some developers cancelling contracts to sell power in several states because their proposed projects were no longer economic due to soaring inflation


18 Jan 2024

USCG Approves ABS Wavesight eLogs for US-flagged Vessels

© IDOL'foto / Adobe Stock

ABS Wavesight on Thursday announced its eLogs software has received formal approval from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for use by U.S.-flagged ships. The ABS-affiliated software-as-a-service company is now one of three maritime software providers to receive such approval on the basis of the USCG’s guidance under USCG NVIC 01-23."The maritime industry is entering an era of rapid digitalization,” said Gurinder Singh, Director of Solutions Engineering at ABS Wavesight. “We are proud to be at the forefront of that transformation, and the fact that our eLogs software meets all of the U.S.

10 Jan 2024

Gale-force Winds and High Waves Leads to Tilting of Elevated Liftboat

L/B Robert toppled to port on Nov. 21, 2022. (Source: U.S. Coast Guard)

Gale-force winds and high waves from a storm led to the listing of an elevated liftboat in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday. Damage to the vessel and cargo was estimated at $6.9 million.On November 20, 2022, the liftboat L/B Robert was reported to be listing alongside a stationary oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The crew had evacuated two days prior due to forecasted adverse weather in the area, leaving the vessel elevated out of the water and unattended.