Occupational Health News

NGO Shipbreaking Platform reports that on January 16 two workers lost their lives after being crushed by a heavy iron plate during the dismantling of bulk carrier Chatherine Bright at Dewan Shipbreaking PVT Ldt in Gadani, Pakistan.The vessel was linked to Oman-based Maritime International Transport & Trading and flagged Panama when it was beached, says the Platform.The National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) accuses authorities of negligence as there continues to be a lack of compliance…

Swire Projects, the projects and heavy lift shipping arm of Swire Shipping, has officially launched a dedicated semi liner service connecting East Asia with the West Coast of North America.Previously offered on an ad hoc basis, the service will provide enhanced cargo connectivity and support the growing demand for reliable breakbulk and project cargo transportation into the West Coast and a gateway to the interior of the Continent avoiding the need to route cargo via the Panama Canal.Swire Projects' semi liner service connects the base ports of Qingdao and Taicang in China and ports en route…

ABS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher J. Wiernicki, and the Board of Directors have announced that John McDonald was elected President of ABS at its Board meeting on July 18. McDonald, who has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company since July 2021, will take on the title of President and remain the Chief Operating Officer of the company.“John McDonald has seized the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership skills since becoming…

A joint study into ammonia safety onboard ships undertaken by the Lloyd’s Register (LR) Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS), has found that a range of mitigation methods, from ship design to crew training and operations, are required to keep toxicity risks to crew within published tolerable limits.‘Recommendations for Design and Operation of Ammonia-Fuelled Vessels based on Multi-disciplinary Risk Analysis' presents a study of the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures in three ammonia-fueled vessels – a container ship…

When Atlantic offshore wind (OSW) projects move into high gear they will kick-start a series of impacts affecting almost the entire East Coast economy, from logistics to transportation to utility projects and, of course, just about every aspect of port and maritime activities.The related topics of workforce development and employment are among the fundamental issues being pushed and pulled by OSW. How workforce development and education and training proceed – and succeed – will be critical for the U.S.

John McDonald will become ABS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer as Tony Nassif has announced his plans to retire on December 31, 2021.As part of the company’s succession planning process, McDonald will assume the head operations role on July 26, 2021. Celebrating 25 years of service with ABS this year, McDonald joined ABS in 1996 as a surveyor and served in various frontline operational roles in Korea, the Northern Europe and Africa Region and the Central Region for the former Americas Division.

When an offshore wind farm or remote marine operation has an emergency medical situation that requires the extraction of an injured employee, every minute counts. Getting the injured employee from the point of injury to a hospital requires quick action. This process can be more complicated if the injury occurs in a difficult to access area like a wind turbine.Different situations determine how long it takes to extract an injured employeeIf the injured employee is mobile and medics can move them to the helideck on an installation, then extraction is simple.

Engineering X – an international collaboration founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation – has awarded nearly £1 million ($1.2 million) in grants to six projects in the U.K. and overseas aimed at tackling the complex social, environmental and engineering challenges of decommissioning ships and offshore structures.From training to improve worker safety in ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh, to assessing the risks of structural failure of decommissioned offshore structures…

Nakilat  announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 with a net profit of $76 million compared to $64 million during the same period in 2019, with an increase of 18%.Despite the ongoing challenges of the global pandemic, Nakilat continued to uphold operational management of its LNG and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels.Additionally, Nakilat group continued to strengthen its value proposition, with the ship repair, offshore fabrication, towage and…

As the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) apex institution for maritime and ocean education, the World Maritime University (WMU) adds its voice to widespread concerns over the serious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, wellbeing, and safety of seafarers.As countries around the world retreat to fight the pandemic, travel restrictions and financial losses are hitting shipping and other ocean-related industries hard. At sea, maritime workers are bearing the…

Global application of the regulations in International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s treaty for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling - the Hong Kong Convention -  will have significant benefits for the environment and for the safety of workers in the sector.China, a major ship recycling country, has been developing its ship recycling facilities to ensure their compliance with the environmental and occupational health and safety requirements of the Hong Kong Convention.China shared its experience and knowledge with representatives of the government and ship recycling industry from Bangladesh, during an IMO Seminar on Ship Recycling and the Hong Kong Convention…

South Carolina Ports Authority celebrated the dedication of a new headquarters building at the Wando Welch Terminal with its Board of Directors, local leaders, business partners and employees.The Ports Authority, which owns and operates public seaport facilities in Charleston and Georgetown, as well as Inland Ports in Greer, South Carolina and Dillon, South Carolina, said in a press note that the 80,000-square-foot building consolidates approximately 160 employees working from multiple office locations in the Charleston area.Accoding to the press release, the building design features a glass atrium in the lobby extending up all four floors and a terrazzo floor pattern depicting the Charleston Peninsula and waterways.

ABS has recorded zero lost time work-related incidents for the second year in a row. The Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR) has remained at 0.00 throughout 2017 and 2018, underscoring ABS’ industry-leading safety performance.“Safety is the foundation of all we do and our record of two consecutive years without a lost-time injury stands as a remarkable achievement,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki. “Our safety record has been compiled on countless ships, offshore facilities, shipyards and industrial sites globally, all with varying safety regimes in place. This means, first and foremost, that safety is not conditional to where we are, but integral to who we are.

French ocean carrier CMA CGM and Panalpina, the world’s fourth biggest ocean freight forwarder by transport volumes, have signed a sustainability agreement aimed at reducing their respective carbon emissions by 2025.As of 2020, newbuild LNG-powered mega-vessels with a capacity of 22,000 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) will help achieve the environmental goals.Aiming at responsible development in ocean freight, Panalpina and CMA CGM have signed a sustainability agreement for maritime transport.“Partnering with strategic partners such as CMA CGM that are technology driven and share a similar vision of sustainability, and using them to transport our customers’ cargo will help us achieve our ambitious sustainability goals…

The shipping industry is facing unprecedented change. With topics such as new environmental regulations and the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation dominating the conversation, seafarers’ welfare has tended to be overlooked.This trend is slowly changing as the industry continues to recognize the need to professionalize its approach to maritime welfare, but there is a long way to go. True, that there are model owners and operators within the industry who uphold the highest standards of welfare for their crew…

Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately owned independent port operator and logistics company based in the UAE, has been handed the 2018 prestigious Gold Award by the UK-based RoSPA Award Scheme.Gulftainer has been recognised for its commitment to employee health and safety standards at its flagship gateway terminal, Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT), in Port Khalid.Recognising significant milestones in health and safety management systems including best practices in leadership and workforce involvement, the RoSPA Awards scheme receives submissions from organisations around the world. Gold medals, President’s awards, Orders of Distinction and the Patron’s Award are presented to organisations sustaining the highest standards.Speaking on the achievement…

Gibdock has underlined its commitment to Occupational Health & Safety by becoming the first shipyard in the Mediterranean region, and one of the first companies worldwide, to achieve ISO 45001:2018 certification.An audit by LRQA completed on July 6 confirmed that the Gibraltar shipyard is fully compliant with the requirements of the new ISO standard, which was only published in March this year. ISO 45001:2018 replaces the previous standard, OHSAS 18001. Organizations certified to OHSAS 18001 have three years to migrate to the new standard before the old one is withdrawn in March 2021…

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has updated its ‘Guidance on Safety in Shipyards’ IMCA HSSE 032, IMCA M 221. The document provides guidance to vessel owners and operators when preparing contracts and procedures for vessel dry docking or extended maintenance periods alongside in a shipyard.Originally published in 2013, the revised document addresses traffic management in shipyards.Nick Hough, IMCA Technical Adviser – HSSE, Offshore Survey and ROV, said,…

ABS announced it had zero work-related lost time incidents during 2017. The corresponding Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR) of 0.00 represents a significant milestone in the organization’s continuing journey to safety excellence. “Safety is the heart of our mission and remains at the core of all we do, so we are thrilled to realize this exceptional safety record result,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki. Wiernicki added: “This achievement adds to our already strong industry-recognized safety leadership. ABS has an ongoing safety excellence program which incorporates strong occupational health and safety processes and policies, including its Stop Work Obligation rule authorizing all employees to intervene if safety is in question in any aspect of their work.

Shipbreaking plot no. 54 in Gadani, Pakistan, was sealed off after a massive fire broke out on-board the ship ACES (IMO 8021830), said NGO Shipbreaking Platform. This is the same floating oil production tanker that blew up on 1 November last year – an explosion that caused the death of 31 workers and seriously injured at least another 58 workers. Fortunately, reports seem to indicate that no workers got caught in the flames of yesterday’s fire on the ACES. After having been left untouched and unbroken in the same yard since last year’s catastrophic explosion, the Pakistan Department of Environment gave permission last week for the continued breaking of the ACES.

DNV GL has confirmed that Columbia Shipmanagement complies with the highest standards in energy and safety management. Torsten Schramm, President at DNV GL – Maritime, recently presented the ISO certification for the standards ISO 50001:2011 and OHSAS 18001:2007 to Carsten Sommerhage, Director of Columbia Shipmanagement (Deutschland) GmbH, at the shipping company’s offices in Hamburg. “These certifications highlight our efforts to perform a systematic energy management as well as maintaining the highest levels of health and safety through our company. At Columbia, we pursue an integrated strategy to incorporate health and safety into all units of our company,” says Carsten Sommerhage. “Columbia holds the protection of the environment and natural resources as extremely important.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has awarded a follow-on $9 million Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to ABSG Consulting Inc., an ABS Group company (ABS Group). ABS Group will provide a range of Human Systems Integration (HSI) support to the USCG's Human Systems Integration Office (CG-1B3), which is the USCG's technical authority for human systems integration (HSI). The BPA will cover acquisition support, project identification, usability analyses, testing, user facilitation and documentation services. As the USCG embarks on several new acquisition programs, including the Offshore Patrol Cutter and the Polar Ice Breaker, ABS Group will assist CG-1B3 and its partners within the USCG Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9)…

A number of Damen Shiprepair & Conversion yards have recently or will soon achieve new ISO certifications as part of an ongoing initiative to standardize operating procedures across the group. Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam (DSAm) and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen (DSVl) have passed ISO 3834-2 certificate audits. This standard defines rigorous quality procedures for the fusion welding of metallic materials and represents the highest possible accolade in the welding industry. The achievement demonstrates the ability of DSAm and DSVl to undertake the largest refit and conversion projects…