Qi News

Predictability is the aim of every human, company, or society.Humanity simply strives to increase its level of predictability whether as a person, or as a group of people. When humans attain a certain level of predictability, their hope for the future goes up and their level of anxiety goes down.Oddly, conservatives and progressives both strive for predictability, they just do it in different ways. A conservative will say: If nothing changes, then my predictability for the future will go up.

Moorestown, N.J. based Gallagher Marine Systems (GMS) and Wilton, Conn. based ECM Maritime Services (ECM) have merged as of June 30, 2023, forming a single maritime regulatory consulting, compliance, emergency preparedness, security and response firm.All key personnel from both companies will remain intact as the combined companies integrate software platforms, workflows and staff into a combined organization. In the interim, both GMS and ECM operations will continue unchanged.The collective company will be led by current GMS president and former ECM employee, Thomas Wiker.

U-Ming's next bulk carrier newbuild being built in China will feature an underwater hull cleaning robot.The Taiwan-headquartered shipping company has signed a commercial agreement with builder Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard (SWS) and Norway's Jotun for the Jotun Hull Skating Solutions (HSS) to be installed aboard one of U-Ming’s four liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual- fuel Tier III 190,000 dwt bulk carriers to be built by SWS in Shanghai to support the long term charter with mining giant Anglo American.

Maritime risk management and environmental assessment organization RightShip announced its new Safety Score and Platform has gone live, aiming to provide a clear and transparent pathway to improved safety standards for shipping.RightShip said it spent two years building and refining the Safety Score, a metric that enables the maritime industry to improve the safety of vessel operations. The Safety Score ensures there are minimum standards that all vessels must meet, as well as clear actions to take to improve a vessel’s score.

Maritime risk management and environmental assessment organization RightShip launched its new Safety Score in response to industry feedback that called for more transparent methods of assessing vessels.RightShip said it has spent the last two years working in collaboration with stakeholders from across the shipping industry. The new Safety Score provides a metric that is explainable, transparent and only includes factors which are in the control of the operator, to help support improved safety across the maritime sector.The Safety Score will be housed on the new RightShip Platform…

Fuel leak from the Hapag-Lloyd container ship “Dublin Express” berthed at Global Marine New York Container Terminal in Staten Island, in the Arthur Kill waterway near the Goethals Bridge,  was detected in the afternoon March 28.Fuel was escaping from the roughly 40 x 40-centimetre opening. The hole was sealed during the night. In addition, extensive containment booms were promptly set out to prevent any additional spreading of the oil and to proactively protect nearby nature reserves.The 4,120 TEU container ship encountered heavy swell while sailing from Port Everglades to New York. Hapag-Lloyd did not say what caused the damage to the ship’s hull.Together with Hapag-Lloyd, Gallagher Marine will be coordinating all appropriate measures on-site as qualified individual (QI).

International bunker trader and supplier Brightoil has launched a new suite of online tools that aims to transform the way bunker fuel is traded globally. Brightoil Bunker Online E-Delivery platform is now live and includes a Forward Fixed Price (FFP) facility making the process of buying bunkers anywhere in the world faster, easier and more transparent. The new facility enables customers to lock-in bunker cost for up to nine months forward thereby reducing exposure to major price swings. Online nomination of FFP contracts for physical delivery and optional cash settlement.

Coldharbour Marine, developer of a unique in-tank, in-voyage and inert gas-based ballast water treatment system for large tankers, bulkers and LNG vessels, has signed an agreement with Hansun (Shanghai) Marine Technology Co Ltd covering the marketing and distribution of Coldharbour products in mainland China. The contract, finalized at a recent ceremony in Shanghai, is part of the companies’ joint preparations for the IMO’s Ballast Water Convention which enters into force on September 8 this year.

Polish shipyard Nauta Shiprepair Yard launched a partially outfitted fishing vessel for the Dannish client Karstensens Skibsvaerft AS on March 31. Once completed, the new trawler M/V Aine will operate in thw North Sea for its final owner Aine Fishing Company Ltd from Ireland. Like other units of this type, Aine will be equipped with tanks for transporting live fish and modern technical solutions and fishing devices. The vessel’s maximum speed will be 15 knots. Pelagic trawlers use a method of fishing that involves pulling trawl through the water.

A launching ceremony for the partly outfitted fishing trawler M/V Voyager took place February 21 at Newbuilding Division of Nauta Shiprepair Yard in Gdańsk, Poland. It will be one of the most powerful fishing vessels in its class. Voyager is 86.4 m long and 17.8 m wide. The loading capacity is more than 3,200 cubic meters. The trawler will be fishing in the North Atlantic, the area known for its challenging weather. It is precisely for this reason why the ship must have a high power - propulsion system delivering 120 ton bollard pull.

Unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show using a yacht model and an augmented reality experience, the 2016 FFC Choice offers a wealth of opportunities for autonomous living on and off board. These include two co-propulsion tenders, a detachable beach house, a drone and a motioncompensated pool. A new wave of independence is further stimulated by the introduction of the revolutionary Feadship Independent Control System (FICS). Released on a regular basis since 2006 in order to inspire the next generation of owners and the industry…

Post the taking over of Vishakhapatnam Port Trust’s (VPT's) Iron Ore Handling Complex (OHC) on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years in May’ 15, Essar Vizag Terminals Limited (EVTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Ports Limited (EPL) has boosted the EPL’s strategy of diversifying its customer profile. Through addition of this facility EPL has seen its third party cargo share jump to more than 8% in FY 16 alone with the likes of JSW, NMDC/ MMTC etc. Once upgraded the mechanized system will be able to reach a capacity of 8000TPH, which will be one of the highest cargo-handling rate in Indian Major Ports. During QI FY 17…

The Harris Pye Engineering Group is currently engaged in turnkey scrubber installation packages for major cruise line companies. On August 3, 2016 Harris Pye completed the installation of an Advanced Emission Purification System, fully automated, which was duly DNV GL certified which met with MARPOL regulation 14 of Annex V1 for the control of emissions complying to regulations 14.1 or 14.4. The design package for open and closed loop systems was utilized to model and fabricate all piping systems, hardware integration, and major/minor steelworks. Along with new exhaust tail pipes, sea chests were installed with the vessel in service along with the associated overboard discharges.

On April 11, 2016 the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) released the revised 2016 National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines. The new guidelines will become effective on June 10, 2016. Established under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the PREP guidelines were developed to provide a mechanism for compliance with the vessel response plan (VRP) drill and exercise requirements. Use of the PREP Guidelines is voluntary, however, compliance with the PREP guidelines will satisfy these requirements.

Vessel sales for December 2015 (as of January 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

Leaders of the maritime industry will convene in Washington, D.C. on June 19 with representatives of the relevant government agencies to have a dialogue addressing concerns with, and ways to improve, the recently published draft National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (NPREP) guidelines. Preparing for the contingency of a maritime casualty has long been a priority of the industry, which has often been at the leading edge of improved standards and training. Therefore…

Cegal today announced the release of Blueback ODiSI - an innovative One Dimensional Stochastic Inversion method. Blueback ODiSI produces high-quality images of reservoir property estimates and associated uncertainties. According to Sara Grant, Geophysicist, BP, “ODiSI has already been used successfully in a variety of siliciclastic fields. The method jointly inverts to both facies and rock properties by generating thousands of pseudo-wells for every seismic trace, with each pseudo-well constrained by rock physics and vertical statistics models, and then matching synthetic seismic traces with a number of color-inverted angle stacks. The algorithm does not require a low-frequency model and no spatial constraints are required.

Delayed restart of Exxon refinery draws down inventories. Valero and BP among traders shipping jet from Asia to U.S. Asian jet fuel shipments to the United States West Coast region could pick up this month as a prolonged cut in throughput at a California refinery is drawing down inventories, traders said on Wednesday. Arbitrage economics to ship jet fuel from North Asia to the U.S. West Coast are now profitable, so there would be an increase in spot jet fuel cargoes on that route over the coming weeks, they said. Demand from the U.S. helped push up Asian jet fuel margins to a one-week high on Wednesday. An explosion in February that shut the gasoline-making unit of Exxon Mobil's Torrance 149,500 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery near Los Angeles reduced throughput at the refinery.

Federal Maritime Commissioner William P. Doyle spoke today at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) Government Affairs Conference in Washington, DC. There, he addressed OTI regulations, port congestion forums and the upcoming U.S.- China Bilateral Maritime Consultations. His full comments are as follows. Thank you for inviting me here today. I want to let you know that you have a tireless advocate in Ed Greenberg. Ed is always looking out for your interests—he’s on the phone calling my office…

Q88 LLC introduced a global support program that coordinates quick response and expert consultation for chemical spills/incidents and medical emergencies occurring onboard vessels at sea. Known as Q88 Response Center, the new program leverages the resources of Spill Center, a leading provider of emergency response communication and incident management services, including environmental, technical and legal expertise. At the Q88 Response Center, trained personnel monitor telephone calls, dedicated email and web site requests for assistance on a 24/7 basis to gather the details, determine the issues and dispatch the right resources. In cases of major spills…

Washington State – Alaska – Non tank final rule & Washington State – Contingency Plan requirements. We refer to our circular no. B.613. As stated in that circular, every tank vessel and every other vessel over 300 GT is required under State law to file a contingency plan prior to entry into the waters of Washington State but that instead of filing his own plan an owner can subscribe to an umbrella oil spill contingency plan. Since publishing the abovementioned circular, Washington State Maritime Co-operative (WSMC) has changed its enrolment agreement and the version with footer “WSMC Enrolment Agreement – December 2013” conforms with the International Group’s guidelines on vessel response plans.

Long awaited, much hyped, the new rules require compliance in January. Will industry and more importantly, the response community, be ready? In September, the U.S. Coast Guard published the long awaited Non-tank Vessel Response Plan (NTVRP) and Other Response Plan regulations. The U.S. Coast Guard cites “Improved preparedness and reaction to an incident, including a worst case discharge, and improved effectiveness of shore-side and onboard response activities” as the primary benefits of the new rule. For all affected vessels, a mandatory compliance date of January 30, 2014 looms large the porthole. The regulations impact self-propelled non-tank vessels of 400 gross tons or greater that operate in navigable waters of the United States and carry any kind of oil as fuel for main propulsion.

China's $40 billion fund to finance its most ambitious global plan - the Silk Roads and Maritime Silk Road is moving forward steadily as its management team has taken shape. China has appointed top officials to manage the fund. A team headed by Wang Yanzhi, an official with China's foreign exchange regulator, has been formed to formally operate the fund. People's Bank of China (PBOC) assistant governor Jin Qi will be the fund's chief executive and Zhu Surong, governor of PBOC's Urumqi branch in Xinjiang, has been appointed board member of the fund. The fund was announced by President Xi Jinping last year to build major infrastructure projects aimed to enhance its strategic influence and blunt the US' big push into Asia-Pacific.