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Ships Carrying Oil News

23 Mar 2023

Oil Spills and Near Misses: More Ghost Tankers Ship Sanctioned Fuel

© komi$ar / Adobe Stock

An oil tanker runs aground off eastern China, leaking fuel into the water. Another is caught in a collision near Cuba. A third is seized in Spain for drifting out of control.These vessels were part of a "shadow" fleet of tankers carrying oil last year from countries hit by Western sanctions, according to a Reuters analysis of ship tracking and accident data and interviews with more than a dozen industry specialists.Hundreds of extra ships have joined this opaque parallel trade…

27 Mar 2020

Nigeria Imposes Cargo Vessel Restrictions to Curb Coronavirus Spread

© PerErik  / Adobe Stock

Nigeria will only allow cargo vessels that have been at sea for more than two weeks to dock in its ports to prevent the spread of coronavirus, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday.Health experts fear a widespread outbreak in Africa's most populous country of 200 million people which could overwhelm its creaking healthcare system.Nigeria has closed its land borders and international airports in the last week to curb the spread of the virus.Buhari said on Twitter he had issued a directive that "only cargo vessels that have been at sea for more than 14 days be allowed to dock in our ports…

30 Mar 2017

New LNG Tanker Forges Path for Arctic Shipping

Photo: Sovcomflot

An ice-breaking tanker docked for the first time at Russia's Arctic port of Sabetta to test a new route that could open the ice-bound Arctic Ocean to ships carrying oil and liquefied gas. The route is eagerly anticipated by energy firms that want to develop resources in the Arctic but face obstacles in getting oil and gas from remote and freezing fields to world markets. Environmental activists fear commercial shipping in the Arctic -- now possible because climate change has thinned…

14 Aug 2015

China to Investigate Deadly Port Blast

Chiness president Xi Jinping promised a “thorough investigation” after huge explosions in the world’s 10th largest port- Tianjin - killing at least 50 people and disrupting operations. The Chinese government faces pressure to reveal the mystery chemical or explosives. The cause for the blasts is being investigated by China while top foreign and local companies are assessing the damages caused to them. A team of 217 nuclear and biochemical materials specialists from the Chinese military began work at the site on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency said. Investigators searched for clues on Friday to identify what caused two huge explosions ripped through chemicals warehouses.

16 Apr 2014

Crashes in Crucial US Crude Waterway Hit 10-year Low

USCG photo

Serious crashes in the bustling Bay of Galveston have fallen to the lowest level in a decade even as more oil moves on U.S. waterways, official data show, suggesting that better training and equipment are helping avert spills like one in March. The number of crashes in the Texas bay, home to the Houston Ship Channel and the country's heaviest crude, fuel and chemical ship traffic, fell 68 percent to eight in 2013 from 25 in 2011, according to U.S. Coast Guard data obtained by Reuters through the Freedom of Information Act. But the March 22 crash of a Kirby Corp.

18 Jun 2009

ECDIS, BNWAS Mandatory under SOLAS

Amendments to SOLAS regulation V/19, to make mandatory the carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) and Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm Systems (BNWAS), under SOLAS chapter V, Safety of Navigation, were adopted, with an expected entry into force date of 1 January 2011. The requirements will be mandatory for new ships and phased-in for existing ships. •    Amendments to the title of Chapter VI to read, Carriage of Cargoes “and Oil Fuels” and to Regulation VI/5-1 on Material safety data sheets (MSDS) to require  MSDS to be provided for ships carrying oil or oil fuel, prior to the loading of such oil as cargo in bulk or bunkering of oil fuel. The MSC also approved Recommendations for material safety data sheets (MSDS) for MARPOL Annex I type cargoes and oil fuels.

27 May 2009

IMO Safety Committee, Piracy on Agenda

IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) is meeting at the Organization's London Headquarters for its 86th session from 27 May to 5 June. The packed agenda includes discussion on piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, the implementation of the Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system, the development of goal-based standards for new ship construction and the adoption of amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The MSC will review the latest statistics on piracy and armed robbery against ships, in particular in relation to the situation off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden…

05 Apr 2004

Salvage: Time is of the Essence

By Richard B. A riddle: How many years, and how many Administrations does it take for an esteemed U.S. government agency to publish regulations that have likely already been written? The answer is 13 years and five Admirals. Thirteen surely is an unlucky number for the professional marine salvage industry in the United States, for it has, indeed, taken this many years for the United States Coast Guard to publish its proposed salvage regulations (to amend 33 CFR Part 155, Salvage & Marine Firefighting Requirements), which, after all this time, have once again been postponed for three more years. The future of these proposed regulations is as difficult to predict as the weather. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was the legislative response to a major shipping casualty within our borders.

06 Feb 2007

India Intends To Become Significant Maritime Player

India’s defense minister declared the country’s intention to be able to project maritime force throughout the Indian Ocean, underscoring the shift toward a littoral-warfare capability. About 40 percent of the world’s sea traffic passes through the Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia, including ships carrying oil from the Persian Gulf. Indian military strategists are concentrating on protecting the approaches to these sea lanes, which is the basis for India’s drive to become a major regional power in military terms as well. This means that India is becoming a significant maritime player for two reasons — its geostrategic location and disposition astride the key Indian Ocean sea-lines, and its potent naval power.