Uk Department News

Artemis Technologies on Thursday announced what it described as "the latest evolution" of the Artemis EF-12 Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) and daughter craft, featuring a revitalized design that, the company says, raises the bar for crew comfort and operational excellence during offshore missions."The Artemis EF-12 CTV has been designed for everyday crew transfer operations, providing seamless transportation for personnel between port or vessel and offshore installations," Artemis Technologies said.Key Enhancements of the Revitalised Artemis EF-12 CTV…

Global research recently conducted by Lloyd’s Maritime Academy has revealed that over 41% of people surveyed still receive no funding from within their business for training, with a mere 20% stating that they receive 75-100% funding. Following over 500 responses from professionals around the world and from different sectors of the maritime industry, the research also highlighted that there is still an alarmingly high percentage of companies experiencing a retention problem. Ted Bailey, Head of Digital Learning at Lloyd’s Maritime Academy states: “Given the funding figures it comes as no surprise that we had 40% of our respondents answer yes to the question: ‘Is retention a challenge for your business?’.

The Vessel Technology Assessment System Project (VTAS Project) has finished its development stage and is set to go live.The UK-based design, engineering and risk management consultancy firm BMT, in collaboration with Black & Veatch, created VTAS for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK. Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) is the advisor of the project.The VTAS Project ran from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019 and brought together the combined maritime and engineering consultancy expertise of BMT and Black & Veatch to inform the commercial maritime industry of the benefits of investing in and promoting fuel efficient technologies.The £1.8m initiative was funded by the ETI…

Danish shipping and logistics company DFDS has been awarded a contract by the UK government to provide additional ferry capacity in the North Sea.Maria Anagnostou, Fleet Management, will be responsible for handling DFDS’ contract about additional ferry capacity in the North Sea with UK Department for Transport.The  UK Department for Transport announced that it had signed a contract with DFDS to provide additional ferry capacity to prepare for “the possibility of severe congestion at and around UK ports from 29.3.2019, caused by increased border checks by European Union Member States”.As a no-deal Brexit scenario could ‘cause disruption at the Dover-Calais crossing to the supply of vital goods,’ the Department of Transport has awarded DFDS a contract of €47 million.

In an industry facing significant skill shortages many organizations are ready to take a fresh approach to recruiting and retaining women in the shipping workplace. According to Lee Clarke, Regional Director – Northern Hemisphere at Dynama, the first place to start is establishing an accurate gender profile of your organization using workforce management technology.Of the estimated 1.25 million seafarers in the world, fewer than 2% of them are thought to be women. For example, in the UK the maritime minister Nusrat Ghani MP – who herself is only the second woman to hold the UK Department for Transport portfolio for the country’s maritime sector – has praised the establishment of the ‘Women in Maritime Taskforce’.Set up by Maritime UK…

US authorities have abandoned plans to tighten Jones Act coastal shipping rules – and it’s all thanks to the coordinated efforts of international government administrations, US energy firms and shipping bodies, in which the UK Chamber played its part. A statement from UK Chamber of Shipping said that America’s Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) on January 18 announced a plan to revoke past US CBP rulings that allow non-US flagged offshore vessels to carry out specialised services in specific circumstances for US offshore energy projects. Under the Jones Act, vessels carrying cargo between American ports must be US-built, owned by US citizens and crewed by US seafarers.

Shipping’s data revolution, its environmental responsibilities and its continuing reliance on ‘the human factor’ will be the focus of attention as the eyes of the maritime world turn once more to Rotterdam between 7th-10th November 2017, for the staging of the long-established, and always well-supported Europort event. Organised by Rotterdam Ahoy, Europort is the highlight of the maritime exhibition calendar in 2017, with a finely crafted programme expected to attract an estimated 30,000 visitors and 1,100 exhibitors. The Europort exhibition team has chosen three highly topical themes for the event this year. These are: Big Data; The New Environmental Age; and The Human Factor.

It’s been widely reported over recent years that the maritime industry is facing a workforce crisis. A lack of newly trained candidates to fill the gaps caused by retirement of an aging workforce, now compounded even further by the oil price crash, means marine companies are beginning to feel the pressure of staff shortages. The U.K. Department for Transport (DFT) predicts a shortfall of around 3,500 deck and engineering officers by 2021 in the U.K. alone, and the BIMCO / ICS Manpower Report predicts the global shortfall of 147,500 officers by 2025.

PDMS Maritime is delighted to announce a significant new contract with the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to provide a new integrated system to incorporate seafarer management and approved doctor records, delivering process efficiency improvements and enhanced customer services, in line with the MCA's Digital Strategy. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport. Its responsibilities include UK ship registration and seafarer certification and it is widely recognised for its operational and technical ability. This investment in cutting edge digital technology is strategically aligned with the IMO's recent recommendations to reduce registry administrative burden through electronic record keeping.

The Society of Maritime Industries is the voice of the U.K. maritime engineering sector, and its Chief Executive John Murray is the very public and indelible face of the organization. SMI promotes and supports the interests of organizations with activities and interests in this sector both to its membership and the wider world. In total it is a trade association of more than 150 organizations across the maritime, offshore energy, subsea, naval and academic sectors, and the society has been busier than ever, as a number of drivers have buoyed the prospects of all matters maritime in the U.K.

According to UK's Department of Transport (DFT) the UK fleet size fell in 2014 from 16th place to 20th place, in terms of deadweight tonnage, decreasing by 17 per cent. Ships registered in the Crown Dependencies (primarily the Isle of Man) remained at 12th place despite tonnage decreasing by 4% over the same period. The deadweight tonnage of the UK-registered trading fleet has decreased by 27% since 2009, while the combined deadweight tonnage of the world trading fleet has increased by 34%. The total number of ships in the world trading fleet has increased by 5% from 54,125 ships to 56,759, but the number of vessels registered in the UK decreased by 36%, from 712 to 453 during the same period. In 2013, 66 ships left the UK flag, with Singapore and China being among the key beneficiaries.

Cairn is pleased to announce that it has entered into a farm out agreement for the sale of a 10% interest in the Catcher development and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea. With effect from 1 January 2014 Dyas UK Limited (Dyas) shall acquire 10% in each of the following UK Continental Shelf licences P1430, P2040, P2070, P2077 and P2086 by funding Cairn’s exploration and development costs in respect of the licences up to a cap of $182million (m). Following this transaction Cairn will retain a 20% interest in the Catcher licence and a reduced interest in each of the remaining licences as detailed below. As a result of this transaction…

International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens has welcomed an initiative by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) which it says will encourage the training of ratings. The DfT is to pilot a change to the tonnage tax training commitment which will allow three ratings to be trained in place of one officer-cadet. It will gather evidence regarding this proposed change with a view to making it permanent. The intention is that the pilot scheme will start in October 2015, but this is subject to the DfT receiving regulatory clearance in time.

UK's Department of Transport informs that Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced a £10 million package to improve sea links between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, upgrade roads on the island and carry out ports repairs. The new funding includes £7.3 million towards a £12.8 million scheme to improve harbour infrastructure at both St Mary’s and Penzance and £1.8 million to repair and resurface public roads on the island. "This funding will make a huge difference to the people of Scilly and also to visitors to the island, so vital to the local economy. Good transport links and high quality infrastructure are key for the island.

Britain imported more oil products than it exported last year for the first time in 30 years, an official report shows, and analysts say the country is likely to stay dependent on overseas oil as its refineries close. Britain exported 26.2 million tonnes of products such as diesel, kerosene and jet fuel from its refineries last year, but imported 28.2 million tonnes, due to the closure of two major oil processing plants. "The U.K. was a net importer of petroleum products in 2013 for the first time since 1984, the year of the miners' strike," the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said in its annual report. Coryton oil…

BMT Reliability Consultants (BMT)  has announced a one year contract extension with the UK Department for Transport (DfT). BMT will continue working with the DfT to provide maritime statistics support, as part of the statutory legislative requirements set out in the Maritime Statistics Directive. BMT has been working with the DfT for the past nine years collating information on all maritime freight traffic and ship movements in and out of UK ports. DfT commented, “We have a statutory requirement to provide detailed and accurate maritime statistics to the EU in a timely manner.

U.K. energy regulator Ofgem on Wednesday launched a £400 million tender for linking offshore wind farms in the North Sea to Britain's national power grid. Ofgem is calling for firms to construct high-voltage transmission links to connect the Westermost Rough wind farm owned by WMR Limited, part of DONG Energy, and the Humber Gateway wind farm owned by E.ON., to the grid, Ofgem said in a statement. The two sites have a combined capacity of 425 megawatts, while the successful bidders will receive a guaranteed revenue stream for 20 years, Ofgem said. Offshore wind farm developers are required by the regulator to open their transmission assets for tender to encourage competition and lower prices.

The Royal Navy’s amphibious aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious arrived in the Philippines on 25 November, 2013, after a short stop in Singapore to load up 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid under the direction of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Teams of personnel have been working 24-hours-a-day in her hangar to sort and pack the much needed supplies, ready for distribution ashore, and the flight deck has been operating constantly since the 23,000-tonne ship arrived.

The latest recovery from SS Gairsoppa reportedly set the world record for deepest, largest precious metal recovery. Odyssey Marine Exploration said it has recovered more than 61 tons of silver bullion this month from a depth of nearly three miles. This recovery of bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412-foot steel-hulled British cargo ship that sank in February 1941, consists of 1,574 silver ingots weighing about 1,100 ounces each or almost 1.8 million troy ounces in total, sets a new record for the deepest and largest precious metal recovery from a shipwreck.

The U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) issued a news release stating that the interim report on the economic and energy security opportunities still available from the U.K.’s offshore oil and gas resources has been completed. Among other things, the report recommends a new arm’s length regulatory body to oversee and develop a program to maximize the economic recovery of oil and gas for the U.K. Sir Ian Wood has published his interim report revealing the economic and energy security opportunities still available from the U.K.’s offshore oil and gas resources.

In response to the Scottish Government's release of the 2014 pre-referrendum White Paper 'Scotland Future', shipping organization Maritime UK members suggest that the publication raises as many questions as it does answers. Maritime UK members have had constructive engagement with the Scottish Government in recent months, but today’s White Paper provides some interesting nuggets – raising as many questions as it does answers. In particular, they note this extract hidden away on page 418.

The Annual Digest of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) informs of lessons learned from recent accident & incident investigations. MAIB examines and investigates all types of marine accidents to or on board UK vessels worldwide, and other vessels in UK territorial waters. This Safety Digest draws the attention of the marine community to some of the lessons arising from investigations into recent accidents and incidents. It contains information which has been determined up to the time of issue. This information is published to inform the shipping and fishing industries, the pleasure craft community and the public of the general circumstances of marine accidents and to draw out the lessons to be learned.

UK's Freight Transport Association (FTA) conducts survey on whether Sulphur Directive could cause modal shift from sea to road freight. The FTA is asking short sea users for feedback on how the directive could affect them. A five-minute FTA survey has been set up which will gauge the impact the directive will have across the industry. The survey is confidential and only asks for estimates based on respondents' understanding. Christopher Snelling, FTA - head of supply chain policy said: “The UK Department for Transport have said to us they need evidence about what impact cost increases or reductions in service would have on the use of short-sea shipping.