Crew Manning News

The United States will likely bar Japanese investigators from interviewing USS Fitzgerald crew manning the guided missile destroyer when it was struck by a cargo ship in Japanese waters killing seven American sailors, a U.S. navy official said. The Philippines-flagged container ship ACX Crystal and the U.S. warship collided at night just south of Tokyo Bay on June 17. The U.S. deaths were the greatest loss of life on a U.S. Navy vessel since the USS Cole was bombed by militants in Yemen's Aden harbour in 2000. No one was hurt on the cargo ship. At least six investigations are being carried out, including two U.S. Navy internal hearings and one by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The Philippines government is also conducting an investigation. The U.

Interferry has unveiled a strategic plan promising to put safety issues at the heart of its work as the voice of the worldwide ferry industry. The pledge came at the global trade association’s 41st annual conference in Manila – a venue chosen to spotlight the challenges of domestic ferry safety in developing nations. According to Interferry, the plan signals its overriding ambition to help lift ferry safety in all parts of the world to the very high standard already in place in North America and Europe, where casualties in recent decades have been extremely rare.

Two international developers and suppliers of maritime-related educational and operational products, solutions and services, VSTEP and Poseidon Asia, Inc. (PAI), have forged an alliance to bring the NAUTIS maritime simulators and training apps to the Philippines. Headquartered in Rotterdam, VSTEP is known for its NAUTIS maritime simulator solutions and virtual training software for both civilian and naval military applications. Its DNV-certified simulators allow training in compliance with all known design criteria, class, and IMO requirements.

Norstar Ship Management, the Singapore-based ship manager, has opened a crewing office in Yangon, Myanmar named “Norstar Crew Management Company Limited”. The office was formally opened by Mr Muang Muang Oo, Myanmar’s Director General of the Department of Maritime Administration at a reception in Yangon attended by Norstar’s guests, crew and staff earlier this month. Norstar Ship Management’s Director Tom Bonehill said today: “The opening of our crewing office in Myanmar is a very significant step for Norstar. The new crewing office will now undertake all crew manning and departure arrangements on behalf of Norstar Ship Management in Singapore. Norstar currently operates a fleet of 19 mainly oil product and chemical carriers.

CrewInspector.com crewing software provider conducted an online survey asking companies, which are currently searching the market for a new software, to answer the question “Why they are looking for crew management software”. Survey was conducted among participants from various industry sectors such as crew manning agents, crew recruitment agencies, ship management companies and others involved in crew management operations. Seventy percent (70%) having various reasoning revealed…

DNV is supporting shipowners and operators through the initial enforcement phase of the Maritime Labor Convention with a range of services and advise that the major port state control bodies will go beyond International Labor Organization Resolution XVII recommendations to initially just concentrate on passenger ships and bulk carriers. “Paris MoU enforcement will be applied to all ship types, and those considered high risk will be the target of inspections,” said Georg Smefjell, DNV Head of Section.

Classification society ClassNK announced that it certified the Ho Chi Minh-based Southern Crewmanning Center (SCC), in accordance with the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006). This is the first Seafarer Recruitment and Placement Service (SRPS) certification that ClassNK has issued in Vietnam. MLC 2006 is a new international convention adopted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in February 2006 to improve working and living conditions for seafarers. MLC regulations…

In response, Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) launch the Nalfleet Potable Water Test Kit, which enables sea staff to monitor the quality of onboard potable water. The enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) in August 2013 will for the first time set out regulations specifying the need to maintain high quality drinking water standards on board ship which protect crew from waterborne health risks. The Nalfleet Potable Water Test Kit, enables sea staff to monitor the quality of the potable water network onboard ship, providing tests for common infectious bacteria and in the process reduce the risk of possible risk to health by bacteria proliferation.

The entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) in August 2013 will set regulations specifying the need to maintain high quality drinking water standards onboard ship which protect crew from waterborne health risks. In response, Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) launched the Nalfleet Potable Water Test Kit, which enables sea staff to monitor the quality of the potable water network onboard ship, providing tests for common infectious bacteria and in the process reduce the risk of possible risk to health by bacteria proliferation.

Sweden has become the 28th country to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention, and the threshold requirement for entry into force is expected to be fulfilled very soon. Shipowners, management companies, crew manning agencies and yards are encouraged to act now in order to handle the requirements effectively. The Convention requirements are very detailed and cover a wide range of topics, and shipowners or ship managers operating ships must develop and implement measures to ensure compliance with the requirements and ensure that ships are inspected and certified within the deadlines or risk challenges from inspectors and port state control.

Latvia based maritime crewing software provider, CrewInspector.com has released an online application specifically tailored for mobile phone and tablets enabling its customers to access its crew management database. Busy crew managers enjoy being absolutely independent in terms of accessing the crew database from anywhere they go. Since 2003 CrewInspector ship crew management system operates over the internet giving crew manning agents and ship crew management departments freedom for operational tasks while people are travelling, being on vacation or during the night at home.

The “horrors” of piracy have dominated the first year of Meridian Marine Management Managing Director Alastair Evitt’s first year in his role as President of InterManager, the international trade association for the shipmanagement industry. Summing up his first year representing the world’s third-party and in-house ship managers, Mr Evitt told the InterManager Annual General Meeting today (November 15th) that the fight against global piracy is a priority for his presidency and praised the way the shipping industry has united to fight it.

Online crew management system provider CrewInspector.com signed an agreement with Oceanwide Crew (Humares B.V.) Dutch crew manning agency to provide its proprietary crew management system. The agreement stipulates full database migration of 20,000 seafarer applications and related information such as certificates and seagoing service to ensure smooth transition to the new crew management platform. Additionally, CrewInspector.com delivered recruitment tools with automated functionality to register new vacancies, allocate and offer right seafarers to Oceanwide Crew clients and vessel owners directly from the system. CrewInspector.com will also provide tailored development of expense controlling…

Online crew management software provider CrewInspector.com signed an agreement to supply Russian crew manning agency Seawhale Co Ltd with its proprietary crew management system. The contract includes full replacement of manual tools for crew management previously used by Seawhale Co with online platform developed by CrewInspector Ltd, integration of crew managers and agents based in Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk, Saint-Petersburg and Vladivostok in Russia and Odessa in Ukraine. CrewInspector.com will also provide ongoing IT development and system maintenance to ensure highest standards of effective and secure crew management are met, followed by implementation of custom requirements anticipated by Seawhale Co Ltd.

ShipShape International, the brainchild of ferry guru Bill Moses, author of FerryGuide, has been launched in order to provide a unique holistic approach to management problems in the ferry and cruise industry. The ShipShape team has between them an impressive total of 120 years professional experience not only in traditional deck and engine crew manning and technical services, but also retail, catering and shore based infrastructure. They are able to work together to devise a customised management strategy. Bill Moses has long held the view that traditional ship management is too slow and cumbersome to react to the shifting priorities in the passenger shipping industry and it therefore sits better in the agricultural sector.

Rand Logistics Inc. Voyageur group of companies for $23.7m. Additionally, the company entered into a contract of affreightment with Voyageur for the exclusive use of a third vessel, and secured an option to acquire this vessel. Management anticipates the three vessels will be immediately accretive to EBITDA and net income for Rand. customers for these vessels. on the vessels will be grain. crew manning on the three vessels. U.S. Company. warrants.

Lockheed Martin recently delivered the U.S. Combat Ships (LCS) at the San Diego Naval Base. the majority of its lifecycle. actually board the ship. the facility in early May. and commercially available hardware. and maneuvers. combat management system. and operational. events versus training.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) will utilize Manpower Software’s MAPS Crew Manning suite. The integrated software will couple crew scheduling, travel and crew certification data. NCL will use MAPS Crew Manning software to plan the allocation, travel and certification of crew across all its vessels. It will allow NCL to optimize the use of its existing crew, reduce overheads for scheduling, crew travel and administration and also manage future expansion of its fleet. MAPS Crew Manning will replace existing crew planning systems at NCL, where MAPS will be used alongside other industry-leading software for NCL’s HQ and fleet. MAPS Crew Manning…