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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Convention News

27 Mar 2024

Safety of Livestock Carriers Questioned

November 2021, inside the vessel Nader-A.  
© Animal Welfare Foundation

The German animal welfare organization Animal Welfare Foundation and the French environmental organization Robin des Bois have published a report on the safety risks associated with livestock carriers trading from the European Union. This snapshot of the fleet follows one produced by the organizations three years ago.Currently, 64 livestock carriers are permitted to load European animals on EU-ports to then export them to third countries. The report states that nearly half of…

24 Mar 2024

ICS Responds to MEPC81 Outcomes

Source: IMO

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued a statement following the conclusion of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC81) Meeting last week.“We welcome the progress made during these intensive negotiations to achieve net zero emissions from shipping, and the support received from around 60 Member States for a flat rate contribution system per tonne of GHG. The purpose of the proposed system, put forward by the ICS, is to reduce the cost gap and incentivise the accelerated uptake of green marine fuels…

08 Mar 2024

Kyrgyzstan Joins the IMO as 176th Member State

(Photo: IMO)

The Kyrgyz Republic has joined the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The United Nations agency, responsible for regulating shipping, now has 176 Member States.  Kyrgyzstan deposited its instrument of acceptance to the IMO Convention with the United Nations with effect from  February 27, 2024.  IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez announced the new Member State to delegates attending the Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE 10).

03 Mar 2024

Recycling Market Still Deprived of Tonnage

Source: GMS

As freight markets push further on, global ship recycling markets remain deprived of tonnage, making it an increasingly suffocating environment for ship recyclers to operate in, reports cash buyer GMS.Bangladesh and Pakistan rely heavily on imported ship’s steel, not only for domestic / large-scale infrastructure projects, but also for its comparatively ‘healthier’ and ‘rust-free’ condition than other forms of imported scrap metal / steel (HMS 1, HMS 2, shredded steel, etc.)Therefore…

28 Feb 2024

Saudi Arabian Company Abandons Crew Across Multiple Vessels

(Photo: International Transport Workers’ Federation)

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said it has received many reports about withheld pay from individual seafarers working on eight Bahrain-registered vessels owned by Saudi Arabian company Hadi H Al Hamman Establishment. The company, which lists Saudi Aramco among its customers and was buying brand new ships as recently as 2018, has not paid seafarers for more than five months in some cases, the ITF said. One seafarer reported dangerously low levels of food…

21 Feb 2024

ICS Publishes Anti-Bullying Principles

© Eugene / Adobe Stock

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has launched a set of industry principles for establishing effective measures to combat and eliminate harassment and bullying in the maritime sector.The principles have been published against the backdrop of a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) – alongside Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and Gallup – on experiences of violence and harassment at work. The first of its kind global survey and analysis benefitted from insights of 74,364 respondents in employment across a range of sectors in 121 countries and territories.

15 Feb 2024

Call for IMO to Resolve Inconsistencies in Ship Recycling Conventions

© saintmichel85 / Adobe Stock

BIMCO, Bangladesh, India, Norway, Pakistan and the ICS have submitted a paper ahead of the 81st Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting on March 18-22 that highlights the need to resolve possible conflicts between the Hong Kong Convention and the Basel Convention.The Hong Kong Convention will enter into force on June 26, 2025, and the co-signatories of the paper ask for clarification and assurance that shipowners and parties operating in compliance with the Hong…

13 Feb 2024

OPINION: Seeing the Ship as a System Changes Everything

image credit ABB Marine and Ports

Shipping must engage with the decarbonization realities that lie ahead by changing the way it crafts maritime legislation to reflect its place in the interconnected, interdependent world economy, says Eero Lehtovaara, ABB Marine & Ports.ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara has carved out an unusual - and possibly unique - role in the maritime industry over recent years, as a ‘stakeholder’ simultaneously mindful of the perspectives of owners, seafarers…

01 Feb 2024

2024 a Milestone Year for Maritime Single Window

Source: IMO

2024 marks a milestone in the acceleration of digitalization in shipping that has been brought about by the mandatory requirements for a Maritime Single Window.The requirement under the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL) requires governments to use a single digital platform or “Maritime Single Window” to share and exchange information with ships when they call at ports, from January 1, 2024. This streamlines procedures to clear the arrival, stay and departure of ships and greatly enhances the efficiency of shipping worldwide…

25 Jan 2024

IACS Launches 2024 Blue Book

© PictureArt / Adobe Stock

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has released the 2024 edition of its Blue Book.The IACS Blue Book is an electronic library of all technical resolutions adopted by IACS as a result of its technical work and remains the core reference work for the Association. It contains all previous revisions of IACS publications and historical data. It is updated and published once a year.It contains:• IACS Unified Requirements which IACS members incorporate into…

25 Jan 2024

Seafarer Abandonment Is on the Rise

© VeNN / Adobe Stock

Seafarer abandonment is on the rise, according to latest figures from the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).In 2023, a total of 132 vessel abandonments were reported, which is 13 more than in 2022 – an increase of 10.92%. IFT said it made 129 of those reports.Under the Maritime Lamour Convention 2006 (MLC), a seafarer is deemed to have been abandoned if the shipowner fails to cover the cost of repatriation; or has left them without the necessary maintenance and support…

21 Jan 2024

Ship Recycling: Few Sales Confirmed

Source: GMS

In its Week 3 market report, cash buyer GMS says that even as vessel prices have improved from the lows seen towards the end of 2023 and plate prices made a massive jump in Bangladesh over the last couple of weeks, only a trickle of sales have been confirmed into the recycling markets in 2024 thus far.“There also seems a reluctance from ship owners to bite at current offers in the low USD 500s/LDT, having seen levels around USD 100/LDT higher only a couple of quarters ago. Mercifully…

18 Jan 2024

USCG Approves ABS Wavesight eLogs for US-flagged Vessels

© IDOL'foto / Adobe Stock

ABS Wavesight on Thursday announced its eLogs software has received formal approval from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for use by U.S.-flagged ships. The ABS-affiliated software-as-a-service company is now one of three maritime software providers to receive such approval on the basis of the USCG’s guidance under USCG NVIC 01-23."The maritime industry is entering an era of rapid digitalization,” said Gurinder Singh, Director of Solutions Engineering at ABS Wavesight. “We are proud to be at the forefront of that transformation, and the fact that our eLogs software meets all of the U.S.

14 Jan 2024

2023 a Record Setting Year for Singapore

Source: Government of Singapore

Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Transport, announced a record year in 2023 at a Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year Conversations event.The annual vessel arrival tonnage in the Port of Singapore crossed three billion gross tonnage (GT) for the first time, increasing by 9.4% over 2022 and setting a high of 3.09 billion GT in 2023. This reflects growth in all segments, including container ships, dry bulk carriers, liquid bulk and chemical tankers, ferries and specialised vessels…

12 Jan 2024

China Media Warns Against Taking China's Indian Ocean Research as Threats

© Rawpixel / Adobe Stock

Chinese state media warned on Friday that a report by a prominent U.S. think tank on the military uses of Chinese scientific research across the Indian Ocean gave "ammunition" to countries bent on concocting threats from China.The report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) "comes at a time when some countries need to manufacture a 'China threat' narrative in the Indian Ocean region and provides them with ammunition", the state-controlled tabloid Global Times said in an editorial."The timing of this report is delicate…

11 Jan 2024

Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria Unite to Clear Floating Mines in Black Sea

© Grispb / Adobe Stock

Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria signed an agreement on Thursday on a joint plan to clear mines floating in the Black Sea as a result of the war in Ukraine, following months of talks between the NATO allies.Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, his Romanian counterpart Angel Tilvar and Bulgaria's Deputy Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul to form a trilateral initiative to clear the explosives."With the start of the war, a threat of floating mines in the Black Sea has arisen. To combat it ...

04 Jan 2024

LR Greenlights Canadian Ship Recycling Facility’s Standards Compliance

 (Left to right) Darren Webster, Vice President, RJMI and Laura Donahue, Professional Services Manager, LR (Credit: Lloyd’s Register)

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has certified Nova Scotia recycling facility, R.J. MacIsaac (RJMI), according to the requirements of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.RJMI has become first Canadian facility to be issued a Statement of Compliance (SoC) to the Hong Kong Convention for international ship recycling standards, which is scheduled to enter into force in June 2025.RJMI was required to demonstrate that its environmental protection, workforce safety and emergency preparedness systems surpass the stringent conditions of the convention.

02 Jan 2024

SIU President Emeritus Michael Sacco Passes Away

Michael Sacco (Photo: Seafarers International Union)

Seafarers International Union President Emeritus Michael Sacco died December 28, 2023, in St. Louis, surrounded by family members. He was 86 years old and passed away from natural causes.Mike was the longest-serving president in SIU history, having led the organization from 1988 until his retirement in February 2023, a period spanning nearly 35 years.The Seafarers International Union, Atlantic, Gulf, Lakes and Inland Waters, AFL-CIO, represents professional United States merchant mariners sailing aboard U.S.-flag vessels in the deep sea…

17 Dec 2023

Recycling Market Sees Trickle of Deals

Source: GMS

It is clear that sub-continent ship recycling markets are not going to have the bumper conclusion to 2023 that many had been hoping for, reports cash buyer GMS.“Instead, only a trickle of deals are being done to muted markets, as demand and sentiments continue to struggle for another week,” says GMS. “There was one further container deal done, amidst a last quarter flurry, but dry bulk supply has stalled as trading markets have enjoyed an unexpected spike, and it seems many owners…

18 Dec 2023

Time is Running Out for some Fi-Fi Foams

Image courtesy Scanunit.

A new IMO resolution will see the phase-out of foam firefighting systems that use fluorinated foams containing perfluoro-octane sulfonic acid (PFOS) as the foam-producing component. The new rules come into effect under a rolling programme beginning in 2026, but Swedish maritime engineering specialist Scanunit believes that a proactive replacement strategy should be put into effect now.Foam firefighting systems on ships typically make use of a family of synthetic chemical compounds known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

12 Dec 2023

IMO Launches History Book

Source: IMO

A book detailing the history of the IMO has been published to mark 75 years since the adoption of the IMO Convention, creating for the first time a global body to promote the safety and security of shipping and the protection of the marine environment.The IMO Convention entered into force in 1958 and the new Organization met for the first time the following year. The IMO's first task was to adopt a new version of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).“Safer shipping…

18 Dec 2023

The Man Behind the 'Jones Act'

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones (Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, photograph by Harris and Ewing, [LC-DIG-hec-15427])

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones gave his name to the famous “Jones Act” governing U.S. domestic maritime trade. But what do really know about him? It turns out that he was much more than a leading merchant marine policy maker. (i)Jones had a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives before he was a Senator, was an effective legislator, an astute politician, one of the hardest working legislators of his era, and always viewed as honest and forthright. His many maritime legislative successes included the Merchant Marine Act…

27 Dec 2023

ClassNK Amends Class Rules

Image: ClassNK

ClassNK has released amendments to its Rules and Guidance for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships dated December 22, 2023.ClassNK is constantly revising its Rules and Guidance in order to reflect the latest results from relevant research and development projects, feedback from damage investigations, requests from industry as well as changes made to relevant international conventions, IACS Unified Requirements (UR), etc. More specifically, some of the amendments made this time are as follows:Responding to requests from relevant industries…