Motc News

While all eyes are on 2020 and the introduction of the IMO’s global sulphur cap, Hong Kong and Taiwan are aligning their emission regulations with the Chinese Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements and will implement a local 0.50% sulphur cap from 1 January 2019, said Gard.A release from the maritime insurer said that the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee’s 73rd session (MEPC73) has just ended, and with it, so did all speculations about a potential delay of the global 0.50% sulphur cap. The rules apply from 1 January 2020 - and they will be enforced.Hong Kong’s current Fuel at Berth Regulation requiring ships to burn fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.50% while at berth is soon to be replaced by one that will extend the standard to ships operating in Hong Kong waters…

Qatar signed the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding (IOMOU) on Portal State Control during its participation in the 21st Port State Control Committee Meeting held last week in Australia, where a delegation from Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications took part.“Qatar’s membership in the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding will take Qatar’s maritime transport sector from local arena to the international one, leading the region in portal state control field,” said Dr. Saleh Fetais al-Marri, General Supervisor of Maritime Transport Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC).The Memorandum will contribute…

Two new maritime lines are launched from Hamad Port which will enhance Qatar’s trade connections with various ports in China, India, Malaysia, Turkey and Greece, among other countries. Qatar News Agency (QNA)  said that both lines will run on a weekly basis. The first line starts in the Mediterranean and will be serviced by with four ships, with a total capacity of 6,000 containers including 400 reefer containers. The China Gulf Express Service will connect Shanghai in China with Hamad Port, with designated stops at Ningbo (China), Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Xiamen (China), Shekou (China) and Port Klang (Malaysia) en route to Qatar. A single ship will ply this route and have a capacity of 6,000 containers, including 400 reefer containers, according to the MoTC.

Taiwanese government said it will provide 60 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.9 billion) to support the country’s shipping industry, according to Reuters. The package, announced late Tuesday, involves a credit line with preferential interest rates aimed mainly to help Evergreen Marine Corp. and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., two of the world’s biggest container operators, says WSJ. The government wants to to prevent a collapse similar to Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. The Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai explicitly cited the failure of Hanjin Shipping and its knock-on effects for South Korean industry and citizens, according to the Taipei Times.

Taiwan's government said on Wednesday it will offer to lend struggling local shippers NT$60 billion ($1.9 billion) at below-market interest rates, to help them cope with the industry's worst downturn. "The global shipping industry is going through a tough time. These loans are part of the government's efforts to help local shippers," said Yeh Hsieh-lung, a deputy director general of Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). Shippers with accumulated losses in the past four quarters will be qualified to apply for the loans, Yeh said. South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for court receivership in August after losing the support of its banks, setting the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels.

Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) has signed agreements with three ship classification societies for small ships that do not abide by international treaties, said a report in Times of Oman. The agreements were signed with the British (Lloyds Register of Shipping), Italian (Rina) and Emirati (Tasneef) ship classification societies. Saeed bin Hamdoon bin Saif Al Harthy, undersecretary of Ports and Maritime Affairs, signed the agreements on behalf of the ministry and the chief executive officers and regional directors represented the classification societies. Additionally, the authorization involves conducting a technical survey on ships holding the Omani flag, as well as the issue of global certification.

Debunkering efforts continue for the TS Taipei, which grounded off Shimen, Taiwan last month, causing a large bunker spill after the vessel fractured in the middle. Minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) Chen Jian-yu said he hopes to see the removal of all remaining containers on the deck of the T.S. Taipei ship this week itself. The cargo ship was carrying 20 tonnes of potassium perchlorate, 19.5 tonnes of fats, 18.2 tonnes of toluene, 11 tonnes of paint, 8.5 tonnes of corrosive liquids, and 6 tonnes of flammable lubricants, and several empty containers from among the total of 617 boxes on board the ship fell into the sea. The oil spill cleanup work is likely to take another month to complete. The oil spill has polluted 20.3 kilometers of shoreline.

BAE Systems joined with Mid Ocean Tanker Company (MOTC), Mid Ocean Marine and Alterna Captial Partners earlier this year to commission the American Phoenix, a U.S. Flag/Jones Act-qualified product-chemical tanker. Measuring 616 x 105 ft. with a laden draft of 36 ft. and a cargo capacity of 49,000 dwt, American Phoenix is the largest vessel ever built and launched in the State of Alabama. BAE Systems was contracted to complete construction of the American Phoenix and prepare it for use. The vessel is owned by MOTC, a joint venture between Mid Ocean Marine and private equity firm Alterna Capital Partners. The vessel will conduct trade initially in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following weeks of preparation and more than seven days of intensive, round-the-clock operations, RESOLVE Salvage & Fire, (ASIA) Pte Ltd. announced that more than 1000 MT of volatile LPG 1- Butene have been removed from the stranded and  wrecked freighter LPG OBERON  in the Taiwan Strait. The Thailand-flagged freighter ran hard aground in strong winds early this year, seven miles from the Penghu archipelago 30 miles northwest of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The 2695-ton vessel sustained…

Mid Ocean Tanker Company, a joint venture of private equity firm Alterna Capital Partners and Mid Ocean Marine, has contracted with BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards in Mobile, Ala. for work required to launch MOTC’s 49,000dwt US Flag/Jones Act product-chemical tanker MV American Phoenix. MOTC acquired the vessel from the estate of American Heavy Lift in February of this year, and intends to complete it for service in US coastwise trade by late 2011 or early 2012. MOTC has worked closely with BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards…