The Herald News

Maritime safety regulations are often shaped by hard lessons. Few accidents demonstrate this more clearly than the loss of the ferry MV Estonia in September 1994.Maritime safety regulations are often shaped by hard lessons. Few accidents demonstrate this more clearly than the loss of the ferry MV Estonia in September 1994.More than 30 years later, the incident is still a touchstone for passenger vessel safety. Many of the stability and survivability questions it raised are influencing…

Commodities trader Glencore and Taiwan's state refiner CPC have chartered a tanker each to load Middle Eastern crude for Asia, while vessels in the Gulf are preparing to exit via the Strait of Hormuz, a day after the ceasefire in the U.S.-Iran war.The two-week truce hinges on letting ships pass through the strait, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments brought to a near standstill by the six-week conflict, sharply driving up global energy prices.Asian refiners rely on the Middle East for more than half their supply of crude and naphtha…

The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has restated their intention to facilitate free maritime trade, as the protectionist measures were not in the interests of the marine insurance community. In an interconnected global economy, protectionism in the form of trade tariffs was said to run counter to IUMI’s values of securing free trade and maintaining and growing the global economy, the organization said at an executive meeting held earlier in February.Tension and conflict continue to impact free trade in the Black, Red, and Baltic areas.

Four bodies were retrieved on Wednesday from the sunken wreck of a yacht belonging to the wife of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, the Italian fire brigade said, adding that they were continuing to search for two missing people.The bodies were brought ashore on rescue boats and taken to nearby hospitals for formal identification. Local authorities refused to give any information about who they might have found.Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that two of the dead were Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter…

Scuba divers scouring the wreck of British tech magnate Mike Lynch's family yacht, which sank off Sicily two days ago, have found two bodies inside it, a source close to rescue operations said on Wednesday.One of the bodies belonged to a heavily built man, the source said.Rescue officials have been looking for six missing people, including Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International.The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter-long (184-ft) superyacht…

Australia said on Monday it would accelerate plans to buy advanced sea mines to protect its maritime routes and ports from "potential aggressors" amid China's plans to increase its influence in the Pacific region.The so-called smart sea mines are designed to differentiate between military targets and other types of ships, a defence department spokesperson said in a statement."(Australia) is accelerating the acquisition of smart sea mines, which will help to secure sea lines of communication and protect Australia's maritime approaches," it said.

The head of Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) on Wednesday rejected the prime minister's authority to sack him, raising the prospect of an open struggle for control of the state energy producer.In a furious televised speech, Mustafa Sanalla said Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's mandate to govern had expired and warned him not to touch NOC.An armed force deployed outside the NOC building later in the day, three witnesses said. One of them said the force was aligned with Dbeibah.

For years, the shipping industry has focused on regulations and procedures to improve safety. Yet shipping is still at risk of major accidents. The whole industry needs to change its focus. Ticking boxes never made anyone safer. Also, assessing culture using valid and reliable survey instruments can help to improve safety.It has been well documented that most maritime accidents (~80%) are caused by human error. Still, most of the focus on learning is rooted in technical causes and adding procedures and checklists.Despite this bias…

On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for Safety Management System (SMS) requirements in the domestic passenger vessel industry (Docket No. USCG-2020-0123). This requirement will have the largest implications on the domestic passenger vessel industry since the revisions of 46 CFR Subchapter T & K in the mid-90s. However, the question remains, is it necessary?Over the last three decades, the effectiveness and need for…

Australia is reviewing the 99-year lease of a commercial and military port in the country's north to a Chinese firm, a government source said on Monday, a move that could further inflame tensions between Beijing and Canberra.Australia overhauled its foreign investment laws late last year, giving the government the retrospective power to impose new conditions or even force a divestment on deals that have already been approved.Defense officials are looking into whether the Landbridge Group…

The sinking of the Estonia ro-ro passenger ferry stands out as one of the most disastrous accidents in modern times. The tragedy claimed 852 lives and the wreck was declared a marine graveyard. At first glance, the sinking seems to have been triggered by a single technical failure only minutes before the point of no return, with no warning signs. The first objective of this review was to verify whether the pattern of typical major accidents can be found in the Estonia disaster. The usual pattern involves multiple human errors combined with an immature organizational culture.

South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has won what has been described as the company's largest-ever single order.The shipbuilder said Monday it had secured an order worth around KRW 2,8 trillion, which is approximately $USD 2,5 billion.The contract is for the supply of "blocks and equipment" and is with an unnamed European shipowner.In a brief statement on the Korea Exchange, Samsung said that the contract start date was November 20, 2020, and the end date December 31, 2025.

Florida’s seaports are one of the state’s greatest economic assets, positively affecting every region and every resident. Our seaports have a $117.6 billion economic impact across Florida and account for more than 900,000 direct and indirect jobs, while linking our communities to vital national and international markets.During the COVID-19 crisis, ports across the country have sustained mounting losses. Ports that specialize in moving hard-hit cargoes like steel and automobiles, or depend on tourism and cruise ships are also particularly vulnerable.

Global miner BHP Group may award contracts worth close to $1bln to companies bidding to build the world’s first fleet of bulk ships fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).According to a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, the contracts could be awarded in the next three months after reviewing 17 bids from gas producers, shipbuilders and financial institutions.BHP, the largest charterer of bulk carriers in the world, has revealed it is close to deciding who will win a tender to design and supply LNG-powered ships to transport up to 27 million tonnes of its iron ore exports to Asia.The report quoted Rashpal Bhatti, maritime vice-president of the Australian miner…

As part of the IMO’s commitment to reducing the maritime sector’s output of greenhouse gases by 50% over the next 30 years, January will herald the new global 0.5% sulfur cap.This is a major transition for ship operators and owners, but they have several options.Many shipowners are switching to low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO), but this will mean a significant leap in vessel operating costs. The price of LSFO on 1 January 2020 is not yet known, but analysts have estimated that the price could be between $100-300 per tonne more than HSFO.

South Korea's top shipbuilding conglomerate Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group said that its holding company HHI Holdings Co will receive 1.4 trillion won ($1.24 billion) in proceeds next month from the sale of a stake in its refining unit, Hyundai Oilbank.In April, state-owned Saudi Aramco had agreed to buy a 17 percent stake in HHIs oil processing operations.Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings said in a regulatory filing that it had signed a sales agreement with Saudi Aramco that included an option for Aramco to buy an additional 2.9 percent stake in Hyundai Oilbank.According to a report in Korea Herald, Saudi Aramco recently told Hyundai Heavy that it has earned regulatory approval for the deal from antitrust regulators in various countries…

U.S. sanctions on a top Chinese shipping fleet is set to produce a totally unintended result -- less burning of the dirtiest marine fuels at sea at the start of next year, Refinitiv data showed on Tuesday.The move to blacklist ships from COSCO on Sept. 24 for allegedly ferrying sanctioned Iranian oil will undercut demand for ships' traditional means of power because a vessel crunch meant fewer docked and attached kit to filter the dirtier fuels.From January 2020, the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships from using fuel with a sulphur content above 0.5%…

Ørsted A/S, the world’s largest offshore wind power producer, said it sees high potential in the Korean offshore wind power market, intending to build long-term, sustainable relationships with the Korean government and companies.“South Korea is a peninsula surrounded by three seas,” said Park Jung-min, head of the Korean market development at Ørsted Asia Pacific. “We estimate that South Korea’s potential offshore wind power capacity can reach 30 GW.”According to Yonhap News Agency, the Danish state-run energy firm has recently completed the establishment of its Korean branch following South Korea’s announcement of a “Renewable Energy 3020 Plan…

On March 6 1987 the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized minutes after leaving the harbor in Zeebrugge, Belgium.Herald of Free Enterprise  was a double-ended ro-ro car and passenger ferry operating between Bruges-Zeebrougge, Belgium and Dover, England. On 6 March 1987, it departed Bruges-Zeebrougge with a crew of 80, carrying 459 passengers, 81 cars, 3 buses, and 47 trucks. Due to a series of mistakes, the bow doors were not closed prior to leaving port. Upon leaving the harbor and while the ferry was proceeding at over 18 knots, water entered the vehicle deck in large quantities. The free-surface effect of the water impaired stability and led to the capsizing, which occurred in less than one minute. The sinking resulted in 193 deaths.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday was searching for a British crew member who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.Arron Hough, 20, went overboard 267 miles (430 km) off the northwest of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Coast Guard 7th District told Reuters in a telephone interview.At the time the Coast Guard became aware of the incident, the Harmony of the Seas ship was traveling from its home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to its first stop of St. Maarten island on its seven-day Caribbean itinerary, the Miami Herald newspaper had reported earlier.The Coast Guard said it continued…

New rules coming into force from 2020 to curb pollution produced by the world's ships are worrying everyone from OPEC oil producers to bunker fuel sellers and shipping companies.The regulations will slash emissions of sulfur, which is blamed for causing respiratory diseases and is a component of acid rain that damages vegetation and wildlife.But the energy and shipping industries are ill-prepared, say analysts, with refiners likely to struggle to meet higher demand for cleaner…

The European Commission (EC) proposal for the Multi Annual Financial Framework 2021-2027 adopted on Wednesday 2 May reserves a similar budget for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the financial instrument for Transport, in the current financial period. The proposal foresees 12,8 billion EUR under the general envelope, 11,3 billion EUR for transport projects in Cohesion countries and a new envelope of 6,5 billion EUR for investments in transport infrastructure for dual civilian-military use. For European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), the allocation within the MFF proposal clearly shows the support of CEF as a financial instrument and proves that the Commission…

The Trump administration is considering sanctioning a Venezuelan military-run oil services company and restricting insurance coverage for Venezuelan oil shipments to ratchet up pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro, a U.S. official said. With Maduro running for another term in an April election that Washington and its allies oppose as a sham, the United States is weighing sanctions that would target Venezuela’s vital oil sector beyond what has been done before, the official told Reuters on Wednesday. Some measures could come before the vote and others could be imposed afterwards.