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The Maritime Resource Management News

20 Mar 2017

Expanded Panama Canal Welcomes 1000th Neopanamax Vessel

MSC Anzu as it transits the Cocoli Locks (Pacific side), becoming the 1,000th Neopanamax ship to transit the Expanded Canal. (Photo: ACP)

Less than nine months after the historic inauguration of the Expanded Canal, the Panama Canal has announced that it has welcomed its 1,000th Neopanamax vessel through the waterway, highlighting the importance of the route and customers’ continued faith in the safe, reliable and efficient service the Canal provides. On Sunday, March 19, the containership Mediterranean Shipping Company's MSC Anzu made the historic 1,000th transit through the Expanded Canal, heading northbound from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

15 Mar 2017

Panama Canal to Launch Vessel Scheduling and Management System

In response to growing traffic through the waterway, the Panama Canal has announced that it will launch a state-of-the-art vessel scheduling and maritime resource management system to further optimize costs, improve safety and increase the overall efficiency and reliability of the service it provides. “For more than a century, the Panama Canal has enjoyed a proud legacy of innovation,” said Panama Canal Administrator Jorge L. Quijano. The recently announced system will transform how the Panama Canal plans and schedules transit operations. For the first time, the Canal will be able to execute a completely integrated operating plan for all of its critical resources, including tugboats, pilots and line handlers.

31 Mar 2016

Swedish Club: Consistent Underwriting in Challenging Year

The Swedish Club reported to its board today that it has achieved a consistent 2015 underwriting performance with financial stability and cost-efficient quality services for its members. It delivered a balanced underwriting result, despite higher claims activity and increased volatility, and demonstrated a resilience that is underpinned by diversification in its product lines, based on prudent management, the Club announced. The year began with a series of major casualties, including total losses which were far beyond what could be expected in terms of probability. However, the Club closed the year with a combined ratio of 99 percent. The challenge was on the investment side, particularly given the turbulent period in the autumn which was led by sharp equity falls in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

16 Mar 2016

Swedish Club Report Shines Light on Vessel Claims

The life of seafarers is never straightforward, and as a new report from the Swedish Club shows, the hazards and job complexities they face are very much dependent on the type of vessel they find themselves crewing. In P&I Claims Analysis, published this week, the Club has studied thousands of incidents in the last ten years, across a range of vessel segments and claims types, and made some interesting discoveries. Seafarers on containerships needs to watch their step, as almost 60% of all slips and falls occur on container vessels – almost certainly due to the amount of debris on board and the number of people involved in cargo operations.

27 Mar 2015

Swedish Club Reports 'Healthy Growth'

The Swedish Club reported a solid operating result to its board today, continuing a record of building on steady growth. 2014 was seen as a stable year, where the underwriting result outperformed the financial performance and the insurance products across the board returned a staunch to high surplus. Renewals were in line with that market environment showing a modest increase in both tonnage and new members. Importantly, the Club was able to demonstrate almost 100% member retention - affirming the high levels of customer satisfaction it has reported throughout the year.

27 Mar 2015

Steady Growth Reported by the Swedish Club

The Swedish Club reported a solid operating result to its board today, continuing a record of building on steady growth. 2014 was seen as a stable year, where the underwriting result outperformed the fi­nancial performance and the insurance products across the board returned a staunch to high surplus. Renewals were in line with that market environ­ment showing a modest increase in both tonnage and new members. Importantly, the Club was able to demonstrate almost 100% member retention - affirming the high levels of customer satisfaction it has reported throughout the year. This operating result was strong given the claims experience and on-going market conditions, with the Club recording an overall surplus of USD 18.4 million while free reserves reached USD 186 million.

16 Oct 2014

For Ferries, Commercial Light at End of Regulatory Tunnel

Coastal Inspiration (Photo courtesy of BC Ferries)

A review of the ferry industry’s latest challenges and opportunities attracted a record 340 delegates to Vancouver last week for the 39th annual Interferry conference. The global trade association event exposed a string of concerns – notably over punitive safety and environmental regulations – but also highlighted the financial potential of new routes, onboard shopping incentives and the use of LNG fuel. Alongside sessions on the future of the industry, Canada-based CEO Len Roueche outlined a vision for maintaining Interferry’s influential lobbying role among politicians and regulators.

13 Jul 2014

Jeff Lantz to Address Upcoming Interferry Annual Conference

The conference organizers inform that In a further response to the sinking of the South Korean ferry 'Sewol' in April, safety issues will be centre stage at Interferry’s 39th annual conference, which takes place in Vancouver from October 4-8, 2014. Prompted by the incident, the trade association is already in dialogue with the IMO about assisting in efforts to improve domestic ferry safety. Now these and other cooperative safety initiatives will feature in a wide-ranging conference agenda addressing the industry’s major regulatory, commercial and technical challenges. The IMO’s latest safety strategy will be examined by special guest speaker Jeff Lantz, US Coastguard regulations director and chairman of the IMO Council.

24 Jun 2014

Training to Prevent Marine Accidents & Deaths

Reducing accidents depends on knowledge, skill and just as importantly, attitude, says the Indian Maritime Administration. And, human error is not always just seafarer error. As the government of India strives to raise India’s share of the global seafaring community from 7 to 15 percent by 2020, at the same time, it struggles with the reality of an escalating death rate attributed to accidents and suicides among Indian mariners. According to the casualty figures released by the Directorate General of Shipping, government of India (the Indian administration) there were 25 accidental deaths, 2 cases of suicide and 8 sailors reported missing during 2012. Year to date data in 2013 suggests a similar and perhaps even slightly elevated pattern.

13 Jun 2014

The Swedish Club Returns Strong Performance

Lars Rhodin, Managing Director Swedish Club

“Last year was a good year for the club with results showing a positive return on investment and a very good contribution from the underwriting side,” said Lars Rhodin, The Swedish Club’s Managing Director, during his address to the Club’s 142nd AGM in Gothenburg on June 12. During the year, the Club reinforced its office in Norway, decided to offer its Maritime Resource Management (MRM) program free of charge to members and saw its free reserves rise to a historically high level of $168m.

28 Mar 2014

Growth for the Swedish Club

Lars Rhodin

The Swedish Club announced to its board today a significant increase in financial strength, with a positive underwriting outcome and investment earnings leading to a surplus of $17 million overall - a testament to the strategy of diversification and focused business development. This positive underwriting outcome resulted in a combined ratio of 93.5% with free reserves increasing to a record level of $168 million. The year also saw an increase of 6% in Owners P&I entries, which now total 37 million GT.

26 Mar 2014

MRM Facilitator Training Concludes in Manila

Photo: ALL Academy

A successful Maritime Resource Management (MRM) Facilitator training event concluded today in Makati City, Manila, Philippines as 22 participants from China, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore had gathered for the two-day event held at the European Training & Competence Center (ETCC) Inc. to be trained and certified as MRM Facilitators. Martin Hernqvist of ALL Academy, trainer at the event, said the event was a success thanks to the active participation from the attendees.

09 Dec 2013

Swedish Club Academy Celebrates 20 Years

The Swedish Club Academy is celebrating 20 years of Maritime Resource Management (MRM), a spin off from the Bridge Resource Management (BRM), which aims to reduce accidents at sea caused by human error. In 1993, The Swedish Club, together with seven other organizations, developed the latter to serve as the first ever resource management training course for the shipping industry. The further development of the MRM program was taken over by The Swedish Club Academy from The Swedish Club in 2010. “Today, MRM is available in 35 countries worldwide, with over 100 licensed training providers. We are looking forward to increasing our training providers in the coming years,” says Martin Hernqvist, managing director of The Swedish Club Academy.

18 Oct 2013

Interferry Urges Proactive Approach to Industry Challenges

Johan Roos, Interferry’s executive director

More than 250 top-level delegates attended trade association Interferry’s 38th annual conference in Malta to debate the major factors affecting ferry operations around the world. Under a new format mixing presentations with panel discussions and audience input, the event underlined the diversity of political, technical, operational and commercial issues challenging the industry. Among several sessions focused on safety, a former airline pilot confirmed the alarming certainty of human error…

04 Oct 2013

Swedish Club Invests in Safety

Lars Rhodin

The Swedish Club has underlined its commitment to improving the safety culture in the maritime industry by allowing all member companies, whether lead hull or P&I, to sign up to its Maritime Resource Management (MRM) course free for a period of two years. The move, which will take effect from January 1, 2014, is part of the club’s keenness to give all member companies the opportunity to have the right training procedures in place to help in the fight to prevent the unpredictable casualties that are so often related to human and organizational errors.

18 Mar 2013

China Focus for Swedish Club Academy

Logo courtesy of Swedish Club Academy

The Swedish Club Academy focuses on China during a five-day Maritime Resource Management road show at the end of March. MRM training aims at establishing safe operational cultures where teamwork and effective communication are key components, even to the extent of encouraging crew members to ‘challenge’ decisions made by their masters and superiors. “People with high rank can make mistakes too, and when they do the team members who detect it must be assertive enough to voice their concerns,” says Martin Hernqvist, Managing Director of The Swedish Club Academy.

26 May 2011

Transas Hellas Simulator for Swedish Training Center

Transas Hellas supplied a desktop bridge simulator to The Swedish Club Piraeus Training Centre to support the new version of the Maritime Resource Management (MRM) course including Bridge Team Management. An instructor station and a debriefing facility provide instructor with all necessary tools for efficient preparation, editing, conducting, monitoring, playback and assessing the exercise. The Swedish Club Academy is committed to the resource management training and has developed the first ever resource management training course for the shipping industry - Maritime Resource Management (MRM).

14 Jul 2010

EIMA’s Resource Management training in Middle East

Photo courtesy EIMA

Emirates International Maritime Academy (EIMA) has announced that it has expanded its maritime training resources by becoming a Maritime Resource Management (MRM) provider in the Middle East after recently signing a licensing agreement with the Swedish Club Academy, a company associated with the Swedish Club, a lmarine mutual insurer from Sweden. The agreement was signed by Captain Jaafar bin Sidin, Director of EIMA, and Martin Hernqvist, Managing Director at the Swedish Club Academy.