Vessel Owners News

The Danish Maritime Association (DMA) has been examining new ways to use digital solutions for collecting and sharing data on ships’ sulfur emissions. Digitalization, DMA says, could be the key to better emissions enforcement.Danish company Litehauz, working under the the DMA led EfficienSea2 project, has recently developed a solution similar to the black box found on airplanes, but for transmitting sulfur emissions data to vessel owners and relevant authorities on land.The aim of this new technology is to make emissions monitoring more efficient.

Unfortunately, as a vessel owner or operator, you have probably been faced with a situation where one of your crew members have allegedly become sick or injured while in the service of the vessel. As you are aware, once this injury or illness is reported to the company, the duties of providing maintenance and cure under the Jones Act begin. Unfortunately, instances of fraud where the employee may not have suffered the injury or illness that he or she is complaining of seem to be common.

China earns cruise newbuild business, aims for ship financeWhile China has steadily built shipbuilding market share, cruise ship construction –  more specifically mastering the logistical complexities inherent in cruise ship design, outfit and construction – has proved elusive. But it appears that Chinese shipbuilders have turned the corner, with contracts signed for the first cruise newbuilds. We were in Tianjin, China, earlier this year for the 4th Annual China Maritime Finance Forum for a look behind the covers of passenger vessel in China…

U.S. salvage industry update: Coast Guard recognition and continuous improvement for the domestic salvage industry and its working professionals.Professional salvors are called in when the ship’s crew is overwhelmed – the last resort to protect lives, minimize environmental impacts and save the ship and cargo. These salvage masters, divers, firefighters, naval architects, heavy lift operators and other salvage team members regularly go into harm’s way and consistently perform incredible feats. They commit their lives and livelihoods to this work.

The sVGP and recent ballast water treatment system approvals create another headache for small vessel owners. Steve Candito provides a primer. The long delayed Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) legislation is scheduled to come into force on December 18, 2017. Despite some confusion and inconsistencies on this issue generally, there is currently no serious effort to delay the sVGP requirement. Thus, vessel owners should be preparing now for compliance. Although the deadline is still months away…

Innovation and new technology continue to shape the marine coatings market. A narrowing field of global coatings manufacturers offer new products while improving existing ones to meet customer demand. Ultimately, customer demand, along with environmental compliance pressures are all driving the marine coatings industry as ship owners, operators and shipyards alike seek better products. Customer demands are often related to cost and efficiency. Costs – and the list is a long one – include not just product cost…

There is more to SubM than just attention to safety. Protect yourself accordingly. In today’s environment, safety management systems for brown water marine operators are standard industry practice, whether they come in the form of the American Waterways Operators (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program (RCP) or the Tanker Safety Management Assessment (TSMA) framework developed by the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) for liquid carriers. However, with the full-fledged implementation of Subchapter M on the horizon…

Following the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ratifications of the ballast water and exhaust gas treaties, government-owned Export Credit Norway offers financing to international vessel owners who purchase retrofit equipment from Norwegian suppliers. The Norwegian export credit agency Export Credit Norway has assembled a specialized team and tailor-made financing solution to support vessel owners who need to retrofit equipment such as gas exhaust cleaning systems, ballast water treatment systems and new coating systems.

ASA Sets the Record Straight. The U.S. salvage industry came under attack at a recent Congressional hearing on May 3 by a special commercial interest that is promoting its own agenda. The American Salvage Association (ASA) intends to set the record straight. At the hearing, the attacking group made false allegations that the Salvage and Marine Firefighting (SMFF) resource providers are not willing or contractually obligated to respond and lack the resources to meet regulated response requirements. At the same hearing, this group also criticized the U.S.

Salvage and marine firefighting are complex response efforts often undertaken in adverse weather and sea conditions. While no two oil spill responses are the same, the diversity of variation between any two oil spill responses is not near as great as the diversity of any two salvage and marine firefighting responses. As a result, salvage and marine firefighting response providers must plan for and anticipate a wide range of variation in what will be required to address their portion of a marine casualty. The U.S.

The California Air Resources Board has received $5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds to help clean up a variety of boats and vessels that operate in California’s ports and harbors. These funds are designed to reduce emissions from a variety of marine vessels that use diesel engines, such as charter fishing boats, commercial fishing boats, crew and supply vessels, ferry and excursion boats, pilot vessels, tow boats, tug-boats and work boats. The funds will be used to guarantee loans for small businesses who wish to upgrade to cleaner operating boats…

Whether it’s autonomous cars or connected houses, it seems like everywhere you look these days, internet of things (IoT) technology is a focus. Even in the conservative maritime world, IoT is currently a hot topic. Shifting supply chain solutions and business models are fundamentally changing the way that commercial shipping and the wider transport sector operates. IoT enables an organization to capture value from information, regardless of sector, and in essence forms a loop that creates a larger process. Deloitte conceptualized this process and named it the Information Value Loop in 2015.

If you’ve been working in the marine insurance industry lately, you will have heard about “blockchain” at some point; it is the electronic, distributed ledger, notoriously known for enabling the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. But the blockchain technology’s utility goes beyond cryptocurrencies, potentially offering creative ways to solve other real-world problems. Within blockchain ledgers, the use of ‘smart’ contracts essentially converts contractual obligations into lines of computer protocols, which facilitate, verify, or enforce its performance.

Weather Channel Forecasters are predicting a “near-average” hurricane season for 2016, but warn that an average season does not mean businesses and residents shouldn’t prepare for the worst. While it is unclear whether the season, which began June 1, will bring about a few mild storms or a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane, one thing is for sure: safety and preparation are on the radars of the owners and operators of brownwater vessels. Although forecasters consider this year’s predicted 12 named storms “average”…

The Harris Pye Engineering Group is currently engaged in turnkey scrubber installation packages for major cruise line companies. On August 3, 2016 Harris Pye completed the installation of an Advanced Emission Purification System, fully automated, which was duly DNV GL certified which met with MARPOL regulation 14 of Annex V1 for the control of emissions complying to regulations 14.1 or 14.4. The design package for open and closed loop systems was utilized to model and fabricate all piping systems, hardware integration, and major/minor steelworks. Along with new exhaust tail pipes, sea chests were installed with the vessel in service along with the associated overboard discharges.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) with $650,000 to reduce diesel emissions from engines on up to eight vessels operating in the Puget Sound region. The project will provide vessel owners with incentives to scrap and replace 12-19 old Tier 0 engines with newer, more-efficient and lower-emission Tier 3 engines on six to eight harbor vessels operating in Puget Sound, Lake Union and Lake Washington. Combined with the mandatory match of $891,000, the total project cost is $1,541,000.

ABS has been approved by the American Waterways Operators (AWO) to carry out audits of its Responsible Carrier Program (RCP), a safety management system for tugboat, towboat and barge companies, requiring AWO member companies to undergo periodic management and vessel audits conducted by an independent third party. Towing vessel operators serving the inland waterways, coasts and harbors are looking closely at their fleets to determine the best way to meet the new U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter M regulations establishing vessel safety and inspection requirements.

No matter what route you take, time is marching on and that means compliance requirements, inspections and audits are just around the corner. This July, major sections of the Subchapter M regulation will enter into force as the towing industry begins the process of certifying as many as 5,700 U.S.-flagged vessels that fall under the remit of the new safety and environmental standards. Demand for technical support from third-party organizations (TPO) such as ABS has been escalating…

The U.S. Coast Guard has raised the decades-old monetary threshold for reporting marine casualties in order to keep pace with inflation and reduce reporting of minor incidents. The final rule changes, which were published March 19 and take effect April 18, 2018, lift the reportable marine casualty property damage threshold amount from $25,000 to $75,000 and raise the serious marine incident property damage threshold from $100,000 to $200,000. The original regulations that set these dollar threshold amounts had not been updated since they were written in the 1980s.

Reduction in rates aimed to benefit small vessel owners. Maritime World has announced the reduction of tariff rates along all aspects of the business at Dubai Maritime City (DMC) and Jadaf from January 2013. This is in light of Drydocks World – Dubai’s 30th Anniversary celebrations in 2013. The reduction by from 2012 rates is aimed at facilitating the growth of the industry at the micro-level and increasing the repair and maintenance options available to small to medium size vessel-owners.

The recent implementation (January 19, 2018) of the long-delayed small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) requirement has major implications for environmental regulations in general, and specifically how the compliance difficulties continue for vessel owners with no real end in sight. Moreover, the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) recent publication of NVIC 01-18 (March 1, 2018), while helpful in advising owners on how to comply with the ballast water regulations, does not relieve vessels from the underlying requirements…

On April 18, Rear Admiral Anthony “Jack” Vogt, Assistant Commandant for Response Policy, released an update on the status of the most recent U.S. Salvage and Marine Firefighting (SMFF) industry verification initiative. According to the report, the Coast Guard has conducted 58 scenario-based SMFF verifications within the last year across 19 different Captain of the Port Zones, with 16 different vessel owners and operators. To date, all results have been found to be satisfactory and reflect compliance with the Coast Guard’s Salvage and Marine Firefighting regulations.

The marine industry is becoming increasingly competitive, with many looking to lower transportation costs while demanding the highest environmental and safety standards. Automating vessel operations and systems can significantly improve a vessel owner’s competitive edge in the market, by reducing staffing requirements, improving asset management, maintenance costs and minimizing risk of environmental incidents due to human error. On a ship, there are many parameters that needs to be controlled or monitored including: temperature…