The Philippines Supreme Court has ruled that a crewman had no cause of action for total and permanent disability as his complaint was filed before the expiry of the 120 day treatment period envisaged under the standard form POEA employment contract. The court also held that the crewman’s claim for sick wages was deemed abandoned upon the filing of his complaint (CF Sharp Crew Management, Inc., Norwegian Cruise Lines and Norwegian Sun, and/or Arturo Rocha vs. Joel Taok).
Demand for low sulfur bunkers in the U.S. has risen to as much as 50% of the total U.S. market since the August 1, 2012 introduction of the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA), according to a Platts Podcast. All ships operating within the ECA, effectively a 200 nautical mile zone off the U.S. and Canada coastlines, must use a marine fuel with a sulfur content not exceeding 1.00% by weight.
A major ship fire erupted on the MV Amsterdam Bridge over the weekend off the coast of Mumbai. The blaze has fortunately been contained and cooling operations are ongoing aboard the Colombo-bound merchant vessel. The entire 20-man crew is safe. Indian Coast Guard officials confirm that the flames are contained, but not yet fully extinguished. Thick smoke continues to rise from the vessel and fire-fighting is underway.
Last week Equasis published its annal report for 2011. Equasis is populated with data from most of the world’s merchant ships. Basic ship particulars are derived from the commercial database of IHS Fairplay. Equasis is fed by 45 data providers which can be divided into six categories: core ship and company data, PSC regimes, classification societies, P&I clubs, associations or vetting programs and other international organisations. Almost all these sources are used in this document to a greater or lesser extent.
60 metric tonnes of bunker fuel were spilled on Singapore’s Temasek Fairway. According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the agency received a report at about 1400hrs on 9 September (Singapore time) that a Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier “Sunny Horizon”, collided with the “DL Salvia”, a Korean-registered Liquefied Petroleum Gas carrier.
International Transport Federation co-ordinator Dean Summers said the Filipino crewman had gone missing from the vessel Sage Sagittarius at the weekend in the Timor Sea. The ship had been scheduled to load in Newcastle next week but was diverted by authorities and was expected to dock today in Port Kembla. The Australian Federal Police said last night they were investigating the case and had been alerted to problems on the ship on Sunday by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
Venezuelan authorities have arrested the American captain of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship after finding three rifles on board, a U.S. Embassy official said. The other 14 crew members, also Americans, were initially confined to the ship and their movements have since been restricted by Venezuelan authorities, the official added.
Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has today won a prestigious ‘Ship of the Year’ industry award for its new wave piercing ship design. The Far Solitaire, a UT 754 WP platform supply vessel for the offshore oil and gas industry, has been named Skipsrevyen ‘Ship of the Year’ at the SMM marine industry trade show in Hamburg, Germany.
The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has published chart Q6099 Anti-Piracy Planning Chart – Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea for a number of years. This chart has now been incorporated into a new series of Maritime Security Planning Charts (Q Series).
With rising fuel prices and impending environmental regulations, the pressure is on for more efficient and environmentally friendly ships. DNV in the joint industry project, FellowSHIP, developed a 330 kW fuel cell which was successfully installed, and demonstrated in smooth operation for more than 7000 hours on board the offshore supply vessel Viking Lady.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
Officer of the Watch 