BBC reported today that Ob River, a large tanker carrying liquified natural gas, has left Norway in November and has sailed north of Russia on its way to Japan. The tanker is due to arrive in early December saving approximately 20 days of regular journey. According to the owners the changing climate conditions and a volatile gas market make the Arctic transit profitable.
The 153 m MV Timberland lost two crew members overboard 110 km north of Terschelling on Nov 25, 2012. at 4.05 p.m. Immediately a distress signal was sent, but two helicopters were struggling to stay aloft. The German Navy deployed one helicopter from Borkum which sighted two lights, but did not have enough fuel to investigate this further.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced last week that thirteen foreign flagged ships were under detention in UK ports during October 2012 after failing Port State Control (PSC) inspection. Latest monthly figures show that there were six new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in UK ports during October 2012 and seven vessels remained under detention from previous months. Only four vessels remained under detention at the end of October. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last twelve months was 3.4% this is slightly up from Septembers twelve month rate.
During an earnings call for Diana Shipping’s Q3 2012 Results, an analyst posed a question on “eco ships” and what the trade off looks for new versus used since it relates to more fuel efficient level. According to Anastasios C. Margaronis, president of Diana Shipping Inc., fuel-saving ECO ships are not likely to provide shipowners with major savings.
Over a week ago Attorney General Eric Holder announced that BP has agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and pay a record $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. The 14-count information, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, charges BP with 11 counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of Congress, and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird Treaty Acts.
The cargo ship MV Warnow Jupiter, being enroute Rotterdam-Wismar, allided with the gate of the new Northern Lock of the Kiel Canal in Brundsbüttel in the night of Nov 21, 2012 short past midnight. The police breathalyzed the captain who was found to be intoxicated with 1,05 per mille.
During the 3rd annual SAFETY4SEA forum held in Athens in October 2012, Apostolos Belokas, Managing Editor of SAFETY4SEA and Principal Consultant & CEO, SQE Marine Group, gave a very interesting speech on the implications of the requirements of the new STCW. Despite the fact that the new STCW has been accepted by a diplomatic conference in Manila back in June 2010, unfortunately many industry stakeholders are not aware of the implications of the new requirements and as a result they have not addressed their safeguards properly.
Reducing emissions from ocean-going vessels as they sail near populated areas is a widely recognized goal, and vessel speed reduction regulations is one of several strategies that is being adopted by regulators and port authorities. A Californian research shows that slowing the speed of cargo ships near coastlines could dramatically cut ships’ air pollution.
An American-owned specialist marine salvage and wreck removal company Titan Salvage alongside with Italian firm Micoperi have been awarded a Costa Concordia wreck removal contract in April. Together they presented a plan to refloat and tow away the cruise ship to one of the Italian ports where she will likely be scrapped. According to Carnival Cruise the salvage plan is the world’s biggest and most complex ship salvage operation and it will cost at least 400 million euros ($525 million).
Focused on creating better, safer and simpler solutions for deck officers, Ulstein has come up with what it claims to be a ground-breaking concept for bridge design. The new bridge design redefines how users interact with complex bridge-based systems. The ambitious scope of the project called for a collaborative approach prompting the Ulstein team to engage industrial, graphic and interaction designers from The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO).
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Officer of the Watch 