port & shipping news 36/15 - imco

1 Port & Shipping News 36/15 (31 Aug – 06 Sep 2015)

Uwe Breitling - Port, Transport & Training Consultant [email protected]

Port & Shipping News 36/15 31 Aug – 06 Sep 2015

Iran: Ray of hope for container carriers ..................................................... 5

Herring’s history: Net worth ....................................................................... 8

Indonesia: $3.5 billion port development plan ......................................... 10

Singapore: National University and MPA to establish new maritime

law research centre .................................................................................. 10

A sign of the times: Idle containership capacity ....................................... 12

German maritime sector pushes for LNG .................................................. 14

Latin America and the Caribbean: Top 20 container ports 2014 ............... 15

Waning demand sends cargo ships to scrapyard ...................................... 16

China to develop ECAs in major ports ....................................................... 18

Pacific Ocean: Once a glittering gem, now turning into little more

than a trash dump .................................................................................... 19

Saudi Arabia: NYK establishes first exclusive RORO terminal................... 20

Indonesia: Pelindo II planning canal project to link industrial

areas to Tanjung Priok Port ...................................................................... 20

U.S.: MARAD launching field trials for prototype hydrogen fuel

cell unit .................................................................................................... 21

China: Shipping conglomerates set to merge ........................................... 22

Indonesian boxship sinks, at least two missing ....................................... 23

Asia-Europe container freight rates jump 29% ........................................ 23

Australia: More than 90% of domestic seafaring jobs at risk

under cabotage reform plan ..................................................................... 24

mailto:[email protected]



World of giants: Larger companies and bigger ships dominate

container shipping. ................................................................................... 25

Russia: Japanese development bank ready to invest $100 million

in Vostochny Port development ................................................................ 31

Are container shipping lines switching to a two-stage rate increase

strategy? .................................................................................................. 31

U.S.: Five year performance of the top 10 ports ....................................... 33

Characterizing the cycle in seaports: An Australian case study ................ 33

Traversing the seas .................................................................................. 34

Ghana: APM Terminals invests $1.5 billion in new Tema Port .................. 36

NASSCO launches new US-built LNG powered boxship ............................ 37

How China is taking major steps to control shipping air pollution ............ 38

Panama: Leaks sink deadline for canal expansion .................................... 40

Just published: New guidance on maritime pilotage ................................ 41

Obama, Arctic drilling, and highways and icebreakers ............................. 42

Idle containership fleet hits a year high ................................................... 43

Australia: Government failed to follow up 'inadequate' responses

to Tiwi Islands port .................................................................................. 44

Perspectives on the Arctic ........................................................................ 45

Australia: Cairns industrial port proposal ruled out over Great

Barrier Reef impact fears ......................................................................... 46

U.S.: Trident Seafoods opens $40 million facility near Port

of Savannah ............................................................................................. 48

Turkey: Petkim Port to receive first containers January 2016 .................. 48

Sweden to instate new tonnage tax regime from 2016 ............................ 50

Colombia seeks to ship coal via Caribbean ports after Venezuela

border crisis ............................................................................................. 50




Canada: Draft agreements on Sidney container terminal plan ................. 51

More than 350,000 migrants crossed Mediterranean this year ................. 53

NASA satellites capture three hurricanes marching across Pacific ........... 53

Latin America: China’s Central Bank to set up $10 billion

investment fund ....................................................................................... 54

Carrier M&A back in vogue ....................................................................... 54

Thailand: Australian and Thai journalists found not guilty of

defaming Thai navy .................................................................................. 56

India: New ro-ro terminal in Pipavav opened ........................................... 57

Black Sea: Tanker and bulker in late night collision ................................. 58

China: Ministry of Transport releases guidance for controlling

ship and port pollution ............................................................................. 59

Five things you need to know about the new container weight

verification regulation .............................................................................. 59

China unveils high-speed rail line to North Korean border ....................... 61

Carriers and their terminals: What to do with family silver? .................... 64

Nicaragua: The Rama versus the canal ..................................................... 65

Greek coastguard rescues 2,500 migrants over three days ...................... 71

Montara oil spill still tars Australia-Indonesia relations ........................... 72

Colombia: Puerto Bahia multimodal terminal up and running .................. 74

U.S.: First phase of new deepwater port off Louisiana coast

under development .................................................................................. 75

Cameroon: French-Chinese consortium wins Kribi container

terminal concession ................................................................................. 76

Indonesia: Port of Rotterdam considers joint venture in Kuala

Tanjung Port project ................................................................................ 77

Indonesia: Kuala Tanjung Port to be modernized and expanded.............. 78




Asia: Coastal megacities at nature's mercy .............................................. 79

30 facts you never knew about the Titanic ............................................... 81

Egypt: One of the world’s largest natural gas field discovered ................. 84

UK: Green light for largest gas field development in a decade ................. 84

South Africa: Plans to upgrade 13 fishing harbours ................................. 85

Middle East: Top 10 marine infrastructure projects in the GCC

countries .................................................................................................. 86

Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive,

and increasing .......................................................................................... 89

Is deep sea mining a savior or a scourge? ................................................ 91

Managing risk - don't leave it to chance ................................................... 95




Iran: Ray of hope for container carriers

06/09/2015

With container traffic in slowdown in most areas of the world, the lifting of

Iranian sanctions does at least offer a ray of hope to carriers.

Last week, US President Barack Obama secured the support of enough Democratic senators

to ensure the Iran nuclear deal put together in July will survive any Congressional vote,

thereby removing a potential roadblock towards the lifting of sanctions imposed on Iran by

the United Nations, the US and European Union.

The thawing of diplomatic relations with Iran and Cuba, and the potential lift to container

volumes such political accords bring, provides a welcome tonic to carriers who are faced

with gloomy outlooks in many other regions.

For example, combined two-way traffic in the main East-West container trades (Transpacific,

Asia-Europe and North America-Europe) was flat at the half-way stage of this year and

Drewry will very likely be downgrading its global container traffic forecast for the year from

4.3% to approximately 2% – to be confirmed when the Container Forecaster report is

published in early October.

While the easing of Iranian sanctions will not cover the shortfall in global container volumes

there is considerable opportunity for lines to re-connect to an economically recovering

country with a population of nearly 80 million that will be eager to spend on goods

previously denied them.

Fig. 1: Container throughput at Shahid Rajaee (Bandar Abbas)

[in ‘000 teu]

Note: Based on Iranian calendar year, generally 21 March through 20 March.

Source: Drewry Maritime Research, Tidewater Middle East Co.

The port of Shahid Rajaee (commonly known as Bandar Abbas) is the largest of Iran’s

container ports – accounting for some 90% of all Iran’s container handling – but it saw

volumes decline sharply after the US Treasury blacklisted its operator Tidewater Middle East




Co. in June 2011 for alleged ties to the banned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and for

allegedly facilitating illicit shipments.

Before the blacklisting container volumes at Bandar Abbas were growing at 13% annually

(based on the Iranian calendar year starting 21 March) between 2005-6 and 2011-12 when

they reached a record 2.6 million teu. Following the carrier exodus volumes at the port

tumbled, falling by 18% in 2012-13 and 19% in 2013-14 before staging a mini-recovery in

2014-15 when the teu count grew by 4% to reach 1.8 million teu. Had the pre-blacklist

annual growth been maintained volumes for the past 12-month period would have been

around 2 million teu higher.

Fig. 2: Number of container services calling at Iranian ports to/from Asia and

Europe (2010-15)

Note: *As of August 2015.

Source: Drewry Maritime Research

Table 1: Container services / carriers calling at Iranian ports to/from Asia and

Europe (2010-15)

Note: *As of August 2015.





The port used to count a large number of major shipping lines among its customers (see

Table 1), but when sanctions kicked in those slipped away to other regional hubs such as

Jebel Ali. According to Tidewater the US government has now removed the company from

its sanctions list and carriers are returning. Wan Hai and PIL led the way by re-adding

Bandar Abbas to their joint China-Middle East service (CMS) after a two-year break in July

2014 and more recently the port has been reinstated on five loops ex Asia (see Table 2)

with more expected to follow.

Table 2: Recent Bandar Abbas port call additions


Tidewater has been quick to get back in the game, releasing a statement saying that it will

soon begin “serious negotiations” with foreign interests for new trade. It may face

competition as DP World is reportedly interested in starting operations in Iran, but whatever




the competitive environment post-sanctions more investment on infrastructure and capacity

after years of under-utilisation will be required to achieve its full container potential.

Our view

Much political work is still to be done but when sanctions are relaxed the Iranian economy

will be given a significant boost, which should release the pent-up demand for containerised

goods in the 80 million-strong population. Expect more carriers to reinstate calls at Bandar

Abbas to take advantage.

[Drewry Container Insight]

Herring’s history: Net worth

05/09/2015

The slippery little fish plays an outsized role in many different cultures

Herring Tales: How the Silver Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History. By Donald Murray. Bloomsbury

Publishing.

THE herring is hardly the grandest of fish, but as a cheap source of protein it is hard to

beat, and herring-fishing was a way of life for many communities around the North Atlantic

from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. Trade in the fish made merchants wealthy. In

Scotland herring are known as “the silver darlings”; in Norway they are called, even more

lovingly, “the gold of the sea”.

A new account of the herring industry by Donald Murray [Herring Tales: How the Silver

Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History. Bloomsbury Publishing], a journalist and poet,




has almost as many facets as his slippery subjects have scales. His tale offers fillets of

history, culture and zoology, with an emphasis on the eclectic—not to say wilfully eccentric.

Yet his approach faithfully reflects our relationship with Clupea harengus, which has never

been straightforward.

Part of the herring’s attraction for mankind lies in its sociability. It forms vast shoals, a trail

of silver below the ocean’s surface that is irresistible for fishermen. But this is a notoriously

fickle fish. Until the 15th century herring thronged the Baltic, enriching many of the cities of

the Hanseatic League. Then they vanished from the area, never to return in such huge

numbers, leaving fishermen bereft and baffled in their wake. The fish later tarried for long

enough around Scotland to become an important part of the country’s income. At the

industry’s high point there, in the period immediately before the first world war, 2m-3m

barrels were caught each year.

Soon after, overfishing started to take its toll on herring populations. Factory ships were

built by the Dutch as early as the 15th century, to salt the fish while still at sea, but it was in

the late 20th century that boats became big and efficient enough to run down the stocks.

Enormous, dilapidated vessels from Iron Curtain countries hunted down the remaining fish,

thus speeding the industry’s decline (though it has since made a partial recovery). Life

aboard these gigantic rust-buckets was strange; Mr Murray recounts that no fewer than 40

crew members on one Romanian vessel were secret policemen.

The fish’s culinary charms extend far beyond kippers and rollmops. Jewish communities

have been notably inventive with recipes, reaching a creative peak with the likes of chopped

herring topped with crushed chocolate biscuits. Even more of an acquired taste is the foul-

smelling fermented herring, called surstromming, which Swedes have relished since at least

the 16th century.

Nowadays the herring’s role is as much cultural as economic. Mr Murray tours former fishing

villages which today have become homes to artists, writers and musicians who use their

work to celebrating the silver darlings. The fish remains a focus for national and regional

pride, with lively annual festivals in France, the Netherlands and Norway.

The herring also provides classic arguments for conservation, not least thanks to its many

uses beyond direct nutrition. The guts make fine fertiliser, and herring oil was used for

lighting until the mid-19th century. As evidence accumulates about the dangers of using

fossil fuels, old ways of this sort may become fashionable again. In the meantime, Mr

Murray is a gregarious and engaging raconteur as he flips between the diverse aspects of

this versatile little creature.

[The Economist]




Indonesia: $3.5 billion port development plan

05/09/2015

Indonesia’s state-own port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II plans

to build 22 ports across the country at a total investment of over Rp50 trillion

($3.57 billion), said a senior official.

“We are targeting to build 22 ports from Belawan to Sorong within five years,” Pelindo II

chief executive Richard Joost Lino told reporters on Friday. According to Lino, the company

will finance the projects from internal cash and loans. As on date, the company has cash

reserves of around Rp19.5 trillion from bond issuances, bank loans and internal cash flows.

In May 2015, Pelindo II raised $1.6 billion and plans to raise another $1 billion from US

dollar bond issuance in the end of 2016 or early 2017. Pelindo II previously secured a $2.5-

billion loan from foreign banks such as Mitsui & Co. Ltd, Deutsche Bank, ANZ, Bank of

Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale

and United Overseas Bank.

Recently, the company has operationalized 14 ports mostly located in western part of

Indonesia. Lino said, starting this year, the company will start developing Cikarang Bekasi

Laut Dry Port and Cikampek Port in West Java, Muara Jati Port in Cirebon in West Java,

Bojonegoro Port in East Java, Tanjung Carat Port in South Sumatera, Kijing Port in West

Kalimantan and Sorong Port in West Papua province. All the ports are expected to be

completed in two years.

Lino said, these ports, once operational, will have a capacity of around 2.5 million twenty-

foot equivalent units (TEUs). Now, the largest port in the country Tanjung Priok Port in

Jakarta province has a capacity of 5 million TEUs.

Cikarang Port will be developed on 200 hectares with docking capacity of up to five million

containers per year. Later on, Cikarang Port will be connecting with Cikampek Port in West

Java and Cirebon Port in Central Java. Pelindo’s expansion programme is to support the

government’s long-term plan to make the country as a maritime axis. President Joko Widodo

has taken a firm stance that his administration would place a particular focus on developing

the country’s maritime potential.

[DealStreetAsia]

Singapore: National University and MPA to establish new

maritime law research centre

04/09/2015

The National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law and the Maritime and

Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) today announced the establishment of the

new Centre for Maritime Law (CML) and MPA Professorship in Maritime Law.




These two initiatives deepen the strong partnership between NUS Law, the Ministry of Law,

and the MPA in boosting Singapore’s expertise in maritime law research and thought

leadership.

CML was officially launched today by MPA Chief Executive, Mr Andrew Tan, and NUS Law

Dean, Professor Simon Chesterman, in the presence of about 150 guests from the judiciary,

government, practitioners from the legal, insurance and shipping sectors, as well as

academics. The new centre, which is NUS Law’s sixth research centre, will focus on

commercial maritime law. Established with funding from the MPA and the Ministry of Law,

CML’s primary focus will be to spearhead maritime law research in Singapore and in the

region, as well as enhance the knowledge and expertise amongst the shipping community in

Singapore. It will also support and enhance the teaching of maritime law among

undergraduates and postgraduate students.

The MPA Professorship in Maritime Law was also enhanced to strengthen the development

of resident teaching expertise and anchor maritime legal research activities at NUS Law. This

builds on the earlier S$4 million MPA visiting professorship programme that was set up in

2003 at NUS Law to enable overseas academia to conduct courses for NUS Law students

and members of the Singapore maritime community.

In support of these two initiatives, MPA has contributed an additional S$1 million to establish

a permanent professorship. Additionally, MPA, through the Singapore Maritime Institute, has

also set aside S$2 million to support the running of CML over five years.

Professor Stephen Girvin, who has been a faculty member of NUS Law since 2008, has been

appointed as the inaugural MPA Professor in Maritime Law. He is joined by Associate

Professor Paul Myburgh, formerly of the University of Auckland, as Deputy Director of the

centre. An advisory board chaired by NUS Law and comprising nine other representatives

from MPA, the legal fraternity and the marine insurance sector will also guide the work of

the centre. Please refer to Annex Afor Prof Girvin’s biography.

Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean of NUS Faculty of Law, said, “Singapore is already a

global port and a leading venue for maritime dispute resolution. Our aim is to build on that

success to establish Singapore as a thought-leader in commercial maritime law issues. The

launch of the Centre for Maritime Law and the MPA Professorship in Maritime Law

complement the wider efforts to promote Singapore as a full-service maritime centre and

ensure that its voice in commercial maritime law issues is heard.”

“Professor Stephen Girvin is one of the world’s most prolific and influential scholars of

maritime law. At NUS Law he has built up a specialist master’s programme in maritime law

that is widely regarded as the best in the region, as well as helped lead a transformation in

the faculty’s approach to research during his tenure as Vice Dean. As the Founding Director

of CML and the inaugural MPA Professor in Maritime Law, Professor Girvin’s international

recognition and connections will be invaluable in deepening and strengthening the study and

the practice of maritime law in Singapore and beyond.”




Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA said, “Maritime Singapore is home to more than

5,000 maritime establishments. These include the port, shipping and maritime services such

as ship broking, marine insurance and maritime law and arbitration. We have a

comprehensive maritime eco-system with good growth potential. A strong pool of maritime

legal expertise will reinforce Singapore’s development as a leading maritime legal and

arbitration centre. This partnership with NUS will strengthen our efforts to position

Singapore as an international maritime centre.”

CML will focus on research in commercial maritime law, broadly on international trade,

transport and shipping law related issues. The centre’s activities range across private

(commercial) shipping law and include dispute settlement, such as maritime arbitration, and

the offshore sector. In addition, the centre will organise seminars, conferences and

symposia to engage academics, professionals, and government institutions with the

objective of enhancing the development of maritime law in Singapore and the region. The

centre expects its activities to enhance the reputation of Singapore as an International

Maritime Centre (IMC).

Prof Girvin said, “The Centre for Maritime Law aims to be a leader in research and

scholarship in maritime law. We look forward to working closely with the local and

international maritime community to contribute towards strengthening Singapore’s pre-

eminent reputation as a global maritime hub.”

CML is the sixth and latest research centre developed as part of NUS Law’s research

initiative. In 2012, the faculty established the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, and in 2014,

the Centre for Law & Business and the Centre for Banking & Finance Law were launched.

Earlier in 2015, the Centre for Legal Theory was added to the ranks. The first research

centre established by NUS Law is the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law which will

celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2016.

[Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore]

A sign of the times: Idle containership capacity

04/09/2015

Idle capacity has been a feature of the containership sector since the economic

downturn in 2008-09.

Prior to that, box freight rates tended to vary according to fairly macro factors, and liner

companies appeared less inclined to resort to micro supply management to address

imbalances. But in recent years, there have been clear phases of containership ‘idling’, each

highly reflective of conditions in the sector.




The worst of times

Global box trade dropped by 9% in 2009, and liner companies were left with little option but

to idle significant levels of capacity to resurrect freight levels from rock bottom levels (Phase

1 on the graph). By the end of 2009, 1.5m TEU, or 11% of total fleet capacity stood idle.

This did at least help push freight rates back up.

Not the best of times

It did of course have a negative impact on the charter market, leaving owners, with an easy

supply of laid up ships lurking in the background for charterers to access, unable to bid up

rates. But, with some believing the world economy to be recovering quickly, substantial

amounts of idle capacity were soon reactivated and by the end of September 2010, there

was only 1.6% of the fleet idle (Phase 2). However, with freight levels having dropped

again, further lay-up followed, and by end March 2012, the position had been reversed and

5.9% of the fleet was idle (Phase 3). Charter owner tonnage accounted for around 70% of

the total by the summer of 2012, and most of the idle capacity was in classic charter market

sizes, with only 3% above 5,000 TEU, putting pressure back on charter rates.

Better times?

In the next phase, market conditions very slowly appeared to become more helpful, and idle

capacity gradually fell, with the winter peak receding each year (Phase 4); idle capacity

peaked at 6% of the fleet in early 2012, 5% in 2013 and 4% in 2014. But the charter

owners’ share stayed high, keeping pressure on the charter market. It took until well into




2014 for rates to see much positive traction. By the end of 2014, idle capacity was finally

more limited, at 1.3% of the fleet, reflective of the improved environment.

Time for a change (again)?

Today, despite severe freight rate pressure, idle capacity is still fairly limited at 2.5% of the

fleet, but it is on the rise and the charter market is softening, ceding some of its gains.

Larger ships had begun to account for a greater share of the idle pool (24% over 5,000 TEU

in May) but recent weeks have seen a return to increased smaller ship idling.

So how will Phase 5 play out? There are a range of scenarios. Liner companies might

continue to compete aggressively on the mainlanes with an apparent surplus of big ship

capacity, and endure freight rate pain without idling too much more capacity. Or to protect

freight rates they might start to idle a greater number of larger ships. Alternatively, they

might once again pass down the pressure to the smaller ship arena, leaving more significant

levels of capacity there to impact on the charter market. Much might depend on the

flexibility of tonnage. Either way, once again, the development of idle boxship capacity will

be a sign of the times.

[Clarksons]

German maritime sector pushes for LNG

04/09/2015

Germany’s maritime sector has asked the federal government to implement

specific measures in an effort to introduce liquefied natural gas as an alternative

fuel for shipping.

In a joint statement, the Maritime LNG Platform, the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR),

the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association (VSM), the Association of

German Seaport Operators (ZDS) and the German Shipbrokers’ Association (ZVDS) propose

three separate instruments to make this happen: an innovation offensive, a subsidy program

for equipping ships with LNG propulsion, and uniform legal standards in ports.

“LNG has great potential for maritime shipping to achieve significant reductions in emissions

of sulphur, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides in coastal regions and in the port cities.

At the same time, LNG already meets emission regulations, both those currently in force and

those tabled for introduction in the future,” said Georg Ehrmann, Managing Director of the

Maritime LNG Platform, a cross-sector alliance of more than 70 national and international

companies, associations, and ports.

The first steps have been made in this direction with the coalition agreement between

German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Maritime




Coordinator of the Federal Government which recognized the importance of LNG for cleaner

transport routes, and via the EU Directive Clean Power for Transport.

However, a question of cost remains to be solved as ships that can use both conventional

fuels as well as liquefied natural gas (dual-fuel drive) cost up to 25 % more because of the

special engines and the additional tanks and fuel lines required.

“Without a comprehensive incentive scheme from the federal government for the

construction and retrofitting of LNG-powered ships, it will not be possible to dismantle the

barriers to market entry,” said Ralf Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of the German Shipowners’

Association (VDR).

“Not a single LNG-powered ship has been commissioned without government subsidies

throughout Europe to date. As a leading maritime nation, Germany ought to be taking on a

pioneering role.”

The view was further backed by Daniel Hosseus, Senior Managing Director of the

Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS), who believes that there is a need for a

broadly based, consistent technology subsidization scheme for maritime logistics.

“For this reason the federal government ought to reinstitute the successful research

programfor innovative sea port technologies (ISETEC),” he added.

Various gaps still exist in different sectors of the maritime industry ranging from construction

of ships, their operation and fueling to infrastructure at ports. Another key item on the table

are uniform standards for handling LNG fueled ships which are still under development

across Europe and elsewhere.

“Refueling of LNG ships must become a commonplace occurrence in German ports, too. To

ensure that the ships can be cleared as efficiently as has been the case to date, it must be

ensured that the bunkering process can be carried out at the same time as the loading and

unloading of the ships,” said Alexander Geisler, Managing Director of the German

Shipbrokers‘ Association (ZVDS).

“Germany needs uniform standards for handling LNG at sea ports, be it for bunkering,

power generation or for transportation purposes.”

[World Maritime News]

Latin America and the Caribbean: Top 20 container ports 2014

04/09/2015

The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has

released an infographic showing the top 20 in this part of the world.




ECLAC updates every year its ranking of container port throughput, which shows the cargo

volume in containers in 120 ports of the region, based on data obtained directly from port

authorities and terminal operators: Latin American and the Caribbean Container Port

throughput, Ranking 2014.

In 2014 this activity grew 1.3%, with a total volume of approximately 47 million TEU. This

infographic displays the first 20 ports of the ranking. The Port of Balboa in Panama occupies

the first rank with handling more than 3.4 million TEU in 2014.

Latin American and the Caribbean: Top 20 Container Ports 2014

[ECLAC]

Waning demand sends cargo ships to scrapyard

04/09/2015

As China’s slump deepens, it’s off to the scrapyard for a growing number of

global cargo ships.


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A drop in shipping rates amid the collapse in demand for coal, ore and other commodities

has sparked a sharp rise in the number of ships yanked from the service and sold for scrap.

Almost 6 per cent of the world’s fleet of ships that carry bulk commodities will be beached

and sliced up for scrap metal this year, up from 2 per cent last year and topping the recent

high of 2012’s 4.3 per cent, according to Clarksons PLC, a London-based ship broker.

“Business is good,” said Yogesh Rehani, director of operations at Global Marketing Systems

Inc. (GMS), a buyer and recycler of ships. “The bulkers are a constant supply.” A closely

watched measure of bulk shipping rates, the Baltic Dry Index, has fallen 21 per cent in the

past 12 months, but is above a 30-year low touched in February. Prices for iron ore and

Chinese imported coking coal have fallen 19 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, in the

past 12 months as factories in the world’s second-biggest economy slow down amid falling

demand.

Demand for iron ore and coal is not expected to recover until 2017, London-based Drewry

Shipping Consultants Ltd. says. “The depressed state of the dry bulk sector has led to

doubts about the future of many ship owners and their ability to withstand prevailing market

conditions,” Drewry said in a report on Wednesday.

“In dry bulk [commodities], the market is absolutely terrible,” said Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an

analyst with Norway’s Arctic Securities AS.

Shipping companies that are taking deliveries of new vessels purchased many months ago in

expectations that Chinese demand for raw materials would remain strong are now getting

rid of their older freighters and downsizing their fleets. Scrapping ships gives companies

cash, cuts expenses and helps support shipping rates by reducing the available global fleet.

“All the older vessels are not going out so because the rates are so poor it doesn’t make

sense to run them,” Mr. Stavseth said in an interview from Oslo. The net fleet size of dry

bulk carriers is expected to grow by 2.5 per cent this year, compared with 2.2 per cent in

2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2013.

GMS’s Mr. Rehani would not say how many ships the company has bought and sold for

scrap this year, but said the company has never been busier. Industry figures show about

100 of the largest bulk carriers, known as capesize, are expected to be scrapped in 2015,

the highest since 2012’s record.

GMS sends ships for recycling at breaking yards in five countries, including Pakistan, China

and Bangladesh.

A bulk carrier, which can weigh 35,000 tonnes empty and stretch longer than four hockey

rinks, has scrap value of as much as $12-million (U.S.), based on recycled steel prices of

$310 to $330 a tonne. GMS takes 3 per cent of that sale, a margin Mr. Rehani said has been

falling in recent years amid stiff competition.




“It’s a very high-risk and low-return business,” Mr. Rehani said. “Most of the time the ships

are operating and they are run up to the beach. If they are dead ships, then they are towed

and pushed up on to the beach.” Once beached, the vessel is set upon by workers armed

with torches and cranes.

Much of steel is sold locally and turned into reinforcement bars used in construction, while

the power generators are sold to hotels or companies in remote areas for back-up

electricity, said Mr. Rehani, a former freighter captain. It can take as long as four months to

cut up a ship. “All of the stuff, the wood, the machinery, the ceramics, is put back into

service.”

The type of ship GMS sells for scrap is a handy barometer of the state of the global

economy. In 2013, the company saw a flood of container ships as Chinese consumer

demand faltered. This year, Mr. Rehani said the company has also seen a lot of petroleum

tankers, after crude prices plunged by 50 per cent a year ago.

[The Globe and Mail]

China to develop ECAs in major ports

04/09/2015

China has taken 'important step' in tackling ship-generated emissions. China is

also developing Emission Control Areas (ECAs) in its major ports.

China's Ministry of Transport (MoT) has formally unveiled its five-year working scheme that

aims to reduce the country’s shipping emissions. MoT has also issued a detailed Shipping

and Ports Pollution Prevention and Control Implementation Plan. This is the first time that

MoT has taken concrete action to address air emissions from ships and port activities.

Vessels and ports are major sources of the severe air pollution choking many coastal cities in

China, which is home to eight of the ten busiest (and most densely populated) port cities in

the world in terms of freight volume. By 2020, China hopes to reduce sulfur and nitrogen

oxide emissions in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River and Bohai Rim by 65, 20 and 40

percent, respectively.

Following implementation, about 90 percent of vessels calling on ports in China will use

shore power, and about 50 percent of container and cruise terminals will be capable of

providing shore power. The amended Air Pollution Law now requires the fuel used by ships

while at berth to comply with government-set requirements for meeting emission standards.

All new terminals should provide shoreside electric power so ships can turn off their diesel

engines while at berth. But low-sulphur fuel initiatives that appeared in a June draft are

missing in the final version.

[MarineLink]




Pacific Ocean: Once a glittering gem, now turning into little

more than a trash dump

04/09/2015

The Pacific Ocean has long been the ultimate symbol of paradise and marine

diversity, but now, it has become a heartbreaking picture of devastating

pollution.

Chinese boy running along the rubbish-strewn beach along the sea coast in Anquan village, south China's Hainan

province. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Throughout the world’s largest ocean, there are "garbage patches," or areas with swirling

vortices of marine litter, says National Geographic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the

most massive patch of pollution, stretching from Japan to the West Coast.

But who is contributing to this never-ending swirl of disgusting garbage? According to a new

study published in the journal Science, China is one of the worst offenders. South China’s

Anquan village is a particularly grotesque scene of rubbish, stretching along the beaches as

far as the eye can see.

Several organizations around the world are working to prevent situations like that on

Anquan's beaches, including The Ocean Cleanup, which seeks to “extract, prevent and

intercept plastic pollution.”

Boyan Slat, the organization’s founder, recalled diving when he was 16: “When I went, the

water had a close resemblance to some sort of trash dump. I saw more plastic bags than

fish,” he told the Huffington Post.




The Pacific is in the middle of a crisis, and only time will tell if we have the resources and

perseverance to save one of the Earth’s greatest gems.

[The Weather Channel]

Saudi Arabia: NYK establishes first exclusive RORO terminal

04/09/2015

On September 3, NYK signed a joint-venture agreement with Ports Development

Company (PDC) to establish NYK’s first exclusive RORO terminal operating

company at King Abdullah port (KAP) on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

This terminal named KAP RORO Terminal, which is the first exclusive RORO terminal in

Saudi Arabia, is planned to commence full operations by 3rd quarter 2016. The joint venture

will be the first automotive logistics base for the NYK Group in the Middle East.

King Abdullah port is a private port which is owned and developed by PDC, which opened a

container terminal there in 2014. By establishing this new joint venture in cooperation with

PDC, the NYK Group is expanding the reach of its global operations by providing customer-

oriented service based on the NYK Group’s operational experience and accomplishments as

a pioneer in the field. Moreover, the NYK Group will ensure adequate capacity equal to

600,000 handling units yearly to address increasing demand at growing market in Middle

East as a gate port.

The NYK Group will continue to take advantage of the creative solutions initiated in the

company’s “More Than Shipping 2018” medium-term management plan to provide advanced

automotive logistics services in order to respond to customers’ demands in the Middle East

region, where continual economic growth is expected.

[Marine Insight]

Indonesia: Pelindo II planning canal project to link industrial

areas to Tanjung Priok Port

04/09/2015

Indonesia's state port operator Pelindo II, will next month start a project that

will allow the movement of barges on existing canals connecting industrial areas

in Cikarang and Bekasi in West Java to Jakarta Bay and help ease land-side

congestion, local reports said.

The 40km Cikarang-Bekasi-Laut canal would cost IDR3.5trn ($246.6m), which includes land

acquisition costs as well as expenditure for expanding the width of existing waterways to

70m and draft to 5m, Pelindo II president director RJ Lino said.




The plan envisages 72-teu to 144-teu LNG-powered barges moving boxes from the industrial

hinterland to the main gateway at Tanjung Priok Port, Lino said. Pelindo II has completion

target for the canal of 2017.

The West Java provincial government has pledged its commitment to expedite permits for

the project, seeing it would help alleviate traffic problems in the province’s industrial

area.“[Industrial] transportation costs are expensive because [cargo] has to be transported

by land using trucks,” said West Java deputy governor Deddy Mizwar.

“On the other hand, a barge can carry 140 containers, which is equivalent to 2.5 km of

trucks lining up on our roads.”Deddy said the government has asked Pelindo II to extend

the canal to Cikampek, West Java, 20 km south of Cikarang, after 2017.

[Seatrade Maritime News]

U.S.: MARAD launching field trials for prototype hydrogen fuel

cell unit

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) is

launching field trials for the first prototype hydrogen fuel cell unit to power

onboard refrigerated containers.

MARAD, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, provided

$815,000 to fund the clean energy powered container unit that could pave the way to

dramatically reduced harmful emissions at the Port of Honolulu, said a release.

Built into a standard 20 ft. shipping container, the pilot hydrogen fuel cell unit will replace a

diesel generator currently powering refrigerated containers both in port and while being

transported on water by barges along routes between Honolulu and other Harbors by Young

Brothers, a local shipper of goods within Hawaii.

“The Maritime Administration continues to fund innovative projects that support the U.S.

maritime industry’s shift towards cleaner and more-sustainable power sources,” said

Maritime Administrator Paul ‘Chip’ Jaenichen. “This hydrogen fuel cell deployment project

has the potential to reduce not just emissions, but costs to shippers, all while preserving the

precious maritime environment.”

During the six-month deployment period, performance feedback and data will be recorded

to determine the environmental, energy, and cost savings from the hydrogen fuel cell unit.

Upon completion of testing, Sandia National Laboratories will analyze the operational,

safety, and cost performance data to develop a business case for using hydrogen fuel cells

for marine use.




MARAD has partnered with U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy and Efficiency to

co-fund this pilot project. This study is part of MARAD’s Maritime Environmental and

Technical Assistance Program, in which the Agency collaborates with government and

industry stakeholders to develop alternative fuels and technology for marine applications.

[Canadian Shipper]

China: Shipping conglomerates set to merge

03/09/2015

China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) and Sinotrans & CSC Group are going

to merge their operations as part of the Chinese government’s plan to reform its

state-run shipping sector.

The local media reported that Beijing has ordered the merger of the two shipping groups,

which have already formed a joint venture named China VLCC back in September 2014 to

operate VLCCs.

A statement was made on Monday that the ministries encouraged a merger in order to

streamline the market, achieve a high degree of standardisation and quick review of the

implementation of M&A transactions.

CMES is the shipping arm of China Merchants Group, a state owned corporation and has a

registered capital of RMB 3.433 billion. It runs a modern fleet of ocean-going tankers, bulk

carriers and liquefied natural gas ships, covering the most commodities of energy

transportation.

Sinotrans & CSC is the largest logistics company in China and itself a product of a merger

that took place in 2009 between China National Foreign Trade Transportation (Group) Corp

(Sinotrans) and Changjiang Shipping Co (CSC).

The announcement follows speculation of a pending merger between China Ocean Shipping

(Group) Company (COSCO) and China Shipping Group, two of the country's largest shipping

firms. Shares trading of their listed subsidiaries have been suspended since 10 August

pending “a major announcement”.

The Chinese maritime landscape is currently subject to a wave of consolidation as the

Beijing government moves to cut costs and rationalise. The past decade has seen a rapid

expansion, but the markets are now struggling to cope in the global economic downturn and

have taken heavy losses.

[Marine Offschore Technology]




Indonesian boxship sinks, at least two missing

03/09/2015

A small Indonesia-flagged container vessel sank in the Java Sea off Indonesia on

Wednesday, leaving at least two people missing, local reports said.

The 1997-built, 742-teu general cargo ship was swallowed by the sea while on the Makassar

Strait in the Java Sea on the morning of Wednesday, according to MetroTV News. At last

count, at least two crew members were missing. A local naval commander was quoted

saying that the exact number cannot be confirmed yet. Initial findings pointed to a water

leakage in the vessel’s engine room, leading to water ingress and the sinking.

The container vessel, Meratus Banjar 2, was travelling from Surabaya to Makassar when the

accident happened. A sistership Meratus Spirit I was heading to the scene, along with a

couple of rescue boats, according to reports.

Meratus Lines, which operates the boxships, earlier saw one of its vessels slapped with a

three-month ban ended 6 April this year by the Australian authorities from entering the

country's ports over non-compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

It was the third ship operated by Meratus Lines to be barred from Australia ports under the

country's revised Navigation Act.


Asia-Europe container freight rates jump 29%

03/09/2015

Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern

Europe jumped 29 per cent to US$763 per 20-foot container (TEU) this week

data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange showed.

It was the second consecutive week with rises of more than 25 per cent for spot rates on

the world's busiest route but with a combined increase of US$294 it is far from the earlier

announced hike by all major container shipping companies of US$1,000.

Freight rates on the route have tanked this year due to overcapacity in vessels and sluggish

demand for goods to be transported. Spot rates generally deemed profitable for shipping

companies on the route are at about US$800-US$1,000 per TEU. Container spot freight

rates are normally calculated and published on Fridays but this week they were issued

earlier due to holidays in China.




In the week to Wednesday, container freight rates rose 24.1 per cent from Asia to ports in

the Mediterranean, fell 1.7 per cent to ports on the US West Coast and were down 2.2 per

cent to ports on the US East Coast. Average rates for 2015 are so far US$666 per TEU

compared with US$1,172 last year.

Maersk Line, the global market leader with nearly 600 container vessels and part of Danish

oil and shipping group AP Moller-Maersk, was one of the few container shipping companies

to make a profit last year. The Danish shipping company controls around one fifth of all

transported containers from Asia to Europe.

[Reuters]

Australia: More than 90% of domestic seafaring jobs at risk

under cabotage reform plan

03/09/2015

More than 90% of Australian seafarers working in the domestic trade will lose

their jobs under the Abbott government’s plan to reform Australia’s newly-

adopted cabotage laws, according to a new report from the independent think

tank The Australia Institute.

The Australian Government, under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, announced its new plan for

coastal shipping in May, which included changes that would dismantle a comprehensive

reform package delivered by the previous government in 2012, known as the Coastal

Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping Act) 2012. The act created a level playing field for

Australia’s domestic shipping and protects local Australian ships and crews from foreign

Flags of Convenience (FOC).

According to the research from the Australia Institute, Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill

2015 - Review of regulation impact statement, less than 100 seafarers would remain

employed out of a current workforce of 1177, representing about 93%, if Abbott’s plan

passes parliament, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The research echoes concerns raised by International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF),

which said the reforms risks thousands of domestic maritime jobs.

The 2012 package included support for Australian shipping companies, including tax breaks

and training subsidies, as well as a requirement that foreign-flagged vessels pay Australian

level wages when working domestic trade sectors.

[gCaptain]


http://www.tai.org.au/downloadpopup/nojs/11820

http://www.tai.org.au/downloadpopup/nojs/11820



World of giants: Larger companies and bigger ships dominate

container shipping.

03/09/2015

For more than a decade, American Shipper has published an annual list of the 20

largest shipping lines. Most of those 20 carriers today are global operators.

Indeed, 16 of them belong to one of the four major alliances that dominate the east-west

container trade:

• 2M, the alliance of the world’s two largest container-shipping companies,

Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Maersk Line.

• Ocean Three, the newest alliance whose members include CMA CGM, United Arab

Shipping Co. and China Shipping Container Lines.

• G6 Alliance, which includes APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, MOL, NYK,

and OOCL.

• CKYHE, the alliance of COSCO, “K” Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin, and Evergreen.

The other four are Hamburg Süd, a strong player in the north-south trades; Singapore’s Asia

carriers which are growing in other markets including the transpacific; and ZIM, the Israeli

carrier that has undergone financial restructuring and trimmed its network in the past year.

But maybe being a top 20 carrier isn’t what it used to be. Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM have

pulled away from the rest of the pack. Respectively, they operated 16.2, 13.2, and 9.2

percent of the container capacity of the 100 largest carriers on July 15, according to the

information service Alphaliner.

The fourth largest, Hapag-Lloyd has 5.1 percent and fifth place Evergreen, 5 percent. In

June, Nils Andersen, chief executive officer of Maersk Line’s parent company, raised

questions about the competitiveness of smaller carriers.

“I can’t speak for other companies, but small and midsize carriers controlling a 3 percent to

5 percent market share—with very few exceptions—have been unprofitable for the last

seven years,” Andersen told The Wall Street Journal. “After such a long period of not being

profitable, it defies logic to continue to invest in the business.”

In the wake of that comment there have been rumors that Temasek—the investment

company owned by the government of Singapore—is considering the sale of Neptune Orient

Line, the parent company of the twelfth largest container carrier, APL.




In August, it was revealed that the sixth largest, COSCO, and seventh largest, China

Shipping Container Line, are having discussions about increased cooperation or a merger.

Could these or other mergers come to fruition?

Dirk Visser, senior shipping consultant at Dynamar and managing editor of its Dyna- Liners

newsletter, said he doesn’t know, but sees “Hapag-Lloyd (badly wanting to catch up with

the top three) and UASC (with its deep-pocketed Qatari majority owners) as the two main

contenders. In both cases, there are complementary advantages to be achieved.”

“China Shipping with COSCO Container Lines seems to be underway now, for actualization

by 2017,” and the oft-rumored combination of Hapag-Lloyd and APL would involve a

marriage of carriers within the same alliance, he added.

Esben Christensen, a director with AlixPartners in its global maritime practice, said this may

not be the right time for consolidation, because this year’s earnings, while better than they

have been for many companies since the depths of the recession, show a trend toward

reduced revenue.

“The bigger picture is there’s a lot of investment going on from some of the more aggressive

carriers in new ships. And so for those carriers that want to be top 10, top 20, I think the

bigger question is, either you get on the bus so to speak and you aggressively invest in

bigger, more fuel-efficient vessels, which seems to be the trend, or if you don’t, then you

know you’re probably more likely to look at strategic solutions—and selling yourself off is

one of them,” Christensen said.

He believes companies with few ships on order are the ones most likely to be merger

candidates, because “they are the ones that need to decide whether they are going to build

ships or acquire another company that has the assets.”

Christensen noted that mergers within alliances are more likely than combinations of carriers

from different alliances, adding “it’s hard enough already to integrate two large companies

with complex networks, but if those two companies are in different alliances that is another

level of competition.”

While liner companies have captured “operational, vessel sharing, slot sharing, joint strings,

those sort of synergies,” by forming alliances, he said, there are selling, general and

administrative cost reductions that might be realized, “scale benefits around procurement,

managing inland networks, depending on how complementary or overlapping the networks

are.

“So yes, I think that there are benefits, but I don’t think they are order of magnitude

anywhere near to two competitors merging in an industry that is not already heavily

dominated by alliances,” he said.




“The bigger benefit potentially here is not a short-term synergy play. It is more of a longer-

term capacity discipline perspective. That the fewer players that you had competing for the

market share, the better the likelihood from the carriers’ perspective that those carriers

exercise better discipline on their supply, on the ordering of new capacity,” Christensen

explained.

Carriers continue to benefit from low fuel prices, but Christensen said “I remain concerned

about the overall macro-picture for the carriers. I think the rate environment is still weak,

weaker in Europe than in the U.S. And with the capacity coming online and the sort of

macro-growth numbers, I just don’t see that picture getting a lot better for the carriers, or

better at all over the near term.”

“The concentration of power among the leading carriers is a seemingly unstoppable trend.

The only real deviation in the previous 10 years was when the financial crisis forced major

carriers to off-hire and lay-up (mainly chartered) ships in 2009,” London-based Drewry said.

The industry analyst said there is a “league-within-a-league with the biggest carriers

providing most of the overall growth. Between 2005 and 2015 the compound annual growth

rate (CAGR) of the top 3 carriers was 12.5 percent, significantly faster than the CAGR for the

top 20 lines and the total fleet at 9.6 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.”

That seems to be a trend that’s continuing: each of the half-dozen largest carriers have

ships with aggregate capacities of more than 300,000 TEUs on order, with the exception of

Hapag-Lloyd. Another carrier with big expansion plans: UASC with ships able to collectively

carry more than 200,000 TEUs on order.

“The market remains oversupplied, but the order book has continued to rise, with significant

new orders announced in the last two months,” H.J. Tan, principal of Liner Research

Services and executive consultant at Alphaliner, told American Shipper on July 15.

The orders, calculated Visser, on July 1 stood at about 21 percent of the existing fleet. That

is not out of line with the past, he said. In 2000, the order book stood at 20 percent of

capacity; 2005, at 45 percent; and 2010, at 34 percent.

So the size of the current order book “is on the decent side, even if considering the current

slow developing container trades, and always considering that ships are built for some 25

years of trading,” Visser said. “However, looking at the size categories, the order book

appears to be totally out of balance with an immense focus on the very largest ships,” he

said.

Visser figures about 70 percent of capacity on order is for ships of more than 10,000 TEUs.

It’s easy to understand the attraction of the big ships. Maersk, which has been one of the

leaders in moving to larger vessels with its “Triple E” ships, said when it reported its second

quarter earnings last month that it now needs only 0.902 tons of bunker fuel to move a 40-




foot container, compared with 1.791 tons back in 2007. (This does not account for changes

in short-/long-haul volume mix.)

The company has also benefited from the reduction in bunker fuel, so the cost of moving a

40-foot container is now $2,246. That is a whopping $808 less than it averaged in 2012.

“Exactly because of the current lackluster trades in which they operate, it would be wise to

show restraint in the ordering of the very largest ships of over 18,000 TEUs,” Visser said.

“However, it looks as if every carrier is determined to deny its nearest competitor enjoying

somewhat lower costs resulting in a [higher] profit. If, for that reason, carriers of three of

the four alliances would indeed want to catch up relative to their current overall capacity

shares, the impact would be nothing less than dramatic.”

With the members of 2M, Maersk and MSC, having ordered 51 ships with more than 18,000

TEUs of capacity, Visser figures the other alliances would have to order 76 such units just to

keep pace: CKYHE, 27; G6, 32; and Ocean Three, 17.

Maersk in July ordered eight 14,000-TEU ships and in June ordered 11 ships with capacities

for 19,630 TEUs.

MSC, christened the latest in a series of 19,224-TEU ships, MSC Zoe, in August at Hamburg,

and plans a similar ceremony for the next, MSC Maya, in Antwerp later this month. (The

initial ships in the series are being named after the grandchildren of MSC founder Gianliugi

Aponte.) There are an additional 16 in the series, the largest containerships yet to be built.

Tan said there are already ships of 21,000 TEUs being built, even though they have the

same dimensions as the 18,000-TEU ships. “These 18,000-21,000 TEU ships of 400 meters

length and 59 meters breadth have essentially similar laden container capacity. I expect

they will be the maximum size for a while as there are both commercial and operational

constraints to larger ships,” he said.

This is not to say smaller ships aren’t being ordered: Maersk ordered seven 3,600-TEU ships

in March, Evergreen ordered 10 ships with capacities for 2,800 TEUs in August from the

Taiwanese yard CSBC, and Lloyd’s List reported Evergreen might place a similar order with

Japan’s Imabari in September or October.

What’s the most important factor driving the orders? Is it low shipyard prices, low borrowing

costs, near-term demand, or a desire to lower fuel costs? Tan believes it is none of these,

but the desire for market share.

Alphaliner’s analysis of the world containership fleet and orderbook on June 1 showed 49.6

percent of the capacity in the current world container fleet is chartered from non-operating

owners—companies such as Seaspan or Rickmers. An even larger percentage of the capacity

on order, 61.8 percent, was from the non-operating owners.




“I think that for each and every intended order, operators are collecting offers from various

non-operating owners and financiers to pick out the most competitive one for their

purposes, while keeping an eye on their preferred share of ownership versus

chartered/leased,” Visser said. “It seems that, over the years, there never have been real

problems obtaining finance for ships, though seemingly amply available ‘new money’ has

other considerations than the more traditional [but now tighter] money.”

Statistics from VesselsValue.com show a half-dozen of the largest containership owners are

not the liner majors, but in fact are companies that charter containerships to them. They

include Seaspan, Shoei Kisen, Costamare, Zodiac, Claus-Peter Offen, and Quantum Pacific

Shipping.

“Over the course of 2015 we have seen container values firm across the board as the spot

rates have improved. We saw rates reach their peak at the end of June/start of July, back to

levels last seen in mid-2011,” VesselsValue.com said.

The website further stated this has led to an increase in activity in the sale and purchase

market during the last few months. There is also a healthy order book, with the largest

orders being in China.

With the opening of the new Panama Canal locks next year, some companies are building

ships that are in the 13,500-14,000 TEU range, about the maximum size for the new locks.

China Shipping, for example, recently disclosed it will buy eight 13,500-TEU ships.




It is not just large ships that are in demand. Charter rates for current panamax-size ships

with capacities of 4,000-5,000 TEUs that can fit through the current locks have risen this

year.

During a conference call to discuss the second quarter results of Seaspan, Chief Executive

Officer Gerry Wang noted few ships of that size have been built in recent years and the

supply remains tight.

The current panamax ships of about 4,000-5,000 TEUs are “very flexible,” Wang said,

adding that they are particularly suited for intra-Asia, transpacific, and trades to Australia

and New Zealand.

“We look at certain improved designs for this type, because we do feel the industrywill need

this type of vessel for flexibility, for different trade lanes. Yes, there would be a trickle-down

cascade impact from larger vessels, but due to the restrictions and the geophysical

situations, the bigger vessels will have difficulties going to certain parts where those 4,000

or 5,000 TEUs can go,” Wang said.

While the economic outlook remains uncertain, Wang said the container industry is still

looking at growth of 5 percent to 6 percent this year and into 2016.

“If you look at the inside of a container, you’re looking at the furniture, you’re looking at the

clothing, you’re looking at TV sets and all those things and occasionally iPads and iPhones

for certain periods of time. So those are consumable products, so they are fairly stable,” he

said.




“One could argue when you go through tough times, you would demand more low-end

products and, therefore, the volume would only go up. That’s the disconnect. A lot of people

have now figured out our business is all about volume,” Wang said.

“Our business is not about value. We are looking at the number of boxes. We’re not looking

at how many millions of dollars in the container boxes,” he added. “We are fairly isolated

from the dollar-related situations... We are talking about consumers wanting shoes and

furniture and clothing from manufacturers all over the world. They are seeking these for the

lowest cost. At the end of the day, we feel that the container-shipping business will continue

to be robust.”

[American Shipper]

Russia: Japanese development bank ready to invest $100

million in Vostochny Port development

03/09/2015

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is ready to invest some

$100 million in the development of Russian Vostochny Port infrastructure, the

establishment's managing director announced at the Eastern Economic Forum

(EEF).

"Vostochy, this is almost a done deal. We’re on the verge of providing funds," Tadashi

Maeda said on Thursday, speaking at an EEF conference in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

According to the JBIC Senior Managing Director, the sum that the bank is considering is "not

so big," most likely a little less than a $100 million.

The new land-and-sea mixed route is 140 miles shorter than the way through Dalian, a

Chinese port on the East China Sea, and will shorten deliveries by 2-3 days.

[Sputnik]

Are container shipping lines switching to a two-stage rate

increase strategy?

03/09/2015

Container shipping lines on the Asia-Europe trade are attempting to push

through another general rate increase in late September after failing to get more

than a third of the general rate increases (GRIs) introduced this week.

CMA CGM said yesterday that it would implement an “additional rate restoration” of $500

per teu between Asia, North Europe and the Mediterranean effective 20 September, and The

Loadstar has heard that China Shipping has proposed an extra GRI from the same date for




$525 per teu. APL advised customers on 14 August of a further $500 per teu GRI from 20

September, on top of the $950 it was proposing from 1 September.

After the implementation of an average $1,000 per teu GRI this week, spot rates on the

Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) moved up by only $172 per teu for North

Europe and by $168 per teu for Mediterranean ports.

[Due to the extended Victory celebrations in Beijing today and tomorrow, the publication of

this week’s SCFI was brought forward – there may still be room for a further upward swing,

though recent history suggests this is unlikely.]

This followed the previous week’s pre-GRI hop of $122 and $248 respectively and takes the

SCFI reading to $763 for North Europe and $865 for the Mediterranean – somewhat below

the level that the carriers need if they are to hold onto the profits extracted from the first six

months of trading.

Spot rates have become more important to carriers this year because they have been

obliged to increasingly tap this market to fill their ships as demand has weakened, just as

they were hiking capacity by the deployment of bigger ships. Although carriers refuse to

divulge the percentage of spot cargo compared to paying contract cargo, one major

container line source told The Loadstar recently that on some voyages to North Europe this

summer spot cargo had been “over 50%”, compared with around 25% a year ago.

And shippers with paying annual contract cargo at higher rates have demanded carriers

concede temporary reductions in prices to reflect the market, and some have even torn up

agreements handed their business to another carrier with a cheaper offer.

In the past Asia-Europe carriers were protected from the worst volatility of spot rates by a

contract cargo cushion, but the influence of the freight rate indexes is growing and can no

longer be dismissed as “a casino” by container lines.

The impact on the financial result from a sustained period of sub-economic spot rates can

be seen from Hapag-Lloyd’s second quarter report which shows a year-on-year $220 per teu

decline in its average Asia-Europe rate and would have plunged the German carrier deep

into the red if not for the windfall of a 50% drop in fuel prices.

It probably prompted Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Jabben Hansen to say that it aimed

to be “more responsible in the spot market” in the future – although with the pressure to fill

a half-empty ship, this could be easier said than done.

Meanwhile, after the relative failure of 1 July, 1 August, and now probably 1 September

GRIs, it appears that carriers are trying another tactic by proposing additional smaller

increases for implementation mid-month.

[The Loadstar]




U.S.: Five year performance of the top 10 ports

03/09/2015

A table of data released by Zepol Corporation shows the top 10 ports in the US,

showing each port’s performance over the last five years.

Source: Zepol Corporation

The Port of Long Beach, the US’s second largest port, has seen the biggest boom in volumes

in recent months, having recently experienced a record month in August, 2015 for its

container throughput with an increase of more than 18%.

This result is impressive given the serious disruptions over the winter 2014/15 period as a

result of the labour disputes which caused crippling congestion and a closure of more than

25 ports along the US West Coast.

According to the table, the top ports have seen volumes fluctuate, yet grow steadily, since

2010, after a dip due financial crisis of 2008. Volumes have since increased back to their

pres-recession projected numbers, with the top three expecting to match or exceed their

previous volumes.

[Port Technology International]

Characterizing the cycle in seaports: An Australian case study

03/09/2015

With approximately 90% of global trade in volume being carried by sea, seaports

are a core strategic resource driving the regional economy within the context of

globalization and trade boom.

Yet, seaports are not well integrated with mainstream economics and efforts to

quantitatively analyze seaports' activity with the use of basic economic concepts remain very

limited. Business cycles are considered a profound economic theory and, stimulate a wide

area of research and the formulation of indicators of economic activity. To day, the

cyclicality of port activities is to a certain extent theoretically implied but there are no

relevant empirical studies. We take a first step towards filling this anticipated gap.




PortEconomics member Thomas Vitsounis, along with Persa Paflioti (University of the

Aegean), Efthimios Roumpis (University of the Aegean), Ioannis Tsamourgelis (University of

the Aegean) and Michael Bell (University of Sydney) examine the business cycles in the

Australian port industry for an extended period of 19 years. Through non-parametric

modeling, authors identify port cycles, their turning points, and their relation to the

Australian business cycles.

The results underline the differences between export and import ports cycles and highlight

the necessity of more detailed analysis on a commodity level. The relation between port

cycles and business cycles does not provide any significant signs -contrary to the common

belief- of a leading or lagging behavior. This indicates the inappropriateness of GDP as a

trustworthy indicator for port throughput modeling and forecasting.

The study Characterizing the cycle in seaports: An Australian case study was presented

during International Association of Maritime Economists Annual Conference (IAME2015),

held in 24-26 August in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[PortEconomics.eu]

Traversing the seas

03/09/2015

For centuries, sailors used this low-tech tool to navigate the world’s oceans.

No GPS? No problem. The traverse board helped sailors chart their course across the seas in the days before

electronic navigation. Photo courtesy of Gjalt Kemp Scheepsantiek/ships-antiques.com


http://www.porteconomics.eu/downloads-section/category/4-conference-papers?download=425:2015-iame-paflioti-et-al



On a 16th-century vessel in the middle of the ocean, survival depended on captain and crew

knowing their ship inside out, from the nuances of the rigging to how the boat behaved in

adverse weather. One thing they didn’t always know was the ship’s exact location. Without

landmarks, sailors navigated using a practice called dead reckoning.

To do this, the sailors continually measured two vital parameters—speed and direction.

Direction was determined with a compass. For speed, the sailors commonly used the “chip

log” method: they threw a line with a wooden float affixed to its end off the ship’s stern.

The line was knotted at regular intervals, and sailors timed how many knots came off the

spool in a given amount of time (hence the origin of the term knots). Then, starting from

their last-known location, the navigator used the speed and direction measurements to plot

their current position in the ocean.

This required a lot of data, and since most sailors were illiterate, they needed some method

other than writing to record their measurements for the navigator.

This 17th-century traverse board still has its bone pegs, attached by twine. Photo courtesy of Gjalt Kemp

Scheepsantiek/ships-antiques.com




The solution for centuries was the traverse board. The rounded top of the board bore a

painted 32-point compass pattern. Each point featured a line of eight holes radiating from

the center of a circle. The lower, square portion of the board had horizontal lines of holes

under columns that represented the speed of the ship in knots.

During each standard four-hour watch, the crew measured the ship’s speed and direction

eight times, every half hour, and recorded them using pegs: direction under the appropriate

compass point on the rounded top; speed along the bottom. After each watch, the navigator

collected the data, logged it, plotted it on a chart, cleared the board, and then began the

process again.

The boards were widely used throughout Europe and Scandinavia from the late 15th century

until the mid-19th century. But they were only as good as the direction or speed

measurements, which could be inaccurate since they didn’t account for factors such as the

variability of ocean currents. Still, long before electronic charts and GPS, the traverse board

and other simple tools were enough to guide intrepid explorers such as Christopher

Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan across uncharted oceans.

[Hakai Magazine]

Ghana: APM Terminals invests $1.5 billion in new Tema Port

02/09/2015

A $1.5 billion investment in Ghana’s new port by APM Terminals and its partners

is unconventional in its scope, and will have a major role to play in maintaining

the pace of one of the world’s fastest growing countries.




The new port will be a modern multi-purpose facility located on what today is an

undeveloped beach adjacent to the existing port.

It will make room for an initial 3.5 million TEU, have allocated space for a variety of terminal

operators and eventually boast 17 berths for vessels of all types, including much larger

container vessels than those it can handle today.

“This investment is unusual because of its size and the scope of the project,” says Peter

Votkjaer Jorgensen, Head of Africa Port Investments for APM Terminals. “This is a long-term

investment for us. It is an infrastructure package that will completely renew Ghana’s critical

infrastructure and help the country support its expected future economic and population

growth.”

The Tema port project includes dredging of the entrance channel & harbor basin in order to

accommodate vessels with 16m draft, construction of a 3,850m long breakwater,

reclamation of some 120 hectares of land for new container yard and other common user

facilities as well as the expansion of the Accra-Tema Motorway which will require an

additional $200-300 million in investment.

“We have been in Ghana for nearly ten years now, operating the current Tema port together

with our partner Bolloré Africa Logistics. In that time we’ve developed a good relationship

with the government, so they know how we do business and that they can expect us to not

only deliver a world class port, but also operate it, professionally,” says Peder Sondergaard,

Head of the Africa-Middle East region for APM Terminals.


NASSCO launches new US-built LNG powered boxship

02/09/2015

Set to rousing marching-band accompaniment, NASSCO celebrated the

christening and launch of Perla del Caribe on Tuesday.

The vessel is the second in a series of US built, LNG-powered container vessels under

construction for Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE).

Launched from NASSCO's slipway San Diego, California, the yard boasts that the new

vessels will cut particulate matter by 98% compared with an HFO-powered ship, as well as

recuding CO2 emissions by 72%, “the equivalent of removing more than 15,700 cars from

the road”. The vessel has also been credited with helping to fuel the US maritime industry

and the estimated 500,000 men and women it employs.

“The launch of Perla del Caribemarks a momentous step forward for the future of US

maritime, using green technology to ensure the products we deliver are transported safely




and efficiently, all while using the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation,”

said Tom Allegretti, chairman of the American Maritime Partnership (AMP).


How China is taking major steps to control shipping air

pollution

02/09/2015

Author: Barbara A. Finamore, Senior Attorney and Asia Director, Natural Resources Defense

Council (NRDC)

In a series of announcements over the weekend and on Monday, the Chinese

government took several important steps to control emissions from shipping

activities, which until now have been virtually unregulated.

Vessels and ports are major

sources of the severe air pollution

choking many coastal cities in

China, which is home to eight of

the ten busiest (and most densely

populated) port cities in the world

in terms of freight volume.

First, the National People's

Congress adopted a number of

amendments to China's 15-year

old Air Pollution Prevention and

Control Law. Among other things,

these provisions, for the first

time, provide a clear legal

foundation for the government to

tackle shipping emissions.

The amended Air Pollution Law now requires the fuel used by ships while at berth to comply

with government-set requirements for meeting emission standards. All new terminals should

provide shoreside electric power so ships can turn off their diesel engines while at berth.

Vessels must be certified for meeting national air emission standards in order to operate in

China. The law prohibits the sale or import of nonconforming marine fuels and imposes

heavy fines on violators. More details can be found in this summary.

Most importantly, the law provides clear legal authority for national government's transport

authority, i.e. China's Ministry of Transport (MOT), to set more stringent air pollution

requirements for key port regions by designating them as Emission Control Areas (ECAs).




The establishment of special Emission Control Areas is a key strategy for reducing air

pollution. The North American ECA, for example, is anticipated to reduce particulate

pollution by 74 percent by 2020.

Two days after the Air Law amendments were enacted, MOT issued a detailed Shipping and

Ports Pollution Prevention and Control Implementation Plan. This is the first time that MOT

has taken concrete action to address air emissions from ships and port activities. The

implementation plan includes specific goals and timetables for setting up emission control

zones around key port regions, constructing shore power facilities and promoting the use of

liquid natural gas (LNG) by vessels. More details can be found in this summary.

Summary of shipping-related provisions in China’s Clean Air Law Amendments

(Final, August 29, 2015)

AQSIQ: General Administration of Quality, Inspection and Quarantine of China

CCS: China Classification Society

SAIC: State Administration for Industry and Commerce

MOT: Ministry of Transportation

Finally, China's National Energy Administration issued a new grid and electricity distribution

system plan that, among other things, requires shore power facilities to be installed at 50%

of China's pilot ports by 2020.

In a related development, the U.S. and Chinese governments have launched a new initiative

on green ports and vessels. The purpose of this initiative is to work together to expand the

environmental benefits of available technologies, experiences and best practices to mitigate

emissions from ports and vessels and their impacts on air quality and climate.




These exciting developments are a very important step towards meeting China's air pollution

reduction and public health goals. NRDC stands ready to assist in these efforts.

[Huffington Post]

Panama: Leaks sink deadline for canal expansion

02/09/2015

All hands on deck after structural flaws circulate on social media

Pictures emerged over social media showing water leaks in one of the new lockheads of the Panama Canal.

(SinDramas.com)

The contractor overseeing the Panama Canal expansion is in deep water. After severe

leakage problems became visible, the relevant state authority, the Panama Canal Authority

(ACP) issued a warning that it would not accept the current works until all flaws are fixed.

The ACP posted the message on August 21, after pictures emerged over social media

showing water leaks in one of the new lockheads on the Pacific shore. United Groups for the

Canal (GUPC), the consortium responsible for the expansion works, is investigating the

matter to give Panamanians an answer on whether the new section of the waterway will be

ready by April 2016, as authorities promised.

GUPC and Montgomery Watzon Harza, the firm tasked with designing the new lockheads,

are currently working on a strategy to repair the crack and seal the leak. [We aim] for the

best quality. We won’t accept low-quality repairs. This is a new lockhead, and we expect it

to work properly. We aim for a lifespan of 100 years,” Panama Canal administrator Jorge

Luis Quijano told HispanTv.




According to Panamanian daily La Prensa, GUPC admitted that the images were real but

assured the consortium was already working to correct the flaws.GUPC informs that the

pictures published in social media are from one of the lockheads on the canal’s Pacific side.

Technical personnel are handling this issue. The goal of the testing phase is precisely to

detect any problem that requires adjustment or reinforcement,” said the company in a press

release.

For its part, the ACP stated that the GUPC is the sole responsible party for the expansion

works, and ACP won’t accept anything short of perfection: “Our technicians are closely

monitoring [developments] so that every detail complies with the quality standards.”

On August 22, the ACP and GUPC met to discuss the next steps to fix the damages. GUPC

representative Guissepe Quarta explained to canal authorities the extent of the leak and its

possible solutions.

ACP Chief Engineer Jorge de la Guardia, praised GUPC’s swift reaction to the errors and

highlighted that company representatives tasked with the design immediately flew to

Panama to review the situation. “We already know how to fix the problem,” De La Guardia

assured.

In the following weeks, Panama Canal spokesmen will offer further details on when the

repair work is expected to be wrapped up, as well as if the deadline for completion will be

postponed.

[PanAm Post]

Just published: New guidance on maritime pilotage

02/09/2015

North P&I Club has joined forces with the International Maritime Pilots’

Association (IMPA) and the UK Maritime Pilots’ Association (UKMPA) to produce

guidance and advice for the shipping industry on navigating with a pilot on

board.

The first document, Pilotage Series – Master Pilot Information Exchange, covering the critical

master-pilot information exchange, was published on 1 September 2015. The guidance is

being produced as part of the 170 million GT, ‘A’ rated club’s popular range of loss

prevention briefings.

North loss prevention executive Simon MacLeod says, ‘Investigations into a number of our

recent high-value admiralty claims found that contributing factors included a breakdown in

communications between the pilot and bridge team, a failure to discuss and understand the

proposed voyage plan, and failure to share critical information. Through this unique

collaboration with IMPA and UKMPA, we have been able to share our knowledge and


http://www.nepia.com/media/289177/LP-Briefing-Master-Pilot-Information-Exchange-September-2015.pdf



experience to develop clear guidance which we hope will assist both pilots and bridge

teams.’

UKMPA chairman Don Cockrill says, ‘All ship masters and pilots are aware of the paramount

importance of conducting appropriate master-pilot exchanges before and during passages

under pilotage. However, the content and relevance are often overlooked, especially on

smaller ships or on ships that call frequently at the same port. This guide is relevant to

masters and bridge teams on all ships regardless of size, type or trade’.

IMPA secretary general Nick Cutmore says, ‘I believe these guidelines will be invaluable for

our members and for the shipping industry as a whole. I would also like to give credit to

North for undertaking this initiative. Such collaboration is invaluable and we have worked

with the Club for many years on these useful areas of work.’

The first briefing on the master-pilot exchange covers the information which should be

conveyed during the initial discussions between the bridge team and the pilot. ‘Only through

the sharing of critical information relating to the characteristics and equipment of the vessel

and the intended manoeuvres can a mutually agreed and understood plan, which ensures

the safe movement of the vessel, be developed and implemented,’ says MacLeod.

It is the latest in a series of industry collaborations undertaken by North. Other examples

include an online Maritime Threats and Incidents service with Gray Page, the First Call US

medical treatment service with Hudson Tactix and Shuman Consulting Services, and pre-

employment medical schemes with leading clinics in the Philippines and Ukraine. Many of

the club’s loss prevention publications are also co-authored with leading industry authorities.

[North of England P&I Club]

Obama, Arctic drilling, and highways and icebreakers

02/09/2015

The Arctic, viewed by some as a burgeoning frontier for offshore energy - and,

therefore, tanker shipping - has presented a study in contradictions for the

Obama administration.

On one hand, Obama has sought to make “climate change” and greenhouse gas reduction a

signature issue. But, conversely, the President has supported the initiatives of Shell to drill in

the Chukchi Sea- to the north of Alaska - much to the chagrin of staunch environmentalists.

The subject turned to icebreakers - something of a sore-point for Shell due to the July 2015

grounding of the breaker Fennica, en route to the region - during Obama’s beginning of

September visit to Alaska. In an acknowledgement of the resource challenges that have

hampered the US Coast Guard (USCG), which is now down to two functioning breakers, the

President has come out in support of funding for additional USCG icebreakers, which will




require legislative action. He is also seeking to speed up funding to advance the delivery of

the USCG’s next ice-breaker from 2022 to 2020.

Though Shell’s drilling, if it comes to pass (some $7 billion has already been sunk into its

efforts including the 2008 payment for leases) will require ice breakers on standby, Obama’s

position has broader implications. In the Administration’s prepared statement, the inference

of the US playing catch-up with other nations promoting shipping in the region is strong. It

said, in part, “The growth of human activity in the Arctic region will require highly engaged

stewardship to maintain the open seas necessary for global commerce and scientific

research, allow for search-and-rescue activities, and provide for regional peace and

stability…”

Senators from Alaska, though still hoping for a comprehensive Arctic programme, that would

address shipping issues including renewed efforts to properly chart the waters, from the

Obama camp, were still pleased. Senator Daniel Sullivan remarked: “The highways of the

Arctic are paved by icebreakers. Right now, the Russians have superhighways, and we have

dirt roads with potholes.”


Idle containership fleet hits a year high

02/09/2015

The idle containership fleet has hit a year high, closing in on the 500,000 teu in

capacity mark according to Alphaliner.

The analyst said in its weekly newsletter that the idle fleet of vessels over 500 teu had

surged 100,000 teu over a two-week period to reach 175 vessels with 484,000 teu capacity

on 24 August.

It said the number of idle vessels had increased across all segments apart from the 2,000 –

3,000 teu range. In the smaller size range of 1,000 – 2,000 teu there are now 48 idle

vessels, an 11-month high.

Larger vessels have also been affected as lines blanked sailings on the Asia – Europe trade

and nine ships in the 8,500 – 13,900 teu range are reported to be idle.

With the market remaining weak the idle fleet is expected to grow. “The lacklustre demand

is expected to worsen further in October: linked to the end of the peak season, more

planned sailing cancellations and upcoming service suspensions are expected to further push

up idle vessel figures,” the report said.





Australia: Government failed to follow up 'inadequate'

responses to Tiwi Islands port

02/09/2015

The Federal Government received "inadequate" responses about a controversial

port development on the Tiwi Islands but failed to follow up on its concerns,

Freedom of Information documents show.

Storage tanks located on Port Melville, on the Tiwi Islands, can store up to 30 million litres of diesel fuel.

The documents, obtained by online publication New Matilda, shows correspondence from

Shane Gaddes, Department of Environment's Compliance and Enforcement Branch, to

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt. The briefing, dated May 2015, highlights a history

of concerns about Port Melville.

"The responses received from the Tiwi Land Council and Ezion are considered to be

inadequate to allay concerns about potential impacts on nationally protected matters," the

document said. The ABC revealed Port Melville had been built in an environmentally

sensitive area, home to dugongs and sea turtles, without an environmental impact

statement.

The FOI document shows a history of the federal department chasing answers. It alleges

the Tiwi Land Council stated in November 2014 the port development was "rehabilitation

work" due to "an extreme weather event in 2007".




When a show cause letter was given, the Tiwi Land Council responded saying "Ezion

Holdings... was taking the action to the site". The department then chased Ezion in

December, and received "insufficient" and "inadequate" information. "The information in

these reports is limited and the department considers that the assessment of potential

impacts... within these reports is inadequate." But the department failed to follow through

on its concerns.

"The department should have issued another show cause letter to Ezion Holdings," the

document said. "However as the case had been transferred to another section [of the

department] due to workloads, this did not occur." It said a show cause has since been

issued in May, after the ABC report.

'No danger to the environment from a federal perspective'

Federal environment secretary Bob Baldwin said Ezion had done the wrong thing, and the

right approvals were now being conducted. "The Federal Environment Act is a matrix of

evaluation on the endangered species, the impact on the environment," Mr Baldwin said.

"Each and every aspect is being investigated. "They have found they [Ezion] haven't gone

outside of it, even though there was no application put in at the time.

"Applications are being processed, there has been no danger to the environment from a

federal perspective in the processes. That doesn't mean to say what they [Ezion] have done

has been correct. It hasn't been."

Mr Baldwin said the issue served as a reminder for developers to always seek the right

approvals, but said it was not his call whether Ezion would be prosecuted. "I will leave that

to the Territory government, to the Minister and to the courts to determine," Mr Baldwin

said.

[ABC]

Perspectives on the Arctic

02/09/2015

With the polar icecaps retreating and clearer water appearing, high latitudes

beckon those looking for new maritime and energy opportunities.

The technology, in the shape of ice strengthened tonnage and powerful propulsion would

appear to be on the side of those wishing to accept these challenges. Neverthless, as was

illustrated last week at ShipArc 2015 in Malmoe – a joint World Maritime University – IMO-

Arctic Council international conference on “Safe and Sustainable Shipping in a Changing

Arctic Environment” these regions are not for the unprepared or faint-hearted.




The new Polar Code, the problems of Arctic governance, sustainable Arctic business, the

protection of the marine environment, training, capacity building and the role of science and

research were all covered at this wide-ranging and well-attended meeting. It served to

emphasise the complexities of shipping in these areas, which are still poorly charted and

provided with few navigational aids and are as hazardous as they have ever been with their

ferocious weather and intense cold, where emergency response and search and rescue

facilities are barely existent.

But the conference also underlined the extreme environmental fragility of these latitudes

and the need for everyone taking ships into these areas to be doubly aware of the

environmental risks. The lack of shore reception facilities for every sort of waste, the

frightful consequences of oil spills in cold or icy waters and the need for a high level of

technical self-sufficiency were spelt out. A grim glimpse of reality was the fact that the high

Arctic waters were already being polluted with plastic waste and other marine debris, carried

northwards by currents.

The Polar Code is new, yet to be implemented, but should be thought of as an enhancement

of other IMO regulations and should not be viewed in isolation. It is “just one piece of the

jigsaw for the governance of the Arctic. Ship operators, in the Arctic as elsewhere, would

like the reassurance of global regulation.The conference, however served to emphasise the

considerable number of different interests that can be involved in high-latitude maritime

operations, along with the need for a more collaborative approach between the various

parties that can be reasonably described as “stakeholders”. The need to reconcile this wide

spectrum of interests, from the needs of the coastal communities to the political

requirements of the

Arctic states illustrate something of the complexities of the situation as Arctic shipping

increases.

Other challenges identified at this conference included the shortage of real expertise in ice

operations and navigation, with this hitherto being reserved to a small number of specialist

shipping operators. The sharing of best practice and data are seen as essential parts of the

capacity building as the Arctic opens up. The collapse in oil prices, however, may mean that

the pace of activity, certainly in the energy field, will somewhat slacken.

[BIMCO]

Australia: Cairns industrial port proposal ruled out over Great

Barrier Reef impact fears

02/09/2015

Parliamentary committee recommended making Cairns a ‘priority port’ but

Queensland government says it is committed to keeping reef off ‘in danger’ list




The Queensland government has ruled out major development of a port in Cairns that would

jeopardise Australia’s pledge to UNESCO to limit industrial impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.

A parliamentary committee on Tuesday recommended the government consider making

Cairns a “priority port”, which would pave the way for capital dredging to enable shipping

channels.

But the minister for state development, Anthony Lynham, said the government would not

waver on its commitment to limit industrial development to four other ports as part of its

conservation plan to keep the reef off the world heritage “in danger” list.

“I appreciate the committee’s consideration of the [sustainable ports development bill] and

their report will be considered in full and in detail,” he said. “However, the government will

not divert from elements of the bill which form part of our Reef 2050 plan. “The Queensland

and Australian governments committed to UNESCO for only four priority regional ports, and

that commitment must stand.”

The infrastructure, planning and natural resources committee moved unanimously for the

government to consider adding Cairns to the “priority” list, weighing up the economic

benefits to the region beside impacts on the reef and its commitment to UNESCO.

The UN’s world heritage committee decided last month not to list the reef as in danger but

noted that “restrictions on port development and its associated activities such as the

disposal of dredged material” were among promises that “require translation into

legislation”.

“The world heritage committee welcomes … limiting capital dredging for the development of

new or expansion of existing port facilities to within the regulated port limits of the major

ports of Gladstone, Hay Point/Mackay, Abbot Point and Townsville,” it said.

WWF Australia reef campaigner Richard Leck said Lynham’s statement was welcome. “It

would be a breach of trust and a significant risk to the world heritage status of the reef were

Queensland to go back on its commitment and expand its priority ports from four to five,”

Leck said. “The current ports bill doesn’t prevent reasonable tourism development in the

future to enhance Cairns’s reputation as a world-class holiday destination. What the ports

bill does is protect Cairns from becoming an industrial mega-port.”

The bill would not prevent dredging for a cruise ship terminal but the cost of disposing of

seabed waste onshore, as required by law, is estimated to run to hundreds of millions of

dollars.

In a submission to the parliamentary committee on the bill, Ports Australia said restrictions

on development in areas such as Cairns “will be detrimental to the Queensland economy,

particularly in regional areas”. A group called Friends of the Port of Cairns claimed that

deepening the shipping channel could add $5bn to the local economy over 25 years.




Cairns and Far North Environment Centre director Josh Coates said: “Industrialising Cairns

port is not the way forward for economic prosperity.” “In fact the opposite is true – listing

Cairns as an industrial priority port like Gladstone or Abbot Point will send the wrong

message to potential tourist visitors and could have negative impacts on the economy.”

[The Guardian]

U.S.: Trident Seafoods opens $40 million facility near Port of

Savannah

02/09/2015

Trident Seafoods, a leading seafood producer in Alaska and the Pacific

Northwest, has opened a $40 million production and distribution center in

Carrollton, S.C., bringing more business to the Port of Savannah.

The new facility will support 175 full-time jobs and has the capacity to produce 50,000 tons

of products a year for the U.S. market. "We are excited to add Trident to our family of

customers, especially within the valuable refrigerated cargo market," said Georgia Ports

Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz. "This is an important win for Georgia and for the

Port of Savannah."

GPA’s Garden City Terminal currently has 84 refrigerated container racks and 814 chassis

plug-ins, giving it the capacity to power 2,830 reefers at a time. Another 20 racks — adding

480 new slots — should be complete by the end of the year. "Savannah’s refrigerated cargo

infrastructure is unmatched on the U.S. East Coast and is an important asset as Georgia

seeks to lure more business in the area of food production," said Foltz.

The Georgia location opened last month. The new facility will streamline the production

process for a growing number of breaded and battered seafood items. It will also offer

logistical advantages for major regional markets, the statement said.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development assisted Trident in acquiring the land

necessary to expand and repurpose an existing food processing facility and arranged local

workforce training in food safety and seafood processing skills.

[Cargo Business News]

Turkey: Petkim Port to receive first containers January 2016

02/09/2015

The first stage in the development of the $400 million Petkim Container Port in

Izmir, Turkey is set to be complete within months with the first containers




arriving in January 2016, according to comments from Kenan Yavuz, the head of

developer SOCAR Turkey Enerji.

Petkim Port. Image: Daily Sabah

"Petkim container port will become the third largest port in Turkey and the largest one in the

Aegean Sea,” Yavuz said. “It will be able to receive the largest container ships carrying up to

11,000 containers. Some $400 million was invested in the construction of the port, some

$300 million of which was invested by Petkim.”

The first phase will deliver capacity of 1.5 million TEU slowly increasing to 4 million TEU with

further expansion. Once complete the port will offer a 15.5 meter draught capable of

attracting the largest modern vessels and will be operated by APM Terminals under a 28

year concession.

“Turkey is a very important high growth market which we are pleased to enter together with

strong and well respected business partners such as Petkim Petrokimya Holding A.S. and

SOCAR,” Kim Fejfer, the chief executive of APM Terminals said.

The container port is only a small part of SOCAR’s development plans for the Petkim

Peninsula and is being developed alongside the large scale Petkim Petrochemical Complex.

“To date, investments of SOCAR in Turkey's economy have exceeded $10 billion as part of

the Value-Site project in the Petkim Peninsula. In the period from 2008 to 2018 investments

of SOCAR in Turkey, including investments in the TANAP [Trans-Anatolian pipeline] project

will exceed $20 billion. Thus, SOCAR is the largest investor in Turkey's economy. The total

investment portfolio of SOCAR in Turkey amounts to $20 billion," Yavuz explained.

[Port Finance International]




Sweden to instate new tonnage tax regime from 2016

01/09/2015

Sweden will introduce a new tonnage tax regime in 2016 that aims to encourage

more ships to sail under the Swedish flag, under which only around 100 vessels

are registered.

The new scheme is pending approval from the EU Commission, after which it will come into

force on July 1, 2016 at the earliest. The Swedish Shipowners’ Association has called the

tonnage tax regime a “lifeline” for the country’s shipping industry in previous media reports.

Once the regime is instated, a vessel’s income will be calculated at a flat rate based on its

net tonnage and not on the fiscal results of its trading activity. The new legislation also

means it will not be possible to switch between tonnage taxation and conventional taxation

in order to obtain tax advantages, once the new scheme is in place. To qualify for tonnage

taxation, vessels must be over 100 gross tonnes, must trade outside of domestic waters and

be owned, managed and flagged in Sweden.

“I am pleased that we can introduce a tonnage tax scheme to benefit the maritime cluster,

and I look forward to having more ships sailing under the Swedish flag. We know that this is

very important to employment in the sector,” said Anna Johansson, Sweden’s minister of

infrastructure, in a statement today.

[Splash 24/7]

Colombia seeks to ship coal via Caribbean ports after Venezuela

border crisis

01/09/2015

The Colombian government is studying the possibility of permanently shipping

coal from its Norte de Santander mines, usually shipped through Venezuela, via

its Caribbean ports of Santa Marta and Barranquilla instead, the Colombian

transport ministry said Sunday.

This comes after Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro closed a key stretch of the country's

border with Colombia indefinitely from August 20 after a skirmish between smugglers and

the Venezuelan army.

The Colombian transport ministry met with coal miners who ship their fuel through

Venezuela on Sunday to discuss alternatives and agreed to issue a document Tuesday

outlining the logistics available to export coal within Colombia. Among the solutions is to

transport the coal by truck and rail to the ports of Barranquilla and Santa Marta, in addition

to using barges to carry it on the Magdalena River to the Caribbean ports.




"We are building solutions in the logistics chain to export coal through the Atlantic Coast. In

today's meeting in Barranquilla it was made clear that the ports in this city and in Santa

Marta have enough capacity to meet the market and to export coal from the Norte de

Santander," transport minister Natalia Abello Vives said, adding that the intermodal

alternatives will be profitable as long as transport costs do not outweigh international coal

prices.

One of the options the ministry is seeking is to ship between 500,000-600,000 mt/year of

coal on the river through the port of Gamarra in the Cesar region to the Port of Barranquilla.

To make this possible, by Tuesday about 600,000 cubic meters of earth will have been

dredged to make barge transport possible in the short term.

"Now we are also building an additional solution through the rail and road system so that on

Wednesday September 2, in the city of Cucuta, the exporters have the pathways and costs

to serve this market in a sustained manner in Colombia," the minister said.

The border closure has shut in as much as 35,000 mt of Colombian coal from being

exported through Venezuelan ports as of Friday and there are currently as much as 200,000

mt of coal stocks in the Norte de Santander available for shipping, according to data from

the Colombian transport ministry.

The Caribbean ports in question will be the 7 million mt/year capacity Carbosan coal

terminal in the Port of Santa Marta and the RiverPort and Compass in Barranquilla. The Port

of Barranquilla is currently upgrading its infrastructure to meet environmental regulations in

order to export coal.

The Norte de Santander region produced 1.094 million mt of coal in the first half of 2015,

5% lower from the same period last year, according to data from the Colombian national

mining agency (ANM).

[Platts]

Canada: Draft agreements on Sidney container terminal plan

01/09/2015

Cape Breton Regional Municipality has struck draft agreements with the

Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs over potential development of a

container terminal and expansion of the cruise ship terminal.

At a general committee meeting Tuesday, councillors voted unanimously to approve the

agreements in principle and to send them to the next regular council meeting for ratification.




Talks with the Mi’kmaq on a third deal covering the municipality’s proposal to take control of

the water lots and land under Sydney Harbour from the federal government are expected to

begin later this month, Mayor Cecil Clarke told reporters after the meeting.

“The two phases are really what are called interim arrangements that have been

accommodations that are made specific to the projects at hand,” Clarke said. Under terms of

the Phase 1 deal to expand the cruise ship terminal, the municipality has agreed that all

construction projects will include a requirement for five per cent of the costs to benefit

Mi’kmaq.

As well, the municipality agreed to tax breaks on Membertou’s Heritage Park and Sports and

Wellness Centre, both of which sit on municipal land. The properties will be taxed using

residential rates, except those portions that are considered private sector or commercial

space, which will pay commercial tax rates.

In the case of the Sports and Wellness Centre, a large multi-rink arena under construction,

the tax revenue will be a bonus, said Clarke. If the rink was built by the municipality and sat

on municipal land, it would not be taxable at all.

Under the Phase 2 agreement, the municipality has a deal with the federal government to

acquire about 505 hectares of government property next to the greenfield site on Sydney

Harbour to support a proposed container terminal. About 101 hectares will be handed over

to the Mi’kmaq as an accommodation, said Clarke. Those lands will be fully taxable

commercial properties, he said.

Chief Terry Paul of Membertou and Chief Leroy Denny of Eskasoni have agreed to the deals

because they didn’t want to delay the municipality’s proposed cruise ship terminal expansion

or a container terminal project, said Clarke, and they provide opportunities for joint

development. “Those are significant steps forward,” he said.

Although councillors unanimously agreed to the deals in principle, there was no discussion

before the vote. However, the deals were discussed at a closed-door, in camera session

before the general committee meeting.

The municipality is marketing the container terminal site internationally through its Port of

Sydney Development Corp. and a private-sector group called Harbour Port Development

Partners. The municipality has also set aside $6 million toward the cruise ship terminal

expansion, which will require funding from the federal and provincial governments before it

can proceed.

[The Chronicle Herald]




More than 350,000 migrants crossed Mediterranean this year

01/09/2015

More than 350,000 migrants have risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean

this year, and 2,600 have died while making the perilous journey to Europe, the

International Organization for Migration said Tuesday.

The latest figures from IOM show that 234,778 migrants had landed in Greece and another

114,276 in Italy, with most of the other arrivals split between Spain (2,166) and the island

of Malta (94). The figure from 2015 already dwarfs that of 2014, when 219,000 made the

crossing throughout the entire year.

The majority of arrivals in Greece were Syrians fleeing the country's protracted civil war,

while Eritreans topped the list of migrants who have landed in Italy. Aside from deaths

among those trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean, IOM noted that another

1,000 people had lost their lives this year along various other migration routes, including the

Sahara desert and South Asia's Bay of Bengal.

[AFP]

NASA satellites capture three hurricanes marching across

Pacific

01/09/2015

NASA satellites this week captured images of three simultaneous hurricanes over

the Pacific, the first time in recorded history that three Category 4 storms march

across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean at the same time.




Finally, Huricane Jimena, the easternmost of the three storms, carried maximum sustained

winds of about 130 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. Jimena is

now a Category 3 and forecasts predict it to also move northeast of Hawaii.

[gCaptain / NASA]

Latin America: China’s Central Bank to set up $10 billion

investment fund

01/09/2015

China's Central Bank will establish a $10 billion fund for investment in Latin

American countries, it said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would jointly manage the fund with policy lender

China Development Bank (CDB) and the country's foreign exchange regulator. Areas in

which the fund will invest include manufacturing, hi-tech, agriculture, energy and mining

companies, as well as infrastructure projects.

The funding will come from China's foreign exchange reserves - which are the world's

largest - and the CDB, the central bank said.

[Reuters]

Carrier M&A back in vogue

01/09/2015

The proposed merger of COSCO and CSCL could spark further container

consolidation

Hot on the heels of one government-backed carrier being reportedly being put up for sale

(Singapore’s NOL), China is preparing to merge two of its state-owned shipping entities,

China COSCO and China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL).

COSCO and CSCL currently sit in sixth and seventh place respectively in the rankings of

carriers by operated teu. Based on today’s fleet the combined entity would comfortably

move into fourth place with a total fleet in excess of 1.5 million teu, giving a world share of

around 8%.

The rationale for a merger is entirely sound from a financial viewpoint and calls into

question why China has persisted with the two-carrier strategy for so long. Between them

the two carriers have lost approximately $900 million in operating losses (EBIT) from

container operations in the previous five years (see Figure 1). It makes little sense to have




two national (i.e. state-controlled) carriers competing fiercely against one another and

against non-Chinese carriers in the same markets.

Fig 1: EBIT profit/loss at China COSCO and CSCL 2010-14

[US$ millions]


However, there is a hint of double-standards about this story as it was Chinese competition

regulators that blocked the proposed P3 alliance between the world’s three largest carriers

Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM last year. After blocking P3 on competition grounds, it

seems now that China is happy for the number of major carriers to shrink by one.

Shippers should also be wary that if the merger goes ahead it has the potential to cause a

domino effect on existing carrier alliances and inspire further carrier mergers in Asia that will

be damaging to industry competition.

The first question to ask is: what will happen to the carrier alliances the two lines participate

on the East-West trades? COSCO is a long-standing member of the CKYHE Alliance

alongside K Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin and Evergreen; while CSCL is a part of the Ocean Three

consortium alongside CMA CGM and UASC that was set-up at the start of this year.

Fig 2: Alliance market shares of East-West trades (July 2015)





A merger of the Ocean Three and CKHYE alliances would mean a combined market share

above 40% unlikely to be approved by regulators. Instead, both will be faced with a major

void to fill were they to lose either Cosco or CSCL to the other carrier group as each carrier

provides around one-quarter of their respective alliance’s fleet. Depending on which alliance

wins or loses its Chinese member, Ocean Three and CKYHE will decline to a market share of

just 13% or rise to a market share of 28%, based on today’s vessel deployment.

Any sale of NOL-APL, part of the G6 Alliance, would also adjust the market shares,

depending on who buys it. The next question to consider is: if and when the merger occurs,

will other countries be forced to consider similar consolidation of their shipping lines? While

none can match the operating losses of the two Chinese carriers, carriers from other Asia

countries have struggled more than their European counterparts in recent years. A merger

between COSCO and CSCL makes sense for China, but the ramifications for the container

shipping industry could be far-reaching.

[Drewry Supply Chain Advisors]

Thailand: Australian and Thai journalists found not guilty of

defaming Thai navy

01/09/2015

Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, of news website Phuketwan, were

accused in case that alarmed human rights and press freedom groups

An Australian editor and his Thai reporter colleague were found not guilty on Tuesday of

criminal defamation for reporting on the alleged involvement of Thai naval officers in the

trafficking of Burmese Rohingya refugees.

“We’re delighted. It’s such a wonderful day for media freedom and Thai justice. When the

judge read out the verdict there was a huge sense of relief. And there was a round of

applause when we left the court house,” Alan Morison, editor of independent news website

Phuketwan, told the Guardian on the telephone. He and reporter Chutima Sidasathian faced

up to seven years in jail and thousands of US dollars in fines.

Morison said that the year-long case had deeply affected the duo’s daily life in Phuket, a

tourist hotspot in the Andaman Sea. “We’ve felt constant pressure one way or another,” he

said before the court session. “We’ve conscientiously used work as a diversion and evidently

being sued by an organisation as mighty as the Royal Thai navy, you can’t help but feel

some the pressure.”

The case – widely condemned by human rights and media freedom groups – has damaged

Thailand’s reputation. Morison, who is 67, had said a guilty verdict would be a death

sentence for him at his age.




A note posted before the trial on the Phuketwan website said: “Two Phuketwan journalists

face judgement day in the trial triggered by the Royal Thai navy so the island’s online news

source of preference is suspended from September 1. The future of the site has yet to be

determined.”

The defamation claims and charges under the Computer Crime Act, which bans online

material considered a threat to national security, relate to a 41-word paragraph from a

Reuters news agency report on Rohingya refugees, which was republished in Phuketwan.

Reuters, a huge news organisation of more than 2,600 journalists which won a Pulitzer prize

for its reporting on the Rohingya issue, has not been charged.

Thailand’s navy has denied its officers were involved in human trafficking. But since the

charges were made against the two journalists, the Thai government has launched

investigations into official complicity into the trafficking trade and a senior military official

was arrested.

Morison said he was going to think over the next few days whether to continue the

Phuketwan website. “We certainly want the work we were doing on behalf of the Rohingya

to continue in one way or another.” He said he was pleased that the judge ruled that the

Computer Crimes Act should be used against hackers and cybercrime and not for journalists.

Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia campaigns director, said the acquittal

was a positive decision. “But the fact is that they should never have had to stand trial in the

first place let alone face the possibility of years in jail. The Thai authorities have again

shown their disregard for freedom of expression by pursuing this case.”

Thailand’s ruling junta, which toppled the government in a coup last May, has stifled the

media and banned political gatherings. Phil Robertson, deputy director for the Asia division

of Human Rights Watch, was observing the court and said there “was a great deal of

elation.”

“This nightmare is finally over. It is an important victory for media freedom in Thailand,” he

said. But, he warned: “There is further work to be done in amending the Computer Crimes

Act and doing away with criminal defamation.”

[The Guardian]

India: New ro-ro terminal in Pipavav opened

01/09/2015

Booming auto production in India has spawned a new ro-ro terminal that has

opened in Pipavav in the northwestern state of Gujarat.




The terminal is jointly operated by NYK Auto Logistics (India) and Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd,

a subsidiary of APM Terminals.

The first shipment of 1,380 Figo Aspire cars manufactured at Ford's new facility in Sanand,

Gujarat, were loaded onto NYK's Grand Dahlia on 26 August. Car makers including Ford are

planning to increase exports from the west coast and Pipavav is expected to become a hub

for surging exports. The terminal, which is equipped with a pre-delivery inspection centre,

can handle 250,000 vehicles annually.

General Motors and Tata Motors have production facilities in Gujarat while Maruti Suzuki,

India's leading automaker, is in the process of opening a new manufacturing centre, said

Sandeep Chawla, executive director of NYK Auto Logistics (India). "Not only Gujarat, but we

hope to handle vehicles rolling out of facilities in the north as Pipavav is ideally placed as a

hub port for exports," Chawla told IHS Maritime.

Hitherto auto shipments in Gujarat were confined mainly to Adani Ports' Mundra facility. As

vehicle production is poised to rise, the timing of the launch of the new facility in Pipavav is

ideal, Chawla said.

"With the launch of the Pipavav ro-ro terminal, the NYK Group is set to provide complete

outbound logistics for finished cars from automobile clusters in northern and western India,"

the company said in a press release.

[IHS Maritime]

Black Sea: Tanker and bulker in late night collision

01/09/2015

Just before midnight last night, oil and chemical tanker Paros Wind (17,060 dwt,

built 1998) collided with bulker CS Jaden (38,101 dwt, built 2-12) in the Black

Sea around 8 miles from the entrance to the Bosporus Strait.

The bulker had left Istanbul carrying wheat on its way to Port Said, Egypt when it collided

with the tanker which was on its way from Tuapse, Russia to an unknown destination.

Turkish coastal authorities sent a fast rescue boat to the scene and 10 tugboats. The vessels

have both towed to a location just off Kumkoy, north of Istanbul, where they remain

anchored. Both vessels are being assessed for damage, while no crew members were

reported to be harmed.

Paros Wind is owned and operated by Leader Shipmanagement in the Ukraine, while the CS

Jaden is owned by Bahamas-based Campbell Shipping Company.

[Splash 24/7]




China: Ministry of Transport releases guidance for controlling

ship and port pollution

01/09/2015

China’s Ministry of Transport has officially released an implementation plan to

control ship and port pollution for the next five years.

According to the release the ministry said by 2020 sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides

emission in the regions of Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Rim will be

decreased by 65%, 20% and 30% respectively as compared with 2015. About 90% of ships

will use shore power at major ports while about 50% of container terminals, passenger roro

terminals and cruise terminals will be capable of providing shore power. All the coal and iron

ore dockyards at major ports will also have wind and dust suppression facilities.

By 2020 all the major coastal and river ports and shipyards will be capable of disposing tank

washings and ship sewage.

The ministry is currently promoting the development of ECAs in major port areas, and is

working on these regulations.

[Splash 24/7]

Five things you need to know about the new container weight

verification regulation

01/09/2015

The new SOLAS regulation about verified container weights will become effective

as of 1 July 2016. It will affect the entire ocean freight industry.




Although many details of its implementation are still unclear, parties that are involved in

containerised shipping would do well to prepare themselves for the new situation. This blog

provides an overview of the essential facts that everybody in the industry needs to know.

1. The new regulation will increase safety

Misdeclared container weights have a serious impact on the stability of vessels, trucks and

terminal equipment. This can pose a threat to the safety of workers in the industry and even

endanger lives. Misdeclaration appears to be widespread: when containers were weighed

after incidents, the total often came out different than on the cargo manifest. The long

struggle with this problem has now resulted in amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea

(SOLAS) Convention (Chapter VI, Regulation 2, to be precise) to ensure that all container

weights are declared accurately.

2. All containers should be weighed

The principle of the new SOLAS regulation is simple: as of 1 July 2016, it will be mandatory

for all containers to be weighed before they are loaded on board. The weight of a container

can be determined using one of two methods. A container can be weighed after it has been

packed, or alternatively all the contents of the container can be weighed and the weights

can be added to the container’s tare weight. Estimating the weight, in whatever way, will

not be permissible.

3. The entire supply chain will be affected

Most parties that are active in the containerized supply chain will be impacted in some way

by this new regulation. Vessel operators and terminal operators are required to use verified

container weights in stowage plans. In order for them to receive the information in a timely

manner, shippers will have to share the verified weight with the booking agent and/or

forwarder. This will obviously require new agreements about procedures, as well as

modifications to existing IT systems.

4. Providing accurate weights is the shipper’s responsibility

The shipper (or a third party under the shipper’s responsibility) is required to weigh the

packed container or all of its contents, depending on the selected method. The weighing

equipment that is used must meet national certification and calibration requirements. The

SOLAS amendments demand that the weight verification must be ‘signed’: a specific person

must be named and identified as having verified the accuracy of the weight calculation on

behalf of the shipper. A carrier may rely on this signed weight verification as being accurate.

5. Declaration procedure details may vary from port to port

The verified gross weight of a container must be declared in a signed shipping document.

This can be part of the instructions to the shipping company or a separate document, like a




declaration including a weight certificate. In either case, the document should clearly state

that the gross weight provided is the ‘verified gross mass’. Carriers will provide shippers with

cut-off times within which the carrier must receive the required container weight verification

from the shipper for ship stowage planning. These cut-off times may vary by carrier, may

vary depending on the operational procedures or requirements of different terminal

operators, and may vary from port to port. Containers without a verified gross mass will not

be loaded on board.

Further reading

World Shipping Council: Guidelines for Improving Safety and Implementing the

SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirements

Cefic / CLECAT / ESC / Global Shippers Forum: Industry Guidance for the

implementation of SOLAS Chapter VI, Regulation 2, and the associated IMO

Guidelines regarding the verified gross mass of a container carrying cargo

UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency: Guidance on the verification of the gross mass of

packed containers (Maritime Guidance Note MGN 534)

[DAMCO]

China unveils high-speed rail line to North Korean border

31/08/2015

China opened a new high-speed rail line to the North Korean border Tuesday as

Chinese officials inch ahead with plans to encourage trade with their erratic

neighbor.

But some analysts see the new route more as a reflection of China's infrastructure-building

programs and a demonstration of Beijing's "soft power" in the region rather than an

expectation of an immediate, large surge in tourism and trade with its hermetic neighbor.

The 129-mile route between Shenyang city in the northeast and the Chinese border city of

Dandong will allow train travel at up to 156 mph and cut the journey from 3 1/2 hours to 60

minutes, the official New China News Agency said in announcing the line's trial opening.

Dandong is the key hub for trade and tourism between North Korea and China; more than

600 border trade enterprises are situated in Dandong and trade with North Korea accounts

for 40% of the city's total trade volume.

China is the main trading partner of North Korea and has taken the regional lead in seeking

to curb its neighbor's nuclear intentions. But the Pyongyang government's renegade

weapons development in recent years and its threats to attack perceived enemies have

strained relations with Beijing and slowed the progress of efforts to build up special


http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/WSC_Guidelines_for_Implementing_the_SOLAS_Container_Weight_Verification_Requirement.pdf

http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/WSC_Guidelines_for_Implementing_the_SOLAS_Container_Weight_Verification_Requirement.pdf

http://www.cefic.org/Documents/IndustrySupport/Transport-and-Logistics/Best%20Practice%20Guidelines%20-%20General%20Guidelines/Joint-Industry-Guidance-Mandatory-Weighing-of-Containers-Cefic-ESC-CLECAT-GSF.pdf



http://www.safety4sea.com/images/media/pdf/MGN534.pdf

http://www.safety4sea.com/images/media/pdf/MGN534.pdf



economic zones intended to pair North Korea's cheap labor with Chinese capital and

technological know-how.

Nevertheless, China announced last week that it was preparing to open a border trade zone

in Dandong. The Guomenwan trade zone is to open in October during the North Korea-

China Economic, Trade, Culture and Tourism Expo, the Liaoning provincial government said.

The zone was built at a cost of $156 million and covers about 240,000 square feet. Chinese

residents living within 12 miles of the border will be allowed to exchange commodities at the

zone with North Koreans and no taxes will be levied on purchases of about $1,250 or less a

day.

There have been tensions and uncertainty in the nearly four years since the unpredictable

Kim Jong Un took power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December 2011. The

younger Kim has at times suspended cooperation with the foreign-financed joint venture

parks along the Chinese and South Korean borders in protest of criticism from Beijing and

Seoul over North Korea's violation of international nuclear nonproliferation agreements.

China has been laying high-speed rail across Asia for the last decade and the new

Shenyang-Dandong line is a relatively small and remote stretch of the grand plan for a

vibrant new Silk Road across the continent, said Scott Kennedy, director of the Center for

Strategic and International Studies' project on Chinese business and political economy.

"This is not that big a deal, economically. It may actually help the city of Shenyang more

than it helps Chinese-North Korean relations," Kennedy said.




He called Shenyang a Rust Belt capital beset with large and inefficient state-owned heavy

industries in a region mired in debt and recession. The rail line construction that began in

2010 probably provided much-needed jobs in the region, Kennedy said.

Although the special economic zones China has created in North Korea have failed to take

off under Pyongyang's reform-resistant leadership, the link could eventually prove important

to overall connectivity in the region, Kennedy said.

"China is doing what the United States did in the 1950s, on an equally grandiose scale, in

building roadways, rail and airports to connect the country internally and with countries

around it," he said.

The new Shenyang-Dandong line is more an expression of good intention to expand

investment in infrastructure throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond than a reflection

of the prospect for increased economic collaboration with Pyongyang, said Wei Liang, a

professor of international relations and trade at the Middlebury Institute of International

Studies in Monterey.

"Overall expansion of Chinese overseas investment is the end goal. In North Korea, the

leader and the policies are very full of uncertainty, especially in its interaction with China

over the past decade," Wei said. "Policies can change overnight, so investments are very

risky for Chinese companies, especially private companies."

North Korea is highly dependent on trade with China, which accounts for 80% of the

reclusive nation's trade volume, Wei said. Last year Pyongyang's exchange of goods with

China amounted to $6.86 billion — $4.02 billion in imports and $2.84 billion delivered to

Beijing, Wei said.

"I think the Chinese government increasingly feels like North Korea is more of a liability than

an opportunity," she said. "Especially within the context of significantly improving relations

between South Korea and China."

Russia last year announced several collaborative projects with Pyongyang, including a rail

line from the southern port of Khasan to North Korea's Rason terminal. Moscow also wrote

off most of North Korea's $11-billion debt in 2012.

But China has been the most steadfast in keeping the door open to mutually advantageous

economic projects with North Korea, apparently in hopes of curbing Pyongyang's nuclear

developments by providing jobs and incentive for the kind of sweeping economic reforms

necessary to transform the country into a state that can feed and provide for its 24 million

people.

[Los Angeles Times]




Carriers and their terminals: What to do with family silver?

31/08/2015

The strategies of the major shipping lines regarding terminal ownership are

surprisingly varied, with carriers facing a dilemma with their container terminal

ownership strategy: whether to sell, to buy, to do both – or do nothing, according

to Drewry’s Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Report 2015.

Much has been said and written about the financial challenges facing most major shipping

lines, and a number of them have been selling some of their container terminal assets in

order to raise cash. It is tempting to assume that this is a common strategy for all carriers

but this is not the case, according to Drewry.

Assessing the strategies of global alliances – 2M, Ocean Three, G6 and CKYHE – with regard

to terminal ownership is complex due to the varying approaches each has, Drewry says in

the report. For example, Maersk Line has no terminal interests as all activity of this nature is

carried out by sister company APM Terminals, operating at arm’s length. Leaving aside

Maersk, when it comes to terminal ownership, the remaining 15 carriers forming the four

alliances by no means conform to the herd mentality often levied at them when it comes to

ordering bigger ships.

Five carriers have so far followed the predicted route and engaged purely in the disposal of

some of their terminal assets, or stakes in those assets: Hanjin, Yang Ming, K Line, Hyundai

and MOL.

Three have sold stakes in terminal assets but at the same time are also still making terminal

acquisitions: TIL/MSC, CMA CGM and NYK. In the case of TIL/MSC and CMA CGM, minority

stakes in their existing portfolios have been sold, but the overall strategy remains to

continue investment in the terminal sector – using terminal companies that have separate

identities to their shipping line parents and a degree of independence.

Two carriers have only indulged in buying more terminal assets: the Cosco Group and China

Shipping which, given their respective financial pressures, might have been expected to sell

some of their terminal assets, Drewry suggests. Instead, they have recently made some

significant additions to their portfolios. China Shipping acquired a 20% stake in HPH’s

Terminal 8W in Hong Kong, a 10% stake in Yang Ming’s Kao Ming terminal in Kaohsiung and

a 24% stake in APMT’s Zeebrugge terminal. Cosco acquired a 40% stake in Terminal 8W

and a 10% stake in the Kao Ming terminal.

Should the rumoured merger between the two companies go ahead, it will be interesting to

see what is done with the respective terminal portfolios. If merged, the combined equity-

adjusted throughput of their terminals would make them the fifth largest global/international

terminal operator, potentially serving as a springboard to further expansion of the terminals

business.




There are five remaining carriers with no recent change with regard to terminal assets.

These vary widely in their positions:

OOCL sold its terminals in Vancouver and New York nearly 10 years ago at the high

of the terminal buying frenzy, but since then has held on to its remaining terminals in

the Far East and North America;

APL has a portfolio of eight terminals in Asia and North America and has made no

moves as yet, although with the parent shipping line reportedly up for sale, the

terminal assets are coming under close scrutiny;

Evergreen has 13 terminals across the globe and has adopted a no change strategy

so far;

Hapag-Lloyd only has a minority stake in one terminal in Hamburg, although

significantly has been reported as interested in acquiring more terminal assets;

and lastly, there is UASC which has no terminals and has not as yet chosen to invest

in any, although it has been linked to at least one greenfield project (in Egypt).

Drewry predicts that given the ongoing financial pressures in the liner industry, further

change in carriers’ terminal portfolio ownership seems inevitable, but it may not necessarily

be a case of simply selling off the family silver.


Nicaragua: The Rama versus the canal

31/08/2015

Author: Emily Liedel

One small indigenous community is fighting the powers behind the Nicaragua

Canal—will they win this round?

On a Sunday morning on the Nicaraguan island of Rama Cay, Becky McCray visits with her

family in her parents’ home over a breakfast of beans, coconut rice, coconut bread, and

thick coffee, with the grounds still swimming in the bottom of the cup. The food was

prepared over an open fire in a wall-less kitchen building; the aroma of coffee mingles with

the wood smoke and the salty sea breeze.

Like other traditional homes built by the Rama, Nicaragua’s smallest indigenous group,

McCray’s parents’ wooden home sits on stilts. The planks of the floor and walls are fitted

together loosely, so you can see chickens scratching underneath from inside. The roof is

made of thatched palm leaves and the windows are square holes, with solid wood shutters

to close out violent evening winds.




Ten of McCray’s 11 adult siblings still live on Rama Cay, a 22-hectare island that rises from

the water like a set of oversized goggles about a kilometer and a half off Nicaragua’s

Caribbean coast. The island is home to roughly half of the Rama’s 2,000 or so community

members; McCray and another sister traveled from Bluefields, the closest city, 20 minutes

by motorboat up the coast. Some of their children, aged two through 11, race through the

house. The family members joke with one another in Rama English (also known as Rama

Cay Kriol), the native language for most members of the Rama community. This English

creole is incomprehensible to speakers of standard English.

One brother talks about his upcoming fishing trip—he’ll fish from a traditional wooden dory

on the open ocean and sell his catch on the mainland. Fishing is his primary source of

income, as is common for Rama men. Elsewhere on the island, both men and women are

preparing their canoes for a trip inland to plant corn, beans, and breadfruit in their farmland.

Unlike most Rama, Becky McCray has a college degree and speaks fluent Spanish. In

between laughing with her siblings and nephews, she discusses her work as a legal defender

for indigenous communities in Nicaragua’s Caribbean region. Recently, most of her personal

and professional energy has been focused on protecting the Rama’s territory from being

bisected by an interoceanic canal.

“Where they are going to put the canal is where our people go to fish. They survive by

that,” she says.

The Rama travel their coastal homeland with wooden dories and small motorboats, which would be eclipsed by

megaships traversing the Nicaragua Canal. Photo by Emily Liedel




The Rama’s territory, along Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, stretches roughly from the Costa

Rican border north to just south of Bluefields. Their territory is shared with the Kriols,

descendants of Africans who adopted the Rama way of life centuries ago. The Rama-Kriols

hold a communal title not only to the nine settlements where community members live, but

also to the 4,843-square-kilometer territory where they fish, hunt, and farm. If current

construction plans for the canal go ahead, that territory will be severed in two.

The massive Nicaragua Canal planned by a secretive Chinese billionaire, Wang Jing, and

managed by his company, the Hong Kong Nicaragua Development Group (HKND), will

stretch from the Pacific coast, across Lake Nicaragua, to the Caribbean coast and is destined

to wipe at least one Rama village off the map. It will also make travel between the northern

and southern parts of the territory impossible, at least as the Rama travel now, in small

motorboats and wooden canoes. The Rama’s fishing grounds will no longer be safe in the

path of 400-meter-long megaships approaching the canal. Rama farming techniques involve

elaborate field rotation and substantial travel to reach the fields; the canal will both reduce

the available farmland and render much of it inaccessible.

Although the Rama community is among the least powerful groups in Nicaragua, an

international court case currently underway gives them and other canal opponents a

glimmer of hope.

The proposed route of the Nicaragua Canal cuts across the country and bisects Rama-Kriol territory. Illustration

by Mark Garrison

Nowhere is concern about the canal more acute than the village of Bangkukuk Taik, about

two to three hours south of Rama Cay by motorboat over the open ocean. The isolated

village is home to about 140 people, including 15 or so who still speak Rama, an indigenous

language in the Chibchan family related to languages spoken as far south as Colombia.




Bangkukuk Taik is among the most isolated of the nine villages in the Rama-Kriol territory

and is the only place where there are regular classes in Rama for children. The Rama in

Bangkukuk Taik have the deepest knowledge of traditional farming, hunting, and medicine,

like how to hunt deer at night and how to collect iibu seeds and use the oil as a cough and

headache medicine.

Under the current canal route, Bangkukuk Taik will become the canal’s Caribbean-side deep-

water port and will be called Punta de Águila. (Bangkukuk Taik means “Eagle Point” in

Rama; Punta de Águila has the same meaning in Spanish.) The wooden houses on stilts

will—critics assume, based on the proposed port location—be destroyed and replaced by

high-rises and port infrastructure. It’s hard to imagine people used to walking barefoot and

hunting and fishing for their livelihood fitting into the slick, modern city represented in

mock-ups of what the finished Punta de Águila will look like. The current residents of

Bangkukuk Taik will be forced to move.

McCray has been trying to prevent that from happening for more than two years. The day

before the canal concession law was adopted by the National Assembly, in June 2013, she

and four other members of the Rama-Kriol Territorial Government traveled from Bluefields

to the capital, Managua. They hoped to testify against the law they feared would destroy

the traditional way of life in the Rama territory.

Just as their bus to Managua was preparing to depart, three police officers boarded and

demanded McCray and her companions gather their belongings and disembark. McCray

insisted on seeing the police officers’ identification. They refused. After a tense 10-minute

standoff, the group was allowed to go. The following day, McCray and her companions

watched in dismay as the law was adopted. “We didn’t get a chance to say anything,”

McCray remembers. “They didn’t respect us, they didn’t give us a chance to defend what we

were claiming.”

Nicaraguan human rights lawyer Maria Luisa Acosta is McCray’s primary source of legal

support and has represented the Rama in all of their legal challenges related to territory

since the late 1990s. Acosta filed a legal challenge to the canal concession law on July 1,

2013, just weeks after it was approved. Like the 31 other legal challenges to the law—based

on environmental factors, human rights, and national sovereignty—the Rama’s legal case

was dismissed. The Supreme Court said the lawsuits were invalid because the law passed

the National Assembly with a wide majority and because the major development project

took precedence. (Acosta and other canal opponents think the challenges failed because

Nicaragua’s Supreme Court is controlled by the ruling Sandinistas.)

According to both international and Nicaraguan law, indigenous people must give their “free,

informed, and prior consent” to any project that will affect the community’s territory or way

of life. According to Manuel Coronel Kautz, the president of Nicaragua’s Canal Authority, the

National Assembly had documents from the Rama-Kriol government giving permission for

the canal to be constructed prior to the vote that granted the concession—though he has

not been able to produce those documents. Telemaco Talavera, the spokesperson for the




Canal Commission, has similarly stated to the Nicaraguan press that the Canal Commission

has all the necessary permission from the Rama-Kriol to carry out studies and other actions

on their territory.

The Rama-Kriol government disagrees. In a press release just after Talavera’s

announcement, it clarified that it had provided permission solely for environmental and

social-impact studies. The first permit was granted in November 2013—several months after

the concession was signed into law. The Rama-Kriol government claims that it yielded to

pressure from the national government and only granted the permit after environmental

consultants contracted by HKND and escorted by the military entered Rama territory,

causing alarm within the communities.

Citing the government’s failure to obtain free, informed, and prior consent to use Rama-Kriol

lands as part of the canal construction before passing the concession law, Acosta filed a

complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in June 2014. The

following December, she asked the IACHR for precautionary measures, which would prevent

work from proceeding on the canal until the Rama had been properly consulted. The IACHR

is a part of the Organization of American States and hears complaints about human rights

abuses from around the Americas.

In March, Acosta, McCray, and five other canal opponents traveled to Washington, DC, for

the IACHR hearing. McCray represented the six indigenous groups whose territory is

affected by the canal route; the others spoke about canal-related environmental impacts,

police repression of protesters, and other human-rights violations. McCray was nervous as

she read her remarks in Spanish. She cited three articles in the concession law that explicitly

give the Canal Commission the right to expropriate indigenous land, and then she accused

the government of violating international norms in the way it conducted community

consultations, perhaps most blatantly by paying villagers—many of whom are illiterate—to

come to the meetings. (Those villagers, Acosta claims, were then pressured into signing

documents that they could not understand.)

Thomas Antkowiak, a law professor at Seattle University and a specialist in the Inter-

American human-rights system, believes the Rama’s case against the canal is, under

international and even Nicaraguan law, ironclad. But that doesn’t mean the IACHR will halt

canal construction, which officially began in December 2014 on the Pacific coast, or order

that the concession law be changed or overturned. Like other international organizations,

the IACHR depends on its member states. In lower-profile cases, Antkowiak says, member

states usually abide by the commission’s decisions. However, when international law

conflicts with a high-profile project, it’s more complicated.

In the case of Belo Monte, a major hydroelectric dam in Brazil’s Amazon, indigenous leaders

filed a complaint in front of the IACHR in 2010, and in 2011 the commission found in their

favor, ordering the Brazilian government to stop all construction on the dam until the

indigenous communities had been properly consulted. The Brazilian government announced

that it would ignore the ruling and then broke off its relationship with both the commission




and the Organization of American States. The IACHR subsequently backtracked, saying in a

statement that the indigenous leaders’ complaints were not really about the lack of

consultation but about whether or not the dam should be constructed at all. The commission

removed its requirement that the government consult with the indigenous groups.

Residents of Bangkukuk Taik rely on their territory for hunting, fishing, and farming yucca, bananas, sugar cane,

beans, corn, and other crops. Photo by Alex Garcia

In the Nicaragua Canal case, the IACHR issued a summary of the March proceedings in late

June, which included a confirmation that the commission had asked the Nicaraguan

government for proof that they adequately consulted with the Rama and studied the

environmental impacts. In Acosta’s view, this is a step in the right direction. “It’s the first

time someone is demanding that the government provide information,” she says. “None of

the [other] international organizations or regulators have done so yet.”

The deadline for Nicaragua to respond to the request is confidential and is released neither

to the press nor to the petitioners. As of publication, neither the Nicaraguan representatives

nor the IACHR will comment on where the case stands. When it’s issued, the actual reply

from the Nicaraguan government—which the IACHR will base its recommendations on—will

also be confidential. If the government fails to respond or ignores the recommendations, the

commission can recommend that the case proceed to the Inter-American Court of Human

Rights, based in San José, Costa Rica. The court’s rulings are legally binding for the 25

states that have accepted its jurisdiction—which includes Nicaragua.

Although the concession agreement with HKND doesn’t make any special references to

indigenous territories, Kautz, the president of Nicaragua’s Canal Authority, insists that




indigenous peoples will be treated differently than regular landowners. Aside from the

Rama, whose territory would likely be the most impacted, at least four other indigenous

groups would face disruption if the canal proceeds. Nicaraguan law explicitly bars indigenous

land from being bought or sold; that means the land will be rented, not expropriated, says

Kautz. Yet, critics say that because this is not expressly stated in the concession law, the

land is vulnerable to seizure.

In fact, Acosta and other opponents say that, as written, the canal concession law gives

HKND the right to expropriate land anywhere in the country, regardless of whether or not

the canal is built. Acosta worries that the Rama will lose their territory—displaced by golf

courses and beach resorts—even if the Nicaragua Canal is never built.

The last time the Rama territory was seriously threatened was in the late 1990s, when the

Nicaraguan government planned a dry canal (an overland route for cargo) that would have

bisected the community’s territory. Legal challenges against the dry canal were

unsuccessful, but it was never built for political and economic reasons.

Maybe the Rama will dodge unwanted development a second time. But it will take a

sustained fight from the community and international support. The case at the IACHR is

probably the Rama’s best chance for meaningful international intervention, but it remains to

be seen whether or not this glimmer of hope is enough to protect their territory and keep

their culture alive.

[Hakai Magazine]

Greek coastguard rescues 2,500 migrants over three days

31/08/2015

Greece's coastguard has rescued about 2,500 migrants and refugees off the

country's eastern islands over the past three days, authorities said on Monday, as

the flow of people trying to cross into Europe continued unabated.

Greece has seen a surge in the number of refugees arriving by rubber dinghies from

neighboring Turkey, with aid agencies estimating about 2,000 crossing over daily this

month. Most hail from conflict-ridden places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The numbers of migrants being picked up by the coastguard have been rising steadily over

the past week and the figures for the past three days are at the higher end of those seen

this summer, a coastguard official said.

All interceptions of migrant boats in Greek waters are classified as coastguard rescues even

if the vessels are not in any danger or need any help. After a hiatus of a few days last week,

Greek authorities resumed ferrying Syrian refugees to the mainland by ship on Saturday and

the latest group of 2,500 refugees arrived at the port of Piraeus earlier on Monday.




Most of them are expected to make their way to the Macedonian border as part of their

journey into northern Europe, suggesting larger crowds could amass at the border in the

coming days after numbers shrank last week.

Tensions peaked at the Greek-Macedonian border this month when Macedonian police fired

teargas and stun grenades to drive back angry crowds. Overwhelmed Macedonian

authorities later gave up and have since allowed refugees to cross over.

Conditions at the Greek-Macedonian border remain calm at the moment but a new flare-up

of tensions could emerge if Hungary closed its borders, Stathis Kyrousis, head of Doctors

Without Borders' migration operations in the Balkans told Reuters.

Hungary - which has been scrambling to reinforce borders to cope with the migrant influx -

plans to tighten migration laws this week and set up holding camps near Serbia. "If Hungary

closes its borders, there is a greater chance that Skopje will follow and this will make

tensions more likely," he said.

More than 300,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean this year, including nearly

181,500 arriving in Greece and 108,500 in Italy, according to the U.N. High Commissioner

for Refugees.

An average of 1,700 migrants crossed into Greece daily in July, with the number topping

2,000 daily in August, Kyrousis said. The arrivals in recent days were continuing at the

higher end of levels seen this summer, with 4,000 people arriving on the island of Lesbos on

Saturday alone, he said.

[Reuters]

Montara oil spill still tars Australia-Indonesia relations

31/08/2015

The Australian Government has failed in its responsibility to investigate the

effects of the country’s worst-ever oil spill from an oil rig, from which devastated

fishing villages and communities across Indonesia still feel the impact today, the

Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said.

Back in 2009, the Montara oil spill spewed oil and gas into waters of the Timor Sea for 74

days. Millions of litres of oil polluted the ocean, creating oil slicks which soon stretched over

the horizon towards Indonesia. Australian authorities applied 184,000 litres of dispersant,

some of which ALA says are extremely toxic, to the oil as it flowed north.

Since then, local economies in the closest region of Indonesia, Nusa Tenggara Timur, have

reported losses totalling billions of Australian dollars, with communities also reporting




widespread sickness and health conditions they claim are caused by the oil spill, according

to ALA.

Australian Lawyers Alliance National President Greg Phelps said it was absolutely shameful

that there was still no proper independent research conducted in affected areas to assess

the damage caused by the Montara spill.

“Despite being specifically asked by the Indonesian government for assistance last year, the

Australian government has made no effort of any kind. This is appalling, given the

importance of the Australian-Indonesian relationship,” Phelps said.

“Australia has turned a blind eye to the damage that has burdened our closest neighbours,

despite the fact that oil flowed from an Australian-registered company, in Australian waters,

under the failed watch of an Australian regulator. At the moment, it looks like Australia

intends to do nothing and is waiting for the issue to quietly go away.”

'More than AU$1.5 billion per year is being lost'

A report by Dr Mukhtasor of Indonesia’s Centre for Energy and Environmental

Studies found that more than AU$1.5 billion per year is being lost across the region every year since the spill.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance believes that a full, independent study of the

affected areas, funded by the polluting company and the Australian government, in partnership with the provincial governments of East Nusa Tenggara and those affected, should occur.

Source: Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA)

Phelps said that in 2010, the Montara Commission of Inquiry (which had powers almost

equivalent to a royal commission) found that ‘evidence before the Inquiry indicated that

hydrocarbons entered Indonesian and Timor Leste waters to a significant degree.’

He said however that despite such findings, there has been no effort to investigate this

finding further, and to follow the oil.

The ALA’s report found that within a fortnight of the spill, Indonesian fishermen and coastal

communities reported that the oil was fouling their fishing grounds, killing fish and

destroying seaweed farms. People began experiencing itchy skin conditions, inexplicable

bruising and severe food poisoning requiring hospitalisation.

“Nothing is stopping the Australian government from making an offer of assistance to

Indonesia, especially given that, prior to the 2013 election, Prime Minister Tony Abbott

described Australia’s relationship with Indonesia as ‘perhaps our most important

relationship’,” Phelps said.


http://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/ourwork/the-montara-oil-spill



“We encourage the government to recognise the nature of this relationship and finally act to

find out what happened as a result of the Montara oil spill.”


Colombia: Puerto Bahia multimodal terminal up and running

31/08/2015

Colombia-based port developer and operator Pacific Infrastructure Ventures Inc.

(Pacinfra) has put into action its USD 600 million Puerto Bahía port facilities in

Cartagena, Colombia, with the port’s multi-modal terminal officially commencing

liquid and general bulk transport operations on August 28.

Puerto Bahia multi-modal terminal. Image: Pacinfra.

The port consists of two terminals: a hydrocarbon terminal and a dry cargo terminal. The

hydrocarbon terminal has an initial storage capacity of 2.4 million barrels, in eight storage

tanks for both naphtha and crude oil and has the capacity to load Suezmax tankers (up to a

one million barrels capacity). In addition, it has a truck loading/unloading station and a

barge terminal offering complete flexibility in hydrocarbon transportation logistics.

The bulk loading terminal has a 300-meter-long dock and can handle post-Panamax ships. It

has an area of 12 hectares available for storage with room for future expansion. The port is

accessed by sea, river, and land in the Bay of Cartagena, on the north side of Barú Island

and has a natural draft of 20 meters.

Ronald Pantin, CEO at Canada’s Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., a major shareholder at

Pacinfra, said: “The official opening of the port is the fulfillment of our strategy to promote

infrastructure projects that are complementary to our exploration and production

investments. Puerto Bahia adds flexibility to our operations and supports our belief that the

right infrastructure project begets progress for the entire country. The port offers an




alternative oil export point for Colombian producers as well as providing import/export and

storage capabilities in close proximity to the new Reficar refinery.”

Puerto Bahía is an initiative of Pacific and the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the

investment arm of The World Bank.


U.S.: First phase of new deepwater port off Louisiana coast

under development

31/08/2015

A state agency that for seven years has been trying to develop a deepwater port

off the coast of Plaquemines Parish announced today the first phase of the

project is finally moving forward.

The Louisiana International Deepwater Gulf Transfer Terminal Authority, or LIGTT, held a

news conference today in New Orleans to announce that a management team known as

LIGTT Midstream Holdings will develop a dry bulk terminal three miles off the coast of

Plaquemines Parish and 20 miles south of Venice.

The terminal will serve as a drop-off point, where an emerging generation of mega-cargo

ships can transfer bulk cargo like grains, beans and fertilizer to smaller ships and barges

that will carry them upriver and to other ports.

“This day is the end of a long journey and the beginning of a dream,” says state Sen. A.G.

Crowe, R-Pearl River, who was a driving force behind the creation of LIGTT in 2008 and

represents the Plaquemines Parish district where the project is being developed.

The first phase of the project is expected to cost $25 million in privately raised capital and is

a fraction of what was initially envisioned for the deepwater port, which has a total price tag

of $10 billion. Phase one was originally supposed to be a 55-acre platform that would serve

as a transfer point for huge container ships that carry upward of 18,000 containers—more

twice as many as existing vessels carry.

A LIGTT spokesman says it makes more sense to develop a smaller, less costly phase of the

project first, one that can start generating revenue so that banks will be more willing to

finance the more costly phases of the project later.

Subsequent phases envisioned for the project include facilities to serve liquid bulk,

hydrocarbons, the LNG industries and containers. The first phase will be financed with a

combination of traditional financing and investment capital from a joint venture, the

participants of which were not identified today.




LIGTT Midstream Holdings is led by attorney Tom Thornhill and developer Jim Woodworth.

Among the companies providing engineering, design and permitting services to the project

are Bechtel Corp., Evans Graves Engineers, and Waldemar Nelson.

Developers are planning to file for permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the

U.S. Coast Guard in the coming days. They estimate that permitting will be complete within

a year and that the facility could be operational as early as late 2016.

The ambitious project has been questioned by skeptics over the years and opposed by

existing ports along the Mississippi River. Today’s announcement did little to suggest any of

the naysayers have come around.

[Greater Baton Rouge Business Report]

Cameroon: French-Chinese consortium wins Kribi container

terminal concession

31/08/2015

A consortium formed by Bolloré Africa Logistics, French container line CMA CGM,

and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has won a 25-year concession

to operate the recently constructed container terminal at the port of Kribi in

Cameroon.

Kribi Deepwater Port Phase I. Credit: World Maritime News

This was unexpected because, in April 2015, the government removed this consortium from

a shortlist of operators considered to manage the terminal, after advice from a government

commission set up to recommend an operator.




According to Reuters, the report said: “The commission accepted the offers of International

Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) and APM Terminals (APMT) as being the most

advantageous for Cameroon and the central African sub-region.”

The French-Chinese consortium reportedly proposed an investment of 623.47 million euro to

win the bidding for the container terminal concession. With a 15-meter draught and direct

access to the sea, the port of Kribi is the first in Cameroon with the capacity to handle 8,000

TEU container ships.

The Bolloré Africa Logistics / CMA-CGM / CHEC consortium will manage the container

terminal, offering a 350m wharf built and equipped by CHEC. An additional 700m wharf is

due to be built in Phase 2 of the port development, scheduled to be completed within the

next five years.

CMA CGM will use the new terminal as a transshipment hub for the Gulf of Guinea region

and Central Africa.

CHEC completed the Kribi Deepwater Port Phase I Project back in April 2015. The first phase

included the construction of a breakwater and two container berths, dredging and land area

backfilling, and the construction of relevant supporting facilities.

[World Maritime News / Container Management]

Indonesia: Port of Rotterdam considers joint venture in Kuala

Tanjung Port project

31/08/2015

The Port of Rotterdam has gone into partnership with Indonesian port

corporation Pelindo 1 on the planned new Kuala Tanjung deep water port near

the city of Medan in North Sumatra in the Strait of Malacca.

The Dutch port and Pelindo 1 have agreed to carry out a joint feasibility study into the

project for the execution of which Rotterdam will set up a specialised unit with staff in

Indonesia and Rotterdam. The Port of Rotterdam authority said that, on the basis of this

study, it would decide whether or not to form a joint venture with Pelindo 1 for realisation of

the project.

It compared the project with the joint venture it formed with the Sultan of Oman in 2003 for

the development of the port of Sohar in Oman and also with Porto Central in Brazil, in which

it is also involved via a joint venture agreement.

"The development of a sea port in Indonesia is consistent with the port authority's foreign

policy that, among other things, is focused on creating opportunities for Dutch companies

abroad," it said.




It noted that the city of Medan was situated on one of the most important shipping routes in

the world and that Indonesian president Joko Widodo had made it clear that he wanted to

strengthen his country's maritime sector as part of the government's efforts to promote

economic growth.

A Port of Rotterdam spokesman told IHS Maritime that no date was available at this point

for completion of the feasibility study. "We are investigating what the possibilities are over

there," he said. "We are going to investigate the market."

The Jakart Post reported recently that China's Tianjin Port Company and Japan's Marubeni

group had also expressed interest in participation in the Kuala Tanjung project. It said that,

in the first phase of development of the project, Pelindo 1 hoped to bring into service a new

$344 million multi-purpose terminal in the first quarter of 2017, with annual container

handling capacity rising to 2 million teu by 2019.

[IHS Maritime]

Indonesia: Kuala Tanjung Port to be modernized and expanded

31/08/2015

State owned port operator Pelindo I said it will modernize and expand the port of

Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra to accommodate large vessels.

The port of Kuala Tanjung in the regency of Batubara was originally built to serve the

logistics for PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum). Pelindo said construction will start this

year to be completed in 2018 and it will cost around Rp4 trillion.

The port of Kuala Tanjung is strategically located to facilitate shipping in the busy

commercial lane of Malacca strait. It could serve as a port of call mainly for cargo ships . So

far large ships passing through the Malacca strait, called only at Singapore and Malaysian

ports.

President Director of Pelindo I Bambang Eka Cahyana said the port of Kuala Tanjung has the

potential to become an international port as it has a deep port basin and with the growing

industrial zone in the city. "Development of the port of Kuala Tanjung would contribute to

economic development in North Sumatra especially the regency of Batubara," Bambang

said.

He said expansion and modernization of the port of Kuala Tanjung would facilitate

shipments of industrial products from the region and export commodities from the Sei

Mangke Economic Zone (KEK) in the regency of Simalungun.




Bambang said PT Pelindo I wants to build an integrated port that could accommodate ultra

large container vessels (ULCC). ULCCs have a capacity of around 18,270 Teu and would

need a port basin with a depth of at least 17 meters, he said.

The port would also be linked with rail track for cargo transport, logistic park for storage,

labeling and repacking facility and residential area for port and industrial workers. Bambang

said the port of Kuala Tanjung is included in the blur print of National Logistics System

based on a presidential decree No 26 of 2012. Kuala Tanjung would be the country’s first

hub port, he said.

Among big projects of Pelindo I are Phase I and II of Belawan container terminal, Batu

Ampar container terminal, Kuala Tanjung Multipurpose terminal and Kuala Tanjung

Industrial Zone.

Kuala Tanjung Industrial Gate

Pelindo I has expanded cooperation with Port of Roterdam, the Netherlands, by signing

agreement on the expansion of the port of Kuala Tanjung. "Under the cooperation

agreement, Port of Rotterdam would provide experts and consultants for commercial,

operational and financial aspects," Chief Executive Officer of Port of Rotterdam, Allard

Castelein said during a visit here.

[ANTARA]

Asia: Coastal megacities at nature's mercy

31/08/2015

From Mumbai to Shanghai, Asia's rapidly expanding coastal megacities face an

ever-growing threat from more powerful storms.

Insurers and disaster risk experts say booming infrastructure and business investment, often

with little regard to the threats from building close to the sea or rivers, are heightening the

dangers.

Hurricane Katrina's rampage through New Orleans 10 years ago rewrote how insurers and

city planners viewed the risks from a direct hit by a major storm, particularly the damage

caused by storm surges. Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and flooded 80 per cent of

New Orleans with a storm surge of up to 8m. It remains the largest windstorm loss and the

costliest disaster in the history of the global insurance industry, causing as much as US$125

billion (S$176 billion) in overall damages and more than US$60 billion in insured losses.

But with Asia's coastal megacities growing at breakneck speed, insurers fear costly disasters

of a similar or greater scale are only a matter of time. Adding to concerns are rising sea




levels, more extreme rainfall events and predictions of typhoons and cyclones becoming

more powerful because of climate change.

The Asian Development Bank says an estimated 1.2 billion Asians will move into cities over

the next 35 years. A large number will likely head to coastal megacities, many of which have

industrial parks that are crucial to the global automotive, electronics and appliances trade."

With such rapid increase in population, the coastal megacities are at high risk from natural

hazards," Ms Preety Bhandari, head of the Asian Development Bank's Climate Change and

Disaster Risk Management Division, told The Straits Times. Some cities lacked the capacity

to properly plan and regulate urban development, increasing the risk from storms and

flooding, she said in an e-mail.

Global insurer Allianz recently quantified the risks to Asia's coastal megacities. In a study

released this month, the insurer estimated that losses across the region are expected to rise

exponentially.

In the next 50 years, Asia will have eight of the world's 10 cities most exposed to coastal

flooding from storm surges and wind damage. These include Mumbai, Tianjin, Bangkok and

Tokyo. A decade ago, only three Asian cities were on the top-10 list, all of them in Japan.

The Asian Development Bank has invested more than US$10 billion over the past 15 years

to implement early storm warning systems in Bangladesh, and extensive flood control

projects in Pakistan and Indonesia. Risks, though, remain. Mr Mitchell said China has the




biggest flood loss potential for industrial parks and pointed to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and

Tianjin as high-risk areas.

The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said scientific studies have shown an increase

in the proportion of more intense tropical cyclones in the Western Pacific. It told The Straits

Times there was a decreasing trend in tropical cyclones in parts of the South China Sea and

an increasing trend along the east coast of China over the past 40 years. "Most studies do

suggest there will not be an increase in the number of storms in the region, and only the

intensity will increase," the MSS said in an e-mail.

Asia's rising risks are a major concern given the region's increasingly central role in the

global economy. "It is expected that, in the near term, the coastal megacities of Asia will be

battered by stronger tropical cyclones and inundated by coastal flooding," said Ms Bhandari,

adding that nine of the top-10 cities in terms of population exposure were expected to be in

Asian developing countries.

"Unfortunately, it will be the poor, living in low-lying hazard-prone areas of these cities and

with limited access to basic infrastructure, who are the most at risk," she said.

[The Straits Times]

30 facts you never knew about the Titanic

31/08/2015

It was the moment the world’s most famous shipwreck was finally located after

more than 70 years at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.




An international expedition led by Dr Robert Ballard solved the mystery surrounding the

position of the Titanic, the luxury liner that sank on her maiden voyage from Southampton

to New York in 1912. Next Tuesday marks the 30th anniversary of the day the sea

surrendered one of its greatest secrets.

Dubbed “unsinkable” because of her double bottom and watertight doors, the Titanic sank

after hitting an iceberg off Newfoundland. Previous attempts to find the wreck had been

defeated by a combination of bad weather, technical problems and poor search methods.

But Dr Ballard succeeded where others had failed, even though the odds were stacked

against him.

To mark the anniversary of the day the wreck was found the Titanic Belfast museum,

situated in the city where she was built, has compiled a list of 30 things you never knew

about the luxury liner.

1. Titanic’s design was conceived over fine food and a glass of wine. Asked about the

potential length of the ship, J. Bruce Ismay, head of the White Star Line, replied:

"Build me a stable ship that will not disturb the sediment in these fine wines.”

2. Titanic (271m) was long enough to span three tempestuous Atlantic Ocean wave

crests.

3. Due to the size of the Olympic-class ships, of which Titanic was one of three, the

Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast needed two years to prepare for their

construction.

4. At the time, Belfast was the fastest growing city in the British Empire, with the

largest shipbuilding firm on the planet.

5. The ship had three wheels for steering.

6. Titanic’s funnels were wide enough to drive a train through.

7. The first class cabins on Titanic were the same standard as hotels, while second

class was as good as first class on other ships.

8. The famous staircase, which was among the most luxurious appointments on the

ship, was inspired by the staircase at Belfast City Hall, which can still be visited

today.

9. Titanic's stock of food and drink included 40,000 eggs and 15,000 bottles of ale.

10. Titanic was launched in 62 seconds on May 31 1911.

11. She now lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, nearly two-and-a-half miles

(4000m) below sea level overlooking a small canyon below.




12. At Titanic Belfast, visitors can view Dr Ballard’s high definition footage of what

Titanic looks like today and can learn more about individual items in the wreckage

using interactive pods.

13. Titanic Belfast is built where the Titanic was designed and launched.

14. Visitors can take the award-winning Discovery Tour, which includes the Harland &

Wolff drawing offices and slipways.

15. Titanic Belfast is the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience.

16. It has welcomed approximately 2.5 million visitors from more than 145 countries.

17. Guests have included David Cameron, the Queen, former US Secretary of State

Hilary Clinton and Titanic movie director James Cameron.

18. The museum can hold over 3,547 visitors at any one time, the same number as

the capacity of Titanic.

19. Titanic Belfast’s overall shape represents the bow of the ship.

20. The hulls are the same height of Titanic from keel to Boat Deck!

21. About 40,000 tons of concrete were used in Titanic Belfast’s foundations, nearly

the same as for Titanic.

22. The museum has recently opened three new galleries that capture the excitement

of launch day as well as the ship’s maiden voyage. Visitors can also experience

what it was like to work in the Palm Court Café.

23. At Titanic Belfast, guests are now transported on to Titanic’s deck promenade as

part of the experience. Guests can walk on deck, look out to sea, hear the ocean,

hold onto the railings and feel the ship's engines rumbling as if they were on the

liner itself.

24. The last letter ever to be written on board the Titanic by Essex-born Esther Hart

and her seven-year-old daughter Eva just eight hours before the ship hit an

iceberg and sank in April 1912 is on display. It recently sold at auction for a world

record sum of £119,000.

25. A note from the Titanic assistant ship's surgeon Dr John Simpson is also on

display.

26. Titanic Belfast is home to the historic plan, commissioned by the Board of Trade

for the British inquiry, was designed and prepared by White Star Line architects. It

is the second most expensive Titanic artefact in the world.

27. The plaza surrounding Titanic Belfast includes a huge map showing Titanic’s route

from Belfast.




28. The wooden benches surrounding the building are spaced out in a way that

replicates the Morse code distress signal sent by Titanic.

29. The slipway area includes a life-sized plan of Titanic’s promenade deck showing

where the lifeboats, benches and funnels would have been.

30. A nearby memorial garden includes lawns alternating with wooden decking to

show how many people from each passenger class lost their lives.

[Daily Echo]

Egypt: One of the world’s largest natural gas field discovered

31/08/2015

Italian energy group Eni says it has found one of the world's largest natural gas

fields off Egypt's coast.

The company said the area was 1,450m (4,757 feet) beneath the surface and covered 100

sq km (39 sq miles). It could hold as much as 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, or 5.5 billion

barrels of oil equivalent, Eni said.

The company says that the Zohr field "could become one of the world's largest natural-gas

finds" and help meet Egypt's gas needs for decades. "This historic discovery will be able to

transform the energy scenario of Egypt," said Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni.

Eni, which has full concession rights to the area, is the biggest foreign energy firm in Africa.

In June, it signed an energy exploration deal with Egypt's oil ministry worth $2bn (£1.5bn)

allowing the company to explore in Sinai, the Gulf of Suez, the Mediterranean and areas in

the Nile Delta.

Eni's find follows other significant gas discoveries in the Mediterranean in recent years,

including by Egypt's neighbour Israel.

[BBC]

UK: Green light for largest gas field development in a decade

31/08/2015

The development of the largest new field discovered in the UK North Sea for a

decade has been approved by the UK Oil & Gas Authority.

The Maersk Oil operated high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) Culzean field in the UK

Central North Sea is expected to produce enough gas to meet 5% of total UK demand at




peak production in 2020/21. Culzean is also the largest gas field sanctioned since East Brae

in 1990.

Discovered in 2008 by Maersk Oil and its co-venturers, the gas condensate field has

resources estimated at 250-300m barrels of oil equivalent. Production is expected to start in

2019 and continue for at least 13 years, with plateau production of 60,000-90,000 barrels of

oil equivalent per day.

Maersk Oil and its co-venturers, JX Nippon and BP (Britoil) are investing around £3bn

($4.5bn) in the development, with more than 50% committed to investments in the UK.

Over the projected life of the field, it’s anticipated that £2.1bnin operating expenditure will

be spent in the UK domestic market. The Culzean field aligns with the UK’s commitment to

increased gas-fired electricity generation and is expected to support an estimated 6,000 UK

jobs and create more than 400 direct jobs.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said, “Today’s announcement sends a

clear signal that the North Sea is open for business. Already the UK’s oil and gas industry

supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country and this £3bn investment comes

on the back of massive government support for the sector.

[Splash 24/7]

South Africa: Plans to upgrade 13 fishing harbours

31/08/2015

Thirteen fishing harbours in the province are set for multimillion-rand facelifts

over the next few years to develop the ports, create jobs and attract tourists to

boost the local economy.

The cost of the first two phases of the project, to be carried out from this year to 2018, is

estimated at R395 million and involves plans to redesign harbours to make them more

productive and pedestrian-friendly. The 13 harbours to be developed are at Hout Bay, St

Helena Bay, Hermanus, Pepper Bay, Saldanha Bay, Gansbaai, Lambert’s Bay, Kalk Bay,

Laaiplek Bay, Gordon’s Bay, Arniston, Struisbaai and Stilbaai.

The director-general of the Department of Public Works Mziwonke Dlabantu, said critical

projects that would be carried out at the harbours included repairing and upgrading

slipways, dredging harbour basins, removing sunken vessels and installing security

measures.

Plans at specific harbours involve:

Transforming a section of the ramp at Hout Bay harbour into a multi-use area for

recreational fishing, recreational boat launching and small-scale fishing. A section




would also be redeveloped for tourism and a new fishing jetty would be constructed

to provide extra mooring. Another area for fish processing facilities is also planned.

Re-organising the main operation area in Kalk Bay harbour to make space for a

dedicated facility for small-scale fishing operations. The plans include “ice

production, cold storage and the processing facilities”. An additional berthing area

would also be created, as well as improved vehicle access and pedestrian walkways

that linked the harbour to the village.

Boosting Hermanus harbour into a prime tourist destination. Prime land overlooking

the harbour will be developed for various tourist-related businesses. A mooring is

also planned to accommodate extra fixed moorings and small leisure craft.

Moving buildings from inside Arniston harbour on to its boundary to make space for

activities including boat launching and small-scale fishing. A section of the harbour

would also be upgraded to create a pedestrian promenade and a new police station

has been proposed for the area.

Developing a hub around the slipway at the Saldanha harbour for boat-building and

repair. A node was also planned for the centre of the harbour so that those working

there had access to amenities and services.

Relocating industrial fishing and fish processing at Gansbaai to an existing new

section to create space for small-scale fishing ventures. The creation of new access

points to the harbour would allow visitors and residents to move more easily

between it and surrounding developments.

On Saturday Dlabantu said 10 other small harbours around the country, that had not been

officially declared as fishing harbours, would also be considered for upgrades. These

included Hondeklipbaai in the Northern Cape and Port St Johns and Port Grosvenor on the

Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape.

Dlabantu’s presentation showed the department was under severe pressure to develop

harbours. It said three years ago the department had commissioned consultants to compile

spatial and economic development frameworks for the 13 harbours. This process was

completed last year.

[IOL News]

Middle East: Top 10 marine infrastructure projects in the GCC

countries

31/08/2015

1. UAE / Abu Dhabi: Phase 3 of Al Dabbiya oilfield development




The scope of work for five offshore clusters comprises channel dredging, reclamation works,

construction of a cause way, shore protection, heliport, pontoons and fences. The

construction also involves an additional offshore cluster including boat quay, pontoon and

heliport

This project is being executed by BAM International with support from BAM Contractors of

Ireland. Adco, a unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), operates the Al Dabb’iya

field, which is located 40 km south-west of the capital.

2. Qatar: Phase 2 of Ras Laffan Port Expansion,

Ramboll provided the front end engineering design (FEED) for Phase 2 of the Ras Laffan

Port Expansion Project. The existing port, built in 1996 and expanded in 2012, is being

further developed to handle larger export volumes of liquid hydrocarbon products and

containerised solid petrochemical products.

The FEED provided multidisciplinary services for the design of the container yard, including

all container terminal equipment, container management system, buildings, access road to

buildings, water and drainage, parking, power supply including area lighting, communication

and security systems.

3. Kuwait: KOC Marine

A logistical marine based project which includes the construction of a breakwater and

harbour, demolition, change of use, additional buildings for stores, workshops and worker

amenity buildings and a dry dock, including carnage points and oil separators. It will also

comprise a new harbour on the south and extension of the existing harbour on the north.

SSH has been appointed as the main consultant for the challenging project. Also SSH

appointed Sweett Group to carry out value engineering and risk assessment at the marine

facility.

4. Qatar: Al Ruwais port development

The target of the project is that the port operates according to the international standards.

The project includes deepening the navigation channel to 5m, the establishment of marine

basins at depth of 7m, the creation of six quays at a total length of 1,414m to receive

commercial vessels.

The first phase will be dedicated at first to wooden ships, supply vessels and services, and

work will start on the second phase by January 2016 and will be devoted to executing and

operating the commercial port.

The port will be Qatar’s northern gate to the world and will serve as another commercial

outlet along with Doha Port.




5. Oman: Phase 3 Salalah Port

Three new container berths, new government berths, a dedicated cruise terminal, expanded

breakwater arms, and a new approach channel will be constructed as a part of the Phase 3

expansion of Port of Salalah.

Various new structures and facilities have also been planned for design and implementation

as part of the Phase 3 expansion. These include the construction of a 300-metre-long stub

breakwater to be constructed perpendicular to the North Breakwater to protect the

government and cruise berths against locally generated waves and other waves diffracting

into the port from the harbour entrance.

6. Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Economic City - Millennium Seaport

Central to the mega project is the creation of a new 2.6 million sqm millennium seaport

similar in size to ports such as Rotterdam that would allow even the world’s largest super

vessels to drop anchor.

With its strategic location on the Red Sea and instant access to key cities within Saudi

Arabia, the port has a designated area for light industry and logistics, and serve as a natural

platform for onward movement of goods to Europe, Africa, Asia and beyond.

The port, with its close proximity to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, will have a

dedicated Haj terminal that can receive over 500,000 pilgrims every season.

7. UAE / Dubai: Expansion of Jebel Ali Port Terminal 4

DP World is to expand its flagship Jebel Ali Port with the construction of Terminal 4, costing

S1.6bn. The planned construction work will see the port’s capacity increase by 3.1-million

twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) by 2018, taking its overall capacity to 22.1-million TEU.

8. UAE / Dubai: Phase 3 Dubai Canal Extension Project

Phase 3 of the project covers drilling the water canal, constructing sides of the canal,

constructing three footbridges linking the two banks of the canal, and constructing four

marine transit stations to boost the role of marine transport as a convenient and effective

transit means.

It also includes filling works to construct an artificial peninsula across Jumeirah Park; which

will double the length of the park beach, increase the area of the park, and offer a room for

adding more recreational activities.

Work on the third phase started in June this year while the construction of the project is

scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2016.




9. Oman: Liquid bulk berth terminal at Duqm Port

A major bulk liquid berths terminal project coming up at the Port of Duqm in Oman will be

implemented in two stages. The first stage will involve dredging and reclamation and

marine/jetty structure, while the other will be for topside facilities including tanks.

During the second stage, the focus will be on the construction of topside facilities, including

the installation of product storage tanks, dry bulk facilities, pipelines, buildings, road and

other infrastructure.

10. UAE / Abu Dhabi: Al Sila Port

Al Sila Port supports the local fishing industry, provides cargo services and limited

recreational activities. Abu Dhabi Ports has enhanced the port facilities for fishermen by

relocating the fishing pontoons to the north basin, which has better infrastructure than the

south basin.

In the future Abu Dhabi Ports, which is installing signage and hard landscaping, will develop

the port to support marine recreation as well.

[Construction Week Online]

Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and

increasing

31/08/2015

Researchers from CSIRO and Imperial College London have assessed how

widespread the threat of plastic is for the world's seabirds, including albatrosses,

shearwaters and penguins, and found the majority of seabird species have plastic

in their gut.

The study,Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing led by

Dr Chris Wilcox with co-authors Dr Denise Hardesty and Dr Erik van Sebille and published

today in the journal PNAS, found that nearly 60 per cent of all seabird species have plastic in

their gut.

Based on analysis of published studies since the early 1960s, the researchers found that

plastic is increasingly common in seabird's stomachs. In 1960, plastic was found in the

stomach of less than 5 per cent of individual seabirds, rising to 80 per cent by 2010.

The researchers predict that plastic ingestion will affect 99 per cent of the world's seabird

species by 2050, based on current trends. The scientists estimate that 90 per cent of all

seabirds alive today have eaten plastic of some kind. This includes bags, bottle caps, and

plastic fibres from synthetic clothes, which have washed out into the ocean from urban


http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1502108112



rivers, sewers and waste deposits. Birds mistake the brightly coloured items for food, or

swallow them by accident, and this causes gut impaction, weight loss and sometimes even

death.

This is a red-footed booby on Christmas Island. Credit: CSIRO

"For the first time, we have a global prediction of how wide-reaching plastic impacts may be

on marine species -- and the results are striking," senior research scientist at CSIRO Oceans

and Atmosphere Dr Wilcox said.

"We predict, using historical observations, that 90 per cent of individual seabirds have eaten

plastic. This is a huge amount and really points to the ubiquity of plastic pollution."

Dr Denise Hardesty from CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere said seabirds were excellent

indicators of ecosystem health. "Finding such widespread estimates of plastic in seabirds is

borne out by some of the fieldwork we've carried out where I've found nearly 200 pieces of

plastic in a single seabird," Dr Hardesty said.

The researchers found plastics will have the greatest impact on wildlife where they gather in

the Southern Ocean, in a band around the southern edges of Australia, South Africa and

South America.




Dr van Sebille, from the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, said the plastics had

the most devastating impact in the areas where there was the greatest diversity of species.

"We are very concerned about species such as penguins and giant albatrosses, which live in

these areas," Erik van Sebille said. "While the infamous garbage patches in the middle of the

oceans have strikingly high densities of plastic, very few animals live here."

Dr Hardesty said there was still the opportunity to change the impact plastic had on

seabirds. "Improving waste management can reduce the threat plastic is posing to marine

wildlife," she said.

"Even simple measures can make a difference. Efforts to reduce plastics losses into the

environment in Europe resulted in measureable changes in plastic in seabird stomachs with

less than a decade, which suggests that improvements in basic waste management can

reduce plastic in the environment in a really short time."

Chief Scientist at the US-based Ocean Conservancy Dr George H. Leonard said the study

was highly important and demonstrated how pervasive plastics were in oceans. "Hundreds

of thousands of volunteers around the world come face-to-face with this problem during

annual Coastal Cleanup events," Dr Leonard said.

"Scientists, the private sector and global citizens working together against the growing

onslaught of plastic pollution can reduce plastic inputs to help protect marine biodiversity."

The work was carried out as part of a national marine debris project supported by CSIRO

and Shell's Social investment program as well as the marine debris working group at the

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara,

with support from Ocean Conservancy.

[CSIRO Australia / ScienceDaily]

Is deep sea mining a savior or a scourge?

31/08/2015

Experts weigh in on Solwara 1, the world’s first pilot project to mine the deep

sea.

From glaciated peaks in the Andes Mountains to virgin swaths of Tasmanian rainforest,

humans have carved up the Earth’s surface in search of minerals and metals. Now, with little

land left to exploit and an ever-growing demand, mining companies are shifting their sights

toward a new frontier: the smoldering crust of the ocean floor.

This may sound like the plot line of a Captain Planet episode, with Canadian mining

company Nautilus Minerals playing the eco-villain, but could Nautilus’s plan to drill the

seafloor instead make it an eco-saint?




A “black smoker” hydrothermal vent on the Pacific seafloor. Photo by Ralph White/Corbis

In 2011, the government of Papua New Guinea awarded Nautilus the world’s first lease to

mine the deep sea. The approved site, known as Solwara 1, is a gold- and copper-rich basin

of hydrothermal vents, a type of underwater hot spring, located more than a kilometer deep

and 30 kilometers from shore in the Bismarck Sea. Extraction at the 0.1-square-kilometer

site is expected to start in 2018.

Nautilus and its proponents are touting Solwara 1 as the dawn of a new mining age, one

that will help meet the world’s unsated metals demand without the environmental and social

side effects often associated with terrestrial mining. In fact, a new Nautilus-commissioned

report by think tank Earth Economics claims that deep-sea mining could be a boon,

producing ore with a lighter footprint than land mining since it doesn’t displace communities,

erode soil, or contaminate fresh water. But some scientists and environmentalists aren’t

convinced.

“My first reaction [to the report] was ‘So what?’” says Les Watling, a biologist who has spent

the past 10 years studying the deep sea. “Of course terrestrial mining has done massive

environmental damage. But it’s like comparing scrambled eggs to eggs over easy. In both

cases, the egg was broken.”

Rowan Schmidt, one of the lead authors on the Earth Economics report, says that meeting

global demand for copper in particular is an important part of building a green economy.

“Environmental groups rightly see climate change as a tremendous threat to ecosystems and

people globally,” he says. “They call for a dramatic reduction in carbon-based fuels and an

increase in renewables, like wind, solar, tidal, and more. All of these renewable sources

require far more copper.”

If deep-sea mining can extract the same amount of ore with fewer effects on people and the

environment, then that’s worth considering, says Schmidt.




The Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest excavation projects in the world. Seen

here on August 1, 1995, this massive copper mine is still active. Photo by Scott T. Smith/Corbis

But assessing the true cost of deep-sea mining is a big question mark given that scientists’

knowledge of the deep ocean is primitive, says Watling. Hydrothermal vents, like the ones

Nautilus hopes to mine, were only discovered in the late 1970s. The surreal deep-sea

landscapes are home to a bevy of mysterious creatures—from giant tubeworms to crabs

with UV vision.

Mining, clearly, will not be kind to these ecosystems. Before extraction at Solwara 1, two

robots will remove a large layer of seafloor and everything living on it. Then, machines will

grind up the mineral deposits, suck the slurry up to a vessel on the ocean’s surface for

sorting, and shoot the wastewater back down, discharging it above the seabed. The

company expects that 1.8 million tonnes of gold and copper, worth an estimated US $900-

million, will be mined before being transferred to nearby Rabaul, and then shipped to China

for processing.

To offset the damage, Nautilus plans to establish a marine reserve at the South Su volcano,

a vent system two kilometers away. While Nautilus’s own environmental impact statement

acknowledges that South Su isn’t home to all of the same organisms as the mine site, it

features the same dominant species and the company expects those animals to recolonize

the mining site a few years after production finishes. But the full range of species living at

any of these hydrothermal vent sites is an unknown—scientists are discovering new ones all

the time.




The uncertainty that surrounds deep-sea ecosystems is reason enough to halt plans, says

Helen Rosenbaum, coordinator of the Deep Sea Mining Campaign, an advocacy group

opposed to the project.

“If you lose species, we’ve lost species before they’ve been properly understood,” she says.

A scanning electron micrograph of a bizarre deep sea scale worm, an animal that was found on a hydrothermal

vent on the Pacific Ocean floor. Photo by Philippe Crassous/Science Photo Library/Corbis

Another big question is what will come in the wake of Solwara 1.

Marine geologist Phil Weaver, who’s heading a European Union-commissioned project to

study the effects of deep-sea exploitation, admits the Solwara 1 site is small, but warns that

mining a number of hydrothermal vents could cause serious damage.

“The impact of Solwara 1 itself is probably quite negligible, but they’re not building the ship

and all the equipment to just tackle Solwara 1,” Weaver says. “This is going to be an

ongoing process after that.”

Schmidt is clear to point out that the Earth Economics study is focused exclusively on

Solwara 1, and does not condone opening up the global seabed.

Yet Nautilus holds active licenses or applications for roughly 500,000 square kilometers of

exploration territory in waters off Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Zealand,

and the Central Pacific, in addition to Papua New Guinea. Beyond Nautilus’s permits, the

International Seabed Authority has granted 26 mineral exploration contracts to governments




and mining companies that cover more than a million square kilometers of international

seafloor.

But first, Nautilus will take on Solwara 1 and try to emerge a savior. The world will sit back

and watch—hoping answers will surface from the depths.

[Hakai Magazine]

Managing risk - don't leave it to chance

31/08/2015

The Nautical Institute has published its latest Alert! Bulletin regarding all aspects

of maintaining safe operations on board

There are a growing number of codes, standards and guidelines that set out how to assess

and manage risk. But what do these mean in practical terms - for seafarers on board, those

in command and management ashore?

The Issue No. 39 of the International Maritime Human Element Bulletin Alert! deals with that

question by focusing on:

the new risk of cyber security

amendments to the ISM Code and the principles of safe manning

The ILO guidelines for implementing the occupational safety and health provisions of

the MLC

[SAFETY4SEA]


http://www.safety4sea.com/images/media/2015/NI_-_Alert39_Managing_Risk_2015_09.pdf