NL MARITIME NEWS

NL MARITIME NEWS

A NewsLink service for Dole Colombia International maritime news for seafarers

Monday, March 4, 2013 Headland SatNews

NATIONAL

Port states urged to allow shore leave for seafarers

The International Shipping Federation (ISF), which represents maritime employers worldwide, is calling on all port states to facilitate the right of seafarers to shore leave, in line with governments' international treaty obligations, by proposing a new practical approach to visa requirements. The group made this proposal in a submission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Facilitation Committee, which next meets in April to consider its current review of the IMO Convention on the Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL), the Philippine News Agency reported. The FAL Convention includes a blanket prohibition on port states requiring seafarers to obtain visas in order to enjoy shore leave. The long established principle that, due to the special nature of their employment, seafarers should not be required to hold a visa for the purposes of shore leave is enshrined in various international Conventions, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 185 and 108, as well the IMO FAL Convention. However, in a post '9/11' world of heightened concerns about security and immigration issues, the ability of seafarers to exercise this right is increasingly being challenged, with visas now required in United States and Australia. Problems are still being reported of seafarers not being able to leave their ships without visas within the Schengen area of the European Union, in spite of efforts by the European Commission to resolve these difficulties. Stricter documentation rules also exist in Brazil, Singapore, South Africa and other countries.

Indian Navy conducts major exercise in Arabian Sea

The Indian Navy has carried out a major exercise in the Arabian Sea over the last 30 days, during which it has honed its combat skills as well as its operational strategy, local media reported Sunday. More than 50 warships, including the stealth frigates and nuclearpowered submarine INS Chakra, from the Indian Navy's eastern fleet and the western fleet, took part in the exercise, along with 75 fighter jets and choppers, 'The Times of India' newspaper reported, quoting officials as saying. The exercise, codenamed Tropex, also witnessed the Indian Navy practice operational concepts like maritime manoeuvre from the sea in a bid to show its readiness in case of a swift and high-tempo conflict in the future, the report said.

SAFETY Counterfeit Admiralty charts

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) recently issued a warning about counterfeit Admiralty charts and other UKHO publications that are in circulation. The Hydrographic Office said that counterfeit documents do not satisfy International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) carriage requirements and having counterfeit documents on board could lead to further legal complications in many countries where the carriage of counterfeit items is against the law. In addition, counterfeit charts and publications have not been subjected to thorough checks and cannot be

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Elements from the Indian Air Force and the para-military Coast Guard also participated in the exercise, it said.

used for navigational purposes. They could lead to navigation errors causing an incident. In an official release, the UKHO said: "Official Admiralty charts bear the Admiralty 'Flying A' watermark within the paper and will carry a 'thumb label' strip on the reverse with the Admiralty logo, chart number, geographical area, barcode and date. Suspect charts and publications can also be identified by comparing them against official Admiralty versions, where variations may be spotted in the look, feel and weight of the product and the colour tone and strength of the ink. The folds on charts and the height and binding quality of publications can also provide a good indicator of whether a product is official or counterfeit." Source: UK P&I Club

Somalia rolls out amnesty for junior pirates

All junior pirates who will surrender to the Somali authorities will be released and will not face any criminal charges. The federal government announced that it is offering amnesty to junior pirates in line with efforts to stop ship hijackings that have affected international shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia. The measure, however, only covers junior pirates, not bosses, although one report stated that two pirate leaders, including Abdi Hassan Afweyne - one of Somali piracy's three founding bosses recently held talks with Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon to discuss the terms of the amnesty.

"Somalia has been plagued by piracy for many years now and these criminals have badly affected global shipping. Piracy has to end," Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. According to him, his government is currently holding negotiations with piracy groups with the aim of discouraging young men involved in the illegal activity to choose a different path but at the same time sanctioning their leaders. A government official said that Afweyne, who publicly announced his "retirement" from piracy in January, is heading the administration's anti-piracy agency and he is the one convincing the pirates to stop their illegal ways.

Rig owner cites low flow estimates by BP

The owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 said that BP hampered efforts to stop the resulting gusher of oil by misleading government officials about how many barrels of oil were flowing each day from the damaged well on the Gulf floor, "The Jakarta Post" reported. The Transocean corporation's assertions were filed Friday in federal court in New Orleans, where a civil began last week to determine percentages of blame and how much BP, Transocean and others will pay for the April 2010 catastrophe that killed 11 workers and sent millions of gallons (kilograms) of oil spewing into the Gulf for 87 days. "In short, beginning in late April and continuing throughout May 2010, BP repeatedly represented to source control decision-makers, Congress, the press and the public that 5,000 bpd was its best estimate of the flow rate," the Transocean filing said. "It withheld numerous documents, analysis and estimates that would have allowed those outside BP to realize that BP's flow rate claims were misleading and fraudulent." Transocean, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, says the leak could have been stopped two months earlier. The motion filed Friday seeks to limit or eliminate Transocean's liability for damages, and outlines a case for collecting damages from BP itself. Transocean's filing says federal officials attempted a method of stopping the flow that was destined to fail because oil was spewing at a greater rate than BP was publicly acknowledging. That method, known as "top kill," involved plugging the well by injecting drilling mud and solid material. The attempt failed. Transocean, citing various documents and evidence including BP's recent guilty plea to criminal charges, said BP was well aware of estimates that much more oil was flowing, varying from 70,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.

COMMERCE
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COSCO confident of returning to profits in 2013

China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), the country's largest shipping firm which suffered heavy losses in the past two years, is confident of returning to profitability in 2013, its president Ma Zehua said. "The market is very concerned of COSCO's risk of being delisted from the stock market and we are under great pressure," Ma said Sunday in Beijing where he will attend the annual session of the National People's Congress as a national lawmaker. "We will take effective measures," he said, but did not detail on the measures. COSCO said on Jan. 25 that it expected to report a large loss for 2012, marking the second year of losses in a row and an imminent downgrading of the status of its yuan-denominated A shares by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Xinhua reported. In 2011, COSCO lost CNY10.4 billion (USD1.66 billion). If COSCO records another loss in 2013, it has risk of being delisted from the stock market.

Elaborate to represent Singapore Shipping Association

The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) has chosen Elaborate Communications as its international public relations representative. Elaborate's team of public relations practitioners, led by former maritime journalist Sean Moloney, Elaborate's managing director, will work with the SSA to highlight the work the Association engages on behalf of its members, as well as its commitment to playing its part in helping the further development of Singapore as a major international maritime centre. The SSA was formed in 1985 from the amalgamation of five previous shipping associations. It works on behalf of its members who are ship owners and operators, shipmanagers, ship agents and ship brokers. Announcing this exciting new venture, Sean Moloney said: "I am delighted that we will be working closely with the SSA in the months to come and look forward to creating a close link between this important shipping association and the global maritime and business press."

SECURITY Malaysia tightens control off Lahad Datu

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has tightened control in the waters off Lahad Datu, Sabah with the co-operation from security forces, including the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to face possible threats from the armed intruders from the Philippines. It's director-general Admiral Datuk Mohd Amdan Kurish said three maritime vessels and six patrol boats were patrolling in the waters now, according to a Philippine News Agency report citing Bernama. "Prior to this, we have three ships patrolling in Lahad Datu, two of them at sea, and the other one on standby. "However, in view with the intrusion issue, we have deployed six MMEA boats based in Sandakan, Sabah to increase control in the waters," he told reporters after the opening of Malaysian Maritime Academy and Training Centre, now known as Sultan Ahmad Shah Maritime Academy (AMSAS) in Gebeng on Saturday. The event was graced by Sultan of Pahang Sulta. In a related development, Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said on Monday that the Philippine
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Navy (PN) has deployed ten ships to patrol the country's common maritime borders with Sabah to ensure that no more gunmen will infiltrate and add to ongoing tensions between Filipino-Muslims and Malaysian security forces in Lahad Datu. The ships will be deployed along the waters off Tawi-Tawi to prevent small craft from entering Sabah's territorial waters, PNA reported. "These ships will prevent (unauthorized) movement from our side to Sabah," he added. Aside from the ten PN ships, a transport, the BRP Tagbanua (AT-296) is now anchored at Simunul, Tawi-Tawi and waiting for permission from Malaysian authorities to dock at Lahad Datu and start the repatriation of Filipino citizens interested in returning to the Philippines. The ship is carrying medical and social welfare personnel, emergency supplies and food for evacuees. The BRP Tagbunua is capable of transporting around 150 to 200 people.

PORT OF THE WEEK Port of Hakata

The 124-year-old Port of Hakata in Japan is that country's main gateway port to China. Because the Japan is among the world's largest archipelagos, Hakata is closer to neighbouring Seoul, Korea, than it is to the nation's capital Tokyo. Because of its natural harbour, it was also the entry route for the Mongol invasion of Japan in the 12th Century. Today's Fukuoka City was formed in 1889 when the port city of Hakata and the castle town of Fukuoka were merged. Hakata is still the name of the city's central district. The Port of Hakata has a modern port at Fukuoka City on the southwestern coast of Japan on Kyushu Island about 54 kilometres southwest of the Port of Kita-Kyushu and 105 kilometres southwest of the Port of Nagasaki. In addition to handling cargo, the Port of Hakata is an active fishing port where halibut and flounder are the major catches. Because it is convenient to Hakata Station and Fukuoka Airport, many business people stay in the Port of Hakata. The new Port of Hakata has 44 mooring berths with depths over 7.5 metres and 27 mooring berths with depths below 7.5 metres. The Port of Hakata contains 25 transit sheds for general cargo covering almost 65,000 square metres, two vegetable sheds covering 11,200 sqm, three inspection sheds covering 22,000 sqm, and 30 repair facilities covering 78,400 sqm. The terminal contains a total of over 25,000 sqm of freight sorting yards and 968,600 sqm of open sheds. In 2007, the Port of Hakata served 35,700 thousand vessels, including 5,772 international vessels and almost 30,000 domestic vessel calls. Excluding cargoes hauled by ferry, total cargo volume in 2007 reached 30.2 million tons, including 14.6 million tons of foreign trade and 15.6 million tons of domestic trade. International trade cargoes through the Port of Hakata included 5.5 million tons of exports and 9.1 million tons of imports. Ferries carried a total of over two million tons of cargo in 2007. The Aratsu area in the terminal complex is an intermediary port for oil cargoes that handles almost 4.4 million tons of cargo per year. This 33.3-hectare site handles petroleum products, heavy oil, liquefied petroleum gas, and chemicals that are consumed in Kyushu and Fukuoka City. The Suzaki Wharf is a grain distribution centre for Kyushu. The wharf has 18 berths totalling 2113 metres in length with alongside depths from 5.5 to 11 metres. The wharf covers a total of 79.1 hectares and handles about 1.5 million tons a year of wheat, corn, beans, steel products, and wood products.
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The Hakata Pier handles regular domestic services and municipal ferry services with two berths. Berth 2 is 105 metres long with alongside depth of 5.5 metres, and Berth 3 is 147 metres long with alongside depth of 7.5 metres. Covering almost five hectares of reclaimed land, the Hakata Pier handles about 140,000 tons of cargo per year. Cargoes include beverages, water, mixed lots, animal and plant feed, fertilisers, clothing, shoes, and personal belongings. Bayside Place, at the Hakata Pier, contains two terminals, convenience facilities, the Port of Hakata Bayside Museum, Hakata Port Tower, a transit square of some 1,400 sqm, and the popular tourist area of Sunset Park.

SHIPPING DATA
BALTIC EXCHANGE
Market snapshot: 12:10 GMT Dry Capesize Panamax Supramax Index Index Index Index BDI BCI BPI BSI 776 1243 1036 781 +19 -6 +46 +17 +11

Handysize Index

BHSI 447

EXCHANGE RATES
New York (Fri Cls) Fgn Currency in USD Britain (Pound) Canada (Dollar) China (Yuan) Euro India (Rupee) 1.5018 0.9723 0.1606 1.3017 0.0182 USD in Fgn Currency 0.6659 1.0285 6.2275 0.7682 54.9100 9680.00 93.5800 5.7574 40.7300 3.1700 30.7341 1.2406

Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000103 Japan (Yen) Norway (Krone) Philippines (Peso) Poland (Zloty) Russia (Ruble) Singapore (Dollar) 0.010686 0.1737 0.0246 0.3150 0.0325 0.8061

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