NOAA Honors “K” Line For Participation In Vessel Speed Reduction Incentive Programs

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” Line) has been honored by National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) with a gold award for the company’s participation with the high level of compliance rate during 2018 voluntary Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) Incentive program. The major aim of the program was to protect whales in Santa Barbara Channel and San Francisco Bay Area, and also calls for vessels’ speed reduction sailing these waters.

Since last year “K” Line have been participating in this program and also been highly evaluated for the eco-friendly slow steaming of the car carrier vessels in the waters between July and November last year.

In addition to this, they have been commended for the program called ”Green Flag Program” at the Port of Long Beach by the port authority for fourteen consecutive years since 2005. This program os designed which asks vessels to reduce its speed within 40 nautical miles (about 74 kilometers) from the port in order to prevent air pollution. In 2018, “K” Line have achieved a great high compliance rate of over 90% for vessels’ slow steaming.

The focus of “K” Line Group continues to be on contributing towards environmental and biodiversity conservation through its active participation in environmental initiatives taken by port authorities around the world. The “K” Line Group contributes a lot in this field to fulfill their mission to hand down a sustainable society as well as the blue and beautiful ocean to the next generation under “K” Line Environmental Vision 2050.

Reference: kline.com

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A New ONGC Record Of 35 Offshore Drilling Rigs To New Locations With Maximum Distance

On Monday, Aqualis Offshore, the international marine and offshore engineering consultancy, said that it is aided with the large majority of the rig moves, which were conducted in close cooperation with ONGC’s in-house rig move cell along with the company’s specialist team of mariners and structural and geotechnical engineers.

Before the onset of the seasonal adverse weather conditions each of the 35 rigs were placed at their respective monsoon locations. 22 rigs were moved on to or from well head platforms while 13 rigs were moved to open locations. The combined total distance travelled for all rigs was 2,535 nautical miles.

Underwriters and the appointed consultants of ONGC were Aqualis Offshore’s clients for the ONGC rig moving campaign. Under this agreement, Aqualis Offshore is to provide marine warranty services to ONGC’s fleet of jack-ups and mobile offshore production units in Indian waters.

Rodger Dickson, group marine director at Aqualis Offshore, said: “Moving 35 rigs in such a short time frame to new locations before the onset of the south west monsoon is quite an achievement and this sets a new ONGC record in terms of number of rigs moved and distance travelled”.

Reference: aqualisoffshore.com

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Digitalization Can Help Meeting IMO 2020 Regulations Using MARis

IMO2020 is getting closer and the approaches discussed in the current meetings to fulfill IMO2020 requirements will generate additional pressure to the industry and thus can put many shipping and commodity trading companies in a challenging situation. But the question arises that how can digitalization help to meet and manage the IMO2020 regulations.

For many companies digitalization is a core strategic initiative but when it comes on the topic of IMO2020, it israrely explored or discussed. However, digitalization can help to address IMO2020 impacts in many ways. Because of IMO2020 bunker procurement processes will become more complex, additional operational costs will be generated, a sophisticated bunker plan will be even more essential and surroundings of bunkers will become more competitive, thus it will create an impact of overall voyage P/L  just to mention some of the raising challenges that would come around. Thus, IMO2020 will require companies which is involved in the shipping and commodity trading industry to rethink the way business is going today and also at the same time, this new regulation might also create new opportunities to surpass the competition. But digitalization can help to tackle these challenges in a more efficient way and help in grasping the opportunity.The shipping and commodity trading companies are offered a wide range of functionalities to highlight and manage IMO2020 impacts mentioned before by Singular Point’s MARiS platform.

Using MARiS, shipping companies and commodity trading companies will be able to:

• ensure that the bunkers are consumed correctly and in accordance to IMO2020 regulations in any area of the world and thus can avoid any penalties caused by any inappropriate usage of bunkers,
• help planning the voyages smartly while considering IMO2020 regulations during cargo and freight evaluations,
• be alert on time, if ECA requirements change in certain ports or areas of the world,
• include costs for operating scrubbers in their P/L evaluation or any other additional operational cost generated by IMO2020 regulations,
• help in improving their bunker procurement process, and make sure that they can keep straightaway track of bunker prices globally and have the ability to compare different low sulphur bunker and LNG prices that meet the IMO2020 regulations and minimize bunker costs,
• to analyze and compare future bunker requirements against multiple scenarios and thus, help in simulating different bunker impacts on P/L.
• Meeting IMO2020 regulations requires the shipping and commodity trading industry to consider physical and digital approaches as IMO2020 will impact everyone in the industry and beyond. It will prove a victory for the companies that are able to manage bunker procurement and planning in a more efficient way.

Reference: singular-point.com/drybulkmagazine.com

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Bristol Port Enhanced Container Terminal Capacity On Completion Of £9 Million Upgrade

There has been a significant upgrade in the capacity of Bristol Port’s container terminal by the completion of a £9 million upgrade. The investment is made for accomplishing the commitment of expanding the container services offered at Avonmouth and Portbury Docks. James Stangroom, Commercial Manager at Bristol Port, said: “This upgrade is designed to further refine our productivity, and to provide considerable extra capacity to handle an increase in container traffic. Our container services continue to grow, as more and more businesses recognise the huge advantage of using the most centrally located container port in the UK, and the benefits that brings of connectivity and efficiency in bringing containers closer to domestic markets.”

A number of major companies including Amazon, The Range and Roper Rhodes – setting up national distribution centres in the hinterland around Portbury and Avonmouth highlighted the geographical advantage of Bristol and the south west of England having motorway links to all points of the compass.

James said: “We are a global gateway and have developed partnerships with a number of these key businesses, including for example The Range, which brings in thousands of containers every year via MSC shipping line.”

There are two container terminals at Bristol Port. Portbury handles larger vessels including the weekly MSC feeder from Antwerp. The smaller vessels are served by Avonmouth with rapid turnaround time for smaller volumes.

Carriers operating with Bristol Port include MSC, DFDS Suardiaz Line and Containerships which provides weekly services to and from Bilbao; Grimaldi Lines which provides weekly services to and the Mediterranean, Sweden and Denmark and Cronus Logistics which provides three sailings a week to Northern Ireland.

In the early months of this year, Bristol Port launched a brochure to showcase how it is “Brexit ready”. There will be  possibility for importers to move from lorry-borne cargo  which has potential for delays by the imposition of tariffs into containers, which will provide a further boost in this area.

Bristol Port is well placed to deal with any re-diverted traffic from Dover and other ports. This has been proved by the examples set by the terminal update to increase capacity and the purchase of two new gantry cranes

Reference: bristolport.co.uk

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ITF Retrieves Total Of $38m In Owed Wages For Seafarers

For helping seafarers to recover wages owed to them when they are at the sharp end of poor treatment by shipowners the ITF plays a major role. According to ITF inspectorate coordinator Steve Trowsdale in an interview with Splash (Splash247.com) in 2018, USD 37.8 million in owed wages was retrieved by the ITF inspectors.

The pattern is being repeated this year, with USD15.5 million already recovered in the first five months of 2019, as “unscrupulous shipowners are targeting the wages of innocent seafarers”, he said.

For eradicating the continue exploitation of seafarers greater lead by port state control and greater powers for unions to stop ships would be great help said Steve Trowsdale.

Splash also reported that last year at Sea report non-payment of wages was a major problem that was being faced by the seafarers that emerged in the Apostleship of the Sea Life. This report also noted that no or rare complaints were made by seafarers regarding unpaid wages until the situation is acute, yet the stress of unpaid wages can lead to “depression, ill health and dissatisfaction with life at sea”, which also impact on their families.

Reference: itfseafarers.org

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Fincantieri And Naval Group Signed Alliance Cooperation Agreement For New JV Incorporation

Fincantieri and Naval Group signed the Alliance Cooperation Agreement following the announcement made on 23 October 2018, which starts the operational terms for the incorporation of a 50/50 owned joint venture.

The agreement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of the two companies, and it embodies the contents of the “Poseidon” project and covers the broader alliance which aimed at reinforcing their military naval cooperation for creating a more efficient and competitive European shipbuilding industry.

The CEOs of the two companies have signed the agreement, Giuseppe Bono and Hervé Guillou, on board of the frigate “Federico Martinengo”, secured at the Naval Base of the Italian Navy in La Spezia. The vessel is part of the Italian-French FREMM program, which marks the robustness of the collaboration of twenty-year between the two countries, their industries and the national navies.

It is expected that the incorporation of the JV, will be subjected in the coming months or in any case before the end of the year. It will be subjecedt to customary conditions for this kind of transactions and to obtaining the necessary authorizations from the relevant authorities. Through this joint venture, Fincantieri and Naval Group will:

• share best practices between the two companies;
• jointly conduct selected Research and Development activities;
• optimize procurement processes;
• jointly prepare offers for binational programs and export markets.

The company headquarter will be in Genoa with a subsidiary in Ollioules, France according to the agreement. As regulated in a shareholders’ agreement, the governance of the JV predicts a Board of Directors of 6 members, 3 appointed by each company. The Chairman and the Chief Operational Officer for the first three-year term, while Naval Group will appoint the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer..

Members of the Board will include Giuseppe Bono, appointed Chairman of the JV, and Hervé Guillou emphasizing the strategic value attributed by Fincantieri.

A great opportunity has been represented for both the groups and their ecosystems by the Alliance to enhance their ability to better serve the French and Italian navies, to capture new export contracts, to develop new technologies and, ultimately, to improve the competitiveness of the naval sectors of both countries.

On the sidelines of the signing Giuseppe Bono and Hervé Guillou stated: “We are very satisfied with the results achieved and, above all, we would like to thank our Governments which in the last few months have worked side-by-side with us, and continue to do so, with the aim of finalizing an agreement that will ensure the protection of sovereign assets while promoting cooperation between the two teams. This commitment will allow us to better serve our Navies, provide the appropriate support for common export operations and effectively lay the foundations for the consolidation of the European defense industry”.

Reference: fincantieri.com

 

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MSC Katya R. Improves Trade Links With Costa Rican And Boosts Export Links To Europe

The global leader in transportation and logistics, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, is improving trade links between Costa Rica and northern Europe by adding a new direct call from the Port of Moin. On June 16, MSC Katya R. launched a new era in cargo shipping for the port and for exporters using its facilities and becomes the largest vessel to call Moin Terminal in Costa Rica. MSC’s service plans to bring larger container ships for shipping in European and Asian markets with more capacity to carry refrigerated produced on transatlantic routes.

MSC Katya R. will operate on a direct weekly service from Moin, the company’s Ecuador Service to key ports in North West Continent or NWC which is the region known in the maritime transportation business in norther Europe. Antwerp, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven with connections to destinations throughout Europe are the direct ports of call from Moin.

Costa Rican companies which export food and other commodities in containers will be benefited by this new service. Costa Rica is categorized as the world ‘s largest exporter of pineapples and the third largest exporter of bananas.

The agricultural products exported by Costa Rica are temperature controlled; and they are increasingly moving in refrigerated containers called “reefers” as opposed to being transported by dedicated refrigerated vessels. As a respond to these trends MSC is providing advanced reefer technology that is required by their partners and shippers to ensure that the product is in perfect condition and also reaches on time to its destination.

Reference: msc.com

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