Different Types Of Maritime Crimes

A maritime crime is defined as any criminal activity carried out at sea. These criminal activities can be directed at vessels, could violate international laws or coastal state’s sovereignty or simply be the use of sea vessels for illegal activities.

Maritime crimes are a major setback for the marine industry as almost 80% of the goods are moved by ships. They can also pose serious threats to vessels, the goods being carried by the vessels and most importantly, the lives of crew members and in some cases, passengers. This article discusses some of the various activities which are termed as crimes in the marine industry.

1) Drug trafficking

Drug trafficking or illegal drug trade involves cultivating, manufacturing, distributing and selling drugs illegally. This is one of the most common maritime crimes as most illegal drugs are transported via sea.

2) Human trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the most common and most serious crimes in the maritime world. It is illegal to travel to another country without permission from the authorities. Sometimes people can get illegally and forcefully transported to another country for practices like slavery, though this was more common in the 19th and 20th centuries.

3) Illegal carrying of weapons and artillery

It is illegal to transport weapons and artillery on ships without authorization due to the sensitivity of such goods. Engaging in this activity is a punishable offense as it endangers the lives of people on the ship as well as those around it.

4) Piracy

Piracy or maritime piracy is an act of robbery or violence by attackers on a ship with the intention of plundering the ship for valuable items and properties. The people engaging in acts of piracy are called pirates. Though now declining steadily, piracy has been frowned upon since the beginning of time and is still one of the most notorious crimes that can be committed at sea.

Read more: 20 Anti-Piracy Weapons Deployed In Ships To Fight Pirates

5) Tax evasion

Tax evasion is an illegal act of deliberately avoiding the paying of taxes. This is a very common crime in the maritime world. Many ship owners and companies try to avoid paying taxes by presenting false documents and incorrectly representing cargo material. The crime of tax evasion is one of the hardest to catch and prove and is currently on the rise.

6) Illegal fishing or sailing

Sailing or fishing in unauthorized areas at sea is considered a crime. Any ship present in an unauthorized spot for any kind of purpose is subject to punishment by law.

7) Unauthorized Entry

It is illegal for any ship to enter the marine boundaries of a country without seeking permission from the government of that nation. This is a punishable offense in all countries.

8) Smuggling of Exotic Plants and Animals

Smuggling of exotic plants and animals for wildlife smuggling is illegal for any ship without authorization. This is because wildlife smuggling involves the isolation of plants and animals. When they arrived at the destination, they may not be able to adapt to the new place. Animals may also cause infectious diseases in people.

9) Oceanic Pollution

Polluting ocean water by discharging sewage or oil in it is a punishable offense. Many countries have implemented strict policies against this. A discharge of oil in ocean waters greatly affects the coastal areas of the region.

Read more: Meaning Of Flotsam And Jetsam In Shipping

Despite strict law enforcement, maritime crimes are still very common owing to the vastness of the world’s seas and oceans. There are no concrete boundaries to waters. It is very difficult to make people not engage in maritime crimes.

Some ways of improving the maritime security of the world could be the use of satellite tracking, more cooperation between countries, more efficient monitoring of ships and ports, etc.

Finally, it should be realized that the main reason why people engage in criminal activities is because of deprivation of resources. It is high time that all the countries of the world who operated with each other in order to solve global problems like hunger poverty, illiteracy, terrorism unemployment through proper education and equal distribution of wealth and resources, population control, etc.  and bring world peace.

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What Is A Lightship?

A lightship or a light vessel is a ship that can also operate as a lighthouse. These types of ships are used in waters that are too deep and where lighthouses cannot be constructed. Lightships play an important role in assisting other ships to navigate through waters.

A lighthouse is a structure, usually a tower or a building, which is used specifically to emit bright lights and assist maritime vessels and pilots for maritime navigational purposes during the dark.

Lightships were used more in olden times as compared to today. Nowadays due to the advancement and development of construction and architecture lightships are slowly going out of use.

The concept of a lightship has been in existence since Roman times. However, the first known modern light vessel was the scene of the Nore sandbank in England which was placed in 1734.

In the 19th century, the idea of a lightship moves towards the west. The United States of America started employing these ships in the country. This is where most of the technological advancement was made on the ship which included the redesigning and modification of the anchoring system to ensure stability during harsh climates.

In the beginning, oil and kerosene lamps were used on lightships. Later on, lights with refractive lenses were adopted.

Towards the 20th century, some light vessels were also equipped with warning bells which warned the people of danger in case of poor visibility or the presence of another vessel in the proximity. These bells could be heard at a radius of a distance of 24 kilometers from the ship.

Mooring

To keep the vessel fixed and its position fluke anchors were used. They are used even today. However, they were not sufficient to keep the ship stationary in rough seas. Now mushroom anchors that can weigh up to 4000 kgs are employed in these ships.

Read more: What Is A Mooring Buoy?

Construction Material

The hulls of lightships were previously built with wood. Now with technological advancement, wood has been replaced by damage resistant, non-corrosive, stronger and more durable material like iron or steel.

Appearance

Lightvessels at a time served another important purpose. The bodies of these ships were color-coded and easily identifiable. This helped the sailors in the oceans to confirm their location in the ocean during day time. Lightships used to operate for more than 12 hours a day, from sunset to sunrise.

These ships have been in use for more than a century and a half. They were used most towards the end of the 19th century before lighthouse towers started growing in number. This began to reduce the number of lightships.

Even today, they are declining in number and use. Currently, very few mobile lighthouses exist across the world. Due to more developed advanced navigation systems and satellite communication lightships are not required by many.

Still, we cannot overlook the kind of purpose that these ships have served in their time of operation. We should also keep in mind the kind of scientific minds possessed by people at that time who thought about the concept and actually made it into a reality.

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SAL Welcomes Three Heavy Lift Vessels With 800t Capacity To Its Fleet

SAL Heavy Lift announced about that it will expand its fleet by adding three heavy lift vessels that will have a lifting capacity of 800t in 2020. Those vessels will serve the clients of breakbulk and heavy-lift through SALs which is popularly known as Semi-Liner Service however it will also provide with new service options.

With the addition of the three vessels, SAL aims to makes its semi-liner service stronger. It will also make SAL one of the leading company in the heavy lift and project cargo segment.

The new vessels will also follow the traditional categorizing of vessels at SAL and thus they will join the fleet as type ‘171’.

The design of the vessels is that of type P1. They are equipped with two 400t SWL cranes with the capability of lifting about 800 tonnes is tandem along with 120t SWL crane. They will offer service to the clients along the key trade lines of SAL which is between Europe and the Far East. However, it will also offer services in the recent introduction of SAL’s Africa service.

Karsten Behrens, Director, SAL Engineering said, “The Type 171 vessels come with certain technical features such as ice class E3, equivalent to Finnish/Swedish 1A – amongst the highest in the industry.”

The ships can also operate in the Arctic region. SAL will also provide transfers on the Northeast path whenever possible.

Karsten Behrens continued, “The vessels also have very high crane pedestals which provide a much greater lifting height, in fact amongst the best in our fleet. In combination with the strong hydraulic hatch covers and large box-shaped holds with multiple tween deck configurations, it gives us an array of options when taking break bulk cargo onboard.”

Sebastian Westphal, CTO, SAL Heavy Lift added, “The vessels are, as the rest of our fleet, equipped with reliable high-quality machinery. With cranes from TTS-NMF, main engines from MAN and MacGregor hatch covers, the vessels are built with equipment with which we have tremendous experience. Despite obvious design differences with our other vessels the Type 171 will be reliable work tools in our fleet and will add value.”

The fleet of SAL is getting strong at a time when a large part of its current fleet is engaged in projects related to renewable and oil & gas.

Dr. Martin Harren, CEO, SAL Heavy Lift said, “I am very happy that we have been able to add these vessels to our heavy lift fleet. This way SAL will be able to service clients who may at times look for ships that can take larger volumes of cargo in combination with heavy lift items. With SAL Engineering providing the engineering solutions and our SAL crew manning the vessels, we continue to offer our well-known SAL quality and know-how, but on a larger scale – something that I am sure clients, both new and existing, will come to appreciate.”

The vessels that are scheduled to join the join the SAL fleet in Q1 2020 are “MV Hanna”, “MV Klara” and “MV Lisa”. The names of these vessels represent the family members of the former owner, Heino Winter Group that will be handling the technical ship management of these vessels.

Dr. Martin Harren concludes: “We have a long-lasting relation with the Winter family, and I am happy to see their continued involvement with these three ‘large ladies’.”

The other details and information about the vessels like the specific take over dates can be found on the website of SAL.

 

Reference: SAL

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AAL Bangkok Loads 12 Floating Crafts, Including 51-Meter Superyacht

The perfect solution for ocean transport has been offered by AAL Bangkok for one of the leading yacht transport and boat shipping company which represents a particular group of private owners who want a Caribbean climate for their pleasure cruising this winter.

A compiled cargo of 12 floating cargo was loaded on the special heavy lift S-Class vessel of AAL in Genoa, Italy. It was then transported successfully to the Virgin Islands and Port Everglades.

The 3,500m2 cargo had a 51-meter superyacht that weighted 400t, which proved short work for the Bangkok’s heavy-lift cranes and their combined 700t max lift.

The Chartering Manager of AAL, Pavao Kopic, said that because of the cargo’s nature and value, AAL has been chosen by the customers for it’s reliable track record and the high lifting capability and cargo intake volume of the S-Class fleet.

The expanding Europe-US service of AAL which has the options of multiple tonnage and regular sailings was used for the transportation of the cargo.

 

Reference: AAL

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CSA 2020 Shipowners Offer Insight On EGCS Installations As IMO 2020 Looms

The Clean Shipping Alliance (CSA) 2020 are suggesting the shipowners who want to install marine exhaust gas cleaning systems in order to meet the requirements related to the global sulphur cap, to make sure that good quality and high end materials are being used by manufacturers, shipyards and installers.

Through the expertise that the members of CSA 2020 have gained after the installment of over 1500 EGCS, they have discovered that the quality of the material and coatings used is the key factor for the optimisation of EGCS safety and for the aversion of any corrosion related problem that occurs during operation.

“There are always some challenges involved when specifying ships’ machinery systems and scrubbers are no different,” said Arne Hubregtse, Executive Board Member, Spliethoff. “Risks can be mitigated, however, by investing in quality materials, established suppliers and experienced installers, and by optimising machinery space layouts.

“We have installations onboard about 50 vessels in the Spliethoff fleet and to date we have not experienced any corrosion or other significant issues through operating these systems. In addition to the specification of quality materials we recommend experienced installers with good supervision during the installation process.”

Roger Strevens, Vice President, Global Sustainability, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said: “While EGCS failure is not impossible, just as it is with any machinery, we believe we have minimised the risk – particularly of early-onset severe failure – by being very judicious in how we specify the systems and through being particular in who we are getting them from. If you buy cheap, you’ll pay twice!”

Wallenius Wilhelmsen installed its first EGCS in 2014 knowing that, like any first-of-type-installation, there would be the inevitable teething troubles. “We learned a lot from that first installation. The experience proved invaluable to subsequent installations,” added Strevens.

More than 200 exhaust gas cleaning systems that are installed in 83 opearting vessels that come under the Carnival Corporation umbrella have also been greatly reliable. Mike Kaczmarek, Sr. Vice-President Marine Technology, Carnival Corp said that more than 90% of the present system is available.

Kaczmarek, CSA 2020’s Chairman, said: “We have found EGCS systems are designed for world-wide operations and normally meet or exceed the specification. However, there are a few things to be aware of and, for example, we do recommend that the upper bellows (expansion joints) above the EGCS tower are replaced with a design using upgraded alloys during the installation process. This can help prevent any subsequent corrosion. Selection of quality materials is important.”

Grimaldi Group that is responsible for operating four different EGCS in more than 50 vessels. It reported over 90% reliability.

Dario Bocchetti, Head of the Grimaldi Group Corporate Energy Saving & Innovation, said: “The expansion bellows after the scrubber and the exhaust gas line can create problems. It is important to use high quality steel or alloys and make sure anti-corrosion coatings have been properly applied to the discharge outlet. Good specification and subcontractor selection can prevent problems later.”

“By confirming the operational performance of our members’ EGCS installations, we hope to allay any concerns relating to system failure or corrosion,” said CSA 2020 Executive Director Ian Adams. “The technology, the materials used, and the experienced gained from those first installations means that any corrosion issues can now be readily resolved.”

 

Reference: CSA

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Jan De Nul Successfully Wraps Up Liepaja Port Dredging

The capital dredging work for the enhancement of Liepaja Port in Latvia has been completed by Jan De Nul Group before the scheduled time.

For allowing the entrance and leave of bigger vessels completely loaded from the port, the access channel to the port was required to be adapted. As part of the Liepaja Port Water Infrastructure Works, the work of dredging was also given to Jan De Nul Group.

The work that was to be done by Jan De Nul Group included the removal of 2.7 million m³ of sediments in order to deepen the access channel of the port from 12.5 m to 14.5 m and the creation of a 14m new navigation channel of towards one of the main bulk terminals within the are of the port.

Challenging weather and soil conditions

Various weather and soil related challenges were faced by Jan De Nul Group during the project. Liepaja, which is one of the three major ports in Latvia is located along the west coast and is known for it’s low temperatures in winter and harsh weather conditions. The high waves that are seen constantly ain the Baltic Sea was a huge challenge for the Jan De Nul vessels, particularly during winter. The strong winds in Liepaja also had a great effect on the planning of the project.

The self-propelled Cutter Suction Dredger Fernão de Magalhães helped by three Split Hopper Barges was particularly selected for the dredging works because of the Baltic Sea’s heterogenous material. Very hard glacier sediments of sand, clay, stone and large boulders was to be removed by the Fernão de Magalhães.

Jan De Nul Group was able to deliver the project in just 9 months inspite of these harsh weather and soil conditions.

Mieke de Mûelenaere, Jan De Nul Project Manager of the Liepaja project: “We are proud to be able to finish the project 1.5 months ahead of schedule. Liepaja challenged us and we have succeeded. We are grateful to our colleagues of LSEZ for the constructive and positive cooperation which also led to this success.”

 

Reference: Jan De Nul Group

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Høglund And DNV GL Join Forces To Improve Data Generation And Sharing In Industry

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by Høglund Marine Solutions and DNV GL in order to help in the generation and export of big data from ships.

This measure will help in better digitalization of the marine sector by offering opportunity to Høglund for the development of their expertise in automation and systems and DNV GL an opportunity to improve their classification services.

“The digital transformation of shipping is finally happening and opens the door to many long-sought-after advantages and necessary progress”, says Børge Nova, CEO of Høglund Marine Solutions.

“For many years, Høglund has pointed to the lack of consistency in ship specifications on how important data shall be made available for all stakeholders. By combining Høglund’s expertise in how to create, standardize and export data through a vessel’s integrated automation systems with DNV GL’s industry knowledge and independent role we can provide owners and operators with a more accurate overview of a ship’s performance and compliance with regulations.”

The complexity of the vessels are increasing and large amounts of data is also generated. The ship owners and operators can take improved decisions about the operating costs, reliability, efficiency and safety of the ships by combining high quality data and methods that are seamless to reach and analyze. The marine sector still has a long way to go before it can take complete advantage of all the performance data. In order to do so, the industry needs to enhance data collection, exportation and use and to get experience from various fields for collaboration.

Jon Rysst, Senior Vice President and Business Development Leader, of DNV GL remarked: “We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Høglund. Data is already the fuel that is driving the transformation of many other industries, often as a result of collaborations between different fields of expertise. For DNV GL, this cooperation represents an opportunity to harness the power of data to improve our classification services and to develop added services based on our independent role.”

 

Reference: DNV GL

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