International News

New P&O cruise ship BRITANNIA makes her debut

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P&O's new and largest cruise ship, BRITANNIA, has announced her presence on the world stage. © P&O Cruises
P&O’s new and largest cruise ship, BRITANNIA, has announced her presence on the world stage. © P&O Cruises

The new monster 143,000 ton P&O cruise ship, BRITANNIA, was ordered in 2011 and her keel was laid down on 15 May 2013. The ship was constructed at a cost of £473 million by the Fincantieri yard in Italy. The ceremonial launch and float out took place on the afternoon of 14 February 2014.

In early March 2015, BRITANNIA made her way to her home port of Southampton, bucking the modern day trend by not opting to fly an overseas flag, where she was officially christened on Tuesday 10 March by Queen Elizabeth II.

Speaking on board BRITANNIA before she departed on her first voyage to the Mediterranean, Captain Amir Esmiley, area operations manager for Southampton based Maritime and Coastguard Agency congratulated P&O Cruises on choosing to register the ship in the city.

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Proposed French yacht tax labelled a disaster by ECPY

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ECPY calls on the French government to reject the proposed new yacht tax in French waters
ECPY calls on the French government to reject the proposed new yacht tax in French waters

The European Committee for Professional Yachting (ECPY) has likened the proposed tax on yachts in French waters to what happened in Sardinia between 2006 and 2009. According to ECPY, this legislation, if passed, would have a profound and potentially catastrophic effect.

In January, the French Senate introduced a bill to tax yachts that were cruising in any of the 322 French managed marine areas, representing almost a quarter of the country’s territorial waters. But the bill was kicked out by the National Assembly as they realised the damaging effect it could have on what is a lucrative industry and popular leisure pastime.

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NZ Maritime Union calls for inquiry into port safety

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The Maritime Union of New Zealand is calling for an inquiry to be set up into the number of accidents affecting seafarers and port workers
The Maritime Union of New Zealand is calling for an inquiry to be set up into the number of accidents affecting seafarers and port workers

A Port of Lyttelton worker suffered a broken arm on Tuesday 3 March 2015 after a fall aboard a vessel. Two C3 employees in the Port of Timaru were taken to hospital after an incident aboard a container vessel on the early morning of Wednesday 4 March 2015. One of the workers was transferred to Christchurch hospital with serious back injuries.

Maritime Union National Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the ongoing and regular accidents in the port sector showed there were “systemic and deep rooted problems” that needed to be brought into the open.

Mr Fleetwood says he was concerned other incidents were happening in ports but had gone under a “cone of silence.”

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Environmental concerns of the Nicaragua Canal raised

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Environmental scientists have questioned the effects of the Nicaragua Canal. Image courtesy of South China Morning Post
Environmental scientists have questioned the effects of the Nicaragua Canal. Image courtesy of South China Morning Post

A consortium of environmental scientists has expressed strong concern about the impact of the controversial Central American Nicaragua Canal. The path of the Nicaragua Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will cut through Lake Cocibolca (aka Lake Nicaragua), Central America’s main freshwater reservoir and the largest tropical freshwater lake of the Americas; this plan will force the relocation of indigenous populations and impact a fragile ecosystem, including species at risk of extinction, according to Rice University environmental engineer Pedro Alvarez and other members of the consortium.

Alvarez is co-corresponding author of an article that includes 21 co-authors from 18 institutions in the United States and Central and South America who gathered at a multidisciplinary international workshop in Managua, Nicaragua, last November to discuss the project. The paper, titled “Scientists Raise Alarms About Fast Tracking of Transoceanic Canal Through Nicaragua,” has been published by the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science and Technology.

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BIMCO launches maritime environmental and efficiency management guide

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BIMCO has developed a maritime environmental and efficiency management guide
BIMCO has developed a maritime environmental and efficiency management guide

BIMCO has launched a new, multi-part guidance resource to support ship owners and operators in improving their environmental performance and the efficiency of their ships.

The BIMCO Guide to Maritime Environmental & Efficiency Management, developed in partnership with maritime efficiency specialists Fathom, and supported by ClassNK, provides a resource to facilitate compliance with environmental regulations and assist owners and operators in the development of an environmental and efficiency management system. This first-of-a-kind, comprehensive resource allows ship owners and operators to develop an all-encompassing environmental and efficiency management system.

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Munkebo Maersk becomes the biggest ship to sail the Thames

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Munkebo Maersk becomes the biggest ship to sail the Thames
Munkebo Maersk becomes the biggest ship to sail the Thames

The 399 metre long Munkebo Maersk, which weighs in at 195,000 tonnes and is 60 metre wide became the largest vessel ever to sail up the Thames. The Munkebo Maersk is one of the largest container vessels in the world. She was helped into port by pilots from the Port of London Authority.

Munkebo Maersk can carry 18,300 x 20 foot containers.

Simon Moore, chief executive of DP World London Gateway, said: “This is yet another record and landmark moment for DP World London Gateway.

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Poor procedures means no let up in navigational claims reports The Swedish Club

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The Swedish Club LogoAccording to The Swedish Club, half of the costs of hull and machinery claims handled by the Club have arisen due to navigational claims such as collisions, contacts or groundings – a figure that has remained steady over recent years despite improved technology and the widespread implementation of Safety Management Systems.

The Swedish Club, in its latest Loss Prevention publication, Navigational Claims, has revealed a number of interesting findings relating to claims made for hull and machinery damage between 2004–2013.

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Air pollution from marine vessels in the US High Arctic set to rise

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logoMarine vessels are a significant source of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, including CO2, NOX, SOX, particulate matter, and black carbon, which impact local air quality, human health, and the global climate. Since the record low Arctic sea ice extent recorded in September 2012, policy attention has increasingly focused on strategies for addressing shipping activity in the Arctic and the associated environmental impacts.

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Missing Seafarers Reporting Programme goes live

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The Missing Seafarers Reporting Programme is live and open for business
The Missing Seafarers Reporting Programme is live and open for business

The Missing Seafarers Reporting Programme is the flagship programme delivered to the international and maritime communities by the Human Rights at Sea (“HRAS”) organisation. It is a privately funded programme delivered through the generosity of international donors having been conceived by the HRAS Founder in September 2013.

The vision is to primarily support seafarers, fishermen and their families by the registration of seafarers and fishermen missing at sea through a secure, independent and international on-line platform. That platform is known as the Missing Seafarers Register.

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Nautical Institute puts communications under the spotlight in issue 8 of The Navigator

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Issue 8 of The Navigator magazine by the Nautical Institute is available to read now.
Issue 8 of The Navigator magazine by the Nautical Institute is available to read now.

Communicating effectively on the bridge, between ships or to the shore is the topic under discussion in the eighth issue of The Navigator – the free publication from The Nautical Institute. The 12-page magazine, aimed at marine navigational officers at all stages in their career, is now being distributed to SOLAS vessels around the world.

Editor of The Navigator, Emma Ward, said: “Miscommunication or the use of poor information is a leading cause of accidents at sea. In this issue of The Navigator, we aim to encourage readers to adopt effective communication techniques onboard ship. We also want to open a discussion about best practices across the industry.”

The new issue looks at the importance of different methods of communications at sea and examines the difference between data and information. There is an interview with a serving third officer and a brand new letters page offering insight into a number of maritime issues from members of the magazine’s readership.

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Dublin Port Company opens new Alexandra Quay Container Terminal

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Dublin Port Company has officially opened its newly completed Alexandra Quay Container Terminal
Dublin Port Company has officially opened its newly completed Alexandra Quay Container Terminal

The opening marks the completion of the third and final phase of the development of the new facility. This third phase will enable the terminal to cater for an additional 80,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) per annum bringing the terminal’s total capacity to over 400,000 TEU per annum.

The initial two phases of the project created new runways for three rows of rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), a type of large mobile crane used for stacking shipping containers. The third and final phase added a fourth runway for RTGs and deepened and strengthened the quay wall to allow bigger container ships to be loaded and discharged with modern high speed ship-to-shore gantry cranes.

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South Asia still the preferred end of life location says NGO Shipbreaking Platform

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South Asia still the preferred end of life location says NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Photo: NGO Shipbreaking Platform
South Asia still the preferred end of life location says NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Photo: NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has released a complete list of all ship owners and their ships sold for breaking last year.

The Statistics

Out of a total of 1026 ships dismantled globally in 2014, 641 – representing 74% of the total gross tonnage (GT) scrapped – were sold to substandard facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where ships are dismantled directly on tidal beaches. None of the South Asian yards comply with international standards for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling.

End-of-life ships contain toxic materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, PCBs, oil residues and organic waste within their structures – these pollutants can not be contained or safely removed on a tidal beach. The demolition of the largest movable man-made structures is hazardous and must be conducted in a controlled manner using adequate infrastructure such as cranes as well as necessary health and safety provisions – in 2014 the Platform reported 23 deaths and 66 severe injuries due to accidents such as explosions, workers crushed under steel plates and falling from heights on the South Asian beaches.

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