UK Chamber CEO, Guy Platten, has delivered a keynote speech to the British Ports Association annual conference in Belfast.
Mr Platten focused on the broad challenges facing the industry, but explained that a system must be found to mediate disputes between shipping companies and port operators over the cost of doing business.
He said: “Shipowners, just like commercial ports, are in business to make money – and expect to negotiate with their suppliers in order to secure a good service at a competitive price. Some UK ports are effective monopolies – and I reveal no confidences when I say that there are concerns that this results in them treating shipowners as captive customers.
Non compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 regulation, which came into force on 7 August, could result in North Sea supply ships being detained says shipping and maritime law expert Katie Williams of Pinsent Masons.
Katie Williams said that although most UK operators were already compliant, vessels operating or passing through UK waters under other national flags could now be at risk of enforcement action. “The Maritime Labour Convention consolidates what has been in place in the UK for some years, but a major change is that for the first time it has an enforcement mechanism with real ‘teeth’,” she said.
“Many shipping companies and charterers have invested significant time and effort in trying to ensure that they will comply with the new regime, however the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as the UK’s enforcement body will be looking to set down a marker that they intend to rigorously apply the new laws. It would be a nightmare scenario for a boat which is chartered at thousands of pounds a day to be detained in port, but it is feasible that in extreme circumstances this could happen,” she said.
Stevedore It is an occupation which involves the cargo operations i.e. loading and unloading of cargoes on ships. It also includes the other various dockside functions. The people engaged in this occupation are known as stevedores in UK & Europe. However, in the United States and other areas are referred to as longshoremen. At present, in countries such as Dubai, Singapore etc. where stevedoring is a commonplace and where all the cargo passes through domestic and international ports is usually handled is known as Freight Station or Freight Terminal. In this scenario, the stevedores do need heavy machinery, such as tractor, trailers, cranes and forklifters, etc. If on the other hand the some other related work is performed manually where use of machinery is not required such as labour or clerical work. The businesses which specialize in loading and unloading vessels are referred to as stevedoring companies.
Registration and tonnage explained in simple terms
I was interested to read the correspondence on the above subject and think that some clarification is required. Both registration and tonnage are often misunderstood even, I am sorry to say, by some marine surveyors. Registration is a legal requirement for merchant ships over 15 tons gross. It does not apply to warships or vessels of ‘primitive build’. It is written, like tonnage, into International, European and British law and cannot be changed at the whim of an owner or marine surveyor. Tonnage has nothing whatever to do with the vessel’s mass, weight or displacement but both gross and nett figures are a measure of the vessel’s internal volume. Nor has it anything to do, these days, with how much cargo (grain, bananas, wine tuns) that a vessel can carry but everything to do with harbour and light dues and taxation. The use of the word tonnage is merely an historical hangover and has been dropped for some time.
A Guide to the Registration of Ships
There are three classifications of registration in British law known from the divisions of the relevant Act of Parliament (the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act and subsequent revisions) as Parts I, II, and III. Part I applies, in general to big ships but may be used for ships under 24 metres load line length, Part II applies to fishing vessels and Part III to small craft under the 24 m load line length divisor. The vessel has to be measured for tonnage by an MCA authorised marine surveyor and the vessel’s registered Official Number and Registered Tonnage has to be ‘carved into the main beam’. The latter point is often circumvented by the material from which the vessel is built and the required data may be Continue reading “Registration and Tonnage explained”
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Northern Russian Arctic Coast Line. As a result of climate change the ice in the Arctic Sea has been melting considerably over recent years, resulting in the shipping lane being partly free of ice during the summer months. Ice free however means the absence of a frozen ice sheet, there will still be broken off ice sheets in various sizes in the Arctic Sea during the ice free periods. Therefore ships using the Northern Sea Route require ice strengthened hulls or in some case ice breaker support. Continue reading “The Northern Sea Route”
