MARITIME NEWS

Monday, June 2, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers
New pipeline set to boost demand for VLCCs
Demand for VLCCs is expected to increase wit te de!elopment of a new pipeline
"etween te #ra"ian $ulf and Myanmar%
&ip"ro'er (oten ) (artners said &ino*+urmese pipeline, wic was first mooted in 2004,
is capa"le of transportin, 440,000 "arrels of crude oil per day from te Middle -ast to
Cina% .owe!er, te pipeline will a!oid te &traits of Malacca and tis means more VLCCs
will "e needed to sip crude oil from te Middle -ast to te port of /yau'pu in Myanmar%
+ut te sip"ro'er stressed tat altou, suc a de!elopment can inder ton*mile demand
,rowt, demand for VLCCs from te #ra"ian $ulf to Myanmar is li'ely to sur,e%
#ccordin, to (oten ) (artners, te de!elopment of o!erland transportation is amon, te
'ey factors tat can inder tan'er demand ,rowt% 0e sip"ro'er li'ewise noted tat
pipeline pro1ects often come wit conflicts associated wit sta'eolders, tus resultin, in oil
trade "ecomin, affected%
.owe!er, due to some delays wit re,ards to te operations of te pipeline2s primary outlet
in /unmin,, te facility, wic was ori,inally planned to promote faster oil transport from
Cina2s /unmin, refinery to oter outlets in Con,3in, and &icuan, is li'ely to "ecome
fully operational only later tis year%
#noter stum"lin, "loc' is +ei1in,2s mo!e in imposin, restrictions on new pro1ects for te
country2s two "i,,est refiners * te 4ational (etroleum Corp and te Cina (etrocemical
Corp last year% 0e "an was repealed only last wee' and tis pro"a"ly led to te /unmin,
refinery to officially commence operations "y 2015%
SAFETY STUDY
ENCLOSED LIFEBOAT = ENCLOSED
SPACE
#n officer detected a foul smell on an enclosed life"oat and decided to inspect "efore
conductin, te usual maintenancecec'%
S!!A"#
6ile underta'in, a routine maintenance cec' of an enclosed life"oat, an officer detected
a stron, odour wen e opened te "oat2s access door%
0e interior of te "oat smelled of rotten e,,s, and te officer realised tat it would "e
necessary to cec' te atmospere in te "oat "efore entry%
# cec' of te air inside te "oat was underta'en wit te !essel2s own ,as monitorin,
e3uipment, wic re!ealed te presence of ydro,en sulpide ,as in a concentration
exceedin, 50 parts per million%
0e life"oat was torou,ly !entilated and, once clear of ,as, a permit to enter was issued
to allow te crew to in!esti,ate te source of te ,as%
It was su"se3uently disco!ered tat a faulty "attery car,er ad o!ercar,ed te "oat2s
"atteries, wic produced te ydro,en sulpide ,as%
LESSONS
0e interior of an enclosed life"oat is not one tat mariners would intuiti!ely class as an
enclosed space% .owe!er, tis incident demonstrates tat te potential ris's of enterin, an
enclosed life"oat, witout first cec'in, tat te atmospere is safe to "reate, are se!ere%
-xposure to ydro,en sulpide ,as at te concentration found in tis incident as te
potential to cause permanent eye dama,e%
It may not "e a sufficient control measure to simply lea!e te access door open for a period
of time prior to entry as ydro,en sulpide is ea!ier tan air% 0e ,as may terefore pool
in te wells of te "oat, especially on freefall life"oats%
7orced !entilation may "e re3uired to ma'e te interior of te "oat safe to enter%
0o a!oid te ris' tat ydro,en sulpide ,as is produced, te correct operation of te
"attery car,er sould form part of te re,ular maintenance cec's wic are conducted
on life"oats%
#ll sips must a!e a safety mana,ement system tat re3uires a set of clear procedures
wen enterin, an enclosed space% &ource8 9/ M#I+
ACP e$es Post%Panama& 'essel for wor(for)e
trainin*
0o ensure te success of te soon*to*"e expanded (anama Canal, te (anama Canal
#utority :#C(; is 'een on carterin, a !essel for trainin, purposes%
#C( executi!e !ice*president of operations -ste"an &aen< said te autority will carter a
(ost*(anamax !essel tat will "e utilised for trainin, pilots and tu,"oat captains wo will "e
deployed to man transits at te canal2s 0ird &et of Loc's prior to its launc%
=0is is one of te "est ways to train our pilots and tu, captains in te 1oint effort re3uired to
transit trou, te two new loc' complexes of te expanded Canal,= te official noted%
#ccordin, to &aen<, te mo!e is part of te #C(2s efforts in promotin, wor'force trainin,
for te operation of te expanded waterway% (anama as already trained 1>5 Canal pilots
wit te elp of (ost*(anamax model sips at te (anama Canal2s Centre for &imulation,
?esearc and Maritime De!elopment :&IDM#?;%
=&IDM#?2s matematical modellin, and simulations a!e "een updated and parts of te
expanded (anama Canal suc as te loc's, na!i,ational cannels and Cule"ra Cut a!e
"een added to train our pilots and captains in suc manoeu!res,= &aen< added%
Pirates free T+ai tan(er after )ar*o t+eft
(irates a!e released an Indonesian*"ound 0ai tan'er after stealin, its oil car,o, in te
latest attac' in &outeast #sian waters, te International Maritime +ureau :IM+; said
Monday%
0e !essel, wit 14 crew a"oard, arri!ed at &ri ?aca (ort in 0ailand on &unday, te
IM+2s /uala Lumpur*"ased (iracy ?eportin, Centre said%
0e diesel oil tan'er ad lost contact wit its owner after departin, &in,apore 0uesday on
its way to (ontiana' on Indonesia2s /alimantan, #7( reported%
=(irates i1ac'ed and stole te tan'er2s oil car,o on"oard and destroyed te communication
e3uipment% 0e crew and !essel are safe,= te centre said in a "rief release%
4oel Coon,, te centre2s ead, said tey were still in!esti,atin, te circumstances of te
i1ac'in,, includin, te exact location%
(irates a!e attac'ed a num"er of !essels in waters off Indonesia, &in,apore and Malaysia
recently% In #pril, pirates in1ured te captain and stole diesel fuel from anoter 0ailand*
owned tan'er off te eastern coast of Malaysia%
In te same mont, tree Indonesian crew were 'idnapped and diesel fuel stolen from a
&in,apore*mana,ed tan'er in te &trait of Malacca, an important sippin, lane%
January to Marc saw 2@ actual or attempted attac's in &outeast #sian waters, mainly off
Indonesia, accordin, to IM+%
"I s+ipowners )on)erned o'er *o't plan to ),t
b,d*et
0e Indonesian 4ational &ipowners #ssociation :I4&#; as expressed concern o!er te
,o!ernment2s recent plan to reduce infrastructure and transportation spendin, in te
re!ised 2014 state "ud,et, 0e Ja'arta (ost reported%
0ey claim tat it will put Indonesia2s already low lo,istic competiti!eness at ris', especially
as te country is mo!in, toward a re,ional common mar'et next year%
0e only way to reduce te i, lo,istic costs and "oost product competiti!eness is "y
"oostin, infrastructure de!elopment in te country, said I4&# cairperson Carmelita
.artoto%
#round A0B of Indonesia2s lo,istic costs consisted of i, expenses caused "y poor
access to ar"ours, as well as wareousin, fees and port tariffs, accordin, to Carmelita%
INCIDENTS
C+inese s+ip in latest *lit)+ in !-./0 sear)+
mission
# Cinese sip mappin, te ocean floor aead of an intensi!e underwater searc for
missin, 7li,t M.@A0 was returnin, to port &aturday due to a tecnical pro"lem, officials
said%
0e massi!e Indian Ccean searc for te Malaysia #irlines plane, wic disappeared on
Marc > carryin, 2@D people, as so far failed to find any si,n of te +oein, AAA%
0e Cinese sur!ey sip, Eu /e<en, was conductin, a "atymetric sur!ey * or mappin,
of te ocean floor * to elp experts determine ow to carry out te next sta,e of te searc
on te pre!iously unmapped ocean sea"ed, #7( reported%
=Eu /e<en suffered a defect to its multi"eam ecosounder and is comin, into port to
conduct te necessary repairs,= #ustralia2s Joint #,ency Coordination Centre said in a
statement% =0e 1ourney is expected to ta'e a couple of days%=
!issin* 1apanese )aptain fo,nd dead after
tan(er blast
0e missin, captain of an oil tan'er tat exploded and san' off a Japanese port as "een
found dead, accordin, to te coast,uard%
Di!ers found a "ody in te sip2s old on &aturday and it was later confirmed as tat of
captain Masaici #ndo "y is family, te coast,uard said%
#ndo, 54, ad "een missin, since te nearly 1,000*tonne tan'er, &o'o*maru, erupted in a
fire"all on 0ursday%
It went down around ten ours after te "last%
&e!en of te ei,t Japanese crew were rescued, includin, one wo remained unconscious
wit se!ere "urns co!erin, is entire "ody, #7( reported%
0e fire was li'ely spar'ed as a crew mem"er used a ,rinder to remo!e rust on te sip,
0ransport Minister #'iiro Cta told a press conference last wee'%
RESEARCH
N teams ,p wit+ top sailors to resear)+
o)eans
0e 9nited 4ations is teamin, up wit top sailors to conduct scientific researc in remote
areas of te oceans durin, a non*stop race around te ,lo"e%
94-&CC2s Inter,o!ernmental Cceano,rapic Commission and te +arcelona 7oundation
for Ccean &ailin,, wic is or,ani<in, te race, announced wat tey called an
=unprecedented alliance "etween te sailin, and scientific communities= at a news
conference 7riday, 0e #ssociated (ress reported%
+arcelona2s deputy mayor Maite 7andos, wo is president of te foundation, said te tird
+arcelona 6orld ?ace startin, Dec% @1 will "e =turnin, our s'ippers into a,ents of te
collection of ocean science from salinity le!els to micro*plastic pollution%=
Matieu +el"eoc, te commission2s tecnical coordinator, said eac s'ipper will put an
=#r,o ro"ot= wit sopisticated instruments into a remote area to measure te dynamics of
te ocean% 0e =ro"ots= or =floats= are part of a ,lo"al pro1ect researcin, climate can,e%
0ere are currently more tan @,500 "attery*operated floats in te world2s oceans "ut
+el"eoc said tere are ma1or ,aps%
=6at is important is tat tese s'ippers are reacin, remote places tat don2t see many
sips= in te soutern oceans, e said%
0e tree*mont race ,oes from +arcelona to +arcelona !ia tree soutern capes * $ood
.ope, Leeuwin and .orn * and te Coo' &trait%
PORT OF THE WEEK
Port of "i)+ards Ba$
?icards +ay is &out #frica2s most modern "ul' terminal and premier seaport%
0e complex was ori,inally "uilt in 1DA5 as a coal terminal% It as since "ecome te world2s
lar,est coal export terminal%
0e (ort of ?icards +ay is located approximately 150 'ilometres nort*east of Dur"an and
45F'm sout of Maputo, on te country2s eastern sea"oard%
0e multi*purpose terminal is situated in a natural deep*water ar"our and is te product of
te mer,in, of two separate terminals, namely te +ul' Metal and Com"i 0erminals%
0e port as an entrance cannel @00m wide wit a permissi"le draft of 1A%Fm, and open
stora,e for 5%A million tonnes of coal%
0e inte,ration of te port facilities as enanced its a"ility to andle 1ust a"out any type of
non*containerised car,o%
0e esta"lisment of te port @0 years a,o as transformed a small fisin, !illa,e into a
dynamic industrial city, and a new "ert as opened e!ery oter year since%
0o date te port as andled in excess of 1%@ "illion tonnes of coal and a furter F00 million
tonnes of oter raw materials and car,o%
0e a!era,e trou,put is o!er >0 million tonnes annually, wic represents an impressi!e
50B of &out #frica2s total sea"orne car,o% 0ere are fi!e dedicated car,o*andlin,
terminals at wic approximately 1,A00 sip calls are made eac year%
It "oasts of four "ul' sip loaders and a massi!e F>'m con!eyor "elt system on te
stoc'yard side%
Ma1or de!elopments already underway include an additional "ul' li3uid andlin, "ert and
a sip repair facility% Container traffic for te interland is andled trou, te sister port in
Dur"an, situated 150'm sout, owe!er tere is a pro1ect at preliminary desi,n sta,e for a
F0,000 0-9s container andlin, facility%
# massi!e 9&D140 million rede!elopment will expand te capacity of te coal terminal to
o!er D2 million tonnes per annum%
SHIPPING DATA
BALTIC E2C-AN3E
Market snapshot: (June 2)
Dry Index BDI 934 (no change)
Capesie Index BCI !429 "34
#ana$ax Index B#I %4& '2&
(upra$ax Index B(I %29 '!
E2C-AN3E "ATES
)e* +ork (,ri C-s)
,gn Currency .(D in ,gn
in .(D Currency
Britain (#ound) !/&0&4 1/29&2
Canada (Do--ar) 1/922! !/1%42
China (+uan) 1/!&1! &/2402
3uro !/3&3& 1/0334
India (4upee) 1/1!&9 29/3311
Indonesia (4upiah) 1/1111%2 !!021/11
Japan (+en) 1/119%3! !1!/0211
)or*ay (5rone) 1/!&04 2/9034
#hi-ippines (#eso) 1/122% 43/%311
#o-and (6-oty) 1/329& 3/1311
4ussia (4u7-e) 1/12%0 34/%90&
(ingapore (Do--ar) 1/0903 !/2243
.kraine (8ry9nia) 1/1%49 !!/0092