TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS
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- First View : ALDI WAVE
- Indian consortium considers producing gas from Mozambique coal
- Ghana Chamber of Shipping sets out its intentions
- Free Trade Agreements an opportunity for Africa
- NSRI kept busy with offshore medivacs
- Brazil and Chile end 42-year old exclusivity pact
- International: Richard V Spencer sworn in as 76th Secretary of the (US) Navy
- PRESS RELEASES: DNV GL carries out its first offshore drone survey
- Expected Ship Arrivals and Ships in Port
- Cruise News and Naval Activities
- Pics of the Day : IVS ORCHARD
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The Cypriot-flagged container ship ALDI WAVE (39,337-dwt) arrived in Durban in the past week under what appears to be a charter to Maersk Line. Built in 2008 the 221-metre long x 30m wide ship is owned by Greek interests and managed by Nautical Carriers of Athens, Greece. She has operated with two previous names, CAP BEAUFORT and SANTA BRUNELLA (owner then was Offen Claus-Peter Reederei) and was built at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyards Ltd Co shipyard in South Korea as hull number 0466. This picture is by Keith Betts
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INDIAN CONSORTIUM CONSIDERS PRODUCING GAS FROM MOZAMBIQUE COAL
India is looking at the alternative of gasifying coal into methanol at International Coal Ventures Ltd’s (ICVL) mine at Benga in Tete Province, Mozambique and shipping this to India to be used in gas-fired power plants in India.
Steel minister Chaudhury Birender Singh was speaking to The Telegraph in Kolkata and said that the cost of shipping the coal from Tete to India was proving prohibitive. Several alternatives however presented themselves. One was to set up a power plant to produce electricity in Mozambique itself, but this proposal was not feasible because there is no grid in Mozambique for distributing the power.
We are now evaluating a proposal to gasify the coal and turn it into methanol to be shipped back and used in gas-fired power plants in India, he said.
India has the capacity to produce 25,329 megawatts of electricity at its gas-fired power stations, but 14,305 megawatts of this is unavailable due to power stations being at a standstill or having no fuel.
Analysts have told NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) and the Indian government that although gasification is an alternative and new technologies could help to produce cheaper coal-based gas, “the problem is that the bottom of the natural gas market has been knocked off by shale gas prices”.
“The gasification idea is new… we will study its cost economics. The Niti Aayog is sure it can work. Once the government as a whole is convinced, we will go ahead,” said Singh.
The ICVL consortium is a partnership consisting of five Indian state groups – Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC), National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Coal India Limited (CIL) – which was formed to acquire stakes in mines abroad and ensure the supply of both coking and thermal coal.
The consortium acquired the assets of the Rio Tinto group which included the Benga mine near Moatize for a low US$50 million in 2014 when Rio Tinto wanted out of coal producing in Mozambique.
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GHANA CHAMBER OF SHIPPING SETS OUT ITS INTENTIONS
Ghana’s newly established Chamber of Shipping says that it hopes to work not only with shippers (cargo owners), nor the maritime administration, but for the entire maritime industry and to create a forum where everybody in the industry can come together to help shape government policies “as and when they are being churned out”.
That’s the word from Ben Owusu Mensah, the Convenor of the Chamber and a former head of Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority.
He said the chamber’s key objective is…[restrict] to protect the various stakeholders with regards to shipping policies and regulations.
In a statement issued by the chamber it said “Membership of the chamber will give access to unrivalled policy expertise, an extensive network of industry influencers and a voice in government policies and beyond that can simply not be achieved by companies acting alone.”
Stating that its membership consists of an experienced and dedicated panel of experts and industry influencers, it would also have a voice in the making of government policies that could not be achieved by companies acting alone.
As such the chamber will be working with government, with parliamentary groupings and with international organisations and institutions with an interest in maritime transport to champion and protect the industry on behalf of its members.
Osuwu Mensah said that the Chamber of Shipping would not duplicate the role of the Ghana Shippers Authority. “The Shippers Authority protects only the interest of the shipper, we want to speak for everybody,” he said.
He said there was a concern over the non coordinated nature of policies being promoted by various interest groups and implemented by government, which gives for worry, hence the need to help fashion and shape policies for the industry.
“What happens is that one faction will think of a policy, seek government intervention and then this is put forward without thinking of the other side so we think that before government comes out with any policy, it should consider the interest of everybody in the industry. One’s gain should not be the other’s loss and that what we are trying to look at.”
The Ghana Chamber of Shipping’s governing body is formed by ten 10 senior figures in the shipping industry who will oversee and guide all activities of the chamber on behalf of its members.[/restrict]
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FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR AFRICA
Free Trade Agreements in Africa present an opportunity for African countries to improve intra-regional trade
Director of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) Claudia Furriel said the continent’s free trade agreements, particularly the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement and the envisaged Continental Free Trade Area present an opportunity for African countries to improve intra-regional trade and diversify Africa’s current trade model of exporting raw materials and importing of finished products.
Furriel was speaking at a session on trade agreements on the fourth day of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week which took place last week in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.
“The Free Trade negotiations…[restrict] launched in June 2011 between the SADC, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East Africa countries would open up a market of US 1.3 trillion in terms of the Gross Domestic Product,” she said.
“In addition, the continental free trade that is to be established with 55 countries and a GDP of US$2.6 trillion presents an opportunity to access greater markets. On this free trade agreement, we are not only looking at trade in goods but also trade in services. Market integration, supported by infrastructure development and industrial development, will enable Africa to become competitive and benefit from other trade agreements with other partners,” said Furriel.
Furriel told delegates at the conference the continent’s full potential will remain unfulfilled unless challenges of poor infrastructure, small and fragmented markets, under-developed production structures and inadequate economic transformation are addressed.
“Regional integration is an important aspiration of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and remains a critical component of the continent’s efforts to ensure sustainable economic development and inclusive growth through the creation of a larger regional market and improving Africa’s integration in the global economy,” she said.
In addition, South Africa promotes a development integration approach, based on the three pillars of market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development. The country, she said, remains committed to a coordinated strategy to boost intra-Africa trade and build an integrated market in Africa.
She stressed that the regional free trade agreements have a potential for attracting investment to a larger markets and transform African economies.
The Trade and Investment Officer at the United States of America Embassy in South Africa, Juan Cammarano, said the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was an indication that the US’s job was not complete in Africa.
Cammarano said the extension presented an opportunity for businesses to continue to grow, build capacity and commercial relations and urged them to look beyond 2025.
AGOA is a unilateral US trade preference programme that provides duty-free, quota-free treatment for over 6 400 tariff lines into the United States market. Former US President Barrack Obama signed into law the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 that contained the AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act, which extended AGOA for 10 years until 2025 – with South Africa included.
The theme of the week-long conference that drew to a close on Friday was “Partnering with the Private Sector in Developing Industry and Regional Value Chains”. – SAnews.gov.za[/restrict]
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NSRI KEPT BUSY WITH OFFSHORE MEDIVACS
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) around the country remains on alert at all times with a 24-hour availability for emergency call outs. We don’t record all of their activities, such as numerous beach and even hiking rescues from difficult to get-to places, but on a regular basis there are reports where the NSRI is summoned by Transnet or the MRCC to go to the aid of a ship with some kind of problem on board.
There were at least two these over the past few days, both requiring the medical evacuation of a seafarer.
Mykonos
The first was on Friday, 4 August at 08h00, when NSRI Mykonos duty crew were activated by…[restrict] the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following a request for medical assistance from the cargo carrier NEW TAIZHOU (175,885-dwt), at anchor approximately nine nautical miles off-shore of St Helena Bay on the West Coast. The ship was reporting a 25 year old Chinese crewman injured following a fall onboard the vessel that apparently happened the day before.
The crewman had suffered back pain and lacerations in the fall.
The NSRI at Mykonos (Saldanha area) was informed that although the injured man’s back pain had been relieved following medical assistance by the ships medical crew, it was considered necessary for the injured man to be seen by a doctor on shore.
The sea rescue craft Gemini Rescuer II was towed to St Helena Bay where it was launched and on arrival at the ship the injured crewman, ‘walking wounded’ and in a stable and satisfactory condition, was transferred onto the sea rescue craft accompanied by a ship’s crewman acting as interpreter. The NSRI then transferred the injured sailor to shore where he was seen to by a doctor.
Later, the NSRI Mykonos crew, still in the area at the time, were requested to transport the seamen back to the ship following treatment by the doctor, which was carried out without incident.
Fortunately, sea conditions were calm and the operation was completed by 14h00.
Richards Bay
Kim Germishuys, NSRI ASR (Air Sea Rescue) rescue coordinator at Richards Bay reported that at on Saturday, 5 August at 13h30, the NSRI Richards Bay duty crew and the NSRI ASR (Air Sea Rescue) were alerted by TNPA that a seaman on the LPG gas carrier PGC STRIDENT FORCE (8485-dwt) had a lower back injury and required evacuation off the ship to hospital on shore.
The gas tanker was arriving in the area of Richards Bay from the Suez Canal and was request to rendezvous with a rescue team four nautical miles offshore of the port.
The TNPA port helicopter was tasked with the duty while NSRI Richards Bay was placed on alert.
The helicopter, with the TNPA flight crew, Pilot in Command Iefan Blake, Co-Pilot Lourens Goosen, Hoist Operator Le Roux Janse van Vuuren, and accompanied by Meditrax rescue paramedic, Richard Schouten & NSRI ASR rescue swimmer Kim Germishuys flew to the ship four nautical miles off-shore.
Once there the paramedic and rescue swimmer were hoisted from the helicopter by hoist winch onto the ship’s deck and were met by ship’s crew who escorted them to the casualty.
The injured man, a 47 year old Filipino, was assessed by the paramedic and then secured into a specialised hoisting stretcher in a stable condition and hoisted into the helicopter. In the care of the paramedic he was then airlifted to the helicopter base from where he was transported to hospital by a Meditrax ambulance in a stable condition.
The operation was completed at 15h53.
All in a couple of days work for the unpaid heroes of the NSRI.[/restrict]
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BRAZIL AND CHILE END 42-YEAR OLD EXCLUSIVITY PACT
After 42 years a pact between Brazil and Chile in which only vessels flagged in the two South American countries can trade with each other has been called off.
The exclusivity pact, a version of…[restrict] cabotage, will end in January 2020, it has been decided.
Making the decision was Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade (CAMEX) which…[restrict] says that after that date ships of any nationality or flag may carry goods between the two countries.
The decision follows a study carried out by Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research, a Brazil-based economic think tank that found that the maritime pact adds five percent to the final price of products in both countries.
The arrangement between the countries currently gives two companies – Alianca, which is the Brazilian subsidiary of Hamburg Süd and now owned by Maersk Line, and CSAV, the Chilean subsidiary of Hapag-Lloyd AG – exclusive shipping rights between the two countries.[/restrict]
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INTERNATIONAL: RICHARD V SPENCER SWORN IN AS 76th SECRETARY OF THE (US) NAVY
Richard V Spencer has been sworn in as the 76th Secretary of the (US) Navy.
The ceremony was conducted in the Pentagon by William O’Donnell, Department of the Navy administrative assistant, (pictured right) on 3 August.
(Pictured, left) Spencer, a Connecticut native, graduated from Rollins College in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Upon Graduation he joined the United States Marine Corps and served as an H-46 pilot until 1981 before departing active duty to enter the private finance sector.
He held many positions since he entered the private finance sector to include the president of Crossroads Investment Management LLC, chief financial officer at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and the managing director of Fall Creek Management, LLC.
Edited by Paul Ridgway
London
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DNV GL CARRIES OUT FIRST OFFSHORE DRONE SURVEY
Hamburg, 3 August 2017: DNV GL surveyors have carried out the classification society’s first offshore drone survey on the semisubmersible vessel Safe Scandinavia in the North Sea. This 25,383-gt tender support vessel (TSV) is owned and operated by Prosafe, supporting Statoil’s drilling operations off the coast of Norway. Using camera-equipped drones, DNV GL’s drone pilots checked the TSV’s fairleads and their connection with the vessel’s two columns as part of the intermediate survey.
“Innovation is one of Prosafe’s core values. We are very pleased that we chose to try the drone survey, as it…[restrict] helped us optimize our survey requirements and allowed us to save significant amounts of time and money. Normally, this kind of operation would cause disruption to our client for several days. The drone survey took only a few hours and was just as effective,” says Ian Young, Chief Operating Officer at Prosafe.
“This was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our drones’ abilities to check the condition of remote external components in challenging offshore conditions. The inspection only required the semi-submersible to de-ballast, then we flew the drone approximately 25 metres below the main deck to check the condition of the fairleads and their connections to the columns that hold up the TSV. With wind speeds of approximately 15 knots, this went very well and the survey showed that the fairleads and their connections were in a good condition,” explains Cezary Galinski, Project Manager Classification Poland at DNV GL.
The classification society has carried out multiple drone surveys on both ships and offshore units, inspecting many areas on board, ranging from tanks and cargo holds to external structures such as jack-up legs. The inspection of such spaces can be both costly and time consuming, and even in some instances potentially dangerous. Using drones to visually check the condition of remote structural components can significantly reduce survey times and staging costs, while at the same time improving surveyor safety.
DNV GL has built a network of trained drone pilots based in Gdynia, Piraeus, Singapore, Houston and Shanghai. This allows drone survey inspections to be offered from any of these hubs. At the same time, DNV GL is developing guidelines and updating our rule set to reflect the use of remote inspection techniques.
Video clip: [1:14]
About Prosafe
Prosafe is a leading owner and operator of semi-submersible accommodation vessels. Prosafe owns/operates eight semi-submersible accommodation, safety and support vessels and one tender support vessel (TSV) that is providing drilling support services on the NCS.
Prosafe’s fleet consists of a combination of dynamically positioned and anchored vessels. The fleet is versatile and able to operate in nearly all offshore environments. At present, Prosafe is the leader in a provision of offshore accommodation vessels in harsh and semi-harsh environments.
Prosafe has extensive experience from operating gangway connected to fixed installations, FPSOs, TLPs, semis and spars. The company’s track record comprises operations offshore Norway, UK, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Denmark, Tunisia, West Africa, North-west and South Australia, the Philippines and Russia.
About DNV GL
Driven by its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organizations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. It provide classification, technical assurance, software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas and energy industries. DNV GL also provide certification services to customers across a wide range of industries. Operating in more than 100 countries, its professionals are dedicated to helping customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.
About DNV GL – Maritime
DNV GL is the world’s leading classification society and a recognised advisor for the maritime industry. It enhances safety, quality, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the global shipping industry – across all vessel types and offshore structures. DNV GL invests heavily in research and development to find solutions, together with the industry, that address strategic, operational or regulatory challenges. For more information visit www.dnvgl.com/maritime[/restrict]
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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY
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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT
Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port
Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.
In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.
You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by going HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.
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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES
QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman
We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.
Naval News
Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.
Two perspectives of the same ship, one through a tele lens and the other of the ship much closer to the camera. By coincidence IVS ORCHARD (above) was the second Island View Shipping vessel to arrive barely a week apart – the other vessel being IVS Hirono which we featured with last Thursday’s news, 3 August CLICK HERE for details. Today’s ship is IVS ORCHARD (32,535-dwt), built in 2011 at the Nanyang Ship Engineering shipyard in Jiangmen, China. IVS Orchard is flagged in Singapore from where it is managed by Grindrod Shipmanagement. These pictures are by Keith Betts
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man who has no gills.”
― Ambrose Bierce
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