MARITIME NEWS

Monday, May 19, 2014

International maritime news for seafarers
Dry bulk market still sluggish
Demand for China's iron ore hitting a new record last month did little to improve the dry !l"
mar"et's c!rrent stat!s as overs!pply and a general wea" sentiment "ept the shipping
segment in the doldr!ms#
$he %altic Dry Inde& recently gained 19 points to hit 1,021 !t the fig!re was only half the level
recorded last year# 'anama&es and Capesi(es, on the other hand, posted slight gains while
)!prama&es and *andysi(es s!ffered modest losses#
China's steel prod!ction posted a new record+high in ,pril as the co!ntry's constr!ction and
man!fact!ring sectors pic"ed !p# -ast month, %ei.ing's average daily cr!de steel o!tp!t stood
at a record 2#29 million tonnes on the ac" of steel mills increasing prod!ction to meat
seasonal demand#
%!t 'eter )and, an analyst for %IMC/, said that the dry !l" mar"et remained sl!ggish despite
a s!rge in Chinese iron ore demand#
*e noted that the Capesi(e segment slightly gained from a rise in China's cr!de steel o!tp!t,
!t the smaller segments s!stained losses d!e to a 0soft patch in demand and f!ndamental
overs!pply#0
China's iron ore imports in the 1an!ary+,pril period this year, meanwhile, reached 203#2 million
tonnes, mar"ing a 214 s!rge compared in 2012# 0%IMC/ e&pects the mar"et to improve
steadily going forward, as tonnage demand, first and foremost in the ,tlantic asin pic"s !p#
/!r demand e&pectations for the f!ll year remained !nchanged,0 )and said#
)hipro"er 5earnleys, meanwhile, said that the Capesi(e mar"et, as well as the 'anama&
front, had een registering slight gains despite overtonnage across the oard#
SAFETY STUDY
OOW LIKES LOUD MUSIC
,n //6, while listening to lo!d m!sic as his ship sped on at 17 "nots, ignored repeated radio
messages of an impending close 8!arter sit!ation#
NARRATIVE
, s!rvey vessel was operating on a near+so!therly heading at five "nots# )i& miles north+east
of her, on a so!th+westerly heading, was a large cr!ise ship# It was early in the morning and
oth vessels were sailing in restricted visiility# /n oard the cr!ise ship, the //6 seemed
either !naware of his oligations !nder s!ch conditions or !nwilling to comply with them# *e
had not called the master, was not so!nding the correct fog signal, and was listening to dance
m!sic while the ship steamed on at 17 "nots#
Meanwhile, the s!rvey vessel was following its s!rvey line while the mate monitored the cr!ise
ship on radar# *e assessed that the C', was less than one cale# 9ot wishing to stop the
s!rvey wor", the mate identified the cr!ise ship on the ,I) display and called the vessel on
:*5 in the hope that she wo!ld alter co!rse to allow the s!rvey wor" to contin!e
!ninterr!pted# $he cr!ise ship did not respond# $he mate attempted to call the cr!ise ship five
more times over the ne&t 20 min!tes !ntil, with the vessel less than a mile away and still not
visile, he e&ec!ted a ro!nd t!rn to staroard# $he cr!ise ship passed fo!r cales away#
LESSONS
In restricted visiility there is no give+way vessel, so the s!rvey vessel was as oliged as the
cr!ise ship to ta"e action#
$he cr!ise company had clear instr!ctions and the master had clear standing orders regarding
actions to e ta"en y the //6 when enco!ntering restricted visiility, yet the //6 chose to
ignore them# 6hen s!ch a latant disregard for proced!res ta"es place, companies sho!ld
ta"e steps to estalish whether this is down to a rog!e individ!al, or indicative of more
widespread poor practice# It is of note that playing m!sic on the ridge and contin!ing at 17
"nots in thic" fog witho!t calling the master, seemed to hold no fear for the //6# ;8!ally
noteworthy is that a review of the cr!ise ship's :D< revealed that the //6's actions were
never 8!estioned y the second watch+"eeper on the ridge#
,ttempting to arrange action to avoid collision, over the :*5 radio, is fra!ght with danger# It is
far etter to simply comply with the C/-<;=)# )o!rce> ?@ M,I%
Oea! Shiel" #ith "amage" $lue%i!&'( reahes
)*rt
$he ,!stralian vessel /cean )hield has arrived at =eraldton, 6estern ,!stralia, waiting for
spare parts related to the comm!nication prolems of the transponder, the 1oint ,gency
Coordination Centre A1,CCB confirmed on Monday#
$he /cean )hield will egin preparations to receive spare parts related to the transponders
mo!nted on it and the a!tonomo!s !nderwater vehicle, %l!efin+21, at =eraldton, the 1,CC
said in a statement#
$he repairs are necessary to correct a hardware iss!e affecting the aility of the transponders
to comm!nicate with each other d!ring a dive, it said# $he prolem ecame apparent d!ring
%l!efin+ 21's last mission on $!esday#
$he 1,CC also e&plained why the /cean )hield changed its ro!te to =eraldton, saying,
0/cean )hield was originally going to Dampier to await the transponder parts, however, it was
determined that the parts co!ld e delivered to the ship more 8!ic"ly via the port of =eraldton,0
Cinh!a reported#
0$he spare parts are e&pected to arrive in =eraldton later today#0
In addition, Malaysian, ,!stralian and Chinese a!thorities met over the wee"end in 5remantle,
6estern ,!stralia, to disc!ss the athymetric s!rvey#
S*uth K*rea+s )resi"e!t ,*#s t* "isba!" *ast
guar"
)o!th @orea's president anno!nced plans Monday to disand the coast g!ard and root o!t
corr!ption and coll!sion etween reg!lators and shipping companies that f!rio!s citi(ens
elieve led to a ferry disaster last month that left more than 200 people dead or missing#
'resident 'ar" =e!n+hye's first televised address to the nation since the ,pril 1D sin"ing
egan with a deep ow and ended with her tearf!lly reading the names of passengers and
crew who died trying to save others# 6ith her approval ratings pl!mmeting ahead of mayoral
and governor elections in ao!t two wee"s, the speech so!ght to ac"nowledge widespread
anger over government fail!res as well as chart a path forward#
Most of the victims were st!dents from a single high school near )eo!l who were travelling to
the so!thern to!rist island of 1e.!#
06e failed to resc!e st!dents who we co!ld have saved,0 'ar" said# 0$he !ltimate
responsiility for not properly dealing with this incident is mine#0
'ar" has apologi(ed efore, !t critics have called for her to formally address the nation and
respond to claims that incompetence, corr!ption and ad leadership doomed the ferry and
those trapped inside it# In Monday's speech, 'ar" decried the acc!m!lation of 0widespread
anormal practices0 that she said triggered the sin"ing#
, foc!s was the coast g!ard, which has een !nder growing p!lic criticism over allegations of
poor coordination and slow search+and+resc!e wor" d!ring the initial stages of the sin"ing, $he
,ssociated 'ress reported#
E-)erts "e,el*) !e# meth*" t* assess sea le,el
rise
$he international comm!nity will now e ale to prepare etter against disasters ca!sed y
rising sea levels with the development of a new method which reveals how sea levels can go
!p over the coming years#
,n international team of e&perts from renowned !niversities has form!lated a new method that
involved analysing data from ten sea level monitoring stations located across the gloe to
identify when sea level accelerations will occ!r#
Dr Ivan *aigh, one of the lead researchers, said the method can help the world prepare E0
years in advance against a ma.or disaster ro!ght ao!t y rising sea levels#
0/!r res!lts show that y 2020 to 2020, we co!ld have some statistical certainty of what the
sea level rise sit!ation will loo" li"e for the end of the cent!ry# In a s!.ect that has so m!ch
!ncertainty, this gives !s the gift of long+term planning,0 he added#
$he scientist li"ewise stressed that with the new method, ma.or cities c!rrently wor"ing on
long+term sol!tions to sea level rise will e ale to gather more information on the iss!e as
scientists will e !pdating their analysis every five to ten years, th!s paving the way for etter
sol!tions in minimising the effects of climate change#
Australia t* )urhase )*#er%ul A!tarti
iebreaker
,!stralia said Monday it will spend h!ndreds of millions of dollars on a new icerea"er ship to
olster its claim over large areas of ,ntarctica and replace an ageing vessel, ,5' reported#
;nvironment Minister =reg *!nt said two ;!rope+ased firms had een shortlisted to !ild the
vessel in what wo!ld e the largest single investment in ,!stralia's ,ntarctic research and
logistics history#
0It will e an investment of h!ndreds and h!ndreds of millions of dollars,0 he told reporters in
*oart, adding that he wo!ld not comment f!rther on the cost d!e to an ongoing tender
process#
0It sho!ld e delivered y 2019#0
*!nt said ,!stralia's c!rrent icerea"er, ,!rora ,!stralis, was ageing and its replacement
wo!ld e ased in *oart, on the so!thern island of $asmania, in a id to ma"e the city the
gateway to ,ntarctica#
PORTS
ES.O meet i!"iates auti*us *)timism am*!g
members
$he ann!al conference cond!cted y the port association ;)'/ was held in =othen!rg
recently#
;&ec!tives were optimistic that ;!ropean ports are now over the crisis !t they remain
ca!tio!s of the challenges ahead#
/rganisation for ;conomic Co+operation and Development A/;CDB Dep!ty )ecretary+=eneral
Fves -eterme said that c!rrent data indicate that ports will post a strong showing in the
!pcoming years#
0/!r forecasts reveal that there is potential for container traffic to rise to 90 million $;? y
2013# In 2012, the fig!re was 70 million,0 he said in his "eynote speech#
INCIDENTS
./ C*ast 0uar" resue )asse!gers a%ter b*at
*llisi*!
$he 'hilippine Coast =!ard A'C=B saved seven passengers of two small motori(ed oats after
the vessels collided at ao!t Epm on )!nday at the sea off $aaco City port#
, police report identified those resc!ed as David %alinging, 34, owner of one of the oatsG
:ictor %ora, 24G 1oy %ora, 22G ,ngeline %alinging, 30G Michael %alingingG 1oseph %alingingG
and Mary 1oy %alinging, all residents of '!ro" 1, :isita, )an Mig!el Island, $aaco City#
$he other oat's owner was identified as <oger %ernae#
$he report said some of the victims were going home to their village while the others were from
the village going to the city when their oats collided#
$he Coast =!ard immediately responded and resc!ed the passengers who were thrown into
the water#
$he Coast =!ard has iss!ed an advisory warning oth oat owners and passengers not to sail
o!t at night time to avoid similar accidents in the f!t!re, '9, reported#
PORT OF THE WEEK
.*rt *% Ma!1a!ill*
$he 'ort of Man(anillo A'!erto de Man(anilloB is a nat!ral deep water haro!r in Me&ico# It is
sit!ated in the )tate of Colima at coordinates 9orth -atit!de 19H02'200I and 104H17'200#
$he port is a "ey point on transshipment for the trade with ?nited )tate and to central and
so!th ,merica# It has 19 erths, of which 14 are commercial, three for petrole!m and two for
passengers# $he terminal has D#2 "ilometres of internal roads and 24#E "ilometres of railways,
which allows the fast movement of cargo#
$erminal $hree has recently started constr!ction at a cost MC910 illion, with a total land area
of E2#42 hectares#
$he comple& is eing managed y the 'ort ,dministration of Man(anillo, ), which was
organi(ed y the government in 1992 and egan operation in 1994 with a 30+year lease of the
haro!r coast and land areas for development#
$he port's container terminal is located at erths 12, 12 and 14, with a length of 700 metres
and a depth ao!t 14m# )hips of !p to 200m long and 22m wide can doc" there# $he port
a!thority has lined !p a series of pro.ects to contin!ally !pgrade the facilities of the terminal#
,n important goal is to ma"e the port ale to service mega+carrier ships, which wo!ld enale it
to fill a role as the regional h! port# $he following are some of the declared ma.or pro.ects to
f!lfil the goals of the port management#
+Dredging of channels and t!rning asins !p to 1Dm depth#
+6idening the north t!rning asin to 32Em#
+)!stit!tion of the 9avy pier#
+Constr!ction of doc"ing position 9o13 of 200m#
+Dredging of 1#3 million c!ic metres to increase the waterfronts in the reserve area#
+Increase the highway to 1alipa to si& lanes in the 'e(+:ela+/verpass section#
+Installation of the Maritime $raffic Control Centre
SHIPPING DATA
$ALTIC E2C/AN0E
Market snapshot: (May 16)
Dry Index BDI 1027 +6
Capesize Index BCI 150 !16
"ana#ax Index B"I 10$1 +25
%&pra#ax Index B%I '(( !2
E2C/AN0E RATES
)e* +ork (,ri C-s)
,.n C&rren/y 0%D in ,.n
in 0%D C&rren/y
Britain ("o&nd) 116'21 015($5
Canada (Do--ar) 01(202 110'67
China (+&an) 01160$ 6127
2&ro 116(' 01700
India (3&pee) 010171 5'15750
Indonesia (3&piah) 010000'7 11$60100
4apan (+en) 0100('52 10115100
)or*ay (5rone) 0116'5 51(56
"hi-ippines ("eso) 01022' $1'000
"o-and (6-oty) 0126( 10600
3&ssia (3&7-e) 0102'' $17066
%in.apore (Do--ar) 017((5 112507
0kraine (8ry9nia) 010'50 1117600