My exciting voyage with Clipper

Mike on the clipper 68It was a dream come true when I got the opportunity to join the Clipper 68 boats as a Delivery Crew member from Cape Town to Albany (Western Australia). While undergoing my Ocean Graduates Course to qualify as a Yacht Master Coastal at the Isle of Wight, we were told about the Clipper yachts and the thrills and adventures associated with them. I was always fascinated with stories that those sailors told about racing on Clipper boats. In the past I wondered if I would ever be able to experience all those thrills and adventures.

It was a God sent opportunity when I communicated with two gentlemen who assisted me in joining a Clipper yacht for a delivery voyage. They were none other than Mr John Lawrence and Mr Peter Lambert, both from the International Institute of Marine Surveying. It was a start of a great on-the-job learning experience I’d never thought about. Yes there were many questions in my mind regarding the yacht and the delivery trip; the main being: “Will I be able to accomplish it?” It was the first time I was going to sail with such a professional and experienced crew and it being my first ever Ocean Crossing, which is termed as one of the harshest legs of the Clipper round the world race.

It was a long journey from Mumbai. The day came when I was in the City of Good Hope – none other than Cape Town. The moment I saw the yachts, CV5 and CV10, at the V&A Waterfront Marina, it was a sight that I can never forget. Finally I was going to step on to Clipper yachts, one of the elite and prestigious names in the yachting industry.

The first three days at Cape Town were pretty much routine with the basic introduction of the boat by the Skipper and Mate along with one other crew members who were already on board. It was the time to familiarize myself with the yacht, CV5. Other crew members (including two elderly ladies) joined the boat from their luxurious hotel rooms, which they had taken up after their long trip from the UK to Cape Town. Two of the crew members were previous year’s Clipper race winning boat crew on the Gold Coast. It felt like there is really a lot more to learn other than just the academics that I did in the UK. Continue reading “My exciting voyage with Clipper”

TowerPower wind turbine project kicks off

TheTower Power Logo Tower Power wind turbine project provides for the continuous monitoring of the structural condition of the tower and supporting structure of floating and static offshore wind turbines.

In May, the eleven partners of the collaborative European project Tower Power met in Aix-en-Provence (France) to kick it off. The project aims to develop a remote real time monitoring system for the ageing diagnosis of offshore wind turbine structures. This development meets a real demand from the offshore wind park operators looking for maintenance cost reductions by increasing time between onsite inspections. The project will last 3 years within a budget close to 2million euros.

Coordinated by the cluster Capenergies (FR), the TowerPower project will involve:
• Associations having activities in the wind energy sector, who will carry out the dissemination and exploitation scheme of the innovation: Capenergies (FR), Cylsolar (ES) and Associazione Italiana Prouver non Distruttive – AIPnD (IT).
• Pilot SME’s interested by the technology, who will contribute to orientate the research work: Kingston Computer Consulting, Moniteye, Teknisk Data AS, WLB and TecopySA.
• Research centres in charge of the system design, development and validation: CETIM, Innora and TWI.

Continue reading “TowerPower wind turbine project kicks off”

The Navigator: A magazine for every ship

Nautical Institute Chief Executive Philip Wake
Nautical Institute Chief Executive Philip Wake

The Nautical Institute appealed to the maritime industry to help it get a copy of its free publication The Navigator onboard every SOLAS vessel to encourage the professionalism of watchkeepers.

The international professional membership organisation is reacting to concerns from the industry that casualties and near misses from navigational errors are increasing, and that navigational competence needs to be continually updated.

“Finding ways to increase the competence and professionalism of officers of the watch is one of the main concerns of our members,” Chief Executive Mr Philip Wake told a gathering of senior industry figures. “One of the ways we are working towards this goal is through our free publication The Navigator, which appears three times a year, highlighting some of the most important issues for them.”

He added: “In the year and a half since we began production, the publication has become a real success, with students, cadets and young officers telling us how much they appreciate it. But the challenge, as always, is getting the message to those people – and onboard those vessels – that will benefit the most.

“Now, thanks to the generosity of IFAN, the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation, we are in a position to put a copy on the bridge of every SOLAS vessel – potentially up to 100,000 magazines. In that way, we hope that watchkeepers will sign up to the digital version.”

Continue reading “The Navigator: A magazine for every ship”

New IIMS President nominates his charity

IIMS LogoFollowing his succession to the post of IIMS President in June 2014, one of Capt. Bertrand Apperry’s first pleasurable jobs has been to select a charity for IIMS members to support during his term in office over the coming two years.

The President’s nominated charity is the French based Les Sauveteurs en Mer S.N.S.M., an organisation that saves the lives of seafarers and the public in and around the French coastline and waters.

Their mission is stated as follows:
‘With our constant and unyielding commitment to the safety of users of the sea, we set many goals to provide the public with an increasingly efficient service and allow Sea Rescue to take place in the best conditions. Today, we optimise the efficiency of rescue at sea and around the French coastline built on innovation, prevention and training’.

Continue reading “New IIMS President nominates his charity”

Registration and Tonnage explained

A large ship carrier ship with the caption: 'Registration and tonnage explained in simple terms.'
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

Shipping container on the north sea routeThe 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.

Why is it Important?

For ship owners and charterers there would be a huge economic benefit for using the Northern Sea Route. For example a container vessel sailing from Tokyo to Hamburg via the Southern route through the Suez Canal would cover 13.949 nautical miles, depending on the ship roughly 48 days of sailing. The same vessel on the Northern Sea Route would cover only 8.077 nautical miles or roughly requiring 35 days of sailing. It is obvious that the Northern Sea Route would be fuel and time efficient and this cost saving will be the main drive for commercial shipping via this shipping lane. However, currently the number of transits made by commercial ships and the cargo volume passing via the Northern Sea Route is still rather limited, but it is slowly increasing over the past years.

Continue reading “The Northern Sea Route”

MLC 2006: Are you a “shipowner” under your charterparty?

The Symbol of The ILO's Maritime Labour Convention 2006
The ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention 2006

Nick Wilcox, Senior Associate and Albert Levy, Partner, both of Ince & Co LLP, Partner, debate the vagaries and confusion surrounding one aspect of the MLC 2006.

What’s the issue?

The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) has been in force internationally since August 2013 and, in that time, it has become clear that it has received widespread ratification, that enforcement is a reality, and that ships run the risk of detention if they are not compliant. However, there has also been a good deal of confusion over the question of “who is the ‘shipowner’?” under the MLC. The answer to the question is important, since it is that person who has the principal burden of ensuring MLC 2006 compliance.

In the Maritime Labour Convention, the “shipowner” is defined to mean the owner of the ship or another organisation or person who has assumed responsibility for the operation of the ship from the owner and who in doing so has agreed to take over the duties and responsibilities imposed on shipowners under the MLC 2006. This is the case even if another organisation carries out some of the duties of “shipowner” on its behalf. Therefore, the owner and the “shipowner” may well be different persons or organisations. Note that “shipowner” does not necessarily mean the owner of the ship in the proprietary sense.

Readers could easily be forgiven for being confused by the terminology. Lewis Carroll put it well in Through the Looking Glass: “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ Are you a “shipowner” under your charter party? ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.” Continue reading “MLC 2006: Are you a “shipowner” under your charterparty?”

RINA classification society to tackle noise pollution

The RINA classification society logo
The RINA classification society to tackle noise pollution

IMO has recently published MEPC Circ. 833 ‘Guidelines For The Reduction Of Underwater Noise From Commercial Shipping To Address Adverse Impacts On Marine Life’, which sets out to advise on design and operational solutions that could be adopted to reduce underwater radiated noise pollution.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed the (ISO/PAS) 17208-1 Acoustics, Quantities and procedures for description and measurement of underwater sound from ships. Part 1: General requirements for measurements in deep water and ISO/DIS 16554. Ship and marine technology. Measurement and reporting of underwater sound radiated from merchant ships and deep water measurement.

Paolo Moretti, Head of the Marine Business Line, RINA Services, said, “Noise is the new pollution. The international community has raised concern that the underwater noise generated by commercial shipping may have negative consequences on marine life, especially marine mammals.

Continue reading “RINA classification society to tackle noise pollution”

SOHAR Port reaches milestone

A crane and container ship at SOHAR Port
SOHAR Port reaches milestone

SOHAR Port and Freezone, a deep sea port in the Middle East have reached a milestone with the arrival of the first 10,000 TEU ship at the newly expanded Oman International Container Terminal (OICT).

Under the watchful eye of His Excellency Dr Ahmed Mohammed Salem Al-Futaisi, Minister for Transport and Communication, SOHAR, the first 10,000 (TEU) ship, APL shipping line’s Savannah, to dock in the Port was welcomed.

OICT signed the development agreement early last year for expansion of a 70-hectare container terminal at SOHAR. The development will increase capacity from 800,000 TEU to 1,500,000 TEU and will also see yard space more than double from 28 hectares, installation of seven post-panamax quay cranes and 14 rubber-tyred gantry cranes.

Continue reading “SOHAR Port reaches milestone”

Suez Canal development plan to be presented

A container ship in Suez CanalThe Egyptian government will present its Suez Canal development plan in January 2015 to both local and international financial institutions and a number of companies, Mahmoud Rizq, director of the department of planning at the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), said.

The plan will be presented at an international conference organised to attract funding for the implementation of the project. The government will begin receiving and screening offers as early as February 2015, according to Rizq. Fourteen consortia competed to prepare the plan for the development of the Suez Canal and an independent local committee was formed comprising international expertise in order to evaluate the bids and choose the winning consortium.

Continue reading “Suez Canal development plan to be presented”

US water resources development legislation edges forward

Picture of the American flagThe American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has welcomed news that the US House Senate conference committee has completed negotiations and has issued its report on the long awaited and much needed water resources development legislation.

The basis of the proposed water resources development legislation:

• Establishes a pathway to full use of the Harbour Maintenance Tax (HMT)
• Addresses HMT donor equity
• Modernises the maintenance dredging cost share threshold
• Authorises new navigation channel improvements
• Expedites the US Army Corps of Engineers’ navigation channel study completion process
• Quickens the pace of project completions by enhancing partnerships

“Having waited seven long years since passage of the last water resources authorisation bill, our US member ports are extremely pleased to see a final reauthorisation bill,” said AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle. “Our nation desperately needs this water resources legislation to fortify our infrastructure, create and maintain good paying US jobs, grow our economy and enhance America’s international competitiveness.”

Summarising, Mr. Nagle said, “America’s public ports, which create jobs for more than 13 million people and handle 99.4% of the tonnage of our nation’s overseas trade, together with their private sector partners are investing over $9 billion annually in marine terminal infrastructure. We look forward to Congressional passage and President Obama signing this legislation, which will make important policy reforms and authorise badly needed maintenance and improvements to waterside connections with seaports.”

UK Government launches National Strategy for Maritime Security

Blue British flag with the words Maritime UK
National Strategy for maritime security

The UK’s first ever National Strategy for Maritime Security has been published by the Shipping and Armed Forces Minister.

The maritime sector is vital to the UK and it is said that the publication is a “a major step forward for the shipping industry and demonstrates the UK’s commitment to seafarer safety and securing world trade.” Click to read the National Strategy for Maritime Security in full.

The UK maritime sector accounts for over 2% of the entire economy and supports one in every 50 jobs. It is a simple fact that as an island nation, most of the UK’s connections to the wider world are provided by sea with and over 90% of our trade is carried by ship.
“The safety of our seafarers is therefore a priority of international importance, and work is also needed in the promotion of regional growth and the stability of international trade.” the UK Chamber of Shipping press release states.

Continue reading “UK Government launches National Strategy for Maritime Security”

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