News Hound

Article written by Aditya Tambe

It 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”

Article written by Capt. Abdelfattah Bouzoubaa, MIIMS

Can Morocco do without a national merchant fleet? Knowing that 98% of the country’s foreign trade is carried by sea, the answer to this question may seem obvious: No. However seeing the continuous decrease of this fleet and the lack of a governmental policy to reverse this trend, one can be led to think that the answer is: Yes.

A LITTLE RECENT HISTORY
The Moroccan citrus fruits and vegetables export board (OCE) had suffered during the 1960’s from the upward pressure on freight rates exerted by foreign reefer ships owners. To escape the grip of these owners, OCE which was then responsible for all exports of citrus fruits and vegetables, had for some years paid a freight bonus of 10% to Moroccan ship owners to encourage the build up of a national reefer vessels fleet. In the early 1980’s, this fleet consisted of 19 vessels and carried up to 85% of OCE exports. The freight rates charged by the Moroccan owners were 20% to 30% lower than the market.

In 1973 the world’s first exporter of phosphates and fertilizers (OCP), engaged with the help of the national shipping line, Comanav, in an acquisition program of chemical tankers to allow the sale of phosphoric acid to south east Asia countries on a C&F basis. A decade later, Marphocean, the ship owning arm of OCP, was among the world’s top players in the chemicals transportation market. The now defunct Marphocean carried about 40% of phosphoric acid exports of the country and participated in other trades, such as the carriage of palm oil from south east Asia to Europe.

Unlike many developing countries, Morocco has not enacted legislation on liner traffic sharing on the model of the Unctad Code of Conduct of Liner Conferences. Thus, the Moroccan ship owners won their fair share in the liner trade with European countries after fighting expensive but experience-rich ‘freight wars’. Market shares won – 30% on average – had allowed keeping freight rates for the liner trades under control, especially in Morocco-Europe trades which absorb two-thirds of Morocco’s foreign trade. Incidentally, the exporters of low value commodities were able to benefit from promotional freight rates. Continue reading “Is it the end for the Moroccan merchant fleet?”

Singapore is a city-state located in South East Asia. Singapore is strategically located at one of the most important shipping lines in the world located between the Indian Ocean on one end and the South Chinese Sea and Pacific Ocean on the other end. Vessels passing through the Singapore Strait sea channel are carrying about a quarter of the world traded goods, linking China, Japan and South Korea with the West, but also a quarter of all the oil carried by sea passes through the Singapore Strait mainly from the Middle East to the Asian markets. Singapore has a long history dating back to more than a thousand years: Arab, Chinese and Portuguese seafarers used the Malacca Strait to connect to South Chinese Sea.

Why is Singapore a maritime hub?
At any given time there are about 600 to 1,000 vessels in Singapore ports or anchorage locations. Annually around 120,000 vessels are calling at Singapore. This means every 5 minutes a ship is leaving or arriving in Singapore waters. Singapore is among the busiest ports in the world in terms of tonnage. Singapore is a world leading container transit port for transshipment within the South East Asian region. Every day more than 50,000 containers are loaded or offloaded from more than 50 container vessels. Singapore is well known for its efficiency of port operations and quick turnarounds. Continue reading “Singapore: A Maritime Hub”