The winners of Motor Boat and Yachting 2020 Motor Boat Awards were announced at boot Düsseldorf in January 2020. With 11 categories, and plenty of nominations for each, the judges’ winners were announced at a sparkling dinner.
‘Book it right and pack it tight’ guide collaboration
At the start of 2020, the latest version of the IMDG Code, Amendment 39-18, came into force. The UK P&I Club has collaborated with TT Club to produce and publish ‘Book it right and pack it tight’ guide – a collaboration 108 page set of guidelines. It offers an insight for all involved and responsible for preparing unitized consignments for carriage at sea.
On the back of a spate of incidents in which has been the source on fires onboard container vessels, the digital freight forwarder iContainers highlighted that the shipping industry needs to pay attention to increasing misdeclared cargo.
Over the past two years there has been a noticeable, sharp increase in the number of container fires directly resulting from shippers’ dangerous misdeclared cargo.
At 0127 on 20 January 2018, the UK flagged container ship CMA CGM G. Washington unexpectedly rolled 20° to starboard, paused for several seconds then rolled 20° to port. The ship was experiencing heavy seas in the North Pacific Ocean while on passage from Xiamen, China to Los Angeles, USA. As the sun rose later that morning, it was discovered that container bays 18, 54 and 58 had collapsed; 137 containers were lost overboard and a further 85 were damaged.
In August 2019, Leclanché (battery system provider) announced the world’s largest electric ferry had completed its first commercial voyage when Ellen connected the ports of Søby and Fynshav in Denmark.
Six months on, Halfdan Abrahamsen, an information officer from Ærø EnergyLab, tells the BBC: “Ferry shipping in general is very dirty business.” Ships usually use marine diesel or heavy fuel oil, “which is just about the bottom of the food chain when it comes to product from refineries”. But he says, the only oil onboard Ellen is for the gearbox and in the kitchen for making French fries.
The Shiptech 2020 report shows an annual year on year investment decline once the Flexport project is removed
According to the Shiptech 2020 report, over $1bn was invested in technology companies working in the maritime sector in 2019.
The Shiptech 2020 report, published by technology research and innovation consultancy Thetius, found that 2019 was a record year for venture capital investment in the maritime sector. However, the headline figure is distorted by the massive $1bn investment in Flexport, led by Softbank’s Vision Fund. If Flexport’s contribution is removed from the figures, venture funding in the industry actually declined by 24%, from $190m in 2018 to $144m in 2019. Overall, 8% fewer deals were made through the year compared with 2018, though the average size of deals has increased by 18% Continue reading “Shiptech 2020 report reveals the scale of venture funding invested in maritime last year”
Classification society ClassNK amends its survey and construction of steel ships rules and guidance
Leading classification society ClassNK has announced that it has released amendments to its Rules and Guidance for the Survey and Construction of Steel Ships. ClassNK is constantly revising its Rules and Guidance in order to reflect the latest results from relevant research and development projects, feedback from damage investigations, requests from the industry as well as changes made to relevant international conventions, IACS unified requirements (UR), national regulations and so on.
More specifically, some of the requirements amended this time are as follows:
DNV GL’s large battery destructive test chamber in Rochester
In collaboration with the Norwegian, Danish and US maritime authorities, battery manufacturers, system integrators, suppliers of fire extinguishing systems, shipyards and shipowners, DNV GL has released a new report on enhanced battery safety on vessels. The report assesses explosion and fire risks in maritime battery installations and the effectiveness of fire extinguishing systems in the event of a battery fire.
“Batteries onboard ships are both environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions that we wish to see more of in the future. This project has been important in learning the risks of these systems and using the new insight to improve safety requirements,” says Lars Alvestad, Acting Director of the Norwegian Maritime Authority.
Boyan Slat, CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, late last year unveiled his invention to prevent the unrelenting flow of plastic pollution into the world’s oceans. The Interceptor™, under development by Boyan Slat’s The Ocean Cleanup since 2015, complements the organization’s founding mission by attacking the flow of plastic garbage at its source, the world’s vast network of rivers.
The English Commercial Court has provided a ruling in the case of Alianca Navegacao e Logistica Ltda v Ameropa SA (The Santa Isabella) [2019] EWHC 3152 (Comm) which provides useful guidance on:
– the legal test for a usual and customary route; and
– owners’ obligation to ventilate and care for cargo.
On February 19, 2019, the Cypriot-flagged cargo ship RABA, sailing from Copenhagen to Szczecin, collided with the Danish-flagged ‘World Bora’, which was sailing towards the Viking wind farm in the Exclusive Economic Zone. Consequently, the Danish Marine Accident Investigation Board has published an accident report to determine the factors that caused the collision.
The master of RABA was responsible for observing the traffic onboard the vessel and did not identify any ships as a risk of collision. On the starboard side, the other vessel World Bora was seen crossing RABA’s course but wasn’t considered as a danger that could cause a collision. Thus, the master didn’t pay closer attention. Continue reading “World Bora collision with the RABA: DMAIB releases accident report”
The new and far reaching IMO Sulphur Cap regulations have captured media attention in recent months for obvious reasons, but as well as this significant change, January 2020 beckons in with it a raft of new regulations and amendments too – in total more than 30. Additionally, other new regulations are set to come into force later in the year. But for now, here is what you need to know about the new regulations and amendment effective 1 January 2020.