New inspection regime to start on 1 January 2009

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Norway is enforcing International Labour Organisation Convention No. 178 - the Labour Inspection (Seafarers) Convention. DNV will conduct these inspections in accordance with requirements set by the Norwegian flag authority.
The Norwegian flag authority, represented by the Norwegian Maritime Directorate (NMD), has directed all its recognised organisations to start inspecting ships as from the beginning of [...]


Once upon a time… there were new buildings

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Long gone are the days when Greek ship owners were placing up to 10 new building orders for vessels every week, bringing the total orderbook of the leading maritime nation to over 1,100 ships. According to the latest reports the last couple of months (October and November) no new orders have been placed. The Baltic [...]


Major ports to get commando units

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Chennai/ Mumbai, Dec. 2 Major ports in the country will soon have their own elite marine commando units on the lines of the National Security Guard, as part of their initiative to beef up security in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks on Mumbai.
That the terrorists had landed in Mumbai by sea has all [...]


Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates

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Somali pirates firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked yet another ship in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, this time seizing a chemical tanker. A German military helicopter from a nearby warship arrived in time to pull three security guards out of the water, but not soon enough to prevent the hijacking of the [...]


Steaming under the constellation of Piracy

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Piracy has occurred through the ages together with the presence of the first Ships. People along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea have been trying to gain control of the trade routes and attacking the competition that was en route by sea. Thus it was common practice for the people engaged in commerce to be [...]


Shipping cos stick to ramp-up plans

NEW DELHI: Undeterred by the global meltdown, Indian shipping companies are going full steam ahead with their expansion plans. Major domestic shipping companies, such as Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Great Eastern (GE) and Essar, have already placed orders for 58 ships in Korea and China worth $3.3 billion and are bullish on their future [...]


Making the transition to Maritime Labour Convention compliance

DNV is helping ship owners and operators to make a smooth transition to compliance with the new standards for the living and working conditions of seafarers, which are expected to enter into force as early as in 2011.
The International Labour Organisation has today released new guidelines for inspections of compliance with the requirements in the [...]


Weekly Piracy Report (05 Aug - 11 Aug 2008)

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 5 to 11 August 2008.
ALERT
Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
The number of attacks has reduced since 2006. However, the area is still listed as a [...]


Canada to launch search for missing explorer ships.

TORONTO: Canada said on Friday it will search for two fabled British explorer ships that disappeared in the Arctic more 160 years ago, fearing melting ice caused by global warming could entice others to find and plunder the underwater tombs.
Environment Minister John Baird announced the Parks Canada-led search for British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin’s [...]