Missing General Cargo Ship over 25 years of age in Black Sea.

A General Cargo vessel, flag - foreign, GRT- 3009t, built in 1982, owned and managed by foreign shipping company completed loading of steel billets on 16.02. 2008 in one of the foreign ports in [...]


Weekly Piracy Report : ( 2 December - 8 December 2008 )

Suspicious crafts
None reported
Recently reported incidents

02.12.2008: 0230 UTC: Tema anchorage, Ghana.

Four robbers boarded an oil tanker at anchor. Robbers stole ship’s stores and escaped when noticed.  No injuries to crew.

16.11.2008: 0945 LT: Posn: 05:34.53N - 005:22.39E, Warri river, Nigeria.

Several speedboats with heavily armed men approached a general cargo ship under pilotage. They fired warning shots into [...]


Shipping firms face unhappy new year

cargo
As 2008 draws to a sorry close, the boom momentum that the shipping industry was enjoying at the start of the year is now a distant memory with demand falling in direct proportion to the economic slowdown.
Charter rates continue to plummet with the scenario of idle tonnage becoming a certainty for the near future, especially [...]


Tanker outlook: Owners unlikely to walk away from newbuild contracts

on-the-bridge-small
New York: Most of the tankers currently on order will be built and delivered, according to New York broker Poten & Partners. This is in marked contrast to the dry bulk market where analysts believe large numbers of bulk carriers will be seriously delayed or cancelled. However, tanker owners and investors are anxiously awaiting a [...]


Piracy scourge affecting India’s merchandise trade

piracy
Twenty seven-year-old Jasmeet Singh, third officer with a Norwegian merchant vessel cruising along the Horn of Africa en route to the Mediterranean sea, is a worried man. Satellite phone usage on-board is limited to senior officers like the captain and chief engineer.
But these are exceptional times. Besides his family, Singh has repeatedly called four of [...]


The latest must-have for commercial shipowners: a piracy insurance policy

cargo
A risk consultancy with close ties to the Lloyd’s insurance market is offering the world’s first insurance policy for shipowners covering potential ransom payouts on crew members who have been kidnapped.
Kidnap and ransom insurance is well-established but has traditionally been offered only in respect of individual executives working in commercially sensitive [...]


Shipping slowdown expected to cut deployment of seafarers

imo2
“For seafarers, they [IMO] can see a little bit [of a downturn] in the first quarter, but they would recover in the third quarter,” Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque told reporters at the sidelines of the department’s 75th year anniversary exhibit opening, without giving estimates.  United Filipino Seafarers president Nelson P. Ramirez said in a [...]


Marine Safety Investigation Report - Final Collision between the South Korean registered LPG carrier Namhae Gas and the Australian fishing vessel Rexandra

namhae-gas
At about 0036 on 30 November 2007, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker Namhae Gas collided with the fishing vessel Rexandra. At the time, both vessels were about 30 miles northeast of Mooloolaba, Queensland.
Neither Namhae Gas’s watch-keeper nor duty lookout was keeping a proper lookout in the time leading up to the collision. They also [...]


Ship recycling industry poised for boom in times of recession

cargo_ship1
The Ship-breaking industry in Gujarat foresees sunny days ahead, provided banks fund ship-breakers to acquire the large number of old ships that are being offered for demolition worldwide, a member of the industry said here. Such a move during the current recessionary trends would open an enormous opportunity for India to boost output of steel [...]


Weekly Piracy Report (18 - 24 November 2008)

Suspicious crafts
None reported
Recently reported incidents

20.11.2008: 0200 LT: Tema roads, Ghana.

Eight robbers armed with long knives boarded a container ship at anchor via the anchor chain. They took hostage two duty-crew, tied them up and robbed them. They then stole ship’s equipment and stores. The duty officer, from the bridge, called the duty crew several times [...]