Maritime news

The Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by a fishing trawler. There is a risk for the environment because the hull of the ship was harmed and diesel fuel was spilled. The fishing vessel ran aground off central Queenslanf.

The incident was reported near Lady Elliot Island off Gladstone part of the World Heritage Area. No injuries reported. The fuel broke through the damaged hull of the boat but the crew members stopped the leak. Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) spokeswoman explained the situation:
"Diesel that did leak has dispersed and no mopping up is needed,"

The reef is damaged but further investigation will reveal how serious is the situation. This incident raises questions about development of ports and the increased marine traffic near the reef.

Felicity Wishart, working for the Australian Marine Conservation Society, informs that the case is an example of the impact of the vessels crossing the reef and what could happen in future.

"Just one ship crash on the reef threatens human life and can cause huge damage," she added.

Greens environment spokeswoman Senator Larissa Waters informs that the reef is being treated like a highway for coal and gas.

"With projections of one coal ship every hour and a half if port expansions proceed, the Great Barrier Reef will face more shipping accidents, risking more oil spills and damage to this world heritage icon."

by VesselFinder

14 Indian seafarers have been rescued, after pirates that took control of their cargo ship on 5th of  June, 2013 in the Gulf of Aden, abandoned the attack hours later after a war vessel of EU NAVFOR, HSwMS Carlskrona, together with NATO counter piracy Dutch war vessel HNLMS Van Speijk, closed in.

This type of cargo ship, known as a dhow, has been used in the past by pirates as a 'mother vessel', to enable them to sail far out to sea to attack passing merchant vessels.

The master of the Indian dhow had sent out a distress signal in the morning of June 5th, alerting that it was under attack from twelve armed pirates. Upon hearing the alert, Royal Swedish Navy  war vessel, HSwMS Carlskrona that has been part of the European Union's counter piracy mission, Operation Atalanta, since 6th of  April, 2013 closed the scene and as darkness fell, maintained a constant  watch on the ship.

by VesselFinder

Last constructed vessel in Selby, the MT Matrix ship, is believed to have been hijacked by armed Nigerian pirates off the coast of Nigeria last month.

According to release information the MT Matrix vessel, was boarded on 25th of May, 40 n.m. off the coast of the Bayelsa State  in Nigeria by armed pirates that abducted an unknown number of the vessel crew members.

The hijacked vessel MT Matrix that was originally named Forth Bridge, was the last vessel constructed in the Cochrane Shipyard, Selby in 1991, and was owned by Campbell Maritime until she was sold to Beacon Shipping  of Singapore in 2007.

“The freeboard of MT Matrix was only 2-meters high, so you would not even need a ladder to climb aboard. I just hope the crew members of the vessel are found safe and well,” told the Outfit Manager at the Cochrane Shipyard, Richard Groves, who was the Outfit Manager at the Cochrane Shipyard.

by VesselFinder

DNV (Det Norske Veritas) has plans on enhancing maritime lifeboat safety.
There were incidents in the past with lifeboats. An industry project was started by OLF (the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association)for these incidents.

Requirements for lifeboats were tested in calm waters and from heights smaller than those for example on host facilities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In real situations lifeboats are exposed to greater loads and damage. DNV has to develop a standard for the design of free fall lifeboats. The standard of the design of lifeboats is revised and test were performed in more extreme conditions. Lifeboats on the Norwegian Continental Shelf are now being built according to the DNV standard.

Olav Rognebakke, the head of DNV’s Ship Hydrodynamics and Stability Section said:
"If the shipping industry decides to implement our Free Fall Lifeboat standard, I believe maritime lifeboat safety will be taken an important step further."

by VesselFinder

Technical error revealed that MAERSK never left the number No1 position in Q4-2012, still remaining the most reliable carrier for the 12th time in 13 quarters.

Drewry has now released its Carrier Performance Insight report for the 1st quarter of 2013. The Drewry shipping consultants have “become aware of a technical error relating to the results for vessel reliability dating back to the 3rd quarter of 2011.”

The report change means that unlike what was released in February 2013 by Drewry, the company of Maersk Line remains “the most reliable major carrier for the 12th time in 13 quarters (amongst shipping carriers with a minimum of 100 voyage counts in a quarter). The biggest international shipping carrier achieved an all-trades on-time average of 89.1 per cent in the 1st quarter, down fractionally on its revised score of 89.3 per cent in the 4th quarter.”

The schedule reliability of Maersk Line on the Asia to Europe trade is 100 per cent. Asked what MAERSK does differently to maintain reliability, Anders Lund Kristensen, Head of the Northern European Liner Operations Team, answers: “There seems to be a general belief that reliability comes at a (much higher) cost. This is undoubtedly true if it is achieved without an end-to-end approach, i.e. if the network is not both designed and operated reliably. Our view in the company of Maersk Line is that reliability and cost effectiveness are 2 sides of the same coin, and we design and operate our network as such. Our efforts go into reducing waste while being the most reliable international carrier. This also enables our clients to reduce waste in their own supply chains.”

by VesselFinder