Crew change crisis deepens with 400,000 seafarers stuck at sea
Some 400,000 seafarers from across the globe are now stranded on ships, continuing to work but unable to be relieved, in a deepening crew change crisis which threatens trade and maritime safety.
During a high-level event on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (24 September), Captain Hedi Marzougui, who was in command of a vessel between December 2019 and May 2020, appealed to Governments to act to allow seafarers to come home.
More calls for Governments to recognize seafarers as keyworkers amidst humanitarian crisis
Yet another appeal has been sent to Governments to recognize seafarers as keyworkers and address the humanitarian crisis faced by the shipping sector, ensure maritime safety and facilitate economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic..
Liner and Tramp Service – similarities and differences
Currently, there are more than 55,000 merchant ships plying global trade around the world..
These ships include General Cargo ships, Bulk and Break Bulk ships, Container ships, Chemical, Oil and LNG Tankers, Passenger, and various other types of ships..
While these are types of ships, these ships could be operating on two main types of services – Liner and Tramp services..
Insurers share details of webinar on causation of container ship casualties
As I wrote in my previous article about the importance of proper lashing of containers onboard ships, there is increased concern and focus on the safety of the ship, its crew and the cargo..
The concern is especially amplified considering the many maritime disasters that have happened in the last few years, some of which have been reported in detail on this site..
A few of the incidents that involved containers falling of a ship have been attributed to the lashing of containers onboard or lack thereof..
Considering the intense strain that the extent and pace of growth in container volumes has placed on a wide range of operational procedures and the physical hardware employed to handle these volumes, the Thomas Miller managed insurance mutuals, container freight specialist TT Club and protection & indemnity insurer, UK P&I Club organised a Webinar to discuss the diverse range of factors important to safe container ship operations and the security of the container stacks they carry..
Here are the details..
Importance of proper lashing of containers on board ships
Since the inception of containerisation, the shipping container has been used to ship various products around the world.. An estimated 793.26 million TEUs were handled in container ports worldwide in 2019.. As of this article, 23.8 million TEUs are being shipped around the world in 6,136 active container ships.. These containers are being carried on container ships that are increasing in size and capacity year after year..
Naturally, there is increased concern and focus on the safety of the ship, its crew due to the number of containers being carried onboard especially because there have been several maritime disasters in the last few years, some of which have been reported in detail on this site..
A few of the incidents that involved containers falling of a ship have been attributed to the lashing of containers onboard or lack thereof..
We look at the importance of proper lashing of containers onboard ships..
Loss of containers at sea forces temporary closure of Port of Ngqura
The MSC Palak a Portuguese flagged container ship built in 2016 with a carrying capacity of 9,411 TEUs is reported to have lost 23 containers while at anchorage around the Port of Ngqura (Coega) along the Eastern Coast of South Africa..
Governments pledge action for seafarers at crucial crew change summit
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has welcomed the commitment of 12 countries to facilitate crew changes and achieve key worker designation for seafarers, following a virtual ministerial summit hosted by the UK Government on 9 July.
This step represents significant progress to help resolve a growing crisis facing the maritime industry, and enable hundreds of thousands of stranded seafarers to go home or join ships.
IMO endorses guidance on ensuring seafarers’ access to medical care onshore
A significant step has been made to protect seafarers’ health and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim’s endorsement of a series of recommendations designed to ensure seafarers can access medical care ashore quickly and safely.
Receiving medical care ashore can be a matter of life or death for seafarers who fall ill while working on ships.
Seafarers as Key Workers, but more importantly, Human Beings
On International Day of the Seafarer, while it is imperative to designate seafarers as key workers, it is equally, if not more important, to recognise them as human beings with real needs.
Here is a touching tribute to the trials and tribulations that the seafarers go through on a day to day basis..
APL England released
The APL England, a 5,780 TEU capacity containership which lost around 40 containers off the coast of New South Wales in Australia has been detained in Brisbane by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) since the 26th May..
After AMSA inspectors were satisfied that the ship was fit to sail, the empty APL England was released on 19th of June and allowed to sail from Australia to undertake repairs in China..
What are the major reasons for misdeclared or undeclared dangerous goods?
In the past few years, we have seen a large number of maritime disasters such as catastrophic fires onboard ships mostly due to misdeclared and undeclared dangerous goods.
Some of the vessels which had major fires in the year 2019 are Yantian Express, APL Vancouver, E.R. Kobe, Grande America, KMTC Hong Kong, APL Le Havre.
Most of the cases involving leakage, fires, cargo damage is linked to undeclared, misdeclared or poorly packed containers.