EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003

Number 003****DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER*** Friday 03-01-2003 THIS NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY :

EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS Nieuw type Fast Ferry moet einde maken aan hinderlijke golfslag Een tiental knelpunten langs de route van de Fast Ferry tussen Dordrecht en Rotterdam wordt de komende maanden opgelost, zodat de openbaar vervoersdienst over water daar sneller kan varen. Dit in afwachting van een ander type ferry, die zonder hinderlijke waterbeweging een halfuursdienst tussen Dordrecht en Rotterdam kan onderhouden, zoals aanvankelijk de bedoeling was. Op 1 maart wordt een nieuwe dienstregeling van kracht. Daarin blijven de afvaarten om de drie kwartier gehandhaafd en wordt de nieuwe halte Stormpolder in Krimpen a/d IJssel toegevoegd. Begin vorige week zijn de nieuwe afspraken besproken met de handhavingsdiensten en werden de nieuwe contracten getekend.

PSi-Daily Shipping News

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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Voor de waterbussen, die varen tussen Dordrecht, Papendrecht, Zwijndrecht en twee haltes in Sliedrecht, lopen de contracten acht jaar. Voor de ferry's die nu nog tussen Dordrecht, Ridderkerk, Alblasserdam en Rotterdam varen tot 2004, het jaar dat de nieuwe ferry's moeten komen.

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Columbia Bar Pilot Struggles To Keep Vessel From Hitting Shore PORTLAND (AP) A cargo ship nearly went aground on the north jetty of the Columbia River, as strong winds and big waves pushed it toward land. Bar pilots told the captain of the Tai Shan Hai to take the 623- foot ship farther out to sea, but the captain couldn't maneuver the boat against the 30-foot swells, so he dropped anchor about two miles from shore. "Just like the New Carissa, it was physically unable to get back out to sea," Capt. Gary Lewin of the Columbia River Bar Pilots said. The New Carissa, a 640-foot cargo ship, washed ashore during a storm off Coos Bay in 1999. About 70,000 gallons of fuel oil leaked from the wreckage. The Tai Shan Hai carried about 140,000 gallons of fuel oil. The bar pilots, experts in bringing ships over the rough Columbia River bar, knew they had to get to the ship. The rough seas made it impossible to reach the Tai Shan Hai by boat, so pilot Mike Dillon rode a helicopter to the vessel. With winds reaching nearly 70 mph, helicopter pilot John Glen ferried Dillon to the ship. The Columbia River Bar Pilots are the only such group in the nation to use helicopters to board commercial vessels, which they then manoeuvre over the bar and upriver. Dillon said the captain had dropped both anchors and had the engines going, which is the prescribed procedure in such conditions. The ship was about a mile inside the channel, where the Columbia River meets the ocean. The bar pilot took the controls and, for more than five hours, kept the vessel from drifting onto the beach. Dillon raised the anchors about 2 p.m. and took the ship out to assess its handling ability, but the weather didn't calm enough for the underpowered ship to make it over the bar.


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Dillon, who flew back to his office in Astoria about 5 p.m., said he would return to the ship Saturday in hopes of guiding it across the bar. He said the ship would spend the night about 12 miles out to sea. The ship is bound for Longview.

CASUALTY REPORTING Ship collides with submerged tanker A ship carrying 70,000 tonnes of highly flammable gas oil has struck the submerged car transporter The Tricolor off the Kent coast. An emergency operation has begun to rescue the crew of The Vicky, which is stuck on top of the Tricolor after the collision in the Channel at 1930 GMT on Wednesday. The rescue effort is being co-ordinated by French coastguards but Dover coastguards report a "strong smell of gas" and the

possibility of a hole in the Vicky's bow. It is the third ship to hit the Tricolor, which originally sank with its cargo of 3,000 cars after being hit by another ship on 14 December. A spokesman from Dover Coastguard said there were 24 crew members on board the Vicky. He said: "Our tug is nearby in French waters but doesn't want to get too close as visibility is not too good. "However, he is

reporting a strong smell of gas and he thinks there is a hold down by the bow of the ship. "However, we can't confirm that yet." Adequate warning The spokesman said high tide was at 2207 GMT on Wednesday, giving rescue crews around two hours to try and release the Vicky. The English Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, adding more pressure to the rescue operation. The spokesman said the Master of the Vicky believed it was safe to keep the crew on his ship for the time being. The 243 metre-long, tanker was sailing from Antwerp in Belgium to New York when it struck the Tricolor. The Tricolor sank with £30m of luxury cars on board after colliding with cargo freighter Kariba in thick fog.


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The cargo ship Nicola then hit the Tricolor two days later. This latest collision is bound to reignite questions about how well the wreck of the Tricolor has been protected. Back in December, Dutch firm Smit Salvage said it felt adequate warning had been given to other ships.

Toestand gebotste tanker is stabiel

OOSTENDE (ANP) - Hoewel de tanker Vicky, die woensdag met het gezonken schip Tricolor in aanvaring kwam, lekken vertoont, is de toestand 'niet dramatisch'. Dat zei de gouverneur van de Belgische provincie West-Vlaanderen, Paul Breyne, donderdag na overleg van het crisisteam. Momenteel is de toestand van de Vicky stabiel. De tanker heeft lekken aan zowel binnen- als buitenkant. De Turkse tanker blijkt niet met kerosine, maar met dieselolie te zijn geladen. De diesel is volgens Breyne eigendom van een firma uit Rotterdam. Het schip behoort toe aan een Turkse rederij. De Belgische overheid zal voorlopig geen maatregelen nemen ter bescherming van het milieu. Toch is fase drie van het rampenplan voor de Noordzee afgekondigd. Dat betekent dat de gouverneur een coördinerende taak heeft. Ankerplaats


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Directeur Willem van Poucke van het Loodswezen Oostende bevestigde dat de Franse autoriteiten de Vicky woensdagavond herhaaldelijk hebben aangeraden een ankerplaats te zoeken. Het schip negeerde het voorstel om de aangewezen plaats in Franse wateren op te zoeken en voer naar België, waar het met de Noorse Tricolor in aanvaring kwam. Een Belgisch inspectieteam gaat met de kapitein van de Vicky overleggen. Een afgevaardigde van het crisisteam moet achterhalen wat de kapitein wil en of hij behoefte heeft aan steun. Verwacht wordt dat de kapitein zal vragen een deel van zijn lading op een ander schip over te pompen.

ICE BEAR (NORWAY (INT. REGISTER)) A press report, dated today, states: Ref Ice Bear sank east of Iceland yesterday evening. The vessel started listing heavily early "Monday" morning (Dec 30), and the crew of six were then picked up by an Icelandic rescue helicopter. A salvage vessel which approached Ice Bear, observed that the listing increased, before the disabled vessel finally sank. Ice Bear was reported to be carrying 6,000 barrels of herring when it went down.

SHIPYARD NEWS $580m newbuilding orders bring Samsung total to $3bn for 2002

SOUTH Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co has won $580m in shipbuilding orders in several countries. The deals, won before the end of last year, brought Samsung's 2002 orders to $3bn, up from $2.2bn in 2001, the shipbuilder said in a statement. The latest orders are from Qatar's Ras Laffan Transport to build one liquefied natural gas carrier, from Canada's Seaspan Container Lines Ltd for five container ships and from Italy's Euroceanica CTGM SA for two oil product carriers, Samsung said. The Korean company will deliver those vessels between 2003 and 2005. Samsung shares rose 1.6% to Won4,125 at 0223 GMT, outperforming a 0.02 percent gain in the broader market.

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HAVEN ZEEBRUGGE JAARRESULTATEN 2002


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Ondanks de verdere terugval van de economie in 2002, wat zich normaal in een stagnatie van de haventrafieken weerspiegelt, kent Zeebrugge een trafiektoename van +2.6%. De sterke stijging in de containertrafieken en het hernemen van de aanvoer van LNG zijn de belangrijkste elementen. Daarnaast verstevigt Zeebrugge haar positie als absolute marktleider in de trafieken van nieuwe auto’ s: een nieuw recordcijfer van 1.390.000 eenheden. Als gevolg hiervan blijft de tewerkstelling van de havenarbeid op het hoge peil van 200.000 shiften dat sinds het jaar 2000 is bereikt. Tevens dient ook vermeld dat er belangrijke beslissingen zijn genomen in de distributiesector. Tropicana is volop bezig met de bouw van een fabriek voor de opslag en verpakking van fruitsap uit Florida; de opstart is gepland voor april 2003. Met BridgestoneFirestone werd een hernieuwde werking opgezet met als resultaat dat de distributie van banden via Zeebrugge zal oplopen tot 4 mln eenheden per jaar, te vergelijken met 1 mln tot op heden. De trafieken van Stora-Enso kennen een verdere diversificatie en trekken nieuwe diensten aan. De voorlopige cijfers zijn als volgt samen te vatten:

Roro Containers Stukgoed Vloeibare bulk Vaste bulk TOTAAL Nieuwe auto's

2002 x 1.000 ton 13.570 11.920 780 4.930 1.720 32.920 Stuks: 1.390.000

2001 x 1.000 ton 14.347 10.585 1.032 4.140 1.976 32.080 Stuks: 1.254.000

+/-

%

-777 +1.335 -252 +790 -256 +840 Stuks: +136.000

-5,6% +12.6% -24.4% +19.1% -13.0% +2.6% +10.8%

RORO Bij de diensten op Groot-Brittannië heeft de beslissing van P&O om de diensten op Felixstowe (medio 2002) en Dover (15 december) stop te zetten uiteraard een belangrijk effect. Immers, samen met de versterkte concurrentie van andere diensten en havens, zien we dat in de weken en maanden voor het stopzetten van de dienst er zich reeds een zekere graad van afbouw en marktherschikking voordoet. Nochtans boeken andere diensten dit jaar opnieuw recordcijfers: met name Cobelfret op Immingham en Dart Line op Dartford. Deze laatste heeft trouwens een 3° afvaart toegevoegd aan het schema. Tevens is er het starten van de nieuwe dienst op Rosyth door Superfast. De lijndiensten op Skandinavië, Spanje/Portugal en de Middellandse Zee kennen een belangrijke toename. In volume vaart de dienst van Cobelfret op Göteborg op volle capaciteit. Op 30 december start een nieuwe lijn van Finnlines op de ondermeer Helsinki. De verbindingen op Spanje en Portugal kenden een frequentie die 50% hoger ligt dan vorig jaar. Ook de nieuwe dienst op Turkije sinds november dient vermeld.


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Wat de autotrafiek betreft, is Zeebrugge sinds vorig jaar de absolute marktleider. Met een nieuwe toename van +10.8% in 2002, wordt deze positie verstevigd. Meer auto’ s werden verscheept op de routes naar Groot-Brittannië en Zuid Europa. UECC heeft Zeebrugge als een van haar hubs uitgebouwd, EMC Lines doet voortaan ook Zeebrugge aan en Suardiaz heeft haar aantal aanlopen sterk verhoogd. Ook de deepsea trafieken kennen een forse toename, waarbij Wallenius/Wilhelmsen haar hub verder heeft ontwikkeld en ook K Line een belangrijke klant is geworden. Het pallet van diensten dat Zeebrugge biedt aan de constructeurs van nieuwe wagens wordt steeds meer uitgebreid. Zoals bekend, zijn in 2002 opnieuw terminalfaciliteiten in dienst genomen, zowel als uitbreiding van de bestaande als nieuwe, bij SeaRo Terminal, CTO en Toyota. CONTAINERS Na het topjaar van 2000, wordt in de containersector een nieuw record behaald: 11.920.000 t (+12.6%). Op de shortsea-diensten blijft de toename zeer sterk. Op de deepsea terminal van OCHZ wordt een merkelijk herstel van +27% genoteerd. Recordcijfers werden bereikt in de overslag van containers voor CMA-CGM. Ook Evergreen heeft heel wat meer volume via Zeebrugge aan- en afgevoerd na de omschakeling van de round-the-world service tot de WAE dienst (Verre Oosten – Europa). Voor de hinterlanddistributie neemt Zeebrugge initiatieven op het vlak van logistieke dienstverlening met een platform dat de diverse hinterlandmodi promoot en op elkaar afstemt. Te vermelden is dat de kruiplijncoasters, waarvan de werking begin 2002 startte, op jaarbasis 65.000 TEU hebben vervoerd. STUKGOED De volumes van aardappelen en papierpulp blijven op niveau, maar de overslag van fruit kende opnieuw een daling als gevolg van de kleinere aanvoer van kiwi’ s en bananen. BULK Als gevolg van de openstelling van de energiemarkt sinds begin 2001 werd vorig jaar een terugval genoteerd van de aanvoer van LNG. Dit jaar is deze trafiek hernomen en hebben 49 schepen Zeebrugge aangelopen (i.p.v. 33 vorig jaar). In de vaste bulk is een daling merkbaar door de lagere aanvoer van bouwmaterialen. PASSAGIERS Vorig jaar maakten 693.000 passagiers van de haven van Zeebrugge gebruik; dit jaar beloopt dit 785.000, of +92.000 (+13.4%). Medio mei is de rederij Superfast een dienst gestart op Rosyth (Edinburgh); in totaal zullen 110.000 passagiers deze dienst hebben gebruikt. Opmerkelijk is dat dit niet ten koste is gebeurd van de trafiek op Hull. Zoals in alle andere havens is de cruisemarkt sterk gedaald: in Zeebrugge liepen 22 schepen aan i.p.v. 45. TEWERKSTELLING Zoals reeds gemeld is het aantal taken van havenarbeiders boven de 200.000 shiften kunnen gehandhaafd worden. Dit niettegenstaande de vermindering in de arbeidsintensieve fruittrafieken en de stopzetting van twee diensten van P&O. Compensatie is vnl. gevonden in de trafieken van auto’ s en de uitbreiding van de activiteiten voor StoraEnzo. Voor de globale tewerkstelling in de havenzone beginnen de klemtonen te verschuiven. Van louter scheepsgebonden worden steeds meer aanverwante activiteiten aangetrokken. Voorbeelden hier zijn de uitbreiding van Bridgestone/Firestone, het opstarten van Tropicana, de toenemende PDI activiteiten in de autosector. Samen brengen deze een aanzienlijke tewerkstelling en toegevoegde waarde naar de havenregio.

GAZPROM INCREASES SALES VIA ZEEBRUGGE According to the Moscow Times, Gazprom plans to boost long-term and spot sales to Europe in 2003, more actively tapping markets in Britain, Italy, Turkey and the Netherlands.The company, which supplies Europe with one-quarter of its gas needs, said progress had been made but a few problems remained in its talks with the European Union over Gazprom's long-term sales in Europe's gradually liberalizing gas market. Gazprom also said it would try to purchase and resell more gas from the energy-rich but landlocked Central Asian states in order to postpone costly development of its own Arctic fields.


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 "We shall increase the volume of spot sales to Britain, although long-term contracts remain our priority," Gazprom deputy chairman Yury Komarov, the company's chief export strategist, told a news conference. "For spot sales in Europe, Britain is the main market, possibly Belgium. We are working on similar options with Norway and France," he said, without elaborating. He said Gazprom's exports under long-term deals would rise to 134 billion cubic meters in 2003 from 129.5 bcm in 2002, with Germany and Italy remaining the largest buyers among 20 European states taking Russian gas. Export sales would bring in $13 billion to $13.5 billion next year, up from $12.8 billion this year. Separately, Gazprom will sell 3 bcm on the British spot market in 2003. That will be up from 2 bcm this year, including 1 bcm sold through the U.K.-Belgium Interconnector pipeline and 1 bcm physically remaining in continental Europe but swapped against North Sea volumes produced for Britain. Komarov said Gazprom has reserved 2.15 bcm annually in the Interconnector link from 2006, when Britain is expected to become a net gas importer and the pipe's annual capacity will be widened from 8 bcm to 16 bcm. Gazprom currently holds an annual quota of 0.85 bcm in the Interconnector link, in which it owns 10 percent.

ER Shipping buys three new vessels from Ofer HAMBURG-based German tramp owner ER Shipping has bought three 4,250 teu container vessels under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries on a resale basis from Israeli owner Ofer. The company will pay $45m per vessel. The ships, which are to be delivered this year, are on an eight-year charter to CMA-CGM. They are similar to two 4,250 teu ships ER Shipping had ordered in 2001 from Hyundai Heavy Industries for delivery in 2004. The three-ship deal brings ER Shipping’ s fleet expansion programme undertaken this month to 11 ships worth $600m. The company confirmed a recent report in Lloyd’ s List that it has ordered five 7,500 teu ships for around $350m at HHI, to be employed by China’ s Cosco Container Lines. Erck Rickmers, who controls both ER Shipping and Nordcapital, said that the new partnership with Cosco was to be expanded. So far, the 500-strong fleet of the Chinese container giant consists mainly of its own tonnage. In addition, HHI gained an order for three 5,040 teu ships of the panamax type. With their speed of 25 knots, they are designed for an all-water service between the US east coast and Asia. Apart from the 11 ships now acquired or ordered, ER Shipping/Nordcapital have four others on order — the two 4,250 teu carriers from Hyundai and two 2,500 teu ships under construction at SSW in Bremerhaven. They are part of a six-ship series.The group will place investments for the equity part of the investments in the German GmbH and Co KG market. ER Shipping for the first time released technical details of its new building programme. The five ships of 7,500 teu will be 300 m long, have a width of 42.8 m and a draught of 14.5 m. Each can carry 500 reefer boxes. The engines HyundaiWärtsilä 12RTA96-C with an MCR of 93,360 bhp allow a speed of 25.2 knots. Delivery is scheduled for the months August 2004 to December 2004. The three 5,040 teu panamax units are 294.1 m long, 32.2 m wide and have a draught of 13.65 m. Their deadweight tonnage runs to 67,170 dwt. The reefer capacity is 550 boxes. The Hyundai-Wärtsilä 9 RTA96-C engines show an MCR of 70,020 bhp, the speed is 25.5 knots. The vessels are for delivery in the months of June 2004 to August 2004. The five 4,250 teu units (two ordered by ER, three purchased from Ofer) run to 264 m length and 32.2 m width, the draught of the 53,000 dwt ships is 12.75 m. The vessels carry either 400 or 600 reefer boxes. The engine is an MAN B&W 8K90 MC-C with an MCR of 49,680 bhp, allowing a speed of 24.1 knots. Delivery is spread from June 2003 to August 2004. The SSW-Super 25 ships of 2,500 teu are 212 m long, the width is 29.8 m, the draught 11.4 m. The 33,800 dwt ships carry up to 350 reefer boxes. The Wärtsilä Sulzer engine 7RTA72U-B offers an MCR of 29,322 bhp, speed is 22.1 knots. Delivery is scheduled for February and August this year.


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Cosco eyes fresh expansion CHINA Ocean Shipping (Cosco), China’ s largest shipping firm, is eyeing the expansion of its 600-strong fleet in addition to moves to strengthen the asset base of its listed companies in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Among the new vessels are three very large crude carriers (VLCC), each of about 300,000 dwt, which will be added to Cosco’ s tanker fleet over the next few months.

Top : The ZHONGHE moored in Rotterdam - Photo Michael van der Meer © The first, the Yuanda Lake, was recently christened at the Cosco Nantong-Kawasaki Shipyard in Nantong and is currently making its maiden voyage to Saudi Arabia.Cosco Shipping, the Shanghailisted, Tianjin-based bulk carrier specialist, has recently taken delivery of the bulker, Taiankou, after being completed by Guangzhou Shipyard International. The new vessel continues Cosco’ s corporate plan to concentrate its bulk carrier fleet in Tianjin and general cargo vessels in Guangzhou. The latest deliveries coincide with the decision by Cosco Container Lines (Coscon) to tie up a 10-year charter agreement with Germany’ s Erck Rickmers for five 7,500 teu containerships. The deal prompted Rickmers to place $324m worth of contracts with South Korea’ s Hyundai Heavy Industries for the construction of the boxships, all to be delivered by December 28, 2004. The Rickmers charter is part of Coscon’ s ambitious plan to become one of the world’ s three biggest container shipping lines. The firm currently has an ocean-going fleet of 120 containerships, including nine post-panamax 5,400 teu boxships, that have a total capacity of 240,000 teu. Cosco vicepresident Zhang Fusheng said: “We are going to introduce a number of large container ships with a transportation capacity of 7,000 teu in the next several years.” He added that this will boost Coscon’ s total capacity, “from the current 240,000 teu to about 300,000 teu in the coming two or three years”. Coscon carries about 4m teu a year, about 4.2% of total global box volumes, and admitted it had been mauled by September’ s 10-day dockworkers lockout at US west coast ports. Coscon estimated it lost about $26m as a result of the dispute. Mr Zhang said Cosco is hoping to attract both foreign and mainland investors as it bolsters the asset base of its five subsidiaries listed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai. He said Cosco is also preparing to list other subsidiaries, although details have still to be announced.

New ms Oosterdam to debut in Europe in 2003 Holland America 2003 Europe cruise program includes three ships, offers more transatlantic sailings. Featuring three ships in Europe for 2003, Holland America Line will expand the number of Europe cruises it offers to 43 with itineraries varying from the Mediterranean and Baltic to Northern Europe


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 and transatlantics. Ships include the new 1,848-passenger ms Oosterdam, the classic 1,214passenger ms Noordam and 1,316-passenger flagship ms Rotterdam.

Top : The ROTTERDAM departing from the port of Rotterdam at this file picture photo : Piet Sinke © Three ships cruising Europe will also result in more transatlantic cruises in 2003 - a total of seven featuring both north and south Atlantic routes. Six sailings range from 12 to 16 days, and the seventh is a new 33-day "collector's cruise" aboard the Rotterdam sailing roundtrip from New York with calls in Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia. Offering attractive variety, lengthy time in ports, and all-inclusive value pricing, Holland America will feature a wide selection of 10-, 12- and 14-day Europe cruises with departures from Apr. 28 to Nov. 7, 2003. The new 1,848-passenger Oosterdam will sail its maiden voyage July 10 on a 12-day "Viking & Czars" Northern Europe cruise from London to Copenhagen.

NAVY NEWS An E2-Hawkeye lands in front of two F-18 jet fighters on the deck of the USS Constellation aircraft carrier Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003

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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 MULTRASHIP Towage & Salvage Scheldekade 48 4531 EH Terneuzen The Netherlands Tel : + 31 – 115 645 000 Fax : + 31 – 115 645 001 Internet [email protected] http://www.multraship.nl

The TEAM SEA SPIDER moored at Peel , December 29th. Photo : John Luxton ©

Mersey Viking [left] and Lagan Viking [right] side by side in Canada #3 branch dock. The former Merchant Ferries terminal. Lagan Viking had laid up here before Christmas, she was joined by her sister on December 31, 2002. photo : John Luxton ©


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This is the first movement this year and it's CSO MARIANOS arrived Thursday from sea for A&P, Wallsend yard quay, she's expected to go into dry-dock on 13/01/03. Photo : Kevin Blair ©

RIJNMOND WEATHER Vooruitzichten van vrijdag t/m maandag: Invallende vorst! Morgen perioden met regen en zacht. Zaterdag eerst kans op sneeuw. Vanaf zondag flinke perioden met zon en lichte tot lokaal matige vorst. VR-03 Maximumtemperatuur: 8 Minimumtemperatuur: 7 Zonnekans in %: 10 Neerslagkans in %: 80 Windrichting kracht: W-3-4

ZA-04 1 0 20 50 NO-3-5

ZO-05 -1 -3 60 10 O-2-3

MA-06 -1 -5 70 10 O-3-4

… . STORY OF THE DAY … .. Tough new battles for shipping industry in new year

TO a large extent 2002 was about agreeing on the details of a new and much stronger global security regime. With war looming in the Middle East and a nuclear weapons crisis in North Korea, the shipping industry will, operationally, be pre-occupied with implementing the new measures as quickly as possible. Other issues will, however, concern those representing the shipping industry at the places where international legislation affecting the shipping industry is hammered out.


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 In most years the focus of attention is the International Maritime Organization (IMO), where safety and environmental regulation is put together. This year was expected to be rather different. For a change, the International Labour Organization (ILO) was expected to be in the limelight. You will notice the use of the past tense. Well, that may be going too far. Some very important work is being done at ILO and, with luck, there should be a comprehensive, modern convention on working practices in the international shipping industry. Such a convention is sorely needed and there has been remarkable goodwill by owners' organisations and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). Unlike the multitude of individual ILO conventions that it will replace, the new one should have every chance of being ratified by sufficient states to ensure its global application. Now all this is going ahead. Those involved in the final negotiations at the ILO, in Geneva, have set aside a large portion of the northern summer for what will probably be complex talks over a mass of detail, wherein as they say always lies the devil. Still those involved seem optimistic that a workable convention will result. By the end of this year, the shipping industry should be able to boast an up-to-date set of rules covering: the operation of ships - IMO's International Safety Management (ISM) Code and the new ILO convention, the technical specification and standards required of vessels - IMO's Solas Convention and the prevention of pollution - IMO's Marpol Convention. Developing such a comprehensive range of regulations for this unique global industry is a major achievement. By right the industry should soon be looking forward to a quieter period of less regulatory change. Unfortunately things rarely work out as neatly as that in the real world. The reasons the worthy labours at ILO this year may go largely unnoticed can be summed up in the name of single vessel, the Prestige. Just as the Erika's name was set to curse the shipping industry when that tanker sank off France three years ago, the Prestige has also turned into a shorthand for all the perceived failures and sins of the shipowning fraternity. The industry probably judged, in mid-2002, that the post-Erika regulatory frenzy, powered by the European Commission (EC), was running out of steam. Now things look very different. We are now experiencing another round of knee-jerk reactions from politicians, egged on by pressure groups. To some extent the EC is pushing its post-Erika agenda more strongly, to put more pressure on classification societies and to increase the amount of money available for oil pollution compensation. But it is doing something else too. It is pushing hard for a European ban on single-hulled tankers carrying heavy fuel oil. It is also trying its best to, in practice, further speed up the already accelerated IMO-sanctioned phase-out of single hulled tankers. Doing that just a year after IMO, under intense EU pressure, brought forward the single hull ban dates will put the authority of the specialist UN agency into question.


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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2003 – 003 Three European states have gone much further. France, Spain and Portugal have decided to use warships to keep single hulled tankers carrying heavy fuel oil out of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs). That is in clear breach of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) but so far protests by the shipping industry have been in vain. The attitude appears to be: 'If what we're doing breaks UNCLOS then we'll change UNCLOS'. So the chances are that this year will see major diplomatic tussles at both IMO and UNCLOS. The latter is an unfamiliar battleground for the shipping industry but changes to the right of merchant ships to sail without hindrance on the high seas, and to the 'right of innocent passage' in international waterways, could have huge implications for the commercial shipping.

The JESS NEWTON seen in Galveston – photo : Jan Plug / Oddgeir Reivik ©


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