A NewsLink service for Dole Chile

Saturday, September 27, 2014

SAFETY
IMO SUB-COMMITTEE APPROVES
DRAFT IGF CODE
The inaugural session of the IMO SubCommittee on Carriage of Cargoes and
Containers has approved the draft
International Code of Safety for Ships using
Gases or other Low flashpoint Fuels (IGF
Code). It also agreed with the proposed
amendments to make the Code mandatory
under SOLAS. The IGF Code is to provide
mandatory provisions for the arrangement,
installation, control and monitoring of
machinery, equipment and systems using low
flashpoint fuels, such as liquefied natural gas
(LNG), to minimise the risk to the ship, its
crew and the environment.
With its goal-based approach, the Code
addresses all areas that need special
consideration for the usage of low flashpoint
fuelsand functional requirements specified for
each section, including design, construction
and operation.
The draft amendments include a new Part G
in SOLAS chapter II-1 (Construction Subdivision and stability, machinery and
electrical installations) related to ships using
low-flashpoint fuels, requiring such ships to
comply with the IGF Code.
It also considered related amendments to
SOLAS chapter II-2 (Fire protection, fire
detection and fire extinction), covering the use
of fuel with a low flashpoint. Further draft
amendments would update the form of safety
certificates, to include reference to the new
Part G. (Source: IMO)

Major cocaine shipment seized

off Ireland
A pensioner skippered a yacht across the
Atlantic Ocean packed with more than 125
million euros worth of cocaine bound for the
north of England, it has emerged.
The 70-year-old British suspect was arrested
onboard the 60ft Makayabella along with two
other men, aged 35 and 28, during an overnight
operation by armed Irish Navy teams which took
them by surprise.
The yacht has been tracked by authorities in
several countries as it left Venezuela, stopping
off in Trinidad, before being stormed by an elite
Navy squad 200 nautical miles off Mizen Head Ireland's most southerly point - in the early
hours of Tuesday morning.
It is understood the seizure, one of the biggest
on the seas this year, was so large the suspects
were forced to use bales of cocaine as makeshift
furniture for the weeks-long transatlantic
voyage. (PA)

Seafarers celebrate World

Maritime Day
Seafarers are celebrating World Maritime Day
on September 25 under the theme 'IMO
Conventions: Effective Implementation'.
In his message, IMO Secretary General Koji
Sekimizu said that the day had made gains
around its theme this year of effective
implementation of conventions. He said that in
choosing the theme IMO had been able to put
the spotlight on conventions that had not yet
come into force.
"Our efforts with regard to conventions yet to
enter into force have been particularly focused
on the Ballast Water Management Convention,
the Hong Kong Convention on ship recycling,
the Cape Town Agreement of 2012 to
implement the Torremolinos Protocol on fishing
vessel safety, the 2010 Protocol to the HNS
Convention and the Nairobi Convention on
wreck removal," he said.
Sekimizu had launched the day's theme in
January, expressing hope that the year would see
genuine progress towards effective and global
implementation of all IMO conventions.

The IMO has, over the years, built up an

enviable track record for developing and
adopting new international conventions, some
53 in all, aimed at ensuring that international
shipping keeps up to date with technical and
technological advances in safety, which it
addresses the ever increasing number of
environmental challenges and concerns of
member governments and that it facilitates the
payment of compensation in appropriate
situations.
Nevertheless, adoption alone is only the first
step of the treaty-making process; to be
effective, adoption must be followed by entry
into force and, subsequently, widespread
implementation of the measures put in place by
the conventions.
The World Maritime Day focused attention on
the importance of shipping safety, maritime
security and the marine environment and to
emphasize a particular aspect of IMO's work.
(Source: IMO)

Obama to create world's largest

marine sanctuary

USCG opens centre for Arctic

study, policy

The White House announced that US President

Barack Obama is planning to create the world's
largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean to
protect sea life from climate change.
The US president will on Thursday sign a
proclamation to broaden the existing Pacific
Remote Islands National Marine Monument
from almost 87,000 square miles to more than
490,000 square miles.
With this expansion, more acres of federal
land and sea will be protected. The expansion
will also make the area off-limits to commercial
fishing. Under the proclamation, deep-sea coral
reefs and other marine ecosystems would come
under additional protections. According to
administration officials, deep-sea coral reefs and
other marine ecosystems are among "the most
vulnerable" to the negative impacts of climate
change.
Obama is using his executive powers to make
the designation, bypassing the US legislature.
He ordered his administration in June to chart a
way to expand the existing sea reserve. (with
inputs from AFP)

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has planned to

open a centre for Arctic study and policy. The
new centre will house the USCG's academic
think-tank for Arctic maritime operations,
building a nexus between operators, indigenous
community members and policy-makers on
evolving Arctic issues.
Known as a remote and unforgiving region,
the Arctic is transforming and a new ocean is
opening. Indeed, the lowest Arctic sea ice extent
on record occurred in September 2012.
It is a region of vast potential resources, with
an estimated 13% of the world's undiscovered
oil and 30% of undiscovered gas. It is a region
that has the promise of opening potential new
maritime trade routes.
The establishment of the centre is part of the
USCG's strategic objectives for the Arctic,
which
include
improving
awareness,
modernising governance and broadening
partnerships in the region.

PAGE 2 - Saturday, September 27, 2014

Businesses will not have to

return BP spill payouts

SHIPPING DATA

BALTIC EXCHANGE
Market snapshot: 1100 GMT
Dry Index
BDI
1056
Capesize Index
BCI
1967
Panamax Index
BPI
798
Supramax Index
BSI
1045
Handysize Index
BHSI
521

-17
-110
-2
+4
+8

EXCHANGE RATES
New York (Wed Cls)
Fgn Currency
in USD
Britain (Pound)
1.6341
Canada (Dollar)
0.9035
China (Yuan)
0.1630
Euro
1.2781
India (Rupee)
0.0164
Indonesia (Rupiah) 0.000084
Japan (Yen)
0.009176
Norway (Krone)
0.1565
Philippines (Peso)
0.0225
Poland (Zloty)
0.3063
Russia (Ruble)
0.0262
Singapore (Dollar)
0.7891
Ukraine (Hryvnia)
0.0772

USD in Fgn
Currency
0.6120
1.1068
6.1350
0.7824
60.8900
11955.00
108.9900
6.3890
44.4700
3.2700
38.1630
1.2673
12.9455

The centre will serve as an operational think

tank to focus on emerging Arctic issues and
collaborate with the DHS Science and
Technology Directorate's network of Centres of
Expertise and others for the advancement of
safe, secure and environmentally responsible
maritime activity in the Arctic.

COMMERCE

Shipping rates for Chennai Port

to rise
The Worldscale Association has announced that
it will increase worldscale shipping rates for
loading and discharging in the Indian Port of
Chennai.
"Due to increased port tariffs effective
October 1, 2014 the Associations find it
necessary to revise rates involving loading or
discharging at Madras," it said.
The new rates can be obtained by adding USD
0.14/mt to the flat rate for all foreign voyages
involving the port. The change will come into
effect after October 1.

BPO launches new LNG

bunkering project
Baltic Ports Organisation (BPO) has decided to
initiate another project related to the possible
LNG bunkering infrastructure facilities at the
ports and possible bunkering vessels in some
relevant Baltic Sea Ports and regions.
Before launching the new project, BPO will
take into account the experience gained from the
LNG projects, the maturity of the global project
in the Baltic Sea Region and the upcoming
SECA regulations.
Issuing a press release, BPO stated the new
LNG initiative in itself should consist of several
main activities and they, in turn, include some
specific sub-activities. The activities should
encompass planning, design, location and LNG
bunkering of the participating partners in a
harmonised manner.

BP wants its money back - hundreds of millions

of dollars of it - but a federal judge said on
Wednesday that the oil giant must stand by the
agreement it made with the companies it
compensated for losses blamed on the 2010 Gulf
oil spill.
BP argued that a flawed funding formula
enabled nearly 800 businesses to overestimate
their spill-related claims.
One construction company hundreds of miles
from the coast received USD 13.2 million, but
deserved USS 4.8 million at most, BP said.
Another company selling "animals and animal
skins" was overpaid about USD 14 million, and
about 50 others shouldn't have been paid at all,
the company said.
About 150 claimants should return a total of
USD 185 million and overpayments to the rest
haven't been calculated, attorney Kevin Downey
argued.
US District Judge Carl Barbier was not
persuaded, thwarting BP's latest attempt to
control potential liabilities now approaching
USD 50 billion. (AP)

RESCUE

Fisherman rescued after a week

at sea
People aboard a Mexican pleasure boat rescued
a fisherman who had been adrift at sea for a
week after his boat was swamped by Tropical
Storm Polo.
Crew members of the 42-foot sailboat videoed
the thin, exhausted man as he floated in a giant
foam cooler about 10km off Acapulco on
Monday and then brought him aboard.
The boat's captain, Roberto Odis Vazquez,
said on Wednesday that the rescued man had
caught a seagull for food and didn't want to let
the carcass go when he was rescued.
"The poor man, he didn't want to let go of that
seagull. He wanted to bring it with him to eat,"
Odis Vazquez said, adding: "It would bring tears
to anybody's eyes."
Odis Vazquez said that the man told of his
fishing boat being swamped in high waves and
said he threw out his catch and took refuge in
the huge ice chest used to store catches.
Enrique Dominguez, an official at the
Acapulco Port Captain's Office, identified the
rescued fisherman as Raymundo Rodriguez, 45,
who set out from a beach near Acapulco on
September 14 along with another man, Mario
Morales, 69, on a fishing trip. (AP)

ALERT

MSAF keeps eye on ships

without COR
The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF)
is keeping a sharp eye on ships entering its
waters without a proper Certificate of
Recognition (COR). Addressing a legal
workshop in Labasa on Wednesday, authority's
Manager Standards and Compliance John
Tunidau said the authority is probing pending
cases of ships without local CORs.

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WORLD TRAVEL
UNDERRATED CITIES IN EUROPE
Paris, Rome, Barcelona are a few names
that pop in the head when we talk about
Europe's prettiest cities. However, if you're
not fond of scores of tourists around the
city you're visiting, the following is a list of
places a little less popular, but just as
pleasingly attractive:

DUBROVNIK, CROATIA
Very correctly dubbed, "the pearl of the
Adriatic," Dubrovnik is a pleasant walled
city, with inviting cobblestone streets and
local pastry shops.

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA
Also called "Prague's little sister,"
Bratislava has multicultural history that
dates back to 200BC, which is clearly
evident in the long-standing churches,
streets, and especially the Bratislava
Castle.

PORTO, PORTUGAL
Porto's baroque architecture and quaint
village-like plazas add charm to its river
side restaurants as it sits on the banks of
the Rio Duoro. The city's friendly residents
make it feel less touristy than most major
cities.

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN

It's a city by the beach, which plainly
explains most of its charm. What makes
San Sebastian more attractive is that it has
smaller crowds than Barcelona and most
importantly the 13 Michelin-starred eateries
and bars.

PADUA, ITALY
Padua primarily has a reputation of a
student town, however there's more than
what meets the eye about this city. Hang
around the medieval centre, local markets
and famous art pieces, and most of all relax
with glass of wine in its Palazzo della
Ragione.