To assist shipping companies to prepare for implementation of the UN IMO global sulphur cap for ships’ fuel oil, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has produced – free of charge – some comprehensive guidance on implementation planning, to help ensure compliance across the shipping industry with this regulatory game changer.

The free ICS guidance has been prepared for the vast majority of ships that will comply after 1 January 2020 using fuel oils with a sulphur content of 0.50% m/m or less.

ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, explained:
“Shipping companies may need to start ordering compliant fuels from as early as the middle of 2019, and they are strongly recommended to commence developing implementation plans as soon as possible.”

Apart from the significant additional cost of compliant fuel, ICS says that implementation of the global cap will be far more complex than for the previous introduction of Emission Control Areas. This is because of the sheer magnitude of the switchover and the much larger quantities and different types of fuel involved, as well as continuing uncertainties about the availability, safety and compatibility of compliant fuels in every port worldwide.

ICS argues that if a ship – as now recommended by IMO – has a suitably developed implementation plan, then the ship’s crew should be in a better position to demonstrate to Port State Control that they have acted in ‘good faith’ and done everything that could be reasonably expected to achieve full compliance.

“This need to demonstrate good faith could be particularly important in the event that safe and compliant fuels are unavailable in some ports during the initial weeks of implementation,” said Mr Platten. “And IMO has provisionally agreed that Port State Control authorities may take into account the ship’s implementation plan when verifying compliance with the 0.5% sulphur limit.”

The new ICS guidance explains that the implementation process will need to address the possibility that some ships may need to carry and use more than one type of compliant fuel in order to operate globally. This could introduce additional challenges such as compatibility between different available grades of fuel that could have significant implications for the safety of the ship as well as its commercial operation.

While ICS is committed to helping to make the 2020 sulphur cap a success, the global trade association stresses that the full implementation picture is far from complete, and that primary responsibility for ensuring that compliant and compatible fuels will be available rests with oil suppliers, as well as those IMO Member States which have collectively agreed to implement this major regulatory change in 2020.

ICS also wants to see more progress by governments on addressing outstanding safety issues, including serious concerns about the fuel quality of new blended fuel oils, at the next meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee in December 2018.

Download the free 32 page pdf guide: ICS-guidance-on-implementation-of-2020-global-sulphur-cap

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The boatbuilder, Bavaria Yachts, which went into administration in April this year, has been sold to a private equity fund advised by German based CMP Capital Management-Partners. The acquisition includes Bavaria Yachts with its 550 staff and all the shares in its subsidiary Bavaria Catamarans that employs 250 people.

The purchase will be completed after merger control clearance by the German Federal Cartel Office – expected in a couple of weeks.

Restructuring
“We are convinced of Bavaria’s global market potential and will sustainably develop the company,” said Kai Brandes, CMP Capital Management-Partners MD. “The restructuring measures will focus on regaining market share and improving production costs.”

Restructuring expert Dr Tobias Brinkmann, Bavaria Yachts MD since insolvency proceedings began, added: “Bavaria is an outstanding company with a strong brand, compelling products and a highly dedicated team. We are pleased to have found a well-known and experienced buyer in CMP who will lead Bavaria into the future.”

Responsibilities
CMP’s private equity funds are advised by Berlin-based CMP Capital Management-Partners. With the investment in a company, CMP employees assume operative management responsibilities on site.

In the case of Bavaria, Dr Ralph Kudla, restructuring expert and partner at CMP, will join the executive board.

Bavaria Yachts has continued to operate throughout the period of administration with 220 yachts built and delivered.

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According to TT Club, container fires are a far more regular occurrence than most people would realise. Statistics show there is a major container cargo fire at sea roughly every 60 days. So, tackling fires and subsequent investigations are complex and vitally important activities.

With increasing container ships size increases the risk of a fire incident increases too. Despite some regulatory and technical advances, the fact is that the ability to respond to a cargo-related fire at sea has not progressed as needed in recent times.

To tackle a fire in a hold, TT Club notes a CO2 system will be installed if the ship is carrying dangerous goods. The gas released from a CO2 system can displace the oxygen in the hold and smother the fire. However, for CO2 to be effective, the hold must be closed to retain the gas and prevent oxygen ingress.

If an incident has taken place in a container stowed on deck, water will be the only option available . Nevertheless, it is unlikely to extinguish a fire inside a container in the short term.

In addition, crew members should seek expert advice. The expert must provided with as much information as possible, including the location of the fire, the extent and description of the incident and, as a minimum, a copy of the cargo manifest.

Moreover, according to TT Club, if the fire is in a hold, flooding of the hold with water may be considered. This will require flooding to above the level of the containers involved and brings many additional problems. One of the potential problems is that there may be more damage results from the water than may have occurred from the fire.

As for the fire investigation, after an explosion or fire has happened, an investigation into the cause will be required. Most investigations follow a basic format. The starting point is often witness or electronic evidence. This involve gathering accounts of the events from the crew, including ‘where, when and what’. Photographs or videos of the early stages of an event are sometimes available.

Detection systems can also provide valuable information, such as where the smoke or fire was first detected. If the detection system is a gas extraction system samples or residues can be obtained from the inside of the extraction pipe work.

Once the available witness evidence is collected, an examination of the physical evidence will be conducted. This could provide directional indicators of blast and or fire movement and intensity.

During the physical examination, samples will be taken for laboratory analysis, the results of which may identify the cause of the event. This, however, can be very complex, TT Club concludes.

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The West of England P&I Club has warned operators and others involved of the dangers of carrying nickel ore. Carrying nickel ore can be dangerous, because of the risk of liquefaction of the cargo on passage when the moisture content is higher than the cargo’s Flow Moisture Point (FMP).

After a number of ships being lost, with liquefaction of their nickel ore cargoes suspected of being the cause, the West of England Club published a Notice some years ago addressing the Dangers of Carrying Nickel ore. This Notice is still in forced and was re-issued as No.13 2017/2018 – Dangers of Carrying Nickel Ore from Indonesia and the Philippines – Mandatory Notification Requirements (re-issued).

The Club reminds operators of the risk of liquefaction with this cargo, as showcased by the loss of the ‘Emerald Star’, which claimed the lives of 11 seafarers in October 2017.

In addition, the Club has been informed of a recent near miss incident involving a vessel which had loaded 55,000t of nickel ore at Languyan, Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines, bound for China. The vessel encountered several days of Beaufort Force 7 winds and rough seas just before arriving at the discharge port. High cargo hold bilge sounding levels were observed in some holds and a visual inspection found that the cargo in the forward two of the vessel’s five holds had started to liquefy.

Representative samples of the cargo were obtained after discharge and submitted for testing to determine Moisture Content and FMP, and the Transportable Moisture Limit (TML). FMP was determined by both the flow table test and the penetration test.

Testing also found that the moisture content of the cargo exceeded the FMP determined by both test methods by several percent and the cargo was unsafe for loading and carriage.

In order to mitigate the risk associated with loading this Group A cargo in the Philippines and Indonesia, the requirements of the schedule for nickel ore along with the guidance concerning cargoes that may liquefy in the IMSBC Code should be closely followed.

Finally, the Club’s notification and survey requirements as per Notice to Members No.13 2017/2018 and in the associated bye-law within the Rules: Carriage of Nickel Ore from Indonesia and the Philippines, must also be met.

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The Indian Ministry of Shipping, through its flagship programme Sagarmala, is closely working with Government of Gujarat state and other stakeholders to showcase India’s rich maritime heritage through development of a World Class Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in the state of Gujarat.

Preliminary work on design elements of the proposed heritage complex has been completed and consultations from experts are now under process.

In order to further plan and take the project forward, a one day consultation workshop was held at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya in Mumbai.

The discussion was centred on the plan options, themes, design vision, best strategies for the collection of artefacts and design approaches, etc.

The workshop was attended by officials from the Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Maritime Boards, Archaeological Survey of India, Museum Heads, Maritime History Researchers, Universities, Research Institutes, Maritime Societies, private collectors and others who hold artefacts, objects and documents related to the maritime past of India.

Speaking on the occasion Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director General, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya, Mumbai said that the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex realizes our key need to preserve and showcase our rich maritime heritage. The Complex will help the younger generations to learn from our rich past.

In his address, D.K Rai, Director (Sagarmala) said that concrete efforts are being made to realize the vision of National Maritime Heritage Complex and emphasized that experience shared by maritime history experts will help in shaping the implementation plan.

The idea was mooted by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who asked the shipping ministry to build a maritime heritage complex in Gujarat. The complex is likely to be built in public-private partnership and will also have a huge museum displaying India’s heritage of inland waterways and trade through water route.

Lothal is 85 kilometers away from Ahmedabad. Lothal was a major maritime activities centre of the Harappans civilization. It displays engineering standards used in creating an artificial dock that shows high standards of scientific and engineering skills, far more advanced than anywhere else in the world in 3rd millennium BCE.

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