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MNA CIRCULAR 2020 - #23 22nd December 2020
1
The Pulse
The MISSION of The Merchant Navy Association is to bring all serving and retired Seafarers together in a spirit of
companionship, consideration and commitment towards a united lobby for the Community of the Sea Hi Shipmates,
Please find below more snippets of information since circular #22 was published 9th December 2020. My thanks to MNA National Secretary, Pete Sinke’s daily publication “Maasmond Maritime - Shipping News
Clippings”, Lloyds List, gCaptain, Maritime London, Flashlight and many others from the T’internet, not
forgetting the items sent in by Readers and any other source I can access.
USCG coordinates rescue of 18 near Galapagos Islands The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) coordinated the rescue of 18 Ecuadorians after their 72-foot commercial
fishing vessel sank Friday approximately 350 miles north of the Galapagos Islands. Eleventh Coast Guard
District watchstanders received an alert from an emergency position-indicating radio beacon from an
unknown vessel north of the Galapagos Islands at 4:30 a.m. Friday. District watchstanders requested
aerial support and notified Ecuador who began to investigate the EPIRB’s registration. Using the
Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER), the Coast Guard watchstanders issued a
request for assistance and the vessel Hai Soon 26’s crew, located 80 miles north of the alert location,
responded that they were willing to divert and assist the distressed mariners. Ecuadorian personnel
determined the vessel in distress was the fishing vessel Romeo which was taking on water with 18 people
aboard. The support aircraft arrived on scene at approximately 11 a.m., located the capsized vessel and
life raft and shortly thereafter, vectored in the Hai Soon 26 crew to the location of the distressed mariners.
The HAI SOON 26 crew arrived on scene at 12:26 p.m. and retrieved the 18 Ecuadorian nationals, five
people from a life raft and 12 people from the sinking fishing boat. “It was a great partnership to provide
a timely air response as well as working with the AMVER
program to render timely assistance,” said Petty Officer 1st
Class Timothy Spencer, an 11th Coast Guard District
command center operations specialist. “Ecuador was able to
assist with providing more information on the case because
the EPIRB didn’t have identifying features to what vessel
the EPIRB belonged to.” No medical concerns were
reported. The Ecuadorian nationals are scheduled to depart
the Hai Soon 26 in Panama during the ship’s upcoming port
call where the Coast Guard will work with the Ecuadorian
state department to repatriate the survivors. Source : Portnews
K” Line take delivery of 100,000-dwt BulkCarrier "CAPE ACE" The construction of “CAPE ACE” 100,000-dwt bulker has been completed by Namura Shipbuilding Co.,
Ltd. Imari
Shipyard & Works and delivered to us. The ship is compliant with the Common Structural Rules for
Bulk Carrier (CSR-BC) for bulk cargo ships. She has wide shallow hull shape with 6 cargo holds which
enables to load more cargo compared to Panamax size vessel. She is equipped with “NCF” (Namura flow
Control Fin) on her stern and “Rudder Fin” on her rudder both of which are unique products of Namura
Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., and such equipment improve her propulsion performance by aligning water flow
in front and back of propeller. Together with an electronically controlled engine, the vessel is expected to
save fuel consumption and reduce environmental impact.
After the delivery, she is engaged in iron ore and coal transport for a Japanese steel mill under long
term contract. With a large number of vessels from various types with various sizes - from very large to
small -, "K" Line offers its customers a unique range of transport services. "K" Line will remain
committed to flexibly and actively responding diversifying needs for shipments of ore and other iron-
Warning - Spurious emails from the Association’s Officers and Others
You may receive, or may have received, an email with similar wording as below. I have had these
purporting to come from the Chairman, Malcolm and President, Vivian Foster, but they could, apparently,
come from any of us.
This one arrived today.
Good morning David,
Are you free at the moment? Let me know
Regards,
Malcolm Mathison
We do not send emails of this nature. Firstly do not reply, secondly check the sender’s
address – usually these addresses are not the supposed senders, this one was a different name
entirely, as they have been on other false messages.
If in doubt, contact the supposed sender by phone or via his/her true address _____________________________________________________________________________________
Ships Make Record Number of Sailings Through Arctic in 2020 Reuters December 9, 2020
LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Ships sailing through the Arctic region’s busiest lane along the Siberian
coast made the highest number of trips on record this year as a quicker-than-expected melting of ice
enabled more traffic, data showed.
The Arctic has warmed at least twice as quickly as the rest of the world over the last three decades
and shipping activity has picked up.
Analysis by the Centre for High North Logistics (CHNL) at Norway’s Nord University Business School
showed there were 62 transits through the Northern Sea Route in the period to Dec. 9, versus 37 for the
whole of 2019.
“This year is considered to be the highest number of the full transit voyages,” Sergey Balmasov with
CHNL told Reuters.
“We see favorable ice conditions in this navigation season as one of the reasons for the growth.”
The number of ships using the route rose to 331 vessels in the year to date, versus 277 for the whole of
2019, CHNL data showed.
The trade is driven by commodities producers – mainly in Russia, China and Canada – sending iron ore,
oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other fuels through Arctic waters.
The United Nations shipping agency last month approved a ban on the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the
Arctic, but the move was criticised by green groups which said loopholes would allow many vessels to
keep sailing without enough regulatory control over the region’s fragile ecosystem.
Environmentalists say HFO produces higher emissions of harmful pollutants, including sulphur oxide,
nitrogen oxides, and black carbon.
“The region has seen comparatively little shipping traffic compared to other regions of the world, and the
necessary environmental regulation to minimise the impact of increased shipping in the region is
incomplete,” said Sian Prior, lead advisor at the Clean Arctic Alliance.
“Increased shipping will increase the risk of oil spills in the Arctic, but the remoteness and lack of
infrastructure will make responding to an oil spill very challenging, if possible at all.” (Editing by
NYK Conducts Second Test of Remote Navigation of Tugboat NYK and its group companies MTI Co. Ltd., Keihin Dock Co. Ltd., and Japan Marine Science Inc. (JMS)
obtained useful results in the second test of the remote navigation of a tugboat as a part of the Japanese
government’s Sea Trial Project on Remote Control Navigation* for the realization of autonomous ships
by 2025.
Outline of Second Test
Within Tokyo Bay, a manned tugboat** equipped with a remotely controlled system*** was operated
remotely from the operation center in the city of Nishinomiya in Hyogo prefecture approximately 400
kilometers away. In the previous test in January this year, the operator in the remote operation center used
sensors and cameras equipped to the tugboat to recognize surrounding conditions, created a route plan
and action plan (collision avoidance route plan) for the remote control. In this second test this time, the
below two tests to respond to malfunctions of equipment or ship-shore communication were conducted.
(a) Test for verification of fallback operation
MNA CIRCULAR 2020 - #23 22nd December 2020
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The Pulse
As shown in Figure 1, tests to confirm response functions to equipment malfunctions or interruptions of
ship-shore communication were conducted. In the tests, a signal sent remotely to the ship to (1) stop as
quickly as possible, and (2) automatically navigate at a reduced speed until the next waypoint, to ensure
ship safety functions or maintaining limited usage of the ship in the situation of troubles of equipment or
ship-shore communication.
(b) Test for optimization of data communication amount
The purpose of this test was to confirm the optimization function of data communication amount
depending on the available communication bandwidth for remote control. To ensure stable remote
maneuvering, the amount of communication needs to be automatically adjusted. For that reason, the
transferring data amount of radar echo should be controlled according to available communication
bandwidth so that it does not affect other data transmissions. For remote control, it is necessary to
monitor the position of the ship and nearby obstacles in real time, and communication interruption due to
communication overload has to be avoided so that confirmation of this communication optimization
function is indispensable.
Future Development
NYK and its group companies will continue to improve the system using the accumulated knowledge
from the two remote navigation tests and will keep to collaborate with partners to realize remote control
of large vessels. In addition, we will disseminate and develop the developed technologies for autonomous
ships with crews and crewless autonomous ships that we are working on.
* A trial project that Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has been promoting
since FY2018 to improve the environment, including the establishment of safety requirements necessary
for the realization of autonomous ships. Companies selected to participate in the sea trial project on
remote control navigation include MTI Co., Ltd.; ClassNK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai); National Institute of
Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology; Ikous Corporation; NYK; Keihin Dock Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi
Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.; IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd.; BEMAC Corporation; SKY Perfect JSAT
Corporation; Tokyo Keiki Inc.; Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation; NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan
Radio Co., Ltd.; Furuno Electric Co., Ltd.; and Japan Marine Science Inc.
** A tugboat operated by the Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha Corporation, an NYK Group company, was used for
this test.
*** To date, the NYK Group has been working with nautical instrument manufacturers and partners to
develop a remotely controlled system that can support the vessel crew. Such a system would collect,
integrate, and analyze information around the ship, prepare an action plan, and after the approval of
operators at remote locations or on board, take action in accordance with the plan. In accordance with the
MNA CIRCULAR 2020 - #23 22nd December 2020
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The Pulse
NYK Group’s medium-term management plan “Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalization and Green,” the
company has indicated its goal to integrate ESG principles into management strategies, and is promoting
activities that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) through the
company’s business activities. Digital-technology use and technology-development efforts to realize the
remote navigation of ships will contribute to the below goals. Source: NYK Line
Navy to patrol British waters in event of no-deal Brexit European vessels operating in UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) could be impounded By : Rory Sullivan
The UK will have four Royal Navy boats on standby to prevent European fishing vessels from operating
in its waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it has been revealed.
The 80-metre-long ships would patrol Britain’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which covers an area up
to 200 miles from the coast. The vessels, which are armed with machine guns, would be able to stop,
search and impound trawlers fishing without permission in the EEZ, according to the Guardian. A navy
source told the paper that firearms would only be used if life was at risk. “Nobody is going to be firing
warning shots against French fishermen; firearms are only used when there is danger to life,” they said.
Nevertheless, the government’s preparations recall the “cod wars” between the UK and Iceland in the
1970s as well as the more recent “scallop wars” between British and French fishing vessels in 2018. The
confirmation of the move comes as a no-deal Brexit looks increasingly likely, after negotiations this week
were unable to bridge disagreements between the UK and the EU.
Fishing rights remains a stumbling block to a potential free trade agreement, with Ms von der Leyen
reiterating the EU’s position on Friday. “We understand that the UK aspires to control its waters. The UK
must, on the other hand, understand the legitimate expectations of EU fishing fleets built on decades and
sometimes centuries of access,” she said. The scale of the fisheries problem was highlighted earlier this
week when the EU suggested that the transition period for fishing be extended for a year to allow a deal
to be reached. The confirmation of possible Navy patrols from January may be seen in Brussels as a
warning shot from the UK ahead of further talks this weekend. Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP who
chairs the defence select committee, said the government’s potential measure was “irresponsible”.
“Global threats increasing, Navy overstretched. Here we are squaring up to a NATO ally as beneath the
same sea increased Russian sub/ drone activity goes unchecked,” he tweeted on Friday evening.source :
Maersk and MSC opt for Liverpool to avoid congested Felixstowe The last sailing from Felixstowe will be by the 8,822-TEU MSC ATHENS in week 51, with the first
sailing from Liverpool by the 6,478-TEU MAERSK SEMBAWANG planned for the following week.
After careful evaluation of our network covering North Europe to/from North America, we will change
our UK port call from Felixstowe to Liverpool," said a customer advisory from Maersk. The 2M said it
would continue to blank its TA4/NEUATL4 transatlantic loop "until further notice", but according to
Alphaliner, the average weekly capacity on its three remaining strings has increased by 16.5 per cent to
19,800 TEU, with the deployment of larger ships to compensate. The news of the lost transatlantic service
is a further blow to the port of Felixstowe which, among UK container hubs, has come under the most
pressure from the surge in import volumes. Inherent issues with its problematic vehicle booking system
have also been a factor in landside congestion and slow ship working. Carriers have diverted a number of
calls to continental ports in the past month, leaving thousands of UK imports effectively stranded due to
the absence of any prompt relay options. Meanwhile, the situation at DP World Southampton has
deteriorated, with the port seeing the cancellation at the weekend of the call by the NYK DENEB on THE
Alliance's transatlantic service and the omission of the CMA CGM KERGUELEN. "Congestion and
delays at the port of Southampton have deteriorated recently and we are now witnessing similar issues to
those at Felixstowe," said Brentwood-based forwarder Westbound Logistics. "In the past week, there
have been weather closures due to fog, a shutdown in customs software, vessel delays and the emergence
of the serious restitution issue. This has resulted in failed deliveries, further transport backlogs from the
port and more price increases on urgently required deliveries," said Westbound. Moreover, the situation is
set to get worse for UK importers as carriers consider their options for January, according to UK's
Loadstar. It's understood that the Ocean Alliance is drawing up plans to omit the Felixstowe call
throughout January, with all UK cargo to be discharged at Zeebrugge and feedered back to "other less-
congested ports". However, the decision needed the final agreement of other partners, but the only real
hurdle was the lack of available feeder tonnage. The big fear for UK importers and exporters is that, even
after the current pressures ease, the UK will be relegated to the status of a feeder trade. Source : Schednet
Judge dismisses charges in Missouri duck boat accident By Dale K. DuPont A federal judge has dismissed charges of misconduct and neglect against three employees in a fatal duck
boat accident on a Missouri lake not considered a navigable waterway. U.S. District Judge Douglas
Harpool last week adopted a recommendation that the government did not have admiralty jurisdiction
over Table Rock Lake where Stretch Duck 7 sank in 2018 killing 17 people — the deadliest duck boat
accident ever.
Capt. Kenneth Scott McKee, general manager Curtis Lanham and operations supervisor Charles Baltzell
of Ride the Ducks Branson were charged in a 47-count indictment with misconduct, negligence and
inattention to duty. The indictment alleged Lanham created a work atmosphere on the boats “where the
concern for profit overshadowed the concern for safety.” All three pleaded not guilty. The captain was
originally charged with a number of violations including not properly assessing the weather and going out
with lightning in the area, not telling passengers to put on personal flotation devices and failing to raise
the side curtains when the wind picked up thus creating a barrier for people to escape. The boat, operated
by Ripley Entertainment Inc., was carrying 29 passengers and two crew members for what was usually a
20- minute ride on the lake near Branson, Mo., when a strong thunderstorm swept through with winds
over 70 mph. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in April faulted Ripley for continuing
the water part of the tour after the storm warning and the Coast Guard for not requiring sufficient reserve
buoyancy and or addressing emergency evacuation issues caused by the boat’s fixed canopy. The Coast
Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the accident. The recommendation by U.S.
Magistrate Judge David P. Rush in September notes that the government argued it had admiralty
jurisdiction over the negligent operation of a vessel charges. But he concluded “that admiralty subject
matter jurisdiction does not extend to Table Rock Lake, which is not navigable as a matter of law,” and
any criminal prosecution should be in state court. Under the Constitution, “federal courts have limited
jurisdiction. General police powers over crimes rightfully belong to the states,” he said. “If defendants are
to be prosecuted for the tragedy on Table Rock Lake, the law requires that the prosecution be handled at
the state level, and not in federal court.” Prosecutors could appeal Judge Harpool’s decision. Don
Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City, said they would not comment on the
case. “While the events of July 19, 2018, remain an unfortunate accident and tragedy we are pleased that
both Judge Harpool and Magistrate Judge Rush have sustained the admiralty dismissal motion,” McKee’s
attorneys, J.R. Hobbs and Marilyn Keller, said in a statement. source : Workboat
Countries must act now to award seafarers key worker status Following United Nations resolutions to recognise seafarers as key workers, governments need to
respond now given the impact of the backdrop of the past year on their lives
Ukranian seafarers have started the unequal fight against corruption With the new presIdent and government all seafarers hoped to meet the wind of changes, that bureaucracy
and corruption would disappear in the sector of seamen certification, but in reality, the situation is critical.
Seafarers come together to the voluntary union seafarers organisations to fight against the corruption and
injustice. The Ukranian Maritime Administration with top
officials make everything to push seamen in the corruption
schemes as the system of certification is unclear and
complicated. All social media are full of advertising of the
"agents" -people and organizations which are promising to help
with seadocuments, like to make STCW certificates in their
"club" training centers where prices for courses are 5 times
higher than they have to be and afterwards you still have to pay
some fee to have guaranty that you would pass exams,
otherwise to pass an exam to prove or level up your
qualification is almost impossible. The exam is verbal and quantification comission asks strange
questions and makes everything so that a seaman can't pass the exam. Ukranian seafarers have carried out
demonstrations in the main sea cities like Odessa, Kherson, Izmail, Mariupol and flashmobs in social
media but until now there has been no result. The minister of transport mr. Vladislav Krikliy promises a
lot: to replace a verbal exam by a computer test and create possibility to extend COC by seagoing service
every 5 years. But these are only empty promises. At this moment everything is going against a seaman at
this difficult time for everybody. Unfortunately it looks like the Ukranian Matitime Organisation wants to
destroy the Ukranian seafarers the way it had done to the Ukranian merchant fleet! We all consider that
this situation will affect the quality of Ukranian seamen and will discredit co-nationals at the sea
Why we should all be concerned about seafarer mental health Traditional attitudes to dealing with seafarer stress must be reassessed in light of significant changes to
the industry. Failure to do so could have serious implications for recruitment and retention
Crew member in hospital after heart attack on board Torbay cruise ship The casualty was taken ashore to Torquay in one of the Marella’s own lifeboats By : Guy Henderson
A CREW member from one of Torbay’s cruise ships has been brought ashore after suffering a suspected
heart attack. The crew of the Torbay RNLI lifeboat went out just after midday on Sunday to the
MARELLA EXPLORER 2, at anchor in the middle of Tor Bay. The casualty was taken ashore to
Torquay in one of the Marella’s own lifeboats, accompanied by RNLI Torbay’s all-weather vessel. He
was taken to Torbay Hospital for treatment.
The MARELLA EXPLORER 2 is one of a number of cruise ships to have been at anchor in the bay in
recent months as cruise companies keep their ships in sheltered locations before cruising can begin again
after the coronavirus lockdown. Two other ships of the Holland America line - the VOLENDAM and the
ZAANDAM -were in the bay at the weekend, with the Marella Explorer, the sister ship of the one on
which the crew member was taken ill, also arriving in the bay over the weekend. The AZURA, the
ARCADIA and the QUEEN ELIZABETH were at anchor in Babbacombe Bay. Source: inyourarea
Dog rescued from sea foam as huge swells and rain batter Australian coast It was no foam party for a local dog named Hazel, who disappeared under a large amount of sea foam,
after it churned up on a Gold Coast beach as cyclonic conditions along Australia's northeast coast
generated huge swells washing away beaches at popular tourist spots. Hazel was reunited with her owner
after a quick search through the foam that swallowed the beach.
Dog rescued from sea foam as huge swells and rain batter Australian coast - YouTube
Oil Unloading Operation Under Way for Stricken FSO Nabarima Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has started to transfer crude oil off of the stricken floating storage
and offloading vessel (FSO) NABARIMA, which is permanently moored in the Gulf of Paria, the semi-
enclosed body of water between Trinidad and Venezuela. On Wednesday, AIS tracking provided by Pole
Star MDA showed the NABARIMA attended by two Venezuelan-flagged vessels, the OSV SEABULK
St. FRANCES and the tug MARE. The Panama-
flagged tanker ICARO was anchored nearby.
According to Reuters, the offload plan calls for
transferring crude from the Nabarima onto a barge,
then shuttling the barge over to the Icaro - a
nonstandard ship-to-ship transfer arrangement. The
process is expected to take several weeks, sources told
Reuters. The Nabarima's situation gained public
attention in August when a Venezuelan offshore
workers' union reported that the vessel had developed a
heavy list. Eudis Girot, the head of the Unitary Federation of Petroleum Workers of Venezuela (FUTPV),
released photos appearing to show flooding in machinery spaces aboard the Nabarima on August 30.
Girot warned that she had about nine feet of water in some sections of her lower decks, and that she was
laden with about 1.3 million barrels of crude oil. However, Italian oil major Eni - a partner with PDVSA
in the Nabarima's operations - said that the vessel had been stabilized and posed no significant
environmental risk. Drone footage released by the Trinidadian NGO Fishermen and Friends of the Sea
(FFOS) appeared to show the vessel listing approximately eight degrees to starboard and trimmed by the
head. Gary Aboud, the organization's leader, said in a statement that the organization's photos were taken
on October 17. In late October, a three-person inspection team dispatched by the government of Trinidad
and Tobago visited the NABARIMA, and they reported that the vessel was back on an even keel and in
stable condition. Trinidadian energy minister Franklin Khan told local media that PDVSA was beginning
unloading operations and that maintenance and repairs on the Nabarima's "pumps and electrical motors"
UK Seafarers' Center Brings Christmas to Stranded Cruise Ships https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/uk-seafarers-center-brings-christmas-to-stranded-cruise-
Jolie Brise – the boat that changed Tom Cunliffe’s life 30 min video _____________________________________________________________________________________