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Welcome to this, the June edition of the Shiptalk Newsletter.
As the sun rises ever higher in the Northern summer sky, and as the birds begin to sing…it seems that there is some good news in the air.
From great news about the Hebei Spirit guys, some long overdue positive instruction on piracy and a surge of money back into shipping…it seems June could be the month in which people got their smiles back.
Hope you enjoy the latest newsletter from Shiptalk.
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HEADLINE ARTICLE
Shiptalk Recruitment Career Progression Survey
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THIS SURVEY REPORT It's good to talk, and the latest Shiptalk Recruitment, "Life At Sea" survey has given seafarers the chance to share their views on career progression and promotion.
In the past you went to sea, did your time and if you were good enough you climbed the ladder to become Master or Chief. Unfortunately that was before the “manning crisis” and the need to accelerate the process. Now it seems as soon as the ink is dry (sometimes before) on the latest certificate of competency, individual seafarers are catapulted into a higher role…roles that they may be unprepared, or unskilled to perform. The matter of career progression has gone from HR issue to safety management in one generation, and there are some important issues to address.
The Shiptalk Recruitment Career Progression and Promotion survey has surprisingly challenged a number of myths about seafarers. There has long been a strong conviction in some industry circles that most junior officers simply look to get promoted as fast as possible, while taking as much money as possible as they ready themselves for the leap into shore based employment. The survey paints a rather different picture, far from grabbing opportunities too quickly the survey shows that it is professional pride that is still the driving force behind many of the decisions and actions taken. Though it was worrying to note that nearly half reported that their company does not clearly define an individual career path. There was also disappointment as nearly two thirds of respondents' felt their feedback was never sought concerning their own career progression.
One other potential shock concerned the effect of personal liability on seafarers. In the wake of a number of high profile legal cases, it has long been perceived that the current heightened risk of prosecution and possible incarceration has been a barrier to recruitment and retention. However the results of the survey indicated that opinion on this is rather divided, and the risk of exposure is one that many are willing to take as a recognised part of the promotion and progression route at sea today, as an everyday professional risk.
There are a number of potential reasons for this, perhaps there never was the fear of criminalisation in the first place, or perhaps the natural historical trait of seafarers tackling problems as and when they arise has begun to take hold on the latest generation of recruits.
The survey shows once again that seafarers are ready to do the right thing in the pursuit of their own aspirations, but all too often there are systematic failures that make it hard for individuals to achieve their goals. We also see that seafarers are not afraid of the challenges of criminalisation.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THIS SURVEY REPORT BACK TO TOP
LAW
Freedom Beckons
It would seem that the “Hebei Two's” ordeal and captivity in South Korea may soon end, as local authorities seem set to let them out of the country shortly.
News sources claim that South Korean diplomats expect Jasprit Chawla and Syam Chetan to soon be allowed to head home to India , ending more than 18 months of disgusting and ridiculous captivity and internment.
The case is due to be heard again on June 11, with the lower court set to confirm the charges should be dropped…common sense and decency, albeit slow to kick in does seem to be alive and well after all.
The “Hebei Two” have suffered enough, and it is so pleasing to hear that finally they may be free. While the whole case and the implications on two innocent and dedicated professionals has been awful, there are some positives to have emerged. This has united the industry, and brought home the human face of criminalisation to us all.
We can only hope that lessons will be learned, and perhaps seafarers can escape being an easy political target when things go wrong? It seems we have all learned so much from this…let's hope the suffering of Chawla and Chetan, their families and friends is not for nought. This is a learning opportunity for governments, courts, lawyers, companies…for industry, but we need to take it.
We have seen several landmark cases in recent years, including those involving the “Prestige”, “ Coral Sea ” as well as the “Hebei Spirit”, and this is a watershed moment from which there is no going back.
Though the latest Shiptalk “Life at Sea” survey found some surprising views on criminalisation from seafarers today. BACK TO TOP
ENVIRONMENTAL
Eco Irony
When Alanis Morrisette sang of irony, she actually managed to consistently and irritatingly avoid nailing anything remotely ironic. Well if she's considering a follow-up single the news last month sure might help her...Isn't it ironic when you go to sea on a yacht with a big fuss about making a “carbon free voyage” and you end up having to get rescued by...yup, an oil tanker!
An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth with the aid of solar power and, of course, the wind on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free trip to Greenland had to be rescued by a tanker when they ran into difficulties.
Apparently the solar panels got “ripped” from the yacht, named “Fleur” amid rough weather, and the winds – reaching 68 knots – were so harsh that they knocked over the boat several times.
The green sailors issued a Mayday and the ”Overseas Yellowstone”, loaded with 680,000 barrels of crude oil, came to their rescue roughly 400 miles off Ireland's west coast.
The rescued sailors expressed “heartfelt thanks” to the tanker's crew, though it does rather point to the fact that if you really want to save the world just stay at home! With your feet up, though of course turn the fire down, leave the TV off...then you'll be really saving the planet…without putting others at risk having to come and rescue you. BACK TO TOP
SAFETY/NAVIGATION
Drunken Sailor Failure
What a strange age we live in, where the law and common sense can be so readily and easily disconnected from each other. A time where natural justice seems to have vanished in a cloud of confused thinking and backside covering. Today seemingly “human” and compassionate decisions are judged and even those made with the very best of intentions can seem wrong.
We are referring to a recent court case in which an offshore supply vessel captain was fined for allowing crew members to return to the docked ship when under the influence, in contravention of the rules laid down in the vessel's safety management system (SMS).
The ruling related to an incident in 2007 when a number of officers and crew went to a local pub. Upon later returning to the ship one officer then went to make a cup of coffee and fell down the stairs, tragically dying as a result of his injuries. The subsequent post mortem showed that he was more than three times over the statutory alcohol limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) stated: "The company had an established safety management policy that banned those that had been drinking to excess coming aboard”. They went on to add that the master “failed to ensure this was complied with and tragically on this occasion someone died”.
So what can you do? What should be done? What a dilemma...leave the drunken man alone on a dock? Tuck him up under a load of old Lloyd's Lists near the gangway until he sobers??? What about the port? Should they be letting intoxicated sailors into their guarded bastions??
All too often the safety management requirements are written in cold, harsh isolation – remote from facts, from real life and from human pressures. The man shouldn't have been onboard, ok we get it and agree, but where was the guidance to state what options the master should've had? Having systems that don't adequately reflect the risks posed are weak and unworkable…just saying don't let them onboard is not an answer, it is a problem masquerading as a solution. BACK TO TOP
Step Back In Time
The future as we know from books, films and vaguely humorous monthly maritime newsletters is based upon robots, electrickery and all manner of cool gadgets. Yup the old world is dead, long live the new...sextants are old school, the stars may as well burn out....we are all about new bright and shiny things.
But wait, maybe we've all been a bit to quick to accept that all progress is all good. It seems that some are ready to turn their back (for now) on flashy whizzbang gadgets, as it was announced by Norwegian based operator, Höegh Fleet Services that they have decided to switch back from electronic to paper charts as the primary navigational tool onboard their fleet of more than 20 car carriers.
Gasp, shock horror...can we really press the delete key on technological progress? Can navigators still pick up their pencils and measure, draw and calculate??? Well perhaps it's not as drastic as it sounds, as the ships will still have electronic charts on board but will they not be approved Electronic Navigational Charts as defined by IMO and will therefore be “aids to navigation”.
The move is reportedly largely due to the expense of using “official” government hydrographic charts. Phew, thank God it's just to save dollars and not admittance that paper is best. Actually this smells a little like political manoeuvring, as chart suppliers have long been arguing that private companies should also be able to provide approved charts, though there is little prospect of IMO changing its rules to allow this.
Progress comes at a cost...if it is cheap enough then we will all embrace a golden push button future – if it's too expensive, then it's back to the funny pointy things and the slidey big rulers! BACK TO TOP
Poor Reception
Maybe going back to paper and traditional hardware isn't such a bad idea after all…especially as it emerges that 2010 could be the year when the sat nav system collapses making all of those in fancy bridge systems useless, potentially leaving many a “Nintendo Navigator” literally all at sea.
The reason behind this is that the satellite system used to provide the GPS information has reportedly been poorly maintained and could begin to experience failures.
The Global Positioning Service is run by the US Air Force, which has warned that during 2010 sat nav users will begin to experience interrupted service because it has failed to keep up its satellite replacement programme.
There is no news as to whether the US Air Force is out there looking for new satellites to carry the information. Though there are alternatives vying for business and to take on the US GPS, with The Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and European Union (EU) and European Space Agency's (ESA) Galileo systems also out there.
The new GPS programme of installing new satellites is understood to be currently three years behind schedule and around £400 million behind in payments….so better check that position by a few other means as well! BACK TO TOP
GENERAL
Fishy Tale
Food poisoning is an awful thing to deal with, usually however it passes with nothing more than a need for new pants and some “toilet duck”...however, sometimes the knock on effect can be mind boggling...such as running up consequential damage clocking in at around US $2m.
When the Norwegian master of a tanker chomped into some “dodgy” tuna caught off Mexico he was ill for four days and unable to sleep, but when he went two days free of the symptoms of apparent food poisoning, and the orifice outpourings ceased, he returned to duties...only to hit the Ambrose Light, an unmanned light tower near the entrance to New York Harbour.
The damage was so severe the light had to be demolished at a cost of $850,000, while damage to the tanker was estimated at $1.5m.
The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found the 60-year-old master had failed to use all available resources — bridge equipment and other members of the bridge team — in navigating the tanker. He also failed to take emergency action after the allision and did not report the incident until seven hours after the incident when the tanker was safely berthed.
It seems the (fish) finger for the failings is being pointed at the terrible tuna, and the fact that the master's slow recovery from illness may have affected his situational awareness. He told investigators he had informed his manager in Glasgow he had been ill, but had not conveyed the true scale of the problem, only telling them that he had eaten some “dodgy” fish and when asked if he was all right, had replied: “Yes”.
So there you are, if you are going to make a mistake, make it with a full stomach, and not an empty head.
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Mermaid Crossing
“Save the whale” is the fashionable shout of the enlightened global citizen (outside of Japan and Norway)...we can of course easily recognise that shooting big steel darts into clever, sophisticated mammals is not quite cricket...but what of other forms of torture and pain?
Sadly ships have a habit of regularly hitting whales, manatees, mermaids and the like square in the chops with a big ol' bulbous bow. Now it would be nice to think that that critters would learn to avoid planes, trains, automobiles and ships...but that sad truth is they just don't. Look on the side of any road and there it is plain, road killed evidence that animals just seem to have an evolutionary blindspot to machinery.
You'd think that noise would put them off...but seemingly no. Ships, especially big ones, make quite a racket underwater, but marine mammals (and jeez they are meant to be the clever ones) still collide with shipping from time to time. Help is at hand as scientists now understand why these animals are getting hit, and have come up with an alarm-like device that may help avoid such strikes in future.
It would seem that certain “acoustic interactions” create situations that mask the sounds of an oncoming ship, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University . The maritime equivalent of coughing and farting if you will....
The research shows that the "danger zone" for a marine mammal is the area of water stretching out from the bow of the ship. Here, a phenomenon known as "acoustic shadowing" reduces the noise coming from the ship's propellers.
The ship's hull can block the high frequency sound waves produced by the propellers, preventing the sound from going forward. Lower frequency sound waves can reach the ship's front, but they are cancelled out close to the surface. These combined acoustic effects allow ships to cast a shadow of silence in front of them.
In fact these “sound shadows” actually trick the unsuspecting creatures to seek out the “quiet zone”, which actually places them in the “kill zone” – right in front of the ship. There is an answer (isn't there always)...a new device, placed on the ship's bow, may help illuminate this acoustic shadow. The alarm fills the silence with sounds that whales and manatees can hear. The "beam" of sound is very narrow, ensuring it only alerts animals in the boat's path and not wildlife in the surrounding areas.
Tests of the system have been effective so far. Though rumours that the speakers blast out Seal's greatest hits have not yet been confirmed.
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SECURITY
Fast Food Orders
We are constantly being warned of the dangers of fast food....obesity, artery clog and increased risk of stroke are just a few of the hazards lurking in delicious, yummy treats.
So it came as something of a shock then when we heard that senior European Union naval staff were calling on industry to provide fast food to Africa . However, what they actually meant was they want to see commercial shipping providing better and faster ships for the World Food Programme, shipping aid into east African ports.
The Royal Navy's Commander Gerry Northwood, who heads up the EU's anti-piracy naval force, urged national and industry delegates at the International Maritime Organization to exert influence on shipowners to release better quality tonnage for WFP charter....Another senior RN officer, Richard Farrington went further a few months back when he said the ships being used to shift aid were at the “fag end” of the industry....not sure what that means, but it is pretty descriptive.
It seems the age, slow speed and low freeboards of many vessels chartered by the United Nation World Food Programme (WFP)are just sitting ducks for pirates. IMO secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos, recently pointed out that 90% of WFP aid reached Somalia by sea on such vulnerable ships.
We are in essence sending food to the vulnerable on hugely vulnerable ships. This isn't barrels of oil for SUV drivers to go on Sunday drives, this isn't about 50 inch plasma screens to watch Man United get humiliated against Barcelona...no, we are talking serious cargoes here – life changing, life saving stuff – and we are sending it in on sitting ducks.
This means that at worst the ships are taken, the crew kidnapped and perhaps the cargo is mysteriously vanished...at best it means that valuable and overstretched naval assets have to work ever harder to keep these “target” vessels secure. This is a failure on many levels, and by many sectors of industry and government...come on we can do better, and we should. BACK TO TOP
Run Away
As the slow, tedious battle against Somali pirates drags inexorably on – it is always welcome to get some positive news and a chance to poke fun at the beggars.
So it was to peals of laughter that the pirates off the eastern coast of Somalia picked the wrong target last month when they tried to attack a U.S. Navy ship. Duh! The attempted attack happened against the “USNS Lewis and Clark”, a dry cargo and ammunition ship that supports the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet and coalition ships in the area.
Two pirate skiffs pursued the Lewis and Clark for more than an hour as it headed north, the Navy said. They got as close as one nautical mile from the ship.
The Lewis and Clark sped up and tried to escape the pirates, and the ship's security team issued verbal warnings to the approaching skiffs, the Navy said.
The suspected pirates, who were then two nautical miles behind the Lewis and Clark, fired small arms at the ship.
The navy ran away, and issued verbal warnings...running and shouting! That was it. Now ok, QED it worked as they got away – but surely that doesn't exactly leave the pirate hoards quaking with their khat.
On the contrary, according to the US Navy, “The actions taken by Lewis and Clark were exactly what the U.S. Navy has been recommending to prevent piracy attacks - for both commercial and military vessels,” “Merchant mariners can and should use Lewis and Clark's actions as an unequivocal example of how to prevent a successful attack from occurring,” said Capt. Steve Kelley, commander of Task Force 53, assigned to the Lewis and Clark. BACK TO TOP
Planning Permission
With the ISPS Code Ship Security Plans only really of use when thrown at the pirates...it was only a matter of time before the US began demanding more robust action in the face of piracy.
Over the past couple of months there has been a real hardening of the attitude of many administrations to what their ships get up to in the region...this came to a head when the US instructed it's tonnage to plan properly and to communicate their anti-piracy plan to them for approval.
The moves did not go as far as to require arming of vessels, but there are implications that crews alone may not be able to effectively police and secure their vessels...which brings into question how on earth such ships were awarded their ship security certificate in the first place. We have created a two-tier system of security – the soft “Can I see your ID please” type, and the “Holy Cow set the hoses off and scurry to a lockdown space” type...it remains to see whether most vessels can apply either.
Whenever new requirements hove into view there are some owners who have a knee jerk fearful reaction...they hunt around for answers and all too often are given a bum steer by the hoards of experts who appear over the horizon selling solution like so much snake oil.
At this point, and as many owners become seduced by the idea of solving all their security woes with lethal force, a powerful cross-industry lobby led by shipping organisation BIMCO has railed against the use of armed private guards on merchant ships.
BIMCO expressed grave concern at the IMO last month that onboard private forces with lethal weapon capacity will trigger an escalation of violence off Somalia . BIMCO's chief security officer Giles Noakes said: “Armed guards on ships are inappropriate and an admission of failure by the international community to guarantee the safe passage of merchant ships under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
They then provoked debate by asking the IMO chamber what they would think of arming hired private gangs and arming vigilantes as a response to urban crime? Postman with pistols, Gas Men with Gatlings, perhaps?
With issues of legality and liability still heavy in the air it seems all but some Flag States and some more gung-ho seafarers see weapons as the answer. BACK TO TOP
GENERAL
Green Shoots and Booms
After a dreadful year of paranoia, fear and plummeting business it seems that shipping could be back on the up once more. News has been emerging of rocketing rate rises for bulk carriers. Lloyd's List stated recently that capesize rates could be set to climb through the $100,000 per day mark…
Could it be that the famine is over? Are we feasting again? As congestion at Chinese ports begins to intensify it seems the market has gone wild, and a real “owner's market” is in place.
It seems that with rates on the up, the big charterer players – such as Aussie miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, have begun to move away from tentative, pussy footing on the spot market, and are looking once again to get owners nailed down with longer term charters.
It's not just China driving the upsurge; brokers reported that transatlantic round trips are nudging $65,000 per day, about the same level as a transpacific round voyage.
While the enthusiasm and excitement was tempered slightly with the view that we may be approaching a peak in levels, and most don't foresee a return to the heady days of the shipping boom. But hey at least it looks like some positive news at last. The downturn is over – we can all become rich again. Oh hang on, what was that? Us, speaking too soon…how very dare you! BACK TO TOP
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