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Dear Shiptalk Readers,
Welcome to this the February 2007 edition of the Shiptalk newsletter.
A big thanks to you our readers for making January 2007 our biggest month since our launch in terms of our monthly readership figures. Last month's newsletter was sent out to 30,000 subscribers and we welcomed a total of 41,000 individual visitors to our site during the month of January.
Similarly, ShiptalkJOBS.com has proved to be an instant success, in the first three weeks since launch over 1,500 seafarers register with the site and a number of blue chip recruiters have signed up for our online recruitment advertising service.
As with all our community websites we strive to provide a quality service to our readers and we remain confident that our pursuit of excellence in online recruitment advertising will guarantee that the very best seafarers are placed with the very best seagoing employers. Quality vacancies will attract quality candidates and we look forward to your continued support in pursuit of this much needed objective.
This month's edition is packed with interesting stories, news and views about our industry tinged with the usual dose of tongue in cheek humor from your editorial team.
Enjoy….
Shiptalk.com……reading you loud and clear
SHIPTALKIMAGES.COM
ShiptalkIMAGES.com provides media companies with a helpful image resource for the design and development of online and print media projects for maritime based companies and organisations. Alternatively marine companies may be creating internal documents that would benefit from the use of good imagery, or publicists who need to bring their stories to life with relevant imagery.
This month we are featuring the work of Daniel Hormann.
We are sure we can provide you with the image you have been looking for so not why not drop us an image enquiry at enquiries@shiptalkimages.com and we will see what we can do for you.
HEADLINE ARTICLE
Royal Dirkzwager - “Setting synergy in motion”
Advertorial
Royal Dirkzwager has been providing maritime-logistic information and services to customers in and around the Port of Rotterdam ever since 1872. Before the company entered the Worldwide Web, it had been inundated with offers for ICT solutions. Finding them all inadequate in one way or another, the traditional service provider decided to use its specific knowledge of the maritime market to develop its own ICT concept – which proved so successful that it was Royal Dirkzwager who became the information and service provider to maritime-logistic communities.
The Port of Rotterdam has been one of the hubs of the world's shipping industry of old. Nevertheless, the tens of thousands of ship movements registered these days were unimaginable in March 1872, when the ‘New Waterway' was opened and the company first established. Still, 500 arrivals of seagoing vessels were reported and marked the beginning of a great tradition both for the Port of Rotterdam and the business whose fate has been closely linked to it ever since.
A remarkable development - In 1947, Dirkzwager set up Coastal and Deepsea Pilotage. This service based on the specific knowledge of conditions in and around the Dutch and continental waters Port of Rotterdam proved immensely valuable and soon became a successful branch of business in its own right. Five years later, in 1952, the company was granted the title “Koninklijk” (Royal) in honour of 80 years of rendering rapid and reliable service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The year 1989 marked another highlight in the history of Royal Dirkzwager, when the company reported a still lasting maximum number of 35,215 arrived vessels in the Port of Rotterdam . With the ascent of the new millennium the company introduced E-business, thus creating the basis for being acknowledged as ‘ the Maritime Information & Service Provider' five years later.
Interlinking all shackles of the chain - The need for information is continuously growing, emphasising the growing significance Royal Dirkzwager is gaining in the maritime logistic market. Our customers include virtually everybody involved with maritime logistics, from suppliers and shipping agents right through to machine factories responsible for the delivery of spare parts. Based on its own, in-house developed system, Royal Dirkzwager gathers, processes and validates data and delivers valuable information combining modern communication techniques and personal attention to detail. The company's reporting department serves clients around the clock with real time vessel movements plus information through its Internet platform. For management information and marketing purposes, Royal Dirkzwager delivers online vessel characteristics of the entire merchant marine world fleet. Advanced communication networks, maritime information and resource planning applications enhance the company's services. Enabling its clients to benefit from the strength of others, Royal Dirkzwager interlinks all the shackles of the maritime-logistic chain: the old truth still holds that the result is more than the sum of its parts. This is what Royal Dirkzwager means by ‘setting synergy in motion'.
LEGAL
Almost the entire maritime industry has united in support of the Captain of the “ZIM Mexico III”, who according to the US Courts didn't just make “an honest mistake”, but was “criminally responsible” for the collision that killed an electrician at the Alabama state docks.
"The overriding concern is that it's unjust, unfair and stupid," said Tom Bradley, president of the Council of American Master Mariners. "It is just so ludicrous that we are afraid it will become precedent and it might happen to one of us."
Bradley said he has been overwhelmed with e-mails and letters of support in advance of the captain's upcoming sentencing hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade.
As many Shiptalk readers may be aware, Schroder, was in command of the container ship in March 2006 as it left port after having been delayed a day by heavy fog.
At the recommendation of the bar pilot, Schroder decided not to order a tugboat and instead turned the vessel around in the Mobile River , and the bow thruster failed.
Schroder and the bar pilot tried to take corrective action but were unable to stop the ship before it knocked a 196-foot-tall crane over, killing Shawn Jacobs, a 46-year-old contract electrician who was inside the crane's cab.
Following the accident, a federal grand jury indicted Schroder on a charge of neglect or misconduct of a ship officer. A jury found him guilty after hearing evidence that the bow thruster had failed on two previous occasions and that he failed to tell the bar pilot about those incidents.
Can you be truly negligent if a piece of equipment fails? Jonas Lyborg, a US maritime surveyor, took issue with testimony that Schroder did not disclose to the bar pilot the previous problems with the bow thruster.
He noted that it had worked 50 times with no problems under Schroder's command; he said the captain should not be persecuted for failing to mention failures that had occurred three months prior to the accident.
Lyborg, former department head at the Swedish Shipping Administration, said ship captains are easy scapegoats whenever something bad happens. "But sooner or later, it will happen again. There will always be technical failures in any industry," he said. "It is so easy to blame the captain immediately when something happens. ... That is not justice."
Schroder was hailed as a hero in 1987 incident when his vessel rescued numerous survivors from the “Herald of Free Enterprise”. Then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave him a letter of commendation, and the king of Belgium gave him a medal.
Hanging Schroder out-to-dry will not bring Shawn Jacobs back, nor will it stop other pieces of equipment breaking down.
This is a criminal action based on misunderstanding, outdated laws, and driven by misplaced local indignation…our industry can be rightly proud of professionals such as Captain Schroder, and indeed of the way so many mariners have come together to voice concern and anger…let's hope that Judge Granade is listening.
INSURANCE
Rollercoaster Ride for Bunker Suppliers
The last 18 months has been a wild ride for the bunker market, with prices trending steadily higher whilst punctuated by volatile peaks and troughs. Record price highs were seen against a backdrop of declining shipowner margins and growing concern over freight rates and excess tonnage.
Seacurus has recently stepped into this milieu with an insurance package for bunker suppliers to help mitigate the risk of an increasingly uncertain market.
"Bunker suppliers can hedge against price fluctuations in the futures market, but this does not adequately protect them against the risk of non-payment by their customers," Seacurus managing director Thomas Brown told Bunkerworld.
There has been much talk recently in shipping circles over downward pressure on freight rates and Brown sees this pressure, combined with high bunker prices, as a major risk.
"Rising fuel prices and a crash in freight rates is the nightmare scenario for many bunker suppliers," he said.
"History shows that periods of high bunker prices are always followed by a rash of disputes between charterers and owners and between bunker suppliers and charterers followed by an upsurge in arrests as all parties try to collect debts," Brown explained to Bunkerworld. "When charterers get caught out by high bunker prices and are unable to pay for the bunkers, or the hire, owners will be faced with unpaid hire and/or the arrest of the bunkers or ship for fuel which has not been paid for."
BunkerSEACURE is Seacurus' answer to such a scenario. It is a risk management tool that can provide effective balance sheet protection by covering the non-payment of bunkers supplied on credit terms.
By insuring its receivables, a bunker suppliers can substitute an unknown and perhaps unbudgeted level of bad debt with a pre-determined and budgeted premium cost, minimising the impact of bad debts on the company's profitability.
Seacurus explained to Bunkerworld that BunkerSEACURE was initially designed to cover a company's entire debtor ledger, covering all possible bad debts, which would be better suited to a smaller bunker company.
"It's now possible to purchase coverage on an excess-of-loss or catastrophe basis," Brown told Bunkerworld. "Rather than covering small incidental losses, which can perhaps be easily absorbed by a company's allowance for bad debts, or conversely, covering the high-end exposures which may be to oil majors for whom the risk of non-payment is minimal, one can structure the policy to cover a 'layer' of bad debt."
Brown expected that coverage for a catastrophic loss would be a useful tool for larger suppliers, even those with their own in-house credit control procedures.
For bunker suppliers, BunkerSEACURE was a means to protect against the non-payment of often significantly-sized bunker purchases in dollar terms.
"Given the thin margins that currently exist in the industry, a delinquent debt can seriously impact upon a supplier's bottom line," Brown said.
Seacurus was incorporated in 2004 as a specialist marine and marine credit insurance intermediary regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority. The company offers a range of maritime packages such as its pioneering Charter Party default and cancellation insurance.
For more information go to www.seacurus.com/insurance_solutions.asp#fuel
Don't become the Human Currency in a Commercial Dispute
The important work of maritime surveyors, lawyers and marine consultants is all too often taken for granted. You know how it goes, “We have a problem in West Africa , allegations of infestation and shortage are alleged and by the local receiver and we need somebody to go down there and sort it out. Ok I will give our friendly surveyor a call.”
Unfortunately, previously friendly surveyors are becoming few and far between when it comes to jumping on a plane at a drop of a hat in such circumstances and rightfully so.
Unfortunately it seems that many jurisdictions now pose a threat to the innocent marine professional when called upon to attend ships in the centre of a high value commercial disputes in countries with little in the way of justice or legal process.
If this is a familiar story to you, have you considered who would bail you out if the worst should happen, your employer, your client? Are you covered, are you sure?
Broking house Seacurus has arranged with Lloyd's underwriters a facility to rally immediate assistance from specialist maritime security consultants when marine professionals are taken hostage.
Capt Brown, managing director of Seacurus, said there was a disturbing level of victimisation of a whole range of people in addition to the well chronicled, often unjust, seizures of masters, crews, ships and cargoes.
“Many marine lawyers, surveyors, engineers, loss adjusters, naval architects, consultants, contractors and marine superintendents often do not have effective insurance in place to protect them in the event of being detained or taken hostage,” said Capt Brown.
Company representatives as well as crews had been taken as collateral to ensure increased security or prompt rapid settlements, he said. People were being kidnapped or detained under duress by governments and by others without authority.
“Violent crime, extortion and commercially or politically motivated detention are real risks faced by the modern day marine professional.”
Standard Directors' and officers' insurance policies do not ordinarily cover the “special nature” of the work of the marine professional. Standard policies often stop short of dealing with special circumstances of emergency visits to deal with ship problems in difficult jurisdictions.
“Too often companies are quick to send personnel off on case or consultancy work without adequately securing their best interests,” he said, "This needs to change."
For more information go to: www.seacurus.com/insurance_solutions.asp#proseacure
SECURITY
The Niger Crisis Not Easy To MEND
In Nigeria , there has been a growing spate of attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers.
Captain Mukundan of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) argues that this must be tackled by, “a more vigorous response to the attacks on oil vessels from the Navy, a greater willingness of local police to arrest the gangs known to be perpetrating these crimes, and more support from national government”.
In this epidemic of attacks, one of the largest raids saw The Movement for Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) kidnap 24 hostages and seize a cargo ship.
Representatives of MEND stated that their actions were an attempt to force the Federal Government to release a former regional governor and other “freedom fighters”.
The group stated that the government must comply with the demands "or else, the cargo ship and the crew will be sunk and MEND will move to the Chevron facility in Escravos River .
The taking of this many hostages has caused uproar in their home nation, and the Philippines government have fiercely condemned the attacks – and have even called for all Filipino nationals to keep away from Nigeria.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has barred Philippine workers from going to Nigeria until the seafarers are released.
There are almost 4,000 Filipinos in Nigeria , most of them working in the oil industry. "The president has ordered a temporary halt to deployments to Nigeria until the security of our nationals is guaranteed," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in Manila .
The instability in the region has cut Nigeria 's oil production by at least 20%, costing the country some $4.4bn (£2.2bn) last year, according to the government.
This is a dreadful and dangerous situation – and as is so often the case it is the innocents trying to make a living that are caught up in these political battles. We hope that all are released safely, and that this sorry mess can be sorted out as quickly and peacefully as possible.
Workers, whatever their nation, and whoever their employer, are not the enemy of MEND, or of whichever group pops onto the scene. The struggle and fight lies internally within a country wracked by accusations of corruption and greed. It is, however, a sad and tragic fact that oil workers are now being seen as legitimate currency in this ugly struggle.
When one considers the matter of maritime security there is a fine line between chaos and calm.
Take the incident of the “Vindo”, a cargo ship that was last month adrift in the North Sea, and which narrowly missed crashing into, not one, but two gas platforms.
According to as statement by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) - The vessel broke down in bad weather, fortunately, its crew managed to restart the engines as it came within a mile (1.6 kilometres) of the Murdoch gas platform, 75 miles (120 kilometres) off England's eastern Lincolnshire coast.
But no sooner had that threat passed than the “Vindo” lost power again and began drifting toward a second platform, the unmanned “Caister”.
The ship reportedly missed the second platform by just 700 yards (640 meters). Phew!!
So there she was happily ploughing through increasingly heavy seas until she loses power. What was a perfectly normal legitimate maritime operation suddenly became a huge safety and security threat...and all this without terrorists at the helm.
The vessel eventually managed to avoid hitting a number of gas rigs...how was this avoided? Did the SBS drop in, to rescue Britain again? Did the coastguard swing into action and pull her away to safety? No!
Put simply, lady luck saved the day and the vessel drifted clear. Imagine how much closer they could have got it they had actually wanted to blow up the UK 's gas supplies...oh and just to add to the excitement, the “Vindo” was carrying 4,200 metric tons of fertilizer.
There exists an infamous book, “The Anarchists Cookbook” a guide for would-be Bin Laden's to concoct wonderful recipes for big bangs. We imagine the recipe consisting of 4, 000 tonnes of fertiliser, a bunker tank full of fuel oil, a gas rig and a 4500-tonne, steel delivery mechanism must figure quite highly on the big bomb lists.
Last month saw a hatrick for the International Maritime Bureau (IMB)! As worldwide piracy attacks have fallen for the third year in a row, according to their latest annual report.
In 2006, there were 239 attacks on ships, compared to 276 in 2005 and 329 in 2004 says the annual report.
“More reporting and greater awareness leading to increased government reaction is proving a successful strategy in the battle against piracy”, commented the IMB.
The IMB commented that the figures demonstrated a decline in attacks not witnessed at any time since 1991, something that should be seen as a cautious sign for optimism and a signal that continued action can go a long way towards solving the problem of piracy and armed robbery at sea.
Some credit for this continuing slide in attacks must surely go to the Lloyd's Joint War Committee. As they gleefully developed and expanded their list of “areas of perceived enhanced risks”, over past 18 months, the prospect of massive insurance surcharges on ports deemed a security risk caused many a nation to grudgingly enhance their protection of shipping.
One London insurer, reportedly commented: “that a large container ship worth $75 million would pay about 0.02 per cent of its worth, or $15,000, for an annual insurance policy, which would cover the vessel to make unlimited visits to the world's safe ports for 12 months. However, the ship would have to pay the same amount for every single visit that it made to a port on the “enhanced risks” list.
However, no time for popping of champagne corks just yet, as in a parallel story, Lloyd's List somewhat dashed these pleasing figures by announcing that now the Islamists have lost control of Somalia, then the pirates will be getting back to work…
Captain Mukundan backed this up by adding, “Within days of their influence being removed, there was an attempted attack on an American bulk carrier in Somali waters, the first for a number of months”.
He went on to call for the new Somali government, “to exert control over the militias – something it failed to do previously – or else face the prospect that pirate attacks will resume their previous levels”.
Looks like 2007's figures may not be quite as cheery – so it is certainly not a time for dropping our guard, or cutting back on our ability to police piracy worldwide.
Which brings us nicely to…
According to UK newspaper reports, “the Royal Navy is finished”.
As Admiral Sir Alan West, the recently retired First Sea Lord, revealed that he believes the Government was turning the Armed Services into a 'tin-pot' gendarmerie, good only for scuffling with terrorists.
In particular, he feared that the Navy's new aircraft carriers might be cancelled, and, there are firm suggestions that all remaining Type 22 frigates and a further two Type 42 destroyers are to be permanently mothballed.
If the warship cuts go ahead, 1,500 sailors will probably lose their jobs in a service that has already been reduced to 36,000 personnel in recent years.
It has also been proposed that the 2,900 sailors of the Royal Navy Reserve, which provides a backbone in many specialist areas, will be cut by as much as 20 per cent. There are going to be reductions too in the 1,000 sailors in the Full Time Reserve Service who are asked back to do specific jobs to fill gaps.
The leaked memo, from Vice-Admiral Adrian Johns, the Second Sea Lord, said: "In order to rebalance in favour of the front line we are focusing on officers of Lieutenant Commander and above. I anticipate a temporary reduction in promotion numbers primarily in the officer cadre for the period 2008 to 2010 and recovering to present levels in 2012."
An offical RN response commented on these reported leaks, “It has also been widely reported that the Royal Navy may suffer heavy cuts and lose a number of warships (ranging from six to half the fleet, depending on which newspaper you read) as a result of a spending review. The MOD routinely reviews all Defence capabilities to ensure resources are directed where our front line Armed Forces need them most. This may mean increases for some areas and decreases for others”.
So that's all sorted then…let's hope pirates don't read newspapers.
SAFETY/WELFARE
House Proud Captain Runs Aground
Oh there really is no pleasing people...you spend all your time, using your slim resources to keep your ship, erm, shipshape and then just because you have a small bump the world condemns you, and you end up in Court. Typical!
This is exactly what happened to Captain Pawlus of the Norwegian flag cargo ship "Sunna", which grounded in the Pentland Firth on the 2 January.
In Court, Sheriff Napier said, “the Captain's priority, to keep the ship looking good, was his down fall”. He added, “It is a basic but critical role for seamen to be employed as look out especially in such dangerous waters as the Pentland Firth . Had the Captain used the crew in this role, this unfortunate grounding would not have occurred”.
Sheriff Napier continued, and told Captain Pawlus that he was foolishly misguided to try and impress his owner at the expense of the safety of the ship, and fined him £2500.
The Chief Officer on watch at the time admitted that he had fallen asleep shortly after altering course to transit the Pentland Firth on route to Iceland from the Humber .
An investigation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) revealed that although the ship only had a crew of seven, the Captain had instructed that the seaman were to be used as day workers and not stand a watch.
So ends the tale of the Master whose unique brand of bridge resource management extended to keeping the windows shiny and clean, but whose attention to detail didn't apply to actually having someone looking out of them.
So the moral of the story is, if you see a lovely little bulker with gleaming decks, plush velour drapes and throw cushions on the bridge wings... keep your distance.
Now while it might be easy to perhaps say that the “ship-proud” Captain Pawlus' priorities were slightly skewed...the same charge could definitely be levelled the Master of the small cargo vessel “Nijord”, whose crew seemingly resembled the punters in a local pub.
The vessel ran aground off Latvia , and after a brief visit by the local coastguard it was found that five of the crew were drunk! FIVE!!!!
Latvia 's naval coast guard service head, Hermanis Cernovs told local reporters that five of the nine crewmembers of the Malta-registered ship were under the influence, including the Captain.
"The weather conditions were good at the time, therefore the main reason of the accident is negligence of the crew," said Cernovs.
The small cargo ship ran aground at about 11 pm on Jan 21. The ship was carrying no cargo and had a small amount of fuel, which did not leak. Nobody was injured in the accident.
Before the accident the crew of the ship had been warned to change course, but did not react to warnings and radio messages.
Latvian Interior Minister Ivars Godmanis voiced his indignation, he said in an interview "it is dangerous to let these seamen out of the country".
Godmanis underscored that sailing the ship under the influence of alcohol must be criminally punished. In minister's words, if a person had been caught driving a car under such an influence, he would be arrested for 10 days and deprived of the driver's license for two years.
Now one tipsy watchkeeper would be bad enough...but why the need for over half of the entire crew to go on the lash at the same time?
Yet another blow for our image conscious industry so, cheers...and will the last one standing please alter course!
It was as a sad day at Shiptalk Towers when Lloyd's List creaked into the twentieth century and desisted from calling ships "she"...especially as it makes bawdy, maritime based comedy ever more difficult to produce.
One incident last month in the Gulf is a case in point...as one maritime blog pointed out, "she seemingly sucked the bulbous form, forcing it and all its seaman to make contact with her stern"...wow, tell us more.
The incident they were so childishly referring to was the case of the US Navy submarine, “Newport News” which was allegedly dragged up to the surface by an unwitting Japanese VLCC, the “Mogamigawa”.
The US Navy reported, "As the ship passed over the sub, it ended up sucking the submarine into it," said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman for Submarine Force in Norfolk , USA .
"This was a very, very large ship moving at higher speed," Loundermon said.
No one was injured aboard either ship, the Navy said, and damage to both vessels was said to be relatively minor.
It seems that such an interaction is not without precedent. The collision was the fifth involving a U.S. submarine in the past six years, according to news records.
Suction generated between surface vessels in close proximity is a more common experience; in fact someone once told us that Carl F. Peter's “Willy” was very nearly sucked off its moorings by the large and fast moving “Queen of Scandinavia”. No, really…
GENERAL
Ex-Charity Boss Faces Tough Challenge Ahead
When Peter Carey, who hails from a completely non-marine background, was announced as the new head of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) there were disgruntled and childish noises made amongst the maritime chattering classes..."how can he understand us?" they bleated, "how can he know what we need"?
We confess we thought it all rather strange ourselves...but then we decided to adopt a more open-minded approach for a moment.
Mr Carey comes from a charitable background and may therefore, hopefully, demonstrate a degree of compassion for our ailing industry.
The events of the past month make it look like his takeover cannot come soon enough, as with the saga of the “ MSC Napoli” we have seen first hand the grave problems faced by our industry.
When battered by fierce winds, perhaps many other well-founded vessels would also have capitulated in the face of storm Kyrill...but it is the image of the Napoli that is now besmirching the pages of the world's press.
The vessel was operated by a company that according to some observers is now having the spanking which may have been long been overdue... Andrew Linington, a spokesman for Nautilus stated of the vessel's manager, Zodiac Maritime that they, " have had a long-standing campaign against this company over poor pay and conditions".
Thankfully many enlightened shipping companies are slowly seeing that different nationalities flung together on vessels, patched up and sent down to the sea, without much thought to social consequences are not the way of the future.... It must be a worry for any company when the PR war is lost before the media manager even gets a chance to clear their throat.
But perhaps this is a turning point, perhaps those that would seek to punish such companies further will take a more compassionate view, a view born from dealing with serious illness...Peter Carey your first patient is here, let's hope your hands aren't too cold.
We were under the impression that our hard earned union dues would be put towards good use such as lobbying efforts to raise awareness about poor living conditions, fatigue….and other such important issues for those at sea today…
Ah, but not so in the progressive and enlightened American Maritime Officers (AMO) union. Their President and secretary-treasurer seemingly took a more relaxed and fun-oriented view to the use of union fees...such as using them to fund a bachelor party and conduct repairs to their dive boat.
Yes, indeed the maritime union leaders were accused of spending organizational funds on personal luxuries, and brothers Michael and Robert McKay were found guilty last month of racketeering conspiracy and several lesser charges stemming from their time as senior officials of the American Maritime Officers.
In addition to the racketeering charge, which carries a possible 20-year sentence, Michael McKay, 59, and Robert McKay, 56, were convicted of mail fraud and record-keeping offences. Robert McKay, 56, was also convicted of embezzlement.
Defence attorneys said they were shocked that the jury reached a verdict after only one day of deliberations. Robert McKay's lawyer Fred Haddad said he would ask U.S. District Judge James Cohn to order a new trial.
In a shocking twist, during the trial, Robert McKay was voted out of office… see, “no sense of humour these union guys! “
However, nepotistic common sense prevailed eventually and our sources revealed that Michael McKay was re-elected president, “go figure?”. However, his term in office was short lived as US laws prohibit convicted felons from holding union office…hmm.
The new AMO President, Tom Bethel, recently said, “We have learned from the traumatic time we have been through that AMO is bigger and stronger than the harm done”.
The union has 4,000 members, though their website carries no indication of the date of the next bachelor party, or indeed details of when the dive boat will be back in the water.
Sometimes they say commuting is for the birds, and this is certainly the case across one Cornish river.
A pair of shorebirds has been turning up at a ferry at 8.15am each day to hitch a lift to their breeding grounds.
The feathered commuters take the first crossing of the day over the River Fal in Cornwall , from Falmouth to St Mawes.
After spending the day in St Mawes, the birds then turn up, as regular as clockwork, for the final 4.30pm ferry crossing back to Falmouth .
The pair, nicknamed Fred and Freda by the ferry crew, has kept up the routine every winter for six years.
Boat manager Garrick Royale said:' There are some nice beaches over in St Mawes with rocks and sand. But the amazing thing is they never miss the last ferry.' Skipper John Brown added: 'They know our boat. Many of the regulars say they see them each morning.'
According to Mr Royale, in true ship-owner style, “the only drawback is that the birds don't pay”.
Regular readers may be aware that ShiptalkJOBS recently appointed Anneley Pickles as Managing Director. We thought we had the only "Pickles" with strong shipping links...we were wrong, as there is another out there who can lay the same claim.
Pickles the possum was found in a crate of onions last month in the port of Felixstowe , having stowed away and traveled some 12,000 miles. She is understood to have survived by eating the onions, and by drinking condensation.
She has been given a clean bill of health, and has been adopted by the South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Cumbria , UK . Ah…
It's not just the UK that has seen beaches strewn with tempting goodies lately.
Hundreds of packets of tea, which washed up last month on Bahrain 's shores, were apparently dumped to save a merchant vessel from capsizing in rough seas, it was revealed.
They were dumped weeks earlier, while onboard a vessel en route from Sri Lanka to Dubai , said the agent who was importing the cargo.
"The owner of the shipping company responsible informed us nearly three weeks ago that they had dumped a part of their cargo to prevent what could have led the vessel from capsizing in the stormy waters," said a representative of the Dubai-based import and export company, Mr Wahab.
He managed to avoid stating that the trouble had been brewing for some time, or indeed that the cargo loss left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Mr Wahab stated that the vessel owners "confirmed to us that they would compensate us for the loss." He would not name the shipping company, nor give a figure for compensation, so it seems the affair was merely a storm in a teacup.
Scavengers swooped on the packets of tea as it washed up on the coast and many turned up for sale in shops and at market stalls across the country.
Health Ministry inspectors confiscated any they came across and revealed that the tea had been contaminated by sea-water and oil. He said scores of packets of the tea were removed from shelves across Manama , Muharraq and Busaiteen. Inspectors also seized a six-wheel truck full of the washed-up packets.
The packets of "Apple" brand "Pure Ceylon Tea" packed in Colombo , Sri Lanka by Expolanka Teas, are in bright green packaging, bearing a manufactured date of October last year and an expiry date of October 2009.
Shiptalk was made aware of a similar incident that once occurred off the coast of a Native American reserve.
Apparently one local drank 62 cups of tea. He was later found drowned in his own teepee…
ENVIRONMENTAL
“What should I do with this large plastic bag?” mused one of the crew of the container vessel "Khudozhnik Zhukov" as the vessel sailed on up Australia 's Sunshine Coast .
“Should I put it in the garbage, or shall I just toss it over the side so that the local beach becomes littered or so a baby dolphin can choke on it”…hmm decisions, decisions…
We can only speculate on the litterbugs' full decision process, but this “unique, single piece of rubbish” was eventually found floating off a Queensland beach and led to a $23,000 littering fine for the owners and master the Russian ship.
The vessel owners, Far Eastern Shipping Company and Master, Alexey Gubar last month pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to polluting a beach with a large plastic bag on Queensland 's Sunshine Coast in February 2005.
They were charged with illegally disposing of garbage (plastic) in the sea under commonwealth legislation. The Far Eastern Shipping Company was fined $20,000, while Captain Gubar was fined $3000.
A fisherman had found the bag floating in the ocean just off the beach, and an Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service numbered seal allowed it to be traced to the Russian vessel, where it had been used to seal meat products.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority chief executive Clive Davidson said the case sent a clear message that no amount of ocean pollution could be tolerated. “This is a significant fine for a single plastic bag and emphasises the importance placed on protection of the environment,” he said.
CAREERS
Shiptalk.com has been, since its creation in 2002, very much a seafaring community website. From news, views, and forums, it has brought those at sea together and given them both a voice and sounding board.
With this unique perspective they have seen first hand the lifeblood of shipping, the seafarers, ebbing away. As such they felt an urgent need for a positive recruitment step-change, and as such created a new global job network, www.shiptalkjobs.com.
It is common knowledge that a labour crisis is gripping shipping today, with the scarcity of “skilled seafarers” reaching a critical mass.
As with all calamities, there are distinct stages for those affected. At first we usually have denial, quickly followed by the next stage, the “finger pointing”.
Indeed, insurers and P&I clubs recently scolded and issued stark warnings to the industry, claiming that owners have “not done enough” to alleviate the problems, and that the lack of skills, will lead to accidents and claims.
Others state that profit maximisation has led shipowners to reduce manning and opt for cheap, poorly trained labour from developing countries.
Whatever the truth behind these claims, one burning question is whether going to sea is still an attractive career?
It is a stark fact that fewer people want, or need to go to sea. It is commonplace to hear issues such as criminalisation being to blame, but do the more common factors such as fatigue, stress, low morale and alternative jobs ashore, bite more often into our labour supply?
Aside from the negative image of shipping, Managing Director of ShiptalkJOBS, Anneley Pickles believes that one of the fundamental problems is one of open dialogue, she says, “the seagoing recruitment business has become too fragmented, with too little communication between all the players, whether individuals or companies”.
She added, “There is natural competition for the dwindling supply of personnel, but at present many of these valuable human resources do not know where to turn. The whole recruitment process needs tidying up and simplifying.”
Allied to cleaning-up the process, Anneley feels that a human approach is so important, “too often faceless shadowy figures lurk in dubious jurisdictions looking to harvest unsuspecting seafarers through money making schemes.”
Anneley stresses, “ShiptalkJOBS are the total antithesis of this practice, we are all about openness, and providing a face, valuable feedback, support and first-class service for all our clients - whether they be seafarers or shipowners.”
In an impassioned plea, Anneley states, “It is time to act to stem the flow of people out of shipping, and to guarantee our recruiters a supply of the very best people available from around the globe. There is so much at stake, for individuals, owners and the entire industry, we hope our efforts, innovation and enthusiasm will act as a catalyst for a positive future”.
It's not all doom and gloom, as many leading shipowners are investing millions of dollars in training and recruitment. While others are looking at setting their own competence standards and vetting procedures, as they look to build on the (very) basic standards required by the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW).
In fact these “quality operators” raising the bar above STCW often see that the real problem is as much about the quality of labour, as the quantity.
It seems that in introducing a minimum level of attainment, skill and knowledge too many have been tempted to simply follow the path of least resistance, and so a production line of, “Lowest common denominator” seafarers has been created.
There has long been a puzzling maritime labour dichotomy, that of too few officers and too many ratings. Perhaps one simple answer is to upgrade the ratings, however converting one into the other is not that simple, it takes time, effort and commitment from all sides.
As if to demonstrate the point, The Philippines, the world's biggest supplier of seagoing labour, is desperately wrestling with the task of trying to increase the proportion of their seafarers qualified as officers. With only limited success.
Despite the problems of supply and demand, with the launch of Shiptalkjobs.com it is hoped that there will now be an obvious place to turn, for individuals to find the jobs, and for employers to find the right seafarers. Anneley adds, “At our core we are the ship “people” broker, bringing recruiters and jobseekers from all over the world together in a safe, secure and trusted online environment to find what they, we and the entire industry all need”.
The shipping industry needs to be able to shout out that there are great opportunities for people who want to go to sea. Despite the bad press, there is money, a career, and some wonderful opportunities. Equally seafarers need a free platform to be able to say to owners, “here I am, come and get me”.
See www.shiptalkjobs.com for more details, or email enquiries@shiptalkjobs.com
One of the first recruiters to sign up for ShiptalkJOBS was Viking Recruitment, a company which has been supplying Deck, Engine, Technical Officers and Hospitality/Guest Services Professionals to ship owners world-wide, since 1988, to some of the most prestigious names in the business.
In specialising in the recruitment of high calibre, STCW certificated Officers, Viking is alert to the ever-increasing demand, in both cruise and yacht markets, for these highly skilled professionals.
Following the growing sophistication, size, power and tonnage of such vessels, coupled with the ongoing safety regulations governed by the MCA, Viking recognises the need to utilise the best, most effective and innovative means of attracting the seafarers they need.
Having close association with the premier Holland America Line cruise ship fleet and the equally prestigious Windstar Cruises, naturally only the very best will do.
Natalie Inman, Viking's Marine Recruitment Supervisor says, "ShiptalkJOBS provides us with a valuable access point to the high calibre seafarers we need from around the globe. We look forward to supporting this new site, and to reaping the rewards…that of recruiting the right people for our discerning and demanding client base".
| Jobseekers Register Here | Recruiters Register Here |
| Job No | Position | Ship type | Salary | Start Date | Info |
| 2076 | Concessionaire Hotel Services |
Cruise Ship | $2000 per month | Start date available on request | More>> |
| 2069 | Senior Officer Deck |
Cruise Ship | £54000 per year | Start date available on request | More>> |
| 2060 | Senior Officer Engine |
Dredger | Salary available on request | Start date available on request | More>> |
| 2072 | Senior Officer Deck |
Yacht | $8000 per month | Starts 06 Feb 2007 | More>> |
| 2075 | Concessionaire Hotel Services |
Cruise Ship | $2000 per month | Start date available on request | More>> |
Jobseekers Register Here Recruiters Register Here
WHAT'S ON WHERE?
Presented by the Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA), Shipping 2007 continues a tradition of bringing the international shipping community together in North America 's leading commercial shipping centre, for two and a half days of business and market oriented activity.
The event will be held March 19-21, 2007 at The Westin Hotel in Stamford , Connecticut , USA and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you.
To view the official program, information on how to register for this event and much more, please visit our show website at: www.shipping2007.com
Contact: Lorraine Parsons, Event Director, CMA Shipping 2007
Tel: +1.203.406.0109 Ext 3717 Fax: +1.203.406.0110
Email: conferences@cmaconnect.com Website: www.shipping2007.com
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