Classification societies provide services such as checking that ships are seaworthy, and this certification cover is essential for securing insurance and entry into ports.

In recent days, Britain’s LR and Denmark’s DNV, have both announced they were stopping or winding down their business ties with Russia.

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), which had 12 members previously including LR and DNV and forms the top tier of ship certifiers globally, said late on Friday it was withdrawing RS’ membership with immediate effect, which it said was “no longer tenable”, citing UK sanctions on Russia where IACS is domiciled.

“IACS deeply regrets the circumstances that have resulted in this decision,” it said.

RS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

An IACS spokesperson said on Monday that the impact on RS of no longer being an IACS member would “depend on its various, private bilateral arrangements with entities such as shipowners and flag states”.

The spokesperson said IACS was a technical association that “develops and agrees minimum technical standards”.

“IACS will need to make various consequential changes regarding the composition of various working groups,” the spokesperson said.

“IACS is not involved in the operational and commercial activities of its members. As such, the decision whether to continue to engage bilaterally with RS will need to be taken by each IACS member individually.”

RS said in June last year it had formed a strategic partnership with leading Russian shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF), which included cooperating on the development of new marine fuels to reduce emissions and technical supervision of ice-class ships operating in the Arctic.

SCF was among the Russian entities the U.S. Treasury restricted last month from raising capital in U.S. markets, which shipping sources say will complicate transactions for the Moscow-listed company.

It was not yet clear what impact the growing restrictions would have on the safety of SCF’s fleet and their ability to sail.

Source: www.marinelinks.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade and accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s CO2 emissions, is under growing pressure from environmentalists to deliver more concrete action including a carbon levy.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN’s specialist shipping agency, has said it has made progress on short-term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction measures.

But that timeline is not seen as fast enough by environmentalists and a number of the IMO’s 175 member countries.

“At the MEPC (IMO committee) meeting in June next year there will be a lot of heat and pressure on regulators to ensure that they come prepared to negotiate a solution rather than kicking the can down the road because of misalignment or negotiation tactics. It is really not acceptable,” said Christian Michael Ingerslev, chief executive of Maersk Tankers.

Last month countries including the United States at the COP 26 climate summit pushed for the IMO to adopt a zero emissions target by 2050.
So far, its goal is to reduce overall GHG emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.

“As far as the IMO is concerned, the negotiations process in 2022 will likely be very slow and onerous,” said Faig Abbasov with green group Transport & Environment.

“The problem is in the very belief that a U.N. organisation with 175 members can come together and take tough decisions to decarbonise an entire economic sector.”

The IMO said concrete progress was made in 2021 on combating climate change including new regulations to improve the energy efficiency of the world fleet, adding that it would “work very hard” next year on the development of a revised GHG strategy, which will be finalised in 2023.
“Where this is willingness to act, then processes can move faster,” said Roel Hoenders, head, air pollution and energy efficiency with the IMO.
A proposal submitted at the IMO to create a $5 billion research and development fund to find the right technology to meet the targets is still under discussion with further talks kicked forward to next year.

Underscoring the challenges ahead will be the impact on poorer countries such as Pakistan.

While the country was a small carbon emitter, climate change had “directly impacted us hard”, Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi said.

“Developing countries cannot afford to spend on the type of infrastructure needed and therefore, developed countries must support the process at the IMO,” he told Reuters referring to the R&D fund.

Financing the path ahead is another hurdle. Shipping will need $2.4 trillion to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, with around $500 billion required by 2030, according analyst estimates.

“Certainly, the European banks at least and not far behind the American banks will have to meet criteria that satisfy sustainable finance,” said Tony Foster, chief executive of specialist asset manager Marine Capital.

“When it comes to new assets it is going to be increasingly difficult to fund anything that does not quite qualify and the same will be true, perhaps even more so, with existing assets.”

Darren Maupin, founder of leading fund manager Pilgrim Global, said companies in the shipping sector were grappling with how to secure finance with more ESG pressure.

“Capital is afraid – how do you invest in a 25-year asset when you have no idea what the IMO is going to do in five years,” Maupin said.
“The industry has a far reduced ability to build ships and limited capital available to do so. Simple supply-demand suggests rates are going to be higher and the industry is going to have to generate more capital to fund itself.”

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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Bangladesh has remained largely quiet for much of the week as they observe the ongoing price reductions, whilst local Recyclers expect further falls ahead.

Indian steel plate prices have declined by nearly $45/LDT over recent weeks, leaving Alang Buyers rather spooked and fearful to maintain previous offers, or even consider offering on any fresh units. Yet, as the week drew to an end, there were signs of a slight rebound on steel prices and sentiment.

Of course, it may still take a couple of weeks of stability before end Buyers return to the bidding tables once again. Notwithstanding, the market appears to have peaked at these exceptional numbers above $600/LDT and end buyers are struggling to reconcile themselves with fresh purchases at these impressive levels.

Many expect a weaker market going into 2022, but the industry overall has been surprised by the continued performance of the market through the course of the year, as prices have surged above and beyond all expectations, having more than doubled from a low of almost $250/LDT through the halfway point of 2020.

Pakistan remains stranded on the sidelines, watching market developments in both India and Bangladesh, hoping to get hold of a bargain or two, even though the supply of vessels for recycling remains remarkably sparse.

On the Turkish end of things, despite demand remaining firm, the dearth of supply has kept local yards increasingly eager for tonnage, while the Lira breaks even more records against the U.S. Dollar.

For week 48 of 2021, GMS demo rankings / pricing for the week are as below.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexel.com

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1. Greece – $84.079 billion
2. Japan – $80.169 billion
3. China – $68.333 billion
4. Singapore – $38.052 billion
5. United States – $34.432 billion
6. Germany – $31.544 billion
7. Norway – $30.427 billion
8. South Korea – $21.204 billion
9. Denmark – $19.492 billion
10. United Kingdom – $15.847 billion

The post Top 10 Ship Owning Nations appeared first on Cargo News Today.

Once adopted by the IMO Assembly in December 2021, the observance will celebrate women in the industry, promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.

IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said, “I welcome the Council’s adoption of this proposal. Not only does it further efforts to achieve SDG 5 on gender equality, but it is a perfect follow-on action to the IMO Assembly’s resolution and call to achieve a barrier-free environment for women, so that all women can participate fully, safely and without hindrance in the activities of the maritime community, including seafaring and shipbuilding.”

The proposal to establish an International Day for Women in Maritime was first addressed by IMO’s Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) in September 2021 following the momentum of the World Maritime Theme in 2019 “Empowering women in the maritime community.” The proposal received wide support from the Committee in forwarding the proposal to the Council.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexel.com

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Ships regularly have difficulty in keeping securely alongside quay, a problem known as ‘surging’, which refers to back and forth movements by the ship along the terminal berth. Such movements are generally encountered when other vessels pass nearby.

The operator conducted a study in 2019 involving installation of centimetric GPS units on around forty ships. The objective: to measure and qualify such effects with a view to considering potential technical solutions.

Building on the results obtained, the port decided to equip the port with the ShoreTension solution developed by KRVE, boatmen operating in the port of Rotterdam. This consists of special mooring ropes in Dyneema (an ultraresistant polyethylene fibre) attached to hydraulic rams. This standalone system is additional to the ship’s conventional mooring.

The ShoreTension system is positioned on the quay between two bollards and can be used in different configurations:

–          on the bow and stern lines or the breast lines to counter ship movements away from the quayside in the presence of offshore winds;

–          on the spring lines to counter surging.

Using solar power, the system records the data remotely, most notably enabling terminal operators and ships’ masters to monitor the applied tension in real time. The port actors concerned automatically receive a text message immediately the system registers an abnormal level of tension on a mooring line. The system also offers greater flexibility since it can be positioned on any quay, irrespective of level.

The total cost of the investment for Haropa Port (acquisition and installation) was €770,000.

Source: www.maritimejournal.com

Image: www.pexels.com

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