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The use of riding gangs aboard ship

It has become common practice to employ riding gangs to assist with onboard maintenance and other tasks – and, more recently, armed guards for the protection of the ship and its crew against piracy attacks. But, there do not appear to be any internationally accepted guidelines on the employment conditions for these gangs nor for the tasks on which they can be employed aboard ship, such that there is a risk that riding gangs can be used to bypass the regulations that apply to a ship’s crew.

The International Transport Federation (ITF) advises that riding gangs must be covered by agreements giving at least comparable rates of pay to the crew, and minimum conditions and protections.

The US Coast Guard, through their Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, defines a riding gang member as: someone who is not a registered seafarer and who does not perform watchstanding, automated engine room duty watch, or personnel safety functions; or cargo handling functions, including any activity relating to the loading or unloading of cargo, the operation of cargo-related equipment (whether or not integral to the vessel),
and the handling of mooring lines on the dock when the vessel is made fast or let go; does not serve as part of the crew complement; and is not a member of the steward’s department.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on May 20, 2013

RIDING GANG

How do the Greek ship-owners profit from the global financial crisis?

According to a Moody’s Investors Service analysis, the global shipping slump is expected to last well into 2013 as a glut of vessels and a growing credit squeeze will challenge even the toughest companies in the seaborne sector.

Shipping companies, especially in the oil tanker and dry bulk sectors, already hit by worsening economic turmoil, weak earnings and oversupply ordered in the good times, now face tighter financing as banks cut their exposure to risky and dollar denominated assets such as ship finance to meet tougher capital rules.

However, the above mentioned shipping-related crisis seems to reinforce the Greek ship-owners, who were able to save liquidity thanks to very good years they had, and to keep significant funds in their “coffers.” And now, just before overcoming the crisis, they are trying to seize the newly emerged business opportunities.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Apr 21, 2013

ship-owners price greek greece

Abbreviations of IMO Conventions

AFS 2001

International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems, 2001 (ANTI-FOULING)

ARREST CONVENTION 1999

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Apr 15, 2013

IMO Convention

ICS Updates Flag State Performance Table

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Apr 02, 2013

International chamber of shipping ICS flag state

New Generation Icebreakers

With energy and minerals being increasingly discovered in Arctic regions, and the retreat of sea ice encouraging the greater use of both the Northern Sea Route and the North West Passage, there is a new demand for icebreakers and ice-strengthened tonnage capable of working in these demanding regions.

There is also increased demand for icebreaking capabilities in both the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic regions, where there is increasing maritime traffic which can be handicapped by exceptionally cold Winters.

The world’s most powerful icebreakers are nuclear craft operated by Russia and it is this country which is currently busiest in enlarging its polar icebreaking capability, with new nuclear vessels of advanced design, capable of year-round operation in Arctic regions. Known as the LK-series, three of these ships, with a new reactor design and with a massive power installation capable of 60 MW are being built, all being delivered by 2020.

The design of these ships provides for a far wider hull than earlier breakers, so that they will be able to break a far wider channel for the wider ships expected to operate in the Arctic regions in coming years.

Additionally, when they are breaking ice in the approaches to the Siberian ports, they will be able to reduce their draught to work in shallower water that would normally be possible for large vessels. It is anticipated that they will be able to break ice of more than 3 metres thick, and will be untroubled by Winter temperatures, which plummet to minus 40 degrees C.

Another breakthrough design building in Finland for Russian clients is an “oblique” icebreaker, which will be able to operate sideways, to provide a 50 metre wide channel for a following ship. This curious ship, which will operate with tankers in the Gulf of Finland, will be able to break 0.6 metre Baltic ice at a speed of 6 knots with extraordinary manoeuvrability provided by two “propulsors” at the stern and one at the bow, enabling the ship to turn through 360 degrees “on the spot” in ice. Known as the ARC-100, the diesel-electric craft will also act as a tug and will be able to tow sideways.

A number of other large diesel-electric icebreakers capable of Arctic operations are also being built in Finland. These multi-purpose craft, which can operate as fire-fighting, salvage and rescue vessels, will be able to break ice of up to 1.5 metre thickness and will be primarily employed in escorting large vessels through the Northern Sea Route. It has been estimated that because of retirements and disposal of many older Russian icebreakers in the next few years, the country will need to build up to thirty more to cope with the increasing demands from the Arctic sea route, the Baltic traffic and to support energy and mineral projects in the frozen North. Other Baltic states have icebreaker replacement projects in hand,while US and Canadian governments are busily considering their Arctic responsibilities.

Credits: www.akerarctic.fi

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Apr 01, 2013

icebreakers

Seamanship, the forgotten factor

It has been repeatedly observed that nowadays, Seamanship onboard commercial cargo ships tend to be extinct. If it is indeed so, one cannot help but wonder in what degree this has taken place, which factors contributed and how severe are the related consequences for the shipping industry.

But how important is the term Seamanship? In order to comprehend the gravity of the term an attempt for an analysis can be performed.

Seamanship shouldn't be interpreted only within the literal sense of the word, which involves the practical art of operating a ship. It should be attributed a wider meaning which is a combination of experience, knowledge, professionalism, safety culture and performance ability onboard a vessel.

It's worth also to mention that seamanship involves a knowledge on a variety of fields and development of specialized skills including but not limited to: management, navigation, weather meteorology and forecasting, watch keeping, ship-handling, operation of deck equipment, cargo pumps, anchors and cables, communications, precise execution of various duties such as cargo handling equipment, cargo pumps, dangerous cargoes, tank cleaning operations, dealing with emergencies and more. The degree of knowledge needed within these areas is dependent upon the nature of the work, rank and the type of vessel on which a mariner is employed.

We should not omit to mention that seamanship is transferred from one generation of seamen to another. In a nutshell, seamanship is a "best practice guide" based on all aforementioned elements.

But is seamanship still at play, or it has been lost somewhere in the immense volume of bureaucracy?

Nowadays one might claim that seamanship tends to be obsolete and consequently the number of accidents tends to increase. Should one wonder why, the reasons are quite transparent: each one of us, members of the shipping community, has contributed in transforming Captain and crew to bureaucrats.

Seaman's life isn't as it used to be twenty years ago. One can recall that a ship's Master had only one or two folders behind his desk whereas nowadays there are forty.

Taking into account the mass of paperwork created and maintained onboard a vessel, the additional paperwork required to meet each Oil Major's criteria and whims, and of course adding the actual operation of the ship, Master and crew are under constant pressure. As a consequence, it is almost certain that there will be an impact both on vessel maintenance and safe operation with potentially severe and domino consequences including possibly loss of human life and environmental impact.

It should not be omitted that the combination of required paperwork and operational/commercial necessities increase the fatigue onboard, since the number of crew is either decreased or remains the same - at best.

The shipping industry has invested a vast amount of resources in training and education of seafarers for better performance onboard, safety and survival at sea. There are numerous training programs, manuals, requirements of the International Maritime Organization, rules and legislation that modern seamen are required to be intimately familiar with.

However training and education are not enough to for safe navigation in the so-called "paper ocean" and the fearful storms blowing within. If one collected all the requirements that seafarers have to respond to, in one single volume, we would be surprised: "20 thousand leagues under the sea" - the novel of the famous writer Jules Verne - would be a small notebook compared to that book.

But are all these regulations sufficient in order to establish high quality standards and achieve good Seamanship? Could the increasing ocean of paper and bureaucracy be the main contributing factor which corroded Seamanship as we knew it?

Seamen are constantly being judged for their overall seamanship skills. In case of a marine incident it is often concluded that the root cause was human error. "Errare humanum est" - to make mistakes is part of the human nature. Many factors are taken into account while investigating reasons for accidents. Fatigue, stress, lack of experience, short period of adaptation... However in many cases, all the findings could be summarized as "lack of seamanship".

There is no objection that the ISM era has brought a level of quality in the shipping industry.But since then, numerous new requirements and regulations came up - and are still increasing.

It is self-evident that all regulations in the form of conventions, codes, resolutions and circulars had and have only one scope which is the establishment of high standards for the Safety and Quality in the shipping industry.

One can realize that most of these were deemed necessary and in fact might contribute to some improvements. However, we truly cannot express satisfaction with the overall picture of shipping as of now.

Quite possibly shipping would be drastically improved by embracing and restoring the lost traditional ideals of being simple, safe, straightforward and above all: practical. This is not feasible without reducing -as far as possible- uncontrolled bureaucracy and the associated "paper kingdom".

In addition, implementation of good seamanship and achievement of Safety onboard will be attained through continuous onboard training, frequent supervision / attendances of experienced ex mariners /superintendents, management of risk and implementation of good or -as typically called- best working practices.

Good seamanship commands that each one of the mariners serving onboard a vessel should have strong self-initiatives and moreover have set their personal high professional standards. Crew bonding and participation is of paramount importance for morale boosting purposes.

A glimpse of light will then be visible at the end of the tunnel: the lost seamanship.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Apr 01, 2013

seamanship

Naval architects take cues from sharks

Engineers continue to take cues from nature - in an attempt to improve energy-saving technology for ships, engineers in Hamburg are trying out a coating that is similar to sharkskin.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Mar 31, 2013

ship resistance shark naval architecture

Economics and Somali Piracy

How efficient is piracy as a method of transferring wealth to Somalia? Pirates generating ransoms could drive costs to industry up ten times the amount.

While the consensus seems to be that Somali piracy is in a terminal decline, over the weekend the Washington Post’s Wonkblog highlighted an interesting academic study from last year that attempted to determine the costs of Somali piracy since 2008. The bottom line, from economists Timothy Besley, Thiemo Fetzer and Hannes Mueller, was that piracy increased the cost for shipping bulk cargo through the region 8%, with a 14% seasonal discount between December-February and June-September when the monsoon causes sea states to be less hospitable to pirates.

Of particular interest is the economist’s attempt to measure how efficient piracy has been as a method of transferring wealth from the rest of the world to Somalia. According to their analysis, pirates generating a total in $120M in annual ransoms would possibly drive industry to spend up to ten times that amount on insurance and onboard security. Theoretically, Somalia could get the same amount of money from an .8% tax on charters than the 8% increased costs faced by shippers.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Mar 29, 2013

somalia Piracy cost

Have hired guns finally scuppered Somali pirates?

After more than half a decade of Somali men attacking Indian Ocean shipping from small speedboats with AK-47s, grappling hooks and ladders, the number of attacks is falling fast.

The last merchant ship to be successfully hijacked, naval officers monitoring piracy say, was at least nine months ago. It's a far cry from the height of the piracy epidemic two years ago, when several ships might be taken in a single week to be traded for airdropped multi-million dollar ransoms.

But as the Queen Mary 2, one of the world's most recognisable ocean liners, passes through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and out towards Dubai, its owners and crew are taking few chances.

"The pirates have weapons and are not afraid to use them," Lieutenant Commander Ollie Hutchinson, the British Royal Navy liaison officer aboard the liner for its trip through the Indian Ocean, tells a briefing of passengers in the ship's theatre. "Once the pirates have identified their target, they will try whatever means they can to get on board."

To underline his point, he displays a picture of an Italian helicopter hit by small arms fire from a pirate dhow late last year followed by assorted images of gunmen holding AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades.

In truth, the Queen Mary 2 - carrying 2,500 passengers and 1,300 crew from Southampton to Dubai on the first leg of a world cruise - is not particularly at risk.

Some 345 metres long and 14 stories high, even its promenade deck is seven floors above the sea. The liner is fast, hard to board and - on this passage at least - moderately well armed.

Like many merchant vessels, the QM2 now carries armed private contractors when passing through areas of pirate risk.

Cunard will not discuss precise security arrangements. But contractors on other vessels routinely carry M-16-type assault rifles and sometimes belt-fed machine guns, often picked up from ships acting as floating offshore armouries near Djibouti and Sri Lanka.

Additional lookouts from the ship's regular onboard security force - mostly Filipinos - are also posted on the main deck to give warning of any suspicious craft.

"Depending on what happens with attacks, I'm hopeful we may be able to reduce our security measures when we pass through the same waters next year," says Commodore Christopher Rynd, senior captain of the British-based Cunard line and current master of the QM2. "But that's not a decision we will be making at this stage."

A CHANGING GAME?

When ships do come under attack, the first phone to ring is usually in a nondescript white bungalow in the gardens of the British Embassy in Dubai.

The UK Marine Transport Operation (UKMTO) was set up shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks to provide security advice to British shipping in the area. As pirate attacks soared in the second half of the last decade, it found itself coordinating international shipping across much of the Indian Ocean.

Most vessels passing through the area - container ships, tankers, cruise liners and dhows - now register daily with UKMTO. If they believe they are in danger, they will contact the British team to request military support.

"We've had calls when you could hear gunfire and rocket propelled grenades in the background," says Lieutenant Commander Simon Goodes, the current officer in charge. "But lately, the phones are ringing much less."

The only confirmed attack this year, Goodes said, was on a merchant vessel in early January as it sailed towards the Kenyan port of Mombasa. On-board private security guards repelled the assault after a 30 minute firefight.

According to the European Union anti-piracy task force EU NAVFOR, 2012 saw only 36 confirmed attacks and a further 73 "suspicious events" - incidents in which a crew report a suspicious craft that might be pirate but could also be simply an innocent fishing boat.

That itself was a substantial fall from 2011, with 176 attacks and 166 "suspicious events".

Only five ships were captured in 2012, down from 25 in 2011 and 27 in 2010.

"This is an important year," says Lieutenant Commander Jacqueline Sheriff, spokeswoman for EU NAVFOR. "We will find out whether this fall in piracy is really sustainable."

Sea-borne attacks off West Africa, however, appear to be on the rise in what some analysts believe is a sign that Nigerian and other criminal gangs may be tempted by the Somali pirate model.

PIRATE BUSINESS MODEL FAILING?

Exactly what is behind the fall in Somali piracy is a matter of debate.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the navies patrolling the Indian Ocean say the numbers show they are finally having an impact. Since piracy first grabbed global attention in 2008, a number of nations have sent ships to the region.

Sailing through the Internationally Registered Transit Corridor, a protected route between Somalia and Yemen, the QM2 passed warships from the United States, France, India and Australia.

As well as the EU force, there are separate flotillas from NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces that often include Asian vessels. Several other nations including China and Russia also keep ships there, running convoys through the "high-risk zone".

In May last year, EU NAVFOR launched its first onshore raid, targeting a suspected pirate group on the beach as it prepared to head to sea with helicopter and small arms fire.

Not everyone, however, believes that explains the fall. For many in the shipping industry, the fall in attacks is a vindication of the decision to massively ramp up the use of armed guards.

So far, not a single ship with armed guards has been taken by pirates - although naval officers and other piracy specialists say hired guards can be excessively trigger-happy and have fired on innocent fishermen from India, Oman and Yemen.

The situation is also changing in Somalia, which has been without a functioning government for two decades. The transitional administration is becoming more successful, as is a Kenyan-dominated African military force sent in to tackle Islamist rebels.

RETIRED PIRATE, DARKENED LINER

Last month, one of Somalia's highest profile pirates told Reuters he was giving up his life of crime at sea.

"I have given up piracy and succeeded in encouraging more youths to give up piracy," said Mohamed Abdi Hassan. "It was not due to fear of warships. It was just a decision."

In an apparently separate development, three Syrian hostages held since 2010 were released without the payment of a ransom. Four vessels are currently still held by pirates along with 108 hostages, the EU says.

The bottom line, some military officers and analysts believe, may be that the lower success rate for pirates in the last year has prompted those bankrolling them to stop.

But no one is taking the pirates for granted. An apparent attempted night-time attack on a merchant ship only a handful of miles from the entrance to the Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz was a reminder attacks can take place across a huge area.

Shortly before entering the Suez Canal, QM2 held a security drill to instruct passengers in what to do if the ship comes under attack.

Passengers were urged to return below and sit in the companionway outside their rooms until the danger passed.

As dusk falls, orders are given to darken ship. Passengers close the curtains over their portholes or balcony windows, while crew members install blackout curtains in public areas. Basic running lights remain on to avoid collision, however.

The purpose, Commodore Rynd says, is to make it harder for any pirates to identify what kind of ship the QM2 might be and how far away. The darkened ship also makes it easier for the lookouts, equipped with night vision goggles, to see.

Other more vulnerable ships - particularly the "low and slow" - take more precautions. Shortly after first light, QM2 passes a bulk carrier, its fire hoses blasting over its stern to make it harder for pirates to clamber aboard.

In more remote parts of the Indian Ocean, the nearest naval support can be eight or nine hours away.

Aboard the liner, however, passengers seem largely unconcerned.

"It doesn't worry me at all," says Kiki O'Connell, 66, from Portland, Maine, as the ship approached Dubai. "Although I don't suppose we'll see any pirates now. I was hoping for Johnny Depp."

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Feb 24, 2013

somalia Piracy gulf of aden

Safety Management System or a Checklist for Negligence?

Does your company have a safety management system (SMS), a safety program, or internal safety policies? Are there problems with implementation or making sure that all policies are consistently complied with? Are there items in the manual which do not apply to your vessels or operations? Does the manual call for unrealistic work practices? If you answered “yes” to these questions, rest assured you are not alone. Unfortunately, however, your company could also be in danger of severe financial penalties, and/or litigation. In some case, such as a serious accident, individuals, depending upon their position in the company, might even face imprisonment.

The latest trend in regulatory schemes is performance based regulations. This type of regulation usually requires the regulated entity to come up with a plan or system which will meet the performance based criteria in the regulations, such as International Safety Management (ISM) and the impending towing vessel inspection regulations. Some organizations also require member companies to implement an SMS such as the American Waterways Operators (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program (RCP). Regardless of the source, not fully implementing and complying with these plans can have serious consequences in the event of an accident.

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ANAND VARDHAN TIWARY on Feb 24, 2013

SMS ISM checklist

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