1 IFSMA Newsletter 33
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IFSMA Newsletter 33 1 International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations IFSMA • 1 Birdcage Walk • London SW1H 9JJ • United Kingdom • Telephone: +44 (0)20 7261 0450 Email:[email protected] • Website:www.ifsma.org • Facebook:www.facebook.com/ifsma • Twitter:@ifsma • LinkedIn:“Secretary General IFSMA” Contents Secretary General’s Report Secretary General’s report 2 Dear All, ITF Seafarers’ Trust launches Still At Sea Seafarer Photographer Competition 3 I do hope that this foreword to the September Newslet- Editor’s note 3 ter finds you and your families well as everyone around The IMO Digest 3 the world continues the battle against the COVID-19 IMO informal discussion focus on cutting shipping’s carbon inten- pandemic. These are very difficult times for the marine sity 3 industry and in an unprecedented show of strength, Ship IMO and increased maritime security and economic growth 4 Owners, Unions and Shipmaster Organisations are all IMO on Digitalization of shipping - more important than ever 4 working together to try and get Nations to recognise mari- ners as key workers and to get crew changes underway Eight IMO Member States come together 5 effectively. We have now been working constantly at IMO assists in mv Wakashio oil spill response 5 this for over five months and yet we seem to have made Just in Time Arrival Guide published 6 little progress. Crew changes have increased, but they IMO assists efforts to prevent oil spill from FSO Safer 7 are at less than 40% of the average monthly rate and Ship recycling in Bangladesh 7 every time we get a new nation signed up to allow crew changes, there seems to be another spike in cases and World Maritime Day 2020 and 2021 8 they close down again. We estimate that there are more The Nautical Institute elects new President 9 than 300,000 mariners who now desperately need to be Mental health awareness and wellbeing 9 relieved and the same number ashore desperate to get ClassNK releases Annual Report on Port State Control 10 back to sea to earn some money for their families. Promoting navigation safety in Middle East 11 We all remain very concerned about levels of fatigue De Beers and the world’s largest diamond recovery vessel 12 at sea especially now so many mariners have been Crew kidnappings surge in seas off West Africa 13 at sea in excess of the eleven months allowed by the Near miss between ferry and RN submarine 14 International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour UK Department of Transport 15 Convention, some have even been at sea in excess of Virtual AIS Aids to Navigation Project 15 seventeen months and this is an enormous risk to safety. I therefore wish to draw your attention, yet again, to the Switching off DGPS in the UK 17 letter IFSMA sent to all shipmasters at the beginning of Container ship Ever Smart 19 June reminding them of their obligations under interna- AMSA launches campaign targeting container ships 20 tional regulations and that if they were concerned about New sulphur-sniffing drone patrols above the Great Belt 21 the safety of their crew or their ship, then they had the Australian VTS recognised 21 right to refuse to sail. Indeed there is an obligation to do so and in this event mariner unions and the ITF will Reducing the risk of collisions at sea 22 be right behind you. Please keep IFSMA informed if ESPO welcomes the EMSA and ECDC COVID-19 Guidance for you are in any doubt or need advice. This might just safe and sustainable restoration of cruise operations 23 be what is required to jolt the nations out of their inward USCG standby and escort 23 looking inaction. Crew change: Drastic measures needed 24 Indian Register of Shipping mv Roknoor-32 25 You will be pleased to hear that finally the IMO in Lon- AMSA Safety Alert 25 don will resume meetings in the middle of September although this will be by video conferencing until at least Potential reduction in GHG emissions 27 the end of 2020. Nevertheless, it will enable us to start Jamaica takes steps to enable crew changes and repatriations 28 to pressure national administrations and force them to Grounding and recovery of container feeder vessels Thea II and listen to our plight. I will once again keep you informed tug Svitzer Josephine 29 on any progress we make. The ICS Engine Room Procedures Guide 30 INMARSAT, Thetius and Shell Shipping and Maritime launch Crew Please rest assured that we and the Marine Industry Welfare Open Innovation Challenge 30 Advisory Group, of which IFSMA is part, and all of the BIMCO and ICS prepare for new Seafarer Workforce Report 30 UN Agencies are doing all we can to get these travel restrictions lifted. UK Coastguard to replace emergency radio network infrastructure 32 From the IFSMA Office 32 Keep well and stay safe. IFSMA Newsletter 33 2 an indication of great progress in the field of autonomous ITF Seafarers’ Trust launches Still At Sea shipping. Seafarer Photographer Competition It is understood that the MCA, through the MARLab pro- Towards the end of August the ITF Seafarers Trust ject and as part of the wider work of the Maritime Future launched the Still At Sea photography competition for sea- Technologies team, is working on a long-term plan to es- farers. This was reported by Natalie Shaw the ITF’s Direc- tablish how autonomous vessels can be best regulated. tor, Employment Affairs. Dr Katrina Kemp, Smart Ships & Automation Policy Of- Open to currently serving seafarers with a 1st prize of ficer for the MCA commented: ‘This was a really exciting £1000, seafarers are invited to submit digital photos of journey….‘We believe that autonomous shipping will play their lives at sea during the pandemic. With around 90% an important role in the future of maritime in terms of re- of global trade transported by ships, seafarers have con- ducing carbon emissions by using less fuel and allowing tinued working throughout the pandemic. However, the vessels to go to places or situations where people may be impact of travel restrictions, quarantine requirements put at risk.’ and lack of flights have trapped some 300,000 seafarers aboard ship, with many being ashore for many months, MCA ensured the necessary certification was obtained unable to go home. provided a waiver, which allowed the passage to take place unmanned with Load Line Exemption. The competition aims to give a voice to these forgotten keyworkers, and show the world the realities they face as they supply the world with the raw materials and consumer The IMO digest goods that keep hospitals running, power stations pump- A summary of some of the news received from the ing and shipping essential consumer goods. IMO Media service in recent weeks. Dave Heindel, ITF Seafarers’ Trust Chair commented: ‘As All illustrations (© IMO) downloaded from and with Covid-19 has ravaged nations, seafarers have continued grateful thanks to www.imo.org working uninterrupted. Many have not been ashore for months on end, some for well over a year. IMO informal discussions focus on ‘A photograph needs no translation to share its story and the competition is a platform for seafarers to show the wid- cutting shipping’s carbon intensity er world the realities of life stuck onboard.’ IMO facilitated virtual informal discussion sessions from 6-10 July on short-term greenhouse gas reduction meas- Katie Higginbottom, Head of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust add- ures for international shipping and their associated impact ed: ‘At the beginning of the pandemic seafarers were rela- assessments. This was reported by the IMO Media ser- tively safe at sea but worried for their families. However, vice. months have passed and hundreds of thousands of sea- farers are still stuck at sea. This is a chance for seafarers, hidden but vital global keyworkers, to share their lives with the people who unknowingly rely on them.’ Seafarers are invited to submit their photographs on the competition’s website https://tinyurl.com/y69avk5v up to 30 September 2020. The winning photographs will be announced on the Trust’s Facebook page on 30 October 2020 and digital and physi- cal exhibitions of submissions are planned to follow. From the Editor UK’s autonomous vessel work continues In the UK the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) re- ported on 19 August that it was aiming to build on the These sessions provided a platform for all IMO Member recent successful 22-day data collection mission of a re- States and organizations in consultative status with IMO to motely operated vessel. exchange views and share updated information on various technical and operational proposals to reduce the carbon This passage, during which the SEA-KIT unmanned ves- intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030, sel Maxlimer surveyed previously uncharted waters, is in line with IMO’s Initial GHG Strategy. IFSMA Newsletter 33 3 Carbon intensity refers to CO2 emissions per transport National strategy; State’s obligations work, and therefore links carbon emissions to the amount of cargo transported and the distance sailed for a specific Establishment of a national strategy is in line with Kenya’s ship. obligations under article three of the Jeddah Amendment1 to the Djibouti Code of Conduct2. It is also in line with Chapter XI-2 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)3, the International Ship and Port Keen interest demonstrated Security Code (ISPS)4 and other IMO instruments. The constructive atmosphere demonstrated a keen inter- est to progress work on a mutually acceptable package of further amendments to IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI treaty, which already includes energy efficiency measures for shipping.