CORONAVIRUS Symptoms Shake the Shipping Industry
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
AUSTRALIA CORONAVIRUS Symptoms shake the shipping industry PROFILES ALEX RAWLEY, LEN PHILLIPS AND SACHI WIMMER WOOL AND WINE AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS Australian Hydrographic Service Centennary After IMO 2020 - Consequences of low sulphur fuel AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 The best ft is the one tailored for you Bespoke services to help you stand out With 14 strategically located offces, GAC Australia has what it takes to serve your shipping needs for all types of cargoes and vessels, at all ports and offshore terminals throughout the country. From traditional ship agency to specialised services for bunkers, husbandry and crews, we measure and match our services to create the best ft for your business strategy. Our continuous investment in new services and technologies keeps you buttoned up to stay ahead of competitors. gac.com/australia Gulf Agency Company (Australia) Pty Ltd T: +61 02 8028 2400 F: +61 02 9279 0457 E: [email protected] Our offces: Sydney (Main Offce) I Port Kembla I Melbourne I Adelaide I Fremantle I Dampier I Port Hedland I Darwin I Townsville I Mackay I Gladstone I Brisbane I Newcastle I Geelong fb.com/GACgroup linkedin.com/company/gac-group CONTENTS AUTUMN/WINTER 2020 10 14 20 16 02 FROM THE BRIDGE 62 08 VIEWPOINT The “Dis-United States of Australia” 10 PROFILE 10 ALEX RAWLEY, director, Ocean Network Express 14 LEN PHILLIPS, general manager, Hyundai Merchant Marine (Australia) 16 INTRODUCING JIM WILSON, policy and communications ofcer, Shipping Australia Limited 54 20 WOMEN IN SHIPPING SACHI WIMMER, deputy chief executive ofcer, Australian Maritime Safety Authority 22 MARITIME HISTORY 22 No day too long, no task too arduous 50 AUTOMATION 26 Burns Philp: ‘bloody pirates’ of the Pacifc Living with autonomous systems 30 IMO 2020 53 INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS AFIF and CBFCA amalgamation 32 COVID-19 IMPACTS Consequences for cargo shipping and seafarers 54 BREAK BULK Port report: break bulk markets squeezed by ports and 34 THE SCENE alternative competitors 36 DANGEROUS GOODS 57 BUSINESS AND ECONOMY Reform needed to save lives, ships and cargo The economic impact on markets of the coronavirus pandemic 40 NAVIGATION 59 OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS Roebuck Bay grounding - fndings identify lack of training, 59 Years of living prosperously – how important are Indonesia and human error and Australia economic ties? 42 EMISSIONS 60 The Thais that bind through thick and thin Carbon-free ship propulsion by 2050 62 LEGAL 44 WOOL 62 Cruising ahead of coronavirus and into a place of refuge The wool and shipping industries - a long history 64 The COVID-19 pandemic and the contractual force majeure landscape 46 WINE 66 Cruise shipping and the coronavirus COVID-19 sails Australian wine into murky waters 67 BOOK REVIEW 48 ACHIEVEMENTS Shipping business student wins Shipping Australia prize! 69 LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF Shipping Australia Ltd Level 6, 80 William Street, Wooloomooloo NSW 2011 PO Box Q388 Sydney NSW 1230 P: 02 9167 5838 Front Cover: W: www.shippingaustralia.com.au COVID-19 Publications commitee: Ross McAlpine, Frank Needs, over shadows James Granville, Jim Wilson Executive editor: Rod Nairn international Executive assistant: Sharyn Flood shipping in 2020 Feature writer(s): Jim Wilson, John Pagni Graphic designer: Sarah Abrahams E: [email protected] Advertising: For advertising please contact; Sharyn Flood - 02 9167 5838, [email protected] Steve Moxey - 0400 473 200, [email protected] Autumn / Winter 2020 I Shipping Australia Limited 1 From the bridge Shipping industry belt-tightening to survive the COVID-19 storm By ROD NAIRN AM, CEO, Shipping Australia Limited around. The early discovery of over 700 management has since been powerless infections aboard the Diamond Princess or unwilling to make any decision that in Japan in mid-February sounded the has the slightest possibility of bringing a alarm bells in Australia, one month later COVID-19 case into the State. the Ruby Princess has turned out to be Unfortunately, COVID-19 has highlighted our biggest single source of COVID-19 the “Dis-United States of Australia.” infection, with 10 per cent of all cases in Inconsistent and irreconcilable State At home in isolation Australia linked to it. restrictions started to impact on the A COVID-19-induced massive oil efciency and safety of the international We certainly live in interesting times. price slump in March has been another shipping industry even before the Ruby economic shock wave and has rocked Princess really rocked the boat. This After “the worst bushfre season in living ofshore oil and gas production industry. concern is fully explored in Viewpoint memory”, according to New South Wales Rising from the ashes amidst an oil on page 8, so I won’t expand on it here. Premier Gladys Berejiklian, then foods in glut and even negative prices, the new But trying to convince State authorities many of the afected areas, the greatest darling of shipping has become liquid to align their policies with the Federal health contagion since the Spanish Flu bulk tankers. Not for moving fuel around, Government’s clear and sensible policies pandemic 102 years ago is with us now. because the demand has dropped so for international shipping and crew The COVID-19 virus is turning our world low that no one seems to want any, but movements has taken most of Shipping upside down, with no real end in sight. for use as foating storage. According to Australia’s time since the COVID-19 Back in 1918 the Spanish Flu infected Reuters, at the end of April there were an storm broke. Unfortunately, many of the about one third of the world’s population estimated 160 million barrels of crude oil problems remain, and New South Wales, and killed an estimated 40 million people being stored at sea. VLCC charter rates Victoria and Western Australia have still before those that were left had developed have jumped by more than 300 per cent not, at the time of writing, implemented sufcient immunity to survive. COVID-19 and those wishing to move oil rather than the National Cabinet position agreed to has infected nearly fve million people store it are resorting to smaller vessels. on 9 April. A spiderweb of diferent rules and is responsible for more than 300,000 still apply, and except for Queensland, The Ruby Princess has been deaths but with a world population of there are still no clear published protocols responsible for a lot more than COVID-19 around 7.7 billion the infection rate is on how the State authorities will assist infections. It also infuenced some State only 0.06 per cent of the population. ill seafarers and deal with ships with governments to introduce unnecessary Encouragingly, the mortality rate of possible or confrmed COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 infection is relatively low, draconian restrictions on cargo ships and more than 1.8 million people have and their crews. The handling of Helping to make sense of the recovered, so the chances of developing the vessel’s arrival, clearances and confusion. To help the shipping immunity are looking pretty good. passenger discharge has been under companies, agents and overseas load the spotlight in the blame game, with ports navigate through the labyrinth of There is usually one darling in the criminal investigations and a separate COVID-19 restrictions established in shipping industry and for the past 20 special commission of inquiry. Almost Australia’s States and ports, Shipping years it has been cruise shipping, well every bureaucrat and politician with any Australia published a comprehensive COVID-19 has certainly turned that one responsibility for health, port or maritime web blog listing the chronological 2 Shipping Australia Limited I Autumn / Winter 2020 Disinfecting common use areas of the ship Image: Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean, May 2020 changes to rules at the Federal and into port and have limited contact with their vessels are kept disinfected for those State (and in some instances port) levels. port maritime workers. Liner vessels visiting. In every ship there is also a This is kept up to date and available are usually in port for less than 18 hours strong sense of self-preservation amongst from our home page. As the changes and during this time the crews take crew members, who are keen to protect to regulations accumulated, even this special precautions to prevent infection. their own health. The success of these became difcult to follow, so Shipping Shipping lines are extremely careful to precautions is evidenced by the fact that Australia published a separate COVID-19 protect themselves against COVID-19; at the time of writing there is still not a section of our web site detailing the extant an infection on board would destroy the single case of a crew member of a liner or regulations which apply at the Federal and operational viability of the ship. As an bulk cargo vessel visiting Australia being State levels. example, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean found to have COVID-19. The fact is that ships’ crews are a very is keeping the business running during The ability to change crew members is unlikely source of COVID-19 infections. these challenging times by following crucial if shipping is to continue. There Ships crews are a small and isolated regulatory health compliance to ensure are around 1.2 million seafarers onboard community who only occasionally come that the people on board are safe, and 65,000 ships at sea. Normal crew work Autumn / Winter 2020 I Shipping Australia Limited 3 contracts are for 11 months but because This levy was due to be in place by July Profle on page 14. of the COVID-19 restrictions in many 2019 but was fnally pronounced dead in Shipping Australia strengthened its countries, replacement crew members December 2019.