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London P&I Club warns of dangers arising from carriage of Indonesian coal
The London P&I Club has issued a warning about continued problems associated with the carriage of Indonesian thermal or ‘steam’ coal, following a number of recent incidents involving owners and charterers.
Indonesian coal has a propensity to self-heat and/or emit methane. If uncontrolled, self-heating can lead to serious cargo fires, and an accumulation of methane can explode. The IMSBC Code states that coal with such characteristics should not be loaded if the temperature of the cargo exceeds 55ºC, and that the atmosphere in the holds is monitored at least daily on passage. The oxidisation process that can lead to self-heating can be detected by checking the hold atmosphere for rising levels of carbon monoxide (CO) and falling oxygen (O2) levels. Methane levels can be measured directly.
The IMSBC Code recommends that the ship carries a means of measuring cargo temperature, and requires that the ship is fitted with gas sampling ports (normally on the side of the hatchcovers), and carries an instrument capable of measuring O2, CO and methane.
Cases recently reported to the club have highlighted the need for thermometers and gas sampling equipment to be regularly serviced and calibrated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. In one case in which the club was acting for charterers, the club-appointed surveyor arrived on board more than a week after the commencement of loading, only to find that a dispute over safety to load had in part been based on readings from equipment which did not have a valid calibration certificate.
London Club Loss Prevention Manager, Carl Durow, says, “Care should be exercised in interpreting methane measurements carried out in the low O2 concentrations often found in unventilated cargo holds. Typically, manufacturers advise that methane readings will be meaningless if the O2 level falls below 10 per cent. But the club has seen evidence of ships’ staff relying on methane readings even when O2 levels have fallen to negligible levels (one per cent or less).
“In order to obtain meaningful information, measurements should be made via an approved sample point. The club has seen samples drawn through hold access hatches, which undermines the reliability of the measurements.
“The atmosphere in the space above the cargo should be regularly monitored – and this may mean that measurements continue after arrival at the discharge port, particularly when discharge is slow. The club has seen problems with both self-heating and methane release worsening markedly during interrupted unloading.”
www.londonpandi.com
Labels: equipment testing, IMSBC Code, Indonesian coal, London P and I Club, methane measurements, problems with carriage by sea, self-heating, steam coal
Bureau Veritas publishes guidelines for Offshore Access Systems
Leading
international classification society Bureau Veritas has developed guidelines
for walk-to-work
(W2W) motion compensated Offshore Access Systems (OAS) which are used to
transfer industrial personnel to and from offshore installations. Guidance Note
NI629 Certification of Offshore Access
Systems provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the safety
principles and technical requirements for the design, manufacturing and
operation of reliable and dependable equipment for the safe transfer of
personnel at sea.
Matthieu de Tugny, Senior Vice-President and Head of Offshore, Bureau Veritas, says,
"Getting people safely onto and
off unmanned platforms and wind farm towers offshore has become a big issue.
Walk-to-Work OAS can provide significant safety, operability and/or cost advantages
over more traditional personnel transfer methods such as personnel basket or
capsule lifts, step-over from high speed crew transfer vessels and helicopter
transfers. We see a lot of new vessel types emerging with these
motion-compensated gangways and it is imperative that the industry has a
standard against which to assess their safety and to help develop safe new
designs.”
Two different offshore access technologies have emerged: passive
transfer gangways, which are first connected to the offshore installation and
then put in free-flow mode for personnel transfer, and active transfer gangways
which remain motion compensated during personnel transfer. The safety issues
and critical components, which differ from one category to the other, require
special attention to ensure safe and reliable operation.
Says De Tugny, “With these new guidelines the regulatory gap into which personnel
transfer between offshore support vessels and offshore installations could fall
has been closed.”
Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory
testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has
more than 66,000 employees in around 1,400 offices and laboratories located all
across the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance
by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their
assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations
in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social
responsibility. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the
Next 20 index.
Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock
symbol: BVI.
Contacts:
Philippe Boisson
Bureau Veritas
+33 (0)1 55 24 71 98
Labels: classification societies, offshore safety, personnel transfer, walk to work, wind farms
Liberia’s compliance assistance programme shortlisted for Lloyd’s List award
The Liberian Registry’s ground-breaking Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) has been selected as a finalist for the Big Data Award at the forthcoming 2016 Lloyd’s List North American Awards. The award will go to a shipping industry initiative which can prove measurable results in areas such as performance monitoring and optimisation, condition-based and predictive maintenance, optimisation across systems, and system overview of operations.
The unique satellite-based CAP has helped ensure regulatory compliance and prevent the detention of Liberian-flag ships in some of the world’s most active and heavily trafficked Port State Control (PSC) areas since it was launched last year. In the process, it has helped confirm Liberia as among the best-performing major ship registries worldwide, with an excellent detention record authenticated by widely recognised independent safety monitoring organisations such as Port State Control.
The CAP initiative further strengthens the leading role which Liberia has established over a number of years as the world’s most technologically innovative flag state. It tracks ships when they enter selected jurisdictions and allows the registry’s risk analysis team to perform detailed reviews of vessels, their history, and the ports at which they are calling.
The CAP supplements the existing electronic services already provided by Liberia and is part of a programme which adopts a uniquely proactive approach to ensuring that ships flying the Liberian flag are properly prepared for their upcoming port calls, and that any possible deficiencies are handled prior to entering port. The system is totally electronic and non-burdensome, and is provided at no extra cost to owners and managers.
The winners of the Lloyd’s List North American Awards 2016 will be announced on 19 May in New York.
The Liberian Registry has long been considered the world’s most technologically advanced maritime administration. It has a long-established track record of combining the highest standards of safety for vessels and crews with the highest levels of responsive service to owners. Moreover, it has a well-deserved reputation for supporting international legislation designed to maintain and improve the safety and effectiveness of the shipping industry and protection of the marine environment.
www.liscr.com
Labels: Big Data, Compliance Assistance Programme, detention prevention, Liberian Registry, Lloyd's List North American Awards, performance monitoring, port state control, regulatory compliance, shipping
Bureau Veritas approves WindFloat Floating Offshore Wind Turbine foundation
Leading
international classification society Bureau Veritas has issued Approval in
Principle for the WindFloat Floating Offshore Wind Turbine (FOWT) foundation.
WindFloat is designed by Principle Power and consists of a ballasted floating platform which supports a
multi-megawatt wind turbine generator.
Matthieu de Tugny, Senior Vice-President and Head of
Offshore, Bureau Veritas, says, “FOWT technology will help exploit
clean renewable offshore wind power. It offers substantial advantages over
fixed offshore wind turbines as the entire unit can be assembled ashore and
FOWTs can be installed in deep water and areas with varied underwater
landscapes. There is also a much lower environmental impact from their
installation. Our expertise with the offshore floating structures and metocean
conditions means we can ensure designs for new FOWTs will be safe, reliable and
will produce power over the expected range of environmental conditions.”
The WindFloat is a floating platform that supports a
multi-megawatt wind turbine generator. It is unmanned, and carries no
significant quantity of pollutant substances. The platform is moored with a
three-line catenary mooring system. It is a three-column platform,
equipped with a closed-loop ballast system to compensate for changes in mean
wind velocity and direction.
A first WindFloat prototype has
been deployed in Portugal, 5km off the coast of Aguçadoura, since 2011. To date the system has produced and
delivered over16GWh of electricity to the grid, demonstrating the concept
feasibility without significant issues.
The second generation of WindFloat technology, addressed by
the present Approval In Principle, is intended to be part of a pilot array of
floating offshore wind turbines in the French Mediterranean sea, to be
developed by ENGIE and EIFFAGE.
Approval in Principle for Bureau
Veritas implies that the design is
feasible, achievable, and
contains no technological show-stoppers
that may prevent the design from being matured and that the design is deemed to
be suitable for use in the metocean
conditions that the unit facility will be located in. Bureau Veritas’
engineers verified design methodologies, covering hydrodynamics, structure,
stability, electricity and machinery to check that that the design is deemed to
be suitable for use in all phases of operation including in-transit to field,
installation, hook-up, commissioning, start-up, operations and offloading and
provide recommendations to fulfil through the following phases of the project.
Joao Metelo, President and CEO of
Principle Power say, “We’re very pleased to receive this endorsement of our
technology from such an esteemed body as Bureau Veritas. It’s another important
step for Principle Power as the WindFloat establishes its commercial
readiness.”
Principle Power is an innovative technology and services
provider for the offshore deep water wind energy market. PPI’s proven
technology, the WindFloat - a floating wind turbine foundation – enables a
change in paradigm for the industry in terms of reduced costs and risks for
the installation and operations of offshore wind turbines. Principle Power
sells the WindFloat as a technology solution and acts as service provider to
developers, utilities and independent power producers, being present from
the overall system design throughout fabrication, installation and
commissioning, and providing support to customers during the operation life
cycle of the platform. Principle Power's mission is to make the WindFloat the
most competitive, safe, reliable and environmentally friendly technology for
deep-water offshore wind projects while enabling global offshore wind markets
to reach their full potential. www.principlepowerinc.com
Bureau Veritas is a world leader
in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828,
the Group has more than 66,000 employees in around 1,400 offices and
laboratories located all across the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to
improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in
order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet
standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental
protection and social responsibility. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext
Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index.
Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock
symbol: BVI.
Contacts:
Liberia remains number one open register for Greek shipowners
Figures released by the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee (GSCC) show that Liberia has cemented its position as the undisputed leading open registry of choice for Greek shipowners.
The GSCC statistics show that, in the year to end-March 2016, the gross tonnage of Greek-controlled ships in the Liberian Registry increased by 995,781 gt. Liberia, with 744 vessels aggregating 54.74m dwt, is second only to Greece itself in terms of the number of Greek-owned ships flying its flag, and comfortably ahead of the Marshall Islands in third place. Eighteen per cent of Greek-controlled ships are registered under the Liberian flag, again second only to Greece (20 per cent).
Scott Bergeron, CEO of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the US-based manager of the Liberian Registry, says, “There can be few stronger and more mutually successful relationships in international shipping than that which exists between Greek shipowners and the Liberian Registry. It is, moreover, encouraging to see that that relationship endures through good and bad times alike for the industry and for the global economy.”
Michalis Pantazopoulos, Senior Vice-President of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (Hellas) SA in Piraeus, says, “It is surely no coincidence that the world’s most innovative shipping register is the number one choice of open flag for shipowners from the world’s leading shipping nation. The Greek shipping community continues to demonstrate great loyalty to the Liberian Registry, which in turn continues to respond by providing the innovative service and guaranteed quality and safety which owners demand.”
The Liberian Registry is one of the world’s largest and most active shipping registers and has long been considered the world’s most technologically advanced maritime administration. It has a long-established track record of combining the highest standards of safety for vessels and crews with the highest levels of responsive service to owners.
www.liscr.com
Labels: Greek shipowners, Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee, increased gross tonnage, leading open registry for Greece, Liberian Ship Registry, LISCR
Bureau Veritas approves FPSO composite repair system
Leading international
classification society Bureau Veritas has approved in principle the repair of offshore structures using
the bonded composite product Coldshield, developed by Paris-based start-up Cold
Pad. Coldshield is a composite structural reinforcement specifically developed
for the harsh environments of offshore units.
Matthieu de Tugny, Senior Vice-President and Head of Offshore,
Bureau Veritas, says, "Coldshield offers
a long awaited solution for the repair of corroded offshore structure without
the need for welding or downtime. We have combined our expertise in marine composites and bonding with our experience of the
hydrodynamic loadings and constraints of offshore units to assess Coldshield.
We believe that Coldshield is the first non-welded structural repair method available
for an FPSO hull.”
Marine
offshore structures such as FPSOs are subject to a harsh environment combining
high loads, fatigue and potential heavy corrosion. The classical method of
repair by welding is not always possible, or needs long downtime. The idea of
bonded structural composite repair has been under development for many years
but bonding and composite repairs usually require a controlled environment,
making them unsuitable for offshore structures.
Coldshield
is a patented solution to make reliable structural bonded repairs. It is a
complex product made of high standard composites, specifically chosen polymers,
alloyed in a shield of Superduplex steel and fluorosilicon joints. Specific
production techniques such as vacuum resin injection and structural bonding
were optimised to reach the robustness necessary for onboard bonding in an
offshore environment. The product was developed in partnership with Total and
IFPeN.
Approval in Principle by Bureau Veritas confirms that the design is
feasible, achievable, and that the research and development campaign is
relevant to demonstrate the ability of the product to behave in accordance with
its specifications. Bureau Veritas'
engineers verified the suitability to the environment for installation and
product life, composite and polymer design, characteristics and ageing, test
adequacy with the on-board loads and environment severity, structural
efficiency and strength of the whole product.
Cold Pad is a Paris-based start-up company
formed to develop a safe and economical solution for the
structural maintenance of FPSO Hulls. www.cold-pad.com
Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory
testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has
more than 66,000 employees in around 1,400 offices and laboratories located all
across the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its clients to improve their performance
by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their
assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations
in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.
Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the Next 20 index.
Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock
symbol: BVI.
Contacts:
Philippe Boisson
Bureau Veritas
+33 (0)1 55 24 71 98
Labels: classification society, fpso, repairs
ITIC to pay continuity credit for 21st year in succession
For the 21st year in succession, International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) is to pay a continuity credit to all those members who renew their insurance cover during the 2016 policy year, which begins on June 1, 2016.
The CEO of ITIC, Stuart Munro, explains, “ITIC’s board of directors is committed to reducing insurance costs wherever possible. The ongoing worldwide economic downturn, together with fiercely competitive conditions in the shipping and transportation sector, continues to make life very difficult for our members. One of the great strengths of a mutual insurer is the fact that the surpluses accrue to the membership, rather than to third-party shareholders. Therefore, ITIC has decided to pay a continuity credit of up to 17.5% of the annual premium for yet another year in recognition of the outstanding loyalty shown by its members. Loyalty, after all, works both ways. ”
ITIC is the leading insurer of companies providing services to the transport industry in the marine, aviation, road and rail sectors. It is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com
For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com
Labels: ITIC, loyalty. continuity credit, mutual, transport intermediary insurance
Court rejects €1.56m claim against marine surveyor accused of poor stowage
International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has warned that the wording of instructions can potentially widen the scope of liability for marine service providers, citing the recent case of a marine surveyor sued for €1.56m for alleged poor onboard stowage of a cargo.
The marine surveyor in Germany was engaged by charterers to attend the loading of a cargo and to report on any damage caused by the stevedores. The emailed instructions from the charterer contained the following provisions:
“We hereby order the following: supervision of the loading/preloading survey; reporting of eventual damages to the coating or the material - and time of damage; reporting of negligence while handling the material and loading; detailed documentation, with photos, of the loading operations; no continuous supervision will be necessary, only during the important moments (commencement of loading operations - change of shift – securing of the cargo).”
Loading and lashing of the cargo was completed and the vessel sailed. Three days later there was a loud noise from the cargo hold and the ship developed a 30-degree list. The master reduced the list by ballasting and diverted to a port of refuge. The cargo was discharged, sorted on the quay, reloaded, lashed and secured. About 600 tonnes of damaged cargo was left behind. Over ten days later, the ship resumed its voyage.
The owners alleged that the cargo had shifted due to poor stowage, and ultimately obtained an arbitration award against the charterers for €1.56m. The charterers subsequently held the surveyor and the stevedores who had loaded the cargo jointly liable for this amount.
Lawyers appointed by ITIC represented the surveyor at court, where the claim was subsequently rejected on the basis that the stevedores were responsible for the loading and stowage, and that the surveyor’s instructions were limited to reporting on stevedoring damage caused during loading.
ITIC director Charlotte Kirk says, “The potential difficulty with this defence was that the charterer’s email instructions could have been interpreted as conferring a wider obligation. In the circumstances, it was agreed that the surveyor would make a contribution of approximately ten per cent to the settlement of the claim.
“While this contribution was relatively modest in percentage terms, the claim is an example of how the wording of instructions can potentially widen the scope of a surveyor’s liabilities. If the brief is understood to be restricted to a specific task, it is important to make sure that this is clearly recorded.”
ITIC is managed by Thomas Miller. More details about the club and the services it offers can be found on ITIC’s website at www.itic-insure.com
For more information:
Charlotte Kirk
ITIC
Tel. +44 (0)20 7338 0150
Fax. +44 (0)20 7338 0151
charlotte.kirk@thomasmiller.com
Labels: alleged poor stowage, cargo shifting, ITIC, liability, marine surveyor, port of refuge, stevedore damage to cargo, transport intermediary insurance
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