World Maritime News
WMNF 2018/11/29
Major box carriers unite to drive digital harmonization
Leading box carriers plan to unite behind a new association to promote common information technology standards across the container shipping industry.
The new body is being set up by Maersk Line, CMA CGM, Hapag Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co and Ocean Network Express.
The association will look to pave the way for digitalization, standardization and interoperability. Other lines will be invited to join the association once it is operational early 2019. The association does not intend to develop or operate a digital platform as part of the group and the new five-carrier association is subject to regulatory approval.
More details:
Bolloré, PowerChina group wins bid to build Nigeria Ibom port
A consortium of PowerChina International Group a Bolloré Africa Logistics, a unit of French-based international Transport and Logistics group, has emerged as the preferred bidder for Nigeria’s Ibom Deep Seaport Project.
PowerChina is the core business of Power Construction Corporation of China, the world’s top hydropower, electric power and infrastructure construction group. It is prominent in the Belt and Road Initiative projects and recently won deals in Egypt, Pakistan and Costa Rica.
The greenfield port will take up 2,565 hectares out of a total of 14,400 hectares allocated for an industrial zone, according to the project’s website.
The facility will be designed to handle neo-panamax class vessels with access channel draught of 18 m and quay length of about 7,500. When fully developed, the container terminals will be able to accommodate up to 13 neo-panamax container vessels and two very large feeder vessels.
More details:
http://idsp.ak.gov.ng/ibom-deep-sea-port-press-release.php
Long Beach Container Terminal up for sale
China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping Holdings Co is moving forward with plans to sell the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) under terms of an agreement reached with US regulators earlier this year. The agreement eased national security concerns about Cosco’s planned purchase of Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL), owner and operator of LBCT. The expectation is that the sale will be completed by June 2019 at the latest because of the agreement with US regulators in July 2018 of a sale within one year.
Following the sale of LBCT, Port of Long Beach (POLB) said the new owner would take over the historic 40-year, US$ 4.6 billion lease that OOIL signed with POLB in 2012.
More details:
http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1747
BIMCO aims for cyber security contract clause in 2019
BIMCO is looking to publish a contract clause that addresses cyber security risks in spring 2019. The BIMCO cyber security clause requires the parties to have plans and procedures in place to protect its computer systems and data, and to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to a cyber incident, according to its statement.
The purpose of the cyber security clause that is being developed is to raise awareness of cyber security risks and to offer procedures and system that prevent an incident from occurring, or the very least mitigate its effects.
More details:
https://www.bimco.org/news/priority-news/20181121-cyber-security-clause
MEPC takes on ocean plastics
Increased public awareness of concentrations of marine debris floating in the northern Pacific Ocean, known as ‘garbage patches’, is among the drivers that have resulted in the IMO taking a harder look at marine plastic litter.
On 26 October, MEPC 73 delegates adopted an action plan to address the problem. It is intended to contribute to the global solution for preventing marine plastic litter entering the oceans through ship-based activities, according to the IMO.
The action plan adopted at MEPC 73 provides the IMO with a mechanism to identify specific outcomes, and actions to achieve these outcomes, in a way that is meaningful and measurable, sated the IMO. MEPC delegates agreed to further discuss concrete measures and details in advance of MEPC 74 in May 2019, with actions preliminarily scheduled to be completed by 2025.
More details:
https://fairplay.ihs.com/safety-regulation/article/4308666/mepc-takes-on-ocean-plastics
Hutchison terminal hosts milestone vessel call
Hutchison Port’s Laem Chabang Terminal D lived up to its promise of meeting the needs of the mega-vessel operators with the call of the 14,000 teu ONE Columbia, the biggest container vessel to ever be handled at a port in Thailand.
The fully automated terminal deployed its new remote-controlled quay cranes to handle 2,269 containers loaded to the vessel, Hutchison Ports said.
Hutchison Port’s Terminal D is seen boost the growth of container volumes at Laem Chabang Port, adding another 3.5 million teu of capacity on full completion.
The port is connected by a double track railway and good highway connections with Thailand’s hinterland, especially Rayong Province to its southeast where many Japanese car makers have manufacturing facilities.
More details:
http://hutchisonports.co.th/one-columba-maiden-call-ceremony-at-laemchabang-port/
Yamal LNG starts ship-to-ship transfer for cargo to Europe
Two LNG carriers have completed a ship-to-ship transfer off the tip of northern Norway, the first of such operations that allow easier access for Russia’s Yamal LNG to the European markets.
The 172,000 m3 Arc7 ice-breaking ‘Vladimir Rusanov’ successfully unloaded the cargo to the 170,020 m3 lower Arctic-classed ‘Pskov’ at the safe anchorage off Honnigsvå Norway, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said in a release.
MOL said the STS operation cut down the travelling time of ‘Vladimir Rusanov’ by about a week and enabled it to return sooner to the Yamal LNG facilities at Sabetta, where access by non-ice-breaking vessels is limited in the winter period.
More details: