Issue No. 349 25 April 2008

Tokyo MOU detentions increase
Fairplay reports that during 2007, 1,239 vessels – 5.62% of those inspected – were detained in the Asian and Oceania countries covered by the Tokyo MOU, a slight increase on the figures recorded for the previous year. Secretariat Technical Officer Ning Zheng noted that the increased detention rate; “reflects the improved targeting of vessels by PSC officers through international cooperation”. The Secretariat also said that increased detention rates were the result of tougher regulations, rather than any reduction in maintenance standards by owners. By type, general cargo ships – which are often older vessels used to carry multiple cargoes on short voyages with poorly trained crews – remained by far the ‘problem type’ from a PSC perspective, while nearly 1 in 10 inspections (9.93%) of such ships resulted in a detention in the region last year. The Tokyo MOU has scheduled a concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) focusing on navigational safety and SOLAS compliance for 2008, following last year’s ISM-focused campaign which was deemed by the MOU to be a success. In 2009, the MOU has already announced that its campaign will concentrate on proper compliance on lifesaving appliances.

Malacca Strait pirate free?
Considered a hot bed of piracy just a few years ago, joint naval and air patrols by Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have effectively stamped out piracy in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. “From January to late December 2007, we recorded zero percent pirate attacks in the Malacca Strait and also recorded a reduction in pirate attacks in the waterways of Sabah and Sarawak [East Malaysia],” according to Malaysia’s deputy air force chief Bashir abu Bakar.

Power “outages” in Durban
South Africa’s main container port and a hub for the entire region could find its operations hindered by thrice-weekly power cuts that are part of a government ordered plan to save electricity, Lloyd’s List reports. Durban port sources indicate however that in-house power generation ability will enable safety critical systems and computers to continue to operate during the supply interruptions. Cargo handling will however be hit. Local shipping industry representatives have said that it was too early to know just how detrimental the power cuts, which are expected to last between 90 minutes and 2 hours on each occasion, will prove. The planned power cuts are scheduled to remain in force until June, although it is possible that it will be extended, a local (unnamed) surveyor noted. The bad news is that some commentators believe that black outs could continue for up to five years until new generating capacity has been built.

Piracy in the Horn of Africa
BIMCO reports that in the month of April alone there have been over 10 pirate attacks on shipping in the Horn of Africa (HOA) region. This time last year attacks in the HOA were considerably lower and nearly all were out to sea and beyond 200 nautical miles. This month all the attacks have been directly due north of the HOA itself, at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden. All the attacks have been violent and many involve kidnapping and ransom of the crew. BIMCO notes that what is now clear is that there is a significant threat to all shipping in the Gulf of Aden. The majority of attacks are currently very specifically located in the area 13N 49E and 13N 53E at the head of the Gulf of Aden. BIMCO continues to urge all shipping to report all incidents as swiftly and accurately as possible. Ships should maintain active bridge and deck watches at all times, particularly the latter, if the ship has low freeboard.

Bulk cargo shortages in Uruguay
Our correspondent in Montevideo reports a significant increase in the number of bulk cargo shortage claims in Montevideo and Nueva Palmira, Uruguay during the last year. Bulk cargoes in these ports are discharged by means of grabs from holds to hoppers, and then to trucks, which are weighed on the official shore scales of the National Port Administration before leaving the port area. Our correspondent notes that there has been an increase in shortage claims on those vessels where the owners did not have a surveyor monitoring the weighing of trucks at these shore scales. Whilst owners often appoint surveyors to carry out draft surveys the courts tend to take notice of the shore scale records rather than draft surveys. The correspondent therefore recommends that owners should appoint their own surveyor to be in attendance to monitor the weighing of the cargo at the “truck weighing” in preference to undertaking draft surveys.