Issue No. 362 27 October 2008

Jamaican cadets for German ships
Lloyd’s List reports that Jamaica’s ship registry has launched a new cadet scheme that links trainees from the Caribbean directly with German ship owners. The programme is being developed in partnership with Jamaica’s Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), said to be the only International Maritime Organisation accredited training institution in the English speaking Caribbean for the training of seafarers at officer level. Already the newly launched initiative has cadets starting contracts with three German ship owners this autumn and the registry is in discussion with a further 10 owners to provide cadets for 2009. In the near future Jamaica hopes to be in a position to offer ship owners complete crews from the CMI. Sources at the ship registry point out Jamaica’s demographics include a large number of English speaking young people, who could be attracted to a seafaring career, particularly in an environment where well paid jobs are not readily available. It hopes that its crew supply efforts will help to meet its target of signing up 150 vessels to the Jamaican flag over the next 5 years. Jamaica’s government is explicitly backing the plan. Opening the registry’s Bremen office earlier this summer, minister of transport and works Michael Henry reiterated his administration’s commitment to using the maritime sector as a driver for economic growth.


Malaysia to increase patrols
It is reported that Malaysia will purchase more boats and helicopters and recruit additional personnel to increase patrols in its waters in the Malacca Strait. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency will acquire 20 speed boats and 3 helicopters to enable it to patrol Malaysian waters effectively. This action will ensure its borders are not encroached and also that the Malacca Strait, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, are safe, according to Hassan Malek Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s department.


Mapping a ship’s “hullprint”
According to a recent article in Lloyd’s List, a prototype underwater scanning system to map ships’ hulls as they enter US ports will be put through its paces by mid-2009. The system, Harbour Shield, uses sensors and imaging technology to produce a vessel “hullprint” which its trio of developing companies claim can detect “anomalies such as bombs and illegal drugs” below the water line. “Overhead” sensors determine the ship’s exact location in relation to the underwater sensors, and the combined data will be used to create a hullprint that will be stored in a database. The intention, according to one of the development companies, is that ships will be cross referenced and their hull prints updated every time they enter a US port. According to the developers, Harbour Shield can reveal “the exact location on the hull of any abnormality as small as a square foot”. The developers say that Harbour Shield’s security application could also “benchmark” ship hull maintenance; enhance hull inspections for marine growth, damage, corrosion and paint thickness; and even determine what liquids are stored within the hull”.