Industry to tackle global shipping issues

International delegates will join members of the local shipping, insurance and banking industries in a two-day conference at the end of the month to tackle the major issues affecting global shipping, with particular emphasis on the outlook for Asia.

They will participate in the Asia Pacific Maritime 2008 Conference starting on March 27. It is being organized in conjunction with the 10th presentation of the Asia Pacific Maritime exhibition - a major event in the maritime calendar in Singapore. Eminent industry persons will engage conference delegates on some of the geopolitical developments impacting the shipping and maritime industries. They will also look at the prospects the rising BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) bring to the table, and how Asian countries can tap the economic effects of rising trade volumes. Coming at a time when financial markets are in disarray as a result of the continuing turbulence created by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States, delegates can look forward to a discussion on the topic as well. Lawyer Robson Lee, a partner at Singapore legal firm Shook, Lin and Bock, will speak on 'The Sub-prime Crisis: Impact on financing shipping assets and IPOs'. But the outlook for shipping will take centre stage when a panel handles the topic, as shipping demand continues to be in a state of constant flux. The conference will cover shipping, logistics, ports, technology and equipment.
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'Morning Conductor' makes its maiden winter voyage to Europe

As the Panama-flagged 'Morning Conductor' makes its maiden winter voyage to Europe, crew and pilots are benefiting from closed bridge wings, a design feature that has not generally been introduced in car carriers.

The bridge on the vessel has also been arranged high to allow a 360 degrees range of view. Following the 'Morning Cornet', the newbuilding is the third in a series of six 6,500 capacity vessels constructed according to a single pillar lay out in the cargo holds. Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries delivered it to the EUKOR Car Carriers Inc. which owns 22 vessels controlled from offices in Seoul, Korea. Owner of 'Morning Conductor', EUKOR now operates more than 92 car transporters. In 2008, it will also take delivery of four 8,100 capacity new buildings, described as the world's largest. Wilhelmsen Ship Management, a subsidiary of Wilh, is carrying out management of the first and second new buildings. Wilhelmsen, also owns EUKOR, along with Wallenius and Hyundai, and Third vessel Morning Conductor is being managed by Hae-Young Maritime Service in Korea.
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IRISL vessels in political spotlight

Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line vessels are to be visited by the International Transport Workers' Federation as part of a campaign to free an imprisoned trade union leader that will be promoted in a worldwide day of action.

The ITF says it will include IRISL ships because they are ''de facto'' owned by the Iranian state. At the same time, the company has been named in a UN Security Council statement on sanctions over Iran's nuclear policies. An ITF statement says: ''A mass of protests are taking place in 41 countries on 6 March in support of Mansour Osanloo, 48, the elected leader of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, a trade union founded three years ago. Even though the organization is free, democratic and legal it has been violently attacked by Iranian security forces. As a result of his work Osanloo has been beaten, arrested and had his tongue sliced as a warning against speaking out. The ITF says that it has led the campaign to support and free Osanloo and the ship visits are the latest way it is using to communicate its message to the Iranian Government. These ship visits are one more tactic in a raft of protests intended to make the Iranian government see sense and stop punishing this man for merely asking for his rights.'' Meanwhile in the latest step in the row over Iran's nuclear program the Security Council has issued a statement that instructing that ''states should inspect cargo to and from Iran of aircraft and vessels owned or operated by Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line if they are transporting goods prohibited by UN resolutions''.

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Charles starts his 'eco-friendly' Caribbean tour

Sometimes the fight against global warming can be downright pleasant.

Britain's Prince Charles, eschewing pollution-spewing jets, is touring the Caribbean on a 75-meter megayacht, with hot tub, gym and 24-member crew, as part of his battle to save the environment. Charles and wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, arrived on Tuesday on the first leg of a five-island Caribbean tour that the prince's office swears will be friendly to the budget and the environment. According to Clarence House, the couple's plans to sail rather than fly between islands will reduce the trip's carbon footprint. It will also be cheaper, though the prince's office declined to give a price tag for the royal jaunt to Trinidad, Tobago, St Lucia, Jamaica and the volcanic island of Montserrat.
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Did pirates target ship with Indian crew?

India did not rule out the possibility of the missing ship with 25 Indian crew on board being targeted by sea pirates.

The Directorate General of Shipping has sought the help of Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Board (IMB) in this connection after it decided to despatch an Indian officer to join international investigations. The M V Rezzak went missing in the Black Sea on February 18. The IMB Kuala Lumpur is a nodal agency that monitors crime taking place in the international sea. It gets information about incidents of sea piracy around the world. The vessel left Russia for Turkey on February 17 carrying steel billets. The voyage time is about 24 hours. Mumbai-based Pelican Marine recruited the crew for the ship. However, its director Santhosh Biswas ruled out the possibility of pirates targeting the ship. "I don't think it is hijacked. There is no sea piracy in European waters," he claimed. The ship is owned by a Turkish national and registered in Panama. Panamanian authorities are holding an investigation into the missing ship.

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Spotlight is put on safety at sea

Irish sea shipping lanes are amongst the busiest in Europe and have been used to pilot a new navigation system which aims to reduce the risk of collision.

The project relies on satellite and radio wave technology and has been co-coordinated by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. For hundreds of years seafarers have relied on lighthouses to help steer them clear of danger. But these days it's not just rocks and reefs which are a hazard. In the busy shipping lanes of the Irish sea, there is also a very real risk of collisions. Radar screens can certainly help. But now technology has taken another step forward - with a transmitter system onboard which tells other ships of its size, speed, and direction. Its called the automatic identification system and its main purpose is to reduce the risk of ships colliding. The key is the precise timing provided by GPS satellites stationed high above the earth, the same ones which run the sat navs in our cars. Onboard also is a transmitter, which sends out a steady stream of short messages to buoys, shore stations and other boats. The technique is known as SOTDMA (Self Organising Time Division Multiple Access) which supports the high volume of short messages. By talking to each other in this way, ships know if another boat is nearby, and crucially, if it is on a collision course. All the ferries and larger ships on the Irish Sea are now using this technology.
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Kerala submits proposal for shipyard at Poovar

The Kerala Government has submitted a proposal before the Union Shipping Ministry to set up a world class shipyard at Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram district on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.

The proposal was submitted based on the directive from the Ministry to submit a viable location for a shipyard on the West Coast, Mr M. Vijayakumar, State Minister for Ports, said. He said that the Ministry had asked the State to identify a suitable area that would provide a waterfront of 2.5 km in length and with a depth of at least 12 metres. According to the Minister, it was only in the Vizhinjam-Poovar area could the prescribed depth be found. He said that the depth of the waters along this stretch varied from 12 metres to 22 metres in some places. The Union Government had also informed that about 1,000 acres of suitable land should be identified for building the shipyard, he said, adding that a preliminary examination had shown that the land would be available in the area. The area is easily accessible by rail, as the Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram broad gauge railway line is passing less than 10 km away. Moreover, the upcoming port at Vizhinjam, which is about 10 km from the proposed site, can be used for the shipment of all the material required for the development and functioning of the shipyard.

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