Mr S Hajara, Chairman Shipping Corporation of India and the Lord Mayor

Maritime London led a delegation of leading maritime service providers on a promotional trip with the Lord Mayor of London to India last month.

Showcasing the range of services available to the Indian shipping community from UK firms, the Baltic Exchange, Braemar Seascope, Watson Farley & Williams, Holman Fenwick and Willan, Thomas Cooper, RightShip (UK), the Institute of Maritime Law, Galbraiths and Steamship Insurance delivered a range of presentations focusing on the relationship between the two countries in Chennai and Mumbai.

Supported by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in Chennai and Mumbai as well as UK Trade & Investment, the various presentations were attended by over 200.

Maritime London chief executive Doug Barrow commented: “This was a fantastic example of how effective a collective promotional effort can be. There is a huge amount of interest from the rapidly growing Indian shipping sector in professional maritime support services and our ties of history, and language, with large expatriate communities in both countries, make India and the UK natural partners.”

He added: “We hope to undertake more of these overseas promotional events in the future.”

For a full report and to download presentations click here.

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Shipping could be caught out by rapid advances in biofuel technology which, according to Lloyd’s Register, could see a surge in demand for vessels to carry biofuels. The classification society's CEO, Richard Sadler, has called on the shipping industry to make preparations for the global drive towards biofuels and argues that if second and third generation technologies are successful then current projections of demand would see the world fleet unable to cope with the logistic demands.

Speaking last week at IMarEST’s annual Stanley Gray lecture, targeted at shipowners, regulators, economists, engineers and the general public, Mr Sadler concluded that the increase in demand for biocargoes would require an additional fleet size of 400 handysize equivalents by 2030. Moreover, with additional environmental pressures, these vessel requirements may well increase.

He warned that the International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook projections for biofuel demand may well be inflated by political pressures to find alternative bio energy in shortening timescales.

He added that the implications for the shipping industry are significant. Whether first or third generation, whether biodiesel or bioethanol, shipping will be at the heart of the supply chain and anticipatory investment will have to be made by the industry.

Contradictory information makes the risk in that investment uncertain and therefore it is vital to look at ways to hedge the future - through flexible initial oil tanker design for vessels to be constructed now and converted in the future to take advantage of growing biotrade.

The biofuels industry is in the early stages of low carbon impact second and third generation biofuel development. Companies investing time and money in developing technology into economically viable and socially acceptable solutions are naturally keeping quiet about the technology or products being developed.

Whether as a cargo or for use in the engine room, these new solutions will have to be incorporated into marine systems. Current ship designs are constrained by current legislation, creating poor designs if biofuel becomes a large scale global energy source. New standards may be required to meet essential safety and environmental needs and an early start is essential to meet these challenges.

Biofuel trading and transportation issues will be covered at Biofuels - maritime trade and transport which takes place in London 18-19 September 2008.

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In a highly unusual move for a company involved in a Marine Accident Investigation Branch inquiry, Zodiac Maritime Agencies is disputing the accuracy of the agency's report in to the structural failure of the MSC Napoli.

For its part the MAIB is rejecting the criticism with a spokesman saying: “We are absolutely confident of the report.”

A statement issued by Zodiac says: “The owners of the MSC Napoli note the report from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch into the events surrounding the eventual beaching of their container vessel MSC Napoli off the Devon Coast in January 2007.”

It continues: “This report generally supports owners' contention that MSC Napoli was a well maintained and operated ship in full compliance with statutory and class requirements. All the key principles of safe operation of container ships are applied rigorously by all vessels in the management of Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd, both before this incident and afterwards. Owners believe there are some inaccuracies in the MAIB report which would benefit from further technical review. Owners particularly welcome the praise from the MAIB for the condition of the lifeboat and for the training and skill of the crew in safe evacuation procedures which avoided a tragedy.”

The UK-based seafarers' union Nautilus UK has taken a different view saying the report raises some disturbing questions about the structural integrity and operation of the Napoli.

“The investigation makes clear that this was an ageing vessel that was being pushed to and beyond acceptable operational limits,” said senior national secretary Allan Graveson.

He added: “The report lifts the lid on failings in the classification and regulatory regime that have allowed an inherently unsafe vessel, as well serious shortcomings in container loading and ship stability, and it is important that rapid and concerted action is taken to address these.”  

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Maritime London member the London P&I Club has warned owners that the use of block stows of cargo can have serious consequences. The warning follows the club’s investigation of a recent cargo damage claim which suggested that the shippers and charterers had tried to construct a variation of the California Block Stow, which has been a cause of concern in the industry for some time. In the latest issue of its StopLoss Bulletin, the London Club notes, “The California Block Stow method in self-trimming bulk carriers was developed by steel importers in California, keen to minimise the high stevedoring costs at local ports, and involved the construction of a block of slabs directly under the hatch square.”

The club explains that the advantage to importers of the block stow – over a conventional stow across the full width of the hold – was that it maximised the amount of cargo that could be discharged without the need to use forklifts to carry slabs from the wings to the hatch square. But, as the spaces between the sides of the block stow and the upper and lower wing tanks were left void, the stow was free-standing.

The industry concern was that the advantage to cargo interests came at a disadvantage to carriers in the form of the serious consequences of a shift of such a stow.

The claim recently investigated by the Club involved a cargo of mixed steel products shipped from South America to Europe. Part of the cargo was wrapped bundles of hot rolled steel plates and, rather than leaving the block stow free-standing, the shippers/charterers had tried to support the cargo by means of wooden buttressing. But when the ship encountered heavy weather on passage, the wooden supports were unable to prevent the cargo shifting and, in one of the affected holds, the stow collapsed entirely.

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Mark Brownrigg, director-general of the UK Chamber of Shipping, & Brian Orrell, general secretary, Nautilus UK have issued a joint statement welcoming a move by Tesco to start eco-labelling the food it sells which was reported by the Daily Telegraph late last month.

The Chamber and Nautilus says that the initiative will help to de-bug the two “food miles” myths – that the distance a product is transported provides a guide to its carbon footprint and that imported food is commonly transported by air. They point out that almost all imported foods (and other goods) on supermarket shelves have been brought in by sea. Shipping carries 92% of British trade by volume.

Mr Brownrigg and Mr Orrell also highlight that to talk in terms of food miles can be highly misleading. Transporting a product by sea produces about 1% of the carbon dioxide that would be produced by carrying the same item the same distance by air – so one “food mile” by ship is the equivalent in CO2 output of 100 “food-miles” by air or 10 “food-miles” by road.

Clearly, they argue, to compare “food-miles” is completely ludicrous as a way of estimating a product’s impact on global-warming. The industry takes the Telegraph to task for helping to perpetuate the myth that the majority of foodstuffs are moved by air.

The article gives the case of New Zealand lamb as an example of “air-freighted food” which is “better for the environment than locally grown produce”.

The industry statement responds: “Studies have indeed shown that New Zealand lamb has a lower carbon footprint than lamb produced in the UK, but a major reason why this is possible is that all New Zealand lamb is brought in by ship, none by plane.”

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UK shipbroking and shipping services group Clarkson PLC chief executive Richard Fulford-Smith has stood down from his post after being asked to by the company's board. Andi Case, who is currently Clarksons chief operating officer will take over as interim chief executive.

In a statement Clarksons said that it is currently “trading well” and it would give more details at its 7 May AGM. However the company is fending off law suits totalling $67m from Russian companies Sovcomflot and Novoship, the Russian state-owned shipping companies.

In March this year the company said that it had put aside £6m in last year's accounts in respect of the claims.

This week Clarksons said that as a result of the discovery of new evidence and ongoing discussions with the claimants it had decided to to make a further provision against the claims of £8m.

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London-based international tanker broker and Maritime London member ACM Shipping Group says performed well during the year ended 31 March. In an update on its trading for the financial year the company says that it “anticipates that the outcome for the year will be significantly ahead of current market expectations”.

ACM expects to announce its preliminary during the week commencing 23 June.

CEO, Johnny Plumbe, says: “I am delighted with the performance of the Group. Last year was a successful year for ACM. Our continued growth and expansion has resulted in increasing profitability. The exciting developments and the shape of our forward order book, leaves us confident about future trade and the forthcoming year.”

The company says that since announcing its interim results on 6 December, all of the its operations have traded ahead of expectations. The number of spot fixtures brokered by has increased year on year and the Group's time charter business had an “excellent year”.

A statement says “ACM Shipping Services Limited ('ACMSS'), of which ACM acquired the outstanding 70 per cent of the shares on 6 December 2007, has performed particularly strongly and has exceeded the Board's initial expectations. The Board has continued to invest for long term growth, in particular, in ACM's emerging gas operation (which focuses on spot and longer-term charters of liquid petroleum gases and liquefied natural gas ships) and the Group's Indian office which was officially opened in January 2008.”

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BMT Group subsidiary BMT Cordah has been commissioned to help counter pollution authorities meet one of the key challenges in modern oil spill response. The company is carrying out a study on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to review methods and technologies for responding to oil that becomes submerged or sinks following spillage at sea.

The company notes: “Headline grabbing incidents such as the Erika and Prestige have highlighted the limitations in current techniques for this work in recent years.” Oils can submerge or sink following weathering or interaction with sediment and are difficult to detect from the air or via remote sensing. If detected, they will often have moved once recovery has been organised and may be dispersed in discrete lumps over a wide area, reducing the chances of recovery.

BMT Cordah, together with oil spill specialists Alun Lewis and Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response Limited, will review the processes that are most important in the sinking of oil to provide guidance on the conditions in which oil spill might become submerged. Mathematical modelling techniques will be developed to improve forecasting of submerged oil movement and practical methods will be researched and proposed for detection and recovery of the oils.

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London based Marine Capital is looking for maritime companies to join its fundraising effort for Concern Worldwide by taking part in the London Triathlon on 9-10 August. Other companies already signed up include Antrak Group Meridian Marine Management, Ince and Co, Bank of Scotland, Orchestra and JLT Group. Funds raised will help 323 villages in Sierra Leone by supporting health, education and livelihoods projects, giving villagers access to safe, clean water, clinics and schools.

For further details contact Matthew Foster
E: m.foster@marine-capital.co.uk, T: +44 (0) 20 7898 9335

For further info and an application form, go to: www.concern.net/progress2008 .

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