The signing was witnessed by Alderman Michael Bear, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Mr Jiang Liang, Vice Chairman of Shanghai CPPCC & Governor of Pudong New Area, Mr Zhu Jiang, Vice Governor of Shanghai Pudong New Area, Mr Zhu Jianhua, Deputy Director of SMTPA and Mr Mark Jackson, Chairman of the Baltic Exchange.

The ceremony was followed by an introduction and preview of the Baltic Exchange’s Baltex trading platform and a networking dinner hosted by the Baltic Exchange and Shanghai Pudong New Area.

Earlier in the day, Maritime London had met with the Shanghai Municipal Transport & Port Authority (SMPTA) where Dave Matcham, Chief Executive of the International Underwriters Association (IUA) gave a detailed overview of the London insurance market.

On 12 April, the Shanghai International Shipping Institute hosted a seminar attended by around 40 people. This gave an opportunity to give an overview of Maritime London, for the IUA to talk about insurance in general and Markel International to examine key issues surrounding the re-insurance market. Of particular interest was the range of professional maritime education provided by the UK and future market innovations which gave the opportunity to highlight the recent PwC report “Future of World Trade” and the Deloitte report “Challenge to the industry: Securing skilled crews in today’s marketplace”. Also present were representatives from Clyde & Co., Holman Fenwick Willan, Ince & Co., Marsh Brokers and Norton Rose.

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On 18 March the Japanese raisedthe significance level of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station to Level 7. The move was based on estimates of the amount of radioactive material discharged to the atmosphere.

The UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency MCA has issued a statement saying: “These events have had a major effect on a number of nuclear reactors at three power stations north of Tokyo and the Japanese government has implemented exclusion zones around the reactors."

It adds that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised British Nationals to observe an 80 km exclusion zone around the reactors.

However the MCA says: “The latest information from Japan shows that there are no significant levels of contamination outside of the evacuation zones therefore the chances of any ship becoming contaminated is very low and no special precautions are necessary.”

The agency adds that vessels should continue to seek and observe the advice from the Japanese authorities. No remedial measures are required for vessels outside of the exclusion zone but if any vessel was within the exclusion zone after 11 March 2011 they should notify the appropriate UK authorities before entering a UK port.’

Maritime London member Nautilus International says the situation off the coast of Japan is naturally “causing some concern and Nautilus International is in constant contact with the MCA regarding the nuclear crisis and the safety of members on vessels trading to the area, including Tokyo Bay”.

The IMO is advising shipping companies to continue to operate into and out of Japanese major ports and is calling on them to comply with Japanese guidelines on navigation around coastal waters.

An IMO statement notes: “The United Nations organizations closely monitoring the effects of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant remain confident that current radiation levels do not present health or transportation safety hazards to passengers and crew.”

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Mutual delay cover insurer The Strike Club expects the coming year to see increased demand for delay cover in the face of more strikes and political unrest.

The club says it has had “a very positive renewal”, with an excellent retention rate, for its 2011/2012 policy year. Bill Milligan, chairman and chief executive of SC Management, managers of the club, said the retention rate of around 97% had been achieved despite the club experiencing heavy claims in 2010, overshadowed by some of the worst labour disputes for many years, particularly in Europe.

“Unfortunately, we can only say that the outlook for 2011 is for more industrial and political unrest. Of particular concern is the question of port closures as a consequence of the anti-government protests which have erupted across the Middle East and North Africa,” he warned.

He added: “The club is also affected by natural disasters, of course, and recent events like the Australian floods, the earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand, and the disruptions caused by last winter’s storms, demonstrate the value of the club’s delay cover. The first quarter of this year has been stamped by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan in March. Earthquakes invariably bring port closures, triggering long delays.”

When the club’s directors met in Paris recently, the managers reported strong demand for its fixed-premium war risks insurance which offers cover to a limit of USD200m. As with its delay cover, the club is able to offer a one-stop-shop war insurance to cover traditional H&M with extensions as required – for example, for loss of hire due to piracy, even in the absence of a H&M incident, and for charterers’ loss of bunkers during a piracy incident etc.

Reviewing the club’s overall financial position and the underwriting results for open policy years, the directors noted that free reserves remain at a healthy level, continuing to exceed $31m.

Under Classes I & II, claims for the policy year 2009/10 have improved since last November, and the directors levied the customary closing call of 20%. Classes l & ll cover a ship's daily running costs or charter hire during delays caused by onshore incidents and following congestion. Claims for 2010/11 have developed at a higher level than initial projections, after an exceptional year for strikes in Europe and the natural disasters in Chile and Australia. After allowing for USD4.1m of outstanding claims and before allowing for any closing calls, the deficit is currently projected at USD5.3m, representing 71% of advance calls, and the directors have therefore maintained the release rate of 75%.

Under Class III, claims for 2009/10 have improved since November, and the customary closing call of 20% was agreed. Class III covers the costs of delays resulting from onboard incidents, such as officer or crew strikes and a wide variety of other causes leading to a ship going off-hire. Again, for 2010/11, claims have improved and are now in line with initial estimates. The deficit is currently projected at $2.1m before allowing for any closing calls, representing 21% of advance calls, and the directors have reduced the release rate to 30%.

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The IMO has issued a statement claiming that "steady progress" was made in considering the development of suitable market-based measures (MBMs) for international shipping, at the recent third intersessional meeting of IMO's Working Group on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships. Nevertheless it has become clear that there is no consensus on the way forward, with IMO split between those who see a compelling need to act and those who do not.

The key issue is still whether non-Annexe 1 countries, according to the Kyoto Protocols, should be treated in the same way as the industrialised countries under any IMO legislation on GHGs

The GHG Working Group will report its conclusions to the July meeting of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) when technical measures will also be under consideration.

There is widespread scepticism about the prospects for reaching a deal on MBMs at the MEPC meeting but more optimism that agreement can be reached on technical measures. The question then will be whether a technical deal will be enough to stop the European Union taking action to bring shipping into the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Such action had been threatened if there was no deal at IMO this year.

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ABS and Lloyd’s Register have released jointly-developed software for IACS Common Structural Rules and established a joint venture to develop software for harmonised rules for bulk carriers and oil tankers.

In a statement the two classification societies say: “The common software draws upon the technical strengths of ABS and Lloyd's Register and will be used to evaluate new designs presented to either society.”

Announcing the joint venture the statement says: “Recognizing the strengths of their collaborative efforts and to demonstrate commitment for consistency, ABS and LR also announce the establishment of Common Structural Rules Software, LLC – a joint company with offices in Houston and London. The entity will maintain the newly released software and develop new common software which will assess vessels designed to comply with the harmonized CSR that will be submitted for industry review in 2012.”

“I am pleased that the strategy laid out a decade ago is achieving our objectives,” said ABS Chairman and CEO Robert Somerville. “First was the development of the CSR which was completed in 2005. It was always our vision that the next step would be the common software that we announce today. Since many shipowners have also been requesting common software, this is truly an important milestone. The joint venture will hopefully help to drive the final step – the adoption of common software by other societies. It is ABS’ and LR’s desire that other societies join in this initiative.”

Lloyd’s Register Group's chief executive officer Richard Sadler said: “This is what shipowners, designers and shipbuilders need. We can only obtain consistency in CSR calculations through common software. We very much hope that other classification societies will join this common project.”

CSR Software Managing Director Aidan O’Donnell said: “Harmonized CSR presents an ideal opportunity to establish usage of common software in support of the new Rules. Establishing consistent application from the outset will be easier through our joint development.” .

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London-based international law firm Ince & Co has established the Ince Law Alliance with newly-formed Singapore law practice, Incisive Law LLC.

A statement says that Ince & Co Singapore is the first of the English firms specialising in maritime law to do this. It adds: “Through the Ince Law Alliance, Ince & Co Singapore now offers an experienced team of dual-qualified lawyers in a true one-stop-shop for both Singapore and English law advice. The Incisive Law team, who are sharing office premises with their offshore alliance partner Ince & Co, will provide Singapore law advice and represent clients in both the Singapore Courts and in domestic and international arbitrations.”

Ince & Co Singapore Managing Partner, Richard Lovell, said today: “The Ince Law Alliance greatly enhances our ability to service our clients’ businesses in the maritime, energy and offshore, trade and insurance markets in which we specialise. Through this new alliance with Incisive Law, we are meeting a long-standing need of our clients for English and Singapore law advice and representation under the same roof. Our clients will benefit from savings in both time and cost through the provision of an efficient one-stop-shop for legal services.”

Senior partner James Wilson commented: “This is an exciting new venture for the firm. It forms an important part of our strategy to offer a capability to advise not only on English law, but also on local law in those jurisdictions where this is permitted through alliances or otherwise. Our international clients will benefit from the breadth and depth of advice we can now offer through the Singapore Ince Law Alliance. They will also benefit from the experience and expertise of our Alliance colleagues, whom we know extremely well, having worked with them over many years.”

Clarkson Asia won the award for Best Maritime Service Provider at the 2011 Singapore Maritime Awards on Wednesday 13 April.

Held in conjunction with Singapore Maritime Week 2011, and organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Singapore International Maritime Awards (IMA) recognise individuals and companies for their contributions to Singapore's development as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre. The awards were presented by Transport Minister Raymond Lim at the sixth IMA ceremony, which is conducted once every two years.

Commenting on the award, Giles Lane, Managing Director of Clarkson Asia Pte Limited said: "I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of Clarkson." He added: "Clarksons' fully integrated approach enables us to deliver a 'best in class' service offer to our clients across the international markets in which we operate and this award recognises the efforts that all of the Clarkson team have made to support and improve the local shipping environment in Singapore."

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