By Michael Grey* There will be few seafarers today who sail off to the Gulf of Guinea with a light heart and cheerful demeanour, any more than they did a couple of hundred years ago, when disease was endemic along its shores. It is a different sort of blight today, with the depredations of […]
Shipping’s nightmare with the Gulf of Guinea pirates (Forum) Read More »
Taiwanese Ping Shin 101 on which occurred the murders at sea described in this gut wretching article by investigative reporter Ian Urbina*. Photo Credit: Fish-I Africa The men are helpless in the open water, clinging to floating debris, tossed by the rolling ocean waves. Several large fishing ships circle. None of the victims have life jackets, but no one makes
A Captain caught after a slaughter at sea (Forum) Read More »
Following the release of a report by environmental group ICCT, the Clean Shipping Alliance expresses its concern about the wrong perception of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (“scrubbers”) and wash water discharges portrayed in the publication. “We welcome all scientific inquiries on Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) that are objective and well researched. However, in
Clean Shipping Alliance scrubs away at ICCT report on Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Read More »
Innovez One, one of the world’s leading providers of port management software for the world’s busiest ports and towage operators, stated that of the 4,900 ports in the world, the majority are not yet using digital technology for even the most basic processes; Eighty percent of ports continue to rely on manual, legacy solutions
80% of ports do not reap the benefits of digitalization according to Innovez-One (Forum) Read More »
The ambition of the Getting to Zero Coalition is to have commercially viable zero emission vessels operating along deep sea trade routes by 2030. But at what degree of adoption do zero emission fuels become “commercially viable”? An S-curve based analysis suggests that zero emission fuels need to make up 5 percent of the
By Michael Grey* Nearly a year into the wretched pandemic and it is difficult to determine any real cheer amid the winter snow. Some fifty odd flag states have queued up to declare their allegiance to the Neptune concord that defines seafarers as “key workers” but it is clearly a lot easier to sign
The Mask of Cassandra (Forum) Read More »
Ottawa – The Canadian Marine Industries and Shipbuilding Association (CMISA) has expressed concern over provincial governments ordering vessels overseas rather than giving such business to Canadian shipyards. In a bluntly-worded statement released by Colin Cooke, President and CEO, the CMISA noted: “During the last week of January when new US President Joe Biden re-issued a Buy American
Provincial government investments should give priority to Made in Canada ships (FORUM) Read More »
In December 2020, the signatories of the Poseidon Principles—currently twenty large banks—released their first Annual Disclosure Report. As the first paragraph of the report says: “This report represents the first time signatories of the Poseidon Principles disclose the climate alignment of their ship finance portfolios. It marks a significant milestone in the joint efforts of
Ocean carriers are taking all available measures to improve the speed and efficiency of cargo movement including employing all available vessel tonnage says the World Shipping Council. When demand dropped some 20-30% in Q2 2020, carriers curtailed services and idled vessels. However, as cargo volume rose, carriers redeployed those assets as quickly as possible. Alphaliner
Widely regarded as the senior statesman of world shipping journalism, Michael Grey* offers in our FORUM section, another impassioned commentary and an urgent suggestion for the intervention of BIMCO on seafarers so inhumanly treated during the mounting COVID crisis. Do seafarers have souls? Are they sentient human beings, with natural rights, or, as the last
The ongoing seafarer crisis: do charterers have hearts? (FORUM) Read More »