News

Unlike an emergency situation on land, when a ship faces a crisis at sea, Masters cannot simply dial the emergency services for instant assistance. They take responsibility for dealing with the situation, acting decisively to protect lives and prevent or minimise damage to the ship, environment and cargo.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) have worked in partnership to provide a guide for Masters. "Peril at Sea and Salvage: A Guide for Masters" outlines the actions a Master should take when confronted with an emergency. It also explains the importance of prompt notification to relevant parties with onshore support, particularly coastal States and the company Peril at Sea contains information on the initial response to an incident, implementing the emergency response plan, updates and follow-up actions, and towage and salvage. More information: Tanker Operator

Biofuels may not become the zero-carbon solution of choice in the shipping industry’s decarbonization process in the longer term, but could have a significant role to play to accelerate the process. In a recent article DNV GL summarizes the regulatory issues, safety and other operational issues faced by those using these new fuels or fuel blends. One of numerous possible ways to comply with the IMO’s strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships is to use biofuels or biofuel blends. Biofuels have very low sulphur levels and low CO2 emissions, as such they are a technically viable solution in meeting some of the current and future emission requirements. However, their NOx emissions might be higher than with fossil diesel oils and another immediate challenge is that the shipping sector still have limited knowledge on handling and applying biofuels as part of their fuel supply. Read more: Gard

A new strategic partnership to strengthen cooperation between ships and ports to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been signed by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) and the GreenVoyage2050 Project, which is executed by IMO. The partnership will result in collaboration to jointly deliver technical cooperation and capacity-building activities to support implementation of an IMO resolution (MEPC.323(74)) which encourages voluntary cooperation between ships and ports to cut GHG emissions. The partnership with GreenVoyage2050 seeks to support countries even further, through the development of additional tools for ports to become cleaner and greener. The overall aim of the partnership is to demonstrate how efforts in the port can support overall reductions in emissions from shipping and help achieve the goals of the Initial IMO Strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships. Read more: IMO News

Albion Marine Engine Experts (AMEX) team was working onsite through this weekend to provide emergency main bearing replacement on a mammoth 10S90ME engine. Albion was able to activate it AMEX team to arrive onboard within a few hours of notice. The team returned back late past Monday midnight having successfully complete the job well before vessel’s morning departure. The job was executed at one of the largest container terminals on west coast of North America - Delta port, BC with the vessel being a part of one of the world’s largest container carrier fleets.