Lloyd’s has published a new edition of LOF - it comes after a two year process to review the workings of the contract with the objective of increasing its use.
There have been several initiatives that have come from this review, such as a requirement for users of LOF to provide Lloyd’s with ESG data for every LOF. It is hoped that this will help to demonstrate the ESG benefits that using the form brings to owners and insurers.
It will also be a requirement for the parties to settled cases to provide information about the settlement. This will be handled anonymously by Lloyd’s and aggregated to give some evidence about the cost of using the form that is presently only available from published awards.
There is to be a programme of education about the contract’s use in Asian markets and also all awards from arbitrators will be published and available to anyone.
The main change with LOF 2024 is in regard to the associated Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitration Clauses 2024 as referred to in Clause “I” of the revised Lloyd's Open Form.
The changes to the LSAC 2024 chiefly relate to the new Fast Track Documents Only arbitration which will apply by default to all LOF 2024 contracts where the security sought by contractors is less than US$ 10 million.
It means that the great majority of cases could now be arbitrated under this FTDO
ISU Statistics 2023
ISU has published the salvage industry statistics for 2023 and the key figures are:
• Gross revenue for ISU members - US$ 398 million (2022, US$ 241 million)
• 184 services provided (2022, 149 services)
• Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) - 16 cases
system which carries with it new rules regarding the amount of material that parties can submit.
Parties will still have the right to apply to the arbitrator in all cases to have a full oral hearing, but it will be the arbitrator’s decision whether or not to grant that request. Such decision depending on, for example, whether the services were complex.
There is also a revised schedule of recoverable costs which are capped at £75,000.
Lloyd’s objective is to speed up and reduce the cost of arbitrations which some saw as an impediment to more use of LOF.
ISU remains a strong supporter of Lloyd’s Open Form and believes that revenue from awards based on Article 13 of the 1989 Salvage Conventionis essential to ensure our industry is adequately funded so that it can provide professional emergency response and salvage services around the world.
ISU has serious reservations about the new FTDO system and pressed for a lower security threshold and also wanted the automatic right to have an oral hearing in complex cases and those rare cases where there are allegations of incompetence or bad faith on the part of the contractor. There are also concerns about the apparent mismatch in the relative overall size of allowable
(2022, 26). LOF revenue down at US$ 29 million (2022, US$ 66 million)
• Wreck removal income - US$ 193 million from 30 services (2022, US$ 55 million from 32 services)
All numbers are gross income from which all the contractors’ costs must be paid. Numbers are for income in the year received not the year when the service was provided.
submissions.
ISU believes that its was not treated fairly during the process and its legitimate views were largely disregarded. Nevertheless we continue to support and promote the use of Lloyd’s Open Form 2024. But we shall be monitoring closely the working of the FTDO and behaviour of other parties under the new system and shall seek early review and modifications if, in practice, it proves to be unsatisfactory for our members.
ISU believes that its members should have the freedom to contract however they choose. It is therefore up to individual members of the association to familiarise themselves with the detail of LOF 2024 and the LSAC 2024 and to take the necessary advice about its use or alternatives.
ISU President, John Witte, said: “The 2023 ISU statistics show a modest recovery compared with the historically low level in 2022. Emergency Response services generated US$ 196 million split between LOF, US$ 29 million and other contracts, $167 million.
“Wreck removal income has rallied rising to US$ 193 from the very low level of US$ 55 million in the previous numbers. Wreck removal income is important for our
ISU Statistics 2023
members and this is a welcome increase. It brings the split of the industry’s income back to the typical levels of approximately 50:50 between emergency response and wreck removal income.
“The very small number of LOFs for our members in 2023 is extremely disappointing but sadly reflects a long term downward trend that most observers are well aware of.
"ISU has worked closely with Lloyd’s and other stakeholders in the past three years to find ways to revive LOF.
"We promote its use and we believe that income based on awards under Article 13 of the Salvage Convention must remain the cornerstone of funding for our industry but this is increasingly difficult as these statistics so dramatically demonstrate.”
The 2023 ISU statistics show a historic low level of LOF cases - 16 for ISU
members - generating income of US$ 29 million. This by some degree the smallest number of both LOF cases and income in the past 30 years.
Revenue from LOF cases amounted to 15 per cent of all emergency response revenue and LOF cases accounted for 10 per cent of emergency response cases in 2023. SCOPIC revenue at US$ 9 million in 2023 was down from US$ 21 million previously.
Revenue in 2023 from operations conducted under contracts other than LOF was US$ 167 million. The average revenue from each non-LOF contract was US$ 1.2 million.
Wreck removal is an important source of income for members of the ISU and in 2023 there was US$ 193 million from 30 operations.
Mr Witte added: “Professional salvors
protect the environment, reduce risk and mitigate loss. They also keep trade moving – which is demonstrated so clearly when there are large containership cases like the Baltimore bridge incident earlier this year. We continue to work closely with key stakeholders to ensure that there is global provision of professional salvage services.”
The ISU statistics are collected from all ISU members by a professional third party, which aggregates and analyses them. The statistics do not include the revenues of non-ISU members but are the only formal measure of the state of the marine salvage industry.
The statistics are for income received in the relevant year but that can include revenue relating to services provided in previous years and there can be an element of “time lag”. The statistics are for gross revenues from which all of the salvors’ costs must be met.
Gross revenue all sources
Wreck removal services and revenue
LOF and SCOPIC revenue Emergency response revenue
DALI Baltimore bridge disaster
In March the world watched as the 947 ft boxship DALI hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge at Baltimore in the US causing the tragic loss of the lives of six construction workers and serious injury to another who were on the bridge.
The vessel was outbound enroute to Sri Lanka and had two pilots on board. It was reported that the vessel had experienced power blackouts in the preceding days and that a primary electrical breaker tripped leading to main engine shut down just before the incident. It rendered the steering gear inoperable and the vessel was uncontrollable.
The impact caused the central span of the steel work to collapse, some of it onto the vessel and the rest into the river. As well as the loss of life it meant major disruption and economic consequences for the Port of Baltimore – a national and international trade hub.
There was a rapid emergency response effort by the US Coast Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers along with local agencies with search and rescue being the immediate priority.
Thereafter the salvage operations were complex and required coordination of multiple agencies and members of ISU and American Salvage Association in stabilising then refloating the vessel and removing huge amounts of debris, mostly
twisted and bent steel members to ensure safe navigation again become possible.
It involved explosive demolition of some parts that were lodged on the boxship.
ISU member Donjon Marine deployed multiple assets including the heavy lift crane CHESAPEAKE 1000 and a hugely powerful hydraulic grab to pick up steel from the river bed.
ISU member Resolve Marine was responsible under the OPA 90 Vessel Response Plan for the refloating of the DALI which was achieved soon after she was disentangled from the last pieces of the bridge.
Multraship operations
On the night of 10 - 11 April, 2024, Multraship Salvage B.V. and URS België N.V. successfully carried out a salvage operation on the bulk carrier BANGLAR ARJAN, when she lost power in the vicinity of the Noordzee Terminal shortly after departure from Antwerp.
The salvors immediately mobilised the tugs MULTRATUG 28, VB KIWI and FAIRPLAY XIV. In a short time they succeeded in establishing a towing connection and stabilised the casualty.
The BANGLAR AJRAN was then manoeuvred in the narrowing channel under control, including around the ‘Nauw
van Bath’, to keep her safe from passing traffic and to prevent grounding in the narrow channel. The salvors then towed her under control to a safe anchorage. The VB CORAL remained on standby at the anchorage with the vessel, when making repairs, and provided escort services until the BANGLAR ARJAN confirmed that they no longer required assistance.
Multraship also provided salvage assistance to HAMBURG EAGLE on June 30, a bulk carrier laden with wind turbine parts, when she reported ‘not under command’ near Flushing, Western Scheldt. The vessel was outbound from
The US National Transportation Safety Board and USCG are undertaking a major investigation. There are also wider questions about the structural integrity of critical infrastructure – particularly bridges over waters used by marine traffic and prompting the consideration of the need for increased protection for similar structures across the rest of the US.
The severe disruption and economic impact as well as the physical damage and loss of life will lead to enormous insurance liabilities but the response effort by ISU members reinforces the vital importance of marine salvage in both saving property and keeping trade flowing.
anchor berth Everingen to New London. MULTRATUG 32 and CMS WARRIOR were mobilised immediately and prevented the casualty from grounding. The tugs towed the HAMBURG EAGLE to the Wielingen Noord anchorage, where she was safely anchored and redelivered.
Another notable Multraship salvage was that of XANDER, a pushertug proceeding to Germany pushing a cement barge. Near Merwede Bridge XANDER started making water and sank. After disconnecting the cement barge and pumping out the vessel, she was lifted on a barge by sheerlegs and transported to a shipyard the next day.
Picture credit: Maryland GovPics
Nippon Salvage
On 6 June 2024, the new salvage tug KOYO MARU (right) was delivered to Nippon Salvage. The new KOYO MARU became the most powerful tug in Japan equipped with NOx SCR to comply with environmental regulations in some areas, and has more deck space to load ROV systems.
This is the third salvage tug named KOYO MARU in the company’s history, the first one built in 1968 had already retired, but the second one built in 1998 is still on active duty.
Nippon Salvage decided to operate the second and the third KOYO MARU together to expand its salvage capability to respond to marine casualties and for offshore projects.
Resolve Marine
Resolve Marine has formed a Business Development division and promoted Daniel Dettor to Director. Based in London, Dettor will focus on global business development initiatives and adds oversight of client services, government relations and brand, marketing and communications
The new building was completed in Japan in June, classed by NK. The vessel is 80.64 m LOA with a gross tonnage of 2906 and 12,000 bhp giving cruising speed of 12 kts and a maximum speed of 14.5 kts and range of 7,500 at top speed and 14,500 at cruise speed. Bollard pull is 161 tonnes. The towing winch has two drums, 45 tonnes at 20m/min (Brake capacity 300 tonnes) and 1200m of 71 mm main tow wire. There is full FiFi and accommodation (excluding crew) for 43.
departments and personnel.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Dettor said, “It’s been a privilege to play a part in Resolve Marine’s growth, a journey that has provided us the opportunity to develop a global client base that includes some of the largest marine operators and insurers in the world. Together with a team of highly skilled, client-facing professionals, I look forward to strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones as we evolve our service offerings to meet the needs of our clients.”
Resolve Marine has also added ISO 14001, environmental management, and ISO 45001, occupational health and safety, to the company’s ISO 9001 certification. ISO 14001 acknowledges efforts to minimize the company’s global environmental footprint and set goals for greener practices.
ISO 45001 acknowledges actions to keep workers safe from accidents and illnesses both on and offshore. ISO certifications are based on Resolve Marine’s global integrated management system.
Seperately, Resolve Marine says that providing disaster relief and humanitarian aid is “part of its DNA” and noted its commitment to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Number 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities.
When World Central Kitchen (WCK) sought assistance for the provision of food supplies to Gaza, Resolve Marine’s crane barge RMG 280 and crew were mobilised from Gibraltar to Cyprus to increase aid being delivered through the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza. Tragically, the fatal attacks on WCK volunteers in Gaza hampered efforts to further assist.
The Tsavliris Cultural Foundation scholarship award ceremony took place in Athens in June. The recipient, Leandros Trantas, secured a place on the BSc Maritime Business Program, a three year course offered by the Metropolitan College in Piraeus in partnership with Solent University, Southampton, UK.
The scholarship is awarded in memory of founder, Alexander G Tsavliris, to commemorate the 50 years since his
passing. The merit-based scholarship was presented by the Tsavliris brothers, Nicolas, George and Andreas in an "emotional event."
And for the 38th consecutive year Andreas A Tsavliris has been re-elected as member of the Council of the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee for the next two years. The elections took place during the GSCC Annual General Meeting on 20 June 2024, in London. (Continues.)
Tsavliris
At Poseidonia 2024, Tsavliris presented its new corporate brochure which reviews the highlights of the Group's activities, including the most important salvage operations performed during the years 2021-2024. The Brochure has been published every four years for almost three decades.
This edition is dedicated to the Founder of the Group, Alexander G Tsavliris and notes that in 2024, Tsavliris celebrates 85 years from the commencement of the first Tsavliris shipping company and 60 years from the foundation of Tsavliris Salvage & Towage.
Multraship
Multraship Towage & Salvage held a Christening ceremony on 30 May to name their newest tug MULTRATUG 35 at their home port of Terneuzen, the Netherlands. The vessel is a Damen ASD Tug 3212 (above right).
Multraship’s HR Manager, Mrs Chrétienne Huisman did the honours and wished the tug and her crews fair winds and following seas.
Multraship’s Managing Director, Captain Leendert Muller, said: “Our business has grown to meet additional customer and project requirements, and as such, we invested in additional vessels and have grown our team both at sea and onshore.
“Together with MULTRATUG 35, we ordered three ASD tugs from Damen,
Ardentia
Spanish ISU member Ardentia reports a “busy spring”, engaging in three simultaneous salvage operations.
Ardentia's team in Tenerife refloated the tug PICACHO which had sunk in the port of Las Palmas. The operation was carried out using airbags and cranes.
At the same time, Ardentia provided emergency response to a 30m boat which had sunk in Sines, Portugal. Full mobilisation from Porto took less than 24 hours and the vessel was refloated in the same way as the Las Palmas tug by using airbags and cranes.
Also in the same period, the yacht, NORDIC LILY, was grounded on a beach at Valencia in Spain. Again, Ardentia mobilised a full team - this time from its base at Tarragona in less than 24 hours.
which have been built in Vietnam.
MULTRATUG 34, an ASD Tug 2813, has already been delivered and is in service in Oman. The third, MULTRATUG 36, has been delivered in April and is now sailing to The Netherlands."
Both MULTRATUG 35 and its forthcoming sister are 32m tugs with a bollard pull of 88 tons.
Though built to Damen’s proven design, they have been substantially upgraded to Multraship’s high standards and requirements with a series of options. These include compliance with IMO Tier III requirements.
Additionally, Damen has installed the tug with FiFi 1 firefighting systems and it has been upgraded for anchor handling and
related offshore operations.
Mr Muller commented that the demand for Multraship's services has been mainly driven by project requirements. However, it also reflects Multraship's ongoing efforts to uphold a high-quality and diverse fleet, which enables them to handle both complex and routine harbour and sea towage requirements as well as salvage and emergency response incidents.
“With these new additions to our fleet, we remain committed to providing services of the highest standard. Part of this is ensuring our fleet is equipped to provide rapid, reliable, and safe operations at all times.” Mr Muller added.
The operation involved dredging around the grounding site using heavy machinery and a barge (below).
Ardentia said: “Our people have been stressed, but never compromising safety nor efficiency in all three successful operations.”
Smit Salvage operational news
In May 2024, SMIT responded to a serious fire incident involving a container vessel approximately 100 nautical miles southwest of Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The 8,800 TEU ship, fully laden and en-route to West Africa from Asia, experienced a fire in one of her cargo holds, initially affecting containers on the hatch cover. These posed the risk of fire spreading to nearby holds, as well as spills and the possibility therefore of further damage to the vessel, her cargo and the environment.
Activated under Lloyd’s Open Form, SMIT swiftly deployed a specialised salvage
team, including experienced fire fighters and equipment from its response centres in Singapore and The Netherlands. After several days of on-site operations and
with the aid of four firefighting tugs from local partners, the fire was successfully controlled and later extinguished.
Teams went from container to container in the worst affected areas to extinguish the remaining fires and hot spots. The vessel is now heading to a designated port of refuge for cargo discharge and further preparations for redelivery to its owners.
After earlier upgrades and many successful wreck removal projects, SMIT has upgraded its hydraulic wreck removal grab HDW-1 for a wreck removal project in Asia. Through a comprehensive review process, the upgrade concerned a redesign and replacement of the shells to
crush and hold even larger wreck sections (picture above).
The new HDW1 now has a lifting capacity of 800 tonnes and can apply 1,000 tonnes of grabbing force. It is designed now also to be able to operate at deep water depths. After an extensive test programme, the final in-water test was successfully conducted in May 2024.
Resolve Marine - firefighting and Alaskan operations
Resolve Marine reports that the first half of 2024 has been busy for its firefighting experts. In January, the company assisted an oil tanker that was hit by a missile in the Red Sea.
The firefighting team provided remote advice to the crew of the vessel who, together with the support of the patrolling naval vessels, extinguished the blaze.
In Canada, Resolve Marine mobilised a firefighting team to assist a containership which had experienced an engine room fire in the St. Lawrence River. Boundary cooling and other measures were taken to help extinguish the fire and, after presenting a plan to the Canadian authorities, the vessel proceeded to safe anchorage.
Elsewhere the USCG Sector Anchorage requested Resolve Marine to respond to a 9,000-gallon diesel fuel spill in a remote Alaskan village, Kwigillingok. The location is only accessible by air or water and is home to a community of some 300 Yupiit First Nations people.
A short gravel runway limited the size and
type of equipment that could be delivered to the site and Resolve Marine’s Pilatus PC-12 aircraft was used to shuttle gear to Bethel, where it was transferred onto smaller chartered planes for delivery.
Spill response equipment included skimmers, shore-seal boom, pumps and collapsible fuel storage tanks. Due to the village's dependence on local wildlife for food, extra care was put into wildlife deterrence around the spill. In temperatures as low as -34°C the team worked with villagers to control the spill.
Also in Alaska, on Christmas morning 2023, cargo in a general cargo vessel shifted resulting in a thermal runaway from the lithium-Ion batteries in cargo hold No 1. The ship’s crew discharged the fixed CO2 system and the fire appeared to abate.
Resolve Marine was asked to provide a crew and firefighting equipment to ensure the fire onboard was extinguished and create safe conditions for the ship to continue its voyage. However, while enroute to Dutch Harbor to meet Resolve’s firefighting team another thermal runaway event occurred in cargo hold No 2.
Resolve Marine salvors and firefighting teams arrived on the scene and conducted detailed atmospheric monitoring along with thermal imaging analyses. On site for more than a month, the Resolve Pioneer provided offshore accommodations and served as a work platform to support operations under extreme weather conditions and with difficult satellite communications.
The USCG Unified Command approved a plan to bring the vessel to a berthing dock to resecure all cargo, and damaged cargo was placed into overpack drums with heat-reactive granular material to prevent any further fires. After the undamaged cargo was resecured, the vessel continued to San Diego, California.
Tsavliris - bulker operations
On 18 April 2024, the bulk carrier VELA STAR, 83,651 tonnes dwt and in partly laden condition, ran aground at km 12 of the access channel to the Port of Buenos Aires, Argentina, partially blocking the channel.
Tsavliris despatched the tugs ONA DON LORENZO (4,500 bhp and 63 tbp) and ONA TRIUNFO (4,930 bhp and 60 tbp)
from Buenos Aires to the assistance of the casualty along with Tsavliris’ salvage master and the vessel was refloated the same day and escorted to km 23 where the services were successfully completed.
On 12 June 2024, the Bulk Carrier TUTOR – 82,357 dwt and laden with 80,000 coal in bulk, was struck by missiles, approximately 60 miles SW of Hodeidah, Red Sea, while enroute from Ust Luga, Russia to Kandla, India. Sadly, a seafarer died. The vessel was disabled following severe damage and flooding of the engine room.
On the same day, Tsavliris despatched the S/T GLADIATOR (8,000 bhp and 115 tbp) from Salalah, Oman and the AHTS HERCULES (6,000 bhp and 65 tbp) from Fujairah, UAE, to the assistance of
Nippon Salvage prevents grounding
On 2 February 2024, a cargo ship (9,642 gross tonnes) suffered main engine failure four miles off the coast of Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, Japan and was in danger of running aground.
In response to repeated requests from competent authorities, Nippon Salvage dispatched its salvage tug KOYO MARU - 1 0,000 hp and 132.5 tonnes bollard pull - promptly to the site on speculation. The tug arrived on the same day and Nippon Salvage was contracted for the emergency towage.
KOYO MARU successfully connected
ITS Convention
The biennial ITS convention was held in Dubai and attended by a number of ISU members.
The salvage content of the event was limited but Smit’s Richard Janssen, UK SoSRep, Stephan Hennig and representatives from Mubarak Marine gave salvage presentations and case studies. ISU will work with organisers to encourage more salvage content in future editions of the convention.
Posidonia
ISU members and associates were heavily involved in many Posidonia
the towline to the casualty in the stormy weather and commenced towage to Sakaiminato Port. Despite the severe sea conditions during the winter period in the Sea of Japan which forced the casualty to swing greatly side to side, KOYO MARU managed to tow the casualty safely to port.
Nippon said “it was one of the cases in which the capabilities of KOYO MARU and her crew’s skills were fully demonstrated against the adverse sea conditions."
In addition, Nippon Salvage is providing
the casualty. Tsavliris also mustered a salvage team in both Greece and Djibouti consisting of a naval architect, dive team, riggers and the salvage antipollution ship AEGIS.
The bulker’s 21 crew members were evacuated on 14 June by military authorities and unfortunately the vessel sank after a further attack (above) before the arrival of salvage assistance.
assistance for the recovery of more than 100 fishing boats stranded in ports due to the Noto Peninsula Earthquake which occurred on 1 January 2024.
events and hosting their own receptions.
The ISU Secretary General and Legal Adviser attended seminars and functions and a meeting of the ISU Salvage subCommittee, hosted by Five Oceans Salvage, was held to coincide with the biennial Greek shipping extravaganza.
Chair of the ISU Salvage sub-Committee, Eline Muller (above, second from right), represented ISU on a risk panel as part of the Maritime London Posidonia seminar and she was able to place some key messages about the importance of the salvage industry to shipowner and insurance interests.
Associates’ and Affiliates' News
ETA
The European Tugowners Association held its AGM at Helsingor in Denmark, including a seminar focussing on emissions issues and trading in port and tug operations (right).
Separately, Greenport Alliances, the EU project funded by the ERASMUS + programme, in which ETA is a member of the consortium, held its initial meeting in Turkey.
The project will support universities, maritime academies and other vocational training providers in the definition and testing of new educational materials, and
Brookes Bell
Brookes Bell has recruited Dhaneshwar Nath as a Managing Marine Engineer in its Shanghai office. The consultancy say Nath has “extensive expertise and a distinguished career spanning over two decades,” and that his appointment “further enhances its commitment to delivering industry leading services to clients across the region.”
It follows the addition of Captain Hisyam Haron to the Brookes Bell team in Singapore following an 11 year career at sea sailing in all ranks up to and including Master on a number of multipurpose vessels.
Quest Marine
Quest Marine UK has been appointed as the Londion Liaison office for ISU associate member Quest Marine Consultants Co Ltd (QMCCL) which was formed in 2012 and provides towage, salvage and wreck removal and other consultancy services to the industry in the China area and globally.
Founder, Mr Hu Zhi Hui is also managing director of Grand Ocean & Williams Co Ltd (GOW) based in Hong Kong and which undertakes a range of marine services and owns and operates a number of floating assets including tugs and engineering barges.
Andrew Moore Associates
Andrew Moore associates has appointed Captain Brian J Cardoza to manage its Mumbai office and he will be responsible for organising survey and consultancy assignments in the region. He had an 18 year seagoing career in a variety of merchant vessels as well as nine years of management experience.
assist seafarers and prospective marine personnel develop new skills, which will help them reduce emissions and save energy in daily port operations.
ETA is responsible for Work Package 2,
ABL
ABL, with partners from Maritime Archaeology Ltd, has successfully completed one year of a three-year research project undertaken for the Salvage and Marine Operations section of the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
Under the MoD Salvage and Marine Operations Wreck Programme the team are collating the historical record and undertaking a technical analysis of more than 400 wrecks in which the Ministry of Defence has an interest.
This will provide the Salvage and Marine Operations department with the necessary information to assess any current and future risks associated with the wrecks.
The wrecks are predominantly from the First and Second World Wars, but range from the 1880s to the modern period and include a wide range of vessel types, construction methods, fuels, cargo and armaments. Combined with environmental factors, the assessments are being collated into an electronic database to provide the MoD with the best available understanding of the wrecks.
A public open day was held at the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the UK’s Isle of Wight highlighting the Wreck Management Programme and attended by representatives of the MoD’s Salvage and Marine Operations team, ABL and Maritime Archaeology Ltd together with leading dignitaries.
The project will continue for two further years, with completion of the electronic data base enabling the records and assessments to be accessed, interrogated and visualised across designated platforms.
in which the members of the consortium will carry out a needs analysis of the sector and study the current commercial drivers that might promote its transition to greener technologies and practices.
INTERCARGO
INTERCARGO has released its annual Bulk Carrier Casualty Report and says that it “highlights positive improvement in safety of dry bulk shipping”. The 10 year trend shows continued improvement and 2023 saw the loss of one dry bulk vessel and no loss of lives.
The bulk carrier fleet has grown significantly in recent years: between 2014 and 2023 the number of vessels increased by 20%.
Intercargo says areas of concern remain including cargo liquefaction or other moisture related cargo failure, which pose the greatest risk to life, contributing to the loss of 55 lives over the past 10 years. Groundings remain the biggest cause of ship losses.
A significant contributing factor to the safety performance of bulk carriers is the development and implementation of an improved international regulatory framework and the adoption of new technology to improve ship design is also a major causal factor.
Dimitris Fafalios, Intercargo’s Chairman, commented: “Bulk carrier safety must never be overlooked. We have come a long way since the ‘dark days’ of the 1980s, when we experienced many tragic losses of lives and vessels. Since then, safety performance of the sector has steadily improved, thanks in large part to concerted efforts by Intercargo with other industry stakeholders. These latest statistics reveal an impressive achievement, especially when considering the significant rise in the number of bulk carriers during this period. There is, however, definitely no room for complacency."
Obituaries
Kees Muller 1944 - 2024
It was with great sadness that ISU learned of the passing of Kees Muller in April.
Kees, husband of 57 years to Heleen,
Mike Lacey 1943 - 2024
It was also with great sadness that ISU learned of the passing of Mike Lacey at the age of 81. He was Secretary General of ISU from 2006 - 2012. However he had a 33 year association with ISU providing legal advice and working on its behalf on numerous conventions, documents and contracts.
ISU AGM 2024 Istanbul
Preparations for the ISU AGM at the Conrad Bosphorus Hotel, Istanbul 1113 September, are well underway and our thanks go to the hosts Aras Marine for investing so much time and effort in making the arrangements.
The AGM programme is:
Wednesday 11 September, ISU Executive Committee Meeting and for others, visits
was 79 years old and had been ill for a considerable period of time.
He was co-founder of Multraship and his career in towage and salvage spanned six decades, having started in the family shipping business in the early 1960s.
Over the years he was involved in hundreds, if not thousands, of salvage and rescue operations and, together with Heleen he was pivotal not only in developing Multraship, but also the wider towage, salvage and shipping industry.
Kees Muller was always a creative thinker and as well as his operational experience he was the driving force behind the development of the revolutionary Carrousel Rave Tug (CRT). He was
Mike grew up in in the south of the UK and went to sea as a deck cadet and then officer in one of the UK’s traditional shipping Lines. He served in merchant vessels mainly operating routes to Australia and New Zealand.
After coming ashore Mike worked as a lawyer and became an authority on Lloyd’s Open Form and casualty matters working particularly for Greek salvors. He worked for Shaw and Croft which was later taken over by HBJ Gateley Wareing.
Mike was closely involved in many major developments and revisions of LOF, starting as a member of the LOF Working Party from 1978 onwards and he was one of the creators of the “Tanker Safety Net” in LOF80, and then worked on the 1989 Salvage Convention and its Article 14, LOF90 and subsequently LOF2000 and SCOPIC.
It was Mike who came up with the
to historic locations in Istanbul and in the evening the opening reception.
Thursday 12 September, ISU AGM – ISU company business and presentations as well as open forum and guidance on the new Lloyd’s Open Form and other industry developments. Partners will again have the opportunity to visit historic sites in Istanbul and in the evening there is a gala dinner cruise on the Bosphorus.
Friday 13 September, there will be a golf
a passionate and powerful maritime ambassador and he was honoured with a Dutch knighthood - Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau - in 2011.
Besides his exceptional entrepreneurial and specialist tug and salvage skills, he was widely known for his charismatic personality and described as a true “people’s person” with a love of sailing, music and entertaining; many will remember him livening up the room wherever there was a piano to be played.
The family said: “We will be forever grateful for all that he did for us and are so proud of him and we intend to continue his legacy.”
name SCOPIC (with thanks to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Five Oceans Salvage, for the anecdote) Mike said: “One night in January 1998 I was in the bar of the Royal Horseguards Hotel waiting for Arnold Witte and Archie Bishop. I was doodling on a beer mat and came up with the term “SCOPIC” and that name stuck. I should have got the copyright on it! Geoffrey Brice had been proposing GREPIC –Guaranteed Remuneration from the P&I Clubs.”
Mike also worked on BIMCO towage and wreck contracts along with ISU executive committee members.
Mike also had direct salvage experience for he broke away from legal matters for a period to join United Towage in Hull in the early 1980s where he was managing director and became well known to many in the salvage sector who are still active in the industry.
match for those who wish to play, and for others, a site visit to Aras facilities followed by farewell lunch.
Members will soon be issued with an internet-based booking link to sign up for the different activities. It will be critical for planning that attendees book as soon as possible when the link becomes available.
Members who wish to attend but have not yet booked the hotel should contact the Secretary General urgently.
MTSC Philippines oil recovery operations
In February 2023, the MT PRINCESS EMPRESS, carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil, sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, causing an oil spill which affected nearby coastal areas across Oriental Mindoro and Caluya archipelago.
Responding to the crisis with urgency, Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation (MTSC), contracted by SOP on behalf of the Owner (RDC Reield Marine Services Inc.), swiftly mobilised fully equipped oil spill response tugboats
and specially trained personnel for the cleanup. The MTSC tugs and personnel remained on site until mid-July 2023, containing the spill and working closely with Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF).
Simultaneously, MTSC's salvage team embarked on an unprecedented mission to extract the remaining oil from the sunken vessel, developing what it said was “the proprietary methodology to address the unique challenges of depth and rough sea conditions.”
MTSC mobilised a diverse array of vessels, including an oil tanker, a specialized Diving Support Vessel, along with two ROVs and a custom-designed Oil Catch Can fabricated by MTSC to address the unprecedented challenge.
MTSC concluded that “through unwavering dedication and collaborative efforts, on June 16, 2023, MTSC, with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), confirmed all accessible remaining oil had been removed.”
ISU Annual Review
ISU has published its Annual Review for 2023. The review aims to ensure the ISU is transparent about its activities and finances for members and stakeholders. It includes reports from the secretariat, the annual accounts as well as executive committee report and pollution and general industry statistics. The review is available on the ISU website.
