December 2017
INTERNATIONAL SALVAGE UNION
ISU's US members respond to hurricanes ISU’s US members have responded heroically to the spate of hurricanes that hit the US Gulf Coast, Florida and the Caribbean in recent months. Salvors have not only dealt with the many hundreds of affected vessels but have also helped to re-start the economies of the affected areas as well as facilitating the flow of humanitarian aid. Contractors have worked “round-theclock” for months in close co-operation with the US Coast Guard, State and Federal authorities to clear wrecks, open harbours, refloat casualties and clean up pollution and debris. Lindsay Malen-Habib, Resolve Marine Group’s new Manager of Client Services (see Members’ News, page 4) said: “There is no clearer example of the
importance of the salvage industry in supporting our critical national priorities in time of crisis.” And David DeVilbiss, Global Diving and Salvage’s Vice President of Casualty and Emergency Response added: “The variety of the wrecks and where they were situated made removals extremely complicated. Each one of these vessels was a puzzle unto itself.” Around the world ISU members have a track record in recent years of responding to natural disasters from the Tsunami in Japan to the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. A full report and pictures of US salvors’ response operations is on page 2 and 3. Picture courtesy: Troy Caras
ISU is seeking a new Secretary General The ISU is the trade association representing the interests of marine salvors worldwide. The Secretary General is responsible to the ISU President and Executive Committee for the efficient management of the ISU and delivery of its objectives, working closely with the Communications Adviser and Legal Adviser. ISU is seeking an energetic and dynamic individual with substantial experience at a senior level in the shipping industry or associated professions.
Essential requirements
ISU's office is in Holland House in the City of London
Experience of marine salvage which may be from a commercial, insurance or legal perspective; knowledge of maritime law and marine insurance; excellent administration and IT competencies; clear verbal and written communication in English; ability to build effective relationships with senior industry stakeholders; educated to degree level or marine equivalent.
Location
Contact
Central London, some flexible working may be considered
For an application pack or an informal discussion about the role please contact Mark Hoddinott, General Manager ISU.
Salary According to experience and in line with the responsibilities of the role
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+44 20 7220 6597 recruitment@marine-salvage.com
ISU’s US members in hurricane response operations
ISU’s US members have conducted multiple operations in recent months in response to the hurricanes that swept into the US Gulf Coast and Florida and the Caribbean. Ardent completed wreck removal operations following Hurricane Irma at St Maarten in mid-November. More than 30 vessels were successfully cleared.
The US Coast Guard also appointed Ardent under the Basic Ordering Agreement for the clearance of approximately 25 vessels at Port Canaveral on the East Coast of Florida. Ardent has now commenced the work to remove yachts, trawlers, houseboats, and other craft with a 225 tonne crane barge. Ardent Contract Manager Bernard van
Haeringen said: “With our US offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Houston, Texas, we saw the destructive force of the 2017 hurricane season.” “Some wrecks that we are currently working to clear are in the manatee habitat in the Floridian nature reserves, and we plan to complete our operations with minimal disturbance to the wildlife.” Operations are expected to continue throughout December.
Resolve Marine Group said that it is is running “full spectrum” emergency response and vessel recovery throughout Texas, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and, with various US Coastguard responses, throughout Florida. Resolve has over 13 teams mobilized and deployed assisting with the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Following Hurricane Harvey, Resolve was contracted to lift and refloat a 5,000 HP ASD tug which sank while holding a drill ship against the dock at the height of Hurricane Harvey. Resolve mobilized a specialized salvage team and its crane barge, RMG 400, from the Bahamas along with various salvage and pollution response assets. 80,000 gallons of fuel was removed before the vessel was raised with no damage to the environment. Resolve’s welders installed a box patch over the hull breach and
Picture courtesy: USCG News
the vessel was then towed back to the owner’s dock at Ingleside Texas. Elsewhere during the hurricane, a 180 foot Dive Support Vessel (DSV), above, was driven aground into sand several feet deep in shallow water. The crew was 2
taken off by USCG helicopter. Resolve was awarded the contract to respond and deployed a shallow draft tug, supporting deck barge, salvage and diving team and air portable equipment to the location. Resolve’s engineering team created computerized stability models for the
vessel and developed a plan to free her. All bulk fuel oils were removed with no damage to the environment, the vessel was ballasted and two tugs were used to refloat her during the next safe weather window. Resolve patched all points of water ingress and stabilized the vessel for an open water tow and returned her to Larose, Louisiana. During Hurricane Irma a commercial dry dock dragged its moorings and sank alongside one of the main piers in St Thomas, blocking access for cruise ships. Resolve mobilized the 1400 tonne derrick barge, Conquest MB1, from Louisiana with a specialized salvage team, heavy rigging and equipment, right. The drydock was successfully raised and returned for service to the local shipyard. The harbour clearance project enabled the resumption of cruise ship traffic to the port and the restart of the vital tourist industry to the island. Resolve salvaged many commercial ferries and supply boats in St John and the British Virgin Islands. The vessels were patched and refloated for
Global Diving & Salvage, Inc. has completed more than 85 salvage operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Global was contracted to the US Coast Guard under ESF-10 Vessel Response, it removed vessels from a large area, extending from south of Corpus Christi north to Seadrift, Texas. When operations were at their peak, Global had six independent salvage teams operating from five fully found salvage crane barges, each equipped to support surface-supplied dive and environmental response operations. A fully equipped Dive Support Vessel (DSV) served as further salvage resource. In addition, three derrick barges were assembled to provide heavy lift capability. More than 60 divers, environmental technicians, project managers and support staff worked seven days a week to complete removal efforts. “The sheer number and variety of vessels recovered over such a large area make this Global’s largest project and we’re proud of the work we’ve done with the Coast Guard and the State of Texas,” said Kerry Walsh, Global's Project Manager. Global’s crews removed a wide variety
Picture courtesy: Jason Auerbach
subsequent repair and return to service. Other work included preventing pollution in sensitive areas such as the mangroves
of Florida and providing port and harbour clearance to avoid further incidents.
of vessels damaged or sunk by the hurricane, including numerous yachts, houseboats, pleasure craft and fishing vessels; the largest being a 75-foot steel shrimp boat, right, sunk and heavily entangled with a second 65-foot shrimper. Global’s crews attended to both casualties, first rigging for lifting then dewatering and refloating where possible. Environmental crews recovered fuels, batteries, fire extinguishers and other hazardous materials before bringing vessels ashore. Global said it removed thousands of gallons of pollutants and tonnes of debris from the water and shoreline. David DeVilbiss, Global Vice President of Casualty and Emergency Response said: “There were sunken vessels in the middle of the channel, vessels on breakwaters and vessels that were ashore in shallow and sensitive wetland areas.
were the same.”
"We made sure we had assembled a toolbox with a range of capabilities, from the flexi-float barges to the 90 and 300 tonne crane barges, and then used the appropriate approach for each casualty. Each job was individually challenging; there were not any two recoveries that
Many of Global’s crews had never worked together but Kerry Walsh said: “They quickly formed into efficient teams safely conducting challenging operations in often very harsh conditions. We were able to conduct operations without any significant mishaps during the two-month project.”
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Members’ News Resolve Marine Group Resolve has added to its senior team with the appointments of Lindsay MalenHabib as Manager of Client Services and Dimos Iliopoulos as its Representative in Greece.
Global Diving & Salvage global presence whilst bringing our highly capable and well-resourced response services to our clients around the world.” Dimos Iliopoulos, a naval architect and marine engineer, has 40 years’ experience in the Greek shipping industry having served in key management positions with ship owners, operators and shipbuilders. Mr Iliopoulos is a member of various Greek and foreign associations including the Greek Chamber of Engineers, and also sits on the technical committees of three major classification societies. Mr Iliopoulos will be based in Athens and manage Resolve’s client bases in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Mr Iliopoulos said: “The Greek shipping market is still the largest in the world by tonnage.
President and CEO of Global, Devon Grennan said: “Eric's extensive experience in sales, negotiations and business development, along with his educational background and strong leadership skills, makes him an ideal person for the job.”
Lindsay Malen–Habib has 15 years’ experience in maritime emergency response, business development and marketing and will be based at Resolve’s head office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ms Malen-Habib was previously Director of Business Development for one of the world’s largest salvors and is active in numerous industry associations including as Chair of the American Salvage Association Membership Committee and as Co-chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee. Speaking of her appointment, Ms Malen-Habib said: “Resolve has made a commitment over the last 30 years to invest funds into growing their emergency response capabilities around the world. "I am proud to join a pro-active and dedicated team with this vision and look forward to helping Resolve expand its
Eric Rose has joined Global Diving & Salvage, Inc. as Director of Business Development. He is responsible for the marine service company’s long-term revenue generation and the support of Global’s regions and service lines, including marine construction, commercial diving, environmental services and marine casualty response.
"I want to ensure our clients have the opportunity to benefit from Resolve’s suite of services ranging from OPA-90 Salvage & Marine Firefighting (SMFF) coverage in the US to SPRO coverage in China to our global emergency response capabilities.” Fukada Salvage Fukada Salvage has reported the sad passing of Mr Nobuo Nakamura at the age of 73. He was a former Managing Director of Fukada Salvage and died peacefully in his sleep at his home.
Prior to joining Global, Mr Rose most recently served as the northwest territory sales manager for Weiler Products. Before that, he spent many years with NC Machinery for Caterpillar, most recently as Washington equipment sales and rental manager. “I’m excited to be here at Global,” Mr Rose said. “There is so much opportunity for the company right now from the type of commercial dive work the company is well known for, to complete project management on complex marine construction and casualty response jobs.”
Sea Diamond and Prestige The Greek government has ordered the raising of the sunken cruise ship SEA DIAMOND that was wrecked off the tourist island of Santorini ten years ago. Some 1,600 passengers and crew were safely evacuated but two passengers are presumed to have lost their lives though the bodies were never found. Greek Shipping and Island Policy Minister
Panagiotis Kouroumplis published a letter ordering coast guard and local authorities to begin the process for the removal of the liner - 22,400 gross tonnes and built in 1986. The shipping ministry has now declared that the SEA DIAMOND wreck is a potential environmental risk and a hazard to shipping. It lies in more than 90 metres water depth and the removal could cost 4
hundreds of millions of dollars. Fuel from the wreck was removed in 2009. The news comes at a time when it has been ruled in Spain how much the country and the region of Galicia, as well as France, should receive in damages for the spill caused by the loss of the tanker, PRESTIGE, in 2002. The totals amount to billions of US dollars but the liabilities remain a matter of dispute.
Spanopoulos wreck removals and beach clean up
The Spanopoulos Group was appointed as main contractor to deal with the pollution caused by the the sinking of the tanker AGIA ZONI II. The laden tanker sank in September in the area southwest of the islet Atalanti off Piraeus, Greece. Spanopoulos cleaned up the sea and shore areas of the Attica coastal regions (inset, above) and provided oil spill response services and pollution prevention measures using oil spill response specialists and technicians, environmentalists, chemical engineers, naval architects and salvage teams. The operatives were deployed in 22 different coastal areas with a combined length of 24 kilometres as well as at the site of the casualty. Working with its subcontractor, EPE, the clean up operation also used seven skimming vessels, 20 support vessels, 17 vacuum trucks, 8000 metres of oil boom, 10 skimmers and a large quantity of absorbent materials. Following the completion of the clean up, remediation of all affected areas was undertaken. The Hellenic Ministry of Shipping engaged Spanopoulos to raise the sunken tanker to prevent further oil spill and to remove the maritime hazard.
The wreck removal operation was successfully completed after five days of operations using a floating ringer crane with 1300 tonnes lifting capacity and another 260 tonne crane (above) along with salvage tugs, anti-pollution vessels and a specialized diving team from the Group. Michalis Spanopoulos, Group owner and project coordinator, said: “The response was immediate with awareness for the environment, in order to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill in the sea and at the coastal areas. With the removal of this harmful polluter, we managed to mitigate the risk that could more adversely affect the environment.” “We feel that we accomplished this major environmental project with a high sense of responsibility. Hearty congratulations go out to the whole salvage and oil spill response team that participated in the operation with a great deal of zeal, persistence and professionalism”. Earlier in the year Spanopoulos removed the wreck of the cargo vessel GERASIMOS, 1,371 gross tonnes, which sank in 2012 alongside a berth at Platygiali Port Terminal of Astakos Port. She was partly laden with about 1,000 tonnes of olive core/pomace. 5
Spanopoulos Group was awarded a Wreckfixed contract to completely remove and safely dispose of the vessel and any materials associated with, or emanating from it. Spanopoulos used the semi-submersible barge ATLANTIS I, equipped with four chain pullers with total pulling capacity of 1800 tonnes; the floating crane IGNATIOS X, 120 tonnes lifting capacity and the AHTS Christos XXII and an assisting tug. The area surrounding the wreck was protected with multiple layers of oilcontainment and oil-absorbing booms. The semi-submersible barge was placed close to the wreck, ballasted and submerged until she touched the bottom. The wreck was moved to the submerged barge by the floating crane, ATLANTIS I was de-ballasted and rose to the surface carrying the wreck. The barge was trimmed and secured for towage and the wreck was safely moved to the Spanopoulos Group-owned shipyard facilities in Salamis, Greece, before moving on to the demolition yard for disposal.
ISU News ISU Secretary General ISU General manager, Mark Hoddinott, has indicated his intention to retire from ISU towards the end of 2018. ISU has launched a recruitment drive to appoint his successor who will be styled Secretary General. It is hoped to make an appointment before the half year point. See job advertisement on Page 1. Marine journalists’ lunch
on from the ISU Associate Members’ Day in London the day before. This stream will cover oil and HNS risks in the context of casualty handling. For more information, visit: http://www. interspillevent.com/ AGM The 2018 ISU Annual General Meeting will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday 25 October along with a programme of other events during the AGM week. Early notice is being given because the meeting is several weeks later than its usual place in the annual cycle of ISU events. ISU Document Library ISU Members are rerminded that the new ISU document library is live. Go to www. marine-salvage.com click on the "Full Members' Area" tab and follow the "New User" link. Photo competition
ISU President, Charo Coll and members of the Executive Committee hosted international marine journalists for a lunch in London in early December. It was an opportunity for ISU to build relationships with influential reporters and editors and to brief them about current issues in the salvage industry (above).
ISU is again holding its annual photograph
Interspill ISU is supporting the triennial Interspill 2018 Conference and Exhibition being held at ExCel in London 13 -15 March 2018. In particular, ISU is linked to the conference stream “Shipping and Salvage Risks” which has been specially scheduled for Thursday 15 March to follow
• Open to all employees of ISU full members and pictures must be from a salvage operation in 2017. • Pictures submitted must be "free of rights” and ISU may use pictures subsequently in its publications and with media. • Shortlisted pictures are prominently exhibited at the ISU Associate Members’ Day Conference and the winner receives a US$ 300 prize. • The deadline is 16 February 2018 and the winner will be announced at the ISU Associate Members’ Day Conference on 14 March 2018. CDSCA Conference ISU was represented at the major annual conference of its Affiliate Member, China Diving and Salvage Association at Xiamen in China. Clifford Chow, General Manager Hongkong Salvage and Towage, spoke on SCOPIC and the role of the SCR.
Left to right, ISU General Manager, Mark Hoddinott; IMO Secretary General, Kitack Lim, and ISU President, Charo Coll, at the IMO Bravery at Sea Award Ceremony.
ISU will be holding its popular Associate Members’ Day Conference on Wednesday 14 March 2018. The venue is the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in the City of London.
The event will conclude with an evening drinks reception. Booking arrangements will be circulated in the new year.
The key features of the competition are:
IMO Bravery Award
Associate Members’ Day 2018
A key address will consider the impact of new technologies like autonomous ships.The day will also include a session on the role of the UK SOSREP and his counterpart from Australia.
competition.
ISU General Manager, Mark Hoddinott, was a member of the selection panel for the annual IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea. Mr Hoddinott and ISU President, Ms Charo Coll, attended the awards ceremony in London in November. The award was made to two US maritime pilots who defied fire to bring a burning ship to safety, averting a major maritime catastrophe Pilots Captain Michael G McGee and Captain Michael C Phillips from Houston in the US were recognized for their role in averting tragedy in September 2016. The ship they were piloting, the 247 metre tanker AFRAMAX RIVER, broke down in the Houston Ship Channel in the middle of the night and burst into flames after 6
colliding with mooring dolphins. IMO described the incident: “Captain McGee and Captain Phillips were surrounded by a towering wall of burning fuel as the raging fire quickly spread across the channel, threatening other tank ships and nearby waterfront facilities. Both pilots remained at their stations on the bridge of the ship during the fire. Captain McGee managed to manoeuvre the stricken and blazing vessel away from surrounding ships and facilities. Captain Phillips coordinated communications and firefighting efforts with the United States Coast Guard and numerous local fireboats. Captain Phillips rushed to grab a fire extinguisher and put out a fire raging on the port bridge wing.”
Ardent operations Ardent is continuing operations on the KEA TRADER, despite the vessel’s broken hull. Salvage master, Jan Polderman said: “Ardent’s two paramount focuses have always been the protection of the environment and the safeguarding of our client’s interests. Despite the vessel breaking apart from the continuous impact of the elements, we detected no environmental damage. Most of the containers have been safely discharged, and we remain confident that we can continue to minimize secondary effects of the wreck,” The KEA TRADER ran aground in New Caledonia in July and Ardent’s salvage activities had a strong emphasis on the environmental effects of the grounded vessel. On 12 November the vessel broke in two. The salvage crew worked on board the vessel until the last minute to ensure that the cargo was not further damaged by the break-up and so that the cargo and fuel would not cause an environmental disaster.
The process to select a contractor to remove the wreck is now underway. Across the Pacific Ocean from New Caledonia, Ardent was contracted to support CPT Remolcadores with the fuel and cargo removal from the sunken wellboat SEIKONGEN. The vessel sank
A contracted Bell helicopter lifted the remainder of the salvage crew to safety when they could stay no longer. “We had just achieved our ISO 14001 accreditation last quarter for Environmental Management. We would have never thought that we would be put to the test so soon. However, we are pleased to see that our processes and procedures work as designed, for the greater good,” said Peter Pietka, Ardent CEO.
while transiting through the ecologically sensitive area of Chonchi in the Chiloe Islands off Chile. CPT Remolcadores and Ardent were able to successfully remove all the fuel, lubricants and approximately 100 tonnes of decomposed salmon.
Ardent also reports that is has successfully decommissioned two meteorological masts at Dogger Bank in the UK sector of the North Sea, using the SEAFOX-5 heavy lift vessel. The meteorological masts are composed of an 80-meter lattice tower on a 16 square-meter platform, which was mounted on a single pile, secured by a 15-meter diameter wide and 7-meter tall suction bucket. Project engineering, fabrication and execution were carried out by Ardent. The offshore operations were faster than originally planned which Ardent said was a “a huge benefit, considering the rough weather of the North Sea”. The heaviest lift of the suction bucket and monopole was calculated at 768 tonnes with clay-sticking.
UK SoSRep, Hugh Shaw, given lifetime achievement award Hugh Shaw OBE, the outgoing UK Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention, (SoSRep), has been awarded the Informa Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by ISU General Manager, Mark Hoddinott, at the Salvage and Wreck Conference in London in early December. After a career at sea with the Mobil Shipping Company, Mr Shaw came
ashore in 1981 and joined HM Coastguard in UK. His role brought him expertise in search and rescue, counter pollution and salvage and in 2004 he became deputy SoSRep and took over as SoSRep on 1st January 2008. Since then Mr Shaw has been involved in over 600 incidents, including major casualties such as the MSC NAPOLI, ICE PRINCE, MSC FLAMINIA and HOEGH 7
OSAKA. He was also instrumental in bringing the European Commission and industry together to develop the EU Operational Guidelines on Places of Refuge. In making the award, Mr Hoddinott said: “Throughout, he has carried out his position as the UK SoSRep with great dignity, leadership and understanding.”
Associates’ and Affiliates’ News ISU welcomes the following new Associate Members: Birketts LLP UK-based shipping law firm 24 – 26 Museum Street Ipswich, Suffolk, UK +44 1473 232300 Paul-haworth@birketts.co.uk www.birketts.co.uk Bernicia Marine Consultants Ltd UK-based marine consultancy providing services to owners and insurers and other interests The Clock Tower, Dissington Hall Dalton, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
INTERCARGO’s has also held its Technical and Executive Committees in Athens in October. The meetings were chaired by Chairman John Platsidakis, Vice Chairman Jay K Pillai and Technical Committee Chairman Dimitris Fafalios. The main topics were the safe carriage of cargoes; the non-availability and adequacy of reception facilities for cargo residues and cargo hold washing waters hazardous to the marine environment; Port State Control transparency and anti-corruption practice; operational challenges after the entry into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention; emissions and design standards for bulk carriers.
F22, East Tower of Trade Centre, No 10 Hailian Road (E) Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China +86 518 858 55035 +86 18661258200 office@lygdali.cn Intercargo INTERCARGO has said it is “deeply concerned’ with the loss of the 57,000 tonnes dwt bulker EMERALD STAR in October, with multiple loss of life. EMERALD STAR was laden with Indonesian nickel ore on a voyage from Indonesia to China when she sank about 150 nautical miles north-east of the Philippines. INTERCARGO said it was stressing the “importance of timely submission of the casualty investigation report to IMO, as a means of identifying the causes of the incident and enabling corrective actions”. It continued: “In the meantime, INTERCARGO urges the exercise of extreme caution when loading nickel ore and other challenging cargoes and stresses the importance of adhering to the provisions in the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code (IMSBC Code) to maximise safety in the transportation of dry bulk cargoes.”
Thereafter, he worked on the technical maintenance team for the British America's Cup Challenge in New Zealand 2002-3. Following a number of years as a professional yachtsman, he joined Samuel Stewart & Co as a Towage and Salvage Broker in 2007. He recently concluded 10 years with The Stewart Group / RS Platou / Clarksons Platou Offshore as a senior broker where he was involved with numerous towage and salvage projects.
Hill Dickinson
+ 44 191 645 0298 + 44 7437 408663 info@berniciamarine.com www.berniciamarine.com Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering Co. Ltd Chinese underwater engineering company
the University of Plymouth, UK.
International law firm Hill Dickinson has announced that Sumeet Malhotra (above) has joined its Singapore office as partner. Mr Malhotra is qualified as an advocate in India and as a solicitor in England & Wales. He began his career as an advocate at the Mumbai Bar, practicing at Chambers which specialised in shipping and commodity trading matters. He went on to occupy an in-house position at Bernhard Schulte Shipping in Hong Kong, where he dealt with charterparty disputes, marine casualties, crew compensation claims, piracy matters and ship manager's liability claims. More recently, Mr Malhotra has worked at senior in-house positions at Cargill, and at Noble Group in Singapore.
Brand Marine Consultants Brand Marine Consultants (bMC) has announced that Kieran Hopkins (above right) has joined its team based in Hamburg. Mr Hopkins completed a degree in Marine Technology and Maritime Law at 8
CEO Peter Wölk said: “As bMC continues on an exciting path of expansion into new areas of the marine industry, we are confident that Kieran will bring further value to our clients.” bMC also announced in November that the long established marine survey company, Capitan Förster GmbH, has become a member of the bMC Group. Dennis Brand said: “We are very pleased to welcome the experienced and professional team to our growing family. The addition serves to increase and strengthen our capacities particularly in cargo, tanker and bunker related surveys.” Capitan Förster will continue to operate as a separate and independent entity. The ABR Company It is with sadness that the ABR Company reported the passing of its chairman, Allan Brunton-Reed, in December after a short illness. Mr Brunton-Reed was well known to many in ISU and the wider towage and shipping industry as the publisher of numerous nautical books and magazines including International Tug and OSV. He was also the organiser of the biennial International Tug and Salvage Convention and Exhibition. ITS 2018 Marseille will be held at the Parc Chanot convention centre in central Marseille from 25-29 June, with the exhibition running from 26-28 June.
IUMI launches containership fire safety drive
IUMI has called for improved firefighting systems on board container vessels. It said that the growing size of container vessels and a recent spate of fires on this class of ships has made it concerned that current firefighting provisions are insufficient. IUMI has published a position paper calling for better on board firefighting systems. IUMI says fires on board container vessels are very real threats recent examples include fires on CCNI ARAUCO during welding operations while alongside at Hamburg and MSC FLAMINIA - resulting in three fatalities and also a constructive total loss. IUMI said it “expressly welcomes” the 2014 amendment to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to increase the effectiveness of firefighting but the association said it “believes more should be done.” Helle Hammer, IUMI Political Forum Chair, said: “Recent amendments to SOLAS are a move in the right direction but they do not go far enough. The legal requirements prescribed by SOLAS were originally developed for fires on board general cargo vessels and these ships are structurally very different to a container vessel and
cargo is stored differently. We believe the mode of firefighting set out in SOLAS is not suitable for a modern containership.” IUMI supports as best practice a proposal presented by the German Insurance Association, GDV, that sets out an improved concept for firefighting facilities on board a containership. Uwe-Peter Schieder, Marine and Loss
Prevention, GDV, said: “We believe a new technical solution is needed to improve current firefighting practice on container vessels, particularly as these ships are continuing to grow in size. We suggest creating individual fire compartments below deck to prevent fire from spreading. These compartments would be fitted with fixed Co2 and water-based firefighting
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systems. Boundary structures would also be fitted above deck to align with the water-cooled bulkheads below and also fitted with fixed fire-fighting systems. In addition, we also recommend the installation of enhanced fire detection systems”. IUMI said the increasing size and complexity of modern containerships, means it is necessary for further steps to be taken to improve the safety of the crew, the cargo and the ships themselves. IUMI recommends further discussions with the IMO, flag states, class and relevant industry stakeholders on how best to improve the fire detection, protection and firefighting capabilities on board container vessels. ISU has publicly supported IUMI’s position and its Salvage sub-Committee has been commissioned to examine the issue. GDV’s suggestions and IUMI’s position paper can be found at: https://iumi.com/ opinions/position-papers
Salvage and wreck conference, London ISU President, Charo Coll, gave the opening speech at the annual Salvage and Wreck Conference in London. Ms Coll addressed current commercial realities for the salvage industry. She noted the triple jeopardy of fewer jobs, lower values and increasing capacity which led to significantly reduced revenues. Speaking about the Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) contract Ms Coll said that ISU recognised that the days of more than 100 LOFs each year have gone. But she said ISU still considers LOF to be the best contract in many emergency response situations. She pointed out the benefits of speed and the fact that the salvor carries all of the financial risk and the owner and insurer pay nothing until the job is successfully done. Ms Coll re-stated ISU’s policy to support the use of LOF in its un-amended form. However, she said there is increasing use of so called “side letters” or agreements which can, for example, “cap” the salved values or can be used to agree to calculate the award based on tariff rates. The salvor still carries the same amount of risk but for a reduced reward and ISU believes that is not fair. Ms Coll said it was being considered to make it
Left to right: Helen Kelly, Lloyd's List Europe Editor; Dieter Berg, President, IUMI; Charo Coll, President, ISU; Andrew Chamberlain, Conference Chairman and Partner, HFW.
compulsory for any side agreement to be reported to Lloyd’s when it is notified of the LOF.
IUMI. After their speeches Mr Berg and Ms Coll were interviewed on stage by Lloyd’s List’s Europe Editor, Helen Kelly.
On SCOPIC, Ms Coll said that relations with the P&I Clubs have improved recently and there is hope of agreeing amendments to the SCOPIC regime in the coming year.
Elsewhere at the conference, a panel addressed LOF. Andreas Øgrey of Skuld said that LOF should be used for the “right kind of cases” and there are commercial alternatives. But he agreed it was important to sustain a professional salvage sector. George Tsavliris, Principle of Tsavliris Salvage Group, defended the contract noting its simplicity; the fact that commercial contracts can be more expensive and that so called “simple” cases do not always “work out how you might expect.”
President of the International Union of Marine Insurance, Dieter Berg, spoke after MS Coll. He said increasing digitalization and new technology comes with a substantial increase in the “cyber threat” which changes the maritime risk environment. He also addressed containership firefighting – an issue on which ISU has given its full support to
Multraship in UK wreck removal job Multraship Salvage, in a consortium with DUC Marine Group, has removed the wreck of the ELLA which sank in July off Lowestoft in the UK. The ELLA was unmanned and under tow from Hartlepool to Rochester, UK, when she began to take on water. Her tow was cut and she sank resulting in a hazard to navigation and a danger to shipping. The UK SoSRep established a Temporary Exclusion Zone (TEZ) of 500m around the wreck and Trinity House marked the site with Emergency Wreck Marking Buoys. The wreck was lifted from the seabed using Multraship’s Cormorant sheerlegs in November and carefuly transported into the Port of Lowestoft. Picture: Colin Turner
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Resolve responds to Atlantic bulker emergency A bulk carrier laden with an ammonium nitrate based fertilizer reported smoking from one of the cargo holds off the Canary Islands. Resolve was engaged under a Lloyd’s Open Form and mobilised its fire and salvage response team to the site. The salvage crew used grappling hooks to board the vessel in a five metre swell and was able to make a temporary tow connection and re-establish control of the vessel over 250 nautical miles from shore. Once connected, Resolve secured a port of refuge and used marine chemists and a drone-mounted thermal camera to provide assistance to the ship owner to discharge the cargo and safely re-deliver the vessel.
Five Oceans Salvage operational round-up Five Oceans Salvage reports a busy second half of 2017 with a string of Lloyd’s Open Form salvage cases. In July, the bulk carrier IRIS II - 75,798 dwt, built 2004 and laden with 69,000 tonnes of soyabeans, was immobilized while en-route from Brazil to Pakistan due to engine failure. Five Oceans mobilized its station keeping tug IONIAN SEA FOS from her salvage station in Port Louis and towed the casualty back to Mauritius. In Port Louis the salvors provided standby and ancillary services while the vessel was being repaired before being re-delivered to the owners. Also in July, the PTOLEMEOS - 45,712 dwt, built 1995 and laden with 42,600 tonnes of cement clinker and bound from UAE to Bangladesh was immobilized off Sri Lanka. Five Oceans signed a LOF the same day and dispatched the tug CAPRICORN from Colombo and a salvage team of three from Greece to assist. The salvage team joined the tug and when they reached the casualty commenced towing her to Bangladesh. In Chittagong anchorage the salvors provided standby
services including static towing around the clock in the challenging waters and sea conditions of the anchorage. The tugs RESOLVE MONARCH and PACIFIC VALOUR were also engaged in the operation. The casualty was successfully repaired and redelivered to her owners in Chittagong in late August. MV TINA - 75,933 dwt, built 2000 and laden with 63,250 tonnes of soyabeans suffered an engine breakdown off South Africa in September and Five Oceans Salvage signed a LOF with the owners and dispatched the tug PACIFIC DILIGENCE from her station in Durban to assist. The towage proved difficult in adverse weather conditions and strong currents but the convoy safely reached Durban where the vessel was redelivered to her owners alongside a repair berth. In September, while en-route from Nantong, China to Brisbane, Australia, the 2005-bulit 74,000 tonne dwt bulk carrier MAJORCA ran aground in ballast on a coral reef off Papua New Guinea. Five Oceans Salvage signed a LOF with the owners with SCOPIC incorporated and engaged two local tugs through 11
its joint venture partners Swire Pacific Offshore and dispatched a salvage team from Greece to assist. The vessel was refloated on the 18 September and redelivered at Lae, Papua New Guinea. In October the EVANGELIA L – a 2015-built bulker laden with 36,381 tonnes of nickel ore was immobilized due to main engine failure about 1,100 miles northwest of Hawaii. Under a LOF, the salvors mobilized the tug MANUOKEKAI from Honolulu and towed the casualty to Hawaii and provided standby and other services and the casualty was redelivered to her owners in early November after repairs were completed. Also in November, the bulk carrier NEARCHOS, laden with 70,000 tonnes of coal, was in collision with a dredger in the South China Sea. The vessel suffered damage to the forepeak area that was flooded. Five Oceans Salvage secured a LOF and mobilized the tugs TAIKOO and WHAMPOA from Hong Kong to assist the casualty and tow her to the discharge port in Zhanjiang.
Ardent - Subtech JV responds to racing yacht grounding
The Ardent-Subtech Joint Venture in South Africa has responded to the Clipper Race yacht, CV24, crewed by team Greenings which ran aground in late October at Olifantsbospunt on the western side of the cape peninsular. It happened during Leg 3 of the popular round-the-world sailing event. All 18 members of the crew, who were not in imminent danger, were evacuated by the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) following a distress signal from vessel. Pollution control then became the priority and the salvors took immediate action to ensure that all fuel and pollutants were removed so that no further environmental damage occurred. Race director, renowned sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, explained: “Once the assessment had been made that the vessel was not repairable, our aim was very clear, we needed to deal with the situation quickly with the priority of minimising environmental impact and
returning the beach to its original state. That was vitally important.” The rapid response team arrived at Cape Point Nature Reserve but the only access to the vessel was through a protected wildlife sanctuary and so entry permits had to be obtained from the National Parks authority. No vehicles were allowed on the beach and all the pumps, hoses and the blister tank had to be hand-carried to the site. When the oil and fuel had been removed the team pumped out the internal water and then started digging out the portside to expose the keel and shell plating to allow for inspection. Several cracks were noted in the keel along with a deep web and cracking of the shell plating in the gallery areas. The extent of the damage meant that any hope of refloating the vessel was lost and a full salvage would need to take place. The Ardent-Subtech team continued 12
removing all debris from the vessel and the surrounding beach. All of the perishables, vessel gear (including the sails) and debris was hand carried off the beach, loaded onto trucks and delivered to the Ardent-Subtech warehouse for the Clipper Team. By 8 November the team completed all removals and a site inspection confirmed that all pollutants and debris had been successfully taken from the area. The salvage team worked with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), and the race’s casualty management team. Salvage crews erected a scaffolding tower to support the mast while cutting the vessel’s hull to airlift. The wreck removal operations are currently ongoing while the Clipper Race Around the World continues.
International Monitor Liberia Liberia has been re-elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a position it has held continuously since 2012. The IMO Council, which is elected by the IMO Assembly for two-year terms, is the executive body of the IMO, composed of 40 of the 172 IMO member states. Commissioner of the Liberia Maritime Authority, Dr James Kollie, said: “It is very gratifying to see Liberia reconfirmed in its position as a leading maritime nation and decision-maker at the IMO. Liberia is among the most proactive and responsible maritime nations in the world, in accordance with its position as the leading quality open registry serving the global shipping industry and ensuring seafarers’ welfare". The Liberian-flag fleet currently comprises over 4,200 ships, aggregating more than 150 million gross tonnes, making it the second largest ship registry in the world.
fires in recent years involving the carriage of charcoal in containers. With global production of wood charcoal and carbon amounting to over 50 million tonnes per year, the practices set out in these Guidelines are intended to improve safety during the carriage of these products and to ensure that it is properly declared, packaged and carried. The transport of charcoal and carbon must be in compliance with the requirements set out in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code). The new Guidelines include selected provisions from the IMDG Code, together with additional precautions to enhance its safe carriage.
Treaty ratification The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Comité Maritime International (CMI) – the international association for maritime lawyers, have released an updated brochure to promote the importance of governments ratifying international maritime conventions, especially those adopted by the International Maritime Organisation.
The Guidelines were prepared by a Work Group comprising CINS Members, including shipping lines and the International Group of P&I Clubs. The Guidelines are available to download at www.cinsnet.com and www.igpandi.org UK register
Canada oil ban Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced the Canadian government has approved two major oil export pipelines but rejected a third in the west of the country and will impose a ban on oil tankers on the northern section of British Columbia’s west coast. “The Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a pipeline and the Douglas Channel is no place for oil tanker traffic,” Trudeau said of the Northern Gateway projects. In response to the tanker ban, the International Chamber of Shipping’s Director of Policy and External Relations, Simon Bennett said: “Such a draconian step could lead to serious concerns being raised by Canada’s international trading partners.” Charcoal carriage New Guidelines for the carriage of charcoal and carbon in containers have been published jointly by CINS (the Cargo Incident Notification System) and the International Group of P&I Clubs. Charcoal/carbon is considered to be a self-heating substance – in contact with air and without a heat source it can selfheat to the extent that it may result in fire. There have been a number of reported
The number of ships "flagging in" to the UK Ship Register (UKSR) has increased by more than six per cent this year. It means that the UKSR is now in 14th place on world fleet tonnage statistics – its highest position for four years. The rating by Clarksons measures the number of vessels and gross tonnage and shows there has been nine months of continuous growth in the UK Flag. In October, the UKSR experienced a net gain of 27,806 GT resulting in the overall flag total of 16,186,843 GT which is the highest since August 2013. Recent "flag ins" include vessels from Northern Marine Management and Stolt Tankers. The average age of 85% of internationally trading ships greater than 500 GT on the UKSR again fell to 9.52 years, while the average of the whole UK fleet over 100 GT also fell to 20.48 years. This is its lowest total since the end of 2013. Doug Barrow, Director UKSR said: "This is hard evidence of the work the UKSR is doing by providing a “fit for service” register that is flexible and meeting quality customer requirements."
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The aim of the brochure "Promoting Maritime Treaty Ratification" is to encourage more widespread ratification of some key maritime instruments that would benefit from a greater level of global acceptance. This includes a number of important instruments which have not yet received adequate ratifications from governments to enter into force globally. The new campaign particularly focuses on three key IMO instruments: the Hong Kong Convention on ship recycling; the 2003 Protocol to the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions concerning oil spill compensation; and the 2010 Protocol to the HNS (liability) Convention.
Salvage World is produced by the International Salvage Union. For matters relating to the publication contact: James Herbert, ISU communications advisor. Tel: +44 1423 330 505 Email: admin@gemcomms.com For general enquiries contact: ISU, Holland House 1-4 Bury Street London EC3A 5AW Tel: +44 20 7220 6597 Email: ISU@marine-salvage.com