UK Chamber of Shipping comments on Brexit
JUNE 24, 2016 — The UK Chamber of Shipping is calling for the establishment of a “Free Trade Commission” in the light of the result of the “Leave” victory in yesterday’s referendum
JUNE 24, 2016 — The UK Chamber of Shipping is calling for the establishment of a “Free Trade Commission” in the light of the result of the “Leave” victory in yesterday’s referendum
MAY 25, 2016 — This year’s Danish Maritime Days will have four themes, highlighting some of the most important challenges and opportunities facing the global maritime industry. High on the agenda at
APRIL 22, 2016 — IMO’s Marine Environment Committee (MEPC) has apparently made some progress on CO2 reduction at its meeting in London this week, particularly on the adoption of a global CO2
JANUARY 15, 2016 — Cement carriers could prove to be one specialized sector of shipping ripe to generate a few shipbuilding orders. St. Catharines, ON, headquartered Algoma Central Corporation reported today that
The prospect of increased shipping in the Arctic due to the melting of polar ice has inspired an international research effort focused on maximizing safety in arctic waters. Fifteen doctoral students at five universities in Finland, Norway, Germany, and Canada are filling science gaps on a breadth of issues ranging from ice impacts on hulls and preventing accidents to determining the movement of oil after a spill and its impacts on the arctic ecosystem.
The work is being carried out through the Joint Research Centre of Excellence for Arctic Shipping and Operations based in Aalto University (Finland), supported by GBP 1,707,673 in funding from Lloyd’s Register Foundation. This five-year project began in September 2013.
“Compared to vessels operating in open waters,” Dr. Brian Veitch points out, “much less is known about environments in cold ice-covered seas.” Dr. Veitch, professor of ocean and naval architectural engineering (ONAE) at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, is one of the principal investigators of the project. “They’re so far away, and they haven’t been studied as much so there is a bit of a deficit from a science point of view”—a deficit that makes conventional risk management techniques more uncertain.
“Our ambition is to generate knowledge that specifically can be used in the formulation of legislation, regulations, and industry standards—information that will give the people who are making decisions evidence upon which to make better decisions.” This article profiles the work of three PhD students who are focusing on preventing accidents, the movement and distribution of oil after a spill, and oil impacts on the marine ecosystem.
Preventing Accidents
Doug Smith, an ONAE PhD candidate at Memorial University, completed his Masters degree in Hydrodynamics and is now focusing on preventing shipping accidents from occurring in Arctic waters. Since arctic shipping accident information is scarce, rather than depending on historical data, he is developing models that reflect both the interdependencies of work functions on a vessel—how work actually gets done—and the variability within that work.
“This project focuses on what works, and uses that context to explain why things do not work from time to time,” says Smith. “If we can understand what makes shipping operations work, we can focus on making things work well more often, and being safe more often.”
He cites an example of variability. When a captain is navigating in ice-infested waters, he must assess the variability in the ice conditions, which could be constantly changing. He must then communicate his expected power requirements to the engine room, where there is also variability. If the engine state is in some variation that prevents it from providing the required power (such as maintenance on one engine or one engine cannot start), this will affect the Captain’s ability to navigate.
The combined effects of these variabilities could result in inadequate control of the vessel, which could result in an accident.
The accident prevention component of this project is focused on ways of improving shipping safety, without requiring the prediction of adverse outcomes. Smith is using the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) of modeling, which incorporates an understanding of variability within the system.
“When you understand the range variability, you can adopt solutions to keep it within your control,” he says. “But if variability is not understood and controlled, that increases susceptibility to accidents.” Smith’s models will be populated with data that reflects both variabilities and also adjustments that have been made that successfully accommodate them.
He will be inputting information from captains, chief engineers, and others on board ships who can shed light on variability and the adjustments that were made that kept operations safe. Smith will be building models for arctic shipping activities, primarily for navigating in ice-covered waters, as well as for maneuvering ships in tight quarters such as leaving and entering port.
Complexities of Oil-Ice Interactions
The models that Mawuli Afenyo is developing will predict the fate and transport of oil spills in icy waters. “Right now, we are not ready for an oil spill in the Arctic,” he says. “Ice represents more complexity,” says the PhD candidate with a Master’s in Petroleum Engineering and an MBA in Green Energy and Sustainable Businesses.
“The oil can spread on ice, you can have it on snow, in leads and encapsulated in ice, or it can go below the ice,” he says, adding that there are a lot of uncertainties regarding oil-ice interactions, and noting that the limited field experiments that have been done make it difficult to know how oil will behave in this environment. “The Arctic has become very important,” Afenyo observes, “so we have to take these things seriously.”
One issue is remoteness and the capability of governments and other agencies to respond to a spill in a timely manner. Afenyo is following the lead of Norwegians who have done some numerical modeling of oil in ice conditions. He notes the complexity of the task, pointing out that a number of interrelated processes take place simultaneously immediately following a spill: evaporation, dispersion, spreading, sinking, biodegradation, and emulsification.
Afenyo adds that there has been little study of encapsulation—an oil spill becoming engulfed in ice. Location-specific data will be fed into two integrated models built on a risk analysis framework.
His aim is to apply this framework to arctic shipping, which will, in turn, provide guidance with regard to policies, operations, ship design, and environmental response measures. Dr. Faisal Khan, Department Head in Process Engineering and Vale Research Chair of Process Safety and Risk Engineering, and Dr. Brian Veitch, a professor in the Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering department and Husky Research Chair in Oil and Gas—both at Memorial University—are supervising Afenyo’s project.
Oil Impacts on Animals
Maisa Nevalainen, a PhD candidate in Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland, is focusing on the ecosystem impacts of an oil spill in the Russian Arctic. “Even if there is no drilling,” she says, “ships are still going to use those routes. Climate change is making it easier and easier.”
Noting that there is no data available, Nevalainen quickly adds, “I hope we never have the data.” She will be interviewing subject matter experts, asking them about probabilities regarding the impact of oil on arctic species, combining their accumulated knowledge, and adding historical and toxicological data into the model.
The Bayesian model she will be building will reflect probabilities.
The species she is focusing on are at all levels of the functional food web, from apex predators (e.g,, polar bears) down to benthic invertebrates. Addressing one facet of the impact of a spill, Nevalainen says, “If the polar cod would die, that is such an important species in the Russian Arctic food web. If it happens at a time when the offspring are not yet juvenile and they cannot avoid the oil, then all the eggs could die.”
In her view, the ability to responsibly manage Arctic shipping operations depends on knowledge of risk. “We should understand better how big the risk is. Right now, environmental groups are saying the risk is enormous, and oil companies are saying they are being safe, so no worries. I’m hoping to find some actual number in between those two.”
While Nevalainen’s model will be focused on the Northern Sea Route and coastal areas of the Russian Arctic, it will be functional for other areas once local species distribution data has been inputted. She is collaborating with Afenyo; hence, her recent visit to St. John’s. Afenyo’s model will show where the oil goes after a spill, and her model will show how the ecosystem responds to that particular quantity and distribution of oil.
Smith, Afenyo, and Nevalainen plan to publish the results of their work in scientific papers, and information regarding their findings will be available on the Research Centre of Excellence for Arctic Shipping and Operations web site: http://cearctic.aalto.fi/en/
JANUARY 12, 2016 – Shipping and aviation may not have been explicitly included in the text of the Paris Agreement adopted at last month’s COP21 conference on climate change, but that does
Be that as it may, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says it “greatly welcomes” the agreement and that “the shipping industry remains committed to ambitious CO2 emission reduction across the entire world merchant fleet, reducing CO2 per tonne-km by at least 50% before 2050 compared to 2007.”
Despite the absence of an explicit reference to shipping, ICS says that the message from the world’s governments is clear.
“I am sure IMO Member States will now proceed with new momentum to help the industry deliver ever greater CO2 reductions, as the world moves towards total decarbonization by the end of the century” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.
ICS will engage meaningfully in discussions at IMO, expected to begin in earnest at a critical meeting in April 2016, about the possibility of agreeing a CO2 reduction target for shipping. ICS is also pushing for IMO to finalize a global CO2 data collection system for ships, which ICS would like to see mandatory as soon as possible, prior to IMO deciding on the necessity of additional actions such as a developing a Market Based Measure.
ICS says that dramatic CO2 reductions from shipping will only be guaranteed if further regulation continues to be led by IMO.
ICS notes that, as a result of the Paris Agreement, developing nations such as China and India have accepted responsibility to curb their emissions alongside developed economies, however, the agreement retains the principle of “differentiation” that allows different parties to offer different levels of commitment to reducing CO2.
“CO2 is a global problem and shipping is a global industry” said Peter Hinchliffe. “IMO is the only forum which can take account of the UN principle of ‘differentiation’ while requiring all ships to apply the same CO2 reduction measures, regardless of their flag state. Unilateral or regional regulation would be disastrous for shipping and disastrous for global CO2 reduction, whereas IMO is already helping shipping to deliver substantial CO2 reductions on a global basis.”
ICS says that the complexity and scale of the Paris Agreement means that many of those involved may be disappointed by certain aspects, including the absence of explicit text referring to international shipping. At the start of the negotiation, ICS had hoped there might have been an acknowledgment of the importance of IMO continuing to develop further CO2 reduction measures, applicable to all internationally trading ships, and implemented and enforced in a uniform and global manner.
“Time finally ran out to agree a compromise on international transport acceptable to all nations, but nothing is really lost. No text is probably preferable to some of the well intentioned words being proposed at the very end of the conference which few people understood and which could have actually greatly complicated further progress at IMO” said Mr. Hinchliffe. “The Member States at IMO are the same nations that were present in Paris, but with officials that have a deep level of maritime expertise. Intensive work at IMO will continue with the global shipping industry’s full support.”
The European Community Shipowners Association also welcomed the agreement.
“Following the adoption in 2011 of measures to increase the energy efficiency of the industry, the agreed next step is a global data collection system of CO2 emissions”, said Patrick Verhoeven, Secretary General of ECSA, “The governments in IMO will resume discussions on such a system in April next year, with the aim of ascertaining the real contribution of international shipping to global CO2 emissions. We strongly encourage all parties to ensure that these discussions lead to the establishment, as soon as possible, of a mandatory data collection system.”
Once the data collection system is in place, the IMO will be able to decide on steps ahead.
“Together with our partners in the International Chamber of Shipping, we are ready to positively contribute to this process” said Mr. Verhoeven. “We hope that the European Parliament as well as civil society will join us in supporting Member States and the Commission to seek a global partnership in the IMO, as no regional solution could ever guarantee global emission reductions nor a global level playing field for shipping. The EU has adopted regulation that is meant to facilitate and precipitate a global solution for CO2 emissions from ships. It is now time to translate these commitments into a global agreement.”
European shipowners have joined the European Commission, Members of the European Pariament and various stakeholders in calling for shipping to be put back into the text.
The International Chamber of Shipping says it would be helpful for the new agreement to reiterate the vital role of the UN International Maritime Organization in the development of further measures to reduce shipping’s CO2 emissions. This would give extra encouragement to build on the global regulations IMO has already successfully adopted and which should reduce CO2 per tonne-km 50% by 2050.
However, says ICS, the absence of text is unlikely to inhibit the aspirations of governments – which are shared by the industry – for IMO to take further action.
“While text on shipping could be useful, the negotiators are now having to focus on the really high level things like climate finance to ensure the overall agreement is a success which is what everyone wants” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.
ECSA Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven called the talks in Paris “a unique opportunity” to signal IMO member states to act decisively in order to further regulate CO2 emissions from ships on a global level.
“It would provide support for their ability to move forward and give new impetus to ongoing discussions, which we hope will very soon reach fruition,” said Mr. Verhoeven.
ECSA says that though the IMO has already made strides when it comes to the shipping industry’s carbon footprint, its work on CO2 emissions reduction is far from completed. It remains firmly on its agenda and will be considered again at the next meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in April 2016.
ECSA says the shipping industry supports the establishment, as soon as possible, of a mandatory system of data collection from individual vessels, understanding that the possibility of further market based measures might be revisited after an IMO analysis of the data submitted by ships.
“We firmly believe that deleting any reference to shipping and the progress needed at IMO level is a missed opportunity. The EU has already placed its faith in the IMO process by adopting legislation that will enable and support IMO in establishing a global data collection scheme,” said Mr Verhoeven.”An irreversible process leading to lower CO2 emissions from ships has started. Efforts at IMO and EU level can only be bolstered by a clear signal from the highest UN instance on climate change. We sincerely hope that negotiating parties will seriously reconsider and heed our call for shipping to be reintroduced in the final climate agreement.”
The average number of years operating without incident for ships and vessels that received awards is 6.9 years. Three hundred and sixteen of the vessels have logged more than ten years each of environmental excellence.
U.S. Coast Guard, RADM Paul F. Thomas, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy participated in the award ceremony in Washington, DC, and congratulated the award recipients and the industry as a whole for the extraordinary performance.
Kathy J. Metcalf, President of CSA said, “These awards celebrate the dedication to environmental excellence of our seafarers and the company personnel shore-side who operate our vessels to the highest standards. In today’s world, it seems our industry only gets front-page news when spills or other environmental problems occur. It is encouraging to see how many vessels go for years achieving environmental excellence. It should be clear to the American public that we in the maritime industry take our stewardship of the marine environment very seriously.”
The awards are open to all owners and operators of vessels that operate on oceans or inland waterways. The CSA Board encourages all operators and owners to take advantage of this opportunity to recognize their crew and shore-side operating personnel and encourages all operators and owners to consider participating in next year’s program.
Among companies owning multiple award winning vessels were Crowley Maritime Corporation and Foss Maritime.
You can download the complete listing of vessels receiving the awards HERE
It reported that order intake over the nine month period was stable at EUR 3,529 million (3,562 million in the prior year equivalent period) and that net sales increased 6% to EUR 3,439 million (3,230).
Wärtsilä expects its net sales for 2015 to grow by 5-10% and its operational profitability (EBIT% before non-recurring items) to be 12.0-12.5%. This guidance includes the impact of the L-3 Marine Systems International (MSI) acquisition. MSI is expected to contribute approximately EUR 250 million to net sales and EUR 9 million to the operating result during 2015. Excluding purchase price allocation amortization, MSI’s operating result is estimated to reach EUR 16 million.
Björn Rosengren, who will be succeeded as President and CEO by Jaakko Eskola on November 1, said that the Marine Solutions markets remain challenging.
“Low vessel contracting volumes, together with weak sentiment in the offshore segment, is impacting our order intake,” he said. “I am pleased to note that our Services business is compensating well for the lower demand in our equipment markets. Improved maintenance demand from marine customers and stability within power plant service indicates a positive outlook for the rest of this year.”
Wärtsilä expects the overall outlook for the shipping and shipbuilding markets to remain challenging.
“Overcapacity continues to affect demand,” says the company. “Low oil prices are impacting investments in offshore exploration and development, resulting in weak contracting of offshore drilling units and support vessels. Gas carrier contracting is expected to remain on a normalized level. The outlook for the cruise segment remains positive thanks to an anticipated increase in Asian passenger traffic, while the outlook for ferries is supported by signs of economic recovery in the USA and Europe. The importance of fuel efficiency and environmental regulations are clearly visible. The regulatory environment is driving interest in gas as a marine fuel in the wider marine markets.”
The overall service market outlook is positive with growth opportunities in selected regions and segments. An increase in the installed base of medium-speed engines and propulsion equipment is offsetting the slower service demand for older installations and the uncertainty regarding short-term demand in the merchant marine segment. The service demand for installations operating on oil based fuels is expected to grow as low oil prices have had a favorable impact on operating costs. Although the decline in oil prices has resulted in a challenging outlook for offshore services in specific regions, the growth during recent years in the offshore installed base partially compensates for a potential decline in service volumes. The service outlook for gas fueled vessels remains favorable.”
Read the interim report HERE