The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), along with the International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) and the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), on Wednesday (25 August) issued new protocols to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 cases on board vessels.
The protocols aim to safeguard the health of seafarers and guarantee the safe operations of maritime trade – offering governments and the general public reassurance that seafarers can embark and disembark ships safely, it said.
Recently, there have been concerns over COVID-19 infections on board ships, due to a small minority failing to adhere to industry guidance.
While the number of cases has been limited, ICS said the newly issued protocols will provide shipowners and operators with the tools to safely manage cases on vessels.
Building on previous health guidance released by ICS in May, the new protocols equip ships operators with two useful instruments:
Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 related travel restrictions have limited the global shipping industry’s ability to rotate ships’ crew. There are now over a quarter of a million seafarers stranded at sea, waiting to be repatriated, explained ICS.
In light of this humanitarian crisis and its far-reaching impact on the industry, ICS put forward a COVID-19 health guidance in March, updated in May, to protect the health of seafarers and passengers, as well as the general public.
These comprehensive documents ensure the safe operations of maritime trade and serve as a reassurance to governments that crew change and seaborne trade pose limited health risks.
“The new protocols build on our previous guidance and should give confidence to the industry and governments that maritime trade can operate safely. Especially when there are suspected COVID-19 cases on board,” said Natalie Shaw, Director of Employment Affairs for the International Chamber of Shipping.
“We have observed a small number of COVID-19 cases among ships’ crew in recent weeks and decided to take the initiative to create new protocols, together with IMHA and INTERTANKO.”
The ICS Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance to help protect the health of seafarers (and passengers) as well as the general public can be downloaded here.
Photo credit: International Chamber of Shipping
Published: 28 August, 2020
IBIA and others had already dispelled myths about VLSFO many times, but the same negative misconceptions keep coming up as false information, it said.
Time charter to Shell expected to begin in Q1 2023 for a period of 3 years with an option to extend up to 5 years; vessel to be delivered to Avenir in Q2 2022.
300 metric tonnes of marine distillate DMF fuel type III produced at Rosneft’s Komsomolsk refinery was bunkered onto the vessel, said the company.
The two tankers are expected to be able to carry around 30,000 lb each of marine fuel and will be built at the Hashihara shipyard of Shin Kurushima Dockyard.
A Kirby towboat discharged approximately 4,000 barrels of oil from one of its barges into the Houston Ship Channel at the Texas City “Y” crossing in March 2014.
‘We must remain diligent in our examination of LNG’s pathway to bio and synthetic LNG, as well as all future alternatives showing promise and potential,’ says SEA-LNG.
Discussions around the need to develop methanol bunkering operations are taking place at numerous ports ahead of estimated demand of above 7M mtpa by 2030, says Chris Chatterton of Methanol Institute.
‘Economics of the shipping market will be the key driver enabling methanol to be adopted at a higher pace going forth over next couple years as market begins to return to more normal rates,’ states COO.
Integr8 Fuel injunction varied by Singapore Court to allow former employees to start work at Hartree Group in December 2022 following failure to produce evidence on biofuels development plans.
Variability of sources can affect the stability and performance of biofuel bunkers produced from these feedstocks, in turn leading to difficulties in meeting regulations and industry standards, shares Bryan Quek.
Top three positive movers in 2022 were Bunker House Petroleum Pte Ltd (+7), Eastpoint International Marketing Pte Ltd (+5), and Eng Hua Company (Pte) Ltd (+6); newcomer Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore) gets 19th spot.
Livestock carrier also involved in earlier bunker claim with Glander International Bunkering due to remaining unpaid fuel bill of approximately USD 116,000, according to court documents obtained by Manifold Times.
