Singapore-based volunteers from fuel treatment specialist Aderco and from the Singapore chapter of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) gathered on Monday (9 November) to place the finishing touches on a mutually organised charity drive for seafarers.
The group was present at Aderco’s Singapore office to pack approximately 200 care packages which will be sent to crew still stuck onboard vessels for an extended period of time due to the pandemic when the ships visit Singapore port.
The initiative was started by Yukie Teo, Sales Support Manager at Aderco, who learned about the plight of numerous ship crew from her fleet management and bunker surveying contacts.
“I was planning to go onboard vessels to distribute company brochures for visiting vessels in September and initially came up with the idea of giving a sanitisation kit and pen as part of a care package from Aderco,” she shared with Singapore bunker publication Manifold Times.
“However, further conversation with surveyor contacts found several crew to be in extremely low morale due to extended time onboard. A discussion with my boss led to an expansion of the care package budget; we are now in its fifth iteration and plan to carry out this campaign till end of the year.
“The Singapore chapter of WISTA is now onboard and they have been a great help in this endeavour. I will like to take this opportunity to thank WISTA members and the generous contributions from the many anonymous donors. Thank you for your support!”
Magdalene Chew, President of WISTA Singapore, personally helped pack items into the care packages.
“Crew members are essential workers but are generally more overlooked than other categories of workers. As much as 300,000 seafarers are still stuck onboard ships [according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation] and many have been living on vessels for over a year,” said Chew, also a Director of AsiaLegal LLC.
“Our ExCo member Yukie told us about this initiative their company is undertaking and we are very happy to take part. We have asked for donations towards the purchase of tea, chocolate beverages and more for crew visiting Singapore port.
“WISTA Singapore will match dollar for dollar for every donation received up to $3000; we will also help to pack the items for Aderco to deliver to the crew.”
Victoria McFarlane, Assistant Claims Manager at Britannia P&I, was among WISTA members present at the packing session.
“Seafarers transport about 90% of the world’s goods and they make sure that we have everything that we need so we want to do what we can to help them as well,” she says.
“Even now, there are so many seafarers still stuck on ships unable to disembark due to various restrictions in place due to Covid. They cannot see their families and are so far from home.”
The item list for each Aderco care package include:
WISTA Singapore members present during the packing session are (left to right):
Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 11 November, 2020
Lack of demand for air travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the price of jet fuel to plummet and become a viable component for blending bunkers, reports Bloomberg.
Firm managed by staff all formerly of Arkas Bunker has secured a physical supply licence on 27 June, it says.
Floating storage a ‘hot topic’ in the tanker market due to uncertainty, particularly regarding how much capacity is currently used for storage, says shipping analyst.
To continue providing marine high speed diesel bunkering services at the Port of Kemaman, it says.
Development allows Fluxys, G&V, Titan LNG and Rolande to offer LNG as marine fuel at quay 526/528, where now only truck-to-ship bunkering is taking place.
Refiners in Europe and Asia Pacific are close to maxing out gasoil-to-jet fuel yields, and the extra product is contributing to renewed price weakness, it said
Garren Hay will be responsible for sales of the PANOLIN range of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants for the Singapore sole distributor agent Gealubes Consulting & Trading Pte Ltd.
Universal Alliance, BMS United, Digiland International, Goodwood Associates, Southernpec (Singapore), and Taigu Energy were involved in alleged circular fictitious trades of fuel oil during July 2015.
Bunker orders of ISO 8217:2010 spec LS 380 cSt 0.5% for Nord Gemini, Nord Titan, Ocean Rosemary, and Luzern were placed through global commodities trading and logistics house Trafigura Pte Ltd.
While Covid-19 concerns are important, Captain Rahul Choudhuri was quick to note this does not mean bunker fuel related issues have indeed disappeared from the shipping sector.
‘Therefore, representing the players of the Malaysian bunker industry, we sincerely hope that this matter can be refined and reconsidered immediately so that all parties benefit together,’ says communication.
Maureen Poh, a Director of Helmsman LLC, offers plain practical tips on the differences between US and EU Sanctions and shares some thoughts on what companies could do if they are potentially exposed to sanctioned entities.
