News in brief March 2010
Visit to Singapore, Nordic cooperation celebrates centenary, NIS-mediation in April, GOA-update
Strengthening Norwegian-Singapore relations
A trade delegation, led by the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Trond Giske, visited Singapore in March. NMOA director Hans Sande was part of the delegation, along to promote Norwegian maritime competence.
- A very rewarding trip. We had a welcome opportunity to present our views to relevant Norwegian parties in Singapore. Norway and Singapore both have strong maritime traditions and industries, and it was important to learn about the possibilities, development and challenges in Singapore, in Singapore-Norway relations, as well as in global maritime collaboration, states Mr. Sande upon completion of the trip.
In his presentations and meetings, director Sande focused how maritime leaders and experienced operational managers will be in great demand the next decade as shipping becomes more and more high tech and globalized.
- To meet the future challenges - technological - environmental - safety – risk – it is essential that ship-owners and managements recognize the need to invest heavily in human capital. We believe, stated director Sande, that ship managers - Norwegian as well as foreign, will find it valuable to invest “top dollars” for Norwegian senior officers in intercontinental shipping.
Singapore is increasingly important to Norwegian businesses. 80 percent of the 170 Norwegian companies with a presence in Singapore are part of the maritime sector.
Nordic Navigator Congress Centenary
The Nordic Navigator Congress celebrated its centenary at a conference and banquet in Stockholm on 24 February. In addition to addresses by leading representatives from the member countries, speakers included representatives from the Nordic authorities and from business and industry.
The director of the Norwegian Maritime Officers Association (NMOA) Captain Hans Sande, addressed the conference on the subject of prospects in the time ahead. He voiced the opinion that maritime officers from the Nordic countries must be specialists and lead development. To achieve this, mariners from the Nordic countries must have cutting edge competence in environmentally-friendly shipping, advanced logistics and transport, high risk operations and operations in arctic waters. “And not least, we must make it known that we are still experts in the management of multinational crews”, said Sande.
NIS mediation 12 April
Mediation between the seamen’s organisations and the Norwegian Shipowners Association in the intermediate bargaining concerning NIS (Norwegian International Ship Register) will take place in Oslo on Monday, 12 April.
IMO-meeting
Bjørn Haave, section manager in the Norwegian Maritime Officers Association participated in IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE), 53rd session: 22 - 26 February 2010.
Draft guidelines to ensure release mechanisms for lifeboats are replaced with those complying with new, stricter safety standards have been agreed by IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment (DE), 53rd session, in order to reduce the number of accidents involving lifeboats, particularly those which have occurred during drills or inspection.
The Sub-Committee recommended that administrations and shipowners be strongly urged to use the guidelines to evaluate existing lifeboat on-load release mechanisms at the earliest available opportunity, in advance of the entry into force of the new SOLAS and LSA Code amendments.
Navigation in or near high risk areas
Any decision to navigate in areas where the vessel’s security may be threatened requires careful consideration and detailed planning to best ensure the safety of the vessel and crew.
Read the guideline on the webside: www.sjofartsdir.no
Horn of Africa - update
Statistics: Gulf of Aden (GOA) has seen three hijackings and and ten failed attacks so far in 2010. The figures for Somali Basin/Indian Ocean are four hijackings and six failed attacks. Comments:
• as predicted, the piracy actitivy has escalated again, following the improvement in the weather conditions.
• The activity is fairly evenly spread between GOA and the waters east and south off the Horn of Africa (HOA).
• The pirates, while continuously extending their geographical area of operation, find it increasingly difficult to succeed, ref. the ratio between hijackings and failed attacks.
As per 9 March seven ships with a total of 143 crew members are held by pirates. One of them is the Norwegian-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged chemical carrier UBT Ocean, hijacked between Dar and Madagascar on 5 March. The vessel is reported to have been taken to a position off Haradhere, one of piracy cluster bastions. No contact with pirates or crew has so far been reported.
More offensive tactics employed by military forces: It is very much worth noting that the three multinational forces in the region (NATO, EU and CMF) are conducting a coordinated operation along the Somali coast outside areas where boats, weaponry and other equipment are stored before being taken on piracy expeditions. The purpose of these more offensive tactics (known as Somali Basin Coordinated Guide, modelled on the coordinated operation in GOA) is to neutralise mother ships and skiffs thereby preventing them from taking to sea. In one case, on 28 February, the NATO flagship HDMS ABSALON (Danish) scuttled a mother ship and three skiffs. The effect of these forward operations can be seen in the fact that the pirates are trying to circumvent the forward-based navy vessels and airplanes by moving their bases around.
The more robust tactics have been enabled through closer coordination of the naval capacities deployed in GOA.
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