IMO head tells UN that co-operation can provide anti-piracy blueprint

Safety 1

One of the French helicopter carrier/assault deployed to the Gulf of Aden

IMO head tells UN that co-operation can provide anti-piracy blueprint  IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has told the United Nations General Assembly that multilateral co operation arrangements, between and among States, regions and institutions can provide the means to reduce the risk of unprovoked piracy attacks on innocent ships, citing coordinated patrols in high-risk areas, information sharing, intelligence exchange and hot pursuit following attacks as among the tools by which this can be achieved.
Addressing an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, on Friday, 14 May, on the subject of piracy, Mr. Mitropoulos said that its global character, and the imperative of combating it, make it essential that States continue establishing effective co operative mechanisms and that the UN System provides a leading, indeed, coordinating role.
Convened by H.E. Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, President of the 64th session of the General Assembly, and opened by H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, the meeting was organized as three panels focussing on piracy from a wide variety of perspectives, including political, legal, social and economic aspects of combating it, in general, and in the particular case of Somalia. Speakers included ministerial-level officials of Somalia and other Governments, representatives of UN, regional and seafarers’ organizations, and the commander of the European Union’s ongoing naval operation "Atalanta".
In his remarks, UN Secretary-General Ban paid tribute to the various States and regional or intergovernmental entities that have been working to tackle piracy, adding that "UN bodies and agencies have also been closely involved, particularly the International Maritime Organization. Thanks to these efforts, the success rate of attacks has decreased from one in three to one in ten".
The meeting’s third panel, in which Secretary-General Mitropoulos was both moderator and presenter, addressed the crucial role of the UN and of co operation among States in preventing and repressing what is a global problem. In his intervention, Mr. Mitropoulos took the opportunity to highlight the successful collaboration that Asian nations, with IMO support, had already established to combat piracy and armed robbery in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. He expressed the expectation that a similar approach in the current trouble-spots – off the coast of Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean – would also pay dividends, and pointed to IMO’s success in drawing up the Djibouti Code of Conduct under which regional systems and infrastructure for information sharing, training, maritime situational awareness and legislative improvements are being established.
Formally adopted in January 2009, the Djibouti Code now has 14 signatory States, all united in the effort to implement the rule of law at sea and, together, build the necessary capacities to tackle the problem. "We expect", Mr. Mitropoulos said, "that the systems and infrastructure we are putting in place will help to reduce substantially the operation of pirates in the region, just as they did in the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, where the experience gained is now serving as a template for the signatories to the Djibouti Code."
Other topics covered by the wide-ranging meeting included an examination of the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, and the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and discussion of the various initiatives that might be implemented within the framework of IMO to further enhance security of navigation. Jurisdiction over the crime of piracy, the problem of custody and prosecution of pirates, ways of strengthening mutual legal assistance between Member states in investigating piracy acts, and the welfare and protection of victims of piracy, including seafarers, were also discussed, together with ways of enhancing the effectiveness of national criminal justice systems aimed at ensuring that any person involved in financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of piracy acts or who supports such acts is brought to justice.

SHIPTALK:  A GLOSSARY OF SHIPING AND MARITIME TERMS

ANCHORAGE: Port charge relating to a vessel moored at approved anchorage site in a harbour.
APRON: The area immediately in front of or behind a wharf shed on which cargo is lifted. On the "front apron," cargo is unloaded from or loaded onto a ship. Behind the shed, cargo moves over the "rear apron" into and out of railroad cars.
BARGE: A large, flat-bottomed boat used to carry cargo from a port to shallow-draft waterways. Barges have no locomotion and are pushed by towboats. A single, standard barge can hold 1,500 tons of cargo or as much as either 15 railroad cars or 60 trucks can carry. A barge is 200 feet long, 35 feet wide and has a draft of 9 feet. Barges carry dry bulk (grain, coal, lumber, gravel, etc.) and liquid bulk (petroleum, vegetable oils, molasses, etc.).
CONSOLIDATOR: The person or firm that consolidates (combines) cargo from a number of shippers into a container that will deliver the goods to several buyers.
DOCKAGE: A charge by a port authority for the length of water frontage used by a vessel tied up at a wharf.
DRAFT: The depth of a loaded vessel in the water taken from the level of the waterline to the lowest point of the hull of the vessel; depth of water, or distance between the bottom of the ship and waterline.
INTERMODAL SHIPMENT: When more than one mode of transportation is used to ship cargo from origin to destination, it is called intermodal transportation. For example, boxes of hot sauce from Louisiana are stuffed into metal boxes called containers at the factory. That container is put onto a truck chassis (or a railroad flat car) and moved to a port. There the container is lifted off the vehicle and lifted onto a ship. At the receiving port, the process is reversed. Intermodal transportation uses few labourers and speeds up the delivery time.

LASH: These 900-foot-long ships carry small barges inside the vessel. LASH stands for Lighter Aboard Ship. Just as cargo is transported by barge from the shallower parts of the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans for export aboard ocean-going ships, LASH barges are lifted into these unusual ships. Overseas, the ship can discharge clusters of barges in the open waters. Then several towboats will assemble the barges into tows bound for various ports and inland waterways, without the ship having to spend time travelling to each port.

PORT STATE CONTROL: Irish Ships To Enjoy ‘Immunity’
Ireland’s shipping has moved up the international league table, meaning Irish vessels will be subject to fewer inspections in ports.
The move up to the ‘White List’ in the table of maritime flag states also means Irish ships will now be considered of the highest quality.
Ireland has moved from 19th on the list to 8th place.
The news came as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control held its 43rd committee meeting in Dublin. It was held in the Dublin Castle Conference Centre and was opened by Minister of Transport Noel Dempsey.
The Paris MoU adopted the new ‘Black-Grey-White List’, which is the international league table of maritime flag states. It will have positive financial consequences for the Irish shipping industry, the meeting concluded. It adopted the ‘New Inspection Regime’, which is a groundbreaking development in port state control. The New Inspection Regime, which will come into force from January 1, 2011, will replace the existing port state control system.
The NIR is a significant departure as it is a riskbased targeting mechanism, which will reward quality shipping with a smaller inspection burden and concentrate on high-risk ships, which will be subject to more in-depth and more frequent inspections.
The NIR is based on the latest developments at the International Maritime Organization.

SAFETY    2

The Liberian flagged, ELENI P (72,119-dwt) that was hijacked last week about 250 nautical miles off the coast of Oman.

PIRATES GO BERSERK: Shoot captains, four others in

Again sea pirates last week struck within nine nautical miles on the Nigeria waters way seriously injuring five Chinese crew members on board a general cargo vessel – MV Azenjiang. 

The vessel was to berth at ENL Consortium.

Besides the ship master the pirates also shot his deputy and three other crew members who are currently receiving treatments at a private hospital in Lagos.

Eyewitness said the wounded captain and the four crew members were in critical condition as at press time.

The five armed pirates were said to have attacked the vessel with a speed boat and boarded it, ransacked everywhere and made away with unspecified amount of money.

The shot master was identified as Capt. Liu Cheng Fang, while the representative of the ship owner – Mr. Lin Xin Jun was shot on the chest and neck. 

Others crew members who were also shot include Lai Li Ming, Xiu Shi Jun, and Zhao Li Guang
A source in the Harbours Department of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) confirmed the attack and said the vessel had been anchored at berth 9 of Apapa port.

“We cannot get any report yet from the vessel’s captain and the other crew members as they were seriously injured”, the source which pleaded anonymity said.

 LATEST PIRACY ATTACKS AS REPORTED TO IMB

Confirming persistent allegation by the International Maritime Bureau, last week’s piracy attack on MV AZENJIANG was not reported at the IMB piracy reporting centre. We list under, recent attacks on ships as reported to the centre.

• 12.05.2010: 1328 UTC: Posn: 12:27.7N – 043:43.4E: Gulf of Aden.
After exiting the IRTC a general cargo ship was attacked by a skiff with three persons on board. The vessel noticed another four skiffs with pirates and ladders in the vicinity. The vessel immediately raised alarm, increased speed, activated fire hoses and called naval warships in the vicinity. The general cargo ship managed to evade the attack. The skiffs then attacked and fired upon another vessel.  View
• 12.05.2010: 1830 – 1930 LT: Posn: 12:01.7S – 077:12.1W: Callao anchorage Peru.
Armed robbers boarded a bulk carrier an anchor. They took hostage one shore guard, pointed a gun to his head and threatened him. The other guard informed the bridge. Alarm raised and crew mustered at bridge. Local authorities informed. Robbers broke open the bosun store door and escaped with ship’s stores before the patrol boat arrived at location.  View
• 12.05.2010: 1507 UTC: Posn: 0958S – 042:15E: 150 nm east of Lindi, Tanzania, Off Somalia.
Pirates in skiffs chased and fired upon a container ship underway. The vessel made evasive manoeuvres and enforced anti piracy measures. Later, pirates aborted the attempt and moved away.  View
• 12.05.2010: 0556 LT: Posn: 15:55N – 060:50E: Around 285 nm east of Khuria Muriya Island, Oman (Arabian Sea) off Somalia.
Pirates boarded and hijacked a bulk carrier along with its 23 crew. The vessel is currently being sailed towards Somalia.  View
• 11.05.2010: 1536 UTC: Posn: 12:31N – 047:08E: Gulf of Aden.
Pirates boarded and hijacked a chemical tanker along with its 15 crew. The vessl is currently being sailed towards Somalia.  View
• 01.05.2010: 0400 UTC: Posn: 12:04N – 044:04E: Gulf of Aden.
Pirates fired upon a Yemeni vessel. The Yemeni coast guard exchanged fire with the pirates and the pirates aborted the attack.  View
• 03.05.2010: 2300 LT: Posn: 10:57.5N – 074:45.5W: Palermo terminal, Barranquilla, Colombia.
A berthed general cargo ship had completed cargo operation and was preparing to depart. The C/O from a ship berthed ahead of the general cargo ship informed the gangway watch keeper that robbers had just stolen ship property from his ship and were making their way towards their ship. The duty watch keeper raised the alarm. The timely information from the C/O prevented the incident.  View
• 10.05.2010: 0538 UTC: Posn: 00:06N – 064:57E: Around 1200 nm east of Mogadishu, off Somalia.
Pirates in skiff chased and fired upon a bulk carrier. The vessel enforced effective anti piracy preventive measures and evaded the hijack. Later, the skiff moved away. Vessel sustained damages due to the firing. 

At Last, NIMASA Gets $1.7 Billion To Salvage Beached Vessels
Strong indications emerged last week that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is now set to commence removal of the ships that were washed ashore about three months ago in Lagos. 
Already an approval of $1.7million has been granted by the Federal Government for the removal exercise to commence.
Confirming the development in Lagos last week after carrying out physical inspection of the ill-fated ships, Director General of NIMASA, Mr Temisan Omatseye disclosed that work would start immediately after the inspection and assessment with the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria, ISAN. He added that the tour in company of ISAN’s leadership was to enable both NIMASA and ISAN to identify which of the ships could still be salvaged.
Surprisingly, however, it was confirmed that only eight out of the 24 beached ships could be salvaged. The NIMASA boss stated that out of the eight salvageable ships, two, namely:  M.T. Hollgen Star and M.T Odyssey, which have charged their names three time in recent times and whose owners are not know are to be left out.
The NIMASA helmsman who was accompanied on the tour by the Chairman of ISAN, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, identified only eight of the 24 beached vessels are salvageable.
A squall which swept through Lagos waters on the night of February 14, 2010 forced most the ships to drift from the Lagos anchorage into light house beach spread over five nautical miles, a development which at a point generated bad blood between NIMASA and owners of the affected ships; especially the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN).
A squall is a sudden, strong and violent wind which occurs during rain or snow storms. A squall also occurs within a reasonable kilometre radius, but often leaves heavy devastation on its trail.
At least 10 of the ships were forced to the beach side, while six others were moved by the storm to the Lekki area of Lagos.
The ships included: Hollgan Star, a coastal tanker, Arcturus No. 3, an LPG tanker,   Morlap Trader and   Sunshine also an LPG tanker. Others are: Penil, whose hull is heavily covered with marine growth, Odyssey (ex Whitkirk); both coastal tanker, F.K Badmus; also a coastal vessel which was found flat on keel with its bow facing the beach, Ella L, a coastal vessel found sitting on top of another older wreck which had been in the same position earlier and an unidentified coastal tanker.
Some of the affected ships had earlier been classified by NIMASA as unseaworthy and declared them as abandoned by their ‘unknown’ owners.
The February 14 accident had initially pitched NIMASA against ISAN, with the latter accusing NIMASA of failing to rise to the occasion when the storm started and after the ships had been washed ashore.
But the NIMASA helmsman had told Shipping Position Weekly recently that the two bodies had settled their differences and hat they were working together on how to salvage the ships.