Maritime News

A recent collision on the Mississippi River serves as an important reminder that accurate AIS data entry and display is essential to safe navigation as one of the many important tools used in providing vessel operators with a clear picture of potential upcoming vessel passing situations, especially on waterways with bends, bridges, or other visual obstructions.

USCG officers have pointed out that spare charges of powder fire extinguishers were expired.
Further, it has been also reported that the manufacture or product of spare powder differed from those of actual fire extinguishers onboard.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator (the “Administrator”) was recently notified of an incident involving the failure of a freefall lifeboat sling during lowering of the lifeboat to the water. The wire failed at a crimp while under load, causing the lifeboat to fall uncontrolled to the water. While this incident did not result in any injuries, it highlights the need to maintain vigilance when inspecting and utilizing slings for the secondary means of launching
and recovery of freefall lifeboats.

Due to a combination of circumstances there is now a worldwide shortage of storage space ashore for both unrefined and refined oil products of all types. As such there is a now growing demand for oil tankers to be used as floating storage.

The IMO have issued new guidance in their Recommended framework of protocols for ensuring safe ship crew changes and travel during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

It sets out general measures and procedures that should, so far as practicable, be implemented by all the parties involved in facilitating safe ship crew changes during the pandemic. The framework considers both joining a ship and repatriation, comprising a protocol for each step of the journey.