24 dead, 60 feared missing in DRCongo boat capsize
(AFP) – 6 sept 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jvc5pc-SpZw-Pn0zO3SfF...

KINSHASA — A fishing boat capsized in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 24 people, a government spokesman said Monday, amid fears that up to 60 people were missing.

"Twenty-four people died in a capsize on the Ruki river in (western) Equateur province," on Sunday, Lamber Mende told AFP, referring to a tributary of the Congo river.

He said the boat was carrying "between 24 and 30 people."

However, the UN-backed Radio Okapi put the provisional death toll at 15 and said 60 people were missing.

"There have only been 15 survivors while nearly 100 people were on board," the radio said, citing among others, the spokeswoman for the provincial government of Equateur, Rebecca Ebala.

Mende said another boat accident occurred a day earlier in the central Kasai-Occidental province and that 24 people had managed to swim to safety but admitted the government had no idea if there were any deaths.

"Nobody is in a position to say at this moment whether there were others on the boat apart from the survivors and if there are people who are dead or missing.

Chief engineer who covered up cargo ship's oil dumping sentenced to probation
Bay City News Service Posted: 09/05/2010 09:40:52 PM PDT Updated: 09/05/2010 09:40:53 PM PDT
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16002252

OAKLAND -- A cargo ship engineer who ordered the dumping of oil-containing waste into the ocean was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Dimitrios Dimitrakis, chief engineer of the cargo ship M/V New Fortune, was sentenced to three years probation, a $5,000 fine and a $100 special assessment for failing to maintain an Oil Record Book.

The sentencing stems from the overboard disposal of oil residue, sludge, oil and oily mixtures into the ocean and Dimitrakis's efforts to conceal the discharges by falsifying onboard records, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

According to court documents, the ship was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard for a routine inspection in February after it traveled from South Korea to the Port of Oakland.

Prosecutors said inspectors found that the crew had been using a so-called "magic hose" to dispose of the vessel's oil-containing waste overboard, bypassing the vessel's pollution prevention equipment.

Norwegian shipping company to hire more seafarers
6 sept 2010 (?)
http://maritimenewsblog.co.cc/shipping-news/norwegian-shipping-company-t...

NORWEGIAN shipping firm Torvald Klaveness Group (TKG) said it will continue to hire hundreds more Filipino seafarers in the coming years as the company expands its fleet on expectations that the world economy to recover.

Chairman Tom Erik Klaveness said on Wednesday the company will prioritize the employment of Filipino seafarers in the new vessels that will be purchased within the next three years, about the same time cargo volumes are expected to pick up.

Klaveness, who is in the Philippines in celebration of his company’s presence in the country for the past 25 years, that his company will spend between $150 million and $350 million for the purchase of between five to 10 brand-new vessels.

“We have not come to the shipyards yet because it is too early. But most probably these vessels will be manned by Filipino seafarers,” he told reporters.

Of its current 1,000 seafarer count, about 800 are Filipino and the rest are composed of several other nationalities.

70 killed, 200 missing as 2 boats capsize in Congo

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/200319/70-killed-200-missing-as-2-boats-caps...

(Updated 8:49 a.m.) KINSHASA, Congo – Two boats capsized over the weekend in separate incidents on Congo's vast rivers, leaving 70 people dead and 200 others feared dead, and both vessels were heavily loaded and operating with few safety measures, officials said Sunday.

Early on Saturday, a boat on a river in northwest Equateur Province hit a rock and capsized, provincial spokeswoman Ebale Engumba said Sunday. She said more than 70 people are believed dead among 100 estimated passengers. She said officials are investigating why the boat was traveling through the darkness without a light.

In a separate incident in Kasai Occidental Province, 200 people were feared dead after a boat loaded with passengers and fuel drums caught fire and capsized in southern Congo, a survivor said Sunday. Another survivor confirmed the account and said local fishermen refused to help drowning passengers who jumped off the crowded boat.

The incident in southern Congo would be the deadliest boat accident in the Central African nation this year, and among the worst in Africa this year.

Soaring barge freight set for more gains

Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/09062010/ship2.html

CHICAGO—Freight rates to ship grain by barge to the US Gulf, which surged as much as 50 percent last month, are set to head higher this fall as the corn and soybean harvest builds momentum, likely raising export prices.

But gains could be tempered by price incentives for farmers to sell grain later rather than sooner, and possible autumn rains that could slow the pace of harvest.

"There are a lot of factors that, if timed right, could really mean we could see a volatile freight market to both sides. The timing for all these moving pieces will be key," a barge broker said.

Barge freight rates surged in August as demand for barges rose with moderate grain movement and signs that the corn harvest could be several weeks earlier than normal.

Many farmers in the southern Midwest were harvesting corn this week, at least two weeks sooner than usual.

Gulf export elevators were also holding a massive volume of barges loaded with lower-quality corn from last year’s crop. They were waiting for better quality new-crop corn to "blend up" the grain, which kept barge supplies tight.

"It could take 60 days to get those 600 barges blended off. That’s a lot of damaged corn," a corn trader said.

MOL launches safety campaign
for all MOL-operated vessels

Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/09062010/ship1.html

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has launched the semiannual safety campaign dubbed "four zeroes" for all the MOL-operated vessels.

MOL President Koichi Muto announced the MOL goal of "four zeroes" meaning zero serious marine incidents, zero oil pollution, zero fatal accidents, and zero cargo damage.

MOL is one of the world’s largest multi-modal transport companies, operating 861 vessels and employing a workforce in excess of 9,200 worldwide, including Filipino mariners.

MOL has a long relationship with the Philippines, and also operates the seafarer training company MOL Maritime Training Corp. in the Philippines.

The campaign is directed at realizing the company’s key objective of becoming the world leader in safe operation, as set out in the new mid-term management plan "Gear up! MOL".

A key element of the campaign is a frank exchange of ideas, advice, and opinions between management and seafarers and other front-line personnel.

The one-and-a-half-month campaign from September 1 to October 15, 2010 is aimed at increasing safety awareness by intensive visits of executives and regular employees including top management, toward achievement of "four zeroes."

Cargo ship embarks
on historic Arctic passage

Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/09062010/ship3.html

OSLO—The MV Nordic Barents is lugging 40,000 tons of iron ore from Norway to China on an Arctic Ocean shortcut through melting ice -- and making a little history in the process.

Steaming east along Russia’s desolate northern coast, the ship departed on Saturday as the first non-Russian commercial vessel to attempt a non-stop crossing of a route that skirts the receding Arctic ice cap.

"We’re pretty much going over the top," said John Sanderson, the Australian CEO of the Norwegian mine where the iron ore comes from.

By using the northern route from Europe to Asia, the Nordic Barents could save eight days and 5,000 nautical miles of travel thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the owners of its cargo.

While many scientists are alarmed by the widening expanse of open water that the ship will traverse, blaming it on global warming, shippers see a new international route.

Sanderson’s ASX-listed Northern Iron Ltd has sent 15 ships to China since it began mining in the northern Norwegian town of Kirkenes last October. All steamed south, then east through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope.

To reach Chinese steel mills hungry for ore, they had to brave pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Cargo vessel robbed
By JOHN CARLO CAHINHINAN
September 4, 2010, 9:33pm
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/275586/cargo-vessel-robbed

Manila, Philippines — A Liberian-flagged cargo shipping vessel was attacked by five unidentified robbers while anchored along the break water off Manila Bay early morning on Saturday.

Lieutenant Commander Armando Balilo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Public Information Officer said that M/V Serapong, a 9,957 gross-tonnage cargo vessel based in Liberia carrying 14 Filipino and two Ukrainian crew members was attacked by six suspected seajackers at around 2:25 a.m.

Balilo said that based on the sworn statement of Igor Pokotilov, the Ukrainian ship captain that upon dropping their anchor near the break water, five unidentified men were spotted by the duty officer along the facile deck area. The duty officer failed to immediately informed Pokotilov after a suspected seajacker pointed a .38 caliber revolver directly into head of the officer.

Probers said that the suspects stayed for 15 minutes and escaped using one of the vessels light raft boat. Several diving gears and other tools were also missing inside the cargo vessel.

Pokotilov has filed a marine protest before the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA). The PCG National Capital Region District is currently conducting an investigation on the incident.

More Officials of Indebted Shipbuilder Arrested
Associated Press, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010, 2:51 A.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870428250457547086289094823...

HANOI, Vietnam—Police have arrested four additional former senior executives of Vietnam's debt-laden, state-owned shipbuilding company as part of widening investigations into mismanagement, state media reported Saturday.

The former executives for the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, or Vinashin, have been accused of intentionally violating regulations causing serious losses to the state.

The four were taken into custody Monday, but the arrests weren't reported for several days in communist Vietnam's tightly controlled media. The company's chairman, Pham Thanh Binh, was arrested on similar charges about a month ago.

The widening case has attracted extensive media attention, and some members of the National Assembly have demanded hearings on the ongoing investigations. It is unclear if the business scandal will have political consequences, but the ruling Communist Party has made fighting corruption and economic crimes a priority.

Shipping companies eye fabled Asia route as ice melts
By Pierre-Henry Deshayes (AFP) – 4 Sept 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hilHIkisM1oPp2YKop_Xn...

OSLO — Shipowners are showing growing interest in a fabled trade route to Asia which climate change is beginning to open up at last as polar ice recedes.

On Saturday the first non-Russian vessel to make an intercontinental commercial voyage through the Arctic Northeast passage will set sail from Norway for China.

The route is thousands of kilometres (miles) shorter than traditional passages, promising to reduce travel time dramatically, along with fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

The Hong Kong-flagged Nordic Barents will sail from the northern port of Kirkenes with 41,000 tonnes of iron ore for Qingdao in China, aided by two Russian icebreakers and taking some 26 days.

Its owners, the Danish firm Nordic Bulk Carriers, said the ship would cover only about half the distance of its usual route through the Suez canal, spend eight fewer days at sea and save 180,000 dollars in fuel costs.

"It can be very interesting for producers of minerals in Norway, in Sweden or in Finland who want to export their goods to the Asian markets," the company's managing director Christian Bonfils told AFP.