Issue 29

"Progress across all fronts has improved; this progress could not have been achieved without the support and hard work from our membership committees, sub-committees and focus groups."

Director’s log

As we move into holiday season for many of the membership and secretariat I was told that “things go quiet”. I can now tell you that is not the case.

The sub-committees and focus groups have continued to progress their particular subjects to ensure momentum is maintained and, importantly, the secretaries to the main committees are maintaining their intersessional activity and progress. Progress across all fronts has improved; this progress could not have been achieved without the support and hard work from our membership committees, sub-committees and focus groups.

During the month the UK Marine Accident Investigation Bureaux (MAIB) met with members of the secretariat to support the MAIB investigation into a mooring incident, one element of which was the type of rope in use, i.e. ultra-high modulus polyethylene (HMPE) and the mooring configuration following which they have issued a Safety Bulletin (SB1/2015). Continuing my theme of OCIMF being a trusted partner, it was very pleasing to see that the MAIB approached OCIMF to seek our expertise to support their investigation. OCIMF will be issuing a related information paper in due course.

The Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE) has been with us since 1993; it is well established and part of the industry framework which has raised operating standards across the tanker industry. The Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID) is still very much in the establishing stage of its development. However, I was very pleased to see that since OVID’s release in 2010, 70 of the 96 OCIMF members have signed up to use OVID resulting in 8,698 OVID registered vessels and over 3,000 inspections in the last 12 months. Acceptance of OVID within the Upstream has grown resulting in (currently) 1,470 vessel operators registered in OVID with 508 having published Offshore Vessel Management and Self-Assessments (OVMSA) and another 741 working toward their OVMSA. As with SIRE, OVID continues to develop. This month we released the second Offshore Vessel Inspection Questionnaire (OVIQ2) and a new Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Question sets (Jack-ups and Drill ship/Semi-Submersible). The OVIQ2 now has 22 different operations in chapter 8, including freighter, barge, landing craft and dredging.

May I wish you all an enjoyable, restful and, importantly safe summer break, thank you for your support and effort in the first half of the year.

Andrew Cassels

Director OCIMF

Do you have news that you'd like to share with our readers? If so email عنوان البريد الإلكتروني هذا محمي من روبوتات السبام. يجب عليك تفعيل الجافاسكربت لرؤيته.

Ice forum

The ICE Forum and its work groups the Marine Terminals Impacted by Severe Low Temperatures and Ice (MIST), and the Northern Sea Route (NSR), met at the OCIMF offices on the 22-24 June.

The topics under discussion included the Polar Code and where OCIMF programmes such as SIRE and TMSA can be updated by introducing Polar Code specific questions. The IMO continues to work towards providing guidance on limitation in ice and through the ICE Forum, OCIMF remains a part of the correspondence group formulating the guidance. Other material discussed included the two OCIMF information papers being produced by the ICE Forum:

1. Northern Sea Route Navigation - Best Practices and Challenges.
2. Guidelines for Marine Terminals Impacted by Ice or Severe Sub Zero Temperatures.

MRV and CO2 emissions from vessels

OCIMF continues to be engaged with the European Commission’s (EC) directive to monitor CO2 emissions from ships of 5,000GT and above that call EU ports, regardless of flag, which are “transporting cargo or passengers for commercial purposes”.

The new Monitoring Reporting Verification (MRV) directive can be found on the EUR-Lex website and came into force 1 July 2015, however reporting won’t begin until 2019. The finer details of the directive are still being discussed among industry and EU States. The plan is for final adoption at the end of 2016.

The EC has communicated they intend to align the MRV with the IMO’s Global Data Collection System when finalised. OCIMF continues to monitor discussions at the IMO and at the EC.

The next EC meeting regarding MRV will take place 27-28 October in Brussels.

Should you require further information please contact Joe Megeed at عنوان البريد الإلكتروني هذا محمي من روبوتات السبام. يجب عليك تفعيل الجافاسكربت لرؤيته.

Maritime Security Snippets

Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia

The 18th plenary session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) was held at the UN headquarters in New York on 8 July, and was an opportunity for member states and interested parties to discuss a number of important issues.

Of significance to members is the need to review the parameters of the High Risk Area (HRA) as defined in BMP4. Recent statements at the IMO (MSC95) and from CGPCS members indicate the HRA may now include areas in which piracy attacks have not taken place. The CGPCS suggested a threat assessment, recently presented to industry by the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction Initiative (SHADE), and further national input by India form an adequate basis to review the HRA. Industry agrees that the time is right to conduct this review and has offered to present its findings to the CGPCS Chair by 8 October 2015. The Maritime Security Sub-Committee has started to discuss and asses changes to the current arrangement – the safety and security of our mariners remains paramount.

As the CGPCS communique says “the CGPCS remains committed to the goal of zero ships and zero seafarers in the hands of Somali pirates and urges the immediate and safe release of the remaining 26 innocent seafarers currently being held captive in Somalia. The CGPCS calls upon the Somali authorities to bring the perpetrators of maritime piracy to justice and work together with the international community to secure the immediate and safe release of the remaining seafarers being held by Somali pirates. The CGPCS remains committed to continuing its work to eliminate piracy off the coast of Somalia, including by enabling Somalia to lead an effective and sustainable response to piracy. The CGPCS endorsed with appreciation the offer of the Government of Seychelles to take the Chair of the CGPCS Presidency for the year 2016.”

For the full communique visit:

http://www.lessonsfrompiracy.net/files/2015/07/Communique-18th-Plenary.pdf

Oceans Beyond Piracy

In support of the CGPCS, OCIMF has been supporting the work of Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) to develop a technical Maritime Situational Awareness framework. The results of this work can be found in the recently launched OBP 2014 report which addresses the economic and human cost of piracy.

European Union Naval Force Mediterranean

The EU launched the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med) at the end of June to combat the flow of illegal immigrants for North Africa into Europe. The force is command by Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino ITN from a headquarters in Rome.

The full mission statement and mandate can be found here:

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/csdp/missions-and-operations/eunavfor-med/pdf/factsheet_eunavfor_med.pdf

Pan African Maritime Summit

OCIMF, along with other industry partners, has been helping maritime officials from Togo build the agenda for the Pan African Maritime Summit being held in Lomé from 2 to the 7 November this year.

http://www.african-union-togo2015.com

SIRE News

Training courses

From the 15 to the 26 June a number of training course were held in Houston and New Orleans. A Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE) new inspector course was held in Houston with 12 attendees, the course was kindly hosted by Chevron in their downtown office. In New Orleans 30 inspectors attended a SIRE refresher course and 37 people attended two back-to-back Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) courses. Running simultaneously was an Offshore Vessel Inspection Database (OVID) refresher course that was attended by 17 inspectors.

Auditors’ conference

The ninth annual auditors’ conference was held in the OCIMF office on the 7-8 July. A record 26 of the 29 auditors attended. The meeting discussed a number of issues relating to auditing of inspectors, however the majority of the time was spent brainstorming the issue of how the Auditor can complete the inspection and report in the event of a failed audit. A lively debate followed and the outcome was passed the SIRE Focus Group for discussion.

In addition 19 of the auditors remained for an extra day and a half to complete their ECDIS training.

Appointment of the new Secretary-General to IMO

After four years as Secretary General, Mr Koji Sekimizu decided to step down due to personal reasons and not stand for the customary second term.

After much waiting, speculation and side wagers the Council elected Mr. Ki-Tack Lim of the Republic of Korea, as Secretary General of the Organization for the four-year period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2019.

Six candidates stood and the voting was close, with the requirement of winning being a majority from the 40 council members (i.e. 21 votes or more). Voting went to five rounds, with one candidate being dropped in each round in the order of: Philippines, Russia, Kenya, Cyprus and then a final vote of Korea 26 to Denmark’s 14.

It is normal for the Secretary General to serve two terms and Mr. Ki-tack Lim is likely to be Secretary General for the next eight years. The Majority of IMO members are happy with this election as Mr. Lim has a history at IMO including serving as the Republic of Korea’s Deputy Permanent Representative to IMO from 2006 to 2009 and was Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI) from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Lim is currently president of Busan Port Authority and therefore also has experience of managing a large organisation of several thousand employees.

The Assembly in November will be asked to approve this appointment but this should be a mere formality.

http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/30-SG-election.aspx

2016 dates for your diary