27 jun 2019 The United Arab Emirates appeared to part ways with the Trump administration Wednesday on the question of whether Iran is responsible for the recent attacks on merchant tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The White House maintains that Iran or Iran-backed forces carried out the attacks, which …
Read More »FOURTEEN MARITIME ORGANIZATIONS PROTEST JAMMING AND SPOOFING
26 jun 2019 14 maritime organizations sent a letter to U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Karl Schultz on June 25, the IMO’s annual “Day of the Seafarer.” The letter urges him to raise the issue of jamming and spoofing of GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at the …
Read More »PERSIAN GULF WAR RISK PREMIUMS SEEN COSTING $500,000 PER OIL SHIPMENT
24 JUN 2019 The cost of insuring Middle East oil shipments is soaring as tensions mount in a region responsible for about a third of all seaborne petroleum. So-called war risk premiums for a standard oil cargo from the Persian Gulf and the tanker hauling it can now cost upwards …
Read More »SUPREME COURT: NO PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR SEAFARER INJURY CLAIMS
26 jun 2019 On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a seafarer who sought punitive damages from his employer after a hatch blew open and injured his hand, finding that punitive damages – that is, extra money awarded to the plaintiff as an additional punishment for the defendant – …
Read More »WHY WE WILL NEVER SEE FULLY AUTONOMOUS COMMERCIAL SHIPS
25 jun 2019 The world will never see fully autonomous transoceanic commercial cargo ships. In fact, autonomous vessels are likely to operate in only very limited situations. In recent years, the prospect of fully autonomous vessels has become a hot topic for commercial shipping. The same fast-paced advances in technology …
Read More »IMO WARNS SHIPPING INDUSTRY OF FAKE PIRACY REPORTS
25 JUN 2019 The International Maritime Organization warns that alerts being issued from the email account of the Regional Maritime Information Sharing Centre (REMISC) in Sana’a, Yemen (infoex@remisc.org) are not legitimate. Given the current situation in Yemen, which is in the midst of a civil war, the center has not been able to provide updated …
Read More »WTO: G20 TRADE RESTRICTIONS HISTORICALLY HIGH
24 JUN 2019 The WTO’s 21st Monitoring Report on G20 trade measures issued on June 24 shows a continuation of record high trade restrictions. The trade coverage of new import-restrictive measures introduced during the period (October 2018 to May 2019) was more than 3.5 times the average since May 2012 …
Read More »CHINA DELIVERS “SMART” VLCC
23 JUNE 2019 China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) has delivered what local media are calling the first smart tanker in the world. The 300-meter, 308,000dwt VLCC, New Journey, has assisted autopilot navigation, intelligent cargo management and integrated energy efficiency management, among other functions. The vessel was delivered to China Merchants Energy …
Read More »WILD CASE STUDY REVEALS 66-YEAR-OLD MAN WITH ALL HIS ORGANS ON THE WRONG SIDE
22 JUN 2019 For the latest tale of the unexpected from medical emergency rooms, we bring you the case of a 66-year-old man who turned up at the hospital complaining of a cough and chest pains. Soon enough, doctors realised the patient’s internal organs were all on the wrong side of his …
Read More »CLEAN ENERGY BECOMES DOMINANT POWER SOURCE IN U.K.
21 JUN 2019 By Jeremy Hodges (Bloomberg) –The U.K. will generate more energy from low-carbon sources than from fossil fuels this year for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. Wind, solar, hydro and nuclear plants provided 48% of the nation’s electricity in the first five months of 2019, according …
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