09 april 2019 A mandatory requirement for national governments to introduce electronic information exchange between ships and ports came into effect from April 8, 2019. The requirement, mandatory under IMO’s Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention), is part of a package of amendments under the revised Annex …
Read More »U.S. BLACKLISTS GREEK TANKER FOR SANCTIONS-BUSTING
08 april 2019 The U.S. Department of the Treasury has blacklisted two shipping firms and dozens of vessels, including one Greek tanker, in connection with U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. The two companies are Ballito Bay Shipping and “ProPer In Management Inc.” of Athens. Both share the same address in Piraeus. …
Read More »MAGIC PIPE MARPOL VIOLATIONS CAN BE SPOTTED FROM SPACE
07 april 2019 Environmental monitoring organization SkyTruth watches for illegal activity using satellite data, and over the past several years, they’ve made it clear that “magic pipe” bilge water disposal can no longer be hidden at sea. Bypassing the ship’s oily water separator to dump bilge waste is an illegal but …
Read More »DNA AND RNA MAY HAVE EXISTED TOGETHER BEFORE LIFE BEGAN ON EARTH
06 APR 2019 Before there was life, ribonucleic acid (RNA) ruled the primordial soup. Or so the story goes, according to what’s known as the RNA World hypothesis. But it seems we may have been too hasty in leaving out RNA’s more complex cousin, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Chemists from the UK …
Read More »ICS: OVERSUPPLY STILL A MAJOR CHALLENGE
05 APRIL 2019 Simon Bennett, Deputy Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has warned that avoiding overcapacity and unsustainably low freight rates is still a major challenge 10 years after the massive downturn of 2008. “In that time shipping companies needed to show restraint when ordering new …
Read More »MALAYSIA TO BUILD SHIP-TO-SHIP FACILITY IN JOHOR STRAIT
04 APRIL 2019 Malaysia has announced plans to build a ship-to-ship transfer facility near Johor’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas. The 1,200 hectare (3,000 acre) facility, estimated to cost up to $180 million, will be build in the Strait of Johor opposite Singapore’s Port of Tuas and is touted as the …
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