The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) looked to be prepared to reduce the compensation bill it has demanded from the owners of ULCV Ever Given from $916m to about $600m. However, UK Club responded yesterday that the amount demanded was still too high. The vessel has been detained in Great Bitter Lakes on the Suez Canal…
Traders book tankers in Europe after Colonial pipeline shutdown
Traders provisionally booked at least six tankers to ship petrol from Europe to US destinations following Friday’s cyber-attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Texas up to the north-east US coast. Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down its entire system on May 7th, leading to fears of gasoline shortages on the US East…
German lines resuming domestic cruises in May
Three cruise operators that operate in the German market – AIDA, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and TUI – have said that they would be restarting services in Germany, starting from Kiel, before the end of May. The announcements followed the news that travel restrictions would be reduced in northern parts of Germany The government for the northern…
New rules on use of lasers in US navigable waters get master into trouble
Steamship Mutual’s Ross Millar has written on a loss prevention matter where one of the club’s members was caught out by a rule on the use of lasers in US waters. He said that recently a vessel on passage towards Los Angeles had spotted a high-speed craft approaching on a potential collision course. The vessel’s…
USCG confirms that people aboard commercial vessels still required to wear masks
The US Coast Guard has confirmed that MSIB 02-21 CH-1, issued on March 22nd this year, which requires that masks be worn aboard commercial vessels and at seaports, remains the controlling guidance on the topic, stated Rick Beaumont, Senior Claims Executive at Standard Club. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that there…
Stronger safe management measures at PSA Singapore Terminals
UK Club has noted that the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) has introduced tougher safe management measures at PSA Singapore terminals for contactless (segregated) cargo operations. The actions, which were announced at the end of April and which came into force on May 3rd, are a response to the heightened risk in the region of…
Ship operators at increased risk of drug smuggling: Gard
In its World Drug Report 2020 the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that illicit drug use had been on the increase in the five-year period to 2019. UNODC reported that Colombia remained the country where most coca leaf (used to produce cocaine) was grown, accounting for about 70% of the global area…
Texas to join Florida, Alaska, in lawsuit against CDC
The US state of Texas, with its long coastline on the Gulf of Mexico, has begun steps to join Florida’s lawsuit against the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Florida legal action seeks to invalidate the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) put out by the CDC and to permit an immediate and unrestricted…
Norwegian Cruise Line CEO says US ships are unlikely to sail this summer
Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Frank Del Rio has said that it was unlikely that the company would be able to restart US cruises in July, given the latest guidance from the US Center For Diseases Control and Prevention (CD) “unfair”. “I seriously doubt we will be able to stand up a vessel out of a…
National strike in Colombia hitting access to terminals: Steamship
Steamship Mutual’s Club Correspondent in Colombia A&A Multiprime has warned that, following the government’s tax reform legislation, placed before Congress on April 15th, a national strike began on April 28th. Even though this has brought about the resignation of the Minister of Finance and the withdrawal of the tax reform proposal, demonstrations and road blockades…