IIMS August 2024 News Bulletin
Here we offer you a selection of highlighted stories from our much more detailed August News Bulletin. To read the 33-page News Bulletin in full, click here to download it in pdf format , OR click to read it in eReader magazine format .
Two 'Lite' podcasts are also available to listen to. Click here for the version for small craft surveyors (run time 22 minutes). The edition for commercial ship surveyors is available to listen to here (run time 21 minutes).
‘Risk of drowning’ alert for some Jeanneau Yachts issued
IIMS has been contacted directly by the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to alert us to potential issues surrounding Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410, 440 and 490 models, which are equipped with Sleipner-Sidepower retractable bow thruster modules. These models were built in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The advice from Jeanneau is to immediately stop sailing. The company has issued a product recall amid safety concerns about seepage around the retractable bow thruster. This recall comes in the wake of the sinking of a Sun Odyssey 410 yacht off the coast of Germany last year.
In June 2024 the European Commission published a safety alert for the Sun Odyssey 410, 440 and 490 yacht constructed between 2020 and 2022, warning of a ‘risk of drowning’ as the boats ‘may sink’ due to a glueing problem with the underwater bow thrusters.
In the Safety Gate Alert statement by the European Commission, they say, ‘Due to a glueing problem, the bow thruster flange may detach and generate a waterway. The boat may sink, increasing the risk of drowning for users.’
eCMID Accredited Vessel Inspector Scheme applications hit the 1,000 mark
Back in mid 2015, IIMS subsidiary, the Marine Surveying Academy Ltd, was appointed by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) to pioneer, develop and launch the eCMID Accredited Vessel Inspector (AVI) Scheme.
The IMCA eCMID system provides the marine and offshore industry with standardised formats for vessel inspection. It offers a safety management system (SMS) ‘health check’ and can help improve the quality and consistency of inspections, as well as reducing the frequency of inspections on individual vessels through the adoption of a commonly recognised inspection process.
The desire for accreditation was largely driven by the industry itself. It was born due to pressure and concern from the industry that encouraged IMCA to find a solution to accredit competent inspectors. Prior to the scheme, vessel owners and operators had no way to validate the credentials of those stepping onboard to conduct the inspection. The purpose of the process is to provide a structure for the audit, or inspection of commercial vessels used in the offshore industry, conducted by vessel inspectors working on behalf of owners or clients. The robust accreditation scheme objectively assesses the competency of individuals against various vessel types.
Commenting on the receipt of the one thousandth eCMID AVI accreditation application, IIMS CEO, Mike Schwarz, said, "This is a remarkable milestone since we jointly developed and launched the accreditation scheme with IMCA in 2015. I clearly recall a decade ago sitting down with IMCA senior executives to devise a scheme that would objectively assess and match the capabilities of inspectors with different vessel types requiring inspection. Up to that point, vessel operators had no way of checking if the attending surveyor had the necessary technical knowledge and skills to conduct the inspection. The eCMID AVI scheme changed that for good. I look back over that time with a sense of great pride at what has been achieved."
Sweden bans scrubber discharges in its waters
Sweden has joined the list of countries seeking to ban scrubber water discharges in their waters. In a proposal the Swedish government wants to start prohibiting discharges from open loop scrubbers from 1 July 2025. This will be followed by a ban on discharges from all other scrubbers from 1 January 2029. The ban will be applicable in Swedish territorial waters.
While the IMO’s global cap on sulphur content in fuel oil was lauded as the right step towards clean shipping, it inadvertently led to widespread use of exhaust gas cleaning systems, popularly known as scrubbers. In addition to washed-out sulphur, other contaminants such as heavy metals and oil residues have been found in the discharge wastewater.
In commenting on the scrubber discharge ban, Sweden’s Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson said that most Swedish shipowners are already using low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO). For this reason, it became imperative to extend to all ships in Swedish maritime territory.
“Hopefully, these national bans will fuel discussions on regional bans in the Baltic, the Northeast Atlantic and the entire EU. The IMO need to move forward on this topic as well, although I think a global ban is quite a few steps away. There are intermediate steps to make nevertheless,” said Mattias Rust, Deputy Director, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure, Sweden.
Unprecedented numbers of flares seen at Northern Ireland disposal events
The Northern Irish sailing community produced an unprecedented 4,000 expired marine flares at disposal events held at Portrush Yacht Club, Bangor Marina.
RYA Northern Ireland organised these events in conjunction with the PSNI as The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) voluntary flare disposal service stopped in December 2022 and as there is no commercial disposal service currently available in Northern Ireland for marine distress flare disposal. This has been problematic for boaters as it is illegal to dispose of flares at sea, illegal to dump them on land and illegal to let them off in anything other than an emergency.
It is also vital that there are adequate disposal facilities are provided for boaters as improper disposal of marine flares can be dangerous or cause harm to the environment. Shockingly, the oldest dated flare to be handed in at last Saturday’s events dated back to 1965.
Managing the risk of blackouts DNV guidance paper
Blackout and consequential loss of propulsion have long been considered a major accident hazard for the maritime industry. Loss of propulsion may, depending on the operational situation, pose an imminent threat to the ship and its passengers and crew.
Most operators of passenger ships occasionally experience blackout with subsequent temporary loss of propulsion. Fortunately, most incidents do not have significant consequences, as they usually occur while in transit in open sea. Research from DNV found that in 2019, the media reported 12 power loss events on cruise ships that resulted in full or partial blackout while in transit or manoeuvring. This was a significant increase from four events in the previous year. These incidents are a driver for stakeholders in the passenger ship industry to stop and reflect on what can be done to reduce the risk of blackout and consequential loss of propulsion, in order to ensure safe operations.
Canal & River Trust responds to awful annual boaters' survey findings
The UK Canal & River Trust (CRT) says it will be doing all it can to make improvements following the publication of its annual boaters’ survey, which has revealed a decrease in overall boater satisfaction from 54 per cent to 46 per cent from a year ago.
The organisation says it is greatly concerned to see the fall in boater satisfaction, and that the fall continues a downward trend since 2017.
In a statement, CRT says, "The Trust is committed to doing whatever we can within our means to provide all of our boating customers with the experience and service they expect. This disappointing result confirms that we need to re-double our efforts to improve this.”
Major fire erupts at Lürssen superyacht shipyard
German shipyard Lürssen, a company renowned for its superyacht building prowess, issued a statement following a major fire at their Rendsburg facilities. The blaze began in a shipbuilding hall with eyewitnesses reporting multiple explosions, flames and columns of black smoke. Lürssen released the following statement: "All necessary evacuation measures were initiated immediately. One person was slightly injured and is receiving emergency medical treatment. The fire brigade and police are on site. We are currently unable to say anything about the cause of the fire."
Firefighters successfully prevented the spread of the fire to other buildings in the Lürssen shipyard, but the 100-metre hall was destroyed, and Kieler Nachrichten reported that the vessel, rumoured to be the 78-meter Honolulu, was still ablaze.
USCG issues updated guidelines for towing vessel stability compliance
The United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Center updated its Design Verification Guideline DVG H1-18 regarding the general arrangement plans for towing vessels.
Purpose: The Design Verification Guideline (DVG) serves to provide comprehensive guidance and information to the marine industry regarding the verification of stability compliance for towing vessels certified under 46 Subchapter M of the U.S. Coast Guard regulations. Its primary aim is to ensure that these vessels meet specific safety and operational standards related to their structural integrity and stability.
Transport Canada publishes guidelines for safety and compliance in fishing vessel operations
Transport Canada has issued ship safety bulletin No. 14/2024 on fishing vessels' safety procedures and crew familiarisation.
The bulletin is primarily for masters and authorised representatives of Canadian fishing vessels and its purpose is to remind authorised representatives of their responsibility to develop emergency procedures and train crew members.
BIMCO Container Shipping Market Overview for 2024
The BIMCO Container Shipping Outlook and Market Overview for 2024 has been published and is freely available to read. An examination of the container shipping industry in terms of supply and demand is detailed in this report.
Combined with estimated global volume growth of 5.0-6.0% and growth in head-haul and regional trades of 5.5-6.5%, demand for ships is growing very fast in 2024, whereas volume growth in 2025 will not be enough to counter the drop in ship demand caused by the assumed return to normal routings.
Though growing slower than demand, supply will also grow fast in 2024 as deliveries of new ships are expected to hit a new record high of 2.8m TEU. Faster sailing speed due to the reroutings via the Cape of Good Hope also adds to supply growth while increasing congestion in several transhipment hubs tempers growth slightly.
Leading shipping organisations express concern over certain CII flaws
Six major shipping organisations (BIMCO, CLIA, INTERCARGO, INTERMANAGER, ICS, and INTERTANKO) have issued a joint statement expressing their concern over some flaws of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulation.
Discover the series of 29 handy guides published by IIMS
Over the years, a number of IIMS members have authored handy guides on a variety of topics relevant to marine surveyors of all persuasions. The guides are fairly priced and are available in paperback and eReader pdf formats.
We'll have more news for you next month
Strategic Advisor at Marine Safety and Security Consultants
3 个月Nice to see the AVI scheme reach a great milestone!