Dry bulk market expected to rebound during 2021
The dry bulk market could be heading towards a renewed wave of demand for raw materials, as the global economy is expected to grow once more after the pandemic. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker said that as we all know, China forges more steel than the rest of the world combined, and even during this unprecedented pandemic, the nation is set to break a nine year record with iron ore imports increasing this year to above one billion tons. The outlook on the market price of iron ore is also strong, since apart from the effect of the underlying fundamentals and the current momentum driven by China, as a commodity it is now trading at the highest level since late 2011 up nearly 80 percent in 2020. China’s iron ore imports, which are primarily from Australia and Brazil, are playing a significant role in seaborne trade dynamics and the Capesize freight market in particular.
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Will the real owner please stand up?
In Echo Star ex Gas Infinity [2020] SGHC 200, the action in rem was brought pursuant to the plaintiff’s maritime lien for damage done by another ship following a collision in the Strait of Hormuz. A maritime lien survives a change in ownership of the vessel. An action in rem is an action against a ship itself. In April 2019, the Echo Star (then known as Gas Infinity) collided with another ship – Royal Arsenal – in the Strait of Hormuz. At the time of the collision, the vessel was owned by Sea Dolphin Co., Ltd. In July 2019, Sea Dolphin sold the vessel to Cepheus Limited, following which the vessel was renamed the Echo Star. It was common ground to all parties that Cepheus was in no way involved in the collision. On 6 November 2019, the owners of Royal Arsenal (“the plaintiff”) commenced proceedings in the Singapore Court for collision damage, by way of an admiralty action in rem against “the vessel Echo Star (ex-Gas Infinity)”.
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Industry publishes new and improved cyber security guidelines
The fourth edition of the industry cyber risk management guidelines, Guidelines on Cyber Security Onboard Ships is now available and lays the foundation for further improvements and refinement of companies’ cyber security risk assessments. The version 4 of the cyber security guidelines is published at a time when shipowners and ship managers are faced with a requirement to implement cyber risk management in their safety management systems (SMS) by the time of their first Document of Compliance audit after 1 January 2021. While the previous version (version 3 dated November 2018) offered the necessary guidance for the initial work of implementing cyber risk management in the SMS, the new version contains several improvements.
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Ship recycling market looking active as tonnage supply increases
More ship owners appeared willing to offload their older ships as 2020 nears its end. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker said that following the sudden drop in price levels from Bangladesh this week, there appears to be a level playing field across all the recycling destinations in the Indian sub. Continent, with all areas now in the thrones of the USD 400-410 per ldt numbers, however, equally important is the supply of the larger dry units escalating with more VLOC and capesize bulker being proposed to the market. This was one of the explanations for the Bangladeshi recyclers to decrease their rates from the beginning of the week as reports suggest that they became overwhelmed by the amount of larger dry units circulated and subsequently, corrected their indications back in line with their counterparts from India and Pakistan.
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DNV GL’s maritime incubator: cultivating knowledge from within
Alot of large corporations want to support so-called ‘start-ins’ in order to bring new ideas into the commercial arena,” says Bjørn-Johan Vartdal, who is responsible for the incubator programme at DNV GL – Maritime. But he knows that coaxing the entrepreneurial spirit from salaried staff requires more than hanging up an old-fashioned suggestion box. The main task is to give these ideas room to grow. Our aim is to mirror the start-up environment inside the company. Without this structure there will be no innovation from within, and no benefit to customers. DNV GL’s Maritime Incubator employs a proven innovation process that starts with testing the value of a concept, together with potential customers. The goal is to solicit a broad cross section of relevant opinions, rather than relying on just a few individuals. We need to know that customers like the idea before we move on to the major investment phase, Vartdal says. Commercial interest in the concept is critical as well. We screen all new ideas using proven commercial testing tools. You need to verify this element before starting to build, because that’s where the real costs start to run, Vartdal confirms. “Once these hurdles are cleared we can build and test a prototype, scale up to the industry level, and eventually market and sell the product or service.