Maritime Matrix Today October 2021

MATRIX

TODAY

M AR ITI M E

US$ 3 • ` 150 Vol 10 • Edition 10 • October 2021

Mclean’s 20 Standard box Persists

P&O Maritime to Monitor Mariners’ Fatigue

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Coca-Cola takes a creative approach to shipping

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Clean Sea Transport promotes clean fuels in shipping Poor Conditions prevail on most live export ships

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 03

Seaspan takes delivery of First Newbuild Boxship

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easpan marked a milestone in its construction efforts as part of its expansion program that will see the company nearly double the capacity of its containership fleet. Ten months after revealing the contract, Seaspan has taken the delivery on the first of 70 new containerships it has on order for delivery by 2024. Seaspan will be the world’s largest lessor of containerships, most of which are operated under long-term charters with the major carriers.

Few details were announced on the specific ship, with Seaspan only reporting delivery of the first of five 12,200 TEU vessels. They said the ship was immediately beginning an 18-year charter to a major liner customer. When they announced the agreement in December 2020, Seaspan said the vessels are subject to purchase obligations at the conclusion of the charters.

“This delivery marks a major milestone in Seaspan’s continuing quality growth,” said Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan. “About two months ahead of the scheduled delivery during a global pandemic is testament to how Seaspan creates value for 04 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

our customers in a current vessel shortage market. I’m proud of our team’s supreme execution working with the logistical restrictions and our shipyard’s prioritizing of their limited resources to facilitate early delivery of this best-in-class vessel.

This further demonstrates the capabilities of our fully integrated platform and resilient business model within the global logistics market.”

These vessels marked the beginning of the effort that has seen Seaspan assemble a record orderbook.

Since November 2020, Seaspan has announced investments for 70 newbuild containerships, representing the addition of 839,000 TEU, which will add over $11 billion of gross contracted cash flows and will nearly double the fleet to 1,959,200 TEU. The charters range mostly between 10 and 18 years with one group of six being built for a five-year charter.

The strategic push started with a focus on what the company refers to as mid-sized containerships in the 15,000 TEU range. They highlighted this as one of the most versatile sizes with strong economic advantages for carriers.

Among the orders were LNG-fueled vessels which will be operated by Zim. Recently, however, the orders have shifted to the smaller end of the market focusing on 7,000 TEU capacity with a total of 15 vessels in this category now on order.

Seaspan also contracted for two ultra-large 24,000 TEU vessels, which are believed to be for MSC. The newbuilds followed a period of containership acquisitions. Since the end of 2019 and continuing into 2020, Seaspan acquired a total of 15 vessels in the secondhand market.

Four further acquisitions were also made in 2021.

The growth strategy is focusing on growing as well as diversifying the Seaspan fleet, which previously was concentrated in the 10,000 to 14,000 TEU range. Seaspan will add more than 30 vessels between 15,000 and 16,500 TEU capacity.

The company has also diversified its customer base to most of the major carriers.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 05

25-Year-Old Ferry’s Performance Improved

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y adding new engines and automation systems aboard a high-speed ferry, Spanish operator Balearia reports that it has been able to significantly lower fuel consumption and emissions in effect providing new life for a 25-yearold vessel. The upgrades were undertaken with Rolls-Royce’s new mtu engines and automation and remote access systems, and according to Balearia and Rolls-Royce have truly future-proofed the high-speed catamaran Avemar Dos. The Avemar Dos catamaran was built in 1996 by the Austal shipyard in Australia. It went into service in 1997 and following several changes of owner was taken over by ferry operator Balearia in 2008. It originally served the Strait of Gibraltar route between Algeciras and Ceuta. Now the new repowered ferry plies between the mainland port of Denia and the Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Majorca.

The 269-foot-long catamaran can accommodate 855 passengers and 174 vehicles.

During the recent upgrades, four new-generation mtu 20V1163 M84 units replaced the previous 1163 Units. Fuel consumption and as result its CO2 emissions were lower by eight percent versus the previous propulsion system. Furthermore, the new engines are delivering the same power 06 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

output, but with a 33 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. The vessel is now meeting the requirements of the IMO Tier II emissions standard.

The ferry’s automation system has also been renewed. The automation not only controls and monitors engines and gearboxes, but numerous other crucial ship systems such as fuel tanks and on-board generator sets. That means that the crew can benefit from an all-round view of the ferry. The new ship automation system brings not only new software, but new screens and computers with interfaces to other systems on board.

Further enhancing the operations, a digital platform allows the ferry’s operator to remotely access the vessel’s operating data at any time, monitor its condition and predicatively plan maintenance.

Besides the Avemar Dos, the Ramon Lull highspeed ferry was recently re-powered using Series 4000 mtu engines. Other high-speed ferries, like Nixe and HSC Formentera Direct, have used mtu propulsion since going into service.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 07

P&O Maritime to Monitor Mariners’ Fatigue

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SV operator P&O Maritime Logistics is taking a personnel-monitoring technology developed for truckers and heavy equipment operators to the sea. In order to give its mariners advance warning about their fatigue levels, P&O has contracted with SmartCap, the maker of the LifeBand EEG headband and fatigue sensing system.

SmartCap’s wearable band fits into any hat or hardhat, and it uses standard brainwave measurement technology to figure out when the wearer is feeling tired. Using Bluetooth, it sends its measurements to an app on an Android device, and the app alerts the wearer if they start showing signs of fatigue.

SmartCap says that the key 08 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

to its technology is in sending private early warning alerts to the wearer before escalating a fatigue alert to management.

By keeping the first alert private, SmartCap gives the worker (or mariner) an opportunity to fix their fatigue early.

SmartCap is an Australian firm owned by Hitachi Construction Machinery, and it originally developed its product for the mining industry. According to the firm, companies that have used SmartCap as part of their safety procedures have reported a decline in fatigue-related incidents. This is among the firm’s first ventures into the maritime world.

After testing the technology on a group of employees based at Jebel Ali, P&O Maritime says

that it will review the system’s performance and consider ways to roll it out to the rest of its fleet.

“As P&O Maritime Logistics is a tech-driven business, the SmartCap system is an exciting way we can look to introduce innovative solutions that help in our efforts to continuously boost our high safety standards. With technology such as SmartCap, it also gives us a high-level view of our safety program and will help us track fatigue across our crews,” said Martin Helweg, CEO of P&O Maritime Logistics.

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Team Matrix

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Delphine Estibeiro Editorial Coordinator

Jagdamba Pandey Advertising Coordinator

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 09

Tangible action needed to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions I

n the lead-up to the UN’s climate conference and the IMO’s next round of meetings on the industry’s efforts to decarbonize, organizations continue to put forth positions.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is the latest submitting plans to the IMO detailing what the shipping organizations say are the urgent measures that governments must take to help the industry achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

Saying that it has analyzed and deliberated the issues with senior industry executives, the trade group asserts that a netzero target by 2050 will only be plausible if governments take the necessary actions to achieve the goal. The ICS’s plans repeat the proposal the group has been advocating for with a compulsory R&D fund to develop zero-carbon technologies and the development of a carbon levy for shipping to expedite the transition to more expensive zero-carbon fuels.

“A net-zero carbon ambition is achievable by 2050. But only 10 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

Esben Poulsson, Chairman of ICS provided governments take the unglamorous but urgent decisions needed to manage this process within a global regulatory framework,” said Esben Poulsson, Chairman of ICS. “Talk is cheap, and action is difficult. So, our net-zero offering sets out the how as well as the what for decarbonizing shipping by 2050. We’re saying to governments that if they

really want to reach net-zero, they need to move from empty commitments to tangible action.”

Given the typical 25-year life of new oceangoing ships, if the industry is to meet an ambitious net-zero target, thousands of zero-emission ships will need to be in the water by 2030, the ICS says in its proposal. They

believe that is critical for the IMO to adopt those urgent measures required to accelerate an increase in technology readiness levels.

A key step the ICS proposes is for governments to approve the establishment of the $5 billion IMO Maritime Research Fund. Groups from within the shipping industry have been advocating for the R&D fund and in June at its last meeting the IMO’s committee agreed to review the concept. According to the ICS, the fund is required to provide the funding needed to accelerate the development of zero-emission ships. It would be funded by mandatory R&D contributions from shipowners globally, via a $2.00 levy, which the organizations say should be put in place by 2023. However, some regulators and industry

observers have said that the fund would disadvantage small operators.

To expedite the transition to net-zero, ICS has also made a comprehensive proposal setting out the architecture for a broader carbon levy applicable to shipping, which will be considered by IMO Member States at a meeting in midOctober. According to the ICS, their proposal would help close the price gap between zerocarbon and conventional fuels and could be used to provide the billions of dollars needed to deploy essential new bunkering infrastructure required in ports worldwide.

“If a net-zero target is to be more than a political gesture, governments need to recognize the magnitude of the challenge of phasing-out CO2 emissions

from large oceangoing ships,” said Guy Platten, Secretary General of the ICS. “Only these proposed measures can tackle the innovation and knowledge gap, and challenges of a global equitable transition, that shipping’s decarbonization presents.”

The ICS’s proposals however will be competing for attention with various others including the EU’s efforts at adding the shipping industry to its carbon trading scheme. Pacific islands, including the Marshall Islands, Solomons, Fiji that are among the worst impacted by rising sea levels, demanded the IMO adopt a harsher $100 per ton fee on emissions. Other proposals are also likely to be presented before the upcoming hotly debated sessions.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 11

NGO Shipbreaking reports seven workers lost lives

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G O Shipbreaking Platform is reporting that seven workers lost their lives in five separate incidents over the past two months at the shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh.

The group, which is leading the 12 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

global campaign to improve the safety and environmental performance of the ship recycling industry, said the recent quarter was the worst in terms of the number of accidents in Bangladeshi shipbreaking history.

In the middle of September, the group reported that five workers were killed and three severely injured in seven separate accidents on the infamous shipbreaking beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh in August. Since then, two additional workers were also killed in two further accidents.

The fatalities were caused by explosions, falls from height, falling steel plates, and exposure to toxic fumes.

In the most recent accidents, a 26-year-old fell to his death while working aboard a crude oil tanker the Oro Singa that was recently beached. NGO Shipbreaking is also highlighting that the vessel had around 400

tons of sludge on board that needed to be removed before recycling.

Ten days after that accident, a 36-year-old working at a different scrap facility on the beach was hit by a falling steel plate. He had been working on the scrapping of another crude oil tanker, the Medan.

The other accidents reported in August included falling debris hitting workers, severe burn injuries, two workers dying after inhaling toxic fumes, and an explosion of an oxygen cylinder that killed another worker. The group reports that at least one of the accidents happened during an illegal night shift at one of the yards.

“Bangladeshi authorities need to face their responsibility to protect their citizens’ rights and

ensure the effective enforcement of the law,” said Sara Rita da Costa, Project Officer for NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

“Business profits can no longer be privileged at the expense of human lives. Urgent action has to be taken against the industry at both?national and international level to stop the incessant breach of basic human rights and environmental laws on the beach?of Chattogram.”

The sequence of accidents in Chattogram, which increases the yearly death toll dramatically said NGO Shipbreaking not only shows a lack of responsibility by shipping companies as they continue to sell their end-oflife vessels to be broken under knowingly dangerous conditions but also a lack of action by the Bangladeshi government to regulate the industry.?

NGO Shipbreaking reports that twelve accidents, causing nine deaths and twelve injures, have been registered at one yard alone, SN Corporation, since 2009. In 2021, two workers died and five suffered severe burns at the yard. The 26-year-old also recently fell to his death at the SN yard.

The NGO continues to call on local governments to take action as well as the international community and shipowners to work only with approved recycling facilities to improve the safety in one of the most dangerous segments of the shipping industry.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 13

Talent Crisis in Shipping and Logistics spotlighted

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he transportation and logistics industry has seen an exponential increase in demand as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to shift consumer behavior. Unfortunately, global organizations still suffer from a lack of skilled labor to fill open roles. Logistics management teams are facing immense pressure to optimize their operations and deliver on customer promises while navigating a number of unprecedented obstacles.

Adapt to Technology of the Future

All hope is not lost, however.

Leaders and mid-level managers simply must adopt a creative approach towards solving problems in order to outperform competitors.

Carriers and shippers are adopting these digital tools at peak levels to support their operations. According to a recent study, 87.5 percent of organizations indicated that embracing new technologies

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Technology is driving changes to the way goods and services are moved, stored, and delivered from organization to end consumer. The digital evolution of the logistics sector is only beginning. Blockchain, automation, and artificial intelligence are all making waves through the industry because of their ability to save businesses a significant amount of time and capital.

were necessary to compete in the workplace. The coronavirus pandemic has been an awakening to many legacy supply chains, forcing logistics professionals to strategize new ways to complete operational tasks and avoid disruption.

Establish Programs

Formal

Training

Change management should be a key consideration as logistics companies continue to improve their technology stack.

Employees must get acclimated to new equipment in order to effectively incorporate it into their workflow.

Training is often only viewed as a benefit to workers, which is why these programs are the first to

go in times of economic distress.

Treating formal training as an investment, however, creates a greater incentive to align these programs with critical business objectives and will lead to better equipped, more efficient employees.

Stimulating a culture of continual learning is a positive externality of establishing these programs as well. Formal training presents a valuable opportunity to inspire young talent and provide a clear development path for new hires. Despite this, nearly 1 in 4 organizations indicate that education is missing from their employee engagement strategy.

Utilize Data to Improve Employee Retention Global organizations have suffered from massive rounds of employee resignation since the onset of the pandemic. The key question business leaders should ask themselves is: why?

Taking a data-driven approach towards answering this query allows companies to quantify

the problem and accurately identify root causes.

After clarifying the specific issues that are driving employee turnover, companies can then develop a customized approach focused on rectifying the negative trend. For example, if leaders discover that new hires are most at risk of resigning within the first six months of their start date, pairing them with a senior employee may reduce turnover by providing extra support throughout the onboarding and transition phases.

The challenges facing many companies in the logistics and transportation industry will likely remain for the foreseeable future. Mitigating the harmful effects of these issues will not be simple, but is possible with a shift in mindset among business leaders and managers.

Organizations that analyze the market consistently and are best able to pivot with evolving conditions are certain to succeed in 2022 and beyond.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 15

American Commercial agrees to pay $6.5M for Oil Discharge in Mississippi River Collision

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ndiana-based American Commercial Barge Line has agreed to pay $6.5 million and acquire land for preservation as part of a proposed settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in compensation for damages caused by a 2008 collision on the Mississippi River. The United States and Louisiana concurrently filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of Louisiana with a proposed consent decree to bring a close to the long-running case.

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In July of 2008, the tug Mel Oliver, which was pushing a barge upriver, veered directly in front of the MV Tintomara, a 46,700 dwt ocean-going 600foot tanker registered in Liberia that was ship sailing downriver.

The vessels collided causing the barge to split in to and discharge approximately 6,734 barrels (282,828 gallons) of No. 6 fuel oil into the Mississippi River upriver of New Orleans. The river was closed from north of New Orleans to Southwest Pass Sea Buoy from July 23 until July 29,

2008. American Commercial, the Coast Guard, and the State were involved in extensive response and cleanup efforts.

The case became a sensation a decade ago when it came out in court papers that the captain of the tug, Terry Carver, age 40, had left the vessel to visit a girlfriend leaving the vessel under the command of an under licensed junior. No one with a sufficient license was aboard the vessel when it made the improper navigation causing the accident.

Carver was sentenced to three years probation and lost his license. One of the co-owners of the company at the time, DRD Towing, went to jail on charges of obstructing justice while the junior employee who had been navigating the vessel for three days pled guilty to operating the vessel without a master’s license.

The new complaint seeks damages and costs under Oil Pollution Act and the Louisiana Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act for injuries to natural resources resulting from the 2008 accident. The resulting oil spill spread more than 100 miles downriver and covered over 5,000 acres of shoreline habitat causing significant impact and injuries to aquatic habitats within the Mississippi River and along its shoreline, as well as to birds and other wildlife.

Under the proposed consent decree, American Commercial will acquire (at an estimated purchase price of $3.25 million) and preserve 649 acres of woodland habitat, consisting of hardwood forested wetland, swamp, relic wetlands, and canals, near the Mississippi River in upper Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

The Woodlands Conservancy, a local nonprofit that currently manages the property for recreational and educational use, will hold title to the property and a conservation servitude will forever limit the use of the Woodlands Parcel to passive recreation, thereby protecting and preserving the ecological benefits of the property.

American Commercial will also pay $2.07 million to compensate for natural resource damages from the spill. The federal and state trustees will jointly use

the cash payment to perform projects to restore or ameliorate the impacts to aquatic life, birds, river batture, wetlands, marshes, and recreational uses along the Mississippi River. American Commercial has paid $1.32 million to reimburse the federal and state trustees for their past damage assessment and restoration planning costs, as required under OPA and OSPRA. “This settlement secures full compensation for the damaged resources, including the permanent preservation of 649 acres of critical wildlife habitat along the Mississippi River just a few miles from downtown New Orleans,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and

Natural Resources Division.

“The restoration projects funded by this settlement will restore wildlife and wetlands, and enhance recreational opportunities for Louisiana’s residents and visitors.”

In an earlier related OPA enforcement action filed in 2011, the Department of Justice secured a settlement with American Commercial for $20 million to reimburse the United States for OPA removal costs and damages.

The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court review and approval.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 17

Coca-Cola takes a creative approach to shipping

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oca-Cola, long known as the world’s most recognized brand, has become the latest global company to take a creative approach to shipping to manage supplies during the current shortages and backlogs in the container shipping sector. While most of the attention has been on big box retailers struggling to get merchandise from Asia to their stores, the beverage giant reported it is having problems moving supplies around the world to its bottling plants and distribution facilities.

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“When you can’t get container’s or space due to the current ocean freight crisis, then we had to think outside the box (or the container),” wrote Alan Smith Procurement Director - Global Logistics at The Coca-Cola Cross Enterprise Procurement Group based in Ireland on his LinkedIn social media account.

Unlike retailers including HomeDepot, Target, Ikea, Costco, and others, Coca-Cola turned to the alternative of using dry bulk carriers and reverting to the older breakbulk approach to moving the materials its needs to maintain operations. There have been reports in recent weeks of dry bulk operators fitting their ships to carry containers, but this is the first publicized example of a major shipper foregoing containers. In August, Germany’s Schulte & Bruns, an operator of general dry cargo and multipurpose ships that normally transport bulk cargo as well as large loads such as wind turbine blades, confirmed that it was working with a logistics company named Schneider transporting containers across the Pacific on its ships.

Smith at Coca-Cola explained the strategy saying that the company was moving 60,000 tons of materials to keep its production lines running. He said it was the equivalent of 2,800 TEU. In response to comments, he said the beverage company

required the coordination of supply chain partners and suppliers and collaboration at the ports to avoid hefty detention and demurrage charges, but the number of trucks required was about the as if they were doing containerized shipments.

As part of his social media message, Smith posted photos of three Handysize bulkers, Weco Lucilia C, Aphrodite M, and Zhe Hai 505, along with the loading process. He said the hope was that this would be the first of many shipments in the coming months.

Another advantage was highlighted by using the ships which are all roughly 35,000 dwt. The smaller size and traditional cargo handling capabilities versus the requirement of the large box cranes to unload the ships is permitting Coca-Cola to avoid congestion at the major ports. “We are heading to some more non-congested ports, so we are hoping for a smooth discharge,” said Smith. Two of the vessels, according to AIS data, are currently in China, while the third, the Zhe Hai 505, departed China and is due in Singapore tomorrow. It is unclear what their destinations are at this time.

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Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 19

Cover Story

Mclean’s Standard box Persists

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Malcom McLean, the father of containerisation

ake a look around you. Perhaps you’re snacking on a banana, sipping some coffee or sitting in front of your computer and taking a break from work to read this article. Most likely, those goods – as well as your smartphone, refrigerator and virtually every other object in your home – once were loaded onto a large container in another country and travelled thousands of miles via ships crossing the ocean before ultimately arriving at your doorstep.

Today, an estimated 90 percent of the world’s goods are transported by sea, with 60 percent of that – including virtually all your imported fruits, gadgets 20 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

and appliances – packed in large steel containers.

The rest is mainly commodities like oil or grains. In total, about $14 trillion of the world’s goods spend some time inside a big metal box.

In short, without the standardised container, the global supply chain that society depends upon – would not exist.

A recent shortage of these containers is raising costs and snarling supply chains of thousands of products across the world. The situation highlights the importance of the simple yet essential cargo containers that, from a distance, resemble Lego blocks floating on the sea.

Trade before the container Since the dawn of commerce, people have been using boxes, sacks, barrels and containers of varying sizes to transport goods over long distances. Phoenicians in 1600 B.C. Egypt ferried wood, fabrics and glass to Arabia in sacks via camel-driven caravans. And hundreds of years later, the Greeks used ancient storage containers known as amphorae to transport wine, olive oil and grain on triremes that plied the Mediterranean and neighboring seas to other ports in the region.

Even as trade grew more advanced, the process of loading and unloading as goods were transferred from one method of transportation to another remained very labour-intensive, time-consuming and costly, in part because containers came in all shapes and sizes. Containers from a ship being transferred onto a smaller rail car, for example, often had to be opened up and repacked into a boxcar.

Different-sized packages also meant space on a ship could not be effectively utilized, and also created weight and balance challenges for a vessel.

And goods were more likely to experience damage from handling or theft due to exposure.

A trade revolution The U.S. military began exploring the use of standardized small containers to more efficiently transport guns, bombs and other materiel to the front lines during World War II. But it was not until the 1950s that American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean realized that by standardizing the size of the containers being used

in global trade, loading and unloading of ships and trains could be at least partially mechanized, thereby making the transfer from one mode of transportation to another seamless. This way product could remain in their containers from the point of manufacture to delivery, resulting in reduced costs in terms of labour and potential damage.

In 1956 McLean created the standard cargo container, which is basically still the standard today. He originally built it at a length of 33 feet – soon increased to 35 – and 8 feet wide and tall.

This system dramatically reduced the cost of loading and unloading a ship. In 1956, manually loading a ship cost $5.86 per ton; the standardized container cut that cost to just 16 cents a ton.

Containers also made it much easier to protect cargo from the elements or thieves, since they are made of durable steel and remain locked during transport.

The U.S. made great use of this innovation during the Vietnam War to ship supplies to soldiers, who sometimes even used the containers as shelters.

Today, the standard container size is 20 feet long, eight feet wide and nine feet tall – a size that’s become known as a “20-foot-equivalent container unit,” or TEU. There are actually a few different standard sizes, such as 40 feet long or a little taller, though they all have the same width. One of the key advantages is that whatever size a ship uses, they all, like Lego blocks, fit neatly together with virtually no empty spaces.

The worlds first container ship, the SS Ideal X, was a converted WWII oil tanker Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 21

On 26th April 1956 a crane loaded the worlds first container ship with its cargo of ISO shipping containers in under eight hours. One container was loaded every seven minutes, a record at the time This innovation made the modern globalized world possible. The quantity of goods carried by containers soared from 102 million metric tons in 1980 to about 1.83 billion metric tons as of 2017.

Most of the container traffic flows across the Pacific Ocean or between Europe and Asia.

Ships get huge The standardization of container sizes has also led to a surge in ship size. The more containers packed on a ship, the more a shipping company can earn on each journey.

In fact, the average size of a container ship has doubled in the past 20 years alone. The largest ships sailing today are capable of hauling 24,000 containers – that’s a carrying capacity equivalent to how much a freight train 44 miles long could hold. Put another way, a ship named the Globe with a capacity of 19,100 20-foot containers could 22 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

haul 156 million pairs of shoes, 300 million tablet computers or 900 million cans of baked beans – in case you’re feeling hungry.

The Ever Given, the ship that blocked traffic through the Suez Canal for almost a week in March 2021, has a similar capacity, 20,000 containers.

In terms of cost, imagine this: The typical prepandemic price of transporting a 20-foot container carrying over 20 tons of cargo from Asia to Europe was about the same as an economy ticket to fly the same journey.

Cost of success But the growing size of ships has a cost, as the Ever Given incident showed.

Maritime shipping has grown increasingly important to global supply chains and trade, yet it was rather invisible until the logjam and blockage

of the Suez Canal. As the Ever Given was traversing the narrow 120-mile canal, fierce wind gusts blew it to the bank, and its 200,000 tons of weight got it stuck in the muck.

About 12 percent of the world’s global shipping traffic passes through this canal. At one point during the blockage, at least 369 ships were stuck waiting to pass through the canal from either side, costing an estimated $9.6 billion a day.

That translates to $400 million an hour, or $6.7 million a minute.

Modern shipping containers

Shipbuilding companies continue to work on building ever larger container vessels, and there’s little evidence this trend will stop anytime soon. Some experts forecast that ships capable of carrying loads 50 percent larger than the Ever Given’s will be plying the open seas by 2030.

In other words, the shipping container remains more popular – and in demand – than ever.

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Early shipping container conversion into a home

Loading supplies on and off ships individually took too long, the US military looked to SeaLand for a solution.

Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 23

Clean Sea Transport promotes clean fuels in shipping

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o grow its position in the emerging methanol transport market and secure future capital, Swedish ship manager Marinvest is being acquired by an investment group. The investors – Clean Sea Transport – a joint venture between MSEA Group, Arkview Capital, and Scorpio Tankers, and is seeking to promote clean fuels in the shipping sector.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Marinvest is a shipping company founded in 1988 by the late Lars Mossberg, an innovator in the shipping sector who developed and managed one of the 24 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

world’s first methanol-powered commercial vessels. Mossberg validated methanol as a clean, safe, and future-proof marine fuel capable of meeting the industry’s increasingly stringent emissions standards. Today the company manages a fleet consisting of five modern dual-fuel methanol carriers on long-term charters of up to 15 years to a joint venture partner, Waterfront Shipping Limited, a subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest producer of methanol, along with four LR1 ice-class 1A product tankers.

“We take great pride in what we, together with our partners Waterfront Shipping, have achieved in terms of building the world’s first methanol dual-fuel fleet,” said Patrik Mossberg, CEO of Marinvest. “Since we took delivery of our first two dual-fuel methanol ships in 2016, we have expanded the fleet to a total of five vessels and continue to be a leading expert and operator using this technology. The sale to Clean Sea Transport will ensure sufficient capital backing to grow our methanol-fueled fleet using our competence and expertise while servicing new and existing customers.”

Marinvest last month took delivery of the fifth methanol dual-fuel tanker under management and the first of eight being built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard for delivery between 2021 and 2023. The vessels are being built in a partnership with Marinvest/Skagerack Invest, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Meiji Shipping Co., KSS Line Ltd., and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), to be operated by Waterfront Shipping.

The 49,999 dwt Mari Innovator is the first ship to be IMO Tier III compliant, using an innovative methanol-and-water blending/ diesel in water emulsion system in her main engine.

Equipped with the MAN secondgeneration B&W ME-LGIM twostroke dual-fuel engines, the vessel can run on methanol or traditional marine fuels allowing for fuel flexibility. She also features additional energysaving designs with a propeller boss cap fin to enhance propeller efficiency, Speed/Fuel Pilot which keeps the consumption to an optimum level, and

frequency-controlled pumps and fans. She is also fitted with a power factor compensator for her alternators which brings her power factor to 0.96 (compared with the average 0.84 for most ships), enabling her to save 11 percent more energy. She also has a vessel incinerator capable of evaporating bilge water.

tankers, 12 LR1 Tankers, 63 MR tankers, and 14 Handymax tankers) as well as MSEA, a shipping investment company with particular expertise in tanker and commodity shipping segments, and Arkview Capital, a minority-certified private equity fund focused on investing in diversity-oriented businesses.

“In partnership with Marinvest, we have been successfully operating methanol dualfuel vessels for five years now demonstrating methanol as a viable, low-emissions alternative marine fuel for the shipping industry,” said Paul Hexter, President of Waterfront Shipping. “As society transitions to a low-carbon economy, we look forward to collaborating with Clean Sea Transport to continue to prioritize innovation in methanol marine fuel vessels for our growing fleet.”

“We are very excited about the acquisition of Marinvest, the world’s pioneer in building and operating eco-friendly methanolfueled vessels. Together with the Marinvest team, we intend to be at the forefront of the shipping industry’s transition to clean fuels. Our platform will offer charterers and customers access to future-proof tonnage in the tanker, container, and dry bulk segments. The inclusion of four LR1 product tankers in the fleet underpins our countercyclical tanker investment strategy,” says Modi Mano, Founder & CEO of MSEA Group.

Members of the new investment group include Scorpio Tankers, which currently owns, finances, leases, or bareboat chartersin 131 product tankers (42 LR2

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Maritime Academies adapt to upskill their students and themselves

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ith declarations that the age of unmanned navigation is upon us, merchant mariners may worry that they’ll soon be unemployed. Yet as shipping technology evolves, they’re likely to find themselves in need of retraining rather than out of a job. To burnish their skills, many turn to maritime academies.

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Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, governments of oceangoing nations such as the U.S., U.K., Norway and Singapore have established specialized institutions to ensure a supply of well-trained seafarers. The U.S. founded its first maritime academy, the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College, in 1874. Since then, dozens of other programs have been set up to train new generations of maritime officers.

Many are located along the Gulf of Mexico in places like Texas, where Lamar University offers a master’s degree in Port and Terminal Management. Erik Stromberg, Executive Director of Lamar’s Center for Advances in Port Management, described the program as “unique in the hemisphere in that it provides a fully online, advanced education program targeting the needs of up-and-coming port and marine terminal professionals as well as working professionals in related occupations who aspire to leadership roles in the port and marine terminal operating industry.” Opportunities for graduates exist not only in the public port sector but also in the private terminal-operating industry.

Florida is another state where numerous maritime training programs can be found. With 1,350 miles of shoreline, some of the country’s best natural harbors and a rich shipping heritage, it’s an ideal place to attract students looking to burnish their credentials.

In Dania Beach, just south of Fort Lauderdale, STAR Center (Simulation, Training,

Assessment and Research) offers both deck and engine training for merchant mariners.

The organization, which the U.S. Secretary of Transportation designated as a 2021 Center of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education, specializes in training American Maritime Officers operating vessels on the deep sea, Great Lakes and inland waters of the U.S. Director of Training Jerry Pannell explained that on their 10-acre campus, “USCG/STCW training from OICNW/OICEW to Unlimited Master/Chief Engineer, including the specialist areas of tugs, Great Lakes and gas-fueled vessels, are all routinely offered.”

And it’s not just American merchant mariners who might be interested in gaining new skills at STAR Center.

“From full-mission bridge and engine room simulators, a dynamic positioning simulator, our onsite firefighting training facility, a waterfront facility with gravity davits and fast rescue boats, a welding lab and a fully equipped machine shop on campus,” he adds, “all areas of both regulatory required training and professional development classes are available to the worldwide maritime community.”

Fort Lauderdale-based MPT (Maritime Professional Training) offers well over 200 classes and programs for virtually all aspects and sectors of the maritime industry and has been doing so since 1983.

With 61,000 square feet encompassing over 20 individual classrooms along with common areas and break facilities, its

expansive campus includes the latest technologies in SMART classrooms, engineering and training labs, waterside training facilities and three full-mission bridge simulators.

STCW deck, engine, safety training, regulatory and non-regulatory training courses are scheduled on a recurring rotation with 1520 classes a week.

MPT added numerous upgrades in response to COVID – including UV sterilizers, disinfectant foggers and bipolar ionization systems to its HVAC as well as additional physical barriers – and worked closely with local health authorities in doing so.

It also took advantage of the time to update several of its key systems, adding a new GMDSS lab this fall and completing a refit on two of its fast-rescue boats.

In addition, it developed new fire-training facilities to accommodate more scheduled classes with reduced class sizes.

Accident Prevention Although the world’s fleet continues to grow in size, the number of accidents has declined over the past several decades – a tribute to the effectiveness of new regulations and better-trained seafarers.

Nevertheless, a 2019 report by insurance giant Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty identified the IMO’s 2020 0.5 percent sulfur cap and the increasing number of fires onboard as key risk factors to manage.

Merchant mariners looking to enhance their ability to respond to emergencies can turn to Resolve Marine’s educational Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 27

arm, Resolve Maritime Academy, for world-class training in marine fire and damage control.

Alongside the typical U.S. Coast Guard and MCA courses, the academy also offers land-based response training that includes all aspects of marine vessel fires: Command & Control, Flammable Liquids, LNG, Foam & Chemicals.

They’re also backed by a worldclass salvage company.

Chauncey Naylor, Resolve Maritime Academy’s General Manager, says, “About two years ago we took a deep breath and committed to recreate the Academy by bringing in the best in the business. Our leadership staff has actual experience extinguishing shipboard fires around the world along with 28 | Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021

handling marine casualties dealing with damage control and boat-handling.”

Resolve Marine recently refurbished its 130-foot, fourstory training vessel, one of many facilities that allow instructors to deliver what Resolve Academy bills as a “realas-it-gets” experience. “The depth of resources is endless when it comes to experience, specialized equipment, salvage masters, naval architects and engineers,” Naylor adds. “We don’t have to look far to get an answer for a client or have a subject matter expert address a class.”

Asia and Europe Maritime

academies

abound

in other countries with rich maritime histories. In Denmark, Copenhagen Business School offers an Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics. Dubbed “The Blue MBA,” the program instructs future shipping executive in the industry’s commercial, technological and financial dimensions.

Singapore is another country with an oceanic influence that stretches far beyond its tiny territory. Established in 1953, Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA) at the Singapore Polytechnic is the country’s primary maritime training organization.

“SMA supports Maritime Singapore’s vision to be a global maritime leader, a

premier global hub port and a leading international maritime center,” says Captain Mohd Salleh Bin Ahmad Sarwan, SMA Director. “SMA is in the forefront of providing the necessary maritime education and training to fill the training gaps in Singapore’s maritime industry as well as the region.”

SMA offers 54 accredited courses that are available to the global maritime workforce. Students have numerous opportunities to gain real-world experience by interning at companies such as shore-based engineering firms and shipyards, which helps them smoothly transition into the workplace after graduation.

Speaking to the academy’s focus on ensuring that its students stay at the vanguard of the shipping industry, he adds, “SMA is committed to supporting our students’ aspirations to upskill themselves during the current challenging climate.”

Upskilling In the fast-changing maritime industry, students are not the only ones who need to upskill: Maritime academies themselves must upskill in order to be able to instruct students in the latest technologies and sectors.

One of those rapidly growing sectors is renewable energy.

While offshore wind farms have long been a fixture in places like the North Sea, they’re just now starting up in the U.S. where the number of people who can actually build and service them is limited.

“In the coming years in terms of training, windrelated (renewables) is an emerging market with very

little infrastructure in place to support what the expected workforce demand will be,” notes Robert Hall, Training Operations Director, US/Mexico, at RelyOn Nutec. That demand will be huge, according to most experts, and new workers will need thorough training.

Some institutions, like STAR Center, are looking ahead and poised to grow in this area.

STAR’s Pannell explains that the academy “is positioned to support the training and research needs in the emerging offshore wind farm industry.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the pace of change in the maritime industry and forced programs to rethink how they offer training.

These changes have been both mandated from the top-down and driven from the bottom-up by training institutions.

Prior to the pandemic, the U.S. Coast Guard required most training to be carried out inperson. As the pandemic made social distancing a necessity and inhibited travel, it allowed for more flexibility. Pannell says that “STAR Center has embraced the ability to provide our customers the training they need in both a fully online, where possible, as well as a blended method whereby the classroom portion of a class is completed online and practical assessments are offered in a compressed, concise session at a later time.

Remote, online training will likely be the area of most growth as we emerge from the pandemic.”

Blackboard, Microsoft Teams and Skype, allowing for both synchronous learning and virtual “face-to-face” consultations. In Singapore, SMA accommodated students who lacked conducive home study environments or strong Internet conditions by giving them special access to campus so they could continue their studies.

Practical sessions were also moved to the tail-end of courses so that students traveling to the city-state from their home countries would have the best possible chance of participating in real-life scenarios. Going forward, SMA is planning to move toward this blended learning approach.

Expanding Horizons So, too, is Lamar University in Texas. There, Stromberg believes that with more courses being offered online, “We can expand our reach internationally.

For example, I think there are real opportunities among ports in the Middle East and Africa.”

Resolve Marine’s Naylor also believes his academy will come out ahead – as will the maritime industry as a whole: “We believe the market is stronger than ever. Due to the pandemic, the workforce has changed. We’re seeing students from all walks of life looking at the maritime industry for opportunity. We’re gearing up to meet that need.”

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Similar steps were taken in Singapore. When SMA’s campus was closed, lessons continued through online platforms like Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 29

Russia launches Pioneer M with unmanned navigation capabilities

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ussia recently launched its first ship equipped with unmanned navigation capabilities. The Pioneer-M will be the first vessel in Russia to test unmanned navigation technologies and will be used to advance the deployment of the capabilities.

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The launching ceremony of the research vessel took place at the Sredne-Nevsky shipyard. A catamaran built of composite materials the Pioneer-M is approximately 85 feet long and displaces 114 tons. The vessel uses an integrated control system and is designed to interact with marine mobile research laboratories. It will have a maximum speed of 10 knots and can operate autonomously for five days with a cruising range of 500 miles.

“The launching of the Pioneer-M research vessel is a landmark event in the Year of Science and Technology,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko. “This project was developed by students from seven of the country’s

universities and is a clear example of cooperation between higher education, science, and industry.”

The Pioneer-M is being built for the Sevastopol State University.

Teams of the country’s leading shipbuilding universities, including in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and Vladivostok, proposed ideas for the ship working in collaboration with the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center as a strategic partner. An inter-university student team led by teachers and mentors from the United Shipbuilding Corporation created the concept of the R/V Pioneer-M.

of the USC Alexei Rakhmanov.

“The corporation is gradually introducing automated systems, the appearance of which brings us closer and closer to the era of unmanned navigation. This is not only the minimization of costs in the construction of ships, cheaper transportation, but also a decrease in the environmental load on the water areas of rivers and seas.”

The research vessel is currently being outfitted at the shipyard.

The plan is to operate the vessel year-round in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas.

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“We see this vessel in the near future as an unmanned vehicle on the water,” said the head Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 31

Wärtsilä Cloud Simulation reduces simulator cost time and allows experiential learning Global learning and operational technologies company Ocean Technologies Group is partnering with Wärtsilä Voyage to expand the availability of Wärtsilä Voyage’s Cloud Simulation, a cost-effective, rapidly deployable, and scalable tool for verifying and sharpening seagoing personnel’s critical navigational and engine room skills.

Using the risk-free environment of a simulator to train, prepare and assess crew is the most effective way to ensure that seafarers have the mission critical skills and competencies they need to perform. However, the availability, location, and cost of maritime simulators often results in fewer visits being made, or the use of the tool is limited to missioncritical training or for reasons of compliance. By creating anytime anywhere access to cloud-based simulations for training, mission planning, and assessments Ocean Learning Platform with Wärtsilä Voyage Cloud Simulation reduces the cost of simulator time and allows for greater use of this tool for experiential learning.

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“By leveraging our combined smart learning technologies and mariner performance optimization services, shipping can achieve the desired outcome of operating with more efficient, safer, and environmentally aware crews who are properly equipped to perform in a rapidly changing, digitized maritime sector,” says Sean Fernback, President of Wärtsilä Voyage.

With online access to both instructor-led simulator training and self-directed simulated scenarios, Wärtsilä Voyage’s Cloud Simulation reduces the cost and time, creating immediate and tangible benefits for ship operators, educators, administrators, and learners

alike. Sessions are scheduled and recorded within the Ocean Learning Platform, providing a record of training and performance for each attendee.

Ocean Technologies Group and Wärtsilä are joining to offer an online presentation that will describe together how this partnership creates immediate tangible benefits for seafarers, crewing agencies, maritime training institutes, and ship operators. It will review the offerings on the Ocean Learning Platform, the tools, exercises, and assessments available, and the opportunity to experience the cloud classrooms.

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Poor Conditions prevail on most live export ships

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new study in the respected veterinary journal Animals suggests that inhumane conditions may be the norm not the exception - on live export voyages.

The study is based on 37 reports filed by Australian government observers aboard live-export voyages from Australia to China.

These government reports are published in summary form only, but the available details are enough to raise concerns for animal rights activists. 30 out of 37 of the independent observer summaries documented “poor pen conditions or insufficient space,” according to co-author Dr. Di Evans, and “all 37 of them identified health issues such as painful eye disease, pneumonia or lameness.”

In addition, over 40 percent of the voyages struggled to provide adequate water to the livestock.

This is of particular concern for transits through the tropics, where heat stress adds to the challenging conditions aboard a live-export ship.

“Nearly a third of voyages had both food and water issues, which is completely unacceptable.

These are inhumane conditions to be knowingly putting animals through and unless we see significant change, and ultimately an end to live export altogether, hundreds of thousands more Australian animals are going to suffer.”

also reported problems with the ship’s equipment, including poorly-maintained fittings, failing water-supply systems and engine breakdowns.

“What this study makes clear is that this isn’t just one or two bad operators - these animal welfare risks are inherent in the live export trade. For example, a staggering 38 percent of voyages had food shortages or limited access to food, including more than one in 10 voyages having to ration food or exhausting the supply,” said Dr. Evans.

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Given the high average age of the livestock carrier fleet, it is perhaps unsurprising that nearly two-thirds of the observers Maritime Matrix Today | October 2021 | 33

BV to evaluate futuristic WIG sea-skimming ferries

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n what could be a major development in the commercialization of the wing-in-ground effect vehicle (WIG) technology to produce seaskimming ferries know as seagliders, Boston-based startup REGENT Craft will be working with Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore to evaluate REGENT’s initial designs. The goal is to achieve classification for the that which combines designs of airplanes and hydrofoils but is regulated as a ship.

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REGENT reports that it has completed the first stage of the Risk Based Qualification of New Technology process as documented in Bureau Veritas.

This process will lead to an Approval in Principle (AIP) of the seaglider design in 2022. BV is reviewing the designs for a 12-passenger Viceroy seaglider.

Obtaining classification notation is a necessary milestone before commencing prototype and commercial production of a new vessel.

“Classification of seagliders is an important aspect for our customers to operate seagliders and obtain insurance worldwide,” explained Billy Thalheimer, CEO of the company. “REGENT is excited to be working with Bureau Veritas through this qualification process given their expertise and experience with complex maritime vessels.”

According to the company, the design for an electric wing-in-ground effect vehicle

incorporates the latest advancements in maritime and electric aviation to provide fast, sustainable, and low-cost transportation between coastal cities. The vessels will operate a few meters off the water’s surface and couple the high speed of aircraft with the low operating cost of vessels. With the existing battery technology, REGENT says it is possible to service routes of approximately 180 miles at speeds up to 160 knots. They believe future battery technology will make it possible to operate at ranges over 400 miles.

“Bureau Veritas is looking forward to working with REGENT on classifying this novel wing-in-ground-effect craft,” says Laurent Leblanc, Senior Vice-President, Technical & Operations, Bureau Veritas, Marine and Offshore. “Seagliders present an opportunity for Bureau Veritas to assess the safety and suitability of cuttingedge systems including electric

propulsion systems, high-speed hydrofoils, and digital fly-bywire control systems.”

REGENT and Bureau Veritas have been working together for several months and have established certification acceptance criteria and the technology maturity scale that will apply to the vessel, incorporating technology readiness level, integration difficulty, and operational conditions, that will be used to determine the qualification processes that each system and subsystem will undergo and conform to before the vessel receives its classification certification.

In June 2021, Brittany Ferries, which operates crossing the English Channel and in Europe announced it had entered into a preliminary agreement with REGENT. The ferry operator said it was exploring the seaglider as a future high-speed option.

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fb.com/GACshippingindiapvtltd

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instagram.com/gacshippingindia

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