Your daily news service from ports around the world.
In this HOT PORT NEWS, read about:
* Worldwide – IMB quarterly report shows decline in piracy attacks
* Hong Kong, Hong Kong – Tin Hau Festival – Tai Miu Wan (Joss House Bay)
* Australia, Port Kembla – 99-year port lease
DATE: April 15, 2013
COUNTRY: Worldwide
IMB quarterly report shows decline in piracy attacks
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest quarterly report on Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships recorded a total of 66 incidents worldwide in the first three months of
2013. This is down markedly from the 102 incidents reported for the corresponding period in 2012.
In the first three months of 2013, four vessels were hijacked, 51 vessels were boarded, seven were fired upon and four reported attempted attacks. Seventy five crew members were taken hostage, 14 kidnapped and one killed.
The Gulf of Guinea represents an area of concern with 15 incidents recorded, including three hijackings. Nigeria accounted for 11 incidents in the region. Guns were reported in at least nine of these attacks. An offshore supply vessel with 15 crew members was also hijacked. One crew member subsequently died as a result of a gunshot wound after his chemical tanker was fired upon at Lagos anchorage. A further 14 crew were kidnapped from four different vessels in Nigeria. At the time of the kidnappings, all the vessels were reported to be underway.
Further west in Africa, three incidents were recorded in the Ivory Coast, including the hijacking of two tankers. In early February, one such tanker was taken while underway, 70 nautical miles (nm) south of Abidjan and
routed to Nigerian waters.
On the eastern side of Africa, Somalia recorded five incidents this quarter including the hijacking of a fishing vessel and its 20-member crew. In this case, the crew were freed by naval forces before the vessel reached
Somalia. In the Indian Ocean, two vessels were fired upon. There were also two attempted attacks against Aframax sized tankers in the Gulf of Aden. Somali pirates continue to hold five vessels with 60 crew members on board and an additional 17 being held captive on land….
….The threat of Somali piracy remains very present, with a recent incident reported up to 400 nm east off Mogadishu this quarter. Twelve pirates were subsequently apprehended by naval forces after the target
vessel managed to successively foil the initial attack.
The presence and response of the navies ensured that a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel was promptly released. These and other interdictions continue to highlight the important role played by the navies in keeping these incidents under control.
Outside of African waters, Indonesia was the country that recorded the highest number of attacks, with 25 incidents. While these were mainly low level thefts, vessels were boarded in 24 of the incidents, highlighting the
need for vigilance in these waters. Vessels were either berthed or anchored in 22 of the boarded incidents, and underway in the remaining two. Vessels anchored at Dumai, Balikpapan and Belawan were targeted six, five and three times respectively….
….IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspicious piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre….
(For information about operations worldwide contact the respective GAC office. Contact details may be found in the “Contacts” section on www.gac.com)
Source: Extracts from International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (www.icc-ccs.org) news release dated 15 April 2013
DATE: April 15, 2013
COUNTRY: Hong Kong
PORT: Hong Kong
Tin Hau Festival – Tai Miu Wan (Joss House Bay)
The Tin Hau Festival at Tai Miu Wan will be celebrated this year on 2 May 2013. Coxswains, owners and operators of local vessels are advised that arrangements for embarkation and disembarkation will only be made at the western side of the main pier of Tai Miu Wan, whereas the eastern side of the main pier will be used by licensed ferries.
A ferry service between North Point Ferry Pier and the Tai Miu Wan pier will be operated on 1 May and 2 May 2013. Details of the ferry service will be announced by the Transport Department in due course.
The Marine Department and the Hong Kong Police Force patrol launches will be stationed in the vicinity to direct and control vessels attending the festival.
Persons-in-charge of local vessels are strongly reminded to ensure their vessels are not carrying more passengers than they are certified to carry. As only one set of landing steps will be available for use by local vessels, persons-in-charge of local vessels must exercise extreme care, patience and good seamanship and follow the berthing/unberthing instructions of the Marine Department and the Hong Kong Police Force patrol launches on the scene.
Masters of vessels navigating in the Tathong Channel on the above dates are advised to proceed with caution as more local traffic than normal will be encountered between Lei Yue Mun and Tai Miu Wan.
(For information about operations in Hong Kong contact GAC Hong Kong a shipping.hongkong@gac.com)
Source: Government of Hong Kong SAR Marine Department Notice No.42 of 2013
DATE: April 15, 2013
COUNTRY: Australia
PORT: Port Kembla
99-year port lease
The New South Wales State Government has agreed to lease Port Kembla with
Port Botany in a deal that will earn more than $4 billion for
infrastructure projects in the state.
Both Port Kembla & Port Botany will be leased to the NSW Ports Consortium for 99 years. 80% of the consortium is composed of Australian investors – including Industry Funds Management, Australian Super and Queensland’s public sector superannuation fund, QSuper. The remaining 20 per cent is held by Tawreed Investments Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The lease of the port will not have any effect with the long-term leasing arrangement with Port Kembla Coal Terminal, BlueScope Steel and the other private terminal operators.
For information about operations in Australia contact GAC Australia at shipping.australia@gac.com
