Major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (the STCW Convention), and its associated Code enter into force on 1 January 2012, with a five-year transitional period until 1 January 2017. The “Manila Amendments” were adopted at
Guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91), assigned to Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, disrupted a group of suspected pirates close to the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), south of Yemen, Dec. 19. The Merchant Shipping Industry Best Management Practices, Version 4 (BMPv4) enc
After more than 10 months of being confined, an Italian oil tanker was released by Somali pirates. The 105,000-ton tanker, Savina Caylyn, owned by Naples shipping company Fratelli D’Amato, was hijacked on February 8 after five pirates aboard a skiff opened fire on it with rocket launchers and submac
A glorious welcome ceremony to mark the maiden calls of Costa Favalosa and Aida Blu cruise ships to Dubai was organized by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) at the Dubai Cruise Terminal. Costa Favalosa is a new ship of Costa Crociere of Italy, inaugurated on July 2, 2011 in Tri
Six leading container shipping lines have agreed to create one of the largest vessel networks in the Far East-to-Europe trade lane. The comprehensive agreement will bring together members of The New World and Grand alliances to create The G6 Alliance. New World Alliance members are APL, Hyundai Merc
DP World, UAE Region has achieved a new vessel productivity benchmark when its state-of-the-art cranes hit a record of 259 berth moves per hour while servicing the container liner MSC Madeleine at its flagship Jebel Ali Port in Dubai recently. Concerted team effort and the port’s signature operation
At the end of a year in which the World Maritime Day theme of “Piracy: orchestrating the response” has been central to the work of IMO, the Organization can look back on 12 months of relatively good progress that have laid the foundations for cautious optimism about the future. Recently compiled sta
BAM International has been awarded the contract to build the new port in Jordan. The new port will be situated 15 miles south of Aqaba Port of Jordan. This €50 million (£42 million) port will be close to the Saudi Arabia border. It will be a joint venture by BAM and Jordanian company MAG. The [&hell
The General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) held its 27th Board Meeting, which was chaired by Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board on 8th December 2011. During the meeting, the Board was briefed by management on the implementation of GOP’s business plans and highlighted the recen
Abu Dhabi Ports Company (APDC) signed a MoU with Duisport in the presence of a high ranking trade mission from Germany. The signing, which took place at the Emirates Palace, was attended by Capt. Mohamed Juma Al-Shamisi, Vice President Ports Unit at the Abu Dhabi Ports Company and the trade delegati
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has joined with the World Shipping Council (WSC), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and BIMCO in the effort to encourage the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to amend the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require
NATO warship USS De Wert prevented a suspected pirate dhow from engaging in acts of piracy and forced it back to the Somali coast making further acts of piracy impossible at this time. While engaged in a replenishment at sea, USS De Wert received intelligence reports that a dhow acting suspiciously
The United Nations Climate Change Conference has concluded its seventeenth session (COP 17/CMP 7) in Durban, South Africa, meeting from 28 November to the early hours of 11 December 2011. As anticipated, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFC
The current year has brought a record-breaking income to Somali pirates hijacking ships and crews for ransom, said deputy director of EU NAVFOR – Operation Atalanta in the interview to online Bruxelles2. According to the admiral, pirates have obtained over $135 mln ransoms in 2011, while in the past
