ITF News Update – 8th to 13th April
Containers Pile Up At China Ports As Lockdown Blocks Trucks | G Captain – 8th April
Containers full of frozen food and chemicals are piling up at China’s biggest port in Shanghai as a Covid lockdown in the city and compulsory virus testing means truckers can’t get to the docks to pick up boxes.
https://gcaptain.com/containers-pile-up-at-china-ports-as-lockdown-blocks-trucks/
Under attack and low on supplies, 1,500 seafarers trapped in Ukrainian waters | American Shipper – 8th April
Relief efforts ‘extremely challenging’ for those stuck on 140 vessels in conflict zone
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/1500-seafarers-trapped-ukraine-low-supplies-under-attack-russia
Foreign shipping adds to supply chain woes | Star Tribune – 8th April
Price-gouging and refusing U.S. goods must stop. The key to unclogging America’s supply chain issues and curbing inflation may well lie just offshore.
https://www.startribune.com/foreign-shipping-adds-to-supply-chain-woes/600163424/
Psychosocial issues and sleep quality among seafarers: a mixed methods study | BMC Public Health – 9th April
Seafarers, especially those working for a prolonged period of time, are exposed to a high number of social, psychological and physical stressors including irregular working hours.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-13154-4
Oman becomes 100th country to join Maritime Labour Convention 2006 | Times of Oman – 10th April
The Sultanate is the first country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to ratify this agreement.
NSML bemoans global shortage of competent seafarers | Punch NG – 10th April
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ship Management Limited has lamented a global shortfall of skilled officers in the maritime industry.
https://punchng.com/nsml-bemoans-global-shortage-of-competent-seafarers/
EU And U.K. Near Conclusion of Fishing Rights Dispute | G Captain – 10th April
The dispute between the European Union and the U.K. over fishing permits is nearing its conclusion as almost all the contested licenses have been granted to French vessels, the Financial Times reported.
https://gcaptain.com/eu-and-u-k-near-conclusion-of-fishing-rights-dispute/
477 Bulkers Are Stuck Waiting To Enter China | G Captain – 11th April
Queues of vessels carrying raw materials have jumped after Shanghai initiated a city-wide lockdown at the end of last month to combat Covid-19. More than two weeks on, the congestion has expanded to nearby Ningbo-Zhoushan as ship-owners desperately divert ships to other ports in the country to avoid the trucker shortage and warehouse closures in Shanghai.
https://gcaptain.com/bulkers-stuck-waiting-china/
Company estimates more than 5,000 gallons of diesel spilled in Neva Strait after tugboat grounding | KTOO – 11th April
The company that owns a tugboat that crashed around 18 miles north of Sitka last month now estimates that 5,307 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled into the ocean as a result of the accident.
https://www.ktoo.org/2022/04/11/neva-strait-tugboat-spill-5000-gallons/
New Rules Improve Inland Waterway Safety in India | Marine Link – 11th April
The Inland Vessels Act 2021 will help integrated vessel movement throughout waterways and establish uniformity in law and standardized provisions. The IV Act 2021 addresses safety and pollution control norms and makes provisions for the use of new and special category vessels. It also specifies retrieval of wreck and salvage norms.
https://www.marinelink.com/news/new-rules-improve-inland-waterway-safety-495706
UK MCA Detains Third P&O Ferry as Line Struggles to Restart Sailing | Maritime Executive – 12th April
UK regulators today detained yet another ferry from the beleaguered P&O Ferries a month after the company fired its union crews seeking to replace them with contracts with crewing agencies. The line has faced several detentions by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency, although the latest seems to jeopardize hopes to restart operations on the busy Dover to Calais route for the Easter Holiday.
Tugboat crews call off Teesport strike after pay row breakthrough | Gazette Live – 12th April
The walk-out by Svitzer Marine employees had been set to cause ‘severe delays and disruption’ to the port over Easter break
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/tugboat-crews-call-teesport-strike-23670147
China port congestion leaves everything from grains to metals stranded | Economic Times – 12th April
There were 222 bulkers waiting off Shanghai as of April 11, 15% higher than a month earlier.
A shortage of port workers at Shanghai is slowing the delivery of documentation needed for ships.
Vessels carrying metals are left stranded offshore as trucks are unable to send goods from the port.
Maersk Halts Operations at South African Port as Floods Kill 59 | BNN – 13th April
Maersk, the world’s biggest container line, closed its Durban offices and asked employees to work from home for the rest of the week, according to a statement on its website. Depot and warehouse operations are suspended, and there is no access to the Durban terminal because of “significant damage” to an access road, it said.