Seafarer wellbeing has been a focal topic for Standard Club in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are proud to be working in partnership with Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea programme, sharing helpful advice and resources over a few months. This cycle we will be exploring spiritual wellness and accompanying mindful practices that improves our quality of life. Spiritual health revolves around an understanding of ourselves in relation to our surroundings and finding our place within it. One way or another, many of us attempt to find ...

Over the last decade, an average of 22 million tonnes of sugar was shipped from Brazilian ports every year, leaving the sugarcane derivative only behind soya beans in terms of quantities of agriproducts exported from Brazil during that period. Most Brazilian sugar is in raw form shipped in bulk. Refined sugar makes up less that 5% of the total exports. The 50-kg bags are mostly shipped in containers although some are carried as general cargo. Proinde reports that due to the current heated demand for containers, more of the bagged ...

In terms of global intervention, there are the IMO’s mandatory short term goal-based technical and operation measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – namely, the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regimes under MARPOL Annex VI, which will enter into force on 1 November 2022 and will apply to applicable ships from 1 January 2023. Regionally, the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ package also seeks to regulate the shipping sector’s carbon footprint, for example by including shipping in the EU Emissions Trading System ...

The Getting to Zero Coalition The Getting to Zero Coalition is a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum, the Friends of Ocean action, and the World Economic Forum. It brings together decision-makers from across the shipping value chain with key stakeholders from the energy sector as well as from governments and intergovernmental organisations. The work will be supported by knowledge partners such as the UCL Energy Institute, Environmental Defense Fund and the Energy Transitions Commission. Gard is one of the more than 150 companies that are current members of the ...

It is generally accepted that performing a draft survey is not an exact science. Much depends on the weather conditions at the time, the swell, the accuracy of the draft marks and the care which is taken in carrying out the required calculations. Nevertheless, the accuracy of a draft survey which has been properly performed is generally regarded as being up to more or less 0.5 per cent of the final figure for dry bulk cargoes. Therefore, barring exceptional circumstances, such as a high swell during the survey, if the ...

In K Line Pte Limited v Priminds Shipping (HK) Co Limited (The Eternal Bliss) [2021] EWCA Civ 1712, the Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the Commercial Court and ruled that, unless otherwise provided in the charterparty, demurrage at the agreed rate is the only remedy available to an owner in the event of losses arising from a voyage charterer’s failure to complete loading and/or discharging of cargo within the permitted laytime. Background The Eternal Bliss carried a cargo of soybeans from Brazil to China pursuant to a ...

Members are advised that a new container vessel queuing process, named PacMMS (Pacific Maritime Management Services), for container ships for the ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) has come into effect at… Woman with safety helmet Background Members are advised that a new container vessel queuing process, named PacMMS (Pacific Maritime Management Services), for container ships for the ports of Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB) has come into effect at 0000 UTC on Tuesday 16 November 2021. Based on the high level of container vessels ...

The West of England P&I Club has today announced the creation of a dedicated Charterers and Traders product team to manage its Charterers Comprehensive Cover, which provides bespoke cover for charterers and traders. Suumit Madhu will lead the new team with support from Nicola Goff, Christina Anderson, Chris Ward and Paul Kaye covering both Underwriting and Claims support for Members. Charterers operate in an increasingly litigious environment which is further compounded by the evolving quantum of risks. Operating without specialist insurance leaves charterers exposed to third party risks which can ...

Over the last few years, Standard Club has grown the underwriting and business development of the former Strike Club and changed its operational and cost structures to make them more efficient. The Shipowners’ Mutual Strike Insurance Association Europe (‘SIE’) became part of the Standard Club group with effect from 1 February 2019 following approvals by members in general meetings. SIE ceased underwriting on 20 February 2020 and SIE has continued to meet its obligations to members insured for the 2019/20 and earlier policy years, with Standard Reinsurance (Bermuda) Ltd supporting ...

The UK P&I Club (“The UK Club”), a leading provider of P&I insurance and other services to the international shipping community, has had its rating revised from A (negative) to A-(Stable) by the rating agency S&P Global. The rating remains in the ‘A’ range, a measure regarded as healthy within the insurance sector, and the Club’s financial position remains strong. It continues to comfortably meet all its regulatory capital requirements and exceeds S&P’s own ‘AAA’ capital benchmark with free reserves of $534 million as at 20 August 2021. The P&I ...

The Swedish Club has launched a new online training programme, aimed at delivering proactive loss prevention services directly to its members and their crews wherever they are in the world. Loss Prevention Training – Online will enable seafarers and those onshore to benefit from the Club’s skills training, despite the restrictions of the current pandemic, by providing training resources that can be delivered at the most convenient and efficient time for course facilitators and participants. Loss Prevention Training – Online was launched to members with a mini online training session ...

Seafarer wellbeing has been a focal topic for Standard Club in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are proud to be working in partnership with Sailors’ Society’s Wellness at Sea programme, sharing helpful advice and resources over a period of 27 weeks. Sailors’ Society Wellness at Sea – Intellectual wellbeing: Piracy and seafarer preparedness This cycle will be focused on raising intellectual wellness, discussing challenges that shore-based staff, seafarers and their families may experience, such as piracy and financial difficulty, and what are the measures to adopt ...

UK P&I Club has released its latest video in a series of award-winning reflective training videos, based on a real-life incident where two men narrowly escaped serious injury while testing an emergency fire pump. The animated video depicts the situation where as part of a third-party survey, the surveyor, with the assistance of the chief engineer, were carrying out a test on the emergency fire pump. This was located in a recessed well in the steering gear compartment, approximately three metres deep and accessed by an inclined stairway. Shortly after ...

A growing number of anchor losses, anchor dragging, and anchor removal cases prompted DNV, Gard and The Swedish Club to collaborate on an anchor loss awareness campaign back in 2016. Despite the awareness raised then on the most frequent technical and operational issues, we are today still seeing an increase in cases. Might there be some new reasons for the increase in anchor loss and dragging incidents? Due to congestion, ships are spending more time at anchorages and are anchoring in areas more exposed to extreme and sudden environmental conditions. ...

At its meeting held virtually from New York yesterday, your Board reviewed the American Club’s present and prospective circumstances by reference to a variety of factors. This Circular describes the issues discussed by your Board, and the decisions it reached in consequence of those discussions. Background to the 2022 American Club renewal While there are grounds for optimism that the most debilitating human and economic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be receding, the trajectory of marine losses has continued to move relentlessly upward over the recent past. This has ...