Correspondents advise that since 11 January 2007, substantial improvements have been seen in the management of Chittagong Port. Turnaround times have improved, berthing delays have disappeared, and theft and pilferage considerably reduced.
Members are reminded that the amendment to the MARPOL Convention, designating the waters off Southern South Africa as a Special Area, come into force later this year
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found that a seaman may have been fatigued when he fell from a bulk carrier's cargo hold ladder at the end of a working day.
Alert! 16 - Complacency and routinisation
01/01/2008
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), through a recently published Marine Information Notice (MIN), recommends that a system should be introduced whereby maintenance shackles are rigged to by-pass lifeboat on-load release hooks during the lowering and recovery stages of lifeboat drills.
559 - 12/07 - Unrest in Karachi - Pakistan
01/12/2007
TB25 - Steering Gear Doors
02/11/2007
A UK Club correspondent in the Philippines has warned of recent groundings on an uncharted reef at Dinagat Sound, Mindanao. Affected charts include British Admiralty chart 4475, United States chart 92110, and Philippine chart 4629.
Members are alerted to developments with regard to California Vessel Response Plan requirements. Tank and non-tank Members trading to California will want to make changes to their response plans in light of the recent California Shoreline Protection Standards, which became effective on 1 May 2007 for tank vessels and 1 September 2007 for non-tank vessels.
A Club correspondent in Durban, South Africa, warns that shipments of wheat arriving from the USA are infested with rust red grain beetles.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has found that an undetected flaw, and the subsequent failure of a critical main engine component, led to a bulk carrier being disabled and drifting for nearly three days.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Oil Spill Response & Vessel Rates.
549 - 10/07 - Changing Ballast - Ukraine
30/09/2007