465 - 05/06 - Visa Requirements - Brazil
30/04/2006
The association would like to alert Members to two recent incidents involving Member ships registered in the Bahamas and visiting Brazilian ports. The ships received substantial fines by Brazilian immigration authorities for invalid crew documents because crewmembers had Bahamian Seaman's Record Books.
467 - 05/06 - Drugs - Petrozuata - Venezuela
30/04/2006
The Association has recently been made aware of an arrest on board a vessel in Petrozuata, Venezuela arising from drug smuggling.
The Association wishes to draw Members' attention to two recent decisions of the Supreme Court in the Philippines, the impact of which, if not overturned, increase the compensation payable to ill or injured Filipino crew.
The Association has recently been advised of a series of unfair penalties imposed by local authorities at the port of Yuzhny, with a total demand on one ship of nearly US $27,000.
Alert! 11 - The Human Element jigsaw
31/03/2006
TB20 - Bridge Distractions
03/03/2006
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have issued a notice regarding the Washington State Ballast Water Program. Operators must submit a report to WDFW by 01 July 2006, describing how they will meet the 2007 requirements detailed below.
UK Club Loss Prevention Bulletin 141 advised of preventative measures to assist ship operators and their masters in reducing cases of stowaways. This was followed by Loss Prevention Bulletin 367 issued in June 2004, informing of cases concerning stowaways hiding in ships' rudder housing, specifically with ships coming from African ports in ballast to load sugar in Brazil.
The USCG issued a Policy Letter in January 2006 to guide Port State Control Officers in their inspections, to ensure ships are complying with the requirements of MARPOL Annex I. The document contains detailed and comprehensive information which will be of great value to shipboard personnel as well as shoreside technical management.
The Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control Authorities will start a concentrated inspection campaign on 01 February 2006 focusing on how requirements for preventing marine pollution from ships (MARPOL73/78, Annex 1) have been implemented. The three month inspection campaign will end on 30 April 2006.
The US Coast Guard has amended its regulations concerning marine casualty reporting requirements by adding ''significant harm to the environment'' as a reportable marine casualty. The Coast Guard is also requiring foreign registered tankers to report marine casualties that occur in the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone if those casualties involve material damage affecting the seaworthiness or efficiency of the vessel, or significant harm to the environment. These changes are required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
TB19 - Oily Water Separator
02/12/2005
The new International Standard for Marine Fuels, ISO 8217:2005 (E) has just been published by the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO).This is the third edition of the standard and replaces the second edition, ISO 8217 :1996.