Malaysian tanker, bulk carrier collide in Singapore Strait Read more: Malaysian tanker, bulk carrier collide in Singapore Strait http://www.nst.com.m

A Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, collided with a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait about 13km southeast of Changi East this morning.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the tanker collided with a St Vincents and The Grenadines-registered bulk carrier, MV Waily, in the traffic separation scheme (TSS) in the strait at about 6.10am.

In a statement, the MPA said there was no report of injury to crew members but the tanker suffered damage to one of its cargo tanks, resulting in an oil spill.

The master of the tanker estimated that 2,000 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea.

Both vessels are currently anchored in the Singapore Strait, with the MV Waily currently about 11 km southeast of Changi East and the MT Bunga Kelana 3 about 7km south of Changi East.

The MPA Port Operations Control Centre had issued navigational broadcasts to ships transiting the TSS to keep clear of the anchored vessels.

Traffic in the TSS remains unaffected.

Te MPA had also activated oil spill response companies, which had deployed three craft with oil spill equipment.

Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.

The MPA had also informed the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities of the incident, the statement added.

Source: NST

Shipping companies anchor vessels near Pengeran to save costs

Hundreds of ships anchored near Pengeran in Johor may be left idle by shipping companies following a drop in business due to the global economic slowdown.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy director-general Datuk Nor Aziz Yunana said he was not aware of the ships as highlighted by fishermen in Kota Tinggi but suspected they might be “parked” there until business picked up again.

He said there were many such vessels left anchored along the Malacca and Johor straits since the economic downturn.

He added that ship owners would leave their vessels anchored outside port limits without most of the crew as a means to save costs by avoiding port fees and crew maintenance costs.

“Although there are security concerns because thieves might board these crew-less ships, they are not breaking any laws as long as they remain outside shipping lanes.

“We do monitor the vessels to prevent theft but there’s not much else we can do,” he said after a special media briefing on MMEA’s operations and future plans.

Nor Aziz was commenting on a news report yesterday that hundreds of ships were left anchored off Pengeran and no one knew what the crew were doing.

The report said the area was not a designated anchorage for ships and fishermen were concerned as they claimed sludge from the vessels damaged their fishing gear and marine life, affecting their livelihood.

Nor Aziz said the agency would look into the complaints and take necessary action if any offence had been committed.

Source: The Star

HSBC takes in RM100m from marine cargo insurance

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd’s marine cargo insurance garnered businesses worth more than an insured value of RM100mil within the first month of introduction.

The marine cargo insurance was introduced to complement the bank’s one-stop trade solutions for its commercial customers, ranging from small to medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to multinational corporations.

Trade and supply chain director Vivek Gupta said the initial response from customers, especially SMEs, had been excellent as it appealed to the customers’ needs for convenience and value-for-money solutions.

Vivek Gupta...'The introduction of the marine cargo insurance reinforces HSBC's focus on meeting customers' needs.

“When we first introduced it in April, we secured businesses in excess of RM100mil coverage. As such, I am confident that we will see an ongoing momentum for this customised proposition,” he said in a statement.

He said the introduction of the marine cargo insurance initiative reinforced HSBC’s focus on meeting customers’ needs with a comprehensive suite of products and services.

“We not only bring about cost efficiency to our customers in terms of competitive pricing and a single contact point, but we are also able to help advise and educate customers on this key risk mitigation,” he said.

He said HSBC Malaysia’s import customers would now have the convenience of insuring their single voyage shipments within the same day of submitting documents at any of the 19 trade and supply chain centres at HSBC branches nationwide.

This provides convenience to customers as they only need to approach the trade specialists at the centres for their insurance requirements.

With this, customers can now enjoy both single shipment voyage cover as well as marine open-cover policies at competitive rates.

This initiative further strengthens HSBC Malaysia’s reputation as a premium provider of a comprehensive suite of trade and supply-chain solutions in the local market.

Having been around since 1884, the bank continues to maintain its leading market position in the trade and supply-chain business in Malaysia.

This is reflected by various industry recognitions and accolades awarded to the bank, the most recent being The Best Trade Finance Bank in Malaysia 2009 from The Asset.

Marine cargo insurance is designed to provide protection on companies’ cargo shipments between countries against uncertainties.

The insurance covers the companies’ cargo against risks during shipment by sea, air or land.

Source: StarBiz

Higher risk premium due to higher risk in Gulf of Aden

SHIPPING companies may have to pay higher premiums for their vessels plying in the pirate-infested areas in the Gulf of Aden and along the east coast of Africa.

Marine insurance underwriters in London said the enhanced risk in the area would prompt an increase in premiums.

So far this year, pirates have hijacked about 39 vessels in the Gulf of Aden, with the latest being the Sirius Star, the largest ship to be hijacked so far, which was carrying two million barrels of crude oil.

Large ships usually have three types of insurance policies namely hull policy, which covers physical risks; protection and indemnity policy, which covers matters concerning crew; and war risk policy, which covers acts of terrorism including piracy.

The war risk policy has a clause that requires extra premium charges for ship plying dangerous areas such as the Gulf of Aden.

MISC Bhd, which has also fallen victim to piracy acts in the area, said it had not been charged any additional premiums by its hull and war risk underwriters.

Two of its vessels, MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima were hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in August and were released after ransom was paid.

A company spokesperson told StarBiz that underwriters generally charged additional premiums by applying a certain agreed rate to the total loss value of the vessel that transit either the Gulf of Aden or any other listed areas falling under the war exclusion zone as defined by the Joint War Committee (JWC).

JWC is a group of marine underwriters based in London.

According to the spokesperson, MISC’s ships were still plying within the safety corridor of the Gulf of Aden, accompanied by Royal Malaysian Navy vessels.

This is because the alternative route via the Cape of Good Hope will incur extra cost.

“Going by the Cape of Good Hope means spending more fuel of about 30 to 35 tonnes per day for an extra 12 days at least, not to mention all other consumable and consumption.

“Additionally, we also will loose out on charter hire earnings for the extra days if the charterer does not agree to the route.

“Also, to maintain the schedule reliability of the service, an extra vessel needs to be injected into the service if we opt for the alternative route. This will increase the system cost by one more vessel,” he said.

In contrast, he said MISC would save on fuel and other costs and would only have to pay approximately US$180,000 per transit toll at the Suez.

“Risk-wise, with Somalian pirates moving further down south, a journey via the east side of African Continent through the Cape, will mean that the vessel is still exposed to the Somali pirates and we also have to face the harsh weather at the Cape,” he said.

Source: Star Online