A worker at the Elgin Platform, image: Total

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Recent incidents in the U.K. North Sea have highlighted the dangers faced by workers as ageing oil and gas installations reach the end of their productive lives, but while greater scrutiny by operators is required, proposed new regulation by the European Union could actually increase the risks of a serious accident, the country’s main offshore union said Wednesday.

More than two hundred Total SA (TOT) workers were evacuated from the Elgin platform last month after a huge gas leak was detected onboard, while last weekend a fire broke out in a Nexen Inc. (NXY) processing unit on the giant Buzzard field.

These events have served to shine the spotlight on a long-standing issue, but the best way of ensuring future worker safety is to continue developing the local system of employee and industry engagement and not to hand over responsibility to the EU, which has no experience or competence in this area, said National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers regional organizer Jake Molloy, whose proposed resolution on this matter was adopted by the Scottish Trade Union Congress in Inverness Wednesday.

Molloy, who described the move as “ill-conceived and poorly thought out,” said workforce involvement had led to “significant safety improvements–with more still to come–but all the good work currently underway could be jeopardized with the application of the EU regulation.”

The call was echoed by fellow U.K. union, Unite. “Now, more than ever, we need a renewed focus on offshore health and safety. Trade unions must ensure that health and safety standards are never compromised due to commercial pressures–any risk at all is too high a risk for offshore workers and their families,” said Unite Regional Industrial Officer John Taylor.

-By Alexis Flynn, Dow Jones Newswires

By Sean Bond, ABS Director of Environmental Solutions

The potential of LNG to be a ‘fuel of the future’ for the shipping industry is a subject we hear about almost daily. There is no doubt that LNG ticks the box in terms of emissions reductions compared to conventional fossil fuels. But the expansion of LNG as a fuel into the mainstream shipping industry throws up a combination of technological and regulatory challenges that the industry must address.

To some extent, this already is happening. ABS has provided insight over the past year on the drivers for adopting LNG as a fuel, examining the Classification issues of technology, safety and the regulatory framework, and we definitely see there is interest.

LNG as a fuel is not new. What is changing is the scope and scale of application as LNG as fuel grows beyond its traditional role on LNG Carriers and its use on a limited number of small ferries during the past decade.

Expanding the application to new vessels types in diverse configurations has created a need for construction and arrangement requirements as well as standards to maintain existing levels of safety in the shipping segments using the new fuel. That’s where we come in. As a Class Society our mission is to provide for the safety of life, property and the natural environment.

On the regulatory front, the fact that LNG fuelled projects are moving forward for uses other than traditional LNG carriers means Class Rules have had to evolve ahead of global regulation. For example, while the IMO has issued Interim Guidelines on Safety for Natural Gas Fuelled Engines on Ships ABS has issued its Guide for Propulsion and Auxiliary Systems for Gas Fuelled Ships in May 2011, which incorporates elements of those guidelines as well as additional needed criteria not yet specified in the IMO Guidelines.

On the regulatory side, the next step will be to complete the International Code of Safety for Gas Fuelled Ships, but its completion and ratification are not expected before 2014. In the interim, Class will continue to support owners, designers and shipyards as they determine what the concepts will mean to them.

Having recognized a need not just for Classification Rules and their interpretation, but also for recognized standards supporting the application and use of the technology, the industry is making progress developing standards with the International Standards Organization on LNG bunkering.

Today, LNG fuels a fleet of more than 380 LNG carriers, most of which burn part of their cargo as fuel, and a further fleet of some 22 small LNG-powered vessels. , However, technical and other questions remain as to the suitability of LNG fuel for specific projects. As a result, concept designs and newbuilding plans must be assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on their intended operating profile, fuel availability, commercial feasibility and several other issues. As projects begin to be realized, project developers will better understand the usefulness of the concepts to their own circumstances.

Major issues include the question of LNG bunker supply and demand. LNG bunker suppliers rely on demand to develop the supply infrastructure, while operators and owners require a supply before investing in a vessel that relies on that supply. In addition, the costs of bunkering an LNG vessel are not necessarily known as there is not a large existing market for small volumes of LNG to be used on gas fuelled ships.

And as emission regulations for all ships continue to tighten, the cost and availability of alternatives to ordinary heavy fuel oil, including LNG, potentially will change over the coming decade. All of this has to be weighted against the relative capital expenditure among competing fuel type concepts.

In many ways, the questions around LNG fuel supply are similar to those for low sulphur fuel oil: How good is security of supply?, Where are the bunkering locations?, How good is the availability? and What is the cost? Theseare the same questions that were asked about today’s commonly used fuels before they became widely accepted.

Regarding the fuel itself, owners also need to understand both its properties and handling. LNG is a mixture, not a homogenous product. It has different compositions, which result in variable properties.  The energy in each cubic meter and the methane number can impact the volume of fuel required and the way the fuel is handled as well as engine performance.

Other items to consider include the power profile of the vessel and to what degree it operates below or at maximum power, an issue engine manufacturers already are addressing.

This does not means the technology issues cannot be overcome. Instead, using LNG as a fuel becomes an issue of design and suitability on a project-by-project basis rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

To address these issues, ABS has completed joint development projects with South Korean shipyards on large vessel designs and worked with owners including AP Moller-Maersk on the practical implications of LNG as a fuel on the current and next generation of large containerships.

In addition, Harvey Gulf International Marine has selected ABS as the class society for its two new dual fuelled LNG-powered offshore supply vessels being constructed at Trinity Offshore LLC for operation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Projects like this reinforce the argument that a move toward LNG as fuel could happen more quickly than has been anticipated. If we start to see positive operational results and compelling economic results on early projects, the move towards LNG fuel could come quickly.

For ships operating mainly in the IMO’s ECAs, LNG could be a very attractive option, and here we are talking about as soon as 2015 and 2020 or 2025, depending on how the IMO judges low-sulphur fuel availability. That in turn could lead to a ramping up of bunkering infrastructure, further strengthening the argument in favour of LNG.

Of course, this too will have its consequences. Training – and who will train the crew who will be handling this bunker fuel – is an important issue which needs to be addressed. The ISO bunkering standard mentioned above will help, and ABS is also developing training resources around this issue, but this is something the industry should take note of.

The success of the LNG industry in training crews to handle the product safely and in increasing ship size as demand has grown shows these challenges can be overcome. How LNG as a fuel works in this new environment is a somewhat different question. With many more gas-powered vessels in operation, the level of risk potentially is increased, so these risks have to be addressed and mitigated.

The use of LNG as fuel by the mainstream shipping industry is a journey rather than a destination. The role of ABS has remained the same since its founding 150 years ago; to promote the security of life, property and the marine environment, in particular when the maritime industry embarks in a new direction.

Sean Bond is Director, Environmental Solutions within the European Division of ABS.  Sean is a Graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.  He joined ABS in 1989 as an Engineer in the Paramus, New Jersey office. Since then Bond’s ABS career has involved working in New York, Pusan and London in increasingly senior engineering positions. He has experience in rule development, design review and classification of various ship types, and accumulated specialist knowledge in the classification of tankers and gas carriers in particular. His current position, as Director, Environmental Solutions, involves close contact with the maritime industry throughout Europe, serving as a link between new environmental technology, emerging industry needs and environmental related developments in ABS.

Presentation to Master of Kraslava. Courtesy Lloyd's Register

Lloyd’s Register has issued the first ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) certificate of compliance “pre-convention”, or ahead of entry into force, to Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Kraslava, operated by the Riga-based LSC Shipmanagement SIA.

The Marshall Islands was the first to help the ships in its registry to undergo the inspection process by completing part one of the Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance process. Following an on-board inspection in Amsterdam, the MLC certificate was awarded on December 22 to the master of Kraslava.

The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) requirements will apply to all ships which trade internatnionally, replacing 40 existing conventions and 29 regulations, and will provide seafarers with fair terms of employment and guarantee them safe, secure and decent living and working conditions on board ship. Shipowners will benefit from having a clear, consistent set of standards with which all must comply.

Ratification of the convention is expected by the middle of this year, paving the way for entry into force by mid-2012.

Regulation I/10 of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended, (STCW) requires Parties to the Convention to establish procedures to recognize STCW certificates issued by or under the authority of another Party. In order to start this process, the Coast Guard is developing a policy regarding the United States’ recognition of foreign certificates held by foreign maritime officers who may be employed on some United States flag vessels. The Coast Guard is soliciting comments from mariners, industry, and the public to assist in development of this policy.

The notice appears in the September 27, 2010 Federal Register (75 FR 59281) and can be downloaded at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-24154.pdf

In particular, the Coast Guard is interested in receiving comments on the following information:

1. Which United States flag vessels employ foreign citizens?
2. What are the nationalities of foreign citizens working United States flag vessels?
3. What countries issue STCW certificates for foreign citizens working United States flag vessels?

Directions for submitting comments to the docket are described in the notice, and be sure to let us know by commnenting below or in the gCaptain forum HERE.

The new regulation adds MDMA ­ known on the street as Ecstasy ­ to the list of drugs screened for in DOT mandated drug tests. For initial tests, the agency lowered the cutoff levels for detecting the presence of cocaine and amphetamines, and heroin was added to the list. Initial tests are the first tests done on samples. If a sample shows positive results for illegal drugs, it is then put through a confirmation test.

Drugs that will be screened for once the regulation goes into effect include:

Marijuana

Cocaine

Opiate metabolites of codeine and/or morphine

6-Acetylmorphine, which is heroin

Phencyclidine, commonly referred to as PCP

Amphetamines of AMP and/or MAMP, such as speed

MDMA, street name Ecstasy

For more on the final rule, CLICK HERE for the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance.

Effective as of July 12, an important and controversial statutory exemption expired, opening doors for U.S. mariners to take back multiple positions formerly held by foreign officers on U.S. Flagged Purse Seiners.  The exemption, set forth in Section 421 of the USCG Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, allowed the use of foreign officers (except for the Master) to meet standard manning requirements on U.S. flagged purse seine vessels.  Captain Doug Pine tells us more in the gCaptain forum:

Beginning July 12, 2010, the Coast Guard will enforce the manning requirements of 46 United States Code 8104, as implemented by 46 Code of Federal Regulations Part 15 – Manning Requirements. Vessels 200 gross tons and over, are required to have a U. S. licensed master, a U.S. licensed mate in charge of the maneuvering and navigation watch, and if an individual is employed to perform chief engineer duties, that individual must have an appropriate U.S. license authorizing service as a chief engineer.

Recently, there has been a lot of good discussion about whether or not you would work on a US Flagged seiner vessel employing mostly foreign officers in the gCaptain forum, and it seems the the expiration of this exemption is going to be a welcomed one for U.S. Mariners looking for work.

Down THIS PDF for more details from the USCG.

Editorial Note: Being actively sailing mariners, the editorial team at gCaptain is concerned by recent changes to US Coast Guard policy on the licensing of mariners. We feel this is a topic of importance to mariners worldwide but questioned our ability to write on this issue objectively so we sent a note to someone we trust; Joe Keefe of The Maritime Executive. This article is reprinted with his permission.

Charlotte, NC: When you are trying to re-qualify your marine license as your 50th birthday looms large in the Radar hood, it doesn’t hurt to improve your cardiovascular footprint in preparation for the impending physical examination. Accordingly, I was going to go for a quick run this afternoon at my favorite Municipal Park, but all of our service stations are out of Gasoline today. Note: If anyone can help the Colonial Pipeline get primed up with some much needed RNL for the mid-southeastern corridor, everyone in Western North Carolina will really appreciate it. In any event, and in the absence of wheels to get me to a softer running medium, I said, “What the heck: I’ll just get rolling on this week’s column.” And, so I did.

On Monday, the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center’s (NMC) July 2008 one-page TWIC Alert arrived in the mail. Immediately following that, NAVIGATION and VESSEL INSPECTION NAVIC NO. 04-08 hit the WEB. The contents of both documents gave my ongoing effort to qualify as a true-blue STCW mariner new urgency, as well as a little bit of dread. After all, I had no idea that the TWIC thing would kick in until I actually had gotten my license into compliance. Beyond this, the Coast Guard NAVIC contains no less than seven documents and countless pages of supporting information. So, and at the risk of offending the greener side of our readers, I downloaded and printed every single one of the latter documents. To my defense, I didn’t realize that the section entitled “MEDICAL CONDITIONS SUBJECT TO FURTHER REVIEW” was 32 pages long. The entire printout has – and I am not making this up – decimated an entire hardwood forest in the Pisgah National Wildlife Area.

This is a good time, in the interests of full disclosure, for me to come clean about my medical history. In 1984, I was discharged (READ: removed) early from a chemical tanker in Beaumont, Texas, after a particularly painful two day run from Tampa. This involved a two day stay at MidJeff County Memorial Hospital in Beaumont, where they decided (after a thorough kidney scan and determining that the seaman patient was NOT afflicted with a social disease) that I had a kidney stone. Not knowing what else to do (apparently), they bought me (and I am absolutely not making this up) a twelve-pack of LITE beer and gave me a cup with a screen with which I was to produce evidence of the calcification. Eventually, my roommates arrived and whisked me back to Houston. A happy ending.

The TWIC thing is a little more troubling; certainly it is more immediate. I also confess to not having actually formally applied for my STCW ticket yet. With a full time job, I fit the courses in as I can, but I am making progress. It is my intention to do the Bridge Resource Management (BRM) and the Vessel Security Officer (VSO) refresher course in November; back-to-back. This will augment my new BST and Crowd Management endorsements and, with a little luck, I’ll fit it all in before the Azaleas bloom at Augusta. I had better, since the TWIC requirement has thankfully been extended to April 15th. The good news is that I am still in “continuity” status, hence it does not become an issue, apparently, until I have all of my STCW certifications.” Remember, failure to get the TWIC card, with or without the STCW endorsement will – and I quote here, “Result in the suspension or revocation of your mariner credentials.” Not much more to say about that.

In all, the new medical rules contain 65+ pages that detail the myriad of ways that any mariner can be disqualified from sea service. The document is staggering in its complexity, confusing in its terminology, and likely to further exacerbate the chronic shortage of mariners in the domestic, Jones Act markets. What it does not do, however, is also regulate the worldwide mariner population which dwarfs the U.S. workforce that it hopes to police. And, while no one doubts the importance of this type of effort – especially in the wake of the COSCO BUSAN debacle – the implications of the latest Coast Guard NAVIC threaten to eclipse the advent of STCW as a driving force in the elimination of American mariners from the global seagoing workforce.

On page 2 of the main document, the NAVIC (04-08) states (4d.) that “The Coast Guard recognizes the need for qualified mariners and the potential shortage of mariners in the U.S. and worldwide. The NAVIC should not result in higher rates of disqualification for service, or in increased processing time for credential applications with physical and/or medical issues.” I’m not so sure about that, quite frankly. In an age where the criminalization of mariners seems to be the rule, rather than the exception, I find myself poring through the labyrinth of medical requirements and rules in search of a place where I might drop the ball. Will someone level charges against me if I do? And, what if I do so honestly, but without malice?

I have, then, gone through all 201 “Medical conditions subject to further review.” There’s good news and bad news: In the “EYES, GENERAL” section, I didn’t find anything particularly troubling. However, this mariner who used to be able to read road signs before other people could even see them now has to wear drugstore glasses in order to digest 8 point pica text. Section 107 (GENITAL, URINARY SYSTEM): tune out here if you are at all squeamish. Yes, I endured a cystoscopy at 34. Beyond that, you’ll have to torture me for more information. Section 115: Nope, no history of gender reassignment (I’m not really sure what means, though). Section 186: I had one glass of wine; my wife drank the rest of it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. OKAY: I’ve read the entire “Medical Conditions” section twice, start-to-finish; I think that’s it.

My drive towards STCW compliance continues and I have absolutely no doubt that I will succeed. And, when it is all said and done, I will then pursue a seagoing berth, preferably on one of those car carriers with the squash courts. Don’t get me wrong; I loved my three-plus years on the chemical carrier, but you gotta keep active, especially with NAVIC 04-08 lurking about.

This week’s flurry of heightened awareness in terms of what it’s going to take to qualify has given me real pause. But, that’s not the half of it. More than one mariner over the age of 50 who has already done exactly what I am trying to accomplish has told me that their biggest challenge had nothing to do with getting qualified. Instead, the effort to get shipping companies to hire the older mariner was far more difficult. In a world where qualified mariners are supposedly at a premium, that’s just wrong. And, it is a waste of experience and talent.

We live in a world where maritime academies are producing fewer and fewer mariners. This, exacerbated by the new medical standards and the rush to obtain a TWIC Card from a less-than-reliable source (whose deadline seems to be a moving target), is also ensuring that the problem of recruiting and retaining qualified mariners is only going to get worse in the short term. All of which reminds me: my NC driver’s license also expires in about two weeks. And, I think there’s some sort of test involved. * Sigh * – MarEx.

Joseph Keefe is the Managing Editor of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE. He can be reached with comments or questions on this article or any other aspect of this e-newsletter at jkeefe@maritime-executive.com. This article was originally published via The Maritime Executive Newsletter. Free subscriptions to the newsletter can be found here.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging John Joseph Cota, a U.S. Coast Guard and California licensed ship pilot, with making false statements to the Coast Guard concerning his medications and medical conditions in 2006 and 2007. The false statements arose from annual physical examinations that pilots are required to complete every year to maintain their pilot’s license.

Cota, who was the pilot of the Cosco Busan, was previously charged with negligently causing the discharge of approximately 50,000 gallons of oil in San Francisco Bay from the 65,131-ton container ship when he caused the ship to collide with the San Francisco Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, 2007.

The grand jury’s indictment supersedes and includes charges brought previously by a criminal information that charged Cota with violating the Clean Water Act (CWA), as amended by the Oil Spill Act of 1990, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by causing the death of protected species of migratory birds.

The full post is here.

Those with medical concerns at sea should also check Global Rescue’s Medical Extraction Insurance for Mariners

___________________________

This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.

In an unusual turn of events the TSA (United States’ Transportation Security Agency) has launched a blog! While the review on NPR‘s show “On The Media” was positive, with the agency reportedly solving problems identified by readers, you have to wonder about the name, “Evolution Of Security“, and the bloggers themselves. You can find the blogger profiles HERE but the following is an example;

Ethel
Hi! My name is Ethel and I’m from Wisconsin. I like music, I love ice cream, and I adore weird facts: Did you know that elephants can smell water from as far away as three miles? I joined the TSA about a year ago – prior to that I attended MIT where I earned degrees in Biology, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and had the amazing opportunity to work on projects like designing artificial gravity systems for NASA.

Noticeably missing is a total lack of coverage about issues related to TWIC - the Transortation Worker’s Identification card. We have also failed to find any discussion related to Maritime Affairs.

We only have two questions… When will the NMC or MARAD launch a blog? Will they be responsive to reader comments?

Related Links:

• Evolution Of Security Blog
• Maritime Licensing Blog
• NYTimes Review

At this early stage, just one thing is perfectly clear: the Cosco Busan allision will ultimately help to redefine the role of, and the liabilities facing marine pilots in the United States today. One of the most primary questions asked of any deck cadet at any maritime academy is: What is the role of the pilot? And, the answer, of course, is (c.), “the pilot provides guidance to, but is not in charge of the vessel.” That tenet has been upheld in many venues, for many, many years. In reality, however, the typical marine pilot who guides a vessel in from the sea buoy to the dock is in complete control of that vessel on the inbound leg. He or she better be, because often the captain of a particular vessel may have never transited that restricted waterway.

This is just an excerpt of Keefe’s well written article, you can continue reading HERE.