Monday, April 17, 2023

Storied Maritime Law Firm Ince & Co. Enters Administration

Famed shipping law firm Ince Group has announced that it is voluntarily entering administration after a series of issues related to an accounting audit.

Ince, which was at one time the largest law firm in London, has been attempting to complete its full-year financial results for the 2021-22 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2022. After more than a year of work, Ince's auditor has still not been able to resolve certain matters with the accounts at Ince's Hong Kong office. The unresolved "matters outstanding" at this satellite division have repeatedly delayed the reporting of full-year results for March 2021 - March 2022 and half-year results for April-September 2022.

Over the course of the 2022, multiple partners departed Ince and the firm's share price shed the majority of its value. In December, Ince announced that it would suspend trading in its stock because its auditors could not complete the financial reports by a year-end deadline. The delivery date for the audit was pushed back to January 31, then February 10, then March 31, then an indefinite date. The causes of the sequential delays included questions "in relation to historical accounting treatments," "technical items," and "matters outstanding with the audit in Hong Kong."

On April 12, Ince confirmed that the audit for 2021-22 still remains incomplete, and it acknowledged that the long-running process has put pressure on its cash flow. After a series of conversations with lenders, Ince said, it lost the support of a key financier.

"In order to preserve the future value of the group's business and to protect the interests of employees and other stakeholders, the board of the company has regrettably concluded that it has no choice but to place the company into administration," Ince said in a stock exchange filing.

Ince has voluntarily filed a court motion to appoint an independent administrator, Quantuma, which will seek to find a buyer for the storied law firm.

Ince (formerly Ince Gordon Dadds) is a full-service integrated corporate law firm with associated services in accounting, finance, consulting and pensions advisory services. Over the past decade, predecessor firm Gordon Dadds focused on an ambitious acquisition and consolidation strategy, expanding rapidly by buying smaller firms - including shipping and insurance specialist Ince & Co., which it acquired in 2019 and took the name of shortly after. Ince & Co. was founded in 1870 as a shipping law firm, and developed strong practices in related areas like insurance and dispute resolution.

Brookfield to Buy Container Lessor Triton for $4.7B as Market Softens

Triton acquired — Triton is a lessor with a fleet of morethan 78 million TEU

In an interesting play on the perceived opportunities in the container industry, well-known alternative asset manager Brookfield announced a deal to acquire Triton International, the world’s largest owner and lessor of intermodal containers. The cash and stock transaction values Triton’s common equity at approximately $4.7 billion and reflects a total enterprise value of approximately $13.3 billion.

The deal comes as the near-term prospects for the container industry are in question as shipping volumes dropped precipitously on many of the major routes around the world. With falling freight rates, many carriers are expected to report steep declines from their record profits of a year ago. Two months ago, Triton predicted a subdued 2023 outlook characterized by a gradual trend down in container utilization driven by global economic and geopolitical challenges.

The company reported a 55 percent increase in net income or nearly $697 million in 2022 on a 9.5 percent increase in total lease revenues or a total of nearly $1.7 billion for its leases. Despite reporting utilization continuing at approximately 98 percent, Triton reported a more than nine percent decline in sequential net income between the third and fourth quarters while warning investors that the first quarter is typically the slow season for dry containers. Further, they forecast that used container sale prices and disposal gains would begin to decrease more quickly in the first quarter.

"The trajectory of our performance after the first quarter will depend on how market conditions evolve,” said,” Brian Sondey, Chief Executive Officer of Triton during the year-end financial report in February 2023. “The outlook for global economic conditions is uncertain, but our fleet remains well protected by our lease portfolio, and container supply and demand usually rebalance quickly due to the short order cycle for containers and the steady disposal of older assets.”

Triton bills itself as a critical provider of transportation logistics infrastructure supporting global supply chains. The company reports it has a fleet of 7.1 million TEUs supported by 19 offices across 14 countries. Its customers cut across the world’s leading shipping lines including MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, ONE, Yang Ming, and others. Headquartered in Bermuda, Triton was started in 1980 and acquired by Warburg Pincus and Vestar Capital Partners in 2011 as part of the sale of assets from the Pritzker family. Triton grew its business reaching 4.2 million TEU with the 2016 merger with TAL International, and three years later in 2019, Warburg Pincus completed its exit via a secondary offering of the shares.

“Triton is an attractive business with highly contracted and stable cash flows, strong margins, and a track record of value creation,” said Sam Pollock, Brookfield Infrastructure CEO announcing the acquisition. “This transaction provides Brookfield Infrastructure with a high going-in cash yield, strong downside protection, and a platform for growth in the transportation and logistics sector.”

Triton’s recent strong performance reflected business decisions made in 2020 and 2021, a period in which Triton capitalized on severe supply chain constraints to drive rapid growth in its container fleet and to significantly extend the average duration of its lease portfolio. As global bottlenecks in ports lengthened shipping times Triton reports its customers were scrambling for containers. Brookfield cites the strength of Triton’s “irreplaceable asset base.”

Though going forward Triton expects its utilization will continue to gradually trend down due to challenging market conditions, the company is optimistic that its operating and financial performance will remain strong. Its container utilization currently stands at 97.6 percent.

“Brookfield Infrastructure's significant resources and long-term investment horizon will support Triton's franchise, underpin our commitment to providing unrivaled service and support continued investment in our growing business,” said Sondey.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year subject to customary closing conditions including approval by Triton's shareholders and receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.

Lloyd’s Register to Study LCO2 Offloading After Shipboard Capture

LCO2 offloading study — Study seeks to set the guideline and explore the requirements for liquified CO2 offloading after capture on ships at sea (lloyd's Register)

The Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) announced the launch of its latest sponsored study with this element focusing on the offloading of liquified CO2 after it has been captured during the operation of a vessel. The center is a non-profit partnership launched to aid in the industry’s decarbonization transition by helping to shape standards, develop solutions, and foster collaboration by sponsoring studies addressing elements needed for decarbonization.

While shipboard carbon capture is an emerging technology that the center projects as a mid-term solution for decarbonization, they highlight there are currently no guidelines for how to offload and handle captured CO2. They point out that it is most likely to take a liquified form to aid in the storage and offloading, but that while the capture technology is being developed, the value chain is yet to be explored and specifically the offloading and shore storage.

“Through this concept study, GCMD will help support the establishment of regulatory and operational guidelines and help set a precedence for future piloting and demonstration projects related to shipboard carbon capture technologies at scale,” they write announcing the awarding of the project. “With both the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Port of Rotterdam Authority as observers on this study, the findings can help assess the prospects of LCO2 to support maritime decarbonization.”

The center launched its requests for proposals to conduct the study in December 2022 inviting a shortlist of classification societies and engineering consultants to submit proposals. They report that a total of six proposals were received. After an internal review and evaluation by three external experts with extensive domain expertise, Lloyd’s Register, supported by their partner Arup, was awarded the assignment for the concept study. The study will start in April 2023 and is expected to be completed within nine months. More than two dozen partner organizations from across the shipping industry working with the center will also participate in the project.

“Conducting this concept study for the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation will deliver greater industry understanding around the safety and operational issues that need addressing for offloading captured LCO2 from vessels,” said Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register. “This study, in collaboration with stakeholders from across the maritime value chain, will support the establishment of regulatory and operational guidelines around offloading captured liquid carbon dioxide from vessels, which is crucial to enabling safe adoption of carbon capture technologies on board. It will also offer a timely assessment of the capital expenditure and operating expenditure of the infrastructure needed to offload liquid carbon dioxide from ships thus enabling the industry to make informed decisions for creating this infrastructure.”

GCMD identified key areas for the study. It is to address safety and operational considerations for the offloading from either tankers, bulkers to containerships, considering that the vessels will likely be alongside and also conducting concurrent cargo and bunkering operations. They raise considerations including the temperature and pressure required for the optimal offloading, considerations for storage receptacles, and storage conditions.

A broader intent of this concept study is to also assess the readiness of the current infrastructure for LCO2 offloading. They will develop CAPEX and OPEX models for LCO2 offloading infrastructure buildout and operation costs and look to share the results with industry stakeholders, such as port and terminal operators, vessel owners, and shipyards.

This study is also a prerequisite to a large study planned by GCMD that aims to conduct a 500-hour pilot of shipboard carbon capture and offloading after 10 days of sailing. The findings from the LCO2 offloading study will form a basis to enable the sea trials in Phase 3 of Project REMARCCABLE, which aims to demonstrate a 30 percent annual CO2 emissions reduction or 1300 kg/hr of CO2, store 375 metric tons of LCO2 onboard, and offload LCO2. The first phase of this project was focusing on design engineering for a carbon capture system. The sea trials are planned to take place aboard the MR tanker Stena Impero (50,000 dwt). Last month, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) approved the design concepts for the sea trials aboard the tanker.

GCMD is also working on two other separate study projects. One focuses on ammonia bunkering. The other study which is underway is setting the standards and validation of biofuel drop-ins.

Maryland Passes Legislation to Accelerate Offshore Wind Power Growth

Maryland expands wind targets and enables infrastructure — (courtesy of Offshore Wind Maryland)

Maryland’s General Assembly took bold steps on the last day of its legislative session passing bills that set ambitious goals to expand the state's use of offshore wind energy and laying the groundwork for the infrastructure to support the expansion programs. The initiative which is headed to the state’s Governor Wes Moore who is expected to sign the legislation would if realized more than quadruple Maryland’s offshore wind power generation capabilities and is being widely hailed by both the industry and independent trade groups.

Governor Moore at the end of March highlighted the state’s goal to expand its use of offshore wind energy. He announced an ambitious goal to raise Maryland’s offshore wind capacity to 8.5 gigawatts, which would power nearly three million homes. The state currently has four projects designated, MarWin and Momentum Wind to be developed by US Wind with a total power output of just over 1 GW due to begin operation in 2026. Ørsted is also working on two fields, both at SkipJack, which combined would add just under a further 1 GW also in 2026. The governor however called for Maryland to produce all its energy from clean sources by 2035.

The legislature passed the Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources (POWER) Act with adopts the 8.5 GW target while addressing barriers to building offshore wind projects by upgrading Maryland’s Eastern Shore’s electric grid and facilitating the construction of a shared transmission infrastructure. Compatriot pieces of legislation making up the comprehensive package also focuses on establishing 3 GW of energy storage and requires the Maryland Public Service Commission to develop a cost-effective procurement program.

“Passing these bills creates incredible opportunities for Maryland,” said Moira Cyphers, Eastern Region State Affairs Director of the American Clean Power Association, an independent trade association. “In particular, the POWER ACT victory should be a signal to federal regulators currently considering the size and location for new offshore wind leases off the coast of the Mid-Atlantic that the Central Atlantic Wind Energy Areas must be robust. As storage is critical to meeting our nation’s emissions and energy goals, Maryland’s passage of this energy storage bill signals important progress toward building clean energy capacity.”

Maryland’s offshore wind industry traces its history back to the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, which required 2.5 percent of all electricity sales in Maryland to come from offshore wind, part of an overall goal to procure 25 percent of electricity usage from renewable sources by 2020. Following the innovative legislation, Maryland was among the first states to award wind projects in 2017 for the first phases of MarWin and Skipjack. In 2020, the state passed further legislation expanding its targets for offshore wind power generation and the following year awarded Momentum Wind and the second phase of Skipjack.

“The POWER Act is a real game changer for Maryland,” said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO, the developer of MarWin and Momentum Wind. “It sets a path for the people of Maryland to reap the benefits of huge amounts of clean energy in the coming years. It also tells the entire offshore wind industry globally that Maryland is back big time as a major player. Companies looking to invest in offshore wind have to seriously consider Maryland.”

US Wind was launched in 2011 and is majority owned by Italy’s Renexia. US-based investment management firm Apollo Global Management is also a minority investor in US Wind.

Plans were recently announced for the development of a facility that will build monopiles and towers at the former Sparrows Point facility which is being redeveloped into a multi-purpose logistics and port facility. US Wind and Spanish steel fabricator Haizea Wind Group will develop the Sparrows Point Steel terminal to support US Wind's construction plans. Previously, Ørsted announced plans for Maryland’s first offshore wind steel fabrication center to support its projects in the state as well as in New Jersey. They also announced plans for one of the first operations & maintenance centers (O&M) to be at a newly developed port facility in Ocean City, Maryland.

Fire on Trinidad Offshore Platform Injures Four Operators

oil platform fire — Small fire aboard one of the platforms off Trinidad injured four operators (Trinity Exploration & Production)

Four operators working aboard an offshore oil platform on the east coast of Trinidad in the Caribbean sustained injuries during a small fire aboard the platform Monday night, April 10. The operator, Trinity Exploration & Production, which is focused on the areas around the island, reports that production from its East Coast field was also briefly suspended.

“Trinity can confirm that at approximately 21:15 local time on Monday, April 10, a generator-related fire occurred on Trinity’s Bravo Platform in the Trintes Field, offshore east coast Trinidad,” the company reports. They are saying that the damage was limited to the individual platform with no pollution as a result.

Four people were working on the platform, which has a daily production rate of 350 bopd, when the fire was reported. Production was stopped at the Bravo platform and as a precaution, they also halted production at the neighboring Delta and Alpha platforms in the same Trintes field. The field normally has a daily production level of approximately 1,010 bopd.

The company reports that the crew was able to quickly extinguish the fire, but during the incident, two individuals sustained minor burns. All four people that were working on the platform were treated for smoke inhalation. The platform was subsequently evacuated, and the four operators remain under medical observation.

A crew was able to board the platform on Tuesday and begin an investigation of the incident. They are reporting that the damage was limited to the generator. They believe the platform structure and other platform electrical and other equipment was in “good order.”

Production was able to resume at the two neighboring platforms, Alpha and Delta, on Tuesday evening. The company is currently optimizing the flow from those two wells.

Repairs on the Bravo platform are anticipated to be completed in three to four days. They will then require approval from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries before production can resume.

It is the second accident reported in recent months in the Trinidad oil field operations. A liftboat working for another company in the country’s North Field tipped over last December. There were six people aboard, but they were all able to escape before the vessel sank.

CAPITALI$T HUBRIS

The deep sea mining debate is “gone” — it’s happening, says The Metals Company CEO

Bruno Venditti | April 11, 2023 |

Automakers and steelmaking companies have shown interest in the technology, according to Gerard Barron.

Despite opposition from environmental groups, the CEO of The Metals Company (TMC) which has exclusive access to the Nori Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) polymetallic project, located 4,000 metres deep in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and ranked as the world’s biggest undeveloped nickel project, sees deep sea mining happening by the end of 2024.

Mining international waters is in the spotlight as companies and countries are looking at minerals concentrated on the ocean floor that can be used in batteries for smart phones and electric vehicles.

The Metals Company has said the nodule resource is now estimated at four megatons (Mt) measured, 341Mt indicated and 11Mt inferred mineral resources.

It is estimated that 21 billion tonnes of polymetallic nodules are resting on the ocean floor in the CCZ. Almost 20 international mining companies have contracts to explore the region which spans over 5,000 kilometers and is considered the most prolific area for ocean mining.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) said it will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean’s floor. The recent decision came after the UN body spent weeks debating standards for the practice.

In 1994, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea established the ISA to regulate the industrialization of the seabed in international waters and ensure effective marine environmental protection.

The ISA had been slowly developing the mining code. However, Nauru, a South Pacific island nation of 8,000 people, sped things up by triggering a two-year rule in the Law of the Sea treaty. That provision required the ISA to complete the mining code by July 9, 2023, or accept mining applications under whatever regulations existed at the time.

“People think we are debating if this (deep sea mining) should happen or not, and that’s gone. It’s happening,” The Metals Company CEO Gerard Barron told MINING.COM.

“The International Seabed Authority has been mandated to regulate this activity and put in place the exploration and the exploitation regulations while protecting the marine environment. The NGOs have been trying to use the legal method to oppose deep sea mining, to perpetuate a delay. How badly they’ve got it wrong.”

According to Barron, organizations like Greenpeace and the WWF have been trying to cast doubt over the technology, by trying to perpetuate the idea that they can cause a moratorium on deep sea mining.

“There is no legal framework to allow it, the convention of the Law of the Sea is really very flat,” said Barron.

Related: The Metals Company calls video of mining waste dumped into the sea misinformation as stock sinks

Twelve nations, however, have expressed reservations supporting a ban, a moratorium, or “a precautionary pause” on the start of the commercial exploitation of deep sea mineral resources.

“This is all just noise. Even the nations that are resistant, like France and Germany, have been working very hard over the last weeks to progress the code,” said Barron.

By the convention, only sovereign nations or contractors sponsored by a state can apply to explore the deep sea. The Metals Company has three sponsoring states, the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republics of Nauru, and of Kiribati.

The Metals Company’s NORI-D Project is the world’s most advanced, and is sponsored by the Republic of Nauru.

Metal reserves in the deep sea are estimated to be worth anywhere from $8 trillion to more than $16 trillion. (Image: The Metals Company)

Recently, a robotic collector vehicle on the sea floor in the CCZ pulled up about 3,500 tonnes of nodules up the airlift riser to the vessel.

The company plans to have an environmental impact statement as part of the application for a commercial license by the end of the year and start extracting by the end of 2024.

“They talk about more science, but guess who’s doing the science? It’s companies like us,” said Barron.

Chinese competition

While debating with environmental groups, western firms like The Metals Company are also facing competition from Asian enterprises.

Last month, China Daily r eported that the country will make renewed efforts to join the race to mine the deep sea for critical minerals.

“There is no doubt that China will be fast on our heels. But they will be held to the same very high standards, and China also wants strong environmental regulations as well,” said Barron.

Investment from automakers

The Metals Company already has its first production vessel, the Hidden Gem, and plans to use an existing plant in Japan to process the wet nodules.

Despite a moratorium signed by Samsung, Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, BMW and Volvo Trucks to wait until more research is done on deep sea mining, companies like Tesla, BYD, CATL and GM did not sign.

According to Barron, automakers have shown interest in investing in the company.

“Steelmaking companies are interested too since most nickel and manganese go to the steelmaking industry,” said Barron.

Subsea Robot Builder Nauticus Begins Commissioning Tetherless ROV

Nauticus AUV ROV — Courtesy Nauticus Robotics

Autonomous subsea robot developer Nauticus has begun commissioning a new model of its untethered, arm-equipped AUV/ROV, dubbed the Mark 2.

There are more than a few companies developing subsea robots for survey & intervention, but Nauticus' differentiating factor is the ability of its systems to conduct longer-range surveys (like an AUV) or deploy twin work-class manipulator arms from within its shell to perform manual tasks (like an ROV). This dual-function capability can't be found elsewhere, and it's attracted interest from the oil and gas industry, according to Nauticus.

"The delivery of our initial second-generation Aquanauts is a significant milestone that accelerates our mission to disrupt the offshore ocean services industry while setting a benchmark for next-generation subsea technology that will fundamentally revolutionize how the industry operates,” said Nicolaus Radford, founder and CEO of Nauticus.

The firm plans to deliver two more Aquanauts by mid-year, and the units are already under commitment for projects, according to Radford.

In pursuit of growth in offshore oil and gas, the company recently opened operating bases in Aberdeen and Stavanger, the primary hubs for the North Sea market. As a sign of industry interest, offshore drilling leader Transocean is Nauticus' largest shareholder, and oil major Shell has conducted demonstration trials with the firm's systems.

Nauticus also holds a contract with the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit to develop an amphibious unmanned system using the same autonomous control platform used for Aquanaut, ToolKITT. The control system is also used by the U.S. Navy's Defender Mission Specialist, the service's man-portable ROV of choice; the system uses machine learning to detect, identify and neutralize underwater hazards on its own.

Project Seeks to Extract Hydrogen from Ammonia on Floating Terminal

hydrogen form ammonia on floating terminal — Höegh LNG and Wärtsilä look tot use their LNG experience to develop ammonia transport and extracting hydrogen onboard the floating terminal (Höegh)

A project that seeks to develop a system to convert ammonia to hydrogen that could be installed onboard a floating terminal is receiving €5.9 million ($6.5 million) in funding from the Norwegian government. The project will be led by Höegh LNG and Wärtsilä with the companies terming it a solution for using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier for the energy market. If successful, the concept would pave the way for hydrogen energy to be developed in a similar fashion to the current offshore LNG terminals.

Hydrogen is difficult to store and transport due to its low volumetric energy density and potential for large vaporization losses. Ammonia is significantly better suited than hydrogen for transport and acting as a carrier since it can be stored in liquid form at moderate pressures and temperatures. The objective of the project is to enable ammonia to be converted back to hydrogen at the receiving destination.

“This important project is a natural extension of the investments and efforts made by Wärtsilä to accelerate the use of decarbonized energy,” said Walter Reggente, Vice President of Wärtsilä Gas Solutions. “Hydrogen will play a considerable role in future renewable fuel consumption, and there is a clear need for the development of ammonia as a storage and transportation carrier for hydrogen.”

As a carbon-neutral renewable energy carrier, ‘green’ ammonia is produced from hydrogen, via electrolysis of water, and nitrogen from the air. Green ammonia acts as a liquid battery with a high energy density compared to alternative solutions for the storage and transport of renewable power. The infrastructure for the large-scale transport of ammonia at sea already exists via a fleet of gas tankers that are already capable of transporting ammonia

The project aims to develop a system to convert ammonia back to hydrogen, which will then be installed onboard a Höegh LNG vessel. This will provide a floating receiving terminal capable of being relocated as needed, requiring minimal use of coastal land and a solution resulting in lower overall cost, improved safety, and competitive hydrogen prices.

“As a world-leading provider of fast-track floating LNG terminals, we have technology and competence essential to developing a strong clean energy value chain,” said Erik Nyheim, CEO and President of Höegh LNG.

The grant coming from the Norwegian Government’s green platform program will provide approximately half of the total budget. Additional partners in the project include the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), the University of South-East Norway, Sustainable Energy, and BASF SE.

Canadian Ports and Energy Websites Hit by Pro-Russian Cyberattack

Cyberattack on Canada port websites — Canada's busy port of Halifax along with Montreal anf Quebec had their websites taken down by a cyberattack (Halifax file photo)

Three of Canadian’s primary eastern seaports were among the targets of a cyberattack apparently staged by a pro-Russian group that has also been targeting Canada’s energy infrastructure. The ports are reporting that the attacks were limited to a “denial of service” aimed at their websites and that none of their operations or internal systems seem to be impacted by the ongoing incident.

Canadian news outlet CBC News is reporting that attack began early on Wednesday, April 12, with the ports of Halifax, Montreal, and Quebec all saying that their websites had been targeted and crashed after they became overloaded in the “denial of service” attack. The ports' external sites appear to continue to be offline while CBC is now reporting that Quebec’s state-owned electricity provider Hydro-Quebec began experiencing a similar cyber assault on Thursday morning.

CBC reports that a pro-Russian hacking group known as NoName057(16) posted in a Telegram chatroom claiming responsibility for the attacks. The group said it was continuing to target Canadians.

“What is important is that our internal systems continue to operate normally and port operations have not been affected by this,” a spokesperson for the Port of Halifax told CBC. “Traffic continues to move through Port of Halifax.”

The Port of Montreal reported that its website went offline at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday and the Port of Quebec also began experiencing an outage at around the same time. Port officials are saying that the attack has also been limited to their external pages and that this is no risk of a data breach.

It appears that it is not the first time that Russian groups targeted Canada’s infrastructure. Responding to reporters’ questions at the end of March, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “Canada’s energy infrastructure did not suffer any physical damage.” The questions were in response to a report that appeared in The New York Times which said the attack was cited in the recently discovered leak of confidential Pentagon documents mostly related to the war in Ukraine.

Ports and maritime infrastructure have increasingly become a target of hackers. The Port of Lisbon suffered a large data breach at the end of 2022. DNV was forced to take its ShipManager system offline for weeks by a cyberattack earlier this year impacting approximately 1,000 ships and more than 70 clients. It took the company two months to fully restore the system. In 2022, it was revealed that a cyberattack had caused the Port of South Louisiana to misappropriate $420,000, although they were later able to reduce the loss to $170,000 through reimbursements and reclaimed monies.

Last year, Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles told the BBC that the number of cyberattacks on the port’s systems had doubled in the two years since the beginning of the pandemic. He estimated in July 2022 that the Port of Los Angeles was being targeted by as many as 40 million attacks a month.

South Africa Coordinates Rescue of 26 Crew from Burning Fishing Boat

fishing vessel rescue — SAMSA coordinated the rescue of the crew but the burnt out fishing vessel is drifting off the coast (photo courtesy of SAMSA)

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is reporting that 26 crewmembers were rescued and brought to shore after their fishing vessel caught fire overnight south of the Cape of Good Hope near Cape Town. They are describing the rescue as “a frantic effort involving no less than three ships which had responded to a mayday call.”

At 0100 local time, the MRCC Cape Town received a radio call from the crew of the fishing vessel Olivia Marie reporting that their 105-foot ship was on fire. The vessel registered in South Africa shows according to its AIS data that it had departed Hout Bay, south of Cape Town, on April 5.

The MRCC reports that the crew said they were abandoning ship after the fire had begun in the engine room and that the “whole vessel” was now ablaze. The fire was said to be spreading quickly. The crew was getting into a small life raft despite strong winds and high seas and urgently requesting assistance.

Several vessels were in the area and the MRCC coordinated with them to organize the rescue. A Liberian registered bulk carrier, AquaExplore (179,000 dwt) was inbound toward St. Helena Bay Anchorage and diverted. She was the first on the scene but SAMSA reports the vessel was unable to recover the fishing boat crew from the raft. The bulker however remained on-scene.

Next to arrive was a smaller fishing boat, the 62-foot Umfondini, also registered in South Africa and operating out of neighboring Gordons Bay. The vessel was able to rescue the crewmembers from their raft. It left the raft and burning fishing boat heading for shore with the crew.

“All crew were safely transferred to the Umfondini with the prevailing winds reported to be South-westerly at 15 knots and a water swell of up to 2.6 meters (approximately 8.5 feet). The AquaExplore proceeded with its normal voyage,” with the bulker arriving at its destination later in the day reports SAMSA.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a volunteer lifesaving organization, also put a boat out to assist with the effort. The rescue boat was able to rendezvous with the fishing vessel with the crew from the burning ship. They transferred the crew to the NSRI Simon’s Town craft. The rescue boat brought the crew back to their station and arranged for them to be transported back to Hout Bay.

SAMSA is also issuing a navigation warning asking vessels in the area both to proceed with caution and to also report any sightings of the drifting fishing boat and its life raft. A third fishing boat, Langenberg, spotted the wreck of the Olivia Marie seen drifting approximately 3.5 nautical miles from its original position with the force 5 winds pushing the wreck toward shallow waters. SAMSA is also warning that some debris has been spotted in the water along with the drifting life raft.

They are requesting assistance in the recovery of the Olivia Marie and its lift raft. Efforts are continuing to salvage the abandoned vessel.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment