MSC Containership Arrested for Damages from “Runaway Exit” from Charleston

Carver reports significant damage as a bulker was pulled from the dock and slammed back into the pier (Carver Maritime file photo)

PUBLISHED JUN 12, 2024 2:43 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina issued an order on Monday to arrest the MSC Michigan VII and placed it under the control of a court-appointed custodian. The move came after a North Charleston company, Carver Maritime, filed suit alleging the negligence of the ship caused significant damage to the company’s facility on the Cooper River.

The U.S. Coast Guard told The Post and Courier newspaper that it is now classifying the incident as “a major marine casualty,” due to an estimate of more than $500,000 in damages. This also means that the National Transportation Safety Board will become involved and is likely to jointly investigate the ship’s high-speed departure from Charleston on June 5.

Carver Maritime specializes in bulk and breakbulk cargoes with a terminal along the river. According to the court filing on June 9, they are citing the uncontrolled departure of the MSC vessel as causing significant damage to the pier and property. The suit names MSC Shipmanagement headquartered in Cyprus as well as the registered owner of the vessel, Kyveli Oceanway also of Cyprus.

The 80,000 dwt containership, with a capacity of 6,700 TEU, was built in 2000. It was departing Charleston at midday on June 5 when according to the pilot the vessel experienced a failure of her propulsion control systems and accelerated to a very fast speed well above the limits for the channel. The police temporarily closed a major roadway bridge crossing above the channel while the pilot expertly navigated the ship safely out to the ocean despite the excessive speed.

Multiple videos appeared online showing the impact of the wash of the speeding containership. The newspaper is reporting two recreational boaters suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

 

 

Carver told the court that the MSC Michigan VII was traveling over 15 knots, far in excess of the safe speed for that section of the Cooper River, when it passed its facility. At the time, the Norway Pearl, a 45,400 dwt bulker registered in the Bahamas, was “properly moored at Pier J” undergoing cargo operations. 

The speeding MSC boxship “displaced a tremendous amount of water and generated a very large wake.” They report the water level at Pier J “dropped considerably” and sucked the Norway Pearl away from the pier and causing its mooring lines to become extremely taut. It then forced the Norway Pearl “violently” into Pier J causing the substantial damage.

Carver reports it is in the process of conducting damage inspections and surveys to the pier. The Norway Pearl departed Charleston on June 9. However, the company was hearing reports that the MSC Michigan VII was scheduled to depart Charleston on June 10 and moved with the court to have the vessel arrested. They are seeking to have the court order it sold at auction to cover the significant expenses Carver will incur in repairing the pier as well as dredging and other costs associated with the repairs. They did not provide an estimated cost for the repairs.

The court agreed and issued the warrant for the arrest on June 10. The MSC Michigan VII can not leave Charleston, where it is now docked and under the control of the court-appointed custodian.

 

RIP

Sonar Tech Killed in Electrocution Accident Aboard U.S. Navy Sub

USS Helena at Diego Garcia, 2013 (USN file image)

PUBLISHED JUN 11, 2024 3:45 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

A technician assigned to a nuclear-powered attack submarine was found dead last month, killed by a tragic accident. The U.S. Navy is investigating the circumstances and believes that the cause was electrocution. 

On May 24, Sonar Technician 3rd Class Timothy Sanders died aboard the submarine USS Helena while the vessel was in port at Naval Station Norfolk. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is investigating the accident. 

"We deeply mourn the loss of our shipmate, and our thoughts and prayers are with the sailor’s family, friends and coworkers during this difficult time. Grief counseling services and support are being provided through the chain of command and local chaplain resources," the Navy said in a statement. 

Sanders, 22, had been in the Navy for four years. He recently re-enlisted and was planning to relocate to Washington, with aspirations of working his way up the ranks and eventually making master chief. 

"He just had the kindest, most generous heart," his mother Nicole Sanders told local WEAR-TV. "He wanted to have a big family. He loved kids. He was all the grandkid's favorite uncle."

He is survived by his parents, four sisters and his fiancee, along with a large extended family. "Timmy was loved by all. He will be missed by all. His absence will leave our family forever incomplete," his relatives wrote in his obituary. 

USS Helena is a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, and is the fourth vessel in the Navy to carry the name. She was commissioned in 1987 and has operated worldwide. Helena is currently assigned to Submarine Squadron Six, based out of Norfolk. 

 

Canadian Federal Court orders Amazon to turn over review, ratings docs to Competition Bureau

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Pres

A new court order is requiring Amazon to hand internal records related to its review and ratings programs over to Canada's competition watchdog.

The court order issued by Chief Justice Paul Crampton earlier this week forces Amazon to give the Competition Bureau records prepared for senior management that delve into how star ratings, Amazon's Choice badges and bestseller labels are applied. 

The order also requires the Seattle-based tech giant to provide information about verified purchase and top reviewer badges.

The labels and programs the bureau appears to be interested in often feature prominently on product pages and can carry weight with consumers trying to decipher how reputable a seller is or how much they can trust a review.

However, in recent years, online platforms have seen a spate of complaints from users challenging the authenticity of reviews and questioning how bestseller and similar labels are applied and whether they should be relied upon.

The Competition Bureau, meanwhile, has taken an interest in such features and in 2020 began an investigation into Amazon that was designed to uncover potential instances of "abuse of dominance" — activity that stops or substantially reduces competition in a market.

This week's court order deepens the bureau's work. On top of the records prepared for senior management, Crampton's Monday court order forces Amazon to provide the bureau with consumer complaints about its review and ratings programs.

Amazon will also have to release reports about product refunds and returns not passed on to third-party sellers, information about the costs of managing and moderating product reviews and records related to disciplinary action taken against third-party sellers, like warnings, removal of product listings, and instances where they were downgraded in search results.

Rounding out the documents ordered to change hands are records related to 124 users who have posted reviews on its platform. 

When asked on Wednesday about the order, Amazon spokesperson Kristin Gable said in an email, “We continue collaborating with the bureau to share more about Amazon’s long-standing commitment to fighting fake or improperly incentivized reviews, both in Canada and globally."

Bureau spokesperson Marianne Blondin, meanwhile, said in an email that the organization's goal is to "determine if Amazon’s marketing practices raise concerns under the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act."

When the bureau solicited information from the public about the Amazon investigation in 2020, it asked for information about past or present Amazon policies "which may impact third-party sellers’ willingness to offer their products for sale at a lower price on other retail channels, such as their own websites or other online marketplaces."

The bureau also wanted info on the ability of third-party sellers to succeed on Amazon’s marketplace without advertising on Amazon and efforts by the tech company that "may influence consumers to purchase products it offers for sale over those offered by competing sellers."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2023.

Nutrien no longer pursuing Geismar clean ammonia project

The Canadian Press

Nutrien says it's no longer pursuing its Geismar clean ammonia project as part of a move to simplify its portfolio and focus on its core assets. 

The company made the announcement in a press release ahead of its annual investor day. 

The Saskatoon-based company announced last year it was suspending the project after a period of unprecedented volatility in fertilizer markets. 

It also announced at the time it was indefinitely pausing a planned ramp-up in potash production. 

In May, Nutrien president and CEO Ken Seitz said the company was encouraged by strong demand and continued market stabilization in the first quarter of the year. 

\\\\

Nutrien said on Wednesday that the company is prioritizing investments to enhance its North American fertilizer production assets, among other initiatives. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2024

Trans Mountain to sell 30% to Indigenous groups, premier says

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News   

Jun 12, 2024

Canada’s federal government is looking to sell a 30 per cent stake in the newly expanded Trans Mountain pipeline system to Indigenous owners, Alberta’s premier said. 

Most debt on the government-owned oil pipeline system can be financed through tolls charged to companies that ship on the line, Premier Danielle Smith said at a press conference in Calgary. The equity the government will need to raise to get the system into private hands was $10 billion (US$7.3 billion) as of “a few months ago,” she said.

“They wanted to get the indigenous partners to own 30 per cent,” with the government possibly offering a loan guarantee to First Nations, she said. “It’s going to be a great source of income for the Indigenous partners.”  

The government sent a letter to First Nations groups last year proposing a special-purpose vehicle that would hold a stake in the pipeline, and individual groups would be able to choose whether to opt in. For those that want a piece of the action, the government intends to provide risk-free access to capital, the letter said, without providing details such as how big of a stake it would sell.

The sales process has since stalled, with Indigenous leaders earlier this year complaining of no further contact from the federal government.

The Trans Mountain system began operation in May, nearly tripling the capacity of Alberta oil producers to export crude off the Pacific Coast. The government — which bought the pipeline in 2018 to save it from cancellation amid fierce opposition in British Columbia — has pledged to sell the line and provide a stake in it to First Nations. But cost overruns that have quadrupled the project’s price tag to $34 billion have posed a challenge to the Trudeau government’s plans.

Canada needs 'laser-focused' productivity strategy, Dodge says

Laura Dhillon Kane and Jay Zhao-Murray, Bloomberg News   

Jun 13, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and his provincial counterparts must be “laser-focused” on growing the productive capacity of Canada’s economy or risk falling further behind other nations, says a new report co-authored by former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge.

Gross domestic product per capita in Canada has lagged other advanced economies for decades – cumulatively growing just 6.8 per cent between 2007 and 2023, compared with 21.4 per cent in the U.S., 19.6 per cent in Australia and 11.8 per cent in the euro area, Dodge and his co-authors write in the mid-year economic outlook published by the law firm Bennett Jones.

Yet Trudeau’s government has not prioritized productivity growth during its nearly nine years in power, Dodge said in an interview.

“The overriding objective of federal and provincial governments going forward has got to be to raise the productivity of workers,” said Dodge, who was central bank governor from 2001 to 2008 and now serves as a senior adviser at Bennett Jones.

Dodge and his co-authors, including former premiers Christy Clark of British Columbia and Jason Kenney of Alberta, are the latest to sound the alarm over Canada’s sluggish productivity. The Bank of Canada has called it an “emergency,” with Governor Tiff Macklem warning Wednesday that “everything is going to be more difficult” unless Canada raises output per worker.

The report authors call for a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem. This plan must have a medium-term horizon and ensure that the actions of government are predictable and coherent to send clear signals to investors, they say.

Investments in energy and resource infrastructure, as well as in research and development and innovation, require a consistent policy framework, they write. Governments must also have credible fiscal plans under which promised services are realistically budgeted for and paid for from current revenues, the authors add.

“Net borrowing over the cycle should be undertaken for the sole purpose of funding investments that grow productive capacity and yield an identifiable stream of revenue,” they say.

The Trudeau government’s recent hike to the capital gains tax inclusion rate, while introduced with a new entrepreneurs’ incentive, does not “directionally nor logically fit” into any strategy or wider tax reform to promote investment, the authors say in the report.

The government has also announced it will phase out temporary accelerated cost allowances that it introduced in 2018 in response to U.S. tax reforms. These measures considerably reduced the marginal effective tax rate on new investment and improved tax competitiveness, the report authors say.

The authors don’t save their pleas for governments alone. Businesses need to reinvest more profits into productive capital, while households need to consume less and save more, they say. Canadians allocate a larger share of their national savings to investment in housing compared with peer nations, even when accounting for population growth, they note.

Of course, all these recommendations come at a time of “difficult” global economic relations, they acknowledge.

Managing Canada’s relationship with China while also building viable supply chains in North America will be an especially delicate task, they say. Canada should resist pressure to match U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, as that would lessen competition, raise prices for consumers and hike costs for producers, they say.

“We must find our way in a more fractious world without succumbing to protectionism, which would deeply damage our economic prospects.”

WORKERS CAPITAL

Quebec pension JV boosts bets on U.S. apartments, student housing

Mark Mann, Bloomberg News

Prospective renters wait outside to enter an apartment unit during an open house in Brooklyn in 2022. , Photographer: Bess Adler/Bloomberg

Quebec’s public pension manager and commercial real estate firm Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners expect to double the size of a joint venture they started nearly three years ago to invest in US housing. 

The JV makes preferred equity investments in student housing, manufactured housing and multifamily properties. For the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, it’s part of a broader strategy to diversify its real estate portfolio, which was once overloaded with office and retail properties. 

The original joint venture with CDPQ was for US$250 million and is completely invested, so the partners are now targeting $500 million.  

High interest rates have made it difficult for property owners and developers to finance new projects, and preferred equity offers “a much-needed capital solution in the current lending environment,” Mitch Resnick, president of WDIP, said in a statement Thursday. 

WDIP, which does debt and equity financing and is a division of Walker & Dunlop Inc., has $15.6 billion of commercial real estate investments across hundreds of properties, according to its website. 

“We see solid growth opportunities for the partnership and look forward to continuing to serve as a market leader in this space,” Eric Desjardins, senior director of U.S. residential investments at CDPQ’s Ivanhoé Cambridge arm, said in a statement. 

 

AtkinsRealis looks to sell stake in Ontario's Highway 407 toll highway by end of 2027

The Canadian Press

AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. says it plans to sell its stake in the company that owns the Highway 407 ETR toll highway north of Toronto by the end of 2027.

The company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin announced the plan as part of an investor presentation outlining the company's latest goals and financial targets. It says the sale is part of its move to focus on its engineering services and nuclear businesses. 

AtkinsRéalis holds a 6.76 per cent stake in 407 International Inc.

The other owners of the toll highway are the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board with a 50.01 per cent stake and Cintra Global S.E., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrovial S.A., at 43.23 per cent.

In its outlook, AtkinsRéalis says it's looking to pursue margin expansion and growth.

It says it will also aim to expand investments in rapidly growing markets, including initiatives in engineering services across the U.S., utilizing its nuclear expertise and investing in accretive mergers and acquisitions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2024.

Pembina nears investment decision for US$4 billion LNG project

Ruth Liao and Chunzi Xu, Bloomberg News   Jun 12, 2024

Pembina Pipeline Corp. plans to make its final investment decision for the proposed Cedar LNG floating gas-export project in British Columbia within two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The US$4 billion project is expected to be financed 60 per cent from debt and 40 per cent from equity, with partners Haisla Nation and Pembina each contributing 20 per cent of equity, Cedar LNG said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News.

The financing will also include a $1.5 billion (US$1.09 billion) five-year term loan for a pipeline connecting the Cedar terminal with the nearby Shell-led Kitimat project, according to the people. 

Cedar LNG would be the second Canadian fuel-export project to be financially sanctioned after the Shell-led backers of the $40 billion LNG Canada made their investment decision in 2018.

At least 15 banks will likely participate in financing the project, the people said. Cedar LNG did not comment on the number of banks involved or the timing of a final investment in response to questions from Bloomberg News.

The developers of the project, which also includes the Haisla First Nation, had previously said they were aiming for a final investment decision by mid-2024. Future liquefied natural gas offtake from the proposed 3-million-metric-ton-a-year facility is split between Pembina and Canadian exploration firm ARC Resources Ltd.

The most recent LNG export facility to reach a final investment decision was Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s Ruwais LNG project, announced Wednesday.

Zero-emission vehicle registrations jump 53 per cent in the first quarter: StatCan

The Canadian Press   Jun 14, 2024

Significantly more Canadians were driving zero-emissions vehicles in the first quarter compared with a year ago.

Statistics Canada says zero-emission vehicle registrations jumped 53 per cent in the first quarter year-over-year.

The federal agency says 46,744 new zero-emission vehicles were registered in the first quarter, making up 11.3 per cent of total new vehicle registrations.

The agency says battery electric cars made up 73 per cent of total zero-emission vehicle registrations, while plug-in hybrids were at 27 per cent.

Overall, the agency says new vehicle registrations were up 16.6 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter, but were down 3.1 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2023.