Vessel with Indian crew seized by pirates

The hijacked cargo ship with 10 Indians among its crew was traced three days after it was commandeered by heavily armed Somali pirates off the Somalian coast.

According to reports, the ship MV Victoria was located at Garacad, about 600 kms north of Somalian capital Moghadishu.

The ship, was carrying 4,200 tonnes of sugar donated by Denmark to wartorn Somalia as aid when it was seized early Saturday morning 40 nautical miles off Mogadishu.

News of the vessel being traced came even as Indian Navy ships were put on high alert. Officials of the Kenyabased East Africa Seafarers Association were also involved in efforts to locate the ship.

Destroyer INS Delhi has been put on stand-by and is ready to sail at a moment's notice, Navy sources said.

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DAM the 1st marine hollywood movie launched at ShipTek

International Conference on Shipbuilding and Conversion Technology - ShipTek 2008 was inaugurated on April 29, 2008 at Hotel Taj Residency. Mr. Noboru Ueda, Chairman & President, Class NK, Japan, lit the lamp and inaugurated the prestigious event organized by Marine BizTV and Aries Marine. Over 200 delegates from different parts of the world marked their presence for the biggest maritime convergence in South Asia. The mega event was sponsored by the International Conference on Shipbuilding and Conversion Technology - ShipTek 2008 was inaugurated on April 29, 2008 at Hotel Taj Residency. Mr.Noboru Ueda, Chairman & President, Class NK, Japan, lit the lamp and inaugurated the prestigious event organized by Marine BizTV and Aries Marine.

Over 200 delegates from different parts of the world marked their presence for the biggest maritime convergence in South Asia. The mega event was sponsored by the members of International Association of Class Societies (IACS) like Class NK, German is cher Lloyd and RINA. Other lead players like Keppel Offshore & Marine, MSI, Transas, Zebec Marine and Seagull Marine were also among the sponsors. The event was co sponsored by Master Shipyard.

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International Maritime Organisation seeks nod for ballast water accord

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is seeking ratifications from countries for ships' ballast water convention to come into force.

Biological invasion or translocation of foreign organism from ships' ballast water discharges has been identifed as one of the four greatest threats to the world's oceans.

Ballast water is carried in empty ships to provide stability. The water is taken on board and tiny stowaways, in the form of marine organisms, are taken on board with it.

Ballast water threat to the oceans intensifies lately due the increase in maritime traffic.

When cargo is loaded, the ballast water, with its surviving stowaway organisms, is drained out of the vessel into their new surroundings.

Maritime Institute of Malaysia researcher Cheryl Rita Kaur said IMO was currently working on the ratification for the Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments 2004.

"The convention will eventually come into force when adequate number of countries ratify it," she said.

To be implemented, the convention will need ratifications from 30 countries representing 35% of the world's merchant shipping tonnage.

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Indian port and shipping must gear itself to take on huge growth potential

Speaking at the National Conference on Development of Ports anel Shipping "Transforming Indian Ports into World Class Facilities", Mr. M.M. Saggi, Nautical Advisor to Govt. of India, said, "If Indian Port and Shipping has to become world class, greater private sector partnership in the infrastructure development of ports and shipping is vital. Indian Port and Shipping must gear itself to take on the huge growth potential". He regretted that the shipping and port sector had not attracted even a single Foreign Direct Investment despite the tremendous growth potential of the sector. He expected the capacity of Indian Ports to triple to around 2 billion tonnes in the next five years from the current 6 million tonnes.

Mr. Ramu S. Deora, Chairman, All India Shippers Council, ASCOBIPS, and FICCI Trade Facilitation Forum, was unhappy that despite a high utilization of capacity the country's port and shipping sector continues to face congestion and backlog of cargo impairing smooth handling of international cargo. While the need to boost exports demands high quality of services at competitive costs, the weakening of the global freight markets and the inadequate flow of investments continue to impair the growth of shipping and ports, he added. According to him the logistics costs in India accounted for I 3% of GDP compared to 1 1% in Japan; 10% in Europe and 9% in the US on account of poor logistics infrastructure at ports in the country.

Emphasizing the need to improve trade facilitation and value added services in order to transform Indian Ports into world class facilities, Mr. Rajesh Sampson, Associate Director, Ernst & Young, said "Systems such as PortNet and Trade Net of Singapore as well as developments of distriparksakin to Keppel will go a long way in improving services levels in Indian Ports".

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