Members should note that the new lane of the Suez Canal opened earlier this month, with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) issuing Circular No.
News Alerts
We issue News and other Alerts to keep members posted about developments at the Club and other industry news. Please see our latest Alerts below.
Those who wish to receive an Email Alert as soon as a new report is posted can register for this service by subscribing here
11 August 2015
7 August 2015
Members may be aware that the US Authorities/Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has recently added Tartous Port General Company and Lattakia Port General Company to its list of Syrian SDNs. Both companies are part of the Ministry of Transport and are understood to control and generally own the berth, tug and other facilities at Lattakia and Tartous.
22 July 2015
The Club has received industry reports of cargo liquefaction occurring on a bulk carrier which had loaded a cargo of nickel ore at Suriago, Philippines. According to these reports, the crew were evacuated after the ship lost stability but one seafarer is said to have lost his life during the abandon ship operation. Members will be aware of the dangers associated with the carriage of cargoes that can liquefy as outlined in previous Club Circulars, News Alerts and Stop Loss articles.
17 July 2015
Members will be aware of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in Vienna on 14 July 2015 that opens the way for the restoration of trade activities with Iran (click here for the News Alert of 15 July 2015). The current sanctions against Iran, contained in EU Regulation 267/2012 (as amended), remain in effect whilst arrangements are made for implementation of the JCPOA.
16 July 2015
Members calling at Xiamen Port in Fujian Province, China, should note that the Correspondent, Huatai Insurance Agency and Consultant Service Limited, Xiamen, has recently issued a detailed Circular on the Ship Routing and Reporting System being implemented by the China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) since 1 July 2015. In essence, the MSA’s Announcement dated 29 April 2015 on Ship Routing and Reporting concerns:- Vessels over 50,000 DWT or with a draft exceeding 12.
15 July 2015
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the diplomatic agreement signed in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between the E3/EU+3 and the Islamic Republic of Iran, opens the way for the restoration of trade activities with Iran by lifting the trade, energy, insurance and banking embargoes that have been incrementally imposed by the EU and US since 2009.
1 July 2015
Over the past year, the Club has become aware of an increasing number of instances of cyber fraud involving Members. The vehicle for the fraud in each of those instances was the interception of the ship’s agent’s emails and/or the hacking of the ship’s agent’s email account resulting in a request to send expected funds (e.g. anticipated disbursement accounts or cash for the Master) to a new bank account.
16 June 2015
Members should note that the PRC Ministry of Transport recently published revised Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Emergency Prevention and Handling of Marine Pollution Caused by Vessels (the “revised Regulations”), which became effective on 12 May 2015. The revised Regulations have the effect of removing the requirement on SPROs to be approved by the China MSA, and introduce instead a new supervision and examination procedure by the local MSAs.
10 June 2015
Members may be aware that recent conflict in Yemen resulted in port operations being suspended in Aden and, further, that Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then confirmed formally that navigation in Yemen's territorial waters was banned unless permission had first been obtained from the Yemeni government and Saudi-led coalition forces. Additionally, the U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo targeting the Iran-allied Houthi rebels.
27 April 2015
The International Group Annual Review 2014/15 was published recently and can be accessed by clicking here. The Review covers many of the key activities undertaken by the Group during the last P&I policy year and includes summaries of the work carried out by a number of its Sub-Committees and Working Groups on a range of issues, including the review of large casualties, places of refuge and the Maritime Labour Convention, which may be of interest to Members.