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Asian Regional Panel Report Apr 2015 Hong Kong
21 April 2015
Click here to download the Asian Regional Panel Report Apr 2015 Hong Kong
Report
Asian Panel Meeting
held on
Friday 17th April 2015
0900-1400hrs
at the
Conrad Hotel
Pacific Place
Hong Kong
Approved in Tokyo on 14th October 2015
- INTERTANKO’s Anti-Trust/Competition law Compliance Statement
Prior to the commencement of the meeting, the Chairman advised all participants that the meeting would be held in accordance with INTERTANKO’s Anti-trust Guidelines as follows:
INTERTANKO’s policy is to be firmly committed to maintaining a fair and competitive environment in the world tanker trade, and to adhering to all applicable laws which regulate INTERTANKO’s and its members’ activities in these markets. These laws include the anti-trust/competition laws which the United States, the European Union and many nations of the world have adopted to preserve the free enterprise system, promote competition and protect the public from monopolistic and other restrictive trade practices. INTERTANKO’s activities will be conducted in compliance with its Anti-trust/Competition Law Guidelines.
- Welcome and introductory remarks
The Panel Chairman, Mr. David Koo, welcomed all participants to the meeting particularly those who had travelled from overseas. Mr. Koo commented that he valued opportunities such as the Panel meeting to connect with the shipping community and to talk about issues affecting marine transportation in Asia and the rest of the world, thereby mutually benefiting by learning from each other’s experiences.
Having been associated with INTERTANKO for many years, and seeing the Panel’s active participation and interactive discussions, Mr. Koo commented that he was encouraged to see that INTERTANKO continues to be a forum where the industry meets, policies discussed and statements created. It is a valuable source of first-hand information, opinions and guidance. He added that such value-added service to our industry is in line with keeping tanker shipping safe, efficient, prosperous, and environmentally responsible.
Mr. Koo also commented on the need to inspire the maritime sector and demonstrate a belief in training. Globalization is demanding rapid technological change in shipping and Mr. Koo commented that he felt the industry can meet these advanced and sometimes sophisticated technological changes only if our human resources, both afloat and ashore, receive the proper training and support, whether that is from employers, educational institutions or government. Mr. Koo added that he was convinced that such a commitment to training will bear positive results, only if the entire industry commits whole-heartedly to this goal. By doing so, the industry will be able to protect its maritime assets and ensure sustainability by ensuring the shipping business is managed by able and competent professionals.
Mr. Koo concluded his remarks by encouraging active discussions from the Panel.
- Minutes
Mr. Wilkins advised the Panel that the Minutes from the previous meeting held in Singapore on 26th October were circulated on 6th November. Comments had been received in regards to section 5.3 of the draft. The draft Minutes had been updated to reflect these comments.
The Panel took note of the amendments and approved the Minutes from the previous meeting.
- INTERTANKO Update: Managing Director’s Report
Ms Katharina Stanzel thanked the Panel members for their continued support and engagement. In her report Ms. Stanzel provided the latest membership facts and statistics emphasising the importance of the Asia-Pacific region in tonnage terms with just under a quarter of the membership accounted for in Asia alone. Ms. Stanzel continued by summarising the results of the recent membership engagement exercise, explaining that the value proposition recognises three key functions of the Association for its members, namely; as a champion, a forum and an advisor for and to the tanker industry.
Ms. Stanzel continued her report by providing updates on some of the key deliverables from the five focus areas which were safety, seafarers, environment, operations and commercial sustainability. On the later subject, Ms. Stanzel advised the Panel that the PPS tool was now live and encouraged members to utilise this resource. Mr. Petropoulos asked about INTERTANKO’s action on poor performers and suggested there was a need to be balanced in its approach to the charterers on the subject. Ms Stanzel responded that INTERTANKO would contact the poor performers directly, adding that feedback from the charterers to date had been positive. Mr. Bajpaee added that often the CEO’s of the chartering companies were not aware of the poor payment performance until advised by INTERTANKO.
Mr. Bajpaee also enquired on INTERTANKO’s progress on the brokerage commission on bunker fuel as well as its liaison with World Scale. Ms. Stanzel advised that the bunker fuel commission had been raised with brokers but for now was not being taken any further. On the Word Scale relations, INTERTANKO’s World Scale and Markets Committee remained active with the Executive Committee taking a keen interest in this Committee’s work.
Ms. Stanzel concluded her report by inviting all members to the 45th Anniversary celebrations at the INTERTANKO AGM due to be held in Athens at the end of May.
Ms. Stanzel’s presentation slides are available on the INTERTANKO website:
During the discussion, Capt. Rajalingam suggested that as India were invited to the Asian Panel then in future statistics relating to the Asian membership that India’s representation should be included.
Mr. Arora thanked Ms. Stanzel for the report and requested that the result of the membership survey was circulated to Panel members as this would be of interest, particularly to those who had taken the time to submit the questionnaire. Ms. Stanzel agreed to circulate to the Panel the presentation slides summarising the results of the survey.
Mr. Kumar requested an update on the distinction in the OCIMF inspection statistics between managers and owners. Ms. Stanzel advised that OCIMF had been approached to clarify this and that it was part of a broader approach to OCIMF to share statistics and provide greater access to their information on members and non-members vessels.
- Regional Issues
5.1 Tanker Navigation in Singapore Port and Straits
Mr. Wilkins provided the Panel with an update on the implementation of the new pilotage boarding grounds in the port of Singapore and requested any feedback from the membership. No comments were received from the Panel at the meeting.
On navigational safety in Singapore port waters, Mr. Sadhale advised that the next step for the port was to implement new give-way regulations for departing vessels adding that this could be seen as a positive development so long as the new requirements were clearly stated to all owners, operators and Masters.
5.2 Security in SE Asia
Mr. Wilkins provided a short summary of INTERTANKO’s activity in relation to piracy and armed robbery in the South China Sea (SCS) and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS). The Panel noted that a detailed report on the increasing number of incidents had been provided in the agenda notes.
Capt. Rajalingam advised the Panel that at a meeting of international navies in Langkawi the three Littoral States (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) had signed an agreement on unified patrols and eyes-in-the-sky.
Capt. Pathania and Capt. Patwardhan both commented on the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Guinea, respectively. Mr. Arora, noting these comments, enquired as to whether there was a need to develop a BMP 4 for SE Asia. Notwithstanding the fact that many INTERTANKO members already implement a form of best management practice in the SCS and SOMS, Mr. Arora suggested that it may still be a worthwhile initiative for INTERTANKO to consider further.
The Panel agreed that it was worthwhile encouraging the positive approach being undertaken by the Littoral State navies and encouraged INTERTANKO to seek opportunities to support the respective governments in further acting on these initiatives.
5.3 Navigational Safety in Asian Coastal Waters
After a brief update from Mr. Wilkins on members concerns in respect of navigation in Chinese coastal waters, Mr. Kenneth Koo provided views on seven distinct challenges when navigating in China, as follows:
- Pilotage boarding was fraught with problems and needs to be more consistent and better regulated
- Many tanker berths and terminals had considerable under keel clearance issues
- Small craft was a problem throughout China but that Hainan Island was where Mr. Koo’s company had experienced particular problems
- The area around Ningbo and Zhousan Island is seen as chaotic in terms of other vessel movements and not just small craft
- INTERTANKO members should be made aware of phantom collision claims
- Pilot competence was seen as a problem owing to a shortage of competent mariners in China
- New ports are developing and little consideration is being given to basic navigational safety issues such as the above list
Capt. Patwardhan added that a particular difficulty in dealing with these problems in China stemmed from the provincial nature of the regulatory system and the absence of a single point of contact. He added that the phantom collision issue was certainly a growing concern.
Capt. Rajalingam stated that in his experience the Beijing MSA was willing to cooperate and that his company had successfully worked with the MSA in the training of MSA staff. He added that INTERTANKO could leverage on this willingness to cooperate in an effort to address some of the issues raised by Mr. Koo.
Mr. Bhaunani added that the provincial nature of legislation in China was also impacting areas other than navigation and maritime legislation, for example, exporting bunker samples from China was a growing problem.
Capt. Pathania added that his company were also assisting in pilotage training and had also benefited from close cooperation with the pilots and the MSA.
The Panel considered the information provided on this issue and agreed that a two-step approach should be taken by INTERTANKO. Firstly, to gather the issues and problems summarised by Mr. Koo, taking additional comments and positive proposals for overcoming these problems from all members in Asia. Secondly, set up a meeting between INTERTANKO and the Beijing MSA, with the assistance of Mr. Koo, to work through the issues identified as well as the possible solutions provided.
The Panel also noted the work to set up a meeting with the Japanese Coast Guard and encouraged the secretariat to expedite the activity.
5.4 Port State Control in Asia
The Panel agreed that the continued problems encountered by port State control inspectors in China could be included in the navigational safety work, and as such, added to the list of issues to be raised with the Beijing MSA.
- Ballast water update
Mr. Wilkins provided the Panel with a brief update on the ballast water management issue, both in relation to the US regulations and IMO developments. His presentation slides are on the INTERTANKO website.
Mr. Arora commented that the information on USCG Type Approvals was very useful. However, he believed that it was time to revisit the work and seek an update from all the companies who had previously responded to the questionnaire. This proposal was supported by the Panel.
Mr. Kenneth Koo commented that the pending compliance dates would impact existing tankers as well and that not enough was being done to advise and guide the industry on retrofits.
Mr. Wilkins drew the Panel’s attention to the Athens Ballast Water Planning Worksop that would specifically focus on retrofits with two repair yards speaking about their plans and experience in installing BWMS on existing tankers.
Mr. Arora also commented that there remains a disconnect between the rules and their application on board. He believed class societies needed to step up and assist in bridging the gap between the regulatory requirements and the practical implementation on board. He added that this did not just cover the ballast water issue but also, as an example, air emissions with additional bunker tanks now needing to be installed.
- Air emissions and fuel issues
Mr. Wilkins provided the Panel with an update on the positive developments relating to INTERTANKO’s activity at the IMO on bunker quality. Mr. Wilkins’ presentation is available on the INTERTANKO website.
Mr. Rahul Choudhury, Managing Director of VPS in Singapore, provided the Panel with presentation on Global Fuel Trends and the 2015 Distillate Challenge. Mr. Choudhury summarised the following main challenges for the industry, giving specific details of VPS’ findings and guidance on overcoming the problems. These were summarised as:
- Fuel quality problems know no location boundaries and will remain widespread, giving examples all over the world of bunker alerts issued by VPS
- In the changing landscape of off-spec distillates owners need to watch out for distillate quality and monitor parameters such as Cloud Point, CFPP, Lubricity, Viscosity etc.
- Owners need to embracing new Fuel Standards and begin including this more frequently in purchasing contracts
- Hybrid fuels offer an interesting option, operationally & financially but owners still need to know the quality.
Mr. Choudhury’s presentation is available on the INTERTANKO website.
On the subject of specifying the latest ISO 8217 standard, the Panel members had differing views in regards to whether owners were specifying this in their charter party agreements or not. Some Panel members stated that they were while others did not believe this to be a widespread practice nor of importance with the oil companies. It was however agreed that the ISO specification would be helpful to have included on the BDN.
On the mixing of new hybrid fuels, Mr. Choudhury advised that there was at present now difference with current practice, i.e. that it was rare to mix 50:50 two different fuel types. However, management of these fuels is important and ideally owners should avoid mixing. VPS’ clients have had mixed experience with the hybrid fuels, both good and bad. Mr. Bhaunani added that Viswalab’s experience was similar and that HFO was generally fine but DMA and DMB grades were a problem. Both Mr. Choudhury and Mr. Bhaunani agreed to share data on hybrid fuels and compatibility with INTERTANKO.
Capt. Patwardhan added that in his experience the mixing had caused stratification in the fuel. Using additives was not encouraged as they may cause long-term engine problems.
- INTERTANKO Annual Event 2015
The Panel had, in the Managing Director’s report, been advised of the details relating to the Athens Tanker Event due to be held in May. Full details are provided here:
- Presentation by Braemar ACM
Mr. Denis Petropoulos from Braemar ACM provided the Panel with an entertaining and insightful perspective on the use of benchmarking in the tanker industry and the varying perspectives of the owners and the charterers. Mr. Petropolis explained that there was divergence in the thinking between charterers and owners and that a dialogue needs to be encouraged to determine each party’s definition of perfection in the provision of service. Only after agreement on this definition of perfection can the two parties begin to consider effective benchmarking of services in tanker shipping.
The Panel expressed its thanks and appreciation to Mr. Petropoulos for the presentation.
- Date and Place of Next Meeting
The Panel noted that the next meeting was tentatively scheduled between Monday 12th and Wednesday 14th October, and that it was likely to be held in Tokyo. This would coincide with key members of the Secretariat and possibly the INTERTANKO Chairman being in Asia for the Tripartite meeting due to be held in Seoul on the 16th and 17th October.
- Any other business
At the end of the meeting Mr David Koo announced to the Panel his intention to step down as Chairman having served the Panel and the members in Asia since 2009. The Panel members thanked Mr. Koo for his unwavering support and commitment to the Association over the last 7 years and indeed as an active and vocal member of the Executive Committee on behalf of members in the Asian Region.
In noting the need to recommend to the Council a new Panel Chairman, the Panel were unanimous in their support for Mr. Kenneth Koo of Tai Chong Cheang Steamship Co. (HK) Ltd., to take over as Asian Panel Chairman. Mr. Kenneth Koo’s nomination will be presented to the Council for approval when it meets in Athens in May. In the meantime the Secretariat will also be seeking nominations from members in Asia for two Vice-Chairmen. An email to Asian members will be circulated inviting nominations while also noting that during the meeting Mr. Hemant Pathania of NYK Ship Management (Singapore) was nominated by Mr. Bhavnani and seconded by Mr. Bajpaee.