The British government’s drive to lower net migration by reducing the availability of Tier 2 visa certificates is already having an impact on a wide range of UK based shipping companies and maritime services providers, according to specialist shipping industry recruiter Faststream. On 19 July 2010, the UK Border and Immigration Agency introduced a temporary cap on the total number of Sponsored Skilled General (Tier 2) visas that will be issued whilst it consults on a permanent limit. Continue reading »

The Marine Café Blog turned a year old on the 25th of August. No celebration of any kind, certainly not public (only the Pope and the Queen of England are entitled to a public celebration of their birthdays). It’s enough for us that the blog has endured for 12 months. For this we thank our loyal readers, not least of all that maverick old salt, Captain Michael Cuanzon; our handful of advertisers; and two companies that recently made donations but prefer not to be named. So what lies ahead? Continue reading »

IMO BRIEFING: Turkey, one of the five major ship recycling nations in the world, has signed, subject to ratification, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009. His Excellency Mr. Ünal Çeviköz, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkey to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), signed the Convention, on behalf of his country, at IMO Headquarters in London on 26 August 2010. Continue reading »

Earlier this week, The Economist online edition posted the 2009 list of the world’s largest container ports side by side with the list of 20 years ealier. Never mind the magazine’s one-paragraph commentary on how Asian ports have dislodged their European and American counterparts from the Top 20. Everyone knows that. What struck us was that Manila was still on the honour roll just two decades ago, placing 20th right behind the US ports of Oakland and Seattle. Continue reading »

Manila South Harbor operator Asian Terminals Inc (ATI) recently released its financial results for the first half of 2010. Net income up 75.4% at PHP912.1 million (USD20.1m). Revenues up 23.1% at PHP2,036.7 million (USD44.9m). As for cargo volumes, we’ll have to consult a psychic and see if we can get something. The publicly listed Philippine unit of DP World hasn’t deigned once again to mention throughput figures anywhere in its 24-page disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission. ~Barista Uno

The owner of the 53,609 dwt Supramax bulk carrier Paguera (shown above) and the disponent owner of the 51,215 dwt Papillon have withdrawn their ships from long-term time charters with Emirates Trading Agency LLC (ETA), a company registered in Dubai. ETA is said to owe more than US$10 million to Bremen-based HARPA Bulk Shipping & Management GmbH & Co. KG, which manages both ships. Continue reading »

The nationally televised bus hijack and hostage drama in Manila ended on the same day it began on Monday (23rd August) with the death of eight Chinese tourists from Hong Kong and the hostage-taker, a dismissed police officer. What could you expect? Not only is the police force blighted by corruption and ineptitude. In Asia’s only Christian country, there is an incredibly low regard for human life as underscored by the string of local sea accidents, not least the 1987 Doña Paz ferry tragedy. Continue reading »

What sort of man is the new president of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)? Snippets on Paddy Crumlin’s background and what he has done as national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia give some idea but only some. So here’s a video of Mr Crumlin in May 2009 voicing solidarity with striking flight attendants of Zeal 320, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand. Behind the fiery rhetoric, we get a glimpse of a very human individual with a big sense of humour. ~Barista Uno

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A few days ago, we joined the big bandwagon known as Twitter. We wanted a better way for our readers to stay updated and to contact us on the fly if they wish. Sending out email alerts is just too cumbersome and time-consuming. We think we’ve found the perfect solution. Twitter is easy and fun to use. So useful, in fact, that it could well change the way maritime companies and individuals communicate and do business. One practical application: seafarer recruitment. Continue reading »

Concerned about fuel consumption and gas emissions from ships? Then catch US-based Propulsion Dynamics‘ presentation “Hull Resistance Management – IMO Activities to Reduce GHG and Minimizing Biofouling” on 9th September at the Marine Coatings Conference in Hamburg, Germany. The two-day forum is part of the Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology International Trade Fair (SMS 2010) which runs from the 7th to the 10th. Propulsion Dynamics will be sharing the results of its hull and propeller performance monitoring of actual ships. ~Barista Uno

Seafarers still hang around Manila’s Rizal Park, more popularly known as Luneta. But the festive atmosphere is gone following the closure last month of the recruitment booths seen in this photo. Crewing agencies were ordered to vacate the booths and dismantle their corporate signboards because they were recruiting outside their office premises, an illegal act. It’s a thankworthy move by the labour authorities. The area had practically been turned into a marketplace, Continue reading »

We’ve had some doubts on the matter, and they were reinforced yesterday. A young man who’s due to join a cruise ship complained to us about he and others being required by their agency to undergo medical exams twice a year – one at the Department of Health and another at a private clinic. We’ve heard similar gripes before from the cruise ship hotel personnel deployed by the same large and well-respected manning agency. In Manila, where money is deified by rich and poor alike, some things just do not change. Continue reading »

The largest Rickmers ship ever to call in the Port of Hamburg arrived at the Burchardkai Terminal late evening of Friday, 13th August. The 13,100-TEU Maersk Edinburgh, christened Pearl Rickmers by Nina Ruge in South Korea on 2nd July, was built for the Hamburg-based Rickmers Group by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan and is now on a 10-year charter to Maersk Line. Continue reading »