ABSTRACT
In recent years, the maritime trade of crude oil has suffered notable perturbations caused by the unbalanced relationship between supply and demand. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a drop in oil consumption in 2019, followed by a reduction in production in 2020. The seaborne transport of oil accounts for approximately 50–60% of all crude oil in world production. The crude oil market is a crucial regulator of the global economy and instabilities in this market have noticeable effects on collective risks. The immediate risks that the society see are the changes in the cost of living, which are followed by political uncertainties. Less visible are the risks that these uncertainties have on shipping companies and the level of management stability they have to maintain in order to keep seagoing safe. This paper presents an update on the overall state of risk management for the crude oil tanker fleet, evidenced by EMSA and other international marine organisations. The previous paper, entitled Safety Assessment of Crude Oil Tankers, which applied the methodology of the Formal Safety Assessment (FSA), was published in 2018 and covered the historical data related to the fleet size, accident reports, amount of oil spilled on sea and the economic value of the crude oil transport business. The particular focus of this paper is on the evolution of the risk acceptance criteria over the years and the difference in the predictions from 2018 to the present day. The effects of the pandemic on crude oil shipping are discussed through the changes in the risks. Three of them are analysed: PLL (potential loss of lives), PLC (potential loss of containment) and PLP (potential loss of property). The representation of the risk applies the F-N curves among the risk acceptance criteria lines observed for different tanker sizes. Among the three risks, the paper exposes the vulnerability of the loss of containment risk, where the strong economic impact of the oil trade outweighs the environmental concerns. In relation to the PLC, the paper proposes the approach of relating the oil spill acceptability with the spill quantity and ship revenue instead of to the cost of cleaning or the cost of environment recovery.
ABSTRACT
A near-miss management system (NMMS) is a tool used for improving safety at sea if adequately implemented. Valuable knowledge to improve safety management might be gained by investigating and analysing reported events. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to report each observed near-miss event. Because tankers are generally considered dangerous, but at the same time safe due to stringent requirements, near-miss reports and NMMS policy were collected from one oil tanker ship. Data were pre-processed and analysed. Variables used during analysis were near-miss type, risk level, ship position, and onboard location of near-miss occurrence. Analysis of policy and reports revealed that most near misses occurred on the deck area, but higher-risk-level events were reported in the engine room and navigating bridge. Housekeeping, equipment failure, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and process-/procedure-related events were most common and generally related to lower risk levels. The most frequent corrective actions recorded were implementing safe working practices and PPE. In addition, higher-risk-level events were related to less effective corrective actions. Based on the findings, suggestions for improvements include promoting safe behaviour and adequate PPE usage through additional training, ensuring proper housekeeping, regular maintenance of shipboard equipment and spare parts management, and toolbox meetings and risk assessments that include conclusions of near-miss investigations and analysis.
ABSTRACT
On the very next day (9 August 2021) Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, personally chaired a High Level Open Debate at the UN Security Council, on the theme "Enhancing Maritime Security: A case for International Cooperation", emphatically bringing "Maritime India" to the front and centre of the global maritime discourse and dominating India's eighth rotational membership of this apex intergovernmental organisation.2 The additional fact that this demonstration of Indian naval capacity and capability has been made in the Swarnim Vijay Varsh commemorating the 50th anniversary of the victory of Indian arms against Pakistan in the 1971 conflict that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, and, given that it has been almost in tandem with India's record medal haul in the Tokyo Olympics (23 July to 8 August 2021), the voyage of the Vikrant has certainly added to the series of adrenaline spikes and generated a palpable surge of nationalistic pride. [...]the need to prevent 'hope' from being stifled by 'hype' is more urgent than ever before. Unfortunately, the relentless barrage of social media platforms continues to be characterised by inadequately informed opinions to which members of the lay public are repeatedly subjected. [...]the debate over the relative efficacy of the Indian Navy's carrier-borne airpower versus that of the Indian Air Force supported by replenishment-tanker aircraft rages on, quite like the forest fires that engulf nation-states from time to time. [...]while the criticality of the maritime domain - and that of the military maritime domain is a given, of immediate interest and urgency is the need for answers to the questions of whether aircraft carriers are indeed, quite as central as is being averred by the present Chief of the Naval Staff,5 and whether they do, indeed, provide the biggest bang for our collective buck.
ABSTRACT
We employ a cointegration setup to explore route-specific off-equilibrium deviations related to Covid-19 that have affected clean (petroleum products) and dirty (crude oil) tanker freight rates, over and above the expected macroeconomic reactions. We find that the additional deviation caused by Covid-19 is route-specific. In particular, deviation caused by Covid-19 is found to be more significant for clean tankers, with an average impact of 0.15, an expected outcome given that these products are more reliant on economic developments because of their uses. The clean tanker impact is more evident in Japan-related routes, while no specific pattern can be extracted with regards to the additional off-equilibrium Covid-19 deviation for dirty tanker routes. Results suggest that time-charters and hedging against the stock markets can help ship-owners ameliorate demand-driven shocks.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 is a global disease that has quickly shaken the world economy since the beginning of 2020 and consequently has significantly affected the shipping industries development (including shipping operators, port operators, government authorities, shippers, seafarers, passengers, supply chain operators, etc.). Currently, the clinical management of COVID-19 remains unclear. In order to understand the newest challenges and figure out potential solutions for the maritime industries post COVID-19, this paper selected four shipping industries (including dry bulk, tanker, container, and cruiser sector) and reviewed these industries' newest development. The research findings can strengthen the awareness of COVID-19 and reduce operational risk and further improve business performance for the maritime related industries and authorities.