November 2011
1 post
Piracy seminar from ICS in London - 1 Dec
June 2011
2 posts
Day of the Seafarer follow up stats from Coracle
Coracle was delighted to support the IMO Day of the Seafarer initiative by running a promotion on the iPhone game Ship It and the iPhone app Maritime Glossary. We also set up and ran a maritime knowledge quiz and distributed a podcast from IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos
Apps
App downloads came in at nearly 11,500 and the game Ship It! became the #1 educational game in Germany.
The...
4 tags
Day of the Seafarer (June 25) and support from...
June 25th is the IMO’s Day of the Seafarer
To help do our bit at Coracle, we will be making our popular iPhone game Ship It! free for the day and offering over 9,000 nautical terms on our Maritime Glossary iPhone app available for just £1.19 for the day.
Why are we doing this? Well, the aim of the Day of the Seafarer is to raise awareness of the vital role seafarers play in the world...
May 2011
1 post
1 tag
Baltex...
From the Baltic Exchange:
The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has authorised the Baltic Exchange’s subsidiary Baltic Exchange Derivatives Trading Ltd (BEDT) to run a Multilateral Trading Facility to offer trading in Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs).
Baltex, a central screen based trading solution for the dry FFA market, will go live shortly.
The Baltic Exchange board met on 4 May and...
April 2011
2 posts
Marine Society - Thomas Gray Medal
The Marine Society has put out a call for nominations for its Thomas Gray Silver Medal.
The award is in recognition of exceptional deeds of merit at sea and includes services to seafarers in the broadest sense.
These deeds may be related to any aspect of seafaring, including saving of lives, the well-being of seafarers and any exceptional deeds related to the business of seafaring.
So the...
Delight at Irene SL release...
INTERTANKO (International Association of Independent Tanker Owners) Friday 8 April 2011
Delight at Irene SL release but piracy crisis in Indian Ocean calls for governments to show political will not political indifference.
INTERTANKO is delighted that the Irene SL has been released by the Somali pirates who hijacked this tanker and her 2m barrel oil cargo in February, and that Master, officers and...
March 2011
1 post
2 tags
ICS appears to turn away members as they quietly...
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), with a world-wide membership of around 3,500 has taken the surprise step of suspending the Affiliate Membership category, pending a review of all membership types.
According to the ICS’s application form for Affiliate membership, qualification for the category was stated as being based on candidates demonstrating that they had passed an ICS one...
February 2011
4 posts
6 tags
Save our Seafarers - Sign up, now!
An advert will appear in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal tomorrow (March 1, 2011) to try and drive people to understand that Piracy is not just a diversion for the shipping industry, but is an issue that deserves international governmental attention, and deserves it now.
The advert (click to enbiggen):
We say well done to ITF, ICS, Intertanko, Intercargo and BIMCO for placing this...
4 tags
Just how low can the container index go, and is...
Just how low can the container index go, and is ordering more ships sensible?
Do you think I surprised this morning to read the following:
HONG KONG, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering <042660.KS> has won a $2 billion order from A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS <MAERSKb.CO> to build 10 container ships, and is in talks for another 10 ships, worth $4 billion in...
4 tags
@intertanko on the Irene SL hijacking...
The hijacking by pirates of 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude oil destined for the U.S. in a large Greek tanker in the middle of the main sea lanes coming from the Middle East Gulf marks a significant shift in the impact of the piracy crisis in the Indian Ocean.
The Irene SL’s cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil represents nearly 20% (one fifth) of total U.S. daily crude oil imports. This one cargo is 12%...
2 tags
Shipping industry outraged at execution and...
BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and the International Transport Workers’ Federation are outraged that Somali pirates have executed, apparently in cold blood, a seafarer on the merchant ship Beluga Nomination which had been attacked and hijacked by armed pirates on 22 January in the Indian Ocean, 390 nautical miles north of the Seychelles. Three seafarers were...
November 2010
3 posts
2 tags
Congratulations to Peter Swift
Swift receives Lifetime Achievement Award from IMO Secretary General Dr Peter Swift has been presented, by the Secretary General of the IMO, Efthimios Mitropoulos, with a special Tanker Shipping & Trade Lifetime Achievement Award. Mitropoulos spoke of “the tremendous contribution made to shipping by Peter throughout an illustrious career in the service of shipping.” He went on to say that...
2 tags
Combating Somali Piracy: the EU's Naval operation...
Summary of the UK House of Lords report:
Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean is a serious and ongoing threat to UK and EU interests. It could spread within the region, which is unstable. The EU’s Operation Atalanta, with its operational headquarters based in Northwood, UK, has made a strong contribution to combating piracy, in particular protecting World Food Programme (WFP) ships...
4 tags
Launch of the Coracle Time Pursuit campaign. We...
Every Easter weekend since 1948 a group of canoes has headed off from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in London. The race is 125 miles and has 77 portages : non-stop… This is no ordinary race!
You can read more about the “DW” on their website
I am planning on entering the race (April 2011) in a boat called ‘Coracle Time Pursuit’ with my good friend Oliver...
October 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Merchant Navy Medals awarded
Oct 21 - The Merchant Navy Medal Fund has announced the 18 seafarers and shipping industry personnel who are to receive this year’s Merchant Navy Medals recognising meritorious service by British merchant seafarers and other people who have made a significant contribution to merchant shipping. The list includes 12 seafarers who are being honoured for achievements in their seafaring careers and...
Can you help the maritime community?
Do you have a particular interest in some part of the maritime scene? Would you be willing to share your knowledge for the benefit of the maritime community at large? If so, we want to hear you on Shipping Podcasts…
Please send your mp3 audio recording to podcasts@coracleonline.com or simply email us with a time that would be convenient for us to call you and we’ll record you over...
5 tags
What's up maritime stock pickers?
What is a shipbroker? a person having one or several occupations: chartering agent or owner’s broker, negotiating the terms of the charter of a ship on behalf of a charterer or shipowner respectively; sale and purchase broker, negotiating on behalf of buyer or seller of a ship; ship’s agent, attending to the requirement of a ship, her master and crew while in port on behalf of the...
September 2010
3 posts
INTERTANKO horrified at ECHR decision
29 September: INTERTANKO horrified at ECHR decision that Capt Mangouras Euros 3m bail is no violation to the human right to liberty and security In the case of Captain Mangouras of the Prestige v Kingdom of Spain, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has decided by a 10/7 majority that there has been no violation of Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security) of the...
3 tags
Maritime Media Award
6 Sept: We have just heard that ShippingPodcasts.com has been shortlisted for the Maritime Foundation Desmond Wettern Maritime Media award.
The winners will be announced on October 28th so it’s fingers crossed until then.
Thank you to the awards committee for shortlisting us and thank you to the listeners for your continued support.
Meet the Portfire40. Maritime people making a...
1 Sept: Listen to the PODCAST…
Earlier this summer TradeWinds published a list of the 100 individuals and/or teams that they find most powerful or influential in shipping. They called it the Power 100.
Shipowners and scions topped the list. Even if TradeWinds ran away from the idea, the Power 100 parallels the Shipping Wealth 100. Wealth may be equivalent to power or influence, as...
August 2010
5 posts
4 tags
Bow Saga - a bitter blow for seafarers...
Further to the post earlier today, we have just been informed that the authorities have decided to return the captured pirates to Somalia.
Intertanko have now released the following statement:
INTERTANKO says, “Releasing the Bow Saga pirates back to Somalia is a bitter blow to the shipping industry (and to its seafarers) in the global fight against piracy. This undoubtedly will also disappoint...
4 tags
INTERTANKO calls for prosecution of Bow Saga...
4 Aug: INTERTANKO calls for the prosecution of the Somali pirates whose attack yesterday on the Norwegian 40,085 dwt chemical tanker Bow Saga in the Gulf of Aden Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor was frustrated by the Spanish frigate Victoria, where the pirates are now being detained.
We hope that these men will not be released due to the absence of any country willing to detain them...
3 tags
The Top 10 Maritime Websites... How's yours?
The shipping industry faces a number of challenges and whilst campaigns have been launched to try and improve the public image of the industry, many efforts have fallen foul of criticism for the lack of perceived coherence.
The Maritime Website Effectiveness report aims to highlight some of the successes and failings in the use of the internet as part of the public image machinery available to...
3 tags
Results of the Maritime Employee Survey 2010 from...
Results of the Maritime Employee Survey 2010 from Coracle Online Ltd and Halcyon Recruitment Ltd Building on the positive feedback to the Employee Survey 2009, we are delighted to announce the publishing of the Maritime Employee Survey 2010.
Coracle Online, experts in professional development for the maritime industry, working with Halcyon Recruitment, specialists in international shore based...
4 tags
Will the Baltic's latest move stimulate freight...
The Baltic Exchange announced last week that is will be calculating Tanker Time-Charter Equivalent Assessments (TCEs) based on bunker prices which are in line with the bunker swaps market.
From today (August 2, 2010) the basis for TCE conversions on its various routes will be Rotterdam 380 cst, Rotterdam 380 cst max 1 per cent sulphur or Singapore 380 cst. (Unsure what cst stands for? See the...
July 2010
6 posts
1 tag
Titanic events... What where and when?
29 July - Titanic events… I was intrigued to see Lord Laird (Crossbench peer) ask the UK government on July 28 what plans there were to support events to mark the maiden voyage of the ill fated Titanic.
Just in case anyone isn’t aware of the Titanic, Wikipedia records that “RMS Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage from...
Some thoughts on China:
(For more updates like these, follow @jtweed on twitter) Chinese growth slowed from 13% in 2007 to 8.7% in 2009. 2010 is forecast to grow 10.1% and 9.25% in 2011. Between 1998-2008 Chinese bank credit grew 6-16% pa. 2009 growth was 32%. Forecast for 2010 USD 1,102 billion (up 19% on 2009) In the first 5 months of 2010, over a million more cars were sold in China than the US, however, steel...
You have the right to request time off to train......
Did you know that if you are employed in the UK then you have the right to request time off to train?
This right is currently applicable if the company employs more than 250 people, but from April 6th, 2011, the right will apply regardless of how many employees there are.
It may be that your company already has a system in place, however, if not, you can use this training request so long as you...
5 tags
Fibonacci, Elliott Wave and the Dry Bulk markets...
Fibonacci, Elliott Wave and the Dry Bulk markets collapse.
First off, YES, I have worked as an FFA broker and as a trader…. but …. NO, this post is not intended as trading advice or even to cover all possible angles as to what is happening or what might happen… it is intended to give a few notes on some technical analysis that might be of interest; to whet your appetite; to get...
6 tags
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) has been falling for...
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) has been falling for some time now (31 days in a row so far) and newspapers around the world have started to notice and the reports of doom and gloom in the shipping industry are filtering out. The BDI is often held up as an economic lead indicator, although this accolade is strongly contested by many economists. Whether or not you like the BDI as a lead indicator, the...
4 tags
Seafarers held by Somali pirates
July 7, 2010: There are currently at least 365 hostages held by Somali pirates.
In fact, there are probably more than that being held, as most sources are not counting the Yemeni dhows which are hijacked along with their crew. These dhows are taken in order to provide motherships for pirates, enabling the pirates to attack targets further out to sea than they could in their small skiffs. These...
June 2010
7 posts
Piracy - enough is enough
24 June 2010: Piracy petition continues to gather support
Four new organisations have announced their support for www.endpiracypetition.org, the global e-petition that demands concrete action to end piracy.
The ASF (Asian Shipowners’ Forum), ECSA (European Community Shipowners’ Associations), the ICMA (International Christian Maritime Association) and ICSW (International Committee for...
2 tags
Which of Maritime Twitter Top40 has been tweeting...
The Maritime Twitter Top40 has proved a popular way of keeping up to date with Shipping Industry information since Coracle launched the list and the iPhone app back in January.
But how long have the top tweeps been using Twitter for, I hear you ask?
Here are the 20 ‘oldest’ accounts:
petermello : 26 March 2007 gcaptain : 12 May 2007 jtweed : 15 Nov 2007...
INTERTANKO applauds first European jail sentences...
June 17: INTERTANKO applauds first European jail sentences for Somali pirates
It has been reported that the five Somali pirates recently tried by the Rotterdam courts for the failed hijack of the Sananyolu, have been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
This could turn out to be a landmark case, since apparently the crew did not attend to give evidence in person but provided written...
The Top Maritime book sellers (from Coracle) 1H...
With so many books out there, how do you know which to go for?
Amazon provide brilliant tools for raking and commenting on books and those are great, so long as you know what you’re looking for!
To help point you in the right direction with some ideas, we thought that it would be helpful to list the 10 sellers via the Coracle Online site and Shipping Podcasts sites…
You can find our...
1 tag
The worst oil spills...
June 16.
We came across this image of the worst oil spills and thought you would be interested:
3 tags
Thomas Miller is celebrating its 125th anniversary...
Thomas Miller is celebrating its 125th anniversary in charitable style.
Believed to be the oldest ship still afloat in Africa, the 38m long motor ship Chauncy Maples is to be renovated as a floating clinic to bring primary health care to half a million of the world’s poorest people living around Lake Malawi.
The necessary funds are now being raised by the Oxford-based Chauncy Maples Malawi...
Please nominate Shipping Podcasts from Coracle...
Maritime Media Awards 2010 A request for a few minutes of your time…. Please could we ask you to nominate Shipping Podcasts from Coracle for the Desmond Wettern Media Award …… ? A link to the entry form may be found here: http://www.bmcf.org.uk/awards/ If you are willing to nominate us, please note that the submission needs to be sent before 30 June either by post -...
May 2010
4 posts
Coracle: Proud to have supported ShipServ's...
Coracle was delighted to be involved as a media partner with the ShipServ Connect10 conference held at the Hotel Skt. Petri, Copenhagen May 10-11, 2010.
Whilst we were there we recorded some podcasts and you can find these on ShippingPodcasts.com (links below)
Here is a video from ShipServ to give you a flavour of what was going on
Overview of ShipServ Connect10
Appeal for the Chauncy...
2 tags
World push for piracy action launches tomorrow
19 May 2010
An unprecedented coalition of organisations – from trade unions to shipowners’ associations and insurers – has joined forces to back a global e-petition demanding concrete action to end the piracy that is putting lives at risk and threatening world trade.
The petition www.endpiracypetition.org, which launches tomorrow (Thursday 20 May) is the centrepiece of a new campaign to persuade...
3 tags
INTERTANKO calls for more aggressive approach to...
INTERTANKO calls for more aggressive approach
to tackle the scourge of Somali piracy
Given the global strategic importance of keeping the international shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean open, INTERTANKO calls on governments to step up their involvement and make it more effective.
The tanker industry appreciates the efforts of the naval forces, that have been...
6 tags
Intertanko, IMPA and APA sign historic agreements...
Well done to all concerned with the signing of this important MOA…
QUOTE:
Joint Press Release INTERTANKO / IMPA / APA 6 May 2010 INTERTANKO, IMPA AND APA SIGN HISTORIC AGREEMENTS TO ENHANCE TANKER SAFETY Memoranda of agreement (MOA) were today signed by the Chairman of INTERTANKO, Capt Graham Westgarth, and the President of the International Maritime Pilots’ Association...
April 2010
3 posts
4 tags
The UK election and Shipping...
The UK election is just a week away and MP’s are busily trying to convert undecided voters to their way of thinking.
Whilst shipping isn’t exactly a ‘big issue’ ticket for the parties, we invited MP’s to put forward their views on the maritime scene to the ShippingPodcasts audience. (With over 200,000 downloads from ShippingPodcasts.com so far this year, there are...
Shipping: playing a vital role in the export cycle
Shipping: playing a vital role in the export cycle. April 2010 will be remembered by millions of people for the disruption to travel around Europe following the persistent ash cloud from the Icelandic Eyjafjallajoekull volcano. News reports tended to focus on the millions of dollars lost by the airlines and the inconvenience caused to travelers, but other sectors suffered as well. The US exported...
Coracle welcomes new director Laura Fulton.
Coracle welcomes new director Laura Fulton.
Laura trained as a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young before moving into industry in 2002.
She spent 6½ years at Disney, before putting away her mouse ears, and she now works in business development for General Healthcare Group.
March 2010
5 posts
3 tags
Rotterdam Rules: April 22, London
In case you missed out on any of the previous seminars re The Rotterdam Rules, you might like to attend the ICS London branch event on April 22nd.
And if you can’t get to that, but still want to know more, you might like to listen to:
* Kate Lannan of UNCITRAL discussing the Rules
* Podcast from Coracle and Ince looking at the Rules
Maritime Law podcasts featured on iTunes as well
Yay! As well as our Dry Cargo podcasts being featured on iTunes, we now have the Maritime Law being featured as well.
You can get find all the feeds by clicking the relevant logo here
Thank you all for listening.
Featured on iTunes...
Having split the feeds for ShippingPodcasts.com to make it easier for you to follow just the shows that you want, we’re pleased that just a couple of days later iTunes picked up our Dry Cargo series for featuring…
3 tags
New feeds from Shipping Podcasts: Subscribe to...
With over 500 podcasts now published by ShippingPodcasts.com we know that giving you the option to subscribe to individual show categories is well overdue…
We’ve been busy creating new logos for each show and making sure that you can get exactly the shows you want without having to wade through content that doesn’t interest you.
Here they are: (General Maritime is a catch-all...
Social networks and shipping..
I was amused today to see the following tweet:
@gentedimare Social networks to spur a sea change in work http://bit.ly/c3nMLp
The link is to a Lloyds List article entitled ‘Social networks to spur a sea change in working practice’
My response on twitter was:
Just TOO funny for this LL article to be behind paywall! RT @gentedimare Social networks to spur a sea change in work...