COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 23 December 2022

Effective January 1st, 2023, the “ITB” name, including “Island Tug and Barge”, “ITB Subsea” and “ITB Marine Group” will rebrand to “Tidewater Canada” under the new Tidewater Canada logo. As such, Island Tug and Barge will formally become “Tidewater Transportation Canada Inc.” and ITB Subsea will become “Tidewater Subsea Ltd.”  The change represents the strengthening integration of the Canadian enterprise with its US group of companies. The new website will be www.tidewater.com at ITB email address domains will become @ca.Tidewater.com.

The Government of Canada has determined the significant adverse environmental effects of Glencore's proposed Sukunka Coal Mine Project, an open-pit metallurgical coal mine located near Tumbler Ridge, BC, cannot be mitigated and therefore will not proceed.  The project had planned to produce 3 million tonnes of hard coking coal per year for export to overseas markets for at least the next 20 years.  The British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office conducted the environmental assessment and the Decision Statement was issued by the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada to this effect under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.  The Assessment Report concluded that the project would have adverse impacts on species at risk, and on the physical and cultural heritage, current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes and health and socio-economic conditions of Indigenous peoples due to the potential discharge of mercury and selenium into local waterbodies.

At the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray, announced new support for ocean restoration, conservation, and research across Canada, backed up by $227.5 million in funding. Initiatives in the funding envelope will further Canada’s efforts on marine conservation by improving our understanding of the marine environment, restoring aquatic habitats and contributing towards conservation initiatives.  Canada has gone from less than one percent of its waters protected in 2015, to over 14 percent today. Canada will continue to take bold action at home to protect 25 percent of our oceans by 2025, and 30 percent by 2030.

The work needed to help meet these targets will continue during the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) hosted by Canada alongside Host First Nations – the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh – in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) from February 3-9 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The congress will bring together marine conservation experts to exchange knowledge, experience and best practices to strengthen the conservation of marine biodiversity.

Last Thursday, the Treasury Board announced plans to roll out a one-size-fits-all approach to return federal public servants to their offices for 2-3 days per week starting in January. While some exceptions apply, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) demands a halt to the Treasury Board’s plans to mandate employees back to the office as they feel the plan does not take into account the unique circumstances of federal public servants. Thousands of PIPSC members have already started bargaining their next collective agreements with the Treasury Board, where telework is on the table.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced that the common name for AGM (formerly known as Asian gypsy moth and comprising Lymantria dispar asiatica, L. d. japonica,L. albescens, L. postalba and L. umbrosa) has been changed to “flighted spongy moth complex” or FSMC. This name change will be consistent among all countries that regulate or are regulated for this group of organisms as part of a vessel inspection and certification program.  Updates to web material to reflect the new common name will follow in the coming months. The name change has no bearing on program requirements or regulations.

Arizona will take down a makeshift wall made of shipping containers at the Mexico border, settling a lawsuit and political tussle with the US government over trespassing on federal lands. The Biden administration and the Republican governor entered into an agreement that Arizona will cease installing the containers in the Coronado National Forest — the only national forest along the border — according to court documents filed Wednesday in US District Court in Phoenix.  The 7km wall comprised of 915 containers must be removed by Jan. 4 without damaging any natural resources. The state’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey spent US$90 million of taxpayers’ money lining up rusting boxes in what he said was a bid to stem the flow of people crossing into the country.  The resolution comes two weeks before Democrat Katie Hobbs, who opposes the construction, takes over as governor.

On Tuesday, a group of the world’s largest vessel charterers sent a letter to BIMCO stating that they will refuse to use the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) clause because “it places the obligation to comply with CII disproportionately on charterers. 23 signatories included shipping lines Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd; agricultural shipping giants ADM, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus; and top trading houses Trafigura and Vitol, among other big names (letter from charterers here).  The group feels the approach taken is imbalanced and removes incentives for owners to do their fair share in the decarbonization efforts, resulting in a wide range of customized CII clauses or possibly no clause being agreed to. In circumstances where charterers’ employment orders are only partly responsible for the CII rating, this group does not accept taking wholesale responsibility for compliance with the regulations.  Consequently, the signatories of this statement wish to continue to collaborate to develop alternative CII clauses that fairly share the responsibility for the journey towards decarbonization between owners and charterers.

The HTMS Sukhothai, a US-built corvette carrying approximately 70 crew and 35 other naval and military personnel, including marines, sank a day after it left Sattahip Naval base in Chonburi last Saturday heading for Chumphon for a naval ceremony to celebrate the founder or ‘father’ of the service Krom Luang Chumphon Khet-Radomska whose birthday was the 19th December 1880. The warship capsized after it suffered an engine malfunction and encountered high winds and strong waves, which led to a power failure and quickly flooded the deck, during the incident. A submersible vehicle launched on Wednesday aimed to tell naval chiefs the extent of the damage done and the viability of key systems as a technical committee considers bringing in the private sector to help refloat and salvage the Sukhothai lying capsized at a depth of 40 metres off Prachuap Khiri Khan.   The Royal Thai Navy has confirmed that 82 people have been recovered, of which six were found deceased, leaving 23 sailors still unaccounted for.

The Voltaire is a self-elevating and self-propelled vessel designed for installation of offshore wind turbines. Recently launched at the COSCO Shipping Shipyard in Nantong, China this vessel will be the second and largest jack-up vessel in Jan De Nul’s fleet, and able to support the renewable energy industry to build next generation offshore wind farms. Designed in-house, and pushing engineering boundaries, Voltaire is built to transport, lift and install offshore wind turbines, transition pieces and foundations. The main crane with a capacity of over 3,000 tonnes will enable it to construct the current and future generation of wind farms at sea. Voltaire is ready for the future of offshore renewables, and will also be available to the oil and gas industry for the decommissioning of offshore structures.

With four approximately 130 m long truss-type legs and a high-speed rack-and-pinion jacking system, the vessel is able to operate on up to 80 m water depth, and with 7000 m² cargo deck, a 3,000 t main crane and a jacking deadweight of 14,000 t, it is able to carry and install even the largest wind turbines.

The vessel is equipped with a DP-2 diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of 8 gen sets, 4 stern thrusters, 2 bow thrusters and 2 retractable bow thrusters.

The accommodation block, which holds 100 crew single cabins, is unique in that it is divided into two separate blocks – one in each side – which allows long cargo items to be stowed in the CL between the two blocks. The vessel is further equipped with a helicopter deck.

Voltaire is able to run on second-generation biodiesel that reduces the fuel carbon footprint by up to 90%.  She is also equipped with a highly advanced dual exhaust filter system, removing up to 99% of nanoparticles from emissions using a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and reducing the NOx emissions and other pollutants by means of a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR) to levels in accordance with EU Stage V regulation.