Category: Hawaii Maritime Shipping

MONDAQ –
By Lewis Brisbois –

In October 2019, San Francisco Marine & Energy Partner David Russo spoke at the BiLog Conference in La Spezia, Italy about the advent of autonomous and highly automated vessels. Beyond the numerous legal and technical issues raised by the advancement of this technology (discussed in this article), it was noted at the conference that this technology was accelerating. It was expected then that an extended Atlantic voyage would happen in 2020. That has now occurred.

In August 2020, the U.K. company Sea-Kit successfully operated its autonomous 12-meter vessel on a 22-day voyage mapping the ocean floor in the North Atlantic. The vessel was operated from the company’s shoreside office. This followed an earlier test crossing of the North Sea.

NYK Line has been on the forefront of this technology, having operated a 70,000-ton autonomous ship for a three-day voyage in September 2019. And earlier this year, it tested a manned but remote-operated tugboat in Tokyo Bay.

Perhaps the best sign of the significance of this developing technology was the U.S. Coast Guard’s recent action on this subject. In August 2020, the Coast Guard issued a public Request for Information to address the numerous issues raised by this technology. The Coast Guard solicited comment on matters including (1) the identification of current statutory or regulatory obstacles to the development and implementation of this technology, (2) recommendations for regulatory changes to advance the technology, (3) the benefits, costs, and risks of the technology, including impacts on the maritime workforce, safety, the environment, and cybersecurity, (4) necessary changes in training, and (5) infrastructure needs.

A variety of entities (e.g., IMO, BIMCO, American Bureau of Shipping) are already developing standards in this arena. How the Coast Guard will regulate this area remains to be seen in the years ahead. Interestingly, the Coast Guard was testing its own unmanned vessel for coastal waters surveillance in Hawaii at the time of this writing.

So, what are some of the legal implications of autonomous vessels? While we understand the concept of an unseaworthy ship with current technology, how will that change with smart ships and autonomous ships? Does every software glitch cause the vessel to be unseaworthy? What new standards will apply to define an unseaworthy ship? With the coming of the autonomous ship, we have to re-ask the questions, “What is the vessel owner’s duty of care? What will it mean to provide a reasonably safe ship when its operation is controlled by computer programs? Who will be considered the captain of the vessel? Will there be persons defined as seamen anymore, when those operating the ship are not exposed to the perils of the sea?” These are some of the questions that the courts and lawyers will have to address in the years ahead.

Maritime Executive –

The video and images can be viewed on Webster’s website. –

The cargo claims consultancy WK Webster released the first images of its initial damage survey of the container ship ONE Apus. The company’s inspectors were in Kobe, Japan for the arrival of the vessel and they also conducted a remote drone survey as it transited Osaka Bay towards Kobe Port.

The images are being used by Webster and its clients to understand the scope of the incident while excerpts have been posted on the company’s website for the public to view. The images were taken by two drones using ultra-high definition camera technology as part of the company’s new drone survey product. The images very clearly show the scale and detail of the devastation on board and are being analyzed in conjunction with experts appointed by Webster.

The process of removing containers from the ONE Apus began on December 11 after permission was granted by the Japanese Coast Guard. The ship’s owners, Chidori Ship Holding, and managers, NYK Shipmanagement, which had operated the vessel as part of the ONE Express Network estimated that it would take “over a month” to remove the dislodged containers using a schedule formulated by stowage planners. “Once unloaded, each will be assessed, and when the discharge of cargo is complete, there will be a full assessment of damage to the vessel and subsequent repairs,” they said in a prepared statement.

Webster’s team of surveyors in Japan, however, reports that the process started slowly. Only five containers were removed from the vessel last week and work did not proceed over the weekend. Webster also termed the owner’s assessment of the timeline for the process as “optimistic.”

From its team’s initial visual assessment and the analysis of the video and still images, Webster reports that it can be seen that there are 22 bays on deck of which 16 have collapsed to both port and starboard, leaving only six intact or partially intact. “With 20 rows of containers per bay and with stack heights of between six and eight containers, we anticipate that approximately 2,250 containers have been lost or damaged,” they reported. They also noted that the vast majority appear to be 40 foot units and therefore equivalent to approximately 4,500 TEU.

“The vessel owners/operators are not currently prepared to release the vessel’s stowage/bay plans,” they said in their update making it more challenging for customers to determine the status of their shipments. Webster said it was seeking further information regarding the fate of individual containers on a case-by-case basis, but noted that “It is likely that some of the upper stowed containers were either empty or holding lighter weight goods.”

While the images clearly show the extent of the toppled stacks, thousands of containers remain on deck and will have to be examined individually to determine the full extent of any internal damage. The vessel had a capacity of 14,000 TEUs with the managers saying that a total of 1,816 containers were lost over the side when the vessel encountered heavy weather on November 30 in the Pacific at a position about 1,600 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii.

Webster and its experts are continuing to analyze the evidence with the company preliminarily saying the total loss could exceed $200 million, and it could be greater than the value of the vessel which was built in 2019.

Among the issues Webster will be considering in determining the cause of the incident are the weather conditions encountered and what was done by the vessel to mitigate the impact of the weather. They will also be looking at the lashing and securing equipment used and its adequacy, the stowage condition of the vessel on departure from Yantian, China, and the voyage planning, as well as other issues.

The owners and managers of the ONE Apus have also said that a thorough investigation is being conducted into the incident and, of course, Japan as the vessel’s flag state, and other maritime authorities are also investigating. Due to the size and complexity of the loss, it will likely take some time before a report will be available and what steps will be taken to reduce future risks.

Transport Topics –
by Dan Ronan –

Many of the nation’s ports, especially on the West Coast, are reporting long delays to unload cargo ships, and warehouses near those facilities are filled as the supply chains are overloaded with goods.

That is the result of retailers seeing a surge in e-commerce purchases and significant changes to spending patterns of U.S. consumers and businesses.

“It’s really the perfect storm,” supply chain and logistics expert Mirko Woitzik with Resilience360 said from Cologne, Germany, in an interview with Transport Topics.

“There are so many factors that are contributing to this. There are so many different interests between the truckers, the carriers, the port operators and then put the COVID situation into this, the huge demand, and the previous huge drop in demand six months ago. It’s not probably going to be solved until the Chinese New Year, in the middle of February 2021.”

Typically, then there’s a lull in shipping as factories in Southeast Asia shut down for several weeks.

The ongoing situation is a departure from the spring, when container volumes at ports dropped dramatically as the world economy plunged into a recession because of the coronavirus.

In the most recent monthly report from the major cargo ports, most facilities reported record or near-record container volumes. The Port of Los Angeles processed 980,729 20-foot-equivalent units in October, an 18% year-over-year increase from 770,289 TEUs. It also marked the port’s best month in its history.

Some in government and the trucking industry believe the ports’ delays go deeper than just an imbalance in the supply chain and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel said he supports opening a fact-finding investigation into the two Southern California ports’ ongoing congestion issues. He also said there is a growing problem at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“I believe that we have deep-seated problems that could continue for the foreseeable future, and I strongly believe we must pay immediate attention to these issues,” Bentzel wrote. “The volume surges currently overtaking the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and now New York and New Jersey, shine a light on the operational vulnerabilities and reveal our supply chain weaknesses.”

Weston LaBar, CEO of Long Beach-based Harbor Trucking Association, told Transport Topics his group has asked the international ocean carriers that move millions of tons of cargo into the ports to temporarily suspend detention and demurrage fees at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach until the congestion issues ease.

Demurrage fees are charged when a container is still full and under the shipping line’s control and has not been cleared through customs or picked up by the consignee. Detention costs incur for using equipment, such as a chassis, beyond the given free time and typically outside of the terminal.

LaBar said the major shipping companies and shipping alliances have the ability to slow down traffic at the ports to impact the amount of fees charged to trucking companies.

“We’re just asking for a fair playing field, that when a trucker cannot pick up a container, or drop off an empty or their export booking has been canceled,” LaBar said. “They should not be the ones on the hook, paying the penalty, because the ocean carrier made a decision that benefits paying the penalty, without any remorse on how it affects the other members of the supply chain.”

Meanwhile, so-called dwell time delays are worsening.

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association said that in October containers remained at terminals at the two Southern California ports for nearly five days, the most prolonged average period since the group began tracking data in 2016.

An official with the Port of Los Angeles told TT the delays extend to the Pacific Ocean as well. On Dec. 1, 18 ships were anchored off the Southern California coast, with nine waiting for slots at the Port of Los Angeles and nine waiting for entry into the Port of Long Beach.

Phillip Sanfield, Port of Los Angeles director of communications, told TT that usually there might be one or two ships waiting to be routed into those facilities.

“There is a several-day waiting to unload cargo, at least,” he said. “We have a little more of a backlog now because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, and we had less staff to unload cargo.”

However, there are ways for shippers to get cargo into the West Coast facilities, but it’s costly. Many ports operate express berths, so smaller cargo ships — those carrying less than 6,000 TEUs — can reserve spots for those ships that sail direct routes.

For example, the Port of Long Beach operates what’s called the C60 terminal, where ships using direct service from Guam, Hawaii and three locations from China (Shanghai, Ningbo and Xiamen) get priority service.