Gard Club

Gard informs on misdelivery of coal shipments in India

Gard comments on several cases, that took place recently, that involve banks claiming for misdelivery of coal cargoes at Indian ports. The misdelivery has to do with the challenges that follow when a cargo is delivered without the production of the original bills of lading.

Specifically, according to Gard, the cargoes were loaded at different ports and were transferred to India during the first half of 2018.

When the cargoes arrived in India, they were sent to their receivers, without production...

https://safety4sea.com/gard-informs-on-misdelivery-of-coal-shipments-in-india/

Nordic Marine Insurance Plan: Information between marine and war perils

In the latest revision of the Nordic Marine Insurance Plan, it was agreed to restrict the war risk cover to politically motivated interventions, with state interventions falling outside the war risk cover included in the marine insurance cover. The 2019 revision of the NMIP was approved by all parties and the document was published for use by insurance practitioners. The amendments in the 2019 version vary from small clarifications in clauses to more substantial re-writing of individual clauses.

https://safety4sea.com/nordic-marine-insurance-plan-information-between-marine-and-war-perils/

‘Whaling’ attacks are on the rise

Several hackers are pretending to be high-level executives in the shipping industry to launch ‘whaling attacks’. These attacks aim to steal credentials or even compromise the system. These hackers are targeting various types of employees with social-engineering.

Whaling attacks are not new, but they grow, with the FBI noting that these attacks resulted in losses of more than $12.5 billion during 2018.

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Namely, scammers are using social engineering to pretend...

https://safety4sea.com/whaling-attacks-are-on-the-rise/

How to prevent cyber attacks from happening

Gard Club in collaboration with DNV GL explain what are the possible cyber threats and how we can mitigate them or prevent them. Cyber threats are dynamic and can quickly change, for this reason seafarers must be very careful, in order not to put their personal or the ship’s information at risk.

Namely, the easiest way for cyber criminals to attack is through negligent or poorly trained individuals. What is more, many crewmembers still doubt the importance of cyber security on their ship. But...

https://safety4sea.com/how-to-prevent-cyber-attacks-from-happening/

US government shutdown affects COFR applications

Gard Club informs that while some emergency or essential functions are being carried out without interruption, there have been cases of outage or delay of some ancillary activities and services that affect the maritime shipping community.

Specifically, the processes regarding application and confirmation of Certificates of Financial Responsibility (COFRs), that are needed for ships entering US waters under regulations issued pursuant to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, are now being affected.

In...

https://safety4sea.com/us-government-shutdown-affects-cofr-applications/

Summary of the regulatory landscape in 2019

Gard Club summarizes the 2019 maritime regulatory landscape. The marine industry experienced many regulations coming into force on 2018, with the same expected to happen in 2019. These regulations regard crew, safety, environment, cargo, and certification.

1 January 2019

  • Escape Route Signs and Equipment Location Markings: To ensure uniformity of safety signs with ISO standards, the IMO has established updated signs and graphic symbols to be used to mark the location of ways of escape,...

https://safety4sea.com/summary-of-the-regulatory-landscape-in-2019/

Gard: Recommendations on how to manage cyber risk

The third edition of the industry cyber risk management guidelines, ‘Guidelines on Cyber Security Onboard Ships’, highlights the requirement to incorporate cyber risks in the ship’s safety management system. The edition provides guidance for dealing with the cyber risks to the ship arising from parties in the maritime supply chain.

Namely, IMO has given, to shipowners and managers, until the 1st of January 2019 to take into action the measures to manage cyber risk into the vessel’s SMS....

https://safety4sea.com/gard-recommendations-on-how-to-manage-cyber-risk/

Crews still violate Indian ban on use of satellite phones

Following the Mumbai terror attacks in 2011, the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) in India banned the use of “Thuraya, Iridium and other such satellite phones” in Indian waters. However, crew members continue to be penalized by Indian authorities for violating the ban, according to data provided by Gard P&I Club.

DGS circular 02/2012 bans the use of “Thuraya, Iridium and other such Satellite” phones, which appears to extend the ban to Inmarsat phones, although some port circulars appear to...

https://safety4sea.com/crews-still-violate-indian-ban-on-use-of-satellite-phones/

How the amended IMSBC Code affects coal cargoes

On 1 January 2019 amendments to the IMSBC Code will apply. In an article to Gard Club, Penelope Cooke of Brookes Bell LLP explains the impact of these changes on vessels carrying coal cargoes.

The amendments to the IMBC Code regard the criteria under which coal cargoes are considered Group A, namely liable to liquefy, in addition to Group B chemical hazards which apply to all coal cargoes. Thus, coal cargoes may need the same TML and moisture certification as other Group A cargoes, such as...

https://safety4sea.com/how-the-amended-imsbc-code-affects-coal-cargoes/

California: AFS Certificate not enough to comply with biofouling regs

California recently shared its experience from the first year of enforcing the Marine Invasive Species Program (MISP) and the Biofouling Management Regulations, that apply to vessels arriving at California ports from 1 October 2017. The California State Lands Commission emphasised that the International Anti-Fouling System (AFS) Certificate issued by a vessel’s flag state is not enough to document effectiveness of a vessel’s antifouling coating in terms of preventing the transfer of marine...

https://safety4sea.com/california-afs-certificate-not-enough-to-comply-with-biofouling-regs/

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