Marine Log - February 2008 - (Page 4)

Nick Blenkey Senior Editorial Consultant Second Thoughts Pass the aspirin T hey may be thoroughly unscientific and have little true statistical value, but web polls are fun—and the results from the ones we run on our website (www.marinelog.com) seem slightly more believable than some of the political polls this primary season. The poll that’s currently on the website asks visitors their opinion on what will give shipowners their biggest headaches this year. Thus far, the results are showing that 46% of readers think it will be fuel costs, 34% think it will be crew shortages, 15%, environmental regulations, nine percent, maritime security regulations and just one percent see the biggest worry being freight rates. Oh what a change in attitudes a few fat years of shipping prosperity can bring. Not that very long ago, “freight rates” would have been at the top of just about everyone’s list. But with crude oil prices hitting $90 a barrel at press time, it’s little surprise to find that fuel prices have become a major worry. The silver lining in that particular cloud is, of course, that high oil prices are an incentive to go look for oil in expensive and challenging offshore places that demand major investments in both drilling equipment and offshore service vessels. According to the statistics kept by Tim Colton (www.coltoncompany.com), there are currently 25 drillships, 44 semisubmersibles and 77 jack-ups on order worldwide. That is probably an all time high. Crew shortages, the number two worry, have been a problem of steadily mounting concern for several years now. It’s not one that’s going to go away in a hurry. Two factors are in play. Number one is the fact that only a small and dedicated percentage of mariners have ever gone to sea because of love of the sea and the nautical profession. People like that do exist and our industry should treasure them. But historically the truth is that most seafarers go to sea from economic necessity. Most of the world’s fleet is crewed by seafarers from poor countries. As globalization creates shoreside employment opportunities in those countries, their potential as maritime recruitment sources will decline. The second challenge in the crewing issue is that we keep raising the required training and competency requirements for seafarers. What’s most surprising about our poll results is how far down the list of worries environmental and security regulations have been pushed. Environmental regulations are going to present a real nightmare in the years ahead, because shoreside environmental activists and those they elect to public office now have it firmly in their heads that shipping is a major source of pollution. It is also a little worrying to see maritime security regulations falling way down the list. The regulators continue to come up with requirements that are not only burdensome but sometimes silly. In this month’s Washington column, for example, we learn of one-person charter boat operators who may have to buy TWIC card readers to check that they are indeed themselves and not impostors! What’s your opinion on these issues? If you haven’t voted on the current poll, check it out—we’ll keep it open a little longer. If you want to leave a comment, when you click on the “Current Results” link on the poll, you’ll see another link that enables you to post one. “Not much can be done regarding the rising price of fuel except polishing up in the form of ‘energy management,’” notes one comment on the current poll. “Smart operators can take many measures to improve the operating efficiency of their fleets. Some areas include hull coatings, better voyage planning, operational management at sea (course, speed, rudder), well planned change over calculations when entering SECA areas, real time fuel monitoring, bunker quantity surveys ” But to read the rest of this valuable advice, you’ll need to go to the poll. nblenkey@sbpub.com 4 MARINE LOG FEBRUARY 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.coltoncompany.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.ebdg.com http://www.ebdg.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - February 2008

Marine Log - February 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Cruise Growth: Driven by Megaships and Europe Another Piece of the Short Sea Transport Puzzle Putting Together a More Advanced Jones Act Tanker Evolving Propulsion Options for Diesel Electric Ships In Search of Smarter Shipbuilding Seatrade Peview Events Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Website Directory Infodirect ML Marketplace Opinions

Marine Log - February 2008

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