Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk

Reformar Inc enters into long-term charter agreement for the Research Vessel Coriolis II with Seaforth Geosurveys.
(Rimouski, Qc); March 15, 2010
Reformar

Reformar Inc. is pleased to announce that it has signed a long term exclusive charter agreement for the Research Vessel RV Coriolis II. This exclusive agreement covers the use of the Coriolis II for the private sector contract. The 50 m former Canadian Coast Guard vessel has been operated by Reformar Inc. of Rimouski, Quebec since 2002. While the ship’s primary function is for academic research and training, Seaforth will also utilize the vessel for its worldwide marine survey operations. The ship, which is certified for operations in both domestic and international waters, is currently being mobilized in Quebec City with various geophysical sensors including multibeam, sidescan sonar, subbottom profiler, magnetometer, USBL, multi-channel seismic data acquisition and processing systems, and geotechnical sampling equipment. The vessel will also be configured with a dynamic positioning system, providing excellent station keeping for geotechnical operations and as an ROV support platform. Based in Rimouski during the summer, it is expected that the Coriolis will be based in Halifax during the winter months to support Seaforth’s domestic and international initiatives. “We are very excited about the opportunity presented with this partnership with Reformar”, stated Seaforth President David Lombardi.
To read the whole press release CLICK HERE!

Over on Maritime Community there was an article about Ship Spares In Transit and what the term means. Here in Canada when a Ship Spares In Transit shipment arrives it is preceded with a pre-notice of arrival containing way bill number, Customs invoice (value for customs), detailed list of all content in shipment including weight. This notice is usually sent from the shipper. Once receiver or receiver agent receives this note they can pre-arrange for custom clearing and forwarding of spares to the ship. The process entails completing various Customs documents that will be processed by Customs once the shipment arrive. In order to complete a process like this the custom broker and carrier has to be defined as a bonded operator. This again means that there is a Bond Insurance filed with the Customs (Federal Government). This Bond is of a value large enough to cover the value of shipments that they would be processing with Customs. There are a variety of different Bonds available and the value can also be very large. It all depends on what the operator would have arranged for and also what the volume of his bond would be. An operator/broker would most likely have sufficient coverage for the volume of business they are processing.
When all these documents are processed and no discrepancy is detected, the actual physical movement of the shipment usually goes rather quickly. In this case we are talking about “Ship Spares In Transit” as it was not to be cleared for payment of duty and taxes. To clear a shipment for and levy duty and taxes would be a whole other process and we will not cover that here.

Back last summer when “Green Award” for shipping caught my attention for the first time and I didn’t realize how big this subject was going to be. “Green Award” for shipping was just the beginning. I soon realized that there was many other related ones happening around the globe and they were all having an impact on the environment.
“Green Award For Shipping” caught my eye in the beginning for one reason only and that was the ships getting a reduction on their fee to the “Port Of Montreal” and I wanted to know why. Why would a Port Corporation like the Port Of Montreal give a ship this kind of incentive or better yet, a ship owner or manager this kind of incentive? What were the benefits for Port of Montreal?
There was a whole lot of questions that I asked and during the study of this concept we will continue and try to answer some of these questions.
The last article that I wrote kind of ended as we started to get into the process of inspection and getting office and ships certified to the “Green Award” program. The certification process is a very detailed issue and we will not be able to cover it well and understand it all unless we go in dept and look at some of the underlying issues that brought this program into light in the first place. Therefore I will leave the certification process for a while and look at some of the underlying issues.
One issue that we have already touched on is the effect this has on port corporations. A port corporation, like the one we talked about previously, has a great responsibility towards its clients being shipping companies and some of that covers the environment. Proper protection and prevention against incidents that could damage the environment is part of that responsibility.
A port like “Port Of Montreal” being an inland port like it is on the shore of Saint Lawrence River has an even greater responsibility and that is adapting to River conditions. It means that people down stream are depending on Port Of Montreal doing the right thing if something is to happen, for instance an oil spill of major proportions. Do we know what kind of measures Port Of Montreal have in place to combat this kind of a problem or incidence? The “Green Award” program was one of the things that would help Port OF Montreal with this responsibility. If Port Of Montreal can draw these clients that has been awarded the “Green Award Certification” to the port they are standing a much better chance of not having any major incidences or at least reducing the risk. Port of Montreal is giving incentive for being and maintaining a “Green Award” certification. Many other ports around the globe are doing the same thing and the list is ever growing.
What is so important in this program for Port Of Montreal to issue a credit or reduction on your port fee?

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