The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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WATERWAYS – Waterfront Business In brief… Titantic exhibition The South Australian Maritime Museum is marking the anniversary of the sinking of the Royal Mail Ship Titanic with a special exhibition. When the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912 with the loss of almost 1500 lives it became an emblem of the Edwardian era: a monument to ingenuity, extravagance, audacity and heroism, and it has gripped the imagination of generations. To mark the centenary, the SA Maritime Museum will open RMS Titanic: Voyage of the Century on March 24, 2012. See www.history.sa.gov.au/maritime/ maritime.htm New Zealand reputation threatened A joint ministerial inquiry says allegations of human rights and labour abuses on Korean foreign charter fishing vessel FCV are damaging New Zealand's international reputation. "A small number of operators of foreign-flagged FCVs have been mistreating their crews and acting in disregard of New Zealand's laws. These activities have put at risk New Zealand's standing in the international community and the reputation of the seafood industry," the inquiry report said. The report found 13 FCV's out of the 21 cited in the report were Korean- flagged. These were operated by Sanford Auckland, United Fisheries of Christchurch, Northland Deepwater Partnership, Southern Storm Fishing of Christchurch, and South East Resources of Christchurch. "The report is clear that the issues are not widespread in the New Zealand commercial fishing industry, but they are serious where they occur and need to be addressed in a coordinated manner, backed by legislative change," said Primary Industries Minister David Carter. The inquiry makes 15 recommendations and the government has decided to act quickly on the first six. Law firm celebrates fifth year The specialist Nelson based maritime lawyers, Dawson & Associates celebrated five years as a maritime practice of significance. Principle Peter Dawson said "the maritime industry has been very welcoming; from fisheries to super-yacht's, coastal shipping, and oil and gas, to the more high profile clients involving the Rena and FCV's". www.dawsonlaw.co.nz 44 Professional Skipper May/June 2012 MEASURES THE INTERNATIONAL SEAFOOD Sustainability Foundation is calling for member nations to take a more aggressive approach in efforts to implement conservation management measures that protect tuna stocks and the region's greater marine environment. The ISSF is urging the Western Pacific and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to implement a complete closure of the purse seine fishery in lieu of a FAD closure, the development of reference points and harvest control rules, a necessary component of fishery management. ISSF CALLS FOR CONSERVATION The ISSF is calling for a mandate that sharks be landed with their fins attached and to help weed out the practice of shark finning highlighted the need for a ban on vessels deliberately setting nets around whale sharks. Nations must also act to better regulate, monitor and report trans-shipments in exclusive economic zones and to work towards ultimately reducing the number of fishing vessels to a level that is appropriate to the productivity of the fisheries. New chief for Coastguard AFTER 17 YEARS in banking and finance and 18 years in the not-for-profit sector, Coastguard's new chief executive officer Patrick Holmes says the new role attracted him because of the organisation's well- established brand and large, dedicated volunteer workforce. "I had been involved with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in the United Kingdom, so I'm very aware of what the Coastguard does and the importance of their services. For eight years in the UK I lived quite close to the sea, and my son and I once had a near-death experience. The small vessel we were in almost sank, which was extremely scary." Ceasefire for port dispute A CEASEFIRE WAS reached in the eight-month dispute between Ports of Auckland and the Maritime Union when workers returned to full operational work the Thursday before the Easter break. Despite intervention by a number of parties including the courts and the mayor of Auckland there appears to be little change in the negotiating positions of either party. The Maritime Union is focussing on the excellent performances currently achieved by employees and security of employment and the impact that casualisation of the workforce has on employee's lives. Auckland Council Investments Ltd and POAL are focussing on the need for the port to modernise and become more efficient in order to meet a target of June 30, 2016 to achieve a 12 percent ROE's, This will enable POAL to join leading companies with ROE's higher than 12 percent such as Briscoe Group (19.5) and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare (19.3). ACIL chief executive Gary Swift says: "Public assets need to be performing as well as they can be. If they don't, it means ratepayers meet the cost of that underperformance in the form of higher rates." POAL posted their first half results at $18.6m compared with $14m the previous year, and flagged that second half results would be impacted by the strike and the loss of Maersk and Fonterra. Patrick Holmes