A Russian cargo ship and a dry bulk carrier collided off the coast of Bulgaria on November 8 and while no one was injured the circumstances of the incident remain unclear. The bulker continued on course to Turkey, while the Russian vessel returned to port reporting that it had taken on water in its ballast tanks.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry reported the incident on its Telegram account and observers quickly noted that the Russian vessel was not following its normal course. It is unclear why the vessel was traveling north of its normal route between Varna, Bulgaria and the Russian Caucasus region.

The Slavyanin is a Ro/Ro cargo ship operating between Varna, Bulgaria and the Kavkaz area of Russia located between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Registered in the Russian Federation, the vessel was built in 1984 and has been running for at least a decade on this route. She is approximately 492 feet in length and 6,580 dwt and is used to transport rail tankers loaded with LNG.

 

Damage reportedly from the collision is visible at the rail 

 

The Russian ship had departed Varna on November 7 and the collision happened about 80 nautical miles to the northeast near the Bulgarian Cape Shabla, which would be north of her normal route. The incident was reported to have happened early on November 8 and the Slavyanin returned to Varna later the same day. Reports are that three of the ship’s ballast tanks had flooded due to a hole in the hull and photos show a small deformation at the rail level as well. The flooding did not reach the engine room and there were no reports of a release of oil.

The other vessel was a Palau-registered bulker, New Rouf, a 6,000 dwt dry bulk carrier. She had departed Izmail, Ukraine, and was bound for Turkey and then on to Egypt. She appears to have continued and arrived at the Istanbul anchorage yesterday, November 9. The vessel is managed out of Romania.

Media reports from Romania are saying the Turkish authorities were asked to investigate the incident when the ship reached its anchorage.

The Swedish Transport Workers Union (Svenska Transportarbetareförbundet) is threatening to stop handling Tesla’s electrical vehicles arriving at the country’s four major ports. The union has filed a notice of support for Sweden’s Industrifacket Metall a trade union that went on strike last week against Tesla.

IF Metall is one of the largest trade unions in Sweden with reports of over 240,000 members working in a broad range of industries. Covering everything from building materials to mining and the auto industry and auto repair shops, the union is striking for a collective bargaining agreement with Tesla. As many as 90 percent of Sweden’s workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

The current strike is over the ability of the union to negotiate for members on issues from wages to pensions and insurance. IF Metall’s contract secretary Veli-Pekka Säikkälä said a strike is an unusual step but the union says Tesla Sweden has made clear its position that it is not relevant to sign a collective agreement. The walkout began on October 27 and IF Metall has served notice that it plans to expand the strike starting today, November 3, to cover Tesla’s authorized repair shops.

As part of the effort, IF Metall also put out a call for support efforts by other unions and now the Transport Workers served notice that they will begin to honor strike as of November 7. They announced that they will no longer handle shipments of Tesla cars and parts arriving at the ports of Malmö (Copenhagen Malmö Port AB), Södertälje (Södertälje Hamn AB), Gothenburg (Logent Ports & Terminal AB Gothenburg), and Trelleborg (Trelleborg Hamn AB).

The Transport Workers are saying they will stand with the union and not handle Tesla until it signs a collective agreement with IF Metall. Talks have resumed with Tesla but so far are not showing any signs of an agreement.

The Tesla Model Y is reported by Clean Technica to be the overall bestseller in Sweden. In September, they calculated from registrations that 3,050 Model Y cars were sold nearing the record of 3,202 cars in March 2023. The Tesla Model Y is reported to have sold nearly three times as many cars in Sweden in September as its nearest rival the Volkswagen ID.4. Year-to-date 13,457 Model Y have been registered with Clean Technica highlighting, “That means almost one in every 15 cars sold this year is a Tesla Model Y!”

Based on registration data, electric vehicles account for two-thirds of all cars now sold in Sweden up from just over 55 percent a year ago. In September, fully electric vehicles accounted for 40 percent of the new registrations while plug-in hybrids were a further 20 percent, equal to the percent of gasoline-powered cars registered in the month.

Tommy Wreeth, Transport’s union chairman said “In Sweden and in the Swedish labor market, we have collective agreements. Transport will always stand up for that. Tesla employees must of course also be covered by safe and decent conditions.”

Transport promises a blockade against all loading and unloading of Tesla cars in the four ports until the company reaches an agreement with its workers.

Dockworkers at one of Australia’s busiest container terminals launched a 24-hour work ban on Friday while announcing plans to step up their work bans next week at each of the country’s major ports. The strikes are part of an ongoing labor dispute between the Maritime Union of Australia and terminal operator DP World that minors similar actions that have interrupted port operations in other parts of the world.

The unifying issue that has hit ports around the world and now is at play in the dispute in Australia is wages for the dockworkers that reflect their efforts during the pandemic when they kept global supply chains flowing. The Maritime Union of Australia specifically is calling for a better than seven percent wage increase, while lower than other parts of the world, is still designed to respond to Australia’s inflation rate. It is also similar to the increases awarded to workers earlier this year at Patrick Terminals another of Australia’s largest operators.

In addition to the issue of wages, the MUA like other unions is focused on scheduling and what they call work-life balance. They contend that DP World is proposing work schedule rule changes, and adjustments to the scheduling system, that would result in pay cuts of nearly a third for dockworkers. DP World says the changes are needed to provide greater flexibility and the ability to respond to the needs of carriers.

Friday’s work ban was aimed at Port Botany located in Sydney, Australia’s busiest container port. It handles approximately three million TEUs each year. The port has 12 container vessel berths split between terminal operators DP World, Patrick Terminals, and Hutchison Ports. Workers are refusing for 24 hours to load and unload trucks and trains at DP World’s facilities.

The labor unrest has been ongoing all month. It included a 48-hour weekend full stoppage in Fremantle and a 44-hour stoppage in Melbourne, both at the beginning of the month. Two Fridays ago, there was also a stoppage at Port Botany. Between October 30 and November 6, the MUA is reporting that work bans will be in effect for overtime, shift extensions, and other jobs at DP World’s terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Fremantle, and Brisbane. Next Monday they also plan to stop work for 24 hours in Sydney, as well as a ban on loading and unloading on Friday, November 3 at all the ports and sporadic work stoppages ranging from one to two hours at some of the ports during the week.

Both sides are accusing the other of not negotiating in good faith, with DP World calling on the union to stop the job actions as a condition for resuming talks. The MUA says the actions will continue until DP World resumes negotiations. Supported by the Australia Council of Trade Unions, the MUA is calling for good faith bargaining, a fair wage outcome, work schedules, and scheduling systems that provide certainty, mitigate fatigue, and maintain the work-life balance.

DP World is warning customers that offloading that normally take up to two days can now take up to seven to eight days due to the union having “unleashed delays and disruptions across Australia.” The company in its public statements forecast the actions coming at this time of the year would create an “unsettling impact on the upcoming holiday preparations” for many Australian households.

The union highlights that the membership supported starting the job actions after six months of unproductive discussions with DP World. It is the latest in a series of protected disputes that have impacted port operations in Australia. The union took similar actions against Patrick Terminals and was locked in a multi-year struggle with Svitzer Australia over tug operations that finally ended earlier this year.

A union representing 360 workers on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence Seaway has gone on strike after failing to reach a contract agreement, temporarily shutting down the Great Lakes’ connection to the sea.

In a statement, union Unifor said that talks with its employer, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), are “1,000 nautical miles apart on wages.” The union said that it had made every effort to avoid a strike, but SLSMC had not made enough movement in its bargaining position.

“The SLSMC works to find a fair and competitive labor agreement that balances wage demands and market realities,” said the corporation in a statement. “As a result, the system will remain shut down until an agreement can be reached.”

SLSMC carried out plans for an organized shutdown of the seaway system over the course of the last three days. This allowed all vessels in transit to safely exit the seaway and its locks, and no ships got caught in the middle, the corporation said. The U.S. side of the operation is also unaffected.

However, more than 100 vessels outside of the seaway have been impacted by the shutdown. The corporation has applied to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to make Unifor provide staffing for the safe transit of grain-carrying bulkers.

According to SLSMC, Unifor is seeking exceptional wage increases inspired by union action in the automotive industry. Unifor also represents thousands of auto workers, and it just concluded negotiations with General Motors on a multiyear contract earlier this month. The terms of the contract with GM are generous, including a 20-25 percent raise over three years and two more paid holidays. They aren’t the only ones: on the other side of the Canadian border, new union leaders at the United Auto Workers have secured tentative offers from the Big Three U.S. automakers for a raise of 23 percent over five years – and the UAW is still holding out for an even better deal.

Samsung Heavy Industries reports it has developed a patent-pending device that is simple and easy to use that will dramatically decrease the number of containers lost overboard while boxships are at sea. They are reporting that initial testing is showing that loss rates can be reduced by up to 70 percent while not impacting the loading capacity or operation of the vessel.

The industry increased its focus on container losses after a series of high-profile events in 2020 where hundreds or even thousands of boxes were damaged or lost overboard from a single vessel. The World Shipping Council in its report tracking container losses reported that 2020 was the worst individual year in recent memory with nearly 4,000 boxes lost overboard followed by over 2,000 containers lost in 2021. High losses such as the nearly 6,000 in 2013 had most often involved the loss of a vessel, whereas the recent numbers were due to bad weather and vessel handling. The number however fell dramatically in 2022 to just 661 boxes.

Much of the industry’s focus has been on weather conditions and a phenomenon known as “parametric rolling” which in a following sea is especially hazardous for container vessels. The industry has issued advisories on vessel handling while technology companies are working on systems that can predict dangerous sea conditions.

Samsung however has taken a much simpler approach focusing on the racks and securing the lashing bridges. Their loss prevention device, known as Special Structure Anti-Container Loss, is an additional device attached to the lashing bridge. They are pointing to the “severe shaking” of boxes in bad weather as a key contributor to the losses. Once in place, Samsung reports the device minimizes the “left and right movement of containers even in bad weather.”

They are reporting that they have obtained certification from four of the world’s leading class societies, DNV, ABS, LR, and KR, and have completed over 10 patent applications outside of Korea for the device. They said in developing the device there was a focus on minimizing the size and weight to make it easy to install. They are saying it has a compact design and that it will work on existing ships without affecting container capacity.

Samsung reports that the prototype structure is now at the Pusan National University. They are conducting strength testing as they seek to validate the product and increase its reliability. The device has already drawn the attention from the world’s leading container shipping companies and Samsung anticipates that they will begin full marketing within the year for the product.