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Cybersecurity landscape is changing: What’s next?

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“84% of company directors believe that their IT department is able to protect their organizations from a cyber-attack.” These were the findings of a research study by AIG conducted inthe UK two years ago. The cybersecurity landscape, however, is changing  day after day, year after year; and here we are in 2018, trying to put ourselves in the shoes of cybercriminals to better anticipate where attacks will be coming from, while at the same time they think more like developers to evade detection!

Let's take a look at what happened recently in the maritime "sphere" with regards to cyber security.

Earlier this July, Cosco’s operations in the US were hit by a cyber-attack. As a result, its daily operations in the US were affected. The company's operations outside the US were not affected; neither did the terminal operations, according to reports.

Reality has proven that cyber-attacks in shipping are happening all too often. Another example  is the cyber-attack against Maersk. Maersk’s container ships stood still at sea and its 76 port terminals around the world ground to a halt. The recovery was fast, but within a brief period the organisation suffered financial losses up to USD300m including:

  • loss of revenue
  • IT restoration costs
  • extraordinary costs related to operations

All began when an employee in Ukraine responded to an email which featuring the NotPetya Malware. The system affected and therefore operations practically had to be on hold until system’s restoration.

How can shipping companies, therefore, keep pace with the agile development that cybercriminals are employing  in 2018 and how do they pinpoint the recycled vulnerabilities being used?

5 major cyber security problems in today's shipping industry

  1. Shipping organizations work carelessly with unauthorized data carriers
  2. Authorized data carriers are insufficiently checked by security software after downloads of updates for navigation equipment (ECDIS )
  3. Lack of effective security software and/or maintenance
  4. Lack of training of the on-board management staff in handling internal networks, through the use of security software
  5. Lack of board leadership

Lack of board leadership in the spotlight

Given the increasing pace and complexity of the threats, corporations must adopt approaches to cybersecurity that will require much more engagement from the CEO and other senior executives to protect critical business information without constraining innovation and growth.

McKinsey reported some years before

Today, most shipping companies know that cybersecurity is a critical issue that simply cannot be overlooked. However, problems cannot be solved if not communicated first. How many of them implement preventive policies to avoid falling victim to a cyber-attack? How many of them have a plan on how to ”clean up the mess” and superintend the fallout?

Getting to a new bussines-driven cybersecurity model

Cyber security is for shipping operators as much as it is for technical people. Leaders must be wholeheartedly involved in order to gain cyber resilience and effectively protect their organizations from cyber threats.

"Shipowners must accept the fact that at some point their company will be compromised by a cyber threat which will significantly impact their operations organization wide."…says Max Bobys,Vice President, HudsonCyber

The most important consideration for cyber resilience is the idea that an organization deploys its assets (people, information, technology, and facilities) in support of specific operational missions (i.e., scope of organization, day by day business.)

Source:safety4sea

 

Wärtsilä redesigns organisation to enhance customer value

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The technology group Wärtsilä has decided to reorganise into two business areas, Wärtsilä Marine Business and Wärtsilä Energy Business, covering both new sales and services for the respective markets. With this change, Wärtsilä aims to deliver increased value to its customers by better serving their needs across the full lifecycle. The new organisational structure will be operational as of 1 January 2019.

Forming two business areas will enable Wärtsilä to accelerate growth and the implementation of the Smart Marine and Smart Energy strategies. Integrating the newbuild and service activities enhances customer value by strengthening the focus on complete lifecycle solutions tailored to specific market needs. It also allows Wärtsilä to more effectively serve its customers with increased flexibility and faster response times.

“Developing stronger partnerships with our customers and providing them with greater value is essential for reaching our long-term target of profitable growth. I am confident that this change will ensure more rapid development of innovative solutions and services and a superior customer experience; thereby further strengthening our position as a global leader in lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets,” comments Jaakko Eskola, President & CEO.

Roger Holm, currently President of Marine Solutions, will lead Wärtsilä Marine Business and Wärtsilä Energy Business will be headed by President of Energy Solutions Marco Wirén. Pierpaolo Barbone, President of Services, EVP and Deputy to the CEO, will pursue opportunities outside Wärtsilä at the end of the year.

Wärtsilä Marine Business will have approximately 13,100 employees and Wärtsilä Energy Business 5,500 employees. Restated net sales for the 12 months ended 30 June 2018 amounted to EUR 2.7 billion in Wärtsilä Marine Business and EUR 2.2 billion in Wärtsilä Energy Business. Wärtsilä will report according to the new organisational structure as of the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted comparison figures will be provided prior to the publication of the interim report for January-March 2019.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

Port of Amsterdam develops tool for safe LNG bunkering

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The Port of Amsterdam developed a tool to make LNG bunkering safe and sustainable. This tool ensures that the responsibilities of bunker facilities operators (BFOs) regarding safe and sustainable business operations are clear and that there is a careful examination of how the LNG bunker operations are set up.

This tool has been developed in cooperation with international players in the shipping sector, the International Association of Ports and Harbors – IAPH, Titan LNG, Bureau Veritas, oil and gas companies such as Shell and ship owners such as NYK and Carnival Corporation. The aim is to become the standard tool worldwide.

According to, Peter Alkema of Port of Amsterdam and chairman of the working group, with this tool the Port achieves two goals. Firstly the tool supports port authorities to perform the decision-making process relating to granting permits to LNG bunker facility operators in their ports in a uniform manner. Secondly the tool gives collaborating ports, which are members of the IAPH, the opportunity to share audit results and information on a BFO’s safety performance. Thus, a port does not have to go through the entire audit process again if a BFO has been audited before.

The first ship-to-ship LNG bunker facilities are now being carried out in ports, including the Port of Amsterdam where Titan LNG will locate with bunker ship Flexfueler 001 late this year.

Port of Amsterdam is also preparing for the arrival of LNG ships in this way. According to the global order book, the number of LNG-fueled ships is expected to nearly double by 2024. A research by DNV-GL shows that LNG will be the transition fuel for shipping in the years ahead en route to carbon-free fuels.

The working group believes that it will also be possible to apply the lessons learned and the employed methods to other alternative fuels, such as hydrogen and methanol.

Source:safety4sea

Norway Approves Plan For Wintershall Norge-led Nova

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The plan for development and operation for the Wintershall Norge-operated Nova Field has been approved by Norwegian authorities, Wintershall said in a news release.

The field, located in the North Sea, will be developed as a subsea tieback connecting two templates to the Gjøa platform for processing and export, the company said. Lift gas, water injection and power also will be provided by the Gjøa platform.

“This is another important landmark for Wintershall Norge,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, managing director for Wintershall Norge. “We believe in Norway, and we are showing again through the Nova development that we are prepared to back up our commitment with investment.”

Wintershall said several significant contracts for the development, estimated to cost about $1.2 billion, have been awarded. Among these were contracts awarded to Aker Solutions for the subsea production system, Subsea 7 for pipeline and subsea construction and Seadrill for a rig.

Recoverable reserves for Nova are estimated at about 80 MMboe, mostly oil, according to Wintershall. Startup is scheduled for 2021.

Wintershall is the operator and holds 35%. Partners are Cairn Energy subsidiary Capricorn Norge (20%), Spirit Energy (20%), Edison Norge (15%) and DEA Norge (10%).

Source:epmag

First Condensate Ships from Ichthys

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The first shipment of condensate from the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project departed for Asia on Monday.

The project's FPSO, Ichthys Venturer, is moored in the Browse Basin, some 220 kilometres (136 miles) off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

Later this year, the Ichthys Project will commence shipment of cargoes from Bladin Point near Darwin in Australia –with LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports expected to follow in sequence.

At peak, the Ichthys LNG Project is expected to produce up to 8.9 million tons of LNG per annum, up to 1.65 million tonnes of LPG per annum and up to 100,000 barrels of condensate per day.

Gas production started at the end of July, and the project is expected to have a 40-year operational lifetime. The $40 billion project represents the largest discovery of hydrocarbon liquids in Australia in 40 years. 

The produced gas is gathered within the Central Processing Facility, Ichthys Explorer, where it is separated into gases and liquids. The liquids are piped to the nearby Ichthys Venturer while the gases will be transported via the 890-kilometer long Gas Export Pipeline to the onshore gas liquefaction plant at Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Ichthys condensate will be the third condensate introduced to the Asian market this year after that of Australia's Wheatstone and Malaysia's Bergading.

The Ichthys LNG Project is a partnership between Inpex (operator, participating interest: 62.245 percent), Total (participating interest: 30 percent) and the Australian subsidiaries of CPC Corporation, Taiwan (participating interest: 2.625 percent), Tokyo Gas (participating interest: 1.575 percent), Osaka Gas (participating interest: 1.2 percent), Kansai Electric Power (participating interest: 1.2 percent), JERA (participating interest: 0.735 percent) and Toho Gas (participating interest: 0.42 percent).

Source:maritime-executive

South Korea Invests in AI for Shipyards

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The South Korean government is planning to build smart shipyards equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology in a move expected to boost the cost competitiveness of the nation's small to mid-size shipbuilders. 

BusinessKorea reports that the government will begin a feasibility study this year. Around $360 million will be spent on the Korean Smart Shipyard (K-Yard) project which aims to first develop a smart shipyard simulation model and set up a virtual reality-based production platform to track production flow using the internet of things. Two shipyards are expected to take part in testing between 2020 and 2025. The production models developed would then be rolled out across other yards.

The government is specifically planning to win back the mid-size bulk and tanker markets from China, reports BusinessKorea, and hopes to increase productivity by 20 percent and lower production costs by 10 percent with the project. South Korea accounted for 43 percent of global shipbuilding orders this year, ahead of China, but smaller and mid-size yards still tend to lose out. They only won orders for four tankers in the first quarter of this year, and their share of the global market dropped from 10 percent in 2014 to four percent in 2016.

Source:maritime-executive

Shell Takes FID on LNG Canada

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Shell Canada Energy, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell, has taken a final investment decision (FID) on LNG Canada, a major LNG project in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada, in which Shell has a 40 percent working interest. 

With LNG Canada’s joint venture participants also having taken FID, construction will start immediately with first LNG expected before the middle of the next decade.

Shell’s 40 percent share of the project’s capital cost is within the company’s current overall capital investment guidance of $25-$30 billion per year.

Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell, said: “Global LNG demand is expected to double by 2035 compared with today, with much of this growth coming from Asia where gas displaces coal. LNG Canada is well positioned to help Shell meet the growing needs of customers at a time when we see an LNG supply shortage in our outlook. With significant integration advantages from the upstream through to trading, LNG Canada is expected to deliver Shell an integrated internal rate of return of some 13 percent, while the cash flow it generates is expected to be significant, long life and resilient.”

LNG Canada will initially export LNG from two trains totaling 14 million tons per annum (mtpa), with the potential to expand to four trains in the future. It is advantaged by access to abundant, low-cost natural gas from British Columbia’s vast resources and the relatively short shipping distance to North Asia, which is about 50 percent shorter than from the Gulf of Mexico and avoids the Panama Canal. The LNG export facility will be constructed on a large, partially developed industrial site with an existing deep-water port, roads, rail and power supplies.

The project has a 40-year export license in place and all major environmental permits are in place for the plant and the pipeline.

The project has been designed to achieve the lowest carbon intensity of any LNG project in operation today, aided by the partial use of hydropower.

LNG Canada is a joint venture comprised of Shell Canada Energy (40 percent) and Petronas, through its wholly-owned entity, the North Montney LNG Limited Partnership (25 percent); PetroChina Canada (15 percent); Diamond LNG Canada, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (15 percent); and Korea Gas Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiary Kogas Canada LNG (five percent).

Source:maritime-executive

Van Oord and Dredging International awarded a major contract

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Van Oord and Dredging International, a DEME Group subsidiary, have been awarded a major contract for the modernisation of the Świnoujście – Szczecin fairway in Poland. The contract covers the deepening and widening of the fairway along a section of approximately 62 km, the company said in its press release.

The investment by the Maritime Office in Szczecin will improve access to the Szczecin seaport and increase the port capacity to handle a growing volume of cargo.

The project is a design and build contract to deepen and widen the fairway along a section of approximately 62 km from -10.5 to -12.5 m. The dredged materials will be used to build two artificial islands in the Szczecin lagoon. The works further include enforcements of slopes and quay walls along the channel, relocation of cables and navigational aids. The environmental sustainability and cooperation with all project stakeholders play an important role during execution. Several types of equipment will be deployed on the project.
 
Works will start end of 2018 and are expected to be completed in 42 months. The contract has a value of approximately EUR 313 million and is co-financed by the European Union.

‘The combination of state of the art dredging equipment, the consortium’s vast international experience in design and build projects and most importantly our integrated team of experts enabled DEME and Van Oord to bring the most cost efficient solution,’ said Eric Tancré, Area Director Europe at DEME.

Source:portnews

Drewry: Asia to Middle East, South Asia Trade Sees Weak Demand

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Demand revisions suggest that demand from Asia to the Middle East and South Asia is in a steep decline, according to a report from shipping consultancy Drewry.

Namely, Drewry’s Container Trades Statistics (CTS) made a substantial downgrade to the shipments data for the Asia to Middle East and South trade that erased the reported very high growth in the first quarter.

The new CTS numbers indicate that westbound trade to both regions grew by 5% instead of the previously reported rate of 16%. Moreover, demand appears to be in retreat as second quarter volumes fell by 3%.

Broken down by region, the Asia to Middle East container trade decreased by 5.7% in the second quarter to 850,000 TEU, all but wiping out the first quarter gains. Data for July continued the depressing trend, falling by 11% so that after seven months the trade was down by 1.3% year-on-year, Drewry explained.

Container trade from Asia to South Asia also experienced a deficit in the second quarter, falling by 1.4% year-on-year, as well as a decline in July. However, the depth of the fall-off in traffic was less severe that it was for the inbound Middle East route.

On the supply side of the equation, the available slots are gradually being reduced as carriers respond to the weakening trading conditions. Drewry research indicates that westbound Asia to Middle East capacity was some 5% lower in August than the same month a year ago, whereas slots to South Asia were down by 4%.

“With westbound ship utilisation levels hovering around the 60% range in both trades, freight rates have been equally weak,” Drewry said.

“The latest data would suggest that far more capacity needs to come out of these trades for any chance of a freight rate recovery.”

Seven major global ports join forces to tackle global warming

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Seven major international ports recognized for advancing environmental initiatives have teamed up to launch the 'World Ports Climate Action Program', focusing on the development of projects to address global warming and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, against greenhouse gas emissions.

The US Port of Long Beach will join port authorities in Los Angeles; Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Hamburg in Germany; Barcelona in Spain; Antwerp in Belgium; and Vancouver in Canada.

"This partnership helps to raise awareness about global warming throughout the port industry and ensures that we are working toward the same goals on an international scale. For us to make an impact, it really needs to be a global impact. Improving the air quality in Southern California is important, but we need to work together globally to make a real difference when it comes to dealing with climate change,"…said Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach.

In particular, the World Ports Climate Action Program focuses on five specific actions:

  • Increase efficiency of supply chains using digital tools
  • Advance common and ambitious policy approaches aimed at reducing emissions within larger geographic areas
  • Accelerate development of renewable energy for shore power, and other zero-emission solutions
  • Accelerate development of commercially viable low-carbon fuels for maritime transport, and infrastructure for electrification of ship propulsion systems
  • Accelerate efforts to eliminate fossil fuel use in cargo-handling facilities in the ports

To achieve those goals, each port agreed to work with government regulators and maritime industry stakeholders to develop policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, along with providing financial support in developing clean technologies for the shipping and logistics industry.

Source:safety4sea

 

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