Harbour Master
Harbour Masters
Worldwide there are approximately 3,000 merchant ports and the work of the Harbour Master can vary widely from country to country and from port to port even within the same country.

On 3 December the Danish Maritime Authority co-hosted a digital conference (illustrated) on shore side power in the Baltic Sea, together with the Danish Ministry of Environment and the Council of the Baltic Sea States.
This digital event brought together over 100 participants with speakers from across the Baltic Sea Region, including non-EU members Russia and Norway, to discuss practical examples and the policy context of shore-side power facilities and how to ensure a transformation to a greener shipping and cruise industry in the Baltic Sea Region.
Among others, the list of speakers included Danish Minister of Environment, Mrs Lea Wermelin, who talked about the prospects for a green re-boot of the Baltic Sea Region post covid-19. She gave examples on the usage of shore side power for cruise lines and highlighted some of the recently adopted key political initiatives to promote increased investment in shore side power.
The conference concluded, that:
The conference was organized by the Danish Maritime Authority in its capacity as former chair of the Expert Group on Sustainable Maritime Economy under the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and our work with Clean Shipping under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea States, the Danish Ministry of Environment and the secretariat for the CBSS.
Readers who may wish to read a short summary of the conference are invited to see here: https://www.dma.dk/Presse/Nyheder/Documents/One-page%20summary%20-%20Electrifying%20Potential-v3_.pdf
More background notes are available here: https://www.dma.dk/Presse/Nyheder/Documents/background%20notes%20here.pdf
The conference was recorded and a video can be found here: https://vimeo.com/488543910/681c375ef8
Links to these documents and a Powerpoint presentation can be accessed through the DMA website at: www.dma.dk
Photo: Danish Maritime Authority ©
Crew changes are once more becoming difficult as much of the world locks down again following the emergence of several new and more transmissible variants of Covid-19, crew specialist Danica has warned.
With travel corridors being closed and new travel restrictions imposed, airlines are once again cancelling or reducing flights which poses a problem for crew transiting to vessels. It is understood from Danica that ports too, if they have reopened, are imposing greater restrictions.
Henrik Jensen (pictured), Managing Director of Danica Crewing Services, has warned: ‘I believe we may be heading for a new crew change crisis every bit as bad as last spring. Over the past six months crew changes have been possible in many cases, although they have been costly and complex. However, now we are seeing a range of new restrictions and barriers to crew travel while also facing some serious issues in relation to crew health risk factors. I can foresee this impacting heavily on crew changes for the next few months.’
Danica specialises in crew deployment and has been assisting a range of ship operators in order to achieve crew changes over the past year. As a result, the company is fully aware of the latest rules and restrictions and well-placed to notice how they are impacting crewing.
Jensen explained: ‘In response to the rapid increase in infections around the world, governments are imposing new or additional measures including travel restrictions. Although these measures are understandable in the circumstances, based on scientific evidence, and intended to provide protection for their populations, they also cause operational and logistical problems for crew changes.
RightShip and INTERCARGO announced on 21 January the launch of an important new quality standard for the dry bulk sector, DryBMS. The standard will be governed by a new NGO to be established later this year and will support the improvement of safety in the dry bulk segment.
Both RightShip and INTERCARGO have strongly and consistently advocated the need for significant improvements to dry bulk safety standards. In August 2020 both organisations combined their expertise to create a single framework for the whole industry.
Supported by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and BIMCO, DryBMS now exists as a simple set of best practices and key performance indicators and raises the bar on safety, environmental and operational excellence.
RightShip’s CEO Steen Lund says that he is confident that such a programme will be supported and adopted: ‘We are proud to launch DryBMS to the industry. The standard is a product of extensive collaboration with many stakeholders within the dry bulk sector.