News

As Club Correspondents, Budd’s Douala office was pleased to contribute to the North of England’s country focus on Cameroon which is reproduced here.

The suspension of rice imports announced on 29 September 2016, may be about to end following an agreement reached between the Senegalese government and local rice importers on 10 November.

On 14 October 2016, the European Union and several West African coastal countries launched the Gulf of Guinea Inter-regional Network (GoGIN) in Lomé where the Exraordinary African Union Summit on Maritime Security and Development was being held.

Following the recent riots over delayed presidential elections, Budd’s DR Congo offices in Kinshasa and Matadi report that the situation seems to be calmer for the time being.

The Myanmar Times has announced government plans to open the insurance market to foreign insurance companies in 2017.

Despite the post-election riots which resulted in several deaths and over a thousand arrests over the last few days, Budd’s Gabon office advises that the country’s ports (Libreville, Owendo and Port Gentil) are working normally and remain safe for both vessels and their crews.

The Budd App is proving to be a very handy and popular tool with both our colleagues and clients.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has received an order for 25 forklift trucks from the Algerian port procurement company, Groupement d’Intérêt Commun des Entreprises Portuaires (GICEP). The forklifts will perform stevedoring operations at the ports of Algiers, Annabas, Mostaganem, Oran and Tenes.

Budd’s Abidjan office (Ivory Coast) reports that following discussions with the various port operators, the CFA Francs 2,000,000.00 (Euros 3,049.00) stowaway fines first introduced on 1 May 2016 will be reduced to CFA Frances 1,000,000.00 (Euros 1,524.50) per stowaway as of 15 June 2016.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) updated its stance on booster vaccinations for yellow fever, stating that a single vaccination should be considered effective for life instead of ten years as previously.

Pending the update of WHO International Health Regulations announced for 10 July 2016, vaccination practices and requirements are in a state of flux with some countries considering that yellow fever vaccinations require ten year boosters and asking seafarers to provide vaccination certificates with ten year validity, some still vaccinating local populations every ten years but recognising life-time validity for seafarers, and others recognising lifetime validity for both their own vaccinations and for those of visitors to their country.