Port of Singapore increases inspections of bulk carriers

Port of Singapore increases inspections of bulk carriers    The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said it will inspect “as many bulk carriers as possible,” through Nov. 30.
   The inspection campaign, which started Monday, will target bulk carriers above 15,000 gross tons and more than 12 years old, “particularly those carrying high density or corrosive cargoes and trading on the spot market,” the port said in a statement.
   The port advised shipowners and ship operators that, during this period of concentrated inspections, “access to (a bulk carrier’s) fore peak, upper wing ballast tanks, and cargo hold spaces may be requested.”
   Undertaken as part of routine port state control inspections, Singapore’s special scrutiny of bulk carriers is part of a program agreed upon by the Committee of the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) implementing requirements of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS 74).