During June, there were five new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port.

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious, they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

4. All deficiencies should be rectified before departure.

5. When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on a system of inspections for the safe operation of Ro-Ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft in regular service and amending directive 2009/16/EC and repealing Council Directive 1999/35/EC (Directive EU 2017/2110).

Notes on the list of detentions:

• Full details of the ship: The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
• Company: The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
• Classification society: The list shows the classification society responsible for classing the ship only.
• Recognised organisation: Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the flag state.
• White (WL), grey (GL) and black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag state.
• Deficiencies: The deficiencies listed are the ones which were detainable. Further details of other deficiencies can be provided on request.

SHIPS DETAINED IN JUNE 2020

Vessel Name: MARCO POLO

GT: 22080

IMO: 6417097

Flag: Bahamas (white list)

Company: Global Cruise Lines Ltd

Classification society: DNV GL

Recognised organisation: DNV GL

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNV GL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: DNV GL

Date and place of detention: 19th June 2020 at Avonmouth

Summary: Six deficiencies with one ground for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Expired	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: VASCO DA GAMA

GT: 55877

IMO: 8919245

Flag: Bahamas (white list)

Company: Global Cruise Lines Ltd

Classification society: Lloyd’s Register

Recognised organisation: Lloyd’s Register

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNVGL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Lloyd’s Register

Date and place of detention: 19th June 2020 at Tilbury

Summary: Five deficiencies with three grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Expired	Yes
18204 – Non-payment of wages	Not according to SEA	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: ASTOR

GT: 20704

IMO: 8506373

Flag: Bahamas (white list)

Company: Global Cruise Lines Ltd

Classification society: DNV GL

Recognised organisation: DNV GL

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNV GL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: DNV GL

Date and place of detention: 19th June 2020 at Tilbury

Summary: Two deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Expired	Yes
18203 – Wages	Missing	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: ASTORIA

GT: 16144

IMO: 5383304

Flag: Portugal (white list)

Company: Global Cruise Lines Ltd

Classification society: BV

Recognised organisation: BV

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: BV

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: BV

Date and place of detention: 19th June 2020 at Tilbury

Summary: Five deficiencies with four grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Expired	Yes
18204 – Non- payment of wages	Non – payment of wages	Yes
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Invalid	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: COLUMBUS

GT: 63786

IMO: 8611398

Flag: Bahamas (white list)

Company: Global Cruise Lines Ltd

Classification society: Lloyd’s Register

Recognised organisation: Lloyd’s Register

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNVGL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Lloyd’s Register

Date and place of detention: 19th June 2020 at Tilbury

Summary: Five deficiencies with four grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Not as required	Yes
18203 – Wages	Not according to SEA	Yes
01220 – Seafarers’ employment agreement (SEA)	Invalid	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: LIVA GRETA

GT: 851

IMO: 8801072

Flag: Latvia (white list)

Company: Regulus SIA

Classification society: RINA

Recognised organisation: RINA

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: RMRS

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and place of detention: 11th January 2020 at Birkenhead

Summary: Nine deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
11113 – Launching arrangements for rescue boats	Inoperative	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: POSEIDON

GT: 1412

IMO: 7363217

Flag: Iceland (White list)

Company: Neptune EHF

Classification society: NA

Recognised organisation: NA

Recognised organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: N/A (SMC issued by Flag)

Date and place of detention: 19th July 2018 at Hull

Summary: Ten deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
02106 – Hull damage impairing seaworthiness	Holed	Yes
07113 – Fire Pumps	Insufficient Pressure	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: TECOIL POLARIS

GT: 1814

IMO No: 8883290

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Tecoil Shipping Ltd

Classification society: RMRS

Recognised organisation: RMRS

Recognised organisation for ISM DOC: RMRS

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and place of detention: 6th June 2018 at Immingham

Summary: Twenty-seven deficiencies with six grounds for detentions

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
10104 – Gyro compass	Inoperative	Yes
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
11104 – Rescue boats	Not properly maintained	Yes
11101 – Lifeboats	Not ready for use	Yes
01117 – International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP)	Invalid	Yes

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO (General Cargo)

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Unregistered.

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification society: Unclassed.

Recognised organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 30th June 2020

Notes to Editors • The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector.

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on: +44 (0) 2380 329 401 Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.

Requirements

The Green Finance Programme Team in Brazil opens this tender to compose a Research and Innovation Committee with experts from the sustainable finance and infrastructure, climate change, gender and social development areas aiming to maximise the Programme’s positive impact in Brazil.

The Research and Innovation Committee will work as a curator of primary data generated by the Programme (advising on and assessing applied methodologies and resulted quality) and of secondary data used by it (assessing reliability and accuracy). It will contribute to ensure data quality and, therefore, to provide scientific-based inputs to influence the process of decision making along the Programme. Moreover, the Research and Innovation Committee is expected to produce high-quality collaborative research, adding value to Programme knowledge management, scaling up methodologies and results and fostering innovation.

Objectives and required tasks

The members of the Research and Innovation Committee will provide a strategic scientific overview as well as scientific assessment and advice on outputs developed by the consortium to maximise the Programme’s impact in Brazil.

The Research and Innovation Committee will work as a curator of primary data generated by the Programme (advising on and assessing applied methodologies and resulted quality) and of secondary data used by it (assessing reliability and accuracy). It will contribute to ensure data quality and, therefore, to provide scientific-based inputs to influence the process of decision making along the Programme.

Moreover, the Research and Innovation Committee is expected to produce high-quality collaborative research, adding value to Programme knowledge management, scaling up methodologies and results and fostering innovation.

More objectives and tasks on the Terms of Reference – Research and Innovation Committee (ODT, 160KB)

Budget and payment

The budget will be based on the agreed financial proposal. The payment will be made in instalments upon the attendance on the Committee meetings and the delivery and approval of the Recommendation reports.

The maximum budget for the required work is £25,000, which should include taxes, day rates, travel and subsistence and any other costs. Any proposals above this range will not be considered. Bids under this amount are welcome.

Applicants will be evaluated from both technical and commercial perspectives to ensure the best value for British Taxpayers’ money is being achieved. Evaluation criteria include I. Understanding of the brief and knowledge of the subject matter (40%), II. Proven experience and expertise on the topic in Brazil (40%), and III. Pricing (20%).

A Selection Board will assess all proposals received, interview the shortlisted candidates and select the awarded Committee.

Selection process

Only Committees presented by an Institution will be selected for the process. Individuals’ applications will not be considered.

The proposals must be in English and include:

• names and curricula of all experts that will compose the Committee
• recent example of each expert’s analytical work (10 pages maximum) in their area of expertise
• commercial proposal in pounds, including details on fees, travel, subsistence and all included costs and expenses (Please use the template in Annex I of the Terms of Reference)

The institutions interested in applying for this work should submit their proposals to maud.chalamet@fco.gov.uk cc katia.fenyves@fco.gov.uk and anaclara.barbosa@uk.org.br by close of business on 9 August 2020.

Applications received after this deadline will not be considered in the selection process.

For any queries during the application time, please forward an email to katia.fenyves@fco.gov.uk cc anaclara.barbosa@uk.org.br.

Terms of reference

An innovative project in Nottingham that converts carbon dioxide into clean animal feed is 1 of 9 pioneering agricultural technology projects set to benefit from £24 million of government funding.

Nottingham-based consortium REACT-FIRST will receive over £2 million to generate clean, sustainable food for fish and poultry with an up to 75% smaller carbon footprint. Led by Nottingham company Deep Branch Biotechnology, the project will use its unique technology to turn carbon dioxide from Drax Power’s Selby power station into animal food with minimal water usage and without the need for arable farmland.

The funding will allow the consortium to provide a greener alternative to soy and fishmeal for the animal industry, enabling industries that traditionally create higher levels of waste, such as agriculture, to contribute to a cleaner environment.

The project will work with leading retailer Sainsbury’s as well as the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre to integrate into the fish and poultry supply chain, helping to ensure that industry demand is met.

It is 1 of 9 projects benefitting from a £24 million package from the UK government, which are applying big data, artificial intelligence and robotics to UK farming, with the aim of establishing a more efficient system of food production that cuts costs and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

From robotics assisting our farmers in fruit picking, to technology that converts CO2 to clean animal feed, the incredible projects we are backing today represent the future of farming.

Working with the best of British science, we are turning our most creative ideas into pioneering projects that will accelerate our transition to net zero food production, boost jobs and drive forward the UK’s economic recovery.

Other projects receiving funding include the world’s first Autonomous Growing System (AGS), led by Optimal Labs in London, which will receive over £2 million to provide autonomous technology that controls climate, irrigation and lighting, enabling any crop variety to be grown in any location. This will significantly increase production levels and resource-efficiency in existing UK greenhouses, helping to protect the UK’s food system against climate change and population growth.

A further project led by Saga Robotics in Lincoln will receive nearly £2.5 million to perform the largest known global demonstration of robotics and autonomous technologies on a farm. The robots will assist farmers by carrying out essential, energy intensive physical farm processes such as picking and packing fruit and treating crops to reduce critical pests and diseases. This will help provide a more efficient food supply at a cheaper cost, allowing farmers to commit more time to the wider running of their farms.

Farming Minister Victoria Prentis said:

It’s great to see investment in these outstanding ideas which will help us tackle the farming industry’s greatest challenges, from achieving net zero emissions to investing in sustainable alternative protein for animal feed. Farming has never before been at the centre of such exciting and forward looking innovations.

Projects receiving funding include:

REACT-FIRST (Nottingham), led by Deep Branch Biotechnology, will receive over £2 million to use carbon dioxide from Drax Power’s Selby power station and apply its unique CO2-to-protein process to generate food for fish and poultry with up to 75% smaller carbon footprints, no requirements for arable land and minimal water usage.

Autonomous Growing System (London), led by Optimal Labs, will receive over £2 million to provide autonomous technology that controls climate, irrigation and lighting, enabling any crop variety to be grown in any location. This will significantly increase production levels and resource-efficiency in existing UK greenhouses, helping to protect the UK’s food system against climate change and population growth.

Robot Highways (Lincoln) led by Saga Robotics, will receive nearly £2.5 million to perform the largest known global demonstration of robotics and autonomous technologies on a farm. The robots will assist farmers by carrying out essential, energy intensive physical farm processes such as picking and packing fruit and treating crops to reduce critical pests and diseases.

Production at the Point of Consumption (Maidstone) led by Evogro, will receive nearly £850,000 to research and develop the next generation of autonomous growing systems, to ensure they are affordable for new consumer markets, and to make it an economic method to produce mainstream crops.

InFarm2.x (London) led by vertical farming business InFarm will receive over £3 million to develop a farming system that can grow a wider variety of fruit and vegetables than is currently possible by growing their crops in vertically stacked levels, rather than on a single level surface, such as a field. It will also use technology including gas sensors and monitoring cameras to observe the growth patterns of their crops, helping to identify the optimal growing conditions, increasing productivity.

AGRI-SATT (London) led by Feed Algae, will receive over £4 million for its project which is based around an algae growing system that exploits natural seawater to produce food in deserts. This project aims to combine data from the growing system with satellite data to automate production and increase the nutritional quality of the food produced.

GelPonic (Manchester), led by AEH Innovative Hydrogel, has developed a new growth material that will improve crop yields on farms worldwide. It will receive over £1 million to develop a material that conserves water and protects plants by filtering pathogens and includes a new graphene-based IoT device that allows remote-monitoring of conditions in vertical farms.

REMEDY (Bath), led by Quality Milk Management Services, will receive over £1.7 million to provide precision technologies to dairy farmers enabling them to access real time data to ensure their farm is as productive, efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. This includes technology such as wearable devices for cows that tracks their behaviour and nutrition, ensuring farmers can make more informed decisions when managing their farm.

TUBERSCAN-DEMO (Lincoln), led by B-hive, will receive nearly £2 million to develop and test an innovative demonstrator system to measure average potato sizes and yield throughout potato fields, providing insights that will enable selective harvesting to take place, optimising crop yield and resource use. It is anticipated that this technology could generate an estimated 5-10% increase in UK marketable potato production.

The investment in new resource efficient, low-emission production systems is part of the government’s commitment to boost spending on research and development to £22 billion by 2024 to 2025. It follows the publication earlier this month of the government’s ambitious R&D Roadmap, announced by the Business Secretary, setting out plans to establish the UK as a science superpower.

Today’s funding is being awarded through 2 competitions – the Future Food Production Systems competition and the Science and Technology into Practice Demonstration competition. It forms part of UK Research & Innovation’s (UKRI) Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Transforming Food Production (TFP) challenge, which aims to set food production systems on the trajectory to net zero emissions by 2040 producing food in ways that are more efficient, resilient and sustainable.

Unveiled by the Office of Public Guardian (OPG), the new digital ‘Use a lasting power of attorney’ tool will help those acting as an attorney to contact organisations like banks and healthcare providers more easily. This will improve the speed with which they can make important decisions, such as those related to their loved ones’ care or property.

The current paper-based process can take weeks, as documents need to be requested and confirmed between organisations and individuals, before being posted as physical copies. The new system will allow those acting as an attorney to provide a secure code, which when submitted to the online portal will nearly instantaneously confirm their status as an attorney and the power they hold – authorising them to take actions on their loved ones’ behalf.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows people to appoint someone else (an attorney) to make decisions about their welfare, money or property. They are often used by older people to choose someone they know and trust to make decisions for them were they to lose capacity in the future – but can be used by anyone at any age. The number of registered LPAs has increased drastically in recent years to more than 4 million, with many taking the important step to plan for the future.

The new service, available to newly registered LPAs from today, is part of a wider transformation of the work of OPG –  making better use of digital products and services, and using smarter ways of working. Crucially, the new tool maintains existing checks, including to confirm whether someone has the legal right to act as an attorney and the powers they may be entitled to – protecting the vulnerable and elderly from abuse of an LPA.

Nick Goodwin, Public Guardian for England and Wales, said:

More people are taking the important step to plan for the future and apply for a Lasting Power of Attorney, and we want to make sure those they entrust with making vital decisions on their behalf receive the very best possible support.

Our new digital service will ensure attorneys can make effective and efficient decisions when managing their loved ones’ affairs – without the delays a paper-based services can cause.

But this is just one part of our ambitious transformation programme and we are constantly looking at how we can improve as an organisation to benefit the public and our partners.

Justice Minister Alex Chalk said:

This new innovative system will make a real and positive difference to people dealing with what can be an emotional and difficult process.

It is just the latest example of the way we are using technology throughout the justice system to create better, more effective services for the public.

The new  system has been tested by various stakeholders, including the Department for Work and Pensions and HSBC UK, who aim to use it to maintain services to their customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Maxine Pritchard, Head of Financial Inclusion & Vulnerability – HSBC UK Retail said:

We’ve worked closely with the Office of the Public Guardian on the design and development of the new service to create a much-improved journey for our customers.   

The ongoing pandemic has brought challenges to us all and we’ve been working hard to ensure our customers, and their care network, are able to get the support they need. We’ve enabled a digital registration of Power of Attorney, removing the need for customers to visit a branch. We’re now able to authenticate the document so we know it’s genuine and of course the customer experience is greatly improved.

Notes to editors

• The new system, known as ‘Use a lasting power of attorney’, will be available from today (17 July 2020) to newly registered LPAs and can be accessed at www.gov.uk/opg
• The Office of the Public Guardian are working on extending this system to already registered LPAs.