DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2016 – 098

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2016 – 098

Distribution : daily to 34.000+ active addresses 07-04-2016 Page 1

Number 098 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Thursday 07-04-2016

News reports received from readers and Internet News articles copied from various news sites.

The Damen shipyards group built SVS CORNWALLIS at Maaspilot station receiving the

pilot from high speed pilot tender GEMINI before heading for Maaskant Shipyard in Stellendam

Photo : Capt Charles Bijl – Coxwain Pilot tender Gemini ©

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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

05-04-2016 : The McDermott DLV 2000 out of Singapore conducting sea trials at One Fathom Bank, Port Klang

Photo : Laurie K Gilbert - Aerial Marine Media www.aerialmarine.com ©

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EPE (Environmental Protection Engineering) S.A. and ERMA FIRST S.A. become Incentive Providers of

Green Award Foundation. EPE (Environmental Protection Engineering) S.A. and ERMA FIRST S.A. are proud to announce their

participation in the Green Award Foundation as incentive providers, as of April 2016. The handover ceremony took place on the 31st of March, in Piraeus, in the head offices of EPE, where Capt. DimitriosMattheou, chairman of Green Award Foundation and Jan Fransen, Executive Director of the Green Award, recognized EPE and ERMA FIRST as incentive providers of the foundation. Mr. Athanassios Polychronopoulos, Vice President & Global Development Manager received the honors for EPE, whereas Messrs. Christos Tsitselis, Sales Manager and Nikos Kyritsis,

Technical Product Manager, for ERMA FIRST. Green Award Foundation in a neutral, independent and non-profit organization established in 1994. Green Award provides a platform for the cross-sectorial collaboration of the industry. Ports, ship managers, charterers, maritime service providers and industry decision makers form a network where all participants have an important role. The organization’s goal is to develop the market sensitivity and preference for quality tonnage and consequently decrease the incidents and accidents that are harmful for the marine environment through uniting all parties involved. Mr. J. Fransen, Executive Director, and Mr. K. Shinohara, Certification Manager of Green Award Foundation visited the companies’ premises in December in order to discuss the possibility of becoming incentive providers. With great honor and joy we are in the position to announce that EPE and ERMA FIRST will be part of Green Award Foundation providing the following incentives: EPE as an incentive provider of Green Award Foundation will be providing to all certified companies and ships a 5% discount of the listed price on POSEIDON EVO and POSEIDON I, a 10% discount on Inventory Hazardous Materials (IHM), a 25% discount on a training course on Spill Response, under the topic “Oil Spill Awareness” and last but not least, a free of charge “Environmental Compliance and Performance Consultancy and Training Program”. Whereas, ERMA FIRST will be providing to all certified companies and ships a 5% discount on ERMA FIRST’s ESK Engineering Solutions S.A., IMO/ USCG certified, Ballast Water Treatment System and a free of charge BWTS shipboard training session, that will cover BWTS current legislation, installation, operation, sampling, maintenance and testing per ship.Both companies are headquartered in Greece and serve globally.EPE counts over 40 years in the Marine & Industrial sector investing in research, development and implementation of new technologies. EPE has developed innovative machinery for water treatment & environmental response services. ERMA FIRST was established for the purpose of providing to the marine, shipping and shipbuilding industry worldwide turnkey environmental solutions, through the innovative ERMA FIRST Ballast Water Treatment System.

MSC Poised to Order Another Four Megaships French news sources are reporting that MSC Cruises will add another four Meraviglia-plus ships to go along with the seven ships it currently has on order. The deliveries would be through 2024 and the additional four ships would be built at STX France. The privately owned cruise line may announce its plans this Wednesday at a planned event in Paris with STX France.MSC Cruises currently has four new ships on order at STX France and three with Fincantieri.The Meraviglia-plus vessels are 177,100 tons with capacity for 4,888 passengers.source : cruiseindustrynews

PUGNAX COMPLETES SUCCESFULL TRAILS



Redbox Energy services PUGNAX completed successfully the yard trails with above seen a proud team!

Four major innovations for walk2work vessels DP GEZINA and DP GALYNA

Walk2work offshore support accommodation vessels DP GEZINA and DP GALYNA are now being upgraded for even better performance. Dutch developer and operator of walk2work offshore and near shore support vessels and barges, Chevalier Floatels, says these vessels will be available for chartering soon. CEO Chevalier Floatels, Marcel Roelofs explains: “We used client feedback and our own experience over the past couple of years to make these

vessels even better.” Four major innovationstookplace on board DP GEZINA and DP GALYNA.

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1-Chevalier Floatels increased total bed capacity to 70 while in compliance with the Special Purpose Ships (SPS) code. 2-The company has doubled deck capacity by adding one more deck. Additional workspace has been created and a large covered area is now available for storing containers. 3-The ships are outfitted with a second retractable azimuth bowthruster for a stronger DP plot and improved Ampelmann performance. 4-By installing a pedestal under the Ampelmann, turbines and platforms are now accessible at 23 metres above the waterline. Fully equipped for 24/7 offshore operations DP GEZINA and DP GALYNA are both outfitted withan Ampelmann heave compensated gangway and crew boat landing for personnel transfer operations. With increased passenger capacity, deck space, Ampelmann performance and platform access height, DP GEZINA and DP GALYNA, are now fully equipped to handle the most demanding walk2work projects. For more information and details, watch this video: https://youtu.be/6dB1a-HKDe8

The K line operated CHORUS arriving at Lyttelton to load coal for Japan. Photo : Alan Calvert ©

Coastal catastrophe is looming for Scotland due to reliance on just one boat

by Iain Ramage Scotland depends on a single emergency towing vessel.

A leading campaigner claims an “environmental coastal catastrophe” is looming because of Scotland’s dependence on a single emergency tug. Former Highland Council leader and serving board member of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Michael Foxley has made a plea to the UK Government to reinstate a second Scottish tug amid widespread fears that the north will have no such vessel after September. The retired GP has warned that it was simply a matter of time before the north of Scotland suffered a major coastal incident. “Hopefully it will not involve loss of life,” he said. Carmichael says loss of Orkney tub boat would cause "unacceptably high" risks“But it will have catastrophic implications for the economy and the environment of the west coast.”Until 2011, the UK had four emergency towing vessels (ETVs), one each stationed in and around the northern isles, the Western Isles, on the Cornish coast and in the Dover Strait.Financial cuts left the one vessel – Herakles – in and around Orkney covering both the northern and Western Isles.The decision was part of the comprehensive spending review package announced in October 2010, based on the UK Government’s judgment about “the balance of risk of pollution in the event of a maritime accident”. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) recently secured funding to extend the current ETV contract for the single Orkney vessel. But the cover is due to expire on September 30.It is consulting with stakeholders in Scotland while exploring “alternative options” which might allow the maintenance of an ETV capability without the use of public funds.Dr Foxley said: “The Orkney tug is not remotely doing the job it used to do. When there were two tugs, the one in Stornoway was fully manned and out in The Minches, so it would shadow hazardous cargoes such as nuclear shipments.“If there was anything the coastguard was concerned about it would react to it. “Under the current set-up, the crew take time to mobilise. It’s no longer ‘rapid response’. It’s a long way from Ardnamurchan or Barra when the vessel is in Orkney.“The waters of The Minches and the Pentland Firth are some of the most hazardous in the UK. There have been at least six incidents in the last five or six years in The Minches.”A spokeswoman for the MCA insisted that maritime safety was a priority. She said: “We’ve recently secured funding to extend the current ETV contract for one ETV and this coverage will now expire on September 30.” She added that any changes in shipping patterns would

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be reviewed during the consultation and taken into consideration. A senior UK Government source has told the Press and Journal that the contract will be renewed in September. ETVs were deployed in the wake of the 1993 oil tanker disaster in which the Liberian-registered MV Braer ran aground in a hurricane, spilling its load off Shetland. Highland Council is maintaining pressure on the UK and Scottish governments to secure long-term funding for tugs to cover the north and west coastline. Source: pressandjournal

BigLift’sHappy Star delivers key part of Yadanagas field offshore

SapuraAcergy awarded BigLift Shipping the transportation contract for a wellhead production topside module for the Yadana gas field, off Myanmar. BigLift had to load the module in Ulsan, Korea, and take it to the Yadana field, where SapuraAcergy’s S3000 would lift it off and install it onto its offshore foundation. HAPPY STAR loaded the topside module of just under 1,000 mt with her two 900 mt heavy lift mast cranes at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. The most critical element in the project was the lifting operation and the cargo had several limitations in relation to the offshore discharge. A major challenge was the orientation of the topside module on deck which had to be exactly in position for the unloading operation. To achieve the correct orientation while loading, the topside module had to be lifted from the grillage on the quayside, brought above the cargo deck between the cranes, and then rotated to its final position. HAPPY STAR’s wide beam provided ample stability and in combination with the crane capacities this ensured the shortest execution time and safest operation possible.The module’s eccentric centre of gravity and size created challenges in terms of lifting clearances, safe

working load (SWL) and outreach. In the planning stages, comprehensive 3D simulations showed that when the module was turned to its final position, the minimum clearance between the cargo and HAPPY STAR’s crane wouldonly be 700 mm!

A second challenge was to design a grillage and sea fastening system capable of taking the anticipated loads in compliance with our client’s requirements. A detailed FEM analysis was carried out to prove the integrity of the proposed system and to identify and improve any weak

spots. The design of the sea-fastening system focused on easy access to the cutting locations at no more than eye height. This dispensed the need to work at height offshore, increased safety and enhanced the ease of operation at the discharge location. The workshop drawings and Material Take Off list were delivered to pre-fabricate all components.The discharge operation, including the mooring operations and lifting preparations, had been planned as carefully as the loading sequence. After a short sea voyage HAPPY STAR arrived at



the discharge location offshore Myanmar to meet SapuraAcergy’s S3000. Its impressive crane successfully lifted the module in a single lift operation, using the slings already laid out on the module’s deck.BigLift looks back on a project with great challenges, which were all solved to the satisfaction of the parties concerned. HAPPY STAR lived up to all the expectations and successfully performed the job she is designed for. Do look at a short video on the project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JSwbjChiU

BigLift Shipping is one of the world’s leading heavy lift shipping companies. BigLift’s fleet consists of 15 state-of-the art vessels with lifting capacities up to 1,800 mt. More information on BigLift Shipping can be found on www.bigliftshipping.com.

Van Oord’s CONTENDER seen arriving in Ijmuiden – Photo : Ruud Coster ©

TrustLube Asia Pacific Relocates to PSA Building From April 1st 2016, TrustLube Asia Pacific has changed address to the PSA building, looking over the Singapore Harbour. the new address information is as follows: Visiting address TrustLube Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. PSA Building, Level 26 460 Alexandra Road Singapore 119963 Warehouse No 11, Tuas Ave 5 Singapore 639337 Contact: T: +65 6809 3087 F: +31 88 8787 750 E: [email protected]

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TrustLube Automatic Greasing Systems TrustLube designs, manufactures, assembles and installs automatic lubrication systems and monitoring systems for the maritime, dredging, offshore (wind) and oil & gas industry. Our skill lies in choosing the exact dosage required for the installation to achieve a sound performance. The method of TrustLube takes care of the continuity of the industrial process and enables installationsto achieve significant lubricant savings. Our sustainable TrustLube systems continually prove themselves in the most extreme conditions. Anywhere in the world.

the DP II Multicat JIF CHALLENGER seen entering Wilhelmshaven. Photo: Alexander Bohlen-Janssen ©

EU Port Service regulatory proposals win few friends in tug sector

by Clive Woodbridge

EU Port Service regulatory proposals win few friends in tug sector Last month the European Parliament voted in favour of adopting the Draft Regulation on Port Services, which would impose new regulations covering the harbour towage sector in European Union ports, potentially opening it up to greater competition. The new rules brought forward by the European Commission, which have been a long time in the making, have received short shrift from both tug operators and the unions representing their workforce. Indeed, the regulations will unite employers and employees in an unholy alliance against them. Immediately after the European Parliament had voted on the Port Services proposals, the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) issued a declaration which confirmed their rejection by its 15 member unions. In its statement the ETF argued that towage is an essential service for ports and maritime safety and security, and the consequences of getting harbour towage operations wrong on a local economy could be ‘beyond compare’. As a result, the ETF argued that the crucial role played by towage companies in securing port safety should be taken into account before opening up competition in this sector. The ETF continued: “The proposed regulation on port services would not improve the current situation; on the contrary, it would impose a purely theoretical model without any social added value.”The ETF went on to pledge to use any ‘lawful political and industrial means’ to oppose the regulations, and argued that companies that do not respect collective bargaining agreements with trade unions should not be allowed to enter the market. The unions also demanded the creation of a level playing field based on best practices and social standards for the entire European tug sector and expressed concerns over any initiatives that would encourage tug owners to make use of flags of convenience. Safe manning levels for each tug should be also be determined by a neutral and scientific risk assessment tool, the unions suggested. Even before the European Parliament vote had been taken, the European Tugowners Association (ETA) had outlined an equally hostile position, arguing that the proposed regulations were selective, disproportionate and would not achieve their desired objectives. In particular the ETA pointed out that the key Chapter II of the Regulation now applies to just four sectors - bunkering, port reception, mooring and towage - leaving out cargo handling, passenger services and pilotage, which had also been defined as ports services. The ETA claimed the Regulation was as a result “selective and unfair” and would not lead to better regulation, as it would limit its impact to a fraction of ports services



and would fall most heavily on those that contribute least to port charges, given that between them port infrastructure and cargo handling charges account for 50-70% of total port costs, and towage, pilotage and mooring only around 15%. Echoing the ETF position, the ETA stated: “By not exempting towage, like pilotage, from Chapter II on the organisation of ports services, the Draft Regulation negates the vital role of towage providers in safe operations and environmental protection in ports…major economic and environmental catastrophes in European ports are often avoided thanks to the prompt and adequate intervention of tugs.” After its meeting the ETF wrote to the ETA asking for a ‘meaningful dialogue’ with European tug owners on the present situation, following the Parliamentary vote, and the future of the tug industry. The ETA has recently announced that it has accepted this invitation in order to gain “a deeper insight about the unions' underlying concerns and aims.” One suspects that the ETF and ETA will be uneasy bedfellows, and have different agendas, but they clearly share common concerns about the impact of the proposed changes to the regulatory regime governing the tug sector in Europe. In particular they both claim that the Regulation could undermine the undeniably crucial role that tugs operators and their crews play in maintaining high safety levels in ports. It will be interesting to see over the coming months whether this unlikely alliance has any success in persuading the European Commission and Parliament to review and revise its proposals. One suspects it will be an uphill struggle, with limited scope for success. Source: tugtechnologyandbusiness

Boskalis UNION LYNX seen operating at the Veja Mate OWF

Photo : Flying Focus Aerial Photography www.flyingfocus.nl ©

Emergency tug is ‘indispensable’

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Given the well-documented history of oil spills and other maritime accidents in Scottish waters it would be foolhardy in the extreme – and unbelievably short-sighted – for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and government to pull the plug on such a vital service. Your MP is to be congratulated on raising the issue in Westminster, as are the councillors who have flagged-up the sea transports of nuclear materials and other radioactive materials from Dounreay via the port of Scrabster. Our own campaign over the last 30 years has highlighted the unique set of risks presented by such radioactive shipments. Whether in the form of ship fires, collisions, explosions or sinking, or the increasing threat from terrorists hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons-useable cargos. The security of such trade (most of which is wholly unnecessary) and the safety of on-route communities and the marine environment is paramount and demands the best possible emergency cover. Inexplicably, the risks to shipments from Dounreay are being deliberately exacerbated by the use of the NDA’s vessel OCEANIC PINTAIL which, by the nuclear fleet’s own practice of retiring ships “at or before” 25 years of nuclear service, has now outlived its shelf life by almost five years.Built in 1987 and laid up in our local Barrow docks in 2010 prior to being withdrawn, the vessel was press-ganged back into use as a stop-gap measure until a replacement could be found to carry out the NDA’s European and Atlantic business. A replacement has yet to be found.Further compromising maritime safety is the practice adopted by the OCEANIC PINTAIL and other vessels of the Barrow-registered nuclear fleet of turning off the vessels’ Automatic Identification System (AIS) when carrying a nuclear cargo – and increasingly even when the ship is unladen. The AIS system is designed and intended to assist a vessel’s watch-standing officers, neighbouring vessels and maritime authorities to track and monitor vessel movements. Thus, invisible not only to satellite and shore tracking systems but also to neighbouring vessels whose AIS is operating (other than radar contact or line of sight), the ageing Oceanic Pintail’s “incognito” passage from Scrabster to Barrow-in-Furness around Cape Wrath – or the Pentland Firth to European ports – is inviting exactly the kind of coastal calamity for which emergency tug assistance would be indispensable. Source: Shetland Times Online

AERIAL MARINE MEDIA IN ACTION

Newsclippings contributor Laurie K. Gilbert of Aerial Marine Media www.aerialmarine.com seen in action in the helicopter hovering over the Malacca Straits ready to catch the next vessel. Aerial Marine Media is an Asia based, multi media production company shooting dynamic imagery for cinema, television and all aspects of corporate communication. The company has a foundation of four decades in motion picture and photographic production world wide, with specialist expertise in helicopter

aerial and offshore marine operation. Aerial Marine Media was founded by Director of Photography Laurie K Gilbert s.o.c. who previously operated Electric Shadow Motion Pictures in Australia, L'Image Hong Kong in Hong Kong and L'Image Cinematography in Singapore to service his global client base. In 1969 he won the first Royal Scholarship to study cinematography at the London Film School and then in 1975 began his career as a news and current affairs cameraman in the Waikato for TV2 South Pacific Television in New Zealand. He has won a multitude of craft awards at different international festivals and has been a member of the Australian Cinematographers Society, the Society of Camera Operators, the Professional Aerial Photographers Association and is currently the Asia representative for the Guild of Television Cameraman.

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Fully laden Dhow leaving Dubai Creek. Photo : Maarten Versluijs ©

Port of Bellingham ordered to pay $16M to injured ferry worker

A jury found the Port of Bellingham negligent for failing to fix a control panel on a loading ramp that collapsed on an Alaska ferries employee in 2012.

By Mike Carter A federal jury has ordered the Port of Bellingham to pay $16 million in damages to an Alaska ferries employee who was injured while operating a faulty passenger-loading ramp at the port’s cruise terminal in 2012.The verdict was returned Friday after a nine-day trial before U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman. Jim Jacobsen, one of the attorneys representing the employee, Shannon Adamson, and her husband, Nicholas, of Juneau, said the eight-member jury deliberated about five hours before deciding the case.The jury found the port negligent for failing to fix a control panel that operated the passenger gangway ramp at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, even though evidence at the trial showed the port knew the panel was faulty and officials there knew of a previous, similar accident in 2008. In 2012, Adamson suffered life-threatening injuries when, while working as a mate aboard the Alaska ferry Columbia, the passenger gangway ramp at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal fell nearly 20 feet while she was adjusting it from a control panel. Jacobsen said she suffered multiple fractures, two punctured lungs, a lacerated liver and a head injury. She was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for 10 days, he said.Adamson sued the port in 2014, alleging widespread negligence, including allegations that the port knew the ramp had a faulty control panel based on a report written by a Seattle engineering firm, which pointed out problems with the control panel and suggested it be fixed.The so-called “Geiger Report” was commissioned and written after a 2008 incident where the loading ramp had dropped about 12 inches.“We point out that the result of this incident could have been much worse,” the report said.However, Adamson’s lawyers said the Geiger Report was, for the most part, ignored. A copy was provided to the state of Alaska’s Risk Management Division, however the port never provided it to the Alaska Marine Highway System, which operates the ferries and leases it operation at the port.Moreover, according to pleadings in her lawsuit, the “Port inexplicably disregarded the recommendations in the Geiger Report. “This is not a case where the port made a judgment call and made a mistake,” wrote Adamson’s attorneys in court documents. “This is a case where a defendant purposefully chose to subject its own employees … to a serious risk of injury of death. This conduct can only be characterized as reckless, callous and a willful and wanton disregard.”In addition to failing to fix the control panel, evidence at the trial showed that the port posted instructions on the ramp’s operation after the 2008 accident but never trained anyone on their use and never developed a system to determine who was qualified to operate the ramp.The port, in its pleadings, conceded that it could have addressed the faulty control panel before 2012 and that the repairs were not made until after Adamson was injured. The port’s lawyers argued that Adamson is at least partly responsible for her injuries. “The evidence also shows that Ms. Adamson’s own conduct was negligent,” they wrote. Her “actions before operating the passenger ramp demonstrate that she knew she was insufficiently trained.” The Port fully cooperated in the defense provided by its insurance carriers and these carriers have indicated that given the proceedings at trial they plan to appeal. The Port will continue to cooperate with its insurance carriers since the claims are fully covered by those carriers. Rob Fix, the Port of Bellingham’s executive director, said the insurance carriers funding the defense plan to appeal the verdict. “The Port will continue to cooperate with its



insurance carriers since the claims are fully covered by those carriers,” Fix said Monday.Pechman, in an order in January sending the case to trial, ticked down a long list of the port’s defenses and, one by one, dismissed them all.The jury awarded Adamson a total of $16,007,102, including $294,407 in lost past income and an estimated $4.2 million in lost future income. The jury awarded her $9 million to compensate for past and future pain and suffering and $227,088 for medical bills. Her husband, Nicholas Adamson, was awarded $2.2 million for loss of past and future consortium. Source: Seattle Times

Seven dead after car plunges off Cambodian river ferry

Seven people including five children drowned in Cambodia when a car packed with passengers slipped off a ferry and plunged into a river, police said on Monday.The incident took place on Sunday night in southern Kandal province when a driver boarded a local ferry at what investigators said was an unsafe speed.“The driver had drunk two cans of beer ... he drove the car too fast onto a ferry and it fell into the water,” a police report said.The group had been returning from worshipping at a relative’s grave for the annual Qingming festival — also known as Tomb Sweeping Day — the report added.The driver managed to escape out the window but the rest of his passengers, including children aged between four and 13-years-old, died. The driver has since been arrested. Three other people who were part of the group had exited the vehicle before it boarded the ferry, police said. Impoverished Cambodia has a poor health and safety record with road and industrial accidents commonplace. Ferries are often used to transport cars and motorbikes over wide rivers in the tropical nation.As in China and many other East Asian countries, Qingming festival is widely celebrated across Cambodia’s various communities.During the festival people visit and clean the graves of their ancestors as a mark of respect and to make merit. source: Gulfnews

Ferry start-up plans new western Channel service by Phil Davies

A start-up ferry company plans to start a cross-Channel service from Weymouth next year. High Speed Ferries aims to run sailings to Cherbourg from a terminal at the Dorset resort vacated by Condor Ferries. The company originally hoped to have crossings operating from next month but the date was pushed back after the local council said it needed further financial backing. The firm now aims to launch the western Channel service in January or February. Director, Jonathan Packer, told the BBC: "Starting in early 2017 will give us time to secure the best fast ferry and to develop the necessary port facilities to meet our scheduling requirements. "This includes the facilities needed to meet the new immigration and customs requirements at Weymouth. It also meets our investors' wish for a slower start-up than originally envisaged. "Recent, positive meetings with the Port of Cherbourg and senior officers from Weymouth & Portland Borough Council have demonstrated their continued support. We are working together on preparations for the service." Condor relocated its cross-channel services to Poole last year following the introduction of a larger high-speed vessel. Weymouth and Portland Borough Council spent £4.5 million repairing the ferry port after the harbour wall collapsed in 2012.High Speed Ferries said the crossing to Cherbourg would take less than two hours and create 90 jobs in Weymouth and Portland.source: travelweekly

Nanaimo and port authority seek proposals for passenger ferry to mainland

Nanaimo Port Authority and City of Nanaimo opened the door to fast ferry proposals with an eye to attract firms with proven track records in the business. It’s a process that concerns Island Ferries, which held the lease to run a multimillion-dollar ferry service until it expired last year. The City of Nanaimo announced this week its issued an expression of interest for a high-speed foot ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver with involvement from the Snuneymuxw First Nation. The new process will allow proponents to choose whether to establish

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service at the port authority’s cruise ship terminal or the city-owned property at 1 Port Dr., and requires consultation with First Nations and proof of sufficient financial backing. Both the city and the port authority make it clear they are interested ferry operations beginning as soon as possible and want proposals from firms with proven track records of operating passenger-only ferry services. It’s the latter that concerns Island Ferries because it’s a new company. “The statement [on track record] appears to exclude Island Ferries. At the very least, it would establish a clear preference for an operator other than Island Ferries,” said company spokesman Dave Marshall, who also raises concern about evaluation criteria not being available and the use of its proprietary information. It sought a fairness advisor this year to ensure the process is fair and to provide assurance for proponents and taxpayers, but Marshall said the recommendation was rejected. Bernie Dumas, CEO and president of Nanaimo Port Authority, said Island Ferries will have as equal a chance as anybody and the referred-to statement does not express a preference. It was meant to enhance the level of service sought.The system set up with the city will be “very, very transparent” and there will be a third-party advisory group created to review applicants, said Dumas, who did not consider the proposal of a fairness advisor necessary because confidential information given by companies is retained in files. “We responded to Mr. Marshall saying that we understood his position, but he has nothing to fear because that information is prevalent to them and our dealings with them over ... almost five years, so that’s not going to be used,” he said. “We are going to take a fresh start and all the applicants are going to be from Day 1 like nothing ever happened in the past.”The plan had been for the port and city to issue a request for proposals, which Dale Lindsay, the city’s director of community development, said is when there’s a readiness to enter into a contract for goods or services. This process is looking at interest and talking about two potential sites. The successful proponent would enter into more detailed negotiations based on whichever site is selected, he said. The expression of interest closes May 31. Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin

S&P downgrades CMA CGM on earnings constraint, tighter liquidity

By : Bruce Barnard

The 2016- built containership CMA CGM RIO GRANDE on her first call to Cape Town departed for Walvis Bay

Photo Ian Forsyth ©

Standard & Poor’s has downgraded CMA CGM’s long-term corporate credit rating to B from B+, saying the French container line’s earnings will be "constrained" by the "challenging" conditions in container shipping through 2017.The U.S. rating agency also expects CMA CGM’s liquidity to tighten over the next few quarters as a result of depressed freight rates and operating cash flows. The outlook for the Marseille-based carrier is negative, according to S&P, reflecting the continued high cyclical pressure on freight rates and that “given the uncertain short-term outlook for the container liner sector, CMA CGM’s liquidity might weaken further if the company’s financial performance was below our expectations.”CMA CGM’s financial risk profile has been raised to “highly leveraged” from “aggressive” as it is vulnerable to weak industry prospects due to overcapacity and sluggish world trade growth.S&P said its current assessment of CMA CGM’s business risk profile as weak will not change after it closes on the $2.4 billion acquisition of Singapore-based NOL.CMA CGM’s liquidity position will improve “markedly and immediately” after the deal is finalized given a $1.6 billion pool of available credit lines at NOL that will be available to CMA CGM after the acquisition. “We believe the company will benefit from improvements to its scale and competitive advantage from the merger with NOL,” S&P said. “However, we do not consider these improvements sufficiently material to revise our view of CMA CGM’s business risk profile,



which remains constrained by the shipping industry’s high risk and the company’s volatile profitability.”S&P said it would further lower CMA CGM’s credit rating in the next few quarters if it believes the carrier is experiencing a higher contraction in freight rates than it currently forecasts.CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest carrier by capacity, earned $911 million before interest and tax in 2015, down 6.4 percent from $973 million in the previous year as revenue also shrank 6.4 percent to $15.7 billion despite a 6.3 percent increase in traffic to 13 million 20-foot equivalent units. Source : Journal of Commerce

Reality check – What do you mean you want to revisit the contract?

How things have changed over the last few months. I recall many fund managers and companies reporting that there was clear forward earnings visibility for many as they had contracts in place thereby giving a fair amount of certainty. Some may recall that I addressed this in my opinion piece in Splash last August, suggesting that no one was immune from the fallout and even the existence of a contract did not guarantee future earnings. The piece warned of contract delivery delays, charter rate reduction and contract cancellations as companies moved to shore up balance sheets and improve liquidity. This has come to pass and we now see a deluge of negative sentiment and reporting around the shipping / shipbuilding and OSV markets of late.The situation has got to the stage that the nuances in the good news / bad news stories have changed emphasis. It is now seen as a positive when an existing contract is scaled back and charter values reduced rather than outright cancellation. I suppose that this is a better result than having the contract cancelled in its entirety, but has now introduced the next battleground as liquidity issues emerge front and centre. My last opinion piece looked at the state of the market, and my recent webcast on the on the Asia markets discussed the decline and possible new niche markets. This article takes these onboard but will focus on what one can expect for the rest of 2016. Whilst the yards in Asia had distinct advantages in shaping their dominance over the sector in the last few decades, those advantages have diminished of late.

Trend one: Ongoing consolidation of the balance sheet

We currently have oversupply / capacity not only in existing vessel fleets, but we have newbuilds entering the market, suggesting market conditions will deteriorate. Consider, for example, that of the world fleet of approximately 5,000 OSVs, 1,300 are not active and there are 500 on order. We now have the situation that in some sectors, such as dry bulk, shipping companies have been forced / coerced into accepting zero charter rates i.e. the charter covers operating costs only. In a sense the dry bulk sector has responded by increasing the pace of scrapping in 2016, with 117 vessels scrapped so far this year as opposed to 81 in the same period of 2015.Other options that are available to the sector to bring about balance is to reduce the supply of vessels by means of disposals, demolition / scrapping and stacking. Bourbon, the French operator, has adopted the stacking approach with more than 20% of its 511 vessel fleet now out of service. In my view, the only real solution is to increase the level to which older vessels are scrapped. It has been suggested in some quarters that vessels beyond 15 years of age, whilst appearing costly and introducing short term impairment costs, clears the deck for sustained growth going forward. Another consolidation method that will be attractive is debt restructuring, with the most popular being the conversion of debt into equity transfers to improve liquidity. We are seeing this taking place particularly in the South Korean yards, an example being Hyundai Heavy. Associated with this development in Korea has seen the Korea Development

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Bank receiving requests from the Korea Shipowners Association to “go easy” on loan to value breaches as values decline. Paragon, who recently disposed of its fleet, offered baby bond holders an exchange of $25 note for 60 shares of Paragon common stock.

Trend two: Increase in mergers and acquisition activity

Whilst not a lot happening right now, I expect that this will escalate over the next six months as companies move to rationalise fleets and services in order to rectify the current supply/demand imbalance. Of interest is the move by Japanese and Korean shipyards to enter creative JVs with countries that can offer lower cost advantages, particularly as shipbuilding is moving towards standardisation and modular construction. Japan appears to have favoured new yards in Myanmar, whilst South Korea has boosted this activity with Vietnam.There has been further speculation that Keppel and SembCorp Marine will merge their offshore and marine businesses – particularly coming out of the Singapore government’s investment instrument, Temasek Holdings. This has particularly come to the forefront as both are exposed to Sete Brasil to the value of around $2bn and would have significant impairment costs, eroding shareholder value.

Trend three: Offload assets

We are already seeing the evidence of shipping companies and shipyards moving to rationalising their fleet / focus and return to their core business. The most notable has been Paragon that made the decision to offload its entire fleet. Daewoo Shipbuilding has also recently announced that it will be moving away from the offshore / sector and focus on LNG and defence contracts and it is selling off non-core assets. Other examples of companies selling off assets include Transocean and Diamond Offshore, but this option has become problematic when you consider that the price differential between new and secondhand vessels are at an all-time high.

Trend four: Increased legal fees around contract cancellations / renegotiations

Essentially this will become a lawyer’s paradise as we see increased activity in contract reviews and cancellations. In the recent past when demand outstripped supply, contract cancellation / review mechanisms where hastily constructed as there was always a ready customer to step into the breech – whether for a new build or take over a vessel charter. We now have the situation in which the available customer base has shrunk, and any poorly constructed contract terms is a basis to question the sanctity of the contract. Not only are we now seeing delays / postponements in delivery, we have seen an escalation of order cancellations. Examples would include 12 out of the 21 JURs ordered at Keppel are at risk of cancellation, with Transocean delaying the delivery of five JURs. Sembcorp Marine faces cancellation of 6 JURs by Marco Polo, Oro Negro and Perisai and a semi-submersible from West Rigel.

The latest legal proceedings include:

· Bumi Armada Vs Woodside for the cancellation / termination of the FPSO Armada Claire contract · Nam Cheong Vs Perdana Petroleum over the cancellation of the accommodation barge contract

What is needed going forward is having a sound management teams that has a clear strategy and insight into their markets. Some of the criteria to look at when evaluating a good team include:

· Ability to raise funds by means of a well-articulated business restructure and plan · Negotiation skills to facilitate debt restructuring including interest payment reductions and debt refinancing · Contract mediation skills to extend and preserve contracts as best they can and move from a win-lose mentality · Board structure that shows commitment to the business and not having directors with multi-board roles

There are many companies that do not demonstrate these capabilities, which could well result in a stronger trend emerging in the second half of 2016 i.e. increased business failure and bankruptcies source: Splash 24/7

Japanese firm asked to re-propose LNG project in Indonesia

Japanese oil firm Inpex Corp said today it has received a notification from the Indonesian government to propose a new development plan for the Abadi liquefied natural gas project based on using an onshore processing facility.The notification was expected as President Joko Widodo last month rejected an earlier proposal by Inpex and its partner Royal Dutch Shell to build the world’s largest floating LNG facility in the country’s east for the Abadi project, saying an onshore plant would benefit the Indonesian economy more. “We will carefully examine the contents of the notification, and intend to work closely with the Indonesian authorities aiming for the early start-up of development,” an Inpex spokesman said, without elaborating.The government’s decision was a blow to the two energy firms, as well as to Indonesia’s upstream energy regulator (SKKMigas), which had warned that rejecting the plan to process gas from the Masela field offshore would lead to delays and job cuts.Inpex, Japan’s biggest oil and gas developer, and Shell submitted a revised development plan to the Indonesian government last September, envisioning the adoption of



a floating LNG plant with an annual LNG processing capacity of 7.5 million tonnes.The Abadi field is located in the Masela block that is 65 per cent owned by Inpex and 35 per cent by Shell. State-owned Pertamina said last month it

First of Nine New TNPA Tugs Sets Sail Posted by Michelle Howard

The first of Transnet National Ports Authority’s nine new, powerful tugboats set sail from the Durban premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards, on Saturday, April 2, destined for its new home at the Port of Port Elizabeth.The tug was ceremonially launched as MVEZO last October. It arrived in Port Elizabeth in the early hours of Monday, April 4.Port Elizabeth port manager, Rajesh Dana, said, “The arrival of MVEZO in the Eastern Cape is particularly significant given that the tug was named after the small village in our province where former President, the late Nelson Mandela, was born. So in a sense we really are welcoming her home. “MVEZO will assist in bolstering the efficiency of our port’s marine operations. She will be the first of two new large, powerful tugs planned for our fleet as part of this large-scale contract,” he added.The nine-tug contract – valued at R1.4 billion – is the largest single contract TNPA has ever awarded to a South African company for the building of harbour craft.TNPA Chief Executive, Richard Vallihu, said after the tug’s ceremonial launch last year: “The building of MVEZO and the eight other tugs in this project, demonstrates that this country has the expertise to compete in the global shipbuilding industry and to use the maritime economy to unlock the economic potential of South Africa, in line with the government’s Operation Phakisa initiative.”MVEZO’s arrival at the Port of Port Elizabeth

will be marked with an official handover ceremony in the coming weeks. Thereafter there will be handovers every three months until the last tug is launched in early 2018. Two tugs each will be allocated to the Ports of Durban, Richards Bay and Port Elizabeth, while Saldanha, which handles the largest carriers, would receive three tugs. The tug building project kicked off in August 2014 and is providing a big boost to the local economy over its 42 month lifespan. Given the project’s tight deadlines five tugs are under construction simultaneously at any given time.TNPA program manager Eugene Rappetti, Senior Manager for Marine Operations, said TNPA had 29 tugs presently in service nationally, but the requirement for bigger, strong tugboat fleets had increased in line with bigger commercial vessels calling at South African ports more frequently. “TNPA’s new fleet will include nine tugs that are 31 meters long with a 70 ton bollard pull. The older tugs have 32.5 to 40 ton pulls. “The increased bollard pull of these new generation tugs meets international standards and they also feature the latest global technology. The tugs have Voith Scheider propulsion which makes them highly manoeuvrable and able to change the direction and thrust almost instantaneously while guiding large vessels safely into our ports,” he said.Durban based Southern African Shipyards, which owns and operates the largest shipyard in Southern Africa, also built TNPA’s previous 12 tugs. The company scooped the latest contract through an open and transparent process. Its employees have a 12 percent stake in the company, which has 60 percent black ownership.Subcontractors on the project include well-known multi-nationals such as Barloworld Equipment, Siemens, Voith Schneider, as well as local contractors such as Bradgary Marine Shopfitters. CEO Maharaj said his company had created 500 direct and 3500 indirect jobs through the project. “We have also committed to ensuring that each tug has a minimum of 60% locally manufactured components, while partnering with international companies on the remaining aspects that cannot be manufactured here, for example the engines and propulsion units,” he said.Maharaj said the intention was to maximize local content and spread the benefits of the project to black suppliers, women- and youth-owned businesses.



Ultimately South Africa will achieve a socio-economic benefit of more than R800 million as a result of the Supplier Development Plan attached to the contract,” “he said.In addition a number of national and international training and development opportunities are being created for local employees, with TNPA already set to send employees to Germany for training on the new propulsion units. They would also receive training locally for four to six weeks.Rappetti said TNPA also had a large training program in place for engineering and deck cadets to ensure that the vessels had skilled people in place to operate them. Source: Marinelink

APM Terminals invests in Morocco’s new container transshipment terminal

APM Terminals has been selected as the operator of a new container transshipment terminal at the Tanger Med 2 port complex.The €758m new terminal will feature an increased annual capacity of five million 20ft equivalent units (teus) and will augment the port's total annual throughput capacity to more than nine million teus. APM Terminals has already been operating the the Tangier facility at Tanger Med 1 port, which was operational in 2007 and handled 1.7 million teus last year. “Today's announcement shows our strong commitment to investing in trade and improving supply chains in the West Med market. The APM Terminals MedPort Tangier terminal will be incorporated with the technology leveraged at the APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Rotterdam terminal and features a quay measuring a length of 2,000m. Subject to the terms of a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA), the new terminal is scheduled to open in 2019 with Maersk Line emerging as its important customer.The new investment project will witness the establishment of an organisation in Tangier that is expected to create jobs and assume responsibility for the completion of the terminal yard, surface, buildings, and container handling equipment, and integrated automated systems.The Tangier Med Port Authority, which is part of TMSA, has already completed the quay wall construction and site reclamation for the first 1,200m.APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer said: "Today's announcement shows our strong commitment to investing in trade and improving supply chains in the West Med market."Morocco and its port arm, TMSA, have been very supportive of APM Terminal's vision for the West Med. APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will bring important innovation and future capacity into the West Med market on one of the world's most strategic seaways; the Strait of Gibraltar."The strategic location of the Tanger-Med port on Africa's northwest coast near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet, serves as a key market for APM Terminals.Along with Algeciras facilities, also operated by APM Terminals, it provides a natural transshipment location for cargo moving on vessels to and from Africa from Europe and the Far East on the primary east as well as west shipping route through the Mediterranean Sea.The investment is expected to cater to the growing requirements of the increasing population in Africa, and will contribute to its economic growth. Source: ship-technology

APMT Mumbai remains closed to export traffic Ocean containers are piling up at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, threatening to impact normal operations at India’s biggest public port complex, as a stoppage by unionized workers handling rubber-tire gantry crane operations entered its fourth day on Monday. Sources in Nhava Sheva told JOC.com that gates at APM Terminals-operated Gateway

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Terminals India continue to remain closed to all export traffic, while import deliveries are being handled “at a very slow pace,” using reach stackers. “In view of the strike by RTG operators at GTI, the vessel schedules are totally disrupted and terminal operations are suspended,” OOCL India said in a notice to customers. The Hong Kong-based container line said its three intra-Asia voyages, covering FI3 (Far East Indian Subcontinent), CIX (China India Express) and CIX3 (China India Express-3) services, have been affected. “Both berths (at GTI) are vacant. The future plans for berthing are not being communicated,” warehouse services provider Allcargo Logistics said in a customer advisory.According to local shipping sources, the other two main terminals in the harbor, such as DP World-operated Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal and port-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal, are also facing long truck queues outside their gates as a result of the disruption. “There is heavy congestion on terminal roads. The movement of containers is extremely slow,” OOCL Logistics (India) said in a trade notice. The logistics provider said yard inventory levels have now reached alarming levels, with thousands of containers stranded at the piers. Outsourced RTG workers at GTI walked off the job April 1 over some demands as a new equipment vendor took over yard operations at the private terminal. “We are trying to resume rail handling,” an official at GTI told JOC.com. The official also said the company remains fully committed to reaching a resolution to the current industrial dispute.GTI accounts for the majority of the containerized freight moving via JNPT. The latest port figures collected by JOC.com show the largest private operator handled 1.86 million 20-foot-equivalent units in fiscal year 2015-16, which ended March 31, down about 8 percent from 2.01 million TEUs the prior year. GTI has taken a lead role in implementing trade improvement measures at the port during the past year. The steps included allowing cargo owners and truckers to file documentation for gate in of containers electronically, doing away with the long-time system of container seal checking by a federal security agency at the gates and setting up a dedicated lane for empty trucks arriving to pick up import cargo. Most recently, the private terminal introduced an “online import delivery process” to speed up the clearance of freight. Source: The Journal of Commerce

Stena signs contract for four gas-ready ropax ferries

by Rebecca Moore

Stena has signed a contract for four new gas-ready ropax ferries, with an option for another four, that it says will be the “most fuel-efficient ferries in the world”. Having signed a contract, subject to board approval by the end of April, the four vessels will be built by AVIC Shipyard in China, with delivery planned for 2019 and 2020. The intention is that these four initial vessels will be used within Stena Lines route network in northern Europe. “We are very pleased that Stena have signed a contract for four vessels with an option for another four. During the course of the past 24 months our engineering staff has managed to develop a design that is not only 50 per cent larger than today’s standard ropax vessels, but more importantly, incorporates the emission reduction and efficiency initiatives that have been developed throughout the Stena Group during the past years. These ships will be the most fuel-efficient ferries in the world and will set a new industry standard when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competitiveness, positioning Stena Line to support its customers in the next decades”, said Stena Line managing director Carl-Johan Hagman. The vessels will have a capacity of more than 3,000 lane metres in a drive-through configuration and will accommodate about 1,000 passengers. The main engines will be gas-ready, prepared to be fuelled by either methanol or LNG.“With this investment we are building on our successful ropax concept mixing freight and passengers. Through standardisation we secure a reliable operation and through flexibility we can provide even better support to our customers and help them to grow”, said Mr Hagman. Ship designer Deltamarin will work on the project as a designer and provider of comprehensive project management services to support AVIC SHIP and AVIC Weihai Shipyard in the vessel construction. Deltamarin’s engineering package includes approval design, support in procurement handling and detail design. Deltamarin said that it developed the concept of the vessel at an earlier stage in close collaboration with the owner Stena.source: passengership



Singapore to showcase OSV sector to the public with OSV@Vivo 'Open House'

By Marcus Hand from Singapore

As part of Singapore Maritime Week 2016 the general public will get the chance to learn more about the offshore support industry with two OSV’s berthed at Vivo City. The OSV@Vivo Open House will see two OSVs and along with offshore marine equipment on display at Vivo City Waterfront from 21 – 23 April and open to the public between 10am and 6pm.The Open House will showcase a key sector in the Singapore maritime industries with the country having the world’s most OSV newbuild investors, the Singapore-flag is the second largest for OSVs and the country ranks third largest in terms of OSV ownership. Mike Meade, Singapore Shipping Association councillor and chairman of the SSA Offshore Services Committee stated: “With the support of the MPA (Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore), SMF (Singapore Maritime Foundation) and IMCA (International Marine Contractors Association) the OSV@Vivo outreach programme is aimed to target the youth of Singapore and show the diversity of vessels, careers and jobs that can be undertaken in the offshore marine sector. “As well as those traditional roles that the talent pool knows of, such as deck officers and engineers we aim to also promote those non-traditional marine roles such as subsea, ROV and survey that are undertaken in the offshore marine space.” Those interest to visit can register online at www.osvatvivo.org with the maximum number of visitors capped at 200 per hour. Source : seatrade-maritime

Container traffic rises at India's major ports India’s major ports controlled by the union government recorded a 3 percent year-over-year increase in container throughput in fiscal year 2015-16, which ended March 31, according to the newest provisional port statistics collected by JOC.com.The country’s 12 public port trusts cumulatively handled 8.2 million 20-foot-equivalent units, compared with 7.96 million TEUs in fiscal 2014-15. Containerized tonnage was also up 3 percent to 123 million tons.bOf that, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust accounted for 4.49 million TEUs in 2015-16, up about 0.5 percent year-over-year, surpassing its previous yearly high of 4.47 million TEUs recorded the prior fiscal year, even as congestion and other challenges, especially labor troubles, took a hit on the growth rate at India’s busiest container handler. By terminal, APM Terminals-operated Gateway Terminals India moved 1.86 million TEUs, down about 8 percent from 2.01 million TEUs, while DP World’s flagship Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal saw volume tumble roughly 14 percent from 1.16 million TEUs to 1 million TEUs. The Dubai-headquartered company’s new second facility in the harbor, named Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal, handled 202,328 TEUs in fiscal 2015-16 after opening in September.State-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal did exceedingly well last year, handling 11 percent more volume than the previous year, reaching 1.43 million TEUs, thanks to equipment upgrades and new service additions. After posting record volume last year, the top port started fiscal 2016-17 off in the throes of congestion and service disruptions brought on by labor problems tied to rubber-tire gantry crane operations at APM Terminals-operated Gateway Terminals India. The four-day strike was resolved late April 4 when RTG operators returned to their posts.

The latest annual data shows throughput at Chennai Port edged up 1 percent from fiscal 2014-15 to 1.56 million TEUs. Truck bottlenecks have been a big drag on capacity utilization at Chennai, according to recent studies by global port consultants. JNPT and Chennai together load nearly 80 percent of the containers passing through India’s 12 major ports. Last fiscal year, other major ports reported throughput numbers as follows: Kolkata, up 5 percent from 630,000 TEUs to 662,000 TEUs; Tuticorin, or V.O. Chidambaranar, up 9.3 percent from 560,000 TEUs to 612,000 TEUs; Cochin (Vallarpadam Terminal), up 15 percent from 366,000 TEUs to 421,000 TEUs; and Visakhapatnam, up 18 percent from

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248,000 TEUs to 293,000 TEUs, the data shows.The year has been a significant turnaround for DP World-operated Vallarpadam, India’s first full-fledged hub facility, and the Dubai-based company is bullish about growth prospects in the coming years. “We will continuously strive to keep this momentum going,” the company told JOC.com.In terms of total tonnage, major public ports saw cargo volumes grow 4.31 percent year-over-year in fiscal 2015-16 to 606.4 million tons. Kandla led the pack with a record-setting annual volume of 100 million tons, followed by Paradip, at 76.4 million tons; JNPT, at 64 million tons; Mumbai, at 61 million tons; Visakhapatnam, at 57 million tons; and Chennai, at 50 million tons, according to the collected data. Source : The Journal of Commerce

The HELGAFELL seen inbound for Rotterdam – Photo : Henk van der Heijden ©

Indonesia Intensifies Communications with Philippine for Hostage Release

Jakarta. The Indonesian government has intensified communications with Philippine authorities to seek the release of 10 Indonesian boat crew members taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday (05/04).During a visit to Manila last week, Retno met the Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, her counterpart Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Rene Almendras and Armed Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año.Philippine authorities understand Indonesia's concern and are committed to safely freeing the 10 hostages, Retno said.“We communicate and coordinate with the Philippine’s authority every day. The principle is [to ensure] the safety of the hostages,” The government also held an inter-sectoral coordination meeting last Sunday, led by Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan.The foreign ministry has introduced two liaison officers to ease communications and ensure families of the hostages are updated on progress, Retno said.The ten Indonesians were taken hostage on March 26, when the militants hijacked an Indonesian-flagged tugboat and barge en route to the Philippines from Banjarmasin in East Kalimantan.Abu Sayyaf has long been notorious for carrying out kidnappings, beheadings, bombings and extortion. The group, which has been a major influence on other terror groups in Southeast Asia, has demanded a $1 million ransom for the release of the Indonesian hostages. Source: jakartaglobe.beritasatu

Drilling Rig Suppliers Say Oil Recovery Will Be Slower Than Expected

By : David Wethe Leaders of the world’s largest suppliers of offshore drilling rigs and the services that go with them see the oil market recovery taking even longer than expected last year. Transocean Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Thigpen expects it will have to wait at least another three years before his company can begin charging higher rates for offshore rigs. Schlumberger Ltd. chief Paal Kibsgaard sees the oil industry, stuck in the deepest financial crisis ever, in no rush to get rigs back online even after prices recover.Before rig owners can charge more, they must first see a boost in activity after the worst crude market crash in a generation. Transocean doesn’t expect an increase in rig leases until late next



year or sometime in 2018, Thigpen said Monday in an interview at the Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans. Daily rates, which have fallen by more than half over the past two years, aren’t expected to climb until 2019 or 2020, he said."I think ’16 and ’17 are going to be tough," said Thigpen, who joined the Vernier, Switzerland-based company 11 months ago. "We’re taking the necessary steps to navigate our way through the downturn, but we’re also preparing for that eventual recovery." Transocean shares sank as much as 5.7 percent in New York trading and were 4.7 percent lower at $10.04 as of 10:22 a.m. Tuesday. The fragile financial state of oil explorers means there will be a noticeable lag from when oil prices climb and when exploration and production companies invest again, Kibsgaard said in a presentation to investors at the conference. Profitability and cash flow are "at unsustainable levels for most oil and gas operators which in turn has created an equally dramatic situation for the service industry," he said. "Going forward, the industry is likely facing a ‘medium-for-longer’ oil-price scenario, subject to periods of volatility, as the national oil companies within OPEC can still generate significant returns for their owners in such an environment due to the low cost base of their conventional resources." Rig contractors have suffered through the double blow of declining customer demand due to tumbling oil prices and a glut of vessels that continue to be built to meet orders made before the rout. Transocean leads the industry in reducing its fleet, with 24 rigs scrapped since the downturn began and another eight to 10 it could retire over the next year to 18 months, Thigpen said. Transocean currently has 61 rigs in its fleet with another 11 under construction. The company reported $2.3 billion in cash at the end of last year. Thigpen said he has "no real concerns" with Transocean’s financial liquidity through the end of 2018, and the company has a number of levers it can pull beyond that if needed. Schlumberger said Monday it expects revenue in the first quarter to fall to $6.5 billion, a 16 percent drop from the final three months of last year. That’s a larger drop than the $7 billion average of 25 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Houston- and Paris-based company said it’s not expecting a meaningful recovery in its own activity until next year. Other U.S. oil-industry executives echoed the cautious sentiment: Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s CEO Al Walker said in a presentation increasing demand will signal that higher prices are likely to be sustained. Weatherford International Ltd. plans to reduce headcount by another 6,500 after cutting 14,500 jobs in 2015. CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner said he sees the North American market bottoming in the second quarter of the year. Apache Corp. is unlikely to pursue acquisitions until more companies in the industry have gone through restructuring, CEO John Christmann said in an interview. Continental Resources Inc. will consider various actions every time oil prices gain another $5 per barrel and hold there, its President Jack Stark said Monday in an interview. Those actions include paying down its debt, finishing its inventory of wells that were drilled but not completed, and then finally putting new drilling rigs online, he said. Source: Bloomberg

HMM steps up charter renegotiations after gaining 'breathing space' from Hyundai Securities sale

By Mike Wackett Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) has begun a second round of negotiations with shipowners on amending the terms of charter parties to reflect reductions in daily hire rates.The move is crucial to the company’s restructure under its voluntary agreement (VA) status with creditor banks. It has also received a significant fillip from an agreement to sell Hyundai Securities to a Korean financial house for what is understood to be better-than-expected terms.

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On 29 March, the cash-strapped South Korean shipping group entered into the VA with its main creditor, the state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB), and other creditor banks. It allows the company to roll over maturing debt and interest for three months.During this period, the creditor banks intend to establish a debt restructuring plan for HMM, after due diligence conducted by an external accounting firm.After originally rejecting the VA proposal championed by KDB, it is understood that the other creditor banks were encouraged by what HMM described as “significant progress” in its charter rate renegotiations with shipowners. HMM said in a statement on 30 March that the negotiations were expected to “speed up” following the signing of the VA, and added it was “expecting that shipowners will agree charter reductions”.HMM has 33 ships on hire, the majority from Danaos Corporation and Zodiac Maritime Agencies. The former supplies the carrier’s five flagship 13,100 teu ships, which it deploys between Asia and North Europe within the G6 alliance, on a fixed-rate time charter expiring in 2024.According to one shipbroking source, Danaos has rejected demands to reduce the daily hire rate, but has said it is willing to discuss a compensation figure for early termination of the contract.The Greek shipowner has built its business model on long-term agreements and currently has 29 panamax and 26 post-panamax vessels chartered out, with an average remaining length of hire of 7.2 years. This equates to $3.2bn of revenue, with HMM its largest customer bringing in 28% of this, followed by CMA CGM at 26% and Hanjin at 17%.Meanwhile, London-based Zodiac has received the second in a series six 10,055 teu ships built by Daewoo in Korea, which have been chartered by HMM on a 12-year fixed-rate operating lease. The first, the Hyundai Mars, was immediately deployed by HMM on its Asia-US west coast service, but its sister, Hyundai Jupiter, although delivered last week has yet to have its deployment assigned, suggesting Zodiac is unlikely to turn the ship over to HMM without a guarantee that the charter terms will be honoured in full.In the interim, HMM has eased some of its short-term liquidity issues by a raft of asset sales, including its dedicated dry bulk business, its stake in Hyundai Pusan New-port Terminal and its share in Hyundai Securities. The Hyundai Securities sale to Korea’s KB Financial Group was estimated to have brought in around $860m, around three times its equity value, which a spokesman said would give the line “some breathing room” in the second half of the year. Source : The Loadstar

5th of April, newbuilding ferry for TESO, the TEXELSTROOM seen moored in Santander waiting for the tug

MULTRATUG 20 to arrive, for towage to the Netherlands and further trials and delivery. Photo: Bert de Jonge Project Manager Ship Newbuilding ©

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MAN Diesel & Turbo delivers world’s first IMO-certified two-stroke engine with Tier III NOx control

Hyundai’s Ship Building Division (HHI-SBD) has finalised a contract for 2 × Suezmax tankers for Turkish shipowner, Ditas Shipping. The 158,000-m3 crude-oil tankers will each be powered by individual MAN B&W 6G70ME-C9.5 two-stroke main-engines that feature integrated Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems. While there are already IMO Tier III-compliant vessels with EGR systems in service, the Suezmax newbuildings will be the first vessels with keel-laying after 1 January, 2016 to be officially certified as complying with Tier III emission restrictions within existing North American NOx Emission Control Areas (NECAs) and the United States Caribbean Sea NECA.EGR is a NOx emissions-control technology that works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders. MAN Diesel & Turbo originally developed, designed, and manufactured the first EGR system for a two-stroke marine diesel engine for operation on a container vessel in service in 2010.

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A part of the exhaust gas is drawn through a scrubber, cooler, and water mist catcher by suction created from an electrically driven, specially designed blower. The blower raises the pressure of the exhaust gas, which is then mixed with the charge air via a unique charge air pipe, before entering the main-engine coolers. Within the scrubber, the exhaust gas is washed with water, which consequently becomes acidic depending on the sulphur from the fuel in the exhaust gas dissolving in the water. Sodium hydroxide dosing is therefore required to neutralise the acidic scrubber water. In addition, the scrubber washes out particulate matter (PM) that becomes suspended in the scrubber water, and it is therefore necessary to have a water treatment system (WTS) to remove PM from the scrubber water, and discharge the PM as concentrated sludge into the sludge tank on the vessel. The WTS is designed for cleaning the scrubber water to such an extent that it can be discharged into open sea. A fully automated control system provides for easy operation for the ship’s crew and correct and swift reactions to engine load variations. Following efficiency optimisation trends in the market, MAN Diesel & Turbo thoroughly evaluated the possibility of using even larger propellers and thereby engines with even lower speeds for the propulsion of tankers and bulk carriers.Such vessels may be more compatible with propellers with larger diameters than designs so far used, and therefore able to facilitate higher efficiencies following adaptation of the aft-hull design to accommodate a larger propeller. It is estimated that such updated aft-ship designs with the G-series of engines offer potential fuel-consumption savings of some 4-7%, with a similar reduction in CO2 emissions.Simultaneously, the engine itself can achieve a high thermal efficiency using the latest engine process parameters and design features. Source : Portnews

Svitzer announces new managing director for Australia

After five years at the helm of Svitzer Australia Mark Malone will be stepping down as Managing Director and handing over the reins to Steffen Risager, who has been the Chief Operating Officer of the Australian operation since February 2015 and prior to that Head of Business Transformation based in Copenhagen, the company said in its press release.This change will take effect from 1 May, with Mr Malone staying on until mid-year to support the transition. Source: Portnews

Greek Courts rejects the claims by physical suppliers against Owners in OWB related

disputes After the financial collapse of OW Bunker Group on November 7, 2014, numerous claims by physical suppliers in risk to remain unpaid due to their counterparty’s bankruptcy, have been brought in different jurisdictions worldwide. Consequently, Owners and Charterers are currently exposed to competing claims for unpaid bunkers both by OWB or their assignees ING and by physical suppliers, with the possibility of arrests. Our firm recently handled claims brought by the physical supplier SEKA against the Owners of the vessels CE/BREEZE and PANAGIA ARMATA in personam (since maritime liens and subsequent in rem proceedings are not recognised under Greek law) and the judgments –which are believed to be the first- found in favor of Owners.

In October 2014, Owners instructed the Piraeus office of OW Malta to provide the vessels with certain quantities of bunkers and OW Malta confirmed the order which resulted to a contract for the sale of the agreed bunkers, through the exchange of the relative documents (sale confirmation and invoice coupled with OW standard terms and

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conditions). Since OW Malta operated as a trader and did not possess physical premises for the storage of bunkers, it instructed SEKA to physically supply the agreed bunkers to the said vessels. The purchase of the bunkers was completed through the respective exchange of documents (purchase confirmation, bunker sale confirmation and invoice together with SEKA’s standard terms and conditions which did not include a retention of title clause). Following OW’s filing for bankruptcy, SEKA asked for direct payment of the price from Owners, by forwarding them the relevant invoice addressed to the Owners and/or Managers and/or Charterers and/or Master and/or OW Malta. Arguments

SEKA’s case against Owners is that it supplied bunkers to the vessels under a contract entered into through the Owners’ authorised agent, OW Malta. The basis of this argument lies in the fact that SEKA’s invoices are addressed both to OW Malta and the Owners and that SEKA’s standard terms identify as jointly and severally liable for the payment both the party that gave the order and the one for whose the benefit the order was made. SEKA also supports that even if OW was not an authorised agent of the Owners to conclude the bunker sale agreement, both the vessel port agents who contacted SEKA for the arrangements of the supply and the chief engineer who signed the Bunker Delivery Receipt (BDR) in so doing, acted as agents for the purchase of the bunkers binding the Owners. The Owners’ primary basis for disputing liability was that no contract has ever been concluded between them and SEKA directly. The contracts for the bunkers were separate and distinct as between Owners and OW Malta and OW and SEKA. OW was a separate legal entity that contracted on its own name and for its own account operating as a fuel trader giving credit to buyers. Owners also contended that a unilateral identification of their liability against SEKA in SEKA’s invoice or its standard terms is not binding on them, since they were notified later -SEKA’s invoice has been sent to them after OW bankruptcy- and they have not accepted these terms since they were not party to the contract between OW and SEKA. Furthermore, in compliance with ING’s request, acting as assignee of OW entities, Owners have already paid the OW invoice price for the bunkers supplied to their vessels directly to ING, having OW’s consent. Owners further argued that simple signing of the BDR by their chief engineer as well as their agent’s actions for the bunker supply are not enough to prove the conclusion of a contract on behalf of the Owners. Finally, Owners in support of their above arguments mentioned that OW Bunker deliveries involved a variety of physical bunker suppliers operating in Greece and therefore they were not aware of the physical supplier that would provide the bunkers at the agreed date (ie SEKA, EKO or others).

The claims were brought in security measures proceedings and the judgments have been handed down on December 2015 for CE BREEZE and January 2016 for PANAGIA ARMATA. The judge rejected SEKA’s case and found in favor of Owners. Particularly, the court held that in the said case two separate and distinct agreements have been made, one between OW Malta and Owners and another one between OW Malta and SEKA. In arriving at its decision, the court appears to have taken into consideration that these two contracts include different terms as to the purchase price, credit period, jurisdiction and applicable law and the mere sending of the invoice to the Owners or the signing of the BDR by the chief engineer does not establish liability of the Owners. The court also held that OW did not act as agent of the Owners and had no authority to enter into an agreement on their behalf, but as a separate entity acting in its own name.

This decision is in line with the longstanding recognition of privity of contract by Greek case law and protects Owners from unexpected exposures to physical suppliers’ demands for payment, especially in cases where they have already paid off the price either to OW or ING. Hearings in the merits of the case are expected to take place this year, where a binding authority will be issued. However, considering other jurisdictions as well (see the Valero decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Belgian court case) such claims (either on a maritime lien basis in rem or in personam proceedings) will hardly succeed due to the absence of contractual relationship between Owners and physical suppliers. Meanwhile, the shipping industry remains on hold for the RES COGITANS outcome, the hearing of which in the Supreme Court tοοκ place in late March 2016. Source: Karmela Mavrochi, Partner, Costas Georgopoulos & Partners. Attorneys-at-law

NAVY NEWS Yantar Shipyard commenced mooring trials of

RF Navy's frigate Admiral Makarov On March 31, 2016, Baltic Shipbuilding Plant “Yantar” (United Shipbuilding Corporation, Kaliningrad) commenced mooring trials of the ADMIRAL MAKAROV frigate, third ship of Project 11356 being built for RF Navy, says the shipyard’s press center. The trials will las till June and will be followed by sea trials. The delivery of the ship is



scheduled for August 2016.The ADMIRAL MAKAROV was laid down on February 29, 2012, launched on September 2, 2015. Under two contracts signed with the Russian Ministry of Defense, Yantar Shipyard is to build a series of six frigates of Project 11356 developed by the Northern Design Bureau. The ADMIRAL GROGOROVICH frigate was delivered to the customer on March 11, 2016. The delivery of the Admiral Essen frigate is scheduled for May 2016. Baltic Shipyard “Yantar” based in Kaliningrad, Russia was founded on July 8,1945 on the basis of a Koenigsberg unit of German’s Schichau Werft. Yantar Shipyard specializes in building and repairs of warships and civil boats. Throughout the years the Shipyard has built 154 warships and more than 500 merchant vessels. The Russian Government holds majority stake in the shipbuilding firm through Western Center of Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation. United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC OJSC) is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia. It was set up in 2007 with 100% federal ownership. The holding comprises 60 companies and organizations (major shipbuilding and shiprepairing companies as well as leading design bureaus). Currently, USC consolidates about 80% of the domestic shipbuilding complex. The Russian market is the main focus of the state corporation though it also exports its products to 20 countries worldwide. Source : Portnews

SHIPYARD NEWS

GVB contracts Holland Shipyards to build state-of-the-art hybrid ferry for Amsterdam

In conclusion of a public tender procedure, GVB Amsterdam (Gemeentelijk Vervoersbedrijf) has selected Holland Shipyards to design, construct and deliver a new hybrid ferry to service the IJ-crossing routes. The ferry, which will be adjusted design of the existing ferries, will be designed in-house with Holland Shipyards. The external dimensions will be adjusted to measure 33,60 x 9,00 meters and with a draft of 1,66 meters. The vessel will be propelled by electrically-driven azimuthing rudderpropellers of 250 kW each, which on their turn are driven by 133 kW diesel generators and battery packs. Additionally an exhaust-cleaning system will be fitted to further reduce emissions of toxic exhaust

gases and particles. This type of propulsion combined with the exhaust-cleaning system will result in a fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly ferry, which will be a valuable, innovative addition to the Dutch ferry fleet.The ferry will be capable to transport a maximum of 410 persons at the same time. Delivery of the ferry is expected somewhere later this year.

ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES Newbuilding ordering activity remains at a

standstill, boding well for future tonnage supply After the first three months of 2016, it’s more than evident that the restrain shown by ship owners in terms of newbuilding ordering activity, is expected to prove a huge boost in the future, in terms of alleviating future tonnage

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supply pressures from the freight rate market. In its latest weekly market report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking noted that there was “no change in the newbuilding market thus far, with another week with only a small trickle of new orders coming to surface. Prices continue to slide further though it seems as though that even at these new levels these efforts will be to little avail as there is still a general lacking in appetite amongst buyers for the time being. The difficulties continue to be faced by shipbuilders, with some calling for ever more efforts to be made towards further consolidation in the industry. Some were even mentioning this past week that we should see a merger amongst the three biggest shipbuilders in S. Korea, forming as such one huge shipbuilding group that should be able to gain in terms of productivity, lower costs and better financial restructuring. For now this is no more then words being thrown around, though it might prove to be a good option given the state of the medium-term outlook for the market”. Meanwhile, in a separate newbuilding report, shipbroker Clarkson Platou Hellas noted that “following the order last week by China Merchant Group for ten firm 400,000 DWT VLOCs across three domestic yards, we have now seen COSCO placing an order for a further ten firm vessels at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS). Similarly these units will be delivered throughout 2018 and 2019, and backed by a long-term COA to Vale – taking the total confirmed orders to 20 units, with discussions for further vessels on-going. In other sectors, Fincantieri have announced an order from Regent Seven Seas Cruises for on firm 54,000 GT Cruise Ship. Being the 2nd in series, the vessel is scheduled to deliver in 2020”. In the S&P market though, “on the dry bulk side, activity continues strong with appetite amongst buyers being plentiful though with harsh negotiations taking place on each and every deal. There is a sense now that there may well be a small upward momentum in price building up, though for now it seems to have limited strength and could easily falter given the fact that the freight market, though improved considerably since early February, is still in a poor state. On the tanker side, Minimal activity with still softening prices is what currently describes the market for the time being. Product tankers are still the only ones showing strength in interest and as such keeping their prices buoyant. This is all on the backdrop of a completely revrse image still being seen in the freight market, were there it has been the crude oil carriers still making the biggest gains and keeping a better overall earnings performance on track”, said Allied Shipbroking.Finally, in the demolition front, Allied said that “another strong tailwind was seen in the market again this week, with a slow limiting of demo candidates and a quick clear out of several units driving offered scrap prices by an impressive amount. There are now rumors that even these prices seen now are already past and gone and there is tonnage around which is close to hitting price levels close to the magic US$ 300/ldt. Speculation seems to be driving the main part of the market for now, while Indian breakers are still leading the pack for now, pushing things forward with their renewed appetite and supported by further strengthening of the Rupee against the Dollar, which has now reached levels higher then what it stood at in the start of the year. There are however a lot of concerns over the recent rally, with many finding the rise to be still mainly based on the positive sentiment that was left over by the latest import levy announced on Chinese steel products as well as a belief that the Chinese government would do its part to revive its demand for commodities such as steel through a well target stimulus plan and thorough restructuring. There is a feel however that this market exuberance might have been too haste and might eventually prove to be unfounded and falter, something that would surely leave many end buyers once again heavily exposed”, the shipbroker concluded. Source: Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Otto Marine sells vessel for US $ 38 million Otto Marine Limited has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to sell a Work Maintenance Vessel known as SOC ENDEAVOUR to an outside party through its wholly owned subsidiary, Koi Marine Limited. The sale of the vessel will reduce its inventory on hand and is part of the ordinary course of business of the shipyard business . source : Portnews

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KNUD E. HANSEN represents a number of pioneering container feeder vessel designs

The Danish naval architect company KNUD E. HANSEN has recently been developing a number of pioneering container feeder vessel designs, company inform. Each of the designs presents a series of innovations as part of a solution tailored to specific requirements. The first in the series of three designs relates to a 2000 TEU vessel that was conceived of to specialise in calling at small, narrow, up-river ports, for example the Port of Bangkok, Thailand. Navigating such harbours requires a vessel to have a shallow draught – in the case of Bangkok, not more than 8.2 metres. To fulfil this, the vessel requires a relatively small diameter propeller. To cater for this without a loss of power, KNUD E. HANSEN’s designers presented a special propeller arrangement employing a directly driven main propeller with a diameter of 5.8 m and a counter-rotating Azipod with a 4.7 m propeller. Jesper Kanstrup, Senior Naval Architect at KNUD E. HANSEN explains: “The dual arrangement makes up for the relative small diameter of the propellers. The total propeller disk area of the two propellers corresponds to the area of a single propeller with a diameter of approx. 7.4 m and further, the counter-rotating propeller will recover some of the swirl energy produced by the main propeller, which increases the overall efficiency.” A second design foresees a vessel which does not require such a shallow draught and which will have a 3,800 TEU capacity. With draught not being a primary consideration, this design sees the feeder vessel fitted out with a larger diameter, slower-turning propeller. “With the large propeller we get a propulsion efficiency which is not that far from the efficiency of a counter-rotating solution, but for a much lower cost.”Unlike most feeder vessels, the deckhouse of this vessel is positioned slightly forward of amidships to maximize the number of container slots on deck considering the IMO requirements to the line of vision from the bridge. The added number of slots can be utilized in real-life loading conditions because the vessel is wider and has a higher stability than most feeder vessels of this size. This arrangement has additional benefits: “This prepares the vessel for LNG and dual-fuel propulsion – attributes that are becoming increasingly sought after. Here, we have a square block below the deckhouse, in which we can either have HFO tanks or LNG tanks. What’s more, the vessel can be built with HFO tanks and easily retrofitted for LNG the day the infrastructure for LNG is sufficiently developed if a dual-fuel engine is installed in the first place.”The design is being developed in consultation with DNVGL with the aim to achieve an Approval in Principle; something which Mr. Kanstrup says will help make the design easier to market.The third arrangement sees the application of an innovative hull shape suited for carriage of both partial and full container loads. The problem arises due to the differing ways in which a vessel behaves based upon its load. A large container vessel, when carrying few containers, offers shallow draught, but has so much stability that accelerations are too high, causing problems for the lashing gear and the crew. “In this situation, you don’t want anything more than sufficient stability and so a narrow hull is preferable,” says Mr. Kanstrup. “The problem being that, when you come to carrying a full load you require a wider water line for additional stability. So the ideal hull would have inclined hull sides with narrow water lines at shallow draught and wider water lines at deeper draughts, which, however, is not the most practical design considering the vertical quays in ports.” The solution proposed by KNUD E. HANSEN is that instead of a conventional hull (sketch A below) you take a hull with inclined sides (B), but mirror the triangular sections in each side (C) to create a trimaran or in better words a “stabilized mono-hull” with a narrow main hull with vertical sides and outrigger hulls with a triangular cross section, but vertical sides towards the quay (D). This way you have the narrowness associated with low accelerations at partial load, and with the triangular section of the outrigger hulls, increased stability for full loads at deeper draught.The design features an open top section in the main hull, with 40ft containers stacked in a fixed cell guide system. Because cell guides are not fitted outboard the main hull above the outriggers, the loading flexibility with regard to carrying 20, 45 and 48ft containers has been addressed.“Many have proposed an open top container vessel, but to prevent water from being shipped over the sides of the vessel and into the open holds when the vessel is rolling in bad weather, the hull depth must be very high. And with a deep hull, the handling time for the containers will be increased because of the increased vertical travelling distance.”This vessel answers that problem. Because the main hull is narrow, the sides of the open-top holds can be lower, and with lower sides, faster container handling.When the vessel is not heeling, the sides barely touch the surface of the water, meaning little resistance. This ensures a vessel which can have a relatively high service speed while maintaining a reasonable fuel consumption per container, per nautical mile. “We were looking for something that answers the slow steaming problem. With the advent of slow steaming, for certain goods, air freight has become a more popular choice as the cargo arrives faster. And moving goods from sea transport to air freight does not have a positive effect on the CO2 emission. With a design such as this we have a vessel that could bridge the gap between slow steaming container ships and air freight.”



KNUD E. HANSEN is one of the world's leading independent marine consultancies with more than 75 years of experience in ship & yacht design, with a proven track record in providing unique and cutting-edge solutions to the maritime industry. KNUD E. HANSEN employs more than 80 naval architects and marine engineers in Denmark, UK, USA, Greece, Australia and the Faroe Islands. Our approach is based on a combination of continuous innovation, the free exchange of ideas with our clients, and experience derived from many years spent working with every kind of vessel and maritime operator. Using these, we apply fresh thinking to each new project and tailor solutions that are both state-of-the-art and practical to meet the exact needs of each individual customer. Source : Portnews

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Shipping’s $12 Billion Iceberg: Why the Baltic Dry’s gain is bad news for shipping

Here’s reason to hope that spring has arrived for the global sea freight industry: The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs, is up 62 percent from its record-low reading of 290 on Feb. 11, and just two points below its year-high of 473 on Jan. 4. That sounds like good news until you consider how far the index has fallen: The benchmark averaged 1,100 in the five years through 2015, and 4,406 in the five years before that. Still, the improvement’s a sign that the demand side of the dry bulk shipping industry may be past its nadir. China’s Lunar New Year is always a weak period for the commodities carried on such ships, including iron ore, coal, and grains. In four out of the past five years, February was the weakest month for Chinese iron ore imports, a trade that increasingly dominates the sector. Even at a time when China’s economy is looking frailer, sparks in the country’s industrial machine carry enough of a kick to keep the boats afloat.If shipping only had a demand side, this would be cause for celebration. Unfortunately, there’s a supply side too — and it’s a horror show. Thanks to the ongoing need to replace aging ships and the long tail of orders placed in more profitable times, the world’s dry bulk shipping fleet is still growing despite losses that should be causing shipowners to throttle back. About 2.8 million deadweight tons have been added to the fleet since December alone — equivalent to about one new Capesize bulk carrier every five days. Thanks to those super low iron ore prices, scrap is cheap, making it less attractive to clear the oversupply by demolishing ships. About 163 dry bulkers have been taken to the scrap yard so far this year, according to IHS Global, but there are still 9,484 in service. While current-quarter rental rates for Capesize vessels are jumping with the Baltic Dry — they rose 24 percent last week alone — the latest price of $6,050 a day is more than a thousand dollars short of typical operating costs. As Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lee Klaskow noted, dry-bulk carriers burned through $12 billion of cash during January and February, and removing all the excess capacity in the market could take two-and-a-half years. Against that backdrop, better rates are just prolonging the pain. Instead of sinking outright, the industry’s excess supply retains just enough

Huge oil tanker traffic jam builds at Iraq's Basra port

By Keith Wallis A traffic jam of nearly 30 large oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra due to loading delays, with some waiting up to three weeks and costing ship operators around $75,000 a day per vessel. Shippers and port sources said more delays are expected throughout April as the city's facilities struggle to cope with Iraq's soaring crude output.The problems at Basra, coupled with continuing storage tank shortages in China, have pushed supertanker rates from the Middle East to Asia to unseasonal highs as the delays disrupt future sailing schedules and charterers cover future tonnage requirements."The VLCC (very large crude carrier) market is being sustained by a whole pattern of delays and congestion, affecting ports in Basra," said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at ship broker Banchero Costa in Singapore, adding that there were further delays in China and South Korea.There are 27 VLCCs and suezmax tankers with a combined capacity of 43 million barrels, waiting off Basra, shipping data on the Reuters Eikon terminal showed, about twice the norm.The delays are likely to continue throughout April and could only ease in May, said Omar Al


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Jarah, a surveyor at maritime consultancy Alwan Marine in Sharjah, as the port struggles with the country's rising crude output.Iraq exported an average of 3.26 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) through its southern terminals in March, up from 3.22 million bpd the previous month and just 2.5 million bpd in 2010. Some of the tankers, which would stretch more than 8 kms (5 miles) if placed end-to-end, have been waiting three weeks to load crude from Basra Oil Terminal, according to ship tracking data and port agents.Sources said the current waiting time to load Basra heavy crude is 18-19 days, compared with an average time of 5-10 days In Baghdad, Iraqi oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said the wait is due to bad weather and should not exceed 15 days. Basra Oil Terminal has seven loading berths but only a single point mooring facility, SPM No. 3, is being used to load Iraqi heavy crude, port agents and brokers said.Three of the terminal's berths are closed for maintenance, a Singapore-based tanker broker said. Rough weather is making it difficult for pilot boats to operate which is adding to the delays, Al Jarah said.As the delays bind tankers outside Basra, rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) jumped from around 50 on the Worldscale measure on March 1 to around 90 on April 1, doubling in cost from $37,250 to $74,700 per day, shipping data showed.The captain of one ship that has been waiting for two weeks told Reuters by phone he had been given no information when the ship would be allowed to moor and load cargo."We've been given no details," he said, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to media. Source: Reuters (Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Saif Hameed in Baghdad; Editing by Richard Pullin and Christian Schmollinger)

…. PHOTO OF THE DAY …..

Special for Jaap Hakvoort The Braveheart Shipping crew tender WILLIAM WALLACE, working for Boskalis,

arriving with stores offshore. photo : Dirk van Uitert

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DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2016 – 098