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DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 306

Distribution : daily to 31300+ active addresses 02-11-2014

Number 306 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Sunday 02-10-2014

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

31-10-2014 : Herman Sr BV Tugs BOMMEL + BALOE towing BoDo INSTALLER into

Great Yarmouth Harbour Photo : James Peter Grimes ©

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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

The PLSV TOP CORAL DO ATLANTICO working in the Sapinhoa Norte Field Offshore Brazil.

Photo : Capt. Rod Graham Master PLSV Seven Seas ©

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MPI Adventure completes Humber Gateway Substation contract MPI Offshore is pleased to announce that its wind-turbine-installation vessel, MPI ADVENTURE, has successfully completed installation of the Humber Gateway Substation, following a very efficient transportation and installation period. This contract, which was undertaken for E.ON, involved the load out and installation of a total of 2,508Te, including:

• Jacket foundation (570Te) • 8 Piles (680 Te each) • Module Support Frame

(320Te) • 2 Topside Modules (450Te each) • Sling Laydown Platform (20Te) • 2 Stairs

The project proved to be both challenging and exciting. Early concepts of a Modular build took shape late in 2011, with the building-block approach structured around the lift-and-Installation capacities of MPI Adventure. Final preparations and the phased load-out on to MPI Adventure were undertaken from multiple ports, involving many subcontractors, such as drillers, grouters, scaffolders, welders and painters. MPI has been complimented by E.ON on the overall high level of performance on this project. We would like to congratulate all those who were involved on a “job well done”. (Photo courtesy of Flying Focus)

For more information regarding offshore installation, onshore logistics and/or the designing and engineering activities of MPI, check our website (www.mpi-offshore.com ).

Shiplive photo The MAERSK MC-KINNEY MØLLER outbound from Rotterdam Europoort CLICK on the photo

and Photo / Video Cees van der Kooij ©

Six Missing After Ship Collides with Tugboat

BY MAREX

Six tugboat crewmembers are missing after their vessel was hit by a passing freighter, roughly 9.1 nautical miles from Tanjung Gelang, Malaysia at about 5 a.m. (locally) on Thursday. Another report states that a tanker struck the tug in the waters off the Kuantan Port, about 6 nautical miles from Tanjung Gelang.

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Maritime officials said that the tug was carrying five Indonesians and a local when it was hit by the ship. Another Indonesian on board, who spotted the vessel approaching quickly, jumped into the sea to save himself and was rescued by passing fishermen.A search and rescue operation was immediately launched, but the six victims have yet to be located. The area’s marine police, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the state fire and rescue department are all involved. Source : MAREX

DEME THSD CONGO RIVER as seen from crew tender ‘LIZ V’ during dredging operation in Sabetta Russia. Foto: Captain R. Stelt – Stemat Marine Services. ©

Shiplive photo The LISELOTTE ESSBERGER inbound for Rotterdam CLICK on the photo and Photo / Video

Cees van der Kooij ©

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Region expects increase in cruise arrivals despite Ebola threat

A senior official of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) says he is confident there will be an increase in cruise ship passengers to the region, despite the fears being generated by the Ebola virus."It's important that all of us, especially in the cruise sector as wellbe mindful of the potential and the harmful danger of the Ebola. But the cruise lines have had some experience in terms of these types of viruses,"chairman of the CSA cruise committee, Nathan Dundas, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

The shipping industry executive said when the cruise sector was confronted with the Norwalk and later N1N1 viruses in the past, industrystakeholders and medical officials gathered to devise a strategy for prevention and containment.

Dundas said the talks were also attended by officials from the PanAmerican Health Organisation."They are doing something similar again with regards to Ebola. They recognise the danger, they recognise the potential that it has and itsconsequences and they've actually put out some information...," Dundas said. In an effort to curb the spread of the disease and minimise exposure topassengers, cruise ships have suspended calls to West African nations that have been affected. Instead, cruise liners are focusing on preventative measures."Before any cruise passenger goes onboard right now, before a booking ismade there is a screening process already taking place with respect to ensuring that no such individuals who actually have visited thosecountries (can board) and if they show any signs or symptoms, they aretold that they are not going to be allowed on the cruise," he said. "If it so happens that they breach that arrangement there's also quarantine arrangement onboard each of those cruise ships where those cruise ship passengers will be quarantined," he added. Dundas is also concerned that not enough is being done to educate people of the threat and spread of the Ebola virus and this has further fuelled fears. He called for a stepped-up public education campaign to sensitise people on the spread of the disease."I see that as very important. In fact, the discussions have already started to take place, but among stake-holders," Dundas said. He explained that in Antigua and Barbuda, a task force has been formed to sensitise the public on the dangers of the Ebola virus.

"What hasn't happened yet is going to the public more to explain from our side of things and the ministry of health is doing it from their end... but I think more needs to be done in terms of informing the public of what is being done and ensuring that they understand there are measures being put in place to ensure their safety," he said. To date, more than 10,000 people have been affected by the disease with the West African states of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia hardest hit. The disease is spread through contact with bodily fluids from affected people. Nearly half of those affected have died.Source : jamaicaobserver

The 40th Anniversary of the Northern Port On 16 October 2014, more than 300 guests invited to jointly celebrate the 40th anniversary of launching the Northern Port took their seats at the banquet tables in the unique setting of the newly-launched Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre. This was the way for the PGA SA to honour the builders of the Northern Port and to remind us of this ground-breaking achievement for the Polish economy.

The current management of the Port of Gdansk were delighted to welcome the numerous builders of the Northern Port e.g. Professor Witold Andruszkiewicz (working for the Maritime Institute at the time of the port's construction), engineers Boguslaw Bujwid and Aleksander Bialecki (then directors of the Port of Gdansk), Stanis³aw Jaworski (then Chief Port Dispatcher), directors of PBIM-Hydrobudowa Marek Bartlomiejczyk and Wieslaw Ochnik, Cpt. Daniel Duda (then Dean at the Gdynia Maritime School), designing engineers of BPBM "Projmors" Kazimierz Mioduszewski, Andrzej Mrozowski and Jerzy Warszycki, the chief designing engineer Zygmunt Walczyna and Eng. Tadeusz Kokczynski (PBPP Supervision Inspector).The official celebration started off with the retrospect video presentation showing the time of the construction and development of the Northern Port prepared by the longtime Gdansk radio and television reporter Marek Kanski, and with the news of the official visit paid in the Port of Gdansk on the previous day (15 October 2014) by Lech Walesa. The former President of the Republic of Poland, whose commitments made him unable to attend the celebration, sent an official message addressed to the port staff intended to be read in public. His congratulations and greetings also included the following reflection: "...The Northern Port marked the beginning of Poland's regaining its energy independence. (...) The Port of Gdansk, including the Northern Port, represents a remarkable story of the courageous people - members of "Solidarity"- who remained faithful to Poland, for which they deserve our deepest gratitude." Another letter read in public came from the Minister of the State Treasury Wlodzimierz Karpinski. In



addition to his best wishes to the PGA SA Management Board and employees, accompanied by the words of praise for the port's development activities, the Minister also wrote: "Last year, in such important cargo group as containers, Gdansk took the second position in the ranking of the largest container ports in the Baltic Sea. This result would not be possible without the forward-looking decision made 40 years ago about the construction of the Northern Port."

- The work on the construction of the Northern Port commenced in the wake of the decision made by the Polish government on 15 July 1970 - as was reminded by the current members of the PGA SA Executives: President of the Board Dorota Raben, and Vice Presidents Jerzy Melaniuk and Marek Pietruszewski. - As soon as four years later, the opening ceremony was held. This was followed by the subsequent building of a liquid fuel terminal, an ore pier and a LPG terminal. These were the milestones leading to the development of a large-sized port facility, which paved the way for Gdansk to enter the European league of deepwater ports.

This direction of development has been and continues to be implemented. The day of 1 June 2007 saw the launch of the operations at the Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT). The day of 4 January 2010 witnessed the ground-breaking event for the development of the port i.e. the launch of a regular ocean container service connecting Gdansk with the Far East operated by the world's largest container carriers. The port's offer was further enriched thanks to the recently opened bulk cargo terminal situated at the Rudowe Pier. The capacity of "Naftoport" is constantly growing, a PERN storage and handling terminal is currently underway, and the planning of the DCT expansion is in full swing. In 2013, Gdansk attained the record-breaking throughput in the history o the port, which totalled more than 30 million tonnes. The revenues from indirect tax on goods handled by the Gdansk port reached nearly 15 billion Polish zlotys, which accounts for almost 1% of Poland's GDP and 5% of the national budget revenues.

Thanks to the investment projects implemented by the General Board of National Roads and Motorways, PKP PLK and the City of Gdansk, the road and rail transport connection with the port is greatly improved on an annual basis. The Port of Gdansk with its trans-regional character is increasingly considered as the easternmost continental port of the United Europe. The current success of the Port of Gdansk would not have been possible, but for the Northern Port. The decision to build deepwater terminals 40 years ago directly paved the way for the continued expansion of the port - e.g. the launch of the aforementioned container hub and the bulk cargo terminal not so long ago, and in the future - the construction of a new deepwater port facility envisaged in the Port of Gdansk Development Strategy.

Expressing her wishes of success on the European and global arena, the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development Dorota Pyc shared her positive outlook: - The effects of the port's work performance enable us to look into the future with optimism. The Port has set out the standards and directions of growth, and become the symbol of the Polish maritime industry. Seaports not only serve as gateways for the flow of goods, but also provide opportunities for growth and development on the regional, national, European and global scale. The Northern Port represents a model example of a port facility which has successfully completed the assigned tasks and fulfilled the hopes that were placed in it. As part of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment for the years 2007-2013, almost 2.5 billion Polish zlotys were allocated to the improvement and upgrade of the road and rail access to the ports. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Development has now drawn up a new programming document regarding the development of seaports with the perspective until 2030. In the next few years, the Port Authority have scheduled the expenditure of 566 million Polish zlotys - with the EU assistance - on the expansion and infrastructure. The Maritime Office in Gdynia is set to designate nearly 1.5 billion Polish zlotys to the marine access infrastructure. A project covering the infrastructure of rail access to the port is planned, worth 800 million Polish zlotys. The completion of these investment projects will create suitable conditions for the port's growth and development. Our experience provides a solid justification to claiming that these resources will be put to good use. The importance of the Polish maritime economy fully deserves its recognition as a vital sector in the national economy. Our joint effort towards the growth of the maritime industry will enable us to draw the maximum benefits from Poland's coastal location.

The celebration was attended by the Deputy Marshal Wieslaw Byczkowski and Member of the Board of the Pomerania Region Ryszard Swilski who, on behalf of the provincial government of the Pomerania Region, offered their congratulations and an official letter from the Marshal Mieczyslaw Struk. - We congratulate you on your excellent business results and operational performance achieved thanks to the hard work of both the current as well as the previous managements and the entire staff of the Port of Gdansk, and award Madam President with a statuette of the "Pomeranian Griffin" - the symbol of the region. The event could not have gone off without a keynote address from the PGA SA Chairman of the Supervisory Board and City Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz. - The Northern Port - he claimed - is praised as a major success regardless of the general assessment of the People's Republic of Poland during the communist era. At that time, it represented the semblance and harbinger of Poland's economic freedom and independence. It is important for us to celebrate its commissioning - an event from 40 years ago - since this



investment project has passed the ultimate test of history. However, first and foremost this is a great opportunity for us to commemorate the people whose hard work contributed to the construction and development of the port in its entirety - we simply owe them a debt of gratitude.

More congratulations, thanks and well-wishes were extended to President Dorota Raben by high-profile officials such as Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary State Treasury Commission Tadeusz Aziewicz, Governor of the Pomerania Region Ryszard Stachurski, Director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia Master Mariner Andrzej Krolikowski, and Director of the Customs Chamber in Gdynia Wieslaw Struk, in the presence of representatives of the local and national authorities, trade unions, representatives of the world of science, Polish and foreign business partners collaborating with the Port of Gdansk, and delegates of other ports and consular offices.

The artistic highlight of the gala evening was the performance of the "Ocelot" ballet group from Legnica. The show entitled "The Heart of the Port" had been especially prepared to mark the anniversary of the Northern Port and featured breathtaking acrobatic actions performed right below the ceiling of the theatre hall.Another important part of the celebrations included the auction of children's paintings created during a special plein-air workshop held earlier on the premises of the Port of Gdansk. The mastery and erudition of the auctioneers helped raise 11,314 Polish zlotys as a donation for the Integration and Family House "Na Jaskowej". source port of gdansk

Above seen the installation of the J-Lay tower by the sheerlegs MATADOR 3 onboard the LEWEK CONSTELLATION

at the Huisman premises at the Wilton harbour in Schiedam - Photo : Kees Torn ©

Elektronische neuzen nu ook op het water van de Rotterdamse haven

Scheepvaartmeester Ton Kruidenier inspecteert de geheel witte e-nose op het dak van de RPA 2 Foto: Ries van Wendel de Joode © Vanaf maandag 3 november varen er twee vaartuigen van het Havenbedrijf met e-noses op het dak in de Botlek en de Europoort. Het gaat om de RPA 2 en de RPA 3. De e-nose of elektronische neus is een compact meetinstrument die veranderingen in de luchtsamenstelling waarneemt en kan zo hinderlijke, gevaarlijke en ongezonde lucht /gassen signaleren.De e-noses maken deel uit van het We-nose netwerk van ongeveer 100 elektronische neuzen in het havengebied. Het is de bedoeling dat dit netwerk wordt uitgebreid tot 300 e-noses in 2016. Het inzetten van elektronische neuzen past bij het Havenbedrijf om de



meest duurzame haven in zijn soort te worden. Bedrijven, gemeenten en de milieudienst kunnen door de e-nose sneller inspelen op hinderlijke of gevaarlijke gassen. Het Havenbedrijf Rotterdam, DCMR Milieudienst Rijnmond, Veiligheidsregio Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Provincie Zuid-Holland en Gemeente Rotterdam, Gemeente Maassluis, Deltalinqs en Vopak stonden aan de basis van het We-nose netwerk. www.we-nose.nl

Asia Tankers-Charterers to cap VLCC rate gains next week

By Keith Wallis

American Eagle tanker’s EAGLE PHOENIX anchored off Singapore photo : Piet Sinke © - Click on the photo !

Rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on key Asian routes are set to nudge higher next week after surging to their highest in eight months on healthy cargo volumes and tight vessel supply, ship brokers said. "We've had a bull run this week. I think it will creep up one or two points rather than run away again next week," said a Singapore-based VLCC broker on Friday. "Charterers have pulled the reins in. The market has got legs to climb higher but charterers are definitely going to take a breather."Benchmark rates for a voyage from the Middle East to China climbed to more than 62 on the Worldscale measure after PetroChina chartered the 298,500-dwt (deadweight tonne) VLCC Front Ariake at W62.5 on Thursday.But ship brokers said it was a one-off charter due to specific voyage requirements."The general voyage rate from Middle East to China is about W56," the Singapore broker said. General VLCC rates could climb to W58 from the Middle East to China with a gain of one or two points on rates from West Africa to China. "The tonnage list is balanced with cargo demand," the VLCC broker said. "It looks like owners will keep rates at this level," said Kevin Sy, a freight derivatives broker with Singapore's Marex Spectron, on Friday. Around 77 charters had been concluded for the first 20 days of November and up to another 50 fixtures are expected to complete the month's fixture programme, brokers said on Friday. "November could push on past 130 fixtures. There is real strength in the market," the VLCC broker said. Voyage rates from West Africa to Asia are expected to remain firm with the market "ticking away" on moderate chartering volumes," the broker said. "The expectations for the winter

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market run high among owners who have set their sights to push rates further. Tonnage is getting tighter (with) both for Middle East and also West Africa (markets) sustaining the generally firm trend," said Norwegian broker Fearnley in a weekly note on Wednesday.Rates for a VLCC voyage on the benchmark route from the Middle East to Japan climbed to W62.2 on Thursday, against W45 a week earlier. This was the highest since Feb. 20 and apart from slight corrections continued gains that started on Sept. 26. Rates for West Africa to China were close to W59 on Thursday, up from W52 last week, which are also the highest since Feb. 20."West Africa tends to rise in parallel with the Middle East," the VLCC broker said.In other trades, rates for 80,000-tonne Aframax tankers from Southeast Asia to East Coast Australia edged up on a shortage of tonnage, brokers said. Rates climbed to almost W98 on Thursday, compared with W89.50 a week earlier.Clean tanker rates from Singapore to Japan nudged up to slightly more than W115 on Thursday, against W114 last week as tonnage and cargo volumes remained balanced, a clean tanker broker said.Source : Reuters (Reporting By Keith Wallis; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Dubai receives first LNG cargo from Q-Max vessel

The Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP) LNG Terminal at Jebel Ali Port received its first cargo to be unloaded from a Q-Max LNG carrier. The vessel Lijmiliya (263,000 m3, built 2009) was partially loaded with 150,000 m3 of LNG in the Port of Ras Laffan, Qatar. It arrived on Monday morning alongside DUSUP’s 125,000-m3 Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), Golar Freeze, which is moored at a jetty in the Jebel Ali Port for unloading its cargo Lijmiliya is one of the largest LNG vessels in the world, and is under charter to Qatargas. It is owned by Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) and operated by Shell International Trading and Shipping Company (STASCo). Source : Gulfshipnews

British navy ship arrives to help ‘kick Ebola out’ of Sierra Leone

A British navy mission said it was nervous but ready “to see that Ebola is kicked out” as it arrived in Sierra Leone Thursday to treat victims of the deadly virus. The RFA ARGUS was cheered by dockworkers and other vessels as it completed a 10-day voyage from southwest England to Freetown, the capital of its former colony.“There was lots of anxiety from us as well as

from our relatives and loved-ones about coming to Sierra Leone to fight the Ebola virus,” Cmdr. Ross Spooner, from

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Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, told AFP.“We have taken all precautions and understood the situation. Berthing in Freetown today, the mood of the personnel is one of a desire to get started on the job and to see that Ebola is kicked out.”The civilian-staffed military medical support ship has brought materials to build medical units and help keep them supplied.Some 80 medics and 80 marines are among the 350 people on board, bringing the total British deployment to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone to about 900 people.It arrived with 32 pickup trucks, three Merlin utility helicopters, air crew and engineers to provide transport and support to medical teams and aid workers, said Donal Brown, head of the British Ebola Task Force in Sierra Leone.“Argus … will be in Sierra Leone as long as it is needed. We are here to help the government of Sierra Leone to get on top of Ebola, so we will be here until that happens,” he told reporters at the Queen Elizabeth II quay.Troops with landing craft will escort personnel ashore and protect teams deployed on the ground. The ship is equipped as a “floating hospital” but Ebola patients will not be brought aboard, and any member of the ship’s company thought to have come into contact with victims will be sent to treatment facilities onshore. Britain is taking the international lead role in tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone due to its historic links. Sierra Leone gained independence from Britain in 1961.

A British army medical team arrived in Sierra Leone two weeks ago to work at a British-supported treatment center. “The government of Sierra Leone heartily welcomes the presence of RFA ARGUS on our shores. We are very pleased,” said Palo Conteh, the head of the Sierra Leone government’s Ebola response unit. Source : japantimes

Growth in reefer cargoes sparks APMT investment in Pecem

Booming refrigerated shipments have given a boost to containerized operations at Brazil’s Port of Pecem, which is operated by APM Terminals. APMT, a business unit of Moller Group, is investing 54.5 million reais ($22 million) from now to the end of the year on new ship to shore gantry cranes and other equipment. APMT wants to double its container-handling capacity at Pecem — one of Brazil’s leading export ports for melons and mangoes — from today’s 212,000 TEUs per year to 480,000 TEUs, according to Bart Wiersum, the Danish company’s director for new business development in Brazil.The investment in equipment, for 15 terminal tractors as well as the gantry cranes, plus quay lengthening will enable the more than doubling of capacity.

The port operator has been running the APMT Pecem terminal since 2002, building it up as a specialized reefer facility.

An APMT spokesperson in Itajai said the new gantry cranes would be purchased from ZPMC in China and would be operational by March 2015.Despite fierce competition from rival ports such as Salvador and Suape APMT Pecem has built up significant volumes of export cargoes from the Vale do Sao Francisco region, in the state of Bahia.

Mangoes and melons, in particular, are popular and growing exports out of the Port of Pecem, and of the 17,250 TEUs of reefer cargo shipped out of Pecem in 2013, approximately 10,000 TEUs were melons and watermelons. The next most popular reefer export was mangoes, with 2,900 TEUs of the fruit exported out of Pecem last year, according to Datamar.Pecem is also rapidly becoming the major port for the state of Ceara, taking over from the state capital port city of Fortaleza, which has space restrictions on any expansion plans.Wiersum said the new gantry cranes would bring about a “significant increase in handling capacity for Pecem,” which will make the APMT Pecem facility even stronger in the shipment of fruits from the Vale do Sao Francisco.“I should add, too, that Pecem is also strong in project cargo and breakbulk, which is growing rapidly in this industrial port complex,” Wiersum told JOC.com. “We will still be using the mobile harbor cranes in Pecem for breakbulk cargoes and also as a supplement to the soon-to-arrive gantry cranes.”APMT has already invested heavily in the US$1billion Brasil Terminal Portuaria complex in Santos, which recently became the No. 1 handler of containers in Brazil’s leading port of Santos.On top of this, APMT has also been operating a box terminal in Itajai since 2005, initially as a 50 percent shareholder and since 2007 as a 100 percent owner.The Itajai Port Complex is the second-largest in Brazil for containers with around 1.2 million TEUs handled last year. Source: Journal of Commerce

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Strong growth in Rotterdam’s roll on/roll off figures

In the first nine months of 2014, 15 million tonnes of roll on/ roll off cargo was handled in the port of Rotterdam, 8% more (+1.1 million tonnes) than in the same period of 2013. This increase is due almost entirely to the growth of the British economy. With annual throughput of around 20 million tonnes, Rotterdam is among the top 3 ferry ports in Western Europe.

Shiplive photo The FLANDRIA SEAWAYS outbound from Vlaardingen CLICK on the photo and Photo / Video

Cees van der Kooij ©

The difference between cargo leaving Rotterdam (8.1 million tonnes) and incoming ro/ro cargo (6.9 million tonnes) is smaller than one would expect from an import-focused economy like the British one. Certainly now that the British pound is also expensive in relation to the euro, therefore putting a brake on exports. Ro/ro transport from Rotterdam to England focuses very much on foodstuffs: a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, but also preserved products, frozen produce (meat, dairy products, a lot of potato products), onions and drinks (wine, beer, soft drinks). Consumer durables such as furniture and white goods, hygienic paper products (nappies, toilet paper, tissues, etc.) and car parts are also important. With foodstuffs, the port of Rotterdam benefits from the direct proximity of Zeeland’s agriculture and the greenhouse horticulture in the Westland and around Bleiswijk, Barendrecht and Venlo. Dutch products are also combined with European products and with exotic fruit from South America and South Africa in particular. These products ‘land’ at various companies in the port, such as Total Produce, RFW and Opticool for fresh produce in particular, and Kloosterboer, Eurofrigo and Frigocare for frozen products. Numerous companies have also set up business in the immediate vicinity of the port. The British firm Davis Worldwide, for example, has offices in Lincolnshire and near Barendrecht. The former handles imports of fruit and vegetables from Spain, France, Italy and Morocco, whilst the Dutch office deals with products from further afield, such as South America, New Zealand and South Africa. On GlobalFruit.com, owner Peter Davis says that the facilities in Rotterdam for fresh produce are unrivalled, “It is faster for us to get the produce from the ship in Rotterdam and then truck it over to England, it is also cost effective“. The British supermarkets’ distribution centres for fresh produce are supplied within small time windows, like those of Albert Heijn, Carrefour or Lidl on the continent. The sailing schedules of the Rotterdam ferry services are therefore extremely tight.

The STENA BRITANNICA – Photo : Rob de Visser ©

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In the port of Rotterdam, four large ro/ro shipping lines have their own terminals. In order of (current) throughput: DFDS Seaways (Vlaardingen), Stena Line (Hoek van Holland and Europoort), Cobelfret (Botlek) and P&O North Sea Ferries. In September, Stena Line (Killingholme service) and DFDS Seaways (Immingham service) also put in extra capacity. Cobelfret doubled the capacity of its service to Leixoes in Portugal by deploying an extra ship.P&O North Sea Ferries and Stena Line are also benefiting from the increasing exports from Poland to the UK via combined transport. In collaboration with ERS Railways, there are now five rail services a week between Poznan and the Europoort terminal for departures to England. The shipping companies expect demand for long-distance transport by rail to increase because road haulage is becoming increasingly expensive due to rising environmental costs. Source: Port of Rotterdam

The MTS VANGUARD with the EXCALIBUR arriving in Cristobal / Panama awaiting the channel transit enroute Antofagasta /Chili Photo : capt. Geert Dijkema. master " MTS Vanguard ".

Seaspan Takes Delivery of Fifth SAVER Design Eco-Ship of 2014 MOL will operate the new vessel on time charter from Seaspan

Seaspan Corp. (Seaspan) Wednesday announced it has taken delivery of a new fuel efficient 10,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) box ship to be employed on a long-term time charter to Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).The MOL BRIGHTNESS was built by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co. and is the fifth fuel efficient SAVER design vessel to be delivered to Seaspan this year. The ship will immediately commence an eight year, fixed-rate time charter to MOL, making her the second of five to be chartered to the company. Seaspan has been looking to demand for its SAVER design ships as a key part of its growth strategy.The company reported profits down despite revenue growth in the second quarter of 2014. New features were developed by an international collaboration with Seaspan, the classification society DNV Norway, Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC), Shanghai, and the shipyard group. The new ship design, built to DNV class, incorporates major improvements in efficiency, capacity, operational efficiency and emission reductions. Compared to existing designs of 10,000 TEU capacity boxships, cargo capacity is increased by 10 per cent with an estimated fuel consumption reduction of 20 per cent. The ships are able to operate with a minimum amount of ballast water. Emissions are reduced by approximately 20 per cent to meet present and future emissions regulations. The hull lines are optimized for a speed range of 18 to 22 kn offering a claimed fuel consumption reduction of between 16 to 27 per cent compared to existing container ships of a similar size. Powered by a single engine from MAN Diesel & Turbo’s latest engine program, the ten cylinder MAN



B&W 10S90ME-C9 engine is rated up to 58,100 kW at 84 rpm and delivers a maximum speed of 25 kn. Source : Ship & Bunker News Team

DFDS Seaways commits to Newhaven-Dieppe ferry service

DFDS Seaways and the Syndicat Mixte de Promotion de L’Activité Transmanche, which is responsible for the promotion of cross Channel activities for the Seine-Maritime region, have reached an agreement in principle to extend DFDS Seaways’ operation and marketing of the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry service for an additional year. The agreement was reached between Nicolas Rouly, chairman of the General Council of Seine-Maritime and the SMPAT and Peder Gellert Pedersen, chairman of DFDS Seaways France and underlines the importance of the cross Channel ferry service to the tourism industry in the Seine-Maritime region of Normandy.

The agreement stipulates that the Seven Sisters and the Cote d’Albâtre ships, which are owned by SMPAT, will continue to be operated by DFDS Seaways on the Newhaven-Dieppe service during 2015. New sailing schedules will be introduced during peak periods in response to growing tourism and economic demands recorded in recent years.

Other key elements include plans to adapt the ships to meet the requirements of MARPOL VI directive, using cleaner fuels, as well as safeguarding the jobs of the crew and shore-side staff who currently work on the route for the additional year.Carsten Jensen, senior vice president and head of DFDS Seaways in the UK added: “The one-year extension of our agreement with SMPAT is great news for DFDS Seaways, our employees, partners and especially our customers.“It is also a great endorsement of the quality of the operations and service that we have been providing on this route from SMPAT.“We are looking forward to providing an even better and more efficient service in 2015.” Source : breakingtravelnews

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With Purchase of French Shipyards, Damen Finally Shows Its Wares at Euronaval Not every shipbuilder at the Euronaval expo just outside Paris builds enormous ships, and there are quite a few shipyards specializing in smaller, more economical designs. One of the standouts is Damen, a Dutch-based shipbuilder exhibiting at the Euronaval expo for the first time. The firm has been steadily increasing its naval business worldwide, but why show here now?“We are a French company now,” declared Reinier van Herel, Damen’s regional director for France.“This is our message to France, that we are heavily committed in France.” The shift began in April 2012 when the privately owned company bought the Sobrena repair yard in Brest, now Damen Shiprepair Brest. In 2013 another repair yard, Arno Dunkerque, came under Damen ownership, and is now known as Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque. Together, the two yards employ more than 500 employees.“We merged

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the French shipyards with our knowledge and are working to get the best of both worlds,” van Herel said.Damen has gained a reputation for innovative ship designs, both for the Dutch Navy and for export, particularly to less-sophisticated navies. The company’s small Sigma-type light frigates, for example, are proving popular, having already been acquired for Morocco, Indonesia and Vietnam.The company also operates 35 shipyards worldwide, employing more than 7,500 people in shipbuilding and ship repair.

The two French yards have specialized in commercial repair work, although Damen

is seeking naval customers, and a Moroccan frigate is currently undergoing overhaul at the Brest facility.

Top : The Morrocan frigate TARIK BEN ZIYAD arriving recently at Damen Shiprepair in Brest – Photo : Jacques Carney © In France, however, the company is interested in building relationships with smaller shipyards.“For the time being we are looking to expand the ship repair facilities” in France, van Herel said, “but we’re looking for opportunities to join with existing shipyards. There are many small shipyards here capable of building smaller craft.” Source : DefenseNews

Solving Somali piracy requires effective state governance – UN

Somali pirates.While noting the progress made to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, the United Nations political chief has said that a sustained long-term solution must include the presence of effective Government and State institutions that provide basic services and alternative ways for people to make a living. Briefing the Security Council on piracy off the coast of the east African nation last week, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that this multi-pronged approach may be “a daunting, but unavoidable task, for it will enable Somalia to effectively address, and ultimately defeat, piracy.”“We should not only ask what more needs to be done to ensure that the scourge does not return, but also what kind of support could be provided to Somalia so that the country is able to respond to the threat of piracy without dependence on the support of international navies,” he said. The decline in pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia is an opportunity to review current efforts and take a long-term perspective on



how best to contain Somali piracy including by addressing underlying conditions conducive to breeding piracy, such as political instability and the lack of alternative livelihoods, the UN said.

“State collapse in Somalia and other political challenges lie at the root of the problem,” Feltman said, adding that this was acknowledged in relevant Security Council resolutions, including the most recent resolution 2125 (2013). Feltman also introduced to the Council the Secretary-General’s report on piracy submitted pursuant to that resolution.

Since the adoption of the first Security Council resolution on the matter in June 2008, some of the most urgent responses have revolved around the “twin axes of deterring pirate attacks and prosecuting and sanctioning of pirates,” he said.Coordinated efforts by UN Member States, organizations and the maritime industry have caused incidents of piracy reported off the coast of Somalia to drop to their lowest levels in recent years. Indeed, the last time a large commercial vessel was hijacked was more than two years ago.

However, Feltman warned that progress is in danger of reversing without continued deterrence from the international naval presence and the self-protection measures adopted by the shipping industry.“This progress is fragile and reversible. We still see pirates attempting to attack vessels and capture them for ransom,” Feltman told the Council.

State-building and inclusive governance efforts in Somalia must be led and owned by Somalis themselves, he underscored. Moreover, the international community must continue to support the Somali Government in its efforts to deliver on its commitments outlined in Vision 2016 and the Somali Compact. Meanwhile, the UN must be involved in helping strengthen the capacity of Somalia and other region countries to prosecute pirates and to sanction those convicted.

“It is imperative that more nations criminalise piracy on the basis of international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said, emphasizing the need to deter the financing of piracy and the laundering of ransom money.It is critical that the international community support regional efforts to implement the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM Strategy), adopted by the African Union and other regional players to enable countries in the region to better address this scourge, the UN said.As it stands now, Somali pirates continue to hold 37 seafarers, which remains a matter of serious international concern. It is crucial that all efforts are made to secure and promptly release all hostages, the UN said. Source : defenceweb

Cathelco supply sixth ICCP system for Bumi Armada FPSO conversions

Cathelco has won an order to supply an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system for the ARMADA ALI which will safeguard the hull of the vessel against corrosion, the company said in its press release. The ARMADA ALI is being converted into an FPSO from the VLCC OSPREY, a 301,963 dwt VLCC at the Keppel yard in Singapore. The conversion project is being managed by Bumi Armada Berhad, the Malaysian offshore oil service company who have been contracted for the charter, operation and maintenance of the vessel by Eni Angola S.p.A.

photo : Piet Sinke © - Click on the photo or hyperlink in text !

This is the sixth time that Cathelco have supplied equipment for Bumi Armada FPSO conversions,

two of the most recent being the ARMADA STERLING and ARMADA CLAIRE. As the ARMADA ALI has a length of 335 metres it will be installed with a fore and aft ICCP system. Both of the 500 amp systems will consist of a control panel wired to an arrangement of two Cathelco C-Max disc anodes and reference electrodes mounted port and starboard. C-Max anodes are diver changeable and can be replaced without the need for drydocking. In addition, they provide a high current output from a relatively small surface area and are easily installed using self snapping torque nuts, avoiding the use of torque wrenches In operation, the anodes emit a current which flows over the surface of the hull

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and neutralises corrosive activity. The reference electrodes constantly monitor the electrical potential at the hull/seawater interface and send a signal to the control panel which raises or lowers the electrical output. In this way, the hull receives the optimum level of corrosion protection at all times. “FPSOs are on station for long periods of time without drydocking and there are clear advantages in having diver changeable anodes which can be changed at sea, if necessary”, said Andrew Gamble who has been closely involved in the project at Cathelco. Cathelco are also known as world leading manufacturers of marine pipework anti-fouling systems. This equipment is being supplied for the BW JOKO TOLE, formerly an Aframax tanker, which was converted into an FPSO at the Sembawang shipyard in 2012. It is currently being operated in the TSB gas complex in the East Java Sea by Kangean Energy Indonesia. Cathelco are providing a pipework anti-fouling system capable of treating flow rates of up to 3,600m3/hr. It will consist of 8 dual purpose copper/aluminium anodes mounted in a strainer which will dose the seawater, preventing the build up of barnacles and mussels which can block pipes and impair the efficiency of downstream equipment.The anodes are supplied with an electrical current from a control panel and, when in operation, the copper section of the anode produces ions which create an environment where barnacle and mussel larvae do not settle or breed, passing directly to discharge. At the same time, ions from the aluminium section produce an anti-corrosive layer on the internal surfaces of pipes.The system is completely automatic and requires the minimum of attention from the crew.Cathelco marine pipework anti-fouling systems are widely used on commercial vessels of every type. In the offshore oil and gas industry, pump protection units are available for oil platforms, semi-submersibles and jack-up rigs. In many instances the units containing the anodes are mounted at the bottom of the pumps, often inside the stilling tube or caisson. Source : PortNews

EMAS Offshore Switches Gears from Leased FPSO to EPC Business

EMAS Offshore Ltd. (EOL), the newly consolidated subsidiary of Singapore-based Ezra Holdings Ltd., is switching gears on its floating production business from chasing after multi-year leases to engineering, procurement and

construction contracts, Group Chief Executive Lionel Lee said at the full-year results briefing held over the weekend. EOL is the enlarged subsidiary in which Ezra holds over 75 percent interest, comprising the then Oslo-listed EMAS Offshore Construction and Production and offshore support services provider, EMAS Marine.

Left : Lionel Lee, CEO of Ezra Holdings

In December 2012, EOC Ltd. (EOCL) entered into an asset swap with its Malaysian affiliate, Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, as part of a move to divest its stake in the Lewek Arunothai floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, subsequently renamed Perisai Kamelia. The FPSO has been under a three-plus-three year term charter with Hess Exploration and Production Malaysia B.V. in the North Malaya basin off Peninsular Malaysia since November 2013.When the consolidation of EOC and EMAS Marine was mooted in July, EOL was the 49 percent owner of Perisai Kamelia FPSO and had a 42 percent stake in the Lewek Emas FPSO, which is under contract with UK independent Premier Oil Vietnam. The FPSO

business, Lee pointed out, will be consolidated under maintenance and management of offshore platforms and EOL’s new focus will be on the provision of engineering, procurement and installation services.EOL will not pursue leased FPSOs any more – meaning it will not be owning any additional FPSOs – but instead the now Oslo- and Singapore-listed subsidiary of Ezra Holdings is eyeing engineering, procurement and construction contracts on offer from floating production projects offshore Malaysia and Indonesia, Lee revealed.

The market outlook for FPSOs remains “good” but “a lot of vessels will be owned by field operators,” he explained.

Going after leased FPSOs exposes the Singapore-based contracting group to too much capital risk, the Ezra CEO added.Field operators have taken to shortening the fixed term charters from between eight and 12 years to just six years, group Chief Financial Officer Eugene Cheng further elaborated.Banks “want to amortize loan over six years” of the fixed term charter without taking into consideration the upside for contract extensions, which translates to increased residual asset value risks for the FPSO contractors, according to Cheng.



EOL can look to fabrication support from Ezra’s 60.9 percent-owned yard subsidiary, Triyards Holdings Ltd., for executing its EPC contracts. So far, the yard has delivered a turret for an FPSO installation, Lee said, adding that it can potentially deliver a turret every other year. Triyards currently owns facilities in Singapore, Vietnam and Houston. The yard facility in Vung Tau, Vietnam – the largest of the company’s three shipyards – has been strengthened to deliver offshore structures of up to 10,000 tons.The pull-through from Ezra’s other

business units however, account for under 20 percent of Triyards’ business, Cheng commented.Newbuild lift-boat orders comprise the bulk of Triyards’ order book at the moment. While the yard operator is full up to 2017, the company is still looking to sign more lift-boat orders, Lee indicated.All outstanding newbuild orders, except for a one-plus-one lift-boat contract from Singapore-based Swissco Holdings Ltd., are from U.S. clients.To boost its customer base, Ezra’s yard subsidiary is holding in-depth discussions with potential customers from Vietnam and Abu Dhabi, Lee said, adding that the contracts under discussion include a possible newbuild order for a jackup to be built to its in-house developed high pressure high temperature TDU-400 design. Still, Ezra has no intention to directly own or operate drilling rigs, even though its 25 percent-owned Malaysian affiliate Perisai Petroleum has invested in the construction of jackup drilling units.

Perisai Petroleum is “happy with” the three jackups on its fleet, and not “looking to expand a lot more”, Lee remarked although he hinted the Malaysian affiliate could eye opportunistic asset acquisitions.The jackup Perisai Pacific 101 (400’ ILC) has won a three-year contract from Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas Nasional Bhd’s upstream unit Petronas Carigali in May, ahead of its delivery from Singapore-based PPL Shipyard. Two other jackups, Perisai Pacific 102 (400’ ILC) and Perisai Pacific 103 (400’ ILC), also being built at PPL are due to be delivered in mid-2015 and 2016, respectively. There are presently about two dozen rigs being built on a speculative basis for resale purpose or on order from new start-ups. Most of these jackups are under construction in China. Ezra’s offshore support services business division, which was consolidated into EOL and subsequently went for a secondary listing on the Singapore stock exchange earlier this month, accounted for 17 percent of the group’s $1.49 billion revenue for financial year 2014.EMAS AMC, Ezra’s subsea division, accounts for 70 percent of the group’s revenue, while the remaining 13 percent comes from Triyards. Ezra netted an adjusted profit after tax of $41.2 million for financial year 2014, a sharp turnaround from a $26.6 million loss last year. The improvement arose mainly from a 32 percent rise in EMAS AMC’s operating profit to over $1 billion. Source : rigzone

The SUECIA SEAWAYS passing the Hoek van Holland breakwaters outbound from Vlaardingen Photo : Peet de Rouw ©– CLICK on the photo to view the Hirez version

Highland councillors call for return of emergency tug

Highland councillors have called for the reinstatement of an emergency tug in the Western Isles after a fire on board a boat carrying nuclear waste through north waters.The MV Parida lost power and was left drifting in the North Sea 20 miles off Wick during the incident on October 7.The Beatrice oil platform had to be evacuated as a precaution.

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The Kirkwall emergency towing vessel (ETV) was called out but Danish owners of the Parida agreed a commercial tow with another vessel, the Pacific Champion.The incident has highlighted the vulnerability of the north, and in particular the west coast, if a similar incident happened.The Western Isles ETV was removed several years ago when the UK government removed funding.The incident also comes as the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is due to start shipments of nuclear material from Scrabster to Sellafield, using the Pentland Firth and the Minches.The council’s business manager Kate Lackie also said that there had been other incidents involving boats in and around the Pentland Firth. Councillors unanimously agreed to lobby the government to reinstate the tug and make a commitment to fund the Kirkwall tug beyond 2016.Council leader Drew Hendry said that the two vessels were “absolutely essential” to protect the region. He added: “Recent events strengthen the case further and highlight the importance of the need to urgently address this risk. The incident in early October of a fire on the MV Parida resulted in the vessel losing power whilst carrying a shipment of nuclear material close to our shores.“This type of incident is a reality, which not only puts lives of those at sea at risk, but exposes our coastal communities to unnecessary risk also. I want to make a very clear point that this is the position of the Highlands and Islands Authorities. It is imperative that this matter is addressed as a matter of urgency.”Councillor Allan Henderson said: “This type of material should not be going near the Minches.” Councillor George Farlow said: “No nuclear resources should go through without a tug in place.” Source : pressandjournal

The HANJIN UNITED KINGDOM moored in Rotterdam-Europoort Photo : Peet de Rouw ©– CLICK on the photo to view the Hirez version

Fog, bad information to blame for grounded ship in Richmond

Fog and inaccurate navigational information led to the grounding of a container vessel on the Fraser River last January, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada ruled Friday, following an investigation.The German-owned Cap Blanche, a 220-metre, 38,000-ton ship, was heading to Fraser Surrey Docks on Jan. 25 when it ran aground at Steveston Bend.“The pilot used a function on his portable pilotage unit to assess the rate of turn to transit through the Steveston Bend. The information given by the equipment was inaccurate because it was subject to an unidentified GPS (global positioning system) smoothing interval,” stated TSBC in a news release.

Of note, there was minimal damage to the ship and no one was injured. Nor was there any

reported pollution from the incident.TSBC warned that if navigators depend on a single piece of navigation equipment, there is a greater risk of errors. In this case the vessel was succesfully guided into the river by BC Coast Pilots at which




point a pilot from Fraser River Pilots, which routinely pilots ships up and down the river, took control of the ship with its own navigational devices. Shortly after, the ship grounded. TSBC wrote a safety advisory to the Pacific Pilotage Authority explaining its concerns about having the proper equipment hooked up to adequate GPS data.At the time of the incident, PPA’s CEO Kevin Obermeyer explained that the vessel hit a “sand wave,” a large ridge or hump that forms in the river. Local environmentalist Otto Langer said it raised concerns about the safety of the river and its ability to handle planned jet fuel and other toxic freight.“Despite all the assurances, all the technology, all the tugboats and experienced pilots that VAFFC say they will have; if there’s equipment and people involved, then accidents will happen,” said Langer, a retired federal fisheries biologist, who’s warned of catastrophic consequences for the river if a major fuel spill occurred. Source : Richmond News

Coast Guard ships to rescue fishing boats from Cyclone Nilofar

Taking precautionary measures ahead of Cyclone Nilofar, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday deployed its four ships at Porbandar coast to search and rescue fishing boats sailing along the Gujarat coast and to place them at the nearest safe harbours. "Four Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships Vijit, Meerabehn, Rajratan and Amritkaur fully equipped with search and rescue (SAR) equipments have been pressed into service from Porbandar today for search and rescue operations as well as shepherding fishing boats operating along the Gujarat coast to the nearest safer harbour," a statement issued from Indian Coast Guard's Gandhinagar headquarters said in Ahmedabad on Thursday. However, Cyclone Nilofar which was earlier described as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) over the west-central Arabian sea, is now expected to make its landfall near Naliya in Kutch tomorrow as a "depression", an MeT Department release said. The Indian Coast Guard is also quipped with aircraft to tackle any eventuality.

"Two daily air sorties are flown in search and rescue (SAR) configuration, while two Dornier aircraft and two ALH helicopters are also on standby at Porbandar," the Coast Guard statement said. The Coast Guard has kept a logistics and medical contingencies plan ready for an immediate response. Coast Guard stations have also been equipped with a power back up and sufficient fuel for alternate power supply for unhindered response during the cyclonic phase, it said. Regular advisory for mechanised sailing vessels and the fishermen community for safe berthing and discontinuation of sea operations are being passed through seven radar stations along the Gujarat coast, Coast Guard aircraft and ships on patrol, it said. Source : Indiatimes

The JASCON 18 seen berthed at DDW-PaxOcean in Singapore for the installation of the HUISMAN 1800t Offshore Mast Crane currently seen on the barge JASCON 77 moored alongside the vessel. Photo : Pepijn Toornstra ©

Marine Safety Unit investigating grounding of Maltese ship Kertu



The Marine Safety Investigation Unit is investigating the grounding of the Malta registered MV KERTU, a 2,844 gross tonnage general cargo vessel built in 1996, which occurred in the South end of the Stockholm archipelago in Swedish territorial waters. No injuries were reported and all nine crew members were evacuated by the Swedish Coastguard. Kertu is reported to have been in ballast.Transport Malta’s Merchant Shipping Directorate and the Marine Safety Investigation Unit are in direct contact with the managers of the vessel in order to closely monitor the situation. Preliminary reports received by Transport Malta indicate that the vessel sustained flooding in her cargo hold and damages to one of the bunker tanks after she ran aground.A sheen of gas oil has been observed on the surface. A salvage operation is currently underway to salvage the vessel and mitigate the pollution.The Marine Safety Investigation Unit, which is an independent government investigation body tasked to carry out safety investigations into maritime casualties and incidents, is coordinating its safety investigation directly with the Swedish authorities, in line with the relevant legislation, EU Directive and international maritime conventions.The Marine Safety Investigation Unit and the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority are also coordinating the preservation and gathering of available evidence. Source : maltatoday

The LUDWIGSHAFEN EXPRESS moored in Rotterdam-Europoort Photo : Peet de Rouw ©– CLICK on the photo to view the Hirez version

Man rescued after falling or jumping off ferry near Vashon Is.

A state ferry crew rescued a man who jumped or fell from the ferry Issaquah on Friday as it was pulling into Vashon Island, witnesses said. KOMO's Gregg Hersholt was aboard the ferry and watched as the crew quickly jumped into action and rescued the man within two minutes after he went into the chilly waters of Puget Sound.

Left : Ferry crew members pull the man into an inflatable craft after he jumped or fell into the water from the ferry Issaquah. (Photo by Gregg Hersholt)

He said the ferry was about 100 yards from pulling into the Vashon landing when the

captain came over the vessel's public address system and announced, "Attention, please! Attention, please! Man overboard - this is not a drill."Hersholt said he looked out through the starboard windows and saw the man, who appeared to be middle-aged, doing the back stroke in an effort to stay afloat. Ferry crew members immediately launched an inflatable craft and sped out to him."They got him fished out of the water," Hersholt said. "He still had his glasses on and his shoes on." Once the crew got the man back on the ferry, they began treating him for hypothermia."The ferry crew was amazing, the way they sprang into action," Hersholt said. "They had that guy out of there within about two minutes, and the (ferry) stopped and had to reverse engines while they pulled him out. ... It was pretty dramatic to see that out there in the cold water and see how quick they were able to get that guy out."He




said it is unclear whether the man jumped or accidentally fell into the water.Once the man was aboard the ferry, the vessel pulled in and off-loaded the passengers and their vehicles. He said the rescue only delayed the ferry by about 10 minutes. Source : Komo News

CASUALTY REPORTING

Coast Guard: 7 stranded after boat runs aground off Antique

Seven passengers were briefly stranded off Lipata Point in Antique province Tuesday after their motor boat encountered engine trouble and ran aground, the Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday. The Coast Guard said the motor boat was crossing Romblon and heading for Antique when problems with a rudder post and propeller caused it to stall.It then ran aground a mile off Lipata Point due to what the Coast Guard said was a combination of poor visibility, moderate rain, rough seas and the skipper's unfamiliarity with the area.One of the passengers, Elnor Mercurio Magay, swam to the shoreline of Brgy. Lipata in Culasi town in Antique to ask for assistance. A Coast Guard team rescued the remaining six passengers and towed the boat to Barangay Lamputong in Culasi.The Coast Guard said the rescued passengers were in good condition and stayed overnight at the Coast Guard facility in Lipata while the rest guarded the boat. Source : Joel Locsin/VC, GMA News

71 passengers rescued from grounded vessel off Cebu — Coast Guard

At least 71 passengers were rescued from a vessel that ran aground at Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu province last week, the Philippine Coast Guard said Citing a belated report, the Coast Guard said the the vessel ran aground in the waters off Barangay Kalawisan in Lapu-Lapu City last October 23. An initial investigation showed the motor boat MB River Bus III encountered big waves and strong winds while passing through Barangay Kalawisan.

The vessel had departed Pier 3 in Cebu City and was bound for Muelle Pier in Lapu-Lapu City when it ran aground.The Coast Guard deployed a rescue team that transferred passengers to the motor banca Segundo Uno.Also, investigation showed the 19.3-gross ton MB River Bus III is owned by Metro Ferry Incorporated and skippered by Ruel Ucab. Source : Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

Ship runs aground near Stockholm, spilling oil among pristine islands

A ship carrying 52 tons of oil in the Baltic Sea ran aground off Stockholm’s sprawling archipelago last Wednesday morning and began leaking its cargo into the intricate network of islands and inlets, an online news agency reported.

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The ship’s crew was working to transfer the oil from the container damaged by the grounding into an intact reservoir on the vessel, the Local English-language agency reported. Neither the ship’s name nor country of registry were immediately reported.

Although 52 tons of oil is a relatively small cargo, equal to about 370 barrels, even a minor spill in the archipelago, which is a popular playground for boaters and campers in the area east of the Swedish capital, could inflict significant damage to the pristine environment.The 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound gushed more than 250,000 barrels into the sensitive aquatic environment, and the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago spilled 560,000 barrels. "It is too early to know how much damage has been done in the area," Jonny Aaberg from the Swedish Coast Guard told the Local. Aaberg said high winds and waves were hampering the efforts to contain the spill.Two environmental protection vessels were dispatched to the spill area after the coast guard received a distress signal around 5 a.m., the Local reported. Aerial surveillance of the accident site was also being conducted, the agency said. Stockholm’s archipelago of 30,000 islands and peninsulas was in the news earlier this month when a mysterious vessel thought to be a Russian submarine was spotted in the area, triggering a massive sea and air hunt on a scale unseen since the Cold War ended. The search for an intruder was called off on Friday after authorities concluded the vessel had left Swedish waters.Source : latimes

NAVY NEWS Inside Russian nuclear sub as it fires

missile that can level a city A TV crew was on board a Borey-class nuclear submarine as it was test-firing a Bulava nuclear missile on Wednesday. A video from the sub shows people entrusted with one of the world's most powerful weapons in action. The Yury Dolgoruky fired its deadly cargo from the Barents sea in Russia's north to the Far-Eastern test range of Kura. CLICK on the photo left to view the movie !

Footage from the scene shows tense seamen and officers in blue uniforms going through the launch protocol, using the same language they would use in case of a real nuclear war.The moment the missile departed was noticeable everywhere on the giant

submarine, as it sent tremors through its hulls. Source : RT News

Taiwan's Ching Fu says wins bid to build minesweepers for navy

Taiwan's largest private shipbuilder, Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co Ltd, said on Thursday it had won a contract to build six mine countermeasure vessels for Taiwan's military for an undisclosed amount. The bid was part of a procurement process by the Ministry of National Defense, said an official at Ching Fu Shipbuilding, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.Defense ministry officials declined to comment on the deal. Local media have reported that the defence ministry's total procurement budget for mine countermeasure vessels is T$35.2 billion Taiwan dollars ($1.2 billion) According to industry publication Defense News, Italian shipbuilder Intermarine SpA and U.S. defence firm Lockheed Martin Corp have secured a contract to support the construction of the vessels. Lockheed Martin declined to immediately comment on the matter. Intermarine also declined to comment. Mine countermeasure vessels, including mine hunters and mine sweepers, are naval vessels used to clear mines at sea.The United States is Taiwan's largest defence supplier and a major political ally, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and resolutely opposes weapons sales to the island.Asked about the deal, China's defence ministry reiterated its objection to weapon sales to Taiwan. "We resolutely oppose any weapons sales to Taiwan," the ministry said in a statement faxed to Reuters. Source : Reuters

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Left : The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) conducts a replenishment-at-sea with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195) in the Mediterranean Sea. Ross, homeported in Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility in support of the U.S. national security interests in Europe. Photo : U.S. Navy /Released CLICK on the photo !

China’s Clandestine Submarine Caves Extend Xi’s Naval Reach

In this Aug. 28, 2014 photo, fishermen look at a Chinese nuclear submarine sails past Yalong Bay in Sanya. Beneath the surface of the South China Sea off the tropical Chinese resort island of Hainan, an underwater tunnel guides submarines into a lair reminiscent of a James Bond spy movie. From this pen the subs can venture in and out of the contested South China Sea hidden from the prying eyes of reconnaissance planes deployed by the U.S. Navy, which for the past half century

has enjoyed almost unfettered access to the waters, say military watchers who cite satellite images of the area.

The fleet of diesel and nuclear-powered submarines reflects President Xi Jinping’s efforts to ensure the security of sea lanes vital for feeding the economic growth on which the nation’s stability rests. It’s also provoked discomfort among neighbors bruised by China’s approach to territorial disputes. As countries from India to Australia and Vietnam spend tens of billions upgrading their underwater fleets, cluttering the sea as well as the sky with the reconnaissance craft that follow, the risk is that a clash that previously might have been limited to coast guard and fishing boats spills into military conflict.“Countries are saying: we need to put into place some kind of credible force that puts doubt into the mind of a Chinese admiral,” said Bill Hayton, author of “The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia.” “They are clearly thinking about that because otherwise why are they buying submarines and anti-ship missiles?”

Defense spending in Asia and Oceania rose 3.6 percent to $407 billion in 2013, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, making it the only region where spending increased every year since SIPRI began collecting the data in 1988. That was led by a 7.4 percent rise in China’s spending, with a 5 percent increase for Southeast Asia.

China’s Fleet

The People’s Liberation Army Navy has 56 attack submarines, of which 51 are conventional diesel-electric and five are nuclear powered, according to a U.S. Department of Defense report to congress published in April. China also has three nuclear-powered submarines that can launch ballistic missiles, and may add five more, according to the Pentagon report. The report said these subs will this year carry the JL-2 ballistic missile, which has an estimated range of 7,400 kilometers (4,600 miles) and will “give the PLA Navy its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent.”A range of that distance would allow the missiles to reach Hawaii if launched from the Western Pacific, and California if fired from the mid-Pacific, according to Dean Cheng, a research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs at The Heritage Foundation in Washington.

‘Local Wars’

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The subs, armed with anti-ship cruise missiles and torpedoes, will help Xi as he seeks to realize another goal: readying the military to fight and win “local wars” in the information age. Under that scenario China would let loose its submarines, air force and surface and sub-surface missile power, managed by a state-of-art command system that integrates everything from computers to intelligence.“The level of improvement they have achieved over the past 20 years in platforms - ships, aircraft, missiles, land vehicles, tanks, submarines - isn’t matched by the integration that the Americans are so good at,” said Sam Roggeveen, an analyst at the Lowy Institute in Sydney who specializes in China’s military technology.Xi continues to call on the military to get into shape, saying on Sept. 22 the PLA should improve combat readiness and sharpen its ability to win a regional war.

First Blood

The need to glean just how prepared they are explains the U.S. surveillance flights near China’s coast, one of which led to an Aug. 19 encounter that the Pentagon described as ‘‘unsafe and unprofessional’’ after a Chinese fighter jet flew within 20 feet of a U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft near Hainan.“China’s advance in submarine capabilities is significant,” Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, told the U.S. Senate in March. He later told Senator Kelly Ayotte that it was unfortunate that defense budget cuts meant the U.S. attack submarine fleet would shrink from 55 to 42 by 2029, according to DefenseNews, a security publication.“Submarines are probably the most powerful weapon, apart from nuclear bombs, because they are stealthy and quiet and potentially omnipresent,” said Cheng. “In a naval conflict they are most likely to draw first blood.”

Territorial Tensions

China’s modernization program is reflected in the presence of missile-bearing submarines in the South China Sea, where it claims about 90 percent of the area and has disputes with countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines. About half of the world’s merchant tonnage flows through the South China Sea, carrying about $5.3 trillion of goods each year.Tensions flared in May when China moved an oil rig into waters claimed by Vietnam and again after it completed an upgraded airstrip in the contested Paracel Islands. China’s artificial island project in the Spratly Islands is another irritant to countries in the region that have territorial claims in the area.When asked about reports that PLA Navy chief Admiral Wu Shengli last month toured land reclamation work in the South China Sea, defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun replied that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands.“We have come past the point in the past 12 months where China can explain its own behavior as a reaction to what others are doing,” said Roggeveen. “The oil rig wasn’t a response, it was a preemptive Chinese move.”

Colombo Stopover

Forays by Chinese submarines through the Malacca Strait and into the Indian Ocean are cause for unease in India. Its navy unveiled its first home-built anti-submarine warship in August and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to bolster the country’s defenses so that “no one dares to cast an evil glance at India.”Those concerns were fueled when a diesel-electric Type 039 Song Class submarine docked at the Chinese-funded International Container Terminal in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in September, days before a visit by Xi to New Delhi. The Indian Ocean is home to shipping lanes carrying about 80 percent of the world’s seaborne oil, mostly headed to China and Japan.“If you are dependent upon seaborne commerce and if you’re not comfortable with your dependence on another power’s ability to dictate your access to the seas, then you’re going to want to develop your own capabilities to protect the sea lanes yourself,” China’s state-run Global Times said in an Oct. 20 article.The submarine stopped in Colombo en route to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to join a navy escort mission, China’s defense ministry said in response to faxed questions.

Regional Buildup

As China extends its range, regional navies are responding. India is beefing up its fleet of 15 submarines, saying Oct. 25 it will spend 800 billion rupees ($13 billion) to build them locally. India took delivery of its fifth Boeing’s P-8I maritime patrol aircraft last month.Vietnam has received three kilo-class submarines from Russia and is scheduled to get another three by 2016, Thanh Nien newspaper reported in March. The subs are diesel-electric and are part of a deal signed in 2009 worth $2 billion, the paper reported.Indonesia plans to field 12 submarines and is buying two from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (042660), according to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly.

Australia is looking to replace and expand on its six aging Collins Class diesel-electric guided missile submarines, according to the government. It may spend about A$20 billion ($17.6 billion) on as many as 12 new submarines, the Australian Financial Review reported Oct. 28.

Hainan Hub

Singapore, which has six submarines, has ordered two more from ThyssenKrupp Marine System GmBH. Taiwan has four submarines, two of which are outdated for operations and are used for training, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based security website. It plans to build its own and will need help from the U.S. and others, according to the



Ministry of National Defense.The development of Hainan sits at the center of China’s submarine strategy, according to Felix Chang, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. The island has been home to a submarine base since World War II on the southeast area of Sanya, now an upscale tourist destination.

‘Relatively Cramped’

As Sanya become more built up, the PLA Navy started to develop new sites. One to the south west that will probably be for conventional submarines, and two areas on the western side of Yalong Bay to Sanya’s west: a surface vessel base with two long piers capable of mooring an aircraft carrier to the north, and to the south a base probably designed for nuclear-powered submarines with only one road link, which Chang said indicates its high security level. Jutting from the shore four piers are discernible, enough to moor 8 submarines. To the south of those piers is the underwater tunnel, about 16 meters wide, leading to a cave dug out from under a hill, said Chang.“I don’t imagine the submarine tunnel at Yalong Bay to be as spacious as the James Bond villain’s lair,” he said. “It’s probably relatively cramped. Excavating rock and building structural supports are expensive in the real world.” Source : Bloomberg

Navy's Largest Exercise Underway in the Middle East

The International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX), the world's largest naval exercise, with 44 participating nations from six continents, began with the Maritime Infrastructure Protection Symposium in Manama, Bahrain, Oct. 27. The exercise is organized and led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT)/U.S. 5th Fleet.

IMCMEX is an opportunity for more than 6,500 personnel from navies around the world to hone the intricate defensive techniques necessary to search for and dispose of mines, which represent a threat to all nations worldwide."I am delighted that we are hosting IMCMEX here in the Gulf," said Commodore Keith Blount, Royal Navy, Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) deputy commander and IMCMEX lead. "Freedom of navigation on the high seas and in international straits is critical to keeping the global economy running smoothly. This exercise offers a unique opportunity for nations from across the world to work together to prove our capability to keep the sea lanes open for legitimate trade."The initial stages of IMCMEX will take place ashore, allowing participating nations to ensure they can communicate with each other, which is a challenge considering each nation has its own systems. Representatives will then have an opportunity to talk through and plan operations and maneuvers together. Once the task group sails, the ships will practice at-sea mine countermeasure operations as well as maritime infrastructure protection and maritime security operations.

The exercise runs through Nov. 13 and will end with a chance to discuss best practices and lessons learned for future exercises."This IMCMEX will continue in its focus on mine countermeasures," said Blount. "However, it has been broadened to include opportunities for ships' crews from around the world to conduct maritime security operations such as escorting and defending commercial shipping, as well as carrying out the drills required to protect maritime infrastructure, such as harbors and oil rigs."The key for me is that this exercise demonstrates that the international community is capable and ready to work together in the spirit of cooperation and partnership," he added. As an international task group cannot always rely on support from the shore, the International Mine Exercise Force will test the afloat staging base concept. Support will be provided afloat from the U.S. Navy's Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce (AFSB(I) 15) and British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) amphibious assault vessel Cardigan Bay (L3009). Operations will include diving operations, small-boat exercises, unmanned underwater vehicle operations, port clearance tactics and will be coordinated with industry and commercial shipping.NAVCENT is responsible for approximately 2.5 million square miles of area including the Arabian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean and 20 countries.For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/cusnc/.

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SHIPYARD NEWS

Hyundai Heavy loses $1.8 bln in quarter, braces for worst annual loss

By Joyce Lee South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd the world's biggest shipbuilder, slid to a record quarterly loss of $1.8 billion and warned it's heading for its worst-ever year as cost overruns mount up in new business lines it developed to counter a global glut of low-margin ship orders. Hyundai Heavy said on Thursday it slumped to an operating loss of 1.93 trillion won ($1.83 billion) in the third quarter, from a 222.4 billion won profit a year earlier, as it soaked up rising costs caused by delays in building new types of ship in which it had little previous expertise. It expects an operating loss this year of 3.2 trillion won, its worst on record The world's three biggest shipbuilders, all South Korean, have been under pressure as low-margin ship orders won in 2011 and 2012 squeeze profits. But Hyundai Heavy has been hit harder than peers after taking on a raft of orders for vessels, such as those used in the oil and gas industry, which it hadn't previously built. On Thursday, Hyundai Heavy said it does expect to return to operating profit in the fourth quarter, having accounted for "all predictable causes of losses" in the July-September period. Hyundai Heavy, historically strong in the container ship field, said in a statement the third-quarter result reflected increased costs run up in constructing ships like semi-submersibles and 50,000-ton refined oil product carriers. Its inexperience in building those vessels have meant construction delays. The shipbuilder is also seeing increased costs to meet construction deadlines for two power plants in Saudi Arabia - the roughly $3 billion Jeddah South, won in 2012, as well as the about $3.2 billion Shuqaiq power plant contract won in 2013. Building power plants of that magnitude was another new business for Hyundai Heavy.The third-quarter loss at Hyundai Heavy, coming on top of its previous record loss of 1.1 trillion won in the second quarter, are in stark contrast to brighter times at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's no.2 shipbuilder by output of ships measured by tonnage in 2013. Earlier this month Samsung Heavy reported an operating profit of 181.5 billion won in the third quarter. That was Samsung Heavy's second-straight quarterly profit since it set aside about 500 billion won during the first quarter for losses expected on offshore structure projects. Since Hyundai Heavy reported second-quarter results in July, its share price has dropped about 40 percent as of Thursday's close, before the latest earnings were released. Over the same period, Samsung Heavy shares have fallen 10.6 percent, while the benchmark KOSPI is down about 5 percent. Hyundai Heavy shares closed 5.2 percent lower in Thursday's trade, while Samsung Heavy's shares edged down 0.4 percent. Source : Reuters (Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kenneth Maxwell)

Yaroslavl shipyard lays down lead seagoing tug Sergei Balk for Russia’

Black Sea Fleet

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On October 30, 2014, Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant laid down the lead seagoing tug of project 23470 for Russian Navy (building No 410), the shipyard says in its press releas On March 24, Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant OJSC and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation signed a state contract for construction and delivery of two seagoing tugs under the state defence order of RF Navy. The first tugboat is to be delivered to the customer in 2016, the second one – in 2017. The vessel has been designed by Baltsudoproekt bureau.

The tugboat is intended for towing of vessels, floating facilities and structures in ice-covered and ice-free water; assistance to vessels within port water area and mooring operations; escort operations in sea; extinguishing of fires on floating and shore-based facilities, extinguishing of fuel burning on water surface; refloating of ships and vessels.

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping class notation: EPP Tug.�КМ Arc4 [1] AUT1 FF3WS The ceremony was attended by representatives of RF Defence Ministry, Federal Service for Military and Technical Co-Operation, Rosoboronexport OJSC, Border Service of Russia’ FSB, design bureau Baltsudoproekt, authorities of Yaroslavl and Yaroslavl region, etc.Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant (the managing company —CJSC «VP FINSUDPROM») is situated in the central part of Russia, on the bank of the river Volga. It is an Open Joint Stock Company since 1993. The company specializes in construction of both civil vessels and warships.The shipyard’s current state-ordered projects are: seagoing tug of project 745 mbs and three landing boats of project 21820 for the RF Ministry of Defense; three high-speed patrol boats of project 12260 for the RF Federal Security Service; six boom-laying boats of project SV 2407 and three bunkering tankers of project RT 18 for the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency. Source : PortNews

VROON Ship Management Dwt 5,897 Bitumen Tanker

“IVER ACTION” on her 1st. Special Survey at Cernaval Group Shipyard port of Málaga. Photo : Enrique Pérez CERNAVAL GROUP ©



China Rongsheng secures cash injection, looks to change name

China Rongsheng, the country's largest private shipbuilder, has secured a cash lifeline that could be worth up to HK$3.23 billion dollars and is looking to change its name to reflect its shift into oil exploration. Shares in heavily indebted Rongsheng, which were suspended on Aug. 29 after the company said it was in the process of restructuring, surged almost 17 percent higher after trading resumed on Thursday. They reversed gains, and were down 3.7 pct by 0217 GMT.Rongsheng said late on Wednesday it would issue warrants worth HK$510 million to a Cayman Islands-incorporated investment firm wholly owned by private equity investor Wang Ping, which would entitle subscribers to buy up to 1.7 billion new shares at HK$1.60 each.This would raise about HK$3.23 billion for Rongsheng, it said. A warrant entitles the holder to buy stock from the issuer at a specific price within a time frame. The price of the new shares is at a 17.65 percent premium to Rongsheng's closing price of HK$1.36 per share on Aug. 28, when it last previously traded. It said the subscription shares represent 19.36 percent of the firm's issued share capital. Rongsheng, which builds Brazilian miner's Vale mega-iron ore carriers, came close to insolvency last year before clinching an agreement with banks to extend its loans until end-2015. As one of the Jiangsu region's largest employers, the firm has received copious support from the government, which is currently helping Rongsheng with its restructuring.Rongsheng also said it had signed a debt agreement with a syndicate of domestic banks in Anhui province that would extend its debt payments to the end of 2015.The firm, which bought a 60 percent stake in an oil exploration company in Kyrgyzstan, also said it was proposing to change its name to China Huarong Energy Company to reflect its expansion into the energy service sector to counter the slump in the shipbuilding industry.The company, which on Oct. 17 posted a net loss of 3.36 billion yuan ($549.6 million) for the first nine months of the year, said four out of five new oil wells in its Kyrgyzstan project have received satisfactory results in oil production. Rongsheng has been one of the most prolific casualties of the global shipping slump. The industry is still trying to shake off a glut of ships ordered before the crisis which has sunk freight rates and caused many shipbuilding orders to be delayed or cancelled. Source : Reuters (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Royal IHC secures order for dredging package

Royal IHC (IHC) has secured a new contract with the Chinese shipyard, Jin Hai Heavy Industrial Group, for the delivery of a dredging installation package for a trailing suction hopper

dredger. The package contains major parts of the dredging installation for the 7,000m³ hopper dredger. The agreement was signed by the two companies and the owner of the vessel (Shen Zhen Dachan Island Co. Ltd.). The General Manager of IHC Tianjin, Ton de Gruijter, signed the contract on behalf of IHC on 27 October 2014. This coincided with the visit of the Dutch trade mission, headed by HE Ms Lilianne Ploumen (the Dutch Government’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation) to Shanghai. Shen Zhen Dachan Island Co. Ltd.’s new dredging vessel will be commissioned at the end of 2015.“By signing the contract with Jin Hai Heavy Industrial Group, IHC has demonstrated its flexibility in cooperating with local partners in markets such as China,” says Mr de Gruijter. “The size and type of dredging equipment ordered by the customer represents the current trends in the market for long-distance discharging of up to 4km and dredging with a submerged pump to a depth of 40m on the sea floor.”

Naval shipbuilding hopes get a boost



It’s becoming clear that Indian shipyards, starved of commercial orders, are being thrown a life line by the government in the form of naval contracts. Last week, the defence acquisition council headed by defence minister Arun Jaitley (also India’s finance minister) approved multi-billion-dollar defence projects including constructing six submarines in India worth a combined Rs.50,000 crore. India’s shipbuilders—both state-owned and private—did not foresee a crisis when they rapidly added new capacities and expanded existing facilities during the shipping super boom of 2004-2007. But the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008 changed their fortunes. Local shipyards quickly changed tracks to focus on naval orders. With commercial ship orders in the doldrums, yards have been surviving on government-funded naval contracts such as fast patrol vessels and interceptor boats. That’s how state-owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd was given the mandate to build India’s first home-made aircraft carrier. The six submarines cleared by the defence acquisition council will be air independent propulsion-capable, enabling them to stay under water longer than a conventional submarine, besides having enhanced stealth features. While Indian yards may find it difficult to compete with Japanese, Korean and Chinese yards for commercial ship orders for a number of reasons, they could convert their expertise in naval shipbuilding into an opportunity by tapping export orders from friendly nations. In early August, the government raised the limit for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector to 49% from 26% in a bid to cut imports by indigenizing defence production. India is one of the world’s largest arms importers. This is also an area where technological collaboration with an overseas naval shipbuilding specialist could be relatively easy to come by, given the sheer size of India’s naval ship market, unlike other specialized shipbuilding segments such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The government did play a role, as part of the “Make in India” campaign, by mandating that three of the nine new LNG ships to be hired by state-owned natural gas firm GAIL (India) Ltd from fleet owners for 20 years for shipping gas from the US be built in India. But Indian yards are struggling to get technological tie-ups to be able to take up the contracts. The stiff qualification criteria for shipyards set forth by GAIL will make only a tiny number of well entrenched yards in South Korea eligible to build these carriers. And these are the yards that have the least incentive to share technology with Indian yards. Rightly so, perhaps, because they don’t want to create competition for themselves from Indian yards. Local shipbuilders have started lobbying the government to help put technological tie-ups in place without which India will miss an opportunity to get started in the LNG shipbuilding business and open new frontiers. Nations having control/ownership of large volumes of cargo such as LNG are seen leveraging that strength to build their own national fleet. The just concluded tender floated by Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), the world’s biggest LNG buyer, for hiring six LNG carriers for 20 years is a case in point. The tender was open only to South Korean companies and the ships must be South Korean-flagged and built domestically. On the defence shipbuilding side, it would be interesting to see how the Narendra Modi government tackles the stalled joint ventures of state-owned Mazagon Dock Ltd with Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd. In order to enhance self-reliance in defence shipbuilding and for improving the throughput of defence public sector units in producing state-of-the-art naval vessels within the timelines and price lines that are globally competitive, the Manmohan Singh-led government framed norms in 2012 for formation of such joint ventures. Pursuant to this policy, Mazagon Dock, India’s biggest warship-builder, signed shareholder agreements (SHA) for setting up joint ventures (JVs) with private shipyards—for warships with Pipavav Defence and for submarines with L&T. After the completion of the selection of partners based on these guidelines, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, however, said that the JVs would have to bid on a competitive basis for taking a portion of the state-run firm’s huge order book, stalling the operation of the ventures. The JVs, if operated as per the original plan, could potentially have given Pipavav and L&T access to some portion of the Rs.1 trillion order book currently under execution by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock without going through a public tender, while significantly accelerating the execution of the orders. A decision on the JVs is critical to India’s plan to build the six submarines locally, given the infrastructure constraints at Mazagon Dock. The direction of Indian shipbuilding will also depend a lot on what the government has to offer shipbuilders in the policy for promoting the industry assured by Jaitley in the budget. Source : Livemint

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ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES

Halifax port’s growth bid runs aground Container data down 5.4%

Halifax Port Authority is blaming its downturn in container traffic on global economic conditions, but not everyone is buying that.The authority reported container traffic in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, declined by 5.4 per cent, not the first time the port has experienced a decline in container business.

HAL’s MAASDAM seen departing from Halifax Saturday October 25th – Photo : Henk Spanjer ©

Port observers point to published data from Container Trades Statistics that showed double-digit percentage growth in transatlantic trade volume in May. The statistics suggest not all ports have been experiencing the same decline in business as Halifax.Westbound container volumes increased by 12.6 per cent in May to 334,200 containers — measured in 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) — compared with the same month last year, according to the data.

Halifax’s rival ports, such as the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, have reported container volume grew at the same time as Halifax’s was in decline.Norfolk officials reported an 8.1 per cent increase in volume in August. The 214,355 containers that passed through Norfolk in August set a new monthly volume record. The Port of Savannah handled 293,889 containers in July, which was a 19.2 per cent increase over the previous year, an all-time high.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey handled a record number of container lifts during the first half of this year. By the end of June, New York-New Jersey’s containerized cargo volume totalled 1,583,449 lifts of loaded containers of all sizes, up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier.

The Port of Philadelphia reported it handled 219,060 containers in the first half of this year, which was a 29 per cent jump compared with the first half of 2013, leading officials there to predict 2014 year-end numbers will represent the fifth year of double-digit cargo growth. Even a smaller port such as Boston has been experiencing positive growth in container traffic this year. New businesses calling on that port are being credited for increasing Boston’s container volume by nearly 12 per cent in September. In the first half of 2014, Boston’s container business grew 10.9 per cent more than last year’s figures.Meanwhile, Canadian National Railway, the only rail operator serving the Port of Halifax, reported that it moved all-time record volumes in the April-to-June quarter.

Without mentioning Halifax, CN acknowledged earlier this year that it was facing a capacity problem, particularly at Prince Rupert and Montreal, that forced the railway to temporarily turn away some business.

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Fritz King, managing director for Atlantic Container Line in Canada, the only shipping company to have its Canadian headquarters in Halifax, says there is some truth to what the the port authority is saying.“The economy has been less than buoyant in the Port of Halifax, and its cargo base, I think a large portion of it is European ports, to and from, and that is one of the economies that has been more negatively impacted,” King told me in an interview Tuesday.

“Halifax is an incremental port of call, which basically means the ships calling here are also going down, usually, the East Coast of the U.S.A. to make other calls. It also makes it a competitive environment, and cargo goes where economy and volume dictate. We don’t have, in Atlantic Canada, a big indigenous market.” There hasn’t been significant real growth in Halifax since the 2008 global economic recession, says King.“We could certainly do with a competitive market here in terms of all the services that we use through the port, and the more efficient we are, the more cost-effective we are, the better it is for Halifax, if not better for us as carriers.“But I don’t think the numbers, right now, point to anything more than what they’ve really been pointing to over the last number of years — Halifax has had difficulty growing this port and that hasn’t changed.” Source : thechronicleherald

The CAP SAN ARTEMISSIO outbound at the Weterschelde – Photo : Henk Nagelhout ©

Shipping investments on the rise during September

September proved to be a solid month for the shipping investment market, as ship owners returned with renewed optimism after the summer lull, placing more newbuilding orders and being rather active in the secondhand market as well. According to the latest monthly report from Piraeus-based shipbroker Golden Destiny, “after the summer lull, September brought firmness in shipping investments for secondhand and newbuilding vessels, but also stronger scrapping activity as the downward pressure in freight market persists in all vessel segments and sizes. However, shipping confidence has lost ground during the third quarter of the year from the sharp plunging of Baltic Dry Index and this is reflected in the weaker pace of newbuilding investments as ordering appetite decreased from last year’s monthly activity”. Still the latest surge of the BDI could bring forward more deals, as dry bulk carriers will become more attractive. According to Golden Destiny, “in the secondhand market, the appetite for vessel purchases accelerated from the record lows of August with tankers recording the largest weekly increase in terms of vessels changing hands. Asset prices are still showing an upward picture that comes in contradiction with the declining trend of freight rates. The question is the duration of recession of freight rates and its effect on asset prices. Overall the outlook of freight market environment is fragile and follows the challenging economic conditions of economic environment as China’s weakest expansion during this year puts in danger the global economic recovery combined with the high volume geopolitical tensions and recent pace of decrease of bunker prices”.The shipbroker added that “in the dry bulk segment, there are still positive demand fundamentals that could lead again to a firm rebound, but “oversupply” is still an issue. Despite the increase of secondhand purchases during September, the first nine months of 2014 ended with only 8% year-on-year increase in the average number of weekly reported S&P transactions( 28 vessel purchases from 26 vessels in 2013), and up by 27%, compared with 22 vessel purchases in the first nine months of 2012. In the newbuilding market, the ordering activity is now on a slower pace with 52 new orders on average from 48 last year, but it remains excessive compared with 2012 levels – 25 weekly new orders reported on average Meanwhile, “newbuilding activity is now only 8% higher than last year’s levels and up by 108% from 2012 levels. In the demolition market, the activity keeps showing steadiness from 2013 and 2012 levels with 17 vessel disposals per week, on average. During July and



August, the number of bulker disposals came near to 30 vessels, when in the previous months the volume of bulker demolitions were little above from the number of 20 vessels”. Secondhand Vessel Purchases: (up 74% month-on-month and 13% down year-on-year) – 132 vessels for an invested capital of more than $1,9 bn, 32 S&P deals reported at an undisclosed sale price. (September 2013: 151vessel purchases). Average age of vessels sold -12yrs old built 2002 with an average dwt: 52,513. Newbuilding Orders: (up 22% month-on-month and 49% down year-on-year) – 183 vessels for an invested capital of more than $5 bn, 105 new orders reported at undisclosed contact price. (September 2013: 360 new orders) Demolition: (up 13% month-on-month and no change year-on-year) -87 vessels for disposal of about 2,5mil dwt, 53% year-on-year increase in the number of liner disposals. (September 2013: 87 vessel disposals). Average age of vessels scrapped-28yrs old built 1986 with an average dwt: 28,677. Bulk Carriers: Investment Trends (compared with previous month) Secondhand – Newbuilding ↑ ↑ – Demolition↓ • Newbuilding: 100% up month-on-month and 44% down year-on-year, in the number of new orders (72 new orders – 128 new orders in September 2013). The highest volume of activity is recorded once more in the ultramax segment with 21 new orders (55 new orders were reported in Sept 2013) and almost all placed at Japanese yards. Strong activity also emerged in the kamasarmax segment with 18 new orders, of which 12 are placed at Japanese yards. For this month, Chinese yards lost their top ranking from Japanese. Overall, 66% of ordering activity in the bulker segment is reported at Japanese yards that secured 47 news orders against 24 new orders from Chinese yards. • Secondhand: 120% up month-on-month and 35% down year-on-year, in the number of secondhand vessel purchases (44 vessel purchases for an invested capital of $694,26 mil– 68 vessel purchases in September 2013.) Average age of vessels sold is 11years old and purchasing activity centered on supramax and handy segment for modern and vintage tonnage respectively. (Average Dwt sold; 60,321). • Demolition: 3% down month-on-month and 13% down year-on-year in the number of demolitions (28 vessel demolitions –32 vessel demolitions in September 2013). Average age of vessels sold for disposal is 25 years old built 1989 with strong activity reported in the handy and panamax segment (8 and 10 total vessel disposals respectively). Source : Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

B O E K B E S P R E K I N G Door : Frank NEYTS

“Zes jaren in Suriname” Bij Walburg Pers verscheen onlangs ‘Zes jaren in Suriname. August Kappler. Een Duitser in Suriname 1836-1842’. Moderne vertaling door Michaël Ietswaart. ‘De weelderige natuur van de tropen vertoonde zich in al haar rijkdom aan ons. Hoe mooi en bekoorlijk kwam mij dit land voor! In de winter hadden wij de eentonige duinen van Holland verlaten en nu bevonden wij ons in het land waar het altijd zomer is. Nooit zal ik het moment vergeten waarop ik voor het eerst voet aan wal zette in dit land!’ Zo beschrijft August Kappler (1815-1887) zijn eerste kennismaking met Suriname. Kappler was een Duitser die het saaie bestaan van leerling in een specerijenwinkel in Duitsland vaarwel had gezegd op zoek naar een avontuurlijk leven elders. Bijna bij toeval komt hij als jonge man van negentien jaar terecht bij de koloniale troepen bestemd voor Suriname. Hij verpandt zijn hart aan dit land waar hij in totaal 43 jaar woont. Met een vaak onderkoelde humor, die men misschien niet direct verwacht van een Duitser, beschrijft hij het land en zijn inwoners. Kappler is de insider bij uitstek die als geen ander open en eerlijk schrijft over Suriname in de 19de eeuw. Dit boek beschrijft zijn eerste periode in militaire dienst in Suriname en geeft prachtige beelden van het leven in Paramaribo, het bestaan op de militaire posten en zijn veelvuldige contacten met de indianen, bosnegers en plantagehouders. Beelden die soms niet zouden misstaan op een schilderij van Jan Steen. “Zes jaren in Suriname” (ISBN 978-90-5730-301-2) telt 255 pagina’s, werd als softback uitgegeven, en kost 19,95 euro. Aankopen kan via de boekhandel of rechtstreeks bij Uitgeversmaatschappij Walburg Pers, Postbus 4159, 7200BD Zutphen. Tel. +32(0)575.510522, Fax +31(0)575.542289. . In België wordt het boek verdeeld door Agora Uitgeverscentrum, Aalst/Erembodegem. Tel. 0032(0)53.78.87.00, Fax 0032(0)53.78.26.91, www.boekenbank.be, E-mail: [email protected].

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The LOGOS HOPE in drydock at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore with a part of the sideshell removed for the

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