Daily Shipping Newsletter 2004 – 141 Vlierodam Wire

DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 141

Number 141***DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER***Saturday 07-08-2004

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The Terschelling lifeboat ARIE VISSER Photo : Alexander Gorter ©

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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

A boat from the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration takes part in a drill outside a powerplant on the Yangtze River in the eastern Chinese city, August 5, 2004. The maritime safety administration was trying to improve its emergency capability to handle oil spillage.

Adsteam gets UK tug cuts Adsteam has reached a national agreement with the UK’s Transport and General Workers Union to introduce three person crewing on its tugs at British ports.

Unions have agreed to cutting crew levels aboard Adsteam's UK tugs.The Aussie towage and ports group said the reduction in crewing levels aboard its 45-strong UK tug fleet would create annual cost savings of AUD5m ($3.5m). It said the agreement, which will see 52 employees made redundant, follows a period of six months intensive consultation, safety assessments and negotiation. “The implementation of three person crewing will begin immediately and will be progressively implemented with completion by March 2005,” Adsteam said.

“This is a significant step forward for Adsteam and its employees as it recovers some of the losses in productivity experienced over the last few years,” the company added. The deal covers the redundancy terms for those employees being made redundant as well as new terms for remaining employees over the next three financial years. Adsteam said the cost of implementing three person crewing in the UK was substantially provided for in the results for the year ended 30 June 2003

A Peruvian Frigate is seen near the Panama Canal in Panama City, August 6, 2004. Naval forces from the U.S., Chile, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Panama will take part in Operation Panamax 2004 between August 10 and 16, in training maneuvers to defend the Panama Canal against any attacks.

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Sunken ship spills oil waste off Riau A Singapore-flagged vessel carrying 200 tonnes of oil waste which sank last week off Indonesia's Riau islands has begun to spill its cargo, threatening fishing grounds, according to Indonesian officials.

The ship went down on July 25 as it tried to dock at a town in the Karimun region of the island chain close to Singapore, but the extent of the pollution was not known, said Environment Ministry spokesman Sudaryono.

Indonesian Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim said he had deployed a team to the area to inspect the damage and was consulting his Singapore counterpart over compensation, according to the Detikcom online news service CASUALTY REPORTING Passenger ro/ro Gotland: The special "Environment DA" is considering prosecuting the line due to the outlet in the port of Visby. Several thousands litres of oil polluted water poured out from Gotland after having earlier experienced problems in the cooling system, where engines stopped and took three-and- a-half hours to repair, causing the vessel to drift. Large amounts of water were onboard and, after repair completed, was pumped into a sludge-tank which became overfull and poured from a ventpipe and into the port basin, causing an oil film at the docks. Since the crew knew about the leakage and did not check the tank when filled, resulting in the overflow, the matter may be brought to court for environmental negligence SHIPYARD NEWS Sale looms for Merwede

Amsterdam stock exchange-listed IHC Caland said it had drawn up a shortlist of buyers for the Merwede Shipyard, and anticipated disposing of the shipbuilding facility in the fourth quarter.

Confirming it intended to press ahead with the sale, IHC Caland also announced it had appointed a new president and chief executive, Didier Keller to oversee group activities. Keller was previously head of the company’s offshore division. He replaces Sjef Dooremalen, who will step down but stay temporarily as managing director of the shipbuilding unit until the sale goes through.The changes will take effect on Monday. Merwede recently unveiled new orders worth some $100m.

Norway's Solstad Shipping has contracted for an offshore supply vessel for likely delivery in third- quarter 2005. The effective date of the contract will be confirmed shortly. Australia’s Tenix Defence PTY has also signed a deal for a ‘multi-role’ vessel for use by the New Zealand Navy.

A&P Tyne dry-docks FPSO Haewene Brim A&P Tyne's number 5 dock at Hebburn on Tyneside in the UK will shortly accommodate one of the largest vessels to be docked on the River Tyne in recent years.

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The Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel Haewene Brim will visit the yard for a 35-day upgrading to its process plant and hull maintenance period refit.

Work is already well in hand in the fabrication and assembly of the new process modules for the vessel. The vessel upgrading is being carried out in a partnership between A&P Tyne Ltd. and McNulty Offshore Contractors Ltd. of South Shields who are the prime contractor. Bluewater are the vessels owner and operator, Haewene Brim is currently on charter to Shell UK on the Pierce field in the North Sea.

Two yards jostle for Canada ferry order TWO European ferry builders — Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesell- schaft of Germany and Aker Finnyards of Finland — are vying for a controversial C$500m (US$380m) deal to build new ferries for BC Ferry Services in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The deal, which covers a firm order for two vessels with an option for a third, is expected to be placed in September. Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, owned by private German tramp ship owner Egon Oldendorff and located at Flensburg north of the Baltic entrance to the Kiel canal, is favourite to win the contract, although Aker Finnyards is a close second.

They are the only two shipbuilders left in contention after nine international shipyards initially expressed interest in the contract. BC Ferry Services confirmed that a bid by third-placed South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering had been rejected. Two separate teams of BC Ferry Services staff, together with specialists from BMT Naval Architects of Southampton, have evaluated bids by the European yards and a final assessment is under way.

But the planned order has sparked a row in British Columbia after BC Ferry Services rejected an attempt by the sole Canadian entry, Washington Marine Group, to bid for the contract.

BC Ferry Services said the Washington Marine Group was not shortlisted to bid because the firm had no experience of building very large ferries. Washington Marine had proposed building the hull and superstructure in China before transporting them to Canada where they would be fitted out.

Ferry Services spokesman Mark Stefanson said Canadian builders generally lacked cranes, equipment, shipyard facilities and manpower to build the vessels. BC Ferry Services president David Hahn added that the last large ferries to be built in British Columbia were delivered late and over budget and the shipbuilder, Versatile Shipyards, later collapsed.

But George MacPherson, the president of Shipyard General Workers’ Federation of British Columbia, has rejected claims that Canadian shipyards are incapable of building the ships. He said the loss of the order to a European yard would cost 2,000 jobs in British Columbia over three years. He said wages in Germany and Finland were higher. And BC Ferry Services could face paying a 25% federal duty on imported vessels if it placed the order in Europe. This would add C$125m to the cost of the ships.

The federation said the move to award the contract to a European yard was “a disastrous blow for British Columbia shipyards and their workers that makes no sense for the province’s economy”.

Mr Stefanson said it was not the case that Canadian yards could build the ships as cheaply as the European shipbuilders and he believed that travellers would have to pay higher ferry fares if the order was placed in Canada. The ships, so called Super C-class ferries, would be similar to two existing vessels, the 139 m long, 1,500-passenger and 360-car Queens of Cowichanand Oak Baywhich operate on the Nanaimo-Horseshoe Bay route.

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ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES

THIS SECTION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY :

TOTAL VESSEL MANAGEMENT K.P. van der Mandelelaan 34 - 3062 MB Rotterdam (Brainpark) - The Netherlands Telephone : (31) 10 - 453 03 77 Fax : (31) 10 - 453 05 24 E-mail : [email protected] Telex : 24390 wosh nl Tankers shine at Titan Titan Petrochemicals, the China-backed shipowner and oil trader, has seen first half net profits almost quadruple thanks to a strong performance by its tanker arm.

Top : the 265,322-dwt tanker Titan Neptune (built 1988)

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Net profits for the six months ended 30 June 2004 were HKD155m ($19.8m), up 275% on the HKD41m seen in the first half of last year. Turnover at the Hong Kong listed company also showed a massive improvement on the first half of 2003, increasing by 253% from HKD380m to HKD1.3bn.

Interim net profits at Titan’s crude tanker arm were HKD95m, up 111% on the HKD45m seen in the corresponding period twelve months earlier. The group’s tanker arm also saw a 70% increase in revenue which went from HKD172m in the first half of 2003 to HKD294m in the six month period just ended. “The growth was supported by the successful acquisition in March 2004 of Neptune Associated Shipping (NAS) from Neptune Orient Lines,” Titan said. Since its acquisition NAS contributed HKD83m and HKD10m to the group’s turnover and profit respectively, Titan said.

In addition Titan continued its strategy of improving productivity and competitiveness by upgrading and expanding its operational fleet. During the period Titan made a gain of HKD63m on the sale of the 273,941-dwt Asian Tiger (built 1976) and the 57,535-dwt Titan Mercury (built 1977) for scrap.

It also acquired two VLCCs – Stealth Maritime’s 250,267-dwt VL Venus (built 1986) for $24.6m and Tsakos’ 254,991-dwt Sina (built 1992) for $24m. Titan floating oil storage business recorded a turnover of HKD22m for the period as compared to HKD7m last year. Profits were HKD7m as opposed to HKD2m in 2003.

In June Titan entered Singapore’s bunker trade via a series of business contracts with Caltex’s Fuels and Marine Marketing using three bunker barges from the NAS fleet. Titan boasts a fleet of 24 oil tankers, including three VLCCs and two suezmaxes, which have a total capacity of just over 1mdwt. The company said it was “exploring” the purchase or lease of additional VLCCs to meet the demand for crude shipments between the Middle East and Asia, including China. It also said it would restructure its short-to-medium range tanker operation, which serves the intra- Asian trades, to improve efficiency and secure stable sources of cargo.

PACIFIC BASIN BUYS BULKERS HONG Kong-based, Bermuda-registered bulk carrier ownr Pacific Basin Shipping has announced it is buying three handysize bulkers for a total of US$53.3m.

Pacific Basin floated on the HKSE last month raising HK$1.1bn (US$78m). The company says it is expanding its fleet in response significant customer demand. It raised HK$1.09 billion in the listing last month.

Two Australian contracts for Subsea 7's IRT division Subsea 7 has secured two Australian contract for its Integrated Remote Technology division, from Woodside Energy.

The value of both contracts is in the region of US$3 million and is for the provision of ROV services onboard the drilling rigs Jack Bates and Atwood Eagle.

Both rigs will operate in Western Australia.

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Work is due to commence in the third and fourth quarters of 2004 for six and 12 months respectively, and will include the use of work class ROVs, Clansman and Warrior and the Seaeye Tiger observation class ROV. Mercator shells out again

Mercator Lines of India continues to expand with the planned $14m acquisition of an 18-year-old Shell tanker.

It has followed up its recent $44.8m purchase of the single-skin, 280,000-dwt VLCC Musashi Spirit (built 1993) from Teekay with a deal with the oil major for a 100,000-dwt tanker, according to Bloomberg, quoting Mercator joint managing director, Atul Argawal.

Mumbai-quoted Mercator has a fleet of 18 ships including aframax tankers. Last month it reported a big jump in quarterly net earnings, up from INR 28.5m to INR 206.5m ($4.45m).

MACANDREWS IN SUB-CONTINENT MOVE THE UK ship operating subsidiary of CMA CGM, MacAndrews, is set to join the Indamex consortium. Indamex consortium operates a fixed-day weekly service between the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and the US East Coast with a transit time of 21 days between India and the US. MacAndrews will operate one of the seven vessels that are deployed in this service - Indamex Colorado.

The Indamex service has a port rotation of: New York, Norfolk, Charleston, Port Said, Colombo, Tuticorin, Nhava Sheva and New York.

Traditionally a regional container shipping line, MacAndrews began to expand from its core European services following its acquisition by CMA CGM last year. When MacAndrews joined the Europe, Pakistan, India Consortium (EPIC) as a slot-charterer, it was the first time the company had operated outside of the intra-European trades.

Geoff Smith, Managing Director of MacAndrews, said: "This latest service development will complement MacAndrews' existing EPIC3 links between the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and North Europe. It will also strengthen our service portfolio as we expand into new markets and develop the presence of the brand in the Indian sub-continent and Middle East.2

He added: "Whilst we remain committed to our core regional operations, this is a further indication of our intentions to establish the MacAndrews brand name in certain deep-sea trades."

Subsea 7 extends vessel charter Subsea 7 has announced the extension of the charter of the multi-purpose support vessel Seisranger until August 2006 with further options to extend to 2009.

Seisranger is owned by Ellen Forland Rederi, a private owner based in Bergen, Norway, and has been on charter to Subsea 7 for the past three years.

The vessel is used by the Integrated Remote Technologies (IRT) division of Subsea 7 for annual platform and pipeline inspection programmes for several operators, including Shell and ConocoPhillips, and to provide ROV and survey support on construction projects such as the forthcoming CNR Baobab development, and will continue in this role.

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Subsea 7's IRT Vice President, Ian Cobban commented: "Seisranger has been an important part of the Subsea 7 fleet for the past few years and has built up a reputation as a highly capable vessel for conducting ROV intervention, diverless construction, inspection and survey operations. Extension of the charter through to 2006 and potentially beyond allows Subsea 7 to continue to offer this highly successful support vessel to clients on a long-term basis."

NAVY NEWS

The conventional powered aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) drops anchor off the coast of Manama, Bahrain for a port visit. Kennedy and her embarked Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) are on deployment conducting missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom

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AIRCRAFT / AIRPORT NEWS Picture of an Airbus A340-600 in Virgin Alantic livery. Sir Richard Branson has announced Thursday Aug.5, 2004 that his airline Virgin Atlantic was placing firm orders for 13 new aircraft in a 3 billion pound (US$5.48 billion, 4.55 billion ) deal. The deal, which includes options for 13 more A340-600s, means that giant US planemaker Boeing, which had hoped Sir Richard would buy its Boeing 777, has missed out Pakistani army Russian-designed Mi-17 helicopter is about to take off to fly over Islamabad in this file picture taken on January 14, 2004. A Pakistan army Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the country's northwest on August 5, 2004, killing all 13 people on board, official said. The helicopter came down near Karak, in a district neighboring North Waziristan, a tribal area where security forces come under regular fire from militants. Picture taken January 14, 2004.

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Russia helicopter crash kills 15 Fifteen passengers and crew have been killed in a helicopter crash in Russia's western Siberia. The helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the Tyumen region, bordering with Kazakhstan, on Thursday. "All 15 people are dead," said a spokesman for the emergencies ministry, adding that communication was lost soon after the Mi-8 helicopter took off. The helicopter crashed 55 miles (90km) from the village of Raduzhnoye where it had taken off. Reports say the helicopter had been on patrol with a contingent of firemen searching for forest fires. The charred remains of the helicopter were discovered by an accompanying helicopter which was able to land near the scene. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says the Mi-8 helicopter is one of the sturdiest and most widely-used helicopters in the world. A commission has been set up to investigate the circumstances of the crash, he says. DCA schrapt voorlopig alle vluchten Willemstad- Amsterdam Antilliaanse luchtvaartmaatschappij Dutch Caribbean Airlines (DCA) heeft met ingang van vrijdag alle vluchten tussen Willemstad op Curaçao en Amsterdam gestaakt. Ook verkoopt het bedrijf geen tickets meer. DCA heeft dat besloten, omdat het niet langer over een vliegtuig beschikt. Aan beide zijden van de oceaan zijn de afgelopen dagen circa 1250 passagiers gestrand. Zij wachten thuis, bij vrienden of in hotels af wat er gaat gebeuren of zijn met een andere vlucht verder gegaan. Volgens commercieel manager van DCA, Cesar Prince, betekent dit niet het einde van de route voor DCA. ,,Nee, we gaan zeker door, maar hoe of wanneer is nu nog onduidelijk. Onze eerste prioriteit is het vervoeren van alle gestrande passagiers en dan gaan we nadenken over de toekomst'', zei hij. De Consumentenbond klaagt dat DCA niet te bereiken is. ,,De klanten worden ook absoluut niet op de hoogte gehouden'', aldus een zegsvrouw. De bond heeft een brandbrief gestuurd aan de Antilliaanse minister van Economische Zaken met de oproep gestrande reizigers te helpen en vervangend vervoer te regelen. Ook wil de bond dat de Antilliaanse regering druk uitoefent op DCA om passagiers die extra kosten kwijt zijn aan een vervangende vlucht, een schadevergoeding te betalen. Volgens Prince doet DCA al het mogelijke om de reizigers terug naar huis te vliegen. Vier retourvluchten zijn genoeg, verwacht hij. Dagenlang wordt er al druk gezocht naar een chartervliegtuig. DCA spreekt onder meer met een maatschappij uit Venezuela. ,,Maar het is lastig. Het is nog steeds piekseizoen en het is moeilijk een goed vliegtuig te vinden'', zei Prince. ,,We hebben echt wel verschrikkelijke pech'', stelde Prince. In juli ontstonden problemen met een gehuurd toestel van het Portugese Air Luxor. De start moest worden afgebroken en een paar dagen later moest ook een tweede vlucht worden afgelast wegens mankementen aan de motor. DCA leaste daarna een vliegtuig van het Servische Jat Airlines. Dit toestel kreeg echter geen toestemming om op Schiphol te landen, omdat het geen bepantserde cockpitdeur had. Vliegtuigen zijn sinds vorig jaar verplicht deze op alle intercontinentale vluchten te hebben. De ooit winstgevende route Willemstad-Amsterdam is voor DCA nu een grote kostenpost. De maatschappij heeft veel passagiers in hotels ondergebracht en moet alle rekeningen betalen. Deze week zette het Plaza Hotel op Curaçao vijftig gasten buiten de deur, omdat de DCA-directie onbereikbaar was en de vrees bestond dat hun rekeningen niet zou worden betaald. Volgens Prince was dit een misverstand en heeft DCA de rekening inmiddels voldaan. DCA heeft al lange tijd financiële problemen. Recent heeft de vervoerder het eilandsbestuur van Curaçao om een financiële injectie gevraagd. Het bestuur wil echter eerst onderzoek naar de bedrijfsvoering doen.

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…. PHOTO OF THE DAY …..

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PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 13 8/6/2004