DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

Number 149 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Monday 01-06-2009 News reports received from readers and Internet News articles taken from various news sites.

HAL’s EURODAM Photo : Frans Sanderse (c)

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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

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RACON – POST VAN HET JAAR Net als voorgaande jaren heeft Racon, het Gilde van Nautische Verkeersleiders Nederland, de verkiezing Post van het jaar gehouden. De voorzitter van Racon, J.F. Goud, benadrukte dat de wisselbokaal in het leven is geroepen om de samenwerking tussen vaarweggebruikers en Verkeerscentrales in Nederland en België te benadrukken.

Via de homepage van Racon, www.vts-racon.nl en op de scheepvaartbeurs Shipping en Industry te Gorinchem zijn vele stemmen uitgebracht.

Tijdens de algemene ledenvergadering, gehouden op 27-05-2009 in het zeemanshuis van de Flying Angels, onderdeel van het Engelse Mission to Seafarers te Schiedam, werd de uitslag bekend gemaakt.

De Regionale Verkeerscentrale Dordrecht mag zich het komende jaar Post van het jaar noemen.

Als tweede is verkeerscentrale Botlek verkozen, de Verkeerspost Wemeldinge als derde.

Aan de vertegenwoordigers van de genoemde posten is de bijbehorende bekers door de directeur van Nationale Nautische Verkeersdienst Opleiding (N.N.V.O) ., dhr. A.J.W. Wolters, overhandigt. De Jan Casper-bokaal, de wisseltrofee voor de Post van het jaar, zal op een later tijdstip aan de bemanning van Verkeerscentrale Dordrecht worden overhandigd. De volledige uitslag is te zien op www.vts-racon.nl Gibraltar calls Spanish navy ship moves 'unacceptable' Gibraltar's chief minister has called an incursion of a Spanish navy ship into the waters around the contested British territory on Spain's southern coast "unacceptable", reports said Saturday.

In the latest in a string of similar incidents, a Spanish navy ship was spotted on May 22 in the waters off the village of Catalan Bay in "circumstances which would appear to be unacceptable," Peter Caruana was quoted as saying on Gibraltar public radio and television.

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On May 8, a Spanish navy vessel sent boarding parties to inspect Spanish fishing boats in British waters, despite the British considering that it had no authority to do so. "It's a violation of British sovereignty and something we take very seriously indeed," a British foreign office spokesman told reporters at the time.

The first incident took place last month when a Spanish police vessel was spotted close to the western approach to the Gibraltar airport runway, which juts out into the bay. It was ordered to leave by a British navy patrol launch.

The Conservative party said Saturday they plan to question the government in parliament over the recent incidents.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht but has retained a constitutional claim should Britain renounce sovereignty -- a move that London says will not happen without the consent of Gibraltarians.

The Spanish government claims that Gibraltar has no territorial waters outside its internal port limits, but Britain firmly rejects this and claims three nautical miles around the Rock as British territorial waters. Source : AFP

The OPDR TANGER seen in Rotterdam - Photo : Henk Wadman ©

Vroon Offshore fined in OSV deaths case Vroon Offshore Services was fined GBP 280,000 (about $447,000) after admitting three breaches of U.K. marine safety regulations in relation to a September 2007 incident in which three men died.

Finlay MacFadyen, 46, Robert O'Brien, 59, and Robert Ebertowski, 40, all suffocated to death in the anchor chain locker of the offshore support vessel Viking Islay. Mr. Ebertowski had gone into the confined space to secure a banging chain that was keeping the crew awake.

Mr. O'Brien probably went in to help him but was also overcome by the lack of oxygen. The court was told that Mr MacFadyen raised the alarm and then tried to enter the small chamber wearing breathing apparatus, but could not get through the hatch. He tried again, using a different breathing apparatus, but he too collapsed when it was dislodged.

Judge Robert Moore ruled in Sheffield Crown Court that if the vessel had had an oxygen meter on board the deaths could have been prevented, though he noted: "There remains a possibility the men may still have opened this Distribution : daily 8050+ copies worldwide Page 3 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

dangerous space and gone into it without using the meter." Earlier this month, a jury cleared the ship's captain, Donald Fryer of failing to discharge his duties properly in such a manner as to cause the deaths. Source : MarineLog

Somalia piracy crackdown shows signs of success An international crackdown on piracy off Somalia's coast has yielded around 100 arrests and put bandits operating near the Horn of Africa on the defensive, U.S. and U.N. officials said on Friday. "The international maritime presence is increasingly successful," U.N. special envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah told reporters. "It is successful because pirates have to go further away," Ould-Abdallah said. As a result, pirates have to spend more of the ransom money they receive to hijack ships and avoid arrest, Ould-Abdallah said.

"Many (pirates) have been captured," Ould-Abdallah said. "We have about 100 already arrested. I don't know how many disappeared. ... I think financiers behind them are also aware that they are being watched." Foreign navies have been deployed off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa state since the turn of the year to try to prevent piracy that has flourished in busy and Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

Somali pirates in recent months have seized several cargo ships and collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom for the safe release of crews and cargoes. Figures for the first five months of 2009 show piracy off Somalia, which has been mired in civil war and without a proper government for 18 years, had actually worsened.

In 2008, there were more than 100 pirate attacks in the region, with more than 40 successful hijackings. This year, around 100 attacks have been registered, including more than 25 successful hijackings. "The issue is getting worse," Somalia's Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar told reporters as he pleaded for aid to help his country build an effective coast guard. Separately, the so-called Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia on Friday signed a declaration supporting measures to be taken by the group to help counter Somali piracy. The contact group includes the United States, the European Union, NATO and the United Nations.

Greg Delawie, a U.S. envoy present at the signing ceremony, told reporters those measures would include apprehending and prosecuting pirates and supporting the creation of effective coast guards in the region. Omaar said an effective Somali coast guard could help put an end to piracy in the country's waters. But to get it up and running, he said, money and equipment were urgently needed. "We have the will and we have the men on the ground in the areas where these things are happening," he said, adding that the coast guard would need money, equipment, boats, radar and satellite communications systems.

He said creating a coast guard would also create employment opportunities for young Somali men who may go into piracy to escape abject poverty. Source : Reuters

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80 passengers leave Australian cruise ship in swine flu scare

Scores of passengers have been allowed to leave a ship at an Australian port after medical tests indicated that a swine flu outbreak that cut short their Great Barrier Reef cruise appears to be restricted to three crew members. Health officials screened 83 passengers as they disembarked from the Pacific Dawn in the Queensland state capital Brisbane on Saturday. Hundreds more passengers who are now sailing on down the coast to Sydney were not allowed off the ship while it was docked.

The Brisbane stop over was made for passengers who wanted to get off the ship early after three crew members tested positive for the virus on Thursday. Australia's count of confirmed edged up by two on Saturday to 209. Source : Gulf News

Holiday over for 2,000 people as Pacific Dawn sets sail to Brisbane THE ill-fated Pacific Dawn cruise ship is sailing towards Brisbane where it will be met by health officials, after three crew members tested positive to swine flu. The holidays of 2,000 people will be cut short by Queensland health authorities in an effort to stop swine flu spreading to the state's north.

The PACIFIC DAWN seen arriving in Brisbane Photo : Sander Croese - Inchcape Shipping Services Pty Ltd (c)

P&O's Pacific Dawn was due to stop in the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas, but will now sail directly to Brisbane, arriving back on Saturday. Earlier it was announced that the number of Australians with swine flu has topped 100, prompting Canberra to order 10 million doses of swine flu vaccine from CSL - enough to cover almost half of the population. Chief Medical Officer Jim Bishop said populations most at risk, such as children, and states with high rates of infection, such as Victoria, would be among those prioritised for immunisation once the vaccine became available.

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But with the vaccine still months away due to clinical trials, the federal Government is buying time by releasing the antiviral Tamiflu from the national stockpile for the first time, to Victoria and Western Australia.

An extra 1.6 million courses of a second anti-viral drug, Relenza, have also been purchased at a cost of $43 million to boost the stockpile, the Government announced. Other states and territories are expected to follow Victoria and WA’s lead, and request a share of the national medicine stockpile. Across the nation, some 103 people have been infected by the new H1N1 strain: 53 from Victoria, 33 from New South Wales, 8 from Queensland, 5 from South Australia, 3 from the Australian Capital Territory and one from Western Australia.

That compares to 61 confirmed cases at the same time yesterday. Four have been hospitalised because of the severity of their symptoms, with three now on the mend. While Australia remains fatality-free, more than 100 swine flu have been recorded worldwide, with the disease infecting around 13,400 people across 48 countries. Source : theaustralian

ALSO INTERESTED IN THIS FREE MARITIME NEWSCLIPPINGS ? PLEASE VISIT THE WEBSITE : WWW.MAASMONDMARITIME.COM AND REGISTER FOR FREE ! DOES RETRIEVER CREW CELEBRATES THE NEW HERRING SEASON ?

Is it because of the new Herring Season? No, it's because Chief Engineer Rinus Blijleven is celebrating his 30 years service with Heerema, Rinus onbehalf of all the reader congratulations with this milestone Photo : Jan Berghuis (c)

Napoli Removal Begins The operation to finally remove the remaining section of the 'MSC Napoli' is now underway. Earlier this year salvor Global Response Maritime successfully positioned 12 lifting chains under the wreck. They are now making preparations to lift the remaining hull section to the surface for demolition and recycling. Distribution : daily 8050+ copies worldwide Page 6 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

Two barges rigged with heavy mobile cranes have already arrived on site. The lifting chains will then be connected to the two lifting barges. It is anticipated that the wreck will be removed from the site by the end of August 2009. A temporary exclusion zone (TEZ) of 500 meters around the wreck remains in place.

Hugh Shaw, Secretary of State’s Representative in Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP) said:

"The two 140 meter barges have heavy mobile cranes and a series of 24 chain-pullers which have already been installed. On arrival the lifting chains already in position will be connected to the chain-pullers. The two lifting barges will be moored parallel to 'Napoli's' stern and when preparations for the main lift are complete, the barges will be ballasted down to compensate for the forces acting on the pullers and reduce movement in the swell.

"Weather permitting a test lift may take place on 2 or 3 June. If successful, lifting and cutting will then commence. MCA aerial surveillance flights will continue to patrol the area on a routine basis.

"The contract includes the total removal of the stern, including the main engine, together with delivery of all scrap to the recycling facility of Scheepssloperij Nederland at Gravendeel in the Netherlands. However I will not give sign off to the project until a final underwater inspection and demobilization of equipment has been completed."

CH.ENG TOM CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY ONBOARD ZAANDAM

Onboard HAL’s ZAANDAM Chief Engineer TOM MAHON celebrated his birthday,

Tom on behalf of all the readers HAPPY BIRTHDAY ☺ Baltic Dry Index Gains 5.9 Percent to Cap Record Monthly Gain The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, climbed every day in May to post its biggest monthly advance on record. The index tracking transport costs on international trade routes added 196 points, or 5.9 percent, to 3,494 points, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange today. The gauge climbed 96 percent in the month. "It's amazing; the atmosphere is much more positive than it was a few months back," said Herman Billung,

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chief executive officer of Golden Ocean Management A/S, which operates Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen's fleet of commodity carriers.

"It's extremely dangerous to underestimate Chinese demand, which we've all had a tendency to do for a few years now." As well as three straight months of record iron ore imports, Chinese shippers are stepping up purchases of coal and other commodities, Billung said by phone from Oslo today. Ships' asset values are climbing because of the rising market, he said.The advance in the index was led by capesizes, the vessels most commonly used to haul iron ore to China, the world's biggest buyer of the raw material. They added 12 percent to $67,729 a day. Smaller panamax vessels climbed 4.9 percent to $23,242 a day. Capesizes typically haul about 175,000 metric tons of cargo and panamaxes are half the size.

In December, 20 percent of the fleet was idling because ships couldn't get cargoes, Billung said. Today, 20 percent are waiting to dock because of port congestion, he said. Capesize forward freight agreements, contracts settled by the bourse's daily prices, gained 5.9 percent to $48,500 a day for the third quarter, according to London-based Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd. Panamax FFAs for the same period added 7.5 percent to $21,375 a day. Source: Bloomberg DAN CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY ONBOARD EURODAM

Onboard HAL’s EURODAM first officer Dan celebrated his birthday, at the photo Dan seen sampling the local cuisine in Warnemunde , Germany on Eurodams latest call there.

Dan, on behalf of all the readers Happy Birthday and ofcoarse many happy returns.

Photo : Deck department Eurodam (c)

NAVY NEWS Lazy inspector endangers US submarines US media is reporting that eight submarines and a brand new may have to be re-inspected after a welding inspector signed quality control reports without having checked the work.

According to an internal report obtained by Defense News (http://defensenews.com/), Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding company discovered the falsification on May 14 and initiated an investigation. Source : Russiatoday

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Warship fires on village by mistake The Russian navy said on Friday that one of its anti-submarine ships had fired artillery at a village by mistake, state RIA news agency reported.

The navy said no-one had been injured when a small anti-submarine ship on Thursday opened fire on a village in the Vyborg region of St Petersburg.

"On the 28 May, a small anti-submarine ship from the Baltic fleet was working on a host of exercises in the gulf of Finland including artillery fire at aerial targets," RIA quoted a navy spokesman as saying. "No-one was injured."

Locals at a farm where the shots were fired said people took cover in basements to shield themselves from the shelling, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported. "This is, of course, a disgrace, people could have died. This is the height of the planting season and there are a lot of people at the farm," Tatyana Kostaryova, a spokeswoman for the local administration, told the agency.

Yury Mikhailov, the head of the farm, said most of the shrapnel fell on rooftops and greenhouses. "Was it frightening? That's not the word for it. It was a metal hail. People took cover in basements," he said.

Igor Lebedev, a regional military prosecutor, said the ship was conducting target practice and that some shells or rounds fell on houses near the village. Russia's Interfax news agency said up to 14 shells from the ship may have landed off-target.

Russia's navy has been plagued by a series of mishaps since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the Kursk submarine disaster in 2000 in which 118 sailors died. Source : Reuters SUBMARINE’S PRESENCE EVOKES PP PROTEST The British nuclear submarine HMS Trenchant sailed into the Bay of Gibraltar early yesterday morning to carry out a crew transfer.

The submarine was met by vessels from the Gibraltar Squadron, which provided an escort and ferried the men from shore. The transfer was carried out in the bay because of poor weather conditions in the Strait of Gibraltar.

The brief visit drew a predictable response from the opposition Popular Party in Spain, whose MP in Cádiz, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, repeated concerns about safety and urged the Spanish government to take a tougher line.

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HMS Trenchant is a Trafalgar Class nuclear powered submarine fitted with the Royal Navy’s most advanced sonar systems. The submarine is able to gather enormous quantities of information from its environment, including detecting and tracking surface and sub-surface vessels without them being aware that they are being scrutinised from below. The submarine is armed with wire-guided Spearfish torpedoes and Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles. It also carries Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be fired at land targets. Source : Gibraltar Chronicle USS Hartford Gets New Commander The U.S. Navy has appointed a Naval Academy graduate from Arkansas to command the Los Angeles class, fast-attack submarine USS Hartford, replacing the previous commander, who was relieved following a collision between the submarine and another naval vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on March 20.

Cmdr. Robert Dunn took command of the Hartford, named after Connecticut's capital, during a ceremony Saturday at the U.S. Naval Submarine Base, the Navy said. Dunn graduated from the academy in 1991 and has bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering.

He served previously as engineer aboard the Hartford and executive officer aboard the ballistic missile submarine USS Ohio. Most recently, Dunn served on the staff of the commander of U.S. Submarine Force Pacific Fleet.

Dunn replaces Cmdr. Ryan Brookhart, who was in command of the nuclear-powered Hartford when it collided with the amphibious ship USS New Orleans in the congested waterway between Iran and the Arabian peninsula. Both ships were damaged but able to reach port under their own power. Fifteen sailors aboard the Hartford were slightly injured but were able to return to duty.

The Navy said the Hartford was submerged at the time of collision and both ships were headed in the same direction. The Hartford was built by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton and launched in 1993. It is berthed at the submarine base in Groton.

In October 2003, the Hartford ran aground near La Maddalena on Sardinia with sufficient force to substantially damage its rudders, sonar and electronics.

The submarine is the second ship to be named after Hartford. The first was a sail- and steam-powered sloop of war commissioned in 1859. The first Hartford served initially as the flagship of the U.S. Navy's East India Squadron. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the original Hartford became Adm. David Farragut's flagship in the Western Gulf of Mexico Blockading Squadron. It entered history during the Civil War battle of Mobile Bay when Farragut issued the order now remembered as the battle cry "Damn the torpedoes ... full speed ahead."

Cmdr. Chris Harkins briefly preceded Dunn as interim commander of the Hartford. The Navy said Harkins will return to duties as deputy commander, Submarine Squadron 8, in Norfolk, Va. Source : Hartford Courant Soviet-Era Submarine Dismantled Russia has successfully disposed of one of the largest strategic nuclear submarines from the former Soviet fleet, Interfax reported.

Workers at the Zvyozdochka shipyard have completed dismantlement of the Typhoon-class submarine, a project that began nearly a year ago, a spokesman for the shipyard said. The United States and Canada paid for the effort through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program and the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction

The vessel's nuclear reactor has been secured in a single-compartment block that is scheduled to be transported to the Kola Peninsula, just east of Finland.

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2 Typhoon class submarines seen moored at Severodvinsk shipyard Photo : Coll Piet Sinke

Three retired Typhoon-class vessels have now been dismantled at the shipyard in Severodvinsk. Russia had pledged to dispose of all its decommissioned nuclear submarines by 2012 Source : Global Security Newswire US Navy in Tallinn Bay The US Navy’s combined ro-ro and container vessel USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo arrived in the Tallinn Bay last week to take part in an international exercise together with five Baltic Sea countries. The USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo is one of 32 vessels in the fleet of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron One. She has been in Tallinn before, in the summers of 2002 and 20 04, together with several similar vessels. The 44,330 DWT vessel was built in 1985 in Massachusetts. Source : Shipgaz USS Ronald Reagan Deploys USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) departed San Diego May 28 on a deployment to the 7th and 5th Fleet Areas of Responsibility.

The carrier joins the other ships of its strike group which departed the day prior, including the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), and the ships of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, which include the guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Howard (DDG 83) and USS Gridley (DDG 101), and the guided missile frigate USS Thach (FFG 43). Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 is embarked aboard Ronald Reagan.

"I'm proud of these Sailors, and I'm proud of their families - proud of their commitment, their excellence and their dedicated service," said Rear Adm. Scott Hebner, commander, 7. "They understand the importance of their mission and the challenges ahead of them - they have worked hard, and they are ready."

Friends and family members of Sailors aboard Ronald Reagan bid their Sailors farewell from the pier on Naval Air Station North Island. "Be safe and strong. We are here to support them. It's a tough job, and we are proud of them," said Pam Ortiz-Martin, a wife of a Sailor aboard Ronald Reagan.

The deployment is the fourth for the San Diego-based Ronald Reagan, which recently received its second Battle "E" award for being the most combat-efficient carrier in the Pacific Fleet. The Ronald Reagan/CVW-14 team also received the Ramage Award for most efficient carrier-air wing team in the entire Navy.

During its last deployment, the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group performed a humanitarian assistance mission, supporting the armed forces of the delivering more than 519,000 pounds of fresh water, rice and medical Distribution : daily 8050+ copies worldwide Page 11 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

supplies to people affected by Typhoon Fengshen. Additionally, CVW-14, staging from Ronald Reagan in the , flew more than 1,150 combat sorties in support of coalition troops in Afghanistan, while the ships of DESRON 7 supported maritime security operations in the 5th Fleet Area of Operations.

The squadrons of CVW-14 include the "Redcocks" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22, the "Fist of the Fleet" of VFA- 25, the "Stingers" of VFA-113, the "Eagles" of VFA-115, the "Black Eagles" of Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113, the "Cougars" of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 139, the "Providers" of Carrier Logistics Support 30, and the "Black Knights" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4.

Ronald Reagan is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 7 and the ninth of 10 Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The ship is named for the 40th president; its motto, "Peace through Strength," was a recurring theme during the Reagan presidency. Source : US Navy SHIPYARD NEWS

www.tos.nl TOS Rotterdam (+31)10 – 436 62 93 E-Mail [email protected] General Dynamics NASSCO Begins Construction of Fifth Product Carrier Ship General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, began construction of the fifth ship in its series of product carriers. The shipyard is scheduled to deliver the ship to U.S. Shipping Partners in the third quarter of 2010. The ship will be named “Evergreen State,” the state nickname of Washington. Designed to carry petroleum and chemical products in Jones Act trade between U.S. ports, the double-hulled ship will be 600.4 feet (183 meters) in length and have a cargo capacity of approximately 331,000 barrels.

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The Queen of Burnaby seen in the Vancover Dry dock. Photo : Raymond Schaefer (c)

New hope for Terminal Island ship repair plan There's new hope for Gambol Industries' plan to create a ship repair yard on Los Angeles' Terminal Island.

The Port of Los Angeles had rejected the plan because the port wants to use the Terminal Island site to dump dredged materials from a much needed channel deepening project.

However, the Los Angeles City Council's Committee on Trade, Commerce and Tourism has told the port to reconsider its decision. A motion from the committee ordering the port to seek alternative sites for the dumping of contaminated soil will now go before the full city council. If the motion is rejected, Gambol could still appeal to the California Coastal Commission.

The proposed 25-acre Gambol Shipyard would include a 650-foot dry dock along with two deep-water slips .

The facility would also feature a zero-emission paint shed and solar panels on warehouse roofs.

An economic report prepared by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation estimates the shipyard would employ 850 full-time workers and produce $220 million annually in wages to the region. Source : MarineLog

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Tidewaters TOMMY SHERIDAN TIDE seen ready for delivery by Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk Photo : Johan Barendrecht ©

ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES

REDWISE MARITIME SERVICES B.V. Amersfoortseweg 12-E 3751 LK Bunschoten-Spakenburg The Netherlands Phone : +31 (0) 33 42 17 860 (24 hr) Fax : +31 (0) 33 42 17 879 [email protected] www.redwise.com

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The COS LUCKY seen at the mooring buoys in Port Said Photo : Lennert Teerling (c)

Unifeeder’s best year ever Unifeeder A/S made their best profit ever in 2008, DKK 540 million. That is twice as much as in 2007, when the profit was DKK 250 million. The profit in 2008 comes from revenues of nearly DKK three billion, whic h is DKK 1 billion better than in 2007.

“We had nine very good months in 2008, but had to face a dramatic downturn in the fourth quarter of 2008”, explains Jesper Kristensen, CEO of Unifeeder, to the Danish newspaper Børsen. “We were hit by a drop in both volumes and prices in the last three months of 2008. Right now it seems like we have hit some kind of bottom and are on the way up again with better prices and growing volumes”, says Jesper Kristensen. Unifeeder operates 25 chartered container feeders from 5,210 DWT (508 TEUs) to 17,860 DWT (1,425 TEUs). Source : Shipgaz

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The tug EERLAND 26 seen with the sheerlegs TAKLIFT 7 with the new bridge section for new Faslane submarine jetty Photo : Iain Forsyth (c)

The Port of Sohar is moving forward! On the 30th of May an agreement was signed between the Port of Sohar and the Mashael Group of Companies. The agreement was signed by HE Maqbool Ali Sultan, the Minister of Industry and Commerce and also the Chairman of Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC) and HH Sheikh Mohammed BinSalman Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, the owner of Mashael Group. The agreement concerns the construction of the first specialized bitumen refinery in the region that is set to break ground by the end of this year in the Port of Sohar area and completed by 2012. The investment is worth over US$200 million.

The Industrial Port of Sohar, a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Port of Rotterdam is managed by SIPC. Mr Jan Meijer, the CEO of the SIPC, says that he is very happy that the port is signing agreements in spite of the difficult financial times. Mr Meijer continues “Since we started only six years ago, in 2003, we have leased out 85% of the port area and that is a very good indicator that we are going in the right direction”. The Mashael Group of companies is a diversified group with special focus in the Oil and Gas industry and has offices in Bahrain, UAE, KSA, Oman and Malaysia. The Sohar Bitumen Refinery will target the niche bitumen market. The plant will utilize the latest technologies to provide a one-stop bitumen supply centre with a capacity of 30 000 bpd, producing up to 1 million tons of bitumen a year where about 20% of the production is prioritised for the Omani market.

According to Mr Bryan Chen, Executive Director of Al Mashael Group there are two main reasons for choosing the Port of Sohar. Sohar is in the center of their market and therefore the most strategic location. Mr Bryan Chen also explains that after visiting most ports in the region, Port of Sohar proved to have the most impressive infrastructure and development plan. Source : Port of Sohar "Eurotunnel: 24 hours below the Channel" For the first time in 15 years, Eurotunnel opens its doors and invites you in to discover the incredible «behind the scenes» world of this essential but often misunderstood infrastructure and to see at first hand the work done every day by the teams who keep the trains moving.

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This celebratory book is available as a special introductory offer for shareholders at a price of just £25 (post and packaging included*), for all orders received before 20 June 2009. In order to take advantage on this exceptional offer, open the attached document which contains excerpts from the book and an order form to return with a signed, dated check for £25 made out to The Channel Tunnel Group Ltd, exclusively to the following address:

Eurotunnel Sales Support Office UK Terminal Ashford Road Folkestone Kent CT18 8XX

The MULTRATUG 16 seen in the port of Antwerp Photo : Jasper van Raemdonck (c)

Sale of DFDS vessel failed DFDS Group announces that the sale of the cruise ferry Queen of Scandinavia has fallen through. The unofficial buyer who earlier signed a contract to buy the vessel for DKK 170 million, was unable to make the payment in time. DFDS prolonged the payment period, but the buyer was still unable to raise the money. This means that DFDS will still be owner of the Queen of Scandinavia when the charter as an accommodation vessel in Oskarshamn expires at the end of May.

DFDS is now working on securing employment for the rest of the year for the vessel, which is supernumerary in the fleet. The vessel has been idle since September 2008, when the Bergen-Newcastle service was closed down. The Queen of Scandinavia was built in Turku in 1981 and was purchased by DFDS in 1990. Source : Shipgaz Philippine operator doubles capital PHILIPPINE shipowner and operator Aboitiz Transport System is doubling its capital expenditure this year as it bids to snap up a logistics company and additional second-hand ships.

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The company has allotted up to $51M from $21M in 2008 after earnings from ship sales in the last two years and settling for huge profit in the first quarter this year. Aboitiz sold nine of its passenger-cargo ships and posted $2.7M pesos in profits in the first quarter this year, in contrast to a net loss of $760,000 the previous year.

The company is interested in buying another ScanAsia, Aboitiz president and CEO Enrique Aboitiz told reporters after its annual stockholders meeting yesterday, referring to the warehousing and supply chain its subsidiary bought for $8.4M last year.

In addition, Aboitiz wants to purchase a new passenger-cargo ship worth around $2.5M to boost its inter-island shipping operation. A large portion of the company’s debt has been paid, allowing it to purchase or charter newer ships at competitive prices, he said. Source : Daily Fairplay News Idle fleet just eases upward The total idle fleet as at May 25 remained relatively steady at 520 ships for a total of 1.30-million TEUs. This represents 10.2% of the total fleet. A fortnight ago, the number had stood at 511 ships for 1.31-mteu.

Although there was no significant change in the total number of idle ships, the report added, the increasing number of chartered ships being returned to owners on expiry of charters is putting significant pressure on a weakened charter market. Source : cargoinfo.co.za

The MSC IVANA seen in Rotterdam-Europoort Photo : Harry van den Berg (c)

Two Swedish owner coasters blockaded in Denmark Two Swedish-owned coasters have been blockaded in Danish ports as a result of lack of payment to the crews. The Baltic Wind is lying alongside in Aabenraa in a dispute between the owner and the Baltic crew on board. The crew has not been paid for months and has now sought assistance from the Danish affiliate of ITF, International Transport workers Federation. According to ITF representative Morten Bach, the owner's debt to crew is around USD 52,000. The dock workers in Aabenraa have refused to handle the ship's cargo until the crew has been paid off.

“We are in trouble as we are not able to buy any food”, explains AB Vitalij Stephanov, a Lithuanian citizen to t he Danish newspaper JydskeVestkysten. Late yesterday, the company's sister ship Baltic Breeze I, which was discharging at Vejle, was also blockaded. The 570 DWT Baltic Wind and the 545 DWT Baltic Breeze I are owned by Distribution : daily 8050+ copies worldwide Page 18 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

Swedish controlled Baltic Offshore Ltd registered in Charlestown, St. Kitts-Nevis in the Caribbean, with Marinway in in Malmö, Sweden, as beneficial owner of both vessels. Source : Shipgaz

Swedish tanker sold for bunker operation off Africa The Danish bunker operator Monjasa A/S, Fredericia, has purchased the Swedish-owned tanker Betty Theresa (on long-term charter to Herning Shipping) and renamed the tanker Energizer. In the future, the tanker, flying the Panama flag, will be used as a bunker tanker in Monjasa’s West African operation. The 8,490 DWT tanker is the largest in Monjasa's bunker fleet, which operates in several locations around the world. Monjasa has its own tonnage at Gibraltar and in Dubai and Nigeria. The two tankers operating off Nigeria are the former Swedish veterans the Challenge and the Venture, which were originally the Brevik (built in 1967) and the Tärnsjö (built in 1964), both built at Karlstad Varv.

NORMAN ARROW ARRIVES IN PORT OF DOVER Incat Vessel Arrives in UK 24 Days after Leaving Tasmania

LD Lines' brand new Incat 112 metre Wave Piercing Catamaran, Norman Arrow, arrived in the Port of Dover for the first time at 1730 hours on Tuesday 26th May, following completion of her three week delivery voyage from Hobart, Tasmania.

The Norman Arrow departed Tasmania on 2nd May and her journey has included calls into Fremantle (South West Australia), Port Victoria (Seychelles), transit through the Suez Canal and a final call into Valetta (Malta) from where she departed on 24th May, en route to Dover and Boulogne.

Photo : via Gary Andrews

Master for the voyage from Hobart, Captain Nick Dunn, summed up his new ship perfectly, "The vessel has performed admirably throughout the voyage," Distribution : daily 8050+ copies worldwide Page 19 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 149

he said. "Power, performance and quality all meet expectations and the Norman Arrow on appearance alone is sure to catch the public imagination. She is set to revolutionise cross channel travel and provide an exciting new option for passengers," Captain Dunn said.

On a packed quayside at Dover to welcome the vessel after 12,000 miles of long ocean passages were crew relatives, friends and well wishers, including Incat's Chairman Robert Clifford. "Nineteen years ago, our first generation 74 metre catamaran, the Hoverspeed Great Britain, made her first crossing between Dover and Boulogne, so it obviously gives me great pleasure to see what is now the English Channel's largest fast ferry arrive to take up service on this important link," Mr Clifford said.

Speaking after disembarkation from the ship was Captain Guy South, who assisted Captain Dunn on the voyage from Hobart "The last leg of our journey illustrated perfectly the capability of the Norman Arrow: 2,272 miles at an average speed of 39 knots running at about 80% MCR (Maximum Continuous Rating, i.e. power)", he said.

"As a crew we are looking forward to seeing what the Norman Arrow is capable of in service and hopefully changing the face of the UK short sea market with our enhanced weather ability and freight capacity.

"To a man we enjoyed the delivery voyage, a once in a lifetime experience. The Norman Arrow is a fantastic craft and we will endeavour to get the best out of her and push the LD name to the forefront of the UK short sea sector," Capt South concluded.

Photo : via Gary Andrews

The Norman Arrow will be the largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between England and France, when she commences service on the Dover - Boulogne route from Saturday 6th June.

The fast ferry is the world's largest diesel-powered catamaran and will also be the first-ever freight carrying high speed vessel to operate across the Dover Straits and first Incat 112 metre to operate in Europe.

LD Lines new Dover-Boulogne service will be greatly enhanced as the new fast ferry will increase frequency from the current two to six return sailings daily. All types of tourist traffic will be carried including cars, caravans, motorhomes, motorcycles, coaches and foot passengers, in addition to freight.

NYK and NileDutch link services between Asia, South Africa and West Africa NYK and NileDutch have announced a new direct container service between Asia, South Africa and West Africa.

The service will operate twice a month between the ports of Shanghai, Shekou (China), and in Asia and Durban (South Africa), Lome (Togo), Tema (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria). Both companies will deploy two vessels of between 2,200 TEU and 2,700 TEU nominal capacity.

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The service will commence on 17 June with the arrival of MV COMMODORE in Shanghai.

“This new service is being introduced to support the huge inward investment by our Asian customers in West Africa, built upon growing demands of African consumers. It will also provide a direct service for African exporters to Asia,” said NYK Group Europe’s Liner Division senior trade director Yasunobo Suzuki.

According to NileDutch’s Jan-Willem de Braal this development will further support the market’s recognition of his company’s leading role in West Africa and will provide an even better service range to it’s customers.

This service is the first joint venture for NYK and NileDutch and it marks a return to West Africa for NYK. NileDutch will be expanding its presence in West Africa in addition to its current Asia – Angola service. Niledutch in South Africa will in future be represented by Crystal Pier Shipping. Source : ports.co.za

Frontline cancels a third of its order book John Fredriksen controlled Frontline has slashed its order book after having cancelled six tankers representing 33 per cent of its orders. Four suezmaxes have been cancelled at Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries and two VLCCs at Zoushan Jinhaiwan. The company has also secured 70 per cent financing for two VLCC newbuildings. Frontline reports that revenues decreased by almost a third in the first quarter to USD 356.6 million. The profit was USD 76.6 million and the company is sticking to a USD 0.25 dividend per share for the quarter. Source : Shipgaz

SVITZER OCEAN TOWAGE Jupiterstraat 33 Telephone : + 31 2555 627 11 2132 HC Hoofddorp Telefax : + 31 2355 718 96 The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] www : www.svitzer-coess.com

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Rail gantry cranes arrive for Ngqura port container terminal The ZHEN HUA No.21 heavylift vessel which sailed into the Port of Ngqura from China on the afternoon of Friday, 22 May was an impressive sight as it delivered equipment and components in excess of R72 million in value, all destined for the Ngqura container terminal (NCT) to be launched in October 2009.

The vessel’s massive 720 ton and 3,2616m3 consignment included two fully erect rail-mounted gantry cranes weighing 660 tons in total, as well as small assembly parts, tools, consumables and breakbulk cargo.

Hector Danisa, Business Unit Executive at Ngqura container terminal, said special clearance had to be sought to bring the cranes in through the port.

“Due to the immense size of the cranes and the fact that they are being delivered virtually assembled, it would have been physically impossible to land at the neighbouring Port Elizabeth harbour and deliver overland. With equipment of this nature, it can only be landed at the terminal at which it will be installed and used,” he said.

Once commissioned the two R36 million rail cranes would be used to transfer containers between internal road vehicles and rail wagons at the Ngqura rail terminal.

Danisa said the investment would assist in getting more cargo volumes off the road and onto rail, as well as offering faster, cheaper alternatives to customers.

“The cranes will certainly assist us in meeting NCT’s promised port-rail turnaround of under 6 hours. They offer double the handling rate of reach stackers, which are used in some of our port terminals. Pier 1 in Durban recently received similar cranes and is expecting huge results,” he said.

Photo : PTT

In a massive logistical effort involving Transnet and a special team of experts from Chinese company, Covec, the cranes were slipped ashore using rails and jacks, with ships gear used for landing other items in the consignment.

They would be slipped to an assembly site in the terminal ahead of their commissioning and are expected to be fully operational by mid June 2009. Source : ports.co.za

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OLDIE – FROM THE SHOEBOX

The 1952 built STRAAT BANKA seen above, the 143 mtr long vessel was built at the P.Smit shipyard under yard number 601 for the Kon. Java China Pakketvaart Lijnen, in 1971 the vessel was sold and renamed in MERCURY LANE and ended up at the breakers in China during 1978 Photo : Coll. Cees Brobbel Sr

Straat Banka (Indonesisch: Selat Bangka) is een zeestraat in Indonesië, gelegen tussen de eilanden Sumatra en Banka. Het water vormt een deel van de grens tussen de Indonesische provincies Zuid- Sumatra en Banka-Billiton. De zeestraat verbindt, net als de Straat Karimata en Straat Gaspar, de Javazee met de Zuid-Chinese Zee. De belangrijkste stad aan de Straat Banka is Muntok op het eiland Banka. De grootste rivier van Sumatra, Musi, stroomt aan de Zuidzijde de Straat Banka in. MARINE WEATHER THIS SECTION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY :

Internet: www.spos.eu Tel : +31 317 399800 E-mail : [email protected]

Today’s wind (+6Bft) and wave (+3m) chart. Created with SPOS, the onboard weather information & voyage optimisation system, used on over 1000 vessels today.

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…. PHOTO OF THE DAY …..

Sailors manning the rails on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) stand at parade rest before rendering hand salutes as the ship passes the USS Arizona Memorial while transiting . John C. Stennis is in as part of a scheduled port visit during a six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. Photo : U.S. Navy

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