DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 Number 172***DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER***Thursday 09-09-2004 THIS NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY : VLIERODAM WIRE ROPES Ltd. wire ropes, chains, hooks, shackles, webbing slings, lifting beams, crane blocks, turnbuckles etc. Binnenbaan 36 3161VB RHOON The Netherlands Telephone: (+31)105018000 (+31) 105015440 (a.o.h.) Fax : (+31)105013843 Internet & E-mail www.vlierodam.nl [email protected] The OLYMPIC SUPPLIER – Photo : Capt. Hans Bosch © EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 1 09/08/04 DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 The TAKLIFT 4 lifting some crane parts at the Kalmar location Photo : Jos Leentvaar © SMIT Transport & Heavy lift was contracted by KALMAR in Rotterdam to assist with loading of crane parts for 24 container cranes , the crane parts are loaded on the pontoons E 3503 and E 1601 and seafastened, and will be transported to the Hessen Noordnatie in Antwerp where the cranes will be assembled using Kamags, mobile cranes and strand jacks by SARENS – De Kil, units involved in this operation are the TAKLIFT 4 , TAKLIFT 3, TAKTOW 1, EERLAND 4 , Pushertug MAAS and the pontoons E 3503 and E 1601. Groningen blijft tegen winnen waddengas De provincie Groningen blijft tegen gasboringen in de Waddenzee. Volgens Gedeputeerde Staten (GS) zijn er vooral op het gebied van verplaatsing van zand door gaswinning te veel onzekerheden, waardoor de gevolgen voor de bodemfauna in de Waddenzee onduidelijk blijven. Dat heeft CDA-gedeputeerde H. Bleker dinsdag gezegd. GS in Groningen wijken hiermee af van het standpunt van het kabinet en de provincie Friesland. Links : De ENSCO 72 welke momenteel in de Waddenzee staat te boren Foto : Jaap van de Meeberg © Die provincie sloot zich vorige week aan bij het kabinet, dat winning van waddengas onder strikte voorwaarden wil toestaan. Groningen vindt die stap op dit moment onverantwoord. PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 2 09/08/04 DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 Bleker ziet desondanks voldoende aanknopingspunten om met het kabinet en de betrokken provincies in gesprek te blijven. ,,Wij lopen niet met oogkleppen op. Wij kijken naar de feiten en naar de onderzoeken en hebben nu een andere afweging dan Friesland en het kabinet gemaakt.'' De noordelijke provincie vindt dat er ook los van eventuele gaswinning geïnvesteerd moet worden in de natuur bij de Waddenzee. GS vinden echter een directe koppeling tussen eventuele aardgasbaten en een investeringsprogramma ongewenst. BC Ferries order set for Germany, says union BC FERRIES has sparked a major political row after its decision to award a C$500m contract for two superferries newbuildings to a European rather than Canadian shipyard, writes David Osler. The recently semi-privatised company’s controversial American chief executive David Hahn insists that Canadian shipbuilders cannot be trusted to construct the vessels on budget and on time. He bases his case on an earlier order for three fast ferries placed when the operator was still fully in the public sector, which was substantially delayed. As a result, the shortlist for the new ships is understood to have been whittled down solely to German and Finnish yards, with none of the Canadian bidders making the cut. But local opinion polls suggest that 66% of British Columbia residents are against the decision. Moreover, unions and opposition parties insist that European yards enjoy considerable state subsidies. Shipyard union official George McPherson told the local media: “We can do this and we can do this at a competitive price.” But Mr Hahn countered that he had a duty to secure the best deal possible for the company. Some 22 BC Ferries vessels will need to be replaced over the next 15 years, he added. Mr McPherson has now claimed that the contract has been awarded to Flensburger of Germany, subject to formal board approval later this month. BC Ferries is refusing to confirm or deny the suggestion. Cargo ship quarantined after crew member dies A cargo ship remains under quarantine about 10 miles off the Galveston shore after a crew member died Aug. 31 from an as-yet unidentified illness authorities said could be Lassa Fever or malaria. The ship, which had returned from a voyage to West Africa, was headed to Pasadena but voluntarily anchored offshore Sunday, Galveston County Health District spokesman Kurt Koopmann said. The county, along with the federal Centers for Disease Control and the Texas Department of Health Services, is investigating the unidentified man's death. The Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy today, and samples will be sent to the CDC, Koopmann said. The CDC is not identifying the cargo ship until the conclusion of the investigation, Koopmann said. Lassa Fever is a rodent-borne viral illness that can lead to deafness and is believed to cause 5,000 deaths a year in West Africa. CASUALTY REPORTING Ship with Toxic Waste Sinks Off Turkish Coast PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 3 09/08/04 DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 A ship containing toxic waste sank on Monday after being moored in a Turkish harbor for four years, sparking fears among environmentalists of serious damage to local marine life. The Ulla had sat in the port of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey since 2000 as officials tried to decide what to do about its two-ton cargo, which Turkish media said was waste from the chimneys of thermal powers stations. Turkish television showed the ship, its bottom rotted away, gradually sinking beneath the waters of the east Mediterranean. "Unfortunately this was something that was bound to happen," Banu Dokmecibasi of Greenpeace's Mediterranean office told the Anatolian state news agency. She said officials had ignored a report last year warning of the risk that the ship might sink and spill its contents into the sea. "The necessary measures were not taken," she said, adding that the authorities must now mount an urgent investigation to contain the effects of the spillage. Environmentalists fear the carcinogenic cargo could destroy local marine life and also enter the human food chain. Officials were not immediately available for comment. The Turkish-owned vessel had originally transported the waste from Spain to Algeria. But it was diverted to Turkey after Algeria declined to take the cargo, Anatolian said. Seamen missing in typhoon All 18 Russian crewmen aboard a Cambodian-flagged freighter were missing on Tuesday off southwest Japan after their ship sank during a typhoon, the Japanese Coast Guard said. The seamen on board the 3 249-ton Blue Ocean asked for an emergency rescue at 14:47 local time, a Coast Guard official said. A cargo ship is stranded at Kochi beach while high waves wash over the boat at Kochi, in western Japan, Tuesday. Powerful Typhoon Songda has battered Japan and South Korea, killing 19 people and leaving 17 missing while injuring more than 200 The ship was in the port of Mokuzai in Hiroshima prefecture. "The area's waters are very shallow, about 10 metres deep. But the waves were rough," the official said. The ship arrived at the port on Monday from Nakhodka in Russia to deliver lumber. Powerful Typhoon Songda battered Japan and South Korea on Tuesday, cutting power to millions, injuring more than 200 people and grounding nearly 400 flights. Songda is the seventh typhoon to strike Japan this season - a record number. It hit the islands of Kyushu and Okinawa in the south, packing winds of up to 144km/h. A meteorological agency official said the weather system was moving northeast, bringing heavy rain and high waves and floods to southwest Japan, including Hiroshima. PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 4 09/08/04 DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 SMIT SALVAGE CONTRACTED FOR MARJA Arklow Shipping, the owners of general cargo Marja, have hired SMIT Salvage to get the vessel moving again after it ran aground in the Ribadeo estuary off the coast of Galicia late on Sep 2. Japanese rescue workers search for missing crew members of an Indonesian-registered cargo ship stranded on Kasado Island, western Japan September 8, 2004 after powerful typhoon Songda lashed southern and western Japan September 7, 2004. Twenty-one seamen from Russia and Indonesia remain missing in western Japan 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 PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 5 09/08/04 DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2004 – 172 Fax : (31) 10 - 453 05 24 E-mail : [email protected] Telex : 24390 wosh nl New bid for Kongsberg Maritime The Nordic Capital investment group has put in a bid of NOK 3.3 billion for maritime electronics manufacturer Kongsberg Maritime. This is 45 per cent higher than the value estimated by the Stock Exchange before the weekend. Kongsberg Maritime is the civilian division of defence contractor Kongsberg Group. According to Nordic Group, Kongsberg Maritime's operations in Norway will be continued, and that the company will continue as a Norwegian-based company with its head office in Norway. Nordic Capital plans to invest further in order to further develop Kongsberg Maritime's position as a leading concern within Maritime electronics worldwide, the statement said.The Norwegian state owns 50.1 per cent of the Kongsberg Group, and a possible sale will have to be put before Parliament. First ship for Vasco Maritime THE Singapore-based Vasco Maritime Ltd recently took delivery of its first ship, the 600-TEU container vessel, the Vasco-da-Gama, at New Mangalor Port.The vessel with ro-ro and container capability will be chartered out initially by the six-year-old company which plans to make further acquisitions at a later stage.