DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 087 Number 087 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Tuesday 31-03-2009 News reports received from readers and Internet News articles taken from various news sites. DEEP CYGNUS seen outfiting in Rissa Norway, 2 x azimuth main drives 2 x retractable thrusters 2x tunnel thrusters Total installed 15,2 MW in thruster power Photo : Tim de Klerk - Wartsila Netherlands BV © Distribution : daily 7250+ copies worldwide Page 1 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 087 EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS 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 SVITZER’s SINGAPORE DEPARTED WITH OBAN-B FROM ROTTERDAM Photo : Henk van der Heijden © Last Sunday did see the departure of the OBAN-B platform from the Rotterdam- area, this platform arrived approx. 5 months ago, but due to financial problems the plans were cancelled and the platform now departed from Rotterdam for an 12.000 long towing trip via Cape Town towards Singapore, during the stay in Rotterdam the handling agent was LKL Oceantrade Inc. who also arranged the tow, the assisting tugs were delivered by KOTUG, as can be seen at the photo left, the SD SHARK and SD SEAHORSE in action – Photo : Fred Vloo © I would like to thank all photographers who send me (loads of) pictures of this transport, as I am restricted in the quantity of photos daily I am not able to use them all, I hope you all understand this, all photos are filed for later use and thanks again for sending !! Distribution : daily 7250+ copies worldwide Page 2 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 087 Dry bulk market still on the losing side The dry bulk market seems to have lost its momentum during March, as evidenced by the fall from the highs of almost 2,300 points (the best level from the fall of 2008), to just 1,687 points last Friday. During the previous week, the Baltic Dry Index lost another 100 points and more, or a little less than 6% week on week. The main sectors affected were the capesizes and the smaller supramaxes, with the BCI (Baltic Capesize Index) losing more than 100 points or just under 5% on the week, while the BSI (Baltic Supramax Index) shed more than 200 points of just over 13% from the previous week. What’s even more alarming at least for the short-term prospects of the market, is the fact that during the previous week, the global stock markets managed to gain ground. The only index of the shipping market that managed to edge off the downward pressures and end the week in a marginal rise of 1% was the Panamax Index, which though had led the fall in previous weeks. Meanwhile, experts remained puzzled as to estimate the future course of the market. One voice mention hearing was the one of the head of Chinese shipping giant Cosco Group, Wei Jiafu, who said last week that the dry bulk market will recover by the second half of 2009. In the sale and purchase markets, things are quite different. The fall of the freight market has depressed ship values, with increasingly more owners been prone to purchase vessels at quite attractive prices, compared to the previous months. As a result, purchase enquiries are abundant and most of them are for older tonnage, which poses less risks at these prices, given that it can always head for demolition leaving hefty profits to ship owners. As we highlighted in previous top stories, the “war” that has broken out between the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (BSBA) may prove to be a serious issue, which may bring disruption to the recycling industry in Bangladesh. According to Weberseas’ latest weekly report “BELA came out with a court ruling last week ordering ship recycling yards that have not obtained environmental clearance to shut down within 2 weeks. This meant that all 36 such yards would need to shut down as none of them hold such clearances as these were not legal requirements in the past. BSBA have reacted and we understand that they have a 3 week period to appeal and industry experts believe a solution will be found. This, however, is an environmental issue that has to be addressed and may be a re-occurring problem”.That said, ship demolition prices have remained stable, with the highest ones found in Bangladesh, followed by India, Pakistan and China. Weberseas said that the “demo sale of the week is that of the caper DURI (20,000 ldt) sold for what seems to be a very high price of US$ 335 per ldt and heading for Bangladesh. This competes with the prices that are being paid for tankers. We hope that the high prices paid of late in Bangladesh will not be challenged by buyers/end users taking advantage of the instability and uncertainty in the Bangladeshi re-cycling industry” said the broker. Source : Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News The VB ARTICO arrived with the GIANT 4 in Rotterdam Photo : Jan Oosterboer © Distribution : daily 7250+ copies worldwide Page 3 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 087 Your feedback is important to me so please drop me an email if you have any photos or articles that may be of interest to the maritime interested people at sea and ashore PLEASE SEND ALL PHOTOS / ARTICLES TO : [email protected] VLIERODAM WIRE ROPES Ltd. wire ropes, chains, hooks, shackles, webbing slings, lifting beams, crane blocks, turnbuckles etc. Nijverheidsweg 21 3161 GJ RHOON The Netherlands Telephone: (+31)105018000 (+31) 105015440 (a.o.h.) Fax : (+31)105013843 Internet & E-mail www.vlierodam.nl [email protected] Slump brings bounty to ship-breaking town The global economic slowdown has hit industries ranging from automakers to investment banks, but in one small town on India's western coast, business is at record levels and workers can hardly keep up with demand. In Alang, home to the world's largest ship-breaking facility on the coast of Gujarat state, the financial year to April will be one of its best ever, as a slowdown in global trade and lower freight rates mean ships are being scrapped faster. But there is a flip side. Activists fret that the booming business will encourage a disregard for safety and environment guidelines, which they say ship breakers are already flouting. Stretched along the 11km coastline, beached oil tankers and cargo carriers lie in various stages of disembowelment. Peculiar tide patterns that brings high tide in only twice a month enable the beaching of ships right up to the yards. Men in blue overalls and hard hats, operating cranes, wielding blowtorches, hacksaws and hammers swarm over the beached ships, many condemned to a premature end because of the slowdown. "Idle ships are a huge financial burden, so ship owners don't have any option but to get rid of their ships, even if it means scrapping them years ahead of schedule," said Vishnu Kumar Gupta, joint secretary at the Alang Ship Breakers Association. Alang has received more than 125 ships in the past three months alone, compared to 136 ships in all of 2007 and 2008, Gupta said. Ship breakers expect this year's total to hit 250, making it among the best years ever. "In the past five to six years of the boom, very few ships were scrapped and we were working on zero margins as there was intense competition for the few ships that were coming in," Gupta said. Ships were once either sunk or taken apart in the countries where they were built, before high costs and environmental restrictions drove ship-breaking efforts elsewhere. India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh carry out 80 per cent of the world's ship breaking business. Labour activists say this is largely because of cheap labour costs and lax safety standards that fail to protect workers who are exposed to toxic chemicals as they dismantle the scrapped vessels. About 150-200 workers can break down a 10,000-tonne ship in three months, salvaging nearly every part. The road to Alang is lined with sheds selling doors, tables, sofas, kitchen ranges, crockery, bathtubs, air-conditioners and sheets of steel, the most precious commodity. Distribution : daily 7250+ copies worldwide Page 4 www.maasmondmaritime.com/Inschrijven.aspx DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2009 – 087 But the economic slowdown has cut into profits, hitting breaking charges and scrap values. About 80 per cent of a ship's steel is "reusable", Gupta said, cheaper than primary steel and used mostly in construction. With a property slump from the global recession, demand for steel has fallen and prices have dropped by 80 per cent since mid-2008 when steel along with other commodities were enjoying record highs. Nevertheless, profits from the booming demand for ship-breaking services have turned the businessmen, who lease the yards, into millionaires. At the same time, the workers who earn only a few dollars a day, face health hazards as they cut up the hulls of ships, navigating through razor sharp pieces of steel, and being exposed to carcinogens and even radioactive materials from the former cargoes of these ships. "These are the most vulnerable of workers, working in extremely dangerous conditions with little protection or recourse to proper care," said Gopal Krishna, of Toxics Watch in New Delhi. "The ship breakers claim conditions have improved, but there is no documentation, and no means of verification," he said.