DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 174 Number 174 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Monday 23-06-2014 News reports received from readers and Internet News articles copied from various news sites. In IJMUIDEN the DEEP HELDER was named last Friday – Photo : Jan Plug (c) 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] If you don't like to receive this bulletin anymore : To unsubscribe click (English version) or visit the subscription page on our website. www.maasmondmaritime.com/uitschrijven.aspx?lan=en-US Distribution : daily to 30.000+ active addresses 23-06-2014 Page 1 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 174 EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS DEEP HELDER NAMED IN IJMUIDEN On Friday 20th. of June, the new Offshore Support vessel DEEP HELDER of Seamar in Den Helder was christened at the Cruise quay in IJmuiden. Many guests gathered at the Terminal where they were entertained by some dancers. Around 16:00, Esther Groet of Deep Ocean called everyone to the quay, followed by speeches Seamar Financial advisor Gerard Fit and DeepOceans’s General Distribution : daily to 30.000+ active addresses 23-06-2014 Page 2 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 174 Manager of DeepOcean B.V. Rick Green. Then Seamar CEO Leo Balkema welcomed all guests to the ceremony and spoke about his dream which came through today. He is very proud of this achievement and thanked all the people, from both Seamar and Shipyard De Hoop, to make all this to happen. Finally Patrick Janssens, CEO of De Hoop Shipyard, spoke about the good relationship between Seamar and the yard, and hoped that this vessel will result in further ‘Offshore’ orders for his Shipyard. After a short break with performance of the dancers, it was time for the Christening ceremony. Witnessed by many guests, godmother Marion Balkema- Penders , wife of CEO Leo Balkema, released the bottle which broke in once against the bow of the new vessel. The name DEEP HELDER was uncovered and Iskes’ tug ARGUS gave a water salute with her powerful fire monitors. The DEEP HELDER will work in charter of DeepOcean B.V., a subsidiary of DeepOcean Group Holding, who will operate the vessel on survey, IMR and trenching projects for their customers in the Oil & Gas renewable markets, for which the vessel is equipped with an offshore crane, Survey and ROV systems. The 65 m long DP2 class vessel is designed for low fuel consumption, clean ship/green passport/SPS2008 and high comfort class notation (Comf1). A total of 52 personnel can be accommodated on the vessel. With Seamar’s long term experience in agency, logistics & management services and as ship owners, the SeaMar Group of companies offers an allround service package for the offshore and shipping industry. SeaMar Services b.v. provides a wide range of logistics and management services, such as vessel management, project management, crew management, vessel brokerage, logistics support and purchasing, vessel agency services for vessels visiting Den Helder, IJmuiden or any other port in the Netherlands, customs formalities, stevedoring, warehousing and forwarding. Photo Right : Geert Woord – Seamar-Shippings (c) SeaMar Shipping b.v. is a ship owning company, launched in 2001 to widen our service package. Our multipurpose offshore support vessel SeaMar Splendid can be utilised for air diving support, survey and seismic support work. SeaMar is your key to a successful operation. Text / photo’s : Jan Plug (c)unless mentioned other Terntank orders two more LNG fueled tankers Distribution : daily to 30.000+ active addresses 23-06-2014 Page 3 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 174 Skagen, Denmark, headquartered Terntank Rederi A/S has exercised its options to add two new LNG-fueled 15,000 dwt tankers to the two it ordered at China's AVIC Dingheng Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in autumn last year. The four ships will be delivered from the shipyard at three-month intervals, with the first set for delivery in the spring of 2016 and the fourth in the beginning of 2017. Two of the new ships will be long-term chartered by NEOT, North European Oil Trade Oy, of Finland. Terntank says it elected to declare its two options because there is considered to be a demand for energy efficient and environmentally adapted tanker tonnage. Source : MarineLog Singapore’s MPA adds bunker supplier to list of accredited license holders The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has added A DOT Marine Pte Ltd to its list of accredited bunker suppliers in the port, according to latest information available on its website Friday. The supplier is listed to supply only marine gasoil, and no other grades of bunker fuel. The addition comes after MPA canceled Coteam Petroleum Trading’s licence in April for flouting terms and conditions of the bunker supplier license. The last time MPA issued a new license was in February 2013 when Pacific Bunkering Services was issued one. At present, the total number of accredited bunker suppliers is 64, a far cry from its peak of 80 a few years back. Source: Platts VLCC freight rates to continue facing pressure because of decreasing US oil imports Tonnage oversupply is forcing ship owners to scrap their tankers and more particularly their VLCCs much sooner than before. In a recent note, Mcquilling Services said that “since the beginning of the global economic crisis in 2009, the average age of VLCC tankers sent to the breakers has been reduced to approximately 22 years of age. Despite the ongoing economic recovery, earnings for VLCCs have remained pressured, disconnecting from a historical correlation to scrap prices. Scrap prices closely follow the pace of economic activity measured by world steel production”. According to Mcquilling, “historically, we have witnessed a strong correlation in the behavior of scrap prices and VLCC TCE earnings. One explanation could be that demand for recycled steel (used in construction, motor vehicles, household appliances, etc.) correlates with economic expansion and so does tanker demand as energy consumption also grows. However, this historical coupling has been pressured over the last several years with scrap prices moving higher and TCEs moving lower. We believe that one explanation for this divergence may be found on the demand side of the equation. A key development during this latter period was the rise of US oil production to over 2.72 billion annual barrels in 2013, a 36% increase over 2010 production according to the EIA. This US production revival led by shale has contributed to the decrease of US oil imports by over 16% since 2010 and reducing total crude ton-mile demand by approximately 10% according to our proprietary data”. It added that “using a regression analysis, we looked to quantify the relationship between the level of US crude oil imports and VLCC earnings. A correlation statistic measured by R squared was a significant +.71 helping explain some of the divergence. A correlation statistic of +.70 or greater indicates a very strong positive relationship between the level of US crude imports and VLCC TCE earnings. While we are not keen on concluding that this is the only determinant behind the decoupling, we may lend some support to the notion that indeed, a rise in US Shale production and the associated decrease in US imports have pressured VLCC earnings”. Mcquilling stated that “turning to scrap prices, we note that their strength since 2009/10 is due to a robust global demand for steel production, which picked up since the economic crisis began. According to the World Steel Association, world steel production in 2013 reached 1,578 million tonnes, a 28% increase since 2009. The relationship between scrap prices and world steel production has been a reliable indicator of scrap prices thus far (Figure 4), represented by a +.81 R squared. Therefore, the divergence of VLCC TCE earnings and scrap prices beginning in 2010 may partially be explained by the 16% decrease in US crude imports and the 28% increase in world steel production during this period”. Demolition-wise, Mcquilling said that “in our original forecast in January 2014, we anticipated 15 VLCCs would be demolished. This aggressive forecast has so far been proven to be on target, with actual deletions at the end of May totaling seven, slightly higher than the six we would have expected up until this period. In addition to VLCCs, the pace of exits from the overall tanker industry has been trending higher than expected. As a whole, there have been 42 tanker exits to date, 70% more than the 25 we would have expected through May. Particular strength has been witnessed in the Aframax sector as it has exceeded our full year expectations by 50% already. In conclusion, we note that VLCC earnings may continue to face pressure from decreasing US oil imports, which have impacted the ton-mile demand for crude. This lost demand may eventually be absorbed by a growth in barrels to export markets in the East and a potential for US exports in the future; however, these factors will likely take some time to develop. As it stands today, the VLCC market Distribution : daily to 30.000+ active addresses 23-06-2014 Page 4 DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 174 is oversupplied relative to current demand, although the recent demolition activity is positive in achieving a healthier balance. As both advanced and emerging economies continue to grow, higher world steel production should help support elevated scrap values for owners.