North Sea innovation The U.S. Maritime Skuld Defence Services Transportation Security Act PAGE 4 PAGE 8 PAGE 25 beaconSKULD magazine NO 1 MAY 2003 Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) PAGE 20 EDITOR’S corner Springtime in Oslo! Leaving the long winter behind. Successful renewals accomplished. Lighter days. Contents Have you noticed the change in Beacon’s layout? Somewhat lighter, friendlier, different, but still recognisable. Do you like it, or not? Please tell us! TheMEMBERS U.S. INMaritime FOCUS: Transportation Summer’s approaching and with it the high season for North Sea innovationurity Act 4 travelling. A nice place to visit is Haugesund on the southwest coast of Norway. I went there recently and The U.S. Maritime Transportation found the North Sea’s tanker specialists Knutsen OAS Shipping AS with their Managing Director Trygve Security Act 8 Seglem. Read all about it on page four. LOSS PREVENTION: Not all is looking bright in our world today. SARS is Weather Routing – reducing losses spreading, and with it the possibility of our members being affected. Lawyer Christopher Hall of our at sea and costly delays 12 Hong Kong office has brought us a timely article. LOSS PREVENTION: As always in our magazine, there are some legal topics for you to read. And on the loss prevention side: Million dollar beans 14 Weather routing services, the danger of entry into enclosed spaces and an article on the possible LOSS PREVENTION: adversities of soya bean carriage. Entry into enclosed spaces 18 Get the latest from our Finance department and some information on recent organisational changes within Skuld. The most important change being an enhanced focus on Defence services. After all, that is what we are here for; to protect and indemnify you, and if needed: To Defend You! BEACON (SKULD MAGAZINE) ADDRESS ENJOY YOUR READING! is the official publication of P.O Box 1376 Vika Assuranceforeningen Skuld N-0114 Oslo, Norway (Gjensidig) Tel +47 22 00 22 00 Fax +47 22 42 42 22 Ingeborg Berge No. 1 May 2003 Issue 181 CONTENTS PAGE 4 PAGE 8 PAGE 12 PAGE 20 Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory House-warming and New Year Syndrome (SARS) 20 28 Organisational changes in Skuld LEGAL NOTES: 29 Cargo claims – who is the carrier? 23 Personnel news 30 Setting new standards 24 Oslo syndicates 31 Skuld Defence Services 25 Contact Skuld 31 Skuld’s investment policy pays off 26 VIEWPOINT: Skuld meets its targets Skuld co-sponsors Heyerdahl Award 27 32 E-MAIL EDITOR IN CHIEF Entire contents © 2003, all rights FRONT PAGE [email protected] Ingeborg Berge reserved. Reproduction in whole or Living with the fear of SARS, in part, without written permission Hong Kong. Photo: Chris Hall VISIT OUR WEBSITE EDITORIAL STAFF from Skuld , is prohibited. Opinions www.skuld.com Lise Larson expressed by writers in Beacon are not necessarily those held by Skuld. LAYOUT Skuld assumes no responsibility Transmission AS for unsolicited material REPRO AND PRINTING Gan Grafisk as BEACON 3 MEMBERS IN FOCUS North Sea innovation Technical know-how and expertise connect with innovation at the gateway to the North Sea. Knutsen OAS Shipping AS in Haugesund, Norway keeps growing while operating its technically advanced fleet and continually looks out for innovative, technical solutions for serving major oil companies. - Yes, we are optimistic about the future, says Trygve Seglem. By Ingeborg S. Berge, Skuld, in Haugesund, Norway The charming town of Haugesund on the A large number of Knutsen’s experienced is only eight and a half years – an impressive west coast of Norway is the home of staff, crew and officers are from the record in the tanker business. Knutsen OAS Shipping AS. With an office Norwegian west coast. There is an onshore set right by the sea, modern maritime staff of 50 covering development projects -Our customers – the main oil and architecture and an equally modern, and and operation, and approximately 800 petrochemical companies – are few, growing, fleet, they are well equipped for people at sea. The majority of officers large, powerful and demanding, says the future. remain Norwegian, while crews are Trygve Seglem. -And, yes, we look at this mainly Norwegian or Filipino. Though a as positive. This gives us a challenge, The company was founded in 1896 and few vessels are now under British flag and allows us to continually improve our was, in the 1930s, the third largest and two new LNG carriers will have business. shipping group in Norway. Knutsen OAS Spanish flag, most vessels are still started off as a typical North Sea trader, registered in Norway. Newbuildings with long term contracts engaged in fishing activities and expanded with first class charterers into tanker business and liner trades. Technically advanced fleet The strategy drawn up in 1984 still holds After investments in the tanker business With the North Sea on its doorstep and water: ‘Newbuildings with long term at the beginning of the 1970s, the company the pipeline to the onshore gas terminal contracts with first class charterers’. ran into financial difficulties during the at Kårstø passing beneath the sea right tanker crisis at the end of the decade. outside its windows, it is only natural Some 20 vessels have been ordered over that Knutsen OAS entered into oil and the last 15 years. As a rule, a long term In 1984, there was time for a major gas related carriage. contract with the charterer is finalised restructuring of the company. The before the building of the vessel starts. Knutsen family sold out and the current The company currently operates a This also means that the design of the majority shareholders, Jens Ulltveit-Moe technically advanced and modern fleet of vessels, to a large extent, can be tailor- and Trygve Seglem took over. Seglem shuttle tankers, chemical/product tankers made according to specifications from came to play a leading role in the and, most recently, LNG tankers – an the charterer. successful rebuilding of the company, area where most growth is expected. The starting off its newbuilding strategy with fleet consists of 26 ships, with seven The majority of the vessels are on long two shuttle tankers delivered in 1987. newbuildings coming in 2003-2005. term contracts. However, four of the Although the oldest vessel was built in shuttle tankers operate on COA contracts 1987, the present average age of the fleet in the North Sea with spot voyages in 4 BEACON Knutsen has a total of eleven shuttle tankers. Picture shows the Ragnhild Knutsen loading crude oil from a North Sea buoy between. There is a pooling agreement When natural gas is cooled down to Gross revenue of the fleet operated by with JoTankers in Bergen, involving three minus 163°C before loading into LNG Knutsen OAS Shipping in 2002 was NOK vessels trading on the spot market. carriers, the degree of know-how and 1,400 mill., with an operating profit of competence needs to be all that much approximately NOK 800 mill. Shuttle tankers in the North Sea – higher with the carrier. chemical tankers world-wide Up to now the owners have not seen Shuttle tankers came into business along LNG carriage is a fairly new priority the need of being listed on the stock with the development of the ‘oil age’ in area for Knutsen OAS, but one where exchange. -On the contrary, says Seglem, the North Sea. These advanced tankers profitability and growth are expected. -seeing what happens to other companies were built for the purpose of loading crude oil directly from buoys in open sea. Presently there is a newbuilding Loading directly at the oil fields means programme for two large LNG tankers flexibility and the bypassing of pipelines (138,000 m3) to be delivered from Bilbao, FACT FILE and other infrastructure, hence cost Spain in 2004, and destined for long term KNUTSEN OAS SHIPPING AS efficiency. Weather conditions in the North contracts with Spanish energy companies. ■ Established 1896 Sea can be severe in the wintertime and In addition, there is an important pilot ■ Reorganised in 1984 with new the vessels are specifically designed to project on the west coast of Norway. owners Jens Ulltveit-Moe and withstand fierce North Sea storms. Naturgass Vest is opening its onshore Trygve Seglem production plant on Kollsnes in August ■ Fleet consists of 12 shuttle Starting from the base of its first two 2003 and has entered into a contract tankers (including one FSU), shuttle tankers in 1987, Knutsen OAS for a small LNG carrier (1,100 m3) for 12 chemical/product tankers and today has a total of 11 shuttle tankers, carriage of gas to local customers. one LNG tanker plus one FSU (Floating Storage Unit). ■ Newbuilding programme of two Two newbuildings will be delivered from Trygve Seglem drew up a rough example shuttle tankers, two product Korea in 2005. of the cost of LNG carriers: Chemical tankers and three LNG tankers tankers today sell at roughly USD 30-40 Innovation programme within The company also entered the chemical mill., a shuttle tanker for operation in the PNG and VOC and product tanker business with its rough North Sea is priced at USD 70-100 ■ Head office in Haugesund, first chemical tanker in 1990. The fleet now mill., while a large LNG tanker costs in Norway includes 12 such tankers, trading world-wide. the region of USD 170 mill. ■ Staff of 50 onshore and approx- imately 800 at sea (majority of LNG – a club for the few No problem financially officers are Norwegian, crews LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) is a club for the According to Seglem, Knutsen OAS so far mainly Norwegian or Filipino) few, says Per Lothe, Project Director at has had the assets needed for investments.