Update
BIZ NOTES Small Shipyard Grant FundS Available
Stena RoRo Orders Newbuild RoPax for Long-Term Charter to DFDS Stena RoRo reports that it recently signed a long-term bareboat charter agreement with DFDS for a 1,000-passenger, 3,100 lane meter capacity newbuild RoPAX for operation on the English Channel. Stena RoRo says it is the fifth Stena E-Flexer RoPax class vessel being built at Chinese shipyard AVIC International. Stena RoRo holds options for three additional vessels for delivery from 2021 and onwards. The newbuild RoPax will be operated by DFDS under a 10-year bareboat charter on the English Channel between Dover and Calais. DFDS will also have the option to buy the vessel after the charter. In 2016, Stena RoRo placed an order for four 214.5m x 27.8m RoPax vessels with AVIC International, with an option for a further four vessels. Designed by Stena in cooperation with Deltamarin Ltd., Turku, Finland, the RoPax vessels are expected to have about 175 cabins for 927 passengers, with a crew of 73. Delivery of the first four vessels is expected between 2019 and 2020.
According to Stena RoRo Managing Director Per Westling, the Stena E-Flexer Class vessels will be “prepared for scrubbers and SCR” with a “GAS READY” class notation. It will reach speeds of up to 22 knots. The delivery of the newbuild for DFDS is expected in mid 2021. “The design of the ship will be worked out in close cooperation with DFDS,” says Westling. “The order is part of DFDS’s renewal of its fleet and will replace one of the six ferries currently operating in the English Channel.” Westling points out that Stena RoRo concluded a similar deal for one of the previous four newbuilds with the French ferry operator Brittany Ferries. That RoPax will fly the French flag and be delivered in the fall of 2020. The other three newbuilds will be operated by Stena Line on the Irish Sea. DFDS annually transports 5 million passengers, 1 million cars and 1.2 million trucks between Dover – Calais and Dover – Dunkerque on its ferries.
The popular Small Shipyard Grant Program is back. Last month the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced that $19.6 million is available for capital and related improvements under the Small Shipyards Grant Program. The grants are made available to U.S. shipbuilders and repairers with no more than 1,200 production workers. Usually the funds are awarded in the amount of $1 million or less and cover everything from the purchase of CNC plasma cutting tables, to welding equipment to drydocks. The funds can also be used to support training programs at the yards. The grants cannot cover more than 75% of the costs of the purchased equipment and must be geared towards improving efficiency, enhancing productivity, and enhancing competitiveness. The deadline for applying for a grant is May 22, 2018. Grant A p p li c a t i o n s s h o u l d b e s e nt to the Associate Administrator for Business and Finance D evelo p me nt, Ro o m W21318, Maritime Adminis tr ation, 120 0 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590. Only applicant s who comply with all submission requirement s described in the Notice will be eligible for award. For more inform a t i o n : w w w. m a r a d . d o t . gov/ships-and-shipping / small-shipyard-grants
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. The latest development in a father-and-son pollution case has a son’s conviction mirroring his father’s own from a year ago. Randall Fox, one-time captain of the fishing vessel Native Sun, and son of the ship’s owner Bingham Fox, has been found guilty in a U.S. District Court in Seattle, WA, of discharging oily waste directly into the ocean—a felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). 10 Marine Log // May 2018
He faces a maximum of six years in prison and a criminal fine of $250,000. According to the Department of Justice, Randall Fox discharged bilge slops from the Native Sun directly overboard into the ocean using unapproved pumps and hoses. One of these discharge incidents was recorded on video by a crewmember, who then reported the crime to the authorities. Further evidence at trial proved the fishing vessel’s crew had a history of repeatedly
pumping its bilges overboard without the proper equipment. The conviction, says Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Wood of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), “shows that illegal dumping in our oceans will not be tolerated. The Department of Justice will continue to work with our partners like the U.S. Coast Guard to aggressively prosecute criminals that pollute the oceans.”
Stena
Another Guilty Verdict in Native Sun Pollution Case