Shipgaz 6/10 by Henrik Bergqvist

Price EUR 12 No 6 – December 10, 2010 www.shipgaz.com

The famous macaques watch over one of the two major shipping arteries of Europe – the Gibraltar Strait, which is in a state of great change with the development of Moroccan megaports. The Kiel Canal is however much the same as ever and in great need of ridding itself of bottlenecks.

Meet Allure …

… and Loke

The Allure of the Seas is 50 mm longer than her elder sister, the Oasis of the Seas. Allure is last in a magnificent STX Finland suite of cruise ships.

Purpose-built workhorse Loke Viking takes Transatlantic one step further to becoming the leading AHTS services supplier in Arctic waters.

The front page picture is sponsored by Det Norske Veritas. Photo: Per Sverre Wold-Hansen

European arteries

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European arteries

Meet Allure … The Allure of the Seas is 50 mm longer than her elder sister, the Oasis of the Seas. Allure is last in a magnificent STX Finland suite of cruise ships.

Sverre Wold-Hansen

No 1/2011 is published on February 11.

by Det Norske Veritas. Photo: Per

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A subscription to Shipgaz gives you six issues per year and a weekly newsletter by e-mail for only EUR 80 per year (plus shipping). For further subscription details, visit www.shipgaz.com/subscribe or Phone: +46 770 457 114 E-mail: kundtjanst@titeldata.se Web: www.prenservice.se

… and Loke Purpose-built workhorse

Loke Viking takes Transatlantic one step further to becoming the leading AHTS services supplier in Arctic waters.

Frog Marine Service is a Frog Marine Group company.

4 SHIPGAZ NO 6 2010

Intro FEATURE

All at once WELCOME Much is happening just when this issue is going to press. The climate summit in Cancún, Mexico, has just started and it’s anyone’s guess so far if the polarized parties will be able to agree this time. At the ongoing final IMO safety committee for this year, the burning issue of lifeboat safety is handled, and you can read more about that on Spotlight IMO in this issue.

While I am typ-

»The major issue is whether it will be possible to introduce a Swedish international shipping register«

ing this, a meeting between the leaders of the shipowners’ associations of the Nordic countries is held one floor up from where I sit. For Sweden’s part, the major issue is whether it will be possible to introduce a Swedish international shipping register like NIS and DIS. It’s a matter of dire consequence for the owners, who are abandoning the Swedish flag in growing numbers. Read more on a recent report on the competitiveness of Swedish shipping on page 18.

Shipgaz columnist Bob Couttie has reported on piracy for more than two decades and his work is frequently cited in studies on piracy. Don’t miss his column on the matter in this issue, where he states that piracy is here to stay, but also presents glimmers of hope. Winter has made a flying start and newspaper bills around town advise on the right clothing for “the Russian cold” that allegedly is upon us … Well, if the shipping lanes grow as thickly covered with ice as last year, Shipgaz will be there to report. Happy holidays!

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Anna Lundberg anna.lundberg@shipgaz.com

NEWCOMER In June this year the AHTS Loke Viking was delivered by Astilleros Zamakona in Spain to its owner Rederi AB Transatlantic in Sweden. PAGE 13

REPORT Piracy is no more going to disappear than the Mafia, Colombian drug lords or politicians’ broken promises, writes Bob Couttie in his column. PAGE 58

NEWCOMER Larger than her sister – although having the same GT, the Allure of the Seas is 5 centimetres longer than her elder sister Oasis of the Seas. PAGE 22

NO 6 2010 SHIPGAZ 5

Intro ÂťIf the crisis is the first in a doubledip economic cycle, then shipping is, again, in troubleÂŤ EDITORIAL PAGE 7

In this issue 13 A workhorse for the Arctic 18 Dismal outcome of Swedish shipping report 20 IMO hot topics next year 22 Allure: Larger than her sister 26 The Kiel Canal: Wonder of the World 44 Tanger-Med: The Moroccan challenger 56 Filling in a service gap 58 First Bore ro-flex keel laid 62 Successful near miss reporting The Panama Canal has been suggested as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The Kiel Canal would be worthy of the same recognition. Annually an average of 40,000 ships pass through the Kiel Canal, making it the busiest artificial seaway in the world. PAGE 26

64 Observing the North Atlantic 66 Piracy: Unacceptable answers to an insoluble problem 80 Wooden ferries to be phased out 86 Storm of the century

Regular sections 7

Editorial

Market Review

13 Newcomer 20 Spotlight REPORT Norway inaugurates a North

Atlantic Information Management Centre to better target specific vessels and shorten response time in emergencies. PAGE 64

RETRO 35 years ago the Swedish Avafors

was in the middle of a hurricane on the Great Lakes, witnessing the last moments of the Edmund Fitzgerald. PAGE 86

70 Technical Review 72 Fleet Review 80 Retro

Looking for a challenge? Chief Engineer, DFDS Seaways

NO 6 2010 SHIPGAZ 7

Editor-In-Chief Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com

Editorial

The world is changing T »If the financial crisis that created such a deep dip in the world economy in 2009 is the first in a double-dip economic cycle, then shipping is, again, in trouble«

he year 2010 is soon to be concluded, and looking ahead shipowning companies face an impressive amount of challenges in the coming years. In many shipping markets and vessel segments, the fundamental demand and supply mechanism will be a major challenge for owners. As shipyards have delivered new vessels at a pace never seen before, at the same time as orders have been cancelled, the order book has decreased significantly. Thanks to agreed delays of deliveries, the flow of new vessels has been evened out over the coming years. Although ordering has gained new pace after a hefty slump in 2009, it is still far from the heights reached during boom time.

Even if the situation has improved on the supply side, there is still a huge amount of new vessels to absorb. The current order book corresponds to more than one third of the sailing world fleet, measured in deadweight. On the demand side, China is still the main engine that generates the increased trade needed to feed an expanded world merchant fleet at freight rates that cover costs and generates a positive return for shipowners. Presently, there are a couple of major worries at the horizon. If the financial crisis that created such a deep dip in the world economy in 2009 is the first in a double-dip economic cycle, then shipping is, again, in trouble. Such a secondary dip could be triggered by various causes. Will more Euro countries have to seek assistance from others, following the problems of Greece and Ireland? Will this mean the end of Euroland? Are there other bubbles hidden elsewhere in the world, waiting to implode? For the moment there are few signs of a new dip, although there are indications that the Chinese economic growth has slowed down somewhat during the present year. At this time, it seems that anybody’s guess is as good as anyone else’s, and that no one will know for certain before it hits us, if anything does. Irrespective of which path the world economy chooses to take, there are other topics out there for shipowners to keep a close eye on.

The UN Climate Change Conference has at the time of writing convened in Cancun, Mexico. If IMO is successful, the UN agency will come out of the meeting with full support to handle the Green House Gas (GHG) restrictions for the world’s merchant fleet. If not, the scene is set for some serious negotiations in IMO. The fight over GHG solutions in IMO stands between two camps and their positions

are far apart. The developing nations reject any solutions that are not based on the “common but differentiated responsibility” principle, meaning that although GHG is acknowledged as a common, global problem, the rich part of the world should bear the lion share of the costs. The position of developed nations is however that any solutions for world shipping should be flag neutral, meaning that costs should be divided equally.

If no agreement is in place by the end of next year, there is nothing to stop regional solutions in parts of the world, not least in Europe. There is a massive amount of political prestige invested in this issue within the European Union, and there will be forceful voices demanding that shipping is included in a regional CO2 trading scheme. What will this mean for international shipping? Will it change trade patterns? Who will bear the additional costs? The limitation of sulphur emissions is another tricky issue for shipowners. Sulphur emissions will be cut globally and regionally, step by step. The global scheme is not a problem, but for those trading within or to and from designated Emission Control Areas, such as the North Sea/Baltic Sea region, it will be a challenge.

If new rules for this area will be enforced as planned, who will pick the bill? Will the higher cost result in a modal back-shift with significantly changed market conditions for short sea operators as a consequence? Will deep-sea operators with a vessel bound for a port in the Baltic Sea from somewhere else in the world, find the needed oil quality? And if so, where? Will this mean a costly deviation, just to find the right bunker oil? Is the ship built with a tank configuration that can handle several qualities of bunker oil? Add to this the ballast water management challenge, the consequences of the new STCW Code and the ILO super convention, the coming impact of the Polar Code and many other issues that will influence the way shipping works and the framework shipowners and seafarers will have to act within. Successful shipowning companies will have to keep a sharp lookout to avoid costly mistakes but also to detect new opportunities and possibilities that also will appear as the world changes.

Rolf P Nilsson, Editor-in-Chief

8 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Market Review

China in the driver’s seat Analysis That China is the motor driving the world economic development and is the white knight making sure that the crisis turned so fast is common knowledge. The ever-growing appetite for trade in goods in this gigantic nation has been a relief for shipping that has to absorb an enormous amount of new vessels ordered during boom times and that now is entering the market from the world’s shipyards. Although the order book has shrunk to around 35 per cent of the existing fleet according to data from Clarkson Research, it still means a lot of ships for the market to handle, just above 7,500 new vessels.

» China is taking a tighter grip not only on the demand side but also on world shipping supply. « As Platou points out in its latest monthly report, China is the main reason why the dry bulk markets have turned out better then expected so far this year, at least in the eyes of most shipowners. Although China’s long-haul shipments of

iron ore decreased the first half of the year, which has been a setback for the largest behemoths, the Capesizes, the main reason for dropping rate levels is that this sector has been exposed for a massive expansion. Although iron ore imports decreased by 3.5 per cent during the first three quarters of this year, other dry bulk commodities increased by 28 per cent, bringing a total increase of Chinese dry bulk imports to 7.5 per cent, compared to the corresponding period 2009. Add to this that increased world market iron ore and coal prices have made Chinese

North Sea: Too many vessels in the spot market offshore Towards the end of the year the offshore support sector is viewing the future with mixed feelings; concerned about the short term but more hopeful for the longer perspective. The North Sea market is struggling under too many vessels in the spot market, while activities are building up in other markets. Expectations are buoyant, as seen by a number of bond loans raised in the market by Havila, DOF and other owners. A new contracting boom for drilling vessels is also encouraging the longer prospects. Estimates for the Norwegian shelf alone indicate up to 20 new construction projects and at least 50 new subsea installations over the next decade. The Norwegian market for oil industry services is expected to rise from NOK 200 billion to 300 billion per year within 2016 – all depending on the present oil prices.

GBP 1,000 60

Week 50 1

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Trico Marine and Sartor Offshore. Most of the boom upstarts from 2006/07 have disappeared, although a few are thriving. Polarcus, the Dubai-based seismic player with heavy Norwegian input, has returned to Ulstein for two X-bows seismic vessels priced at USD 168 million each. Another upstart, Marine Subsea with two X-bows well stimulation vessels has run into financial trouble as its first vessel, Sarah, is being readied at Ulsteinvik. Since July orders have been placed for 19 offshore vessels in the Scandinavian market with a total contract price of NOK 8.5 billion (USD 1.4 billion). The majority is for large MPSV – Multi-Purpose Service Vessels, basically large PSVs that may be fitted for subsea work, inspection or construction. Dag Bakka jr

North Sea term contracts and extensions Charterer Vessel Type Operation Statoil Bourbon Tampen psv 2 yrs option declared Statoil Olympic Princess psv 3 months firm + 4x1 mnth opt, October MLS Bourbon Monsoon psv 1 well supp Maersk Guardian (BP N sublet) Marathon UK ER Narvik psv 2 well supp J W McLean Petersons SBS Far Splendour psv 1 yr option declared N Coastal Auth Normand Jarl ahts 1 + 1 yrs support/tug standby Veolia Normand Pacific mpsv 3 yrs firm + opt, del January international contracts and extensions YPF Normand Baltic psv 4 months firm + 3 m opt, Jan, Argentina YPF Normand Skarven psv 4 months firm + 3 m opt, Jan, Argentina Noble Energy Oil Traveller psv firm until early 2012, Israel Petrobras Norskan/DOF Subsea subsea 5 yrs ROV, Brazil Petrobras Far Scotia subsea 5 +5 yrs ROV, Brazil Petrobras DOF Norskan tbn ahts 8 yrs (AH12 Skandi Iguacu) Maersk Oil Sea Tiger ahts 7 months Brazil

Source: Shipgaz Bergen, november, 2010

Offshore earnings

The North Sea market took a beating from the end of August that saw day rates for large anchor-handlers plummet from GBP 25,000 to 10,000 and below. Since the end of October day rates for such vessels have been in the GBP 8,000–10,000 bracket, which is well below break-even. Platform support vessels (PSVs) have been enjoying strong rates until September when the rates gradually slipped from GBP 15,000 to rock-bottom of 5,500 a few weeks later. At present there are 88 vessels in the North Sea spot market, divided evenly between anchorhandlers and PSVs, as against 80 at the same time last year. On any given day in November as many as 20–38 vessels were spot available around North Sea ports. The state of the market has decreed some owners to withdraw older PSVs for winter lay-up, notably

no 6 2010 Shipgaz 9

Market Review domestic production more competitive, which has boosted cabotage trade by more than 20 per cent. This has mostly been positive for owners of Handies and Supras. Now China is taking a tighter grip not only on the demand side but also on world shipping supply. With A relAtiVely smAll and ageing ocean-going fleet, China has been highly dependent on foreign shipowners for its increasing foreign trade. Now this is obviously not a situation the Chinese leadership is comfortable with. Chinese domestic owners are very active on both the newbuilding and the s&p markets. In ten years, the Chinese tanker fleet has grown from 3.2 million tons of deadweight to 16.8 million tons. A decade ago

the fleet consisted mostly of smaller, ageing tankers in coastal or Pacific trades. Today it is a modern fleet trading worldwide.

Dry bulk better than expected

AccorDing to giBsons, China is closing in on its target to transport 40 per cent of its oil imports on own keels by 2015. As an example, to the nation’s current fleet of VLCCs consist of 32 vessels. 18 of those have been built in China and a further 22 will be added before mid-year 2013, all from domestic yards.

Wet & Dry From January to October, the dry bulk market has done better this year than last, shipbroker Platou concludes. Its dry bulk index has averaged at USD 28,300 per day, some USD 1,700 more than in 2009.

eDitor-in-chief

one mAin reAson is fewer long-haul iron ore cargoes from Brazil to China during the first six months. At the same time, short-haul shipments have increased as Indonesia has increased its share in the Chinese coal trade and Chinese cabotage trade increased by 20 per cent.

the smAller, the better as Capesizes have experienced a 15 per cent drop in rates, while Handysize rates have increased by 50 per cent.

Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com

Dark clouds on the horizon shortseA Dry Bulk After a rather encouraging October month most operators and brokers expected November to follow in the same trend, but it soon became evident that high tonnage supply in the larger sizes 800 especially prevented the market from taking the necessary step. Despite steady flow of grains and scrap from Baltic and ARAG most 700 operators struggled to secure back-hauls especially resulting in costly ballast runs from Portugal and Irish Sea to come back 600 into front-haul positions. Earnings stabilized around EUR 2,600–2,700 per day on T/C basis for 3,500 dwt ships which is more 500 or less in line with lasts winters average. However the market is keeping a close eye on400 the financial situation in EU economies 35 40Spain, 45and it 50 5 like Ireland and is with1 grow-

USD/ton 800

700

600

Source: norBroKer aS, novemBer, 2010

Source: BunKerWorLD/norBroKer aS, novemBer, 2010

mgo rotterDAm cif Prices

ing concern most industries are struggling to create growth and result margins. Newbuildings in the 4,000–6,000 dwt size are arriving from Far East every week now. With very few operators having been MGO ■ IFO 180 able to secure any long■term charter agreements the sensitive spot market has reacted instantly to the added tonnage supply. Winter is knocking on the door and with a record cold November now coming to an end we must be prepared for another ice winter in Baltic and Scandinavia. For most operators with ice-classed tonnage this might be good news, but with a lot of MPP and container feeders now trading in the break bulk sector the availability of iceclassed tonnage will be higher than in preWeek vious years. 10 15 20 25 30 jerstAD geir

eArnings estimAtes

Past 12 months. EUR/day 4,000 3,500 3,000

At the enD of noVemBer, the Clarkson average earnings estimate stood at USD 28,174 for a Capesize, more than USD 10,000 below the average estimate for 2009 and less than a third of the figure for 2008. on the Wet siDe, westbound voyages from Persian Gulf to Northern Europe have been a depressing story for VLCC owners. From late October to end of November, Stockholm Charterings earnings reports vary from – USD 10,600 per day, to a “best” of USD 5,400. By November 26, it was down to USD 200. Things have looked somewhat better on the PG–East run with earnings varying between USD 13,000–USD 31,000 for a roundtrip to Singapore. there is Plenty of tonnAge available and with Thanksgiving holidays ahead, there is not much indicating any significant improvement short-term. long-term, the conditions for the VLCC market will to a large extent be a supply issue, that is if the market can absorb all new tonnage expected next year. rolf P nilsson

2,500

Wet AnD Dry Bulk inDices 1,500

500

400

Week 50 1

500

4000

3000

End ’08

End ’09

839

633

731

Dirty Tanker Index 1,252

815

840

3,023

2,170

Clean Tanker Index

1,000 Week 50 1

Baltic Dry Index

■ 1,250 DWT ■ 1,750 DWT ■ 2,500 DWT ■ 3,500 DWT ■ 6,500 DWT

784

Nov 26 ’10

Source: BaLTic eXchange

2,000

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By Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com

newcomer

Loke VIking

Photo: rabt

A workhouse for the Arctic

In June, this year the AHTS Loke Viking was delivered by Astilleros Zamakona in Spain to its owner Rederi AB Transatlantic in Sweden. Transatlantic that recently became sole owner of Trans Viking, a joint venture with Viking Supply Ships. The Norwegian company is a subsidiary to Kistefos that in return has become the majority owner of Transatlantic, with slightly above 50 per cent of the shares. With the delivery of Loke Viking, Transatlantic has taken one step further on its venture in a niche of a niche, to become a leading operator of anchor handling supply services in areas with harsh ice conditions.

loke Viking is the first of four AHTS in a series that will be completed during 2011. When the last unit has been delivered, Transatlantic will operate an eight-vessel strong AHTS fleet, of which three with ice-breaking capacity, and four built to ice-class 1A. The vessel is built to Vik Sandvik’s VS 4622 clean design. It is classed by

DNV and features the following notations: • +1A1 as the main class • ICE-1A in accordance to Baltic ice rules and an ice thickness of 0.8 meters • Tug supply (standby) vessel. Specially intended for towing and supply services in the North Sea and to carry out rescue and standby services to offshore installations. • Oilrec. Reception of recovered oil and transportation after an oil spill. • SF. Compliance to damage stability requirements. • E0. Equipped for unattended machinery space. • DYNPOS-AUTR. Redundant dynamic positioning system with independent joystick system back-up.

»With the delivery Transatlantic has taken one step further on its venture in a niche of a niche« Loke Viking is the first of four AHTSs for Transatlantic’s account. The vessel will be followed by Njord Viking and, during 2011, of the second pair. These will be named TransBering and TransBarents, painted in the blue/ yellow colours of Transatlantic.

• NAUT-OSV(A). Ergonomic bridge design for reduced workload and improved operational conditions. All Waters (A) includes areas with harsh operational and environmental conditions such as the North Sea. Bridge arrangement provides the information and equipment required for safe performance of the functions to be carried out at dedicated workstations • Clean Design. Additional requirements for protection against accidents and for limitation of consequences. • COMF-V(3). Comfort class with requirements for noise and vibrations. • DEICE. Vessel fitted with de-icing or anti-icing systems. • T-MON. Tailshaft condition monitoring system.

One of the main tasks for Loke Viking is to tow and it has the features of an Arctic workhorse. It has a bollard

14 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Newcomer Loke Viking Photo: rabt

Moving icebergs is one of the challenges for the Loke Viking. pull of 220 tons and is equipped with a 400-tons (550 tons brake) towing/ working winch of Rolls-Royce design and a similar sized anchor handling winch. Loke Viking has two secondary winches located above the main winch in a sheltered area. Deck operations are supported by two 5-tons sliding cranes port and starboard of the 750 square metres work deck.

The drums can handle up to 13 kilometres of wire, 9,000 metres of 84 mm wire on the main winch and 4,000 metres of 8-inch wire on the secondary. Alternatively, the latter can be replaced with 3,200 metres of synthetic rope. The 14,000-kW propulsion machinery consists of four MAK engines, two 4,000 kW and two 3,000 kW, in father-and-son arrangements that drives two Berg CPP propellers through Flender reduction gears. For manoeuvring and positioning purposes the vessel has two Becker spade rudders, with a 2 x 70 degree range split or synchronized, and four Brunvoll tunnel thrusters of 830 kW placed in pairs fore and aft, and one

830 kW azimuth thruster forward. The vessel has a total cargo capacity of 6,700 cubic metres of wet and dry cargoes in 11 tanks. The bulk cargo is loaded and discharged with compressed air. When Loke Viking was delivered, the vessel joined two other company AHTS’s on a charter for Cairn Energy west of Greenland, assisting two Stena Drilling rigs in the undrilled Buffin Bay Basin. In arctic waters, an important task for an AHTS is to protect the rig from drifting icebergs. This can be done in several ways.

The vessel is equipped with a powerful fire fighting system. Two water cannons placed on the bridge roof with a capacity of 4,351 cubic metres/h can reach a throw length of about 220 meters at a pressure of 13–14 bar. This is not only sufficient to move smaller icebergs, it is also sufficient to move the ship at a speed of 5–6 knots in calm waters. Larger icebergs are actually lassoed. The end of a floating rope is attached to a buoy. The vessel then

greenland Loke Viking, Balder Viking and Vidar Viking assisted Stena Don and Stena Forth in the exploration west off Greenland for Cairn Energy. Of three wells drilled, one was suspended for a possible re-entry and two were abandoned, lacking commercial discoveries. Total drilling cost for the last two is around USD 185 million. Findings of oil and gas are however ”extremely encouraging”, Cairns claims.

circles around the iceberg. Back at the buoy, the rope is connected to a towing wire, a couple of kilometres of the wire are played out and the vessel starts to pull. It is actually not a towing operation, more a way to change the drift angle to make the iceberg pass on a safe distance to the rig. Normally, the Swedish-flagged ship is manned by a crew of 14–15, mainly Scandinavians, but with total accommodation capacity for 45 persons, to cater for oil company representatives and other specialists. After having finished the Greenland venture, Loke Viking headed to the Oresund Drydocks in Landskrona, Sweden for upgrading and alternation works, before heading off to the new charter.

At the shipyard, the vessel was also used for measuring and to find the most favourable way to fit a ROV system on the next vessel in the series, the Njord Viking that is scheduled for delivery before the end of this year. Norwegian ENI Norge has chartered Njord Viking for four years to support exploration and development in the Barents Sea, including the Goliat field. The NOK 430-million charter will commence in May next year with Hammerfest as the vessel’s base. After the yard break, Loke Viking has headed off to the Arctic waters of Barents Sea where the vessel will support drilling of three wells for Statoil during some 200 days. The first well will be drilled by the rig Polar Pioneer at the Skrugard field, between Bjørnøya and the Snøhvid field. Also Loke Viking will have Hammerfest as base port. rolf P Nilsson

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2010-07-30 10:49:25

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 15

Loke VIking

Newcomer Photo: rolf p nilsson

Photo: rolf p nilsson

1. Loke Viking is equipped with a powerful fire fighting system that also can move icebergs. 2. The winches and drums are placed in sheltered areas forward of the 750 sqm large deck. 3. Capt Nils Johannessen (to the left) had a busy time during the stop-over in Landskrona. 4. Loke Viking is registered in Skärhamn and is one of few newbuildings to fly the Swedish flag.

LOKE VIKING Type �� Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel Built by �� Astilleros Zamakona SA, Bilbao, Spain Newbuilding No �� 667 Owner �� Transviking Icebreaking, Skärhamn, Sweden Delivery �� June, 2010 Flag �� Sweden IMO No �� 9423815 Class �� DnV, +1A1, ICE-1A, Tug

Supply Vessl, OILREC, SF, E0, DYNPOS-AUTR, NAUT-OSV(A), CLEAN DESIGN, COMF-V(3), DEICE, T-MON, BIS, DK(+), HL(2,8), LFL* Length o a . .............................................. 85.20 m Length between p p . ............................. 76.20 m Breadth .................................................... 22.00 m Depth to first deck .................................. 9.00 m Depth to 2:nd deck . ................................ 5.60 m GT . .................................................................. 5,100 DWT .............................................................. 4,500

Deck area ................................................... 750 m3 Total cargo capacity in tanks ........... 4,500 m Bollard pull ................................................... 220 t Machinery 4 diesel electric oil engines connected to 2 electric motors driving 2 CP propellers 2 MaK 8M32C (4,000 kW) 2 MaK 6M32C (3,000 kW) 2 auxiliary generators (2x750 kW)



16 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Newcomer Loke Viking

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 16

Environmental performance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; challenges and solutions

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www.dnv.com

18 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Pierre Adolfsson pierre@shipgaz.com

Report Shipping politics

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

PHoTo: PÄR-HENRIK SJÖSTRÖM

Dismal outcome of report on Swedish shipping

To the shipowners’ dismay, the long awaited report on the competitiveness of Swedish shipping argues against an international register. Meanwhile, the Swedish-flagged fleet is shrinking rapidly. Recently, the Swedish government was handed the report “Competitiveness of maritime transport under the Swedish flag”. Soon afterwards, the report was criticised and roundly rejected by shipowners around the country. And understandably so.

The report instructions left the door open for the report’s author to propose measures to strengthen competitiveness. The government also wanted the report to consider the possibility of introducing a Swedish international shipping register, a so called SIS. An international register would make it possible for Swedish shipping companies to compete on equal terms with the nighbouring competitors, as it would reduce manning

costs considerably. But the road to an international register is a long one as the person in charge of the report , Jonas Bjelfvenstam, argued against SIS in his summary. “For SIS to have the desired effect, amendments to Swedish labour legislation are needed. These amendments are of such a nature as to contravene international conventions that Sweden has ratified. Amendments to Swedish labour law may, in my view, lead to more sectors demanding similar regulatory amendments. I also fear that there will be difficulties achieving sustainable long-term

»For an SIS to have the desired eﬀect, amendments to Swedish labour legislation are needed«

Jonas Bjelfvenstam, report author.

conditions for maritime policy with a SIS. In the light of this, I cannot recommend introducing one.”

Håkan Friberg, Managing Director of the Swedish Shipowner’s Association, is stunned by Jonas Bjelfvenstam’s conclusions. “We’re off course very disappointed that a Swedish international register is not recommended and that the maritime sector is not viewed as a growth industry”, he says and continues: “We consider it positive that the report was sent out for comment only within days after it was handed over to the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications. Another ray of hope is the special statement included in the report. The statement is very critical of the report’s conclusions and

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 19

Shipping politics

shares the shipowners’ views about how to improve the competitiveness.” The report does not include any in-depth growth potential analysis, and the author argues that the fleet should be maintained at the same level as today. According to the report there are three basic arguments for having a Swedish commercial fleet: • the opportunity to influence work on environmental and maritime safety within international organisations, • the opportunity to maintain maritime know-how in Sweden, and • the opportunity to help achieve the strategic objectives of EU maritime policy.

»In my opinion, it’s a sad situation for the Swedish maritime cluster« shown that it has no intention of doing anything about it” says Torsten Holst Pedersen, managing director of Svitzer’s Scandinavian region. The company is most likely to reflag their Swedish-flagged tugs to the Faroe Islands. “If everything goes the way I want, and we get an OK for everything, I hope the process can be finished during the first quarter of 2011. How many tugs this will concern is not yet clear, it might be ten or twelve.”

In the past few months, several shipping companies have decided to reflag Swedish-flagged vessels to other registers. In some cases, the decision covers the company’s whole Swedish-flagged fleet. Other owners such as Svitzer are openly discussing a major reflagging due to the lack of an ambitious Swedish shipping policy. “It is not a level playing field, StenaBulk_Shipgaz_no6.pdf 1 and the Swedish government has

From a Scandinavian perspective, the Swedish political stance is remarkable. Over 20 years ago, owners in Denmark and Norway were blessed with international registers, in 1988 and 1987, respectively. “In my opinion, it’s a sad situation for the Swedish maritime cluster”, says Jan Fritz Hansen, Vice President of the Danish Shipowners’ Association. 2010-11-18 16.12 “The fact that the government re-

Jan Fritz Hansen, Vice President of the Danish Shipowners’ Association.

Report

port says no to an international register seems to be the last nail in the coffin, so to speak.” According to Jan Fritz Hansen, all those concerned in Denmark (shipowners, the Danish Maritime Authorities, the unions and the political parties) have spent 20 years working very closely together to pave the way for Danish shipping. “Danish shipowners have worked with cost issues down to the tiniest detail, and all together it has made our national flag highly competitive and attractive”, says Jan Fritz Hansen.

“It has been a give-and-take process, in the sense that the political side has demanded results and money in return for attractive frameworks, such as the Danish International Ship register, which was launched in September 1988.” When the competitive framework was launched, the politicians asked for more employment and increased earnings in the industry, to increase the state’s tax revenues. Jan Fritz Hansen claims that both employment figures and earnings have increased.

www.stenabulk.com G O T H E N B U R G • H O U S T O N • R I O D E J A N E I R O • L O N D O N • AT H E N S • H E L S I N K I • S I N G A P O R E • B E I J I N G

20 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Rolf P Nilsson, rolf@shipgaz.com

spotlight IMO

IMO hot topics next year second four-year term by the end of next year. At its meeting on November 1–5, the IMO Council decided that member states will have until March 31 next year to nominate candidates for the position as Secretary-General from 2012. A vote will be held by secret ballot and with a simple majority system among the 40 Council members at their 106th session, to be held in London June 27–July 1, 2011.

iMO: rolf P Nilsson Rolf P Nilsson, Editor-in-Chief of Shipgaz, points the spotlight at IMO in each issue. Check this column to get the latest updates on what’s up in the IMO chambers.

t the time of writing, the last committee meeting in 2010 is progressing at the International Maritime Organization’s headquarters in London. The Maritime Safety Committee is holding its 88th session November 24– December 3 and one of the most burning issues during this year is lifeboat safety and requirements for lifeboat release mechanisms.

although many accidents, several with fatal outcome, have highlighted the need for improved equipment, the issue has taken its time through the rule-making corridors. It is still a controversial issue, not because some parties want stricter regulations and others don’t, but because there are what seems to be a growing number of voices that believe that the proposed amendments are an improvement, but that they are insufficient and might not carry far enough. Led by the International Shipping Federation and a number of other or-

MitrOPOUlOs rePlaCed iN 2012 The current SecretaryGeneral Efthimios E Mitropoulos ends his second four-year term by the end of next year. By statute he is not eligible for a new term.

»Many observers see Neil Ferrer as the top candidate« ganisations and flag states, there is a growing concern that the proposed amendments to increase lifeboat release safety will have to be followed by further amendments to Solas Regulation II/1 and the LSA Code (Life Saving Appliance) as the current proposals have focused too much on mechanical wear, and too little on design issues. A vote will be held after this issue of Shipgaz went to press.

On december 31, the “Year of the Seafarer” ends and next year’s theme will be “Piracy: Orchestrating the Response”. Piracy will of course be an important issue for the IMO next year, but other topics will compete for the attention. Selecting a new leader is one. The current Secretary-General Efthimios E Mitropoulos ends his PHoTo: JÖRGEN SPRÅNG

The one IMO issue overshadowing almost all others in 2011 is greenhouse gas.

if there are four or more candidates by then, and if no candidate obtains a majority in the first or successive ballots, a new voting round will be held. This will consist of a series of ballots and in each the candidate that received the least amount of votes will be excluded in the next. At the time of writing only one member state has filed a formal nomination. Spain has nominated the current Secretary-General of the International Mobile Satellite Organization, IMSO, Captain Esteban Pacha-Vicente, formerly the Spanish IMO representative and a governor of the World Maritime Organisation. Five other countries have already confirmed that they intend to nominate candidates: • Cyprus will be nominating Andreas Chrystomou, chairman of Maritime Environment Protection Committee. • The Philippines’ candidate is Neil Ferrer, chairman of Maritime Safety Commission. • Japan is promoting Koji Sekimizu, director of IMO Safety Division. at this stage, many observers mean that the successor will be found among the first three, with Neil Ferrer as the top candidate. • Nigeria will nominate Monica Mbanefo, director of IMO Technical Cooperation Division. • The South Korean nominee will be Lee-Sik Chai, chairman of IMO Legal Committee. USA has still to name a nominee, and there will be more names coming before the last of March next year. Many other issues will keep the IMO busy next year, apart from finding the right leader.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 21

IMO

The one overshadowing almost all others is the greenhouse gas issue. While Shipgaz goes to press, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is held, from November 29 to December 10 in Cancun, Mexico. The IMO is expected to seek an explicit commitment from the UNFCCC to continue to work on a solution for world shipping based on a flag-neutral approach. According to the IMO, this is the only way for the organisation to meet the resistance from developing nations to agree on anything in the IMO discussions that could mean a breach to the common but differentiated principle. Irrespective of this, the IMO will continue to develop the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) for newbuildings. If the current timetable is to be held, a decision is needed next year. Denmark has, together with Norway and seven other member states, requested that the IMO circulates amendments to Marpol with requirements for more energy efficient ships. Following a six-month minimum period, the parties of Marpol Annex XI can adopt the regulations.

POlar Code restricted â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;From having had its focus on ice-covered waters, the Polar Code is now restricted to Arctic and Antarctic waters.

Spotlight

INTERIOR INSULATION VENTILATION PIPING ELECTRICAL

The work on a market-based measure will also continue, but one possible scenario is that an EEDI is successfully completed, while there is still no common view on a marketbased measure by the end of next year. This will most surely get the EU going, with shipping included in a regional EU trading scheme, irrespective of the disadvantages of regional solutions for the global shipping industry. An EU move could be followed in other parts of the world, such as Japan and Australia, but what path will USA follow with its new political scene? Sulphur emissions will also surely become an issue also next year for the IMO to tackle, as the criticism against sulphur limits in regional emission control areas. The issue is highlighted by the signal from Helcom, where member states want to block further actions before a study has been conducted showing the combined economic impact of introducing sulphur as well as NOx limits. Another issue that will get its portion of attention is the Polar Code. Search and Rescue in the remote Arctic and Antarctic areas is in focus, as well as environmental response operations.

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22 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Newcomer Allure of the Seas

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Photo: Royal Caribbean

The Allure of the Seas has left the Baltic for warmer waters in the Caribbean, where seven night cruises will dominate the schedule.

Larger than her sister

Although having the same GT, the Allure of the Seas is 5 cm longer than her elder sister Oasis of the Seas. There was something of a Grand Finale in the air when the Allure of the Seas left STX Finlands’ Turku shipyard in the morning of October 29, 2010. This magnificent ship ended an impressive suite of cruise vessels ordered by Royal Caribbean from STX Finland and its predecessors.

Myth 1

Since 1996 the Turku shipyard has continuously had large cruise vessel on order for Royal Caribbean International. There has been deliveries virtually every year since 1999, with the exception of the years 2004 and 2005 when there was a gap between two series. However, when the last of the five Voyager-class vessels was delivered in 2003, the first unit of the larger Freedom-class was already ordered. After the delivery of the third and last Freedom-vessel in 2008, the ultra large Oasis of the Seas and her sister Allure of the Seas followed in 2009 and 2010 respectively. This means a total of ten vessels in 12 years. No wonder the situation is strange at

Turku shipyard, which at time of writing had no cruise vessel on order at all. There is however a strong belief in the future. The long term growth potential of the cruise business has not disappeared despite the global finance crisis, and new ships will be needed in a foreseeable future. With a reference like the Allure of the Seas STX Finland is certainly in the game when the next cruise vessels are to be ordered.

»In a ship that is 360 metres long such small differences may occur« Media have reported that there was only 30 cm clearance when the Allure passed under the Great Belt Bridge. But the truth is that with mean water level there would have been a clearance of 2–3 metres when the Allure passed under the Great Belt Bridge.

The Allure of the Seas is almost identical to the Oasis of the Seas. Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President, Maritime at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., says that there has simply not been any need to make any changes other than in small details. ”The Oasis of the Seas has been most successful and everything onboard is functioning as planned or even better.”

Harri Kulovaara is most pleased with the performance of the shipyard. ”The Allure of the Seas was completed to 100 per cent and delivered exactly on time. This was a flawless achievement. Actually I don’t think that any other shipyard in the world would have been able to build this ship, at least not with a schedule like this.”

As a matter of fact it is not quite correct to declare the Allure of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas identical twins. Officially the Allure of the Seas is 50 mm longer than the Oasis of the Seas, which project Director Topivo Ilvonen of STX Finland assures that is not intentional. ”Indeed this is a curiosity only. In a ship that is 360 metres long such small differences may occur due to the temperatures of steel,” he explains. Ordered on April 2, 2007, the steel work on the second ship of Project

no 6 2010 Shipgaz 23

Allure of the Seas

Newcomer Photo: StX Finland/Jouni SaaRiSto

Adiago Dining Room is three decks high and has seats for 3,056 guests. Genesis was started on February 4, 2008. The keel was laid on December 2, 2008 and the names of both vessels were announced on May 23, 2008. Then Project Genesis became the Oasis-class. The vessel to be named Allure of the Seas was launched on November 20, 2009, less than a month after the delivery of the sister vessel Oasis of the Seas. The Allure of the Seas was delivered on October 28, 2010, exactly a year later than her sister. On the following morning the giant left her birthplace in Turku and set out for sea. The tugs Ukko and Tri-

ton where dwarfed by her huge size. Despite the grey and darkish morning, hundreds of people were watching on the shore when she passed the island of Ruissalo near Turku. The voyage to her turnaround port Fort Lauderdale went exactly according to the plan, and she arrived in the morning on November 11, 2010.

The official naming ceremony will take place on November 28 during a one-night celebration to benefit the United Way chapters of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, among other charities. The first special four-night

MyTh 2 It is also a myth that the squat effect would have any significant effect on the draft of the vessel when passing the Great Belt Bridge. The water is too deep.

cruise on December 1 will call at the cruise lineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s private beach of Labadee at the north coast of Haiti. The inaugural seven-night cruise will depart on December 5. The vessel will be employed with seven-night cruises in the Western and the Eastern Caribbean.

There are some differences in the allocation of the spaces in the two vessels. The Allure of the Seas has a number of new restaurants and shops, including an interactive gallery and sales outlet of the pop artist Romero Britto.

your maritime solution partner For more info please visit www.sspa.se

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24 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Newcomer Allure of the Seas Photo: STX Finland/Jouni Saaristo

the Central Park or the Boardwalk. There are 22 different categories of staterooms, and the standard stateroom has an area of 18 square metres. In 676 staterooms there are extra beds in addition to the twin beds. A novelty of the Allure of the Seas is a 3D movie theatre, the Amber theatre in the Entertainment Place. The Entertainment Place also organises musical evenings, dancing classes and competitions.

The Allure of the Seas also houses

The Amber theatre is one of many areas where you find some of the vessels 90,000 m2 of fitted carpeting. Photo: STX Finland/Jouni Saaristo

The diesel-electric machinery includes six diesel-generator sets and three steerable Azipod propulsion units of 20,000 kW each. The total output of the powerplant is 97,000 kW. Safety issues are of highest priority. The evacuation of the ship must be as uncomplicated as that of a smaller vessel. Following the ”Safe return to port” principle, evacuation of the vessel can in most cases be avoided. Due to high redundancy, the ship will remain functional even in case of an accident, and it will be able to return to port under its own power.

The Royal Loft Suite is equipped with a grand piano. There are seven distinct themed areas – also called neighbourhoods – on the ships: Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool & Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone.

The open-air area Central Park is a true park with more than 12,000 living plants, 60 vines and 56 trees and bamboos. The Boardwalk environment is another open-air area of the ship, including the Aqua theatre and a carousel. The Promenade shopping street beneath the Central park has

38,000 Tons of steel plates and profiles were delivered by Ruukki for the Allure of the Seas. Ruukki’s deliveries account for some 70 per cent of the steel used in the vessel.

dozens of restaurants, cafés and bars. The new Rita’s Cantina serves Mexican dishes. Dog House has hot dogs with various fillings and sausages on the menu and is located in the Boardwalk area. A speciality of the Oasis class is the Rising Tide Bar, a moving restaurant platform taking the passengers between the Central Park and the Promenade. The famous fashion brand Guess has opened their first onboard boutique in the Allure of the Seas. The Guess outlet will also be one of the largest accessory boutiques on the ship, selling hand bags, watches and jewellery.

skylights, bringing daylight from above. The hotel part of the ship is built into two parallel superstructures, separated by the Promenade, Central Park and the Boardwalk. Despite the large breadth of the vessel, there are only a small number of cabins – or staterooms as they are called – without a window.

There is a total of 2,704 staterooms onboard the Allure of the Seas. Of them 1,956 are equipped with balconies. A total of 1,481 staterooms have balconies facing the sea, while the remaining 475 are facing either

All assembly areas are equipped with an electronic identification system, which speeds up the head count in emergency situations before boarding the lifeboats. The Allure of the Seas has 18 lifeboats, with capacity for 370 persons each, providing space for every passenger onboard. The lifeboats are equipped with double engines and rudders, as well as features such as a GPS system and toilets. In addition to the lifeboats, the ship has four MES evacuation chute points, each one designed for 450 persons.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 25

Allure of the Seas

Newcomer Photo: Royal Caribbean

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: STX Finland/Jouni Saaristo

1. Stern view of the ship, showing the twin superstructures. 2. Two of the main engines. 3. The bridge. 4. The vessel has 16 passenger decks.

Allure of the seas Type �� Cruise vessel Built by �� STX Finland Oy, Turku, Finland Newbuilding No �� 1364 Owner �� Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, USA Delivery �� October 28, 2010 Flag �� Bahamas IMO No �� 9383948 Class �� DNV +1A1 Passenger Ship COMF-V(1) RPS ECO F-M LCS-DC CLEAN FUEL (991 kg/cubic metre) BIS

Length o a . ................................................... 361 m Breadth ........................................................... 47 m Draught ......................................................... 9,3 m GT . ............................................................. 225,282 NT ............................................................. 242,999 DWT ............................................................ 15,000 Passengers .................................... 5,400/6,360 Cabins ........................................................... 2,704 Crew ............................................................... 2,100

Machinery Diesel-electric, podded propulsion 3 Wärtsilä 16V46 (3 x 18,480 kW) 3 Wärtsilä 12V46 (3 x 13,860 kW) 3 Azipod (3 x 20,000 kW)

Service speed ........................................ 22 knots

MAjor suppliers not mentioned elswhere Alandia Engineering Marine Ab Almaco Group Oy APX-Metalli Oy Europe Working EW Oy

Europlan Engineering Oy Huuhka Oy JaPe-Asennus Oy Jukova Oy Laivasähkötyö Oy

Loipart Oy Merima Oy Mobimar Oy Optimakers Oy Ltd Orsap Oy Ltd

Oy NIT Naval Interior Team Ltd Oy Shippax Ltd Paattimaakarit Oy Riverco Oy

S A Svendsen Oy STX Finland Cabins Oy Telakka- ja Rakennustyöt Tejara Oy Tino Sana S r l

Wonder of the world The Panama Canal has been suggested as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The Kiel Canal would be worthy of the same recognition. Text & Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Annually an average of 40,000 ships pass through the Kiel Canal, making it the busiest artificial seaway in the world. n old Swedish encyclopaedia for young people, called ”Lille jätten”, suggested in 1944 that the Panama Canal would be one of the modern world’s seven wonders. Without underestimating the efforts made during the excavation of the Panama Canal in the early 20th century, the Kiel Canal would earn this description too. Perhaps the time of the release of the book had something to do with this. The German initial success in World War II had turned into a disaster, making it more “politically correct” to declare the Panama Canal a wonder, instead of the German-controlled Kiel Canal. A matter of fact is, however, that both waterways – and of course also the Suez Canal – are true wonders. They form irreplaceable parts in the infrastructure of global shipping.

Forming a shortcut between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea the Kiel Canal – or the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, as it is referred to in German – has never during its 115 years of existence lost any of its attraction. Originally it served primarily military purposes, but today it is a purely commercial sea lane, shortening the distance between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea with some 170 nautical miles, depending of course on the location of the ports of departure and destination. For example for a vessel sailing from a port in the Northern Baltic to Hamburg, the distance saved is some 330 nautical miles. The initiative to establish an almost 100 km long artificial waterway between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea came from Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck. The navy of the recently united German Empire needed a safe passage between its naval bases in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. The work began on June 3, 1887. In no more than eight years 9,000 workers excavated 80 million cubic metres of land. They built two locks each in Brunsbüttel and Holtenau. In addition to that they completed two bridges, high enough to allow the vessels to sail under them. The canal had a width of 67 metres at the surface and a water depth of nine metres in a 22 metres wide channel along the middle. The festive opening ceremony was held by Kaiser Wilhelm II on June 20 and 21, 1895. To honour the emperor the waterway was named Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal. This name was in use until 1948. Already after the first ten years of operation, the canal turned out to be too small. Also the average 13 hours sailing time through the canal was considered too long. Between 1907 and 1914 the canal was widened to 103 metres and deepened to 11 metres in a 44 metres wide channel. In both ends new locks were built, the “Grosse Schleusen”, which together with the original smaller locks are in operation still today. When built, the large locks were the largest in the world. The western part of the Kiel Canal was further improved between 1965 and 2000. When completed, the width of the water surface was 162 metres and the navigable 11 metres channel had been widened to 90 metres. A widening of the remaining eastern part of the canal is planned. The global financial crisis and the following downturn

Parts of the eastern sector of the Kiel Canal has still basically the same capacity as almost a hundred years ago. The large refit, completed in 1914, was foresighted.

Along the canal banks there are roads for cyclists and pedestrians. Before sunrise this warm summer morning the roads were still empty.

Early morning coffee. Second officer Mika Airola enjoys a cup of coffee on the bridge wing of the Estraden, watching the nature wake up.

At sunrise the signal for Traffic Group 5 is hoisted in the mast of the Estraden.

Flensburg

Baltic Sea Between Rendsburg and Kiel there is still a 20 km sector of the canal that basically has the same capacity as after the last large refit, completed in 1914.

Schleswig Husum

Rendsburg

North Sea

A new lock in Brunsbüttel The new lock will be the largest in the canal, with a length of 360 metres and a width of 45 metres.

Kiel Rüsterbergen

Kiel Canal Neumünster Itzehoe Brunsbüttel

Lübeck

Elmshorn Elbe Hamburg

in shipping had a dramatic effect on the traffic through the Kiel Canal in 2009. The number of vessels decreased by 29 per cent, reaching a total of 30,228. The carried amount of cargo decreased by 33 per cent and totalled 70.4 million tons. During 2008, the 42,811 vessels passing through the canal had carried almost 106,000 tons of cargo.

In 2010 the traffic started to revive. By the end of the third quarter of 2010 the number of vessel movements in the canal totalled 23,586, compared to 22,349 during the first three quarters of 2009. The number of transits through the whole canal was more than 18,000. It is mainly the number of large vessels that is growing. The number of vessels with a length between 120–160 metres, belonging to Traffic Group 4, increased by 17 per cent. The amount of vessels in Traffic Group 5, measuring 130–210 metres in length, grew by 14 per cent. This means that an average of 500 vessels of Group 4 and 300 vessels of Group 5 have sailed through the canal each month this year. “Above all there is a significant growth in the container feeder sector. We count a considerable increase of vessels with a capacity above 1,000 TEU. Regarding empty tankers and bulk carriers there is a constantly high level of vessels sailing eastwards. Because of their large draught in loaded condition they have to choose the route around the Skaw (Skagen) on their return voyage”, Jörg Heinrich, Manager of the Shipping Department of Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Nord, explains. Claudia Thoma, press- and PR spokesperson at Wasser-und Schifffahrtsdirektion Nord, confirms that there is still a way to go before reaching the same volumes in the Kiel Canal as before the crisis, but the trend is definitely positive. According to her, the total GT and the total amount of cargo carried are already close to the levels of 2004. Only the number of ships has not increased equally. “This has a connection to the increasing ship sizes and cargo

Length: 98,7 km. Depth: 11 m Free height beneath bridges: 42 m Max draught for vessels <160 m: 9.5 m Max draught for vessel >160 m: 9.5–7.0 m Max speed: 8.1 kn

volumes. The vessels passing through the canal become larger. In three years we think that the number of ships will be back on a higher level.”

A planned upgrading of the canal is in line with the growing ship sizes. There are plans for increasing the lock capacity at Brunsbüttel and improve the eastern part of the canal. Between Rendsburg and Kiel there is still a 20 km sector of the canal, which basically has the same capacity as after the last large refit, completed in 1914. Indeed the deep water fairway along the middle of the canal has a sufficient depth of 11 metres, but the width of the deep water fairway will be expanded to 70 metres. The total width of the water surface will after that be 140 metres. The other major project is the building of a fifth lock in the Brunsbüttel end of the canal. On the site there is only a limited amount of space available and the new lock will be constructed between the existing pair of small and large locks. The new lock will be the largest in the canal, with a length of 360 metres and

The fee For a typical large container-feeder vessel of 10,000 GT the transit cost is about EUR 4,600, including pilotage and helmsmen. In addition to that, a pilot is needed also on the Elbe and on the Kieler Förde, adding a cost of about EUR 1,800. The costs for the Kiel Canal agent are not included in these sums. Through the local Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion, the German government grants certain reductions in the Kiel Canal dues for individual vessels. The annual refund can vary between 20 and 50 per cent, depending on the number of passages for the vessel. The canal authorities also grant a 30 per cent reduction in form of ballast bonus for vessels exceeding 3,000 GT. Source: www.kiel-canal.org

»In particular, the eastern section has become a bottleneck. The cross-section of the canal along an about 20 km long section is the same as in 1914» a width of 45 metres. Also the existing locks will be renovated. Close to the locks a covered docking facility for the pontoon type lock gates is planned, including the storage place for a reserve lock gate. Claudia Thoma states: “After over 90 years of use an extensive overhaul of the large locks at Brunsbüttel would be urgently needed.”

In the long run the idea is to improve the efficiency of the Kiel Canal and minimize waiting times both at the sidings and in the locks. Claudia Thoma says that the future modernisation of the canal would mean easier transits because of more places for permissible meetings. She thinks that the performance of the canal can be improved by the use of modern technology. “In particular, the eastern section has become a bottleneck. The cross-section of the canal along an about 20 km long section is the same as in 1914. More cargo may be carried with fewer ships and more space means a great advantage. With the introduction of the modern traffic management system in 2006, it is possible to ensure a quick passage with short waiting times. Thanks to an optimized traffic flow in combination with the planned improvements, the waiting time for larger vessels at the sidings would be further reduced and thus also the total transit time.” If the plans for widening the eastern section of the canal, the construction of a new Levensau bridge and the building of a new lock in Brunsbüttel would be realised, the Nord-OstseeKanal would be able to perform even better, ensuring reliable, smooth and safe traffic”, summarizes Claudia Thoma. At the time of writing there is no time plan in existence for the upgrading of the Kiel Canal.

“Since the construction projects in the Nord-OstseeKanal are competing with other large projects on the River Elbe and the River Weser it is currently being determined by the Bundesministerium which project will have priority. It might be that there will be delays for the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal projects, but we don’t know anything for sure yet”, she explains.

The BBC Arizona entering the lock in Brunsbüttel.

When asked about the future development of the traffic in the Kiel Canal Claudia Thoma has no doubt that the waterway will remain an attractive alternative – and for many vessels the first choice – for transit between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Because of its importance for the region it will be of high priority that the canal preserves its competitiveness. “The Nord-Ostsee-Kanal is not only the main traffic artery of northern Europe, it is also an important economic and employment factor in Schleswig-Holstein.” She thinks that the geographic facts speak for themselves. A passage through the canal means significant fuel savings, not to mention the safe passage offered inlands during poor weather conditions. “Compared with the detour via the Skaw, the average saving in distance is 260 nautical miles, which means 12 to 18 hours. Also rising fuel costs, for example caused by the use of new low sulphur fuel in SECAs, means that the Nord-OstseeKanal will remain in focus for the vessel traffic between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. With the planned measures of improvement, we are definitely prepared for the traffic of the future.”

Rolf Ehlert at the United Canal Agency GmbH (UCA) has more than 30 years of experience as an agent at the Kiel Canal. Since the 1970s the job of Kiel Canal agents has changed in many ways, not least due to information technology. “Still our most important task is to report the forthcoming arrival of a vessel to the canal authorities and to arrange and guarantee the payment of fees, deliver mail and spare parts, follow the vessel’s passage through the canal and keep all operationally involved parts informed. The canal agent offers service 24/7 and is able to fix almost anything.” This is a challenge, as the vessel stays in the lock for a maximum of 45 minutes. “Everything must be prepared in advance in every detail, any time of day, come rain or shine. In this time we shall perhaps arrange a change of crew members, delivery of stores, lub oil or any other liquids in drums, spare parts or even a quick repair of a defect reefer container.” UCA has more than 70 employees in Kiel and Brunsbüttel. Many of them are working in four shifts to provide service for vessels at any time of the day. It is mainly the water clerks that go on board the vessels during the brief stay in the locks, arranging everything on behalf of the owner and/or the charterer.

The Estraden is being moored in the lock of Brunsbüttel.

Next Page SchleswigHolstein in eight hours

The average transit time through the Kiel Canal is eight hours. It is like a sight-seeing through Schleswig-Holstein, with a lot of things going on and interesting places passing by. ith some 40,000 vessel passages during a normal year, there are more than 100 vessel movements per day. No wonder the Kiel Canal is an Eldorado for ship spotters. During a beautiful summer day the banks of the canal are occupied with photographers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; hard core enthusiasts who know every vessel passing by. Today it is much easier to spot the real gems thanks to the AIS, making ship movement available on the internet. The banks of the canal are also appreciated by ordinary people, just enjoying nature and watching pass by. There are families on picnic, fishermen, campers in their â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wohnwagensâ&#x20AC;?, strollers, bikers and even sunbathers.

The canal is easily accessible, especially for pedestrians and light vehicles. It is possible to walk or ride a bicycle along most of the canal. Car borne travellers may reach the canal banks easily in connection with the many road ferry crossings.

Although it is routine for many, also the crews of the vessels enjoy a passage through the canal. After perhaps several days on open sea it is a strong contrast to sail in a trench, not much wider than the ship, where the view changes all the time. For an occasional passenger the experience is even stronger. It is simply fantastic to see the nature slowly waking up already

before sunrise, while the ship is silently moving along the canal at a speed of eight knots. You pick up smells and sounds, which simply do not fit a seagoing vessel. You can hear a rooster crowing on a farm nearby, accompanied by the loud and characteristic song of a nightingale, sitting in a tree near the bank. You can smell cattle on a pasture or a freshly mown lawn by a house with a neat garden, almost reaching the canal. And you see the sun slowly rise on the hazy sky above the trees, like a large glowing orb.

The signs in the sky promise such a fine morning, when the Finnish ro-ro vessel Estraden slowly is approaching the locks in Kiel Holtenau on an early Sunday morning in July. The night is much darker than in Finland, where there still is daylight virtually 24 hours a day in July. Still, on the eastern sky, above the Baltic Sea, the sky is getting lighter as the sun prepares to break the surface. Captain Tom Rönnqvist stands on the bridge wing, manoeuvring the 163 metres long vessel into the 310 metres long lock. He has done this manoeuvre hundreds of times before and the pilot mainly supervises that everything goes according to plan.

There is plenty of space left in the lock when the ship is moored, and the Estraden is joined by the Dutch dry cargo vessel Marietje Deborah before the gate is closed. The dawn has already come when the Estraden is moving westwards in the canal less than an hour later. The details on the first road bridge at Holtenau are clearly visible when the ship passes beneath.

A nightingale is singing in the trees by the canal bank, but there are still no signs of human life anywhere when the ship passes the Landwehr ferry a quarter to five. At the Köningsförde sidings some twenty minutes later a couple of fishermen try their luck. One of them has his motorhome parked at the bank of the canal. The canal is a true oasis in the densely populated northern Germany, where the Nordic “summer cottage”, a second home on the countryside used only in the summer, is an unknown phenomenon. An early weather forecast on the radio foresees temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. The air is moist and warm already although the sun has not yet risen. However, a sure sign that the sun is about to rise is the AB on bridge deck preparing to hoist

Vessels meeting at the AudorfRade siding near Rendsburg. In the background is the Rader Hochbrücke, also called Europabrücke – the Europe bridge – with the E 45 motorway.

The Rendsburg Schwebef채hre is one of the wonders along the canal.

Lürssen Shipyard in Rendsburg, where the superyacht Phoenix 2 is nearing completion. the flags. There are several ensigns to be hoisted – the Finnish nationality flag, the German courtesy flag, and the third substitute pennant, demanded for the exempt of customs clearance during a Kiel Canal transit. In addition to that a vessel of the Traffic Group 5, like the Estraden, has to hoist a black cylinder positioned above a black sphere. During night time a vessel of this category shall show “two all-round green lights, positioned above each other in a vertical line”, according to the German traffic regulations.

When the Estraden is approaching the Audorf-Rade siding area near Rendsburg, the pilot informs that there is going to be a stop of at least half an hour due to meeting traffic. He informs that larger ships may meet only at the siding areas. There are a total of 12 such areas in the canal. Whether it is possible to meet underway in the canal or not is determined by the Traffic Group of the vessels. If the sum of both vessels’ Traffic Groups – the passage number – does not exceed six, vessels may encounter virtually anywhere in the canal. In most parts of the western sector, where the canal is wider, meetings with a passage number of seven are allowed. But now several vessel of Traffic Group 4 are approaching from the west. Ahead of the Estraden is the dry cargo vessel Westgard, also owned by Bore. She is a Group 3-vessel and has already stopped. At the opposite bank of the canal is the enclosed building dock of Lürssen Shipyard in Rendsburg. At the outfitting quay the 84.3 metres superyacht Phoenix 2 is nearing completion. The ship is designed by Andrew Winch Design and was the first superyacht to be completed in Lürssen’s new floating dock at the yard’s Rendsburg facility. The yacht’s slender hull with the elegant superstructure makes her look a little bit misplaced in this industrial environ-

»The slender hull with an elegant superstructure makes her look a little bit misplaced« ment, but within weeks she will leave the shipyard to enter into service for an anonymous owner, which typically keeps an extremely low profile. About twenty minutes later a ro-ro vessel comes into sight around the next bend. It is the Borden, another Bore vessel. In her wake follows a large container feeder vessel, the Emotion, and the pilot gives green light to proceed. During the transit through the Kiel Canal the vessel is manned by canal helmsmen. The task of their association, Verein der Kanalsteurer e.V., is to provide canal helmsmen to guarantee a safe passage through the Kiel Canal. The need for the acceptance of new members in the Verein der Kanalsteurer e.V. depends on the number of vessels on the Kiel Canal. Acceptance of new members is generally made by election. Elected aspirants are then being trained on board the vessels and within the association. The hope for a beautiful warm day was dashed when dark clouds started gathering in the sky. The pilot says that rain and maybe thunder most likely will appear later in the morning.

The vessel is now sailing through the city of Rendsburg. The southern suburbs are separated from the city by the canal, creating a strong cross-traffic. There are indeed many alternatives to cross the canal. One of the most interesting ways is offered by one of the great curiosities in the canal, the “Rendsburger Schwebefähre”, a flying ferry, bridging the 135-metre gap beneath the Rendsburg railway bridge. Completed in 1913, this flying bridge is in original

The area in the foreground is reserved for the new, fifth lock in Brunsbüttel. The cargo vessel Ran is leaving one of the small locks, taken in use in 1895.

condition. It is connected by cables to a car running under the bridge span. Moving a couple of metres above the surface, the gondola is 14 metres long and 6 metres wide. It has capacity to carry six cars and 60 passengers. Like on all other ferries across the canal, the transport is free of charge. It is also possible for pedestrians to walk under the canal at Rendsburg. Close to the ferry there is a 130 metres long pedestrian tunnel. Also invisible from the ship is the road tunnel, situated west of the port, swallowing most of the road traffic.

At Rüsterbergen west of Rendsburg, halfway along the canal, the pilot is changed. The western part of the canal belongs to pilotage area Nord-Ostsee-Kanal I and the eastern part to Nord-Ostsee-Kanal II. In each of the traffic areas there are more than a hundred pilots. When approaching the Fischerhütte sidings another stop is announced. The Estraden waits for a group of vessels, including a tanker, a container feeder vessel and a car carrier. The captain starts getting impatient, as the vessel was late already when sailing from Turku. He still hopes that the Estraden is going to arrive at Bremerhaven late afternoon. Then it will be possible to arrive at Harwich on Monday afternoon and sail after midnight. “If this will work we are back on schedule after that”, the Captain says.

»Captain Rönnqvist explains that the fifth lock would eliminate such additional waitings. The lock itself will be larger, enabling larger vessels to be locked in or out simultaneously« “OK Captain, we can get moving again”, the Pilot says when the car carrier Main Highway has passed. “And now there are no more stops to be expected.” The Estraden is underway.

At Brunsbüttel there is a large tanker entering the lock before the Estraden. As the Estraden is too large to be docked simultaneously, the tanker Bro Nibe overtakes the Estraden and enters the lock. Captain Rönnqvist explains that the fifth lock would eliminate such additional waitings. The lock itself will be larger, enabling larger vessels to be locked in or out simultaneously. It also provides more overall capacity. He is convinced that the ongoing improvements of the canal will decrease the probability for extra waiting times.

Captain Tom Rönnqvist and a Kiel Canal pilot, waiting for meeting traffic.

The Bro Nibe has entered one of the large locks at Brunsbüttel.

The Estraden is a regular customer in the Kiel Canal. She transits through the canal twice a week. For her it is necessary to sail through the canal to keep the schedule. On her westbound journey from Turku the vessel calls at Bremerhaven before arriving at Harwich. The return voyage goes via Cuxhaven and Paldiski. The round trip has to be made in a week. “Our schedule is extremely tight and requires transfer through the canal in both directions”, he explains.

Unlike the above mentioned Estraden many of the vessels using the Kiel Canal are able to make a choice with relatively short notice whether to sail via the Kiel Canal or round the Skaw. The usual factors affecting the decision are the current weather conditions, the predicted bunker savings compared with the actual bunker price and possible maintenance in the canal, slowing up the passage. A rule of thumb among seafarers says that the additional time needed for rounding the Skaw should be no longer than twenty-four hours compared to the transit time through the canal. For large and fast vessels the time savings, when choosing the canal, may not be so significant. For a vessel belonging to

Traffic Group 6, the average transit time is reported to be about nine hours, including the time in the locks. A representative at the operations department of a frequent user of the Kiel Canal says that the time saving for some of their vessels is less than two hours. Neither does he believe that the planned improvements in the canal will benefit the largest vessels by generating shorter transit times, as these have to wait anyway for virtually all meeting traffic. In general the users seem to be pleased with the service offered by all parts involved in the transit. But some users regard the tariffs as quite high.

“We would use the Kiel Canal more if the tariffs would go down. This would also benefit the environment, as it would mean that there would be less bunker burnt with passages around the Skaw”, a user of the canal states. However Rolf Ehlert at UCA has noticed that complaints about high canal fees have decreased. “The ‘Befahrungsabgaben’, that is the canal fee for the transit, has not been raised in many years. I think that the shipping companies nowadays are focusing more on bunker costs, waiting times and port costs”, he says.

FOTO: BERTIL HAGBERG

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The Moroccan challenger The Moroccan megaport Tanger-Med is attracting more and more trafďŹ c. Meanwhile, the ports of Gibraltar and Algeciras will need to adapt to the toughening competition. TEXT: CHRISTER HANSSON PHOTO: LEIF HANSSON (EXCEPT WHERE NOTED)

Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

“There is reason to believe that Tanger-Med will gain market shares”, says Ragnvald Nilsen. He talks about the future of the Strait of Gibraltar. agnvald Nilsen was born in 1943 in the Moroccan city of Tangier. His father was a shipbroker and the Norwegian consul in Casablanca and Ragnvald Nilsen also made for the shipping industry. Since 1989 he has worked at the shipping company Comarit (Compagnie Maritime Maroco Norvégienne) – a company that used to be partly owned by Fred Olsen in Norway but now is wholly Moroccan owned. For 20 years he was the director of the subsidiary Comarit España, but since a year he has worked in Morocco as the assistant of Group CEO Abdelali Abdelmoula. The weekends, however, he spends with his family in Spanish Marbella, where he still has his home.

Ragnvald Nilsen has witnessed a fast development during the past few years. When Comarit was established in 1984 the company had one ferry on the Málaga–Tangier run. Now the fleet consists of twelve ferries and a further two on charter on six different routes. After the take-over of the competitor Comanav Ferry earlier this year, the Group has about 1,700 employees. Ragnvald Nilsen himself has a spectacular view over central Tangier from the enormous terrace outside his new office. Here he runs his daily business in French, Spanish, English, Arabic, Scandinavian, Italian, German … “It is common that people here in Tangier speak several languages”, he says humbly. Not only Comarit is developing; across the Strait of Gibraltar an economic tug of war is going on, one that we have yet to see the end of. A considerable number of ferry operators today run traffic between Spain and Morocco. From Algeciras alone, including the Tarifa port, a total of 5,000,000 passengers (one half to Tangier, the other to the Spanish enclave Ceuta), 600,000 cars and 150,000 lorries are transported each year to destinations on the North African coast. Comarit controls about one-third of the traffic to Tangier and one-third of the transport of cars and lorries. Hitherto, traffic has increased by ten per cent per year. “This summer meant a slight dip compared to previous years, but we will have to wait until the end of the year before we know for sure about 2010”, says Nilsen. The big new order is called Tanger-Med. Until May 16 this year all maritime traffic went directly into the city of Tangier. Now, ships call at the new port Tanger-Med – a large container and ro-ro port located 40 kilometres west of Tangier, with free bus transportation for all passengers into the city centre. As from October 1, 2010 all passenger traffic was moved from Tangier to Tanger-Med. The fast Tangier–Tarifa catamaran, cruise ships and boats connected to hotels, restaurants and similar establishments is the only remaining sea traffic in the city

Comarit acquired the competitor Comanav Ferry earlier this year and now has a fleet of twelve ferries and a further two on charter on six different routes between Spain and Morocco. centre. For the shipping companies this is ideal. Earlier the ferry crossing took 2.5 hours, while the new route over the strait is only 18 nautical miles and takes 1.5 hours at normal speed.

For the Port of Algeciras, however, the Tanger-Med is a substantial threat. According to reports from both Spain and Morocco, Danish Maersk has already decided to move half a million TEUs from its APM terminal in Algeciras to the Tanger-Med. The reason is economic; in Morocco the company is cutting its handling costs by at least one-fifth, Moroccan sources say. And it does not end there. This year the Moroccans have begun the construction of another great container port: TangerMed 2. In 2015, when the first Tanger-Med will be completed, the yearly capacity will be handling of 8 million TEUs, 7 million passengers, 700,000 lorries and trailers, 2 million cars and 10 million cubic metres of petroleum products. Tanger-Med will thereby become the largest port in Africa, with capacity to admit the world’s largest container ships. According to Ragnvald Nilsen there is every reason for worry in Algeciras: “You have to be competitive at all times and offer good serv-

»Maersk has already moved traffic to Tanger-Med. If they are to be a part of Tanger-Med 2 as well, it may mean that even more traffic will be moved from Algeciras» ice. The service that Algeciras offers to shipping is bound to develop on this side as well, in time.” “Maersk has already moved traffic to Tanger-Med. If they are to be a part of Tanger-Med 2 as well, it may mean that even more traffic will be moved from Algeciras”, he continues. Also bunker handling, which is so crucial for Gibraltar, Algeciras and Ceuta, can count on toughening competition.

“Eventually it will all of course depend on what prices customers get, but there is reason to believe that Tanger-Med will gain market shares”, says Ragnvald Nilsen. Morocco makes no secret of their intentions. Tanger-Med, located a mere 15 kilometres from the European Union, is of

As from October 1, all passenger traffic was moved from Tangier to Tanger-Med, with the exception of the fast Tangier–Tarifa catamaran, cruise ships and hotel/restaurant boats. strategic importance for the government and the operator TMSA (Agence Spécial Tanger Méditerranée). The port will facilitate the export of Moroccan products, not least after 2012 when the free trade agreement with the European Union comes into force. All this will generate employment opportunities and create better living conditions for the population in and around the ever growing city of Tangier.

Ragnvald Nilsen is convinced that the plan will succeed. “The location at the entrance to the Mediterranean is perfect for shipping, freight, repair work, inspection and bunkering”, he says. From the new port there are good road connections and a new railway service for goods and passengers to and from Tangier is under construction. There is a lot of land for the industrial facilities that will be constructed around the port. An important part of the facilities will be assembly plants, where parts are imported, assembled and then exported as finished products. “Many foreign companies come here to establish business”, states Nilsen and mentions Renault’s new car factory as an ex-

ample. “There are great advantages, not least fiscal, to engaging in commercial activity here”, he continues. And there is no lack of cheap labour.

“The city grows continuously. In 1960, Tangier had a population of 150,000, now the number is close to 1.5 million. Wages are of course much lower than in Europe.” So it is a matter of intensifying competition, but also, stresses Ragnvald Nilsen, supplementary services. One could choose to see the development of new capacity as an opportunity for the ports in the area to relieve each other when the next upswing comes with growing pressure on suppliers. “Furthermore, Algeciras now has another large operator – Hanjin – so traffic in Algeciras may still continue to grow”, states Nilsen. With some luck and skill, the development could also lead to better cooperation between the ports Next Page in the region, Nilsen hopes. Then enough business Algeciras: could be created to make everyone happy. One’s gain – “In any case, it will lead to better service for cusanother’s loss tomers.”

Concern for the future is great in Algeciras. “In this situation we are at the mercy of external powers”, says José M Ortega from the ITF. ith Danish giant A P Møller-Mærsk Group’s investment in its own terminal in 2000, the Port of Algeciras in Spain – El Puerto Bahia de Algeciras – grew substantially. Recently, the South Korean shipping company Hanjin also made a great investment in the port. On April 27 this year the very first container from Southeast Asia was unloaded, from the Cosco ship Hanjin Casablanca, at Hanjin’s new terminal. Today, Hanjin serves 5–6 Asian transport companies. Maersk’s absolute dominance is thereby broken and Hanjin has seized around one-fifth of the TEU total. Yet the port is marked by concern. “Container handling has gone down by 18–20 per cent and bunker sales by almost as much”, says José M Ortega, who is the

coordinator of the Spanish branch of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which has its office in the port. “Passenger traffic has, however, not decreased”, he states but also adds that the significance of the container traffic is hard to exaggerate.

“Mainly, Algeciras is a transshipment port for feeder traffic. Containers unloaded here are shipped around the Mediterranean and up over Europe”, he says. The city of Algeciras has a population of around 113,000 and most activities centre around the shipping industry. The city has the second largest port in the Mediterranean (Italian Genoa is the largest). From here there are ferry services to Tangier in Morocco as

»Activity here has decreased in correlation with the growth rate of the competition from the new port Tanger-Med« well as to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the other side of the Strait. Each year 90,000 ships pass through the densely trafficked Strait of Gibraltar – the passage between the southernmost tip of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco on the African continent. Until only a few years ago, the port of Algeciras was booming. In 2008, the port became the seventh largest port in Europe and number 32 in the world ranking, with a volume of 3,324,310 TEUs. The port all-time-high is of 72 million tons of handled goods in one year.

Today the situation is different. Part of the reason is the global economic crisis, but this is not the only explanation.

According to José M Ortega, an important reason is that an increasing amount of business has been moved to Morocco. “Activity here has decreased in correlation with the growth rate of the competition from the new port Tanger-Med”, he states. Today, it is uncertain whether the port volumes will grow according to plan. The union does not believe so.

The A P Møller-Mærsk Group is the decidedly largest operator and the Group’s decisions shape the future of the port. According to a ten-year agreement between Maersk and the union La Coordinadora, Maersk will handle at least three million containers per year in the port of Algeciras during the period 2008–2017. La Coordinadora, however, says that increasingly more jobs are disappearing to the newly built great ports of Morocco. According to the union, Maersk has made the demand that the total costs of the Port of Next Page Algeciras should be reduced by 20 per cent. Gibraltar: José M Ortega agrees that the situation is grave: No resting “We must be optimistic, but in this situation we on laurels at the mercy of external powers.”

â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;As the activity in TangerMed increases, the ports of southern Spain lose market shares. Maersk is turning to Morocco. â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;If the macaques leave Gibraltar, the Brits will also leave, legend claims.

â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;The Rock of Gibraltar, where the macaques and the maze of tunnels attract hordes of tourists.

Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

The port of Gibraltar markets itself as being “truly a one-stop shop for maritime services”. Now the port will have to count on growing competition. lose by is one of the world’s busiest routes, the deep harbour is well protected and the port has access to state of the art infrastructure. These advantages are clearly visible in the figures. Gibraltar, with its mere 6.5 square kilometres, is one of the Mediterranean’s largest suppliers of bunker, with 4.3 millions tons per year. Added to that, services like crew change, provisions, spare parts and dry-docking with service and repairs for around 7,000 ships every year. The latter dates back to when the dry docks were built, between 1891 and 1906. Even Lord Nelson had his flagship, the Victory, repaired here. The question now is how the development of Tanger-Med will affect the British overseas territory.

While the geographical position is ideal for shipping, the political position is a matter of much controversy. Gibraltar is characterised by great pride, distinctiveness and a strong sense of independence – especially towards the great neighbour Spain. In 1704 Gibraltar was seized by an English and Dutch army. Nine years later, the strategically significant outpost fell under British sovereignty – through the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 – and has since then been turned into a military stronghold. Since then, Gibraltar has been subject to Spanish conquering attempts and a drawn-out blockade.

The great Gibraltar Rock is strewn with long-range cannons and perforated with tunnels and other defence structures, nowadays visited by innumerable tourists.

Spain still claims Gibraltar, but the area remains British territory. Constant talks between London and Madrid are held, but the 30,000 inhabitants have expressed their overwhelming support for being a part of the UK in several referendums. The EU has urged both member states to settle the matter of Gibraltar, but the inhabitants of Gibraltar refuse to become Spanish. This is obvious also in shipping. As late as last December, four Spanish police officers were interrogated after chasing two suspected smugglers on British territory, where there is a military base to boot. The arrest was made when the police officers went ashore near the port of Gibraltar “by mistake” at the same time as the suspected smugglers. The four officers have been released awaiting further interrogation. Today the tourists are the ones invading Gibraltar. Cruise ships succeed one another at the piers. The passengers come to gamble at the casino and see the around 80 monkeys – Barbary macaques – that live on the Rock. The macaques were brought from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa by English soldiers who kept the monkeys as pets. On the Rock, the macaques found the perfect habitat. According to the myth, the day the monkeys leave Gibraltar the Brits will also leave. Winston Churchill is said to have taken this so seriously that he ordered import of further macaques from North Africa when the monkey population was threatened. Gibraltar also has a sizeable ship register, low business taxes, favourable investment conditions, no VAT, no wealth or inheritance tax, no tax on capital income and a minimal regulation of the finance sector. The question is whether this will be enough when TangerMed is completed in a few years’ time.

56 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Report Odd hardware service

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

If a lifeboat launch ramp is manufactured in China or Turkey, it may not be easy to get service and approval for the construction.

Filling in a service gap

How to get annual survey and approval on a hose-crane built by a local Chinese factory? Or get service on a life-raft crane from a Turkish supplier, who hardly speaks three words of English? The answer seems to be Cralog. Danish hydraulic expert Hytek has founded a new company called Cralog, which offers service and training to personnel servicing lifting and launching appliances. “We discovered that there was a gap for service of cranes and lifeboat launching devices from odd manufactures in Turkey and China and minor players in the market who develop specialized equipment but have no intention of going in the aftersales and service market world wide for annual inspections”, says Johnny Hauberg, owner of Hytek A/S.

“Nobody could serve the shipowners with this kind of equipment on board, so we have developed a system where we can service and approve the use of this equipment with governmental approval or approval from several classification societies.” He explains that it was no easy task to set up the whole system with with all kinds of demands from various national flag states.

“We started by building up a database with all the national demands from all states in the world. That means that we can serve all kinds of ships no matter which flag they are sailing under. In this database we have listed the various rules and regulations from a certain flag state and in cooperation with Martec (education centre in Frederikshavn) a scheme has been set up for the proper training of crew members or service suppliers in order to get an approval on the equipment itself and of the crew having the proper training for using the same equipment”, says Johnny Hauberg. The need for an independent ‘authority’ has grown along with the increasing number of new ships being delivered from shipyards in Turkey, China, Bulgaria and other shipbuild-

»There is an un believable amount of different rules and demands in the world«

Johnny Hauberg, owner of Hytek A/S and founder of Cralog.

ing countries in the world. These shipyards have to a great extent their own suppliers in their own countries producing equipment to the local shipbuilding industry. A Chineseproduced hose-crane on the deck of a Chinese-built product tanker is an example of these local products, which cannot be serviced by the ordinary channels. The same goes for the liftraft cranes, lifting appliances for freefall lifeboats and even service cranes for provision and stores are part of this problem.

“It has been a massive workload to set up the programme in order to take care of special demands from all corners of the world. We have in fact used more than twelve months to set up this part of the business”, says Johnny Hauberg. “There is an unbelievable amount of different rules and demands in the world. These things should be standardized, but the fact that they are not is what created our new business”, Johnny Hauberg adds.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 57

Odd hardware service

Report Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

The system is built up around the ships’ IMO number. When a certain ship’s number is entered into the database the computer will immediately create a list with all the rules and regulation for the particular ship and its flag state. Furthermore, the system will create the necessary certificates for the given countries’ authorities.

Cralog’s database and training scheme has been developed in close connection with training centre Martec, which educates engineers, masters and ship assistants (ABs) and this training has been approved by several maritime authorities. The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) has given approval and so have the Swedish Maritime Authorities, the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Faroese Skipaeftirlitið, the Russian Register of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas and Lloyd’s Register. “This number of authorities cover the majority of the ships sailing in our waters”, says Johnny Hauberg. “We decided to work from our domestic market in Denmark, but there is no problem working in other countries

and other parts of the world if a costumer needs our services”, he adds.

The training facility at Martec offers hands-on training with cranes, davits and boats of many makes and models, giving the personnel practical experience in actual launching of the equipment. Johnny Hauberg: “Owners give us the information about their vessels

MOB-boat crane on the Alice Theresa built in Nantong, China.

and equipment, which we enter into the system. Once there, it is available for all service suppliers, wherever they are in the world, and they come every year for every type of equipment, typically from 5 different makers.” The first course has been launched with participants from Norway, Sweden, Spain, Denmark and Faeroe Islands and more courses are scheduled.

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58 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Report Ro-flex

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

During the keel laying of newbuilding 744 a 180 t hull section was placed at the building berth in the covered dock of Flensburger shipyard.

First Bore ro-flex keel laid

Operational costs and green values are in focus in the construction of Bore’s newbuildings from Flensburger. The keel of the first of two large roro vessels for the Finnish shipping company Bore was laid at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG in Flensburg, Germany on November 8, 2010. The design of the newbuildings, assigned the numbers 744 and 745 by the shipyard, is based upon the shipyard’s ConRo 220-type, but Bore wanted some alternations to the design.

Before the order was signed in 1997 Bore had also been negotiating with Chinese shipyards, which however were unwilling to modify their standard designs to the demands of the owner. Flensburger was more flexible and in cooperation with Bore, a new variant of the design emerged, called ro-flex. Jhonny Husell, Executive Vice

President, Commercial, at Bore, stresses that Bore wanted to focus at the operational costs as well as the impact on the environment when the vessels were designed. “The hull is similar to that of a series of ro-ro vessels being built for Cobelfret by the same shipyard. Except for the upgrade of the design to ice class 1A, perhaps the most important alteration made by us is the installation of a 12,000 kW common rail main engine from Wärtsilä.”

»The most important alteration is the installation of a 12,000 kW common rail main engine from Wärtsilä«

Jhonny Husell, Executive Vice President, Commercial, at Bore.

The common rail technology allows combustion and other process parameters to be adjusted for lower

load ranges, reducing smoke emissions. “The main engine may be operated in an optimal way in a range between 20 and 100 per cent MCR, making ship operations much more flexible and reducing emissions”, Jhonny Husell explains.

“We increased the diameter of the propeller from 4.8 to 5.8 metres and reduced the number of revolutions to 106 rpm. In addition to a costa bulb rudder with twisted edge and other details these are measures to reduce the bunker consumption and thus improve the operational economy of the vessel. Reduced bunker consumption is of course also positive for the vessels’ impact on the environment”, Jhonny Husell stresses.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 59

Ro-flex

Report Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Top left: Bore CEO Thomas Franck. Top right: A hull section for newbuilding 744. Above left: Peter Sierk, CEO of Flensburger shipyard. Above right: Bore’s site team at the shipyard; Chief Engineer Rolf Rask, Site Manager Stig Dahlén and Captain Torsten Nordqvist. Also future ECA-restrictions have been taken into consideration in the newbuildings as there are spaces allocated for future installations of Exhaust Gas (SOx) Cleaning Systems (EGCS).

»The vessels will be able to operate on low-sulphur fuel and we are looking at solutions for scrubbers too«

“The vessels will be able to operate on low-sulphur fuel and we are looking at different solutions for

scrubbers too. For the moment we are mainly interested in a dry scrubber solution, an Integrated Dry-EGCS plant.”

The cargo handling concept will include a lot of built-in flexibility. The lower hold has a free height of 7 metres and on main deck it is 7.4 metres. Both main deck and the lower hold will be equipped with additional car decks for car shipments. With the pontoon car deck in use in the lower hold, the free height beneath it is still 4.6 metres, which is sufficient for

60 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Report Ro-flex Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

»This will eventually lead to a situation where the fittest will survive and the mileage will be the element of competition in the future« loading for example trailers. On main deck there will be hoistable car decks in two levels, further increasing the possibilities for different mixes of cargo. The total cargo capacity on the vessels’ three decks will be 2,863 lane metres. Access to main deck is provided by a full-wide stern ramp. The cargo is moved between the decks by internal ramps.

CEO Thomas Franck of Bore thinks that ro-flex is a concept of the future.

The decks are dimensioned for carrying many different types of units, such as road trailers, Mafi trailers and Secu-boxes. The upper deck is strengthened for lo-lo handling of containers. The aft part of the upper deck is sheltered under the superstructure.

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No 6 2010 Shipgaz 61

Ro-flex

Report

Illustration: Bore

FOR DIESEL ENGINE MAINTENANCE

The design of the two Bore-vessels is based upon the shipyard’s ConRo 220 type. On the forecastle there is a flume tank integrated in the breakwater. The owner already has a team of three persons surveying the building process, consisting of Site Manager Stig Dahlén as well as Captain Torsten Nordqvist and Chief Engineer Rolf Rask, both to be employed on the second vessel.

“The work is exactly on schedule, launching will to take place on February 11, 2011, and delivery on April 29, 2011. The yard is highly efficient and professional”, Stig Dahlén says. Peter Sierk, Chief Executive Officer of Flensburger, informs that the building process of a vessel like this is divided into three stages at the shipyard: Three months of steel cutting and manufacturing of sections prior to keel laying, three months on the building berth and finally three months at the outfitting quay. “When the keel is laid, about 70 per cent of the sections are already manufactured”, he says.

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In his speech at the keel-laying ceremony Bore’s CEO Thomas Franck said that the sea transport market is still under pressure and has overcapacity: “This will eventually lead to a situation where the fittest will survive and the mileage will be the element of competition in the future. Increasing environmental requirements – emissions to air and water must be reduced – and energy efficiency is high on the agenda for the coming years. To meet these new demands new and competitive technologies are needed and in the ro-ro sector this ro-flex type will lead the way.”

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62 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Report Near Miss Reporting

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Near Miss Observation Cards on board the Mærsk Fetcher, one of 55 vessels in the Maersk Supply Service fleet.

Successful near miss reporting The system for near miss reporting was so successful that the Maersk Supply Service office was flooded with reports. Maersk Supply Service has launched a new Safety Observation Card on board its entire fleet of offshore vessels. The Safety Observation Card (SOC) is a development of safety standards that have been in force in the supply fleet over the last years. The SOC is developed from the old system, called Near Miss Observation Card, which was introduced in 2005.

ple in the office in Copenhagen. In the Streamline process (cutting costs in the entire Maersk Group) we have made a new system, which hopefully will settle most of the everyday risk observations at the ordinary safety meeting amongst the crew on board”, says Carsten Plougmann Andersen.

»The entire fleet submitted 1,492 near miss reports in 2008 or double the amount from 2007«

“We must admit that the Near Miss Observation Card has been an overwhelming success in our fleet”, says Carsten Plougmann Andersen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service. “In fact so successful that the entire fleet submitted 1,492 near miss reports in 2008 or double the amount from 2007. That is really great, but it left a heavy workload for some peo-

Time Accidents at as a low level as possible”, says Carsten Plougmann Andersen. The new system with the SOC still opens for the possibility to report to headquarters if the safety risk/observation could be of broader interest for the rest of the fleet of supply vessels. The new system also gives the ship management greater freedom to take local action with a specific problem, and its local solution on board can be added to the Vessel Safety Action Plan.

The new system was introduced Carsten Ploug mann Andersen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service.

“It could be seen as a way of minimizing the interest for the common safety of our crew, but that is not the case at all. On the contrary, we are going to maintain a very high standard with Near Misses and Lost

in Maersk Supply Service’s Canadian fleet at first and have been spread gradually to the rest of the fleet of 55 units in service in the North Sea, Brazil, West Africa, Australia and Indonesia.

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64 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Report New information centre

By Fredrik Davidsson fredrik@shipgaz.com

Observing the North Atlantic

Norway inaugurates a North Atlantic Information Management Centre to better target specific vessels and shorten response time in emergencies. The new centre in Haugesund will formation we know if there are ships The North »The most imporgather and share AIS information close to the vessel in distress. This is Atlantic Infortant thing is that we mation Manage- very important. You know, the North with the EU and EES member states around the North Atlantic, Denmark, can shorten the reAtlantic, that is where the Titanic ment Centre is the Faeroe Islands, Greenland, Island, and back then nobody knew if part of the Eurosponse time when pean Maritime sank Norway and Great Britain. there were any vessels nearby.” a vessel has an The new information management Safety Agency’s “As a coastal and maritime nation emergency« centre is not the first technical or or(EMSA) system Norway takes responsibility for mariganisational improvement since the SafeSeaNet, time safety and civilian surveillance of the ocean going traffic. Sharing knowledge with our European neighbours enhances the positive effect. It is natural for the Norwegian Costal Administration, with our competence, to perform such a task. Therefore we are very pleased to have been chosen as hosts for this centre”, says Director General Kirsti L Slotsvik. “In the future we hope Canada will join this cooperation, because they are members of the Paris MoU and we could use information on certain vessels as early warnings for port state controls”, says Jon Leon Ervik, regional manager for the Norwegian Costal Administration’s region West.

ais All passenger ships, cargo vessels over 300 BT and all fishing vessels over 45 metres must have AIS on board. Land based AIS receivers can reach about 40 nautical miles off the coast.

which monitors vessel movements in EU waters for multiple reasons.

“Most vessels cross the oceans without any accidents or unlawful behaviour. With better surveillance and information sharing between states we can focus our attention and lessen our work load by not spending time on vessels with good performance”, says Jon Leon Ervik, who stresses that the main objective of the information sharing is something completely different. “The most important thing is that we can shorten the response time when a vessel has an emergency. With the gathered and shared AIS in-

days of te Titanic, even concerning the North Atlantic, but anyone who thinks this vast area has been closely monitored by civilian authorities should think otherwise. “On the contrary, it has not been very well monitored.”

To improve this situation the Norwegians launched a satellite from India this summer. “This satellite picks up AIS information far out in the open ocean where land based AIS systems cannot reach. The satellite began sending information as soon as it went into orbit, but we are still in a test phase. So far, the results are very uplifting”,

Photo: the Norwegian costal administration

Regional manager John Erik Hagen and General Director Kirsti L Slotsvik performed the inauguration.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 65

New information centre

Report

The satellite is still in a test phase but the information management centre and the information sharing between nations is up and running. Hopefully both systems will not only benefit government agencies and ships in distress but also crews and shipowners alike.

Photo: Kongsberg Satellite

says Jon Leon Ervik, who thinks the test period will be finished sometime in the spring and the operational phase will take over. “The satellite circles around the earth in a polar orbit that takes 90 minutes. This means every 90 minutes we have live AIS coverage of the North Atlantic via our station at Svalbard. Over the South pole and Antarctica we have AIS coverage with a 45 minute delay, because AIS information over that area is saved in the satellite and transmitted when it passes the station at Svalbard. This might be very important when there are more and more vessel, cruise vessels and other, going to Antarctica.” The satellite, called AISSat-1, is a nano satellite. It measures 20 x 20 x 20 centimetres. It orbits the earth at an altitude of 600 kilometres. “Hopefully we can get a more efficient and quicker communication between ship and agencies ashore. We do not need to give the nautical crew more paper work. And once again, which is the most important, we can react quicker in case of an emergency.” Once the satellite based AIS system is fully operational the better cover-

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age of the ocean will benefit shipowners and operators as well. “They can get live AIS information and know exactly where there ships are at all times. Especially if we in the future can send up more satellites, which there are plans for. But that lies in the future”, says Jon Leon Ervik.

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66 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Bob Couttie, bob@shipgaz.com

Spotlight Safety

Piracy: Unacceptable answers to an insoluble problem sources. Neutralise the head of state and piracy went away. That is what makes it so difficult to eradicate piracy off Somalia or even in South East Asia – there is no single centre of power to be eradicated. It is, as TE Lawrence might have said of it, like eating soup with a fork. Nevertheless, Uganda has recently suggested that the African Union’s AMISOM occupy Somalia and blockade its pirate-held ports. With just 7,500 soldiers available to occupy a country the size of Somalia, one can only echo one security specialist who muttered “I wish them good luck with that”.

Safety: Bob Couttie Bob Couttie is the adminstrator of Maritime Accident Casebook. His background in radio, TV and film as well as reporting for several renowned maritime publications gives him a multidisciplinary approach to maritime safety issues. o -one has yet suggested carpet-bombing Hobyo, fire-storming Mogadishu or converting Eyl into a blackened radioactive wasteland. But it can only be a matter of time before the would-be Glenn Becks in the maritime industry drag out chalkboards to demonstrate how such unacceptable solutions make sense and why rational solutions will not prosper.

one such unacceptable solution for the West is to simply withdraw support for the Somali Transitional Federal Government, some members of whom are believed to benefit from piracy, and allow the radical Islamists to take over Somalia. The only times when piracy figures have fallen significantly is when Islamist forces have held areas notorious as pirate havens. That is a not a politically

»Should we ask seafarers to put their lives on the line for a few tonnes of sugar, or oil, or plywood? or dollars?« The SoMaLI hoTBeD According to a recent report by International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Somali pirates were responsible for 44 per cent of the 289 piracy incidents on the world’s seas in the first nine months of 2010.

palatable solution and may not be a wise one. More time has been spent typing ‘US marines’ and ‘Barbary pirates’ in the past decade than in the previous century and a half to promote the idea of a ‘shock and awe’ response. In fact, the Barbary pirates were not finally put out of business until the French colonised Algiers in the nineteenth century.

In those splendid days piracy was governed by the equivalent of a head of state and had a strategic economic function in states with few or no rePhoto: SWediSh Navy

Swedish military embarking on an EU Navfor mission.

Let’s add some context: piracy is not the most serious threat to seafarers’ lives. That dubious honour is held almost certainly by confined or enclosed spaces, which cost 10 to 15 times as many seafarers lives every year yet seem not to warrant the outcry, the demands, the protests that piracy does. One can immediately hear the plaint: “But you cannot compare confined and enclosed space accidents with the scourge of piracy”. Why not? People die in confined spaces because risks have not be properly assessed nor hazards mitigated, inadequate personal protective equipment, procedures not followed and lack of management commitment to safety. Collisions and groundings most often occur because of lack of lookouts, inadequate use of electronic equipment and undermanning on the bridge as well as failures to act early, unambiguously and vigorously to a developing situation. Lack of training, drills and familiarity make up a large bulk of root causes of accidents. Those same root causes apply in many cases of successful hijacking of ships by pirates today. Preparations are not made, seafarers not drilled, procedures, in the shape of Best Management Practices, are not followed. Indeed, comparing ships successfully hijacked with the results of Port State Control inspections may well

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 67

Safety

Spotlight Photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason R. Zalasky

produce some uncomfortable comparisons. One suspects that a study of the safety culture aboard many ships prior to hijacking would come to the conclusion that it has not been well developed.

Handling firearms without killing oneself or one’s fellow crewmates requires the highest level of safetyawareness. Anyone familiar with maritime accidents can only conclude that such a level of safety awareness is a rare commodity aboard ships. To judge by the maritime casualty record the result of arming seafarers will be that more seafarers die in accidental shootings than die at the hands of pirates. Remember, too, that when it comes to guns, if you can shoot your enemy he can also shoot you. And being under fire is somewhat different to popping off a few rounds on a shooting range at a target that does not shoot back. Then, of course, there are the ethical, and liability, considerations of ordering a seafarer into a greater way of danger. A live hostage will go home sooner or later, dead people stay dead.

Should we ask seafarers to put their lives on the line for a few tonnes of sugar, or oil, or plywood? Or dollars? Even with armed guards aboard the ship, armed response may not be holistically beneficial nor have a useful deterrent effect. It may simply drive pirates away from one attack but leave them with the resources to carry out another. It may be akin to driving cockroaches out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Single-point non-lethal weaponry, such as Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) and its variants, has yet to really prove its usefulness in the maritime domain and unless part of an over-all strategy is likely to be less effective than, say, dropping 55 gallon waterfilled drums on the pirate skiffs.

A benefit of the citadel system, and Best Management Practices generally, is that pirates are required to expend their resources, including time, which they can ill afford. Pirates leaving a citadel-defended ship are at greater risk of being captured by naval forces and have less where-

A suspected pirate skiff burns after being destroyed by the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland.

»Piracy is no more going to disappear than the Mafia, Columbian drug lords or politicians’ broken promises« withal to conduct another attack. In other words it is a holistic solution that goes beyond the defence of a single ship. The maritime industry itself must learn to be more pro-active than it has been in the past. When I first met Eric Ellen, founder of the International Maritime Bureau in the late 1980s, he was angry at the secrecy with which the industry shrouded piracy. Later, piracy was referred to as “The maritime industry’s dirty little secret”. In that darkness pirates prospered like cockroaches in a wet sewer. In a sense, the industry was complicit in promoting piracy through silence. It is now paying the price for that complicity, so are seafarers.

The brutal fact is that piracy is no more going to disappear than the Mafia, Columbian drug lords or politicians’ broken promises. Pirates, like the poor, will always be with us. The two are linked. Take a coastal community with little or no opportunity to feed itself and piracy will result. So where do we go from here? Short term solutions will not prosper. No single-point approach will prosper. More out of the box thinking is needed.

Far from home Somali pirates are intensifying attacks away from their own coast. The first report on a Somali hijacking in the Red Sea came in July, 2010, when Somali pirates hijacked a chemical tanker in the southern part of the Red Sea, reports IMB.

The greatest threat to seafarers off Somalia is not loss of life but the trauma that arises from being a hostage. Many former hostages have left the industry forever, a loss the industry cannot afford. Effective anti-piracy drills and training, and proper use of a citadel system, may indeed prevent a vessel being seized but attention must be given in anti-piracy training in how to be a hostage. It must inculcate the message that, regardless of the pirate’s threats and intimidation, the seafarer can be secure in the knowledge that he, or she, will be going home to his family and back to his life.

The industry must also take on board counselling for freed hostages and support initiatives to provide counselling. This will reduce the numbers of seafarers leaving the industry at a time when manpower and especially trained and experienced manpower, is needed, mitigating one of the hidden costs of piracy. It is worth remembering that, other than the warlord recruiting children to piracy, a major factor in the development of piracy were toxic waste dumping and illicit factory fishing. Appeals to the West to reign in this destruction of one of the few Somalian resources have been firmly ignored. The Somali complaint that the allied warships are there to defend those who are poisoning the country’s waters and denying its fishermen the ability to fish is not without foundation.



68 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Spotlight Safety

The Philippines, a hotbed of piracy since times immemorial and with waters still rife with pirates, and Indonesia, which also has a long and continuing history of piracy are hired without a qualm. Why not Somalis? The five young Somali men found guilty of piracy in a Virginia Court were promised at most USD 40,000 for a successful hijacking. A comfortable but not enormous sum for undergoing the hazards of the sea as well as death or imprisonment if caught.

Photo: US Navy / MaSS CoMM. 2Nd ClaSS Ja’loN a. RhiNehaRt

EU Navfor and Nato’s Operation Ocean Shield might perform a more effective anti-piracy function by arresting toxic waste dumpers and illegal fisherman than sinking fibreglass skiffs and catching pirates. As it happens there is a quiet, and somewhat off the wall, movement to train Somalis as seafarers. Indeed, a small number of former Somali pirates have been trained and are working as merchant mariners and happily supporting their families without the risk of getting shot. Certainly problems remain to be overcome but surely the industry has enough bright minds to address them.

US Coast Guard boarding a skiff suspected of participating in pirate activity. The chance of a regular wage may very well be a worthwhile carrot to dangle. At the very least it will shrink the pool of pirate manpower and reduce individual Somali’s exploitation by and dependence on, the notorious warlords.

»The company got its vessel back but did something more: it oﬀered jobs to some of the pirates«

Then there is the issue of child pirates, recruited by warlords often despite parents’ attempts to avoid it. As with child soldiers, the United

Nations wants to see them rehabilitated and returned to their communities rather than imprisoned with adults. These kids do not need prison and punishment. They need education, skills, discipline and those two rare privileges in that benighted country: hope and opportunity. Maritime vocational schools for such youngsters as part of the rehabilitation process would certainly have a more positive impact on the fight against piracy, and the maritime manning pool, than imprisonment.

Let me leave you with an intriguing, true, untold story: An enterprising shipowner’s vessel was taken by pirates off Somalia. The company got its vessel back but did something more: it offered jobs to some of the pirates and sent them for training, thus resolving part of its manning problem, reducing – if only by a small amount – the pool of pirates available to Somali warlords and reducing the chances of its own vessels being taken by pirates in the future. It was certainly more productive than eating soup with a fork.

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70 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Technical Review Photo: ulstein power & control

Photo: TTS ports equipment

TTS linkspan to Port of Ystad Equipment A new order for a purposebuilt mechanical linkspan at the port of Ystad (southern Sweden) has been taken by TTS Port Equipment AB. The linkspan will facilitate the ferry company Bornholmstrafikken’s catamaran traffic between Ystad and Rønne. To accommodate the higher freeboard common to catamarans, the linkspan will be set at a higher level than for other traffic. The catamaran Villum Clausen, will be using the new linkspan together with a new vessel ordered from Austal Yard in Australia, scheduled for delivery in 2011 and designed to carry 1,400 passengers and 357 cars.

Full approval for bearing monitoring Monitoring The AMOT XTS-W+ is the

first bearing wear monitor to gain approval from MAN Diesel & Turbo and Germanischer Lloyd after completion of extensive trials on the Hapag-Lloyd vessel Hanover Express. The approval will allow ship owners to apply for Survey Arrangement Condition Monitoring (SACM) if an XTS-W+ is installed and there is a reassurance that the bearings are in good condition. Eliminating unnecessary open-up inspections of the cranktrain bearings represents huge operating cost savings, since such inspections are a major cause of premature bearing failure, resulting from mis-assembly, ingress of dirt or even physical damage. MAN Diesel & Turbo does not recommend unnecessary opening up of the crank train bearings on its 2-stroke low speed engines. The XTS-W+ has an additional bearing damage algorithm that quickly indicates short term changes, fully automatic calibration and fully integrated water-in-oil (WIO) and shaft line earth monitoring (SLEM).

Modular bridge and control room consoles Equipment To facilitate easier and more cost-effective installation of bridge and machine room consoles, Ulstein Power & Control (UPC) has developed a modular console system which can be transported safely through existing doorways at any phase of the build process.

The new modular console systems create improved production and installation processes, a safer and more efficient work environment and helps avoid damage to sensitive equipment during installation. And because the consoles can be installed at any time during the newbuild process, owners have the flexibility to make upgrades or refinements as necessary, avoiding delays associated with commissioning. According to Gunnar Hide, UPC’s managing director, prototypes of these new modular consoles are scheduled to be installed on board the newbuildings 288 and 289, two platform supply vessels (Ulstein’s PX105 design) currently under construction at Ulstein Verft for Remøy Shipping. “Due to this new functionality, installation is easier, working conditions are improved and the consoles are less exposed to the wear-and-tear often sustained during the newbuilding period”, says Gunnar Hide. Arne Ove Rødstøl, UPC product manager, notes that the modular systems avoid many of the issues associated with the installation of larger units.

“Due to their size, larger units must be installed early in the construction phase, long before final equipment decisions are reached. This often leads to costly modifications at a later stage.” To avoid these risks, UPC worked closely with suppliers to develop consoles that are small enough to fit safely through existing doorways. “We contacted a number of suppliers and informed them that their equipment should meet our size specifications and portability requirements,” says Rødstøl. “Several producers worked to comply with these requirements and the results have been very positive, helping us achieve a better end result”. Rødstøl notes that while the consoles and the equipment are prepared at UPC, the console foundations are installed on board, facilitating preliminary electrical work. “When the consoles are completed, they are hoisted aboard and connected. And because testing can be completed prior to installation, the commissioning phase is much shorter.” For Gunnar Hide, the project represents Ulstein’s approach to innovation. “By thinking in a different way and working in partnership with our suppliers, we have gained a highly satisfactory end result which takes some of the risk out of shipbuilding”, he says. “It is a relatively simple concept, but one which will have a big impact.”

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 71

Technical Review Photo: Rolls-royce

Photo: MultiDocker ab

Wavepiercing Rolls Royce

Electrified efficiency in Swedish cranes Equipment MultiDocker Cargo Handling AB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Österströms Shipping AB, has developed an electrically powered material handler, the MultiDocker E-power, which provides lower energy costs, shorter service time and lower service cost compared to the traditional diesel powered machine. The E-power machine is based on the company’s CH65 (based on a CAT 365 excavator). It has been developed in close cooperation with Caterpillar engineers from Gosselie, Belgium, and Swedish hydraulics and crane consultancy Svenska Lyft. Caterpillar played a major part in integrating the existing CAT software and systems, while Svenska Lyft advised on how to practically convert the machine and also source and select the suitable components. The target

has been to maintain the same feel and performance as in previous diesel powered machines, by using the Caterpillar hydraulic system and benefit from continuous improvements and developments that CAT puts into their machines and parts, as well as the service and spare parts network that CAT offers. To maintain the same effective output in the E-Power as in diesel powered machines an engine that allows for RPM adjustment was chosen and therefore a frequency converter was needed. This was done in order to give the driver the ability to run on low RPM and warm up the engine even in very cold weather condition, and also so that the speed of the machine could be set through the RPM control.

design The first vessel of the new UT 754 WP wavepiercing PSV design from Rolls-Royce, has been ordered by Farstad. The bow design is described by the company as ‘visually striking’. It aims to provide similar advantages to the now-familiar X-bow from Ulstein. Rolls-Royce claims it offers certain benefits to shipowners. The major ‘plus’ point, according to the company, is that it will enable the vessel to pierce through waves in extreme weather conditions, while maintaining constant speed, reducing fuel consumption and enhancing safety. Wave-piercing technology is proven technology for high-speed catamarans and trimarans.

The contract includes vessel design and a comprehensive integrated power and propulsion system and equipment package for the advanced platform supply vessel (PSV). The contract also includes an option for a second vessel of the same specification and value. “Our wave-piercing designs have been specifically developed for the challenging offshore conditions in which our customers operate, and will deliver enhanced safety and performance benefits”, says Svein Kleven, Rolls-Royce, chief design manager – ship technology.

Our strength – your benefit Please visit us at: www.kockumsonics.com, www.polarmarine.se, www.texon.se

72 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Fleet Review 2

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: Lars Staal

Photo: MSC

MSC giant named Naming With a capacity of 13,800 TEU, the recently delivered container vessel MSC Emanuela is one of the largest of her kind in the world. The 366 metres long vessel was named at a ceremony at MSC Home Terminal in Antwerp on October 30, 2010. The sponsor Emanuela Borniotto is the daughter of Enrico Borniotto, CEO of MSC Group’s catering subsidiary MSC Italcatering SpA.

The MSC Emanuela was built in Korea and handed over by Samsung Heavy Industries to MSC in September 2010. MSC has during the last years received several large container vessels from the Korean shipyards Samsung and Daewoo, starting with the MSC Daniela in December 2008. After the completion of the deepening of River Schelde at the end of this year, the accessibility of the port will be further improved, enabling the very largest vessels to call at Antwerp in full safety. Along with MSC, also Cosco and Hanjin Shipping call the port of Antwerp with ultra-large container ships of 10,000 TEU or more.

Coasters bound for Haiti Sale The former Danish coaster Katrine Krog is now under way from a lay-up berth at Marstal bound for Haiti in the Caribbean for further trading. The 1969-built vessel will be followed by the sister ship Nortic, which has been laid up at Marstal since C J Helt & Co filed for bankruptcy in October 2009.

The Katrine Krog was privately owned by Captain Helge Pedersen, who in May 2009 chose to abandon the vessel after he had been abandoned by his bank. They shut down his line of credit and in the aftermath of the world-wide finance crisis from September 2008 there was no way of continuing to run the 1,100-DWT coaster. The Katrine Krog was delivered in July 1969 from Frederikshavn Værft & Tørdok as one in

a series of 30 ships. It was named Merc Pacific and built for the Mercandia Group. In 1974 it was sold to Norway and became the Wingsea, later Cimbria, Linhav, Sabine and Stina before being sold back to Denmark and renamed Conto. Captain Helge Pedersen took over the coaster in 2002 when it was renamed Katrine Krog. The Nortic was delivered in August 1969 as Stefanie and had that name until sold to Sweden in 1976. Under Swedish flag the ship was named Dinah. In 1985 it was sold back to Denmark and became Finla. That name was held until December 1996, when it became Supidana. The latest name change was in April 2008, when the ship was taken over by C J Helt & Co and was renamed Nortic.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 73

Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Photo fleet review

1. Finnhawk is one of the vessels on Finnlines’ new service Hull–Helsinki–St Petersburg. 2. Electra and two other car carriers have been reflagged to Singapore. The intention of the owner Wallenius is to reflag a total of seven vessels this autumn. 3. Hanse Confidence, a 956-TEU container ship, is trading on Maersk’s new container service Gdansk–Helsinki–Kotka. 4. Norilsk, the lead vessels of the Arctic SA-15 class, has been sold for recycling. She was delivered to the USSR by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard in 1982.

Photo: Foss Maritime Company

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Hybrid tug gets a sister

Last big one from Odense Newbuilding It was a sunny but sad day in the end of October 2010, when the very last large newbuilding (#232) from Odense Steel Shipyard left the quay at Munkebo in Odense Fjord for sea trials. The Heroic, last in a series of six capesize bulk carriers built for two Greek companies, is on 182,000 DWT and 93,300 GT and is capable of carrying 193,000 cbm in the holds. It is powered by a MAN-Diesel type 6S70MC-

C, which develops 18,660 kW to 15 knots service speed. The bulker series is built for transporting iron ore, coal and similar commodities. The first vessel in the series, the Aquamarine, has only had twelve port calls since delivery in July 2009. The price tag for the Heroic is USD 100 million. Odense Steel Shipyard still has six ships to deliver, three ro-ros and three frigates for the Danish Navy.

Stolt Tankers expands its fleet Acquisition Stolt Tankers has acquired seven parcel tankers from different owners for a total of USD 255 million. Two of them were bought from Odfjell and three from an

undisclosed buyer. In addition to that Stolt Tankers exercised its purchase options under the existing time charters to acquire the Stolt Glory and Stolt Strength.

Retrofit The world’s first hybrid tug Carolyn Dorothy, operated by the Seattlebased Foss Maritime Company in the port of Long Beach, has turned out to be even greener than initially estimated. A side-by-side comparison of two of the company’s tugs of the Dolphin-type revealed emissions reductions of 73 per cent less particulate matter, 51 per cent less NOx and 27 per cent less CO2. Foss has now decided to retrofit the sister vessel Campbell Foss with hybrid technology.

Foss’ hybrid technology uses a combination of batteries, generators and main engines. The power management system turns on the diesel engines when needed or shuts them down when not needed. Between the diesels and the Rolls Royce azimuthing stern drives there are electric motors that can bring the total power into the range of the conventional sisters. The tug can also be operated on the electric motors alone, appropriate when power needs are low. The batteries may be recharged by the ship’s own generators or using shore power.

74 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Fleet Review Photo: Norilsk Nickel

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Another Danish coaster sold Sale In mid November, the 1,280-DWT coaster Adriane lowered the Danish flag and hoisted the flag of Moldovia. The coaster had been laid up for one and a half year in Svendborg as its certificates ran out in April 2009. The ship is now sold to a Jordanian citizen living in Dubai and registered to Island Flag Shipping in Dubai. The Adriane will shortly change name to Tamara and sail for Alexandria in Egypt.

“We are going to the owner’s shipyard in Alexandria, where the ship will be converted to a livestock carrier for working in the Arabian Gulf”, the ship’s Romanian Captain Romario explains. He continues telling about the bad maintained ship, which was laid up without draining of the pipes for cooling water, freshwater and the turbo charger. Now they have to be replaced because of a large number of cracks in the pipes, caused by the frosty winter earlier this year. The Adriane started its career under Danish flag in October 1990, when it was purchased by a partownership in Marstal and given the name Cito. In 1997 it was sold to the present owners, a group of Danish investors and Lithuanian businessmen, and has been dedicated to a regular trade with sphagnum from Klaipeda to Scandinavian ports. Originally the Adriane was built in Erlenbach and delivered on December 30, 1969, as the Adriane for German account. The vessel was purpose-built for river trading with low air draft and collapsible masts. At the time of selling the Adriane had Thisted in the Limfjord as port of registry. Thisted have a long tradition of commercial shipping, but the Adriane will probably be the last cargo vessel to fly the colours of Thisted. The lay-up berths in Svendborg still have the trio Dantic, Skantic and Lis Weber from the former C J Helt & Co-fleet moored, awaiting the legal machinery to grind.

Sailed through the Northern Sea Route Achievement The 18,339-DWT icebreaking Arctic container vessel Monchegorsk has returned from a successful commercial test voyage from Murmansk to the Far East via the Northern Sea Route. The Russianflagged vessel left Murmansk on September 16, 2010, for Shanghai via the Siberian port of Dudinka and Busan, South Korea. The vessel is owned by Russia’s largest metal and mining company MMC Norilsk Nickel and she is the first of the company’s vessels to sail through the eastern part of the Northern Sea Route without icebreaker assistance.

According to Norilsk Nickel this is the shortest route for shipping the company’s products to consumers in the Far East. It took seven days for the Monchegorsk to sail the 2,240 nautical miles distance from Cape Dezhnev to Dudinka. The total length of the round trip Dudinka–Providence Bay–Busang–Shanghai–Nakhodka–Dudinka was 11,320 miles. The total duration was 58 days, of which 41 days at sea, giving an average speed of 11.5 knots. The distance from Dudinka to Shanghai and back to Dudinka via the Suez Channel is 24,100 miles. The total distance covered by the

Monchegorsk along the Northern Sea Route was 5,162 miles, including 2,617 miles in ice. The total duration of the Northern Sea Route-leg was 15.7 days with an average speed of 13.7 knots. “For us, this was an invaluable experience, which we will use in the future in the planning of our transport operations. It proves the effectiveness of the decision to explore the Northern Sea Route as a short transit route connecting Europe and SouthEast Asia”, said Sergey Buzov, Deputy General Director and Head of Transport and Logistics unit of MMC Morilsk Nickel. Built in 2008, the Monchegorsk is of a type designed by Aker Arctic in Finland. The prototype Norilskiy Nickel was built by Aker Yards Helsinki Shipyard in 2006, while the order for the following vessels was placed at Aker Yards in Germany. They apply Aker Arctic’s Double Acting Ship (DAS)-concept, where the ship moves stern first in difficult ice conditions. The machinery is diesel-electric and propulsion is provided by a 13,000 kW Azipod unit. Today Norilsk Nickel owns five vessels of this type. A sixth vessel will be introduced in 2011.

Tärntank tanker reflagged New flag Tärntank Rederi AB has transferred one of its Norwegian flagged ships, the Tarnbris, to Danish flag (DIS). Its new port of registry is Skagen. Next spring, the company sister Tarnsjo will follow. “We move the ships because the Norwegian flag has changed its conditions and

that will make it 40 per cent more expensive to have our Polish crew members on board. We want to keep our very good employees”, says Olle Kristensson, Tärntank Rederi AB. Tarnbris, 10,000 dwt, is the latest addition to the Tärntank-fleet. It was delivered in 2007 from Selah Shipyard in Tuzla.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 75

Fleet Review Photo: STX

First of five icebreaking tugs from STX Newbuilding The first of five icebreaking tugs for the Kazakhstan-based Caspian Offshore Construction was delivered in August 2010 by the STX Braila shipyard in Romania. The 66 metres long and 16.4 metres wide ship was named Mangystau-1 after her home province. Designed by Aker Arctic in Finland and

designated the type Aker ARC 104, the shallow-draught, icebreaking tug is to be employed with year-round offshore construction in the northern Caspian Sea. Primarily intended for pushing barges in open water and in ice conditions, the icebreaker/tug also has towing equipment aft.

On deck the vessel is able to carry 300 tons of cargo. At the sea trials the bollard pull exceeded the required minimum of 50 tons, which was considered as one of the main challenges in the project due to the draught of only 2.5 metres. The vessel is also capable of breaking 60 cm level ice and clear ice rubble in astern working mode. The ice strengthening of the hull has been designed to comply with the rules of Bureau Veritas. The machinery is diesel-electric, including four Caterpillar 3512 C diesel engines with an output of 1,790 kW each at 1,800 rpm. Propulsion is provided by three Schottel SPR 2020 azimuthing propeller units with an output of 1,600 kW power each. The vessels are designed to work at temperatures down to -35° C. A special feature is an overpressurized indoor area, where the crew can continue to operate the vessel safely even if a Hydrogen Sulphide blow-out would occur. This safe “citadel” can fit 300 persons if an evacuation of the Kashagan oil production units would be necessary. In addition to that there is an air bottle system with breathing air for a crew of 12 and for 10 extra persons in case of an acute emergency.

www.pon-cat.com

Pon Power Scandinavia would like to congratulate Rederi AB Transatlantic in Skärhamn, Sweden and their crew, with their new vessel MV Loke Viking. Pon Power Scandinavia has delivered two MaK 6 M 32 C and two MaK 8 M 32 C engines which gives a total power of 14000 kW as well as two Cat C32 auxiliary engines.

No 6 2010 Shipgaz 77

Fleet Review Newbuilding contracts in the Nordic market Month

Owner

Nat

Dwt

Type

Shipyard

Delivery

Value

Sept

Olympic Shipping

93.8 m

mpsv

Kleven Maritime

1.12

USD 60 m + opt

Olympic Shipping

5,000

psv

STX Aukra

1q12

PSV06 LNG

AtoB@C Shipping

4,000

dry cargo

Bodewes

mid 11

90m, ice-class + option

Ventrafiken

ferry

Hvide Sande Skibs

8.12

SEK 110 m

Bømlo Brønnbåt

62.8 m

fish crr

Aas MV

2.12

1,500 cub

Hundested-Rødvig Færge Den

ferry

Western Marine

2q12

147 pax, 28 cars

50 m

Remarks MT6015

395 pax 21 cars

Golden Ocean

81,000

bulk

Zhoushan Jiahaiwan

ice-class

Golden Ocean

81,000

bulk

Zhoushan Jiahaiwan

ice-class

Frontline

320,000

tanker

Zhoushan Jiahaiwan

2.13

USD 105 m

Stolt-Nielsen Bitumen

Intl

3,500

tanker

Najing East Star

3.12

bitumen

Stolt-Nielsen Bitumen

Intl

3,500

tanker

Nanjing East Star

6.12

bitumen + 2 opt

Norskan Offshore

October Kings Bay AS

No/Bz

93 m

77.5 m 77.5 m

ahts

STX Offshore Brazil

end 13

AH11

fishing

Larsnes MV

6.12

purse-seiner, NVC 354 purse-seiner, NVC 354

Eros AS

fishing

Larsnes MV

6.12

Faaborg/Midtfyn

Den

ferry

Søby Værft

4.12

DKK 44 m

Wilh Wilhelmsen

car crr

Mitsubishi

6,500 ceu

Wallenius

car crr

Mitsubishi

6,500 ceu

KS Østervik

4,500

psv

Hellesøy

9.11

VS485

KS Østervik

4,500

psv

Hellesøy

5.12

Torghatten Nord

4,200*

ferry

Remontowa

NOK 210 m

LNG, 93 m

Torghatten Nord

4,200*

ferry

Remontowa

NOK 210 m

LNG, 93 m

Torghatten Nord

4,200*

ferry

Remontowa

NOK 210 m

LNG, 93 m

Torghatten Nord

4,200*

ferry

Remontowa

NOK 210 m

LNG, 93 m

Seadrill

jack-up

Jurong SY

late 12

USD 192 m

F&G JU2000E

Seadrill

jack-up

Jurong SY

beg 13

USD 192 m

F&G JU2000E

Viking Line

Fin

57,000*

ferry

STX Finland

beg 13

EUR 240m

Fjord1

66.4m

ferry

Fiskerstrand BLRT

end 11

MM59FC, 50 cars

Nov

Seadrill

drillship

Samsung

2q13

USD 600 m

Seadrill

drillship

Samsung

3q13

USD 600 m

Seadrill

jack-up

Dalian Shipbuilding

4q12

USD 192 m

F&G 2000E

Seadrill

jack-up

Dalian Shipbuilding

1q13

USD 192 m

F&G 2000E

Farstad Shipping

5,000

psv

STX Vietnam

PSV08CD

Farstad Shipping

5,000

psv

STX Langsten

PSV08CD

4,500

UT754WP

VS485

2,800 pax

Farstad Shipping

psv

STX Vietnam

Polarcus

Dubai

12,000*

seismic

Ulstein Verft

3.12

USD 168 m

Polarcus

Dubai

12,000*

seismic

Ulstein Verft

6.12

USD 168 m

SX134

UTO Kapetan Luka

Croatia

40 m

catam

Brødrene Aa

NOK 60 m

350 pax

Wisby Tankers

Swe

15,000

tanker

3 Maj, Rijeka

1q12

USD 35 m +2 opt

bitumen

Wisby Tankers

Swe

15,000

tanker

3 Maj, Rijeka

3q12

USD 35 m

bitumen

SX134

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

78 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Fleet Review Secondhand transactions in the Nordic market Month Name

Type

From

Price

Buyer

Sept

Carolyn

2,300 1974

dry cargo

Reederiet Carolyn, Odense

KS Merkur, Marstal

Las Palmas

6,876 2008

tanker

Antisana Ship, Nykøbing F

USD 3.45 m

Greeks

CEC Daisy

4,100 1993

mpp

Clipper, Copenhagen

ACM, Israel

CEC Delta

4,100 1991

mpp

Clipper, Copenhagen

ACM, Israel

Caecilie Bulker

bulk

Lauritzen Bulk, Cph

USD 62 m

Sinokor, S Korea

Boa Rover

3,835 2001

mpsv

Boa Offshore, Trondheim

USD 45 m

Topaz Energy, Dubai

Marianna Kosan

8,000c 2008

LPG

Lauritzen Kosan, Cph

Sinochem/Nanjing, China

Eurofrost

5,250 1991

reefer

Pareefer II KS, Oslo

USD 5 m

undisclosed

Frio Nikolayev

7,911 1991

reefer

Pareefer II KS, Oslo

USD 5 m

undisclosed

Sea Runner

3,500 1983

dry cargo

Get2Sea, Fredericia

SR Shipping, Fredericia

Oct

Stella Moon

2,640 2009

dry cargo

Stella Shipping, Marstal

USD 2.4 m

Turkey

Nizon

45,780 2004

tanker

Socatra, Bordeaux

USD 30 m

DSD Shipping, Stavanger

Tikhvin

40,727 1996

tanker

Novoship, Novorossiysk

USD 12.5 m

Champion Tankers, Bergen

Troitsk

40,727 1996

tanker

Novoship, Novorossiysk

USD 12.5 m

Champion Tankers, Bergen

Venus Glory

54,474 2008

LPG

Ghandour, Beirut

USD 70 m

Avance Gas, Oslo

Conlift

2,372* 1978

crane vsl

Aker Marine Contr, Oslo

Eide Marine Services, Hgs

Masfjord

3,776* 1989

ferry

Tide Sjø, Bergen

Torghatten, Brønnøysund

Green Spring

6,522 1989

reefer

Green Reefers, Bergen

USD 3.2 m

Norfos Shipping, Tallin

Tjore Olivia

9,200 2008

tanker

J B Ugland, Oslo

USD 7.5 m

undisclosed

Summit Asia

73,000 2009

tanker

New Century SY, China

USD 43 m, bb

Ness Risan & Prnts, Oslo

Summit Africa

73,000 2009

tanker

New Century SY, China

USD 43 m, bb

Ness Risan & Prnts, Oslo

Summit Australia

73,000 2009

tanker

New Century SY, China

USD 43 m, bb

Ness Risan & Prnts, Oslo

Wilson Express

5,800 1983

dry cargo

Green Reefers, Bergen

USD 3.6 m

Wilson ASA, Bergen

Trans Vik

4,700 1991

tanker

KS Seatrans, Bergen

USD 5.5 m

Russian

Trans Sund

4,700 1991

tanker

KS Seatrans, Bergen

USD 5.5 m

Russian

Nov

Syrena

48,139 1997

bulk

Seven Seas, Bergen

USD 21.5 m

undisclosed

Golden Legend

23,400 2009

tanker

Dorval Kaiun, Japan

USD 81 m

Stolt-Nielsen, Rotterdam

Golden Ivy

23,400 2008

tanker

Dorval Kaiun, Japan

en bloc

Stolt-Nielsen, Rotterdam

Golden Charlotte

19,700 2006

tanker

Dorval Kaiun, Japan

en bloc

Stolt-Nielsen, Rotterdam

Bow Century

37,438 2000

tanker

Odfjell ASA, Bergen

USD 105 m

Stolt-Nielsen, Rotterdam

Bow Favour

37,438 2001

tanker

Odfjell ASA, Bergen

en bloc

Stolt-Nielsen, Rotterdam

Golden Shadow

73,732 1997

bulk

Golden Ocean, Oslo

USD 26.7 m

Norsul, Buenos Aires

Zhengshe resale

57,000 2011

bulk

Dolphin

USD 30.5 m

Ship Finance Intl, NY

Zhengshe resale

57,000 2011

bulk

Dolphin

USD 30.5 m

Ship Finance Intl, NY

Songa Peak

151,418 1990

bulk

Arne Blystad, Oslo

USD 20 m

undisclosed

ID Harmony

23,712 1995

bulk

Invest Denmark, Cph

USD 14.5 m

undisclosed

Bow Panther

39,422 1986

tanker

Odfjell, Bergen

USD 4.6 m

breaking

Boknafjord

ferry

Tide Sjø, Bergen

Bastø Fosen, Moss

* = gross tons

Dwt

Built

179,000 2009

2,835* 1986 c = capacity in cubic metres

Engine Protection Partner AS Schaller Automation’s Oil Mist Detector systems

P.O. Box 2668 Møhlenpris, NO-5836 Bergen, Norway Phone: +47 55 30 19 00 Fax: +47 55 30 19 01 www.epp.no

Remarks/New name

All details believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

Schaller Automation’s repair and service department – come directly to us, save time & money! ➢ repair centre – max 2 days repair time ➢ main stock for spare parts – 1 day delivery time ➢ sales of new and reconditioned VISATRON O.M.D. ➢ open 24 hours/7 days a week ➢ exchange unit service for all VISATRON systems ➢ overhaul and service of the following system series: VN /79, VN /82, VN /87 & VN /93

In June 2011 it is time for the second Donsö Tanker Meet, same concept as in 2009 but even more specialized on tanker shipping. In 2009 the event was a great success, attracting 400 shipping proffessionals taking part in speed meetings, seminars and after work activities. Donsö Tanker Meet will be the place to be in 2011 if you are working with/ supplying tanker shipping in any way. This two-day event offers the face to face meetings of your choice and seminars, all focusing on tanker shipping. More about Donsö Tanker Meet at http://www.shipgaz.com/marketing/events

2011

or contact: Lars Adrians, Shipgaz Phone +46 (0)31-712 17 73 lars@shipgaz.com

21–22 JUNE DoNsöhallEN

On June 21–22 2011 Shipgaz and the shipping companies on Donsö arrange a two day tanker-shipping event on the island of Donsö.

DONSÖ TANKER MEET

Welcome to Donsö Tanker Meet!

Several supporting shipping companies will be attending in 2011, so far the following:

Ett företag inom Veolia Transport

• Projects • Market Research

• Tanker Chartering • Tanker Operation VLCC: Kristofer Byström Operations: Nigel Burt Rickard Müntzing

Tärntank Rederi AB SuezMax Susangird Sanandaj Sarvestan Semnan Saveh

Projects/S&P/Market Research Johan Dicksved

Accounting/Admin Suezmax/Aframax: Dominika Dzielak Kristofer Byström Annika Hagren Bennet Holmström Roland Magnusson Chairman: Lars Wellner KILTANK REDERI AB Ola Lorentzon Henrik Norlin

Exclusive DWT 150,000 150,000 150,000 150,000 150,000

• Sale and Purchase • Newbuildings

Built 1999 1999 2000 2000 2000

SuezMax Sepid Sima Sina Sarv

• Ship Owning

Managing Director: Bo Andersson

NITC-Tonnage DWT 160,000 160,000 160,000 160,000

Built 2008 2008 2008 2009

AfraMax Astaneh Abadeh Amol

DWT 95,000 95,000 95,000

Built 2000 2000 2000

• Administration

Bo Andersson - Managing Director

- Finance

Built 2005

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80 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Retro Old Danish ferries

Photo: bent mikkelsen

The Venøsund, built in 1931, small type ferry on the Venø-service.

Wooden ferries to be phased out Quite a few wooden ferries are still in service in Denmark, some built as early as in the 1950s. The need for greater capacity means inevitable phasing out for the wooden rarities. Furusund Færgeri has signed up for the building of a replacement ferry to relieve the 1966-built wooden ferry Stenøre in 2012. The Municipality of Aalborg has purchased a second-hand German ferry and renamed it Egholm II in order to relieve the present wooden Egholm in 2012. In other words, the wooden Danish domestic ferries are about to be retired – often to a new life as liveon-board boats.

The very last newbuilding of the old-fashioned material oak wood was delivered from long-time gone Søren Larsen & Sønners Skibsværft at

Nykøbing Mors in March 1972. It was the relatively small Egholm, which was purpose-built for the short crossing from the Western part of Aalborg to the Isle of Egholm in the middle of Limfjord, a crossing of around 300 metres.

»The standard type of these ferries was built by the same shipyard« The youngest of the standard type, the Egholm Gammelør, was delivered in 1967, for the Sallingsund run from Pinen to Plagen.

At the time the majority of Danish domestic ferries were wooden and built as drive-through-ferries. The standard type of these ferries was built by the same shipyard at Nykø-

bing Mors and was 29.5 metres long on a breadth of 7.5 metres. The capacity was 12 private cars and only one lorry.

That is part of the problem for these ferries nowadays. The need for transport with lorries and trailers of sizes stretching the limit of the wooden ferries’ capacity has started much discussion in the public councils, which are the owners of these different ferries. The last one of the standard ferries was the Gammelør, delivered in 1967. This ferry has been a houseboat in Copenhagen since 2002.

no 6 2010 Shipgaz 81

Old Danish ferries

Retro

At present seven of these ferries are still in service: • The Næssund, built in 1964, sails on the Næssund crossing in the Limfjord. • The Sallingsund, built in 1958, sails on the Feggesund crossing, also in the Limfjord. • The Egholm, built in 1972, is employed on the Egholm crossing. • The Stenøre, built in 1966, sails on another Limfjord service, this time to Fur. • On the isle of Bogø in Storestrømmen the 1959-built Ida sails on the summer service from Stubbekøbing to Bogø. • Hundested-Rørvig Færgefart still

Photo: bent mikkelsen

Most of the remaining wooden ferries have been in service for a great number of years. The youngest of the standard type, the EgholmGammelør, was delivered in 1967 for the Sallingsund run from Pinen to Plagen. The closure of that particular ferry service in 1978 made five of these wooden ferries redundant, and that in turn led to the need for new ferries on the crossings being eliminated for a number of years.

has the Skansehage, built in 1959, in service on their service from Hundested. • Venø Færgefart has the last of the seven remaining wooden ferries. It is the Venøsund, which is a small type like the Egholm. The Venøsund is

The Stenøre, built in 1966, will be replaced in 2012.

built in 1931 and measures a mere 12.8 metres on a breadth of 5 metres. It is used for night service.

Only a few months ago another one of the standard ferries was sold off for the use as houseboat in Copen-

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82 Shipgaz No 6 2010

Retro Old Danish ferries Photo: bent mikkelsen

The 1996-built Sleipner Fur will have a sister in 2012. Photo: bent mikkelsen

in 1975, when they signed a contract for delivery of a ferry for a new service from Thyborøn to Agger at the Western entrance to the Limfjord.

The hull for this ferry, which was

»The use of steel as building material for domestic ferries was introduced in 1961« hagen. That was the Venøsund II, built 1956, which was replaced by a DKK 33-million newbuilding from the Hvide Sande yard. The use of steel as building materi-

The first steel hulled ferry Kanal en from 1975.

al for domestic ferries was introduced in 1961, when Aalborg Værft built a standard type ferry in steel for the new service from Hals to Egense at the eastern entrance of the Limfjord. The ferry was named Hals Egense and is still in service.

The next step was taken by the wooden ferry builder Søren Larsen & Sønners Skibsværft at Nykøbing Mors

named Kanalen, was built at Karlstad Varv. The ferry, measuring 38.6 metres on a breadth of 9.8 metres, was delivered in June 1975 and is still in service. The new Fur ferry will be of a design from Jørgen Petersen A/S, Horsens, which has designed several of the new ferries, like the new ferry ordered in Bangladesh for replacement of the Skansehage from Hundested-Rørvig Færgefart. The new Fur ferry will more or less be a sister to the Sleipner-Fur already in service on Fur, the Bitten Clausen on the Ballebro-Hardeshøj run, the Christine on the FejøKragenæs run and near sister to the Venøfærgen and the Udbyhøjfærgen.

All these ferries have been designed from the Horsens-office, where they invented a system with hinged ramps on the ferries and special land-systems, which make it possible for these ferries to sail on other services than their own if the need would arise.

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Brand new magazine

Shipgaz visits the Orasund alongside:

Fixing up a Dane

Officer labour market untouched

Grimaldi – an A ragged beauty Italian conqueror An ST Army Tug with the

Despite alarming headlines on lay-offs and lay-ups, ship officers in the Nordic countries keep their employments, according to a Shipgaz survey. page 50

Despite the strong traditions of the family, Dr Emanuele Grimaldi has never taken his position in the Group for granted. page 20

Iceland shipping special: Special:

paint falling off in flakes caught the eye of Bengt Fredriksson. Now he is determined to make her better than new. page 78

Shipgaz signs on to Immingham:

Winding road to recovery

EDITORIAL, PAGE 4

after the trauma. PAGE 22

Custom-made for The adventures the Western Channel of seaman Pålle Brittany Ferries introduces the ro-pax Armorique, their largest ever purpose built vessel for the Plymouth–Roscoff service. PAGE 36

Yearbook of Maritime Technology

Onboard insight »Although Shipgaz Long way back is a new magazine, In March 2007, the tug Bohus was smashed to it stands on solid splinters on the rocks off ground with a more Härmanö. Captain Ole than centuryKristiansen tells his story long heritage« of his way back to work

The front page picture is sponsored by Berg Propulsion AB

Waiting for a weather window

The front page picture is sponsored by Berg Propulsion

Anchor handling on the North Sea:

The engine department – a poor workplace?

Too many sea engineers crawl and squeeze their way through work. Monica Lundh at Chalmers checks out why. PAGE 16

Since the financial walls of Iceland came tumbling down in autumn 2008, the country’s shipping companies have had a tough ride through turbulent times.

A day on the Hansa route Shipgaz signed on the Finnstar in Helsinki and followed captain Jukka Tapiovaara and his crew to Travemünde. page 24

Successful struggle

Legendary achievements

Illegal oil discharges in the Baltic Sea are becoming a dramatically rarer sight. Helcom’s air surveillance is the reason.

He is seldom seen in the foremost rank, but his influence on Danish shipping in the last 30 years is legendary. Meet Knud Pontoppidan.

Hushed up grounding Survival technique An anonymous e-mail to the for female seafarers shipowner’s head office revealed that one of their bulkers had been grounded – but sailed on with damages to the hull. The crew had said nothing. page 20

Negotiator, constructor, maintainer or reproducer – which one are you? PhD student Momoko Kitada has identified four strategic roles for women on board. page 16

Shipgaz is a modern shipping magazine for operative personell. Every issue contains current events, newbuildings, onboard stories, technical innovations, safety related information, in-depth features and much more, crucial information as well as entertainment. A weekly e-mailed newsletter is included in the subscription.

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The story of Nils-Arne Pålsson begins on the steamer Moldavia in 1950 and winds through rat wars and cholera to his electronic inventions for the maritime industry. PAGE 58

Set on finding the right stuff In the brown leather chairs of Maritime Psychologist Bengt Schager’s office, the sheep are divided from the goats. PAGE 44

In 1950 …

… in May, the traditional liner ship Kirsten Mærsk was delivered from Mitsui Group’s shipyard at Tamano in Japan (Hull no. 554) as the second ship to a Danish owner after World War 2 for a sum of DKK 6.1 million. The 5,900-DWT ship was employed in Maersk Line’s service from the US to the Far East until it was sold in February 1970 and became Efxinos. It sailed for another eight years before being recycled in April 1978. The Kirsten Mærsk was followed by hundreds of other ships for Danish owners.

86 Shipgaz No 6 2010

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Retro Avafors

Water Colour Painting: Håkan Sjöström

Storm of the century Thirty five years ago the Swedish Avafors was in the middle of a hurricane on the Great Lakes, witnessing the last moments of the Edmund Fitzgerald. When Gränges’ bulk carrier Avafors entered Soo Locks on the last leg to her destination Port of Duluth in western Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, the Swedish flag on her gaff was violently fluttering in the storm. “We sure as hell have got no business out there!” the pilot said to the captain. They stood on the open bridge wing and the wind was howling in the rig, making it hard to be heard. The barometer continued to drop and the experienced pilot feared a really rough ride. “Pilot”, the equally experienced Swedish captain answered, “It’s only the lakes.” Whether this dialogue from the book Call on the North Wind by Martin Bree is true in every detail is not relevant, but it still reflects the contempt of the salt-water captain, who on numerous voyages had seen the North Atlantic at its worst.

Out on Lake Superior the conditions were far worse that the captain ever could have imagined. The strongly built ship took terrible pounding from the steep waves. During the

following eight hours the Avafors proceeded only 12 nautical miles. One of her radar sets went out when two freak waves hit the ship, ripping off the door of the wheelhouse. But it was too late to turn back. At about 5 pm the winds were gusting at 43 metres per second building up huge seas. The crests of the waves were blown off by the hurricane force wind, some of them almost ten metres in height. The lake sure showed a face not even a salt-water captain could imagine.

»We sure as hell have got no business out there!« The 14,120 dwt Avafors was delivered in 1959 by Götaverken in Gothenburg for the expanding Gränges fleet. In early 1970s the Gränges-fleet consisted of more than 20 vessels. The oil crisis and the following depression hit the Gränges Group hard and in 1979 its shipping activities were nothing more than a memory.

Suddenly an unknown ship called on the VHF for any vessel in the Whitefish Point area. There was a lot of disturbance and the pilot on the Avafors could not get any sense of it. “Who the hell am I taking to?” he asked. “The captain” came the answer. Now the pilot recognised the voice. It belonged to Captain McSorley, an old friend on the lake bulk carrier Edmund Fitzgerald.

Captain McSorley said that the Fitzgerald took heavy seas over her deck and that it was the worst weather he had ever experienced. On the bridge of the Avafors the officer on watch kept track of the progress of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the radar. The ship was heading for the sheltered waters behind Whitefish Point.

The echo of the Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in a snow squall at about 7:15 pm. It never reappeared on the radar screen of the Avafors. The last man to talk to Captain McSorley was Captain Cooper on the lake bulk carrier Arthur M Anderson, some ten miles away. He asked how the Fitzgerald was making out with their problems and Captain McSorley replied “we are holding our own”. Between 7:20 and 7:30 pm the Edmund Fitzgerald went down with all of her crew, consisting of 29 men. The Avafors survived the storm like so many storms before, but her time with Gränges was out. In 1976 she was sold and sailed under the Soviet flag as the Yampol until she was broken up in Split in 1983.

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