332 -...

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 332

Distribution : daily to 31650+ active addresses 2811-2014

Number 332 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Friday 28-11-2014

News reports received from readers and Internet News articles copied from various news sites.

The Mast of the SEABOURN QUEST on an early foggy morning on approach to Rio de

Janeiro. Photo : Mark Rotherham MV Seabourn Quest ©

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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

JOINED EMERGENCY REPAIR UNDER WATER IN SINGAPORE. ALWAYS

EXCITING! Walking by the sea side you never think of what goes on underneath the surface. Well sometimes you

might be surprised at the amount of work down there!

Friday 7 November AEGIR received a call from one of our customers. There were severe problems with the stern tube seals and immediate action was required. AEGIR-Marine immediately called its partner UPE to line up a diving team and informed our Singapore office. After order confirmation we set up the outline for the operation and the divers flew to Singapore. A Sealdock®, created to carry via airplane to avoid transport costs, went along with the crew. The complete seal assemblage was overhauled, new seals were bonded in situ, and rope guard re-welded by class-certified UW welders. The day after arrival the divers went down for a first inspection. Inspection showed a lot of rope and fishing line that got

around the liner and under the seal assembly. Damage to seals was inevitable. Once the vessel had been relocated


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the divers successfully removed the rope guard, ropes and fishing lines. We cleaned the aft seal assembly and installed an oil boom.

In the meantime the AEGIR-engineer and crew worked on the inside blanking the seal system and draining the oil system. On Friday UPE installed the Sealdock® around the

seal assembly and thus created a dry working area. The divers went in and supervised by an AEGIR engineer through a monitor they started to dismantle the seal assembly. It turned out that a complete overhaul was necessary. Saturday evening all seals had been renewed and we were ready to test the new seals. The oil system was filled again and no problems occurred. Sunday the Sealdock® could be removed and now all that was left to do was re-installing the rope guard. A local workshop had prepared the work and by Monday we had finished the job with a minimum of downtime the vessel continued its voyage.

MARINE ASSETS CORPORATION (MAC) enters into Ship Building Contract with

FUJIAN MAWEI

SHIPBUILDING for the lump sum turnkey Construction of the Nautilus Minerals Seafloor production mining vessel. Expanding on MAC’s long-term relationship with Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, on 25 November 2014, a signing ceremony was held at Mawei’s shipyard for the execution of the shipbuilding contract for the Nautilus Minerals Seafloor production mining vessel.The signing follows the entry by MAC into a 5 year charter agreement with Nautilus Minerals on 6 November 2014. . The contract requires MAC to complete the design – construct and delivery of the vessel to Nautilus by the end of 2017. Vessel design will be completed by Sea-Tech Solutions of Singapore. MAC, a marine solutions company based in Dubai, which specialises in the delivery of new build support vessels for the offshore industry, will own and provide the marine management of the vessel. The vessel will be chartered to Nautilus for a minimum period of five years, with options to either extend the charter or purchase the vessel at the end of the five-year period.The vessel will first serve as the operational base for the joint venture to be formed by Nautilus and the Independent Stateof



Papua New Guinea’s nominee, Eda Kopa (Solwara) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petromin PNG HoldingsLimited, to support the operations carried out by the joint venture to extract and to transport high grade copper and goldmaterial from the mine site, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea. When completed, the vessel will measure 227 meters in length and 40 meters in width with accommodation for up to 180people and generate approximately 31MW of power. All of the below deck mining equipment will be installed in the vessel during the build process to minimize the equipment integration to be completed following delivery of the vessel. The vessel is expected to be delivered by the end of 2017.MAC CEO, Robin Reeves, stated, “We are very excited and pleased that Nautilus Minerals has entrusted this prestigiousproject to MAC and grasped the opportunity to work with MAC – Mawei to conclude the long road Nautilus has travelled to reach this stage.

The VALOR handling boxes and taking bunkers at the Pasir Panjang Container terminal in Singapore Photo : Piet Sinke © – CLICK on the photo !

CMA CGM upgrades Asia-East Africa coverage By Charlie Bartlett from London

CMA CGM is to split its existing Asia-East Africa (ASEA) service into two services covering Kenya and Tanzania.

Reducing transit times to Kenya by four days, ASEA Kenya will leave from Singapore, calling at Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang, Colombo, Mombasa and Colombo before returning to Singapore Meanwhile ASEA Tanzania, reducing transit times to Tanzania by eight days, will leave Singapore, before calling at Tanjung Pelepas, Port Kelang, Colombo, Male, Port Victoria, Dar Es Salam and Colombo, before returning to Singapore. A fleet of 2,800 teu vessels deployed on the two servicesCMA CGM indicates the move will improve its coverage of the Indian ocean with with bi-weekly calls in the Maldives and Seychelles islands, as well as connecting Asia with the landlocked African nations of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Source : Seatrade Global

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The Nelson New Zealand registered coaster "ANATOKI" discharging fertiliser in Timaru. Photo : Tom Johnston ©

Australia's Port of Melbourne lining up three bidders - source

Three of Australia's largest infrastructure funds plan to bid for the country's largest container terminal in a sale expected to fetch about A$5 billion ($4.27 billion) for Victoria state, a source with knowledge of the process said on Wednesday The prospect of three bidders suggests Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, will reap a hefty price for the asset and encourage other Australian states looking to sell a combined A$130 billion of assets in the next 18 months. Pension fund IFM Investors has hired investment banks JPMorgan Chase & Co and Barclays Capital to prepare a bid for Port of Melbourne, while a consortium of Hastings Funds Management Ltd and Kuwait sovereign fund Wren House Infrastructure Management have hired UBS AG, the source said. Queensland state fund QIC Ltd is also expected to appoint a bank to place a bid, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment publicly. Hastings declined to comment and IFM and QIC were not immediately available for comment. A successful port sale in Victoria will be good news for other states hoping to sell assets to pay down debt and finance infrastructure. Governments of smaller Queensland and Western Australia state are also planning to sell container terminals. The government of larger New South Wales state hopes to sell half the state electricity grid for an estimated A$20 billion, and promises to spend the proceeds on road and rail upgrades in Sydney. Victoria, unlike NSW and Queensland, faces no political obstacles to the Port of Melbourne sale, with both major parties supporting the move ahead of an election on Nov. 29.In April, Hastings and China Merchants jointly bought Australia's biggest coal terminal, Port of Newcastle in NSW, for A$1.75 billion. In 2013, IFM and several other pension funds bought Port Botany in NSW for $A5.07 billion. Source : Reuters (Editing by Stephen Coates)

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Direct shipping service revived TASMANIAN exporters have welcomed the State Government’s announcement that it will sign a memorandum of understanding with a Singapore-based company to reintroduce a direct international shipping service. Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said the Government expected to sign the MoU with Swire Shipping “in the near future”.

“We expect a period of market testing will then take place before the shipping line establishes arrangements to commence operations,” he said.Tasmanian Exporters Group spokesman Bob Gozzi said the return of international shipping would allow Tasmania to “stand on its own two feet” and progressively develop a cost-efficient export service.

“It will also facilitate the pursuit of imports [southbound freight] to Tasmania, which will bring with it very obvious cost improvement benefits for many industries and, in the longer term, for the whole of the Tasmanian community,” he said.Opposition infrastructure spokesman Craig Farrell said Mr Hidding had not progressed the reintroduction of an -international shipping service.“The fact is that back in February the previous state government entered negotiations with Singapore-based Swire Shipping to provide the international shipping service,” he said.Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Jan Davis said the return of an international shipping service would be welcomed by the small number of farmers who exported products overseas, but she said the lack of adequate Bass Strait freight services continued to be a significant problem for -farmers. Source : themercury

The GRIKOS outbound from Amsterdam approaching the Ijmuiden locks assisted by the SIRIUS and BERNARDUS – Photo : Simon Wolf ©

SMIT Marine outlines operational growth plans

The Prince Rupert Port Authority’s ongoing conference series, ‘Trade Talks’ featured its newest participating business last week, and it’s one that not only has a presence here in town but across the globe. SMIT Marine, a harbour towing and salvage company, had Gregory Malcolm, Northern B.C. assistant operations manager, and Jeff Melegrito, operations manager, speak in front of a sizable crowd at the Port Interpretive Centre on Thursday night to shed some light on the company’s operations and plans for the future.“Globally, SMIT operates in 15 countries with 40 port locations and we have around 250 vessels,” explained

Malcolm. “We have three main operations worldwide – so that’s salvage, towage and external operations and management.” SMIT Marine, a division of Royal Boskalis Westminster since 2010 and a marine service company for 170 years, has made Prince Rupert home as one of its seven B.C. ports and the transitional phase locally is paramount



to its success in the future.“[Prince Rupert’s] Capt. Mike Stevenson is retiring after 50 years and we’ve got big shoes to fill with Mike,” said Malcolm.“He’s seen it all and luckily Jeff and I have been able to shadow him for a couple years and gain as much knowledge as possible. Hopefully we can bring that [expertise to the company].” Melegrito added in the presentation that many of the business’ young skippers are in their 20s and 30s to replace the pilots and captains retiring in the next 10 years. “We also hire deckhands who are currently going to school now and will try for their captain’s licenses,” said Melegrito in the presentation.“Ten vessels service Northern B.C. - two 1800s [horsepower ships] in Kitimat and we currently have a new build in Vancouver – it’s another tractor tug that should be ready by Aug. 2015 and maybe we’ll see it up here,” he added. Currently, the company operates at several different terminals in Prince Rupert and its fleets have transformed as the decades have gone by.Gone are the smaller, less-powerful crafts and in vogue are the much larger, more efficient tractor tugs that can carry far more weight and have less of an impact on the environment, said Malcolm.“For trends in the shipping industry, ships tend to be getting bigger with larger economies of scale. [They’re] more efficient and more environmentally-friendly. They can bring over more cargo on a [single] ship versus multiple ships, so with larger ships we need larger tugs to do our assists,” he said, adding that the technological and industrial advances have come so far that tractor tugs with 6,000 horsepower are replacing some with mere hundreds. As for the liquefied natural gas industry, SMIT is well-versed in towing capabilities for those ships not in Northern B.C. but around the world. “SMIT provides tug assists, escort services and terminal operations expertise to LNG terminals in 16 countries right now,” said Malcolm. Source: thenorthernview

The ex McDermott KP1 now named Armada KP1moored in Johor Bahru

Photo : Capt. Jelle de Vries – Sunshine Offshore Services ©

Indecision on super trawler ban FEDERAL Environment Minister Greg Hunt remains undecided on whether to ban a controversial super trawler, despite the Prime Minister’s unequivocal comments earlier this year that the boat should never return to Tasmania.A ban on a super trawler acting as a mother ship, receiving and processing fish is in place until next April. But a two-year ban on a super trawler hauling its nets expired last week, leading to speculation the controversial vessels could return to

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Tasmanian waters. Earlier this week, an expert panel report, commissioned by the federal government, revealed the use of a super trawler would have a significant impact on a host of protected native seals and seabirds, even if precautions were taken. A spokesperson for Mr Hunt yesterday said a final decision on the matter was pending.

The MARGIRIS moored in Ijmuiden – Photo : Marcel Coster ©

‘‘The government is considering its response to the expert panel report as we work to develop a permanent solution,’’ he said. ‘‘In the meantime, the super trawler remains banned until April 2015.’’When questioned yesterday, Seafish Tasmania spokesman Tim Powell ruled out the use of Dutch-owned super trawler FV Margiris, but did not state whether Seafish would use another super trawler vessel if the ban was lifted next year.‘‘We do hold quota in the fishery and we will fish it some time in the future, but how, we’ll announce some time in the future,’’ he said.The result of the expert panel report has sparked outrage among green groups, with members of Environment Tasmania expressing their disapproval of super trawlers on the lawn of Canberra’s Parliament House yesterday. Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the report result spoke for itself.‘‘This super trawler scientific report vindicates the position of the Greens, recreational fishers, environment groups and the wider Tasmanian community,’’ he said.‘‘The report found that even if protective measures were put in place, the super trawler would impact on protected species like seals, dolphins and seabirds and potentially lead to localised depletion of fish stocks.’’ A final decision on the super trawler ban is expected to be made next year Source : The Examiner

Arctech launches construction of Sakhalin-bound Sovcomflot icebreaker

The production of an icebreaking multipurpose supply vessel for Sovcomflot has been started by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard with steel cutting on 26 November 2014 The main purpose of the vessel is to serve Sakhalin-2 region energy production sites by transporting supplies and people between land bases and the production platforms in the harsh climatic areas of the Sea of Okhotsk “We are excited to continue the co-operation with Sovcomflot and build this icebreaking supply vessel as the first unit of total four contracted vessels,” said Esko Mustamäki, managing director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. “Today, we are proud to start production of this multipurpose special vessel, which is a masterpiece by Arctech´s own engineers. The environmentally advanced vessel will increase both the oil spill response as well as the emergency evacuation capacity when operating in the



harsh climatic area of Sakhalin.” The main purpose of the vessel is to serve Sakhalin-2 region energy production sites by transporting supplies and people between land bases and the production platforms in the harsh climatic areas of the Sea of Okhotsk.The operator of the oil and gas field is Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. The ceremony took place at Vyborg Shipyard, where the blocks of the vessel are produced. The production start was attended by representatives from Sovcomflot, United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, Vyborg Shipyard and Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. The design, hull assembly, outfitting and commissioning of the vessel will be done by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

The vessel will be able to safely convey and transfer cargo on deck, bulk cargo underdeck and platform crew as passengers in all seasons, regardless of weather and ice conditions. The vessel will be outfitted for emergency evacuation, rescue and firefighting operations, oil spill response and the platform support activities. The new icebreaking offshore vessel measures 100-metres in length and 21-metres in breadth. The six main diesel generator sets have the total power of 21,000 kW and the propulsion power of 13 000 kW. The delivery of the vessel is scheduled for June 2016.

MSC CONTAINER SHIP MOVEMENTS IN SINGAPORE

The 399 mtr long 18.665 DWT 2014 built 16.000 TEU MSC LONDON departing from the Pasir Panjang Container terminal and entering the Jong Fairway enroute Slavyanka (Russia) whilst the inbound 2011 built 13.102 TEU MSC CRISTINA is seen inbound for Pasir Panjang coming from Yangshan (China) to take the berth of the MSC LONDON, at the same time the MSC TARANTO was spotted alongside at the terminal handling boxes The 366 mtr long MSC CRISTINA departed 26-11 bound for Port Kelang whilst the 2011 built 265 mtr long 14.000 TEU MSC TARANTO arrived from Chiwan (China) and departed again 26-11- from Singapore bound for King Abdullah Port with a draft of 14,9 mtrs

Photo’s : Piet Sinke © CLICK on the photo’s or hyperlink in text !

Product Tankers: LR1s in much better state than MRs in terms of orderbook supply

The tanker market has proven to be among the most volatile ones over the course of the past few years. According to shipbrokers the tanker market has been enjoying some good returns. According to the latest report from shipbroker Intermodal, “starting from mid-summer the tanker market has seen spot rates take a significant step up and as we are

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now well into the last quarter, it seems that the year will end with rates at levels exceeding expectations especially as the winter has only just begun”. Intermodal’s Research Analyst, Eva Tzima said that “the softening price of oil has without a doubt been the key reason for exports of crude oil to heat up, while the positive impact on freight rates due to favorable bunker prices has been the cherry on the top side-effect that has allowed for the highest TCEs in years in many routes. Amidst pressures on the Saudis from other OPEC members that have much to lose from this recent softening and US shale oil producers that will have to use whatever means of influence available to them to sustain their competitiveness, most analysts have cut down their forecasts for 2015 but still see prices stabilizing above current levels”.Tzima added that “Russia and Venezuela were already reported to have started discussions about joint action to shield prices from a further softening, while at the same time speculation that OPEC who are meeting in a couple of days, will have no choice but to go ahead and cut its production, is growing quickly. This could provide oil prices some floor in the medium term but as production by non-OPEC members accelerates and could well fill part of the void created from decreased OPEC production, the fate of tanker freight rates is most likely to come down to demand…and supply. Demand for oil and supply of tonnage”. She also noted that “projected oil demand growth is expected to increase next year according to IEA’s latest report that bases their estimation on “the improvement of the macroeconomic backdrop”. Central banks appear determined to keep supporting growth, while the recent cut of the benchmark interest rate in China is an explicit move towards the same direction and already partly responsible for an upward correction in the price of oil among other commodities as well. If healthy demand levels are sustained in 2015, they should offer support to freight rates during the year apart from any recovery that could take place in the price of oil itself”. TONNAGE SUPPLY However, when one examines the supply of tonnage, things are not pointing towards the same direction, at least across all size segments. According to Intermodal, “MR tankers currently sit on a 21% orderbook, 50% of which is expected to be delivered next year, while a small percentage of the fleet is currently older than 20 years and potential scrapping candidates, which makes things for the sector heavily glutted especially when compared to the less than 5% orderbook of LR1s. Over at the crude side, Aframaxes have the lowest orderbook, estimated at 7%, while Suezmaxes and VLs are looking at orderbook of 11% and 14.6% respectively”. The shipbroker’s analysis added that “buying interest in the sector has already revived during the past couple of months, even in the case of MRs, which could sooner rather than later face some downward pressure amidst weakening fundamentals in the refining industry in Europe. Should the favorable environment of late keep supporting tanker rates we expect more potential buyers to get back into action in the next couple of months and possibly inspire newbuilding ordering as well, in which case segments with lower orderbooks will be naturally better shielded in case the freight market corrects downwards or better positioned for higher earnings in case we continue enjoying rates at these levels”, Tzima concluded. Meanwhile, in the demolition market, things “continued to soften this week although a number of recent sales generated hopes that prices in the near future may refrain from sliding further. During the last month demo markets in the Indian sub-continent have been severely hit as steel exports from China surged, forcing prices to go down. In India where the market was additionally affected by a weakening against the US dollar Rupee, prices fell this week and this was also the case in both Bangladesh and Pakistan. Consequently, everybody is on high alert as to whether the much expected talked about measures against steel imports from China will be implemented or not. From one side, most cash buyers are still unwilling to commit at these levels as the future direction of the market currently puzzles them, while at the same time owners of potential scrapping candidates are holding fire, also encouraged by the recent strengthening of the freight market for both dry bulkers and tankers. Average prices this week for wet tonnage were at around 280-465 $/ldt and dry units received about 260-450 $/ldt”, it concluded. Source : Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

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Shipbroker sees oversupply in sale and purchase ship markets pressuring prices

Chances for asset plays in the S&P ships market are growing at the time being, as very few buyers are chasing too many ships, which has already led to downward pressure in prices. According to Allied Shipbroking’s new Head of Market Research & Asset Valuations, Mr. George Lazaridis, a lot is down to the currency exchanges and the still leading role and influence of the Japanese Yen on shipping markets. According to Lazaridis, “being the third largest economy in the world and being a country isolated by sea from all its trading partners, it has played a major role, both in terms of actual seaborne trade volumes as well as in being the largest shipbuilding and shipowning nations. Yet its importance has been diminishing since the mid 90’s were its economy headed in to trouble and has struggled to survive ever since. During this period it has lost much of its importance in terms of shipbuilding and trade, with other Far Eastern Champions emerging in its wake. It was during this period that lost both its 2nd spot in its place amongst the largest world economies as well as its spot as the world’s largest shipbuilding nation”, he noted. However, “despite all this, it seems that its importance still holds and its most recent troubles and possible recession, is causing havoc in the market. It was the drop of the Yen against the US Dollar during the final months of 2012 that marked the spark which fired up the SnP market and caused a large series of transactions to take place and rallied Dry Bulk asset prices for more than 14 months. Obviously it wasn’t the only factor to have contributed to this and sentiment of an improving freight market allowed many owners to be more hopeful that they were buying at the low point of the market. But the reality is that the movements of the Yen is what allowed Japanese owners at the time to think more favourably about the option of selling their tonnage (tonnage they had bought in Yen and were now selling in USD)”, Lazaridis noted. He added that “what’s more is that a lot of the buyers that had been circulating the market at the time had traditionally favoured Japanese built tonnage and in contrast to the shortage of such sales candidates prior to the final quarter of 2012, they were now finding themselves with exceptional units at what they considered was the “right” price. This spree was fed further by an increasing freight market, intense competition amongst buyers and further weakening of the Yen, while in the final quarter of 2013 all these three factors combined to create a bonanza of sales and exceptional price hikes and asset plays”. According to the analyst, “all this is fair and good but one may ask why have things now reversed? Well it turns out that this time around the large influx of sales candidates benefiting from the even weaker Yen exchange rate are causing a considerable oversupply in the market, espe-cially as there are very few serious buyers at the moment. This translates to a sharp drop in prices which looks like it is set on course to complete an equal in magnitude drop to the rise and intensity that we had witnessed during 2013″.

The 2009 built 274 mtr long and 48 mtr width 156.564 DWT GLORYCROWN leaving Singapore Jurong after

drydocking Photo : Piet Sinke © CLICK on the photo !

Meanwhile, in a separate report this week in the newbuilding market, Clarkson Hellas noted that “some previously unreported orders coming to light this week in the small size dry and MPP markets; CSL Group have declared options for two further 36,000 dwt Self-Unloaders at Zhejiang Yangfan taking the series to four firm vessels delivering from 2015. Domestic buyer Zhejiang Jianyang Harbour Engineering have contracted two firm 6,300dwt (300 TEU) MPPs at Zhong Chuan Heavy Industries, both due to deliver in 2016″. The shipbroker added that “in Gas, Unique Shipping (Hong Kong) are understood to have contracted one firm plus one option 84,000cbm VLGCs at Hyundai Heavy. Delivery of the firm vessel is due within 3Q 2016 with pricing per vessel around USD 79m – reflecting the premium for a one firm ship order. Further to our report last week, Delphis have now confirmed they are the owner behind the order for two firm (plus upto eight option) x 1,900 TEU container feeders.




Remind you these will deliver from July 2016 with pricing around USD 34.5 Mill including E3 Ice Class. Seaspan Ferries (Canada) announced an order for two firm dual-fuel 150m ferries at Sedef Shipyard in Turkey. The vessels will deliver in the 3Q and 4Q of 2016″, Clarkson Hellas concluded. Source : Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Vietnam's Navy remains on-guard against pirates

The siren on the Ly Thai To blared as the frigate entered the pirate-prone Malacca Strait one afternoon in mid-November. A warning from the speaker summoned the crew to battle stations as “a possible pirate vessel has been spotted.”Soldiers who had been cleaning and cooking disappeared at once, before another order instructed a Thanh Nien reporter to “step inside and close the door.” Noises of doors shutting, sirens blaring, and shipmen running on deck with their guns clattering rang through the ship's interior. After a while, Lt. Col. Nguyen Van Hien, the frigate's second-in-command stepped inside with a smile. It was only a drill. “We make the crew practice regularly so they are accustomed to the situation,” Hien said. The precaution is performed and repeated the same way on the Dinh Tien Hoang, a frigate of the same make that's accompanying the Ly Thai To on several friendly port calls throughout the ASEAN bloc. The crew of the Thai To appeared to stiffen its guard after entering international waters.Hien said they became more cautious about pirates after a Vietnamese tanker was attacked and robbed of half of its 5,200 ton diesel cargo while making its way from Singapore to Vietnam on October 2. One of the Ly Thai To's shipmen said a light machine gun, a heavy machine gun and a canon were ready for use at any time.“We are not going to be attacked by surprise,” he said.The two Gepard-class frigates were built by the Zelenodolsk shipyard in Russia and delivered to Vietnamese Navy in 2011 under a US$350 million contract. They were named after King Dinh Tien Hoang (924-979) and King Ly Thai To (974-1028). Vietnam will receive a second pair of the Russian-made frigates with antisubmarine weapons in late 2016. Source : thanhniennews

Kustwacht redt opvarenden De twee opvarenden waren natuurlijk opgelucht dat ze waren gered.

Het Reddings en Coördinatie Centrum (RCC) van de kustwacht Caribisch gebied heeft twee opvarenden gered. Ze maken het goed en zijn tevreden met de actie van de kustwacht. Het RCC ontving de melding dat een vissersboot met twee opvarenden was omgeslagen ten zuiden van Curaçao. De Cougar-helikopter is direct ingezet voor een zoekactie. Na een zoektocht van ruim twee uur, zijn de twee personen op de gekapseisde bootruim 12 mijl ten zuiden van het

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eiland aangetroffen, aldus woordvoerder Roderick Gouverneur.Hierna zijn zij vanwege de grote afstand tot de kust door middel van de helikopter-redder aan boord van de helikopter gehesen. De drenkelingen, die in totaal acht uur in het water haddengelegen, zijn op het kustwacht steunpunt bij Hato afgezet, waar een ambulance op hen stond tewachten. Zij verkeren in goede conditie. Een vrouw heeft in verband met dit ongeval een ingezonden stuk gestuurd, waarin zij kritiekuitoefent op de kustwacht, over de manier van optreden. Zo stelt zij dat de kustwacht al te vaak de maritieme vrijwilligers-reddingsorganisatie Citro veel te laat inschakelt bij reddingsacties endat was gisteren ook het geval. Gouverneur geeft hierop desgevraagd een algemene uitleg, datde kustwacht primair belast is met alle reddingsacties en dat de Citro niet altijd wordt ingeschakeld. “Over het ongeval van gisteren kan ik aangeven, dat niemand precies wist waarde opvarenden zich bevonden. Dus wilde de kustwacht de Citro niet zomaar op pad sturen. Deopvarenden werden uiteindelijk veel verder gevonden dan op de plek die wij oorspronkelijk via de melding hadden binnengekregen.” Source : Amigoe

The MSC GENEVA outbound from Melbourne – Photo : Dale E. Crisp ©

From Security to Efficiency Modern Vessel Tracking

More so than many other fields of business, the maritime industry is focused on cost, which in turn gives the appearance of being conservative towards technology. Of course, we have magnificently technical ships operating with equipment that wouldn’t look out of place in a NASA lab, but in general, it can take decades for a technology to become mainstream. Unless it becomes mandated by the IMO. Vessel tracking is a partial exception to the rule though, with many fleet owners realizng its potential for more cost-effective operation and improved vessel and personnel security.

Knowing the exact position of all vessels in a fleet, in a software solution designed to fit with your own logistical processes, can significantly improve efficiency. If a ship arrives early or late, more often than not there will be an associated cost. If this can be identified during transit then the early or late arrival can be negated or at least planned for. Likewise, if by knowing the positions of your fleet of workboats means that you can route the closest vessel to the next job, then significant fuel cost savings can be made. With modern tracking systems, the way data is used is just as important as knowing where a vessel is at all times. But there are countless ways to apply the data to the benefit of efficiency for a single ship or fleet, so providing easy, reliable access to position reports is vital.

RockFLEET is an advanced new tracking unit for the professional maritime environment. During its design phase, the team decided that in order for the position data it provides to be of the most use, as well as being available via Rock Seven’s own fleet viewer ‘The Core,’ it must also be available in any software system the user chooses. Using a standards-based API, the customer can integrate tracking data from RockFLEET into their own applications. Typically this means that RockFLEET tracked assets can be added to existing fleet management software, which invariably is designed around an owner or operators own logistics. With accurate vessel location data available, the opportunities are endless and only down to the creativity of the user. For instance, a current Rock Seven customer uses location data to manage payroll of personnel. Essentially, personnel get paid different amounts depending on whether the ship is at sea, in international waters, in port or transiting regions with high piracy incidents.

Tracking Without Ship’s Power



The above user is a private security company involved in anti-piracy operations. It actually gets location data using RockSTAR, the handheld version of RockFLEET, which is a new fixed unit that can be fitted anywhere on board. Completely waterproof and with no moving parts, it is a robust, ultra-compact (13cm diameter / 4cm high) device with multiple mounting options. The physical design of RockFLEET was in part driven by the security challenges faced by vessels facing the issues of modern piracy.

The unit itself is designed to look anonymous; as standard there’s no name on the outside. It works from ship’s power, but it uniquely has a backup battery inside. Which is important should a vessel be hijacked and the main power cut. Knowing the location of all friendly vessels in a region is vital to organisations with a stake in ensuring safe passage through known piracy hotspots. With an operational vessel/fleet tracking system, ship owners and fleet managers will know where their ships are at all times. This information can be fed to authorities, private anti-piracy companies and the naval forces patrolling piracy hotspots to build a clear, near real-time picture for domain awareness. The value of this information should a vessel be hijacked is obvious; knowing the last whereabouts of a vessel provides responders with a starting point should a hijacked vessel’s tracking system be disabled by pirates. Today’s pirates know that many commercial vessels are tracked, especially those would be targets sailing in what are known to be hostile waters. So disabling vessel tracking equipment on board is a sensible action for said pirates after a hijacked ship’s crew have been subdued and because most tracking units are powered by the vessel, finding and cutting the power supply isn’t hard. RockFLEET however, is the only device of its kind with an internal battery back-up, so can continue to transmit position for up to two weeks if external power is cut. With facility to mount covertly, this makes it especially suitable for vessels traversing piracy hotspots.

Understanding the cost conscious attitude in the maritime industry, it’s important to provide added value to persuade ship owners of the financial viability of ship tracking. RockFLEET operates on the Iridium network, specifically using the ‘Short Data Burst’ (SBD) capability. This enables pole-to-pole global coverage on a Pay As You Go basis. With no annual contract required, the user only pays for the months the system is in use and pre-purchases credits for transmitting tracking positions. An optional module enables RockFLEET to switch automatically to GSM services when in range, providing further cost savings.The system obtains a position using the GPS satellite network and then transmits that position at user-defined intervals. A single location transmission uses a single pre-paid credit, making the RockFLEET approach to tracking extremely cost-effective. Tracking data is viewed on the Rock Seven fleet management platform, The CORE, or as described above, on the user’s own fleet management system. If a user doesn’t not have their own internal system, The CORE fleet management platform provides a secure, user friendly web-based tracking service that will support security and logistics world-wide. Further value can be gained from utilizing the Iridium network for ‘Machine 2 Machine’ (M2M) applications. RockFLEET has a wired (serial) API which means it can be controlled by other systems that may transmit data via Iridium. For example, existing telemetry systems on a vessel that usually collect and send environmental data via terrestrial networks or other, more expensive satellite networks, can easily be expanded to transmit from anywhere in the world via the RockFLEET unit, at the same cost per transmission as a simple location message.

This can be useful to receive fuel consumption data from engine management systems or maintenance alerts from other equipment on board, in a very cost effective manner. Much like the RockFLEET approach to how position data is integrated with proprietary software solutions, this M2M data capability has practically endless applications, only limited by the creativity of the user. Crew Welfare was also a design consideration with RockFLEET. As well as the wired serial API, it features a wireless Bluetooth LE API, which allows mobile apps to send and receive their own data via Iridium. At present, the Rock Seven Connect app uses this feature for crew messaging but it could be used i.e. for weather routing and navigational warning information. Nick Farrell is Director of Rock Seven, a UK based developer of Iridium tracking system for maritime, land and aeronautical users. RockFLEET is a new tracking unit for the professional maritime environment. During its design phase, the team decided that in order for the position data it provides to be of the most use, as well as being available via Rock Seven’s own fleet viewer ‘The Core,’ it must also be available in any software system the user chooses. RockFLEET is a new tracking unit for the professional maritime environment. During its design phase, the team decided that in order for the position data it provides to be of the most use, as well as being available via Rock Seven’s own fleet viewer ‘The Core,’ it must also be available in any software system the user chooses. Source : marinelink

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Search helicopter and lifeboats launched after reports woman walked into sea

FEARS a vulnerable woman had walked into the sea prompted a search and rescue operation last night. Police, coastguard, the Shoreham RNLI lifeboat and Worthing Beach Office crews responded to reports of an object, suspected to be a body, in the water at 4.45pm. An extensive search involving a helicopter by Worthing beach revealed nothing. A coastguard spokesman said the service had received reports the woman, who was known to police, had walked into the sea but this turned out to be a false alarm and after an extensive search nothing was found. The news comes just days after a body was found floating off Goring beach. Source : the argus

World largest vessel afloat at present, Allseas PIETER SCHELTE arrived last Wednesday at the Raffles Special

Reserve anchorage off Singapore for bunkers and crewchange - Photo : Piet Sinke ©

Liberty Maritime bulker rescues Syrian refugees

The 50,601 dwt U.S.-flag bulker Liberty Grace was recently involved in the rescue of more than 230 Syrian refugees from a a Turkish fishing trawler that was adrift 120 nautical miles southeast of Sicily. Liberty Maritime, Lake Success, NY, reports that Liberty Grace was transiting in ballast from the Suez Canal to Galveston, TX when she was directed by the Italian Coast Guard to render assistance to the refugees. At 0910 hrs November 17, Liberty Grace was on station and began boarding the 230+ refugees, who included some 65 women and children. The Italian Coast Guard remained

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on site watching the boarding, for the safety and security of the crew of Liberty Grace as well as for safe embarkation of the refugees. The crew of the Liberty Grace established a feeding station on deck to provided food and water to the exhausted refugees. The vessel also provided blankets and clothing to those in need.

Some of the refugees said they were doctors, engineers and other professionals, all seeking to escape Syria's war torn towns of Aleppo, Homs and others They said that the Captain and crew of the Turkish trawler set them on a course towards Italy and then deserted the refugees by embarking onto speed boats.On November 18, 2014 all refugees safely disembarked at Porto Empedocle, Sicily where they were received on shore by United Nations High Council for Refugees along with the Red Cross and medical volunteers. Source: Marinelog

Boskalis backhoe dredger MIGHTY COLBART, towed by tug SMIT BISON, leaving the Ras Laffan Port at Qatar after successfully finishing Dredging and Backfilling of a trench for HHI. She is on her way to yet another Boskalis project, the Coastguard Base, at Simaisma, Qatar. Photo : Ferry Hoosemans ©

Platts Report: China Oil Demand Rises 2.9% in October from Year Ago

China's apparent oil demand* in October rose 2.9% year over year to 42.65 million metric tons (mt), or an average 10.09 million barrels per day (b/d), according to a just-released Platts analysis of Chinese government data. The official data has also showed that China’s year-to-date import and export volumes between January and October are at a net balance. Stimulus measures implemented by the Chinese government and autumn harvest activity in the farming sector continued to buoy domestic oil demand going into the fourth quarter. Some of these measures include the loosening of credit controls, and the lifting of the annual summer ban on fishing in China’s waters.

Despite the year-over-year increase, China’s apparent oil demand in October slipped 2.5% from September. Meanwhile, total apparent oil demand was 9.96 million b/d during the first 10 months of the year, an increase of 2% from the same period last year. In an unprecedented development, China has become exactly balanced in oil products trade over January to October this year, with oil product imports and oil product exports at exactly the same volume.

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Platts senior writer for China, Song Yen Ling, said: “With refiners continuing to request for export quotas, there appears to be more room for exports to grow right until the end of the year, and China could very well be a net exporter of oil products this year.” Crude throughput by refineries in October rose 6.3% year over year to 43.51 million mt, or an average 10.29 million b/d, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) mid-November.

China's oil product imports tumbled 22.2% year over year to 2.28 million mt in October, while exports soared 30.3% to 3.14 million mt, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. As a result, China was a net exporter of oil products in October, with volumes hitting a record 860,000 mt. China’s apparent demand for gasoil in October climbed 5.3% from a year ago to 15.06 million mt – the highest growth rate since September 2012. Last month’s domestic production of the fuel was 15.36 million mt, up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis while net outflows of the fuel jumped 22.4% to 300,000 mt. Apparent demand for gasoline in China continued its upward trend, increasing 11.1% year over year to 8.87 million mt in October. Domestic production jumped 14.9% year over year to 9.54 million mt last month, although exports reached a four-year monthly high of 670,000 mt.

Fuel oil apparent demand in October slumped 31.4% year over year to 2.27 million mt. Lower consumption, particularly by the bunker sector and independent “teapot” refineries, has resulted in lower imports this year. Overall fuel oil net imports hit a 10-month low of 160,000 mt in October, compared with 850,000 mt a year ago. Month-to-month demand in China is generally viewed to be subjected to short-term anomalies which are of interest and important to note, but often fail to reveal the country’s underlying demand trends. Year-to-year comparisons are viewed by the marketplace to be more indicative of the country’s energy profile.

*Platts calculates China's apparent or implied oil demand on the basis of crude throughput volumes at the domestic refineries and net oil product imports, as reported by the NBS and Chinese customs. Platts also takes into account undeclared revisions in NBS historical data. The government releases data on imports, exports, domestic crude production and refinery throughput data, but does not give official data on the country's actual oil consumption figure and oil stockpiles. Official statistics on oil storage are released intermittently. Platts releases its monthly calculation of China's apparent demand between the 18th and 26th of every month via press release and via its website. Any use of this information must be appropriately attributed to Platts. Platts uses a conversion rate of 7.33 barrels of crude per metric ton, the widely-accepted benchmark for markets East of Suez. For more information, please visit : www.platts.com

Hoylake's new state-of-the-art lifeboat to arrive next week

HOYLAKE Lifeboat station's new state-of-the-art Shannon class all-weather vessel will be officially unveiled on Monday.

The £2M new lifeboat, named Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood, will arrive by sea on Monday at the end of a five-day journey from the lifeboat charity’s headquarters in Poole. Coxswains from Hoylake RNLI have undergone vital training ahead of the arrival of their revolutionary new vessel. Four coxswains are spending the week at the RNLI College in Dorset to prepare for the arrival of their state-of-the-art new Shannon class lifeboat. The Shannon is the charity’s first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by water jets instead of propellers and so the coxswains, who could all potentially be in command of the lifeboat and her crew during life-saving rescues, have been training to become familiar

with how the vessel operates before they can begin using it off the Wirral coast. Dave Whiteley, Hoylake RNLI Coxswain, said: "Everyone at Hoylake lifeboat station is very proud that we are going to be one of the first in the UK to receive a new Shannon and a huge amount of planning and training has already gone into making sure we are ready for her arrival. "The Shannon is an impressive vessel, and a very different lifeboat to the Mersey class Lady of Hilbre which we have operated at Hoylake since 1990.

"The Shannon is much faster and the fact it is jet propelled means it behaves differently from a boat with propellers but once you’ve mastered that, it is much more agile and easy to manoeuver in shallow water." The Shannon has been funded in part by a generous legacy left to the charity by Miss Paulette Micklewood, from Oxford, and will be named Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood in memory of Miss Micklewood’s father.A community fundraising appeal also

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contributed towards the cost of the £2 million lifeboat.Volunteer shore crew members at Hoylake RNLI have already undergone training on the new Launch and Recovery rig which accompanies the Shannon.This bespoke piece of equipment is capable of operating on the most challenging of beaches due to its all-track drive system. It operates as a "mobile slipway" and will make the lifeboat launch and recovery process both faster and safer.Following the new lifeboat’s arrival at Hoylake, there will be a week of intensive training for the crew before the lifeboat is put on service and the Mersey withdrawn. Source : wirralglobe

Cruise ship fall: Lost man not reported for four hours

84-year-old ‘could not have survived’ fall from cruise ship

The Sun Princess arrived in Sydney this morning after returning to sea in an attempt to find a man lost overboard. The ship arrived at White Bay Cruise Terminal at 8.08am NZT last Tuesday , according to the Port Authority of New South Wales. The Sun Princess was still in Sydney last Wednesday afternoon. "She's doing the turnaround that would've happened with passengers having disembarked and people joining the ship for the cruise," said David Jones, a spokesman for Princess Cruises' parent company Carnival Australia.He said the ship was now heading to Fiji, not Vanuatu as previously reported. The ship would then sail to other South Pacific destinations. A police unit, the New South Wales Marine Area Command, were investigating and the matter would be referred to the coroner."We're going to be co-operating fully with authorities in relation to the matter," Mr Jones said.

The company said affected passengers would receive a refund for one day of their cruise and also have NZ$54 paid to their on-board account. The elderly Australian man, presumed dead after falling 25m into rough seas from a cruise ship, was missing for more than four hours before his disappearance was reported.Nobody saw the 84 year-old man fall into the Tasman Sea. But his fall from the Sun Princess was captured on CCTV footage at 10.40pm NZT yesterday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.A Princess Cruises spokeswoman said family told cruise staff the man was missing at about 2.30am NZT. Senior Constable Angela Corbett of New South Wales Police said it was unlikely police would release the man's name. "In general, we need approval from family but it is still under investigation so it has not got to that stage."Yesterday afternoon, New South Wales police took over the case from the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Canberra.

"Investigators do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances, and a report will be prepared for the information of the coroner," Ms Corbett said. The ship was about 320km east of Sydney, travelling from Auckland to Sydney after a 13-night New Zealand cruise when the passenger fell.Princess Cruises spokeswoman Libby Moffet said the ship turned back yesterday morning but there was no sign of the man. AMSA stopped searching for the passenger on receiving expert medical advice indicating "the man was very unlikely to have survived when he entered the water given the height."The advice also indicated the man would have survived in the water given his age, clothing and the weather conditions at the time of the incident. AMSA sent a Dornier search and rescue aircraft to the search area. There were no sightings of the man.

"Sea conditions in the area were rough with swells up to three metres," the authority said. "In consultation with the Master of the Sun Princess, the operating company and the next of kin, the search effort has concluded." Princess Cruises said passengers onboard received regular updates regarding their delayed arrival in Sydney and were being helped with onward travel arrangements.A cruise ship safety campaigner said a "man overboard" system could save lives or inform crew immediately when someone fell from a ship."When somebody does go overboard a cruise ship, it could be hours or days" before anyone knew, said Kendall Carver, International Cruise Victims chairman.But Mr Carver said man overboard systems could include lasers that automatically detected any falling human body. Two hundred and thirty-nine people had been lost overboard on cruise ships since 2000, the cruisejunkie.com website said.The website said 16 of those cases were from Princess ships. This year, 19 people were lost overboard, two from Princess ships."Industry testing of man overboard detection systems is currently ongoing as they are emerging technologies, which face unique challenges in a marine environment," Ms Moffet said. Source: nzherald

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Asia Dry Bulk-Capesize rates to fall as charterers control fixtures

By Keith Wallis Rates for capesize bulk carriers on key Asian routes are likely to continue their fall next week as charterers keep a tight rein on cargo volumes in what is becoming an over-tonnaged market, brokers said. The drop in freight rates, which are at their lowest level for six weeks, meant optimism of a traditional fourth-quarter market rebound is evaporating, brokers said."I don't see how it can improve. Vale can take 10 ships and it's not going to make much difference" because there is so much tonnage available, said a Singapore-based capesize ship broker on Thursday. "There are two or three weeks left of fixing for this year. I can't see a recovery by the end of this year and not early next year either. It's a bit of a bleak picture." "Average capesize earnings for this year are about $14,000 a day. People were forecasting an average of $20,000-$25,000 a day at the start of the year." "My expectations are not good. By the end of this year, there should be some support but I'm not that optimistic," said a Shanghai-based ship broker on Thursday. Charterers were pushing rates down on Thursday, seeking offers at under $8 per tonne from Australia to China and $17.50 per tonne from Brazil to China, the Singapore broker said. Freight rates for the Western Australia-China route were at $8.27 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $8.80 a week earlier, and the lowest since Oct. 20.

The Thai flagged MAYUREE NAREE arriving at Lyttelton to discharge urea. Photo : Alan Calvert ©

Rates for the Brazil-China route closed at $18.49 on Wednesday, also the lowest since Oct. 20, against $21.70 last week.Rates in the smaller panamax market will also drop next week as the number of ships seeking cargo outpaces the number of cargoes coming into the market, a Singapore-based panamax broker said on Thursday. "There is still a

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lot of tonnage available. The further we get into December, the weaker the market is going to feel," he said.Rates for a panamax transpacific voyage slipped to $9,284 per day on Wednesday, against $9,602 last week, continuing the decline that started on Nov. 3. Freight rates for smaller supramax bulk carriers have remained strong this week with rates at around $11,000 per day from China to India, Norwegian ship broker Fearnley said in a weekly note on Wednesday. The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index closed at 1,239 on Wednesday, down from 1,306 last week. Source : Reuters (Reporting By Keith Wallis; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

ESC warns 'risky' container shipping alliances need strict controls

THE European Shippers' Council (ESC) has warned of "a risky development for a free market for transport of goods over sea" with the recent moves towards a global container line market in the hands of four major alliances.The ESC stated that this would be bad for lines' customers and end consumers "in terms of price and quality of service," if competition authorities do not impose strict conditions on the operation of the alliances, the UK's Lloyd's Loading List reported.

The council pointed out that with this concentration, "world trade is now facing a market dominated by four major alliances that represent more than 95 per cent of the total container vessel capacity worldwide."The ESC, which was originally set up to oppose the now outlawed "conference system" of container line alliances or cartels, said shipowners had been pushed to this rationalisation to limit costs and reach economies of scale with ever-larger ships and enhanced cooperation."All these alliances are reaching a critical point now (only CKYHE is still under scrutiny of the FMC) and they will be allowed to operate without strict or even any control at all.

"ESC, as the shippers' representative organisation, is seeing the aggregation of the market within four huge alliances as a very risky situation," the organisation said."Indeed, too much market share in too few hands will lead to an oligopoly where the service quality will be endangered. Shipowners will be, of course, tempted to rationalise even more services to save more money and increase revenues."Extremism in rationalisation will take the form of the reduction of the number of direct calls, reduction of the number of services, increase of prices, etc."It said that the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), through Commissioner Lidinsky, had acknowledged the potential competition threat of such a situation and was supporting the organisation of a global summit on competition with competition authorities from the US, China and Europe.

To prepare this summit, and to be able to promote its position, the ESC said it would be meeting with the European Commission's competition directorate "DG COMP" and present its plan for the creation of a monitoring system for alliances.It said American and Asian shippers' councils would, of course, be encouraged to take the same approach towards their national competition authorities."As an example, the European Shippers' Council is willing to see monthly capacity, actual filling rates and monthly average revenue per TEU tracked by competition watchdogs," the ESC said.

"Furthermore, a strict monitoring of freight rates modification following capacity changes has to be created." Source : Asian Shipper

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NAVY NEWS Two Vietnamese frigates in PHL, a first

of its kind Two warships of Vietnam People’s Navy are in the country for a three-day goodwill visit. Dinh Tien Hoang (HQ-011) and Ly Thai To (HQ-012) arrived Monday, November 24 and stayed in the Philippines until Wednesday, November 26. These two warships are carrying approximately 200 officers and crews. Dinh Tien Hoang (HQ-011) and Ly Thai To (HQ-012) are Russian-made frigate designed to perform search and destroy missions. During the visit two parties will tackle visits and exchanges, personnel education and training exchanges, naval technology exchanges and intelligence exchanges.

The visit is a first of its kind. This kind of activity between two navies is seen as a positive development and a deepening relationship between Philippine and Vietnam military. Reports said that two navies are planning joint patrols and rescue activities, when needed, in South China Sea. Earlier this month, Philippines and Vietnam governments decided to pave the way for a comprehensive strategic partnership. “I think that it is mostly driven by our close ties with them, and we actually have entered into a strong commitment to be able to bring our relations closer, and the way to do this is through some form of a comprehensive strategic partnership,” Department of Foreign Affairs chief Albert del Rosario said. Source : angmalaya

Australian minister apologises for submarine firm canoe remark

Australia's defence minister on Wednesday apologised after saying he would not trust the government-owned submarine firm "to build a canoe", comments that fuelled expectations that most work in a A$40 billion ($34 billion) programme will go offshore. Reuters reported in September that Australia was leaning towards buying as many as 12 off-the-shelf stealth submarines from Japan. Prime Minister Tony Abbott had previously pledged the submarines would be built in South Australia, where unemployment exceeds the national average, but his government began back-pedalling in July, signalling cost and schedule were paramount. Responding to questions in the Australian Senate on Tuesday, Defence Minister David Johnston highlighted a A$350 million-plus cost over-run on building three air warfare destroyer ships and a lack of submarine design experience at Australian Submarine Corp (ASC). "You wonder why I am worried about ASC and what they are delivering to the Australian taxpayer. Do you wonder why I wouldn't trust them to build a canoe?" Johnston told lawmakers. "Let's get real here ... This is a professional programme that is about national security, and we will take the advice of the service chiefs, not somebody who is looking for a job."Johnston on Wednesday told the Senate his comments were a regretable "rhetorical flourish". "I was directing my remarks at a legacy of issues and and certainly not the workers in ASC who may have in my regret taken offence at those remarks.



I consider them to be world class," he said, adding no decision had been made on the submarine programme. Abbott, under pressure from South Australian officials and workers to have an open tender for the programme, said ASC had exceeded its targets for maintaining and extending the life of the exisiting Collins Class fleet. "Whilst ASC has had challenges meeting the government’s cost and schedule expectations of the Air Warfare Destroyer programme, we are working closely with ASC on a reform strategy to improve shipyard performance and productivity," the Australian Broadcasting Corp quoted Abbott as saying. "It is early days, but the government is confident that ASC and its partners will successfully turn the corner on this important build." The opposition Labor Party called for Johnston to be sacked. "It is the largest government procurement in Australian history. It ought to be done properly," Penny Wong, Labor's senate leader said. Source : Reuters (Editing by Ruth Pitchford and Jeremy Laurence)

Investigations Into Submarines' Accidents

Two accidents occurred on-board Indian Navy Submarines during July 2013 to March 2014. On August 14, 2013 an explosion occurred on-board INS Sindhurakshak resulting in her submergence and loss of life of 18 service personnel. On February 26, 2014 there was fire on-board INS Sindhuratna resulting in loss of life of 02 officers.

The investigation reports related to the accidents have been submitted to Naval Headquarters. The Board of Inquiry (BOI) report on both incidents have been submitted to the Naval Headquarters. The BOI report in case of INS Sindhuratna has found seven officers culpable of various acts of omissions and commissions. Disciplinary action against these officers has been initiated at the Western naval Command headquarters. Examination of BOI report in case of INS Sindhurakshak has not been completed.

Australia’s largest-ever Navy ship set to join fleet

Australia’s largest-ever Navy ship, HMAS Canberra, is set to become party of the Australian naval fleet. The 230 meter-long amphibious landing ship has a price tag of $1.5 billion and is touted by Navy as a game-changing war ship with a humanitarian heart.“It has a significant capacity to provide humanitarian relief,” Captain Jonathan Satleir told SBS.“It can do a lot. At this stage of the game we are driving towards is to be able to operate all four of our landing craft and utilise the full capacity that is sitting here on the flight deck. ”Known as a Landing Helicopter Dock, or LHD, the vessel’s hull was built in Spain and was designed for shallow waters.The Navy said the ship was expected to be able to land a force of more than 2000 personnel by helicopter and water craft, along with all their weapons.It represented a major escalation in the amphibious lift capability of the Australian Defence Force."At this stage of the game we are driving towards is to be able to operate all four of our landing craft and utilise the full capacity that is sitting here on the flight deck.

Photo : Andrew Mackinnon – www.aquamanships.com ©

The 27,000 ton war machine had a crew of 400 but could carry and sustain 1100 fully equipped infantry troops.It would also do the Army and the Navy’s heavy lifting, able to carry 110 trucks and armoured vehicles up to and including Abrams main battle tanks.It could house 18 helicopters and up to eight medium lift choppers would be able to operate simultaneously from six landing points on the flight deck.It would be officially put into service with the Navy and handed over to Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Tim Barrett at Garden Island in Sydney on Friday.Her sister ship, the

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Adelaide, was still under construction at the BAE Systems Dockyard at Williamstown, Victoria and was due to be commissioned in 2016.

ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES

An overview of the past ten months in the Port of Gdansk

October has proved to be a consecutive highly successful month in the Port of Gdansk after September, with the attained throughput of 2,910,065 tonnes. The total throughput realized over the first ten months of 2014 has amounted to 26,489,411 tonnes, the result that is 4.7% higher as compared to the corresponding period of the record-breaking year 2013. October has also been a record month for the Port of Gdansk in terms of the handling of LIQUID FUELS. The amount of 1.4 million tonnes is the highest monthly result posted since September last year. The volume of imported petroleum (1.1 million) is the consequence of the dropping price of crude oil, which is now the lowest in 4 years. Since the beginning of this year, the Port of Gdansk has handled more than 10 million tonnes of LIQUID FUELS, which indicates almost 11% growth as compared to the corresponding period of the last year.

Bearing in mind the seasonal nature typical of this cargo group combined with the global trend prevailing on the market for several months now, it can be expected that in 2014 the result of around 12 million tonnes should be reached, which remains in accordance with the outlooks. Upon the fist ten months of the current year, the record handling volume of GENERAL CARGO has been achieved (9.2 million tonnes), with the main share of containerised break-bulk processed by the DCT terminal. The key importance should be noted of the Maersk company which maintains its leading position in the industry thanks to its quality services and timely delivery.Throughput rates of GENERAL CARGO over the past ten months have slightly exceeded the forecasts, and there is no indication suggesting that this trend might change in the nearest future.It is also interesting to examine the throughput of bulk cargo, which

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at this time of the year stands at 2,952,473 tonnes, which is almost 37% more than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The growing volumes of "other bulk" is mainly driven by the handling of aggregates, which in October alone accounts for half the amount of this cargo group. The structure of "other bulk" has changed in line with the situation of the construction industry influenced by the rapidly developing road building and the implementation of infrastructure investment projects. Continued growth in the handling of this type of cargo in the Port of Gdansk can be expected in the coming years.Spectacular growth has been achieved in the handling of fruit. This cargo is handled by a terminal operated by Cargofruit and situated in the Port Free Zone. The volume of bananas reloaded in the first ten months of 2014 amounts to 22,090 tonnes, which indicates a threefold increase as compared with the entire year 2013. By the end of this year, the Port of Gdansk expects to have handled 26 thou. tonnes of this fruit.Particular attention should be paid to the situation observed in the handling of grain. This year's results will undoubtedly go down in history as the most impressive throughput volumes of grain ever recorded since the beginnings of the Port of Gdansk. A total gross weight of grain handled in the first ten months of 2014 exceeds the volume recorded in the corresponding period of the last year by 10 percent and stands at 1,290,930 tonnes, mainly thanks to Poland exporting large volumes of grain which has proved to be in great demand due to its high quality and competitive prices. In view of both the positive trends observed in cargo handling and new investment projects implemented in the Port of Gdansk, continued steady growth of throughput volumes can be expected. Source : Port of Gdansk

Idle box fleet shrinks in November to lowest level since 2008

CONGESTION at US west coast ports and the severe clogging of Manila along with the reluctance of shipping lines to pull out more services in the slack season has led to the lowest level of vessel idling since the 2008 downturn. The idle global fleet of over 500 TEU as of November 17 has declined to 105 units for 202,000 TEU, accounting for 1.1 per cent of the total cellular fleet, said Alphaliner. Analysts attributed this year's low level of idling to port congestion on the US west coast, which keeps ships in service however inefficiently, their report said. Waiting for berthing windows at the San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has also caused some ships to miss their sailing slots.

The 2009 built JANA enroute Euromax Maasvlakte Rotterdam– Photo : Kees van der Kraan ©

Manila has been plagued with severe congestion since the middle of the year, numerous extra vessels of 1,000-2,500 TEU are being brought onto Manila services, allowing a substantial reduction of unemployed ships in this size range. Another factor is shipping lines' reluctance to shelve more services over the slack winter season. So far, only the G6 carriers have made significant service cutbacks for the winter season, having announced the withdrawal of three loops (one service each on their Far East-US east coast, FE-USEC and North Europe-US networks). However, the impact of the G6 service suspensions will only be fully realised in December, when the ships will have completed their last rotations on the shut down loops.CMA OPDR Source : Schednet

Zakher Marine gets financing for newbuilding programme



Zakher Marine International has secured AED 1.55bn ($420m) in financing for its subsidiary QMS Holding’s shipbuilding programme, which will comprise 15 new vessels and three self-elevating accommodation barges.The financing was supplied by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), a top-tier Islamic financial services institution.“We remain committed to the UAE market and this facility will allow us to bring technologically advanced and larger size vessels to Abu Dhabi, the regional and international markets, which will maximise service efficiency and effectiveness for the offshore oil services industry,” Musadaq Yacoub, CEO of Zakher Marine, said in a statement. Abu Dhabi-based Zakher Marine provides services to the offshore oil and gas industries and offshore marine construction companies. The group currently owns and operates over 35 offshore support vessels, and manages and operates 10 vessels including providing support services to accommodation barges. Source : GulfshipNews

CMA CGM buys Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei

AS expected for days, French shipping giant CMA CGM has bought German short sea specialist Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei, the Marseilles-based company announced. "During his visit in Hamburg, Mr Jacques R Saade [company founder] announced the acquisition of the German company OPDR (Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei GmbH & Co. KG)," said the CMA CGM statement. Left : The OPDR CADIZ handling boxes Photo : Francis Ferro © CLICK on the photo OPDR is a shipping company owned by the Bernhard Schulte Group, an expert in short sea shipping and door to door logistics for north Europe Canary Islands, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco, the statement said."With its over 200 dedicated

collaborators and its network of agencies, the company connects Europe, Scandinavia and North Africa," it said. Said CMA executive officer Farid Salem: "This new acquisition reinforces the group’s presence on the growing intra-European short sea transportation market. This is a continuation of our strategy to broaden our regional network, a strategy which began with the acquisition of MacAndrews in 2002. OPDR operates five services between North Europe and the Canary Islands, Seville and the Canary Islands, north Europe Spain, Portugal and Morocco, north Europe and Morocco as well as north Europe Spain and Scandinavia. "OPDR and MacAndrews joint capacities will reinforce the CMA CGM Group’s intra-European offering, and its tailor made intermodal solutions. Our clients will also benefit from substantial synergies at the CMA CGM Group level," said the company statement. In 2014, OPDR expects to carry over 240,000 TEU, and MacAndrews expects to carry over 290,000 TEU. CMA CGM, the world's third largest container line, is a member of the Ocean Three alliance with United Arab Shipping and China Shipping.In the last few years, the Marseilles shipping line has acquired short-sea operators such as Delmas, ANL, US Lines, CNC, Comanav and MacAndrews with a view to developing feeders for its long-haul trades.OPDR, which goes back to the 19th century, owns seven ships and charters others, and recently teamed up with Containerships to operate a service between Agadir and St Petersburg.The closing of this transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities.

West Africa is down, but not out from Ebola given its resilient box volumes

CONTAINER volumes in and out of West Africa are still strong and are expected to stay that way despite a 30 per cent drop in exports after being hit the hardest by the outbreak of the Ebola virus.The Ebola outbreak led to the International Monetary Fund to reduce its projection from 5.5 per cent growth to five per cent for 2014.First nine-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7tkwq05kk2m5e5q/OPDR CADIZ - 191014 (1)FF.jpg?dl=0�



month container volumes from Asia to West Africa are up 5.4 per cent year on year and terminals are expanding and modernising to cope with the growing volumes, notes London's Drewry Maritime Research."It is this trend that keeps carriers, while alert to the Ebola crisis, resolutely committed to the region," Drewry said in its latest edition of Container Insight Weekly.Bollores Togo Terminal in Lome is being expanded from 300,000 to 1.2 million TEU capacity. Ghana's port of Tema is slated to begin a $1.5 billion expansion that will bring its capacity to 3.5 million TEU, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.

Apart from major expansions planned from Abidjan and Congo's (DRC) Pointe Noire. CMA CGM is injecting US$300 million into its Lekki terminal in Nigeria to bring the terminal's capacity to 2.5 million TEU as Maersk's APM Terminals is adding two berths to its Badagry in that country adding another million TEU capacity. DP World is also adding to the Port du Futur in Senegal, an add-on to the country's port at Dakar, which will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU upon completion Containership capacity jumped 250 per cent in the past five years in the Asia to West Africa trade and is expected to keep growing, said Alphaliner. Source : Asian Shipper

SAL’s CALYPSO spotted arriving in Vlissingen loaded with the carrousel for Van Oord’s new cable lay vessel NEXUS which is under construction in Galati as well loaded onboard 2 harbour ATD 2412 tugs for Svitzer Photo : Arie Boer ©

The new training state of the art training centre in Ostend now operational

The state of the art Falck Safety Services training centre in Ostend Belgium is now fully operational. The training centre is perfectly positioned in harbour area with a satellite location at the end of the pier for maritime training.The main training facilities include an indoor pool with wave, wind and rain simulators to facilitate training as close to real- life situations as possible. The indoor working at heights facility is second to none. Training these modules indoors enables us to plan and carry out our courses without having to take weather circumstances into account. Our fire ground is perfectly suited for basic and advanced fire simulations, with liquid, gas and solid fires, both in- and outdoors. The boat landing site enables realistic scenarios at sea with fast rescue boats, survival crafts, and ladder trainings for offshore personnel. Theoretical training is carried out in pleasant, modern class rooms equipped with the latest audio-visual accessories “…We are very proud of our new training centre; it’s unique in Belgium. Our facilities and instructors are ready to deliver high quality safety training for our clients from the wind, oil and gas, maritime and onshore industries. While we are working hard to increase the range of courses offered in Ostend we are happy to be



part of the international Falck Safety Services Group. This enables us to offer an unseen flexibility and diversity, thanks to our partnership with the other Falck locations…” says centre manager Peter Van Cauwenberghe.

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Antwerp port strike ends Ships started leaving the Port of Antwerp following the end of a 24-hour strike by workers. A spokesperson told IHS Maritime this morning that every ship waiting to leave the port has now left, and that vessels are now also entering. The port is working to clear the backlog, said the spokesperson and that normal operations will resume by 20.00 tonight. Ship movements had been at a standstill as dockers and other port service workers took part in the first of a series of regional strikes over austerity measures planned by the Belgian government. The protests are expected to culminate in a national general strike on 15 December. Source : ihsmaritime360

Great Yarmouth-based offshore firm invests in fleet of new remotely

operated vehicles Fast-growing offshore company Red7Marine Offshore has expanded its subsea services to North Sea clients by investing in a fleet of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The eight observation class ROVs add a new strand to the widening portfolio of best-fit solutions offered by the ambitious marine offshore and subsea contractor. The investment – part of a £25 million investment in equipment this year - also secures more skilled jobs at its Great Yarmouth base.

It is the only fleet based in and operating from the East of England providing a complete range of turnkey subsea services.Such is the demand, the ROVs are already engaged on subsea services for clients in offshore drilling, inshore renewables, cable laying and inland water industries. ROVs are an underwater robots controlled from a surface ship and capable of carrying out a number of tasks underwater.They are used to look at objects or to perform operations like opening valves or carry a host of scientific instruments to take multiple measurements.The purchase is the first step in a wider ROV services plan for the company, including a future purchase of larger ROV systems.The fleet strengthens Red7Marine Offshore’s subsea position after 10 years of extensive diving experience. The ROV rental business was purchased from Forum Energy Technology, bringing jobs for supporting staff. Chief executive Martin Myhill Sisley said: “This investment represents an exciting first step for us in an area of the business that we have already been working and one that we intend to grow with the likely addition of larger ROV systems in the near future.

“An in-house ROV capability along with Red7s’ diving experience strengthens the company’s already significant subsea expertise. This in turn enables us to provide our customers with best-fit solutions, be it from either our own fleet of vehicles or with a managed subcontractor offering larger work class ROV services.”They are already working on ROV projects, supporting both the company’s diving operations and as stand-alone projects. Lachlan Filshie, business development manager, said: “We will be growing our ROV business whilst continuing to provide standalone ROV services to our clients in addition to offering much wider turnkey vessel and subsea services.”“Red7 Marine Offshore is dedicated to the local community providing skilled employment opportunities, whilst serving the needs of the growing offshore renewables and mature oil and gas markets.”Earlier this month, the company announced the acquisition of a new saturation diving vessel, Red7 Alliance, launching its activity in saturation diving, leading to new on and offshore jobs.Red7Marine Offshore currently employs nearly 60 people at its marine base and on Gapton Hall in Great Yarmouth. It opened its Aberdeen office last year and growing its team there.The Red7Marine Group employs a total of 112 plus vessel crewing, more than 200 divers, vessel crews and sub-contractors working across its operations at any time. Source : edp24


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B O E K B E S P R E K I N G Door : Frank NEYTS

“Binnenvaart 2015”. Ook dit jaar pakt Uitgeverij De Alk uit met een nieuwe editie van het standaardwerk “Binnenvaart 2015”. Het jaarboek werd samengesteld door W. Van Heck en A.M. Van Zanten. In 520 pagina’s brengt de publicatie een diepgaand overzicht van alles wat reilt en zeilt in de binnenvaart van de lage landen. Rederijen, scheepswerven, overheidsdiensten, noem maar op, alles wat er op het vlak van binnenvaart in het werkgebied te bespreken valt, komt aan bod. De laatste technische evoluties, de meest recente verschuivingen binnen maritieme groepen, de nieuwbouw binnen de sector, het is moeilijk iets aan te duiden dat niet in dit buitengewoon interessant en volledige boek aan bod komt. Een dikke aanrader dus voor iedereen die in het vakgebied actief is of voor wie van schepen houdt. Bovendien is het boek rijkelijk geïllustreerd met tientallen prachtige (meestal nooit eerder geziene) kleurenfoto’s. ”Binnenvaart 2015” (ISBN 978-90-6013-395-8) telt 520 pagina’s. Het boek werd als softback uitgegeven en kost 25,00 euro. Aankopen kan via de boekhandel. In België wordt het boek verdeeld door Agora Uitgeverscentrum, Aalst/Erembodegem. Tel. +32(0)53.78.87.00, Fax +32(0)53.78.26.91, www.boekenbank.be, E-mail: [email protected].

…. PHOTO OF THE DAY …..

The Japanese Icebreaker "SHIRASE" carrying out re-supply in Fremantle ahead of another expedition to Antarctica. Commissioned in 2009 and at 138m x 28m, "SHIRASE" is named after the Shirase Glacier in Antarctica which in turn is named in honour of Japanese Antarctic explorer, and Amundsen contemporary, Nobu Shirase. "SHIRASE" has a complement of 175 persons including 80 scientists, carries 3 helicopters and is designed to break through first year ice of 1.5m thickness at 3 knots. Photo : John Meade ©

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