daily collection of mar itime press clippings 2014 –...

DAILY COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS 2014 – 211

Distribution : daily to 30225+ active addresses 30-07-2014

Number 211 *** COLLECTION OF MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS *** Wednesday30-07-2014

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

The Damen Shipyards Group built SHABAB OMAN Left the Damen – De Schelde naval

ship yard in Vlissingen for yard trials Photo : Wim Kosten – www.maritimephoto.com (c)

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IN MEMORIAM

Yesterday I received the sad news that

CAPT. JOHAN MAURITS VAN LUIJK “Joop”

Fought, but lost the battle and passed away Oostburg, 8 augustus 1953 Vlissingen 26 juli 2014 Joop started sailing in 1970 with the Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd / KNSM and worked for Jumbo Maritime between 1979 end 1984, followed by Ahlmarco BV, Spliethoff, Flagship Management Six Construction, Besix and in his latest function Joop was Marine plant manager for BAM International Singapore Pte Ltd. Joop’s body lies in state at H. Jobse, Bachweg 2 tot Middelburg. The opportunity to bid him farewell is on Friday, 1st August 10.45 till 11.45 o’clock. Afterwards, there will be a memorial service prior to cremation. After the service, you are invited to share your remembrances of Joop and offer condolences to the family at the same venue. On behalf of all readers and myself I would like to wish Joop’s family, relatives and friends all the strength they need to cope with this tragic loss

**** JOOP, REST IN PEACE **** Correspondence adress: Zuiderzeestraat 60 4388 GT Oost-Souburg The Netherlands



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EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS

Heerema’s BYLGIA en KOLGA in Stavanger – Photo : Patrick Rosenthal ©

Vietnam president inspects new maritime surveillance vessel

A Fisheries Surveillance Force Vessel coded KN 782 built by the Ha Long Shipbuilding Company in Quang Ninh Province was expected to be finished today (July 30) Photo: Thuy Hang President Truong Tan Sang visited a second Dutch-designed Fisheries Surveillance Force vessel that is currently being completed in the northern province of Quang Ninh on Sunday. The ship, coded KN 782, is being built by the state-owned Ha Long Shipbuilding One-Member Limited Company using technology provided by the Damen Shipyards Group.. The 500-DWT ship measures 90.5 meters in length and 14 meters in width. Its four engines command over 12,000 horse power, enabling the vessel to reach speeds of more than 21 nautical miles per hour. It can continuously travel 5,000 nautical miles in a single journey. The vessel is equipped with advanced tools for search and rescue missions. It also features two high-

powered water cannons and a helicopter landing pad on its rear deck. The KN 782 is the second Dutch-designed

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Fisheries Surveillance Force vessel built by the Ha Long Shipbuilding Company. On June 30, the first, KN 781, was handed over to the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Force. Source : thanhniennews

LIFTBOAT MASTER REQUIRED “International Liftboat operator seeks an experienced self propelled liftboat master for work on board their vessel working off Nigeria. Interested applicants please write to :

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Cruise schip Monarch in de spotlight (4) De sluizen van het Panamakanaal

Dit is deel vier van een serie over het cruiseschip Monarch. Els Kroon beschrijft haar belevenissen aan boord en in de aanloophavens.

Het verkennen van een bestemming tijdens een cruise levert altijd een dilemma op: Doen we dat –al dan niet goed voorbereid- op eigen gelegenheid of boeken we een tour aan boord? Voor beide opties valt iets te zeggen. Het grote voordeel van een aan boord geboekte tour is het elimineren van de kans om letterlijk de boot te missen. Gebeurt er iets onverwachts onderweg, dan wacht het schip. Dat is niet het geval voor passagiers, die bijvoorbeeld met een ingehuurde taxi een lekke band krijgen en het nakijken hebben als hun medepassagiers de bestemming aan de reling vaarwel zwaaien. Dat komt nogal eens voor. Er is veel kostbaar kunst- en vliegwerk nodig om in de volgende haven terug te keren aan boord, áls dat al mogelijk is. Passagiers die niet voldoende voorbereid zelf op stap gaan kunnen ook figuurlijk de boot missen. De tijd in de haven is beperkt. Het is zaak die zo goed mogelijk te besteden wil men een indruk krijgen van de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheden. De tours aan boord zijn over het algemeen efficiënt ingedeeld en bieden soms toegang tot exclusieve plaatsen en activiteiten. Maar ze zijn ook prijzig omdat zowel de cruisemaatschappij als de touroperator eraan moet verdienen. Een ander niet onbelangrijk aspect is dat sommige bestemmingen in Midden- en Zuid Amerika qua veiligheid te wensen overlaten. Passagiers op een aan boord geboekte tour hoeven zich daar geen zorgen om te maken. Ook sociaal gezien biedt deze tour voordelen. Niet zelden ontstaan er vriendschappen tussen de deelnemers, die elkaar zowel tijdens als na de cruise weer opzoeken. Samen een avontuur beleven schept immers een band. We zijn aangeland in Colón, de toegangspoort tot het Panamakanaal aan de kant van de Atlantische Oceaan. Een bezoek aan de dichtstbijzijnde sluizen van Gatún, waar schepen in drie stappen 26 meter omhoog worden getild ligt het meest voor de hand. Het is tevens onze enige optie omdat het land ‘plat ligt’ wegens Goede Vrijdag. De tourdeelnemers mogen als eerste van boord. De korte rit naar de sluizen wordt uitgevoerd met luxe touringcars. We rijden door vervuilde straten en langs spoorwegen waaraan Colón haar bestaan dankt. Twee rood-wit geblokte watertorens markeren ‘Monte Esperanza’. We passeren scholen en de wijk Margarita, met haar ommuurde woongemeenschappen voor de constructiewerkers van het uitbreidingsproject van het kanaal. Plotseling bevinden we ons van het ene op het andere moment in een groene jungle. Aan weerszijden van de weg zien we de oorspronkelijke, ondoordringbare begroeiing van het tropische, moerasachtige Panama zoals het er ruim honderd jaar geleden ook uitzag, toen de plannen voor een waterweg, die de twee wereldoceanen met elkaar moest verbinden werden

verwezenlijkt. Naast een onleesbaar stadsbord staat een nieuwe toeristische wegwijzer naar de ‘Esclusas de Colón’ en het observatiecentrum van de kanaaluitbreiding. Even later kunnen we vanaf onze hoge zitplaats in de bus een schimmige blik werpen op het nu al omstreden project. Omvangrijke afgravingen, duidelijk zichtbaar op Google Earth, doen een bulldozer voorkomen als een speelgoedauto. We mogen de werkzaamheden alleen in het voorbijrijden

bewonderen. Ons primaire doel zijn de bestaande, in werking zijnde sluizen, die dit jaar het honderdjarige bestaan vieren. Maar eerst passeren we aan onze rechterzijde gigantische stalen constructies. Vier van de acht roldeuren voor de nieuwe sluizen, die inmiddels via speciaal transport zijn afgeleverd staan nog steeds aan de waterkant te wachten op hun installatie. Hoe deze giganten van 33 meter hoog, 10 meter breed en 57 meter lang op hun plaats van




bestemming moeten komen is nog niet helemaal duidelijk. Onze gids laat zich er laatdunkend over uit. Het is niet het enige probleem waarmee het miljardenproject, dat eigenlijk dit jaar ter gelegenheid van het jubileumjaar zou worden opgeleverd, wordt geconfronteerd. De inferieure kwaliteit van het beton, dat 100 jaar mee moet gaan en bestand moet zijn tegen aardbevingen, zorgde al in de beginfase voor vertragingen. Begin dit jaar bleek er een budgetoverschrijding van maar liefst 1,6 miljard dollar. Hoewel 8000 bouwvakkers non-stop werken aan het project heeft onze gids er weinig vertrouwen in dat de nieuw geprikte opleverdatum van einde 2015 wordt gehaald. Vorige maand werd deze datum inderdaad weer officieel verlegd naar begin 2016. Geen prettig vooruitzicht met de hete adem in de nek van de Chinese HKND groep, die haar plannen voor een interoceanisch kanaal door Nicaragua nu ook gaat doorzetten.

We laten de uitbreiding even voor wat het is en naderen de honderd jaar oude Gatún sluizen. Vanuit de verte zien we het kenmerkende sluiswachtershuis en de hellingen die worden gebruikt door de ‘mules,’ de derde generatie locomotieven die de schepen in de sluiskolken met behulp van kabels in het midden houden en gedurende de passage met ze meerijden. Hoog daarbovenuit torent de vuurtoren, en de

schoorsteen van een containerschip. Het is allemaal te zien vanaf de uitbundig met blauwe vlaggen versierde toegangsweg. We zijn duidelijk niet alleen. Omdat de city- en shopping trips zijn afgelast hebben alle tour geïnteresseerde passagiers gekozen voor een bezoek aan de Gatún sluizen en dat is te merken bij de uitkijkpost, die lang geleden is gebouwd, geen faciliteiten voor gehandicapten heeft en zeker niet berekend is op zo’n grote toeloop. Wie de scheepsbewegingen vanuit de hoogte wil gadeslaan heeft de keuze uit twee observatiedekken, maar moet in ieder geval flink klimmen en zijn ellebogen gebruiken. We hebben anderhalf uur de tijd om het schutten van een of meerdere van de veertig schepen, die dagelijks de sluizen passeren van dichtbij mee te maken. Voor mij is het een déjà vu. Opnieuw ben ik op een gedenkwaardig moment -het honderdjarig bestaan- bij dit ‘achtste wereldwonder’. Veertien jaar geleden zag ik het sluiswachtershuis, getooid met millenniumvlaggen vanaf de brug van de Dawn Princess uit een ander perspectief. Tussen deze twee mijlpalen had ik het genoegen om de acht uur durende doortocht mee te maken aan boord van vrachtschepen. Het zien van het typische sluiswachtershuis maakt emoties los. Weer overvalt mij het diepe respect voor de mensen die dit wonder van de techniek meer dan honderd jaar geleden hebben ontworpen en gemaakt in zo’n moeilijke omstandigheden. Een triomf van de mens op de weerbarstige natuur. Niet zonder slag of stoot. Meer dan

vijfentwintigduizend arbeiders lieten het leven, vooral door tropische ziektes. De aanleg kostte het toen ongeëvenaarde bedrag van 375 miljoen dollar. Sinds de opening in 1914 passeerden meer dan een miljoen schepen de landengte. Op 4 september 2010 werd deze mijlpaal bereikt. Het kanaal in al haar facetten blijft fascineren, ook nu ik het voor het eerst vanaf de kade beleef. Het voordeel van deze mirador is dat je er met je neus bovenop staat, zo dicht dat je de schepen bijna kunt aanraken. Ook de glimmend zilveren mules zijn imposant om te zien. In de nieuwe sluizen wordt hun werk overgenomen door sleepboten. Als de uitbreiding in 2016 voltooid is verdubbelt de

capaciteit van het kanaal. Een nieuw procedé, waarbij het water door middel van spaarreservoirs hergebruikt wordt levert een waterbesparing van 60 % op. De nieuwe sluizen, die 427 meter lang en 55 meter breed zijn openen de deuren voor een nieuwe generatie containerschepen, de Post Panamax schepen. De huidige Panamax schepen zijn maximaal 33 meter breed Om door het Panamakanaal te mogen varen moet tol worden betaald, afhankelijk van het scheepstype, de grootte van het schip en de lading die wordt vervoerd. Er zijn aparte tarieven voor schepen met natte en droge lading, container- en passagiersschepen. Het hoogste bedrag van 420.000 dollar werd betaald door de



Norwegian Pearl. Een doorsnee cruiseschip betaalt 375.000 dollar. Het gemiddelde van 40 schepen per dag wordt na de oplevering uitgebreid naar zeker 50.Nog onder de indruk keren we terug naar ‘ons’ schip dat bij zonsondergang haar weg vervolgt naar de Colombiaanse havenstad Cartagena.

RNLI rescues stricken yachts DUNGENESS lifeboat volunteers were kept busy at the weekend when two vessels suffered problems in the English Channel. The Morrell had been on exercise at the Folkestone Trawler Race on Saturday when two people aboard a 28ft yacht raised the alarm at 11.45am. The Shannon-class lifeboat quickly reached the vessel and a crew member found it had a fouled rudder and propeller, both of which were caught in fishing gear. Coxswain Stuart Adams decided to tow the yacht to Dover. At 2.35pm the lifeboat was called to a German yacht on its way to Calais which was adrift 12 miles off the coast of Dungeness. At 3.40pm the yacht was taken under tow before being passed on to Dover RNLI. Source : folkestoneherald

HAPAG-LLOYD ship ATLANTA EXPRESS inbound to Vancouver harbour july 28 Photo : ROBERT ETCHELL ©

RS classes crew boat trio for the Caspian Sea The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) has signed a contract with Baku Shipyard to class three 38 m high-speed crew boats (designer - SHIPTECH, Singapore) for Azerbaijan State Caspian Sea Shipping Company. Designed by Shiptech in Singapore, the ships are due to be delivered by May 2016 and will be capable of carrying up to 80 personnel and various cargo to offshore installations. The ships are expected to server various fields and areas in the Caspian, including Guneshli, Chiraq, Azeri, Bulla, Pirallahi, West Absheron and Chilov. The Baku shipyard is a joint venture between Keppel Offshore and Marine, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic and the Azerbaijan Investment Company, with shares of 10%, 65% and 25% Source : Seatrade-Global

Bolder and more numerous pirate attacks haunt South China Seas

THERE were eight pirate incidents in South China Sea in the first half, a year-on-year increase of three, according to the Singapore-based regional anti-piracy information hub (RECAAP). However, ReCaap said that total incidents of piracy declined in southeast Asia and the eastern Indian Ocean, with a total of 18 incidents of piracy and 55 of armed robbery, a figure lower than in any year since 2010, reports Lloyd’s List. Robberies in Indonesian ports and along that



nation’s coastline also dropped, a decline that ReCaap attributes to the Indonesian government’s policy of more active policing in the ports since January. However, the eight incidents reported when ships were underway in the South China Sea have raised concerns not only with ReCaap, but also with governments and security experts. “Incidents involving ships underway in the South China Sea were more severe. Being far away from shore, the pirates were relatively bolder and armed with guns, but the were not discharged,” the agency said. There have been six tanker hijackings since April in the border waters of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Most recently the Moresby 9, a Honduras-flagged tanker carrying 2,200 tonnes of marine gasoil and cargo stolen. These hijackings typically target smaller tankers and have led to theft of marine gas oil cargoes through ship-to-ship transfers. Source: Sea News

More tugs called to rescue freighter stuck in Lake. St. Clair

The U.S. Coast Guard has called for more tug boats to help free a freighter that ran aground in Lake St. Clair. A 200-metre long Federal Rideau ran aground in the downbound shipping channel off Peche Island in Lake St. Clair around 3 a.m. Sunday. The vessel grounded because a motor coupling failed, causing a loss of steering. U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit Command Center Chief Jillian Lamb said the vessel lost steering for

60 seconds and that's when it ran aground. The vessel grounded because a motor coupling failed, causing a loss of steering. Lamb said the part has been replaced but the ship remains stuck. One attempt to refloat the freighter failed Sunday, when one of the two tugs on scene had motor issues. Five tugs, three of which are expected to arrive between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday, will truck and free the freighter Monday evening. "Hopefully we have a smooth operation this evening and we can get them on their way," Lamb said. The vessel is loaded with 20,000 tonnes of wheat, bound for Montreal. The United States Coast Guard has checked out the ship and found no pollution resulting from the mishap. The shipping channel remains open, with the Canadian Coast Guard directing one-way traffic Source : CBCNews

Tow release, weather were factors in tugboat death

A Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigation released last Tuesday revealed details about the 2013 death of a tugboat deckhand. A report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says weather and a malfunctioning tow release were factors in a death last year on the Western Tugger. The Western Tugger had the barge Arctic Lift I under tow on May 10, 2013 when the accident took place about 33 nautical miles southwest of Burgeo. While under tow, the barge began to list and the master aboard the tug ordered a deckhand to make adjustments to the tow line.

According to the TSB's investigation, the tow line's emergency release was not functioning properly, due to a secondary brake on the line. As the deckhand attempted to adjust the tow line, the barge capsized. Strain on that secondary brake drum caused it to shatter, and pieces struck and killed the deckhand. The TSB cited many safety problems with the operation, including a tow release that was not capable of being operated immediately, hatches on the barge that were not reliably watertight, and cargo that was unsecured. Weather at the time was also a factor.

Chris Morrow was lead investigator with the TSB. He said the barge which was under tow had previously capsized in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The TSB investigated that incident as well, and found improperly secured cargo was the cause of that mishap. The company that was operating the Western Tugger, St. John's based Miller Shipping Limited, had refloated that capsized barge after purchasing it as is where is from the insurers, according to Miller's website. It was being used to transport steel rebar for the construction of the offshore oil platform for the Hebron project when it capsized off Burgeo. Morrow said the cargo was lost but the barge stayed afloat upside down. The company eventually brought the tug and barge to Mount Carmel. Calls to Miller Shipping Limited were not returned by deadline. The company was in court in June facing charges in relation to the worker's death. The company faces several counts under the Canada Labour Code - breaches resulting in death or injury, failing to ensure that each employee is aware of



all health and safety hazards, failing to ensure supervisors are adequately trained in health and safety and failing to develop a prescribed program for the prevention of hazards in the workplace. That matter has been set over until Aug. 14. Morrow said in light of this incident and others, the TSB is recommending that all vessels be required to make stability calculations before leaving port. Source : Port aux Basques Gulf News

Suez Canal widening to begin this week The Suez Canal’s major deepening project is just over the horizon as crews will start widening and dredging a 34-kilometer strip in order to improve wait times for vessels using the canal. AsiaCruiseNews.com reported today that the long-awaited widening project could take years to complete, but dredging crews will begin within the next week. The canal’s website says the dredging will take the canal from 48 feet to 52 feet. “This project will allow giant container ships heading south to pass through these channels and reduce … total transit time,” the website says. Currently, on a typical day three convoys transit the canal, usually consisting of two

southbound and one northbound trip. It takes between 11 and 16 hours to complete the passage at a speed of eight knots. The Suez Canal has seen record traffic this year, partially because of delays and construction at the Panama Canal. For the first time, on all-water services from Asia to the East Coast, a greater percentage of the shipments will move through the Suez Canal than via the Panama Canal, according to Alphaliner. In May, the Suez Canal Authority reported 526 ships passed through the canal, up 6.9 percent from April’s totals. The number of container ships passing through the Suez in May was the highest since May 2013, when 533 container vessels transited the canal. The ships are also larger than the vessels that make their way through the Panama Canal. Parts of the Suez are 66 feet deep and can accommodate vessels as large as Maersk’s 18,270-TEU Triple E ships. In 2013, Drewry reported the average size of ships passing through the Suez Canal was 7,756 TEUs; the current maximum for ships using the Panama Canal is about 5,000 TEUs. Source : JOC

The Clyde based Svitzer Fleet took the barge AMT TRADER loaded with a deck cargo of the new mid section for the Royal Navy carrier the Prince of Wales being built at Rosyth. This section was built at the BAE yard in Glasgow and the local Svitzer fleet of Anglegarth, Ayton Cross and Svitzer Milford had the task of taking the barge and its cargo the 21 miles down the narrow, twisting river channel to meet the deep sea towing tugs. Photo : Tommy Bryceland, Scotland ©

Controversial China rig resumes work A Chinese oil rig that was the cause of a diplomatic dispute with Vietnam has returned to work after being moved from disputed waters. In May, the 34,000 GT Hai Yang Shi You 981 (HYSY 981), a drilling rig built in 2011 and operated by China Oilfield Services, began exploratory drilling in the disputed South China Sea (SCS), roughly mid-way between the Chinese held Paracel Islands and the Vietnamese coast. The Vietnamese government protested that the action was illegal and dispatched maritime police to the location of the rig. According to a statement from China's Maritime Safety

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Administration, the new location of the rig is 68nm off the south-eastern tip of Hainan Island, which is about 200nm to the north-west of its previous location. The new drilling operation is expected to last until 30 September. The rig's owner, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, said it had been withdrawn after exploratory drilling was complete. Oil and gas reserves have apparently been located. Responding to suggestions that the rig had been moved for diplomatic reasons, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the relocation of the rig was in line with the firm's own plans, and not due to external pressure. Wang Zhen, a senior geological expert at the China Engineering Academy was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying that the rig was moved away from deep water as a precaution ahead of the upcoming typhoon season. Source : IHS Maritime 360

Two children among group rescued by RAF helicopter

TWO children were among a group that had to be winched off their speed boat after it ran aground in Herne Bay harbour. The boy and girl, thought to be aged under 10, were with two men and a women who had to be rescued after their boat got stuck in the mud by the Neptune’s arm. Coastguards were on the scene within minutes of the alarm being raised but decided to call for the RAF rescue helicopter to minimise any delays. Herne Bay deputy station officer Matt Stickels said: “They did absolutely the right thing in staying on the boat and not trying to get off as that could have made the situation 10 times worse Source : canterburytimes

Harvest Natural Resources signs DOC for Gabonese oil block

Harvest Natural Resources has announced that it has signed a declaration of commerciality (DOC) with Gabon for the offshore Dussafu Block Earlier, Gabon had awarded the company an exclusive exploitation authorization (EEA) for the development and exploration of oil discoveries on the Dussafu Block. The EEA provides for exploitation of the pre-salt oil discoveries on the Ruche, Tortue, Moubenga and Walt Whitman prospects. These discoveries will be named, Ruche A, Ruche B, Ruche C and Ruche D respectively and collectively called the Ruche Field, the company said. The proposed field development plan (FDP) includes a single floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) and sub-sea wells, which will be tied back to the FPSO. Once installed, the production infrastructure will allow for rapid and economic development of the full potential in the Ruche Field that will be appraised as part of the exploration plan. Harvest Natural Resources said that it will submit the proposed FDP within the next 90 days for sanction by the government of Gabon. James A. Edmiston, CEO of Harvest Natural Resources, said, “The award of the EEA is a major milestone toward bringing the Dussafu Block into production. In addition, the area of the EEA should enable an efficient exploitation of the numerous defined undrilled structures immediately adjacent to all four discoveries and, as such, we expect the recoverable resources within the EEA to grow considerably in the coming years.” Harvest Natural Resources holds a 66.66 per cent interest in the Dussafu Block through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Harvest Dussafu, B.V., and Panoro Energy ASA holds the remaining 33.33 per cent interest. Source : oil review

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GAIL to buy 1/3 of LNG ships from Indian builders

GAIL (India), under a petroleum ministry directive, has decided to buy a third of the LNG ships it plans to acquire to ferry the fuel from the US to India, from Indian shipbuilders. Considering that the PSU, whose massive LNG imports from the US would start in 2017, has lined up investments to the tune of $7.6 billion for hiring the required specialised vessels, the move would give a big boost to the Indian shipbuilding industry. Domestic players such as L&T and Pipavav are among the obvious beneficiaries of the decision, which is in line with the Modi government's thrust on the domestic manufacturing sector. Although some analysts are doubtful about the feasibility of Indian ship makers meeting such huge demand given their lack of experience in the areas — guarantee for performance of LNG ships for a 20-year period will be part of the contracts — the government, sources said, is of the view that the challenge would force Indian ship makers to shape up. The ministry wrote to the GAIL (India) board which met here on July 7: “(The) Board (may) take cognizance of the provisions contained in the National Manufacturing Policy and in the 12th Plan document of the Planning Commission regarding promotion of indigenous manufacturing in India.” Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan told FE, “someday (large and sophisticated) shipbuilding has to start in India.” A senior GAIL official told FE that the company board has decided to go-ahead with ministry's direction and would soon float the tenders accordingly. “The tender may specify the exact time lines for delivery of vessels, Indian shipyards need to be given more time, as they first need to upgrade the manufacturing facilities,” the official added. GAIL (India), as reported by FE earlier, had drawn up plans to hire a fleet of sophisticated LNG ships to ferry gas from the US to India for 20 years from 2017. The firm had tied up 5.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG imports from the US starting 2017. The PSU wants to charter ‘new build’ ships to transport gas from the US. Step-in right (to GAIL) in the ownership of LNG ships would only be possible for new build ships. Since fuel and other charges are to the charterer's account, GAIL is looking at chartering fuel-efficient ships. GAIL is considering taking up equity stakes of up to 10% in the ships with a seat at the owners’ table to facilitate the company to have an insight into on-board happenings. Currently, about 379 LNG ships are operating globally and another 105 ships are being built/ordered. The specialised carriers are built mostly in South Korea and Japan by companies such as Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, STX and Hanjin Shipyard. In recent years, China has also started making LNG ships. GAIL appointed Lloyd’s Register to carry out assessments if Indian shipyards have the requisite capability of building LNG carrier. The consultant, however, said both L&T and Pipavav would need to create new infrastructure to build these vessels. These firms may require six to seven years to deliver the first LNG ship. Generally, it takes 30 months for Japanese and Korean companies to deliver an LNG ship. Building an LNG ship in an Indian shipyard would involve technical risks in terms of design and integration of the ship system. Moreover, Indian-built ships may be rejected by US terminals, according to consulting firm Integration. Source : financialexpress

GulfMark Offshore Downgraded by RS Platou to Sell (GLF)

GulfMark Offshore (NYSE:GLF) was downgraded by RS Platou from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Friday. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the stock. RS Platou’s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.94% from the company’s current price. A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on GLF. Analysts at Global Hunter Securities downgraded shares of GulfMark Offshore from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Separately, analysts at Credit Suisse reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of GulfMark Offshore in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. They now have a $50.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $60.00. Finally, analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of GulfMark Offshore from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They now have a $45.50 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.42. Shares of GulfMark Offshore traded down 1.44% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.15. The stock had a trading volume of 210,302 shares. GulfMark Offshore has a 52 week low of $39.01 and a 52



week high of $53.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.04 and its 200-day moving average is $44.33. The company has a market cap of $1.033 billion and a P/E ratio of 11.80. GulfMark Offshore last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $131.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $133.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. GulfMark Offshore’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that GulfMark Offshore will post $3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year. GulfMark Offshore, Inc provides offshore marine services primarily to companies involved in the offshore exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Source : intercooleronline

NDURANCE OPERATING OFF VLIELAND

Boskalis NDURANCE operating for Wintershall North of the Dutch island Vlieland The diesel-electric vessel Ndurance is truly a multipurpose DP-2 vessel. This vessel can be outfitted for cable-laying or a wide range of other tasks, including: diving support,subsea rock installation, offshore construction support, salvage assignments and even dredging. The large accommodation houses up to 98 persons. The NDURANCE and her sister NDEAVOR are 7,500 DWT vessels and have a length of 99 meters, a breadth of 30 meters and a design draught of 4.7 meters. A six point mooring system is part of the standard outfitting of the vessels. The NDEAVOR is equipped with a helicopter deck.

Photo : FLYING FOCUS luchtfotografie - www.flyingfocus.nl ©

Subsea 7 invests in Leith spoolbase Global specialist in seabed-to-surface engineering and construction, Subsea 7, has strengthened its already strong pipeline fabrication and installation capabilities in the North Sea market, with the opening of its new, bespoke spoolbase facility, at the Port of Leith, Edinburgh (owned by Forth Ports Limited). During the last 12 months Subsea 7 has invested over £7m in the Leith-based facilities including the development of fabrication and storage facilities making it an integral part of their North Sea portfolio. The facilities at the site are of a very high specification and covers an area of over 30,000m2 including a 170m long fabrication building, 14 production line stations, a pipe storage area with a fully automated pipe handling system. The Leith base will employ up to 75 people when working at normal capacity. Warren Preston, the Spoolbase Manager for Subsea 7 said: “Since restarting operations earlier this summer, the prime location of our Leith spoolbase has further enabled us to deliver cost-effective pipeline fabrication solutions to our clients. Our new field joint coating and welding stations will also enable Subsea 7 to handle a wider range of bespoke and specialist pipeline material. The base at the port in Leith allows us to utilise the nearby quay areas, enabling Subsea 7’s pipelay vessels to simultaneously spool pipelines and load project equipment which minimises vessel time in the port.” Commenting on the investment at the port, Fiona Doherty, Port Manager of Leith said: “We are thrilled that Subsea 7 has committed further to Leith with this significant investment. The port team in Leith played a major part in the engineering activities to develop the spoolbase and we have worked with the other businesses in the port to ensure that the port operated as normal during the redevelopment. Leith is ideally located for Subsea 7’s North Sea Oil and Gas customers as we have the land, water capability and expertise to

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accommodate Subsea 7’s expanding business. Our location on the east coast of Scotland allows short transit to the North Sea offshore projects making the port the idea base for Subsea 7.” The investment in Leith follows Subsea 7’s £10million spend on its Global Pipeline Welding Development Centre near Glasgow which opened in 2013. Leith also adds capacity to and complements Subsea 7’s existing Vigra spoolbase in Norway which opened in 2008 following an investment of £20million. Both investments reflect Subsea 7’s continued commitment to Scotland and the North Sea. Subsea 7 in Leith has worked on many significant projects this year including Dana Petroleum’s Western Isles Development where they fabricated 11km of their thinnest and smallest diameter carbon steel pipe. Source : offshorenergytoday

The SIMONE, (ex MAERSK SIMONE) in Singapore July 23rd – Photo : Maurice Napier ©

Tanker with Iraqi Kurdish crude cleared to unload cargo off Texas

A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan was cleared by the U.S. Coast Guard to unload its cargo at sea off Texas on Sunday as a State Department official signaled Washington would not intervene to block delivery of the controversial crude.Coast Guard officials went aboard the tanker United Kalavrvta on Sunday and verified the ship and crew’s ability to safely offload the oil, a Coast Guard spokesman said. The ship set sail from the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June with a load of crude oil supplied by a new pipeline from the Kurdish oilfields. Trading sources in Texas, New York, London and Geneva have been unable to identify the buyer of the United Kalavrvta’s cargo. The oil could go to any one of the many refineries located along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The ship carries approximately 1 million barrels of crude, which would fetch more than $100 million at international prices. Sale of Kurdish crude oil to a U.S. refinery would infuriate Baghdad, which sees such deals as smuggling, raising questions about Washington’s commitment to preventing oil sales from the autonomous region. The U.S. government has expressed fears that independent oil sales from Kurdistan could contribute to the breakup of Iraq as the government in Baghdad struggles to contain the ultra-hardline Islamic State, a group of Sunni Islamist insurgents who have captured vast areas of the country. But it also has grown frustrated with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s handling of the crisis. The tanker anchored on Saturday night in an area off the port of Galeveston, Texas, where ships too large to transit the Houston Ship Channel offload oil to smaller tankers for delivery to the U.S. mainland. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, the Coast Guard was in communication with the U.S. National Security Council, and departments of State and Homeland Security, said Petty Officer Andy Kendrick. To deliver the crude the tanker only had to show it could do so in compliance with Coast Guard regulations, Kendrick said. “We didn’t have any extra stuff to impose on them,” he said. Crude offloading could begin as soon as the ship arranges a contract with a company that performs lightering, as the process is called, he said. Lightering, depending the size of the cargo, can take several hours and even days. Attempts to contact the ship’s owner and the vessel itself were unsuccessful. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity on Sunday because of the sensitivity of the issue, said officials were well aware the ship’s location and cargo. “This is a private commercial matter,” the official said. “Our policy has not changed. Iraq’s energy resources belong to all of the Iraqi people. As in many cases involving legal disputes, the United States informs the parties of the dispute and recommends they make their own decision with advice of counsel.” Washington has pressured companies and governments not to buy crude from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), but it has stopped short of banning purchases by U.S. firms. The KRG has renewed its push for an independent state amid the latest violence roiling Iraq. Its relationship with Baghdad has deteriorated over what it sees as Maliki’s role in stoking the crisis and the long-running dispute over oil sales. Baghdad has threatened to sue anyone that buys Kurdish oil. Source: Reuters (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington, David Sheppard in London, editing by David Evans and Cynthia Osterman)



Left : The 48.8 mtr long FAIRPPLAY-33 outbound from Rotterdam, the AHT is built in 2011 at Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries S.A./ Romania and is powered by 2 MAN STX 6L32/40 @ 3.000 KW engines total 6.000 KW for a maximum bollard pull of 103 tons FAIRPLAY’s range of tugs provides towage services in various European ports. From Hamburg the ports of Wedel and Stade on River Elbe are served. From Rostock all ports along the German Baltic coast are taken care of. Furthermore Fairplay is active in Rotterdam, Antwerp and the Polish ports of Szczecin, Swinoujscie and Gdynia. Select tugs, such as the FAIRPLAY-33 are used in deep sea towage, primarily between Europe, the US, Africa and the Mediterranean and in offshore

services for oil-majors around the globe Photo : Nico Ouwehand ©

Ship owners’ demand of new vessels dented as a result of lower freight rates The sharp downward direction of dry bulk freight rates has had a negative impact on investors’ secondhand buying appetite that wait to see the direction of asset prices and the levels of dry bulk freight rates as we move towards the end of the third quarter of the year. This according to the latest monthly report from shipbroker Golden Destiny, commenting on the second hand and newbuilding markets. The shipbroker noted that the first half of the year ends with negative sentiment in the dry bulk segment, while some spikes of upward momentum are seen in the tanker market and containers are trying to keep an upward momentum following the implementation of General Rate Increases. Still, according to Golden Destiny, “long term prospects for dry bulk segment are still considered to be positive as China maintains its 7.5% GDP growth target and the first half of the year ended with an 19% year-on-year increase in Chinese iron ore imports. The downward incline of dry bulk freight rates has started to influence the direction of asset prices. According to the assessments from Baltic Exchange, the value of a 5yrs old capesize bulker was at region of $50mil at the end of April, while it has now dropped to region $47,2mil, the value of a panamax bulker has decreased to about $25mil from 27,5mil at the end of April and the value of a supramax bulker has declined to about $25mil from $26,5mil. In the wet segment, asset prices keep on the high side with the value of a 5yrs old VLCC at about $73mil, from 70,6mil at end April, the value of an aframax at about $37,1mil from $36,7mil and the value of a MR-handymax tanker at about $26,6mil from $28,4mil. In contrast with the slowdown of second hand purchases, newbuilding activity keeps hot with shipping players ordering a large volume of units in the ultramax bulker segment at Chinese yards, emerging stronger in the construction of new vessels in the crude tanker segment at South Korean yards, while they follow more conservative approach for container newbuildings. The hot ordering appetite is pushing upwards newbuilding prices with the cost of construction of VLCCs rising to even more than $100mil and prices for capesize newbuildings -208,000dwt fetching even $60mil”, said the shipbroker. It added that “overall, S&P activity in the secondhand market for June 2014 ended at almost similar levels seen in June 2013 with stronger purchasing appetite for secondhand tankers and downward momentum in bulker and container purchases. Scrapping activity ended with a higher volume of business reported in June 2013 due to larger volume of disposals in the tanker, liner and container segment. The scrapping appetite seems that will be higher during the third quarter of the year due to the persistent downward dry bulk momentum, as the second quarter of 2014 ended with 16% increase from the volume of vessel disposals reported in the first three months of 2013″. Meanwhile, “despite the decrease of secondhand purchases during June, the first six months of 2014 ended with 24% year-onyear increase in the average number of weekly reported S&P transactions( 31 vessels from 25

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vessels in 2013), up by 27% year-on-year and up by 48%, compared with 21 vessel purchases in the first six months of 2012. In the newbuilding market, the ordering levels remain excessive at 94% higher levels than the volume of secondhand purchases and represent 46% higher levels than last year (60 new orders on average reported per week in January-June 2013) and up by 140% from 2012 levels. (25 new orders on average reported per week in January-June 2012)”. Finally, “in the demolition market, the scrapping appetite of shipping players is floating at lower levels than last year as it keeps pace at 16 vessel disposals per week, on average, from 18 in 2013 and 2012. It remains to be seen if the third quarter of the year will reverse the downward momentum as June ended with 22% month-on-month increase in the volume of vessel disposals”, Golden Destiny concluded. Source : Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Congestion worsens at Rotterdam, spreads to Antwerp, Hamburg

Worsening congestion at the port of Rotterdam has prompted two short sea and feeder shipping lines to impose surcharges of around $100 per container. Shippers could also be hit by congestion surcharges at one of Hamburg’s largest terminals, and Antwerp is showing the first signs of cargo bottlenecks as the European vacation season gets into full swing. Team Lines, a German feeder operator, said the situation in Rotterdam has not shown “any significant improvements” since the end of May, when it was experiencing berthing delays of up to 48 hours at the ECT Delta terminals. The terminals “are still facing severe congestion and the operational constraints are increasing,” leading to extra costs and disruptions to its schedules at Europe’s largest container port, the company said. Team Lines said it will impose a surcharge of €75 ($102) per 20-foot container from August 1 until further notice for all vessels arriving at and departing from the ECT Delta and Euromax terminals to compensate for the extra costs caused by the congestion.

OPDR, a German short sea carrier, said it has no option but to levy a €75/TEU surcharge on all containers handled at the ECT Delta and Euromax terminals from August 1 in response to the months-long congestion, which has “huge impacts on our schedule integrity and, moreover, causes great costs.”.

Contargo, a leading container barge operator, announced a congestion surcharge of €15 per container through August for cargoes transported to and from Rotterdam to cover additional costs for unloading at different terminals, trucking within the port, reducing its capacity and chartering additional barges. Contargo said its vessels have faced increasingly long delays at Rotterdam terminals, with “processing times of 50 hours, peaking at up to 90 hours ... no longer unusual.” Processing times have increased by a third since April, it said. The congestion in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest container port, is blamed on the late arrival of deep-sea container vessels, system outages and labor shortages. The berthing delays at ECT Delta are also related to an upgrade involving the installation of five new quay cranes, automated guided vehicles and automated staking cranes. ECT is owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings. The logistics software firm CargoSmart reported in June that delays at Northern European ports appear to be associated with larger vessels. Short sea and feeder carriers, barge operators and truckers are also bracing for delays at Europe’s second- and third-largest container ports, Hamburg and Antwerp, as longshoremen go on vacation at the height of the peak shipping season. The increasing deployment of mega-ships, particularly on the Asia-Europe route, also is creating greater volume peaks that are straining terminal capacity in the Le Havre-Hamburg port range. “Now that the holiday season has begun, frst signs of bottlenecks are appearing in Antwerp too,” according to Contargo, which said it is keeping a very close eye on the processing situation at the Belgian port “so that counter measures can be taken in good time.”

Team Lines said it is facing continuing operational problems at HHLA’s Hamburg Burchardkai terminal and has received further warnings about delays in the dispatch of vessels at the German port. The company warned in March that it was facing problems at other German hub ports “where the terminals are congested, suffering slower operations and lacking in berth capacity.” The congestion at Rotterdam and Hamburg is on a scale last witnessed during the global container boom of the early to mid-2000s, according to Drewry Maritime Research. HHLA last week said it is hiring 50 extra workers at the terminal on top of the 100 hires last year, some of whom are still being trained, as part of a plan to deal with ever-increasing peaks in container shipments. “Everyone in the logistics chain has to accept that peak loads will occur more regularly than before as we go forward,” said Heinz Brandt, HHLA’s chief human resources officer. “The constantly rising peak loads place serious operational demands on logistics companies and mean significant strain for the [HHLA] staff members. Our employees have met these challenges head on,” he said. The Burchardkai terminals handled 63 ocean-going vessels with more than 3,000 container moves per vessel in the first of 2014, compared with 29 vessels in the first half of 2008. Peak loads for rail containers have increased by 21 percent since 2008 and those for trucks are up almost 11 percent, HHLA said. Trucking companies have imposed a traffic



congestion surcharge of €40 per haul within Hamburg city limits and €80 beyond the city boundary.HHLA said it denies “all of the talk about go-slows or absenteeism because of the [soccer] World Cup.” Source : JOC

The CMA CGM BLUE WHALE moored in Bahia de Salvador – Photo : Ko Rusman ©

Evergreen Enhances UK and Ireland Services

Global container carrier Evergreen Line announced enhancements to its services to/from Dublin (Ireland) and Liverpool (Northwest England). From its hub in Rotterdam, the line will offer a twice-weekly service to Dublin and dedicated slots on a weekly basis to Liverpool. The move is designed to more effectively integrate the line's services to/from the North of England and Ireland with its extensive global network, the company said. Evergreen will run its own independent service on a weekly shuttle basis between Rotterdam and Dublin and will also commence a slot

exchange arrangement with common carrier X-PRESS feeders on its weekly Dublin service from Rotterdam. As part of the same slot exchange Evergreen will additionally take space on the X-PRESS weekly service to Liverpool, also connecting to deep-sea line-haul service via the line's Rotterdam hub.

Photo : Henk van der Heijden ©

Evergreen sees the combination of its own vessel operation together with exclusive use of slots on a well-established feeder

service as a significant improvement to the service it can deliver to its customers in two very important regions of trade. The arrangement meets both customer demands for regular and reliable service to Northwest U.K. and Ireland and cost-effective operational parameters. Overall transit times to and from both ports will be enhanced and there will be an increased ability to coordinate the transshipment of cargo at Rotterdam. In addition to allowing its customer base on Merseyside and in the Republic of Ireland greater access to its worldwide service network, Evergreen believes the new initiative will also better serve other regions of the U.K., including the North of England, Midlands and Scotland. With road transport becoming increasingly susceptible to unforeseen delays, customers requiring a more carbon-free approach to transport and fuel costs ever a consideration, Evergreen believes the short-sea option to be an important one to develop. The above seen Evergreen operated VEGA STOCKHOLM has a capacity of 698 TEU and is due to make the inaugural sailing on the Dublin service from Rotterdam today(July 30). The slot arrangement on both X-PRESS services to Dublin and Liverpool will commence in the same week. Source : MarineLink / evergreen-line.com

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CCNI and Hamburg Süd sign preliminary agreement

Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica S.A. (CCNI) with headquarters in Valparaiso, Chile and Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft KG (HSDG) with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany have signed a preliminary agreement on merger deal, the German operator said. Under the agreement HSDG will acquire the container liner activities of CCNI including the related general agency functions subject to Due Diligence, execution of a Sale & Purchase Agreement and approval by the competent authorities. This acquisition is scheduled to be executed by the latest on December 31, 2014. HSDG intends to strengthen its liner network to and from South America by integrating the CCNI liner services. Merging the dedicated and experienced workforce of CCNI and HSDG will help to create an even stronger organization that will provide a first class service to the customers of both companies. Following the transaction CCNI will continue its non-liner shipping activities including the car carrier and ship-owning business. Hamburg Süd employs more than 4,700 staff. It operates 174 ships and maintains a global inventory of some 349,000 containers in a wide array of sizes and configurations and strategically positioned to meet the regional and seasonal needs of our customers. Hamburg Süd is part of the successful Oetker Group, one of the largest and best-known family businesses in Germany. Source : PortNews

Pirates Shoot Seafarer in Neck Pirates have shot a seafarer in the neck after boarding an anchored product tanker, two miles off Teluk Ramunia, Malaysia, on Friday. According to sources, cash, personal belongings and possibly fuel were stolen by the seven armed Indonesians that boarded the tanker MT Ji Xiang which is registered in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Local authorities were able to intervene, and in their haste to escape, the pirates left two pistols and a machete on the vessel which was carrying 14 crew comprising seven Myanmars, a China national and six Indonesians.

A maritime patrol boat gave chase but lost them in the waters off a neighbouring country. The seafarer who was shot is now recovering in hospital. For Lieutenant (Military Retired) Dave Daniel Rachimi, CEO of the maritime security organization, World MarSec Union, help in this sort of situation is often too late, too little and too far away. “With endless heartbreaking results for seafarers, shipowners, and officers at sea, we all know the results of piracy,” he said.

“It is plain to see that the authorities in and around the waters of Singapore do not react or are not equipped to react to any emergent situation in order to secure ships in these dangerous waters. The Union knows, however, that under these dangerous conditions it takes just four savvy armed guards to secure any mission.” It is time for action, he says. “Since the beginning of this year seven confirmed hijacks have taken place in the South Malaysian waters, among them the tanker MT Ji Xiang, MT Orapin 4 and MT Oriental Glory.

“It is financially practicable to place three armory vessels along the main shipping routes of the Straits of Malacca (north, center, and south) and then give all commercial shipowners the option to secure their ships, without needing to challenge the local authorities with endless begging for weapons and port entry permits with arms that will never come. The model of armed secured and savvy armory vessels in international waters that is being employed in the Red Sea and Fujairah can also be employed in the Straits of Malacca.” Source : MAREX

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Sri Lankan Navy arrests 50 fishermen Fifty fishermen from Nagapattinam and Karaikal have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel for allegedly fishing near the Lankan coast. This is the second time this week that Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Lankan Navy. The fishermen, who were arrested around midnight last night, have been taken to Kankesanthurai along with their five mechanised boats and two country boats, 'Q' branch Inspector Kennedy and fishermen's association secretary S Emirit told a news agency.

The fishermen were arrested when they were fishing almost close to the Lankan coast, officials here said. Joint Director of Fisheries Subburaj said they have also received information about the arrest. On July 22, 38 fishermen from Kottaipattinam and Rameswaram were arrested by the Lankan Navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line. Fishermen of Ramanathapuram district have been boycotting fishing since July 24 highlighting their demands including putting an end to frequent "arrests and harassment" by Sri Lankan Navy personnel.

Reiterating her government's 'firm commitment' to restore traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Bay and retrieval of Katchatheevu," Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had last week written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the Centre's intervention in securing the release of the fishermen. Source : zeeNews

Nigeria: Navy Arrests Two Vessels, 25 Persons for Oil Theft

Twenty-five persons and two ocean-going vessels involved in illegal bunkering activities have been arrested by the men of the Nigerian Navy, along the waterways of the Niger Delta in Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

The two seized vessels identified as MV Hanan, which has nine crew member and MV Alezza Lilah with 14 Nigerians, a Ghanaian and a Camerounian, were arrested with over 300,000 metric tonnes of stolen and illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) on board the vessels. According to the Commanding Officer of the Naval Forward Operating Base (FOB) NNS Formoso on Brass Island, Navy Capt. Noel Madugu, whose men made the arrest, "the MV HANAN L was intercepted by NNS Obula at 23 nautical miles, South-west of Pennington when their actions became suspicious. The vessel with it crew of nine persons was arrested owing to the presence of Automotive Gas Oil on board." At the handing over of the arrested crew to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) which was represented by the Assistant Commandant, NSCDC, Bayelsa, Mr. Anyanwu George, Madugu gave the names of the suspected oil thieves as Bewaji O.O, captain; Obamuwagin A; Ayenamelo Sunday; Joseph Omope; John Ezen; Emmanuel Bassey; Uwem Francis; Kingsley Ayobi and Fred Amabebe. He said the vessel had six tanks fully loaded with AGO but had no bunkering approval on board at the time of arrest.

"The crew claimed the approval, other documents and other valuables were taken from the vessel by sea pirates when they were attacked. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the vessel was operating on behalf of Danyomile Marine Services Limited of Suite 1, LSDPC Shopping Complex, Agege, Lagos State. The document claims MV HANAN L was granted approval to load 70 metric tonnes of AGO from Petrostar Nigeria Limited storage tank in Port Harcourt vide NHQ111744. However, when questioned, the captain of the vessel Bewaji Olayinka said he loaded about 100 metric tonnes of AGO on board." "The captain also claimed he loaded from Port Harcourt. Effort to reach Petrostar proved abortive as the captain had no contact in the company. A sample of the product on board was taken for laboratory analysis following the Joint Military Task Force procedure. The product analysis was conducted at Nigeria Agip Oil Company's laboratory at Brass and the result indicated the product to be AGO. The value obtained was against the diesel product limitation."

Madugu said the base patrol team on routine patrol of the creeks arrested the 16 persons and intercepted the vessel along Brass River, "the MV Alezza Llilah was laden with 100,000 litres of AGO when arrested. On enquiry, the captain, Mr. Egbayelo Charles, disclosed that the vessel was owned by one Jude Ilo of Ajilo International Limited." He further said the vessel loaded 100,000 litres of illegally refined AGO from a wooden boat in a creek along the Brass river and was heading for the sea. He said the captain also presented an NHQ approval authorising the vessel to receive 150,000 litres of AGO from barge Lecon II at Agbara offshore and to discharge at Sahara tank farm in Lagos.

Madugu gave the names of the suspects as Egbayelo Charles, Lawrence Sosoo, Iboho Alen, Obiora Sunday, Isaac Essen, Kingsley Anikoro, Simeon Ohinomado and Ime Ubong. Others were Joseph Thomas, Nseh Oboy, Secondi Philip, Uwuobiri Prebai, Emmanuel Abel, Edmomd Okoye and Baba Matthew. He said he handed the suspects and the vessels to the NSCDC in compliance with the directive of the Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, for further



investigation. One of the suspects, John Essien, said he did not know their vessel, MV HANAN L was illegal. Source : Allafrica

NAVY NEWS USNS Richard E. Byrd Rescues Nine

Individuals in the Gulf of Oman USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4), a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship, rescued nine crew members from a

Yemeni-flagged cargo vessel that had lost power, was taking on water and was adrift in the Gulf of Oman, July 28, at approximately 9:00 a.m. local. The crew from Asaed requested assistance and Byrd was the first ship on scene. Asaed crewmembers departed their vessel via the ship's own lifeboat and maneuvered to Byrd, where they were safely recovered. There are no reports of casualties or injuries to personnel. The Yemeni sailors are being further evaluated by Byrd's medical

team. The Navy will coordinate the sailors' transfer ashore. Richard E. Byrd is currently on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts

U.S. Navy Ships Arrive at Changi Naval Base in Advance of CARAT Singapore 2014 CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore (NNS) -- USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Halsey (DDG 97) were in port Singapore July 28 in advance of the 2014 Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)exercise with the Republic of Singapore Navy. Under the command of Destroyer Squadron 7, the two ships will participate in a number of in port exchanges and underway evolutions with their Singaporean counterparts. "The RSN is one of the world's most capable navies and a terrific partner in this incredibly important maritime region of the world," said Capt. Fred Kacher, DESRON 7 commodore and co-commander of the exercise's task group. "Over the next week, our two navies will execute one of the most advanced underway programs in the CARAT exercise series and I can't wait to see our navies working together again at sea." Singapore has partnered with the U.S. Navy since CARAT began in 1995. This year's iteration covers a broad range of naval complexities to include surface gunnery and air defense exercises, search and rescue, shipboard helicopter operations and maritime interdiction. The highlight of this year's sea phase will be an anti-submarine warfare exercise involving USN and RSN helicopters, as well as RSN ships, where torpedoes will be launched against an underwater target.

Wayne E. Meyer, on a routine deployment from San Diego, arrived in Singapore last week following operations in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait. "We are honored to be able to participate in CARAT Singapore with the RSN, as part of the premier naval exercise series in Southeast Asia," said Cmdr. Randy J. Van Rossum, commanding officer, Wayne E. Meyer. "This exercise provides our armed forces an opportunity to work together to sharpen our skills and learn from each other to continue our shared vision of regional security and stability."

Currently on the first half of its 2014 deployment, Halsey arrived in Singapore to finalize exercise preparations. "The 300 proud destroyermen of Halsey are excited to be training with DESRON 7, Wayne E. Meyer and the RSN for our first official exercise of our deployment," said Cmdr. Linda C. Seymour, Halsey commanding officer. "Partners like the Singaporeans are absolutely crucial to maintaining stability and freedom of navigation in the Pacific, something our namesake so dearly cherished." CARAT Singapore officially began July 29 and continues through Aug. 8, 2014. In its 20th year, CARAT is an annual, bilateral exercise series with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the armed forces of nine partner nations including Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste. Source : US Navy



New China drills in disputed waters set to rile tensions

China is holding military drills across the East and South China Seas that may further disrupt domestic air travel and add to tensions with neighbours over territorial disputes in the region. Beijing begins five days of drills in the East China Sea tomorrow, the Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on its website. Those exercises, which the ministry called routine, come while China is holding live-fire drills off Beibu Bay, or the Gulf of

Tonkin, near Vietnam and drills in the Bohai Strait that both end on Friday. While the scale of the current drills is bigger than in the past, it is a coincidence the annual exercises are being held at the same time, Beijing News reported today, citing Mr Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the Navy Military Research Institute. President Xi Jinping has been expanding the reach of the country’s navy and using the added muscle to more aggressively assert territorial claims in the region. Chinese and Japanese ships regularly tail one another off disputed islands in the East China Sea, while deadly anti-Chinese riots broke out in Vietnam in May after China set up an oil rig in waters also claimed by that country. The Philippines has sought United Nations arbitration in its maritime spat with China. Beijing claims much of the South China Sea, which may be rich in energy and mineral deposits, under its nine-dash line map first published in 1947. The line extends hundreds of miles south from China’s Hainan Island to equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo, taking in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In the East China Sea, Japan and China both lay claim to a chain of uninhabited islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu by the Chinese. The United States has said it will come to Japan’s defence in any clash over the islands. With the current drills, “what’s different from the past is that China is doing it in a more high-profile way, which does make China appear to be raising military tensions”, said Mr Suh Jin Young, a professor emeritus of Chinese politics at Seoul’s Korea University. “But in Chinese eyes, the tensions were begun by the US and Japan, and China thinks it’s only conducting what it has been doing annually.” In a rare sign of military cooperation with the two countries, however, China is participating alongside the US and Japan in the five-week-long Rim of the Pacific Exercise that runs through Friday in waters off Hawaii. Beijing’s four ships make up the second-biggest naval contingent after the US of the 22 nations taking part. The current Chinese military activity is also having repercussions on the mainland. China Southern Airlines said yesterday that its flights in the eastern part of the country might experience large-scale delays because of special activities. Airlines last week were ordered to cut a quarter of their flights at a dozen airports, including two in Shanghai, because of “high frequency exercises”, the state media reported on Tuesday. Source : Todayonline

Second Mistral Warship to Head Russia's Mediterranean Fleet

Russian amphibious vehicles driving in formation during celebrations to mark Navy Day in the port of Vladivostok. The Russian navy said during Sunday’s Navy Day celebrations that a French-made Mistral-class carrier will become the flagship of its budding Mediterranean Fleet, while Western leaders continue to pressure Paris into withholding the delivery of the warships. Russia ordered two Mistral ships from France in 2011 in a deal worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion), but events in Ukraine have elicited Western calls for the contract to be torn up amid fears that Moscow has designs on reforging its lost empire. The calls intensified following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, which several Western leaders have pinned on Russian-backed separatists in the region.

France has so far stood its ground on the delivery of the first ship, the Sevastopol, which is set to be handed over by the end of 2014. However, Paris has said that the delivery of a second Mistral warship, the Vladivostok, in 2016 depends on Russia’s future behavior regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

What’s in a Name? The Soviet Union maintained a permanent presence in the Mediterranean Sea toward the end of the Cold War. Known as the Fifth Squadron, the unit there drew many of its vessels from the Black Sea Fleet, whose base at the Crimean city of Sevastopol put it closer to the Mediterranean Sea than any other Russian fleet. Some Western analysts have said the first ship will be stationed in Sevastopol, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March. Given that the ship is



called the Sevastopol, that assertion seemed logical. But logic does not always count for much. A navy spokesman told Interfax on Sunday that the second ship has “every opportunity” to become the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet by 2016.

If that turns out to be the case, it stands to reason that the Vladivostok will be based in Sevastopol due to the port’s proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. The port of Sevastopol’s underdeveloped infrastructure makes it difficult to imagine either Mistral being stationed there, but with two years remaining before the Vladivostok joins the Mediterranean Fleet, there is time for the facilities to be brought up to scratch. The Black Sea Fleet’s admiral, Alexander Vitko, said Sunday that the Sevastopol base is due for some serious upgrades, but he did not say whether a berth for a Mistral carrier was on the agenda, Interfax reported. “We have begun the construction of new naval stations and airfields,” Vitko said, adding that new aircraft for the fleet have already been flown in, and that new ships will begin arriving this year to receive them. A port capable of housing and servicing Mistral-class carriers is currently being built in Vladivostok, the home of the Pacific Fleet, and is due to be completed in 2015.

Future Plans Looking further ahead, the Black Sea Fleet will receive 20 new vessels by 2020, Vitko said during the celebrations in Sevastopol — where, for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, combat vessels banded together to put on a live-fire exercise against helpless barges before crowds of Crimean residents gathered on the shoreline. Vitko said that the festivities were attended by 50 combat units from the Black Sea Fleet, and that the combat capabilities displayed on Sunday were “about 10 percent of what we were able to show.” A similar display of naval power took place on Sunday at the Northern Fleet’s station of Severomorsk near Murmansk, with President Vladimir Putin in attendance.

Standing aboard the deck of the only aircraft carrier that Russia has ever built, the Admiral Kuznetsov, Putin declared that one of Russia’s primary goals is strengthening the combat capabilities of the Black Sea Fleet.

The rearmament of the Black Sea Fleet, the re-establishment of the Mediterranean Fifth Squadron, and the ongoing saga of the Mistral carriers are taking place against the backdrop of the Russian navy’s larger modernization drive, which itself is part of Russia’s $700 billion military rearmament campaign through 2020. The Defense Ministry announced Sunday that the navy will receive more than 50 warships and support vessels of various classes by the end of 2014, RIA Novosti reported.

Among these vessels are several new hulls of the Borei- and Yasen-type nuclear-powered submarines, new diesel electric submarines, and a spectrum of support vessels such as patrol boats, rescue boats, minesweepers, transport and assault ships. The Defense Ministry added that a number of these vessels are destined for the Black Sea Fleet. In the near term, the base at Sevastopol is set to receive six Krivak-class frigates and six Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines. Meanwhile, the Caspian Flotilla will receive several of the new Buyan-class corvettes. Source : moscowtimes

Soaring Russian nuclear submarine construction dwarfed post-Soviet dismantlement spending

After nearly two decades that saw more than $20 billion in foreign funding help dismantle derelict nuclear submarines in Russia’s Northern Fleet – ridding the country of countless Cold War legacy radiological hazards – Moscow is spending more than 30 times that to reestablish itself as the preeminent nuclear submarine force in the world, Russian and other news outlets have reported. There is no shortage of jingoism driving the massive build out of 10 new military submarines at a cost of $659 billion, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense in a budgetary document (in Russian) detailing its spending in 2014 and 2015, compiled in 2012

Russia has justified the push to broaden its attack and ballistic submarine capabilities to tighten its grip of the Arctic and its vast oil and gas prospecting activities. The staggering defense outlays are unlikely to raise domestic questions amid a steady drumbeat of anti-western propaganda that has become all-pervasive media fare since the Ukraine crisis began in March. On July 19, the Russian navy laid down the keels for three new vessels at the White Sea’s Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk – one for the strategic missile sub Knyaz Oleg, of the much-touted fourth generation Borei submarine class, as well as those for the Khabarovsk and the Krasnoyarsk, both slated as fourth generation Yasen Class subs, the Barents Observer news portal reported. The new sub builds bring the total under construction at Sevmash to 10, the most subs under construction at once since the Soviet times, the portal said. The 10 are scheduled to be seaworthy by 2020, though expensive and protracted delays with the Severodvinsk, which was finally commissioned to the Russian Navy in June after 23 years of construction, likely mean the finish dates are fluid. The 10 subs presently being built will join another 24 nuclear subs that are still in service in Russia’s Northern Fleet. It remains unclear if all the subs under construction at Sevmash will go to the Northern Fleet, or if some will be distributed to the Pacific Fleet,



based near Vladivostok, the Barents Observer reported. The remaining submarines under construction are two Yasen Class subs called the Kazan and the Novosibirsk, and two Borei Class subs, the Vladimir Monomakh, and the Knyz Vladimir, the portal reported. Both classes already have one sub at sea: the Yury Dolgoruky of the Borei Class and the Yasen’s Severodvinsk. The Barents Observer said that Sevmash, possibly in conjunction with St. Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyard, is also building two more special purpose submarines. It reported one of these submarines could be a sister vessel to the Losharik, also under construction, and which is a special deep diving titanium hulled vessel for work on the sea floor. Bellona General Manager and nuclear physicist Nils Bøhmer said the new sub build up threatens to unseam decades of western aid toward dismantling old Cold War era subs and safely securing their spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste – projects post-Soviet Russia simply could not afford on its own. The hundreds of billions going into the new sub classes, he said, is a slap in the face to these and other western funded nuclear clean up efforts in Russia, as it shows clearly that Moscow has the cash to mop up its own mess. “There are still huge amounts of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel at [the former sub fuel storage site at] Andreyeva Bay that need to be addressed correctly,” Bøhmer said.

“As tension grows between Russia and the rest of the world as the crisis in Ukraine deepens, it’s unlikely that the huge international resources available in the past will again materialize to continue these clean up efforts,” he said, adding that, “the building of new submarines in Russia shows it has the financial resources to put toward Cold War legacy clean up as well.” The all but defunct US-based Nunn-Lugar, or Cooperative Threat Reduction program, helped decommission dozens of Yankee and Delta Class Russian ballistic missile submarines since 1992, and safely store their waste. The Barents Observer noted that European countries from the UK to Norway, as well as Canada and South Korea paid to dismantle attack and multi-purpose submarines – most in miserable, rusted-out condition under constant threat of sinking – which were not covered by the Nunn Lugar agreement. Norway devoted millions to dismantling four submarines at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk and the Nerpa shipyard near Murmansk, the Barents Observer said. Norway also took part in the delicate transport of a dilapidated November class submarine to dismantlement, a $3 million project. The former G-8 – now the G-7 after Russia’s ouster over its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine – likewise poured $20 billion into remediating nuclear hot spots in Russia between 2003 and 2013, with the aim of preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states. This funding never included dismantling and safe storage for spent nuclear fuel among Russia’s decommissioned nuclear powered battle cruisers, like the Admiral Ushakov. This vessel has been bobbing at quayside, its two pressurized water reactors loaded with spent fuel, at the Zvezdochka shipyard for 17 years. The yard’s director, Vladimir Nikitin, recently made an appeal to the Russian government for help to safely dismantle the vessel, the costs of which he estimates will exceed dismantling a nuclear submarine by 10 times. The b-port news portal based in Murmansk reported (in Russian) that no funding to do anything with the vessel is expected from federal coffers until 2016 – yet another in a series of long delays.

Yet for the towering funds infused by the West for nuclear remediation, Russia is outspending the G-8 efforts by some 30 to one. The Yasen Class debut submarines, the Severodvinsk, cost $1.5 billion. This equals the cost of two Borei class nuclear subs – the first of which was launched in 2008 – or the cost of 50 SU-35 fighter planes. The Kazan, the second of the Yasen Class line, is expected to be twice as expensive as its older brother, according to the official Izvestia newspaper. If there is any silver lining to the new build out, it is that the new submarine reactors are not expected to significantly add to waste already accrued at places like Andreyeva Bay, said Alexander Nikitin, chairman of the Environmental Rights Center (ERC) Bellona, and a former submarine captain. He said the new vessels have new reactor installations that might not require refueling for at as many as 15 years after their launch, thus cutting down on the amount of spent fuel from them that would have to be stored. He added, however, that little is known of the new reactors and authoritatively discussing their future contribution to accrued spend nuclear fuel was difficult Source : Bellona

Nuclear submarine "Vladimir Monomakh" completes Phase 1 state trials

New generation Borei class ballistic missiles nuclear-powered submarine "Vladimir Monomakh" has completed the first phase of the state tests, Severodvinsk based shipbuilder Sevmash said. The sea trials included the vessel's systems tests and conformance to her technical specifications. Ship's trials passed normally. Despite the large number of automation implemented on board the submarine all system have worked in strict accordance with a predetermined program. The crew and commissioning team have successfully completed the first phase of state trials and are ready for further work in the sea," said Sevmash general director Mikhail Budnichenko. The Vladimir Monomakh is the



third serial Borey class ballistic missiles submarine of project 955. The ship was designed by the Rubin Marine Equipment Design Bureau. The keel was laid down on March 19 2006 at the Sevmash shipyard (part of the USC) and rolled out of the covered shipbuilding hall on December 30 2012. The crew of the submarine was formed in December 2009. The shipbuilder's sea trials started on September 12, 2013. The submarine will be armed with 16 Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Source : PortNews

EU Naval Force Flagship FGS Brandenburg And Japanese Destroyer Inazuma Meet At Sea In Gulf of

Aden On Thursday 24 July the EU Naval Force flagship, German frigate FGS Brandenburg and the Japanese destroyer, JS

Inazuma, met at sea in the Gulf of Aden. The EU Force Commander, Rear Admiral Jürgen zur Mühlen, took the opportunity to welcome his counterpart, Japanese Commander of Escort Division 8, Captain Koji Tachikawa and some of his staff members on board. For more than 10

years the Japanese Navy has been deploying maritime forces to the Horn of Africa. FS Inazuma is currently operating in the Combined Maritime Forces Task Force 151. As well as another warship, the Japanese Navy has two Maritime Patrol Aircraft conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden to help protect merchant shipping in the area. During the visit the Japanese Commander was given a ship’s tour. The two Commanders and their staff also discussed the importance of mutual understanding and cooperation in the fight against piracy. At the end of the visit the two ships performed a traditional ‘sail past’ to say farewell, before they resumed their counter-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. ”This was an important visit to underline our common willingness to increase cooperation and foster friendship between our people”, the Force Commander stated at the end of the meeting. Source: Eunavfor – Somalia

SHIPYARD NEWS

Bollinger Shipyards awarded six additional Fast Response Cutters

The U. S. Coast Guard awarded a $255 million contract option to Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La., July 23, 2014 for the production of six more Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). This option award brings the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to 30, with a current contract value of $1.4 billion. The FRCs acquired under this contract option are scheduled to be delivered to the Coast Guard in 2017 and will be homeported at various bases around the United States,the company announced in its press release. Chris Bollinger, President of Bollinger Shipyards said, "We are extremely pleased that the Coast Guard has awarded six additional Fast Response Cutters, (FRC) to our current contract. This award reflects the continued confidence that the Coast Guard has in our vessels.

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This contract option will continue to provide jobs for hundreds of dedicated craftsmen employed at Bollinger as well as our subcontractors in the Southern Louisiana area. We are very proud of the fact that we have built and delivered every patrol boat in the Coast Guard’s entire fleet. Through hard work and commitment to quality, our exceptional workforce consistently exceeds

customer expectation in the production of these patrol boats that are making a positive impact on the safety and security of our nation."

On June 25, 2014, Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC RAYMOND EVANS, the tenth FRC to the United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took delivery on June 25, 2014 in Key West, Florida and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Key West, Florida during September, 2014. Delivered FRC's operating in the Southeastern United States, the Bahamas and the Caribbean have already had a major impact on Coast Guard operations. Recent interdictions by USCGCs PAUL CLARK and CHARLES SEXTON resulted in the seizure of thousands of pounds of marijuana and cocaine. In addition, FRCs in South Florida have interdicted hundreds of illegal migrants attempting to reach our shores and saved over 100 lives. Coast Guard Flag Officers have consistently termed the FRCs as operational "game changers" for the Coast Guard. The Sentinel-class is fast replacing the Coast Guard’s venerable Island-class 110-foot patrol boat. The FRC uses a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol 4708. It can operate at speeds over 28 knots and is armed with one stabilized, remotely-operated 25mm chain gun and four crew-served .50 caliber machine guns. Other requirements include the ability to perform independently for a minimum of five days at sea and capable of underway operations for a minimum of 2,500 hours per year. It uses state-of-the-market command, control, communications and computer technology that are interoperable with the Coast Guard’s existing and future assets, as well as Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense assets. The cutter meets American Bureau of Shipping design, build and class standards.Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. is a leading designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, ocean-going double hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tug boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products from its new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located between New Orleans and Houston with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region with a total of 28 dry-docks in Louisiana and Texas.

ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES

Adani Hazira Port handles export container from Pithampur SEZ

Adani Hazira Port recently expanded its service locations by executing the first export container movement from Pithampur SEZ to Adani Hazira Container Terminal. The shipper was SRF, stakeholder Allcargo Logistics arranged the logistics for the movement, and Maersk Line allotted space for the boxes on its service via Hazira. Adani Hazira Port has thanked SRF for commencing exports through the terminal, as well as Allcargo and Maersk for their facilitation.

SRF, which moved its first 2x40 HC containers to Durban, expressed happiness at the opening of this new ex-im corridor for the company. Mr Thapa, Chief Manager Logistics (India, Thailand and South Africa) said that "It has been

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a good experience working with the Adani team though it was our first shipment to Adani Hazira Port. There were certain doubts in my mind whether it will be worth diverting the shipment to Adani Hazira Port instead of Nhava Sheva. I would say that the Adani team and Allcargo jointly did a good job. We were updated by both the teams from time to time, right from when the movement began till vessel sailing. It was a smooth transaction, i.e. timely placement, gate-in and sailing." Mr Shahzad Athar, Associate General Manager, Container Marketing, stressed that Adani Hazira Port will provide a seamless gateway for industrial areas in Central India, who now have multiple evacuation points. Industrial locations like Pithampur, Dewas, Ratlam and Nagda can surely benefit with reduced transit times and seamless movement for their export and import shipments.

Hazira Port gives the following benefits to industrial areas in Central India:

1. Seamless connectivity to port 2. Distance advantage of 100 km as compared to Nhava Sheva 3. Avoidance of bottlenecks 4. Gates open all 7 days for dry and reefer cargo 5. Healthy inventory of 20-ft/40-ft High Cubes and 40-ft reefers of shipping lines 6. Faster turnaround of vehicles leading to reduced lead times for export and import 7. Loading reliability

Allcargo Kheda has an open corridor for movement into Hazira and will have a dedicated fleet for the Pithampur, Dewas, Ratlam to Hazira route as it believes this will help the company provide seamless solutions to clients and ensure reliability in loading. Mr Arun Sharma, head of ICD-Kheda that "With ample empty inventory of Maersk and MSC in Hazira and gates open 7 days, exporter/ICD can look upon Hazira as an alternate gateway port to JNPT. Imports coming through Hazira will allow faster delivery to importers (reduced sea transit) vis-a-vis JNPT as vessel routing is Mundra-Hazira-JNPT. We carried out the first trial shipment and found services at Hazira to be world class, and the Road Route was indeed shorter than JNPT." Source - Exim News Service

JAN DE NUL’S JOSEPH PLATEAU ANCHORED OFF SINGAPORE

Jan de Nul’s Fall Pipe & Mining Vessel JOSEPH PLATEAU anchored off Singapore yesterday, This 191,5 m long vessel is in use for precise rock dumping to a depth of 2,000 m. The system for the unfolding of the fall pipe is extremely advanced and operates fully automatically. At the bottom of the fall pipe there is a ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) that accurately corrects the position of the lower end of the fall pipe. The vessel has a 31,500 ton loading capacity and makes it possible to dump 2,000 tons of rock per hour at a depth of 2,000 m. The vessel

can accomodate 84 persons. The fall pipe vessel Joseph Plateau operates in the offshore industry in which oil and gas pipes have to be installed at large depths: the Joseph Plateau can level the seabed and dump rock up to a depth of 2,000 m. The fall pipe can process boulders with a diameter up to 400 mm, which is more than any other fall pipe vessel on the market. The Joseph Plateau is also suitable for deepsea mining operationas, i.e. for recovery of minerals from the seabed and cable laying activities. Photo : Ian Edwards ©

Moin container terminal faces further delays

Third time this year that APM Terminals has been granted extension to achieve required building permits

Work on the construction of APM Terminals’ new US$1bn container terminal in Moin, Costa Rica has been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining the required building permits.

This is the third time that the Dutch company has been granted contract extensions on beginning the building work. The contract was originally awarded in March 2012 and work was due to begin in early 2014, with the project scheduled to open 36 months later. However, extensions have been provided to 24 April, 24 July and now 24 October, according to a report in the Costa Rican Times. APMT has reportedly been asked by the Costa Rican authorities to provide further clarification on certain environmental aspects relating to the project.



The new terminal has been mired in controversy since the project was announced, with the union of the Port Management Board of the Atlantic Coast (Japdeva) repeatedly resorting to obstructionist measures in a bid to halt its construction. Japdeva has argued that it would give APMT the monopoly of container handling in Costa Rica and accuses the Dutch company of not meeting the necessary environmental, legal and financial requirements set out by the state.

The new Moin Container Terminal will have an initial annual throughput of 1.3m TEUs, rising to 2.7m TEUs at full build-out. With an eventual depth of 18 meters, it will be able to accommodate the 12,000 TEU vessels that will pass through the widened Panama Canal once the lock expansion project has been completed in 2015. At present, the port is limited to vessels of 2,500 TEU capacity. Source : Fruitnet

The HUMBER BRIDGE outbound from Rotterdam – Photo : Krijn Hamelink ©

Offshore Installation at Lerwick A large steel oil storage tank to be installed west of Shetland as part of Premier’s development of the Solan field has arrived in Lerwick onboard a heavy-transport vessel Xiang Yun Kou, to make use of the port’s deep-water quays and anchorage. The vessel is berthed at Holmsgarth 5 and local engineering and logistics companies have been engaged to prepare the tank prior to it being taken to the field. Around 1 August, the Xiang Yon Kou will move to an anchorage in the port and ballast down for the tank to be floated off the deck of the vessel. The tank will then be transferred to tugs accompanying Thialf, the world’s largest

semi-submersible crane vessel, which will install the tank. Dependent on weather conditions, the tank could remain at Lerwick for a short period of time before being towed to the field. Source : MarineLink

U.N. blacklists operator of North Korean ship seized in Panama

A U.N. Security Council committee on Monday blacklisted the operator of a North Korean ship, which was seized near the Panama Canal last year for smuggling Soviet-era arms, including two MiG-21 jet fighters, under thousands of tonnes of sugar. The North Korea (DPRK) sanctions committee designated Ocean Maritime Management, which operated the Chong Chon Gang, the ship that was detained a year ago. The U.N. designation means the company is now subject to an international asset freeze and travel ban. "Ocean Maritime Management Company, Ltd (OMM), played a key role in arranging the shipment of the concealed cargo of arms and related materiel," the committee said in an implementation assistance notice, obtained by Reuters. "The concealment of the aforementioned items demonstrates intent to evade U.N. sanctions, and is consistent with previous attempts by the DPRK to transfer arms and related materiel through similar tactics in contravention of Security Council prohibitions," the committee said.

A Panamanian court on Friday ordered the release of the Chong Chon Gang's three North Korean officers. Thirty-two North Korean sailors and the ship were released by Panama in February. North Korea is under an array of United Nations, U.S. and other countries' sanctions for repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests since 2006 in defiance of international demands to stop. A U.N. report issued in March said North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies abroad to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons. "The investigation also uncovered information indicating that DPRK Embassy officials in Havana were engaged in making arrangements for the shipment," the Security Council committee said of the Chong Chon Gang shipment. "The committee encourages states to continue to exercise enhanced vigilance over DPRK diplomatic personnel," it said. After the weapons were discovered on the Chong Chon Gang, Cuba acknowledged it was sending "obsolete" Soviet-era weapons to be repaired in North Korea and then returned to Cuba. The Security Council committee said it was concerned that this military-to-military cooperation violated U.N. resolutions, which it said



"prohibit the transfer from the DPRK by its nationals or from its territory of advice, services or assistance related to the maintenance or use of prohibited arms and related materiel." "This prohibition covers many activities including repair, diagnosis, monitoring, physical and chemical tests, and any related services for such items," the committee said. Source : Reuters (Additional reporting by James Pearson in Seoul, editing by G Crosse)

Polish LNG terminal seeks more money The consortium building Poland’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is in talks to increase the amount it is being paid, but there is no risk to the completion of the project, one of the contractors said. The import terminal is being built on Poland’s Baltic coast, at a cost of about 3bn zlotys ($974m), to cut the country’s reliance on imported Russian gas. The consortium comprising Italy’s Saipem, Techint, and Polish construction firm PBG, is due to receive 2.4bn zlotys, according to the contract signed with entity that commissioned the project, state-controlled Polskie LNG.“The discussion is conducted in a very good climate, because everybody wishes the terminal to be finished within the agreed schedule”, PBG spokesman Jacek Balcer said. “Of course one of the issues being addressed is the fact that due to changes in Polish law the investment will take more time than it was expected at the beginning and because of that we will incur higher costs”, he added. An official with Polskie LNG also said that were talks on the contractors’ payment. “In justified cases, when we are dealing with events which occurred through no fault of the general contractor, we are ready to talk,” said Maciej Mazur, a spokesman at Polskie LNG.

“There is no basis in fact to say that anybody has plans to terminate the contract. Both sides have the same goal. They want to finish the project on time and with the highest quality.” He said there was no risk of delays. The construction is to be finished at the turn of 2014 and 2015. The first tanker is expected at the end of the first quarter next year. The terminal at the port of Swinoujscie will be able to accept 5 billion cubic metres of gas per year, with plans to expand it to 7.5 billion. At full power, the terminal could handle around half of Poland’s current annual gas usage.

Poland still relies on imports for roughly two thirds of its annual gas usage of around 16 billion cubic metres, mostly from Russia.The gas to supply the new LNG plant will come from Qatar. Under the contract between Poland and Qatar it will be substantially more expensive than Russian gas. Source : Reuters

The MOTTLER enroute Amsterdam – Photo : Simon Wolf ©

Major ports will double capacity in five years: Gadkari

Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said India's 12 major ports will double their cargo handling capacity to 1,600 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in the next five years. “India plans to double the ports' capacity from the current 800 MT to 1,600 over the next five years,” Gadkari said in an official release. Gadkari was speaking at a review meeting on the port sector attended by chiefs of all the 12 state-run major ports. Media was not invited for the meet or briefed afterwards.

He said the major ports have already drawn up action plan for a capacity addition of 500 MTPA, of which projects to the tune of 350 MTPA are slated to commence during this financial year itself. The private sector Mundhra Port in Gujarat, promoted by the Adani Group, has become the largest port in India, pipping the major ones which have held the distinctions for decades. “Ports and roads play a key role in development. The country’s GDP can be boosted by 2 per cent if these key infrastructure sectors are developed to their potential,” said Gadkari, who also holds the charge of Transport Ministry. He said the Government will give a greater push to water transport. Required policy measures, including review of the tariff regulator TAMP, will be taken to "remove bottlenecks and facilitate growth", he said.



Existing projects

Gadkari’s predecessor G K Vasan had disbanded TAMP for new projects at the major ports in order to usher in greater investments for the sector, but the issue of including the existing projects under the TAMP remains unresolved. Under the TAMP (Tariff Authority for Major Ports) regime, the regulator used to set caps on the maximum charges which a major port can levy. According to experts, this inhibited investments as the charges need to be linked to the market realities. Source :Deccan Herald

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