Vessels rush aid to Burma as death toll rises

Naval rather than merchant vessels have been charged with carrying the first consignments of emergency aid to Burma, where the death toll from tropical cyclone Nargis is now put at over 15,000.

India’s ministry of external affairs has confirmed that two warships are due to leave the major naval base of Port Blair for former capital Yangon, carrying relief and medical supplies including food, tents, blankets, clothing and medicines. Nargis struck Burma at the mouth of the Irrawaddy river, about 220km south-west of Yangon, before going on to hit the country’s economic heartlands. The US has also pledged help in the aftermath of the cyclone, with the aid likely to be channelled through the World Food Program and other agencies. No vessels will be chartered in the immediate future, although the picture should become clearer in a week or so. Hutchison spokesman Anthony Tam said the company was “still trying to establish” contact with the Myanmar terminal after tropical cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta and the coastal region along the Andaman Sea. Telecommunications have been disrupted by damage caused by the storm which brought 190 km per hour winds and a 3.5m storm surge. As a result it was difficult to find out if there had been any damage to the terminal. The terminal, which covers 75 hectares, has five container berths with a total quay length of 1,000 m at Thilawa, about 25km from the former capital at Yangon, facing the Andaman Sea.

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BDI approaches 10,000 as capesizes enjoy highest earnings in 2008

Shares of dry bulk shipping lines edged higher, as the Baltic Dry Index soared 274 points to close at 9,855 in London.

The index, which is managed by the Baltic Exchange in London, set an all-time high of 11,039 in November of last year. Dahlman Rose analyst Omar Notka said strong recent activity in the market has pushed rates for capesize vessels to year-to-date highs. Weekly rates for the carriers jumped 10 percent in the last week to reach $183,124, which is less than $10,000 under their all-time high in November. Tightness of available hulls in the Atlantic was cited as a key reason for the capesize surge.

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Transocean awarded billion dollar drillship contract

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has been awarded a five-year drilling contract for a newbuild Enterprise-class drillship in Houston.

The five-year, US$1.01 billion contract will commence in the fourth quarter of 2010, following shipyard construction, sea trials, mobilization and customer acceptance. The contract may be extended to seven or ten years at the client's request, bumping revenue to US$1.35 billion to US$1.85 billion. If extended to 10 years, the client may elect to have the day rate fluctuate based on crude oil prices, adjusted upwards if crude is between US$75 and US$100 per barrel with a maximum adjustment of ten percent if crude oil is at or above US$100 a barrel. A Transocean subsidiary has executed a shipyard contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to construct the double-hull drillship. Construction is scheduled to take place at Daewoo's shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, where four other Transocean Enterprise-class drillships are being constructed. The rig will feature dual drilling technology, a variable deckload of 20,000 tons and be capable of drilling in up to 10,000 feet of water.

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Korean-owned fleet rises up world rankings

Up to the end of January 2008, the top five fleets by country of ownership have remained unchanged from the year before.

The Greek-owned fleet is still the largest with 3,087 ships totaling 175.71 million DWT. The following four are the Japanese-owned fleet (160.72 million DWT, 3,433 ships), German fleet (94.51 million DWT, 3,189 ships), Chinese (83.06 million DWT, 2,975 ships) and Norwegian (45.12 million DWT, 1,400 ships). A noticeable change in the top ten list is the Korean fleet moving from last year's eighth place to sixth. The country now owns a fleet with 1,063 ships and a total of 36.76 million DWT. Korean ship owners, such as Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hanjin Shippping, have overcome their finance issues and successfully taken delivery of ships from their 2000 order book. It is the second consecutive year for the Hong Kong fleet at seventh position with 619 ships and 33.78 million DWT. The United States fleet falls to eighth from last year's sixth with 936 ships and a total of 32.99 million DWT.
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Penn Maritime ATBs ready for launch

With delays in getting parts for the assembly, there was a hold up in the delivery of the first of Penn Maritime's new tugs from Thoma-Sea Boatbuilders in USA.

The first of five, ‘Skipjack', is nearing completion and will be delivered in May. In a near assembly-line production process the second vessel, ‘Coho', will launch sometime in May and deliver in August. The other tugs are already taking shape and will follow on a regular schedule. Following its delivery the ‘Skipjack' will travel to New Orleans to meet up with a 90,000-barrel barge that will come down from its builders at Corn Island Shipyard on the Ohio River in Indiana. Cummins QSK60 engines turning skewed props in Nautican Nozzles with shutter rudders power the 3,000kW Penn tugs. The coupling system is a JAK-400.

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