Top Ships announces sale of five suezmax vessels

Top Ships of Athens, Greece, has entered into an agreement to sell five double-hull Suezmax tankers built between 1992 and 1996 for an aggregate sale price of US$240 million.

The vessels are expected to be delivered to their new owners between June 2008 and August 2008. The company said that the net proceeds of the sales may be applied to acquisitions and general corporate purposes. Top Ships, formerly known as Top Tankers, is an international provider of worldwide seaborne crude oil and petroleum products and of drybulk transportation services.
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ADNEC begins dredging 2.4km marina zone

The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre has commenced dredging a striking 2.4km marina zone to enhance its state-of-the-art exhibition facilities.

The National Marine Dredging Company's 10,440kW heavy duty cutter suction dredger, ‘Al Kattouf,' currently located in the ADNEC channel opposite the exhibition centre, will increase the channel depth to 6 metres to improve access by excavating approximately 1.5 million cubic metres of seabed. The dredging operations will provide safe access for vessels from the Al Bateen Channel to the new marina facilities. The marina development will play an instrumental role in ensuring the proposed naval display at IDEX 2009 is offered the ideal platform to showcase naval manoeuvres undertaken by defence support vessels including patrol boats, amphibious craft and helicopters. The 2009 edition of IDEX which is poised to be the biggest-ever, will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, February 22-26 next year. "The deepening of the water channel opposite the exhibition centre will enable a wider variety of naval craft to participate in the live demonstrations at next year's IDEX as compared to previous editions of the show," said Mohamed Al Mashgouni, IDEX 2009 Director. The first phase of the marina development will also feature a 250 metre quay wall, suitable for stern mooring of over 20 yachts, in time for the highly anticipated Abu Dhabi Yacht Show in March 2009. The marina zone will also encompass restaurants, retail outlets, entertainment facilities and low-rise residential offerings compete with scenic views of the canal.
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Mideast shipping rates to increase due to shortage

The cost of shipping Middle East crude to Asia, the world's busiest route for supertankers, may climb for a 16th day because of a shortage of ships.

There are 22 double-hulled very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, for hire within the next 30 days. That's about eight fewer than the likely cargoes that still need to be collected by tankers in July, based on the Paris-based shipbroker's data. "The market is strong," Charlie Fowle, a director at London-based shipbroke Galbraith's Ltd, said. Further gains could be offset by oil companies splitting VLCC cargoes in half and shipping them on smaller tankers that are presently cheaper to hire, he said. Zhuhai Zhenrong Co, a Chinese state-backed oil trader, hired the vessel Hormoz for 245 Worldscale points, according to a report from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers. That's 6.6 per cent above the London-based Baltic Exchange's benchmark assessment of 229.84 points for cargoes to Asia. Hormoz is fitted with a double hull. Oil companies prefer such vessels because they cut the risk of an oil spill in the event of an accident.

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CSSC to build world's largest ship parts base

The China State Shipbuilding Corporation plans to turn its subsidiary, the Jiangnan Heavy Industry Co Ltd, into the biggest specialized marine-related equipment and ship fitting supply base in China in five years.

As the leading manufacturers of steel structures, LPG tanks and integrated mechanical engineering projects in China, JHIC has expanded its operation to marine-related equipment such as shaft and steering system, vessel LPG tanks, hatch cover and ship superstructure cabins. JHIC's new workshop on Changxing Island is expected to start production soon, helping increase the company's production of shaft and steering system by more than 100 per cent to reach 70-80 units annually. JHIC's new joint venture based in Nantong city in east China is expected to have an annual output of 40,000 sets of hatch cover by 2009. It also plans to build a ship superstructure cabins production base in two phases to form annual production capacity of 100 units.
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UASC signs $1.5bn boxship order, Samsung's largest ever

United Arab Shipping Company has placed a Dh5.5bn ($1.52bn) contract with Samsung Heavy Industries for nine 13,100teu containerships.

It the largest order for container vessels by a GCC owned company. It is also the largest single order SHI has ever received. The signing ceremony was held at the Mina Al Salam hotel in Dubai on June 29, attended by UASC chairman Sheikh Ali Al Thani and SHI president and ceo Jing Wan Kim. Sheikh Al Thani said UASC was very happy to have chosen SHI "from a long list of highly reputed and skilled shipbuilders" and that their reputation 'for high quality and on-time delivery' preceded them. The new A13 vessels will measure approx. 366 metres loa by 48.3 metres wide by 29.8 metres draft (moulded). The accommodation block will be located in the forward section of the hull, the engine room aft. Deliveries are scheduled to take place between late 2010 to end of 2011. UASC, which is owned by UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq, currently operates a fleet of 41 fully cellular container vessels with three more being delivered this year and 10 more in 2009. By the time, the nine A13 ships join the fleet, its strength will go up to 60 units of 270,000teu combined capacity. The vessels will be deployed on the Far East-Middle East-Europe route.

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