Aries Steel Snake Boat finds place in the Guinness Book of World Records

Aries Punnamada Chundan, the first ever snake boat made of steel and a design wonder crafted by Aries Marine enters the Guinness Book of World Records.

Breaking the existing record, Aries Chundan has successfully completed the record attempt for the largest canoe crew with a crew of 141 rowers and five helmsmen on board on 1 May 2008 at Alleppey backwaters in Kerala. Aries Chundan is the longest steel made snake boat with 143 feet and a masterpiece design of Aries Marine. The attempt for the world record was in comparison to ‘Nadumbhagam Chundan’, which had only 118 crewmembers and holds the existing record. Several international dignitaries, including representatives of RINA, Italy and Germanischer Lloyd, Germany who visited Cochin for ShipTek 2008 have witnessed the rowing of Aries Chundan held at the Punnamada Lake. Mr. Sohan Roy S.K, CEO Aries Group was also present on the occasion. Aries Chundan has already found place in the Limca Book of Records as the longest snake boat made of steel. This innovative steel snake boat has a scientific design, based on the latest scientific methods in Naval Architecture. Its shape and stability have been designed using the world famous ‘AUTOSHIP’ software.

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Visit of Expert Delegation from Japan to Cochin Port Trust

An expert delegation from Ocean Policy Research Foundation, Tokyo, Japan visited Cochin Port Trust and held discussions with Shri N Ramachandran, Chairman and senior officers on the maritime development projects at Cochin Port .

The visit of the experts is aimed at observing and assessing the potentials of the ports in the southern coast of India from their specific viewpoints of shipping, civil engineering and logistics etc. The team will identify the potential of the port by taking into account the distinguishing features of respective region where the port is located and work out practical proposals to help develop maritime infrastructure. Apart from Cochin the team is also visiting the ports at Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Tuticorin. The report regarding the visit will be provided as the informative reference for the Japanese maritime industries sector, which is attentive to India as a promising business frontier. The team comprises Mr.Yutaka Fukushima, Deputy Senior Researcher, Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute of Japan, Mr Keiji Iwata, Deputy General Manager, Dry Bulk Carrier Supervising Office, Mitsui O.S.K Lines Ltd., Mr Shinichi Oi, General Manager, Marine Technical Department, M.O. Marine Consulting Ltd., Mr Yoshihisa Imai, Senior Research Fellow, Ocean Policy Research Foundation and Mr Takehisa Imaizumi, Advisor, Policy Group, Ocean Policy Research Foundation. The expert team is accompanied by Mr P Sasikumar and Mr J P Saini, Under Secretaries from Ministry of Shipping, Government of India.

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World Maritime Day Parallel Celebrations Held in Greece

The fourth "Parallel Event" to celebrate World Maritime Day formally and officially outside of the International Maritime Organization's London base was held in Greece hosted by the Government of the Hellenic Republic.

On 19 September, Athens was the location for a seminar and panel discussion on the theme of IMO: 60 years in the service of shipping, in which leading figures from the maritime community took the opportunity to outline, from their perspective, their views on the past, present and future of IMO and the shipping industry. On 20 September, the International Memorial to the Wife of the Seafarer was unveiled in the town of Galaxidi, by the Secretary-General of IMO, Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, and Greece's Minister of Mercantile Marine, the Aegean and Island Policy, Mr. Anastasis Papaligouras. The Athens event, held at the Evgenidion Foundation, was opened by the Prime Minister of Greece, Dr. Kostas Karamanlis, who, in praising the Organization's achievements over six decades, referred to its contribution to the reduction in marine accidents and incidents, its sensitivity over environmental protection issues and its role as a model of multilateral and institutional co-operation. Other speakers were: Mr. Spyros Polemis, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping and President of the International Shipping Federation; Mr. David Cockroft, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation; Mr. Philip Embiricos, President of BIMCO; Mr. Nicky A. Pappadakis, Chairman of INTERCARGO; Mr. Nicholas G. Fistes, Chairman of INTERTANKO; Mr. George A. Gratsos, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping; Mr. Nicos D. Efthymiou, President of the Union of Greek Shipowners; and Mr. William Azuh, Chairman of the IMO Club of Maritime Attachés.

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'Island Wellserver' elected Ship of the Year 2008

The offshore service vessel ‘Island Wellserver’, owned by the Norwegian company Island Offshore and built by Aker Yards, Langsten, was declared Ship of the Year 2008 by the Norwegian State Secretary Rikke Lind.

‘Island Wellserver’is a subsea riserless oil and gas well intervention vessel, and represent new technology in the offshore market. The ship also introduces new standards for working environment, safety and comfort, according to Ms Lind. The ship is a result of a vision that the subsea well intervention market should be served by a vessel, instead of a drilling rig, which so far has been the case. “The vessel is a masterpiece in Norwegian shipbuilding and reflects the high market demands in the booming sector of ship based light well intervention services,” said Ms Lind. Described as a subsea riserless well intervention vessel with a running wire line through a subsea lubricator system, she is equipped with the most advanced systems available. She will perform production logging, plugging and gauging operations, re-perforations and downhole mechanical works. Built to the highest DNV Comfort Class notation, she has a noise and vibration level similar to a modern cruise ship. This makes her the world’s only offshore vessel with DNV‘s highest Comfort Class, V(1) C(1).

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Hyundai Heavy to build a wind-power plant

Ulsan: Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, will build a factory to produce wind-power generators in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.

This is a key part of its plans to get into the alternative energy business. The company will spend 102 billion won ($880 million) on the plant, and the generators will be able to produce 400 megawatts of electricity a year. Construction is scheduled to be completed in February 2010, the company said in a regulatory filing. Seeking to diversify its business lines, Hyundai Heavy is aggressively expanding into the energy sector, including solar power. It invested 34 billion won to build its first solar cell-producing plant in Eumseong, 108 kilometers south of Seoul. It also plans to spend 300 billion won to build a second solar cell plant by 2010. HHI’s plans to diversify include investing in airlines and shipping lines ahead of a potential perceived pause in ship orders.

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Germanischer Lloyd and China Ship Fund sign strategic cooperation

Hamburg: Classification Society Germanischer Lloyd will provide engineering services to the China Ship Fund.

The strategic cooperation agreement has been signed by Xu Hui, Chairman Centrans, and Dr Hermann J Klein, Member of the Executive Board Germanischer Lloyd, at the SMM exhibition in Hamburg. Under the collaboration agreement Germanischer Lloyd will provide complete support and solutions in all stages of the ship design and building process. Specific focus will be on analyses with regard to ship efficiency, low emissions and low fuel consumption for tankers and bulk carriers. The demand for domestic and international transport of oil and gas in China will continue to rise. Therefore, the Chinese logistics group Tianjin Centrans and the government of the city of Tianjin has initiated the “China Ship Fund”. The investment institution structures and executes investments in all shipping sectors and logistics. They finance bulk carriers, tankers and containerships as well as special purpose vessels like converted refinery platforms. The China Ship Fund was one of the four funds newly approved by the China National Economic and Reform Committee with a capital base of 3 billion US-Dollar.

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Queensland to restructure ports

The Queensland government this week announced a major overhaul of its port authorities.

Infrastructure bottlenecks have been the bane of mining companies eager to take advantage of record prices for Australian coal. The restructuring would bring about several major changes, first and foremost, the creation of the North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation to control the hot spot in Mackay. The Abbot Point coal terminal would also be revamped with expansion, helping o streamline services out of the Bowen Basin. “It can only improve and increase the capacity and management of the supply chain,” Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser told. Capacity at Abbot Point, though recently expanded to handle 21 million tonnes per year would be further expanded to double to 50 million tonnes a year with the June budget setting aside A$818 million (US$683.42 million) for the project.

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