The Netherlands: State Secretary for Defence Jack de Vries layed down the keel of the first patrol vessel for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the dock of Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding on Monday, December 8.
During the official act, the State Secretary welded an old Dutch duit, traditional Dutch coin, to the first part of the vessel. The names of the four patrol vessels in the class were also announced: ‘Holland’, ‘Zeeland’, ‘Friesland’ and ‘Groningen’. The new vessels will measure 108 metres in length and will displace approximately 3750 tonnes. They offer hangar space and landing facilities for one NH-90 helicopter or equivalent types. Their armament will consist of one 76mm Oto-Melara gun, one rapid-fire gun and two Hitrole machine guns. The weapons will all have full remote control. Thanks to the state-of-the-art integrated sensor and communication technology in the mast, detection and tracking of high- and low-altitude air targets, fast boats, periscopes, mines and even swimmers will be possible. The first two patrol vessels are to be built at the shipyard of Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in Vlissingen, with a number of sections being supplied by the Damen shipyard in Galati. Major parts of the third and fourth vessels are to be built at the Damen shipyard in Galati under the supervision of Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding.
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Thursday, December 11, 2008
Dry bulk market sustains rising momentum
The third consecutive rise of the Baltic Dry Index, even by only 12 points surely was enough to provide a ray of light in the market and have ship owners crossing their fingers that a slight recovery of the ailing dry bulk market is under way.
Wednesday’s session ended with the BDI up by another 12 points, again led by the capesize index, which saw big gains of 67 points, thus easily returning to above 1,000 levels and more specifically 1,058 points. Another positive turn was the first rise of the handysize index, which posted a marginal increase of two points, to a round 300 points. Also, both the Panamax and the Supramax Indexes managed to slow down their losses, at least compared to previous sessions. The BPI closed at 450 points, down by 16 points, while the BSI lost 12 points to end at 511 points. Of course, a large chunk of the market remains depressed and with the holidays closing in, not much activity should be expected. Reporting on the handy sector, Fearnleys noted that South America is quite, while quite many overage vessels are open in the Red Sea with not much cargoes proposed due to Aid holidays. On the Capesize front, which starred in these past few days’ rise of the Index, Fearnleys reports the time charter average almost doubled, to about $4,500. “In the light of more attractive commodity prices, Chinese ore importers suddenly reappeared, taking firstly a number of cargoes from India and then a little "rush" from Australia, both FOB and CNF, and all for early shipment. This resulted in the WA/China rate moving from usd 3.85 to usd 4.50 and the Pacific r/v from usd 1750 to usd 5000. Backhaul rates also edged upwards with Richards Bay/Rotterdam rising 50 cents to about usd 5.60. However, the Chinese still showed little interest in resuming imports from Brazil, and Atlantic activity and rates remained at a very low level. Nevertheless, Vale continued to put cargoes on the water, probably destined for stockpiling in China. Period activity was non-existent” Fearnleys said.
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Wednesday’s session ended with the BDI up by another 12 points, again led by the capesize index, which saw big gains of 67 points, thus easily returning to above 1,000 levels and more specifically 1,058 points. Another positive turn was the first rise of the handysize index, which posted a marginal increase of two points, to a round 300 points. Also, both the Panamax and the Supramax Indexes managed to slow down their losses, at least compared to previous sessions. The BPI closed at 450 points, down by 16 points, while the BSI lost 12 points to end at 511 points. Of course, a large chunk of the market remains depressed and with the holidays closing in, not much activity should be expected. Reporting on the handy sector, Fearnleys noted that South America is quite, while quite many overage vessels are open in the Red Sea with not much cargoes proposed due to Aid holidays. On the Capesize front, which starred in these past few days’ rise of the Index, Fearnleys reports the time charter average almost doubled, to about $4,500. “In the light of more attractive commodity prices, Chinese ore importers suddenly reappeared, taking firstly a number of cargoes from India and then a little "rush" from Australia, both FOB and CNF, and all for early shipment. This resulted in the WA/China rate moving from usd 3.85 to usd 4.50 and the Pacific r/v from usd 1750 to usd 5000. Backhaul rates also edged upwards with Richards Bay/Rotterdam rising 50 cents to about usd 5.60. However, the Chinese still showed little interest in resuming imports from Brazil, and Atlantic activity and rates remained at a very low level. Nevertheless, Vale continued to put cargoes on the water, probably destined for stockpiling in China. Period activity was non-existent” Fearnleys said.
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26 GE Diesels to Power Panama Canal Tugboats
GE Transportation will supply Marinsa, Panama, with 26 V228 diesel engines. The 12-cylinder engines will power 13 new tugboats to be used in the Panama Canal in Panama.
“This is a significant order for GE, the largest we’ve received to date in Latin America. We faced stiff competition in the marketplace and are delighted that ultimately our V228 engines were selected for this project,” said John Manison, manager of GE Transportation’s marine and stationary power business, Erie, Pennsylvania. Marinsa is GE’s authorized distributor in Latin America. The new tugboats will be designed by naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia and built by Cheoy Lee shipyard, Hong Kong, Peoples’ Republic of China. The vessels will be an integral part of the Panama Canal Authority’s (ACP) canal expansion plan. The ACP’s ambitious investment program currently underway is aimed at modernizing and improving the canal’s infrastructure. Part of this program increases the tugboat fleet by 20 percent to improve the canal’s ability to assist vessels during transits, especially at lock entrances, and through the Gaillard Cut. The new tugboats will replace locomotives as the primary means to position vessels in the locks. ACP’s canal expansion program was initiated in 1996 to guarantee the canal’s ability to serve anticipated traffic growth. The GE engines will be manufactured at the company’s Grove City, Pennsylvania facility. Robert Allan Ltd. will deliver the first two engines to Cheoy Lee shipyard in December 2009. Delivery of the tugs for service will taper from November 2009 to December 2010.
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“This is a significant order for GE, the largest we’ve received to date in Latin America. We faced stiff competition in the marketplace and are delighted that ultimately our V228 engines were selected for this project,” said John Manison, manager of GE Transportation’s marine and stationary power business, Erie, Pennsylvania. Marinsa is GE’s authorized distributor in Latin America. The new tugboats will be designed by naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia and built by Cheoy Lee shipyard, Hong Kong, Peoples’ Republic of China. The vessels will be an integral part of the Panama Canal Authority’s (ACP) canal expansion plan. The ACP’s ambitious investment program currently underway is aimed at modernizing and improving the canal’s infrastructure. Part of this program increases the tugboat fleet by 20 percent to improve the canal’s ability to assist vessels during transits, especially at lock entrances, and through the Gaillard Cut. The new tugboats will replace locomotives as the primary means to position vessels in the locks. ACP’s canal expansion program was initiated in 1996 to guarantee the canal’s ability to serve anticipated traffic growth. The GE engines will be manufactured at the company’s Grove City, Pennsylvania facility. Robert Allan Ltd. will deliver the first two engines to Cheoy Lee shipyard in December 2009. Delivery of the tugs for service will taper from November 2009 to December 2010.
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Korea Gas eyeing gas field stakes
Korea Gas Corporation is reportedly seeking to take stakes in gas fields in Australia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Nigeria to ensure stable supplies of liquefied natural gas for South Korea.
Choo Kang Soo, the chief executive of Korea Gas, the world’s biggest buyer of LNG, said in an interview with Bloomberg said the company has been in contact with major operators including ExxonMobil and Total, but did not mentioned which specific project the company was interested in. ExxonMobil is the operator of the planned PNG LNG project in Papua new Guinea, while Total operates the Ichthys LNG project off Australia and has stakes in gas fields off Nigeria. Korea Gas already has stakes in LNG producers in Oman and Qatar and signed a deal with Gazprom in October to import 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year for up to 30 years, starting in 2015. South Korea is competing with other fast-growing energy markets Japan, China and India for scarce regional supplies of gas.
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Choo Kang Soo, the chief executive of Korea Gas, the world’s biggest buyer of LNG, said in an interview with Bloomberg said the company has been in contact with major operators including ExxonMobil and Total, but did not mentioned which specific project the company was interested in. ExxonMobil is the operator of the planned PNG LNG project in Papua new Guinea, while Total operates the Ichthys LNG project off Australia and has stakes in gas fields off Nigeria. Korea Gas already has stakes in LNG producers in Oman and Qatar and signed a deal with Gazprom in October to import 10 billion cubic metres of gas per year for up to 30 years, starting in 2015. South Korea is competing with other fast-growing energy markets Japan, China and India for scarce regional supplies of gas.
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Hebei Spirit master and chief officer jailed
A SOUTH KOREAN court has jailed the master and chief officer of the Hebei Spirit overturing an earlier ruling.
Daejeon District Court handed down an 18 month jail sentence and a fine of Won20m on Hebei Spirit master Jasprit Chawla. The court found that the master should have gone full astern to drag the anchor.Chief officer Syam Chetan was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined Won10m, the court saying he should have been more vigilant and called the Master by 05-50hrs. The decision by the appeal court overturns an earlier ruling and finds the Master and chief officer of the Hebei Spirit partly responsible for the oil spill, which happened when the fully loaded Hebei Spirit was holed by a drifting Samsung crane barge. Both the master and chief engineer were criticised for the usage of inert gas for increasing the oil spill and that they could have listed the tanker by 10 degrees to prevenet the spill. The shipowner Hebei Shipping was fined Won30m. The decision is likely to spark widespread condemnation from the industry which has been united its call for the trial to consider all the facts of the case. “All of the parties related to the Hebei Spirit are very disappointed of course and find the reasons given for the decision - technically flawed, just like both of the KMST (Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal) reports - technically flawed and are considering our options,” said statement issued on behalf of the owners. Independent tanker owners association Intertanko also expressed its disappointment. “Intertanko expresses disappointment with the Korean authorities given all the efforts of owners, managers and the industry in general which seem to have fallen on deaf ears,” said Peter Swift, managing director of Intertanko. Earlier this week Intertanko wrote to South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, saying that it hoped the court would “reach a fair and just decision”.
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Daejeon District Court handed down an 18 month jail sentence and a fine of Won20m on Hebei Spirit master Jasprit Chawla. The court found that the master should have gone full astern to drag the anchor.Chief officer Syam Chetan was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined Won10m, the court saying he should have been more vigilant and called the Master by 05-50hrs. The decision by the appeal court overturns an earlier ruling and finds the Master and chief officer of the Hebei Spirit partly responsible for the oil spill, which happened when the fully loaded Hebei Spirit was holed by a drifting Samsung crane barge. Both the master and chief engineer were criticised for the usage of inert gas for increasing the oil spill and that they could have listed the tanker by 10 degrees to prevenet the spill. The shipowner Hebei Shipping was fined Won30m. The decision is likely to spark widespread condemnation from the industry which has been united its call for the trial to consider all the facts of the case. “All of the parties related to the Hebei Spirit are very disappointed of course and find the reasons given for the decision - technically flawed, just like both of the KMST (Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal) reports - technically flawed and are considering our options,” said statement issued on behalf of the owners. Independent tanker owners association Intertanko also expressed its disappointment. “Intertanko expresses disappointment with the Korean authorities given all the efforts of owners, managers and the industry in general which seem to have fallen on deaf ears,” said Peter Swift, managing director of Intertanko. Earlier this week Intertanko wrote to South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, saying that it hoped the court would “reach a fair and just decision”.
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