The Gigayacht

Monaco-based Wally Yachts continues to develop innovative concepts and minimalist luxury at a rate exceeding any other marine design house on the planet.

The company's latest is the WallyIsland—a 99 meter (325 feet) "gigayacht" that dwarfs the vast majority of luxury megayachts and reconceives the yacht as a floating personal island, a mobile address that can be used as a home, an entertaining space or even a moving exhibition or show space. Wally Yachts reconceives the yacht as a 325-ft. floating personal island. Over the last ten years, several yachts have been built over the 320-foot mark. WallyIsland is not the first of this new breed of luxury gigayachts—nor is it the largest. WallyIsland looks more like a tanker than its gigayacht brethren, due to the huge 1000m2 main deck area and the fact that is has only three upper-level decks rather than the multilevel arrangements typical on others. It has designed this way to increase open entertaining space and allow large garden spaces, and this sort of design also keeps the cost of the yacht "competitive. The WallyIsland's main deck can include a large, deep swimming pool, garden spaces, tennis or mini soccer grounds, as well as the requisite helipads. It includes sleeping quarters for up to 40 crew and 24 guests as well as the extravagant owner's suites and holds around three-quarters of a million litres of fuel. The interiors feature a main saloon, living/dining room; guest accommodation, library, cinema, spa, wellness and fitness area; service and crew area; and the steering/navigation area.

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Hamburg Süd christens the 'Rio de la Plata', its largest-ever container ship

At the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in Okpo, Korea, Hamburg Süd has christened the largest-ever container ship in the company's history.

The 'Rio de la Plata' is the first newbuilding in a series of six identical vessels each possessing a slot capacity of 5,900TEU. At a length of 286 metres, the 'Rio' class is precisely one bay longer than the 5,552TEU 'Monte' class vessels. Sponsor of the 'Rio de la Plata' is Marén Schröder, daughter of Dr Ernst F. Schröder, personally liable partner of Dr August Oetker KG, Bielefeld. Following her delivery on April 2, 2008, the 'Rio de la Plata' will initially is phased into Hamburg Süd's Asia - South America East Coast service for a short time before being deployed in the shipping group's Europe - South America East Coast trade. She and her five sister ships will gradually replace the 'Monte' vessels deployed there, which will then connect Asia with South America East Coast. The name chosen for the ship, 'Rio de la Plata', comes from the estuary formed by the major South American rivers Paraná and Uruguay, on which the two key ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo are situated.

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Hanjin Heavy to form shipyard safety committee

South Korean-owned Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction has said that it plans to form a special committee to monitor compliance of its subcontractors with international safety standards in shipbuilding works.

“We will try to level up safety awareness of all those concerned, including subcontractors, to the extent of international standard. In addition, we will form a special committee to especially monitor and implement safety wise matters,” Pyeong Jong Yu, HHIC-Philippines general manager said. “It was and will be our concern that our employees, including subcontractors must be well aware of what is shipbuilding and its incidental activities,” he added. The company has had a handful of work-related deaths in recent months, including an explosion at its Subic yard in January that killed two workers and injured five others.

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Port fuel incentives will not replace new rules

A possible distillate fuel subsidy scheme in Los Angeles and Long Beach will not replace new fuel rules being considered in California.

The scheme was announced this week by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach but, if approved this month, would run only until June 30, 2009.
"Most shipping lines will be able to start participating immediately," said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero. The two port authorities expected that new fuel rules from the California Air Resources Board (ARB) would come into play on July 1, 2009. The ARB presented that start date for its main engine distillate fuel requirements at a workshop earlier this month. The agency had intended to seek board approval for the new rules in April. But a spokesperson told the workshop that there were still aspects of the rule that needed further consultation and that it would seek approval in June this year. ARB also noted that it was continuing to evaluate technical issues related to fuel switching and was doing further work on the issue of fuel availability. It estimated, however, that the rules would lead to substantial reductions in particulate matter (PM) and sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions. The two port authorities this week saw their scheme as a means to achieve even faster reductions in the use of fuel oil bunkers and lower ship emissions. The ports have estimated that the additional cost to subsidize distillate fuel could run to $18.5 million.

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Promoting ship-building industry

An opportunity is showing up for Bangladesh to promote an emerging sector and make it a largely successful one in a short period of time and earn a bounty in foreign currencies on a sustainable basis.

This is the country's budding ship building industry. Already, two private sector shipping companies have made their mark in this field by getting orders from European countries to make small and medium sized ocean going ships. They are now doing path-breaking work in this sector and other potential entrepreneurs can take on shipbuilding tasks by emulating their example and adding sinews to this sector. The situation now is much like the early seventies when Bangladesh was just starting to launch itself in the readymade garments (RMG) sector. The RMG sector then quickly flourished to come to the state it has reached today. A similar feat is possible in the very hopeful shipbuilding sector. The world market for ordered ships is growing annually by six per cent and if Bangladesh can even get two per cent of the market shares in this sector, it can start earning the equivalent of foreign currencies in the neighbourhood of Taka 560 billion in the near future. The earnings are only one side to the multi-faceted spin-offs. In the event of such a success, hundreds of thousands of people will be employed in this new industry and its linkage ones as it will be semi-labor intensive in the Bangladesh context. There are indeed great possibilities for the shipbuilding sector to be tapped in a conducive policy environment. It is largely up to the government to help timely in the creation of it so that this industry can take-off faster.

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Rolls-Royce signs mou with Vinashin

Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) aimed at helping to develop Vietnam’s fast-growing marine industry.

The scope of the partnership will include identifying potential strategic partners for development of shared business interests, which include the delivery of propulsion systems as well as developing a sourcing strategy that enhances the business activities of both parties in Vietnam and for the export market. It will also develop a sourcing strategy that enhances the business activities of both parties in Vietnam and for the export market. John Paterson, Rolls-Royce president - marine, said: “This agreement provides the framework for the establishment of a strong relationship between Rolls-Royce and Vinashin. I am confident that this strategic partnership will help promote and develop the fast-growing marine industry in Vietnam and also enable Rolls-Royce to expand its marine capabilities in Vietnam and the region.” The agreement also recognizes Vinashin’s goal of enhancing both management and technical skills of its workforce by including the development of a training structure which will call on the technical expertise of Rolls-Royce.

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Chevron bids high on Green Canyon 944

Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 206 began today with a large bid by Chevron Corp. for Green Canyon Block 944.

The energy giant's high bid of over US$55 million was one of 10 bids submitted for the tract, far outstripping a US$26 million bid from a partnering between Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and Oklahoma-based Devon Energy. ExxonMobil also bid on the block. Green Canyon Block 945 proved equally as popular as nearby Green Canyon Block 944, also attracting 10 bids. United States Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne opened the sale by praising the corporations working in the Gulf of Mexico, and thanking them "on behalf of America" for the technology they develop and the energy security they provide. The reading of the bids for Lease Sale 206 will be followed by Lease Sale 224, which offers blocks in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

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