Steve White finishes 9th in The Artemis Transat

Steve White completes the IMOCA results table in The Artemis Transat.

Steve White onboard Spirit of Weymouth crossed the finish line of The Artemis Transat at 04:04:54 GMT on 28 May 2008 at an average speed of 7.45 knots/difference to 1^st place 4days, 3 hours, 19 minutes and 19 seconds. H took the 9^th place in a time of 16 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes and 54 seconds. Steve White is thirty six year old from Dorchester, UK and is one of the finest solo sailors in the world. IMOCA is the international 60 feet Monohull Open Class Association. It was established in 1991 and is the governing body behind the Ocean Racing World Championship of which races like the Vendee Globe, The Route du Rhum, Barcelona World race and many others are a part. Nine of the 13 starters have completed the 2,982-mile solo course and White’s achievement stands out of his sheer determination and obvious passion for the sports. Interestingly, the yacht in which Steve sailed across the Atlantic carried the Marine BizTV Logo on it. White went through storms, windless zones, freezing cold and embraced it all to achieve the ambition of finishing the ‘The Artemis Transat’ and is now one stop closer to his long held dream of competing in the solo Vendee Globe. He has staked everything he has to participate in the sport of solo sailing and has now completed his first solo transatlantic race.

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Seadrill on jack-up shopping spree

Seadrill has ordered another four jack-up newbuilds from Keppel Fels and PPL Shipyard in Singapore, with delivery planned for 2010.

Two units will be built at Keppel Fels and based on the yards Mod V B design. Water depth capability will be 400 feet with a drilling depth of 30,000 feet. Delivery of these two units are scheduled for June 2010 and November 2010 with a total price tag of around $420 million. The two units will be Seadrill’s fifth and sixth order with Keppel Fels. The two units to be built at PPL Shipyard will be based on the Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 deep drilling design. Rated water depth will be 375 feet with a drilling depth of 30,000feet. Delivery of these units are scheduled for March 2010 and November 2010 with a total contract price of around $430 million. These jack-ups will be the second and third jack-up orders that Seadrill has placed with PPL Shipyard. Seadrill also has option agreements for further jack-up orders in 2011.
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Koreans bag over $5bn orders at Posidonia

Korean shipbuilders have confirmed at Posidonia they have hauled in orders worth more than $5bn.

News of the business added a further buzz to the exhibition. The world’s three largest yards all snared deals with 34 ships with STX snagging two too. Even for the record-breaking Greek event cementing deals on this scale is unusual. But as one Athens-based analyst said: “While the deals have been on the table for sometime, Posidonia offered the perfect place to bring the parties together to put pen to paper. ”Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, confirmed deals worth $2.4bn to build 22 tankers including nine 158,000dwt suezmaxes with Alba Maritime worth $837m. Other ships booked include six VLCCs, a further five suezmaxes and two aframaxes. Meanwhile, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has inked deals for $2.5bn. Though no names were revealed the bulk of the business is known to have come from Greeks who already have a staggering 1,050-plus ships on orders, many of them in South Korea. Samsung Heavy Industries signed a contract for a pair of aframaxes at the show, with two more still under negotiation. STX Shipbuilding has landed contracts to build two VLCCs, to be delivered to European owners by 2010-11. Finally, while Hanjin Heavy Industries has not garnered any contracts from the show as yet, it appreciates the important of this market and will set up a Greek office later this year.

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Rigdon Marine signs purchase agreement and commitment to GulfMark Offshore

Vessel operator Rigdon Marine has signed a definitive purchase agreement to sell all of its equity interests to GulfMark Offshore at New Orleans, USA.

The combined company will initially operate 90 vessels, with an additional 16 vessels under construction for delivery through 2010. Geographically diversified, the combined fleets will give GulfMark a significant presence in the domestic Gulf of Mexico as well as the North Sea, Brazil and Southeast Asia, to compliment smaller but growing operating areas in Trinidad, Mexico, West Africa and India. Though GulfMark's corporate headquarters are in Houston, USA, the company has minimal US operations, making the addition and retention of Rigdon Marine's mariners and shore-based management key components of its enhanced operations. More than 300 skilled men and women are currently employed by Rigdon Marine, most working in the US Gulf region, with New Orleans area employment expected to grow to more than 400. Going forward, the Rigdon Marine Team will play a central role in the expansion of GulfMark's presence in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean markets.

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Support for Greek Liberty Ship Museum Project

ABS announced it will donate US$250,000 to the Institute of History of the Greek Merchant Marine for the restoration of the last available Liberty Ship, the ‘Arthur M. Huddell', as a maritime museum to be located in Greece.

At a ceremony attended by US Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton and Spyros Polemis, Chairman of SeaCrest Shipping, who has been appointed as project manager of Liberty Enterprise by the Greek government, ABS Chairman and CEO Robert D. Somerville presented the cheque and a specially-commissioned oil painting of the ship to Mr Polemis on behalf of the Board of Directors and employees of the classification society. The ship is the gift of the US government to the Greek government. It is currently in Virginia being prepared for the trans-Atlantic crossing to Greece. The importance of the Liberty ships to the resurgence of Greek merchant shipping in the post-World War II period cannot be over stated. The Greek fleet had been decimated during the war, assisting in the supply of Allied troops. With hostilities over, the US government made the surplus fleet of Liberty ships available for purchase on favourable terms with Greek owners purchasing what was to become known as the "Blessed 100" (actually 104) Liberty ships which became the foundation upon which the post-war Greek fleet was based. "The Liberties, including the ‘Huddell' were built and maintained to ABS class," said Mr Somerville. "Their acquisition by the Greek shipowners not only marked the resurgence of the Greek fleet but also represented the foundation of ABS' activities in the Greek market. The ships were retained in ABS class. The Liberties were the first ships to be built using production-line methods with one ship being constructed from keel-laying to delivery in just over four days.

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