Rina launches corrosion prevention training

Italian classification society Rina has joined forces with UK-based coatings testing company Bodycote to launch a global Corrosion Prevention and Coatings (CPC) program.

Rina says the heart of the program will be a CPC Training Course for shipyard and shipowner staff, and testing facilities for type approval of coatings according to the new IMO requirements. A Rina statement says the aim of the program is to substantially raise awareness of modern coating standards and regulations, deliver practical knowledge on the application, inspection and verification of coatings and provide facilities to enable customers & suppliers to meet the new IMO requirements.

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DCT Gdansk celebrates phase 1 completion

The completion of the first phase of development of Poland’s new deepwater container terminal, DCT Gdansk, was celebrated with a reception onboard the cruise vessel Lady Assa.

DCT Gdansk management and directors were joined by public, city and port officials, representatives from the international shipping community, and civil engineers involved in the construction process as the vessel sailed from her berth at Motlawa in Gdansk’s ‘old town’ to DCT Gdansk’s 650m of completed quay. With Phase One of the terminal development up and running, DCT Gdansk recently announced weekly calls by leading global container line CMA CGM and feeder specialist Team Lines, while Lithuania-based feeder operator ISN has also initiated a weekly call between DCT Gdansk and Kaliningrad.

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Aboitiz Transport buys new vessel from Japan

Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATS) announced that it bought a vessel from Japan to increase its passenger and cargo capacity.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the shipping company said it purchased a vessel from Nankai Ferry Co. Ltd. in Japan for $2.4 million. The 2,137 gross tonnage vessel arrived in the Philippines on October 6, 2007, and added 800 passenger capacity and 50 TEU cargo capacity to its current existing fleet, the company said. The company said the vessel purchase is still part of a greater strategy to build a new ATS.

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SeaMobile wins NOAA contracts

SeaMobile Enterprises has beeen awarded two major contracts by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

SeaMobile has signed a three-year contract to provide global VSAT satellite services to the entire fleet of ships operated by NOAA throughout the globe. SeaMobile has also been awarded the integration, installation, operations and maintenance of a 3.7m VSAT terminal system for the new NOAA ship, Okeanos Explorer. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce and conducts environmental research and serves as the primary source of expert information on weather data, forecasts, warnings and climate change.

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Essar Shipping bids for Bulgarian shipping company

The Ruias-controlled Essar Shipping and Logistics (ESLL) is among the three bidders for Bulgaria’s Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar), a shipping company wholly-owned by the government.

The 106-year-old shipping major is valued at around $700 million. The companies that have submitted letters of interest for a majority stake in Navibulgar to Cyprus-registered ESLL, Chartworld Shipping Corporation of Greece and a consortium of Bulgarian firm KG Maritime Shipping and Martrade Shipping Transport of Germany. Navibulgar operates a fleet of 72 vessels with a total capacity of over 1.3 million dwt.

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Nexen join hands with Pemex

Canada’s Nexen said it had signed a general collaboration agreement with Mexican state oil company Pemex covering training as well as deep-water oil and gas exploration and coal-bed methane production.

The deal, signed between local units of Nexen and Pemex, is the first co-operation agreement signed by a Canadian company, Nexen said. Mexican law prohibits Pemex from sharing the risk of exploration with other foreign or state-owned companies. Pemex is struggling the replace lagging production at its existing offshore production facilities. The state oil company has however signed similar agreements covering scientific and technological co-operation with Norway’s Statoil, Brazil’s Petrobras and UK supermajor BP.

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BAE Systems wins $19m contract

BAE Systems has won a $19 million contract from the U.S. Navy’s Southwest Regional Maintenance Center to refurbish and upgrade the ARCO (ARDM-5) floating drydock.

The new contract will serve the Navy’s new Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines. The company will perform drydocking and pierside work on the ARCO at both Naval Base Point Loma and BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair. Work on the ARCO includes painting the drydock’s underwater hull, sides and tanks, reinforcing structural bulkheads, replacing and renewing switchboards, and upgrading the automated docking and centering system. All work is scheduled for completion in June 2008. The ARCO measures 492 feet long, 98 feet wide and has a lifting capacity of 7,800 long tons.

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