MOL to launch three new services for Asia-Middle East

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is to launch three new Asia-Middle East services, beginning next month.

The services (CM4, CM5, CM6) will complemtent its current CMI, CM2, and CM3 services, and increase network services for the Middle East to six per week. MOL believes that the additions, when combined with its Intra-Asia network will enable it to offer the fastest transit times from Japan to the Middle East. The first, the new CM4 service, will be launched on April 11 at Busan and will offer direct connections from main ports in South Korea, Taiwan, and South China to the UAE and Pakistan. The new CM5 service, to begin on April 12 at Xingang, will offer direct links between major ports in China and the UAE. The new CM6 service is a direct service from South China to Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE.

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Gas price to soar as CNG takes over

Compressed Natural Gas will take over from LNG within the next 15 years as the main way to transport gas in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.

Professor Michael Economides, who used to be a senior adviser to Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky before his imprisonment, made the prediction at last week’s Mare Forum conference on energy in Athens. For short distances of less than 2,000 km and for relatively small loads of up to 10M cubic metres, LNG simply cannot compare with CNG, he said. This is because the entire investment is essentially in the ships themselves, which he called “floating pipelines”, while the cost of building CNG terminals is trivial. The main message of the conference was that in spite of the political rhetoric on alternative energy sources, oil, gas and coal will dominate the world energy demand for the next hundred years, and the benefit of shipping will remain undiminished. Economides also predicted that Russia would be unable to meet its commitments for gas supply to Europe and China because its system was mismanaged and it was practically impossible for the infrastructure to be built on time. As a result, he said, by 2010 there are going to be 100Bn cubic metres of shortfall of Russian gas for Europe.
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'Sunflower Gold' and sister vessel 'Sunflower Pearl' now in service

The 11,000GT-class passenger and vehicle ferry 'Sunflower Gold' was designed, built at the Shimonoseki Shipyard and Machinery Works of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and delivered to the owner, Diamond Ferry.

The 'Sunflower Gold' is now engaged in the regular service between Oita and Kobe. The ship has improved transport efficiency compared to the previous vessels, increasing car loading capacity by 40 percent. In addition, the number of private rooms is increased. Furthermore, for safe navigation, a chart radar system, which can superimpose electronic navigational charts on a radar display is provided. A single screw driven engine has been adopted to reduced fuel oil consumption. The double hull construction reduces the risk of oil pollution in case of damage. The Japanese barrier free rule is applied to the ship, so that the passengers, including persons with a disability, can move safely and enjoy the travel with various barrier free facilities on board.
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CHEMOIL plans to increase terminal capacity in Fujirah

SGX Mainboard-listed Chemoil, one of the world's leading physical suppliers of marine fuel products, has announced plans to further expand its GPSChemoil terminal in Fujairah.

The expansion includes an additional capacity between 500,000 to 600,000 cubic meters by 2010, creating the company's largest owned storage facility after the recently launched Helios Terminal in Singapore. Following the completion of the entire expansion program through Chemoil's joint venture with Gulf Petroleum Supplies, the terminal's fully aggregated capacity could reach approximately 650,000cbm. Chemoil is currently utilizing its share of the existing 49,000 cubic meters GPSChemoil terminal and leasing a further 60,000 cubic meters of capacity from Vopak whilst the phased construction of its terminal continues. It is estimated that by the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, the third phase of expansion will be completed to provide a total capacity of 94,000 cubic meters. Revised plans for the fourth phase of construction aim to further augment its original proposal by using land leased from the Port of Fujairah to extend the facility by an additional 500,000 to 600,000 cubic meters. Some of the tanks could be ready as early as mid-2009. The company is also exploring other options to further expand its local capacity beyond 2010, should market conditions demand for it.

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Tallink and Aker Yards creating a princess for the Baltic

Big cruise ferry launched and named.

The christening and launching ceremony of the big cruise ferry ordered by Tallink took place at Aker Yards shipyard in Helsinki. The contract worth EUR165 million (US$253 million) was signed in December 2005. The vessel will start cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn in summer 2008. Ms Eva Hanschmidt, daughter of Tallink’s Supervisory Board member Ain Hanschmidt, christened the vessel as ‘Baltic Princess’. According to plans, the now launched vessel will start operating on the Tallinn (Estonia) - Helsinki (Finland) route in summer 2008 replacing the cruise ferry 'Galaxy'. 'Galaxy' will be rerouted to Turku (Finland),Stockholm (Sweden) route and 'Festival' to Stockholm (Sweden), Riga (Latvia) route. The 'Baltic Princess' will thus mean a new ship not only for the Tallinn - Helsinki route, but at the same time for three routes, when rerouting the two vessels', says Mr Keijo Mehtonen, board member of Tallink Grupp. 'We are looking forward to offering new cruising experiences for all of our passengers,' he adds. This princess is the fourth sophisticated cruise ferry Aker Yards is building for Tallink, and the production of a fifth already started in the Rauma yard.

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Chevron launches major gas project in Australia

Chevron Corp. plans to develop a liquefied natural gas export venture based on its 100 percent-owned Wheatstone field off northwestern Australia.

Chevron aims to start engineering and design work for an initial 5 million metric tons (5.5 million U.S. tons) per year natural gas facility in 2009, the San Ramon, California-based company said. The facility will be built on the northwest coast of mainland Australia, it said, ruling out a location on Barrow Island, the nearby site of Chevron's Gorgon LNG venture with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. The Gorgon venture has been delayed well beyond its original 2006 go-ahead date because of lengthy environmental approvals and cost pressures. There is still uncertainty as to when Chevron and its partners will approve Gorgon, which would be Australia's biggest resource development. There has also been persistent speculation of dissent among the joint venture partners as costs continue to rise. The partners have spent around A$1 billion over the past two decades on exploration, development and marketing of the Greater Gorgon fields, which are estimated to contain more than 40 trillion cubic feet of gas.
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Newbuilding prices of Tankers

Recent media headlines on the cancellation of new building contracts indicate the uncertain times in the shipbuilding industry.

This arises due to the lack of financing powers, delays in deliveries from Chinese shipyards, never ending increase in the prices of raw materials, Japanese shipyard’s confrontation with steel mills and delayed engine availability. The next few years in the shipbuilding industry will be characterized by “uneasy calm” as the industry adjusts to new equilibrium for material and labor supply and product demand. The main reason is fully utilized capacity of major shipyards until most of 2010 providing steady cash flow and, at current asset price significant revenue. Major world shipbuilding yards in South Korea and Japan have well established contracts for supply of raw materials from major world producers. The smaller yards are however exposed to smaller volume contracts and more exposed to price volatility. For the major shipyards, at least there will be some profit margin to burn through before hitting breakeven.
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