NYK orders VLOCs from Dalian COSCO

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has ordered two ultra-large 300,000-dwt ore carrier newbuildings for delivery in 2013 from Dalian COSCO Shipbuilding Industry (DACOS) in Tokyo.

NYK's ore carrier backlogs have grown to 14 units, comprising six each of 300- and 250-types and two 230-types. Since NYK already has five existing ore carriers and two such ships converted from single-hull VLCCs, the operator will have the world's largest ore carrier fleet with more than 20 ships, including the 14 ships remaining on order.

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Keppel clinches specialized shipbuilding contracts

Keppel Offshore and Marine have secured two contracts worth S$210 million (US$152 million).

The first contract was awarded by a repeat customer, Global Offshore International, for a derrick pipelay vessel. This is a multi-purpose construction vessel suitable for worldwide operations. With accommodation for up to 264 people onboard, the derrick pipelay vessel will be equipped with two units of propulsion thrusters, six units of positioning thrusters, four units of power generators, Dynamic Positioning System 2 and integration pipelay equipment. The derrick pipelay and major ship equipment will be furnished by the owner. The vessel is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2011. The second contract, for a 100-metre Rolls-Royce designed UT 788 CDL ultra-deepwater Multi-Functional Support Vessel (MFSV), was awarded by Lewek Shipping. The owner will furnish the ship equipment. When completed in the fourth quarter of 2010, this MFSV, with its hybrid propulsion system of both diesel and electric drives, will have a bollard pull in excess of 300 tonnes. It will also have Dynamic Positioning System 3 capability, which enhances propulsion machinery redundancy of the vessel. This is such that overall operations will not be affected in the event of fire or flooding in one part of the vessel. In addition to deepwater anchor handling, towing and supply operations, the vessel will be able to carry highly hazardous liquid, perform deepwater well-installation and well intervention services.
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Greatship India has placed an order for two construction support vessels at Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard.

These multi-purpose service vessels (MPSVs) are due for delivery in September 2010 and January 2011. The vessels are designed both for operating as advanced PSVs, with accommodation for 50 passengers and DP2 capability, as well as ROV support vessels. They will include 50-tonne active heave compensated cranes, 50-tonne A-frames and helidecks. GIL currently owns and operates three PSVs, two in India and one in the North Sea, and two AHTSs, one in India, and one in the Middle East. GIL and its subsidiaries also have an order book of sixteen vessels and one rig under construction.

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DSME helps out Russian shipbuilding sector

Russia's United Industrial Corporation (UIC) and South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have signed a memorandum on interaction in shipbuilding projects in Seoul.

The document envisages cooperation, coordination of strategies and joint actions in shipbuilding programs of major importance for UIC and DSME, in particular the construction of a modern shipyard in Russia's northwest capable of building seagoing super vessels with a deadweight of up to 300,000 metric tons and an annual deadweight of up to 500,000 metric tons. One of their top priority goals is the development of Russian shipbuilding in light of the country's plans to develop the continental shelf. The United Industrial Corporation manages assets worth over $13bn in engineering and shipbuilding (Severnaya Verf and Baltiysky Zavod shipyards and the Iceberg Design Bureau), the financial sector (the International Industrial Bank, or Mezhprombank, group), aircraft building (Sukhoi company), and real estate.
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Records tumble as capesizes go for quarter of a million a day

Strong demand in the Atlantic from South America and the US is pushing spot prices to new highs likely to crack November's record $253,000 a day in Hong Kong.

Ships were fixed for around $250,000 a day and prices are likely to remain stratospheric for the coming couple of weeks as tonnage remains stretched in the Atlantic and farmer blockades in Argentina lay up panamaxes.

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Flensburger delivers ‘Coastal Celebration' to BC Ferries

The third 160-metre double-ended ferry built by Germany's Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft for British Columbia Ferry Services will leave Flensburger and start her voyage from Germany to British Columbia, Canada on Friday.

The transfer voyage will take about 45 days, including a promotional stop in London. Afterwards, the vessel will stop for refueling in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, and Cristobal, Panama and then transit the Panama Canal and sail up the west coast of North America to Victoria, British Columbia. The ‘Coastal Celebration' will start its regularly scheduled service from Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen in the third quarter of 2008.

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Ship Insurance for Asia-Europe Routes May Rise on Gulf of Aden

The cost of ship insurance for routes between Asia and Europe may rise after Lloyd's of London was advised to treat piracy-prone waters between Yemen and Somalia as equivalent to a war risk.

The Joint War Committee, which assesses the threat to merchant shipping, added the entire Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia, to a list that already includes Iraq, Nigeria and parts of Indonesia, Neil Roberts, secretary for the group. Insurers are able to impose higher charges for routes with such a designation. Vessels sailing to the Mediterranean from the Middle East or Asia may be affected by the reclassification because the gulf lies to the south of Egypt's Red Sea, at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal. There were five pirate attacks near Aden in the first quarter, according to the International Maritime Bureau, the highest figure after Nigeria. The amendment to the war committee's list of danger zones was its first since August 2006.
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