Keppel corks ground-breaking rig

Keppel Offshore & Marine arm Keppel FELS has finished the new DSS-21 proprietary designed semi-submersible rig for Maersk Contractors, the most advanced deep-water drilling rig to be designed and completed by Singapore to date.

The rig named, Maersk Developer, is the first of a trio of DSS-21 semi-submersible rigs that Keppel is building for Maersk Contractors, a unit of Danish shipping and oil group Moller-Maersk. The Maersk Developer is contracted to Norwegian giant StatoilHydro for operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The DSS-21 rig features a dynamic positioning system, with the ability to attach a pre-laid mooring system. It is capable of operating at water depths of 3000 metres and drilling down to 10,000 metres, which makes it suitable for conditions off Brazil, West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and South East Asia. Maersk Contractors, which operates a fleet of 26 drilling rigs contracted to global oil companies, in May 2006 ordered its third deep-water rig from Keppel, bringing its total order for the DSS21 design to about S$1.2 billion (US$877 million). The two other DSS-21 rigs being built at Keppel FELS are set to be delivered in the second quarters of 2009 and 2010. The Maersk Developer was named on Saturday in the presence of Minister Lim Boon Heng from Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office, by Kari Reinertsen, the wife of Oivind Reinertsen, president of StatoilHydro’s North American operations.
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Oceanic Carriers signs new time charter agreement

Oceanic Carriers Limited has entered into a time charter agreement with Oldendorff Carriers for the ‘GO Pride' at Athens, Greece.

The agreement is for a minimum period of 35 days at the gross rate of US$44,000 or US$45,000 per day and a ballast bonus of US$375,000 or US$ 400,000 depending on port of discharge. The charter is expected to commence on or about June 26, 2008. The ‘GO Pride' is a handysize bulk carrier built in 1982 with a carrying capacity of 35,055DWT.
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BBC Chartering expands liner services

BBC Chartering, home-ported in Leer, Germany, has extended its existing liner services between the US Gulf and South America to Europe.

The BBC Americana Line European Service is an extension of a successfully running BBC service from the US Gulf to the East Coast of South America. This now connects Hamburg, Antwerp and Bilbao as scheduled ports with Vitoria, Rio de Janeiro, Santos and Buenos Aires. When required, both services can also call at other ports en route. BBC Chartering expanded both lines because of the increasing demand for project and break-bulk cargo capacities to South America. In trade between Hamburg and South America, the portion of non-containerized cargo is relatively high: 65 per cent of the total tonnage is transported conventionally. The reason for this is the structure of the goods in foreign trade. Ores, oil seeds, fruits (bananas), meat and coffee are the most important groups of imported goods. Fertilisers, machines and/or machine parts and chemical products have the largest share in the export sector. Since April, the BBC Americana Line European Service has provided a total loading capacity of 12000 tonnes per month. On-board cranes can handle all kinds of heavy left cargo of up to 500 tonnes.

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Container liners expanding capacities at a fast pace

Maersk Line continues to lead the global container shipping trade, with a market share of 16.4%, according to the latest statistics as produced on a daily basis by Paris-based AXS Marine.

As of the 20th of June, there were 6,004 ships active on liner trades, for 12,406,864 TEU and 169,671,755 TDW. To the above figures are included 4,485 fully cellular ships for 11,648,037 TEU. The total existing cellular fleet (all sizes / all positions) stands at 4,506 ships for 11,678,934 TEU. There are 11 cellular ships over 1,000 TEU for 22,630 TEU which are inactive (either awaiting employment or laid up or damaged). According to data from AXS Marine, APM-Maersk tops the list of container liners, controlling, or operating 546 ships with a total capacity of 2,028,713 TEUs. The company’s orderbook includes 82 ships of 396,585 TEUs, which represents 19.5% of the Maersk’s capacity in terms of TEUs. Also, the company charters 351 out of 546 ships. The second largest liner is Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), which has a fleet of 401 ships of 1,303,580 TEUs. MSC owns 220 of these 401, while the remaining 181 are chartered. As for its orderbook it stands at 54 vessels with a total capacity of 598,693 TEUs, i.e. 45.9% of its current capacity. But the most aggressive company in the newbuilding scene appears to be China’s Cosco Container Lines, with has on order 73 ships of 527,803 TEUs, which represents 115.9% of its current capacity, standing at 455,541 TEUs, divided into 148 ships, 98 of which are owned, while the rest are chartered. Cosco is currently the sixth largest liner in the world.

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Shell freezes Beaufort start-up

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell said that it is delaying drilling on its Sivulliq prospect in the Beaufort Sea off northern Alaska for a year because of an environmental lawsuit.

The company, which spent $44 million on leases in the area in 2005, had planned to begin drilling at the prospect later this year. A group of environmentalists filed a lawsuit with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to stop the drilling project due to concerns about its impact on marine mammals.

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Scania delivers the engines to Finnish Border Guard's new vessels

Scania's twelve-litre engines will be used in 13 vessels, which Marine AluTech will deliver to the Finnish Border Guard.

In early June, the Finnish Border Guard signed an agreement with Marine Alutech concerning the delivery of 13 Watercat 1300 Patrol vessels during 2009 and 2011. The two 12-litre Scania engines of 478kW and water jet propulsion give the vessel a top speed of over 40 knots. The concept is the ideal solution for border patrolling, sea rescue and other activities performed by authorities, such as the Finnish Border Guard and Sea Rescue Society.

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IHC Merwede opens new branch in Dordrecht

IHC Merwede has opened a new branch in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

As a result of the rapid growth of IHC Parts & Services, the production halls in Kinderdijk were over-full and expansion was necessary. The new location in Dordrecht will concentrate exclusively on the production and delivery of stop valves, a part for dredging vessels that regulates the flow of dredged material on board. The valves vary from 1.5 to 6 metres high and they can weigh as much as 10,000kg and more. The new branch consists of two linked halls measuring 290 square metres and 400 square metres, and a large outside area where the office units are also located. Thirteen people are at work at this branch at present.
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