'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.
Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.
Read More

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.
Read More

Imtech expands global maritime network in South Africa, Panama and Norway

Imtech, technical services provider in Europe and the global maritime market announces that it has expanded its maritime service network with new branches in South Africa, Norway and Panama.

In South Africa, it has acquired the maritime services provider Pertec. In Panama an asset deal has been made with a local maritime company, while Imtech has opened a new branch of its own in Norway. On the maritime market, Imtech is a major international player with 60 international service points and branches in Europe, USA, the Far East, Middle East, Africa and China. Imtech has a strong position in all maritime segments - including passenger ships, merchant vessels, luxury yachts, navy vessels (e.g. frigates and corvettes), oil and gas tankers, dredgers, crane ships and other work ships. More and more ships are being fitted with Imtech technology. For strategic reasons, Imtech wishes to strengthen its service network even further, in order to provide better service to existing customers and to attract new customers. In South Africa, Imtech is active from Cape Town and Durban via its maritime business unit Radio Holland South Africa. It employs over 80 people and achieves revenues of more than 9 million euro on an annual base.
Read More

Port of New Orleans seeks state help in funding master plan

Officials with the Port of New Orleans called on the state to help pay for its $1 billion master plan, which outlines a slate of ambitious development projects to be completed by 2020.

Port President and CEO Gary P. LaGrange said his agency needs far more than the $25 million Gov. Bobby Jindal promised to dedicate to the expansion of the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, the centerpiece of the port's master plan. "We need to keep up with our competition," LaGrange said. Jindal asked the Legislature this week to dedicate about $28 million of the state's $1 billion budget surplus to the Port of New Orleans. The bulk of that, or about $25 million, would go to building the second phase of the port's Napoleon Avenue terminal. But LaGrange said the port needs at least $125 million during the next three years to jumpstart the $237.5 million terminal expansion, which would boost the port's ability to process the massive metal boxes that carry consumer products around the country. The facility's four cranes can process annually about 360,000 TEUs, a shipping term that expresses the equivalent of a 20-foot long container box. The second phase of terminal would allow the port to handle an additional 195,000 TEUs. An eventual third step, which would cost another $240 million, would boost the terminal's capacity to about 1.34 million TEUs each year.

Read More