DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER
DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER : Sunday 03-06-2001
EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS Laatste olie uit Ievoli Sun gehaald Het wrak van de in oktober voor de Franse westkust vergane tanker Ievoli Sun is vrijdag ontdaan van de laatste resten olie uit de tanks. Dit heeft het Franse ministerie van Transport meegedeeld. Nadat het Nederlandse bergingsbedrijf Smit Tak ruim een week geleden de lading styreen had geborgen, restte alleen nog 180 ton stookolie. De berging daarvan is nu afgerond. Dat was een moeilijke klus wegens de sterke stroming en de beschadigingen aan de romp van het schip. Smit Pioneer heeft een allerlaatste onderwaterinspectie van de romp uitgevoerd om er zeker van te zijn dat er niets meer uit het schip lekt, deelden de Franse scheepvaartautoriteiten mee. De wrakstukken van de Ievoli Sun blijven op de zeebodem liggen, zo'n zeventig meter diep. De Franse autoriteiten zullen het wrak in de gaten blijven houden. In totaal haalde Smit Tak 3000 ton styreen uit de tanker. Dat zou betekenen dat er ruim 1000 ton van de lading in zee is terechtgekomen. Styreen is een grondstof voor plastic. De lading was van Shell. Smit Tak werkte bij de berging samen met het Noorse bedrijf Mohn. Het bergingsbedrijf uit Rotterdam wil niet kwijt hoeveel geld er met de opdracht is gemoeid
Top : The Smit Pioneer arrived back in the Port of Rotterdam this morning ,the Smit Pioneer’ s next assignment will be the installation of a Midwater Arch and Flexibles Risers for Coflexip Stena Offshore in the Kuito Field offshore Angola. ( Photo : Piet Sinke )
Another oil spill in Brazil The Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras, says more than 200,000 litres of oil were spilled on Wednesday from a pipeline in Sao Paulo state. A spokesman for Petrobras said pumping was stopped as soon as the leakage was detected and workers brought in to remove oil that had spilled in Barueri close to the city of Sao Paulo. It was the third accident reported by Petrobras in May. Last week, the company sent more than ten ships to contain an oil slick at sea off the south-eastern coast, opposite Rio de Janeiro. It was the second slick discovered in the same area following the sinking of a Petrobras off-shore rig, the world's largest floating oil platform, last March.
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Philippines navy patrols snare poachers MANILA: Philippine navy patrol craft taking part in a manhunt for guerrilla kidnappers pounced on an unexpected quarry when they ran into two Chinese fishing vessels poaching in the South China Sea, the Foreign Department said yesterday. The navy boarded the two boats on Monday, detained 34 Chinese crewmen and seized their catch of endangered sea turtles, foreign embassy officials said. Vice President and Foreign Secretary Teofisto Guingona said the fishermen would probably be freed without charges, but stressed that their confiscated catch would not be returned. The Chinese Embassy here filed a diplomatic protest yesterday, demanding that the fishermen and their boats be released. It insisted that the Hainan-based vessels drifted into Philippine territorial waters when one of the vessels had engine trouble. The Chinese were “fishing in the traditional fishing ground in the South China Sea”last Sunday when one of them had “engine failure and drifted with the wind”toward the western coast of Palawan. On the same day Abu Sayyaf guerrillas snatched 20 tourists and resort staff including three Americans from the Dos Palmas island resort off Palawan’ s eastern coast. The gunmen fled south across the Sulu Sea toward their island stronghold of Basilan. The Chinese Embassy said in a note verbale released by the foreign department that the boat was repaired on Tuesday. “Since none of the crew members can speak English, they failed to notify the local Philippine authorities of the incident and to seek necessary assistance. As a result, when the two vessels with 34 crew members were about to go back, they were suddenly intercepted.”– AFP
CASUALTY REPORTING Ship Collision Injures Seven in South China Sea A Panama-registered freighter collided with a local ferryboat in the sea waters near Zhanjiang City of Guangdong Province Thursday evening. In the incident seven people were injured and two missing. By Friday morning, the three severely injured people were out of danger and the two others lightly hurt were already out of hospital. Witnesses said that the freighter bumped into the ferryboat without sounding an alarm at about 8:00 Thursday evening, possibly due to the low visibility in the area, which was enveloped by heavy rain at the time. The ferryboat started to sway violently, throwing two people on a motorbike into the sea. However, the freighter continued to crash into the rear part of the ferry, causing the protection wall on the ferry to collapse, injuring three more people. The chaotic situation at the time caused the two ships to collide with each other an additional couple of times. The freighter escaped from the scene after the incident.
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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER
SHIPYARD NEWS Meer orders voor Duitse werven HAMBURG, 1-6-2001 - De Duitse 43 binnenvaartwerven hebben in 2000 47 schepen met een waarde van 65 miljoen mark opgeleverd. In 1999 waren dat er 39. Bovendien konden 77 nieuwbouworders worden geboekt ter waarde van 177 miljoen mark. Een forse stijging ten opzichte van 1999, toen 36 orders met een waarde van 36 miljoen mark werden geboekt. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van het Verband für Schiffbau und Meerestechnik (VSM) in Hamburg. De binnenvaartwerven beschikken voor het eerst sinds jaren weer over redelijk goed gevulde orderboeken. Dat is vooral te danken aan bestellingen van passagiersschepen. Daarbij gaat het om drie grotere passagiersschepen en vijftien passagiers/veerschepen. Deze dure schepen verklaren ook de relatief hoge waarde van de orders. Van alle orders komt negentig procent van Duitse ondernemingen, de rest uit andere landen in West-Europa. Naast de nieuwbouworders voerden de werven vorig jaar voor 77 miljoen mark ombouwopdrachten en reparaties uit. Daarnaast werd voor 23 miljoen mark constructiewerk gedaan dat niet op de scheepsbouw was gericht. Volgens de brancheorganisatie van de Duitse scheepsbouwers, zien de leden de toekomst optimistisch tegemoet. Hoewel er nauwelijks opdrachten voor de bouw van vrachtschepen binnenkomen. En de schepen die worden gebouwd, zijn veelal kleine werkscheepjes, dekschuiten en pontons. De 47 schepen die vorig jaar van stapel liepen hadden een gemiddelde tonnage van 250 ton. Daaronder waren twee containerschepen van 1500 ton. Ook dit jaar staan in de boeken vooral kleine schepen. Er staan vier vrachtschepen met een gezamenlijk laadvermogen van 5000 ton op stapel en verder vijftig stuks 'klein spul'. Voornaamste opdrachtgever daarvan is overigens de Duitse overheid. Vooral reparaties De scheepsbouwers wijten het geringe aantal nieuwbouwopdrachten uit de binnenvaart vooral aan de teruglopende marges in deze sector. De winsten in het vervoer staan onder druk door toenemende concurrentie en sterk gestegen kosten, met de brandstofprijzen als hoofdmoot. De modernisering beperkt zich hierdoor in het algemeen tot de noodzakelijkste reparaties om het schip varende te houden, zegt het VSM in haar jaarbericht. Wanneer uiteindelijk toch tot vervanging wordt besloten, komt de nieuwbouw meestal uit lan den met lagere lonen. Scheepseigenaren en werven bestellen steeds meer casco's in Oost-Europa, die dan op een Duitse werf worden afgebouwd. faillissementen Doordat slechts weinig schepen worden gesloopt stijgt de gemiddelde leeftijd van de Duitse vloot. Het aantal werven is nagenoeg constant gebleven. De Deutsche Binnenwerften met vestigingen in Genthin en Tangermünde (Sachsen-Anhalt), Dresden-Laubegast (Sachsen) en Berlijn en Malz (Berlijn/Brandenburg) ging vorig jaar failliet. De eerste twee vestigingen werden intussen overgenomen door de Duitse rederij Deilmann. De in 1999 eveneens wegens faillissement gesloten Elbewerft in Boizenburg is vorig jaar overgenomen door de Hamburger Peter Solbrick. Hier wordt nog dit jaar een dubbelwandige binnentanker op stapel gezet. Ook aansluitende nieuwbouwopdrachten zijn voorhanden. (VK)
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ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES Stena Line Improving Service in Southern Baltic Sea
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--June 1, 2001--Stena Line is making a major improvement to its service in the southern Baltic sea by introducing two vessels, one on the Trelleborg-Travemunde route and one on the Karlskrona-Gdynia route. "This investment in the southern Baltic Sea is part of our strategy of developing our European network," says Bo Severed, Stena Line's CEO. "The two vessels strengthen our position as one of the leading ferry operators in Europe." The Svealand will now join the ferry Gotaland on Scandlines ABs Trelleborg-Travemunde route. The ferry is a RoPax vessel with a load capacity of 2,300 lane metres and room for over 300 passengers. The route is primarily for freight transport. Doubling the frequency and raising capacity means a significant improvement for customers. The Svealand is being time chartered from the Visentini Group of Italy, and will enter service at the middle of July. Greater Freight Capacity Another vessel is also being introduced onto the Karlskrona-Gdynia route. The Stena Traveller will enter service in December/January and will increase the route's freight capacity by 1,800 lane metres. The Stena Traveller is a modern RoPax-ferry with over 200 beds, new cabins and room for 250 passengers. In recent years the number of passengers on this route has risen from 180,000 to 270,000, while demand for freight transport has increased by 12-17% per year. "The market wants extra capacity and we know that southern Sweden is, and will remain, an area of growth," says Bo Severed. "It is very pleasing that we can introduce two excellent vessels that are adapted to meet both our customers' and our own demands." Last year Stena Line and Scandlines AB carried over 13.5 million passengers, 2.5 million cars and around one million freight units. Facts Svealand Vessel class RoPax No. of passengers 366 including crew No. of cars 164 Freight capacity 2 300 lane metres (172 trailers) Cabins 70 + 72 pullman seats Length 186 m Width 25 m Speed 23 knots Stena Traveller Vessel class No. of passengers Freight capacity Cabins Length Width Speed
RoPax 250 1 800 lane metres 83 and 204 beds 154 m 24 m 18 knots
Millions sunk at cruise ship wharf
THE State Government lost up to $4.5 million after ignoring for more than a year serious contract breaches by a company which had given exclusive rights to build a Brisbane cruise ship terminal.
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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER Documents obtained by The Courier-Mail show former State Development Minister Jim Elder was unable to convince then Natural Resources Minister Rod Welford to cancel the company's lease early last year, despite warnings from senior bureaucrats. Woodsands Pty Ltd, which had already obtained a seven-month extension to pay $450,000 in 1999 rent owing to the Government, was allowed to miss the due date and had to be bailed out by its mortgagee. When last year's rent of $375,000 became due in September, the company successfully lobbied for a five-month extension but again failed to pay the money, prompting the Government to terminate the lease last month. The company had promised to build a $170 million cruise ship terminal on the old Cold Stores site in Hamilton. It has since been placed into liquidation with estimated debts of about $20 million. Mr Elder had acted on the advice of his director-general, Ross Rolfe. Mr Rolfe cited the company's failure to pay a construction bond of $3.95 million, its unauthorised company restructure, legal complications and concerns raised by auditors as evidence of a "company in crisis". A spokesman for current Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson said yesterday that the Government had decided to allow the extensions because of the significance of the project. The spokesman said the department knew Woodsands had lost its financier in the Asian economic crisis but it had spent about $5 million on site preparations. "We probably would have been criticised if we jumped at them straight away and hadn't given them some opportunity to meet their obligations," the spokesman said. In a letter dated August 10, Mr Elder said: "While I understand that your officers may think there is some merit in pursuing the Woodsands proposal, its track record has clearly demonstrated that it is unable to complete the project as promised." In a letter, dated October 5, Mr Elder said: "I am particularly concerned that if Woodsands is still not able to progress the project, an extension to the lease might well act as a barrier to the Government facilitating a cruise ship terminal in the foreseeable future." Mr Robertson's spokesman said yesterday that the Government would not attempt to recoup money from the liquidator, but hoped to cover the lost rent in a future lease on the terminal site. The Borbidge government awarded the 100-year lease to Woodsands in 1997, requiring only a "nominal rent" of $100 to be paid in the following two years. Woodsands also obtained a $10.1 million tax break from the Federal Government.
NAVY NEWS Navy's flagship plan 'certain to be sunk' Plans by the Ministry of Defence to build aircraft carriers to project British power around the world over the coming decades will almost certainly be scrapped, according to an authoritative study warning of deep cuts which will have to be made across the armed forces. In a stark warning to whatever government is in power over the coming years, it says: "The pretence that the UK is capable of deploying and sustaining balanced independent expeditionary forces will have to be abandoned." The warning comes from Sir Michael Alexander, a former ambassador to Nato, and Sir Timothy Garden, a former assistant chief of defence staff, in the Royal United Services Institute newsletter. Though the institute is independent, it has close links to the MoD. The warning reflects concerns within the ministry about growing pressures on the annual defence budget of some £23bn. The plan to build two carriers to replace the navy's existing three from the year 2012 was a key proposal in the Labour government's strategic defence review unveiled in 1998. Including their aircraft, they are estimated to cost a total of at least £8bn.
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DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER Given what they call an optimistic assumption that defence spending can be sustained at its present level in real terms,"there can be little chance ... that the carriers envisaged [in the defence review] will ever be built", they say. Their future is already in doubt as a result of the Bush administration's defence review, which is taking a hard look at the planned US j oint strike fighter, the Royal Navy's choice for the proposed British carriers. "If the JSF is cancelled, you will have carriers without aircraft," said a defence source yesterday. Abandoning the planned aircraft carriers - the proposed flagships of the navy's fleet - will be a huge blow to British shipbuilders. The carriers would not be the only victims of cuts at a time when defence costs are rising much faster than inflation, the authors predict. By 2015, the number of people in the three armed forces will have fallen by 40,000 to about 170,000 and frontline infantry by about a half. The army now has about 100,000 trained soldiers, a shortfall of 8,000 which the MoD still insists it plans to make up by 2005. The authors' warning was backed up yesterda y by figures released by the MoD showing that recruitment across the three services fell by more than 10% over the past year. "There is almost certainly only one way to maintain a credible conventional defence capability in the European region over the longer term on a basis of level defence spending in real terms," the authors say. "That is progressively to integrate the UK effort with ... our Nato allies in Europe." They add: "That European defence integration offers the only rational approach to our de fence dilemmas is not a statement about political feasibility. It is a statement about arithmetical realities."
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