The TA KEROperator - Tanker Operator

TAKEROperator 

MARCH 2010 

www.tankeroperator.com 

Features: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US tanker consolidation 

Singapore – a major hub 

Szymanski speaks out 

BWT decision day looms 

New cargo tank coating 

STS rules soon 

Incorporating: 

The TAKEROperator 

Annual Shipping 

Review

TAKEROperator 

MARCH 2010 


Features: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US tanker consolidation 

Singapore – a major hub 

Szymanski speaks out 

BWT decision day looms 

New cargo tank coating 

STS rules soon 

Incorporating: 

The TAKEROperator 

Annual Shipping 

Review

Contents 

04 

05 

Markets 

Renewed energy demand forecast 

Profile 

Provision management saves costs 

ANNUAL REVIEW 

10 

15 

20 

25 

US Report 

Jones Act conundrum 

Crowley expands tanker fleet 

Singapore Report 

APM- Huge interest shown 

Shiprepair hub 

Shipmanagement 

New secretary general takes office 

Software suite case study 

Technology 

25 Ballast Water Treatment 

Convention comes closer 

Various approvals in the offing 

34 Tank Servicing 

New cargo tank coating unveiled 

Huge tank cleaning project 

38 Ship-to-Ship 

Mandatory STS rules come closer 

I 2010 – What are we in for? 

IV Oil spills at their lowest 

VI TAKEROperator’s top 30 

XV Risks attached to new fuel limits 

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Front cover photo 

We will witness many scenes like this during 

2010. Some say too many. If most of the 

scheduled deliveries occur, we could see a change 

in the tanker fleets’ composition, especially in the 

MR sector. 

Photo Credit—AET. 

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March 2010 TANKEROperator 01

COMMENT 

Forthcoming expos will gauge the shipping industry’s mood 

As the first two of this year’s major events are 

almost upon us, it will be a chance to take stock 

and to see whether the shipping industry is really 

weathering the recession. 

Strangely, the two events – CMA and Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) - 

are only a couple of days apart. However, that’s where the similarity 

ends as they will take place thousands of miles apart. The first is being 

held in the US and the second in the vibrant island Republic of 

Singapore. 

The two events should be the barometer of the industry to gauge 

whether there are signs of a recovery on the horizon. Industry observers 

will be gauging the mood of the speeches and no doubt counting the 

number of visitors going through the doors. 

There appears to be no problem in selling booths, but will the 

executives manning the stands get the right type of punter? Both CMA 

and APM should be okay as they tend to go for a different sector of 

the industry. 

The Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA) has built up its 

membership and reputation as a leading catalyst for US service 

providers, such as brokers, lawyers, financiers and consultants. There 

maybe the odd owner to be seen as the annually elected Commodore 

always seems to come from the shipowning ranks, not only in the US, 

but also worldwide, John Fredriksen being a prime example. 

APM is more of a showcase for Asian shipbuilders, repairers and 

equipment manufacturers who come to market their wares to the many 

shipmanagement and owner/manager representative offices that adorn 

the island. 

Down the years both owners and managers have set up shop to be 

near where their vessels are trading, which includes Singapore. Broking 

houses have followed, as have lawyers, bankers and others. Also 

surrounding Singapore are the oil and gas powerhouses of Indonesia 

and Malaysia. 

In the US, several companies are quoted on NASDAQ and the New 

York Stock Exchange. However, with the troubled financial markets, 

we have not seen many companies trying to raise cash with the 

exception of Herbjorn Hansson’s Nordic American Tanker Shipping, 

who uses the money raised by issuing shares to purchase ships in cash, 

thus has no finance amortised into his vessels’ daily operating costs. 

In Singapore, a few companies are listed on the Singapore Exchange 

Securities Trading exchange, including leading independent bunker 

supplier Chemoil. Bunker supply is still one of the mainstays of 

Singapore’s service offerings. 

TANKEROperator 

Vol 9 No 4 

Tanker Operator Magazine 

Ltd 

213 Marsh Wall 

London E14 9FJ, UK 


PUBLISHER/EVENTS/ 

SUBSCRIPTIONS 

Karl Jeffery 

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jeffery@thedigitalship.com 

EDITOR 

Ian Cochran 

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cochran@tankeroperator.com 

ADVERTISING SALES 

Melissa Skinner 

Only Media Ltd 

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mskinner@tankeroperator.com 

In the Annual Review, leading accountant and consultancy Moore 

Stephens said that several companies were cash rich and were looking 

for either other companies, or distressed newbuilding tonnage to gobble 

up, thus taking advantage of the situation in order to renew their fleets 

for a reasonable return. 

One recent example was Odfjell purchasing an MR from SLS 

Shipbuilding of South Korea. The agreed price was about $33.5 mill 

and the vessel was due for delivery in April 2010. Due to its prompt 

delivery, the vessel was believed to be the resale of a tanker originally 

ordered by Eletson. 

This purchase was announced as Odfjell continued to phase out older 

tonnage. Recently, the company sold three 1980s built parcel tankers 

for recycling. 

Brokers and consultants believe that there will be several more 

vessels sold by cash strapped owners, or shipbuilders, this year at knock 

down prices in all sectors. 

Tough year 

Moore Stephens agreed that this year would be tough for both owners 

and builders alike. Interestingly, more service providers, such as banks 

and cargo owners, will be looking at a vessel’s ‘Green’ components 

before deciding whether to finance, or charter the vessel, which is a 

completely new way of thinking for most. 

Those owners and operators without access to credit will find that the 

coming year or so will be a difficult period to survive, especially if the 

freight rates stay low, either equal to, or just below daily operating costs. 

Also those companies, which have re-financed their tonnage, 

effectively taking out a second mortgage to raise cash, will have 

difficulty in keeping up the higher repayments as was seen in the 1970s 

and 1980s. 

Elsewhere, in the pages of this month’s TAKEROperator, we have 

commemorated the passing of the Knock evis (see page 37) – the last 

of the 1970s built giants. If one remembers just how many ULCCs were 

constructed in the heady days of the 1970s, before the crash, this vessel 

was probably the last example. 

Some only lasted a matter of 10 years- Shell’s ‘B’ class ULCCs built 

at St Nazaire spring to mind. However, this old lady spent much of her 

30 years in shipyards and acting as a storage vessel before arriving at 

Alang for breaking in January of this year. 

This leaves the Euronav/OSG’s 440,000 dwt trio originally built for 

Hellespont just under 10 years ago as the sole ULCC survivors. We will 

ever see their like again? We doubt it. 

TO 

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02 

TANKEROperator March 2010

Our tugboats are red and white, but our environmental 

stewardship is as green as it gets. 

Crowley is one of the few tug companies to earn full Safety, Quality & Environmental (SQE) certification 

from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). 

Being E-certified means we have a recognized and approved program in place for minimizing our environmental 

impact with our tug operations. To ensure the highest standards are being met, Crowley tugs undergo regular environmental, 

safety and quality audits. 

Additionally, Crowley uses ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in all West Coast harbor tugs, and has installed, or is in the process 

of installing, shore side power at all West Coast Crowley facilities so idle tugboats don’t have to run their engines at the dock. To further 

reduce fuel consumption and emissions, Crowley worked with the Port of Los Angeles to establish various intermediary lay-berths in 

and around the port, which significantly reduces the need to run back to the ‘home dock’ between ship assist jobs. 

Crowley’s latest initiative is the design of a tugboat that is so environmentally friendly it wouldn’t even require a 

smokestack. It’s just another way Crowley is committed to preserving the environment for future generations. 

To find out more about our services in the harbors of Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco Bay Area, 

Tacoma, Seattle, North Puget Sound and Prince William Sound/Valdez, Alaska, call Crowley at 800-248-8632. Or visit www.crowley.com. 

www.crowley.com 

Liner Shipping • Worldwide Logistics • Petroleum & Chemical Transportation • Alaska Fuel Sales & Distribution • Energy Support • 

Project Management • Ship Assist & Escort • Ship Management • Ocean Towing & Transportation • Salvage & Emergency Response

INDUSTRY - MARKETS 

A renewed demand 

for energy? 

This reflected a renewed demand 

for energy amidst improving 

economic conditions, said 

McQuilling Services who analysed 

the report. 

After posting declines for the last two years, 

the EIA’s latest outlook now calls for a 1.2 

mill barrel per day growth in consumption 

during 2010, and a further 1.6 mill barrels per 

day in 2011. 

World liquid fuels consumption is set to end 

the first quarter of this year at 85.2 mill 

barrels per day after averaging 85.1 mill 

barrels per day in 4Q09 (see Figure 1). 

While a jump in tanker freight rates earlier 

this quarter may be a reflection of this uptick 

in demand, the forecast for 2Q10 will likely 

see rates fall with seasonality effects lowering 

consumption to 84.8 mill barrels per day. 

However, even at this predicted 2010-low, 

consumption in the second quarter would still 

be healthier than the 2009 average of 84.1 

mill barrels per day. 

By 4Q10, the EIA expects world fuel 

consumption to average 86 mill barrels per 

day, rising to 86.9 mill barrels per day in 

2011, reflecting a 3.3% increase from 2009. 

In a February report by 

the US EIA, the forecast 

for global liquid fuels 

consumption was 

revised upwards. 

Non-OECD countries will see a 5.6% 

growth in consumption during this period, 

with Chinese demand increasing by over 11%. 

China’s consumption in December 2009 

already revealed a 12% increase from the 

previous year, indicating that the economic 

stimulus packages put in place have helped to 

boost demand. Similar growth is expected to 

continue. 

US liquid fuel consumption fell by 4.2% to 

18.7 mill barrels per day in 2009. However, 

gasoline use actually posted a small gain, 

although demand for distillates and jet fuel 

fell by about 8.5% each. 

The world’s largest consumer of liquid fuels 

is expected to increase consumption by 

180,000 barrels per day in 2010, and a further 

210,000 barrels per day in 2011 with motor 

gasoline and distillates comprising the bulk of 

this growth. 

OPEC growth 

World liquid fuel supplies from non-OPEC 

nations are believed to have already passed 

their peak in 4Q09 at 21.18 mill barrels per 

day, and are forecast to decline nearly 5% by 

2011. OPEC supplies are predicted to grow 

steadily through 2011 until achieving a 41.6% 

share of total world supply, up from a 40.3% 

share in 2009. 

McQuilling pointed out that net tanker 

tonnage supply will grow modestly in 2010 

owing to IMO-mandated phase-outs, but more 

rapidly in 2011 as deliveries overtake 

demolitions (see Annual Review, page ii). 

While the consultancy maintained that 

fleet growth will be difficult for demand to 

absorb, it also acknowledged that several 

recent adjustments called for increasingly 

greater growth to global liquid fuel 

consumption. 

The extent to which increased consumption 

will translate to tanker tonne/mile demand is 

yet to be seen, but at least some of the 

newbuilds will find fresh employment. 

TO 

Million bbl/d 

87 

86 

Million bbl/d 

87 

Total World Supply 

86 

OPEC Share (Rt Axis) 

OPEC Share 

42% 

85 

85 

41% 

84 

84 

83 

83 

40% 

82 

82 

81 

Q1-09 Q2-09 Q3-09 Q4-09 Q1-10 Q2-10 Q3-10 Q4-10 2011 

81 

Q1-09 Q3-09 Q1-10 Q3-10 2011 

Source: US Energy Information Administration 

39% 

Figure 1: World liquid fuels comsumption 2009 - 2011 Figure 2 : World liquid fuels supply 2009 - 2011 

04 


INDUSTRY- PROFILE GARRETS 

Proper management 

of provisions can save 

considerable costs 

The supply of consumables, including fresh food has never been high on the agenda. People 

still tend to think back to elson’s day of salt beef, ships’ biscuits, scurvy and weevils. 

However, in today’s healthy eating 

environment, the food served up 

in ships’ galleys has taken on far 

more significance, especially 

with seafarer recruitment and retention 

probably the most important issues facing 

the industry. 

There are now specialist suppliers who have 

contracts with leading ship operators, thereby 

taking over the role of consumables 

management for a vessel and/or fleet. One 

such company with several of the leading 

tanker owners and operators signed up is 

Garrets International. 

Business development manager Andrew 

Brown explained that an agreement with a 

shipowner or operator is usually put in place 

to manage vessels’ provisioning. This usually, 

but not always takes the form of a fixed 

person per day feeding rate. 

Each vessel will send an order to Garrets 

who will then source the products with the 

relevant suppliers. This service operates 

worldwide and the purchasing decisions are 

made according to the vessels’ trading 

patterns. 

Garrets has a standard list of items, to 

which, shipowners/operators can add their 

own requirements. In this way, the company 

will know that the basics are covered while 

still allowing the seafarer to order whatever he 

or she wants, Brown explained. 

Although flexible, Garrets prefers to 

operate by undertaking a major storing 

every two months with a top up of fresh 

provisions every 10-14 days. However, in 

some cases the number of storings depends 

upon the size of the vessel and its current 

trading pattern. 

The company uses a network of ship 

suppliers and is not contracted to a particular 

outlet. However, Brown said that Garrets had 

worked with some suppliers for over 20 years. 

By being independent, this allows the 

company to select any supplier in any port 

that best suits the customer. 

Quality agreement 

Each supplier used is asked to sign a 

service/quality agreement to ensure that the 

provisions and service reach the standards 

required. The major suppliers are also audited. 

Brown said that the company believed in 

using local suppliers, rather than trucking 

goods long distances… ” 

which seems to be ‘de 

rigueur’ these days,” 

he said. 

To expedite the 

orders, Garrets has 

its own Excel-based 

system covering orders, 

stock inventories and 

reporting to the 

customers. “Excel 

does what we need, 

everyone knows how 

to use it, plus the ships 

and land-based offices 

already have the 

software, thus there 

are no IT conflicts. 

The vessels therefore 

can easily contact us 

directly via this 

system,” Brown 

explained. 

Today, vessels need 

good quality, simple 

products, which allow 

the cooks to produce 

healthy food to suit the 

tastes of those on board. 

For example, Garrets 

recently announced free 

range egg policy is part 

of this need. With the 

numbers of different 

nationalities on board increasing, Brown said 

that the company was seeing a demand for 

more specialised national products on the 

vessels supplied. 

All seafarers have to work hard today and 

the cook is no exception. “Three good meals a 

day are one of the few things that seafarers 

have to look forward to, so a good cook can 

boost morale as easily as a bad cook can 

lower it,” Brown said. 


INDUSTRY- PROFILE GARRETS 

“I was recently on board a vessel with an 

excellent cook. His speciality was baking and 

every day he made a batch of fresh doughnuts. 

As you can imagine, this made him very 

popular and it certainly made for a happier 

ship,” Brown commented. 

Expiry dates 

The chief cook must ensure that the stock is 

properly rotated and all the items are within 

their expiry dates. In certain ports, owners and 

operators can receive large fines for having 

expired stock on board. “We are seeing more 

galley inspections and expiry dates are an 

‘easy find’ for any official,” Brown said. 

Hygiene is always very important, but with 

the ILO MLC 2006 convention approaching, 

it will be more closely inspected, so cleaning 

routines must be in place and more 

importantly – followed, Brown thought. 

Garrets also supplies consumables, such as 

cabin/galley stores, including cleaning 

materials. 

Brown explained that the company acts 

more as a catering consultant by providing 

support for customers, both shipboard and 

land-based, on subjects such as menu 

planning, stock control, purchasing plans and 

hygiene. 

Vessel inspections are carried out and 

training given as necessary. For newbuildings, 

Garrets offers assistance with galley design 

and initial storing services. 

Gaining access to vessels, especially 

tankers, has become more challenging, mainly 

due to the introduction of the ISPS Code. 

“This is one of the reasons we favour local 

suppliers,” Brown said. “They know the port 

agents, how the local ‘system’ works and any 

possible issues with a particular berth.” 

“With virtually all deliveries for tankers 

being done by barge, we insist that our order 

must go out on the same vessel that owners 

have arranged for their own orders. This saves 

time and money as owners only have to pay 

for one barge and the crew only has to deal 

with one delivery,” Brown explained. “Local 

expertise and flexibility is vital for this.” 

Garrets policy is one of steady and 

sustainable growth and having systems and 

people in place ready for fleet growth. The 

company is currently managing 672 vessels 

and, according to Brown, is looking to expand 

further. The Far East is a growing market, but 

the company has customers worldwide. 

Brown then gave an example of a major 

tanker company that switched its supply 

source. He claimed that this particular 

company was not happy with the level of 

service previously experienced. Garrets agreed 

a schedule for the takeover, which enabled the 

supplier to settle in one group before the next 

one arrived. The masters were used to 

working with catering concerns, so were used 

to the culture. 

The primary change was how the communications 

were handled with both the shorebased 

operations and the shipboard 

management. By working with both, Garrets 

managed to quickly introduce its system, 

understand the needs of each individual 

vessel, which in turn allowed the feeding rate 

to be brought under control with minimal 

disruption on board. 

By linking up the deliveries, the customer 

estimated that Garrets had saved the company 

between $8,000-$12,000 per vessel per year, 

compared with the previous provider. For a 

fleet of more than 20 vessels, this added up to 

a reasonable amount of money, Brown 

TO 

reasoned. 

06 


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Vetting Status Report

INDUSTRY PROFILE – MILESTONE MARINE 

ew commercial 

management concern 

Danish newcomer Milestone Maritime has been gradually adding to 

its vessel portfolio since opening its doors for business on 1st June 2009. 

Essentially, the company has set 

itself up as a commercial 

shipmanager looking after small 

chemical and products tanker. It was 

formed by Donso-based Furetank and Alvstank, 

following the cessation of their chartering 

agreements with Broström Tankers, once it was 

sold to the AP Moller-Maersk group. 

Last November, Holbaek-based Milestone 

Marine announced that it had won contracts to 

commercially manage eight 17,000 dwt to 

22,000 dwt oil/chemical tankers on behalf of 

Bremen-based Rigel Schiffahrts. Six of the 

vessels are operating in CPP trades, while the 

other two are involved in the DPP cargo sector. 

In January of this year, Furetank took over 

the technical management of the IMO II type 

14,000 dwt orthern Ocean, handing over the 

commercial management of the vessel to 

Milestone Marine. The vessel’s owner is 

Donso Bunker. 

Similar to three other vessels in the fleet, the 

orthern Ocean flies the Faroese flag, which is 

administered by the Danish Maritime Authority, 

having switched from NIS. The other three 

Furetank vessels fly the Swedish flag. 

As well as commercial management, the 

company now offers competitive brokerage, 

vetting and operational consultancy to the oil 

and chemical industry. 

Milestone’s vetting department offers full 

support on operational matters, such as TMSA, 

KPIs and incident investigation. Close contact is 

kept with the oil companies’ vetting departments, 

national authorities and international 

organisations to enable the team to keep the 

customers up to speed with new rules, national 

and international requirements and standards, 

plus any edicts from the oil companies. 

The company team ranges from master 

mariners to naval architects and most have 

long experience in the tanker industry under 

managing director Soren Weinreich. 

Weinreich told TAKEROperator; “ For the 

future, we hope that we will be able to attract 

more tonnage, similar to the tonnage we 

already have now.” 

He also said that he had not ruled out the 

possibility of developing some kind of pool 

arrangement that could involve both present 

and new clients. 

Milestone mainly trades on the spot and 

COA markets today, but in addition, has 

concluded longterm timecharters. 

“We are always open for new ventures 

suitable for our exclusive tonnage”, Weinreich 

said. “We are 'in the market' for additional 

staff and hope to take on a couple of more 

people in our chartering and operation 

department during spring 2010.” 

He agreed that the oil and chemical market 

have been very poor for quite some time now 

and therefore it was very difficult to predict 

how many players will remain solid in the 

years to come. 

Weinreich concluded that he had a firm 

belief that as long as his clients maintained the 

high quality of their tonnage, there will be a 

home for Milestone Marine in this sector. TO 

08 

‘Tanker Vetting’ by Tim Knowles* 

In this long needed small book**, 

Tim Knowles with his many 

years of experience of tanker 

vetting for an oil major, provides 

a concise understanding of the 

issues involved. 

In doing so, he dispels a number of myths, 

long harboured by many shipowners, 

operators, their staffs and many of those on 

the commercial side of the business. 

The author explains that vetting is a risk 

assessment process with the objective to 

evaluate the exposure of the charterer to the 

risk of an incident or poor performance when 

using a third party tanker. 

This book provides, to what after all is a 

very dry subject, an interesting, concise and 

easily digestible clarification of the vetting 

process. It is livened-up by insertion 

throughout the text of ‘notes from the author’ 

providing personal observations based upon 

Tim Knowles’s long and valuable experience. 

He clearly demonstrates that the freight 

rate/price is not the sole arbitrator when 

chartering a tanker, that vettings are generally 

performed by charterers for each and every 

service a vessel will perform (some carry out 

90,000 or more per year!), that vetting is not 

the result of a third party inspection of the 

vessel and to receive a written statement that 

the vessel is approved is rare these days. 

Knowles clearly defines the reasons that 

tankers are vetted, the components of 

vetting, details of the processes generally 

adopted and the impact of vetting on the 

chartering business. 

He mentions that vetting is now being 

practiced in other sectors of the maritime 

business, primarily drybulk, but also container. 

He also looked to the future, speculating that 

with use of computers and common data 

feeds, vetting will remain but become less 

complicated with less ship inspections as the 

focus moves to the operator’s management 

BOOK REVIEW - A Critique 

system and results from TMSA. 

He pointed out the importance and 

prominence that TMSA results are now 

being given by many charterers within their 

vetting process and the need for operators to 

ensure that any changes in their TMSA 

profile are communicated to customers and 

recorded in the OCIMF database. 

In all, a very helpful reference book for all 

those involved in the business of owning, 

operating or commercially involved with 

tankers, or any other type of vessel. 

Perhaps a few minutes spent browsing 

through these details provided by Tim 

Knowles will not only avoid a lengthy and 

acrimonious communication with the 

charterer’s vetting department but expedite 

the fixture of the vessel. 

*Reviewed by Captain Chris Allport, FI, 

Gout-Rossignol, 31st January 2010. 

**Published by Witherby Seamanship 

International, January 2010, ISB: 978 1 

905331 93 2, price £25. 


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INDUSTRY - US REPORT 

Jones Act tankers 

cause massive 

headaches 

This year’s CMA event is taking place at a time when US tanker companies, especially 

those involved in the Jones Act operations, were suffering perhaps a bit more than most. 

This is well illustrated by the 

situation with the ongoing saga of 

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard 

(AKPS) and its 12 Jones Act 

product tanker series for American Shipping 

Co (AMSC) and Overseas Shipholding Group 

(OSG). In addition, Crowley bailed out 

bankrupt US Shipping Partners series of 

product tankers building at NASSCO (see 

page 12). 

On 11th December, AKPS delivered the 

eighth in the series of 12 product tankers to 

AMSC and OSG and entered into convoluted 

agreements with OSG, AMSC, Aker ASA and 

various other related parties. 

As part of the agreement, AMSC sold its 

rights to buy two tankers in the 12-vessel 

newbuilding programme to OSG in order to 

resolve AMSC’s ability to finance these 

vessels. AKPS further resolved to pay 

liquidated damages in the event of late 

delivery of these vessels under the terms and 

conditions agreed under the new agreement. 

Also, the exclusivity originally agreed 

between AKPS and OSG and between 

AKPS and AMSC for the tanker 

construction programme was eliminated, 

allowing Aker to pursue other opportunities 

for the vessels. 

AKPS and AMSC also agreed to cancel 

the options beyond Hull No 20. The latter 

still maintained the four options for Hulls 

Nos 17-20. 

Fixed costs 

As part of the settlement agreement, fixed 

costs were negotiated on the remaining tankers 

and AMSC agreed to pay about $2.6 mill in 

credit enhancements to the construction 

financing – ultimately to Caterpillar Financial 

Services Corp and to Aker ASA and assigned 

its rights of about $3 mill in deposits for long 

lead equipment to AKPS. 

Due to the revised pricing structure, total 

revenues on the existing shipbuilding 

contracts with AMSC were reduced by 

$9.7 mill. 

Aker said that in accordance with EU IFRS 

standards, the shipyard is now recognising 

that the last nine tankers of the 12 tanker order 

as one single project, thus revenue and 

expense are taken on a single project basis. As 

of 31st December last year, Aker said that the 

project was around 74% complete. 

This negatively affected Aker’s 2009 results 

and at the end of the year, the shipbuilder had 

four tankers still under construction. This year, 

Aker forecast that revenues would be 

generated from additional work completed on 

the remaining four tankers being built for 

10 



AMSC and OSG. The company said that if 

full capacity is maintained, targeted an 

EBITDA margin of 6% or better, over the 

project, which is scheduled to be completed in 

the first quarter of next year. 

The company said that this year’s key 

focus was to secure new orders to increase its 

work backlog. The start of production for the 

first unsecured tanker (Hull No 17) is 

scheduled for the Spring of this year. 

However, this depended on securing a firm 

order and/or the financing. 

Despite no firm orders in place, AKPS had 

already made prior purchase agreements for 

equipment for Hull Nos 17-20. Aker said 

that if Hull No 17 was not built, the 

company would incur expenses in excess of 

$15 mill. It admitted that if there was a long 

delay in starting to build another series 

following the delivery of the 12 product 

tankers, the company would be hard pressed 

to continue operating. 

In addition, as multiple vessels were in 

production at any one time, lack of continued 

firm backlog would cause operational 

inefficiencies for completion of the 

remaining vessels in the current 12-tanker 

series, Aker said. The company said it would 

continue to pursue orders in the Jones Act 

containership, product and shuttle tanker 

markets. Offshore wind turbine support was 

another area being evaluated. 

No change to Jones Act 

Aker also said that market experts believed 

that significant changes to the Jones Act were 

unlikely. The company said that in evaluating 

future risks on its ability to construct the 

vessels, it was found that its ability to meet 

anticipated learning curves and throughput, 

as well as the availability of skilled workers 

and the ability of maintaining stable suppliers 

network and sub-contractors, was a cause 

for concern. 

For its part, AMSC explained that under the 

agreement, it will assign the two shuttle tanker 

shipbuilding contracts to OSG. The first of 

these was delivered in December last year, 

while the second was scheduled to be 

delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010. 

Therefore, AMSC’s fleet will consist of 10 

product tankers all of which will be under 

long term bareboat charter to OSG. Under the 

agreement, these charters will be extended to 

December 2019, upon satisfying certain 

conditions, including the timely delivery of 

the remaining vessels and the satisfactory 

refinancing, or extension of AMSC’s vessel 

debt and bond obligations. 

At the end of 2009, AMSC’s seven vessels 

operated by OSG were chartered to Shell, BP 

and Tesoro. The remaining three vessels were 

expected to be delivered in the second and 

third quarters of 2010 and the first quarter 

of 2011. 

As a result of the settlement agreement, the 

company said that it had improved its liquidity 

and was now in a better position to service its 

debt obligations of its senior lenders. In 

addition, AMSC said that it had stable long 

term bareboat charters, that pending the 

satisfaction of certain conditions, would all 

become 10 year charters. 

Any profit sharing would be in addition to 

the bareboat rate paid and would depend on 

charter rates negotiated by OSG and the 

company’s ability to operate the vessels’ 

cost-effectively. 

AMSC said the short term did not bode well 

for any profit sharing, but the longer term was 

more positive. 

TO 

 

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Crowley extends 

tanker portfolio 

Last July, a settlement agreement approved by the US Bankruptcy Court Judge 

in ew York paved the way for Crowley Maritime Corporation to pick up 

the management of five US flag newbuilding product tankers. 

This agreement allowed investment 

concern - Blackstone Group - to 

severe its links with troubled US 

Shipping Partners and to form a 

new company – American Petroleum Tankers 

(APT). 

In effect, the new company became 

responsible for five MR tankers, three of 

which are in operation and the other two due 

to be delivered from shipbuilder NASSCO in 

San Diego this year. Originally, they were to 

be owned by a joint venture controlled 

primarily by affiliates of The Blackstone 

Group and US Shipping Partners. The latter 

had filed for bankruptcy protection under 

Chapter 11 earlier last year. 

Subsequently on 17th July 7, 2009, the 

Bankruptcy Court approved a Settlement 

Agreement under which US Shipping Partners 

agreed to release its ownership interest and 

management role within the company. As a 

result, Blackstone continued the operation 

under name of American Petroleum Tankers. 

Crowley Maritime Corporation was then 

appointed as the construction manager for the 

three tankers being built at the time and the 

technical manager for all five vessels. In 

addition, DVB Bank SE’s Product Tanker 

Group arranged debt financing to the tune of 

$250 mill. 

APT’s current fleet includes the Golden 

State, which was delivered in January 2009 

and is on long-term charter to BP, the Pelican 

State, which was delivered in June and is on 

long-term charter to Marathon, plus the 

recently delivered Sunshine State, chartered to 

Chevron USA. 

Still to come are the Empire State, and the 

Evergreen State, which upon delivery, are due 

to be chartered to the US Military Sealift 

Command. 

The Sunshine State was the first vessel 

Crowley took delivery of since the company 

was contracted by APT to handle the shipyard 

construction management and the overall 

vessel management, crewing and operations of 

the company's growing fleet. 

In addition to the five 49,000 dwt MRs, 

Crowley has two 1981-built 42,300 dwt US 

flag product tankers – Blue Ridge and Coastal 

Ridge – on its books. 

All the vessels operate within the Jones Act 

in US coastal waters. The fleet also includes a 

series of articulated tug/barges (ATBs), plus 

another three newbuildings, which when 

delivered in 2012-2013, will be the world’s 

largest ATBs. 

The Sunshine 

State was the 

third MR out of 

five delivered by 

NASSCO and 

taken over by 

Crowley. She was 

chartered to 

Chevron USA. 

12 



Crowley’s tanker fleet comes under the 

banner of subsidiary Crowley Petroleum 

Transport and is managed by Intrepid Ship 

Management, based at Jacksonville (Fla). 

Escort duties 

The Crowley group is also famous for the 

supply of tugs and barges, many of which are 

used for escort duties on the US west coast, 

including Alaska. For example, in Valdez, 

Crowley has a contract with Alyeska Pipeline 

Service company's ship escort/response vessel 

system (SERVS). SERVS is claimed to be the 

largest oil spill prevention and response 

organisation in the world. 

Through this commercial partnership, 

Crowley provides tug escorts for tankers 

traveling through the Prince William Sound 

to and from the Valdez Marine Terminal, 

sometimes under the most extreme weather 

conditions. Secure docking and undocking 

operations are also provided at the oil 

loading terminals. 

The main tugs located in Alaska are the 

Alert class and Prince William Sound class 

tugs. These vessels, which Crowley claimed 

feature the best available technology, were 

The 1981-built product tanker Blue Ridge seen in San Francisco Bay. 

specifically designed for tanker escorts and 

assist work in the region and have 

firefighting, emergency and, oil spill 

response capabilities. 

The three Alert class tugs have Azimuthing 

drive propulsion units developing 10,192 hp, 

while the other two large tugs are fitted with 

Voith Schneider propulsion units developing 

the same horsepower. In addition, there are a 

series of twin screw tugs available of up 

to 7,200 hp. 

As well as operations in Alaska, Crowley’s 

escort and harbour tugs cover the Cook Inlet, 

the Puget Sound ports of Seattle and Tacoma 

plus others, San Francisco Bay, Los 

Angeles/Long Beach and San Diego. 

Last month, Crowley signed a contract with 

Bollinger Shipyards to build two newly 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



the Gulf of Mexico region with a total of 

32 drydocks in Louisiana and Texas. 

Crowley’s new Ocean class tugs are under construction at Bollinger. 

designed ocean going tugs, with options for 

additional vessels. 

These 10,880-hp tugs mark the beginning of 

Crowley’s newbuild programme to further 

enhance its ocean towing, salvage and 

offshore support capabilities. 

Crowley said that the new tugs will be 

ideally suited to work with the company’s new 

455 series heavy lift deck barges. 

Additionally, the tugs will be outfitted for, and 

capable of, rig moves, platform and FPSO unit 

tows, emergency response and firefighting. 

Crowley subsidiary, Jensen Maritime 

Consultants played a key role assisting 

Crowley veteran Ed Schlueter and a cross 

functional team in the design of this new class 

of vessel. The new tugs will be designated the 

Ocean class, with the first two named Ocean 

Wave and Ocean Wind. They will be 

constructed at Bollinger Marine Fabricators in 

Amelia, Louisiana, with deliveries scheduled 

for the third quarter of 2011 and the first 

quarter of 2012 respectively. 

They are designed to have a minimum 

bollard pull of 150 tonnes, and their range will 

be about 12,600 miles at 15 knots free running 

speed. The tugs' features are designed with 

personnel safety as a priority. The waterfall 

style winch, shark jaws and retractable pins 

can all be controlled from the wheelhouse, 

keeping the deck clear of personnel and 

creating a safer working environment. 

Tom Crowley Jr, Crowley chairman, 

president and CEO said. "Crowley has always 

been an industry leader in tug design, 

technology and performance, and these new 

vessels are a reflection of our continued 

commitment to that. Moreover, they will 

provide our crews with ergonomic 

accommodations and comforts needed to 

minimise fatigue and injuries." 

These next generation towing vessels are 

to be fitted with twin-screw, controllablepitch 

propellers in nozzles and high lift 

rudders for a combination of performance 

and fuel economy. The Caterpillar supplied 

main engines and generators are all EPA 

Tier II compliant, with the ability to be 

upgraded for future environmental standards, 

for cleaner emissions and a lower 

environmental impact. 

During construction the vessel will be 

documented and receive a Green Passport 

Certification. Further environmental 

protection is provided by the tugs' doublehulls, 

which are designed to prevent any 

overboard discharges of fuel or fluids. All 

tanks containing liquids are inboard of the 

side shell. 

The tugs will meet all SOLAS and ABS 

criteria, and including ABS Fi-Fi 1 

firefighting standards. Additionally, the 

Ocean class vessels will have the capability to 

support salvage and rescue towing 

opportunities, as well as the US Navy's 

SUPSALV contract. 

Bollinger Shipyards owns and operates 12 

shipyards located between New Orleans and 

Houston with direct access to the Gulf of 

Mexico, Mississippi River and Intracoastal 

Waterway. The company also claims to be the 

largest vessel repair/conversion company in 

Titan acquired 

Another one of Crowley’s strings to its bow 

concerns salvage and oil spill response. This 

side of the business came into being in 2005 

when Crowley acquired salvage concern Titan 

Maritime, which today operates worldwide as 

Titan Salvage. 

Since then the company has joined the 

Marine Alliance Response (MRA), set up to 

offer owners and operators emergency oil 

spill response around the US coasts under 

OPA 90 compliant new US Coast Guard 

regulations 24/7. 

MRA is a consortium of emergency towing, 

lightering, salvage and marine firefighting 

companies. The limited liability company is 

comprised of Crowley, Marine Pollution 

Control, Titan Salvage and Marine Hazard 

Response - a joint venture of Wild Well Control 

and Williams Fire and Hazard Control. 

Changes in the response to federal 

regulations and similar developments in the 

States have prompted MRA to expand and 

strengthen its capabilities. Today for a small 

fee, MRA customers have access to high 

horsepower tugs, lightering barges, portable 

pumping equipment, marine fenders, salvage 

gear and expertise, firefighting equipment and 

trained firefighters to meet federal and state 

requirements, the company said. 

Singapore salvage base 

Last year, Titan Salvage opened a new 

salvage response facility in western 

Singapore. It is a 45,000 sq ft, self-contained 

facility, which now serves as Titan's 

corporate office in the region. 

The complex features a fully equipped 

workshop to service and repair Titan's 

extensive inventory of salvage equipment, 

a dedicated diving equipment workshop 

and specialised storage and equipment 

handling space. 

It was set up to expedite emergency 

response in the region in support of Titan's 

continued international operations and to 

consolidate the salvage company’s operations 

in the Southeast Asia. 

As a result, Titan increased its personnel 

significantly through the redeployment of 

existing workers and the employment of 

Singapore nationals. 

Another boost to the salvage arm occurred 

last year when Titan’s Todd Busch was elected 

International Salvage Union (ISU) president. 

Busch is also senior vice president and general 

manager of parent Crowley. 

TO 

14 


INDUSTRY - SINGAPORE REPORT 

Asia/Pacific showcases 

its expertise 

The forthcoming 11th Asia Pacific Maritime (APM), organised by Reed Exhibitions, 

will be held between 24th and 26th March at the Singapore Expo centre. 

From humble beginnings, the biennial 

show has grown from 241 

exhibiting companies in 2004 to 

841 in 2008, the last time this event 

was held. The number of visitors also grew 

from 3,505 in 2004 to 7,058 registered two 

years ago with 8,000 plus expected this year, 

according to the organisers. 

The expo should defy the general downturn 

as more than 900 companies from 52 

countries have confirmed their participation in 

the exhibition. Also this year there will be at 

least 12 national pavilions, including those 

from China, France, Germany, Japan, the 

Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Singapore, 

South Korea and the UK, backed by their 

respective national organisations. 

A total of 10 conferences and seminars 

covering ship financing (including Islamic 

financing), maritime law, marine propulsion & 

auxiliary machinery, marine electronics & 

communications, tanker shipping & trade, green 

shipping and the business outlook in the 

respective Asian markets, will be featured. These 

have been designed around the theme ‘Shipping 

in Asia Today, Preparing for the Future’. 

The bi-ennial international maritime 

exhibition and conference is being supported 

by some 27 industry organisations from 12 

countries, including six from Singapore. 

Kicking off the conferences on 24th March 

will be a keynote session featuring main speaker 

Hennie van Schoor, Maersk Line's director of 

business performance for Asia Pacific. Joining 

van Schoor is a panel of high-level shipping 

executives, which include Dr Volkmar 

Wasmansdorff, executive vice president of 

Germanischer Lloyd (GL), Bill Smart, managing 

director of Bengal Tiger Line and Divay Goel, 

director and head of Asia operations, Drewry 

Maritime Services (Asia). The session will be 

moderated by David Hughes, a specialist marine 

writer based in the UK. 

Green ship 

APM, in partnership with the Danish Marine 

Group, will also be presenting the ‘Green Ship 

of the Future’ seminar (see TAKEROperator, 

The organisers of APM hope for a good turnout. 

January/February, page 17), to share the vision 

for green shipping going forward, including 

discussions on business and technological 

issues and case studies. 

Kurt Feldtfos, senior sector manager of the 

Danish Marine Group, which is presenting the 

seminar, said: “The Danish maritime industry has 

always been proactive in its role in ecological 

responsibility and it is with this direction and 

mission in mind that we come together to put 

forward the need for the global maritime players 

to embrace the Green Ship programme. 

“We are confident that this approach will 

eventually be the key solution for companies 

to tap on new business projects that involve 

green shipping and the sustainable sector is 

just making its mark in Asia. For the first time 

we are presenting at Asia Pacific Maritime 

and this is exactly the right platform we need 

to educate the industry professionals of the 

impending trends to come,” he concluded. 

Said Thomas Yong, customer relations 

manager - SE Asia & Taiwan, Aalborg 

Industries: "As market leading manufacturer of 

highly efficient and environmentally friendly 

equipment for the maritime market, the Aalborg 

Industries Group develops new green solutions 

to support our customers in building and 

operating their commercial fleet to the highest 

standard for low environmental impact." 

The conferences and seminars include: - 

Ship Financing conference: Navigating 

uncertainties”, 24th-25th March. 

Asian Maritime Law conference – recent 

developments in Asian maritime law and 

issues in international disputes, 26th March. 

Spotlight on Asia Series- on the current 

shipbuilding trends and capabilities in 

China, Japan and India, 24th, 25th and 26th 

March respectively. 

Green Ship of the Future seminar on 25th 

March. 

The Spotlight on Asia series will be rolling 

out distinguished speakers from the three 

featured countries - China, India and Japan. 

From India will be five speakers including 

Lakshmi Venkatachalam, director general, DG 

Shipping, who will cover ‘Shipping - 

Challenges in Painting Global Economic 

Landscape’, and Karan Madhok, CEO, The 

Institute Of Marine Engineers (India), who 

will talk about the ‘Indian Shipbuilding 

Industry- Perspective in the Global Market’. 

China day 

Other key highlights at APM 2010 include 

’China Day’ – a special feature on China’s 

maritime industry. Besides featuring a China 

Pavilion that comprises key equipment 

manufacturers, shipyard and technology 

providers, a visiting delegation headed by the 

government and commercial organisations, is 

planned. Visitors can look forward to an array of 

free seminars, networking cocktails and 

exchange sessions with the Chinese delegation. 

*The latest issue of TAKEROperator 

Magazine will be available at the show. 

TO 



Singapore – a major 

shiprepair hub 

Lying strategically between the 

MEG/Suez and the Far East, 

deviation time is little, or none at 

all. The vast anchorages and a 

leading international airport lend themselves 

to all manner of ship supplies, crew changes, 

bunker supplies and afloat repairs, plus other 

services. 

In addition, companies such as Sembcorp 

and Keppel have built up considerable 

expertise in repair and conversions, as well as 

offshore construction. 

For example, in February Sembcorp 

Marine’s subsidiary Sembawang Shipyard 

secured major longevity, upgrading and 

damage repair contracts worth Sing$130 mill, 

reinforcing its reputation as a world-leading 

shiprepair yard, the company said. 

These include the following contracts: 

The first was a longevity project awarded 

by North West Shelf LNG Venture, one of the 

shipyard’s Favoured Customer Contract (FCC) 

clients, for the life extension of its LNGC, 

orthwest Snipe. 

The six partners in the North West Shelf 

Venture gas interests are BHP Billiton 

Petroleum (North West Shelf), BP 

Developments Australia, Chevron Australia, 

Japan Australia LNG (MM), Shell 

Development (Australia) and Woodside Energy. 

orthwest Snipe is scheduled to arrive in the 

shipyard in September 2010 to undergo 

sophisticated life extension work, which includes 

ballast tanks blasting and coating work, hull 

structural enhancement, integrated automation 

system renewal, HVAC and refrigeration system 

renewal, cargo and ballast valve actuator system 

replacement and boiler system renewal. 

This will be Sembawang Shipyard’s second 

longevity contract undertaken for the North 

West Shelf LNG Project following the 

successful completion of the life extension 

work on orthwest Sanderling in August 2009. 

Sembawang Shipyard’s has been 

particularly successful is winning specialised 

LNGC life extension work. 

The second contract was awarded by 

Sembawang Shipyard’s regular customer from 

Taiwan. This was for the repair of major fire 

damage to a 2005-built product tanker. 

With a contract value estimated in the region 

For many years, Singapore 

has been a major hub for 

shiprepair and conversions. 

of Sing$35 mill, the scope of work includes 

major steelwork renewal, complete renewal of 

the entire accommodation block, major 

electrical and instrumentation work in the 

engine room, mechanical work and pipework. 

Work on this product tanker recently started. 

Besides the above, other major contracts 

secured recently by Sembawang Shipyard 

included the refit and upgrade of two drillships. 

Long term business 

Sembawang also announced the renewal of its 

long-term contract with the Eitzen Group. 

Signed on 28th January 2010 in Singapore, 

this long-term contract was the reaffirmation 

of the close relationship enjoyed between the 

two companies, Sembawang said 

The Eitzen Group controls some 100 ships 

trading worldwide and under this contract, the 

company will continue to send some six to 

eight ships to the yard annually for scheduled 

and upgrading repairs. 

However, the shipyard said that the above 

contracts were not expected to have any 

material impact on the consolidated net 

tangible assets per share and earnings per 

share of Sembcorp Marine for the year ending 

31st December, 2010. 

Sembawang Shipyard is a wholly-owned 

subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine and has one of 

the largest integrated shiprepair facilities in 

Southeast Asia. The shipyard's reputation is 

based on the company's commitment to high 

HQSE standards, timely delivery, superior 

customer service and innovative solutions, the 

company said. 

Besides its expertise in the tankers, bulk 

carriers and container/cargo vessel sectors, the 

shipyard is also a specialist in niche markets, 

such as LNGCs, passenger ship 

conversions/upgrades, FPSO conversions, 

offshore conversions and newbuildings, 

damage repairs, as well as chemical tanker, 

LPG carriers and naval vessels. 

Rival Keppel also has a number of VLCC 

dimensioned drydocks and is involved in 

FPSO, FSO and other conversion projects. It 

has built up expertise in the area of rig 

building and is constructing an FSO for 

Lukoil for use in the Caspian Sea. 

Drydocks World 

There are several other repair and shipbuilding 

concerns on the island republic, including 

Drydocks World-Southeast Asia, part of the 

huge shiprepair/shipbuilding Dubai-based 

combine. 

Marine activities are focused on four 

shipyards in Singapore and Indonesia, namely, 

Drydocks World – Graha, Nanindah, Pertama 

and Singapore, which between them offer 29 

building berths, eight floating docks, and a 

specialised rig building yard. 

Plans are also in place to expand operations 

further on Batam Island with the construction 

of a new yard PT Batam Maritime Centre. 

Drydocks World – Southeast Asia was 

established in April 2008 as a result of the 

purchase of Labroy Marine and Pan United 

Marine shipyards and is a member of the 

Dubai World group of companies. 

Furthermore, the integrated shipyards are 

supported by the group’s own ship chandlery 

service available 24/7. 

Following the problems associated with 

Dubai World, the group said that Drydocks 

World and its subsidiaries were not included in 

the proposed restructuring process for Dubai 

World and its real estate related subsidiaries. 

In a statement issued last November, the 

group said that it had been in constructive 

dialogue with its lenders for several months 

and its financial profile did not require it to be 

included in the more wide-ranging 

restructuring process envisaged. 

Drydocks World had reacted promptly to 

the challenges of the global economic 

slowdown, which have impacted the shipping 

sector globally. The company has 

implemented extensive operational 

improvements over the past year. 

The group continued to have sufficient 

financial capacity to service its debt and 

remained well positioned to take advantage of 

the expected improvements in the shipbuilding 

and offshore industries in the coming years, 

the statement concluded. 

TO 

16 


AIMING AT SAFETY, 

SECURITY, QUALITY, 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

PROTECTION 

Established with a vision to be the forerunner in providing ship management solutions. 

Goodwood Ship Management Pte. Ltd 

20 Science Park Road 

#02-34/36 TeleTech Park 

Singapore 117674 

Tel: +65 6500 4040 Fax: +65 6500 4050 

Email: inbox@goodwoodship.com 

www.goodwoodship.com 

For employment prospects with us please contact our wholly owned subsidiary 

Goodwood Marine Services Pvt Ltd 

Ground Floor, Valecha Chambers, Andheri New Link Road, 

Andheri (W) Mumbai - 400053, Maharashtra, India 

Tel: +91 22 4031 0404 Fax: +91 22 4031 0405 

Email: inbox@goodwoodship.com www.goodwoodship.com 

Mr N.B. Raghu, Cochin Representative Tel: 0484 2304171 (Res) Mobile: 9847243021


An equipment manufacturer’s take on Singapore 

Leading Canadian-based 

navigation equipment 

manufacturer and supplier Rutter 

said that its interest in 

Singapore stems from the 

excellent match that its radar 

products have with the changing 

needs of tanker operators. 

At APM, Rutter will be showcasing its 

products. The Sigma S6 small target 

detection radar is excellent for anti-piracy, as 

it can see, alarm on and track small fast 

moving targets that conventional radars miss, 

the company said. 

The company is also demonstrating its new 

oil spill detection radar, which Rutter 

believes is very timely considering the 

emphasis now being placed on environmental 

protection. 

Rutter’s Paul Snow explained that the 

bottom line with this product, again because 

of the depth in specialised radar products, is 

that it can detect the oil more reliably, in all 

weather and across a wider range of sea 

states than other systems that we have 

compared with it during trials. 

“We can all appreciate that the earlier a 

spill is detected the more quickly a response 

can be marshalled and the lower the cleanup 

costs. As US regulations are now attaching 

the responsibility for the cleanup of the oil to 

the owner of the oil we can expect this to be 

a market driver for this product,” Snow said. 

As for the attraction of Singapore, Snow 

said that for Rutter, it is the fact that 

Singapore is centrally located in Southeast 

Asian region. So from a service and supply 

perspective, it is a convenient place for 

vessels to stop and either service, or install 

their bridge equipment. 

“This central location also makes 

Singapore a logical distribution centre for the 

entire region. We do business in Vietnam, 

Malaysia, Indonesia and the Phillipines, so 

we very much value our supply chain 

partners in Singapore to help us with that 

business,” Snow explained. 

Rutter is also a pioneer in ice navigation 

radar and with the build up of traffic forecast 

in the Barents Sea, Baltic and Russian Far 

East, the company is actively marketing its 

products to owners/operator with ice class 

vessels. 

Snow said that the Arctic regions were fragile 

environmentally sensitive areas and for that 

reason technologies were needed that enable 

icebergs to be seen and avoided, plus multi-year 

ice that can be the consistency of cement. 

“A bergy bit or growler can be 60 times as 

difficult to see than a conventional target of 

similar size. So yes we believe that an ice 

navigation radar is necessary and a 

responsible piece of equipment to have. 

Those who use our Ice Navigation radar find 

that it provides them with higher definition 

images that also help them optimise routes 

and reduce fuel costs when travelling in 

heavy ice,” Snow said. 

Rutter is also involved in the supply of 

VDRs. However, the VDR retrofit business is 

coming to an end in July 2010. Snow said 

that the company had achieved its market 

penetration goals and had an installation base 

that will keep Rutter in the VDR business for 

a very long time. “Our business plan sees a 

demand for taking that VDR data collected 

and using it to assess and optimise vessel 

performance,” he said. 

He also said that tanker operators would 

always be a significant customer for Rutter. 

“Our products are industry leading and we 

see the tanker industry as early adopters of 

technology. So it is an excellent fit for us,” 

he concluded. 

 

“As US regulations are now attaching the 

responsibility for the cleanup of the oil to 

the owner of the oil we can expect this 

to be a market driver for this product,” 

“ 

” 

New company launch at APM 

Singapore’s APM has been chosen 

as the venue for the launch of a 

new company - 

PartfinderMarine. 

PartfinderMarine is a new on-line trading 

platform connecting buyers of marine parts, 

equipment and services with relevant vendors. 

The company is managed by James Phillips 

who has over 20 years experience of developing 

and overseeing on-line trading platforms. 

Phillips said, “Over the years I have 

learned which features clients really need in 

an on-line trading platform and these are 

built into the DNA of PartfinderMarine to 

ensure that it becomes the marine trading 

platform of the future”. 

A recent survey conducted by the company 

showed that users of an on-line marine trading 

platform wanted: 

Quality - a quality supplier network for 

Europe and beyond. 

Security – a site used exclusively by 

professional buyers and sellers who have 

been financially vetted and approved when 

first joining. 

Confidence – sellers rated by previous 

buyers in addition to reviewing feedback 

on their transactions 

Easy Access - a fast-loading site for easy 

access, anywhere in the world. 

Speed – a simple, clutter-free trading 

interface allowing fast posting of parts and 

services using text and digital images. 

Convenience - an intelligent ‘smart’ search 

engine with relevance ranked results. 

Records - easy-reference transaction 

history of sales and purchases. 

Phillips claimed that PartfinderMarine is 

designed to deliver these market demands and 

thus will quickly become the leading player in 

the maritime marketplace for on line parts and 

services trading. 

A full explanation will be available at the 

PartfinderMarine breakfast launch events 

each morning (24th – 26th March 2010 

inclusive) at 08.30 am in the Van Kleef Suite 

at the Park Hotel Clark Quay, Singapore 

during APM. 

 

18 


HEMPADUR 15500 

– Ultimate protection with widest possible resistance 

“This product has more than fifteen years track record with excellent global performance and is 

rated the best phenolic epoxy tank coating in the market today. In Korea we have coated the 

tanks of more than 100 vessels with HEMPADUR 15500 without a single claim.’’ 

Michael Aamodt, Group Marine Product Manager 

For more information please visit: www.hempel.dk

INDUSTRY - SHIPMANAGEMENT 

InterManager 

welcomes new 

secretary general 

This year should be a something of a watershed for InterManager, 

the international shipmanagement association. 

First - the association will welcome 

a new secretary general – Captain 

Kuba Szymanski - to replace the 

retiring Guy Morel and, second - 

several workshops are planned in relation to 

its huge KPI project, which should be nearing 

fruition by the end of the year, ready for 

launching in 2011. 

TAKEROperator talked with Szymanski 

about the task ahead and how he sees the 

future in navigating the association through 

various obstacles. 

He explained that his main aims will be to 

further unite the shipmanagement industry. 

“By being united, we can achieve even more. 

I plan to start by organising more regional 

meetings, conferences and seminars, 

particularly in the Far East. 

“I also want to further improve the image of 

shipmanagers in the eyes of the general public 

and to make our industry more appealing to 

the young generation. This work goes hand in 

hand with InterManager’s efforts to promote 

the positive image of shipmanagers among 

shipowners and I will continue this,” he said. 

He also said that he would continue the 

good work Guy Morel achieved over the past 

few years, particularly with the KPI project, 

and will aim to build on his successes by 

increasing the links InterManager has with 

other organisations like BIMCO, Intercargo, 

Intertanko, the ITF, OCIMF and for example, 

Szymanski will also continue to represent 

Intermanager at the IMO and EU. 

On a domestic level, he said that he planned 

to listen and respond to members’ views and 

one of the first internal projects would be to 

re-invigorate the InterManager members’ 

website. 

Difficult issues 

For the longer term he said that he wanted to 

tackle the difficult issues like the 

criminalisation of seafarers and to start a new 

project to follow on from the KPIs. 

“Of course InterManager is also looking to 

expand, but any such expansion will be based 

on quality not merely quantity,” he stressed. 

Turning to the comprehensive KPI project, 

he said that this was very much on track. For 

this year, several stakeholder meetings have 

been planned, the first taking place this month 

(March) in London. “These meetings create 

golden opportunities for the industry to 

familiarise itself with the project and, more 

importantly, to participate in it and have their 

say”, he said. “We are also responding to the 

industry’s request to widen the attendance and 

will be holding meetings and workshops 

outside of Europe to allow greater 

participation.” 

Information collated from more than 1,000 

vessels should be completed well before the 

end of this year. Marintek is playing a very 

important role, but it is the KPI committee, 

led by George Hoyt, who is pioneering this 

initiative, Szymanski said. 

InterManager plans to work more closely 

with other organisations and has already 

scheduled a series of meetings with OCIMF, 

ITF, Intertanko, which will immediately 

follow Szymanski’s taking on the secretary 

general’s role this month. “It makes great 

sense to work together. Fellow associates are 

already participating in the KPI stakeholders 

workshops and play crucial roles in them. 

However, I am confident that there is scope 

for further co-operation and our ties could be 

tighter. We have a lot in common – we all 

serve seafarers!” he said. 

This year has been declared the ‘Year of the 

Seafarer’ by the IMO and Szymanski thought 

that InterManager had already strongly 

demonstrated its priorities, whether it is a 

seafarers’ year or not. He referred to the Hebei 

Spirit, Full City and, recently, the Cormorant 

cases, which clearly demonstrate 

InterManager’s ability to act quickly and 

Captain Kuba Szymanski 

swiftly to support the seafarers. 

“We are also co-operating very closely with 

ITF to make sure seafarers’ rights are being 

respected,” he emphasised. 

Plans for this year include further cooperation 

with all associations, “keeping an 

eye” on the developments and raising the 

profile of the shipping industry – and 

therefore the seafarers world – among the 

general public, he said. 

As for the thorny subject of remuneration, 

Szymanski said; “Members are indeed finding 

it more challenging nowadays, particularly 

when their principals’ revenues suffer. But 

there is always a place for a good service 

provider and shipmanagers are very 

sophisticated providers of extremely complex 

services”. 

Cadets on the agenda 

Cadet training is another area to be addressed 

and Szymanski said that InterManager was 

very proud of its initiative. This has led to 

20 



“ 

“We strongly believe in the philosophy of 

‘education – not regulation’” 

Captain Kuba Szymanski, secretary general, 

Intermanager 

every member agreeing to have a cadet on 

board of every vessel and the majority were 

seeking to train two cadets on their vessels. 

Some members are now seriously 

considering ensuring that their newbuilds are 

delivered with specially dedicated cadet 

spaces, and that can mean up to 10 cabins 

being designed into the accommodation. 

“This is very important for us and we hope 

to start discussions with other associations and 

societies regarding newbuildings. Nowadays, 

vessels are delivered with very little space for 

cadets and we believe that is an unnecessary 

limitation. We need to change this,” he 

stressed. 

InterManager has formed active committees 

” 

to monitor problems, such as the 

criminalisation of seafarers and piracy and 

they are working together to find solutions. 

The association is very active at the IMO. 

For example at the next IMO session (22nd- 

26th March), InterManager will be 

represented by four members. “This level of 

attendance is necessary in order for us to 

participate in different meetings and give our 

full attention to relevant issues being 

discussed,” Szymanski explained. 

“We also make sure that our members are 

kept up to date and fully appraised on the new 

and prospective legislation through our 

membership communications and our website 

where members can view relevant IMO 

session reports,” he said. 

Port State Control is becoming an 

increasing relevance in certain areas of the 

world. Szymanski said that he recognised this 

and was very pleased with the co-operation 

between the association and the Paris MOU. 

“For example, just last month (February), 

InterManager held a regional meeting for its 

members and the shipping community in 

Monaco where Richard Shiferli, Paris MOU 

general secretary, explained the ‘new regime’. 

We all welcomed the new structure and the 

scoring matrix which will, in fact, benefit 

good shipmanagers, ie our members. 

“We hope to continue our co-operation and 

will definitely organise more regional 

meetings to promote awareness of this ‘new 

regime’. We strongly believe in the 

philosophy of ‘education – not regulation’”, 

Szymanski said. 

He explained that the role of secretary 

general was like that of a skipper, who does 

not bring his vessel to port safely without 

listening to his navigator and having full back 

up of other officers and crew. “I do strongly 

believe in team work”, he concluded. 

TO 

22 



A software suite for 

all occasions 

During that period, which began 

with the launch of the newbuild 

program, ABS Nautical Systems 

has expanded its business by 

signing 30 new contracts in just 26 weeks and 

forecasts even stronger growth in 2010. 

“By integrating our ship maintenance 

software with the classification and survey 

requirements of ABS, we will have the ability 

to streamline the owners’ inspection process 

and move towards developing a more 

standardised, class-approved maintenance 

program,” said Karen Hughey, president and 

COO of ABS Nautical Systems, speaking at 

the end of January. “The tremendous success 

of the newbuild program has prompted us to 

double our customer support staff and develop 

expanded offerings to provide greater value 

for our customers.” 

One of the first class-integrated, fleet 

maintenance solutions, the newbuild program 

offers free hull inspection, Web-based 

drawings management and maintenance 

management software to all ABS-classed 

vessels built after 1st January, 2009. 

TAKEROperator spoke with both ABS 

Nautical Systems and user Humboldt 

Shipmanagement about their experiences with 

this software. 

”We are currently using the NS5 suite on 

our chemical tankers and it has been the 

backbone for the maintenance of critical 

equipment on our vessels,” said Francisco 

Lopez, Humbolt Shipmanagement. “As a 

ABS autical Systems, a 

provider of integrated fleet 

management software, 

experienced record growth 

in the second half of 2009. 

customer, we appreciate the opportunity to 

receive world-class software licenses on our 

newbuilds for a full year at no additional cost, 

especially in these trying economic times. 

“Of the five newbuildings we recently 

ordered, four of them are oil/chemical tankers, 

which will be classed with ABS and will 

utilise all of the modules included in the 

newbuild program – hull inspection, 

maintenance and repair and Web-based 

drawings. The fifth is a chemical tanker being 

built in Japan, which is classed with ClassNK 

and this vessel will also be integrated with the 

NS5 software modules,” the company 

explained. 

Humboldt also said that it did not have any 

immediate plans to integrate any other NS5 

modules, but might incorporate the drydock 

and structural maintenance modules in the 

future. “We would also like to build an 

interface between NS5 and our own shoreside 

purchasing application,” Humboldt said. 

ABS Nautical Systems explained that its 

current fleet of software modules – NS5 – is 

an off-the-shelf solution with built in 

configurations and is fully integrated allowing 

owners and operators the ability to share data 

between individual software modules and 

external accounting systems. 

Separate or complete modules 

Each module can be purchased separately, or 

as a complete suite. NS5 interface is based 

upon the Windows standard, which allows 

users to move easily between modules and to 

quickly access the information they need 

through a centralised and integrated database. 

The entire suite or specific modules can be 

purchased, reflecting an owner/operator’s 

specific needs. The hull inspection, 

maintenance and repair modules and the Webbased 

drawings management tool offered as 

part of the newbuild program are also 

available as part of NS5. 

Humboldt has installed NS5 modules, such 

as maintenance and repair, drydocking, 

purchasing and inventory and replication 

manager on more than half of its fleet, 

including gas carriers, chemical and oil 

tankers. Several other vessels were still in the 

implementation stage. “We expect this 

software to be the standard for maintenance 

and material management in all ships under 

our management,” a Humboldt spokesperson 

said. 

The company said that the integration of the 

modules would help it track the availability 

and reliability of all the vessels’ equipment 

and systems, so that better resources could be 

Need good cargo tank levels? 

We are upgrading tankers with new equipment 

- for better performance and easier operation 

Learn more about our cargo tank level radar and recent retrofits at 

www.krohne-skarpenord.com 



A screenshot of the software in action. 

allocated to ensuring the fleet delivers its 

cargo on time and safely. Because of NS5’s 

flexibility, Humboldt said that it could 

customise the modules to fit the organisation’s 

needs. For example, in the maintenance and 

repair module, the company has incorporated 

its own requirements for cargo, valves, pumps 

etc into maintenance check requirements. 

Each month, a report is run on the 

maintenance and repair module for a list of 

items that need attention, including those that 

were scheduled in the previous month and any 

outstanding issues for each vessel. This report 

is circulated to the superintendents and 

managers, enabling them to gauge progress. 

This module also enables Humboldt to analyse 

fleet wide maintenance to detect systematic 

problems and identify critical areas where 

preventative measures may be taken to reduce 

future costs. 

In addition, budgeting and cost analysis 

tools help the company to develop cost 

projections for upcoming maintenance work 

and drydocking and to evaluate past 

maintenance and equipment costs to forecast 

future expenses. 

Furthermore, Humboldt said that the 

integration of the hull inspection module on 

the four newbuildings through the newbuild 

program will be a huge advantage during the 

vetting process when oil majors look at the 

maintenance of critical equipment. “We’ll also 

be able to quickly find and access structural 

maintenance and management data for coordinating 

the response to vettings,” the 

company said. 

ABS Nautical Systems explained that the 

integration of NS5 modules could help with 

facets of operational management for a vessel 

– from keeping track of regulatory 

requirements, to managing crew and payroll, 

to organising maintenance programmes. 

Through the newbuild program, the modules 

integrate with classification and survey 

requirements, streamlining the inspection 

process and providing a more cost efficient 

and effective method of monitoring long term 

ship maintenance and integrity. 

Humboldt installed the modules both on 

board the tankers and in the onshore 

management office, which manages and 

oversees all maintenance work across the fleet 

providing the company with synchronised 

information across the databases with updated 

status’ and real-time data. 

Green Passport 

The company also thought that the system 

would help create a Green Passport in that if a 

certificate needed to be updated, a very 

detailed record tracking spare parts and 

maintenance for each ship would have to 

exist. NS5 modules allow the company to 

track controlled and critical spares on board 

and to keep a more accurate history and an 

ongoing inventory of vessel equipment, 

systems and maintenance work. 

Fernando Lehrer, director, ABS Nautical 

Systems’ product development explained: 

“The newbuild program will be especially 

helpful in tracking inventory for Green 

Passport compliance. The three software 

modules that are offered through the initiative 

are pre-programmed with technical data 

specific to the newly built vessel, including 

relevant information extracted during the 

construction phase. This means that each 

newbuild will have a solid database on which 

shipowners can start tracking hazards, 

consumables and other parts to meet green 

passport requirements. 

“Furthermore, ABS Nautical Systems is 

able to provide our clients with a variety of 

modules that enables them to assess their 

environmental impact and allow them to 

mitigate any issues before they arise. Our 

maintenance management modules record the 

maintenance work related to a vessel, provides 

a standardised method for onshore planning 

and tracks the structural condition of a vessel 

throughout its service life. 

“Our HSQE (Health, Safety, Quality & 

Environmental) manager module documents 

the audit reports, incident reports, drills and 

inspection reports and corrective action 

requests. Our additional safety management 

modules can dictate how and when vessel 

discharges should be handled and track the 

shelf life of inventory including hazardous 

materials, keeping vessel owners and 

operators compliant”, he said. 

As for the cost, Joe Woods, vice president, 

global sales & marketing said: ”With the 

newbuild program, the first year of annual 

fees is waived and customers receive up to 

seven days of consulting services, including 

expenses to cover office and vessel 

implementation. After 12 months, owners who 

wish to continue using the modules will be 

required to pay an annual 

maintenance/licensing fee for each module.” 

Woods also said that more than 15 tanker 

companies were using the modules, including 

Chemikalien Seetransport, Phoenix Energy 

Navigation, Orkim Shipmanagement, Satsuma 

Shipping and American Heavy Lift. 

The NS5 suite is currently available to all 

vessels regardless of classification society. 

Non ABS-classed vessels can also purchase 

the three modules offered in the newbuild 

program through the NS5 suite. However, 

vessels built after 1st January, 2009 that class 

with, or transfer to, ABS receive 

complimentary software, data entry and 

installation. 

Lehrer explained: “To build a strong asset 

registry and database through the newbuild 

program, we have to wait until all of the parts 

for the ship are recorded into the system. We 

then pre-populate the software with vessel 

specific data gathered during the newbuild 

phase, which includes ABS class surveys and 

certificates, ship models and structural 

requirements.” 

Finally, Woods said that ABS Nautical 

Systems had not examined the retrofit market 

thus far, but has already expanded the 

newbuild program to include companies that 

transfer their vessel classification needs 

O 

to ABS. 

24 


The committee agreed that no 

further postponement would be 

granted for the fitting of 

equipment - capable of treating 

ballast water to the “D-2” biological standard 

in the BW Management Convention - to ships 

having a ballast capacity of not more than 

5,000 cu m, which are to be delivered in 2010. 

This decision took into account the supply 

and demand side of the marine industry; that 

is, the increase in the number of approved 

ballast water treatment technologies to 

produce enough ballast water treatment units 

by 2010 and the expected downturn in new 

construction that year. 

At MEPC 59, the committee agreed to 

instruct the secretariat to prepare a draft 

resolution, requesting administrations to 

encourage the installation of ballast water 

management systems during new ship 

construction in accordance with the 

application dates contained in the BWM 

Convention, to be presented to MEPC 60 

(March 2010) for consideration and adoption. 

The Ballast Water Convention came closer 

to entering into force last December with the 

signing of the protocols by Sweden, the 

Marshall Islands and South Korea. 

This convention requires ratification by 30 

states, representing 35% of the world’s 

tonnage before it can enter into force. By 

TECHNOLOGY – BALLAST WATER TREATMENT 

A wide choice of 

different capacities 

The IMO’s MEPC said last July that the number of ballast water treatment technologies 

amounted to six Type Approved systems with four additional systems being granted 

Final Approval and three granted Basic Approval at the 2009 session. 

December, 21 states representing 22% of 

tonnage had ratified the convention. 

At the IMO, there is optimism that the final 

tranche of signatories needed would come this 

year and if this situation occurs, the 

convention will enter into force in 2011, some 

12 months after the total number of states and 

tonnage was reached, according to the 

International Parcel Tankers Association 

(IPTA) bulletin. 

Once the convention enters force, the 

effective dates within the convention will 

immediately become valid. For example, 

vessels constructed in 2010 and 2011 having a 

ballast capacity of below 5,000 cu m will have 

to be fitted with systems which meet the 

convention’s biological efficacy treatment 

standards on the day that the convention 

enters into force. 

Vessels built in 2009 with a ballast water 

capacity of below the limit were granted 

dispensation, allowing them to trade until their 

second special surveys, providing that they are 

not later than 31st December, 2011. 

By 2012, all new vessels will have to meet 

the treatment standards, while existing vessels 

must comply by 2014, or 2016, depending on 

their ballast capacity. From the entry into 

force until the time specified for the fitting of 

the treatment systems, vessel will be required 

to undertake ballast water exchange. 

IPTA explained that there is a rigorous 

testing regime that the treatment systems must 

undergo though the GESAMP scientific group 

and the IMO’s MEPC, before they are granted 

approval to be used on board ship. 

These tests comprise the Basic Approval, 

which is meant to show that the systems do 

not harm the environment or seafarers. Once 

gaining the Basic Approval, systems have to 

undergo shipboard tests to attain the Final 

Approval certificate to prove that they work at 

sea. The third phase is the issuing of a Test 

Certificate by the vessels’ flag states. 

According to the latest IMO circular, eight 

systems have gained Final Approval and a 

further 16 were at the Basic Approval stage. 

This was deemed to be sufficient for the 

earlier implementation date criteria, according 

to the MEPC. 

IPTA said that it had become increasingly 

clear that a number of issues still have to be 

dealt with. These included the handling and 

storage of possibly toxic chemicals, the 

systems’ maintenance and the potential 

increase in vessel fuel consumption that the 

systems will cause. 

There is also the need to integrate 

procedures with the vessels’ on board Safety 

Management System (SMS), as failure to do 

so could lead to a deficiency under the ISM 

Code, the association warned. 



Alfa Laval’s PureBallast installed on a 

Wallenius car carrier. 

In addition, there was no guarantee that 

these systems would meet any future 

requirements. For example, the US is 

considering proposed phased legislation, 

which would require treatment equipment of 

an efficacy standard for some organisms of 

around 1,000 times more stringent than the 

present convention requirements. 

Other regions may also impose stricter 

standards and there have been suggestions that 

the IMO Convention itself needs 

strengthening. 

IPTA rightly warns that as usual, the 

shipowner will be left with regulations to 

follow, but with no clear idea as to how to 

carry out the necessary forward planning to 

adhere to the new regulations. 

TAKEROperator has highlighted just some 

of the equipment available below in strict 

alphabetical order. 

PureBallast, Alfa Laval’s chemical-free 

system for ballast water treatment has been 

selected for 79 vessels of varying types, 

thus far. 

Developed in co-operation with Wallenius 

Water, Alfa Laval recently received its first 

order for PureBallast 2500, the largest version 

of the system. 

It will be installed on board the Arctic 

drillship Stena DrillMAX ICE. 

Featuring a flow rate of 2,500 cu m per 

hour, the PureBallast 2500 system will 

provide more than double the capacity of any 

previous version, the company claimed. 

The order came from Samsung Heavy 

Industries on behalf of Stena Drilling. The 

PureBallast system will be delivered in June 

2010 to the Geoje shipyard, where it will be 

installed on board the specialist drillship. 

Stena decided not to wait to install a 

ballast water treatment system until the 

regulations are in place, as this would result 

in taking the drillship out of service and 

placing it into drydock. 

As with any retrofit, the cost would include 

the equipment, which would need to be added 

to the cost of downtime and the drydocking 

expense. 

“For Alfa Laval, the order of a PureBallast 

2500 for the Stena DrillMAX ICE represents 

a combination of firsts,” said Peter Carlberg, 

general manager of Alfa Laval Marine & 

Diesel. “As well as being the first order for 

our largest PureBallast system, it represents 

our first PureBallast delivery to the Stena 

fleet. This makes it yet another positive step 

in Alfa Laval’s long-term co-operation with 

Stena.” 

PureBallast received full Ballast Water Type 

Approval from DNV on behalf of Norwegian 

authorities on 27th June 2008. It was 

originally launched in 2006. 

Newcomer 

One of the newer challengers in the ballast 

water treatment markets is Auramarine. 

Turku-based Auramarine is perhaps better 

known as a leading manufacturer of heavy 

fuel oil supply systems and other auxiliary 

units for marine and power station engines. 

Drawing of Auramarine’s Crystal Ballast system. 

However recently, the company unveiled the 

Auramarine Crystal Ballast, ballast water 

treatment system (BWTS). 

Thanks to technological innovations 

featured in this system, it is claimed to be 

energy-efficient, compact and easy to install. 

Additionally, Auramarine's solution does not 

affect the time required for ballasting or deballasting 

operations, or increase the duration 

of port calls. 

The project is currently entering an 

intensive type approval testing phase. This is 

progressing on schedule, and the first system 

type approvals and final products are expected 

to reach the market in the second half of 2010. 

Up to 2019, the market potential is 

estimated to be substantial, as around 50,000 

ships will need to be equipped with a BWTS, 


In the Crystal Ballast project, Auramarine 

said that it had four main goals as the 

company was determined to provide the best 

practical solution for shipowners and yards 

around the world. The project also strived for 

a comprehensive understanding of ballast 

water conditions and flows on board ships, 

and aimed at a system that could be adjusted 

and fitted for various vessel types and 

ballasting operations. Finally, the product had 

to be competitive as regards its size, weight, 

energy consumption and cost-effectiveness, 

both at the time of installation and in 

operation. 

26 


Think local. Act global. 

Hilanders EMD00155EN 

PureBallast gives you the best of both worlds. 

In the near future, IMO legislation will require ballast 

water treatment from vessels worldwide. Alfa Laval’s 

PureBallast provides a well-balanced way to meet the 

regulations, giving you IMO-compliant results while 

taking into account your own demands for space, 

economy and ease of use on board. 

By choosing Pure Ballast, you choose world-leading 

technology in which no chemicals are added or 

generated. Besides having full Ballast Water Type 

Approval, PureBallast has been selected by more ship 

owners and shipyards than any other system. And only 

PureBallast has Alfa Laval’s global backing. 

www.alfalaval.com/pureballast

BALLAST WATER TREATMENT 

Auramarine's solution is based on utilising UV-C radiation as it 

presents indisputable advantages. The technology is already familiar as 

it is in use treating drinking water and wastewater. 

Managing director Heikki Saaros told TAKEROperator that the 

system was, “not yet type approved. The type testing is going on and 

should be finished at the end of this year”. Saaros also said that no 

orders had been won thus far as the tests were still ongoing. 

As for the system’s capacity, Saaros explained; “There are no 

limitations in quantity of the systems we can deliver. The system is 

feasible to install ships with ballast water pump capacity up to about 

6,000 cu m per hour. Also higher capacities are possible.” 

Exiting the market 

On 31st January this year, Hamann announced that it was temporarily 

withdrawing its SEDNA BWTS from the market. 

The system used a chemical substance – PERACLEAN Ocean – 

which was developed by Evonik-Degussa. A Type Approval, which 

included some specific conditions, was issued by the German 

Hydrographical Institute (BSH). 

“The SEDNA system itself is working beautifully. However, recent 

findings showed that the degradation of PERACLEAN Ocean requires 

further testing,” explained Mathias Schmidt, Hamann’s ballast water 

product manager. 

Recent scientific publications had also addressed this issue, 

contributing to Hamann’s decision to exit the market on a temporary 

basis. The existing patents on the SEDNA system will be maintained, 


On 10th March last year, Dutch ballast water treatment concern 

Greenship was acquired by Hamworthy to become part of the UK 

company’s water treatment division. 

Greenship was set up in the spring of 2001. In June 2005, 

Greenship’s ballast water management system was land based tested 

and audited by Lloyds Register EMEA. 

In November 2005, Greenship announced that Holwerda 

Shipmanagement was the first to install Greenship’s full-scale BWMS. 

Later, in July 2007 two Chemgas vessels Solano and Thresher were 

delivered equipped with a Greenship sediment removal system. 

Since 10th January 2006, Greenship’s BWMS has been operating on 

board a feeder containership and in June 2008, the shipboard tests were 

successfully concluded and certified by LR. 

In July 2008, Greenship signed a contract with Schelde Naval 

Shipbuilding for the delivery and supply of BWMS on board four 

naval patrol vessels for the Royal Dutch Navy. In January 2009, 

Greenship received a new order for two Sedinox® BWMS to be 

installed on board Chemgas vessels. 

Chemgas had already used the sediment reduction system 

Sedimentor® for over two years. Reducing sediment in ballast tanks 

decreased the vessels’ draft by almost 70 mm. This reduced their fuel 

consumption by almost 3%, Chemgas said. 

In late 2008, Chemgas asked Greenship to arrange for an upgrade 

for these vessels to a Sedinox® BWMS. Deliveries took place during 

the first half 2009. 

Finally, in July 2009, during MEPC 59, the committee granted Final 

Approval to Hamworthy Greenship's treatment system Termanox ®. 

Hamworthy’s Sedinox BWMS consists of three major components - 

SEDIMENTOR - This sediment removal system removes sediment and 

biota during uptake, resulting in almost 100% removal of particles ≥20 

micron, 80% removal for particles of ≥10 micron, ΔP = 3 bar approx. 

TERMANOX -This electrolytic cell decimates bacteria and 

organisms. Together with the Sedimentor the electrolytic cell achieves 



a killing rate of 99.99%. The "killing 

efficiency" of this electrolytic process is based 

on the electrolysis of NaCl present in 

seawater, according to MEPC 53. 

CONTROL AND POWER UNIT - The 

Sedinox control and power unit is claimed to 

provide easy operation of the BWMS. 

Hamworthy said that by being compact, 

modular and an easy-to-install system, the 

BWMS saves time, space and money. It is of a 

flexible construction through a modular 

system for vessels with ballast flow rates from 

100 cu m per hour to 1,000 cu m per hour. 

It is easily integrated into existing ballast 

systems, thus ideal for retrofits, while the 

modules are designed and sized for easy 

access into the ship’s machinery spaces, 

engine and pump room. 

UK based Transvac Systems Ltd has 

announced that it has signed an agreement 

with San Diego US-based MH Systems to 

market the MHS Ballast Water Treatment 

system in Europe and other selected markets. 

Transvac will offer the technology through 

its recently restructured marine solutions 

division, Coldharbour. 

Transvac director, Howard Towers said 

“Ballast water treatment is an important sector 

for Coldharbour. We have been working 

closely with MHS for more than a year, and 

we are confident that the MHS technology 

represents not only the best solution for our 

customers, but also fits very well with our 

own developments in fluid handling solutions. 

These include domestic water modules, 

marine ejectors and our latest third generation 

inert gas generator”. 

The MHS BWTS uses the patented 

application of inert gas, which is distributed 

into the ballast tanks via special diffusers. 

The system is currently undergoing final 

testing and certification prior to full 

commercial availability later this year. 

Towers added, “Our customers can now 

count on us for a complete solution to their 

ballast water treatment needs, including initial 

survey, design, installation and 

commissioning.” 

For newbuildings, Coldharbour can offer its 

Sea Guardian range of inert gas generators, 

which have been designed to work with the 

BWTS. For tanker retrofit requirements, 

Coldharbour said it could work with the 

vessels existing IGG unit, provided that the 

gas generated by the system is to the required 

residual oxygen and minimal soot levels. 

In many cases, installations can be 

undertaken at normal drydocking periods, the 

company said. 

After many months of review and many years 

of testing, EI Treatment Systems’ Venturi 

Oxygen StrippingTM (VOS) ballast water 

treatment system was issued with a BWTS Type 

Approval Certificate at the end of 2007. 

The certification was issued by the Liberian 

Registry, with the technical review by the 

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Landbased 

biological testing was conducted by the 

Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) at 

the University of Maryland Center for 

Environmental Science. 

Shipboard trials were conducted by a team 

of scientists from CBL and the Marine 

Invasions Research Laboratory of the 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 

a US Federal Government laboratory. This 

testing was funded by the US National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) as part of the US ballast water 

technology demonstration programme. 

VOS is a deoxygenation technology that 

NEI claimed rapidly removes 95% of 

dissolved oxygen from ballast water. This is 

accomplished as ballast is drawn into the 

vessel by mixing very-low oxygen gas 

through large-diameter venturi injectors in the 

ballast piping. Aquatic organisms cannot 

survive in these conditions, the company said. 

NEI has since obtained Type Approval (flag 

states will Type Approve each system) from 

both Marshall Islands and Malta. Approval 

from Panama is pending, and Bahamas is at 

the review stage, the company said. 

To date, NEI has won orders for large 

capacity machines to be fitted on board 

drybulk carriers. These include six 4,400 cu m 

per hour systems for German-based shipowner 

Hartmann for vessels being built at Dayang 

Shipyard in China. 

The company has also installed equipment 

on small chemical tankers with a capacity of 

around 1,000 cu m per hour each. The 

smallest standard size is 300 cu m per hour. 

However, NEI explained that there was no 

upper capacity limit, but standard sizes are 

available up to 6,000 cu m per hour and 

systems can be doubled up for large vessels. 

Of interest to tanker operators - the VOS 

system includes a component very similar to 

an inert gas generator. NEI said that it had 

gained ABS approval to use this component as 

a topping generator for large tankers that use 

flue gas IG. The company said that it is also 

able to design systems for smaller tankers 

where the device provides 100% of the cargo 

inert gas, as well as ballast water treatment. 

Since the deoxygenation method is used, 

NEI’s treatment system has been shown to 

reduce ballast tank corrosion by up to 84%, 

saving owners millions of dollars over the 

years. The cost - to purchase, install, and 

operate the VOS system - is less than the 

savings in corrosion repair costs. No other 

ballast water treatment system offers such a 

benefit, NEI claimed. 

Many other technologies use chemical 

oxidisers, which degrade coatings and anodes, 

thus increase corrosion. 

In addition, no active substances are used 

with the VOS system. NEI explained that 

tanker owners were sensitive to this, as were 

the oil majors. Since a VLCC discharges 

100,000 tonnes of ballast at each loading even 

a low concentration results in a big discharge 

of chemicals into waters adjacent to their 

customers' facilities, the company said. 

Large vessels 

In the larger vessel sector, Norwegian 

manufacturer OceanSaver appeared to be 

ahead of the game. 

The company said that it was the first 

ballast water treatment equipment supplier to 

confirm major orders for large vessels. 

In January this year, OceanSaver announced 

the signing of a contract with Hyundai Heavy 

Industries to fit ballast water management 

systems (BWMS) on board three VLCCs on 

order for Oman Shipping Company. 

“This is a milestone to be noticed,” 

explained OceanSaver’s CEO, Stein Foss, 

speaking in January. “It is a milestone for the 

Convention as the industry confirms the 

availability of suitable BWMS in the large 

and complex ships segments and further, that 

the timeline for the introduction of the new 

ballast water management regime is indeed 

OceanSaver’s CEO Stein Foss. 



“ 

The single largest cause of oil spills 

is structural failure, much of which 

is caused by ballast tank corrosion. 

fixed and must be taken seriously.” 

The contract is for supply of OS BWMS 

6000 EX on board three 317,000 dwt tankers 

currently on order at HHI for OSC. The OS 

BWMS 6000 EX is claimed to be able to treat 

6,000 cu m of ballast water per hour, which is 

roughly the size of a large tanker’s ballast 

tanks pumping rate. 

According to Foss, the contract is a 

significant breakthrough for OceanSaver, 

marking its transition into becoming a major 

supplier to the maritime industry. 

“The global market for BWM systems is 

new and represents a massive opportunity. It is 

driven by regulations and is predictable, but 

all technologies need to go through a 

thorough, time-consuming and costly approval 

process”, he said. 

“We have crossed a crucial frontier in 

terms of technological development, and are 

now focusing on successful commercialisation 

and production. We have established a strong 

global network of highly capable agents and 

secured production capacity to accommodate 

significant orders this year and in years to 

come,” Foss explained. 

Since 2002, the company has been solely 

concentrating on fit-for-purpose BWMS. 

Following a successful pilot-project on the 

vehicle carrier Höegh Trooper in 2005, 

OceanSaver obtained Type Approval in 

April 2009. 

“We estimate the overall BWM market to 

be about $30 bill from 2010 to 2020. We 

expect to take a significant market share 

particularly within the tanker, LNG and 

chemical sector, but also larger tonnage in 

general” said Foss. 

OceanSaver’s core focus lies in the large 

vessel market representing some 20% of the 

total by numbers, but 40% by value at an 

estimated $12 bill. 

“We have clearly defined goals, which 

include remaining in the lead and being 

established as one of the top three suppliers 

within our selected tonnage (sector). This will 

secure rapid and sustainable growth over the 

next years,” Foss concluded. 

In December last year, the company told 

TAKEROperator that it had signed technical 

agreements involving 18 crude oil tankers. 

” 

OceanSaver’s patented BWMS has been 

successfully tested according to the IMO 

Ballast Water Performance Standard and to the 

satisfaction of independent experts and major 

commercial operators, the company claimed. 

It has been type-approved by DNV on 

behalf of the Norwegian Flag State Authority. 

The system is also approved for installations 

in gas hazardous areas, a prerequisite for 

tanker applications. 

During the development of the technology, 

comprehensive and independent corrosion and 

coating impact studies were carried out, both 

in laboratories and under real-life on board 

conditions. These confirmed reduced 

corrosion and coating weathering rates. 

OceanSaver’s BWMS has also 

demonstrated compliance with the intentions 

of the IMO Performance Standard for 

Protective Coatings (PSPC). 

The single largest cause of oil spills is 

structural failure, much of which is caused by 

ballast tank corrosion. During the first three to 

four years of operation, a ship’s ballast tank 

normally corrodes at a rate of 2%, but this can 

quickly rise to annual levels of 5%, or 6% by 

year five. A 1% breakdown in a salt water tank 

can lead to severe localised corrosion and 

dangerous cracks and holes between the cargo 

tanks and the double hull spaces. After 10 

years of operation, a wrong choice can cost 

tanker owners up to $5 - $10 mill in re-blasting 

and recoating, the company explained. 

OceanSaver said that a BWM system may 

change the conditions for which coating 

systems are designed. It can affect oxidation 

processes causing weathering of coating 

systems and can accelerate the rate of 

corrosions caused by a coating defect. 

As mentioned, the company claimed that it 

is the only known BWMS verified to be 

‘Compliant with the intentions of the 

Performance Standard for Protective 

Coatings (PSPC)’. 

The PSPC requires ballast tank coatings to 

achieve a 15-year target life and focuses on 

epoxy coatings. Corrosion engineers and 

coating system experts at DNV and Safinah, a 

UK coating consultancy firm, have completed 

thorough coating assessment and corrosion 

tests using the OceanSaver’s BWMS. 

These tests demonstrated that OceanSaver 

prevents creep corrosion and has a beneficial 

effect reducing sacrificial anode consumption. 

By combining the IMO PSPC with 

OceanSaver’s treatment system, tanker, 

chemical and gas ships can expect extended 

ballast tank lifespan beyond the 15-year PSPC 

requirements, even for the entire life of the 

vessel, the company said. 

DNV completed the BWMS studies to 

gauge its suitability for tankers, gas carriers, 

chemical tankers and bulk carriers, in terms of 

interfacing with ballast water handling, 

locations, on board power, equipment sharing 

and ballasting procedures. 

Most BWM technologies available are 

designed for medium to low-capacity systems. 

Few existing technologies are suitable for 

larger vessels, or complex tonnage, such as 

tankers, chemical carriers or gas carriers. 

Further, some BWM systems grow 

exponentially in size as the ballast volume and 

pump capacity increases. 

OceanSaver claimed that its system is more 

flexible than most of the others, as it has been 

designed as far as possible around the 

capabilities normally required on board a ship. 

With only two components needing to be 

aligned with the ballast water pipeline, the 

system can be installed in whatever design 

space is earmarked on board. There is no 

linear growth in terms of space and cost. 

The system can technically handle any 

capacity from 40 to 10,000 cu m, or more of 

ballast water per hour without any delay in 

ballasting operations. However, it is most 

suitable for medium sized tonnage and 

upwards (for example, for capacities from 

1,000 cu m and upwards). 

OceanSavers' largest investors are - Statoil 

Venture AS (Energy Capital Management), 

Höegh Autoliners and Storebrand 

Livsforsikring AS. 

Foss explained that in general, it was much 

cheaper to install at the newbuilding stage as 

the only cost incurred is at the design stage, 

whereas retrofits require engineering and a lot 

of modification work. 

OceanSaver uses a number of sub-suppliers 

who deliver to the company’s hub operation at 

Drammen before shipment. “We will subcontract 

assembly of the core component, 

which is our own technology. This will be 

done in Norway. The future will determine 

whether there will be a need for additional 

hub(s)/assembly stations. The engineering 

and logistics are key issues for us – not 

manufacturing capacity,“ Foss explained. 

Service arrangements and spare parts supply 

will also be offered. “A design for lifetime 

30 



does not mean maintenance free. Nothing in 

this world is maintenance free. Our design 

facilitates easy replacement of parts. This is 

applicable for serious malfunction, as well as 

normal maintenance and replacement of wear 

and tear parts,” he concluded. 

OptiMarin received Type Approval 

Certificate for the OptiMarin Ballast System 

(OBS) in November last year. It was issued by 

Det Norske Veritas (DNV) on behalf of the 

Norwegian Maritime Administration and 

confirms OptiMarin’s compliance with the 

IMO convention. 

The OBS was tested extensively at the 

Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) 

in accordance with IMO’s G8 guidelines with 

excellent results, the company claimed. 

Shipboard testing requirement was 

completed aboard a Klaveness cement carrier 

using DNV and NIVA for testing and 

verification. Based on the NIVA test results, 

OptiMarin has received confirmation from the 

California State Land Commission that the 

system meets its standard for Best Available 

Technologies to be implemented this year. 

OBS is a mechanical system based on 

filtration and UV and does not affect the 

normal operation of the ship. It is easy to 

install on board existing ships, as well as on 

newbuilds and uses standardised components 

for all flow configurations. The system is one 

of very few treatment options that do not 

introduce chemicals, electro-chemical 

generators or biocides in its treatment process, 

the company claimed. 

The key benefits of the Type Approved 

OptiMarin’s OBS seen installed. 

OBS are that it has a simple and reliable 

design with few movable parts. The system is 

operated as part of the normal ballast system 

with a low pressure loss. 

The company delivered the worlds first 

ballast treatment system to the cruise vessel 

Regal Princess in 2000. In all, OptiMarin has 

delivered seven systems prior to the current 

regulations, including one to a product carrier. 

The OBS is suited for any type or size of 

vessel, the company said. 

CEO Pål Sanner said; “With the certificate 

in hand I must give thanks to Innovasjon 

Norge, Stavanger, who has supported us 

for the last three years. The pipeline of 

potential order is substantial and 2010 

deliveries will be numerous.” 

Thus far this year, the company reported 

orders for systems to be fitted on board eight 

offshore support vessels for Norwegian 

interests. 

The IMO granted the Final Approval of 

Active Substances to RWO’s ballast water 

treatment system CleanBallast at MEPC 59 

last year. 

As a first step, RWO received the basic 

approval of active substances from the IMO 

in October 2006 and subsequently finalised 

the land-based type approval of CleanBallast 

in 2007. 

Two of the three required tests were carried 

out on board a containership, while the third 

was due to be undertaken late last year. 

With the newly granted Final Approval, the 

ongoing shipboard type approval will be the 

last step required for gaining the type approval 

certificate. Therefore, RWO was hoping to 

be issued with the full Type Approval 

Certificate for its CleanBallast system by the 

German administration this month (see 

TAKEROperator, October 2009, page 20). 

RWO is a part of Veolia Water Solutions & 

Technologies, which in turn is a subsidiary of 

Veolia Water. 

Data collected 

The 46,100 dwt US-controlled tanker S/R 

American Progress, managed by SeaRiver 

Maritime, was accepted into the U S Coast 

Guard’s Shipboard Technology Evaluation 

Programme (STEP) last August. 

This was to demonstrate the use of and 

RWO’s CleanBallast system. 


TECHNOLOGY - BALLAST WATER TREATMENT 

collect data on the effectiveness of the Severn 

Trent De ora (STDN) BALPURE® BWTS. 

The USCG established the STEP 

programme in 2004 to promote the 

development of alternatives to ballast water 

exchange as a means of preventing invasive 

species from entering US waters through 

ships’ ballast water. 

STEP participation is available to all 

international and US domestic vessels subject 

to the USCG’s ballast water management 

regulations. 

BALPURE is a patented system that 

generates biocides, meters and analyses the 

residual level of both biocides and neutralising 

agents and logs the performance of the overall 

BWTS, the company explained. 

Third party testing of the BALPURE 

system has confirmed effluent quality that 

meets the proposed IMO ballast water 

standards. 

The BALPURE system has achieved a 

number of certification milestones, including 

one in 2007 from the American Bureau of 

Shipping stating that the system was explosion 

(EX)-proof for use on board tankers. 

In addition, Severn Trent De Nora received 

a grant from the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2006 

for US third party validation and recognition. 

STDN is a joint venture supporting marine 

and offshore industrial water disinfection 

needs by bringing together the expertise of 

Severn Trent Services and Gruppo De Nora, 

Milan, Italy. 

For BALPURE®, the completed Basic 

dossier was submitted to the IMO via 

BSH/Germany in August 2009 – in time for the 

MEPC 60 conference (March 22–26, 2010). 

It is expected to gain Basic Approval at 

MEPC 60 and Final Approval by October 

2010 (at MEPC 61). STDN is working with 

shipowners to complete shipboard mechanical 

and efficacy tests to obtain Type Approval, 

which is projected to be completed early in 

2011, the company said. 

Wärtsilä Corporation and Trojan 

Technologies have signed an exclusive 

agreement to jointly develop, market, and 

distribute a ballast water treatment product for 

shipboard use. 

The two companies will gain benefits from 

the combined strength of Wärtsilä's global 

reach and presence in the marine market, and 

from Trojan Technologies' experience in 

developing ultraviolet (UV) treatment 

solutions, the companies said. 

The ballast water treatment product is 

presently in pre-production, with third-party 

validation expected to take place in late 2010 

and it is expected to enter the market at the 

end of the year. 

"Ballast Water Treatment is becoming an 

important item on the environmental agenda for 

our customers, and therefore also for us," 

explained Roger Holm, vice president, solutions 

management, Wärtsilä Services. "Moving into 

this field is a natural step for Wärtsilä, and one 

that continues the development of our 

environmental services portfolio." 

Trojan Technologies has over 30 years of 

experience in developing UV treatment 

solutions. As a world leader in developing UV 

technology for municipal wastewater, drinking 

water, and industrial water treatment systems, 

Trojan was a logical partner in providing 

Wärtsilä with UV technology for ballast water 

treatment, Wärtsilä said. 

Marvin DeVries, Trojan Technologies 

president said; "Trojan has a long history of 

innovation and leadership in the global UV 

industry, and we believe that our water 

treatment expertise, combined with 

Wärtsilä's strong presence in the marine 

industry, will enable the two companies to 

play a significant role in providing a 

compact, cost-effective and high 

performance system to address the emerging 

ballast water treatment market." 

Wilhelmsen Marine Services’ (WMS) 

Unitor ballast water treatment system 

combines the use of cavitation, sterilisation 

and physical separation to provide a system 

equally efficient in both seawater and 

freshwater environments. 

This combination of methods also allows it 

to handle diverse conditions, such as high 

turbidity, due to organic and mineral matter, or 

polluted water, the company claimed. 

The reactors can be mounted in a vertical 

loop or horizontally (total length 3 m-3.6 m) 

meaning they offer the widest range of 

installation possibilities. The requirement 

for electric power is about 40 kW for the 

largest system with a capacity of 3,500 cu m 

per hour. 

It is suitable for most vessel types and is 

available across the full range of sizes 

required by the commercial marine market, 

WMS said. 

The system gained IMO Basic Approval in 

2008 and has been recommended by 

GESAMP to be awarded its Final Approval at 

MEPC 60 in March this year. 

A couple of years ago, subsidiary 

Wilhelmsen Ships Equipment (WSE) fitted a 

test ballast water treatment system on board 

BW Gas’ LPG carrier Berge Danuta. 

The system used was the Unitor Ballast 

Water System (UBWT) originally developed 

by South African-based Resource Ballast 

Technology (RBT). 

Project engineering and installation 

supervision were carried out by the Norwegian 

company, which was specifically designed to fit 

the 78,500 cu m capacity VLGC’s 800 cu m 

per hour ballast pump capacity. 

BW Danuta carries LPG, propane, butane 

and ammonia at temperatures down to 

-50 deg C. 

BW Gas’ fleet manager for technical 

operations, Ola Petter Dahlen said at the time: 

“After considering a number of technical 

solutions, we recognised that the UBWT 

system’s small size, low energy requirement 

and low pressure drop made it ideal for 

retrofit installation.” 

DNV has worked on the basic approval of 

the system. Manufacturing first started in 

South Africa before switching to a 10,000 sq 

m warehouse in Shanghai. 

UBWT is part of parent Wilhelmsen Marine 

Services (WMS) ‘Act’ environmental product 

family. This combines water treatment, 

emission reduction and wastewater 

management systems, products and services 

under one banner. 

WMS said that it was able to offer complete 

systems through its network covering 330 

offices in 72 countries. “In many cases you 

will find companies focusing on a single 

environmental area. We’re appealing to our 

customer base by delivering a much broader 

offering, one which encompasses our 

commitment to improving environmental 

performance,” said WMS president Dag 

Schjerven. 

The company spent a number of years 

looking at different technologies and then 

short listed these down to two options. DNV 

was then commissioned to come to a 

conclusion on what the class society thought 

was the superior option – RBT. 

It was originally installed on a test basis on 

a Wilhelmsen ro-ro and was also presented to 

South Korean shipbuilders Daewoo, Samsung 

and STX at a meeting organised by Hyundai. 

An important aspect of this particular 

system is that it can be installed while a vessel 

remains in operation. However, the 

Wilhelmsen ro-ro was in drydock when the 

system was installed, meaning that the BW 

gas carrier was the first to receive a system 

while in service. WSE provided the project 

engineering and installation supervision for 

the system. 

BW explained that this vessel was chosen 

for the trials as it normally trades in northern 

Europe, making it easier to put personnel and 

equipment on board. 

TO 

32 


TECHNOLOGY - TANK SERVICING 

Cargo tank coating 

unveiled for product 

and oil tankers 

US-based tank coatings manufacturer Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC) has upgraded 

its product portfolio to include larger product and oil tankers. 

Called MarineLine® X, the new 

tank coating offers versatile, 

effective solutions for product 

and oil tanker carriers trading in 

clean petroleum products (CPP), biofuels, 

vegetable oils, crude oil and dirty petroleum 

products (DPP), wine carriers, FPSOs, 

vegetable and edible oils and all tankers 

carrying IBC Chapter 18 cargoes. 

APC’s MarineLine® 784 internal cargo 

tank coating brand is already well-established 

in the chemical tanker market, especially 

when handling aggressive chemical cargoes. 

MarineLine® 784, which uses a forced hot air 

forced heat cure to form one of the strongest 

bonds in chemistry, is currently in service on 

more than 300 chemical tankers worldwide. 

Based on this success, Donald Keehan, 

APC chairman, explained, “Using our 

extensive background in the marine tank 

coatings industry, we studied the product and 

oil tanker markets for several years, working 

to develop the proper tank coating system for 

their specific needs, which is different than 

those of chemical tankers. The result is 

MarineLine® X – a coating that offers much 

better performance and versatility for product 

and oil tanker operators than conventional 

phenol epoxy or zinc silicate linings, which 

have limitations. 

“We formulated MarineLine® X to 

outperform those coatings, first providing an 

application costs savings using a non-forced 

MarineLine® X has been developed for larger product tankers’ cargo tanks. 

34 



“ 

APC said that MarineLine® X 

offers more corrosion resistance 

than either phenolic epoxy coatings 

hot air heat cure approach, yet still 

maintaining the coating’s performance 

features for easy cleaning and excellent cargo 

resistance. This allows us to provide 

MarineLine® X at a comparable cost to 

current coatings on the market, ensuring we 

will change how product and oil tankers will 

coat their tanks in the years ahead,” he 

concluded. 

Advantages 

MarineLine® X offers a number of key 

benefits for the shipowner and operator, APC 

claimed. In economic comparisons for the tank 

coating and the application costs, MarineLine® 

X only requires a two-coat system, compared 

to three coatings for phenol epoxy. This 

eliminates extra days for drying and extra spray 

application costs, resulting in savings and 

allowing the owner to maximise the return on 

investment in a short period of time. 

It has, like all the coatings in the 

MarineLine® family, a very smooth, low 

energy surface. This provides fast and easy 

cleaning. Once cargoes are discharged, tanks 

are cleaned and dried with minimal effort. 

This is especially noteworthy when switching 

from dirty to clean cargoes as the 

shipowner/operator normally incurs heavy 

cleaning costs. Keehan provided an example, 

“Compare switching from dirty to clean 

products in a 45,000 dwt product tanker, with 

27,000 sq m of tank coating in 20 cargo tanks. 

Cleaning a phenol epoxy coating takes eight 

days, requiring a high amount of gas oil. 

Cleaning MarineLine® X coating takes only 

four days and requires a small amount of gas 

oil. The labour and material savings can be up 

to $100,000 per cleaning. Multiply this 

amount every time the tanker switches these 

types of cargoes during a year, and the savings 

are immense. More savings results in higher 

operational profit.” 

Another key benefit claimed is 

MarineLine® X’s inherent chemical 

resistance, as the coating is formulated with 

patented high performance polymers that 

cross-link together to form a hard, tightly knit 

structure. This durable coating ensures 

consistent product purity, the company said. 

APC said that MarineLine® X offers more 

corrosion resistance than either phenolic 

” 

epoxy coatings, that can absorb cargoes due to 

hydrolysis, or zinc silicate coatings that also 

have absorption problems by retaining oil-like 

cargoes and are difficult to clean. 

A key concern to the tanker industry is the 

acidified moisture (sulphuric acid) of wet inert 

gas systems that corrodes conventional tank 

coatings. However, MarineLine® X is 

resistant to this acidified moisture, providing a 

longer lasting solution. 

Versatility is a key strength of MarineLine® 

Rely on the new 

MarineLine ® X tank 

coating to handle the wide 

range of easy chemicals and 

CPPs carried by product 

tankers. MarineLine ® X offers 

greater corrosion resistance 

than phenolic epoxies or zinc 

silicates, with more versatility. 

X, APC said. Due to the coating’s easy and 

fast cleanability and resistance to a wide range 

of cargoes, the shipowner/operator can easily 

switch, enabling the tankers to carry a range 

of cargoes from port to port. 

MarineLine® X comes with a semi-gloss, 

light blue colour. The coating is offered in five 

gallon (19 litres) and 1 gallon (4 litres) kits 

with catalyst. 

APC has also developed a new ‘Chemical 

Resistance Guide’ that presents both 

MarineLine® X for the product and oil tanker 

markets and MarineLine® 784 for the 

chemical tanker sector, allowing operators to 

see which coating system is appropriate for 

handling a particular cargo. 

An online version of the guide on 

the company’s website is also under 

development. 

TO 

for Product Tankers 

THE tank coating system for carrying easy 

chemicals, CPPs, and edible & vegetable oils. 

Advanced Polymer Coatings 

Avon, Ohio 44011 U.S.A. 

+01 440-937-6218 Phone +01 440-937-5046 Fax www.adv-polymer.com 



Cleaning project 

completed on world’s 

largest tanker 

ew benchmark claimed in cleaning 49 tanks and de-mucking 3,200 tonnes of sludge 

in an environmentally friendly manner. 

Dulsco’s East Coast branch recently 

completed a tank cleaning project 

on the ULCC/FSO Knock evis, 

the longest ship ever built, while 

she was anchored off Fujairah, waiting to sail 

for India for recycling. 

The company cleaned the Knock evis' 49 

tanks and de-mucked 3,200 tonnes of sludge 

from the tank bottom, while implementing an 

environmentally-friendly process in disposing 

of the sludge in accordance with UAE federal 

law. Dulsco also secured zone II certification 

for the equipment used in the project, such as 

air compressors, generators, air fans and exproof 

lights, ensuring compliance with strict 

international safety norms. 

A team of 130 specialists were deployed, 

including a project superintendent, 

supervisors, safety officers, foremen and 

experienced tank cleaners for the two-month 

project. The successful clean-up of the giant 

tanker served as an important milestone for 

Dulsco, giving the 

company the 

momentum to pursue 

similar large-scale 

projects in the 

shipping industry, the 

company claimed. 

"Dulsco East Coast 

has a highly skilled 

workforce along with 

one of the best 

equipped workshops in 

the industry. Extensive 

expertise and top-ofthe-line 

technological 

resources, combined 

with our utmost 

commitment to quality 

and excellence, have allowed Dulsco to 

comply with stringent quality, safety and 

environmental standards and satisfy the 

specific demands of the tanker owners. 

“Moreover, despite the delicate nature and 

the unprecedented scale of the project, Dulsco 

was able to complete it in time without being 

derailed by any kind of accident. This project 

will certainly help thrust Fujairah into the 

limelight as an attractive destination for 

specialised marine, de-mucking and tank 

cleaning services, while highlighting Dulsco's 

world-class expertise in handling large-scale 

projects," said Amjad Khan, general manager, 

Dulsco East Coast. 

Built in 1979, the Knock evis was latterly 

used as an FSO unit, having been recently 

converted at Dubai. She was owned by 

Norwegian company Fred Olsen Production. 

Formerly known as the Seawise Giant, Happy 

Giant and Jahre Viking, the tanker, which was 

built from 83,000 tonnes of steel, is the longest 

ship ever built in the world with a length of 458 

m and a beam of 69 m, a fully laden draught of 

24.6 m with a dwt of 564,763. 

Dulsco’s Fujairah base supports both 

offshore and onshore tank cleaning and the 

company has agreements in place with the 

TO 

local ships’ agents. 

 

The vast expanse of the Knock Nevis can clearly be seen. 

36 



Knock Nevis –A potted history 

Knock Nevis was built in 1979 at 

Sumitomo Heavy Industries's 

Oppama shipyard as Seawise 

Giant for a Greek owner who 

was unable to take delivery of 

the vessel. 

The shipyard exercised its right to sell the 

vessel and a deal was brokered with Hong 

Kong’s Orient Overseas Container Line 

founder CY Tung to lengthen the ship by 

several metres thus adding a further 87,000 

tonnes of cargo capacity. Two years later she 

was relaunched as Seawise Giant. 

She was badly damaged during the 

Iran/Iraq War while transiting the Strait of 

Hormuz and was declared a total loss and 

laid up in Brunei. At the end of the war she 

was towed to the Keppel Company shipyard 

in Singapore, repaired, and relaunched in 

October 1991 as the Happy Giant. 

Jørgen Jahre bought the tanker in 1991 for 

$39 mill and renamed her Jahre Viking. 

From 1991 to 2004, she was owned by Loki 

Stream AS and flew the Norwegian flag. 

In 2004, she was bought by First Olsen 

Tankers, renamed Knock evis, and 

converted into a permanently moored 

storage tanker anchored in the Qatar Al 

Shaheen oil field in the Persian Gulf. 

In December 2009, she was sold to 

Indian breakers, via an intermediary. 

Renamed Mont for her final journey, she 

was reflagged to Sierra Leone on the basis 

of a single voyage. After clearing Indian 

customs, she was beached at Alang at the 

beginning of January, thus ending a varied 

career. 

Her longevity was put down to being well 

maintained throughout her career, a 

considerable rebuild following severe 

damage off Hormuz and due to the fact that 

she traded infrequently, being primarily used 

as storage vessel. 

When TAKEROperator’s editor visited 

the ship at Antifer in January 1995, the 

master told him that the vessel had only 

undertaken about a dozen voyages with 

cargo since she was built. 

 

Overspray/dry spray should be carefully controlled 

Careful control is needed of overspray and dry spray. 

In today’s economic climate, it is 

becoming more and more critical 

for vessel operators to maximise 

efficiency. 

For operators of chemical carriers, the choice of 

coating on the cargo tanks can have a major 

impact on the operational efficiency of the vessel 

from initial coatings selection, application, cargo 

carriage and performance in service to ease of 

tank cleaning and vessel turnaround. 

One key issue during the application of tank 

coatings, which should be carefully controlled 

is overspray/dry spray. This can greatly impact 

the tank coating surface properties, warned 

International Paint (IP). 

Overspray/dry spray refers to paint particles 

landing on areas not intended for coating or 

rebounding from target areas that are and then 

drying before being deposited in other areas of 

the tank. This can be made worse when there is 

an overly turbulent airflow in the application 

area; incorrect spray gun set up or from paints, 

which are not optimally formulated. 

Overspray/dry spray causes contamination of 

nearby areas, can roughen a smooth finish and 

can cause the application environment to be 

potentially unsafe for applicators due to 

excessive coating fog in the atmosphere. As tank 

coating application occurs in a confined area the 

risks associated with this issue can be significant. 

Minimising overspray/dry spray is also 

desirable from a productivity and financial 

point of view as it means completion of tank 

coating application in a shorter space of time, 

reducing cleaning time and a reduction in 

paint wastage, all resulting in a reduction in 

the final cost of coating. 

IP maintained that correctly formulated coatings 

are essential to ensure maximum efficiency 

during the application process in the shipyard and 

the long term chemical resistance and ease 

plus speed of cleaning for ships in service. 

Dong-Uk Oh, painting team section chief in 

Samho Shipbuilding Co, South Korea, who 

has a long track record of tank coating 

applications said, “When applying 

International Paint’s Interline 994, a 30% 

reduction in overspray compared with 

previously used epoxy phenolic coatings was 

achieved. This means not only less re-work 

and coating wastage for the yard but also a 

smoother coating surface for the operator.” 

He also said, “We hope we would work 

with International Paint again for future cargo 

tank projects given their reliable technical 

service and product application properties.” 

Minimising overspray/dry spray has a longer 

term impact than just yard application; a smooth 

tank surface is more easily and rapidly cleaned 

allowing for faster vessel turnaround times and 

increased productivity for the operator. 

Evidence of this was clear during a one year 

inspection of Interline 994 coated tanks on a 

17,539 dwt chemical tanker. The tanks were in 

excellent condition with the vessels Chief 

Officer commenting that he was very 

impressed with the performance of the coating 

on the tanks given the aggressive sequence of 

cargoes that have been carried in them. 

Minimising overspray/dry spray is just one 

example of how coating manufacturers, 

shipyards and vessel operators can work 

together to ensure maximum vessel operating 

efficiency, IP said. 

TO 


TECHNOLOGY - SHIP-TO-SHIP TRANSFERS 

STS operations to 

have mandatory 

standards 

With the plethora of tankers of all size ranges anchored in orth European waters and 

now increasingly in Asian waters, the focus on ship-to-ship (STS) transfers has grown. 

We have recently seen up to 50 

tankers anchor off the UK’s 

Suffolk coast and more in 

Lyme Bay. There are 

designated STS transfer sites off Denmark, at 

designated sites in Europoort/Rotterdam and 

elsewhere, including the MEG. 

Last July, the IMO’s MEPC 59 adopted 

amendments to the MARPOL Convention to 

prevent pollution during STS oil transfer 

operations. 

The MEPC adopted amendments to 

MARPOL Annex I for the prevention of 

marine pollution during some STS oil transfer 

operations. These amendments were expected 

to enter into force on 1st January 2011. 

The new chapter 8 on prevention of 

pollution during transfer of oil cargo between 

oil tankers at sea will apply to oil tankers of 

150 gt and over and will require any oil tanker 

involved in oil cargo STS operations to have, 

on board, a plan prescribing how to conduct 

STS operations (the STS Plan), which would 

be approved by its administration. 

Notification to the relevant coastal state will 

be required not less than 48 hours in advance 

of the scheduled STS operations although 

some relaxation to this rule is allowed in 

certain, very specific, cases. The regulations 

will not apply to bunkering operations, many 

of which are carried out by barge, or small 

tanker offshore. Other types of transfers not 

included are those between a tanker and an 

FPSO/FSO, or rig, or to securing the safety of 

a ship or its crew, or for combating specific 

pollution incidents. 

Any tanker involved in STS shall carry on 

board a STS Operations Plan not later than the 

date of the first annual, intermediate or 

renewal survey of the ship to be carried out 

after 1st December 2010. 

The STS plan may be incorporated into the 

existing SMS required under SOLAS, if that 

requirement is applicable to the tanker in 

question. 

Two TORM 

vessels 

undertaking an 

STS while slow 

steaming. 

38 


TECHNOLOGY - SHIP-TO-SHIP TRANSFERS 

The person in overall advisory control of 

STS operations shall be qualified to perform 

all relevant duties, taking into account the 

qualifications contained in the best practice 

guidelines, the IMO said. 

Consequential amendments to the 

International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) 

Certificate, the supplement to the IOPP 

Certificate and the Oil Record Book were 

also adopted. 

Splitting cargoes 

Ship-to-ship (STS) transfers at sea have been 

undertaken for almost 40 years. It was 

originally widely used to load and offload 

VLCCs/ULCCs and other large tankers, thus 

splitting cargoes into smaller hulls, which 

could gain entry to draught restricted ports. 

However, as the numbers of vessels 

involved in storage increased, we have seen 

many STS transfers taking place on smaller 

laden chemical and product carriers anchored 

in strategic areas near main import and export 

terminals. 

Lightering operations are still undertaken 

in considerable numbers in the US Gulf and 

along the US East Coast, where draught 

restrictions apply. Although there are a few 

exceptions, US ports are unable to 

accommodate tankers of over Aframax size 

fully loaded. Hence the favourite cargo 

from the Caribbean to the US Atlantic 

Coast is around 80,000 tonnes loaded in an 

Aframax hull. 

Last year, it was estimated that more than 

25% of crude oil imported into the US was 

subject to lightering operations before being 

delivered to the refineries. Some of the 

companies involved in crude oil lightering 

operations in the US Gulf include OSG, SPT 

and Chevron among others. 

These specialist companies employ 

experienced mooring masters and have the 

relevant equipment and backup, including 

workboats/launches, to prevent pollution 

wherever possible. 

Lightering operations can be undertaken 

while the vessels are anchored, or while 

steaming at a very low speed. Huge rubber 

fenders, such as Yokohama fenders, are placed 

between the vessels, while the oil is 

transferred through rubber hoses attached to 

’quick release’ mechanisms. 

Industry standards were first developed for 

STS operations jointly by OCIMF and the 

International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) 

some 35 years ago and have been updated on 

a regular basis. 

MARPOL Annex 1’ STS Plan will cover 

start-up procedures, flow rates, checklists, 

communications and topping off and stripping 

arrangements. 

The fourth edition of the OCIMF/ICS Ship 

to Ship Transfer Guide, Petroleum, which 

cover transfers of crude oil and petroleum 

products was published in 2005, some 30 

years after the first edition. 

Included in the new set of provisions are 

criteria for determining the quality and 

competence of lightering superintendents; 

acknowledgement of a then new international 

standard, ie ISO 17537, applicable to the 

material, performance and dimensions of 

floating pneumatic fenders; updated mooring 

operations information following an industry 

study on the behaviour of tankers moored 

together in open and exposed waters; and 

provisions governing the transfer of personnel 

between vessels, according to an article 

appearing in the BIMCO News, explaining 

the new amendment. 

TO 

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TECHNOLOGY - NEWS 

Lube oil independent attacks the US market 

Marine lubricants supplier Sealub 

Alliance Americas, an affiliate of 

Hong Kong-based Gulf Oil Marine, 

has opened a fully operational 

manufacturing, supply and 

distribution network in the US 

and select areas of Canada. 

Sealub is now producing all of its marine 

products in four strategic blending facilities 

and has established a comprehensive 

distribution network to support delivery 

operations in more than 80 ports in the US 

and Canada. 

In addition, the Americas group has 

established new supply operations in Panama, 

Hawaii and on the Mississippi River. 

This expansion complements the existing 

Sealub Alliance global coverage of more 

than 700 ports in over 90 countries, the 

company said. 

Sealub also has plans to expand its capacity 

in Canada and to establish a presence on the 

Great Lakes by the end of this year. 

In addition to its extensive delivery 

capabilities, Sealub also offers technical 

services for the US market, including ship 

visits, complete used oil analysis, on board 

test kits and technical seminars. 

The company told TAKEROperator that it 

produces a 40 BN cylinder oil with the 

majors. The same additive technology and 

basestock is used. “However, one thing we 

need to keep in mind is that the major doesn’t 

require the use low BN cylinder oil if the 

vessel is only operating for less than 24 hours 

on low sulphur fuel. So, depending on how 

long the vessel will be operating in restricted 

waters will dictate whether or not they chose 

to use the low BN product”, a company 

spokesman explained. 

Talking about vessels entering the busy 

Californian ports, the company said that as the 

OEMs had relaxed the amount of time that the 

engine can run on low sulphur fuel and a 

standard 70 BN CLO, most vessel operators 

make the decision based on how long they 

will need to run the engine and then decide 

whether or not they need to switch to low BN 

cylinder oil. 

“The issue is that if an engine is run too 

long on a standard 70 BN CLO, when 

operating on low sulphur fuel, there is a risk 

of creating deposits from an un-reacted BN 

additive on the ring lands and behind the ring 

itself. This can lead to scuffing and premature 

liner wear”, the company said. 

As for the busy US Gulf tanker ports, most 

of the VLCCs deliver their cargoes way 

offshore, making the supply of lubricants 

difficult. OSV deliveries are possible but the 

vessels are in high demand and the cost can be 

significant. As a result, many of the VLCCs 

take their lubricant deliveries via drums from 

a launch. This is obviously not the most 

efficient way to handle a delivery as it is 

particularly difficult in high seas, the 

company said. 

Areas, such as LOOP and the Delaware 

Anchorages, see supplies on a regular basis 

through the support of delivery agents. 

Sub-contracts 

Sealub Alliance Americas primarily uses subcontractors 

for deliveries. “We do not own or 

operate any delivery vessels, nor do we 

facilitate our own deliveries. We have found 

that contracting with sub-contractors who 

specialise in marine lubricant deliveries is the 

most efficient way to conduct our business. 

“There are so many rules, regulations and 

restrictions that are port specific and we have 

found that contracting with a company that 

knows all the specific requirements for a 

given port allows us to better inform our 

customer regarding the delivery method to be 

employed and any issues that would make the 

delivery more difficult or costly. 

“In many cases, by working closely with 

our sub-contractor delivery agents, we are 

able to advise the customer of alternative 

delivery options that ultimately saves the 

customer money. This is all part of our 

corporate directive to provide industry leading 

customer service,” the company said. 

Sealub manufactures in four locations in the 

US - Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles and 

Tacoma - and is in discussions for a blending 

operation in Canada. Additionally the company 

has warehouse locations in New York, Norfolk, 

Jacksonville, New Orleans, Houston, Los 

Angeles, Rainer WA and Tacoma. 

As for the amount of lubes taken on board 

a large vessel, such as a tanker, in many 

cases, this depends on the area of the world 

where the lubricants are lifted. Some areas 

have higher costs and therefore a tanker will 

usually only take on the minimum amount of 

lubes that it needs. In other areas where the 

costs are more favourable, the quantity of 

lubes supplied will be greater due to the 

better economics. 

The company explained that for a new 

lubricant company to enter the global market, 

which has for decades been dominated by the 

major integrated oil companies, the new 

entrant has to have everything that the majors 

offer as a minimum, but in addition, has to 

demonstrate superior performance in order to 

carve out their place in the market. 

Gulf Oil Marine/Sealub Alliance is 

managed by former senior managers from the 

major oil companies, as well as additive 

companies. Personnel have also been 

recruited from the OEM side of the business. 

“We are fortunate in that we can take all of 

this diverse talent and mould our business in 

such a way that we can capitalise on the best 

practices of many different companies,” the 

company concluded. 

TO 


The Latest ews is now available on 

TAKEROperator’s website at 

www.tankeroperator.com and is updated weekly. 

For access to the ews just register by entering 

your e-mail address in the box provided. You 

can also request to receive free e-mail copies of 

TAKEROperator by filling in the form displayed 

on the website. Free trial copies of the printed 

version are also available from the website. 

These are limited to tanker company executives 

and are distributed at the publisher’s discretion. 

40 


ANNUAL REVIEW - MARKETS 

ew deliveries - not as 

many as you think? 

We have taken a look at brokers and consultants view of what 2010 holds. 

Most ‘pundits’ believe it will prove to be a difficult year – one of consolidation 

– with a possible pickup in fortunes during the third and fourth quarters. 

The starting point was assessing the 

future tanker deliveries, what had 

already been delivered and the 

current scheduled orderbook for 

this year with the help of leading London 

broker EA Gibson’s research team. 

Gibson said that 443 new tankers above 

25,000 dwt would be expected to enter service 

this year; which on the face of it would 

indicate more new deliveries than the 405 

seen last year. 

However, the collapse in market earnings 

last year led to newbuilding contract 

renegotiations, delays and cancellations. The 

nature of these changes was not always 

transparent and tended to be kept ‘behind the 

scenes’. 

Nonetheless, some handle on developments 

can be determined by looking at what the 

scheduled tanker orderbook was for 2009 at 

the start of the year and comparing it to what 

actually happened. 

From this, 79 tankers out of the original 484 

scheduled for 2009 were not delivered, 

accounting for 16% of the original orderbook. 

Looking at the breakdown by size, Suezmax 

and MR deliveries were around 75% of the 

original schedule; VLCC and LR1 deliveries 

were higher, at 89%, but the Aframax/LR2s 

were surprisingly high, with almost all 

scheduled deliveries actually coming out of 

the yards, Gibson said. 

Given the collapse in the tanker market seen 

in 2Q09, there is more leeway for delays to 

the 2010 delivery schedule than the 16% 

witnessed last year. Gibson made the 

assumption that some 25% of 2010 scheduled 

deliveries would not materialise this year and 

as a result only 300 new tankers would join 

the fleet (compared with last year’s 405). 

Looking at each size group, there would be 

around 50 VLCC deliveries, 40 Suezmaxes, 

65 Aframax/LR2s, 25 LR1s and 120 MRs. 

Using this and taking into account the forecast 

of scrapping and conversions, the net gain in 

tanker fleet above 25,000 dwt would be 

around 175 vessels this year, compared with 

314 last year; still an increase, but not as 

much as in 2009. 

However, substantial growth in oil demand 

and trade will still be required even to absorb 

this more modest growth in tanker supply, 

Gibson concluded. 

Recycling 

Turning to recycling, by 5th February, some 

1.2 mill dwt of tanker tonnage had been sold 

for breaking thus far this year, according to a 

Gibson’s weekly tanker report. The sheer 

volume of tanker tonnage coming onto the 

demolition market could be the only 

stumbling block give that Bangladesh beaches 

are a favoured destination for recycling. 

Last year, 62 of the 93 tankers sold for 

recycling ended up in Bangladesh, mainly due 

to higher lightweight prices negotiated and the 

dubious attraction of not requiring a gas-free 

certificate. The dangers associated with this 

kind of work were highlighted at the end of 

last year when several workers were killed 

and others injured while cutting up a tanker. 

Incidents such as this will add to 

international pressure on the traditional 

shipbreaking nations to accept tighter 

Million Dwt 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

regulations, such as that proposed by the 

IMO’s Hong Kong Convention, which was 

adopted last year, but thus far has not gained a 

single signatory. Last year’s Bangladesh 

tanker intake was more than double that seen 

in 2008. Thus any significant changes could 

have implications on the price level on offer 

and perhaps more significantly on capacity, 

Gibson said. 

In an analysis of last year’s statistics, 

Gibson said that 10 VLCCs were sold for 

recycling, nine of which were sold from 

August onward. The largest tanker sold was 

the 285,900 dwt Front Vanadis, which fetched 

$325 per ldt. The highest price paid was 

reported to be $378 per ldt for the 249,000 

dwt VLCC V Malibu. The total deadweight of 

vessels sold was 7.2 mill dwt (vessels of over 

10,000 dwt). 

In addition, there were four Suezmaxes, 15 

Aframaxes, 12 Panamaxes and a massive 38 

MRs, sold for demolition, which could have 

been caused by the rock bottom market for 

product and chemical tankers. 

Last year, demolition prices remained 

comparatively firm, but well below the levels 

seen in 2008. The first VLCC sale this year 

achieved $415 per ldt. The strengthening 

prices were seen across all sectors with Indian 

 

 

Tanker Demolition (10,000 Dwt+) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Gibson Consultancy and Research 

March 2010 TANKEROperator Annual Review 

I


breakers becoming prominent. With 13% of 

the fleet of single hull construction, there are 

plenty of candidates for the recycling beaches 

this year, Gibson said. 

Floating storage 

Another sector looked at by the broking 

house’s research department was the floating 

storage position. Both crude and clean 

products were being stored in abundance since 

early last year. Contango play, weakened oil 

demand, record levels of land-based crude and 

product stocks, changes in regional patterns of 

oil consumption and very low freight rates all 

combined to give market participants a range 

of opportunities to play the storage game, 

Gibson said. 

By November last year, 149 tankers were 

storing 55 mill barrels of crude and 98 mill 

barrels of clean products, enough to satisfy 

global demand for nearly two days. This 

translated into 6-8 % of the VLCC fleet and up 

to 35% of the LR2 sector being tied up at any 

one time, which helped to prop up spot rates, 

by taking enough vessels out of the market. 

While difficult to quantify, Gibson said that 

it was worth comparing the fortunes of the 

VLCC against the MR last year. VLCC 

earnings on the benchmark TD3 route (MEG- 

East) averaged over $31,000 per day, above 

fixed operating costs. By contrast, MRs, not 

used for storage, averaged $7,000 per day on 

the TC2 route (UK/Cont-US), which was very 

close to breakeven. 

This year began positively with rising spot 

rates, oil prices and oil demand. VLCC spot 

earnings trebled to peak at just over $101,000 

per day and WTI crude rose to a 15-month 

high of 82.75 barrels, partly in response to the 

Number 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

extreme cold weather in the Northern 

Hemisphere. This resulted in the narrowing of 

the oil price contango coinciding with higher 

charter rates, which led to a number of storage 

vessels discharging their cargoes. However, 

this was partly offset by more storage tonnage 

being taken in the Far East. 

By the end of January this year, the number 

of storage tankers had fallen to 119 from 141, 

less than feared. Again, storage will be a key 

factor to determining the rates for this year. 

Gibson reasoned that any downward pressure 

on tanker rates caused by the redelivery of 

storage vessels and a return to a steeper price 

contango with warmer weather/lower oil 

demand could recreate the conditions that 

encouraged floating storage in the first place. 

With current high freight rates (end 

January) and a shrunken contango, the 

ingredients do not mix well, but storage 

participants, having successfully played the 

game, will be ready to act quickly, if and 

when the right recipe redevelops, Gibson 

concluded. 

Asian storage 

Gas oil stored on tankers in Asia had swolen 

to unprecedented volumes of at least 14 mill 

barrels by the middle of February this year 

and could rise further as weak global demand 

persists, prompting traders to turn to this 

region for support, reported Reuters. 

The volumes, which were enough to 

meet 16% of global daily oil demand, come 

as the current East-West arbitrage economics 

was not viable, even as Western distillate 

supplies are gradually drawn down during 

the cold winter. 

''Players are positioning their vessels mostly 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Gibson Consultancy and Research 

Number of vessels used for crude & products floating storage 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in Southeast Asia, waiting for the East-West 

arb (arbitrage) to open, so they can float them 

over to Europe,'' said a distillates trader with a 

European trading firm, talking to Reuters. 

But overall global volumes remain heavy 

and traders may also be hoping for demand in 

India, Indonesia and Vietnam to take up the 

supply, ahead of spring maintenance in Asia 

and as refineries here face the occasional 

outages, sources said. 

Most of the 18 LR tankers storing a total of 

nearly 2 mill tonnes of gas oil are anchored 

off Southeast Asian, with a few located off 

India and the MEG. 

At least six Panamaxes, nine Aframaxes and 

three Suezmaxes, were anchored off 

Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fujairah and 

Sikka along the Indian coast. 

Charterers include European trading 

houses Vitol, Sempra, Mercuria, Trafigura 

and Glencore, as well as oil major Shell and 

US investment bank Morgan Stanley, the 

sources added. 

More trading houses could join in the 

contango play when the market structure widens 

towards the end of winter as demand for heating 

fuel thins out, analysts and traders said. 

For now, the vessels will probably remain 

in Asia, as it would too costly to move cargoes 

to Europe, as had been done regularly since 

the first quarter of last year, traders said. 

McQuilling’s view 

Under the influence of massive orderbook 

deliveries, and IMO-mandated exit profiles, 

the tanker fleets are poised to endure some 

drastic changes to net composition. 

This year will see over 300 newbuilds 

joining the fleet, tempered by nearly 200 

single-hulls beaching for recycling. The net 

result may offer some balance through 2010, 

but come 2011, McQuilling Services forecast 

that the tides may turn once more. 

McQuilling presented the tanker fleet 

supply estimations based on a reference case 

scenario. In January, the consultancy found 

1,055 confirmed orders for tankers of 27,500 

dwt and above for delivery through 2014 

(confirmed orders being those with IMO 

numbers assigned). 

From this figure, some 1-2% of the orders 

were deducted due to possible cancellations 

from contracts held by financially 

questionable owners in similarly challenged 

yards. In addition, IMO I and II type chemical 

carriers were excluded, thus arriving at an 

orderbook of 899 vessels. 

Against the newbuilds, the exit profile 

assumed that over half of those vessels due to 

II 

TANKEROperator Annual Review March 2010


Number of vessels 

1000 

900 

800 

700 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

Tonnage supply 2010 - 2011 

leave the trading fleet in 2010 will actually 

exit, with the remaining continuing to trade 

having passed life extension inspections as per 

IMO provisions. 

Given poor returns, narrowing trade 

opportunities, and a considerable cost for the 

4th and 5th special surveys, it is likely that 

few owners will invest in the extension of 

single-hulls. 

However, after careful review of flag states 

that own single hull tankers, together with 

their IMO-13G stances, it would appear not 

all are ready to let older tonnage retire so 

soon, McQuilling thought. 

In order to arrive at projected tonnage 

supply, the exit profile for each sector was 

combined with the anticipated deliveries to 

produce a net fleet growth. All tanker sectors, 

except Panamax and MR1 product carriers, 

show net fleet growth during this period. 

The Panamax sector decreased by 11 

vessels last year, and is expected to contract 

further in 2010 before seeing a slight growth 

in 2011. The aged MR1 fleet also decline in 

number this year, before seeing a four-vessel 

net increase in 2011. 

In the larger sectors, the VLCC fleet 

experienced a 24 vessel growth last year and 

is set to see further growth in 2010 by 31 

vessels. The Suezmax fleet saw a net increase 

of 42 vessels last year, but expansion will 

slow to 19 vessels in 2010 - largely tempered 

by forecasted delays from particular yards that 

hold a significant portion of troubled orders. 

McQuilling’s long-held perspective is that 

the majority of tanker sectors are oversupplied 

with tonnage relative to demand. Net fleet 

growth is expected to peak in 2011, 

particularly evident in the VLCC and 

Suezmax sectors. 

1/2010 

12/2010 

12/2011 

VLCC SUEZ AFRA LR2 PANA LR1 MR2 MR1 


Source: McQuilling Services. 

This means that tonnage overhang is almost 

certain to continue to build in the face of nearterm 

tepid tanker demand. 

So while net fleet growth this year may be 

somewhat subdued, the tides of supply in 

2011 will see considerably greater numbers of 

vessels entering the fleet. 

Cash is king 

London-based accountant and consultancy 

Moore Stephens said that opportunities exist 

for those with cash. 

Despite the pressure of increased 

environmental compliance, 2010 will be a 

good year for anyone in the shipping industry 

with cash and access to finance, the 

consultancy said. 

Julian Wilkinson, head of the Moore 

Stephens shipping industry group, said, “For 

Moore Stephens’ Julian Wilkinson. 

the first time in a decade, shipping bankers 

can get a decent and certain return on their 

dollar. Credit is restricted, loan pricing is up 

strongly and no banker now has to look for an 

excuse to turn away marginal business. 

Stronger clients and higher margins point 

towards happier bankers, even more so where 

the banks foreclose on the weakest borrowers. 

“In the shipyards, the shortage of credit is 

being used by shipowners to push back 

delivery dates and renegotiate contracts. The 

effect is less profound in China, where 

Chinese banks and the government are taking 

up the slack. The big European yards are 

expecting big cruise orders, as the global 

economy begins to look up. But in the world’s 

leading shipbuilding nation, South Korea, we 

may see mass lay-offs if work dries up. 

“Most shipowners, meanwhile, expect tough 

markets for the next year. But a growing 

global economy, booming scrapping and a 

fast-diminishing orderbook-overhang may 

mean that the markets will be less tough than 

expected. Combine that with record low 

global interest rates, and things don’t look too 

bad for owners who are not over-extended. 

“Shipping is already the greenest of all 

forms of transport. Globally, it is much 

greener right now than it has ever been, as a 

large proportion of the fleet is going into layup, 

the scrapping of old tankers is reaching 

record levels, and those ships still working are 

doing so at slow and very economical speeds. 

But this year shipping will see more green 

costs forced on it. IMO will act slowly, and it 

will be some time before we see a shipping 

carbon tax or trading scheme. There are 

already pressures from charterers, however, to 

measure the green performance of ships, 

because they want to be able to tell the endconsumer 

how green their supply chain is. The 

result will be that older and less fuel-efficient 

ships will find it harder to get charters, and 

will face lower rates, while forward-looking 

owners will have to invest in a green agenda. 

“2010 will be a tough year for shipping, 

and toughest of all for the yards. But it will 

be a year of opportunity for anyone with cash 

and access to finance, as they pick up cheap 

assets from failing projects. And it will also 

be the first year in which we will see a new 

kind of shipping finance, as cautious but 

forward-looking bankers begin to enquire 

about the environmental performance of ships 

and companies they are being asked to fund. 

Then we shall see a lot of people going green, 

and those without access to credit looking 

green with envy at those who have it,” 

TO 

Wilkinson forecast. 

III

ANNUAL REVIEW - POLLUTION 

umber of oil spills 

continues to decline 

Lack of recent major oil spills has significantly reduced the overall figures 

on the quantity of oil spilled. 

For the first time since the 

International Tankers Oil Pollution 

Federation (ITOPF) began collating 

tanker spill statistics, no major oil 

spills were recorded from tankers last year and 

the total was the lowest in history, the 

federation said. 

Defined as 700 tonnes or greater (> 5,000 

barrels), the number of major spills from 

tankers had consistently been reducing over 

recent years, such that the average number of 

major spills for the decade (2000-2009) is 

about three. This was less than half of the 

average for the 1990s and just an eighth of the 

average for the 1970s. 

The same was true for medium sized spills 

from tankers (from seven to 700 tonnes, or 50 

– 5,000 barrels) where the average number of 

spills occurring in the last decade was 14, half 

of that experienced during the previous 

decade. Consistent with the reduction in the 

number of oil spills from tankers, the volume 

of oil spilt also showed a marked reduction. In 

some cases, the total quantity of oil spilt in the 

last decade was less than had been spilt 

previously in a single year. 

000's tonnes 

700 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

0 

ATLANTIC EMPRESS 

287,000 tonnes 

CASTILLO DE BELLVER 


Nevertheless, there was obviously 

considerable annual variation in the 

incidence of oil spills and the amounts of 

oil lost, as a single major incident can 

severely distort the statistics for a particular 

year. Indeed, the recent collision between a 

Position Shipname Year Location Spill Size (tonnes) 

1 ATLANTIC EMPRESS 1979 Off Tobago, West Indies 287,000 

2 ABT SUMMER 1991 700 nautical miles off Angola 260,000 

3 CASTILLO DE BELLVER 1983 Off Saldanha Bay, South Africa 252,000 

4 AMOCO CADIZ 1978 Off Brittany, France 223,000 

5 HAVEN 1991 Genoa, Italy 144,000 

6 ODYSSEY 1988 700 nautical miles off Nova Scotia, Canada 132,000 

7 TORREY CANYON 1967 Scilly Isles, UK 119,000 

8 SEA STAR 1972 Gulf of Oman 115,000 

9 IRENES SERENADE 1980 Navarino Bay, Greece 100,000 

10 URQUIOLA 1976 La Coruna, Spain 100,000 

11 HAWAIIAN PATRIOT 1977 300 nautical miles off Honolulu 95,000 

12 INDEPENDENTA 1979 Bosphorus, Turkey 95,000 

13 JAKOB MAERSK 1975 Oporto, Portugal 88,000 

14 BRAER 1993 Shetland Islands, UK 85,000 

15 KHARK 5 1989 120 nautical miles off Atlantic coast of Morocco 80,000 

16 AEGEAN SEA 1992 La Coruna, Spain 74,000 

17 SEA EMPRESS 1996 Milford Haven, UK 72,000 

18 NOVA 1985 Off Kharg Island, Gulf of Iran 70,000 

19 KATINA P. 1992 Off Maputo, Mozambique 66,700 

20 PRESTIGE 2002 Off Spanish coast 63,000 

35 EXXON VALDEZ 1989 Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA 37,000 

Major oil spills since 1967 

KHARK V 

80,000 tonnes 

EXXON VALDEZ 

37,000 tonnes 

ABT SUMMER 


1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 

Quantities of oil spilt (over 7 tonnes) from 1970 to 2009 

Source: ITOPF. 

SEA EMPRESS 

72,000 tonnes 

ERIKA 

20,000 tonnes 

PRESTIGE 

63,000 tonnes 

HEBEI SPIRIT 

10,500 tonnes 


tanker and a tug towing barges in Texas, 

meant that the record for 2009 will not be 

maintained; such is the unpredictable nature 

of accidents. 

However, the statistics for the last decade 

reflected the downturn in accidental spills 

from tankers that had been evident since the 

end of the 1970s. This reduction can largely 

be attributed to the combined efforts of the 

oil/shipping industry and governments 

(through the IMO) to improve safety and 

pollution prevention, ITOPF said. 

Minor spill problems 

Against a background of a declining number 

of major tanker spills, smaller operational 

spills and bunker spills from non-tankers 

continued to occur. “In our experience, even 

minor incidents can generate significant 

claims for environmental damage and 

economic loss, many of which can require a 

substantial contribution from ITOPF staff and 

ensure that we remain busy”, the organisation 

explained. 

IV 


ANNUAL REVIEW - POLLUTION 

ITOPF’s figures include spills from 

tankers, combined carriers and barges and 

take into account – accidental – spills and 

not those caused by acts of war, such was 

seen in the Middle East Gulf during the 

Iran/Iraq conflict. 

Information is held on almost 10,000 

incidents with the majority of spills being in 

the smallest category, ie plus or minus seven 

tonnes. However, information on spills of 

more than seven tonnes tends to be more 

reliable, ITOPF said. 

Of course one large spill can distort the 

figures as seen in the 1979 VLCC Atlantic 

Empress (280,000 tonnes), the 1983 Castillo 

de Bellver (252,000 tonnes) and the 1991 

ABT Summer (260,000 tonnes) cases. By 

comparison, the Exxon Valdez grounding 

only amounted to a loss of 37,000 tonnes, 

putting her at No 35 on the list of the 

all time highest oil spills recorded by 

OCIMF. 

The first major oil spill officially recorded 

concerned the Torrey Canyon, which 

grounded and broke into two off the Scilly 

“ 

Hull failures 

12.4% 

Loading/Discharging 

8.1% 

Fire & Explosions 

7.2% 

Equipment failures 

0.9% 

Isles in 1967, resulting in a spill of 115,000 

tonnes of crude oil. 

There were several incidents on board 

VLCCs in the late 1960s and 1970s, however, 

these occurred while the vessels were in 

ballast and were put down at the time to a lack 

of knowledge on gas freeing. 

“In our experience, even minor incidents can 

generate significant claims for environmental 

damage and economic loss, many of which can 

require a substantial contribution from ITOPF 

staff and ensure that we remain busy” 

Broad range of services offered 

Other operations 

1.1% 

Incidence of spills >700 tonnes by cause, from 1970 to 2009 

” 

Other/ Unknown 

5% 

Collisions 

29.1% 

Groundings 

36.3% 


Causes of spills 

Most incidents are the result of a combination 

of actions and circumstances, all of which 

contribute to a varying degree to the final 

outcome. ITOPF has analysed spills taking 

into account the primary event, or the 

operation underway at the time of the 

incident. 

The Federation found that most spills 

resulted from routine operations, such as 

loading/discharging and bunkering, which 

normally occur in ports, or at oil terminals. 

The majority of the operational spills 

were small with some 90% involving 

quantities of less than seven tonnes, the 

Federation said. 

Accidental causes, such as collisions and 

groundings generally give rise to much 

larger spills with at least 84% of these 

incidents involving quantities of more than 

700 tonnes. TO 

ITOPF was established as a nonprofit 

making service 

organisation in 1968. In the 

early days its principal function 

was the administration of the 

TOVALOP voluntary oil spill 

compensation agreement. 

However, for the past 40 years, ITOPF has 

also provided a broad range of technical 

services in the field of marine pollution to 

and on behalf of shipowners, their P&I 

insurers and other groups, such as the 

International Oil Pollution Compensation 

Funds, as well as to the community at large. 

The Federation’s membership currently 

comprises some 5,980 shipowners and 

bareboat charterers of more than 10,500 

tankers with totalling over 300 mill gt. 

The organisation also benefits from the 

participation of some 495 mill gt of 

non-tanker tonnage owned and operated by 

its associates. 

ITOPF's main sphere of activities is the 

response to accidental marine spills and the 

organisation's team of highly experienced 

technical staff are at constant readiness to 

travel anywhere in the world at a few hours’ 

notice, the organisation claimed. 

Since 1978, ITOPF staff has attended 

some 650 incidents on site worldwide. 

ITOPF also: 

Assesses the damage caused by spills 

to the environment and economic 

resources; 

Provides advice on the technical 

merits of claims for compensation; 

Conducts contingency planning, 

advisory and training assignments; 

Produces a wide range of technical 

publications; 

Maintains various databases as well as 

a website at http://www.itopf.com 


V

TOP 30 TANKER COMPANIES 

TAKEROperator’s 

Top 30 owners and operators 

This list has been compiled taking the total deadweight tonnage of each fleet in 

descending order. The list includes owned, managed and operated tonnage where known. 

The total tonnage is made up of crude carriers, chemical and product tankers of over 

10,000 dwt. We have not included FPSOs, or gas ships. The information has been 

compiled with the help of company websites, the Equasis database 

and other sources, plus the companies themselves. 

FRONTLINE 

(18.9 mill dwt, plus 2.3 mill dwt newbuildings) 

Despite a period of 

1 

cancellation and tonnage restructuring, 

Frontline and its affiliates’ total comes out as 

much the same as last year’s listing. 

The total is made up of 27 Suezmaxes, 

eight OBOs and 45 VLCCs with another three 

Suez-maxes to come this year plus a further 

six VLCCs – two this year and four during 

2011-2012. 

At the beginning of this year, Frontline’s 

commercially managed fleet included one 

single hull Suezmax and five single hull 

VLCCs. 

Part of the company’s tonnage restructuring 

plan, included the termination of timecharter 

contracts on five Suezmaxes from Eiger 

Shipping. Two were redelivered to their 

owners in November last year, another two 

last December and the final vessel was due to 

be redelivered this year. 

In addition, in 2009 the company and its 

affiliates cancelled four Suezmax and two 

VLCC newbuilding contracts. 

The structure of the company has not changed. 

It is still a commercial operation handling 

vessels owned by its affiliates and others on 

long term charters. 

All of the technical operations are subcontracted 

to four third party shipmanagement 

concerns. These include V Ships – Germany, 

Norway and the UK; Wallem 

Shipmanagement; International Tanker 

Management of Dubai (now part of V Ships) 

and Thome Shipmanagement. 

Frontline has dealings with other companies 

in which Norwegian entrepreneur John 

Fredriksen has interests. These include 

Independent Tankers Corp, Knightsbridge 

Tankers and Ship Finance International. 

VI 



MOL GROUP 

(17.4 mill, plus over 1 mill dwt newbuildings) 

This international group 

2 

with its routes in Japan now says it 

operates 181 tankers of 17.4 mill dwt, which 

moves the group into second place. 

A steady stream of deliveries, including 

VLCCs, has taken the total number of crude 

carriers to 47, product tankers to 56 and chemical 

tankers to 78, according to data published in the 

third quarter results as at September of last year. 

In addition and not included in the overall 

figures are 10 LPG carriers and interests in 

72 LNGCs. 

However, included in the figures are 

chartered vessels and those operated in joint 

ventures. MOL’s main tanker subsidiaries 

include Tokyo Marine, Asahi Tanker and MS 

Tanker Shipping, which account for a large 

tranche of chemical tankers. 

 

TEEKAY CORPORATION 

(16.3 mill dwt) 

Teekay only has one 

3 

chartered in VLCC on its books, hence 

the total deadweight tonnage is less than 

Frontline and MOL. 

The group, which now consists of 

separately public companies Teekay LNG 

Partners, Teekay Offshore Partners and Teekay 

Tankers, plus parent Teekay Corporation, 

claims to ship about 10% of the world’s 

seaborne oil and has dubbed itself – ‘The 

Marine Midstream Company’. 

At the end of last year, the company had 

158 vessels shown on its fleet list. These 

included chartered in and managed vessels, 

plus 13 newbuildings. 

Recently the fleet has diversified through a 

series of mergers and acquisitions and now 

consists of 45 Aframaxes; 35 shuttle tankers; 

30 Suezmaxes; 10 product tankers; six FSOs, 

five FPSOs and one VLCC. 

Not included in the figures are a further 15 

LNGCs, plus four newbuildings and two LPG 

carriers, plus another four newbuildings. 

Teekay’s interests in FPSOs came about due 

to the acquisition of specialist Norwegian 

player Petrojarl, while the group’s shuttle 

tanker business was built on the back of the 

purchase of Navion, plus Anglo Nordic and 

tie ups with other companies. Likewise, the 

product tanker business was built up on the 

back of the 50% buyout of OMI with TORM. 

At the end of last year, the tanker newbuilding 

programme was coming to an end. 

The purchase of the Navion fleet boosted Teekay’s involvement in the North Sea shuttle tanker sector. 


VII


Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) 


4 

Taking NYK as a whole 

entity the fleet has considerably 

increased with the deliveries of a tranche of 

VLCCs with still more to come. 

Under operational management are 35 

VLCCs, plus six other crude carriers, 33 

product tankers and seven chemical carriers. 

NYK claimed that the number of VLCCs 

now operated put the company in third place 

in the large tanker category. 

In addition, NYK has interests in 10 

VLGCs and one ammonia carrier, plus 39 

LNGCs. 

The newbuildings included another seven 

VLCCs and one MR. 

 

Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) 


Similar to most tanker operators 

today, OSG operates a mixed fleet of 

5 

owned and chartered vessels. 

The company is also involved with joint 

ventures and pools. The company’s fleet 

ranges from ULCCs, two of which are part 

owned with Euronav, taking in every tanker 

size range and sector to Jones Act product 

tankers, specialised lightering tankers, 

articulated tug/barge combinations (ATBs), 

plus a car carrier. 

OSG has recently sold off all of its single 

hull units and today only operates double hull, 

double bottom, or double sided tonnage. 

Two of the ULCCs, co-owned with 

Euronav, have been converted to FSOs at 

Dubai for a contract to operate in Maersk Oil 

Qatar’s Al Shaheen oil field off Qatar, but one 

– FSO Africa, ex TI Africa - is now subject of 

a dispute between the owners and charterer, 

while the other – FSO Asia, ex TI Asia – has 

been delivered and is on site. 

In its foreign going fleet, OSG operates 15 

VLCCs (including the ULCC TI Oceania). 

These include eight owned and seven 

chartered vessels. In addition, there are two 

chartered in Suezmaxes, 15 Aframaxes (six 

owned and nine chartered, including an LR2), 

13 Panamaxes (11 owned and four chartered, 

including LR1s), seven specialist lightering 

vessels (two owned and five chartered) and 25 

product carriers (10 owned and 15 chartered), 

which includes two US flag tankers trading 

internationally. 

OSG’s US flag Jones Act fleet includes 

11 handysize tankers (four owned and 

seven chartered), seven ATBs and three 

lightering vessels. Neither the ATBs, nor 

four Q-Flex LNGCs were included in the 

overall figures. 

As for the newbuildings, at the end of 

October last year, OSG had three VLCCs, 

four LR1s, 15 handysize (five US flag), plus 

two lightering tankers on order, or under 

construction. 

 

NITC 

(10.6 mill dwt, plus at 

least 3.82 mill dwt 

newbuildings) 

OSG owns a diverse fleet, including Jones Act tankers. 

6 

NITC took the world by 

surprise last year by ordering 12 

VLCCs from two Chinese shipyards for 

delivery 2012-13. 

At the end of last year, the Iranian tanker 

company added the last of a series of 13 

VLCCs built in South Korean yards, 

bringing the total VLCC fleet to 28. 

In addition, the Iranian concern has nine 

Suezmaxes and five Aframaxes trading 

internationally, plus three handysize 

chemical/product tankers used purely for 

domestic trades. 

As well as the VLCCs on order, NITC is 

believed to have ordered a series of five 

63,000 dwt shallow draft Panamaxes for 

Caspian Sea operation from Iranian 

shipyards. 

 

VIII 



Sovcomflot Group 


7 

Since the amalgamation of 

Sovcomflot and Novoship, the Russian 

giant now claims to be the world’s largest MR 

operator and the second largest Aframax 

operator in terms of owned vessels. 

Due to its activities in the Barents Sea region, 

Sovcomflot is also the largest owner of Arctic 

shuttle tankers and due to its participation in 

Sakhalin 2 project, the company also claims to 

be the number one in ice class LNGC operation. 

Of the 118 tankers currently operating, 15 

are Suezmaxes (plus one chartered), 36 

Aframaxes (plus two in commercial 

management), 12 smaller chemical tankers 

(formerly owned by MarPetrol), four LR2s, 

five ice-classed shuttles (including three 

Arctic shuttle tankers), 30 MRs (plus two 

chartered) and 16 are handysize tankers (plus 

one in commercial management). 

In addition, Sovcomflot’s newbuilding 

portfolio includes five Suezmaxes, four 

Aframaxes, two Panamaxes and two small 

chemical tankers. 

Not included in the figures are six LNGCs 

and two LPG carriers, plus various other types 

of vessels in the fleet. 

The Sovcomflot board at a regular meeting 

on 18th December 2009 considered the results 

of the implementation of the ‘principal 

directions of Sovcomflot’s development’ for 

the period of 2004-2009 and approved the 

SCF group’s strategy for 2010-2015. 

During the past five years, the SCF fleet has 

grown by more than three times. The average 

age of the tankers has been reduced from 7.5 

to 6 years. 

By entering such sectors as the 

transportation of LNG and LPG, as well as the 

development of new and unique transportation 

technologies for crude oil shuttle tanker 

operations in extremely harsh and heavy ice 

conditions of the Arctic and the Far East, the 

range of services offered has been 

significantly broadened. Revenues have 

increased more than three times and in 2009 

amounted to $1.23 bill. The book value of net 

assets has doubled to $2.81 bill and dividends 

paid have increased by 14 times. 

Sovcomflot’s new livery can clearly be seen 

on the MR East Siberian Sea. 


IX


Euronav 


The Belgian-based tanker 

8 

owner has increased its fleet since last 

year’s listing. 

Including long term chartered vessels and 

those co-owned in joint ventures, Euronav 

has interests in 24 VLCCs/ULCCs, of which 

nine are chartered in either directly, or jointly 

with partners. 

In addition, there are another 18 Suezmaxes 

either owned, or operated on Euronav’s books. 

A total of 21 VLCCs and one ULCC are 

operating in the Tankers International Pool of 

which, Euronav is one of the major partners. 

Another ULCC is currently being converted to 

an FSO, while a third is under long term contract. 

In addition, the company has still to take 

delivery of one more VLCC and six 

Suezmaxes, which are on order or under 

construction. Four of the Suezmaxes will be 

managed under joint venture agreements. 

TORM 

(9.6 mill dwt, plus 1.3 

dwt newbuildings) 

In this year’s listing, 

9 

we have included commercially 

managed tonnage where possible, hence 

Danish product tanker giant TORM has 

shot up the rankings. 

TORM manages three pools – MR, 

LR1 and LR2 – which together with other 

vessels managed, gives the company 

responsibility for a grand total of 124 

vessels split into 11 Handysizes, 49 MRs, 

34 LR1s and 30 LR2s. 

In addition, TORM has a further 13 

MRs and seven LR1s building for its 

own account. 

 

Euronav has 21 VLCCs in the Tankers International Pool. 

The TORM Gerd operates in TORM’s 

MR pool. 

Maersk Tankers 


Maersk Tankers, part of the 

10 

AP Moller-Maersk group, has also 

shot up the rankings, partly due to the 

amalgamation of Broström’s tonnage and 

partly through the delivery of newbuildings 

and more chartered in tonnage. 

This gives the Danish giant control over 

nine VLCCs, 33 LR2s, 33 MRs, 103 

Handysizes, 66 intermediate and 16 small 

product tankers. Most of the vessels operate in 

various pools in which Maersk Tankers is the 

commercial operator, or partner. 

The total will probably increase even more 

next year as the company’s newbuilding 

portfolio includes another eight VLCCs, two 

Aframaxes, four MRs, seven Handysize and 

six small product tankers. 

In addition, Maersk Tankers manages 24 

LPG carriers. Elsewhere, the LNGC fleet is 

managed by Maersk LNG, having come 

under the banner of the Maersk Drilling 

division in April 2009. 

Another AP Moller-Maersk group affiliate 

manages FPSOs and FSOs, which are not 

included in the figures. 

 

Maersk Tankers 

controls 33 LR2s. 

X 


Maran Tankers Management 



11 

Formerly Kristen Navigation 

and part of the Angelicoussis Group, 

Maran Tankers Management has expanded its 

fleet since the last review. 

Today, the shipmanagement arm has 19 VLCCs, 

11 Suezmaxes and eight Aframaxes on its books. 

The list of VLCCs include four vessels 

longterm chartered to Chevron Shipping. 

In addition, there is one Aframax and another 

three VLCCs to come. 

Another group company - Maran Gas - looks 

after the fleet of LNGCs and LPG carriers. 

AET Tankers 


The MISC Berhad subsidiary 

12 

operates 11 VLCCs, 49 Aframaxes, 

one LR2, one Panamax, three MRs and six 

smaller coastal tankers. 

In addition, AET has 13 Aframaxes, three 

MRs and two smaller tankers on order, or 

under construction, all due to be delivered this 

year, or next. 

For its Galveston lightering operation, AET 

has two workboats on order, due for delivery 

in mid-2010. 

Parent MISC also claims to be the world’s 

largest independent operator of LNGCs and 

also has two FPSOs and one FSO on its 

books, plus a series of chemical tankers. 

AET operates 49 

Aframaxes and 

has another 13 to 

come. 

VELA International Marine 


Saudi giant Vela has shed 

13 

a few single hull VLCCs and taken 

delivery of its sixth newbuilding VLCC in the 

period under review. 

Today, the fleet consists of 20 VLCCs 

(down from 24) one Aframax (LR2) and four 

MRs. In addition there are another four 

VLCCs to come from Daewoo this year. 

Added to this, are an unknown number 

of tankers regularly taken on timecharter, 

or spot charter, on behalf of its parent 

Saudi Aramco. 

 


XI


National Shipping Corporation of Saudi 

Arabia (NSCSA) 

(5.8 mill dwt, plus 720,000 dwt newbuildings) 

NSCSA is another 

14 

company, which has shot up in 

the rankings. This was due to taking delivery 

of a series of VLCCs with possibly more 

to come. 

Dynacom Tankers 

Management 

(5.7 mill dwt, plus 1.2 mill dwt 

newbuildings) 

At the time of this survey, NSCSA 

controlled 17 VLCCs and 11 chemical 

carriers. There are another 16 chemical 

carriers under construction, which will join 

their sisters in the NCC subsidiary. NCC is 

Dynacom has also risen in the rankings, due to 

15 

taking delivery of one VLCC, two Suezmaxes and eight Panamaxes 

last year. 

At the turn of the year, the company had 10 VLCCs, nine Suezmaxes, one 

Aframax and 18 Panamaxes. 

Some of the VLCCs are vintage so some sales are probable this year. 

Early this year, Dynacom is due to take delivery of another two 

Suezmaxes and has a further six VLCCs on order. 

 

80:20 owned in a joined venture with 

SABIC. 

The Dubai-based Saudi company also has 

a 30.3% interest in Petredec, operator of a 

fleet of LPG carriers. 

 

BW Maritime 

(5.5 mill dwt, plus 720,000 dwt 

newbuildings) 

Singapore-based concern – 

16 

BW Maritime – formerly BW Shipping 

Management, manages 16 VLCCs, 12 LR1s and two smaller 

chemical carriers. 

The company’s newbuilding projects include two more 

VLCCs. 

Other affiliates look after offshore and gas shipping 

interests of the BW Group, which are substantial. 

XII 



Tsakos Energy Navigation 

(TEN) 


At the beginning of January, 

17 

TEN operated 51 tankers covering all 

size ranges from VLCCs to Handymaxes. 

The split was 26 crude carriers from 

VLCCs to Aframaxes and 24 products tankers 

from LR2s to Handysizes. The other vessel is 

an LNGC. 

In addition, TEN has a further two 

Aframaxes for delivery this year and two 

more Suezmaxes on order for delivery 2011. 

In late January, the company announced 

that it had sold two Aframaxes – the 2003 

built Marathon and Parthenon – for a total 

of $78 mill. 

 

Ocean 

Tankers 


mill dwt newbuildings) 

Also higher up in the 

18 

pecking order, Singapore-based Ocean 

Tankers has taken delivery of several vessels 

with more to come. 

Ocean Tankers is an affiliate of Hin Leong 

and thus far manages four VLCCs, seven 

Suezmaxes, 14 LR2s, seven LR1s, 21 MRs, 

19 what are called general purpose tankers 

and 12 bunker barges. 

On the newbuilding front, the company has 

seven VLCCs and three MRs on order, or 

under construction. 

 

TEN’s 40,000 dwt MR Byzantion seen anchored in Fos Bay. 

Tanker Pacific 

Management 


Tanker Pacific is another 

19 

company to have sold off its single 

hull tankers recently in the light of the IMO 

phase-out. 

This leaves the Singapore-based company 

with eight VLCCs, two Suezmaxes, 18 


Aframaxes, two LR1s and 13 MRs. 

Its newbuilding programme consists of four 

Aframaxes and eight MRs. 

In addition, affiliate Tanker Pacific Offshore 

Terminals owns FPSOs and FSOs, which were 

not included in the figures. 

 

Dalian Ocean Shipping 

(4 mill dwt, plus 1.1 mill dwt newbuildings)) 

Part of the huge COSCO 

22 

group, Dalian Ocean Shipping 

operates eight VLCCs, three Suezmaxes, 

one Aframax, 13 Panamaxes and an MR. 

Minerva Marine 

(4 mill dwt) 

Minerva Marine has risen 

23 

slightly in the rankings due to new 

deliveries, including a VLCC last year. 

The company now manages two VLCCs, 

One VLCC is shown for delivery this 

year out of three on order. In addition, 

the company has another two Aframaxes 

to come. 

five Suezmaxes, 19 Aframaxes and 10 MRs. 

In addition, Minerva recently entered the 

drybulk Capesize market and now manages 

three recently delivered units. 

 

 

BP Shipping 


20 

There is no change to BP’s 

fleet composition this year and no 

newbuildings on the horizon. 

Today, the shipping arm of the oil major 

manages four VLCCs, 20 Aframaxes in two 

classes, 17 MRs in two classes, plus four 

VLGCs, seven LNGCs in two classes, one 

LNGC for the Northwest Shelf project and a 

shuttle tanker. 

 

China 

Shipping 

Development 



Although difficult to 

21 

quantify as many of the vessels are 

purely employed on coastwise trades, a 

calculation using the Equasis database 

showed that the conglomerate operated four 

VLCCs, five Aframaxes, 13 Panamaxes, 34 

Handysize to MRs, plus a plethora of small 

product tankers. 

As for the company’s newbuilding 

programme, this consists of three VLCCs, 

eight Panamaxes and two MRs. 

XIII


Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) 

(4 mill dwt, plus 1.2 mill dwt newbuildings) 

24 SCI’s huge fleet is undergoing 

a replacement programme as the 

earlier tonnage is single hull, whose 

operation is now banned along the Indian 

coast. 

Several vessels have been sold for recycling 

and more will no doubt follow. Others are 

Thenamaris Ships 

Management 


being used for storage and lightering duties. 

Included in this review are four VLCCs, six 

Suezmaxes, eight Aframaxes, seven 

Panamaxes, eight MRs and six Handysize 

tankers. The company also has interests in two 

LPG carriers and two LNGCs. 

Two MRs were delivered in January of this 

year and another one is to come. In addition, 

there are six LR1s, two LR2s and four 

Aframaxes on order or under construction. 

There could be more orders in the pipeline, as 

similar to other Indian owners, state-owned SCI 

is looking to further build up its fleet on the 

back of increased Indian refining capacity. 

Chevron 

Shipping 


This company regularly 

25 buys and sells tonnage, as well as 

being active in the newbuilding 

market. 

At the turn of the year, Thenamaris 

managed two VLCCs, seven Suezmaxes, 16 

Aframaxes and five MRs. 

In addition, the company also has a sizeable 

drybulk carrier fleet. 

 

Univan Ship Management 


Univan manages 12 VLCCs, 

26 

three MRs and eight smaller 

chemical/product tankers. 

Among the tankers under management are 

vessels for Cido, Dannebrog Invest 

Management, Shinyo, TMT and Van-Clipper. 

The company is also involved with 

newbuilding supervision for third-party 

owners, including VLCCs. 

 

Associated 

Maritime 

(3 mill dwt, plus 1.2 mill 

dwt newbuildings) 

AMC is the tanker 

30 shipmanagement arm of the 

Hong Kong Min Wah Group, itself 

part of the giant China Merchants Group. 

The company manages eight VLCCs, eight 

Afrmaxes, one Suezmax and has a further four 

VLCCs on order, of which two were due for 

delivery early this year. 

 

One of Thenamaris’ 16 Aframaxes. 

Univan manages 12 VLCCs. 

29 

One LR1 has been added to 

the fleet since the last Top 30 listing, 

giving KOTC a total of eight VLCCs, three 

LR2s, three LR1s and three Handysize 

product carriers. 

Chevron Shipping operates 

27 

eight VLCCs, four Suezmaxes, two 

Aframaxes and five MRs. 

Four of the VLCCs are on longterm charter 

from the Angelicoussis group. 

The shipping arm of the US oil major has 

several 1970s built tankers, but all are double 

hulled. 

Chevron also has interests in two LPG 

carriers and one of the Northwest Shelf 

project LNGCs. 

 

SK Shipping 



28 

SK Shipping is involved 

with South Korea’s utility companies 

by shipping oil and gas. 

The company manages nine VLCCs, two 

LR2s and three MRs, plus one Handysize 

tanker. As for newbuildings, SK Shipping 

has seven VLCCs on order, or under 

construction. 

In addition, SK Shipping has interests in six 

LNGCs and a further six LPG carriers. 

Kuwait Oil Tanker (KOTC) 


KOTC also has another four VLCCs 

on order, or under construction. 

In addition KOTC manages four 

LPG carriers and another four bunker 

tankers. 

 

XIV 


ANNUAL REVIEW - INSURANCE 

Risks associated with 

new green fuel 

legislation 

Regulations for the restriction of air pollution from ships will mean extra costs and 

responsibilities for shipowners, BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys has warned. 

Speaking at a London insurance 

market seminar organised by the 

marine consultancy, principal 

surveyor Gerry Williams said: 

“Burning ships’ fuel in an environmental 

manner is a huge challenge.” 

Williams said that fuel technology is a 

discipline and a science, on its own. Most 

shipowners currently use a fuel mix 

containing on average worldwide 2.6% 

sulphur, but Marpol Annex VI regulations 

specify a reduction in July 2010 for ships to 

1%, and in 2015 to 0.1% in ECAs. 

The control areas are the English Channel, 

North Sea and Baltic Sea. Ships can still burn 

1.5% sulphur in the Mediterranean and 

potentially 4.5% outside the European Union. 

The US has similar legislation pending, which 

would create control areas 200 nautical miles 

off its coastlines. One of 24 miles off 

California is already in force and has its own 

separate controls, one of which sets all fuels 

to or below 0.1% by 1st January, 2012. 

“Potentially, this could result in some ships 

carrying four different fuel types at any one 

time. The complex changeovers will 

inevitably increase the opportunity for errors 

which in turn may lead to costly claims,” 

explained Williams. 

Record keeping vital 

In order to comply with the legislation, a 

ship’s officer will have to demonstrate in his 

or her record-keeping that the fuel has been 

changed in sufficient time before crossing into 

a control area. The changeover can be done in 

about one hour, but if it is done too quickly, 

“there is a danger you can gas up the engine.” 

A rapid change of temperature can also cause 

thermal shock, or seizure of the fuel pumps. 

Commencing in 2010, a raft of legislation 

limiting sulphur in marine fuels to 0.1% will 

come, or have already come into force. This 

includes EU Sulphur Directive (2005/33/EC) 

for most ships ‘at berth’ in EU ports 

(1/1/2010), CARB Regulated California 

Waters regulations, mandating the use of 

ISO8217: 2005 DMA or DMB grade fuels in 

main and auxiliary engines and auxiliary 

boilers (1/1/2012) and MARPOL Annex VI 

for fuel oils to be used inside ECAs 

(1/1/2015). 

Currently, according to a survey, the 

average sulphur content in heavy fuel oil is 

2.46%, although some owners already have a 

sulphur limit of 1.5% in their specification. 

Yet there is little experience around of the 

likely effects of using 0.1% sulphur, said 

Williams, and this experience may come at a 

premium as this legislation comes into force. 

Turning to other fuel concerns, Williams 

said that what was described as ‘bad fuel’ in 

casualties was more to do with poor handling, 

rather than sub-standard fuel. In one example, 

a chief engineer experiencing severe 

purification problems, such as heavy sludging, 

forced through the out of specification fuel 

rather than reporting a problem and as a 

result, wrecked the engine. 

Engine damage 

Poor management of even above average 

specification fuel could cause a very costly 

failure. For example, since 2001, BMT 

surveyors have dealt with at least 30 instances 

of engine damage caused by fuel problems 

related to catalytic fines. This problem is 

increasing and is likely to get worse with the 

additional demands for low sulphur fuels. 

Each of these casualties required a complete 

renewal of pistons, liners and injectors, at a 

cost of $1 mill to $3 mill each. One resulted in 

a vessel failing to keep up with a convoy and 

falling victim to Somali pirates. 

Williams also referred to the problem of 

unscrupulous suppliers adding waste to their 

BMT’s Gerry Williams. 

product, inflicting serious damage. Chemical 

and other wastes had found their way into fuel 

selling at $500 per tonne. On one occasion 

fuel was contaminated by waste from the 

cosmetics industry. “The engineer surveyor 

had a difficult time explaining to his wife 

when he came back from survey why he smelt 

of perfume when he usually smelt of the 

engine room!” said Williams. 

Calling for strict controls by shipping 

companies over their use of fuel, he urged that 

they institute, or improve fuel management 

programmes to ensure sampling before use 

and regular inspection of handling. Williams 

said that exemplary care was shown by 

managers of the Maersk fleet. He said that the 

company does not allow its ships to use any 

fuel until thoroughly analysed and confirmed 


XV

ANNUAL REVIEW - INSURANCE 

BMT’s Andrew Kendrick. 

by the technical management ashore that it 

can be used. 

He also praised the new Lab-on-a-Ship 

concept developed by Danish company 

NanoNord and classification society Lloyd’s 

Register, which checks the fuel and lubes 

before use. 

Polar problems 

Speaking at the same seminar, Andrew 

Kendrick, vice-president of BMT Fleet 

Technology, the Canadian subsidiary of BMT 

Group addressed the problems of overcoming 

navigation in ice covered waters and cold 

climates. 

“World authorities and maritime businesses 

remain desperately short of expertise in 

ensuring safe shipping operations in polar 

regions,” Kendrick said. 

This situation prevails despite the rush to 

exploit and trade minerals in these harsh 

climates, and sell polar passenger cruises, he 

explained. Laboratory testing cannot provide all 

the answers as to what happens when a 100,000 

dwt vessel crashes into a large piece of ice. 

But BMT is discussing with shipping 

companies how to build a new, safe 

generation of Arctic tankers. What is well 

known is that even light ice can exert 

dangerous forces on a ship, especially those 

with poor quality steel. Furthermore, the 

speed of a ship is critical in an impact; while 

most sail quite slowly in the Arctic, LNGCs 

cannot because for reasons of efficiency, they 

have to keep up with the trains (facilities) 

producing the LNG, Kendrick explained. 

XVI 

This means there will soon be big ships in 

the Arctic travelling quickly, and no 

operational experience exists in this area. 

BMT therefore is trying to develop a thorough 

understanding of what the loads of these ships 

will be, and whether LNGCs will take the 

dynamics of ice-breaking loads. These ships 

will, however, cost significantly more than the 

standard open water ships. 

Oil and gas 

The biggest factor exciting people at present is 

the prospect of oil and gas: the Arctic is 

estimated to contain up to 25% of the world’s 

undiscovered reserves and several giant fields 

have been discovered. Kendrick forecast that 

sea transport will play a major role in energy 

exploitation, with offshore fields having 

marine components for exploration, drilling 

and production; heavylift by ship and barge 

will compensate for lack of infrastructure 

around onshore fields; and movement of LNG 

cargo will be by sea. 

Pipelines are difficult to build in Arctic 

areas, and keeping the permafrost bed frozen 

“ 

in summer is a key factor. “As the summers 

get longer and the winters get warmer, that 

becomes more of a challenge.” said Kendrick, 

as pipelines are both a technical and an 

ecological risk. 

The Antarctic presents a more complex 

problem when it comes to managing 

emergency response, due to its remoteness 

and low population density. As a result, the 

IMO has been asked to turn its guidelines for 

ships operating in polar waters into a 

mandatory code. 

Kendrick went on to warn of limited 

icebreaker support and expressed concern that 

it will probably be at least a decade before a 

new generation of icebreakers is available 

from any government source. Response times 

for any emergencies are therefore going to be 

slow for summer events and very slow for 

winter events. 

On a similar theme, Kendrick went on to 

underline that there are very few ports in polar 

regions and very limited refuges where a 

disabled vessel could safely spend the winter. 

If ice formed more rapidly than expected, it 

would be impossible to find a safe haven. He 

said that the Canadian Arctic, an area the size 

of Western Europe, has a population of 

15,000, and these people are dispersed in 

small settlements. 

Rescue difficult 

Therefore, it would take some time before any 

rescue service could intervene by air, let alone 

by sea. Lifesaving equipment is unsuited for 

polar conditions, and pack ice would quickly 

rip liferafts apart. Lifeboats had little inherent 

winterisation, while non-ice strengthened 

vessels would simply be crushed, he said. 

The development of Arctic shipping suffers 

from a severe lack of trained people, 

following from the downturn in training in the 

late 1980s and early 1990s. To fill the gap, 

retired Russian, or Canadian icebreaker 

officers, sometimes well into their 70s, are 

being asked to perform the duties of an ice 

navigator, advising a vessel’s master. 

“World authorities and maritime 

businesses remain desperately short of 

expertise in ensuring safe shipping operations 

in polar regions” 

” 

Andrew Kendrick, vice-president BMT Fleet Technology 

In addition, the absence of both adequate ice 

navigation simulators and on board experience 

makes a challenging situation more difficult. 

This is further complicated by the fact that 

standard modern radar does not pick up the 

presence of ice particularly well. Charts are 

poor, except for those which are the preserve of 

military powers. This is made worse by the fact 

that national governments are not investing 

much in charts, although energy companies are 

working on this necessity. 

BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys recently 

received the Chartered Insurance Institute 

(CII) accreditation for its training events and 

seminars during 2010. The company is 

arranging further CII accredited seminars in 

New York, Greece and Hong Kong in the 

first half of this year. These will address 

topics such as lay-up problems, new bunker 

fuel regulations, polar ice operations as 

well as the Chinese newbuilding and 

components market. 

TO 



KEY PLAYERS IN THE 

TANKER INDUSTRY 

will be profiled giving their 

views on current legislation, 

recommendations and trends. 

These will include chief 

executives from all sectors of 

the industry from equipment 

manufacturers to the top 

shipowners 

INFORMATION 

about meeting oil major 

requirements 

(TMSA / vetting) 

COMMERCIAL TANKER 

OPERATIONS 

including shipbroking, legal matters 

and financing 

IN DEPTH INFORMATION 

on the latest newbuilds, sale and 

purchase, freight rates and 

derivatives markets, using industry 

known commentators 

A STRONG FOCUS 

on shipbuilding and repair 

DEVELOPMENTS in management/ 

safety/ environmental best practice 

NEW TECHNOLOGIES 

and commercial industry 

developments 

Photo credit – Hempel 

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