Navigation standards slammed - Tanker Operator

p1-5.qxd 09/05/2006 09:17 Page 1 

TANKEROperator 

www.tankeroperator.com 

May/June 2006 

Navigation standards slammed 

Anderson said that his 

consultancy is often 

approached for advice 

on officer and watchkeeper standards, 

as owners and managers 

seek ways of guarding against 

poor crew performance within 

their safety management systems 

(SMS). 

The most vocal call 

for action has come from 

the UK's Marine and 

Coastguard Agency 

There has been much ongoing debate about the current standards of officers 

and watchkeepers on board ship. Phil Anderson’s consultancy 

ConsultISM has put its own spin on the subject.* 

(MCA). The agency said 

it noted an increasing 

number of accidents at 

sea caused by excessive 

speed, lone watchkeepers 

falling asleep and 

generally poor watchkeeping 

practices. 

As a result the MCA 

has circulated an extensive 

Marine Guidance 

Note to owners, operators, 

managers, masters 

and officers of commercial 

vessels. MGN 315 'Keeping a 

Safe Navigation Watch on 

Merchant Vessels', addresses a 

range of issues, which were 

identified as contributing 

towards, notably fitness for 

duty, what is expected of the 

officer on watch, watch arrangements, 

the maintenance of a safe 

lookout, safe speed, restricted 

visibility and anchor watches. 

The guide does pay due 

respect to the fact that masters are 

under increasing commercial 

pressure, but emphasises the priorities 

of safety and stresses that 

various authorities will take - 

'appropriate action against officers 

who jeopardise their vessels, 

or the lives, or property of others.' 

One of the key concerns, said 

the MCA, was the number of 

recent collisions caused, or exacerbated 

by excessive speed. The 

Owners should ensure that officers adhere to the 

shipboard SMS, or suffer the consequences in a 

Court of Law. Picture credit:SAM Electronics. 

report highlighted the case of the 

Lady Gwendolen, a guinness 

tanker which sank another vessel 

in a collision in fog. At the resulting 

court case, it was decided to 

refuse the owners - Guinness- the 

right to limit liability after the 

ship was found to have been sailing 

at an excessive speed in fog. 

This loss of limitation can 

have catastrophic financial 

implications for any owner, manager 

or operator, ConsultISM 

said. Then there is the threat of a 

manslaughter charge should any 

deaths occur during a collision 

deemed to have been caused by 

excessive speed. 

Not surprisingly, the officers 

union NUMAST responded to the 

MCA's notice saying that the 

word 'officers' should be replaced 

by 'owners'. NUMAST believed 

that the ultimate power and 

responsibility rested with 

the owners, rather than 

the seafarers. 

ConsultISM said that 

the risks associated with 

poor on board policies and 

the calls for increased 

standards and proficiency 

impact heavily on the ISM 

provisions within any 

company. "After all, the 

standard of the officers is 

the Achilles Heel of all 

operations, but how can a 

company guard itself from 

criticism while ensuring 

that it does everything 

possible to monitor and 

improve the standards of its personnel?" 

the consultancy asked. 

Repercussions 

The ISM Code addresses these 

concerns across a number of sections 

- and the demands on the 

company are plain to see. Failure 

to adequately address any of 

these areas can have obvious 

financial and legal repercussions. 

From the very outset, the code 

requires compliance with mandatory 

rules and regulations. The 

company should ensure that all 

TANK CLEANING 

personnel involved in its safety 

management system have an 

adequate understanding of relevant 

rules, regulations, codes 

and guidelines. The code even 

stresses that the owner must 

make a statement of intent on 

how this will be achieved. 

It should be remembered that 

if the correct procedures and 

resources are in place, and if the 

company is genuinely committed 

to safety and the improvement 

and support of their personnel, 

then there will be nothing 

to fear in the courts. With the 

correct procedures in place, the 

standards of shipboard management 

will, over time, guard 

against such devastating incidents 

ever occurring. 

Shipping companies often 

come in for criticism and the 

NUMAST response stressed the 

belief that there are great 

swathes of the industry in which 

human factors are treated with 

scant regard and take second 

place to short term cost cutting. 

ConsultISM stressed that 

with such criticisms ringing in 

their ears, and with the threat of 

legal action in the event of an 

incident in mind, it is vital that 

any SMS adequately addresses 

not just the requirements of ISM, 

but must be robust enough to 

stand up in court. 

TO 

*This article was taken from 

ConsultISM's newsletter 

ReportISM. 

2001-2006 

TankerOperator 

Five successful years 

In this issue 

Focus 

Get your Safety 

Management 

Systems working, 

or else - 1 

Industry 

Greeks-massive 

spending spree - 7 

Norwegians proving 

their entrepreneurial 

skills - 15 

French marine 

industry fights back - 

20 

Technical 

Radar and ECDIS, 

important differences 

- 26 

SECAS imminent. 

Another nightmare for 

owners - 30 

Iraqi missile attacks. 

Lessons to be learnt - 

35 

Ballast water. The 

IMO gets its act 

together - 39 

We assist Tanker Operators with: 

Chemical Tank Cleaning during cargo changeover from DPP to various CPP, removal of MTBE residues, Inert Gas Soot, Dye Discolouration. CBFS to 

Molasses or Veg. Oil etc. 

Preparation and assessment of the required tank cleaning 

Tank Cleaning Advice and Recommended Tank Cleaning Procedure 

Delivery of well known Marine Tank Cleaning Chemicals from stocks world wide 

Delivery of chemical injection and special spraying equipment 

Supervision during the cleaning At Sea by experienced Supervisors 

NAVADAN LTD 

International Marine Services 

Tel: +44 700 631 0490 - Fax: +44 700 631 0491 - E-mail: navadan@navadan.com 

107-111 Fleet Street 

London EC4A 2AB, United Kingdom 

UNISERVICE NORDIC APS 

Tel: +45 4917 0357 - Fax: +45 4917 0657 - E-mail: uniservice@uniservice.dk 

PO Box 35, DK-3060 Espergaerde, Denmark

p1-5.qxd 09/05/2006 09:17 Page 2 

INDUSTRY NEWS 

TANKER 

Operator 

Vol 5 No 4 

Maritime Content Limited 

213 Marsh Wall 

London E14 9FJ 

UK 

PUBLISHER 

Stuart Fryer 

EDITOR 

Ian Cochran 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 4933 

cochran@tankeroperator.com 

ADVERTISING 

David Jeffries 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7733 1199 

djeffries@tankeroperator.com 

PRODUCTION 

Vivian Chee 

Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 5540 

chee@btconnect.com 

MISSION STATEMENT 

The mission of TankerOperator is to 

improve understanding and 

respect of the tanker operations 

industry among customers, regulators 

and the industry itself 

CONFERENCES 

Digital Ship Conference to be held 

during Posidonia on 7 June 

‘Bringing ships 

closer to the shore’ 

wwww.thedigitalship.com 

Proposed ship recycling instrument makes progress 

The IMO's Marine Environment Protection 

Committee (MEPC) considered the first 

draft of a proposed new international 

instrument on ship recycling when it met 

for its 54th session from 20-24 March. Other 

issues on the agenda included ballast water 

management and air pollution from ships 

(see page 30). The committee also adopted a 

number of amendments to the MARPOL 

Convention. 

MEPC made progress in developing 

the draft text of a mandatory instrument 

providing globally-applicable ship recycling 

regulations for international shipping 

and for recycling activities. A working 

group on ship recycling met during 

the session to work on the draft text and 

discuss related issues. The proposed 

instrument would include articles and an 

annex with regulations for safe and environmentally-sound 

recycling of ships, 

covering requirements for ships, requirements 

for ship recycling facilities and 

reporting requirements. 

A work plan for the further development 

of the draft was developed by the working 

group and agreed by the committee. It 

would see the draft further developed during 

2006-2007 with a view to completion in 

time for its consideration and adoption in 

the 2008-2009 biennium. 

A correspondence group was established 

to carry out that task and to develop 

a provisional list of necessary guidelines. It 

will report to the next session of MEPC in 

October this year. 

The MEPC also considered the report of 

the second session of the Joint International 

Labour Organisation (ILO)/IMO/Basel 

Convention working group on ship scrapping, 

which met in December 2005 in 

Geneva. The views of the group were taken 

into account by the MEPC and it was noted 

that the committee would continue cooperating 

with ILO and the Basel 

Convention on this subject. 

Fuel tanks 

Meanwhile, an amendment to the revised 

MARPOL Annex I, which was adopted in 

October 2004 with entry into force set for 1 

January 2007, includes a new regulation 

12A on oil fuel tank protection. The regulation 

is intended to apply to all ships 

delivered on or after 1 August 2010 with 

an aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600 cu m 

and above. It includes requirements for the 

protected location of the fuel tanks and 

performance standards for accidental oil 

fuel outflow. 

A maximum capacity limit of 2,500 cu 

m per oil fuel tank is included in the regulation, 

which also requires administrations 

to consider general safety aspects, 

including the need for maintenance and 

inspection of wing and double-bottom 

tanks or spaces, when approving the 

design and construction of ships in accordance 

with the regulation. Consequential 

amendments to the IOPP Certificate were 

also adopted. 

Ballast water 

The MEPC also adopted the Guidelines for 

approval and oversight of prototype ballast 

water treatment technology programmes 

(G10), which are part of a series of guidelines 

developed to assist in the implementation 

of the International Convention for 

the Control and Management of Ships' 

Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM 

Convention), which was adopted in 

February 2004. (see page 39) 

Eleven sets of guidelines were referred 

to in the Convention. Six have already been 

adopted while the remainder were being 

developed by the sub-committee on Bulk 

Liquids and Gases (BLG) with input from 

the sub-committee on Flag State 

Implementation (FSI). 

MEPC agreed to give basic approval to 

two ballast water management systems that 

make use of active substances, after consideration 

of the report of the first session of 

the GESAMP [1] Ballast Water Working 

Group on Active Substances, which met in 

January 2006. 

One system involves the use of a biocide 

for treatment of ballast water and the other 

involves the disinfection of ballast water by 

electrolysis with the generation of free chlorine, 

sodium hypochlorite and hydroxyl 

radicals and by electrochemical oxidation 

through the creation of ozone and hydrogen 

peroxide. 

Oily wastes 

The MEPC also approved the Revised 

Guidelines for systems for handling oily wastes 

in machinery spaces of ships incorporating 

guidance notes for an integrated bilge water 

treatment system (IBTS). 

A draft MEPC circular on the Harmonised 

Implementation of the Revised Guidelines and 

Specifications for Pollution Prevention 

Equipment for Machinery Space Bilges of Ships 

adopted by resolution MEPC.107(49), which 

provides guidance concerning specifically 

the type-approval process with the aim of 

ensuring that realistic on board operating 

conditions are taken into account during 

the tests, was referred to the DE Sub- 

Committee for further consideration. 

TO 

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TankerOperator May/June 2006 page 2

p1-5.qxd 09/05/2006 09:18 Page 3 

Better customer experience driving satcoms market 

As the Satellite Communications market 

begins to grow, it is improved customer 

experience that is driving ever greater 

end-user adoption. 

Greg Tees, general manager, Globalstar 

Europe, explained how new applications 

and service quality improvements - from 

mobile phone-like voice quality, 

to rapidly improving data 

services for the provision of 

real-time weather information, 

to cost-effective email - 

is pushing rapid adoption. 

The satcoms industry is 

moving full steam ahead, 

with renewed interest in this 

market driving the innovation 

of new applications. 

Enhanced services and more 

cost effective airtime rates are 

generating enthusiasm from 

a business standpoint, 

fuelling the rapid uptake in 

satcoms in the maritime community 

in particular. New 

data applications are providing 

seafarers with vital 

weather and ocean information, 

which has enhanced 

their ability to make informed 

decisions - resulting in 

greater business productivity 

and improved on board safety. 

These benefits will continue 

to drive adoption of satcoms 

services and will provide 

software developers 

with the impetus required to 

continue finding innovative 

solutions for this sector. 

Voice quality is now standard 

in fixed line and GSMbased 

mobile communications, 

but for many years satcoms 

users had suffered the 

latency associated with high 

earth orbit satellites, resulting 

in poor voice quality and 

hugely expensive airtime 

costs. However, the new generation 

of advanced low 

earth orbit satellites offered 

superior voice quality - the 

equal of that attainable on 

mobile phones - together 

with minimal latency, eliminating 

echoes and delays. 

Just as the move from analogue 

to digital sparked the 

mobile phone revolution, as 

will the move to optimal 

voice quality in satcoms. The 

end user, of course, is the 

greatest beneficiary, now 

being able to access a telephony 

service that is superior in 

a market where costs are 

actually falling. 

It's not just voice that is 

driving adoption, however. 

Data services are of equal 

importance. Indeed, e-mail 

has often been dubbed the 

'killer app' of the internet 

world; the one application 

that has universal appeal and 

drives users to take up new 

services. This is indeed the 

case for tanker operators, who have been 

utilising internet services at sea to access 

e-mail, giving them both a competitive 

edge and allowing crew to stay in touch 

with friends, colleagues and family. 

The recent introduction of enhanced 

applications such as OCENS Mail and 

other software, when connected through a 

satellite phone service, are now allowing e- 

mail to be compressed and delivered reliably 

- for a constant yet cost effective application 

- available to the whole market. 

Previously, e-mail designed for the high 

speed, unlimited bandwidth wired world 

TANKER 


was largely unsuitable for constrained 

wireless services, which is where built-in 

compression in applications like OCENS 

really work for seafarers, claimed Tees. 

Perhaps of even more crucial importance 

to the maritime industry is fast, 

accurate, real-time weather information. 

Once the preserve of the few, mass-market 

cost effective weather information is now 

continued on page 4 


p1-5.qxd 09/05/2006 09:19 Page 4 

INDUSTRY NEWS 

continued from page 3 

a reality for all satcoms users - yet another 

important service driving take-up of satellite 

phones. Software now allows operators 

to view up-to-date maps, or weather 

data in their local region, as well as globally. 

This is not only an important safety 

concern, but also commercially important 

as up-to-date weather information allows 

tanker operators to make business critical 

decisions in real-time. 

As well as e-mail, seafarers are now able 

to surf the web using satcoms through software 

that compresses the data, speeding up 

download times and reducing costs. Until 

recently, crew have been limited in the type 

of data that could be accessed on board - 

due to insufficient and costly transfer capabilities. 

Increasingly, web services are built 

for the fast connection users, which is totally 

unsuitable for those using satcoms. 

However, this is no longer the case. 

Software is available that compresses data, 

blocks adverts - or even pictures and 

images - allowing faster browsing speeds at 

vastly reduced costs. This will open up the 

full benefits of the internet to those smaller 

tank fleets that previously were unable to 

justify the expense of accessing data at sea. 

It's not just software that is improving 

the customer experience, however. New 

hardware - such as domed and flexible 

antennas are providing better functionality 

and reliability for these new services. 

Additionally earth stations are now able to 

connect customers directly to the internet 

in three to four seconds with no need for 

an internet service provider, saving consumers 

time and money. 

The bigger satcoms picture is revealing 

that increased competition within the market, 

which has been sparked by lower airtime 

rates and rapidly improving services, 

is driving renewed interest in the maritime 

sector. Competition continues to 

drive improved corporate pricing, with 

fleet owners now having the option to 

share airtime minutes between fleets, and 

is ultimately resulting in a better communications 

experience for the customer. 

The result of these developments - 

faster data, new services and applications, 

better equipment - is that satcoms have 

become a more attractive proposition for 

many tanker operators. Costs are falling, 

which has attracted a new market but 

most of all service quality levels are rising. 

With lightweight equipment also pushing 

rapid adoption the future looks good for 

the satcoms customer. 

Last month, Globalstar, closed a $400 

mill debt and equity financing package. 

The financing consists of $200 mill of debt 

in the form of a five-year term loan and a 

four-year revolving credit facility, both 

underwritten by Wachovia Securities. The 

$200 mill in equity capital is being invested 

by affiliates of the Thermo Companies. 

Minority shareholders in Globalstar will 

be provided an opportunity to participate 

in the equity financing. 

One tug, 

multiple functions... 

Our tugs combine 

– escort services 

– tug operations 

– salvage 

– firefighting 

– advanced oil 

pollution service 

P.O.Box 394, 5501 Haugesund, Norway 

Telephone +47 52 70 45 45, telefax +47 52 70 45 50 

E-mail: post@ostensjo.no www.ostensjo.no 


p1-5.qxd 09/05/2006 09:19 Page 5 

Globalstar intends to use the financing 

proceeds, as well as cash from its ongoing 

business, to fund the design and deployment 

of the company's second-generation 

satellite constellation, upgrades to its 

ground segment and the launch of eight 

spare satellites for its current constellation 

in early 2007. 

The second generation satellite constellation 

will continue to provide Globalstar 

customers with voice quality, as well as 

increased data speeds to both handheld 

and fixed subscriber equipment. The second-generation 

satellite constellation will 

fully integrate ATC and ensure the company's 

long-term capability to provide 

ATC and other integrated wireless multimedia 

satellite solutions. 

Earlier this year, Globalstar converted 

from a limited liability company into a corporation 

and is now known as Globalstar, 

Inc. Globalstar is mandated by its organisational 

documents to register its shares with 

the Securities and Exchange Commission 

prior to 13th October of this year. 

Over the past two years, Globalstar has 

consolidated various operations in the 

Americas and Western Europe and opened 

a new satellite gateway ground station in 

Florida. It is also in the process of constructing 

an additional gateway in Alaska, 

which will open later this summer. 

TO 

TANKER 


Hong Kong management concern hits 150 not out 

Fleet Management, a member of global 

supply chain manager Noble Group, 

reached a milestone last March by adding 

two new ships to its portfolio taking the 

total number of vessels under full technical 

management to 150. 

Fleet Management reached this mark in 

record time having signed its 100th ship 18 

months earlier in October 2004, coinciding 

with the 10th anniversary of the business. 

The company conducted the newbuilding 

supervision on the two vessels - a 

handymax bulk carrier and a products carrier. 

Between 2006 and 2009, a further 20 

vessels will be added to the fleet. Fleet 

advises owners on their ship construction 

across yards in China, South Korea and 

Japan. 

"While we have experienced relatively 

fast growth, our mantra and focus is 

always about quality and safety to ensure 

our customers receive the highest standards 

of service," said Fleet Management 

managing director Kishore Rajvanshy. 

"We are grateful to our principals for 

selecting Fleet Management and we will 

continue to expand at a sustainable rate 

provided international best practices can 

be assured. To have reached this landmark 

in only our 12th year is an achievement 

RINA issues first Green Passport 

Italian classification society RINA has issued 

the first Green Passport to an Italian ship. 

Issued to Mediterranea di Navigazione's 

Ottomana, the document and associated 

review scheme encapsulates the voluntary 

IMO scheme to document all hazardous 

material built into a ship, leading to more 

environmentally-conscious ship recycling. 

The 25,000 dwt IMO Class II products 

/chemical tanker was delivered from the 

Celik Tekne yard in Tuzla to Mediterranea 

di Navigazione on January 25, 2006. It was 

the largest tanker built in Turkey and was 

constructed to the very highest environmental 

standards, and was awarded the 

RINA Green Star. As of the end of March, it 

was the first chemical tanker and Italian 

vessel to hold a Green Passport. 

Ugo Salerno, ceo of RINA says, 

"Mediterranea di Navigazione is right at 

the forefront of responsible environmentally 

conscious shipping. In 2002 it was the 

first non-passenger company in the world 

to voluntarily opt for higher green standards 

for its fleet, and we were proud then 

to issue its Shogun with our Green Star logo. 

"RINA has carried out a full inventory 

of all material on the ship, which will need 

to be considered when the ship is repaired 

or recycled, and we have devised and put 

in place a regular review scheme to keep it 

up to date," he continued. 

"RINA is our Green Partner, helping us 

achieve the highest standards today, not 

waiting until pushed into it by legislation 

in the future," said Paolo Cagnoni, 

Mediterranea di Navigazione's ceo. 

The class society's Green Passport 

scheme is applicable to all ships and can 

be implemented for both newbuildings 

and ships in service. It is an inventory of 

all materials, which would need special 

handling during repair or scrapping, and 

an inspection system to maintain the listing 

for the life of the vessel. It is a voluntary 

application of the IMO scheme outlined 

in Resolution A.962(23) Guidelines on 

ship recycling, which are expected to 

become mandatory in the near future. 

Mediterranea di Navigazione is a 

shipowning company based in Ravenna, 

Italy specialising in petroleum, chemical 

and gas transportation. It operates a young 

fleet of vessels from 3,700 dwt to 35,999 dwt 

carrying out more than 350 voyages per 

year carrying over 3 mill tonnes of 70 different 

kinds of petroleum products, lubricants, 

vegetable oil, gas and chemicals. 

and we would like to recognise the quality 

systems and committed personnel we 

have on our team," he added. 

Established in Hong Kong in 1994, Fleet 

Management, with more than $1 bill in 

vessels under its command and known for 

its IT excellence, is one of the largest and 

fastest growing ship management companies 

in the world, offering a diverse range 

AMSTERDAM-based Seaarland Shipping 

Management and Denmark-based Nordic 

Tankers have signed a joint venture that 

will see both companies enter the handysize 

products carrier market. 

"This latest expansion is part of 

Seaarland's focus on a strategic partnership, 

which will allow it to consolidate its 

position in the products carrier segment," 

said Antonio Zacchello, managing director 

of Seaarland Shipping Management. 

The joint venture will involve investment 

in modern secondhand vessels, as 

well as newbuildings. The vessels will be 

jointly-owned by both partners in varying 

proportions. The first acquisition by the 

joint venture, the 2000-built 35,820dwt 

Hanne, was to be concluded as 

TankerOperator went to press. 

"The handysize products tanker sector 

is the fourth segment being targeted by 

Nordic Tankers' expansion programme. It 

is our aim that this strategic partnership 

will contribute significantly towards the 

of services from inspections, IT, and insurance 

to crewing, finance and supervision. 

With more than 250 employees ashore 

in six countries and 5,000 seafarers, Fleet 

Management's global network continues to 

expand with a German office scheduled to 

open in the second half of this year to add 

to offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, 

Mumbai and London. 

Seaarland and Nordic sign joint venture 

company's future revenues and results," 

said Flemming K Soerensen, managing 

director of Nordic Tankers. 

Seaarland will be fully responsible for 

managing the vessels, which will be operated 

in the Handytankers pool, currently 

consisting of vessels from Seaarland, 

Maersk, D'Amico, Motia and CST. 

Amsterdam-based commercial ship 

manager, Seaarland is part of the 

Zacchello group. The Zacchello Group 

currently manages 37 modern products 

tankers, aframax tankers and panamax 

bulk carriers. Between 2006 and 2009, 20 

more will be added to the fleet. 

Nordic Tankers, owned by approximately 

7,000 shareholders through the 

investment vehicle Difko 47, is heading for 

a stock listing in Copenhagen by early 

2007. The current fleet includes three coated 

panamax products tankers (including 

one newbuilding still to be delivered), 

three chemical tankers and two multipurpose 

vessels. 

Digital Ship Posidonia 

‘Bringing Ships Closer to the Sea’ 

One day conference on 7 June at 

the Divani Apollon Palace and Spa, Voula. 

This conference has been 

arranged to coincide with the 

fourth anniversary of Athensbased 

AMMITEC. The key speakers 

will include representatives from 

Hanseatic, Inmarsat, Connexion by 

Boeing, Stratos/Xantic, Globalstar, 

Iridium, Columbia 

Shipmanagement, Palantir, 

Wartsila, Datatrac, ShipServ, 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7510 0015 Fax: +44 (0)20 7510 2344 

Navarik and Worldlink. 

Following the conference, 

Inmarsat is hosting a party and 

banquet for all the delegates. 

The conference fee is Eur450 

with a reduced fee of Eur150 for 

shipping company employees. 

This includes lunch and two 

coffee breaks, plus the evening 

function hosted by Inmarsat. 

For more details and to book your place, please contact 

leahy@thedigitalship.com, telephone +44 207 510 4939. 

Digital Ship Ltd, 213 Marsh Wall, London E14 9FJ, UK 

Meet us at Posidonia, stand number 424/H 

Need anchors and chains? 

www.wortelboer.nl 


p6.qxd 09/05/2006 12:31 Page 1

p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:10 Page 1 

GREECE/POSIDONIA PREVIEW 

TANKER 


An unprecedented ordering spree 

Buy low, sell high - is still the Greek’s mantra when it comes to manouevring 

in the minefield that is the newbuilding and secondhand markets. 

From the time IACS and ABS chairman 

and ceo Robert D Somerville 

declared to the Intertanko Athens 

Event in April, 2005, that "the finest technical 

minds" had worked on the Joint Tanker 

Project, the Common Structural Rules 

(CSR) for tankers were a fact. It was just a 

case of when they would be ready and 

brought into force, writes David Glass. 

The CSR missed the then January 1, 

2006 deadline, but made the second date 

and have been with us since April 1, 

despite the ongoing protests of owners, 

the Greeks in particular. In fact, it became 

clear Greek tanker owners, although not 

convinced the rules were adequate, were 

ready to accept them, when they were in 

the thick of a pre-Christmas 2005 ordering 

spree involving energy carrying ships. 

Greek owners have been renewing 

their tanker fleets, with a fairly stable 

orderbook of around 150/180 ships at any 

one time, since 2001.However, in the 

autumn of 2005 there was a rush and by 

the time it was clear the January 1 target 

for the introduction of the CSRs would not 

be met, some $4.9 bill had been committed 

by the world's tanker industry to newbuilding 

projects in November and 

December, traditionally a period when 

shipping catches it breath. Greeks were 

heavily involved in this stampede. 

With tanker newbuildings requiring an 

additional 3% to 7% of steel, depending on 

the ship type, to comply with the CSR, a 

higher price and a longer 

period of construction, it was 

hardly surprising there was 

such a move to order. 

Some of the orders had 

been in the pipeline for a 

while as owners and yards 

closely negotiated prices, 

which had risen to record 

levels earlier in the year. 

Most ship commissioning 

dates were slated for the second 

half of 2008 with a handful 

running into 2009. 

Though Singapore's 

Ocean Tankers and Turkey's 

Geden Line were the biggest 

investors pre-Christmas, 

Greek tanker men and 

women had invested over 

$500 mill in projects in Japan, 

South Korea and China. 

Ocean Tankers firmed up 

two projects, an order for six 

105,000 dwt aframaxes, plus 

six options, at China's 

Shanghai Waigaoqiao 

Shipbuilding (SWS) and 

another for four 40,000 dwt 

products tankers at South 

Korea's Shin-A for a total firm 

investment of $537 mill. 

Meanwhile, Geden booked 

four 46,600 dwt products 

tankers at Hyundai Mipo, 

three ice class products tankers of 37,000 

dwt at the same yard and two suezmaxes at 

Samsung - a total investment of $457 mill. 

One wonders how many of these ships will 

ultimately end up in Greek hands. 

A slice of Geden's investment was likely 

covered from the $160 mill which 

flowed into the Turkish operator's coffers 

via the sale of two suezmaxes off the berth 

at Hyundai-Samho to Greece's Diamantis 

Diamantidis' Marmaras Navigation just 

before Christmas. These ships, which 

deliver mid-2007, were ordered at around 

$52 mill each and the purchase marked a 

deeper involvement in the wet trades for 

this traditional bulk carrier operator. 

Recently delivered to John Angelicoussis’ Kristen navigation was the VLCC Aries Voyager. 

The group is now Greece’s largest shipowner. 

Never one to do things in a small way, this 

lifts to four the number of suezmaxes to 

deliver from the yard to Diamantidis, who 

also has two 92,000 dwt vessels on order at 

Sungdong Shipbuilding for delivery 2007. 

This owner has 10 x 93,000 dwt bulk carriers 

under construction and with a current 

orderbook worth $740 mill has invested 

some $1.2 bill in new ships in recent years. 

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in Piraeus were talking of Diamantidis 

selling his tanker operation for $1 bill, 

including ships on order. The owner has 

not officially commented, but those close 

to the company believed a sale would be 

on if Diamantidis 'gets the price he wants'. 

Basil Papachristidis' Hellespont continued 

its re-birth by ordering four 115,000 

dwt tankers from New Century 

Shipbuilding in China at $58 mill apiece. 

The same yard is building six 73,620 dwt 

products tankers for the owner. 

Papachristidis was re-investing the $448 

mill collected when he sold four ULCCs to 

Euronav in the spring of 2004. 

Papachristidis is known for his blasts at 

the classification societies and shipbuilders, 

but continues to build ships. By 

ordering in China, he came to the defence 

of the Chinese shipbuilding industry, 

which continued to be dogged by teething 

troubles. He reckoned that an owner willing 

to persist in China could reap the benefits. 

Though the financial clout of new 

shipbuilders made the refund guarantee a 

major issue, the Hellespont chairman said 

that for him, staffing and equipment 

delays were the biggest drawbacks. 

Most problems centred on workers, particularly 

the issue of a high turnover of personnel, 

which resulted in a high influx of 

untrained workers, which, said 

Papachristidis, meant owners had to 

employ excessively large site teams, maybe 

three to five times the average. 

Our branch 

offices: 

Europe / Africa 

Hamburg 

Bremerhaven 

Kiel 

Rostock 

Scandinavia 

London 

Rotterdam 

Madrid 

Gibraltar 

Ceuta 

Las Palmas 

Malta 

Athens 

Tallinn 

Novorossiysk 

St. Petersburg 

Cape Town 

The Americas 

Houston 

New Orleans 

Delaware 

Norfolk 

Buenos Aires 

Rio de Janeiro 

Ecuador 

Far/Middle East 

Singapore 

Hong Kong 

Shenzhen 

Shanghai 

Taipei 

Seoul 

Mumbai 

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p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:10 Page 2 


To counter this problem, Hellespont had 

a site team of 25 people for the series of six 

panamax product carriers building at New 

Century Shipbuilding in Jingjiang, which 

were due to start being delivered this 

month. Papachristidis said the majority of 

the site team were either steel and paint 

specialists or former seafarers with deck 

and engine expertise. 

"Unorthodox business practices" within 

the Chinese shipbuilding industry and the 

manipulation of classification societies 

were other issues, but Papachristidis 

believed China was experiencing some of 

the problems that also had to be overcome 

during the early days of shipbuilding in 

South Korea. He advised owners wanting 

to build in China to "try and understand 

the problems the shipbuilders are experiencing". 

It was essential to commit the necessary 

manpower to the process and leave 

behind any prejudices, he contended. 

At around the same time, Evangelos 

Marinakis confirmed that his company, 

Capital Ship Management, had cancelled a 

10-ship newbuilding project in China. 

Piraeus-based Marinakis, said the project 

for the 5,600 dwt chemical/oil tankers at 

Sinan Shipbuilding had been dropped 

"due to the inability of the shipyard to provide 

refund guarantees". 

Part of a large Marinakis newbuilding 

programme, the project had been in trouble 

for some time. The first two ships were 

to have been delivered at the end of 2005 

with the third slated for a February, 2006 

commissioning. Another five were to have 

been delivered through 2006 with the last 

pair in February and April 2007. Until 

Sinan landed this contract it was a wellknown 

block-building facility, contracted 

by principal builders in China's booming 

shipbuilding industry. 

While Capital was still to reveal what it 

would do regarding this contract, the company 

confirmed six products tankers of 

12,000 dwt each remained at Ningbo 

Nigshing Shipyard and Baima Shipyard in 

China for delivery next year. In addition, 

two products/chemical tankers ice class 

1A of 37,000 dwt each and six 47,000 dwt 

products/chemical tankers of ice class 1A 

were still to be delivered during 

2006/2007 from Hyundai Mipo and three 

firm, two options, 51,000 dwt oil/products 

carriers at STX for delivery 2008/2009. 

Marinakis, who has been eyeing the capital 

market for 18 months pulled a planned 

$250 mill IPO in the US during June, 2005, 

stating he was not ready to accept investor 

demands for a discount. 

The group was again looking at a possible 

float and was using its large orderbook 

of small niche tankers and MR ice class 

products tankers to attract investor interest. 

Marinakis was among a growing number 

of owners to be caught up in the issue 

of failed contracts, or worse, shipyards 

repudiating newbuilding contracts. 

There have been disputes in the past two 

or so years and they were on the increase. 

The Restis group was chasing a $70 mill 

claim through London arbitrators for damages 

against China's Xiamen Shipbuilding 

Industry. Restis was seeking damages after 

the yard failed to build four 58,000 dwt 

“Many of the smaller start-up yards will be hard pressed 

and a number of shipowners have been forced to 

back-off from contracts sealed in China”. 

bulkers under a contract signed in 2003 for 

$17.9 mill per unit. Earlier the Court of 

Appeal dismissed Xiamen's application for 

leave to appeal a High Court judgement, 

handed down in December, 2005. 

Specialist newbuilding broker George 

Banos of Piraeus-based George Moundreas 

& Co, was not surprised by events in 

China. He has long been concerned about 

the number of ships, which were ordered 

in yards likely to have problems with 

financing causing contracts to fail. "Many 

of the smaller start-up yards will be hard 

pressed and a number of shipowners have 

been forced to back-off from contracts 

sealed in China," said Banos. 

Returning to the ordering of tonnage 

pre-Christmas, Tsakos-controlled USlisted 

Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) 

negotiated an ice-class 105,000 dwt tanker 

at Japan's Sumitomo for $58.9 mill and 

two 37,000 dwt products tankers at 

Hyundai Mipo. These orders underlined 

the company's determination to become a 

major player in the ice trades. Indeed, in 

April TEN began taking delivery of the 

nine modern ice class tankers purchased 

from Western Petroleum for $530 mill in 

early March. Arrival of the 2005-built 

53,000 dwt double-hull medium range 

(MR) products tanker, Artemis, added 

momentum to a delivery process that will 

see TEN operating at least 24 ice-class 

tankers within two years. The Western 

Petroleum deal involved six 2005-built MR 

products tankers and three 2006-built 

Long Range (LR) aframax products 

tankers, all with 1A ice-class designations. 

Nicos P Tsakos, president and ceo of 

TEN, said: "We expect to take delivery of 

an additional 21 ships over the next eight 

quarters bringing our total fleet to 51 

ships, including 24 ice-class ships. This 

will make TEN one of the largest independent 

ice-class operators in the world." 

Also over Christmas, Chandris booked 

two 114,760 dwt tankers at Samsung at a 

reported $65 mill each with delivery for 

the latter part of 2008. Dinos Martinos' 

Thenamaris Ships Management ordered 

two panamax tankers, plus two options, at 

New Century for 2009 delivery, for 

around $45.4 mill each. 

Since then, the ordering of tankers by 


p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:12 Page 3 

TANKER 


Greeks was steady, though there was 

another peak in the run-up to April 1 and 

the final introduction of CSR by IACS. 

Though Greek complaints finally drew the 

fullest explanation of the rules from IACS 

just days before their introduction, it must 

be noted most concern was expressed over 

the rules for bulk carriers. Indeed, as far as 

the tanker fraternity is concerned, it was 

again evident in March that 

the Greeks had accepted the 

rules were part of the industry's 

future, no matter what 

they may think. 

Much was made of the 

early spring rush to order 

tonnage. Brokers and shipyards 

claimed it was almost 

entirely driven by the pending 

introduction of CSR. The 

new rules will add several 

million US dollars onto the 

price of VLCCs and proportionally 

more on to the price 

tag for highspec ships, 

whether big or small. 

However, the Greek companies 

ordering tankers and 

gas carriers were, in the 

main, well known in the 

energy transportation business 

and while being 

extremely competitive were 

not penny-pinchers. Most 

had already invested heavily 

in new tonnage and many of 

the latest projects that have 

been under negotiation. 

There had been some accusations 

that yards and class 

had back-dated contracts to 

late March, but noted, Ole 

Schnohr, managing director 

of MAN B&W (Hellas), "all 

the projects had been on the 

drawing board for some time 

and were due to be signed". 

MAN B&W was supplying 

over 90% of the engines and 

Schnohr said there are many 

more projects to be finalised. 

Of course, the new rules 

have played a big part in 

owners' planning, but market 

sentiment and the availability 

of building berth space had a 

bigger influence on deciding 

when to order. Further, 

according to key equipment 

suppliers it was the shipyards, 

not class that exerted 

the greatest pressure to order. 

Despite this, the number 

of tanker orders that came to 

light in March was truly 

mind boggling. Data built up 

by the Greek publication, 

Newsfront, revealed that at the 

end of last year there were 

1,550 energy carrying ships of 

96 mill dwt on order. By the 

beginning of April the world 

orderbook had registered a 

net gain of 120 ships of 5.78 

mill dwt despite the fact ships 

were being delivered during 

the period. For example, 

between January and May, 

Greek owners alone took 

delivery of 24 tanker newbuildings 

of 2.25 mill dwt. 

At the beginning of 2006, 40 Greek owners 

had 209 energy carrying ships on order. 

By the end of April, 35 companies had 212 

energy ships on order. In March, shipbrokers, 

shipowners and shipbuilders were 

reporting the world's tanker industry had 

placed contracts for some 96 ships of approx 

7.3 mill dwt, for an investment of $4.5 bill. 

In addition, options were held for at least 20 

more ships. 

The overall pre-CSR picture can been 

seen from reports from South Korean 

shipbuilders that they had reaped a record 

$12 bill worth of orders in the first quarter 

of 2006, with the country's Commerce 

ministry attributing the influx of 136 ships 

to a scramble for yard space before April 1. 

Orders for tankers ran to 97 of which 65 

were for products carriers. Yards in China 

also scored well, but were overshadowed 

by South Korea. 

An idea of price levels for ships ordered 

and slated for delivery late 2008 and 

into 2010 could be seen from the 318,000- 

tonne VLCCs booked at Hyundai at 

$120 mill each by Dynacom Tankers 


p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:13 Page 4

p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:13 Page 5 

Synonymous with the rise of Greek shipping after the last war was Onassis, 

now known as Olympic Shipping 

Purchasing 

Management/George Procopiou and 

Alpha Tankers & Freighters/ Christos 

Kanellakis for delivery in 2010. In 2005 

these ships were being ordered for $130 

mill a unit, for 2008 delivery. July last year 

saw VLCCs being sold off the berth for 

$140 mill (Nicos Lemos' Spyros to Fred 

Cheng). In December, VLCCs ordered for 

around $78 mill four years in advance 

were being sold at delivery, or off the berth 

just prior to delivery, at $120 mill, a markup 

of more than 50%. Brokers were speculating 

that a portion of the March orderbook 

will be a repeat of this type of dealing 

nearer to the vessels' delivery dates. 

Procopiou, Greece's second largest 

operator with a fleet of some 6.4 mill dwt 

(44 ships) is currently taking delivery of 

panamax and suezmax tankers from 

Japan's Onomichi Dockyard and 

Universal Shipbuilding. This 

formed part of a massive 

fleet renewal programme, 

which saw some 30 tankers 

scrapped or sold. Restis, 

despite having his setbacks 

in China, had not been discouraged 

from building 

ships and the group's Golden 

Energy Marine (GEM) 

signed contracts for up to 10 

tankers, eight handymax 

products tankers and two 

panamax tankers, worth a 

total $500 mill. They are to be 

built in South Korea's 

Sungdong Shipbuilding and 

all are due for 2008/2009 

delivery. The eight units of 

47,000 dwt have been booked 

at a reported $44 mill each 

and the two of 74,000 dwt at 

$50 mill each. 

This order came as Restis 

was finally pulling the rug 

from under an IPO. In a mid- 

March filing with the US 

Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Marshall 

Islands corporation GEM deregistered 

the 8,625,000 

shares it had applied to register 

in July, 2005 and whose 

registration became effective 

in October. The IPO has quietly 

idled since October when the price 

target for a mixed fleet of bulkers and 

products tankers slipped from $25.50 per 

share to $15.20 per share. 

South Korea's Daewoo won a $381 mill 

order for three 320,000 dwt VLCCs from 

Athens-based Gulf Marine Management 

for delivery end-2009. Ghassan Ghandourcontrolled 

GMM already had two 83,000 cu 

m LPG ships and five 306,000 dwt tankers 

on Daewoo's books. Drytank/George 

Economou added four aframax tankers, two 

crude carriers and a pair of long-range products 

tankers, to the group's programme at 

SWS. The extra 105,000 dwt units made 11 

ships, of which four were LR2 ships. 

Economou was also said to be looking at 

contracting VLCCs at the same yard. 

Meanwhile, the Vardinoyiannis Group 

Asset Management 

Maintenance & Stock Control 

Personnel Management 

Quality & Safety Management 

E-mail & Communications 

Consultancy & Training 

TankerOperator May/June 2006 page 11 

/Avin International, just beat 

the April 1 deadline and 

penned an order for four 

50,000 dwt medium-range 

(MR) products tankers at SPP, 

paying around $44 mill per 

ship with delivery in 2009. 

Avin had been selling tonnage 

as it renewed its fleet and 

more orders were expected. 

Ancora Investment Trust 

/Nicos Paraschis extended a 

newbuilding programme at 

Nok Bong in South Korea with 

an order for four 8,000 dwt, 

double-hull products /chemical 

tankers. As with a previous 

four-ship order of the same 

type, no price or delivery 

dates were disclosed, though 

ships in the previous run are 

now in the process of being 

commissioned. 

Roxana Shipping ordered 

a pair of 38,500 dwt products 

carriers at China's Guangzhou Shipyard 

for delivery early and late 2008. No price 

was given, but they were similar to two 

ships ordered by the Greek operator last 

autumn at the yard for just $40 mill each. 

These two were also for delivery in 2008 

and will enter six-year timecharters at 

between $15,000 per day and $16,000 per 

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TANKER 


day, with a profit-sharing agreement. 

Byzantine Maritime/ Marios 

Stafilopatis, signed a letter of intent for two 

107,000 dwt products tankers with 

Sungdong Shipbuilding. Reportedly priced 

at $63 mill they were for delivery in 2008 

and 2009. Primera Maritime /Paul Coronis 

ordered its first wet ships, with two firm, 

two option chemical/oil tankers at INP, in 

South Korea. The 13,000 dwt ships, which 

start delivering in 2008, were reportedly 

costing $22 mill each. 

It had also emerged that interests connected 

with John Angelicoussis, Greece's 

largest shipowner, had ordered two VLCCs 

at Daewoo, not one as was originally 

reported in mid-February. The second 

320,000-tonner was for delivery in 2008 and 

was said to be costing in excess of $120 mill. 

Unconfirmed reports put the price of the 

first ship, to deliver in 2007, at $125 mill. 

Phoenix Energy Navigation, set up two 

years ago to manage a pair of ex-Niarchos 

tankers, ordered two crude aframaxes at 

Hyundai for delivery first half of 2009. The 

first newbuildings for the Greek company, 

the 105,000 dwt vessels cost a reported $61 

mill-plus per ship. 

“Many of the smaller start-up yards will be hard pressed 

and a number of shipowners have been forced to 

back-off from contracts sealed in China”. 

Brave Maritime, the drybulk arm of the 

Vafias group, has ordered two 3,500 cu m 

LPG carriers in Japan's Kanrei shipyard. 

For delivery first half 2009, the ships were 

worth a total $31 mill and joined two 4,900

p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:15 Page 6 


dwt, 3,500 cu m LPG carriers already on 

order for the group. For delivery mid- 

2008, they were booked at $18.5m each 

and are also in the name of Nicos Vafias 

controlled Brave, but will certainly end up 

in son Harry Vafias' fast-expanding 

StealthGas operation. 

Greeks have also bought tanker contracts 

off the berth and they have also been 

selling them. In fact, the most notable deal 

was struck between the Angelicoussis 

Group's gas venture Maran Gas Ventures 

and the Sohmen family's Norwegian 

owner Bergesen Worldwide Gas (BW 

Gas), which were to jointly own four 

VLGCs under construction at Daewoo for 

the Greek operator. 

This deal sees the Norwegian LNG and 

LPG carrier group taking a 50% interest in 

the LPG carriers which were slated for 

delivery between May 2008 and May 2009. 

No price details were revealed but the 

84,000 cu m VLGCs were ordered at various 

prices around $90 mill, though a similar 

ship today would cost $93 mill. 

Payments to the yard are heavily tail 

loaded. Maran had taken delivery of three 

of the four LNG carriers it was building in 

Daewoo. The fourth is due in April, 2007. 

In another sale, George Economou's 

Cardiff Marine sold a 2006-built 105,000 

dwt tanker to India Steamship for $74 mill. 

However, most of the action centred on 

buying. In the first four months of 2006, 

some 11 tanker contracts were purchased 

by Greeks for a total investment of $1.1 bill. 

Turkey's Geden Line has 

been ordering heavily and 

selling frequently, usually at 

a very good mark up. In all, 

four 159,000 dwt suezmaxes 

building at Hyundai Samho 

have been purchased, two by 

Thenamaris for $164 mill 

delivery third quarter 2007; 

and two by Marmaras for 

$160 mill, for delivery May, 

August 2007. Ghandour, 

the Athens-based Lebanese 

owner, sold three VLCCs 

building in Daewoo, two 

to Metrostar /Theodore 

Angelopoulos for $122 mill 

each, delivery May, 

November 2007, and one to 

Chandris for $121 mill, delivery 

next year. 

Centrofin Management 

/Dimitrios Procopiou paid 

Euronav/Wah Kwong, $80.5 

mill for a 157,700 dwt tanker, 

delivery 2007, while 

Marinakis reportedly paid 

Russian interests $90 mill for 

a Hyundai Samho-built 

160,000 dwt vessel, delivery 

this year. Marinakis, meanwhile 

sold a pair of 37,700 

dwt chemical tankers to the 

latest Greek IPO, Omega 

Navigation, for $50.5 mill 

delivery this year. 

And just to underline 

who was involved in the 

hunt for new tonnage, John 

Angelicoussis/Kristen 

Navigation/Maran Gas is 

Greece's largest owner; 

George Procopiou/ Dynacom; 

Tsakos/TEN; Restis group; 

Dinos Martinos/ Thenamaris; 

George Economou/Drytank 

/Cardiff; Ghassan Ghandour 

/Gulf Marine; and Diamantis 

Damantidis/Marmaras 

Navigation, all run fleets in 

excess of 3.8 mill dwt and 

make-up Greece's nine largest 

owners. 

The Chandris group; 

Christos Kanellakis/Alpha 

Tankers and Freighters; 

Dimitrios Procopiou 

/Centrofin; Evangelos 

Marinakis/Capital Shipmanagement/Barclay 

Shipping; 

and the Vafias group/Brave 

Maritime / Stealth Maritime 

and StealthGas, all run fleets 

of 2 mill dwt or more, while 

several of the other companies 

ordering ships are leading 

players in niche energy 

markets and all bar Phoenix 

Energy Navigation, were 

already involved in fleet 

renewal programmes. TO 


p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:16 Page 7 

Posidonia change’s location 

This year, Greek maritime showpiece 

exhibition Posidonia will be housed 

at a new, larger venue on the site of 

the old airport- the Hellenikon Exhibition 

Centre. One of the reasons for the move is 

that there were structural safety issues 

surrounding the Piraeus exhibition centre 

located by the cruise terminal on the 

Piraeus waterfront. 

"While the move to the new venue was 

welcomed by all exhibitors as a necessary 

development, it is our intention to return 

to Piraeus by 2008. We hope that the 

planned Exhibition Centre earmarked by 

the Piraeus Port Authority for the Palataki 

area will be completed soon. The Palataki 

area is at the entrance of the port of 

Piraeus, and has both the space and the 

infrastructure to welcome the new exhibition 

centre." A Posidonia Exhibition director 

said. 

In 2004, this bi-ennial event attracted 

more than 1,600 Greek and international 

exhibitors. This year's event will be even 

bigger, according to the organisers. This 

will be the 20th exhibition in the show's 37 

year history. 

The switch to the new venue will give 

Larger venue gives added value in terms of space 

around 30% more exhibitor space from 

23,000 sq m to 30,000 sq m. All the stands 

will be on the same level, greatly improving 

exhibitor, contractor and visitor access. 

There will also be no restriction on the 

weight and size of the exhibits. 

The Hellenikon Exhibition Centre. 

Being on the site of a former international 

airport, there is the added attraction 

of ample car parking space. Access to the 

site can be gained by public transport and 

shuttle buses from the centre of Athens, 

provided by the organisers. Restaurants, 

TANKER 


bars and a catering service will also be 

available. 

This year, the organisers claimed to 

have sold over 20 national pavilions and 

exhibition stands from more than 70 countries. 

Some 16,000 visitors are expected. 

As usual the exhibition is being sponsored 

by most of the leading maritime 

organisations in Greece. These include the 

Greek Ministry of Mercantile Marine, the 

Greek ministry of the Aegean, the 

Municipality of Piraeus, the Hellenic 

Chamber of Shipping, the Union of Greek 

Shipowners, the Greek Shipping Co-operation 

Committee, the Union of 

Shipowners of Mediterranean Cargo 

Vessels, the Greek Association of 

Passenger Ship Companies and the Union 

of Coastal Passenger Ship Owners. 

China has booked a significantly larger 

number of shipbuilding companies 

housed in a bigger national pavilion. 

China's increased interest is mainly due to 

Greek shipowners currently booking 

orders for over 100 vessels in Chinese 

shipyards. In addition, the anticipated 

opening of the country's shipping and 

shipbuilding industry to foreign direct 

investment is also an attraction, as is its 

emergence as a major global terminal and 

transhipment hub. 

The cargo handled through Shanghai 

ports will exceed 400 mill tonnes this year, 

a volume no port in the world achieved 

last year, while China's combined shipyard 

capacity is estimated to grow to 40 

mill dwt by 2015. 


p7-14.qxd 09/05/2006 10:17 Page 8 


According to Jin Caikuan, Vice 

President of the Chinese Society of Naval 

Architecture and Marine Engineering 

(CSNAME), Chinese newbuilding production 

in 2006 will be in the region of 10 mill 

dwt, giving the country 18% of the global 

output and making it already the world's 

second largest builder of containerships 

and bulk carriers. 

Eleven Chinese shipbuilding companies 

will be present at Posidonia each having 

their own stands in the pavilion. 

Overall Chinese participation will be 

increased by 50% this year, compared to 

the 2004 event and includes the country's 

traditional Posidonia national pavilion. 

Equally significant this year is the 

debut of the Japanese Marine Equipment 

Association (JSMEA), the return to the 

show of Panama's national pavilion, following 

a two year absence and the firsttime 

participation of Dubai Maritime City, 

Irish Maritime Development Office and 

Flanders Investment & Trade from 

Belgium. The French are also taking a 

national pavilion with 10 companies taking 

part. 

In addition to the JSMEA stand the 

Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) 

in co-operation with ClassNK are taking a 

national pavilion. The JSEA will consist of 

12 shipbuilders and is funded by The 

Nippon Foundation. 

The Japanese area will be 292.65 cu m in 

which the latest technology will be presented. 

In particular hull forms and new 

ship designs will be shown together with 

the plasma vision system and other displays. 

The builders participating are IHI, 

Imabari, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Namura, 

Oshima, Sanoyas, Sasebo, Shin 

Kurushima, Sumitomo and Universal. 

Meanwhile, Ubifrance, the French 

Agency for international business development 

has sponsored a national pavilion 

consisting of 10 companies. 

These include cabin and public designer 

CNAi, which as well as its mainstream 

business of outfitting cruise ships and ferries, 

has worked on LNGCs. Galley 

builder DL Services will also be present as 

will Euromediterranee, an urban and economic 

development organisation based 

around Marseille. 

Satellite provider Eutelsat will also be 

exhibiting in the French pavilion as will 

merged equipment associations GICAN - 

COFRENA. For the show, panel making 

concern Mapac has joined together with 

decking company MYG Decking. Small 

diesel engine manufacturer Moteurs 

Baudouin and large diesel engine manufacturer 

SEMT Pielstick will vie for orders 

and electronics provider Sodena will also 

be present as will Ubifrance. 

In addition to the exhibition, sister publication 

Digital Ship is running a one-day 

conference celebrating the 4th anniversary 

of AMMITEC (Association of Maritime 

Managers of Information Technology and 

Communications) based in Athens. To 

become a full member of AMMITEC, a 

candidate has to be the person responsible 

for information technology (IT) and communications 

at a ship operating company, 

or academic institution/government. 

Scheduled for Wednesday 7th June, the 

conference is entitled 'Bringing ships closer 

to the shore.' 

The morning session will be devoted to 

papers given by Inmarsat, Connexion by 

Boeing, Iridium and Globalstar, who will 

present their technologies for satellite 

communications, giving clear information 

about costs, coverage area, data speeds, 

equipment costs, equipment service information, 

future plans and who is using the 

equipment. 

In the afternoon, some of the most innovative 

technologies, which help the ship 

get closer to the shore will be discussed, 

including Palantir's system to keep shipboard 

computers working reliably, innovations 

from ShipServ to enable seafarers 

to get more involved in purchasing, the 

latest condition based monitoring solutions 

from Wartsila and the automated 

forms system developed by Navarik for 

Teekay Shipping. 

The conference will be held at Divani 

Apollon Palace and Spa, Voula. At the end 

of the day, all delegates will be invited to 

an evening party given by Inmarsat. 

Delegate fees are Eur450, with a 

reduced fee of Eur 150 for shipping company 

employees, which includes lunch 

and two coffee breaks. 

TO 

DIGITAL SHIP CONFERENCE 

Agenda 

CHAIRMAN: 

Charis Nassis, ICT manager, Ceres Hellenic 

10.30 Introduction: Professor Nikitas Nikitakos, president, 

AMMITEC. 

10.40 Adonis Violaris, Cyprus Shipping Council ICT subcommittee 

chairman, head of communications and public 

relations, Hanseatic - Experience from the Inmarsat user 

conference earlier this year. 

11.00 Chris Insall, Fleet product manager, Inmarsat - Inmarsat's 

plans for broadband, experiences to date with Inmarsat Fleet. 

11.20 Richard Nordstrom, maritime business development 

manager, Connexion by Boeing - Latest news with 

Connexion by Boeing service, customers, pricing packages, 

sales agreements. 

11.40 Break 

12.10 Ronald Spithout, vice president Stratos / Xantic - Plans for 

satcom services to offer the shipping industry - offering crew 

e-mail and SMS services. 

12.30 Greg Tees, general manager, Globalstar Europe - as little 

as 32 cents a minute for 9.8 kbps data. 12.50 Iridium - 

An update on how it is being used in Greek shipping - 

case studies. 

1.10 Lunch 

2.30 SATCOMS AND SHIPBOARD SOFTWARE 

2.30 Shipowner - Eddy Nassar, network engineer, Columbia 

Shipmanagement - Experiences using new information 

technology and communications tools onboard passenger 

vessels. 

2.50 Otto Pederson, chief inventor Palantir - Completely robust 

shipboard IT networks. 

3.10 Wartsila - condition based monitoring services (not 

confirmed). 

3.30 Data capture onboard to make sure that USCG MARPOL 

fines are avoided, as used by Greek shipping companies - 

Jennifer Tobin, Datatrac 

3.50 Break 

4.10 ShipServ -Bringing the vessel into a company purchasing 

system. 

4.30 Bill Dobie, Navarik - The ship shore reporting system developed 

by Navarik for Teekay. 

4.50 Asad Salameh, president, World-Link communications - 

Software and methods to get rid of spam on board ships. 

5.10 Cocktail reception 

6.00 Onwards - Inmarsat party and banquet - all delegates 

welcome. 


p15-19.qxd 09/05/2006 10:34 Page 1 

NORWAY 

TANKER 


Moving forward: DNV points the way to a sustainable future 

The global maritime industry must adapt to the challenges of a changing world and gain more credence 

with the general public. That was the underlying theme of a presentation given by DNV’s Tor Svensen 

earlier this month during a presentation in Oslo, writes Patrik Wheater. 

Speaking from the classification 

society's head office in 

Høvik, DNV's chief operating 

office outlined the main drivers 

forcing change as: the environment, 

fuel economy, Arctic 

shipping, materials, globalisation 

and corporate responsibility. 

Of the main drivers, economic 

expansion in Asia was considered 

to be the strongest and that the 

market growth the industry is 

currently enjoying is almost 

entirely due to the growth in Asia, 

particularly China. This has 

resulted in a tremendous need for 

imports of raw materials and the 

export of manufactured goods. 

Svensen warned, however, 

that the industry could be vulnerable 

to Asian development, 

especially in terms of increased 

energy consumption and fluctuating 

oil prices, although Europe 

will find different ways of 

remaining competitive and continue 

to be a force for innovation; 

the latter, he said, is indicative in 

the step up from the 145,000 cu m 

LNGC to the 260,000 cu m-capacity 

vessel, which is expected to 

drive down unit transportation 

costs by some 40%. 

"Natural gas will become the 

fuel of the future and we have to 

prepare for this. We are already 

working on preparing new rules 

and frameworks. Europe consumes 

more energy per capita 

than China and India but this 

will change as these countries 

develop; but how that energy 

demand will be satisfied…. 

"We are now seeing larger 

LNG ships being ordered and we 

will also see compressed natural 

gas carriers (CNG) for short distances 

and stranded gas. From a 

technological point of view there 

is no problem with a CNG ship, 

although there are some stumbling 

blocks in terms of safety," 

said Svensen. 

Northern seas 

A lot of these 'new' energy 

resources are in the northern sea 

areas, which means shipping will 

have to adapt to hostile climates 

and new developments in ship 

design will almost certainly see the 

opening up of new trading routes. 

"There is no doubt that the 

future supply of energy is 

dependent on the northern territories 

and the northern sea route in 

particular. This has consequences 

for shipping; in sub zero temperatures 

ships will have to be 

designed for the freezing up of the 

entire deck area, which puts 

severe restrictions on equipment 

and severe demands on the means 

of dealing with the problem, not 

least the ships' crew," he said. 

DNV and the Norwegian 

shipping industry per se are well 

placed to meet these challenges 

and the classification society is a 

key contributor to an intensified 

research and development effort 

to strengthen Norway's maritime 

presence globally. 

The seven areas in which DNV 

area is involved within the 

MARUT project, which is intended 

to make Norway a world leader 

in innovation and technology are: 

achieve more 

• Sustainable maritime operations 

in cold-climate areas; 

• Competitive short sea intermodal 

transport of bulk and 

unitised cargo; 

• Reliable monitoring and 

communication of land and 

sea data; 

• Scaleable distribution of LNG 

in regional waters; 

• Integrated worldwide maritime 

service and product delivery 

by networked resources. 

"The entire project integrates 

traditional technology development 

with promising business 

concepts. It provides a new way of 

thinking about national R&D 

efforts in the maritime field and 

contains new challenges, with 

more emphasis on business development 

and wealth creation, and 

implicit knowledge and skills 

development. It establishes more 

effective framework conditions 

and supports new, more efficient 

means to promote innovation and 

R&D-based business development," 

Svensen explained. 

Construction 

materials 

The introduction of new shipbuilding 

materials is another 

area in which DNV is investing 

both time and money. The main 

area of its research and development 

here is a new material for 

more effective ship maintenance, 

monitoring and corrosion protection, 

which is manifest in a new 

type of concrete-based ship construction 

material. 

Steel/concrete sandwich ship 

construction material was developed 

by DNV Research about 

five years ago. This concept was 

further enhanced in 2003 in a collaborative 

venture with Aker 

Yards, in which DNV focused on 

technical development and Aker 

yards studied the potential for 

fabrication and various ship 

applications. 

The outcome of that collaboration 

and resultant fatigue and 

strength analysis tests indicated 

that in many ways the material 

"is superior to today's welding 

structures". Although this is not 

an entirely new concept as some 

ships' hulls used concrete during 

the two world wars, DNV's sys- 

New era for DNV as Madsen takes reins 

Henrik O Madsen has now 

officially begun his tenure 

as DNV's chief executive officer 

following the retirement of 

Miklos Konkoly-Thege on 8th 

May, 2006. 

Madsen, 52, began his DNV 

career at its Høvik headquarters 

in 1982. In 1990 he became 

regional manager for DNV's 

operations in Denmark and was 

regional manager in Japan from 

1993 to 1997, when he returned 

to Høvik to manage DNV 

Maritime's strategy and business 

developments. 

As a member of DNV's executive 

board, he has been 

responsible for two of the society's 

four business streams: oil 

and gas and certification. He 

has also been the head of DNV's 

research department. 

Madsen has a doctorate from 

Henrik Madsen is now DNVs 

new ceo following the retirement 

of Miklos Konkoly-Thege 

the Technical University of 

Denmark, a professorship in 

structural mechanics from the 

Danish Engineering Academy 

and is represented in the US 

Offshore Energy Hall of Fame 

for his contribution to the development 

of risk-based rules for 

offshore constructions. • 

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p15-19.qxd 09/05/2006 10:35 Page 2 

NORWAY 

AmosConnect Crew: 

The new all-in-one 

crew communication 

solution 

Now your staff can contact home via email and SMS as well as 

make calls from the same prepaid card. Combining two industry-leading 

solutions, AmosConnect Crew is simple to install 

and manage, while offering your crew a convenient and easily 

affordable service. 

tem was found to offer a several advantages 

over traditional steel ship structures. 

Benefits include an ability to absorb a 

lot more energy than ships of steel plate, 

more barriers against water ingress (the 

equivalent of four steel plates); fewer 

areas in need of protective coatings thus 

less corrosion and, importantly but rather 

paradoxically, less weight. 

The steel/concrete sandwich concept uses lightweight 

aggregates like Liaver and Liapor to counter the 

problems associated with weight 

Weight penalty 

Past concrete ships had one basic flaw: 

their weight. Typically, ships built of normal 

reinforced concrete carried a weight 

penalty of more than 50% compared to 

ships of steel. A major aim of this research 

project was to find a strong but lightweight 

concrete mix. DNV has found that 

lightweight aggregates like Liaver and 

Liapor work well. 

Svensen acknowledged that although 

the concept is feasible and can be applied to 

any ship type it is most likely to see its first 

application on small patch repairs and 

barges. "It could mean a third of steel being 

replaced with the steel/concrete sandwich," 

he said. 

reducing hull roughness, but polishing the 

propeller can also help reduce fuel consumption. 

In the past though, as fuel was 

cheap, it was not thought of being very 

cost effective to coat propellers - now it's a 

different matter. 

Public perceptions 

Reducing the impact of shipping on the 

environment and changing the public's perception 

of the shipping industry is a challenge 

and companies throughout the industry 

are now becoming increasingly aware of 

the need to review their business for issues 

that can attract negative press and see reputations 

- and share prices - plummet 

"Corporate social responsibility and 

globalisation are challenges. 

The industry has to change the 

public's perception of shipping 

to that of responsible transporters 

of goods," Svensen said. 

At the end of last year, DNV 

concluded the joint research 

project CSR in Shipping and 

found that shipping companies 

must be able to promote 

their work in the public arena 

and according to the demands 

of stakeholders, governments, 

NGOs and other interest 

groups. 

DNV's Dag Runar Elvekrok 

said that those shipping companies 

that actively demonstrate their contributions 

to sharing ideas and good practices 

will be at a competitive advantage as 

CSR requirements will become more and 

more important. 

The CSR in Shipping is a joint project 

venture between DNV Research, 

Norwegian shipowners Eidesvik and 

Jebsen and the Norwegian Shipowners' 

Association. 

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Tor Svensen said the industry has to 

change the public's perception of shipping 

to that of responsible transporters of goods 

If this material is proven to have significant 

weight advantages over steel, then it 

could also prove to be less harmful on the 

environment as it would ostensibly take less 

fuel to propel the vessel through the water. 

"The best way of reducing emissions to 

air is to burn less fuel," said Svensen. "This 

is directly proportional with fuel consumption. 

If you burn 20% less fuel then 

you have about 20% less emissions. So 

what can you do? 

"Ships must run at optimum efficiency 

with respect to engine loads and the 

draught and trim of the ship as it moves 

through the sea. It makes a big difference 

when it comes to resistance and propulsion 

emissions," he concluded. 

Of course, energy loss can be reduced 

through better use of hull coatings and 

Profits before safety 

Human error, competition and increased 

traffic are pushing up the premiums, but 

shipowner/insurer collaboration could be 

the key to reductions 

Despite well-publicised dissent at the 

increasing trend to criminalise marine 

accidents and, by stealth, the seafarer, it 

seems inevitable that legislation will be 

passed introducing penalties for pollution. 

The practical effect that this might have 

on crews, especially those plying the 

tanker trades, certainly gives rise for concern 

to Claes Isacson, Gard P&I's chief 

executive officer. 

Speaking in Gard News, he said that the 

quantity and quality of crews is already a 

problem for the industry and "if authorities 

continue to target seafarers, shipowners 

may well find that quality staff will seek 

jobs on shore, exacerbating the problem of 

sufficient qualified crew on board". 

Human error 

For marine insurers and underwriters, the 

quality of the crew is major problem and of 

all the hull and machinery claims assessed 

by the Norwegian Hull Club during 2005, 

human error was the dominating factor 

with a significant increase in the number of 

claims resulting from nautical incidents. 

"Machinery damages (frequency and 

costs) are pretty static or even down in relative 

terms, but insurance claims caused 

by nautical errors are up," said the Club's 


p15-19.qxd 09/05/2006 10:36 Page 3 

director, Ole Wikborg. 

This is corroborated by Norwegian 

Maritime Insurance Statistics' data, which 

suggested a marginal increase in the number 

of machinery damage but collisions 

ran away with 19% of the total claim costs 

versus 14% during the 2000 - 2004 period. 

In addition, heavy weather damage 

increased to 7% from 4%. 

It is claimed the figures indicated that 

between 70% to 90% of the accidents 

recorded were related to human error. The 

Oslo-based Central Union of Marine 

Underwriters (CEFOR) said that in cases 

related to navigation, the number of 

claims is increasing and together accounts 

for over 50% of all claims payments. 

Causes included senior offices lacking 

experience or who were trained more on 

theory than practice, while officers' overreliance 

on sophisticated bridge technology 

may also have contributed to reduced safety 

margins and - if an incident should occur 

- less room for error, suggested CEFOR. 

Profits before safety 

The Norwegian marine insurance cluster 

also highlighted that claims could be 

affected by those shipowners and operators 

looking to maximise profits by postponing 

maintenance dockings. These 

pressures, claimed CEFOR, coupled with 

increased shipping traffic and competition 

for berths, may increase the risk of navigation-related 

incidents such as groundings. 

Collision damage is also resulting in 

unusually high costs for the shipowner, 

often with a significant salvage element 

and average contributions from cargo 

insurers. On the repair side, costs have 

escalated due to a combination of the present 

shortage of available slots, shortage of 

available spare parts and the extraordinarily 

high price of steel. 

All in all, the market did not bode well 

for a reduction in insurance 

premiums. Norwegian Hull 

Club's managing director said 

that the financial impact of 

increasing medium sized 

claims, both in terms of severity 

and frequency, was going 

to be severe. 

"In short," he said, "reinsurance 

costs will increase, 

capacity in the reinsurance 

market will decline and reinsurance 

credit risk will 

increase. These factors combined 

can only result in 

increased prices for hull and 

energy risks." 

To further encourage more knowledge 

sharing, the NSA maintained close ties 

with CEFOR, sponsored various seminars 

and conferences, which included both 

shipowners and marine insurers, and 

urged its members to share data. 

She believed that a greater willingness 

to share information should be fostered 

between owner and insurer and, while 

owner sensitivity was a consideration, the 

global trend towards transparency should 

be seen as positive for the industry. 

Such was the concern throughout the 

global insurance market that the 

International Union of Marine Insurance 

(IUMI) is to focus on how the industry can 

reduce claims at this year's IUMI 

Conference, in September. Already underwriters 

are adopting a much more active 

role in assessing the risks they are asked to 

cover in renewed efforts to reduce and 

control claims. 

Gas boom boon for 

Bergesen 

Bergesen Worldwide Gas' (BW Gas) strategy 

to take advantage of the booming LPG 

and LNG markets has stepped up a gear 

with the acquisition of Yara International's 

ammonia fleet. 

The Yara deal, worth $347 mill, will see 

seven fully-owned and three chartered-in 

LPG/ammonia vessels join the Bergesen 

fleet of 72 LPG and LNG vessels. BW Gas 

will also enter into a partnership agreement 

under which the Norwegian 

shipowner will provide shipping services 

that Yara has defined to be 'non-core'. 

The partnership was intended to 

increase both parties' flexibility, providing 

a platform for future expansion of their 

seaborne ammonia trading and transportation 

businesses. 

Commenting on the deal, Jan Håkon 

Pettersen, managing director and ceo of 

Seut Industrier as 

Mosssev. 63/65 -1615 Fredrikstad, 

Pb. 351, 1601 Fredrikstad 

Tlf: 69 36 87 70 - Fax: 69 36 87 71, 

E-mail; torbjorn@seut.no, - www.seut.no 

BW Gas, said: 

"The partnership 

with 

Yara, the 

world's leading 

ammonia 

producer, is 

strategically 

important for 

BW Gas for us 

to reach our 

goal of becoming 

the pre- 

Jan Håkon Pettersen, 

managing director and ferred supplier 

of gas trans- 

ceo of BW Gas 

portation. The 

relationship will improve the utilisation of 

our fleet and create value for our shareholders. 

We will at the same time renew 

and expand our ammonia fleet and further 

strengthen our position as the world's 

leading shipping service provider to the 

gas industry." 

The vessels will be timechartered back 

to Yara for periods ranging from three to 

15 years. The timecharter rates are fixed 

and aggregated timecharter income the 

first full year of operation (2008) is about 

$81.5 mill. BW Gas will take over the 

timecharters of two K-Line newbuildings 

and the timecharter on Carbofin's Marola. 

The three timechartered vessels will be 

TANKER 


leased back to Yara for the same period 

that they are chartered in. 

LPG growth 

The LPG market, like its LNG counterpart 

with which it is closely associated, is expected 

to expand exponentially and by 2010, as 

more Middle East countries enter the market, 

more carriers will be required. As a consequence, 

72 gas carriers, mainly VLGCs, 

have been contracted for delivery between 

2006 and 2009. Two of these will be delivered 

to Bergesen from Hyundai in 2008. 

With new sources arising as a result of 

increased LNG production, BW Gas 

expects spot product prices to fall to reflect 

concerns that supply could exceed the 

market requirement. Some 31% of BW 

Gas' fleet operates on the spot market, the 

rest are either time chartered or on fixed 

contracts of affreightment (COAs). 

Contracts of 

Affreightment (COAs) 

"Customers require flexible shipping 

cover that allows them to load wherever 

the price is right. A timecharter restricts 

the charterer to cargoes where their ship is 

in the right place at the right time," said 

chartering manager Armand Staunton. 

"This exposes the charterer to changes in 

the commodity price that could exceed the 

BW Gas' strategy to take advantage of the booming LPG and LNG markets has stepped 

up a gear with newbuilding orders and acquisitions 

Collaboration 

Marianne Lie, director-general 

of the Norwegian Shipowners' 

Association believed that collaboration 

and co-operation 

were key factors in reducing 

risks. "The shipping industry 

is increasingly dominated by 

fewer, larger players which 

are more sensitive to HSE 

issues and share a global perspective. 

At the same time, 

marine insurers are facing 

increased competition, more 

demanding customers and a 

need to develop more and 

improved products," she said. 

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p15-19.qxd 09/05/2006 10:37 Page 4 

NORWAY 

Gemak skins-up for Eitzen tanker 

Turkish repair yard Gemak is to provide 

Norwegian shipowner Camillo 

Eitzen (CECO) with another skin for its 

1993-built chemical carrier Tour Margaux. 

The single hulled vessel will drydock at 

the yard near Istanbul, in July, where she 

will be converted into a double hulled 

vessel. 

Tour Margaux is the only single hulled 

vessel within the Navale Francaise fleet 

of six ships, which trade as part of Eitzen 

Chemical. The ship is fitted with 11 

Avesta 2205 duplex stainless centre 

tanks, one slop tank and 10 epoxy coated 

wing tanks on either side. She carries 

wine from Mediterranean ports to West 

Africa, among other cargoes. 

The maintenance of these small tanks is 

of interest; although this would not be 

impacted by the change to Marpol Annex 

II, which enters into force in 2007. The 

return leg for this trade is essentially palm 

oil and vegetable oils, which would be 

cost of freight." 

With its large fleet of LPG carriers, 

Bergesen is able to offer customers a flexible 

freighting solution that allows them to 

load at their chosen time and place. The 

challenge of logistics is left to Bergesen to 

handle. "A fleet of vessels positioned 

around the world allows us to provide this 

solution. Bergesen presently controls 38 

VLGCs and the availability of these permits 

the owner to offer the COA concept 

with the optimal mix of reliability, flexibility, 

lower waiting time and reduced exposure 

to product price movements than 

they would have with time chartered vessels", 

explained Staunton. 

LNG growth 

In addition to the LPG newbuildings, BW 

GAS is looking to expand its LNG fleet 

with four new vessels. However, these 

ships, like other LNGCs in the fleet, will 

operate on 20-year timecharter as 

Bergesen thought a spot market will take 

some time to develop 

In October last year, BW Gas signed 

two 20-year timecharter contracts with 

Suez LNG Trading in Luxembourg on the 

seriously impacted if no action was taken. 

Under Marpol Annex I, the phase out 

for the vessel would be 2010. However, 

It will take 85 days to convert 

the Tour Margaux 

given the ship's age and its general standard, 

CECO considered that the investment 

of some $4 mill, which includes loss 

of revenue for the extended repair period, 

was more commercially beneficial 

than scrapping the ship; this, despite losing 

1,700 cu m of cargo volume. 

New double hull ballast tanks will be 

1.2 m, which meets the requirements for 

both Annex I & II and the new continuous 

longitudinal bulkhead and 

framing represents an additional 

200 tonnes of steel. 

Also included is the recoating 

of wing tanks and the newly created 

ballast spaces. An inert gas 

generator is also under consideration 

for retrofitting on board, in 

order to give the vessel more 

flexibility should it in the future 

consider products cargoes. Work 

is expected to take 85 days. 

The project will be managed 

by Athens-based Bery Maritime 

in association with the technical 

office of Navale Francaise, based in St 

Malo. Bery Maritime is site supervisor for 

the series of 13,000 dwt coated chemical 

tankers currently under construction 

through to 2007 for Eitzen Chemical. • 

same day it signed shipbuilding contracts 

with Daewoo for two 156,100 cu m dual 

fuel, diesel electric LNGCs for delivery 

May 2009. 

The vessels are to serve the US market 

and will be able to call at Suez' LNG terminal 

in Boston. Although these vessels 

are considerably larger than the traditional 

Boston- max vessel, this has been made 

possible by special arrangements introduced 

by BW Gas and Daewoo. 

A record number of LNG projects are to 

be launched throughout this year and next 

with production starting from 2009/10. 

These include: NLNG Train 7 (Nigeria); 

OK LNG (Nigeria);various Qatari projects; 

Brass River LNG (Nigeria);Damietta Train 

2 (Egypt); Gorgon LNG (Australia); 

Angola LNG; Pluto LNG (Australia); Peru 

LNG and Gassi Touil (Algeria).Cedigaz 

forecasts LNG trade to grow by 6.9% per 

annum. between 2005 and 2020, reports 

BW Gas. 

Norway's electronic cartographer C- 

MAP is set to revolutionise the way in 

which navigational charts are produced, 

distributed and updated with the development 

of a raft of products aimed at simplifying 

vessel navigation. 

The scope of the Nautical Information 

Service project, which C-MAP hopes will 

bear fruit in 2007, is to provide four main 

modules: nautical management; enhanced 

chart data and display technology; largest 

portfolio of official ENCs and metrological 

information. 

The nautical management software 

would be used by shipboard personnel to 

ensure that the vessel has the most updated 

information available on board, both 

with regard to electronic chart data, paper 

charts, books and publications required by 

national international authorities. 

C-MAP will also enhance its navigation 

chart database with global terrestrial 

information. This, together with new high 

level 3-D display modules, will allow the 

navigator to use virtual reality display of 

coastal regions. 

The company, a pioneer in the development 

of ECDIS applications, with the 

world's largest portfolio of official ENC 

data, is authorised to supply official ENCs 

produced and issued by hydrographic 

offices around the world and this will 

form a major part of the Nautical 

Information Service. 

Weather data is also critical and the 

project aims to present updated and complex 

weather information to navigators in 

a simple manner enabling them to make 

optimum navigational decisions. 

The project is sponsored by Innovation 

Norway - a government organisation that 

took over the tasks of the Norwegian 

industrial and Regional Development 

Fund, the Norwegian trade Council, the 

Government Consulate Office for 

Inventors and the Norwegian Tourist 

board in 2004. 

Innovation Norway is to provide 25% 

of development costs incurred by C-MAP, 

but a condition of the agreement is that at 

the end of the project, due in mid-2007, 

new products and services must be 

launched and marketed. 

TO 


p15-19.qxd 09/05/2006 10:38 Page 5

p20-23.qxd 09/05/2006 10:51 Page 1 

FRANCE 

The tricolour is still flying 

France as a shipowning country is a shadow of its former self, while its marine equipment providers rely heavily on 

defence contracts to survive and its shiprepair industry is in decline. However, there are a few pockets of resistance. 

Like the UK, France's service industry 

has if anything strengthened as 

Paris boasts one of the world's leading 

classification societies, a leading 

broking house, plus strong marine insurance 

and finance interests. Maritime clusters 

are also springing up both regionally 

and nationally. 

French shipowning suffered another 

blow at the end of April when chemical 

tanker operator Fouquet-Sacop (FS) was 

snapped up by Norwegian quoted concern 

Camillo Eitzen for Eur219 mill. The 

Marseille-based owner has 14 ships with 

an average age of only four years. FS also 

has three ships on order, two of which are 

under construction in Turkey. 

One of the best known French organisations 

is class society Bureau Veritas 

(BV). Today BV claims to be the largest 

and strongest concern involved with ship 

classification and certification. Like almost 

all of the class societies, BV has expanded 

its service concept to encompass quality, 

health, safety, environmental management 

and social accountability. 

Last year, BV's share of the world 

order book grew to more than 10% and its 

classed fleet grew by 14% to over 7,100 

vessels totalling 49 mill gt. That growth 

has continued into 2006 TankerOperator 

was told during a meeting Paris. As of the 

middle of April, the classed figure had 

grown to 7,188 vessels of 50.1 mill gt as 

had its newbuilding fleet to 13.5 mill gt. 

Tankers represent 20% of the total fleet 

in service, while gas carriers - both LPG 

and LNG - represent another 8%. As for 

newbuildings, BV's share of the tanker 

market is 29% and the gas sector is 20%. 

LNG pioneer 

France was a pioneer of the LNG sector in 

the early 1960s with its gas containment 

designs and shipyard technology. Last 

year, BV helped develop and class technology, 

which led to the world's first LNG 

regasification vessel (LNGRV) entering 

service. BV worked with the shipyard- 

Daewoo - and with the shipowner - Exmar 

- to develop the idea, which included 

groundbreaking work on the hydrodynamic 

effects of sloshing. 

BV classes the only two LNGRVs currently 

in service and will class another 

three on order, which at 151,000 cu m, are 

bigger than their predecessors. BV also 

claimed to have pioneered the concept of 

diesel-electric propulsion plants for LNG 

carriers and will class 11 newbuildings fitted 

with these propulsion units. 

In addition, BV has around 45% of the 

newbuilding and conversion market for 

FPSOs, backed by the class society's Asset 

Integrity Management programme and 

its VeriSTAR hull tool used to manage 


fatigue. 

Several other projects are being studied, 

including LNG floating storage and 

regasification units (LNGFSRUs). BV said 

that we were nowhere near seeing the 

world's first LNG FPSO 

as yet and thought a 

conversion would come 

long before a newbuilding, 

although there 

were several projects 

being worked on. 

BV has developed 

what it calls the Asset 

Inspection Maintenance 

System (AIMS), which 

is a web-based data 

management tool 

Promoting Career and Educational Development in the Maritime Industries 

Master’s Degree in Maritime Operations and Management 

City University’s School of Engineering, supported by 

the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, has initiated 

a Masters’ degree programme in Maritime Operations 

and Management. 

Key features include: 

● A unique blend of professional, technical 

and management material, focused on the 

maritime industries. 

● Based in London, able to use prestigious visiting 

lecturers to supplement core academic material. 

● Part-time, flexible modular structure to suit students 

in full-time employment, not only in the London area. 

● Short intensive study periods enables modules to be 

arranged around professional commitments. 

● Provides the maritime industries with staff having 

wider management and technical skills. 

School of Engineering and 

Mathematical Sciences 

● Of global appeal – students from around the world are 

encouraged to participate. 

● Supported by the Honourable Company of Master Mariners 

and a Steering Committee drawn from a wide cross-section 

of the maritime industries. 

● Suitable for mature candidates and open to Master 

Mariners, Class 1 Engineers, 1st and 2nd Officers, 

and graduates working in associated occupations. 

● Strong foundation for further career development 

in all branches of the maritime industries. 

For further details please contact: MOaM 

Programme Administrator, School of Engineering, 

City University, Northampton Square, London 

EC1V 0HB, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7040 0118. 

http://www.city.ac.uk/sems/postgraduate/moam/index.html 

or email: pgeng@city.ac.uk Please quote 

reference MOaM02. 

The University for business and the professions 

BV's vice president marine division 

Didier Chaleat outlined the class 

society’s technical innovations 

enabling owners to look 

at their respective repair 

and maintenance schedules 

as laid down by 

class. It is based upon 

the VeriSTAR program, 

which analyses a vessel's 

hull. 

Like everyone else, 

BV has to keep up with the ever changing 

set of rules and regulations, which keep 

coming every one or two months. Several 

initiatives were launched to help owners, 

managers and operators cope with the 

seemingly never ending list of rules, recommendations 

and regulations. These 

include Tanker Management Self- 

Assessment scheme (TMSA) related services, 

training solutions offered on many subjects, 

the Green Passport scheme, CAP 

services and the 

VeriSTAR AIMS program. 

Some of the major 

conventions and rule 

changes being 

addressed include the 

IMO's MEPC ship 

recycling requirements 

and amendments; 

SOLAS requirements 

for new and existing 

ships entering force on 

1st July this year, 

revised MARPOL with 

respect to the carriage 

of vegetable oils and 

which flag states have 

ratified this change in 

the definitions. 

BV also has a program 

for ship surveys 

- when they are due, certification, recommendations, 

continuous survey updates 

and reports. Items can be shown that 

need to be surveyed in the following 30 

days, or the complete ship survey data 

can be shown. A survey checklist can 

also be requested by using 

this program. 

TMSA 

As for TMSA, BV offers 

training courses and will 

undertake an initial assessment 

and a sort of gap analysis. 

This includes an introductory 

session, implementation, 

risk assessment, incident 

investigation, TMSA 

internal audit and change 

management. The TMSA 

package has been developed 

together with Videotel, 

which burns the training sessions 

onto CDs for shipboard 

use. BV also co-operates with 

the training company on 

many other issues. 

BV thought that the 

scheme could be adapted for 

other shipping sectors and 

adopted as 'best practice' by 

owners, managers and operators 

alike. Risk assessment 

and incident investigation 

must involve the class society 

and so the likely participants 

need to be properly 

trained, BV said. The organisation 

also firmly believes 

in ISO 14000 to get to the 

best environmental level

p20-23.qxd 09/05/2006 10:54 Page 2 

and as a result, the society has developed 

its Green Passport concept along the 

same lines. 

As for the controversial Common 

Structural Rules (CSR) programme adopted 

for all new vessels whose newbuilding 

contracts had been signed on or after 1st 

April this year, the IMO's Marine Safety 

Committee (MSC) is due to debate this 

subject further at its May 

meeting, following strong 

objections from the Greek 

shipping community. 

BV's marine division's 

head of development 

Philippe Baumans said the 

tanker sector was the main 

reason for IACS members 

agreeing the rules. A special 

notation- CSR - has been 

added to those vessels' class 

descriptions, which conform 

to the new rules. As for sister 

vessels contracted after the 

due date as options, they will 

have an exemption from the 

new rules and can be constructed 

to the old rules. 

Baumans explained that 

for a vessel built for 25 years' 

North Atlantic trading, previously 

there was serious 

competition between the 

major class societies on 

scantlings allowance. BV has 

adapted its MARS programme, 

originally developed 

for bulkers, to incorporate 

tankers. The software 

was developed to look at 

transverse bulkheads, girders 

and other stress areas on 

board a tanker. BV found 

that 70% of the fatigue and 

stress damages occurring to 

tankers was caused by cracking. 

For example, about 18% 

of all suezmaxes have reported 

finding cracks. A Fatigue 

Plus notation is also being 

developed specifically for 

tankers. 

To cope with the CSR, a 

new generation of VeriSTAR 

has also been developed. The 

computer is now able to calculate 

the thickness of various 

areas on board and highlight 

where a problem exists. 

An automatic meshing program 

is used for fatigue 

analysis - a sort of hot spot 

map, Baumans said. 

On a VLCC, the increase 

to the midship strakes, longitudinals, 

stiffeners and other 

areas will increase the lightweight 

by around 4% to 7%. 

This, thought Baumans, 

would lead to a 7%-10% 

newbuilding price increase 

due to the extra amount of 

steel needed. He was of the 

opinion that a lot of orders 

had been placed this year 

before the deadline to the old 

rules purposely to avoid 

paying the higher prices. 

There are options attached to 

some to convert them to the 

new rules at a later date, he said. BV is 

actively involved in training the shipyards 

to construct tankers to the new rules. 

Coatings programme 

As for the coatings performance initiative, 

this was discussed by a joint working 

group in February. BV has drafted a text 

for the new rules, which will be submitted 

to the IMO’s MSC's May meeting. The 

idea is a Tanker Structure Coating Forum, 

which would set a 15-year standard for 

coatings. This would be based on a selection, 

preparation and application standard, 

which could be adopted by the IMO 

as early as December this year. Once 

adopted, the standard will appear in the 

IACS members' rules. One of the problems 

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TANKER 


is the ballast spaces on double hull 

tankers. These should be coated. 

However, IACS does not include inspections 

of ballast tanks in its rules. 

There are some that fear that if and 

when the new IACS rules on coatings are 

adopted, newbuilding tankers would have 

their deliveries put back to incorporate 

these new coatings recommendations. TO 


p20-23.qxd 09/05/2006 10:54 Page 3 

FRANCE 

Luboil supplies ‘critical’ 

Total gives chapter and verse on the state of the luboil and bunker markets, 

outlining future supply problems in certain areas. 

Luboil manufacturer and suppler 

Lubmarine, part of the TotalFinaElf 

oil group since its founding in 2001, 

intends to add to its partnership portfolio 

in the coming months, area manager 

Georges Puskas told TankerOperator. The 

last of its 10 partners, 

Thailand's PTT was added in 

2004. New blending plants in 

the southeast Mediterranean 

area and other projects are 

also in the pipeline. At present, 

Lubmarine boasts 70 

blending plants worldwide. 

All the barges used in 

European waters by the company 

will be double hull in 

two or three years time, especially 

those trading out of the 

Scheldt estuary to Zeebrugge. 

The barges are chartered for 

around five to 10 years. The 

barges either carry luboil in 

bulk or in drums, while some of the newer 

vessels are fitted for both. The latter can 

thus carry a large stock of different grades 

for greater logistics flexibility. Most of the 

orders are processed on the internet and 

are either delivered by road tanker, or by 

barge once processed. 

Lubmarine has a test centre based at 

Solaize in France, which houses a MAN 

B&W generator set type 5L16/24, developing 

450 kW at 1,000 

rev/min - 50 Hz. This represents 

a $2 mill investment 

and gives Lubmarine 

the possibility to test different 

formulations simultaneously 

and under the 

same conditions through 

separated circuits. 

Lubmarine's after sales 

service includes Diagomar 

Plus for systems oil analysis 

with the results released 

through the internet, or 

Tech'Care, which is a mini 

laboratory for shipboard 

use. Technical visits can 

also be carried out and data banks of information 

are also available for analysis. 

Five basic products are offered: 

• Disola - for high and medium speed 

Georges Puskas 

four-stroke engines operating on gasoil, 

or mdo. 

• Talusia - a cylinder oil for slow speed 

two-stroke engines. 

• Aurelia - for medium speed four-stroke 

engines operating on IFO and HFO. 

• Atlanta - for system oils on slow speed 

two-stroke engines. 

• Auxiliary lubricants. 

Lubmarine has around 10% share of the 

market and delivers product in more than 

700 ports worldwide. About 40% of the 

sales are European with a similar figure 

Asian. The latter is growing considerably 

on the back of shipping and port investment 

in the Asia/Pacific region. 

The big problem is the world's refineries 

ability to produce the necessary base oils in 

enough quantity to satisfy the market now 

and in the future. As has been well documented 

in the pages of TankerOperator, 

since January 2005, the situation has fundamentally 

changed in supply, marketing 

and availability of product. The situation 

remained 'critical', Lubmarine said. 

Base oil costs have rocketed from $55 

per 100 kilos to $140 per 100 kilos in less 

than two years and worse was still to come. 

"The days of rebates has long gone", Puskas 

said. In addition to additives and base oils 

being in short supply, demand is growing 

on the back of the rise in ship movements 

worldwide and also due to other industries 

stepping up their production, including the 

steel and textile industries, which also use 

luboils for their machinery. 

Today there are only about four marine 

lubricant suppliers worldwide down from 

a figure of 10 a few years ago. ExxonMobil 

has between 22%-25% of the base oils market, 

followed by Shell with 15% and Total 

with less than 10%. In addition, there are 

around 50 small suppliers, mainly supplying 

regionally and locally. However, 

Lubmarine claims to be in a better position 

that their competitors for base oil as the 

refineries in Le Havre and Dunkirk, plus 

partners such as Repsol are producing 

base oils, so the company said it was not 

going to run short. 

Planning long term is essential in 

today's market, Lubmarine said. Seeking 

other types of base oils and other long term 

solutions is high on the agenda. Long term 

supply contracts have increased in importance, 

while fixed price contracts are a 

thing of the past as is the spot market. The 

prices are reviewed during the contractual 

period. Due to the current situation, customers 

are no longer attracted by price, but 

by service plus other considerations. 

Of course there are other considerations 

affecting shipping in general, which 

will have a knock-on effect on lubes. These 

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p20-23.qxd 09/05/2006 10:55 Page 4 

include ever larger containerships and 

other types of vessels, the MARPOL emission 

rules, the need for low sulphur burning 

fuels in certain areas, electronically 

controlled engines, plus the escalating 

price of oil. 

Taking ultra low sulphur fuel of 0.5% 

or lower as an example, a vessel will need 

to be fitted with two storage tanks for 

cylinder oil. It must also be fitted with the 

correct pipe work to change from one type 

of cylinder oil to another. The ships' crew 

must be properly trained to switch over 

from one type of cylinder oil to the other at 

the correct time, while carrying two cylinder 

oils will increase lube oil costs and 

ordering complexity. A larger lubricant 

stock will need to be kept on board. 

To cope with this, a new Talusia range 

of lubricant is under development, which 

should be ready in around 12 months. Of 

course, it must have the approval of the 

engine manufacturers and be proven in 

the field. 

The internet-based Diagomar Plus 

reporting system is guaranteed to respond 

in 48 hours, but 24 hours can also be 

achieved. Customers and surveyors have 

immediate access to their own reports, 

which have been stored since 1999 and can 

be identified by vessel name or registration 

number. More than 220,000 analyses 

are stored to date. 

Bunker supplies 

Another string to Total's bow is the supply 

of bunkers. Total's bunkering sales and 

development manager Denis Deutsch said 

the overall bunker industry is increasing by 

3%-5% every 12 months and currently 

amounts to 150 mill tonnes per year. This 

total is mainly made up of fuel oil (125 mill 

tonnes), while distillates (gasoil, mdo and 

mgo) make up the remaining 25 mill tonnes. 

Total Marine Fuel's annual sales total 

five mill tonnes split into 80 % physical 

supplies and 20% trading. Since March of 

this year, Houston has been added to the 

list of outlets, supplied from a refinery in 

Port Arthur (Texas). 

IFO 380 cSt 1.5% sulphur is now available 

at Dunkirk and Zeebrugge. The other 

bunker stations in Brunsbuttel and 

Immingham will supply low sulphur fuel 

on demand. Barging represents over 

80% of all deliveries worldwide. Like 

Lubmarine, Total Marine Fuels is replacing 

its original barge fleet with double hull 

vessels. Brunsbuttel is Total's door to the 

Baltic region, which becomes a SECA on 

Denis Deutsch 

TANKER 


19th May this year. 

For the ARA region, a 4,000 dwt barge 

is due to come on stream in May this year 

as is a 3,000 dwt barge for operations in 

Gabon, which is under construction in 

Turkey. Another of 2,700 

dwt is due to be stationed at 

Dunkirk this year. 

In the ARA range, Total 

has a timechartered barge 

based at Antwerp, a new 

declassified coastal vessel 

built to IMO II specifications. 

This can be used to serve 

Zeebrugge at wave heights of 

up to 1.75 m. Another barge 

was built at Astrakhan in 

Russia and is outfitting at 

Dordrecht. She is due to be 

christened in June. 

Deutsch said that pumping 

rates are up to 1,000 

tonnes per hour and that the size of barges 

in the Rotterdam area had increased to 

10,000 – 12,000 tonne capacity. New MAR- 

POL rules have been introduced, which 

state that bunker sulphur content should 

be within 4.5%, bunker delivery notes 

should be provided, another sample taken 

during delivery for the relevant authorities 

to check and the vessel's IMO registration 

number should appear on all bunker 

delivery notes. 

Deutsch thought that were would be 

enough product available for the first 

SECA area in the Baltic, 

where bunkers will have a 

cap of 1.5% sulphur content. 

However, he said supply will 

become questionable for any 

new SECAs declared in the 

Mediterranean, US and Asia 

after 2010, or if the current 

SECA cap is decreased. 

At present, refineries are 

not interested in fitting desulphurising 

equipment, he 

said. There are projects in the 

Middle East Gulf, but they 

have proved to be very 

expensive. Studies are ongoing 

into the fitting of scrubbers 

and other ideas to get passed the 

emission problem. 

Deutsch said we would probably have 

to see vessels fitted with two systems 

plus the attendant piping on those trading 

to and from the Baltic and North Sea 

areas. Blending is not recommended on 

board ship. 

TO 

Shipbuilding and repair take a buffeting 

France's shipbuilding industry is a shadow 

of its former self. Apart from a few 

smaller yards concentrating on naval, specialist 

craft and super yachts, the largest 

yard involved with commercial shipbuilding 

is Alstom's Chantiers de l'Atlantique. 

However, even the future of this 

famous yard could change as in a Eur500 

mill deal, Aker Yards was due to takeover 

the St Nazaire and Lorient yards of 

Chantiers de l'Atlantique as 

TankerOperator went to press. 

The purchase, which has already 

gained EU approval, will see Aker take a 

75% stake in a new company to be formed, 

leaving Chantiers with 25%. This agreement 

only includes the shipyards and not 

the other interests within the diverse 

Alstom Group. 

Part of the deal calls for Alstom to 

retain the remaining 25% equity until 2010 

after which it could be sold to Aker for a 

further Eur125 mill. 

Fabrice Theobald of the French 

Shipbuilders Association claimed that 

Europe was the largest area for shipbuilding 

in revenue terms, partly due to cruise 

and specialist shipbuilding, including 

super yachts. 

As for the St Nazaire shipyard, 

Theobald said that it would continue to 

market itself to the cruise and ferry industry, 

but is now finding it difficult to compete 

with South Korean shipyards for gas 

ships. There are three LNGCs currently 

building to be operated by Gaz de France, 

but that could be the end of the road for 

tankers. In the past the yard has delivered 

innovative gas ships, ULCCs and VLCCs 

during the past 40 years. The yard is cooperating 

with Chinese yard Hudong over 

the building of a series of gas ships for 

domestic operation. 

French shiprepair also seemed to be 

going through a period of change. Many 

large docks have shut down, including Le 

Havre. Marseille, housing France's largest 

repair complex, is hanging on by the skin 

of its teeth, having agreed to sell off some 

of the activities to Union Naval Barcelona 

(UNB), part of the Boluda Group. 

Previous Marseille shiprepairer, 

Compagnie Marseillaise de Reparation 

(CMR) started bankruptcy proceedings 

last November. As a result, the Port 

Autonome de Marseille (PAM) invited 

tenders for the lease of Drydocks Nos 8 

and 9. The large ULCC capacity Drydock 

No 10 was closed as it was in need of 

refurbishment. The other smaller docks 

are now dedicated to super yacht and 

other leisure vessels, plus some commercial 

repairs. 

The only bid received for the graving 

docks was from UNB, which was considered 

by the PAM to be technically competent, 

but well short financially. However, 

by April of this year, a deal had been 

struck, despite the intervention of an 

Italian company at the 11th hour. 

UNB has agreed to lease the two docks 

for 18 years with PAM receiving an annual 

rent of Eur2.1 mill. The crane services 

will be made available 24/7. The two 

drydocks are 350 m and 250 m in length 

respectively and have undergone a Eur10 

mill upgrading programme during the 

past five years. Much of the money was 

spent on upgrading the entrance gates. 

UNB has said that it intends to market 

the docks for cruise vessels and large 

LNG/LPG carriers. Parallel to the deal, 

PAM's support services are being 

revamped in an effort to reduce operating 

costs and to optimise the level of service 

on offer. 

Last year, the two docks handled three 

gas carriers and three tankers. The repair 

manager told TankerOperator that the business 

had increased as vessels tended to 

spend longer time in drydock during 

scheduled repair periods. On average, 

vessels spent at least two weeks in dock. 

PAM also has extensive afloat repair 

wharves, some of which are located on the 

outer wall while others are alongside the 

closed giant No 10 dock. The use of individual 

sub-contractors will not be allowed 

if and when UNB takes over. 

TO 

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web: www.gmsinc.net

p24.qxd 09/05/2006 11:02 Page 1 

INDUSTRY PROFILE 

Total - Shipowning is not for us 

An oil major explains its position on quality of operations and how it undertakes vetting procedures for its chartered fleet. 

The world's fifth ranked oil major, 

Paris-based Total, runs its tanker 

operations somewhat differently to 

that of its rivals. Quitting tanker owning in 

1993, Total now covers its shipping 

requirements by using the charter market, 

which throws up the question of vetting 

the ships it charters. Having had its confidence 

shaken by the fall-out following the 

Erika sinking in 1999, the company 

has since put in place strict 

controls. 

No longer a shipowner, 

Total, however, operates 

around 70 tankers at any one 

time, mostly on longterm 

timecharter. Luc Gillet, vice 

president shipping explained 

that the company has no intention 

of returning to shipowning 

for the foreseeable future. The 

average length of a longterm 

timecharter is five years, plus 

options. 

Gillet's department assesses 

both the ship and the cargo after 

each and every voyage. At first 

when a tanker is put up for a 

charter, the vessel will be 

assessed based on the SIRE system 

plus other information 

sources and then the management 

and crewing will be 

assessed using an in-house 

adaptation of the Tanker 

Management Self-Assessment 

(TMSA) scheme before a final decision is 

made as to whether to employ the vessel. 

When assessing a ship, all the data 

available will be taken into consideration, 

including Equasis, Port State Control 

records, the vessel's classification society 

and other information sources. A risk 

assessment will then be taken against the 

value of the business. 

Once chartered, a vessel's voyage 

report will be reviewed following each 

trip and the company undertakes a strict 

regime of continuous inspections, which 

are carried out either physically or 

through the SIRE scheme. For chemical 

tankers, the CDI criteria are used. Gillet 

explained that they are two totally separate 

inspection systems and therefore cannot 

be compared. 

To assess the quality of the shipowner/manager 

and the crew, TMSA can be 

Luc Gillet, vice president shipping, Total 

used, Gillet said. The scheme's information 

criteria is first used and then the 

owner is audited using TMSA as a guide. 

"We are interested in quality," he said, "the 

assessment of the vessel and crew is very 

important." He explained that Total had 

adapted the TMSA scheme to its own formula 

in order to audit the vessel's shoreside 

and shipboard management. 

Total's inspection team of 15 surveyors 

working on an exclusive basis are accredited 

by OCIMF. Gillet stressed that if a 

vessel was found not to conform to the 

SIRE recommendations then it would not 

be recommended for charter. 

Long term charters 

Total is today primarily a long term charterer 

of tanker tonnage, although the short 

term spot charter market is also used to 

give the oil major greater flexibility. The 

company ceased its shipowning 

operations in 1993. The priority for 

Total's shipping department today, 

according to Gillet, is how to operate 

a fleet to serve the oil major's 

needs in all sectors. Flexibility is the 

key here as is the correct selection of 

partners - shipowners and managers. 

If there is a problem with a 

tanker that is already operating for 

the group, the company usually offhires 

the vessel for repairs to be 

undertaken before re-hiring it, once 

the problem has been fixed. 

He claimed that the age of the 

Total operated fleet is below that of 

the worldwide average for tankers. 

Technically, the company is going 

down the redundancy route when 

chartering. For example, in 

February of this year, Total agreed a 

five year timecharter for the 65,200 

dwt products tanker Stena Perros, 

which is not due to be delivered 

until the beginning of 2008. This is 

the third of Concordia Maritime's 

revolutionary Stena P-Maxes to be 

chartered to Total. The first two, Stena 

Paris and Stena Provence, were delivered to 

Total in December 2005 and March 2006 

respectively. 

The Max system was designed and 

developed by Concordia Maritime to load 

at the maximum capacity on a shallow 

draught. In addition to double hulls, the 

vessels are fitted with twin engine housed 

in two separate engine rooms, twin propellers, 

rudders and steering gear, plus 

separate control systems. The 'P' class vessels 

are also designated Ice class 1B to 

DNV class. Total also has a Class 1A vessel 

on its books. All the ice class tankers 

operated by Total are aframax or smaller. 

Total has also chartered in a 15,000 

dwt products tanker built with twin skeg, 

twin engine and twin rudder systems as 

Gillet explained, "redundancy was a very 

important factor." He also preferred vessels 

with PTI-PTO systems for greater 

fuel efficiency. 

Varied tanker types 

Gillet's portfolio includes VLCCs, suezmax, 

aframaxes, panamaxes and coastal 

products and chemical tankers. The next 

delivery into the fleet will be a suezmax, 

he said. More than 95% of the tankers are 

fitted with double hulls with only 1% of 

single hull construction. The remainder 

are either built having double sides or 

double bottoms. "We are looking very 

carefully at the behaviour of double hull 

vessels", Gillet said responding to a question 

on the maintenance problems of the 

void spaces. "Gas detection equipment 

should be placed in all the ballast areas 

and the void spaces inspected periodically," 

he continued. 

As for LNG, Total has affiliate companies 

to look after this sector. In April, the 

group took delivery of the Arctic Lady 

from Mitsubishi on a timecharter basis. 

This vessel was built specifically for the 

giant Snohvit project, which is running 

late. Total is also involved in a development 

with Yemen Energy in which the 

French company will become the operator 

of four LNGCs of 160,000 cu m each. Two 

are building in South Korea and two in 

Japan. 

Gillet saw LNG operations as a key element 

for the future, so the company 

should have the capability to operate such 

ships, which is the biggest problem bearing 

in mind the shortage of expertise in 

this sector of the shipping industry, he 

said. 

TO 

The marine travel company 

specialises in crew and 

marine travel for the Shipping 

and Marine Industries. 

Please contact us or visit our 

website for more details of 

how we can help you 

www.themarinetravel.co.uk 

Tel: +44 1227 470720 Fax: +44 1227 470646 e-mail: info@themarinetravel.co.uk 


p25.qxd 09/05/2006 11:03 Page 1 

TECHNOLOGY TANK CLEANING 

TANKER 


For Unitor read - Barwil Unitor 

Under the banner, ‘Barwil Unitor Ship Services’, the former ship supply and service provider Unitor and Barwil Agencies, 

both of Norway, have launched a series of new leaflets and publications, discovered Brian Warshaw. 

Graphically, out go the deep blue 

covers, representative of the bleak 

contaminated cargo tank; and in 

come white borders and colourful photographs, 

to portray a sparkling clean tank. 

New leaflets are not the only change. 

While Unitor's established products 

remain, new or improved products and 

services have been introduced to supplement 

these. Under its old name, Unitor 

previously held a marketing campaign for 

its tank cleaning products in 2003. 

On 20th January the Oslo Stock 

Exchange decided that, following the purchase 

by Wilh Wilhelmsen ASA (WW) of 

the outstanding shares in Unitor that they 

had not previously owned until 2nd 

January, the company could be de-listed. 

On that day, Unitor became a subsidiary 

of WW under the name of Barwil Unitor 

Ship Services. In effect, Barwil, also 

owned by WW, had joined forces with 

Unitor to form a maritime services network. 

The name Unitor will continue to 

exist on its products and services, but the 

corporate and administrative structure 

will change. 

The new organisation is focused on 

delivering improved vessel operating efficiency 

to the marine market. It is based on 

the local expertise of 3,700 people working 

out of 390 sites in 116 countries, linked to 

form a global capability network. In 2005, 

this network made 175,000 deliveries to 

16,400 ships and handled 51,000 port calls. 

Although Barwil and 

Unitor are now one organisation, 

their customers will 

retain the same contacts and 

ordering routines as before. 

Barwil will provide port 

agency services and a wide 

range of shipping, and cargo 

related services, while the 

Unitor organisation will continue 

to produce and market 

chemicals for cleaning cargo 

tanks, cleaning materials 

application equipment, dispersants 

for oil spills, plus 

the many other strings to its 

bow, which have been the 

mainstay of the company 

down the years. 

In April, Unitor launched 

three new cleaning fluids, 

Unipol, Slip-Coat, and 

Aquatuff High Foam. 

Unipol is a pH neutral tank 

cleaner detergent that it 

claims is especially suitable 

for hydrocarbon freeing of 

tanks before loading sensitive 

cargoes. It can also be 

used as a general-purpose 

economical tank cleaner that 

is safe to use on all tank coating 

including zinc silicate. 

The introduction of Slip- 

Coat could be of benefit to 

both chemical and oil shippers. It is formulated 

to leave a thin film on the tank 

surface, preventing many cargoes from 

sticking to the coating. Water soluble, it is 

non-corrosive and environmentally safe, 

Unitor claimed. 

Aquatuff High Foam is a water-based 

heavy-duty alkaline cleaner that forms a 

foam that stays on vertical surfaces for an 

increased time. Barwil Unitor claimed its 

use was economical, and that it was a 

'problem solver' for difficult tasks; but it 

was likely to be of more use with bulk 

cargo where soot, coal, and petcoke were a 

problem, rather than liquid cargoes. 


Barwil Unitor listed 11 of its products 

appearing on the IMO's list of cleaning 

agents that have been evaluated and 

found to have met the current requirements 

of paragraph 1.8.2 and the 

Standards for Procedures and 

Arrangements for the Discharge of 

Noxious Liquid Substances. 

Alongside the new sales literature, 

Barwil Unitor updated its 'Unitor Tank 

Cleaning Manual' to a January 2006 edition. 

The manual is claimed to be an excellent 

introduction for newcomers to the 

tanker industry, and also provides indepth 

technical information about handling 

the specific products the company 

supplies. Those interested in receiving a 

copy should apply to the Barwil Unitor 

representative at a port of call. 

Eleven Unitor products appear on the IMO’s list of cleaning agents, including Aquatuff High Foam. 

 

Also of value to tanker personnel will 

be a small, two-page guide entitled, 'Cargo 

Hold Cleaning Guide', reference ID No. 

808311, Revision No. 01. 

The Wilh Wilhelmsen Group is one of 

Norway's largest centres of maritime 

expertise. Half the workforce of over 

13,000 people, sail on more than 200 ships. 

The rest of the staff work in over 250 

offices throughout 60 countries, including 

a number of terminals. 

TO

p26-29.qxd 09/05/2006 11:15 Page 1 

TECHNOLOGY ELECTRONIC CHARTS 

Convergence of radar and ECDIS 

Is there anything that distinguishes a radar display showing a chart underlay 

from an ECDIS showing a radar overlay, asks Dr Andy Norris*? 

IMO performance standards allow both 

configurations. If such displays have 

the same capability are they not effectively 

interchangeable? 

In fact there are 

important differences. 

These arise 

because of the different 

tasks that are 

implied when using 

an ECDIS or a radar. 

Despite these differences, 

ships will 

increasingly have 

multifunction displays 

(MFDs) on the 

bridge that can be 

configured as a 

radar or as an 

ECDIS, depending 

upon the immediate 

use by the bridge 

team. 

At the moment, 

MFDs are associated 

with integrated bridge systems but they 

are increasingly likely to be found on standard 

bridges and perhaps even as retrofit 

systems. 

The main advantage of MFDs is their 

configurability. The bridge team can 

decide on their use according to their 

specific needs, whether some are left 

semi-permanently in a single configuration 

or to allow certain displays to be 

used as more general navigation workstations. 

In particular, if displays fail, functionality 

can be taken on by other MFDs, continuing 

to allow the bridge configuration to 

be dynamically optimised to any particular 

situation, albeit with fewer displays. 

On a standard bridge if, say, a radar 

display fails you have no other alternative 

but to operate with less radar displays. 

MFDs give redundancy and therefore provide 

a valuable 'soft' failure mechanism. 

The display and processing requirements 

for radar and ECDIS require very 

similar hardware. The differences arise in 

their software requirements. This makes 

the design of MFDs covering these two 

functions - as well as others - relatively 

straightforward. 

In the more distant future we may find 

that displays cease being known as radar 

or ECDIS but will be simply called navigation 

displays. 

This is not surprising as even a basic 

radar being installed from 1 July 2008 

needs comprehensive AIS display facilities, 

which is not a radar function at all. 

Calling it a radar display starts becoming 

a misnomer. 

In fact, a radar has two major but unrelated 

tasks. The first is as an aid to collision 

avoidance and the second is to aid 

own-ship position fixing. 

Dr Andy Norris 

Task-oriented displays 

Perhaps it is best to think in terms of what 

are the main tasks of a ship's navigation 

system, rather than in 

terms of the basic technology. 

These tasks are 

route planning, route 

monitoring (including 

position fixing) and 

collision avoidance. 

Therefore, specifically 

designed screens 

and functions - that is 

task-oriented displays - 

should be available to 

assist the execution of 

these tasks. 

Task-oriented thinking 

can go further. For 

instance, special displays 

to assist anchor 

watch and personoverboard 

can also be 

envisaged, rather than 

relying on general purpose 

displays for such 

specific tasks. 

When an MFD is in a specific 'mode' it 

is an IMO requirement that the mode in 

The MARIS NEMESIS S-VDR with 

optional ECDIS900 has been 

extremely well received in the tanker 

market since its release during Nor- 

Shipping in 2005, the company claimed. 

It is claimed to be a 

very innovative product 

in that it is the 

world's first type 

approved S-VDR offering 

an optional electronic 

chart display 

and information system 

(ECDIS). It has 

been independently 

type approved by 

DNV and the US Coast 

Guard (USCG) in addition 

to the Chinese and 

Ukraine shipping registries. 

This additional 

capability, which can 

be installed at the same 

time as the S-VDR, or 

at any time after - 

requiring only a monitor, keyboard and 

additional ECDIS software - should be of 

particular interest to a shipowner facing 

the US 108 Port and Waterways Safety 

Act, which calls for vessels over 20 m 

long operating in US waters to use official 

electronic navigation charts (ENC's) 

from January 2007. 

Perhaps of greater interest is the 


use is properly indicated. 

For now and into the foreseeable 

future, MFDs with radar and ECDIS capability 

will have to use the specific terms, 

'Radar' and 'ECDIS' for their main modes, 

as these are the functions defined by IMO, 

rather than the navigational tasks. 

Perhaps future IMO equipment performance 

standards will change to 

become task-oriented standards, rather 

than specifying the requirements for 

items of equipment. 

Unfortunately, this change is very difficult 

to implement in a practical manner, 

however desirable, and therefore the conventional 

terms 'radar display' and 

'ECDIS display' are likely to be used for 

some time. 

IMO already has a number of requirements 

that are applicable to the design of 

navigational MFDs. These are contained 

within its performance standards for navigational 

displays, integrated navigation 

systems and integrated bridge systems. 

SOLAS 

What is not clear is how multifunction displays 

fit into the carriage requirements of 

SOLAS Chapter V. 

unique standard software feature of the 

MARIS S-VDR for record and playback 

of S-VDR data, which far exceeds the 

requirements of IMO's SN/Circ/245 

issued on 17th June 2005. Data is 

recorded to a standard DVD and may be 

replayed on any multimedia PC. When 

combined with the optional ECDIS900 

the complete ECDIS logbook data, 

including actual charts used during the 

voyage and their update status are also 

recorded along with all ECDIS alarms. 

Instant 'event' recording to DVD or USB 

memory stick for transmission to head 

For instance, if a ship is of a size that 

has to carry two radars and it also has a 

paperless chart system, consisting of an 

ECDIS and a second ECDIS for back-up, 

how many MFDs does that equate to? 

A possibly good answer is four but 

do the regulations imply that any two 

of these must be continuously used 

for radar and the other two for ECDIS 

functions? 

Is it acceptable for the bridge team 

to adopt different configurations according 

to their immediate needs, in the 

knowledge that an appropriate configuration 

- particularly the statutory configuration 

- can always be switched in 

instantaneously? 

If bridge teams are permitted to do this 

- as surely they should be - have they been 

trained to make the right decisions? 

Although SOLAS does not mention 

MFDs, Regulation 5 of Chapter 1 allows 

'Equivalents' to the regulations, at the discretion 

of the flag state. 

This means that individual maritime 

administrations have to make their own 

judgements, perhaps on each specific 

installation. This is clearly unsatisfactory 

and could be a disincentive to use MFDs. 

MARIS makes a name for itself 

World’s first S-VDR, offering ECDIS as an option 

office via the vessel's communications 

channels is also a standard feature of the 

recording systems. 

MARIS' S-VDR is certified for simple 

annual remote survey by the crew in cooperation 

with the company, greatly 

reducing costs normally associated with 

annual survey and recertification of 

equipment. The S-VDR is based entirely 

on commercial off-the-shelf hardware, 

which ensures low life cycle costs and 

worldwide availability of spare parts. A 

worldwide network of certified service 

stations also supports this feature. 

Thorough on board crew training in 

the operation and capabilities of the S- 

VDR are included with each installation. 

Pre-installation equipment checklists are 

provided prior to installation and several 

installation options after training from 

full turnkey to crew installations, are 

available. Options are also available to 

meet individual shipowner requirements 

with respect to non-mandatory 

interfaces and extended data recording 

by means of higher capacity hard drives. 

Since its introduction in July 2005 

more than 170 S-VDR systems with 

optional ECDIS have been ordered for 

installation on tankers of various type. 

The latest being Stolt Nielsen, which 

placed a fleet order for the NEMESIS S- 

VDR with optional ECDIS. (see 

TankerOperator, March, page 20)

p26-29.qxd 09/05/2006 11:26 Page 2 

TANKER 


So why cannot an ECDIS with a radar 

overlay be considered to be a radar with a 

chart underlay? 

On an ECDIS the charted information 

naturally takes precedence. Any radar 

data on top, be it 'raw' radar images or target 

tracking (ARPA) vectors, have to allow 

the chart symbols to remain visible. In 

effect the chart data acts as an opaque 

overlay onto a radar background. 

On a radar the opposite is 

true. If a chart underlay is 

being used the radar image 

always take precedence over 

the charted features. 

In addition there are 

numerous requirements that 

are particular to a radar or an 

ECDIS. 

For instance, range rings, 

an azimuth bearing scale and 

CPA calculation are required 

on a radar; route planning 

functions, look ahead hazard 

detection and voyage recording 

facilities are required on 

an ECDIS. 

These differences can be 

readily incorporated into 

an MFD, using a task-oriented 

display philosophy. At 

any one time the Mode 

Indicator will identify 

whether the selected display 

meets IMO ECDIS or radar 

requirements. 

Background processing 

and alarm monitoring will 

be maintained on non-displayed 

functions to enable 

rapid switch-over and 

alarming. 

approved chart radar, with an ENC 

underlay does not have many of the features 

of ECDIS that are considered essential 

within the design of a digital charting 

system. 

For instance, to ensure safe route monitoring 

and planning an ECDIS cannot 

show less charted detail than that defined 

within the Display Base. A chart radar is 

usefully allowed to display less detail than 

this to avoid confusing the assimilation of 

radar data. 

Also, chart radars do not have to 

include the route checking and hazard 

monitoring facilities provided on an 

ECDIS. 

In conclusion, we should look forward 

to the availability of MFD solutions 

embracing radar and ECDIS functionality 

but be careful to use standalone equipment 

for the type approved purpose to 

which it was designed. 

TO 

*This article was reproduced by kind 

permission of sister publication 

Digital Ship. 

Stand-alone 

equipment 

It is dangerous to assume 

that a stand-alone ECDIS can 

be used safely as a radar or 

vice versa, despite the apparent 

capability of modern 

designs. There are numerous 

reasons for this. 

For instance an ECDIS 

may be capable of displaying 

target tracks from an ARPA. 

However, during the type 

approval process it is only 

necessary for it to have been 

tested to ensure that radar 

images and target vectors 

appear in the correct positions 

and do not degrade the 

chart displayed information. 

Type approval would 

not necessarily include 

checks on other transferred 

data concerning tracked targets 

such as CPA, TCPA or 

track number. 

These may be inadequately 

displayed or even in error. 

Furthermore, it may not be 

possible to independently 

choose whether true or relative 

vectors are displayed. 

Also, the actual reference 

frame of the vectors may not 

be clearly displayed. 

Similarly, even a type 


p26-29.qxd 09/05/2006 11:27 Page 3 

TECHNOLOGY ELECTRONIC CHARTS 

UKHO one step closer to 

global ENC coverage 

The UK Hydrographic Office 

(UKHO) has signed a collaboration 

agreement with the Japanese 

Hydrographic Association (JHA) that 

will enable it to provide Admiralty customers 

with over 600 new electronic 

navigational charts (ENCs) of Japanese 

waters and the Malacca Strait. 

This agreement comes on the back 

of a number of other significant moves 

for the UKHO, which in addition to 

signing with Japan, has recently 

secured distribution arrangements 

with several other nations in Asia. 

Together, these deals will provide 

extensive ENC coverage of Asian 

waters and bring the UKHO a major 

step closer to providing its customers 

with a single source for all their official 

ENC needs. 

"When the UKHO launched the 

Admiralty ECDIS service just over a 

year ago, it included nine countries' 

ENCs supported by comprehensive 

ARCS coverage," said Andy Criddle, 

the UKHO's product manager. "In the 

last year, coverage from the original 

nine nations has grown significantly, a 

further 16 nations' data has been added 

and agreements to incorporate five 

more nation's ENCs have also been 

secured," he added. 

Admiralty ECDIS service customers 

will pay a fixed subscription fee up 

front and are automatically supplied 

with new ENCs, as they become available 

during their subscription period, 

without extra charge. Therefore, customers 

opting for the Admiralty ECDIS 

service - particularly those trading in 

the Baltic and the Mediterranean where 

growth over the last 12 months has 

been most significant for UKHO - have 

already received the benefits from this 

new UKHO service, and customers 

trading in Asia will receive similar benefits 

in the months to come. 

The new ENCs supplied by the JHA 

provide comprehensive coverage of 

Japanese waters at overview, general, 

coastal, approach and harbour scales, 

including the key ports of Kobe, 

Nagoya and Tokyo. In addition, ENCs 

of the busy Malacca Strait - reported to 

carry approximately 60,000 vessels a 

year between the Indian Ocean and the 

South China Sea - are provided via the 

same agreement. 

• 

Norway also signs 

agreement with JHA 

The Norwegian Hydrographic Service 

(NHS), operator of the Primar Stavanger 

electronic navigational chart (ENC) service, 

has also signed a distribution agreement 

for Japanese ENCs with the Japan 

Hydrographic Association (JHA). 

Japan has full coverage of ENCs in 

usage bands from harbour to general. In 

addition, oceans around the country are 

covered with ENCs in overview scales. 

The Japanese coverage spans from 

Indonesia in the south to the Kamchatka 

Peninsula in the north, North Korea in the 

west and the Pacific as far as Hawaii in the 

east - close to 600 ENCs. 

In the Pacific, the ENCs meet seamlessly 

with the American NOAA ENCs, which 

are also available from Primar Stavanger. 

In addition, Primar will be able to distribute 

ENCs of the Malacca and Singapore 

Straits under this agreement. 

Spreading ENCs to all parts of the 

world via efficient and secure distribution 

mechanisms is essential for the safety of 

navigation and the progress of paperless 

navigation, the JHA said. 

Frode Klepsvik, director of the 

Norwegian Hydrographic Service added: 

"Including the Japanese ENCs in Primar 

Stavanger is a major step towards creating 

a worldwide one-stop-shop for such official 

charts." 

All ENCs from Japan will be available 

together with the rest of Primar 

Stavanger's comprehensive coverage 

through tools such as the Primar Chart 

Catalogue and the Primar Online service. 

Meanwhile, fellow Norwegian concern 

C-MAP reported significant interest in its 

products in the Asia/Pacific region. 

According to Borge Hetland, C-MAP's 

sales manager, the company's growth 

strategy in Asia was beginning to pay off. 

C-MAP opened a subsidiary office in 

Tokyo in 1999. Sales in Japan last year 

were up by 30% compared with the year 

before. So far this year, sales are up 50% on 

the first quarter 2005. 

Asians prefer Vector 

charts 

Hetland said he believed that C-MAP's 

success was partly due to the fact that 

Asian shipping companies were willing to 

embrace vector charts. "The market realises 

what C-MAP has always stated - vector 

charts are the only solution for full ECDIS 

functionality", he said. "We have learned 

that shipowners are less responsive to 

aggressive marketing efforts to promote 

raster charts. In the end, shipowners will 

choose the best solution and increasingly, 

that solution is vector charts," he added. 

C-MAP's Japanese president Isao Sagara 

is a former staff member at the Norwegian 

Embassy in Tokyo. He said: "We are seeing 

that the market is responding to well to C- 

MAP's online chart updating service, 

which is free of charge to subscribers. 

"With the daily updating of the worldwide 

chart database and the availability to 

download compressed small data files, 

this is a convenient and cost effective way 

of getting the electronic charts updated," 

he continued. 

Hetland was confident that C-MAP 

Norway Asian sales will continue to rise. 

"C-MAP is a dominant market leader in 

Europe and with our recent success in 

Asia, we are now seeing the results of our 

long term strategy to co-operate and work 

in close relation with the hydrographic 

offices and the leading ECS and ECDIS 

manufacturers," he said. 

TO 

TANKEROperator 

www.tankeroperator.com 

The international magazine 

dedicated to the tanker 

industry 

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email: subs@tankeroperator.com

p26-29.qxd 09/05/2006 11:28 Page 4 

Transas kits out Odfjell 

Transas Scandinavia's Norwegian office 

based in Horten recently secured the 

contract to fit 24 Transas simplified 

voyage data recorders (S-VDRs) and 

19 dual electronic chart display and 

information systems (ECDIS) to Odfjell's 

tanker fleet, starting from 

March. 

Transas Norway, which 

relocated to Horten last year, 

was specifically chosen by 

Odfjell, whose primary 

focus is the transportation of 

chemical cargoes and other 

high spec bulk liquids. As 

well as the S-VDRs, some of 

the vessels will be fitted with 

a Transas Navi-Sailor 3000 

ECDIS system. 

service. 

Sales & marketing director Lars 

Wallerstedt along with sales manager 

Captain Andreas Arvidsson, commented: 

"Transas are extremely pleased that 

Odfjell have chosen our safety systems on 

board their vessels. We feel that this contract 

demonstrates how effectively our S- 

VDR and ECDIS systems work together in 

producing what is essentially a superb 

navigational tool for any shipowner, of 

any size. We are able to deliver an outstanding 

product, but also because of 

our experience of working in close partnership 

with our clients, an unrivalled level 

TANKER 


of service." 

Having officially signed the contract 

on the 24th March, it was agreed that the 

24 Transas S-VDRs and 19 Dual ECDIS 

will be fitted to Odfjell vessels over the 

next two to three years. Odfjell's specialised 

fleet consists of 123 ships including 

newbuildings, with a total capacity of 

about 3.4 mill dwt. 

TO 

Transas has met with 

considerable success with its 

ECDIS. One of the latest 

orders calls for the delivery 

of 19 systems to Odfjell. 

The installation of 24 

dual ECDIS systems forms 

part of Odfjell's preparation 

towards sailing totally 

'paperless' in line with IMO 

guidelines. An array of 

options from the company 

includes - radar integration 

board (RIB), TX-97 word 

chart folio, online correction 

service via chart assistant, 

professional chart 

service, software maintenance 

service and the new 

integrated SPOS weather 


p30-34.qxd 09/05/2006 11:59 Page 1 

TECHNOLOGY EMISSIONS 

IMO sets the agenda 

Today, ships’ emissions and low sulphur fuels are every shipowner and operator’s nightmare. To give some idea of the 

background, IMO's Protocol of 1997, included the new Annex VI of MARPOL 73/78, entered into force on 19 May 2005. 

This annex sets limits on sulphur 

oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide 

(NOx) emissions from ship 

exhausts and prohibits deliberate emissions 

of ozone depleting substances. 

The main point of the Annex is a global 

cap of 4.5% m/m on the sulphur content 

of fuel oil and calls on IMO to monitor 

the worldwide average sulphur content 

of fuel. 

Annex VI contains provisions allowing 

for special SOx Emission Control Areas 

(SECAS) to be established with more stringent 

controls on sulphur emissions. In 

these areas, the sulphur content of fuel oil 

used on board ships must not exceed 1.5% 

m/m. Alternatively, ships must fit an 

exhaust gas cleaning system, or use any 

other technological method to limit SOx 

emissions. 

The Baltic Sea Area is designated as a 

SECA in the Protocol, while the North Sea 

was adopted as a SECA in July 2005. 

Annex VI prohibits deliberate emissions 

of ozone depleting substances, 

which include halons and chlorofluorocarbons 

(CFCs). New installations containing 

ozone-depleting substances are 

prohibited on all ships. However, new 

installations containing hydro-chlorofluorocarbons 

(HCFCs) are permitted until 1st 

January 2020. 

It also sets limits on emissions of nitrogen 

oxides (NOx) from diesel engines. A 

mandatory NOx Technical Code, which 

defines how this shall be done, was adopted 

by the Conference under the cover of 

Resolution 2. 

The Annex also prohibits the incineration 

on board ship of certain products, 

such as contaminated packaging materials 

and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 

Then in July 2005, the IMO's Marine 

Environment Protection Committee 

(MEPC) at its 53rd session adopted 

amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, 

including one on the new SECAs. This was 

that the entry into force date for the North 

Sea SECA amendment was expected to be 

22 November 2006, with its full implementation 

12 months later. 

The committee also took on board 

information gained from monitoring the 

worldwide sulphur content in fuel oils for 

2004, which gave a three-year (2002-2004) 

rolling average of sulphur content in fuel 

oil worldwide of 2.67% m/m. 

Also adopted were guidelines for onboard 

exhaust gas-SOx cleaning systems; 

survey guidelines under the harmonised 

system for survey and certification for 

MARPOL Annex VI; unified interpretations 

of MARPOL Annex VI; and guidelines 

for Port State Control under the 

Annex. The MEPC also adopted amendments 

to update the NOx technical code. 

The MEPC approved interim guidelines 

for voluntary ship CO2 emission indexing 

for use in trials. 

Regulatory review 

The MEPC agreed to undertake a review 

of Annex VI and the NOx technical code 

with a view to revising the regulations to 

take account of current technology and the 

need to further reduce emissions from 

ships. As a result, the MEPC instructed the 

sub-committee on bulk liquids and gases 

(BLG) to carry out the review by 2007, and 

specifically to: 

• Examine available and developing 

techniques for the reduction of emis-- 

sions of air pollutants; review the relevant 

technologies and the potential for 

a reduction of NOx emissions and 

recommend future limits for NOx 

emissions. 

• Review technology and the need for a 

reduction of SOx emissions and justify 

and recommend future limits for such 

emissions. 

• Consider the need, justification and 

possibility of controlling volatile organic 

compounds (VOCs) emissions from 

cargoes. 

• With a view to controlling emissions of 

particulate matter (PM), study current 

emission levels of PM from marine 

engines, including their size distribution 

and quantity, and recommend 

actions to be taken for the reduction 

of PM from ships. Since reduction of 

NOx and SOx emission is expected to 

also reduce PM emission, estimate the 

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p30-34.qxd 09/05/2006 12:00 Page 2 

level of the emission reduction through 

this route. 

• Consider reducing NOx and PM emission 

limits for existing engines. 

• Consider whether Annex VI emission 

reductions or limitations should be 

extended to include diesel engines 

that use alternative fuels and engine 

systems/power plants other than diesel 

engines. 

• Review the texts of Annex VI, 

NOx technical code and related 

guidelines and recommend necessary 

amendments. 

By December 2007, the Baltic, North Sea 

and English Channel will all be designated 

as less than 1.5% sulphur fuel regions, 

while just over two years later fuel oil 

of 0.1%, or less will be mandatory in all 

EU ports. 

Currently low sulphur residual fuels 

are available in a limited number of ports 

around the world, pointing to an 

increased need for customers to work 

closely with luboil suppliers to guarantee 

availability, BP Marine claimed. The use of 

abatement technology as another option 

for reducing sulphur emissions has 

attracted widespread interest. 

Lubricant availability was also a key 

area. BP Marine gave reassurances over 

its continued ability to supply product, 

despite ongoing difficulties for raw 

material suppliers. Procurement cost of 

lubricants also ranked highly on the list 

of issues, particularly in light of falling 

MEPC 54 outcome 

At its 54th session in March 2006, a working 

group was established to consider 

issues relating to the prevention of air pollution 

from ships, including follow-up 

action to the IMO Policies and practices 

related to the reduction of greenhouse gas 

emissions from ships (resolution 

A.963(23)). 

Following discussions, the MEPC 

approved two circulars aimed at assisting 

implementation of MARPOL Annex VI: 

1) The MEPC Circular on bunker delivery 

note and fuel oil sampling, 

to clarify how to comply with regulation 

18, which places requirements on 

shipowners and fuel oil suppliers in 

respect of bunker delivery notes and representative 

samples of the fuel oil received 

and on parties to the 1997 Protocol to regulate 

the bunker suppliers in their ports. 

The circular urges all member states, both 

parties and non-parties to the 1997 

Protocol, to require fuel oil suppliers in 

their ports to comply with the requirements 

and to raise awareness of the necessity 

to enhance implementation and 

enforcement of regulation 18 of Annex VI. 

2) The MEPC circular on notification 

to the IMO on ports or terminals where 

volatile organic compounds (VOCs) 

emissions are to be regulated, which 

notes that regulation 15 of Annex VI 

requires parties to inform the organisation 

of their intention to introduce 

requirements for the use of vapour emission 

control systems and to notify the 

IMO of ports and terminals under their 

jurisdiction where such requirements are 

already in force. However, many terminals 

are implementing or operating such 

practices without notification to the 

organisation. The committee were concerned 

that, since there is no circulation 

of such information, it is difficult for 

owners and operators to prepare for 

these changes at ports and terminals. 

The circular reiterates that parties to the 

1997 Protocol are required to notify the 

IMO without delay with information on 

ports and terminals under their jurisdiction 

at which VOC emissions are or will be 

regulated, and on requirements imposed 

on ships calling at these ports and terminals. 

Any information received by the 

IMO on the availability of vapour emission 

control systems will be circulated 

through MEPC circulars so that owners 

and operators will have up to-date information 

on current and future requirements 

for the utilisation of such systems. 

The committee and its working group 

on air pollution had long and extensive 

debates on how to follow up resolution 

A.963(23) on IMO policies and practices 

related to the reduction of greenhouse gas 

(GHG) emissions from ships. By the resolution, 

the assembly urged MEPC to identify 

and develop the necessary mechanisms 

needed to achieve the limitation or 

reduction of GHG emissions from international 

shipping. 

The MEPC agreed to consider the follow-up 

actions to resolution A.963(23) in a 

technical and methodological perspective 

and to concentrate the work on CO2 emissions. 

The committee also agreed to continue 

the work at the next session and, in 

particular, to consider further a draft work 

plan to identify and develop the mechanisms 

needed to achieve the goal set by 

the assembly. 

Reservations 

Meanwhile, in an important submission 

to the IMO, the round table of international 

shipping associations (BIMCO, 

BP Marine commits to 

low sulphur fuels 

shipping rates. 

Jill Nguyen, managing director of 

BP Marine Lubricants, said: "Divestment 

by refineries away from Group 1 base 

oil capacity is now a primary concern 

affecting the price and availability of 

marine lubricants. The cost of Group 

1 base oils rose by 65% in 2005, while hurricanes, 

fires and unplanned incidents led 

to a major dip in supply. Despite this, BP 

Marine is confident of its ability to supply 

existing customers thanks to strategic 

partnerships with its suppliers." 

A key question was whether the use of 

low sulphur fuel oil necessitated specialist 

lubricants. Both BP Marine and engine 

manufacturer MAN B&W had issued reassuring 

statements that low sulphur fuels 

are likely to be supplied with a sulphur 

content close to 1.5% and that the lubricant 

type and engine design do not need to be 

changed. 

TO 

Intercargo, International Chamber of 

Shipping (ICS) and Intertanko, plus 

the International Council of Cruise 

Lines (ICCL)) conveyed its strong commitment 

to the revision of atmospheric 

pollution standards contained in 

Annex VI. 

The industry expressed its support, 

in principle, for the consideration of 

proposals by Norway to address the 

sulphur content of marine fuel used 

globally and in SECAs. The industry said 

that it kept an open mind to discuss possible 

additional measures to introduce 

more stringent global controls on NOx 

emissions by ships and on the need to 

address emissions of particulate matter. 

However, its overall support is conditional 

upon IMO adhering to certain 

principles as it begins the complex task 

of bringing about further improvements 

to shipping's environmental performance, 

following the entry into force of the 

Annex in May 2005. 

The shipping industry said in a joint 

statement that it has actively encouraged 

the early ratification by governments of 

the Annex in the knowledge that it would 

be re-opened for amendment, due to the 

improving air pollution record of shore 

based transport and the perception, correct 

or otherwise, that shipping was 

falling behind. The IMO review could 

have a major impact on safety of operations, 

fuel costs, engine design, and even 

TANKER 


the long term commercial viability of 

many ships. 

As the IMO review progresses, any 

new requirements must be justified 

through scientific study of environmental 

need and operational safety procedures, 

the round table said. In co-operation 

with oil suppliers, IMO must also 

satisfy itself that any new fuels required 

will be available globally, and that any 

solutions adopted use technology that 

has actually been developed, tested and 

proven to be reliable to an extent that 

ship crews are not left with unsafe new 

technologies. 

The industry said that it does not 

want to see a repetition of the situation 

that emerged with controls on ballast 

water where regulations have been 

adopted for political reasons before the 

new methods required by the rules are 

actually proven. 

Where the environmental need is justified, 

and despite the potential economic 

costs, the industry said it was willing to 

consider proposals that could require 

existing ships to make modifications to 

their propulsion systems. However, 

shipowners would need a clear long term 

framework for change that takes full 

account of the current life expectancy of 

ships. If there are significant limitations to 

what can be realistically achieved then 

'grandfathering' arrangements may need 

to be sought in some areas. 

TO 


p30-34.qxd 09/05/2006 12:00 Page 3 


Mixing versus segregating fuels 

The arrival of SECAs has caused the shipping industry to rethink ship design with reference to fuel tanks. 

DNV has outlined its thinking on the subject. 

Ships generally have two or more 

HFO storage tanks. SOLAS rules 

have required double day tanks for 

all fuel types used on board since July 

1998. Some ships also have double HFO 

settling tanks to further reduce the risk of 

fuel incompatibility, and enhance settling. 

If the intention is to operate on different 

HFO qualities inside and outside SECAs, 

it is now beneficial to install (or retrofit) 

double HFO settling and service tanks for 

operational convenience, economy and 

safety. The benefits of double HFO systems 

compared with mixing fuels in the 

settling tank (or in the service tank if the 

settling tank is completely drained before 

changing to another fuel) are: 

• To facilitate verification of compliance 

with the Marpol Annex VI clause 

"…shall allow sufficient time for the 

fuel oil service system to be fully 

flushed of all fuels exceeding 1.5 % 

m/m sulphur content prior to entry 

into a SECA". 

• To avoid consuming expensive low 

sulphur HFO (LSHFO) during the 

mixing phase before entering and after 

exiting the SECA. 

• To avoid possible incompatibility 

problems. 

The benefits of double HFO systems compared 

with switching between HFO and 

LFO in the supply piping are: 

• To avoid the hazard of switching 

between completely different fuels at 

sea (especially in congested areas like 

the English Channel, or potentially 

rough areas like the North Sea or Bay of 

Biscay). 

• To simplify the switch-over procedure 

generally. 

Switching 

If double HFO systems are not provided 

and the ship does not have LSHFO available 

when entering a SECA, the only alternative 

will be to switch over all HFO 

engines to LFO at sea. In such a case the 

LFO temperature and the temperature 

change gradient need to be considered. 

For 2-stroke engines, a controlled temperature 

gradient is recommended, with a 

reduced engine load. For 4-stroke engines, 

the fuel changeover can generally be performed 

via the mixing tank at any load. 

Procedures and/or arrangements for 

switching from HFO to LFO may include 

fuel pre-heaters, fuel pipe trace heating, a 

3-way valve in the suction line from the 

service tanks, redirecting the return fuel to 

the LFO service tank, LFO cooler, possible 

need to control engine load, and monitoring 

pressure difference of fuel filter (indication 

of incompatibility). 

Quoting DNV; "if gas oil is mixed in 

while the fuel temperature is still very 

high, there is a high probability of gassing 

in the fuel oil service system with subsequent 

loss of power" 

If the ship has only one HFO service 

and one HFO settling tank and assuming 

that it is possible to completely drain each 

of them with a transfer pump and that the 

operator deems it feasible to undertake 

even at sea, the switchover procedure may 

include the following phases: 

• Switching from HFO to LFO operation. 

• Stopping the separator. 

• Perhaps draining the bottom sludge to 

the sludge tank. 

• Draining the HFO service and HFO settling 

tanks completely with the transfer 

pump to a storage tank with the same 

fuel quality. 

• Filling the settling tank with the new 

quality. 

• Possibly changing the gravity disc of 

the separator. 

• Restarting the separator. 

• Filling up the service tank via the 

separator (at least partly to a safe level). 

• Switching over to this new fuel. 

Depending on the ship, this procedure 

may take around 15 hours if the service 

tank is filled up to 50% before being 

used. 

Fuel separators 

Until the mid -1980s, typical fuel separators 

were equipped with gravity discs, 

the purpose of which was to control 

the interface between the water and the 

fuel in the separator bowl. The gravity 

disc has to be selected according to prevailing 

parameters, including the fuel 

density. A new bunker delivery may 

require the gravity disc to be replaced. 

Finding a suitable disc sometimes takes a 

little time. 

From the mid-1980s, a new type of separator 

allowing water monitoring in the 

clean fuel outlet gradually became the 

dominating type installed on new ships. 

However, older type separators are still in 

operation on old ships. These old ships 

now find themselves in a new situation 

and could benefit from the fitting of newer 

fuel separators, in case the ship is alternating 

between HFO and LSHFO with different 

density. A difference in density is 

more likely if the LSHFO is based on 

blending at the refinery rather than on low 

sulphur crude oil. 

For newbuildings, it is beneficial to 

arrange double HFO settling and service 

tanks. The preferred minimum number 

of storage tanks is four, to permit the ship 

to bunker HFO and LSHFO in empty 

tanks at anytime, even if both fuel qualities 

are available in other tanks. Thus 

different bunker deliveries do not have to 

be mixed. 

Since January 2003, a new DNV voluntary 

class notation 'FUEL' has been available. 

The system design criteria of this 

class notation are suitable for ships, which 

due to their operational pattern, benefit 

from using two different HFO qualities. 

For existing ships with double HFO 

service tanks, SOLAS rules required double 

service tanks for all types of fuels used 

on board ships, the keel of which should 

have been laid on 1st July 1998, or later. 

These ships could dedicate one service 

tank permanently for HFO and the other 

for LSHFO. 

However, there are ships built with an 

'equivalent' arrangement, where a LFO 

service tank of usable capacity has been 

approved as the second tank. If the ship 

has only one HFO settling tank, consideration 

could be given to installing another 

settling tank for complete segregation and 

proper functionality of that settling tank. 

For existing ships with single HFO 

service tanks, consideration could be 

given to installing another HFO service 

tank. If the ship has only one HFO settling 

tank, installing another settling tank 

would provide additional benefit 

Also for existing ships with single HFO 

service tanks, as an alternative to 

installing double tanks, a blending unit 

can be retrofitted. However, there is a risk 

of incompatibility. The unit is used to 

inject LFO (with low sulphur content) into 

the fuel booster system to reach the 

required sulphur content of 1.5%. 

LFO system layout 

The fuel system needs to be suitable to 

avoid too low LFO viscosities for generator 

engines in EU ports, also in warm conditions, 

even if the system has been 

designed for HFO. 

Heat is introduced into the system 

from the diesel engines and possibly from 

fuel separators and adjacent tanks. In 

some cases, a fuel cooler may be required. 

It may be prudent to review the fuel system 

thermal balance if and when larger 

amounts of LFO are beginning to be consumed 

in a continuous operating mode. 

This applies especially if LFO operation is 

foreseen also for the main engine operating 

in SECAs. Main engines are not 

affected by EU rule limiting the fuel used 

in ports. 

DNV has identified a range of technical 

challenges when operating HFO oil-fired 

boilers on low viscosity distillates. Double 

HFO settling and service tanks are also 

beneficial for this reason. 

TO 


p30-34.qxd 09/05/2006 12:01 Page 4 

TANKER 


Marine fuels: ‘Avoiding bad bunkers’ 

Earlier this year, Razaghi Meyer released details of its latest INtegrity suite of applications, which was launched in 2005. 

Fuel quality is a serious 

and worsening problem. 

Approximately 14% of 

fuels analysed do not comply 

with the standards. The introduction 

of MARPOL and the 

current high cost of fuels mean 

that this is no longer a tenable 

situation. The true extent of the 

problem can only be guessed 

at, as not all fuels are analysed 

and some problems are not 

revealed by analysis, Razhagi 

Meyer claimed. 

Although designed to 

enable vessels and suppliers to 

demonstrate compliance with 

MARPOL 73/78 ANNEX VI 

regulation 18, an important 

benefit is the ability INtegrity 

applications give to suppliers 

and vessels alike to detect and 

avoid the supply of bad 

bunkers; bunkers which do not 

meet the standards, which do 

not comply with MARPOL, or 

which exhibit other problems 

not detected by the sample 

analysis. 

This particular regulation 

relates to the maximum permitted levels 

of sulphur allowed in marine fuels. 

INtegrity CMV and CEMS for vessels is 

designed to provide compliance monitoring 

and verification automatically and to 

provide a continuous emissions monitoring 

system, solutions which the current 

legislation lacks. Based around digital viscometers, 

the key to the compliance function 

is the 'fuel fingerprint' method developed 

for these applications by Razaghi 

Meyer. 

The INtegrity Application Suite has 

four key functions: 

• Enable suppliers to monitor and control 

quality, provide on spec fuels and 

demonstrate that capability to clients. 

• Prevents the bunkering of off-spec or 

improperly blended fuels. 

Even on a barge, the systems require virtually no maintenance. 

• Provides a monitoring system intended 

as an electronic log to demonstrate 

MARPOL compliance. 

• Protects engines from off spec fuels 

including fuels contaminated on board. 

For fuel suppliers 

INtegrity is a suite of applications developed 

around digital viscometers that is 

designed to support all bunker fuel supply 

methods including: 

• Batch blending. 

• Mechanical inline blending. 

• Meter inline blending. 

Whether in the refinery, in terminals or on 

board barges, these systems require virtually 

no maintenance and are ship friendly 

and user friendly. Using the INtegrity 

solution, suppliers can guarantee fuel 

quality to the client at the time of bunkering, 

Razhagi Meyer claimed. 

The supplier can also interdict the supply 

of off-spec fuels and can demonstrate 

to the client the quality of the fuel and confidence 

in the accuracy, efficiency and 

integrity of the supply chain right into the 

vessels bunkers. 

For vessel operators: 

INtegrity BIM, Integrity CMV and and 

INtegrity CEMS provide the vessel with 

protection against bunkering off spec 

fuels (BIN: Bunker Inlet Monitor) and provides 

a means to demonstrate compliance. 

It also provides protection at the engine 

against fuels that were off-spec when 

bunkered, or which have become off-spec 

while on board. 

What are good bunkers? 

The INtegrity suite of applications, for suppliers 

and vessels alike, detects in real time 

and will help to ensure that: 

• Fuel is free of entrained air. 

• The fuel or fuel component is 

homogenous. 

• The fuel is well mixed. 

• The fuel, nor any of its components 

are not a consolidation of different 

batches, co-mingled but not mixed 

and re-analysed. 

• That the density value used for the 

mass flow rate calculation is a true live 

value rather than a value derived from 

the component analysis. 

• That the fuel or fuel component has the 

properties described in the analysis or 

blend calculation (fuel fingerprint 

match) - thus validating the percentage 

mass of sulphur. 

Fuel quality is determined by the supplier 

through laboratory sample analysis; 

INtegrity validates the analysis and determines 

if the fuel being bunkered is the fuel 

described by the analysis. 

INtegrity does not measure sulphur, it 

measures a fuel fingerprint with which to 

validate a suppliers analysis and personnel 

on board the vessel can automatically identify 

and report which fuel is being consumed. 

It can then report the sulphur content 

as the value determined by analysis. 

Bad bunker recognition 

Razhagi Meyer can illustrate the commonly 

encountered bunker quality problems 

with data collected in actual bunkering 

operations displayed in Excel chart format. 

The company claimed that these illustrations 

demonstrate that most, if not all, common 

bunker quality problems are instantly 

visible, recognisable, understandable and 

above all actionable. 

Data collected and displayed in real time 

allows real time evaluation and decisions. 

It is no longer necessary to await the 

fuel sample analysis to know if the fuel is 

bad. Not up to standard fuels can be reject- 

Good bunker or Bad Bunker? 

Bunker Fuel Quality Assurance when you 

need it most - during bunkering! 

Don’t wait until it’s too late - 

Get INtegrity CMV : stop bad bunkers 

getting aboard your vessels and avoid 

expensive de-bunkering. 

Real Time Instant Recognition: 

Good and Bad in one Bunker 

Razaghi Meyer International 

1 Lynwood House, 143 Blackborough Rd, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7DA, U.K. 

www.ViscoAnalyser.com ( +44 870 747 3477 e-mail info@ViscoAnalyser.com 


p30-34.qxd 09/05/2006 12:01 Page 5 


ed during bunkering, so de-bunkering 

becomes a very remote risk with the significant 

financial benefits attached. A single 

bad bunker avoided can yield a significant 

financial benefit. 

Blend on Board? 

Also included is a preview of blending on 

board. Razaghi Meyer said it believed that 

blending on board can be simpler, more 

affordable and more effective than many 

people believe. 

Jon Watson, technical manager told 

TankerOperator that he had spoken with 

the UK's Maritime & Coastguard Agency 

(MCA) who advised that this system 

would be acceptable as an electronic journal 

as an alternative to the oil record book. 

He also said that he had discussed with 

the MCA the blending approach on board 

ship. Both the conventional method and 

blending on board ship were said to be not 

a problem. The vessel would probably 

need to be registered as a 'local supplier' 

and then could blend fuel on board. 

The conventional approach is to blend a 

batch of fuel, store it and then use it when 

entering a SECA. Watson said that this 

method "doesn't seem to give much 

advantage over a conventional dual fuel 

approach, but the option of blend to 

engine is much more favourable, as it is 

very affordable and requires only some 

modifications to the engine fuel module 

where much of the equipment required 

already exists". 

This approach would mean only blending 

so much fuel as is needed because it is 

blended to the high pressure circuit and is 

burnt as soon as produced, minimising 

stability and compatibility problems. The 

same system could also be used in a global 

sea area to blend for economy. That is to 

maximise the HFO content consistent with 

the maximum allowable temperature, for 

example by bunkering 500 cSt instead of 

380 cSt and then blending back to an intermediate 

fuel. 

Watson continued by saying that it had 

been suggested that by blending to 1.5% 

sulphur, some of the lubrication problems 

might be mitigated. He said he hoped to 

Low-sulphur fuel additive extends engine life 

Switching to low-sulphur fuel when a 

vessel enters a designated SECA can help 

meet the new IMO MARPOL regulations. 

However, using low-sulphur fuel can 

cause excessive engine part wear. 

To help combat this, Drew Marine, a 

business group of Ashland Specialty 

Chemical has introduced AMERGY® 

XLS fuel conditioner specifically for lowsulphur 

fuels. 

"Frequent use of low-sulphur fuels 

can result in accelerated wear in fuel 

pumps, injectors and other engine components," 

said Nels Hendrickson, marketing 

vice president, Drew Marine. 

"Not only does AMERGY XLS fuel conditioner 

provide added lubrication, it 

also helps to maintain clean fuel injectors 

and fuel stability during storage," he 

claimed. 

The fuel conditioner contains a highly 

effective fuel lubricant that minimises 

metal wear and extends the life of fuel 

system components. Adding the fuel 

conditioner to the fuel oil can provide 

substantial savings to shipowners by 

reducing maintenance and spare parts 

costs, Drew claimed. 

• 

develop this option further. 

He also claimed that he had simplified 

this approach to bunkering, which now 

hinges on three basic assumptions: 

• The supplier will provide the certificate 

of analysis for the fuel. 

• This will be the correct certificate for 

that fuel. 

• Any changes detected in the measured 

values will show that fuel quality has 

changed. 

• If no changes are detected in the density 

and viscosity, then the suppliers certificate 

of analysis is valid for the fuel. 

The last item mentioned is the fundamental 

assumption made during bunkering 

and which must be measured by 

analysing fuel quality in a database. 

For example, INtegrity is very good at 

determining if the fuel is ISO 8217 1995 

compliant because it measures the density 

and viscosity. According to a presentation 

by Lintec at SYBCON 2004, 6% of fuels are 

off-spec due to density, 7% for viscosity 

and just 0.7% for other reasons. Thus simply 

by measuring density and viscosity 

during bunkering there is a very good 

chance that if the density and viscosity are 

within ISO 8217 limits, then the fuel is ISO 

8217 compliant. 

This assumption would only be misguided 

in the 0.7% of fuels where other 

parameters are off-spec. In other words, 

during bunkering there is a 13.7% chance, 

taking this data, that the fuel bunkered 

will not be ISO 8217 compliant but by 

using the Integrity system there is only a 

0.7% chance, Watson claimed. 

INtegrity does not look at limits but at 

fuel quality change. This is because 

under MARPOL an exact density and 

exact percentage of sulphur is required 

and these properties have to be measured 

in a laboratory. 

Therefore, the system looks at the density 

and viscosity and compares these with 

the supplier's certificate of analysis to detect 

change. Whether the certificate of analysis is 

a true reflection of the bunkers depends on 

how accurately INtegrity can confirm if the 

certificate is valid or invalid. If valid then 

the sulphur content is as the certificate. 

...the system looks at the density and viscosity and 

compares these with the supplier’s certificate 

of analysis to detect change. 

As with ISO 8217 compliance validation, 

there will be exceptions where the 

density and viscosity do not change but 

other properties will. The magnitude of 

this change can be determined from 

analysing fuel quality and comparing the 

original supplier's certificate of analysis 

with the analysis of the commercial sample 

taken during bunkering. 

Any individual operator can make this 

assessment based on their own records of 

fuel quality. They simply need to identify 

in how many bunker operations there is no 

measurable difference between the density 

and viscosity noted in the original certificate 

and the commercial sample analysis 

and note where the sulphur has changed 

from the exact value quoted 

or other properties have 

changed beyond the ISO 8217 

acceptable limits. 

During bunkering, this is 

a real time measure of compliance. 

However, it does 

not replace the need for commercial 

sample analysis. Its 

real value is in detecting 

problems as the fuel is flowing 

allowing operators to 

cease bunkering and take 

remedial action. The alternative 

is to risk more frequent 

de-bunkerings if the only 

indication of change comes 

when the commercial sample 

analysis is returned. 

On board vessels the 

INtegrity system simply 

looks through the valid 

certificated properties for 

the fuels on the vessel to 

identify the fuel and report 

the density and sulphur 

content from the appropriate 

certificate. That is as the 

MARPOL system but automated 

and data logged in 

much greater detail than 

would normally be kept in a 

manual log book. 

TO 


p35-38.qxd 09/05/2006 12:06 Page 1 

TANKER 


Tanker fires- recalling lessons from Iran-Iraq war* 

TECHNOLOGY EMERGENCY RESPONSE 

It is strange that many of the most important lessons from the hundreds of attacks on ships 

during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war have been forgotten in recent years. 

Tankers were the preferred 

target in that conflict and 

the air-launched weapons 

in almost daily use caused 

immense damage. In virtually all 

cases, explosion and fire were the 

inevitable outcomes of a missile 

strike. 

Today, of course, a major 

tanker fire is a rare event. When it 

does happen, however, it is a 

nightmare for those on board. 

Their first response is crucial. It 

can have a decisive influence on 

the possibilities for successful salvage. 

It is in this area of first 

response that many of the lessons 

of the Iran-Iraq war are so important. 

They are as relevant today, as 

they were over two decades ago. 

One significant lesson for professional 

salvors was the effectiveness 

of using firefighting foam in a 

tactical way - to reduce fire intensity 

and gain control of even the largest of 

crude oil fires. 

Equally, an important lesson for tanker 

crews was the need to keep moving at all 

costs, when oil outflow ignites and burns 

on the surface of the sea. The alternative - 

allowing the tanker to 'cook' in a lake of 

burning crude - can have only one outcome: 

the total destruction of the ship. 

The lessons from the past can be considered 

by an examination of two casualties: 

the missile strike on the Thorshavet in 

1984 and the terrorist attack on the 

Limburg some 18 years later, in 2002. These 

incidents have several points in common, 

not least the fact that both resulted from 

deliberate acts. 

At the personal level, the Thorshavet 

was my first experience of a burning 

tanker. I was fresh from Nautical College 

and had only recently joined the salvage 

tug Ribut as second mate. Our tug had 

received orders to proceed to the assistance 

of the tanker. We arrived during a 

December night and manoeuvred close in. 

Despite the smoke and an impressive fire, 

there could be no doubt about the cause. A 

huge hole had been punched into her side. 

It measured 10 m across and testified to 

the violence of the missile penetration and 

detonation. 

As Ribut began firefighting, I had my 

first chance to board a burning vessel. The 

plan was to inject oxblood firefighting 

foam into the burning tank. Two volunteers 

were needed to open a manhole for 

the foam injection; I stepped forward. 

Everything on the Thorshavet was new and 

strange to me. The main deck was very hot 

- pools of water were boiling. 

The lessons from that particular salvage 

have stayed with me for over 20 years. I 

saw how oxblood foam could be used to 

reduce fire intensity. When steel temperatures 

are that hot there is no chance of 

extinguishing a fire. Foam evaporates 

Lessons are as relevant today as they were two decades ago. 

almost instantly. Yet it does have a suppressing 

effect and this gives a casualty 

'more life'. It gives the salvage master time 

to boundary cool and bring those steel 

temperatures down - hopefully to the 

point where a full-scale foam attack will 

kill the main fires. In fact, timing is everything. 

If the fire is extinguished too early 

and the surrounding steel is still too hot, 

there is a serious risk of one or more explosions. 

This could mean loss of life, total 

destruction of the vessel and a pollution 

disaster. 

Intelligent and defensive use of firefighting 

foam to reduce fire intensity was 

important when confronting the 

Thorshavet fires. Two decades on, it was 

also important when the part-laden tanker 

Limburg was attacked by terrorists in 

October 2002, while off the Yemeni port of 

Mina al Dabah. An explosive-filled small 

fishing boat rammed this 299,364 dwt 

tanker as the tug Riyan was helping to 

moor her at Ash Shihr Terminal, four 

miles offshore. 

The resulting explosion tore through 

the VLCC's double hull at the waterline. A 

large fire developed as burning crude oil 

flowed into the sea. The conflagration 

heated the slicks and encouraged them to 

spread, in turn intensifying the fires on the 

surface of the sea. Limburg had a part 

cargo of 65,000 tonnes of oil (with No. 2 

centre and Nos. 4 port and starboard 

loaded). The terrorists' boat scored a direct 

hit on the laden No. 4 starboard tank. 

Riyan immediately brought her fire monitors 

into action. 

Many questions 

SvitzerWijsmuller obtained a Lloyd's 

Form (LOF) and I was appointed salvage 

master for the tanker. As always, many 

questions passed through my mind on 

hearing that this casualty was a burning 

tanker: 


• Was the vessel laden? 

• What was the cargo - crude or products? 

• Where was the casualty and how far 

from the coast was she? 

• Was the vessel maintaining speed? 

• How close was the nearest tug? 

• Was the crew still on board? 

• How many tanks were involved in the 

fire? 

• Was the engine room undamaged? 

Gradually, a clearer picture of what had 

happened began to emerge. It became 

apparent that the 10 men working forward 

when the attack took place had a very narrow 

escape. Dense smoke and flames had 

prevented them moving aft, to relative 

safety. They were marooned by the fire. 

At this time the tanker was moving 

slow astern and this pushed smoke and 

flames forward. Some of those trapped 

decided to jump into the sea. In effect, they 

were jumping into more danger. The 

Limburg was part-laden and, therefore, 

was very high in the water. They jumped 

from a height of around 20 m. One man 

was wearing a firesuit and this soon filled, 

drowning him. As for the others, they 

soon found themselves threatened when 

patches of burning oil were swept towards 

them as their vessel continued astern. 

Fortunately, they were saved by one of 

our pilots, who was in an inflatable close

p35-38.qxd 09/05/2006 12:07 Page 2 


by. He could see what was happening and 

he approached quickly, threw the men a 

line and towed them clear of the burning 

crude. 

Vessel stationary 

It is worth noting that the tanker's engine 

was shut down before the vessel was fully 

abandoned. The Limburg was then stationary 

and soon became enveloped by fire - 

which spread rapidly from midships to 

foredeck. 

There are several lessons from the Iran- 

Iraq war of relevance in this situation. 

First, it is important to have at least two 

tugs in attendance. Two, this is the 

absolute minimum for a successful tanker 

salvage: one tug to connect up and slow 

tow, while the other firefights and boundary 

cools. 

For example, in the case of the 

Thorshavet, the Ribut was soon joined by a 

second Wijsmuller tug, the Amsterdam. 

When an oil outflow ignites it is absolutely 

vital to keep the casualty moving! This 

principle also applied in the Limburg situation. 

With only one tug immediately 

available, the best response - given that 

the tanker still had propulsion - would 

have been for the tanker to go full ahead 

with hard rudder. A 'quick getaway' in a 

turn would have soon left that burning oil 

behind. 

As the Limburg firefighting operation 

developed, there were echoes of the 

Thorshavet salvage 18 years earlier. Once 

again, a manhole was opened to inject 

foam. We used an oxblood product. This 

type of foam has have been around for 

many years, but it is extremely effective. 

Over a period of days more tugs and 

salvage equipment reinforced the Limburg 

operation. This allowed the salvage team 

to step up cooling, further reduce steel 

temperatures and better protect the 

undamaged tanks. They also brought the 

tanker's own firefighting systems into 

operation. 

We then succeeded in extinguishing the 

main fire in the damaged tank. This good 

news was tempered by the increased 

explosion risk. The huge hole in Limburg's 

side reminded me of the Thorshavet damage. 

Both casualties were particularly vulnerable 

at this stage. Steel temperatures 

were still high and there was much concern 

about the condition of the adjacent 

tanks. 

Every tanker firefighting operation 

By stopping, the Limburg became even more endangered. 

reaches this delicate stage. The main priority, 

in the case of the Limburg, was to 

restore the tanker's inert gas system, as 

soon as possible. With this accomplished, 

we began inerting laden tanks, followed 

by undamaged empty tanks and, finally, 

the damaged spaces. We also transferred 

oil/water mix from damaged tanks to an 

intact space, in order to reduce pollution. 

During the early stages we had planned 

to pump, to induce a modest port list and 

bring the hole in the starboard side above 

the waterline. In the event, however, we 

ballasted down, to bring the damage 

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under the water and 

create a water lock. 

This was achieved 

and the space could be 

inerted using special, 

water-driven equipment. 

As this salvage 

unfolded, Limburg 

was under a slow tow 

(1.5-2 knots) parallel 

to the coast. In these 

situations the ideal 

tow speed is found by 

trial and error as it 

will depend on so 

many variables -not 

least the behaviour of 

the casualty on the 

tow, the weather and 

sea state. 

Later, with firefighting 

and cooling 

completed, the 

Limburg was able to 

proceed under her 

own power (but with 

tug escort) to Fujairah, 

for a ship-to-ship 

cargo transfer. 

In conclusion, the 

key lessons from the shipping attacks during 

the Iran-Iraq war - and the infrequent 

major tanker fires of subsequent years - 

should be clear to all. Enormous firefighting 

and cooling capacities are essential 

when confronting large crude oil fires. 

Plenty of foam is needed, not only to extinguish 

the fire, but also for possible defensive 

use during the earlier phases of firefighting. 

A new factor in recent years, was the 

proliferation of double hulled tankers. The 

Limburg was a virtually new doublehulled 

vessel. Following the initial explosion, 

there were subsequent 

explosions in adjacent tanks. 

At first, it was thought that 

the terrorist attack was continuing. 

It appears, however, 

that the subsequent explosions 

may have arisen due to 

the flash-off of coatings, 

which created a dangerous 

atmosphere in the void 

space. 

There may be differing 

technical opinions on this 

last point, but the central fact 

remains: the void space is 

not inerted! In a fire situation, 

oil heated to 200-300 

deg C could flow into the 

space between the hulls, rapidly 

creating an explosive 

atmosphere. Such situations 

present the salvor with 

extraordinary challenges and 

the prospect of working in 

an even more dangerous 

environment. 

TO 

telephone + 47 71 21 96 00 

fax + 47 71 21 96 90 

e-mail: office@brunvoll.no 

www.brunvoll.no 

*by Bram Sperling, 

general manager, 

operations, 

SvitzerWijsmuller 

Salvage 


p35-38.qxd 09/05/2006 12:07 Page 3 

TANKER 


Napa unveils emergency response software 

Finnish software house Napa has developed 

NAPA Emergency Response (NAPA 

ER), which is claimed to be a powerful tool 

to help ship operators, national and 

coastal administrations, classification societies 

and salvage companies to quickly 

decide on the best recovery action when a 

ship is in a hazardous situation. 

NAPA ER has been developed to meet 

the demands of easy loading and damage 

analysis, and to enable fast technical 

support to get to a vessel in trouble. A 

land-based technical support team is 

already required for tankers sailing in US 

waters (OPA 90). The demand for such 

support is expected to grow at an 

increasing pace. 

By using the software, an operator 

will be able to prepare proactively for 

damage scenarios, quickly test recovery 

strategies and provide positive leadership 

based on sound technical information. 

NAPA ER integrates a number of 

in-house functions into a single intuitive 

achieve a desired floating position, while 

keeping the ship within stability or structural 

constraints. 

The NAPA ship model generated, 

whether during the design process, the 

plan approval process or for on board 

NAPA, can be used directly in this marine 

salvage engineering software; no special 

conversion or preparation of the database 

is needed. Ship models can be stored locally 

in the NAPA system and accessed 

through the intuitive interface. 

Primarily developed for organisations 

involved in emergency response and salvage 

work, such as classification societies, 

salvage companies, shipowners and operators, 

authorities and consultancies, 

NAPA ER is also claimed to be an excellent 

tool for 'browsing' the ship model and 

examining stability and strength related 

issues. This makes it a useful tool also for, 

among others, stability training purposes 

and ship designers wanting to study the 

behaviour of a given ship model. 

The grounding and breach are defined; various quantities including oil flow discharge and 

grounding force are calculated by NAPA. 

NAPA ER has been developed to meet the demands of easy loading and damage analysis, 

and to enable fast technical support to get to a vessel in trouble. ..The demand for such 

support is expected to grow at an increasing pace. 

graphical user interface (GUI), giving 

access to the necessary stability, loading 

and longitudinal strength functions 

needed for emergency response and salvage 

operations. 

Damages ranging from 

flooding to structural 

failure and groundings can 

be modelled efficiently, 

claimed Napa. Initial loading 

conditions can be 

imported from the ship's on 

board Napa loading computer 

or quickly defined in 

the NAPA ER user interface. 

Recovery strategies 

using any combination of 

techniques - such as cargo 

transfer, shifting of liquid 

loads, pumping, mass loading, 

over-pressurisation 

and under-pressurisation - 

can simultaneously be 

analysed as serial or alternative 

actions. 

Different scenarios can 

be tested using a logical 

tree structure of dependent 

actions and the results - for 

instance, cargo outflow, stability, 

grounding force, 

shear force and bending 

moment - can be studied 

throughout the tidal range. 

Multi-objective genetic 

algorithms can be harnessed 

to quickly evaluate 

and optimise loading combinations 

in order to 

In October 2004, the IMO Marine 

Environment Protection Committee 

(MEPC 52) proposed amendments to 

Regulation 26 of MARPOL 73/78 Annex I. 

These proposals specified that all new and 

existing oil tankers of 5,000 dwt and above 

should have access to computerised, shorebased 

damage stability and residual structural 

strength calculation programs. 

These proposals have now been adopted 

and will enter into force on 1st January 

2007 as Regulation 37 of the revised Annex 

I. The use of NAPA ER will help ensure 

compliance with these new regulations, the 

company said. 

Future development 

Future software development plans 

include functions for calculating residual 

strength on the basis of the extent of the 

structural damage and time domain calculation 

for loading and flooding, in addition 

to the already existing time domain calculation 

of the influence of tide. 

TO 


p35-38.qxd 09/05/2006 12:07 Page 4 


Drew’s inspection system reaches a milestone 

Over 1,000 vessels are using some or all aspects of Drew Marine’s vessel inspection planning system (VIPS). 

Drew has applied for a patent and is waiting to see what happens. 

The system is claimed to help 

shipowners manage the inspections 

of safety equipment on board, such 

as fire extinguishers and liferafts. 

Basically, the system warns operators 

and managers when inspections are due 

and helps them schedule the inspection at 

the most cost effective location. 

After the inspection, the system is 

automatically updated so that an operator/manager 

can keep track of any 

inspections coming uncomfortably close 

to the due date. Inspection certificates 

are automatically generated and an 

archive is available of past inspection 

history. 

Drew continuously monitors the 

changing IMO, flag state and class regulatory 

requirements, plus the guarantee 

requirements of different manufacturers. 

Inspection intervals can be updated automatically 

if there is any change. 

Allowing safety inspections to lapse 

can be very costly, particularly if the vessel 

is not allowed to leave the port until 

the inspection can be arranged. 

Most of the interest in VIPS is being 

shown by chemical tanker operators, 

Drew's Mike Cassaras said. "I think the 

tanker operators are very sensitive to safety," 

he commented. "Not to say the entire 

industry is not - but they have considerations 

and hazards which the other industry 

does not." 

Norsafe reports record orders 

Norsafe, a leading provider of maritime 

rescue systems and highspeed 

rescue boats, has announced 

record sales for 2005. In addition, the 

company acquired 90% of Watercraft 

Greece SA, a producer of lifeboats, highspeed 

rescue boats and davits based 

north of Athens. 

During the last two months of 2005, 

Norsafe received orders valued at more 

than NOK150 mill (Eur44 mill), a record 

for the company. According to Norsafe 

owner and managing director Geir 

Skaala, orders have come from across 

the world. 

A significant order book in 2005 of 

NOK260 mill (Eur32 mill), represented 

an increase of 30%, compared to 2004. 

This year promises to be another good 

year; the company (including subsidiaries) 

expected to deliver approximately 

600 lifeboats and rescue boats 

and approximately 275 davits. "We are 

confident that we can continue to build 

on this success," Skaala said. 

Explaining the Watercraft Greece 

purchase, Skaala said. "Watercraft has 

been a key sub-supplier to Norsafe for 

several years, and we look forward to 

working more closely with them in the 

future." At present, the Greek company 

has 40 employees. 

Norsafe ad - printers to drop in 

How it works 

There are around 17 different systems on 

board a vessel, all of which need to be certificated 

at various intervals (for example, 

annual, bi-annual), and the inspection 

time scale calculated. 

These include inspections for firefighting, 

safety, rescue and lifesaving equipment, 

including (among other things) 

inspections of lifeboats, liferafts, fire extinguishers, 

foam systems, EPIRB batteries, 

foam analysis programmes, and others. In 

addition, all of the fire and safety equipment 

on board needs inspecting, including 

safety breathing equipment, immersion 

suits, and other equipment. 

When a shipowner contracts to use the 

"With this investment, Norsafe will 

have the capacity to improve production 

of davits, which we can distribute 

throughout Europe," explained Skaala. 

He noted that by establishing a presence 

in Greece, Norsafe would not only be 

closer to key customers in Greece, but 

also have improved access to dynamic 

markets in the region - including 

Turkey. 

Following the purchase of Watercraft, 

lifeboat production will take place at 

Norsafe's facilities in Norway, China 

and Greece. In addition, certain boat 

models will be produced by license 

manufactures in Mexico. The Davits 

will be manufactured in a separate 

factory in Greece, using sub-suppliers 

in Norway, China and Mexico, when 

appropriate. 

• 

Barry, another RGB ad which need your help... 

file name Fairplay CMYK.pdf (despite the name, it’s NOT in CMYK!) 

service, Drew will e-mail an information 

sheet directly to the vessel. The seafarers 

then complete the sheet and return it, listing 

all the equipment on board together 

with its last inspection date. 

Drew will contact the shipping company 

by e-mail 90 days before inspections 

are due, listing which inspections are 

required by which specific date. 

The shipowner can then list the next 

three ports the vessel is due to call at. 

Drew works out the most cost effective 

port and commissions the inspection. For 

example, the company has found that 

inspections cost 50% more in Australia 

than in Singapore. 

Another example is that an operator/manager 

might wish to schedule 

inspections at the same time as a drydocking. 

The inspections can then be made 

without the pressure of needing the ship 

to sail on time. 

The first time a Drew inspector visits 

the ship, he will also verify everything the 

shipping company has said about the 

equipment on board and will confirm 

when the next inspection is due. 

He will then return to the office and 

update the Drew system on the internet, 

entering all inspections that have been 

made. The inspectors will still fill in the 

standard tags on the equipment to show 

when the last inspection was made. 

Drew also employs one person full time 

to monitor all the possible safety rules, 

including class, flag and the IMO. If there 

are any changes, any affected operators 

are notified. 

The company also maintains information 

about the requirements of specific manufacturers. 

For example, if a manufacturer 

requires that equipment is inspected at certain 

intervals as a criteria for the guarantee. 

Shipowners can logon to the Drew 

Marine website secure area, view their 

fleet to check that the inspections are up to 

date, and to see which are due. 

Drew audits the service providers in 

major ports once per year and in minor 

ports every two years. 

Outsource service 

Drew claimed that the service is akin to 

being an outsource safety management 

service. The company keeps track of 

which inspections need to be made, and 

co-ordinates the inspections. 

Drew does not necessarily undertake 

all of the inspections itself, but has a network 

of vetted service providers. 

The company has its own marine safety 

shops in Singapore, Rotterdam and 

Houston, plus a network of sub-contractors. 

Drew said that its ambition is to be a 

'one stop shop' for shipowners/operators/managers 

by looking after all kinds 

of technical equipment and services. It can 

also provide fuel treatment and water 

treatment services, handles welding and 

maintenance equipment, packing and 

jointing equipment, plus refrigerants. 

TO 


p39-42.qxd 09/05/2006 12:12 Page 1 

TECHNOLOGY BALLAST WATER 

TANKER 


Missing procedures almost in place 

Centres prepare to deliver type testing certification for ballast water treatment systems, discovers Brian Warshaw. 

As previous articles in TankerOperator 

have demonstrated, there is no lack 

of conceptual designs for the treatment 

of ballast water, in order to remove or 

to render harmless invasive sea-borne 

species of organisms and pathogens. 

Chemical, mechanical and physical 

equipment and processes have been built, 

operated and evaluated; but for these to 

become endorsed for service on vessels 

operating internationally, two pieces of 

the procedure have been missing. First 

has been an internationally defined test 

outcome, and second, recognised facilities 

where the tests could be undertaken. 

The first of these, a standardised test 

outcome was resolved in July last year, 

when the IMO's Marine Environmental 

Protection Committee (MEPC) agreed to 

Resolution MEPC 123 during its 53rd session. 

Under the general heading of 

'Guidelines for Ballast Water Management 

Equivalent Compliance (G3)', Annexes 3 

and 4 provided the missing information. 

Annex 4, 'Guidelines for the Approval 

of Ballast Water Management Systems 

(G8)', provided the procedure for the 

administration of designated bodies 

which will assess whether ballast water 

treatment systems meet the requirement 

of Regulation D-2 of the convention governing 

the control and management of 

ships' ballast water and sediment. The 

document also gave guidance to manufacturers 

and shipowners as to how equipment 

should be constructed, controlled 

and monitored. 

Testing will have to take 

place at both land-based 

facilities and at sea. If the 

system is successful in meeting 

the targets, the administration 

will issue a type 

approval certificate relating 

specifically to the system 

tested. Land-based testing of 

the ballast water management 

system (BWMS) can be 

undertaken at a laboratory, 

an equipment factory or a 

pilot plant, including a 

moored barge, or on a test 

ship. The G8 guidelines provide 

details of the pre-evaluation 

documentation 

required from the manufacturer, 

the test and performance 

specification, the 

requirements for the environmental 

evaluation, and 

the analytical methods to be 

used to determine the biological 

constituents in the 

discharged ballast water. 

For the sea-trials, a fullscale 

BWMS must be 

installed on the vessel undergoing 

testing. Under certain 

criteria, the G8 document has 

indicated that the equipment 

used for land-based testing 

could be scaled in size. 

For those systems that use an active 

substance, that is one that uses an organism, 

including a virus or fungus that acts 

against harmful aquatic organisms and 

pathogens, Annex 4, 'Procedure for 

Approval of BWMS that make use of 

Active Substances (G9)', also received 

approval. This provides similar information 

to that of G8, but relates also to the 

storage, handling and testing of the active 

substances. 

For some time, a programme to construct 

suitable testing centres has been 

ongoing, especially in the US. Towards 

the end of 2001, the US Coast Guard, 

together with the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), asked for privately 

owned test and research facilities 

that could participate in testing ship ballast 

water treatment (BWT) technologies. 

The two organisations have agreed to cooperate 

in using the environmental technology 

verification (ETV) programme to 

assess the performance level of BWMS 

that are commercially available. 

The programme was looking for facilities 

that could provide a natural body of 

marine or fresh water, which included 

natural assemblages of organisms sufficiently 

large to permit sample collection 

and system operation, together with a 

pump delivery and discharge system. 

Flow temperature, pressure and sample 

monitoring were required, as were sample 

holding tanks, and a water tank that could 

The next chapter of dependability... 


Control panel for the OptiMar Ballast System interfaced with the main control system. 

mimic a typical shipboard BWT. 

A professionally staffed biological testing 

laboratory was also a requirement 

specified in the enquiry, and as a desirable 

Introducing the 5100 Marine Portable Gas Analyser 

feature, they asked for suitable port access 

to allow for offloading ballast water from 

an operating ship. 

In the event, the Naval Research 

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Approved to the latest electrical and mechanical hazardous area safety standards the new unit replaces the trusted 

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Based on the same non-consumable paramagnetic technology used in our 1800MV inert gas 

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it being ready for use whenever you need it. 

www.servomex.com 

See us at Posidonia 

stand stand 557/4 557/4 

©2006 Servomex Group Limited

p39-42.qxd 09/05/2006 12:12 Page 2 


3 MicroKill UV reactors on a manifold for 

1,000 cu m per hour. 

Laboratory (NRL) in Key West, Florida, 

established a facility for developmental 

and standardised testing of BWT equipment. 

Edward J Lemieux, head of corrosion 

engineering at NRL, told 

TankerOperator that, 'the three tests that 

had been undertaken had not included 

any to the G8 standard.' 

He said that, 

'Each evaluation 

takes eight to 10 

weeks, and costs a 

minimum of 

$200,000.' 

As recently as 

February of this 

year, the NRL had 

not started using the 

G8 and G9 standards, 

and it was 

understood that it 

might not be until 

the start of 2007 

before it does. 

Notwithstanding, 

Severn Trent De 

Nora, 

has 

announced that its 

BalPure BP-1000 

BWT system had 

been selected for 

pilot validation tests 

to ETV protocols. 

The system, for 

which a patent has 

been applied, generates 

biocides that 

render harmless alien aquatic species. It 

meters and analyses the level of both biocides 

and neutralising agents, and 

records the performance of the overall 

BWT system. 

Once completed, the results and recommendations 

from the pilot test on the 

BalPure BP-1000 BWT will be presented 

to the ETV technical panel to assist them in 

finalising the US protocols. To what 

degree the protocols will vary from those 

of the IMO is unknown; but the USCG is 

using the ETV programme to inform them 

on the development of procedures to be 

used in approving BWT systems for use 

on vessels. 

In Europe, the Norwegian Institute for 

Water Research (NIVA) is in the process of 

building a centre for the biological testing 

of BWMS in accordance with the IMO 

guidelines. The water tanks will have a 

total capacity of 1,200 cu m, and are currently 

under construction. As well as 

being able to harvest large quantities of 

natural organisms from local sources, 

equipment will be installed to grow algae 

and zooplankton on a large scale. 

NIVA is located at the Solbergstrand 

Marine Research Station near Oslo. It is 

Typical flow diagramme for the OptiMar Ballast System. 

Westad Industri AS 

Heggenveien 

Geithus 

N-3360 Norway 

Tel: +47 32 78 95 00 

Fax: +47 32 78 95 10 

Email: pgroe@westad.com 

www.westad.com 

VALVES FOR EXTREME OPERATING CONDITIONS 


p39-42.qxd 09/05/2006 12:13 Page 3 

anticipated that the centre will be in full 

operation and offering type testing certification 

by August of this year. It will provide 

small and pilot-scale tests of biological 

efficiency and ecotoxicity tests, and 

both shipboard and land-based testing to 

IMO guidelines. The designated administration 

for approval of BWMS will be the 

Norwegian Maritime Directorate and the 

designated body class society 

Det Norske Veritas. 

One company eager to be 

tested to IMO standards and 

receive a type approval certificate 

is OptiMarin of 

Norway. The company 

claimed that it first developed 

a commercial system 

for BWT seven years ago. In 

the absence of the IMO standards, 

OptiMarin participated 

in a number of test and 

R&D programmes, from the 

time when the concept was 

developed in the late 1990's. 

In 2000 and 2001, 

OptiMarin equipment was 

donated to the Great Lakes 

Ballast Water Demonstration 

Project. The systems 

have also been tested by scientists 

from the California 

State Water Resources 

Control Board and from the 

California State Lands 

Commission. Their joint 

report, Onboard Testing of 

Ballast Treatment Efficiency, 

recorded that the 'UV treatment, 

coupled with 96 hours 

ballast tank containment, 

resulted in live counts of 

zooplankton (>50 um) that 

met the ballast water performance 

standards recently 

adopted by the IMO; that is, 

p39-42.qxd 09/05/2006 12:14 Page 4 


The International Chamber of Shipping 

(ICS) also joined the debate on ballast 

water management. An ICS spokesman 

said; "the industry has been disappointed 

by the slow progress of governments in 

ICS Viewpoint 

ratifying the IMO Ballast Water 

Management Convention, adopted in 

February 2004, and with developing the 

detailed technical specifications for new 

equipment that will be required by ships 

to comply before 2009. 

"Throughout the development of the 

Convention, ICS had opposed the use of 

fixed application dates and the adoption 

of standards too ambitious to be met by 

“Close quarters and narrow channels? Not a problem when 

you’re operating the most maneuverable tug in the harbor.” 

~ Mike Wilson • Captain of the Leader 

available technology. However, the 

Convention adopted was aspirational, 

with the aim of encouraging scientists and 

the manufacturing industry to develop 

new equipment. 

"Work has continued, but it appears 

that the technology still does not exist. 

ICS therefore argues that deepwater ballast 

water exchange - which, despite the 

safety risks, is the only current 

widespread method - 

must continue to be accepted 

on the basis that more 

sophisticated ballast water 

treatment systems cannot be 

insisted upon until they are 

generally available," he 

added. 

“Work has 

continued, but it 

appears that the 

technology still 

does not exist.” 

ICS made the submission 

to the IMO MEPC 54 in 

January of this year, which 

was well received by governments 

at the March meeting. 

However, it will not be fully 

considered until the next 

MEPC 55 in October. 

Crowley’s uniquely-designed Harbor Class tugs provide 

superior safety and efficiency. 

When it comes to assisting ships in tight, confined ports, 

Crowley’s Harbor Class tugs are the best in the business. For 

starters, they’re designed and built to be extremely fast and 

maneuverable. Thanks to Voith Schneider cycloidal propulsion 

units, our tugs are more than capable to work any part of any 

vessel. Our Harbor Class tugs also have specially designed 

skegs that allow them to slow down and steer a ship at the 

same time. In addition, each tug is equipped with a customdesigned 

winch that gives them rendering and recovery capabilities 

even in rough seas. And since it’s controlled right from 

the wheel house, it allows our captains to react quicker for 

safer and more efficient assists. 

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 

© Crowley Maritime Corporation, 2005 CROWLEY is a registered trademark of Crowley Maritime Corporation 

The Crowley crew is also the best in the business. Take 

Mike Wilson. He joined Crowley 21 years ago, and now 

serves as captain of one of our Harbor Class tugs. Mike 

and all Crowley crew members undergo a pre-voyage safety 

session at the beginning of their two-week shifts, plus two 

on-board safety sessions and a fire and boat drill during 

each shift cycle. You can’t find that kind of dedication and 

experience anywhere else. 

To find out more about our services in the harbors of Los 

Angeles/Long Beach, San Diego, Oakland, Tacoma, Seattle, 

North Puget Sound and Prince William Sound/Valdez, Alaska, 

call Crowley Ship Assist & Escort at 800-248-8632. Or 

visit www.crowley.com. 

www.crowley.com 

Manufacturer’s 

viewpoint 

One such equipment manufacturer 

currently going 

through the type approval 

process is OceanSaver. 

The company's spokesman 

Stein Foss told 

TankerOperator that Ocean- 

Saver hopes to commence its 

type approval process later 

this year and obtain 

approval within the first 

quarter of 2007. 

If the company is successful, 

it will be the first 

approved system, Foss 

claimed. He reported that 

there was a lot of interest 

shown in the system, including 

interest from tanker 

owners, but he stressed that 

it was a little too early to sell 

systems before the approval 

is obtained. 

"We are currently building 

up our brand and educating 

owners/managers 

and yards in the most important 

countries in the marine 

industry. We are of course 

also trying to sell systems to 

the most dedicated and 

'green' owners, even before 

the system is approved," he 

said. 

TO 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:19 Page 1 

TECHNOLOGY NEWS - FRANCE 

National Maritime Cluster proposed 

On 1st March this year, the idea of a 

French Maritime Cluster was initiated by 

Francois Vallat, himself a former senior 

manager of Van Ommeren (France). 

He has succeeded in bringing together 

the head of BV, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, 

insurance companies, banks and other 

interests from the commercial private sector 

only. However, the French Navy has 

also been included in talks. 

Vallat has already held nearly 40 meetings 

with top management across the 

board and will put together a plan of 

action in July, by which time around 120 

members plus other affiliates should be on 

board. Eight observers from the EU have 

been invited and the French hope to join 

the European Network of European 

Clusters. 

Vallat said that if it was not working by 

the end of next year then he would pull 

the plug on the idea. Thus far, he has 

banked Eur400,000 to start up the cluster. 

The areas to be covered are oceanographic 

research, marine insurance, classification, 

industrial vessels, broking, shipbuilding 

and high technology, oil and gas and offshore, 

finance houses, freight interests and 

national shipping lines. 

In another move, GICAN, the Naval 

defence association has merged with 

COFRENA, the French national ships' 

equipment manufacturers' association, 

which gave the new organisation some 

110 members in both the civil and military 

fields. It also added a valuable extension 

into safety at sea and satellite technology, 

the association claimed. 

As for COFRENA, it had 54 members 

having a joint turnover of Eur1.9 bill and 

directly employing 28,000 persons. The 

promotion of research and development 

plus marine trade is high on COFRENA's 

agenda. The association also promoted 

itself as the marine gateway for non- 

French companies wishing to do business 

in France. 

There is the possibility of future mergers 

with the shipbuilding association and 

taking in both the offshore and the 

leisure/yacht sectors. 

There are also many 

clusters and other organisations 

in France, including 

the marine cluster Pole 

Mer PACA (Provence, 

Alpes, Cote d'Azur). This 

cluster has joined forces 

with Brittany to give both 

the option of organising 

clusters together having an 

international outlook. In 

the two regions, there are 

700 companies operating 

in the marine sector, while 

in PACA there are 117 

industrial concerns and 

SME/SMIs. The other 

organisations include Institut National de 

Plongee Professionnelle, which certificates 

professional divers, including those 

involved in marine safety and hull cleaning/maintenance. 

JLMD is continuing to develop and 

market its fast oil recovery (FOR) systems. 

The soon to be quoted company 

recently won an order to install a small 

Gilles Longueve, sales and 

marketing manager JLMD 

tonnage version of the system in a 310 

dwt coastal tanker, which is currently 

under construction at Alstom Leroux 

Naval for trading around the islands off 

the French west coast. 

Bunker fuel tanks are also being targeted 

in addition to cargo tanks. Other types 

of vessels are being considered for fitting 

with a FOR system. For example, the 

bunker tanks on CMA CGM's fleet of large 

containerships are being evaluated. 

To develop a quick connection tool 

installed on deck, JLMD has joined together 

with salvor Smit to design the tool, 

which has been approved by both ABS and 

BV. The connector is claimed to be easy to 

maintain and only needs to be painted 

about once or twice per year. 

For a salvor, the advantage would be in 

the preparation time it would take to 

pump out a sunken vessel. For example, 

preparation for the lifting of oil from the 

Prestige took four months and for the Erika, 

three and a half months. Normally a diver 

can only reach 70 m in depth, so the use of 

rovs becomes obligatory for any cargo or 

bunker salvage deeper than 70 m. 

Another partnership has been developed 

with Danish concern Pres-Vac. The 

company has decided to get into leak prevention 

and oil recovery. Submerged P/V 

valves, mandatory safety devices that prevent 

over-pressure or a vacuum inside 

tanks, may leak. Pres-Vac has developed a 

self-closing valve, which contains the oil 

inside the intact tank to enable better use 

of oil recovery systems. This was developed 

in collaboration with JLMD. A double 

deck tanker FOR version is also being 

worked on. 

JLMD is now recognised by the Bureau 

Green Award. Any vessels fitted with a 

FOR system will benefit from the Awards 

discounted services, such as port costs. 

Insurers and P&I clubs are also looking to 

grant special conditions to those owners 

fitting such as system. Flag states are also 

beginning to sit up and take notice, 

including the Luxembourg flag, which 

gives appropriate terms to motivate and 

reward vessels equipped 

with the system. 

JLMD sells a licence to fit 

the equipment to shipowners 

and needs at least one 

licence per month to break 

even, sales and marketing 

manager Gilles Longueve 

told TankerOperator. At 

present six vessels have 

been fitted with a FOR system, 

not including the small 

newbuilding. Longueve 

also confimed that the company 

is to be floated on the 

Paris Bourse as this issue 

went to press. 

Leading sensor designer 

and manufacturer Controle Mesure 

Regulation (CMR) is to supply TCM temperature 

sensors for secondary barriers 

and double hulls of the five 147,200 cu m 

LNGCs currently being built at Hudong 

for Chinese operators. Sensors have also 

been fitted on board the Gaz de France 

LNGCs building at St Nazaire. 

Developed last year, these sensors have 

been designed to monitor gas leaks in the 

secondary barrier and double hull spaces 

of the LNGCs' containment tanks. A special 

version can also be manufactured for 

extreme conditions with a mineral insulated 

cable, which allows for the use of these 

sensors in immersed locations. One LNGC 

requires around 150 sensors for its four 

large containment tanks. 

CMR has been developing tailor made 

sensors for the cabling and control systems 

on gas and diesel engines. Most of 

the sensors are sold to the engine manufacturers 

who need one-off systems. 

However, off-the-shelf systems are also 

available. 

Chinese factory 

The sensors are manufactured in Tunis 

and CMR has outlets in Newcastle, 

Singapore, Pittsburg, Germany and 

Busan. A new factory will be opened at 

Shenzhen this year to serve the fast growing 

Chinese market. 

Operations director Patrice Flot 

explained that due to the increase in electronically 

controlled engines, there is 

more cabling involved, which require 

temperature sensors. The electronics side 

of the business is expanding as more and 

more shipboard functions are being operated 

electronically. He also said that the 

TANKER 


company is looking to develop speed sensors 

to go with the temperature and pressure 

sensors. 

More than 3,000 engines per year are 

fitted with CMR products. These are for 

operation in all sectors of industry, including 

the marine side. 

Flot said that he was looking for more 

partnerships. CMR recently won an order 

from Petrobras to fit sensors on board 

tankers. However, due to strict Brazilian 

import laws, the equipment would have to 

be made in Brazil. 

Today, there is increasing communication 

between various systems on board 

ship. To cater for this, CMR will purchase 

an interface to facilitate communications 

between the various systems. 

Another company trying to break into 

the commercial marine sector is i2e. This 

company develops and produces hull stress 

and cargo monitoring systems, electromagnetic 

speed logs, lens sensors for steel or 

aluminium hulls, electromagnetic compasses 

and other equipment for naval use. 

I2e already works closely with SAM 

Electronics and Radio Holland. For example, 

the company will be exhibiting at 

Posidonia under the guise of Radio 

Holland Greece. Export sales manager 

Xavier Deval said he was keen to develop 

the tanker and LNGC market and was 

looking to break into the commercial sector, 

apart from fast craft some of which 

have been fitted with i2e systems. 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:20 Page 2 

TECHNOLOGY NEWS 

Gas freeing fans complete 

tank equipment portfolio 

Alfa Laval has introduced a new range of 

gas freeing fans for all vessel types. These 

lightweight portable fans provide userfriendly, 

efficient and safe ventilation and 

complement the it's tank equipment portfolio, 

claimed the company. 

The gas freeing fans are designed to 

ventilate the atmosphere inside confined 

spaces, such as cargo 

tanks and ballast tanks, 

or areas that require 

fresh air or drying. 

Three different models 

cover virtually all applications, 

including various 

tanks and cargo 

types. 

The deep penetration 

fans are claimed to 

direct the airflow to the 

tank bottom. This 

reduces the risk of 

vapour pockets accumulating 

within the 

tank and the time spent 

on gas freeing operations 

is significantly reduced. Shorter 

operation time minimises water consumption 

and as a result reduces energy consumption. 

Both water-driven and air-driven fans 

are available. The A6K-S unit is air-driven, 

operated from the working airline on 

deck. The W14K-AL and W8K-AL models 

are water-driven fans that use water from 

the fire main line on deck to drive the 

motor. All water used remains outside the 

air stream, thus reducing the risk of water 

mixing with air entering a tank that may 

be statically charged. 

All models are lightweight and easy to 

operate, yet have a rugged, heavy-duty 

construction. 

Designed to fit a standard 

318 mm deck 

opening, the fans are 

non-sparking and 

type approved by 

Bureau Veritas (BV). 

The new gas freeing 

fans are part of a 

comprehensive line 

up of tank equipment 

and accessories 

offered by Alfa Laval, 

a worldwide leader 

of advanced tank 

cleaning solutions. 

Together with the 

company's tank 

cleaning machines Alfa Laval can now 

provide customers with complete tank 

equipment packages. 

Like all Alfa Laval products, Alfa Laval 

gas freeing fans come with the company's 

service pledge. Customers can rely on Alfa 

Laval for truly global service from 75 service 

centres worldwide. 

Ciserv integrated within Wärtsilä 

Ciserv, the group of service companies 

owned by Wärtsilä, was integrated within 

Wärtsilä's service organisation with effect 

from 1st May 2006. Operating under the 

new name Wärtsilä Services, the business 

will be one of the largest worldwide service 

organisations in the power and marine 

industries. 

"At the same time as we broaden our 

range of services, we are also focusing 

them under one brand. With the recent 

acquisition of companies specialising in 

automation and other services, we have 

further strengthened our ship power 

and power plant service portfolio in 

terms of products and lifecycle service 

The W8K-AL (water-driven) 

support," said Tage Blomberg, group 

vice president & head of Wärtsilä 

Services. 

Ciserv, with operations in 10 countries, 

has supported Wärtsilä's growth in new 

market segments. 

Customers are offered the following 

range of services under the Wärtsilä brand 

- engine, automation, reconditioning, 

propulsion, training, ship services, operation 

and management services, power and 

industrial services. 

The Wärtsilä Services organisation 

totalling 7,200 people incorporates 130 

Wärtsilä locations in over 60 countries 

worldwide. 

KS Shipping latest to use MarineLine® 

Turkish chemical tanker operator KS 

Shipping recently contracted Advanced 

Polymer Coatings (APC) to protect the 

cargo tanks of five newbuilding chemical 

tankers. 

APC introduced a new MarineLine®based 

lining and coating system to ensure 

the KS vessels could carry 

the maximum types of cargoes 

possible by providing 

superior resistance to a 

wide range of chemicals, 

including acids and also 

have the added strength to 

withstand basic mechanical 

damage, the company 

claimed. 

The five 15,300 dwt 

ships have higher specifications than laid 

down by their classification society - 

Bureau Veritas (BV). The key specifications 

dictate that the tanks be able to carry 

acids with a specific gravity of up to 1.9 

and meet all IMO II specifications. In addition, 

a barrier will be installed to prevent 

mechanical damage to the tank tops. Each 

of the ships will be built with 18 cargo 

tanks and two slop tanks. 

Finished MarineLine® coating of tank top 

APC said that MarineLine® was chosen 

for its proven performance in many years 

of service in the chemical tanker industry, 

and its versatility in handling the IBC 

cargo range. To cater for the mechanical 

barrier, a special MarineLine®-impregnated 

fiberglass-reinforced matting system 

was developed to cover and protect the 

tank tops and bulkheads. The fiberglassreinforced 

lining measures approximately 

95-130 mm thick, providing a high tolerance 

to mechanical damage (more than 10 

times greater impact resistance than the 

coating alone, APC claimed). 

The vessels are being built at the 

Turkish Cicek Shipyard. On the first ship, 

Puli, the tank lining system kicked off with 

a MarineLine® coating applied in two 

Exterior of the Fionia Swan, ex Puli. 

spray coats to the deckhead and bulkheads. 

A base coating was also applied to 

the tank tops. This area was then wetted 

out with fiberglass rolled into the resin. 

Next, the fiberglass-reinforced surface was 

smoothly sanded before a final coating of 

MarineLine® was applied. The entire 

tanks were then heat cured to ensure the 

coatings were complete and ready for 

service. 

Puli, is already in service. 

However, the ship was recently 

purchased from KS 

Shipping by Uni Tankers of 

Denmark and has been 

renamed Fionia Swan. 

The second ship, the Puli I 

has also been coated and lined 

with the MarineLine® system. 

She is to be delivered in the 

Autumn and has also been 

sold to Dutch concern 

Lauranne Shipping. 

As IMO II approved chemical 

tankers, each vessel has 

'Clean Sea' notation and BV 

Ice Class 1A certification 

enabling them to operate in the Baltic 

throughout the year. They are also 

designed to carry the maximum number 

of different cargoes, complying with the 

industry's highest standards. 

MarineLine's enhanced lining system 

provides excellent resistance to a wide 

range of ultra-aggressive agents, while the 

impregnated fiberglass lining delivers 

ongoing protection against mechanical 

damage, the company claimed. 

When others choose to talk... 

...we choose to meet the needs - Jowa Cleantoil 2005 


As the world's largest provider of complete systems 

in ODME, Jowa now offers the new compact Jowa 

Cleantoil 2005. This all new system goes beyond 

expectations. Easily installed, easily operated and 

with a unique self cleaning feature Jowa Cleantoil 

2005 meets and surpasses the demands. But then 

again, surpassing expectations is essential to remain 

a driving force in the ODME business. This is 

why Jowa will remain a true listener, an inventive 

manufacturer and thus the world's largest provider. 

We simply don't wish to waste your (or our) time by just talking. 

Visit www.jowa.se for further details about Jowa Cleantoil 2005. Contact: info@jowa.se

p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:20 Page 3 

BASS reaps rewards 

BASS has recently won contracts from 

Swedish-based Tarbit Shipping and 

Japanese-based Nakata Ma for its software 

solutions. 

Tarbit will install SAFIR (Safety 

Information Reporting), an advanced software 

solution designed to optimise the 

administration of reporting incidents at 

sea. The company will also use the system 

for including internal audits, inspections 

and other company specific procedures. 

The SAFIR system will be installed in 

Tarbit's office in Skärhamn, Sweden and 

also on board the fleet. In addition to the 

basic modules, SAFIR will be linked to 

INSJÖ, a database created by The Swedish 

Safety Maritime Inspectorate and the 

Swedish Shipowners Association to help 

owners share information on accidents, 

incidents, near-misses and non-conformities. 

By integrating the two systems, Tarbit 

will be able to seamlessly transfer information 

from SAFIR to the INSJÖ database. 

"We are confident that SAFIR will assist 

us in recording undesired events," says 

Torkel Hermansson, Tarbit's general manager. 

"It is important to us that these 

reports are followed up and that the conclusions 

drawn are shared with all 

employees on shore and at sea." 

According to BASS regional sales manager, 

Geir Michaelsen, Tarbit first 

expressed interest in SAFIR two years ago. 

Michaelsen also noted that SAFIR had 

already been installed on one of Tarbit's 

vessels, while the implementation process 

for the rest of the fleet will be completed in 

a few months. "When SAFIR is fully operational 

in Tarbit's Skärhamn office, all the 

shipping companies based in Skärhamn 

will be using BASS's SAFIR," he said. 

SAFIR is a software solution designed 

to enable users to report and systematically 

analyse so called undesired events to 

ensure that company staff and crew members 

can learn and share information. It 

has been developed as a tool to help 

shipowners and ship managers avoid accidents 

and protect lives, environment and 

property at sea. SAFIR has been developed 

in full compliance with Section 9 of 

the ISM Code, ISPS Code, ISO 9000 and 

ISO 14000. 

Tarbit Shipping operates a fleet of 

tankers with capacities ranging from 1,600 

dwt to 23,000 dwt and services customers 

throughout Europe, Mediterranean, Black 

Sea, West Africa and the Caribbean. The 

company has been a specialist in the transport 

of bitumen, petroleum products and 

chemicals since 1962. 

BASS has also reached an agreement 

with Nakata Mac, a shipping company 

based in Hiroshima and Tokyo, Japan. 

The software house will supply Nakata 

Mac with four integrated software modules, 

including the administrative management 

solution EasyInfo, BASSnetTM 

Planned Maintenance, BASSnet 

Procurement and SAFIR, the company's 

advanced safety management tool. The 

subscription model contract includes the 

installation of these systems on six Nakata 

Mac products tankers. 

According to regional sales manager, 

Frank Liang, Nakata Mac sought 

advanced software solutions to support 

their ship management department to 

clear OCIMF's TMSA requirements. The 

company was already familiar with BASS 

through the use of third-party shipmanagers. 

"For the past five years, BASS has 

worked hard to earn the trust of the somewhat 

cautious Japanese shipping industry," 

said Liang. "All our hard work is 

beginning to pay off." BASS also has a long 

term relationship with Japanese shipping 

giant, Taiyo Nippon Kisen (a subsidiary of 

K-Line Group). 

Work to install SAFIR and EasyInfo, a 

process-driven management information 

system, which uses intelligent applications 

to streamline ship-to-shore communications, 

will be completed this year. 

BASSnetTM Procurement, an advanced 

purchasing system which allows users to 

access a broad range of critical business 

information, and BASSnetTM Planned 

Maintenance, a software solution 

designed to enable users to plan and execute 

the maintenance of their fleet and 

manage their global stock of spare parts 

more efficiently, will also be operational 

by early 2006. 

While Liang noted that the Japanese 

market remains challenging, he believed 

the Japanese shipping industry is changing. 

"We are very excited about this contract," 

said Liang, "and believe it is further 

proof that the maritime industry in Japan 

is beginning to embrace software solutions." 

Established in 1932, Nakata Mac is a 

leading provider of special coatings for the 

shipbuilding industry. In 1982, the company 

began operating vessels, expanding its 

fleet to six products tankers operating 

from the Middle East to Asia. At present, 

the company operates one MR type ship, 

two LR-1 type ships, three LR-2 type 

ships, the largest of their kind in Asia. 

MAN B&W licensee Hitachi Zosen has 

completed the first of its two-stroke 7- 

cylinder S65ME-C diesel engine. 

This unit is the first of three ordered by 

the Universal Shipyard for fitting on 

board Dynacom's ice class suezmax 

tankers building at the yard. 

MAN B&W said that this engine had 

been tailor made for fuel efficient power 

production for a broad range of medium 

sized vessels. With power outputs from 

14,350 kW to 22,960 kW, they have been 

designed to be compact, optimise fuel 

usage, reduce lube oil consumption, 

extend the time between overhauls and 

lower overall maintenance costs, the manufacturer 

claimed. 

Electronic control is claimed to give 

precise control of the fuel injection and 

exhaust valve timing, thereby optimising 

fuel efficiency. Other developments, such 

as enhanced ring pack configuration, borecooled 

cylinder liners, better exhaust 

valve performance and combustion temperature 

parameters, which are improved 

through the use of the OROS-profiled piston 

crown, help to create an optimal 

engine operation, MAN B&W said. 

Although this new two-stroke engine 

series was designed with the bulk carrier 

in mind, MAN B&W believed it would be 

TANKER 


MAN B&W licensees busy in 

tanker and LNG sectors 

ideal for the main propulsion units of 

suezmax tankers. 

Meanwhile, The MAN B&W Diesel 

Group has extended its existing licence 

agreement with South Korean licensee 

STX Engine, which has been in place for 

more than 20 years. 

Dynacom's suezmaxes will be fitted with a 7S65ME-C. 

STX is now also licensed to build the 

new MAN B&W Diesel dual-fuel engine - 

the 51/60DF. 

The 51/60DF engine model is particularly 

suitable for main propulsion units in 

LNGCs. South Korea is the leading 

builder of gas carriers. 

STX, which has been a licence partner 

of the MAN B&W Diesel Group since 

1984, is actively involved in the LNG sector 

by way of its own shipping company 

STX PanOcean, which has ordered LNGCs 

in the STX Shipyard. 

More propulsion concepts for LNGCs 

are involving the using of dual-fuel 

engines for which STX now has the backing 

of MAN B&W. 

The growing strength of its licensee in 

the South Korean market means that 

MAN B&W Diesel is also increasing its 

own market share in the LNG sector. The 

extended licence agreement was signed at 

the end of March at STX Engine in 

Changwon, South Korea. 

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p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:20 Page 4 


Fuel inefficiency due to marine fouling 

Anti-fouling precautions cost the worldwide 

shipping community an annual $1.5 

bill; but despite this expenditure, 

shipowners were still spending an additional 

minimum premium of 10% on fuel 

costs, due to hull resistance. Torben Monk 

of Propulsion Dynamics made these 

claims, when he delivered a technical 

paper "Fuel Conservation through Managing 

Hull Resistance" at a recent conference. 

Monk reviewed the historic background 

to ship performance measurement, 

concluding with the so-called service 

speed that every shipowner is presented 

with when taking delivery. The problem, 

Monk explained, is that this figure 

was constructed by adding and subtracting 

arbitrary numbers to account for hull 

and propeller surface roughness caused 

by growth and corrosion. In practice, 'it is 

very difficult to get a reliable and accurate 

picture of the speed versus engine power 

performance of a ship in service,' he said. 

The marine fouling for any particular ship 

may be worse, and consequently the true 

service speed is little better than guesswork, 

he concluded. 

Most ship operators have some method 

for speed/power monitoring, be it daily 

comparisons of fuel consumption and distance 

travelled; or the standard noon data 

produced by almost every vessel. The 

problem is that the results are not easily 

accommodated in a straight-line graph, 

due to being 

Cleaning prop.and 

affected by factors 

including 

60% ship's sides 

50% 

40% 

ship's draught, 

30% 

weather conditions, 

sea cur- 

10% 

20% 

rent, temperature 

and salini- 

0% 

ty, and are diffi- 

Increase of resistan 

Hull cleaning 

Dry-docking 

cult to fully normalise. 

Admitting that the effect of hull resistance 

on propulsion performance was complicated 

to describe, Monk introduced 

CASPER®, (Computer Analysis of Ship 

PERformance), as a tool to interpret the 

observations taken by the ship's crew. 

Monk described it as, 'a general mathematical 

model; a build-up of well-known 

elements for the calculation of ship resistance, 

propeller performance, weather 

resistance, and so on.' 

He stated that the model needs 10 to 12 

sets of observations to enable adjustments 

to be made before it could be used for performance 

analysis and predictions, after 

which the analysis is further refined as data 

from the ship is acquired. In a series of 

illustrations, Monk presented actual examples 

of how the results from CASPER® 

could plot the continual deterioration in 

ship's performance, due solely to fouling, 

for many shipowners and shipmanagers. 

Illustrated below is a CASPER® graph, 

plotting the development of resistance for 

a tanker, with all events that influence fuel 

consumption (and speed). These values 

for resistance are not uncommon for a 

tanker of moderate age. This graph provides 

the shipowner with a tool for evaluating 

total cost of ownership for hull coatings, 

as well as for determining economically 

periods for hull cleanings and optimum 

drydock interval. 

Hull cleaning 

Hull cleaning 

1670 1870 2070 2270 2470 2670 

Days for development of added resistance 

Simplified 

Voyage Data Recorder 

Global Installation Capability 

Worldwide Product Support 

Fully type approved as a Simplified VDR and a VDR 

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LR launches provisional rules for sandwich 

panel construction 

Lloyd's Register (LR), in conjunction with 

Intelligent Engineering (IE), has developed 

a set of provisional rules for new 

construction and shiprepair using steel 

sandwich construction. Called Provisional 

Rules for the Application of Sandwich Panel 

Construction to Ship Structure, the rules 

were approved in early 2006 by a specially 

convened sub-committee of LR's technical 

committee, comprising independent 

experts drawn from across the industry. 

Sandwich plate system (SPS) is a technology 

created by UK-based IE in which 

two metal plates are bonded to a solid elastomer 

core. The elastomer provides continuous 

support to the plates and stops local 

plate buckling, eliminating the need for 

stiffeners. Other advantages claimed by IE 

for its SPS include its high strength-toweight 

ratio, high energy-absorption 

capacity, good thermal and acoustic insulation 

properties and inherent fire resistance. 

The material is now well proven for deck 

and tank top reinstatement, and its breadth 

of applications is continually expanding. 

The new rules introduce a set of class 

notations relating to the application of 

sandwich panel in ship structures. They 

cover construction procedures, scantling 

determination for primary supporting 

structures, framing arrangements and 

methods of scantling determination for 

steel sandwich panels. 

Alan Gavin, LR's marine director, said: 

"We have enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration 

with Intelligent Engineering 

since the first application of SPS onboard 

the Lloyd's Register-classed ro-pax ferry 

Pride of Cherbourg. To date we have been 

involved in over 20 projects involving SPS, 

comprising 20,000 sq m of repair and reinstatement 

projects. The steel sandwich 

VDR-100G2S 

Powerful, Flexible & Reliable 

Rutter Technologies 

St. John’s, NL Canada 

Tel. + 1 709 368 4213 

Fax. + 1 709 368 1337 

sales@ruttertech.com 

www.ruttertech.com 

concept has now become a viable option 

for large-scale commercial applications, 

and the development of these new rules 

will allow designers to consider this material 

alongside traditional shipbuilding 

materials such as steel. 

"The rules provide a framework for the 

classification of ship structures built using 

the sandwich panel concept and the basis for 

a consistent approach to the approval of 

such designs. The overall philosophy of the 

rules is to ensure that designs utilising steel 

sandwich construction are equivalent in 

strength and safety to conventional steel 

construction. We believe that these rules will 

give the industry confidence to embrace SPS 

even more fully than it already has." 

Communications 

contract for FPSO 

NesscoInvsat Telecommunications has 

won a further contract with turnkey partner 

Teleconsult to supply two communications 

systems to the Bergesen Worldwide 

Offshore ULCC Berge Enterprise, due for 

conversion to a floating production storage 

offloading (FPSO) vessel at Sembawang 

Shipyard, Singapore later this year. 

NesscoInvsat will be supplying both a 

stabilised line of sight system for operational 

communications between the vessel 

and two offshore platforms once on location 

in the Bay of Campeche, and a stabilised 

C-band VSAT antenna for communications 

between the vessel and BW 

Offshore's head office in Oslo, as part of 

Teleconsult's package for this project. 

This represents the latest in a number of 

contract awards from Teleconsult for the 

supply of satellite communication systems 

for BW's fleet. This is the fourth BW 

Offshore vessel that 

NesscoInvsat has equipped 

in addition to the further 15 

systems supplied to BW's 

fleet of LNG and oil tankers. 

NesscoInvsat's managing 

director, Tom Smith commented; 

" This contract 

strengthens further the great 

relationship we have built 

up over the years with both 

Teleconsult and BW 

Offshore. We have long since 

proven that only 

NesscoInvsat's combination 

of the most technologically 

advanced stabilised satellite 

terminals currently available, 

combined with our efficient 

and professionally 

manned 24/7 service management 

centre, is good 

enough to provide the quality 

of support and services 

that BW Offshore demand 

and expect. 

"In addition, for the first 

time NesscoInvsat will be 

supplying a complex line of 

sight system to BW Offshore, 

which represents further 

proof of Teleconsult's faith in 

NesscoInvsat's ability to 

deliver projects on time, in 

budget and fault free".

p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:20 Page 5 

Electric-drive deepwell pumps success 

Marflex, a major manufacturer of electricdrive 

deepwell pumps, has won an order 

to supply deepwell pump systems to three 

Ice Class 1A 70,000 dwt shuttle tankers 

buiding at Samsung. 

Paul van Beveren, Marflex's managing 

director said: "We are proud to be the first 

company ever to supply electric-drive 

deepwell pumps for a 70,000 dwt Ice Class 

1A tanker." 

The equipment to be supplied includes: 

• 10 cargo pumps type MDPC-250 with a 

capacity of 800 cu m per hour and a 

head of 135 mlc. 

• Two slop pumps type MDPC-200 with 

Leading German class society 

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has introduced 

rules for corrosion protection of vessels' 

tanks. 

Corrosion is a key factor affecting the 

service life and economic viability 

of ships, particularly tankers, GL said. 

Damage to the outer skin or to tanks - 

particularly cargo tanks - can lead to 

costly repairs and lengthy off-hire periods. 

To minimise the threat of corrosion, 

tanks on newly built tankers are often 

partly coated. 

"Appreciating the importance of flawless 

internal cargo tank coatings, GL has 

issued rules regarding corrosion protection 

of crude oil tanks," explained Daniel 

Engel, head of GL's product certification 

branch. "This protection system is being 

documented in a special 'Cargo Tank 

Coating' class notation. It will extend 

service life, reduce the need for maintenance 

and enhance resale opportunities", 

Engel claimed. 

Crude oils and related impurities, such 

as sulphur, are aggressive and mechanical 

stress also weakens steel. Both the top and 

bottom of a tank are particularly susceptible 

to corrosion. 

GL's class notation regulates all aspects 

of the coatings, indicating where and how 

the coating is to be carried out and also 

covers surface preparation, as well as the 

relevant survey process. 

Anti-corrosion coatings conditions will 

be monitored on a regular basis and 

a capacity of 500 cu m per hour and a 

head of 135 mlc. 

• Two ballast pumps type MBDPC-500 

with a capacity of 2,500 cu m per hour 

and a head of 25 mlc. 

Marflex will also supply the variable 

speed drive systems to each vessel. The 

pump system for the first ship will be 

delivered in March 2007. 

In addition, during the past few 

months, Marflex also signed contracts for 

delivery of pump sets to 13 ships building 

at Guangzhou Shipyard. These products 

and chemical tankers are from 38,500 dwt 

to 52,000 dwt. 

Rules for tank corrosion protection 

reported on. If repairs become necessary, 

consultancy will be offered and all work 

will be carried out under the supervision 

of a GL surveyor. 

GL said that by guaranteeing observance 

of proper procedures, as well as 

high-quality workmanship, survey standards 

will relieve shipowners of a significant 

burden. 

Meanwhile, GL has a team of experts 

specialising in tanker technicalities. 

Members of the team are capable fulfilling 

specific requirements on crude oil, chemical, 

LNG, LPG and ethylene tankers. 

The core team consists of naval architects 

and marine/mechanical engineers 

who specialise in hull structures, design, 

cargo handling and safety systems. 

They are able to provide help with 

obtaining tanker-related IOPP certificates, 

or certificates of seaworthiness. 

The team is split into two disciplines - 

one handling ship structures and the 

other tanker safety. 

Ship structures takes in ship arrangements 

and hull drawings; cargo containment 

and construction materials and any 

other requirements concerning hull 

structures. 

Tanker safety includes SOLAS/MAR- 

POL requirements; IBC and IGC code 

requirements; construction materials, piping 

and safety systems; instrumentation 

and personnel protection, plus environmental 

control, inert gas and crude oil 

washing systems. 

The use of satellite imagery to monitor and 

manage oil spills at sea is set to improve 

due to the award of a new Eur5 mill contract 

to the MARCOAST consortium by the 

European Space Agency (ESA). 

This project, which will run until 2008, 

reflects the ongoing integration of technologies 

and services under the GMES 

(Global Monitoring of Environment and 

Security) framework, initiated jointly by 

the ESA and the European Commission 

(EC). GMES aims to support the implementation 

of international conventions 

and EC policies, which call for harmonised 

spatial monitoring and frequent 

reporting. 

As part of the MARCOAST consortium, 

which is being led by Alcatel, BMT 

Asia Pacific and BMT Cordah, subsidiaries 

of the BMT group, will provide 

oil spill detection and drift impact information 

services. This will help the consortium 

achieve its wider objective, to 

reduce the number of occasions when 

poor management and inadequate planning 

lead to avoidable damage to the 

Three new Inmarsat Fleet 77/55/33 satcom 

terminals featuring simplified connectivity 

and a variety of options, the 

Debeg 3270, Debeg 3255 and Debeg 3233, 

have been introduced by Hamburg-based 

SAM Electronics. 

Providing over-the-horizon capability, 

the Debeg 3270 F77 and 3255 F55 integrated 

terminals ensure both high-speed 

mobile ISDN data and mobile packet data 

service (MPDS) facilities at a basic 64 kbps 

or optionally, 128 kbps. 

This permits maximum flexibility 

and scalability, allowing users to select 

the most effective means of transmitting 

data in terms of time and cost. 

Both offer enhanced global ship-toshore 

voice, fax and data communications 

for ocean-going and coastal vessels 

while featuring reduced-size antennas 

and below-deck equipment; the F77 

version additionally features a GMDSS 

capability. 

TANKER 


Detection and management of oil spills 

environment and economic resources in 

an afflicted area. 

For example, it is claimed that by providing 

accurate forecasting for the 

Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea 

areas, all particularly vulnerable to the 

potentially devastating ecological damage 

wreaked by oil spills, the speed of 

response to incidents will be increased 

and the scale of any subsequent clean up 

operations reduced. 

This project will complement another 

initiative being run by BMT, which aims to 

create an infrastructure for geo-information 

services, enabling the transfer of 

BMT's established marine information 

products, such as the oil spill information 

system (OSIS), onto the web. 

Mel Davies, BMT's director of development 

commented: "We have considerable 

experience in oil spill detection and drift 

impact analysis and through the MAR- 

COAST consortium we will help develop 

the use of satellite imagery to monitor, 

manage and reduce the impact of potentially 

devastating oil spills at sea." 

SAM Electronics introduces new 

Satcom terminals 

The smallest unit, the Debeg 3233 F33 

system, provides fax and data at 9.6 kbps 

on Inmarsat spot beams and global mini- 

M voice communications. Notably simple 

to install and connect, it is essentially 

designed for smaller vessels. 

All three terminals basically comprise 

an electronic unit with ISDN handset 

together with a radome antenna, incorporating 

a GPS facility for independent satellite 

search and tracking. Additional ISDN 

handsets and analogue telephones, as well 

as G3 fax machines are available on 

request. 

Together with an ISDN router, all terminals 

can connect local area networks 

(LANs) or virtual private networks 

(VPNs) with onshore management systems 

via the internet and so enable a comprehensive 

range of communications and 

information access functions at costs 

based only on the amounts of data sent 

and received. 

Advertising Alliance ASP0215TO 

Ship Management Group 

WE MANAGE SHIPS SAFELY 

www.aspships.com 

 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:20 Page 6 


ShipServ upgrades services and joins Singapore-based venture 

Vecom and Unimarine form strategic alliance 

Shipping e-commerce concern 

ShipServ has introduced 

ShipServ Pages, an online search 

engine designed for the shipping 

industry. 

ShipServ Pages makes immediate 

online search and listing 

access available to the 10,000 

shipping companies and more 

than 30,000 marine suppliers 

operating in the worldwide ship 

supply market, claimed the company. 

The program enables 

marine purchasers to search for 

and qualify suppliers using a 

wide variety of criteria on as narrow, 

or as wide a basis as 

required. 

The pages also provide suppliers 

with a highly effective tool to 

market and advertise their services 

in an interactive manner. 

Fully integrated to ShipServ's 

TradeNet and claimed to be 

highly user friendly - ShipServ 

Pages provides shipowners/ 

managers and their suppliers 

with further improved management 

and marketing tools. All 

suppliers receive a free listing in 

the pages and they are then able 

to further manage how their 

company appears in response to 

buyers search criteria. 

ShipServ claimed that its 

pages system moves beyond just 

being an online directory. The 

marriage of search and transaction 

tools by the pages and the 

integration to the largest and 

fastest growing e-commerce platform 

in shipping, ShipServ 

TradeNet, is a real improvement 

in functionality for buyers and 

suppliers, ShipServ said. This 

year, a transaction volume of 

$700 mill is expected to be carried 

out on TradeNet. 

Paul Ostergaard, ShipServ 

ceo said, "We are providing 

sophisticated management tools 

that are easy to use and that 

provide immediate benefits to 

our expanding user base. The 

introduction of ShipServ Pages 

provides buyer and suppliers 

with another mutually beneficial 

service. This easy to access, 

highly functional product is 

available to the whole market 

but has been built to integrate 

directly with TradeNet and 

users' purchasing and sales 

order systems." 

Ostergaard also said ShipServ 

will continue to invest in providing 

improvements to its service 

offerings. "We are responding to 

the market's needs for greater 

efficiency, control and choice. On 

both the buyer and supplier side 

we are now seeing rapid growth 

in transactions over TradeNet 

and we hope that ShipServ Pages 

further supports that trend. We 

will continue to listen to and support 

the market - we will go 

where our clients need and want 

us to go. So far we have concentrated 

on the ship supply market. 

With our new offering we will be 

looking at new areas in the 

marine industry." 

In another move, Sinwa and 

ShipServ have announced that 

the Sinwa order processing system 

is to be fully integrated with 

ShipServ's TradeNet. 

Sinwa is a fast growing, publicly 

listed, marine supply and 

logistics company, whose core 

business is supplying a wide 

range of ship stores, provisions 

and equipment to ships and oil 

rigs in the Asia/Pacific region. 

Since 2002, Sinwa's offices in 

Singapore, China and Australia 

have been transacting, individually, 

via TradeNet with their customers 

all over the world. With 

the centralisation and integration 

of Sinwa's offices worldwide due 

to ShipServ's technology - all 

Sinwa offices will be able to manage 

their own transactions either 

locally or remotely, all via 

TradeNet. The data can be centralised 

in the order processing 

system at the Singapore headquarters. 

"We are delighted to embark 

on a closer co-operation with 

ShipServ, which will help us 

increase our competitiveness and 

serve our clients better. This integration 

will bring us significant 

benefits and savings." said Mike 

Sim, ceo of Sinwa. 

Sinwa is listed on the 

Singapore Stock Exchange and is 

a regional marine supply and 

logistics company serving the 

marine and offshore industry in 

Singapore, the PRC and 

Australia. 

It's core business is in the supply 

of a wide range of ships' 

stores, provisions and equipment 

to ships and oil rigs operators, as 

well as providing owners with 

shipping agency and logistics 

services. 

 

Dutch supply group Vecom and 

Piraeus-based Unimarine Group 

have signed a letter of intent to 

form a strategic alliance to be 

known as Vecom Marine 

Alliance, or 'Vecom Marine'. 

Vecom Marine will supply the 

following products and services 

to the marine industry: 

• Chemicals for cleaning and 

maintenance. 

• Gases and refrigerants. 

• Electrodes and welding equipment. 

• Fire fighting and safety equipment. 

"Vecom has a long association 

with the marine industry and we 

are very excited about re-entering 

this market as a direct supplier" 

said Rein Breeman, director 

of both Vecom Marine and 

Vecom group. 

Jason Georgiou, co-director 

of Vecom Marine and founder of 

the Unimarine group, added: 

"Unimarine recognises the high 

level of knowhow within Vecom 

and this alliance will provide us 

with a solid basis upon which to 

operate in the dynamic marine 

industry and will enable us to 

grow in the future." 

The alliance allows Vecom to 

return as a direct supplier to the 

marine industry after an 

absence of 10 years. During this 

time Vecom was indirectly 

Vecom's Rein Breeman has 

become a director of both 

groups. 

involved producing cleaning 

and maintenance chemicals 

under a private label for Drew- 

Ashland and Marine Care. 

Vecom has been active in the 

Heading management system introduced 

Northrop Grumman Corp's 

Sperry Marine business unit has 

introduced a new vessel heading 

management system. 

The NAVITWIN IV heading 

management system monitors 

and controls all heading sources 

of a multi-compass heading reference 

system to provide increased 

safety and efficiency in marine 

navigation, Sperry claimed. 

It continuously monitors and 

displays the data from up to 

three true heading sources and 

one magnetic compass on a 

bright, color, high-resolution 

LCD display. The system also 

monitors the difference 

between any two of the displayed 

headings and actuates 

an audible and visible alarm if 

the difference between the two 

exceeds a preset threshold. It 

also provides automatic correction 

of magnetic deviation and 

variation. 

The NAVITWIN IV replaces 

Sperry Marine's NAVITWIN III 

compass monitor and has been 

type-approved to a European 

Council Directive by the 

German certification authority 

Bundesamt für Seeschiffahrt & 

Hydrographie. 

Sperry Marine, headquartered 

in Charlottesville (Va), 

and with major engineering 

and support offices in New 

Malden, UK and Hamburg, 

Germany, provides navigation 

and ship control solutions for 

the marine industry with customer 

service and support 

through offices in 16 countries, 

sales representatives in 47 

countries and authorised service 

depots in more than 250 

locations worldwide. 

© Photonica 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:21 Page 7 

marine industry since 1953. 

The Unimarine group has been 

a supplier to the marine industry 

for over a decade. The company 

has a worldwide network for the 

supply of the following products 

and services under separate divi- 

sions:- 

• 'Uniclean' - Chemicals. 

• 'Unigas' - Gases and refrigerants. 

• Unisafety' - Fire fighting and 

safety services. 

• 'Unimarine' - Technical supplies 

and specialty chemicals 

Vecom Marine will actively 

expand its network in the coming 

months. The company was 

established over 50 years ago, 

and today is a leading international 

supplier of products and 

services for professional maintenance 

and surface treatment. 

The company has an annual 

turnover of around Eur24 mill 

and employs over 240 people. 

Vecom offers a combination of 

services and products:- 

• Metal surface treatment 

services. 

• Treatment, maintenance and 

cleaning products. 

• On-site services. 

• Wastewater treatment. 

SRO signs worldwide agreement 

A worldwide 'reseller' agreement 

has been signed between SRO 

Solutions and MRO Software UK. 

Under the terms of this agreement, 

SRO will promote, licence, 

distribute, implement and support 

Maximo asset and service 

management software to the 

marine industry. 

"One of our main goals since 

starting SRO has been to represent 

Maximo in the marine and 

shipping industry", said SRO 

Solutions director Steve Driver. 

"For many years, the more traditional 

marine software vendors 

have been insulated from most 

shore based competition, partly 

due to the relative small size of 

our market, but also due to various 

technical challenges relating 

to database replication over previously 

slow and expensive 

satellite links", he continued. 

"However, times have changed 

and technology with it. Many vessels 

now have high speed data 

connection 

as 

standard thus allowing for a more 

efficient connection between ship 

and shore and also V-Sat is 

becoming much more widely 

available and affordable, allowing 

for more up to date replication 

technologies to be used. We are 

therefore confident that Maximo 

Enterprise Suite with its internet 

architecture, in combination with 

our skilled and knowledgeable 

network of resources, will prove 

to be a welcome relief for many of 

our existing and potential clients," 

Driver concluded. 

As part of the company's 

preparation for becoming an 

MRO software reseller, SRO has 

been actively involved in 

various discussions, not only on 

a technical basis with MRO's 

product development and professional 

service teams, but also 

with various leading shipping 

companies with regard to the 

many advantages and future 

possibilities of using Maximo. 

SRO recently received its first 

order for Maximo from a 

Malaysian shipping company. 

The contract will involve 

the supply of software, onsite configuration; 

implementation and 

training followed by the provision 

of remote technical support from 

the Manchester, UK office. 

….anticipating all 

your needs 

ENTERPRISING 

ITM is a ship manager that takes initiative. We make capital, 

 

strive to be the best at what we do, and better than we need to be, 

by being enterprising. ITM: Beyond compliance. 

INTERNATIONAL TANKER MANAGEMENT 

- BEYOND COMPLIANCE - 

blue-ic.com 

www.tankermanagement.com 

Maximo is a comprehensive 

set of suites developed to meet 

the asset and service management 

needs of any organisation. 

It can be deployed on asingle 

unit for small to mid-sized companies, 

or in global concerns 

operating in multiple sites and 

organisations, using multiple 

languages and currencies. 

SRO provides IT solutions to 

the maritime sector, specialising 

in systems for maintenance and 

purchasing (CMMS), ship-to- 

SRO signs wo 

TANKER 


Radio Holland and Netwave to co-operate 

Radio Holland (RH) has signed an 

official distribution agreement 

with Netwave, manufacturer of a 

new generation of ultra compact 

voyage data recorders (VDRs). 

This means that RH has been 

appointed as Netwave's agent 

for sales and service activities. 

Netwave's scalable VDR and S- 

VDR design encompasses a minimal 

number of compact units, in 

which the interconnection is limited 

to a single 'WaveNet' cable. 

This feature enables 'fast-track' 

installation, claims Netwave. The 

VDR contains an auto-configuring 

remote-diagnostics capability 

RH managing director Paul 

Smulders said: "I am very 

pleased with the agreement we 

signed with Netwave and this 

new addition to our product 

range. I think the NW-4000 S- 

VDR series is a very innovative 

product and unique in the fact 

that it is extremely compact and 

also the installation is very easy 

with the one cable principle. We 

are already in full business with 

various shipowners concerning 

the Netwave S-VDR." 

"The overwhelmingly fast 

market recognition of our new 

generation of S-VDR and VDR 

solutions was much better than 

we ever hoped for," said Rob Post, 

managing Director Netwave 

Systems. "This confirms the 

shipowner's interest for a costeffective 

implementation of the 

new IMO regulations coming into 

force by 1st July this year. 

"The sheer market size of the 

18,000 vessels to be fitted within 

the next four years, in conjunction 

with the complexity of VDR's, 

calls for a sound and intensive 

partnership. From our perspective, 

Netwave's anticipated customer-base 

is best served by teaming 

up with a recognised market 

leader. Obviously, RH with its 

many service stations and experienced 

crew is the preferred partner, 

especially while RH also 

offers a worldwide ISO certified 

Quality Assurance programme." 

Radio Holland (RH) has signed an 

official distribution agreement 

with Netwave, manufacturer of a 

new generation of ultra compact 

voyage data recorders (VDRs). 

This means that RH has been 

appointed as Netwave's agent 

shore communications, safety and 

quality and knowledge management. 

The company also provides 

bespoke development, ICT support 

and database activities, as 

well as advising on other value 

added systems, such as predictive 

maintenance, e-commerce and V- 

Sat/broadband technologies. 

MRO provides asset and 

service management solutions. 

The SRO and MRO agreement is 

just one of many distribution type 

deals currently being negotiated. 

for sales and service activities. 

Netwave's scalable VDR and S- 

VDR design encompasses a minimal 

number of compact units, in 

which the interconnection is limited 

to a single 'WaveNet' cable. 

Features of the Netwave 

NW-4000 series 

• Fast track installation 

• Single wire architecture 

• Auto configuring 

• Flexible modular design 

• Compact flash data 

retrieval 

• Emergency save button 

• Remote diagnostics 

• Service friendly 

This feature enables 'fasttrack' 

installation, claims 

Netwave. The VDR contains an 

auto-configuring remote-diagnostics 

capability 

RH managing director Paul 

Smulders said: "I am very 

pleased with the agreement we 

signed with Netwave and this 

new addition to our product 

range. I think the NW-4000 S- 

VDR series is a very innovative 

product and unique in the fact 

that it is extremely compact and 

also the installation is very easy 

with the one cable principle. We 

are already in full business with 

various shipowners concerning 

the Netwave S-VDR." 

"The overwhelmingly fast 

market recognition of our new 

generation of S-VDR and VDR 

solutions was much better than 

we ever hoped for," said Rob Post, 

managing Director Netwave 

Systems. "This confirms the 

shipowner's interest for a costeffective 

implementation of the 

new IMO regulations coming into 

force by 1st July this year. 

"The sheer market size of the 

18,000 vessels to be fitted within 

the next four years, in conjunction 

with the complexity of VDR's, 

calls for a sound and intensive 

partnership. From our perspective, 

Netwave's anticipated customer-base 

is best served by 

teaming up with a recognised 

market leader. Obviously, RH 

with its many service stations and 

experienced crew is the preferred 

partner, especially while RH also 

offers a worldwide ISO certified 

Quality Assurance programme." 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:22 Page 8 


Sea of confusion 

A global survey of oil and bulk shipping 

carriers by scheduling software specialist, 

Magenta Technology, revealed a sector 

struggling to keep pace with an increasingly 

dynamic and regulated global trade 

environment. Among the findings were:- 

• Tankers and bulk carriers still reliant 

on pen and paper/Excel spreadsheets 

to schedule multi billion dollar cargoes 

across their fleets. 

• Dry and wet bulk shipping drowning 

in red tape and the rising pressures of 

global trade. 

• Inefficiencies potentially having 

knock-on effect in the pricing of goods 

and raw materials. 

Over half (56%) of fleet chartering and 

scheduling managers working in the 

sector were spending between two to 

three days per week scheduling and 

re-scheduling their fleet because of 

changes in orders, port events and weather 

conditions. 

The Magenta survey highlighted an 

industry in serious need of modernisation 

as 50% of the industry still relied on 

Excel spreadsheets and pen and paper to 

plan logistics around their fleets. This 

industry - responsible for more than 40% 

of world global trade - was seen to be in 

marked contrast to the highly sophisticated 

air freight and truck sectors which are 

pioneering on-demand delivery of goods 

and raw materials. 

Jonathan Himoff, Magenta 

Technology's ceo, said: "Until recently 

simple scheduling software or pen and 

paper proved to work fine for oil and 

bulk products shipping. But with market 

situation changing quickly and unpredictably 

and with increasing pressure 

from customer demands, fleet chartering 

and scheduling managers face the need 

of getting new generation of decisionmaking 

tools - the ones to lower costs, 

deal with delays and under utilisation of 

vessels and other assets and help them to 

make better decisions faster." 

In investigating the scheduling concerns 

and difficulties of oil and bulk carriers, 

the survey showed that 67% of 

those questioned believed that scheduling 

was becoming more difficult. The 

majority of respondents said that their 

scheduling processes and tools were not 

as time-efficient and sophisticated as they 

would like and, combined with external 

forces such as ever-changing industry 

regulations and increasing demand from 

suppliers, fleet scheduling was becoming 

even more difficult. 

Every week, fleet chartering and 

scheduling managers have to re-plan 

routes due to the requirements of individual 

cargo orders and the survey 

revealed that some shipping companies 

have over 20 different cargoes per week 

that require other vessels to be re-scheduled. 

With the 67% of the shipping 

companies surveyed taking between 

one and seven days to reschedule their 

fleets for every order change, the inefficiencies 

in present scheduling systems 

became clear. 

When our clients realise the 

value of process outsourcing, 

they let go 

Contracting out business processes is rarely 

as tough a decision as it seems... when the 

activity is being taken on by real experts. 

Drewry could save your business up to 60% 

in the short term and 70% on an ongoing 

basis... if you’re prepared to let go of some of 

your key business processes. 

You may already know Drewry for our 

commercial consultancy, specialist technical 

services, maritime research reports and 

shipping publications. Now, through Process 

Outsourcing, we can offer you... 

So if you would like better quality 

at substantially lower cost in 

key processes or IT functions, 

contact Drewry’s Process 

Outsourcing unit 

Drewry Maritime Services 

(Pvt) Limited, 

H-015, Ridgewood Estate 

DLf Phase IV, 

New Delhi, 

India 122002 

Tel:+91 124 504 5312 India 

+44 207 538 0191 UK 

e-mail: dms@drewry.co.uk 

Independent Maritime Advice 

Database development and maintenance 

Documentation management 

Software development 

Contact/call forwarding 

Accounting and book-keeping 

And more... tailored to your needs as 

a shipping organisation. 

This specialist unit is based in Gurgaon 

in India and is staffed with experts in all the 

major shipping sectors, as well as in IT 

and BPO functions. 


p43-51.qxd 09/05/2006 12:22 Page 9 

Phone: +47 67 200 300 Fax: +47 67 200 381 E-mail: tma@teco.no 

Prevention is better than cure 

Minimal turnaround time and optimal flexibility is our main focus 

Tank cleaning chemicals and equipment 

Cargo handling and tank cleaning supervision 

Chemical and vegoil courses/seminars 

Ships repair and maintenance during voyage 

Surface treatment equipment 

Service at sea 

www.tecomaritime.no 

www.marketings.no

p52.qxd 09/05/2006 12:25 Page 1 

The secret of a long life 

How GL can help your tankers last longer 

When it comes to tankers, there’s no better or more technically qualified address 

than Germanischer Lloyd. Our extensive know-how can help improve the operational 

safety and profitability of your tankers. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Germanischer Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft 

Vorsetzen 35 · 20459 Hamburg/Germany 

Phone +49 40 36149-0 · Fax +49 40 36149-200 

headoffice@gl-group.com · www.gl-group.com

Navigation standards slammed - Tanker Operator

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