NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International
NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International
NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International
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November 2009 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 09<br />
NEWS<br />
On the road to recovery?<br />
Shipping industry survey shows growing signs of confidence that rates will rise in key sectors over the next year<br />
PSigns that the shipping industry<br />
is on the road to recovery<br />
have been unveiled in a new survey<br />
of confidence levels among owners,<br />
managers, charterers and brokers.<br />
The survey — carried out by the<br />
accountancy firm Moore Stephens —<br />
found that overall confidence levels have<br />
risen for the third successive quarter,<br />
with all four sectors expressing increased<br />
optimism for the shipping markets in<br />
which they operate.<br />
The average confidence level<br />
expressed by respondents — on a scale of<br />
1 to 10 — was 5.7, compared with 5.5 in the<br />
previous survey in May 2009.<br />
Moore Stephens noted that a number<br />
CThe UK has emerged as<br />
one of just four flags<br />
winning top marks in a<br />
performance ‘league table’ put<br />
together by international<br />
shipowners.<br />
Together with Denmark, Germany<br />
and Hong Kong, the red<br />
ensign notched up the highest<br />
scores under a formula that<br />
examines 19 factors such as port<br />
state control results, fleet age and<br />
compliance with international<br />
conventions.<br />
The annual rankings — produced<br />
by the ‘Round Table’ of<br />
shipping associations, including<br />
Intertanko, Intercargo, the <strong>International</strong><br />
Chamber of Shipping,<br />
the <strong>International</strong> Shipping Federation<br />
and Bimco — also reveal<br />
continuing problems with a hard<br />
core of substandard registers,<br />
with 15 flag states recording 12 or<br />
more negative performance indicators.<br />
of participants in the survey had referred<br />
to the start of a recovery being under way<br />
— with the opportunity to buy vessels at<br />
historically low prices.<br />
‘The shipping market has started to<br />
pick up this year after the effect of the<br />
global economic crises,’ one respondent<br />
said. And another commented: ‘The<br />
recovery of the global economy will<br />
result in strong demand for tonnage as<br />
delayed projects get up and running<br />
again.’<br />
However, there were also marked concerns<br />
that freight rates will continue to be<br />
depressed by an oversupply of tonnage.<br />
‘Because two newbuildings are being<br />
delivered for every vessel scrapped, the<br />
Top marks for<br />
UK in ‘league<br />
table’ of flags<br />
Flags at the bottom end of the<br />
scale include Albania, Bolivia,<br />
Cambodia, Costa Rica, Georgia,<br />
Honduras, Lebanon, St Kitts &<br />
Nevis, and Sierra Leone. The<br />
Round Table said ‘shipowners<br />
should think very carefully’ about<br />
before using such registers.<br />
Maritime & Coastguard<br />
Agency chief executive Peter<br />
Cardy said he was ‘delighted’ at<br />
the UK ship register’s status at the<br />
top of the table.<br />
‘This is another step in the<br />
right direction in demonstrating<br />
that we are a quality register, with<br />
high standards and a commitment<br />
to providing a high level of<br />
service to our customers,’ he<br />
added.<br />
‘We hope that this excellent<br />
news encourages shipowners to<br />
look at the UK flag as a viable<br />
alternative, particularly in these<br />
difficult times of financial uncertainty.’<br />
RFA trains at Fleetwood<br />
shipping market will not be able to pick<br />
up over the next three to four years,’ one<br />
respondent warned.<br />
Concerns were also voiced about<br />
China’s growing dominance of the market.<br />
One respondent told Moore<br />
Stephens: ‘China is now the producer, the<br />
consumer, the trader, and the transporter.<br />
It has got the cheapest and the<br />
most plentiful supply of labour, and it is<br />
possibly the richest country in the world.<br />
None of these things can be good for the<br />
international shipping industry.’<br />
Another remarked: ‘China’s influence<br />
in the shipping markets is a risk which<br />
has not yet been fully factored in. China<br />
will control a lot of cheap new tonnage,<br />
with the result that a number of independent<br />
shipowners will not have the<br />
opportunity to compete.’<br />
For the third survey in succession,<br />
respondents identified demand trends as<br />
the single most important factor likely<br />
to affect their business performance over<br />
the coming year, followed by competition<br />
and the cost and availability of<br />
finance.<br />
In the containership sector, 35% of<br />
respondents overall expected rates to rise<br />
over the coming year, whilst 41% of<br />
respondents expected bulker rates to<br />
climb over the next 12 months, and 45%<br />
expected tanker rates to increase in the<br />
same period.<br />
Moore Stephens shipping partner<br />
Richard Greiner commented: ‘Although<br />
the overall confidence level of 5.7 revealed<br />
in the survey is low compared to the 6.8<br />
posted at the time of the first survey in<br />
May 2008, it still represents an increase<br />
for the third successive quarter.<br />
‘Confidence will return to shipping<br />
more slowly than it disappeared,’ he<br />
added.<br />
‘The situation is not helped by the<br />
continuing depression in the freight markets,<br />
but it should be remembered that<br />
today’s rates are often compared to the<br />
record highs which the market was enjoying<br />
less than two years ago, and this tends<br />
to distort the picture.’<br />
First ETO FD course launched<br />
Pictured right are the first<br />
Ftrainee electro-technical<br />
officers studying on a new<br />
foundation degree being run by<br />
South Tyneside Marine College and<br />
Northumbria University.<br />
<strong>Nautilus</strong> has welcomed the<br />
launch of the course, which is the<br />
only one of its kind in the UK<br />
offering the pilot Foundation Degree<br />
for ETOs qualification. Senior<br />
national secretary Allan Graveson<br />
said the Union had worked<br />
extensively at the Merchant Navy<br />
Training Board to develop the course<br />
and hopes more companies will<br />
support it.<br />
The course covers a range of<br />
electronic and electrical topics,<br />
including marine management,<br />
health and safety and work-based<br />
learning. Companies including BP,<br />
Chiltern Maritime, Bibby Line,<br />
Adnatco, Acergy, and Global Marine<br />
Systems are among the first to<br />
sponsor students on the course.<br />
Felix Brooks, from Gloucestershire,<br />
is being sponsored by Chiltern<br />
Maritime, and has high hopes for<br />
the future. ‘I have just finished a<br />
BENG in fire explosion engineering<br />
at Leeds University and I was looking<br />
for a career where I could use my<br />
degree combining my love for sailing<br />
and ambition to travel the world,’ he<br />
said. ‘This career path and course<br />
was perfect for me.’<br />
Andrew George, aged 27, worked<br />
as a manufacturing engineer for 10<br />
years before choosing the course.<br />
‘I was ready for a career change and<br />
I wanted to see the world,’ he said.<br />
‘The opportunities working as an<br />
ETO match my life ambition whilst<br />
learning a new trade. I’m looking<br />
forward to expanding my knowledge<br />
and learning new skills.’<br />
James McGregor, from North<br />
Shields, and Stephen Gallagher, from<br />
Luton, are both aiming for the top, to<br />
become superintendents. Stephen<br />
comments: ‘There are so many<br />
opportunities in the marine industry.<br />
Eventually I would like an onshore<br />
role, but I’m very happy at the<br />
moment and looking forward to<br />
stretching my sea legs.’<br />
All four students will start their<br />
first four and a half months of<br />
seatime in March 2010. They will<br />
then return to the college to<br />
continue learning theory, before<br />
returning to sea in March 2011.<br />
Once the students have<br />
completed the foundation degree<br />
they have the option of ‘topping up’<br />
their qualification through further<br />
study to achieve a full degree.<br />
A<br />
Pictured above are the first Royal Fleet Auxiliary officer cadets to<br />
begin training at Fleetwood Nautical College. The five officer trainees<br />
— aged between 20 and 37 — have just embarked on a three-year<br />
foundation degree course and are being trained alongside students<br />
sponsored by shipping companies from the private sector.