Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2005

Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2005

In this issue: 

COMPANY MAGAZINE FOR THE ODFJELL GROUP - SEPTEMBER 2004 

P.O. Box 6101 Postterminalen 

N-5892 Bergen 

Norway 

Tel: +47 55 27 00 00 

Fax: +47 55 28 47 41 

E-mail: quarterly@odfjell.com 

Internet: www.odfjell.com 

Editor: 

Klaus Walderhaug 

6 An 

8 

Strenghtening Odfjell 

seafaring skills – 

emerging academy 

Bow Maasslot – 

a Dutch working beauty 

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: 

Brit A. Bennett 

Tor Johansen 

Tor Jürgensen 

Geir Mjelde 

Siri-Anne Mjåtvedt 

Ellen Skagen 

Anne-Kristine Øen 

CORRESPONDENTS: 

Manila: 

Kjell Johansen 

Rotterdam: 

Theo Kruithof 

Singapore: 

Atle Knutsen 

Deadline next issue: 

June 6th, 2005 

Design: MacBox AS 

Cover: 

Multitank Britannia entering 

Nana Creek in the Benin River, 

Nigeria. Photo: vessel crew. 

12 

OTR - Optimizing Product 

Handling 

14 

Koko. 

Into Africa – 

Multitank Britannia calls 

Nigeria 

Commemorating the loss of Bow Mariner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Odfjell Smartphones project - Taking connectivity one step further! . 10 

The weakest link Safety and the ship/shore interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

YoungShip - Shipping for the younger generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Piracy - Armed robbery on the high seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

What they actually do - Investor Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Transhipment in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Safety Bulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Odfjell Quarterly Brainteaser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Greetings from around the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Quality Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 

Personnel Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

2 ODFJELL Quarterly March 2005

Dear Colleagues... 

On March 7th, Odfjell held a Board 

Meeting. For a CEO, Board Meetings 

are like passing an exam... The main 

topic for this particular meeting was 

to approve the final Financial 

Statements for 2004 and for the 

Board to finalize the Directors’ 

Report. Before so doing, the Board 

again addressed the issue of 

“Safety”, which is the first item on 

the agenda when the Odfjell Board 

convenes. This time I was happy to 

report that we have had no serious 

incidents or spills since the last 

meeting. The Odfjell Board of 

Directors supports the decision to 

concentrate, indeed to strengthen 

our work within HSSE, establishing 

Risk Management and Quality as a 

separate function; another strong 

signal that we give HSSE high 

priority. 

I have previously described 2004 as 

one of the most dramatic years in the 

history of Odfjell. Seen against this 

background, I think it is fair to say 

that we turned in a decent financial 

result. Our shareholders enjoyed a 

trebled share price, not at all because 

of particularly good results, but rather 

because of the promising market 

outlook. 

In this edition of Odfjell Quarterly, 

our Chairman makes some reflections 

on the increased newbuilding prices. 

Shipping has always been a fascinating 

industry; a competitive industry 

where freight rates are driven by supply 

and demand. No charterer asks 

about your costs, be that cost of capital 

or of operation. An example: At 

the peak of the tanker boom following 

the Suez crisis in 1973, a VLCC 

earned some US$ 400,000 per day in 

the spot market. Two years later the 

same ship earned around US$ 3,000 

daily, owners went bankrupt and the 

ships were laid up. In neither case 

did anybody ask about the owner’s 

cost. Admittedly, our risk profile is 

different from that of the VLCCowner 

referred to. Although a significant 

part of the cargoes carried by 

our chemical tankers is fixed in the 

spot market, we normally have a 

portfolio of contracts of affreightment, 

securing a certain income and, 

importantly, a planned-for trading 

pattern. On the other hand, in addition 

to our industry being as capital 

intensive, our operations are generally 

much more complex than that of 

a VLCC-owner. Safe, reliable and 

efficient handling of more than 20 

million tonnes of cargo annually by 

about 9,000 parcels, requires qualified 

and trained people on board and 

on shore. It goes without saying that 

this costs lots of money. 

I know we have a lot of skilled people 

in our organization worldwide. Still 

it is a fact, however, from time to 

time we make mistakes that are 

causing extra costs. What is more 

concerning and disappointing is that 

the reported LTIF (Lost Time Injury 

Frequency) increased last year, after 

several years of steady improvement. 

Hence, our goals and objectives were 

not met. With the corrective actions 

taken, including the Corporate Safety 

Initiative, I trust we will turn around 

any such tendency. The ultimate and 

clear ambition for Odfjell is to be a 

zero-accident company! 

I believe we are well positioned to 

meet future challenges. Let us make 

year 2005 the year of improvements 

in all respects. Each and all of us can 

contribute towards achieving these 

goals. The market outlook is promising, 

the more so since safer and 

operationally less challenging cargoes, 

such as clean petroleum products 

and even vegoils, are good 

alternatives to chemicals. In its 

Report for 2004 the Board of 

Directors expresses an optimistic 

view: “We expect a strong chemical 

tanker market the next few years as 

well as continued solid results in our 

tank terminal business.” 

Have a safe voyage! 

Bergen, March 8th 2005 

Terje Storeng, President/CEO 

ODFJELL Quarterly March 2005 3

Chairman’s Message 

Building sophisticated stainless steel 

chemical carriers is not for every shipyard. 

Our friends in Poland, Stocznia 

Szczecinska, have done it for 30 

years. In 1975 we received the first 

one, the Bow Fortune. Our twentieth, 

and the fourth one in the current 

program, the 39,900 tdw Bow 

Sky will be delivered mid April. The 

yard is solidly booked with container 

ships and other vessels, but inbetween, 

fortunately, during the 

next two years or so, they will still be 

able to deliver to us another four 

vessels. We even have the option of 

two more, with delivery in 2009. 

However, the price for those ships is 

yet to be determined. Due to the low 

dollar and today’s high price of 

stainless steel etc., the current 2009 

newbuilding price is around USD 100 

million per vessel. That’s a tall order 

so to speak. But such are today’s 

replacement realities. 

So why tell you this The fact is ours 

is a capital intensive service industry, 

and one that is exceedingly difficult 

to predict. The landscape of the 

chemical industry is changing. We 

have to try to factor in all these 

changes. Whilst our ships are mobile 

and flexible, even so we can never 

escape the basic law of supply and 

demand. What will the market be in 

2009 Nobody has the answer; we 

certainly do not. As a company, what 

we do know is that we can hardly 

stand still and, that two or three 

large new ships are needed each year 

for us just to stand still. Yes, another 

tall order, you will fully well realize. 

But if we wish to maintain our 

position, that’s what it takes. 

We need to improve on our overall 

performance – otherwise we will not 

have the cash to continue to invest in 

new ships, and our position in the 

market and our ability to serve customers 

will decline. Put differently, in 

our case we must more than double 

our 2004 bottom line result (USD 86 

million) to gain the capital just to 

stand still. The cost of ships is 

outstripping growth in profitability 

For the next few years, we have the 

benefit of having contracted for ships 

earlier. But that benefit will run out 

and we will pay much higher prices 

for the same vessels going forward. 

Our customers will recognize this, 

albeit grudgingly. Our customers 

require state-of-the-art vessels that 

do not simply transport their 

chemicals from port A to port B, but 

also exceed governmental health, 

safety, and environmental criteria as 

well as their own Responsible Care 

standards. In addition, they require a 

degree of flexibility, service and last 

minute cooperation to adjust to 

parcel loadings and scheduling that 

makes our business a truly individualized 

service. Importantly, their 

products are mostly high value, at 

least in relation to transoceanic shipping 

costs, and the chemical industry 

is currently doing very well, which in 

fact is why there is reasonable 

demand for our services. For us to 

continue to deliver the transoceanic 

shipping services to our customers on 

the standards that they and international 

bodies demand, we must 

continue to make the large capital 

investments in newbuildings. 

Whilst newbuilding costs are up (and 

significantly so) and the need for new 

vessels increases, there nevertheless 

will be ups and downs in parcel 

tanker freights along the way, in 

consequence of changing supply and 

demand. Estimating the world 

economy/the demand side of the 

equation is difficult particularly with 

the current lead times for ordering 

new vessels. Forecasting demand is 

complicated by the difficulties of 

predicting the important ton/mile 

equation and the ballast ratio. 

In other words, will the world’s 

chemical trading patterns permit us 

to efficiently use our vessels with a 

minimum of ballast legs – otherwise 

our investment in capacity will be 

underutilized, and we know what 

that means. 

Bill Clinton captured it best – “it’s the 

economy, stupid”. Either you recognize 

changing market forces and 

respond or you get run over by them. 

We need to ensure that our financial 

performance allows us to respond. 

So there you have it, scratch your 

head and have a nice day. 

Dan Odfjell 

Chairman of the Board Odfjell ASA 


Commemorating the 

loss of Bow Mariner 

By Candice Mirasol, Odfjell Manila 

M/T Bow Mariner caught fire and 

exploded in the morning of February 

28th 2004, with 27 crewmembers 

onboard, three Greek senior officers 

and 24 Filipino officers and ratings. 

Only six of the crew survived the accident 

that took place 50 miles east of 

Chincoteague in Virginia, US. On 

February 28th 2005, one year after the 

Bow Mariner accident, Magsaysay 

Maritime Corporation through their 

Crew and Family Affairs section, in cooperation 

with Odfjell Manila, organized 

a commemoration program for the 

families of the affected Filipino mariners. 

In order to cover as many family 

members as possible, a common 

thanksgiving mass was organized in 

three provinces in the Philippines: 

Cebu, Iloilo, and Manila. The aim was to 

honour all those who had perished, and 

at the same time give high regard to 

the ones who survived. 

The gathering in Manila was commenced 

with a thanksgiving mass led by a 

local parish priest, held with solemnity 

and grace. Mr. Alexander Querol, Head 

of Crew Manning Operations of 

Magsaysay Maritime 

Corporation, initiated 

the formal occasion by 

giving a welcome 

remark to all present; 

survivors and family 

members. 

Then, Capt. Kjell 

Johansen, Manager of 

Odfjell Manila, expressed 

the deep sympathy 

of Odfjell ASA, 

to all those who had 

been affected by this 

tragic event. In his 

warmhearted speech, 

he noted that the loss 

of lives on board Bow Mariner was not 

only felt by the families left behind but 

by the whole Odfjell ‘family’ as well. He 

continued saying that Odfjell is a company 

that places the crew and their 

safety as its first priority. Thus, as a consequence 

of this accident, Odfjell has 

initiated a thorough review of its procedures 

and routines both on shore and 

on board, to ensure that such an accident 

will not happen again. 

Gathered in commemoration and mourning. 

The event was concluded with a nice 

meal for the Bow Mariner families, 

survivors, and office personnel from 

Odfjell Manila and Magsaysay Maritime 

Corporation. 

The priest during the thanksgiving 

mass. 

The children chorale 

Capt. Kjell Johansen giving his 

commemoration address. 


Strengthening Odfjell seafaring skills 

An emerging academy (Part I of III) 

By Captain Kjell Johansen, Odfjell Manila 

Demands for 

shipping are constantly 

changing, 

and the competence 

of the workforce 

increasingly 

has to be put in 

focus. For many 

years, Odfjell has 

studied how the 

company can improve 

its recruitment and training programs 

for shore and shipboard personnel. 

In this respect, Odfjell has evaluated 

our seafarers in a structured manner, 

to determine how the company is 

prepared for what lays ahead. Through 

this process, we have asked ourselves 

the following: 

• Are the skills of our personnel in line 

with Odfjell’s strategy and goals 

• Are these competence requirements 

clearly communicated to the 

individuals 

• Do we systematically evaluate the 

effectiveness of personnel training 

• Are personnel competencies maintained 

and/or further developed 

• Are personnel training budgets spent 

wisely 

We have addressed these questions 

through initiating a Competence and 

Career Management Program and by 

establishing the Odfjell Academy, a 

training center that will be instrumental 

in the assessment of competencies 

and in the development and delivery of 

tailor-made and specialized training. 

The assessment and training is designed 

to enhance the knowledge and skills of 

the approximately 1,600 Filipino seafarers 

in Odfjell's permanent pool of 

chemical tankers. 

Competence and Career Management 

(C&CM) program 

Based on the vision, strategy and goals 

for the C&CM program (see insert), we 

started out by establishing Competence 

Requirements for each position on 

board; deck, engine and galley. 

Through this process we determined a 

number of skill matrices for defined 

positions. Another essential task has 

been to identify methods and means 

with which to carry out Individual 

Competence Assessments, one of the 

most important success factors for such 

a program. At the completion of each 

contract, the seafarer will be assessed 

to determine whether or not he has the 

required skill level for his current position. 

This will be carried out using different 

assessment methods and tools, 

depending on the competence area in 

question: self-assessments, theoretical 

exam-based tests, practical simulatorbased 

assessments and on board evaluation. 

We will then use the competence 

assessment to identify individual skill 

gaps, which consequently is the basis 

for competence development and career 

plans for each seafarer. These plans 

include scheduled training based on 

identified skill gaps and/or ‘on-the-job’ 

training assignments, and form a platform 

for any training for future career 

development. When an individual 

career path is planned, we also take 

into consideration personal aspects; 

past and current performance on 

board, age, academic record, an assessment 

of the CIA (Cognitive, 

Intelligence, Aptitude) factor, plus of 

course the employee's own aspirations. 

The Odfjell Academy 

When establishing the Odfjell 

Academy, we firmly believed that 

Odfjell staff and sailors, because of 

their knowledge of the company’s 

operation, would be the ones most 

suitable to develop and deliver specialized/tailor-made 

training. Thus, we rely 

to a great extent on expertise and 

knowledge of shore and shipboard 

personnel from various Odfjell offices, 

vessels and affiliates when developing, 

delivering and continuously improving 

the training programs. In addition to a 

large degree of in-house training, in 

the beginning of 2004 we also formed 

a long-term agreement with Wärtsilä 

Land & Sea Academy to build suitable 

training programs for all the company’s 

seafarers. 

In 2003, the first year of operation, 

Odfjell Academy had 15 tailor-made 

courses developed covering deck, engine, 

and galley. The Academy trained a total 

of 315 crewmembers, adding up to 

around 900 course man-days. During 

last year 937 persons were being 

trained at the training center, a total of 

close to 3,500 course man-days, and we 

expanded the course portfolio to 30 

courses. 

In 2005 our target is to train 1,200 

people at the academy, i.e. approximately 

6,000+ course man-days, and 

the course portfolio will be expanded 

to 50 courses of which 40 are already 

developed and delivered, while the rest 

are in various stages of completion. The 

academy curriculum covers all aspects 

of working on board. 

This year we also started a Cadet 

Training program. Eight cadets at the 

time will be trained (theory and practice) 

one month at the academy prior to 

vessel assignment. A total of 96 cadets 

are scheduled to undergo this program 

The Odfjell Academy building. 


Basic training 

for 2005. Aside from course development 

and delivery, the Odfjell Academy 

will also be doing competence assessment. 

In 2005 we will assess some 300 

crewmembers; 200 deck officers and 

100 engine officers. 

Conclusion 

By establishing position competence 

requirements and implementing individual 

competence assessment, identifying 

individual skill gaps and drawing up 

personal career paths, Odfjell ensures 

that all its seafarers will meet mandatory 

as well as company competence 

requirements. I believe the Odfjell 

Academy will cover the demand for 

continuous improvement of seafarers’ 

standards, to meet any internal and 

external requirements of the future, 

and hence, to support Odfjell’s commitment 

to ensure safety of its crew/ 

vessel/cargo and to supply quality 

services to our customers. 

Odfjell 

Academy - 

Vision, 

Strategy 

and Goals 

VISION 

Implement an innovative and 

structured learning environment 

where collaborating seafarers 

commit personal ability and energy 

in their pursuit of workplace 

skills excellence. 

STRATEGY AND GOALS 

Ensure safe operation 

through: 

• Avoiding accidents/ 

incidents 

• Increased health, safety, 

security and environmental 

awareness 

• Adherence to Odfjell 

procedures 

• Less vetting 

observations 

Ensure efficient operation 

through: 

• Enhanced energy 

management 

• Pro-active voyage planning 

• Optimal cargo handling 

and cargo care 

Ensure customer satisfaction 

through: 

• Timely delivery of cargo 

• Reduced cargo 

contamination 

Ensure crew loyalty through: 

• Individually tailor-made 

career opportunities 

• Clarified goals 

• More ‘quality time’ 

available 

Preparing the oxygen bottle before a safety drill. 


Vessel of the issue 

Bow Maasslot – 

a Dutch working beauty 

M/T Bow Maasslot was delivered from 

the Dutch yard Van der Giessen de 

Noord B.V. in December 1982, to 

Nedlloyd under the name Maasslot. For 

many years she was trading in the 

Seachem pool as Maasslot L, before 

she joined Odfjell following the Odfjell 

Seachem merger the summer of 1989. 

In May 2004 Odfjell acquired the vessel 

and she was renamed, together with 

her sister vessels Bow Maasstad and 

Bow Maasstroom. On September 30th 

2004 Bow Maasslot was the first of 

these three proud ladies that came 

under ship management by OSM. She 

is presently flying the Singapore flag. 

Bow Maasslot has a carrying capacity of 

38,039 dwt, her length overall is 172.22 

metres, and she can load some 46,900 

cubic metres of product distributed on 

20 cargo tanks. The vessel is usually 

trading worldwide with all kinds of 

chemicals. At the time of writing she is 

carrying caustic soda from the US to 

Australia after which the vessel is 

scheduled for a dry-docking in the 

Singapore area. 

The current crew of Bow Maasslot is an 

international mixture, representing 

four countries; the Master and Chief 

Officer come from Sweden, the Chief 

Bow Maasslot 

Engineer is Latvian, one fitter comes 

from Romania, and the rest of the 

officers and ratings come from the 

Philippines. The working language is 

English. Although we come from very 

different cultures and backgrounds, we 

get along very well. Being away from 

families and loved ones, it is very 

important to make the best out of our 

lives on board. Some of us have also 

been working together in the past, on 

other vessels. 

We focus a lot on cargo handling. Prior 

to loading a detailed plan is made up, 

and this is discussed with the crew to 

make everybody fully aware of all 

aspects of the operation, e.g if the 

cargo needs special care and in particular 

any hazard aspects. During work 

the crew must at all times wear PPE 

(personal protection equipment) such 

as protective footwear, boiler suits, 

gloves, and goggles. 

Bow Maasslot has reached the respectable 

age of 23 years, and obviously a 

considerable effort is required to keep 

the lady presentable. To prevent corrosion 

we have to keep the paint in good 

condition, and greasing is another 

important duty on deck. 

The crew doing maintenance and greasing 

During our leisure time we are usually 

gathered in the dayroom. Video 

evenings are very popular. Saturday 

evenings, after enjoying a good dinner 

and a few soft-drinks, we turn on the 

karaoke machine, and usually there are 

some undiscovered “Frankie Boys” 

grabbing the microphone. We also 

have a swimming pool and a gymna- 


During drydocking 

sium where a few guys are “pumping 

muscles”. 

During port stays we sometimes have 

the opportunity to go ashore, but as we 

mostly are berthed far away from the 

city centres we feel lucky if even 

finding a little local shop. The days 

when the sailor could enjoy his landleave 

with a beer in one hand and a girl 

on each knee are long gone... When 

another Odfjell ship is near to us in 

port, some crewmembers take the 

opportunity to visit to exchange experiences 

as well as movies. Occasionally 

crewmembers having sailed together in 

the past meet, and many histories and 

memories are brought up. 

OSM, founded in 1989, is an independent 

marine-services provider 

offering high-quality ship management 

and consultancy services 

as well as navigation and engineering 

solutions and financial planning. 

The company's headquarters 

is located in Arendal, Norway, and 

in addition OSM has offices in 

Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, 

Croatia, Russia, Hong Kong, the 

Philippines, India, and China. 

Today the company operates a 

fleet of more than 260 ships and 

employs more than 5,000 people 

from around 30 countries. OSM's 

vision is to be a long-term partner 

for their customers, a home for 

their people and to make a difference 

in the wider community. 

OSM core values: 

• Always On 

• Responsible 

• Team Builders 

• Friendly 

and the company's mission is to 

make its customers successful. 

The galley crew 

From the swimming pool. 

OSM headquarters in Arendal, 

Norway. 


Odfjell Smartphones project 

Taking connectivity 

one step further! 

By Matt Duke, ICT Consultant, Network & Infrastructure 

For some time 

now ICT has devoted 

effort into 

researching and 

producing an 

Odfjell “Smartphone” 

solution 

for our employees. 

Odfjell processes 

around 10,000 

email messages each working day, 

which roughly speaking equates to 

about 3.5 million email messages 

yearly. 

As these statistics may suggest, email is 

vital for healthy business activities, and 

it was requested by the business that a 

“Smartphone/PDA” solution be implemented 

for global mobile access. As 

with all ICT projects we started by defining 

a vision and scope with the business. 

The vision ICT proposed for the 

project was the following: 

Odfjell staff will be 

able to securely access 

their email, calendar 

and contacts from 

anywhere in the 

world, by the use of 

Microsoft powered 

mobile devices. 

Bergen will be able to 

host mailboxes for 

staff anywhere on the 

corporate Odfjell computer 

network, with 

the ability to connect 

locally or “On the 

road.” We will give 

our staff unrivalled flexibility 

in their ability 

to get their Outlook data any place, at 

any time. 

From a technical perspective this offered 

plenty of challenges! I’ll save our 

Odfjell Quarterly readers the geeky 

details, but from an ICT infrastructure 

point of view this project required the 

upgrade of many of our core systems, 

including the primary email servers 

themselves. The design documentation 

itself weighed in at 53 pages, a daunting 

task for Odfjell and our colleagues 

at Microsoft Norway. This hard work 

should be rewarded in the future as we 

now have a secure, modern mobile 

infrastructure that we can build upon. 

Whilst initially solving the Outlook 

requirements, we are sure the future 

will bring requests for other “Mobile” 

enabled Odfjell systems. This new infrastructure 

will help us to meet these 

demands. 

Then we have the devices themselves. 

When I first began working with 

Smartphones in 2002, the battery life 

was expected at one (1) day, sometimes 

less for heavy use! The memory and 

processors were slow and the user 

experience poor. But over the past 

three years the technology has really 

come along. The devices we can offer 

now have fast processors and a typical 

battery life of 3-4 days. (Source: Odfjell 

Smartphone Pilot Trial survey). But this 

didn't help us in a key area: usability! 

We needed the devices to be simple to 

operate. My goal was to allow users to 

simply press “Sync” and download their 

Outlook data to the phone, without 

having to go through lots of setup and 

configuration tasks. In order to achieve 

this goal, we enlisted some programmers 

to help us code two “Odfjell 

Applications”. These allow our users to 

simply and effectively sync their email 

from anywhere in the world that has 

GSM coverage. 

We have also tried to cater for two distinct 

types of user. We have a smaller 

“Smartphone” called the Qtek 8010, 

which offers great phone functionality 

and somewhat simple Outlook functionality. 

This phone is great for users 

who tend to do more “Reading” of 

email than “Writing” The phone has 

a good screen, but does not offer 

the ability to read office documents 

effectively. 

For users who require 

a more flexible device, 

we offer a “PDA 

Phone” the Qtek 

s100. This device is 

more powerful than 

office desktops five 

years ago! The s100 

offers full Microsoft 

Office functionality 

(Word, Excel 

and Power Point) 

and access to the 

important Outlook 

data. The 

s100 is about the 

size of an iPod, 

and as such it 

packs a huge punch 

for its size. 

We have seen a dramatic rise in the 

number of devices being produced by 

the Smartphone manufacturers, 

the latest 

model of phone is 

current for about 12 

months before it is 

superseded by a new 

model. By basing 

our solution on the 

latest Microsoft 

mobility solution, 

we are “Infrastructure 

Ready” 

for these exciting 

new devices 

as and when 

they are released. 

The final part of the solution is that the 

software can be remotely updated 

securely from Odfjell servers. We are 

very much at the cutting edge of 

mobile technology, and we can see the 

potential for virus and other risks in the 

future. We have therefore opted for a 

management tool that should allow us 

to keep devices updated “over the air”, 

so that time with the ICT support team 

can be kept to a minimum. The future 

of mobile security is still quite uncertain, 

so we cannot guarantee that we 

will not need to update the devices 

locally in the year to come. However, 

we have done the best with today’s 

security software to protect the Odfjell 

system, including the use of 128 Bit 

encryption on the devices. 


The weakest link 

Safety and the ship/shore interface 

By Jan Hammer, Senior Vice President Odfjell Seachem 

Following the 

explosion and 

sinking of the 

chemical tanker 

Vicuna at the 

Cattalini terminal 

in Paranagua, 

Brazil, an overdue 

debate is 

finally in progress. 

While not 

at all attempting to pass judgment in 

the particular Vicuna case, the debate 

centers on ship safety versus terminal 

safety: in the important ship/shore 

interface, the weakest link in the chain 

determines its strength. 

No matter the strictest rules, regulations 

and upkeep of chemical tankers, 

safety standards not adhered to ashore 

and substandard terminals represent a 

risk to the safety of the ship and reliability 

of the distribution chain. The key 

issue is what to do about sub-standard 

terminals. As ship owners, we have the 

duty to protect our crews, the port 

communities and the environment – 

and we have to protect our assets. To 

help our industry reach a higher level 

of safety, two things need to happen: 

Firstly, captains should report immediately 

on perceived shore-based deficiencies 

through both commercial and operational 

channels (i.e. via the ship’s 

agent back to the commercial operator, 

back to the ship manager and of 

course to the terminal). This way the 

charterer can be alerted to risks and 

take action to improve or eliminate 

sub-standard operations in their own 

supply chain. This reporting could also 

help avoid costly delays caused by poor 

terminal equipment, or for that matter 

port equipment and/or operational 

practices in general. 

Secondly, there needs to be stronger 

focus by terminal customers on thorough 

vetting and inspection of terminals. 

Critical to this is consistent application 

of rigorous quality and safety 

standards everywhere, such as 

Responsible Care ®. The challenge for 

the chemical industry is that there is 

still a lot of work to be done in this area 

before one can say that the same 

standard is valid for all. This challenge 

may be most notable in some developing 

countries. 

Our captains know, and all too well, 

how their ships are being thoroughly 

vetted by the large oil and chemical 

companies. A similar focus on terminal 

safety would go a long way. 

In conclusion, through thorough reporting 

on terminal conditions and consistent 

application of safety and quality 

principles we can evolve to a single 

standard and improved safety for all. 

The ship/shore interface is critical to the safety and efficiency of the supply chain. The picture is for illustration purposes 

only and has no connection to the accident referred to. 


Mineral oils in Rotterdam 

Optimizing Product Handling 

By Frits de Goede 

Being surrounded by huge oil-refineries, 

it is obvious that Odfjell Terminals 

(Rotterdam) stores a lot of mineral oil 

products. Apart from the flows out of 

these plants, there is also a lot of traders 

related business. Out of the 1.5 

million cbm capacity at OTR, some two 

thirds are in use for mineral oil 

products. This is quite a substantial 

part of the terminal’s capacity, and 

even more so considering the high 

throughputs and lots of ships handlings, 

mainly in large volumes. 

Blending and formulating are daily 

practices, in which accuracy is the key 

to success. 

We’re not only talking CPPs, as OTR also 

is well equipped for the storage of 

heavy fuel oil, MDO, black condensates, 

etc. Nevertheless, the majority of the 

mineral oil products stored at OTR are 

gasoil and gasoline; products that at 

first sight seem easy to handle at a storage 

terminal. However, looking behind 

OTR’s scenes, it's more complicated 

than one would think, especially with 

all the different product grades involved. 

Stricter fuel standards in all parts of the 

world have resulted in OTR now storing 

some ten types of gasoil and gasoline, 

all with varying sulphur contents. And 

that’s where the complications start, 

because so far OTR has used one 

common line-system for all the different 

types of gasoil and gasoline. The 

varying sulphur content specifications 

increase the risk of product contamination. 

Accordingly, OTR Operations 

have their hands full with preparing 

the line-system over and over again. 

First part of the new pipe-rack. 

This is not only a very labour-intensive 

and thus costly process, but it's also 

time-consuming for the ships awaiting 

their cargoes. 

In order to put a hold to these problems, 

OTR has launched the "Mineral 

Oil Optimizing Project", which entails 

adjusting the system in such a way that 

practically every grade of gasoil and 

gasoline will have its own pipe system 

to and from the tanks and jetties. At 

this moment OTR is very busy preparing 

for the construction of five new 10” 

pig-able pipelines, modification of four 

existing 10” pipelines and construction 

of several new jumper stations. At the 

same time operations must continue as 

usual, because all tanks are rented out 

to customers. All these lines are necessary 

for connecting tankpits with 

pumpstations, inter-connecting various 

pumpstations and connecting pumpstations 

with several jetties. 

Eventually, this investment will lead to 

improved efficiency, less risk of product 

contamination, a considerable reduction 

of our jetty utilization, less delay 

for ships (including chemical tankers), 

and consequently, a further increase of 

our customer satisfaction. 

Digging and piling for expansion of 

Pump-station 8. 

10 inch pipelines. 

Pre-fabricated piggable lines. 


YoungShip 

Shipping for the younger generation 

By Christian Krohn-Hansen, Odfjell Seachem 

In the late summer of 2004, four shipping 

youngsters from Bergen came 

together to form YoungShip, an organisation 

aimed at being a competencebuilding 

and social forum for the shipping 

industry’s younger generation 

(below 35 years of age) in the Bergen 

region. Georg Nygaard, of NorthEdge 

Risk Services, got the idea of starting 

the organisation and was assisted by 

Anne Thorild Mettenes of Norwegian 

Hull Club, Hans Christian Hauge of 

Jebsen Management and Christian 

Krohn-Hansen of Odfjell Seachem in 

the start-up of the club. 

The purpose of YoungShip is to organise 

meetings, presentations, Friday 

evening drinks, company and ship 

visits, as well as other events aimed at 

bringing together the younger generation 

in Bergen’s shipping community. 

So far the target group has welcomed 

YoungShip to an extent way beyond 

anyone's expectations, and the initial 

events have been very well attended. 

Presently the organisation counts some 

230 members ranging from 25 to 35 

years of age. Odfjell is by far the 

largest participating company in 

YoungShip, with more than 30 members 

at the time of writing. 

suffering from a cold, gave the audience 

an interesting and entertaining 

presentation of the history of the 

chemical tanker shipping in general 

and of Odfjell in particular. He also 

discussed the commercial aspects of 

chemical shipping. In addition the 

Chairman took the time to share some 

of his recipes for success: namely work, 

work and hard work, the willingness to 

go the extra mile to achieve what you 

deserve and attention to the details to 

ensure the quality of what you do. 

Finally the eager beekeeper took the 

opportunity to recommend another 

recipe, for colds this time: hot water 

with honey and twisted lemon! 

Mr. Trond Fosse, Operations Manager 

at Odfjell Seachem, presented the 

operational challenges in chemical 

shipping. The event was sponsored by 

Odfjell, and after the presentations the 

close to 80 young shipping professionals 

present enjoyed tapas in the 

Odfjell canteen. 

As a result of such a great response in 

Bergen, YoungShip is also planning to 

start an Oslo branch. This will most 

likely happen during the first half of 

2005. For further information please 

check our web-site www.youngship.no 

YoungShip’s first large competencebuilding 

event was held on March 17th 

at Odfjell's office, with the topic of the 

meeting naturally being ‘Chemical 

Shipping’. Mr. Dan Odfjell, despite 

The YoungShip board. From left: Hans Christian Hauge, Anne Torhild Mettenes, 

Terje Alvheim, Christian Krohn-Hansen, Georg Nygaard, Line S. Brynjulfsen. 

Dan Odfjell during his presentation at 

the YoungShip seminar. 

Some of the close to 80 participants at the seminar in the Odfjell canteen. 


Into Africa 

Multitank Britannia calls Koko, Nigeria 

By Captain Stoil Dimov, Master of Multitank Britannia, at sea December 26th 2004 

Just before Christmas, Multitank 

Britannia called Koko in the western 

Niger River Delta, to discharge a cargo 

of lubricating oil. Nigeria is a vast country 

with more than 260 tribes and a 

mixture of languages and religions. 

The Niger Delta State where Koko is 

located has oil resources, lush vegetation 

and numerous rivers and creeks. 

The livelihood of locals, however, is 

generally in a rather poor state, and 

the area suffers from piracy, insurgencies 

and frequent disturbances to oil 

production and distribution. We were 

well prepared for the journey, our 

stores were well stocked, and all 

medicines were checked to ensure we 

adhered to the national regulations. 

The passage from the Escravos river 

entrance to Koko is 

about 60 Nm, and the 

waters at the entrance to 

Escravos and when entering 

Nana Creek are very 

shallow and difficult. Our 

pilot Mr. Bay Tobi, or 

code name Bravo Tango, 

was a very polite and 

knowledgeable man, an 

excellent choice by our agent. The upriver 

passage took six hours due to the 

speed restrictions in the shallows. There 

are plenty of small villages around the 

river and the creek, and when the locals 

spot vessels approaching they jump in 

their canoes hoping for whatever gifts 

from the crews. The pilot told us that 

because of pollution there is very little 

fish in the river system. 

At Koko, more than thirty officials from 

the health authorities, customs, federal 

security, port security, army, navy, 

shippers’ representatives and ship 

chandlers (who turned out to be a local 

community representative as well) 

came on board. This took a considerable 

time to deal with, but finally we 

got all necessary clearances. The night 

Steaming up the Benin River 


The pilot and bridge crew. From left: Pilot Bay Tobi, AB Peniata Lupei, 

C/O Petar Alexandrov, Captain Stoil Dimov. 

Greeting the locals. 

proceeded more or less peacefully with 

cargo operations. The next day, we 

were visited by the drug enforcement 

agency, immigrations, army intelligence 

and again customs, navy, army 

and local community representatives. 

When the fog cleared about 0900 h the 

next morning, the pilot embarked and 

we received the final cargo and clearance 

papers. After four hours river passage, 

due to less draft and higher 

speed, we left Nigerian waters and 

could enjoy the nice Christmas dinner 

we really deserved after a hectic but 

successful call at Koko. 

Entering Nana Creek. 

The Total Berth at Koko. 


Piracy 

Armed robbery on the high seas 

By Klaus Walderhaug and Frode Bjørklund 

Seafarers have always been exposed to 

the perils of the sea: hostile weather, 

collisions and grounding, fire and noxious 

fumes, flooding, sinking, capsizing, 

loss of propulsion or steering and any 

other hazards resulting from the 

unique environment of the sea. The 

list of dangers is long. The topic has 

been a popular motive in paintings, a 

thrilling background in film and literature, 

and the inspiration to many a 

song and tune. Dramatic incidents are 

always thoroughly covered by the 

press. 

Modern technology and an increasingly 

risk adverse society have made both 

the marine venture and the sailors’ 

lives safer. However, another external 

threat still remains which authorities 

and the shipping community are 

struggling to combat: Piracy. 

Ancient piracy 

Piracy has been an adverse side of life 

at sea for thousands of years. Both the 

old Egyptians back to the days of the 

Pharaohs and the ancient Greeks tell of 

piracy on the Mediterranean 

trade routes, attacks mostly originating 

from North Africa. The 

Romans struggled with Vandal, 

and later also Muslim, pirates, disturbing 

the trade routes to Africa 

and the East. The eastern part of 

the Mediterranean was particularly 

infested with pirates, operating 

out of the coast of what today is 

Turkey. Despite being an obstacle 

to the sea trade, Rome was still 

reluctant to crack down on the 

pirates as these were also prime 

suppliers of slaves to the Roman 

Empire. The Romans actually had 

fairly strict anti-piracy laws, opening 

for prosecution of pirates 

and imposing heavy fines for 

those harbouring them, but these 

were rarely enforced. Rome were 

struggling with civil wars as well 

as conflicts on many of its borders, 

and was not able to free the 

necessary resources to combat this 

evil. To avoid being plundered 

and terrorized, many port cities 

around the Med started providing 

services and facilities to the pirates or 

paid tribute to them. The pirates grew 

bolder, started raiding islands and cities, 

taking prisoners for ransom. As a 

young man even Julius Caesar were 

captured by pirates. At a time the pirates, 

operating more than 1,000 ships 

and having captured or raided 400 

cities, were so dominating that trade 

throughout the Mediterra-nean virtually 

halted. Finally, Rome had to act, and 

in 67 BC Commander Pompey was 

awarded the task of getting rid of 

the pirates. With a force of 120,000 troops, 

4,000 cavalry, 270 ships and sufficient 

resources to fund his mission, he 

managed to scare most of the pirates 

into obedience and to defeat the rest. 

Saturday March 12th 2005, a gang of 

35 pirates armed with machine guns 

and rocket launchers boarded the 

Indonesian product tanker Tri Samudra 

in the Malacca Strait, on its way to 

Belawan, Indonesia with a full load of 

oil cargo. The pirates took control of 

the tanker and ordered it to sail 

towards Dumai. Later they abandoned 

the ship, kidnapping the master and 

the chief engineer. The owner received 

a ransom demand for a 2 billion rupiah, 

approx. US$ 210,000. 

17th century naval warfare. 

The golden age of piracy 

In the 16th century piracy was again 

growing as a menace to the sea trade. 

European colonial expansion in South 

America, Africa and Asia resulted in 

ships carrying gold, silver and other 

valuable goods. Better, bigger and 

faster ships were being built, allowing 

the pirates the advantage of manoeuvring 

equality or even superiority to 

their preys. Competing interests and 

ambitions of the colonial powers gave 

room for ambitious and ruthless sailors 

to find ways of legalizing even the 

worst acts of piracy, as several countries 

recruited privateers to act in the interest 

of their respective crown. In this 

way English privateers could, with 

impunity, attack and rob Spanish ships, 

whilst North African pirates were licensed 

to rob English ships. 

In the early 1500s, the so-called 

Barbarian states in Northern Africa 

became centres for pirates. The sultans 

of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco encouraged 

piracy as an important source of 

revenue, and during the 17th century 

these pirates became a menace to the 

European merchant navies. By 1650 

more than 30,000 captives by pirates 

were imprisoned in Algeria alone, and 

many European sailors were sold as 

slaves or, if coming from a family 

of means, exchanged against a 

ransom. In many countries there 

were organised "ransom relief 

funds", giving aid and loans to 

families trying to bring back 

their loved ones from imprisonment 

in Northern Africa. 

Several countries, among them 

Denmark/ Norway and the 

United States, were paying to 

the Barbarian sultans for 

immunity against piracy attacks. 

A number of attacks were made 

against the pirate nests, and 

finally in 1830 the French managed 

to end the North-African 

piracy. 

Perhaps the best known of the 

pirates, and the ones mostly 

pictured in books and by the 

movie industry, are the buccaneers 

operating in the Caribbean 

Sea during the 16th and 17th 

century. The term buccaneer 

comes from the French 'boucan', 

a grill for smoking dried meat, 

referring to the fare on board the ships. 

The buccaneers were English, Dutch 

and French seafaring adventurers who 

preyed mainly on Spanish ships going 

to and from the Spanish American 


colonies. In contrast to the privateers 

who had official government commissions 

for their sea robberies, the buccaneers 

rarely had valid commissions. 

Under the leadership of Henry Morgan, 

the buccaneers got organised in larger 

bands, and managed to capture 

Portobelo in 1668 and Panama in 1671. 

During the 17th and 18th centuries 

piracy peaked, with Francis Drake, 

Black Beard and Henry Morgan being 

some of the main characters. Piracy 

then decreased again, following international 

treaties to outlaw it and the 

growth of the English and American 

navies to enforce the decree. Quite a 

number of the pirates were brought 

back to London and hanged in public. 

Henry Morgan, one of the most 

infamous buccaneer leaders. 

kidnapped the master, the chief 

engineer and the second engineer and 

escaped. IMB piracy reporting centre 

alerted Royal Malaysian marine police 

who sent out patrol boats to escort the 

tug and barge to port. 

The captured officers on the tug 

'Idaten' and the tanker 'Tri Samudra' 

have later been released unharmed. 

Apparently a ransom was paid, at least 

for the Tri Samudra officers. 

Piracy today 

Worldwide recognition of piracy as an 

international offence, naval patrolling, 

the growth of a strong central power in 

most countries, modern communications 

technology and the increased size 

of merchant vessels, all contributed to 

piracy declining substantially in the 

19th and 20th century. However, at the 

end of the 20th and beginning of the 

21st century piracy seems again to be 

on the rise. Statistics from the 

International Maritime Bureau shows a 

steadily growing trend over the last 

decade. In 2004 there was a total of 325 

piracy attacks reported worldwide, the 

major hot-spots being the Malaccan 

Strait and Indonesian waters. Although 

a decline compared to 2003 (445 

attacks), the assaults are getting more 

violent: 30 mariners were killed by pirates 

last year, up from 21 casualties the 

year before. 

Even if the numbers of attacks may 

appear minor compared to the vast 

numbers of ships trading worldwide, it 

is still a serious case for the ones being 

hit by pirates. Crewmembers having 

experienced being threatened with 

guns and knives, tied up, beaten or 

even kidnapped, find it hard recovering 

from the trauma, and many never go to 

sea again. The financial consequences 

of a piracy attack may also be severe. 

Most shipowners, including Odfjell, 

have developed security procedures for 

how to handle such incidents. The 

authorities and the shipping community 

are also working to find ways of 

limiting or even eliminating the danger 

of piracy attacks. Several means of 

beating piracy are being discussed and 

tried, some of them being more naval 

patrolling and more policing on shore. 

Another possibility considered is to 

fend the pirates off, e.g. through 

sailing ships in convoys, by the use of 

electrical high-current railings or 

through arming the ships. Needless to 

say, such options inflict substantial 

costs, and there are also a number of 

practical and operational aspects to 

examine. 

Books and films, maybe in particular 

those for children, have given pirates a 

fully undeserved aura of romanticism 

and glamour. Pirates through all times 

are nothing but ruthless criminals, 

bringing suffering and grief to their 

victims, and the shipping community 

should welcome the finish of these 

robbers on the high seas. 

The Far East also had its piracy problem. 

Two of the most well known names are 

Pinyin Zheng Zhilong, a 17th century 

Chinese piracy leader who preyed on 

Dutch and Chinese ships, and Cheng 

Ch'eng-kung, a notorious pirate who in 

fact controlled the island of Formosa 

for a long time, refusing to surrender 

to official forces. By the end of the 17th 

century, with the growth of a strong 

central power in Japan and in China, 

most of the piracy in the region was 

eliminated. 

On March 14th 2005, several pirates 

armed with guns in three fishing boats 

boarded Japanese tug 'Idaten' towing 

a barge in the Malacca Strait. They 

Piracy attacks 2005 by area (source: International Maritime Bureau, 2005). 


What they actually do 

Investor Relations 

The tasks of the Investor Relations 

department are in part given by its 

name; they obviously deal with relations 

with investors. But how, and when, 

and through what channels ”The core 

of it is all about creating trust and interest! 

We need the market to trust us as 

a serious and reliable company, so that 

we can attract interest from investors 

and thereby achieve as correct stock 

valuation as possible”. 

Espen Bjelland has held the position as 

Vice President of Investor Relations (IR) 

at Odfjell since 2000. Investor relations 

is a demanding and busy part of corporate 

business, and the department was 

recently strengthened by a new information 

officer, Anne-Kristine Øen. 

“Successful investor relations strengthens 

the reputation of the company, 

enhances interest in the market, and 

ultimately increases the value of the 

company. That is in short what we are 

working to achieve with our IR work”, 

explains Espen. “To manage this we 

work through different channels, 

applying a number of tools. The most 

important publications that we produce 

are the annual report and the quarterly 

reports. On a more day-to-day basis the 

market is informed of important events 

through numerous press releases that 

are published and distributed through 

the Oslo Stock Exchange and the Hugin 

financial communication channels”. 

Through Hugin, more than 3,500 interested 

parties receive an instant e-mail 

whenever news about Odfjell is published. 

You also produce a number of presentations 

of the company. Who do you 

normally address in these presentations 

Investor Relations. Espen Bjelland and Anne-Kristine Øen discussing the layout of 

the new Odfjell ASA annual report. 

“We prepare presentations on results 

and the general development of Odfjell 

to shareholders, investors, banks and 

media both in Norway and abroad. 

Internationally, most interest in shipping 

companies comes from the UK and 

the US and primarily from large institutional 

investors. Additionally it is important 

to keep contact with the analysts 

at the various investment banks that 

follow the Odfjell share” Espen points 

out. 

What would be the typical professional 

background of someone working 

within IR 

“IR professionals normally come from 

finance or information backgrounds. 

That makes sense, since an important 

part of the IR challenge is to convey 

financial information and to communicate 

it in a relevant manner externally 

as well as internally. My background is 

from finance, while Anne has experience 

from the communication and information 

field. Together we are aiming 

for continuous improvement of 

Odfjell’s financial communication”. 

In addition to the pure IR work, the 

department is also responsible for several 

information tasks of a more general 

character. They have to reply to all kinds 

of enquiries from the press and media, 

not just the ones related to financial 

results. Espen Bjelland is the official 

press contact for Odfjell. Furthermore 

the IR department is responsible for 

keeping the Odfjell homepage updated, 

and contributes to corporate 

information being published on the 

Intranet. ”Anne is a member of 

the editorial committee of Odfjell 

Quarterly, and we are involved in different 

projects with HR concerning 

Odfjell common competence and other 

e-learning applications. So, although 

our workload tends to peak every quarter 

around the release of our financial 

results, we are kept very busy at all 

times” concludes Espen. 

Investor relations in Norway is 

continuously becoming a more 

demanding business. This is mainly 

due to a shareholder market that is 

demanding more information and 

has an increased focus on immaterial 

aspects, such as ethics, environmental 

issues etc. 

From analysis carried out by Aksje 

Norge and Argument. 


Transhipment in Singapore 

By Captain Frode Jusnes, Port Captain Singapore 

Board-to-board transhipment of chemicals 

has for many years been restricted 

in the port of Singa-pore, and thus, 

Odfjell vessels have had to carry out 

transhipment activities in nearby locations, 

mainly at Karimun, Indonesia. 

For Odfjell this has entailed that additional 

time and cost have had to be considered 

when planning our tonnage 

through Singapore. 

To review the restrictions for doing 

chemical transhipments alongside at 

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore 

(OOTS) in the port of Singapore, a working 

group with representatives from 

Odfjell Singapore and OOTS has worked 

closely with the Maritime and Port 

Authority of Singapore (MPA). The working 

group has developed a “Startup 

Procedure for Ship/Ship Operations”, 

which has been endorsed by the MPA. 

This has paved the way for a gradual 

and structured implementation of 

transhipment operations through three 

clearly defined phases; initial trials, 

intermediate exercises and final fullscale 

operations. 

Phase I - Initial trials: 

The initial phase involved trying out the 

transhipment processes in a small scale, 

with non-hazardous substances that, if 

spilled, would give limited damage to 

health or environment. The parameters 

of this first phase were laid out as 

follows: 

• Easy chemicals i.e. types C and D 

chemicals. 

• No concurrent operation ship/shore 

& ship/shore. 

• Maximum size of the lightering 

vessel to be 9,000 dwt. 

• Ship/Ship berthing operation 

restricted to daylight only. 

The Phase I operations were to be 

monitored and reviewed, and we 

agreed with the MPA that three 

successful Phase I operations were to be 

executed before we could move on to 

Phases II and III. 

On April 29th 2004, we carried out our 

first transhipments in the port of 

Singapore. Bow Lady was moored 

alongside OOTS Jetty 12 to discharge 

two parcels of 1,690 Mtons to shore. 

The lightering vessel Bow Sailor 

double-banked to the Bow Lady’s 

starboard side. Her approach and 

Bow Fortune transferring cargo to Bow Asia during the third trial transhipment, 

October 2004. . 

mooring was carried out smoothly by 

an experienced harbour pilot of PSA 

Marine Pte Ltd. Representatives from 

MPA & OOTS were present throughout 

to observe the first transhipment 

operation, and prior to commencing 

any cargo operations a pre-cargo 

conference was held on board Bow 

Lady. The cargo transfer of 950 Mtons 

N-Butanol was completed as planned 

and on schedule. 

Later on we have completed another 

two transhipment operations under 

Phase I: on June 27th Bow Pilot received 

four parcels totalling 5,650 Mtons of 

various chemicals from NCC Riyadh, and 

on October 23rd Bow Fortune transhipped 

one parcel of 2,000 Mtons to 

Bow Asia. Both operations were 

completed successfully, and thus, we 

were qualified to move on to Phase II of 

the process. 

Phase II - Intermediate exercises: 

The second phase of the transhipment 

project allow somewhat more challenging 

transhipment conditions: 

• Types B, C and D chemical are 

permitted. 

• The size of lightering vessels is 

raised to 12,500 dwt. 

• No restriction on ship/ship berthing 

operation. 

• No concurrent operation ship/shore 

& ship/shore. 

With the completion of the two successive 

phase II operations, the project will 

move into the final phase of de-restriction 

process. 

Phase III - Final full-scale operations: 

The third and last phase of the derestriction 

process will replicate fullscale 

operations, as when all restrictions 

are lifted: 

• Types B, C and D chemical continue 

to be permitted. 

• Increase the size of lightering vessels 

to 15,000 dwt. 

• No restriction on ship/ship berthing 

operation. 

• Permit concurrent operation 

ship/shore & ship/shore. 

To reach the present status of operations, 

many people have spent time to 

work with the various authorities to 

ensure safe operations. With Odfjell's 

worldwide terminal operations and 

extensive experience in board-to-board 

and multi-operations, we have been 

able to implement safe practices and 

incident-free operations. As OOTS is 

now also providing facilities for 

bunkering ex pipe from both Berths 

11 and 12, we are all set for a very 

efficient operation and turnaround at 

our terminal. 

We thank Capt. James Foo and Daan 

Vos of OOTS and Per Aksnes of Odfjell 

Singapore for their effort to make this 

a successful project and to further 

improve our port efficiency in 

Singapore. 


Safety Bulletin 

Our LTIF is up 

By Toralf Sørenes 

After three years of steady improvement, 

the Lost Time Injury Frequency 

(LTIF) is increasing again and the 2004 

figure is above both the 2002 and 2003 

numbers. The LTIF is one, if not the 

most important safety performance 

indi-cator, and the shift certainly gives 

cause for concern. LTIF is an international 

and well-recognised indicator showing 

the number of cases where at 

least one man-day is lost due to accidents 

per million working hours. On 

the ships we count 24 hours of work 

per day, but if more than one man-day 

is lost, it still only counts for one case. 

The below graph speaks for itself, and 

we will not go into further details here. 

However, we will certainly look thoroughly 

into the underlying issues with 

the objective of finding measures we 

Industry work group – 

Chemical tanker explosions 

The unusual high number of explosions 

on chemical tankers during the last few 

years has caused significant concern 

throughout our segment of the shipping 

industry, from the top-level regulators 

in IMO to the crew on board. 

Tank cleaning has been ongoing in 

several of the accidents, and as we 

know, two ships on the list are Odfjell 

vessels. 

In an attempt to find common denominators 

and implement effective corrective 

measures, an Industry work group 

has been established. The group consists 

of the major stakeholders in the 

industry and includes oil companies 

through OCIMF, chemical companies 

through CEFIC, ship owners through 

ICS, tanker owners through Intertanko 

and parcel tanker owners through 

IPTA. In addition classification societies 

can implement to reverse the negative 

trend. In the meantime we will urge 

everybody on all levels to stay focused 

on safety and make a joint effort to get 

the LTIF back on track. 

Odfjell Lost Time Injury Frequency 

1999-2004 

are represented in the work group 

through IACS. The structure is a steering 

committee on top, consisting of 

the heads of above organizations, a 

working group and finally several task 

groups. Svend Foyn-Bruun and Toralf 

Sørenes represent Odfjell in one of the 

task groups. The objective of the initiative 

is to give an “agreed” industry 

advice to IMO and the industry within 

4-6 months. Improved principles for 

cleaning after carrying flammable 

products are included in Odfjell's 

revised procedures. It remains to be 

seen if these principles will become one 

of the advices from the work group, at 

least shorter-term. Another central 

issue is compliance with rules and 

guidance, and also in this respect we 

are well under way with our new 

marine superintendents in place. 

Customer Inspections & Vettings – News 

Renewal of P&I 

Insurance 2005 

On 20 February 2005 our P&I insurances 

were renewed. This includes all ships 

that Odfjell operates, whether owned, 

time chartered or used as feeder ships 

on short hauls. Although we have suffered 

two major accidents since last 

renewal, cargo and crew claims have 

improved and we have subsequently 

managed to renew our P&I insurance 

on a very satisfactory level also this 

year. It is important to appreciate that 

in addition to being a cost, insurance 

premiums are a very important performance 

indicator towards our customers 

and the environment in which we do 

our business. Our clubs, Gard in 

Arendal and Britannia in London are 

both performing well service-wise and 

they are strongly funded. No ships were 

therefore transferred between clubs at 

this renewal. 

An Odfjell ship in a Norwegian fjord, 

not the most common sight. 

OCIMF has recently introduced a new 

scheme called Tanker Management and 

Self Assessment, in short TMSA. Meant 

as a complement to ISM, it is designed 

to enhance self-regulation and to help 

ship operators measure and improve 

their management systems. Keywords 

in the system are Best Practice, Key 

Performance Indicators or KPIs and 

continuous improvement. There are 

clear indications that many customers 

will make use of the system mandatory 

in the near future. This may shift some 

focus from ships to management 

systems and it will become more important 

that the ship is “inspection ready” 

at the time of an inspection. Lengthy 

exchanges to clear out negative observations 

could well become a thing of 

the past which in turn will increase the 

importance of close and effective 

superintendence by ship managers. 


Tricky discharge at the 

Mhes Zi terminal 

One late afternoon M/T Bow Quizzy 

arrives at the infamous Mhes Zi terminal 

to discharge a part cargo of exactly 

870 metric tonnes of some product, 

with a specific gravity of exactly 1. 

Unfortunately the terminal’s volume 

meters are out of function, and the 

receivers flatly refuse to trust the vessel's 

measuring equipment (despite 

these obviously being fully reliable, this 

being an Odfjell ship). Without delving 

into the darker and more sophisticated 

corners of the charterparty and its 

legal aspects, the captain, the terminal 

and the receivers agree to complete the 

discharge with the help of four empty 

shore tanks of 920, 605, 410, and 65 

cbm respec- tively, plus an empty open 

container of 30 cbm. All volume figures 

are exact. The terminal’s old crane can 

lift the container, while the other tanks 

are fully stationary. Due to the extra 

work of connecting lines between the 

various tanks, each product movement 

takes one hour regardless of the volume 

transferred. Obviously, Bow Quizzy 

wants to complete the discharge 

in as few transfers as possible, to keep 

time in port to an absolute minimum. 

For sake of simplicity we assume that 

product may be moved between the 

various tanks without any loss whatsoever, 

we disregard any volume 

changes due to temperature variations, 

and cargo transfers will not 

affect the product quality. All tanks are 

clean and tank coating is not an issue. 

How can the crew discharge exactly 870 

metric tonnes (and we do not accept 

any “more or less owners’ or charterers’ 

option”) with the help of the five 

empty tanks (but not necessarily all of 

them) in as few product transfers as 

possible We await your suggested 

solutions by June 1st at the very latest. 

Quarterly Brainteaser 

Solution to the 

December 2004 brainteaser: 

Last time we asked our esteemed 

readers to sort out the off-duty activities 

among the three nationalities on 

board the ship Bow Tricky, through a 

number of more or less enlightening 

pieces of information. To cut a not too 

long story even shorter, the table 

below shows the pastime allocation of 

the crewmembers. 

Hence: Two Filipinos play rock'n roll, 

four Greeks sing karaoke, and three 

Norwegians play basketball. 

I'm happy to see that we received no 

less than twelve suggested solutions 

this time, with varying degree of detail 

but all coming to the same correct conclusion. 

We have drawn the winner, and 

the lucky "brainchamp" this time is 

Albert G. Daumar Jr., Second Officer on 

Bow Viking. 


OTR Vijf Jaar - 

Party time at Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) 

from around 

the world 

Greetings 

By Theo Kruithof 

Zeger van Asch van Wijck starting the 

celebrations 

Yes, it has been five years already since 

Odfjell acquired its Rotterdam terminal. 

A lot has happened and changed in 

the meantime, but that’s not what this 

story is all about. On March 5th, Odfjell 

Terminals (Rotterdam) celebrated its 

fifth anniversary. PARTY TIME!!! 

an overwhelming rendition of Tina 

Turner’s “Simply the Best”. 

After this spectacular opening, the 

crowd was asked to move to the first 

floor of the building, where – in four 

different halls – all kinds of exiting 

entertainment was brought to the 

Odfjell employees and their partners. 

A band playing dance and rock classics, 

a salsa band, workshops on salsa dancing, 

karaoke in a typical, dusky but 

cozy Dutch pub, a blacksmith producing 

a memorial medal on the spot, and 

much more. Around midnight, everyone 

was invited to attend the Grand 

Finale in the main hall downstairs. 

About one hour later, we all headed for 

home after a very cheerful party. 

Thanks to the Staff Association for 

organizing this fantastic event, and to 

The steelband getting the Odfjell 

groove. 

the partygoers for their enthusiasm, 

making this evening a great success. 

The event, with close to 400 attendants 

teaming up, was held at an old fortress 

in Geertruidenberg in the south of The 

Netherlands. Just after the last people 

arrived, Mr. Zeger van Asch van Wijck 

welcomed the crowd and got the 

celebration started. The first act was a 

percussion band, playing on empty 

oil-drums – how appropriate – really 

stirring up the audience. A little later a 

female artist accompanied them, giving 

People in party-mood, enjoying the "Odfjell blue" drinks. 

The Grand Finale in the Main Hall. 


Sailors in snow 

White Christmas in Texas City 

For the first time since 1899 Texas City 

had snow on Christmas Day. The crew 

of M/T Bow Cardinal was eyewitness 

to the event. “I woke up at two 

o’clock in the morning and looked out 

of the window. To my great surprise it 

was snowing!” explains Captain Kurt 

Gustavsen. “We were told that this is 

the first time since 1899 that Texas 

City has had any snow whatsoever. 

A nice coincidence that it should fall 

on Christmas Day”. All the local 

children were of course ecstatic about 

this, and even some adults were seen 

to throw some snowballs... 

Chief Engineer Ragnar Kjøde and 

Chief Officer Bjørn Helge Langholm 

playing in the snow on deck. 

Sailors in snow II 

Bow Pilot off Japan 

Bow Pilot has sent us some photos 

taken on February 13th 2005, when 

the vessel was delivering a cargo of 

4,350 mts of kerosene at Ishikariwanko, 

Hokkaido island on the Japanese 

west coast. It was minus 4 degrees 

centigrade at that time, and this was 

the first time the vessel and its crew 

experienced such snow covering on 

deck. 


from around 

the world 

Greetings 

Odfjell Asia with successful 

marketing meeting 

By Atle Knutsen and Gregg Plunkett 

Odfjell Asia held its annual market 

seminar February 24-26th, gathering 

members from our offices in the 

region. The objectives of these meetings 

are to review market developments, 

discuss renewal of upcoming 

contracts and analyze our competitors’ 

positions and moves. Of course, another 

important element is the opportunity 

for intra-company networking. 

At this year's meeting we dwelled quite 

a lot around the positive market trends, 

and discussed how Odfjell Asia can 

benefit from these when initiating new 

activities. We also focused on the 

composition of our contract portfolio, 

to enhance operational flexibility benefiting 

the bottom line. Further the 

group spent substantial time discussing 

how to achieve improved results 

through better asset utilization and 

operational efficiency. The market will 

continue to improve in the region, and 

we can still make improvements to our 

own operation. 

From the sessions. From left: Gregg Plunket, Thomas Haaland, Sudesh Kamath, 

Alireza Kaveh, Zhu Guohe, Priscilla Chew and Adam Kuner. 

Thomas Haaland headed the successful 

market session. Presentations from the 

various members were interesting and 

educational, and an active participation 

in the exchange of ideas was 

noteworthy and refreshing. During the 

time together the group also socialized, 

and on Saturday we toured the 

Singapore harbour with the added 

benefit of seeing some of the various 

terminals in the port, including our 

own Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal 

Singapore. 

The tsunami that so severely struck countries 

around the Indian Ocean at the end of 2004 

aroused a tremendous disaster relief effort 

throughout the world. Odfjell Headoffice 

quickly reacted to the seriousness of the 

catastrophe through financial support to the 

International Red Cross. Later on some of 

our subsidiaries made local initiatives to support 

the victims of the tsunami. This is the 

story from our Houston office. 

We thank everybody for their contribution 

to this market meeting and appreciate 

all the good work of the offices in 

the region. 

Tsunami Relief Drive at 

Odfjell Houston 

drive ended we were able to present 

the International Red Cross with a 

During the boat trip. From left: Helge 

Olsen, Inga Berit Rongevær, Gregg 

Plunkett. 

check for $7,370. A big thank you goes 

out to all for participating! 

After the tsunami catastrophe in Asia 

on Boxing Day, Odfjell’s people in 

Houston felt the need to come together 

and help. A relief drive was started 

among the employees on January 5th, 

and our local Wellness Committee, with 

a lot of help from other volunteers, 

enthusiastically took up the challenge 

to promote the drive internallys. We 

had a very positive response to the 

fund drive, and when the two-week 

Denise Platt from the Red Cross received the Tsunami Relief check on January 26th, 

2005. Left to right: Bernt Netland, Denise Platt, Craig Thomas, Janet Mayer, Dodie 

Gober, Sherri Beck, Stacie Allen, Bert Noggle, Blanche Tarwater, Mernie Beiter, 

Drew Wharton and Cecilia Ramirez. 


Postcards from Chile 

Odfjell Quarterly has received a number 

of very nice photographs from our 

colleague Andres Contador at Terquim 

SA in Chile, showing some of the 

Odfjell-related activities taking place 

on the west coast of South America. As 

we fully agree that a good picture says 

more than a thousand words, we leave 

the photos to tell their story. 

M/T Bow Andes (ex Bow Sun) loading sulphuric acid at 

Odfjell Terminals Terquim, San Antonio. 

Our Chairman and our local agents visiting M/T Bow Santos on her 

first voyage from Houston to Chile, discharging various products at 

Odfjell Terminals Terquim, San Antonio. From left: Ansgar Muschen 

(B&M), Dan Odfjell and Hans Bugge (B&M). 

Odfjell visiting Chuquicamata copper mine, biggest 

open pit copper mine in the world. From left: Morten 

Nystad, Jakob Sørhus and Andres Contador. 

M/T Bow Pacifico (ex Bow Saphir) on dry-dock in Valparaiso. 

Visiting Bow Pacifico on dry-dock in Valparaiso. From 

left Ajoy Choudhury (Southern Shipmanagement), 

Kaare Endressen (Flumar) and Oscar Galvez (Odfjell y 

Vapores). 

26 knots for 

vessel and crew 

Despite the busy life as a seaman on board a chemical 

tanker, there is still time for recreational activities. The 

picture here shows Bosun Joeffrey D. Barrientos on 

M/T Bow Star, with his "goodbye gift" to the vessel and 

its crew before signing off: a knotboard with 26 knots, 

one for each crewmember. Indeed a nice and sailor-like 

piece of handicraft. 


Quality Section 

Safety initiatives in Rotterdam 

QHSE-MATTERS DO MATTER 

By Toon Ruizendaal, QHSE Manager OTR 

Odfjell Terminals 

(Rotterdam) B.V. 

has put in a lot of 

resources to further 

enhance 

safety, as part of 

the overall rehabilitation 

of the 

terminal. The 

summary below 

outlines the most 

important safety initiatives taken or 

still in progress at the terminal: 

• In 2003 we appointed a full-time 

safety supervisor, who makes 

inspection rounds on the entire 

terminal twice a day. 

• Since February 2004 we publish a 

monthly QHSE newsletter on our 

local intranet, informing all our staff 

and contractors about QHSE-matters. 

• We have since April 2004 conducted 

frequent “communication meetings 

involving all operational staff, 

focussing on quality and safety. 

• In 2004 we completed a revision of 

the emergency organisation, 

including training of the staff. 

• We have initialised several projects 

increasing the safety standards on 

the terminal, either completed or in 

progress: 

• Fall protection at truck/rail loading 

areas and jetties. 

• Renovation of the fixed foam and 

sprinkler installations at several 

jetties. 

• During 2005 we will move PID’s 

central control room to a more safe 

distance from the distillation plant. 

• In 2004, we appointed five manipulation 

co-ordinators to organise 

unloading and transfers. These are 

working in shifts 24/7 to further 

improve the control of operational 

execution. 

• Since third quarter of 2004 we are 

reviewing all operational procedures, 

including training of the staff 

involved. This work is expected to be 

completed by mid 2005. 

• As from the first quarter of 2005 we 

will offer comprehensive mandatory 

induction training for all contractors, 

as part of our efforts to enhance contractor 

safety at the terminal. 

• During third quarter of 2004 we 

commenced cleaning and de-bottlenecking 

of the firewater network 

and pumps, to be completed by mid 

2005. 

• We are doing a Hazard and 

Operability study (HAZOP) of all 

“old” vapour recovery systems 

(from Q4 2004 - 2005). 

• We are at the moment reorganising 

the Working Permit Department and 

the related procedures. 

• We have launched a PR campaign on 

safety and quality issues, to increase 

the general safety-awareness and to 

achieve a continuous upgrade of the 

safety culture for all staff. 

It goes without saying that these initiatives 

require a lot of effort as well as 

substantial investments, and we still 

have quite a way to go. The complex 

terminal infrastructure at OTR, and the 

necessity to maintain our ongoing 

business, means that work is going on 

"everywhere on the terminal", hence 

making any upgrade quite a challenge. 

However, this process is necessary to 

keep such a large and busy terminal to 

the highest safety standards. 


Owners and Managers 

Safety and Quality Meeting in Singapore 

By Atle Knutsen 

On March 10th, Odfjell arranged a oneday 

session on safety and quality for 

owners and their ship managers 

having vessels on T/C to Odfjell 

Seachem and Odfjell Asia. The meeting 

was held in Odfjell’s Singapore office, 

and more than 20 people from 14 companies 

participated. 

The objective of these annual meetings 

is to communicate our requirements 

when it comes to safety, review events, 

share experiences and to strengthen 

the commitment to safe and quality 

operations. To underline our objectives, 

we had the pleasure of having Simon 

Greaves, Division Operations Manager 

of Orica Australia talk about Health 

Safety and Environment from a customer’s 

perspective. 

From our headquarters, we had presentations 

by Jan A. Hammer, SVP Odfjell 

Seachem, Jan Didrik Lorentz, SVP 

The attentive audience. 

Odfjell Ship Management and Torfin 

Eide, Project Manager Odfjell Seachem. 

One of the main topics of this year's 

seminar was to inform about the latest 

edition of our Risk and Guidelines 

Manual (RGM), developed to ensure a 

high standard of operations within the 

Odfjell group with environmental protection, 

operational safety and cargo 

handling as the main components. 

Spot Chartering Procedures 

By Morten Nystad 

In January 2005 Odfjell Seachem launched 

updated procedures and systems 

for the fixing of spot cargoes. These 

procedures do not bring any major 

change to our way of operating, as 

they reflect what our chartering personnel 

have been doing for years. 

However, given Odfjell's quality drive, 

it is important to ensure that we have 

a common way of handling the 

hundreds of transportation requests 

received daily. The various processes of 

evaluating, offering, and eventually 

fixing a cargo will therefore be 

uniform, regardless of who is working 

the cargo or which tradelane the lifting 

falls under. The procedure will reduce 

chances of making mistakes, our customers 

will easier recognize and familiarize 

themselves with our standards and 

presentations, and it will ensure proper 

training of our staff. 

We already have procedures and standards 

for most of our professional 

tasks. What is unique with this new 

process is that everything is easily and 

readily available in the system, only 3-4 

Chartering personnel at Odfjell Seachem, such as here at the South America desk, 

are applying the new spot chartering procedures. 

clicks away, and clearly described in as 

few words as possible. There is no 100- 

page binder. Process chart, helpdesk 

and toolbox, offer templates, clauses, 

guidelines and links to other helpful 

sites are all on the screen. Most groundbreaking 

is perhaps the Post Fixture 

Digest (PFD), a short comment from the 

responsible broker explaining the rationale 

behind fixing that particular 

cargo. 

The Spot Chartering Procedure comes 

as the Company is working to revise 

and globally uniform its Quality 

Systems. Odfjell Seachem's Spot 

Chartering Procedure has been a pilot, 

the first of several revised Odfjell procedures. 

Already in April, similar procedures 

will be introduced for the handling 

of longer-term business (CoAs), 

operational practises as well as timechartering 

engagements 


NEW HIRES 

The Personnel Corner 

Headquarters Bergen 

Øystein Djuv-Stiansen 

Claimshandler 

01.03.2005 

Odfjell Terminal (Rotterdam) 

Lars Garen 

Head of Technology 

Section SM 


Lars Ivar Kjesbu 

Surveyor 


Odfjell Singapore 

Vedbjørn Lid 

Operator 


Odfjell Netherlands 

Joeri Oostdijk 

Operator 


Onno Eggink 

Manipulation 

Co-ordinator 


Peter Feberwee 

Manipulation 

Co-ordinator 


Cindy Chua 

Assistant Operator 


Jethro Teo Tze Chung 

Assistant Broker 

15.12.2004 

Chloe Lau Chew King 

Financial Analyst 

20.12.2004 

Odfjell Korea 

RELOCATIONS 

Subhanker G Dastidar 

Marine Superintendent, 

Fleet Asia. 


Dong-Hwan Chong 

Ship Broker 

08.11.04 

Martin Hislop 

Marine Superintendent 

Fleet Bow C, Bergen 

From Bow Sea, 


Kjetil Lavik 

Operator, Bergen 

From Ncc Jizan, 


Frode Lihaug 

Purchaser, Bergen 

From Fleet A, 01.03.05 

Runar Reinholdtsen 


Fleet Bow C, Bergen 

From Bow Sea, 

01.01.2005. 

Einar Samset 

Ship Inspector and 

Auditor, Bergen 

From Singapore, 


Anders Økland 


Fleet Bow A, Bergen 

From Bow Century, 


Meidel Eriksen 


Fleet Asia, Singapore 

From Bow Flora, 


Ferdinand T. Romero 


Fleet Asia, Singapore 

From Bow Mate, 



IN SERVICE FOR ODFJELL 

40 

25 

25 

YEARS YEARS 

Morten Nystad 

Vice President Asia Pacific 


13.02.1980 

Frode Stornes 

Manager Business Support Group 


18.02.1980 

Kjell Tore Midtun 

System Consultant 


21.01.1965 

Bram Van der Spek 

Assistant Terminal Manager 

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) 

01.01.1980 

Alejandro Jose Gomez 

Accounting Assistant 

Odfjell Argentina 

15.04.1980 

IN MEMORY OF 

ARNE FALMÅR 

(07.12.1948 - 21.02.2005) 

It is with deep sorrow we 

announce the death of Captain 

Arne Falmår, the late Master 

on Bow Viking. Bow Viking was 

a few miles outside Suape, enroute 

from Morocco to Brazil, 

when Captain Falmår was 

reported missing. A search and 

rescue operation was immediately 

initiated and rescue centres 

were notified. After a 

remarkable search operation 

the vessel managed to locate 

Captain Falmår in the dark 

open sea, but regrettably he 

was already deceased when 

taken on board. 

Captain Arne Falmår (56) had 

been with Odfjell since 

October 1st 1989, and he was 

appointed Master two years 

ago. We will all miss him, as a 

skilled mariner and a good 

colleague. Our thoughts go 

to his family. 

ANKE JUNG 

(23.05.1956 - 30.01.2005) 

It is with deep regret we have to 

inform that Mrs. Anke Jung passed 

away on January 30th 2005 

after a short period of illness. 

Anke Jung was employed by 

Odfjell Ahrenkiel from December 

1st, 2003 in the Accounts 

Department. Anke Jung was a 

skilled employee responsible for 

Pool and Company accounting 

and internal reports. She is 

missed here by everybody. 

Our thoughts are with her familiy. 

Per Aksnes leaving Singapore 

By Atle Knutsen 

Odfjell Annual 

Report 2004 

After more than eight years in 

Singapore as Operation Manager for 

the Odfjell Asia fleet, Per Aksnes and 

his wife Angela are now heading back 

to Bergen. Per has been part of the 

development of the Odfjell regional 

fleet in Asia from its modest start in 

1997 with two time-charter vessels to 

today's fleet of 16 vessels. His wide 

experience in operations of chemical 

tankers has been a valuable asset in 

building the activity in Singapore and 

he has played an important role 

towards time-charter owners, ship 

managers as well as local authorities. 

After a long period in South East Asia, 

Per is looking forward to enjoying the 

spring in Norway and to watch the fruit 

blossom at close range in his native 

Hardanger. We thank Per for his contribution 

and wish him all the best on his 

return to Norway. 

On Per’s leaving, Dag 

Eidsvåg will take 

over the responsibility 

as Operation 

Manager and we 

wish him success in 

his new position. 

Odfjell's annual report for 2004 is now 

available, in hardcopy as well as in electronic 

format on the Odfjell Intranet 

and on Internet at 

www.odfjell.com. 

Per Aksnes and his 

wife Angela, at a 

farewell dinner 

party in Singapore. 


Fleet and terminals 

GLOBAL TRADE 

STAINLESS NUMBER 

SHIPS BUILT DWT CBM STEEL,CBM OF TANKS 

Owned: Bow Spring * 2004 39 942 52 126 52 126 40 

Bow Star * 2004 39 832 52 126 52 126 40 

Bow Sun 2003 39 842 52 126 52 126 40 

Bow Firda * 2003 37 427 40 515 40 515 47 

Bow Chain * 2002 37 518 40 515 40 515 47 

Bow Favour 2001 37 438 40 515 40 515 47 

Bow Century 2000 37 438 40 515 40 515 47 

Bow Fortune 1999 37 395 40 515 40 515 47 

Bow Cecil * 1998 37 345 40 515 33 236 47 

Bow Flora 1998 37 369 40 515 33 236 47 

Bow Cardinal 1997 37 446 41 487 34 208 52 

Bow Faith 1997 37 479 41 487 34 208 52 

Bow Cedar 1996 37 455 41 608 34 329 52 

Bow Fagus 1995 37 375 41 608 34 329 52 

Bow Clipper 1995 37 166 41 492 34 213 52 

Bow Flower 1994 37 221 41 492 34 213 52 

Bow Sea 1978 27 950 34 656 21 035 43 

Bow Hunter 1983 23 002 25 026 21 031 28 

Bow Pioneer 1982 23 016 25 965 20 969 28 

Bow Eagle 1988 24 728 32 458 19 662 25 

Bow Viking 1981 33 590 40 956 21 745 36 

Bow Fighter 1982 34 982 41 184 6 299 34 

Bow Lancer 1980 35 100 42 468 6 252 34 

Bow Heron 1979 35 289 42 109 5 882 31 

Bow Cheetah 1988 40 258 47 604 - 29 

Bow Leopard 1988 40 249 47 604 - 29 

Bow Lion 1988 40 272 47 604 - 29 

Bow Panther 1986 40 263 47 604 - 29 

Bow Puma 1986 40 092 47 604 - 29 

Bow Petros 1984 39 722 47 963 - 28 

Bow Transporter 1983 39 738 47 963 - 28 

Bow Lady 1978 32 225 41 354 3 077 42 

Bow Princess 1976 32 362 42 480 1 400 42 

Bow Peace 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Power 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Pride 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Prima 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Prosper 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Fertility 1987 45 507 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Fraternity 1987 45 507 52 173 2 167 23 

Bow Maasstad 1983 38 039 48 866 - 22 

Bow Maasstroom 1983 38 039 48 866 - 22 

Bow Maasslot 1982 38 039 48 866 - 22 

Time-Chartered: NCC Jubail 1996 37 499 41 488 34 209 52 

NCC Mekka 1995 37 272 41 588 34 257 52 

NCC Riyad 1995 37 274 41 492 34 213 52 

NCC Yamamah 1977 28 053 34 656 21 035 43 

NCC Jizan 1976 28 024 34 656 21 035 43 

NCC Jouf 1976 28 026 34 656 21 035 43 

NCC Madinah 1976 28 053 34 656 21 035 43 

NCC Asir 1983 23 001 24 965 20 969 28 

NCC Arar 1982 23 002 24 965 20 969 28 

NCC Baha 1988 24 728 32 458 19 662 25 

Bow Orion 1977 28 083 34 656 21 035 43 

Bow Neptun 1976 28 060 34 656 21 035 43 

Bow Saturn 1976 28 030 34 656 21 035 43 

Bow Merkur 1975 27 952 34 656 21 035 43 

Bow Santos 2004 19 997 21 846 21 846 22 

Bow Americas 2004 19 707 22 050 22 050 36 

Brage Pacific 1997 17 460 18 620 18 620 24 

Brage Atlantic 1995 17 460 19 587 19 587 22 

Bow Andino 2000 16 121 17 270 17 270 30 

Number of ships: 62 2 119 734 2 487 145 1 205 378 

* Vessel beneficially owned through financial lease. 


REGIONAL TRADE 

YEAR STAINLESS NUMBER 

SHIPS BUILT DWT CBM STEEL, CBM OF TANKS 

Owned: Bow Master 1999 6 046 6 878 6 878 14 

Bow Mate 1999 6 001 6 864 6 864 14 

Bow Pilot 1999 6 000 6 865 6 865 14 

Bow Sailor 1999 6 000 6 870 6 870 14 

Bow Antisana 1989 8 192 9 899 5 777 22 

Bow Gorgonilla 1989 8 192 9 899 5 777 22 

Bow Andes (50 %) 1977 28 060 34 756 21 136 43 

Bow Pacifico (50%) 1982 18 657 22 929 10 849 31 

Owl Trader 1982 12 450 14 482 8 070 22 

Angelim (50 %) 1985 10 259 10 136 6 500 18 

Araucaria (50 %) 1984 10 259 10 159 6 500 18 

Jatai (50 %, LPG) 1979 4 452 4 031 - 3 

Time-Chartered: Bow de Rich 2003 12 452 13 300 13 300 22 

Bow Wallaby 2003 11 951 13 485 13 485 22 

Bow de Feng 2002 12 514 13 289 13 289 22 

Bow West 2002 12 503 13 299 13 299 22 

Bow de Silver 2000 11 747 12 296 12 296 20 

Bow de Jin 1999 11 752 12 296 12 296 20 

Bow Asia 2004 9 901 10 866 10 866 20 

Bow Singapore 2004 9 888 10 867 10 867 20 

Bow Wave 1999 8 594 9 225 9 225 20 

Bow Wind 1999 8 587 9 226 9 226 20 

Jacaranda (50%) 1978 9 970 9 924 5 877 17 

Aragas (50 %, LPG) 1983 9 300 8 026 - 5 

Multitank Balearia 1998 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Batavia 1998 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Badenia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Bolognia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Bracaria 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Brasilia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Bahia 1996 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Multitank Britannia 1996 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 

Number of ships: 32 300 687 327 395 263 640 

YARD DELIVERY DWT OWNER 

On order: NB Szczecin - B588/III/4 4/2005 39 500 Odfjell 

NB Szczecin - B588/III/5 9/2005 39 500 Odfjell 

NB Szczecin - B588/III/6 3/2006 39 500 Odfjell 



NB Sevmash #1 9/2007 45 000 Odfjell 








NB Fukuoka 10/2005 19 700 Time-charter 

NB Shin Kurishima 12/2005 19 990 Time-charter 

NB Kitanihon 8/2005 30 000 Time-charter 

NB Kitanihon 5/2006 30 000 Time-charter 



Number of newbuildings: 19 696 790 

TANK TERMINALS 

STAINLESS NUMBER 

LOCATION SHARE CBM STEEL, CBM OF TANKS 

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) BVRotterdam, NL 100 % 1 540 000 31 000 300 

Odfjell Terminals (Houston) LP Houston, USA 100 % 270 563 81 902 92 

Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) Ltd Dalian, China 64 % 59 700 5 750 35 

Odfjell Terminals (Korea) Co Ltd Onsan, Korea 50 % 109 500 2 850 39 

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Ltd Singapore 50 % 213 000 5 700 51 

VOTTN Ltd (Ningbo) Ningbo, China 12.5 % 63 500 7 900 36 

2 256 263 135 102 553 


Offices and addresses 

MAIN OFFICE 

Odfjell ASA - Odfjell Seachem AS 

Conrad Mohrsv. 29, P.O. Box 6101 

Postterminalen 

5892 Bergen, NORWAY 

Tel: +47 5527 0000 

Fax: +47 5528 4741 

Fax: +47 5527 9070 

(Chartering/Operations) 

INTERNATIONAL OFFICES 

Odfjell USA LP 

12211 Port Road 

Seabrook, TX 77586, USA 

Tel: +1 713 844 2200 

Fax: +1 713 844 2211 

Odfjell Singapore Pte Ltd 

6 Shenton Way, # 27-08/09 

DBS Tower 2 

SINGAPORE 068809 

Tel: +65 6349 1300 

Fax: +65 6224 2285 

Odfjell Japan Ltd 

Ogawa Bldg. 8F 

2-2 Uchikanda 1-Chome 

Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0047, JAPAN 

Tel: +81 3 3259 8555 

Fax: +81 3 3259 8558 

Odfjell Netherlands BV 

Oude Maasweg 6, P.O. Box 5010 

3197 XC Rotterdam-Botlek 

The NETHERLANDS 

Tel: +31 102 953 666 

Fax: +31 102 953 668 

Odfjell Brasil Ltda 

Av. Paulista 460 - 18 andar 

CEP 01310-000 Sao Paulo SP, BRAZIL 

Tel: +55 11 3549 5800 

Fax: +55 11 3549 5808 

Odfjell Shanghai 

Unit 2309 23/F CITIC Square 

1168 Nanjing Road West 

Shanghai, 200041 P.R. CHINA 

Tel: +86 21 5298 4068 

Fax: +86 21 5261 0288 

Odfjell Argentina SA 

Alicia Moreau de Justo 1960 

Office no. 202 - Puerto Madero 

1107 Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA 

Tel: +54 114 313 7837 

Fax: +54 114 313 4619 

Odfjell Australasia Pty Limited 

Suite 4, Level 1 

443 Little Collins Street 

P.O.Box 1279 

Melbourne VIC 3001 AUSTRALIA 

Tel: +61 3 9642 2210 

Fax: +61 3 9642 2214 

Odfjell India 

A-26, Nandbhuvan Industrial Estate 

Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri (East) 

Mumbai 400093, INDIA 

Tel: +91 22 5695 4701 

Fax: +91 22 5695 4707 

Odfjell Korea Co Ltd 

Room 1301, Dongbu-Dadong Bldg. 

#103, Da-Dong, Jung-Gu 

Seoul, KOREA 

Tel: +82 2 775 9760 

Fax: +82 2 775 9761 

Odfjell Manila 

c/o Magsaysay Maritime Corp. 

5th floor, 520 t.m. Kalaw Street 

Ermita 

Manila, PHILIPPINES 

Tel: 63 2 526 9773 

Fax: 63 2 525 7720 

Odfjell Dubai 

c/o Sharaf Shipping Agency 

Sharaf Building, Al Mina Road 

P.O. Box 576, 

Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 

Tel: +971 4 351 9785 

Fax: +971 4 351 9756 

Odfjell (UK) Ltd 

14 Headfort Place 

London SW1X 7DH 

UNITED KINGDOM 

Tel: +44 207 823 0605 

Fax: +44 207 823 0606 

National Chemical Carriers Ltd Co 

Room 301, 3rd Floor, Al-Akariyah Bldg No 1 

Sitteen Street, Malaz Area 

P.O. Box 8931 

Riyadh 11492, SAUDI ARABIA 

Tel: +966 1 477 3934 

Fax: +966 1 476 4328 

Terquim SA 

Blanco Encalada 840 

Dept 702, San Antonio 

CHILE 

Tel: +56 35 211 050 

Fax: +56 35 211 161 

REGIONAL OFFICES 

Odfjell Asia Pte Ltd 

6 Shenton Way, # 27-08/09 DBS Tower 2 


Tel: +65 6349 1300 

Fax: +65 6224 2285 

Odfjell Ahrenkiel Europe GmbH 

Gurlittstrasse 11 

Postfach 100 220 

20001 Hamburg 

GERMANY 

Tel: +49 40 24838 307 

Fax: +49 40 24838 319 

Flumar Transportes de Quimicos e Gases Ltda 

Av. Paulista 460 - 18 andar 

CEP 01310-904 Sao Paulo SP, BRAZIL 

Tel: +55 11 3549 5800 

Fax: +55 11 3549 5807 

TANK TERMINALS 

Odfjell Terminals (Houston) LP 

12211 Port Road 

Seabrook, TX 77586, USA 

Tel: +1 713 844 2300 

Fax: +1 713 844 2355 

Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) Ltd 

No. 3 Binhai North Road 

Zhongshan District 

Dalian 116001, P.R. CHINA 

Tel: +86 411 8262 9701 

Fax: +86 411 8262 3707 

Odfjell Terminals (Jiangyin) Co, Ltd 

Jiasheng South Road 1 

Economic Development Zone (West) 

Jiangyin 214446 

Jiangsu Province 

P.R. CHINA 

Tel: +86 510 6669111 

Fax: +86 510 6669110 

Odfjell Terminals (Korea) Co, Ltd 

136, Cheongyong-Ri 

Onsan-Eup, Ulju-Gun 

Ulsan, KOREA 

Tel: +82 522 311 600 

Fax: +82 522 376 636 

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Pte Ltd 

1 Seraya Avenue 


Tel: +65 6473 1700 

Tel: +65 6479 4500 

VOTTN, Ningbo Ltd 

Jetty No. 16 Zhenhai Port Area 

No. 1 Zhaobao Shan Road, Zhenhai District 

Ningbo 315200, P.R. CHINA 

Tel: +86 574 8627 5929 

Fax: +86 574 8627 5931 

ASSOCIATED TANK TERMINALS 

TAGSA S.A 

Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 1960, 

piso 4 Of.402 

1107 Buenos Aires 

ARGENTINA 

Tel: +54 11 4001 9700 

Fax: +54 11 4001 9701 

GRANEL QUIMICA Ltda 

Av. Paulista 460, 18 andar 

CEP 01310- 000 São Paulo, SP 

BRAZIL 

Tel: +55 11 3549 5800 

Fax: +55 11 3549 5832 

TERQUIM S.A 

Blanco Encalada 840 

Dept 702, San Antonio 

CHILE 

Tel: +56 35 21 1050 

Fax: +56 35 21 1161 

DQM S.A 

Jr. Huascar 251, Urbanizacion Chacaritas 

Callao 

PERU 

Tel: +511 429 4651 

Fax: +511 429 0637 

Odfjell Seachem South Africa Pty Ltd 

The Sharaf House 

2 Sinembe Crescent 

La Lucia Ridge 

Durban 4051, SOUTH AFRICA 

Telefon: +27 31 583 4470 

Fax: +27 31 583 4488 

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) BV 

Oude Maasweg 6, P.O. Box 5010 

Harbour Number 4040 

3197 KJ Rotterdam-Botlek 

The NETHERLANDS 

Tel: +31 102 953 400 

Fax: +31 104 384 679 

w w w . o d f j e l l . c o m

Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2005

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