Protection of Fuel Tanks Safety ahead! - GL Group

More documents

Recommendations

Info

MARITIME SERVICES | UNION TRANSPORT BACKGROUND Newbuildings: Deliveries from India On the one hand, Max Heinimann is clever enough not to take any incalculable risks. On the other, he is pragmatic enough to have vessels built in India. When asked about his motives, he says, “There were three reasons why I decided to build in Goa: fi rstly, the price was attractive; secondly, so was the delivery date; and thirdly, the shipyard was recommended to me. Sure, I also had interesting offers from China and Vietnam. But the shipyards in those countries couldn’t deliver before 2009.” On a personal note: What impressed Max Heinimann was that Ashok Chowgule, the Indian shipyard director, came to visit him in Bromley, south London, where the company has been based since 1985. Heinimann is a man who appreciates personal contact. There are limits as to the esteem that one can convey by phone or e-mail. On-site, the vessel’s construction was supervised by a representative of the shipowning company who sent daily progress reports by e-mail. Heinimann’s technical staff were queuing up to Chowgule & Company Chowgule & Company Ltd. is in the vanguard of exploiting inland waterways in Goa. Nowadays, the Indian company builds a wide range of maritime vessels, ranging from ore-carrying barges, grab and suction dredgers and deep-sea fi shing trawlers to offshore drilling rigs, tugs, pontoons, launches, hopper barges and coastal vessels. The company’s yards are situated in Loutulim and Rassaim, Goa. The construction grounds include a slipway of 220 to 20 metres as well as two construction bays of 90 to 40 meters in the North Sea. The company was also used by other customers from the oil industry. Its Own Shipyard In 1977 Max Heinimann got to know Tony Lapthorn, who was running a small shipping business on the River Medway. Together they bought the Acorn Shipyard in Rochester, which was mainly engaged in ship repairs. From then on, their vessels were repaired, overhauled and painted at their own shipyard. They won other shipping companies as 28 nonstop 4/2006 handle the project. The Union team is highly motivated anyway thanks to an attractive bonus package and a good working atmosphere. Over the years the company has succeeded in optimizing processes and increasing its customer base. Diffi cult: In recent decades, Union Transport has gained a lot of experience in building new vessels – in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the UK. The experience was not always good, though: we had to cancel a contract for four coastal vessels with an option for another two. Ironic: The two vessels which were not accepted are now part of Union Transport’s fl eet anyway, since the company took over a competitor. Business: An order for four newbuildings has been placed with Chowgule and Company Shipyard (see below) in Goa. These multi-purpose dry cargo carriers are 89.94 metres long and 14.4 metres wide, and have a carrying capacity of 4450 dwt. The fi rst vessel’s keel-laying ceremony Pakistan Miles 0 500 India Loutulim Marmagoa Loutulim China Bay of Bengal SRI LANKA Panaji GOA Arabian Sea India each. Up to now, more than 100 vessels have been built at the Chowgule & Company Shipyard, which also holds “Attractive price, convenient delivery date and convincing quality” Max Heinimann took place on 23 May 2006 at the new shipyard site Rassaim. Delivery is planned for July 2007. The name “Union Ruby” has also been decided on. an International Ship Repair Licence issued by the Directorate General of Shipping (Mumbai) and takes care of repairs of sea-going vessels. In 2005 Chowgule received orders for six MPP cargo ships from a joint venture with Navigia, a subsidiary of shipbuilder Rudolf Schöning and Apollo Shipping. Including the four Union Transport newbuildings Chowgule’s order book presently lists 20 MPP cargo ships of 4,450 dwt involving European owners. The plan is to deliver the fi rst in the series to Navigia in January and the fi rst of the Union Transport vessels in May 2007. On the whole, six newbuildings are due for delivery in 2007. customers, and as a result capacities were fully utilized. In 1986 Union Transport bought Lapthorn’s stake in the undertaking, and in 2000 it added the Quarry Shipyard, which was located opposite Acorn on the Medway. This increased Union Transport’s capacities substantially, paving the way for a successful future. ■ SB/OM For further information: Harald Seibicke, Area Manager Benelux/Northwest Europe and Secretary British Committee, Phone: +31 10 2040404; E-Mail: harald.seibicke@gl-group.com
EAST ASIA | MARITIME SERVICES Quality is Non-Negotiable In offi ce since October: The new Vice President Division East Asia, Dr Volkmar Wasmansdorff, talks about the challenges of the market and his goals nonstop: Congratulations on your appointment, Dr Wasmansdorff. How do you feel? Volkmar Wasmansdorff: I am excited about the task of serving our customers in Asia. It is a wonderful challenge and I am looking forward to strengthening our ties with the flourishing shipbuilding industry. nonstop: What experience have you had with Asia? Wasmansdorff: Actually, I am quite an old hand, having had my first professional contact with Asia nearly 20 years ago. Since then, I have gained experience with almost all countries in the East Asia Division. East Asia is a dynamic region with strong growth rates; I am optimistic about its future. That said, we need to provide specific answers, since the Asian continent is not homogeneous, but home to many separate cultural identities. nonstop: What are your goals? Wasmansdorff: Germanischer Lloyd operates an ambitious business model and has been growing at a remarkable rate. My ambition is to extend our services to all Asian countries involved in shipbuilding. Germanischer Lloyd has already gained recognition as “the container ship society” and that is fine but there are more strings to our bow. After all, we have a proven track record in a variety of sectors, ranging from bulk carriers to multi-purpose vessels and high-speed craft, from tankers to product carriers. We must increase the industry’s awareness of our expertise in these product areas and position ourselves as their partner of choice. I think this is very important. nonstop: What role can Germanischer Lloyd play in the Asian shipbuilding nations? Wasmansdorff: With more ships on order than ever before, Germanischer Lloyd is already playing a significant role for the Asian shipbuilding industry. Given the likelihood of stagnating growth rates in the future, I regard our quality approach and service orientation as important assets. We are constantly enhancing our wide range of proven and new classification services. For example, shipyards and designers will save a lot of time using our latest software tool called “GL ShipLoad”. It makes it much easier to model cargo distribution and calculate hydrodynamic loads both efficiently and accurately, which greatly accelerates the strength assessment of hull structures. My responsibility will be to allocate the resources needed to deal with the workload of each individual shipyard. nonstop: What are your priorities? Wasmansdorff: As a service provider focused on quality and implementing high standards, we will continue to improve our efficiency. In addition, we will support new shipyards and deepen our relationship with the supply industry. nonstop: Could you give a specific example? Wasmansdorff: There are striking differences between Vietnam, China, India and Korea in terms of shipbuilding technology. The modern, efficient production process used by very large shipyards in Korea involves sophisti- EXPERIENCE. Dr Volkmar Wasmansdorff is the new Head of Division East Asia. “Our software tools help save shipyards and engineering fi rms a lot of money.” Dr Volkmar Wasmansdorff cated external block-construction facilities which require a large number of decentralized inspections. Some yards consume about a million tons of steel per year. In India, by contrast, there are shipyards that use only a few thousand tons of steel in ship production. The production processes, tools, and levels of education vary considerably. At the end of the day, it is our job to check whether a vessel was built to our rules and standards and whether it is fit for purpose under both the international maritime conventions and the flagstate’s regulations. nonstop: What do you do in terms of long-term quality assurance? Wasmansdorff: We are continually upgrading the skills of our staff. We have expanded our technical management system by appointing a Technical Manager at the division level who is supported by internal quality support teams for every country in the region. ■ OM nonstop 04/2006 29
Page 1 and 2: The Magazine for Customers and Busi
Page 3 and 4: Dear Readers, The year 2006 will be
Page 5 and 6: News from the Maritime Services ECO
Page 7 and 8: VIETNAM Two New Offi ces November w
Page 9 and 10: MILESTONES New Agreement Hapag-Lloy
Page 11 and 12: Germanischer Lloyd’s Carefree Sof
Page 13 and 14: ments for cargo oil tanks, the prob
Page 15 and 16: Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 tanks, placing
Page 17 and 18: It gives technical advice for updat
Page 19 and 20: Cool Transport The shipping of peri
Page 21 and 22: Fortunately, the emergency service
Page 23 and 24: Fluids in Motion What can earthquak
Page 25 and 26: Photo: istockphoto.com ULTRASOUND.
Page 27: ed to gather more experience in age
Page 31 and 32: BACKGROUND Finite Elements: Computi
Page 33 and 34: Waste Overboard? Proper waste dispo
Page 35 and 36: Sassnitz 14 ° 15 ° death sentence
Page 37 and 38: Dr Gottfried Braun, Quality Managem
Page 39 and 40: WINDENERGIEZIRKEL HANSE Bracing the
Page 41 and 42: This year it is 2,000 MW. So we tru
Page 43 and 44: © Maciej Dominik - FOTOLIA Just A
Page 45 and 46: Fotos: Istockphoto.com (2) INSPECTI
Page 47 and 48: Rules for Classifi cation and Const

Protection of Fuel Tanks Safety ahead! - GL Group

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?