Number 149***DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER***Sunday 15-08-2004 THIS NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY : VLIERODAM WIRE ROPES Ltd. wire ropes, chains, hooks, shackles, webbing slings, lifting beams, crane blocks, turnbuckles etc. Binnenbaan 36 3161VB RHOON The Netherlands Telephone: (+31)105018000 (+31) 105015440 (a.o.h.) Fax : (+31)105013843 Internet & E-mail www.vlierodam.nl info@vlierodam.nl The ELBE, towed by the Mehari, left the drydock at HVO after been temporarily repaired Photo : Nico Ouwehand PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 1 08/14/04
EVENTS, INCIDENTS & OPERATIONS DAMEN MARINE SERVICES MOVES ON THE WORLD The DH DELTA, a DAMEN DredgeHelper 2511, was lifted on board of the Jumbo Javelin in Singapore on 30 July. The DH DELTA,sailing under Dutch flag, owned by Damen Marine Services b.v. was deployed earlier in the Far East region, and is now bound for the Middle East. The DH DELTA will be put into service for the next two years on the construction site of one of the artificial islands projects in the Middle East area. Photo s : Damen Marine Services The brand new DMS GLOBE, of the type DAMEN Shoalbuster 2609 left Hardinxveld on 5 th of August heading for Dubai. The vessel will be deployed on the construction site of the The World of van Oord in Dubai. The Shoalbusters DMS CONDOR, DMS FALCON, TARKA & CAMPERDUIN are already working on this project. DAMEN MARINE SERVICES The Netherlands Phone : +31-184-616000 Fax : +31-184-611711 E-mail : info@dms.nl Website : www.dms.nl PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 2 08/14/04
81 charged in Romanian scandal A ROMANIAN anti-corruption investigation into the sale of ships from state-owned carrier Petromin to Norwegian owner Torvald Klaveness has led to 80 senior officials and a former minister being charged with fraud. Romanian news sources have told Fairplay that the group of officials, which includes the former transport minister and current mayor of Bucharest, Traian Basescu, stands accused of defrauding the state of approximately $300M in revenues exchanged for bribes. The sources say that the charges relate to the sale of 16 ships in the early 1990s. According to senior officials in the Oslobased Torvald Klaveness group, however, the company never acquired the Petromin vessels. We acted as technical and commercial managers to the ships from the early 1990s until 2000. However, we never bought them, Nils Hoy Petersen, project manager at Klaveness told Fairplay. The number of ships concerned was 13 in the beginning but later it declined to 12, he added. Basescu, who was charged earlier this week, has released a statement to the Romanian press claiming that the charges made against him were politically motivated and were linked to the forthcoming general elections. Master wins compensation The master of a reefer vessel wrecked when it ran aground has won compensation from the Norwegian state for the way it investigated the incident. Lights blaze on the grounded Green Alesund. A court awarded Harald Sovdsnes NOK 25,000 ($3,728) as an excessively slow investigation by Okokrim, the organisation that looks into economic crime, led to undue stress on the master of the 5,600-dwt Green Alesund (built 1983). The ship insured for $9m was a total loss and caused a serious bunker oil spill that cost NOK 86m ($12.6m) to clean up, while the cargo of herring and mackerel deteriorated into a stinking mess that was eventually exported to Denmark to be burnt in biofuel power stations. The Green Alesund, which had protection and indemnity cover from Skuld, ran aground in late 2000 north of Haugesund at the start of a voyage to Odessa, with Sovdsnes blaming mechanical problems for the incident. The master of the Green Alesund potentially faced criminal charges, so was put under considerable stress by the lengthy Okokrim investigation, that helped sustain media interest in the grounding. Sovdsnes who has spent NOK 72,000 defending his seamanship and general reputation originally sought NOK 100,000 compensation. The Green Alesund was owned by Nomadic Shipping, which became Greek Reefers following a refinancing operation a year ago. Vluchtelingenboot gekapseisd bij Fuerteventura Voor het leven van 32 Afrikaanse vluchtelingen wordt gevreesd nadat hun boot vrijdag voor de kust van het Canarische eiland Fuerteventura kapseisde. De Spaanse kustwacht heeft inmiddels een dode geborgen en zes mensen uit het water gevist. Twee andere boten met ruim zeventig vluchtelingen uit Afrika zijn vrijdag onder begeleiding van de kustwacht naar Fuerteventura gevaren. Dit jaar zijn al veertig vluchtelingen verdronken die Spanje probeerden te bereiken PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 3 08/14/04
CASUALTY REPORTING Manila ferry/log carrier collision A PHILIPPINES domestic ferry was holed along its port side when it was in collision with a log carrier at the entrance to Manila North Harbour yesterday. The Negros Navigation (Nenaco)-owned St Joseph the Worker, carrying 647 passengers, was manoeuvring at the harbour breakwater when it was in collision with the incoming Thai-flagged log carrier Sea Celebrity, according to a report by the Philippine Coast Guard. The Celebrity is said to have failed to heed St Joseph s warning. There were no casualties, but the St Joseph sustained a 44m long and 1m wide hole down its port side, above three metres above the waterline. Nenaco has filed a marine protest with the Philippine Coast Guard. Following the rules of the road the Celebrity was clearly at fault, Nenaco said in a statement today. It added that a vessel that is still manoeuvring to leave port as the St Joseph was has priority of passage at the entrance channel. PONT-AVEN (FRANCE) Ferry services at Plymouth will resume after Brittany Ferries' stricken passenger ro/ro Pont-Aven was moved from its berth. Thousands of holidaymakers' travel plans were disrupted this week when a fault stranded Pont-Aven in Plymouth for three days. This afternoon the ship left dock for Brest where a cracked cooling valve that resulted in 1,200 tonnes of seawater flooding the engine-room will be repaired. Since the problem was discovered on Tuesday (Aug 10), Brittany Ferries has cancelled all sailings on Pont-Aven to Santander and Roscoff. Services to and from Plymouth on other ferries were diverted because Pont-Aven was taking up the port's only berth. The company has cancelled two scheduled crossings to Roscoff tomorrow but the 2300 hrs sailing from Plymouth to Roscoff on a different ferry will operate as normal tonight. Passengers affected are being rebooked on other services or offered a full refund. In a statement Brittany Ferries said: "It is hoped that Pont-Aven will resume normal service next week but this cannot definitely be confirmed until investigations at Brest have been completed. Any passengers booked on affected sailings in the next few days wishing to cancel and make alternative holiday arrangements are being given the option of a full refund." STROOMBANK (NETHERLANDS) General cargo Stroombank (1682 gt, built 1995), loaded with 2,400 tonnes of wheat, grounded in Nakskov fjord, in approximately lat 54 49N, long 11 02E, about 2130, UTC, yesterday. Vessel is still aground at present and it may require the removal of some fuel oil on board to assist refloating efforts. The vessel's hull is apparently free from holes or breaches SHIPYARD NEWS ThyssenKrupp to swing axe No yards will be closed but job cuts can be expected as a new European shipyard group is forged around ThyssenKrupp Werften. The merger of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) with ThyssenKrupp s shipyard interests is to move ahead following the successful completion of due diligence reviews. Shipbuilding at HDWThyssenKrupp agreed in May to pay One Equity Partners EUR 240m ($293m) for its majority stake in HDW but the deal was subject to a review process PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 4 08/14/04
ThyssenKrupp chief, Dr Olaf Berlien, said a basic outline of the structure of the merged group had been agreed and all existing locations would be retained along with a focus on the merchant shipbuilding, naval, submarine and shiprepair sectors. Consultations are currently taking place with employees. The merger agreement is due to be signed at the end of September with completion by the end of the year. Completion is months later than had originally been expected. ThyssenKrupp employs about 3,000 people in the Blohm + Voss and Nordseewerke yards in Hamburg and Emden respectively. Kiel based HDW employs some 6,600 people in its yards in Germany, Greece and Sweden. HDW own operations are in Hamburg, Kiel and Rendsburg but it also owns Hellenic Shipyards of Skaramanga, Greece as well as Kockums of Sweden who have repair facilities at Malmo and Karlskrona. ROUTE, PORTS & SERVICES THIS SECTION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY : TOTAL VESSEL MANAGEMENT K.P. van der Mandelelaan 34-3062 MB Rotterdam (Brainpark) - The Netherlands Telephone : (31) 10-453 03 77 Fax : (31) 10-453 05 24 E-mail : mail@workships.nl Telex : 24390 wosh nl The SILVER CLOUD moored in Rotterdam - Photo : Theo Burgers PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 5 08/14/04
Maersk wins MSP vessels MAERSK Line prevailed in US federal court yesterday and will take over operating agreements for 15 US-flag vessels as part of the government's Maritime Security Program (MSP). The agreements are currently held by US Ship Management (USSM), which had argued that Maersk is not a US citizen company. The US Maritime Administration awarded the transfer to Maersk on 7 June, but USSM appealed the decision to the district court. Ken Gaulden, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Maersk Line, told Fairplay that his company is very pleased by the decision, but isn't certain how quickly the transfer can be handled. Maersk Line - the US subsidiary of AP Moller Maersk of Denmark - already has four vessels under the MSP and this brings their fleet to 19, the largest in the programme that currently pays $2.1M per ship to participants. That amount will soon increase to $2.6M a year with annual increases planned. Despite the fact that the MSP fleet is being expanded from 47 to 60 vessels, Maersk has no plans to apply for additional slots, Gaulden said. Ships carrying containers are loaded and unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles, in this July 22, 2004 file photo. The Commerce Department reported Friday, Aug. 13, 2004, that the trade deficit surged to $55.82 billion in June. The deficit was higher than economists had been expecting, reflecting a rise in imports, pushed up by surging energy costs and a drop in U.S. exports Dover has busiest day CLOSURE of the Channel Tunnel earlier this week due to severe weather conditions affecting signals provided a bonus for the port of Dover, resulting in its busiest day for freight traffic in nearly four years. Because of the tunnel closure, both freight and passenger vehicles were diverted to the ferries which were not affected by the weather. The surge occurred on Wednesday (11 August) when the port handled 7,900 trucks entering and leaving the UK. This was just below the port s all-time record set in December 2000. The additional tourist traffic took the port s daily totals to 60,000 passengers, 11,000 cars and 270 coaches. Bob Goldfield, Dover s chief executive, said that when the tunnel experiences problems it underlines the importance of Dover ferry services to the European transport network. Such closures are rare but are part of the constant competition between the tunnel and the ferries. Stena backs down from two P-Maxes Concordia managing director Hans Noren tells TradeWinds only six vessels will be built in the high-spec P-Max project. Published reports of a seventh and eighth products tanker were premature, says Noren. The total cost of the high-spec project is somewhat above SEK 1.5bn ($200m), according to Concordia's annual report, but Noren stresses that this figure is not meant to be exact. Option ships five and six are costing slightly more than the original quartet, he says. There are no more options, Noren says. PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 6 08/14/04
Croatia's Split will deliver the six 50,000-dwt products tankers beginning in 2005. In June, Stena Bulk's Ulf Ryder told TradeWinds there would be a seventh and eighth ship at a much higher price of $44m apiece for delivery in 2007. Concordia is on course for a big profit. Meanwhile, Concordia is bumping up its profits forecast for a second time this year. Concordia says in its half-year results that full-year net earnings after tax should hit SEK 170m. In February the company was predicting a SEK 135m pre-tax profit and in May it raised its expectation to SEK 150m. The new prediction translates to SEK 3.56 per share. An after-tax earning of SEK 3.28 is expected. The bouncy predictions come despite the fact that Stena's revenues are dominated by the long-term charters of its so-called V-Max VLCCs, the 315,000-dwt Stena Victory and Stena Vision (both built 2001), and little exposed to spot-market swings. In June, Philadelphia-based Sun Oil (Sunoco) renewed the vessel's charters for three years at a rate of $41,000 per day, a figure not much higher than their previous rate. One older unit, the 273,000-dwt Stena Congress (built 1974), will continue to generate revenues for a few more months. Earlier this year, it and sistership Stena Constellation (built 1975) were sold for conversion into floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. The Stena Congress remains to be delivered to the new owner, Monaco-based Single Buoy Moorings (SBM). In the first half, they earned an average of $24,000 per day on the spot market. The STENA CONFIDENCE moored in the Europort Photo : Piet Sinke Noren explains the increased profit prediction by reference to the sale of the two conversion ships. Costs connected with redelivery have been less than expected and this accounts for half of the improvement from SEK 150m to SEK 170m. "We calculated too conservatively," he said. Half-year earnings after tax of SEK 100.2m were up by 47% from SEK 68.3m in the first six months of 2003, even though revenues fell from SEK 449.1m to SEK 225.2m for the periods in question. Vessel sales in the first half of this year accounted for SEK 44.7m, corresponding to a loss post of SEK 7.6m in the first half of 2003. For the second quarter, earnings after tax were SEK 56.2m on revenues of SEK 86.2m. The figures for the second quarter of 2003 were earnings after tax of SEK 1.0m on revenues of SEK 176.6m. The company operates two high-spec, modern VLCCs and has one employee. In May, former Concordia finance director Noren took over the desk of retiring boss Lars Carlsson. At the same time, most of Concordia's business functions were turned over to sister company Stena Bulk and its management company Northern Marine Management. PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 7 08/14/04
ANL launches new vessel on Papua New Guinea sevice ANL Container Line is deploying a dedicated vessel to the Australia-Papua New Guinea trade, pulling in a ship formerly operating for CMA CGM in the north Asia trade. ANL Kokoda replaces the ANL Pride, which was withdrawn a few months ago. ANL Kokoda will operate an 18-day service calling at Brisbane, Port Moresby and Lae. ANL's Grary Beadle said the vessel has a design capacity of 263 teu, but with the average box weight on the trade of about 16 tonnes, her actual container capacity is likely to be about 160. The vessel has been named after the Kokoda Trail, one of the world's great treks that links the southern and northern coasts of PNG. ANL started direct, regular services from Australia to PNG in March 2001. The company said the new deployment continues ANL's long-term commitment to the development of trading opportunities between the two countries. Lauritzen s profits soar fivefold COPENHAGEN company J Lauritzen is the latest Danish shipping group to reveal substantial profit increases from vintage markets with its first half pre-tax profit more than five times greater than a year earlier, writes Jerry Frank. The TUNDRA QUEEN at the Westerscheldt River enroute Antwerp photo : Willy vd Velde The reefer, gas, bulk and product tanker owner said it had booked a pre-tax profit of Dkr120m ($19.2m) compared with Dkr21m, a figure which is already more than double last year s full profit of Dkr46.4m. The better-than-expected profit margins have been driven by strong rates in its key shipping areas, with Lauritzen Bulkers alone delivering a Dkr100.6m profit compared with Dkr11.8m in the same period last year. The shipowner now predicts its best annual result, with Lauritzen Bulkers generating the lion s share and the reefer business and gas carrier operation showing strong improvement. Reefer unit LauritzenCool more than doubled its pre-tax earnings to Dkr15.9m from Dkr7.1 over the first half of last year, while the gas operation Lauritzen Kosan moved into a Dkr1.9m profit from a Dkr2.6m loss a year earlier. NAVY NEWS PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 8 08/14/04
Australia to join Singapore in naval exercise Four naval ships from Australia and Singapore left Darwin this morning for a joint maritime warfare exercise between the two countries. About 1,200 Australian Navy and Air Force personnel will join members of the Singaporean Defence Force for nine days of warfare tactics and procedures training. Left : The RSS VALOUR Photo : Piet Sinke The coordinator of Exercise Singaroo, Captain Peter Leschen, says the annual event strengthens relations between the two countries. "The militaries of the two countries have had good relations for many years and it just gives a chance for new people in the ADF and the Singaporean Armed Forces to meet and work together so we sustain and improve the relationship between the two militaries," he said. MOVEMENTS THIS SECTION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY : MULTRASHIP Towage & Salvage Scheldekade 48 4531 EH Terneuzen The Netherlands Tel : + 31 115 645 000 Fax : + 31 115 645 001 Internet commercial@multraship.nl http://www.multraship.nl PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 9 08/14/04
Cape Darnley seen here departing from Newcastle NSW (Australia) - Photo : Fred Jones The ATREK arrived with the SMITBARGE 1 in Rotterdam Photo : Charles Bijl The John Turecamo operating in Jacksonville (Florida) Photo : Jacco van Nieuwenhuyzen PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 10 08/14/04
The SILVER CLOUD departing from Rotterdam Photo : Michel Kodde The APL SHANGHAI arriving in the Europort Photo : Ton Grootenboer Balaban I moored at Oshawa (Lake Ontario) The Balaban I, a Turkish bulker with IMO No 7507148 was built in 1979 in Japan and is measuring DWT 25650 and GT 15796 ton Photo : Jim Gallacher PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 11 08/14/04
AIRCRAFT / AIRPORT NEWS A formation from the Italian Air Force Aerobatic Team known as 'Frecce Tricolori' performs an aerobatic air show during an international air show at an air base in Zhukovsky near Moscow, Friday, Aug. 13, 2004. Ghana state airline board sacked Ghana's government has taken over full control of the troubled state airline Ghana Airways and sacked its board. Ticket sales have also been halted, presidential chief of staff Kwadwo Mpiani announced. A four-member task force is being established to restructure the airline, which owes its foreign and domestic creditors about $160m. Last month, the airline was banned from flying to the US for safety reasons and many passengers were stranded. 'Back on track' The measures were being taken to prevent further damage, Mr Mpiani said in a statement "All stakeholders and the Ghanaian public are hereby assured that these measures are being taken with the object of putting the airline back on track." Mr Mpiani said that arrangements were being made for stranded travellers to be transported to their destinations. On Sunday, angry passengers at Ghana's main airport briefly held a pilot hostage when their patience over delays ran out. The first batch of stranded Ghana Airways passengers, bound for London, flew out of Accra on Thursday after waiting days for a flight, Radio Ghana reported. The airline was stopped from flying to the US pending an investigation into allegations that it flew unsafe planes and operated without a licence. De Vlieger vliegt verder in Frankrijk De investeringsmaatschappij Imca van Erik de Vlieger breidt haar luchtvaartactiviteiten in Frankrijk uit. Onder de naam LoirExel gaat de luchtvaartgroep, waarin Imca de meerderheid van de aandelen heeft, binnenlandse vluchten maken vanuit Saint Etienne. Dat heeft een woordvoerster van de groep, ExelAviationGroup, waarbinnen LoirExel valt, vrijdag gezegd. Onder de naam AlsaceExel voert dezelfde groep ook binnenlandse vluchten uit vanaf Straatsburg. LoirExel vliegt dagelijks naar Parijs, Nantes en Straatsburg. De Franse overheid ondersteunt de nieuwe onderneming met een subsidie van bijna 6 miljoen euro voor een periode van drie jaar. Volgens Franse PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 12 08/14/04
kranten is LoirExel daarmee de eerste buitenlandse luchtvaartmaatschappij die binnen Frankrijk gesubsideerde lijndiensten uitvoert. Volgens de woordvoerster heeft de groep, om kans te maken op binnenlandse vluchten, aansluiting gezocht met het lokale midden- en kleinbedrijf en de Kamer van Koophandel. De Vlieger is nog betrokken bij een onderzoek door de Franse Justitie naar de mislukte overname door Imca van de failliete luchtvaartmaatschappij Air Lib. In februari vorig jaar liep die overname mis. Imca noch De Vlieger was voor commentaar bereikbaar. ExelAviation voert op verschillende routes in Europa en in de Antillen lijndiensten uit. Ook verzorgt het bedrijf chartervluchten. Volgens eigen zeggen bezit de groep ongeveer veertig toestellen. Omzet Air France-KLM flink toegenomen De luchtvaartcombinatie Air France-KLM zag de omzet over het eerste kwartaal van het boekjaar 2004-2005 met 12,3 procent toenemen. In totaal kwamen de inkomsten uit op 4,46 miljard euro. Dat lieten de bedrijven vrijdag weten. De groei in het eerste kwartaal komt vooral door het wegvallen van de negatieve invloeden die de luchtvaart vorig jaar beïnvloedden, zoals de oorlog in Irak en de longziekte SARS. Het aantal passagiers nam in de eerste drie maanden ook toe. De bezettingsgraad steeg met 2,7 procentpunt tot 77,7 procent. KLM werd begin mei van dit jaar door Air France overgenomen. Van de Nederlandse luchtvaartmaatschappij zijn de resultaten over twee maanden meegenomen in de kwartaalcijfers. De cijfers over 2003 zijn aangepast om een goede vergelijking te kunnen maken. Iraanse Airbus maakt twee noodlandingen op één reis Een Iraanse Airbus met 119 mensen aan boord heeft donderdagavond twee noodlandingen gemaakt wegens technische problemen. Het toestel van de nationale luchtvaartmaatschapij Iran Air landde onvoorzien in Athene en in Rome, meldde het Iraanse persbureau Irna vrijdag. Luchthavenautoriteiten van Athene zeiden dat het vliegtuig mensen had afgeleverd op het Griekse vliegveld en vervolgens weer opsteeg om zijn reis te vervolgen naar Madrid. De Airbus moest echter tien minuten na het opstijgen terugkeren naar Athene wegens een probleem met een van de motoren. Het hoofd van Iran Air in Madrid verklaarde dat het probleem in Athene was verholpen, maar dat niettemin een tweede noodlanding moest worden gemaakt in Rome. De piloot had twee uur na het vertrek uit Griekenland opnieuw een storing in een van de motoren opgemerkt. De passagiers zijn allen ongedeerd. Ze verblijven in een hotel in de Italiaanse hoofdstad totdat het defect aan het vliegtuig is verholpen. RIJNMOND WEATHER Vooruitzichten van zaterdag t/m dinsdag: TAMELIJK WISSELVALLIG! Zondag perioden met zon maar ook kans op een bui. Maandag en dinsdag af en toe regen. Ed Aldus 2004 ZA-14 ZO-15 MA-16 DI-17 Maximumtemperatuur: 22 24 22 21 Minimumtemperatuur: 16 15 17 16 Zonnekans in %: 40 50 30 30 Neerslagkans in %: 40 30 60 60 Neerslag in mm: 1 1 3 5 Windrichting kracht: NW-2-4 WZW-2-4 ZW-3-4 ZW-3-5 PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 13 08/14/04
. PHOTO OF THE DAY.. The CMA CGM BAUDELAIRE arrived from Southampton in the port of Zeebrugge, the vessel with callsign DIIN is sailing under the German flag is having a DWT of 77941 ton with a length 300.40 mtr and a beam of 40.3 mtr arrived with a draft of 11.5 mtr. Photo : Piet Sinke SMITWIJS TOWAGE B.V. Westplein 5b 3016 BM Rotterdam The Netherlands Telephone: +31 10 412 6969 Telefax:+31 10 436 9587 E-mail: SmitWijs@SmitWijs.com PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 14 08/14/04