Sembcorp profit down

Singapore-listed Sembcorp Marine saw earnings fall back in the third quarter.

Profit slipped by 9% in the third quarter, falling from $243m in the third quarter of last year to reach $223m, Sembcorp Marine reported.

Operating profit was also down. The 25% drop was attributed to "margin recognition on reduced number of jack-up and semi-submersible rigs", according to the shipbuilder. Nine of the 13 new jack-up rigs secured since the fourth quarter of last year are still in the planning stage, Sembcorp Marine said.

But the completion and delivery of semi-sub Songa Eclipse helped lift revenue, which increased by 17% from $1.1bn in the third quarter of 2010 to $1.3bn in 2011.


Published : November 4, 2011

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Chinese yards face restructuring

Chinese shipbuilding industry, less competitive in high-value ship sector, is likely to face restructuring.

During a international forum regarding global shipping market in 2012, Kim Wu-Ho from Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) explained, "China would inevitably come up with a restructuring program, having $27.9bn of newbuilding delivery during January-August period, less than South Korea's $33.7bn. In terms of deadweight, however, China delivered 42.2m dwt while Korean shipbuilders made delivery of 34.4m dwt."

Kim added that Chinese yards are scheduled to deliver 55.1m-dwt in 2013, however, only 23.3m-dwt newbuilding is booked with delivery in 2014.

Restructuring is unavoidable, however, China could survive by monopolizing domestic new orders and conducting offensive dumping sales.


Published : November 3, 2011

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Metrostar wins Korean RG case

Greek shipping group Metrostar has won a landmark judgment in the UK Supreme Court in a refund guarantee row with South Korea’s Kookmin Bank.

The bank contested its duty to repay shipbuilding instalments on a series of handysize bulk carrier newbuildings that were never built after the shipyard, Jinse Shipbuilding, went into receivership.


Metrostar had initially contracted the bulkers at a price of $33.3m each in 2007.

The shipowner won its case in 2009, but this was overturned on appeal last year.

The Supreme Court’s decision reinstates the initial High Court ruling.

Metrostar now stands to collect $46.2m from Kookmin under the performance bonds and interest at 7%-8% will bring the compensation to more than $60m.


Published : November 3, 2011

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Samsung orders OCTOPUS System

One of the world leading shipbuilders in the world, Samsung Heavy Industries, has selected Amarcon to provide an integrated Wave and Motion Monitoring System for four newbuild Shuttle Tankers to be operated by Teekay.

Part of the scope of supply is a wave radar interface module that is able to detect critical wave heights in an early stage. In combination with the OCTOPUS-Onboard functionality a complete center for decision support during weather-sensitive ship operation is realized.
 

Real-time sea state spectra, including sea and swell parameters like wave height, period and direction shall be clearly presented on the bridge. Amarcon’s OCTOPUS-TMS motion monitoring technology with a three sensor set-up shall be used to measure and log surge, sway, heave, roll, pitch and yaw of the Teekay vessels.

With the obtained information, the operating crew has a clear and real-time insight in critical wave conditions and overall motions of the vessel. When operating in harsh and demanding conditions, sloshing within the cargo tanks of the vessels can also be prevented. This has a huge influence on the lifetime of the tanks and lowers the total cost of ownership.

Where Amarcon generally delivers directly to shipping companies, the recent appointment from Samsung is an important and different approach to the market for Amarcon.

“Shipping companies are becoming more aware of the overall effect of motion monitoring and decision support solutions on their revenues,” says Amarcon’s managing director Leon Adegeest. He continues: “Nowadays a Shipbuilder tends to build ships on order and that are exactly in line with the order specifications of shipping companies. When looking at the increasing demand for decision support technology, the shipbuilder can acquire an important strategic advantage when offering decision support in the standard delivery specifications of the vessel.”

Published : November 3, 2011

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STX O&S new LNG cargo tank

South Korea's STX Offshore & Shipbuilding gets an approval in principle (AIP) from DNV of its independent-typed cargo tank for LNG carrier.

The newly-developed 'ITS(Independent Tank of STX)' is made with STX' own technology and available in 213,000-cbm LNG carrier. Also, ITS can be equipped in offshore plant, such as LNG FPSO, etc.

Existing dependent-type cargo tank is constructed after ship building completes, while independent-type is completely manufactured outside of a ship and equipped later, which cuts time and cost.

Also, independent-type tank is protective of internal damage from external shock and flow of liquefied gas.


Published : November 2, 2011

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Hyundai adds 11th drillship

Hyundai Heavy Industries lands 11th drillship order this year.

US offshore contractor Rowan Companies has firmed up its option for a third drillship at Hyundai and pencilled in a further optional unit.

The company is spending $600 million on the new unit at the South Korean shipyard with around $50 million extra to go on additional costs.

The ultra-deepwater drillship is slated for delivery from Hyundai in the fourth quarter of 2014 and follows Rowan's original order for two identical units at the world's largest shipyard in June.

Although Rowan said on Tuesday that, at $600 million, the newest order is "slightly below the cost of the first two", the original two-unit order was valued by Hyundai at $1.1 billion, or $550 million apiece.

Rowan has also left one more option at Hyundai as a result of Tuesday's fresh order. The new option is exercisable in February next year with prospective delivery in the first half of 2015.

Published : November 2, 2011

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S&M running out of work

Orderbooks of small-and-medium sized yards are being exhausted fast, as new order for commercial ship sharply decreases in times of troubled shipping market.

Clarksons and market resources reported that small-and-medium shipbuilders in Korea, excepting major seven yards, resulted 6.3m-cgt orderbook in the end of September, which down by 10.5% from 7.04m cgt in the end of June and by 25% from 8.4m cgt in the end of 2010.

Rapid drop of new order in the third quarter caused another decline in backlog. Korean small-and-medium sized shipbuilding companies had 1.4m cgt of new order in the first half this year, up by 3.9% on the H1 2010, however, Q3 ended up with 220,000 cgt totalling $520m, down by 73.5% on the basis of cgt.

Korean small-and-medium yards is estimated to secure forward coverage of about one and a half years, which are urgently in need of filling up the schedule.

Korea faces with serious polarization, as major yards contracted quite a successful newbuildings mainly for high-value ship and offshore facilities this year, while small-and-medium shipbuilders did not.

Small-and-medium yards occupied 12.5% of overall new order in Korea last year, however, this year up to the end of September only remains with 7.1%.


Published : November 2, 2011

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Cosco delivers 2nd wind vessel

Cosco has delivered the second of two offshore wind turbine installation vessels to a Dutch shipping company's UK subsidiary as part of a contract believed to be worth around $550 million.

In a statement on Tuesday, Cosco Corporation confirmed it had delivered the MPI Discovery to a European buyer.

The vessel is designed to transport, lift and install wind turbines and their foundations, the company said, with key features including a 1,000 tonne capacity main crane and an ability to jack with 6,000 tonnes of cargo on board.

The wind turbine vessel measures 138.5 metres in length of all, 40.8 metres in breadth and 10.0 meters in depth.

The recipient of the two vessels is MPI Resources, the UK subsidiary of Dutch company Vroon Offshore Services.

It follows March’s delivery of the first vessel, MPI Adventure, which was ordered to install monopile foundations for the London Array Offshore Wind Farm Project, about 20 kilometres off the coast of Kent and Essex in the UK.

Published : November 2, 2011

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DSME-GL's LNG-fuel 14,000TEU

LNG, as a promising fuel alternative, has not been used for container vessels.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Germanischer Lloyd (GL) have proved the feasibility of running large container vessels on LNG in a recently completed joint project.

At a press conference held during the Kormarine Trade Fair in Busan, both parties announced the progress they have made towards developing LNG-fuelled large container vessels. GL has recently finished approval in Principle of a 14,000TEU LNG-fuelled container vessel for DSME.

"New technology is needed as cleaner transport is increasingly demanded and maritime environmental regulations are becoming ever stricter," said Mr. Frederick Ebers, Vice President and Area Manager for North East Asia, GL, when he kicked off the press conference. "DSME and GL have acknowledged this challenge and agreed in 2010 to jointly start exploring technology options and safety concepts for large LNG-fuelled container vessels."

Following Mr.Seo from DSME, who demonstrated the design concept of this LNG-fuelled container vessel, Dr. Gerd-Michael Wuersig elaborated on the safety concepts involved. Dr. Wuersig is Deputy Head of Environmental Research Department of GL and also a member of IMO Correspondence Group for the development of the Code for Gas as Ship Fuel (IGF-Code).

He pointed out that most technical systems have been developed and examined and the major challenge lies in how to apply these technologies, especially the one ensuring safe bunkering procedures.

"You have to guarantee there is no gas spill and protection measures against incidents and collisions are sufficient. Relevant solutions are under evaluation and will be available soon," he said.

In addition, he mentioned there is no restriction for people to hesitate to build these vessels on the basis of the interim guidelines because LNG-fueled vessels built according to the interim guidelines MSC. 285(86) will certainly be allowed to operate even IGF-Code is enforced.

The IMO has agreed to reduce SOX emissions by controlling the Sulphur content in marine fuels from 2015 onwards, and for new vessels operating in ECAs (emission control areas), 80% reduction of NOX emissions versus 2010 level is required starting from 2016. "This will make conventional fuel unattractive. But LNG can be an environmentally and economically sound option due to its high efficiency and lower impact on environment," said Dr. Wuersig.

Dr. Wuersig is convinced that a new era of LNG vessels is set to come.

"LNG-fueled cargo ships will be emerging on a large scale in the latter half of this decade," he predicted. "And there is a great potential for container ships to become one of the first cargo vessels using LNG as ship fuel."

GL has been seeking a step ahead in developing relevant rules and pushing forward the use of LNG as ship fuel. Under the assistance of GL, IMO Committee on Maritime Safety developed and adopted "Interim Guidelines on Safety for Natural Gas-Fuelled Engine Installations in Ships". GL has also published guidelines for gas used as ship fuel.

Currently, GL is involved in converting a 25,000 dwt product tanker "Bit Viking" into the first GL-classed gas-fuelled ship.


Published : November 1, 2011

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'Marine Week 2011' highest record ever

'The 6th Marine Week 2011,' ended on 29 October, is revealed to make the highest record ever.

Busan city said that a total of 1,280 companies with overall 1,826 booths from 45 countries participated the exhibition, about 73,000 of buyers and visitors from around 80 countries visited.

Export-related consultation totalled around 54,000 cases, valued at $790m, among which 4,400 of contracts totalling $168m are now in a negotiation.

The second largest exhibition was the fifth in 2009 with 65,000 people from 70s countries.

Among marine equipment makers in Busan, PANASIA of South Korea was distinguished to have successfully made an export consultation totalling over $10m of its Korean first-made BWTS.


Published : October 31, 2011

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Glovis books PCC pair

South Korean car carrier player Hyundai Glovis has decided to order newbuildings worth $134m.

The company wants two new pure car carriers, it said in a regulatory filing on Monday, without giving further details.

It intends to order 6,500-ceu PCC's for delivery by the end of June 2013.

It has two 6,500-ceu ships on order at Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Published : November 1, 2011

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