Aker Yards signs contract for the biggest ferries in the English Channel

Norway-based Aker Yards and P&O Ferries, UK, have signed a contract for building two large car-passenger ferries for the Dover-Calais service.

The total contract price for both vessels is approximately Eur 360 million (US$540.2 million). The vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2010 and 2011 respectively.The contract includes options on a further two vessels of the same design. The vessels will be built in Aker Yards, Rauma, creating some 1,800 manyears of work. Becoming the largest ferry in the English Channel means a 49,000GT vessel with the length of 210 metres and having 2,700 lane metres of vehicle space. There will be space for more than 180 freight vehicles and additionally for up to 195 tourist vehicles. The vessels will be capable of carrying up to 2,000 passengers. The ferries will be as environmentally friendly as possible, offering significant advances in fuel efficiency through a hydro-dynamically efficient hull form that will optimise vessel performance with minimum fuel consumption.

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Coast Guard vessel to map US’s Arctic shelf

A US Coast Guard cutter will embark on an Arctic voyage this week to determine the extent of the continental shelf north of Alaska and map the ocean floor, data that could be used for oil and natural gas exploration.

US scientists on the Coast Guard Cutter Healy will leave Barrow, Alaska, on Thursday on a three-week journey. They will create a three-dimensional map of the Arctic Ocean floor in a relatively unexplored area known as the Chukchi borderland. The Healy will launch again on 6 Sept. 6, when it will be joined by Canadian scientists aboard an icebreaker, who will help collect data to determine the thickness of sediment in the region. That is one factor a country can use to define its extended continental shelf. With oil at $114 a barrel, after hitting a record $147 in July, and sea ice melting fast, countries like Russia and the US are looking north for possible energy riches, Reuters reported. This will be the fourth year that the United States has collected data to define the limits of its continental shelf in the Arctic. Russia, which has claimed 460,000 square miles (1.19 million square kilometres) of Arctic waters and last summer planted its flag on the ocean floor of the North Pole. “These are places nobody’s gone before, in essence, so this is a first step,” said Margaret Hays, the director of the oceanic affairs office at the US State Department. She said the data collected may provide information to the public about future oil and natural gas sources for the US. The research could also shed light on other potential energy resources, like methane frozen in ice under the ocean, that Hays said might one day have some commercial interest.

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TBS International Limited Takes Delivery of Handymax, M.V. Tupi Maiden

TBS International Limited  announced today that it has taken delivery of the M.V. Tupi Maiden, formerly known as the M.V. Ken Blossom, an acquisition it announced in June 2008.

The M.V. Tupi Maiden is a 1992 built, 38,852 dwt handymax bulk carrier that the Company agreed to acquire charter free for $44.0 million. With this delivery, TBS’ current fleet consists of 45 multipurpose tweendecker, handymax and handysize vessels. TBS expects to take delivery of one more handymax bulk carrier (M.V. Fox Maiden) by the end of Q3 2008. Once this delivery is concluded, TBS’ fleet will be comprised of 46 vessels with an aggregate of 1,390,473 dwt, consisting of 23 tweendeckers and 23 handymax/ handysize bulk carriers. Joseph E. Royce, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, stated: “We are pleased to have taken delivery of M.V. Tupi Maiden, which increases our operating fleet to 45 vessels. This delivery further enhances our ability to generate revenues and stable cash flows while implementing our strategy of growing our fleet in response to the growth of our business.” TBS is an ocean transportation services company that offers worldwide shipping solutions through liner, parcel and bulk services, and vessel chartering. TBS has developed its business around key trade routes between Latin America and China, Japan and South Korea, as well as select ports in North America, Africa, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. TBS provides frequent regularly scheduled voyages in its network, as well as cargo scheduling, loading and discharge for its customers.

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