The Sealink Slipways, located at Miri in the Sarawak Province of East Malaysia, has recently delivered a 53.8 by 13.8-metre offshore and service vessel to Rederij Groen of the Netherlands.

‘Built to the same Conan Wu & Associates design as the 2008 ‘Venture G’, ‘Maria G’s’ key distinction lies in its switch to Cummins for main propulsion. A pair of Cummins KTA50-M2 mains, each generating 1,193kW at 1,800 rpm also power the vessel, and the main’s turn two-metre diameter propellers in nozzles on 19.5cm diameter shafts through Twin Disc MG5506 gears with 6:1 reduction. A total of three Cummins QSM11DM-powered 245 kW generators meet the vessel’s electrical requirements, and the deck contains a hydraulic crane (TTS GP 320-10-15,0). The ‘Maria G’ is also fitted with a Schottel STT 330 LK FPP tunnel type five tonne bow thruster.

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The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), meeting for its 102nd session in London (29 June to 3 July 2009), agreed that next year’s theme for World Maritime Day will be “2010: Year of the Seafarer”, endorsing a proposal from IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos.

‘The theme – to be celebrated throughout the year and also at a World Maritime Day parallel event in Argentina – was selected to give IMO and the international maritime community the opportunity to pay tribute to the world’s seafarers for their unique contribution to society and in recognition of the risks they shoulder in the execution of their duties in an often hostile environment. In proposing it, SecretaryGeneral Mitropoulos said that “the unique hazards confronting the 1.5 million seafarers of the world – including pirate attacks, unwarranted detention and abandonment – coupled with the predicted looming shortage of ships’ officers, make it ever more incumbent to take immediate and effective action to forestall a situation from developing in which ships are not manned with sufficient skilled personnel”. The theme complements IMO’s ongoing “Go to Sea!” campaign to attract new entrants to the shipping industry, which was launched in November 2008 in association with the International Labour Organization, the “Round Table” of shipping industry organizations and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. It is also in line with the comprehensive review, initiated in 2006, of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) 1978 and its associated Code, updated texts of which are due to be considered by a Diplomatic Conference scheduled to be held in Manila, Philippines, in mid-2010.

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The Estonian yard group BLRT Grupp has found a niche market – converting single-hull bunker vessels into double-hull vessels in accordance with MARPOL regulations.

‘The group’s yard, Tallinn Shipyard, recently rebuilt three Estonian bunker vessels, which now have double hulls. The vessels’ cargo capacity was reduced by some 18–20 per cent. BLRT is negotiating with Murmansk Shipping Company to rebuild the bunker vessel Kotlas and the waste disposal barge Randal.

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Seoul: South Korea’s Busan Port Authority (BPA) has confirmed a deal to acquire three berths at Pusan New Port Co (PNC) at an estimated price of 490 billion won ($387 million), writes Portworld.

‘The berths, with a total capacity of 1.5m teu, were owned by financially troubled PNC, which started the sale negotiations with BPA in April this year. A BPA spokeswoman said operation of the berths would now be put out to tender with a final bidding date on July 8, it was reported. The prime bidder will be announced on July 10 and BPA hopes the three berths will start operations in October.The spokeswoman said some interested parties include PSA International and an association of domestic near-sea operators whose members include KMTC, Heung-A and Nam Saung Shipping. PNC was originally scheduled to commence operations of the three berths in May, but BPA stepped in because of questions over PNC’s ability to take on the additional berths, given its shaky financial position.

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State-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, said Friday it will set up an oil joint venture with Venezuelan Petroleum Corp. in the second half of this year.

‘The joint venture, PetroMacareo, will produce oil in the Junin-2 offshore block in Venezuela’s Orinoco belt, PetroVietnam said in a statement. State media said in May that Venezuelan Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil firm PdVSA, will hold a 60% stake in the joint venture, while PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp., a leading production unit of PetroVietnam, will hold the remaining 40%. PetroMacareo will be able to produce a combined 200,000 barrels a day of heavy and extra heavy oil from the Junin-2 block, which will then be processed into light crude oil to supply to an oil refinery in Vietnam, said Voice of Vietnam radio.

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Dalian: A shipyard that has laid claim to be the largest in the world in terms of physical size held a launching ceremony Wednesday at Changxing Island in Dalian.

‘STX (Dalian) Shipbuilding Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the STX Group from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the investor of the project, said the yard was now the largest in the world in terms of physical area. The firm did not reveal the cost of the yard.Used for final assembly of big ships, the drydock is 460 m long, with a width of 135 m and a height of 14.5 m. It is able to accommodate two ships each with a dead weight tonnage of 320,000 tons to be built simultaneously, said the company.The former largest shipyard in the world in terms of physical size was built by ROK-based Hanjin Heavy Industries in the Philippines. The Dalian dock is 1 m longer and 1 m wider than its Filipino counterpart, the STX (Dalian) Shipbuilding said while its physical area dwarfs the Hanjin yard. Changxing Island is filling up fast with new yards and port projects. It is situated about two hours drive from downtown Dalian. Dalian is already home to China’s largest shipbuilding yard, DSIC, which recently scooped the shipbuilding trophy at the annual Seatrade Asia Awards.

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Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry have shown a slight improvement over the past three months, according to the latest shipping confidence survey from international accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens.

‘ But there are high levels of concern about the harmful effects of the glut of newbuildings that will continue coming onto the market over the next year.The average confidence level expressed by respondents, on a scale of 1 to 10, was 5.5, compared to 5.4 in the previous survey in February 2009. Owners, managers and charterers all exhibited a small increase in confidence in connection with the shipping markets in which they operate. Confidence among brokers, meanwhile, was marginally down, and the lowest among all categories of respondent. Geographically, the highest confidence level was recorded by respondents in Asia.Comments generally reflected the downturn in economic markets worldwide. One respondent noted: “The volume of work is the same, but the payments are late, and that is what is killing us”. But there was also some optimism, with another respondent commenting: “The shipping market will be stable until September, and then should slowly improve”.

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India: Pipavav Shipyard is planning to launch an initial public offering by the end of September but must receive approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

‘ A representative from the shipyard said the company hoped to bring forward the date of the IPO.The shipyard plans to raise some US$104 million through the IPO. The company will use the money to build several VLCCs and LNG tankers. In 2008, Pipavav received approval for the issue and sold over 868 million shares.

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Safmarine has enhanced its existing Safari (Southern Africa–Far East) service with the introduction of a new string dedicated to the Indian Ocean Islands and Mozambique.

‘According to Safmarine’s SA Trades Executive, Alex de Bruyn: ”Our new Safari 3 string will complement Safmarine’s existing service offering and market coverage of Southern Africa. Not only will it improve our direct coverage of the niche ports of Toamasina and Maputo to and from Asia, but it will also strengthen Safmarine’s service into South Africa by taking the Indian Ocean Islands out of the westbound rotation of the main Safari string where our customers require fast transit times. “The new string – which launches on Thursday, July 2, 2009 – will also deliver market leading transit times to and from Mozambique and Madagascar; it will be particularly attractive to shippers wanting a faster and more reliable service between Maputo and the Indian Ocean Islands. For example, the westbound transit time between Madagascar and Maputo is only four days.” Safari 3 is a weekly service linking Asia to Mozambique and the Indian Ocean Islands with direct calls to Tanjung Pelepas, Port Louis, Toamasina and Maputo.

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On June 30, the Transocean Shelf Explorer jackup started drilling on the Veninsky Block at the Sakhalin-3 project, in which a 74.9% stake belongs to Rosneft and the remaining 25.1% are held by Sinopec.

‘The drilling was ordered by the Project operator, Veninneft LLC, which had scheduled the drilling of two exploration wells during the 2009 field season.The first Veninsky Block well will be drilled at a distance of roughly 10 kilometers from the shore, with the actual drilling site lying 25 meters beneath the sea. The second well will be located on the North-Veninsky structure, almost 9 kilometers offshore and 21 meters deep. The drilling operations will last till the middle of October.

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