Good day Mariners

“Largest port crown for the third straight year”

Despite the sluggish meteoric standards, Shanghai leaps to own the world’s largest port position with its competitor records showcasing about 120m tons behind Shanghai.

As per records from the National Development and Reform Commission giving it the largest port crown for the third straight year, Shanghai’s overall port figures were up 1.3% or 8m tons to 590m tons in 2009. While Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore states that its nearest competitor, Singapore, saw overall volumes slide 8.5% to 471.5m tons.

Shanghai still remains behind the Lion Republic on the box front, having suffered a 10% reversal last year to register a full year container throughput of 25m teu. Container traffic in Singapore last year totalled 25.9m teu, a 13.5% decline from the 29.9m teu registered in 2008.

“China and Korea fight for top spot”

Chinese shipbuilders beat Korea for the first time in Chinese shipbuilding history in terms of volume of shipbuilding orders placed in 2009.
London-based researcher Clarkson stated that Chinese yards won 44.4 percent compared with 40.1 percent of orders placed at Korean yards.

Analysts are however, quick to point out that though China was contracted to build 53.2 million CGT compared with Korea’s 52.8 million CGT in 2009, South Korea still had seven shipyards listed among the world’s top ten shipbuilders.

The main thing that draws ship owners to Chinese yards is the price. According to the China Research Institute of Shipbuilding, the value of orders placed at yards in Korea in 2009 was over US$9 billion, roughly double that of China.

“MOL to build eco-friendly hybrid car carrier ”

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), the Sanyo Electric Group and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will work together to develop a hybrid power supply system using solar power generation technology and lithium ion batteries.
MOL will construct a hybrid car carrier equipped with this eco-friendly system which uses natural energy and generates electricity to be stored in lithium-ion batteries which will then supply power when the vessel is in berth. The diesel generator can then be shut down to reduce emissions.

The hybrid car carrier is slated to be launched in 2012.

“This project is aimed at establishing more effective carbon dioxide reduction technology for future vessels,” said a statement by MOL.

The project is subsidised by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

Courtesy : Baird Maritime

The Australian Government’s new US$110.7 million deepwater research vessel has been named the ‘Investigator’.
The name of the vessel was chosen through a competition which was open to the Australian public. Kirrily Moore of Tasmania and Queensland primary school student Clare Cameron were the joint winners of the national Float a Name competition.
18th century circumnavigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders circumnavigated Australia onboard the original ‘Investigator’ over 200 years ago.
“For this key research vessel of the future we wanted a name that captured the spirit of inquiry from the past ¬ a name that recognises the important contributions of previous generations in setting future directions,” said Kim Carr, Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
As joint winners, Ms Moore and Ms Cameron will be offered the opportunity to design an experiment in conjunction with CSIRO scientists to be undertaken on the ‘Investigator’s’ maiden voyage.
When built, the new vessel will be capable of operating continuously for 55 days at sea and will support a broad range of sophisticated scientific activities by multi-disciplinary teams.
A call for proposals for the design, construction and potential provision of through-life maintenance of the vessel closed on January 11. Evaluation of the responses commenced immediately.

“Development of HELMEPA Junior programme”
More than 3,400 children and 220 volunteer teachers from 93 schools around Greece have registered for HELMEPA’s 2010 environmental awareness programme.
This year, the information material sent to HELMEPA Junior Groups included the leaflet titled, “Let’s become champions in the protection of our seas from pollution!”
This leaflet was designed and printed by HELMEPA in cooperation with the United Nation Environment Programme on the occasion of the Olympic Games of Athens in 2004, and was reprinted this year.
HELMEPA’s environmental awareness programme has been implemented with the approval of the Ministry of Education and is running for the 16th year. Applications close on January 31, 2010.

Courtesy : Baird Maritime

How natural disaster ripped an island apart????????

Distraught, covered in dust and desperate, the people of Haiti appear barely able to comprehend the tragedy that has overtaken them.

Many spent the desolate hours after the earthquake milling around in the streets or constructing the most rudimentary of shelters where they could cower for the night.

The quake itself measured 7.0 on the Richter scale- but some of the 30 aftershocks were almost as strong, leaving the shanty-towns of Port-au-Prince echoing with the heartrending sound of screams and sobs.

Courtesy : Liz Hazelton

Some clustered together for comfort. Others lay prostrate in the street, unable to pick themselves up.

It is still difficult to assess the sheer scale of the devastation. When the earthquake came, buildings crumpled like paper and whole towns were swept down hillsides.

The wretchedly poor country of Haiti simply cannot afford to construct robust buildings to withstand such natural disasters – which is why the death toll is likely to number tens of thousands.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242929/Haiti-earthquake-pictures-How-natural-disaster-ripped-island-apart.html#ixzz0cy54KZFd

The solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 is an annular eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 0.9190. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth’s view of the Sun. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun, causing the sun to look like an annulus (ring), blocking most of the Sun’s light. An annular eclipse will appear as partial eclipse over a region thousands of kilometres wide.

This is the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium,and the longest until December 23, 3043, with a maximum length of 11 mins and 7.8 seconds. (The solar eclipse of January 4, 1992 was longer, at 11 minutes, 41 seconds, occuring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.)

It is visible as a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia. It is seen as annular within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), North Sri Lanka, parts of Burma and parts of China.

“Navarasa rocks Cochin”

Navarasa the fashion fiesta in association with the exclusive Cast Launch of DAM 999, a Sohan Roy Film and the first Hollywood venture by the Mariners turned to be a happening event rocking the whole of Cochin.

The Exclusive Cast Launch along with the fashion show, NAVARASA hosted by the Fashion Diva REHANE and choreographed by Sunil Menon was held in Gold Souk Grande, Cochin from 6 to 10 pm yesterday.

Mr.Sohan Roy, a Naval Architect by profession, made the first leap with the Cast Launch of his Directorial Debut DAM 999 which revolves around the concept of Navarasa, 9 moods. The movie depicts the “Rasas”, showcasing 9 characters, 9 moods and a dam of emotions. The fashion show held in association with the event gracefully presented the Indian concept of Navarasa leaving the audience spellbound.
The event organized by Marine BizTV, the global maritime TV channel received high applause and acclaim with the presence of numerous personalities, some of them being the South Indian fame like Mr. Ouseppachan (Music Director),Meera Nandan (film actor), Ajayan Vincent (Cinematographer), Sithara Balakrishnan (Dancer, Actor and Choregrapher,), Anal Arsau (Filmographer), Pattanam Rasheed( Make up Artist),S.B Sathesh ( Costume Designer), Sajith Koyeri( FIlmographer), Thotta Tharrani (Art director) , Sreekar Prasad (Film Editor), Paran Bawa Singh (First Associate Director) and Leela Menon (Reporter).

The renowned media personalities also comprised from Hello, Grazia, RED FM 93.5, Galatta.com, Rosebowl, Times Now, Indian Express, The Hindu, Radio Mango, The Times of India, India Today and The Week among the long list of other media attendees.

The event had given a good kick start with the exquisite traditional art forms including Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, bestowing the real touch of Kerala art and tradition to the audience.

“Bharati Shipyard, the only hope for Indian shipbuilding industry”

When Indian shipbuilding industry sees another bleak 2010 with weak demand and prospects of order cancellations, Bharati Shipyard remains to be the only hope with its recent acquisition of Great Offshore Ltd.

The shipbuilding industry had faced a drastic downturn due to the global economic crisis

“For 2010, we don’t see incremental orders. Order book has been stagnant and will continue to remain so,” said Kunal Lakhan, a sector analyst at KR Choksey, which has a ‘buy’ rating on Bharati Shipyard and an ‘avoid’ on Pipavav Shipyard. Moreover, analysts also expect additional vessel supply of about 25%, from orders placed during the boom, which will worsen the situation.

While Lakhan expects some shipping firms to delay delivery to next year, others are concerned that the over-supply may lead to order cancellations for shipyards.

“With so much of supply coming up there might be a possibility of order cancellations. I don’t think the outlook will be very positive on the shipbuilding side,” said Kapil Yadav, analyst with Dolat Capital.

Shares of these companies, however, aren’t reflecting these concerns yet. While ABG rose nearly 59% in 2009, Bharati more than tripled, although the reasons for the gain weren’t related to the sector outlook.

Bharati and ABG’s shares benefited from a six-month-long takeover battle for Great Offshore ending with an acquisition by Bharati.

Pipavav, which listed on the stock exchanges in October, has remained flat. Some of its orders are subject to cancellation and arbitration, analysts said, adding there was nothing euphoric about the firm for at least 12-15 months.

” More dark days for shipbuilders in 2010″

The year 2010 began with widespread economic optimism, with most of the nation’s major industrial sectors expecting continued improvement in business conditions. Korea’s shipyards, however, are bracing for another year of hardship as overcapacity continues to plague the global shipbuilding industry, with new orders scarce and ship financing still difficult, experts and industry officials said yesterday.
“The economy is set to continue recovering in 2010, but the shipbuilding sector is likely to be in a slump for a considerable time, stemming from global overcapacity and weakness in the shipbuilding financing market,” Min Keh-sik, vice chairman & CEO of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said in his New Year address on Monday.
“It will be another challenging year,” he said.
The world’s largest shipbuilder had suffered a 96 percent drop in new shipbuilding orders in 2009. It received orders for 10 vessels, worth $440 million, which is a sharp contrast to the previous year’s 109 vessels, and a combined value of $13.6 billion.
Total orders received in 2009, including offshore platforms and other products, amounted to $10.6, the company said on a Dec. 31 filing.
The Ulsan-based firm has set a 2010 target at $17.7 billion in total orders.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s third-largest shipbuilder, said that it aims to win $10 billion worth of orders this year.
Nam Sang-tae, the company’s CEO, stressed a focus on developing a new revenue source, as the market for container ships continues to be in a slump.
“In order to survive, we need to develop new, high-value products that combine technologies for offshore platforms and conventional vessels,” he said.
Korea’s three shipbuilding giants — Hyundai Heavy, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding — may be in better shape, compared to smaller players.
Thanks to past efforts to diversify revenue sources, the trio has relatively bigger presence in areas that are less affected by the slump, such as offshore platforms, analysts said.
The market for bulk carriers, oil tankers and container ships is in a sharp downturn with major shipping lines such as CMA CGM SA and China Ocean Shipping Group Co. canceling orders and seeking delays in delivery, after global economic recession cut maritime trade.
In an indication of the challenge facing smaller yards, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., the nation’s fifth largest shipbuilder, said that it will slash its shipbuilding labor force by at least 30 percent.
The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade forecast in its recent report that the country’s shipbuilding volume this year will drop 10.7 percent in 2010, from a year earlier.
“Exports (of ships) will likely drop 6.2 percent to be valued at $46 billion,” the institute said.
As of Dec. 1, order backlogs at Korean yards stood at 53.76 million CGT, or compensated gross tons, according to Clarkson, the world’s largest ship broker. That accounted for 34.3 percent of the global market.
Home to seven out of the world’s top 10 shipbuilders, Korea once dominated the global market. But, China wrestled the title of the world’s No. 1 shipbuilding nation from Korea last year. Chinese yards have a combined order backlog of 54.67 million CGT and a market share of 34.9 percent, the Clarkson data showed.

“Lloyd’s Register celebrates its 250th year”

The classification society, Lloyd’s Register celebrated its 250 years of technical service to maritime shipping when Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) delivered the first vessel of 2010 built to its class.

The Aframax tanker named Pichincha, was delivered to Ecuado-based tanker operator Flota Pertrolera Ecuatoriana (FLOPEC). 105,000dwt tonne, the vessel is the second of two sisterships ordered by FLOPEC from the industry’s biggest commercial shipbuilder by volume and was built to IACS’s Common Structural Rules and to the International Maritime Organization’s new guidelines for ship recycling known as ‘Green Passport’.

“Completing 250 years under the same brand is a rare and admirable achievement. But, for Lloyd’s Register, this year will not be about celebrating history,” said Luis Benito, country and marine manager, Korea, for LR Asia. “It will be about celebrating our ability to consistently support the development of the technical innovation and expertise that the market requires, often before the market requires it. Market insight and technical expertise have proven to be two of our most enduring products, and we expect that to continue. Because quality clients such as HHI and FLOPEC not only count on our unrivalled experience, they also expect us to provide solutions for the technical and regulatory challenges they will face in the future.”

“These ships are the realisation of the strategic plans for fleet growth we drew up five years ago; they will add commercial flexibility and expand our area of operations,” said Rear Admiral Aland Molestina, President of the FLOPEC Board and Commander in Chief of the Ecuadorian Navy. “We chose LR for their expert guidance in fields that were new to us: bigger ships and CSR rules. And, as an environmentally conscious company, one of our priorities was to ensure compliance with the environmental requirements of our traditional trading areas, California and US Gulf & East coasts. We began building vessels at HHI more than 20 years ago, some of which are still sailing the world without any drawbacks. The availability of this design and timely building slots gave us confidence we would reach today’s milestone, while assuring both quality and safety.”

Benito said the fact that this ship was built by Koreans for owners in Ecuador highlighted the extensive global network that allowed the Lloyd’s Register Group to consistently provide a comprehensive suite of third-party assurance services to the full energy supply chain.

HHI, which has a global reputation for leading technical innovation, has been building a variety of ships to LR class since 1972. The Pichincha is the 484th ship delivered by HHI to Lloyd’s Register class and the yard currently has 44 more ships contracted to LR class on its books.

“Gulf of Aden sees another ship hijack”

According to European Union counter-piracy force, a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker was hijacked on Friday in the Gulf of Aden and was taken towards Somalia.

The pirates who already made millions of dollars from seizing ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, linking Europe to Asia are now hunting far into the Indian Ocean to evade foreign navies sent to protect commercial shipping.

According to the statement M/V Pramoni, a chemical tanker of 20,000 dead weight tonnes, was hijacked when it was headed for Kandla in India, EU Navfor, based at Northwood, near London.

The ship has a crew of 24, including 17 Indonesians, five Chinese, one Nigerian and one Vietnamese, it said.

The ship’s master reported by radio that the ship had been hijacked and all the crew were well, EU Navfor said.

On Monday, Somali pirates seized another chemical tanker and a cargo ship, underlining the risk to shipping on some of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes. The pirates hold more than 10 vessels.

“2010 to the world’s 1.5 million seafarers says UN Maritime Agency”

With the increasing peril of pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia, the United Nations agency entrusted with setting comprehensive regulations for shipping is dedicating next year to the 1.5 million seafarers who serving the daily needs of more than 6.5 billion citizens of Planet Earth.

“Our intention is to pay tribute to you, the world’s 1.5 million seafarers – men and women from all over the globe – for the unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution you make to the well being of all of us,” UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos said in a message announcing the decision.

“We will do so with deep appreciation, in recognition of the extraordinary service you render every day of your professional life, frequently under dangerous circumstances, in delivering, to the more than 6.5 billion people of the world, the wheat that makes our daily bread, the gas and oil that warms our homes or moves our vehicles and the gifts we will share and enjoy with our families and friends over this Festive Season.”

He stressed the important role seafarers play in helping to achieve safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans and reassured them “at the ‘sharp end’ of the industry, that we, who are responsible for the international regulatory regime and who serve shipping from ashore, do understand the extreme pressures that you face and that, as a result, we approach our own tasks with a genuine sympathy for the work that you carry out.”

He underscored the efforts IMO makes to ensure that “you are fairly treated when ships on which you serve become involved in accidents; are looked after when you are abandoned in ports; are not refused shore leave for security purposes; are protected when your work takes you into piracy-infested areas; and are not left unaided when you are in distress at sea…

1.5 million seafarers serving the daily needs of more than 6.5 billion citizens of the world! It is a fact that goes unnoticed or is taken for granted by most, but one that should be trumpeted loud and clear,” he concluded.

“For seafarers the world over deserve our respect, recognition and gratitude and, during 2010, we at IMO are resolved to ensure that the world does take notice of your exceptional role and contribution and of the special debt that all of us owe to you.”

“Shipping Corporation of India for three new ships in 2010″
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) announced its surge to boost their container fleet by adding three more new ships in 2010

“SCI plans to purchase three new container vessels, along with its existing JV partner Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). These will be executed after securing the necessary board approval,” a senior SCI official told the Press Trust of India. “We have seen a significant pick up in volumes in the recent past, on account of the recovery in the domestic and global markets. The volumes are expected to pick up further in the months ahead,” the official said.