Nafs october 2013

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ΚΩΔ. Γ.Γ. 2229 ISSN 1107-3179

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OCTOBER 2013 - ISSUE 95

TED PETROPOULOS Analysis of reasons for the coninuous growth of Greek Shipping

120 χρόνια λειτουργία της Διώρυγας της Κορίνθου BCG: Impact assesment of the Shipping Cluster on the Greek economy

ABB’s biennial customer event at Hellenic Motor Museum LNG as fuel Deep analysis from market experts

DNV - GL Group

The power to handle all aspects of LNG

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06 | Τι επιφυλάσσει το μέλλον του νέου Υπερνηογνώμωνα; Κώστας Δούκας

08 | Ελπίδες για το 2014

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October 2013 Cover story 18. DNV - GL Group: The power to handle all aspects of lng

52. Alfa Laval: Gas Combustion unit for liquefied natural gas carriers

Victoria Liouta

12 | Mediation: valuable key in dispute resolution Ted Petropoulos

14 | An analysis of the reasons behind the continuous development and growth of Greek Shipping.

Spyridon Zolotas

30. Lloyd’s Register The LNG Fuel opportunity

54. Wartsila dual fuel engines chosen for two Chinese LNG carriers

34. ABB: Laws and price drive interest in LNG as marine fuel

58. BCG: Impact assesment of the Shipping Cluster on the Greek economy and society

26 | LNG as fuel for Ships Sean Bond

28 | LNG as marine fuel: Full spead ahead?

Lambros Chahalis

32 | Retrofitting will drive LNG fuel move Features

16 Μιλτιάδης Βαρβιτσιώτης Πρόθεσή μας είναι μέσα στο 2014 έστω και ένα πλοίο της ακτοπλοΐας να κινείται με LNG. 38 Conferences Maritime Cyprus Conference 2013.

46 Διώρυγα Κορίνθου Γιορτάστηκαν τα 120 χρόνια της λειτουργίας της.

56 ABB Turbocharging Organised its biennial customer event at Hellenic Motor Museum ISSUE 95 / OCTOBER- NOVEMBER 2013

Nikos K. Doukas Publications 12 Karababa str - Athens - Greece 210 42 86 606 / Fax: 210 42 86 610 nafsgreen@nafsgreen.gr www.nafsgreen.gr

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In recycled paper Ετήσια συνδρομή εσωτερικού 50 ευρώ. Ετήσια συνδρομή εξωτερικού USD 70. NAFS, ISSN 1107-3179. Απαγορεύεται η αναδημοσίευση, η αναπαραγωγή, ολική, μερική ή περιληπτική, ή κατά παράφραση με οποιοδήποτε τρόπο, χωρίς προηγούμενη γραπτή άδεια του εκδότη, εκτός αν αναφέρεται το περιοδικό ΝΑΥΣ ως πηγή των πληροφοριών αυτών. Οι απόψεις των συνεργατών και αρθρογράφων της ΝΑΥΣ δεν απηχούν κατ’ ανάγκη και τις θέσεις του περιοδικού και του εκδότη.

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06 nafs October 2013

Νίκος Κ. Δούκας Εκδότης - Περιοδικό ΝΑΥΣ - www.nafsgreen.gr

Τι επιφυλάσσει το μέλλον του νέου Υπερνηογνώμωνα

Π

ολλά ακούγονται τις τελευταίες ημέρες για το τι μέλλει γενέσθαι με την συνένωση των δύο νηογνωμώνων DNV και GL GROUP. Οι εργαζόμενοι και στις δύο εταιρίες βρίσκονται πραγματικά στα καρφιά σκεπτόμενοι ότι το επαγγελματικό τους μέλλον είναι αβέβαιο, αν όχι θολό ειδικά στις περιπτώσεις εκείνων που εξυπηρετούν την ίδια οργανική θέση σε κάθε νηογνώμωνα.

Πληροφορίες αναφέρουν ότι στο νέο σχήμα θα συμμετέχουν όλοι οι εργαζόμενοι και κανείς δεν θα απολυθεί, το πιο πιθανό όμως είναι κάποιοι να χάσουν τις μέχρι τώρα αρμοδιότητές τους και να καταπιαστούν με κάτι άλλο ίσως και σε κάποιο άλλο μέρος του πλανήτη προς χάριν της εύρυθμης λειτουργίας του νέου Υπερνηογνώμωνα. Τα σχόλια για την συνένωση είναι διφορούμενα. Αρκετοί πλοιοκτήτες προσπαθούν να ζυγίσουν τα οφέλη και τις απώλειες, μιας και δεν πρόκειται για ένα απλό merge αλλά ουσιαστικά για εξαγορά των μετοχών GL GROUP – μίας ιδιωτικής ουσιαστικά εταιρίας – από τον Νορβηγικό Νογνώμωνα. Οι πληροφορίες αναφέρουν ότι το GL GROUP μετά την κατακόρυφη πτώση της αγοράς του CONTAINER αντιμετώπιζε κάποια οικονομικά προβλήματα. Το πως και αν θα αλλάξει ο καταστατικός χάρτης των εταιριών που πρόσκεινται παραδοσιακά στους πρώην αυτόνομους νηογνώμωνες θα το δείξει ο καιρός. Ακούγονται επίσης και σχόλια όπως “Ο χρόνος θα δείξει αν οι πλοιοκτήτες θα προτιμήσουν ένα σούπερ μάρκετ ή μία μπουτίκ με delicatessen προϊόντα”. Στο νέο σχήμα επτά στις δέκα θέσεις κλειδιά θα κατέχουν στελέχη του DNV. Στο νέο σχήμα σε ότι αφορά την και την Ελλάδα ο κ. Νίκος Μπουσούνης θα είναι ο επικεφαλής, ο οποίος ήδη σχεδιάζει τη νέα ομάδα που θα τον πλαισιώσει. Σε κάθε περίπτωση το σίγουρο είναι πως η πίτα θα διανεμηθεί ξανά. Θα υπάρχουν απώλειες και κέρδη για όλους. Μένει να δούμε αν η στρατηγική αυτή επιλογή θα βγεί όπως λέμε και τότε ίσως να οδηγήσει και σε άλλα τέτοια σχήματα. Μένει επίσης να δούμε ποιες θα είναι οι επιλογές και των υπολοίπων νηογνωμώνων αλλά και των πλοιοκτητών που για πρώτη ίσως φορά θα πρέπει να δεχτούν την επιλογή μίας απόφασης για την εταιρία τους χωρίς όμως την προσωπική τους κρίση. Το σίγουρο είναι ότι οι εξελίξεις θα αλλάξουν την μέχρι τώρα εικόνα αλλά προφανώς και το αντικείμενο αυτών των εταιριών. Θα επανέλθουμε με περισσότερες πληροφορίες λίαν συντόμως.

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08 nafs October 2013

Κώστας Δούκας Ελπίδες για το 2014 Ωστόσο, γιά όλα εξακολουθούν να… φταίνε οι εφοπλιστές! Ο λαός λέει πως ο πνιγμένος από τά μαλλιά πιάνεται. Έκτός αν έχει σωσίβιο, βέβαια. Η Ελλάδα πνίγεται, κατά γενική ομολογία. Και βέβαια δεν φαίνεται να έχει σωσίβιο. Παρουσία της κυβερνήσεως Σαμαρά, παρουσία της τρόικας, παρουσία των Ευρωπαίων εταίρων της. Κάθονται όλοι στην παραλία, εκ του ασφαλούς, και παρακολουθούν τήν πνιγομένη Ελλάδα. Και αντί να κάνουν κάτι για να την σώσουν, εκφέρουν γνώμες και απόψεις. Η κυβέρνηση λέει ότι η Ελλάδα απέφυγε τον πνιγμό. Έχει, λέει, πρωτογενές πλεόνασμα. Το νερό είναι μέχρι τα χείλη, αλλά επιπλέει. «Η Ελλάδα προώρισται να ζήσει και θα ζήσει». Γι’ αυτό, όχι άλλα οριζόντια μέτρα, όχι άλλη φορολογία. Οι βουλευτές που στηρίζουν με την ισχνή πλειοψηφία τους την κυβέρνηση Σαμαρά, αρχίζουν να βάζουν τις δικές τους κόκκινες γραμμές. «Ή τρελλοί είναι οι Ελληνες, ή τρελλοί τους κυβερνούν» κραυγάζει από τα μίντια ο «στρατηγός άνεμος» κ. Πολύδωρας από το μετερίζι του. Άραγε τί; 152; Κι αν άλλοι δύο αποσκιρτήσουν τελικά; Χάνεται η δεδηλωμένη και πάμε γιά εκλογές; Οι δημοσκοπήσεις από την άλλη προκαλούν αλλεργία στην κυβέρνηση, καθώς το εκλογικό σώμα μετεωρίζεται όπως το εκκρεμές: Από την άκρα δεξιά, μέχρι την άκρα αριστερά, δίνοντας υψηλά ποσοστά. Τελικά, τί γίνεται με την Ελλάδα; Πνίγεται ή όχι; Κι ενώ τρόικα και κυβέρνηση ερίζουν από την ξηρά μπροστά στην φουρτουνιασμένη θάλασσα, ξαφνικά εμφανίζεται από το πουθενά στό GB τό Boston Consulting Group (BCG), που ευαγγελίζεται δυνατότητα εξόδου της ελληνικής οικονομίας από την κρίση, με την βοήθεια της ναυτιλίας. Παρόντες στην εκδήλωση οι αρμόδιοι υπουργοί και πολλοί ναυτιλιακοί παράγοντες. Ο κ. Κωστής Χατζηδάκης, ο κ. Μιλτιάδης Βαρβιτσιώτης, ο κ. Θεόδωρος Βενιάμης, ο κ. Τίμος Χριστοδούλου κ.α. Οι επικοινωνιολόγοι του BCG άρχισαν να ξετυλίγουν το κουβάρι της μελλοντικής ανάπτυξης της Ελλάδας, με στοιχεία του 2010 (αλλά και νεωτέρων ετών), όταν η Ελλάδα δεν κολυμπούσε ακόμη στα βαθειά, αλλά έπαιζε στα ρηχά με...τις καβουρίνες, φοροδιαφεύγοντας και καλοπερνώντας μέ τα υπερδανεισμένα. Λοιπόν σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία αυτά, η ελληνική (για την ακρίβεια η ελληνόκτητη) ναυτιλία, συνέβαλε ετησίως στο ΑΕΠ με 13,4 δις. ευρώ και απασχολούσε 165.000 εργαζομένους, αριθμός που αντιστοιχεί με το 3,5% της συνολικής απασχόλησης της χώρας. Ωστόσο, σύμφωνα με εκτιμήσεις της BCG, η συμβολή της ναυτιλίας στο ΑΕΠ το 2012 ξεπέρασε το 7%, που σημαίνει ότι η ναυτιλία εισφέρει σταθερά στην ελληνική οικονομία, και στο ισοζύγιο εξωτερικών πληρωμών, που συμποσούται στα 136 δις. ευρώ κατά την περασμένη δεκαετία. Η ναυτιλία, έχει ξεπεράσει σε εισπράξεις ακόμη και τον τουρισμό με 12,7 δισ. ευρώ το 2011, έναντι 10,5 δισ. ευρώ του τουρισμού, και μάλιστα χωρίς επιδοτήσεις. Σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία του BCG, η ελληνική ναυτιλία στηρίζει την ελληνική οικονομία με διαφόρους τρόπους και κυρίως με επενδύσεις στην ενέργεια, στις μεταφορές, στις κατασκευές, στις οικονομικές υπηρεσίες, στον τουρισμό, στην τεχνολογία και στις πωλήσεις. Μεγάλες είναι και οι επενδύσεις του

εφοπλισμού στο Real Estate. Οι καλοί ξένοι επικοινωνιολόγοι, κατέληξαν στο συμπέρασμα πως η ελληνική ναυτιλία θα μπορούσε να στηρίξει την ελληνική οικονομία και να γίνει ο οδηγός – κλειδί για την οικονομική ανάκαμψη της χώρας. Και πρότεινε πέντε συγκεκριμένες δράσεις που θα μπορούσαν να αυξήσουν τις ναυτιλιακές δραστηριότητες στην Ελλάδα, ώστε να αυξηθεί περαιτέρω η συμβολή στην ελληνική οικονομία. Και ποιές είναι αυτές οι δράσεις; 1)Ολοκλήρωση της μακροπρόθεσμης εθνικής στρατηγικής ανάπτυξης για την ναυτιλία (δηλαδή απόκτηση πραγματικής και σταθερής ναυτιλιακής πολιτικής).

2)Αύξηση εγγραφών στις ναυτικές σχολές, προκειμένου να αυξηθεί η απασχόληση των Ελλήνων στο σύνολο της ναυτιλίας.

3)Βελτίωση της εκπαιδευτικής ποιότητας και δημιουργία ιδιωτικών ναυτικών σχολών.

4)Απλοποίηση απαιτήσεων και προϋποθέσεων γιά τους νεοεισερχομένους στο επάγγελμα της ναυτιλίας και μείωση της γραφειοκρατίας.

5)Σταθερό νομοθετικό πλαίσιο για την διατήρηση της προσέλκυσης σε ένα αυξανόμενο διεθνές ανταγωνιστικό περιβάλλον νηολόγησης και προσέλκυσης περισσοτέρων ναυτιλιακών δραστηριοτήτων. Θέλετε την προσωπική μου άποψη επί όλων αυτών, που τα ακούω μονότονα επί δεκαετίες, λόγω της μακράς θητείας μου στο ναυτιλιακό ρεπορτάζ; Το κράτος μας, ακόμη και σ’ αυτή την δεινή θέση που βρίσκεται σήμερα, θα εξακολουθήσει να αγνοεί την έκκληση των εφοπλιστών για μια πραγματική εθνική ναυτιλιακή πολιτική, που θα μπορούσε να χρησιμεύσει τώρα σαν σωσίβιο και αύριο σαν μοχλός για την ανάπτυξη της εθνικής οικονομίας. Φωνή βοώντος εν τη ερήμω. Ο απόηχος της εκδήλωσης θα πλανάται στον αέρα μέχρι τις επόμενες εκλογές, οπότε θα έχουν ξεχαστεί και πάλι οι υποδείξεις των εφοπλιστών, μέχρις ότου ο επόμενος πολιτικός προϊστάμενος της ναυτιλίας θα αρχίσει να εξετάζει τα πράγματα από...μηδενική βάση Οι εφοπλιστές θα εξακολουθούν να αποτελούν το κόκκινο πανί για τους αριστερίζοντες πολιτικάντηδες, εξ αιτίας της δημόσιας συμπεριφοράς ορισμένων λίγων συναδέλφων τους, που δεν εκπροσωπούν βέβαια την συντριπτική πλειοψηφία των υγιώς σκεπτομένων και επιχειρούντων εφοπλιστών. Η Ελλάδα θα εξακολουθεί να κολυμπά στα βαθειά μεταξύ φθοράς και αφθαρσίας. Οι κυβερνώντες και οι Ευρωπαίοι εταίροι τους θα εξακολουθούν να ερίζουν και να μή ρίχνουν το σωσίβιο της ανάπτυξης και της σωτηρίας. Και οι Έλληνες εφοπλιστές σε εύθετο χρόνο θα φωνάξουν κάποιον άλλο ξένο επικοινωνιακό οίκο για να επαναλάβει τα αυτονόητα στους πολιτικούς. Γιατί οι Έλληνες εφοπλιστές, αν και έχουν κατορθώσει να φθηνήνουν το κόστος εκμετάλλευσης του τεραστίου στόλου τους κατά 23% σε σχέση με τους ξένους συναδέλφους τους, εξασφαλίζοντας έτσι τεράστια κέρδη και πλούτη παρά τις κρίσεις της ναυτιλίας και της παγκόσμιας οικονομίας, εξακολουθούν να παραμένουν αθεράπευτα ρομαντικοί και θα μείνουν με τους αριθμούς της επιτυχίας τους, με τις δημόσιες σχέσεις τους και με την...φιλανθρωπία τους.

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14- FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013 - ISSUE 91

INSURANCE NEWS - www.nafsgreen.gr

12 nafs October 2013

Victoria Liouta Managing Director, Vilmar International, S.A

End of P&I Renewals for 2013-2014 Mediation: valuable key in dispute resolution

Happy New Year! has increased the overall group retention question. Negotiating a minefield of claims There has been much activity in Greece proc-and power to agree a settlement provided thatcasualty the representative has sufAll working in lately P&I insurance market use to regarding from Mediation $60m to $70m has raised individual issues of a huge leads sometimes to ess.

As per Greek Law 3898/2010 which ratified EC Directive 2008/52, ficient knowledge of the problem and full authority to make and sign a wish to each other a happy new year after club retentions to $9m form $8m a year earan estimate that keeps increasing and cannot Mediation is pioneering in Greece as itlier. refers to alternative binding agreement of the represented and thatOne efforts end of renewal period theprocedure 20th of February.

While these are relatively small moves on behalf be defined for several party, years ahead. mayto dispute resolution which is quick, inexpensive and without prejudice mediate with the representative are likely to enhance the possibility This year can be described as one of the in the context of the hundreds of millions of expect that these claims will further drag of process, resulting in preserving business relationships and reputation of achieving a settlement.

No discussed and at Mediation most difficult and confronting period for both dollars of reinsured losses, these changes still outsettlement hopes forproposals a timely resolution can be parties involved.

This new method of dispute resolution in Greece aims are binding until a settlement agreement is signed by both parties and Clubs and owners, but not easy at all for broweigh in underwriters’ favour and improve expensive for all. in unburdening heavy of files/cases Mediator. Parties in the Mediation agree to make a good faith kers as well. Courts which have been referred with the quality the risk to reinsurers.

Followingprocess one underwriter’s words, “Marine and hearing dates are scheduled after two to three years and in certain effort to resolve their conflict which means to make an honest endeavor is no different to any other insurance prodspecialClub cases eight years upon filing the law suits. in good communications with the other with thereturn purpose Each of after the International Group wanted Brokers had additionallytoto participate give owners uct in that it must makeparty an adequate For most of us working in shipping, Mediation is known as intermediate of reaching a mutually acceptable settlement. to keep a strict stance as far as general reason for the amendments that were made to on capital, and above anything else, Costa alternativeannounced method that mutually agree to try to resolve their dis-excess Thereinsurance parties agree to be courteous throughout Mediation process by increases lastparties year by their Board International Group rates Concordia incident isthe a clear and visible pute whilst arbitration or High court proceedings are still ongoing.

Merespecting the opinions, perceptions and refraining from personal of Directors and on top gave great attention for clean tankers, dry cargo ships and passenreminder that marine is a highly specializedatdiation clauses are written into commercial contracts and many in shiptacks, intimidation, threats and verbal physical abuse.toThe parties to the loss ratio and records of claims last ger vessels compared to those advised earlier insurance sectororand not a place be experiping may have come across Charterparties as well as Insurance policies may consult legal counsel any time during the mediation process.

The year for each member. The big casualties this year. International Group referred to the menting”. which oblige parties to resolve their disputes by mediation before promediator has no duty to protect the interests of the parties or to provide last year of Costa Concordia which sank off objective of moving towards a “claims versus Owners struggle to find their way around ceeding methods. thatand reason been many Instithem withtype information about theirships legalatrights.

The the coastby of other Italy in JanuaryFor 2012 Renathere have premium” balance for each vessel over modern the best of Mediation times, whileprocess tutes and other bodies, in London particularly but also Paris and recently is terminated when (a) the parties reach a settlement agreement; which sank off the coast of New Zealand in the medium to longer term. Is this to encourinsurance cannot intervene in addressing(b)thethe Greece, which provide services and train Mediators for that purpose and mediator determines that further efforts at mediation are no longer likely October 2011, was the basis that Clubs asked age bulk carrier owners to seek to have a sepneed for modifications to the way ships are among them Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) which is a to achieve a settlement; (c) both parties withdraw from the mediation for additional increases due to Reinsurance arate category to containerships and Ro-Ro built so that they have a greater chance of London-based mediation and alternative dispute resolution body. proceedings; may bypass the and mediation and procost attributed to Club members.

As a result, vessels, the wrecks of which are more or dif-(d) a party remaining upright afloat. process This certainly In Greece, there have been already established Institutes/bodies for ceed to arbitration depending on circumstances that allow such Clubs and members spent a lot of time to ficult to remove than those of bulk carriers? brings the issue of marine safety to thephase. owntraining Mediators under Greek Law which provide to Greek Lawyers Should the parties fail to settle their conflict, if eligible, calculate total additional increases over and Or this is to penalize bulk carriers to raise the ers’ minds and it isboth alsoparties, undoubtedly in themay and nontheLawyers abilityand to train the skills additional to practice premium Mediationrequired applybyfor binding in arbitration, otherwise, legal they remedies may beatsought above general the increase manyand hours reinsurers insurers’ mind when are looking these in Greece and abroad.

Lists of Accredited Mediators can be found in through the civil courts. to negotiate open claims for this year which view of the fewer number of containerships large risks. It is worth, though, considering Ministry of Justice site for any reference. and ro-ros than bulk carriers?

There is, however, no framework waydemonstrate a Mediationthe will be orseriously affect the relevant Club records. that whilefor bigthe losses toughFor the purpose of being acquaintant with the procedure, reference is ganized.

The mediator’s role is to guide the parties toward their own We may all be of the same mind that indiOne wonders, Is it really difficult times for ness of the International Group reinsurance made to the Rules a Mediator makes sure that parties involved are aware resolution.

Through joint sessions and separate caucuses with parties, vidual claims and general appearance of insurers? Or owners bear the heavy impact of arrangements, they have led to an increase in of, which focus mostly on thecan, following: helps both sides the40% issuesthis clearly, any Club members’ records one way or the low market rates andthe lackmediator of any finance costsdefine of about year!!understand each The Mediator is neutral which is important for parties to trust him/her. other’s position and move closer to resolution.

Most often, mediations another, be tolerantly negotiated with Clubs’ with an unpredictable future, which have The Mediator’s Role is not to express opinions or advices so that he/she start with a joint session used to set the ground rules and agenda.time The claims handlers who, taking into account It has, though, been a muchan tougher an effect on accepting the Re-insurers’ and does not appear to be on one party’s side and losing the trust of the other. joint session also helps define the issues and determines the parties’ posimany factors and lawyers’ advices, support for brokers this year, after many before, Clubs’ imposed premium rates? Do the huge Theestimate Mediation voluntary, so parties are not obliged to agreeonly if there is thetions.

Generally, during the parties movethe to various separate calculacaucuses. to process, justify and clarify an for is each open case, based on casualties burden insurance year and no interest in them.

The mediator will carry messages—offers, counter offers, questions, tions and increases imposed by Clubs which underwriters go on with their views force a high P&I number? Discussing with The decision Mediation without prejudice, since cannot refer to and whatinsurers is demands, proposals—between sides to help theapproached, parties move and as theboth renewal deadline and forisfinal premium amount to parties be many owners it wouldand be hard to said when case continues in Court. closer to resolution.

Mediation is becoming more and more common, brokers had to advise that for 2013 the asked for next insurance year, with regards explain if or how the present market condiThe Mediation is confidential in two ways (“double confidentiality”), including mediation in shipping and insurance and since paperwork International Group has increased the is also to the particular trading of each fleet or tions and the insurance environment can be first theand parties cannot talk to anyone about what limitedHowever in Mediation the group costs compared other$60m methods overall retentiontofrom to of vessel general performance of theoutside mem- the Mediation separate aspects in our minds. it is process is discussed and second whatever is said to the Mediator in private meetdispute resolution are minor.

Yet, no judgment is issued by a Mediator $70m and has raised individual club bers. true that despite the wreck of the cruise ship ings he/she will not tell the other side without express and if one of against the parties’retentions objectives is obtain a legal toto$9m form $8m precedent a year then Costapermission.

Concordia, Excruise market rates, ceptions to the rule of confidentiality in Mediation communications that Mediation cannot satisfy that need.

Still, in our experience, earlier. While these are relativelymany smalldisIt has, though, been a much tougher time all expectations, have remained steady. On are permitted by law involve immediate threats of physical violence or putes can at some point be a matter of principal.

One party may feelof that moves in the context of the hundreds for brokers this year, after many before, to the other hand, there is little doubt that across when child abuse is suspected or reported or actions against the law is its requirements can only be satisfied by the establishment of some form millions of dollars of reinsured losses, justify and clarify the various calculations the insurance market there has been a sigassumed. of precedent, should always include whether this is these changes still weigh in underwriters’ and increases imposed by Clubs and as the nificant hardening that seems unlikely but to becareful thought The Mediator will not issue any judgment or award as his/her job is only in fact a genuine need. favour and improve the quality of the renewal deadline approached, brokers had to undone given the fundamental way that huge to try and partiesthereach a settlement based on casualties their interests. risk to reinsurers. advise thathelp for 2013 International Group have changed the nature of risks in During Mediation, any documents remain privileged and confidential Victoria Liouta and cannot be disclosed or used in Court or arbitration proceedings if CEDR Accredited Mediator case is not resolved in Mediation. The representatives of the parties have Mediator under Greek L.3898/2010

ilmar

International s.a

Claims Consultants & Insurance Brokers

107-109, Filonos Str. 6th Fl. - Piraeus 18536, Greece Tel: +30 210 4511615 - Fax: +30 210 4511616 Email: info@vilmar.gr

14 nafs October 2013

Ted Petropoulos Head, Petrofin Research, www.petrofin.gr

An analysis of the reasons behind the continuous development and growth of Greek shipping The pressures bearing down on Greek shipping over the last 5 years have been enormous. In addition to the 5 years of poor shipping markets, decimated vessel values and earnings, loan covenant defaults and restructures and the “Greek crisis”, Greek shipping had to adapt to a harsher financial, regulatory, operational and technical environment.

Furthermore, chartering conditions became harsher and there have been numerous charterer-related bankruptcies, defaults and ‘rehabilitations’, all resulting in a further diminution of shipping cashflow.

To top it all, there has been an unprecedented banking crisis, which has fundamentally changed the profile of active lending banks. These became few and mostly located in the Far East, unlike the until recently domination by European banks.

According to the latest Petrofin Research ©, the Greek fleet, not only did it not decline during this extremely difficult 5-year period (2008-2013), but actually grew from 222.4mDWT to 281mDWT, whilst the average age of the whole fleet (irrespective of vessel size and not counting newbuilding orders) improved from 18.4 years in 2008 to 14 years in 2013 (see graph) The above represents a massive vote of confidence and commitment towards shipping by Greek owners.

Reasons behind the development and growth of Greek shipping.

In analyzing the growth, I will denote the reasons behind the ‘defensive’ quality of Greek shipping i.e. those that helped the Greek fleet withstand the adverse pressure afflicting the industry and the reasons behind the ‘aggressive’ quality of Greek shipping, i.e. those that propelled Greek shipping to new heights.

At this stage, I should point out the need to generalize and the belief that in my opinion, certain attributes and characteristics appear in the vast majority (but certainly not all) Greek owners.

For Greek owners to find themselves in financial difficulty, the biggest reason is expected to lie with excessive borrowing and an inability to repay in full their loan obligation. This is likely to have arisen from the purchase of vessels at higher pre-crisis prices.

Often, there also exists a breach in the loan to asset value covenant. The financial difficulty may also be linked to a failure by charterers to honour in part or in full their obligations leading to disputes.

The defensive qualities of Greeks owners lie with how they reacted to the crisis. On the one hand they reduced vessel running costs to the maximum extent (without, though, in most cases, compromising the vessels’ conditions and performance), as well all cash outgoings not essential to their shipping businesses whilst on the other hand they sought and obtained loan restructures by their banks. The latter provided a much required breathing space which enhanced the survival of the owner.

The good relationships with their banks bore fruit, as the banks acknowledged the efforts being made which were also in their interest in avoiding bankruptcies and the losses that would ensue. Moreover, as Greek owners reduced their operating and office costs, they also applied themselves into generating the highest possible vessel earnings in a depressed market. Consequently, Greek owners who are most proficient in extracting the maximum income from vessels chartered on a spot basis, were largely able to not only cover loan interest costs (cost of funds plus bank margin) but also to reduce somewhat the loan itself. On many occasions, owners brought in additional unencumbered assets or liquidity to enable such loan restructures.

The strategy worked and there have been thus far hardly any Greek owners’ failures. The credit lies also with the banks who found themselves in a weak financial position and unable to take huge losses.

In addition to the above, Greek owners showed adaptability, flexibility, commitment and resourcefulness. Furthermore, they were upfront with their problems and allowed the necessary time for banks to obtain the necessary approvals.

As time passed, banks are increasingly pressed to reduce their loan provisions and improve their loan portfolio quality. This means greater pressure towards Greek owners to repay their loans. It will be interesting to see how this pressure will be applied and how Greek owners shall react. The recent rise in confidence by both owners and banks of a market recovery has come at an opportune time and has given all reason to hold on in anticipation of improved vessel values and cashflow.

The defensive ability of Greek owners has resulted in few ‘forced sales’.

Admittedly, some vessels have been scrapped and some have changed hands but overall the Greek fleet remained largely intact taking into account the aforementioned adverse conditions. The ‘aggressive’ qualities

nafs October 2013

Evolu&on of the Greek fleet since 2001, in terms of Fleet Age, Fleet DWT, Average vessel DWT, Number of vessels

15

PETROFIN RESEARCH www.petrofin.gr

200

22 281

21.41

190

264

20.51

180

61,550

19.9

20.58

170

20.12

242

20

237

19.14

160

57,600

222

18.7

150

54,343

194

166

120 150

49,820

46,707

18

17.6

48,926 44,436

171

18.4

208

184

130

47,860 4763

4655

4714

4577

17

44,046 176

110

40,302

4184

4573

4545

36,734

100

16.4

4346 4110

4142

4085

3970

4164

16

15.92 15

14.71

80 70

19

52,160

140

90

21

256

14.055 2001

2002

2003

2004 DWT mil

2005

2006

No of vessels

of Greeks lie in their ability to acquire new tonnage either via second hand purchases or increasingly via newbuilding orders.

Reliant on accumulated liquidity from earlier rich years, many Greeks took advantage of the decimated vessel values by increasing their tonnage aggressively. This was achieved at a time when most owners were suffering with their other vessels and shows the degree of commitment

by Greek owners.

Moreover, this expansion is remarkable, should one consider the difficult ship finance market and ‘bank friendly’ terms. Greeks relied either on their liquidity or their co-operation that market and bank lending conditions would improve prior to the delivery of vessels they ordered.

The ‘purchase’ opportunity has focused Greek owners in seizing the moment and expanding their fleet. This was often done in conjunction with third party private equity, whether truly private or via equity funds.

Once again, Greek owners showed their adaptability b entering into complex ownership and financial transactions with numerous private equity providers.

Often the newbuilding route was associated with obtaining a loan from a Far Eastern bank, linked to the local newbuilding order. Coupled with low vessel prices and deliveries in 2-3 years away, Greek owners felt confident that the market would have improved by delivery time.

2007

2008

Average vessel DWT

2009

2010

2011

Average vessel age

2012

2013

14

2013

No doubt, Greek owners have taken on a great deal of risk and rely on improving markets. They justify their risk not only on the competitive vessel prices and in investing counter-cyclically, but also in acquiring super eco ships enjoying the latest technology in antithesis to older vessel designs.

A further adaptability manifestation has been the way in which Greek owners have invested in new sectors, i.e. LNG, offshore, etc. which has diversified their shipping interest.

Greek publicly quoted companies too have used their ability to raise equity and enter into deals with banks wishing to reduce their exposure.

On the other hand, some over leveraged public companies had to resort to Chapter 11 and other methods to remain alive, which they have on the whole been able to do so.

Recent tax and disclosure regulations in Greece has also propelled a large number of non-shipping related Greeks to invest in shipping, either by setting up their own shipping companies or by participating in vessel purchases of other Greeks.

At a time when over-regulation and financial issues dominate the world of shipping globally, Greeks occupy the no 1 spot in terms of vessel acquisitions and are showing increasing resilience commitment and ability to come out of the shipping financial crisis bigger, stronger and with better quality, modern fleets.

16 nafs October 2013 Μια άκρως σημαντική συνέντευξη για το LNG ως καύσιμο για τη ναυτιλία, παραχώρησε κατά αποκλειστικότητα στο www.nafsgreen. gr και στο περιοδικό ΝΑΥΣ, ο ΥΝΑ κ. Μ. Βαρβιτσιώτης.

Πρόθεσή μας είναι μέσα στο 2014, έστω και ένα πλοίο της ακτοπλοΐας να

κινείται με LNG.

Μιλτιάδης Βαρβιτσιώτης Αποκλειστική συνέντευξη στο περιοδικό ΝΑΥΣ Στη Νορβηγία, από όπου ξεκίνησε η λειτουργία πλοίων με καύσιμο LNG, υπήρξαν κάποια κίνητρα για τους πλοιοκτήτες, όπως περιβαλλοντικές επιχορηγήσεις, αλλά και αυστηρότατη νομοθεσία όσον αφορά τα καυσαέρια των πλοίων. Στην Ελλάδα ποια κίνητρα πρόκειται να δώσει η πολιτεία όσον αφορά τα πλοία LNG; Κοιτάξτε, σήμερα υπάρχει ένα χρηματοδοτικό πλαίσιο από την Ε.Ε για το σκοπό αυτό. Προβλέπει την κάλυψη, σε κάποιο ποσοστό, των δαπανών που απαιτούνται για την ενεργειακή μετατροπή του κάθε πλοίου. Δική μας προτεραιότητα τώρα είναι η δημιουργία του κατάλληλου θεσμικού πλαισίου που θα παρέχει κίνητρα, αποτελώντας, παράλληλα, τη νομική «ομπρέλα» για αυτές τις μετατροπές. Σκοπός μας είναι, άλλωστε, να ενθαρρύνουμε και να διευκολύνουμε απόπειρες που στοχεύουν στην υλοποίηση μιας καινοτομίας. Παράλληλα, έχω θέσει επανειλημμένα σε διεθνές επίπεδο την ανάγκη να αυξήσουμε το ποσοστό της χρηματοδότησης προς τις εταιρείες. Πιστεύω ακράδαντα ότι αν όλες οι παραδοσιακά μεγάλες ευρωπαϊκές ναυτιλιακές δυνάμεις υιοθετήσουμε ως κοινό μας όραμα τη χρήση του LNG στα πλοία, μπορούμε να μεγιστοποιήσουμε τα πολλαπλά οφέλη που μπορεί να μας προσφέρει.

Κύριε Υπουργέ, πρόσφατα είχατε αναγγείλει ότι το 2014 θα υπάρξει ένα πλοίο με καύσιμο LNG στην Ελλάδα. Γιατί 1 και όχι 2 ή 3 πλοία; Αυτό το πλοίο στο οποίο αναφέρεστε θα είναι από μετασκευή ή όχι; Επίσης, θα είναι ένα πλοίο νεόκτιστο αποκλειστικά για την Ελλάδα; Ας μη λησμονούμε ότι η ελληνική ναυτιλία στην υιοθέτηση καινοτομιών και προδιαγραφών που διασφαλίζουν την περιβαλλοντική προστασία αποτελεί διαχρονικά παγκόσμιο πρωταγωνιστή. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, κατέθεσα την προσωπική μου πρόταση για τμηματική αντικατάσταση του κλασικού καυσίμου, του λεγόμενου ναυτιλιακού πετρελαίου, από το υγροποιημένο φυσικό αέριο(LNG) στον τομέα της ακτοπλοΐας. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο, υιοθετούμε ένα καύσιμο πολύ πιο φιλικό προς το περιβάλλον, ενώ, επιπρόσθετα, εξασφαλίζουμε πολύ χαμηλότερα κόστη λειτουργίας, χαμηλότερη εκπομπή ρύπων και περισσότερα δρομολόγια. Η υλοποίηση της καινοτομίας αυτής προϋποθέτει, βέβαια, τη συγκατάθεση των εταιρειών. Ήδη, ξεκινήσαμε να εξετάζουμε, μαζί με ισχυρούς παράγοντες του κλάδου, τη δυνατότητα ενεργειακής μετατροπής σε ορισμένα πλοία. Και επειδή, ανέκαθεν , προτιμούσα τους ρεαλιστικούς στόχους από τις μεγαλεπήβολες και ανεφάρμοστες εξαγγελίες, ξεκαθάρισα ότι πρόθεσή μας είναι μέσα στο 2014, έστω και ένα πλοίο της ακτοπλοΐας να κινείται με LNG.

nafs October 2013

Η πολιτεία σκοπεύει ή όχι να χρησιμοποιήσει τη γνώμη των Νηογνωμώνων στον τομέα αυτό; Ασφαλώς! Δεν πρέπει, εξάλλου, να ξεχνάμε ότι σήμερα έχουμε την ευτυχία να διαθέτουμε μια νέα γενιά υψηλού μορφωτικού επιπέδου, άρτια καταρτισμένη και με εμπεριστατωμένη γνώση στα θέματα της ναυτιλίας, Βιομηχανίας και Ναυπηγικής. Η γενιά αυτή αποτελεί τον «εθνικό» μας πλούτο, στον οποίο οφείλουμε πρώτα και πάνω από όλα να επενδύσουμε. Πιστεύω ακράδαντα ότι ο Έλληνας επιστήμονας και τεχνίτης δεν έχει σε τίποτα να ζηλέψει από εκείνον του εξωτερικού. Αντιθέτως, έχει και τα εφόδια, αλλά και τις περγαμηνές, για να καταστεί διεθνής πρωταγωνιστής στο παγκοσμιοποιημένο, πλέον, περιβάλλον εργασίας.

17

“

Aν όλες οι παραδοσιακά μεγάλες ευρωπαϊκές ναυτιλιακές δυνάμεις υιοθετήσουμε ως κοινό μας όραμα τη χρήση του LNG στα πλοία, μπορούμε να μεγιστοποιήσουμε τα πολλαπλά οφέλη που μπορεί να μας προσφέρει

”

18 nafs October 2013

Standardisation of LNG bunkering well under way TEXT: LARS PETTER BLIKOM, DNV

One of the hurdles to the worldwide implementation of LNG-fuelled ships has been the lack of regulation of LNG bunkering operations. Through the recent publication of both an ISO standard and a DNV Recommended Practice, this hurdle has now been cleared.

STANDARDS FOR LNG BUNKERING • IMO regulations. An international code for gas-fuelled ships is due to be published in 2014. In the meantime, IMO has issued a guideline covering the same scope. However, IMO’s jurisdiction only covers ships and ship operations and stops at the connection flange for the bunkering hose.

• Land-based regulations contain several LNG codes and standards, but nothing is tailored and directly applicable to bunkering operations involving LNG. The connection between land and sea has hence been subject to a jurisdiction gap between regulators.

• Through a list of 24 performance objectives, a coming ISO standard defines the overall philosophies of designs and operations relevant to LNG bunkering. Its draft guideline, published in June 2013, is based on the experience and know-how of more than 30 industry professionals.

However, it does not specify in detail how to execute the bunkering.

• DNV’s recommended practice, published in October 2013, puts how to meet the ISO standard’s requirements into a practical format. It serves as a pragmatic guideline for ship operators, harbour operators and regulators on how to carry out LNG bunkering in a safe and efficient manner.

LNG-fuelled ships have now logged more than 130 years of operation in Norway. During this time, Norwegian operators, equipment suppliers and regulators have gained significant experience in all aspects of the operation of this type of ship. Due to the increasing popularity of LNG-fuelled ships and the fact that the global shipping industry is now considering their applica- tion worldwide, there is a growing need for international standardisation, primarily to ensure safe operations but also to ensure the use of common equipment and techni- cal solutions.

When the shipping industry started assessing the status of rules and regulations relevant to the operations of LNG-fuelled ships, it quickly established that the mari- time aspects were relatively straightforward. What this meant in practice was that eve- rything normally covered by the scope of the International Maritime Organization could be attended to by establishing a code for this specific ship type: the international code for gasfuelled ships is due to be pub- lished in 2014 and in the meantime the IMO has issued a standard covering the same scope.

The challenge, however, was that the IMO’s jurisdiction only covers the ship itself. For the connection to shore, IMO jurisdiction stops at the connection flange for the bunkering hose. Landbased regula- tions contained several codes and standards that could provide guidance, but there was nothing tailored and directly applicable to bunkering operations involving LNG. The industry response to a lack of regulations and standards is to take more care in the design and development of each specific application.

There is more documentation in general, more technical development work and more risk analysis methodologies are applied, eg, hazard identification sessions and quantitative risk analyses.

The first such project was set up in the port of Gothenburg in Sweden and consisted of a group of companies together establishing practices for

the bunkering of a passenger/vehicle ferry in this specific port. The project published a report in the summer of 2010 and since then a whole range of similar projects has assessed the feasibility of LNG bunkering in key ports around the world, such as Rotterdam, Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Singapore, Shanghai and Busan.

Once all this experience relating to dif- ferent ship types in various ports was being established, it made sense to begin the task of international standardisation. An ISO committee was deemed the best vehicle for this purpose and was appointed in late 2011.

The committee brought together the experience and know-how of more than 30 industry professionals and its draft stand- ard was published in June 2013.

The ISO standard defines the overall philosophies of designs and operations relevant to LNG bunkering and contains a list of 24 performance objectives, but it is not very concrete and descriptive about how to achieve these objectives. DNV there- fore set out to put its own knowledge and experience of how to meet the require- ments of ISO standards into a more prac- tical format. This is now available in the form of a Recommended Practice and will serve as a practical guide for ship opera- tors, harbour operators and regulators on how to undertake LNG bunkering in a safe and efficient manner.

These documents represent significant steps forward in taking operational and technical risk off the table for operators looking at investing in LNG-fuelled ships or LNG bunkering terminals.

nafs October 2013

19

LNG Ready – one option when preparing newbuildings It is believed that LNG as a fuel will play an important role in shipping in the years to come.

The change from fuel oil to LNG will involve a substantial investment. The investment risk may be better managed using DNV’s LNG Ready concept. Owners gain a methodology which can be used to ensure that investments are future proof by preparing current newbuildings for later costefficient conversion. Vessels which are found to comply with the DNV requirements may be given an Approval In Principle.

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) is seen as an alternative fuel which reduces emissions significantly. Due to the new fracking (shale gas) technologies, abundant gas reserves will become available in the USA in the decades to come, indicating that LNG prices may be competitive with, or even lower than, those of traditional fuel oil.

The availability/lack of LNG bunkering infrastructure and long-term pricing are currently risk factors which hamper investments. On the other hand, ship owners that are developing newbuilding projects today want to be sure that their new vessels will be future-proof so that, when the infrastructure is in place and reliable and attractive LNG prices are available in three to five years’ time, the ships can be easily and costefficiently converted to use LNG fuel.

LNG readiness can be achieved at different levels, ranging from a pure engineering concept for a later retrofit without any physical installations to a solution where the engineering concept is already partly implemented by the installation of, for example, piping, cables or components like DF engines, or even more completely implemented by, for instance, the auxiliary engines being able to run on LNG fuel.

The following equipment/systems normally need to be considered in order to make a design LNG ready: • LNG/DF engines and boiler • LNG tanks (type/ design, capacity/size, etc) • LNG fuel supply system • Bunkering station • Nitrogen system • Flashing & venting • Vapour return system/GCU or DF boiler • Electrical, (cooling/ heating) glycol/ water and steam capacity and installations • Control and safety systems for all components The newbuilding shipyard needs to clarify the following topics: • The makers’ list is to specify only the main engines, auxiliary engines and boil- ers for which the manufacturer is offering an LNG/Dual Fuel conversion kit The development of an LNG fuel design option covering at least the following plans and documentation of the installation of the LNG com-

TEXT: JOST BERGMANN AND GERD-MICHAEL WÜRSIG, DNV

ponents: • General arrangement, tank and capacity plan, tonnage calculation • Load cases, longitudinal & local strength analysis • Intact and damage stability, loading manual • Tank design and arrangement • Fuel gas supply, including the nitro- gen system design and arrangement • Fuel performance analysis for a load range between 10% and 90% MCR • Electrical, (cooling/ heating) glycol/ water/steam capacity balance and required changes compared with HFO design option • Definition of gas dangerous zones • Bunkering station layout and bunkering procedure • Piping schemata for tanks, FSGS, engines and boilers, bunkering and inerting & venting • Outline of control and safety systems for LNG fuel • Cost breakdown for the LNG fuel option • Risk assessment With the aim of providing structured guidance to customers on the LNG Ready path, DNV has developed a four-stage service line comprising: • A fuel strategy • Concept development • Initial design Approval In Principle • Risk assessment The first projects in which the LNG Ready concept is to be implemented are under development now

20 nafs October 2013

DNV GL recommends ways to make LNG bunkering safe and efficient TEXT: Svein Inge Leirgulen

One of the key hurdles to the increased global use of ships fuelled by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is the lack of harmonisation of bunkering operations. “DNV GL is therefore today launching a Recommended Practice for authorities, LNG bunker suppliers and ship operators which provides guidance on how LNG bunkering can be undertaken in a safe and efficient manner,” says Lars Petter Blikom, DNV GL’s LNG director.

LNG-fuelled ships have logged over 130 ship-years of operation in Norwegian waters and LNG’s attractiveness and stability as a fuel have been thoroughly demonstrated. Globally too, operators, suppliers and regulators have gained significant experience in all aspects of LNG-fuelled ship operations in recent years. However, the process for developing the required infrastructure has not been standardised – leaving the industry with many open questions.

Currently, 83 LNG-fuelled ships are in operation or on order worldwide.

These range from passenger ferries, Coast Guard ships and cargo vessels to tankers and platform supply vessels. Estimates put the global LNGfuelled fleet at 3,200 by the year 2025. With the EU poised to invest in helping to equip 139 seaports and inland ports with LNG bunker stations by 2025, the time was ripe for standardising development processes, designs and operations.

“An ISO committee brought together the experience and know-how of more than 30 industry professionals in 2011 and its draft guideline was published in June 2013. The ISO guideline defines the overall philosophies of designs and operations relevant to LNG bunkering and suggests a list of 24 functional requirements. However, it is not intended to be concrete and descriptive about how to achieve the requirements’ objectives,” states Mr Blikom.

He explains that DNV GL therefore sets out to put its own knowledge and experience of how to meet the ISO guideline’s requirements into a more practical format. This is now available in the form of a Recommended Practice (RP) which will serve as a practical guide for authorities, LNG bunker suppliers and ship operators on developing design solutions and operating procedures to undertake LNG bunkering safely and efficiently. The RP document is now open for comments during an external six-week consultation period. Subsequently, DNV will update the document based on the input received by the industry, followed by formal publication. Jan Tellkamp, project manager for the RP, describes the document’s philosophy: “The development of the RP is based on extensive experience of LNG bunkering-related projects over the past decade, as well as on knowledge that can be drawn from other relevant industries, in particular from the large-scale LNG industry. The RP covers all modes of bunkering a ship with LNG and provides guidance on

how to work on the three key topics suggested by the ISO guideline – planning, design and operation; safety management systems; and risk assessment. The concept of ‘layers of defence’ is detailed on both the equipment and procedural levels.”

Blikom concludes that: “These documents, both the ISO guideline and DNV GL RP, represent significant steps forward in taking operational and technical risk off the table for operators looking at investing in LNGfuelled ships or LNG bunkering terminals. Our aim is to lead the way in meeting the needs of this new, innovative and growing sector. The Bunkering RP is one of our very important deliveries.”

Francisco Fastest ferry on LNG On Saturday 15th June, Australian ferry builder’s 99-meter catamaran Francisco, operating on liquefied natural gas hit a lightship speed of 58.1 knots (107.6 kilometers an hour).

“This is certainly the fastest ship in the world. Of course there’s a few speed boats that could surpass 58 knots but nothing that could carry 1,000 passengers and 150 cars, and with an enormous duty free shop on board,” the company said through a press release.

Francisco has been constructed by Incat Australia, for South American company Buquebus, for service on the River Plate, between Buenos Aires Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay.

The vessel’s high speed can be attributed to the combination of Incat wave piercing catamaran design, the use of lightweight, strong marine grade aluminum, and the power produced by the two 22MW GE LM2500 gas turbines driving Wartsila LJX 1720 SR waterjets. The extensive and luxurious interior made significant increases to the weight of the interior fit-out, however the Incat team worked diligently to maximize weight savings during construction wherever possible.

It is the largest catamaran they have operated, the world’s first dual fuel high speed ferry to operate on LNG as its primary fuel, and the fastest, environmentally cleanest, most efficient, high speed ferry in the world, Incat has announced. The ship will realise fuel cost savings of at least 50% over conventional fuels, as well as reduced emissions.

FRANCISCO FACT FILE DNV Class: 1A1 HSLC R4 Car Ferry B E0 GAS FUELLED Top speed: 58.1 knots = 107.6 kilometres per hour.

Capacity: 1,000 passengers and 150 cars Builder: Incat Tasmania Pty. Ltd. Designer: Revolution Design Owner: BUQUEBUS Length overall: 99m Breadth extr: 26,4m Draught: 3,05 Year of build: 2013

nafs October 2013

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World’s first LNG fuelled product tanker The “Bit Viking” is the world’s first vessel in service whose main machinery has been converted to burn LNG as fuel. She is also the largest commercial vessel which is not an LNG tanker, to use LNG as fuel. After the conversion which was undertaken under the supervision of classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL), the 25,000 dwt product tanker successfully completed sea trials.

Owned by Sweden’s Tarbit Shipping, “Bit Viking” now qualifies for lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission taxes under the Norwegian government’s NOx fund scheme, due to substantial reductions in her carbon emissions.

Delivered in 2007 by China’s Shanghai Edwards shipyard, the “Bit Viking” is built with double engine rooms, propellers, steering gears, rudders and control systems. Having previously been powered by two 6-cylinder in-line Wärtsilä 46 engines running on heavy fuel oil, the conversion has changed these to 6-cylinder in-line Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines operating on LNG, supplied by two 500 cubic meter LNG storage tanks on the fore deck.

During the conversion the vessel was fitted out with the new equipment necessary for the LNG operation. GL experts played a critical role by safeguarding the components manufactured and installed in the system – the piping, valves, safety equipment, and the tanks themselves – ensuring that they were all safely constructed, using the right type of materials and right type of welding.

The technical challenge in the conversion process was immense, says Ronnie-Torsten Westerman, Business Development Manager at GL. As a world first, the project required special attention on how to interpret the relevant class rules and how the flag administration would understand and accept the risk analysis. Says Westerman: “Special attention was given to the bunkering process and how it should be performed, since this is a critical operation and requires special expertise and equipment.”

The conversion of the “Bit Viking” was also a good opportunity to evaluate whether GL’s own rules for gas as ship fuel would prove up to the task.

After the successful conversion Ronnie-Torsten Westerman is optimistic: “The existing rules are sufficient to cover such a conversion, as the “Bit Viking” underwent.”

Within the short period of operation since her conversion, the Bit Viking has already achieved considerable benefits for the environment: greenhouse gases reduced by 20% to 25%, sulphur output cut entirely, NOx gases were cut by 90% and particulate emissions reduced by 99%. An official emissions measurement has been conducted, but the final results are not available yet. “However, these figures are a strong indicator of the outcome”, says Ronnie-Torsten Westerman.

The Bit Viking recommenced commercial trading on 25 October 2011. Ever since, she has been performing as expected and the crew has successfully bunkered her from the shore facility at Risavika, South of Stavanger. The Bit Viking is trading along the entire length of the coast of Norway, from Oslo to Kirkenes, on behalf of oil major Statoil.

A monthly review for LNG, Oil & Gas industry is now available both in hard copy and electronic format. Powered by NAFSGREEN.gr and NAFS magazine you can read the latest edition in the following link: http://issuu.com/duken/docs/lngship_october_2013

22 nafs October 2013

World LNG fueld ships by numbers

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24 nafs October 2013

Why LNG as Ship Fuel?

Will it be costeffective?

Using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as ship fuel LNG as ship fuel can help ship owners towards has recently gained more attention in Europe, cleaner propulsion. But is LNG cost-effective? but also in Asia and the USA. There are three GL published its LNG-fuelled container feeder vessel design condrivers visible which, taken together, make When cept in 2009, LNG was competitive against MGO but still looked more exLNG as ship fuel one of the most promising new pensive than HFO. Nevertheless, when compared to a standard container feeder vessel, also operating within an ECA, the LNG-fuelled design variant technologies for shipping.

showed superior commercial attractiveness, with the initial investment for Using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as ship fuel has recently gained more the LNG equipment expected to be paid back within less than two years. attention not only in Europe, but also in Asia and the USA. There are three It is noted that, at the time, this additional investment was about 25% of drivers visible which make LNG as ship fuel one of the most promising the typical newbuilding cost. new technologies for shipping: A more systematic analysis of costs and benefits for LNG-fuelled container • First, using LNG as ship fuel will reduce sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions, vessels was recently completed by GL and leading engine manufacturer which are created when using fuel with a high sulphur content, by be- MAN, who is currently preparing to launch a range of LNG-fuelled twotween 90% and 95%. This reduction level will become mandatory within stroke engines in 2013. Five container vessel sizes and three different opthe so-called Emission Control Areas (ECAs) from 2015. A similar reduction erational profiles were investigated by systematically changing the price will be enforced for worldwide shipping from 2020 on, pending a review of LNG and the proportion of time spent operating within ECAs. at the IMO which may shift the introduction to 2025.

Results for using LNG as fuel were compared with the principal other • In addition, the reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to comply technical alternative, the implementation of exhaust gas cleaning systems with IMO Tier III limits, applicable in ECAs from 2016, can be achieved for (scrubbers), to reduce emissions to required levels. The decision to use both pure gas engines and four-stroke dual-fuel engines, which are typi- LNG as ship fuel as opposed to using a scrubber system would depend on the price differential between LNG and HFO, the proportion of time cally used on board ships engaged in short sea and coastal shipping. spent operating within ECAs and the starting year for the vessel. Most LNG • Second, due to the lower carbon content of LNG compared to traditional systems are expected to become profitable in 2020, when a global lowship fuels, a 20% - 25% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is sulphur fuel standard is expected to be implemented. possible. The actual reduction depends on engine type and the range of possible measures for reducing the unwanted release of unused methane.

• Third, current LNG prices in Europe and the USA suggest that LNG could be offered at a price comparable to heavy fuel oil (HFO), taking into account its energy content and the costs of small-scale LNG distribution (not yet available). This means that LNG will certainly look commercially attractive compared with the low-sulphur marine gas oil (MGO) which will be required to be used within the ECAs if no other technical measures are implemented to reduce SOx emissions.

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LNG Supply Chain

Regulatory Development

A number of initiatives are taken regarding LNG-bunkering stations in order to make shipping more environmentally friendly and competitive.

GL has been working on a number of projects involving gas as a ship fuel and is participating in the development of the IMO rules for gas as a ship fuel on behalf of the German government.

At the end of 2011, no supply chain for LNG as ship fuel exists, with the exception of that serving Norwegian coastal waters. The primary reason for this is that LNG suppliers have yet to be convinced that this technology will take off. Moreover, LNG users have to be convinced that LNG will be made available at attractive price levels and the right locations.

In principle, Europe is well prepared for this future as local LNG production is up and running in Norway. A number of large LNG import terminals already exist, with some of these having or planning an export facility, which is a necessary step towards small-scale LNG distribution. At present, however, large LNG terminals are not yet equipped for exporting smaller quantities of LNG. One possible supply chain for LNG as fuel would be as follows: A small LNG tanker could load, say, 10,000 m3 of LNG at an LNG terminal, e.g. Zeebrugge, and transport her cargo to an intermediate LNG terminal. Several small LNG tankers already exist and are thought to be available to fulfil this task. Intermediate terminals have been built, such as the one near Stockholm, and more are planned for Gothenburg and several other locations in the Baltic region. The port of Hamburg also considers this to be an option for the future supply of LNG to ships.

The last step of supplying LNG to the end-user is performed by LNG bunker vessels, none of which have yet been built. These would be small LNG tankers, too, and would deliver the LNG to the ship in a fashion similar to the present bunker delivery of HFO.

Even before the strict ECA emissions requirements were adopted at the IMO, a process of regulatory development addressing the use of gases as ship fuel had already started, based on a proposal tabled by Norway in 2004. This delivered the so-called IMO Interim Guidelines on Safety for Natural Gas-Fuelled Engine Installations in Ships (Resolution MSC.285(86)).

These guidelines contain the very latest safety concepts for using gas as a ship fuel.

They address, inter alia, ship arrangement and design, fire safety, electrical systems, control and safety systems, engines, building and operational procedures. They are implemented by flag states on a voluntary basis, so it can safely be assumed that a flag state will accept a proposed ship design.

GL issued its own guidelines, incorporating the IMO Interim Guidelines and adding its own interpretations.

At present, the IMO Sub-Committee on Bulk and Liquid Gases (BLG) is working on the International Code of Safety for Gas-Fuelled Ships (IGF Code), which will supersede the Interim Guidelines and is planned to enter into force at the same time as the 2014 revision of SOLAS. As such, the IGF Code will be published in time for ships using LNG as ship fuel to meet the strict ECA emissions requirements.

However, there are many outstanding technical issues which still need to be resolved by BLG before an agreed draft IGF Code can be delivered to the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in spring 2013 as scheduled.

Outstanding items include the necessary distance between an LNG tank and the outer hull of the ship, which is relevant in cases of collision, and the question of whether the LNG tank may be placed below the accommodation, which is in particular relevant for passenger ships

26 nafs October 2013

Spyridon Zolotas RINA, Area Manager Greece & Cyprus

LNG as fuel for ships The environmental requirements that impose new regulations entering into force and the high cost of fuel oil are making Gas today more and more an attractive alternative.

There is no doubt that gas-fuelled ships are one way forward to reduce air emissions. But gas-fuel opens up a number of safety questions and it is important to put in place the pragmatic steps needed to ensure that lower emissions don’t mean less safety. Although Gas-fuelled ships are not a new technology, they bring a new mix to technology to people not familiar with the safety culture needed to manage LNG as a fuel.

There is nothing new in having liquefied gas on ships, and nothing new in engines which burn gas. Gas carriers have both and gas carriers have one of the very best safety records of all ship types. But we need to take great care when we extend gas power to other ship types. Substantial changes are needed to the structure and outfit of the vessel, and the crew need to be trained to understand the new fuel and its risks. Carrying and using gas at sea requires a culture which is present on gas carriers, but which is not found on most other ship types.

There are many advantages in the use of gas as a fuel in terms of reducing air emissions. The use of natural gas as a fuel provides a twenty per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and competitive prices at current costs and estimates for the near future, along with the advantages of a total reduction in sulphur oxide emissions and a considerable reduction in nitric oxide emissions. But there is nothing free in this world. Moving to gas as a fuel has a cost in terms of new outfit, new design, operational flexibility and crew training. All of these issues will be covered in a new IMO Code for Gas Fuelled Ships, but that is not going to be ready before 2014. We are working with owners and yards which need to know how to tackle gas fuel issues safely now, so we have brought out a new notation and amended our Rules to provide guidance on the requirements.

RINA has published a notation GAS FUELLED SHIPS which establishes requirements for the use of liquefied or compressed natural gas (LNG or CNG) on board ship as an alternative to traditional fuels. It is designed to give the industry a regulatory tool to ensure that the arrangement and installation on board of machinery using this type of fuel are such as to provide a level of integrity, from the point of view of safety and reliability, equivalent to that of a conventional installation.

From the financial point of view, regarding the investment of a shipowner/manager to order a ship built with LNG as fuel, or retrofit an existing ship, the foreseen employment of such a vessel in ECA areas is an important factor to be considered.

It is obvious that the price of MDO and HFO with respect to the price of LNG, which is also not uniform all around the world, may have a significant impact on the final result and on the analysis of bunker costs depending on the area of operation of the vessel.

All the technical issues can be solved by good engineering and risk assessment techniques. But there is an equally important area where we

as class have less remit, and that is the crew culture and expertise. RINA’s notation does not address crew training, but how to keep things safe and efficient from the structural and outfit perspective. These issues are linked, because the crews of passenger ships and cargo ships are not used to handling gas, and not used to LNG ship-to-ship transfers, and both of these will become common once gas is in greater use. It is expected that LNG bunkering is done from small LNG tankers, which will mean lots of LNG ship-to-ship transfers. Crews need training and a different attitude to safety for that.

RINA has a lot of experience with Gas and is very keen on the environmental benefits it can offer for shore plants, but also as potential fuel for ships. The role of class is to enable the benefits of Gas to be realised in a safe and practical manner.

where EXPERIENCE and INNOVATION go together

RINA GROUP making the best together RINA HELLAS LTD

5, Aitolikou & Kastoros Str - 185 45 Piraeus - Greece, Tel: +30 210 4292144, Fax: +30 210 4292950 E-mails: piraeus.office@rina.org, greece@rina.org, greece.planapproval@rina.org, greece.trainingcenter@rina.org

28 nafs October 2013

Sean Bond Director, Environmental Solutions Group, ABS

LNG as Marine Fuel: Full speed ahead?

Having rapidly captured the imagination of ship designers, builders and owners, the potential of LNG as marine fuel has become embedded in both newbuilding and conversion projects.

We see a lot of excitement around LNG as fuel and for good reason. But while it is true to say we are past the initial tipping point, there is still a need for owners to be realistic about the decision to use LNG and the practicalities, once that decision is made.

The suggestion that LNG could be specified as fuel in half of newbuildings by 2020 is certainly open to further examination. For that to happen will require that gas achieve financial feasibility in relation to all the other options available, such as other low sulphur or alternative fuels, exhaust gas scrubbers, exhaust gas recirculation or selective catalytic reduction in various configurations.

Certainly there is a drive to adopt LNG for reasons of regulatory compliance. This is primarily in the Baltic and North Sea and North American Emission Control Areas (ECAs), a trend which will gradually radiate out as the maximum permissible level of sulphur and nitrogen oxide in marine air emissions falls.

The European Commission has indicated that it expects its so-called TEN-T core ports to have LNG available by 2020. But even for those owners prepared to pick up the ball and run with it, that timeline could be a challenge.

There is an assumption that LNG will be a low cost fuel. This is driven in part by regional developments such as the US shale gas boom, which has created at least the perception that gas will be a plentiful and therefore relatively cheap alternative.

The European Commission’s Sulphur Directive mentions LNG as a potential future fuel solution and invites governments to make it attractive in terms of supply. Whether this will result in subsidised product being made available is open to question, though the first LNG-powered ferries, operating in Norway were subsidised by a tax on nitrogen oxide NOx emissions.

Moves by supra-national government bodies to encourage LNG supply do not necessarily mean adoption will be easy for the user. Certainly more availability is likely by 2020 but the extent will likely vary across member states.

Even so, it is probably reasonable to expect that under favourable market conditions, an LNG bunker supplier, whether in a US or EU ECA zone, will be able to compete favourably with low sulphur marine diesel or marine gas oil.

But that price will vary by region, at least initially. LNG’s feasibility as a ‘global’ marine fuel is somewhat dependent on having a fungible level of pricing worldwide. Until then it will likely be driven by a combination

of local price and regional regulation.

More important to shipowners is lifecycle cost in the context of the other solutions available to address the same issues. LNG as fuel is still a big bet, but attractive to some other alternatives because it provides a near-single solution. It will deliver low or no sulphur emissions to meet ECA requirements. Depending on type of engine solution selected, it may also meet NOx emission requirements.

The decision to go ‘all-in’ on LNG must take into account the vessel design, how it is operated, where and for what length of time. There are multiple design issues associated with making LNG fuel the right solution.

It could be that for some owners, depending on the factors noted above, a solution employing more conventional diesel fuel with appropriate environmental mitigating technologies or operating procedures could also be a realistic alternative.

Other design issues for owners to consider include whether the ship will burn LNG only within an ECA but use conventional fuel outside it.

Switchover between the two creates its own technology and safety issues. If the ship is to be LNG-only, LNG storage capacity requirements, issues associated with lost cargo space and handling gas boil off must also be considered.

Once the decision to adopt LNG has been made, the next stage is for the owner to look more closely at the technical and operational components of that decision. As with using conventional fuel, much will depend on working closely with stakeholders that can support the move to LNG. The technical feasibility of using LNG as fuel is not in question. The equipment is available and there are engine manufacturers which can supply LNG-powered engines. Working closely with shipyards is also vital as some frequently have preferred suppliers, so looking at how well the yard can support a project is a big part of making the determination.

Technology developments have also improved on areas of previous concern. Problems such as methane slip in Otto cycle dual fuel engines have been worked on incrementally and improved. And with the introduction of new gas burning engine models, a wider range of prime movers is available.

Lessons learned are being implemented into equipment and product designers have a good understanding of what still needs to be improved. There is still more to learn and again the progress is regional: where there is a local driver towards adoption then we are likely to see an increase in demand and therefore development of expertise to meet that demand.

In terms of the global regulatory backdrop, the key item remains the International Maritime Organization’s global low sulphur compliance deadline; either 2020 or 2025 depending on the outcome of a low sul-

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phur fuel availability review in 2018.

Development by the IMO of the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGF Code) is ongoing and while a specific expected adoption date is difficult to predict, we can expect it will be a few years before it comes into force.

Also important is how flexible local regulators are prepared to be. For example, a US containership operator which is converting vessels to run on LNG has been able to obtain a temporary relaxation of ECA compliance on the understanding that they will be switching to full LNG operations in due course.

Another issue for operators remains what controls regional administrations and port authorities will require in terms of safety management.

Will the ship be able to bunker at the desired rate, in the preferred location and at a time that suits the schedule? This too is part of the decision process and owners will need to consider the current and expected thinking of such regulators in having their concepts developed.

In some cases final decisions may not have been made, but the authorities know LNG as fuel is coming and they are working on towards it, even if rule-making is not complete.

ABS continues to support its clients and the wider industry as shipping moves with speed towards a future in which LNG will play an increased role in vessel propulsion.

In addition to classing the first offshore support vessels to be powered

by LNG, for US operator Harvey Gulf, ABS will class the first containerships to be powered solely by LNG for US Jones Act operator, TOTE. For those owners who are not yet ready to move to LNG but are conscious of keeping pace with the changes, a focus has been on assessing the design of ships that are ‘LNG-ready’, that is powered by conventional fuel but capable of being converted to LNG at a later date. This would typically include considering necessary space and arrangements for new equipment in the engine room, considering how bunkering would be approached in terms of a bunker station, associated piping and fuel tanks, and any features required to simplify modifications required for fuel preparation.

Our support also takes the form of advice, training and guidance that act as reliable reference for owners investigating the feasibility of a switch.

ABS also plays a role in developing standards of best practice in LNG as fuel through its development of relevant requirements and membership on industry committees, such as the recently-formed Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel.

To align internal resources with the needs of its clients, in particular related to LNG shipping and LNG as fuel, ABS recently formed a Global Gas Solutions Team. The new team brings together industry-focused professionals whose objective is to work alongside owners, shipyards and equipment manufacturers to promote the use of LNG-fueled propulsion systems as a way to meet more exacting exhaust gas emissions requirements.

Combining extensive LNG and LPG experience with a track record of working with the US Coast Guard, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Maritime Administration, ABS is actively help stakeholders in the global gas industry navigate the sector’s unique challenges.

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ABS Forms Global Gas Solutions Team New team addresses market needs specific to LNG/LPG.

ABS, a leading provider of global maritime classification services, has taken another step forward to meet industry needs with the formation of the ABS Global Gas Solutions Team to leverage the organization’s LNG and LPG capabilities. This group of experienced gas professionals will work alongside owners, shipyards and equipment manufacturers to provide an extensive range of services to this growing market.

“The discovery of new gas resources around the world and the exciting potential for wide-scale adoption of gas as a marine fuel are leading to a dynamic shift in the global marketplace,” says ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. “This team will comprise highly experienced technical professionals that will provide support throughout a project’s lifecycle to meet the specific needs of our marine, inland waterways and offshore energy clients.”

Patrick Janssens will lead this organization as Vice President for Global Gas Solutions. “With its diverse maritime market, increasing gas production and stricter emissions requirements, the US is becoming a catalyst for the next revolution in the global gas marketplace,” says Janssens.

“To help clients navigate the unique characteristics and requirements of the US, our team of professionals brings together both the technical and market experience to help owners, shipyards and manufacturers successfully develop gas projects.” Roy Bleiberg, currently Director of Engineering for ABS Americas, will assume the new role of Director of US Gas Development. He brings more than 24 years of global marine and offshore systems experience to the position as well as an in-depth knowledge of US Federal and state regulatory requirements. Bleiberg spearheads ABS class activities on several cutting edge US LNG projects, including the Harvey Gulf dual fuel offshore support vessels, TOTE’s dual fuel new construction and conversion projects, and various floating LNG export terminal projects in development.

In the area of client operations, Kurt Larsen will assume the new role of Director of US Gas Operations and Performance. Larsen currently serves as Assistant Chief Surveyor within the Corporate Classification Department where he oversees all global survey issues for new construction and in-service LNG vessels. He has more than 24 years of experience with an extensive working knowledge of in-service LNG vessels. Larsen also has led several IACS projects on LNG operational standards.

Joining Bleiberg and Larsen will be a US-based team of ABS gas specialists with extensive knowledge of LNG floating structures and systems, gas fuel systems and equipment, and regulatory and statutory requirements. Utilizing its global experience, the team also will assist clients with specification reviews, risk and hazard assessments, bunkering suitability reviews, new construction project management and training.

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Lloyd’s Register

The LNG Fuel Opportunity Gas is emerging as a significant source of clean propulsion for the global shipping industry. New emissions regulations, societal and customer preferences for cleaner fuels as well as high fuel oil prices, combined with expanding supplies of natural gas, are driving this trend. It is imperative that key industry stakeholders, including owners, shipyards and ports engage in a cooperative model that will drive change, acknowledging the challenges ahead and ensuring safety, technical integrity and commercial sustainability.

Lloyd’s Register’s approach to risk assessment is helping an increasing number of new projects proceed across new frontiers and clients conclude on safe investment decisions. It is considered that LNG is one of the options going forward; still not a panacea to all ship types and operations at the present time in the global market.

Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel as it eliminates SOx and Particulate matters emissions and NOx reduction of up to 80-90% whereas it also contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions and particulate matters, compared to coal and other fossil fuels.

Despite being a highly desirable energy source due to its green characteristics, until recently it has not been readily available on a global scale.

The lack of a bunkering infrastructure is one of the largest obstacles to widespread take-up of LNG as fuel. This picture is changing rapidly though, as the market dynamics improve for transporting natural gas in liquid form.

LNG had an important part of the energy equation in some regions, notably Asia, for decades. The sudden boom in the discussions around LNG is due in large part to technological advances that are reducing the costs of liquefaction , shipping, and regasification in conjunction with the pressing need for less expensive and environmentally complaint solutions. Liquefaction costs have declined 35-50% in the past 10 years, the cost of building an LNG tanker has fallen about 45% since the mid1980s, and regasification costs have also decreased.

Natural Gas demand on the other hand is increasing globally and to meet this demand many world-scale LNG projects are under development. New production plants are being constructed in Egypt, Australia, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Norway, and Russia, whereas plants are being expanded in Trinidad and Tobago, Oman, and Nigeria, and new projects are being proposed in Nigeria, Angola, Qatar, and other locations.

Lloyd’s Register has been at the forefront of marine gas developments from the very beginning.

We have been working to ensure that shipowners, ship designers, shipbuilders, equipment manufacturers and technology developers can meet safety and performance goals by developing an approach that involves both prescriptive (rule-based) and risk-based approaches for when there are no rules.

We looked at what’s novel in designing gas-fuelled ships and we developed rules that will now evolve as solutions based on a thorough evaluation of risk which eventually can support rule-based solutions.

This is an ongoing process of constant improvement following proven performance.

The new rules draw on Lloyd’s Register’s industry experience as the market leader in the classification of LNG carriers and our rules for gas ships.

Completed in July, the new rules replace Lloyd’s Register’s provisional natural gas as fuel rules. They have been harmonised with the IGC Code and draft IGF Code and they are based on in-service experience and our work with industry on joint industry projects as well as the oversight of our Technical Committees.

At any time Lloyd’s Register is running dozens of projects looking at and evaluating new technology, working with yards, owners, containment systems developers, equipment manufacturers and engine makers. This experience helps develop new rules as new technologies are validated through our risk guidance and understanding of hazards combined with Lloyd’s Register’s leading risk methodology using HAZIDS, chosen qualitative/quantitative risk assessments and HAZOPS. The new rules help the industry make decisions about gas-fuelled designs. The main hazards to be addressed are related to: – gas in non-gas carrier type ships – gas fuel tank location – vapour management – bunkering.

Tank location is a key issue and one that has attracted much discussion.

The bottom line is that most risks can be managed but the technical and commercial costs need to be addressed. With ultra large containerships a significant factor is loss of cargo space due to the relatively high volume of gas bunker tanks compared with fuel oil volumes. While in passenger ships proximity to passenger accommodation is the big factor.

Lloyd’s Register has been researching the issues around a bunker network and infrastructure for the shipping industry and undertook a thorough analysis of the main deep-sea trade routes, the fuel consumption of vessels in the global fleet and the current and future location of bunkering hubs, resulting in some interesting projections with respect to the future picture of demand for LNG. Outside of the niche markets, the study found that the establishment of LNG bunkering infrastructure capable of supporting most of the world’s consumers will be highly sensitive to the price of LNG relative to alternative fuels. Hence for some owners, fuel flexibility will be key.

Moreover, the analysis revealed that it will be the container-ship and cruise-ship markets that are the most likely to adopt LNG. This is because of their relatively high energy requirements, the demands of customers in these two sectors, their regular trading patterns and the time such ships spend in emission-control areas.

Despite the scenarios for LNG uptake by specific market segments, Lloyd’s Register has engaged in a project to investigate the potential to develop a commercially viable bulk carrier design based on an existing COSCO conventional design, but employing gas powered propulsion systems. The ‘Clean Sky’ design has recently received approval in principle (AIP) by Class. This is a pioneering endeavour in that it builds in flexibility by enabling dry cargo owners to choose dual, or tri fuel engines, able to burn, heavy fuel oil (HFO) or diesel, as well as LNG. Lloyd’s Register has been right at the heart of helping the shipping industry with new LNG as fuel projects. Viking Grace, the largest such project to date, is now in service and the world’s first gas-fuelled newbuilding tanker, Argonon, is in her second year of operation.

nafs October 2013

Gas as fuel is not just an issue on board a ship – even if ships can burn LNG safely, ports and terminals must be able to handle gas bunkering in safety. Our ability to support ports and terminals in developing LNG bunkering guidelines provides a template for ports everywhere. Recently Lloyd’s Register has won a Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) contract to develop operational procedures and technical standards required to develop LNG bunkering capabilities in the Port of Singapore. This project allows Lloyd’s Register to apply the knowledge and experience gained in the technical consultancy, de-risk and classification approvals we have delivered to recent innovative gas transferring systems and gas fuelled ships globally, and support Singapore Port to get ready for real LNG bunkering operations, both for short-sea and deep sea shipping, making safe LNG bunkering possible.

Based on its extensive track record and experience Lloyd’s Register provides stakeholders with the support and guidance for LNG use as a marine fuel and helps them develop a solid understanding of the steps involved in addressing risks. Our commitment is to help vessel and port operators find their way through the complexity of the regulatory environment, the technological evolution, the diversity of factors and conditions, and plan their path in making the use of LNG as a marine fuel, a safe operation.

The Lloyd’s Register classed Viking Grace: the largest gas fuelled ferry ever represents a new generation of ferries. With 4xWartsila 8L50 DF engines in a gas electric system that will deliver 30.400 MW and LNG tanks located aft, the STX Finland built ship is a new generation Viking able to carry 2.800 passengers between Turku and Stockholm.

Photo courtesy, Viking Line

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Aegean Shipping Management certified against 4 standards by LRQA After several months of close work with Lloyd’s Register, Piraeus based Aegean Shipping Management S.A. has been certified by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) against 4 international management system standards.

During a ceremony held at Aegean’s premises yesterday September 18th, Mr George Melissanidis received the certifications against ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management, ISO14001:2004 for Environmental Management, OHSAS 18001:2007 for Occupational Health & Safety Management System and ISO50001:2011 for Energy Management, demonstrating the commitment of the company to best practice for quality, pollution prevention, health & safety proactiveness and efficient energy use & conservation throughout their fleet.

“The certification of Aegean Shipping Management S.A. against four standards highlights the company’s confidence in Management Systems as well as the strong commitment of Aegean’s top management for continuous improvement.” said Mr John Kalafatis, LRQA Business Centre Manager for East Mediterranean & Black Sea Area (EMBS).

Mr George Melissanidis of Aegean Shipping Management said at the presentation ceremony: “We are very proud of our achievement, and the dedication of our people, for us to be certified with four ISO standards, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 & ISO 50001 by LRQA. With the ISO 50001 certification, Aegean Shipping Management joins an elite group of companies. Aegean Shipping Management advanced closer to its goal of achieving greater customer satisfaction, more rigorously protecting the environment, better serving its employees, and contributing to more energy savings and emissions control. It is also a strong indicator of our direction: to excel in our day-to-day operations, both on land and at sea.”

“Since its establishment in 1996, Aegean Shipping Management SA has carved out a dynamic role for itself in the highly competitive and international oil shipping market, said Mr. Melissanidis.“

PHOTO: Panayiotis Kamarados, Apostolos Poulovassilis, George Melissanidis, Ilias Syrros, John Kalafatis

32 nafs October 2013

Lambros Chahalis Regional Chief Executive Hellenic & Black Sea Region

Retrofitting will drive LNG fuel move Greek shipowners are famously good at reading the markets. They wait for the right moment, then buy or convert ships to capture the trend of the moment. Today they are eyeing up the use of LNG as a fuel. Most of the leaders in moving to LNG fuel are in North Europe and Scandinavia.

But it will not be long before Greek owners see the advantages in cost and simplicity of moving to LNG fuel.

Wherever the ship trades it is going to have to comply with strict new rules on air emissions. Inevitably that will mean some retrofitting is needed. There are a lot of ways to clean up exhaust emissions from ships in order to meet all the new standards in place or coming into place around the world. But increasingly owners are asking themselves one simple question – why spend money on expensive devices to clean up dirty emissions when you can burn clean fuel in the first place?

LNG is clean but there are doubts about availability, bunkering, costs and the technology and training required. That is not holding back some owners and as more and more gas ships are developed a gas bunkering network will emerge to serve them. With bunker in place could see a more rapid shift to gas as long as the price stays low. Given the shale gas revolution low prices will be as much a driver as cleanliness.

Small and medium cargo ships trading in the Baltic or North Sea and passenger ferries on routes within ECAs or between EU ports are the first movers for LNG conversions. Bureau Veritas is busy with LNG ship conversions and newbuildings with different concepts and solutions, in compliance with the existing rules, but with a view in the future regulations.

Two chemical/oil tankers are already in process of retrofitting dual fuel capability under BV class. They use very different concepts in the engine and propulsion solutions.

The Fure West, a 2006-built 17,600 dwt chemical tanker trading in North Europe is being converted as a joint industry project (JIP) called LNGCONV under the TEN-T funded EU project PILOT LNG. The project includes: - Furetank. A shipping company located on the island of Donsö, Sweden. The company owns seven modern oil/chemical tankers.

- Pon Power Scandinavia. MAK/Caterpillar dealer for Sweden and provider of the main engines and generator sets installed onboard the ship.

- FKAB as ship designer.

If existing ships are going to take advantage of cheaper and cleaner fuel they will need to be converted. Forward-looking owners are already moving in that direction.

- Preem as fuel supplier.

- Oresund Drydocks as ship converter.

The lack of a mandatory international framework for gas-fuelled ships is holding back developments but classification societies like Bureau Veritas are helping owners to anticipate the rules and move to safe new designs and safe conversion snow. International IMO guidelines have been in place since June 2009 by means of Resolution MSC.285(86), but this is not enough as the text is not mandatory and flags must implement specific rules based on the guidelines or simply adopt these guidelines as a national regulation. Bureau Veritas has developed its own rules NR481 in 2002 for the Design and installation of dual fuel engines using low pressure gas and NR529 in 2007 for the safety rules for gas-fuelled engine installation on ships.

IMO is working on the completion of the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low Flashpoint Fuels (IGF code). Unfortunately the discussions of the IMO BLG subcommittee held in February 2013 have not been really satisfactory for all the parties involved and the code is not expected to enter into force before 2016.

That leaves yards and owners reliant on class rules for the assessment of the tanks, gas fuelled systems and engines and the integration of all these systems to assess the complete gas-fuelled ship design.

- SSPA as a consultant and service provider.

- Bureau Veritas as a third party certification company.

The ship’s conversion will start soon with the plan to resume operations before 1st January 2015, when the stringent new emission levels become effective in the North and Baltic Seas.

The main engine of the Fure West will be converted for operation with low pressure natural gas at about 5 bar. It will be dual fuel so able to burn normal fuel if necessary. The vessel will be equipped with a main engine MAK 7M46 Dual Fuel with an output of 6300 KW at MCR and 500 rpm. This will be the first MAK engine converted to dual fuel in the world. The auxiliary engines are three 920 KW Caterpillar 3508 burning gas oil which already complies with NOx Tier III regulations. The project also includes consideration of whether to convert the auxiliary engines to dual fuel or not.

Bureau Veritas was the first classification society in the world to work with dual-fuel gas carriers and has unrivalled experience of these engines in service. It brings that to this project in which it will verify of the conver-

Bergen Viking, a 4,420 dwt chemical tanker under conversion to LNG fuelPhoto courtesy, Viking Line

Fure West, an EU-funded LNG conversion research project sion work and issue a Gas Fuel notation to the vessel on completion. The technical solution chosen for the engine room is the gas safe principle which is considered a more reliable solution for a fully-equipped engine space. This means the gas fuel piping will be double-walled to prevent any leak of gas into the machinery room.

The vessel will be equipped with two type C cylindrical tanks for LNG containment which will be fitted on the cargo deck forward with a capacity each of 580 cu m. They will give autonomy for ten days steaming on natural gas.

Bureau Veritas will use its experience with dual fuel engines and gas carriers to approve the technical documents needed for the conversion and for survey during the conversion works at the shipyard.

In Norway, where there is already some LNG bunkering infrastructure and experience with LNG fuelled ships, the Bergen Viking, a 4,420 dwt chemical and product tanker built in 2007 and operated along the Norwegian cost will begin conversion next year. It includes a complete RollsRoyce package comprising two new Bergen generating engines type C26:33L6AG burning only gas, in substitution for four smaller gensets burning diesel oil, two IMO type C tanks on deck, fuel and safety control system, conversion of the main electrical switchboards and all associated engineering for the classification and National authorities approval.

Double walled gas pipe in the engine room is also foreseen. The vessel currently has diesel electric propulsion with four generator sets in two separated engine rooms and two propulsion lines.

The 1,500 passenger ro-pax ferry Amorique, operated by Brittany Ferries and the first of three planned for LNG conversion Greek ferry owners will look with interest at the actions of French company Brittany Ferries which is currently involved in a very ambitious project for conversion of three of its units to LNG propulsion.

Armorique, Mont Saint Michel and Pont Aven, three existing ferries trading between the UK, France and Spain are slated for conversion. In total they will consume around 120,000 cu m of LNG per year once converted. These conversions are planned to take place in 2015 and 2016 and the technical details have not been disclosed yet. Bureau Veritas classes all these vessels and is working closely with the owner on safe and reliable solutions.

Under the European Union-funded TEN-T project SEAGAS the ports of Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain are developing studies on the feasibility of implementing LNG bunkering facilities. These are fundamental to the decision of Brittany Ferries to proceed with the LNG conversions and newbuilding.

Ship conversions to dual fuel will grow in number as LNG bunker supplies become available. That is most likely to come with a new generation of small LNG bunkering tankers. Bureau Veritas is very active in this area. It has already worked with Anthony Veder on the Coral Energy and Coral Methane, two small LNG distribution vessels, and is working with Gaz de France and other clients on LNG bunker ships.

Conversion to LNG fuel is not a technology for tomorrow, it is already a reality.

34 nafs October 2013

ABB: Laws and price drive interest in LNG as marine fuel The use of LNG as a marine fuel is one of the of these benefits are evident regardless of the type of fuel used, many hottest topics in shipping. This growing inter- become more pronounced with LNG. est is driven by legislation and price.

Dynamic response Limiting SOx emissions in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) to 0.1 percent from 2015 and to 0.5 per cent globally from 2020 will effectively ban the use of heavy fuel oil. That means ships will need to shift to low sulfur fuel oil, marine gasoil or LNG. At the same time, the limit on NOx emissions in ECAs (Tier III) from 2016 will force new ships to either install scrubbers or shift to LNG. Financial factors are also helping the push to LNG. As of today, LNG is the most cost effective marine fuel that complies with the upcoming SOx limits.

Electrical drives

A fixed pitch propeller’s direct drive is by far the most efficient way of transmitting the power generated by an ultra-low speed, two-stroke engine to the propeller. However, this configuration is not applicable to all ship types. Ships equipped with medium-speed engines require a clutch and reduction gear, adding some losses to the system (about 2 to 6 percent). Alternatively, these ships can be fitted with electrical drives, allowing engines to act as generators. This increases propulsion losses (about 7 to 11 percent).

Nevertheless, the electrical drive of fixed pitch propellers offers benefits that in many cases outweigh the lower propulsion efficiency. An integrated electrical power plant enables the designer and operator to better match the running engine capacity with the actual load demand under a wide range of operating conditions through the load-dependent start and stop of generator sets. This allows engines to operate more optimally and more efficiently, which may offset and exceed the higher transmission losses.

In addition to the more commonly known energy efficiency effect, electric propulsion has other benefits when it comes to availability, safety and maneuverability, which will be described in this article. While some

Diesel cycle engines – which include both dual fuel gas engines with pilot diesel ignition and high pressure gas injection engines – are intrinsically slow to respond to power fluctuations, which occur constantly due to variations in the propeller load driven by waves, wind and steering motions.

Electrical drives offer a much faster response to load variations. They can also precisely control the torque, power and propeller speed, minimizing the ship’s speed loss due to external factors.

In a mechanical system, the engine control system responds to load variations on the propeller by adapting the fuel injection to meet the new power/speed requirements. The new equilibrium point is only achieved when the inlet air reaches the right pressure and temperature, which depends on the pressure increase of the exhaust gases. This iterative process – known as thermodynamic inertia – lies at the heart of the dynamic response of direct drive systems.

In an electrical propulsion plant, the drive can be optimized to maintain constant power and cope with load variations by adapting the torque and propeller speed. By keeping the power constant, the overall system is less exposed to the dynamic response limitations and can therefore maintain the ship’s speed when faced with external factors (such as bad weather).

The logged power consumption from a single shaft LNG carrier with electric propulsion and dual fuel engines is shown in Figure 1. This clearly indicates that by controlling speed and torque simultaneously to keep the power constant, propeller load variations are not transferred to power variations in gas engines.

The dynamic response of the propulsion system is also a key element of the ship’s maneuvering performance. Handling a ship in confined areas is very risky, requiring high thrust at low speed and on demand.

nafs October 2013

35

Load variations are kept to a minimum by keeping propeller load constant during maneuvering of a dual fuel engine LNG carrier.

Sea-trial recording of load reduction test by tripping, one by one, the dual-fuel engines in an electric propulsion system for LNG carriers.

The dynamic response of mechanical systems during maneuvering has benefited tremendously from the introduction of Controlled Pitch (CP) propellers. Nevertheless, electrical drives offer much more control compared with CP propellers. An electrical drive, for example, can provide full torque at zero speed.

Fast load reduction

The engine and electrical power plant are essential to safely operate vessels, in particular ones that use dynamically positioning (DP) and maneuver near shores and harbors. Electric propulsion increases the redundancy of the plant by enabling all engines to provide power to any of the propulsors and thrusters.

Thus the loss of one engine out of, say, four, has a relative small effect on the maneuverability of the vessel. For gas or diesel electric power plants, it is important to keep in mind the risk of cascading failures of paralleled gen-sets. Traditionally, the solution has been to run the power plant in split mode when a higher safety level is required, but this limits the plant’s maximum energy efficiency.

New enhanced reliability notations from classification societies allow for the use of closed bus systems also in higher DP class operations.

This requires additional efforts in load control and fast protection, which can now be solved through electric propulsion (see Preventing and restoring blackouts on page 154). The effectiveness of load reduction is shown in Figure 2.

During a test run, the engines of a four-engine power plant were shut down one by one. The load reduction on the propulsion was controlled fast enough to keep the frequency variations in the network well within the permitted limits, ensuring availability of the remaining power plant – even if the 11 MW engine tripped and only the 5.5 MW engine was left to provide power.

Frequency converters used to drive electric propulsion motors are based on power electronic circuits – high-power components that are switched up to a few kHz to control the torque of the motor. Such converters may control the torque load within milliseconds. This allows for precise control of the load power of the generator sets and permits the engines to operate closer to their maximum load, which also gives the highest energy efficiency and minimum emissions.

Energy storage

Batteries and super capacitors can further enhance the dynamic response of electrical propulsion systems. Energy storage systems can provide energy to sustain peak loads and to fill the time gap between thrust demand and energy production (see Figure 3).

Electrical drives are capable of providing full torque almost instantaneously, but will normally need to be limited as the engines can usually not provide such load variations. Energy storage systems make it possible to reduce this constraint on propeller performance by providing

36 nafs October 2013

Illustration of peak shaving through energy storage.

fast power fluctuations from, for example, the battery, while the gas or diesel engine is exposed to more stable load with slower variations.

This is particularly important for large and frequent load variations (for example, in DP) or in harsh conditions or ice-breaking operations, where the dynamic capability of the station-keeping system directly affects the vessel’s performance. This also raises the average loading of the engines and allows them to operate more energy efficiently as they do not need to meet dynamic peak loads.

Partial load

The specific consumption of an LNG engine at 50 percent load is about 6 to 8 percent higher than at full load. Ships that operate regularly on partial load can improve their overall fuel consumption by using an electrical propulsion plant. The generators used match the produced load demand, optimizing overall fuel consumption. Particularly for DP vessels – where redundancy requirements result in very low average engine utilization – the specific fuel oil consumption is much higher than at optimal load, which is typically 85 percent. This can be further enhanced by using DC distribution (ABB’s Onboard DC Grid), which allows generators to operate at variable speed and closer to their most efficient power/ speed ratio.

Emissions

One of the biggest benefits of LNG engines over conventional fuels is lower emissions. Combusting LNG does not produce SOx, substantially reducing NOx and CO2 emissions. However, these benefits can easily be wiped out by methane slip, which occurs when the gas injected into the combustion chamber is not fully burnt and escapes through the exhaust, particularly when operating in partial load.

Methane slip can be minimized by using electrical propulsion; the power management system selects the number of online generators to optimize cylinder pressure so that the gas injected into the combustion chamber is fully burnt. Onboard DC grid, where the engine speed can be varied and the cylinder pressure can be kept at a higher level, also allows for more complete combustion with less methane slip.

Methane number

Both dual fuel (DF) and lean burn spark ignited (LBSI) engines are very

sensitive to the quality of gas. The methane number is equivalent to the octane number in gas and indicates its knock resistance. A high methane number is good for the performance of the engine, while too low a number can lead to knocking and cause extensive engine damage. The methane number depends on the origin of the gas and can vary quite substantially (from 70 to 90 in an index of 100).

If the gas has a low methane number, the engine needs to be derated to prevent knocking and damage, which affects propulsion. However, an electrical propulsion plant lessens this effect because it is possible to install additional power without compromising propulsion efficiency at the design point (service speed).

LNG electrical propulsion: Viking Grace

Viking Line recently took delivery of Viking Grace – the first large ferry powered by LNG – from STX Turku Shipyard. The company decided on LNG propulsion mainly to comply with ECA SOx requirements and because of the low price of LNG compared with heavy fuel oil.

Viking Grace, operating the Turku-Stockholm route in the Baltic Sea, is about 218 meters long and 31.8 meters wide with a gross tonnage of 57,700. She can carry 2,800 passengers and has a service speed of 21.8 knots.

The vessel is equipped with four Wärtsilä 8L50DF engines – dual fuel engines that use about 1 percent of diesel oil as a pilot fuel to ignite the gas-air mixture. Each engine is connected to an ABB generator of 8191 kVA at 500 rpm, producing total power of 30,400 kW. Each of the two fixed pitch propellers is driven by a 10.5 MW ABB ACS8 synchronous motor that is controlled by an ABB AC6000 frequency converter and fed by two propulsion transformers that convert electricity from 6600 V to 3300 V. ABB also supplied two 2300 kW motors for the stern transversal thruster and one 1500 kW motor for the bow transversal thruster. Two 600 kW AC motors were also supplied by ABB as well as the four 2500 kVA converters.

The propulsion drives supplied by ABB were programmed to take into account the dynamic response of the engines to ensure that the power plant remains stable during different operational modes.

Source: Generations magazine published by ABB Marine & Cranes

38 nafs October 2013

Day One

Maritime Cyprus Conference 2013

The opening today of the internationally renowned “Maritime Cyprus 2013” Conference at the “Evagoras Lanitis Centre” in Limassol was a great success as it has been attended by distinguished speakers and more than 600 shipping personalities from around the world. The Conference, organised biennially in Cyprus, is organised this year for the thirteenth time since 1989. The Conference organizers are the Ministry of Communications and Works, the Department of Merchant Shipping, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners. The first day´s Conference theme was “Remodelling Shipping”.

Today´s Conference opening has been preceded by an Opening Reception held (Sunday 06 October 2013) at the Presidential Palace where the “Cyprus Maritime Award 2013” was granted in recognition of the contribution of individuals or companies to the development of Cyprus Shipping. The “Cyprus Maritime Personality Award” was bestowed jointly to Mr. Kyriacos Mouskas (posthumously), founder of Zella Shipping Co. Ltd. and to Mr. Charalambos Mylonas, President of Transmed Shipping Ltd. Mr. Alecos Michaelides, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Works first addressed today´s Conference deliberations welcoming the participants, whereas the President of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Nicos Anastasiades delivered the Conference Opening Address. Addresses by distinguished personalities followed such as the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, Mr. Koji Sekimizu and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Siim Kallas, via a video recorded message. The address of Mr. Jeffrey G. Lantz, Chairman of the Council of the International Maritime Organization who was unable to attend, was handed out to the participants.

The President of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Nikos Anastasiades, referred to the importance that the Government attributes to the competitive Cyprus shipping sector which has become even more important as it is called to face the challenges resulting from the unprecedented worldwide economic crisis. The discovery of hydrocarbons in the waters of the Republic, the President mentioned, will undoubtedly further enhance the prospects of Cyprus shipping. Moreover, the President of the Republic of Cyprus referred to the discussions underway before the House of Representatives relating to the Bill regulating the creation of the regime for the Under Secretaries, with particular mention to the appointment of the Under Secretary for Shipping as a matter

of priority.

Mr. Sekimizu, Mr. Kallas expressed interesting views on the Conference themes referring to the leading role that Cyprus shipping plays on an international level as well as within the European Union. The long standing presence at the “Maritime Cyprus Conference” of the International Maritime Organization and of the European Commission constitutes a recognition of the participation of Cyprus in forming international and EU shipping policy.

A discussion followed on the “Need for Adaptation”. Mr. John C. Lyras, Vice-Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping was the moderator for this discussion whereas the panelists were Mr. Thomas Rehder, President-Elect of the European Community Shipowners´ Association and Mr. Fotis Karamitsos Director and Deputy Director General (Acting) of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission. Various views were expressed during this discussion on the need to adapt the regulatory framework and policies at an international level in order to meet the challenges arising from the continuously evolving shipping industry. During this discussion, Mr. Fotis Karamitsos referred to the Turkish restrictive measures against Cyprus shipping in relation to which the European Commission maintains a solid position, indicating that the Turkish restrictive measures constitute an infringement of the EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement and the Additional Protocol.

Then, a discussion took place on “Financing Ships under the Current Economic Scene”. Mr. George Mouskas, President of the Cyprus Union of Shipowners was the moderator for this discussion whereas the panel was comprised of Professor Elias Karakitsos, Chairman of Global Economic Research LLC, Mr. Thanasis Martinos, Managing Director of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd and Mr. Nick Roos, Head of Finance of Deutsche Bank. The discussion focused on the difficulties that the industry faces today in obtaining ship finance due to the reluctance of lenders caused by the unprecedentedly difficult economic situation worldwide. Concluding, the panelists expressed the view that in the near future shipping and the freight market will improve as it is anticipated that banks will have renewed appetite for shipping once more thereby making funding available for owners with a solid track record.

The Minister of Communications and Works Mr. Tasos Mitsopoulos inaugurated today the “Maritime Services Exhibition”, forming part of the Conference, to which more than 30 exhibitors participate.

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40 nafs October 2013

Day Two

Maritime Cyprus Conference 2013 The second session of the debate which was focused on the subject “The future of propulsion fuels” was moderated by Mr. Craig Eason, Technology Editor and Nordic Correspondent of Lloyd’s List. Mr. Geir Høibye, Special Adviser to the Business Sector’s NOx Fund of Norway, Mr. Sveinung Oftedal, Specialist Director at the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment and Mr. William J. Sember, Vice President (Global Gas Development) of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) debated and discussed the issue as expert members of the panel.

The deliberations of the second day of the Conference “Maritime Cyprus 2013” were concluded today with great success. The Conference once again managed to gather hundreds of distinguished participants from all around the world, thus justifying its reputation as one of the most successful shipping conferences worldwide.

The second day of the Conference focused on the theme “Environment and Shipping: A Turning Point”. The discussion addressed the main environmental problems faced by the maritime industry today. The debate was divided into two sessions, the first session focused on the subject “A turning point for fleets” while the second session focused on the subject “The future of propulsion fuels”.

The first session of the debate which was focused on the subject “A turning point for fleets” was moderated by Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou, Acting Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping of the Republic of Cyprus and Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Mrs. Katharina Stanzel, Managing Director of INTERTANKO, Mr. Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and Mr. Roberto Cazzulo, Chairman of the Council of the International Association of Classification Societies (lACS)debated and discussed the issue as expert members of the panel.

The expert panelists attempted to address the basic question: whether we are at a turning point for shipping, in relation to both existing fleets and new “ecoship” design and shipbuilding? In doing so, the panelists scrutinized the various measures already adopted by the International Maritime Organization and the measures to be adopted by the International Maritime Organization and the European Union in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.

In the active debate that followed the panelists’ presentations, participants expressed the view that we need to establish standards and control methods for the quality of fuels supplied to ships as the quality of fuel greatly affects the emission of greenhouse gas from ships.

Concluding, the majority of the panellists expressed the view that ship-

ping is not at a turning point and that the changes currently taking place in the shipping industry constitute a natural evolution of the industry.

The second session of the debate which was focused on the subject “The future of propulsion fuels” was moderated by Mr. Craig Eason, Technology Editor and Nordic Correspondent of Lloyd’s List. Mr. Geir Høibye, Special Adviser to the Business Sector’s NOx Fund of Norway, Mr. Sveinung Oftedal, Specialist Director at the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment and Mr. William J. Sember, Vice President (Global Gas Development) of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) debated and discussed the issue as expert members of the panel.

On the issue of “The future of propulsion fuels”, the discussion focused on the future use of alternative fuels, such as liquefied natural gas, biofuels methanol and other distillates. The expert panelists explored ways on how these alternative fuels can be used efficiently indicating that the shipping industry needs to invest in the infrastructure required for the facilitation of the use of alternative fuels.

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42 nafs October 2013

Day Three

Maritime Cyprus Conference 2013 Discussion was focused on the subject “Looking Ahead to the Future” and was divided into two parts, the first one examining “The Human Element in Shipping: Anticipating New Challenges?” whereas the second inquired into “Trends in Shipping”. beyond the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, seafarers (homo maritimus) and Information Technology as well as new challenges in shipping. Particular emphasis was granted to the increasing need/demand for competent crew in view of the rapid expansion of the world fleet (84,000 oceangoing vessels) and the shortage of seafarers at the same time (by 2015 there will be a shortage of 60,000 officers/ competent crew members).

The “Maritime Cyprus 2013” Conference, a Conference of a worldwide range, organised for the thirteenth time since its inception in 1989, was continued today for third day and has successfully reached its completion. The large attendance proves once again its vast importance and reputation as a global shipping Conference.

The discussion was focused on the subject “Looking Ahead to the Future” and was divided into two parts, the first one examining “The Human Element in Shipping: Anticipating New Challenges?” whereas the second inquired into “Trends in Shipping”.

The first discussion relating to “The Human Element in Shipping: Anticipating New Challenges?” was moderated by Mr. Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation – ITF. The group of panellists was consisted of: Mr. Hans Leo J. Cacdac, Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration - POEA, Mr. Giampiero Soncini, Chief Executive Officer of SpecTec Group and Mr. Constantinos S. Galanakis, Chief Executive Officer of ELVICTOR Group. The discussion covered various aspects, such as perspectives

The need for investment in the human factor was stressed out, since good seafaring competence can guarantee safe and profitable operations, through communicating the multiple opportunities for recruitment, the attractive salaries, as well as caring for appropriate and innovative employment and living conditions. The need to establish, beyond MLC, supplementary appropriate arrangements in order to remedy the problem of the abandonment of seafarers in case of shipowner’s insolvency, was expressed during this debate. The establishment of such arrangements requires the cooperation of all stakeholders involved, such as Flag States, Port State Control Authorities, Trade Unions, Shipowners, Bankers, Insurers. Furthermore, the discussions underlined the necessity to promote the seafaring profession through appropriate media campaigns.

The second discussion inquired into “Trends in Shipping”. Moderator of the discussion was Captain Eugen H. Adami, President of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber. The group of panellists was consisted: of Dr. Martin Stopford, Non Executive President of Clarksons Research Studies, London, Mr. Dagfinn Lunde, Member of the Board of Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, and Mr. Thomas Rehder, President-Elect of the European Community Shipowners’ Association – ECSA. The discussion was focused on the forecasting statistics concerning the future developments in global shipping, the new market trends as well as the future and emerging opportunities. It was indicated that currently the market has built-up a sizable surplus of ships which may constitute 25% of the fleet. The surplus is being absorbed by slow steaming which will need to be realised before real market is re-established. Furthermore, it was stressed that whereas new buildings offer technological solutions second hand ships are considered still young and worth improving and may be upgraded in order to extent their life time.

Concluding, it was expressed that in the future shipping and the market will improve for almost all types of freight with the exception of crude oil, the trade of which is expected to improve in a much slower pace. With regard to ship financing of, it was pointed out that it is anticipated that opportunities will be available for credible shipowners through new financing systems.

44 nafs October 2013

Maritime Cyprus Conference 2013 Chairman’s concluding Remarks The “Maritime Cyprus 2013” Conference is reaching a successful completion today. This is the 13th Maritime Cyprus Conference and the large participation, more than 700 distinguished participants from all around the world, proves once again that this is one of the most successful and popular shipping conferences worldwide.

On Monday morning the Opening Address of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Addresses of the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization and of the Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for transport, the policy directions at national, regional and international level in relation to some of the issues debated during this Conference.

The first panel of the Conference focused on the theme “Need for Adaptation”. Various views were expressed during this discussion on the need to adapt the regulatory framework and policies at an international level in order to meet the challenges arising from the continuously evolving shipping industry.

The second panel of the first day of the Conference concentrated on the issue of “Financing Ships under the Current Economic Scene” and the panelists examined the difficulties that the industry faces today in obtaining ship finance due to the reluctance of lenders caused by the unprecedentedly difficult economic situation worldwide. After the deliberations, the panelists concluded that in the near future shipping and the freight market will improve as it is anticipated that banks will have renewed appetite for shipping once more thereby making funding available for owners with a solid track record.

The second day of the Conference focused on the main environmental problems faced by the maritime industry today and the debate was divided into two sessions.

The first session of the debate focused on the subject “A turning point for fleets” and the expert panelists attempted to address the basic question: whether we are at a turning point for shipping, in relation to both existing fleets and new “ecoship” design and shipbuilding? Concluding, the majority of the panelists expressed the view that shipping is not at a turning point and that the changes currently taking place in the shipping industry constitute a natural evolution of the industry.

The second session of the debate focused on the subject “The future of propulsion fuels” and the expert panelists explored ways on how alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas, biofuels methanol and other distillates can be used efficiently in the future. Concluding, the panelists indicated that the shipping industry needs to invest in the infrastructure required for the facilitation of the use of alternative fuels.

Yesterday afternoon the “Young Executives” session took place for the fourth time since its inception in 2007. Young people had the opportunity to discuss and exchange views and perspectives on the means through which they can evolve and establish themselves in the shipping scene. During the debate the panelist gave particular emphasis to hard work governed by ethics and integrity, conducted with appropriate mentors and by participating in relevant professional networks; to the need of adaptability to change; the commitment to life-long learning as well as love for the profession.

Today’s discussion was focused on the future of shipping and it was divided into two parts, the first one examining “The Human Element in Shipping: Anticipating New Challenges?” whereas the second inquired into “Trends in Shipping”.

The first discussion relating to “The Human Element in Shipping: Anticipating New Challenges?” covered various aspects, such as perspectives beyond the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, seafarers (homo maritimus) and Information Technology as well as new challenges in shipping. The panellists gave particular emphasis to the increasing need/ demand for competent crew in view of the rapid expansion of the world fleet and the shortage of seafarers at the same time. They stressed out the need for investment in the human factor, as good seafaring competence can guarantee safe and profitable operations, through communicating the multiple opportunities for recruitment, the attractive salaries, as well as caring for appropriate and innovative employment and living conditions. The need to establish, beyond MLC, supplementary appropriate arrangements in order to remedy the problem of the abandonment of seafarers in case of shipowner’s insolvency, was expressed during this debate. The establishment of such arrangements requires the cooperation of all stakeholders involved, such as Flag States, Port State Control Authorities, Trade Unions, Shipowners, Bankers, Insurers. Furthermore, the discussions underlined the necessity to promote the seafaring profession through appropriate media campaigns.

The second discussion inquired into “Trends in Shipping”. And the discussion was focused on the forecasting statistics concerning the future developments in global shipping, the new market trends as well as the future and emerging opportunities.

Dear all. Another successful Maritime Cyprus Conference has come to an end. I would like to thank all of you for joining us and a special thank you to those that came from abroad. Particular thanks are due to our high caliber speakers, panelists and moderators. Furthermore, I would like to reiterate my thanks to the Conference co-organisers the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners, as well as to all Conference sponsors. Once again I would like to thank you all for being with us and I’m looking forward to seeing you in Maritime Cyprus Conference 2015. I do therefore officially declare Maritime Cyprus 2013 closed.

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46 nafs October 2013

120 χρόνια

λειτουργίας της Διώρυγας Κορίνθου “Η Διώρυγα χρειάζεται οπωσδήποτε να ενταχθεί στα Διευρωπαϊκά Δίκτυα Μεταφορών για να ανταποκριθεί στις σύγχρονες ανάγκες της ναυσιπλοΐας, τουρισμού και της οικονομίας, ώστε να μπορούν να γίνουν οι απαραίτητες επενδύσεις είτε για την συντήρηση είτε για την διαπλάτυνση και εκβάθυνσή της”. Το Σάββατο 28 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013, γιορτάστηκαν τα 120 χρόνια λειτουργίας της Διώρυγας Κορίνθου από την Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ. με την συνδιοργάνωση της Πρεσβείας της Ουγγαρίας στην Ελλάδα, υπό την αιγίδα του Υπουργού Ναυτιλίας και Αιγαίου, κου. Μιλτιάδη Βαρβιτσιώτη. Στην τελετή παρέστησαν η Πρέσβης της Ουγγαρίας στην Ελλάδα, μέλη διπλωματικών αποστολών στην Ελλάδα, ο Μητροπολίτης Κορινθίας, ο Περιφερειάρχης Πελοποννήσου, ο Αντιπεριφερειάρχης Κορινθίας, εκπρόσωποι του Δήμου Λουτρακίου-Αγίων Θεοδώρων, και αρκετοί πολίτες. Ο Πρόεδρος της Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ., κος Κωνσταντίνος Μπαρκαγιάννης στην ομιλία του χαρακτήρισε την Διώρυγα ως διεθνή κόμβο θαλασσίων μεταφορών και σπουδαίο τουριστικό προορισμό με χιλιάδες επισκέπτες κι επισήμανε την ανάγκη ανάδειξης του σωζόμενου τμήματος του Αρχαίου Διόλκου, κατασκευής του τυράννου Περίανδρου, που θα συμβάλει στην τουριστική ανάπτυξη της περιοχής. Επίσης, σημείωσε ότι η Διώρυγα χρειάζεται οπωσδήποτε να ενταχθεί στα Διευρωπαϊκά Δίκτυα Μεταφορών για να ανταποκριθεί στις σύγχρονες ανάγκες της ναυσιπλοΐας, τουρισμού και της οικονομίας, ώστε να μπορούν να γίνουν οι απαραίτητες επενδύσεις είτε για την συντήρηση είτε για την διαπλάτυνση και εκβάθυνσή της. Αναφερόμενος στην Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ. ο κύριος Μπαρκαγιάννης υπογράμμισε ότι έχει πλέον εξυγιανθεί κι αποτελεί κερδοφόρα εταιρεία, καθώς τα λειτουργικά της κέρδη θα ξεπεράσουν τις 850.000 Ευρώ για τον τρέχοντα

χρόνο και αξίζει να τονισθεί ότι το μέγεθος της λειτουργικής κερδοφορίας είναι το μεγαλύτερο από το 1980 έως σήμερα. Στη συνέχεια μίλησε για το φιλόδοξο αναπτυξιακό πρόγραμμα που έχει σχεδιάσει Διοίκηση με επενδύσεις που θα ολοκληρωθούν το 2015, αναβαθμίζοντας την ευρύτερη περιοχή και προσφέροντας νέες θέσεις εργασίας. Η Πρέσβης της Ουγγαρίας στην ομιλία της χαρακτήρισε την Διώρυγα ‘’απτό παράδειγμα μιας εποικοδομητικής κι επιτυχούς συνεργασίας’’ και τόνισε την σημασία της ως κανάλι θαλάσσιας μεταφοράς, ως κομβικό σημείο και πόλο έλξης επισκεπτών. Ο περιφερειάρχης Πελοποννήσου, κος Πέτρος Τατούλης, απεύθυνε χαιρετισμό με την σειρά του λέγοντας ότι η Διώρυγα αποτελεί παράδειγμα διεθνούς συνεργασίας και πως αποτελεί ένα από τα πρώτα έργα παραχώρησης. Ο περιφερειάρχης υποστήριξε το στρατηγικό σχέδιο της Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ. υπογραμμίζοντας ότι είναι άμεση προτεραιότητα να ενταχθεί η Διώρυγα στα Διευρωπαϊκά Δίκτυα Μεταφορών, έτσι ώστε να εξευρεθούν οι αναγκαίοι πόροι για την διαπλάτυνση κι εκβάθυνση της. Ο κος Τατούλης χαρακτήρισε τον Ισθμό ‘καθρέφτη’ και ‘πύλη’ της Πελοποννήσου και τόνισε ότι η Περιφέρεια Πελοποννήσου θα συνδράμει ως σημαντικός εταίρος για να προχωρήσει το σχέδιο ανάπτυξης της Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ., γιατί θα είναι προς όφελος όχι μόνο της Πελοποννήσου, αλλά και όλης της χώρας. Η τελετή ολοκληρώθηκε με κατάθεση λουλουδιών από την Πρέσβη της Ουγγαρίας και τον Προέδρο της Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ. στο μνημείο Ελληνο-Ουγγρικής Συνεργασίας. Στη συνέχεια πραγματοποιήθηκε διάπλους της Διώρυγας και ο εορτασμός ολοκληρώθηκε με δεξίωση στον κήπο των γραφείων της Α.Ε.ΔΙ.Κ.

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48 nafs October 2013

GL Academy Responds to Growing Asian Needs GL Academy, the maritime training arm of classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has increased the number and scope of trainings which it delivers to meet the growing needs of Asia’s maritime communities. The seminars, which have focussed on a broad range of topics, have taken place in many countries around the region including: Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and India.

“2013 has been a very busy year for our training teams in Asia so far, as our clients have responded with enthusiasm to our programme and are interested in ensuring that their staff are well equipped with deeper expertise and prepared for new regulatory changes,” said Mr Lukasz Luwanski, Vice President, Business Development for Asia Pacific.

In August, GL Academy completed seven sessions of in-house seminars for Singapore Technologies Marine Limited (ST Marine). Covering four different topics: Surveys and Certificates, Ship Structural Design, Introduction to the Offshore Industry and Dynamic Positioning, and Damages to the Hull Structure, the seminars have benefited a total of 90 participants from the shipyard over a period of two months.

“As well as standardised training, we are capable of and flexible about developing seminars tailored to the special needs of our customers,” Mr Luwanski added. For instance, GL Academy conducted a “Designated Person Ashore (DPA) Training Course” for a renowned national energy company in India to strengthen its safety management systems and bring them in line with the International Safety Management (ISM) Code.

The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC 2006) has been a red-hot topic for GL Academy over the past year, building up to the entry into force of the Convention in August this year. Its first seminars on this topic kicked off in Singapore and the Philippines and from then on GL Academy launched an intensive campaign across Asia Pacific to enhance awareness of the new regulation among ship owners, management companies, crewing agencies and seafarers, and facilitate a thorough understanding of how to comply with both the Convention and the related guidelines.

To ensure training quality, GL Academy has made it a standard practice to nominate highly experienced internal and external trainers to deliver its seminars. As a result, the training participants find the training sessions especially informative and relevant, and can easily apply the knowledge gained to their daily operations.

“This is a conducive place for learning and sharing. The lecturer is able to explain clearly and elaborate with illustration,” said a ST Marine engineer who attended the “Damages to the Hull Structure” seminar in August.

“We are able to share our accumulated experience and know-how with our Asian clients thanks to the solid support of regulatory bodies and good cooperation with many professional training institutes in Asia,” stressed Ms Janette Seetoh, GL Academy Manager for Asia Pacific.

Image: Seminar on “Damages to the Hull Structure”: ST Marine participants with Mr Julio Guevara Quinteros (6th from left, back row).

nafs October 2013

GL’s Hellas Committee Meeting in Athens Erik van der Noordaa, DNV GL’s President of Business Area Maritime gave an update on the merger and highlighted that from now on DNV GL can offer an even broader range of services, a more effective network, more R&D activities and an even better set up to its maritime customers worldwide. He explained the complementary nature of the ships in operations of both legacy societies. While DNV is strong in tankers, LNG/LPG, special purpose vessels, cruise ships and offshore vessels, GL is a well-recognised classification society for container ships and multi-purpose vessels. With its combined global presence, expert knowledge and its extended network of offices, DNV GL will be even closer to its customers to meet the industry’s needs.

Mr Christian von Oldershausen, CCO at GL, stated that he sees a comparable high volatility in market projections on global and regional trades.

In general, he said, deliveries had been still considerable in 2012. According to market analysts, the industry will see a delivery dip in 2015-2016, followed by a recovery from 2017 onwards. Mr von Oldershausen also gave a forecast of dry-docking capacity and explained results of the best practice ship management study. In this study, the classification society asked 100 shipping companies: What are the areas you are working on to improve your business? And what have you seen in other companies you consider as “best practice”?

“Enhancing performance. Control costs in Shipping” was the title of the presentation of Mr Jan-Olaf Probst, Global Ship Type Director at GL. He stated that it is important to increase the performance of existing vessels.

High bunker costs require from ship owners countermeasures to control and reduce costs. Every ship is different. What is effective for a container ship may not be suitable for a tanker vessel and vice versa. In turn, some measures are quickly implemented and others are more complicated.

Some require dry docking and may be completed with class renewal, and others are solutions that could be implemented at any time.

Mr Probst summarized various retrofit solutions and presented an over-

49

The annual Hellas Committee of Germanischer Lloyd SE (GL) held in Athens today, focused on the recently announced DNV GL merger, challenges of the maritime industry and how costs in shipping can be controlled.

view which can guide ship owners in the right direction respectively give the foundation of internal discussions about countermeasures.

Mr Athanasios Reisopoulos, Vice President, Area Manager for Southern Europe, gave a presentation on the topic: “Classification Societies: Present and Future”. From his perspective, class will retain its unique role in the industry acting as a bridge between regulators and ship owners.

The future of class societies will largely be depend on maintaining a high level of quality and technical expertise in its service and investing in research and development. He believes that class societies will even more support the IMO and policymakers during discussions and in the development of new regulations to ensure that technical measures are achievable, practical and sustainable in financial and operational terms.

Mr Jan-Olaf Probst, GL Global Ship Type Director, Mr. Michael Bodouroglou, President Paragon Shipping, Mr. Athanasios Reisopoulos, Vice President, GL Area Manager for Southern Europe, Mr. Panos Laskaridis, Chairman to the Committee and President Laskaridis Group, Mr. Erik van der Noordaa, DNV GL’s President of Business Area Maritime, Mr Christian von Oldershausen, CCO at GL, Mr. Nikos Boussounis, DNV Regional Manager Eastern Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas.

50 nafs October 2013

The Hamburg Express. Image care of Hapag Lloyd.

Hapag-Lloyd uses advanced hull integrity management system

GL HullManager

Hapag-Lloyd will implement GL HullManager as their central monitoring and reporting tool for hull maintenance activities. GL HullManager is a part of DNV GL’s fleet management software portfolio and provides ship owners, managers and operators hull inspection and thickness measurement support. Ship owners can use the system to plan, track and implement the inspection strategies for their fleet. It provides significant benefits by reducing repair costs, demonstrating regulatory compliance and streamlining internal processes.

tions, which can then be assessed by superintendents onshore.

The system can make information on the condition of hull structures available to any employee across the company, once the inspection results have been approved and synchronized. Stored in a lifecycle database, hull condition data for each individual vessel can be traced over time. Sister vessels from the same fleet can be compared easily. A dashboard overview of the entire ship makes it easy to pinpoint any critical findings by crew or third-party inspectors.

“We are convinced we can get an easier and faster overview of hull conditions across the fleet and much better preparation for dry dockings with GL HullManager.” Mr Lutz-Michael Dyck, Director of Technical Fleet Management, said. Sebastian Eggert, the GL software account manager responsible for Hapag-Lloyd added, “We are very proud to welcome Hapag-Lloyd to our user community. Hapag-Lloyd set us a very stringent set of requirements they needed the system to meet and we are very glad we were able to match their expectations.” The project has already started and the teams look to deliver the first vessel groups this year.

Since its introduction onto the market in 2011, GL HullManager has built an impressive user community of more than 350 vessels of all kinds worldwide. The system was recently upgraded with a mobile client version for use in compartments and upcoming extra features in development include an automatic proposal for the amount of steel to be replaced for a dry dock tender specification, integration of hatch cover tightness measurement results and hot spot marking functionality.

GL HullManager helps owners to keep track of the condition of their vessels’ hull, on a ship specific 3D model complete with all of a ship’s structural details. It supports the complete hull integrity process, from inspections to reporting and condition assessments of tanks, cargo holds and coatings, throughout its entire lifecycle by means of crew inspections and thickness measurements. The use of the vessel-specific 3D model enables visualization and assessment of the hull’s structural condition.

The crew can mark any coating or structural failures on the 3D model, such as marking an individual finding or adding a photo and descrip-

Hapag-Lloyd is one of the global leading liner operators with more than 150 vessels in service and 7.000 staff globally. For over 165 years the company has set industry-wide benchmarks for reliability, service, productivity and environmental protection.

As of 12 September 2013, DNV and GL have merged to DNV GL The new company DNV GL has started operating as one company with effect from 12 September 2013. DNV GL forms the world’s largest ship and offshore classification society, a leading technical advisor to the oil & gas industry and a leading expert for the energy value chain including renewables.

DNV GL also takes the position as one of the top three certification bodies in the world.

52 nafs October 2013

Alfa Laval Gas Combustion Unit for liquefied natural gas carriers “Alfa Laval Aalborg Solutions” The Alfa Laval GCU technology consist of following main components: exhaust gas stack, combustion chamber including burner, air chamber, combined dilution/combustion fans, gas valve train and control and power panels.

Alfa Laval is committed to LNG transport. That is why we have added yet another securityenhancing solution for LNG carriers.

The Alfa Laval Gas Combustion Unit (GCU) conveniently handles boil-off on vessels with dual-fuel or low-speed diesel engines. With a uniquely compact design and low-maintenance operation, it combines easy integration with true reliability.

The Alfa Laval GCU joins the inert gas generators, burners, boilers, heat exchangers and more in our already extensive LNG portfolio. And perhaps most important for your LNG business, it comes with our worldwide network of service and support.

Application During the last decade, the major part of new-building LNG carriers have changed main propulsion system from steam turbine into Dual Fuel Diesel Electric (DFDE) propulsion.

The use of DFDE engines or the new generation 2-stroke DF engines provides LNG ship-owners and operators with eco¬nomical and environmentally sound alternatives to traditional systems.

These engines, however, require additional means with which to regulate LNG cargo tank pressure. There are a number of alternative systems

that can be applied but the large part of the DFDE vessels being build today are equipped with GCUs. The GCU has been introduced as a crucial part of the ves¬sel’s boil-off management strategy and provides a safe, reli¬able method to burn the excess boil-off gas that is not used by the ship propulsion system.

Gas Combustion Unit from Alfa Laval Proven and with a simple design, the Alfa Laval GCU is a compact system that safely disposes of excess boil-off gas. Available as a stand-alone unit, the Alfa Laval GCU has proven capabilities to burn gas mixture with high nitrogen content in a safe way, ensuring the disposal of all methane gas without requiring the use of pilot oil burners.

The Alfa Laval GCU is considered to offer the smallest foot¬print onboard and the lowest maintenance cost on the market today. These factors combined with proven technol¬ogy and simplicity in design makes the Alfa Laval GCU the clear choice for today’s LNG Carriers. It provides ship-owners with gas combustion technology that is easy to integrate, and reliable to operate and easy to maintain due to fewer spare parts.

This is made possible, in part, through the use of: • Simple and compact design without any moving parts inside the combustion chamber • Combined combustion and dilution fans that do not require silencers or duct pipes • All metallic combustion chamber with no refractory lining • Electric igniters instead of an oil pilot and associated equip¬ment • Induct burner type that offers a robust and extremely reliable design

Capacity range The Alfa Laval GCU is available in four standard sizes, which accommodate capacities of 1.5 to 3 t/h, 3 to 4.5 t/h, 4.5 to 6 t/h, and 6 to 9 t/h methane, using either single or dual combustion chambers.

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SEA IS EVEN MORE STABLE.

54 nafs October 2013

Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines and propulsion systems chosen for two Chinese LNG carrier vessels This latest order further strengthens Wärtsilä’s leading position as a supplier of engines for LNG carriers. Since the first Wärtsilä 50DF engines were fitted onboard LNG carriers some ten years ago, approximately 65 per cent of all new LNG carriers have been fitted with Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines. Furthermore, Wärtsilä gas and dual-fuel engines are increasingly becoming the propulsion choice throughout all segments of the shipping industry.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading solutions and services provider, is to supply its Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines and propulsion systems for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier vessels under construction in two Chinese shipyards.

The two orders are similar in scope of supply but have been issued separately. The first is from the Ningbo Xinle Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd together with its trading partner, Shanghai CSR Hange Shipping Engineering Co., Ltd. The other order has been issued by Cosco (Dalian) shipyards. The ships are being built for two different Chinese owners, the Zhejiang Yuanhe Ocean Shipping Company and Dalian Inteh Group Co., Ltd. Each vessel will be powered by a Wärtsilä 50DF engine, a Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP), a gearbox and related systems. The Wärtsilä 50DF engines selected to power these vessels will enable them to operate primarily on LNG while retaining the option to switch to conventional marine fuels if necessary. Deliveries of the Wärtsilä equipment are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2014, and the ships will be launched approximately one year later. They will operate mainly in Chinese waters, and will transport LNG between terminals and to other ships.

Wärtsilä’s DF technology fits well the needs of the LNG carriers segment. It offers a very high efficiency over the entire output power range, has the advantage of being able to use cheaper and cleaner fuel, and lower emission levels that enable compliance with current and anticipated environmental legislation. Wärtsilä DF engines can also be run at stable low speeds for extended periods of time.

“Wärtsilä has been a pioneer in developing the technology that enables LNG carriers to utilize gas as a fuel, and the technical strength of this technology has provided considerable added value for our customers. Chinese owners are beginning to invest significantly in LNG carriers powered by dual-fuel engines, and these latest orders will add impetus to the market, both in China and globally,” says Aaron Bresnahan, Vice President Sales, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

The Wärtsilä 50DF engine

The Wärtsilä 50DF engine is manufactured in various configurations from a 6-cylinder in-line version to an 18-cylinder version in V-configuration, giving 950/975 kW per cylinder and a total maximum mechanical output of 17,100 kW. The engine speed is 500 or 514 rpm with 50Hz and 60 Hz applications. The maximum thermal efficiency is higher than with any other gas engine.

When operating in gas mode, the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are at least 85 percent below those specified in the current IMO regulations, and CO2 emissions are some 25 percent less than those of a conventional marine engine running on diesel fuel. Additionally, the sulphur oxide (SOx) and particle emissions are negligible at almost zero percent.

56 nafs October 2013

ABB Turbocharging organized its biennial customer event at Hellenic Motor Museum.

ABB Turbocharging event in Greece was held at Hellenic Motor Museum on October 9, 2013.

ABB Turbocharging of Greece organized for the fourth year a unique event at Hellenic Motor Museum for its customers, bringing top level executives from various leading shipping companies of the local market.

The main purpose was to raise awareness and promote the latest developments on ABB Turbocharging and services and more specifically introduce ABB turbocharger A200-L, the new generation of single stage turbochargers for low-speed two-stroke engines. The major reductions on service costs (approx.25% savings) and the high efficiency for reduced fuel savings that A200-L offers, enhances company’s leading position in the marine and power plant markets, as one of the most reliable supplier for quality products and services.

The opening speech was held by the Local Business Unit Manager of ABB Turbocharging for Greece & Cyprus, Mr. John Smyrneos, who welcomed the guests and thanked them for their loyalty on ABB Turbocharging products and services. Keynote speaker of the event was Mr. Markus Rupp, Senior Regional Manager of ABB Turbo Systems / Switzerland, who also presented a paper, entitled “Boosting Performance “.

After the end of the presentation guests enjoyed a guided tour to the history of technology and the 4 wheels evolution and had the chance to admire the private collection of more than 300 vehicles, from an 1895 fire engine from Hungary to a Ferrari 308 GTS of 1980! A dinner at the top roof of the Hellenic Motor Museum was followed and customers had the opportunity to come in contact with ABB experts from Greece, Cyprus and Switzerland, giving their thanks to the efforts made by ABB

to keep them updated about the latest solutions and products of ABB Turbocharging.

ABB Turbocharging (www.abb.com/turbocharging) is at the helm of the global industry in the manufacture and maintenance of turbochargers for 500 kW to 80+ MW diesel and gas engines. Our leading-edge technology and innovation enables our customers to perform better and produce fewer emissions, even in the toughest terrains. Approximately 200,000 ABB turbochargers are in operation across the globe on ships, power stations, gen-sets, diesel locomotives and large, off-highway vehicles.

With over 100 Service Stations in 50 countries worldwide, we’re everywhere our customers need us to be, doing whatever they need us to do.

We ensure that your investment performs optimally for its entire lifetime through unrivalled expertise and a wide service portfolio that guarantees Original Parts and Original Service anytime, anywhere.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people. Φωτό: Guided tour to Hellenic Motor Museum Photographer: Pantelis Marlagoutsos

Impact Assessment of the Shipping Cluster on the Greek Economy & Society

Global management consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has conducted a study assessing the economic and social benefits of the Greek maritime industry (shipping cluster). The study was presented on the 14th of October event attended by the Minister of Shipping, Maritime Affairs and the Aegean, Mr. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Minister of Development and Competitiveness, Mr. Kostis Chatzidakis, the President of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Mr. Theodoros Veniamis. The discussion was moderated by Timos Christodoulou.

Mr. Vassilis Antoniades, Managing Partner of BCG in Greece said “Our study demonstrates the significant contribution of the shipping industry to Greece’s GDP which can become a key driver of recovery from the recession. The shipping cluster can, as it has done in the past, support the Greek economy in terms of liquidity, employment, contribution to GDP and investment, both in shipping and in many other sectors of the economy. Examples since the 1960’s are the establishment of shipyards and refineries, airlines, investments in world class hotel complexes” Mrs. Camille Egloff-Ghicas, Partner and Head of BCG SEE Shipping Practice stressed that: “Shipping is one of the Greek business sectors with global competitive advantage. It is indicative that the average operating cost of the Greek-controlled fleet is 23% lower than the global average.

This is an important message signaling that additional investments in the sector can be attracted; this is a key priority for the economic recovery.”

Methodology The study is based on the vast experience of The Boston Consulting

Group in the shipping industry, their proprietary database with benchmarks of vessel operating expenses as well as belief audits with industry experts and a thorough review of publicly available data. In order to comprehensively estimate the contribution of Greek shipping to the country’s economy, it is necessary to assess the direct, indirect and induced impact attributed to the Greek shipping cluster.

Beyond shipping, Greek shipowners invest in other sectors of the Greek economy and contribute to the Greek society through social impact.

Therefore the study identifies and presents concrete actions that could enhance the current contribution of Greek shipping to the Greek economy.

Main results

1 Economic Benefits • The direct contribution of the core Greek shipping cluster is estimated to be €7.6B representing 3.5% of the Greek GDP. Greek cargo ship companies contribute the most with €6.5B. In addition, the shipping cluster indirectly contributes a further €2.3B to the economy, while the total induced impact of Greek shipping is estimated at €3.4B. Thus, the total contribution of the shipping cluster is €13.4B or 6% of Greek GDP (2010 data) • The contribution of the Greek shipping cluster in the past years has remained stable indicating that the contribution to the Greek GDP may amount to 7% in 2013 • Greek shipping cluster employs approximately 165,000 people, which represents 3.5% of total country’s employment (previous studies have

nafs October 2013

59

estimated that the direct and induced employment in the maritime sector contribute to an even greater number of jobs).

BCG

A study illustrating that shipping can become a key growth driver for the Greek economy

2 Non-shipping investments and social responsibility activities • Greek shipowners have been investing shipping generated capital in other sectors of the Greek economy such as Energy, Transportation, Construction, Financial Services, Tourism, Technology and Retail. Significant funds are also invested in Real Estate. These economic activities support the GDP and employment in Greece, and reveal the additional contribution of Greek shipping to the economy.

• Greek shipowners have also been supporting arts & culture, education, health and social welfare through individual contributions, through the Union of Greek Shipowners or through their own foundations.

In the future, Greek shipping, though applying best practices, could further support the Greek economy and become a key driver of economic recovery. Five concrete actions could enhance the shipping activities in Greece and thereby increase their impact to the Greek economy. It is important to note that the continued contribution of shipping to the Greek economy, especially in the present climate requires action from both the state, to boost the sector with the proposed actions, but also the cluster itself, in order to attract new investors and strengthen the sector.

• Integration of shipping in the long-term national development strategy. E.g. The Swedish government recently announced an action plan to strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish shipping in the global market • Simplify requirements and processes for start-ups and reduce bureaucracy.

E.g. Singapore replaced slow and bureaucratic administrative procedures with an electronic system, available 24 hours a day • Stable institutional framework to maintain attractiveness in an increasingly competitive international ship registration environment and to attract further shipping activities e.g. Malta provides incentives to increase the number of younger ships under its flag. As a result Malta today holds the largest register in Europe • Increase enrollment in maritime educational institutions to increase employment of Greeks in the shipping cluster. E.g. UK provides financial assistance to organizations that provide maritime training. This action has doubled the number of young people choosing to attend maritime academies in the last decade • Upgrade educational quality and establish private maritime schools. A best practice example is Philippines, the number one seafarers training nation, that constantly ensures that the maritime education/ training follow international standards.

60 nafs October 2013

Cpt. Lefteris Mylonopoulos, Mr. Hu Jin Gen and Mr. Sun Liwei with Mr. Dimitris Vranopoulos

Mr. Argyris Xenakis, Mrs. Elena Xypolita – Vranopoulou and Mr. Takis Agrafiotis

Mr. Zhou Jian Xiang, Mr. Dimitris Vranopoulos, Mr. Hu Jin Gen, Mr. Cheng Lin & Mr. Christos Hadjigeorgiou

Mr. Haris Giantzikis, Mr. Antonis Panagiotareas & Mr. Ar. Pagalos

Chengxi Shipyard reception

dinner in Greece

Mr. Aristides Pantos, Mr. Lambros Hahalis with Cpt. Vagelis Georgiadis

Mr. Nikos and Thanasis Alexandrou

nafs October 2013

61

O

n Wednesday, 16th of October 2013, Chengxi Shipyard Co Ltd (subsidiary of CSSC Group of China) and its main agent in Greece, Marine Plus SA, organized a reception dinner at the Piraeus Marine Club. The event was under the auspices of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Hellenic Republic and Mr. Sun Liwei, Economic & Commercial Counsellor, honored the event on behalf of the Ambassador Mr. Du Qiwen.

Mr. Ion Varouxakis with Mr. Cheng Lin and Mr. Hu Jin Gen

The participants had the opportunity to be informed about the activities of the Shipyard by Mr. Hu Jin Gen (Assistant President of CSSC & Past Chairman of Chengxi Shipyard), Mr. Zhou Jian Xiang (Assistant President of Chengxi Shipyard) and Mr. Dimitri Vranopoulos (Managing Director of Marine Plus SA).

Chengxi Shipyard is one of the largest Ship repair and new building enterprises, wholly-owned by China CSSC Holdings Limited. It has a good advantage in road and water way transportation as it is adjacent to the port cities like Shanghai, Nantong and Zhangjiagang. The company is mainly engaged in ship repair/conversion, new building, offshore engineering and large steel construction. The annually capacity is repair/convert over 200 vessels with deadweight up to 300,000 tons; and delivers 20 ships for new building with deadweight up to 70,000 tons; and manufacture steel structure up to 60,000 tons.

Mrs. Elena Xypolita-Vranopoulou with Mr. and Mrs. Karnesis

Mrs. Anastasia Papazoglou, Mrs. Elina Pougakioti with Mr. George S. Panou

Marine Plus SA is closely cooperating with Chengxi S/Y for the last 20 years and is doing approximately 90% of their Greek vessel repairs annually. The shipyard has an increasing base of Greek repeated customers due to their continuous improvement and their customer’s satisfaction orientation.

Mr. Dimitris Sficas with Mr. Lambros Hahalis

62 nafs October 2013

PPG opens office with coatings application

and training center in Greece

PPG Industries recently celebrated the grand opening of its new facility in Acharnai, Greece. In addition to administrative offices, the facility will house a spray application center and customer training facilities. During the opening event, Nikos Georgiou, PPG managing director, Greece (far left), welcomed more than 200 attendees, including regional customers and PPG executives.

Shown here with Georgiou, from left, are PPG executives Tom Molenda, global platform director, marine; Christophe Meyer, CEMTA (Central Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa) director, automotive refinish; Chris Francis, marine sales director, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa); Jan Willem Tegelaar, general manager, PMC (protective and marine coatings), EMEA; and Tim Knavish, vice president, PMC. The facility, locally named PPG Hellas S.A, serves customers in Greece and the surrounding areas for PPG’s automotive refinish, architectural coatings, and protective and marine coatings businesses.

PPG: BRINGING INNOVATION TO THE SURFACE.(TM)

PPG Industries’ vision is to continue to be the world’s leading coatings and specialty products company. Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG helps customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company. Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in nearly 70 countries around the world. Sales in 2012 were $15.2 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com and follow @PPGIndustries on Twitter.

Helmepa: Προστατεύοντας έμπρακτα

τις θάλασσες και τις ακτές μας Η Παγκόσμια Εκστρατεία Εθελοντικού Καθαρισμού Ακτών 2013 ξεκίνησε το Σάββατο 21 Σεπτεμβρίου με τη συμμετοχή εκατοντάδων χιλιάδων ατόμων σε 80 και πλέον χώρες του κόσμου. Στην Ελλάδα την εκστρατεία συντονίζει για 22η συνεχή χρονιά η Ελληνική Ένωση Προστασίας Θαλασσίου Περιβάλλοντος – HELMEPA. Τα συνολικά στοιχεία για τη χώρα μας συγκεντρώνονται και θα ανακοινωθούν στις αρχές Νοεμβρίου, καθώς οι δράσεις καθαρισμού ακτών και βυθού συνεχίζονται μέχρι τα τέλη Οκτωβρίου. Στην ευρύτερη περιοχή της Αθήνας, την έναρξη της εκστρατείας σηματοδότησε ο καθαρισμός της ακτής του Σταδίου Ειρήνης και Φιλίας (Σ.Ε.Φ.) που διοργάνωσε η HELMEPA σε συνεργασία με την Ελληνική Εταιρία Αξιοποίησης-Ανακύκλωσης (Ε.Ε.Α.Α.). Συμμετείχαν 100 μαθητές και εκπαιδευτικοί του τμήματος IB των Εκπαιδευτηρίων Γείτονα, της Ιονίου Σχολής και άλλοι εθελοντές, οι οποίοι μέσα σε 2 ώρες κατόρθωσαν να γεμίσουν 150 μεγάλες σακούλες με απορρίμματα. Ο κύριος όγκος των απορριμμάτων ήταν ανακυκλώσιμα υλικά, όπως 2.125 πλαστικά μπουκάλια, 2.029 καπάκια και 1.000 καλαμάκια, τα οποία διαχώρισαν οι εθελοντές και παρέλαβε το ειδικό όχημα της Ε.Ε.Α.Α. Στα κοινά απορρίμματα κατέγραψαν, μεταξύ άλλων, 75 αναπτήρες,

προφυλακτήρα και ελαστικά οχήματος, καρέκλες και άλλα. Στην καταγραφή των απορριμμάτων συμμετείχε επιστημονικό προσωπικό του Ελληνικού Κέντρου Θαλασσίων Ερευνών (ΕΛ.ΚΕ.Θ.Ε.), καθώς χρησιμοποιήθηκε για πρώτη φορά η πιλοτική εφαρμογή κινητού τηλεφώνου “Marine Litter Watch” της Ευρωπαϊκής Υπηρεσίας Περιβάλλοντος (Ε.Ε.Α.) στο πλαίσιο του ευρωπαϊκού ερευνητικού προγράμματος PERSEUS. Την ίδια ημέρα, καθαρισμό ακτής πραγματοποίησαν στην Κάρυστο εθελοντές «Ναυτίλοι» από το Γενικό Λύκειο Καρύστου, ενώ την επομένη, Κυριακή 22 Σεπτεμβρίου, οι εθελοντές-δύτες της ομάδας Loutraki Divers επανέλαβαν τον καθαρισμό του βυθού στην τοποθεσία «Καταρράκτες» Λουτρακίου. Τα υποβρύχια ευρήματά τους συμπεριλάμβαναν, μεταξύ άλλων, αλιευτικά δίχτυα συνολικού βάρους 11 κιλών, 270 αλουμινένια κουτάκια, 33 γυάλινα μπουκάλια, μία ηλεκτρονική συσκευή GPS και καπάκι τουαλέτας! Όσοι ενδιαφέρονται να δηλώσουν συμμετοχή στην εκστρατεία μπορούν να δουν τις προγραμματισμένες δράσεις στο διαδικτυακό χάρτη της εκστρατείας ή να επικοινωνήσουν με τoν Τομέα Περιβαλλοντικής Ενημέρωσης της HELMEPA, τηλ. 210-9343088, environment@helmepa.gr για την οργάνωση του δικού τους καθαρισμού.

We support innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions For more information, please contact: Bureau Veritas Greek Central Office 23, Etolikou Str. - 185 45 PIRAEUS Tel: +30 (210) 40 63 000 Fax: +30 (210) 40 63 063 Email: grc_lpr@gr.bureauveritas.com Visit us on: www.bureauveritas.com - www.veristar.com www.bureauveritas.gr

Move Forward with Confidence

64 nafs October 2013

Με εξαιρετική επιτυχία ολοκληρώθηκε το 21ο

ALBA Career Forum Με εξαιρετική επιτυχία ολοκληρώθηκε για 21η χρονιά το Career Forum του ALBA στις 17-19 Σεπτεμβρίου, 2013 στις εγκαταστάσεις του στην Αθήνα (Ξενίας 6-8, Πλατεία Μαβίλη). Επιπλέον, για πρώτη χρονιά διοργανώθηκε ειδικό Career Day στις 20 Σεπτεμβρίου για απασχόληση σε νέες και γρήγορα αναπτυσσόμενες επιχειρήσεις (startups) από το ALBA Hub for Enterprise and Development, το κέντρο επιχειρηματικότητας του ALBA. Έχοντας καθιερωθεί ως θεσμός στην αγορά εργασίας, η εκδήλωση έχει ως στόχο να φέρει σε επαφή τους τελειόφοιτους του ALBA με εκπροσώπους της αγοράς εργασίας, ώστε να διερευνήσουν από κοινού προοπτικές για νέες επαγγελματικές συνεργασίες. Οι εκπρόσωποι των εταιρειών τόνισαν για ακόμη μία χρονιά το υψηλό ακαδημαϊκό επίπεδο, τον επαγγελματισμό και το δυναμικό προφίλ των σπουδαστών. Στην εκδήλωση συμμετείχαν 52 φοιτητές από τα εξής ακαδημαϊκά προγράμματα: The ALBA MBA, MSc in Finance, MSc in International Business and Management, MSc in Business for Lawyers, MSc in International Shipping and Finance, MSc in Marketing και MSc in Strategic HRM. Παράλληλα, έλαβαν μέρος 70 διακεκριμένες εταιρείες, οι οποίες εκπροσωπήθηκαν από 85 υψηλόβαθμα στελέχη της Διοίκησης Ανθρώπινου Δυναμικού, εκ των οποίων πολλοί και απόφοιτοι του ALBA. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί, ότι κατά τη διάρκεια του Career Forum πραγματοποιήθηκαν περίπου 800 συνεντεύξεις.

To ειδικό Career Day για απασχόληση σε νέες και γρήγορα αναπτυσσόμενες επιχειρήσεις (startups) διοργανώθηκε με την υποστήριξη της Workable, ο ιδρυτής της οποίας Νίκος Μωραϊτάκης παρουσίασε στους συμμετέχοντες φοιτητές τον τρόπο με τον οποίο μπορούν να εργαστούν σε μια startup. Οι φοιτητές συναντήθηκαν με ιδρυτές και εκπροσώπους 11 επιτυχυμένων νέων επιχειρήσεων που αναζητούν συνεργάτες για την ανάπτυξη της ομάδας τους. Σχολιάζοντας την εκδήλωση η κα Μαρία Μωραγιάννη, Διευθύντρια

του Career & Alumni Office, είπε: «Στο φετινό Career Forum του ALBA συμμετείχαν σχετικά λίγοι φοιτητές, καθότι αρκετοί έχουν ήδη απορροφηθεί από την αγορά εργασίας. Είμαστε περήφανοι που η ελληνική αγορά συνεχίζει να μας εμπιστεύεται για τη στελέχωση των επιχειρήσεών της και που οι σπουδαστές μας ανταποκρίνονται επάξια στις υψηλές απαιτήσεις της εποχής. Το ALBA και το Career & Alumni Office θα συνεχίσουν να προετοιμάζουν και να εξοπλίζουν τους αυριανούς ηγέτες». Το φετινό ALBA Career Forum πραγματοποιήθηκε με την ευγενική χορηγία των ελαστικών Continental. Χορηγός catering ήταν η εταιρεία GALAXY Catering, υποστηρικτές οι εταιρείες Mondelez International και Ε.Ι. ΠΑΠΑΔΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ Α.Ε., digital partner η 9ΑΜ MEDIALABS, printing partner η Εκτυπωτική Αξιών – Μ. Μπαλκογιαννάκια & ΣΙΑ Ο.Ε., ενώ comunication partners το περιοδικό HR Professional, το Kariera.gr, το getbusy. gr και η Eurocharity.

ClassNK Issues World’s Second Statement of

Compliance to Ship Recycling Facility Leading classification society ClassNK (Chairman and President: Noboru Ueda) announced that it has issued the world’s second Statement of Compliance to Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Marine Service Co., Ltd. (CEO: Sun De Lin; Changxing Island, Dalian) confirming that it is in compliance with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009.

The Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Marine Service Co., Ltd plant (Changxing Island) was established as a repair yard, but with ship recycling being carried out on its 500,000m2 site and repair use dry docks, and an estimated annual recycling capability of 1,000,000LDT (light displacement tonnage: preliminary calculation standard for determining the selling price of a scrapped vessel), it has one of the largest capacities of China’s ship recycling facilities.

The Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Marine Service Co., Ltd developed its Ship Recycling Facility Plan (SRFP) in preparation for the incoming convention. An SRFP is required by the competent authorities when authorizing a Ship Recycling Facility to be in compliance with the convention. As an independent third party organisation, ClassNK confirmed that the SRFP met the requirements of the convention, and that the facility is carrying out recycling according to its SRFP. This marks the world’s second issuance of an SOC for the Hong Kong Convention; the first issued to Jiangmen Zhongxin Shipbreaking & Steel Co., Ltd. (CEO Liang Zhuo Quan) by ClassNK in December 2012.

66 nafs October 2013 A 400-tonne MacGregor subsea crane on board North Sea Shipping’s North Sea Giant has a similar design with the main AHC winch installed under deck

MacGregor receives an order for two subsea cranes for new Norwegian-owned Arctic construction vessel MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has received an order for two MacGregor active heave-compensated (AHC) offshore cranes from a Turkish shipyard for a new subsea inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) and construction vessel for a Norwegian owner. A 250-tonne and a 15-tonne MacGregor subsea crane will be installed on the 129m vessel. The 250-tonne unit will have its winch installed below the working deck and will also feature wire rope integrity software. The order was booked in the third quarter 2013 order intake.

“Environmentally-friendly and safe offshore operations are steadily becoming a standard for many operators,” says Frode Grovan, Director, Sales and Marketing for Advanced Load Handling. “The MacGregor equipment shares this focus and will be delivered with the added benefit of wire rope integrity software, which enhances operational safety and allows an operator to monitor a wire’s wear status and therefore plan for its replacement and even extend its lifespan.”

The cranes will enable subsea operations to depths of between 2,600m and 3,000m and both will be fitted with a MacGregor Arctic package for safe and efficient operations in cold climates. The Skipsteknisk ST-259-design vessel is scheduled for delivery at the end of 2015.

20 MacGregor cranes ordered for multi-

purpose vessels

Four new 38,000 dwt general cargo ships for Nanjing King Ship Management will benefit from the flexible load-handling capabilities of MacGregor cranes; the five cranes on each vessel will have a total lifting capability of 236 tonnes MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has recently secured an order to supply 20 MacGregor cranes for four new 38,000 dwt general cargo vessels under construction at Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding Co Ltd in China for the Chinese shipping company, Nanjing King Ship Management Co Ltd. The vessels are scheduled for delivery between late 2014 and early 2015. The order was booked in the third quarter 2013 order intake.

“The mix of cranes is designed to provide high levels of cargo handling efficiency,” says Svante Lundberg, Sales Manager, Cranes. “The nature of a general cargo vessel means that the arrangement of the cranes has to deliver high levels of flexibility for loading and discharging an extremely variable cargo profile; we have worked closely with all parties to develop the best configuration.” Each MacGregor crane outfit comprises one 36-tonne SWL crane with an outreach of 26m located forward, and two twin-GL cranes each with a 2 x 50-tonne SWL capacity and an outreach of 26m. Delivery of the cranes is planned between 2014 and the beginning of 2015.

68 nafs October 2013

Alfa Laval wins repeat PureSOx systems order from Danish ferry operator DFDS

Alfa Laval – a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – won a repeat order for Alfa Laval’s PureSOx exhaust gas cleaning systems valued at approximately 19.5 MEUR (170 MSEK) from Danish ferry operator DFDS. The contract was signed in June, and the order was booked and communicated to stakeholders in the second quarter of 2013. Delivery is scheduled from January to July 2014 with retrofit installation and commissioning of eight DFDS vessels – five roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels and three roll-on/roll-off passenger (Ro-Pax) vessels – to follow immediately thereafter.

Alfa Laval’s long-term partnership with DFDS stretches back to 2008 when DFDS first installed PureSOx aboard M/V Ficaria Seaways. Since then, PureSOx has operated successfully for more than 10,000 hours in open and closed loop configurations and in full compliance with IMO regulations for sulphur emissions control areas. PureSOx consistently reduces sulphur content from heavy fuel oil exhaust gas to a level below 0.1%.

Last December DFDS ordered PureSOx systems to retrofit three additional Ro-Ro vessels. Six months later, this 19.5 MEUR order for PureSOx systems for eight additional vessels was received. This brings the total number of DFDS vessels, including the M/V Ficaria, that have been or will be retrofitted with PureSOx to 12.

In placing its latest order, DFDS gives its tacit endorsement to the PureSOx system. The eight-vessel order is also noteworthy due to the range of: engine makers (MAN, GMT-Sulzer and Wärtsilä); engine types (both two- and four-stroke); total output power (18.9 to 28.8 MW); exhaust gas mass flow (124,600 to 205,000 kg/h). Moreover, the addition of the Ro-Pax vessel type extends the PureSOx vessel type beyond Ro-Ro vessels only.

Commenting on the order, DFDS vice president and head of technical organisation Kasper Moos said, “With our investments in scrubber systems, DFDS is among the companies leading the way to compliance with the sulphur emissions regulations that will take effect in 2015. We believe hybrid scrubbers are among the most efficient alternatives to using expensive low-sulphur fuel oil. Based on our previous experience, PureSOx has proven to be a reliable and efficient retrofit solution. We have been very pleased with the cooperation with Alfa Laval.”

The PureSOx scrubber solution provides competitive advantage by limiting the increase in DFDS’ operating costs. Using PureSOx enables DFDS to continue to use heavy fuel oil on these vessels instead of paying higher prices for low-sulphur fuel while ensuring full compliance with current and future IMO sulphur emissions regulations.

“We are pleased that DFDS is satisfied with the performance of the Alfa Laval PureSOx systems,” says Peter Leifland, President, Alfa Laval Marine & Diesel Division. “We will continue to support DFDS in their discussions with ship designers and shipyards and in their efforts to ensure their vessels are fully compliant with IMO emissions regulations.”

The IMO International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships requires all vessels to comply with a 0.1% sulphur emission limit in certain Emission Control Areas (ECAs) beginning in 2015 and a 0.5% limit beginning in 2020.

Facts about Alfa Laval PureSOx PureSOx is a highly effective sulphur-removal system, and the first installed and operated as a main engine (21 MW) exhaust gas scrubber. The ability to switch between an open loop with seawater or a closed loop with fresh water gives PureSOx unique operational flexibility. PureSOx is the first scrubber system with multiple inlets, and its modular construction ensures a compact and energy-efficient installation.

• Sulphur removal in accordance with IMO MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 • Sulphur removal rate greater than 98% (exceeds IMO requirements) • Particulate matter (PM) trapping up to 80% • Ability to operate in low-alkalinity waters • Multiple-inlet options to reduce the number of scrubbers on board • Upgradeable design for compliance with future legislation • Short payback time (1-2 years) thanks to fuel cost savings • Operating power consumption: approximately 1.5% of engine power • Includes the PureSOx H2O water cleaning unit

70 nafs October 2013

Auramarine´s new, cost-efficient

solution meets lower sulphur emission levels

The new tightened sulphur emission rules will become effective in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the English Channel and North America in 2015.

The time for making the alterations required by the new regulations is running short. The easiest, fastest and the most cost-effective solution to meet the challenges of reducing sulphur emissions is to switch to MGO, which only contains 0.1% sulphur. The emission limits can be met easily by using fuel that contains less sulphur.

Challenges posed by low-sulphur fuel A switch to low-sulphur fuel requires special equipment and expertise.

The availability of total solutions in which all the challenges posed by a switch from HFO to MGO have been taken into account is limited. In an optimal solution, a switch from HFO to MGO or vice versa takes place automatically and in such a manner that the lubrication of the ship’s engines is ensured in every phase.

Auramarine´s solution fits both newbuilds and retrofits Thanks to its superior experience in ship fuel systems, Auramarine is able to offer a fast, reliable and affordable service when a switch to lowsulphur fuel is needed. Auramarine’s equipment consists of three units: FO Supply unit, MGO Cooling System, and Auramarine Fuel Selector - an automatic system that controls the HFO/MGO change-over procedure.

Auramarine’s solution can easily be integrated with any heavy fuel oil feeding system, whether newbuild or retrofit. In the case of newbuild, it is worthwhile to utilize Auramarine’s AMB FO Supply units, which have been designed to function seamlessly with the MGO solution.

Ensuring engine lubrication is the number one priority The cooling system reduces MGO’s temperature and increases viscosity to a level that meets the requirements set by the engine manufacturer. The ability of ship engines to utilize MGO varies considerably and the MGO Cooling System enables practically all ships to switch to low-sulphur fuel.

In a switch to low-sulphur fuel, it is of utmost importance that the process is both easy and safe. The switch must not jeopardize the lubrication of the engine and thereby the engine’s service life. Auramarine’s fuel switch system secures this important phase completely.

Auramarine’s solution helps achieve lower sulphur emissions Auramarine Fuel Selector makes it possible to program the change-over procedure from one fuel to another to take place fully automatically. The system also ensures that the temperature change process is slow

enough. The temperature of the fuel entering the engine must not change by more than about 2°C per minute.

Auramarine Fuel Selector also allows data reporting. The system saves the data on the PLC Unit and converts it into a clear report for the use of the shipping company and relevant authorities. The Auramarine Fuel Selector allows the ship’s crew to monitor the process data in real time. Apart from the automatic change-over process, the system can be controlled manually. The Auramarine Fuel Selector also includes the possibility to monitor the overall functioning of the system.

All in all, the Auramarine Fuel Selector offers shipping companies an easy, fast and cost-efficient solution for entering the new era of lower sulphur emissions required by the new regulations.

Auramarine has been the world’s leading manufacturer of fuel oil supply systems for over 30 years. We have wide-ranging experience in liquid flows, and this expertise is also utilized in the design and manufacture of cooling water and lubrication oil units and BWT systems. With over 12,000 skid mounted auxiliary units, Auramarine has superior experience in fuel systems. Our solutions include planning, required technical equipment alteration work and 24/7 spare parts service.

72 nafs October 2013

A 6th year of success for the Capital Link ‘Annual International Shipping & Marine Services Forum’ On Thursday, September 17, 2013, Capital Link successfully held its 6th Annual International & Marine Services Forum at the London Stock Exchange, which drew in a diverse group of more than 300 senior decision makers in the industry.

Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link, welcomed all attendees and thanked the London Stock Exchange for hosting the Conference. He underlined the importance of London as a great hub in the global shipping Industry and its positioning to develop London as a capital market destination for shipping companies around the world. He mentioned that Capital Link’s London Forum aims to raise awareness of Shipping and Marine Services to larger investor audience in the UK and Continental Europe.

Luca Peyrano, the Head of Continental Europe at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), referred to the LSE’s contribution and longstanding tradition to the shipping industry. London’s community and expertise in this sector has made London a natural destination for the shipping and marine services. Despite the instability of the recent years, capital markets are gradually contributing more to finance this sector and London maintains a leading position in liquidity at an international level.

The Forum began with a sector overview of Marine Services, given by Peter Ashworth (Equity Analyst, Charles Stanley). Mr. Ashworth referred through examples of the volatility in the shipping market and how this can attract investors. The Marine Services sector has unique characteristics compared to other sectors, such as its broad range of services, and the professionals and practitioners involved in this Industry (End Markets, Commercial, Offshore Industries, Offshore wind, Naval, Leisure). What is appealing to investors in this sector is the strong connection between the Shipping Industry and the Marine Services Industry. Mr. Ashworth concluded the presentation with James Fisher & Sons’ involvement in the Marine Services sector.

Elinor Dautlich (Partner, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP) moderated the “Shipping & Banking Lending” panel. Panelists Joep Gorgels (Country Executive Norway, ABN AMRO Bank N.V), Christopher Conway (Managing Director, Global Head of Risk, Shipping & Maritime Logistics,- Citigroup), Mark Ras (Senior VP, Dry Bulk Group, DVB Bank SE), and Bart Veldhuizen (Consultant, Apollo Management International LLP) focused around the difficulty of finding ship financing today and the specialty of this sector. There are fewer banks actively financing the shipping companies today. In general, ship financing is a long term process and is high in risk for decent returns. Regulation has become increasingly more complex in this process. Lenders need to see healthy balance sheets and know in advance where companies are going to allocate these assets.

There is a tendency for more sophisticated choices during the recent years, such as LNG and Offshore Drilling. Lastly, from a private equity point of view, understanding this market is essential.

Our next panel, “Capital Markets & Alternative Financing: How to Close the Funding Gap,” was moderated by Panos Katsambas (Partner, Reed Smith).

Panelists Truls Trøan (Head of Corporate Finance, RS Platou Markets), Nicholas Stillman (Managing Director Investment Banking, Clarkson Capital Markets), Jeffrey Pribor (Global Head of Shipping Investment Banking, Jefferies & Company, Inc.), and Andrew Meigh (Director of Strategic Development, Charles Stanley Securities) discussed about alternative financing options, the situation of today’s capital markets, and what equities and shipowners seek. There is a preference for dry cargo and containers over products tankers –which were the first choice in option in the past. Depending on the investor’s risk appetite and the exposure the one would like to take, the market is open for financing.

The next generation of financing will be Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds. Truls Trøan also referred to the OTC and the Oslo market. Olso OTC is popular due to the flexibility of the legal market there and not because of the Norwegian investors. Most investors are from the US. The Oslo OTC is not a stock exchange – it is a platform of information and codes that successfully required less documentation and no acceptance by a governmental body or the Stock Exchange over the recent years.

Douglas Mavrinac (Managing Director, Group Head of the Maritime Equity

Research Group, Jefferies & Company, Inc.) moderated “The LNG Sector.”

Panelists Brian Tienzo (CFO, Golar LNG), Rodney Hyne-Jones (Director, Exmar Group), Steffen Føreid (CFO, Hoegh LNG), and Paul Wogan (CEO, GasLog Ltd.) focused on the characteristics of LNG projects, time it takes the ship to be built (3 years), and the role that the Japanese earthquake in 2011 played, which affected this market and the rates. There is a demand for LNG carriers, but the supply is a problem. Canada will play a significant role within the next years taken its geographical location.

Martin Stopford (Non-Executive President, Clarkson Research Services Limited) provided on overview on the “Global Shipbuilding Sector.” Striking statistics for shipping orders over the recent years (2001 – 2009: The Great Shipping Boom) was presented. Despite the 2008 financial crisis, shipyards have sailed with very little disturbance and prices remained stable. This stability allowed investors to move on from the crisis and invest in ships. China and Korea are the leading countries in the shipyards industry. In 2012, $87 billion was invested in new ships and the estimated investment for 2013 is predicted to be even higher. Bulkers are the most popular type of orders, followed by containers and tankers. Deliveries fell by 22% from its peak in 2013. The industry is struggling with ecoship and regulatory technology.

Richard Meade (Editor, Lloyds List) moderated “The Container Sector.” Panelists Aristides Pittas (CEO, Euroseas Ltd), John Dragnis (CEO, Goldenport Holdings Inc), and Ian Webber (CEO, Global Ship Lease, Inc.) provided a review into the sector. With new orders coming in, the panel believes there are more opportunities than threats in this sector. Due to high fuel consumption, the old Panamax Ship has suffered the most. Shipowners are skeptical about investing in these types of ships because of its overcapacity and size. Alliances serve optimization and will only work if there is a schedule, frequency and cost management. It is evolution and not revolution. Scrapping is a solution for companies due to the low market opportunities at the moment.

The Forum was carried over from the Container Sector and into “The Dry Bulk Sector,” by Marc Pauchet (Lead Dry Bulk Analyst, ACM Shipping), our moderator for this segment. Panelists Aristides Pittas (CEO, Euroseas Ltd), John Dragnis (CEO, Goldenport Holdings Inc), Herman Billung (CEO, Golden Ocean Group Ltd), and Ulrich Muller (Managing Director, Belships) agreed there is a close connection between the rates of the Capesize and Panamax ships. China will reach its target rate this year, but it will not be sustainable. The rates of steel and coal were also discussed. Mr. Pittas stated that steel is very important; it does not affect the Capesize ship rates. It is possible to see new orders once the market starts recovering. However, deliveries on new orders received by the yards are for 2016 and onwards.

Ben Nolan (Director, Maritime Research, Stifel Financial Corp.) moderator of “The Tanker Sector” and panelists Marco Fiori (CEO, d’Amico International Shipping S.A), Hans Norén (President, Concordia Maritime AB), and Laurent Bozzoni (Managing Director, Socatra) focused on the dynamic changes in the refinery centers. Middle Eastern Refinery Centers are playing a more important role as the traditional refinery center’s capacities are closing down. Slow, but stable recovery is sought after. Although there are many orders in the pipeline the number of yards to receive these types of ships are limited.

The Forum concluded with the last panel discussion on “Investment & Business Opportunities in Shipping Today,” moderated by Clay Maitland (Managing Partner, International Registries, Inc.). Panelists James Kidwell (CEO, Braemar Shipping Services PLC), Gildas Maire (CEO, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs), Andrian Dacy (Managing Director, Global Head of Maritime, Global Real Assets Group, JP Morgan Asset Management), and Ole Hjertaker (CEO, Ship Finance International Ltd.) debated on the question, “Is a London a center for capital markets?”

The panel agreed that London is a center for capital markets, but not for shipping. Unlike New York and Norway, equity investors in London do not have many companies to follow. Where are the opportunities in London? It is difficult to find financing, but there are opportunities despite the volatility as investors prefer to invest in safe investments.

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Royal visit at DESMI Headquarters Nørresundby DESMI had the pleasure of welcoming His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mrs Ida Auken, Minister of Environment, to DESMI today in connection with the Minister’s launch of the State of Green Water Tours.

During the visit, DESMI got the opportunity to show our energy efficient pumps, our OptiSaveTM solution for optimization of pump efficiency, our skimmers for oil spill response, and the DESMI Ocean Guard ballast water treatment systems.

With State of Green Water Tours, Danish companies including DESMI offer to share their expertise and experience with the world.

State of Green are offering foreign companies the opportunity to experience state-of-the-art Danish water and climate adaptation solutions. A tour offers companies a chance to take advantage of the lessons learned by leading Danish companies, utilities and institutions and find solutions to the water related challenges of their industry and society.

Some of the topics dealt with by State of Green Water Tours are: drinking water and water supply, non-revenue water, industrial water, aquaculture, wastewater, water and energy efficiency, climate adaptation and finally ballast water treatment.

DESMI is very proud to be part of the State of Green. We welcome the initiative of marketing the Danish environmental competences and look forward to welcoming international companies, partners and political decision makers to learn more about our knowledge and competences within the water area our pumps and systems are used in.

Συνάντηση ΟΛΠ: Σύμβαση Ευρωβουλευτών με τον παραχώρησης με τα πρόεδρο του ΟΛΠ Duty Free Shops Συνάντηση Ευρωβουλευτών με τον πρόεδρο του ΟΛΠ Επίσκεψη 15μελούς Αντιπροσωπείας της Επιτροπής Εσωτερικής Αγοράς και Προστασίας των Καταναλωτών του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου (IMCO) πραγματοποιήθηκε στα Κεντρικά Γραφεία του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. Οι συμμετέχοντες Ευρωβουλευτές με επικεφαλής τον Πρόεδρο τους κ. Malcolm Harbour (UK) συναντήθηκαν με τον Πρόεδρο και Δ/ντα Σύμβουλο του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. κ. Γιώργο Ανωμερίτη και τα επιτελικά στελέχη του Οργανισμού (κ.κ. Π. Πετρουλή, Στ. Χατζάκο, Δ. Σπύρου και Θ. Καρλή) και στη συνέχεια ξεναγήθηκαν στις εγκαταστάσεις του επιβατηγού και εμπορικού λιμένα του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. Κύρια θέματα των συζητήσεων των δύο πλευρών υπήρξαν: (α) η ελεύθερη κυκλοφορία προϊόντων στα λιμάνια (β) η ελεύθερη εγκατάσταση μέσω παραχωρήσεων (γ) η απελευθέρωση των επαγγελμάτων (δ) οι ελεύθερες ζώνες κ.α. Η ενημερωτική συνάντηση έγινε με σκοπό την ενημέρωση του Ευρωκοινοβουλίου στα πλαίσια των προτεραιοτήτων της Ελληνικής Προεδρίας του 2014. Ο κ. Γ. Ανωμερίτης μετά την παρουσίαση των δραστηριοτήτων και οικονομικών δεικτών του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. παρουσίασε το Αναπτυξιακό Πρόγραμμα του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε., το οποίο κινείται εντός του πλαισίου των Ευρωπαϊκών λιμενικών πολιτικών και της ESPO (Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Λιμένων), μετατρέποντας το Λιμάνι του Πειραιά σε κύριο κόμβο για την κρουαζιέρα και τη μεταφορά εμπορευματοκιβωτίων και αυτοκινήτων. . Όπως τόνισε κλείνοντας την εισήγηση του ο κ. Γ. Ανωμερίτης: «Μέσα σε μια ταραγμένη περιοχή, με τα γεγονότα στη Βορ. Αφρική, Αίγυπτο, Συρία, Λίβανο και άλλες όμορες χώρες να δημιουργούν νέα δεδομένα στις θαλάσσιες μεταφορές, ο Πειραιάς αποτελεί με το μεγάλο μέγεθος του δύναμη ασφάλειας και ανάπτυξης για το σύνολο της Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης. Το λιμάνι του Πειραιά εξελίσσεται, πέρα από τη ναυτιλία, σε κέντρο Τουρισμού και Πολιτισμού, με ευρύτατες δυνατότητες μέσω παραχωρήσεων προσέλκυσης νέων επενδύσεων».

Σύμβαση Παραχώρησης για την εγκατάσταση σε χώρους των Διεθνών Τερματικών Σταθμών Επιβατών Κρουαζιέρας στα κτίρια του Λιμένος Πειραιά, προσυπέγραψαν σήμερα ο ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. και η εταιρία «ΚΑΤΑΣΤΗΜΑΤΑ ΑΦΟΡΟΛΟΓΗΤΩΝ ΕΙΔΩΝ Α.Ε».

Η Σύμβαση Παραχώρησης αφορά: (α) την παραχώρηση χώρων εντός του Διεθνούς Σταθμού Κρουαζιέρας “Θεμιστοκλής” στην περιοχή Θεμιστοκλέους-Παλατάκι. (β) Σύμβαση Παραχώρησης στους χώρους του Διεθνούς Σταθμού Κρουαζιέρας “Μιαούλης” στο Κεντρικό Κτίριο του ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. και (γ) Σύμβαση Παραχώρησης στους χώρους του Διεθνούς Σταθμού Κρουαζιέρας “Άγιος Νικόλαος” προσωρινά στο κτίριο “Μεραρχίας και Μιαούλη” Dock 7 και μετέπειτα στο νέο υπό κατασκευή Σταθμό Κρουαζιέρας στον Άγιο Νικόλαο/Παγόδα. Οι Συμβάσεις Παραχώρησης αφορούν χώρους πωλήσεων και Αποθηκών, ισχύος αρχικά μέχρι το τέλος του 2015 με μηνιαίο αντάλλαγμα 5% επί του κύκλου εργασιών των Σταθμών.

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Norsafe takes back

the world record for free-fall lifeboats At 7:50pm on Tuesday 3rd September, the world’s most advanced free-fall lifeboat performed a successful drop from a height of 66.8 metres. This is a new world record for free-fall lifeboats, and Norsafe has hereby taken back its record, which has been in the company’s possession since 1999, with only two brief exceptions. The new generation free-fall lifeboat, GES52, fulfils the latest standards for life-saving appliances on the Norwegian continental shelf, and will be certified for heights of up to 51 metres! Norsafe GES52 (Gravity Escape System) is the second model in a series of three newly developed free-fall lifeboats, all meeting the new DNV-OS-E406 regulations that take effect from 2015.

GES52 is 52 feet long, has a capacity for at least 70 persons of 100kg. The boat’s design has undergone extensive testing that has shown its good characteristics, offering the best possible conditions for a safe evacuation in an emergency situation. Norsafe is the world leading provider of marine life-saving systems, and has become known over its 110-year history for always setting safety and quality as its first priorities.

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New Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will enable swifter R&D through dedicated full-scale testing Overseeing all equipment will be a unified control system, steered from a dedicated room at the facility. Remote access to the control system will even be possible from other Alfa Laval sites, so that testing can be observed from both near and far.

Quicker responses to a changing marine industry The size of the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre, as well as Alfa Laval’s investment in the facility, is unprecedented within the marine industry. As such, it clearly affirms the company’s commitment to addressing the vast challenges the industry faces. As laws and economic concerns increase the demand for energy efficiency and environmental protection, ship owners and ship operators require new and reliable solutions at a faster pace than ever before.

Work continues on the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre in Aalborg, Denmark, a facility that will greatly expand Alfa Laval’s marine testing capabilities. The centre, which will serve as a springboard for faster and more effective R&D, will further strengthen Alfa Laval’s capacity for innovative marine solutions that optimize the performance of onboard equipment, save energy and help ship owners comply with environmental legislation. While the centre’s official inauguration is not scheduled until 15 January 2014, some full-scale prototype testing will be initiated during the month of October.

“For the first time, it will be possible to test equipment and applications on the scale of a seagoing vessel – but with the control and convenience that only exist on land,” says Peter Leifland, President of Alfa Laval’s Marine & Diesel Division.

Among the applications he refers to is exhaust gas cleaning, which will be a major focus of the centre as Alfa Laval refines a new generation of PureSOx. “Alfa Laval’s investment in this centre underscores our dedication to developing our capabilities within the marine industry further,” Leifland says.

The new facility, which is taking shape on the site of the former Aalborg Shipyard, will comprise a test area of 250 m2 with an adjoining control and training complex. Built around a large 2 MW marine diesel engine, it will be supplied with seawater from the Limfjord, a body of water connecting the Kattegat Strait with the North Sea. Simply put, the centre will be the full-sized, land-based equivalent of a commercial vessel’s machinery room.

Comprehensive testing under real-life conditions Conducted under actual operating conditions, the testing and research activities supported by the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will involve the broad range of Alfa Laval equipment and solutions. As on an actual vessel, equipment types will not be isolated, but rather organized into major process lines: • Fuel line, including fuel conditioning modules and separation modules • Steam line, including waste heat recovery unit, hot well tank, steam dump condenser and desalination unit • Exhaust gas line, including selective catalytic reduction units, boiler and scrubber • Ballast line, including filters and advanced oxidation technology reactor

“Opening this centre shows Alfa Laval’s commitment to innovation speed,” says Lars Skytte Jørgensen, Vice President of Alfa Laval Product Centre Boilers, the organization responsible for the facility. “By making it easier to test and verify new designs, it will help us to bring energy-efficient, environmentally conscious and commercially viable systems to market more quickly. But it will also allow us to explore enhancements with existing equipment, so that changing needs can be met with what already exists on board.”

Convenience and control that facilitate development One key reason the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will speed up solution development is its round-the-clock availability compared to that of a commercial vessel. “A commercial vessel has its own priorities, which naturally makes testing more complicated and time consuming,” Skytte Jørgensen explains. “Shipyard time may be needed to get the equipment on board, and harbour schedules can be influenced by weather, business changes and other circumstances. Instant or even easy access to the testing vessel is anything but a given.”

In addition, the new facility will allow more detailed regulation of all test parameters, despite its massive scale. This will be due in part to the integrated control system, but also to the staff’s deep knowledge of the equipment and their ability to examine it at length along with first-hand data.

“Testing at sea and against the unexpected will continue to be a part of Alfa Laval’s product development,” says Skytte Jørgensen. “But the new centre will give us the best of both worlds. When the conditions are both real and controlled, we can be absolutely certain of what we measure and observe.”

A valuable resource for customers as well The new facility will be an important step for Alfa Laval in expanding R&D and cementing its innovation leadership. But it will mean even more for Alfa Laval customers, who will be able to observe new technologies at work and receive training in their use at the centre.

“The Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will be mutually beneficial,” says Marine & Diesel President Peter Leifland. “It will allow Alfa Laval to give customers more innovative and reliable answers to today’s challenges, and to do so at a much accelerated pace. Moreover, it will provide a space for customers to explore those answers first-hand, on a scale that up to now has only been possible on board.”

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Esbjerg on the world map of energy is an advantage for all parties, and we are very happy to welcome Denmark’s offshore city Esbjerg.

The Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Adam, welcomes Esbjerg’s membership of WECP, commenting: - As a founding member of the World Energy Cities Partnership, Aberdeen is delighted to welcome Esbjerg to the network of global energy hubs. I am particularly pleased to see a fellow North Sea port city join the partnership. We share a mutual twin city in Stavanger, and Esbjerg’s membership provides some exciting opportunities for trilateral cooperation. I am confident that our collective North Sea expertise in energy will continue to be highly sought after around the world.

The participation of Esbjerg Municipality in the annual meeting of the World Energy Cities Partnership in Dongying, China has resulted in Esbjerg’s membership of the super league of energy. Esbjerg has become the sector’s Danish representative among 20 World Energy Cities worldwide.

This is an important step for the offshore industry in Esbjerg and the rest of Denmark. The cooperation with WECP opens new doors; in Dongying, Esbjerg Mayor Johnny Søtrup was able to represent Esbjerg and Denmark at a meeting with Sinopec the world’s second largest producer of oil and gas.

From now on, the EnergyMetropolis Esbjerg will be the Danish representative among the largest offshore and energy cities worldwide. The association of the world’s leading energy cities, World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) included Esbjerg as a member at WECPs annual meeting in Dongying in China Wednesday afternoon. Esbjerg’s membership was decided unanimously at WECPs general meeting.

- As Mayor, I am very proud that Esbjerg now represents Denmark on the global energy scene. It is an important recognition of our own ambition to be the Danish EnergyMetropolis, and our membership will be actively used to promote national as well as local interests, says Mayor Johnny Søtrup.

Increased cooperation around the North Sea and worldwide It was the future President of WECP and Mayor of Stavanger Christine Sagen Helgø who nominated Esbjerg to become a member of the network, and she looks forward to welcoming Esbjerg into the exclusive club.

Christine Sagen Helgø says: - I am very pleased that our twin city Esbjerg will now represent Denmark in WECP. Esbjerg’s membership will strengthen the important cooperation around the North Sea, which already exists between Stavanger, Aberdeen and Esbjerg. It

Meeting with the world’s second largest producer of oil and gas Esbjerg’s active participation in the WECP network will open new doors to oil and gas producers worldwide. Contacts are likely to benefit the offshore industry in Esbjerg and the rest of Denmark.

During the meeting in China the mayors of WECP met with the management of Sinopec – the China-based company is the world’s second largest producer of oil and gas.

Citing the world- famous Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, Johnny Søtrup says Esbjerg has transformed itself from being an ’ugly duckling’ to a ’beautiful swan’; a leader in offshore wind globally. The Mayor also stressed Esbjerg’s role as EnergyMetropolis, contributing more than 9,000 jobs to a total of 13,000 Danish offshore jobs.

Representatives from Esbjerg and Stavanger look forward to forging even closer ties, as the cities have several common interests. In 2014 Esbjerg will once again participate in the major energy exhibition ONS in Stavanger.

What is the significance of WECP to Esbjerg and Denmark?

WECP meetings always coincide with major oil and gas exhibitions around the world. On these occasions members of WECP network and create contacts, which are likely to benefit local companies. There are several benefits of membership beyond the energy industry and mutual opportunities in energy-related technology; these include education, food processing and marketing, environmental technology, medicine and bio-science, and tourism development. In addition the work of WECP emphasizes research and education. As a result, there are exchange programs between several universities, with member cities jointly establishing research positions.

Facts about World Energy Cities Partnership: WEPC was founded in 1995.

The Association consists of the following 19 energy capitals: Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Atyrau, Kazakhstan; Calgary, Canada; Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Daqing, China; Doha, Qatar; Dongying, China; Halifax, Canada; Houston, USA; Luanda, Angola, Malabo , Equatorial Guinea, Perth, Australia, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago, St. John’s, Canada; Stavanger, Norway; Tomsk, Russia; Villahermosa, Mexico.

The mayors of the member cities function as the board of the network, which is served by a secretariat in Houston, the United States.

Picture: Mayor Johnny Søtrup of Esbjerg and Mayor Christine Sagen Helgø of Stavanger after meeting with the second largest producer of oil and gas, Sinopec in Beijing, China. As a member of World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP) Esbjerg will have many opportunities to market Danish interests globally.

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Stena Bulk and South Korean Hyundai

to collaborate in transportation

Stena Bulk and South Korean Hyundai Glovis, the Hyundai group’s shipping arm, will begin collaborating with a cargo shipped via the North East Passage. The Stena Polaris, a P-MAX tanker with ice class 1A, will leave Ust Luga in the Gulf of Finland on 15 September with a cargo of 37,000 tons of naphtha. The voyage, which will go via the North East Passage, is expected to take 28 days with the tanker arriving in a port in South Korea in midOctober.

“We see the voyage with the Stena Polaris as the beginning of a long and far-reaching collaboration with Hyundai Glovis where we together will invest in different types of transportation of which voyages via the North East Passage are one part”, says Erik Hånell, President & CEO of Stena Bulk.

Facts about the North East Passage So far this year, a total of more that 270 ships have been given permission to sail through the North East Passage, although far from all of them will do so. However, the total volume of cargo transported via the Arctic Ocean will probably be five

times larger this year compared with 2012. Last year, a total of just under 1.3 million tons was transported – a 53% increase over 2011 and, according to conservative estimates, this figure will rise to 1.5 million tons this year and to as much as 15 million tons by 2021.

As a result of the good collaboration between Stena Bulk and Concordia Maritime with Finnish Neste Oil as a customer, their tankers have sailed eight times through the North East Passage. Today, the companies together have a total of eight tankers with the right classification for a voyage through the North East Passage. “Like many others, we feel that there could be a commercial break-through in the near future, although there are still a number of challenges to be overcome before this can take place on a large scale”, says Erik Hånell. Know-how and experience There are a limited number of tankers that are equipped to sail through the North East Passage. Operating in extreme Arctic conditions requires know-how and experience. Stena has extensive knowledge of the tough environment in the north and knows how to navigate safely through ice-covered waters. To maintain its leading position in safe transportation at sea, every year the company invests large sums in developing the necessary routines. Well-equipped vessels together with highly experienced crews is the only way to master Arctic conditions. This means that currently, only a relatively limited number of vessels are able to sail through these waters. About the P-MAX tankers The P-MAX tankers were designed and built

by Stena and Concordia Maritime. They have a double hull, optimum corrosion control, two engine rooms with full water and fire integrity and two propulsion systems. Manoeuvrability and an integrated bridge layout are also very important when it comes to facilitating safe navigation in narrow channels. The Stena Polaris, which is owned by Concordia Maritime and has been time-chartered by Stena Bulk for this project, has the following technical data: Length: 183 m, beam: 40 m, draft: 11.3 m, deadweight: 65,000 tons.

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Follow the Stena Polaris through the

North-East Passage Stena Bulk’s tanker Stena Polaris, with a cargo of 44,000 tons of naphtha, is sailing from the Gulf of Finland via the North-East Passage to South Korea. A route that passes through Arctic waters that make exacting demands on technology, know-how and experience. The 31-day voyage can be followed via reports, photos and films in part directly from the ship.

There are also interviews with the crew and officers as well as experts in the field. The Stena Polaris left Russian Ust Luga in the Gulf of Finland on 17 September and is expected to arrive at the port of Yosu in South Korea on 18 October. The voyage is a joint project between Stena Bulk and South Korean Hyundai Glovis.

“This will be one of the greatest adventures in my life and I have very high expectation with regard to what we will see and experience. I’ll also be getting a lot of useful experience, which we will be able to make use of in our continuous development work”, says Patrik Svahn, who normally works in Stena Bulk’s office in Gothenburg but is now In the first Podcast, published today, we focus on “People on board”. Here, there is an interview with Captain Sasa Stipanovic and information concerning preparedness, daily routines and training as well as food on board. In the weeks ahead, we plan to publish a further three podcasts entitled “The Commercial Aspect” with facts about the ship, the high safety requirements, the technology on board and the important icebreakers and “Nature/Culture” about the environment, weather and clothing, history and descriptions of locations. At the end of the voyage, there will be a podcast entitled “Economy and Future Prospects” where we take up general environmental issues, including the Polar Code. The Swedish Ambassador to South Korea, Lars Danielsson, will provide information on South Korea, the ship’s destination. Know-how and experience There are a limited number of tankers that are equipped to sail through the North-East Passage. Operating in extreme Arctic conditions requires know-how and experience. Stena has extensive knowledge of the tough environment in the north and knows how to navigate safely through ice-covered waters. To maintain its leading position in safe transportation at sea, every year the company invests large sums in developing the necessary routines. Well-equipped vessels together with highly experienced crews are the only way to master Arctic conditions. This means that currently, only a relatively limited number of vessels are able to sail through these waters. “One of the objectives of this special voyage through the North-East Passage is to transfer operational and technical experience from Stena to Hyundai Glovis. Accordingly, the focus is mainly on the experience we have gathered during all the years we have been operating in the icy conditions in the North-East Passage”, says Erik Hånell, President & CEO of Stena Bulk. About the P-MAX tankers The P-MAX tankers were designed and built by Stena and Concordia Maritime. They have a double hull, optimum corrosion control, two engine rooms with full water and fire integrity and two propulsion systems. Double propellers and rudders and a specially designed bridge layout give the tanker extremely good maneuverability and a 360° view, which facilitate safe navigation in narrow waters. The Stena Polaris, which is owned by Concordia Maritime and has been time-chartered by Stena Bulk for this project, has the following technical data: Length: 183 m, beam: 40 m, draft: 11.3 m, deadweight: 65,000 tons.

See the ongoing report at http://www. stenanorthernsearoute.com/ where you will find blogs, podcasts, photos and films from the voyage.

82 nafs October 2013

«Να διατηρηθεί ο δημόσιος χαρακτήρας του Λιμανιού του Πειραιά» Συνάντηση του Βιοτεχνικού Επιμελητηρίου Πειραιά με τον Πρόεδρο της ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. Γιώργο Ανωμερίτη «Τώρα μάλιστα, που υλοποιείται με πρωτοβουλία της Διοίκησης του ΟΛΠ η νέα επένδυση ύψους 230 εκατ. ευρώ που θα δώσει νέες προοπτικές και νέα έσοδα στον ΟΛΠ, επιθυμούμε ενημέρωση για τις προτάσεις του Δ.Σ. του ΟΛΠ προκειμένου να προβούμε σε παραστάσεις τόσο στο ΤΑΙΠΕΔ όσο και στα συναρμόδια Υπουργεία αλλά και ενημέρωσης του πειραϊκού λαού», επισήμανε ο Πρόεδρος του ΒΕΠ Ανδριανός Μιχάλαρος. Ανδριανός Μιχάλαρος: «Ανάκληση των ειδοποιητηρίων…» Τέλος, ο Πρόεδρος του ΒΕΠ Ανδριανός Μιχάλαρος ζήτησε από τον Πρόεδρο και Διευθύνοντα Σύμβουλο του ΟΛΠ Γιώργο Ανωμερίτη την ανάκληση των ειδοποιητηρίων αναγκαστικής είσπραξης οφειλών των χρηστών της ΝΕΖ, γιατί όπως επισήμανε, πρόκειται για ουσιαστική καταδίκη των επιχειρήσεων αυτών που δεν μπορούν να ανταπεξέλθουν πλέον ούτε στα βασικά τους έξοδα. Απεύθυνε δε, πρόσκληση προς αποφυγή των χρονοβόρων και πολυέξοδων δικαστικών αγώνων, ο ΟΛΠ να συνεννοηθεί με το Κέντρο Διαμεσολάβησης Πειραιά (που έχει συστήσει ο Δικηγορικός Σύλλογος Πειραιά σε συνεργασία με τα τρία πειραϊκά Επιμελητήρια) ώστε να βρεθεί μία λύση επί του θέματος μέσω του νέου θεσμού της Διαμεσολάβησης που αφορά στην εξωδικαστική επίλυση διαφορών. Να διατηρήσει ο ΟΛΠ τον δημόσιο χαρακτήρα του και να διασφαλιστεί η βιωσιμότητα των εκατοντάδων επιχειρήσεων της Ναυπηγοεπισκευαστικής Ζώνης με την επανεκκίνηση της ναυπηγικής κι επισκευαστικής βιομηχανίας της Ελλάδας που θα μπορούσε να αποφέρει μέχρι και 8 δις ευρώ ετησίως στην ελληνική Οικονομία, δίνοντας χιλιάδες θέσεις εργασίας ζήτησε η αντιπροσωπεία του Βιοτεχνικού Επιμελητηρίου Πειραιά η οποία επισκέφθηκε εχθές τον Πρόεδρο και Διευθύνοντα Σύμβουλο της ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. Γιώργο Ανωμερίτη. Συγκεκριμένα, η αντιπροσωπεία η οποία αποτελούνταν από τον Πρόεδρο του ΒΕΠ Ανδριανό Μιχάλαρο, τον Αντιπρόεδρο Γιώργο Κωνσταντόπουλο, το μέλος του Δ.Σ. και πρόεδρο των Αμμοβολιστών Βασίλη Κανακάκη καθώς και τον Πρόεδρο της Πανελλήνιας Ομοσπονδίας Συλλόγων Υπαλλήλων των Επιμελητηρίων, διευθυντή του ΒΕΠ Μιχάλη Γιάγκα τόνισε προς τον Πρόεδρο και Διευθύνοντα Σύμβουλο του ΟΛΠ την ανάγκη να μη δημιουργηθεί κατάσταση μονοπωλίου στο Λιμάνι του Πειραιά καθώς κάθε διαδικασία πώλησης του συνόλου των μετοχών (74,1%), που βρίσκονται στα χέρια του ΤΑΙΠΕΔ σε έναν αγοραστή θα μετέτρεπε το κρατικό μονοπώλιο σε ιδιωτικό μονοπώλιο, σχήμα που βρίσκεται έξω από τις αρχές και πρακτικές της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής και της ESPO. Παράλληλα, η αντιπροσωπεία του Βιοτεχνικού Επιμελητηρίου Πειραιά επισήμανε ότι τυχόν μεταβίβαση της ναυπηγοεπισκευαστικής Ζώνης σε μία ιδιωτική εταιρεία και μετατροπής της σε ιδιωτικό Ναυπηγείο, θα σημάνει το κλείσιμο εκατοντάδων μικρομεσαίων βιοτεχνικών επιχειρήσεων που ασκούν το επιτήδευμά τους στην ελεύθερη ναυπηγοεπισκευαστική Ζώνη του ΟΛΠ. «Το κλείσιμο των μικρομεσαίων αυτών επιχειρήσεων θα δημιουργήσει ένα νέο μεγάλο κύμα ανέργων στην ήδη επιβαρυμένο και άνεργο Πειραιά. Η άποψή μας είναι ξεκάθαρη: Θέλουμε η Ζώνη να παραμείνει στη διαχείριση του Δημοσίου σε ποσοστό 51% και να υπάρξει κοινό management μεταξύ του ΟΛΠ των χρηστών του Λιμανιού και των Επιμελητηρίων του Πειραιά», τόνισε μεταξύ άλλων η αντιπροσωπεία του Βιοτεχνικού Επιμελητηρίου Πειραιά. Τα μέλη της αντιπροσωπείας του ΒΕΠ τόνισαν ότι δεν θα γίνει δεκτή από πλευράς ΒΕΠ η όποια μεταβίβαση μετοχών παρά μόνον η παραχώρηση δραστηριοτήτων, με κοινά αποδεκτούς όρους, όπως γίνεται και στα λοιπά ευρωπαϊκά λιμάνια.

Δημιουργία Μουσείου Βιομηχανικής Ιστορίας στην Πολιτιστική Ακτή Πειραιά Στο πλαίσιο της συνάντησης ο Πρόεδρος του ΒΕΠ Ανδριανός Μιχάλαρος επανέλαβε την πρόταση του ΒΕΠ για δημιουργία Μουσείου Βιομηχανικής Ιστορίας στην Πολιτιστική Ακτή του Πειραιά σε συνεργασία με τους λοιπούς παραγωγικούς φορείς της ευρύτερης περιοχής του Πειραιά προκειμένου να προβληθεί ο Πειραιάς και να υπάρξει γενικότερη κινητοποίηση και στροφή στην τεχνική εκπαίδευση και κατάρτιση, που τόσο θα μπορούσε να συνεισφέρει στη μείωση της ανεργίας, την αύξηση της παραγωγής και την τόνωση της τοπικής κι εν γένει της εθνικής μας Οικονομίας. Για το θέμα αυτό, μάλιστα, το Βιοτεχνικό Επιμελητήριο Πειραιά δρομολογεί ήδη συναντήσεις με τη Γ.Γ. του Υπουργείου Πολιτισμού κα Λ. Μενδώνη καθώς και με τη Διεύθυνση Μουσείων του ΥΠΠΟ. Η αντιπροσωπεία του ΒΕΠ ζήτησε την υποστήριξη του Προέδρου του ΟΛΠ Γιώργου Ανωμερίτη στην πρόταση αυτή δεδομένης της αγάπης του για τον Πειραιά και της ευαισθησίας του σε θέματα ανάδειξης της πολιτιστικής κουλτούρας του πρώτου Λιμανιού της χώρας. Τον ευχαρίστησε θερμά για το συγγραφικό του έργο και τη συνεισφορά του στην ανάδειξη των ιστορικών προσωπικοτήτων και των μνημείων του Πειραιά. «Για να λειτουργήσει η Ζώνη χρειάζεται εργασιακή ειρήνη» Αξίζει, επίσης, να υπογραμμισθεί ότι το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο του Βιοτεχνικού Επιμελητηρίου Πειραιά με υψηλό αίσθημα της θεσμικής του ευθύνης, στην πρόσφατη συνεδρίασή του και με αφορμή τόσο τα γεγονότα στο Πέραμα όσο και το τραγικό γεγονός της δολοφονίας του Πειραιώτη Παύλου Φύσσα εξέφρασε ομόφωνα την προσδοκία ότι η Πολιτεία και η Δικαιοσύνη θα κάνουν το καθήκον τους ώστε να λειτουργεί απρόσκοπτα η Δημοκρατία, στη χώρα που γεννήθηκε. Τέτοια γεγονότα, τονίσθηκε στο Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο, προκαλούν αποτροπιασμό και θλίψη και κάνουν εντονότερη την ανασφάλεια και την ανησυχία των πολιτών. Εκφράστηκαν τα συλλυπητήρια στους οικείους και τους φίλους του δολοφονηθέντος και επισημάνθηκε η επιτακτική ανάγκη λειτουργίας ενός κοινού μετώπου απέναντι σε τέτοιες εγκληματικές πρακτικές. Το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο του ΒΕΠ καταδίκασε τις ενέργειες στο Πέραμα, που, όπως επισημάνθηκε, επιβαρύνουν την κατάσταση που επικρατεί στη Ζώνη, η οποία εκείνο που καταρχήν χρειάζεται για να ανακάμψει είναι η εργασιακή ειρήνη.