Marine Log March 2019

arine oG M L www.marinelog.com

R e p o r t i n g o n M a r i n e B u s i n e s s & T e c h n o l o g y s i n c e 18 78

March 2019

HOW U. S. OIL E XP OR T S ARE

Changing Tanker Markets

CAN CRUISING EVER GET GREEN ENOUGH?

WHAT'S NEXT FOR EURONAV CEO PADDY RODGERS?

DEALING WITH DIGITAL DISTRACTIONS ON THE BRIDGE

CONTENTS

22

26

Departments

Features

2P ublisher’s Letter Talking Tankers Cruise Ships and Polar Security Cutters

17

Cruise Shipping Cruising Eyes All the Options for Meeting its Green Goals Scrubber retrofits and LNG fueling are just one part of the picture

22

Tankers Why Shipowners Are Sending Empty Tankers to the U.S. Gulf Growing U.S. oil exports could spell long term changes for tanker trades

26

CEO Spotlight EURONAV CEO Paddy Rodgers Scrubber skeptic isn’t saying much about his plans for life after Euronav, but plans to continue saying what needs to be said about issues facing shipping

28

Maritime Training ECDIS Issues and Digital Distractions We conclude our two-part look at all the reasons why mariners need to look out the window as well as at all those screens

31

SALVAGE/RESPONSE U.S. Salvage Leaders Look Global Capabilities developed in response to OPA 90 regulations have prepared U.S. firms to compete in the global arena

4 Industry Insights 6 Marine Innovations 7 Vessel of the Month Pyxis —New fast passenger ferry for San Francisco Bay

8 Wellness Column NTSB wish list underscores crew fatigue issues 6 Update etal Shark Delivers State of the Art Pilot Boat M Navy Gears Up to Issue FFG(X) solicitation • Netherlands Heavy Hitters Explore Methanol as a Marine Fuel • Canadian Operator Takes Delivery of IMO Tier III Escort Tug • Engineering Deficiencies Plague Polar Star in Antarctic • •

16 Inside Washington Money for Polar Security Cutter, Fears for PNSY 33 Newsmakers Vasquez Named as Next Panama Canal Director

34 Tech News chottel Adds New Shallow Water Thruster S Viking Cruise Ships Have Thordon Water Lubricated Systems • Compact MAN SCR System Meets IMO Tier III • Corvus to Deliver Largest Ever Marine Battery Packages • •

40 Safety First Training is the Key to Safe DP Operation March 2019 // Marine Log 1

EDITOR’S COLUMN Publisher’s Letter

MarineLoG MARCH 2019 Vol. 124, NO. 3 ISSN 08970491 USPS 576-910 Subscriptions: 800-895-4389

Tel: +1 (402) 346-4740 (Canada & International) Fax: +1 (402) 346-3670 Email: marinelog@omeda.com PRESIDENT Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. amcginnis@sbpub.com

Talking Tankers, Cruise Ships and Polar Security Cutters

P

addy Rodgers, the subject of this month’s CEO spotlight, is upbeat on the outlook for tankers. Among other things, he sees rising costs of compliance and attractive scrapping prices constraining fleet size and increased long haul crude exports from the U.S. as boosting tonne-mile growth for some two years ahead.

U.S. exports of crude and their impact on the tanker market are the subject of another of our features, They are still a relevantly recent phenomenon. It is only just over a year ago that LOOP, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (which was built to empty tankers, not fill them) loaded its first export VLCC, and since then its export loadings have gathered pace.

So much so that up to eight potential LOOP competitors are eyeing entering the market, potentially signaling significant infrastructure investments at Gulf Coast ports and terminals.

The long-term implications? Those are a little harder to figure. But as this was written, empty VLCC’s were heading for the U.S. Gulf in ballast, looking to pick up cargoes at rates that would see the return trip more than offset the costs of the ballast voyage.

With the Seatrade Cruise Global event taking place in Miami Beach next month, another focus of this month’s issue is the cruise industry, which just keeps right on booming and delivering the things that passengers like. Our Industry Insights page gives a snapshot of the current state of the cruise market.

Cruise ships would not seem to have much in common with tankers, but lately they seem to be attracting the same sort of

Publisher Jeff Sutley jsutley@sbpub.com EDITOR Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com

criticisms from environmentalist groups once reserved for tankers.

In fact, the cruise industry is investing heavily in burnishing its green credentials.

In part, of course, the cruise lines are having to respond to the same IMO regulations that are forcing the entire industry to take action to curb emissions. Cruise lines, too, are fitting scrubbers and eyeing LNG fueling for newbuilds. But the lines are also taking other steps. We examine some of these in a feature that looks at the cruise fleet from a different perspective than that of the travel press. We’re looking at things like waste heat generators and stern tube bearings rather than at on board restaurant amenities.

The good news from Washington this month is that there is some good news: $655 million for production of the first Polar Security Cutter (PSC) heavy icebreaker and $20 million for long lead time materials for a second.

Finally, in other developments here at Marine Log, we have now rolled out our new website. If you haven’t looked at www. marinelog.com lately, take out your smart phone and check it out.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Paul Bartlett paul.bartlett@live.co.uk European EDITOR Charlie Bartlett charlie.bartlett@runbox.com Art Director Nicole D’Antona ndantona@sbpub.com Graphic Designer Aleza Leinwand aleinwand@sbpub.com MARKETING DIRECTOR Erica Hayes ehayes@sbpub.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mary Conyers mconyers@sbpub.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER EAST COAST Elaina Crockett ecrockett@sbpub.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER MIDWEST/WEST COAST Jim Kingwill jim@kingwillco.com Barry Kingwill barry@kingwillco.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE KOREA & CHINA Young-Seoh Chinn corres1@jesmedia.com CLASSIFIED SALES Jeanine Acquart jacquart@sbpub.com Circulation DIRECTOR Maureen Cooney mcooney@sbpub.com CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Michelle M. Zolkos mzolkos@sbpub.com CONFERENCE ASSISTANT Stephanie Rodriguez srodriguez@sbpub.com

JEFF SUTLEY

CONTRIBUTORS Emily Reiblein Crowley Maritime Corporation

Publisher jsutley@sbpub.com

Capt. Matthew Bonvento Good Wind Maritime Services Marine Log Magazine (Print ISSN 0897-0491, Digital ISSN 2166-210X), (USPS#576-910), (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX Po Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 55 Broad St. 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and Additional mailing offices.

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2 Marine Log // March 2019

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INDUSTRY INSIGHTS welcome to Industry Insights, Marine Log’s quick snapshot of current trends. This month our focus is on the cruise industry, where more people are cruising to more places and major lines continue to place significant orders (Royal Caribbean last month exercised an option at Chantiers de l”Atlantique for a sixth Oasis class) and expedition ships are attracting growing orders.

2019 Passenger Capacity Snapshot CLIA Global Ocean Cruise Passnegers (In Millions)

Deployment Alaska 4.7%

30

30

Asia (w/o China) 4.3% 25

Australia/NZ/Pacific 4.8%

25.2

20

Caribbean 34.4%

19.1

17.8

Europe (w/o Med) 11.1%

15

Mediterranean 17.3%

10

South America 2.3%

5

All Other 16.2%

0

20.5

20.9

21.3

22.34

26.7

28.2

23.06

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018p 2019p Source: CLIA

p=projection

Source: CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association)

GLOBAL ECONOMIC IMPACT (2017)

26.7

Million passengers

1,108,676

$45.6

F/T EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEES

WAGES & SALARIES

JOBS

$134 billion

billion

total output worldwide

Source: CLIA

Recent Shipbuilding Contracts, North America Qty

Type

Owner

Est. $

Est. Del.

Dakota Creek Industries

2

Harbor Tugboats

U.S. Navy

26.7 M

Aug. 2021

Swiftships

2

Landing Craft Utility

U.S. Navy

26.6 M

May 2021

All American Marine

1

Law Enforcement Catamaran

Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept

Huntingon Ingalls, Newport News Shipbuilding

2

Ford Class Aircraft Carriers

U.S. Navy

Moran Iron Works

1

Kayak-launching Tour Boat

Pictured Rocks Kayaking

Shipyard

Source: Marine Log Shipbuilding Contracts

4 Marine Log // March 2019

15.2 B Summer 2019

Marine Innovations NETSCO Engineering, Design and Consulting Services Northeast Technical Services Co., Inc. (NETSCo) was formed in1984 to provide engineering, design and consulting services. NETSCo engineering specialists offer innovative design solutions including environmental retrofits, advanced technology and construction of ships, and tug and barge designs of all types. From concept through actual construction and warranty support, NETSCo strives to be a leader in offering end-to-end solutions to complex maritime problems, delivering value without compromising performance, safety or the environment. www.netsco.us

ECOCHLOR Ballast Water Management Solutions The Ecochlor® Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) uses a two-step treatment process – filtration followed by chlorine dioxide. The system’s effectiveness is not impaired by variations in salinity, temperature, turbidity, organics, and vibration. The automated system is crew-friendly, has low power consumption and is well-suited for mid-sized to the largest ships in the world.

There are no treatment or neutralization on discharge. Ecochlor BWMS has IMO and USCG Type Approval and meets or exceeds their demanding regulatory guidelines. www.ecochlor.com

ABB New ABB Drives Bring Enhanced Control to DC Installations With the new DCS880 VSDs, customers who are heavily invested in a DC system have the option to continue using DC technology while better aligning with modern AC advancements. Common applications include harbor, tower and marine deck cranes. https://new.abb.com/drives/dc/dcs880-s

AKZO NOBEL Passion for Paint AkzoNobel has a passion for paint. We’re experts in the proud craft of making paints and coatings, setting the standard in color and protection since 1792. Our world class portfolio of brands – including International, Interlux and Awlgrip in the marine and yacht industries – is trusted by customers around the globe. Headquartered in the Netherlands, we are active in over 150 countries and employ around 35,000 talented people who are passionate about delivering the high-performance products and services our customers expect. www.akzonobel.com.

WÄRTSILÄ WXJ Waterjets: More Thrust, Less Noise Wärtsilä has upgraded its LJX series of modular waterjets to deliver greater efficiency with low levels of cavitation and underwater noise and has redesignated the product line as WXJ series.A new axial pump design boosts performance with an increased thrust of as much as 3 percent, while improved cavitation margins reduce environmental impact by lowering noise levels. www.wartsila.com

6 Marine Log // March 2019

Vessel of the month

Pyxis:

Photo Credits: Dakota Creek Industries/WETA

T

he San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) has welcomed Pyxis, a new 445-pass e n g e r f e r r y, i n to t h e S a n Francisco Bay Ferry fleet. Pyxis is the first new vessel added to Vallejo ferry service in some 15 years.

The design and construction of Pyxis integrate solutions to the many needs of a modern ferry in the San Francisco Bay Area, including: • A speed high enough to complete a trip between Vallejo and San Francisco in one hour • Pollution control systems strong enough to meet California’s tough emission limits • A capacity high enough to accommodate growing passenger numbers • Comfort and safety for San Francisco Bay Ferry passengers and crews Pyxis is the first of three vessels in its class under construction for WETA by shipbuilder Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington.

Measuring 43.5 m LOA (142.71 feet) x 12.0 m (39.37 feet) the passenger-only aluminum cats are built to an AMD Marine Consulting, Australia, design and are modeled on a previously delivered WETA vessel, the Solano, with modifications to increase passenger count from 303 to 445, while still

445 passenger fast cat joins San Francisco Bay Ferry fleet

reaching the required speed.

Vancouver, Wash., headquartered Pacific Power Group, whose Marine Group has a long history of working with WETA and other ferry operators in the Bay Area, is designing, installing and maintaining the propulsion systems for all three ferries, all of which will be powered by MTU Series 4000 engines meeting Tier IV regulations.

PPG is fitting each vessel with two engines, two gear boxes, two propulsion shafts and a set of controls.

HamiltonJet waterjet propulsion give the vessels a 34 knot top speed.

Sister ships Lyra and Vela are expected to be delivered within the next year. Those vessels will augment WETA’s North Bay (Vallejo and Richmond) ferry services. WETA’s fleet

now has 14 ferries.

“Vallejo ferry passengers are going to love riding Pyxis,” said Nina Rannells, WETA’s executive director. “Our ridership has doubled since 2012, and we are working to grow our fleet to accommodate this growth. Pyxis is perfectly suited for Vallejo service with the highest passenger capacity in our fleet and a 34-knot speed.”

Pyxis was designed and built at a cost of $23 million. Funding sources included Federal Transit Administration grants, bridge toll revenue, and California State Proposition 1B and State Transit Assistance.

Pyxis, pronounced “pik-sis,” is named for a small constellation in the southern sky.

The constellation’s full name – Pyxis Nautica -- is Latin for a mariner’s compass.

March 2019 // Marine Log 7

WELLNESS COLUMN

Fatigue: Still a Major Cause of Accidents

The History Back in 2004 the USCG worked with segments of our industry to build a system of endurance-management practices that would benefit safety and health onboard vessels. The recommendations never evolved into regulations, but echoes and variations of the recommendations have found their place in industry standards like the TMSA, Subchapter M and onto government vessels.

8 Marine Log // March 2019

Starting Movement Forward There are several actions a company and/or vessel crew can start taking to help further a systematic understanding of endurance risk factors and influence the environment toward the reduction of those risks.

The Risk: The consequences of fatigue to marine safety are well established, but the scope and scale of those risks change radically based on the specific operational

Culture needs to support policy

endeavors being under-taken. Aroundthe-clock harbor tug operation has vastly different risk factors for fatigue and health then a blue water crossing. The original Crew Endurance Management System (CEMS) program had methods to examine these factors through a Decision Support Tool (DST) still available on the CEMS website. While this tool may not be in line with our ISM risk assessment tools, the categories of risk identified can be incorporated.

This simple incorporation can help cast our safety nets a bit further to frame fatigue risk factors; jumpstarting a more formalized understanding of what we strive to mitigate and eliminate.

Emily Reiblein

Crowley Maritime Corporation, Labor Relations-Union Wellness Programs/ Operations Integrity

Shutterstock/ SOPRADIT

I

n January the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) put out its 20192020 “Most Wanted List.” As the NTSB has no regulatory authority, this annual list stands as one effort to move the private and public sectors toward safer years to come.

Topping this year’s list is an item that crosses into the “wellness” category; to “reduce fatigue related accidents.” The NTSB is calling for a “comprehensive approach to combatting fatigue in transportation focusing on research, education and training technology, sleep disorder treatment, hoursof-service regulations and on-and-off duty scheduling policies and practices.”

Among fatigue related incidents cited by the NTSB: The 2014 collision between the USCG Cutter Key Largo and the fishing vessel Sea Shepherd off of Puerto Rico.

The subsequent investigation revealed that “stress and lack of sleep” experienced by the lone crew member on the bridge of the cutter likely contributed to the event. The resulting recommendation called for a reexamination of the use of a Crew Endurance Management(CEM) program to help mitigate endurance related issues.

The Conversation: Knowing your risks and doing something about them are two very different endeavors. We all know the deadly consequences of cardiovascular disease, but how many of us mitigate it by exercising the prescribed 22 minutes a day or by bypassing the donut box? Just because a known risk exists does not mean we take action to mitigate it.

The original CEMS program had conceptualized a “coach” onboard a vessel: a trained member of the crew able to help fellow crew members with concepts of endurance management and further the cultural shift.

The benefit of this type of interaction is now supported by one of the most interesting research lines in modern healthcare, Social Genomics. Starting in 2010 studies linked inflammation and cardiovascular disease to social isolation. DNA was being transcribed differently in those without positive social interactions causing hearts to break.Who we spend our time talking to, what they say, and how we interact with them changes our DNA, our functionality, and our health on a cellular level.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo had policies to prevent an encumbered individual from assuming command of the vessel. There was an Endurance Management Program and concepts operating with the organization at the time of the incdent. However, neither policy nor protocol prevented a lone, tired and stressed watch stander from taking responsibility for the vessel after only 3.5 hours of sleep in a 24 hours period.

Culture needs to support policy and where the two do not mesh, a voice needs to spark and spur change until the two align.

Things like use of recent news articles in a safety meeting, and small conversations by those who have interest can influence the changes needed for safety and long term health to thrive. Where we lack policy and regulation to drive change, or culture is lagging, people on the ground need to take their best leap forward.

VANUATU MARITIME SERVICES LIMITED (VMSL), 39 BROADWAY, SUITE 2020, NEW YORK, NY 10006

SAFETY SEMINAR 2 MAY 2019 You are cordially invited!

Location: Address:

INDIA HOUSE 1 Hanover Square New York, New York 10004 Program

0800 0900 0915 0945

Registration and Breakfast Opening Remarks

Captain Michael DeCharles, Executive Vice President, VMSL

Vanuatu Ship Registry Technical Policies

Roderick Acquie, Senior Manager, VMSL

Biofouling and Transfer of Invasive Aquatic Species

Matthew Bonvento, Assistant Professor/USMMA & CEO/Goodwind Maritime Services

1015

Coffee Break

1030

Scrubbers: Possible Solution for 2020

1115 1200 1330 1415 1500 1515 1600 1645

Nick Confuorto, President, CR Ocean Engineering

Ballast Water and SOx 2020 Status in US Ports

John Hillin, Chief, USCG Safety Division, Staten Island, NY

Lunch IMO 20/20 Insurance Claims/Trends and Implications

Boriana Farrar, Vice President-Counsel, The American Club

digiMed Five Plus Telemedicine Kit

Michael Dunleavy, President, DigiGone & Derek Andresen, George Washington University

Coffee Break How to Steal a Ship – GPS Vulnerability and Maritime

Dana Goward, President, Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation

eLoran: Second Source of Positioning, Navigation and Timing

Stephen Bartlett, Executive Vice President, UrsaNav

Closing Remarks

Captain Michael DeCharles, Executive Vice President, VMSL

The cost is an all-inclusive $100.00 payable by check or credit card. For any inquiries please contact either Michael DeCharles (mdecharles@vanuatuships.com) or Roderick Acquie (racquie@vanuatuships.com) or you may call us at 212-425-9600.

Update Brazos Pilot goes to work

Metal Shark

delivers state of the art pilot boat Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal

Shark has delivered a custom welded-aluminum pilot boat to the Brazos Pilots Association in Freeport, Texas.

The new, Brazos Pilot, is a 64’ x 19’ Defiant-class monohull that will replace the pilots’ smaller, single-engine 40’ pilot boat, improving safety for crews while enhancing service to operators and providing aroundthe-clock service at Port Freeport.

“The 64 Defiant Pilot employs a very stout, extensively proven deep vee hull for stable operation in heavy seas,” explained Carl Wegener, Metal Shark’s VP of Commercial Sales.”

The decks, pilothouse, and belowdecks spaces are a showcase of modern pilot boat design. A spacious, climate-controlled wheelhouse employs Metal Shark’s signature “pillarless glass” for dramatically improved visibility, in a reverse-raked arrangement developed by Metal Shark specifically for pilots. Large overhead skylights provide upward visibility while approaching and operating alongside moving ships. Visibility is further augmented by the vessel’s centerline helm position.

In the wheelhouse, shock-mitigating seating is provided for five crew members.

An integrated suite of navigation electronics

are accessed primarily through three 19” Furuno MU195T multifunction displays.

Spacious belowdecks crew quarters are accessed via a stairway in the wheelhouse and a watertight access hatch in the foredeck. Accommodations include a galley area with microwave, coffee maker, refrigerator, and sink; an enclosed head compartment; double-tiered set of lockers for crew storage; and a berthing area with double bunk, drawer storage, and a 4K LED TV with Blu Ray player and KVH TracVision TV3 satellite television system. From the counter tops to ceiling panels and flooring, modern finishes are used to create a bright and airy, comfortable atmosphere for crews onboard for extended periods.

Outside, fully flush non-skid decks allow for unimpeded access around the vessel, and hand rails have been placed for easy reach at all times. Low-level LED pathway lighting enhances safety during nighttime operation.

To meet the client’s requirements, a large pilot transfer platform was engineered into the vessel’s foredeck, with a wide, integrated non-skid stairway and specially-configured safety rails.

For operation in close quarters, a secondary control station on the aft deck is equipped with steering, throttle controls and digital displays that allow the operator to monitor engine performance while controlling the vessel from this station.

Powered by twin 803-horsepower Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines coupled to Twin Disc MGX5146SC transmissions and turning fivebladed 36” x 43” Nibral propellers, Brazos Pilot achieves a top speed in excess of 28 knots, with a nominal cruise speed of 18 knots.

Navy Gears Up to Issue FFG (X) Solicitation The Navy is moving right along with its

plans for the FFG (X) guided missile frigate. A notice published February 22 said that a solicitation for the detail design and Lockheed Martin frigate

10 Marine Log // March 2019

construction (DD&C) of up to ten of the guided missile frigates is planned for fourth quarter 2019.

Though that solicitation will be “under full and open competition,” it would be astonishing if the award did not go to one of the five shipbuilders awarded conceptual design phase contracts in February last year.

The conceptual design phase looks to have been fruitful. In a January 19 presentation to the Surface Navy Association, frigate program manager Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants, Regan Campbell, said that FFG(X) requirements are now mature.

She also said that, coming down from an initial estimated $950 million a ship, the Navy is now “trending to very close to” its $800 million target price.

The vendors involved in the conceptual design phase are: Austal USA; Ingalls Shipbuilding, Lockheed Martin Inc, Fincantieri Marinette Marine, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.

Both Austal and Lockheed Martin are offering designs based on their existing LCS designs. The Fincantieri Marinette Marine parent craft is the FREMM frigate, in service with the Italian Navy since 2012. The Bath Iron Works parent craft design is Spanish shipbuilder Navantia’s Álvaro de Bazán-class F100 Frigate.

Ingalls Shipbuilding has as yet released no details of its parent design.

The Navy expects to build a total of twenty FFG(X) ships in line with its FY 2019 Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels.

Update

Netherlands Heavy Hitters Explore Methanol as a Marine Fuel A consortium of leading Netherlands maritime companies and the Royal Netherland Navy have joined forces to investigate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable alternative transportation fuel in the maritime sector.

Leading research institutes TNO, TU Delft, NLDA and Marin will provide knowledge-building and research capacity for the project by studying operational profiles, ship configurations, engine configurations, performance, emissions and other topics.

“Together the consortium partners – who include all the main stakeholders in the transport supply chain – bring extensive experience and knowledge which will help to make this project a success,” says Pieter Boersma, Business Director Maritime & Offshore of TNO. “The inclusion of shipowners, shipyards, OEMs, ports and methanol suppliers demonstrates the strong interest to integrate experience and knowledge from the entire value chain in the Green Maritime Methanol project. As

Barges Dry Docks Work Boats JMS-Designed.

Stevedoring barge 300’ x 72’ · 6,000 psf deck Built by Conrad Shipyard for the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Port of Providence

part of the project, the partners will look at concrete possibilities to adopt methanol as marine fuel on either newbuilds or conversions of the existing fleet.”

Major shipowners involved in the Green Maritime Methanol project include Van Oord and Wagenborg Shipping, while shipbuilders Damen, Feadship, Royal IHC are involved along with engine distributor Pon Power and Wärtsilä. Specialized marine equipment suppliers like Marine Service Noord and maritime service providers including C-Job Naval Architects are also participating.

Work to study the infrastructure and supply chain for methanol will involve the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, aling with methanol suppliers BioMCN and Helm Proman and a trade organization, The Methanol Institute.

The Green Maritime Methanol project is supported by TKI Maritime and the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and will be completed within two years.

BIZ NOTES CORVUS MAKES AN ACQUISITION Corvus Energy Holding AS, a leading supplier of marine industr y Energy Storage Systems (ESS), has signed an agreement to acquire all shares in Skien, Norway, based Grenland Energy AS.The acquisition adds lightweight and subsea batteries to Corvus Energy’s existing portfolio of large-scale maritime ESSs.

PRIVATE EQUITY BUSY IN TUG AND BARGE SECTOR Va n c o u ve r, Wa s h., h ea d q uartered Tidewater Transportation & Terminals has been acquired from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners by an investor group that includes Upper Bay Infrastructure Partners, Ullico, funds and accounts under management by Black Rock, Silverfern, and other co-investors.

Tidewater’s operations include Tidewater Barge Lines,and Burnaby, British Columbia, headquartered Island Tug and Barge ( ITB ), the West Coast’s largest bulk transporter of refined petroleum products.

Muskegon, Mich. based Great L a ke s o p e r a t o r A n d r i e, L LC , meantime, has become the sixth acquisition in 16 months by Auxo Investment Par tners and builds on its December 2017 acquisition of New Orleans based dry bulk barge operator M/G Transport Services.

Let’s make plans.

Naval Architecture Marine Engineering www.JMSnet.com 860.536.0009

March 2019 // Marine Log 11

Update

Canadian Operator Takes Delivery of IMO Tier III Compliant Escort Tug

SA AM SMIT Towage Canada has taken

delivery of what will be the first IMO Tier III emissions-compliant escort tug to operate in British Columbia.

Named Tsimshian Warrior, the tug was handed over February 22 by Turkey’s Uzmar

Shipyard. Built to Robert Allan Ltd.’s RAstar 3200W design, the vessel has been modified to suit extreme local conditions with upgraded systems.

The Tsimshian Warrior is powered with new generation Cat 3516E 2,525 bkW engines

with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems to meet IMO Tier III certification requirements. They drive Rolls Royce US255 CP azimuth thrusters providing 83.5 tones bollard pull ahead and a vessel speed 13 knots.

The state-of-the-art tug is capable of safely performing all ship-handling duties, including berthing, unberthing and escorting in all weather conditions.

The tug features explosion-proof deck equipment and is fully equipped for LNG terminal stand-by roles with a Fi-Fi- 1 external fire-fighting system.

Its heavy duty escort towing equipment package is also suitable for rescue towing missions.

The new tug is designed to meet a stringent set of performance requirements that were carefully identified and verified by multiple real-time full-mission bridge simulations in collaboration with British Columbia Coast Pilots Ltd., Pacific Maritime Institute, Towing Solutions Inc., Lantec Marine Inc., Robert Allan Ltd., and SST Canada.

These requirements included a bollard pull of 80+ tonnes and indirect escort forces of up to 120 tonnes at 10 knots.

REPAIR DIVISION

NEW CONSTRUCTION

429 Rome Woodard Dr. , Houma, LA 70363 Phone: 985-853-0620 Fax: 985-853-0702

6130 Highway 308, Lockport, LA 70374 Phone: 985-532-5515 Fax: 985-532-5422

ThomaSea_HalfPage_Feb2019.indd 1

12 Marine Log // March 2019

www.thoma-sea.com 2/5/19 10:52 AM

Blount Boats, Tripp Burman

We at THOMA-SEA are grateful to our clients, both new and old, who have entrusted us over the past 30 years, and have been a part of our growth as a company.

Update

Polar Star Plagued by Engineering Deficiencies During Antarctic Deployment Underscoring the challenges that the

U.S. Coast Guard faces in keeping its only operational heavy icebreaker, the 43 year old Polar Star, in service, the agency last month revealed that an incinerator room fire had broken out on the ship when it was 650 miles north of Antarctica.

The incident was one of a string of engineering problems to affect the ship during its most recent deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the U.S. military’s contribution to the National Science Foundation (NSF)-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.

According to the Coast Guard, the incinerator fire occurred on the evening of Feb. 10, 2019. The cutter set General Emergency and, after initial response efforts using four fire extinguishers failed, fire crews spent almost two hours extinguishing the fire. ‘ Fire damage was contained inside the incinerator housing, while firefighting water used to cool exhaust pipe in the surrounding area damaged several electrical systems and insulation in the room.

Repairs are already being planned for the

Polar Star’s upcoming maintenance period.

The incinerator will need to be fully functional before next year’s mission.

No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

“It’s always a serious matter whenever a shipboard fire breaks out at sea, and it’s even more concerning when that ship is in one of the most remote places on Earth,” said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Pacific Area. “The crew of the Polar Star did an outstanding job – their expert response and determination ensured the safety of everyone aboard.”

Commissioned in 1976, the 43-year old ship is operating beyond its expected 30-year service life.

The ship’s problems on this deployment began while en route to Antarctica when one of its electrical systems began to smoke, causing damage to wiring in an electrical switchboard, and one of the ship’s two evaporators used to make drinkable water failed.

The electrical switchboard was repaired by the crew, and the ship’s evaporator was repaired after parts were received during a

port call in Wellington, New Zealand.

The ship also experienced a propeller shaft leak that halted icebreaking operations to enable scuba divers to go into the water to repair the seal around the shaft. A hyperbaric chamber on loan from the U.S. Navy aboard the ship allows Coast Guard divers to make external emergency repairs and inspections of the ship’s hull at sea.

The Polar Star also experienced ship-wide power outages while breaking ice. Crew members spent nine hours shutting down the ship’s power plant and rebooting the electrical system.

March 2019 // Marine Log 13

Update

FONAR Does Not Spell Free Pass on Non-Compliant Fuel Another new term has surfaced at the International Maritime Organization: FONAR. It stands for Fuel Oil Non-Availability Reports. Already shipowners are being warned not to use a FONAR as a pretext to use or carry non-compliant fuel when the IMO cap on the sulfur content of marine fuels come into effect on January 1, 2020.

Last month’s meeting of IMO’s subcommittee on Pollution Prevention and Response made “substantial progress” on preparations for the sulfur cap, according to the Danish Maritime Authority. Member states provisionally agreed to a number of measures for consistent implementation and enforcement of the new rules. The measures now being finalized include the use of those Fuel Oil Non-Availability Reports (FONARs).

The International Chamber of Shipping notes that, in exceptional circumstances, safety or operational concerns about the quality of low sulfur fuels may be a valid reason for shipowners to be issued with a Fuel Oil Non Availability Report (FONAR) However, ICS warns, this decision should not be seen as a “free pass” either to use or carry non-complaint fuel.

“FONARs remain a tool of last resort and are not something that a ship will be able to use routinely,” said ICS Deputy Secretary General Simon Bennett. “The circumstances in which a FONAR can be used are very limited and conditions attached to their use will be strict. Shipowners still need to remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure full compliance in 2020.”

ICS says it is possible that in some ports worldwide shipowners may initially encounter quality or compatibility problems with the new 0.5% blended fuels which they may have intended to use. But ICS emphasizes that the higher cost of alternative compliant fuels – including 0.1% distillates if these are the only other fuels available – will not be considered a valid basis for claiming nonavailability of safe and compliant fuel.

ICS reminds ship operators of its recently updated guidance on “Compliance with the 2020 Global Sulfur Cap” which states that ships will be expected to bunker and use other compliant fuels including 0.10% Smax distillates in cases where 0.50% Smax fuels are unavailable. Exceptions to this option may only be accepted by Port State Control (PSC) authorities following consideration of the ability of the ship’s fuel oil system to safely store, process and consume other compliant fuels and the need for cleaning out the tanks of all remaining fuel residue prior to 14 Marine Log // March 2019

loading non-compatible alternatives into the same tank. In such cases, ship operators must ensure the availability of documentary evidence on board to prove these limitations during subsequent PSC inspections following the issuance of any FONAR. ICS also warns that only the minimum possible quantity of non-compliant fuel should be bunkered if a FONAR is issued, as likely any remaining non-compliant fuel will

be required by PSC to be debunkered at the next port of call.

ICS says that a FONAR should not be considered as an exemption from the relevant sulfur limits. According to MARPOL, it is up to PSC authorities that receive the FONAR at the next port of call to take into account all relevant circumstances and the evidence presented to determine whether or not to detain the ship.

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Update

Alaska Tanker Company Opts for Ecochlor BWMS Alaska Tanker Company (ATC) is

to retrofit the Ecochlor ballast water management system (BWMS) on board three of its VLCCs with an option for a fourth vessel.

The installations will start in the fall of 2019 and run through 2021 and will be carried out at the Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore.

Alaska Tanker’s fleet of four U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged VLCCs is time chartered to carry all of BP’s Alaska North Slope crude

oil. ATC has also performed crude oil deliveries for Conoco-Phillips and ExxonMobil through Contracts of Affreightment (CO’s) and cargo exchanges, The USCG Type Approved Ecochlor BWMS is approved for installation in both U.S. flag and International vessels in hazardous areas rated Zone 1 or Zone 0.

“We have been diligently evaluating BWMS to find one that will suit our needs

─ specifically a system that not only unfailingly meets the U.S. Federal and State environmental compliance standards, but one that is easy to operate and will keep our crew safe,” said ATC CEO Anil Mather.

“Crew safety and environmental protection are of paramount concern to ATC and we expect the same from our operational partners. Further, ATC recognizes its responsibility to the citizens of the U.S. West Coast States, including Alaska. Thus, our ships must not only meet and exceed environmental standards, they must do so reliably to ensure that there is no interruption of critical oil supplies. Ecochlor understands these requirements and has agreed to work with us to ensure we meet these high standards.”

The Ecochlor BWMS uses a two-step treatment process – filtration followed by chlorine dioxide.

New Factory

ONMENTAL NS

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SAFETY LEADERSHIP DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY © Avigator Thailand/Shutterstock

Maynard, Mass., headquartered Ecochlor has been seeing a significant upsurge in orders. In response, its manufacturing partner, ProFlow, Inc., has opened a new factory in North Haven, Conn., for production of the chlorine dioxide generator used in the system.

ProFlow was able to quickly increase production capacity and efficiency by incorporating LEAN manufacturing procedures while maintaining its ISO 9001 certification.

The new factory will be exclusively used to manufacture the generators, which ProFlow has been building for Ecochlor since 2001.

“This past year we have seen increased orders from Ecochlor, so our manufacturing volume had to grow to match the high demand,” said Kurt Uihlein, President of ProFlow. “With this additional factory space, we are able to move from one-off customized deliveries to volume production assembly cells. In addition, we have built up an inventory of components and sub-assemblies for faster delivery times.

These changes in our production process have allowed us to reduce our manufacturing time by more than 25% while also increasing our productivity.

The manufacturing site and new assembly procedures have allowed Ecochlor to boost deliveries to over 200 units per year. The new assembly process has each generator unit in a production cell for approximately 2 – 3 days, followed by stateof-the art factory acceptance test (FAT) cells that allow for multiple generators to be tested simultaneously.

March 2019 // Marine Log 15

inside washington

Good News for USCG Heavy Icebreaker Program

T

here was some good news for the Coast Guard in the spending bill signed into law February 15 by President Trump.It included seven regular appropriations bills for fiscal year 2019, including the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2019.

While that part of the Act did not provide the funding sought by the Administration for a border wall, it did provide $655 million for production of the first Polar Security Cutter (PSC) heavy icebreaker and $20,000,000 for long lead time materials for a second PSC. It also funds increases of: $5 million for post-delivery activities for the tenth National Security Cutter; $2.6 million for post-delivery activities for an eleventh National Security Cutter, $5 million for survey and design work to support the acquisition of a Great Lakes icebreaker;

and $100 million for additional Fast Response Cutters.

Fears for PNSY Still, with no funding for a border wall, the President declared a state of national emergency and said he would pay for the wall by reallocating military construction funding. He did not specify which funds would be diverted, leaving many worried about the fate of projects near and dear to their hearts.

New Hampshire’s Congressional Delegation is worried that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) could be hit.

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (D-NH-02) and Chris Pappas (D-NH-01) have written urging the administration to reconsider

its plans to reallocate funding, saying the action could have an “adverse impact on the ability of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) and the New Hampshire National Guard (NHNG) to meet critical national security requirements.”

I n t h e i r l e t t e r, t h e D e l e g a tion underscored important New Hampshire projects at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard that could be affected by the President’s actions.

They note that in 2018 the Navy released the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan to address deficiencies across the naval shipyards. The plan calls for a $21 billion investment over the next 20 years for dry dock recapitalization, facility layout and optimization and capital equipment modernization. “These improvements are necessary to ensure our carriers and submarines can support national security missions around the world,” they wrote.

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16 Marine Log // March 2019

2/27/19 3:33 PM

Cruise

The world’s first LNG fueled cruise ship, AIDAnova, seen being bunkered in Tenerife

by Coral Methane a 7,500 cu.m ethylene/ LNG carrier modified to an LNG bunker vessel for Shell, which is supplying the LNG.

LOOKS AT

all the options for meeting its green goals

C

ruising is keen to proclaim its green achievements. Nonetheless, it remains a favorite target of persistent, often hysterical, attacks from environmentalist groups.

Here’s how one particularly vocal group of cruise line critics, German based NABU, puts it: “There is hardly any other branch in the

economy where the gulf between image and reality is as wide as in the cruise industry: With huge marketing budgets and many efforts, cruise companies create a picture of being a bright, clean and environmental friendly tourism sector. But the opposite is the case: The ‘swimming hotels’ run by Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC and other shipping companies contribute massively to the air pollution that threatens our climate,

By Bill Thomson

our environment and our health.”

The problem for the cruise industry, of course, is that this kind of stuff is too often picked up by media outlets who never question the underlying assertions.

In fact, like the rest of shipping, cruising has set itself some high emissions reductions targets and is investing heavily in meeting them. While IMO has agreed to an initial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction March 2019 // Marine Log 17

CRUISE strategy that requires international shipping to reduce total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050, compared to 2008 levels, the Cruise Lines International Association has committed to reducing carbon emissions across the cruise fleet by 40% (from 2008 levels) over the next decade.

Arnold Donald, CLIA Chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation, says: “We aspire to the IMO vision of a carbon-free shipping industry by the end of the century.

Our commitment to a 40% reduction in the rate of emissions by 2030 is a strong first step toward realizing that vision.”

As far as emissions to air go, cruise ships, like all ships, are subject to international and regional limitations. Much has been done in ship and engine design to limit nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter emissions, as well as to cut GHG emissions by reducing the amount of fuel consumed.

Still, it’s the sulfur content in today’s heavy fuels that is often the source of environmentalist concerns and that has led to the introduction of emission control areas (ECAs) and the IMO Global Sulfur Cap, due to take effect January 1, 2020, that will mandate that shipowners burn 0.5% sulfur fuel (0.1% within ECAs) to comply or use other means such as exhaust gas scrubbers.

Compliance comes down to three choices.

For most ships, the choices are to switch to more costly low-sulfur fuels, or fit costly exhaust gas scrubbers which allow operators to continue to burn cheap heavy fuels. The third choice, for newbuildings at least, is to switch to LNG fueling The economic case hinges largely on what percentage of time is spent in ECAs, and the nature of most cruises, which involve coastal regions rather than the open oceans, has guided many operators down the scrubber route.

The four largest cruise groups — Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean (RCCL), Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises — will have scrubbers on most of their fleet by 2020, with just around 30% of the world’s cruise fleet expected to use low-sulfur fuel.

Although scrubbers may make economic sense – “the payback is definitely worth it,” according to Andrea de Marco, VP at Norwegian – there are still environmental doubts, with fears of spillage of heavy fuel oil as well as the disposal of scrubber residues. The lowest cost “open loop” scrubber designs drain the sulfur-rich wash water into the sea. Now, though, open loop scrubbers have been coming under restrictions and even outright bans in some regions, so current scrubber thinking leans towards closed-loop or hybrid types where the residue may be 18 Marine Log // March 2019

disposed of ashore.

Carnival Corporation currently has 64 of its ships equipped with scrubbers and plans to eventually fit them in 84 vessels.

It is using a proprietary system first announced in 2013, that, it said “broke new ground in engineering a proprietary technology to successfully function in the confined spaces of a cruise ship” and is based on a “proven land-based exhaust gas cleaning technology.”

Carnival’s scrubbers, though, are open loop, although Senior VP Tom Strang says: “We are working very closely with regulators to make sure that the wash water meets and exceeds all current regulatory requirements.

We have had this independently verified.”

NCL will use closed-loop scrubbers, with RCCL and MSC opting for hybrid types.

RCCL is promising not to dispose of scrub-

Our goal is to take the smoke out of the smokestacks

ber discharge within three nautical miles of the coast. So scrubbers —once regarded as the answer to the 2020 sulfur cap — are now being seen as a short term fix for existing vessels, and newbuilds are having to look for an all-round cleaner solution.

Enter LNG Enter liquefied natural gas (LNG). The fuel’s inherent cleanliness, and the quietness of gas-fueled engines, lend themselves perfectly to cruise ships. The nature of cruises, with relatively frequent port calls, also makes LNG bunkering and onboard storage less of a problem.

The first LNG-fueled cruise ship was handed over by German shipyard Meyer Werft at the end of 2018. AIDANova, the first of three sister ships for Carnival brand Aida Cruises, has four Caterpillar MaK M 46 DF dual-fuel engines and has a total machinery output of 61,760 kW (propulsion power 37.000 kW) enabling it to operate on LNG both in port and at sea.

Aida is something of a front-runner in LNG, having taken shore power in Hamburg

for several years from an LNG-fueled power barge developed jointly with Becker Marine Systems. Two other Aida ships use LNG while in port.

In total, following AIDAnova, Carnival Corporation has an additional 10 next-generation “green” cruise ships on order that will be powered by LNG in port and at sea, with expected delivery dates between 2019 and 2025.

Fuel Cells Cruise lines are also exploring other alternative propulsion systems. Two RCCL newbuild orders, dubbed the “Icon” class, are to be fitted with experimental fuel cell installations, engineered by ABB. The 100 kW systems will be based on FCvelocity proton exchange membrane (PEM) pure hydrogen engines from Ballard Power Systems, and will provide hotel system power.

“Our goal is to take the smoke out of the smokestacks,” said Harri Kulovaara, Executive VP Maritime and Newbuilding, RCCL. “We are dedicated to innovation, continuous improvement, and environmental responsibility, and using fuel cell technology gives us the opportunity to deliver against all three of these pillars.”

Battery Hybrid Norwegian coastal operator Hurtigruten, which has recently expanded into cruises in the Antarctic and South Atlantic, is building two new vessels for this service, using battery hybrid technology developed by Rolls-Royce.

The Roald Amundsen is due to debut in 2019 and its low-NOx diesel-electric power plant will initially burn low-sulfur diesel, with batteries to supply emission-free propulsion.

Sister ship Fritjof Nansen, and a third vessel, are expected to make greater use of batteries, while Hurtigruten intends to include LNG and biogas in the fuel mix for its fleet in the near future.

Efficient Hull Shapes Fuel savings, and consequent emissions reductions, result from correct operation and maintenance. New generation ships need to have such considerations designed in at the outset. Efficient hull shapes, plus propellers and rudders optimized to the ship’s speed and operational pattern, can make a significant difference.

Three new eco-friendly expedition ships for Mystic Cruises of Portugal scheduled for delivery during 2019 from the Portuguese WestSea shipyard will have a Rolls-Royce propulsion system, featuring dual Promas combined rudders and controllable pitch propellers, with two Bergen C25:33L8P main

CRUISE engines and a Bergen C25:33L6P auxiliary dual generator for each ship, connecting to a low voltage power electric system, allowing the engines to operate at optimum speed for the required power.

Mário Ferreira, Mystic Cruises CEO said: “We are going to cruise some of the purest and most beautiful regions of the world. To reduce our impact, we worked with RollsRoyce to integrate an ultra-sophisticated hybrid propulsion system that dramatically reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as a dynamic positioning system that allows us to avoid using anchors, thereby protecting the maritime environment.”

Air Lubricated Hulls Another path for improving hull efficiency is air lubrication. One ship retrofitted with the solution is Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess.

According to U.K. based Silverstream Technologies, the ship has been in operation with its air lubrication technology, since June 2017, reducing fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions.

Final contract trials demonstrated that the original performance expectations were exceeded with net efficiency improvements of over 5% at design service speed, verified

by Lloyd’s Register.

Waste Heat The four new ships under construction for Virgin Voyages at Fincantieri for 2020-2023 delivery will incorporate Swedish based Climeon’s heat power waste heat recovery solution. The resulting environmental impact, says Climeon, will be an estimated 5,400 tons of carbon dioxide savings annually per ship — an amount that would take 180,000 trees 30 years to absorb.”

Eniram niram, a Wärtsilä company, is targeting E cruise vessels with its latest optimization software, which looks at parameters such as engine condition, propeller efficiency, hydrodynamics and weather data in order to optimize performance either at individual ship level or across an entire fleet.

“It helps us measure and track the impact of hull fouling and optimize timely hull cleanings,” says Mauricio Lacayo, Fuel & Energy Manager of RCCL.

Waste … And Plastics Pollution Cruise ships can produce an enormous amount of solid and liquid waste. Evertightening anti-pollution regulations are driving demand for sewage and waste water treatment systems, with one manufacturer,

ACO Marine, tripling production at its factory in the Czech Republic. The boom in river cruising is seen as a particular driving force.

“We will supply wastewater management solutions based around our advanced Maripur NF sewage treatment plant to a significant number of river cruise vessels scheduled to drydock,” says ACO MD Mark Beavis.

Plastic waste is a particular area of concern. Many cruise operators are phasing out single-use plastics, and trying to educate customers to cut down on plastic consumption. Virgin Voyages, for example, aims to eliminate plastic straws and other singleuse plastics used by guests. Bottled water, condiment packages, shopping bags, food packaging, stirrers and take-away coffee and tea cups will also go.

Microplastics are particularly problematic. Found in toiletries they find their way into ships’ waste water systems and ultimately into the ocean.

“A significant amount of this microplastic is being discharged in the gray water generated by the global shipping fleet but, as an industry, we can reduce this by simply revising existing legislation,” says Beavis.

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March 2019 // Marine Log 19

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Tankers

Why shipowners are sending

empty TANKERS to the U.S. Gulf

22 Marine Log // March 2019

two, to two VLCCs loading within a few days of each other in early December,” adding that LOOP has also picked up future competitors —eight of them, by Platts’ reckoning.

Until large-scale exports started, the U.S. mostly imported crude, and short-haul imports typically arrived in Aframaxes from Venezuela, Mexico and, to a lesser extent, from the North Sea. Larger vessels, such as VLCCs, were used for long-haul imports from the Middle East. But increasing U.S. production and the export of crude oil have significantly changed the dynamics of the U.S. Gulf and Caribbean tanker market, says Erik Broekhuizen, head of tanker research & consulting at Poten & Partners.

As U.S. crude oil production continues to rise, there is an expectation that the U.S. will become a net crude exporter in the “near future,” Broekhuizen says. He calls it an idea that was “unheard of ten or fifteen years ago.”

The game changer, he says, came at the end of 2015 when a ban on exporting crude oil from the U.S. to anywhere but Canada was lifted.

Since 2015, U.S. production has continued to increase. Up through early 2016, the U.S. exported about 250,000 b/d of crude, but after the ban was lifted, exports ramped up to 500,000 b/d. In 2017, exports exceeded 1 million b/d.

While some of that crude still moves into Canada, a lot is exported globally, mainly to Asia, with some going to Europe, he says.

“Now there’s talk about exporting 2 million b/d,” Broekhuizen says. The expectation is that within five to ten years, “exports out of the U.S. could double or triple. We could see 4 to 6 million b/d coming out of the U.S. gulf.”

The changes in U.S. production and exports “are so quick and so big that they have the potential to materially change the

Shutterstock/ Oleksandr Kalinichenko

V

LCC spot rates continued to firm this week, as available shipping in the U.S. Gulf remained tight and vessels are ballasting East to West on spec,” Oslo headquartered Cleaves Securities wrote in the February 24 issue of its Shipping Weekly. Tanker owners do not like to send empty tankers on expensive voyages anywhere, but these days, exports from the U.S. Gulf are where the action is, with brokerage Fearnleys recently reporting “TCE [time charter equivalent] earnings are currently in excess of $30k/day for a USG/Korea run on a round voyage basis.”

The U.S. has only been loading oil exports into VLCC’s, without lightering them from smaller tankers, for just over one year, and from just one port the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). Platts recently reported, “LOOP has picked up speed in its first year of exports, from one ship every month or

By Jennifer Pallanich

Tankers tanker markets (tradeflows and rates) in the coming decade,” Broekhuizen says, noting Poten is preparing a multiclient study on the topic.

Because the U.S. has primarily imported crude, infrastructure for exporting crude can be lacking. Most of the tankers serving the U.S. gulf are AfraMaxes with 100,000 barrels capacity, or SuezMaxes with 150,000 barrels capacity.

Rising export levels would require a significant increase in the use of tankers to economically transport the crude, he says, and “VLCCs are the vessel of choice for U.S. exporters.”

VLCCs, which can carry 2 million barrels of crude, offer economies of scale that allow U.S. crude oil exporters to lower the delivered costs of their crude and be competitive worldwide. VLCCs require deep drafts, but currently, only the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in 110 foot water depth can handled fully-loaded VLCCs. It was built as an import facility but has started exporting crude.

Historically, VLCCs have been discharged at LOOP or lightered in the U.S. gulf with crude moved via Aframaxes to ports like Texas City and Houston, Broekhuizen says.

“That’s where infrastructure developments in the U.S. Gulf are going to be interesting to follow,” Broekhuizen says. “The U.S. is becoming a very important player in the oil and tanker market now.”

A number of companies are planning or have already completed major export-related infrastructure investments along the gulf coast to take advantage of the volumes of crude coming from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford.

The Port of Corpus Christi and the Carlyle Group last October announced an agreement to jointly develop a crude oil export terminal on Harbor Island, intended as the first onshore location in the U.S. capable of providing export service to fully-laden VLCCs. The project is still subject to clearing hurdles like due diligence and final investment decision.

Moda Midstream, a liquids terminaling and logistics company, has upgraded its facility near Corpus Christi, Texas, to enable partial loading of VLCCs. Moda’s Berth 2A at the Moda Ingleside Energy Center (MIEC) – formerly Occidental Petroleum’s marine terminal – will be able to load VLCCs at rates up to 80,000 barrels per hour. MIEC can load approximately 1.2 to 1.25 million barrels onto the VLCC at the berth based on channel draft of 47 feet below mean lower low water. After the partial loading, the VLCC moors offshore, and MIEC

can load the remaining 750,000 to 800,000 barrels on smaller vessels for reverse lightering operations. As of late January, MIEC had loaded four VLCCs in this fashion.

“They are trying to create and maintain first mover advantage,” Broekhuizen says of the MIEC. “We expect that there is room for a couple of export terminals in the U.S. Gulf, and it pays big dividends to be one of the first.”

With investment into Gulf coast export infrastructure, “there is a significant opportunity for an oil tanker shipping boom in the US Gulf coast in the next five years,” Broekhuizen adds.

Tanker Market Cycling “We’ve seen a lot of growth in U.S. crude exports,” says Conor Stone, marine transport advisor at McQuilling Services. “It’s been a beneficial story for tankers.”

While the supply side is “driving the market,” the tanker market is still oversupplied, Stone says. As a result, freight rates have dropped.

According to the McQuilling Services 2019-2023 Tanker Market Outlook released in February, 106 dirty tankers and 35 product + IMO III tankers were delivered to the trading fleet in 2018. VLCC deliveries decreased relative to 2017 with 39 vessels added in 2018 and 32 Suezmaxes last year.

In 2018, 134 ships were sold for demolition or conversion, including 35 VLCCs, 22 Suezmaxes and 37 Aframaxes.

Newbuild orders decreased 20.5% yearon-year in 2018 within the dirty petroleum

products sector amid tempered interest in the VLCC and Aframax segments. In 2017, 62 VLCCs were ordered, which fell to 43 in 2018. Suezmax orders remained flat at 25 vessels, while Aframax orders decreased to 32 vessels.

As of the beginning of 2019, there were 715 VLCC tankers on the water with 62 VLCCs expected for delivery this year, according to McQuilling.

“We’ve found that VLCCs have the greatest impact on each sector” because of their carrying capacity, Stone says. “When those are over-ordered, the oversupply in that market will affect the rest.”

Looking forward, McQuilling anticipates 134 dirty petroleum products units being delivered in 2019 and 102 in 2020, which will begin to nudge freight rates into recovery mode.

“This year we’re expecting to see some improvement, but it’s very marginal. Then we expect to have a gradual uptick in freight rates until 2021, 2022, 2023,” Stone says.

McQuilling Services forecasts a deceleration in global oil demand growth, down to 860,000 b/d in 2019 before falling further to 394,000 b/d by 2023. Global crude supply growth is similarly projected to slow, rising by 830,000 b/d in 2019 amid downward pressure from OPEC production cuts, offset by gains in North American and European output.

As the tanker market moves through its current down cycle, it is likely there will be some consolidation of players and fleets, Stone says.

U.S. Exports of Cruide Oil, Annual (Thousand Barrels per Day) 1250

1000

750

500

250

0

1980

1990

2000

2010

2017

U.S. Exports of Crude Oil, Annual March 2019 // Marine Log 23

Tankers HOW BIMCO SEES THE IMPACT OF U.S. OIL EXPORTS How do things look from BIMCO headquarters in Copenhagen?

In an analysis posted Februar y 22, 2019, BIMCO’s Peter Sand notes: “One of the significant and developing oil tanker trades in 2018 was U.S. crude oil exports, which went from one record to the next. The most recent data we have is from October, when they reached 8.6 milliob tonnes. The conclusion is that U.S. crude oil exports recovered extremely well – finding alternative markets fast – to limit damage from the trade war with China, which stopped buying U.S. crude oil from August 2018, having bought 22% of all U.S. export in the previous seven months.

“Despite many rumors, China has not imported any crude oil from the U.S. since then. Nevertheless, five VLCCs and one Suezmax are reportedly heading for China with U.S. crude oil. According to AIS data sourced from VesselsValue. com, only the Suezmax tanker is currently bound for China,

with four of the VLCCs headed for Singapore and going to South Korea.”

Turning to the outlook for the sector, Sand notes that “the newly set up U.S. sanction targeting Nicolás Maduro’s regime will most probably limit the imports of crude oil into U.S. Gulf refineries. In addition, some oil produc t imports may be affected, but BIMCO does not expect it to affect majorly the overall market.”

Alternative suppliers of the “lost barrels,” says Sand, include neighboring Canada and Mexico, in addition to the preferred shipping choice: the Middle East. “Heavy sour crude oil is at stake here; while the U.S. is now the top oilproducing nation in the world, it primarily produces very light, sweet crude oil, which is not a substitute for the Venezuelan crude oil quality.”

Overall, Sand sees increasing crude oil production in the U.S. as “likely to be a positive factor in the tanker market in 2019, benefiting crude oil and oil product

tankers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2019, US crude oil production will continue to grow every year until 2027. It will be almost solely tight oil - that is, of light sweet quality.”

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CEO Spotlight

PADDY RODGERS

Shipping needs to up its game Euronav CEO is coy about his next move, but wants to focus on the important not just the urgent

By Paul Bartlett, Contributing Editor

P

addy Rodgers shocked almost everyone when he revealed plans early in February to step down as CEO of the world’s largest listed tanker owner, Euronav, later this year.

During his tenure at Euronav, where he became CEO in 2000, Rodgers has masterminded the tanker company’s development from a family-owned operation with 17 ships to a tanker major listed on both the NYSE and Euronext, with 73 vessels.

He’s giv ing few specifics about his future plans.

“I intend to remain in some capacity in the sector,” he says, “hopefully with the ability and freedom to focus on the important, rather than the urgent.” That will be welcome news to those who have been accustomed to hearing him speak forcefully on issues facing shipping.

At an industry-wide level, there is no

26 Marine Log // March 2019

room for complacency, he warns, as shipping faces a range of unprecedented challenges including new fuels.

Rodgers does not mince his words and has been particularly vocal recently in his anti-scrubber stance, based on a belief that cleaning dirty exhaust gas really doesn’t tackle the fundamental issue and that vested interests appear to have been pushing in one direction all at the same time.

“This is an upfront capital investment that has not been properly costed, in accounting or depreciation terms we believe, by investors with no visibility of a return,” Rodgers declares. ‘Why does a shipowner have to accept substantial risk – technical, environmental, logistical and economic – in order to get a return on his capital back rather than a return ON that capital invested?

“We see the duration of scrubber applicability being at risk from three factors:

one, more and more areas are banning their use and thus their utilization; two, fuel oil suppliers may demand more share of the benefits; and three, environmental, social and governance (ESG) departments of major crude participants may reduce their exposure to the technology in the face of environmental concerns.”

The scrubber debate is immediate, but Rodgers thinks this is just one of a series of issues that shipping faces between now and 2050. He says that some pretty hard thinking is required together with a big buy-in from shipping’s more complacent operators who like to think that business will continue as usual for many years to come.

Rodgers believes that shipping faces two structural challenges –“too many owners and not enough capital.” This could well be the reason for the lack of enthusiasm in some quarters to raise shipping’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) game.

He thinks that the formation of the Global Maritime Forum (GMF), of which Euronav was a founding partner, is partly a response to this apathy.

A not-for-profit non-governmental organization that aims to shape the future of world seaborne trade to increase long-term economic development and human wellbeing, the GMF has been calling on the industry, with increasing urgency, for more action in various sustainability arenas.

Last October Rodgers was one of 34 maritime CEOs who signed a GMF sponsored call for action in support of decarbonization and the IMO goal of reducing the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008.

“Shipping has so far been exempt from regulations to address the issues around GHG emissions from fuels for ships but the IMO has, after consultation laid a pathway, which requires a fundamental change in the way we fuel our ships,” said Rodgers then.

“Shipping must embrace these targets. So let’s take our responsibility to make sure our industry is heading towards a sustainable future for ourselves and the next generations in line with the expectations of our global stakeholders.”

“2050 is coming whether we like it or not,” he says today, noting that those ESG issues as a wider force, are “becoming increasingly important in our discussions with all our stakeholders, be they banks, equity or debt investors, or operating partners. The time

Paddy Rodgers

Paddy Rodgers - Chief Executive Officer, Euronav Patrick ( k now n as Paddy ) Rodger s became Chief E xecutive O f ficer of Euronav in 2000, and has ser ved on Euronav’s Board of Direc tors since June 2003.

He joined Euronav as a member of the Executive Committee in 1995, and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 1998. Since 2011, he has served as Director and Chairman of the International Tanker Owners

for action is NOW!” “Cooperatives like the GMF can help unite our message and common goals.” he says, “but we need buy-in from everyone – shipping needs to support one another more than ever. The consequences of inaction today will be tomorrow’s agenda being directed by someone else.”

Rodgers would like to see the shipping industry thinking and working collectively to inform the debate in three ways.

One, he’d like to see the IMO’s initiatives seen as an opportunity for shipping to prove itself, rather than hurdles to be overcome.

Two, he believes that the challenges of IMO 2020, 2030 and 2050 are interconnected and, with cooperation, can be tackled in such a way. And he concedes here that some of Euronav’s key customers ‘in the big oil space’ are setting an example through some of their initiatives.

Pollution Federation Fund (ITOPF). In 2016 he was honored as Commodore of the Connecticut Maritime Association.

He w as ele c te d to t he E xe c u t i ve Committee of Intertanko in May 2017.

In 1984, he joined Bentley, Stokes & Lowless as a solicitor and in 1986 he moved to Johnson, Stokes & Master in Hong Kong, where he prac tised until 1990.

From 1990 to 1995, Paddy Rodgers

Three, Rodgers would like to see the industry celebrating, or at least promoting, its unique position in the transportation arena more vocally. “[The business] … has a tendency to be its own harshest critic when there is actually plenty to be proud of, given the sector’s comparative standing in emissions per tonne transported,” he says. “Shipping is the cleanest form of transportation around!”

Rodgers is generally upbeat on the outlook for the tanker sector. He identifies five key factors which are likely to underpin a stronger market this year and next.

“One, the global fleet of VLCCs and Suezmax tankers has hit a level of maturity we have not seen for a decade,” he explains.

“With rising compliance costs, attractive scrap prices and 4-5% of the fleet under intense pressure to exit, observers of the sector should get used to a sustained level of

worked at CMB Group as in-house lawyer and subsequently as shipping executive, moving to Euronav when it became a subsidiary for tanker investments of the CMB Group.

He graduated in 1981 with an LLB from University College London, and became qualified to practice in 1984 af ter passing law societ y entrance exams after studying at the College of Law, Guildford in 1982.

recycling going forward. This will constrain fleet growth which is a positive.”

Two, Rodgers identifies a boost in U.S. pipeline capacity to the coasts as generating a step change in long-haul crude oil exports to Europe and the Far East. This should support tonne-mile growth over the next two years.

Three, IMO regulations themselves will drive demand for crude shipping as new routes are established and more crude oil is required by global refiners. “This effect could boost volumes by 800,000 barrels a day over several years,” he reckons.

Four, despite the naysayers, crude oil demand continues to remain at more than a million barrels a day above trend. This according to Euronav estimates, “should underpin an annual requirement of between 36-42 VLCCs every year.”

Rodgers points out that oil supply from producers including the US and Brazil is more than matching OPEC’s attempts to restrict supply. If this situation continues, oil prices are likely to remain between $40-70 a barrel, which he calls “a ‘Goldilocks’ range not too hot or too cold which should support above-trend demand growth.”

Lastly, Rodgers sees constraints on the supply side. Shipyard consolidation, such as the planned HHI acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, is likely to make a difference because South Korean yards have taken about 85% of tanker orders over the past two years. Yard prices have risen by 15-20% since heavy contracting in 2017. If yards can now be more choosy, the prospects are positive, but he notes ‘“regardless, ordering a tanker today, it will not arrive until 2021 so the supply chain is already booked for 2019 and 2020.”

March 2019 // Marine Log 27

Maritime Training

Why Looking Out the Bridge Window

Still Matters ast month we looked at problems that can be presented when mariners take data generated by AIS transponders at its face value.

Another critical tool for the mariner and navigator is ECDIS, now mandatory under SOLAS for most large vessels.

However, the question to be asked is whether the information displayed on the ECDIS screen is really, what is happening outside the bridge window?

A series of online blogs in late 2017 debated why ECDIS still appears to be causing navigators so many operational problems, so long af-ter the technology was introduced.

The answers range beyond training and familiarization to operator interaction with hardware and software as well as the brightness of the screen on the bridge.

One issue is that dozens of types of ECDIS are available.

Trainees too often complain of lack of standardization or that the ship they join

28 Marine Log // March 2019

does not have the ECDIS they have been training for. The Nautical Institute has long proposed an S- mode or “standard mode” ECDIS that would be used across all manufacturers’ platforms. Users would be able to press a button and operate in the standard more, where they would have a standard menu with a normal interface and functionality.

An IMO subcommittee on navigation has been considering guide-lines for a uniform operating mode for bridge navigation equipment that could pave the way for future international standards covering all types of navigation equipment , One concept of the future bridge system proposes an IMO-compliant ECDIS front of bridge and an enhanced back of bridge capability, where it is more practical to download and manipulate charting data and conduct voyage planning, This dovetails extremely well with the electronic navigation companies making

the front of the bridge a so called “lighter touch,” allowing mariners to focus on their primary tasks.

Startling Discoveries We have conducted surveys and interviews on how the maritime industry is being impacted by the advancement of electronic technologies. These yielded some startling results: mariners are less well trained than thought, are overworked with many additional duties and watch standing is becoming more complex.

A major complaint of currently sailing officers is that there are too many alarms simultaneously going off, with many of them sounding the same making it difficult to determine which equipment is faulting.

One officer used the term “alarm overload” which seems very appropriate.

Another common complaint? Excessive chatter on the VHF. The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation

Shutterstock/ Aytug askin

L

by Matthew Bonvento, Assistant Professor of Nautical Science and a Licensed Deck Officer and Emil Muccin, Associate Professor of Nautical Science and a Licensed Deck Officer

Maritime Training Board (MAIB) reports that a passenger vessel recently struck a bridge at eight knots, because the officer of the watch was distracted listening to a VHF radio report on a pier closure. He failed to notice the vessel had veered towards the bridge, and the crew were unable to warn the passengers, causing inju-ries to people on board.

Survey respondents were cognizant that mariners do not actually spend enough time looking out the window.

Technology does not alleviate watch standers of their duties, only assists them.

Bridge officers should not get distracted by communica-tions equipment and should continue looking out of the bridge window, as well as checking navigation screens.

COLREGS Investigations have shown many mariners do not fully understand or have a solid working knowledge of the “rules of the road” or specifically the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGS) and merely interpret them based on their level of understanding. This alone can have a devastating impact when you tie it to distractions and indecisions.

Further, many mariners do not observe the necessary parameters of a sage watch which include the four “A’s” Awareness, Anticipation, Application and Action. In other words, the watch stander or bridge team must be situationally aware, maintain a proper lookout, travel at a safe speed to assess risk of collision, be able to comply fully with the regulations and take positive and early action to avoid the risk of collision.

We propose the following recommendations from a safety and se-urity standpoint: Across the board it appears that, most mariners are learning how to operate new

equipment from on the job training (OJT).

While this does have its benefits, risks arise when officers who are not thoroughly familiar with equipment train others improperly. Computer Based Training (CBT) should be made available on board for new equipment after installation.

Some companies provide formal training programs and shoreside and seagoing assessments to ensure that their mariners are fully qualified for the equipment and the vessel they are aboard.

Personal technology on the bridge is nothing new. This has only gotten worse with the advent of cell phones. In the tragic case of the DUKW 34 and the tug Caribbean Sea, in Philadelphia in 2010, the problems of cell phone usage on the bridge were highlighted. Although most companies have now banned the practice altogether, the problem still remains according to our respondents, as there is no method in place to enforce the no cell phone policy. Especially when the captain has a company phone.

Awareness training campaigns are being instituted targeted to the maritime industry with a continued emphasis on the proper protocol and procedures to be adhered to in order to have a successful and safe watch. Bridge distraction training should be added as an additional dimension to BRM training.

We further propose a need for additional and specific training (developing a course to address the interaction of all these factors and how to successfully interpret the data and inputs to have a safe encoun-ter/ watch/voyage).

Summing up, we need to have a renewed e m p h a s i s on hu m a n f a c tor s a n d a n increased focus and investment on education and training through reinforced

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U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch

of calculated conditions.

The U.K. Marine Accident Investigation Branch found that the navigational practices on board this vessel that grounded in 2017 were “adversely impacted by the pressures resulting from having only two bridge watchkeepers,” a situation where “the demands of operational pressures and interrupted rest patterns inevitably impact on working practices.”

USER DRIVEN ENDORSED WORLDWIDE www.herber t-abs.com March 2019 // Marine Log 29

Maritime Training

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learning and simulation, as our world, through sophisticated technology, gets smaller and smaller.

Additionally a larger emphasis needs to be place on basic navigation skills, greater vigilance from bridge teams, fewer distractions and better levels of communications up and down the chain of command. Mariners, through continuing reduction in crew size, are getting more and more overworked with less rest. This has proven to cause fatigue is-sues with its associated decrease in awareness and mental sharpness. Now throw in the added impact of additional bridge distractions and it is a recipe for disaster.

This article is based on a White Paper by the authors entitled Maritime Bridge Distractions. To request a full copy, contact goodwindmaritime@gmail.com

SCORA: New Tool for Assessing Safety Culture North P&I Club has launched a self-assessment tool to help its members assess and improve their safety performance.

Developed in conjunction with leading safety consultancy GreenJakobs en, t he Safet y Culture Organizational Assessment tool ( SCO R A ) gi ve s m e m b e r s t h e opportunity to measure their organizational capacity for safety both on board and ashore.

Simon MacLeod, Deput y Director (Loss Prevention) said, “SCORA is an easy to use online survey. It produces a confidential report that provides an overview of an organization’s safety capacity in five key safety areas. The SCORA repor t provides a foundation for discus sions around safet y improvement s. By identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement, owners and operators can focus their resources more effectively. Completing the sur vey periodically provides an indicator of progress over time and the effectiveness of implemented improvements.”

SCORA is part of North’s Safety Management 2.0 initiative. SCORA is free for Nor th’s members.

Non-members can access the tool for a fee.

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30 Marine Log // March 2019 NewsletterAd_2/3Ad_Horizontal.indd 1

3/8/19 10:44 AM

SALVAGE AND RESPONSE Feature Resolve Maritime Group services include wreck removal

U.S. Salvage Leaders are Ready to Respond Worldwide Resources developed in response to OPA are a springboard for global growth by John Wooldridge

Resolve Maritime Group

H

igh risk. Episodic. Demanddriven. These are key words that define the salvage industry. To find out more about this business, MarineLog spoke with two fast-growing domestic companies with global reach: Resolve Marine Group and the Teichman Group, whose operations include T&T Marine Salvage.

“At Resolve Marine Group, the focus is on emergency response, salvage, compli-ance and wreck removal,” said Lindsay MalenHabib, Manager of Client Services. “The other divisions of the company support those core businesses.”

Resolve Marine Group has grown exponentially since it began in 1980 as a one-tug operation after Joe Farrell, Jr. purchased his first tug, The Resolve. Throughout the next 35years, the company oversaw salvage jobs in the Caribbean, working on various small freighters and island vessels. Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, Congress enacted the landmark OPA 90 legislation and Farrell realized he needed to offer services that met the regulations

spawned by the Act. “In order to comply with OPA 90 regulations, Resolve needed the expertise and capabilities to fight tank vessel fires – in short, it needed a firefighting team and, as it turned out, the only way to establish one was to build a training facility,” said MalenHabib. “Resolve soon became the only salvage company with an in-house firefighting training vessel and school as well as team of experts, who also served as professional instructors.”

While Farrell realized the OPA 90 model had worldwide ramifications, he first dedicated his resources to the North American market. Farrell’s dedication to refining the OPA 90 emergency response model domestically paid off as Resolve now maintains a network of 23 depots nationwide, stocked with company-owned equipment available around the clock.

With Resolve’s U.S. capabilities established, Farrell applied the lessons learned worldwide. The company now has offices and response bases in the U.K., Gibraltar, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Singapore,

India, China, and South Africa and 300 full time personnel throughout the U.S. and globally, prepared respond wherever the job takes them.

One recent international project, a grounded cement carrier on the beach in Oman, was a showcase of the company’s abilities.

“Bad weather drove the ship aground late last year, and we refloated it with mini-mal impact to the environment,” said Resolve’s International Managing Director Daan Koornneef. “The ship was almost fully laden, and offloading on the beach could have had significant consequences all around.

“The area was of vital importance to the tourist industry, and endangered sea turtles nest on it. It would have been devastaing if the ship required scrapping on site,” said Koornneef. “Our team was able to quickly refloat and remove the vessel in one piece with no negative environmental effects.

Another recent project that took place in U.S. waters, on the Hudson River in fact, is focused on the controlled demolition with explosives of a 6000 ton span of the old Tappan Zee bridge. Our team had to bring down March 2019 // Marine Log 31

SALVAGE AND RESPONSE the bridge section in such a way that the new bridge was not damaged and the adjacent shipping channel not blocked.”

“We’re preparing to lift and recover the span in one piece with our patented chain puller lift system,” added Todd Schauer, Resolve’s Director of Projects. “This unique project executed in a very environmentally sensitive area of the Hudson River during the winter of 2019 has offered many challenges to put it lightly.”

In May of this year Resolve is set to start assessment and oil removal from the British tanker Coimbra sunk off Long Island at the beginning of World War II. They will meticulously map the site, then hot tap the tanks to remove the cargo, which has been slowly leaking from the vessel in recent years.

“The wreck is ranked by NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard as one of the highest risk targets for a potential major spill of all the legacy wrecks,” said Schauer.

Teichman Group The Teichman Group of Companies operates one of the most extensive emergency response networks in the world, with a comprehensive range of assets prepositioned throughout the U.S. and globally.

These are complemented heavy lift and salvage support vessels ready to meet both routine marine services and emer-gency response challenges.

“The company was established in 1957 when Rudy Teichman, an experienced machinist, established T&T Marine Ways, Inc., a small shipyard at the end of Teich-man Point in Galveston, Texas,” said Jim Elliott, Chief Operating Officer. “At first, the business consisted of a dock for working on small vessels, a machine shop, and a small dredge. Later, a marine railway was built to perform dry repairs on small vessels. In 1960, Rudy bought a wooden tug named Josephine that he rebuilt to provide towing services to the area.”

The shipyard was destroyed when Hurricane Carla hit Galveston in 1961, but Teichman started over and by 1964 was expanding, hiring more employees, and building bigger and better facilities.

“Recognizing the need for a salvage and diving company along the Texas coast, Rudy started T&T Marine Salvage, Inc. to raise sunken boats and barges. In 1976, Rudy bought a steam crane for heavy lift work,” Elliott said. “Today, T&T owns and operates a wide assortment of equipment, providing a variety of services in-cluding heavy lift, response, salvage, and marine firefighting.”

Following his father’s passing in 2012, Rudy’s son, Kevin Teichman, stepped 32 Marine Log // March 2019

forward to lead and expand the Teichman Group. As Managing Director, Kevin Teichman has implemented a strategic plan that includes expanding offices in Europe, South America and Asia.

In addition to the salvage and diving businesses, the Teichman Group is recognized by the USCG as an OSRO (oil spill response organization) and manages two oil spill response cooperatives, Clean Gulf Associates and Clean Channels Cooperative, including managing all emergency response equipment and personnel.

Today, the Teichman Group’s fleet of boats, and salvage and oil spill response equipment continue to grow. The company now has the capacity to recover more than two million barrels of oil per day with more than 300,000 feet of containment boom.

In the first few months of 2019, T&T Salvage successfully completed several salvage and spill response operations, including an ice response and wreck removal in the Great Lakes and containership salvage operations in the Mediterranean and Asia.

In late-2018/early-2019, T&T also expanded the company’s international salvage and pollution response capabilities with the purchase and integration of a rapidresponse hydrographic survey company.

In the wake of three successive hurricane landfalls that devastated regions of Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean region, T&T successfully recovered over 90 ships, barges, ferries, boats, a grounded dry dock and a sunken dry dock. Though the company was itself directly impacted by the storm, with several flooded homes and vehicles, the T&T crew responded immediately in the on-going flooding conditions to commence salvaging multiple sunken and grounded vessels and to quickly re-open ports and waterways throughout Texas and the Gulf Coast region. As T&T worked closely with the Coast Guard and the State of Texas to re-open ports, the company simultaneously dispatched crews throughout the Texas coastal region to recover boats and barges to prevent additional environmental damage.

In the upper Houston Ship Channel alone, there were over 70 barges piled up with many damaged and sunken during the storm’s landfall. Within the first few days of the storms passing, over 30 barges were quickly removed by T&T crews and seven additional barges were lifted with T&T’s Derrick Barge, Big T. Upon successful recovery, T&T then went to work recovering six sunken and six partially submerged barges. Two barges were launched from land using roller bags while four were

pulled from shore using T&T-designed and constructed chain pullers mounted to a deck barge. In all, almost 15,000 tons of scrap material and 1,450 tons of steel coils were recovered from the damaged barges during the salvage operations.

While these barges were systematically salvaged, T&T also spent several weeks refloating a sunken drydock that had broken free during Hurricane Harvey and ultimately sank in the Houston Ship Channel, blocking ship traffic. Salvage divers installed hydraulic submersible pumps, multiple salvage patches, and chains below the sunken dry dock to lift it with a series of 300-ton chain pullers installed onboard deck barges.

As these teams cleared the Houston Channel, another T&T team re-opened Port Aransas by refloating a grounded drillship and several State ferries, while also sal-vaging several sunken and grounded tugboats.

What’s Ahead?

“The downturn in the global shipping and offshore markets, and the simultaneous evolution of salvage contracting and regulatory frameworks, have served as drivers for unprecedented change in the marine salvage industry,” Elliott said. “The highly competitive U.S. salvage market has reduced profit margins, retainer fees and salvage awards. The historically profitable international marine salvage market has also seen historic lows in the number of traditional Lloyd’s Open Form contracts and associated salvage awards driven, in part, by the downward global trend in marine casualty and oil spill incidents. As a result, in the past five years, major salvage companies have merged while some have ceased to exist as compa-nies strive to retain a competitive advantage in the evolving market conditions.”

T&T is ready to meet those evolving conditions.

“Since 1957, T&T has successfully adapted to shipping market fluctuations and increasing regulatory oversight in a highly competitive marine salvage industry.” Elliott said. “T&T continues to expand operational capabilities, including leading industry workgroups to develop best practices for LNG and megaship response op-erations, and to continuously build capacity by positioning salvage and emergency response equipment and personnel worldwide. As the company continues to grow, T&T will leverage its unique ability to develop costeffective solutions to complex issues in other industry sectors, such as offshore decommissioning, subsea re-sponse operations and responding to pipeline and rail incidents.”

Newsmakers

Ricuarte Vasquez named as next Panama Canal Administrator Bureau Veritas has appointed former Lloyd’s Register Americas President TIM PROTHEROE as Regional Chief Executive, Marine & Offshore, North America. His role includes responsibility for the marine operational client support teams and services provided under the continued management of the General Manager, Marine Operations, Daniel Giani.

He will report to Bruno Dabouis, Vice-President for the South West Europe and North Americas Zone.

The Panama Canal Board of Directors has named RICAURTE VASQUEZ as the next Panama Canal Administrator. He will take office on

September 4, 2019, succeeding current Administrator JORGE L. QUIJANO, who concludes his seven-year term. The Board also in announced the appointment of Mrs. ILYA ESPINO DE MAROTTA as the next Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal. She will take office in January 2020.

SCOTT BERGERON has left Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR), the privately owned U.S.-based manager of the Liberian Registry.

Bergeron had served as LISCR’s CEO since September 2011, having joined LISCR in 2000.

Södertälje, Sweden, headquartered Scania AB has appointed KARIN

RÅDSTRÖM, as the company’s Executive Vice President and Head of Sales and Marketing.

She will report to HENRIK HENRIKSSON, President and CEO. Laborde Products, Inc. has named TRACE LABORDE as Marine Manager responsible for continuing the growth of the company’s marine business. Laborde Products is a distributor of marine engines for Mitsubishi, Yanmar, OXE Diesel Outboards, BUKH and Steyr Motors in the Gulf Coast, Inland River Valley and Caribbean.

T.J. TRACY has been named Director of the Marine Division at Viega LLC. Tracy is charged with further developing the fast-growing division.

March 2019 // Marine Log 33

TECH NEWS Schottel Introduces New Shallow Water Thruster Schottel has added a new, stateof-the-art shallow water thruster, the Schottel Pump Jet type SPJ 30, to its product line. Available in the power class up to 150 kW, the azimuth thruster is suitable for a wide range of different vessel types, including passenger vessels, ferries, work vessels and freighters.

Schottel says the SPJ 30 extends its power range with a highly efficient azimuth thruster that is ideal for retrofits as well as newbuildings, The compact design of the Pump Jet means that space-saving installation is possible with minimal displacement loss.

The thruster is also extremely versatile: the above-water gearboxes are available as Z and L variants, and diesel engines, electric or hydraulic motors can be used as power sources.

Since the Pump Jet is installed flush with the hull of the vessel, the vessel’s resistance is not increased and the risk of collisions with flotsam is greatly reduced with further protection against damage being provided by the protective grille on the inlet. Even in the event of grounding, the risk of damage is considerably reduced.

The thruster is optionally available with elastic mounting, which further reduces noise levels and vibrations.

The Schottel Pump Jet has proved its worth over many years as a reliable maneuvering sys tem, take home device and main propulsion unit on a wide range of watercraft.

Its power range is from 50 to 3,500 kW. Supplying full thrust at a minimum immersion of 150 to 750 mm (depending on specific model), it can also be used on vessels with a very shallow draft.

34 Marine Log // March 2019

Viking Cruises Takes Delivery of Sixth Ship with Thordon Water-Lubricated System The 930-passenger Viking Jupiter, delivered earlier this month by Fincantieri’s Ancona, Italy shipyard, is the sixth cruise ship delivered by the shipbuilder to Viking Cruise. It is also the sixth in the series to delivered with a Thordon Bearings’ seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system. It is the sixth Viking cruise ship to be fitted out with the COMPAC bearing arrangement.

Viking Cruises stresses, the environmental friendliness of its ships.

“From the outset, when we first entered the cruise market four years ago with Viking Star, we opted for water lubricated propulsion as a cost-effective means of reducing the impact of our operations on the marine environment,” said Richard Goodwin, Viking’s Vice President, Engineering. “The COMPAC system has proven itself both commercially and operationally

and we look forward to working with Thordon on future projects.”

Two 930 passenger-capacity sisterships, Viking Tellus and Viking Venus, currently under construction at Fincantieri and slated for delivery in 2021, have also been specified with the pollution-free Thordon system.

Further newbuilds of the same class have also been ordered for delivery between 2022 and 2027, though supply contracts have yet to be finalized. Four more yet-to-be-named ships are scheduled to launch by 2023.

Being lubricated by seawater and the Thordon system does not require an aft seal, reducing in-service maintenance costs.

According to Alfredo Tosato, Managing Director at Pedrotec, Thordon Bearings authorized distributor in Italy, Fincantieri frequently specifies COMPAC for its newbuilding projects.

Schoellhorn-Albrecht Deck Machinery Picked for Icebreaking Tug Schoellhorn-Albrecht, St. Louis, Mo., recently completed a contract to design and manufacture a Vertical Anchor Windlass and Thru Deck Capstan for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation’s newest icebreaking tug.

The windlass was designed to ABS standards for a minimum design temperature of -25F°. Testing and certification was witnessed

by ABS in the company’s St. Louis facility.

The Thru-Deck Capstan features a variable frequency drive (VFD) control package, a right angle drive gearbox, 20 HP marine duty motor and 18” diameter barrel.

Both control packages feature Nema 4 stainless steel enclosures.

The Z-drive tug will provide icebreaking ice-management services and handle buoys .

TECH NEWS

U.S. Based Operator to Fit Croe Scrubbers in 35 Ships Parsippany, N.J. based CR Ocean Engineering, LLC, reports that it has been awarded a contract for exhaust gas scrubbers by a major U.S. based shipping company that will take the total number of ships in its fleet with CROE scrubbers to over 35.

This latest award follows a year of investigation and evaluation by the client who started with a smaller number of ships several months ago.

All the scrubbing systems will enter commercial operations during 2019 and will be ready for operation when the IMO Global Sulfur Cap goes into full effect worldwide on January 1, 2020.

“We had known this company for several years and over that time we had always looked forward to a day when we could provide our systems to them. Winning this competition was a proud moment for us” said Nick Confuorto, CROE President and COO. “They are an excellent company. We look forward to doing more work with the company as their success continues.”

CROE has leveraged over 60 years of experience in air pollution control to develop scrubbing systems for the maritime industry. Currently CROE systems are installed or in the process of being installed on more than 150 ships.

CR Ocean Engineering’s ship exhaust gas cleaning technology is available in three

standard configurations, customizable to a ship’s requirements: • Open-Loop: once throug h scrubber using seawater • Closed-Loop: a recirculating scrubber using freshwater with caustic • Hybrid: a combination of both designs for maximum flexibility CROE Scrubbers are in-line and normally replace the silencers. Due to their small size and compact configuration, CROE Systems, are suited for both newbuilds and retrofits. They can be configured as single stream (controlling emissions from a single engine or boiler) or multi-stream (controlling emissions from multiple engines/boilers combined).

CROE has sales, service and manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe to better serve its clients.

Corvus Energy to Deliver Marine Industry’s Largest Ever Battery Packages Corvus Energy has signed a contract with Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) that will see the marine world’s largest battery packages be installed on board Havila Kystruten’s coastal vessels.

“This is a big step for the cruising industry and we are extremely proud to receive this order. It demonstrates that we drive technology further by pushing boundaries for the use of batteries. The Energy Storage System (ESS) is the world’s largest package ever delivered to a ship and will enable the vessels to enter fjords and ECAs on zero emission mode five years before the deadline,” says Geir Bjør-keli, CEO of Corvus Energy.

Corvus Energy will deliver an air-cooled ESS with Corvus’ patented single-cell thermal isolation, which exceeds class requirements, to ensure the highest level of safety.

The Energy Storage System has a capacity

per vessel of 6,100 kWh, which is dou-ble the capacity of any existing battery-operated ferries,” says Roger Rosvold, Vice President Sales at Corvus Energy.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for batteries.You have to optimize and com-promise to find the the right balance between energy density, capacity, performance and lifecycle to ensure the most optimal ESS solution,” says Stein Ruben Larsen, Senior Vice President Sales at NES, a total system integrator of electric systems for the global maritime market. “We chose Corvus Energy due to the proven reliability, safety and performance of the Corvus ESS, in addition to their experience and the high level of technical support provided through previous pro-ject deliveries to NES. We know we are getting the best ESS available in the market.”

Compact MAN SCR System Meets IMO Tier III MAN Energy Solutions reports that its highly compact MAN 175D SCR system recently completed its final Type Approval Test and has now been awarded IMO Tier III certification by all major classification societies.

Since the beginning of its development, the company has intensively tested the MAN 175D SCR system at its Frederikshavn, Denmark test center.

Dur ing this proces s, the SCR technology has built up more than 5,0 0 0 oper ating hour s, both in Frederikshavn and aboard an operating offshore vessel where the technology performed efficiently and reliably.

The SCR system was released for serial production in October 2018, and has already won its first order, which was booked in January.

“In order to deliver a very compact and cost-effective design, we have based the MAN 175D SCR system on our most cutting-edge technology,” says Daniel Struckmeier, Head of E xhaust Af ter treatment, MAN Energy Solutions. “A great strength is its flexible arrangement and compactness that optimize the space typically available in confined engine rooms.”

With an excellent power-to-weight ratio, airless operation and closedloop NOx emission control, the MAN 175D SCR offers a very competitive solution for IMO Tier III applications.

Due to its IMO NOx Scheme A certification, the system can be installed direc tly without fur ther on-board confirmation tests.

The family concept of the MAN 175D SCR also allows the bundling of the full group of 175D engines into one parent-engine concept.

March 2019 // Marine Log 35

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SAFETY FIRST

Training is the Key to Safe DP Operations experience. DPOs should be knowledgeable of the type and purpose of documentation associated with DP operations, such as operational manuals, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEAs) and capability plots.

5) All training should be given by properly qualified and suitably experienced personnel.

6) Upon appointment to a vessel operating in DP mode, the master, DPOs and other DP-trained personnel should be familiarized with the specific equipment fitted on and the characteristics of the vessel. Particular consideration should be given to the nature of the work of the vessel and the importance of the DP system to this work.

Certification Bodies

40 Marine Log // March 2019

components of a DP system: • power generation and management; • DP control station; • propulsion units; • position reference systems; • heading reference systems; • environmental reference systems; and • external force reference systems, such as hawser tension gauges.

As we transition into the age of the digital seafarer, our approach to problem solving will evolve and change

4) Training and experience should cover the range of routine DP operations, as well as the handling of DP faults, failures, incidents and emergencies, to ensure that operations are continued or terminated safely. Training should not be limited to DPOs and DP masters only; other personnel on board, such as electro-technical and engineer officers, may require additional training and experience to ensure that they are able to carry out their duties on a DP vessel. Consideration should be given to conducting appropriate DP drills as a part of onboard training and

Matthew Bonvento A licensed deck officer and Assistant Professor of Nautical Science

Photo Credit/ ABB

D

ynamic Positioning (DP) plays an increasingly important role in the Oil and Gas Industry. However, if something goes wrong, the consequences can be catastrophic. For that reason, proper training and credible certification of Dynamic Positioning Officers is essential.

DP certification is not normally included training for cadets in approved maritime training facilities and must be conducted at the expense of the mariner and the company.

While STCW Part B contains guidelines for DP certification, these are not requirements. So, in choosing a DP training facility ensure that it is recognized by one of the three generally accepted certification bodies, these being the Offshore Vessel Dynamic Positioning Authority (OSVDPA), DNV GL and the Nautical Institute (NI).

Here’s what STCW Section B-V/f says: 1) Dynamic positioning is defined as the system whereby a self-propelled vessel’s position and heading is automatically controlled by using its own propulsion units.

2) Personnel engaged in operating a Dynamic Positioning (DP) system should receive relevant training and practical experience. Theoretical elements of this training should enable Dynamic Positioning Operators (DPOs) to understand the operation of the DP system and its components. Knowledge, understanding and experience gained should enable personnel to operate vessels safely in DP, with due regard for safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment.

3) The content of training and experience should include coverage of the following

None of the three recognized certication authorities owns or operates any training centers. The NI and OSVDPA accredit training providers to provide courses which meet the standards set out by each scheme. The DNV GL accredits bodies to conduct their own courses and issue their own certificates.

All three schemes require class room time to cover the STCW recommended guidelines. What is different is how sea time is counted. Nautical institute requires a minimum of 120 days of sea time on board a DP vessel. However, there are no requirements that this time be spent at the DP controls.

DNV GL requires 270 hours on DP watch as well as six supervised operations. 30 percent of these hours may be reduced OSVDPA requires 120 days of seatime as well as 270 practical hours while a vessel is on DP. OSVDPA has task books at every experience gathering phase (phase 2, 4, and 5, if needed)) while NI only has tasks that must be completed during phase B (its phase 2).

While the amount of sea time is consistent between OSVDPA and NI, the DP practical experience is quite different however. It is clear that OSVDPA requires more practical hours in order to not just have competencies signed off, but also to demonstrate that DPOs are experienced by the time that they are certified.

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