Shipping and Marine Issue 8 2013

ISSUE EIGHT 2013

Shipping &MARINE

The magazine for maritime management

At a

crossroads Short sea shipping companies are carefully developing the necessary systems to support their business objectives

coming of age

The challenges for inspection, repair and maintenance of wind farms will continue to rise

barriers to progress

The proposed EU Regulation on ship recycling continues through the legislative process

a clear focus

User-Centred Design (UCD) could be used to simplify bridge systems and interfaces

Health and SafetyIf you don’t have the time to read it all, read what you need Health and Safety Monitor is the newsletter of choice for professionals across all industries because it is: Clear, succinct and brief: With case summaries, indexes and bullet points so you can easily pick out what’s relevant to you Practical, informative and comprehensive: Health and safety news reported and analysed, with full references supplied for your ease of use Unbiased, trusted and critical: Gives you the facts

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Editor www.shippingandmarine.co.uk

Get in

touch

F

irst of all, let me ask – did you receive the first-ever digital version of Shipping & Marine? Our last issue was the launch of the electronic edition of the magazine and I am very keen to hear some feedback!

If you didn’t get the email and you would like to see the magazine (or any of our other titles) in a digital format, then please send your details to ikidd@schofieldpublishing.co.uk.

Moving on, I hope there’s also some useful content in this issue that sheds some light on a particular subject close to your heart or alerts you to an area that needs your attention. In such a varied area as the maritime sector, it’s not always easy to pinpoint what to feature – if I miss something you’d like to see, please let me know.

Did you receive the first-ever digital version of Shipping & Marine? Our last issue was the launch of the electronic edition of the magazine and I am very keen to hear some feedback

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10

8 FEATURES

14

12 23

4 News Updates and announcements from the shipping and maritime arena

8 At a crossroads Short sea shipping companies are carefully developing the necessary systems to support their business objectives

10 Coming of age From the new pioneering subsea technologies to the subsea infrastructure laid in the early eighties, the challenges for inspection, repair and maintenance will continue to rise

12 Safety culture Even though many seafarers and officers have differing opinions on what a safety culture should entail, all agree that continuous improvement is essential

14 Barriers to progress There is clearly a long process of negotiation ahead as the proposed EU Regulation on ship recycling continues through the legislative process

16 A clear focus User-Centred Design (UCD), could be used to simplify maritime technical systems and interfaces

18 Waking the Li-ion Of the battery technologies available, lithium-ion (Liion) shows particular promise for demanding marine applications

18 PROFILES 23 Jubail Commercial Port 26 Griffon Hoverwork 29 NMSC Kazmortransflot JSC 32 Smyril Line 34 Walcon Marine 36 IMSA

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Contents

16

26 40

44

38 Fast Shipping 40 Abeking & Rasmussen 42 EPAK 44 Far East Ship Management Ltd, Hong Kong (FESM) 46 Huegli Tech 48 Quartzelec

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New investment Barrier Ltd, which is part of the Barrier Group, has completed a significant new investment to support the transference of skills and technology into the offshore wind sector. The Wallsend-based company has expanded its Coatings Division to be able to deliver neoprene coatings and rubber clamps for offshore wind towers. As part of a six-figure investment, Barrier has introduced a 14 metre x three metre vulcanising vessel, which enables the process of applying rubber to external Risers and J-Tubes, which are fitted to collector platform jackets and larger deep water wind turbines.

The steam-driven vessel generates considerable amounts of high-pressure steam that spreads and bonds the rubber to risers and J-Tubes. The vulcanised rubber protects the components from corrosion and provides abrasion protection. In addition, Barrier also has the capability to apply ribbed rubber to the internal parts of clamps, which are welded onto jackets or wind turbines to hold the J-Tubes and Risers in place. The corrosion protection process using vulcanised rubber is already used in the oil & gas market, particularly in the Norwegian market. However, Barrier has diversified the process to meet the requirements of the offshore wind sector, which has included up-skilling a team of 15 of its engineers.

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Liferaft order The UK’s largest independent marine safety equipment supplier, Ocean Safety, has received the orders to supply safety equipment to two new ferries being built for Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL) at Ferguson’s shipyard in Port Glasgow. The vessels will join the company’s fleet, which services 24 destinations off Scotland’s west coast.

Ocean Safety, which has service stations in Glasgow and Aberdeen, will be providing four 100-person Zodiac SOLAS-B liferafts for each vessel, along with a davit and Zodiac rescue boat for each.

Other equipment to be supplied to CMAL includes lifejackets and lifesaving equipment.

Both of the new roll-on roll-off ferries, at 43.5 metres long each, are designed to new eco-friendly hybrid specifications and will be operational by the summer of 2013.

News Global R&D subsea technology hub Rapidly growing international energy services company Proserv has officially launched a global research and development (R&D) hub in Norway to design innovative subsea controls and communications technologies.

This new group strengthens Proserv’s evolving international infrastructure in support of its subsea production systems business which includes facilities in the UK providing subsea systems test and assembly in Aberdeenshire and subsea controls systems design & manufacture in Great Yarmouth.

This state-of-the-art R&D facility at Trondheim, Norway, represents a significant investment for the company and features an advanced electronics workshop spanning 500 sq m², a technology showroom for demonstrations and 1100 sq m² of office space for 50 new offices.

Completion of channel deepening project Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, together with elected officials and leaders from the Port of Los Angeles and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have marked the completion of the Port’s Main Channel Deepening Project, a major milestone in the Port’s ongoing efforts to assure its global competitiveness, continued growth, and job creation. Conducted by the Corps on behalf of the Port, the ten-year, $370 million project to deepen the Port’s main navigational channel and turning basins allows the Port of Los Angeles to continue to accommodate bigger, more modern vessels from around the world.

“Completion of the Main Channel Deepening Project has been our single-most, important infrastructure project,” said Port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz. “We’re grateful for the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and everyone on the Port team who helped bring this critical infrastructure priority to fruition.”

The project involved deepening of the Port’s 45-foot deep Main Channel, West Basin Channel and East Basin Channel to a 53-foot depth. During the course of the multi-year effort, the Corps generated and relocated 15 million cubic yards of dredge materials – nearly twice the amount of earth moved to create Dodger Stadium – to various sites throughout the Port. Some of that material was used to construct the 104-acre acre Cabrillo Shallow Water Habitat, providing a replacement habitat and feeding area for fish and marine birds in the outer harbour.

In order to maintain and improve its world-class infrastructure, the Port of Los Angeles is in the midst of a five year, $1.3 billion Capital Improvement Program to modernise and upgrade terminals, to increase rail capacity and improve roadways in and around the Port.

Focus on MLC

On Friday 19 April 2013, IMEC held its inaugural International Maritime Conference in London. The conference focused on MLC 2006 and the employment of seafarers. It brought together over 65 delegates and speakers from across the world, representing every MLC 2006 stakeholder including ship-owners, employers, trade unions, flag state, P&I clubs, and the legal industry.

Speaking at the event, Giles Heimann, IMEC chief executive officer, said: “The MLC is the most significant piece of maritime legislation for many years and, rightly, has been a focus of recent industry events. However, in our conference we have achieved something exceptional.

“Today’s delegates have heard from a unique series of speakers: IMEC members, the ITF, the ILO and representatives of all areas of the industry who are affected by MLC. They have also been given the chance to quiz these same speakers in an open and honest panel debate.

“The role of employers, our members, in the practical implementation of MLC cannot be underestimated,” added Mr Heimann. “We are committed to working with our members in the run-up to its introduction in August 2013, and to continue working with them to secure effective and fit-for-purpose provision for seafarers and employers alike.

“Vital to this effective provision is an understanding and co-operation between all interested parties. We are proud to have brought together such a varied group of major stakeholders in the same room and remain committed to working with them.”

Clean energy agreement Lockheed Martin has announced that it is working with Reignwood Group to develop an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) pilot power plant off the coast of southern China. A memorandum of agreement between the two companies has been signed in Beijing.

The ten-megawatt offshore plant, to be designed by Lockheed Martin, will be the largest OTEC project developed to date, supplying 100 per cent of the power needed for a green resort to be built by Reignwood Group.

In addition, the agreement could lay the foundation for the development of several additional OTEC power plants ranging in size from ten to 100 megawatts, for a potential multi-billion dollar value.

“The benefits to generating power with OTEC are immense, and Lockheed Martin has been leading the way in advancing this technology for decades,” said Dan Heller, vice president of new ventures for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training. “Constructing a sea-based, multimegawatt pilot OTEC power plant for Reignwood Group is the final step in making it an economic option to meet growing needs for clean, reliable energy.”

OTEC takes the natural temperature difference found in the ocean in tropical regions and uses it to create power. This technology is well suited to island and coastal communities where energy transportation costs typically make other sources of power very expensive. www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 5

Exam success

Newly released figures from the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) reveal that a record number of shipping professionals around the world are choosing to sit the institute’s exams.

At a time when the industry is entering the early stages of recovery, the continued rise in numbers of students sitting the exams – and their increasingly diverse geographical spread – suggests that professional qualifications are more important than ever to industry practitioners.

London remains the most popular location to sit the exams but Athens has moved into second place for the first time. In third place is the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, where candidates from 11 East African countries are gathering to sit the exams.

Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers director Julie Lithgow said: “This is another record year for the ICS examination programme and one that illustrates some global trends in maritime education. London remains our most popular location but the strong interest from Athens suggests that despite the problems there, students there still see shipping as an attractive industry for the future.”

Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers President Robert Woods, said: “The scope and breadth of qualifications offered by the ICS makes the Institute a unique force for professional education in the maritime industry. That role has been recognised once again this year and the increase in numbers demonstrates that even in difficult trading conditions, the industry views education as the key to future success.”

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Groundbreaking alternative Strachans, the leading specialist distributor of food and chandlery supplies to the offshore and marine industry, has announced the successful pilot of a new container capable of maintaining product integrity for up to four days.

The Strachans icebox uses a eutectic system, whereby eutectic beams full of gel are connected to a power supply that charges them down to temperatures far lower than the product prior to leaving the ship supplier’s warehouse. The eutectic beams release their energy over a long period of time in turn maintaining the integrity of the product.

Twelve units have now been in use in the North Sea since October 2012 and have performed without incident even during the year’s most inclement weather conditions when delays have been experienced.

Stanley Morrice, managing director, Strachans, said: “Eutectics have been successfully used in land-based industry for decades and given the combination of harsh operating conditions offshore and the need to reduce consumables wastage and increase efficiency, we saw an opportunity to innovate our container offering for customers, using this system.

Global Offshore managing director, James Strachans added: “Emerging offshore markets present an opportunity to introduce new innovations like this from the outset, to their benefit, as they don’t have the infrastructure and variations in power supply and warehousing that we see in well-established markets like the North Sea. Our new icebox provides a credible alternative to current insulated containers that are widely used in the market and raises the standard of product integrity – an issue that will become ever more important in future as greater regulation of the offshore supply chain is inevitable.”

Successful salvage TITAN Salvage has successfully refloated the 262-foot containership M/V Danio from its stricken position on England’s Northumberland coast despite challenging sea and weather conditions. Danio, which was carrying a load of timber and en route to Belgium from Scotland, ran aground at Farne Islands, an environmentally sensitive area, in early March. The onset of severe weather conditions prevented an immediate attempt to tow the Danio from the coastline.

Because the Farne Islands – home to thousands of puffins and grey seals, as well as more than 20 bird species – is classified as a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI), TITAN took extra precautions to safeguard the environment. The company’s Jason Bennett, commercial director, and his team of salvors took quick action to establish safety of the vessel, immediately deploy a tugboat and prepare for a controlled and safe re-floating operation. Danio was ballasted down to the rocky sea bottom while the TITAN team repaired damage to the vessel’s skeg and other areas, which required cement boxing, shoring and patching before the vessel could be refloated and towed away.

Portable pumps were also installed and used during re-float and transit to safety.

No spills or damage to the region were reported as a result of the incident or salvage work.

News Reduce jacking failure Jacking gears are by definition the most characteristic systems of self-elevating units and jack-ups. However, this gear remains often neglected on board, with a high potential for dire consequences. In order to achieve higher availability, reduce the risk of gear failure and lower the life cycle cost, DNV is inviting the industry to participate in a Joint Industry Project (JIP).

The project’s main focus will be on defining best practices in the maintenance and inspection of jacking gears.

“The consequences of jacking gear failure range from the operator being unable to reposition the platform to logistical challenges in correcting the failure. The worst case scenario is if the failure occurs in the middle of a jacking operation, as this may lead to an unstable platform that is prone to wave impacts. This implies a concrete danger to the unit,” says DNV’s Offshore Class product manager, Michiel van der Geest.

“Facing these risks, the need for professional follow-up in the inspection and maintenance of jacking gear is obvious, but not directly straightforward from a practical point of view. The high turnover of people with specific knowledge on board, the evolving nature of the systems and the natural focus on merely the production process and systems on board make this follow-up often challenging for an owner,” Michiel van der Geest explains.

Based on their respective backgrounds as a classification society and recognised service supplier, DNV and Dutch company WillTeco have now initiated a project to improve the inspection and maintenance of jacking gears.

“In our experience, the best way of solving common industry challenges is to join forces,” explains Michiel van der Geest, “so we decided to carry out the initiative in a JIP and directly invite all the players in the self-elevating segment to participate. It’s only by including the experiences and relevant considerations of other industry players that the objectives of the individual partners can be reached,” he states.

The JIP’s goal is to develop a recommended practice document that describes the solution to achieve higher availability and at the same time reduces the risk of jacking gear failure.

The overall life cycle cost will also be on the agenda. The JIP plans to collect and analyse experienced (near) incidents, mutually review current inspection and maintenance work supported by risk-based modelling and, finally, define and select best practices.

Maritime safety campaign The Global Shippers’ Forum has released details of a global campaign to enhance safety in the maritime transport supply chain.

The aim of the campaign is to secure improvements in logistics practices throughout the supply chain to ensure safer transport operations.

As consignors and receivers of freight, shippers accept that they have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that when goods are presented for shipment they are correctly declared, stowed and secured in compliance with international rules and standards.

While the vast majority of shippers comply with the rules, it is a regrettable fact that instances of mis-declaration and poor standards of loading and securing take place. Much of this is down to a lack of understanding of the rules and packing and securing know-how.

To fill this information and knowledge gap, the GSF has launched a series of ‘hands on’ and easy to understand best practice guides for managers, but also, importantly, for packers and warehouse staff who actually physically handle, prepare, secure and stow cargo for shipment.

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short sea shipping

At a

crossroads

Short sea shipping challenges in Europe: operational transformations to move beyond 2020. By Ioannis Koliousis and Panagiotis Koliousis

T

he current financial and macroeconomic crisis is affecting all sectors of the European Economy. In this tumultuous environment, the European shipping industry has not remained unaffected. Not only the deep sea sector, but also the short sea shipping (SSS) industry in Europe faces many problems; from the lack of demand, to the oversupply of capacity and services, to administrative burdens; and this list keeps on getting longer. However, this crisis is an ideal opportunity to start working towards a sustainable, safe and above all a smart short sea shipping sector in Europe and beyond.

Short sea shipping services are well established, with many different options being available to the end-users. The services include feeder services and main lines in terms of quantities transferred as well as ro-ro, industrial products, container, raw material/dry cargo and passenger transport.

Contrary to popular belief, short sea shipping is older than deep sea and mega carriers. It is widely accepted that most (if not all) of the major European ports have overlooked short sea shipping to the advantage of smaller ports who have widely accommodated such services in their quest for bigger-better-faster. However, nowadays, all the major ports are catching up in terms of SSS services, or at least they are trying. Some short sea hubs for freight movements have emerged into traditional ports (for example Hamburg Port had more than 65 feeder services and 200 feeder departures per week in 2012). Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go.

Based on the preliminary results of the E-Mar project (www. emarproject.eu), the most critical issues from the transport execution viewpoint that are yet to be addressed include: l Administrative issues: in most of the cases, the procedures in maritime transport are complex and time-consuming, thus increasing inefficiencies. The norm in most SSS ports is to

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handle paper based transactions. Unfortunately, the exception is having electronic systems in place, but even this is problematic since there are differences from region to region and from port to port; l Electronic exchange of data and messages is often not well

developed. Thus maritime transport is insufficiently integrated in the end-to-end logistics chain; l Ship, port and logistics operators’ systems are vastly different, imposing the burden to national administrations (in most of the cases) to develop several adaptors to integrate a plethora of different sub-systems.

Evidently, the lack of interoperability creates barriers to utilising information and communications technology (ICT) applications and thus improving operational excellence. Utilising ICT technologies increases the operational efficiency not only of purely SSS players but also of ports and ships and leads to more sustainable and optimum solutions. Nevertheless, leading SSS companies are already designing for the future. They are already developing solutions that can not only boost productivity but also reach new customers and new market segments. This strategy is based on three dimensions - Connectivity Infrastructure: developing modern internet-based interactions between all the different maritime transport stakeholders; Information Infrastructure: develop the necessary procedures to exchange information effectively and efficiently among the stakeholders and the market players utilising either standard messages or parameterised messages or a mix.; Common Digital Resources Infrastructure: develop repositories that can store, handle and disseminate data and information to the interested parties (competent authorities, logistics providers, freight forwarders, etc).

Indicatively, some of the systems that are currently being developed include: Ship Formalities and Regulatory compliance systems: Ship agents, Ship masters, Port authorities, Maritime authorities, Customs (to name a few) have their own data entry points, making the process too cumbersome. Effectively, each Member State will provide a single, national Register of reporting formalities (following the Reporting Formalities Directive 2010/65/EU). This will reduce delays at sea and in port, reduce missing up-to-date information or documentation, and increase efficiency from reporting only once all the relevant formalities.

To this extent, the SSS companies prepare their ICT systems to report automatically these formalities, reducing even further the adverse effects.

Ship voyage monitoring: The inability or difficulty of ship managers, regulators, ship owners, customs authorities and inspection officials to access real-time voyage details data (from geographical information to specific cargo monitoring elements) influences route optimisation, ship safety as well as environmental and economic performance. The state-of-play is the integration of dispersed applications into providing an end-to-end logistics chain monitoring tool.

Electronic Bill of Lading: the shipping sector is cautiously trying to improve one of its most traditional aspects: the Bill of Lading. At the moment, the efforts focus on adopting elements similar to the IATA eWB (electronic Waybill), a document that eases the Transport Execution Process and improves logistics efficiency.

Single Windows: the modernisation of processes also requires modernisation of the government. In the context of e-Government, the EU States are developing single entry systems as said above, and additionally, these States are also developing systems and mechanisms to disseminate the information among intra-state

authorities as well as interstate authorities. It is envisaged that the ease of access to information will improve the monitoring services not to the detriment of efficiency and effectiveness.

Personnel Management: from trivial HR (Human Resources) management procedures to advanced e-recruitment and e-HR facilities to reduce the burden on seafaring personnel to collect data and documentation, maintain logbooks and submit reports at the right moment and at the right authority. e-learning facilities: Seafarers want to take advantage of the time onboard but also improve their capacities. To this extent, SSS companies aim to increase the skills and the qualifications of their personnel.

SSS is at a crossroads, mainly due to problems faced by other sectors of the European economy. However, these challenges call for actions that will boost effectiveness and efficiency, improving not only the costs but also the revenues at the corporate level. To this extent, SSS companies are carefully developing the necessary systems to support their business objectives. v

Ioannis Koliousis & Panagiotis Koliousis

Ioannis Koliousis and Panagiotis Koliousis are project managers at Decision Dynamics. Decision Dynamics Limited helps companies achieve their business objectives and realise superior returns compared to their competitors. Decision Dynamics has assisted organisations across both the private and the public sectors outperform their rivals and create value achieving a sustainable competitive edge.

For further information visit: www.decisiondyn.com

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predictive maintenance

The subsea inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) sector is predicted to see huge growth, and a newly formed company is hoping to benefit

Coming of

S

age

ubsea technology is vital to offshore production, unlocking harder to reach, deeper reserves and improving the economics of marginal fields in shallow waters with tie-backs of small reservoirs into existing facilities. Over $135 billion of spend in subsea hardware is anticipated in the next five years with pipelines accounting for half of this forecast expenditure.

There is already a complex array of subsea infrastructure crisscrossing seabeds from the North Sea to the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Brazil, Africa and Australia. Market analysts, Douglas Westwood, recently estimated some 190,000 kilometres of submarine pipeline has already been installed.

Between 2012 and 2016, Douglas Westwood forecasts that $77bn will be spent globally on subsea vessel operations, servicing field development, well intervention and inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM). This is a staggering 63 per cent increase on the preceding period.

Looking at the subsea IRM market specifically, predictions show that this sector of the vessel market is set to be worth £7.5bn annually by 2016. This sector is seeing huge growth thanks to the sheer magnitude and age of this global subsea infrastructure.

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Unlike the CAPEX-led field development sector, IRM is largely unaffected by the oil price.

While construction and the installation of subsea infrastructure will continue to be led by the major, established companies, the intensifying need to maintain and repair ageing subsea equipment is opening up opportunities for new players in the marketplace.

Against this backdrop, the latest name in subsea, Harkand Group, has been formed with the specific intention of capturing a major share of this rapidly growing inspection, repair and maintenance market.

“With much of the global subsea fleet and resource dedicated to large scale, new development work, there is a growing but more niche market in terms of inspecting, repairing and maintaining the ageing infrastructure and complex new subsea systems being installed,” commented Nicolas Mouté, chief executive of Harkand Group.

“While the big guys will continue to offer inspection, repair and maintenance services when there are appropriate slots on EPIC projects, there is a gap opening up for smaller, nimbler companies to fill. With a service-orientated approach that is not dependent on availability of vessels and their use on EPIC projects, we can

flexibly and proactively address light construction and IRM at different stages of field life.”

By bringing together the Iremis fleet of dive support vessels with ISS’ survey, ROV and diving services; as well as sister company Andrews Survey’s capabilities, Harkand is well-positioned to capitalise on the increasing expenditure in subsea IRM, particularly in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike the cyclical nature of EPIC programmes, IRM activity is on an on-going ad-hoc basis.

Harkand’s service-led approach means that it will be able to respond to that demand and will ensure that the service is enabled by its fleet rather than being driven by availability of vessels.

“We aim to set new international standards in IRM, providing a flexible service to the major subsea construction players as well as the operators,” explained Nicolas.

Because Harkand will not be driven by any of their assets, be they vessels, divers or ROVs, the group will be able to work with the operator to design and develop the safest and most costeffective, potentially bespoke, solution for each challenge whether it is inspection, repair or maintenance.

“We are seeing an increase in the use of air diving spreads as operators seek the most cost-effective solution to the necessary platform repairs and on-going maintenance,” added Nicolas.

Air diving from the platform or asset, rather than using a dive support vessel is seeing something of a resurgence in the North Sea. Harkand has reported an increase in the number of air diving spreads requested by clients in the last year or so.

Nicolas said: “Until recently air diving spreads and team were not particularly welcomed on the asset itself due to the pressures on offshore accommodation and capacity for lay-down. But, increasingly, the need for more cost-effective, flexible solutions is changing attitudes and decisions. As a result Harkand is investing significantly in upgrading the equipment used by air-divers to ensure it is intrinsically safe for use on zone-rated areas on platforms. Equally we have invested in A frame launch systems and zone-rated crane launch systems for both air diving spreads and ROVs as the use of platform-based ROVs is also increasing with the quest to come up with the safest, most appropriate and cost-effective solutions.”

Good efficiency of divers is key to delivering subsea IRM and there is increasing investment in modern dive support vessels.

Harkand’s latest DSVs, Harkand Atlantis and Harkand Da Vinci, feature state-of-the-art 18 man saturation diving systems, twin three-man diving bells and two 18-man hyperbaric lifeboats. They have 140t active heave compensated cranes and 1,100m2 of main deck space, as well as a Triton XLX work class ROV, inspection ROV system and air diving spread on board.

Nicolas said: “The advantage of the twin diving bells is that you have the ability to maintain two working divers at the worksite 24 hours a day, driving efficiency up by more than a third and allowing for a variety of tasks in light construction and IRM to be performed.”

The ROV market is also on the up, driven mainly by the rise in exploration and subsea field development. Douglas Westwood’s research suggests that total annual expenditure on ROVs is expected to rise from $891m to $1.692bn in 2015, a growth of almost 100 per cent in five years. With an extensive fleet of work-class ROVs and control of multi-purpose vessels with ROV launching

systems, Harkand aims to capture a significant share of survey, light construction and IRM in deeper waters where diverless solutions are required.

In deeper water, subsea processing is now coming of age, adding to the IRM challenge. The introduction of subsea process systems that can separate oil, water and gas fractions on the seabed is a major and game-changing technological break-through. The history of this technology dates back to the late eighties, but it was only with the successful commissioning of the Tordis subsea separator in 2007 that this technology was field-proven.

Subsea processing consists of a range of technologies for separation, pumping and compression that enable production from offshore wells without the need for surface facilities. These systems have become accepted by operators as a solution to accelerate development, maximise production and reduce costs with many now installed and already demonstrating they can reliably deliver the value promised.

Some analysts anticipate the number of systems globally could double by 2020. However critical factors in the adoption of new technology are availability and reliability. Integrity management programmes, which include monitoring, testing and inspection can capture data for risk analysis.

“Whether it is inspection or the development of preventive repair measures, these sorts of plug and play technologies on the seabed will require flexible, safe, diverless IRM solutions,” said Nicolas.

From the new pioneering subsea technologies to the subsea infrastructure laid in the early eighties, the challenges for IRM will continue to rise and the industry will have to adapt, consolidate and invest in fleet upgrades and new tonnage as well as adopt a universal standard of safety in this sector. Fleet-of-foot companies with adaptable, knowledgeable services like Harkand will be able to capitalise on the rapid growth. v

Harkand

Harkand aims to become the leading global name in subsea inspection, repair, maintenance and light construction focused on attaining the highest standards in health, safety, quality and environmental performance while delivering first-class project execution. For further information, visit: www.harkandgroup.com.

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health & safety

Safety

culture

Stephen Fairlie looks into what safety culture means to the shipping industry

I

n the marine industry we often get asked, ‘what’s your safety culture like?’ When we posed this question to senior safety officers at a series of seminars we held in 2012, we found it to be quite a subjective topic. They responded with many different answers that included: l Awareness of potential dangers and making others aware l Ensuring passenger and crew safety at all times l Hazard awareness

l Good communication l Right mindset l Systems & procedures l Training & development l Legal, social & personal responsibility l Developing a set of safety behaviours l Avoiding harm/injury l A caring attitude l Prevention (proactive) rather than reactive

Interestingly, these comments are not too far away from the definition Lord Cullen provided following the investigation into the Piper Alpha Disaster in 1993: ‘The product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.’

This definition can be interpreted and categorised into five sections which we address at DFDS Seaways: l Values - using judgement to prioritise important actions and identify and assess risks l Attitudes - developing a conscientious attitude to handling safety

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l Perceptions - developing awareness l Competencies - maintaining skills and nurturing ability l Patterns of behaviour - developing a set of safety behaviours

Improving and enhancing safety culture Even if you think you already have a successful safety culture it should always be an area that is continuously evaluated and updated.

Striving for excellence is the key and cornerstone to any safety culture. It is easy to rest on your laurels but safety mechanisms should be regularly reviewed to improve methods and procedures.

Regardless of how many safeguards are in place or how many procedures have been drawn up to mitigate any perceived risk, human error means that mistakes will be made and it is how a company handles these mistakes that determines the success of a company’s safety culture. As Winston Churchill once said, ‘All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from them.’

Learning and improving In the same vein, any mistakes should be noted and learnt from in order to prevent future errors. Many procedures are born from experience or lessons learnt from issues that have been encountered within the industry. Therefore, it is very important to share and exchange any safety experiences so that we can all learn from them and hopefully safeguard against them happening again in the future.

Stephen Fairlie

enable us to learn from them. We are passionate about maintaining a ‘no blame culture’ and actively encourage near miss reporting without the reporting officer fearing prejudice or retribution to themselves or whomever it involves.

To supplement this and ensure that reporting is of the correct nature and not used as a tool to hide behind, if a deliberate or intentional act to commit or carry out negligent or criminal action occurs, a just culture is in place, enforced and trusted.

A just culture A just culture achieves this by creating an atmosphere of responsible behaviour and trust whereby people are encouraged to provide essential safety-related information without fear of retribution.

However, we distinguish between what we perceive is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour; if we discover an officer is behaving unacceptably, a just culture does not guarantee that the officer will not face consequences.

By implementing a just culture, we promote a trusting environment and value the key attributes that we believe a seafarer must have: l The correct behaviours l Values l The right attitudes l A responsible mindset

International standards As an international company, it is important to create a companywide standard to ensure that all safety procedures are handled in a consistent manner and meet with the same high standard regardless of the country, ship or port in which an officer is operating.

For this reason, DFDS Seaways is actively involved in a number of industry bodies, contributing and receiving important information relating to Health & Safety at sea. Our experiences and ideals go a long way to shape what the industry does in this regard. We share information across different companies and competitors; competition has no place in any safety culture as safety always takes priority.

Trust To ensure against further, similar mistakes there must be a function and trust within our safety culture and safety management system to

Continuous improvement Even though many seafarers and officers have differing opinions on what a safety culture should entail, all agree that the most important issue of all to consider is that improvement is continually required and should be strived for by all companies operating within the shipping and marine industry. v

Stephen Fairlie

Stephen Fairlie is marine safety standards officer at DFDS Seaways. DFDS is Northern Europe’s largest integrated shipping and logistics company, with a network of 30 routes and 50 freight and passenger ships. DFDS Seaways prides itself on offering worldclass facilities and services and the widest choice of ferry routes into northern Europe. For further information visit: www.dfds.co.uk.

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 13

ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE

Barriers to

progress

Nigel Cooper takes a look at the ramifications of new ship recycling regulations

O

n 26 March 2013, the European Parliament voted in favour of amendments to a proposal from the European Commission for a Regulation on ship recycling. The package of measures preferred by the European Parliament includes provision for a total ban of the recycling of ships on the beach and fines for European Owners who send ships to be dismantled at beaching yards. Instead the European Parliament’s proposals would require European-flag owners trading in Europe to opt for EU-approved facilities. There would also be a levy on European port calls, which would go towards a fund promoting environmentally friendly and safe recycling yards. In essence, the European Parliament is seeking to bring the proposed EU legislation closer to what it considers to be the requirements of the Basel Convention on the control of trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste and to bring to an end the practice of ships being broken up on the beaches of India and Bangladesh, the overwhelming destinations of choice for the majority of ships that are sent for breaking.

The position taken by the European Parliament highlights a difference of opinion not only among the European institutions but also among the wider international community as to the effective steps to be taken to end or at least reduce the environmental and human cost associated with ships being broken up in countries where there is no effective control of the disposal of toxic and other

14 - www.shippingandmarine.co.uk

dangerous materials and where there is no effective regime for the protection of workers’ rights. The original European Commission proposal opted for a regime based on the 2009 Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. Unlike the Basel Convention, the Hong Kong Convention does not outlaw the export of hazardous waste to countries which are not party to the convention but requires states to ensure that ship breaking facilities in their territory comply with a minimum set of standards and that ships flying their flag are recycled at facilities meeting those standards. The Commission proposal was itself a unilateral measure intended to force forward a change in attitude for European ship owners even if progress was not being made on the wider international stage (at present, there is no concrete date for when the Hong Kong Convention will enter into force, if it does). The Commission proposal (and indeed the Hong Kong Convention) have nevertheless been criticised, indeed challenged as potentially illegal, for failing to comply with at least one of the fundamental requirements of the Basel Convention (as amended in 1995)1, namely that hazardous waste will not be transported to states which are not members of the OECD. The European Parliament has aligned itself with those critics and its amendments to the Commission’s proposals seek to ensure that European flag owners regularly trading in Europe can only send their ships to EU-approved recycling facilities. Given the total ban

The Amendment is not yet in force.

1

on recycling of ships on beaches proposed in the amendments, the amendments would likely lead to a severe shortage of recycling capacity at least in the short term.

There must be some doubt whether the Parliament’s amendments will be carried through into the final form of the EU Regulation. The amendments have support from those campaigning for the EU to take an aggressive stance on improving standards for the ship recycling industry. But, the shipping industry has already come out against the amendments pointing not only to the potential conflicts that they could cause with Asian States and States such as Norway and Japan which are promoting the Hong Kong Convention as the way forward but also to the perceived dangers that the amendments pose to the growth of the European maritime industry.

There is clearly a long process of negotiation ahead as the proposed EU Regulation continues through the remaining stages of the legislative process. While this provides the opportunity to draw the Regulation back to closer harmony with the Hong Kong Convention, it also inevitably means that the focus of the EU authorities is likely to be on progressing their unilateral measures in the field of ship recycling with the danger that progress to implementation of the Hong Kong Convention will be delayed.

In this respect, the present divide between the European institutions as to the right package for measures creates additional

barriers to progress in lessening the environmental and human cost associated with the ship recycling industry. It is to be hoped that a compromise between the European institutions can be reached quickly and, in particular, that the compromise will be one which will encourage international co-operation in relation to ship recycling rather than drawing the focus on another attempt by the EU to legislate unilaterally within the field of shipping. Similar attempts in relation to measures to deal with ship-source pollution led to litigation before the European court as the shipping industry sought to challenge what they regarded as excessive regulation by the European authorities. This division of interests does not assist in regulating an industry that by its very nature requires global cooperation for effective regulation. v

Nigel Cooper

Nigel Cooper QC is a barrister at Quadrant Chambers, a leading set of barristers specialising in commercial law. Quadrant Chambers is widely recognised as one of the leading commercial barristers chambers, providing outstanding advocacy across the whole spectrum of commercial law, both nationally and internationally.

For further information, visit: www.quadrantchambers.com.

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 15

bridge equipment

A clear

focus

Thor Hukkelås discusses designing bridge systems that keep the human element ‘in-the-loop’

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” - Henry Ford

A

particular school of thought within the world of product design believes that the user doesn’t always know best. Perhaps they are too close to the application to see the full picture. Maybe what makes their job easier doesn’t make the operation more efficient or safer. Or perhaps technology just can’t yet achieve what the user expects.

So, rather than asking what the user wants, when it comes to maritime bridge design, perhaps it’s more interesting to hear what problems seafarers experience with current navigation and specialist bridge systems. Like: “Users are flooded with too much information, so they may lose control of the situation.”

“Users need to criss-cross the bridge, consulting screens to create a cohesive picture of the situation.”

“In alarm situations, many buttons and indicators start flashing.

Heartbeats race, without a sense of what can be done.”

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“The number of systems and sensors effectively hide the current status of the ship from the operator.”

These comments were collected as part of SITUMAR, an offshore maritime design research project currently underway in Norway and Sweden. The project is sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council’s programme for maritime and offshore operations (MAROFF), with main stakeholders including technology developer Kongsberg Maritime, Vestfold University College (Norway) and Chalmers University (Sweden). The three-year project started in February 2012, with the main purpose to learn how to build optimal systems for Situation Awareness (SA) and operator decision support.

By understanding the challenges that officers and crew face when presented with masses of information, the SITUMAR project intends to alter the trend of growing complexity through User-Centred Design (UCD), which attempts to simplify maritime technical systems and interfaces.

As a part of the book ‘Designing for Situation Awareness’ Endsley and Jones (2012) present three overarching principles for usercentred design:

l Organise technology around the user’s goals, tasks and

abilities l Technology should be organised around the way users process information and make decisions l Technology must keep the user in control and aware of the state of the system These principles are oriented towards a system design process that focuses on the user’s ability to be aware of what is going on in the system. A major challenge for the human operators when working with technical systems with a high level of automation is to know what the system is doing (Sarter & Woods, 1995, 1997) and hence to be able to anticipate how the system will react next.

In order for the operator to be able to make the correct decisions, they need to achieve complete Situation Awareness (SA). This is formally based on three levels: l Level 1 – perception of the elements in the environment l Level 2 – comprehension of the current situation l Level 3 – projection of future status This means that the operators understand and have considered fully what is going on around them and are capable of taking action to ensure the correct outcome for future status.

To achieve these levels of SA under stress – when criss-crossing the bridge, frantically trying to understand and filter out audio and visual alarms, having information delivered in multiple formats on several displays – is very difficult on today’s ship bridges and can in fact be almost impossible during hazardous operations. However, it is not sufficient to just have systems that support all three levels of SA; the operator must also know how to act and be able to maintain control of the situation after an error has occurred that could turn a dangerous situation into a catastrophe.

So SITUMAR asks how humans make decisions under stress and how to give the operator/user the best possible decision support through the interaction between humans and increasingly more autonomous machines and systems. The ‘big’ question is accordingly: How to design systems to keep the ‘human in the loop’?

This is especially important in specialist maritime operations involving advanced systems such as Dynamic Positioning (DP). One can say that working with highly automated safety-related systems such as DP consists of 99 per cent boredom and one per cent panic.

This means that although the technology is highly automated and highly reliable, it is possible that things may still go wrong. The more advanced and automated the system is, the more skilled an operator must be to react to possibly dangerous circumstances.

The operators must have a ‘mental model’ of the system that corresponds as much as possible to the real world in order to act correctly. So the system needs to engage the operators, ensure they have accurate information to provide complete SA and ensure that when things do go wrong, the operator is calm and can make the correct decision to ensure safety of vessel, crew and the environment.

SITUMAR doesn’t have all the answers yet, but it is an exciting project that could result in a step change in the way the marine bridge and other specialist operational systems are designed.

It attempts to remove technology for technology’s sake and to reduce, rationalise and better present the information that’s

really needed in order to conduct safe and efficient operations.

The UCD approach ensures a clear focus on the user and the tasks that he is to perform from the very early design phases, which will undoubtedly lead to improvements from the user’s point of view – this will affect effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. UCD is not a new concept. It is used across many industries, but to a very limited degree to date in the design of ship systems. One of the major challenges when utilising UCD processes in the maritime domain is the fact that ‘the work’ is done at sea, which limits the availability of the work domain for designers. Also, since work in the maritime sector is safety-related, the testing of prototypes is very difficult to be done aboard ships. So it must be accomplished in simulators.

SITUMAR has access to some of the world’s most sophisticated maritime simulation systems, mainly based on simulators and simulation technology developed by Kongsberg Maritime.

The facility at Vestfold University College is particularly advanced, featuring a 360° visual field and high flexibility of models and exercises. It’s here, at Chalmers University and at the SimSea simulator facility in Haugesund that the SITUMAR designers and engineers will test out design theories and prototype systems in highly realistic circumstances.

Utilising UCD process in the maritime world must be adapted to meet the constraints inherent in the maritime sector, which is what SITUMAR hopes to achieve. At the end of the project, it is possible that a new set of best design principles for achieving optimal Situational Awareness and Decision Support will be available. If SITUMAR can achieve this then the bridge of maritime and offshore vessels could become much calmer, less stressful places, which will enhance safety and efficiency in all maritime operations. v

Thor Hukkelås

Thor Hukkelås is principal engineer marine operations, business development, Kongsberg Maritime AS. Based in Norway, but with offices and subsidiaries throughout the world, Kongsberg Maritime is a major division of the Kongsberg Group, which is part owned by the Norwegian government. As a leading provider of both marine and offshore technologies Kongsberg Maritime offers complete solutions for a wide range of applications. For further information visit: www.km.kongsberg.com.

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 17

propulsion

Waking the

Li-ion

Li-ion technology is an ideal partner for new generation marine propulsion systems. By Yannick Chartier

E

nvironmental considerations are back at the top of the shipping industry’s agenda, with the most recent amendments to the United Nations International Maritime Organisation’s MARPOL regulations now in force since January 2013.

The aim is that the new limits on sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and CO2 emissions under MARPOL will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 30 per cent by 2030, a cut which is designed to curb the growth of the industry’s share of global emissions which would otherwise rise to 18 per cent.

A very attractive option is to adopt full- or hybrid-electric architecture for new ships, where advanced battery technologies now offer interesting new possibilities for the creation of highly efficient and cost-effective marine propulsion and auxiliary systems.

Of the battery technologies available, lithium-ion (Li-ion) shows particular promise for demanding marine applications.

In fact, Li-ion batteries are already well established in a range of industrial applications ranging from satellites to telecom backup power and energy storage systems supporting renewable energy installations, where they demonstrate high performance, long calendar and cycle life, zero maintenance and a low TCO (total cost of ownership) in a compact, lightweight package.

My view is that Li-ion technology, which is scalable to meet energy and power demands from kW to MW, holds great promise for hybrid propulsion systems. In such systems, the batteries work in conjunction with diesel, or possibly gas turbines, generators and electric motors.

There are a number of marine sectors where hybrid systems might be applied:

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Workboats Typically, workboats spend most of their at sea manoeuvring into position and only operate at full power for only brief periods.

Hybrid power can offer improvements in fuel efficiency and CO2 savings, since rather than sizing a diesel engine for peak power, it can be sized at a more economical size for average power. When full power is required, stored energy from the batteries comes into play.

The battery system can operate in parallel for low power operation as well as providing the necessary boost to the single diesel generator for infrequent high power operations.

There’s also scope for load-levelling type applications, similar to those adopted in diesel-electric trains, in which the diesel generator is maintained at a constant load (typically 80 per cent of capacity), therefore saving fuel, cutting CO2 emissions and reducing maintenance overheads.

Passenger vessels Passenger ships such as ferries and shuttles can also benefit from hybrid systems. Spending much of their operational life in harbour for docking and undocking, the ability to switch to clean electric power can enable considerable savings on CO2 emissions, helping port authorities meet their environmental targets.

A side benefit of quiet operation is that it can reduce the impact on the local community, while ship operators will feel the benefits of fuel savings and reduced maintenance over the lifetime of the batteries.

Leisure craft Leisure boats, particularly high-end vessels such as mega yachts, could switch to battery power when entering port. This would enable silent, low-speed running and help to meet the growing

SLD pod battery

demand from port authorities to reduce CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, when moored, batteries can support hotel loads until making a connection with the on-shore power supply without running the engine, keeping emissions down as well as cutting out vibration from engines, a consideration which enhances a vessel’s comfort – an important consideration for leisure vessels.

Sizing a battery system A theoretical scheme has been developed for a passenger ferry with hybrid propulsion and energy storage. The model is based on a typical 15,000 GT (gross tonnage) ferry, carrying 300 cars and 1000 passengers, for short distance operations that require frequent rotations in and out of harbour.

Main propulsion is delivered mechanically by a diesel engine twinned with a variable pitch propeller, together with diesel-electric pods that offer improved manoeuvrability, greater energy efficiency and lower noise. Hotel loads include general ship services, such as lighting, ballast pumps and HVAC as well as cargo and duty services such as pumps, winches and actuators.

Such a ferry would tend to have four modes of operation: open sea, when the Li-ion energy storage system is charged as the ferry runs on mechanical power from the genset; channelling and manoeuvring operations, when the vessel is propelled by the energy storage system, which also powers the hotel loads; call (docked in harbour), when hotel loads are supplied via cold ironing (a shore to ship power connection) or by the energy storage system; and night call, when cold ironing supplies residual hotel load and charges the energy storage system.

The hybrid system for this model ferry would require a battery capable of delivering a peak power of 4.5 MW and 1.75 MWh of energy to achieve ten and five minutes each of channelling and

manoeuvring operations at 1.5 and 0.5 MW plus support for hotel loads, which demand around 2 MW. Due to its compact, lightweight design, a Li-ion battery for this application would weigh in at less than 20 tonnes and take up around ten cubic metres.

Ferryboat operations on the Garonne river An important real-world example of a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system is on two ferryboats vessels on a river shuttle service operating in Bordeaux, on the river Garonne.

Designed to carry around 200,000 passengers and their bicycles every year, each hybrid ferryboat is equipped with a 140 kWh Saft battery system that supplies power for electric propulsion and auxiliary loads such as lighting and communications. The battery works in conjunction with the boats’ diesel engines, storing power produced as well as providing additional propulsion power when required.

The Li-ion batteries are charged overnight from the local grid and their excellent energy storage capability provides the boats with six hours of autonomous, fully electric operation during the two busiest periods of the day – three hours in the morning and another three hours in the evening – helping to both reduce fuel costs and CO2 and NOx emissions. v

Yannick Chartier

Yannick Chartier is Saft Space’s, defence and marine business development specialist. Saft is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced technology batteries for industry including shipping applications such as emergency systems back-up, lighting, engine starting, electrical propulsion and auxiliary systems. For further information visit: www.saftbatteries.com.

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 19

Profiles

There are thousands of ships sailing the

l jubail commercial port

oceans today, transporting every kind of cargo.

l Griffon Hoverwork

The global fleet is manned by over a million seafarers of virtually every nationality and the

l NMSC KazmortransfLOt JSC

companies involved in this sector are among

l SMYRIL LINE

the most technologically sophisticated of any in

l walcon marine

the world.

The prominent and successful companies

l imsa

that are highlighted in the next pages of

l fast shipping

Shipping & Marine provide real world examples

l abeking & rasmussen

of how state-of-the-art technology, best practices and modern innovations are put into

l epak

practice in the maritime sector.

l far east ship management lTD, hong kong l Huegli Tech l quartzelec

Profile: Jubail Commercial Port

call

First port of

T

he Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the world’s main oil exporting country.

It has the largest and most diversified economy in the Middle East with industrial exports that are internationally oriented. The Kingdom, therefore, has to have efficient, fully equipped ports that are capable of doing the job as it should be done.

Today, the Saudi Ports are fully managed and operated by the private sector on a commercial basis, while the Ports Authority supervises the management and operating of nine main ports on the two coasts of the Kingdom.

One of these locations is Jubail Commercial Port, which was established in 1976 and completed all its facilities in 1980. It covers an area of approximately 4,125,940 square metres, making it one of the largest projects of its kind. The site was chosen

with special care and because of the depth of its adjacent waters.

Fahad Ahmed Al-Amer, director general of the port, gave a few more details about what gives the facility its competitive edge: “The site is located on the east coast of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, overlooking the Arabian Gulf and is just 80 km north of the city of Dammam,” he said. “We are in close proximity to the petrochemical industries at Jubail I and Jubail II, which are export oriented and we have a vast space and logistics facilities available within the port for almost all exports. We also offer deep berths.

“When it comes to customer services inside the commercial port we are very focused on maintaining the most efficient delivery times, and the safety of the cargo. We have new machinery for stevedoring and handling cargo to ensure the correct procedures are followed

all times. Our quay cranes and RTGs at the container terminal were supplied

by Liebherr, and fulfil European quality standards.”

In fact, as Fahad explained, there are two terminal operators in the port, Gulf Stevedoring Contg. Co and Globe Marine Services. “The former is the container terminal operator and the later is the general and bulk cargo handler,” he said.

“The container terminal operators have invested approximately SR 390 million on equipment and machinery and have introduced state-of-the-art machines like gantry cranes, RTGs, empty container handlers, heavy cranes of 120 ton capacity and so forth. This has attracted more business to the port especially with uneven, heavy and lengthy cargo.”

He added: “We are also very dedicated to investing in technology, and we now have a system that handles the documentation and paperwork for cargo, all based in one building.”

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 23

Profile: Jubail Commercial Port of the scale of the project, the container area has a capacity of 4320 TEUs, the warehouse a capacity of 15,000 tons, and the storage area 120,000 tons.”

For the rest of 2013 Jubail Commercial Port will be focusing on attracting more direct shipping lines to use its facilities.

“This year we expect the arrival of new shipping lines such as APL, Evergreen and COSCO,” said Fahad. “Moreover the existing lines that already call here have started placing their main lines to call into Jubail directly from European, North African and Mediterranean ports.”

Since it was established the port has seen a huge increase in workload and is facing high demand. Fahad is looking forward to the new opportunities this will bring: “With the arrival of new companies like Sadara and Saudi Polymers the challenges for the Port will undoubtedly be increasing in the near future,” he said.

“Saudi Polymers has already started its exports through Jubail and the volume has gone up 30 per cent. When Sadara starts its exports we expect the terminal will go to its maximum capacity of one million TEUS. But the container terminal is well equipped with all required equipment to accommodate these future demands.” v

The port’s users are eight international shipping lines. Fahad explained the other companies active at the site could be classified into two categories – logistics providers and exporters. “The logistics providers include companies such as Kanoo Terminal Services and Globe Marine Services,” he said. “Then we have the exporters that have their own terminals within the port, like SABIC, Saudi Polymers, Tasnee and APPC. Other than these, there are companies like Dialog and Arabian Chemical Terminal (ACT) who export their products through their hired berths.”

One of the major products handled at Jubail Commercial Port is barley, and in April 2013 it received the largest shipload of barley in its history, weighing in at 95,000 tons. Fahad explained that in fact, during the first quarter of 2013 the port has seen a record increase in the total handling of barley at the port. The total amount reached 500,928 tons, compared to 313,189 tons for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 60 per cent.

He added: “Presently the bulk barley terminal has two heavy-duty and six light-duty barley discharging machines.

Furthermore, the bulk terminal contractor Globe Marine Services has another more heavy-duty bulk barley discharging machine under assembly, which will be operational in the middle of July. This will increase the terminal’s total present discharging capacity of 30,400 MTons to 38,400 MTons (subject to the availability of consignee’s transports.)”

As well as the go-live of the new discharge machine, 2013 is also going to see the start up of a new project, which was started in 2009, when SABIC signed an agreement with Jubail Commercial Port to build and operate a logistics terminal area (SOLA) in the west area of the port. “The total volume of the project area is 360,000 m2, and its main purpose is to supports the logistics of the supply chain for SABIC’s polymer product. The company expects a capacity of 4.1 million tons every year, with 400 trucks in daily rotation in the terminal. To give an idea

Jubail Commercial Port www.ports.gov.sa • Port seeing positive growth • Investments in equipment • Recently received first giant container ship

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 25

Profile: Griffon

Hoverwork

Innovation &

vision

B

orn in 2008 from the acquisition and merger of Griffon Hovercraft and Hoverwork by the Bland Group, Griffon Hoverwork has descended from the originators of the hovercraft industry. Uniting over 40 years of hovercraft design, manufacture and operational experience, the company today specialises in the manufacture of air cushioned vehicles, commonly referred to as hovercraft. The company provides transport solutions for customers in the marine, navy, security and military markets all over the world, enabling them to access areas where conventional marine vessels cannot reach.

“Over the last 12 months we have grown the business to over £30 million in revenue,” highlights Adrian Went, managing director of Griffon Hoverwork.

South America has been a particular strong growth market over the past 12 months. “We have won some great

26 - www.shippingandmarine.co.uk

orders in South America where we have delivered two hovercraft for the ministry of agriculture in Venezuela. We are also in the process of delivering a fleet of five hovercraft for the Peruvian Navy, which has been operating two Griffon 2000TD series hovercraft since 2009.”

The hovercrafts are currently involved in security, government and logistics roles but Adrian has hopes for the vessels to be utilised in other markets: ”We are in some very optimistic discussions with the Brazilians - I am very hopeful that we will be providing part of the transport infrastructure for the Olympics in 2016.”

All GHL hovercraft have the capability to operate where no other boat can; travelling over shallow water, mud flats, debris laden rivers, rapids, marshes and sea ice. They can be operated from unprepared beaches, harbours, piers, pontoons and riverbanks and are invaluable in areas with sensitive environments as they leave no tracks, create no underwater noise or pressure signatures, have no wake and therefore create no wash.

An emerging market is logistic and rescue support for oil exploration and production. As the oil and gas reserves start to deplete in benign production regions, the industry is seeking to find

new reservoirs in areas such as the shallows of the Northern Caspian Sea and the Arctic. Exploration in the Arctic is becoming a challenging growth market for all concerned and Griffon Hoverwork sees potential for its innovative range of craft to expand, as Adrian explains: “Another development is our R&D work on behalf of Shell, who are interested in acquiring a vehicle that can operate across all of the treacherous ice conditions it expects to experience on the North Alaskan Shelf.

In these regions, the ice floes collide with each other, causing pressure ridges. So our research is to establish the feasibility of building a hovercraft that can cross an ice ridge of two and a half to three metres in height.”

So far the company has completed conceptual designs, mathematical modeling, new skirt designs and is now in the process of using a scale demonstrator to show Shell what is possible. If the project goes into fruition, Griffon Hoverwork anticipates building some giant craft in the future. The R&D is not limited to finding ways to cross ice ridges, as it includes finding new skirt materials, innovative hull structure designs, means to maintain the craft free of ice when in operation and development of the systems that will enable the craft to be

Profile: Griffon

Hoverwork

AALCO With 10,000 tonnes of stock and 15,000 product lines, Aalco holds a wide range of standard extrusions certified to Lloyds 3.1 and 3.2, making it the perfect partner for the marine industry.

In addition, Aalco can offer Lloyds and DNV 3.2 Certified aluminium plate from stock, which can be profiled in-house by a specialist CNC machining team.

This means that Aalco can supply complete boat kits for boat builders and manufacturers.

Aalco has 19 Service centres strategically located around the UK and Eire supporting all aspects of the marine industry with ‘Next Day’ delivery for the majority of stock items. Aalco also offers a complete export service where required.

Adrian Went, managing director

used as an escape/ rescue vehicle. “We want to ensure it is always possible to escape from an oil rig, regardless of the weather conditions. Shell have stated that safety must always come before commercial advantage and due to the critical potential safety role, the plan is to include other interested oil companies in the research consortium.”

No stranger to sub zero conditions, Griffon Hoverwork has provided bespoke hovercraft for clients working in treacherous conditions worldwide, such as the Swedish Coast Guard, Crowley Alaska, the British Royal Marines and the Canadian Coastguard. These craft are used for a variety of roles, but all offer a solution for ice rescue due to their ability to travel at speed over ice and snow.

The company’s project to build a large patrol hovercraft for the Canadian

experience working with the Canadian Coastguard will certainly help with our R&D with Shell. We have worked with them for many years, updating and replacing their ongoing fleet size of four,” states Adrian. “Our market is primarily in coastguard, military and policing but our aim is to open up the oil and gas market and make that as big an opportunity for us as our current markets.”

Another area of interest for the company is India, where marketing director Mike Coveney represented Griffon Hoverwork during the Prime Minister’s trade visit in February 2013.

Following its deal to supply the Indian Coastguard with 12 craft, Griffon is looking to expand further into this high growth country in the future. “It was a successful visit and it was great to be invited. We were able to enhance

Coastguard is nearly complete and should be launched mid 2013. “Our

our network within government and this was an excellent platform for us to have some important meetings with existing and potential customers, such as the Indian Army,” enthuses Adrian.

To help establish a foothold in the country, Griffon Hoverwork has set up a partnership with Goa Shipyard, as they are experts in the construction of small to medium sized coastal and offshore vessels.

With a strong order book for 2013, the firm is concentrating on delivering to the Columbian marines, Pakistan Navy and Indian Coastguard. Business development work is focused on R&D trials with Shell and market development in South America. Over the coming years Adrian has a strong vision for Griffon Hoverwork: “I would like us to have consolidated our position in security and defense and developed our footprint in oil and gas and commercial ferry support. We will also remain the global leaders in hovercraft design by developing our technology and continuing to offer stateof-the-art craft.” v

Griffon Hoverwork www.griffonhoverwork.com • Seen growth in South America • R&D underway for treacherous ice conditions • Success in Indian market

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Profile: NMSC

Kazmortransflot JSC

Focus on

expansion T

he National Maritime Shipping Company Kazmortransflot Joint-Stock Company (KTMF) is a state-owned Kazakh company that was created from the resolution of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 4th December 1998. Based in Aktau, its company shareholder is National Company KazMunaiGas JSC, which holds a 100 per cent stake in the firm. With five subsidiary companies, Kazmortransflot Ltd, Kazmortransflot UK Ltd, Alatau Shipping Ltd, Altai Shipping Ltd and Ship Repair Plant of Mangistau region LLP, KMTF’s main purpose is to develop a national merchant marine fleet and expand into the international shipping of domestic freights.

Similar in size to Western Europe, Kazakhstan boasts huge economic potential and has seen major foreign investment in its Caspian oil sector.

“Kazakhstan is one of the biggest oil producers in the world; we have big reserves of oil and it is necessary to export to an international market, but it is important to think about how the transportation of the fuel is based on various factors, such as the economy and politics. It is in our interest to be independent, which is why KMTF is now looking to transport more oil by sea with its own vessels,” says Mikhail Yalbachev, deputy general director of KMTF. The company’s strategy is to offer a competitive service in the transportation of oil and gas products, as

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 29

We aim to enhance our transportation connections by building two ferry boats to carry cargo from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan and on to areas such as Russia and Turkmenistan

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well as passengers and domestic freight on an international scale. It also aims to provide services of an offshore support fleet, marine oil fields maintenance and actively support shipbuilding and shiprepair infrastructure developments in Kazakhstan.

It is currently operating in the Caspian Sea with a fleet of six tankers and also five tugboats and eight barges which are engaged in building artificial islands, oil platforms and oilrigs supply. The company aims to gain business in the Black Sea and open seas through the acquisition/construction of a new series of ships. “This year we aim to enhance our transportation connections by building two ferry boats to carry cargo from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan and on to areas such as Russia and Turkmenistan; a plan to participate in building a ferry port in support of this is currently being assessed and there are aims to start construction in 2014,” highlights Mikhail.

“The Caspian Sea is like a huge lake; it is a closed sea. We want to be not only on the Caspian Sea market, but

the world market. We have tankers that have the potential to carry fuel oil from the Baltic, to Russia, to Europe and the Mediterranean; for now we are looking at the Black Sea because we already have two ports there from where Kazakhstan oil has been exported.”

Keen to continue growing in an area of high economic value and to retain its independence, the company’s long-term ambition is to provide at least two thirds of its oil transportation volumes as well as half of the dry cargo from Kazakhstan ports from its own fleet. On top of this, it aims to increase the margin level of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to higher than 33 per cent and ROACE (return on average capital employed) to 12 per cent.

The plans are challenging for the firm, due to political and economical issues that have arisen over recent years, as Mikhail emphasises: “The present cost of oil trans shipment is rather high and that affects the attraction of the southern way mostly because of railway tariffs which we are unable to govern. Meanwhile all

Profile:

oil for Azerbaijan is delivered to Aktau by trains. And of course it’s not so good because customers want the cheaper way through the pipelines. The reduction of oil transported through the Caspian Sea is the biggest challenge for us because we want to keep our economical independence. By sending oil through this pipeline we are dependent on the Russians, therefore we are looking for a way to export the oil directly to oil companies by sea and to do this we need to expand our fleet and develop our presence in new geographical areas.”

As a way to lower costs and minimise environmental damage, the company is planning to build two gas powered railway ferries and looking to build a refinery for manufacturing gas (LNG) that could then be used as a fuel on the Caspian Sea. The project is to be presented at the EXPO-2017 exhibition, which is focusing on ‘Future Energy’, where the importance of using LNG as fuel for the project will be

NMSC Kazmortransflot JSC

further emphasised. “Our shareholder KazMunaiGas, which is also our parent company, is very interested in this project as they support everything related to green technology and think about reduction of oil transportation,” adds Mikhail.

Although the company is in a transitional period, it has a structured vision for its long-term success through expansion, innovation and investment.

The project to build the ferry terminal is included in the programme of development of transport for Kazakhstan in 2014; following this the firm will be discussing its LNG project at EXPO-2017 and focusing on its goal to increase the volume of oil and cargo transported by 2020. “For now we are looking at developing our presence on the open market and acquiring more ships, which will operate in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and potentially in the future all over the world,” Mikhail concludes. v

NMSC Kazmortransflot JSC www.kmtf.kz • A joint stock company created by the resolution of the Kazakhstan Government in 1998 • Plans to expand geographically and invest heavily over the next five years • Building a refinery for manufacturing LNG to be used as a fuel for new ships

SANA The policy of the company is to meet the requirements of and strengthen the co-operation with its partners. The company performs lubrication materials supply from Shell and other leading manufacturers, alongside marine paints and other industrial machinery equipment.

The specialists from the company perform the bunkering works in the ports of the Caspian Sea. For three years it has co-operated with the leading maritime shipping company NMSC Kazmortransflot JSC by supplying lubrication materials, marine paints and performing bunkering works.

“SANA” LLP Republic of Kazakhstan, Uralsk Phone/Fax: +7 7112 53 85 13 Email: info@sana-llp.kz www.sanallp.kz

The policy of the company is to meet the requirements of and strengthen the co-operation with its partners. The company performs lubrication materials supply from Shell and other leading manufacturers, alongside marine paints and other industrial machinery equipment.

The specialists from the company perform the bunkering works in the ports of the Caspian Sea. For three years it has co-operated with the leading maritime shipping company NMSC Kazmortransflot JSC by supplying lubrication materials, marine paints and performing bunkering works.

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Unique

service

S

ince 1982, Smyril Line has been operating a unique ferry service linking the Faroe Islands to Iceland and Denmark. This route

follows in the footsteps of the Vikings across the North Atlantic in a weeklong cruise package. Each year the company carries around 40,000 passengers with a majority destined for Iceland. As such, Smyril Line has weekly departures direct from Denmark to Iceland, taking in the Faroe Islands, with the options to travel specific legs of this journey only.

In the high season the company has two weekly departures to the Faroe Islands.

As such, Smyril Line is also viewed as a lifeline travel service for Faroe Islanders looking to travel to Europe,

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and as a crucial commodity link.

On November 1st 2012 the company celebrated its 30th anniversary since its formation by Óli Hammer, Jógvan i Dávastovu and Andrias Joensen, three ship officers working at Strandfaraskip Landsins, or the Faroese national transport company.

Having met with an excellent response in the Faroe Islands, securing funding for the project proved successful and the founders’ attention turned to locating a suitable vessel for the route. Shortly after Smyril Line acquired the Swedish passenger ship Gustav Wasa from the shipping company Lion Ferry, which was refurbished and renamed Norröna.

With a total capacity of 1050

passengers and 300 cars, the Norröna first lifted anchor in the summer of 1983. Since this time Smyril Line has been an established entity connecting the North Atlantic countries and Europe, serving both passengers and the freight market. Twice a year Smyril Line also embarks on two special routes to Britain, the first of which travels to Newcastle and back, and the second up to the Shetland and Orkney Islands via the Faroe Islands.

Bearing the same name as its predecessor, but a thoroughly more modern asset, the new M/S Norröna was delivered in April 2003 to replace the ship that had served Smyril Line since the beginning. At three times the size of the old Norröna the new

Profile: Smyril Line

operations, Smyril Line also fulfils an important role within the Faroe Islands’ trade as the only ro-ro service in the North Atlantic. In particular it is a large part of the fresh fish market of the region. This exclusive ro-ro offering attracted wider interest, and as such Smyril Line has formed a partnership with Blue Water Shipping, an international freight mover offering solutions across road, rail, sea and air.

Under the name Smyril Blue Water, the two companies offer a series of logistic and transport services supported

by Smyril Line’s offices in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Denmark. Whilst this partnership enables Blue Water Shipping to provide its customers with North Atlantic solutions, Smyril Line also benefits from Blue Water Shipping’s international network, which enables it to deliver products further into Europe.

Although Iceland attracts the most passengers, Smyril Line has been

pleased to note a growing tourist demand for the Faroe Islands as well.

This is hoped to have a positive effect on the levels of business carried by the company. Furthermore, the freight side of the business has also grown well particularly with the fish trade beginning to recover from the economic downturn.

Indeed, if both sectors continue to develop strongly in the future there may be a case for Smyril Line to expand its fleet or frequency, but for the time being the Norröna will continue to trace its familiar line across the North Atlantic. v

Smyril Line www.smyrilline.com • Passenger cruise services • Linking North Atlantic region • Ro-ro freight arm

vessel can carry 1482 passengers and 800 cars. This modern 165-metre, 6350 DWT super ferry can travel at speeds of up to 21 knots. It offers a number of different types of berths from single suites to deluxe, standard and couchette rooms, and onboard leisure facilities including three restaurants, three bars, a swimming pool, duty-free shop, and a gym.

Travelling by ferry gives passengers an opportunity to take in the natural sights of the North Atlantic whilst resting or socialising, and bring their own transport with them for when they reach shore. The flexibility of Smyril Line’s offering means that passengers can choose to use the ferry for transportation only, or book a complete travel package with accommodation.

As well as its successful cruise

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Investing in the

A

future

s probably the longest established and most experienced marina construction company in its field, Walcon Marine is a global organisation and market leader.

It has provided some 100,000 berths for marina projects and installations worldwide, with harbours, floating pontoons, access bridges and docks installed in over 30 different countries on five continents.

Each yacht harbour or marina construction project is an individual contract that demands specific design requirements. To address this challenge, Walcon Marine provides uniquely tailored services that can be adjusted to precisely fit clients’ needs. The company's experienced team, coupled with its stateof-the-art computerised marina design systems, is able to produce the best possible layout, facilities and services

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to suit the particular marina plan and construction requirements of any location.

This creative foundation works hand in hand with Walcon Marine's purpose-built factory in the United Kingdom, which has the capacity to produce marina and yacht harbour products to the highest standards and uses the best available materials to ensure strength, longevity and minimal maintenance. Within the factory, a highly experienced workforce uses the latest manufacturing and production facilities to produce equipment for marinas, including the world-renowned System 21 and System 2000 floating pontoon systems, articulating finger pontoons and the Waliflote flotation unit.

The original Walcon Marine System 21 floating pontoon design is still a market leader and has been in use in marinas and yacht harbours around the world for over 35 years. This ever-popular pontoon design uses a galvanised steel

frame with a hardwood deck supported on fibre concrete floats. The details of the design have been refined and improved over its many years of manufacture, implementation and testing, and now it is one of the strongest floating pontoon designs for marinas. It can also be used for large-scale boat show events; for example, it has formed the temporary marinas at the Southampton International Boat Show for many years.

Furthermore, Walcon Marine has invested heavily, not only in its transport fleet of modern vehicles, but also in the marina storage and shipping facility which it owns at Vancouver Wharf on the banks of the River Itchen in Southampton.

Marina construction projects are designed, built and delivered all from this purposebuilt factory.

From this wharf, floating pontoons, floating walkways, gangways, marina construction hardware, breakwaters and

Profile: Walcon other ancillary equipment are loaded and shipped to marinas all around the world.

The skills and equipment of all these facilities were all recently utilised to deliver a very important contract for Walcon Marine, when in February 2013 it installed five superyacht berths each capable of taking yachts up to 40 metres in length in Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands. With the annual risk of hurricanes, the environment in the Caribbean is a challenging one for yacht marinas, so for this project Walcon specified the heavy-duty version of its System 2000 pontoon model.

Three metres wide and designed to withstand high loads, these have the added advantage of being made in aluminium, which gives them excellent resistance against corrosion. Along with the pontoons two access bridges were also built in the UK and shipped across the Atlantic, along with safety ladders and emergency cabinets. A team of Walcon engineers undertook the installation. The Nanny Cay Resort and Marina is located on the south side of Tortola and is an exceptionally popular destination for yachts of all sizes with its ample berthing and fully equipped boatyard. The original marina was built by Walcon in the UK and transported to Tortola in 1980. The company has been back regularly over the years for maintenance and expansion projects. “The new docks are working very well for us,” said Nanny Cay's Cameron McColl. “They have lifted the whole marina to a new level and given us great flexibility when it comes to events. The quality of the docks has been commented on by all who have used them.”

The Nanny Cay relationship may have started three decades ago, but that doesn’t mean to say Walcon only works with established marinas. Indeed, in January 2013 it was awarded the contract for the first-ever purpose-built marina on the East coast of Africa.

English Point Marina will be the centrepiece of a new luxury resort that is now under construction. With spectacular views across the channel to the historic city of Mombasa, Kenya, the development is offering apartments for sale as well as including a hotel, retail and leisure amenities, and a water sports centre. The marina will have 45 berths in total and be capable of hosting yachts up to 47 metres in length. Larger yachts can anchor off in

its heavy duty Waliflote model for the largest berths and its aluminium System 2000 design, ideal for withstanding the high-corrosion potential of tropical salt water, for the remainder. Three and a half metre-wide Waliflote wave attenuating pontoons are also being installed to provide protection from the wave action that comes in from the south. All the pontoons are being made at Walcon’s main manufacturing facility in the UK.

Marine

Walcon has been working on the designs for English Point marina for nearly four years, in partnership with Alnoor and Amyn Kanji, the brothers behind the project. Construction is well underway on both the marina infrastructure and the development itself, with an opening date scheduled for mid 2013.

“We have been involved with English Point right from the beginning,” confirmed Clive Kemp, commercial director at Walcon Marine, “and we’re delighted to have finally received the go-ahead to build and install the marina for what is a groundbreaking and high quality project.

We are sure that English Point will become a popular destination not only for local residents but also for visitors from Europe and the Middle East, and that the marina will enable them to enjoy many happy hours out on the Indian Ocean.” v

Walcon Marine www.walconmarine.com • Working on major contracts • Very experienced team of staff • Long-established family company

protected waters.

Walcon is building the pontoons using

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 35

Significant

shift A s its name suggests, Independent Maritime Security Associates (IMSA Ltd) is an association of maritime security professionals with first-hand in-depth knowledge in the provision of security for this sector. IMSA itself is based out of an office in Poole from which it orchestrates the three core elements of its business – consultancy, operations, and training, in close contact with a large network of associates around the UK and in Norway.

There’s been a significant shift in the

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approach to maritime security since the adoption of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code in 2004.

As such, a large proportion of IMSA’s current activity is focused on ISPS compliance and training services. “Every SOLAS compliant ship of over 500 tonnes has to be ISPS compliant as well with a ship security plan and nominated ship security officer. Likewise, every port facility around the world has to have a port facility security plan and port facility security officer,” explains Nick Williams, chief training officer.

“On a managerial level we run the whole range of ISPS courses to put in place the training for

these personnel, and carry out security surveys of the vessels and port facilities to make recommendations and help write the security plans, so it’s a completely rounded operation,” he continues.

As a globally active business, IMSA has delivered such services not only in the UK and Europe, but in recent years areas like Bahrain, Liberia, and Yemen. Recently the company has been contracted by the Organization of American States (OAS) to audit port facilities across South America to see how effective training for personnel with security duties has been.

“We also currently have Maritime Security Liaison Officers (MSLOs) onboard oil and gas vessels in West Africa.

These unarmed personnel are highly experienced consultants that provide advice to the master, train the crew, and are responsible for the security of the vessel whilst in higher risk areas. They are the liaison between the master of the ship and the local government security forces that provide armed security within the oil fields.

Furthermore we do a small volume of counter piracy work as well in conjunction with a Norwegian company that provides personnel for armed transits on high value vessels,” adds Nick.

Whilst the ISPS code is more akin to an anti-terrorist piece of legislation, in reality the greatest threat that most vessels or port facilities face is armed robbery and piracy. In recognition of this the International

Profile: IMSA

Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced the 2010 Manila Amendments, which will be enforced in January 2014. This includes new mandatory security training requirements as defined in the two courses – Proficiency in Designated Security Duties (PDSD) and Proficiency in Security Awareness (PSA). IMSA is working with the industry on the implications these Amendments will have and to implement the new training programmes to bring it up to code.

“Everybody on a ship has an overall responsibility for the security of that vessel,” states Nick. “In the event of an incident, be it a robbery in south east Asia, a pirate attack in the Indian Ocean, or an armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea they all need to know what to do. The two new courses are designed to achieve this and are mandatory for all seafarers.”

The first course, PDSD, is for all personnel onboard a ship that have designated security duties including watch-keeping onboard, acting as lookout, searching the vessel for stowaways and suspicious objects, and carrying out access control on the gangways. The second, PSA, is aimed at everyone else employed on the vessel. In the case of the cruise industry for example only a small percentage of the crew may be qualified seafarers, whilst the rest will be brought in under contract such as catering staff, beauticians, entertainers, and cleaners.

“As a company IMSA has been given full approval to deliver these courses,” notes Nick. “It’s a very cost effective solution for shipping companies to protect their vessel and crew, especially if they are trading in areas where there could be a risk of attack. In these cases we advocate sending out a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) approved security consultant to deliver the courses.

In addition to the training itself, this consultant can then run through a full scale exercise with the crew on what to do in the event of an incident, which has real added value for the personnel.”

As the requirements of the Manila Amendments are more widely communicated, IMSA is preparing for a potential upturn in the volume of customers turning to it for the new PDSD and PSA training. “Every seafarer is going to have to do it, but it shouldn’t be viewed as a tick in the box exercise,” emphasises Angela Farrell, general manager. “This training can save lives, and by using

the experience and depth of knowledge within the business we can communicate the absolute benefits to the industry and deliver that training effectively.

“The shipping companies should look at what they are trying to achieve in terms of ensuring each one of their crew is properly trained and knows how to react in the event of an incident. For our part we will continue to provide unmatched maritime security services, and particularly elevate our position in the market as an approved provider of

PDSD and PSA courses. Our expertise is in ISPS and as a company we will continue to focus on this, but taking it through a broader range of countries and clients in the future,” she concludes. v

IMSA www.imsaltd.com • Maritime security professionals • Specialists in ISPS compliance & training • Delivering new Manila Amendment security courses

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Growing

demand F

ounded by Mr Herman Scheers, the Fast Group began in Immingham in the mid 1980s, running regular shipments of chemicals from Szczecin, Poland, to the UK on behalf of Ciech (the then Polish Chemicals Corporation) and steel cargoes from the Humber out to Spain and Portugal for the British steel industry using small coastal spot charters. To cope with growing demand later on in that decade Fast Lines Belgium, Fast Baltic, Szczecin and Fast Terminals, Szczecin were also set up.

The venture into Poland was performed initially on a 50/50 basis with the Szczecin and Swinoujscie Port authority and was a brave and innovative move on behalf of Fast as the country at that time was still part of the Communist Eastern block, although soon to be liberated mainly through the efforts of the Solidarity trade unions movement.

Fast became one of the very first Western investments into the north of Poland and the Terminal has grown from

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strength to strength over the last 20plus years and it is now wholly owned, equipped and manned by Fast.

Spot charters gradually developed into longer-term time charters and eventually with prudent use of profits made and careful investment, Fast was able to become a ship owner in its own right. Over the last 15 years Fast has been the proud owner of around ten different vessels and still has five of these ships in its current fleet of modern box-shaped one hold/one hatch coasters in the 2100t to 3100t dwcc range. These vessels regularly sail between Russia, Poland, the UK, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands and other European destinations, which are available on sufficient inducement basis. The company’s regular liner services out of Poland and Russia have been a particular feature of this small Baltic fleet and the company is presently

developing regular calls in the upper reaches of the Baltic sea throughout the ‘winter ice period’ on the back of a recent contract to move 3000t every week from Antwerp to Saint Petersburg.

Right now Fast has two Class 1A ice strengthened vessels on long term time charter to cover these specialised movements between December and May and would welcome any enquiries for cargoes out of Russia back to this area. Baltic cargoes have proved over the years to be mainly steel products, timber and chemicals.

Fast is still entirely family owned and although its founder and his wife are sadly no longer with us, his three

Profile: Fast

children take an active role in the management and direction of all of the Fast companies, along with the Herco group of factories throughout Poland, which manufacture such diverse products as collated nails, plant pots and car accessories.

Fast hopes to set itself aside from the competition with its strict philosophy of co-operation, loyalty, responsibility and communication all of which assist the company in making permanent investments for the future not just through material assets but also through people and friendships. Fasts’ ships are uniquely shallow drafted and flat bottomed which gives it the opportunity to load and discharge at NAABSA riverside berths that may be inaccessible to many other vessels. At its port offices in Drogheda, Immingham, Antwerp & Szczecin it offers such services as stevedoring, warehousing, ships agency, liner agency, chartering, road haulage, forwarding and documentation. Its small teams of experienced staff continue to co-operate both internally and externally and it has been a regular feature of the group to have occasional get togethers over the years in Poland, Belgium, Ireland and England at which ideas may be exchanged and experiences shared.

The 2009-10 recession years hit the shipping industry hard and freight rates have not been keeping up with bunker fuel prices whose all-time highs have caused a huge dent in shipping companies' bottom lines. A glut of vessels ordered in the boom period and entering onto the market during a downturn have of course exacerbated this situation but having survived well thus far Fast believes that it can see a light on the horizon, which it hopes may lead to opportunities for growth in the

coming years. To further its services it has opened a new office most recently in Seoul in South Korea. It is clear that trade between Europe and the Far East will grow in the future and Fast wishes to place itself squarely in that market with a view to new business expansion (current political situations permitting of course). Fast has always been open to fresh and exciting ideas and it intends to

Shipping

make 2013 a year in which it sows the seeds of new developments. v

Fast Shipping www.fast-lines.com/ offices/fastshippinguk

• History of innovation • Company remains family-owned • New office opened in South Korea

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Designing

F

excellence ounded in 1907, Abeking & Rasmussen (A&R) has been developing continuously into a modern, diversified

shipyard. The company was founded by Georg Abeking and Henry Rasmussen along the banks of the river Weser.

Starting as a wooden boat builder, the still family owned company soon entered other segments of the maritime market, such as the design and construction of navy ships and special craft.

“From the beginning we have always acquainted ourselves with new materials and techniques. Permanent research and development concerning the application of different advanced materials, and the subsequent processing and construction led to special facilities which can cope with wood, aluminium, steel and nonmagnetisable steel. We are pioneers in the industrial processing of aluminium, stainless, and non-magnetisable steel, many of the production procedures for which were developed in-house, as well as in conjunction with renowned research institutes,” describes Bjorn Widenbäck, sales and marketing manager.

He goes on to describe A&R’s approach to delivering the perfect vessel: “Before we begin designing a ship we want to understand our customer and his demands, his operations and procedures,

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and what he wants to achieve with the vessel. This way we are in a position to create a vessel that fits what is required, and even beyond. Our vessels are built with German engineering and quality by highly skilled and educated personnel, many of which have a background as sailor or shipwright.”

Today A&R is mainly working within the private yacht sector, and with government bodies and navies. It is one of the few shipyards worldwide to design and build top class motor, as well as sailing, mega yachts. For many years A&R has also designed and built specialised workboats for government institutions, ministries and private organisations. This includes over 360 units for the German Navy through its involvement in various programmes including the latest German Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMV) classes SM343 and MJ332.

A&R was a pioneer in the development of the Deep Vee hull, a state-of-the-art design for fast and seaworthy patrol boats.

A broad range of designs up to minicorvette size, and speeds of 40+ knots is available for navies and coastguards. In 2002 and 2003 the yard delivered a series of three new 66-metre Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) for the German coastguard.

Other notable specialist developments include search and rescue vessels, which

operate under extreme sea conditions, as well as research and supply vessels.

A past highlight in this field is the Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) pilot ship, which was designed and built by A&R. Since 1999 22 SWATH vessels have been delivered including 17 25-metre, one 40-metre, one 50-metre, and three 60-metre vessels. This technology was developed to offer both exceptional seakeeping capabilities and provide a stable working platform even in heavy seas.

A&R’s newest design though is the Small Waterplane Area Single Hull (SWASH), which also belongs to the same family of semisubmersibles as the SWATH. “The SWASH is basically the result of the question: ‘Can you build your SWATH smaller’,” notes Bjorn. “This is due to the general fact that smaller usually means a reduced price. As this was not the case, we had to look for alternatives on how to offer similar seakeeping capabilities at a reduced price. The results of this effort is the SWASH design.

“Whereas the buoyancy is provided by two submerged hulls on the SWATH, only one submerged hull is used on the SWASH. One outrigger on each side of the vessel provides the necessary transversal stability. At first glance one would classify the SWASH as a trimaran which it is not.

Profile: Abeking & Rasmussen

In contrast to conventional trimarans or other so called tri-swaths, the waterplane area of the SWASH is reduced once more,” he continues.

The SWASH technology is based on the vast experience which A&R gained in the last 18 years of developing the SWATH vessel. It offers exceptional seakeeping capabilities which are close to that of the 25-metre SWATH vessel. Low acceleration amplitudes result in a smooth ride, thus enabling long-time efficiency working without seasickness.

The SWASH will be exhibited in Southampton at SeaWork 2013, which as Bjorn highlights will give the market a rare opportunity to interact with the vessel: “It is very seldom that we can offer interested people the opportunity to visit and travel with our vessels as they typically go into service directly after delivery. Therefore this is a rare occasion for customers to experience A&R and we will be particularly targeting the offshore wind crew transfer and pilot sectors.”

Whilst A&R has fared well over the last few years, the economic crisis has indirectly affected the business by growing its competition within its niche markets as struggling shipyards look to expand their scope. Given its desire to always be one step ahead this has impelled A&R to increase its competitive edge further as the SWASH demonstrates. Bjorn concludes with what is the next stage of this work: “We are looking forward to entering new markets around the world with all our products and for new applications for our SWATH/SWASH designs. In looking to secure new orders we are developing the infrastructure of the shipyards in order to meet future customer demands and accommodate longer vessels.” v

Abeking & Rasmussen www.abeking.com • Diverse shipyard • Pioneering designs • Launching new SWASH vessel

R&M Ship Technologies R&M Ship Technologies GmbH – an R&M Group company, is a world leader in the planning and execution of interior outfittings for all types of vessels.

SWATH vessels require an exact weight management: the design weight must be maintained with precision.

R&M is one of an exclusive group of shipbuilding companies with a comprehensive expertise in the interior outfitting of SWATH vessels – all to the highest standard of quality.

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 41

Superior

solutions

W

ith a vision of achieving worldwide mobile communication on land, at sea and in the air, EPAK was founded in 2000. Based in a former industrial site in Leipzig, Germany, the core scope of EPAK’s work is the development, manufacturing and distribution of fully automatic satellite tracking antennas, which provide customer-tailored TV and internet solutions to the clients.

With an early focus on the maritime sector, EPAK started out supplying television receive-only (TVRO) solutions.

Having gained significant experience, in 2007 EPAK took the opportunity to introduce VSAT products to its portfolio.

Today the company is a rare provider of both: The necessary antenna hardware, and a series of maritime satellite broadband services known as Airtime, which it manages internally.

“Usually you would only supply one or the other but we have the in-house

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competencies to provide a perfectly matched solution to our clients,” enthuses Jochen Grüner, managing director of EPAK. “This is also the reason why we have all facets of the business under one roof, thus R&D, mechanical workshops, PCB design, satellite measurement, sea simulators, and laboratories are all available in-house as well. Although we have many distributors that carry out commissioning for us, we go onsite as well, with our staff able to respond to emergency cases within 36 hours for Europe, and 48 to 54 hours worldwide.”

Both the TVRO and VSAT systems are spread over three main categories of use. The antennas of the R- and Ri-series are adapted to the conditions of inland waterways, whilst the DS- and DSi-series are designed to meet even the toughest offshore requirements in harsh seas.

Finally the S-series TVRO products cater to the requirements of open waters in the leisure market.

The nature of EPAK’s solutions is

that the company is working across all over the maritime sector. “We’re not bound to any segment in particular so we’ve supplied to oil barges, yachts, superyachts, unmanned platforms, cruise ships, cargo ships, and inland waterway ships,” explains Jochen.

“Our main market in terms of our own reach is Europe and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however we also work with distributors which enable us to grow other business relations around the world. We have been present at the CABSAT exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre, as well as at METS and IBC in Amsterdam through all the years and will continue those activities.”

During the recent years EPAK has completed several projects with governmental institutions, as well as managed its own developments in order to offer the most up-to-date solutions to the market. The company’s current core programmes are representative of these two branches: with EPAK taking on a

Profile: EPAK

new 18 month government project, and simultaneously looking to launch its own new innovations.

“We have just brought out the world’s first maritime VSAT solution operating in the Ka-band,” reveals Jochen. “Previously we only had solutions in the Ku-band, so the Ka system offers significantly higher throughput at lower monthly rates and faster speeds. At the moment you can reach up to ten Mbit per second download and up to four Mbit per second upload speeds, so it’s incredibly fast.

You can also reach those speeds in the Ku-band but it would be very expensive compared to the attractive Ka solution.

Right now we are in the approval stage, and have completed some sea trials, so we are optimistic to roll out the first systems in the next few months.”

Much like the domestic internet market, EPAK believes that the opportunity to have faster speeds at a lower cost will be readily embraced by the maritime sector. “The most expensive internet connection that you can have is via satellite,” notes Jochen. “So it’s not hard to imagine that the interest will be huge if the chance presents itself to improve upon this. It all comes back to price, speed, and the coverage you can work in, and we hope that this new Ka-band technology will enable us to be really competitive on these points.”

EPAK also hopes that it might help with the provision of solutions to some of the more challenging sectors of the maritime market, and its internet demands: An inland waterway vessel for example may see huge peaks in demand for internet services at certain times, but desire low costs in providing this. “You could either go with a Ku-band which will offer large internet capacity at all times, and therefore is often unused, or you can design a flexible solution,” explains Jochen. “We hope to challenge this with solutions in both the Ku-band and the Ka-band to be really competitive.”

At the moment the Ka system is bound to the European area (Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea), but it is expected that further satellites may be launched over the coming years extending this coverage step-by-step.

The successful introduction of the Kaband antenna and associated services is EPAK’s focus for the rest of 2013, but in the background the company is

continuing to innovate and to target other product developments.

“One of the differences between us and our competitors is that we use a patented electronic beam formation (EBF) gyro to track the satellite, instead of a technical gyro which has to be adjusted. Because we retrieve the signal and calculate it electronically there is no need for our antenna to be moved, which means it can always be pointed to the satellite. This is really important for new technological developments such as the Ka-antenna because you can be more accurate without moving the dish,” describes Jochen.

Although EPAK acknowledges the market is very tough, the company believes that technology wise it can more than compete with what’s available in the sector, and the new Ka-band antenna will be a key addition alongside the existing

Ku-band VSAT and TVRO offerings. “We also offer a number of added benefit systems to our customers,” concludes Jochen. “This includes items like the diversity kit which combines two antenna in one bundle and ensures a free line of sight by switching the connection between the two if one is blocked by obstacles. We have many things that can be added on to our products and that’s the reason why we really can provide superior solutions to sensitive clients and governmental institutions.” v

EPAK www.epak.de • Maritime satellite communication solutions • In-house expertise • New Ka-band antenna

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New

R

ising from the ashes of Far East Ship Management Ltd, Hong Kong (FESM), which closed down in 2011 after the main owners - Italian shipping firm BM Shipping Group went bankrupt in 2011, newly named Far East Ship Management Hong Kong Ltd (FSMHK) was established in 2012.

Since then it has acquired a fleet of seven vessels and has widened the scope of its services, as Surinder Singh, managing director of FSMHK, explains: “In 2008, along with BM Shipping Chairman Capt Mazzanti, we launched the company and in 2011 bankruptcy was filed by BM Shipping, which had nine vessels under our firm in Hong Kong. BM Shipping had to sell the ships and close down the company, making us redundant, but the majority of ex-employees and I started our own company, tweaking the name, changing the logo and also the working systems.”

The company evolved from ship management professionals by honing their skills through hands-on experience with well reputed oil majors, owners and ship management firms, then combining the developed experience to offer tailormade solutions. While the ship owner

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beginnings concentrates on projects such as cargo fixture and freight collection, FSMHK offers technical, commercial, ship purchase, legal and insurance, takeover planning, certifications and operational problem solving. Furthermore, the company benefits from its strategic location in the traditional shipping area of Hong Kong, as Surinder highlights: “Hong Kong is one of the most developed shipping industry centres and has the advantage of housing a lot of financiers and brokers, which makes ship management a lot easier. It allows us to enhance stronger working relationships with financial institutions, shipping organisations and ship owners.”

Boasting specialised expertise in ship management operations, the company has offices in Asia, Africa, Europe and Middle East, offering personalised and high quality services to customers on a global scale. FSMHK’s main expertise continues to be complete project ship management and under a comprehensive management agreement the company takes technical responsibility in all projects. Another major strength is its chartering services, a newer area for the business that has expanded due to the economic downturn.

“We have strong relationships with a lot of Chinese shipyards who have seen vessel

contracts cancelled, so we are offering these customers a complete management solution as well. If the prices are going up at a shipyard we can take on the cargo, technical and commercial management, and once the vessels starts trading again there are more chances of people acquiring them,” says Surinder.

With its highly experienced personnel, FSMHK has the capacity to operate all types of commercial vessels, from general cargo carrier through to gas carriers, tugs and tanker vessels. It also has the flexibility to reorganise and take on special vessels. Employees at FSMHK are proud to offer specialised high quality ship management year-onyear while remaining as cost effective as possible. “We create tailor-made solutions by looking at each individual owner and offering a unique package that suits them. By expanding our services we can offer more, for example, if a customer changes their loading pattern we can give commercial advice. This is something that technical management companies don’t get involved much into,” highlights Surinder. Firmly believing that the identification and retention of well trained, highly qualified and motivated sea going personnel is of key importance to

Profile: Far East Ship Management Ltd, Hong Kong

the company’s success, FSMHK controls crewing at every stage and its crewing management is supported by its field offices in India, the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, the Philippines and Ukraine.

Aware that technical activities are the source of primary costs, the company has added cost control to its services; technical superintendents keep watch on expenditures and consults vessel owners when abnormal expenses are incurred/are imminent. Owners can monitor variance reports and budgets on very regular basis.

Proud of its ‘cradle to grave’ approach in technical management, the company also has senior surveyors and new construction superintendents to lead customers through any new construction project.

While the economic downturn has caused ship prices to plummet, a key focus for the company in 2013 is to expand its fleet, “We currently have seven tankers that range from 6800 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes, four of which are operating in Nigeria at the moment,” says Surinder. “By June 2013 we aim to have a bulk carrier and are looking to maximise and manage most ships. We are open to take on all vessels and are also keen into looking into the offshore sector.”

Following a period of transition, Surinder is now focusing on FSMHK’s long-term mission to develop a strong reputation worldwide as a company to trust with complete management services of vessels.

“Over the years we have enhanced our service offering and built up strong relationships with cargo owners and brokers so we can now provide complete solutions in the commercial management of the vessels. We want to continue offering more than our competitors by expanding into new areas, such as the offshore sector. We have become much

the latest maritime regulations in relation to future requirements and upgradations,” Surinder concludes. v

Far East Ship Management Ltd, Hong Kong www.fsmhk.com more involved in shipowners commercial needs, at the same time improving the present fleet standards keeping abreast of

• Launched the company in March 2012 • Currently has a fleet of seven tankers, with a bulk carrier arriving shortly • Offers tailor made solutions to individual ship owners

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk - 45

Spirit of

enterprise Above: Design of hydraulic starter and its system Below: Assembling of hydraulic starting system

Below: System being packed, ready to ship

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W

orld-renowned specialist supplier and wholesaler Huegli Tech AG was founded in 1929 and has since developed into an innovative, internationally-successful family business. “We have core competences

in engine governing systems, generating set controls, hydraulic engine starting systems, gas engine management systems, vehicle control systems, engine accessories and dual fuel conversions.

We are active worldwide and offer a well developed network,” enthuses Hanspeter Egli, vice president of Huegli Tech AG. Still driven by the spirit of enterprise, the family company has been designing and supplying innovative, state-of-the-art products, such as its hydraulic starting systems, for over 50 years. Developed as a reliable alternative to electric starting engines, which have a number of serious limitations for specialised applications, the hydraulic starter has more than 90 per cent efficiency and turns the engine faster, resulting in a higher combustion temperature and reliable ignition. The use of Huegli Tech’s soft engagement valve, which gently engages the pinion into the flywheel before allowing complete oil flow to provide powerful cranking, ensures the full torque is not applied until the pinion is fully engaged with the ring gear. This drastically reduces the shock of engagement, which has the tendency to shorten the service life of both the engine, specifically the start flywheel, and starter.

The hydraulic engine starting system boasts further advantages, such as equal efficiency at -40 degrees Celsius and consistent reliability; starting is possible anywhere at any time and the systems are virtually maintenance free. All of the systems supplied by Huegli Tech include a fixed displacement hand-pump that enables the accumulators to be re-charged manually, thus providing infinite cranking cycles.

“Particularly in the field of our hydraulic starting systems, it is each correctly

selected component that creates a perfect system,” highlights Hanspeter.

The accumulators, additional recharging options, starting valves and unique soft engagement valve all integrate to create an innovative solution for its diverse range of clients. Focusing on simple selections, a perfect price/functionality ratio and qualified support, Huegli Tech prevents confusion by ensuring its products are fully functional but quick and easy to configure.

The new hydraulic starting system range includes the handpump starting system (HPS)/compact starting system (CPS)/ engine driven pump system (EPS)/airmotor driven pump (APS)/electric motor driven system (MPS) a small, convenient, space saving option that is capable of starting an engine without external power in harsh environmental conditions. It can be used in emergencies and during total power failure.

“Our hydraulic starting systems can be used to start engines in a wide range of industries and applications such as fire pumps, generator sets, cranes, supply vessels and compressors in the offshore industry and lifeboats, propulsion engines and bow thrusters in the marine industry,” says Hanspeter. “Through the

Profile: Huegli Tech hydraulic starting system’s adaptability to any engine and application, there are practically no limits as to where this technology can be supplied and it is all possible because of our US partner and supplier KTI (Kocsis Tech) as its components are used in our starter system designs. For more than 25 years we have been the worldwide manufacturer representative of KTI products and our relationship is very close.”

Proud of its flexibility, short reaction time to customer requests and application experience, Huegli Tech AG believes a close working relationship with its clients is imperative as it cements confidence and guarantees a continued flow of up-to-date information. “We view our customers as a partner and offer a number of advantages to them, particularly when it comes to our hydraulic starting systems range,” highlights Hanspeter. “For example, we have our highly reliable components subsuppliers, offer reliability of our products but the development, production, design and testing is done in our house, that means customers receive all from one single source in Switzerland, and we have more than 50 years of experience working with this system.”

A recent addition to the company’s family, Huegli Tech Eastern Europe, based

in Jihlava, Czech Republic, will represent the full range of its products throughout Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania. Having an office in the centre of Eastern Europe ensures time efficiency and allows customers to receive information and support locally.

“It is necessary for us to have an office in Eastern Europe as we will now be in close proximity to our customers and can understand their needs much more

when speaking the native language,” says Hanspeter.

There has been an increase in demand in Australia, India, the UK and Russia over recent years, and the company is keen to continue developing new products for existing and new business areas in the future. There will also be a focus on its partners, such as customers, distributors and suppliers, to ensure continued satisfaction and ongoing success. “We at Huegli Tech AG are proud of our ability to take on a job and ensure it is completed as efficiently as possible. There are positive signs in various markets and we see great opportunities to continue expanding our product portfolio, business areas and partnerships to ensure steady growth with a healthy margin,” concludes Hanspeter. v

Huegli Tech www.huegli-tech.com • Leading supplier and wholesaler • Over 50 years of experience • Active worldwide with a well developed network

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Working

together

L

eading UK independent electrical engineering group Quartzelec Ltd (originating from GEC Alstom) has more than 80 years experience and technical expertise in delivering solutions to customers across a broad range of commercial and industrial sectors.

Quartzelec Ltd has recently won major South African contracts worth over £1 million. During the past few years it has upgraded its offices, expanded its workshops in Aberdeen, as well as

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investing in overhead cranes and test equipment. “The expansion of our office and workshops was definitely an upgrade of premises due to the work-load,” says Bill Peace, general manager of the Quartzelec Aberdeen unit marine sector.

Working primarily in the Marine division along with the Repair and Maintenance (R&M) sector, Quartzelec Aberdeen is comprised of these two units, both complementing each other to offer customers a complete package. “The market is looking for a one-stop-shop,”

which is what we offer and have been practicing for the past 14 - 15 years,” says Dave Murray, repair and maintenance general manager, Quartzelec Aberdeen.

“We work together on dry dock projects; this is because ships in need of these services require alternator and motor rewinds, repairs along with removal and re-installation of these items. The marine division will reconnect these machines and then commission them carrying out all function checks for proving fit for use.”

With a career spanning 40 years in

Profile: Quartzelec Stolt Sneland

Aberdeen, Dave has seen the company evolve into an unrivalled service provider for marine, harbour and dry dock maintenance and repairs of AC / DC motors and generators from various manufacturers. “I moved to Aberdeen around 40 years ago and there have been major changes within that time. Work on the fishing fleet has diminished so we now include the supply boats, for example.

This is how we engaged the marine sector to work with us, complementing each other. Quartzelec Aberdeen carry out work on various types of ships by offering electrical power generation, transmission, distribution packages, as well as updating to new machines when required. The marine sector offers a variety of solutions to vessel owners including the installation of dynamic positioning systems on the ships, dealing with the controls and power generation,” explains Dave.

The ability to quickly and efficiently offer integrated solutions to its customers is the main reason Bill believes Quartzelec Aberdeen has had its continued success in the marine industry: “We are very prompt and aim to respond to any phone call immediately, our services are available 24/7. It is important we offer a swift service with the right people in place to respond on an urgent basis to any issues.”

Mainly working in Aberdeen, the company also takes on projects around the UK both on and offshore and has various customers globally. Its last sizable marine contract was an upgrade on a ship with Dales Marine Services, which involved completing three projects: 1 Dry dock electrical repairs and maintenance, 2 Installation of a data system 3 Accommodation and work area upgrade

of our customers working with us for the past ten years is down to our solid reputation. We want to continue keeping abreast of customer requirements by ensuing we are prepared for any request that may come up,” highlights Bill.

Following a successful two years of

“Dales Marine Services is one of our major customers; they have dry dock facilities in Aberdeen and Leith, and between the two locations Quartzelec are the preferred main electrical contractor.

It is a long and successful relationship,” says Bill. Quartzelec Aberdeen also enjoys a strong working relationship with Kongsberg Maritime.

“Most of our marine jobs are relatively small so it is important we get repeat business, and the reason behind some

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Profile: Quartzelec

scheme helps us to bring in new strong labour every year, which is difficult to obtain in the Aberdeen area,” explains Dave. “We have high quality personnel working with us here at Aberdeen; we are dedicated to our staff and train them through college if they need further education after their apprenticeships.”

With confidence in the quality of its staff, both now and in the future, this innovative Aberdeen based one-stop-shop will continue to secure its business by listening to its customers and expanding with industry demand. v

continued growth, Bill and Dave are positive about the company’s future:

only in its equipment, workshops and offices, but also in the future of its

“There are also a lot of vessels requiring work in the North Sea this year, and there is no reason to believe this trend won’t continue. For us there is a bright outlook.” To remain prosperous Quartzelec Aberdeen has invested not

employees. Every year new apprentices are given the opportunity to develop skills through the company’s modern apprenticeship programme to become a marine electrician or an armature winder / electrical fitter. “Our apprenticeship

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Quartzelec www.quartzelec.com • Recently expanded its offices and workshops • Invests in its own apprenticeship programme • Offers an integrated solution to clients

Shipping &MARINE

The magazine for maritime management

www.shippingandmarine.co.uk Editor: Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales manager: Rob Wagner rwagner@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

Schofield Publishing Schofield Publishing Limited Unit 10, Cringleford Business Centre, Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1603 274130 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 274131