Shipgaz No 4/10 by Henrik Bergqvist

Price EUR 12 No 4 – September 3, 2010 www.shipgaz.com

Back on course After some tough years, Hurtigruten is now steering towards a brighter future. New passengers from all over the world come to seek out the lights of the north.

Who’s afraid “Shouldn’t have of the big bad gone ashore” whistleblower? Retiring head of icebreaking in New Shipgaz columnist Bob Couttie gives his views on the touchy topic of blowing the whistle.

Finland Atso Uusiaho confesses that he never stopped longing to go back to the sea.

The front page picture is sponsored by Volvo Penta

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22.4.2010 11:03:53

THEY CALL US EXPERTS. GUESS wHY?

Adress: P O Box 370, SE-401 25 Göteborg, Sweden Phone: +46-31-712 17 50 Fax: +46-31-80 27 50 E-mail: info@shipgaz.com Internet: www.shipgaz.com ISSN 2000-169X Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Rolf P Nilsson +46-31-712 17 65, rolf@shipgaz.com

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Assistant Editor-in-Chief Anna Lundberg +46-31-712 17 63, anna.lundberg@shipgaz.com

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No 5 is published on October 15.

Hurtigruten special:

Back on course After some tough years, Hurtigruten is now steering towards a brighter future. New passengers from all over the world come to seek out the lights of the north.

Who’s afraid “Shouldn’t have of the big bad gone ashore” whistleblower? Retiring head of icebreaking

New Shipgaz colum-

nist Bob Couttie gives his views on the touchy topic of blowing the whistle.

in Finland Atso Uusiaho confesses that he never stopped longing to go back to the sea.

by Volvo Penta

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Price EUR 12 No 4 – September 3, 2010 www.shipgaz.com

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4 SHIPGAZ NO 4 2010

Intro FEATURE

Shades of grey WELCOME It may seem unquestionable that knowledge is a firm ground for making good decisions. But I’m not that sure. I like black and white – nice contrasts, dynamic but clear, no fuss. Then comes reality and the nice contrasts always fade into endless shades of grey. The more I know, the harder it is to have that clear view of something that seemed so apparent to take sides with or against.

But I won’t say

»I like black and white – nice contrasts, dynamic but clear, no fuss«

that ignorance is bliss. It’s just slightly annoying that nothing is simple. Luckily I think grey is a nice colour too. And a nuanced way of thinking could be just the thing that separates us from the cave-dwellers. In this issue we add nuances to some matters of debate:

We proudly present our new columnist Bob Couttie, accomplished reporter for several maritime publications and administrator of the portal Maritime Accident Casebook. In his first column for Shipgaz he puts the whistleblower into perspective. Professor Kjell Larsson presents another way of looking at recent years’ Helcom statistics of sharply reduced illegal discharges in the Baltic. According to him, it’s not that simple. We have also taken a trip with Hurtigruten’s star of the fleet, the Midnatsol, another trip with newcomer giant ro-pax Stena Hollandica, portrayed a retiring ice breaker operative who confesses to a bad decision, looked at what changes are brought about by the revised STCW code and the coming labour convention, and much much more. Enjoy!

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Anna Lundberg anna.lundberg@shipgaz.com

SPOTLIGHT SAFETY A recent case has caused growing concern about untruthful whistleblowing. The industry may have only itself to blame. PAGE 24

REPORT Helcom statistics on how much the illegal discharges have decreased in the Baltic are misleading, says a Swedish ecology professor. PAGE 42

NEWCOMER Declared by Stena Line as the largest ferry of its kind in the world, the Stena Hollandica is no doubt an amazing vessel. PAGE 32

NO 4 2010 SHIPGAZ 5

Intro »The most fundamental obstacle for recruiting women is the same as for recruiting men« EDITORIAL PAGE 7

In this issue 16 22 24 28 32 40 42 46 50 54 The Midnatsol, Hurtigruten’s most famous ship, and the other ships on the classic Bergen–Kirkenes route are picking up speed again after some troublesome times. PAGE 56

56 80 82 93 96 102

“Wrong to turn icebreaking into business” Oil leak curbed but worry grows Who’s afraid of the big bad whistleblower? Fayard up and running at Lindø A Swedish giant ploughs the waters of the North Sea Maritime Labour Convention may be here next year “Helcom presents a glossy picture of reality” Refitted from the hull up Visionary bulk owner dies at 94 Undaunted newcomer aims high with new pool Hurtigruten – Back on route Major revisions of STCW Engine maintenance and repair, by whom? From sailor to Hollywood star The end of an empire Australian liner pioneer

Regular sections

RETRO In 1931 Ejnar Nygaard bought his first ship and laid the foundation for Danena Group. 80 years later the story ended as the group sold their last vessel. PAGE 96

REPORT Newly established tanker operator Hafnia Management aims at running some 30 vessels only months after entering the MR market. PAGE 54

7 8 14 16 88 84 96

Editorial Review Market Review Portrait Fleet Review Technical Review Retro

NO 3 2010 SHIPGAZ 7

Editor-In-Chief Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com

Editorial

This is not a man’s job »Shipping is in dire need of a change in attitude, within the industry as well as towards the industry«

espite the most serious shipping crisis in modern times, recruitment and the shortage of skilled seafarers has never left the agendas of the world’s shipping organisations and institutions. Shipping is just one of all society sectors out there chasing competent people to manage and develop its companies, institutions and trades. The competition to attract young, bright and well-educated people is sharp as a knife’s edge. In those circumstances, it is of course foolish to disregard half of the potential recruitment base – the women of this world.

Only a few per cent of the seafarers manning the ships in the world merchant fleet today are women. Most of them work in the catering department, the number of female masters and chief engineers is easy to count. To change this is a mighty challenge. By tradition, qualified tasks at sea and in onshore shipping organisations have been all but reserved for men, to some extent with the exception of positions in “softer” departments such as catering and personnel. In high-salary positions related to nuts, bolts and the money-making side of a shipping company you will almost exclusively find men.

Attracting women in a larger extent than today is a challenge that shipping shares with the rest of the transport industry, but with the unique nature of shipping, the task is even more formidable. Sea-going experience is not only a requisite for officer training, it is also the starting-off point to many shore-based job positions ashore. This means that if the shipping community wants to see women entering the industry in a larger scale than today, work and training positions on the ships must be made more accessible and attractive to women.

investment is put in relation to the costs for not being able to fill the job positions.

“Women go ashore when they have babies” is another excuse for not seeing it worthwhile to bear the costs and efforts of training women for seafaring jobs. People with this attitude tend to forget or disregard the fact that this is one of the major, if not the most common, reason for male officers to leave the sea for a shore-based career. Guys also want to be close to home when the family grows. This argument should instead be seen as a gender neutral recruitment problem that needs to be solved if shipping wants to retain officers at sea, or at least to keep them in the industry.

The most fundamental obstacle for recruiting women is however the same as for recruiting men – the public’s perception of shipping and the society’s attitude towards the seafarers. Maritime transport is the backbone of world trade and shipping is indispensable for a sustainable development and prosperity in the world, but as long as general media and politicians stresses increased risks and highlights dangers when shipping activities increases, instead of the positive contribution from shipping and seafarers, we have a problem.

And as long as our seafarers are criminalised, viewed as potential terrorist and denied shoreleaves, chased by pirates without sufficient protection or support from the society they serve, it will take some really creative initiatives and highcost actions to attract all the new people needed in the shipping industry – men or women.

Rolf P Nilsson, Editor-in-Chief

First of all, shipping is in dire need of a change in attitude, within the industry as well as towards the industry. “This is a man’s job” is still heard too often, and it is worrisome that it is an expression you can hear also from young male seafarers. Prejudices must be fought. “It is a too heavy work for a woman” or “we don’t have separate living facilities on board” are some arguments you can hear when asking shipowners and managers why there are so few women on their payrolls. These are of course rather lame excuses for obstacles that in many cases can be remedied without to much effort or costs, especially if the

8 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Review Photo: concordia maritime

Photo: Esvagt

Photo: Magnus Pajnert/port of Göteborg

Photo: joachim sjöström

UPM extends charter of Godby vessels business Finnish UPM’s global sea traffic unit, UPM-Kymmene Seaways, has extended its charter of the Åland-based shipping company Godby Shipping’s ro-ro vessels Mistral and Miranda.

Including options, the vessels will continue in UPM-Kymmene Seaways’ traffic until the end of 2013. UPM-Kymmene Seaways also has Godby Shipping’s ro-ro vessels Misida, Misana, Mimer and Midas on time charter.

1974

The FSO Knock Dee is to be recycled. The vessel was built at Swedish Uddevalla-varvet in 1974 as Wind Endeavour. The former tanker was converted to FSO (Floating Storage and Offloading in 1997.

Port of Göteborg, the largest container terminal in the Nordic region.

VTS move stopped Information After a general meeting with the industry recently, the Swedish Maritime Administration has decided to put the VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) move from Göteborg to Södertälje on hold, at least for the time being.

“We’ll wait and see since we are going to investigate available solutions together with the industry and the Port of Göteborg. We will initiate this process with the first meeting in September”, says Jonas Vedsmand, head of the Maritime Traffic Department at the Swedish Maritime Administration, who also emphasises that no decision has been made not to move the VTS. “No, just as I said, we’ll wait and see”.

Tryggve Ahlman, who is responsible for maritime safety and technology at the Swedish Shipowners’ Association, is very pleased with the decision. “A decision like this must be guided by the ports’ risk profile, which means that a proper risk analysis must be carried out. The Port of Göteborg, together with a number of other ports, is prominent in this respect. There would have to be very good reasons for moving the VTS from a port with a risk profile like the one of Port of Göteborg.” “We have not had second thoughts, the fact is that we supply services, we exist for our customers. If our customers, the industry, have opinions, we will listen to them”, says Jonas Vedsmand.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 9

Review Photo: dfds

Photo: A.P. Møller-Mærsk

Photo review

1. Esvagt A/S, Esbjerg, has appointed Søren Nørgaard Thomsen as new CEO. 2. “Concordia Maritime’s product tanker fleet is signed to long-term charters, which means that despite the market situation, we are doing well”, writes CEO Hans Norén in the 6-month report. 3. The crew of the LNG tanker Maersk Ras Laffan rescued six seafarers from their sinking dhow in the Persian Gulf recently. 4. The DFDS Group reports an improved result for first half of 2010.

Photo: stx offshore

Photo: transatlantic

The AH 11 Design.

STX Norway to build two AHTS-vessels The AHTS/icebreaker Balder Viking.

Transatlantic gets Norwegian owner business The Norwegian investment group Kistefos will be the majority owner of the Swedish shipping company Transatlantic. Transatlantic will acquire the outstanding shares in the offshore operator Trans Viking and thus control 100 per cent of the shares in the company. Payment will be in the form of newly issued A and B shares in Transatlantic.

The transaction means that Kistefos will be the majority owner with just over 50 per cent of the votes and the capital in Transatlantic. At the time of the acquisition Kistefos will transfer SEK 150 million to Trans Viking. An extraordinary general meeting will be

held on September 22. Christen Sveaas, the owner of Kistefos, will be proposed as chairman of the new board of directors, and the current chairman Folke Patriksson will be proposed as vice chairman. “We look forward to continuing the good cooperation we have had with Transatlantic for nearly 15 years. The transaction means that we are establishing a common industrial platform for our investments in offshore. A simpler corporate structure combined with an efficient organization is positive for our business contacts and partners”, says Kistefos’ Chairman Christen Sveaas.

Newbuilding STX Norway Offshore has, via its Brazilian subsidiary, signed a contract with Norskan Offshore to build two AHTS vessels (Anchor Handling Tug Supply) for delivery in 2012 and 2013. The vessels of the new AH 11-design from STX’s design office in Ålesund, will be purpose built for deepwater operations. The vessels will be built at STX Brazil Offshore in Niteroi, Brazil. Norskan Offshore is a subsidiary of Norwegian DOF ASA.

The cars are back in town Business The Swedish car industry has seen quite a recovery the last couple of months, obviously good news for Port of Göteborg. The handling of cars increased by 70 per cent the first six months of 2010, compared to the corresponding period last year, according to the 6-month report.

10 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Review Photo: bengt pihl

Deltamarin to design bulkers newbuilding Deltamarin will design a new generation of bulk carriers to be built by Chengxi Shipyard Co. Ltd for the US-based bulk operator CSL International Inc. The 71,900 DWT self unloading panamax design is developed from Deltamarin’s B.delta standard design. Deltamarin will take care of the basic and detail design as well as the procurement support.

newbuilding Donsö-based Northern Offshore Services AB, which specialises in crew vessels for windpower projects at sea, is expanding heavily. The next newbuildings will be delivered in the first half of 2011 – two catamarans from Norwegian Grovfjord Mek Verksted, which will be registered to the Danish flag. The company has options on five further units. With these deliveries, the shipping company will have ten ships/catamarans.

“These vessels are a bit larger and are the next generation of crew vessels. Windpower projects are growing in size and are being located increasingly far out at sea. We must adapt the fleet to this trend”, says MD David Kristensson. The catamarans will have a length of 18.55 metres and a beam of 7.6 metres and contain facilities for the crew. They will be able to carry twelve passengers and their main engines will consist of two 720 kW MTU 8V2000M72 diesel engines. The shipping company, which was established in 2008, has about 60 employees and its markets are in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. It currently serves 3–4 windpower projects. Northern Offshore Services has participated in a total of about 15 projects. “We work together with large players such as EON, Dong Energy and Siemens. Unfortunately, the market and developments in Sweden are many years behind”, says David Kristensson. Some weeks ago, the shipping company took delivery of the M/V Performer from

3D-illustration of the vessel design. Photo: South Boats Special Projects Ltd

business Scandlines AG has appointed Bengt Pihl, 54, as new CEO to replace John Steen Mikkelsen, who left for Bornholms trafikken. Bengt Pihl is a Swedish citizen and was until recently CEO of Sanitec Group. Previously he has been CEO of ABB Germany, CFO of Bombardier and CFO of Atlas Copco Argentina, among others. Scandlines has also appointed a new chairman, also from Sweden. Håkan Samuelsson, 59, replaces Jan Stenberg, who has been chairman since the sale to a joint venture of Allianz, 3i and Deutsche Seerederei in august 2007. Håkan Samuelsson was previously CEO of MAN and vice CEO of Scania, among others.

Photo: Grovfjord Mek Verksted

Swede new Scandlines CEO

Donsö-based owner orders newbuildings

The newly delivered Performer. She can carry twelve passengers and carry out diving and survey duties. South Boats Special Projects Ltd on the Isle of Wight. The boat is made of aluminium and has a length of 16 metres and a beam of 6.3 metres. It is powered by two Volvo Penta D13 IPS units each developing 588 kW and can carry twelve passengers and a crew of three. Speed unloaded max/service: 28/24 knots.

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No 4 2010 Shipgaz 11

Review Photo: bent mikkelsen

Photo: bent mikkelsen

The warship Absalon has been patrolling in the Gulf of Aden as part of the EU Navfor mission. The picture is not taken in connection to the anniversary.

Maersk Tackler now under Danish flag.

Mærsk transfers 27 ships to Danish flag Business A P Møller-Mærsk has made a

major contribution to the Danish International Shipsregister, DIS, with the transfer of 27 vessels totalling 691,252 DWT to the registry in August. The ships in question are eleven container carriers and sixtheen offshore vessels from Maersk Supply Service. “The transfer of the sixteen ships is the first step in our plan to switch the majority of our tonnage to the Danish flag”, says Carsten Plougmann Andersen, CEO of Maersk Supply. The sixteen supply vessels were earlier British flagged and registered on Isle of Man. The container carriers were earlier either British flagged or registered in Holland. The earlier Dutch-flagged ships are the 101,550 DWT units Maersk Salalah, Maersk Savannah and Maersk Stepnica. Among the other ships are the 52,400 DWT B-class units Mae-

rsk Baltimore, Maersk Bentoville, Maersk Brooklyn and Maersk Boston. A P Møller-Mærsk is back on track, and presents its second best half-year result ever. The net profit was USD 2.5 billion in the first six months of 2010, compared to a loss in the first half of 2009. The result is due to increased volumes in world trade as well as improved rates for container transport. Revenue amounted to USD 27.3 billion, up 20 per cent. Revenue per segment/division: Container traffic USD 12.4 billion, APM Terminals USD 2.1 billion, tanker and offshore USD 2.8 billion, oil and gas USD 5 billion, retail USD 5 billion and other business areas USD 607 million. The result includes a profit of USD 551 million on the sale of ships and rigs, up 597 per cent from 2009. The pre-tax profit was USD 4.8 billion. A P Møller-Mærsk expects the full-year result to be around USD 4 billion.

Danish Navy – 500 years in duty History The Danish Navy celebrated its 500 year anniversary on August 10 with a large number of warships present, including a number of foreign warships.

The Danish navy is considered to have been founded by King Hans, who ruled over Denmark in 1481–1513. In 1510, he ordered the construction of the Engelen and the Maria as the first ever purpose-built warships. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Danish navy was the sixth largest in the world. Only a few years later the Danish fleet was confiscated by the British navy and Denmark had to start all over again.

307

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12 Shipgaz no 4 2010

Review Photo: eu navfor

Stolt Tankers settles dispute business Stolt Tankers B.V. has received a full refund of USD 84.5 million plus accrued interest as part of an early termination agreement with SLS Shipbuilding, South Korea, to cancel newbuilding contracts for two 43,000 DWT parcel tankers. “The refund was for progress payments made by Stolt Tankers on the two ships, which were ordered in 2006 as part of a series of eight parcel tankers to be built by SLS. Due to extensive delays at the yard it was unlikely that these ships would have been delivered within the terms of the shipbuilding contracts. All of the eight ships ordered by Stolt Tankers from SLS are covered by refund guarantees and the company similarly expects to receive full refunds for the six remaining ships in the series”, says the company in a press release.

The Danish Svitzer Group reports an improved profit for the first half of 2010, despite low port towage activities around the world. The net profit was USD 73 million, up from USD 34 million.

The Rear Admirals Phillippe Coindreau (left) and Jan Thörnqvist.

New command of EU fleet oﬀ Somalia piracy France and Belgium have taken command over Operation Atalanta off Somalia. Rear Admiral Philippe Coindreau of France will lead the multinational Force Headquarters on board the French warship De Grasse.

“on board de grasse We Will, for four months, do our best to continue the successful work of Admiral Thörnqvist in support of the objectives of EU Navfor Operation Atalanta: the protection of vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP) delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia, protect vulnerable vessels, deterring and preventing acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast”, says Rear Admiral Philippe Coindreau in a comment.

The Swedish Rear Admiral Jan Thörnqvist, who lead the EU fleet on board the Swedish warship HMS Carlskrona the previous period of four months, summarized the Swedish command as successful. “eu navfor has in this four month period disrupted more than twenty pirate action groups and confiscated a vast amount of pirate paraphernalia – stopping more than 250 suspected pirates from conducting attacks. We have conducted eleven World Food Programme escorts which have delivered 90,000 metric tons of food aid.” HMS Carlskrona will remain as a unit within the EU anti piracy operation until November.

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14 Shipgaz no 4 2010

Market Review Photo: hYundai heaVY induStrieS

Owners return to the shipyards aNalysis This summer the World’s bulker fleet passed the 500-million tons deadweight mark as it over the previous year grew by almost 15 per cent, data from Clarksons suggest. Adjusted fleet data from N. Costiaz show that if all 470 Capesizes in the current order book is delivered as planned, the fleet of the dry bulk behemoths will grow by a further 96 million tons deadweight. This amounts to close to 60 per cent of the current deadweight capacity. The situation is similar in the Panamax segment, with 661 vessels to be constructed, or 43 per cent of the today trading Panamax fleet. In July, each day saw a new Capesize vessel delivered to its owner, and one new Panamax entered the market each 1.5 days.

demolitioN of old Vessels is one tool to adjust capacity when supply is in excess of demand. To date, activity on the demolition market has however not been of the magnitude it need to be to make a significant impact on the capacity surplus. So far dry bulk carriers of Handysizes or larger totalling about 3.6 million tons deadweight have been sold to the breakers. This is about half of the dwt sold at the same time last year. This at a time when there are signs that the main engine of the world’s economic

»In July, each day saw a new Capesize vessel delivered to its owner, and one new Panamax entered the market each 1.5 days. recovery is decelerating. China was the destination for 68 per cent of all seaborne iron ore imports in 2009. This year it is set to be around 64 per cent according to Clarksons. June was the third successive month of reduced Chinese imports, to 47.2 million tons from 59.0 million tons in March. The trend was broken in July, but the month’s figure was still well below the corresponding month of 2009, and the outlook for the rest of the year is not in favour of the shipowners. this is worrisome not least for Capesize owners, as transportation work measured in tonnes-miles decreased more than the volumes imported by China from the top three exporting countries (Brazil, Australia, India). The US armed forces withdrawal from Iraq at the same time as Iran pushed the go button for its first nuclear power station and presented a new range of weapons is only

some of current events that add to the uncertainty of where security and stability in the world are heading, and to what affect it will have on world trade. So, in an environment marked by economic and financial uncertainties and political unrest in some regions and with an avalanche of new ships bound to enter the fleet, what to the shipowners do? They order more ships. Only in July, shipowners ordered 10 new Capesize vessels and 23 Panamaxes according to data from NCSC in Greece. Clarkson data show that 568 bulkers have been ordered so far this year, up by an astonishing 201 per cent y-o-y, albeit from a very low level. so why do they do it? Of course many base their order on sound market reasons, they have a need for new tonnage to fulfil their customer obligations and the tonnage available on the market might not fit their requirements, but the Lemming-effect (follow the leader) is probably a factor that shouldn’t be discarded too easily.

editor-iN-chief

Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 15

Market Review 4,000

Return to the Abyss 3,500 3,000

shortsea dry bulk After the market had dinavian markets were dominated by aggre2,500 gates and forest product movements giving been drifting sideways in June it soon acceptable employment to the self-dischargbecame clear that activity was heading 2,000 ing fleet, but also here owners were finding downhill in July. Prompt tonnage was it difficult to book forward as receivers were appearing in all corners of Europe with 1,500 reluctant to build stock during the holidays. owners getting keener to book ahead 1,000 whenever possible. In the larger sizes above With very mixed reports coming from the 3,000 dwcc the effect of summer holidays grain markets in central Europe and Baltic Week 500 35 40evident 45 50 with 1 5 rates 10 15taking 20 25a 30 were most the market is most definite bound to see a plunge in Baltic especially, but also on very slow start to the autumn market with Southbound cargoes from ARAG/UK as well. little improvement expected before SeptemGrain Sea fell east? 4000rates from Baltic to Irish■ 1,250 DWT ■ 1,750ber DWTat■ 2,500 DWT quickly from EUR mid 20’ties to 3,500 DWTEUR ■around ■ 6,500 DWT 20 p/mt, but owners getting the chance Fixtures quickly • 1,000 mt generals Bergen/Aberdeen fixed 3000 jumped on it to at least clear one problem from their list of worries. EUR 25,000 lump sum • 8,000 mt barytes Safi/Poti fixed USD 25 p/ The situation in second half of July bemt 2000 came even worse with activity falling to • 1,000 mt fishmeal Bremen/EC Scotland levels last seen in summer of 2009 during fixed EUR 31 p/mt the1000 financial crisis. The smallest ships were • 3,500 mt minerals Klaipeda/ARAG fixed still able to secure decent employment in EUR 14,75 p/mt the fishmeal and project market especially, • 4,500 mt aggregates WC Norway/Horsens Week but larger units were forced to drop anchor fixed EUR 5,25 selfd. 0 in order to further geir jerstad 35 wait 40 for45 50 orders. 1 5 The 10Scan15 20 25 30

■ 1,250 DWT ■ 1,750 DWT ■ 2,500 DWT ■ 3,500 DWT ■ 6,500 DWT

4,000

3,000

Source: Norbroker AS, AUgust 23, 2010

earnings estimates Past 12 months. EUR/day

2,000

1,000

Week

0 35

■ MGO ■ IFO 180

800

700

600

wet & dry During August, the Baltic Dry Index, BDI, has recovered after a real summer slump with 35 consecutive days of decline ending in July. During those 35 days, the index fell with a total of 60 per cent. During the 25 years of BDI records, there have only been three periods of such long consecutive falls, in 1995, 2001, and 2005, but none of those were even close to the depth of this one. On 31 May, the BDI stood at 4,078. On 30 July, the index had slumped to 1,967. On 20 August it had recovered to 2,756. On 18 August, Fearnleys reported TCT Cont/Far East for a 172,000-tonner at USD 49,000 per day in a week that saw a flurry of fixes after some weeks of stand-off between charterers and operators. A few period fixes were done at above USD 30,000 per day. Ther are some positive sentiment in the Panamax market, driven by increased congestion and hopes for a better fourth quarter. According to Fearnleys, owners are promoting short period charters, one to two years. Activity is on the rise in the Handysize markets after the summer. Rates are firming in the Atlantic and so is the Far East. The coming end of the Monsson season is also expected to spur activity on the India – China trade. In the middle of August, dirty tankers were still trading at the lower end of the rates that have been achieved this year. For VLCCs, the downward trend was halted, with fixes reported at WS 42.5 for MEG–West, some 3.5 points above the low for 2010, Fearnleys reports. Activity also picked up in the North Sea with rates for Aframaxes at WS 115, some 25 points above the low for 2010. On the clean side, activity on the East of Suez trades have declined after a period of firming rates. LR2 rates at WS 140 were reported for MEG–Japan in the middle of August, close to the high for 2010. A softening market could be expected for the nearest future. Rolf P Nilsson

wet and Dry Bulk Indices

500

End ’08

End ’09

Mid Aug ’10

839

633

689

Dirty Tanker Index 1,252

815

762

3,023

2,756

Clean Tanker Index Week

400 35

800

Baltic Dry Index

784

Source: Baltic Exchange

Source: bunkerworld/Norbroker AS, AUG, 2010

MGO Rotterdam CIF prices USD/ton

Recovery after slow summer

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 17

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Atso Uusiaho

Portrait

“Wrong to turn ice breaking into business” He has dedicated 35 years to icebreaking. “There is only one thing I regret – my decision to go ashore”, says Master Mariner Atso Uusiaho, recently retired Senior Vice President of Arctia Icebreaking Oy. It is a warm day in August on board the icebreaker Otso. The vessel is resting and inactive. The only noise comes from the engine room, where the electrical system is undergoing extensive maintenance. It seems a very long time since the vessel was busy 24/7 assisting traffic in the Gulf of Bothnia. Still it is less than three months since the Otso, as the last icebreaker, returned from last winter’s campaign.

We have chosen to meet on board the Otso, as the icebreaker holds a special place in the heart of Master Mariner Atso Uusiaho, now retired Senior Vice President of Arctia Icebreaking Oy. “I have been the master of this vessel for several years and this was also the first vessel that I supervised during the building stage”, he explains. “This is a magnificent icebreaker. I really hope that Finland’s unique know-how about building and operating icebreakers will survive, even if the prospects for our shipbuilding industry no doubt look a little bit gloomy right now.” Atso Uusiaho has spent most of his working career at icebreakers. Born in

Kuopio in SouthEastern Finland, his family moved to Helsinki before he went to school. He therefore grew up in the maritime environment of Helsinki and his interest for ships awoke in an early stage. “I remember when I was a little kid and how I together with my friend Hans Fagerstedt used to drive with our bikes from Munkkiniemi to the Jätkäsaari and Katajanokka harbours, watching the cargo vessels discharging and loading. This was in the late 1950s and at that time the cargo vessels docked almost in the centre of Helsinki and the ports were open for everyone. We also used to watch when the passenger vessels left for Stockholm in the afternoon from the Olympia Terminal in the South harbour.”

»I really hope that Finland’s unique know-how about building and operating icebreakers will survive« Atso Uusiaho went to sea in 1965 as a cabin boy. On September 1, 2010, he retired from his post at Arctia Icebreaking.

However it took some ten years before Atso Uusiaho made his decision to go for a career at sea. After he had done his military service in the infantry as a wireless operator he got a job on the ferry Hansa Express in

1965 as a cabin boy. During that summer he decided to educate himself as a radio officer.

His first assignment as a radio officer he got on Finnlines’ dry cargo vessel Finnpine, which mainly carried forest products from Kotka to Rochester. “It was a well paid job for a young man and I stayed on the Finnpine for a year. However, I had already in an earlier stage thought that I should become a deck officer and I could not get rid of this feeling although I liked my job very much. I talked with our master Rosenberg about this and he arranged a job for me as a deck hand on Finnlines’ Finnboston”, Atso Uusiaho recalls. Atso Uusiaho went to maritime collage in Rauma, and later continued in Turku, where he eventually graduated as a master mariner in spring 1975. “I had always been very impressed by our icebreakers and while I was studying at the maritime college I also worked to get the experience needed. Wintertime the vessels I worked on we were frequently assisted by icebreakers. When I signed on as a second mate on the icebreaker Sampo in

18 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Portrait Atso Uusiaho Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

November 1975, I immediately knew that this is my thing.”

He had not yet got all of the required onboard experience to get his master’s license but he decided to obtain it in as short time as possible. He had recently got married and bought a flat, so it was rather tight to make both ends meet. “Immediately after the icebreaking season had ended I signed on a Finnlines vessel on the North Atlantic trade and was away from home for a further seven months after a long winter. I repeated this pattern for three years before I had the needed experience to receive my master’s license. After that I got a steady job as second officer on the icebreaker Sampo, and I have never been sailing on other types of vessels since.” In 1979 Atso Uusiaho moved to the

»When I signed on as a second mate on the icebreaker Sampo in 1975, I immediately knew that this is my thing« The Sampo was built in Helsinki in 1960. Atso Uusiaho signed on this vessel in 1975 as a second officer.

larger and newer icebreaker Sisu as second officer and advanced in ranks after that, while serving on several icebreakers. In 1984 he temporarily went ashore from his job as chief officer at the Urho to survey the building of the new icebreaker Otso at Wärtsilä’s Helsinki shipyard. Atso Uusiaho continued as chief officer at Otso for several years – temporarily also as master – before he in the end of 1980s got his first command of his own on the icebreaker Voima. Several years of the 1990s Atso Uusiaho spent again ashore, surveying the building of the innovative

Reorganisation After the split of the Finnish Maritime Administration in 2004 the icebreakers were taken on charter by the Maritime Administration. In the beginning of 2010, the Finnish Maritime Administration ceased to function as

an independent authority and some of its functions, including icebreaking, were moved to the new Finnish Transport Agency.

Also Finstaship was reorganised into a new company,

Arctia Shipping Oy, where Arctia Icebreaking Oy became a subsidiary. The Finnish Transport Agency takes the icebreakers on time charter from Arctia Shipping, who is the operator.

multi-purpose icebreakers Fennica, Nordica and Botnica. As he already had a lot of experience, his employer now offered him a job ashore.

“I missed the action of icebreaking and after the delivery of Botnica I wanted to return to icebreaking. In January 2000 I was assigned master of the Otso. I knew the icebreaker well and gladly accepted.” By the turn of the year 2003 and 2004 the Finnish Maritime Administration was radically reorganised. It was split up into an administrative unit and a separate ship owning unit called Shipping Enterprise Finstaship (since 2010 Arctia Shipping). In autumn 2004 Atso Uusiaho was offered the place as director for the icebreaking operations within Finstaship. “I must confess that this was probably the largest mistake I have ever made when I agreed. I simply don’t like desk work and all the time I longed to return to sea. Especially the winters could be difficult when I was in contact with my former colleagues on the icebreakers daily. Of course it would have been possible to return to sea, but I am not a quitter. I decided to do my job as well as possible when I had chosen this path, and indeed it had a lot of fine moments too.” Atso Uusiaho thinks that he had a

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 19

Atso Uusiaho

Portrait Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

»I must confess that this was probably the largest mistake I have ever made. I simply don’t like desk work and all the time I longed to return to sea« tremendous advantage from his background as a seagoing officer. “I knew all the masters and most of the deck officers as well as the engineers. It was all the time easy to communicate with them as I have worked with most of them myself. Also Master Mariner Ilmari Aro, who is in charge of the winter traffic at the maritime administration and represents the charterer of most of our icebreakers, is a former colleague from the icebreakers. I also knew many pilots and agents, especially in the area of northern Gulf of Bothnia.” In Atso Uusiaho’s opinion it was an unfortunate decision to turn icebreaking into a business unit. He thinks Finland must ensure its seaborne foreign trade year round, as the country is so extremely dependent upon it. Maintaining icebreaking is a part of the Finnish infrastructure.

“As we all know we are like an island transportwise. We must have the readiness to ensure winter shipping, and therefore it must not be run like a commercial business. I have followed the development from the start 2004 and I must say that I jus cannot see icebreaking as a business, which it has been turned into. It does not simply fit. I would say that the decision has had a negative impact on Finnish icebreaking technology as a whole when it is no longer possible to order new icebreakers on the same premises as before. Also maintenance of the existing fleet is suffering. But I do not think that the decision makers have the courage to withdraw their decision.” “Generally I am concerned that the know-how about operating as well as designing and building icebreaking vessels is floating out from Finland. This is most regrettable, because it is a traditional field of Finnish knowhow.”

Last winter the Finnish Transport Agency had agreed to take seven of Arctia Shipping’s eight icebreakers on charter. The Botnica was therefore on charter in the Mediterranean. However, it turned out that all eight icebreakers would have been needed in Finland. The Finnish Transport Agency took the Zeus on charter and in addition to that they partially chartered a Swedish icebreaker, Atso Uusiaho explains. “As the cooperation with Sweden works fine we are able to manage with eight icebreakers. If Zeus would not have been available last winter there could have been quite a chaos.” He also thinks that last winter was

Atso Uusiaho leaning against the rail of the icebreaker Otso, the building of which he surveyed in the mid 1980s at Wärtsilä’s Helsinki shipyard.

a reminder of how crucial it is to master navigation in ice. After many mild winters this is not just a problem on merchant vessels but also on the icebreakers.

“I am really concerned about the continuation of icebreaking knowledge on our icebreakers. I fear that it in the future will be further weakened by the ongoing change of generations. Those deck officers with a vast experience of ice navigation are getting retired and after so many mild winters the younger deck officers have not been able to obtain enough experience. Last winter gave a little more respite, I think that we gained much more in knowledge than we

20 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Portrait Atso Uusiaho Photo: Pär-heNrik SjöStröm

nent danger in ice pressure, without their crew understanding the serious situation. “We have to instruct them from the very basics and the total lack of experience may lead to dangerous situations.”

To improve ice navigation skills

lost in increased shipping costs, but still it was not enough.”

One solution that he advocates is simulator training in icebreaking. “It is a vast and complex area to understand the behaviour of ice, but I hope that Finland as soon as possible starts to develop simulator training aiming at the handling of icebreak-

The captain on the bridge of the multi-purpose icebreaker Botnica before delivery from Rauma shipyard in 1998.

ers. There are indeed existing ice simulators, but they are not good enough and not intended for icebreaker training”, Atso Uusiaho states. He underlines the fact that in wintertime there are more and more ships entering the Baltic Sea, where the deck officers are totally lacking experience from ice navigation. He has seen cargo vessels being in immi-

Atso Uusiaho has actively been participating in developing the IceTrain programme. One of the objectives has been to train mainly foreign crews. “The problem is that shipping companies are not particularly interested in investing anything in ice training when there have been so many mild winters.” Another activity that Atso Uusiaho thinks that has a lot of potential is the Ice Advisor. The idea is to place a person with local knowledge about ice navigation and ice conditions as an adviser to the deck officers on mainly large tankers loading in Primorsk. “Together with Finnpilot we started Ice Advisor a couple of years ago. It saw more activity last winter, when we had six missions. The longest of them started and ended at Bornholm and went to Primorsk. It is a good

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No 4 2010 Shipgaz 21

Atso Uusiaho

Atso Uusiaho retired on September 1, 2010. Although he has some doubts about the course things have taken, he still feels passionately about his work as an icebreaker master.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

idea, which also has been copied and now almost completely taken over by the Russians.” When the Shipping Enterprise Finstaship was established, one goal was to adjust the manning of the icebreakers. Today Atso Uusiaho thinks that it is quite optimal and that there are no longer any need for further reductions. “The work would suffer if the crews are further reduced. For example the Otso is manned by 21 or 22 persons during icebreaking. Compare this to the end of the 1970s, when the Urho had a crew of 44 persons”, Atso Uusiaho points out. “In the good old days the manning was no doubt overdimensioned. It was the same in the engine department. When I was working on the icebreaker Apu someone joked that the engineers used to rush to the engine room 15 minutes before their watch started to secure a seat of their own.”

Portrait

“I have had a really interesting career and hopefully I am not leaving the icebreaking-related sector completely. I have some plans for the future, as I do not yet intend to lay down on the sofa and take things easy.” One thing is for sure. Atso Uusiaho is a seafarer to the bone. “Moments I really enjoyed from my seagoing career were the nights dur-

The Otso was for a while assisting in the Turku archipelago during the ice winter 1994.

ing the spring in the Gulf of Bothnia. Already in April the northern sky never gets totally dark and the twilight slowly turns into dawn. The need for using searchlights decreases day by day. The contrasts in the north are amazing. In December it is dark almost all the day and the searchlights of the vessels may be turned off for just a couple of hours.”

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22 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Pierre Adolfsson pierre@shipgaz.com

report Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Photo: uScG / PettY oFFicer 1St cLASS SArA FrANciS.

A rig drilling a relief well and the Q4000 preparing for the static kill operation seen over the Deepwater Horizon well site about 65 kilometres from the Southern Louisiana coast.

oil leak curbed but worry grows

After months of failed attempts to stop the leak, the oil has stopped spewing out into the Gulf of Mexico. The catastrophe is no longer worsening. The board and management of British Petroleum, BP, must have felt great relief on July 15 when the leak from the company’s oil well off Louisiana was finally stopped.

»our job is not ﬁnished and we are not going anywhere until it is«

Until that date, black headlines had been tormenting the company for months since the rig Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22 and triggered a serious oil leak from the well Macondo. It proved to be a hard nut to crack.

BP admits the complex top-kill operation, intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and plug the well, has failed.

JuNE 16

BP establishes an USD 20 billion claims fund, following a meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Photo: Pete SouZA

MAy 29

The US President Barack Obama, addressing Gulf coast residents.

The situation did not improve by Carl-Henrik Svanberg’s, the chairman of BP, embarrassing statement “We care about the small people”, when trying to show support for local businesses and people living in affected areas. The statement spurred rancourous reactions, and shortly afterwards

Mr Obama.

JuNE 30

Carl-Henrik Svanberg was forced to make an apology. In the first week of August, BP reached a major breakthrough when the much talked about static kill operation and the cementing of the well were declared as “successful” – some weeks after the oil flow had been curbed.

But it doesn’t end there. BP works on two relief wells to finally wrap up the Gulf of Mexico well. A relief

The Barack Obama administration announces that at a long-term environmental and economic plan to assist the people of the coastal region will be drawn up .

July 3

The supertanker A Whale begins tests. The vessel can remove up to 500,000 barrels of oil and water from the sea surface a day.

No 3 2010 Shipgaz 23

Gulf of Mexico oil spill

well is a well drilled to intersect an oil or gas well that has undergone a blowout. On Sunday 15, the retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the federal government’s response, told news reporters that BP will get the goahead to finish the relief well but is doing a last batch of testing and planning first. “The testing is meant to make sure BP is prepared to deal with the risk of excessive pressure building up in the well during the final effort to kill it.”

The same weekend, the US President Barack Obama travelled to the Florida’s Gulf Coast together with his family. The mission was clear – show support for the region and make clear the oil is no longer an immediate threat and that the Gulf area beaches are open for business. Shortly afterwards the White House published images of the President taking a swim in the sea. In connection to his visit in Florida, Barack Obama stressed that the governmental efforts are far from over. “Oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf. It has not been flowing for a month. And I’m here to tell you that our job is not finished and we are not going anywhere until it is … And that’s why I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you not just until the well was closed, not just until the oil was cleaned up, but until you had fully recovered from the damage that’s been done. And that is a commitment that my administration is going to keep.”

The White House support is surely welcomed by local residents, even if some criticism has been raised towards the administration’s lack

The leak from the well, 1,500 metres beneath the water surface, is finally stopped.

The oil – where did it go? Oil left in the nature

Direct recovery from wellhead

17%

26%

Burned

Skimmed

3% 8%

25%

Chemically dispersed

16%

Evaporated or dissolved

Naturally dispersed

4.9 million barrels of oil have gushed out from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico since late April, according to US authorities. About 75 per cent of the oil has evaporated, sunk to the sea bottom or been collected and disposed of, according to the US government. of engagement. Fears related to human health issues and water safety will not be eased by words, rather by cold facts. The Obama administration is well aware of this and has launched a series of seafood safety tests, for example. The Gulf provides about two-thirds of the oysters in the United States and is a major fishery for shrimp and crab. “We’re going to continue testing fisheries and we’ll be reopening more areas for fishing as tests show that the waters are safe. Already, more than 26,000 square miles were reopened at the end of July, and another 5,000 were reopened earlier this week. I know this takes some time, and it’s been incredibly hard on the people who earn their living on the water”, says Barack Obama.

Deepwater Horizon The drilling rig is/was owned by Swiss-based Transocean Ltd. The oil company BP chartered the rig at the time for the accident and Halliburton performed cementing work on the well. Eleven persons were killed in the catastrophe.

“The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses direct threats to human health from inhalation or dermal contact with the oil and dispersant chemicals, and indirect threats to seafood safety and mental health. Physicians should be familiar with health effects from oil spills to appropriately advise,

July 27

BP announces that Tony Hayward is to step down as CEO with effect from October 1, 2010. He will be succeeded by fellow executive director Robert Dudley.

Photo: bp

July 15

Source: The White House

»The testing is meant to make sure BP is prepared to deal with the risk«

Report

Mr Dudley.

August 2

diagnose, and treat patients”, writes Dr Gina Solomon, environmental medicine expert at the University of California at San Francisco and senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, together with Dr Sarah Janssen, Staff Scientist in the Health and Environment Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a comment in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Studies on health effects from historic oil spills show: “Symptom surveys performed in the weeks or months following oil spills have reported a higher prevalence of headache, throat irritation, and sore or itchy eyes in exposed individuals compared with controls. Some studies have also reported modestly increased rates of diarrhoea,nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rash, wheezing, cough, and chest pain.” “Studies following major oil spills in Alaska, Spain, Korea, and Wales have documented elevated rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychological stress.”

A total of 4.9 million barrels of oil have gushed out from the BP well since late April, of which BP has siphoned about 16 per cent, according to US authorities.

August 5

BP receives authorization to conduct cementing operations on the well as part of the static kill procedure to finally seal the well.

24 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Eddie Janson, eddie@shipgaz.com

spotlight Safety

Who’s afraid of the big bad whistleblower? safety: Bob Couttie Bob Couttie is the adminstrator of Maritime Accident Casebook. His background in radio, TV and film as well as reporting for several renowned maritime publications gives him a multidisciplinary approach to maritime safety issues.

alone. Over a large number of cases, two have been thrown out because of alleged false whistleblowing, one of which was abandoned because the whistleblower was found to have child pornography on the cellphone on which he claimed to have photos of illicit oil discharge.

It would be unwise to simply disecently a frisson of excitement quivered its way through the industry as an American court found a ship’s master not guilty of using the notorious magic pipes to illicitly discharge oil. Dark tales, probably true, were told of barrack-room lawyers coaching Filipino seafarers in Singapore on the money they could make as whistleblowers and how to fake evidence of magic pipes. The industry may have only itself to blame.

to get things into perspective, a whistleblower does not really count for much. An accurate Oil Record Book will count for more. Oil Record

»the evidence for false whistleblowing on any signiﬁcant scale is actually slim« a Case In 2007, the owner of bulker Irika was fined USD 750,000 for using a magic pipe. The ship’s 2nd engineer was rewarded USD 250,000 for blowing the whistle.

Books are quite complicated instruments that must match with oil products on board. Evidence has to add up. If there are identifiable holes in ORB records, then that is evidence enough. Evidence of magic pipes hardens the case, but are not the case by themselves. The evidence for false whistleblowing on any significant scale is actually slim. Nobody has ever been found guilty on whistleblower testimony

miss whistleblowers as using the system to take revenge on perceived slights and to make money – the financial rewards may be attractive but the personal cost to the whistleblower can be enormous. By whistleblowing they lose respect of their peers and their superiors and their fellow seafarers. For Filipinos that is an intensely difficult position. It’s worth noting that the reward offered is only payable if there is a successful prosecution.

reducing the threat from a whistleblower has much to do with attitude, especially attitudes within the industry towards seafarers generPhoto: JÖrGEN sPrÅNG

The financial rewards may be attractive but the personal cost to the whistleblower can be enormous.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 25

Safety

»Companies should not expect loyalty from seafarers until they demonstrate long term commitment to their employees« ally and, at another level, the attitude of ships’ officers toward those they command. For too long, and too widely, seafarers have been treated as a disposable commodity. For the most part they are hired by manning agencies to work on ships that are managed by another company on behalf of the shipowner. At best their loyalties are divided and probably strongest to whoever directly pays their salary. Many seafarers are hired on a single contract with no guarantees of long term employment. Not surprisingly their commitment is short term and based on “what’s in it for me?” So if the opportunity arises to make some big money from a big corporation that does not treat you decently then, not surprisingly, whistleblowing can be a way out and a way up.

another case Also in 2007, Overseas Shipholding Group was fined USD 27.8 million and was sentenced to pay another USD 9.2 million to marine environmental projects for repeated illegal discharges of oily water. 12 crew members were rewarded USD 437,500 each for having blown the whistle on the illegal discharges.

Spotlight

INTERIOR INSULATION VENTILATION PIPING ELECTRICAL

Companies should not expect loyalty from seafarers until they demonstrate long term commitment to their employees – obvious really. You’ll get loyalty from people you treat with respect and if you put systems in place to ensure that crews are treated with respect. One way of showing that is to have a system through which seafarers can report their concerns in confidence without putting their jobs or shipboard relationships at risk, and by making it very clear on a fleet-wide basis that breaches of Marpol are not acceptable and will be firmly dealt with. Then the seafarer becomes the watchdog you need to enforce compliance.

In a recent case it was found that a company had rehired an engineer who had already committed Marpol violations. He then proceeded to commit further offences. No monitoring was put in place to make re-offending difficult. It is self-evident, and clearly evident to crew, that Marpol violations are acceptable on the company’s ships.

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26 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Spotlight Safety Photo: mic stolz / Flickr

pectations that the foreign owner of the ship they work in will live up to the standards so frequently espoused by corporations based in developed economies. In some cases it is more than just the money, it is being able to do something to stop the pollution. Simply put, they want to do the right thing.

There is a number of defences

It would have been pointless reporting the engineer’s activities to the company management in such circumstances, which left the US Coast Guard as the only alternative.

Apart from that, social attitudes to environmental protection have changed significantly and it is unwise to assume that seafarers are unaffected by that change. The majority of

Annex IV of Marpol, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of Ships, regulates the pollution by sewage from ships.

seafarers come from countries classed as “developing economies” where environmental protection is a low priority when measured against daily needs for survival. They see first hand the deterioration of the environment around their homes but are powerless to do anything due to the enormous power gap between them and the local governing authorities. Consequently they have high ex-

against false whistleblowers: First make a commitment to your seafarers to ensure that they receive proper training and understand the how and the why of compliance with Marpol. Second, reward them for supporting and complying with company environmental policies and procedures. Third, have in place a system by which your seafarers can tip you off and actively investigate those tip-offs that suggest non-compliance. Fourth, provide seafarers employed in your company with a career path and a system to manage competency that will guide and monitor their development. Take care of their professional and personal needs and they will take care of your company.

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28 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Report Fayard begins Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

The Stena Forerunner was the first ship to dock at Fayard.

Fayard up and running at Lindø

An unexpected sale of a floating dock made Fayard, former Fredericia Shipyard, move to the new site at Lindø much earlier than planned. In the beginning of August the new Fayard (the former Fredericia Skibsværft) had their very first docking at the new plant at the premises of the former Odense Steel Shipyard. The first ship was the Stena ro-ro Stena Forerunner, which was docked in the new Dock No 2. The start on the new plant was much earlier than planned as the original date of start was set to January 1, 2011.

“We got an unexpected early sale of our panamax floating dock in Fredericia”, says Thomas Andersen, owner of Fayard. “With the sale of our largest dock we had to speed up the process of moving to the new facilities and so we did. In the coming month this process will even go quicker in order to have full capacity at Lindø as soon as possible.” The floating dock has been sold to a

Turkish buyer in a sale mediated by Klaus Heun Shipping, and left Fredericia in tow by a large tug in the beginning of August, bound for Tuzla. The dock has been in the hands of Thomas Andersen since 1991. Fayard, which is short for Family Andersen shipyard and has been used as mail and web address for several decades, is now in the process of attracting a new segment of clients to the yard. The new facility offers a number of new features, including a much larger capacity. Now the shipyard will be able to dock ships up to 300 metres in length and 45 metres in breadth. There is no weight limit, as all three docks are graving docks. Two of the docks have been fitted with a

»With the sale of our largest dock we had to speed up the process« Thomas Ander sen, owner of Fayard and grandson of Th. Andersen, who founded Fredericia Skibsværft in 1916.

dock pit, enabling them to serve owners of supplyships with retractable thrusters in the bow section. A substantial part of the investment in the new facilities is several environmental features. One of these is a completely new hydroblasting plant were water will be the agent to clean the ship hull. The hydroblasting will have a 3,000 bar pressure.

“It is an obvious gain as there will be no dust problems in the future and furthermore is much easier to separate the blowing agent (water) and remains (bits of paint etc). From the bottom of the dry docks the contaminated water is pumped to a cleaning station where the water will be cleaned and recycled. And the remains will be transported to a controlled disposal plant”, explains Thomas Andersen.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 29

Fayard begins

Report

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

www.somas.se

Welcome to SMM in Hamburg 7-10 sept. 2010.

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

»The overall plan with this investment is for tanker owners to save time and money« Another environmental feature is an oil/water treatment plant with a capacity of 1,000 tons with direct connection on the dock side.

“The overall plan with this investment is for tanker owners to save time and money. Instead of berthing at a tank cleaning facility before going in to dry dock, a tanker can do these processes simultaneously while docking at our yard”, says Thomas Andersen. Fayard is looking toward the great potential of suezmax tankers sailing very close to the shipyard. Several hundred tankers are passing the Route T in the Great Belt on ballast voyage toward to Russian oil export facilities at Primorsk. “These tankers are a natural target for the future. The diversion from Route T is only 18 nautical miles to

Fayard has hired large indoor facilties at the Lindø plant.

Visit our stand 523 in Hall A1 and see our triple eccentric designed butterfly valves for exhaust gas and cargo applications. See also our interactive guide ”The Application Handbook”.

30 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Report Fayard begins Photo: Bent Mikkselsen

age space in the backland of the dry docks, giving extra possibilities serving bulk carrier owners in need of a hatch cover make over. All dry docks are covered with cranes capable of lifting up to 100 tons.

A brand office facility has been

our quayside”, explains Thomas Andersen.

Another feature on the upside is

Fayard has a workforce of 350 persons plus around 200 subsuppliers every day.

the space and crane coverage around the docks. The old yard at Fredericia is lying in the centre of the inner port and there was always a need of space for storageStenaBulk_Shipgaz_no4184x118mm.pdf of for example hatch cov-

2010-08-16

ers from a container carrier or even the ordinary problem of parking space for those who involved with ship docking (surveyors, technicians etc). At the Lindø plant there is parking space for more than 1,000 private cars in direct connection with the shipyard. 11.28 Fayard has rented a lot of stor-

built close to the dry docks for the shipyard management, while a number of sub-suppliers have moved into their own facilities on the shipyard, enabling them to provide specialized technicians directly at the start of working hours every day. Fayard was founded in 1916 by Mr Th. Andersen, who did repairs on ships in the port of Fredericia under the name of Th. Andersen – Skibs- & Maskinreparation. This work was continued by his son, Knud Andersen, who industrialized the shipyard as from the beginning of the 1960s with repair of Denmark’s growing coaster fleet. He had the management of the shipyard until 1990, when he handed the leadership over to his son Thomas Andersen, who was the one taking the major decision of moving from the central city of Fredericia to the Lindø Industry Area.

BRINGING THE FUTURE CLOSER With offices in eight countries, Stena Bulk is a leading international tanker owner. We supply our customers with innovative solutions to satisfy their transportation and logistics needs. The company has a controlled fleet of about 80 tankers. Stena Bulk is part of the Stena Sphere with more than 18 800 employees and a turnover of 6 billion USD.

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www.dnv.com

32 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Newcomer Stena Hollandica

Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

A Swedish giant ploughs the waters of the North Sea

When Stena Line’s newbuilding Stena Hollandica was delivered a new generation of ferries entered the market. The first of Stena Line’s new Superferry-generation vessels, the Stena Hollandica, has operated on the Harwich–Hoek van Holland route since mid May 2010. She will be followed by the sister vessel Stena Britannica in autumn 2010.

»The new generation of ro-pax ferries for the route is heavily cargo orientated«

is required on the night crossings, and during day crossings there are plenty of space to house a maximum of 1,200 passengers.

Declared by Stena Line as the largest ferry of its kind in the world, the Stena Hollandica is no doubt an amazing vessel. Her cargo capacity with a total of 5,500 lane metres on four decks places her in a league of her own. Although being a true ro-pax, she is also a large passenger ferry, housing 538 passenger cabins with a total of 1,376 beds. Cabin accommodation

Freight counts for 65 per cent of the revenues on Stena Line’s North Sea service between Harwich and Hoek van Holland.

When the newbuilding contract was signed on November 9, 2006, the order was placed at Aker Yards in Germany. The production was to be carried out in a split method between the sites in Warnemünde and Wismar. The value of the contract for the two ferries designated RoPax 55 was EUR 400 million. The vessels are developed and

designed for Stena Line’s traffic by Stena RoRo, within the Stena Sphere, in cooperation with Aker Yards’ (now STX Europe) Rauma shipyard in Finland. Stena RoRo is also responsible for the project during the building time and hands over the vessels to Stena Line after completion. Steel cutting started in Warnemünde on April 10, 2008, and the keel of the first vessel was laid on September 22, 2008. The hull was launched on June 6, 2009. Meanwhile the ownership of the shipyard had changed. In a transaction, which was completed in July 2008, the Russian FLC West became a 70-per cent shareholder in Aker Yards’ three shipyards in Germany

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 33

Stena Hollandica

Newcomer Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

»The newbuildings replace two vessels with the same names« and Ukraine. This was a part of a sweeping restructuring, eventually resulting in the South Korean-based STX Business Group becoming the principal shareholder of Aker Yards during the summer 2008. Aker Yards changed its name to STX Europe in November 2008.

STX Europe remained the minority shareholder in the German shipyards, now operated under the name Wadan Yards MTW GmbH. This subsidiary of Wadan Yards Group AS filed for bankruptcy in June 2009. The work on Stena Line’s uncompleted ferries halted and their future suddenly became uncertain. At the end of the summer 2009 the work on the vessels was still down although negotiations had been going on all summer between Stena and the insolvency administrator. The parties reached an agreement about completing the vessels on September 16. The Russian investor Vitaly Yusufov had bought the shipyards in Warnemünde and Wismar and production restarted on the sites on October 1, 2009 under the new name Nordic Yards. The shipyard completed the two ferries as a subcontractor for the insolvency administrator. The Stena Hollandica was handed over to Stena Line on May 7, 2010, just a couple of months later than originally expected. In March 2010 it had been announced that the two vessels were to be employed on the Harwich–Hoek van Holland service. The newbuildings replace two vessels with the same names, which are transferred to the Gothenburg–Kiel service and will be renamed Stena Germanica and Stena Scandinavica. A royal naming ceremony was arranged for the new Stena Hollandica in Hoek van Holland on June 8. About 400 invited guests witnessed when HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands crushed the bottle of cham-

Also on the funnel it is underlined that the Stena Hollandica is a green ship.

»This will significantly improve the air quality. This is made possible by a common initiative by Stena Line and the Port of Rotterdam« pagne against the freshly painted bow of the huge vessel. Managing Director Pim de Lange at the Dutch subsidiary Stena Line BV underlined the environmental aspect of the newbuilding. In his speech he mentioned for example that the Stena Line terminal at Hoek van Holland in 2011 will be the first seaport terminal in the Rotterdam area where the vessels will connect to the electricity network ashore.

Stena Line The company was founded in, and is still operated from, Gothenburg, Sweden, by Sten A Olsson when he acquired Skagenlinjen between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn in 1962.

financing by the Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat”, he said. Freight counts for 65 per cent of the revenues on Stena Line’s North Sea service between Harwich and Hoek van Holland. The rest is generated by passenger tickets and onboard service. The new generation of ro-pax ferries for the route is therefore heavily cargo orientated. By cargo capacity, the Stena Hollandica is the largest ropax vessel afloat. On her four cargo decks the Stena Hollandica may carry 230 private cars and some 300 freight vehicles, corresponding to more than 5,500 lane metres. Despite her exceptionally large cargo capacity, the layout of the cargo decks allows fast and rational cargo handling.

On her route the Stena Hollandica “This will significantly improve the air quality. This is made possible by a common initiative by Stena Line and the Port of Rotterdam and partial

carries trucks accompanied by their drivers but also trailers. Especially on day crossings, trailers form an essential part of the cargo. The time in port

34 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Newcomer Stena Hollandica Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

The Taste Restaurant. is long enough for large scale trailer handling. The ro-ro access package is delivered by MacGregor. It is based on simultaneous discharge and loading possibilities in two levels.

Access to the cargo decks on the Stena Hollandica is arranged on two levels fore and aft. The stern ramp to main deck (deck 3) is 18.7 metres wide while the bow ramp is 7 metres wide. Free height on all cargo decks is 4.8 metres. Shore based ramps provide access to deck 5 fore and aft. There are also internal ramps between all decks, enabling cargo handling in ports lacking the facilities for double tier loading and discharging. All internal ramps are tiltable, with the exception of the partly fixed/hoistable ramp from main deck to lower hold. In the ports of Hoek van Holland and Harwich new linkspans have been delivered by TTS to serve the new vessels. According to Pim de Lange, short cargo handling times are essential

»Sailing at lower speeds, thus using less fuel, will help minimise business costs as well as being environmentally sound«

Pim de Lange, Managing Director at the Dutch subsidiary Stena Line BV.

and will bring a number of operational and environmental advantages: “Minimising time spent in harbour allows the vessels more time at sea. Sailing at lower speeds, thus using less fuel, will help minimise business costs as well as being environmentally sound.”

The public areas on board are concentrated to deck 9, which in its whole length is utilised for this purpose. Stena Line has put much effort in offering the travellers a lot of different activities. Compared to a generic ro-pax ferry, there is much more to do on board the Stena Hollandica.

In the fore part of the deck is a conglomerate of different style bars and restaurants, including the Metropolitan à la Carte Restaurant and the selfservice Taste Restaurant. The midship section of the deck contains the large shop, information desk and the seating area C-View Lounge, where it is also possible to buy coffee, tea, soft drinks and snacks. For an additional cost a seat may be reserved in the Stena Plus Lounge aft of the C-View Lounge. It offers a tranquil environment where it is possible to relax or work, with complementary soft drinks, fruit, coffee and tea. A range of Dutch and English newspapers are available for the guests.

In the Cinema movies are shown during the journey and in the adjacent Internet Room there are fixed surf stations where it is possible to work and play online. In the aft part of deck nine truckers have a large area of their own, in-



No 4 2010 Shipgaz 35

Stena Hollandica

Newcomer Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

1. The Stena Hollandica arriving at Harwich. 2. Private cars on main deck. 3. Father and son arrangement of the main engines. 4. An outside four bed cabin.

Stena hollandica Type...................... Passenger/Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Built by..........Wadan Yards, Wismar, Germany Newbuilding No................................................159 Owner.....Stena North Sea Ltd, Clydebank, UK Flag...................................................... Netherlands Class.................. Lloyd’s Register 100 A1 + LMC, UMS, RoRo Cargo and Passenger Ship, Swedish/Finnish ICE 1B, IWS, SCM, NAV1, IBS, EP-P, PSMR, LI and Approved for dangerous cargo.

IMO No.......................................................9419163 Delivery date.................................... May 7, 2010 Length o a..................................................240.9 m Breadth......................................................... 32.0 m Draught, design............................................6.4 m Draught, scantling.......................................6.5 m DWT............................................................... 11,600 GT.................................................................. 64,039 Passengers.....................................................1,200

Passenger cabins/beds.....................538/1,376 Cargo capacity (lane metres).................. 5,566 Vehicles (freight units+cars)............. 310+230 Diesel-mechanical machinery, 'father & son' arrangement: 2 x MAN 8L48/60CR 2 x MAN 6L48/60CR (2 x 9,600 kW + 2 x 7,200 kW at 500 rpm) Service speed.......................................22.5 knots

Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

Photo: fredrik davidsson

Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

36 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Newcomer Stena Hollandica

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 37

Stena Hollandica

Newcomer

38 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Newcomer Stena Hollandica Photo: pär-henrik sjöström

Guest service with infodesk and money exchange is strategically located in the middle of deck 9. cluding restaurant, bar and lounge. In addition to that there is the Barista Bar, named after Stena Line’s own coffee brand, and the News room, where it is possible to keep up with the latest news on a big flat screen.

On board the Stena Line Superferries free Wi-Fi service is included throughout the crossing, as well as mobile phone reception and satellite television in lounges and cabins. The 538 passenger cabins are located on decks 10 and 11. Stena Line prefer to call the cabins ‘rooms’, to change the perception of the passenger and the crew of what to expect and how to approach this function on board. With a total of 1,376 beds, the standards of the passenger cabins are high. They are for example equipped with the Swedish luxury brand Dux beds, measuring a minimum width of 900 mm and up to 1,600 mm in ‘captain’s suite’ rooms.

»Eco-friendly features include catalytic converters for all diesel engines, an improved hull design, highly efficient engines and better combustion rates« Stena stats In 2009 15.4 million passengers travelled with Stena Line. 3.3 million cars and 1.6 million freight units were transported during the same period.

All cabins have a modern en suite bathroom with Hans Grohe fittings. Designed to have a low environmental impact, the Stena Hollandica is built in line with Stena Line’s Energy Savings Programme. The eco-friendly features include catalytic converters for all diesel engines, an improved hull design, highly efficient engines and better combustion rates. On board there are facilities to recycle glass, cardboard and food waste, while solar film on all windows excludes up to 82 per cent of the sun’s radiant heat, reducing the energy used by the onboard cooling

system. The diesel-mechanical propulsion package is supplied by MAN Diesel and is based upon the company’s latest common rail engine, the medium speed 48/60 CR. The ‘father and son’ configuration for the main engines provide speed and power optimisation. The vessel has two six cylinder and two eight cylinder in line MAN 48/60 CR main engines. One six and one eight cylinder engine is connected to each of the two 41 metre shaft lines through reduction gears from Renk.

The two CP propellers have a diameter of 5.2 metres. The rudders are of Becker flap type. For manoeuvring there are two Wärtsilä bow thrusters of 3,000 kW each. Electrical power is generated by four MAN Diesel GenSets, including one 7L21/31 and three 6L21/31 engines. In addition to that the vessel has two shaft generators of 3,150 kW each.

Welcome to Stockholm Repairyard We carry out all types of ship repair and maintenance works. With our dry-docks and the strategic location of the yard we offer excellent availability and service to our customers in the region of Stockholm and the Baltic Sea.

• Dry docks 180 m x 25 m and 100 m x 16,5 m • Cranes range from 12- 35 tons • Quay 75 m with a depth of 5 m • Quay 110 m with a depth of 7 m Don’t hesitate to contact us, we are available 24 hours when necessary. Welcome!

Stockholms Reparationsvarv AB Beckholmen SE- 115 21 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)8 54 56 63 50 Email: info@srvab.com Web: www.srvab.com

40 Shipgaz no 4 2010

By Eddie Janson, eddie@shipgaz.com

Spotlight Safety

Maritime Labour Convention may be here next year maritime working and living conditions. Since the convention is a consolidation of existing standards all things are not new to us, but here we will look at some of the changes from existing regulations.

Safety: Eddie Janson Captain Eddie Janson of MariTrain AB, instructor and consultant in maritime safety, points the Shipgaz spotlight at safety related matters.

he International Labour Organization (ILO) has had conventions concerning shipping for many years. On the International Labour Conference in Geneva in February 2006 ILO adopted the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC), an agreement that consolidates almost all of the 68 existing ILO maritime standards into a globally applicable legal instrument.

The convention will enter into force twelve months after 30 of the member states and states, representing more than 33 per cent of the world gross tonnage, have ratified the convention. The European Union have requested their member states to rat-

»The aim of the convention is to agree on a minimum standard for maritime working and living conditions« In July 2010, nine states, representing more than 45 per cent of the world gross tonnage, had ratified the Maritime Labour Convention.

ify the convention before the end of 2010, if they do so the convention will enter into force at the end of 2011. When the convention is in force, each ship must have a Maritime Labour Certificate issued on behalf of the flagstate. This certificate will be valid for five years with an intermediate inspection. It will also be subject to port sate controls. The aim of the convention is to agree on a minimum standard for Photo: Jörgen SPrång

The definition of a Seafarer is “any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship to which this Convention applies”. This includes both the Master and contractors employed by other parties working on board. Unlike most IMO conventions the MLC has no size limitation to which ships it applies to. It applies to all ships, whether publicly or privately owned, ordinarily engaged in commercial activities. The convention does not apply to ships that navigate exclusively in inland waters or waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply, ships engaged in fishing, ships of traditional build – such as dhows and junks – warships or naval auxiliaries. The convention is divided into five titles: Title 1. Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship. Includes regulations on minimum age for seafarers. No one under the age of 16 is allowed to work on a ship and no one under 18 is allowed to work during night time. All seafarers must have a medical certificate. This is nothing new, but remember that “all seafarers” also includes contractors on board.

Title 2. Conditions of employment.

A company that fulfils all requirements in the MLC will be given a Maritime Labour Certificate.

States that all seafarers must have a written employment agreement. It includes a part about wages, but mentions no amount. The rest hours regulations are the same as in ILO 180. Title 2 also requires flag states to have national policies to promote employment in the maritime sector and to encourage career and skill de-

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 41

Safety

Spotlight Photo: Jörgen Språng

velopment and greater employment opportunities for seafarers domiciled in its territory.

Title 3. Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering. The master must frequently inspect the galley. Cultural and religious backgrounds have to be observed when preparing food. The flagstate shall see that the “Ships’ cooks are trained, qualified and found competent for the position”. So a ship cook’s certificate must be in place before implementation. Title 4. Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection. All seafarers (including any contractors) shall be given medical and dental care both on board and ashore if needed. A standard medical report form must be developed by the flagstate and used on board.

»All companies must have a complaint procedure, where seafarers can complain about breaches of the MLC« The master or a designated safety officer must be responsible for implementing an occupational health and safety program on board. A safety committee must be established on all ships with five or more seafarers. All occupational accidents must be reported to the flagstate, which must keep statistics of accidents and incidents. Flagstates shall ensure that welfare facilities are available to seafarers in port. All seafarers must be covered by at least three of the following benefits: medical care, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, old-age benefit,

ILO Founded in 1919. The global body responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. A ‘tripartite’ UN agency that brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers.

employment injury benefit, family benefit, maternity benefit, invalidity benefit or survivors’ benefit.

Title 5. Compliance and enforcement. All companies must have a complaint procedure, where seafarers have the possibility to complain about breaches of the MLC. This procedure must ensure that no seafarer will be punished for complaining and that if not solved on board, the issue will be forwarded to the company. A company that fulfils all requirements in the MLC will be given a Maritime Labour Certificate. A port state control officer shall only do a more detailed inspection if there are clear grounds for believing that the working and living conditions on the ship do not conform to the requirements of the MLC or if there are complaints from any of the Seafarers.

42 Shipgaz no 4 2010

By By Pierre Adolfsson pierre@shipgaz.com

Report Marine environment

“Helcom presents a glossy picture of reality”

The combat against ship polluters is clearly paying off, says Helcom. But the organization’s way of presenting its statistics faces criticism. “The Helcom statistics are misleading. The situation has not changed that much compared to five years ago. We still have a large number of illegal discharges that cause serious effects in sensitive areas”, says Kjell Larsson, professor of ecology at the Gotland University.

Fewer oil discharges occur in the Kjell Larsson, proBaltic Sea and the size of the spills are smaller than ever before. The observed discharges went down 25 per cent in 2009, compared to 2007. And when going back a decade, the trend is even clearer – discharges have been cut by over 60 per cent, according to Helcom member states’ statistics. Professor Kjell Larsson sees the statistics in a different way. “Yes, the number of observed oil

spills went down from 2007 to 2009 but that decrease was preceded by an increase from 2005 to 2007. And I do not question the fact that there were both larger and more oil discharges at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s.”

»For sea bird communities the size of the oil discharges are usually irrelevant« fessor of ecology at Gotland University.

“However, if we take a closer look at the pollution per flight hour index, which Helcom says is the best way to evaluate the number of illegal oil discharges, the result is interesting indeed. The index compares the total number of observed oil spills to the total number of flight hours, and

between 2005 and 2009 there are only minor differences. So the question is, has the situation really changed that much in recent years? If one asked me I would say no for certain.” Helcom argues that the number of unrecorded cases is much smaller today, during the 1990s the organization estimated that the hidden statistics were nearly as large as the illegal discharges that were actually observed. “It’s likely that the hidden statistics were larger in earlier years, but that does not change the fact that we still face a great number of oil discharges. In my view, Helcom presents a glossy picture of reality.” In the previous issue of Shipgaz Thomas Fagö, chairman of the Helcom Response Committee 1999–2009

Photo: kjell larsson

Professor Kjell Larsson.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 43

Marine environment

Report Photo: kjell larsson

»They took it literally and investigated if it would be possible to stop all vessel traffic in these areas« and head of the Swedish Coast Guard’s Rescue Service 1989–2009, praised the organization’s record and exemplified with the development in Sweden.

“Six years ago the Swedish Government set a target for the Swedish Coast Guard that the illegal discharges should be negligible for the environment by 2010. I believe we have fulfilled our assignment. Less than 30 cubic meters of oil discharges were detected in Swedish waters last year. In the 1990s one spill alone could contain 100 cubic metres of oil.” The conclusion is heavily objected by Kjell Larsson. He is leading a research project on sea bird ecology in the Baltic Sea. The group of researchers are studying, among other things, how oil discharges at sea affect the sea bird communities. “It’s a horrible conclusion by Mr Fagö. The oil discharges are far from negligible, and they are taking place in very sensitive areas. For sea bird communities the size of the oil discharges are usually irrelevant, it’s the time and place that counts, which is confirmed by several international research studies. A very small spill can effect and even kill tens of thousands of sea birds. However, at the same time a very large spill can have only a minor effect on the marine environment if the spill is taking place in a non-sensitive area.” “The yearly effects of the many small oil spills in the Baltic Sea on the sea bird communities are of the same range as the Prestige disaster (the tanker sank in November 2002 off the coast of Galicia and caused a 64,000ton oil spill), where some 20,000 dead birds were found in the aftermath of the accident. Since 1997 the average number of observed oiled birds per winter, at the southern part of Gotland only, has been about 18,000. To minimize the environmental

Two oiled long-tailed duck females at southern Gotland. impact of oil spills derived from shipping, Kjell Larsson wants to establish new fairways in non-sensitive areas. The much growing tanker traffic from Russia and the overall tanker shipping in the Baltic Sea is not the main threat to the marine fauna, as one could think, he says.

“The trade for the largest tankers is directed to deep sea fairways and represents little environmental danger as long as the vessels are not engaged in any accident. At present, the operational oil spills from the 30,000 other vessels passing through the Natura 2000 site Hoburgs Bank south off Gotland each year and the 5,000 vessels passing through the Natura 2000 site Salvorev, a sandbank located between the islands of Fårö and Got ska Sandön off the northern part of Gotland, is a more severe problem.” “These two areas, of which one is suggested by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to become a national park, harbour hundreds of thousands of sea birds, and are very sensitive for oil spills”, he says and continues: “Therefore I suggest the new Swedish authority for the marine environment, in consultation with the Swedish Transport Agency and the Swedish Coast Guard, is assigned to investigate and propose new fairways. The Swedish proposal should

Helcom Helcom works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental cooperation between Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

then be coordinated with standpoints from the rest of the Baltic Sea states and Helcom, before it’s directed to IMO.” A few years ago the Swedish Maritime Administration was commissioned by the Swedish Government to evaluate the effects of a classification of the Baltic Sea as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, PSSA, and to investigate the possibility to move some routes away from sensitive Natura 2000 sites.

“They took it literally and investigated if it would be possible to stop all vessel traffic in these areas, in other words to completely shut down some fairways. They concluded that it would not be possible. But the overall objective with the commission was to investigate if it was possible to reduce the traffic in sensitive fairways. So the investigation ended up in nothing”, says Kjell Larsson and continues: “When the Baltic Sea was classed by IMO as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, the Swedish Maritime Administration redefined the Hoburgs Bank. The extension was reduced so it no longer encompassed the whole Natura 2000 site. That is why the authority today claims that there is no vessel traffic through the Hoburgs Bank. However, the Natura 2000 site Hoburgs bank is a part of an EU ecological network of protected areas and

44 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Report Marine environment

Long-tailed ducks that drowned in fish nets at Hoburgs bank. An investigation showed that twelve per cent of the birds found in fish nets also had oil in their plumage. Given that about 400,000 birds are wintering at Hoburgs bank the investigation showed that about 48,000 birds are oiled each winter. which ten per cent led to a penalty or a charge”, says Kjell Larsson.

“Accidental and deliberate oil spills will definitely occur also in the future even if increased surveillance and stronger penalties hopefully can reduce the deliberate spills. There-

fore, it’s not reasonable that the most heavily used shipping routes in the Baltic Sea pass through some of the most sensitive and valuable areas. Shipping is usually viewed as an environmentally friendly transport mode. To fulfil such a view shipping routes must be modified in the Baltic Sea.”

www.alandia.com

“Because some marine areas are more sensitive for oil spills than others the air surveillance should also be more clearly directed to the most sensitive areas. Likewise, the response time for cleaning up operations should be shorter in these areas.” According to Thomas Fagö the legal framework has been strengthened in every country concerned and the cooperation between the national public prosecution offices has been improved. He also believes the penalties in place are sufficient enough to deter crimes, irrespective of national waters. “Between the years of 2005 and 2009 the Swedish Coast Guard verified 1,510 oil spills at sea. Most of these were detected along the major shipping routes. 837 preliminary investigations were launched, of which 27 led to penalties and a further 57 cases ended up in a water pollution charge. If summarizing, half of the verified cases led to a preliminary investigation of

Photo: kjell larsson

the Swedish government is obliged to protect the values in these areas.” Kjell Larsson also suggests Helcom to increase its air surveillance in environmentally sensitive areas.

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MARINE

46 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Newcomer Wind

Photo: bent mikkelsen

Refitted from the hull up

The Danish barge Wind was rebuilt for six months at Orskov Yard – only the original hull remained when redelivered. DBB Jack-Up Service A/S, a subsidiary of Dansk Bjergning & Bugsering A/S (DBB) has taken delivery of their jackup self-propelled barge Wind after a major refit at Orskov Yard, Frederiks havn. The refit is so extensive that only the original hull is left after six months at the shipyard in Frederikshavn. The investment made in the vessel is massive, but how large it is remains confidential.

Shipowner Ove Eriksen, head of DBB, says that the price paid for the rebuilding was higher than the purchase price from four years ago. For that undisclosed sum of money, DDB Jack-Up Services has re-

ceived a secondto-none wind turbine service vessel outfitted with the largest telescopic crane ever mounted on a ship or a barge. After redelivery, the Wind has resumed a time charter for the Danish wind turbine producer Vestas serving their wind farms in Holland and England. The Wind has been on time charter to Vestas almost since the purchase in 2006 to the charterer’s satisfaction, but during the years the accommodation needed an upgrade in order to serve the personnel.

»When we began to look at the options there was no doubt in our minds« Per Kristensen, naval architect and head of the technical department at DBB.

“When we began to look at the options there was no doubt in our minds. We needed to build a whole new accommodation house and bridge because it would have been too complicated to reinstall wiring and plumbing in the original deckhouse. Furthermore, some of the cabins were placed in standard 20-foot containers on top of the wheelhouse. That would not have been allowed in the future”, says Per Kristensen, head of the technical department at DBB.

So instead all new cabins are integrated in the accommodation house, all with private facilities and the vessel is now capable of accom-

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 47

Wind

Newcomer Photo: bent mikkelsen

After redelivery, the Wind has resumed a time charter for the Danish wind turbine producer Vestas serving their wind farms in Holland and England. modating 23 persons including the ship’s crew. The Wind is considered a unique vessel in the wind power industry as it is capable of jacking out of the water and thereby be independent of the sea conditions during operation. To give the Wind further options the four legs (used for the jack-up) have been lengthened with some nine metres to 54 metres. That means that the vessel can stand on the bottom on a depth up to 45 metres.

In the centre of the working deck a brand new hydraulic telescopic crane with enormous capacities is mounted. The new crane is capable of lifting around 70 tons in a 25-metre reach from the centre of the Wind and to a height of 110 metres above the deck. “The crane is a major part of the

investment”, explains Ove Eriksen, CEO of DBB. “The first five years we managed to work with a traditional mobile crane parked on deck and naturally fully secured for work at sea, but as we upgraded the vessel we wanted to have an integrated crane with built-in capacity for future wind turbines. They will become higher and higher and heavier and heavier, so we have to follow in order to serve the industry”, says Ove Eriksen. Part of the investment in the refit of the Wind is also a Dynamic Positioning System from Kongsberg, which makes the delicate manoeuvring around the wind power station at sea more accurate and safer. So even if the Wind actually was built in 1996 at Scheepswerf van Ruplemonde (with the steel hull built in Galati in Romania) it is a completely

»We wanted to have an integrated crane with built-in capacity for future wind turbines« DBB Jack-up service The company was established January 1, 2008, as a subsidary to Dansk Bjergning og Bugsering A/S (DBB – Danish Salvage and Towing Company Ltd).

new vessel. Even two of the four main engines have been renewed in the extensive conversion.

The Wind arrived just before Christmas at Orskov Yard at Frederikshavn and was not back in her homeport of Aarhus until the end of May. After tests and calibrating of the equipment on board, the Wind continued to Ijmuiden in Holland and started serving Vestas in a service check at a sea power plant situated some 25 nautical miles off the Dutch coast.



48 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Newcomer Wind Photo: bent mikkelsen

1. The giant electric hydraulic crane in its folded position. 2. The working deck. 3. The messroom. 4. 23 brand new cabins are now available on board Wind.

Wind Owner ....................... DBB Jack-Up Service A/S IMO no . .................................................... 9107851 Builder ..............Scheepswerf van Ruplemonde Hull no ................................................................196

Length o a....................................................... 55 m Breadth . ...........................................................18 m Draught...........................................................2.4 m GT . ..................................................................1,159 t

Deadweight . ...............................................1,463 t Machinery......................................... 2 x GM type 6-71T, 2 x GM rtype 16V92-TA. Total 1,729 kW in a diesel electric plant.

Photo: bent mikkelsen

50 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Report Ole Skaarup

Photo: Hearst ConnECTICUT Newspapers / Bob Luckey

Ole Skaarup portrayed in front of the model of the Cassiopeia and with the Melvin H Baker on canvas.

Visionary bulk owner dies at 94 Ole Skaarup, also called the father of modern bulk shipping, passed away in May. The father of modern bulk shipping, the Danish/US citizen Ole Skaarup, revolutionised bulk shipping from his office in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. Ole Skaarup started his own business in 1951, Skaarup Shipping, by acquiring a couple of surplus Liberty vessels from the US Maritime Administration. The vessels were engaged in the trade of bulk commodities.

Shortly after the start he invented the idea of hopper bottoms to make discharging easier and achieve a better rotation time in ports. In fact he made a test on one of the Liberty steamships. A team of carpenters built a wooden hopper bottom in order to show Ole Skaarup’s idea in practice. His vision turned out to be

correct and the full-scale test was also shown to his business partner Swedish Nordström & Thulin. They introduced Ole Skaarup to Marcus Wallenberg, head of Stockholms Enskilda Bank, who believed in his idea of a modern bulk carrier. The friendship and business connection led to the first ever new building of a bulk carrier after Ole Skaarups idea.

»The Melvin H Baker was the first ever self-unloading bulk carrier« In June 1944 Ole Skaarup was responsible for the loading of 50 Liberty ships and 12 landing craft for the invasion of Normandy.

The contract was signed with Kockums shipyard in Malmö on March 22, 1954. The ship was the Cassiopeia, which sailed under the colours of Nordström & Thulin, but was traded by Skaarup Shipping.

Skaarup Shipping’s first purpose built bulk carrier was the Melvin H Baker, which was delivered in 1956 from German shipbuilder A/G Weser for a contract of affreightment for US company National Gypsum Company for transport of raw material along the east coast of Canada and the United States of America.

The Melvin H Baker was the first ever self-unloading bulk carrier fitted with a conveyor system capable of discharging the cargo directly to the customers’ shore facilities without the use of cranes. That was another revolution in the bulk trading. Ole Skaarup was born in Copenhagen in 1916. He recieved his shipping education at A P Møller’s office in Copenhagen. In April 1940, when

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 51

Ole Skaarup

Report

the German forces occupied Denmark, Ole Skaarup took off to New York to work in the brokering firm Blidberg Rothschild.

He was enlisted in the US Army in 1941 and during World War II earned the rank of major and served as superintendent of the US Army at Belfast, Northern Ireland. He planned

the loading of 50 Liberty vessels and twelve landing crafts for the Allied’s invasion of Normandy in June 1944. After his discharge from the Army in 1945 he resumed working for the brokering firm Blidberg Rothschild until he founded his own Skaarup Shipping in 1951 in New York, from where he moved in the early 1970s and established the now strong ship-

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In 1993, Ole Skaarup was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, in recognition of his service to the maritime industry.

ping community at Greenwich, Connecticut. Ole Skaarup stepped down as head of Skaarup Shipping in 1966 and became chairman of the board of directors. Apart from being a visionary shipowner, Ole Skaarup was also well known for his musical talent as well as his wit, making him the perfect entertainer.

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INCREASED CAPACITY, NEW NAME

54 Shipgaz no 4 2010

By Pierre Adolfsson pierre@shipgaz.com

Report Hafnia Management

Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Photo: GotLandsBoLaGet

Undaunted newcomer aims high with new pool

Newly established tanker operator Hafnia Management will be running some 30 vessels within the coming months after entering the MR market. “We have been operating LR1 vessels since June, and we are very pleased with the development. We are also optimistic about the market ahead”, says Hafnia Chairman and Marinvest CEO Lars Mossberg. Earlier this year the Gothenburgbased shipping and investment group Marinvest set up Hafnia Management to become “a major player in the refined product tanker and chemical tanker markets.” The company focuses on the marketing and operating of product and chemical tankers in the LR1 and MR segments from a host of owners.

“It seems like a good idea in a weak market. We want to become part of the upward trend”, Lars Mossberg told Shipgaz at the beginning of May. Hafnia, the old Latin name for the Danish capital, surely drew some at-

tention when members of the Torm management were recruited, most notably Anders Engholm, then executive vice president of Torm’s tanker division, today Hafnia CEO. His period of gardening leave under non-compete arrangements with his former employer expired at the beginning of August. The brain drain in Torm started in the autumn of 2008 when the then CEO Klaus Kjærulff was sacked on request by the Greek main shareholder Gabriel Panayotides. The recruitments by Hafnia took part at the same time as the setbacks were piling up for Torm. Some would argue that Hafnia took advantage of

»We were interested in an equal partnership to secure an equal inﬂuence on the operation«

Jan Kastrup Nielsen, head of Lauritzen Tankers.

a moment of weakness within Torm, especially as several partners simultaneously resided from the LR1-pool to join Hafnia. “Gotlandsbolaget, Nordic Tankers and LGR were obviously all members of the Torm pool, as well as Marinvest. When looking at it from the outside one might find it peculiar. But I must stress that all we did was to distribute a press release saying that we are looking after partners and employees. We got this response, more or less”, says Lars Mossberg.

When Marinvest and Gotlandsbolaget announced that they were to leave the LR1-pool, the Torm CEO Jacob Meldgaard told Jyllands-Posten that the resignations would only have a minor impact on the company’s businesses. “The eleven units represent only around 0.2 per cent of Torm’s revenue

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 55

Hafnia Management

Report

The six vessels in Lauritzen Tankers newbuilding programme will sail for Hafnia as well, the first delivery is later this year and will be followed by four newbuilding deliveries in 2012 and 2013. The sixth vessel will be delivered in 2014. Recently Lauritzen Tankers presented its result for the first six months of 2010, and the board stated:

Tanker vessels Tankers used for liquid fuels are classified according to their capacity. In 1954 Shell Oil developed the average freight rate assessment (AFRA) system, which classifies tankers of different sizes. To make it an independent instrument, Shell consulted the London Tanker Brokers’ Panel (LTBP).

“After some improvement at the beginning of the year market conditions for medium range product tankers continued on a downward slope during the first half of 2010”. The result ended at USD 4.1 million, compared to 0.4 million the corresponding period last year. Total number of ship days amounted to 2,357 compared to 2,018 in the first half of 2009.

At the moment, Gotlandsbolaget is transferring its four MR vessels the Gotland Aliya, Gotland Carolina, Gotland Sofia and Gotland Marieann to Hafnia. The company’s LR1-vessel Torm Anna is already engaged in the Hafnia pool. “When Marinvest approached us concerning Hafnia Management we assessed it as an interesting project and we are offered to be one of five founding partners. It is in line with our tanker departments’ strategy. We are part-owner in Wisby Shipmanagement AB, the company runs the technical operation and crewing of our MR and LR1 vessels”, says Ann-Marie Åström, Vice President of Gotlandsbolaget and continues: ”We have been, and are still, very satisfied with Torm’s LR1 and MR

Vessels Medium Range: Long Range 1: Long Range 2: Very Large Crude Carrier: Ultra Large Crude Carrier:

Photo: nordic tankers

In June Hafnia operated approximately eight LR1 vessels worldwide, among them Nordic Tankers’ Nordic Anne, 73,000 dwt, delivered in 2009. “At the beginning of August several MR-vessels were added to the pool, but the MR segment will grow considerably from now on”, says Lars Mossberg. Lauritzen Tankers has dedicated its entire fleet of 13 vessels to Hafnia Management. But so far only seven tankers have been committed to Hafnia. The remaining units are to join as soon as they have been ‘released’ from other charter contracts and commitments. Lauritzen initiated the contact with Marinvest, not the way around. “We had been looking for a new partner or a group of partners for some time, in order to establish a better position on the world market. We knew that we couldn’t reach that position by our own as a sole operator. We’re not prepared to transfer our fleet to a pool just to receive a sum of money each month, Lauritzen Tankers were more interested in an equal partnership to secure an equal influence on the operation and other commercial decisions”, says Jan KastrupNielsen, head of Lauritzen Tankers.

Photo: Lauritzen Tankers – Facts: wikipedia

and I wish them the best of luck in the future.” Hafnia Management consists of five founding partners, among them Swedish Marinvest and Gotlandsbolaget, Danish Lauritzen Tankers and Italian LGR di Navigazione SpA. “The fifth founding partner will remain undisclosed”, says Lars Mossberg and continues: “At the board meeting on August 18 the shareholders’ agreements were finally completed. Within a short time a website will be up and running, and before the end of the year we will be operating some 30 vessels.” The Hafnia headquarters is temporarily located at Lauritzen’s head office at Sct Annæ Plads in Copenhagen.

Hafnia Man agement: Tonnage suppliers are Marinvest, LGR di Navigazione SpA, Lauritzen Tankers, Gotlandsbolaget, Nordic Tankers and Skagerack Invest.

DWT 25,000–44,999 45,000–79,999 80,000–159,999 160,000–319,999 320,000–549,999

pools, they are doing a great job and we still have our LR2 vessel Gute AnnMarie in their LR2 pool. By joining Hafnia now, we are able to have an influence on the decision making within the company from the start, together with the other founding partners. We see it as an exiting and enriching challenge.” LGR will add four MR vessels to the pool as well. The vessels are the 53,000DWT tankers Cenito and Posillipo and two newbuildings under construction at STX Shipyard in South Korea.

When all the MR vessels mentioned above are operating under the Hafnia pool, the MR segment will be considerably overrepresented. “The pool consists of more MR vessels already today, but there is no master plan steering this development. Everyone who is interested of the project and is willing to put in some money is most welcome”, says Lars Mossberg and continues: “The interest has been great so far. New pool partners will be added in the future, for certain. But we have agreed on to only engage ourselves in partnerships we’re able to control to 100 per cent.”

Back on course After some tough years Hurtigruten ASA, operator of the classic Bergenâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Kirkenes line, is now steering towards a brighter future. New passengers from all over the world come to seek out the midnight sun of the summer and the northern lights of the winter. TEXT & PHOTO: MATS CARLSSON-LĂ&#x2030;NART

Nowadays Hurtigruten offers adventures and cultural activities along the route to attract new passengers. This new concept might be the salvation and future of the eleven ships and 1,500 employees. rild Hårvik, Captain of M/S Midnatsol (Midnight Sun), the perhaps most celebrated and by passengers most sought-after Hurtigruten ship, lets the autopilot navigate his ship between Båtsfjord and Berlevåg, two of the 36 ports of call on the famous Coastal Express that Hurtigruten is known for around the world. The Barents Sea is almost dead calm and it is a beautiful evening in early May. But spring is late, it is still quite cold and much snow on the coastline has yet to melt away. “People might not believe it, but there are many more days of good weather up here than one might think. I guess this is one reason why passengers tend to travel with us much more even during months like February, March and October”, says the Captain, standing on the bridge where he watches the sun set. In early May the sun still sets on the Norwegian Arctic coast but it never gets completely dark. This also goes for the famous Coastal Express. Parts of the first decade of the 21st century were very slow and great changes shook the famous business operation, but Hurtigruten persevered and still departs daily from Bergen and Kirkenes – combining accommodation for cruise passengers with the transportation of passengers and cargo for shorter distances.

“We are very enthusiastic about what we do and proud of what we can offer our guests”, says Captain Hårvik, who has been master of the Midnatsol since it was launched in Hamburg 2003. The Midnatsol, together with her sister ship Trollfjord, are the newest and largest of the eleven ships on the Coastal Express. The Midnatsol and its crew were the stars in the Norwegian reality show Hurtigruten 365, produced by Norwegian public television NRK in 2005. The series of 20 episodes was broadcast in several countries. Captain Hårvik was one of the crew personalities that millions of TV viewers got to know. “The TV crew were here filming everywhere and all the time, but you got used to it surprisingly quickly”, says Arild Hårvik. He has been working on TFDS (now Hurtigruten ASA) ships since 1975. Born in Harstad but now living in the predominantly Sami community of Nesseby, which is at the innermost part of the Varanger fjord, about one hour by car from Vadsø, one of the 36 Hurtigruten ports. “My wife is Sami and that is why I live there. But my shifts on board always start and end in Tromsø, which is about one hour by the Widerøe flight from Vadsø.” Like everybody else on board, the captain works 22 days fol-

The Midnatsol was built in 2003 at Fosen Mek, Rissa, Norway. She has capacity for 1,000 passengers, 45 vehicles and 1,184 tons of cargo. The ship has a crew of around 65 people.

Collected Midnatsol press cuttings.

Captain Arild Hårvik has been in command of the Midnatsol since its delivery.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a great place to workâ&#x20AC;?, says Atle Taaland, (left) head of the kitchen, as he prepares the dinner.

The Swedish waiter Erik Fritjofsson, a former elite golf player.

lowed by 22 days off. On the bridge he shares takes turns with his three mates, working 2 and 2 in six-hour-long shifts. “Normally I work together with the most experienced mate, in order to give me some room for desk work and other captain tasks, like receiving groups of passengers on the bridge and giving lectures on various ship and coast related subjects for passengers.”

Hårvik has been a Hurtigruten officer since 1990 and is one of the most experienced masters of Hurtigruten ASA. His most dramatic moment so far was on December 14, 2003, when the Midnatsol, with 102 passengers on board, sailed into a storm in the infamous waters off the Stad peninsula, WestSouthwest of Ålesund. “Suddenly the engines stopped. There was no obvious explanation. We had an emergency situation and I ordered the passengers to get into the lifeboats.” For two hours the Midnatsol drifted in the storm. When the ship was only some 100 metres from hitting a chain of rocky skerries and just before the lifeboats were about to be lowered, the crew succeeded in restarting the engines. “It was a close call but we made it”, the captain says. “The crew did a very good job. But you know it is so long ago now that I hardly think of it anymore.” The reason for the situation was later determined to have been in the cooling system. “The experts have ensured us that it will not happen again”, says Arild Hårvik. He switches from autopilot to manual steering and navigates the impressive ship into the small port of Berlevåg, between the two famous breakwaters of this remote little place, breakwaters that have been erased twice during the last century by the furious Arctic sea. I comment on the large ship and the tight harbour and the captain says: “Oh, well, this is not the worst place by far. Wait till we get to Brønnøysund, when northbound I have to turn twice in a very tight basin.” While Hårvik and security officer Steinar Lilleskare discuss their respective plans for the summer on the bridge, dinner is served for half of the passengers in the restaurant on Deck 5. A

group of chefs in the middle of the great dining room work intensively, making tasteful dinner dishes served at the tables by a team of waiters. “As you can see it is very hard work”, says Atle Taaland, who is head of the kitchen. The chefs work with the plates for the 200 or so guests in the current sitting for some sweaty minutes before returning to the large kitchen, hidden behind the scenes from the passengers. “This is a great place to work”, says Atle Taaland. “Good people and a nice philosophy about menus and courses served.” After some years mostly spent on cruise ships in the Antarctic and in the main kitchen in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard – a place known as the polar exploration capital of the world – Atle Taaland is now warming up on the Midnatsol.

“The menus on board are created by a team of executive chefs from various Hurtigruten ships. They meet regularly and discuss what we who work in the kitchen would like to offer the passengers. I think this is a good way to ensure both quality and variation to our guests as well as giving us who work a chance to have some influence”, says Atle Taaland. He and his team use the rest of the day to prepare coming meals, the various courses for the lunch buffet of the next day and the following three-course dinner. The Midnatsol crew has a Norwegian majority but there is also a significant number of young Swedes working on board as waiters, in the kitchen and with laundry and cleaning. “I think there are 13 or 14 Swedes currently, out of a total crew

The route Bergen-Kirkenes: 2,500 nautical miles. It opened in July 1893, the route was then between Trondheim and Hammerfest (Bergen from 1894 and Kirkenes 1914) Journey time single trip: northbound 5.5 days, southbound just over five days Round trip cruise: Eleven days Number of ports called: 36 Passengers per year: 408,000 (2009)

»I met a girl on a Tenerife trip who worked at Hurtigruten and she convinced me that this was the place to be« of about 65”, says Erik Fritjofsson, one of the waiters, as he waits for some seconds for another three plates to serve at the next table. He is a former elite golf player who works on Hurtigruten ships about 9–10 months per year. “I did my first season here in 2006. I met a girl on a Tenerife trip who worked at Hurtigruten and she convinced me that this was the place to be.” Erik Fritjofsson now lives in Bergen as well as in his Swedish home town of Uppsala and during the darkest winter months, when he is not needed on the Midnatsol, he travels. “I like to find nice golf courses everywhere. But I always seem to return to the ships, when spring comes up north. The landscape and scenery where we sail are really fascinating. And of course the salary is quite good too. But most of all I love to meet new people.”

and the entry door used by passengers in port. His cabin is next door. “Of course for me it is work and duty more or less 24 hours a day. There are always some problems to solve, challenges to be met.” Originally from Mo i Rana, Steinar Olsen now lives in Elverum, in the river Glomma valley – quite far from the sea and coast, but only about one hour by car from Oslo-Gardermoen airport, from where he flies to the Hurtigruten terminal in Bergen.

“This is my third year on the Midnatsol. Before I came to

A second Swede on board is Hanna Wallin, a young woman from Umeå. She left a job at a Swedish hospital to start commuting to Bergen, where her shift starts and ends. “My aunt also works here, so she suggested that I should start here too”, says Hanna Wallin while taking a break from her tasks, relaxing in a sofa. Hanna Wallin is on the night shift and works with cleaning the interior of the ship when most passengers are asleep in their cabins. “I sleep most of the day but I also have time to enjoy some of the scenery that people come here for. Photography is a hobby of mine so I should have excellent opportunities for this here.” Steinar Olsen is Hanna Wallin’s boss and the other 45–50 who work in the hotel, as the guest accommodation division of the ship is called. He has his office just by the reception desk

Hurtigruten I held various positions ashore, at larger hotels and restaurants in Norway.” While showing me the beautiful lobbies and lounges of the ship, Steinar Olsen asks me if I have read any books by Knut Hamsun, the controversial Norwegian Nobel Prize winner of 1920. He takes me to Hamsunrommet, themed after this remarkable author, loved by Norwegians for his great writing, hated for his Nazi and Quisling sympathies during the last two decades of his life. “I am quite interested in Hamsun and would like to arrange a small exhibition about him in this room”, Steinar Olsen says, watching a bust of the writer who last year was honoured with a new Hamsun Center in the grounds of the vicarage at Hamarøy, Nordland, where Knut Hamsun was born in 1859. Some evenings the three top officers of the Midnatsol, Captain Hårvik, Hotel Manager Olsen and Chief Engineer Jan Johansen are seen sitting in the quiet Hamsun room having coffee and a little chat before duty or sleep. Probably a relaxing contrast to the Captain’s Table in the restaurant, where the officers are subject to looks and comments from passengers entering the room. A sharper contrast than that offered by the Hamsun room and the Captain’s Table is of course to compare any of these two high status places of the Midnatsol with the working environment of the deck crew. However, the Midnatsol is quite new and a very modern ship, so working as an able seaman here is probably something completely different from working on, for

Steinar Olsen wants to arrange a small exhibition on board about the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun.

Swedish Hanna Wallin works as a cleaner – which means many nightshifts.

The Trollfjord (Trollfjorden) is a twokilometre long sidearm of the Raftsund between the archipelagos of Lofoten and Vesteraalen.

â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;The Hurtigruten vessel Polarlys at the port of Harstad.

â&#x20AC;&#x2C6;In Ă&#x2DC;ksfjord the local music band of about ten members welcomes the Midnatsol and its passengers.

Maritime academy student Stian Jensen, able seaman apprentice, wants to work as a mate in the future.

instance, the two oldest ships in the Hurtigruten fleet, the Nordstjernen (1956) and the Lofoten (1964). “At the moment I cannot imagine a better job”, says young Stian Jensen, able seaman apprentice. Together with Steffen Sørvang, also an apprentice on deck, Stian Jensen spends the day doing paint work on Deck 9, where most passengers gather if the sun shines. “But due to the many ports of call, we often have to pause from painting in order to perform our tasks when in port. So it is a very varied job really”, says Stian Jensen.

He is a Maritime School student, from Sandnessjøen, doing his first apprentice year on board. “I really like this work, so much fresh air and I also enjoy meeting the passengers who often ask us questions or only want a little chat”, says Stian Jensen. But he says he will not remain working on deck forever. “No, I will proceed with further studies and in a few years hopefully graduate as a mate. The Midnatsol approaches Hammerfest. Stian Jensen and Steffen Sørvang go below to work on the cargo deck. Down there is also able seaman Bjarte Trondsen, a Bergenser who joined Hurtigruten and the Midnatsol three years ago, after many years of service on Color Line ferries. “This is really a very nice place to work. And I feel confident

that we will remain as we are in the future too.” Bjarte Trondsen starts to take aboard large boxes of fish waiting on the Hammerfest quay . The cargo deck is below quay level but there is a lift that makes loading and unloading very smooth.

“Here we have 90 minutes in port but in many of the smaller places we only have 15 minutes, which is tough if there is a lot fish waiting for us on the quay”, says Bjarte Trondsen. “But usually we make it on time.” The work of the deck crew and the port workers always gets an audience of passengers on deck as well as citizens of the port on the quayside. The daily visits by the Hurtigruten ships are still an important event in the different ports. The ships also always receive a number of visitors in each port, wanting a feel of the world, a quick cup of coffee in the café or a chat with a passenger or crew member they know. In Øksfjord the local music band of about ten members welcomes the Midnatsol. The passengers are taken by surprise and suddenly the deck is full of people wanting to cheer the orchestra. Bjarte Trondsen and the others on deck work on as usual. Next Page “This is what makes Hurtigruten so unique”, says CEO Olav Fjell: Steinar Olsen. “It is a working lifeline ship, carry“Still a long way ing fish, beer, boats, furniture and other goods, but to go” with a touch of cruise.”

“The worst crisis is over but there is still a long way to go before the Hurtigruten ships are booked as much as we want”, says Olav Fjell, a heavyweight of Norwegian business life for decades and since 2007 president of Hurtigruten ASA. lav Fjell. 59, enjoys a Farris at the rooftop bar of Oslo’s Grand Hotel. It is a nice, sunny day and he points at a ski slope a few miles to the west. “I live near that hill. It is a very nice area and I have lived there for many years.” No, the Hurtigruten CEO does not reside on the coastline that his ships ply day and night, year round. Every week, by plane and rental car, he commutes to his office in the Hurtigruten headquarters in Narvik. Some days he travels to Tromsø, where part of the head office is located. “But I also travel very much on our ships, I love it, and meeting all the people in the crew, from the captain to the apprentices, is very rewarding. It gives me a lot of ideas and inspiration.” Fjell says that he has travelled on all the eleven Hurtigruten ships, most of them several times. He has his office in a rucksack and can of course run most of his executive tasks independently of where he is. “I always go down to the mess to hear the stories there. And though not being a smoker myself I spend some time in the smoking room, which is said to be the top place to find out how matters really are.”

Olav Fjell stepped in just as the global recession started to hit Hurtigruten ASA. The company had just been listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and was founded only the year before through a merger between TFDS and OVDS – the two remaining of many shipping companies that since the 1800s had contrib-

More or less immediately he started to work on a battery of tough measures to straighten things up for the future. “For instance we reduced our number of booking systems from eight to one. And we outsourced the entire booking function, which is now in Tallinn, Estonia. Initially we experienced some problems with all those changes but now we are on the right track. Of course all this is in order to reduce our costs. But in the long run we naturally hope that a larger share of our passengers will book their cruise through our website.” But the economy of the company as well as the booking and sales situation deteriorated during 2008. The year’s earnings ended with a loss of NOK 686 million (approximately EUR 87 million), which was NOK 458 million worse than 2007. The operational result showed a minus of NOK 291 million. And many fewer passengers came due to the recession. Hurtigruten ASA Photo: Klute Nils/hurtigruten ASA

Olav Fjell’s father was an officer in the Norwegian Army and he grew up at various places in Troms, one of the northern counties of Norway and one of those parts of the country where Hurtigruten has been an artery and lifeline since 1893. “When I was a child in the 1950s my family sometimes travelled on those proud ships. But after that I did not set foot on any Hurtigruten ship until I was appointed CEO in 2007.” As a young man, Fjell trained to be an army officer, but he ended up studying economics at the university and in 1975 he started working at Kongsberg, the famous Norwegian defence industry group. He came in as an accountant and left twelve years later as CFO. After this he had a successful career in Norwegian banking, for some years holding the CEO position of Postbanken. His career came to a peak in 1999 when Olav Fjell was appointed CEO of Statoil, a position that he held up to 2003. For a few years afterwards he worked mainly as a member of the board of various companies, before he was offered the leadership of Hurtigruten in 2007. “After the Statoil years my intention was to focus on board work and consulting missions and I was not interested in a CEO position anymore. But when this offer came it was hard to refuse. Hurtigruten holds a very special position in Norway and the world, and has incredibly grand potential”, says Fjell.

uted with ships and cooperated on Hurtigruten. The company suffered from overcapacity, inefficient booking systems and a very diversified business consisting of – in addition to the actual Hurtigruten ships – local ferries, hotels, bus companies, travel agencies and more. “In the autumn 2007 when I started, the crisis was not yet in sight. The merger was done and the new organization in place. However, the company’s economy had some weak signs so I realized that my new job would be a tough one”, says Fjell.

The company Established: Hurtigruten ASA was formed through the 2005 merger of Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab and Ofoten og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab. Major owners: Periscopus AS (Trygve Hegnar) 26.35 per cent, Heidenreich Enterprises 17 per cent. Head office: Narvik CEO: Olav Fjell Chairman: Trygve Hegnar Turnover 2009: 3.4 billion NOK Result 2009: –28 million NOK Employees: 1,903 including remaining bus operations. The ship crews consists of about 1,000 employees.

Nordnorge, was the last Hurtigruten vessel to be built in the 1990ies. For several seasons she has been operatings as an expedition vessel in the Antarctic.

»I think it is good to see new owners coming in, people that are active and interested in the company. The banks, institutions and other traditional owners are more passive« was in big trouble and the future did not look bright. “We made a plan for saving the company and restructuring our activities. We needed a period free from amortizations and the banks, who since a long way back partially owned us, took their responsibility. As did the government, by giving us an extra subsidy that helped us out of the current situation.” Olav Fjell started to sell almost all the non-core activities of Hurtigruten. For instance last year Torghatten Trafikkselskab A/S acquired the ferries and fast-ferries division, consisting of 45 ships and 606 employees. This and other sales provided Hurtigruten ASA with money badly needed to reduce its debts.

The listing of the new company on the Oslo Exchange in 2006 also opened up for new owners and investors. The first major one was Norwegian-American Per Heidenreich, whose

company Heidmar Group of Darien, Connecticut, controlled some 80 tankers. He read about the difficult situation for Hurtigruten in Dagens Næringsliv and decided to invest NOK 70 million. Heidenreich said it was perhaps an investment made more from the heart than the brain, but that he thought the company had great potential. Currently Heidenreich acts as vice-chairman of the board of Hurtigruten ASA. Last November the well-known Norwegian journalist and investor Trygve Hegnar, considered one of Norway’s 2–3 wealthiest individuals, bought some 20 per cent of the shares. By this he became the largest single owner of Hurtigruten and was more or less immediately appointed chairman of the board of Hurtigruten ASA. Hegnar, up to then a strong critic of the government-subsidized company, later bought an additional six per cent.

“I think it is good to see new owners coming in, people that are active and interested in the company. The banks, institutions and other traditional owners are more passive”, says Olav Fjell. Now it seems all the work by Olav Fjell, his board, the investors and the employees have borne some fruit. The 2009 figures for Hurtigruten ASA showed a NOK 658 million better result than the year before. The cost-cutting measures are shown in

In 2009 Hurtigruten ASA improved its result by NOK 658 million, compared to 2008.

the figures as the sales of non-coastal express related activities. “2009 was indeed a turning point for us. But we have a long way to go before we are where we want to be”, says Fjell. He is also very happy for the increasing number of cruise passengers travelling on Hurtigruten during the dark part of the year. During the first quarter of 2010 the number of guest nights on the ships was 46 per cent more than in 2009. “This is a result of our increased focus on winter experiences. Further improvement of our business during winter is one of our key issues for the future”, concludes Olav Fjell. “We have a lot of room for more passengers during those months.”

Fjell, standing on the roof-terrace of Oslo’s Grand Hotel, looks down towards the Storting building of Oslo, where the parliament meets. “We know that there is a political consensus to continue supporting Hurtigruten about as much as is done today. We also know that every shipping company in the EU is welcome with their tender on the service, but naturally we hope that our ships will be the ones chosen also for the next contract”, says Olav Fjell. “But there are many important details in a contract like this, for instance that the schedule, the pattern of sailings, is very well thought through.”

Another critical issue for the future is the new con-

Finally I ask Olav Fjell about new ships, knowing that

tract with the Norwegian government. From the start back in 1893 Hurtigruten has been a public affair in the sense that the government pays the shipping companies for providing a daily service to 36 ports. Of course it is about maintaining a regular link to the people and enterprises at the many far away places along the Norwegian coast, helping life on the remote coasts to continue and develop. But one reason may also be to maintain one of the prides of Norway: Hurtigruten, once a pioneer coastal express that opened up the north of Norway to the outside world, today a world famous cruising experience. The present agreement from 2007 expires in 2012 and Olav

the oldest ones in the present Hurtigruten fleet date from the 1950s. “Actually we have started thinking how to organize a newbuilding programme. Of course that is something also dependent on the new government contract. What will the government ask for? Fewer ports? More environment friendly ships? We have to wait and see.” Next Page But on one point Olav Fjell leaves no doubt: Hurtigruten – “We will not ask our owners or other investors for A maritime wonmoney to build new ships. This company has seen der of the world enough of new issues.”

When Captain Richard With set out on the first ever Hurtigruten sailing, July 3 1893, many said it was a mission impossible to start a fast, year-round service to the north of Norway. ut Captain With succeeded and the Hurtigruten opened up the Nordland, Troms and Finnmark to the modern age, remaining this polar area’s major link to the world until the 1960s. Norway north of Trondheim developed late in terms of towns, ports and marketplaces. There is evidence of early human presence in many places along the coast, but trade and transportation for centuries remained on a small local scale. Regular sailing ships were rarely seen in the poorly chartered Arctic parts of Norway. The ports were few, the lighthouses even fewer. The connection to the world was provided by shallow-

sailing Nordlandsjekter, the classic Viking-ship-like boats of the Helgeland coast. These open vessels were in most cases the only transport option for passengers, mail and goods. Each journey was a time-consuming and unpredictable adventure.

One example was Reverend P W Deinboll, who in 1815 was appointed vicar of the Vadsø parish, on the Barents Sea coast in the north-eastern corner of Norway. In August, Reverend Deinboll and his family started their trip in Oslo, first sailing to Bergen. There they had to wait two months for a suitable ship – or rather boat – that could take them north. But it was

Photo: Karlheinz Arnau/hurtigruten

»The authorities of King Karl Johan were more interested in increasing the slow speed of the mail« the Prinds Carl, to be put into inter-Scandinavian mail service, Christiania–Kristiansand and Fredriksvern–Göteborg–Frederikshavn respectively. Thanks to a high official, Governor Gustav Fredrik Blom, the public interest in Nordland and the other parts of northern Norway suddenly increased. In 1827 Blom made an extensive journey all along the coast up to Alta in present Finnmark. In 1830 he published an entertaining account of his journey, describing all the efforts and adventures a northern traveller had to endure in those days.

The founder of Hurtigruten, captain Richard With (1846–1930). In November 1881 he invested in his first ship.

late autumn and after a storm on the infamous Folla, north of Trondheim, the small Nordland boat had to seek shelter. The boat skipper recommended the priest and his family to winter in a nearby vicarage before continuing the journey next spring. The Deinboll family arrived in Vadsø in June 1816, ten months after departing Oslo (then still known as Christiania). But the problem for people travelling was not the major concern for the Norwegian government. The authorities of King Karl Johan were more interested in increasing the slow speed of the mail, still the only means to send orders, reports, doctrines and other documents of exerting power. A letter from Oslo to Vadsø in the early 1800s was first sent by ship around the Norwegian coast to Trondheim.

There, a chain of farmers paid to transport the mail sacks a certain distance took over and carried the mail overland up to the post office in Terråk, Nordland, where the boat mail service – 2,000 kilometres long – started. Every third week a mail crew departed Terråk, taking the letters to Hammerfest, the northernmost town in Norway and sometimes all the way to Vadsø, then Norway’s easternmost settlement. In the winter months a letter from Oslo to Hammerfest took 4–5 months to reach its addressee. In the 1820s and 1830s railways and steamboats started to speed up the old world. Quite early, in 1827, the Norwegian government acquired two steamships, the Constitutionen and

One year later Blom’s book was followed by another publication written by a senior official, Bergmester H C Strøm. He was a leading pro-steamship lobbyist and wrote in his book ”There can be no other coastline on earth more suitable for steamship services”, referring to the thousands of kilometres of protected coastline waters between Trondheim and Tromsø. These high officials of the King were influential and Blom also became a member of Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament. In 1838, the Christiania government acquired its third steamer, a London-built paddle-wheeler named the Prinds Gustav and aimed for plying the new mail route Trondheim–Hammerfest, decided by the Storting in 1836. The Prinds Gustav was the first steamer ever seen by the fishermen and other inhabitants of the North. At first sight, this early generation steamship scared the wits out of people. It is said that when an old man was out on the fjord fishing with his son, they suddenly saw the steamer approaching on its first northbound sailing on the new route. The old man shouted in terror: “Row for your life! Vågakjerka is coming”, referring to the church Vågakjerka of Svolvær, which he thought had broken loose from land and was drifting towards them. This was 55 years before Hurtigruten. The introduction of the Prinds Gustav meant a significant improvement of the infrastructure of northern Norway. But only during the ever bright summer months. During winter the possibilities of travelling or sending mail at reasonable speed were almost as limited as before. The lack of detailed charts and the scarceness of lighthouses and marks were still the major problems. But for 4–5 decades nothing really happened and while southern Norway and most other parts of the world developed rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, progress was slower in the northlands of Norway. The man who more than others would contribute to change all this was Captain Richard With (1846–1930). After certificates from Navigation School he took over a trading post at Risøyhamn, situated on Andøya, one of the islands of Vesteraalen – the group of islands north of the Lofoten island chain. The 1860s and 1870s were prosperous in those parts because of the enormous catches of herring near the coast. The herring invasions produced never before seen wealth on the islands. The traders and businessmen freed themselves

The Hurtigruten ship Richard With is named after the founder.

»The term Hurtigruten is said to have been used for the first time in 1872 when the days of old Prinds Gustav were over« from their creditors in Bergen and the people of the North gained a confidence that they had never had before. It was in this spirit Richard With, navigator and businessman, founded Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab (Vesteraalen Steamship Company). After the herring boom of 1880, which almost exhausted the islanders, the time had come.

With argued that no other than a local company could provide fast regular services to Vesteraalen and Lofoten, just off the beaten track between Tromsø and the south. In a small boat he rowed and sailed to all the small villages and settlements around Vesteraalen to ask people to invest money in the venture. In November 1881 the company was founded and the first ship, the Vesteraalen, was acquired. The Vesteraalen was put into the new service Stokmarknes¬– Svolvær–Trondheim and Captain With succeeded in reducing the travel time substantially, also by always sailing at night. This was considered very daring and by some also foolish. But the new company developed well and in 1889 the old Vesteraalen was replaced by a new ship, bearing the same name. A larger ship with an emphasis on passengers as much as on goods and mail. Only a few years later the new Vesteraalen became the first Hurtigruten ship. The term Hurtigruten is said to have been used for the first time in 1872 when the days of the old Prinds Gustav were over and the coastal route to Tromsø and Hammerfest had been extended southbound to Bergen. By this time the route was operated by Bergenske and Nordenfjeldske, the two largest and proudest steamship companies of the Norwegian west coast. But the service was not living up to its name (Hurtigruten means fast route). The number of ports of call increased constantly, several of them considerable detours, and the fact that the ships always spent the night in port made a voyage Bergen– Hammerfest a 9–10 day affair. New larger and faster ships did not help the situation. Richard With was indeed the father of Hurtigruten but credit must also go to August Kriegsmann Gran, in 1889 appointed expert official on steamship affairs of the Norwegian government. Immediately he started efforts to improve the slow, irregular coastal services between the country’s southern and northern parts. Gran argued that a year-round coastal express would be possible if the ports of call were limited to places by or very near the mainstream and if navigational data meticulously collected during the light part of the year were used in the winter. Gran, being a captain himself, planned the Hurtigruten with ports of call and sailing times for each distance. In 1891 the government announced that it wanted bids on the new Norwegian coastal express Trondheim–Vadsø. Gran thought that Bergenske and Nordenfjeldske, for decades the operators of the coastal services to Tromsø and Hammerfest, would be obvious bidders. But the two giants from the south were not ready either for sailing in winter darkness or for

Many old trade villages lie along the coast of Helgeland.

Hammerfest in the Finnmark county. The town was established as a municipality on January 1, 1838.

Every time a Hurtigruten vessel passes the Polar circle, the passengers are served Tran (train oil).

When going south, Midnatsol enters the port of Harstad.

Photo: hurtigruten asa

The Nordstjernen, built in 1956 and modernised during the 1980s. Latterly she has been used for voyages around the Spitsbergen archipelago.

introducing themselves to the open seas beyond Hammerfest. No bids came from them. But Richard With, in parallel with Gran, had worked with the coastal express plans of Vesteraalen Steamship Co and in 1892 he presented them in Christiania. His concept was the same as the one Gran suggested – winter use of summer-collected navigational data and night sailings on all the different distances en route.

With presented the plans of the northerners and especially one issue caused the government officials to have doubts for a minute. “We will sail between Trondheim and Svolvær in 36 hours”, said the captain. But in January 1893 the parliament decided that Vesteraalens, the only bidder, would be paid NOK 70,000 to transport mail quickly and regularly (weekly) between Trondheim and Hammerfest during the summer months and only to Tromsø in the winter. Vadsø and the rest of East Finnmark were left out of the deal. On July 2, 1893, Vesteraalen departed from Trondheim with a number of distinguished people aboard. This summer day is still today considered as one of the most important dates in history by the people of North Norway. 67 hours later Captain With docked the Vesteraalen in Hammerfest, about the same time that the Hurtigruten ships of today need for the same distance. Of course the ports of call then were only nine, compared with 15 today, but still an amazingly speedy journey for its time. After the first winter it was clear that Captain With and the Vesteraalen had managed to be satisfactorily on schedule also during the dark period of the year and that the sailing times

were about the same as in summer. The opening of Hurtigruten was a revolutionary step in the development of northern Norway, visible in the figures of population development and local economic progress. In 1894 the two major steamship companies Bergenske and Nordenfjeldske joined Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab on Hurtigruten, which increased the number of sailings per week. The second ship on Hurtigruten was the Sirius of Bergenske. Bergen soon replaced Trondheim as the southern end of the Coastal Express and the numbers of ports of call increased slowly but steadily. In 1914, the newly developed mining town of Kirkenes in the far east of northern Norway was made the northern – or rather north-eastern – end of Hurtigruten. In 1907 the northern terminus of Hurtigruten had been moved from Hammerfest to Vadsø. The number of annual passengers increased from 6,000 in 1893 to 70,000 in 1916.In 1936, daily departures were introduced between Bergen and Kirkenes.

76 different ships have been in service on Hurtigruten from 1893 until today. The oldest ship in the present Hurtigruten fleet, MV Nordstjernen (1956) is also the Hurtigruten ship sailing for more years than any other i.e. 54 years. Most of the ships in service until about 1920 were not very large, between 600 and 1,100 grt. In the 1920s a generation of slightly larger ships was introduced, like the Dronning Maud (1925). She was the flagship of Hurtigruten until 1931 when the Prinsesse Ragnhild was taken into service. Both these two ships belonged to Nordenfjeldske in Trondheim. Many of the older Hurtigruten ships were not originally intended for Hurtigruten but were transferred there after periods on other services.

Photo: horst Brettschneider/hurtigruten asa

»The total number of lost lives on Hurtigruten during World War II was more than 700« The first generations of Hurtigruten ships after World War II were about 25 per cent larger than the pre-war flagship Prinsesse Ragnhild. The ships remained at about that size until the 1980s when the present fleet of larger ships was introduced. Between 1964 and 1982 no new ships were built or taken into service on Hurtigruten.

Out of the 76 ships that have served or still serve on Hurtigruten, 22 were lost while in service there. During World War II, 14 ships were sunk by acts of war. Among these was the previously mentioned Prinsesse Ragnhild. On October 23, 1940, the ship exploded for still unclear reasons while on the Vestfjorden between Bodø and Stamsund. 300 people died and 150 were rescued. A second loss was Captain With’s old the Vesteraalen. On October 17, 1941, she was torpedoed by an unknown submarine north of Tromsø. Of the 61 people aboard, 54 died. A third ship lost in the war was the Sanct Svithun. Near Ervik at Stad she was attacked by British bombers on September 30, 1943, because British intelligence believed there was a large number of German soldiers aboard. This was not the case. 47 people died, 35 of them were Norwegians. The total number of lost lives on Hurtigruten during World War II was more than 700. The last Hurtigruten ship lost was also named the Sanct Svithun. October 21, 1962, she lost course at the infamous Folla north of Trondheim and ran ashore on a very small island near Nordøyan lighthouse. For some reason the ship sent out a wrong position and the rescue operation was severely delayed, which caused the death of 41 people. Hurtigruten remained the main south-north artery in Norway until about 40 years ago. The road connection between the north and south parts of Norway opened already in 1924, but remained for many decades a partly unpaved highway with quite

a few ferry crossings and also mountain passes, difficult to pass in winter. The Nordland railway between Trondheim and Bodø was not completed until the early 1960s. Airfields in the north were established by the Germans during World War II and in the late 1940s and 1950s by the Norwegian Air Force, supported by their NATO allies. But the first regular SAS flight connections to northern Norway did not start until the 1950s and it was not until the chain of smaller airports along the coast was opened in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Hurtigruten lost its dominating position in passenger travel. Though not as important by far as in the old days, Hurtigruten is still a lifeline for many communities and enterprises along the long Norwegian coast. This proved to be very true in April this year, when the ash from the volcano Eyjafjallajökull stopped all flights in most of northern Europe for several days. Suddenly the quays at places like Berlevåg and Hammerfest were packed with people normally flying to Tromsø, Bodø and other regional centres in the north of Norway.

Until the 1970s, five shipping companies shared operations on Hurtigruten: Bergenske, Nordenfjeldske, Vesteraalens, Ofotens Dampskibsselskab and Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab (whose Hurtigruten ships had their southern departure point in Stavanger). But the volumes of passengers and cargo fell, so a process of mergers and rationalization started. Stavangerske gave up Hurtigruten in 1978. Bergenske and Nordenfjeldske sold their Hurtigruten ships to TFDS (Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab) in 1979 and 1988 respectively. In 1987 Ofotens and Vesteraalens merged to OVDS. So at the turn of the century only TFDS (based in Tromsø) and OVDS (Narvik) remained as Hurtigruten operators. Due to unsatisfactory profitability and after years of discussions the two companies agreed to merge in 2005, forming a new listed company called Hurtigruten ASA. OVDS as well as TFDS had many other shipping operations apart from Hurtigruten, for instance local ferries and fast passenger ferries. These operations were initially included in the new Hurtigruten ASA company, but have been sold off during the last two years.

3 at 3 6 s 1: tu A si nd Vi sta

Time is not still

So why waste yours on static bilge water treatment? The hours you spend maintaining your bilge water treatment system – or waiting for the right conditions to operate it – are lost hours. That’s why static systems with batch operation and frequent filter changes are a poor match for the changing conditions at sea.

In a pitching and rolling environment, only a dynamic system like Alfa Laval’s PureBilge offers continuous bilge water treatment. PureBilge uses centrifugal separation – the same technology trusted to protect your engine – to handle varying bilge water feed and the toughest emulsions. The result is less time in the engine room. Not to mention less filter waste and reject.

PureBilge – a dynamic force in bilge water treatment

80 Shipgaz no 3 2010

By Rolf P Nilsson, rolf@shipgaz.com

Spotlight IMO

Major revisions of STCW The IMO Council decided to transfer GDP 500,000 from its reserves to WMU during 2010–2011. This is not a long-term solution and the Council has set up a correspondence group led by Sweden to consider a number of proposals to secure sustainable funding of the WMU. This will be discussed at the next Council session in November this year.

IMO: Rolf P Nilsson Rolf P Nilsson, Editor-in-Chief of Shipgaz, points the spotlight at IMO in each issue. Check this column to get the latest updates on what’s up in the IMO chambers.

TCW and WMU were two of the subjects that were handled by IMO during a busy summer. When the council of the IMO met at the London headquarters in June for its 104th regular session, a topic that had to be resolved was an acute under-funding of World Maritime University, WMU. During its nearly three decades of existence, the WMU has had to face financial problems several times, and the last couple of years have been challenging and turbulent for the organisation.

In 2007, an external investigation was launched to examine the situation at the school. Its findings were highly critical to the way the school was run and to the work of the external auditors. The report was however not made public and this made Sweden, being the largest contributor to the WMU react. Sida, being the Swedish government agency with WMU on its agenda, decided to emphasise its discontent with the hush-hush by cutting its financial contribution

»Sida decided to emphasise its discontent with the hush-hush by cutting its financial contribution to WMU by half« The World Maritime University is situated in Malmö, Sweden. The University operates on the basis of a charter adopted by the IMO Assembly.

Another topic that was discussed and that will be discussed again at the next session, was how to ease administrative burdens imposed on the shipping industry. Denmark, Sweden and Australia had submitted a proposal that i.e. includes an impact assessment procedure when introduction of new rules are planned, to not create unnecessary, administrative inconvenience. The Council supported this and it will be further developed before the next session. The council also awarded the International Maritime Prize for 2009 to Johan Franson, retired Director of Maritime Safety and Head of the Swedish Maritime Safety Inspectorate, for his contribution to maritime safety, security and prevention of pollution. Franson was chairman of the IMO Council 2005–2009.

for 2008 by half, to about USD 1.5 million. At the same time, Sida stated that Sweden’s commitment to WMU is long-term and that it hoped to return to the previous level of support. IMO has responded to the critique by deciding on a new charter for WMU from this year. The highest deciding body, the Board of Governors, will now consist of no more than 30 members, and a specific task will be financing. A new Executive Board has also been appointed as well as a new president. This spring WMU announced that it could be facing a EUR 900,000 budget deficit both for 2010 and 2011. A factor contributing to the deficit is that former donors have withdrawn their support due to the current world economic situation. Photo: AnnA LUnDBerg

WMU has announced that it could be facing a EUR 900,000 budget deficit both for 2010 and 2011.

A diplomatic conference held in Manila has adopted the revised STCW Convention (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for seafarers). Major revisions have been made to the Convention and the Code. One of the most significant items was provisions for hours of rest for watchkeepers. This was intensively debated and negotiated by regulators and industry representatives and the result was a compromise that increased the rest period from 70 to 77 hours a week and with a minimum of 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period. The 10-hour period may be divided into two, of which one must be at least six hours. The compromise also includes exceptions during exceptional circumstances during limited periods of time. They may for instance not exceed two consecutive weeks and the interval between two exception peri-

No 3 2010 Shipgaz 81

IMO

Spotlight Photo: Jörgen Språng

One significant change to the STCW code is an increase of the rest period for watchkeepers from 70 to 77 hours a week and with a minimum of 10 hours of rest in any 24-hour period.

ods must be at least twice the duration of the exception.

The STCW now also includes new and stricter health requirements for seafarers and an international blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.5 permillage. Other revised items or new ones include measures to prevent fraud with certificates of competence, training in environment awareness, leadership and teamwork, competence requirements for personnel on tankers, security training including coping with pirate attacks, introduction of new training methods such as distance learning and cbt, training for personnel on ships in polar waters and for DP operators. The new convention also includes stricter certification requirements for able seafarers. According to the new STCW, 12 real months of onboard practise will be required before a certificate is issued. This could however have consequences, especially for young becoming seafarers in traditional maritime nations, that haven’t been debated in any larger extent, at least not yet. In many of those countries, the requirement for practise at sea has been reduced by substituting actual seatime in merchant vessels with other meas-

»12 real months of onboard practise will be required before a certificate is issued« ures, such as training ashore and with onboard training schemes under supervision, where one month at sea is accepted as two. This way, a rating student can acquire all, or almost all, seatime needed within the educational system and enter the labour market with a certificate as an able seafarer directly after his or her exam.

The consequence could therefore be that it will be much tougher for young people to get the seatime needed to be qualified for an onboard position. Another possibility might be that more time has to be added to educational programmes, which could add to recruitment problems and also put further strain on available apprentice positions in the merchant fleet. The Manila conference closed on 25 June, and it was decided that this day would be set annually as “Day of the Seafarer”. A resolution encourages governments, shipping organizations, companies, shipowners and all other parties concerned to promote this day.

STCW The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers sets qualification standards for masters, officers and watch personnel on seagoing merchant ships.

This summer has also seen a number of important IMO regulations enter into force. The revised annex VI of the Marpol convention entered into force on 1 July, and to date it has been ratified by 59 countries with more than 84 per cent of the world merchant fleet measured in gross tonnage.

This means that global sulphur cap has been reduced to 3.5 per cent. In today’s two ECA’s (Emission Control Areas) covering the Baltic Sea area and the North Sea area including the English Channel, the cap is set to 1.0 per cent. The caps will be gradually lowered during the coming years and a further ECA will be established in North America. Progressive reductions of NOx emissions from marine engines have also come into force. New safety regulations have also come into force for new passenger ships, with focus on reducing accident risks and improving survivability. The International Code on Intact Stability (2008 IS Code) has also become mandatory. Amendments to Solas from May 2006 that has entered into force includes requirements concerning fire protection, life-saving appliances and arrangements, radio communications and navigational safety.

82 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Per Nyström, per@shipgaz.com

Spotlight Technology

Engine maintenance and repair, by whom? Technology: Per Nyström Per Nyström has a long experience as Chief Engineer, Shipyard Superintendent and troubleshooter when propulsion systems fail. He is part owner of FT Engineering AB.

n increasing number of shipowners appear to use independent workshops and consultants instead of engine manufacturers’ service and repair teams. Some shipowners also have their own maintenance team travelling between the ships of their fleet to perform maintenance work on the engines. The old practice of engine maintenance and repair by the ship’s crew is long gone, mainly due to the reduction in number of engine officers and crew over time. With today’s size of engine crew it is simply not possible to handle both day-to-day operation and engine maintenance.

The tendency over the last couple of years has been development of maintenance and repair methods, and in this field it appears that the independent workshops are leading the race. Many independent workshops have invested huge amounts of money in tools and machines for corrective repair of engines, enabling the independent workshop to perform work that previously could be done by the engine manufacturer only. Several independent workshops are today able to make advanced repairs as for instance corrective machining of engine entablatures and correc-

When it comes to repair, and not routine maintenance only, the engine manufacturer has the advantage of having access to a wide range of documentation, such as engine component drawings and advanced in-house engineering competence that can be utilised in difficult repair cases. In PHoTo: PER NYSTRÖM

Engine manufacturers and workshops authorised by the engine manufacturer certainly have access to documentation and information on the particular engine, which is not always available to the independent workshop. But it has to be born in mind that independent workshops and service engineers often have a background in the marine engine manufacturing industry or authorised service, and thereby have very good knowledge about the engines types they are dealing with. Field experience suggests that engine manufacturers’ service engineers and engine fitters have a tendency to replace components that could have been repaired and re-used for another overhaul cycle. It goes without saying that sparepart sales in connection with maintenance work is a major source of income for the engine manufacturer. The independent workshop is to a larger extent willing to repair or recondition components as far as this can be done within safe limits.

»Sparepart sales in connection with maintenance work is a major source of income for the engine manufacturer«

tive machining of crankshafts and camshafts. Also smaller independent workshops often have workshop facilities with all kinds of machines for overhaul of cylinderheads, pistons, cylinderliners and so on, usually the same type of equipment that can be found in the engine maker’s repair shop. Independent service engineers have also developed their instrumentation and tools over the last years and are usually able to perform advanced analysis of engine processes, for troubleshooting and optimising of performance for main engines and auxiliary machinery. Software is now an essential part of the service engineer’s toolbox, for analysing of engine and boiler combustion, vibration analysis and all sorts of calculation work related to maintenance and repair.

Advanced repair of camshaft by independent workshop.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 83

Technology

the old days the engine maintenance manuals contained detailed information of all engine components. Measurements and tolerances were given for all components and repair methods were described. Modern manuals often limit the information of the engine components to a bare minimum, and the engine maker is usually reluctant to share the necessary information with independent workshops or service engineers or even end users of their engines. Engine manufactures have obviously learned from the automotive industry. They also provided ample information in their manuals many years ago, today it is limited to how to start the car engine and how to tune in the radio.

»Modern manuals often limit the information of the engine components to a bare minimum«

Spotlight

FOR DIESEL ENGINE MAINTENANCE

The number of independent workshops providing maintenance and engine service has grown over the last couple of years, while the number of engine manufacturers has decreased and many engine brands have disappeared from the market. Many of the latter have been acquired by the major engine manufacturers, therefore spareparts for older types of these engines are sometimes hard to come by, or has extremely long delivery time thus affecting efficient maintenance of such an engine. Shipyards often offer engine overhaul service, sometimes in cooperation with the engine maker or independent workshops. But it is not always that the shipowner has the option of choice. In times when shipyards have lack of repair work they may refuse service technicians and external fitters to enter the shipyard, thereby forcing the owner to use shipyard people to perform the overhaul and maintenance work, which is not always successful.

It is an important decision the ship’s superintendent has to make, evaluating what alternative for the maintenance service he or she should go for. It is not always the price of mechanics per hour that is the best criterion for a successful result of the maintenance or repair.

THE BEST INVESTMENT FOR YOUR VESSEL - PUTS YOUR DIESEL AHEAD WE ALSO CARRY OUT THE WORK, IN-SITU OR IN OUR WORKSHOPS WORLDWIDE SALES AND SERVICE NETWORK -

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84 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Technical Review

Emergency UK Communications and safety at sea specialist Ocean Signal will launch three new GMDSS products at the SMM exhibition in Hamburg. The SafeSea E100 and E100G Epirbs have the longest quoted operational battery lives in the industry with enough capacity to operate the Epirb continuously, typically for four whole days, even using the E100G with GPS fix and in worst case temperatures to –20° C.

The SafeSea S100 SART is a dedicated radar transponder that complies with IMO SOLAS regulations. In common with the SafeSea Epirb, the S100 SART has a user replaceable battery which is classified as non-hazardous for shipment. The SafeSea SART is waterproof to a depth of 10 metres and operates between –20° C and +55° C. The SafeSea V100 GMDSS hand held radio is a rugged, fully featured portable GMDSS radiotelephone complying with the IMO performance standards for use in survival craft and exceeding GMDSS environmental requirements. The radio is supplied with all 21 international simplex channels, as required by the regulations. The emergency lithium primary battery has a protection tab that avoids inadvertent use. Only when the tab is broken off will the battery operate the radio, ensuring the pack is at full capacity when needed.

Photo: Norden

Photo: Ocean Signal

GMDSS handhelds with longlife battery

The redesign consists of a larger main engine, which is optimized to a lower rotation speed, and a larger propeller.

New vessel design saves fuel Design A change in the design of two new handysize dry cargo vessels cuts off 11 per cent of the fuel consumption and hereby also the CO2 emission. The renewed design is expected to be used on more future newbuildings. A larger main engine and a larger propeller are the main ingredients in how D/S Norden A/S – in cooperation with the Jiangmen Nanyang Shipyard (JNS), Shanghai Bestway Marine Engineering Design and Stone Marine Propulsion – has modified a vessel design to achieve a significant reduction in the fuel consumption on two of Norden’s new handysize vessels.

“According to our calculations the investments in redesign will be paid back in four years by the savings in fuel consumption. In addition to this, we expect that the design will increase the market value of the vessels. This initiative is a text book example of how environmental and economic concerns walk hand in hand, which is why we have had no doubts whether we should invest in this project or not. At the same time this is yet another step to ensure progress in our work in the climate area”, says Senior Vice President Lars Lundegaard, Head of Norden’s Technical Department. Senior New Building Manager Alex Hjort-

næs from the Newbuilding Section in the Technical Department is the man behind the idea of the modified design. In short, the redesign consists of a larger main engine, which is optimized to a lower rotation speed, and a larger propeller. The design is developed from the principle that a large propeller turning slowly has a higher efficiency compared to a small propeller turning quickly. The two new vessels, which will be delivered at the turn of the year 2011/2012, will also be fitted according to Norden’s usual initiatives to achieve the most environmentally friendly design. These initiatives are generally estimated to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emission by approximately 3 per cent. On top of this comes one of Norden’s latest initiatives; new antifoulings that will potentially cut off another 2 per cent in fuel consumption and CO2, because they reduce the vessel’s propulsion resistance in the water. On the two new handysize vessels, Norden’s calculations show that energy economy can be improved by approximately 15.4 per cent in total. Norden currently investigates how the changed design can be implemented on future newbuildings.

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 85

Technical Review Photo: Ingrid Fiebak-Kremer

Photo: Gibdock

The Celebrity Solstice.

First vessels with new Azipods

Hydroblasting robot at work. The system cleans using the energy of water striking the hull’s surface, operating at pressures as high as 55,000 psi.

Blasting robot cut yard schedule Maintenance First use of an advanced

blasting technology has enabled shipyard Gibdock to redeliver three Danish-owned containerships that required full hull blasting and coating ahead of schedule. The Gibraltar yard undertook blasting and painting for all three ships within the owner’s time requirements of 29 days. However, the use of a robotic system on the third ship made a discernible difference to workrates. Widely used for high profile cruise ships, oil tankers and above ground storage tanks, the Envirobot developed by Chariot Robotics is equally appropriate across a range of vessels. Operated by one individual, the robot uses patented magnetic air gap technology that allows it to sweep or full blast, back and forth across the hull’s flat bottom, vertical sides, bow and stern shapes equally. The ultra high pressure (UHP) Envirobot was used to blast 2,000 square metres of hull underwater in the ship’s mid-section, with wetblasting used on the curved bow and stern sections. “The UHP standard is perfect and there is no flash rust due to the combination of vacuum and warming of the steel during the process, which causes the residual wa-

ter to evaporate quickly”, said Joe Corvelli, Gibdock Chief Executive. “What impressed us was the reliability of the Chariot Robotics equipment. This has been an issue with some UHP systems in the past.” The system cleans using the energy of water striking the hull’s surface, operating at pressures as high as 55,000 psi (pounds per square inch). As no abrasives are used in the process, dust pollution does not occur and the need to dispose of spent abrasives is eliminated. Gibdock Production Director, John Taylor, said that redelivery of the third ship had been achieved in fewer hours than her predecessors. “The technique was quicker overall, and we were able to avoid the need to dispose of grit with this ship. While the wetblasting approach limits dust, the robotic UHP is even more environmentally friendly as there is no grit in its process at all”, said Mr Taylor. “What we have done is to recover all of the effluent (water, paint and corrosion) using a straightforward water treatment, which allows us to deliver a surface that is ready for coating immediately after blasting”, said Bruno Vasconcelos Bruxelas, General Manager at Chariot Robotics.

Propulsion The first units of Azipod XO, launched by ABB Marine earlier this year, have been specified by Japanese owners covering installation on board two high-speed ferries. And in a separate order, the fifth vessel in the Solstice class of ships to be delivered to Celebrity Cruises by Meyer Werft, will feature Azipod XO units, where previous newbuildings have featured ‘classical’ Azipod technology. The order covering Solstice 5 includes propulsion drives and two Azipod units, generators, switchboards, thruster motors and transformers.

Compared to the first Solstice class vessels, the Azipod has been changed from the Azipod VO to Azipod XO2100, and simultaneously the power has been reduced from 20 MW to 17.5 MW, as a consequence of the owner specifying that operational ship speed could be reduced moderately. In the case of the Japanese ro-ro ferry, ABB Marine equipment including CRP Azipod equipment will be installed on high speed ro-ro passenger ferries in order to achieve operational speeds of 27.5 knots. The vessels will feature one 12.9 MW Azipod XC2100 unit apiece behind the mechanically driven shaft-line propeller. This configuration ensures improvement in ship hydrodynamical efficiency and about 20 per cent reduced fuel consumption has been recorded in earlier similar installations. The scope of supply also includes generators, main switchboard, thruster motors and transformers. In developing the XO range, the new product has been modified significantly in line with customer requirements to feature a revised bearing and sealing arrangement, involving the complete separation of the oil and water seals, and a void space factored into the hull design to accommodate possible seal leakages or ingress from the sea.

86 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Technical Review Photo: Volvo Penta

Photo: Wärtsilä

Energopac.

Trials showed cost savings Propulsion Wärtsilä’s Energopac is an integrated propeller and rudder design that effectively reduces flow separation behind the propeller hub, thereby reducing frictional drag while preserving course-keeping capabilities. In recent trials carried out in co-operation with the Spliethoff Group, a company that manages more than 55 multi-purpose cargo vessels, it was shown that the solution delivers significant reductions in fuel costs. The trials involved eight 17,700 dwt vessels, six of which were fitted with standard rudders and two with Energopac. The trials have shown that the Energopac solution saves close to 4 per cent power in design condition. This represents annual fuel cost savings of more than USD 120,000 (at fuel prices in July 2010).

Wärtsilä’s Energopac is an easy-toinstall rudder/propeller combination that features a rudder bulb located behind the propeller hub. The bulb is mounted on a custom-designed full-spade flap rudder. As each Energopac installation is designed to fit a specific vessel, it can be fully optimized for energy efficiency without compromising manoeuvrability or comfort levels. High performance propeller designs usually involve a compromise between increased efficiency and reduced vibration levels. Differences in rudder resistance are significant, especially when small corrective steering forces are used to keep a vessel on course. Energopac’s full-spade flap rudder delivers excellent rudder balance and manoeuvring performance, and also enables a smaller overall rudder blade area with lower consequent rudder drag. In transit conditions, where only relatively small steering angles are required to keep the vessel on course, the rudder bulb remains within the shadow of the fairing cap wake.

The D13-700.

Low emission inboard diesel for work boats Propulsion Volvo Penta is introducing the D13, a new inboard marine diesel for marine commercial applications. The D13 is available in 700 hp and 800 hp versions and delivers high performance with low fuel consumption and minimal exhaust emissions. It is suitable for fast patrol boats in high speed operations as well as for high-performance work boats requiring low life-cycle costs.

One feature of Volvo Penta’s inboard diesels is their high torque from low rpm, a prerequisite for rapid and safe acceleration. The new D13 is equipped with Volvo Penta’s highly efficient twin-entry turbo with pulse charging – the power in each exhaust pulse provides the pulse pressure. The D13-800 features dual-stage turbo technology that helps produce a torque of over 2900 Nm even at 800 rpm. This gives superb acceleration with virtually no sign of smoke. Another important feature is that the D13 retains a very high torque throughout its speed range. This makes it possible to maintain good operating speed even with a heavily loaded boat or in rough seas. EMS 2, the engine control system developed by Volvo, regulates fuel injection and monitors engine conditions. The system controls the unit injectors, one per cylinder, which operate at a pressure of 2,000 bar and atomize the fuel for optimum combustion. The result is lower fuel consumption for the D13 than the previous model, at the same power output. The D13 is also very low on noxious emis-

sions and particulates. All versions are certified to the IMO NOx Tier 2, EU IWW, and US EPA Tier 2 requirements. They also meet the upcoming US EPA Tier 3 emission regulations – the world’s most stringent. The D13 is available with quick-shift reverse gear that provides very fast but soft shifting with a minimum delay. The reverse gear also comes with a low-speed function as standard, which means that the speed when idling drops by 50 per cent. Low-speed mode is available as an option for all reverse gears. The D13-800 and D13-700 have the same robust basic architecture as the Volvo D9, D11, and D16 inline-6 diesel engine platform. The platform features a robust block design, wet liners, rear-end transmission, ladder frame and a single cylinder head with overhead camshaft operating four valves per cylinder and the injectors. This contributes to smooth running, high reliability and longterm durability. EVC-D, a new generation of the proven Electronic Vessel Control, offers new and useful features. The new series of controls are ergonomically designed and allow for manoeuvring with fingertip precision in any situation. Integrated pushbuttons give easy access to functions such as low-speed mode, cruise control and single-lever mode, which allows safe and easy handling. Engine synchronization is standard in twin installations. The EVC system features a self-diagnostic function, which indicates at the helm if a failure should occur.

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88 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Fleet Review Photo: Selim San

Photo: Joachim Sjöström

SCA trio taken over Purchase Rederi AB Transatlantic has acquired the ownership companies of the ro-ro vessels Ortviken, Östrand and Obbola. Before that, the vessels were on bareboat charter to Transatlantic. The trio will continue their time charter to SCA Transforest, carrying forest products between Sweden and the North Sea area. The time charter agreement runs until 2016. The Ortviken, Östrand and Obbola were built in Spain 1996 to replace the SCA-ships Munksund, Tunadal and Holmsund in SCA Transforest’s system shipments. The layout of the old vessels was conventional with hatches, but the new trio introduced a totally new transport system based upon cassettes.

First Bro name

Seven Scandinavian ro-ros to the breakers Recycling Seven Scandinavian ro-ros have gone to the breakers the last six months, due to the nonexistent second-hand market for these older units. Six of them have in the DFDS network, while one is a former Transocean vessel. This vessel is the Oak, ex Transoak, which has been laying at Landskrona for more than a year. The vessel has now been sold to a so-called cash-buyer. Shortly the ship will sail for India for recycling. The vessel was built in 1984 by Hanjin at Busan as the Ada Gorthon. In late July, two former DFDS-chartered ro-ros arrived at Alang, India, to be recycled. One was the Dubai Star, ex Tor Belgia, which was beached on July 25. The other was the Minerva, ex Tor Minerva, which was beached on July 26. The Tor Minerva was built in 1978 at Oskarshamn for the OT Group at Skärhamn and started sailing as the Bandar Abbas Express. The ro-ro has sailed under nine names in her lifetime, one was the Boracay under Fred Olsen colours. The Dubai Star, ex Tor Belgia, was also

built in 1978, but at Dunkerque, France, as a combined commercial ro-ro vessel and a naval transport vessel. Its first name was the Ville du Havre and ever since it has sailed under eight names. Earlier this year DFDS sold their Tor Anglia for recycling in China, and late last year the Sea Corona was recycled in India. In June, the Norwegian owned Humbria, ex Tor Humbria, arrived in Aliaga, Turkey, for recycling. The Tor Humbria, another one built in 1978 also at Oskarshamn for the OT Group, started its career as the Emirates Express and came to Fred Olsen’s fleet in 1989 as the Borac. In 1999, the complete Fred Olsen ro-ro network was taken over by DFDS and the roro’s name changed to the Tor Humbria. The seventh ro-ro on the trail for recycling is the former Tor Bellona, which has been redelivered from DFDS to its Norwegian owners Eidsiva Group and is presently on a voyage bound for Alang under the name the Eurasian Link after a sale to a cash-buyer.

BerCom

Renaming The A P Møller-Mærsk owned tanker Nibe Mærsk is the first unit to switch names to match the Broström fleet. The Nibe Mærsk now sails under the name Bro Nibe. The tanker has a deadweight of 16,400 tons and is part of the Broström fleet. Broström operates all tankers below 25,000 DWT in the A P Møller-Mærsk group. The Bro Nibe is one of five N class tankers owned in the A P Møller-Mærsk group and was built in Shanghai along with another four chartered tankers owned by the German Harren & Partners.

The Tor Humbria at the breaker’s yard in Aliaga, Turkey.

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Sanitary Systems – made to please

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 89

Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: MOL

Baltic services restructured The GDF Suez Cape Ann is co-owned by Höegh LNG and MOL.

Shuttle and regasification vessel Delivery Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea has on June 1, 2010, completed the 80,858 DWT shuttle and regasification vessel GDF Suez Cape Ann, which is co-owned by Höegh LNG and Mitsui OSK Lines. Like her sister vessel, the GDF Suez Neptune, which was delivered in November 2009, she has entered a 20-year time charter for the GDF Suez group. The vessels are designed for LNG transports to GDF Suez’s new Neptune LNG Deep Water Port off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA, as well as to other GDF Suez-projects around the world.

Technical management of the vessels is handled by Höegh LNG Fleet Management AS. The cargo capacity of the 280-metre long vessels is 145,130 cbm. The GDF Suez Cape Ann and her sister are built to Det Norske Veritas Class and fly the Norwegian NIS-flag. The GDF Suez Cape Ann and the GDF Suez

Neptune are equipped with their own LNG regasification system, allowing them to regasify and discharge natural gas under high pressure directly into a designated deep water port. The vessels incorporate a reinforced GTT MKIII cargo containment system and are fitted with three state-of-the-art regasification skids for a total maximum daily output capacity of approximately 21 million standard cbm of natural gas. They are also fully capable of operating as standard LNG carriers. The vessels’ dual fuel, diesel-electric propulsion system enables a substantial improvement in overall propulsion efficiency and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. They have received the “Green Passport” from Det Norske Veritas, certifying the environmental considerations taken when constructing, operating and ultimately disposing of the vessels.

Rotation Team Lines is restructuring some of its current container feeder services to Finland, Russia and Poland. The new setup is stated to enable fast and reliable transit time to and from Hamburg and Bremerhaven. Rotterdam will no longer be included in the rotations. Team Lines offers two weekly calls to the port of St Petersburg as well as two weekly services connecting Hamburg/Bremerhaven with Kotka/Helsinki with the 1,400-TEU vessels the Emotion, A La Marine, Empire and Elysee.

Kristina Regina becomes hotel Veteran Kristina Cruises has sold the cruise vessel Kristina Regina to its new owner Oy s/s Borea Ab. Built in Oskars hamn, Sweden, in 1960, the veteran will be permanently moored in the River Aura in Turku during the autumn and operated as a floating hotel, restaurant and museum. After docking in spring 2011 she will get her original name Bore back and be painted in Bore Steamship Company’s livery, in the same way as when she started traffic between Turku and Stockholm in 1960. The Bore was built as a steamer, but converted into a motor vessel when Kristina Cruises bought her in 1987.

Motor spare parts and good customer service Motor-Service Sweden AB Address: Mölna Fabriksväg 8, SE-610 72 Vagnhärad, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)156 34040 Fax: +46 (0)156 209 40 sales@motor-service.se www.motor-service.se Annons 1 - 61x185.indd 1

2010-07-30 10:49:25

90 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Fleet Review Photo: DS Norden

The Nord Shanghai has been sold to Russian buyers for USD 110 million.

Secondhand transactions in the Nordic market Month Name

Dwt

Built

Type

From

Price

Buyer

tanker

Westfal-Larsen Sh, Bergen

breaking India

bulk

Einarsen Sh, Karmøy

NOK 1.9 m

Molde Sjøtransport, Molde

tanker

Chem Glory AS, Oslo

North Oil Projects, Panama

Tschudi Shipping, Cph

USD 2.5 m

Greeks

bulk

Eide Maritim, Harstad

FE Shipping AS, Bodø

dry cargo

Gelre CV, Delfzijl

Bontveit Rederi, Atløy

tanker

James Fisher plc, London

Bergen Tankers, Bergen

tanker

Broström Tankers, Göteborg

USD 5.0 m

Far East

tanker

Broström Tankers, Göteborg

en bloc

Far East

psv

Farstad Shipping, Ålesund

Far East

bulk

DS Norden, Copenhagen

USD 110 m

Russia

32,700 2010

bulk

DS Norden, Copenhagen

en bloc

Russia

32,700 2010

bulk

DS Norden, Copenhagen

en bloc

Russia

Jiangsu resale

32,700 2010

bulk

DS Norden, Copenhagen

en bloc

Russia

Yangzhou resale

58,000 2011

bulk

undisclosed

USD 32.5 m

Spar Shipping, Bergen

Yangzhou resale

58,000 2011

bulk

undisclosed

USD 32.5 m

Spar Shipping, Bergen

Jiangsu resale

32,700 2010

bulk

undisclosed

USD 24.5 m

Western Bulk, Oslo

Miss Claudia

40,158 2006

tanker

Perserveranza, Italy

USD 27.2 m

DS Norden, Cph

Trogir

40,000 1995

tanker

Novoship, Moscow

USD 11 m

Champion Tankers, Bergen

Champion Arctic

48,000 1986

tanker

Champion Tankers, Bergen

USD 6.1 m

breaking

Champion Polar

48,000 1986

tanker

Champion Tankers, Bergen

USD 6.1 m

breaking

Jaya Alliance

Jaya Offshore, Singapore

Myklebusthaug, Fonnes

Kongsvik

Arve Norstrand, Florø

Caribbean

Skandi Emerald

Lauparen

Hein

May

Fossanger

40,264 1988

Nyvåg

Global Bislet

29,815 1992

Eva Danielsen

4,279 1986

mpp

Eide Junior

2,400 1978

Gelre

2,249 1992

Supremity

4,420 2007

Bro Venture

7,474 1995

Bro Opti

7,474 1995

Far Viscount

1,200 1882

Nord Shanghai

32,700 2010

Nord Mumbai

Jiangsu resale

673 1968

1,400 2009 ahts 640 1960 3,180 2011 277* 1983 2,025 1971

dry cargo ahts

DOF ASA, Austevoll

USD 65m

Vietsovpetro, Haiphong

catamaran

Fjord1 MRF, Molde

St Vincent

bulk

Jacobsen Sh, Haugesund

Falkeid Sh, Stavanger

Remarks/New name

bb back

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 91

Fleet Review

Amrum Trader

8,081 1997

container

H Buss, Leer

Myklebusthaug, Fonnes

Green Autumn

6,348 1982

reefer

Green Autumn KS, Bergen

breaking India

Sanko Unity

Unity Tankships, Japan

Saga Tankers, Oslo

Klampenborg

mpp

Dannebrog Rederi, Copenhagen

Jutha Maritime, Singapore

June

Elinor Marit

254 1961

dry cargo

Jarle Torkelsen, Mosterhamn

St Pierre & Miquelon

Champion Lion

45,979 1985

products

Champion Sh, Bergen

USD 4.56 m

breaking

Maersk Jade

38,000c 2006 LPG

A P Møller-Maersk, Cph

USD 45 m

incl TC

Maersk Jewel

38,000c 2006 LPG

A P Møller-Maersk, Cph

USD 45 m

incl TC

Sujin

KS MV Sujin, Cph

Polar Queen

Golden Future

July

Begonia I

Amaranta

Seabed Viking

3,700 2010

Cochin resale

4,900 2010

Cochin resale

298,920 2000 tanker 12,800 1982

12,854 1992

container

DS Schiffahrt, Hamburg

USD 2.9 m

14,149* 2001

cablelayer

Rieber Shipping, Bergen

Acergy

bulk

Golden Ocean, Oslo

USD 72 m

Knightsbridge, London

container

Genfer I AS, Oslo

USD 8 m

O H Nesheim, Haugesund

Peter Döhle, Hamburg

USD 50.5 m

GTB Invest, Oslo

psv

Seabed, Bergen

NOK 300 m

Farstad Shipping, Ålesund

psv

DOF, Austevoll

USD 54 m

undisclosed

4,900 2010

psv

DOF, Austevoll

USD 54 m

undisclosed

22,748* 1980

roro

Norwegian Car Carriers, Oslo

USD 3.45 m

undisclosed

176,000 2010 12,119 2007

58,254 2003 container

August Tor Bellona

Newbuilding contracts in the Nordic market Month

Owner

Nat

Dwt

Type

Shipyard

Delivery

Value

May

ESL Shipping

Fin

56,150

bulk

Hyundai Mipo

1h12

USD 78.2 m en bloc

Remarks

ESL Shipping

Fin

56,150

bulk

Hyundai Mipo

1h12

Simon Møkster

93.5

psv

STX Søviknes

1q12

NOK 360 m

Em Z Svitzer

Den

tug

Baltija SB

Eco-tug

Em Z Svitzer

Den

tug

Baltija SB

Eco-tug Eco-tug

PSV09LCD

Em Z Svitzer

Den

tug

Baltija SB

Rem Offshore

5,300

psv

STX Langsten

4q11

NOK 375 m

PSV09

Rem Offshore

5,300

psv

STX Langsten

1q12

NOK 375 m

PSV09

Stena Bulk

158,000

tanker

Samsung

12.12

USD 69.5 m

(no 7)

June

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

Grieg Shipping

49,000

o-hatch

Hyundai Mipo

USD 49 m

J O Odfjell

74,500

tanker

STX Korea

end 12

J O Odfjell

74,500

tanker

STX Korea

beg 13

IMO2

Fjord1 FSF

130 m

ferry

Fiskerstrand BLRT

11.11

242 cars, LNG-fuelled

Frontline

156,900

tanker

Jiangsu Rongsheng

abt USD 67.5 m

Frontline

156,900

tanker

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No 4 2010 Shipgaz 93

By Anne Nordström, info@shipgaz.com

Stellan Skarsgård

Report

From sailor to Hollywood star

Shipgaz has met Stellan Skarsgård, who talks about his favourite parts in Nordic films, and shares some sea related memories from the past. Everyone knows Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård is a Hollywood star. Not that many, though, are familiar with the fact that he began his career working at sea. Stellan Skarsgård and his best friend managed to sign on to the Axel Gorthon, only 14 years old. That was illegal, as they were too young. “I worked as a mess boy, doing dish washing and serving the crew during one summer. My friend was a deck boy.” Unlike his brother, who works at sea as a chief engineer, Stellan Skarsgård did not appear as a sailor again until he later became an actor.

Stellan Skarsgård’s favourite acting performances have been in Nordic productions. In the Norwegian film Kjaerligehtens Kjoetere, from 1995 – known abroad as Zero Kelvin – he plays a character who is an ex sailor. In two others, the Norwegian film Aberdeen and the Danish film Breaking the Waves, his character is or has

been working on on an oil rig. According to Stellan Skarsgård, the Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland has given him some of the best roles of his career, even if “I look ugly in all of them.” Moland and Skarsgård got to know each other when they filmed Zero Kelvin in 1995. The movie was shot in Svalbard. The film team was equipped with magnum revolvers to ward off polar bears. Stellan recalls that there were no houses at the filming location, besides the barracks where the main characters were supposed to live in the fiction film. The film team had to stay on board a ship at nights. The ship was not built for Arctic weather.

»I worked as a mess boy, doing dish washing and serving the crew« Stellan Skarsgård, 59, with a track record of acting in 108 film so far, several of which are related to working at sea in some way.

“The Captain on board was from northern Norway. He was deeply religious and prayed every morning.” The ship was not equipped with

an echo sounder, and since the waters were unknown they ran aground near Ny-Ålesund, which is one of the world’s northernmost human settlements. “One stormy night I heard a splashing sound and noticed seawater coming in through an open porthole. I shut it and I also noticed a door on deck wide open, loudly banging.”

Being an atheist, Stellan Skarsgård and others on board took no comfort in prayers. They were worried. In Zero Kelvin Stellan plays a cynical ex sailor, Randbæck, who has lost his faith in love. His opposite number, young Larsen, is romantic and naïve, which makes them a perfect match. Like a wolf Randbæck bites at every line Larsen lets out. Some of them are amusingly bitter. Once Randbæck says (about Larsen): “He’s got more hair in his ass than it takes to knit a Norwegian lusekofte”. “I was allowed to improvise some

Photo: Filmarkivet / Sandrews

In the middle, Stellan Skarsgård as Randbæck in Zero Kelvin.

94 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Report Stellan Skarsgård Photo: Filmarkivet

Stellan Skarsgård and Lars Von Trier working together in Breaking the Waves.

Photo: Anne Nordström

of my lines and my mother helped me with it, as for example the line about knitting a lusekofte”. Another of Stellan Skarsgård’s favourite acting roles is in director Hans Petter Moland’s Aberdeen from 2001. There he plays a blind drunk father – an ex oil rig worker.

“When you play drunk you have to relax so much that you almost crash. Then you have to try to keep straight. My kids liked it so much they said ‘Play drunk!’ when I got back from work. So I stumbled into furniture the best I could.” In director Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves Stellan Skarsgård plays another oil rig worker, recently married Jan, who is severely injured while working on the oil rig. “Working with Lars von Trier is fun. Actors can improvise and do whatever comes to mind. Lars is very skilful.”

Stellan Skarsgård’s son Alexander has also agreed to try out oil rig life, playing the main role in director Hans Petter Moland’s next film, an oil rig thriller called The Elephant. The film is based on a novel by Magnar Jonsgaard, who worked on several oil platforms

in the North Sea during the 1970s. The story of a menacing oil rig explosion in the frigid North Sea almost foretold the real disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Hans Petter Moland commented in The Business of Film: “This story changed an entire society. It is Norway’s rags-to-riches story, and at its core it reveals the abuse of

At the moment, Stellan Skarsgård and his son Alexander are filming Lars von Trier’s new movie Melancholia in Trollhättan, Sweden.

huge wealth and its impact on individual lives.” The odds on Stellan Skarsgård getting a part in The Elephant ought to be low, based on Moland’s and Skarsgård’s regular habits. Besides acting, Stellan Skarsgård has also been a coproducer of Aberdeen and Moland’s latest A Somewhat Gentle Man.

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96 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com

Retro The Danena Group

Photo: bent mikkelsen

The Anna Johanne was officially on order 30 years before delivery.

The end of an empire In 1931 Ejnar Nygaard bought his first ship and laid the foundation for Danena Group – 80 years later the story ends. “The Danena Group has sold their last vessel” made the headlines in May. It was when the group sold the 17-year old chemical tanker Anna Johanne to Uruguay. That was not only the sale of an aging tanker. It was also the final closure of an empire formed by the ambitious mariner Ejnar Nygaard while he was out having adventures on the high seas in his early days. The founder Ejnar Nygaard died in

1996 at the age of 93. Since his death the group has been kept running by his oldest daughter Inger Nygaard on behalf of her sisters Bodil and their brother Erik. Gradually the ships in the fleet have been sold off until the sale of the Anna Johanne in May. It all started in 1903, when Ejnar

»It was very special to sail on the Chinese Rivers« Ejnar Nygaard was the founder of Danena Group. He died in 1996.

Nygaard was born as the son of captain Niels Marinus Nygaard. The father was the captain owner of several smaller freighters employed in the Baltic trade.

These ships were Ejnar Nygaard’s first entrance to the maritime world. After some years he left the local waters and signed up for a contract on the Norwegian flagged full-rigged ship Lancing. On this vessel Ejnar

No 4 2010 Shipgaz 97

The Danena Group

Retro

After Ejnar Nygaard recieved his captain’s license he became the chief mate on a small American tanker from Standard Oil of California. Photo: danena group

Nygaard crossed the Atlantic several times carrying grain to Europe. On one voyage the Lancing left New York at the same time as one of DFDS’ high-powered immigrant passenger steamships, the Frederik VII, but with fair wind from the right direction the Lancing arrived in Scandinavia before the steamer. After being on a pure sailing vessel Ejnar Nygaard was able to take his captain license and took up an assignment as chief mate on a small American tanker from Standard Oil of California, trading on the Yangtze River in China.

Photo: bent mikkelsen

»In 1937 Ejnar Nygaard got his first newbuilding sailing, but under foreign flag«

“It was very special to sail on the Chinese Rivers”, Ejnar Nygaard once told me. “In order to sail up on the smaller wings of the river we had up to 50 Chinese men on the banks acting as human tugs and we paid them by throwing silver dollars on the banks.” Ejnar Nygaard’s overseas adventures were over by around 1930, when he went home and got married to Anna Johanne. In 1931 he bought his first vessel. It was a steel-hull ship, built in 1922 in Marstal. It was named the Erna and with this ship, capable of carrying 250 DWT, Ejnar Nygaard started in the Baltic trade. The Erna was later lengthened to 300 DWT, and in the late 1950s rebuilt to a suction dredger and was in the fleet until it was broken up in 1978 after 47 years under Nygaard’s colours.

In 1937 Ejnar Nygaard got his first newbuilding sailing but under foreign flag. It was the coaster named the Helen, which was delivered from Van Diepen’s shipyard in Waterhuizen in Holland. The Helen had Danzig as port of registry due to its attractive registration and tax rules. In 1938 the vessel was transferred to the Danish flag and had a long life as dry cargo coaster and later as a suction dredger until sold off in 1978. The need for repair and lengthening of coasters (the Helen was length-

The Heimdal was the first dredger in the Danena fleet. The picture is taken in 1953. ened in 1944 at Aalborg Værft) made Ejnar Nygaard think. He wanted to have a shipyard to take care of his vessels. In 1946 he asked the port authorities in his hometown of Aarhus, but got a negative answer. Aarhus had already three shipyards and there was no need of a fourth. Instead he received positive response from the port authorities at Aalborg. So it was Aalborg that became the hometown his shipyard named LimfjordsVærftet. It opened for business in 1947. The first jobs were the conversion of two old passenger vessels (steamers), which Nygaard has purchased. One

Danena Founded in 1943 by Captain Ejnar Nygaard, Aarhus. The company started out with cargo ships but later, Ejnar Nygaard went on to operating suction dredgers.

of them, the Hertha, built Göteborg in 1877, had the engine plant removed and was fitted with a modern diesel plant for trading on the Aarhus–Tunø run, in which Ejnar Nygaard was shareholder. The other passenger steamer was the Heimdal, built 1898 by Henry Koch of Lübeck. That vessel, which continued with the same name until it was scrapped in 1984, became Ejnar Nygaard’s ticket into the dredging business – by coincident, in fact.

In the years after WW2 it was difficult to obtain steel plate and other essential materials for shipbuilding.

98 Shipgaz No 4 2010

Retro The Danena Group Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

»With 30 years delay, Nygaard revived his old dream and ordered a sister ship« which 10 were built by Ejnar Nygaard’s own Limfjord-Værftet A/S. The dredgers were named Helge, Erna, Heimdal, Titan, Asco, Atlas, Lolli, Knoben, Kronos, Gaia, Rheia, Skandia, Botnia, Nordia-N, Barren and Baltic, which was the last dredger delivered in 1984.

The Baltic was the last dredger to be delivered from the Limfjords-Værftet. She was delivered in 1984. So the conversion of the Heimdal took relatively long time seen with today’s eyes. What started in 1949 ended in 1952, when the Heimdal was delivered as a stonefishing vessel. Shortly before, Ejnar Nygaard had hired Kjeld Heiberg Petersen as in-house constructor and engineer to take care of the technical details on the ships. One of his colleagues was in the group of engineers responsible for building the new Skagen port. They contacted Nygaard and Heiberg Petersen and asked if they could provide a suction dredger for delivering 100,000 cubic metres of reclaimed

LimfjordsVærftet It opened for business in 1947. The first jobs were the conversion of two old passenger vessels (steamers), which Ejnar Nygaard had purchased.

sand for the building of the harbour in Skagen.

So the Heimdal was sent back to Limfjords-Værftet in Aalborg and was rebuilt to a suction dredger fitted with some very modern features like hydraulic remote control of the winch lifting the dredging pipe. The job at Skagen became very good business for Ejnar Nygaard and the Danena Group and slowly, during the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the dredging business became the core business in the Danena Group. In the mid 1970s, the fleet reached a peak with 16 suction dredgers, of

The chemical tanker Anna Johanne has its own special story in the Danena Group. Originally it was ordered at Limfjords-Værftet in 1964, but not delivered until 1993. Ejnar Nygaard met with fellow Aarhus-based shipowner Niels Birger Terkildsen, Terkol-Rederierne, in 1964 on a ferry crossing from Kalundborg to Aarhus, shortly after Terkildsen took delivery of his first tanker newbuilding Terkol from Krögerwerft at Rendsburg. Ejnar Nygaard saw the vessel and found it nice and attractive. He decided that he would build a sister ship and let Terkol-Rederierne take care of it. Years went by, and Terkol-Rederierne sold off their Rendsburger 1,000-tonners and started a series of 3,100 DWT chemical tankers from Nordsøværftet in Ringkøbing. So with 30 years delay, Nygaard revived his old dream and ordered a sister ship, to be delivered as a knock-down ship, at his own shipyard in Aalborg. The building of the tanker took a considerably long time and started in April 1991 with delivery of the finished vessel in February 1994 (officially in December 1993).

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Brand new magazine

Shipgaz visits the Orasund alongside:

Fixing up a Dane

Officer labour market untouched

Grimaldi – an A ragged beauty Italian conqueror An ST Army Tug with the

Despite alarming headlines on lay-offs and lay-ups, ship officers in the Nordic countries keep their employments, according to a Shipgaz survey. page 50

Despite the strong traditions of the family, Dr Emanuele Grimaldi has never taken his position in the Group for granted. page 20

Iceland shipping special: Special:

paint falling off in flakes caught the eye of Bengt Fredriksson. Now he is determined to make her better than new. page 78

Shipgaz signs on to Immingham:

Winding road to recovery

EDITORIAL, PAGE 4

after the trauma. PAGE 22

Custom-made for The adventures the Western Channel of seaman Pålle Brittany Ferries introduces the ro-pax Armorique, their largest ever purpose built vessel for the Plymouth–Roscoff service. PAGE 36

Yearbook of Maritime Technology

Onboard insight »Although Shipgaz Long way back is a new magazine, In March 2007, the tug Bohus was smashed to it stands on solid splinters on the rocks off ground with a more Härmanö. Captain Ole than centuryKristiansen tells his story long heritage« of his way back to work

The front page picture is sponsored by Berg Propulsion AB

Waiting for a weather window

The front page picture is sponsored by Berg Propulsion

Anchor handling on the North Sea:

The engine department – a poor workplace?

Too many sea engineers crawl and squeeze their way through work. Monica Lundh at Chalmers checks out why. PAGE 16

Since the financial walls of Iceland came tumbling down in autumn 2008, the country’s shipping companies have had a tough ride through turbulent times.

A day on the Hansa route Shipgaz signed on the Finnstar in Helsinki and followed captain Jukka Tapiovaara and his crew to Travemünde. page 24

Successful struggle

Legendary achievements

Illegal oil discharges in the Baltic Sea are becoming a dramatically rarer sight. Helcom’s air surveillance is the reason.

He is seldom seen in the foremost rank, but his influence on Danish shipping in the last 30 years is legendary. Meet Knud Pontoppidan.

Hushed up grounding Survival technique An anonymous e-mail to the for female seafarers shipowner’s head office revealed that one of their bulkers had been grounded – but sailed on with damages to the hull. The crew had said nothing. page 20

Negotiator, constructor, maintainer or reproducer – which one are you? PhD student Momoko Kitada has identified four strategic roles for women on board. page 16

Shipgaz is a modern shipping magazine for operative personell. Every issue contains current events, newbuildings, onboard stories, technical innovations, safety related information, in-depth features and much more, crucial information as well as entertainment. A weekly e-mailed newsletter is included in the subscription.

www.shipgaz.com/subscribe

The story of Nils-Arne Pålsson begins on the steamer Moldavia in 1950 and winds through rat wars and cholera to his electronic inventions for the maritime industry. PAGE 58

Set on finding the right stuff In the brown leather chairs of Maritime Psychologist Bengt Schager’s office, the sheep are divided from the goats. PAGE 44

In 1953 …

… on November 14 the Kungsholm, pride of the Swedish America Line (SAL), left her home port Gothenburg for her maiden voyage, bound for New York. Upon arrival – under escort by an LTA craft, US Navy as well as US Coastguard ships and the traditional armada of tug boats – she met with another beauty of the SAL fleet, the Gripsholm. This photo is taken just off Liberty Island, New York, with the Statue of Liberty standing on attention when the two vessels pass each other. The Gripsholm was built in 1925 by Sir WG Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Newcastle, England. The Kungsholm was built in 1953 by NV Koninklijke Maatshappij “de Schelde” Scheepswerf, Vlissingen, the Netherlands.

102 Shipgaz No 4 2010

By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com

Retro Tasmanic

Water Color Painting: Håkan Sjöström

Australian liner pioneer Swedish ocean liner traffic had barely seen the light of day when Trans atlantic took delivery of the cargo liner Tasmanic in 1907. Year 1904 is regarded as the year of birth of Swedish ocean liner traffic. That year, Master Mariner and ship owner Wilhelm R Lundgren started a liner service between Sweden and South Africa. About the same time Consul General Axel Johnson opened another service from Sweden to South America.

In 1900, Wilhelm R Lundgren had formed Rederiaktiebolaget Nike together with partners, operating a second-hand steamer. However, Lundgren had more ambitious plans for expansion. In late 1903, he ordered two 5,500-DWT cargo steamers for a planned liner service to South Africa. The first vessel, the Kratos, was handed over in 1904 to Nike, while the sister vessel Atlantic was taken over the same year by Rederi AB Transatlantic – a new company formed on Lundgren’s initiative. After that the two companies ordered further vessels and operated side by side until 1908, when Nike was merged into Transatlantic. The South Africa trade became successful, although there were prob-

lems getting enough cargo for the return voyages. Outbound cargo consisted mainly of forest products, but there were virtually no export from South Africa to Scandinavia. Therefore the vessels usually continued to Australia, where they loaded grain for Europe.

»The Tasmanic traded for Trans atlantic for almost 30 years« The newspaper Advertiser, published in Adelaide, reported on December 19, 1912, that the Tasmania had been docked in Durban “in order to repair damage sustained as the result of the boat having grounded”. The steamer had left Gothenburg on October 19 for Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

The idea to establish a liner service to Australia was after that not far fetched. More and more cargo was shipped also from Scandinavia to Australia on the outbound voyages on the South Africa line. As a matter of fact the Australian traffic developed in such a way that additional tonnage was needed. However, a liner service to Australia would need larger vessels than those trading to South Africa. Ångfartygs AB Sirius – another company controlled by Lundgren – and Nike ordered in 1907 two 7,300 DWT cargo steamers from R & W Hawthorn Leslie and Company Limited on Tyneside,

UK, to be employed on the Australian route. Further it was decided that the Sirius company should be merged into Transatlantic. The newbuildings Tasmanic and Australic were handed over to Sirius and Nike respectively the same year 1907, and in 1908 the Tasmanic was transferred to Transatlantic.

The Tasmanic was 116 metres long and powered by a 2,250 ihp triple expansion steam engine of the shipyard’s make. After delivery the 7,223 DWT Tasmanic and the 7,370 DWT Australic entered service on the Swedish-Australian Line, as the service was branded. The sisters were soon joined by the slightly larger Indianic and Hellenic. The Tasmanic traded for Trans atlantic for almost 30 years. During the depression in the early 1930s Transatlantic was restructured and many of the oldtimers were sold. In 1935, the Tasmanic was sold to British shipbreakers and was broken up in Glasgow. Already a year earlier her sister Australic had been scrapped in Gothenburg.

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