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Maritime safety From September 1, 2011, every ship over 300 grt must report to the Sound VTS when entering the waters between Denmark and Sweden. PAGE 34
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Ship recycling in Denmark
A ship is its best lifeboat
Smedegaarden, Esbjerg, is one of Denmark’s three approved ship recycling companies. PAGE 48
”Alternative designs have improved safety in a remarkable way”, says Markku Kanerva, Director of Sales at Deltamarin Ltd. PAGE 22
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Ship
Adress: P O Box 370, SE-401 25 Göteborg, Sweden Phone: +46-31-712 17 50 E-mail: info@shipgaz.com Internet: www.shipgaz.com ISSN 2000-169X Editor-in-Chief Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com
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The front page picture shows the M/S Birger Jarl at Stockholm Repairyard for overhaul of main- and auxiliary engine, rudder, main- and steering propulsion beside an extensive upgrade of vessels fire protection. Stockholm Repairyard performs all types of repair and maintenance works. With the yard’s strategic location on the island named Beckholmen in Stockholm, it offers excellent availability and service to local vessels and vessels in the Baltic Sea.
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MARINE
2011-10-03 15.52
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 5
Intro Feature
5/11 In this issue
48 Ship recycling at Smedegaarden
portrait Leading the on scene rescue work when Estonia went down 17 years ago placed Captain Esa Mäkelä in the spotlight during that dramatic night. page 12
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Thoughts ten years after
18 20 22 26
Resigned investigations
22 REPORT The quantum leaps forward in passenger ship design during the 2000s have led to revolutionary improvements in safety issues. page 22
The market has not recovered Return from the abyss Captain Esa Mäkelä: “Just doing my job” Does ECDIS improves safety A ship is its best lifeboat Human errors behind Rocknes disaster
30 34
New anti piracy task force
48
Ship recycling at Danish Smedegaarden
70
Maersk Line hesitated on containerization
76 78
In 1970...
Over the years close to 400 vessels have been recycled by the family owned business Smedegaarden. The company has spent a lot of money in order to meet the environmental requirements. page 48
12
7 9 11 12
A close eye on the vessel traffic trough the Sound
Stella Polaris fondly remembered
In every issue
7 9 12 18 34 60 70
Editorial Market Columns Portrait Spotlight Feature Fleet Review Retro
»Indeed, safety costs a lot, but it pays back in the long run« editorial page 7
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independent decisions but at the same time have good interpersonal skills. We offer to work in a new exciting and fast growing industry which offers good opportunities for development and future career paths.
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MORE INFORMATION David Kristensson CEO at Northern Offshore Services Tel: +46 31-97 37 01 Mobile: +46 761 80 80 01 DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS As soon as possible Access: Immediately Send application and CV, preferably with references to: david.kristensson@n-o-s.eu For more information about the company: www.n-o-s.eu
Northern Offshore Services AB, P.O. Box 25, SE-430 82 Donsรถ, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)31 97 20 20, Fax: +46 (0)31 97 20 21 Email: info@n-o-s.eu, Web: www.n-o-s.eu
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 7
Editor-In-Chief Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com
Editorial
Some thoughts ten years after »Among all parties involved, safety is regarded as the most important issue at sea, overriding any other interests, no matter whether they are concerning economic issues or prestige«
afety and security are like twins. At a first glance, they appear to be identical, but when you get to know them better, you realise that they are different personalities. During the last ten years security has gotten much more attention globally than its twin sibling safety. Our world has not been the same since 9/11. For common people, the most visible changes are the tight security controls at airports. Hopefully they have been an effective action in the war against terrorism.
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Too, in shipping, safety and security seem to walk hand in hand. But, is it really true? In the shipping world the term safety could perhaps be generalized as different measures to ensure that the ship survives in the harsh environment where it is trading. Mother Nature is probably nowhere else as powerful as at sea. Storm waves as high as buildings, dense fog, ice ridges in the North during the winter, as well as treacherous sandbanks and dangerous shallows make shipping extremely risky if the crew and the ship itself do not meet the highest standards. In a nutshell, safety is about building safer vessels, creating rational procedures and training the most skilful crews to ensure that crew, passengers and cargo can be safely carried from one port to another. Among all parties involved, safety is regarded as the most important issue at sea, overriding any other interests, no matter whether they are concerning economic issues or prestige. No one can seriously argue against the fact that the concern about safety all the time has made shipping an even safer activity. Indeed, safety costs a lot, but it pays back in the long run. Losses of human lives at sea are not tolerated in any sector of shipping – although accidents unfortunately still happen. In passenger shipping safety issues form the most crucial base for the whole industry. The question about security in shipping is trickier. On cruise vessels the terrorist threat has been taken most seriously for decades. The terrorist hijacking of the Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean in 1985 started a new chapter in security awareness in cruise shipping. Probably the most important change initiated by 9/11 concerning shipping is the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), forced through on a very tight schedule in the IMO because of the influence of the US. According to the IMO, the purpose of the Code is to “provide a standardised, consistent framework for evaluating risk, enabling governments to offset changes in threats with changes in vulnerability for ships and port facilities
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through determination of appropriate security levels and corresponding security measures.” All seafarers have certainly felt the winds of change since then. But it is hard to say if the measures taken after 9/11 really have made the existence of seafarers more secure.
ISPS has, unfortunately, had side effects too. It has, for example, become much more complicated for crew members and visitors to enter and leave port areas, not to mention changes of foreign crew members in a US port. Ask any seafarer, and they probably have little positive to say about ISPS. However, we have to live with ISPS, and, no doubt, it has its qualities too. Nonetheless, despite even absurd security measures within shipping after 9/11, none of them have had any impact on probably the largest security problem within global shipping today – piracy. As a matter of fact, the world acts as any real problem would not exist at all. Piracy seems to be regarded as an internal problem within shipping, although it is, in fact, quite comparable to terrorism.
It is also interesting to observe the lack of powerful response from numerous organisations of human rights. It is astounding that none of them has raised hell about the fact that, even today, some 400 seafarers are being held hostage by armed gangs of Somali pirates, in appalling conditions, subject to physical and psychological abuse. Perhaps there is a higher purpose in criticising a government for oppressing dissidents or freedom fighters than accusing criminals for totally ignoring human rights. It seems like most of the resources spent on security within shipping after 9/11 have been to no avail regarding piracy. Perhaps it has never even been the purpose of the measures initiated by 9/11. At least, the stringent security caused by the war against terrorism has been of no use at all in the war against piracy. Maybe the measures after 9/11 have made the world a safer place in general, but from that world many seafarers are, unfortunately, excluded.
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Turku/Åbo September 11, 2011
Pär-Henrik Sjöström, Editor-in-Chief
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NO 5 2011 SHIPGAZ 9
Carl–Johan Leijonhielm info@stemshipping.se
Mikael Jarlhammer info@stemshipping.se
Market column
Small tanker market:
The market has still not recovered »The demand for bio fuel cargos will most likely continue to grow over the next years, and these cargos will continue to replace traditional fuels such as gasoline and gasoil to an even larger extent«
he summer period has passed and markets/segments for clean petroleum, vegoil while many owners were hoping for and bio fuel/chemicals segments into today’s a more active market, the reality has larger cargo market with a wide range of prodturned out differently. ucts such as mtbe to rapeseed oil, which has What normally goes down during July and forced owners to renew its fleet to meet market August will under normal circumstances indemands and to stay competitive. crease again during September. But so far this The demand for bio fuel cargos will most year it is quite the opposite. The market has still likely continue to grow over the next years, and not recovered from the summer season, and these cargos will continue to replace traditionhas even continued to fall. Presently this trend al fuels such as gasoline and gasoil to an even is especially clear for tonnage up to 5,000 mts. larger extent. From a general How much point of view, let The market has still not recovered the total output us consider some T/C Equivalent 6,000 DWT tanker. will increase of the aspects for Riga–Rotterdam–Kalundborg–Stockholm–Riga will have affect these vessels, 17000 on both future from 5,000 dwt newbuilding up to 10.000 dwt programmes that trades in the 14000 and replacement Scandinavian of existing tonmarket. nage, but an edThe most com11000 ucated guess will mon cargos being be that the pace transported by will slow down these vessels are 8000 somewhat in the clean – they are future compared bright and clear. ■ Income per Day USD to the last ten Many petroleum 5000 years. products are considered “clean”, such as gasoil and gasoline. During recent years bio fuel cargos CARL-JOHAN LEIJONHIELM AND MIKAEL JARLHAMMER such as FAME (as an additive to diesel) and
T
2010
2011
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ethanol (as a gasoline component) have grown in relevance and play an important role in this segment today.
Stem Shipping is an international shipbroking company focusing on liquid products.
The number of operators/owners have been rather stabile over the last decade. The entire fleet is spread over some 15 to 20 owners/ operators. The fleets are often run by family driven companies. Most of the owners are operating a fleet of between five to ten vessels. The most dominating owners within this field are Broström and Herning Shipping, both occupying some 20 vessels for this kind of shipments. The majority of vessels are built from year 2000 and onwards. The average age of the total fleet is therefore fairly low, and almost all vessels are built to IMO II/III specification, enabling these ships to carry several more cargo types than in the past. Over the last few years this segment has been the one going through most turbulence, changing from being separated into several
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2011-10-03 12:00 15.52 2011-10-03
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 11
Geir Jerstad, broker geir@norbroker.no
Market column
Shortsea dry bulk market:
Return from the abyss »There were no safe havens or nowhere to hide. Baltic was dead, Continent even more so, and the Meditewranean markets heavily affected by holidays and Ramadan«
he North European coaster markets with due class. As we anticipated the fundahave seen a long awaited, but also exmental over capacity in the 3,000–4,000 dwt pected boost in activity in September. segment especially has resulted in sell-offs and Rate increases of some 20 per cent on exits for mid-1990’ties built tonnage. Baltic front hauls clearly proves that the market is This particular segment of ships has probfinally picking up momentum backed by encourably seen the biggest fall in secondhand prices aging flow of grains from Baltic States especially. with values falling from in excess of EUR 3 million After having seen the market hit an all-time low to around EUR 1,2 million since the peak in 2008. this summer owners were losing all confidence. Initial grain reports indicated a good harvest in Ships were basically being fixed on cash-flow moRussia and Baltic States while Central Europe tivation with no one daring to look ahead. and the UK were Daily earnings giving grimmer in the reference Earnings 2002–2011 prospects. As the size of 3,500 dwt T/C Earnings Average (EUR) first cargoes of dropped below rapeseed hit the EUR 1,500 per day 6000 ■ 6500 DWT Baltic market in with a majority ■ 3500 DWT early Septemof operators see5000 ■ 2500 DWT ber owners were ing most of their anxiously lookships in spot posi4000 ing for any sign tions. There were of recovery, but no safe havens or 3000 spot market acnowhere to hide. tivity failed to Sporadic move2000 ignite. ments of steels By mid-Sepand aluminum 1000 tember grain from Baltic atvolumes really tracted huge inter0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 kicked in with est among owners immediate efwhich quickly fects on trading. Activity on the Continent was dropped their bids below USD 20.- p/mt for 5,000 still dominated by heavy over capacity of tonmt movements from St Petersburg to ARAG area. nage and there were no doubt that Baltic again Returns with soya meal and minerals to Baltic was leading the way forward. Rates for 3,000– were traded below EUR 7,00 p/mt merely covering 4,000 mt movements of wheat from Klaipeda bunkers and port costs. to ECUK were quickly pushed up from in region With soaring fuel prices there were simply of EUR 13,- p/mt to close to EUR 16.- p/mt as a no end to the misery. Distress sales of tonnage result. Owners finally had the courage to hold and depressing market reports flourished. back, and with the sudden change in momenSome Scandinavian owners also had to give up tum Charterers were getting nervous as how as banks turned down requests for re-financing; quickly the market would shift. others let ships go in to cold lay-up in Denmark By the end of September activity has stabiand Germany. We anticipate that at least some 50 lized somewhat. Earnings in the 3,500–4,000 units in the size 1,000-4,000 dwt have one way or dwt size have climbed about 40 per cent from another left the European chartering scene durthe bottom in August with 3,500 dwt vessels ing past months. In the S&P markets there has seeing average earnings around EUR 2,500 per been reported few inter-European transactions day on T/C equivalent basis. A long awaited searecently as most sales have been concluded with sonal turn in the market has finally given some East Mediterranean and Black Sea buyers; either room to breathe, but how troubled financial for scrap but also for further trading. markets will affect the shipping community is Mid 1990’ties built 3,000 dwt units have been yet to be seen. Looking at the forecasts we becirculated with ideas below EUR 1,5 million, lieve we most probably are in for more turbubut attracting little buying interest. Greek and lence in coming months. Geir Jerstad Turkish cash buyers have been looking to secure
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modern tonnage below USD 1 million and have succeeded to some extent to pick up tonnage
12:00
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Norbroker Shipping & Trading is specialized in coaster and project cargo movements.
2011-10-03 15.52
Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 13
Esa Mäkelä
Portrait
“Just doing my job” Leading the on scene rescue work when Estonia went down 17 years ago placed Captain Esa Mäkelä in the spotlight during that dramatic night. n September 28, 1994 Master Mariner Esa Mäkelä, captain on the cruise ferry Silja Europa, was on the bridge for 16 hours in a row, leading the rescue work on scene after the Estonia had gone down. Now, 17 years later, he thinks that it is unlikely that a similar disaster will happen again. “After each serious accident, many actions are taken to improve safety. However, a common mistake is to focus on a similar kind of accident only, which may be even a little bit dangerous. The next accident is usually of a total different kind,” he stresses.
O
Esa Mäkelä is nowadays retired, living with his wife Inger in Dragsfjärd in the Åboland archipelago. From their living room, there is a fantastic view of the sea. A couple of traditional, red painted sheds have stood there for decades. It is a typical setting in a typical archipelago community. Today, Esa runs a small marina, offering boat places for mainly locals. He is also a keen fisherman. Perhaps tradition obliges – his late father-inlaw once had a smokehouse in one of the sheds near the water. Being both calm and analytical, Esa Mäkelä is the archetype of an experienced captain, who has seen nearly everything, but doesn’t make too much noise about it. Indeed, he says that he could think about writing his memoirs, but, so far, he has not found the time. He is a man of ac-
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»My mother let me know in a resolute way that doing nothing for a year was out of the question, instead I had to find myself a job« Esa Mäkelä is a Navy Reserve lieutenant. He did his mandatory military service at the naval base Pansio near Turku in 1974–1975.
tion, who easily gets bored. He grew up in another community on the archipelago. When he was eight, the family moved from Vehmaa to Taivassalo, northwest of Turku. Although he feels that he has lived close to the sea for his whole life, it was still not an obvious choice at all for him to go to sea. After he had completed high school in 1966, one alternative was to become a naval architect. With a narrow margin, he failed the entrance exam at the Helsinki University of Technology.
“I was not so keen on studying at that time. When I informed my mother about my plans to lay low for a year and then try again, she let me know in a resolute way that doing nothing for a year was out of the question. Instead I had to find myself a job.” From there started Esa Mäkelä’s long carer at sea. He contacted the employment agency for seamen in Mariehamn as he had heard that there were better jobs available on Åland. “I got a job immediately. My first vessel was Gustaf Erikson’s reefer Sag-
gö. I signed on as a deck hand and had no experience whatsoever.” He went aboard in Gothenburg in the autumn of 1966 and did several voyages between European ports and Angola before he went ashore in Luleå next spring. He liked life at sea and abandoned his earlier thoughts about a career as a naval architect. Soon he was out sailing again, now with Finnlines.
In 1969, Esa Mäkelä started his studies in the Maritime College in Turku and in spring 1970 he got his first job as a deck officer. “My first job as second officer was on the cargo vessel Pälli, owned by the newly formed shipping company Saimaa Lines. I was on that ship one year and we sailed to Lake Saimaa during the summer and in cross trade during the winter,” he recalls. Quite soon he realised that the long voyages on cargo vessels became somewhat boring, even though it was interesting. He decided to change trades. In 1972, he was employed by Silja Line and became second officer on Fennia. He also sailed on Silvia and Skandia before he came to the brand new Bore I as first officer. “There I also met my future wife,” he reveals. He had sailed on virtually all of Silja Line’s Finnish-flagged vessels when he was appointed staff captain on the Silja Serenade in 1990.
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14 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Portrait Esa Mäkelä Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
Captain Mäkelä’s present flagship is a Swedish built Arronet 23,5 C. It is mainly trading between his home and the summer cottage on a small island. During the building stage, he was a member of the surveying team at the shipyard. Staff captain was a new vacancy, created for the large cruise ferry. “The intention was at least partially to relieve the master from representation duties and passenger service. The staff captain was also the head of the whole catering department, but it became clear that such an arrangement did not work. The concept was later abandoned.” It was also on the Silja Serenade where Esa Mäkelä had his first command, relieving the ordinary masters Kari Larjo and Göran Eklund.
When the Wellamo and Svea underwent a major refit to become the Silja Festival and Silja Karneval, Esa Mäkelä was chosen to lead the owner’s team on site at the shipyard in Bremerhaven. “Our executive vice president and chief operating officer, Harri Kulovaara, called me and asked if I would take over as master on the Wellamo and make necessary preparations.” Another milestone for him was taking the command on the new Silja
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Europa in 1993. The vessel had originally been ordered by Rederi AB Slite. When the management of Silja Line had agreed with Meyer Werft to take over the vessel, Harri Kulovaara called Esa again. “He called me on Thursday. On Saturday, we were in Papenburg, inspecting the almost completed ship.” Esa Mäkelä stayed on the Silja Europa until his retirement in 2001.
»I think that I saw a weak echo on the radar screen where she should have been.«
Next generation: Esa Mäkelä has two daughters, of which one, Pamela, also has chosen a career at sea. However, Pamela is employed by Viking Line, the main rival to Esa’s former employer, Silja Line.
Although Esa Mäkelä’s active career at sea ended, he did not settle down after that. “It was high time for me to change jobs. Before Silja Europa, I had always been used to changing ships within a couple of years, as it keeps you alert.” He was now employed by Royal Caribbean as senior superintendent, to survey the building of the company’s cruise vessels at Turku shipyard. Among his areas of responsibility were safety and nautical equipment. Later he was appointed site manager,
a position which he held until he retired – now for real – in June 2008.
A night Esa Mäkelä and everyone else on site will never forget was September 28, 1994. That stormy night, he was woken up by the officer on watch after he had received a distress signal from the ferry Estonia. “When I came to the bridge, the radio contact with Estonia had been lost. I think that I saw a weak echo on the radar screen where she should have been, but, after that, it disappeared.” Esa Mäkelä and his officers began to fear the worst. Another ferry, Viking Line’s Mariella, was the first to reach Estonia’s last position. Her officers met a hopeless sight: debris and lots of people in the sea. “When we came closer to the site, I feared that we would collide with the wreck, if it still was afloat bottom up,” Esa Mäkelä recalls. “But there was nothing, just hundreds of people in the water, capsized lifeboats and rafts, and then a lot of debris.” MRCC Turku appointed Esa Mäkelä On Scene Commander. “In that situation you just concen-
2011-10-03 15.52
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 15
Esa Mäkelä
Portrait
Captain Esa Mäkelä, newly installed on the bridge of Silja Europa in 1993. He stresses that safety was by no means neglected on the ferries before that. On the other hand, it was difficult to find meaningful ways for improvements. “A lot of unnecessary measurements were carried through, which
did not improve safety at all. However, one important step was introducing self-righting life rafts. Some people say that life boats have taken more lives than they have saved and I am at least partially of the same opinion.”
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www.alandia.com
“For me personally, Estonia did not change my attitude to safety. I had experienced water on the car deck as chief officer on the Bore Star. Water came in through the ventilation ducts when she took green seas on the forecastle deck. Everyone realised the seriousness of that situation. Silja Line has been a forerunner when it comes to safety,” Esa Mäkelä says. After Estonia, everyone started to pay attention to safety issues. “Now we had to explain a lot of things which had been of no interest at all before that.”
Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
trate on doing your job. My role as a captain differs from my role as Esa Mäkelä and you live up to it as best as you can. To act as an OSC was like any task, it just had to be done.” Retrospectively, Esa Mäkelä thinks that the main problem was that the helicopters arrived too late to be able to rescue any larger number of survivors. “Although they did an important effort saving many lives, many of the people in the rafts were already dead from hypothermia.”
Experience is worth gold on stormy seas Alandia Marine is a marine insurance company with traditions. The company was started in 1938 on Åland. Today we operate all over the Baltic Sea region. 1,700 vessels with a total insured value of almost 5 billion Euro are entirely or partly insured by us. Since the beginning 70 years ago we have stood by our insurance customers in both stormy and calm seas. You are welcome to contact us. Together we can build a stable future, based on knowledge, commitment and confidence. The maritime insurance company since 1938
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18 SHIPGAZ NO 5 2011
By Bob Couttie, bob@shipgaz.com
Spotlight Safety
Resigned investigations est, and others often have a particular axe to grind. I have also had to fight to maintain the independence and integrity of the MAIB, and our right to operate free from the growing culture of blame and litigation.”
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. ust one day after being tasked re-open the investigation into the January 2008 sinking of the general cargo ship Vanessa in the Black Sea Captain Hristo Papukchiev resigned as chairman of the Commission of Investigation in April 2009. Papukchiev revealed the political and commercial pressures on maritime accident investigators worldwide and became very relevant with the entry into force of the IMO’s casualty code as part of SOLAS.
J
Non-liability based maritime casualty investigations play a useful role in identifying safety issues and presenting means to fix them. The concept only works if investigators are independent, properly trained, and appropriately funded, as the IMO’s MSC 255(84), now part of SO-
While drafting the new investiga-
LAS Chapter XI-1 recognises, but does the political will to defend the independence of investigators actually exist? It is not an issue affecting former Soviet states or third world nations, even investigators in the developed world face difficulties. After eight years at the helm of Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, Rear Admiral Stephen Meyer, said: “When I joined, I was naïve enough to think that everyone would be on the side of independent investigation, the sole purpose of which was future safety. In fact, few are on our side, as everyone involved in an accident has some form of vested inter-
»Yesterday would have been too soon, tomorrow would be too late« Hristo Papukchiev, former Chairman of the Commission of Investigation.
PHOTO: THE NORWEGIAN COASTAL ADMINISTRATION
The investigation on the devastating Full City grounding was conducted by Norwegian authorities.
s.16–33.indd 18
tion code the IMO itself came under pressure from the United States to eliminate the provision that required seafarers to be advised of their rights regarding legal counsel and self-incrimination. Although the provision remained on the books the attempt to bring international seafarers under local jurisdiction and treat them as terrorist suspects, remains worrying. Papukchiev talks about his concerns: “When the commission was appointed to continue and finish the investigation into the (Vanessa) incident, a colleague of mine and a member of the commission asked me how much I was paid to open the cold files of ‘Vanessa’. I was shocked at first, but then started to ponder on the investigations done so far, the report that had been prepared long before my appointment, although not approved … Well, did this mean that its authors had been paid? Where were they now? These questions were my greatest concern, namely the Vanessa’s case had begun with a false start … Anyway, I was appointed to proceed with independent investigation because the society expected the truth to come to light. These investigations should be done very precisely and objectively, with facts prevailing not hypotheses. When there are no conditions for an unbiased and objective investigation, a true professional is obliged to resign.”
Papukchiev filed his report on the Tolstoy and expected action, for recommendations to be followed or at least discussed. Instead he found himself under increasing pressure to fall into line and training that was already agreed was denied. He was told: ‘Go and kiss the hand, Man…kiss the hand, and all will be OK.’ Now still concerned as well. So far nothing but silence only. On 24 April, Papukchiev says:
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 19
Portrait AN UNSCHEDULED STOP AT SEA IS ALWAYS COSTLY
Beskrivning
THE SWEDISH SEA SAFETY COUNCIL
»I was naïve enough to think that everyone would be on the side of independent investigation« “Exhausted by office combats with the renegades I had a walk on fresh air outside the Ministry of Transport nearby to National Theatre park with the fountains.Fresh and cold Friday afternoon.” With his independence in danger of being compromised and little support he knew he had to resign that day: “Yesterday would have been too soon, tomorrow would be too late,” he recalls. While Papukchiev’s resignation was unusual his experience is not, and represents a major block to actual compliance, rather than notional with the IMO Casualty Code. Indeed, the need for independent investigation into maritime casualties is ill-understood in the judiciaries of countries with poor safety records. That is a major hill for the IMO to climb if it is to achieve compliance.
The Philippines, for instance is attempting to reconfigure its notoriously ineffective Board of Marine Inquiry, BMI, the main task of which was to establish liability, into an investigative body conducting non-liabilty investigations but still wedded to hauling witnesses to court-like proceedings and issuing subpoenas for those who do not appear. Although the country’s Coast Guard has embarked on a series of maritime casualty training sessions and is developing a core of trained investigators the BMI itself does not yet require its members to be trained in investigation nor for its lawyer member to be trained in maritime law.
The difficulties of turning long established, bureaucratic institutions in those countries where liabilitybased hearings are the norm, and a reluctance to dismantle them, may prove as much a block to meeting the intentions of the IMO Code as corruption elsewhere. At its heart, casualty investigations are there to protect seafarers, ships and the environment but who, one wonders, will protect the investigators?
The IMO casualty code The Code is designed to facilitate objective marine safety investigations for the benefit of flag States, coastal States, the IMO and the shipping industry in general.
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2011-10-03 15.11
20 Shipgaz No 5 2011
By Eddie Janson, eddie@shipgaz.com
Spotlight Safety
Does ECDIS improves safety? Safety: Eddie Janson Captain Eddie Janson of MariTrain AB, instructor and consultant in maritime safety, points the Shipgaz spotlight at safety related matters.
0 be able to ditch the paper charts totally there are a number of conditions that have to be fulfilled: The ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) is type approved by class.
T
»Unfortunately the standard does not cover the user interface«
The Flag State approves paperless
Eddie Janson, instructor and consultant in maritime safety.
navigation. There is a backup ECDIS with an independent power source. There are electronic charts available for the voyage, installed both on the primary and the backup ECDIS. The officers are trained and know how to use the ECDIS.
The company’s SMS (Safety Management System) includes instructions and procedures for the use of the ECDIS. The IMO (International Maritime Organization) has created a “Performance Standard for electronic chart display and information system”.
Unfortunately the standard does not cover the user interface. It means that an ECDIS developed by
one manufacturer can have a total different way of for example planning a route than another. Therefore the familiarization onboard is even more important than before. Most well trained navigation officers are able to do a proper passage plan on a paper chart even if he/she is new onboard the vessel.
With an ECDIS he/she must know how to use that specific type of ECDIS. The generic ECDIS training that all bridge officers must have is specified in IMO model course 1.27. It shall include knowledge of the capability and limitations of ECDIS operations, proficiency in operation, interpretation, and analysis of information obtained from ECDIS and management of operational procedures, system files and data. In addition to the generic training, type specific training or familiarization is needed, but there is no standard for this. Some manufacturPhoto: pierre adolfsson
”I am sure that ECDIS will give us a safer navigation if properly used”, says Captain Eddie Janson.
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 21
Beskrivning
»My personal experience when carrying out inspections is that the biggest problem is on vessels that are using paper charts as their primary mean of navigation« ers of ECDIS offer type specific training in simulators, but many shipping companies choose to execute the type specific training onboard.
The advantage of executing the training onboard is that the officer can be sure that he/she is trained on the correct type of ECDIS. If the training is carried out onboard this must be done before the officer is taking over the watchkeeping responsibilities. When the ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) was introduced there were a number of collisions referred to as “ARPA assisted collisions”. They (the collisions) were all due to overreliance on the ARPA.
ECDIS requiremens
ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) will be mandatory on all tankers of 3,000 grt and upwards constructed on or after 1 July 2012 and on all tankers of 3,000 grt and upwards constructed before 1 July 2012, not later than the first survey on or after 1 July 2015.
Portrait
INTERIOR INSULATION VENTILATION PIPING ELECTRICAL
There have already been a number of “ECDIS assisted groundings”. In 2008 a cargo vessel ran aground on route to Grimsby, England. The depth of the vessel was 6,9 meters, the passage plan passed over charted depth of less than 2 meters. When entering shallow waters the Master who was in his cabin felt the vibrations and called the bridge. The officer on watch checked the ECDIS and replied that there was no cause for concern. The scale of the ECDIS was then set to 1:100 000. When changing the scale to 1:50 000 the officer on watch realized that the vessel had ran aground.
My personal experience when carrying out inspections is that the biggest problem is on vessels that are using paper charts as their primary mean of navigation and also have an ECDIS or electronic chart display onboard. They are doing their passage plan on the paper chart as intended, but use the electronic charts to navigate where there are no safety contours, and in most cases the plan have not even been tested before departure. I am sure that ECDIS will give us a safer navigation if used properly.
ADRESS: BÄRINGE 1B, ANNEXET, SE-241 95 BILLINGE PHONE: +46 413-54 40 00 FAX: +46 413-54 41 10 E-MAIL: SCANMARINE@SCANMARINE.SE
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2011-10-03 15.11
22 Shipgaz No 5 2011
By Pär-Henrik Sjöström par-henrik@shipgaz.com
Report Improved safety
Photo: STX Finland
There are no lifeboats on P&O Ferries’ newbuilding Spirit of Britain, trading across the English Channel. Note the Fast Rescue Boats in recesses.
A ship is its best lifeboat The quantum leaps forward in passenger ship design during the 2000s have led to revolutionary improvements in safety issues. The question whether the regulations could keep up with the ever increasing size of cruise vessels was raised in IMO during the mandate of the former Secretary General William O’Neil in the late 1990s. In 2000 an initiative was launched at the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) with particular emphasis on the safety on large cruise ships. The idea was to adapt a more holistic way when considering passenger ship safety issues.
As a matter of fact, the concern was not whether new large ships complied with the SOLAS requirements or not, but rather whether SOLAS duly addressed all the safety aspects of their operation – especially in possible emergency situations.
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The working group on large passenger ship safety began its work in late 2000. Input was supplied both by the cruise industry and by member states, which had carried out studies into large passenger ships and areas of potential concern. The difficulties would not end even with a successful evacuation of a large passenger ship. The safe transfer at sea of thousands of passengers – including elderly and injured people – from lifeboats to rescue vessels would also become extremely challenging. The MSC agreed that future large passenger ships should be designed for improved survivability based on
»Alternative designs have improved safety in a remarkable way«
Markku Kanerva, Director, Sales, Deltamarin Ltd, sees new possibilities in ship design.
the time-honoured principle that “a ship is its own best lifeboat”. According to this new approach, passengers and crew should, if possible, be transferred to a safe haven on board and stay there, rather than leave the ship. This, of course, presumes that the ship should be able to proceed to port at a minimum safe speed, even if parts of vital systems were down.
In the current regulatory framework, more emphasis is placed on the prevention of a casualty instead of starting from a point where an accident already has occurred. In 2006 the MSC adopted a package of amendments to SOLAS, including many new concepts. One of the most important was the incorporation
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 23
Improved safety
Report Photo: pär-henrik sjöström
»The alternative design approach is leaning upon thorough risk analysis instead of static rules« of criteria for the so-called casualty threshold, expressing the amount of damage a ship is able to withstand according to its design basis, and still be able to return to port safely. A risk based approach to ship design, instead of a rule based, has resulted in revolutionary passenger vessel designs.
Markku Kanerva, Director of Sales at Deltamarin Ltd, is convinced that new methods not just improve passenger vessels’ performance, they improve their safety too. “The alternative design approach is leaning upon thorough risk analysis instead of static rules. Further, it has to be verified that the reached safety level is at least as high as in a rule based design. In the design work with the Oasis-class this is adapted in many different sub areas. Without these opportunities, it would have been impossible to build the Oasis-class.” Another important issue, enabling the alternative approach in ship design, is enhanced knowledge. Design tools, based upon different methods of numerical verifications and realistic simulations, have seen an amazingly fast development. “We are nowadays better in analysing and simulating many extreme situations onboard such as fire, flooding by hull damages and evacuation of passengers. Our understanding about what really happens in such situations is much deeper than before.” According to Markku Kanerva, earlier systems used for such calculations were mainly based upon a socalled conservative approach. “They were based on certain assumptions, which may not be physically accurate in a real damage situation. They simply do not take everything into account, such as the effect of counterflooding, progressive flooding and sloshing effects. Alternative designs have improved safety
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Mandatory lifeboat drill on the Allure of the Seas. One of the assembly stations is the Aqua Theater. in a remarkable way.” By analysing actual damages on passenger ships and incorporating the results in new designs, the risk of losing a ship can be decreased remarkably. “We have studied some cases and made calculations, indicating that the risks can be reduced to a fifth or even to a tenth regarding ferries and cruise ships.”
Based upon the improved accuracy of simulations, advanced interactive decision support systems have been introduced, too. Typically, they are adapted for damage situations, but there are also tools supporting decision making for safe return to port with a damaged ship. Input data is supplied from fire detection systems and level measurement sensors in tanks and void spaces, providing real time progress of a situation. “The systems are useful tools for the officers, providing them with a much better basis for decisions than just gut feeling. In an easily interpretable way, they give the likely se-
DEfiniton The time for orderly evacuation and abandonment: “The time, beginning when the casualty threshold is exceeded until all persons have safely abandoned the ship, in which the ship remains viable for this purpose.” (Approved by MSC in 2005)
quence of events in an actual damage situation. They also take into consideration certain measures taken by the crew, enabling fast evaluation of different countermeasures. But the systems provide decision support only, they do not automatically take any action,” Markku Kanerva stresses.
New thinking has also been introduced regarding evacuation. Since the shipwreck of the Titanic in 1912, the status of the lifeboat as the main means of rescue on a passenger vessel has not been questioned. Now this road seems to have come to an end regarding passenger ships – at least when new design solutions are sought. SOLAS’ new Safe Return to Port regulations make it possible to design and build a safe ship completely without lifeboats Taking into consideration the enormous risks of the evacuation of a large passenger vessel itself – even if the conditions would be ideal during a warm and calm summer day – it is no wonder that the idea has
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24 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Report Improved safety Photo: Disney Cruise Line/David Roark
The cruise vessel Disney Dream is built to comply with the new IMO-regulations on Safe Return to Port. come up in the first place. “There will probably always occur serious accidents at sea, leading to total losses and the need to evacuate a ship. But the risk of encountering a situation where all crew and passengers have to be evacuated can certainly be reduced further.”
Markku Kanerva emphasises that prior to the IMO-initiative on safety on large passenger ships there had already been discussions within the industry whether lifeboats are the right means of rescue or not. “Catamarans and other passenger vessels built to the High Speed Craft Codes of 1994 did not have any lifeboats, but only life rafts.” He stresses that experience from real emergency situations – of which the Estonia disaster is the most tragic – also had proved life rafts to be a better, and above all, more efficient solution than lifeboats. “It became obvious that it would not be an easy task to evacuate a large number of passengers from a cruise ship into lifeboats. From this followed the idea to develop the ship to be a safe haven itself. Last year’s IMO-rules on
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»There will probably always occur serious accidents at sea« Markku Kanerva, Director, Sales, Deltamarin Ltd
Safe Return to Port were important steps in this direction.” The SOLAS Safe Return to Port rules are originating from the class notation RP – Redundant Propulsion, but they take it even further: The ship must be designed to proceed safely to a port even in a damaged condition. “Indeed, both the Solstice-class and the Oasis-class have been built to these principles, but their construction was started before the rules came into force. However, Royal Caribbean has been something of a forerunner in this context.”
The first passenger vessels to fulfill the new SOLAS rules about Safe Return to Port are the car- and passenger ferries Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France, built by STX Finland in Rauma, as well as Disney’s Post Panamax cruise ships Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, from Meyer Werft. As a result of this, lifeboats are no longer included in the safety equipment on the Spirit of Britain and
Spirit of France. The lifeboats are replaced by a Marine Evacuation System with rafts. “Before these newbuildings, P&O had already removed all lifeboats from two ferries during a conversion. It is indeed rather uncomplicated to present a safety case to the authorities on such a short route as across the English Channel,” Markku Kanerva says.
A comprehensive damage simulation program was carried through when designing the P&O vessels, revealing what happens onboard the ship during different damage conditions. “Regarding all critical damages, the configuration could be improved significantly further by decreasing the risk of a total loss of the ship.” Markku Kanerva stresses that compared to the rather simple calculations in rule based designs, the demands are much more stringent for an alternative design. “It demands much more accurate research, proving that it really fulfills the regulation.” Markku Kanerva is convinced that
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 25
Improved safety
in the future we will see even more interesting designs, which may differ quite radically from the traditional ones. They will also offer improved cost- and earning efficiency, as well as improved safety.
“For the first time in the history of ship design, it is possible to combine these qualities. Until now, new regulations have, without exceptions, meant increased costs. With alternative design it is possible to search for these qualities simultaneously, and I dare say that it is also possible to reach excellent results.” He thinks that the basic characteristics of a ship will dramatically change due to this. “We will probably quite soon see designs with clearly new features. It
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Photo: pär-henrik sjöström
»The alternative design for a ship without lifeboats demands much more accurate research«
Report
Some of the new features in SOLAS • Alternative designs and arrangements. • Safe areas and the essential systems to be maintained while a ship proceeds to port after a casualty, which will require redundancy of propulsion and other essential systems. • Onboard safety centres, from where safety systems can be controlled, operated and monitored.
The largest lifeboats so far are installed on the Oasis-class cruise vessels. remains to be seen who is prepared to take such a huge leap at once. From a naval architect’s point of view, we have an interesting time ahead, enabling such solutions that we could only dream of before.” Everything points in a direction
where the probability for the need of an evacuation of a large passenger ship will further decrease in the future. “And if an evacuation still would be required, it could be carried through in a much safer and more efficient way than before,” Markku Kanerva says.
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2011-05-02 09.30
2011-10-03 15.11
26 SHIPGAZ NO 5 2011
By Rolf P Nilsson rolf@shipgaz.com
Report The Rocknes disaster
PHOTO: DAWID LEWIS/FLICKR.COM
The Rocknes capsized south of Bergen, Norway.
Human errors behind disaster In 2004 the vessel Rocknes hit an underwater rock and capsized. A SSPA report concludes the accident was a consequence of human errors. It´s two o’clock in the morning the 19 January 2004. The vessel Rocknes departs from Eikefet in Western Norway with a load of gravel onboard and with a complement of 29 persons preparing yet another routine sailing. After a bunkering call in Skålevik, she enters the Vatlestraumen, south from Bergen and close to the Flesland airport, in the afternoon and under supervision of an experienced pilot.
The vessel hits an underwater rock, takes in water and after 3-4 minutes she capsizes. The consequences were disastrous. 18 of the 29 seafarers in the crew lost their lives. Of the people on the bridge, only the pilot survived. The newly bunkered vessel had 470 m3 of heavy oil and 70 m3 of diesel in its tanks and most of it were spilled to
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the sea, polluting some 45 kilometres of the coastline. It also became an expensive disaster. The cost for the clean-up operation alone amounted to NOK 127 million. The rightening of the vessel was a further USD 10 million. The value of the vessel itself was estimated at USD 70 million. To top it of, the shallow that Rocknes hit was not marked in the paper chart used on the bridge. It was not an unknown underwater rock. The Norwegian Hydrographic Office had known about it for almost a decade, but they hadn’t communicated this properly to other concerned
»The shallow that Rocknes hit was not marked in the paper chart used on the bridge« The Norwegian Hydrographic Office had known about the shallow for almost a decade, but they hadn’t communicated this properly to other concerned parties.
parties, such as the Coastal Directorate that supplies the pilot services. This sparked the insurers, the owners, suppliers and others to head out for an unprecedented legal challenge against the Norwegian state, demanding a historically high amount of more than half a billion Norwegian crowns in damages in a case that would last for seven years.
The Norwegian police initiated a preliminary inquiry against the Norwegian Hydrographic Office. The case was eventually withdrawn by the prosecutor, having not found enough substantial evidence to convict either the pilot or the mapping agency. The civil case however lived on. In a district court, the plaintiffs won a part victory. The court acknowledged
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NO 5 2011 SHIPGAZ 27
The Rocknes disaster
Report PHOTO: SINWIN/WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
»The court acknowledged that the state had played a part in the disaster, but a minor one« that the state had played a part in the disaster, but a minor one. According to the court, the bulk of the responsibility laid with the shipping company and its partners. In money talk, the court decided that the state’s part of the disaster was worth close to NOK 23 million, which it was demanded to pay to the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs, 19 of them, had demanded NOK 530 million plus interest and got 23. They decided to appeal the verdict. The accident causing the death of 18 seafarers was a consequence of the vessel hitting a rock that the state knew was there, but had done nothing to tell those sailing past it. Wasn’t the state to blame? The appeal was launched and as always when the Norwegian state is
The Rocknes after the terrible accident. involved, it was represented by the office of the Regjeringsadvokaten, the Attorney General of Civil Affairs. The Norwegian Maritime Directorate, the Sjøfartsstyrelsen, had investigated the loading and trimming of the vessel and came to the conclusion
that this had not been done in accordance with rules and regulations. The flag state, Antigua and Barbuda, filed an accident investigation report concluding that there were discrepancies between the paper charts used onboard and the available updated charts and
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28 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Report The Rocknes disaster Photo: Boh/Wikipedia commons
The Rocknes was repaired during 2004 and 2005 and renamed Nordnes. ENC’s (Electronic Navigational Charts). Others had also investigated the case, but with focus on a part of the sequence of the events leading to the disaster.
This was however not sufficient for the defence in the court case. The flag state investigation report is for instance not intended to be used in a court room but to highlight safety issues and ”make recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents in the future”. ”The reports did not give a clear-cut answer to the question of who actually was the responsible party to the sinking” says Ole Kristian Rigland at the Regjeringsadvokaten. A new and independent report covering all aspects of the last voyage of the Rocknes was needed. The mission was given to the Swedish maritime consultants SSPA, that produced a series of reports on three main issues: Load condition and stability, simulation of the course of events during the voyage from Eikefet to Vatlestraumen and a study on human factors. The load condition was calculated. ”Using witness statements on the
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heel tendencies and the ships behaviour during the simulations, we could go back and adjust loading criteria to find the most probable load condition”, says Peter Ottoson, who lead the project at SSPA. The study confirmed the findings in the report from the Sjøfartsstyrelsen, The cargo had not been loaded and trimmed properly. The stability requirements were not fulfilled, in fact, the stability was only half or even less of that required.
»The reports did not give a clear-cut answer to the question of who actually was the responsible party to the sinking« Peter Ottoson, who lead the project at SSPA.
The study also shows that if Rocknes had been loaded and ballasted correctly, the vessel might not have capsized, or at least not as fast as it did, after hitting the rock in Vatlestraumen. If the load condition had fulfilled the stability requirements, the vessel would heel over to around 37 degrees. The rest stability at that angle is however almost zero, so any additional heel moment, caused for instance
by a further cargo shift, would make the ship capsize. The SSPA reports conclude that the disaster was not caused by an unmarked shoal, but a consequence of human errors. There were no exchange of information between the pilot and the master and bridge team of a voyage plan, meaning that the pilot effectively navigated alone. He was also relying to much on visual observations on a bridge with obstructed visibility. The master had also accepted to depart with an unsecured cargo in a problematic load condition without a voyage plan and a co-operative bridge team. The company is also critizised for the lack of strict instructions for a safe navigation of the vessel. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal heard the case and acquitted the Norwegian state. The wording of the verdict shows that the SSPA reports weighted heavily. According to the court, the main reason for the disaster was a navigation error.
In 2001 the Hamburg shipyard J J Sietas delivered the 28,000-dwt, self-discharging bulk carrier Kvitnes to its owner Belt Shipping in Anti-
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The Rocknes disaster
Report Photo: sspa
»There were no exchange of information between the pilot and the master and bridge team« gua & Barbuda. Just two years later, the Kvitnes arrived at the Keppel Verholme Shipyard in Botlek, the Netherlands, to be converted to a FFPV (Flexible Fall Pipe Vessel). Although the conversion meant that the vessel lost more than 2,000 tons of its deadweight, it still became the largest FFPV when it was redelivered and renamed Rocknes some four months later.
Shadowed sectors when standing on port side of bridge (image from the SSPA reports).
The conversion also became a real challenge for the designers. A consequence of the new equipment was that asymmetric loading with ballast was needed at all times, and this in combination with several hundred tons of new equipment placed well above the main deck level meant that stability was severely affected. The
new deck equipment also restricted the visibility from the bridge. After the capsize, the vessel was up-righted at the offshore terminal Coast Center Base in Ågotnes, towed to Bergen Mek Verksted in Laksevåg and subsequently to Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk for substantial repairs.
In June 2005, the vessel once again was operational, this time broader and under the name Nordnes, with the Antigua & Barbuda-based company Kvitnes GmbH as owner and Aboitiz Jebsen Ship Management as charterer. In 2008 the vessel was sold to Dutch Van Oord.
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30 Shipgaz No 5 2011
By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com
Report Piracy
Photo: Carsten Lundager/Denmark’s shipowners’ association
The appointment of Jan Fritz Hansen comes simultaneously with an official Danish piracy fighting strategy.
New anti piracy task force Jan Fritz Hansen, Vice President of the Danish Shipowners Association, is chairman and ready to take action against the growing piracy. Jan Fritz Hansen, Vice President of the Danish Shipowners Association, has been appointed chairman of a new Piracy Task Force under the colours of the ECSA, the European Community Shipowners’ Association. The appointment comes simultaneously with an official Danish piracy fighting strategy drawn up by several Ministries in the Danish Government. “I am very happy for the opportunity to put a Danish fingerprint on fighting the growing piracy in the Indian Ocean, but also the piracy in West Africa, which has had several attacks recently”, says Jan Fritz Hansen.
As chairman of the new task force under the ECSA, Jan Fritz Hansen will urge its members and the whole EU administration to take action on a
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broad perspective to especially fight the Somalia/Indian Ocean problem. The first meeting will be a hearing in Brussels on October 12, where he will present the Danish Government strategy for counter-piracy effort. “I will ask all the members and all of the EU administration and politicians to use all the tools in the box to attack the piracy problems from all corners. I mean, we in the Danish Shipowners Association have analysed the problem and found that Europe and the EU might be the only “country” in the world with the number of instruments needed to fight the problem. We have bilateral trade agreements with neighbouring countries,
»It should be possible to attack the lawless Somalia from many angles«
we have naval firepower using the NATO task force, and we have so many political connections to the East African area that it should be possible to attack the lawless Somalia from many angles”, says Jan Fritz Hansen.
Jan Fritz Hansen Vice President of the Danish Shipowners Association
Four Danish ministries have drawn up piracy fighting strategies: • Promoting international coordination and focus on counter-piracy efforts, as well as strengthening regional and bilateral cooperation on counter piracy efforts. • Combating pirates through periodic deployment of naval contributions and a maritime patrol aircraft. • Identifying practical solutions to the legal challenges posed by counterpiracy efforts. • Working to make the application
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Piracy
Report
“One of the first tasks to solve is to make a sort of common standard for the use of civilian armed guards and their firearms on board. It has already proven difficult to work with armed guards under various guidelines from various countries. Therefore a system where the weapons stay on board our ships in special gun lockers under an international guide-
Photo: EU / Laurent Chamussy
process in relation to civilian armed guards as flexible as possible, as well as working for the production of international guidelines for the use of civilian armed guards. • Providing support for follow up on ships’ compliance with Best Management Practices (BMP) • Building capacities in order to enable the countries in the region to take on the challenges by themselves in the longer term, including support for the creation of coast guard functions in the region, as well as prison capacity in Somaliland and Puntland. • Enhancing the international effort to target those backing the pirates, including initiatives to counter money laundering.
EU Atalanta patrols strike against pirates in the Gulf of Aden. line will save our crews, their armed guards and the shipping offices ashore a lot of time and trouble”, says Jan Fritz Hansen. The Danish Shipowners Association has diverted funds to land based NGO organisations in Somalia and Somali-
land in order to fight the problem from the landside and in a non-violent way. At the same time, the Danish government has sent money to Somaliland to strengthen the prison system, which already houses some of the members of the piracy gangs from Somalia.
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T R E A T M E N T
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Scandinavian Shipping Gazzette
16-09-11 22:13
™ÂÏ›‰· 1
Posidonia 4-8 June 2012, Metropolitan Expo, Athens Greece
A unique blend of business and social interactions at the heart of Shipping Be part of the great Posidonia experience at a state of the art new venue
The International Shipping Exhibition
Organisers: Posidonia Exhibitions SA, e-mail: posidonia@posidonia-events.com
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A close eye on the vessel traffic Improved safety – from September 1, 2011, every ship over 300 grt must report to the Sound VTS when entering the strait between Denmark and Sweden. Text and photo (except where noted): Pierre adolfsson
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The Sound VTS is really about safety. 20 VTS operators and two managers are working day and night keeping a close eye on the vessel traffic through the strait between Denmark and Sweden. “Sound traffic here, I need your maximum draft and air draft” ”Hmmmm... wait a second, it is 7.1 and 37.9” ”OK, how many persons are you onboard?” ”20” ”Will you go east or west of the island of Ven?” ”Probably west” ”Any dangerous cargo onboard?” ”Negative, ballast” ”Will you go via the Drogden channel?” ”Yes, the Drogden channel” ”Don’t forget to e-mail information about the ship, do you have our e-mail address?” ”Hmmmm, I think so.” ”When passing the sector line, please change to channel 71” ”OK” ”OK, pleasant voyage” ”Pleasant watch”
The VTS operator Christian Peterson hang up. And explains. ”We always ask about the maximum draft and air draft, to avoid groundings and prevent vessels from being a safety risk for approaching planes. When the ship is sailing through the Drogden channel the air draft information is of great importance for Kastrup Airport. When the air draft is higher than 35 metres, we issue a warning as it affects the safety limit for landing aircraft. There needs to be a safety margin.” Christian Peterson’s workplace, the joint Danish–Swedish VTS centre Sound VTS, is situated only a few blocks from Malmö’s railway station. At the top of a tall building named Öresundshuset, 20 VTS operators and two managers are working day and night keeping a close eye on the vessel traffic through the strait between Denmark and Sweden.
The Sound (locally known as Øresund or Öresund), connecting the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, is one of the world’s busiest seaways. Some 35,000 commercial vessels ply the waters annually, including a wide range of ships such as crude oil tankers, container carriers and dry cargo ships. Besides being an increasingly important seaway, the Sound is classed an environmentally sensitive area. In 2006, the IMO approved the Sound as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area in accordance with the MARPOL convention. A severe accident would not only harm the environment and lead to sea traffic restrictions, but also endanger recrea-
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The VTS operator Christian Peterson (left) and the Swedish manager Marco Svantesson (right).
The entrance to the Sound VTS centre. Photo: johan bernodt/The sweidsh maritime administration
The Sound (locally known as Øresund or Öresund) separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania.
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The screen shows the busy Helsingør and Helsingborg area.
tion areas for the 3.7 million people living in the Sound region. The main task of the Sound VTS is basically to make it safer and easier to navigate. The Sound VTS saw the light of day in 2007 when the pilot project was set up by the Danish Maritime Safety Administration and its Swedish counterpart. It was not compulsory to report to the vessel traffic system but the maritime administrations encouraged all ships from 300 grt and upwards to participate in the project. The voluntary reporting area comprised the shipping lanes Drogden and Flintrännan off Copenhagen and Malmö. On September 1, 2011, the project was made permanent. Now it is no longer a question of being voluntary, every ship over 300 grt must report to the Sound VTS when entering the VTS area. And the area has been expanded to include all of the Sound.
When ships cross the reporting lines, a mandatory report must be communicated to the VTS station by VHF, e-mail or phone. Some of the information is already apparent in the ships’ AIS information. The report must contain true course, speed, draft, air draft, persons on board, defects and deficiencies, cargo and destination among other things. The service provided for the vessels include information about other vessels’ movements, obstacles in the fairway, navigational warnings, special weather, water level, current and ice conditions. ”When compiling incident reports from the past years, it was clear that the Sound VTS had improved safety. A large majority of the ships entering the VTS area during the voluntary period actually chose to report”, says Captain Marco Svantesson, who became manager for the Swedish operators at Sound VTS in February. He has long experience within VTS. ”One could put it that way. Before I was recruited to the Sound VTS, I was in charge for VTS Gothenburg and the new VTS centre in Södertälje. I have also spent many years at sea on tankers and chemical and product carriers, mainly for Donsöbased employers such as Veritas Tankers and Ektank. But in
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»When compiling incident reports from the past years, it was clear that VTS had improved safety« 2005 I decided to go ashore, the time had come.” It nearly turned out to be an awful first day at work, since a Latvia bound dry bulker grounded on Norra Lillgrund only two days before. The grounding had a lucky ending though, as it was pulled afloat the very same day, without any oil leakage. But what if? Marco Svantesson surely gasped for breath for a while.
And only two weeks before it became compulsory to report to the Sound VTS, another dry bulker grounded off Ålabodarna with a cargo of sodium silicate. It was refloated a few days later, without any oil leakage. The captain was held in custody in Sweden charged with being drunk on watch. ”The media has been reporting a lot about the new compulsory system and the area extension. My task has been to explain why it is important and how it really improves safety. The operators called me at 8 am to inform about the grounding, and it was only minutes before the media started to call. They all asked me if this accident could have been avoided with Soundrep, my answer was yes. Or put differently, the probability of avoiding it would have been much better with a compulsory system in force”, says Marco Svantesson.There are demonstrably many reasons for a grounding, sometimes they occur at the same time. Drunk officers, officers suffering from fatigue, poor navigation skills, neglecting risks, technical mishaps and so on.
Human errors and mistakes are not easily eradicated. Accidents and severe groundings will therefore most likely occur once in a while. It’s really about risk minimization. The Sound VTS bears a heavy burden of responsibility. One and half years ago, the Russian captain on the Moldavia-
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The Sound VTS centre is located at the top of the building Ă–resundshuset.
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The operator Christian Peterson (left) was recruited to the Sound VTS in 2007.
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»This is a very complex area, with 35,000 vessels a year passing through and 96 passages a day« If necessary, we can give advice on their route. And as the vessels are listening on the same channel they are all aware on what is happening”, says Marco Svantesson and continues: ”If we notice that a southbound vessel is sailing towards the narrow Drogden channel, and at the same time a northbound ship is trying to pass another northbound vessel in the Drogden channel, we inform those affected ‘Please make contact for a safe passage’. That is one kind of proactive intervention. Another is when a vessel should have turned at a certain spot but fails to, then we make contact ‘What is your intention?’ There might be many reasons for unexpected maneuvering; technical issues, fatigue and so on. But for the most part the vessel does turn. But if the course does not change and we are not able to make contact, it is worrying. During these circumstances we use the DSC, digital selective call. It is a device connected to the VHF on board, making it possible to send out group messages or area messages. You enter the ship’s MMSI number (maritime mobile safety identification). If you choose ‘safety alert’, a loud sound will be heard onboard, enough to wake up someone who has fallen asleep.”
The compulsory report system itself does not give the
The Swedish manager, Marco Svantesson, has long experience within VTS. registered coaster Harmonia was taken into custody by the Danish police after an incident in the Bay of Køge. The Sound VTS sent out a alarm when the coaster, on a voyage from Klaipeda to Hull, made a turn towards the Bay of Køge and did not answer when called by the VTS operators. A pilot boat was sent to the position and managed to make the Harmonia drop anchor before it went aground on the coast. Shortly after, the police boarded the ship and found the captain drunk, in fact so drunk that they decided to take him off the vessel and detain him ashore until he had sobered up.
In March 2009, the German-owned container feeder Karin Schepers ran aground in the Sound. The investigation clearly showed that the officers were heavily intoxicated when the ship ran aground. The officer on duty fell asleep and was woken up by the Danish pilot, who was dispatched to the vessel after the grounding. The captain and another mate came up from their cabins shortly after and were also intoxicated. The captain and the officer on duty were arrested by the Danish police and taken into custody. Before running aground, the Sound VTS tried to make contact with the vessel for almost an hour. A pilot boat circled around the vessel and a naval helicopter came close, but despite this they did not manage to make any contact. ”Accidents will always take place, now and then. We will never achieve 100 per cent safety. But the great advantage of our operation is our double nature; we are both supervisor and advisor. When entering ships make contact, as they have to, we note their route and draft and are able to identify divergences.
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VTS operators authority to instruct vessels how to manoeuvre. ”No, we are only allowed to inform. It is due to the international legislation context. The waters of Öresund are classed as international waters and as such we do not have the authority to demand that vessels to act upon our guidance. Therefore we never say ‘Steer the vessel in that direction’ but ‘For your information, there is safe water west of you’ if a vessel is heading towards shallower water.” The Sound VTS has identified several high risk spots in the Sound, where the risks of collision and grounding are high; the Drogden dredged channel, the Flint, the entrance to the Port of Copenhagen, the Ven area and the Helsingør–Helsingborg area. The risks of grounding are especially high at Lous Flak, west of Pinhättan Lighthouse, at Stengrund and Väster Flacket (off Landskrona), north of Helsingborg and when passing the TSS in the Sound area. These locations are supported by data analysis of the traffic patterns and a detailed review of registered accidents. ”It is a never-ending task revising our focus areas, areas where ship collisions and other incidents are at higher risk. For example, is not unusual that vessels sailing in the Drogden channel mix up the buoys and get too close to Nordre Røse, which mean they could ground”, says Marco Svantesson and continues to talk about the special conditions surrounding sea traffic in the strait.
˝This is a very complex area, with 35,000 vessels a year passing through and 96 passages a day. The ferries between Helsingør and Helsingborg are excluded. Obviously we will have to deal with risk areas, but don’t forget risk groups among the vessels. Vessels with reduced manning and vessels very rarely visiting these waters are definitely a safety concern. Some of the ‘newcomers’, so to speak, use a pilot, which is great of course.” It is worth mentioning that the Drogden channel is the fairway of choice, 90 per cent of all ships use the ”Danish” channel. ”It’s a bit curious, Drogden is often jammed with traffic while the Flint lies wide open. Using the wider Flint only
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The Port of Malmö (Copenhagen Malmö Port).
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On July 28, 2011, the bulk carrier Frank W ran aground off Limhamn, Malmö. A few days later the vessel was pulled afloat.
means a detour of one or two nautical miles and the draft is only slightly reduced compared to the Drogden, so the question is, why not choose a safer route through the Flint?” Two years ago, a nasty collision took place in the Drogden channel. The Norwegian registered tanker Sundstraum and the Malta-flagged cargo ship Kapitan Lus collided. The Kapitan Lus with a cargo of uranium ore and aluminium managed to anchor in the roads of the Port of Copenhagen; she was listing severely. She was assisted by an emergency response vessel. One cargo hold was damaged in the collision. The Sundstraum, loaded with methanol, anchored close to the scene of the accident. The incident caused no personal injury or spill.
Every single incident is recorded; groundings, risky and unusual manoeuvring etc. According to Marco Svantesson, some 70 incidents are reported every year, very few of them involve groundings. In 2008, there were three groundings and last year only one grounding was recorded. The most common incident report is ’heading towards shallower waters.’ ”In 2010, we recorded twenty cases of ‘heading towards shallower water’. This does not mean that every one of them was a potential grounding, as the bridge crew might have had changed course anyway. But out of 19 incidents I would assume that at least some of them would have led to a grounding without our intervention.” ”We scrutinize the incident reports at various gatherings,
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»For our work, it does not matter whether there is a pilot on board or not, we make no distinction« of course they have an influence on our routines; how to avoid similar incidents in the future? Did we receive correct information? What about our communication, should we have done anything differently? One way to make navigation safer is to use a pilot, it goes without saying. Swedish and Danish pilots frequently pilot in the Sound area, but due to an agreement from the 19th century the pilots are not allowed to pilot in the neighbouring country’s waters. So if a southbound vessel enters the northern sector and requests Danish pilotage assistance, the pilot is not allowed to pilot the vessel east of Ven. ”For our work, it does not matter whether there is a pilot on board or not, we make no distinction”, says Marco Svantesson To work as a VTS operator a master mariner education is obligatory. Many of the Sound VTS’s operators have sailed as captains and officers for years. Recently, the organization recruited several new operators. Today, some 25 per cent of the staff is women. It is a remarkable figure as the shipping industry is dominated by men, both at sea and ashore. ”During my years at sea I have only sailed with one woman,
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Photo: The Swedish Coast Guard
Swedish pilot boats, ready to assist vessels sailing in the Sound. Instructions on how to act when the AIS breaks down etc.
she worked in the galley. I think it is good for our operation to have a gender mix. When recruiting our new staff members, we also sought to increase the age interval, now our youngest operator is 28–29 years old and the oldest double that age.” ”The staff is well educated and experienced. But being a VTS operator is demanding, the preparation training is therefore intense. There are many operational procedures to learn.”
”When it all started back in 2007, we were all novices when it came to communication, but our communication skills have really improved. Today, we try to keep communication as short and precise as possible with little or no room for misunderstanding. Oral communication is our main tool after all. We say that we must provide correct information at the right time so that the crew on the bridge are able to take the right decision.” One could fill libraries with academic literature on communication, there is an abundance of theories on human communication. ”One concrete change for the better is the word question. Due to language confusion, some people do not understand whether it is a statement or a question. But when we say ‘Question...’, they understand that we are expecting an answer.” The Sound VTS uses several ”sensors” to supervise the area; AIS information, radar, buoys, etc. ”We have full radar coverage of the strait and if our AIS sta-
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tion for some reason is out of order, we are allowed to use the Danish AIS station and vice versa. In other words, our systems provide redundancy.” The Sound VTS is connected to the European Maritime Safety Agency’s vessel traffic monitoring and information system SafeSeaNet. SafeSeaNet’s main objective is safer seas and better protection of seafarers through early identification of high-risk vessels, earlier precautionary actions and risk mitigation, improved emergency response to incidents or pollution. It covers all European waters, about 100,000 AIS positions are recorded every month. SafeSeaNet is accessible to every concerned authority, such as the Swedish and Danish Coastguards and their respective SRSS’ (ship security reporting system).
”From September 1, we always check if a vessel is carrying any dangerous cargo on board. If, we file a report to SafeSeaNet, it is visible to every member state. Vessels carrying dangerous cargo are marked with a white sign, so every coastal country along the vessel’s route are able to see the information immediately. If a vessel with a red sign enter our waters we need to be on the alert. The red sign could mean the vessel has been involved in some sort of incident”, says Marco Svantesson. As SafeSeaNet is rather new, it has some teething problems, such as the interface. The interface resembles a Commodore 64 computer game. With many countries involved, the interface has
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The narrow strait between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden, is regarded as one of the hot spots in the Sound.
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»Your heart rate goes up when you identify a divergence, knowing that so much is at stake and that the responsibility rests on your shoulders« probably been developed to suit as many of them as possible. But according to Marco Svantesson, the system needs to be improved. ”The interface is not very convenient for us. When SafeSeaNet has been further developed and improved I am sure it will be of great use and enhance safety.” When Shipgaz Magazine visits the VTS centre, the operator Christian Peterson is on duty. He is one of the veterans, but still young. After having passed the master mariner examination at Chalmers University of Technology in 2002, he remained on land working as pilot orderer until 2007 when he was recruited to the then newly established VTS station. ”Working here means a lot to me as I am killing two birds with one stone; I keep my family close but I am still in shipping”, says Christian Peterson who at the moment is in charge of the northern sector. The entry to the northern sector for southbound vessels basically extends over Kullen, Sweden, and Gilleleje, Denmark. Two vessels are about to enter the zone, a product carrier and a car carrier. The latter plays an active role and provides the Sound VTS with information about the ship via e-mail, forcing Christian Peterson to contact the bridge of the other vessel, the product carrier. He informs the captain about his obligations. ”The mandatory reporting system has a only been in place for a few days. For some, it will take time to adopt”, he explains afterwards.
Christian Peterson and his 19 colleagues, work on a rolling 10-week schedule and three persons are always on duty. When on duty, they work either 7 am–7 pm or 7 pm–7 am. ”The schedule is drawn up and decided on by the operators, so it is not a top to bottom decision. When on duty, you are in charge of one of the sectors for two hours, then you go standby for one hour before you leap into the saddle again and take over control of the other sector for two hours. I usually spend the hour eating and watching telly downstairs. You do need to rest. Being an operator might not appear to be the most exhausting job one could have, but believe me, it’s very demanding. Every day is different, you can never lean back and relax. All at once, a vessel is heading towards shallower water, at the same time as two vessels are about to collide. So, your focus need to be on the screens”, he says and continues: ”Your heart rate goes up when you identify a divergence, knowing that so much is at stake and that the responsibility rests on your shoulders. It is important to clarify that the safety of the vessel is always the captains’ responsibility, but it is my task to minimize the risks by acting as preventively as possible.” A southbound dry cargo vessel is about to enter the northern sector, a few minutes later the Sound VTS receives an e-mail with mandatory information. The vessel is in ballast and bound for Sundsvall. Marco Svantesson enters the control room, there is some sort of issue with one of the VHF channels. A technician has adjusted the aerial settings and Marco Svantesson wants to check if the re-
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20 operators work at the Sound VTS centre in Malmö, Sweden. ception sound is better now, Christian Peterson grabs the phone and calls up the dry cargo vessel. It is of utmost importance that the VHF channels are free from any sound interference. ”Hello, Sound Traffic here, just making a radio check. Do you read me now? ”Yes, yes, I hear you” ”The sound is good?” ”Yes, no problem” ”OK, have a pleasant voyage”
The sound seems to be all right. Unfortunately, a crisp and clear sound does not solve the issue of confusion of languages. ”Some of the vessels have limited or no English skills at all. In those circumstances we usually get assisted by other vessels that are able to communicate with the specific vessel in their native language, simply by translating our information. There are also cases when the captains and officers refuse to speak English for some reason; in those cases, we always ask questions and give answers in English as other vessels are listening on the same channel.” When asked about how the vessels are coping with the report system, Christian Peterson is quiet for a few seconds before answering. ”Well, I guess there is some irritation about the increased administrative workload, but generally the vessels do understand and accept why we are doing this.” As mentioned before, the main task of the Sound VTS is to make it safer and easier to navigate. Not to make life more complicated.
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Ship recycling at Esbjerg Over the years close to 400 vessels have been recycled at the Port of Esbjerg by the family owned business Smedegaarden. The company has spent a lot of money in order to meet the environmental requirements. Text & photo: Bent Mikkelsen
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Recycling of ships is a controversial subject for environmentalists. In Denmark three companies have, at the moment, approval to demolish ships under a set of guidelines complying with environmental standards. ne of these plants is Smedegaarden’s at the Port of Esbjerg. The family owned business Smedegaarden at Esbjerg is presently working on the demolition of a former Faroese fish factory vessel, which was destroyed by a serious fire while lying alongside a shipyard in Runavik on the Faroe Islands. The vessel was shortly after declared a total loss and after a usual bidding round, Smedegaard offered the highest prices and took over the vessel as is in Skala. On top of the price for the wreck of the 7,800 GT trawler measuring 105 metres in length, Smedegaarden had to pay for the tow to Esbjerg as the vessel was unable to sail under own power. The towage was done by Em. Z. Svitzer’s Bauge, which safely delivered the huge wreck alongside Smedegaarden’s quay at Esbjerg.
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Shortly after the arrival at the breakers quay the work force at the plant started cutting off equipment which is suitable for further use. In the case of the trawler, which is named Athena, the fire destroyed a lot of the deck equipment, which still is a mystery to the investigators. The accommodation house was totally burned out and therefore this particular job is easier for Smedegaard’s employees than normal for a ship. The woodwork and panels in the accommodation house are simply gone as a result of the fire. Otherwise the derelicts of panels, isolation materials and wiring have to be sorted and taken to a proper deposit. The job on Athena, which caught fire on May 9, 2011, and caused evacuation of the 1,500 inhabitants at Runavik, as there was a serious risk of the 18 tons of ammonia escaping from the ship’s cooling plant, is not the biggest ever for Smedegaarden. During the summer of 2008, Smedegaarden won the bidding for the wreck of the former bulk carrier Server, which was salvaged after grounding outside Fedja in Southern Norway.
The aft part of the ship was lost to the sea, but the forward section with five empty cargo holds and four deck cranes was salvaged and laid up for sale. The huge steel hull was towed to Esbjerg and taken under demolition at the plant. What once
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The 2002 built S. Gabriel was declared a total loss after a serious grounding off the Cape Verde Islands.
The Danish foreman Eddie on the Athena.
It is very easy to sort a recycled ship into two kinds of materials, when all the useful parts have been removed from the hull.
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Over the years close to 400 vessels have been recycled at Esbjerg by Smedegaarden.
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The head of Smedegaarden, Morten Smedegaard.
»I am sure that our plant is the most modern and the one most in compliance with the environmental guidelines in Denmark« was a stricken bulk carrier was, during the summer of 2008, converted to valuable steel scrap and removed from the harbour on trucks to a plant for further treatment. Server contained around 9,000 tons of steel and only very little equipment. The demolishing of the huge hull was executed during the summer of 2008, when prices on steel scrap still were sky high. The prices on steel scrap are very volatile and go up and down as a reflex of the world market for raw materials. At the moment, the prices are at a sensible level, which makes scrapping a profitable business despite the fact that Denmark is a high cost country in Europe. The staff at Smedegaarden is around 15-20 persons in a mixed crew of Danes and Polish citizens, but all are paid based on normal Danish standard agreements.
There was far more equipment in a project which was demolished in the early months of 2011, when Smedegaarden purchased the German multipurpose container vessel S. Gabriel. The 2002 built vessel was declared a total loss after a serious grounding at the Cape Verde Islands. The salvage operation conducted by a US salvage company, Titan Salvage, was the subject of a TV film made by the Discovery Channel. The underwriters decided to sell the vessel for recycling and it ended up being towed to Esbjerg after one year of lay-up at its home port of Leer. The vessel named S. Gabriel had a workable deck crane and lot of equipment in the wheelhouse, which was dismounted and taken ashore for resale. The hydraulic scissors cut up the rest of the 5,550 DWT container ship, built in Wuhan in China. Smedegaarden is, like the other ship recyclers, using hy-
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draulic tools to cut up the steel. The scissors are mounted on what are usually known as excavators, with a hydraulic arm capable of reaching up to 10 meters from the ground surface. One or two of these machines are normally working on a ship on the special berth created at Esbjerg. Each machine is usually capable of cutting around 80 to 90 tons per week under normal circumstances.
The plant at Esbjerg was originally built for construction of steel hulls, which was delivered to several Danish shipyards as sub suppliers. After the closure of the coaster builders around Denmark, the building berth area was available for other purposes. Smedegaarden purchased the plant and spent a lot of money on making it suitable for recycling of ships. “We spent a ton of money on our berth in order to meet the environmental requirements from the administration. That includes reconstructing the berth with drain and drain pipe in order to collect the small remains of waste oil, which are left within a ship when we start cutting the hull”, explains Henning Smedegaard, senior head and founder of Smedegaarden. “We also had to reinforce the foundation on the berth, as well, in order to make it possible to take the weight of several thousand tons of steel which are dragged up on the berth with our huge winch. And below these membranes, we installed the drain piping in order to control the oil sludge and other fluids which are inside a vessel. We try to take as much as possible with our own suction truck from the vessel, while it is still afloat and the hull is intact”, says Henning Smedegaard. “I am sure that our plant is the most modern and the one most in compliance with the environmental guidelines in Denmark.” When the ship is cut up, the metal parts have to be sorted from the wooden and other parts of the hull. It is done on the berth with other excavators fitted with a magnet grab. The excavator lifts away the metal parts and the remains are waste going to deposit.
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Smedegaarden was founded in the 1960s as a normal service provider at the port of Esbjerg. The business as a ship recycler was developed in the beginning of the 1990s.
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The Polish cutter Marek working on the burned out trawler Athena.
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Smedegaarden employs 15–20 persons from Denmark and Poland.
Smedegaarden uses, like the other ship recyclers, hydraulic tools to cut up the steel.
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The German multipurpose container vessel S. Gabriel.
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»It is very easy to sort a recycled ship into these two kinds of materials, when all the useful parts have been removed from the hull« “It is very easy to sort a recycled ship into these two kinds of materials, when all the useful parts have been removed from the hull”, explains Henning Smedegaard. He runs the company along with his three sons as a family business. One of the arms of the business is the resale of vessels. Over the years a number of vessels purchased for recycling have been found in such good condition that they have been offered for sale for continued trading. Usually it’s done with the consent of the seller, who sold it for recycling. A number of vessels have been sold to contacts in Nigeria, where several tugs and small bunker supply vessels have been purchased and sailed to Africa for further trading. Also smaller cargo vessels, like the pallet carrier Bornholm, found a new life on the coast of West Africa instead of being recycled in Esbjerg. At present Smedegaarden has sold the former German buoy tender Aurora, which for some years had been a part of Smedegaarden’s stock for sale. The special vessel, built for service in the Wattenzee area, has been sold to a Dutch buyer for use a private yacht.
Smedegaarden was founded in the 1960s as a normal service provider at the port of Esbjerg. The business as a ship recycler was developed in the beginning of the 1990s, when the decommissioning of fishing vessels rose within the big fishing ports in Denmark. Smedegaarden took up the challenge and purchased several steel fishing vessels and demolished them alongside in Esbjerg. When a vessel was cut down to a certain point the remains were lifted ashore on one of the normal repair berths in the northern part of Esbjerg port and cut into pieces. The business was then developed with the purchase of the former shipbuilding area. After the fishing vessels from Esbjerg were recycled, ships from other ports were purchased by Smedegaarden, which also went abroad and took their turn at the huge decommissioning of Scottish fishing vessels as well. Also a number of tankers, coasters and several bunches of English ferries and passenger vessels have been purchased and recycled. In 2011, a series of five elderly stand-by vessels have been purchased from the Dutch ship owning Group Vroon of Breskens for recycling. Smedegaarden has purchased a vessel as far away as Las Palmas, where a former Maersk Supply vessel was offered for sale.
It was not able to sail under its own power, but was towed to Esbjerg by the Danish tug Vitus, which was en route on the return leg after a voyage to Nigeria. At the moment, there is a tendency to put a lot of coasters and smaller cargo vessels on the market for recycling. That happens instead of going through a costly special survey at a shipyard in order to resume trading in a very slow market, which brings problems regarding paying the bills from the shipyard. So, therefore, at least more than four handfuls of older coasters are offered for sale and will be possible candidates for Smedegaarden’s plant at Esbjerg. Over the years close to 400 vessels have been recycled at Esbjerg by Smedegaarden.
*
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2011-09-30 15.11
60 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
1
2
3
Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
Photo: ESL Shipping
Indian Super IA newbuilding Newcomer Better late than never one could say about ESL Shipping’s 20,499 DWT newbuilding Alppila. Originally intended for delivery in 2008, the vessel was handed over on August 24, 2011 by ABG Shipyard Ltd in India. The vessel is owned by SEB Leasing Oy, which has bareboat chartered her to ESL Shipping under a long-term agreement.
ESL Shipping informs that the newbuilding is designed to meet the needs of the company’s customers. The geared bulk carrier is especially built for operations in the Baltic Sea and has therefore highest Finnish/Swedish ice class IA Super. She is capable of operating even to the ports in northern Gulf of Bothnia during the winter. The length of the Alppila is 156 meters and her maximum draft fully loaded is 9.4 meters. Cargo is carried in three holds, served by three MacGregor cranes. The Alppila is of a similar type as the Eira and Credo. Alppila sails under the Finnish flag and her crew is entirely Finnish.
*
s.60–78.indd 60
Scrubber installation New Technology Containerships’ Finnish-flagged container vessel Containerships VII has been retrofitted with a Wärtsilä fresh water scrubber to meet future emission requirements in Emission Control Areas (ECA). The installation was carried through in August during a docking at Turku Repair Yard in Naantali.
The scrubber works with fresh water boosted by NaOH to create a strong alkaline solution. As a result of the chemical process SOX emissions are neutralised to sulphates in the scrubbing water. On board the ship fresh water is produced using a fresh water generator. NaOH is stored in a heavy fuel oil tank. The tank has
been coated internally and heating has been arranged to keep the temperature between 25 and 35 degrees C. The scrubber unit is located in a new space added to the port side of the existing funnel. The exhaust gas pipe has been extended and coupled to the lower section of the scrubber unit. Scrubbing water is pumped from the wet sump, through the seawater heat exchanger, to the top part of the scrubber and sprayed into the exhaust gas flow. A 40 ft equipment container, which includes amongst other things the bleedoff treatment units, is located on the port side in front of the superstructure. The vessel is equipped with a Wärtsilä W7L64 main engine.
*
2011-09-29 14.48
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 61
Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
4
Photo fleet review
1. Finneagle. Back in service on Finnlines’ Malmö–Travemünde run after some months on the Kapellskär–Naantali route. 2. Gemini. Originally built for EffJohnowned Commodore Cruise Line in 1992 as the Crown Jewel. Now trading for Happy Cruises. 3. SEDOV. Several large square riggers visited Turku during Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta in the end of August 2011. 4. Snav Lazio. The former Olau Britannia is nowadays trading for Italian SNAV between Napoli and Palermo.
Photo: bent mikkelsen
Photo: danish bulk carriers
Another Danish coaster sold
North Passage sailing Route In the middle of September, Danish controlled Danish Bulk Carriers conducted their second voyage with a non-Russian flagged ship across the North Passage from Murmansk to China with a cargo of iron ore.
By taking the Northern route, the vessel had a 30 per cent shorter distance to the discharge port and as a consequence of this fact, the vessel saved around 750 tons of fuel and a similar amount of emissions during the voyage. Another highlight for the voyage in the Northern passage is that the particular route has no threat whatsoever from pirates. The bulk carrier under time charter to Nordic Bulk Carriers was the Liberian flagged Sanko Odyssey, which is owned by
s.60–78.indd 61
Sanko Steamship in Tokyo. The 75,603 DWT vessel was delivered from Oshima in November, 2010. Sanko Odyssey is a specially built vessel (and one of two sister vessels) with super ice class in order to trade in harsh areas like the Northern Passage. The vessel is fitted with an extra large main engine providing 13,560 kW (18,000 brake horsepower) or around double the power compared with bulk carriers of the same size. The voyage from Murmansk to China started August 30, after loading 70,000 tons of iron ore. Sanko Odyssey was met by a Russian icebreaker operated by Rosatomflot on September 4 and had assistance all the way to the Bering Strait.
*
sale Danish family owned Rederiet Uno ApS has sold their only ship, the coaster Uno, to a Portuguese joint venture for future use as dredger on the River Douro. The sale was forced as a request for bankruptcy was under way through the court system in Denmark. For quite some time the economy on a 2,100 DWT coaster has been miserable and after months with low rates the equity in Rederiet Uno ApS was used.
“It is a very sad situation, but we are somewhat happy that we managed to sell the vessel at a fair price leaving us with only very few debts”, explains Erik Schmidt, who owned Rederiet Uno ApS with his older brother Peter Schmidt. Uno was sailed by the Danish captain Egon Baand along with two Lithuanians and two Polish crew members. Uno was built in 1986 in Sliedrecht, Holland, for a German account, as Elke. It kept that name until December 2002, when Elke was sold to Rederiet Uno ApS. The actual takeover took place at the Dutch port of Vlaardingen on January 10, 2003.
*
2011-09-29 14.48
62 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
Photo: bent mikkelsen
Svitzer Ran back to Italy redelivery Em. Z. Svitzer A/S has redelivered the tug Svitzer Ran to its Italian owners. The delivery took place at Odense. The owner of Svitzer Ran is S.E.R.S. Offshore from Ravenna, where the tug was built in 2008.
Upon delivery in 2008, it was taken on bareboat charter by Em. Z. Svitzer and has, in the years since delivery, been sailing under the Danish flag. The voyage back to Italy was conducted in a rather unusual way. The company tug Eduardo Primo was sent from Italy to Odense to pick up Svitzer Ran for a tow without crew back to Ravenna. The reason for doing so is that the flag change back to the Italian flag will not take place in the Danish port, but in Ravenna, simply because it was too expensive to do it at Odense. Svitzer Ran could, of course, have sailed by its own power back to Italy under the Danish flag, but then S.E.R.S. Offshore would have had to hire a Danish crew, which would have had to be transported back to Denmark after delivery. Also a rather costly arrangement, so the owner chose to tow the tug back to Ravenna for the flag change.
*
A Dane became a Finn Acquisition The Finnish shipping company Helmer Lundström Ab Oy has bought the 4,750 DWT dry cargo vessel Jytte Bres from Rederiet Nielsen & Bresling A/S in Denmark. The vessel is ice strengthened to Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A and classed by Lloyd’s Register. Renamed Antonia, the vessel has been taken on long term time charter by Meriaura Ltd.
The Antonia has a fully boxed cargo hold withe the dimensions 62.48 x 11.00 x 8.45 metres. The volume of the hold is 201,921 cubic feet. Although the Antonia is only 7 metres longer than the Sabina her cargo capacity is considerably larger due to her deeper cargo hold. The length over all is 89.0 metres, beam 13.17 metres and a draft 6.28 metres. Her air draft is 26.5 metres.
The newcomer is flying the Finnish flag and manned by a Finnish crew. She was taken over in August 2011. Helmer Lundström Ab Oy has also another vessel in their fleet, the 2,723 DWT dry cargo vessel Sabina. Delivered by the Damen shipyard in Hoogezand, the Netherlands to her original Danish owner in November 1999, Antonia is one of the youngest dry cargo vessels in this size range under Finnish flag. She also has a sister in the Rederiet Nielsen & Breslingfleet named Lone Bres.
The Cargo hatch is of pontoon type with closed top and closed bottom. On the hatch there are fittings for 96 TEU as deck load. In the cargo hold the vessel can carry 117 TEU. The tanktop is strengthened for heavy cargos and dimensioned for loads up to 18 tons per square metre. The main engine is of the type MaK 8M25 with an output of 2,400 kW, providing a service speed of 12.5 knots in loaded condition. For manoeuvring there is a 300 kW bow thruster.
*
Marine Protection System • Prevent pirate boarding
Anti-pirate water cannon
• Protect your crew and ship • No need for manual operation • In line with IMO recommendation “MSC. 1/Circ. 1334” Phone: E-mail: Web:
s.60–78.indd 62
+ 46 31 338 7530 sales@scanjet.se www.scanjet.se/mps
2011-09-29 14.48
Stoc
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
s.60–78.indd 63 Stockhomsreparationsvarv_spec2.indd 1
2011-09-29 2011-09-21 14.48 14.29
Shipgaz Jobs. Your recruitment service.
The online recruitment service – browse the available positions in shipping or let Shipgaz help you find the right personnel. With outstanding reach in Scandinavia, Finland, Germany and Poland Shipgaz Jobs reaches more than 10,000 shipping professionals both onboard and shore based. A service from Shipgaz.
www.shipgaz.com/jobs
s.60–78.indd 64
2011-09-29 14.48
NO 5 2011 SHIPGAZ 65
Fleet Review PHOTO: BENT MIKKELSEN
PHOTO: PÄR-HENRIK SJÖSTRÖM
Danish dredger newbuilding
Carnival’s 100th vessel NEWBUILDING On April 27, 2011 Carnival Cruise Lines – a brand of Carnival Corporation & plc – took delivery of the Corporation’s 100th ship, the 130,000 GT cruise vessel Carnival Magic. The newbuilding was handed over at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. The vessel was named by Lindsey Wilkerson, a former patient of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, who now serves as an employee and ambassador of the organization. The choice of Wilkerson as godmother is a tribute to Carnival’s ongoing partnership with St. Jude, one of the world’s premier centres for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
DURING HER INAUGURAL SEASON Carnival Magic has been employed in the Mediterranean. The vessel left Venice for her first cruise on May 1 and after that she has made
cruises with Barcelona as her home port. Carnival Magic leaves Barcelona on October 28 for a Transatlantic cruise. Forthcoming itineraries include cruises in the Western Caribbean with Galveston, Texas, as her turnaround port. CARNIVAL MAGIC IS THE second ship in the Dream-class, introducing some new features, including SportSquare, an expansive open-air recreation complex with the first ropes course and outdoor fitness area at sea. The following ship of this class in the Carnival Cruise Line fleet will be Carnival Breeze, entering service in June 2012. “It is particularly meaningful that delivery of Carnival Corporation & plc’s 100th ship is for the Carnival Cruise Lines brand, which provided the foundation upon which Carnival Corporation & plc was established,” Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc’s chairman and CEO said.
*
NEWBUILDING Danish giant Rohde Nielsen A/S has taken delivery of the company’s very first new building, which also holds the title as the world’s largest trailing split hopper dredger. The Danish flagged dredger is named Balder R and is presently undergoing a number of real time tests, off the west coast of Jylland, in the harsh environment where the dredger is going to work in the future.
THE DISCHARGE OF THE CONTENTS of the cargo hold, which has a volume of 6,000 cbm, can be done within seconds by opening the hull. Otherwise Balder R can discharge via the bowlines either by coupling up to a hose connection and up to 4 kilometre of pipes ashore. The second bowlines are by blowing the sand out in the system called rainbowing. Balder R is hull no. 568 from Peenewerft at Wolgast on the isle of Rügen. THE YARD WAS CHOSEN AFTER an adventure in China, where Rohde Nielsen A/S for a couple of years tried to have a similar vessel built, but without any luck. The German-built vessel measures 111.3 metres in length and has a breadth of 19.4 metres and a fully loaded draft of 7.0 metres. The tonnage is 5,194 BT and 6,185 DWT.
*
your maritime solution partner For more info please visit www.sspa.se
s.60–78.indd 65
2011-09-29 14.48
66 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Fleet Review Photo: maersk line
In June Maersk Line ordered a further ten Triple E container vessels on 18,000 teu.
Newbuilding contracts in the Nordic market Month
Owner
June 2011 Sanco Shipping
Type
Shipyard
Delivery
No
Nat
88.9m
seismic
Myklebust MV
5.13
53,000
tanker
Guangzhou
4q12
errv
ASL Shipyard
13
Red AB Gotland
Sw
Esvagt
Den
Dwt
46m
Esvagt
Den
46m
errv
ASL Shipyard
13
Solvang
No
84,000c
LPG
Hyundai
3q13
Value
Remarks ST-324CE
USD 32m + opt
Floatel Intl
Sw
acc rig
semisub
Keppel SY
1q14
USD283m
Farstad Shipping
No
3,900
ahts
STX Langsten
4.13
UT731CD, NOK 600m
Farstad Shipping
No
3,900
ahts
STX Langsten
6.13
UT731CD, NOK 600m
Havila Shipping
No
4.700
psv
Havyard Leirvik
Havyard 833L, NOK 350m
Island Offshore
No
4,100
psv
STX Brevik
UT776CD, NOK 375m
1q13
We provide STCW certified training We offer advanced training in maritime safety and are a resource for fishermen and sailors. We offer a wide range of courses, visit our website our contact us at: www.sjosakerhet.nu, info@sjosakerhet.nu, +46 (0)–31 97 65 90.
s.60–78.indd 66
2011-09-29 14.48
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 67
Fleet Review Month
Owner
Nat
Dwt
Type
Shipyard
Delivery
Value
Island Offshore
No
4,100
psv
STX Brevik
3q13
UT776CD, NOK 375m
Tankers Inc
Den
75,000
tanker
Dalian SY
13
Tankers Inc
Den
75,000
tanker
Dalian SY
13
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
14
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
14
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
14
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
14
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
A P Møller Maersk
Den
18,000 teu
cont
Daewoo
15
USD 190m
Seatankers
No
4,000
psv
Sinopacific
13
PX105CD, USD 38m
Seatankers
No
4,000
psv
Sinopacific
13
PX105CD, USD 38m
Seatankers
No
4,000
psv
Sinopacific
13
PX105CD, USD 38m
Seatankers
No
4,000
psv
Sinopacific
13
PX105CD, USD 38m
Maersk Drilling
Den
drillship
Samsung
2q14
USD 650m
Maersk Drilling
Den
drillship
Samsung
3q14
USD 650m
July
PR Vendla
No
76.4m
fishing
Fitjar MV-35
2.13
purse-seiner, NOK 150m
Barents Sea
No
34m
fishing
Vaagland BB
6.12
net/trawl
Arne Blystad
No
200m
pctc
Nam Trieu SB
10.13
6900 cars – canx 9.11
Arne Blystad
No
200m
pctc
Nam Trieu SB
4.14
6900 cars – canx 9.11
KS Østervik
No
4,500
psv
Fjellstrand
13
VS495 + 2 options
Gearbulk
No/UK
19,000
tanker
Hyundai-Mipo
13
pitch-tanker, USD 27.5m
Gearbulk
No/UK
19,000
tanker
Hyundai-Mipo
13
pitch-tanker, USD 27.5m
Topaz Energy
Dubai
4,200
psv
Simek
7.12
UT755LC, NOK 200m
Aug
Knutsen-NYK
No
129,000
sh tank
Hyundai
4q13
TC Eni
Sep
Eide Marine Services
No
31,000*
semisub
STX Finland
3.13
EUR 150m well intervention
Eide Marine Services
No
31,000*
semisub
STX Finland
6.13
EUR 150m well intervention
Golden Ocean
No
206,000
bulk
Yangfan
13
Golden Ocean
No
206,000
bulk
Yangfan
13
Aker Seafoods
No
70m
trawler
STX Norway
2q13
NOK 250m
Aker Seafoods
No
70m
trawler
STX Norway
9q13
NOK 250m
Aker Seafoods
No
70m
trawler
STX Norway
1q14
NOK 250m
Eimskip
Icl
875teu
container
Rongcheng Shenfei
1h13
USD 25m
Eimskip
Icl
875teu
container
Rongcheng Shenfei
1h13
USD 25m
BW Gas
No
155,000c
LNG
Hyundai
2h14
USD 200m
BW Gas
No
155,000c
LNG
Hyundai
1h15
USD 200m
* = gross tons
** = capacity in cubic metres
Remarks
+ 2 opt
+ 4 opt
All details believed to be correct but not guaranteed
Our strength – your benefit Please visit us at: www.kockumsonics.com, www.polarmarine.se, www.texon.se
s.60–78.indd 67
2011-09-29 14.48
68 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Fleet Review Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström
The product carriers Hilda Knutsen and Torill Knutsen (sister vessel) have been sold to Nigeria. Photo: bent mikkelsen
The passenger vessels Simara Ace and Siluna Ace (sister vessel) have been sold to a Dutch buyer.
Secondhand transactions in the Nordic market Month Name
Dwt
From
Price
Buyer
June
Torm Margrethe
109,000 2006 tanker
Built
DS Torm, Copenhagen
USD46m
First Ship Lease 7yrs bb
Torm Marie
109,000 2006 tanker
DS Torm, Copenhagen
USD46m
First Ship Lease 7yrs bb
Tula
Novoship, Novorossiysk
USD 10.7m
Champion Sh, Bergen
Golden Mia
19,702 2008 tanker
Dorval Kaiun, Tokyo
USD 28m
Utkilen, Bergen
Potrero del Llano
47,165 1999
DS Torm, Copenhagen
USD 14m
Avin International, Greece
40,000 1997
Type
tanker tanker
Stena Tay
1982
semisub
Stena Drilling, Göteborg
Odebrecht, Bz
West Janus
1985
jack-up
Seadrill, Stavanger
USD 73m
Harrington LLC, Dubai
s.60–78.indd 68
Remarks/New name
2011-09-29 14.48
No 5 2011 Shipgaz 69
Fleet Review Month Name
Type
From
Price
Buyer
Knock Muir
Dwt
97,000 1993
Built
tanker
Fred Olsen, Oslo
USD 14m Indonesia
Hilda Knutsen
14,390 1989
tanker
Knutsen OAS Sh, Hgs
USD 12m
Nigeria
Torill Knutsen
14,910 1990
tanker
Knutsen OAS Sh, Hgs
en bloc
Nigeria
ID Symphony
23,000 1995
bulk
Invest Danmark, Cph
USD 11.2m
Greece
Stena Seafarer
10,957* 1975
roro
Stena Line, Göteborg
Russia
Nina
6,158 1984
dry cargo
Hannestad, Sarpsborg
Egypt
Anglian Prince
1,641* 1980
aht
Klyne Tugs, Lowestoft
Marine Carrier, Sweden
Ocean Flower
797* 1974
errv
Sartor Offshore, Bergen
EUR 1.4m
Greece
SMS Bison
300* 1981
tug
Sinbad Marine, Ireland
EUR 1.25m
Polaryngel, Dønna Norway
Lady Christine
2,368 1985
psv
Farstad Sh, Ålesund
USD 5.5m
undiscl
Jollas
14,474 1979
mpp
Tollship, Åbo
Syria
Maren Mols
14,379* 1996
ropax
Mols-Linien, Ebeltoft
DKK 61m
FRS, Flensburg
Mette Mols
14,379* 1996
ropax
Mols-Linien, Ebeltoft
en bloc
FRS, Flensburg
Clare
5,617* 1972
roro
CJ Shipping, Aalborg
breaking Grenaa
Berge Pacific
231,851 1986
bulk
BW Shipping, Oso
USD 17m
breaking Bangladesh
Jul
Flanders Liberty
84,597c 2007
LPG
Exmar, Antwerp
BW Gas, Oslo
Flanders Loyalty
84,597c 2007
LPG
Exmar, Antwerp
BW Gas, Oslo
BW Hugin
35,000c 2002 LPG
BW Gas, Oslo
Exmar, Antwerp
BW Helga
35,058c 1994
LPG
BW Gas, Oslo
Exmar, Antwerp
BW Hedda
35,058c 1993
LPG
BW Gas, Oslo
Exmar, Antwerp
Sombeke
38.000c 2006 LPG
BW Gas, Oslo
50 per cent
Exmar, Antwerp
Ellenita
USD 6.5m
Syria
42,800 1984
bulk
J J Ugland, Grimstad
Line
3,847 1976
bulk
Odd Wagle, Oslo
breaking
Alice
6,843 2005 tanker
Red AB Gotland, Visby
Broström, Göteborg
Red Teal
6,874 2007
tanker
Red AB Gotland, Visby
Broström, Göteborg
Dongbu Promy
8,063 2010
tanker
DB Marine, Panama
Broström Singapore
Havhelt
2,942 1977
bulk
Bergen Shipping, Bergen
Sierra Leone
Virana
42,500 1979
roro
Norw Car Carriers, Oslo
USD 8.5m
breaking India
Astrea
6,671 1991
roro
Finland Roro KS, Oslo
Seatrans, Bergen
Aug
Libra
126,300c 1979
LNG
Mitsui-OSK, Tokyo
USD 50m
Höegh LNG, Oslo
Saga Chelsea
298,000 1995
ER Regulus
Dynamic Energy
Dynamic Vision
Stavanger Eagle
Remarks/New name
tanker
Saga Tankers, Oslo
USD 25m
Greeks
container
Erck Rickmers, Hamburg
USD 156m
Sinocean, Oslo bb
82,200c 2002 LPG
Chevron Transport, US
USD 51m
BW Gas, Oslo
82,200c 2001
Chevron Transport, US
USD 51m
BW Gas, Oslo
45,898 2003 tanker
Eagle Holding, Japan
USD 23.5m
DSD Shipping, Stavanger
Pacific Luna
19,998 2010
tanker
Talhelyo Kaiun, Tokyo
USD 28.5m
Utkilen, Bergen
CEC Action
5,200 1998
mpp
Clipper, Copenhagen
Indonesia
Dane Swan
1,165 1980
tanker
Uni-Tankers, Middelfart
Nigeria
Ellen Kosan
3,161 1996
LPG
Lauritzen Kosan, Cph
undisclosed
Jytte Bres
4,700 1999
dry cargo
Nielsen & Bresling, Faaborg EUR 3.3m
Helmer Lundström, Nivelax
Hege
4.106 1975
dry cargo
Arnesen, Farsund
undisclosed
Pride of Telemark
breaking India
Ingøy
Auckland Star
English Star
Sept
Hellespont Trust
Isabel Knutsen
Maria Knutsen
Titan Aries
13092 2012
28,559* 1983
LPG
ferry
Taubåtkompaniet, Trondheim
fast pax
Veolia FFR. Hammerfest
Denmark
reefer
Star Reefers, Oslo/London
USD 3.07m
breaking India
11,434 1986
reefer
Star Reefers, Oslo/London
USD 3.07m
breaking India
147,262 1999
tanker
HCI Capital, Germany
USD 24.45m
Nordic American, Sandefjord
22,300 2000 tanker
Knutsen OAS, Hgs
USD 22m
Sinochem, China
22,300 2001
tanker
Knutsen OAS, Hgs
USD 23m
Sinochem, China
302,493 1993
tanker
Frontline, Oslo
USD 72.7m
Petrobras, Brazil
Titan Ocean
284,497 1991
tanker
Frontline, Oslo
en bloc
Petrobras, Brazil
Titan Orion
284,480 1992
tanker
Frontline, Oslo
en bloc
Petrobras, Brazil
Sichem Padua
9,200 1993
tanker
Werring KS, Oslo
USD 8m
Greek
Sichem Pandora
9,200 1994
tanker
Werring KS, Oslo
en bloc
Greek
Siluna Ace
1,665 2008 ferry
Ace-Link, Oslo
Chevalier Floatels, Netherlands
Simara Ace
1,665 2007
Ace-Link, Oslo
Chevalier Floatels, Netherlands
120* 1987 11,434 1985
* = gross tons ** = capacity in cubic metres
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ferry
All details believed to be correct but not guaranteed.
2011-09-29 14.48
70 Shipgaz No 5 2011
By Bent Mikkelsen bent@shipgaz.com
Retro Container carriers
Photo: Bent Mikkelsen’s archive
Maersk Line’s first container carrier was the Svendborg Mærsk, which was built in Japan in 1974 for at joint venture with K-Line.
ML hesitated on containerization Maersk Line dominates the container carrier scene, but 40 years ago the Danish giant nearly missed this lucrative train. Today, in 2011, Danish operator Maersk Line has been the largest container operator in the world for some time, but looking back to the early 1970s it seemed like Maersk Line was going to miss the entire revolution of transportation. In 1972, a competitor of Maersk, a trio of Scandinavian operators under the common name, Scanservice, started their full containerised service from Europe to the Far East, with the delivery of the Nihon. It was almost a year and a half later before Maersk jumped on the bandwagon.
The container revolution was started on April 26, 1956, when Mr. Malcom McClean shipped off 58 containers, each 35 feet long, from Port Newark in New Jersey to Houston in
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Texas on board the converted T2 (steam turbine powered) tanker, Ideal X, which is considered the world’s first container carrier. Malcom McClean’s company was called Sea-Land Services Inc. The first Scandinavian company to take containers on board their vessels systematically was Østasiatisk Kompagni (East Asiatic Company and later shortened to EAC), which, in as early as 1968, converted a number of traditional liner vessels to semi-container carriers. Three of their S-class vessels: Sinaloa, Simba and Sargodha were converted to carry containers. The second cargo hold was rebuilt
»I think we nearly missed the train, which already was moving at a good speed« Flemming Jacobs, the later head of Maersk Line.
in container module with a capacity of around 100 boxes, each 20 feet long. The former heavy lift derrick on the foremast was at the same time converted to a semi crane capable of handling these containers. The three S-class vessels were altered to fit in the trade from Scandinavia to the West Coast of America ending in Vancouver in Canada, where containers already were a must for shippers and therefore the liner operators had to follow this trend in the market.
This particular trade was also the first Danish ever to be fully containerised. It happened in 1971, when Nakskov Skibsværft delivered the first ever cellular container to fly the Danish flag. It was the Falstria, which was built for the account of
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 71
Container carriers
Retro Photo: Bent Mikkelsen’s archive
»We were hopelessly behind with containers, but it did not last that many years before we took up the challenge« EAC, which also was the owner of the shipyard in Nakskov. The Falstria was built on the experience gained in the trade with the three S-class vessels in the previous years.
The EAC trade from Scandinavia to the US West Coast was later merged with some of the competitors in the service and became the Johnson ScanStar service. Swedish Johnson Line, which also started to carry containers on the rebuilt and lengthened Montevideo-class from 1969, joined forces with EAC and British Blue Star Line, which also serviced the US West Coast. At the same time, Maersk Line was trying to go in a complete opposite direction and was still introducing pallets as the new trend in liner trading. In the late 1960s, Maersk Line built a series of eight very fast running liner vessels, which in their design were quite traditional tweendeckers, but being slightly modernised in the way that two of the cargo sections closest to the deck house were fitted with large hatches making it possible to open the ship in the full beam and also suitable for carrying containers.
The later head of Maersk Line, Flemming Jacobs, several years ago told the writer of these lines about Maersk Line’s approach to the container industry. “Looking back from where we are now, I think we nearly missed the train, which already was moving at a good speed. In the early months of 1971, I was posted in Los Angeles, California, where I, as young salesman, was canvassing amongst customers talking about palletised cargo loaded on platforms on the side of the ships and handled with forklifts. I must say that a lot of our potential customers looked at me and were clearly thinking: ‘Which planet did he come from!’ We were hopelessly behind with containers, but it did not last that many years before we took up the challenge and set our train in motion with container.”
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The Chastine Mærsk loading palletised goods at the old Maersk Line terminal at Brooklyn, New York. The Maersk Line series was the C-class, which started with Cecilie Maersk, which was delivered from Kockums in Malmö in November 1967. The eight vessels in the series were divided between Kockums and Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder. Danish Østasiatisk Kompagni (EAC) was far keener on container carrying on board their vessels. Their last traditional liner was Atrevida, which was delivered from the house-yard in Nakskov in April 1968 – at the same time Maersk Line had their C-class series built – but Atrevida was built for carrying up to 354 TEUs. Atrevida was put in service on EAC’s service to Australia. EAC also took the lead with a second full container carrier delivered in the beginning of 1972 for the West Coast service. It was the Meonia. Meonia and the sister ship Falstria were ocean going container carriers with a capacity of 1,200 TEUs. Østasiatisk Kompagni or EAC was also in the lead in 1969, when they joined forces with the Scandinavian competitors and formed
Scanservice ScanService, a joint venture between Wilh. Wilhelmsen Lines, Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompangiet and Østsiatisk Kompagni, had a joint fleet of 33 vessels running from Europe to the Far East, when the service was founded in 1969.
a joint venture called: Scandinavian Joint Shipping Service I/S, or in short form: Scanservice.
It was a joint venture with Østasatisk Kompangi, Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet and Wilh. Wilhemsen Lines in Oslo. They put the Europe– Far East trade under the same house flag and laid plans for the future with container service as a major part of the new times ahead. Shortly after the company was set up, the three companies ordered four super-ocean going container ships with high speed performance. Wilhelmsen and Svenska Ostasiatiska ordered one each, while EAC in Copenhagen ordered two from the local shipbuilder Burmeister & Wain. The new generation of ocean going container carriers started with the Swedish Nihon, which was delivered in May 1972 from Öresundvarvet in Landskrona. On the maiden voyage, the vessel set completely new standards in transit times from Europe to
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72 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Retro Container carriers Photo: Bent Mikkelsen’s archive
»Maersk Line’s first ever container ship was put into service in January, 1974« the Far East. Nihon was followed by Selandia and Jutlandia from Burmeister & Wain and finally the Norwegian contribution the quartet was delivered from Mitsui in Japan under the name Toyama for Wilhelmsen Lines at the end of 1972. All units were capable of carrying 2,272 TEUs with a service speed of 28 knots from the most powerful engine plant ever seen in a civil cargo carrying vessel. All ships were fitted with three main engines and three propellers.
Before the container racer quartet was but in service, ScanService sailed with a fleet of 33 traditional tweendeckers, which were taken out of service during 1973. Even though ScanService took the lead with containerization in the Far East, the joint venture was hit hard in the beginning of 1974, when oil prices hit the roof after the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt. The Suez Canal was closed and therefore the four super-container carriers had to sail a much longer distance and the owner pay double for fuel consumption on the huge engine plants. The quartet of Selandia, Combi Freighter 3850 Jutlandia, Nihon and Toyama sailed at an economical speed with only one of the three main engines running in the years after 1974. All four ships were lengthened in Korea in 1984, enlarging their capacity to 2,600 TEUs. Maersk Line’s first ever container ship was put into service in January, 1974. It was the Svendborg Maersk,
The Selandia was sailing for the ScanService. It was lengthened in Korea in 1984.
svendborg Maersk Line had its first container vessel built in 1974 for a joint service with Japanese K-Line. It was named Svendborg Maersk and had two Japanese sister vessels.
which had a capacity of 1,800 TEUs. It was built in Japan for a joint service with Japanese K-Line between the Far East and Europe.
Svendborg Maersk was a one off, which had two Japanese sister vessels and wasn’t suitable for Maersk Line’s own services when the joint K-Line service was closed at the end of 1974. Svendborg Maersk then entered the charter market and sailed for some Combi Freighter 8200 time in the Australia–Europe trade, but also had idle periods, laid up in Japan. However, Maersk Line, which had now seen the light and the trend in the liner service, laid a plan for containerization of the Pacific Service, running from the US East Coast via Panama and the US West Coast to the Far East. The company drew up a
Combi Freighter 3850
gigantic plan with nine identical container carriers running on a weekly service from Newark, New Jersey. The container carriers were ordered from German shipbuilder Blohm & Voss, which subcontracted three of the ships from Flenderwerke in Lübeck. Maersk Line chose to fit the vessels with a double steam turbine engine plant, which gave them a speed of more than 25 knots. The choice of engine plant turned out to Combi Coaster 2500 be a mistake after couple of years of service and especially after the second oil crisis in 1979, which again sent fuel prices through the roof. A captain who served on one of these container carriers, which was an A-series starting with Adrian Maersk, once told the writer the following: “It was a fantastic ship with low
Combi Coaster 2500
Combi Freighter 8200
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2011-09-29 2011-09-29 14.49 09.18
74 Shipgaz No 5 2011
Retro Container carriers Photo: Bent Mikkelsen’s archive
Denmark’s first container carrier Meonia approaching San Francisco passing the Bay Bridge. noise in the accommodation house and with sufficient power in the engine room. It only had one bad habit: The fuel consumption. It is ok to burn around 188 tons fuel per day running at full speed across the Pacific Ocean, but the A-class vessels also burned 188 tons of fuel while lying under the cranes at every terminal. The fuel consumption was the same every day, whether it was sailing or moored in port in order to keep up the steam in the boilers.”
Maersk Line’s big change took place on September 5, 1975, which was called C-day. On this day, Adrian Maersk loaded the first containers at the new terminal in Newark, New Jersey, as the first ship after the move of the Maersk Line terminal from Brooklyn. The new fast container carrier conducted a round trip to the Far East in 63 days. The old fleet of tweendeckers managed to carry containers, as well, during these years. It was done in a complicated way by lowering the containers to tweendeck and with the use of blocks and wires the containers were moved sideways under the tweendeck and lashed. It was a rather slow way of handling
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the boxes. The Cclass vessels managed to carry up to 300 TEUs mainly on the weather deck, and were eventually completely rebuilt in 1980/81 and fitted with a new foreship converting them to full cellular container ships with a capacity of 1,300 TEUs. Maersk Line quickly realized that the capacity of 1,200 TEUs on the Aclass series was too small. So, by 1978, the whole series underwent shipyard surgery in Japan and were lengthened with a section of 14 metres adding another 200 TEUs to their capacity. The series of nine ships was lengthened again in 1983/84 in connection with a rebuild, when the steam turbine engine plant in each was replaced by a less fuel consuming diesel engine. Maersk Line had success with the containerization of the lines and had in the coming years a constant need for more capacity of their services Despite the lengthening of the older ships in the fleet, a massive order of new ships was started from their own
»The fuel consumption was the same every day, whether it was sailing or moored in port« A captain who served on one of the A-series container carriers.
shipyard, Odense Steel Shipyard. The first fully cellular container carrier from Odense sailed from the shipyard in November 1980, under the name Laura Maersk, adding another 2,100 TEUs to the company’s all over capacity. In the following years another ten sister ships to Laura Maersk took over serving the Pacific-service from the A-class vessels.
Meanwhile, the container pioneers ScanService hauled their containers from the Far East to Europe with the existing fleet, but faced competition from other operators. So, two other operators were invited to join ScanService. First was the Dutch Nedlloyd, after which the company’s name was changed to ScanDutch service. The name wasn’t changed when the French operator CGM joined and added their container carrier Korrigan. In the coming years until 1991 the ScanDutch consortium faced problems which arose in the joint partnership when some of the partners wanted to used their investment in other segments than the ones owned jointly. That was what happened for ScanDutch and finally ended with the
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No 5 2011 Shipgaz 75
Container carriers
Retro Photo: Bent Mikkelsen
»During the following years Maersk Line has set several world records« take over by EAC in Copenhagen. They gradually took over from Wihelmsen, Svenska Ostasiatiska and from Ben Line in Scotland, which also had jointed the ScanDutch group in the hope of gaining better economy in the liner service from Europe to Far East.
By the end of 1991, EAC was the owner of the service and seven fairly old, first generation ocean going container carriers in a real tough market in the Far East – Europe trade lane. And after having spent all their free capital on the purchase of the older vessels and good will, EAC did not have enough funds to expand the service and order new ships. They did, however, order a pair of container carriers from Mitsui in Japan for delivery in 1990, but the vessels Arosia and Alsia sailed on borrowed time in the liner service. In the 1980s private Taiwanese owned Evergreen Line expanded heavily in containership sailing both across the Pacific to the US market, but also via Suez to Europe. In March, 1993, EAC Lines had to sell the whole operation to Maersk Line, which in the meantime had grown fast and strong in the container business. Maersk Line took over the fleet of nine vessels from EAC Lines and immediately disposed of the B&W-built pair, Selandia and Jutlandia, to the US Mar Ad programme for rebuilding to a rapid intervention, shipping under the US flag. Along with the EAC-pair, Maersk
The present record holder Emma Mærsk passing under the Great Belt Bridge in june 2011. Line also disposed of the first three of L-class container vessels, Laura Maersk, Leise Maersk and Lica Maersk in a multimillion dollar deal in 1994. By the sale of the EAC Line, the containerization pioneer in Danish shipping was gone as the Johnson ScanStar service was closed down and the vessels sold off, and the EAC West Africa service, where the old S-class liners were used after 1971, was sold off to Belgian CMB Lines in 1989.
Scan Service’s Nihon became Ladby Maersk under Maersk Line colours, while Norwegian Toyama became Maersk Nanhai. The Ben Line trio, which also originally was built with steam turbine engines, but later converted, became Paris Maersk, Edinburgh Maersk and London Maersk. The very first Danish flagged con-
Landskrona Stål AB
world’s largest Maersk Line is in 2011 the world’s largest container operator and owner of the world’s largest container vessel. It continues in 2013 when the first vessel of the Triple E-class with a capacity of 18,000 TEUs is delivered.
tainer carriers Falstria and Meonia eventually also ended up in the Maersk Line fleet. While under Greek ownership, the pair were sailing under time charter for Maersk Line, until they were sold for recycling in India in 1999 after 28 years of service.
During the following years Maersk Line has set several world records. In 1988, Maersk Line hit the headlines with the largest container ship passing through the Panama Canal. It was Marchen Maersk, with a capacity of 4,400 TEUs. It was followed by the Regina Maersk in 1996, being the largest, with a capacity of 7,600 TEUs and, again in 2006, by the 15,500 TEUs on the Emma Maersk. In 1999, Maersk Line even purchased and took over Malcom McClean’s pioneering company Sea-Land Service.
*
REPAIR SHIPYARD IN HELSINGBORG SWEDEN ”The shipyard in the heart of Oresund Strait”
~24 hrs service ~
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Dry dock: Crane cap: Phone: Fax:
112 x 16 meters 40 and 5 tons +46 42 12 02 95 +46 42 18 09 16
E-Mail:
landskronastal@landskronastal.se
Helsingborgs Shipyard with a rich history in shipbuilding and repairs since 1876, is now run by Landskrona Stål AB. We can perform repairs both in our drydock, as well as on board ship.
www.landskronastal.se
2011-09-29 14.49
s.60–78.indd 76
2011-09-29 14.49
In 1970 …
… the Finnish dry cargo vessel Bore VII with a deck cargo of French cars was caught Eastbound in the English Channel by a photographer of Skyfotos. Built in 1963 by AB Oskarshamns Varv in Sweden, the 498 GRT vessel was soon outdated by a new generation of ro-ro vessels in the fleet of Ångfartygs Aktiebolaget Bore. She was employed in liner traffic between Finland and the Baltic Sea/North Sea area, usually carrying Finnish forest products outbound and cars back to Finland. In 1965 she was retrofitted for ro-ro handling of cars via a ramp to weather deck. The platforms used for attaching the ramp are visible in their stowed position on each side of the forward part of the weather deck.
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2011-09-29 14.49
78 Shipgaz No 5 2011
By Dag Bakka jr, dag@shipgaz.com
Old ship Stella Polaris
water colour painting by håkan sjöström
Stella Polaris fondly remembered For four decades the Stella Polaris never ceased to attract attention and admiration wherever she travelled. The yacht-like vessel, one of the first ships built exclusively for cruising, was a product of Swedish shipbuilding and of the high standards set by her Norwegian and later the Swedish owners. The Bergen Line (Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab) was a venerable steamship company dating back to 1851 which had begun to attract foreign tourists to the Norwegian fjords in the 1880s. In the spring of 1921 the company acquired the Meteor, a former German cruise-yacht built in 1904, which was employed cruising in Mediterranean and Nordic waters. Based on this experience the Bergen Line ordered a larger diesel-engined cruiseship from AB Götaverken of Gothenburg in August 1925.
The basic design was made by Knud Zimmer, the Bergen Line technical director, but much of the details were left to the shipbuilders. Of 5020 gross tons she emerged as a graceful ship of clipper bows and a rather traditional style. She catered for 199 passengers and was propelled by two B&W 8-cylinder engines.
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»Of 5020 gross tons she emerged as a graceful ship of clipper bows and a rather traditional style« The basic design was made by Knud Zimmer.
The name was as appropriate as the design. Named Stella Polaris for the North Star she was delivered on 24th February 1927. During her first years, she would go cruising out of Monaco from January to May, then from the UK to the North Cape in the summer and be back in the Mediterranean in the autumn. November-December would be spent in Bergen refitting and making ready for the new season. The winter of 1929/30 was spent on an extensive cruise to the Far East, and her first round-the-world cruise was commenced in December 1931. With the outbreak of war in September 1939 all cruises were cancelled and Stella Polaris was laid up at home.
Here she fell into German hands in April 1940 and turned into a lodging ship for submarine crews, but survived the war. Refitted in Gothenburg, she returned to cruising in June 1946, now out of New York to the West Indies.
For all her standing and public appeal, she was traded to Rederi-AB Clipper, managed by Einar Hansen of Malmö, against a tanker contract. On 11th December 1951 – the very day of the Bergen Line centenary festivities – Stella Polaris was handed over to her new owners. Under Clipper Line and the Swedish flag Stella Polaris embarked on a new career of continuous cruising, taking her all around the world.
Upgraded and modernized, she still kept her magic even as the cruise industry slowly changed. It was in the end the SOLAS 1966 rules that eventually put an end to her. In October 1969 she set out from Lisbon for Yokohama where she was converted into a hotel ship, moored at Kisho Nishiura as “Floating Hotel Scandinavia”. Here she remained for 36 years, until closed down in 2005. Sold to Swedish buyers for use as a floating hotel in Stockholm, she left her anchorage in tow on 1st September 2006, only to be lost at sea the following day. There ended what might have been a fourth chapter in her saga. She is still fondly remembered.
*
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