IDOCKWISER Nº2 AUTUMN 2007 dockwise.com
YACHT EXPRESS
The world’s largest vessel of its kind. Page 28
EXPANDING THE FLEET
from tanker to heavy lift Page 10
PROJECT ENGINEER AT THE HUB OF THE ACTION Page 14
CAPTAIN’S STORY Page 36 DOCKWISER NR. 4.indd 1
18-10-2007 12:30:03
day... The semi-submersible rig Ocean Endeavor on the West Jurong Anchorage in Singapore, before being loaded on board of the Blue Marlin, Dockwise’s biggest heavy transporter. The platform was delivered to the port of Fourchon, Louisiana USA. Market leader in transport of extremely large and heavy cargoes; Dockwise transports extraordinary structures safely. We are a full service logistic management company focused on the more complex transports across the oceans.
Page DOCKWISER
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CONTENTS FROM THE CEO
Our vision: creating superior value by realizing the inconceivable
DYT-president Clemens van der Werf:
“The yacht transport market is growing strongly”
One last Dockwiser before year-end. And some year it has been.
TOP TEN
successes
28
Although every Dockwise transport is special, we listed ten of the most impressive shipments
24 Project Engineer Michel Seij:
“When we do our job well, the customer doesn’t notice the amount of work needed”
core valueS
Part 1: innovation
14
20
DOCKUMENTARY
How six oil tankers are being converted into semi-submersible heavy lift-ships
10 CONSIDER IT DONE!
Yet another record-breaking project in Dockwise history: the West E-drill load-out and discharge operation
18
Editorial 5 Docknews 6 Lifting the Mighty
Early January, Heerema, Wilhelmsen and 3i completed their deal whereby Dockwise changed hands - a major change for a family-run company structured as a division of a larger group. Back in September 1989 Heerema acquired Wijsmuller Transport from the Wijsmuller family and in December 1993 the company merged with Dock Express owned by the van Ommeren group. The two merged companies took the name Dockwise. Acquisitions of Swan Class vessels followed in 1996 and a merger with Ocean Heavy Lift (OHT) of Norway in 2000. This meant the company took ownership of the Blue and Black Marlin, and simultaneously won a team of Norwegian shareholders. Led by Wilh. Wilhelmsen this group had a 21% stake in the company that continued as a division of the family-owned Heerema Group. Dockwise has matured over its almost 18 years of family ownership. But with a new strategy adopted in 2004, management has been targeting greater independence. A fundamental decision was taken in April 2007, when shareholders decided to engage in a controlled auction under supervision of Deutsche Bank, with the ultimate aim of finding new owners for the company with the abilities and resources to propel the company to a new level. December 2006 saw the transaction with 3i become fact. Completion took place January 2007. In the following nine months the company made three acquisitions, increased its fleet by six new vessels, took ownership of two highly innovative engineering companies, and became listed on the Oslo over-the-counter market and then on the official Oslo Stock Exchange. From private to public, and some impressive growth all in a stretch of nine months shows the determination of Dockwise management to make dreams reality. Becoming independent, brightening the future, focusing on new (ad)ventures, raising technical potential, exploring new avenues into high value-added segments of the energy, maritime and industrial markets – are just the plans showing above the surface. Creating superior value by realizing the inconceivable Few slogans could describe the last nine months better – it describes the vision we adopted some years ago when we initiated this remarkable process of change. We are living in exciting times, and I hope to be able to tell you a lot more about them over coming time. Enjoy the winter, your year-end celebrations and I look forward to speaking to you early ‘08. André Goedée Chief Executive Officer
Servant 3 32 Next issue 33 Captain Ship 36
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DOCKWISER Page 5
docknews
FORT Lauderdale
Welcome Aboard
Boat Show
Hedi Visscher (33) is our new marketing guru. In her position as Business Development Manager she will be particularly concerned with ident ifying new market opportunities, and thinking up strategies to serve them optimally.
Canadian
oil
attended the big, sponsor, Dockwise In the role of silver avy Oil Technothe Oil Sands and He prominent stand at of Dockwise USA’s 07 in Calgary. One uis: logies Conference 20 Jan Wolter Oosterh s Liaison Engineer y av he representatives wa d sands an development of oil “Quickly advancing technology and r fo nd a huge dema oil assets is creating ount of oil in s an unbelievable am services. Canada ha East. This means en than the Middle the ground, more ev like to settle there mpanies that would there are a lot of co sands. However, t the oil from the oil with a factory to ge k of people to vast area and the lac s problematic are the ce, our presentation During the conferen ing ild bu build the factories. : dilemma se’s solution to this have shown Dockwi to Canada.” se the ip sh Asia and on-shore facilities in
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After studying Computer Integrated Man ufacturing at a technical college and Business Adm inistration at Erasmus University Rotterdam , Hedi joined Van Beest, a leading supplier of fittin gs for chain and steel wire rope for marine and offshore application. For three years she worked as an Export Manager for Green Pin shackles, travelling the world to build and maintain the global distributor network. Why the jump to Dockwise? “Dockwis e is an international company on the move with huge ambition and drive. I find it exciting to be able to play a part in the fact that it’s becoming more and more professional,” says Hedi. In Marketing Hedi is working with colle agues Edward Legierse and Marco van der Hijden, amongst others. She is also frequently working with Twan Voogd, Department Manager Sales.
We wish her all the luck
at-over Transportation and flo installation contract contract for the Dockwise has been awarded a allation of inst transport and float-over and ide by the tops form plat on ucti an offshore prod C. The contract CPO y pan com sian alay i-M Tha ming a leading enhances our strategic goal of beco service ion allat inst and t spor tran integrated developand or sect provider for the Oil and Gas , along ness busi ion allat inst and er ing our float-ov ices. serv t spor tran with our traditional heavy lift ) deck PP (MD ide tops da’ The 19,000 tonnes ‘Mu apore Sing in OE SM at n ctio stru is under con alled by semiand will be transported and inst el Black Marlin vess t spor tran y submersible heav 9. The recent in the Gulf of Thailand in 200 tics Inc and ema Kin e acquisitions of Offshor her enhanced furt have LLC cs ami Ocean Dyn e added valu high the possibility of providing agement man ect proj , ring inee services such as eng arly icul part gn, and front-end engineering desi hore offs of ion allat inst in the transportation and . ness busi structures
The 48th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which was held October 25 – 29, displayed more than 1.6 billion dollars worth of boats, yachts, elec tronics, engines and thousands of accessories from every major marine manufacturer and builder worldwide. It is the world’s prem ier venue for super yachts. It also includes runabouts, sport fish ers, high performance boats, center consoles, cabin cruisers, exp ress cruisers, sailing yachts, motor yachts, bow riders, catamar ans, trawlers, inflatables and canoes. The show encompassed more than 3 million square feet of space, both on land and in water. More information on www.flibs.ne t
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.COM
docknews
10 reasons
Agenda
for a quick visit of www.dockwise.com
November 6- 8, 2007
Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico Petroleum Exhibition and Conference of Mexico Southeast The PECOM 2007 conference takes place in the re zone offsho of Mexico, a region which together with the petroleum the of part of the Gulf of Mexico produces the largest and gas of the country. www.oilonline.com/mexico
Not just Dockwise corporate magazine is fully refreshed. Our website has also been subjected to a serious transformation. For everyone who hasn’t taken a look yet: ten good reasons to visit the corporate website.
November 27-30, 2007
Shanghai, China Marintec China 2007 iting at With more and more international companies exhib ting attrac Forum the fair and the concurrent Senior Maritime ime Marit China all the more and more international awareness, the e becom has Conference and Exhibition Marintec China in the region. most important international maritime trade fair
Utrecht, The Netherlands Nobiles Career Days 2007 to discover The Nobiles Career Days are an excellent way e you to make enabl which occupational path fits you best and anies comp 150 the right career choices. Get to know over over, More way. al and teaching institutions in an inform cover your g attend free workshops, get help writin eships, letter and resume and be informed about traine ams. progr business courses and master degree www.nobilescarrieredag.nl
6 View the process
We accomplish it all with the fleet. Have a look at the complete fleet here. Impressive pictures, facts & figures, specifications of the vessels and stowage plans.
How can you be sure of your valuable freight reaching its destination undamaged? On www.dockwise.com you can read how our in-house engineering experts operate and find our engineering guidelines and terms & conditions.
2 E-zine
www.marintecchina.com/2007 November 29-30, 2007
1 THE FLEET
December
07 11-13, 20
, L A , US A New Orleans
EN POWER-G 2007 three days, st vent. In ju International will neration e countries p ower ge
rm 76 ’s largest ing ssionals fo fe The world ro p 00 exhibit ry well as 1,1 00 indust s a ,0 logies. 7 o s, 1 n n r a e ch e v o s and te New Orl ct u in d r e ro p th e st in come tog g the late s displayin ie n a p m co m er-gen.co w w w.pow
Surf to the site and subscribe here to receive the digital newsletter and stay informed about the world of Dockwise.
3 The latest news Dockwise finds itself in turbulent waters; a new share-holder 3i, the merger with Sealift and a gradual transition to an independent full service Oil & Gas Contractor, to name a few examples. Thanks to www.dockwise.com you will always be informed about the latest news and current developments.
4 DOCKumentaries Would you like to witness the way we handle seemingly inconceivable projects? You can be there! Spectacular films and reports allow you to experience it all.
5 Projects Examine our projects to visualize the variety of freights that Dockwise takes care of. From Thunder Horse to Zeppelin, to Tahiti Spar; consider it done!
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7 Investors Dockwise is quoted on the stock exchange. For all stakeholders, extensive share and financial information and reports.
8 BLOG Our own CEO André Goedée will keep a web log on the site. Read all about his experiences.
9 Vision & MISSION Would you like to know more about our vision and mission statement related to, for example, safety, quality or environment? Read about our motivations and what we stand for.
10 For those who would like to change careers Do you want to travel with us on our challenging journey? We are constantly looking for talented, passionate employees who have the right qualifications. Take a look at the vacancies and step aboard!
DOCKWISER Page 9
dockumentary
The ships that are every day business to these gentlemen can reach enormous dimensions. In the brochures, lengths of 200 meters and widths of 50 meters are the rule rather than the exception. Compared to this, a football field is relatively small. The grandiosity of these floating mastodons of the sea becomes really clear when Van Dodeweerd opens his laptop and shows pictures of the fleet’s newest addition, the impressive Transporter. At first glance, it seems like the Transporter has always been the ship it is now. Nothing is further from the truth; at the end of May a bottle of
Conversion:
from tanker to heavy lift
It sounds very simple: converting an oil tanker into a semi-submersible heavy lift-ship. In practice, there is a little more to it, explain Dockwise employees Eugène van Dodeweerd and Aart van der Lelij, a day prior to their next project trip to China.
Text Mike Raanhuis Photography Klaas Slot, Mike Raanhuis
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champagne hit the bow and the Transporter saw the light of day in its current form. Together with five other tankers, the original oil tanker has been subjected to a conversion with the aim to have them operate as semi-submersible heavy lift-ships. Seven months Eugène van Dodeweerd: “Sealift entered the market with a conversion project of six tankers into heavy lift ships. This relatively quickly led to a take-over by Dockwise and meant an optimization of the market position and quick access to additional tonnage. Aart van der Lelij adds: “It all started with the Transporter, an oil tanker with a defined length and width. The original ship had a length of 260 meters, but at the moment this is 216 meters, to be exact. This reduction of length has everything to do with the eventual required
strength of the vessel. The big question was what we were technically able to do with the existing ship. Innumerable calculations Eugène van Dodeweerd Position: Department Manager and cost-benefit analyses Fleet Supervision showed us that converting Age: 38 ships was more profitable Favorite aspect of the job: and quicker than building “The dynamics, the magnificence new ones.” you are dealing with. The whole sector is incredibly interesting Van Dodeweerd: “There and versatile.” was a great advantage for Dockwise in coming onto the market with six new heavy lift-ships on such short notice, and in comparison to building new ships, conversion is a great solution. The completion of a newly built ship takes a long time in the current shipbuilding industry, which can be problematic. The available slots to build a new ship are limited and an optimistic completion wouldn’t be feasible until 2011. In the Transporter’s case, the conversion took seven months. Building something new cannot compete with conversion in the current new-building market conditions. Chinese shipyard “A number of shipyards were approached for the conversion project. Finally the Chinese COSCO-shipyard group was awarded the contract and will carry out the project on several shipyard locations. The first ship, the Transporter, has been converted at Nantong; ship number 2 and 4 will also be converted here. Ship 3 and 5 will be converted at Zhoushan and ship six will be done at Guangzhou. For the Transporter, they started to construct the steel midship section, which is 130 meters long and 44,5 meters wide before the ship arrived in the yard. On vessel’s arrival DOCKWISER Page 11
dockumentary at the yard, all original machinery, equipment and structures were replaced and/or refurbished extensively. This was necessary as the vessel has to trade for years to come,” says Van der Lelij. His colleague Van Dodeweerd continues: “Subsequently, the tanker was cut into pieces for replacement of the midship section. With that, the configuration of the stern of the vessel with engine room remained in tact, as well as the shape of the bow at the front of the vessel. The most exciting part of the operation was the finishing touch: joining together the bow and stern with the new lower midship section. The result is a ship with a giant bite taken out of it. One ship has been completed now, which is the Transporter, and they are working hard on the second oil tanker as we speak. We both fly out tomorrow to see it.” Conversion of the next vessel has already started and preparations have commenced for no 3 till 6 conversions. Expected delivery of the last vessel is last quarter 2008.
They are hydraulic driven and are meant to pull the floating cargo into place. I would prefer them to be electric for technical reasons. Luckily we have been able to optimize most of it.” Van Dodeweerd: “Another challenge was of course the time factor. The Transporter was finished at the end of May and entered active service straight away. Van der Lelij witnessed this. Naturally, there have been tests in submerging the ship before finalization. This submerging actually is the most complicated part of the whole process and it was tested thoroughly. Up to the maximum draft.”
Filled frying pan Aart van der Lelij explains the process step by step: ”First you make a ballast plan. What will be the filling order of the tanks. In case of this ship it means submerging with trim by the stern and listing slightly in order to gradually get the water onto the cargo deck. This seems very unnatural but is in fact the safest way of submerging. It prevents that suddenly a big wave of water comes on deck. You should see it as a frying pan filled with water, impossible to keep straight. It’s the same with a ship. The surface waterline reduces, just as the stability. If the whole deck is submerged, the situation is less critical, and you can pump the vessel straight, if necessary. It remains a serious operation. When
the Transporter was submerged completely, the water level was nine meters above deck. Finally, the floating cargo is brought in and floated over the deck at the right spot, after which the ship is pumped upwards again with a trim by the stern and slight list. ” The Transporter’s first job was transporting two cutter suction dredgers. You would think this is an immense load but the transport went perfectly well. And don’t forget that the Transporter can manage up to 35,000 tons (!) on board. Van Dodeweerd: “We consider this way of conversion especially interesting and we only expect more possibilities and opportunities in the future. Dockwise owns the biggest fleet and the most expertise of the world and we would like to keep it this way!”
The time factor When asking both gentlemen about the biggest challenge of this project, they answer that it has been just one big challenge. Van der Lelij: “It was after all the very first time for us that an oil tanker has been transformed into a heavy lift-ship. And yes, all is related in a project like this. Sealift joined in during the conversion of the Transporter and some things were irreversible, things I would like to see different. The cargo winches for example.
AART VAN DER LELIJ Position: Senior Fleet Supervisor Age: 47 Favorite aspect of the job: “The variations and innovations. Push out the limitations of ships. The different loads can be very complex.”
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After the ship arrived, repairs were done to it at the dockyard and everything you can think of was replaced and revised DOCKWISER Page 13
Q&A
Which qualities and skill does a Lead Project Engineer need?
Project Engineer coordinates and monitors Page 14 DOCKWISER
Transports including the pre and post sections. Dockwise calls these ‘ door to door’ and ‘float-over’ projects. They play an increasingly larger part, but also make higher demands on the organization. Michiel Seij explains the role of Lead Project Engineer in this. Text Hans Martens Photography Klaas Slot, Marco Bakker
What is the role of the Lead Project Engineer? M “The last years, a clear distinction has been made within Dockwise between the different disciplines. Among other things, the increasing demand for door to door and installation projects by means of float-over technology. Dockwise takes care of everything: loading, transport to and deliverance or positioning on site. To do this, several engineering disciplines are needed: Transport, Marine, Structure and Project Engineering. Plus of course the CAD operators and the people from the legal, commercial and purchase departments. They all need to be attuned and coordinated and this is what I take care of as a Lead Project Engineer.”
M “Sufficient knowledge of technology, of course, because I have to deal with professional aspects. Dealing with cultural differences is also important, because we work with customers from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds. Just as important are communicative skills plus commercial understanding.” How many people do you have to deal with at the start of a project? M “I am in direct contact with four to five people: the engineers of the different disciplines and the people of the finance, purchase and legal departments. The latter department is very important for the fulfillment of the contracts. They sometimes grow into complete books, because these days customers want to arrange everything to the smallest detail.” At what point gets the team from the several disciplines formed? M “Careful preliminary contact about a commission starts during a conversation at a fair, an e-mail, or as a result of an article in a newspaper. Next conversations will follow, details are exchanged and a Transport Engineer is brought in. As soon as the commission takes on clear forms, we put together a project team, which, depending on progress, devotes more and DOCKWISER Page 15
Q&A more time to the project. A lot depends on the size of the transport, the circumstances, de pre and after care, who the customer is etc. Dockwise is very flexible in this.” What exactly does Dockwise take to mean door to door projects? M “Besides normal transport from A, where the freight is loaded unto the vessel, to B, where we unload it, our core business, there is an increasing demand for picking up the object from the workplace and positioning it on site. This means that we work with subcontractors who can arrange transport over road, deploy tug-boats for transport over rivers from and to the vessel plus the positioning and installation.” What are the consequences for the organization? M “The responsibilities are heavily increased by these door to door projects, hence risk management start to play an important role. Technology-wise we also need to go more in-depth and make use of other disciplines and skills of subcontractors. And not unimportant: the budgets increase drastically.” How do you keep yourself informed about technical developments? M “We operate in a small world, with only a handful of real specialists in our field. We meet each other at
Engineering disciplines within Dockwise: Transport engineering: Marine and Naval Architects, documents the transportation of the cargoes, assesses the minimum possibilities, the strength of the ship to be used and charts all phases of the transportation. Marine engineering: Naval Architects who are fully conversant with hydro and hydrodynamic aspects. They are able to assess perfectly what a particular load will do in certain waters and act accordingly in anticipation. Structure engineering: Designs structures for optimum transport. That is partly done through computer simulations. Project engineering: This relates to the special projects, such as transporting nuclear submarines, mega-sized installations or installing entire decks on drilling platform jack-ups.
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conferences, fairs and of course in the field. Here we exchange information and discuss the latest developments. The important technical developments take place in the software domain. On board of our vessels, for example, we work with weather routing and the expected wave height. The computer can now predict the behavior of the load caused by these wave heights and the captain can decide change direction, stop or continue.”
Lead Project Engineer Michel Seij, 29 years old,
graduated as Naval Architect at the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands, in 2001 and started working for Dockwise as a Transport Engineer six years ago. Hobbies: sailing and judo.
What are the most successful projects you participated in? M “The SBX platform project. A platform which will be part of the American Strategic Defence Initiative. Initially, a competitor was going to tow it, but we managed to convince the military and their advisors of the advantages of transporting it with a Dockwise vessel. In this case, the Blue Marlin. It wasn’t an easy job, as we had to deal with a complex military organization. At one point we were in a meeting with thirty high officers at once. A very different project was the transport of a particular Spar buoy, 170 meters long, with a diameter of 39.5 meters and a weight of 22,000 tons. We transported this Spar buoy in the middle of winter going from Finland to the Gulf of Mexico. Very interesting projects were the full scale tests to transfer loads from RORO-vessels to one of our own vessels, while sailing on open sea, after which these loads were taken to other to shore with hoovercrafts or other ships. These tests were assigned to us by the American Navy. And of course the heaviest load ever: a drilling platform weighing almost 60,000 tons. This project reached the limits of our largest vessel’s technical capacities.” Does Dockwise have a lot of competition? M “Of course we have competition; there are companies that work with towed tanks, which in size are comparable to our vessels and competitors that work with similar vessels. But what makes Dockwise unique is the large amount of vessels with different capacities. What’s more, we can pride ourselves on possessing the most experience. It’s not surprising that we have such an extensive circle of regular customers.”
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SEADRILL has over thirty
years experience in oil extraction at sea. The West E-drill is the newest addition to the fleet of the Norwegian drill platform operator that has a total of 37 drill platforms across the world. Seadrill works in fourteen countries on four continents. The company currently has some 5,400 personnel many of whom can boast over thirty years experienced.
Consider it
DONE! Only the largest of Dockwise’s vessels, the Blue Marlin, was able to deliver the drill platform West E-drill by sea to its new owner. A monster task that was successful thanks to some impressive heavy equipment, a lot of specialist know-how and more than a little patience.
august 3: “Loading was about to start, but one of those pretty local cyclones came in and put a stop to work. The operation had to be delayed.” august 5: “The cyclone was now out of sight so work could start again. At 3.20 in the morning platform roll-out started.
Text Mike Raanhuis Photograpy DOCKWISE
august 6: “By 10.35 p.m. the platform had been moved a total of twenty meters and was safely in position on deck of the Blue Marlin.”
Dockwise Transport Engineer Jasper Ras was present at the loading from the Samsung Heavy Industries yard. He recounts: “The West E-drill was built on land by the Norwegian company Seadrill. I was there from August 1 thru 10, though the Blue Marlin actually arrived on July, 18. Firstly all those complex preparations had to be made to allow the platform to be rolled out onto the Blue Marlin. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Just the installation of what we call the skids cost us days of time. Then there was that fascinating problem of making sure that as the platform was loaded onto the Blue Marlin, in the water, would remain at exactly the same level as the quay – the great ballasting challenge. Precision work.”
august 7: “Early morning around 3 a.m. all the sea fastenings were in place. After a last discussion about 4 p.m. the Blue Marlin started out for the unloading location some twelve miles from the yard. At 7.40 p.m. the Blue Marlin anchored.”
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august 8: “During the night and early morning the vessel was ballasted so that the main deck of the Blue Marlin was now underwater. That came at 5.40 a.m. precisely. The platform could now be floated off from the deck that had brought it this far. At 11.19 a.m. exactly the platform was officially unloaded and handed over to its new owner.”
Blue Marlin
West E-drill
Weight Length Beam Depth Deck
Weight Length Beam Height
76,410 tons 206.50 meters 63 meters 13,30 meters 63 x 178.20 meters
30,064 tons 118.50 meters 75 meters 110.15 meters
JASPER RAS Age: 28 Position: Transport Engineer Special about the job? “the sheer variety; each project is unique and exciting.”
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core valueS part 1: innovation
Dockwise has defined three important values to function as a guideline for all activities and to make clear what the company represents. Passion, innovation and reliability. The coming editions of Dockwiser will each focus on one of these core values. Due to the fact that the developments succeed each other very quickly, this issue will pay special attention to innovation. Text LIEKE LEMMENS Photography Klaas Slot/Dockwise
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Our core values direct our policy and determine our corporate culture and identity. They are firmly anchored within the company. Innovation is an important pillar for Dockwise. In relation to the rest of the heavy transport shipping market, Dockwise belongs to the innovators and early adaptors and is market leader in transport of extremely large and heavy cargoes. But the market develops fast. To maintain our head start and to provide the best service, we have to keep on innovating. Keeping
busy is also necessary due to the rapid succession of various developments. It started this year with the take-over of Dockwise by 3i from offshore services company Heerema Group and Norwegian Wilhelmsen Group. 3i is a world leader in private equity and venture capital, which focuses on buyouts, growth capital and venture capital and invest across Europe, in the United States of America and Asia. 3i’s aim is to keep up the strategy for continued growth and development. DOCKWISER Page 21
core valueS The former logo has been replaced by the bright colors blue and orange.
To maintain our head start and to provide the best service, we have to keep on Another important strategic decision was made this summer; a merger took place with Sealift, also active in the heavy transportation market. Following the merger, the Sealift vessels will be integrated into the existing Dockwise fleet and the company will trade under the Dockwise name. The first of these six vessels, the Transporter was already in operation in May, following the completion of its conversion in China (see page 10). Delivery of the bulk of the remaining vessels will follow later this year, with the final vessel to be delivered fourth quarter 2008. By combining their fleet of vessels, Dockwise is able to provide an enhanced service to customers. “The six Sealift vessels will reinforce our core business and allow us to accelerate our focus on new markets, such as the installation of oil platforms and the management of large and complex logistic projects,” according to CEO André Goedée. This way, we can for example see a gradual shift from the traditional heavy transport shipper to complete transport solutions. From harbor to harbor literally becomes from door to door. Dockwise is turning into a full transport provider, with one-stop service as its key. This appears to be more and more in demand in the market, and we like to offer our customers optimal services. In the past, when offshore production structures were brought to their destination in partly assembled configuration, Dockwise’s semi-submersible vessels are now able to take these structures to their location in one. Thanks to expertise in the area of complete float-over projects, a lot of time and costs can be saved. To orange and blue Given that Dockwise continues her work under new shareholdership, the time seemed right for Page 22 DOCKWISER
a new logo. The old well-known blue and black logo was linked to the logo of Heerema Group, that for so many years has been Dockwise’s largest and most important shareholder. Dockwise’s new status and strategy have been visualized with the introduction of a brand new logo, which was officially presented during the OTC trade show in Houston in April. The new logo, called ‘The connection’, emphasizes both power and passion in realizing the inconceivable. Furthermore, it illustrates the company’s mission to create a connecting link with substantial added value for its customers. The logo symbolizes a link in a chain and the mirror image of the letter D. The color orange represents passion, pride en innovation, whereas the blue part symbolizes solidity, reliability and safety. The new logo has slowly been introduced into the company these last few months. An extensive operation, because it meant a transformation of all aspects of the organization; stationary, envelopes, business cards, brochures, but also give-aways, promotional and protective clothes and equipment, and of course the vessels themselves. All logos have been taken care of. By now, the whole operation is as good as finished, and the former blue and black logo has been replaced by the bright colors blue and orange. As a symbol of our identity the new logo expresses our development into a better company with a broader service package than that what you have come to appreciate. All of this… to take on the challenge of what you may think is inconceivable.
innovating
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Every Dockwise transport is special, primarily because each client, each object and each journey is special. Very heavy, strangely shaped, frighteningly expensive, visually spectacular and sometimes not without risk, these transports are things that should be seen in real life to be fully appreciated. For those many of us who sadly miss the real event, we list our top ten recent successes. Order of presentation is totally random.
1
Text Guus Peters Photography Dockwise
1 2 3 4
ZEPPELIN
A Zeppelin from Italy to the Japanese city of Nagoya? You might first ask, why not by air? Russian authorities would not allow overflying for fear of terrorism. So this was why this enormous airship (75 meters long, and not as light as a feather) went to Japan by boat. The loaded Dock Express 10 just missed the tsunami of 26 December 2004, and safely sailed into Kobe one day later. The Zeppelin served impressively at the later Nagoya EXPO mid-March.
Petrobas 40: 181,43 meters
The offshore industry is used to records being broken and Dockwise naturally loves to take part. January 2001 saw the platform Petrobas 40 transported from the Jurang Shipyards in Singapore to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The platform was 124 meters tall, and on the deck of the Mighty Servant 1, 181 meters. Imagine the forces on everything in a heavy swell. A tall story; but that record height has not been broken yet.
4 2
5
BP Atlantis: more records
Mighty Servant 1 has carried some big loads, but the transport of BP’s platform Atlantis broke more. The Atlantis has a diameter of 122 meters, and a height of 74 meters, and sat on the deck of the Mighty Servant diagonally with 36 meter long overhang/protrusions on either side. Great seamanship meant they did not threaten the safe transport from Daewoo in Korea, to Ingleside Texas. The crossing took 57 days.
Rowan Rigs FOUR at a time
East Area: the delivery
At 18,000 tons the East Area production platform, built by Samsung in Koje (South Korea), was not that big. Black Marlin had successfully moved many bigger. What was special was the required precision placement on delivery. It had to be positioned to within the centimeter on site just off the Nigerian coast. The special hydraulic equipment fitted for the task worked admirably. After a 37 day trip, the platform ended up on the jacket to within that notorious centimeter.
5
Dockwise had transported drill installations for Rowan in the past. But four at a time? In this event necessary, as Rowan had closed a major drill contract with Saudi Aramco. The hardware was needed, now! The Black Marlin and the Mighty Servant 3 moved the four 125 meter drill installations from the US to the Middle East, every square meter of the Black Marlin deck having to be used.
3
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8
6
6 7 7
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Thunder horse: biggest floats
At 59,500 tons, it was the largest float BP had ever had built. The enormous part was assembled in Okpo, South Korea and transported to Corpus Christi, USA, September 2004. Dockwise’s biggest heavy transporter, the Blue Marlin, was especially converted for the sea transportation of this Production & Drilling Quarters unit. It did the job in 80 days and delivered the drilling and production platform at the Kiewit shipyard, for fitting to a new drill platform for BP.
Maersk Innovator: biggest drilling installation
Length 205 meters, weight 29,800 tons. A larger drill installation had never been built and certainly never been moved. The colossus had to go from Ulsan (South Korea) to Stavanger in Norway. The Mighty Servant 1 took on the task, sailed via Cape of Good Hope, hitting some very nasty weather on the trip, but the crew of the Dockwise giant got the Maersk Innovator home on schedule.
Nuclear transport
Dockwise had moved submarines before, but the tranport of obsolete Russian nuclear subs was a different story. Three retired vessels from 45,000 to 27,000 tons, not in anything like good shape, had to be safely transported to the demolition site in Severodvinsk and Gremikha. Dockwise used the Transshelf; originally a Russian ship, with a Russian captain and crew. Poetic perhaps, Dockwise helping the Russians look after their own.
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Tahiti Spar: heavy
The heaviest buoy part for an oil platform ever transported was the CVX Tahiti Spar. Dockwise moved this giant part, weighing 24,787 tons, from Pori in Finland to Corpus Chisti in the United States of America around mid 2007. The Mighty Servant 1 did the job completing it in three weeks. The trip was delayed for some hours to rescue drowning people from a sinking ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Hang Tuah: air bubbles
Air bubbles were used to help move the drill platform ‘Hung Tuah’ (length 80 meters, weight 12, 936 tons) from Ulsan (South Korea) to the Natuna Sea (Indonesia). The Hang Tuah platform was skidded on the deck of the Transshelf. For the float-off, Dockwise engineers used original thinking on a grand scale. While the vessel ballasted down, bubbles of trapped air were formed under the skirt of the platform. These bubbles reduced the float-off draft of the platform and provided additional stability during the float-off. The transport and floatoff went perfectly.
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INTERVIEW
Q&A out over Europe and the United States. Dockwise Yacht Transport is a world leader in yacht transport and in order to remain in this position, the company has to maintain its reputation as an innovator — all reasons for investing in this new ship. The three ships we are using now have all been built for the heavy transport market, and due to their semisubmersible capacity, are perfectly suitable for transporting yachts; however, they do not provide the extra facilities yacht owners and captains are looking for.”
In October a new yacht carrier entered into service. Yacht Express is the world’s very first ship that was specially built and developed for Dockwise Yacht Transport. President of DYT, Clemens van der Werf, tells us about the development of this branch in transport. Text Hans Martens Photography DYT
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Why a specialized vessel for this market? C: “The yacht transport market is growing strongly because a lot of yachts are being built and prospects tell us yacht construction will keep on growing by eight percent every year. At the moment, 450 yachts over 30 meters long are being built worldwide and will be on the market within the next two years. For yachts with a length between 18 to 30 meters this number can be multiplied by a factor of ten. These yachts are all potential customers, as the shipyards are all spread
Is this vessel unique in its kind, from an architectural perspective? C: “Yes, Yacht Express is definitely unique due to the fact that it is semi-submersible and equipped with diesel-electric propulsion and azi-pull thrusters. The thrusters have been designed especially for this ship by Lips and are the biggest they have built to date. With its speed of 18 knots, this ship is faster than any of the other semi-submersible Dockwise Yacht Transport carriers. The Yacht Express is more than 130 feet longer than Dockwise Yacht Transport’s largest carrier. The aim was to design a ship that can operate (submerse) in areas where yachts sail. In general, the depth of the water in these areas is limited to 12.5 meters. This means that the vessel can contain a hold (from bottom keel to surface dock bay) of 8.5 meters at the most, to get four meters of water above the dock bay in order to load the yachts. The width of the vessel is limited to 32 meters to fit through the locks of the Panama Canal and a length of 209 meters has been chosen for optimal loading capacity.” Does the Yacht Express sail on fixed routes? C: “Yacht Express will sail a regular service between Fort Lauderdale and Genoa, which will include a monthly departure from Florida and the Mediterranean Sea. To enable this roundtrip within a month, the speed of 18 knots is essential. The Yacht Express is expected to reduce the time of a transatlantic voyage by nearly 50%, from 15 to 8 days which marks DOCKWISER Page 29
INTERVIEW The ship features all possible amenities such as A swimming pool, cinema and fitness facilities a major milestone in the development of the yacht transport industry. Furthermore, the ship features all possible luxurious amenities such as complimentary cabins for ride-aboard crew, a restaurant, swimming pool, cinema and conference, media and fitness facilities. It is a ‘cruise ship for yachts.” How many yacht carriers are in service for DYT at the moment? C: “At the present time, we are sailing with three ships, adapted for the transport of yachts in the range of 9-60 meters. The biggest yacht we transported up to now has been the Ulysses, with a length of 58 meters. There is no accommodation for passengers on these ships, but one or two of the yacht’s crew members can always sail along with us and sleep on their own yacht. The bigger yachts are always supplied with electricity and running water. This provides the crew with the possibility to do maintenance work during the voyage. You could call it a kind of free dry dock period.”
Important information Yacht Express: Full length: 209.00 m / 685.7 ft Full width: 32.20 m / 105.64 ft Depth: 5.80 m / 19.03 ft Submersed depth: 14.00 m / 72.18 ft Length of deck: 165.00 m / 541.34 ft Width of deck: 31.00 m / 101.71 ft Deadweight: 12,500 t Speed: 18 knots Total investment: 60 million US Dollars
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How are the yachts loaded and unloaded? C: “By means of the float-on/float-off method: submerse the deck, yachts will sail over it, supports are placed and the ship will emerge again. This method is unique to Dockwise Yacht Transport. The process of loading and unloading is very smooth and the risk of damaging the yachts is minimal. We do not have any competition with this loading method. There is a step-by-step explanation of the process on www.yacht-transport.com (under Information/How does it work?).” Are there many competitors? C: “In the top segment of the yacht market, over 24 meters, there is hardly any competition. In the smaller segments we do meet competition from the ‘general cargo’ ships, but this is limited to the high season. The yachts are lifted onto these general cargo ships by ship cranes and shipped this way. These cranes
have a limited capacity. Because these ships have more cargo below deck which takes priority and can only transport yachts above deck, they are not specialized in the transportation of yachts. At the shipping companies, the yachts are offered by freight-forwarders who act as intermediaries between the shipping company and the yacht owner. We do direct business with the customer.”
Q&A Clemens van der Werf
is 41 years old. After getting his business degree at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, he started working for Dock-Express Shipping in 1993. In 2002 he transferred to Dockwise to manage the yacht transport segment. A year later he moved to Fort Lauderdale to develop Dockwise Yacht Transport into a separate business unit of Dockwise. His affinity with yachts springs from his interest in water sports, such as sailing and rowing.
Who are customers of DYT? C: “Our customer groups are: shipyards, owners, yacht brokers, charter brokers and yacht management companies. Depending on the size of the yacht, we deal with the captain and/or owner, the management company and broker. The shipyard is the customer for new yachts. A lot of owners use DYT more than once a year to benefit from both seasons. In 2004, for example, the motor yacht ‘Adler’ celebrated its 30th Transatlantic crossing with Dockwise. The new ‘Adler’ has joined us already five times since, which makes the owner of this ship our best customer. There is a category of yachts that can make the crossing themselves: the larger displacement yachts.” Why do larger yachts still go with DYT? C: “If a yacht crosses on its own keel, the owner has to take several things into account. Think for example of the cost of fuel, crew salaries – the complete crew needs to be on board – extra engine hours, which leads to expensive maintenance of the engines and loss of re-sale value of the yacht. Furthermore, the yacht needs to be prepared for the crossing by seafastening everything. In addition, every crossing means one year less for the paint system so re-painting is needed sooner. A yacht can also be damaged during heavy weather and the time of crossing is unsure due to weather conditions. This can harm commitments upon arrival, such as charter obligations, or
holiday plans of the owner. All these reasons make a crossing on board Dockwise Yacht Transport carriers absolutely competitive. Our vessels arrive without damage and on time.” What does a Florida/Mediterranean Sea trip cost for an average yacht? C: “Our prices are based on the total surface of the yacht and the sailing distance. Depending on the moment the yacht owner books his transport, he is eligible for a pre-payment discount of ten to twenty percent. The transport includes everything; insurance, loading/unloading, customs formalities, cradle, etcetera. To give an example: the costs to transport a thirty meter (100 feet) yacht from Fort Lauderdale to Toulon (South of France) amounts to 120,000 US Dollars.” Which routes does DYT sail? At the moment: Trans-Atlantic: from Florida/Caribbean to the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe Caribbean Shuttle: from the Eastern coast USA (Newport, Rhode Island) to the Caribbean Pacific West Coast: from Florida through Panama to Costa Rica, Mexico, California and the Pacific North West (Vancouver, Canada and Alaska) South Pacific: from Florida to Australia (Brisbane) and New Zealand (Auckland). DOCKWISER Page 31
Mighty Servant 3 Next issue
DOCKWISER Nº3 SPRING 2007 dockwise.com
Photo’s SMIT
On the morning of December 6, 2006, Mighty Servant 3 developed a list and sank off the port of Luanda, Angola, after the offloading of drilling platform ‘Aleutian Key’.
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SAFETY:
zero-accident policy
The semi-submersible vessel was resting at the sea bottom in approximately 52 meters of water. Dutch SMIT Salvage conducted a complete diving survey prior to removing the vessel’s bunker oil and pollutants. Moreover the company was contracted to salvage the Mighty Servant 3 in order to give her a second life. The Mighty Servant 3 was salvaged by means of sheerlegs ‘Taklift 7’, and by pressurizing the various compartments with compressed air. Initially the bow was refloated and stabilized. Subsequently the stern was lifted. Ultimately the vessel was fully dewatered and successfully redelivered to Dockwise on May 26, 2007. After that the vessel was transported to Cape Town, South Africa for repairs, where she arrived three weeks later.
Dockwise’S core value
Reliability Furthermore... results of staff inquiry
MASTHEAD
Dockwiser is a publication from Dockwise Shipping B.V., the Netherlands, Jacqueline van den Bergen, Danielle Biermans www.dockwise.com Concept/Realisation Readershouse/Hearst +31 (0)20 3551010 / www.readershouse-hearst.nl Art direction Monique van Kessel Translation Suzanne van Kessel/ETC Prepress True Colours, Utrecht Printed by Hollandia
...and NIGHT It is our ambition to further expand in the installation of offshore platforms and to take the company into the field of complex logistic challenges. This includes the door to door transport of large oil and gas, or heavy industrial facilities manufactured elsewhere. In order to achieve that goal, we work day and night to create superior value for our clients.
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Captain’S STORY
“Ever since I was a little boy, I have always wanted to sail or fly. The adventures, the independence and longing for the unknown have always attracted me. It turned out to be sailing. I have been in the shipping industry for 46 years now. Soon I’ll retire. Text LIEKE LEMMENS Photography Klaas Slot
Dirk de Jong
started his career at sea in 1961 with the Dutch Royal Interocean Lines to Java and China, now called Nedlloyd. In 1980 he set to work at Wijsmuller Transport, which changed into Dockwise in 1993. In the near future he will be retiring.
I have been captain since 1985. The ‘captain’s trade’ is a trade you have to learn. Having the final responsibility is substantially different from the other jobs on board. When nobody knows anymore, the captain hás to know and make decisions. The fact that I started as first officer, turned out essential. This position developed my sense of the ships. If you haven’t ‘done’ it all, you are disadvantaged as a captain. Compare it to a car: you can read the manual, but it is better to just start driving. You will get everything a lot faster. I mainly sailed the Mighty and Super Servants. I knew them well, which gave me a sense of safety. My favorite harbor? Rotterdam of course, that’s coming home!
One disadvantage of working at sea is having a limited social life. At times you can be away from home for months. Luckily, my wife always stood by me. She also has a maritime background and understood well what life at sea meant. This is very important, especially because most of the upbringing of our children was in her hands. I have always enjoyed my work. But the idea of retiring and not having the responsibilities anymore, gives me a wonderful feeling of relaxation. What I’ll miss the most? The collegiality. The atmosphere aboard was always good; we were buddies. Fortunately, I will see my former colleagues once a year at retirees day.”