TANKER OPERATOR MAGAZINE (JUNE 2011)

JUNE 2011 www.tankeroperator.com

TA�KEROperator

Features:� UK flag success� Slow steaming� Innovative Aframax� LSFO almost on us� Tank machine washing � Condition monitoring

Front cover:Front cover.qxd 14/06/2011 22:11

IFC:OBC.qxd 14/06/2011 22:18 Page 1

June 2011 � TANKEROperator 01

ContentsNews Focus � Bunker purchases

� EEDI in heavy weather

UK Report� Plenty of optimism

� UK flag gains

� UKHO speaks of ECDIS

� Research tradition

� Tonnage tax worries

Denmark Report� Slow steaming is here

� MR sector optimism

08

Front cover photo D’Amico’s 2009-built Aframax Mare �ostrumseen berthing at Fawley refinery in the UK. GLrecently unveiled a revolutionary new Aframaxdesign concept aimed at maximising earningswhile at the same time reducing opex andemissions.

24

20

LawWhat is an ‘approval’?

Technology26 Ship description� New Aframax design

29 Emission control� Regulations fast approaching

� ICS on GHG

� Continuous monitoring

� Monitor bunker deliveries

36 Emergency response� AWT extends offering

38 Fire detection� Advanced fire detection

39 Tank servicing� Machine washing discussed

� Pump room systems

� Colfax reinvents itself

45 Repair & maintenance� Harris Pye success

� Condition monitoring

� Goltens looks to the future

12

26

p1:p1.qxd 14/06/2011 22:19 Page 1

People, energy, the environment and the ability ofmaritime technology to reinvent itself alongside anew paradigm formed the basis of BIMCO’s generalmeeting sustainability session in Vancouver earlierthis month.Seafarers’ competence and the environment also took centre stage at therecent Nor-Shipping jamboree.

These and other issues, such as piracy, are certainly keeping theshipping industry’s ‘brains trusts’ working overtime.

For example, at BIMCO’s Vancouver gathering, members were toldof changing population trends, energy constraints and the need tohusband the environment. It was pointed out that climate change offersbusiness opportunities, as well as the well documented challenges.

Indeed, GL’s Hermann Klein – never a shrinking violet - outlinedhow the shipping industry could harvest the “low hanging fruit” fromtechnological and operational advances, which help to produce moreefficient ships, which at the same time protect the environment.

Today, we have to contend with oil price volatility partly caused bythe political instability currently being seen in the Middle East andNorth Africa. OPEC recently declined to increase output, which thebears will interpret as a bad move for the tanker sector.

However, it is the major demographic changes that could affectworld trade in the long term. Forecasters are saying that we could see areversal of population increases in leading economies, such as Japan,China and much of Europe. The problem is that these areas could runout of young workers, which would have a severe impact on economicgrowth.

Despite the move to alternative fuels, such as biofuels, gas andalternative energy sources, fossil fuels look like remaining the mainstayof energy supply. This was bought home by the Japanese earthquakeand resultant tsunami, which has maybe led to the beginning of the endof the world’s nuclear power ambitions.

Klein suggested that many answers to the demand for greatersustainability could be provided by better designed ships, with manyimprovements relatively easy to put in place, such as dimensional andhydrodynamic changes, greater focus on optimising efficiency, andlowering speeds to save fuel.

Fuel prices, he suggested, remained a huge driver for longer termenvironmental and technical change, citing the example of a 12,000-teucontainership, which would use $1 bill of heavy oil at today’s prices of$600 per tonne, some 10 times more than its capital cost. However, hewarned that while there were great improvements possible, the growth inthe world fleet pointed to the need for more radical ideas on sustainability.

Governments had been largely ineffective in devising fair policies forimproved sustainability in shipping, with a general lack of regulatorydirection, which, speakers at the BIMCO event suggested put the onusupon the industry to produce workable solutions. Pressure would comefrom consumers, shippers, charterers who would increasingly demandcleaner, greener maritime transport systems.

Unlimited liability?At a recent lunch in London hosted by industry orator and lawyer ClayMaitland, concerns were expressed about the increased possibility ofowners and P&I clubs taking a big hit on the question of liability shouldanother disastrous oil spill occur.

He said that he would like to see cargo owners and charterers takemore responsibility and also more of the liability. He also criticised theseemingly unwillingness of private industry to spend money on safetymanagement systems, including the implementation of the ISM Code inadvance of a major loss. He was talking of the Deepwater Horizonsinking, other major casualties, losses and disasters at sea and on land.

Maitland said that he was also worried about the increasing size oftankers and containerships, which could greatly increase the size of thefinancial penalty imposed by liability in the event of an oil spill. “This islikely to be infinitely greater today than it was at the time of the SeaEmpress, Braer and even Exxon Valdez. Bear in mind that unlimitedliability ‘up to the sky’ is a reality. It has enormous implications forshipping,” he warned.

Risk management requires investment. Thus far, the oil industry –with respect to offshore drilling – has not responded to the PresidentialCommissions sensible suggestion that it establish an independent safetyinstitute to audit industry operations much as the nuclear industry didafter the Three Mile Island disaster in the US.

Commercial interests in shipping largely dominated by drybulkcarriers, containerships and tankers, has not taken the hint either,Maitland said. “We need to embrace a much more effective managementaudit and oversight system that the one currently exists, under theMARPOL Convention,” he said.

The current oversight in ISM Code implementation is largelydependent upon recognised organisations (ROs) and while someundoubtedly do an effective job – casualties are way down – a paperexercise simply won’t do, he said.

“The USCG report into the Deepwater Horizon overlooks this fact,while recognising that governments – specifically the US – do not havethe money to do the job effectively. One wonders what will happen whenthe next oil spill occurs, particularly if it involves a tanker,” he said.

COMMENT

Food for thought

TO

TANKEROperator � June 201102

TANKEROperatorVol 10 No 7Tanker Operator MagazineLtd2nd Floor, 8 Baltic Street EastLondon EC1Y 0UP, UK www.tankeroperator.com

PUBLISHER/EVENTS/SUBSCRIPTIONSKarl JefferyTel: +44 (0)20 7017 [email protected]

EDITORIan CochranTel: +44 (0)20 7017 [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALESMelissa SkinnerOnly Media LtdTel: +44 (0)20 8950 [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION1 year (8 issues)£195 / US$ 320 / €220

2 years (16 issues)£300 / US$493 / €336

Subscription hotline:Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 3405Fax: +44 (0)20 7251 9179Email: [email protected]

PRODUCTIONVivian CheeTel: +44 (0)20 8995 [email protected]

Printed by ALYA SP. z o.o. ul. Bukowa 11 41-700 Ruda Śląska; Poland

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 2

Safety is...

...working as a team and looking out for each other.

Liner Shipping • Worldwide Logistics • Petroleum & Chemical Transportation • Alaska Fuel Sales & Distribution • Energy Support •Project Management • Ship Assist & Escort • Ship Management • Ocean Towing & Transportation • Salvage & Emergency Response

www.crowley.com

While Crowley vessel crews drill constantly for the unexpected, they take even greater pride avoiding and correcting unsafe situations. To ensure the safest transit for your vessels in the harbors of San Diego, Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Francisco Bay Area, Tacoma, Seattle, North Puget Sound and Prince William Sound/Valdez, Alaska, call Crowley at 800-248-8632 or visit www.crowley.com.

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 3

INDUSTRY - MARKETS


Demand growth in the country hasprogressed at an unprecedentedpace over the last decade, apattern universally anticipated to

continue. This additional demand will increaseChina’s dependence on imported crude withbeneficial knock-on effects for the tankerindustry.

Oil and Gas Journal estimates that Chineserefining capacity stood at 8.1 mill barrels perday as of 1st January 2011, exhibiting growthof 54% over the last decade. Braemar said thatwith a developing, urbanising and growingpopulation whose oil consumption is everburgeoning, the company did not expectgrowth of either parameter to taper in the nearfuture.

Capacity growth projections for the nextfive years vary from a low of 2 mill barrelsper day, up to a maximum of 6 mill bpd.Braemar anticipated that expansion ofbetween 35% and 45% of current capacitywill be achieved over this period.

Feeding this refinery growth will increaseChina’s crude import demand, as domesticproduction remains flat. Of course, additionalthroughput hinges on potential utilisationrates, which in turn feeds from demand,whether it stems from domestic needs, or isinternational with subsequent product export.

Domestically speaking, China’s GDPgrowth is unlikely to fall below 7% over thenext five years. Energy is critical to thisgrowth and consequently oil demand is set torise rapidly. Therefore, Braemar projected thatutilisation rates will be maintained at a highlevel.

China’s reliance on crude import isclimbing. It imported 54% of crude feedstockin 2010, exceeding its preferred level of 50%for the second year in a row. The Braemarmodel output anticipates that reliance willintensify further over the next decade,

reaching 66% in 2015 and 70% in 2020.

PipelinesThe country has invested substantial amountsin pipeline construction in recent years, withconsequences for imports. While the pipelinesoffer a substitute for seaborne crude trade andcould therefore be interpreted as deleterious tothe tanker industry, Braemar argued that thiseffect will not be pronounced, as the volumeof crude that will be imported via thesepipelines is dwarfed by the additional cruderequirement generated by the expansion of therefining industry.

The construction of a 440,000 bpd pipelinefrom Western Myanmar to China’s Yunningprovince began in September 2010 and is duefor completion by the start of 2013. Thepipeline will improve China’s access toMiddle East oil, bypassing the congestedMalacca Straits. Crude that would otherwisehave transited the 5,000 mile route from RasTanura to Zhanjiang will now travel only3,250 seaborne miles to the new terminal atKyaukpu, which will be able to acceptVLCCs. On a round trip basis a voyage is cutby about 10 days.

Assuming the pipeline operates at fullcapacity, 22 mill tonnes of oil will take theshorter route, a total reduction of 38,000 milltonne/miles per annum, or two VLCCs per year.Thus the effect on the tanker industry appearsminimal. The crude to be imported stillrepresents additional demand; the primaryrefinery the pipeline will serve is new andtherefore these imports are incremental. Furtherincreasing accessibility of mainland China tocrude has the potential to spur the creation ofmore refineries and therefore crude demand.

The Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean pipelineis an instrumental component in augmentingRussian crude exports to China. Phase one ofthe project is complete and runs from the oil

fields in Eastern Siberia to Skovorodino inRussia’s Far East with a capacity of 600,000bpd. Crude is then either transported to Chinathrough the Daqing Spur Pipeline or via rail tothe export terminal at Kozmino.

Phase two, scheduled for completion in2012, will bypass the rail component of thesupply chain and increase capacity, initially to1.2 mill bpd and at some subsequent point to1.6 mill bpd. It is envisaged that oncecomplete, 300,000 bpd crude will betransported to China, 600,000 – 700,000 bpdwill be used by Russian refineries and theremaining 600,000-700,000 bpd will be boundfor international destinations.

RefineriesRosneft and CNPC are building a 260,000 bpdrefinery at Tianjin, 70% of the feedstock forwhich will be delivered via the ESPOpipeline. Assuming a 90% utilisation rate, thisindicates that this refinery will consume halfof crude that will transit the pipeline with theremainder headed for other refineries in theregion. With refinery capacity expansionprojected to achieve somewhere between 2mill and 6 mill bpd over the next five years,Braemar thought that refining capacity growthcould absorb ESPO imports without anoticeable effect on the crude tanker industry.

Furthermore, with 600,000-700,000 bpdforecast to be exported from Kozmino,potential for new routes exists. These routeswould likely benefit the Aframax market, and,to a lesser extent- Suezmaxes.

As of 1st May, 2011, the double hull VLCCfleet stood at 530 vessels, of which 9.1% wereChinese owned (48 vessels). Of the 158 vesselorderbook (29.4% of the trading fleet), 19(12.0%) are Chinese owned. Assuming 100%delivery, the percentage of Chinese ownedvessels will increase to 9.7% of the fleet byend 2014.

China to remain thedriving force for

crude tanker marketsChina’s demand for imported will continue to be one of the key influences on the tanker

market, according to industry experts Braemar Shipping Services plc.

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 4

INDUSTRY – MARKETS


Of the 48 vessels in the Chinese fleet, 30(62.5%) have been built in the last five yearscompared to 38.6% of the non-Chinese fleet.Over the next four years, based on the currentorderbook the Chinese fleet will expand by39.6%, whereas the non-Chinese owned sectorwill grow by 28.8%.

Strong tonnage growthThese figures illustrate the strength of ChineseVLCC ownership growth in conjunction withthe country’s increased dependence on oilimports and the momentum with which it isprojected to continue in the next three years.

Looking further ahead, beyond the currentorderbook, medium to long term growthremains to be seen; will Chinese ownednewbuild orders slow with the 50% importtarget ticked off, or will Chinese ownerscontinue to invest in order to gain an evenbigger slice of the pie?

The Chinese government’s goal is for 50%of seaborne oil imports to enter the country onChinese vessels. Braemar’s tanker modeloutput suggests that 84 dedicated VLCCswould have been sufficient to meet 100%Chinese demand in 2010. As of the end of theyear, there were 48 Chinese owned VLCCs(including five single hulls) suggesting thatChinese vessel capacity is easily sufficient tomeet the 50% goal.

Braemar said that it anticipated demand togrow to 130 vessels in the next four years,with Chinese vessel supply set to increase to73. Again these projections indicate thatChinese vessel supply will, in theory, besufficient to service 50% of seaborne imports.

The company’s analysis of VLCC spotfixture data suggests that, in 2010, 50.4% ofVLCC cargoes were transported on Chineseowned vessels, a 35.4% increase from the15% recorded in 2004. In Q1 2011, however,a 3.4% decrease has been observed with thefigure standing at 47%, marginally below thetarget of 50%.

It is believed that China will succeed in itsaim of carrying half of its import of Chineseowned vessels and has the capacity to exceedthis. However, given the sheer scale ofChinese demand, significant potential willremain for China-bound cargoes on the spotand timecharter markets. Chinese VLCC

ownership has become more widespread in thelast five years and the current orderbookindicates that this will continue in the short tomedium term, Braemar concluded.

MEG liftings increaseRemaining with VLCCs, Gibson Researchreported that recent spot crude oil cargoliftings out of the Middle East Gulf (MEG) onVLCCs have recently been higher than in theboom period of 2008, when OPEC productionreached its peak.

In April 2011, there were 118 spot loadingsin the region and an even higher number ofloadings was recorded in May, amounting to123. Both are noticeably higher than themonthly average of 95 spot VLCC fixtures inJuly 2008.

This momentum has continued into Juneand given some respite for the strugglingVLCC market. As a result, tightness intonnage supply following an intense fixingpattern over the past two months has resultedin slightly firmer rates.

Despite fixtures for June not yet being fullydeclared, it is evident that chartering activityto some of the key areas of consumption is onthe increase. China is obviously a key playerin the improved MEG VLCC volume andalthough the June laycans thus far reported arelower than in May, we are likely to see a fewmore VLCC cargoes to India, Gibson said.

By the 10th of the month, there werealready 11 fixtures reported, continuing thesteady increase in loadings seen over the firstfive months of this year. Significantly, 56Indian fixtures have been concluded over thisperiod, nearly twice as many as recorded forthe corresponding period last year.

However, despite this considerableimprovement in fixing activity, rates had onlyimproved fractionally by the second week ofJune, as increases in tanker supply haveswamped the greater demand for spot tankers.In addition, there has also been a greaterwillingness by oil companies to re-let theirvessels.

With another 35 VLCCs expected to bedelivered over the remainder of this year(assuming delays to the current orderbook)and OPEC’s decision not to provide any‘official’ support in terms of additional

barrels, this may suggest that there are furtherchallenges ahead for the VLCC market.

However, energy analysts expect asignificant increase in oil demand of between1.5 and 2 mill barrels per day in the thirdquarter of this year. This will only lead tofurther pressures on Middle East oil producersto raise production and if that occurs, it willtighten the market further.

But for the VLCC owners to witness anoticeable improvement in rates, a large-scaleincrease in the Middle East exports is needed toovercome the challenge of constantly growingsupply and the competition faced from theSuezmax sector, Gibson concluded.

GL – Your

competitive edge

GL BEST-plus: Designed for the typical trades in the Caribbean, anticipating the future demand for new tankers and integrating only available technologies.

Safer: Reduced risk for the environment with an up to 9% lower oil outflow index

Greener: Reduced specific CO2 emissions with higher energy efficiency (16% lower EDDI)

Smarter: Improved profitability with up to 7% lower transport costs thanks to increased speed and cargo volume Accept nothing but the BEST – let GL show you how.

Innovative Aframax tanker design concept

Germanischer Lloyd SE Phone: +49 40 36149-0 [email protected] www.gl-group.com

Chinese owned fleet �on Chinese owned Total

Fleet 48 9.1% 482 90.9% 530 Orderbook 19 12.0% 139 88.0% 158 Total 67 9.7% 621 90.3% 688

The VLCC fleet as of May 2011

Source: Braemar Shipping services

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 5

This month saw the launch of anew edition of the essentialmaritime publication Training andAssessment On Board written byLen Holder and sponsored byVideotel Marine International. Fully updated, it takes into account recentchanges in international regulations andadvances in teaching techniques using newmethods and technology.

Rules alone do not make training effective.It requires the dedication, interest and skill ofeveryone involved - shore managers; seniorofficers on board; trainers and trainees.

This book, based upon the experience ofmanagers and trainers over many years, aimsto make training more effective and enjoyable.Following its advice should make it easier togain official approval from nationaladministrations.

Training future seafarers in an industryunder financial, time and manpower pressuresneeds good organisation. This book is a vitalguide for seafarers and managers and explainshow to make best use of the resources andtime available to ensure the competence of

managers, officers and crew members. This handy-sized full colour, 82 page

publication is full of photographs, charts andexamples. It is also available as an eBook,allowing easy use on ships, in the office, athome and while travelling. Users can use thesearch facility to locate relevant texts whenplanning training programmes or drills.

Provided free to all Videotel clients, thebook will be used in their shipboard librariesand VOD computers. It will act as a centralsource of advice on all training andassessment carried out on board, not only aspart of voyage training but as part of career

development of junior staff and continuingprofessional development of middle rankingand senior personnel.

The book is available from publishersWitherby Seamanship International atwww.witherbyseamanship.com, and at allgood maritime chart and book stockists.

Training and Assessment On Board 4th Edby L A Holder, Extra Master, MPhil, TrainingConsultant, published by WitherbySeamanship International. Book: £30 ISBN:978-1-85609-451-1, PP 82, colour illustrated.eBook: £24 ( excludes any applicable taxes)ISBN: 978-1-85609-452-8.


INDUSTRY – BOOK REVIEWS

This book from the pen of bunkerindustry expert Nigel Draffin is avaluable source of informationand guidance on the process andmethods of buying and sellingbunker fuels.

It assumes a little knowledge of vessels,commerce and marine fuel and is intended asa ready reference for those who need tounderstand how the commercial side of thebusiness really works.

Any commercial deal between a seller andbuyer can be frustrated at any stage of theprocess, and bunkering can be particularlyprone to contractual problems. In CommercialPractice in Bunkering, Draffin deftly guidesthe reader around the pitfalls, using simpleand sometimes entertaining language toexplain often complicated issues.

The book examines every aspect of thecommercial deal, from the buyer’s enquiry tothe supplier’s offer, terms and conditions, thecontract and each party’s obligations.

It takes the reader through the enquiry,(offers, costs, payment terms, negotiations),pre- and post-fixing, ownership profiles andresponsibilities, sellers’ terms and conditions,

finance (credit, insurance, hedging, prices),and the use of bunkering software and theInternet. It also covers defaults and claims andde-bunkering.

Importantly, and for the first time in print,the book also dissects the latest edition ofbunker quality standard ISO 82127:2010 anddraws comparisons with its predecessor, ISO8217:2005.

Commercial Practice in Bunkering is full ofexamples of clauses drawn from real contractsand practical advice on how to navigatearound them. There is also a chapter on thecosts – and potential financial penalties – ofincreasingly stringent internationalenvironmental regulations.

As can be expected with a book written byDraffin, this publication also includes a vastamount of informed detail on some of thoseareas of bunkering that are often ignored,sometimes to great cost and inconvenience.Once again, he has included an extensiveglossary, comprehensive indices andappendices, as well as a very useful ‘where togo for help’ section.

This is Draffin’s fourth title on bunker fuels,following An Introduction to Bunkering

(2008), An Introduction to Fuel Analysis(2009) and An Introduction to BunkerOperations (2010).

The author has been involved in shippingfor over 45 years and with the commercialbunker market for over 25 years. He is afounder member of the International BunkerIndustry Association (IBIA) and has servedseveral times on its council of managementand executive board. In April 2011 he becamevice chairman of IBIA.

He is co-ordinator of IBIA’s educationworking group and author of IBIA’s BasicBunkering Course. He is the technical directorof the Oxford Bunker Course and director ofthe Oxford Bunker Course (Advanced), amember of the Institute of Marine EngineeringScience and Technology IMAREST and PastMaster of the Worshipful Company ofFuellers. He is also senior broker andtechnical director of US-based bunker brokerLQM Petroleum Services.

Commercial Practice in Bunkering by NigelDraffin M.I.Mar.E.S.T. First Edition, 2011,Published by Petrospot Limited, PP 155 + 22prelims. Price £60 / €65 / $100 + P&Pwww.petrospot.com/books

TO

‘Commercial Practice in Bunkering’

‘Training and Assessment On Board - 4th Edition’

This book is a vital guide for seafarers andmanagers and explains how to make best use of the resources and time available to ensure the competence of managers,

officers and crew members.

“

”

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 6

20 years experience. 1 simple solution.• Type Approved PMS

• Minimal Training Required

• Rapid Technical Support Service

• No ‘Per Seat’ or any Annual License Fees

• Global Customer Base from VLCC’s to Workboats

• Complete Package or Single Modular Components available

• PMS, Stock, Procurement, Dry Dock, Safety & Document Management Solutions

From ship to shore,simplicity is the key to success.

Visit www.marinesoftware.co.uk or email [email protected]

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 7


INDUSTRY – NEWS FOCUS - BUNKERS

Called Fuel Insight, it providesincisive real-time information onbunker deliveries worldwide asan aid for effective procurement

and benchmarking.Launched at Nor-Shipping last month, Fuel

Insight is a subscription-based web applicationthat taps into DNVPS’ ‘live’ bunker qualitydatabase – claimed to be the most extensive in

the shipping industry. It distils complex data on fuel prices, ISO

8217 fuel specification parameters andregulatory compliance into accurate insightsfor supplier evaluation and purchase decision-making, helping ship charterers, operators andowners optimise costs and reduce risks.

Bunkers make up a large percentage of avessel’s operational costs. As fuel prices

continue to soar, many shipping companiesare now facing considerable pressure on theirbottom lines.

Moreover, volatile fuel quality trends,supply chain developments and increasinglystricter environmental regulations are alsocomplicating the fuel management function.

“The launch of Fuel Insight is therefore avery timely one”, said DNVPS’ former

What is claimed to be the most advanced data analytics product for bunker fuel

was unveiled at �or-Shipping by D�V Petroleum Services (D�VPS).

Getting the best valuefrom bunker

purchases

Eirik Andreassen (left) was appointed DNVPS managing director on 1st June, replacing Tore Morten Watterhus (right) who will relocateback to Oslo to become DNV’s director of technology & services, governance and global development division starting 1st September.

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 8

INDUSTRY – NEWS FOCUS - BUNKERS


managing director, Tore Morten Wetterhus.“At today’s extremely high bunker prices,

getting the best value in fuel purchases is amust, especially for shipping companiesstruggling to stay afloat. Fuel Insight can helpbunker buyers and fleet operators decide onsources that yield optimum value, based onthe test results of delivered bunkers capturedin our database,” he said.

Fuel Insight further benchmarks variousbunker performance indicators of individualvessels and fleets against industry averages.By integrating this data analytics tool intotheir overall fuel management process, vesseloperators may identify significantimprovement opportunities that translate tosubstantial cost savings.

Besides fuel buyers, Wetterhus said bunkertraders, brokers and suppliers can also useFuel Insight as a quality control tool tomonitor their own products.

Following extensive discussions with theshipping industry, DNVPS has developed fivekey features in Fuel Insight:

Price Correction Calculator - estimates thecorrected bunker prices quoted by suppliers,taking into account their historical fueldelivery performances in density deviations(values reported in Bunker Delivery Notes(BDN) as compared to tested results),sediment content and fuel energy. The energycomponent is included by comparing theenergy content of delivered bunkers to theglobal energy average for the fuel gradeconcerned.

From the calculated price correction, afinancial loss or gain (in US dollars) and aquantity loss or gain (in metric tonnes) areinstantly listed to give an easy to readbenchmark.

Reporting Benchmark - compares theselected supplier’s BDN values for density,sulphur and viscosity against lab-testedresults.

Statutory Benchmark - evaluates thecompliance record of the selected supplier’sdeliveries in relation to sulphur and flashpointregulatory requirements.

Financial Benchmark - is similar to theprice correction calculator, except that thereporting is on a 0-100 scale, instead of USdollars, or metric tonnes.

Technical Benchmark - analyses thetechnical quality of the selected supplier’sproducts by evaluating critical ISO 8217bunker quality parameters weighted accordingto their levels of importance.

The score for each of the four benchmarksranges from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). Whenappraising the overall performance of the

selected supplier according to thesebenchmarks, Fuel Insight users can assigndifferent weights (low, medium or high) toeach, or exclude any of the benchmarks. The overall score, ranging from 0 to 100,is an arithmetic average of all selected scores.

Addressing the actual bunker price, DNVPSsaid that it currently does not cover bunkerprices, although the organisation said that itwas “looking into that”.

“Fuel Insight performs a 'correction'on prices offered to users. This correction is based on fuel suppliers' performance,according to the quality, regulatorycompliance and technical considerations of the bunkers delivered to vessels. Bunker prices are entered into Fuel Insightby the users directly,” a DNVPS

spokesman explained. According to BIMCO deputy secretary-

general Lars Robert Pedersen, “BIMCO has avested interest in supporting a wide range oftechnical solutions that enable our members tolive up to their present and future obligationson shipboard emissions.”

BIMCO’s senior marine technical officerPeter Rasmussen continued, “BIMCO hasbeen sparring with the dedicated DNVPS teamon the setting up of Fuel Insight, and a rangeof selected BIMCO owner members who arealso DNVPS clients have been involved intesting the application.”

BIMCO members who are frequent users ofDNVPS services will be provided withcomplimentary access to designated parts ofthe Fuel Insight application.

for Chemical/Product Tankers

THE tank coating system for carrying CPPs, PFADs, Methanol, and Bio-Fuels.

+01 440-937-6218 Phone +01 440-937-5046 Fax www.adv-polymer.com

Advanced Polymer Coatings

Avon, Ohio 44011 U.S.A.

Rely on MarineLine® 784 tank coating to handle a

wide range of cargoes carried by chemical and product tankers. MarineLine® 784 offers enhanced corrosion resistance compared to phenolic epoxies or zinc silicates, at a similar cost. It is faster and easier to clean, with higher cargo purity.

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 9

INDUSTRY – NEWS FOCUS - EEDI

For any given ship and technology,EEDI is a restriction on installedpower. Concern about the impact ofthis restriction on the heavy

weather performance of the fleet has led to theinsertion of the following sentence into theIMO’s draft regulation –

‘For each ship to which this regulationapplies, the installed propulsion power shallnot be less than the propulsion power neededto maintain the manoeuvrability of the shipunder adverse conditions as defined in theguidelines to be developed by theorganisation’.

This vague sentence raises a number ofobvious questions including:1. What do we mean be manoeuvrability?2. What are adverse conditions?3. What happens if the power requirement

mandated by this sentence is larger than the maximum allowable installed power under EEDI?

Recently, IACS and others have taken a verypreliminary stab at (1) and (2).[1] With respectto (2), IACS argues for either Beaufort 9which has a mean return period of about aweek in the North Atlantic, or Beaufort 10with a mean return period of about a month.They define manoeuvrability as the ability toturn into the wind from any heading and thenmaintain a positive advance speed.

But IACS immediately drops the turningrequirement assuming that, if the ship canmaintain a positive advance speed in headseas, it will be able to make the turn and thenmaintain course. IACS claims that implementingthe turning requirement — some time in thefuture — will require further research.

MEPC 62/5/y is vague on what the advancespeed should be, but in an accompanyingdocument, MEPC 62/INFxx, the same authorswrite; “Results for interviews withexperienced masters showed that they reducespeed up [sic] to a minimum to avoid damages

to the hull and cargo. This minimum speed foradverse conditions has been stated to bebetween four knots, which is considered to bethe minimum needed to ensuremanoeuvrability, and up to eight knots for alarge container vessels.”[2]

Indeed it is the author’s experience that theminimum steerage way speed in calm waterfor a large tankers is at least four knots.

MEPC 61/INFxx then concludes with acalculation of the advance speed of a standardVLCC in BF10 head seas. They find that thisfull-powered ship can barely make three knotsat which point it is torque limited. Nocalculations were done to ensure that the shipcould maintain course at that speed.

In a separate submission, the InternationalChamber of Shipping (ICS) largely supportsthe IACS position, but argues that to be safewe need an explicit requirement for aminimum trial (calm water) speed.[3] ‘Basedon experience’, ICS suggests a minimumspeed of 14 knots loaded and 14.5 knotsballast, which is not much lower then currentpractice for bulk carriers and smaller tankers.

CTX commentaryCTX agrees with IACS et al, that for thepurposes of this regulation ‘adverse conditions’should be defined to be at least BF9 (SS8). Anyship worthy of the name should be expected tohandle conditions, which on major trade routesit can expect to encounter once a week.

And using BF10 as the criterion with aNorth Atlantic return period of about a monthwould certainly not be overly conservative.

IACS’ suggested criteria formanoeuvrability is not unreasonable, butminimal. IACS only requires the ship to beable to turn into the weather and then maintaina positive speed into the weather. If this is allwe are going to require, than it certainlyargues for the BF10 weather condition.

CTX comes down on the side of BF10 (SS9).

IACS’ inexplicable assumption that, if theship has the power to generate a positiveadvance speed, then it will be able to turn andthen maintain course is both flat wrong andunnecessary. Tools are available to compute,or at least estimate, whether or not a ship canturn and then maintain course and this shouldbe part of the analysis.[4]

For most ships, meeting the turningrequirement is much tougher then maintainingpositive speed in head seas. In 2003, wecommissioned SSPA to do a full set of polardiagrams for our VPlus class using theSeaman software.

The VPlus is an extremely powerful (36,000kW), extremely large (440,000 dwt) ULCC.SSPA found that at full power and BF10, theship could turn into the wind from any initialheading and then maintain seven knots intothe weather. But when power was reduced to85% rev/min, about 60% the VPlus’ MCR, theship could no longer turn into the wind inBF10, even though if she could have done so,she could have maintained four knots. Whenpower was reduced to 80% rev/min, about50% power, she could not turn into the windin BF9. We can be confident that the VPlus’heavy weather capabilities are superior to justabout any commercial ship in existence.

If we are not going to computemanoeuvrability directly, then we must beconservative on the required advance speed,which in this case would point to a requiredspeed of at least five knots, preferably more.But in its sample analysis of a standard, non-EEDI compliant VLCC, IACS had to lowerthe required speed to three knots, and eventhen the ship just barely squeeks under theengine’s torque limit.[5] It is unlikely that thisship can maintain course at this speed andextemely unlikely that she can make the turn.

What this analysis shows is what wealready knew that existing, non-EEDIcompliant ships have very marginal heavy

Jack Devanney at the Center for Tankship Excellence has analysed the effect on EEDI of

heavy weather in the light of possible restrictions these conditions can cause*.

Ignorance is bliss:EEDI and heavy

weather


p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:24 Page 10

INDUSTRY – NEWS FOCUS - EEDI


weather performance. Any reduction in power

is a dangerous.

This example is also strong support for the

ICS position of a required calm water speed of

at least 14 knots.

But then we have another problem. CTX

estimates that in order to meet Phase 3 EEDI

requirement, a VLCC designer will have to

reduce power to the point where the ship will

have a loaded calm water speed of 12.4

knots.[6]

The difference in installed power between

these two speeds is about 5,000 kW. There

will be no legal VLCCs. EEDI will have

outlawed by far the most efficient means of

moving oil.[7]

The fundamental problem here is that we

are enacting draconian regulation with little or

no understanding of its consequences. With

respect to heavy weather performance of

EEDI compliant tankers, a single flawed

analysis of a single, non-EEDI compliant ship

is all we have.

This is preposterous!!!

*This article is another in a series of paperswritten by Jack Devanney Center forTankship Excellence, US, [email protected].

References

1) IACS et al, Minimum propulsion power to ensure safe manoeuvring in adverse conditions, MEPC 62/5/y, 2011-05-6.

2) IACS et al, Minimum propulsion power to ensure safe manoeuvring in adverse conditions, MEPC 62/I�Fxx, 2011-05-6.

3) ICS, Minimum propulsion power to ensure safe manoeuvring in adverse conditions, MEPC 62/xx, 2011-05-dd.

4) In the real world, it is the turning ability — or lack thereof — that causes casualties. See Aegean Sea, Iron Baron, Pasha Bulker, and Ocean Victory. Go to CTX Casualty Database and search on the ship name.

5) Using towing tank (calm water) propeller performance in this situation is optimistic. We are modelling only the effect of the increase in the angle of attack and not all the other problems which vessel motion and a seaway impose on the prop, including all sorts of additional cavitation.

6) The Impact of EEDI on VLCC design and CO2 emissions.7) Kruger has identified a number of situations where EEDI conflicts with existing

safety requirements. For example, he studied an EEDI compliant version of the �orthern Expedition, an efficient 21 knot RoPax operating in the Prince Rupert Strait. Canadian rules reasonably require twin screw and the ability to return to port at six knots in Beaufort 8 on a single screw. Kruger finds that an EEDI-compliant version of this ship must have an installed power of less that 3,400 kW per shaft. But the return to port requirement mandates between 5,100 and 8,700 kW per shaft depending on the specification of the wave pattern associated with BF8.

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:35 Page 11

INDUSTRY – UK REPORT


UK shipping set fairproviding there is a

following windWith 137 members and associate members, the UK Chamber of Shipping represents

917 ships of 26.9 mill gt and is still recognised as the voice of the UK shipping industry.

Despite the worst maritime

recession in living memory, the

most recent figures (2009)

showed UK shipping’s turnover

was still over £11 bill, with its direct

contribution to UK GDP remaining above

£6 bill.

However, the slowdown in world trade did

lead to excess capacity and squeezed rates,

with the greatest impact being felt by the

tanker/gas sector with revenues down from

£3.7 bill in 2008 to £2.5 bill in 2009. But with

the UK fleet remaining efficient and

competitive, there were still plenty of reasons

for optimism, the Chamber said in its annual

report for 2010-2011.

During the first 10 years of the Tonnage

Tax system, the owned and managed fleet

has more than tripled in tonnage terms, while

the UK flag fleet has grown six fold, the

Chamber said.

The domestic maritime industry employs

more than 45,000 UK nationals with more

than 900 young officer recruits joining each

year, which was twice as many as seen 10

years ago.

However, the UK fleets were not immune

from the effects of the recession, with both

owned and registered fleets suffering reversals

to the decade long growth trend.

Figures from year-end 2010 were not

available at the time the Chamber compiled its

annual report. The mid-year data showed that

reductions – over a six-month period – were

39 vessels of 1.4 mill dwt for the UK flag

fleet and six vessels of 500,000 dwt for the

UK-owned vessels.

Over the 10-year period, the fleet’s value

added had more than tripled and grew by an

average rate of 11.7% per year. Last year, the

operated carrier’s fleet was nearly three times

the size of that seen in 2000, with the Red

Ensign fleet nearly six times larger.

Employment issuesAlthough enjoying a good relationship with

the incoming UK coalition Government, the

Chamber will continue to put pressure on a

number of issues deemed as vital to the

growth of the industry, especially on

employment issues.

For example, the Chamber said that the

Equality Act would undoubtedly create

challenges for shipping employers. The

organisation also expressed concern over the

Seafarers’ Earning Deduction and the potential

impact of the government’s austerity measures

on seafarer training.

As for the increase in piracy, the Chamber

said that concerted military action was needed

against the ‘mother ships’ operating in the

Indian Ocean in the coming months.

‘Politicians need to give their armed forces

the freedom to take more explicit measures to

take these floating pirate bases out of

operation,’ the Chamber said in the report.

As for the situation with taxation, the

Chamber has formed a Taxation and

Economics Committee. The organisation said

that this watchdog role had become

increasingly necessary, as the current tax

regime was becoming surrounded by a growing

body of case-law and narrowly legalistic

interpretation of its provisions – limiting

eligibility and casting doubt on the reliability of

clearances already given by HMRC and

imposing sudden new requirements for tonnage

tax companies to conduct their technical

management in the UK.

‘Left unchecked, there is a clear risk that

such technical constraints, each logical on its

own terms, could unpick the inclusive and

Container man Michael Parker is the newpresident of the UK Chamber of Shipping.

“Left unchecked, there is a clear risk

that such technical constraints, each logical

on its own terms, could unpick the inclusive

and facilitative overall intent”

- UK Chamber of Shipping

“

”

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:35 Page 12



facilitative overall intent’, the Chamber said.

In addition, HM Treasury has embarked

upon a separate review of all existing special

tax reliefs, allowances and exemptions for UK

businesses and individuals. The inventory

includes tonnage tax, the Seafarers’ Earning

Deduction, duty-free bunker fuel and the zero

rating for VAT on passenger fares.

A report was sent to the Chancellor in

March 2010. The most significant issues for

shipping were the confirming of the validity

of both the tonnage tax and the SED.

However, some concerns were expressed over

the value of the SED relief and suggested that

there could be scope for simplifying it.

Tonnage taxAt the end of March this year, the Chamber

said that the Office of Tax Simplification had

recommended that the UK tonnage tax be

retained. However, there are uncertainties and

inconsistencies at the EU level and in the way

that some government departments interpret

and implement state aid requirements, the

Chamber warned.

The organisation also said that the Office of

Tax Simplification could be about to review

the Seafarers’ Earning Deduction. In addition,

the Chamber promised to work with the UK

Government towards a realistic application of

the Equality Act enabling UK flag operators to

continue to remunerate non-UK seafarers in

line with standard international shipping

practices at rates closer to those in seafarers’

home countries.

At the April 2011 AGM, Shell’s Jan

Kopernicki stepped down as president and

was replaced by CMA CGM UK’s Michael

Parker. His deputy is Helen Deeble of P&O

Ferries.

In his inaugural speech, Parker said that his

priorities during his time as president were –

� The business climate.

� Employment and training.

� Maritime security.

� The environment.

As for the piracy threat, Parker said that all

operators must commit to ensuring that their

officers and seafarers are thoroughly trained in

the well-proven Best Management Practices.

“From governments, we need clear guidance

to the military to act against mother ships and

bring captured pirates to trial,” he said.

Turning to the environment, he said that

many key industry players, now saw this as a

business opportunity, which is important as it

leads to innovation and investment.

On CO2, he said that the Chamber

recognises the need for incentives to

encourage emission reductions.

“The international debate has been

bedevilled by a lack of practical understanding

of the possible solutions. This needs to be

addressed before governments are asked to

decide.

“So we are taking the lead to foster deeper

understanding by all parties of the main

measures under consideration – a global

emissions trading scheme, or ETS and the so-

called levy, or compensation fund approach,”

Parker said.

“One thing is clear, the eventual solution

must be international and must be developed

and overseen by the IMO,“ he said.

Maritime clustersThe Chamber said that it works closely with

two initiatives that bring together

organisations and individuals within the UK

Maritime sector.

One – Maritime UK – has seven members –

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:35 Page 13


INDUSTRY - UK REPORT

the UK Chamber of Shipping, Baltic

Exchange, Maritime London, Passenger Ship

Association, Institute of Chartered

Shipbrokers, UK Major Ports group and the

British Ports Association.

During 2010-2011, Maritime UK

successfully managed to persuade the new UK

coalition government to repeal the decision of

its predecessor to charge for back-dated port

business rates.

The grouping also developed relationships

with hundreds of UK MPs, who signed a

pledge to support the UK’s maritime services

ahead of last year’s election.

A new list of statistics was published in

April. It was compiled by Oxford Economics

on behalf of Maritime UK. The ‘think tank’

assessed the economic impact of the UK

maritime services sector, which included

ports, shipping and maritime services.

The report excluded sectors such as North

Sea oil and gas extraction, the manufacture of

marine equipment and the naval defence

industry.

Oxford Economics estimated that the

maritime services sector created 227,000 jobs,

or 0.8% of total UK employment. This figure

implied that the industry was a larger

employer than, for example, either the

accountancy or general medical practice

industries.

On this basis, it was estimated that the

maritime services sector made a direct £13.1

bill value-added contribution to GDP, or 0.9%

of the UK total. Therefore, the maritime

services sector made a larger contribution to

UK GDP than both the civil engineering and

electricity distribution industries.

In addition, the report noted that the

maritime services sector directly generated

over £3.1 bill (or 0.6% of total government

revenue) for the UK Exchequer, through a

combination of taxes paid by both employees

and firms in the industry.

Service providers source goods and services

from UK-based suppliers, which, in turn, have

their own suppliers (some of whom will be

based in the UK) and so on. In addition,

people employed by the maritime services

sector and its suppliers will spend their wages

on other goods and services in the UK

economy. Such effects are typically referred to

as the indirect and induced impacts, Oxford

Economics explained.

Including direct, indirect and induced

impacts, the maritime services sector was

estimated to support 531,000 jobs or 1.8% of

total employment. Moreover, once these

multiplier effects are accounted for, the sector

made a value added contribution of £26.5 bill

(1.9% of total) to UK GDP.

Sea Vision supportThe second initiative is Sea Vision UK. It

started the year with a newly appointed full

time director – Ewen Macdonald - and

funding to support development over the next

three years.

Sea Vision focuses on education and careers

activities with particular emphasis placed on

the 13-22 age group.

The funding support comes from Lloyd’s

Register Educational Trust (LRET), which

was formed in 2004. It was established to

fund advances in transportation, science,

engineering and technology education,

training and research worldwide.

LRET also works to encourage

organisations with similar aims to work

together and share best practice, rather than

operate independently.

incelaw.com

CRISISMANAGEMENT

“Ince & Co leads the market in dry and wet shipping and international trade

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 14



Tankers make up a large

percentage of vessels

flying the UK flag.

UK flag continues to flourish

As at the end of May 2011, the

number of vessels flying the UK

flag stood at 1,478 of 17.83 mill

gt - an increase of more than 11

mill gt from April 2001.

March and April 2011 proved to be successful

months for the registry in terms of vessels

joining. As well as several large containerships,

companies, such as Zodiac Maritime Agencies,

registered bulk carriers and a VLGC.

This takes the UK flagged Zodiac fleet to

89 ships of 4.6 mill gt, resulting in the

company remaining the UK flag’s largest

customer with around 26% of the UK fleet in

terms of gross tonnage.

Other notable registrations included the CPOAustralia, a newbuild oil/chemical tanker of

29,636 gt owned by CPO Tankers of Hamburg.

Capt Roger Towner, registrar general for the

UK Ship Register (UKSR) said: “The UK

Ship Register is one of the best performing

flags in the major Port State Control regimes,

as demonstrated by our high position on both

the Paris and Tokyo MoU White Lists and we

remain committed to safer lives, safer ships

and cleaner seas.”

Currently, tankers represent about 8.1% of

the UK fleet in terms of the number of vessels

and 8.3 % in gt.

In total, there are 120 tankers under the UK

flag with a total gross tonnage of just under

1.5 mill. These are broken down into - 55

chemical/products tankers; five crude oil

tankers; six LPG carriers; five nuclear fuel

carriers; 45 oil products tankers and four

lighters.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency

(MCA), the flag administrator, explained that

the UK flag does not have a separate

department for dealing with tankers.

However, a spokesman said that MCA

surveyors and policy branches have significant

knowledge and expertise of working with all

tankers types.

He said that the UKSR prides itself on

providing a high level of customer service to

all UK shipowners and operators and this is

still very much a selling point.

For example, when a new company

registers ships with the UK flag, it is

appointed a customer account manager who is

available 24/7, plus a customer service

manager, both of which play a key role in

providing customer service.

The UK has its own surveyors who

undertake a mixture of statutory Port State

Control work and survey work. In addition,

seven classification societies are recognised

who are able to undertake survey work on its

behalf. However, the MCA retains the ISM

and ISPS functions.

The seven class societies that are recognised

are - LR, GL, BV, ABS, ClassNK, DNV and

RINA, all of whom are audited by the MCA’s

class monitoring team to ensure that high

standards are maintained and that the

administration’s reputation for quality and

high position on the Paris MoU White List is

not jeopardised through ship detentions.

At present, the MCA is looking to further

develop and co-ordinate overseas survey work

in order to work more efficiently and provide

value for money for customers, the spokesman

said. “Furthermore, it is important that the

MCA maintains the quality of the surveyors

through training and experience of survey

work on board a range of ship types of

varying ages,” he explained.

The UKSR also operates an alternative

compliance scheme (ACS). Under this

voluntary scheme, the survey and certification

process is streamlined by minimising duplication

of effort with the classification societies.

When a ship is registered under the ACS it

allows the classification society to perform all

statutory surveys required under SOLAS,

MARPOL and Load Line Conventions with

the exception of ISM, ISPS and ILO 178,

without a formal ‘appointment’ by the UKSR.

Entry into the scheme is conditional upon

Port State Control and class criteria being met.

Under the scheme, the UKSR issues the ISM

DOC, ISM SMC, ISSC, COI and Safe Manning

Document. The ACS classification society issues

all other international convention certificates.

On 1st June Debasis Mazumdar became the

head of UKSR’s customer service team

manager. He was previously MCA ISM/ISO

policy manager. He was a seagoing Chief

Engineer and worked for 10 years as an ABS

senior surveyor prior to joining the MCA

seven years ago. During his time at the MCA,

Mazumdar has worked as a marine surveyor,

Port State Control officer, ISM/ISO/ISPS lead

auditor and customer service manager.

The UK is a member of the so called ‘Red

Ensign Group’. The group is comprised of the

UK, UK Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man,

Guernsey and Jersey) and UK Overseas

Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin

Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands,

Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks &

Caicos Islands) who operate shipping registers.

Any vessel registered in the UK, Crown

Dependency or UK Overseas Territory, is

deemed a ‘British vessel’ and is entitled to fly

the Red Ensign flag.

The 1995 Merchant Shipping Act provides for

British possessions to be categorised according

to the tonnage, size and type of vessel which can

be registered. Under the Merchant Shipping

(Categorisation of Registries of Relevant British

Possessions) (Amendment) Order 2008, these

registers are divided into the certain categories.

Those registries looking after larger deepsea

vessels are listed as Category 1 registers.

These include the UK, Bermuda, British

Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar and

the Isle of Man.

...the UKSR prides itself on providing a high

level of customer service to all UK shipowners

and operators and this is still very much a

selling point.

- Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA)

“

”TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 15



The UKHO explained that ECDIS is

an evolving technology and the

new regulations surrounding its

mandated use can seem confusing.

The purpose of this guide is to clarify the

process that leads to adoption of ECDIS by

shipping companies, in step with the SOLAS

regulations.

“We believe that the mandation of ECDIS

puts a powerful tool into the hands of

seafarers that can mean safer and more

efficient voyages and at the same time help to

protect the marine environment. Our own

research suggests that shipowners need to start

planning their strategy for the transition to

ECDIS now to get the best results.

“We believe the timing is right to harness

fully the technology that has been available

for some time. We have been working with

our colleagues within the hydrographic

community to ensure that there is

comprehensive SOLAS carriage compliant

digital chart coverage of major shipping routes

and ports in an integrated offering that also

meets the international mariners’ stated

requirements for service and updating.

Evidence for this comes from our wide-

ranging SOLAS users and the take-up

of subscriptions from trial licences in our

AVCS service.

“The timescales for implementation of

mandation are practical and allow for

increased training in the use of ECDIS,

something that we believe is now the most

critical issue to be considered. Accordingly,

between now and 2012, there are a number of

steps and considerations to be made by users

to ensure that there is a smooth transition from

paper to digital navigation,” said the UKHO’s

Rear Admiral Ian Moncrieff.

Step 1 - Find out how your fleet will be

affected. Fitting of ECDIS will become

mandatory in a rolling timetable that begins in

July 2012. The legislation will be phased by

vessel type and size to eventually apply to

almost all large merchant vessels.

The timetable for newbuilds is based on the

date the vessel’s keel is laid. Existing vessels

will be required to fit ECDIS in advance of

the first survey after the implementation date.

There are no requirements for existing cargo

vessels of less than 10,000 gt.

Flag states may exempt vessels that will be

taken permanently out of service within two

years of the implementation date.

Step 2 - Consider your implementation

strategy. It is important to recognise that the

transition from paper to electronic navigation

is a fundamental change in the way ship

navigation will be conducted, not simply a

case of fitting another piece of hardware to

ensure compliance with a carriage

requirement.

To successfully fit ECDIS on a vessel or

across a fleet and operate it in a safe and

efficient manner requires consideration of a

number of interrelated elements.

As well as decisions on the purchase and

installation of the ECDIS equipment thought

must be given to training and to the

amendment of bridge procedures. Last, but

important is the selection of a chart service

that best meets operational needs and fulfills

the carriage requirements.

All of these factors need to be taken into

account when developing the implementation

strategy for your fleet. It will depend on the

types of vessel in your fleet, as well as the

mix of new and existing vessels and the

trading pattern they operate.

Step 3 - Choosing the correct ECDIS fit.

There is a large range of ECDIS equipment

available, from those that are part of an

integrated bridge system, through to small

standalone units that could be more

appropriate for retrofit to vessels that have

limited bridge space.

The IMO standards require that vessels

must carry a backup to ECDIS that can take

over the chart-based navigation functions in

event of system failure. The fitting of a second

ECDIS, or the carriage of paper charts are

widely accepted as back-up that will meet

requirements.

Depending on the vessel’s flag state, other

solutions such as the carriage of a chart radar,

or other type-approved electronic back-up

may be accepted. A company will have to

decide whether to fit its vessels with single, or

dual ECDIS systems.

Fitting a dual system will allow a

significant reduction in the paper charts

carried (in some cases down to zero). If using

paper charts as a back-up to a single ECDIS it

UKHO’s Michael Cauter.

UKHO in thevanguard of ECDIS

mandationThe UKHO has issued guidelines to ECDIS entitled ’10 steps to ECDIS Mandation’. One

of the main reasons for this is that the IMO’s SOLAS rolling timetable begins in July 2012.

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 16



is likely that the operator will be required to

carry a full (or only slightly reduced) folio.

However, if a company intends to install

and operate with ECDIS, it will need to work

closely with the Maritime Authority that the

vessel is registered with to ensure compliance

with all the requirements.

Step 4 - Choose the right chart solution.

Only official electronic navigation charts

(ENCs) from an authorised supplier meet

SOLAS carriage requirements for charts in

ECDIS. These must be kept fully up to date

for the latest Notices to Mariners (NMs).

An operator should look for a chart service

that is compliant with the new regulations,

provides the best coverage for the areas of

operation, provides flexibility both in terms of

the charts purchased and their licence periods

and includes a regular update service.

Also look for a chart supplier that can

provide official raster navigational charts,

such as ARCS, for areas where ENCs are not

available. This will enable navigation with

official data at all times.

Step 5 - Get your crew trained. Training is a

key element in the successful and safe

transition to electronic navigation. Flag states

will normally, as a minimum, require that

ships officers attend an approved generic

ECDIS operator training course based on the

IMO standard model.

In addition, the ISM Code requires that

ships officers have familiarisation training for

all safety equipment fitted on board. This

requirement can be met through type specific

training provided by the ECDIS manufacturer.

As a minimum, an operator should be able to

satisfy a flag state and any independent audit

authorities that its crews are competent in the

use of ECDIS to maintain safety of navigation.

The UKHO is developing training material,

including computer based packages, to assist

the mariner to read and interpret ENCs with the

same confidence they have with paper charts.

Step 6 - Get flag state certification. It is

essential to understand flag state’s requirements

for certification. Under existing regulations an

operator will need to obtain a certificate of

equivalency to allow ECDIS to be used to fulfil

the SOLAS chart carriage requirement.

The certificate is proof that the vessel has a

type approved ECDIS, fitted in accordance

with IMO requirements and an approved

back-up system. An operator should check

that the flag state will accept the type-

approval certification for the ECDIS

equipment needed to be fitted.

Where an ECDIS has been fitted, this

should be indicated on the record of

equipment attached to the vessel’s safety

equipment certificate; this will also give

details of the backup that is to be used.

An operator should also talk to its

classification society and insurance/P&I club to

see if they have any further specific

requirements. Flag state requirements may

change following the adoption of carriage

requirements for ECDIS, so it will be important

to remain in close contact with them.

Step 7 – Demonstrate compliance for Port

State inspection. As well as having to satisfy

the initial requirements of a flag state when

installing ECDIS, Port State Control will be

checking to ensure compliance with the

new regulations.

Inspections might require physical

demonstrations of competency by crew, as

well as evidence of inclusion of ECDIS

operation procedures in the on board safety

management systems. This is in addition to

basic certification as described in Step 6.

Some commercial operators’ vetting

schemes will have similar demands and non-

compliance with their requirements could put

a vessel off-hire.

Step 8 - Co-ordinate shoreside and

shipmanagement. Close co-ordination between

ship and shore is vital for successful

implementation. Identify all the stakeholders –

class society, insurers, charterers – and include

them in the plans as early as possible.

It is worth conducting a full analysis to

determine how ECDIS on board the vessels

could change ways of working on shore.

Practical areas to look at include

management of chart data and passage

planning. Successful implementation will

require a re-write of a company’s safety

management system, which is likely to be

best achieved through structured consultation

between on board and ashore staff.

Step 9 - Start now! There is a lot to do so

don’t wait for the deadline. Arranging

training and acquiring certification can take

three months but up to six months could

be necessary to implement a strategy

depending on whether the vessel is a

newbuilding or retrofit.

The sooner the strategy is adopted, the

sooner an operator will have a realistic

expectation of costs and issues. If a ship is

affected by the first phase adoption in 2012,

start planning now.

Step 10 - The aim is safety but the result can

also be efficiency. ECDIS has been shown to

contribute significantly to safety of life at sea,

but it can also increase operational efficiency

that in turn can lead to bottom line savings.

Navigators and superintendents regularly

report a steady flow of benefits from using

ECDIS. Updates to chart data can be

virtually instant. Navigation tasks and bridge

workload can be optimised, situational

awareness improved and stress reduced when

navigating in congested waters where most

accidents occur.

ECDIS also offers data reporting and

auditing tools that can eliminate redundant

practices and improve voyage planning,

delivering tangible fuel savings. Early

adopters will be the ones that see the

advantages soonest.

Asian baseLast month, the UKHO opened its first

overseas office in Singapore to provide local

support for Admiralty distributors and a

rapidly-growing customer base across Asia.

The number of vessels throughout Asia

using electronic navigation technology is

rising quickly as shipping companies take

advantage of both the improved safety

benefits and operational efficiencies available.

The introduction of the ECDIS mandate from

2012 is expected to further increase demand.

Michael Cauter, the UKHO’s deputy CEO,

said; “Today, Asia is the engine of the

shipping industry: the region holds eight of

the world’s 10 busiest ports, manufactures

the majority of new commercial vessels

and provides more merchant crew than any

other continent.

“It’s hugely important for the UKHO to be

in a position to easily engage with this vast

and vibrant maritime community as the

industry shifts to digital navigation. By

establishing a base in Singapore, Admiralty

will be at the heart of the conversation, and

best placed to respond swiftly to the needs of

our growing number of customers across

Asia,” he said.

The Admiralty team in Singapore works in

close collaboration with distributors across Asia

to ensure their customers have access to

Admiralty advice and expertise on digital

navigation strategy, as well as local product

support. In addition, the office provides a

platform for ongoing engagement with the Asian

maritime market, ensuring that developing

requirements from customers in the region

become an integral part of future Admiralty

plans for products, service and support.

The UKHO has worked closely with many

of the Asian Hydrographic Offices over the

last 30 years in the development of first paper,

then digital charts of the region to help

improve the information available to mariners.

Registered as Admiralty Hydrographic Asia

Pacific Pte, the office is based at 1 Fullerton

Road, Marina Bay. TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 17



One of the latest projects involves

the BMT Group, which itself can

trace its history back to the

British Ship Research

Association (BSRA). Today, the group is

involved in international maritime design,

engineering and risk management consultancy

and recently announced its involvement as an

industrial partner in a three year research

project aimed at limiting the environmental

impact of carbon emissions from the world’s

shipping.

Current estimates show shipping’s share of

global emissions could increase to 20-30% by

2050 as the fleet increases on the back of

world trade growth, especially in the so called

developing countries, or non-OECD nations.

This research project, ‘Low carbon shipping

– a systems approach’, has been started to

help the shipping industry to reduce levels of

emissions in order to comply with new

legislation and mitigate global warming. To

start with, the project has received £1.7 mill

from the Research Councils UK (RCUK)

Energy Programme, part of the £530 mill that

the programme is investing in research into

low-carbon technologies.

BMT will be involved in two main work

packages:

� Technologies for low carbon shipping

(including innovation in retrofit solutions),

and

� Energy efficient ship operations (including

human factors).

BMT will be part of a multi-disciplinary

consortium made up of researchers from five

universities and international industrial

partners such as Lloyd’s Register, Shell and

Rolls-Royce. BMT claimed that it is well

placed to play an important role in delivering

these work packages, with its track record in

on board performance monitoring of fuel

efficiency and emissions, energy efficiency

design indexing, performance impacts of hull

roughness and fouling and the design and

engineering of more efficient propulsion plant.

BMT’s sector director for transport, Dr Phil

Thompson, said “This is a very exciting

opportunity to make a real difference to the

design and operation of ships. We have to

drive down costs and we have to drive down

emissions. We at BMT are delighted to be

using our experience in such an important

research project by developing innovative

design solutions. After all, a more efficient

ship is a greener ship.”

Research councilsThe Research Councils UK Energy

Programme aims to position the UK to meet

its energy and environmental targets and

policy goals through research and training.

The Energy Programme is investing more than

£530 mill in research and skills to pioneer a

low carbon future. This builds on an

investment of £360 mill over the past five

years.

Led by the Engineering and Physical

Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the

Energy Programme brings together the work

of EPSRC and that of the Biotechnology and

Biological Sciences Research Council

(BBSRC), the Economic and Social Research

Council (ESRC), the Natural Environment

Research Council (NERC), and the Science

and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

EPSRC is the main UK government agency

for funding research and training in

engineering and the physical sciences,

investing more than £850 mill per year in a

broad range of subjects – from mathematics to

materials science and from information

technology to structural engineering.

BMT’s Dr Phil Thompson.

The UK is also strong in research and has been since this country was a world leader in

shipbuilding, ship design and marine equipment manufacturing.

UK carries on itsmaritime research

tradition

Low Carbon Shipping - the studyconsortiumThe following universities areinvolved in the project:University College London,Newcastle University,University of Hull, University ofStrathclyde and University ofPlymouth.

Industry and governmentpartners include; BMT, Shell,Rolls-Royce, Lloyds Register,UK MoD, IHS Fairplay, JamesFisher, David MacBrayne, UKMajor Ports Group, Clarksons.

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 18



Leading accountant and shippingadviser, Moore Stephens, warnedthat companies operating withinUK tonnage tax could considerleaving the UK, as a result ofHMRC's decision to unilaterallyreinterpret the regime rules.Sue Bill, a tax partner with Moore Stephens,

said; "Given the substantial increase in the UK

fleet since 2000, it is widely considered that

UK tonnage tax has been a success. At the

outset, the regime promised clarity and

stability, but HMRC's unilateral

reinterpretation of the rules could be

detrimental."

HMRC's decision to reinterpret the

legislation results from comments in the 2004

EU guidelines on state aid to maritime

transport. The changes, set out in HMRC's

tonnage tax manual, focus in particular on the

strategic and commercial management tests that

are fundamental to qualification for the regime.

HMRC said that this followed ‘10 years of

experience and legal advice received'. But, as

Bill pointed out, "The Revenue has not

consulted with the shipping industry. And,

although HMRC's interpretation is widely

disputed, it has not released a detailed

explanation of this legal advice.

"The UK government has emphasised the

need for a stable UK tax regime to both support

British business and to encourage international

businesses to operate and stay in the UK.

Throughout the regime's history, it has taken

care to ensure stability and to minimise as far

as possible any unexpected changes, treating

fairly those shipowners operating within

tonnage tax. But the reinterpretation by HMRC

means that some groups no longer qualify for

the UK regime despite having previously

received HMRC clearance.

"These fundamental changes may have a

detrimental effect on UK shipping as

internationally mobile shipping groups consider

leaving the UK. They do not appear to arise

from government policy, but from changes in

HMRC's views that were finalised without

consultation with the shipping industry.

"In considering their effect, HMRC needs to

ensure that it continues to act fairly and

reasonably by protecting shipowners who

elected into the regime for a 10-year period

based on the original HMRC rules and

clearances, which in some cases now no longer

apply, at least in HMRC's view. HMRC should

also now consult on the reasons for its changed

interpretation of the tonnage tax rules.

"It is time for HMRC to work in concert

with the shipping industry in order to safeguard

British shipping," Bill emphasised.

HMRC should consult on tonnage tax – accountant states...the reinterpretation by HMRC means that

some groups no longer qualify for the

UK regime despite having previously

received HMRC clearance.Moore Stephens, accountant and shipping adviser

“

”

TO

150 YEARS

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:36 Page 19


INDUSTRY – DENMARK REPORT

“For sure, there were a lot of

things we needed to

address, but we believe and

we have proven that it is

good and worthwhile. It is something we want

to drive in the industry.” senior director of

Maersk Tankers Tommy Thomassen said

recently in a briefing on the challenges and

benefits of super slow steaming.

Where many tanker operators are adopting

significantly slower speeds on a ‘needs must’

basis, the Danish owner believed running

tankers more slowly will be a permanent

adjustment. While the take-up by charterers is

pretty limited so far – not only do they foot

the fuel bill, but they are often paid for

cargoes on delivery, Thomassen and his

colleagues believed the merits of slower

tanker speeds will catch the attention of major

charterers, although the process will take time.

No shipping company is believed to have

done more research than Maersk on the

viability, challenges and benefits of slower

ship speeds. Pioneered in the group’s

container ship arena by Maersk Line, radical

fuel savings have proved possible on

electronically-controlled engines but even

mechanically-controlled propulsion units can

be operated, with careful sterwardship, at 35-

40% of engine load.

Super slow steaming is described by

Maersk as operating at 40% of maximum

continuous rating (MCR), or less. Because of

the exponential relationship between power

and speed, however, running a VLCC’s main

engine at 40% load can still give a speed of 10

to 12 knots, depending on the specific ship.

But fuel consumption and, of course,

emissions are dramatically reduced as a result.

Slowing a VLCC down from 15 knots to 10,

for example, can typically halve fuel

consumption from 80 tonnes a day to 40

tonnes. That’s $26,000 per day at $650 per

tonne.

Of course, unlike the liner business where

carriers pay the fuel bill, it is the charterer

who usually pays for bunkers in tanker

contracts. Thomassen conceded that thus far,

there has been relatively little interest from oil

shippers in cutting speeds to save fuel and

reduce emissions. But this is partly a result of

tradition and the charterparty system, he

believed. “There are few incentives in the

current commercial value chain. That is where

we doing our footwork now.”

Thomassen said the company is in

discussion with charterers but it will take time

to “massage the message” into industry.

Charterers are adopting sustainability

strategies and assessing ways in which they

can reduce their own carbon footprints but

“there isn’t one customer or oil major who can

do this on their own. It’s a very complex

Overcapacity and bunker prices in the high $600s may be sound reasons for

‘super slow-steaming’. But some believe that running ships more slowly is

not only down to economics – there is the environment at stake.

Permanent sea change?

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 20

commercial market”. For the moment,

therefore, the company is mostly super slow

steaming its vessels on ballast hauls.

“What our customers buy from us is

minimum risk,” Thomassen explained, “so

concerns about super slow steaming are not

only internal concerns. For example, if we had

an engine failure as a result of low load, they

would sure be concerned about that. So those

are the things we are discussing together and

showing them the results.”

The project first began in November 2008

and much of the early work was carried out by

ship operating specialists working for Maersk

Line. Initially, the move to cut ships’ speeds

was as much a strategy for absorbing surplus

capacity in the wake of the global slowdown

and a huge orderbook, but as operating

economics came under increasing pressure,

cutting fuel bills across the company’s 500-

odd containerships was also a major priority.

The super slow steaming framework for

tankers, finally implemented in May 2010,

was developed in parallel with other cost-

saving initiatives on board the company’s

ships. Much has already been done to reduce

fuel consumption, raise efficiency and cut

emissions to sea and air on board the light-

blue ships. But there is no let-up in the

group’s drive for more sustainable operations

– indeed, the strategy forms a vital part of its

customer liaison, its marketing strategy and its

dialogue with charterers.

Thomassen described the work that went

into the company’s super slow steaming

strategy for tankers, which has now been

implemented across its eight-strong �autilus-

class of 300,000 dwt VLCCs, equipped with

Wärtsilä 7RTFlex84T main engines. Reduced

speeds will also be adopted on board the

company’s four VLCC newbuildings from

STX, the first such vessels to be equipped

with waste heat recovery. Number one of four

was delivered at the beginning of May.

Three vessels, under construction at

Hyundai Heavy Industries and recently bought

from Great Eastern, are likely to incorporate

fuel-saving features. “We are in the process of

reviewing the detailed technical

specification,” said Thomassen, “among

others to identify potential for adding fuel

reducing and CO2 footprint-improving

features.”

As well as liaising with engine builders and

related equipment suppliers, an early

challenge in the preparation of the framework

was to persuade the company’s engineering

personnel that such a move was technically

feasible. All Thomassen’s engineers and

superintendents were telling him that it wasn’t

possible and would never work, he recalls,

and they warned that it would lead to many

problems.

“I have been an engineer myself for many

years,” Thomassen said, “and I have also

worked with engineers for many years.

There’s an old saying that most people are

more comfortable with known problems than

with new solutions. And in this instance, that

is for sure true.”

The tanker group’s aim to cut CO2

emissions by 15% between 2007 and 2015 is

thought to be one of the shipping industry’s



Maersk Tankers’ Tommy Thomassen.

New Standards for Tank Measurement Technology API Marine develops and produces a complete range of sensors and systems for full cargo control as well as calculation and administration software, combining integrated solutions for smart tank cargo control.

| API Marine ApS | Troensevej 12 | DK-9220 Aalborg Oest | Denmark | | Tel.: +45 9634 5070 | Fax: +45 9634 0170 | www.api-marine.com | [email protected] |

LPG/LNG TGDTank Gauging Device

for Gas Carriers

TLA-500 TGD-500Tank Level Alarm

Tank Gauging Device for Tankers

MEET US AT BOOTH NO.74

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 21



most ambitious. However, all emissions are of

course in the spotlight and Maersk has

introduced a highly sophisticated real-time

performance-based monitoring system, closely

integrated between engineers on board ships at

sea and superintendents managing the process

from the Copenhagen head office.

Specifically on slow steaming, Thomassen

freely admitted that work carried out in the

container line has proved invaluable. “We

have benefited hugely from being part of a

large group. Maersk Line has spent a lot of

time on implementing slow steaming on their

vessels and a lot of time dealing with the

technical issues. It has certainly been very

worthwhile and beneficial for us to piggy-

back on their work.

“We have set some quite ambitious targets

– CO2 reductions and a reduced

environmental impact in line with our

sustainability action plan – and in order to

achieve these, we have no choice but to look

at optimising our speed and reducing the load

on main engines. This is a very important part

of achieving our CO2 reduction targets,” he

explained.

So what has actually been involved in

drawing up the super slow steaming

framework? “We ran dedicated tanker

workshops,” Thomassen said. “We went out

and collected our specific engine condition

data. And we talked a lot with the engine

makers, Wärtsilä and MAN.” Technical staff

then presented the strategy to the company’s

commercial personnel “and then we believed

we had the framework for super slow

steaming so that we could deal with it on a

day-to-day basis.”

“One thing we wanted to test out was how

low could we actually go (in terms of engine

load)”, Thomassen continued. “A lot of

technical tests were done on this and it took a

lot of time. The result was quite astounding

actually. We could run down to 9% low load

on our electronically controlled Wärtsilä

engines. Very impressive!”

Technical adjustments included cylinder

lubrication, air supply and consumption and

turbocharger maintenance and, yes,

Thomassen said the framework has involved

more work for engineers at sea, as well as

superintendents ashore. On board, they are

given a checklist of items to inspect and

photograph, before and after, prior to entering

slow-steaming operation.

“But there’s no rocket science in this,” said

Thomassen. “It’s just never been interesting.

Now we tell them, it’s do-able and it’s

interesting. And I can tell you, when we were

talking about going below 35% load on these

engines, our engineers were running out of the

room. This is not do-able, they said, and if

you make us do it, we will quit our jobs.

Anyway, it was do-able, and we did it! They

are still there, by the way, and if you ask

them, they are so proud. They are some of the

best salesmen of the message.”

Brighter outlook for the MR sectorSteadily rising demand for products and easy

chemicals combined with a rapidly declining

orderbook should provide the fundamentals

for a firmer market in the products tanker

trades.

Earnings for medium range (MR) product

tankers are already showing positive signs this

year, according to executives at Lauritzen

Tankers, which runs a 14-ship fleet of MRs,

ranging from 37,255 dwt to 53,715 dwt and

has a further seven 50,000 dwt ships on order

at Guangzhou in China. The fleet, a

combination of owned, timechartered and

managed vessels, is operated within Hafnia

Management, a products tanker pool headed

by Anders Engholm of which Lauritzen was a

founder member in 2010.

Erik Donner, head of Lauritzen’s tanker

concern, said that global demand for energy

has been increasing steadily over the last

couple of years by about 3% , but due to the

vast delivery volume of new ships, rates

remained largely unaffected by rising demand.

“The fleet could not be absorbed and earnings

went down,” he told TA�KEROperator, “but

that situation is changing.”

“We still expect to see an increase in global

oil and energy demand and therefore the need

for transportation. Combine that with the

relatively limited orderbook, it will have a

positive effect on earnings. We see light at the

end of the tunnel,” he commented. “I don’t

expect it to go up dramatically or quickly, or

to the levels we saw before August 2008, but

we will see gradual increases in earnings.”

Donner and his colleagues saw various

positive signs, demonstrated by firmer rates

for the company’s MR vessels over the first

quarter. First, the orderbook which today

represents about 9% of the existing fleet, will

fall quickly over the next two years – to 6-7%

next year and just 1% in 2013.

Second, in the short- to medium term,

recent events in Japan are likely to generate

more business for MRs, as regional refineries

make up the country’s energy shortfall.

Products shipped on short hauls from

refineries in Taiwan, South Korea and

Singapore are likely to mean a significant

number of short-haul voyages lasting between

four and eight days, ideal for vessels in the

MR sector, he said.

Three, there are new Middle East refineries,

which have been subject to delays but which

are due to come on stream in the coming

months. Although they will mostly benefit

larger vessels in the LR categories on long

haul trades to east and west, Donner says the

MR sector will certainly stand to gain too.

This is because extra products tanker demand

Chemical Tanker seminar for shipping professionals

- Your choice of course

Develop your knowledge of Chemical

Tankers and their cargoes

premises

Call or send an e-mail to receive information and course programme

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 22



will create more opportunities across all sizes:

and it is easier to optimise the operation of

MRs – by triangulation and the minimising of

ballast hauls – than of larger LR-class vessels,

which are less flexible.

“Refineries built upstream will increase

tonne/miles for our kind of ships,” said

Donner. And he predicts that cargoes will

move not only to Asia, but also to Europe, the

US and South America. The company’s fleet

has an average age of less than three years.

Donner says the company’s strategy is to keep

and maintain a modern fleet for the

optimisation of earnings.

Pool heavyweight off the blocksAnders Engholm is head of Hafnia

Management, borne out of a series of high-

level defections from Danish tanker pool

operator TORM last year. His enthusiasm for

the future of this sector is both rare and

refreshing

“My new job is very hands on,” said the

Hafnia boss. “Everyone sits in the same

room.” In contrast, he explained, clever

people at TORM sat is non-productive

meetings instead of talking to customers and

developing the business.

Certainly, the fledgling Hafnia set-up has

got off to a flying start, managing two

products tanker pools in the medium-range

(MR) and LR1 (Panamax) sectors. Engholm

insisted that the business model implemented

in the two new pools is very different to the

TORM set-up. Disagreements there between

senior managers and its one major

shareholder, Gabriel Panayotides, allegedly

proved increasingly disruptive.

In contrast, Hafnia – which owns no vessels

itself – has five shipowning partners holding

60% of the shares while managers hold the

balance. Engholm believed this is a fairer

structure less likely to generate conflicts of

interest, which should ensure that all pool

members are treated fairly.

In a joint venture with Mitsui OSK (MOL),

Hafnia is now managing Straits Tankers LR1,

which officially opened for business in

Singapore on 1st May. It is headed by an ex-

TORM colleague of Engholm’s – Soren

Steenberg – while MOL’s Kazuhiro Takahashi

is chief operating officer.

Engholm acknowledged that today’s is a

tough market but said that Straits Tankers’ 27

Panamax tankers – from MOL, Nordic

Tankers, United Arab Chemical Carriers

(UACC), Marinvest and Gotlandsbolaget of

Sweden and Norway’s Tailwind – instantly

gave the new entity critical mass. Fleet

optimisation, minimising ballast hauls and

other benefits accruing from scale economies

improved productivity and reduced the

effective level of operational breakeven.

The number of ships also enabled the Straits

Tankers executives to enter into cargo

contracts of affreightment (coas) with leading

oil major and oil trading partners. Such

arrangements raise efficiency and further

strengthen operating profitability, said

Engholm. And, in contrast to most normal

arrangements, pool managers take

commissions from net, rather than gross

revenues. In an era of rapidly rising bunker

prices, this is a significant development.

But while critical mass may have been

achieved already in Straits Tankers, more

ships are still needed in the MR pool and

Engholm admitted that this is a key priority.

So far, the Hafnia MR pool consists of 13

vessels in the water, with eight newbuildings

due to join the pool in due course. Owners

include J Lauritzen, Italy’s LGR di

Navigazione, Rederi AB Gotland of Sweden

and Denmark’s Kirk Capital. Engholm said

more units were needed so as to optimise the

benefits of pool operation to bring the total

number to 30-40 ships, or more.

Today’s market may be depressing for many

products tanker operators. But Engholm is

certainly not one of them. He concedes it’s

pretty tough but points to the rapidly declining

orderbook, which should have shrunk almost

nothing by the end of next year. Scrapping is

running at record levels; additional demand is

being generated by new refinery capacity in

the Middle East and India; earthquake and

tsunami-related cargoes are required in Japan;

and, of course, energy demand growth in Asia

generally and China in particular continues

apace. Engholm affirms that he has certainly

seen markets worse than this.

But, for the moment, much of the chief

executive’s time is spent in the air, travelling

to meetings to tell the story, promoting the

pooling concept to possible new partners.

Although present owners are committed to

organic growth, he says, new participants are

needed, particularly in the MR pool.

Few are likely to be better placed than him

to tell the story – until 1998, he worked for A

P Moller Maersk before leaving to join

TORM. Over the following 11 years or so, he

helped to oversee TORM’s fleet development

from seven ships to 70, an achievement of

which he is justly proud.

However, he also admitted that in pool

operations, there comes a point of diminishing

returns. So much depends on relations and, if

the pool grows too big, it becomes unwieldy

and difficult to manage.

That will not be happening in the new

Hafnia pools.

Hafnia Management’s Anders Engholm.

TO

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 23


INDUSTRY – LAW

There are few reported English

decisions relating to oil major

approvals. Oil majors operate a

system of vetting and approvals to

ensure that the vessels they use or trade, or

buy cargoes from are of satisfactory quality.

Owners and operators of tankers seek and

collect as many written approvals as possible

from top name oil majors, which are often

required by charterers. Given the importance

of such approvals in tanker charterparties for

the purposes of trading a tanker profitably, the

observations of the Judge in this case on the

meaning of ‘approved’ as provided for in the

charterparty are worth noting.

Dispute background This dispute arose out of a voyage charter for

the carriage of vacuum gas oil (VGO). The

charterer was a trader in petroleum products

and had chartered the vessel to carry VGO

from the Black Sea to the US Gulf, with

an option to top up, discharge, or reload

at Antwerp.

At Antwerp, the vessel was inspected by

Shell and Conoco. Shell had, according to the

charterer, agreed to buy the cargo subject to

vetting. However, the inspections established

that a low suction sea chest valve needed

repair prior to sailing. There was no drydock

available at Antwerp so the class surveyor

issued an interim certificate allowing the

deficiency to be repaired at the next port. As a

result, however, the charterer claimed that

Shell had rejected the vessel and refused to

buy the cargo. Chevron also allegedly refused

to deal with the vessel.

A claim was made by the owner for

demurrage and port costs that arose during the

voyage. The charterer counterclaimed that,

due to the bad reputation the vessel gained in

the market following the events at Antwerp, it

had been unable to sell the cargo on

satisfactory terms.

The charterer sought to claim damages for

the difference in price it had allegedly agreed

with Shell and what the cargo actually

realised. The success of the counterclaim

depended in part on whether the owner had

warranted that the vessel had the requisite oil

major approvals referred to in the charterparty

and, if so, whether that warranty had been

breached.

The Commercial CourtThe recap stated under vessel information that

“TBOOK WOG VSL IS APPROVED BY:

BP/LITASCO/STATOIL – EXXO� VIA SIRE”.

The recap also incorporated Clause 18 of the

Vitol standard chartering terms, which stated

as follows: “Owner warrants that the vessel is

approved by the following companies and will

remain so throughout the duration of this

Charterparty…”. In the recap, next to the

reference that incorporated Clause 18, it was

stated “TBOOK VSL IS APPROVED BY:BP/EXXO�/LUKOIL/STATOIL/MOH”.

The owner argued that the wording in the

recap overwrote and replaced the wording in

the standard Vitol Clause 18 so that ‘WOG’

(‘without guarantee’) applied, meaning that

there was simply an indication, without a

contractual commitment, that the listed

approvals were in place at the outset of

the charter.

The Judge, however, agreed with the

charterer’s interpretation that the parties were

adding to, not replacing, the standard term.

The fact that a continuing warranty qualified

by ‘Tbook’ (‘to best of owner’s knowledge’)

might prove unworkable in a commercial

situation, as contended by the owner, was of

no significant weight, in the Judge’s view. It

was not unusual for commercial parties to

‘make what are in retrospect bad bargains’.

He added that there was also no express

reference to deletion of Clause 18 in the recap

as there was for a number of other standard

Vitol clauses and he concluded that this meant

Judgement of themeaning of the word

‘approval’ Transpetrol Maritime

Services Limited v SJB

(Marine Energy) BV (MT

Rowan), 2011 unreported).*

Man overboard safety and rescue is our concern and speciality

Hvaleyrarbraut 3 Hafnarfjordur, IS-220

Iceland Tel: +354 5651375 Fax: +354 5651376

Main partners:

UK: Energy Marine Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1525 851234

USA: Marine Rescue Technologies Inc. Tel: +1 772 388 1326

Markusnet Type MS is designed for man overboard recovery on all types of ships, offshore installations and dams with less than 40 metre height from water level upto rescue deck or platform.

Markus Scramble net Type SCN6 is a mobile light weight scramble-net / cradle recovery system for deck vessels and offshore installations with either rail or special fastenings inside bulwark where they are to be used. Less than 1/6 of the weight of traditional scramble-nets.

Markus MOB boat rescue-net is light, quick fastening, takes little space, provides easy and fast method to place the casualty in the net, is soft but firm around the casualty, provides easy lift by one or two persons and is easy to repack after use.

Markus MOB boat rescue-net

Markus Scramble-net Markusnet Type: MS [email protected] www.markuslifenet.com

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 24

the parties had not intended to delete that

clause. Consequently, he held that the owner

had warranted that the vessel was approved by

the named oil majors and would remain so

throughout the duration of the voyage charter.

Was it so approved? This depended on what

‘approved’ meant and how long any such

approval had continued.

Meaning of ‘approvals’ or‘approved’

The Court considered what constitutes an

‘approval’ letter from an oil major. The

charterer contended that the meaning of

‘approvals’ or ‘approved’ was a matter of

plain and ordinary English and that the correct

interpretation in this context is that the owner

warrants that the vessel has indeed been

approved and will continue to be so

throughout the charterparty. This, when

applied to the letters relied on in this case,

with their reservations and conditions, would

mean that the owner had obtained no

approvals at all.

The charterer’s case, if accepted, would

have meant that this type of letter did not in

fact constitute an approval in the context of

the common charter requirement.

However, the court considered the

charterer’s argument to be “doomed by the

overwhelming evidence”. It was agreed by the

experts for both sides that the word

‘approved’ was used in the market at the

relevant time (2007) to mean ‘acceptable to’

oil majors who might or might not, when the

prospect of a real transaction arose, decide to

approve that vessel.

It was not the practice of oil majors to grant

approvals as such in advance. Express

approvals were given only for specific

voyages, not for a period of time. So the

letters in the form relied on by the owner, it

was agreed between the experts, are regarded

in the industry as approval letters, despite the

fact that they may often state that approval has

not been granted and should not be assumed.

Applying this in the context of the present

charter, the Judge concluded that the approval

letters had to be in place throughout the

charter as per the warranty in Clause 18. In

other words, at any time when offered to

cargo buyers, the vessel must not be in a state

which to the knowledge of the owner, would

remove the comfort of the warranted

approvals to the potential purchaser of cargo.

There would be a breach of warranty, for

example, if some event occurs which, to the

knowledge of the owner, would, if known to

the issuer of the approval letter, cause it to

withdraw or cancel that approval.

Regarding the ‘tbook’ (‘to the best of

owner’s knowledge’) qualification, the Judge

observed that the term ‘tbook’ cannot take an

obligation beyond the extent of an owner’s

actual knowledge and does not require the

owner to make enquiries in addition to those

which would ordinarily be made in the course

of its business.

However, on the facts of this case, he held

that the owner had breached its warranty that,

to the best of its knowledge and belief, the

vessel was approved by the specified oil

majors and would remain so throughout the

charterparty.

In his view, it was inconceivable that the

owner would have believed that the approval

letters still applied in light of the problems at

Antwerp.

*This article was written by UK law firmInce & Co and first appeared in MaritimeAdvocate Magazine.

t: +47.69345060 f: +47.69345060 e: [email protected]

www.seutmaritime.no


TO

INDUSTRY – LAW

The Latest �ews is now available on TA�KEROperator’swebsite at www.tankeroperator.com and is updated weekly.

For access to the �ews just register by entering your e-mail

address in the box provided. You can also request to receive

free e-mail copies of TA�KEROperator by filling in the form

displayed on the website. Free trial copies of the printed

version are also available from the website. These are

limited to tanker company executives and are distributed at

the publisher’s discretion.

TA�KEROperator

p2-25:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:48 Page 25

TECHNOLOGY - SHIP DESCRIPTION


This is a Mark II version of the

original design launched in

conjunction with the National

Technical University of Athens

(NTUA) in 2008.

GL’s Dr Pierre C Sames, senior vice

president strategic research and development,

speaking at Nor-Shipping, explained that

following feedback from shipyards and tanker

operators, the design was sent back to the

drawing board, resulting in the launch of a

new Aframax design concept, called

BESTplus.

One of the reasons for the re-design was

that tanker safety had improved over the last

decades, which has been documented in a

recent Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) study

for large oil tankers submitted to the IMO.

The risk picture for modern oil tankers

shows that the danger to the environment is

dominated by collision, grounding and fire.

The FSA study suggested considering larger

double hull widths and double bottom heights

as potential cost-effective risk control options.

Since the introduction of the double hull

concept, oil tanker design has not evolved and

any changes were recently driven primarily by

improving shipyard production.

Little attention has been paid to a vessel’s

performance over her lifecycle and, in

particular, the fuel-efficiency – as measured

by the Energy Efficiency Design Index

(EEDI) – has not improved in the last 20

years, despite the general improvement in

systems and their efficiency.

The recently developed EEDI, which is

planned as a future mandatory newbuilding

standard, is a simple but accurate measure of a

vessel’s inherent fuel efficiency, which

compares CO2 emissions to transport work.

Although tankers are considered to be

among the most energy efficient vessels today,

with an EEDI value ranging from 2 to 6 g

CO2 / (t*nm), they emitted about 115 mill

tonnes of CO2 in 2009, which is an 8%

increase compared to 2007. The current share

of tanker CO2 emissions is approximately

12% of the total CO2 emissions from

international shipping.

In response, GL and NTUA teamed up in

2008 to develop a novel Aframax tanker

design concept, which won awards for

technical achievement in 2009. GL also

received feedback from shipyards and tanker

operators regarding the desired features of

new tanker designs and these were

incorporated in the new BESTplus design

concept.

GL said that BESTplus enhances the

attractiveness of the initial design concept by

also integrating hydrodynamic optimisation of

the hull form, thus reducing fuel consumption

and emissions.

GL and NTUA again co-operated on the

new design concept, and were supported by

Friendship Systems – a GL company and

provider of the Friendship-Framework

computer aided design (CAD) and

computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

integration platform.

Potential cargo lossBased on current growth rates, oil transport

demand is expected to be lower than available

oil tanker supply for the next couple of years.

However, even small changes in demand will

open up opportunities for new Aframaxes -

starting in 2014.

This was recently documented by

Intertanko. A second analysis undertaken by

GL based on IHS Fairplay data shows that

approximately 20% of existing Aframax

tonnage will be older than 15 years in 2012,

which could trigger replacement activities. GL

claimed that the BESTplus design concept

anticipated this possible demand for new

tanker tonnage by integrating only available

technologies.

The design concept targets the typical

Aframax tanker trades in the Caribbean Sea.

Facilities in the main US ports and the US

Emission Control Area (ECA) set the

operating conditions. If a Mexican ECA were

also to be implemented, about 30% of the

total transit distance for this trade would be

inside of an ECA.

The current design assumes the use of

MGO as fuel when sailing in an ECA. LNG

as ship fuel, or the use of scrubbers, was

considered as alternatives to the basic design

Super efficientAframax design

unveiledFollowing last year’s launch of D�V’s revolutionary gas powered

VLCC conceptual design, comes news of an upgraded Aframax design

from Hamburg-based class society Germanischer Lloyd (GL).

A schematic of BESTplus.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 1



concept. The need for relatively high speed,

which has been mentioned by ship operators

active in this trade, must be considered with

regard to the upcoming EEDI requirement to

ensure superior vessel competitiveness.

Design approachThe design approach used an advanced

optimisation environment, which integrates

tools to predict required propulsion power,

stability, oil outflow index, cargo capacity and

hull structural scantlings, according to IACS

Common Structural Rules (CSR).

This was achieved through the linking of

the Friendship-Framework with Shipflow,

NAPA and Poseidon, and by using parametric

models for the hull form, layout and structure,

respectively.

GL said that the design concept addresses

the need for safer shipping by reducing the oil

outflow in case of an accident. It contributes

to greener shipping by improving energy

efficiency and, thus, reducing CO2 emissions

per unit transport. In addition, the design

offers smarter shipping by reducing fuel costs

with an optimised hull form, and by

increasing revenues with greater cargo

capacity, the class society claimed.

The resulting design concept features a

best-in-class cargo capacity with unrivalled

speed performance. The main particulars are

comparable with those of similar-sized

Aframaxes.

The optimisation targeted speed at three

different drafts, a cargo capacity taking due

account of cargo volume and mass, hull

structural mass, cargo oil tank and ballast tank

layout, as well as double hull width and

double bottom height, which determine the oil

outflow volumes in accidents. Related design

parameters were systematically varied and

around 2,500 design variants were generated

and assessed.

Cost of transport (ratio of annual capital,

fuel and other operating costs to annually

transported cargo mass), normalised with

respect to the reference design, was used as

the primary target function for the

optimisation. Capital costs were based on a

typical newbuilding price of $58 mill and 25

years lifetime. Fuel costs were computed

according to a dedicated roundtrip model

(with HFO at $500 per tonne and MGO at

$800 per tonne) for Caribbean trading. Other

operating costs are constant (about $3 mill

per year) and based on Moore Stephens’

Opcost 2009.

The reference design for comparing cost of

transport is an existing pre-CSR tanker, which

was used as reference in GL’s 2008 study.

Compared to the reference design, a 7%

improvement in cost of transport was realised

due to the better hull form for the best design

variant.

Dwt 114,923

Cargo volume 129,644 cu m

Length, overall 250 m

Beam 44 m

Depth 21.5 m

Design draft 15.7 m

Block coefficient 0.85

DB height 2.1 m

DBH COT 1 2.75 m

DB width 2.65 m

Oil outflow index 0.0142

Speed at max draft 15.6 kn

Speed in ballast 16.8 kn

EEDI 3.2814 g CO2/(t*nm)

BESTplus Principal Particulars

Source. IHS Fairplay database 2011.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 2

It is noted that many design variants are

optimal in a Pareto frontier analysis, which

means that the selection of one variant for the

final design depends on the weighting of the

different optimisation targets. Therefore,

depending upon the choice of the designer, a

design optimised for oil outflow, for EEDI, or

for cost-of-transport might be selected.

The resulting hull form facilitates a speed of

15.6 knots at design draft with a 95%

confidence interval. This represents a

favourable speed increase when compared

with recently built vessels of the same size.

With a standard main engine for an Aframax,

a MAN 6S60MC-C, the fuel consumption is

comparable to similar vessels.

With this high speed and large cargo

capacity, the vessel easily meets future EEDI

requirements, claimed GL. Indeed, the

attained EEDI value is merely 84% of the

latest published reference line value for this

ship size. This means the vessel would be in

compliance with EEDI regulations even if the

first reduction to the required EEDI had

already begun. At current estimates, this will

happen at the earliest on 1st January 2015.

Although a vessel contracted before EEDI

has entered into force does not formally need

to comply, competitive vessels entering the

market, for example, in 2017, will be more

energy-efficient and, therefore, more likely to

attract cargoes than older vessels with lower

energy efficiency. Thus the new BESTplus

design concept will remain highly

competitive, the class society said.

Safety designed inTo reduce oil outflow in accidents, the

double hull side width was eventually set to

2.65 m. In addition, to further reduce cargo

tank penetration in the event of grounding,

the inner bottom of the cargo oil tank 1 was

raised from 2.1 m to 2.75 m, which was a

feature of the earlier design. To ensure

structural continuity, an inclined inner

bottom is proposed between two frames.

Work is continuing to evaluate the hull

structure with finite element analysis,

according to IACS CSR.

Using LNG as a ship fuel reduces SOx by

90% and CO2 emissions by 20%. In addition,

with LNG prices today, a price-parity with

HFO is considered to be possible in the

medium-term. Tankers with their relatively

large deck areas offer sufficient space for the

installation of the required gas tanks and for

the gas preparation room.

In this case, about 2,000 cu m is needed to

sustain two roundtrips. However, the LNG-as-

fuel supply is limited today and will only

gradually be built up.

The second challenge is the significant

additional capital expenditure, which is

estimated to be around 20% above a typical

Aframax newbuilding price.

OutlookThis novel Aframax oil tanker design concept

– created using an advanced optimisation

framework – has the lowest cost of transport

and the highest speed of comparable designs

and features a low EEDI and a low oil

outflow index.

With a possible market upswing due to

expected replacement needs for older tonnage

and by integrating only existing technologies,

the novel design concept looks attractive for

those shipowners who want to stay ahead of

their competitors for the next decade, Dr

Sames said.



TO

A general arrangement drawing of the BESTplus. Note the raised double bottom heighttowards the bow.

There is plenty of room on deck for gas fuel tanks and the preparation room in an LNG fuelled Aframax.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 3

TECHNOLOGY - EMISSIONS CONTROL


We know that if the IMO fails

to come up with a proposal,

the EU will devise a regional

solution, but although there is

much speculation over different measures,

currently no one knows the details of how, or

on what level regulation will work.

What is certain is that whether the IMO’s

Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), a

bunker fuel levy or an Emissions Trading

Scheme are implemented, establishing a clear

target to work towards is crucial. Another

certainty is that for any new regulations to be

a success, there must be simple solutions to

ensure compliance. Any benchmarking or

indexing must also be based on accurate CO2

data. But most important, all solutions need to

unlock the latent profitability currently

trapped in the industry – with or without

regulation.

This shift in mindset is fundamental to

access the money and resources that adopting

clean technologies and particularly, retrofit

technologies can provide. DNV’s cost curve,

featured in the 2009 ‘Pathways to Low

Carbon Shipping’ report, illustrates that there

is 15% latent efficiency in the industry for

retrofit technology and 25% for newbuild

vessels – a lot to play for. Other industry

players estimate the inefficiency to be

even higher.

The potential for this profitability is

increasingly being realised, as shipowners,

operators and their charterers strive to combat

fluctuating fuel costs. With crude continuing

to hold at well over $100 per barrel, bunker

prices at double their 2010 levels and

drastically higher cleaner fuel costs imminent

as stricter Emission Control Area (ECAs)

sulphur levels are introduced, fuel savings

have never been so keenly desired.

To access these fuel savings, in conjunction

with reduced CO2 emissions, tanker owners

and operators are increasingly taking a

proactive approach to get ahead of regulation.

Focusing on improving efficiencies is good

for business and with the clock ticking on the

impending timetable for regulatory change, it

has never been more important for shipowners

to look at the bigger picture and plan for

the future.

This message is filtering through the

industry, and there is a new progressive

energy and outlook as increasing numbers of

shipowners are open to technical development

and looking to advancements to access the

money that is there for the taking with the

application of clean technologies. A recent

survey has highlighted the increasing

popularity of clean technology and has

published a guide in response to growing

demand for more information.

The Guide, launched by market intelligence

company Fathom, is the first comprehensive

guide to ship efficiency and technology

measures. Supported by BIMCO and Lloyd’s

Register, it details the emission reduction

capability, payback periods and ship type

applicability for an array of technologies that

are increasingly being embraced by the

shipping industry – a positive step forward.

While many of the technologies on the

market – including the ones listed in Fathom’s

guide - may be well known, there have

previously been several barriers preventing

many people from choosing these products.

These included a lack of proven technologies,

unreliability and low fuel prices. However,

these barriers are increasingly eroding as the

industry opens its eyes to the possibilities that

innovative technologies present, especially

those that can also be retrofitted.

Clock tickingtowards regulatory

changeAs the IMO’s MEPC 62 meeting in July fast approaches and Greenhouse Gases (GHG)

become the focus for the industry once more, there is much confusion over the extent

to which the shipping industry may be regulated*.

Founded in 2000, DK Group isone of the world’s leadingmaritime technologycompanies. The group pioneered the development

of ACS for new and existing vessels to

reduce a vessel’s fuel consumption and

CO2 emissions by up to 10% -

providing huge cost savings for

shipowners and reducing the shipping

industry’s impact on global warming.

DK’s ACS technology is one of the

most comprehensively described

eco-efficiency technologies to be

validated by the United Nations’ IMO

GHG, 2009. �

DK GroupDK’s CEO Katia Kardash.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 4



The retrofit market is brimming with

potential for cost savings that can be accessed

now, which is ultimately great for business in

both the short and long term. With current

bunker fuel prices and impending sulphur and

potential GHG regulation, it is the cost

savings that can be achieved as a result of

reduced fuel consumption that are perhaps the

most enticing for tanker owners and operators.

To make these savings, simplicity is vital. An

example of such technology is DK Group’s

Air Cavity System (ACS).

The pioneering ACS – an air lubrication

technology that delivers approximately 10% in

fuel savings for tankers and which is

comprehensively referenced in the IMO GHG

study, 2009 – represents a new breed of eco-

efficient technologies that can now be

retrofitted - in this case in just 14 days at

routine drydock - for the existing commercial

fleet.

Making the technology available for both

newbuildings and current vessels ensures that

tanker owners and operators can benefit from

emissions reduction and related fuel cost

savings straight away and will demonstrate

real progress for the industry’s economy.

The cost savings that can be realised, with a

payback time of just 18 months to three years

at current bunker fuel prices, will make a

significant positive difference to the bottom

line for all, with the payback period only

reducing further as fuel prices climb and

regulation for cleaner distillate fuels come

online in 2015 and beyond.

Whichever regulation is implemented in

July, the progress that indexing and

benchmarking measures can drive should not

be underestimated. EEDI itself has already

laid a foundation to further drive change, by

provoking discussion that opens the doors for

tanker owners to explore new ways of cutting

costs and emissions. EEDI and more accurate

indices that follow can help to break through

the barriers to technology take-up, based on

solid CO2 data of course.

Looking to the future, the shipping

industry and its regulations is evolving and

fast, but innovative eco-efficiency

technologies that marry cost savings and

reduced emissions can provide stability for

tanker owners and operators as they enter a

new era of shipping.

*This article was written by Katia Kardash –CEO, DK Group.

The ICS has declared its stanceon GHG market based measures. In a statement, the ICS said that the future

efficiency of the world’s fleet can best be

ensured, in the first instance, by the adoption

of legislation at the IMO on technical and

operational measures for the reduction of CO2

emissions from international shipping.

This legislation should include:

a) An Energy Efficiency Design Index

(EEDI) for application to new specified

ship types. (Note: significant work is still

required to determine the appropriate

EEDI calculation for a number of

specialist ship types, such as Ro-Ros, Gas

Carriers etc)

b) A review clause such that the application

of the EEDI to future new ships can be

tested against efficiency expectations and

for any unforeseen impact prior to each

implementation of the EEDI reduction

stages.

c) A requirement for each ship to have a ship

specific Ship Energy Efficiency

Management Plan (SEEMP).

IMO member states are strongly urged to adopt

the EEDI legislation at the IMO’s MEPC 62

meeting due to take place in July 2011.

The ICS said that it was confident that

international shipping will reduce its CO2

emissions, per tonne/kilometre, through

technical and operational measures that will

deliver improving ship efficiency, by more

than 20% by 2020 (2007 baseline).

If states believe it appropriate that a market-

based measure (MBM) should be applied to

international shipping then this will be

supported subject to certain provisions -

1) The measure must be compliant with the

nine principles on MBMs adopted at IMO.

That the measure will:

� Effectively reduce CO2 emissions.

� Be binding and include all flag states.

� Be cost effective.

� Not distort competition.

� Be based on sustainable development

without restricting trade or growth.

� Be goal based and not prescribe

particular methods.

� Stimulate technical research and

development in the entire maritime

sector.

� Take into account new technology.

� Be practical, transparent, free of fraud

and easy to administer.

2) That revenue generated by any measure

adopted must be primarily used for

efficiency improvement within the

shipping industry and to assist in

mitigation measures in developing

countries and - only one economic measure

should be applied to shipping and that this

should be administered under IMO.

It is a fundamental principle for ICS that any

GHG financial instrument that is determined

necessary for international shipping should be

resolved in and applied through, IMO.

The global shipping industry has a

preference for an MBM that is

levy/compensation fund based. ICS believes

that a levy/compensation fund based system is

best suited for the shipping industry and

shipping companies because such a system

will ensure that:

a) A level playing field is maintained.

b) Serious market distortion is avoided.

c) Management of the system will be easier.

d) The desired transparency will be provided.

The ICS said it believes that CO2 emissions

from international shipping cannot be reduced

effectively and meaningfully through the

incorporation of shipping into any regional

financial instrument.

Therefore, the chamber is strongly opposed

to the application of any regional GHG

scheme to international shipping. In

particular, the incorporation of international

shipping in the EU ETS is most definitely

not suitable for the shipping industry and is

to be strongly opposed.

GHG - ICS shows its hand

ICS president Spyros Polemis.

TO

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 5


Reducing shipping emissions will

be the major driver of change in

the maritime industry for decades

to come. But the starting point for

tackling shipping emissions is to measure it.

The analogy is simple; you don’t start a diet

without accurate scales to measure your

progress! Real-time emissions monitoring is

not only critical in ensuring regulatory

compliance, but also for improving the

operational performance of the modern vessel.

Emissions monitoring is already a fact of

life for the shipping industry, not least for

vessels operating within Emission Control

Areas (ECAs) thanks to IMO MARPOL

Annex VI’s regulations.

With the introduction of new ECAs and the

tightening of sulphur emission limits within

them, more and more vessels will need to

monitor their emissions using increasingly

sophisticated monitoring systems. The North

American ECA, effective from 2012, will

impact 50% of international containership

maritime traffic and by 2015, 90% of the

world’s container routes will involve ECA

transits.

Furthermore, market pressure is growing,

with the likes of Caterpillar, Volvo and Wal-

Mart now asking for shipping emissions data.

The most effective method for measuring

emissions is in-situ monitoring using a

continuous emissions monitoring (CEM)

system. In contrast to extractive sampling

where a gas sample needs to be physically

extracted from the system for analysis, ‘in-

situ’ monitoring provides a continuous, real

time measurement of the content of your

exhaust gases, with data provided

instantaneously on a screen that can be

installed in the engine room and on the bridge.

An in-situ continuous monitoring system

will immediately flag up any problems. By

contrast, a five stack extractive system will

monitor any stack for only 12 mins in any

hour. In-situ systems are also more reliable,

as they do not require any filtration, or drying

of the exhaust gas and are the only real

monitoring option for low maintenance

seawater scrubbing operations.

In-situ CEM systems are a robust and

reliable method of complying with emissions

regulations, whether in port, in ECAs, or in

international waters. They are highly effective,

simple to use, require little maintenance and

have lower installation and operational costs

than extractive sample handling systems. They

can also measure compliance from residual

Online emissionsmonitoring aids

transparencyChris Daw, managing director of Kittiwake Procal, explains the importance of in-situ

continuous emissions monitoring in ensuring regulatory compliance and improved

operational performance.

Over 100 million training hours

accomplished to date!

CBT | ONLINE | VIDEO | BOOK

Training solutions & services for

IMO, ISM & STCW standards

[email protected] | www.videotel.co.uk | +44 (0) 207 299 1800

Real-time emissions monitoring is not only

critical in ensuring regulatory compliance,

but also for improving the operational

performance of the modern vessel.

“

”


p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 6



and distillate fuel combustion, which enables fuel switching to be

monitored.

The unique nature of infra-red in-situ systems is sensitive enough to

confirm compliance, even when emission limits are very low.

Emissions that are the equivalent of 0.1% sulphur fuel are around 22

ppm of SOx in the exhaust gas. Any instrument with a range over 0-

100 ppm will not be accurate enough to measure this and an

inappropriate choice for scrubber operational monitoring.

Kittiwake’s Procal 2000 - an infra-red duct or stack-mounted system,

designed to provide in-stack analysis – for example has an SO2

monitoring range of 0-100 ppm but can automatically switch ranges to

0-500/1,000 ppm for monitoring operations outside of an ECA on high

sulphur fuels.

Such systems are also versatile enough to measure several gases and

from several on board locations. Kittiwake’s Procal 2000 can analyse

up to six different exhaust gases from multiple engines and boilers,

including SO2, CO2 and NOx. It comprises up to six exhaust-mounted

analysers, each with automatic verification facilities, which makes it

ideal for a crew inexperienced in emissions analysis.

The Kittiwake Procal 2000 analyser has an in-situ sample cell that

sits inside the exhaust, avoiding the need to manually extract gas using

costly, high maintenance sample handling systems and enabling

analysis of an unmodified, representative gas sample. It can also

measure H2O or water vapour, meaning that measurements can be

reported in as ‘dry’, or ‘wet’.

As well as meeting regulatory standards, emissions monitoring

performs a valuable operational role. Armed with accurate data about

its vessel emissions, an operator can optimise operations within

regulatory limits; in other words, avoiding the risk of gold-plating

compliance to their commercial disadvantage.

Accurate emissions data also allows an operator to baseline its

existing combustion systems, benchmark the performance of emission

reduction products and technologies, such as lower sulphur fuels, or

scrubbing equipment and evaluate compliance against published

specifications.

The day-to-day benefits of continuous emissions monitoring mean

that emissions data can be used to advise on engine performance and to

improve maintenance regimes that better understand engine and

generators’ specific emissions tolerances and provide an early warning

of equipment damage.

When it comes to controlling emissions, knowledge is power. The

better the information you have, the better decisions you can take, not

just in ensuring regulatory compliance, but also in maximising

operational efficiencies and making the right calls on new technology

investments.

By providing accurate, reliable and timely emissions data, in-situ

CEM systems deliver exactly those benefits.

The day-to-day benefits of

continuous emissions monitoring

mean that emissions data can be

used to advise on engine

performance and to improve

maintenance regimes

“

”

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 7



Shipowners and operators are facing

volatile fuel prices and challenging

emission regulations. These issues

are compounded by the need to

control costs and improve operating

efficiencies. To operate a vessel at maximum

efficiency demands accurate fuel

measurement. Tighter control and

management of fuel burned improves engine

efficiency, delivering fuel savings and

reducing emissions.

The key to optimised fuel usage is efficient

combustion. This is dependant on correct

atomisation of the fuel, which relies on the

fuel being at the correct viscosity as it enters

the burners. Fuel represents a major cost in

the operation of a large vessel. Therefore

operators will always look for low cost fuel

and carefully measure and monitor usage.

However, low cost fuel can be of a lower or

inconsistent quality, reducing combustion

efficiency, increasing emissions, and resulting

in higher fuel usage and increased levels of

maintenance due to carbon deposits.

The density and viscosity of diesel fuel are

consistent, meaning it is relatively easy to

design combustion systems that burn the fuel

optimally and efficiently. This compares with

HFO which, although lower in price than

diesel fuel, is a residual product of the

refinery process and is inconsistent in

quality. To ensure optimum combustion,

some form of processing is required and

many vessels are fitted with viscosity booster

units or fuel conditioning units. These

prepare the HFO for combustion, heating it

to bring the viscosity down from 380 cSt or

higher to the 10-14 cSt required by the

combustion systems.

Many existing booster units have

mechanical viscosity sensors, which need

regular cleaning, maintenance and

calibration. Emerson’s Micro Motion®

Viscomaster™ viscosity meters act as direct

replacements and will accurately measure the

viscosity, density and temperature of the

HFO enabling it to be treated as necessary,

the company said. Emerson offers a range of

retrofit installation adaptors for capillary or

in-line installation. These adaptors enable

quick and easy replacement of alternative

viscosity measurement technologies, without

the need for mechanical changes to pipe

work or skid design.

The Viscomaster meters are highly tolerant

to harsh environments and provide reliable,

accurate control with little or no maintenance

or recalibration, Emerson claimed. Integral 4-

20 mA and RS-485 Modbus outputs remove

the need for external amplifiers or terminal

boxes. The meters are approved by Lloyd's

Register for marine environments and have a

wide range of equivalent worldwide marine

approvals. Their installation flexibility,

ruggedness, ease of use, and extensive range

Bunkers – the firststep to curbing

emissionsBunkers are the first step in the emissions reduction chain. Monitor bunker deliveries

and an owner/operator can improve efficiency, thus cutting emissions.

An Emerson mass flow meter.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 8



of standard features have resulted in broad

adoption by users and OEM providers.

With many vessel operators setting a fuel

budget for each trip, it has never been more

important to measure fuel usage. Emerson’s

Micro Motion Coriolis mass flow meters have

been applied to the measurement of fuel oil to

provide highly accurate, mass-based

measurement. Using the Modbus

communications protocol, the mass flow

meter sends data to a fuel efficiency control

system, which collects information from the

flow meter and other on board systems to help

the crew optimise the operation of the ship.

Tighter control and management of fuel

burned improves engine efficiency, delivering

fuel savings and reducing emissions.

Micro Motion Coriolis meters are ideally

suited to marine fuel measurement

applications, providing extremely high

accuracy and wide rangeability. They are easy

to install between the booster module and

engine and because there are no moving parts,

they also offer savings by reducing

maintenance requirements when compared to

volumetric flow measurement devices.

Emerson's MVD Direct Connect™

architecture further simplifies installation and

reduces cost and complexity through direct

integration into a Modbus host. Digital and

analogue communications deliver the data

directly to the control room or bridge,

enabling close control. This complete solution

also provides access to all Micro Motion

instrument variables, including embedded

diagnostics and full sensor configuration.

Bunker measurementTo monitor bunker deliveries, Emerson has

introduced the Micro Motion® certified

marine bunker measurement solution. It is

claimed to be the first traceable, transparent,

mass-based measurement system, with third-

party certification, for HFO bunkering.

Installed on a vessel, barge, or at a terminal,

this solution monitors the bunker delivery,

reports final totals and provides a ticket that

can be used for custody transfer. This

globally-certified bunker custody transfer

system meets international standards and

provides highly accurate, transparent bunker

fuel deliveries that will minimise the number

of disputes between barge operators and ship

operators, while enabling operators to very

accurately monitor fuel and improve

operational efficiencies, the company said.

While bunker transfers are billed based on

mass, measurements are calculated using

volumetric-based methods. Traditional bunker

measurement relies heavily on look-up tables

and manual dips, as well as laboratory tests to

determine density measurements. These

practices are labour intensive, inferential and

can result in legal disputes and potential

reputation damage. With bunker fuel costs

amounting to 50-70% of the total ship

operating expense, even small inaccuracies

can have a major effect on operating costs.

Emerson worked with shipping industry

leaders, suppliers, and barge operators to

develop its certified bunker measurement

system. It includes a Micro Motion ELITE®

Coriolis meter, Series 3000 transmitter with

marine bunker transfer package and bunker

delivery ticket printer.

The solution is capable of handling the

density and viscosity variation inherent in

HFO and was certified by Nederlands

Meetinstituut (NMi), the notified body for

testing to the guidelines of the European

Instruments Directive (MID) and issuing

authority for OIML (International

Organisation for Legal Metrology). The Micro

Motion meter meets the OIML standard R117-

1 and the overall solution meets MID standard

2004/22/EC Annex MI-005.

The process of marine bunkering presents

challenges to any measurement device.

Unlike gasoline, or diesel fuel, the density and

viscosity of HFO varies enormously and can

even vary across a single bunkering, as the

fuel may stratify in the storage tank. This

means that measurement systems based on

volume, need a correction factor applied to

determine the mass of the fuel that has been

delivered. In addition, the fuel being delivered

can become aerated, which will affect the

volume measurement, Emerson said.

Micro Motion Coriolis meters deliver

consistent, accurate mass measurement. The

certified marine bunker measurement system

has been specifically designed to handle high-

viscosity, aerated liquids and offers an overall

accuracy within 0.5% of mass, the company

claimed. The transmitter posts an alert when

the level of entrained air reaches a pre-set

limit, allowing the operator to take steps to

reduce aeration and ensure accurate delivery.

A printed bunker transfer receipt includes the

time, date and the total quantity transferred

and can be used as a legal (weights &

measures) document. It can be installed on

either barges, or the vessels.

Micro Motion Coriolis meters, with no

moving parts to break, wear, or risk

performance drift, deliver the highest accuracy

and performance possible, Emerson said.

ELITE high capacity meters are capable of

handling flow rates over 1,500 tonnes per

hour and deliver reliable performance and the

highest flow rates of any Coriolis meter

available today. The ELITE meters have been

tested with crude oil and other liquid and gas

hydrocarbons in accordance with American

Petroleum Institute (API) and American Gas

Association (AGA) guidelines.

Maersk take-upThe system is being installed on AP Moller-

Maersk vessels. In December 2010, the

containership Maersk Bulan became the

world’s first cargo vessel equipped with a

Micro Motion certified marine bunker

measurement solution. “Emerson’s Micro

Motion certified bunker solution allows us to

remove uncertainty and improve transparency

on custody transfer of fuel oil, which is our

largest cost item, while at the same time

increasing our operational efficiency,” said

Jesper Rosenkrans, business development

VT’s bunker barge Vlaardingen has had a measurement system installed on board.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 9



At a major event at its DieselResearch Centre in Copenhagenrecently, MAN Diesel & Turbopresented its ME-GI gas engine.The unveiling of the two-stroke engine

represents the culmination of many years’

work that began in the 1990s with the

company’s prototype MC-GI dual-fuel engine.

MAN Diesel & Turbo originally

announced plans to carry out full-scale

testing of the new engine in September 2010.

May’s full-scale demonstration and

performance verification test of the GI

principle for all types of marine applications

was carried out on MAN’s 4T50ME-X R&D

research engine, which was rebuilt as a

4T50ME-GI engine operating on natural gas.

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering (DSME) provided the

ME-GI’s pertaining, high-pressure,

cryogenic gas-supply system, according to

the terms of a development agreement

signed in February 2010.

The ME-GI engine is a gas-injection, dual-

fuel, low-speed diesel engine that, when

acting as main propulsion in LNG carriers or

any other type of merchant vessel, can burn

gas, or fuel-oil at any ratio, depending on the

energy source available on board and dictated

by relative cost and owner preference.

Depending on relative price and availability,

as well as environmental considerations, the

ME-GI engine gives shipowners and operators

the option of using either gas, or HFO.

MAN said that it saw significant

opportunities arising for gas-fuelled tonnage

as fuel prices rise and modern exhaust-

emission limits tighten. Indeed, previous

research indicated that the ME-GI engine,

when combined with exhaust gas recirculation

(EGR) and waste-heat recovery (WHR)

technologies, delivered significant reductions

in CO2, NOx and SO x emissions, fulfilling

Tier-II and Tier-III regulations.

The company predicted a broad, potential

market for its ME-GI engine, extending from

LNG and LPG carriers to other oceangoing

vessel sectors.

“The unveiling of the ME-GI engine is

MAN Diesel & Turbo’s response to current

market conditions and the large audience in

Copenhagen is proof of the great interest in

this propulsion solution,” said MAN Diesel &

Turbo’s Søren Jensen, vice president and head

of research & development, marine low-speed,

speaking at its launch.

He continued: “The ME-GI engine is the

culmination of years of research and

development and we consider the timing of its

release to market to be optimal. We see many

potential applications for the ME-GI’s

increased flexibility and greater control both

within the LNG sector and generally within

marine transportation, as operators seek to

control costs and emissions.”

Jensen concluded: “With the addition of the

ME-GI engine to its existing portfolio, MAN

Diesel & Turbo now offers the two-stroke

market’s most comprehensive array of prime-

mover solutions all the way up to 98-bore.”

MAN B&W ME-GI (gas injection) two-

stroke engines possess economical and

operational benefits compared to other, low-

speed engine plants, irrespective of ship size.

Based on the successful, electronically

controlled ME heavy-fuel-burning diesel

engines, the ME-GI design accommodates

natural gas and liquid fuels.

Dual-fuel operation requires the injection of

both pilot fuel-oil and gas fuel into the engine’s

combustion chamber via different types of

valves arranged in the cylinder head. The ME-

GI engine head is fitted with two valves for gas

injection and two for pilot fuel. The pilot-oil

valve is a standard ME fuel-oil valve.

MAN B&W ME-C and ME-GI engines are

broadly similar and share the same efficiency,

output and dimensions. In comparison, the

ME-GI engine’s key components are its

modified exhaust receiver, modified cylinder

cover with injection valves and gas-control

block, an expanding top gallery platform, high

pressure fuel-supply pipes, and mounted gas-

control units.

manager Maersk Oil Trading. “This makes our

investment in Emerson’s Micro Motion

solution an attractive proposition."

Micro Motion Coriolis meters for bunker

measurement were first implemented by

Maersk on a number of vessels in 2008. While

the initial results were good, Maersk and the

industry as a whole needed a transparent and

traceable bunker measurement system based

around the Micro Motion Coriolis meter to

provide the necessary confidence and drive a

true global industry change.

Further work was undertaken by Emerson,

with agreement from Maersk and its partners,

to develop a deeper understanding of the

challenges of bunkering fluid dynamics. This

included addressing the issues to realise a

direct mass-based, independently accredited,

bunkering custody transfer solution for two-

phase HFO.

Barge installationAnother company to install the measurement

system was Rotterdam-based VT Group

(Verenigde Tankrederij). A system was fitted

on the large bunker fuel barge Vlaardingen.

VT said that the system provides the crew

and the company’s head office with real-

time, accurate tracking of HFO bunker

deliveries, removing the need for manual

soundings, or calculations and enabling them

to prove the quality and consistency of

deliveries to VT’s customers.

The company also said that the

implementation of the certified bunker

measurement solution in December 2010 on

the Vlaardingen was a natural extension of

VT’s in-house developed software system,

which is based on tank radar measurement,

corrected for trim and list.

The VT radar system eliminates manual

processes and already gives highly accurate

results, the company said.

"Certified Coriolis flow meters support the

existing VT business model of accurate

quantity measurements,” said VT Group’s Yuri

Ouweneel. “These flow meters allow us to

differentiate ourselves as a top-tier bunker

service company, further improving our

reputation while illustrating this value clearly

to our customers.”

World Premiere of MAN gas engine

� Low operational cost.

� Low investment cost.

� Flexible burning of HFO and gas.

� Clean exhaust gas.

� Conventional MA� B&W two-

stroke technology: high reliability

and low maintenance.

� Simple technology.

� Maximum engine-room safety.

� Two-stroke dual-fuel experience

since 1994.

� Proven technology.

ME-GI enginebenefits

TO

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 10


TECHNOLOGY – EMERGENCY RESPONSE

With maritime experts

specialising in each of five

ship types, AWT aims to meet

the specific, segmented needs

of the industry, ultimately helping to enhance

fleet safety and reduce fuel consumption, the

company said.

“At AWT, we are dedicated to continuous

innovation to meet the needs of our

customers,” said Skip Vaccarello, AWT

president and CEO. “We understand that ship

routing and fleet management encompass

myriad factors. Now, by offering specialised

services, we are providing that next level of

personalized service.”

AWT’s routing experts zero in on specific

needs of the tanker sector, for example –

including vessel age, type, size, speed, cargo,

draft, client and vessel special requirements –

then plot the most appropriate routes based on

the goals of each individual voyage.

The company’s experts include

meteorologists, route analysts, forecasting

specialists, maritime scientists, computer

scientists and technology innovators,

mathematical modelers, end-of-voyage

analysts and vessel masters who are all

focused exclusively on fleet optimisation to

identify the safest and most cost-efficient

routes while also reducing fuel consumption,

costs and carbon emissions.

Pre-voyage planning and daily status reports

with alerts and links to detailed voyage

information are provided. AWT’s BonVoyage

(BVS) marine voyage optimisation software

considers many variables, including weather

and sea conditions, scheduled arrival times

and fuel consumption targets. In addition,

with AWT’s GlobalView™ fleet management

system, fleet managers can track in-the-

moment ship performance, fuel consumption/

carbon emissions, weather conditions, ETAs,

or other factors specific to tankers.

Laycan dataFor example, as part of AWT’s tanker service,

fleet managers are given laycan data to ensure

that the ETA of the vessel remains within the

agreed laycan. Fleet summaries with colour-

coded icons give a quick view to easily

identify ships that need attention regarding

fuel consumption and ETAs.

The data is refreshed every hour to show

up-to-date status of the fleet. Custom reports

can be generated for each vessel type and

customer-centric reports vary by company and

its departmental requirements.

“We believe AWT provides highly

specialised services for our business needs,”

said Erik Hjortland, advisor, ship performance

and bunker management, Odfjell Tankers.

“We consider AWT to be a very innovative

company, and they are very customer driven.”

“AWT’s shore-based service in combination

with the (BVS) on board software assists us

by protecting the crew and cargo, reducing

heavy weather damages, providing more

accurate vessel scheduling, curbing emissions

and ultimately reducing fuel costs,” He added.

The high-value cargoes carried by tankers

can often be bought and sold several times

during a single voyage, which can

significantly affect its operational

requirements. Because the vessels’ crew and

shore-based operating personnel must ensure

that the ETA of the vessel remains within the

agreed laycan, critical, well-founded decisions

must be made throughout most passages.

These decisions relating to the weather, sea

and current conditions expected en route help

ensure the optimum route is followed, and the

laycan achieved with the minimum cost.

Tanker specificweather routing now available

Applied Weather Technology (AWT) has developed its ship routing and

fleet management services to meet the specialised needs of voyages by vessel

and cargo type, including tankers.

Screenshot of a pirate activity alert.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 11


TECHNOLOGY – EMERGENCY RESPONSE

AWT’s tanker service provides a suite of

services that can be mixed and matched to

best meet a company’s corporate goals. These

include -

� Weather routing services.

� Pre-voyage planning.

� Least time routing.

� Safety first routing.

� Fuel optimisation.

� Laycan.

� Virtual Arrival.

� Voyage tracking.

� Position polling and AIS data.

� Daily status reports with alerts and links

to detailed voyage information.

� Shelltime performance reports customised

to the charterparty terms.

Tanker service benefits include: -

� 24/7 access to tanker routing expert.

� Comprehensive fleet management with

GlobalView.

� Customised fleet and voyage summaries.

� Customised alerts.

� Access to latest global pirate activity.

� Access to resources consolidated from

multiple websites.

AWT recently added safety enhancements to

its GlobalView™ fleet management system.

These include comprehensive pirate data and

rogue wave alerts, which are presented in one

visual, easy-to-use format.

The company claimed that this helps fleet

managers to manage their vessels’ safe

passage through pirate attack areas, war risk

waters and embargo areas, and also regions

known for rogue waves.

Tracking pirate activityWith the integration of real-time NATO pirate

tracking information, GlobalView provides a

comprehensive, at-a-glance overview of all

pirate-related information in one easy-to-use,

customisable visual format.

Available information includes ‘mothership’

locations and anticipated trajectory, hijacking

information and pirate attack group operating

areas. Live links are now integrated into

GlobalView, which give fleet managers’ one-

click access to further NATO details in real-

time. Additionally, users can customise the

type of data available through myriad filters,

including timeframe, location, type of pirate

activity, historical data and more.

AWT claims to be the only company to

provide severe motions and rogue wave alerts

in its fleet management system. GlobalView

now shows areas to avoid that have the

potential for rogue waves, which are constantly

changing based on conditions at sea.

Rogue waves (also known as freak waves,

monster waves, killer waves, extreme waves

and abnormal waves) are relatively large,

spontaneous ocean waves that occur in the

open ocean in deepwater and can be a threat

to any vessel.

The scientific definition is a wave whose

height is more than twice the significant

wave height (SWH), which is defined as the

average of the largest third of waves in a

given area. Rogue waves are not always the

largest found at sea; they are, rather,

surprisingly large waves for a given sea

state and are normally steep faced and

often breaking.

AWT has developed a proprietary global

model to forecast where current focusing

rogue waves are likely to occur.

War risk and embargo areasGlobalView also provides visual information

on war risk waters and embargo areas, as

updated by the Joint War Committee of the

IMO. Typically closer to shorelines, this helps

fleet managers, masters and route analysts

work together to visually identify these

regions and either avoid or minimise exposure

to high risk areas.

Screenshot of a rogue wave alert off South Africa.

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 12


TECHNOLOGY – FIRE DETECTION

Advanced firedetection system

launchedWith high levels of redundancy and enhanced networking functionality,

Autronica’s AutroSafe 4 is the fire safety system developers

most advanced fire detection system to date.

AutroSafe 4 was designed in

parallel with the SOLAS Safe

Return to Port (SRtP)

recommendations with a number

of new features and benefits for all types of

vessels, apart from passenger vessels for

which the new regulations were intended.

The key difference between AutroSafe 4

and previous systems is AutroSafe Dual

Safety, which is where the redundant part of

the network can talk with the active part of the

network. In a scenario where a central fire

panel is damaged, the system will switch

automatically and quickly to the back-up, to

ensure continuous operation, which is vital in

an ongoing emergency.

This high redundancy is enabled by the

introduction of AutroNet, an Ethernet-based

panel network that connects AutroSafe 4

panels through a dual-path, high-speed (100

Mbps) redundant system, delivering solid,

reliable performance in line with current

regulations. It safeguards communication

between panels even if a line fault (break,

switch port fault etc) is present. Any alarms

are transmitted safely to all panels because all

network traffic is duplicated along two

independent network paths.

New AutroKeeper smart relay units also

make redundant control of the loop possible,

which is particularly important; should the

primary loop controlling panel fail or

misbehave, the secondary backup panel will

take control of the loop.

In designing AutroSafe 4, Autronica has

improved the system’s operation, and

simplified its installation and maintenance. The

system is managed through a single point of

operation for download of configuration data,

or program upgrades. This ensures a faster and

safer way to change or upgrade the system

program using the panel network, AutroNet or

a USB memory stick, which reduces downtime

and through quick and easy commissioning,

may reduce maintenance costs.

AutroSafe 4 and AutroNet are designed to

meet all requirements in the high-end

commercial vessel sectors and are certified

according to European directives (CPD)

requiring EN 54 compliance and have Factory

Mutual (FM) approval according to NFPA 72.

“AutroSafe is already widely recognised as

the most advanced, fully addressable fire

detection system available for maritime use

and with AutroSafe 4, this position is

strengthened, especially with the improved

networking opportunities available from the

integration of AutroNet,” says Kristin Øgaard,

Autronica’s vice president sales maritime.

FLAGSHIP partnerIn addition, Autronica has played a key role in

the development of FLAGSHIP-ISEMS

(Integrated Safety and Emergency

Management System), a new system that

enables real-time communication between the

safety management system and the shore.

The new system is now being offered as part

of AutroMaster, Autronica’s integrated Safety

Management System and is set to improve

crew performance during emergency operations

whilst supporting drills and training.

FLAGSHIP-ISEMS was created as part of

FLAGSHIP, the pan-European maritime

transport project part funded by the EU. It is

an integrated, ship-to-shore system, primarily

for the control and monitoring of passenger

safety functions on board ship utilising both

fixed and mobile assets.

Per Norman Oma, section manager, software

for Autronica Fire and Security and FLAGSHIP

partner said: “It would not have been possible to

make the progress that we did, within the time

frame, was it not for the collaboration of experts

across Europe within the FLAGSHIP ISEMS

sub-project in which many of these concepts

were tested. We are delighted to have been part

of a research project that has delivered practical

tangible results.

These ‘results’ are systems and products that

can see in operation on the high seas delivering

benefits to the maritime transport industry in the

form of enhanced safety,” he said.

Herman de Meester, FLAGSHIP co-

ordinator commented: “The shipping industry

always works hard to meet and exceed

performance standards. The adoption of

specific learning in to new products for the

advancement of the industry is exactly what

EC projects such as these are all about and are

to be welcomed and encouraged.”Autronica’s fire detection system.

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 13


TECHNOLOGY – TANK SERVICING

The majority of the approved

cleaning chemicals are not actually

designed to remove traces of

previous cargo that are known to

be absorbed/retained inside the coatings of

vessels’ cargo tanks.

This is in direct contrast to cleaning solvents

that do actively penetrate into cargo tank coatings

to very efficiently remove previous cargo

residues that are known to be retained there.

I have also looked at how operational and

commercial pressures directly influence the

tank cleaning process and thus close co-

operation is perhaps required, even when this

would appear to create a conflict of interest.

I believe it is unrealistic to keep tightening

the pre-loading inspection requirements prior to

loading chemical cargoes in order to produce a

higher quality of received cargo, but I

understand that if the market demands a higher

quality of cargo, what else can be done?

1) Dedicated tonnage (without subsidies) is

commercial suicide in any market

conditions, let alone the most challenging

market seen for almost a generation.

2) Prohibiting previous cargoes also squeezes

the flexibility of the vessels and ultimately

results in increased transport and

commodity prices.

So clearly we must continue seeking the most

efficient tank cleaning processes, always

considering the use of approved tank cleaning

materials. But as already noted, approved

cleaning chemicals cannot be relied upon to

completely remove retained previous cargo

residues from coated cargo tanks, so at this

time, there is seemingly little point pursuing

this angle further.

When it comes to cleaning coated cargo

tanks to a chemically clean standard (in other

words to a standard where there are no longer

any retained previous cargo residues retained

inside the coating), the most efficient cleaning

processes can only utilise cleaning materials

that are able to penetrate the coating and flush

out the residues that are retained. This

basically translates into using specific

cleaning solvents, and of course the challenge

is then to use these solvents safely.

No alternative to using solvents?Branded cleaning chemicals are predominantly

surface active cleaners and by design are only

able to clean ‘surfaces’. Work has been carried

out that shows that even the most efficient

surface active cleaning chemicals leave residues

retained in different coating types that can, and

will, cause a wall wash inspection to fail.

Whether the concentration of these residues

retained in the coating is sufficient to

contaminate a cargo when that tank is fully

loaded is another question (the dilution effect

from a wall wash sample to a fully loaded

cargo tank is vast and this is actually why

tightening the wall wash specification further

does not necessarily result in a higher quality

of shipped cargo), but the point is, at this time,

vessels nominated to load sensitive cargoes

will very often have to pass a wall wash

inspection before loading can even

commence, so as a minimum, tank cleaning

must achieve a result that indicates:

a) There are no previous cargo residues on

the surface of the coating.

b) There are no previous cargo residues

retained in the profile of the coating.

Each time a cargo tank is wall washed as part

of a tank cleaning operation or pre-loading

inspection, the wall wash solvent will extract

both surface and retained contamination and if

the amount of extracted contamination

exceeds a pre-set limit (the wall wash

specification), the sample will fail and the

cargo tank will be rejected and considered

‘unclean’ to load the next cargo.

The most commonly used wall wash solvent

is methanol and it is known that methanol is

readily absorbed into both zinc silicate and

organic coatings, thus it has to be expected

that the wall wash results will be directly

affected by the presence of previous cargo

residues that are retained in the coating at the

time of the inspection.

When one considers the contact time of the

methanol on the bulkhead during a typical wall

wash inspection, it should be accepted that the

wall wash itself will not remove all of the

retained contamination, so it is not possible to

precisely quantify the amount of retained

contamination using the wall wash test, but as

most wall wash specifications are extremely

tight, the mere presence of any contamination is

usually sufficient to cause the sample to fail.

What should be understood here is that even

with a contact time of only a few seconds, the

wall wash solvent itself is able to ‘clean’ the

area that is wall washed and this tells us

categorically that the wall wash solvent is

actually a very efficient cleaning medium.

Which solvent is the most efficient?As already noted, methanol is the most

commonly used wall wash solvent and while it

is accepted that methanol is perhaps not the most

efficient solvent for removing persistent (heavy)

hydrocarbons and/or other oil based cargoes,

methanol is accepted as having sufficient

solvency power to be a good indicator for many

different scenarios and that is why it is used.

With this in mind, it is clear that methanol

has the potential to be an extremely effective

cleaning material and even if it does not

remove all of the retained previous cargo

residues, as long as the wall wash sample is

failing, it has to be accepted that the methanol

is actively extracting these residues.

It should therefore be considered that

cleaning the cargo tanks with methanol is an

extra cleaning step that will make the cargo

tanks cleaner than they would otherwise be if

methanol was not used.

This is the reason why cleaning with

methanol by means of manual spraying has

been successfully employed for many years and

why methanol can be considered as one of the

Tank cleaningefficiency - machine

washing with solventsI have written several discussion papers about the efficiency of tank cleaning on chemical

tankers, with particular reference to the use of approved tank cleaning chemicals*.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 14



most appropriate choices of solvent for future

cleaning operations. However and moving

forward, manual methanol spraying cannot be

considered as a long term option, so alternative

methods of application need to be sought.

It should be noted at this time that other

solvents may be more appropriate for specific

tank cleaning challenges and by using a basic

knowledge of chemistry, it should be possible

to formulate the most efficient tank cleaning

process, based on the chemical properties of

the retained cargo residues and the solvency

power of the available cleaning solvents. But

for the remainder of this discussion, the focus

will be on using methanol as cleaning solvent.

So, if the methanol cannot be applied

manually, the most sensible approach is to

apply it through the vessels’ tank cleaning

system. After all, this system is designed to

maximise the coverage of any tank cleaning

media inside the vessels’ cargo tanks and as

long as the system is confirmed as being

resistant to the cleaning solvent, there is no

reason why this system cannot be utilised.

The solvent can be applied by recirculation

through the deep-well pump and fixed tank

cleaning machines, which will expose all

internal surfaces of the cargo tank to the

solvent and when the washing is complete, the

‘used’ solvent can be transferred back to a

holding tank, which will also allow the line

system of the vessel to be flushed with the

same solvent, thus removing another potential

source of contamination for loaded cargoes.

Consider also, that by maintaining a closed

loop washing system, the cargo tanks can be

closed down and inerted prior to the solvent

washing, thus allowing flammable solvents -

such as methanol - to be used without risk of

explosion.

This seems to be too good to be true:

i) The entire operation is carried out under

inert conditions thus removing any risk of

explosion.

ii) No manual tank entry.

iii)All surfaces of the cargo tanks and cargo

lines are cleaned with the most efficient

cleaning materials.

iv) Effective cleaning that will remove

retained previous cargo residues from

inaccessible areas of the cargo tanks that

would ordinarily still be present during

loading of the cargo.

So one has to ask, why has this idea not been

considered before?

The simple answer is that it has, but really

only when it has been absolutely necessary

and the vessel has been cleaning from a cargo

that reacts with water, thus preventing

conventional tank cleaning with water until all

residues of the previous cargo have been

removed from the cargo tanks and lines.

But in practice and far more common, this

type of solvent washing has been carried out

extensively for many years on another type of

vessel; crude oil carriers, where the process is

known simply as crude oil washing, or COW

for short.

COW is very basically the recirculation of a

solvent (in this case crude oil) as a means of

preparing the vessel to load cargo. Admittedly,

the purpose of COW is more ‘preventative

maintenance’ than ‘tank cleaning’ and is

carried out in order to remove sediments and

residues that are known to accumulate in the

cargo tanks of crude oil carriers, rather than

cleaning the cargo tanks by removing previous

cargo residues that are retained in the coatings

of chemical tankers.

But clearly the principle is the same, yet

unlike COW, methanol washing does not have

industry approval and this may cause owners

and managers of chemical tankers to dismiss

the idea as being unsafe. On the contrary, just

because methanol washing does not have

industry approval does not mean it is unsafe,

it just means it has not yet been approved,

because up until this time, there has never

been a need to gain approval.

Now there is a need, this approval needs to

be sought and there are owner/managers of

chemical tankers who are actively seeking this

approval via their class societies and industry

representatives and the first indications are that

specific approval is not actually necessary,

providing the vessel is able to maintain fully

inerted conditions and the tank washing system

is proven to be resistant to methanol.

In fairness the need for chemical solvent

washing is likely to outweigh the need for crude

oil washing in the coming months/years, because

without this process, there is an increasing risk

of chemical cargo contamination, particularly if

the receivers continue to demand higher/stricter

quality requirements.

But surely if crude oil washing can gain

industry approval, methanol washing can also

gain the same approval, if indeed it needs

industry approval, because on the face of it,

methanol washing does appear to be

inherently safer than crude oil washing.

Consider first that crude oil is a static

accumulator and secondly the COW process is

designed to remove sediments and residues

that will subsequently be carried in the crude

oil as the washing process continues. It has to

be accepted that as the washing process does

continue, these sediments will be blasted

against the surface of the cargo tanks and

could potentially cause damage to the internal

structure of the cargo tanks.

By contrast, methanol is not a static

accumulator and is also a pure chemical that is

being used to clean a cargo tank that is already

visually free from previous cargo residues.

Assuming methanol washing does become a

recognised tank cleaning procedure, the

benefits are potentially enormous, not only for

the owners/operators of chemical tankers, but

also for the receivers of chemical cargoes who

can expect a higher quality of shipped cargoes.

In summary the following positives should

be considered:

i) A higher proportion of the internal surface

area of the cargo tank cargo tanks and the

cargo lines cleaned with the most efficient

type of cleaning media, which can only

lessen the risk of contaminating fully

loaded cargoes.

ii) The entire operation carried out under

fully inerted conditions.

iii)Significantly reduced cargo tank entry.

iv) Shorter yet more efficient cleaning operation.

v) The entire operation can be monitored by

The pictures above were taken after the Annex I prewash, hot sea water washing, hot seawater washing with cleaning chemicals and hotseawater rinsing. These pictures were representative of all cargo tanks.

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 15



drawing and analysing samples of the

methanol during the cleaning process,

which reduces the number of wall wash

samples required for validation of the process.

vi) In the longer term, methanol washing may

be able to replace some of the more

routine tank cleaning steps.

But of course, against these positives there are

some less positive considerations that need to

be addressed:

a) Washing through tank cleaning machines

requires a ‘significant’ volume of liquid

just to maintain suction on the pump.

b) The washing methanol is likely to become

quickly contaminated meaning fresh methanol

is probably going to be required for every

cargo tank, or at least every two cargo tanks.

c) Cost of the methanol.

d) Storage of the methanol.

e) Disposal of the ‘used’ methanol.

f) Ensuring the tank cleaning system is

resistant to methanol.

In the future, as this process becomes more

commonplace and knowledge of the operation

increases, some of the negatives should

become less influential. For example, vessels

cleaning with methanol and going on to load

bulk methanol, may be able to absorb the

‘used’ methanol into the fully loaded cargo.

Alternatively, lower grade methanol is now

far more commonly used in the automotive

gasoline trade, so there are a growing number

of receivers of this cargo.

It may also become apparent that more than

one or two tanks can be effectively cleaned

with the same volume of methanol, which will

significantly reduce the volume of methanol

required for the tank cleaning operation,

which will of course directly reduce the cost,

storage and disposal requirements.

But the main question at this stage is ‘does

methanol washing actually work?’ The theory

is sound, but what about the actual application?

The simple answer is yes, it does work and

the following details are taken from a vessel

that has sought and gained approval from their

class society to carry out methanol washing.

The vessel is zinc coated and the last cargo

carried in the cargo tanks was gas oil. The

vessel was nominated to load a cargo of methanol.

The following pictures were taken after the

Annex I prewash, hot sea water washing, hot

seawater washing with cleaning chemicals and

hot seawater rinsing. These pictures were

representative of all cargo tanks.

Generally the surface of the cargo tanks was

visually clean and the tanks were considered

to be visually clean or ‘water-white’ standard.

But when the tanks were methanol wall

washed, the results were extraordinary.

The following wall wash samples were

typical of all cargo tanks. The sample on the

left is the wall wash taken from the upper areas

of cargo tank 2P and the sample on the right is

taken from the lower areas of cargo tank 2P.

Not only were all samples heavily discoloured,

when the samples were mixed with water (for

the water miscibility/ hydrocarbon test) they

became immediately ‘milky’ representing

significant hydrocarbon failures.

The extent of the previous cargo

contamination retained in the zinc silicate

coating was so bad that the vessel’s owners

had little choice but to consider methanol

washing under fully inerted conditions. An

agreement was made with the cargo suppliers

to berth the vessel, load sufficient methanol

alongside, before sailing to anchorage for the

methanol washing procedure.

Duly, all cargo tanks were inerted to less

than 8% oxygen before the vessel berthed to

load just enough methanol to distribute evenly

in all cargo tanks at a level of approximately

15 cu m per tank. All cargo tanks were

washed through the fixed tank cleaning

machines on the regular tank washing setting

for one hour before transferring the ‘used’

methanol back to one of the slop tanks.

The cargo tanks were then gas freed and

wall washed again because the cargo suppliers

were sceptical that it would be possible to

load the cargo after seeing the first round of

wall wash results and they wanted some proof

that the discolouration and hydrocarbons had

been removed by the methanol washing.

The wall wash results were just as

extraordinary as they had been earlier, but for

completely opposite reasons; all tanks were

now ready to load and following a last flush

with DI water to remove atmospheric

chlorides that had been deposited on the

surface of the coating during the gas freeing

process, the vessel was accepted for loading.

The quality of all wall wash samples was

measured using the L&I WAVE II UV/Vis

Spectrophotometer and the results for COT 2P

were typical and are as follows:

As can be seen, the wall wash samples

taken from the upper and lower areas of the

cargo tank before the methanol washing were

completely off scale, showing massive

contamination of the wall wash sample.

After methanol washing and DI water

rinsing, the wall wash sample was almost the

same as pure methanol.

The vessel loaded methanol in all

nominated cargo tanks and the following data

represents the actual first foot loaded cargo

analysis results (see below):

And the full quantity was successfully

loaded and subsequently discharged, without

any incident.

From agreeing to carry out the methanol

washing procedure, to loading the full

nominated quantity took just over four days,

which includes the time for inerting and gas

freeing. Without methanol washing, there was

no way to clean the upper areas of the cargo

tanks to a standard that would have allowed

the vessel to load without significantly

jeopardising the quality of the loaded cargo.

It is also fair to say that to take the vessel

from the condition of the cargo tanks as they

were immediately before the methanol

washing to being fully loaded with methanol

in four days would have been impossible

without methanol washing.

If justification of the efficiency of the

washing with bulk methanol was needed, this

is surely it and perhaps as a result, we are

already looking at some part of the future for

cleaning cargo tank coatings…….

*This article was written by Guy Johnson,director L&I Maritime (UK) –[email protected]. Tel: +44 1909532 003.

Cargo Colour Chloride Hydrocarbon PTT Water Tank (APHA) (ppm) (minutes) (ppm)

2P < 1 0.06 Pass > 60 524

2S < 1 0.12 Pass > 60 494

3P < 1 0.50 Pass > 60 542

3S 1 0.06 Pass > 60 542

5P 1 0.11 Pass > 60 569

5S < 1 0.13 Pass > 60 527

6P 1 0.15 Pass > 60 567

6S < 1 0.10 Pass > 60 520

cot 2p wall wash samples

ab

sorb

ance

wavelength (nm)

pure meoh

“lower ww

before meoh

bw”

upper ww

before meoh

bwfinal wall

wash

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 16



News that Hamworthy hadrecently won a contract to supplypump room systems (PRS) for 11tankers to be delivered to theChina Shipping Group (CSG)prompted TANKEROperator totalk to the company at the recentNor-Shipping event. Director for PRS global sales Terje Bjørnemo

explained that this division of the UK

conglomerate was primarily aiming at the

newbuilding sector, although retrofits are

being undertaken on FPSO conversions.

“We are slowly building up our market

share,” he said. The reason that PRS are fitted

on newbuilds is that they last the life of the

vessel. A full service package is also offered

with each new installation.

Hamworthy has a partner in China, Hua Hai

Equipment & Engineering, which trains local

engineers to fit and service PRS. The systems

are controlled from a control panel through

electronic signals. These can be mounted on

the bridge and/or the engine room. “They are

easy to slot on board a ship,” Bjørnemo said.

Each PRS is fitted with automatic shut

down and alarm system. “They are very easy

to integrate within other on board systems,”

he emphasised.

As for the Chinese orders, the first three

systems are destined for installation on three

China Shipping Group (CSG) 112,000 dwt

Aframax newbuildings, to be constructed at

Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC).

The remaining eight systems are to be

supplied to product carriers being built at

Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).

All 11 systems include three cargo pumps

and two ballast pumps, which have been cast

at Hamworthy’s manufacturing plant in

Singapore in superior Ni-Al-Bronze material.

Bjørnemo said: “We have previously

delivered pump room systems for 17 x 42,000

dwt tankers built for CSG at GSI since 2002.

CSG continued with a series of four 52,000

dwt oil tankers in 2003, each featuring our

pump room systems and have now started

work on a new series of 48,000 dwt vessels.

“The latest contract with CSG is the result

of many years of active marketing to both

shipyards and owners through Hua Hai

Equipment & Engineering our distributor in

China,” he added.

Global supportA significant factor in the decision to specify a

Hamworthy system was the group’s global

support network, Bjørnemo said, where

service for all components within the systems

is provided at short notice wherever the ships

are in operation.

Last January, Hamworthy announced orders

for PRS to be delivered to four VLCCs to be

built in China. These contracts were also

negotiated through Hua Hai Engineering &

Equipment.

The VLCCs, which will be built for CSC

Nanjing Tanker (NJTC) at Guangzhou

Longxue Shipbuilding, follow on from 10

previous VLCCs contracted by the same

owner at Jiangnan Shipyard and Bohai

Shipyard, all of which are being equipped

with Hamworthy PRS.

Bjørnemo said that the package will include

three 2,500 kW steam turbine-driven heavy

duty cargo pumps in superior Ni-Al-Bronze

material and two ballast pumps featuring the

same material and one stripping pump. The

cargo pumps would be supported by a genuine

vacuum stripping system. All systems would

be controlled by a PLC-based Hamworthy

cargo control system.

Bjørnemo said that NJTC’s crew also

benefited from the company’s training

offering, held in Nanjing overseen by the

Hamworthy Singapore Service Centre in close

co-operation with Hua Hai.

Other contracts include 10 Suezmaxes

building at Brazilian shipyard Atlantico Sul

for Transpetro, the shipping arm of Petrobras.

The first vessel was due for delivery soon,

Bjørnemo said. A series of shuttle tankers

built in South Korea were also similarly fitted

with PRS.

In October last year, Hamworthy secured a

contract from SBM Offshore subsidiary Gusto

to supply seawater lift pumps and electric fire

pumps for installation on board the FPSO

Cidade de Paraty, due to start operations in

Brazilian waters in 2013.

Hamworthy was also contracted to deliver

cargo pump room system, seawater lift and

firewater pumps for the Papa Terra FPSO

under conversion at COSCO Dalian, for

redelivery by late 2011.

Hamworthy’s pump room success

Location of the PRS.

A Hamworthy pump system.

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 17

MIRACLE Tank Cleaning Guide

provides tank cleaning guidance and detailed information for about 7000 Annex I and II cargoes.

MIRACLE contains physical/chemical properties, adjacent cargo coating and FOSFA-compatibility check, IBC requirements,emergency response info and compatible Draeger tubes.

Some 200 customers, having MIRACLE in use on more than 1000 shipsreport less tank rejections, decreased cleaning time and cost reduction as a benefi t.

MIRACLE is available as

• Book with annual updates (DIN A4 1000 pages) • CD with annual updates (local installation) • Online continuously updated (web-based access)

For more informations please visit or contact www.chemserve-marine.com [email protected]

MIR

AC

LE a

s B

ook

anyt

ime

and

anyw

here

MIR

AC

LE a

s C

Dru

ns w

ithou

t int

erne

t

Hubertuskamp 8D - 21521 Dassendorf

phone +49 4135 - 808630fax +49 4135 - 808631

[email protected]

MIR

AC

LE O

nlin

eno

inst

alla

tion

nece

ssar

y

Hubertuskamp 8D - 21521 Dassendorf

phone +49 4135 - 808630fax +49 4135 - 808631

[email protected]

Vetting and HSE Monitoring ToolRepository for all shipboard inspections and events. Integrated follow up system.

Automatic import of vetting inspection reports.

Test our free 3D demo

CDISIRETerminal Inspections

Port State ControlFlag State InspectionsClass Inspections

Ship Visit ReportsInternal AuditsNavi AuditsTMSA

Marine Injury ReportsVessel/Cargo DamagesMachinery DamagesEnvironmental IncidentsNear MissesNon Conformities

Fleet ReportsNear Miss Reports

Management Reports

Overdue Items ReportOil Major Reports

Ship Reports

Vetting Status Report

Repetitive QuestionsMost Frequent Defi ciencies

Marine Injury Report acc OCIMF

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:57 Page 18



This was born out of uniting three

well known marine brands under

its portfolio – Allweiler, Houttuin

and IMO.

“Every day, we bring more than 70 years of

commercial marine experience and expertise

to the job. Now our sales and after sales

support teams can offer each client the

complete Colfax pump product line. This has

only positive benefits for our global clients,”

explained Karl Johan Brinck, vice president,

Colfax Commercial Marine.

According to Brinck, the balance and

complementary fit between Colfax pump

brands together with the breadth of the

combined international network means that

the new division has an even stronger

competence and sales base.

“Our goal is to serve global clients more

efficiently. Leveraging the resources,

experience and strengths of our marine pump

brands has extraordinary potential and creates

new opportunities within merchant marine,”

he added.

Through the amalgamation of the three

brands, Colfax Commercial Marine now has a

comprehensive portfolio pumping and fluid

handling equipment and technologies. The

move also minimises owners and operators’

costs, the company claimed.

“The total cost of owning and operating a

pump unit, or installation is a main focus. Our

pumps meet shipowner demands, not only on

the initial investment, but also life cycle costs,

ie operational costs like those related to

energy, downtime, maintenance and spare

parts,” Brinck said.

Many equipment suppliers have lost

volumes due to the collapse of the shipping

industry and the shipbuilding slowdown. And

while owners have hesitated to spend money

on newbuilds, the demand for spare pump

parts has increased significantly. The after

sales business is back to levels last

experienced in 2007, the company said.

“We faced 2010 with a number of

postponements and cancellations, but

towards the autumn some shipping segments

picked up on the back of rising oil prices.

For instance, now halfway through 2011, we

have already more than doubled our OSV

pump deliveries from 2010,” Brinck

explained.

One clear post financial crisis change is that

delivery times for newbuilds are much shorter.

This requires suppliers, such as Colfax, to

adapt a much shorter delivery lead time and

increased flexibility.

“The commercial market is highly

competitive. By combining our products,

experience and global business strengths

under one umbrella, Colfax Commercial

Marine supports its customers with the best

portfolio of pumps and systems. We are a

major player, present in the local markets with

our own staff and with support from our local

distributors,” Brinck concluded.

At Nor-Shipping, Colfax also introduced a

large centrifugal pump – MI-D. It is claimed

to be 700 kg lighter than its competitors’

range and was launched from the Allweiler

product range.

It has been designed to optimise major

ballast water and seawater cooling

applications demanded by large vessels.

“Today’s large containerships and tankers

have big main engines to boost fast travelling

speed. The MI-D pump is a perfect fit for

these vessels and demanding ballast or

seawater cooling applications. Higher

capacities have positive impact and shorten

time in harbour,” said Christian Martin,

director product management, Colfax

Commercial Marine.

The high corrosive and cavitation

resistant MI-D range will have a flow

capacity of up to 3,500 cu m per hour and a

delivery head of 50 m. This adequately

meets the upcoming ballast duty points for

ballast water treatment systems. For smaller

duties up to 1,800 cu m per hour requiring

delivery heads of up to 60 m, shipowners

can access units from the existing Allmarine

MI/MA pump range, the company

explained.

“MI-D 350-250 is probably the shipping’s

most effective large pump. Featuring double

suction and double volute, it offers lowest

axial and radial loads. Compared to similar

pumps on the market, MI-D grants up to 44%

weight and 38% space savings. And it offers

higher flow rates with a smaller pump,”

said Martin.

Driven by a powerful, highly energy

efficient 4-pole motor, The MI-D pump unit

will handle up to 2,700 tonnes of seawater

per hour.

“The speed of a 4-pole motor is higher and

so the size of the pump is much smaller. This

is more efficient and grants lower aggregate

costs than 6-pole units required by competing

pumps in the MI-D range. We estimate that

MI-D’s 4-pole operation represents a cost

advantage of between 20 to 40% comparable

to a 6-pole aggregates for the same duties with

single volutes.

“MI-D’s wear parts can be exchanged

without removing the insert unit. The total

weight to handle when exchanging the bearing

and shaft seal unit is about 25 kg. Other

systems in the market must handle weight 10

times this amount, thus extensive major

operation, demanding additional lifting tools

for handling when requiring maintenance,”

he said.

� High strength, durable

materials.

� Double suction design and

double volute.

� At least two years, or 17,500

running hours maintenance

free.

� Minimal spare parts – only

one ball bearing, one

mechanical seal, no bottom

bearing, no spherical roller

bearing.

MI-D Keybenefits

Colfax unites brands-unveils new pump

Pump and valve designer

and manufacturer Colfax

has formed a new

Commercial Marine

division.

TO

p26-44:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 22:58 Page 19

TECHNOLOGY – REPAIR & MAINTENANCE


Harris Pye expandson all fronts

Independent repair and maintenance firms are reaping the rewards from those

owners/operators who do not wish to use OEMs, or who cannot access normal repair

facilities for themselves, either on a geographic, or technical basis.

One such concern is the Harris

Pye Group (HPG), which over

the years has built up expertise

in many repair and maintenance

disciplines and has signed co-operative

agreements with shipyards worldwide.

TA�KEROperator asked the company about

its involvement in the tanker and gas carriers

sectors, as recently, HPG has been involved

with a number of LNGC and FPSO/FSO

projects.

HPG gave examples of its impressive

reference list of companies serviced in the

tanker, FPSO and LNGC fields. These

included – Shell (STASCO), OSG, MOL

(UK), NYK, K Line, IMT, NITC, PIL,

Navix, Anglo Eastern, Stolt Tankers, Odfjell,

Maran Tankers, BP Shipping, Teekay, Maersk

Tankers, V Ships, Frontline, Knutsen OAS

and Sichem. The company has also serviced

LNGCs from most of the major owners and

operators worldwide.

A company spokesman said that the list was

not exhaustive and the work undertaken was

not exclusively boiler work, for which the

company is well known.

He explained that it varied from major

work on auxiliary and waste heat recovery to

automation and electrical projects down to

inspection and the supply of spares. For

example, HPG is currently awaiting a

suitable schedule to visit and asses a fairly

major steel repair on a tanker of one of the

above clients.

Just some examples of the wide variety of

work recently undertaken included -

� Shell LNG Fleet:- Low sulphur diesel oil

(LSDO) pipe work and winterisation

projects (bridge wing enclosures).

� Anglo Eastern LNG Fleet:-Distributed

control system, boiler management system

and automatic combustion control system

field cabling replacement, commissioning

of systems, plus the control equipment

supply.

� Anglo Eastern oil tanker fleet:- LSDO

conversion installation.

� Euronav tanker fleet:- LSDO conversions.

� V-Ships (UK) LNG fleet:- HAZOP studies

Harris Pye’s managing director Mark Prendergast.

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 1



for LSDO conversions, plus LSDO

conversions survey and installation.

� NYK LNG fleet:- HAZOP studies for

LSDO conversions, plus LSDO

conversions survey and installation.

� Campbell Shipping:- LSDO conversions

survey and installation, ballast water

treatment system consultancy.

HPG has a number of fleet deals in place, not

only for boiler work but also for steel repair,

main engine and auxiliary machinery work.

These agreements are periodically reviewed

and renewed.

The company also has a number of

agreements with leading shipyards, including

the new repair complex at Duqm in Oman.

The yard is not yet fully operational and HPG

said that this would not be accomplished until

about the fourth quarter of this year.

The types of ships handled will be the same

mix as with any other drydocking facility with

perhaps a leaning towards Omani LNG

carriers, HPG explained.

In addition, the group has a fully

operational manufacturing repair facility in

Dubai (Sharjah) with offices and workshops in

Bahrain (ASRY) and Al Jubail in Saudi

Arabia. Negotiations are currently underway

with Qatar Navigation to set up a facility in

Ras Laffan.

As for Singapore, this base alone has

worked on more than 20 trading LNGCs this

year, the company said. Another agreement is

in place with the Brest facility operated by

Sobrena for general repairs and inspections. In

addition, HPG has access to a drydock in

Newport, UK, which is aimed at local coastal

tanker market.

Repair and maintenance work can be

carried out from its hub stations, as required.

The personnel have the versatility to

undertake multi-disciplinary jobs. Riding

squads are available from all three main

stations, namely Barry UK, Singapore and

Dubai but resources from other locations can

be used as required.

The company explained that it was

important to maintain this status as the

technician base in any one station, Dubai for

example, may not be able to travel to say the

US to carry out work because of nationality

and visa status. The riding squads based at

individual stations tend to be geographically

specific.

Each riding squad can deal with many

disciplines including: Electrical, automation

and instrumentation services; technical and

inspection services, which include advanced

thermal design; inspection and investigative

processes; design, manufacture, installation

and commissioning of HRSG/economiser

units; combustion systems design,

manufacture, supply and installation; boiler

module design, manufacture, supply,

installation and commissioning; design,

manufacture, supply, installation and

commissioning of LSDO systems; chemical

cleaning of boilers and all associated deck

piping systems etc, on tankers.

Specifically for the tanker sector, HPG

offers general repairs, as well as boiler repairs;

such as electrical, automation and

instrumentation services; technical and

inspection services, which includes advanced

thermal design, inspection and investigative

processes; design, manufacture, installation

and commissioning of HRSG/economiser

units; combustion systems design,

manufacture, supply and installation; boiler

module design, manufacture, supply,

installation and commissioning; design,

manufacture, supply, installation and

commissioning of LSDO systems; chemical

cleaning of boilers and all associated tanker

deck piping systems etc; ballast water

treatment system consultancy, survey and

installation; exhaust gas scrubber unit survey

and installation; LSDO conversion, including

control, instrumentation, electrical and

mechanical aspects.

The company is also involved with

winterisation projects, which can involve:-

� Installations of electrical trace heating

systems for walkways, doors and escape

routes.

� Ballast tank heating systems.

� Space heating modifications.

� Enclosed bridge wing modifications.

The company said that it was naturally

disappointed to have been refused permission

to put up a permanent base at Swansea Dry

Dock, managing director Mark Prendergast

stated at the time - “We believed we had much

to bring to the table, and to the people of

Swansea. I am glad to say we now have an

exciting time ahead of us working in the

French Sobrena shipyard, and the new dry

dock at Al Duqm in Oman where we will have

a permanent presence. We have several other

planned openings this year at major new

facilities that are due on line.”

Planned openings will include the Ras

Laffan scheme, mentioned earlier. There is

also an option on the Newport drydock, but it

is of limited size and there is also the highly

successful relationship with Sobrena in Brest,

HPG concluded.

The recent tie up with boiler concern TEi

will involve the tanker sector, as well as the

FPSO/FSO market.

HPG said that most FPSO/FSOs were

converted tankers hence the tie up. The

company also said that it was interested in

becoming involved in the supply of new

boilers to the tanker sector, as retrofit

replacement units. TO

As part of its $188 mill facilityexpansion programme, Bahrain-based shiprepairer ArabShipbuilding & Repair Yard (ASRY)has ordered two new quaysidecranes from German cranemanufacturer Ardelt. The cranes will be used on the shipyard’s new

1.38 km long repair quay wall, which is due

for completion at the end of this year.

They are of the level-luffing type running on

rails, from Ardelt’s Kranich range of single jib

cranes. The Kranich 1000 types are lightweight,

flexible units, offering extremely low

maintenance, and tailored to the demanding

requirements of the shiprepair yard, as well as

handling offshore rig repairs and installation.

ASRY already operates a Kranich 500 crane

on one of the yard’s two floating docks.

Two separate cranes are being built for

ASRY, with delivery set for the end of 2011.

One crane will be a Kranich 1000-47, the

other a Kranich 1000-28.

The Kranich 1000-47’s main hoist is

designed for a SWL of 30 tonnes at 47 m

outreach and a SWL of five tonnes at 60 m

outreach. Capacity of the auxiliary hoist is a

SWL of 15 tonnes at 47 m outreach and a

SWL of five tonnes at 65 m outreach.

Maximum hook height of the main hoist is

132 m, while maximum outreach is 60 m.

The Kranich 1000-28’s main hoist is

designed for a SWL of 30 tonnes at 28 m

outreach and a SWL of five tonnes at 60 m

outreach. Capacity of the auxiliary hoist is a

SWL of 15 tonnes at 44 m outreach and a

SWL of five tonnes at 65 m outreach.

Maximum hook height for the main hoist is 99

m, with a maximum outreach of 60 m.

ASRY orders new cranes

TO

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 2

ASRY - Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Co. centrally located in the

Arabian Gulf, provides a comprehensive range of services for all your

ship repair and conversion needs.

P.O. Box 50110, Hidd, Kingdom of Bahrain

T: +973 1767 1111 F: +973 1767 0236 E: [email protected]

www.asry.net

...take a closer look

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 3



Facing greater economic andecological challenges than everbefore, the shipping industry iseager to cut downtime and costswherever possible. Scheduled but unnecessary maintenance

results in lost ship and man hours. To prevent

these losses GL Maritime Software has

developed a dedicated condition-based

maintenance software for machinery - GL

MachineryManager in co-operation with SKF.

Continuous condition monitoring of

machinery on board helps to control and

benchmark equipment performance.

Integration of assessment results from

vibration monitoring technologies provided by

SKF for rotating auxiliary machinery ensures

greater depth to the results and analysis.

Torsten Kappel, product manager GL

Maritime Software, said: "We are convinced that

this co-operation will provide additional value to

our clients' condition-based maintenance quality.

The integration between SKF and GL Maritime

Software technologies will increase the

condition monitoring capabilities of a vessel's

machinery significantly."

By combining visual inspection results with

online and offline condition measurement GL

MachineryManager creates a single monitoring

platform for different application purposes.

Equipment conditions can be monitored fleet

wide and alerts enable operators to decide how

and when to take appropriate action. Crews

benefit from graphical support of monitored

items and guidance for inspection routes and

approaches. Measurements and recordings are

easily transferred to a central database onshore.

Christian Klinger, key account manager

SKF Marine Industry, said; "SKF looks to

provide our customers with advanced and

integrated solutions. We highly appreciate the

co-operation with GL Maritime Software".

GL also presented the latest version of its

Hull Manager software at Nor-Shipping.

Condition monitoring for hull and machinery

can generate great advantages for shipping

lines, the class society said. Switching to need

based maintenance schedules can reduce

downtime and increase vessel profitability by

preventing unnecessary maintenance, offering

early warning of equipment failure and

avoiding misguided maintenance.

A well-chosen and effectively implemented

hull maintenance strategy not only reduces the

risk of incidents but also insures hull integrity

and safeguards the environment. Shipowners,

managers and operators need to monitor their

vessels' structural condition continuously, in

order to detect deficiencies in the hull

structure as early as possible and initiate the

necessary maintenance.

Typically, monitoring is done by appointed

crew members through periodic visual

inspections. The location and extent of coating

breakdown, defects or corrosion are

documented, using only text descriptions and

photos. Because of the size and complexity of

the tanks and cargo holds, however, expressing

the location of breakdowns reliably and with

sufficient accuracy can be challenging.

Planning, preparing, executing, reporting

on, and assessing hull structure inspections are

a crucial process that requires utmost

diligence. The latest hull integrity software

systems use 3D models of the vessel to

visualise the shortcomings within the

structure. The ability to present findings

visually is particularly helpful when shipping

companies need to prove to charterers that

their ships are maintained to high standards.

3D imaging with integrated reporting results

in greater levels of accuracy in examining the

integrity of a vessel's structure. GL

HullManager uses a 3D computer model of the

particular vessel to support the complete hull

condition inspection and assessment process.

This model can be used throughout the

entire hull integrity process, from inspections,

to reporting and assessment of the conditions

of tanks, cargo holds and coatings, as well as

visualisation and assessment of the hull's

structural condition. A dashboard overview of

the entire ship helps crew, or third party

inspectors to pinpoint any critical findings.

Systematic and comprehensive data

collection is supported and information on the

condition of hull structures can be made

available to any company employee once the

inspection results have been approved and

synchronised.

Once stored in a lifecycle database the hull

condition data for each individual vessel can

then be traced over time. Sister vessels from

the same fleet can also easily be compared.

GL listed some major advantages in

adopting maintenance management. These

include -

Maintenance costs are 25-30% of total ship

management costs (excluding fuel).

Smaller routine maintenance efforts have

proven to be more effective and economic to

infrequent larger maintenance efforts.

A quality approach and a safety culture go

hand in hand, improved safety is not just a

side effect.

Maintenance management is an area worth

investing.

Classification societies are key contributors

in maintenance process for shipping

companies.

New technologies improve operational

efficiency- Key methods -

� Visual inspection of tanks, cargo holds,

deck with systematic recording of findings.

� Thickness measurement (TM) with full

electronic transfer of data from TM-

company to shipping company.

� Visual inspection of equipment with

systematic recording of findings.

� Discrete measurements, eg vibration

monitoring, with full integration of results.

� Continuous measurement, eg crankshaft

bearing wear monitoring, with full

integration of results in maintenance system.

GL support offers -

� Extended drydocking scheme with

advanced hull maintenance strategy.

� Hull lifecycle program class notation for

reassessment of strength.

� GL HullManager software solution for full

hull integrity support based on actual 3D

model of vessel.

� Type approval of new condition

monitoring technologies.

� GL MachineryManager: as integration

platform of condition monitoring

information of manufacturers and

maintenance management in shipping

companies.

There is a new market with many different

players, who collect various information for

condition monitoring purposes. These include

– engine, bearings, or other equipment

manufacturer, independent consultancies, ship

automation suppliers. These are mainly

involved with vibration monitoring of

equipment with rotating parts like pumps,

gearboxes, etc, with many information islands

created that solve only part of technical

managers’ problem.

GL said that it is is working on an

integration layer for all condition monitoring

information to be assessed in combination:

Uniform display of and fast overview on

equipment condition; easier link of future CM

systems to PMS.

The system manages all machinery

inspection data, for example, recording of

manual measurements; check lists; damage

descriptions; ‘manual’ (subjective)

assessment; providing templates for inspection

patrols; organises non-open-up inspections

and offline measurements into patrols;

supports patrol-triggered data input.

Expert co-operation for machinery condition monitoring

TO

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 4

In use in more than 500 ships worldwide and with over 20 years of proven performance, it’s little wonder that HEMPADUR 15500 is consistently rated the best phenolic epoxy tank coating on the market.

Find out more at www.hempel.com

HEMPADUR 15500 TANK COATINGMore than 400 departures every week

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 5

Goltens looks fiveyears ahead

Goltens has unveiled a new five-year business strategy to further increase

the company’s investment and focus in core business areas while opening

the door to a new green technology division.



Developed after extensive

consultation with stakeholders

and key global management, the

new strategy will position

Goltens as a primary independent engine

repair and service specialist on par with

OEMs offering full scale technical,

engineering, after sales service and repair

support. It also further expands the company’s

marine in-situ business and launches a new

green technology business stream.

“Goltens has taken a fresh look at its five-

year strategy and the verdict was unanimous:

core engine and in-situ services will remain

the dominant focus of our business and

developing our green service provider is an

important step and opportunity for the

company,” said Paul Friedberg, president,

Goltens Worldwide Services.

There are five main objectives in the new

strategy:

� Environment for enterprise – developing

the skills that Goltens needs to grow its

business, expand its global presence and

sustain high performance workshop

facilities.

� New business – providing shipowners

with support in critical shiprepair and new

regulations.

� Partnerships – collaborating with selected

companies to enhance efficiency and

competitiveness.

� Continuous improvement – internationally

recognised as the leading market provider

of engine and in-situ repair solutions.

� Creating opportunities – launching new

initiatives to advance established core

business arms into new markets.

Undertaking a mammoth customer satisfaction

survey, Goltens found that the market

positions the company as the leading

independent engine repair and in-situ

machining specialist. But it also found out

something that they didn’t know; the survey

placed them much higher than they thought.

Shipowners put Goltens on par and, in some

cases, even better than engineers and

technicians from the engine manufacturers.

But the real acknowledgement of the service

and competence was by the engine

manufacturers themselves.

“Several of them view us as the most

competent and highest qualified independent

engine repair specialist,” said Friedberg.

Competence levelGoltens has developed an intricate

competence matrix for its diesel engine

business. The matrix provides details of all

employees in every diesel engine department

and maps Goltens total experience and

specific skills on various engine makes.

The matrix system effectively analyses its

needs for recruitment and additional training.

The main goal is to uncover any skill gap and

to identify technical personnel with the

additional skill sets to elevate the company’s

level of service.

The skills overview programme has fine-

tuned Goltens focus and restructured its

market approach. Goltens continually

crosschecks its worldwide technical skills to

analyse any shortcomings. The goal is to be

the best in diesel engine repair, from the

ability to check alignment and inspect

crankshafts to general diesel engine activities

and the adjustment of fuel pumps.

“Being the best demands thorough and

systematic mapping of our employee skill sets

and aligning those to the roles and

responsibilities we have in Goltens. This and

our ability to pinpoint and develop staff with

management and team leader skills, enables us

to maintain a leading position in diesel and in-

situ service,” said Friedberg.

The responsibilities of professional diesel

service technicians are becoming more

complex as more electronic components

control engine operation. At the forefront

of diesel development, Goltens said that it

lifts the competence of its technicians

through intense hands-on diesel technology

speciality programmes.

Led by the industry’s leading diesel

instructors, Goltens in-house training

programmes grant intensive learning in all

facets of diesel engines, fuel injection,

governor, turbocharger, electrical systems, and

lubrication systems with specialist emphasis

on comprehensive diagnostics,

troubleshooting and repair.

Goltens recently completed one of its

seven-day training courses for diesel engine

engineers in Dubai. The course brought

together 12 engineers and focused on repair

and maintenance and practical work on

turbochargers, fuel oil pumps, fuel valves and

other related engine systems.

Friedberg explained: “The participants were

extremely motivated and had immersed

themselves with course material prior to

coming. Target training utilises our extensive

experience and expertise that we have

accumulated over many years in the marine

industry. The content is very rich and the

enhanced skill development and trouble

shooting practice will be helpful when out in

the field."

Certifications are an important part of

validating whether an employee has the right

skills in the right place. As the market

continues to improve in 2011/12, Goltens is

going to be even more bullish with its training

and hiring programmes, the company said.

“We make sure that staff are well-qualified

and provide comprehensive courses with a

solid mix of theoretical lectures and practical

hands-on training. Goltens wide range of

expertise and knowledge about modern

engines can be passed on to new crews and

personnel who will operate the engines in

service,” said Friedberg.

Service agreementRecently, Goltens signed an engine service

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 6



agreement with Tekomar, the newly

established, Switzerland-based diesel engine

specialist offering technical, consulting and

engineering support.

The partnership is focused on providing

highly reliable and OEM-compliant repair and

service solutions for a wide range of existing

diesel engines and new high tech units being

introduced to the marine market.

“The collaboration of Goltens and Tekomar

allows global shipowners the opportunity to

choose best in class, independent engine

repair services from two market leaders.

Together we can address the urgent and

growing market concern for OEM-

independent technical, spare parts, consulting

and repair services,” explained Friedberg.

Backed by decades of investment in tooling,

technology and training for crankshaft

machining, annealing, line boring, large-scale

surface machining and laser alignment,

Goltens continues to secure repeat and new

clients looking to minimise downtime.

“We are investing in expanding our

personnel base and in dedicated training

centres for in-situ machining around the globe

and have aligned our R&D functions across

our technical specialities. Our aim is to

enhance and standardise tooling, process and

methods and to ensure consistently excellent

results,” Friedberg said.

Aiming to help shipowners meet the

escalating wave of ‘green technology’ and

new regulations, Goltens has launched a new

business stream to become a green technology

service provider.

In 2010, Goltens established a centre of

excellence in Rotterdam to provide ballast

water treatment system installation services

for the group’s 22 engineering centres

worldwide. Goltens brought together some of

the most advanced ballast water treatment

technologies, the most experienced engineers

and assembly crews that are available 24/7.

“Goltens global independent network makes

it an attractive green tech partner for owners

and equipment suppliers,” said Friedberg, who

warns of higher costs for shipowners as they

strive to comply with new rules on energy

efficiency and curtailing or reducing the

emission of greenhouse gases and other

pollutants.

Upcoming rules will govern how existing

vessels will be operated. Just-in-time berthing,

slow steaming to save on fuel and voyage

planning and routing might all be encouraged

by new international rules. Changes in

propeller design and hull coatings might also

be required. Regulations on tanker emissions

of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and other pollutants

will be increasingly expensive.

“SECA, the International Ballast Water

Convention, coatings legislation, Helcom and

Marpol 73/78 represent major green

challenges to shipowners and require major

investments. The cost of installing a BWT

system on, for example, an existing chemical

tanker could reach $200,000 for installation

costs and $600,000 for the equipment, not

including operating costs, and as much as $2

mill for a crude oil carrier,” says Friedberg.

Shipowners face considerable green

challenges ahead. Major work is still needed

to meet a 30% reduction in CO2. This can

only be obtained through continued efforts to

reduce vessel resistance, optimised operation

(slow steaming, weather routing etc), more

effective propulsion systems, more fuel-

efficient engines, alternative fuel (LNG,

Biofuel etc) and addition of alternative

green means of propulsion (fuel cells, wind,

solar etc).

“Establishing a Goltens Green Technology

competency centre is paramount to meeting

the needs of shipyards, shipowners and system

suppliers, and to strengthen our leading

position as a specialist, independent shiprepair

company. We have hired key people to help

build the green side of our business,” said

Friedberg. TO

The A&P Group has been activerecently, not least changingownership.The new owner is Atlantic & Peninsula

Marine Services whose shareholders include

Peel Port Holdings (No2) (IOM) and private

investors including existing investors and

directors of Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and

Shipbuilders.

The new owners have a wealth of

experience in the operation of ports, shipyards

and engineering infrastructure and are

committed to building on the successes of

A&P Group to date.

A&P’s current management team in the

individual yards led by Group managing

director, Chris Bell and finance director, Ian

Carey remain in place with responsibility for

the day-to-day running of the operations.

A&P has had some success in recent

months in winning contracts in the oil & gas

and renewable energy markets, which are

important for the business, gaining a

significant foothold, as well as continuing to

develop its traditional business of shiprepair

and conversion, the company said.

The group additionally provides services to

the UK MoD under a performance based

Through Life Support contract for RFA

vessels and is also working on sections for the

new QEII class aircraft carriers.

Bell said, “This announcement is good

news for the A&P Group and will drive our

continued growth both in the short and long

term. The management team is committed to

ensuring that the business continues to go

from strength to strength, as we pursue

opportunities in new sectors and continue to

service our existing customers.

“We are grateful to the former shareholders

who have supported and enabled us to invest

in the business resulting in the strong position

we find ourselves in today. We are looking

forward to working with our new shareholders

who share our vision in driving the business

forward.”

Among the recent investments was a new

£3 mill West Quay at A&P Tyne’s shiprepair

and fabrication yard.

The concreted, fully serviced quay, 100 m

long by 48 m deep, replaces its old, timber

predecessor on the south bank of the River

Tyne.

It gives vessels berthed alongside direct

access to water, electricity and other utilities

and, most importantly, has been specifically

designed and built to allow direct load-out.

The West Quay development at Hebburn

completes the second of a three phase £9 mill

investment in its yard on the Tyne by the

group.

This quay upgrade is part of A&P’s

continuing multi-million pound investment in

its three yards, on the Tyne, the Tees and at

Falmouth, over the last three years.

A&P Tyne has the largest drydock on the

UK’s east coast and a modern fabrication

facility capable of turning out more than

10,000 tonnes of steel a year for marine and

civil structures.

At Falmouth, the A&P group has upgraded

its engineering workshop as part of its

ongoing improvement programme.

Already a well established shiprepair,

conversion and fabrication business, A&P

said that it wants to make full use of its

3,500 sq m covered mechanical work and

machine shop.

A&P changes hands – continues yard upgrading projects

TO

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 7


TECHNOLOGY – NEWS

TMC launches newmarine screwcompressorAimed at the large vessel sector,Tamrotor Marine Compressors’(TMC) new TMC 7-27 series has anew design. With its smoothshape and tilted control panel,this compressor is space-savingand operator-friendly, thecompany claimed.With a footprint of just 0.7 sq m, the TMC 7-

27 is the smallest in its range in the market. It

gives as much compressed air as models that

have a significantly larger footprint, TMC

said.

TMC 7-27 is designed for 55 deg C ambient

temperature. A unique, patented temperature

control system ensures safe operation in the

variable conditions in the machine room and

with variable load of the compressor.

With a lifting lug and its small footprint, it

is claimed to be easy to install.

Using the company’s unique TMC Smart

Air® technology means 40-50% reduction in

the energy consumption, compared to a

conventional compressor. TMC’s new compressor has a small footprint.

Fuel savings of between 2% and10% can be achieved by the useof an Amarcon on board decisionsupport system. In the last few years, Amarcon has focused on

the development of a fuel saving extension

within the OCTOPUS-Onboard decision

support system - OCTOPUS-Performance.

The performance extension is claimed by

the company to give a new dynamic approach

to voyage planning. It combines all relevant

measurements and forecasts with a new

algorithm, which will assist the master to

reach the destination by choosing the route

with the lowest resistance and cruising with

the optimal speed.

OCTOPUS-Performance can forecast and

give advice for actual, as well as for simulated

situations. Regardless of the hull fouling, age

or condition of the vessel: the crew will

always receive accurate advice, Amarcon

claimed.

Fuel savings can be achieved, while the

vessel is sailing the same average speed and

weather conditions. The system is suitable for

fixed pitched propelled vessels. The actual

savings differ for various ship types.

OCTOPUS-Performance gives significant fuel savings

Kelvin Hughes and Seagull join forces Kelvin Hughes has signed anagreement with Seagull todevelop a product-specificcomputer-based training (CBT)module for its MantaDigital ECDISrange. As part of its ECDISplus package, which

includes equipment, data, updates and

training, Kelvin Hughes will be offering an

equipment-specific CBT package designed to

meet the flag state requirements for on board

training on its MantaDigital range of products.

Approved by a number of flag states,

Seagull’s existing ECDIS on board training

course includes training in the use of all

aspects of ECDIS including chart projections,

chart accuracy, chart types, chart datum,

updates, sensors and alarm strategies. The

display of radar and ARPA information on the

ECDIS and route planning is also covered.

Under the agreement, Seagull will design

the package to be included in the Seagull

library of CBT-modules as ‘Product Specific

Training’ to meet latest revisions to STCW,

extending Seagull’s existing CBT-based

training.

In another move, Kelvin Hughes has

increased its warranty period on its products

from one year to three years.

The new, three-year warranty applies to

deliveries made from 1st June 2011 onwards.

It is applicable to all Kelvin Hughes

manufactured commercial marine products.

p45-52:p2-7.qxd 14/06/2011 23:02 Page 8

COMMERCIAL TANKEROPERATIONSincluding shipbroking, legal mattersand financing

IN DEPTH INFORMATIONon the latest newbuilds, sale andpurchase, freight rates andderivatives markets, using industryknown commentators

A STRONG FOCUSon shipbuilding and repair

subscribe online at www.tankeroperator.com

KEY PLAYERS IN THE TANKER INDUSTRY will be profiled giving their views on current legislation,recommendations and trends.These will include chief executives from all sectors of the industry from equipmentmanufacturers to the topshipowners

INFORMATION about meeting oil majorrequirements (TMSA / vetting)

DEVELOPMENTS in management/safety/ environmental best practice

NEW TECHNOLOGIES and commercial industrydevelopments

Ph

oto

cre

dit

– H

em

pel

TA�KEROperatorTA�KEROperator

IBC:OBC.qxd 14/06/2011 23:03 Page 1

Find out how KVH TracPhone V7 can change your business at:

www.kvh.com/tanker

An end-to-end communications solution with a compact 60 cm antenna and a fully integrated control unit and modem.

Dramatically cut your airtime costsand improve your ship’s operations with KVH’s mini-VSAT BroadbandSM –the most affordable service for broadband Internet, e-mail, and telephone!

Fast, low-cost Internet at sea – Rely on broadband Internet with speeds as fast as 2 Mbps down and 512 Kbps up while saving 85% or more vs. other solutions.

Crystal-clear telephone calls – Make calls whenever and wherever you want using either of the two lines of integrated voice service optimised for maritime customers or KVH’s crew calling solution.

Easy to install and setup –ViaSat’s exclusive ArcLight® spread spectrumtechnology enables a small 60 cm antenna with dramatically superior performance, easy installation and activation in as little as 1 day!

Integrated network management – KVH’s powerful CommBoxTM offers an optional suite of business-critical tools, including least-cost routing, web acceleration, and remote IT access.

What broadband at sea was meant to beSM – TracPhone® V7.

©2010-2011 KVH Industries, Inc. KVH, TracPhone, CommBox, and the unique light-colored dome with dark contrasting baseplate are trademarks of KVH Industries, Inc. 11_KE_V7miniVSAT_Comm_Storm_Tanker“What Broadband at sea was meant to be” and “mini-VSAT Broadband” are service marks of KVH Industries, Inc.

ArcLight is a registered trademark of ViaSat, Inc.; all other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Patents Pending.

New RegionsAdded!

Global Expansion Continues!

We estimate that mini-VSAT Broadband is

saving us as much as

50% compared to our

previous SATCOM solution!

With the TracPhone V7,

we can send much

larger files and even provide Internet access

for our crew, all while significantly reducing

costs!- Mr. Karstein Rasmussen,

General Manager, Storm Offshore AS

“

“

Read the Storm Offshore case study: kvh.com/so

OBC:OBC.qxd 14/06/2011 23:04 Page 1

TANKER OPERATOR MAGAZINE (JUNE 2011)

Documents

Transcript of TANKER OPERATOR MAGAZINE (JUNE 2011)