Davao Integrated Ports and Stevedoring Services Corp (DIPSSCOR) recently serviced Mariana Express Lines Ltd’s (MELL) 1,114 –TEU capacity Senoko during its maiden voyage to the Sasa Wharf, International Port of Davao in the Philippines. The vessel, which has a 220 TEU reefer slot, replaces the 844-TEU Sylvette. Senoko, launched from the shipyard of China, joins Stadt Hamburg and Asian Island in MELL’s Davao-Hong Kong-Kaoshiung-Saipan-Guam-Yap-Koror-Palau-Cebu-General Santos service, calls weekly at Sasa. MELL has showed the strongest volume growth among foreign shipping lines calling at Sasa at 46 percent compared to the same period last year. MELL also increased its market share in Davao, from six percent to eight percent during the quarter.

Toots Bunachita (third from left), HRD manager, and Sonny Sebellino (sixth from left), DIPSSCOR operations manager, presented commemorative certificates to John Yeong (fourth from left), MELL owner’s representative, and Capt. Uwe Wilhelm Bergemann (fifth from left), vessel master, to mark the maiden call. Also present were MELL’s local and regional key personnel (from left): Vincent Subaldo, Capt. Philip Goh and Capt. Tun Aye. DIPSCOR is a subsidiary of global port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (posted 1 June 2008)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) and Wärtsilä Corporation of Finland signed a joint development agreement on 15th May 2008 to design and develop new small, low-speed marine diesel engines of less than 450 mm cylinder bore.

The two companies see good business potential in pooling their resources and experience to develop new small marine engines of less than 450 millimetre (mm) cylinder bore. Such engines are suitable for a wide variety of small ship types, including bulk carriers, product tankers, chemical tankers, container feeder vessels, and reefer ships. Such ships are employed in worldwide trades but with the smaller types being specifically employed in short-sea and coastal services. The new engines shall meet the market needs for high efficiency, high reliability, compactness and environmental friendliness.

Details of the engines to be developed under this agreement will be announced in a few months time after the initial design studies have been completed. This agreement is an extension of the strategic alliance created by MHI and Wärtsilä in September 2005. This alliance was formed on the basis of the successful joint development by the two companies of the Wärtsilä RT-flex50 and Mitsubishi UEC50LSE low-speed engine types.

Wärtsilä has its own range of low-speed marine diesel engines covering the power range of 5,650 to 84,420 kW. Today the Wärtsilä RT-flex engine types feature the latest electronically-controlled common-rail technology. MHI also has its own range of UE low-speed marine diesel engines covering the power range of 1,120 to 46,800 kW, and also has long co-operated in the manufacture of Sulzer and Wärtsilä low-speed engines going back to an agreement signed with Sulzer in 1925. The new engine types will reinforce the respective engine portfolios in the lower power range.

The project is led by a joint working group of engineers from both companies with supervision by a steering committee including senior management of the two companies. It is envisaged that the new engine would be built by Wärtsilä’s and Mistubishi’s licensees world-wide.  (posted 1 June 2008)

Will the powerhouse of ship finance - The German Ship Finance Banks - be able to chart a steady course through today's choppy waters? This very question and others will be addressed by the industry's key players at the timely Ship Finance Forum in Hamburg.

Financial Times Deutschland, the International Maritime Industry Trade Fair SMM and Lloyd's Shipping Economist will host the one-day conference, where international companies, led by industry-wide speakers will discuss the latest developments and challenges in ship finance on 22nd September 2008.

Wärtsilä will strengthen its international customer service by centralizing the spare parts logistics and by building a new spare parts distribution centre in the Netherlands. A large and modern central warehouse is planned near the company's current service unit in the Netherlands. Wärtsilä will invest approximately EUR 70 million in the new distribution centre. The investments will be spread over three years from 2008 to 2010. The intention is to outsource logistics and warehousing operations.

"Consolidating logistics and warehousing within a specialised partner will improve customer service by allowing parts deliveries 24 hours a day 7 days a week," comments Tage Blomberg, Group Vice President, Services. "The new central warehouse will shorten transportation distances, reduce the traffic of spare parts between warehouses, and improve management of the entire supply chain," adds Blomberg.

Wärtsilä has seven product companies: in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. Today the product companies are responsible for the global logistics of their own product groups. By centralising these activities, customers will receive faster and more efficient service.

The new arrangements in different countries will affect approximately 550 employees and job assignments of many employees will change. There will be no lay-offs due to this rearrangement. The new operating model is planned to be fully implemented by 2011. (posted 1 June 2008)

Of all the relationships across shipping, one of the most significant is that between the command team onboard, and the Designated Person (DP).

Reflecting this importance, The Nautical Institute 2008 International Command Seminar series is set to explore the expectations of those onboard and ashore, and of how companies and DP’s are managing these relationships and interactions.

The DP role was formally introduced by The International Safety Management (ISM) Code, with a number of very basic requirements. As such the DP links the Company and those on board, and must have access to the highest levels of management. The DP also monitors the safety and pollution prevention aspects of each ship, while ensuring adequate resources and shore-based support is applied, as required.

While such outline guidance is useful, it does not really help us in identifying who the ideal DP should be, the experience or qualifications which can have a positive impact, nor of the added value that can be generated by the role.

So what credentials, and skills does a DP require to perform properly? One positive development has been the requirements set out in IMO MSCMEPC7/Circ.6, but Section 5 of the ISM Code has long stressed the importance of continually updating qualifications, training and experience of the DP. Something that external auditors are increasingly viewing with interest, but something that internally is often overlooked.

In the eyes of many experts, Safety Management Systems have actually stagnated because many DP’s have not received relevant training in management systems and safety management in particular. Often, it seems, the DP is unaware that he or she is lacking knowledge, until deficiencies come to light following a major incident when an external consultant of lawyer puts the Company SMS under the microscope.

Different companies have very different ideas, and very different people taking on the DP role, but what of the expectations and how these are managed?

The first of the International Command Seminar events is to take place in Antwerp on June 12-13 2008 – with speakers including Dr Phil Anderson, Angus Galbraith, Capt. P. Raes, and Pradeep Chawla, representing the views of owners, managers, insurers and the wider industry. This event also incorporates The Nautical Institute AGM.

The event is set to drive a great deal of debate, and the conclusions of this and the other events in the series will be collated and presented to the relevant authorities. Further information can be found at www.nautinst.org/command .

The Hellenic War Risks Association increased its reserves to $47 million by December 31st 2007 following an investment return of 6.22 per cent and a $2.8 million surplus on the year.

The Hellenic directors’ reviewed the Association’s 2007 financials at their May meeting. Increasing ship numbers and rising values kept income at 90 percent of the 2006 volume, even though there was a 28 per cent reduction in premiums at renewal.

The total value of ships entered with the Association----generally known as the Hellenic War Risks Club----was $91.4 billion at December 31st. It has continued growing since. In mid-May, the $100 billion mark was passed for the first time in the Hellenic’s 48-year history.

The number of entered ships rose by 10 per cent during 2007 to 2,228. Tonnage has increased from 59 million in May 2006 to 67 million 12 months ago and 75 million now. Around 70 per cent of all Greek owned ships have war risks cover with the Hellenic.

John Culley of Hellenic managers Thomas Miller explained: “Volatility is a feature of the war risks market. Increasing membership and growing reserves mean the Club can respond more flexibly to members’ needs as the market changes.”

The directors also decided not to impose on its members the changes to the Additional Premium areas recommended by the Joint War Committee on May 2nd who added Gulf of Aden transits and extended the Somalia area.

The Hellenic feels that circumstances have not changed enough in recent months to insist on these additions but appreciates the need to be watchful. The Club will retain any increased exposure which will be appropriately reinsured at no additional cost to members. All members must continue to give notice re Yemen and Somalia port calls, Yemen transits up to 50 nautical miles from the Socotra Archipelago and Somalia transits up to 50 miles from the Gulf of Aden and 200 miles in the Indian Ocean.

Mr Culley said there had been a limited number of claims so far this year. “As a mutual, the Hellenic has to consider the effect any changes would have on our members. We are obviously keeping a keen eye on developments in the Gulf of Aden but for now ‘no change’ is the message. (posted 1 June 2008)

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) recently named Captain Rodolfo Fernandez and Armen Manlapat as terminal managers for Bauan International Port, Inc. and Subic Bay International Terminal, Corp., respectively.

Before ICTSI, Fernandez had been vessel master for eight cargo vessels trading worldwide. In 2003, he was president of Bibby International Philippines, Inc. and was vice president for operations of Smith Bell Crewing Agency/ Ship Management in 2000. He became port captain in Aboitiz Shipping Corp in 1993, and was department head of Mindanao Polytechnic College in General Santos City in 1992. He took Nautical Science at Cebu Polytechnic College and Bachelor of Arts in English and History from Mindanao State University.

Manlapat, on the other hand, had been assistant project manager for Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. He was project manager for Razon International Stevedoring Corp. (RISCO), and was administration and finance officer of RISCO in Subic. He was also the chief payroll officer of RISCO in Jeddah Islamic Port in Jeddah, and was the payroll examiner in E Razon Inc in South Harbor, Manila. Manlapat has a BS Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of the East and an Industrial Relations degree from the Guzman Institute of Electronics. (posted 1 June 2008)

The ITF - which helped stop the An Yue Jiang unloading its cargo of military supplies anywhere in Southern Africa, and regularly revealed the location of the fugitive ship - has again disproved the Zimbabwean government’s claim that it was in possession of the arms.

David Cockroft, ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) General Secretary explained: 'Zimbabwean deputy information minister Bright Matonga is at it again. This is the recycled claim he made two weeks ago that the An Yue Jiang offloaded arms in Lobito. Unfortunately Matonga is living down to his reputation for ineptitude and mendacity. When he put out that story the ship was actually 230 nautical miles south of Lobito and didn’t come anywhere near that port for two days, when it actually bypassed it and tried to sneak into Luanda undetected. Similarly, the vessel has been nowhere near DR Congo or Congo-Brazzaville.'

'In their attempts to get these arms Zanu-PF have been publicly beaten – something they should be getting used to by now. Their propagandist lies are just the latest failed attempt to salvage something from this latest humiliation.'

Cockroft confirmed that the ITF’s location report from the end of last week, which had the An Yue Jiang on a course consistent with a return to China, remained valid.  (posted 1 June 2008)

Lilley & Gillie, the long-established nautical chart supplier and navigational equipment manufacturer, has recently been awarded a contract by SELEX Communications, a Finmeccanica company, to provide PC Maritime Navmaster ECDIS systems for installation aboard three field support vessels now being built by Astilleros Zamakona in Bilbao, Spain, for Vroon Offshore Services Ltd (VOS).

The new contract is in addition to six Navmaster ECDIS systems that were ordered in 2006 for installation on a series of six new 1,500grt offshore support vessels originally ordered from Zamakona by Aberdeen-based Viking Offshore Services The first of these ships was delivered in December 2006 and the last is due to be handed over in March 2009.

In May 2007, Viking Offshore Services was acquired by Vroon BV, thus creating one of the largest offshore support fleets in Europe. The company now operates as Vroon Offshore Services Ltd.

VOS currently operates a total of 59 vessels from bases in Aberdeen, Scotland; Den Helder, The Netherlands; and Genoa in Italy, and has a total of 23 new build vessels on order. Its fleet includes conventional and multi-role emergency response and rescue vessels, platform supply, anchor handling, dive support and utility vessels, operating principally in the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

SELEX Communications is responsible for the entire bridge outfit on these nine VOS ships and it demands only the most rigorously tested and reliable equipment, used in the installation of communication systems to all levels of complexity.  Therefore its choice of the Navmaster ECDIS system for the VOS vessels is seen by Lilley & Gillie as a very significant testimony to the high quality of this product.

Announcing the contract, Glenn Heathcote, Managing Director of Lilley & Gillie, tated:

"According to VOS, its deck officers are very happy with the performance and ease of use of the Navmaster ECDIS systems installed on the first Zamakona ships. This order for a further three sets is therefore an excellent testimonial as to the merits of Navmaster."

International Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI)'s consolidated unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 31 March show revenue from port operations of PhP4,506 million and net income attributable to equity holders of PhP799 million. 

Revenues for the quarter grew 45 percent over PhP3,118 million last year, while net income attributable to equity holders improved by 29 percent, from PhP618 million in the same period last year. 

'ICTSI has got off to a terrific start in 2008.  Volumes at our four base terminals in Manila, Poland, Brazil, and Madagascar grew by 9 percent in spite of the 12-day strike at our terminal in Poland, and revenues at these same four terminals increased by a healthy 18 percent.  In addition, we continue to make good progress in improving profitability levels at the five terminals we acquired last year in China, Syria, Georgia, Ecuador, and Colombia.  We continue to see strong volume trends across our portfolio,' said Enrique K. Razon Jr., ICTSI chairman and president. 

ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 841,756 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter of 2008, 31 percent higher compared to the 642,475 TEUs handled in the same period in 2007.  Domestic operations accounted for 427,064 TEUs handled, or 51 percent of consolidated volume, for the period.  Volume at the company’s Manila operation increased by 14 percent, from 315,784 TEUs in the first quarter of 2007 to 360,636 TEUs in the same period of 2008, contributing 43 percent of total consolidated volume. 

Foreign container volume grew 53 percent over last year, driven principally by the addition of the company’s Ecuador, Syria and Georgia port operations, and exceptionally strong growth at the company’s operations in Madagascar and Indonesia.  Foreign container volumes now account for 49 percent of total as compared with 42 percent in the same period last year and 46 percent for the full year 2007. 

First quarter gross revenues from port operations increased 45 percent to 4,506 million, from the 3,118 million reported in the first quarter of 2007 due largely to revenues from new port operations in Ecuador, Syria and Georgia and strong organic growth at the company’s operations in Brazil, Madagascar, China, and Manila and Davao in the  Philippines.  Revenue contribution from the international operations grew 83 percent, from 1,334 million in the first quarter of 2007 to 2,445 million in 2008.  Foreign operations accounted for 54 percent of this quarter’s consolidated gross revenue, as compared to 43 percent in the first quarter of 2007.  Revenue contribution from the domestic operations, on the other hand, grew 16 percent, from 1,784 million in 2007 to 2,062 million in 2008.

In the first quarter of 2008, ICTSI invested 1,115 million to expand the handling capacity and improve the operating efficiency of the company’s operations in Manila, Brazil and Madagascar and pay for the acquisition and rehabilitation of the new terminals in Ecuador, Syria, Georgia, and Colombia.  The company’s estimated consolidated capital expenditure for the full year 2008 is  11,626 million.  This will fund additional handling capacity and operating efficiency improvements in the company’s major terminals in Manila, Poland, Brazil, Madagascar, and new terminals in Ecuador, China, Syria, Georgia and Columbia.  The company expects to meet funding requirements for these expenditures from internally generated funds and a committed bank facility. [posted 18 May 2008]

Continued high levels of claims and a turbulent investment environment shaped the outcome of the UK P&I Club’s financial results for the policy year 2007. Compared with the previous year, there was an increase in the claims retained by the Club and a slight reduction in those covered by the International Group Pool. However, the latter again had a huge impact on the Club’s results.

Total funds $992 m

Net claims reserves $763 m

Free reserves $229 m

Investment return 6.5%

Free reserves were reduced by $34 million to $229 million.

The sustained high level of large claims which shaped 2006 continued in 2007 with the impact on the Pool amongst the greatest in the past 15 years. The cost to the UK Club in the 2007 policy year could be as much as $77 million, based on its 14.5 per cent provisional share of the Pool. This compares with the Club’s current projection of about $84 million for the 2006 Pool.

The Club’s non-Pool record had improved since 2001 as the ratio between net premium and net ultimate claims for non-Pool claims by policy year had fallen. This reflected a relatively stable performance when combined with improved premium income.

However, twelve months into the 2007 policy year, retained claims (up to $7 million each) had increased from $139.3 million to $164.6 million----about 18 per cent above the average for the preceding five years.

The increase is largely attributable to collision and personal injury claims, contrasting with a slight decline in reported cargo claims.

The cost of routine P&I claims at lower levels was pushed up way above ordinary inflation. This reflected rapid increases in crew costs and commodity prices and the continuing devaluation of the US dollar.

In 2007, four significant collisions were reported, costing $28.5 million. This was nearly four times that of the preceding policy year and double the average of the preceding five years.

A steady upward increase in the cost of personal injury claims was linked to higher crew wages and compensation regimes, higher cost of medical care and better medical technology. The latter thankfully helps injured persons survive previously fatal injuries but adds to recuperation costs.

Despite sustained high commodity costs, cargo claims were lower than expected. Oil pollution liability was the lowest for the past five policy years. [posted 18 May 2008]

Chairman Tullio Biggi has announced he will be retiring from the board of the UK P&I Club with effect from the annual general meeting in October 2008.

Mr Biggi's announcement follows his decision to retire from V.Ships, the company he has represented on the board since first being elected a director of the Club in 1998. 

He served as a deputy chairman from 2001 and was elected by his fellow directors as chairman in October 2005. 

The Board has nominated Mr C.I. Caroussis of Chios Navigation Co Ltd to succeehim as chairman in October 2008 following the annual general meeting.  Mr Caroussis is currently a deputy chairman of the Club and also chairman of UK (Europe) Club.  He has been a director since 1996 and was elected a deputy chairman in 2002. [posted 18 May 2008]