Marine Log - March 2009 - (Page 8) Update Ship recycling soars, says DNV The effects of the global recession on shipping are being reflected in the number of vessels sent for recycling. The volume of tonnage sent for recycling in only the first month of 2009 was more than 40% of the total recycled in the whole of 2006, says DNV. The demolition activity in 2008 reached 12.5m dwt which is nearly double the 2006 level of 6.4m dwt. In January this year, buyer activity had already reached 2.7m dwt purchased for demolition. In May, a new IMO guideline— “International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships”—is to be adopted. Following the adoption of the new convention in May of this year, the demand for hazardous material inventories is expected to grow significantly. INLAND • COASTAL • OFFSHORE • DEEPSEA U.S. Shipping joint venture takes delivery of first tanker .S. Shipping Partners L.P. said that its joint venture for the construction of five U.S. Flag product/chemical tankers took delivery of the M/V Golden State, the first of a class. Built by NASSCO, San Diego, Calif., the 49,000 dwt,U.S.-flag Golden State has a cargo capacity of about 331,000 bbl and will be used to carry petroleum and chemical products in Jones Act service. It entered operations under long-term charter to BP. U.S. Shipping Partners, which will manage the operation of the Golden State on behalf of the joint venture, which is owned by U.S. Shipping Partners and third parties U NASSCO delivered the 49,000 dwt Golden State six months ahead of schedule led by affiliates of The Blackstone Group. Earlier, the partnership had sold ITB Groton and ITB Jacksonville. Both vessels were bought by a Nigerian owner. For details, see “U.S. Shipping ITB’s go to Nigerian owner” at www.marinelog.com. Thus far, the partnership has now taken delivery of three new ATBs and one new product tanker and is scheduled to take delivery of another ATB and two additional product tankers this year. Meanwhile, Eastern Shipbuilding recently launched the 150 ft, 12,000 hp tug Corpus Christi for delivery to U.S. Shipping Partners in April or May. Gulmar Offshore extends newbuild program he U.A.E.’s Gulmar Offshore Group has extended its newbuild program with a Korean shipyard and confirmed the delivery dates for its two new Dive Support Vessels under construction at Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. Hanjin is building two Gulmar Offshore is building two Dive Support Vessels based on the MT-6022XL design T DSVs, the Gulmar Atlantis and Gulmar Da Vinci, based on an MT-6022-XL design from Norway’s Marin Teknikk AS. Scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2009, the Gulmar Atlantis and Gulmar Da Vinci will each be 115m by 22m by 7m and equipped with 18 man built-in saturation system, 2x3-man diving bells, 2x18-man hyperbaric life boats, one 140T AHC subsea knuckleboom crane with 2,000m cable, one 40T subsea crane and accommodations for 120 persons. The DSV’s will be Panamanian flagged and classed by DNV with the following notation: DNV +1A1 SF- EO, DYNPOS-AUTRDK(+), HELDK-SH, CLEAN COMF-V(3),FiFi2DSV-SAT. For each DSV, the propulsion and generating equipment will include three 2,640 kW and two 1,980 kW main generators, two 1,100 kW auxiliary generators and one 1,000 kW emergency generator, with two 1,935 kW tunnel thrusters, one retractable 1,500 kW azimuth thruster and two 3,000 kW azimuth stern thrusters. Gulmar Offshore Group president Jean-Michel Tissier said the company planned to invest in new technologies and expand its fleet of construction support vessels to meet “the requirements of challenging operations in deeper and deeper waters." As if to reinforce this point, Gulmar announced an order for newbuild DP2 DSV based on an MT-6024S design from Marin Teknikk that is being built at Sekwang shipyard in Korea. Gulmar is also constructing a pipelay barge, the DP2 Gulmar Pelican, for its work in Venezuela under a five-year contract with PDVSA. Major shareholders in Gulmar include Polux Investments Ltd., JMT & Co. Investments S.A. and GCC Energy Holdings Ltd. www.marinelog.com 8 MARINE LOG MARCH 2009 http://www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com
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