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Thursday, February 10, 2000
Holland America
contracts for two more
84,000-ton cruise ships
Carnival C orporation's Holland
America Line has signed agreements with Italian shipyard Fincantieri
Cantieri Navali S.p.A. for the construction of two new 84,000-ton
vessels. They are expected to enter service in 2003 and 2004.
The 1,800-passenger ships will cost approximately
$400 million each and will be constructed at Fincantieri's Marghera
shipyard. They are the third and fourth in a new series of vessels
for Holland America, which also has options with Fincantieri
for one more 84,000-ton sister ship.
The 951-foot-long ships will include a
unique propulsion system that includes a diesel-electric power
plant, backed up by a gas turbine as an additional power source.
The vessels will be able to operate on either diesel or gas turbine
power.
"There are advantages to both systems
and we think this approach will allow us to take advantage of
the best attributes that each of these technologies currently
offer," Lanterman said.
Lanterman noted that the ships will also
use the Azipod propulsion system, allowing for greater maneuverability
and enhanced operating efficiencies.
Earlier this week Carnival Corporation
announced that it was working with Wärtsilä NSD to
develop a smokeless diesel-electric propulsion system for its
future newbuilds.
With the two new Holland America ships,
Carnival Corporation now has 13 vessels with an estimated value
of $5.1 billion scheduled for delivery over the next four years.
In addition to the four 84,000-ton ships,
Holland America has two other ships on order from Fincantieri,
including the 63,000-ton Zaandam, scheduled to enter service
in May, and the 61,000-ton Amsterdam, which is slated to debut
this fall.
Carnival Corporation unit Carnival Cruise
Lines also has six new ships on order, including three 102,000-ton
"Destiny-class" ships and three 84,000-ton "Spirit-class"
ships, scheduled to enter service between now and 2003. Also
on order for Costa Cruises, another Carnival Corporation-affiliated
line, is the 2,112-passenger Costa Atlantica, which is slated
to debut in late spring 2000.
"Carnival's growth has been driven
primarily by the expansion of our core brands through our aggressive
newbuilding program," said Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation
chairman and CEO. "These two new vessels bring our total
to 13, which will allow us to further bolster our leadership
position in the cruise industry."
Marine
Transport Corporation buys
Mormac Marine Group ocean bullk businesses
Mormac Marine Group Inc.'s ocean bulk transportation businesses
will join the Marine Transport Corporation group of companies
which include Marine
Transport Lines, Intrepid Shipping and MTL Petrolink.
Mormac operates 10 U.S. flag vessels, including
- two tankers involved in crude oil transportation
for another owner,
- three product carriers owned by Mormac
employed on time charter and contracts of affreightment, and
- five vessels for the Maritime Administration.
Operation of the two tankers trading in
crude will be combined with Marine Transport Lines' ship management
group. The three Mormac product carriers will be bareboat chartered
by Marine Transport Lines and traded as a "pooled"
fleet with MTC's three similar product tankers. Mormac's government
operation will be maintained as a separate unit with its Baltimore
office.
The total price paid by MTC for the Mormac
businesses is based on their performance over a five year period.
The minimum amount payable is approximately $7 million.
Marine Transport chairman and chief executive
Richard du Moulin termed the deal another step in the much-needed
consolidation of the Jones Act shipping trade in the U.S., where
we see MTC as one of the leaders. Ourstrategy continues to be
focused on acquiring profitable businesses with excellent customer
relationships, contract portfolios and experienced, committed
personnel who share our vision for shipping in the U.S."
Last week MTC announced it had completed
a transaction whereby $25 million in cash was added to its balance
sheet through the monetization of future charter earnings from
an extended bareboat charter of its vessel Marine Columbia to
BP Amoco. These funds are available to it for merger/acquisition
activities, the chemical transportation joint venture with Stolt-Nielsen,
and other initiatives.
EU team in Korea for talks on dumping in shipbuilding
The Korea Times reports that a delegation from the European Union
is now in Korea for talks on alleged dumping by Korean shipbuilders.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) said that
bilateral discussions with the delegation started yesterday.
"We will seek to clarify the fact
that Korean shipbuilders' strong performance on the European
market is based on their respective price competitiveness and
that there is absolutely no evidence of government subsidies,''
a ministry official is quoted as saying.
According to EU authorities, evaluations
of nine contracts since last November have shown that Korean
shipbuilders were dumping at margins of 15-40 percent and that
the Korean government used portions of rescue funds from the
International Monetary Fund to help shipbuilders. The state-run
Korea Development Bank participated in the restructuring of Daewoo
Heavy Industries and government funds were deployed in the process
of Hyundai being contracted to manage the failed Halla Engineering
and Heavy Industries.
The ministry insists, however, that KDB's
participation in the normalization of Daewoo Heavy Industries
"cannot be seen as a subsidy." Charges that IMF funds
were used to help Korean shipbuilders do not hold ground "since
the entire amount has been deposited with the Federal Reserve
Bank in New York," reports the Korea Times.
"A part of the problem is the lack
of understanding on the part of the EU and we will certainly
utilize this opportunity to clarify whatever needs to be clarified,''
the MOCIE official is reported as saying.
Britain unveils plan to protect its coastline
The first stage in a new initiative to protect Britain's coastline
was announced today by the U.K. Minister for Transport, Lord
Macdonald.
He announced a consultative process that
could lead to the setting up of Marine Environmental High Risk
Areas (MEHRAs) to help protect sensitive marine and coastal environments
at particular risk from pollution from shipping. In particular,
the establishment of such areas could:
- provide guidance to mariners;
- inform maritime operational decisions;
and
- inform future Government policy in this
area.
The establishment of MEHRAs was one of
103 recommendations contained
in the report of Lord Donaldson'sinquiry, Safer Ships, Cleaner
Seas.Donaldson proposed that the Government should establish
a small number of areas covering no more than 10% of the entire
UK coastline. These would be 'comparatively limited areas of
high sensitivity which are also at risk from shipping'.
Lord Macdonald said developing an objective
methodology for the identification of MEHRA had been difficult
given the range of environmental sensitivities involved and the
need to develop reasonablecriteria.
Consultants Safetec UK Ltd were hired to
prepare a methodology and selection criteria for the identification
of areas that could be potential MEHRAs. "We have now published
the consultants' report ," said the minister "and we
are inviting interested parties for their views on whether the
consultants' proposals are a reasonable and sensible basis for
further work.
"We are also involving relevant members
of the Department's Marine
Pollution Advisory Group in consideration of the consultants'
report.
This is an open process. At this initial stage, it is important
that
we get the methodology right - the Government is not yet committed
to
any particular approach, or to the selection of specific sites
as
MEHRAs."
The Minister added:
"We will then consider the comments
received and prepare a
consultation document setting out the Government's proposed criteria
for the identification of MEHRAs. This will include proposals
on how
and where MEHRAs might be established and how best to publicize
them
to mariners."
"Following the second stage of the
consultation exercise, I would
hope that we can agree to the establishment of MEHRAs as quickly
as
possible, along with suitable arrangements to monitor the
effectiveness of the policy."
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