TTS Group: first the good news, then the other

The total order value is approx. MNOK 112, under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, South Korea, for Maersk. TTS has previously delivered similar equipment between 2012 and 2014 for another 20 vessels built at same shipyard for same shipowner.

The winches will be manufactured at TTS’ factory in Korea and deliveries will take place 2016 – 2017.

The less good news comes from subsidiary TTS Offshore Solutions AS in Bergen, Norway. It is to implement temporary workforce reductions with immediate effect.

A workforce of approximate 30 full-time equivalents will be temporary laid off, while another approximate 20 full-time equivalents will be contracted out to other TTS companies.The adjustment affects approximate 40 percent of the workforce of TTS’ offshore operations in Norway and Poland.The adjustments are in response to the current offshore market situation.

Bristol Harbor Group adds two new members to team

Over the past three months Zachary Gilfus, naval architect, and Marissa Stutzman, mechanical engineer, have joined the team.

Zachary Gilfus joined BHGI at the end of August, 2015 as a naval architect and marine engineer.

Mr. Gilfus graduated this past spring from Webb Institute in Glen Cove, NY, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. During his time at Webb, Zach interned at four different companies including Carnival Cruise Lines and General Dynamics NASSCO. He was given the American Bureau of Shipping Stevenson Taylor Award for best thesis.

Mr. Gilfus passed the fundamentals of engineering exam in the spring of 2015 and was recently approved as a New York State Engineer in Training.

Marissa Stutzman joined BHGI as a mechanical engineer in June of 2015. She graduated on the dean’s list in the spring of 2015 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.

At Rensselaer, Ms. Stutzman worked on four different engineering projects. During her academic career she was the team captain for an NCAA Division III swimming and diving team and was active in many clubs and societies including the Society of Women Engineers and the Women’s Mentor Program.

OceanSaver BWTS ordered for two VLCCs

“We are very pleased to be awarded this contract. It proves OceanSaver’s strong position in the market and the increasing adoption of our leading technology by both shipyards and shipowners, who are increasingly preparing for a life post full IMO ratification,” says OceanSaver CEO Helle Hundseid.

OceanSaver’s Mark II BWTS is MO compliant and USCG AMS approved. It delivers high performance filtration in combination with disinfection through patented electrodialysis.

“Our easy-to-operate, energy optimized and compliant system represents a streamlined solution for both retrofit and newbuildings. It offers customers a small footprint through its modular nature and is simple to maintain. All features are valued by our customers. We look forward to delivering our Mark II BWT system to STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, and a good cooperation throughout the project,” says Alan Linderoth, Vice President Sales & Marketing.

OceanSaver will deliver its Mark II BWT system by Q3 2016. Contract value is undisclosed.

Diana gets $148 million loan from Royal Bank of Scotland

RBS is slowly closing up operations here,” Reuters quoted one source at RBS as saying. Be all that as it may, today Athens, Greece, headquartered Diana Containerships Inc. (NASDAQ:DCIX) said that on September 10 it\ signed a six year term loan facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland plc for up to $148 million, which will bear interest at the rate of 2.75% over LIBOR.

Yesterday, Diana completed a drawdown of $122.5 million, secured by the vessels m/v Sagitta, m/v Centaurus, m/v Pucon, m/v YM March, m/v Great, m/v YM Los Angeles, m/v YM New Jersey and m/v Rotterdam. The drawdown amount was used to voluntarily prepay in full the balance of $92.7 million of the existing revolving credit facility with RBS and to partially finance the acquisition cost of the m/v Rotterdam.

Separately, the company also announced that yesterday, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has agreed to extend the present time charter contract with Maersk Line A/S for one of its Panamax container vessels, the m/v Centaurus, for a period of minimum eleven months to maximum eighteen months. The new gross charter rate will be US$10,875 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties. The new charter period will commence on October 2, 2015.

Centaurus is a 3,426 TEU container vessel built in 2010.

This employment is anticipated to generate approximately $3.59 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the charter extension.Diana containerships Inc.’s fleet currently consists of 14 container vessels (5 Post-Panamax and 9 Panamax). It also expects to take delivery of one Post-Panamax container vessel by the end of November 2015.

Owner fails in low sulfur fuel cost claim against port agent

The port agent was appointed by the owners of the chemical tanker to attend the vessel in port. As the agent did not have an office at that particular port, it engaged its usual sub-agent to assist locally. 

Prior to the vessel’s arrival, the master sent an email to the agent asking whether there were any restrictions on the type of fuel that could be used while the vessel was both alongside and at the port’s outer roads.

The agent passed this request to its sub-agent, who in turn made inquiries of the local harbor master, who was responsible for enforcing the EU directive relating to the use of low sulfur fuel.

The harbor master confirmed that the vessel was required to burn low-sulfur marine gas oil from the time of its arrival at the port’s outer roads. This advice was passed to the master, who duly followed these instructions. 

As the vessel waited at anchorage it became clear to the master that he would not have sufficient low-sulfur fuel on board to complete operations and, as the vessel was unable to take on additional low-sulfur fuel at that port, the owners decided to divert to another port to replenish their supply.

The vessel thereafter returned to its intended discharge port and operations proceeded without further disruption. 

The agent subsequently received a claim from the owners of the vessel for approximately $150,000. The owners alleged that the information provided to them by their agent was incorrect, and that the local regulations only required vessels to burn low sulfur fuel while alongside the berth, and not at anchorage. Because low-sulphur fuel was more expensive, the owners claimed for the additional costs incurred in burning this fuel when, they claimed, this was not necessary. They also claimed for the costs of diverting the vessel to take on the additional low sulfur fuel. 

It was established that the sub-agent had simply passed on the instructions received from the harbor-master, and that the agent had in turn passed this on, word for word, to the owners.

Lawyers mounted a vigorous defense to the claim, which was subsequently withdrawn. ITIC covered the legal  costs of defending the agent.

BV classes world’s first ethane fueled ship

The Dragon vessels were originally designed as dual-fuel LNG/diesel powered vessels, with two 1,000 cu m LNG tanks on deck powering two Wärtsilä 6L20 DF main engines with a total output of 2,112 kW and two shaft generators with a total  output of 3,600 kW power. As we reported in May (see earlier story), as the vessels will initially transport ethane from the U.S, to the U.K. Ineos refineries, the ability to also burn ethane was added to allow use of the cargo gas as fuel. 

“The ability to burn ethane as well as LNG to power these unique vessels is a major step forward in the use of clean fuels. It means the vessels can use cargo gas during transits to provide a clean and clear commercial and environmental advantage,” says Bureau Veritas Business Development Manager Martial Claudepierre. “We have worked with Evergas and the Danish Maritime Authority to verify and ensure that the use of ethane is at least as safe as required by the IGC and will not impair the engine compliance with MARPOL Annex VI.”  

According to Mr. Claudepierre, using ethane required extra engine room ventilation and additional gas detection, plus modifications to the main engines including a lower compression ratio, different turbocharger nozzles and de-rating of the engine to cope with the lower knocking resistance of ethane. “But,” he says, “the gains in not carrying an additional fuel and in environmental performance from being able to burn clean fuel throughout the voyage are significant.”

Saab Kockums cuts first steel for A26 submarine program

Kockums says the A26 has the ability to perform in all oceans and across a broad spectrum of conflict environments. A unique A26 design feature is a Multi Mission Portal for the launch and retrieval of a mix of mission payloads such as manned and unmanned vehicles.

“We have left the design phase behind and begun construction of the A26, a pillar of Sweden’s future naval defence,” says Gunnar Wieslander, head of Saab’s business unit Saab Kockums. “The A26 is a new standard bearer; a step forward in the Swedish tradition of modular design and building, it ensures maximum operational effectiveness with a lower lifecycle cost. With the A26 you can always adapt the submarine to the mission in hand. Now that production has started it is a clear signal to other potential customers around the world that Saab is ready to deliver to them as well.”

The first two A26 submarines are being built under contracts worth a total SEK 7.6 billion placed by the Swedish Defense Material Administration in June this year. The first boat will be delivered in 2022.

The submarines will be powered by conventional diesel-electric propulsion machinery and equipped with the Kockums Stirling AIP (air-independent propulsion) system, making them stealthy and difficult to detect.

Dynagas to order five ARC 7 LNG carriers for Yamal

Dynagas will build five 172,000 cu. m ARC 7 LNG carriers at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. shipyard in South Korea. They will serve the Yamal project under long term time charters. The vessels will be capable of breaking 2.1 meter thick ice in both the forward and reverse direction.

In addition, four of Dynagas’ existing ARC 4 LNG carriers will come into the Yamal shipping fleet to support Yamal deliveries committed to Asian buyers from year 2019 onwards and will be time chartered for a period of 15 years each.Yamal LNG is a joint venture between NOVATEK (60 percent), TOTAL (20 percent) and China National Oil & Gas Exploration and Development Corporation (CNODC) (20 percent). The project consists of three LNG trains with a total capacity of approximately 16.5 million metric tons of LNG per annum.

“The award of five long term contracts for the ARC 7 LNG carriers and award of four long term contracts for our existing ARC4 LNG carriers is a testament to our long term commitment and our manager’s operational excellence and expertise in operating high specification ice class LNG carriers,” commented Mr. George Procopiou, founder and chairman of Dynagas.

Dynagas Holding Ltd is a holding company engaged in the ownership of LNG carriers and owner of 44% of the equity interests in Dynagas LNG Partners LP (NYSE: DLNG), including the General Partner interest.

Cyber security high on Wiernicki’s IACS priorities list

“By focusing on these three legs of the safety stool, I believe we can build on IACS’ recent achievements and set out an agenda that addresses existing and emerging challenges,” says Mr. Wiernicki. “My priorities for 2015-2016 strike a balance between the completion of ongoing projects and the need to look forward and formulate the next generation of IACS guidelines, unified and procedural requirements.”

Among ongoing projects that will get his attention is ensuring a smooth completion of the initial round of audits for the IMO Goal-Based Standards process.

He will also advance the creation of a cyber-system safety framework that addresses control systems, software quality assurance, data integrity and cyber security, enhancing an initiative that was started in 2014.

Another priority; ensuring that the IACS Quality System Certification Scheme (QSCS) remains the “gold standard” for classification society performance.

“IACS’ relationships, extensive technical knowledge, experience and independence place it in a unique position to work with regulators and industry,” Mr. Wiernicki says. “IACS will continue to reach out and strengthen relationships with all parties, continuing to demonstrate that its commitment to safety, quality and environmental protection are more important than ever.”

Schottel strengthens North American operation

Svante Fielding is joining Schottel, Inc, in Houma, LA, as its new Vice President Operations, where his team will include Randall Freeman, who joined Schottel, Inc. as Operations Manager last month.

Mr. Fielding has 20 years of experience in the marine and propulsion industry. He has held past leadership positions across Europe / Scandinavia, North America and Asia spanning sales and service, aftermarket and production. He is currently at Schottel headquarters in Germany and will join the management team in Houma in spring 2016.

Mr. Freeman has over 15 years of experience in the marine propulsion industry, serving in various technical and management positions.

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