Our colleagues at Marcon have written an interesting paper uncovering the trends in the tug market. A must read for anyone in the industry.

23-29 May 2007

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 23 to 29 May 2007.

ALERT

Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Forty seven incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.

Suspicious crafts

• 18.04.2007: 2320 LT: Entrance Cartagena Colombia.
A container ship, while disembarking her pilot on the port side noticed, on radar, one unlit suspicious boat approaching from the stbd side at high speed. The master alerted the crew. The boat came very close to the vessel (about 10 m from the hull). On seeing the alert crew on ship’s side, the boat retreated and disappeared into the darkness. The master informed the Centre to alert other vessels calling Cartagena, Colombia.

Recently reported incidents

• 25.05.2007: 0315 LT: Posn 01:19.3N - 104:16.3E, Singapore Straits
Robbers in a speedboat tried to board a tanker underway from the stern. On seeing the robbers the anti piracy watch keeper, informed the OOW who raised the alarm. The robbers aborted the attempt and escaped in their speedboat. Crew conducted an investigation and found nothing missing / no damage to ship. VTIS informed.

• 23.05.2007: 0310 LT: Posn 10:15.30N - 107:05.06E, Vung Tau, Vietnam.
Robbers, from a speedboat, boarded a product tanker at anchor. Duty crew spotted them and informed the D/O who raised the alarm and crew mustered. Robbers stole ship’s stores and escaped in the waiting boat. Port control and ship’s agents informed.

• 22.05.2007: Posn 07:45N - 102:02E, Gulf of Siam, Thailand
The master of a tanker carrying 100,000 ltrs of fuel oil, to supply fishing vessels at sea, was ordered by a pirate, who used to be a crewmember to come alongside his vessel. Once alongside the pirate hijacked the tanker. On 24.05.2007 at 0200 LT the pirates shot and killed the master. Three crewmembers jumped overboard. A passing fishing boat later picked them up. The fishing boat contacted the Thai navy and police. The police dispatched two marine police boats and a navy aircraft to locate / detain the vessel. The police caught the pirate who tried to escape, in a fishing boat. The police located the tanker with the remaining three-crew members and took it to the marine base for investigation.

• 21.05.2007: 2300 LT: Posn 07:08N - 054:36E, Somalia.
An unidentified small craft followed a tanker at a distance of 7 miles. As the ship altered course and speed to increased distance between them, the small craft adjusted her course. The small craft followed the vessel for several hours before moving away. PRC forwarded the masters message to coalition forces to render necessary assistance.

• 20.05.2007: 0330 LT: Posn 02:55N-046:04E, 300 NM from coast, Kenya.
A general cargo ship underway observed an unlit vessel at a distance of 3 miles. When called on VHF they replied that they could not speak English and they were only fishing. They asked the vessel’s course and kept following the vessel. Master suspected piracy, and took anti piracy measures and altered course to keep away from vessel. When suspicious vessel’s distance increased, vessel resumed course / journey

• 19.05.2007: 1205 LT: Enroute from Merka to Kismayo, Somalia.
Heavily armed pirates with machine guns opened fire on a general cargo ship. The ship sent a distress message, which was received by a passing ship and Merka port authority. The authorities sent two armed boats, which rescued the ship. One crew was injured.

• 26.04.2007: Spratly Islands, South China Sea.
Armed pirates boarded a fishing vessel and robbed it of its catch while it was taking shelter due to engine trouble. The master informed his family; about the robbery and that, another vessel was approaching it. All contact with the fishing vessel was lost since the master’s last call. The fate of vessel and crewmembers is unknown

Piracy prone areas and warnings

S E Asia and the Indian Sub Continent

• Bangladesh : Chittagong anchorage and approaches. The area is listed as very high risk.
• Indonesia : Belawan, Tanjong Priok (Jakarta) / generally in other areas.
• Malacca straits
• Singapore Straits

Africa and Red Sea

• Africa : Lagos (Nigeria) / generally other areas in Nigeria, Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania)
• Gulf of Aden / Red Sea : Numerous pirate attacks have been reported by ships and yachts in the Gulf of Aden. Some of the vessels were fired upon.
• Somalian waters : Eastern and North-eastern coasts are high-risk areas for attacks and hijackings. Ships not making scheduled calls to ports in Somalia should keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast, ideally, more than 200 nautical miles.

South and Central America and the Caribbean waters

• Brazil - Santos
• Peru – Callao

source: ICC Commercial Crime Services

EDF Energies Nouvelles said it has begun first phase construction of one of Europe’s largest offshore wind farms in Zeebrugge, Belgium, in conjunction with its Belgian C-Power consortium partners.

© C-Power

In a statement, the energy group said the first future wind farm is likely to have 60 wind turbines with a maximum capacity of 300 MW. The wind farm is expected to supply about 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, about one third of Belgium’s renewable energy target in 2010.

The project will be built under three turn-key contracts:

- REpower, a turbine manufacturer, will supply the wind turbines and perform the operations and maintenance services,
- Dredging International, the Vinci group’s maritime construction subsidiary, will build the foundations,
- the Dredging and Fabricom GTI consortium will supply and install the electrical equipment.

This project is owned by a group of companies, working together under the C-Power Belgian consortium in which EDF Energies Nouvelles has a 20.8% shareholding.

International Marine Consultancy has provided various types of floating equipment (tugs, barges, jack-ups, crew boats, multicats and other shallow draft vessels) to many offshore construction sites. IMC has close and long standing relationships with operators in over 50 countries across seven continents enabling us to find you the right piece of equipment.

Apparantly corporate blogs have not yet conquered the maritime establishment, apart from lawyers. God knows I have tried to find them, but to no avail. There simply don’t seem to be (m)any around. This means I can only draft a very short list of maritime corporate blogs. As time progresses I will update this list.

Please feel free to suggest a blog.

- Andé Goedée - CEO Dockwise
- Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina - Florida based lawfirm specializing in Admiralty & Maritime Litigation
- Vujasinovic & Beckcom - Maritime Injury Lawyers
- Beard Stacey Trueb & Jacobsen - Maritime Injury Law Blog
- gCaptain.com - A new site that brings the tools of Web 2.0 to the Professional Mariner. Launching in May 2007 the site looks to give ship Captains, Mates and industry leaders a home on the web

© International Marine Consultancy

The energy for a quarter of London’s homes will be generated by one of the world’s biggest wind farms in the Greater Thames Estuary. The first turbines are expected to go up in 2008 with works scheduled to finish by 2010. With its 1 gigawatt capacity, it is expected to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The project will cover 90 sq miles (232 sq km) between Margate in Kent and Clacton, Essex and represents nearly 10% of the Government’s renewable target for 2010.

Some of the reasons the site is regarded as very suitable for a large-scale offshore wind farm include:

• High wind speeds
• Low water depth
• Proximity of nearby ports for construction, operation and maintenance
• Minimum interference with established shipping channels
• Suitable ground conditions
• Suitable grid connection
• Proximity of power demand - South East England has the highest demand for electricity in the UK

Key elements of the London Array project are:

• Up to 271 turbines, installed over a four year period
• Associated offshore and onshore substations
• Cabling (between turbines and to shore)

The wind turbines will typically begin generating electricity at a minimum wind speed of 3 metres per second (m/s) or approximately 7mph, with full power being achieved from 13m/s (approx. 29mph). For safety reasons they would begin to shut down at wind speeds greater than 25m/s (approx. 56mph or a force 9 gale).

Upon completion London Array will provide around 750,000 homes’ annual electricity needs - that’s around a quarter of Greater London or of the homes in Kent and East Sussex. It will prevent the emission of 1.9million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year - enough to fill Wembley Stadium 250 times over.

London Array Offshore Wind Farm, a £1.5 billion project, is being developed by a consortium (London Array Limited) comprising three partners - E.ON UK Renewables, Shell WindEnergy Ltd and CORE Ltd.

International Marine Consultancy has provided various types of floating equipment (tugs, barges, jack-ups, crew boats, multicats and other shallow draft vessels) to many offshore construction sites. IMC has close and long standing relationships with operators in over 50 countries across seven continents enabling us to find you the right piece of equipment.

sources: London Array, E.ON UK, Seacore, Hays, BBC NEWS, London Thames Gateway Forum

On May 18, 2007 BIMCO launched their new website (all looking very Web 2.0).

According to BIMCO : “The new website has been redesigned to match the recent re-branding of BIMCO’s paper-based manuals and brochures, and will appear lighter, fresher and more modern

The website will have a menu to the left and one on the top. The left side menu gives access to the information databases that used to be in the Members area and here you need to sign in to get access. The top menu items are open to everyone.”

The website features a new lay-out and interface (especially the menu structure has been improved) clearly outlining the member/non-member areas, an RSS feed and even a module to personalize your own BIMCO site (called MyBIMCO).

I could not find the BIMCO members directory. Anyone who can tell me where to look?

International Marine Consultancy has been invited to market this 45 TBP Tug. Its Ruston Paxman 12CSVM engine delivers 2640 break horsepower. Fitted with a retractable Aquamaster she is extremely manoeuvrable. Capable of 13 knots she would make a very valuable asset to any company. The vessel has undergone a Special Survey in 2006 and is in very good condition.

© C. Jones

Inspection / delivery at short notice in The Netherlands by arrangement through this office.

Full details can be viewed here.

© International Marine Consultancy

Lucy Borchard
Built 2006
Call Sign V2CF5
LOA 140
Breadth 22.2
GT/NT 8273 / 4002
Port of Registry St John’s
IMO No. 9355434 Draught 7.36
Flag Antigua and Barbuda
TEU Max 900 DWT 10977
Classification Germanischer Lloyd