Shipping

ASC meeting ideal for shipping industry

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The Asian Shippers' Council (ASC) annual meeting hosted by Sri Lanka provided an ideal opportunity for the country to market our shipping industry in a positive manner. It also enabled the country to realize its full potential as a key international gateway for shipping said, Chairman Sri Lanka Shippers' Council, Randolph Perera.

Randolph Perera

"We believe that outmoded, outdated and out of touch century-old cartel system should be abolished and this will bring substantial benefits to all countries in Asia. Over the last four decades, we have played a significant role and contributed to the shippers and the shipping sector in a very pragmatic and positive way", he said.

"We have some differences with shipping lines and to date continue to lobby our position to overcome the shortcomings of the industry. We have been key players of regional shippers' movements and we were one of the key parties supporting the formation of the ASC in 2004", he said.

Considering the global trade expansion and complexities, we feel that it is of utmost importance that the ASC has to be strengthened in the coming years and to work very closely with our colleagues in the Global Shippers' Forum to eliminate anti-competitive trade practices and to promote fair trade and transparency in the shipping industry, he said.

In today's context, the shipping industry is more complex than ever before and our scope of work is expanding in the trade and security and of late the threat of piracy.

We hope that the Colombo meeting will be a platform for Asian Shippers to work closely among themselves and educate the Governments to introduce regulatory reforms to face the 21st century challenges in the shipping industry and to eliminate trade barriers that obstruct fair trade and pricing mechanisms, he said.

ASC was set up in 2004 to bring shippers across this vast and dynamic region in to a single platform.

It has 20 Shippers' Councils within the ASC organized in five geographical regions, namely China the Indian sub-continent, North East Asia, Oceania and South East Asia. ASC is also the Asian component of the Global Shippers' Forum, which represents the major trading regions of the world.

OSV Bourbon Thera here for dockyard repairs

Given the good work carried out on the sister vessel OSV Bourbon Thalie, Colombo was the automatic choice when it was time to carry out repairs on OSV Bourbon Thera. She called in for drydocking repairs in July 2009.

OSV Bourbon Thera accommodated in Dock No. one during her repairs at the Colombo Dockyard

OSV Bourbon Thera is also owned by Bourbon Offshore, one of the biggest offshore fleet owners in the world.

During this call extensive work package was executed, the owners were aware of the specific requirements in this instance and the spares were located before hand, allowing the vessel to complete ahead of the quoted time and sail out to her operational oil field.

The main scope consisted of complicated trouble shooting and machining work on the controllable pitch propellers system. This precision machining work and new blade roots were brought from makers and assembled on the hubs. This critical work was carried out under OEM supervision. All three Side Thrusters were overhauled. An Antennae pedestal was fabricated and mounted on the monkey bridge. The Stbd intermediate shaft was load tested, after pedestal bearing repairs. Routine drydocking related repairs were also carried out during this call.

The yard's planning and flexible approach was the key to successful completion of this project meeting the owner's requirements. The ship management team coordinated the job smoothly, with all production units giving full support to complete the project ahead of the estimated duration.

The attending Superintendents Rajiv Tewani and Nicolas Receveur looked after the owners' interests. The repairs were carried out to the classification requirements of Bureau Veritas (BV). Vessels Particulars: LOA: 64.00 Meters/Beam: 16.00 Meters/GRT: 2041.

Mercantile Shipping takes charge of MV 'Mercs Uva'

Mercantile Emerald Shipping (Pvt.) Ltd., a 100 percent subsidiary of Mercantile Shipping Company PLC, recently took charge of its new multi-purpose vessel MV "Mercs Uva" at the port of Delfzijl in The Netherlands.

General Manager of Mercantile Shipping, Stephan Kuehl said, "Bathe in beautiful summer sunshine under a deep blue sky, the vessel was named "MERCS UVA" by Sujatha Wickramatilleka, wife of Ranjith Wickramatilleka, a longstanding Director of Mercantile Shipping.

Mercs Uva

Managing Director Thomas Kriwat said that this was a great achievement for Mercantile Shipping as this is the first ever newly built ship for a private company in Sri Lanka and for the country's fleet, the first new vessel in more than 25 years.

The project was made possible partly through a Government to Government grant from The Netherlands which was negotiated by Mercantile Shipping some six years ago.

The 7,800 tdwt multi-purpose vessel, which took two years to build, will be employed internationally in worldwide markets, for which Mercantile Shipping has obtained a first class charter.

The decision to contract multi-purpose tonnage rather than other types of ships was made with a reason, as the multi-purpose and project market is less affected by market developments which the shipping industry is facing at present.

The MV "Mercs Uva" is the first of two sister vessels, the second one being scheduled for delivery in November this year.

Mercantile Shipping has been engaged in local and regional traffic for many years and is the leading ship owner in Sri Lanka. By selling older ships and receiving new vessels, the company, which previously operated only second hand ships, is entering a new phase in its development while setting new standards in the Sri Lankan fleet.

The commercial management of the ship is with Mercantile Shipping, while the crew management is handled by Mercantile Marine Management.

The Boat Show 2010

Forum for related business sectors:

The Boat Show 2010, the international Boat Exhibition in Sri Lanka will be held from April 24-26, 2010 at the BMICH. It is organized by the Boat Building Technology Improvement Institute Lanka (Gte) Ltd to provide a forum for all related business sectors involved directly and indirectly with the boating industry to display and promote their sectors to the potential clients.

This is the second boat show to be held in Sri Lanka showcasing the capabilities in the local boating industry. It will also act as a platform for boat producers and potential buyers to meet.

The first ever show held in June last year was a huge success and attracted buyers and sellers from the leisure, marine, tourism, fishing and other related industries and modern technology enabled marine products and allied services. The show has the support from the State and the commercial sector.

Last year's boat show opened new frontiers of leisure boating, marine, industrial and commercial vessels where leading boat manufacturers secured orders which are being currently executed. The first quarter exports of boats and yachts from Sri Lanka reached Rs. 2 billion mark showing the true potential for the boat industry.

The boat show 2008 was successful in introducing this trade to the local market and create a much more sophisticated target audience. In Sri Lanka, the trend of leisure and adventure boating has not yet found its true potential. The boat show created interest among locals for leisure and adventure boating providing a boost to the boat industry. SJ

Retail container volumes to drop

Monthly declines for import cargo volume at major U.S. container ports remain largely down, with total volume expected to come in at 12.3 million containers for 2009-an 18.8 percent annual decline from 2008's 15.2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and the lowest total in seven years since 2002's 11.6 million TEU-according to the monthly Port Tracker report by IHS Global Insight and the National Retail Federation.

Following May, which cracked the million container mark at 1.04 million TEU for the first time in four months, June volume was 1.01 million TEU.

This output is down 2 percent sequentially from May and down 22 percent year-over-year.

This marks the 24th consecutive month there has been a year-over-year decline, according to the Port Tracker report.

Port trade forecasts in the report cover all containerized trade, not just retail goods, according to IHS Global Insight and the NRF.

The ports selected for coverage are those considered most important to retailers, but, for reasons of monitoring the potential for overall congestion in the system, the organizations look at containerized imports, including business-to-business shipments of items like components used in manufacturing or other wholesale goods.