Shipping

Colombo Dockyard repairs tanker Delos

Cardiff Marine Inc. Greece owned Motor Tanker Delos called in with collision damages to her shipside as the tanker suffered damage while at Chittagong anchorage. The owners had decided to place the vessel in Colombo for permanent repairs.

Colombo's strategic location and the reputation as a reliable service provider attracted the Cardiff Marine Inc., to utilize Colombo Dockyard facilities for this damage repairs. Cardiff Marine Inc., is a well reputed ship owner/Manager managing a fleet of vessels in excess of six million deadweight. The peaceful conditions prevailing in the country has resulted in major European fleet owners looking at Colombo for their repair requirements, generating much needed foreign revenue for the country.

The tanker Delos initially planned to arrive in Colombo in February finally arrived in Colombo on February 17. Due to her shifted arrival, the initially allocated yard slot was not available as the next planned tanker had already arrived at the repair berth. The only available option was to secure another suitable berth to accommodate the vessel and immediate action was taken to request assistance from the local agents GAC Shipping Ltd. The local agents secured a suitable berth for this massive tanker (LOA 183.00 Meters/Beam 32.00 Meters).

The Shipyard mobilized the repair team under the project leadership of Ship Manager Dhammika Dissanayake, with coordinated support from steel department Steel engineer Avantha Gunathilake and his team to complete the job efficiently. As the job was carried out at the port berth, all required services had to be arranged with meticulous planning and coordination.

Container shipping industry in 'fragile' state - Maersk

The global container shipping industry remains in a "very fragile" state due to weak demand and a glut of ships, the world's largest shipping company said Wednesday.

Maersk Line, the container arm of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk, said companies should go slow in bringing back to service hundreds of ships idled during the recession, otherwise the sector will extend losses which totalled 15 billion US dollars in 2009.

"The situation remains very, very fragile for the shipping industry," said Maersk Line's Director of Business Performance, Asia-Pacific Hennie van Schoor. "It is balanced on a knife's edge," he said in a keynote speech at the Asia Pacific Maritime 2010 conference in Singapore.

As global trade slowed down during the global economic crisis last year, freight rates plunged and 11 percent of the world's container shipping fleet, or about 500 vessels, had to be parked.

In terms of volume, about 80 percent of world trade is carried by sea.

Van Schoor said there are signs of a pickup in global trade, with the United States and Europe importing more from the rest of the world.

But indications show this is being driven by companies stocking up on inventories rather than a surge in general demand.

He cited data showing that US imports rose 13 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2009, but retail sales in the same period expanded by only 1.0 percent. For Europe, the continent's imports were up 3.0 percent, but retail sales climbed a mere 1.0 percent. "What this is telling us is that the underlying demand for growth is not there yet," he said.

Van Schoor also cautioned against idled ships going back into the market, saying it will further upset the imbalance between a glut in capacity and weak demand.

While intra-Asian trade is growing because of the increasing network of free trade agreements in the region, it was still not enough to take up the slack in US and European demand, other speakers at the conference said.

Drewry Maritime Services (Asia) Ptd Ltd, Head of Asia Operations Divay Goel said that unlike the consumption-led economy of the United States, Asia's economic growth is powered largely by production. AFP