SHIPPING

Dockyard completes Pedhoulas Trader

The New York Stock Exchange listed Greece owned Safety Management Overseas SA, bulk carrier MV. Pedhoulas Trader called in for her intermediate drydocking call to Colombo Dockyard during second week October.

Bulk carrier Pedhoulas Trader accommodated in Colombo Dockyard drydock during her repair call

Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) completed the drydocking repair requirements of MV. Pedhoulas Trader and re-delivered the bulk carrier ahead of schedule to the full satisfaction of the owners.

Safety Management Overseas SA stemmed the drydocking repairs to Colombo Dockyard looking at the strategic location of the yard, giving minimal diversion from vessels trading route and their competitive pricing, coupled with the past experience the yard has gathered in servicing Greek owners, supplemented with the peace full business atmosphere in the Country.

Yard had quoted seven days for the work package which consisted of routine drydocking repairs, surface preparation, coating, shaft seals vulcanising and rudder clearance.

During these period additional jobs that cropped up on the engine sector was also handled, where the yards production teams worked tirelessly to meet the stringent deadlines.

The bulk carrier was accommodated in drydock four on arrival and she sailed out to her next port with an extra day in hand as the yard completed the work within six days, gaining full confidence of this new client to CDPLC's portfolio.

Colombo has been providing reliable and fast repair facilities to many international vessel owners over the past such as Pratibha Shipping Ltd., India, Van Oord Ship Management-Holland, Dredging Corporation-India, Mercator Lines Ltd.-India, Aurora Tankers/MSI Shipmanagement, Singapore and Dredging International, Belgium, Columbia Ship Management and Singapore.

US Navy seeks to move jet fuel

In rare Japan-Korea route-trade:

The United States Navy is seeking a medium-range oil tanker to move at least 30,000 tonnes of jet fuel from Japan to South Korea, industry sources said on Wednesday, at a time of heightened military tension on the Korean peninsula.

The transport route is unusual for jet fuel, shipping sources said, but an unnamed U.S. military official said shipments of fuel for operational use are standard.

"We don't have any information on what you are talking about in terms of the contracting," the U.S. military official said.

"There is no particular movement that has taken place in response to an incident in terms of large delivery of jet fuel or anything else."

The United States is involved in joint military manoeuvres with South Korea this week and with Japan next week.

Both exercises come less than 10 days after North Korea fired scores of artillery rounds into a South Korean island near the disputed northern maritime border.

The request for a jet fuel shipment from Japan caught the attention of the local shipping industry.

"They are looking to book this vessel for a period of up to 60 days," a Singapore-based shipbroker said.

The U.S. Navy is normally buyer of jet fuel in Asia, but delivery to South Korea is unusual, shipbrokers said. "I have not seen them moving (jet) from Japan to South Korea, unless maybe South Korea doesn't have enough jet," the shipbroker said.

But traders said there was no apparent tightness in the jet fuel market, suggesting that the U.S. Navy could be stockpiling the aviation fuel.

"They are being proactive... They are just stocking up in (South Korea)," said a Singapore-based shipbroker. "They are building up the local tanks."

The Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday that South Korea was planning more military drills as the nuclear powered USS George Washington moved out of Korean waters back to Japan.

The United States airforce operates a facility in Ulsan which has storage tanks for jet fuel, sources said.

Only U.S. shipbrokers are eligible to deal with the naval request, sources said.

Clean tanker rates on the benchmark Singapore-Japan freight route climbed to a six-month high this week on strong seasonal demand from North Asia.

Asian trade for December jet fuel hit a 10-month peak of $1.65 by 0430 GMT.

Winter-related kerosene stockpiling in North Asia and depressed gas oil prices due to heavy supplies have boosted the spread, traders said.

"Winter is historically a strong season for jet because of heating demand anyway, but if there is further demand due to (the Korean situation) we could see the regrade hitting $2.00 soon," said a Singapore-based distillates trader. REUTERS

Minister Douglas Devananda inspecting the passenger launch at the Colombo Dockyard facility

Passenger launch built for Jaffna

Minister Douglas Devananda made a visit to the Colombo Dockyard to inspect the 100 passenger launch being built for Jaffna peninsula under a contract signed with the Road Development Authority.

This launch will be used to transfer civilians from Kurikadduvan jetty of Punguduthivu Jaffna to Delft Island.

This passenger launch shall comply with modern passenger launch building practices and will provide a safe and comfortable journey for the passengers being suitable for operation in the roughest weather conditions that may be encountered on the way in the Indian Ocean and will certainly bring in great relief to thousands of northern commuters during this new dawn era of peace.

Somali pirates seize Malaysian vessel

Somali pirates have hijacked a Malaysian-flagged boxship with a crew of 23 west off the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, a regional maritime watchdog said Tuesday.

The MV Albedo container vessel was en route from the United Arab Emirates to Kenya when it was hijacked last week despite sailing around the Seychelles, no less than 900 nautical miles east of the Somali coast.

"MV Albedo has a crew of 23 from Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh" and is being commandeered towards central Somalia, said Ecoterra International, an environmental group monitoring maritime activity in the region.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, in Kuala Lumpur, also told AFP that the seized vessel was sailing towards Somalia.

"We believe the ship is heading towards the Somali coast. Naval forces are monitoring the hijacked ship," he said. Choong said pirates now held 23 vessels and 531 hostages, and he expressed concern over the long-range attack on the ship by Somali pirates.

"It will not be easy to eradicate the pirates. The risk being caught is low and the returns are high. Piracy off Somali waters will flourish," he warned. In 2008 Somali pirates hijacked two Malaysian-owned ships, which were released after payment of a ransom.

Naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to patrol the region's waters but they have failed to stem piracy, one of the few thriving businesses for coastal communities in Somalia, a country devastated by war and poverty.

Over the past two years, marauding sea-jackers on skiffs equipped with RPGs, ladders and grapnels have moved away from the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden and expanded their area of operations east and south in the Indian Ocean.

AFP