Bach News

The Sea Cargo Charter, a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of chartering activities, has released its annual report covering 2022, highlighting the disclosure of emissions data and calling for action from the IMO.The 33 signatories covered by the report account for more than 17% of total bulk cargo transported by sea over the year. Their average reporting rate increased since last year to 90%.“While achieving full decarbonisation by 2050 may seem far off…

World leaders attending COP26 climate talks from the end of the month must ratchet up pressure to make shipping decarbonize by 2050, a senior industry official involved in the meeting said.Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions.U.N. shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has said it aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050. The goal is…

Singapore's commodity trading company Trafigura Group has named the first of its 35 crude oil and product tankers being built in South Korea and China.The naming ceremony took place at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Jeolanam-do, in the southwest of South Korea yesterday (September 20) in the presence of Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health, Dr Lam Pin Min. Dr Lam’s wife, Dr Jeanette Chen, became godmother to the first vessel to be named, the Mt Marlin Singapore, a 150k dwt Suezmax vessel.Chin Hwee Tan, CEO Asia Pacific for Trafigura also joined today’s ceremony whose wife, Michelle Lee, became godmother to the second vessel to be named…

Guests on board the luxury ship EUROPA 2 will to be enchanted by a unique performance that blends breakdancing and classical music. The internationally renowned “Flying Steps” dance group will make their EUROPA 2 debut in July, and will perform their dynamic “Flying Bach” show on a cruise that started yesterday in Monte Carlo, cruising the Mediterranean Sea to Palma de Mallorca. Under the artistic direction of Vartan Bassil, this breakdancing group from Berlin’s Kreuzberg district has become a network of over 30 world-class athletes who have danced their way to international success.

Just a few weeks after delivery of the Crystal Bach, shipbuilder MV WERFTEN has handed over the Crystal Mahler, the second of four Rhine Class ships for client Crystal River Cruises. After the ceremonial change of flags, the ship was christened at the outfitting quay of MV WERFTEN in Wismar. Like its sister vessel, the 135-metre long and 11.4-metre wide river cruise ship was specifically designed for exploring Europe’s rivers. It complies with the highest safety and navigation standards…

Shipbuilder MV WERFTEN has completed its first newbuild project, having today delivered Crystal Bach, the first of four new Rhine Class luxury river cruise vessels for Crystal River Cruises. Designed specifically for river cruising in Europe, the 135-meter-long and 11.4-meter-wide Crystal Bach will sail along the Rhine, Danube and Main Rivers through the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, carrying up to 106 passengers in 55 large suites, all designed to be above the water line with horizontal sliding windows.

Janne Luukkonen has taken over the position of Director of Project Management at MV WERFTEN as of August 1, 2017. He is a member of the senior management, responsible for all shipbuilding projects, and reports to CEO Jarmo Laakso. Luukkonen was previously a member of the Meyer Werft management team in Turku, Finland. Now as director, he is responsible for the project management of MV WERFTEN’s newbuilding program. “Tomorrow we will deliver the first vessel under the flag of MV WERFTEN: Crystal Bach, the world’s most luxurious river ship. Crystal Mahler is to follow next month.

Trafigura has sold five oil vessels to a unit of China's Bank of Communications , ending the trading house's move into owning tankers, the company said on Friday. Under the deal, the five medium-range tankers, ordered by Trafigura in 2013 from a shipyard in China, were sold to Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Company Ltd and subsequently leased back to the Swiss trading house. Financial terms were not disclosed. "The ships were bought at low entry levels and we saw an opportunity to sell now. While we have a significantly growing cargo programme it is not a must for us also to own the steel," Trafigura global head of wet freight Rasmus Bach Nielsen said in a statement.

German shipyard MV WERFTEN has awarded ALMACO Group a contract to build the luxury suites and galley areas for Crystal River Cruises’ four Rhine Class luxury river yachts, which will be delivered in 2017 and 2018 from Wismar. The scope of work involves a total of 220 luxury suites and corresponding corridors as well as the visual turnkey delivery of the main galley and pantries, including galley equipment and lining for all four river ships. ALMACO previously refurbished the crew accommodation and catering areas onboard Crystal River Cruises’ Crystal Mozart earlier in 2016…

The first two of four Rhine class river cruise ships are simultaneously under construction at MV WERFTEN in Wismar. Delivery of the 7-star vessels Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler to Crystal River Cruises will be in 2017. Shipbuilder MV WERFTEN held a keel-laying ceremony for two Rhine class river cruise ships in Wismar today. The Crystal Bach (yard number 120) and Crystal Mahler (yard number 123) are the first two of four new luxury river cruise vessels to be built in the completely covered dock shop.

China has taken a major step towards establishing a speedy new "Silk Road" to Europe by signing up to a U.N. trucking treaty. Fifteen years after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), China is hoping a revival of its ancient trading corridor to the west will help boost its slowing economy. Becoming a member of TIR, an international guarantee scheme that will enable Chinese freight containers to travel all the way to Ireland without being opened up for time-consuming customs checks, is a first step towards putting the legal framework of the plan into action. "It's a key element ...for the Chinese government... If you had to stop a container at every border from China to Europe it would add substantial costs," said Christian Friis Bach, executive secretary of the U.N.

Horst Binnig was appointed CEO of Rheinmetall Automotive's parent company KSPG AG and will take over beginning January 1, 2014. As Executive Board member of Rheinmetall AG, he will also represent the interests of the automotive sector within the Rheinmetall Group. From the start of 2014 and in both these positions he is succeeding Dr. Gerd Kleinert who after 13 years of successful activities in the Rheinmetall Group is stepping down from his CEO position and enetering retirement.

Geodis Wilson announced the appointment of Rene Bach-Larsen as Cluster Managing Director of Singapore and Southeast Asia. Looking forward to his new role of developing Geodis Wilson’s business in one of Asia’s most dynamic economical hubs, Rene said, “The Southeast Asia market—Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam—is certainly often overlooked as a growth area because of its modest size compared to the biggest players China and India. However, from a global perspective, it is actually a key area. It has weathered the global recession well and is experiencing rapid growth.

Vinashin Shipbuilding Industry Corp. ex-officials in appeal against sentences for losses to the state budget of VND910 billion (US$43.5-million). Shipbuilding giant Vinashin, a state-owned company founded in 1996, came to the verge of bankruptcy in 2009 after accumulating an enormous debt of over $4.11 billion. The government later introduced reforms to get the embattled shipbuilder back on track. The Supreme People’s Court opened the hearing to consider the appeals of eight out of the nine defendants who had been sentenced by the Hai Phong city people’s Court in March for “intentionally violating the State’s economic management regulations, which causes serious consequences”. Among the eight is Pham Thanh Binh, former Vinashin chairman, 59, who has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Bach Dang Shipbuilding Industry Corp on August 1 reportedly delivered a cargo ship to its client, the Northern Shipping Joint Stock Company (Nosco), according to a report on http://english.vovnews.vn. The 6,500 DWT ship is one of the 20ships that the company is building for Nosco’s parent company, the Vietnam National Shipping Lines.It measures 102.8m long and 17m wide ship with a capacity of 3,600 HP, built under the supervision of the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK) Register of Shipping of Japan, meets the international maritime regulations. http://english.vovnews.vn

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) has been awarded a bonus of $460,000 for delivering the KFELS B Class jackup rig, PV Drilling III, early to PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corp (PV Drilling). Completed 1.5 months ahead of schedule, without incidents, PV Drilling III has departed Keppel FELS for Vietnam to begin a five-year contract with Vietsovpetro in the Bach Ho field, offshore Vietnam. PV Drilling III completes the series of three KFELS B Class jackup rigs ordered by PV Drilling since 2005. The KFELS B Class rig is able to operate in water depths of 400 ft with a drilling depth of 30,000 ft. Versatility of PV Drilling III…

Seaarland Shipping Management and Athens-based Roxana Shipping have established a new pool for LR1 tankers. The Global Tanker Pool will be operated from Seaarland’s Asian arm, Seaarland Management Services Singapore, and has commenced operations with six modern LR1 tankers. The pool manager is Karl Arthur Braein, previously head of chartering in Asia-Pacific for ConocoPhillips. Antonio Zacchello, managing director of Seaarland said, “We have committed five new, owned ships and one chartered ship shared with Roxana to the pool, and Roxana has committed four ships with delivery starting by the end of 2009. We aim to attract other long-term-minded owners/operators of LR1 tankers and build the pool to around 20 vessels.

Lord Bach of Lutterworth, Minister for Defense Procurement for the U.K., visited ALSTOM Power Conversion last week to review the company’s progress on two major defense related projects. He went to Rugby to see the propulsion equipment and test facility for the first of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 Destroyers, HMS Daring, and then visited the Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator (ESTD) at ALSTOM in Whetstone, Leicestershire. In April 2001, ALSTOM was awarded the contract to design and manufacture the electrical and power management systems…

Lord Bach of Lutterworth, Minister for Defense Procurement for the U.K., visited ALSTOM Power Conversion last week to review the company’s progress on two major defense related projects. He went to Rugby to see the propulsion equipment and test facility for the first of the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 Destroyers, HMS Daring, and then visited the Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator (ESTD) at ALSTOM in Whetstone, Leicestershire. In April 2001, ALSTOM was awarded the contract to design and manufacture the electrical and power management systems, and to perform combined testing of the propulsion converters and advanced induction motors for the T45 Destroyer electric propulsion system.

The Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture, Vietsovpetro, plans to operate a new tanker from next week, bringing their crude transportation fleet to four, officials said. It was reported that the new tanker was built by a Japanese firm at a cost of $90 million and had a capacity of 150,000 tons of crude (1.1 million barrels). It will reportedly become operational from October 10. Vietsovpetro officials have said Ba Vi was taken into dry dock for repair after bad weather damaged its single mooring buoy in mid-February, cutting by more than half the output of crude oil and gas from the Bach Ho field. The vessel resumed operations in April. An industry source said that at the time that the damage was not to the mooring buoy but to a crude oil tank.

Senior Defense Minister Lord Bach told unions and MPs yesterday that a vital clause would be put on all future defense contracts guaranteeing that all sub contracting work will be done in the U.K. The move came after unions provided irrefutable evidence proving that Swan Hunters had blown a hole in the Government's promise that all warships would be built on the U.K. when, in fact, design and fabricated bow units for the Auxiliary Landing Ships was sent to Holland risking hundreds of jobs in Scotland. Unions belonging to the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineer Unions meeting in Glasgow today will demand that BAE Systems on the Clyde retain a design capacity guaranteeing 3000 jobs remaining at the two yards have a long term future.

In August, two 7S35MC engines will be delivered to Vietnam from MAN B&W Diesel A/S in Frederikshavn, Denmark, who have built the engines. They are to be installed in two11,500 dwt freighters ordered by Vinashin Shipping and Service Company from the Bach Dang and Ha Long Shipyards. A 7S35MC engine has an output of 5,180 kW at 173 r/min. The 35MC was the first engine in the MC-engine program when it was introduced two decades ago and has proved a huge success with more than 1,000 engines ordered or delivered. In total there are 6,885 MC engines on order or delivered as per July 2002.

At a ceremony in Hanoi on November 8, 2004, a "Licence and Co-operation Agreement" was signed by Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) and MAN B&W Diesel A/S, Denmark. The new agreement, which was signed by Vinashin Chairman & C.E.O. Mr Pham Thanh Binh and MAN B&W Executive Vice President Dr Peter Sunn Pedersen at a televised ceremony in Hanoi, will provide Vinashin with technology and support for the production of MAN B&W two-stroke diesel engines for the growing Vietnamese shipbuilding industry. The agreement is a logical consequence of the Vietnamese government's decision to build up the country's shipbuilding industry, which has already manifested itself in an impressive inflow of orders from Vietnamese and foreign owners.