Carrier Fleets News

The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of Sovcomflot, which runs one of the world’s largest tanker and gas carrier fleets, has moved a step closer. Economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted by local Russian news agencies as saying that the government might get around RBL24bn ($357m) roubles from selling a 25% stake in the nation’s top line, Sovcomflot. He said the IPO would happen this year. The Russian state-controlled tanker giant was waiting for investor sentiment to turn before embarking on its listing. The shipping line has more than 100 tankers in its fleet including crude and LNG plus nine bulk carriers. A listing has been on the cards for the Sergei Frank controlled company for a number of years.

The running year turned out as a tough year in shipping. Despite a raft of technical projects for the company, the stinging tale of the low oil price created a steep downturn in the global offshore industry as well as leaving many projects deferred or cancelled. As a result SAL concludes 2015 with significant project references, but also with the marks of the general challenges in the shipping industry. SAL foresees a continued challenged mar-ket in 2016 and predicts project carriers will have to toughen up to be capable of withstanding the fights that will inevitably come. COO of SAL, Toshi Yamazaki, gives his view on 2015 and the outlooks for the industry in the year to come. 2015 turned out to be a tough year for many ship owners and companies involved in the shipping industry.

Justin Archard. Managing Director, Asia Pacific & Oceania at SAL Heavy Lift Singapore Pte Ltd sees a turnaround in the Heavy lift and Over Dimensional Cargo tranport segment. As one of the world’s leading carriers specialised in sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo, has penned down some thoughts on the outlook for the coming year. Cargo volume increases seen in 2014 are seen by most owners as the start of trend growth and 2015 for some time has pointed to better utilisation factors across MPV/Project carrier fleets. That said, it is hard to say whether or not the oil price shock will have a sting in its tail. The oil and gas industry is laying off people across the board – staff and contractors alike. Project deferments have started.

At the 5th Annual International Maritime Awards, presented at ShipTek, ABS received Marine BizTV’s award of Best Classification Society. The occasion marks the second year the society received the award. “Service delivery is paramount to our classification society,” said ABS Regional Vice President, Middle East Region, Joe Brincat. “We have maintained our focus on providing additional technical and software services to enhance our class services. Receiving Marine BizTv’s award…

ABS was named Best Classification Society during the recent Lloyd’s List Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards held in Dubai. The award ceremony is one of six regional events hosted by the industry’s daily newspaper to benchmark excellence within the maritime industry. A panel of judges from a broad spectrum of industry selected ABS as the winner in the Classification Society category. The society has maintained a network of regional and port offices throughout the Middle East area for more than 30 years with regional administrative and operational headquarters in Dubai…

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) formally established the Surface Ship Life Cycle Management (SSLCM) Activity on May 8, 2009, in a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) in Portsmouth, Va. The new activity, a NAVSEA program office, will be aligned under the Deputy Commander for Surface Warfare (SEA 21). The SSLCM Activity will maintain, monitor and refine Class Maintenance Plans for all non-nuclear surface ships to ensure material readiness for the projected service life, develop life-cycle strategies to address system upgrades, and fully implement the Integrated Class Maintenance Plan into each surface ship's maintenance schedule and availability planning process.

Greek bulk shipping operator Ceres Hellenic said on Thursday it had agreed to merge its Capesize and Panamax fleets with those of Italy's Coeclerici, creating one of the world's largest bulk carrier fleets. The ships will be operated by a new joint venture between the two private companies, Coeclerici Ceres Bulk Carriers (CCBC), which brokers said would be among the top six players in the transport of coal, grain and iron ore. The two fleets have been working alongside each other for 18 months under a pooling alliance, Coeclerici Transport, in which Coeclerici handled commercial management and Ceres dealt with operations, said a Ceres spokesman.