Chemical Carrier News

On August 18, 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law. Section 4202 of that Act amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA or Clean Water Act) to require tank vessels and marine transportation-related facilities to prepare and submit to the US Coast Guard plans for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worse case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance carried in bulk as cargo.

Chemical tankers are sailing into another challenging year, according to the London based chemical carrier, tank container and terminals group Stolt-Nielsen's Chief Executive Officer, Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen. "Our outlook for the first half of 2018 remains essentially unchanged. We do not anticipate any substantial improvement in the chemical tanker market until 2019 when the orderbook reduces and the supply/demand balance improves," he said. Niels added: "For Stolthaven Terminals, we continue to expect a modest but steady improvement in results, driven by operational improvements and better utilisation. At Stolt Tank Containers, we expect continued strength in rates and margins.

Gothenburg-based I-Tech’s Selektope antifouling agent has secured one of the prestigious European Marine Engineering Awards 2016, in recognition of the breakthrough marine coating ingredient’s Environmental Performance. The Award was presented by Robert Ashdown, Secretary General of the International Association of Classification Societies at the European Marine Engineering Conference gala dinner in Amsterdam on 13th April 2016. I-Tech Chief Executive Philip Chaabane said: “It is a great honour for the environmental performance of Selektope to be recognized by an Award that takes into account the independent panel of European Marine engineering judges and a public vote.

Gothenburg-based I-Tech’s Selektope antifouling system has been shortlisted in the Environmental Performance category by the judging panel for the European Marine Engineering Awards. The winner of this Award will be announced at the European Marine Engineering Conference and Awards gala dinner in Amsterdam on April 13, 2016. The Environmental Performance Award, sponsored by DNV GL, is presented to a product, process or management approach that was brought to market for the first time in 2015, or which was significantly improved or relaunched. The Award judges select solutions best able to demonstrate actual, or potential, environmental benefits as a result of implementation. Philip Chaabane, chief executive, I-Tech, says: “It is a great honor to be shortlisted for this award.

I have never been in a hurricane. That’s a fact. Actually, my wife likes to say that whenever there is any kind of natural disaster, I’m typically nowhere to be found. And, when I think about it, I realize that she is right. Whether by accident or by design, that’s exactly how it has played out during the 30+ years that we have been together. Whenever this touchy subject does come up – typically once a quarter – she usually points to one particular event as proof of concept. In August of 1983, long before Katrina left her indelible mark on the U.S. Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans in particular, there was Alicia. On August 18 of that year…

Shipowner Navig8 is progressing application of Interline9001, an advanced cargo tank coating from AkzoNobel’s International marine coating product range, on a series of 18 chemical tankers currently under construction at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, South Korea. According to the coating’s manufacturer, Navig8 selected its Interline9001 to deliver operational benefits for the 37,000 dwt vessels, providing increased vessel capacity and maximum operational flexibility required to meet increased market demand for large volume contract of affreightment.

Those MarineNews readers who are not familiar with Bob Kunkel probably should be. That’s because Kunkel, President of Alternative Marine Technologies, previously served as the Federal Chairman of the Short Sea Shipping Cooperative Program under the Maritime Administration and Department of Transportation from 2003 until 2008. He is a past Vice President of the Connecticut Maritime Association, a contributing writer for many maritime and technical trades publications, including Maritime Professional Magazine and MarineNews.

Lessons are still not being learnt when it comes to preventing engine room fires according to Braemar SA (Braemar Incorporating The Salvage Association). He adds: “On many of the vessels I visit, these hot spots are only too easy to find, with thermal imaging photographs readily identifying these defects”. Braemar SA says that, despite all the attention classification societies aim at fire prevention and protection design, potential problems must be detected earlier to ensure a fast and efficient first response.

Fifty days on, the maximum bending moment for the chemical carrier Maritime Maisie exceeds estimated damage strength limits. Lloyd’s Register’s Ship Emergency Response Service (SERS) has been working with the shipmanagers of Maritime Maisie, Singapore based, MSI Shipmanagement, to develop a plan to best manage the casualty and help ensure the ship can be taken to a secure anchorage where the remaining cargo can be transferred safely. Maritime Maisie was opened to the sea well…

Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY), said it has recently achieved a milestone with the repair of its 4,000th ship. The vessel, the Gas Al Gurain, is an LPG Tanker owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) one of ASRY’s longest standing customers. ASRY, established in 1977, noted that reaching the 4,000-ship mark was achieved in part thanks to some of the world most prestigious fleets, including KOTC, Maersk, UASC, Odfjell MidEast and many more. Installation of a new Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) system, exhaust gas economizer which utilizes the heat energy from diesel generators.

Consolidated Marine Management (CMM) take delivery of 'King Gregory', first of two fuel-efficient medium-size tankers from Hyundai Mipo. The 52,000 dwt King Gregory, is the first of two medium-range (MR), IMO II & III-class oil/chemical tankers contracted by Latsis Group's Consolidated Marine Management. The ship features the latest equipment and technology to cope with new environmental requirements and energy-saving demands, according to Kostas Vlachos, Consolidated’s Chief Operating Officer.

Major modifications have been completed on the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) conversion in Mexico. The ECO III, classed by ABS, originally was built as a chemical carrier before being purchased by MARECSA (Maritima De Ecologia, S.A. de C.V) for conversion to a FPSO at the DEMERSESA Shipyard in Tuxpan, Mexico. The FPSO’s crew quarters, helideck and on-deck piping were installed in the Mexican shipyard before it went to the US for drydocking and installation of other modules and the dynamic positioning system. The FPSO then returned to the Tuxpan shipyard for the final phase of the modifications.

A concerted response by a member of the American Salvage Association (ASA), technical experts from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and New York City Fire Department (FDNY) averted the risk of a toxic material release from a chemical carrier anchored in Gravesend Bay near Brooklyn, N.Y. during the week of Feb. During operations with a barge alongside to transfer ethanol cargo, the 443-ft chemical carrier Sichem Defiance sustained an implosion on board. The main deck over a cargo tank collapsed and adjacent bulkheads were breeched. The ship’s cargo consisted of benzene LAB and ethanol, a dangerously volatile liquid. Following the violent event, the ship’s captain immediately notified Federal and port authorities.

MARPOL Training Institute (MTI) has added an online capacity to access their training software. With MTI’s new website for online training (http://marine-npdes.com) utilizing these training programs is fast, convenient and available to officers and crew. Meeting MARPOL Standards (MMS) Officer Version covers MARPOL Annexes I-VI with tracks for engineers, non-tanker officers, tanker deck officers, tanker and chemical carrier deck officers, Masters and Superintendents. The online Crew Version of MMS covers all Annexes but emphasizes Annex V-Garbage regulations and is applicable for any type of vessel. After completing MMS training, it is…

Multraship, working in co-operation with Belgian salvage operator URS Salvage & Maritime Contracting, has refloated an Italian-flag chemical carrier which grounded off the Dutch coast, very close to a heavily populated tourist beach, on July 31. The 5,045 gt Rubino grounded off the beach at Zoutelande just after high tide. This is a very popular tourist area, and bathers and swimmers were ordered out of the water, to safety. The salvors, operating under an LOF agreement and working in close co-operation with the local authorities…

Samba Financial Group reportedly has signed an agreement with National Chemical Carrier (NCC)for a $392 million (SR1,470) million facility to finance 80 percent of the total cost for building 10 new chemical tankers, according to a report on www.menafn.com. It is considered to be the largest single shipping deal in the history of the local market in terms of amount and number of ships funded by a single bank for a single borrower. According to an official from the shipping company, the deal is within the framework of plans to expand the fleet, which is composed now of 14 vessels with a total capacity of 554,000 tons. By 2011 the company plans to have 32 ships with a total capacity of 1.4 million tons.

Following Advanced Polymer Coatings’ announcement earlier in the year of its first two chemical tanker coatings contracts won in Turkey, the anticorrosion specialist has just announced a number of further new business gains and opportunities in this developing shipbuilding country. It has also reported gains in other markets. APC’s unique polymer-based tank protection system MarineLine has now been specified for the cargo tanks of 10 more ships to be constructed or converted in Turkey. These range in size from two 1,450 dwt chemical tankers for Holland’s Unifleet NV, to be constructed by the RMK Marine shipyard, to two 29,990 dwt chemical tankers from UM Shipyard for Fairfield Chemical Tankers of the USA.

Shipowners are known for having distinct differences of opinion, but the one thing that all agree on is the importance of having access to capital. In an industry in which assets are generally big-ticket items and operating margins can be thin, access to proper financing serves the dual purposes of fleet growing the generation of healthy operating returns. Most shipowners would also agree that financing for maritime assets generally isn't easy to find. There are various reasons for this. One reason is that few lenders focus exclusively on marine finance and a result most lending institutions are not familiar enough with marine assets to feel comfortable financing them.

In extending its adherence to delivering cost-efficient and safety driven technologies, DNV has introduced a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are said to have dubious reliability on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.

The tanker owners' organization Intertanko, said on Thursday it is ready to discuss proposals by the European Commission to keep ships in port during storms - a move that some fear will disrupt oil supply. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency estimates that last year about 380 million barrels of crude sailed through the English Channel. Intertanko points out that neither the French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot nor the EU Transport Minister Loyola de Palacio have yet specified what exactly they mean by extreme weather conditions. Nor have they said what types of ship or cargo they expect to hold back during storms. The British Meteorological Office says that during an average winter in the western English Channel, winds exceed gale force eight for 15 percent of the time.

U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil continues to charter single-hull tankers for its oil, tanker brokers said on Thursday. ExxonMobil has been in the market for a five-year time-charter since late August, brokers said, and has recently been giving serious consideration to a single-hulled very large crude carrier (VLCC) that will be nearly 20 years old by the end of the charter in 2005. Negotiations, however, have recently reached a stalemate, brokers said. "The fact that (ExxonMobil) is looking at single-hulled tankers is widely known, but not widely known outside shipping circles," a London tanker broker said. "We charter both single and double-hull vessels because we believe both configurations offer safe and effective transportation for our products," said an ExxonMobil official.

The SMM exhibition in Hamburg has once again proven that it is the cradle of marine technology and the grand-daddy of all marine exhibitions. On display in 12 separate halls were more than 1,300 exhibitors from more than 50 countries, launching new products and discussing business with an estimated 37,000 visitors. More telling that sheer numbers, in this case, is the feeling of the exhibition and the ubiquitous marine technology theme. The quality of attendee and exhibitor is always high, but this edition of the bi-annual exhibition seemed especially charged due to the many positives currently running throughout the full spectrum of the maritime market.

Bureau Veritas says the 9,981 dwt chemical carrier Balu, which sank about 120 miles North of La Corunna off northern Spain in heavy weather today, was fully in class and had no requirements outstanding. The Balu was on passage from Denmark to southern Spain with a cargo of about 8,000 tons of sulfuric acid. The vessel was built in Frederikstad, Norway in 1977 to DNV class. The Balu was registered in Malta, owned by Dundee Shipping & Trading and managed by Monaco-based Traschimar. Bernard Anne, managing director of BV's marine division, says, "We have offered full co-operation to and are in close contact with the Maltese and French authorities. All the information we have on the history of the vessel is being made available." This vessel was transferred to BV class in 1980.