Gac Uk News

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has appointed GAC UK as its agent in Newcastle and Liverpool. Under the deal, GAC will manage 18 calls during 2018 for the 804-guest cruise ship Black Watch at its home port of Liverpool, and a further 16 for the 1,350-guest Balmoral, at its home port of Newcastle. Clare Ward, Director of Product and Customer Service at Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “Turnaround calls are always busy days for everybody involved in the operation, with crew changes, immigration and Customs formalities, stevedoring activity, receipt of supplies and much more all going on at once.

GAC UK has signed a three-year terminal and marine services deal with Valero Logistics UK Ltd. Under the agreement, from 1 February 2017, GAC UK will manage and support the discharge of 12-14MT of clean petroleum products each from up to 180 tankers a year at the ports of Cardiff and Plymouth. On 1 April, its raft of jetty operation services for the energy giant will be extended to include Avonmouth. GAC UK will provide a range of terminal services including secure and safe manning of berths, ship/shore safety checks and connecting shore cargo lines to vessels’ manifolds. It will also conduct value adding cargo sampling at three stages: from the vessels’ tanks before discharge; from shore lines during the operation; and from the trucks.

GAC has introduced a new centralized service to help ship owners navigate the paperwork required for the import of cargoes to European Union (EU) ports from outside the Union. Operators of vessels carrying such cargoes must declare cargo information to the customs authorities in advance of the vessel’s arrival. GAC is now helping ease that administrative burden with a dedicated team of fiscal experts formed to offer clients information and guidance on the process, and to handle customs paperwork on their behalf. This new value added service allows operators to delegate Entry Summary Declarations for all EU member states where their vessels call to GAC, regardless of whether or not it is the nominated agent handling the port call.

GAC UK has been appointed by Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) to provide essential shipping services support for the construction and installation of 84 new turbines as part of a major windfarm expansion project which will increase generating capacity almost six-fold. SHL, the engineering, procurement, construction and installation contractor, will design, supply and install the piled foundations, jacket substructures and inter-array cables for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL) project in the Outer Moray Firth. They will also transport and install the offshore substations. Both SHL’s crane vessels will be deployed: HLV Stanislav Yudin’ from April 2017 to April 2018, HLV ‘Oleg Strashnov’ from August to October 2017 and again from May to July 2018.

GAC UK and Forth Logistics Marine Services (FLMS) have formed a partnership to provide mooring and related terminal services around the UK. Formed on the back of a long term contract in the River Forth with an oil major to be announced later in the year, the pairing combines FLMS’s years of marine experience with GAC’s expertise and reputation for integrity as the leading ship agent in the UK and in the River Forth. According to GAC UK MD Herman Jorgensen, the winning combination will provide “safe, strong operations with unrivalled 24/7 customer focus”. The fleet of six line handling vessels includes two new Alnmaritec Wave Handler vessels currently being built at the company’s Port of Blyth yard. Three more vessels are en route from Qatar a sixth is coming from Australia this autumn.

As Team Britannia prepares for its bid to break the round-the-world powerboat record later this year, GAC has been named their official shipping and logistics partner. GAC will draw on the local contacts and expertise of its network of global offices and partners to provide the 80ft powerboat and its 12 strong crew with all the food, fuel and stores needed to complete the 23,000 mile voyage. The first-hand experience of the Group’s yachting and marine leisure experts at GAC Pindar Superyacht Services will also come into play for meeting the specific needs of the boat during its voyage. The agreement was signed yesterday (21 July) at…

June 30 was a big day for GAC UK’s Shetlands office, as Offshore Manager Adrian Henry welcomed the P&O Cruises ship Azura to the port of Lerwick, the islands’ capital and home to GAC’s local office. The 115,055t Azura is the largest ever cruise vessel to have called at the port, and Henry and his team were responsible for ensuring every second of her time there went without a hitch for her 3,033 passengers and 1,159 crew, GAC said. “The Azura is even bigger than the 114,288t Costa Pacifica which called here in June 2011,” said Fergus Poole, GAC UK’s Cruise Manager.

Yesterday (30 June) was a big day for GAC UK’s Shetlands office, as Offshore Manager Adrian Henry welcomed the P&O Cruises ship ‘Azura’ to the port of Lerwick, the islands’ capital and home to GAC’s local office. The 115,055t beauty is the largest ever cruise vessel to have called at the port, and Adrian and his team were responsible for ensuring every second of her time there went without a hitch for her 3033 passengers and 1159 crew. “The ‘Azura’ is even bigger than the 114,288t ‘Costa Pacifica’ which called here in June 2011,” says Fergus Poole, GAC UK’s Cruise Manager.

PONANT Yacht Cruises & Expeditions has appointed GAC UK as its agent for all United Kingdom and Ireland port calls in 2016. PONANT’s 142m and 132 cabin megayachts Le Boréal and L’Austral will cruise around the British Isles and Ireland, including the Scilly Isles, Shetlands, Dublin, Liverpool and Scottish Highlands in May and June next year. Fergus Poole, GAC UK’s newly appointed Cruise Manager, said the high prestige business is a boost to GAC’s growing cruise operations in and around the UK and Ireland.

GAC UK is boosting its services for the cruise industry with the appointment of Fergus Poole as Cruise Manager. For nearly two decades, Poole has specialized in the sector and has held a number of managerial and operations posts dedicated to serving cruise and passenger vessels, most recently for services at U.K. and Irish ports. He joined GAC on May 1 and is based in Sunderland, from where he will coordinate cruise calls at ports nationwide. Ports in the U.K. have always been popular as cruise destinations.

Effective from 27 May 2015, German Authorities will implement the reporting requirements for vessels according to EC-directive 2010/65/EU (national single window reporting formalities). This directive is designed to achieve harmonization and simplification of reporting formalities in all European ports and the Kiel-Canal, based on the mandatory electronic data exchange of relevant information between the maritime transport sector and authorities. The responsible reporting party has to report the relevant information via "National Single Window" only once. The "National Single Window" passes this data to the competent authorities for the respective port visit or for the transit of a vessel through the Kiel Canal. Please visit www.national-single-window.de/index.html for further information.

A unique storage facility adjacent to one of the busiest shipping trade routes in the world is soon to become available. Since 2001, Portland Port located on the south coast of the UK has leased its bunker storage, pipeline and berth facility to Aegean Marine Petroleum Network. Later this year the facility will return back to the open market with the opportunity for a new tenant to occupy and manage the facility. The tanks were fully refurbished by Aegean who also built a new jetty to receive tanker deliveries; the facility has since been professionally managed and maintained to a high standard. Approximately 40,000cbm of storage is available, split between four tanks of approximately 10,000 cbm each.

Delays can be expected in the Kiel Canal following a collision this yesterday, 23 January, with the small north lock gate at Brunsbuettel. Only the big north lock chamber and the small south lock chamber at Brunsbuettel are currently available for transits. (For information about operations in Germany contact the GAC UK Hub Agency Centre at [email protected]) Source: Sartori & Berger – GAC agent

Vessels with LOA over 125m and/or draft over 6.5m planning to transit the Kiel Canal are facing waiting times of about 14 hours at Kiel-Holtenau. The waiting time at Brunsbuttel, however, has decreased to about 4 hours. (For information about operations in Germany contact the GAC UK Hub Agency Centre at [email protected])

All vessels must now submit their Health Maritime Declaration prior to arrival at Spanish ports. Health Authorities will take all necessary precautions (inspections, shore leave prohibition, etc.) only for vessels coming from affected countries (Guinea Konacry, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria) or that have visited any of these countries lately. Every Master must report any illness symptoms amongst his crew. Any ill crew member must complete a form indicating (among other information) the last countries he has visited. Vessels should complete and deliver the Maritime Declaration of Health. Measures taken on board should also be noted on the ship sanitation control certificate.

The Kiel-Canal Authorities advise that the New Big South Lock Chamber at Brunsbuettel will be out of service for maintenance during the hours between 0700 and 1600 from 8 September to about 11 September. (For information about operations in Germany contact the GAC UK Hub Agency Centre at [email protected]) Source: Sartori & Berger - GAC agent

Bibby Offshore U.K. Ltd signed a nonexclusive ship agency services contract with GAC covering all ports in the U.K. and making the Group their first choice of provider elsewhere worldwide. Aberdeen-based Bibby Offshore U.K. Ltd is a subsidiary of the Bibby Line Group, providing solutions to the oil and gas sector operating in the North Sea. The deal with GAC has been signed just as Bibby Offshore U.K. embarks on a five-year growth plan that will see the expansion of its fleet of offshore construction vessels and ROV systems.

The SIOT/TAL Terminal at Trieste has advised that the TAL Pre-Mooring Safety Inspection program will be modified from 1 September. - Any ship at her first call at S.I.O.T. - Any ship in TAL Refusal List, on trial voyage. In case of reduced Terminal berth capability (for example with a pier unavailable), any ship the Terminal should judge advisable to be checked in order to reduce the risk of prolonged berthing time (for example in case of overcrowd Trieste road, in case of vessels with heated cargo onboard, subjected recently to incident, that exceed the max. allowable berthing time at the previous call and so on).

GAC Bunker Fuels unveiled plans to relocate the headquarters of its global bunker fuel services to Dubai under the new company name, GAC Bunker Fuels Ltd. The company also announced the appointment of Nicholas Browne as the new Global Director of GAC Bunker Fuels and Anthony Mollet as Commercial Director – Shipping (GAC UK). GAC Bunker Fuels’ relocation to Dubai will take place in August 2012.

Global shipping, logistics and marine services group GAC has announced the merger of its UK operations to better meet clients’ needs, effective 1 January 2010. Shipping services company GAC-OBC, with more than 20 offices throughout the UK, becomes GAC Shipping (UK) Ltd, alongside GAC Logistics (UK) Ltd, GAC’s UK freight forwarding arm. In-house travel agency, GAC-OBC Business Travel, is rebranded as GAC Travel Ltd. Former Managing Director of GAC-OBC, Peter Cole, has been appointed MD of the three companies…

GAC UK & GAC Seaforth overcome challenges to deliver cargo to LakeTanganyika, Burundi, for Surestream Petroleum oil exploration. Independent oil exploration company Surestream Petroleum Ltd, headquartered in Reading, UK, contacted energy sector specialists GAC UK for help with shipping 60 tons of cargo to their seismic operations base on Lake Tanganyika, located to the west of Tanzania and also bordered by Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The shipment comprised fabricated steel sections, stores, tools, chemicals, high value seismic equipment and a 10m chase boat. GAC was also appointed as the main agent to air-freight stores to Burundi and for a high-priority task to andfrom Malawi.