Keystone Shipping Co News

American Shipping Company ASA (AMSC), A Norwegian-based ship finance company focused on the intercoastal U.S. Jones Act shipping market, announced it has entered into bareboat charters for two of its vessels commencing in December 2022 with U.S. tanker operator Keystone Shipping Co.The bareboat charters have minimum terms of three years which may be extended at the charterer’s options. The charters are secured by back-to-back time charters of the same duration between Keystone and a major U.S. based oil and refinery group.AMSC said the new charters add almost $60 million to its existing charter backlog, excluding any proceeds from the profit share component of the charters.AMSC CEO Pål Lothe Magnussen said…

The MV Cape Ray, a Keystone-managed Ready Reserve Force containership that worked in the Mediterranean Sea for the U.S. Government neutralizing chemical material from Syria, will receive a special recognition on November 7 at the United Seamen's Service Admiral of the Ocean Sea (USS AOTOS) event. Military and civilian specialists spent some 10 months completing the mission of neutralizing more than 600 tons or 80 percent of Syria's stockpile. The effluents were then dropped off at Finland and Germany for final disposal.

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute (GLMRI) has been awarded a $750,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative Grant to help reduce air emissions from a 1,000-ft Great Lakes ore carrier. Dr. Richard Stewart, GLMRI co-director, said the grant enables Key Lakes I, Inc., a Great Lakes vessel operator to repower the M/V Edwin H. Gott during the year-long project. The main engine installation will take place at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, concurrent with the vessel’s winter layup and drydocking. GLMRI and Key Lakes I, Inc., are partners in the project that will significantly reduce the air emissions for the M/V Edwin H.

The United Seamen’s Service (USS) 2009 40th Annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) were presented to Donald Kurz, President and CEO of Keystone Shipping Co., headquartered in Philadelphia, and to Ronald Widdows, Group President and CEO of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) of Singapore, parent company of American President Lines (APL). A Special AOTOS Award was also presented to The United States Coast Guard. The maritime industry’s most prestigious honors were awarded at a gala industry dinner and dance held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, New York City, on November 13, 2009.

The officers and crews of five American ships and a seafarer who extinguished a fire on a vessel will be honored for heroism by United Seamen's Service at the 40th annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea dinner on November 13, 2009. The AOTOS honors this year will go to Donald Kurz of Keystone Shipping Co., Ron Widdows of Neptune Orient Lines and the United States Coast Guard, which will receive a special award. The Honored Seafarer awards will go to the officers and crew of the Maersk Alabama, who fought off a pirate attack while maintaining control of the ship 350 miles off the coast of Somalia and whose captain was taken hostage, April 8-13, 2009.

The United Seamen's Service (USS) 2009 40th Annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) will be presented to Donald Kurz, President and CEO of Keystone Shipping Co., headquartered in Philadelphia, and to Ronald Widdows, Group President and CEO of NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) of Singapore, parent company of American President Lines (APL). A Special AOTOS Award will also be presented to the United States Coast Guard. The maritime industry's most prestigious honors will be awarded at a gala industry dinner and dance to be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, New York City, on November 13, 2009. Richard Hughes, Chairman of the USS AOTOS Committee and President of the International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO, made the announcement on the occasion of the USS Annual meeting.

The Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) will convene in Philadelphia, Pa., on June 11-12, 2002 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The meeting will feature Captain William G. Schubert, Maritime Administrator, U.S. Department of Transportation as the speaker, with invited speakers including: Ronald McAlear, CEO, Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard and Robert K. Kurz, President, Keystone Shipping Co. The meeting will also include panel presentations focusing on maritime security and current maritime legislation, and technical presentations.

When Texaco, now represented in the marine lubricants market by FAMM (Fuel and Marine Marketing), launched Taro 40 XL 40, the lubricant was designed to address pressing field problems in medium speed engines. Three years later FAMM is in a position to evaluate the performance in a large number of engines and to compare the field results with competitive lubricants. The pressing problems arose from a series of engine design and fuel processing changes. Although aimed at improving engine efficiency and making savings, the changes resulted in a series of difficulties. The best known are engine blackening, undercrown deposits, piston head corrosion, fouling of purifier heaters, increased oil consumption, base number depletion, oil scraper ring clogging and increased piston deposits.

Much as has transpired in mainstream consumer markets, the dot com craze has recently enveloped the maritime world with promises of cost savings and operational efficiencies. While an attrition and natural process of consolidation can eventually be expected, the world of e-commerce solutions for the maritime market is definitely in its infancy. While it is impossible to judge the full working models in this report, the following text contains synopsis reports on some of the more noteworthy market entrants. Recently launched by Boston-based WebPark Corp., Boat-Park.com is an on-line virtual trade show, which seeks to bring together worldwide participants into its virtual trade show, which is open 24/7.

Online marine fuel supplier OceanConnect on Wednesday signed a strategic alliance with ship broking group Horace Clarkson Plc. Clarksons, the world's biggest shipbroking group will also become an equity partner in OceanConnect. In the last month OceanConnect has announced partnerships with shipping companies Eletson Corporation, Keystone Shipping Co and Stena Bulk AB plus Japan's Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Company and energy information provider Petroleum Argus. Scheduled to begin operations in late spring, OceanConnect said it aims to provide a fast and price-efficient marketplace for marine fuel transactions plus real-time information on pricing and product availability.