Maritime Denmark News

The Danish company Bawat A/S, specializing in the treatment of ballast water aboard ships and in ports, has just finalized the provision of capital equal to more than $2.94m from new and existing shareholders.The new shareholders include Selfinvest Family Office as a key stakeholder, and previous TORM CEO and current SKULD chairman Klaus Kjærulff. Former Sondex owner Åge Søndergaard of SonFlow A/S joins the new shareholders. Their engagement represents considerable support of…

One of the world’s leading seafaring nations, Denmark has maritime roots stretching back more than 1,000 years. While its history is strong, the Danish market has its collective eyes squarely on the future. In its quest for continued relevance, it seeks to continue delivering innovative technologies, as well as championing green shipping and offshore initiatives. Denmark’s maritime sector fosters engineering expertise within shipping and offshore industries, as well as maritime and technological services.

Danish Maritime Days was well visited, and there were many participants and great enthusiasm at the more than 50 events. Attendance at the many events tells that the maritime days were successful. The flagship of Danish Maritime Days was the large international conference Danish Maritime Forum, which was held on 8-9 October at Docken in the northern part of Copenhagen Port. Here, the organizers had succeeded in gathering the absolute elite within the maritime field for debate and workshops about the future maritime challenges. After having been divided into small groups, political VIPs and CEOs rolled up their sleeves, got felt-tip pens in their hands and were asked to come up with specific ideas for forward-looking solutions – a format that was unaccustomed to many of the guests…

A fire broke out in the engine room of the offshore support vessel (OSV) 'Sea Gale' while in the vicinity of the wind farm Meer Wind, 15 miles north of Heligoland, according to Maritime Denmark. The blaze began in the engine room and spread to the exhaust system on the 24 -meter-long vessel owned by A2SEA,  which had three crew members on board. In addition to the multipurpose vessel Mellum, the warships Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were involved in the fire fight. The tanker Spessart remained on stand-by to help the crew of the Sea Gale. Two of the three fires were extinguished by the crew along with a joint team from the other ships. The third fire was extinguished with foam from a team of specially trained firefighters.

At its recent general meeting of AP Moller-Maersk, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller's grandson Robert Maersk Uggla was elected to the board of the company, which will ensure the family's active ownership and continuity in the company, according to a report by Børsen with Maritime Denmark. Citing Robert Maersk Uggla the report indicates that he thinks it means a lot to the family. They wished to remain as an active owner of A. P. Moller-Maersk and he considered that that is what his grandfather would have wanted and his mother wants the same. Apparently he has worked in the company for 10 years.

The upcoming strict environmental requirements in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea prompts DFDS to turn their attention southwards, reports Maritime Denmark. DFDS is among those companies that have made most progress in preparing for the new environmental regulations that will come into force on 1 January 2015. The rules require that ships in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and English Channel use oil with max. 0.1 % sulfur. As an alternative,  DFDS has decided to invest DKK 400 million…

Manufacturers Vestas have sent three 80-meter blades for what they describe as the world's most powerful offshore wind turbine, Vestas V164-8, to the Danish National Test Center for large wind turbines in Østerild. The arrival of the blades means that all essential parts for giant turbine now in place at the test center, and the unit is expected to deliver its first power in early 2014. The blades were manufactured in the Isle of Wight, England, and were sent by ship to Bergen and beyond with special transport to Østerild.

Frederikshavn Harbour and Nordic Marine Oil have entered a strategic agreement to establish a tank farm at the port of Frederikshavn with at least 20,000 cubic meters with the possibility of further extension. The tank system to be used as storage of fuel for ships in the port of Frederikshavn and the ships passing by in the Kattegat, and will be ready in the 2nd half of 2014. "Nordic Marine Oil has a goal to establish itself further in the bunker market around the entrance to the Baltic region.

Maersk Supply, a subsidiary of the A. P. Moller-Maersk group, came out of the third quarter of 2013 with a profit of US$76-million, against a profit of US$ 48-million in the same quarter in 2012. Revenue rose from US$ 226-million in the period of 2012 to US$ 240 million. The profit for the third quarter of 2013 improved compared to the same period last year primarily due to higher utilization and lower operating costs. Contract coverage for the remainder of 2013 is 79 percent and 51 percent for 2014, excluding options.

Daewoo Marine Shipbuilding and Engineering (DMSE) yard in South Korea continues to produce the new Triple-E ships for Maersk Line at a very high rate; the fifth ship of the series 'Maribo Mærsk', is to be officially named later. Despite the ships' record dimensions, DMSE has been able to deliver a new ship just a month-and-a-half apart. The interest in Maersk Line's new Triple-E container ships has been enormous, ever since the first image of the upcoming Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller, the first ship in the series, was published in the spring.

More than 200 stakeholders from the maritime world gathered at the Culture Yard in Elsinore, Denmark, where the World Maritime University, in collaboration with the Danish Shipowners' Association, hosted a major international conference focusing on maritime CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). The conference was part of the thrust to formulate maritime CSR policies and to implement them by self-regulation, an area in which analysts consider the shipping industry has been slow to adopt in comparison with others.

The Royal Arctic Line has contracted Polish shipyard Remontowa to build 5 ships to be delivered in the first half of 2015. The building program includes a sister ship to the Mary Arctica. of capacity 606 TEU, which will replace Arina Arctica, and also sail across the Atlantic, while acting as a feeder ship in Greenland. It will also be used for special tasks in the East Coast, Thule Air Base and Antarctica. Two medium-size ships, capacity 100 TEU each to replace the Pajuttaat for annual chartering and will mainly engage in the supply of North Greenland.

Significantly rising rates for Capesize vessels began in late September to spread to Panamax vessels, and gradually also to the smaller vessel types. Citing a recent Sydbank market analysis, Maritime Denmark, notes signs of a noticeably better dry cargo market. Sydbank senior analyst Jacob Pedersen is cautious in interpreting the current lift as evidence on better times, although he considers one can immediately write off structural overcapacity. Forward rates point to a decline in rates again in the near future - and a seasonally weaker market is expected with significantly lower rates in early 2014. Shipowners' newfound optimism - and there are quite a few orders for new ships - also warns of the need for caution. 
 Source: Maritime Denmark

Maersk Line has informed customers of a new rate increases to take effect from 1, November 2013. The rate increases will apply to the route from the Far East, excluding Japan, to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. According to Maritime Denmark, in order to continue offering its broad portfolio of services and high level of reliability, it will be necessary for Maersk to implement a number of rate increases / rate re-directions the company informed its customers, asking for their understanding. If an additional increase should prove necessary, it will be announced by 30 September.

The Swedish Register of Shipping is not competitive, and it will probably never be, according to a new report. The report from the governmental Trafikanalys recommends that there should be less focus on rebuilding a fleet under the Swedish flag in future, according to Maritime Denmark and Sjöfartstidningen. A number of Swedish ships are flagged out to Denmark, while the Faroe Islands has attracted many former Swedish vessels.

 The Faroe Islands offers tax terms that go far beyond what would be possible in an EU country the report adds. Source: Maritime Denmark/Sjöfartstidningen