Nomikos News

KVH Industries, Inc., announced that Greek shipmanager A.M. Nomikos has chosen KVH AgilePlans to provide VSAT connectivity for crew welfare and vessel operations. Nova Electronics, KVH’s service partner in Greece, has installed TracPhone V7-HTS antennas on three Nomikos vessels to date and is expected to continue the rollout of KVH’s AgilePlans service on additional vessels within the fleet in the coming months.“Crew welfare is very important to our company, and we expect the fast data speeds of the KVH systems and the reliable HTS network will be a great benefit to our seafarers and our shipping operations,” said Yiannis Sofianidis, IT Director for A.M. Nomikos.

Baltic Exchange on Monday named Mark Jackson, a former Chairman and Director, to replace Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Penn. Baltic Exchange shareholders earlier approved an 87 million pound ($112 million) takeover by Singapore Exchange for one of London's oldest institutions, in a deal that will give SGX access to the multi-billion-dollar freight derivatives market. Jackson, Chief Commercial Officer of AM Nomikos Group, is expected to take up his appointment early in 2017. Penn announced his intention to stand down last year, the Exchange said in a statement.

Oregon Governor’s Fund for the Environment will receive $375,000. U.S. Attorney S. Amanda Marshall and Oregon Attorney General John Kroger jointly announced that the owner and operator of a Cyprus-based ship pleaded guilty today to felony oil pollution charges. A.E. Nomikos Shipping Inv. Ltd. and Lounia Shipping Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty to one count each of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, and knowingly making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard. As part of the plea agreement, the companies agreed to pay a $750,000 fine.

ABS announced the appointment of Todd Grove to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in a move that further underscores the strategic alignment of the classification society’s technology resources and Rule development initiatives with the operating divisions. Grove will report to ABS President and COO Christopher J. Wiernicki and be based in the society’s headquarters in Houston. Grove, a 28-year veteran of ABS, has served as President and COO of three ABS operating divisions – Europe, Pacific and Americas. He also has extensive experience in the offshore sector having served as Director, Energy Project Development and Manager, Offshore Engineering.

Dubai Drydocks has won a $22m contract from Norway's First Olsen Tankers to convert the world's largest ship, the 564,763 dwt ULCC Jahre Viking, to a specialized 4.2 billion barrel Floating Storage unit for a five-year charter by Maersk Oil for the Al Shaheen oil field off the coast of Qatar. The vessel has already arrived in Dubai with the conversion program due to be completed by June 2004. This is likely to be the final phase in a chequered history for this ship. She was originally ordered by Nomikos as a 400,000 dwt unit in the seventies in Japan, but, following the collapse of the oil markets in mid-1974, construction was halted. The hull was then purchased by Hong Kong's C Y Tung — lengthened to her current size, and sailed first as the Seawise Giant.

In a move designed to further strengthen its field survey staff, ABS has created a new divisional lead surveyor position in each of the classification society’s Divisional headquarters, serving the Americas, Europe and the Pacific region. Frank Drake, a 26- year-veteran of ABS, has been appointed ABS Americas Divisional Lead Surveyor. His vast field experience, combined with his most recent assignment to ABS Consulting’s SafeHull Condition Assessment Program or CAP, positions him to oversee and provide support to the more than 180 ABS field surveyors assigned to ports in the US, Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. Drake earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering and Technology from Mississippi State University.

Rapidly rising prices for steel plate in China may be taking the edge off the financial performance at some Chinese shipbuilders. But it will take a lot more than that to undermine shipyards' dramatic expansion plans aimed at ensuring the country's builders produce more ships than any other nation by 2015. In the short run, however, the country's relatively inexperienced builders seem to have failed to read the steel supply signs. They have found themselves caught out by a number of factors driving up ship steel prices. These have risen by almost 60% over the last 30 months or so and now stand close to $400 a ton. On the one hand, soaring…

The ultra competitive Greek ferry market has not only proven to be a fertile breeding ground for advanced marine technology, it has served as a role model for the direction of shipping services in both the region and the world. The Greek market has provided the collective builders and suppliers of advanced fast and conventional ferries a rich environment for business over the past few months, a trend that seems likely to continue. Specifically, Greek owners and operators have been at the forefront of an international buying binge for large, fast passenger, vehicle and cargo carrying craft. Driven by the need for speed, many owners are turning to advances in marine electronic and propulsion systems to ensure that the multi-million dollar investments are kept running safe and efficient.

Minoan Lines' 70 percent-owned subsidiary Minoan Flying Dolphins has maintained its very active buying spree of late with the announcement that it has acquired three ferries from the shipping family Nomikos for an undisclosed amount. The ferries are F/B Anemos, F/B Lemnos and F/B Macedon. F/B Anemos services the sea route linking the port of Piraeus with the islands of Ikaria and Samos in the Dodecannese, also making stops in the Cycladic islands. The other two ferries operate in the routes to the Sporades island group. Minoan Flying Dolphins (MDF) said the three ferries have a combined annual turnover of about 2.05 billion drachmas ($6.51 million), carrying 300,000 passengers and 50,000 cars to the Sporades annually and 125,000 passengers to the Dodecannese destinations.