Regional Service News

Maritime solutions provider Wallem Group has appointed Leonard Tui as Managing Director, Ship Agency for Indochina, as part of efforts to expand its global reach and enhance its regional service offering, Tui joins Wallem from Höegh Autoliners, bringing with him 17 years’ experience in maritime operations and logistics management. In his previous role as Head of Operations at Höegh’s Tokyo office, Tui oversaw the East Asian, Southeast Asian, and Oceanian markets, serving 15 countries…

KVH Industries, Inc. announced that its AgilePlans Regional solution designed for fishing vessels, workboats, and smaller commercial vessels now features data speeds as fast as 6 Mbps down/2 Mbps up and worldwide coverage providing vessels that typically work in regional waters with greater geographic flexibility.AgilePlans Regional is a Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) subscription-based model that includes a choice of hardware (TracPhone V30, KVH’s newest and easiest-to-install ultra-compact system or the 37 cm TracPhone V3-HTS antenna with expanded network management)…

U.S.-based ballast water treatment sysems manufacturer Ecochlor has appointed Zen Hong Oh as Regional Service Manager for Southeast Asia.Oh has more than 11 years of involvement in the maritime industry both in shipbuilding and in project management of vessel repairs and retrofits. Prior to Ecochlor, he was Field Service Manager at Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions. He also acted as Assistant Manager of Green Technologies for Sembcorp Marine with responsibilities that…

KVH Industries, Inc., announced that AgilePlans Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) is now available as a regional offering using KVH’s ultra-compact, 37 cm TracPhone V3-HTS antenna. With data speeds as fast as 5 Mbps down/2 Mbps up, the TracPhone V3-HTS is designed to enable fishing vessels, workboats, and smaller commercial vessels to leverage fast and reliable Internet connectivity. The service includes new rate plans with no overage charges.The AgilePlans Regional service complements the AgilePlans Global service…

It has been ten years since the U.S. Salvage and Marine Firefighting Regulations were published: Is it time for a reassessment of the U.S. marine salvage posture?In 1982, the National Research Council’s Committee on the National Salvage Posture prepared a study entitled, “Marine Salvage in the United States.” The goal of the report was “to assess the present national posture for coping with ship rescue salvage and towing situations for time-critical offshore salvage in general.”…

Dutch shipping company Eemswerken (Werkendam) has concluded its service contracts with Radio Holland Netherlands, covering its entire fleet of cargo vessels.Radio Holland Netherlands was founded in 1916 by a number of leading Dutch shipping companies with the purpose of installing, maintaining and operating maritime radio stations.The service contracts include the SOLAS annual surveys, special regional service rates and on-demand services of the Navigation and Communication equipment on board, around the world. Radio Holland has partnered with EemsWerken for many years, providing NavCom service support to their vessels. The contracts confirm the continuation and extension of this longstanding relationship.Radio Holland ensures the regulation related annual GMDSS…

A fleet of specially-designed, durable and productive Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Cranes is enhancing supply chain efficiency for Winning International Group.The cranes play a critical role in Winning International Group’s supply chain, by loading 30,000 tonnes per day of bauxite from feeder barges onto a mother vessel, ready for shipment between China and West Africa.“Our Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Cranes have proven themselves in a rough open-sea environment. They have been custom-tailored to our bauxite handling application…

The CMA CGM Group announced that its intra-European multimodal transport subsidiaries Containerships and MacAndrews have united under the single Containerships brand.Together, Containerships and MacAndrews operate a fleet of 32 vessels and 700 trucks, calling 64 ports through 26 maritime services and 8 inland services.The single Containerships brand resulting from their union will be able to unlock major synergies and to focus on commercial growth and on the development of high-quality services for its customers.In addition, the integration of the local agencies networks will allow for the creation of a tailored intra-regional service.Guillaume Lathelize…

Florida-based Crowley Logistics has added 400 new refrigerated (reefer) cargo containers to its industry-leading equipment fleet just in time for the peak perishables shipping season beginning in Central America.The additional units, all 40-foot-long, high cubes built to Crowley’s exacting standards, further demonstrates the company’s focus on offering customers the most reliable and efficient equipment in the market. These units have wireless asset monitoring technology, which will provide continuous monitoring of the equipment as it transits from origin to destination, both at sea and over land, to ensure the cold chain is maintained the entire time goods are in transit…

Sydney City Marine has completed its first maintenance docking of a Damen vessel since the signing ofa Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Damen Shipyards Group last year. The works signify the successful cooperation between Damen Services in the Netherlands, the Damen Service Hub in Brisbane and Sydney City Marine. The vessel in question was the Svitzer Warang, a Damen ASD 2810 owned by global towage operator Svitzer. Sydney City Marinewascontracted by Svitzer to carry out a 5-year special survey on the vessel. The Svitzer Warangleft the yard just before Christmas 2016. “We performed a full-on scope of works on this tug,” explains Sydney City Marine Director Brenton Fischer. “This included all Lloyd’s Register requirements.

The 60-meter Royal Bahamas Defense Force Corvette HMBS Nassau (P-61) has arrived at Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam in the Netherlands for an extensive refit. The 17-year old vessel will receive a comprehensive overhaul that comprises full systems and instrumentation replacement. The P-61 refit is part of the ‘Sandy Bottom Project’ contract between Damen Shipyards Group and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force that the two parties signed in 2014. This includes the delivery of nine Damen vessels…

Damen Shipyards Group and Sydney City Marine have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the future cooperation of the two companies concerning the repair and maintenance of Damen-built vessels in Australia and New Zealand. The MOU lays the groundwork for expansion of Damen’s Services network in Australia. Detailing the future working relationship between the two companies, the MOU’s principle agreement states that Sydney City Marine will perform repair and maintenance works of Damen vessels.

Four Damen SPa 1605 ballistic protected security patrol vessels have been delivered to C&I Leasing Plc, a player in the Nigerian offshore support vessel market. The patrol boats, which have already undergone sea-trials, will provide security patrol and escort services for LNG tankers calling in and out of the Nigerian LNG Bonny terminal. The 16-meter craft have aluminum hulls and GRP composite superstructures. The accommodation has been additionally clad with bullet-proof materials to protect the personnel inside. All four vessels feature upgraded water jets and engines.

Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) received the first call of the Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), the world’s second largest container shipper with over 2.7m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, Lana vessel at the Port of Sohar. Officials from Sohar Port and Freezone, as well as executives from Oman International Container Terminal (OICT), part of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Group, were quayside to greet MSC Lana. This latest addition highlights once again that Sohar is establishing itself as the preferred gateway to the Gulf for many major international operators, the port and freezone said in a statement. MSC Lana is one of the older vessels in MSC’s fleet.

Examining some questions regarding commercial autonomous and drone ships, as well as why VSAT currently presents the best solution for the communications and control of such vessels. The topic of autonomous shipping has been much in the news recently. We have seen, for example, the announcement in September 2015 that Inmarsat has begun participating in the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) recently launched by Rolls Royce. This initiative is designed to move autonomous shipping from the drawing board to a commercial reality.

Cargo growth on intra-Asia routes is attracting deep-sea carriers due to the availability of cheap charter vessels and economies of scale between China and SE Asia, but regional players also know how to form defensive alliances, reports Drewry Maritime Research in its latest 'Container Insight Weekly'. Financially troubled deep-sea ocean carriers are increasingly seeking salvation in the intra-Asia market due to higher than usual cargo growth and the availability of cheap vessel charter rates. Seldom does a month pass without the announcement of at least one new regional service, some of which now deploy vessels over 4,000 teu. Maersk-owned MCC Transport/NYK’s weekly Japan-China-Thailand schedule calling at Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, Hong Kong, Shekou, Laem Chabang, Xiamen and Tokyo.

Evergreen Line announced it will partner with Simatech, a feeder operator based in Dubai, in launching a joint Chennai-Colombo-Gulf Service (CCG) service next month aiming to improve its service on the India-Gulf trade. The CCG service will utilize four containerships of around 2,000 TEU each; one to be operated by Evergreen Line and the remaining three by Simatech. The first sailing of the weekly service will be from Colombo on May 9th and call at Vizag (India), Krishnapatnam (India), Chennai (India), Colombo, Cochin (India), Jebel Ali (UAE), Sohar (Oman), Cochin and Colombo once more. In addition to providing efficient transportation services linking the major ports of Southern India and Sri Lanka with the Gulf…

Drydocks World, the international service provider to the shipping, maritime, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced the completion of a major refurbishment carried out on National Drilling Company’s (NDC) Offshore Drilling Rig Al Ghallan. The project is part of a series of four rig repair and refurbishment projects signed with NDC in 2013. Before that, eight projects were completed. The numbers of projects carried out for NDC have progressively increased over the years. Drydocks World claims a well-established reputation in the rig repair, refit and refurbishment segment.

Drydocks World, the international service provider to the shipping, maritime, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced the completion of a  major refurbishment carried out on National Drilling Company’s (NDC) Offshore Drilling Rig Al Ghallan. The project is part of a series of four rig repair and refurbishment projects signed with NDC in 2013. Before that, eight projects were completed. The numbers of projects carried out for NDC have progressively increased over the years. Drydocks World has a well-established reputation in the rig repair, refit and refurbishment segment. The company has successfully dry-docked, repaired and refurbished 125 Offshore Platform Vessels (OPV) belonging to major companies.

In light of the increasing capacity demand, Evergreen Line will launch its new Vietnam-Singapore-Malaysia service (VSM) this month. The dedicated feeder loop will utilize two A-type containerships of 1,164 TEU. The first sailing of the weekly service will start from Haiphong on May 10 and call at Ho Chi Minh City, Port Klang, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas and then back to Haiphong. In addition to providing efficient transportation services within its port coverage, this regional service will also connect to Evergreen's global service network via its transhipment hubs in Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas. Economic forecasts indicate strong momentum of trade growth in this region, the shipper said.

The Maltese government is all set to set to transform the ex-Malta Shipbuilding site into a service hub for the oil and gas industry, directly employing 160 people while paving the way for Malta to benefit from growing business in the Mediterranean region. The had sought bids for the concession of the 175,000 square metre site for its development as a maritime hub. Twenty-eight expressions of interest were submitted, followed by six bids, and last January, Ablecare Oilfield Services Group – a Maltese company established in 2001 – was announced the preferred bidder for the site. The entire Malta Shipbuilding site is to be allocated to the Ablecare Group in what should be a 45-year lease.

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s liner services group has added 537 new refrigerated (reefer) cargo containers to its fleet of equipment in an accentuated effort to serve the growing needs of its produce customers in Central America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. All of the units received are 40-foot high cubes built to Crowley’s personalized standards. This recent acquisition will expand the fleet by 200 units in anticipation of market growth and will replace another 337 aging units.

Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited (HIOSL) will take delivery of its second Damen Fast Crew Supplier 3307 Patrol, 18 months after a sister vessel entered service in the Nigerian offshore market. Established in 2006, Lagos-headquartered HIOSL serves the Nigerian oil and gas industry with a range of maritime, security and logistics services. Currently undergoing sea trials in Singapore, Guardian 2 is expected to be directly employed when she arrives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in December. HIOSL will then have five patrol vessels in its fleet.