Will Stephens News

The MSC Foundation, the MSC Group and Mercy Ships International have joined forces to build a new hospital ship.On 8 April, the chairman of MSC Group and MSC Foundation, Capt. Gianluigi Aponte, MSC Group President and Member of the MSC Foundation Board, Diego Aponte, and Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens, finalized an agreement to kickstart the new project with a generous anchor donation from MSC Foundation.The new purpose-built hospital ship will expand the impact of Mercy Ships’ life-changing surgeries…

I was discussing torsional stiffness in ship’s hulls with one of our intern engineers and pointed out a torsional stiffness problem with a certain hull design section since it could not inscribe a decent sized circle.I expected it to be a comment that would be confusing to a young engineer and proceeded to explain that torsional stiffness is related to gyradius which is powerfully related to radius and radius is related to circles. Inherently the stiffest shape in torsion is a…

Americraft Marine Group, a U.S.-based maritime subsidiary of the Libra Group, announced it has named Eric C. Hugel, CFA, CPA as its new chief financial officer (CFO).A seasoned financial business professional with over 30 years of leadership experience in public and private sectors, Hugel was most recently co-CEO and CFO of Hugel Corporation, a privately-owned family business. Hugel has also served on the board of directors of IEH Corporation (IEHC), a publicly traded aerospace and defense supplier, since 2016 and served as the chairman of IEH’s audit committee since 2019.

Crowley Maritime Corporation has become the first U.S.-owned and 13th overall ship owner-operator that will publicly disclose its ship recycling policies, practices and process through the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI) website.Headquartered in Florida and operating more than 160 commercial and public-sector vessels globally, including containerships, tank vessels, tugboats and barges, Crowley becomes the first U.S.-owned and operated shipping company to make its approach to ship recycling public through the SRTI.

As we take a breath and collectively step into 2021, I’m choosing to be optimistic and focus on the opportunities ahead. Trust me, that’s not easy to say. Even as we are still experiencing a global pandemic which has devastated both the health and financial safety of our families, friends, employees, businesses, and communities. We may be down, but I say don’t lose hope.Stronger togetherAs President of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) and President of my family’s business…

A true family business, Stan and Mary Helen Stephens started operating fishing and hunting charters out of Valdez, Alaska on their first vessel the 26-foot m/v Mary Helen, in 1971. Soon after, the rest of the family joined in, operating tours on the waters around Valdez and in Prince William Sound. They have been promoting the beautiful scenery and important resources of this community ever since, officially as Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises. The business has remained a valuable community asset, contributing economic, educational and environmental benefits to this region.

U.S. passenger vessel operators suffering low ridership and large economic losses amid the COVID-19 pandemic are urging President Donald Trump to include the hard-hit sector in the administration's plans to provide economic assistance to American businesses that have experienced financial hardship due to the coronavirus outbreak.The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), a trade group representing the domestic passenger vessel industry, shared a letter it sent to President Trump urging him to take immediate action to include U.S.

Colleen Stephens, President of Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises will be President of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) for 2020, the trade association announced.Elected during the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2020 held February 3-6, 2020 in Tampa, Fla., Stephens reaffirmed PVA's commitment to continuously improving safety in passenger vessel operations as well as the association's engagement in being good stewards of the environment. "PVA's Green WATERS program…

In November the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee held a hearing on “Commercial and Passenger Vessel Safety: Challenges and Opportunities.” Testimony covered a range of issues, from recent tragedies such as the Conception dive-boat disaster to antiquated maritime laws.Hearing witness list:Rear Admiral Richard V. Timme, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, United States Coast GuardThe Honorable Richard Balzano…

When I came into office as the Passenger Vessel Association’s President for 2019 last January, I announced two strategic goals for our industry: to enhance safety and foster the professional growth of our next generation of leaders. I am proud to announce we have undertaken major initiatives and made progress on each. These goals match my lifelong professional commitment to safety as well as aligning with PVA’s true north: a responsibility to be ever vigilant and proactive in addressing safety.I have been a longtime member of PVA and served in its leadership for years.

The international agri-based shipping company Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has joined the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI), a cross-sectoral coalition calling for increased transparency around ship recycling practices.The Netherlands-based cargo owner said in a press note that it is pleased to sign up to the SRTI as a cargo owner, bringing its support to transparent and responsible ship recycling as part of its philosophy to build awareness and work collaboratively.Sebastien Landerretche, Head of the Freight Platform for LDC said:  “This fits well with LDC’s overall environmental commitments, and with our ongoing cooperation with shipowners and other SSI members toward a more sustainable shipping industry.”“By signing up to the SRTI…

Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), an international law firm based in London, said that it has advised Race Bank Wind Farm Limited on its USD 608 million sale of transmission system assets relating to the 573 MW Race Bank offshore wind farm to Diamond Transmission Partners.Race Bank is a joint venture owned by Ørsted (50%), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (25%), a fund established by Sumitomo Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Development Bank of Japan (12.5%), and Arjun Infrastructure Partners and Gravis Capital Management (12.5%).Diamond Transmission Partners is a 50/50 partnership between Diamond Transmission…

Stunned residents of the Bahamas surveyed the wreckage of their homes and officials struggled to assess the number killed by Hurricane Dorian, as the storm bore down on the South Carolina coast, threatening record flooding on Thursday.The United Nations said 70,000 people in the Bahamas needed immediate humanitarian relief after the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.Aerial video of the worst-hit Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas showed widespread devastation…

Teekay Shipping Corporation, the global marine energy transportation, storage & production company, has signed up to the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI).The Canadian shipowner thus  joined A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the China Navigation Company, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and other major maritime players and becomes the eighth to make public their approach to ship recycling.“Teekay is committed to helping the ship recycling facilities that we work with elevate their skills and performance to increase safety and sustainability,” said Kenneth Hvid, President and CEO, Teekay.“Our employees are on-the-ground throughout the recycling process to perform regular inspections and audits and provide training to staff and workers.

The first report of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI)  clearly indicates that there is a growing movement stepping up the pressure on shipowners to disclose their approaches to ship recycling.Since the SRTI online platform went live just over two months ago eight large shipowners – operating a combined total of more than 1,800 vessels – have voluntarily shared data on their company’s ship recycling policies and practice.All disclosing shipowners have a written policy on ship recycling for their own vessels covering issues related to the environment, labour and human rights in accordance with the Hong Kong Convention.“We’re seeing increasing pressure on shipowners from key stakeholders including investors…

Accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens says shipping will continue to attract investors in 2019 if it fulfills its ESG (environmental, social and governance) responsibilities.In the latest issue of Bottom Line, the Moore Stephens shipping sector newsletter, Richard Greiner, a partner in the firm’s Shipping & Transport team, says, “It has been suggested that the future is very much like the present, only longer. Should that prove to be the case for the shipping industry…

Shipping confidence dipped slightly in the three months to end-November 2018, according to the latest Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens.The average confidence level expressed by respondents fell to 6.0 out of a maximum  score of 10.0, compared to the 6.3 recorded in August 2018.Confidence on the part of all main categories of respondent was down, with the exception of brokers, where the rating increased from 4.9 to 5.2. Owners’ confidence fell to 6.4 from 6.8, which was originally the second highest achieved by this category of respondent in the life of the survey. The confidence rating for managers, meanwhile, was down from 6.2 to 6.0 and that for charterers from 7.0 to 6.8.

Industry leaders and non-profit the Sustainable Shipping Initiative announced the launch of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative’s (SRTI) online platform - a tool for sharing information on ship recycling to drive responsible practice.According to a press release, the platform comes nine months after a group of shipping companies first announced their collective effort to use the market-drivers that transparency brings to make responsible ship recycling the norm. Demanding transparency holds the shipping industry to account, raising the bar for current practice as well as creating fair competition among ship-owners.In 2017, 835 ships were recycled out of a world fleet of 50,000.

International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens says total vessel operating costs in the shipping industry are expected to rise by 2.7% in 2018 and by 3.1% in 2019, according to our latest survey.Responses to the firm’s latest annual Future Operating Costs Survey revealed that drydocking is the cost category likely to increase most significantly in both 2018 and 2019, accompanied in the latter case by repairs and maintenance. The cost of drydocking is expected to increase by 2.1% in 2018 and by 2.3% in 2019…

British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in Norfolk, Va. a bit later than planned on Monday after evading Hurricane Florence, which devastated large areas of the U.S. East Coast.The Royal Navy said HMS Queen Elizabeth skirted south of the hurricane, but sailed close enough for the effects of a four meter swell, five meter wave height and winds gusting 40 knots to be felt throughout the carrier, as the 65,000-metric-ton ship rolled around the Atlantic.The 'WESTLANT 18' Task Group…

Confidence in the ability of sound risk management to contribute to commercial success in the shipping industry has fallen in the last 12 months, according to the latest annual Shipping Risk Survey from Moore Stephens.Respondents to the survey rated the extent to which enterprise and business risk management is contributing to the success of their organisation at an average 5.9 out of a possible score of 10.0, compared to 6.8 in the 2017 survey.Brokers returned the highest rating, followed by ship managers. For the first time in the four-year life of the survey, Europe was behind Asia in terms of geographical sentiment, but it was the Middle East which once again returned the highest figure (6.8).Overall…

A major investment in new frigates and submarines by the Australian government has created long-term opportunities for UK and European businesses with relevant intellectual property and expertise, said Moore Stephens. This summer the Australian government awarded UK firm BAE Systems a contract to build nine next-generation frigates – known as the ‘Future Frigates’ project – worth A$35 billion, said a research report written by Moore Stephens' Michael Simms & Grant Miles.The programme, which will run for over 20 years, will create around 4,000 direct Australian jobs and give a particular boost to South Australia and the shipyards of Port Adelaide. Construction of the frigates is scheduled to begin in Adelaide from 2020, with the first vessels delivered in 2027 and the last by 2042.

With the industry hoping for better “grades” after the “effort” of recent years, this week’s Analysis updates our half year shipping report showing a ClarkSea Index up 9% y-o-y but still below trend since the financial crisis (see Graph of the Week). After comments of “must do better” and “showing potential” in recent years, do the statistics suggest “extra classes” will again be needed over the summer holidays?Progress But No Time To Relax!Our ClarkSea Index (comprising tankers…