Bp Amoco Shipping News

An online shipping exchange being set up by two of the world's biggest oil firms, a leading agrifood multinational and top shipbroker will transform the way traditional shipping markets work, industry experts said. The company, LevelSeas.Com, being set up by oil majors BP Amoco and Shell International Trading and Shipping with food processor and distributor Cargill and shipbroker Clarksons will potentially control 10 percent of bulk commodity movements from day one. But it aims to be a neutral platform open to all sides of the industry. "This will act as a real catalyst for change in the industry - and change for the better. Nothing else offers a seamless service to take us from the start to the end of a voyage…

With TBT paints on the endangered list due to environmental concerns, shipowners must find an alternative method to keep ships coated and efficiently clean. Jotun believes it has the answer. Bringing her first cargo to Europe following completion by Samsung Heavy Industries, the 306,000-dwt British Pioneer has given new expression to environmental-consciousness in the crude oil transportation sector. While the security of her 2.1-million barrel cargo containment has been enhanced by the compulsory double hulling, the non-mandatory continuation of the double shell aft better safeguards the bunker spaces, reducing the risk of fuel oil spillage in the event of the aftship being breached.

Crowley Petroleum Transport, Inc., a Long Beach, Calif.-based subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corporation, is now operating the tanker Prudhoe Bay chartered to ARCO Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BP Amoco. The Prudhoe Bay, formerly the Arco Prudhoe Bay, is a 70,000 DWT steam tanker with a capacity of 478,000 barrels. There are 13 epoxy-coated cargo tanks on the ship, which is 810 ft. long with a 105 ft. beam and a maximum draft of 44 fet. Prudhoe Bay is currently trading on the West Coast, primarily in Puget Sound. Crowley, the largest independent operator of petroleum barges and tankers on the West Coast, also owns and operates the 40,000 dwt tankers Coast Range and Blue Ridge. Each offers 300,000 barrels of capacity.

Last week it was announced that BP Amoco Shipping and BIMCO had developed a new charterparty, as the BIMCO Documentary Committee gave its approval to a new standard tank time charterparty, code named BPTIME3. BP Amoco Shipping, which has a long tradition of developing tank charterparties, saw it as its objective to draft a new time charterparty applying clear language and striking a good balance between the two parties. "We wanted to draw up a charterparty that is easy to read, easy to use and reflects the interests of both parties," said Adrian McMahon, BP Amoco Shipping's Manager Chartering and Operations. "We felt that in order to ensure that the right balance was struck it was important to bring the ship owners into the process…

Dutch oil, chemicals and storage group Petroplus is one of the partners to launch an Internet-based portal and online exchange to transform the traditional Rhine-based shipping sector. Shippers, integrated barge owner companies, independent barge brokers and individual barge owners will have the opportunity to conduct business online through this portal, Petroplus said in a statement. The other founding shareholders of the project are BP Amoco, shipping and tank storage firm Royal Vopak and Germany's Marquard & Bahls AG which trades under the brand names Mabanaft and Oiltanking. The project is supported by the Rhine Barge Owners Association, Petroplus added. Management and technology consultancy Booz Allen & Hamilton will provide strategy and e-technology services to the venture.

In extending its adherence to delivering cost-efficient and safety driven technologies, DNV has introduced a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are said to have dubious reliability on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.

Stelmar Shipping Ltd. announced that Adrian McMahon will join Stelmar Tankers (UK) Ltd. as Managing Director, to replace Bruce Ogilvy, who has elected to retire by the end of 2002. Adrian will join the Company in September of 2002. McMahon joins Stelmar after an impressive chartering career with BP Shipping, BP Oil USA and BP Amoco Shipping, culminating in the position of Manager of Chartering and Operations. He has had a wide range of commercial shipping experience, including organizational restructuring and emergency response management. He is regularly involved with prominent shipping industry organizations and has lectured at academic institutions in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Bringing her first cargo to Europe following completion by Samsung Heavy Industries, the 306,000-dwt British Pioneer has given new expression to environmental-consciousness in the crude oil transportation sector. While the security of her 2.1-million barrel cargo containment has been enhanced by the compulsory double hulling, the non-mandatory continuation of the double shell aft better safeguards the bunker spaces, reducing the risk of fuel oil spillage in the event of the aftship being breached. In addition, her potential impact on marine life has been lessened through the adoption of a newly unveiled, tin-free antifouling. Although it currently comes at a very substantial price-per-liter premium…