Mark Williams News

Damen Shipyards Group recently held a keel-laying ceremony for the CEMEX Go Innovation at Damen Shipyards Mangalia in Romania. The vessel is the first Damen MAD – the next generation of marine aggregate dredgers. The construction of the new vessel is drawing upon collaboration with multiple companies within the Damen Group, as well was with external partners, working together towards the development of a new standard in marine aggregate dredging.Damen has designed the future-proof vessel for long-lasting durability for operations in North Sea conditions over the coming decades.

Damen began work on the construction of a dredging system for the first Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD). This vessel, which is being built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania for Cemex UK Marine Ltd., is designed to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed at depths of up to -55 meters.According to the builder CEMEX asked Damen to develop a system with no inboard dredge pipework, something which has never been done on a vessel of this size before. The thinking behind this was…

CEMEX UK has signed a contract with Damen Shipyards Group to build the first in a new generation of Marine Aggregate Dredgers, the owner’s first newly commissioned dredger in 20 years. Steel cutting will take place later this year, and the vessel is expected to be delivered at the end of 2019 from Damen Shipyards Galati, in Romania. The vessel has been designed to maintain operations in North Sea conditions, with capability to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed at depths up to 55m.

The International Festival for Business in Liverpool opens today Tuesday 17 June 2014. A major component of the 250,000-visitor International Festival for Business in Liverpool this summer is the one-day CEO-level conference will focus on the crucial role the shipping and port sectors play in driving forward trade growth in the UK and abroad. The theme of the conference being 'Harnessing the Strength of Shipping Innovation'. Shipping is a cyclical industry and remains high risk for investors compared to other asset classes. Since the global financial crisis began in 2008, the shipping industry has been through one of the deepest recessions in living memory.

Demolition Prices for elderly ships have fallen by a quarter in 2012 to date, and owners are encouraged to dispose of recycling candidates sooner rather than later, says Mark Williams of Braemar Seascope. Addressing the 7th Annual Ship Recycling Conference in London on 19th June, the Braemar Seascope Research Director told delegates that deflating international steel prices were likely to translate into lower offers for recycling tonnage in the coming quarters. Meanwhile, rapid reductions in the value of the Indian…

With so much discussion of the poor freight rates available to VLCC owners hiring their ships out for voyages from the Middle East to major consumers east and west, it is informative to see how much the spot market for VLCCs has changed in just a few years. Since 2005, there has been a 25% reduction in reported AG/West spot VLCC voyages from 291 in 2005 to 216 in 2011. Just 11 AG/West fixtures were recorded in January 2012; if annualised the total would be 180, only 62% of the number recorded in just seven years earlier.

As the Baltic Dry Index plumbs all-time depths, those with long memories are recalling the dark days of the 1980s for the shipping markets. However, steel traders can look forward to a bumper year of supply of vessels for recycling this year, if previous experience offers a guide for the 2012 outlook. Bets are now being taken about how many vessels will be forced by the weak freight markets into the arms of recyclers. Globally, ship scrapping capacity has very big limits being a simple business of driving ships onto beaches and cutting them up with oxyacetylene torches.

for everyone. Dry cargo demand growth is running at strong levels due to the twin processes of industrialization and urbanization in emerging markets. Annual average demand growth between 2011 and 2015 is likely to match and may even exceed the annual 5.2% growth witnessed between 2004 and 2008 – the years of the superboom in dry cargo vessel earnings. However, the massive amount of vessel ordering during and after the boom has led to the currently epressed freight market for dry bulk carriers. Bulker fleet gross growth (i.e.

According to Braemar, 2011 is already a record year for dry bulk carrier demolition. In Jan-May 2011, 13.6m Dwt of bulkers have been scrapped, including 7.1m Dwt of Capesize (over 120k Dwt) bulkers. If scrapping continues at this pace for the balance of 2011, it could reach 32.6m Dwt, more than three times the previous record set in 2009. Demolition has previously peaked in years of credit crunches: In 2009, 11.7m Dwt of bulkers were scrapped following the global credit crunch. Scrapping was high even though prices per LDT were down on average for the year to around USD 260 compared to an average of around $370 in 2007. In 1998, 11.2m Dwt of bulkers were scrapped following the Asian financial crisis.

Industry concerns over the glut of newbuilding deliveries last year may have been overplayed as the three major shipping market segments - dry bulk, container and tanker - avoided significant oversupply, according to figures released by Braemar Seascope. The London-listed shipbroker compared the orderbook at the end of 2009 with the full-year delivery statistics for 2010. The gap between what was anticipated to deliver and what actually delivered offers an insight into the development of the shipbuilding and freight markets. The difference between the orderbook schedule and actuality in 2010 was a function of technical underperformance at certain shipyards and the fall-out of the credit crunch. Some orders were cancelled while, in many cases, ship owners renegotiated delivery dates.

Global shipbroker Braemar Seascope Ltd has underlined its commitment to delivering top quality market data and analysis by welcoming a new Research Manager to its London-based research team. Joining the research department is Mark Williams, an economist and consultant. Mark is a proven communicator and strategist and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience of the shipping markets. He has been tasked with reorganizing and boosting the capture, analysis and distribution of real time and forward-looking shipping market information to support the company’s chartering…

Changes in the international political and economic climate will add new urgency to the theme of the Shiprepair & Conversion 2001 conference in London in November — gaining the edge in a competitive global industry. Marking the 10th anniversary of the event, the conference takes place alongside the industry's leading exhibition in the Grand Hall, Olympia, on November 28-29. A new pick-and-mix booking format offers cut-price entry to one or more of the four morning and afternoon sessions — giving delegates, exhibitors and visitors more scope to take part in both the conference and trade show, which will feature a record 360 exhibitors.