Pon News

Radio Holland Group, part of the Pon Group, has appointed Sven Zaadnoordijk as its new CEO effective January 1, 2024. Sven will replace Kees-Jan Mes, who led the group through an important transformation over the last few years.Zaadnoordijk joined the group in 2012 and brings a wealth of experience in the maritime industry. Having served as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Regional Director for both Asia and Americas, stationed in various countries like The Netherlands, Hong Kong…

Private equity firm MiddleGround Capital has acquired PVI Holdings, Inc., the parent company of W&O Supply, Setpoint Integrated Solutions and A-T Controls.“It was a cultural fit from our first meeting. MiddleGround brings a unique style to private equity that has my team fired up about the future,” said Brad Bergeron, PVI CEO. “We value their operational expertise, passion for continuous improvement, and believe they are the perfect owner for PVI’s next phase of growth.”PVI is a flow control distributor focused on serving MRO applications across marine…

Rederij Doeksen’s Vlieland underwent repairs at Damen Shiprepair Harlingen (DSHl) in the Netherlands following a recent incident that took place as the passenger/car ferry was departing the harbor in Harlingen.The Vlieland operates a ferry service across the Wadden Sea between Harlingen in the north of the Netherlands and the island of Vlieland, and the recent accident caused the vessel’s SB engine room became flooded. DSHL said it carried out an emergency operation, closing the hole…

W&O Supply said it has been recognized by shipbuilder Austal USA as a 2020 Supplier Innovation Award recipient.A global marine distributor of pipe, valves, fittings, actuation and other engineered solutions, W&O said its Mobile Operation has been a major supplier of defense related valve and piping systems since Austal’s inception in the Mobile, Ala. market, for both the LCS Independence Variant, as well as the EPF, U.S. Navy Projects.W&O’s innovation award, announced at Austal’s Supplier Day which took place last month in Mobile…

Pon Holdings announced that it intends to take over Parcom Capital's majority share in RH Marine Group. With this transaction, Pon Holdings will become 100% owner of RH Marine Group. The proposed acquisition is pending approval of competition authorities and involved works councils. The parties involved aim to complete the acquisition before the end of January 2020.RH Marine Group is a holding company consisting of three well-established companies: Radio Holland Group (Rotterdam), VBH (Amsterdam) and Aerius Marine (Hamburg).

Five participants will be taking part in a pilot project in Port of Rotterdam Authority  which will focus on mobile shore-based power solutions for sea-going vessels.The project was established by the municipality of Rotterdam and the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the participants in the project are: ENGIE Ventures & Integrated Solutions BV; PON Power & its subsidiaries; Aggreko Benelux; Mobiele Stroom BV and JP Energy Systems.The project will focus on various mobile shore-based power solutions for sea-going vessels, said a press note.Shore-based power has been compulsory for ships docking at Rotterdam’s more than 500 inland berths for years.

Shipowners, shipyards, manufacturers and ports have joined forces to investigate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable alternative transport fuel in the maritime sector.Major shipowners Boskalis, The Royal Netherlands Navy, Van Oord and Wagenborg Shipping will take part in the consortium, together with shipbuilders, Damen Shipyards, Feadship, Royal IHC and major marine engine manufacturers Pon Power and Wärtsilä together with their trade association VIV.Specialized marine equipment suppliers like Marine Service Noord and maritime service providers including C-Job Naval Architects complete the maritime supply chain.Work to study the infrastructure and supply chain for methanol is also addressed by the participation of The Netherlands’ two largest ports…

Last Thursday, Damen Shipyards Gorinchem hosted the Damen group’s third annual Workboat Festival. The event brought together more than 200 customers, media and industry partners, and 34 workboats, for an afternoon of presentations, demonstrations, product displays and interactive exhibits.The workboats ranged in size from ten-meter Stan Launches and Stan Tugs up to a 72-meter Stan Pontoon. In between were Fast Crew Suppliers, Stan Pilots, Stan Patrols, additional Stan Launches and Tugs, plus an Interceptor and a RHIB.

India's Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan in informed that the Ministry of Shipping has given relaxation to foreign vessels for carriage of fertilizer from one port to another port within the country under section 407 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. The foreign flag ships are now not required to obtain a license from the Director General of Shipping for engaging in coastal trade for carriage of fertilizer by sea.The relaxation is subject to the condition that the information as per the format prescribed in the relaxation order is submitted to the Director General of Shipping by email at least 24 hours prior to sail of ship from a port in India.The relaxation shall also be subject to the condition that Indian law enforcement agencies…

For promoting port-led industrialization, 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) covering all the Maritime States and Union Territories have been identified as part of the National Perspective Plan under the Sagarmala Programme. The Perspective Plans for all 14 CEZs have been prepared in consultation with relevant State Governments and Central Ministries. The idea behind developing the zones is to promote 'development of port-proximate industrial clusters'. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal are the other states where potential for coastal economic zones has been identified. Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said that port-led industrialization would provide impetus to the "Make in India" initiative and aid job creation.

In order to promote cruise tourism in the country the Government of India has exempted cruise tourists arriving with e-visa from the requirement of biometric enrolment for the major ports, said Union Minister of State for Shipping  Pon. Radhakrishnan. The exemption will be in effect in the ports of Mumbai, Cochin, Chennai, Mormugao and New Mangalore for a period of three years till 31st December, 2020. The Government has also taken steps for customer-friendly and hassle-free immigration regime for cruise passengers such as implementation of e-visa and e-Landing cards at the five ports. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to handle cruise vessels and cruise passengers have been revised in November…

The Ministry of Shipping has re-rated the capacities of all berths across 12 Major Ports in order to benchmark port capacities with global standards as per Berthing Policy, 2016. The Re-rating exercise identified an additional capacity of 293MT available with the Major Ports. The effective rated capacity of 12 Major Ports is now 1,359 MT per annum and capacity at desired occupancy is 989 MT per annum. The effective rated capacity of Kandla Port is 246 MT, that is highest among Indian port, followed by 234 MT of Paradip Port. The re-rating exercise has been done in consultation with all Major Ports. The capacity utilization of berths in major ports is reviewed regularly.

Michael Hume, President & CEO, holds top marine distributor W&O Supply on a steady course. W&O has been a distribution leader in the commercial marine space for more than four decades for a number of reasons, but it all starts with stability at the top, in the form of the leadership of Michael Hume, President & Chief Executive Officer. Hume has been with the company since 1992, and on a recent visit to his office in Jacksonville, Fla., he discussed the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for his company.

Ferry operator Stena Line and Caterpillar Marine, together with Pon Power, have entered into a digital partnership where the Cat Asset Intelligence solution will provide vessel monitoring of multiple Stena new builds with planned delivery during 2019 and 2020. The vessels will be optimized for efficiency and flexibility and will be built by AVIC Shipyard in China. Unlike technologies that only monitor individual equipment performance, or focus only on very specific operational parameters…

The government of India is looking to privatize staterun Dredging Corporation of India (DCI). "A proposal for disinvestment of Dredging Corporation of India Limited is under consideration of the Government of India," a government press release said quoting the Minister of State for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Pon. Radhakrishnan. The proposal is aimed at upgrading technology, improving capability, infusing capital to buy necessary dredgers and equipments and instilling experienced professional management to optimize the operations of DCI. The present stake of the government in the PSU is 73.47%, which would be reduced to 22.47% if the government goes ahead with the stake sale. DCI, the only listed PSU in Visakhapatnam, has a net worth of around Rs 1,500 crore (USD 233 million).

The Government has taken steps as part of various preventive/mitigating security measures to deal with sea-piracy, Minister of State for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Pon. Radhakrishnan stated. An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMGO) has been set up by the Government under the Ministry of Shipping to deal with the hostage situation arising out of hijacking at sea of merchant vessels with Indian crew. Government had also approved the Contingency Plan for dealing with piracy and hijacking of merchant ships and constituted a Committee of Secretaries on Anti-Piracy and Hijacking at sea (COSAPH) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary.

The Indian shipping industry is registering a positive growth amid a downward trend globally, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan said. “While the shipping sector is seeing a downward trend worldwide, India is registering a positive growth, and the credit for this should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said. The Sagarmala programme launched by the Prime minister last year aims to increase the capacity of Major and Non-Major Ports to 3000 MTPA from the present 1054 MTPA, he said. Major ports have been consistently increasing their capacity and making profits over the last few years. He was speaking at a function organised by V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust.

Significant improvement in efficiency has been achieved by India's Major Ports in the last two years, said the Minister of State for Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan. With a view to improve further the efficiency and productivity of the major ports and make it comparable internationally, a benchmarking study of Major Ports to international standards has been conducted which has recommended 116 initiatives  out of which 70 have already been implemented. Under the Sagarmala programme, the Government has proposed to connect ports with National Highways and Rail network for efficient evacuation to and from hinterland. Fifty rail connectivity enhancement projects have been identified, out of which 25 have been taken up by the Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd. (IPRCL) for implementation.

Foreign Direct Investment upto 100% under automatic route is already permitted in the Port Sector. This has resulted in several Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects coming up in the Major Ports. At present, a total of 33 PPP Projects with an investment of INR 17817.96 crore (USD 2.8 bln) are operational and 20 more PPP projects with an investment of Rs. 22362.67 cr (USD 3.42 bln) are under implementation. In total it comes to USD 6.22 bln. As regards inland water transport sector, Government intends to have private sector participation for the development of IWT terminals, fairway, operation and maintenance of terminals, vessels and navigational aids.

Indian Ports handle about 90% by volume & 70% of value of the country’s EXIM (Export–Import ) cargo. In order to meet the growing trade requirements of the country, the capacity of the Ports & the cargo handled by the Ports have increased over the years. The installed capacity of the Ports which was 1312 MTPA in the year 2012-13 has gone up to 1716 MTPA in 2015-16 and is likely to reach 1897 MTPA by the end of the 2016-17. Similarly, Cargo traffic handled by the Ports has gone up from 934 MT in 2012-13 to 1072 MT in 2015-16 and expected to be about 1133 MT by the end of 2016-17. Expansion, modernization, development and upgradation of Port infrastructure in the country is an ongoing process including construction of new berths & terminals…

Under the Green Port Initiative (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan), the shipping ministry of India has identified 12 activities to make the Major Ports more clean and green from the environment perspective, stated the Minister of State for Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan. These initiatives include preparation of Environment Management & Monitoring Plan (EMMP), provision of equipment to monitor environmental pollution, acquiring dust suppression system, setting up of sewage and waste water treatment plants and garbage disposal plants, setting up projects for energy generation from renewable energy sources, make up any shortfall of Tier-I Oil Spill Response facilities, control of sea garbage, improve quality of harbor waters etc.

Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) being implemented with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank envisages preparation of Disaster Management Plan (DMP) and Emergency Management Plan (EMP) to take care of the activities like navigation, terminal & jetty operation, oil spill, disaster contingency etc. after the commissioning of the project and while operating cargo and passengers vessels on National Waterway-1 (NW-1). The mechanically propelled inland vessels are governed by the Inland Vessels Act, 1917 (1 of 1917) and rules framed by State Governments have provisions for Life Saving Appliances to be kept on board. The registration of inland mechanically propelled vessels by the State Government is also mandatory.

Days after the unexpected cargo ships collision outside the Kamarajar Port in Chennai (Tamil Nadu State, India), the Directorate General (DG) of Shipping has instituted an inquiry regarding the same. Two vessels namely, M.T. BW Maple carrying LPG and M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram carrying Petrol and lube oil, collided while crossing each other at 03.45AM on January 28 outside the Kamrajar harbour. The Shipping Minister Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan in Chennai today to take stock of Clean Up Operations, says a statement from the Press Information Bureau, Government of India. The Oil Tanker, Dawn Kanchipuram, which was carrying 32813 Tonnes of POL, suffered a rupture which led to engine oil spill (and not the POL being carried as cargo). There was no casualty or injury to the crew members.