Consolidation Of Resources

Following last year's merger between Sembawang and Jurong Shipyard Ltd. (JSL), the remaining two large shiprepair yards in Singapore, Keppel Shipyard and Hitachi Zosen Singapore, have announced their merger in a deal estimated at $163 million. Both companies reported that they are merging their repair and shipbuilding facilities to create a new company that would hold 44 percent of the total docking capacity of the major local yards. In the proposal, Keppel Corporation will sell all its shares in its wholly-owned shipyard to Hitachi yard, and will hold its assets under Keppel Shipyard at the Tuas facility. Hitachi will pay for the move by issuing new ordinary shares of $0.20 at a price at $0.59 per Hitachi share to Keppel.

Following two record months ingraving dock is currently full with work until next month. The fish processing vessel American Champion is currently in the dock undergoing a conversion to a seismic survey vessel. It's owner, American Seafoods, has won a 10- year bareboat charter with Norway's Geco Prakla for the ship and the conversion estimated to be well in excess of $20 million. The ship arrived during November last year and is expected to be completed in June.

Also currently in the yard is the FPSO Berge Hugin (pictured on page 25), which has been converted from a conventional tanker for work on the Pierce Field in the North Sea. The conversion work is being carried out by Aker McNulty, with a great deal of the marine work sub-contracted to Tyne Tees Dockyard.

Ontario's Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering (CS&E) has been awarded its largest conversion/replacement contract to date, involving the construction of up to five new forebodies for Canada Steamship Lines' (CSL) existing fleet of Great Lakes vessels (as reported in the April 1998 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News).

The $100 million ship-rebuilding project involves constructing a complete new forward end of each vessel, from forward of the engine room to the bow, and joining the existing aft-end, including the engine room and accommodation block. The vessels will be constructed at the Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering's Port Weller Dry Docks, St. Catherines, Ontario, with the contract ensuring work for approximately 300 employees on a year-round basis at Port Weller Dry Docks for the next three years, and potentially for five years.

The project will be a firm contract for three vessels for delivery in the spring of 1999, 2000 and 2001, and will allow for an option for two further vessels for delivery in 2002 and 2003. The CSL vessels targeted for replacement forebodies are all self-unloaders, the first of which will be the 33,100 dwt, 1972-built J W McGriffin.

As part of the restructuring program, the self-unloaders will be extended 73.8 ft. (22.5 m) in length and 78 ft. (23.8 m) in width, and will involve some 6,000 tons of steel per vessel.

With the approval from the European Union (EU) and the Greek government for the investment of $60 million, Skaramangas' Hellenic Shipyards is now looking to improve efficiency and productivity for shipbuilding, shiprepair and its industrial-related activities. The investment is to be put forward by company subsidiaries (50 percent), banks (30 percent) and shareholders (20 percent).

The yard, which is 51 percent owned by ETBA, the National Industrial Bank of Greece, and 49 percent by the Workers Co-operative, will receive funding from the Greek government.

With the investment program under way, the Brown & Rootmanaged yard has now ordered a Tribon design package from Sweden's Kockums Computer (KCS), which will aid the yard in conversion and newbuilding projects. It is also understood that the yard is looking into the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) newbuilding and conversion markets, with hopes to upgrade systems for this type of work.

The yard has been very busy this year, with a total of 32 ships docking for repair work. The ship repair scene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has now been sorted out with the new set-up, comprising the two yards Renave and Enavi, joined together and to be operated under the Enavi name. The yard's facilities now includes a total of five floating docks, two of Panamax size.

Apart from the Eastern Strength (P47) conversion for Petrobras, which is due to be completed in October, the longest repair contract currently underway is the refit of the MSC-operated RoRo vessel 2nd Lt. John P. B. Bobo, which arrived in the yard last November and was due to be completed on May 1.

A contract has been signedbetween Croatia's Viktor Lenac shipyard and Farstad Shipping ASA, involving the 2,734 dwt Isle of Man-registered supply vessel Lochnagar, has recently arrived at the yard for its conversion into a pipelaying vessel. In the first stage of its conversion, the vessel's existing equipment had been stripped and the vessel has now been cut in-two, preparing for its lengthening. The following stages will include other conversion work to Lochnagar's hull and installation of new process equipment.

Italy's San Giorgio del Porto, Genoa is currently carrying out conversion work onboard Coeclerici Amartori's 81,659-dwt Maltese bulk carrier Red Ivy, converting it into a selfloading/ unloading bulk carrier. The conversion has included the installation of four Krupp cranes, two conveyors and a discharging boom of 197 ft. (60 m). When the project is complete she is expected for operations in Bahrain at the end March.

Current workload at Belfast's Harland & Wolff (H&W) shipyard includes the rebuilding and modification of two Aker H3-type semisubmersible drilling rigs for deepwater drilling.

Owned in each case by Fred Olsen Drilling, the Bideford Wes Wheeler Appointed Exclusive U.S./Canada Agency For Enavi Shipyard The recent mergers of the Enavi and Renavi shipyards forming the new Enavi shipyard in the Rio de Janiero/Niteroi bay area of Brazil, has resulted in the creation of large, private facilities capable of drydocking ships in their three floating docks and two graving docks up to Panamax size with at least 6,561 ft. (2,000 m) of repair berth available.

The well protected bay is also a viable venue for emergency afloat repairs. The yard features a stable, skilled workforce and specializes in rapid, on-time, economic and high quality ship repairs and conversions. Circle 23 on Reader Service Card Dolphin is being upgraded for longterm charter in a drilling role with Saga Petroleum, while Borgeland Dolphin is under conversion into a drilling rig from its present format as an accommodation unit. The latter is scheduled to enter longterm charter to Statoil.

The former Royal Dockyard in Gibraltar, which was managed by Kvaerner up until early 1997 — and has recently been acquired by Birkenhead's Cammell Laird (in late 1997) has now been officially re-opened. The yard, named Cammell Laird (Gibraltar) Ltd., has won its first contract under its new owners, with the 352-dwt Panamanian general cargo vessel Chucunaque (owned by Nylandsea Shipping Company, Panama) docking in Dock No. 2 for cleaning, painting, tailshaft repairs and steelwork.

The inquiry level is already very healthy and the team of estimators is being kept very busy, having already received 20 firm inquiries for a range of vessel types.

Facilities at the yard include three graving docks: No. 1 Dock — 825.7 x 110.5 ft. (251.5 x 33.7 m); No. 2 Dock — 600 x 87.5 ft. (182.8 x 26.7 m); and No. 3 Dock — 490 x 87.5 ft. (149.4 x 26.7 m). All three docks are equipped with cranes - 2 x 45t and 1 x 5t, 2 x 15t, and 2 x 10 t, respectively.

Another significant yard reopening comes with Harris Pye's decision to take over Ireland's Dublin Drydocks. The company has already purchased all the machinery and plants and is in final discussions with the Dublin Port Authority to obtain the necessary lease of the drydocks. The yard can cater for ships up to 35,000 dwt. Harris Pye is to appoint the former owner of Dublin Drydocks, Peter Schmitt, as managing director.

The 126,540-cu.-m. Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS)-built LNG carrier Gamma, which has recently been sold to Cabot LNG Shipping Corp. of Boston and renamed LNGC Matthew, is to be re-activated and will re-enter service. The vessel has been in lay up at Rhode Island since March 1981 and will now enter Baltimore Marine Industries (BMI), Sparrows Point, formerly Bethship, on March 1, 1999. The re-activation operation is expected to take seven months to complete, and the ship will then enter service for Distrigas between Trinidad and Boston. Meanwhile, Argent Marine Services, which owns the two other (original El Paso) LNG carriers built by NNS, the Arzew and the Southern, is currently preparing specifications to re-activate both ships, which have both been in lay up in the James River since May 1995. The Gamma contract is part of four contracts signed during February totaling $15 million.

David Watson, BMI's President and CEO, said "While business since we opened last October has been better than expected, we now have the baseline workload that we have been seeking. What will follow are sustained employment for our people and likely continued success in the market." Singapore's Keppel Marine Industries (KMI), which is part of the Keppel Singmarine Dockyard group, has won two major contracts, understood to be worth approximately $18 million. The first contract to be awarded involves the conversion of two units of flat top barges to power generating barges for Wartsila NSD Finland Oy. Both vessels will undergo modification of existing structures and installation of support process modules for the generators. The two power generating barges will be powered by a total 19 units of owner-supplied engines, providing the barges with a combined power output of 110 January and February of this year, U.K's Tyne Tees Dockyard's large