Ships Services News

Malaysia's Tanjung Bruas Port (TBP), a member of MMC Group, announced that it now offers container ships services at its Tanjung Bruas Port terminal.TBP recently welcomed the MV West Scent, the first Container vessel to ever call its terminal at Tanjung Bruas Port. The 145.68 meters long MV West Scent came alongside on 18 April 2019 with an exchange of 1,150 move counts.The specially chartered Container vessel by manufacturer Xinyi Glass Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, is currently at TBP berth and will depart to Humen Port, China after completing its cargo operations. This is the first ever project undertaken by TBP in handling Containerised shipment.Captain Davidiuk Aleksandar, the Master of the Container vessel was welcomed by Mohamad Nizam Ibrahim, General Manager of TBP together with Ir.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. delivered the DNV classed factory processor fishing trawler F/T Araho (Hull 175) on January 28, 2017 to the O’Hara Corporation of Rockland, Maine. She is the first U.S. flag freezer processor factory trawler constructed in over 25 years. The F/T Araho will be in service in the waters of Alaska. The O’Hara family and Eastern Shipbuilding are no strangers to each other. The F/T Araho is the sixth fishing vessel Eastern has built for the O’Hara family over the last 20 years. This factory processor fishing trawler is far more sophisticated than the prior five vessels. The O’Hara and D’Isernia families go back to the early 1990s with the F/V Enterprise a Catcher Processor Conversion delivered in 1996.

In the wake of new regulations, Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) says bulk owners and operators must pay as much attention to the products used to clean their cargo holds as the holds themselves. WSS is urging firms to heed details included in the revised MARPOL Annex V Resolution MEPC.201(62), relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, which came into force on January 1, 2016. A key element is the Annex ‘garbage regulation’, stipulating that discharge of garbage into the sea is prohibited…

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. introduced its new 120-foot, 4,200-horsepower Inland Towboat design, THUNDERBOLT, combining twin electric V-Pod propulsion and diesel-electric technology for what the builder calls its “vision of the future for the U.S. Eastern said the idea for the THUNDERBOLT came from across the aisle conversations at the 2013 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans. On the rivers, thruster propulsion systems are starting to get noticed and are outperforming conventional nozzle propeller propulsion systems with main/flanking rudder steering. Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. and Verhaar Omega, B.V. began discussions and realized they were driving towards a more refined towboat thruster propulsion system design.

The business of ship service has changed mightily in recent years, with many new regulations and technical mandates on modern ships, the continued and rapid consolidation of major players and a historic shift in vessel trading patterns driven by the shale energy revolution in the U.S. To help put it all in perspective, MR reached out to Simon Hutt, the new VP of the Americas for Wilhelmsen Ships Service. Please encapsulate your maritime experience to date. My career has always been in maritime. I was in the Royal Navy as an officer for 17 years, specializing in diving and navigation.

BHP Billiton, Royal Bank of Scotland, Westpac Banking Corporation, Cargill and Minerva Marine recently completed the first trade financed iron ore trade using ESS’s CargoDocs electronic bill of lading and eUCP Presentation solutions. CargoDocs was used on a shipment from Australia to China. In this trade the electronic bill of lading was drafted by BHP Billiton in Shanghai (eliminating the need for separate document instructions). It was then approved signed and issued on behalf of Minerva Marine by Wilhelmsen Ships Services in Port Hedland, Australia. BHP Billiton created original electronic peripheral documents within CargoDocs and the whole eSet was endorsed and presented electronically to RBS under an eUCP600 letter of credit.

Operating profit in the second quarter of 2013 was down compared with the second quarter of 2012 when the shipping industry was in less troubled circumstances. Operating profit for the second quarter totalled USD 106 million (USD 139 million) based on a total income of USD 903 million (USD 972 million). Compared with the previous quarter, the operating profit was up 37% while the revenue increased 4%. The figures were down 23% and 7% respectively, when comparing with a historically strong period in the shipping segment in the second quarter of 2012. “We have seen higher activity levels in our main business segments. The major driver is a 13% increase in volumes transported deep sea.

Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) General Manager for Japan Yoshihiro Iizuka said that he expects more customers to sign up for its Ships Agency Re-Defined (SARD) solution throughout 2013 and beyond as the company prepares for Bariship 2013. Mr. He added, “Japanese vessel operators and owners are positive about SARD because it guarantees efficient operation and fast turnaround. We ensure that our service experts make visits to customers on a timely basis to run evaluations on their time spent at each port. This enables us to improve our port operations in order to optimize the way we service our customers. WSS is investing in resources and expertise across North Asia to meet the increasing demands of this growing maritime hub.

With the earning of ABS global approval for its safety services and the opening of a Houston Training facility, Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) passed two critical milestone’s in a quest to build and operate an efficient, technically superior maritime and offshore services juggernaut. More than a decade ago Wilhelmsen Ships Service planted the seeds for what today is growing one of the world’s premier providers of services to the maritime and offshore markets globally. The company celebrated two significant milestones in its quest…

Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) late last month obtained global approval for its safety services from ABS (American Bureau of Shipping). The approval comes after a two year process involving the entire safety services team and covers all safety services worldwide. “Along with Radio Holland, we are now the only maritime service provider in the world with global approval from ABS, and indeed, the only service provider within the safety sector. We are immensely proud of this,” said John Sanford, Technical Sales Manager Safety for the Americas.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) annonced plans to expand in South America to serve the growing cruise and offshore sectors. Prior to this month’s Cruise Shipping Miami, Area Director Henrique Schlaepfer said: “South America continues to be an area of concentrated investment for WSS. Over the last year we have put in place a new management team with responsibility for almost 200 employees, operating in key positions in Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Argentina”. In sharp contrast to its presence within the region less than four years ago…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has consolidated its legal status in Russia which will enable the global ships services provider to supply all clients in the country, including internal ports and waterways. Wilhelmsen Ships Service has had offices in all main ports in Russia for the last 15 years, but until now has only been able to service foreign vessels calling at Russian ports. By establishing a legal entity within the Russian Federation, WSS is now able to supply marine products inside the country from warehouses in Vladivostok and St Petersburg.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) New Zealand has announced the signing of its first Liferaft Exchange Program (LRE) contract with Neptune Pacific Line. “When we introduced them to the LRE concept they were extremely interested to see how it could work for their business," says Nigel Smith, General Manager WSS New Zealand and Pacific Islands. WSS New Zealand’s first assignment for Neptune Pacific was an exchange in Shanghai, where the crew were working to a very tight schedule with little more than 24 hours to deliver the complete set of five liferafts before the vessel sailed for Australia. According to Smith, the smooth exchange was carried…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service is providing  a range of support services to the Gorgon project, Australia’s largest ever oil and gas project. Services include the importation of dredgers and project cargo shipments. The company is also providing agency and logistics support  to the offshore accommodation vessel MS Finnmarken which houses a 350-strong workforce for the project. Operated by Hurtigruten, the Finnmarken is a Norwegian owned cruise vessel, whose on board residents are mainly dredging crew. The vessel is moored near to Barrow Island which is the site of the Gorgon Project’s gas plant construction. The key advantage of accommodating the workers offshore is that it reduces the environmental impact of the project by removing the need to accommodate these workers on Barrow Island itself…

A new contract to supply ships services to one of the world’s largest chemical transportation fleets, Jo Tankers, has strengthened Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s port coverage for the customer in the USA. Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has been contracted to provide services in the ports of Houston, Freeport and New York by Jo Tankers, which is in addition to the current port calls handled in New Orleans and Philadelphia. The additional ports will bring Wilhelmsen Ships Service nearly 100 new port calls per year for the region. Jo Tankers is a leading provider of deep-sea transportation services, not just for chemicals, but also for other high-value liquids such as petroleum products and edible oils.

A new milestone has been achieved by the Harris Pye Group (HPG), vessels have been in both the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales dry docks in Swansea simultaneously – a first for the Group which signed a longer lease on the dry docks in April 2010 following the departure of Saga Pearl II which had been refurbished and refitted at the docks. The two vessels are Visten and Welsh Piper. The dredger, Welsh Piper, has now left having had her biannual special service, and undergone pipe replacement and steelwork (some 20 tonnes of steel were used in all). The Visten remains, she is owned by Canada’s CAI Logistics and is a tanker being converted into a bulk carrier. Work being undertaken includes the installation of two cargo cranes and the redesign of the hatch cover arrangement.

Belgian company DEME Group, which operates a fleet of over 80 dredging vessels, another 200 auxiliary vessels and specialized equipment, has appointed Wilhelmsen Ships Services as specialized supplier for maintenance products and technical gases globally. Wilhelmsen Ships Service has started the contract work attending to the gradual changeover of gases. The company is converting larger vessels first and then will move onto other units, barges and land based workshops. In addition to supplying gas to vessels, Wilhelmsen Ships Service hosted a training session in Antwerp on cylinder safety and handling, covering the topics DEME had highlighted as most important for their people and business as well as introducing DEME to the stock range and the practical setup.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service has acquired Compañia Maritima Unitor (CMU) in Chile. The new company, operating as Wilhelmsen Ships Service (Chile) SA, continues to offer the full range of Unitor products that were previously supplied through CMU. The company’s capabilities include warehousing in Valparaíso and it is able to deliver a wide range of safety products, marine chemicals, welding equipment and other associated marine products to all of Chile’s main ports. Wilhelmsen Ships Service in Chile is headed by General Manager, Alejandro Gajardo, who has been in charge of CMU for the past 10 years. Wilhelmsen Ships Service is also retaining all personnel that were formerly part of CMU, building on the strong reputation that the company has built up over the years.

Following the successful use of Swansea Dry Docks for the refit and refurbishment of Saga Pearl II, now successfully cruising; work on MV Julia, now plying the Fastnet Ferry Cork-Swansea overnight route; and emergency repair work on the 213.2 ft hopper dredger Heron, Harris Pye Group (HPG) has signed a longer lease on Swansea’s Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales dry docks – a move that is attracting interest from a number of shipping lines. “We are very much ‘open for business’, indeed we dealt with the requirements of UKD Dredging’s Dolphin at the start of May” said the Group’s Managing Director, Mark Prendergast. “We invested heavily…

Wilhelmsen Ships Service Saudi Arabia has been awarded a three year warehousing and logistics contract in Dammam by Alcatel Lucent Technologies. The contract is expected to further the ongoing development of the business relationship between Wilhelmsen Ships Services and Alcatel-Lucent across the Gulf region. “This logistics contract with Alcatel-Lucent will serve to raise the market awareness in Saudi Arabia of Wilhelmsen Ships Service as a quality logistics service provider” says Russell Dinwoodie of Wilhelmsen Ships Service Dammam.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service, a ships services network, has restructured its Polish operation and implemented an advanced level of connectivity to enable the company to offer its full capacity of products and services to the regional market place. The enhanced services include account sales to Polish owners, ship managers and charterers. In addition ships agency services are now available under the name of Wilhelmsen Ships Service in the ports of Szczecin and Gdansk, including their subports. Services include marine products and technical services, safety and refrigeration. WSS also now operates freight forwarding services in and out of these ports for Polish and foreign customers. Wilhelmsen Ships Service Polska Sp. z.o.o.

Schat-Harding has opened a new service and sales center in Miami. Focussed initially on improving service to the cruise industry, it will also coordinate sales and service for all ships using Florida's ports. George Suarez, a cruise industry veteran, is leading the new team, which is co-located with Unitor Ships Services. "We have sixty percent of the market share of lifeboats and davits for cruise ships," says Trygve Kjerpeseth, manager of the service department of Schat-Harding. The Miami facility will be developed to include a technical team to provide quick response to service needs, a spare parts depot and a sales coordination center. "We have a facility in the USA, in Louisiana," explains Kjerpeseth. "But our strategic focus now is to be a lifetime partner to our clients.

Three Vericor Power Systems' TF50 marine aeroderivative gas turbines have been selected to power the 118 Wallypower high-speed yacht being built by Intermarine Shipyard, Sarzana, Italy for Wally Yacht. This is Wally Yacht's first foray into high-speed power yachts, and the company's initial application of gas turbines. Wally Yacht, based in Monte Carlo, Monaco, is a world-renowned designer of high-speed sailing and power yachts. The 118-ft. yacht will feature three TF50 gas turbines in a Combined Diesel Or Gas (CODOG) turbine configuration. Two TF50s will be used as side or "wing" engines, with one small auxiliary diesel engine connected to each wing engine. The diesels will provide for very slow maneuvering only.