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Newport Shipping stocks up 100 scrubbers for turnkey retrofit service

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Newport Shipping Group has stocked up on 100 scrubbers, with options for a futher 100 so that it can provide turnkey retrofit services to shipowners.

Buying the scrubbers in bulk from Weihai Puyi Marine Environmental Technology Co (Puyier) aims to be able to offer a turnkey retofit solution with guaranteed slots at shipyards even as demand increases as the deadline for the 1 January 2020 sulphur cap gets ever closer

Newport Shipping has signed cooperation agreements with engineering services providers Harris-Pye and Goltens for 3D scanning and engineering services.

“We are providing shipowners with a true one-stop-shop for equipment procurement, engineering, guaranteed retrofit slots, and attractive deferred payment plans covering up to 60% of the total contract cover over 18-months subsequent to retrofit completion,” said Newport Shipping ceo Erol Sarikaya.

“Having secured an 8-month lead-time for scrubbers ordered by the end of October, we can guarantee shipowners that their retrofits will be completed well in advance of the 2020 Sulphur Cap implementation date.”

Puyier manufactures open, closed and hybrid scrubber systems and has references from over 70 customers.

Newport Shipping has either LOIs or contracts with shipowners for 87 out of 100 of the scrubber systems.

Source:seatrade-maritime

IMA Completes 12-month Study of the Floating Liquefaction and Regasification Market

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International Maritime Associates has just completed a 12-month study of the global market for floating gas liquefaction plants and floating LNG regasification terminals. The 150+ page study, published by World Energy Reports, is the most detailed analysis yet made of this growing business sector.

Project Success Evaluation
The IMA study is the first professional effort to systematically look at the universe of FLNG and FSRU projects in the planning stage – and categorize the likelihood of each making the development investment hurdle. Many FLNG and FSRU projects are planned – but only some will ultimately move forward to development. The goal of the study is to objectively sort out likely winners and losers – and explain the rationale for the rating.

Employing a qualitative analysis that reflects lessons learned from post-FID FLNG projects, IMA examines 29 floating liquefaction projects in the planning stage and provides its view of whether the project has a strong, fair or weak probability of moving forward. The probability rating is based on how the project scores in terms of drivers of project health and stockholder overlay considerations.

Drivers of project economic health

  • gas processing requirement
  • gas quality- liquids presence
  • upstream location
  • FLNG location
  • alternative gas commercialization possibilities
  • transport distance to the Chinese gas import market

Stakeholder overlay considerations

  • strength of the project promoter
  • strength of offtake buyer
  • government support for the project
  • ease of doing business in the resource country

A similar analysis is made of FSRUs in the planning queue. Based on lessons learned from FSRU terminals already in development, IMA provides its view of the probability that each of 47 FSRU terminals in the planning stage has a strong, fair or weak probability of moving forward. While the analysis is similar to that used for FLNGs, the success factors are more oriented to the commercial drivers influencing the investment decision in FSRU projects.

Drivers of project economic health

  • gas import demand driver
  • need for single or multiple gas offtakers
  • potential alternative sources of future gas supply
  • infrastructure requirements

Stakeholder overlay considerations

  • strength of the project promoter
  • strength of gas offtake buyer
  • government support for the project
  • ease of doing business in the resource country

Online FLNG/FSRU Database
IMA does more than just provide a snapshot of the floating liquefaction and regasification sector. Its new online fully searchable LNG database updates all FLNG and FSRU project information on a 24/7 basis. As IMA receives new information about projects from its network of industry contacts, the database is immediately updated to reflect the latest situation.

With access to the online database, users can access any FLNG project or FSRU terminal – in operation, under construction and planned – and immediately find the latest information on project status, along with any changes in timing and probability of the project investment decision. Contacts are also provided for follow up with key players.

Database users are able to select any combination of data about projects and export the data to excel for evaluation – or use the sophisticated sorting and graphics capability provided with the database for making comparisons and benchmarking.

The search capability is user friendly and our IT staff is available to assist with any issues or questions at any time.

Experience of Professional Team
The FLNG/FSRU study and database has been prepared by a small team of seasoned industry professionals with many years of hands-on experience in the offshore sector. The team’s direct experience in planning and executing FLNG and FSRU projects provides the foundation for a “reality check” evaluation of the likelihood that projects in the planning queue will go forward to development.

Jim McCaul, founder of IMA and co-founder of WER, is the principal analyst in the study. He has prepared more than 60 reports on the floating production business – and over the past 30+ years has been engaged as adviser by numerous clients in the offshore oil and gas sector. Jim has been advisor on planned FSRU projects in Ghana, Jamaica, India and elsewhere.

George Tilley, senior researcher, is a 30+ year veteran of the international oil and gas industry having worked in Brazil, Kazakhstan, India and Tanzania for BG Group. In his last assignment in Tanzania George was responsible for the commercial arrangements with partners and government for the proposed LNG project.

Our other senior analyst in the study has 30+ years of experience as offshore field development engineer in offshore oil and gas projects and has been directly involved with planning FLNG projects in Tanzania, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Brazil and elsewhere.

Source:marinelink

Why shipowners should not delay BWTS installation to the last minute

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With all the focus on complying with the 2020 sulphur cap the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM Convention) has slipped off the agenda with the need to comply seemingly an accepted fact whatever the individual’s view on how the regulation has been executed.

However, from 8 September 2019 all existing vessels built prior to the convention coming into force on 8 September 2017, will have to fit a ballast water treatment system (BWTS) at their next special survey if they do not already have one if the vessel is to continue international trading.

This gives owners a five year window in which to comply between 2019 and 2024 depending on when the vessel’s IOPP is due. While this may seem like plenty of time recent weeks have seen several organisations flag up that owners should not delay fitting systems until the last minute, given the tens of thousands of ships that require systems and the limited shipyard and engineering capacity to do this.

It is easy to understand why owners are trying to delay fitting a BWTS to the last possible minute. There is a simple fact of cost – they do not come cheap – and the investment is required at a time when shipping markets, although generally improved (excluding tankers) are hardly booming. Many early adopters have found that the systems they installed did not work as advertised, and in more extreme cases were deemed “inoperable”.

It also comes at a time when owners already have the cost of complying with the sulphur cap – be that fitting scrubbers, or for the majority the great unknown of how much low sulphur fuels will be from 1 January 2020.

But the Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) sees these factors as reasons that owners should sort out compliance with the BWM Convention. Now a cynic might suggest “well they would say that wouldn’t they?”, but Mark Riggo president of BEMA also had point when in an open letter to shipowners on 21 September cautioning that it was “already the last possible minute”, while also recognising the difficulties some owners had experienced.

“September 8, 2019 is a very short time away. Between now and then, you will contend with a myriad of regulatory changes and disruptive events that impact your business. Between the sulphur cap on fuels, cyber-challenges, and shifts in global trade, you will be tasked with a number of challenges this year. Do not forget about ballast water treatment,” Riggo warned.

“Start your process now. If you have not installed a system on one of your ships, you absolutely need to now so you can learn how the system really works, how the company really performs, and what your crew needs to know before compliance is mandatory.”

But it is not just the manufacturers saying this we’ve also had warnings from class and insurers.

ClassNK is advising owners to fit BWTS well ahead of time as it sees a large spike in retrofit numbers in 2022. Of 5,400 vessels registered with the Japanese class society that are yet to fit a system slightly over half, 2,832 vessels, have installation deadlines in 2022.

P&I Insurer Gard is also advising members that have not made a decision on BWTS installation to start preparatory work as soon as possible. “Even if the installation deadline may not be for several years, in order to save time and money there are multiple decisions that should be addressed now, e.g. to make sure the installation coincides with a scheduled dry docking,” it said in an alert.

While it is understandable that owners want to put of the time and cost of installing a BWTS till the last possible moment it is clear that is better to be prepared in advance rather than scrambling to comply at the last moment.

Source:seatrade-maritime

Aframax Tankers and LR1s Among Top Future Investment Opportunities for Shipowners

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Predicting the recovery in asset prices involves many factors, and the current strength of spot market returns, or term hire rates are only a part of the story. Value investors still have plenty of opportunities to acquire prime aged assets at a significant discount to their expected future market value.

Tankers offer the most promising investment overall, as most large crude tankers still have significant upside remaining based on an analysis of expected market trends over the next several years. However, opportunities abound in other vessel classes as well.

  • Handysize Bulkers – Lagging other bulker segments, but ton mile demand for these units remains on a gradual upwards slope.
  • Panamax Container Vessels – The removal of a significant number of older ships has preserved the value of prime age and fuel-efficient vessels.
  • LR1 Tankers – The large clean product tanker segment has seen a tough market environment over the past several years due to the large growth in vessel supply.
  • Aframax Tankers – Aframaxes have suffered from changes in trade patterns, but remain the workhorses of the crude tanker fleet, and the average age of the fleet on the water remains high. Rates should recover as older units come out of service, preserving the value of a five-year-old ship.

Vessel specific forecasts give a much better view of the expected asset value performance, but the trend in five year old asset values is a good starting point when looking for discounted vessels.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

Brazil Talks Campos Basin, Natural Gas As Presidential Election Nears

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The future of the Campos Basin, growing importance of natural gas in the energy transition and concerns about Brazil’s upcoming presidential elections were hot topics during the Rio Oil & Gas 2018 conference.

The event was held in late September as the country continues to attract oil and gas companies wanting to tap into Brazil’s hydrocarbon resource opportunities.

“Rio Oil & Gas offers an ideal forum to develop the debate surrounding the window of opportunity available to Brazil as the country looks to develop its huge presalt resources [as] demand for fossil fuels begins to fall off posing the risk that some of the reserves may end up untouched under the sea,” Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute (IBP) President José Firmo said during the opening ceremony. “This is an important discussion for a country that has needs for economic and social development.”

Campos Basin’s Future

After 40 years of intense offshore activities, the Campos Basin is facing challenges to grow production. Currently, the basin is responsible for nearly 60% of Brazil’s output; however, this percentage could drop over the next years as fields in the basin age.

During the panel focused on the basin, Petrobras executives pointed out that the area still holds great potential despite its aging process.  The Campos Basin could increase its reserves by 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to Petrobras Reservoir Engineer Luiz de Abreu Neto. These oil barrels could come from the Albacora Leste, Barracuda and Caratinga, Marlim, Marlim Sul, Marlim Leste and Roncador fields.

Abreu Neto said Petrobras intends to increase its reserves through new discoveries and the revitalization of mature fields.  The “Campos Basin Revitalization Program began to be developed in 2017. In the first year of execution, the output increased 6%. There was also an increase of 22,000 barrels of oil per day of these fields,” he said during his presentation.

Source:epmag

Fugro to launch Nigeria-focused joint venture with Jagal

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Geo intelligence firm Fugro and local energy operator Jagal are to launch a Nigeria-focused site characterisation and asset integrity services joint venture.

Fugro business development manager for Africa Peter Boon said “The new business will leverage the strengths of both parties to undertake large, integrated marine site characterisation projects and asset integrity programmes.”

“Jagal’s commitment to high standards in health and safety is aligned with Fugro’s and, along with our objective to indigenise our specialist services into the local market, this co-operation will enhance our support of the offshore energy industry in Nigeria,” he added.

The new company, Fugro Marine Nigeria, will be a 100% Nigerian entity.

Fugro is a global provider of geo-intelligence and asset integrity services. The company employs approximately 10,000 people across 65 countries and its 2017 revenue was €1.5Bn (US$1.7Bn). Nigerian conglomerate Jagal operates energy businesses and manages a diversified portfolio of investments in areas such as technology, real estate and healthcare.

Source:osjonline

Bunker Fuels and IMO 2020: Dilemmas Everywhere

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With just over a year until the new marine fuel regulations are put in place, ship owners are heavily investing in scrubbers, while others are still facing dilemmas, regarding their future plans to comply with these regulations. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal noted that “the bunker fuel supply and availability landscape is close to its transformation with the enforcement of the IMO’s global 0.5% fuel Sulphur content cap regulation from 1st of January, 2020.

Shipowners will have to choose between available options for them to comply with the regulation, while refiners will have to make suitable changes to refinery configuration and production in response to market demand. Thus far all parties will have to decide on the most efficient and appropriate solution that will suit their operations and allow them to remain commercially sustainable in the long run.

Katerina Restis, which is an expert in tanker chartering department with Intermodal said that “the swipe from the present 3.5% to 0.5% Sulphur content marine fuel will practically be an overnight shift as refineries would need to continue production and supply of up to 3.5% marine fuel until the day regulation requirement kicks in. Global refining will face enormous logistics, storage and delivery issues, while ships will have to clean out fuel systems to avoid Sulphur contamination. Thus, there is a risk such quick swing to lead to a period of product shortages and inflated marine oil prices. According to data reported on average up to 2017, the shipping industry was consuming approximately 3.2m barrels p/d of HFO and 800k p/d of MGO. Accordingly, from 2020 onwards it is estimated that proportion will alter to 700k p/d of HFO to 3.4m barrels p/d of MGO. Obviously, the use of compliant Sulphur oil products will be the expensive solution for ship-owners that will either absorb the cost or possibly operators will try to pass the cost to Charterers via increased freight rates”.

Restis added that “simple refineries that produce a substantial share of their crude oil into HFO may face margin pressures, while complex refineries with greater infrastructures may potentially boost margins with larger production of low Sulphur products. IEA has stated that if refiners ran at similar utilization rates as of today, it would be unlikely to produce the essential volumes of gas oil. Particularly, if quantity rises to meet the required gas oil volumes, margins would be inevitably affected by shrinking profits”.

According to Intermodal’s analyst, “overall, oil majors and refineries will try to back up the bunker fuel demand ascending from the new regulation through several ways. Refiners may elevate ULSFO production by extracting low Sulphur fuel streams that are currently blended into LSFO or HSFO will be made available to the market as ULS FO. ExxonMobil, for example has introduced a product, Heavy Distillate Marine ECA 50 that can be consumed onboard like HFO and has only 0.1% Sulphur content. Furthermore, refiners have an issue of handling their surplus residue as this option comes with higher risk on returns of investment. This is due to the fact that oil demand is founded on shippers’ uptake of alternative options such as scrubber installation and LNG bunkering. Refiners can raise LNG bunker supplies in major bunkering hubs. In Singapore, Shell and ExxonMobil are working with Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to supply LNG as fuel”, Restis concluded.

“To sum up, in the scenario that refineries restrict the availability of HFO on expected higher margins from selling MGO, then vessels fitted with scrubbers might face challenges in relation to adequate supply of HFO. On the other hand, refineries worry that any surge in the use of MGO would head to excess quantity of HFO. For sure refineries are not rushing to big investments to change production set ups while ship-owners are still considering their options. It’s a dilemma for all parties and a puzzle to be solved”, Intermodal’s analyst concluded.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

Damen takes second place in the maritime & aviation sector in the 2018 MT500 business rankings

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Damen has achieved second place in the maritime & aviation sector in this year’s MT500 rankings of the top 500 companies and institutions in the Netherlands.

It also came twentieth out of 500 in the overall ranking, its best ever result. In the ratings breakdown, Damen achieved the full five stars for product leadership and employment practises. The winner in the maritime & aviation category was national airline KLM, with the Port of Rotterdam coming third.

The MT500 is the result of an annual survey of business decision makers that asks them to assess and rank companies in the same and related sectors as their own businesses on product leadership, customer focus and excellent execution. This year was the eighteenth time it was conducted, and for the first time ‘reputation as an employer’ was added as a new criterion. The research was carried out by the Centre for Business Innovation at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

One particularly gratifying result was that, out of the 47 family-owned companies that featured in the MT500 rankings, Damen came in first place, ahead of household names such as Heineken, Jumbo and the VDL Group.

While Damen came 20th in the overall rankings covering all business sectors, three places higher than in 2017, it came even higher in two of the four categories. In both product leadership and employment practises, Damen came in fifth place out of the 500 companies featured, a superb result and a reflection on the group’s dedication to both innovation and to nurturing and supporting its workforce.

“We are very pleased with this result,” said Carola Servaas, Employer Branding & Campus Recruitment at Damen’s HR department. “Especially as this is a peer-to-peer assessment which means that respondents only judge companies that are active in their own industry. The recognition that colleagues from our own industry appreciate our customer service, product leadership, quality of execution and good employment is fantastic as they are attributes to which we all contribute and can be proud of together. Moreover, ranking as the fifth best employer in the Netherlands is most welcome at a time when the labour market is very tight. At the moment we have more than 100 vacancies, so all internal and external support in attracting new colleagues is most welcome.”

Source:hellenicshippingnews

LNG bunkering marks number of firsts for Shell and Sovcomflot in Rotterdam

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Shell recently delivered its first ship-to-ship bunkering of cleaner burning LNG fuel from its specialised LNG bunker vessel, Cardissa, paving the way for many other operations from the vessel.

This operation marked a number of other firsts, as it fuelled the Sovcomflot vessel Gagarin Prospect, the world’s first LNG-powered Aframax tanker. It was also the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering to take place in the Port of Rotterdam.

The fuelling of the Gagarin Prospect with LNG is the first operation under the LNG fuel supply agreement between Shell and Sovcomflot signed in 2017. This pioneered the expansion of LNG fuel into the tanker industry and, in general, for vessels not tied to fixed routes or set timetables.

Grahaeme Henderson, Vice President, Shell Shipping and Maritime, said: “This exciting first for the Cardissa is a tangible example of Shell driving LNG as a cleaner burning and viable fuel for the shipping industry. It is highly appropriate that we celebrate this first with Sovcomflot and their first LNG powered tanker, which we also happen to charter.”

Sergey Frank, President & CEO of Sovcomflot, said: “Together with Shell, SCF Group shares a determination to reduce the environmental impact of energy shipping. This was the genesis of our ‘Green Funnel’ project, and since April 2015 we have been working very closely with Shell on every aspect of it to bring the project to successful fruition. The first tangible result was the introduction into service of the world’s first Aframax tanker to use LNG as her primary fuel – Gagarin Prospect. Her arrival and inaugural LNG bunkering, by Shell’s tanker Cardissa, heralds a new age of more sustainable and environmentally responsible shipping – especially in the high traffic areas of the Baltic and North Seas, where this new class of ‘Green Aframaxes’ will operate. We are proud to partner with Shell and look forward to a bright and cleaner future, as more and more vessels opt for LNG as their primary fuel, and the associated LNG bunkering infrastructure is established in key ports worldwide.”

Allard Castelein, CEO Port of Rotterdam, said: “The Port of Rotterdam Authority highly values and actively supports a more sustainable transport sector. As a result of cooperation with many parties like Shell and Sovcomflot we are leading the way in this transition. Compared to other fuels, LNG offers significant benefits to local air quality and contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gasses. We welcome the Gagarin Prospect and her sister vessels to our port and look forward to many more secure and efficient LNG bunker operations.”

Shell continues to build a robust marine LNG supply chain across the world’s main shipping lanes. Sovcomflot and other industry leading ship owners and operators are increasingly choosing LNG fuel over traditional marine fuels to respond to sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions regulations, including the IMO’s recent decision to implement a global 0.5% sulphur cap in 2020.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

Singapore looks to tighten controls in its marine fuels supply chain

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Singapore authorities are looking to apply stricter control measures across the marine fuels sector supply chain, a spokeswoman for the government agency Enterprise Singapore said on Thursday, to boost transparency and accountability in a notoriously opaque industry.

The Technical Committee for Bunkering has submitted a proposal to the national standards body, Enterprise Singapore, for a new standard on quantity, measurement and sampling requirements for transfer of bunker fuel from oil terminals to bunker tankers using mass flow metering, the spokeswoman said.

“This proposed standard complements existing standards to ensure transparent and fair trade in the bunkering ecosystem,” the spokeswoman said.

Singapore is by far the world’s largest marine refuelling, or bunkering, hub where authorities have implemented some of the industry’s strictest rules and standards.

The city-state was the first port to mandate the use of mass flow meters (MFMs) in 2017, and in the same year posted record sales of marine fuels at 50.6 million tonnes.

Despite existing measures, the marine fuels sector is notoriously opaque with its fair share of scandals including illegal short-selling of fuel as well as large-scale fuel theft.

More recently, a wave of contaminated fuel that has clogged and damaged engines on hundreds of oil tankers and container vessels in the past months, with no one yet held accountable, has pushed shippers to demand stricter controls around the world.

While the proposed measures are not foolproof, they could enhance transparency and accountability in a meaningful way, two trade sources said.

For instance, mass flow meters at oil terminals would ensure the right quantities of fuels are transferred between buyers and sellers while taking oil samples at terminals could help prevent the spreading of contaminated fuels once they are detected and enhance accountability if quality disputes arise, the sources said.

The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

“The proposal will undergo a one-month public notification to seek views of stakeholders on the scope of the standard at the end of this year,” the Enterprise Singapore spokeswoman said.

Source:hellenicshippingnews

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