Compiled by Michael Pryce with the assistance of G. Bain, M. Berthold, A. Calvert, I. J. Farquhar, D. Gardner, N. Kirby, R.J.McDougall, and from the newsletters of the Hawke's Bay and Bay of Plenty Branches of the Society.
“Challenger”
P&O European Ferries extended its charter of the Irish Continental Group (ICG)-owned ferry Challenger, which it currently sub-charters to New Zealand Interislander ferry operator Toll Shipping. ICG confirmed on 3rd October 2006 that P&O would take the vessel for another three years beyond its initial charter deadline of July 2007. P&O also have the option to extend the charter a second time, from 2010 to 2013. If this is wanted, P&O is required to exercise the option nine months before the deadline. The move appears to confirm that P&O is making good charter fees off sub-letting the ship to Toll Shipping, who introduced her into Cook Strait service in late 2005. She has been on continuous charter to P&O since ICG bought the vessel in 1993 for US$78 million
“Arahura”
Arahura developed mechanical problems soon after sailing from her Wellington berth at mid-morning on 19th October 2006. She anchored in Wellington Harbour for several hours to rectify the problem before cancelling that sailing and going back alongside her berth. Since Challenger returned from drydock, Arahura’s 10.35a.m. sailing from Wellington had been for cargo only until mid-November, with no passengers booked, no doubt with the view that passengers can travel on the larger Challenger two hours earlier. Arahura’s next 6.15p.m. scheduled sailing from Wellington did carry passengers.
“Monte Stello”
After over three months lying alongside Inter Island Wharf at Wellington undergoing major engine repairs, Strait Shipping’s Monte Stello left her berth for sea trials of both engines very early on the morning of 19th October 2006. After steaming many miles to the southeast of Wellington Harbour, she returned to port by late afternoon and reberthed. Later in the evening she left her berth and anchored overnight in the northeast part of the harbour for some more engine work. On the evening of 20th October she was to make a first commercial sailing from Wellington with freight, taking the place of Kent in the timetable, and Monte Stello loaded roll on, roll off freight ready for that. However, at the scheduled sailing time some further engine problems manifested themselves, and the planned sailing was cancelled. Monte Stello unloaded all her cargo and this was loaded on board Kent instead. Kent duly sailed for Picton and Monte Stello again went out into Wellington Harbour to anchor in order to carry out more work on her engines. However, residual problems were of a minor nature only, and Monte Stello made her first commercial sailing from Wellington to Picton on the evening of 22nd October 2006.
Stormy southerlies on the morning of 24th October 2006 resulted in her coming out of Tory Channel, but finding the weather so bad that she immediately returned to Picton via the Northern Entrance and remained berthed alongside at Picton for the rest of the day.
Monte Stello is not fitted with heeling ballast tanks like her near-sister Santa Regina, so careful loading of heavy trucks is required to avoid listing when loading or discharging. Despite this, she usually has a notable port list when loading cargo, and also seems perpetually to operate noticeably down by the head. However, her “down by the head” appearance is caused by her paint lines, which were repainted whilst in drydock in Auckland early in 2006. Careful visual observations, with her trimmed half-a-metre by the stern, clearly showed that her paint lines and “Strait Shipping” logo on her hull ran “downwards” towards the bow.
Santa Regina sailed from Wellington on 24th October 2006 for routine drydocking in Devonport drydock, Auckland, and Monte Stello took over her sailing schedule. Santa Regina returned to Wellington on the evening of 6th November and resumed commercial sailings early on the morning of 7th November. Thereafter, Monte Stello changed her itinerary to take over Kent’s sailing schedule of sailing from Wellington at 8a.m. and 9p.m. Kent then laid up to carry out survey work, but operated her weekly return voyage to Nelson.
Monte Stello had more engine problems on the afternoon of 16th November 2006, and Kent had to replace her on sailings to Picton for the next few days. Monte Stello resumed commercial sailings on the evening of 19th November. On 21st November she returned from Picton during the afternoon via the Northern Entrance on one engine after a relatively minor problem with a lubricating oil pump again. On the morning of 23rd November she returned to Wellington several hours late, again on one engine, and so Kent made the 8a.m. sailing. On 30th November Monte Stello had another breakdown of one engine whilst moving from Aotea Quay to Glasgow Wharf in Wellington and was assisted back to Aotea Quay by a tug. On 17th December she had more problems when arriving in the early morning at Wellington from Picton, and anchored in Lambton Harbour before berthing with tug assistance. After later loading-up with cars and passengers for a late 8a.m. sailing, her starboard engine was unable to be started, so the sailing was cancelled at 10a.m. and all went ashore again. She moved at 11a.m. to a spare berth on her port engine with a tug assisting so that the problem could be resolved. After this spate of re-commissioning glitches (perhaps not too surprising after major engine work), Monte Stello then settled down to operate commercial passenger and freight services over the busy Christmas and summer holiday period.
“Kent”
Kent sailed from Wellington on the afternoon of 26th November 2006 for Napier, where she arrived mid-morning next day. She was there to be measured up for a new stern ramp/linkspan projected to be built by early January 2007 to enable her to operate on a coastal service. She sailed from Napier on the evening of 27th November and arrived back in Wellington next day. Kent had been intended to lie up at Wellington during the week and make only weekend sailings to Nelson until the proposed coastal service eventuated. However, busy freight traffic across Cook Strait, plus some sailings to replace Monte Stello often kept her usefully employed for a large part of most weeks.
Kent sailed from Wellington on 7th January 2007 for Picton, where she loaded stainless steel tanks for Napier, where she arrived in mid-morning on 9th January 2007. After discharging, she made some more berthing trials for use of her stern ramp before sailing in late afternoon back to Wellington, where she arrived on the morning of 10th January 2007.
An article in the “Sydney Morning Herald” on 23rd January 2007 announced “Strait Shipping Launches Napier Link”. “Wellington-based Strait Shipping is extending its coastal freight service to Napier. The service would be the first sea freight link between Napier and Nelson, the company said. Strait’s freight-only vessel, Kent, would begin a scheduled weekly service between Wellington and Napier on 29th January 2007, as an extension of its existing service between Wellington and Nelson or Picton. ‘This new service will provide shippers with an efficient method of transporting containers and roll-on, roll-off cargo between the ports of Nelson, Wellington, Picton and Napier’, Strait Shipping managing director Sheryl Ellison said. ‘New Zealand needs a truly inter-modal transport system and shipping provides a way forward that has low emissions, low carbon and is more fuel efficient than any other mode.’ Strait Shipping has operated a scheduled service from Wellington to Nelson for the past twelve years. With predominantly containerised freight, Kent also ships break-bulk and roll-on, roll-off cargoes. Port of Napier commercial manager, Chris Bain, said Strait Shipping’s move was a view to the future, as some regional ports would struggle to accommodate the ever-increasing lengths of international container vessels, in particular. ‘This development will provide Nelson exporters with enhanced shipping options as their cargo is trans-shipped onto international vessels in Napier. The same process in reverse could apply to imports discharged in Napier which can then be transferred coastally to Nelson.’”
Review into Cook Strait Ferry Trade Released
An independent review into Cook Strait ferry operators and regulators was released on 24th October 2006. The “Cook Strait Review”, conducted by Captain Robin Plant who is an international expert in ferry operations, was commissioned by the Director of Maritime New Zealand, following a series of incidents and accidents in the Cook Strait over a five-year period. The review was benchmarked on international standards and overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of the five key agencies responsible for safety. (Toll, Strait Shipping Ltd., Marlborough and Wellington harbourmasters and Maritime New Zealand). In his report, Captain Plant made twentyfour specific recommendations across the board. The Steering Committee’s independent Chairman, William Falconer, said the Cook Strait Review report highlighted a united approach between New Zealand’s two ferries companies, Toll (Interislander) and Strait Shipping Ltd. (Bluebridge), together with harbour authorities and safety regulator Maritime New Zealand toward maintaining optimal levels of navigational and operational safety. Captain Plant’s brief was to look at whether past incidents and accidents had common contributing factors and if additional measures could be taken to improve safety. It encompassed the operational policies of the operators and the regulatory practices of the harbour authorities and Maritime New Zealand. “I think all involved would agree that this process has served as a platform for a greater degree of collaboration and cooperation amongst the parties on safety issues, and given traction to their interactive roles in achieving ongoing best practice”, said Mr. Falconer. “Although the incidence of reported accidents and incidents during the period 2002 to 2005 was unacceptably high, the Cook Strait Review report showed that operators and the regulators had moved rapidly to rectify deficiencies as they became apparent. All of Captain Plant’s recommendations have been implemented or are under action, and of course many were implemented well before the review had even commenced because we’re talking about the review of Cook Strait ferry operations over a five year period”, he said.
Mr. Falconer also said the purpose of the Cook Strait Review was solely for participants to collectively review their practices and procedures and identify areas for improvement. While the report did not have to be made public, the Steering Committee believed transparency was important. Maritime New Zealand Director Russell Kilvington welcomed the report. “I am confident that we have a safer Cook Strait, not only due to the many initiatives which all the parties have undertaken in the last eighteen months, but also due to the new environment of more open, trusting and collaborative working that it has brought about.”
“Timing is everything”, as some say, and only hours later on the very day that the report into Cook Strait safety was publicly released, a Cook Strait ferry encountered some highly-publicised media attention in Cook Strait. Challenger experienced some problems when returning from Picton to Wellington during stormy southerlies on the afternoon of 24th October 2006. Her pitching motion in the swell resulted in her propellers coming partially out of the water and causing a reduction in engine speed, thereby slowing her down. She diverted to the south into Cloudy Bay where she hove-to for many hours sorting out problems and waiting for the weather to moderate before entering Wellington.
As usual, the media widely reported the bad-weather story, with headlines such as “Ferry Forced to Take Shelter in Huge seas”, “Decision to Sail in Storm Under Review”, “Review After 10-hour Ferry Ordeal”, “Weather May Bring ‘Disaster’ on Strait”, and “Maritime NZ to Investigate Stormy Challenger Sailing”.
Challenger was due in Wellington at about 4.30p.m. after having left Picton at 1.p.m with 800 passengers on board, but faced extremely heavy seas and an eight-metre swell in Cook Strait. The sailing actually took ten hours. She eventually berthed in Wellington after 11p.m. with the assistance of a tug.
The decision to sail in severe storm conditions was the subject of a Maritime New Zealand review after it was reported that “nearly 860 ferry passengers endured a harrowing ten-hour ordeal after Challenger was ‘stranded in heavy seas near Blenheim’”. “Punctuated by screams, babies vomiting and children crying, some likened the crossing to a war zone”, reported “The Dominion Post.” Another ferry passenger said the ship was like a war zone. “They kept taking us from bay to bay to try and minimalise the rolling. There were a few screams, and people getting angry at the staff, who did the best they could.” A mother described the scene in the nursery as shocking. Children were crying and vomiting uncontrollably. “If I had known, I never would have got on board the boat.”
Steam Locomotives on “Arahura”
The evening sailing of Arahura on 16th October 2006 from Wellington took steam locomotives AB 663 and WAB 794 across Cook Strait, en route to Dunedin to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dunedin railway station. An accident took place at Spring Creek, near Blenheim on 29th October when a car driver failed to stop at a railway crossing and was struck by WAB 794, which was returning to Picton. Although the car was badly damaged, the woman driver was luckily able to walk away unharmed. The steam train attracted hundreds of spectators in Marlborough as it travelled through the region on Friday and Sunday evenings. The train was part of a cavalcade of steam trains which had been travelling in the South Island as part of the anniversary celebrations.
WAB 794 was built at Hillside, Dunedin in 1927. It has been restored by the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society. She had re-crossed Cook Strait and was back in the Wellington railway yards “dead” loco by 2nd November, and AB 663 was also there by 3rd November 2006.
“Purbeck”
As previously recounted, the freight ferry Purbeck sailed from Wellington on 6th October 2006. She arrived at the Pacific anchorage entrance to the Panama Canal on 7th November 2006. After a lengthy delay caused by maintenance works on the locks, she passed through the Canal on 22nd November and arrived at Willemstad, Curacao, on 25th November 2006. In mid-January 2007 she was renamed Maria Rosario (her first renaming since built in 1978) and entered service for Conferry, but her port of registry remained as Kingstown (St. Vincent).
“Rotoiti” scrapped.
As mentioned in Vol. 54, No.3, Rotoiti made her last arrival at Auckland on 18th November 2006, sailed from there on 19th November for Sydney and Melbourne, and completed discharge of her last trans-Tasman cargo in Webb Dock on 26th November. She was then sold to Arab owners, renamed Gulf Strait, and sailed on 2nd December 2006, ostensibly to Bahrein for drydocking and future work. However, by 19th December it was reported that that Gulf Strait was now heading to the Bangladeshi shipbreaking beaches at Chittagong. A report from a crew member on board for her last voyage said that “half the way to Dubai, we got some news, the ship was sold once again, but this time to the scrap yard owner in Chittagong, We repainted the name, the funnel and changed the course. Unfortunately, we had to beach her in the middle of the night (high water at 3a.m.), so no photographs able to be taken”. A few deft strokes of a paintbrush had renamed Gulf Strait to just Ulf for the last stage of her voyage to Chittagong Beach. She was reported to have arrived in Chittagong Roads on 25th December 2006, and after waiting at anchor for suitable high tides, it is understood that she was beached at about 3a.m. on 5th January 2007
“Ngapara” scrapped.
In Vol.54, No.3 we featured the “rediscovered” former Ngapara operating in Chinese waters as Zheng He No.9, which name she had apparently carried since January 2003. In November 2006 she was renamed Star 1, operated by Pelmar Shipping & Engineering, India., but registered at Bassenterre under the St. Kitts & Nevis flag. In January 2007 she was reported sold to Pelican Marine Pvt. Ltd., India, still registered at Bassenterre, and further reported as “Broken Up”, so it appears that the sale for solely for the purpose of scrapping the ship.
Auckland Stadium Plans
Plans to “build things” on prime port waterfront land became all the rage during November 2006.
In early November 2006 a NZ$700 million stadium on Auckland’s waterfront became the Government's choice for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They favoured a waterfront national stadium, partly over Bledisloe Wharf and partly over water towards Marsden Wharf, a short walk from the bottom of Queen Street. It would require 6.2ha and would cut into the 14ha-Bledisloe Wharf, the third busiest container terminal in the country, which handled 220,000 containers last year. The project would involve driving hundreds of piles through reclaimed land over the wharf and seabed. It would be located east-west on the Quay Street or south side of Bledisloe Wharf, overhanging the water towards Marsden Wharf. The stadium would be about 35 metres high, or about the equivalent of a thirteen storey building. Ports of Auckland could be allowed to reclaim land between Bledisloe and Jellicoe Wharves as compensation. The site is across the road from the Britomart transport terminal, close to buses and ferries. Marsden Wharf is mainly used for cars and bulk cargoes rather than containers.
Auckland City Council voted in support of the waterfront site on 23rd November, but on 24th November the Auckland Regional Council unanimously voted against it. Those who favoured the waterfront option wanted it wholly on Bledisloe Wharf, east of the Government’s preferred option. Those against the stadium criticised the Government and council for a lack of consultation and wanted more information. The Regional Council report suggested the cost of the waterfront stadium could go as high as $969 million, while the development of Eden Park, which has been till now the generally-accepted option, could climb to $578 million. The report also spelt out how the stadium would damage the port. Auckland Regional Holdings said it had not received any acceptable proposals to provide substitute wharf and facilities. The decision the same week by Maersk Shipping Line to use Auckland as its main hub had made the situation much more complex, it said.
New Container Cranes at Auckland
Auckland received a NZ$30 million consignment of three new ZPMC container cranes in mid-December 2006 as part of its programme to handle larger container ships (see “New Port Chalmers Container Crane” article in Vol.54, No.1 for details of Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. – ZPMC). Built in Shanghai, the consignment was part of a six-crane cargo in transit on ZPMC’s specially-converted oil tanker Zhen Hua 11. The ship had previously unloaded one unit in Fremantle and two more at Brisbane. Each of the 1,150-tonne and 103-metre-high cranes is equipped with booms which can reach eighteen to twenty containers wide across deck (compared to Ports of Auckland’s existing crane reach of sixteen containers). Other features include an increase in hoist power speed, and improved belt drive power technology, and four anti-collision detectors. Additionally, each crane has a comprehensive new fibre-optic communications system with remote access, will be capable of completing 20-foot container liftings while in twin-lift mode and will increase twin-lifting capacity from 60 to 65 tonnes. Expected to be in operation by early 2007 and to have a lifespan of twentyfive years, the cranes will be the “fastest, biggest and most productive” in the New Zealand ports industry, according to the Ports of Auckland.
They will also expand the Axis Intermodal post-panamax container crane fleet to eight and enable the replacement of first-generation equipment with five cranes at Axis Fergusson and three at Axis Bledisloe. The port company aims to equip all ship-to-shore cranes with permanent twin-lift spreaders by 2007. Ports of Auckland is also in the throes of a NZ$60 million investment to reclaim and extend the Axis Fergusson container terminal, deepen the commercial shipping lane and develop new reefer container facilities, as well as a NZ$10 million investment on eleven twin-lifting straddle carriers. The diesel-electric straddle carriers are more efficient, give out fewer exhaust emissions and can be used as generators to power critical refrigerated cargo containers in the case of power failure.
On arrival on 14th December, Zhen Hua 11 initially anchored five nautical miles off Browns Bay before berthing at the Axis Fergusson container terminal early on 15th December 2006.
Interestingly, during all the debate about the proposed building of a Waterfront Stadium at Auckland, nobody once mentioned that this ship was already en route with three new container cranes!
Wellington Sports Stadium
At the same time as central Government was proposing to build a giant stadium over Auckland’s container terminal, in Wellington local Government was planning to build a NZ$40 million indoor sports stadium over some of Wellington’s waterfront land. On 31st October 2006 it was said that the stadium would be redesigned to fit on a new site near the existing Westpac stadium. Originally planned for Cobham Drive in the eastern suburb of Kilbirnie, the indoor community sports centre proposal was extended to include twelve full-size courts earlier in the year. The alternative site, at Aotea Quay opposite Westpac Stadium, was touted as a remedy for traffic concerns at the Cobham Drive location.
On 21st December 2006 “The Dominion Post” reported that a “Harbour Quays” site had been picked for the stadium, and that negotiations to buy it had begun. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said it was a great Christmas present for the city. Ms. Prendergast said that the council had always preferred the stadium end of the city for the development but till now had been unable to find the right site at the right price. Building the centre at the northern extremity of the port facilities would make it accessible to pedestrians and public transport users and would provide good car parking and traffic management, she said. Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Ian Buchanan said the regional council supported the initiative. “It will create a fantastic new dimension to the gateway to the city”, he said. If the council approved the “Harbour Quays” site, building work on the sports centre would probably start at the end of 2007.
Wellington’s “Harbour Quays”
In September 2006 Wellington City Council granted port company CentrePort a non-notified resource consent for a NZ$70 million building it plans to construct for the Bank of New Zealand. The building is part of CentrePort’s Harbour Quays development, a proposed business park “on land no longer required for port operation”. Harbour Quays is a staged office and retail complex. Twelve buildings are planned for the area on the eastern side of Aotea Quay. The $70 million BNZ building would be the second of those buildings. It would bring together 1,000 staff now working in seven different locations around the city. Site works began on this six-storey block before Christmas 2006 with completion date of 2009. It is to be made up of three blocks linked by atriums providing a sense of openness and spaciousness. The ground floor will be occupied by retail tenants compatible with the building use. There will be easy access from Waterloo Quay. The building will transform what is currently a largely utility area into an integral part of the business centre of the city, and will help link that part of the city with the sea. Being so close to the Railway and Bus Stations staff will have the opportunities afforded by conveniently-located public transport. CentrePort said that the building will also sit comfortably alongside the operations of CentrePort’s shipping customers located in this area of the Port.
CentrePort pressed ahead with a stage of their project in early November 2006, and the ramifications for shipping of the Bank of New Zealand building soon became apparent. The large building was actually planned to extend halfway across the base of Glasgow Wharf, thereby covering about half of the wharf area used by Strait Shipping for marshalling of their trucks and cars adjacent to their fairly new terminal. Some lengthy negotiations took place before Strait Shipping were able to be reasonably mollified over the total disruption caused by a major building site occupying a large part of their previous “patch”, and planned lengthy construction works and disruption immediately adjacent to their terminal. By November 2007, Strait Shipping will need to move their main berth from the western side of Glasgow Wharf to Kings Wharf, where the berth was to be given a substantial (and long overdue) rebuild and refurbishment, including the construction of a stern ramp suitable for Santa Regina and Monte Stello. To allow work on Kings Wharf to proceed, Pacifica Shipping moved their operation with Spirit of Competition on 18th November 2006 further east to Inter Island Wharf, which is where they originally operated from until moved from there to Kings Wharf on 1st December 2001. Ashore at Inter Island Wharf, all the concrete kerbing installed when it was used as a terminal for the “The Lynx” service was removed in early November 2006, as was the concrete pad on the shoreward end of that berth placed there for use by the bow ramp of the Challenger in late August 2005. At the shoreward end of the “The Lynx” terminal, a fence was erected to delineate the area to be used for marshalling trucks for Pacifica Shipping, in front of the Wharf Police base, a delightful neighbour no doubt greeted with joy by the residents of the adjacent Waterloo Quay Apartments, formerly Shed 31. Trucks would also be marshalled on Inter Island Wharf itself, which precluded any further use of that wharf for a car parking area. This deprived the Wellington waterfront area of another couple of hundred car parking spaces, putting more pressure on the Queens Wharf underground car park, already made inadequate by the construction of a building for Meridian Energy ashore at the northern end of Queens Wharf. And this in a congested area that would have to cope with even greater traffic congestion created if a Hilton Hotel were built on Queens Wharf outer “T”, as has been mooted.
On 11th November Strait Shipping needed to use the berth on the eastern side of Glasgow Wharf whilst old railway lines buried beneath the concrete and tarmac near their normal berth were dug up and cut away. At the same time, a section of railway line running parallel to Aotea Quay adjacent to the building site was also removed.
Pacifica Shipping was moved to Inter Island Wharf on 22nd November. By 24th November major demolition (of Shed 27A) and earthworks were in progress on the former shore area used by Strait Shipping at Glasgow Wharf. During the Christmas and summer busy holiday period, Strait Shipping‘s terminal operated next to an unsightly and disruptive major building site.
“Lyttelton II”
The tug Lyttelton II (308 gross tonnage, built 1938) lay alongside North Wharf, Melbourne, during November 2006, but was destined to soon be taken to Geelong for scrapping. Recently owned by Bay Steamers of Melbourne, she was originally built by Lobnitz and Co. on the Clyde for the Lyttelton Harbour Board. She was retired after forty years’ service but because an older tug, Lyttelton, was already being used for tourist trips in Lyttelton Harbour, she was sold to Australian interests. She was partly dismantled about 2002 and many of her fittings were put into store. Bought by Melbourne cruise ship operator Mr. Leigh Doeg for use as a vessel for catering for functions, it was decided in December 2006 that the tug was too far gone for restoration. Mr. Doeg’s Melbourne Star Cruises already runs the glamorous Victoria Star (the refurbished former classic Sydney ferry Lady McKell) on the Yarra River, Docklands and Port Phillip Bay. He said the decision to sell Lyttelton II was difficult. “It’s probably the worst decision I’ve ever had to make in my life,” he said. “In the end, there was no choice.” Mr. Doeg said the tug had sat too many years in the water without being drydocked, resulting in severe damage to the hull and a restoration bill in excess ofA$1 million. “I thought she deserved another chance,” he said of his decision to purchase the ship three years ago. “But in the end, she was too far gone. She was a beautiful ship, the Rolls-Royce of steam tugs.” The tug was towed from North Wharf on 4th December 2006 to Rippleside slipway, Geelong, for sandblasting to determine how much rust was in her hull. There was too much and on 11th December 2006 she was sold to Guilfoyle Wreckers. While her day has come and gone, parts of Lyttelton II, most of it original equipment, will be saved for posterity. On 24th January 2007 the contents of her engine room, including the main engine, two boilers and pumps, were lifted from the tug and will be shipped in sections to the Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club, Scoresby. The bridge and associated equipment has been offered to the Williamstown Maritime Association for display. “It’s not a bad salvage operation,” Mr. Doeg said. “We’re preserving the best of the ship. But it doesn’t come close to preserving the whole ship. It’s a very sad thing to do.” The original logbooks of Lyttelton II were recently unearthed. The Canberra-based son of the chief officer, who sailed on her maiden voyage, has offered the logs to the Williamstown Maritime Association.
Lyttelton II steamed out to New Zealand under her own power, where she spent forty years from 1939 working in Lyttelton Harbour before being replaced by more modern and more powerful tugs. She operated as a tourist vessel in Sydney before steaming south to Geelong in 1987. The Bay Steamers Maritime Museum planned to restore her, but sold her when the cost of replating work on Melbourne’s only other steam tug, the Sydney-built former naval tug Wattle, strained the budget.
Maersk Line
Maersk Line was prominently in the news from mid-2006 for various reasons, some good, some bad.
First was news that Maersk had built the world’s largest container ship, although this was somewhat dampened by reports of a serious fire that damaged her wheelhouse whilst she was under construction. A serious fire broke out on a new container ship building as Yard No. 203 at Odense shipyard at 7p.m. on 9th June 2006. The ship was the intended Emma Maersk (156,907 gross tonnage). According to local press reports, the fire started in dunnage wood in the wheelhouse and soon spread, destroying all the equipment before being extinguished by the local fire brigade, assisted by a tug. Delivery of the ship which had been due to start sea trials in July 2006, was expected to be delayed after the fire. One option was to replace her accommodation block (which other reports said was also damaged) with one from the next ship in the series, of which she was one, but this would depend on lifting capacity necessary to remove the damaged unit. Although there were people working on the new ship when the fire broke out, there were no injuries. As well as the accommodation block and bridge, the engine room was also damaged.
Later news followed the delivery and naming of the new ship on 12th August 2006. “Emma Maersk Sets 11,000 TEU Record” ran headlines in “Lloyd’s List”, which went on to say that Maersk had smashed the world record with a new container ship at least ten per cent larger than anything else of her type afloat. Newbuilding L-203 was formally named Emma Maersk at AP Moller-Maersk’s Odense-Lindø yard in Denmark on 12th August. The company broke its usual silence about the size of its ships by declaring the nominal capacity of the giant at 11,000 TEU. That is 1,000 TEU more than the biggest ships being built in Asia. However, Maersk has a reputation for under-stating the true size of its ships, and there has been speculation that the theoretical capacity could be as high as 15,000 TEU, measured in conventional terms, and presumably based on the assumption that every cell is occupied by a high-cube container, which raises the question of whether the use of the “TEU” measure is appropriate. Obscuring the practical capacity will be the fact that every cell in the Emma Maersk is thought to be able to take high-cube containers. At 9 feet 6 inches, these are 12 inches higher than standard containers. That would reduce the number of individual containers the ship could load.
The vessel was named Emma Maersk in memory of Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller’s wife, who died in December 2005. His daughter, Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla, accompanied by her husband, Peder Uggla, named the newbuilding. As the world’s largest container vessel, Maersk said, it would set new standards for safety and impact on the environment. Environmentally-friendly silicon paint covers the hull of the vessel below the waterline, reducing water resistance and cutting her fuel consumption by 1,200 tonnes per year. She is powered by a 14-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex diesel engine which develops 110,000 BHP. After sea trials, she entered Maersk’s AE1 Europe-Asia service, making her first commercial sailing from Gothenburg in mid-September 2006. Emma Maersk is 398 metres long and 56.4 metres wide, 30.2 metres depth, 156,907 gross tonnage and 156,907 tonnes deadweight. She is able to carry rows of twentytwo containers across her decks. The widest ship until now, in service with Mediterranean Shipping Co., takes rows of eighteen.
With no chance of other lines taking delivery of tonnage that large at least until 2010, Maersk now has a huge lead time over competitors and the ability to gain considerable economies of scale and much lower slot costs, depending on how capital costs are allocated. With seven tiers stacked on deck, and allowing for visibility rules, the ship could carry around 13,500 TEU, the firm reckons. An eighth layer would bring nominal capacity to above 14,000 TEU. Emma Maersk is the first of Maersk’s E-class, and they have another ten E-class ships on order at the Lindø yard for delivery up to mid-2009. But later ships in the series could be stretched to as much as 420 metres, bringing nominal capacity to 15,000 TEU with seven tiers on deck. Leading propeller-maker Mecklenburger Metallguss is known to have delivered to Odense during 2006 two of the world’s largest propellers for container ships. The six-blade, 9.6-metre-diameter propellers weigh 131 tonnes each. The manufacturer’s previous largest propeller weighed 103 tonnes and was fitted to a 9,200 TEU capacity container ship. The large propeller is understood to feature specially-developed blade tips that help to mitigate cavitation.
Estelle Maersk, the sister ship of Emma Maersk, left the Lindø Shipyard on 13th October, and headed for final tests in the Kattegat and Skagerak. At the end of October is was announced that delivery of Estelle Maersk had been postponed by at least two weeks because of a propeller shaft failure related to the area of the stern tube bearings. Eleonora Maersk, third of the class, was named at Lindø on 26th November 2006.
To try to give some comparison of the physical size of these ships, many members may recall reading the 1974-published book “Supership” by Noel Mostert, who made a voyage in a typical standard-size 217,000-tonnes-deadweight VLCC of those times, P&O’s Ardtaraig. By comparison, that ship was only 324.29 metres length overall. The largest tankers built in recent years were the four Hellespont class of 441,893 tonnes deadweight, and still of “only” 380 metres length overall. So Emma Maersk and her sisters are of a similar size to a 450,000-tonnes-deadweight ULCC, not as deeply laden at 16.02 metres draught, but traveling considerably faster at about 24.5 knots service speed.
An interesting commentary entitled “Emma Maersk is Harbinger of Revolutionary Globalisation” by Sam Ignarski was published in “Lloyds List” on 1st November 2006. “Readers of Monday’s ‘Guardian’ newspaper were treated to a great rarity: a shipping story on the front page unrelated to casualty. There trailing a whole page story inside is a picture of the Emma Maersk, looking pretty fully laden on her maiden journey from China to Europe, bearing a full load of Christmas goodies. A long list of goods consigned on the ship is supplied. The cargo is a cross section of the consumer desires of the affluent society come Yuletide. Yet the tone of the article is less acclaim and adulation, more shock and awe. How can this monster ship only have a crew of 13? How can so many things formerly made in Europe now come from China? How can the ship have a mighty diesel engine and only a single screw? How can the balance of trade between this country and China be so skewed? This globalisation thing is awful. Progressive readers around the nation sigh. Alone and over my kung po chicken supper in a Chinese restaurant, I took in the article. It portrayed the ship not as a modern marvel, but as a manifestation of our unbalanced environment.
“My host, a former denizen of the oil trade, now retired, clucked. ‘You know it is not our kind making all the money on that ship’, he commented. ‘I have a brother in Guangzhou who makes lights for the British market. He sells them for two pounds to Thorn. And Thorn then sell them here for sixty. The brand gets everything.’ Does Ever Blue get everything in container shipping? The logic of the ever expanding liner company is that their suppliers do not get fat. Insuring the Emma Maersk and all that sails with her is scarily prone to catastrophic losses. And yet talk to the hull and cargo underwriters and they will tell you that the rates they get paid for this sort of risk are not exactly luxurious. The effect on the marine market of the loss of the Emma Maersk or one of her sisters will be salutary. Why, the containers alone, given all the reefers, might be worth US$40 million on a single ship. This represents getting along to half the free reserves of the insurer concerned, a sum which took thirty or more years to build up. The cargo loss, say US$400 million, could easily amount to the whole stamp of one of the remaining marine syndicates in the London market. So could the ship. Not for nothing is the post-9/11 marine underwriter obsessed with aggregation. It stalks the industry now, luring the unwary to an insolvent end. But the future of the Leviathans of the cargo trades is set. If the balmy conditions of world prosperity are set to continue, as economists mostly seem to be saying, the future is clear to see: lower prices, bigger ports and ships, greater choice, a longer and longer list of goods and services, the price and source of which is set in East Asia. We used to insure these things using the techniques of ‘feathering’. A large volatile risk was underscored by loads of small stodgy risks, limited in nature and rarely able to surprise. The most welcome business used to be the middle sized enterprise, with owners, managers and directors you actually met from time to time whose attention to daily detail meant that the firms had lower than average insurance claims. No more than two decades ago the container industry had hundreds of shipping companies of a size which are considered completely unsustainable in today’s industry. But with the withering away of ‘middle everything’ we now in many ways have a series of stark choices to make. Maersk or the little feeder company. Tesco or the corner shop. Huge or little. And not much in between.”
Offsetting the good news about their largest container ship was less-welcome news received during the year that Maersk’s business had suffered some setbacks. At the end of June 2006 Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk shocked investors with a profit warning after admitting that its container business was under-performing, a report said. Their share price slumped by as much as fifteen per cent at one stage following a statement from the group that spelled out a litany of problems facing Maersk Line as it absorbed P&O Nedlloyd. AP Moller-Maersk’s net profit for 2006 could be forty per cent below the 2005 result of DKr20.2 billion (US$3.4 billion). After taking into account longer depreciation periods, the net result for 2006 is expected to be around twenty per cent lower than in 2005, although the company said the estimate “is still sensitive to changes in freight rates and volumes, especially in Maersk Line, as well as changes in oil prices and currency rates”. The admission that not all was well came as no great surprise to others in the industry, with plenty of talk that the greatly enlarged Maersk Line was having problems absorbing such a big business as P&O Nedlloyd and customers complaining about software problems. The Danish conglomerate, which also operates a large tanker fleet, said its other shipping and offshore segments were generally performing as expected. The oil and gas division has benefited from higher oil prices. In the container division, the company said increased bunker costs and further reductions in average freight rates in the early months of the year were also having a negative impact. “The earnings for the container business before depreciation will consequently be considerably below the March expectations and unsatisfactory”, the report said.
Maersk then caused some consternation in New Zealand by reminding all that they were still reviewing which New Zealand ports they would call at. On 27th June 2006 the “Dominion Post” said that Maersk New Zealand was reviewing all the ports it serves. On 27th July 2006 Port of Tauranga shares dropped as much as thirteen cents during trading after fresh reports the port might be bypassed by Maersk, who account for eleven per cent of Tauranga’s NZ$145 million annual revenue. After about a month’s quietness, more news broke abut their future plans on 24th August 2006, with media stories that Maersk aimed to call at just two primary ports and three secondary ones in New Zealand, and drop four altogether, in a move that would trigger port rationalisation and have widespread ramifications across the transport sector. Maersk said the ultimate aim was to move to two major ports, one in each island, plus three secondary ports throughout the country with coastal feeder services between the ports.
Coastal shipping and rail was expected to fill the gaps created by Maersk’s changes and rail operator Toll NZ is closely involved in the review. Maersk’s major clients, particularly Fonterra, are also involved. Maersk handles seventy to eighty per cent of Fonterra’s exports and the two companies are understood to have signed an agreement earlier this year maintaining this arrangement for the foreseeable future. The review, it was said, would not result in lower shipping costs but would help Maersk contain rising costs.
By 26th August, “Secretive Danish Shipping Giant Maersk” was being accused of dictating the future of New Zealand ports as it considers cutting ship calls. Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore said if Maersk stopped using Lyttelton and other smaller ports they could have to shut. “They’ve removed about a billion dollars of value from Auckland and Tauranga ports as they have played one port off against another”, he said on Radio New Zealand. “I think New Zealand is in a potentially disastrous situation where we will be at the beck and call of a few companies.” The Maritime Union urged Maersk to come clean about its plans and said Maersk’s decisions were dragging out and leaving smaller ports in jeopardy. When the two (P&O and Nedlloyd) merged a consortium of shipping companies led by P&O broke up and there was a fragmentation of shipping services. It was expected that the trend of larger ships calling at fewer ports to maximise efficiencies for customers would re-establish. The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), an Italian shipping company owned privately by an Italian couple, has emerged as a global shipping force in recent years. It has been expanding in New Zealand and has a base in Christchurch. Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd has also increased services to New Zealand since the P&O consortium broke up
On 31st August 2006 “Lloyd’s List” reported that accountancy experts were saying that AP Moller-Maersk may be forced to write off debts accumulated by its struggling container division, which appears to have lost its grip on invoicing after its takeover of P&O Nedlloyd. “The Danish conglomerate revealed this week that it has been forced to set aside working capital to cover the longer-than-usual time before receiving freight payments. The delays follow problems installing a new Information Technology (IT) system that coincided with the acquisition of P&O Nedlloyd. The situation is reminiscent of the difficulties Neptune Orient Lines encountered when it bought American President Lines in 1997 and found its computer systems were unsuitable in Europe. CP Ships, now part of Hapag-Lloyd, also suffered software problems as it started to merge various lines in its group and was forced to re-state profits, though not on the scale of AP Moller-Maersk, which has already acknowledged that IT problems were partly to blame for losses in its container division in the first half of 2006. Critics say the company should have delayed the integration of P&O Nedlloyd while its systems were sorted out, rather than sticking to the original timetable of combining the two lines within six months. With an extra US$425 million of funds tied up in working capital to cover the payments situation, the container business reported negative cash flow of US$441 million in the first six months. During the period awaiting Maersk’s decision, Lyttelton and Otago discussed merging their companies, as did Auckland and Tauranga.
The long-awaited (and long-delayed) decision by Maersk was announced on 12th October 2006. Maersk is to abandon its dedicated Australia/New Zealand-Europe service as part of a significant restructuring of its ANZ service network and New Zealand port roster. The Oceania pendulum (OC1), which was implemented in February 2006 after Maersk’s takeover of P&O Nedlloyd, brought an end to the ANZ Alliance, employed eleven 4,100 TEU high-reefer capacity vessels on a weekly service from ANZ via Central American hubs to East Coast North Atlantic then Europe and return. However, this ceased in January 2007 and a new service, also to be known as Oceania pendulum, will operate weekly between Australia and New Zealand and U.S. East Coast with nine 2,400-2,800 TEU ships (including Nele Maersk, Nexoe Maersk, Nicolai Maersk, Nicoline Maersk, Nora Maersk, Nysted Maersk, Josephine Maersk, Patricia Schulte and one other). Port rotation will be Auckland or Tauranga, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland or Tauranga, New Plymouth, Timaru, Port Chalmers, Balboa, Kingston, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Savannah, Balboa, Auckland or Tauranga. All European cargo will instead be relayed to/from New Zealand on a streamlined NZ1 service, to which four of the 4,100 TEU ships are to be transferred (Maersk Denia, Maersk Dunafore, Maersk Duffield and Maersk Dayton). The existing weekly NZ1 and fortnightly NZ2 services will be combined to rotate Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia), Singapore, Brisbane, Auckland or Tauranga, Napier, Port Chalmers, Tanjung Pelepas on a fixed-day weekly basis. Both the NZ and Australian services will “hub” over Tanjung Pelepas, with Maersk keen to emphasise it can “guarantee the quality of handling” at the APM Terminals-operated facility where links are available to Maersk’s extensive network of services to Europe and other continents.
In addition, an upgraded Pacific Islands service has been was introduced to cover more New Zealand ports and act as a feeder for exporters and importers to the U.S. East Coast service and the Tanjung Pelepas service. This feeder service will call weekly at Auckland, Tauranga, Lyttelton, Nelson and Wellington then fortnightly at New Caledonia and Fiji (which enables Maersk to get around local crewing requirements). It is understood that the two ships intended to operate the feeder services are Orion (21,199 gross tonnage, built 1998, ex-Maersk Lima, etc) and Maersk Hong Kong (21,199 gross tonnage, built 1997). However, before these ships arrived, Maersk Asia Decimo (7,869 gross tonnage, built 1994) made several voyages from mid-January 2007.
On 22nd November 2006 Maersk Line confirmed its preference for Ports of Auckland over Port of Tauranga to handle most of its North Island services. In a statement Maersk New Zealand said while the final contract had not been concluded, Ports of Auckland looked likely to get the significant share of the port calls. Port of Tauranga would continue to handle three of Maersk’s services. The South East Asia service, hubbing through Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia and employing four vessels on a weekly basis, will call at Auckland, Napier and Port Chalmers. The U.S. East Coast Service, involving nine vessels on a weekly basis, will call at ports on the United States East Coast, Auckland, Australia, Auckland, New Plymouth, Timaru, Port Chalmers, returning to the U.S. East Coast. It was an unhappy day at the Port of Tauranga, as the market value of its shares slumped more than NZ$65 million on the news, dropping 50 cents to NZ$5.70. Tauranga is expected to lose about NZ$1 million a month in revenue as a result of Maersk’s, decision. Maersk said the decision to go with Auckland was because it provided for more effective positioning of empty containers and made better use of existing infrastructure centred on Auckland’s port.
The new schedule was introduced from mid-January 2007. Only a short time after making these significant changes, Maersk quietly announced an increase in freight charges. “The Dominion Post” on 29th December 2006 said that Maersk intended to increase prices by $US600 ($NZ850) per TEU container by three stages in 2007 on routes from Europe to New Zealand. Maersk said the price rises were a consequence of “rate erosions” experienced in 2006. “We intend to restore the rates to a level where we can address the cost increases and continue to offer a reliable and efficient coverage for the entire trade”, Maersk said. It plans to increase prices by $US200 per TEU container on each of the dates 1st April 2007, 1st July 2007 and 1st October 2007. The increases cover routes to New Zealand, Australia and South Pacific islands from Britain, Northern Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Maersk did not specify current prices and did not mention export prices from New Zealand. It said the increases would apply to all cargo under independent tariffs and service contracts as agreed individually with customers. A week later, similar freight increases were announced by Maersk on their Asia to South Africa and South America to Europe services.
Port of Tanjung Pelepas
From the changes mentioned above, all Maersk containers to and from Europe are to go via Tanjung Pelepas. Many members will wonder where this port is, as it does not appear in many atlases. The last time the writer sailed past this area (many years ago!), it was occupied by extensive mangrove swamps which barely showed on the ship’s radar. It is basically at the southwestern tip of the Malaysia Peninsula, the part that ships sail past when sailing from Singapore before heading in a north-westerly direction up the Malakka (Malacca) Straits. The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (abbreviation: PTP) is a port for container ships located on the eastern mouth of the Pulai River in southwestern Johor, Malaysia. Receiving its maiden vessel on 10th October 1999 on a three-month trial operation, it set a world record as the fastest-growing port with 1 million TEUs of containers handled after 571 days of operations. The good performance sealed the port’s fortunes, and it was officially launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia on 13th March 2000. The port continued to register spectacular growth. By the end of 1999, the terminal had handled 20,696 TEUs, which rose to 418,218 TEUs handled in 2000, 2.05 million in 2001, and 2.66 million in 2002. In 2003, it handled 3.48 million TEUs, outstripping Port Klang and thereby establishing itself as Malaysia’s largest port in terms of cargo handled. In 2004, it registered a fifteen per cent increase to 4.02 million TEUs, and was the world’s 16th busiest container port. This accelerated growth hinges on the port’s proximity to the busy sea lanes from which the port of Singapore derived its growth and sustainability for nearly two centuries. Sustained growth after 2000 was largely possible as Maersk Sealand, the world’s largest container ship operator, took a thirty per cent equity stake in the port’s holding company, Seaport Terminal, in a deal concluded on 17th August 2000, effectively shifting all of Maersk’s operations in the region to the new port from Singapore by the end of that year. Maersk was once the largest operator in Singapore, and the shift represented a ten per cent drop in business there. The move was all the more significant in as much, as Maersk thereby loses its preferential customer status there in favour of its preference of having a direct say in port operations by investing in them, something PTP was willing to allow while Singapore was not.
In 2002 Evergreen Marine Corporation, then the world’s second largest shipping company after Maersk, also shifted its operations to PTP from Singapore. This event rang alarm bells in Singapore with widespread speculation in the shipping community that Maersk’s endorsement of PTP following Evergreen’s move may not be the last one. Other lines, including K Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Safmarine may make their presence felt at the newer port.
The port as it is at present occupies 7.83 square kilometres of land, mostly reclaimed from the sea. The first phase offers six berths, each at 360 metres in length, and totalling 2.16 kilometres of quay length. The container yard behind the berths has about 110,000 TEUs in storage capacity and 2,100 reefer points, with room for further expansion. The berths are serviced by twentyfour Super Post-Panamax quay cranes, ten of which have an outreach over twentytwo containers ability and twin lift. The port has a naturally deep harbour allowing a maximum draught of 15 metres, and its turning basin of 600 metres allows for ships of any existing size to turn easily. Two new berths opened in 2004 permit a maximum draught of 19 metres, which allow future ships of up to 250,000 tonnes displacement to berth. With a quay length of 720 metres, they increase the handling capacity of the port to 6.0 million TEUs per annum. Another six berths are currently under construction. Three new quay cranes were put into operation in late 2005.
“Ocean Patriot”
Oil drilling rig Ocean Patriot arrived at a well-drilling site 23 kilometres directly off Oamaru on 7th October 2006 with the two supply ships Far Grip and Pacific Wrangler, which are to work the rig out of Timaru. The Cutter-1 well will take three to four weeks to drill, then Ocean Patriot will drill four wells off Taranaki.
”Baroona”
The “New Zealand Herald” carried advertisements on 25th September and 7th October 2006 inviting tenders for the purchase of the old ferry Baroona, owned by Jolly Roger Restaurant (Manukau) Limited, Auckland. Tenders for the “vessel” and chattels close 18th October2006, the owners having been placed in liquidation on 21st September 2006. It was stated that the ferry may be moved or left in situ, subject to landlord approval. As we previously reported, the Baroona had been converted into a “Captain Hook’s” theme restaurant.
Fraud Probe
A former employee was suspended on full pay in late 2006 while Otago District Health Board investigated alleged fraud involving deals worth about NZ16 million, following an initial internal investigation, after which the matter was referred to the Serious Fraud Office. The “Otago Daily Times” named him as the Otago District Health Board chief information officer, Michael Swann. The Board chairman said the legitimacy of expenditure totalling NZ$16 million by the board on information technology (computer systems etc.) during the past six years was in question. Various articles were published in the media presenting both sides of the story, and legal action was taken by the Otago District Health Board in a bid to recover some assets.
Mr. Swann returned in mid-October 2006 from a holiday in Fiji on board the recently-refitted Townsend Cromwell, in which he has a substantial interest. He also owns the former Wellington Harbour Board pilot launch Tiakina, the former Gisborne tug Herekino and the Aratika, an old tug on which no work has been done, while the Herekino and Tiakina are fully restored. Obviously the outcome of the investigation could affect the future of these vessels.
BW Offshore FPSO Vessel to Service Nigerian Field
BW Offshore Ltd., Norway, has gained a contract from Nigerian companies to supply and lease to them its latest floating production storage and offloading vessel BW Endeavour. The Oslo group began upgrading the ship in Singapore in December last in time to start her charter to the Nigerian interests in the third quarter 2007.
Peak Petroleum and London-listed Equator Exploration have leased the FPSO for three years to develop the Bilabri oil field. She will be renamed BW Peace.
There is a fixed day rate to the lease, which will generate earnings of US$17.4m to BW Offshore; in addition there is a production incentive, which has a nominal value of US$68m. “Now we have signed the contract with Peak and Equator to produce at the Bilabri field, the project is fast track with the FPSO set to undergo a general upgrade in Singapore”, said BW Offshore’s chief executive Svein Moxnes Harfjeld.
Tasman Orient Line Changes
Tasman Orient Line has reviewed its North Asian service to improve transit times and call frequency. With effect from 2nd November 2006, their new southbound rotation was to entail a port rotation of Shanghai, Qingdao, Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Auckland, Timaru, Wellington, Tauranga. The new northbound rotation, implemented by 14th November is Auckland, Timaru, Wellington, Marsden Point, Tauranga, Noumea, Subic Bay, Shanghai, Qingdao, Busan, Funabashi, (Japan) (monthly), Yokohama and Osaka.
A key element of the revamp is an extensive dry-docking and tonnage upgrading programme. This included both the 21,600-tonnes deadweght and 950-TEU sister ships Tasman Discoverer and Tasman Adventurer being replaced by the 30,396 tonnes-deadweight and 1,350-TEU sister ships Tasman Explorer and Cape Don (the latter to be renamed Tasman Voyager).
These two new vessels have a faster service speed than their predecessors of 19 knots and join existing 23,853 tonnes deadweight, 953-TEU and 17.5-knot tonnage, the Tasman Independence and Tasman Resolution.
Crocodile Name Bites the Dust as Swire Shipping Makes Brand Debut
An article in “Lloyds List” on 23rd October 2006 detailed changes in some well-known South Pacific shipping companies.
Legendary South Pacific and Australasian carriers such as Crocodile Line and Chief Container Service will be consigned to history after they merge to form Swire Shipping under a “rebranding” confirmed by the newly-registered company. The merger will also affect APIL, Indotrans, Indotrans Pacific and New Guinea Pacific Line, names that will all disappear under the new Swire Shipping banner. Bank Line, which provides round-the-world services calling in the Pacific islands, New Zealand, South East Asia, Panama and Europe, will be temporarily spared the axe and continue to operate under its own brand over the next few months. But it in turn will be gradually phased out during 2007.
Hong Kong Company China Navigation will oversee Swire Shipping, which has been incorporated in London but operates from Sydney. China Navigation Managing Director Richard Kendall told “Lloyd’s List” that three other carriers, Greater Bali Hai, Japan South Pacific Line and Tasman Orient Line, would continue to retain their own identities because they were jointly owned with other shareholders.
China Navigation operates eighteen ships, including fifteen multi-purpose vessels including eight multi-purpose tweendeckers, in addition to chartered-in tonnage. Swire Shipping is a full subsidiary of China Navigation.
FPSO “Raroa”
On 27th December 2006 it was reported that conversion work on the 92,802-tonnes-deadweight tanker Andaman Sea was to start immediately at the Singapore shipyard with delivery scheduled for the fourth quarter of next year in her new role as the FPSP Raroa. The scope of work includes the installation of an internal (loading) turret, three boilers on deck to generate 20 megawatts of power, renewal of the entire piping and electrical systems and installation of new process facilities.
FPSO Raroa will be capable of processing 40,000 barrels of oil a day and will have a storage capacity of up to 646,548 barrels of oil. The vessel is to be used by OMV New Zealand for deployment in the Maari Field. (See “FPSO for Tui Offshore Oil Field” in Vol.54, No.1 and “Maari Oilield FPSO” in Vol.54, No.2 for explanation of FPSO).
Port Taranaki Selected as Possible LNG Import Site
The first steps are being taken to put in place the infrastructure to import liquified natural gas (LNG) with the selection of New Plymouth’s port as the site of a potential import terminal. Genesis Energy and Contact Energy said on 4th October 2006 they had selected Port Taranaki as the preferred site for an LNG import terminal. The two have formed a joint venture to get resource consents for the terminal but no decision has been made to actually build one or to import LNG when New Zealand’s domestic gas supply runs down. Contact and Genesis Energy said that while the resource consent process would soon be started, the move was all about increasing options. A joint venture company called Gasbridge would run a community consultation process and manage the obtaining of resource consents. Port Taranaki had been selected as a preferred site because it had a deep water port and was in a region with a natural gas distribution infrastructure. In the event of a future natural gas shortage, the LNG option could provide New Zealand with a secure and safe supply of natural gas until new domestic discoveries were made and brought to market. The proposed terminal would involve a new purpose-built berth at the end of the main breakwater inside the port, with the LNG being piped along adjacent to the breakwater and stored in a new tank at Contact's New Plymouth power station.
“Awanui”
Nine crew members including a Vietnamese naval pilot in the Panamanian-flag general cargo ship Mekong Express (1,858 gross tonnage, built 1962), which sank off southern Tien Giang province’s coast, were rescued on 10th January 2007 by Vietnam’s Centre for Maritime Search and Navigation Rescue. Mekong Express, which is owned in Cambodia, was on a voyage from Sai Gon port to Cambodia. The accident happened in Cua Tieu sea, southern Tien Giang province, on 9th January 2007, as the vessel developed a sudden leak. The rescue force arrived promptly and brought the victims ashore safely.
Mekong Express was built in Hong Kong in 1962 as the 1,185-gross-tonnage Awanui for Northern Steam Ship Company Ltd., Auckland. She sailed from Bluff on 13th December 1973 on her last voyage for that company, and was sold in late 1973 to Unique Shipping & Trading Co. of Singapore and renamed Bonawind. In 1982 she was sold to Concorde Maritime Pte. Ltd., Singapore and was renamed Concorde Angel. Sold again in 1986 to Mekong Trading Inc., S.A., Panama, she was renamed Mekong Express. She was last reported trading between Vietnam and Singapore in March 1993, but she had not been noted in Singapore by our members for many years. She was later reported as owned by Jium Hong Shipping Inc., Panama, and her last recorded sale was in 1995 to J&A Maritimes Services, Singapore. At the time of her loss she was recorded as 1,858 gross tonnage, 567 net and 1,254 tonnes deadweight.
Former “Australian Venture” Scrapped
In early December 2006 the container ship MSC Nuria (44,154 gross tonnage, built 1977) was sold to Indian shipbreakers, and reportedly had her name shortened to Ria for her final voyage from Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. She was the former Australia Venture until purchased by Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA and renamed in 1996 under the Panamanian flag. Her demise marks the end of an era, as she was the last of a class of large container ships that included New Zealand Pacific, Resolution Bay, Mairangi Bay and Act 7.
“Spirit of Progress”
Pacifica Shipping operated Spirit of Progress (4,291 gross tonnage, built 1983) in New Zealand waters between 1993 and 1998. Built as Sloman Royal, she had carried the subsequent names of Mareike, Dorcas, and again Mareike before becoming Spirit of Progress. She was renamed Alegre Feeder in 1998, Nicolas in 2001, Sloman Royal in 2002, Ute B in 2003 and Marfret Mejean in 2006, under which name she was trading between Marseilles and Algiers in November 2006.
“Taiko”
The well-known coastal tanker Taiko (21,187 gross tonnage, built 1984) was sold in late December 2006, and according to an article in “Fairplay”, her management was taken over by Glory Ship Management Pte., Singapore. She remained on charter to Silver Fern Shipping Ltd. until the end of March 2007. It is undecided yet what arrangements are to be made to replace her in coastal trading.
Taiko was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Nagasaki, in two halves, which were joined together in a floating dock and launched un-named on 24th December 1983. She was to be owned by the Union Steam Ship Company of N.Z. Ltd. and chartered to the New Zealand Oil Consortium for delivering products from the Marsden Point refinery. Initially intended to be named Tara, this name was unavailable, so she was named Taiko instead. Although delivered on 30th May 1984, she was initially registered in Hong Kong, and operated with a Chinese crew, and did not reach New Zealand until 2nd October 1984 because of industrial problems over New Zealand crewing of the vessel. The Union Company lost the management contract for her in 1994, but she remained in New Zealand coastal trading throughout. She was initially operated by Coastal Tankers Ltd., Wellington, but after some company restructuring, she was sold in 1999 and registered under the ownership of Penagree No. 2 Ltd., and managed by Silver Fern Shipping Ltd., Wellington.
Former “Amokura” Scrapped
After sale from the New Zealand coast, the coastal tanker Amokura (18,682 gross tonnage, built 1976) became Transporter LT in 1993, Eastman Spirit in 1998, Global Spirit in December 2002, Global Spirit III in May 2006 and Northsea in June 2006. Now flying the Panamanian flag and owned by Verting Shipping S.A., she is managed by Atlantic Oil Maritime and is now classed as a vegetable/palm oil tanker. In October 2006 she was trading between Port Harcourt (Nigeria) and Tema (Ghana). At the end of January 2007 she was reported sold to Indian shipbreakers.
Former Shell Tankers
“Downgrading” to carriage of vegetable/palm oil is a fate which has befallen many older tankers of similar age that are not fitted with inert gas systems or have permanent ballast tanks. These include Shell’s former tankers Eburna(18, 654 gross tonnage, built 1979), Entalina (18,092 gross tonnage, built 1978), Champion Trader((18,092 gross tonnage, built 1978), (ex-Erodona) and Opal(18, 654 gross tonnage, built 1979), (ex-Ervilia), whilst Ilona (18,101 gross tonnage, built 1979) (ex-Elona) is classed as a molasses tanker. All visited New Zealand ports in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Eburna and Entalina unusually reverted to their original Shell names after sale and initial renaming. Both were managed by Glory Ship Management Pte., Singapore, who in January 2007 sold Eburna to Chittagong shipbreakers and Entalina to Alang shipbreakers, probably to make room for newer tankers such as Taiko. Their replacements in the Shell fleet were themselves recently renamed. Shell’s Halia (28,277 gross tonnage, built 1993) was renamed Pacific Amber on 18th December 2006, Hastula (28,277 gross tonnage, built 1993) was renamed Pacific Crystal on 28th December 2006, Haustrum (28,277 gross tonnage, built 1994) was renamed Pacific Jade on 9th January 2007. Although still outwardly seeming to be Shell tankers, the six tankers of the class had been sold to Tanker Pacific Singapore in late 2004, but were being renamed as they ended a Shell charter. The other three ships of the class (Hadra, Haminea and Hatasia) will be similarly renamed early in 2007. All were fairly regular callers at New Zealand ports.
“Kotuku”
The former coastal tanker Kotuku (15,215 gross tonnage, built 1975) was sold in 1998 and renamed Cercina, was further renamed Bora in April 2002 and Bora I in November 2003. Sold to “undisclosed interests” in May 2005 but retaining the same name, she was trading from Apapa-Lagos in November 2006.
“Toanui”
The former coastal tanker Toanui (23,547 gross tonnage, built 1987) was sold and renamed Lorenza in December 1999 and again sold and renamed Andoas in June 2000. As Andoas, she is still operated by Petroperu in Peruvian coastal trades, and sailed from Mollando to Ilo in September 2006.
Former “Jody F. Millennium” Aground Again
A London press report of 8th January 2007 stated that the bulker Millennium Bright (15,071 gross tonnage, built 2000), ex-Jody F. Millennium, had run aground in the latter half of November 2006 off the west coast of New Caledonia near the port of Nepoui, a town built to cater to the mineral industry, mainly nickel mining, and two tugs were used to pull her free at high tide. The salvage operation was overseen by the Noumea Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. Although Jody F. Millennium is now renamed Millennium Bright, she is still owned by Twin Bright Shipping of Japan, under parent company Soki Kisen. It is operated by Taiyo Sangyo Trading and Marine Service Ltd. Her renaming took place after the ship was repaired at dockyards in Japan. As Jody F. Millennium, she stranded on the beach at Gisborne on 6th February 2002 and was finally pulled free after an eighteen-day salvage operation. Court action is still ongoing, with Twin Bright Shipping suing to recover the costs incurred in the salvage. Millennium Bright was last reported to have arrived New Caledonia on 8th November 2006.
“Kapitan Artyukh “
A Russian container ship that was previously well-known in New Zealand ports grounded in the Russian Far East on 14th January 2007 at 1.30a.m. local time.. Kapitan Artyukh (9,548 gross tonnage, built 1986), loaded with 1,124 tons of cargo in 238 containers, passed through the rocks situated very close to the fairway of Petropavlovsk when sailing from there, and damaged the hull in way of the engine-room, sustaining a gash about seven metres long. She was on passage from Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy for Vladivostok. She was later towed back into port, where an underwater survey was carried out. Her hull experienced vibration and then water started to enter the engine room extensively, and within thirty minutes it was completely flooded. Without power, she was forced to anchor. Temporary repairs were made and she was towed to Slavyanka for full repairs.
Wanganui Barges
We reported in Vol.53, No.4 the scuttling of the two derelict barges at Castlecliff, Wanganui, and a photograph was published in Vol.54, No.3. Initially scuttled as surge deflectors in support of a proposed marina, both barges were refloated during January 2007 and berthed at the same wharf where they had previously been laid up prior to scuttling. Dixie II was scuttled on 24th June 2005 and refloated on 11th January 2007. Dixie III was scuttled on 9th September 2005 and refloated on 10th January 2007. Both are to be scrapped by Molten Metals Ltd., Wanganui.
“Pacific Spirit”
Pacific Spirit arrived and berthed at Rattray Street Wharf, Dunedin, on the morning of 19th January 2007. Registered in Rarotonga, she was brought south from Japan by Malcolm McLeod, of a well-known Dunedin family. She is ex-Chisimo Maru which was a fishing training vessel for the Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Of 475 gross tonnage and built in 1989 by Kanasashi Company Limited at their Shimizu yard, she looked to be in excellent condition. Her future use is uncertain.
