Wednesday, May 10,
2000
Harland
& Wolff wins order
for advanced passenger vessels
Northern Ireland's Harland and Wolff has
entered into a contract with Seamasters International, Inc. of
Bahamas for the design and construction of four sophisticated
Ropax (Roll on Roll off passenger) vessels, to be known as the
Atlantic 4000 class, valued at some Euro 500 million ($450 million)
, subject to Intervention Aid, financing and guarantees.
The Norwegian shipbroking company O-J.
Libaek & Partners AS acted as intermediary for this contract,
which also includes options for a further two vessels. If exercised,
these options would bring the total value of the contract to
approximately £500M.
The Atlantic 4000 class is based on the
Starship 2000/ _ -Pax 2500 ropax concepts developed by SeaTrade
AS of Oslo.
Main Particulars of the Atlantic 4000 Class
are:
LOA........................................................190.00
m
Beam ......................................................25.80
m
Draft ...........................................................6.50
m
Speed ......................................................27.0
kts
Deadweight ......................................6,500 tonnes
Cargo space (min) for trailers .......2,500 lane meters
Lane width .................................................3.00
m
Passengers ............................................1,000
The first vessel is scheduled to enter
service in mid 2002 with subsequent deliveries phased through
until early 2004, should contracts for all six vessels be confirmed.
Announcing the contract, Harland and Wolff
chief executive, Brynjulv Mugaas, said: "We are delighted
to have secured this contract, based on our capability, capacity
and ability to meet the delivery requirements of the customer.
These will be truly innovative vessels, illustrating the capability
of Harland and Wolff to undertake the design and construction
of sophisticated projects.
"This contract represents a significant
opportunity for Harland and Wolff to establish itself in this
market sector. There is presently a lack of tonnage available
in the market for Ropax vessels and none as innovative as the
Atlantic 4000.
"The innovative design of the Atlantic
4000 differs from competing vessels through its better utilization
of the vessel's internal space, substantial improvement in the
flexibility of transporting different payloads and a much more
economic propulsion system which will deliver a higher average
speed.
"It is expected that the Atlantic
4000 will be 15-20% more fuel efficient than competing designs
by virtue of reduced steelweight, new hull lines, Siemens diesel-electric
propulsion systems with pod propellers and optimized load sharing
software controlling the main engines.
"Although initial design work will
commence immediately and use the vast majority of our technical
capability, full construction activity would not commence until
around the end of the year. We are continuing our efforts to
manage this underutilization of our construction capability by
seeking to secure steelwork and outfitting contracts from both
the marine and commercial sectors."
Tanker captain arrested for concealing leak from
U.S. Coast Guard
According to Lynne A. Battaglia, U.S. Attorney for the District
of Maryland, and Lois J. Schiffer, the Assistant Attorney General
for Environmental and Natural Resources, Davor Maric, the Captain
of a Norwegian oil tanker, the M/T Freja Jutlandic, was arrested
last week.
The arrest was made on a criminal complaint
for failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition
in violation of the Port and Waterways Safety Act and for false
statements. According to an affidavit filed with the U. S. District
Court in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant,
the Coast Guard discovered that the ship had a hazardous leak
in the hull on March 22, 2000, after a tanker crew member secretly
slipped a handwritten note to a Coast Guard inspector that disclosed
the problem.
According to the affidavit, the leak had
existed since at least March 12, 2000, when the ship was sailing
from Europe to Bermuda. A makeshift repair using a cement patch
failed to stop the leak and the ship continued from Bermuda to
Baltimore. Estimates of the leak ranged from approximately 105
to 516 gallons per hour. The ship was detained as a flooding
risk by the Coast Guard on March 22, 2000, after inspectors found
"a cascade of water flowing into the bilge from the patch
and the surface of the water in the engine room bilge was covered
by a thick layer of black oil and the water was rising."
As also alleged in the affidavit, on March
20, 2000, Captain Maric sent a telex to the ship's operator in
Denmark asking whether he should report the temporary repair
of the leak to the Coast Guard. The operating company replied
the following day that they intended to make repairs in the next
port, Tampa, Florida, and further directed: "the temporare
[sic] repair shall not be reported to the coast guard in baltimore."
Under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act
it is a crime for the owner, agent, captain, operator or person
in charge of a ship to knowingly and willfully fail to immediately
report a hazardous condition such as leaking to the Coast Guard
Captain of the Port.
The Freja Jutlandic was inspected by the
Coast Guard upon arrival in the Port of Baltimore on March 22,
2000, as part of a Port State Control Boarding to assure compliance
with international and domestic standards. Coast Guard found
a total of 14 deficiencies including the hull breach and the
ship required repair in a dry dock. According to the affidavit,
a metal plate of approximately 12" x 18" containing
a "rust cancer that is worn extremely thin in some areas
and contains two distinct holes" was removed from the ship
during the repair.
The criminal complaint also charges that
Captain Maric made false statements and presented false documents
to the Coast Guard. The complaint affidavit alleges that the
tanker's Oil Record Book, a required log used to record all overboard
discharges, contained no entries showing the discharge of oily
bilge water created by the leak, including those made without
the use of an Oil Water Separator, a required pollution prevention
device. "The Oil Record Book's silence regarding overboard
discharges helped to initially conceal the hazardous loss of
hull integrity and the discharge of oil," according to the
complaint affidavit.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted
by the Coast Guard Investigative Service with assistance from
the U.S. Coast Guard, Activities, Baltimore, the F.B.I., and
the Baltimore Police Department and is being prosecuted by Special
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Udell.
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