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A Wallenius ship being taken apart.
Photo: Per Croner

The ever-increasing green fleet The Wallenius Lines fleet of 40 PCTC:s (Pure Car Truck Carriers) is constantly growing, both in size and in numbers. To be able to meet the demands of a never-ending expansion, the company has huge newbuilding and elongation projects.

Ultra large ro-pax-vessels
for Finnlines' German traffic
In early summer 2006 two of Finnlines' large and fast ro-pax-vessels from Italy will enter service between Helsinki and Travemünde. At least three vessels of this type will be employed on this trade, replacing four older and slower vessels.

Luxurious Faroese Island ferry
It has been called the most luxurious ferry serving an island anywhere in the world. It is big enough to take the whole population in one sailing and in a standard corresponding to a cruise liner serving rich Americans out of Miami.

Godby Shipping builds for UPM
Flexible forest product and trailer carriers could be a suitable description for Godby Shipping's two newbuildings at the J.J. Sietas shipyard. After delivery in autumn 2007 these vessels will be taken on time-charter by UPM-Kymmene and employed in a weekly service between Finland and Spain.

Finnish owned ships
ferrying the North Sea
Fifteen years ago NSF (now P&O Ferries) chartered two Bore-owned ships to boost capacity on a growing North Sea freight route. Their compatibility with the service and the operator's requirements was vindicated when, in 1999, two larger new built Bore ships were acquired to join forces with the original pair to meet the escalating demand for ro-ro freight services between north-east England and the European mainland.

New generation of sideloaders
With a diversified seaborne infrastructure and moderate quantities of cargo, pallets still hold a strong stand in the Norwegian transport market. The particular side-loading pallet carrier concept developed in the early 70’s is still holding its stand, but to some extent combined with ro-ro capabilities.

Flexibility important
for the new Trafexpress vessels
Large container capacity on deck in combination with speed both at sea and in port are important features in the new class of vessels being built in Poland for Transfennica. The brand name of these 6th generation vessels is Trafexpress, and they are suitable for short-sea as well as deep-sea traffic.

The fourth double ender
to Danish domestic traffic
The delivery of the double-ender ferry "Mary" marks a kind of victory for the type of ship designed by Jørgen Petersen A/S of Horsens. The ferry is the third of four similar sister vessels, with a fifth one of similar type currently under construction.

Leading FSG tacks to meet
new con-ro interest
"Our shipyard has the potential to remain the Number One", says a confident Peter Sierk, the new MD of Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft (FSG), which currently has work in hand until 2009.

Desso – a forgiving design
for enhanced safety
Improved designs and stricter rules have contributed significantly to improved safety on ro-ro/passenger vessels, but extensive damage after i.a. a collision could still lead to severe consequences. The scope of the Desso project has therefore been to keep a severely damaged ro-pax vessel upright and afloat for 24 hours.

A flexible ro-pax quartet
Building ro-paxes is not only a question of finding a design that is efficient and flexible enough to cater for different demands on various trades. Since ro-ros are built for decades of service, it is also a question of anticipating the future for a long time.

Unanswered questions
about the "Estonia" disaster
The Commission set up by the Estonian Government last spring to answer six questions concerning the possible arms trafficking on board of the Estonia back in September 1994, has filed a second interim report.

Admiralty Shipyard. On the slipway is a 41,000 DWT tanker of the T-Bridge type. Photo: Juhani Mehto

Big changes
in Russian shipbuilding
According to statistics by the CESA, 106 civilian ships, totalling 908,000 GT and 990,000 cGT, were built in Russia in 2005. This corresponds to 0.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent of the total volume of ships built in the world that year. This places Russia tenth in the ranking of the world’s biggest shipbuilders.

LPG carriers looking for
better margins
Seaborne trade in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is slowly picking up as petroleum gas prices are easing. However, gas prices still remain somewhat higher than this time last year as does freight, especially for the smaller VLGSs (Very Large Gas Carriers) and for semi-refrigerated vessels.

Market could sustain
current rig orderbook
Scandinavian companies – mostly Norwegian – have in the past couple of years ordered no less than 37 jack-up rigs, 20 semi-submersibles and 4 drill ships, worth more than USD 20.0 billion. Some believe the ordering spree may turn out to be a bit frivolous, at best, while others insist the investment is astute and well timed.

Marpol changes will impact chemical trades
Reclassification of edible oils from January 1st, 2007 could have a profound effect on freight in the seaborne chemical trade. From that date edible oil can only be carried in IMO II and IMO III vessels and no longer in pure product tankers.

Illustration: Håkan Sjöström

"Viking" – well-known
landmark in Göteborg
The four-masted barque "Viking" is a beautiful contribution to the seaside of Göteborg at her permanent moorings at Lilla Bommen by the river Göta älv near the city centre. Now a floating hotel and restaurant, the Viking was one of the last "windjammers" in the grain trade.

Also in this issue: News review, Market reports, SES Onboard, Finance and Insurance, Technical News, IT & Communications, Fleet News, Market Reports and more.

No 12/2008

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No 13-14/2008

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