Photo: Monica Andersson

SES Onboard:
Lighten the load –
Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are the most common occupational diseases in Europe and are a problem to workers both aboard and ashore. The cost of work-related diseases is difficult to estimate but a high level of sick leave, rehabilitation measures and disruptions of output means heavy expense to businesses and the public health system. And at the same time, the individual is afflicted with pain and sometimes lifelong disability.

Estonia cannot cope
with shipping aid
In Estonia the state has reached a situation where most of the cargo vessels are no longer operating under the Estonian flag and they are being followed by the first passenger vessels. The owners of the few remaining merchant vessels have now finally received the financial aid covering the previous year but no one knows exactly what will happen to this year’s aid.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Networking is the key
Mr Juha Heikinheimo, President of the Cruise & Ferries business area at Aker Yards, feels that European shipyards have excellent possibilities of maintaining their leading positions as builders of large cruise vessels. However, they will have to be aware of the fact that the shipyards in the Far East are coming on strong.


Illustration: Håkan Sjöström

The Stella Marina:
A strange but graceful bird
After the end of World War II the shipments of frozen and refrigerated food developed rapidly. On the expanding market large new players grew up, of which the Salén shipping companies in Stockholm was to become the largest in Sweden.

SPECIAL FEATURE:
Ships of the Year

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Like several years before, we again conclude the year with an issue dedicated to interesting newbuildings. They have in common that they are either ordered by a Northern European owner or built by a Northern European shipyard.

Photo: Vladimir Orlov

50 Let Pobedy:
Nuclear giant
on the northern sea route
The largest nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world, the 50 Let Pobedy, has been completed by Baltiysky Zavod, JSC in Russia. Since its foundation, this shipyard has built more icebreakers than any other single shipbuilding company in the world. In the 1920s, the Baltiysky Zavod was the first shipyard in the Soviet Union to start building diesel-powered icebreakers.

The AIDAdiva:
First Sphinx follows
in impressive footsteps
Up to 2010, AIDA Cruises is spending EUR 1.3 billion on its new quartet of Sphinx Class cruise ships, especially conceived for the German ‘club’ market. The investment is easy to see in the first ship in the series, the AIDAdiva, now in service after her handover in April by Meyer Werft.



The Anne Sibum:
Another ‘Super SSW’ dimension
In 2002, Bremerhaven shipyard SSW, launched a new breed of versatile container feeder: the 2,500 TEU SSW Super 25, into which were packed all the best features of German mid-sized boxships of the day. That successful type now has a compact and flexible little sister, the 1036 SSW Super 1000, which already appears to be doing even better than her predecessor.



The Cala Pancaldo:
Large capacity container carrier
The container vessel Cala Pancaldo stands out in the 2,800 TEU class mainly because of its load capacity and deck cranes. According to the Polish shipyard SSN, similar ships delivered by South Korean shipyards (STX), Singapore (Juring) and other Polish yards usually have 4–12 per cent smaller load-bearing capacity, 1–7 per cent smaller nominal capacity and 6–15 per cent smaller capacity of loaded containers (14 tons).



The Coastal Renaissance:
Let the games commence
At 21,980 GT and with 1,650 passengers, the ro-ro newbuilding Coastal Renaissance is the world’s biggest double-ended ferry, according to builders Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft (FSG).

Photo: Color Line

The Color Magic:
Cruise vessel with car deck
The Color Magic is almost identical with her elder sister the Color Fantasy, but the design includes some modifications and improvements. After delivery from Aker Yards Rauma shipyard the vessel entered service on Color Line’s Oslo–Kiel route.

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

The Fob Trim:
Serving wind turbine parks
The Norwegian entrepreneur Fredrik Odfjell was the first to have a trimaran built for commercial purposes by a Danish shipyard. The yard was Hvide Sande Skibs & Bådebyggeri, which has often been used for building odd or special purpose vessels.

Photo: Per Pettersson

The Fure West:
Delivered last year
– complete this year
When the Fure West was delivered to Furetank in December 2006 the vessel completed a trio of chemical tankers destined for Donsö in the southern archipelago of Göteborg. Apart from the auxiliary engines from Caterpillar she is identical to her sisters the Fure Nord and the Ramona of Rederi AB Älvtank.

Photo: Lauritzen Kosan

The Isabella Kosan:
The fleet’s biggest ever
Lauritzen Kosan has started the biggest fleet investment ever by the delivery of the Isabella Kosan from Korean shipbuilder Sekwang Heavy Industries. Twelve new fully refrigerated gas carriers plus an additional three units built for partners will give Lauritzen Kosan a new platform on the world market for transporting LPG and other gases, including ethylene. Each of the new ships is able to carry up to 8,000 cbm of cargo and will be the biggest ever in the fleet.

Photo: Joachim Sjöström

The Linda and the Aila:
German-built container vessels
The container vessels Linda and Aila, built by J.J.Sietas for the Finnish shipping company Oy Langh Ship Ab, reflect the current development on the Baltic Sea towards larger and larger feeder vessels. With a capacity of 907 TEUs, they are among the largest vessels of this type trading in the area. Oy Saimaa Lines Ltd has taken both vessels on a five-year time charter.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

The Misana:
New vessel for paper
shipments to Spain
In October 2007 the Åland-based shipping company Godby Shipping took delivery of The Misana, which is the first of two newbuildings for UPM’s liner traffic between Finland and Spain. The vessels were ordered in February 2005. The design is optimised for UPM’s service to Spain, but the vessels may of course be employed on any route with ro-ro cargo.

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

The Nibe Mærsk:
Second unit in the
Donsö class tanker series
During 2007 A. P. Møller-Mærsk’s Maersk Tankers took delivery of four of the six tanker units in the so-called Donsö class of 16,600 DWT and thereby re-entered the smaller segment of product tankers. Maersk Tankers has not been in this segment with their own tonnage for more than a decade.

The Orange Sun:
The largest juice carrier
in the world
Aker Yards Florø, Norway, delivered the juice carrier Orange Sun in March 2007. The vessel is designed for carrying fresh and frozen concentrate juices and is of the builder’s type Aker JC 43500. With a deadweight of 44,500 t she is the largest fresh fruit juice carrier ever built.

Photo: SRAB

The Pakri Glory:
Well-proven tanker design
The Pakri Glory is the second of three newbuildings for SRAB Shipping AB in Stockholm from Turkey. A third sister vessel is to be delivered early in 2008.
The contract for the delivery of two 7,000 DWT product/chemical carriers was signed with the Turkish company Med Marine Group in March 2006.

Photo: Zee-Photo

The Rikke Theresa:
Will never call her home port
Herning Shipping’s first 2007 delivery was the Rikke Theresa, which made history on the delivery from Tuzla, Turkey, in March 2007. It was the first ship ever to have the company homeport of Herning painted on her stern. Herning is an inland town in Denmark situated some 45 km east of Ringkøbing on the west coast and some 85 km west of Aarhus on the east coast.

Photo: Joachim Sjöström

The Seychelles Prelude:
Not just Lindenau’s biggest
Seychelles Prelude is the biggest safety tanker ever built by German tanker specialist Lindenau Schiffswerft and the first to have a ‘Bruchstelle’ or structural ‘predetermined stress breaking point’ in her double hull to limit accident damage.

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

The Simara ACE:
The world’s smallest cruise ship
“It is like getting the best Christmas present ever”, said Karin Jul Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer at ACE-Link (the former Sundbusserne), when the first of the two new ships for the Helsingør–Helsingborg service finally arrived at Helsingør.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

The Star:
Fast ferry for Tallink
In April Tallink put their latest newbuilding Star into service between Tallinn and Helsinki. The fast car and passenger ferry is built to Finnish/Swedish Ice Class 1A. With a service speed of 27 knots, the crossing time between Tallinn and Helsinki is two hours.

Photo: Neste Oil

The Stena Poseidon
and the Palva:
Ice strengthened
panamax tankers
Carrying special grades of petroleum products from Finland to North America for Neste Oil is the main employment for two new ice strengthened panamax product carriers, operated by Neste Oil’s subsidiary Neste Shipping.

Photo: Stoc Tankers AB

The Stoc Marcia:
Designed for dirty products
On June 15, 2007, Stoc Tankers AB, Stockholm, Sweden, took delivery of their third newbuilding from Ceksan Shipyard, Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey. Named the Stoc Marcia, the IMO II chemical product tanker is commercially operated by Ivar Lundh & Co AB, handling all chartering and commercial operations of the vessel.

Photo: Tärntank

The Tarnbris:
Fast and efficient
In July, the Turkish shipyard Selah delivered the 10,300-chemical/product carrier Tarnbris to Norwegian Tarn Shipping, a subsidiary to Tärntank Rederi AB on the island of Donsö south of Göteborg in Sweden. The vessel was originally ordered by Turkish Atlantic Denizcilik and was resold some six months before delivery. That meant that there was not much time for any larger modifications of the original design.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

The Vedrey Tora:
Advanced product carrier
The Gibraltar-flagged Vedrey Tora is the first of the Tora Class-series of ships, ordered by the Swedish company Svithoid Tanker AB. She is employed on a long-term charter to James Fisher Everard and is one of the most advanced vessels in her segment.