Photo: Joachim Sjöström

Harmless cargo that kills
Insufficiently ventilated spaces with hazardous vapours and low concentration of oxygen are highly dangerous. In Sweden alone, seven persons have lost their lives during a period of only two years and several were seriously injured. Globally, there have been recent reports from oil and chemical tankers where seafarers have died when entering nitrogen inerted tanks.

Svitzer Korsakov is one of two new tugs built in St Petersburg. Photo: NSSR

Russian-built Svitzer tugs
to serve Sakhalin II
Svitzer A/S has taken delivery of its first tugs built in Russia. They are the sister vessels Svitzer Korsakov and Svitzer Busse, which were delivered in late December 2007 from Admiralteyskiy Sudostroitelnyy Zavod at St Petersburg. The two tugs are the third and fourth to serve the Russian Sakhalin Energy offshore project Sakhalin II.

SPECIAL FEATURE:
Short Sea Shipping

The Listervik. Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Photo: Port of Kotka

Booming car shipments
create lack of capacity
The Russian import of cars continues to grow at an amazing pace. The demand of suitable tonnage for car shipments is larger than the supply, and this may have an impact on the future growth of the car shipments through the Baltic Sea.

“I have to prepare for the future by using Malta registration on our latest addition to the fleet”, says Tom Kristensen, Rederiet Venus. Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Rederiet Venus buys
their biggest ship ever
Rederiet Venus from Vestbjerg (situated some 15 km north of Aalborg) has purchased the largest ship ever in the fleet, since the company was founded in 1937. The addition to the fleet is the Dan Supporter, the former German owned Mosa, which is 3,120 DWT and nearly double the size of the other vessels in the fleet.

Photo: Bent Mikkelsen

Still dreaming of a newbuilding
“I am a keen believer in seaborne transportation so I carry on securing the future for my company!”
The words come from Carsten Rousing (54), who is one of the last self-made shipowners in the coaster segment in Denmark. From a very humble start in 1979 with a 25 per cent stake in the coaster he was skippering, he has just purchased his fourth ship to the fleet of Rederiet C. Rousing.

Photo: Pär-Henrik Sjöström

The EU Blue Paper
on Maritime Policy:
“This is a milestone”
An integrated maritime policy for the European Union is getting closer. A Blue Paper containing a broad action plan comprising everything from fisheries to a future transport strategy lies on the table. Now it is up to the politicians to make the right decisions.