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The Star O-class:
The most sophisticated
open-hatch vessels
With the delivery of “Star Okiana” and “Star Osakana”
to Masterbulk Pte Ltd in April 2004, four vessels of the innovative O-class
have joined Star Shipping’s global services. Since the concept of
the open-hatch vessel in the early 1960‘s, characterized by boxed
holds with large hatches and gantry cranes, the Star O-class re-presents
the ultimate development in terms of flexibility and capacity.
The four vessels were ordered at the end of 2000 from Oshima Shipbuilding
Co Ltd of Japan by Masterbulk Pte Ltd, Singapore, for commercial operation
by Star Shipping, Bergen. Masterbulk Ltd is owned by the Westfal-Larsen
family, and the design as well as the building process have been organised
by Westfal-Larsen Management AS, Bergen.
It could well be said that the open-hatch vessel has been developed in
Bergen, since Billabong and Westfal-Larsen & Co in 1965 had three
conventional bulk carriers converted for Star Shipping. The open-hatch
vessel proved particularly suitable for the transportation of unitized
pulp and forest products and found a ready market with the forest industries
in USA and Canada. Based on cargo contracts Star was able to organise
regular sailing schedules from British Columbia/US West Coast to Europe
at costs which in effect opened the European market. In many respects,
Star has grown together with the international forest industries, and
woodpulp, paper and other forest products are still the mainstay of the
operation, however, with additional revenue from other unitized cargoes,
containers and project cargo.
66 per cent of the market
Following Star’s example, Gearbulk Ltd was established in 1968 under
the management of Kristian Gerhard Jebsen, and today this company holds
the largest fleet of open-hatch vessels, having taken over smaller operations
as Canadian Transport and Norsul of Brazil. Today, Star and Gearbulk together
control 66 per cent of the open-hatch market.
Star Shipping, with its headquarter in Bergen, comprises a world-spanning
organisation with 22 regional offices and a fleet of more than 46 open-hatch
vessels and 30 conventional handymax bulk carriers. Star is owned with
equal shares of the Grieg and Westfal-Larsen families through Grieg Shipping
and Masterbulk. Star is merely a marketing and operational organization,
to which the owners contribute the open-hatch tonnage.
Since the 1970’s the Star vessels have all been designed with 9,
10 or 11 holds of 40 feet, tailored for 40-foot cargo units or containers.
Holds are fitted with de-humidifier systems, and the lifting capacity
has been gradually improved from 30 tons.
There are two noteworthy features which make Star Osakana and her sisters
unique.
One is the fact that she has been given the full Panamax beam of 32.26
meter, compared to the earlier standard for Star vessels of 31.00. This
enables the vessel to transit the Panama Canal with 48,600 DWT at maximum
Panama draft of 12 m, more than any other open-hatch vessel.. The second
is found in the crane capacity, where the O-series was the first to set
a standard of 68 tons lift, against 30–40 tons in earlier vessels.
This, of course, makes it possible to handle double frames of woodpulp
with a handling capacity of up to 1,500 tons per crane hour. The cranes
are designed by Munckloader of Bergen and license-built by Kone Cranes
of Finland. Similarly, to increase the flexibility and the variety of
cargoes, two tiers of portable tweendecks in two of the holds have been
installed.
New generation
The O-vessels also embody the latest in weather protection of the cargo,
where the cranes and cargo are shielded from above and the sides. They
have also been given enclosed bridge with state-of-the-art navigation
equipment in accordance with DNV’s One man Operation standard.
The Masterbulk open-hatch fleet is today manned by Philippine seafarers.
Cargo and voyage planning are, however, done by the port captains and
regional offices, and the entire operation is based on a strict sailing
schedule. In order to improve manoeuverability the O-vessels have been
fitted with side-thrusters fore and aft in addition to Schilling rudder.
This will enable the vessels to move in and out of port without tug assistance.
Open-hatch vessels are expensive ships to build and consequently require
well-payed cargoes and a high utilization. When Star’s new class
of 45,000 DWT vessels was ordered in 2000, the contract price was in the
region of USD 40 million each, at a time when a standard panamax bulk
carrier could be built for 20 million.
//Dag Bakka Jr
Latest update 18-10-2006 8:49
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No 24/2008
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No 7/2010
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