Predicting that world seaborne trade will increase by a factor of 2.5 from 29,043 billion ton-miles in 2005 to 72,498 billion ton-miles in 2050, the OPRF says 830,000 seafarers will be required in 2050 “as a result of the increased number of vessels. If we assume that the supply of seafarers will remain the same as at present, the total will be 364,000 short of the required number,” it claims.

By 2050, the OPRF says that container shipments will show a particularly sharp rise during the period of just under six times that of 2005 levels to register 2,894bn teu-miles by 2050.

Predictions regarding intra-regional transportation show that shipments within Asia will increase by a factor of 10.7 from 18bn teu-miles in 2005 to 194bn teu-miles in 2050.

“However, these increases in global and regional seaborne trade are expected to cause heavy maritime traffic congestion and a shortage of skilled seafarers. Accordingly, there may be a corresponding increase in the number of accidents, posting severe risks in terms of safety and the environment,” it says (source: www.www.shipmanagementinternational.com).

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]]> http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/11/01/up-to-364000-seafarer-shortfall-by-2050-says-tokyo-think-tank/feed/ 0 http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/10/04/worlds-largest-cruise-ship-nears-completion/ http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/10/04/worlds-largest-cruise-ship-nears-completion/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:43:33 +0000 admin http://www.thinkmaritime.com/?p=1083 In a little more than two months, Oasis of the Seas will be cruising the waters of the Caribbean on its maiden voyage. For now, however, it is in a shipyard in Turku, on the south-west coast of Finland, with 2000 workers on board, busy putting the finishing touches to what is said to be the largest cruise ship in the world. Sea trials began in May and next month the liner is due to be handed over to its owners, Royal Caribbean.

On my visit to the shipyard, the ship’s gleaming white turrets of steel and glass dwarf the gantries and cranes perched alongside. Though the ship is 95 per cent finished, many fittings are missing and, as I move through the interior, I continually have to duck wiring, step over cabling and avoid workmen.

I get a better sense of the size of Oasis only when I emerge on the top deck, which provides view over Turku harbour.

“We made the ship 50 per cent bigger than anything we’ve ever done, in fact any other cruise ship out there, because we had so many things we wanted to do,” the chief executive of Royal Caribbean, Richard Fain, says. “On Oasis of the Seas, working together with the architects, with the shipyard, with our own engineers, we’ve been able to make much better use of the space than ever before.”

There’s certainly plenty of space – the ship is 360 metres long and 65 metres wide. The Oasis story is one of large numbers and cruising firsts.

There is the ship’s capacity, for a start: 6300 passengers and 2165 crew. There’s the accommodation: it includes 2706 staterooms, some of which span two decks and feature floor-to-ceiling windows with ocean views. The plant life: 12,000 plants, including 56 trees, some more than seven metres tall. The activities: on-board surfing, scuba diving, ice skating, shopping. And so the list goes.

Fain anticipates that the size of the vessel and the scope of activities and facilities will entice passengers on all budgets. Certainly he is encouraged by ticket sales despite the economic climate.

To accommodate all those people, the ship is divided into seven “neighbourhoods”, including Central Park and Royal Promenade. And there is no shortage of things to keep passengers entertained.

Among the attractions are an aqua theatre pool 5.4 metres deep, two rock-climbing walls, the obligatory casino and 21 swimming pools and jacuzzis. There’s also a carousel, ice rink, themed bars and restaurants, high-end shops, a nightclub, a Rising Tide bar that ascends three decks while you sip your martini, a wedding chapel, scuba diving lessons, two wave-flow riders for surfing, a jogging track, library and roaming entertainers.

Entertainment also includes stunt divers, swimmers and actors performing in the 50-metre-wide outdoor pool amphitheatre designed to seat 500 guests.

Royal Caribbean’s schedule has the first Oasis cruise starting in early December in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with ports of call that include Charlotte Amalie in St Thomas, Philipsburg in St Maarten and Nassau in the Bahamas.

Ready for that voyage is Captain William Wright, who began his seafaring career aged 16 and has taken the helm of several new cruise ships on debut at Royal Caribbean.

He had a sneak peak at the ship’s performance during the pre-launch “floating out” ceremony last November.

“It’s clearly one of the most stable ships we have built,” he says. “The size has allowed us to … demonstrably increase the safety of the ship, which is really nice to know. It helps us captains sleep at night.”

Other safety features include smoke and heat detectors and a Hi-Fog water mist fire-extinguishing system.

The ship will have three doctors, five nurses and one medical assistant on board.

It is equipped with 18 life boats – or “rescue vessels”, as Wright prefers to call them – each with a toilet on board. “That’s a first, I can assure you,” he says (source: www.theage.com.au).

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A number of the respondents say that a recovery is on the way. However, many respondents are aware of the oversupply of ships, which likely will influence the pace of the recovery, as one respondent said: “Because two newbuildings are being delivered for every vessel scrapped, the shipping market will not be able to pick up over the next three to four years. And it may deteriorate even further, with a number of owners forced into bankruptcy.”

Many respondents expressed their concern about developments in China: “China is now the producer, the consumer, the trader, and the transporter, it has got the cheapest and the most plentiful supply of labour, and it is possibly the richest country in the world. None of these things can be good for the international shipping industry.” (source: www.ShipGaz.com).

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The decision has shocked the Danish shipping community. Ship officer students at Svendborg and Marstal carried out a media stunt, putting up Villa Anna – the house where Mr A P Møller founded the company – for sale.

A P Møller-Mærsk has 3,000 officers employed, of whom 800 are Danish citizens. “I don’t think that the 800 Danes are any better than the 2,200 officers of foreign nationality”, says Henrik Sloth. It has not yet been revealed if the 170 Danes are to be laid off or transferred to other units within the group, or offered land employment (source: www.ShipGaz.com).

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The Government wants to open a major new centre of marine expertise – and Tyneside has been shortlisted as a possible location for the project.

If the plans are given the go-ahead, at least 150 highly-skilled jobs are expected to be brought here. The centre, called the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), will also act as a magnet to bring more firms to the area and boost employment further.

However, the North East is competing for the scheme with other parts of the country. Bids have been made by places including Plymouth, Carrick, the East Riding of Yorkshire, London, Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth and Merseyside.

Ministers are expected to announce their decision by the end of January.

But MPs and various organisations in Tyneside are in the process of lobbying for the project to be brought to this region.

Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell said: “I have met representatives at Defra and have presented our case for the MMO to come to the North East.

“There is a lot of competition for it. But we have a lot to offer and I believe Tyneside is the best place for it.

“We have a tradition of marine industry, whether it’s fishing or shipbuilding and ship repair, and increasingly wind farm and off-shore technologies.

“I have stressed the strengths of the North East with regards to the economy over the last decade or so. I have emphasised that our universities have strong marine departments and research bases.

“Indeed, Newcastle University has the Dove Marine Laboratory in my constituency.

“The benefits of the MMO will be great. There will be at least 150 high-value jobs, it will raise the profile of Tyneside and attract more firms and work in the marine industry. More jobs will follow.”

The MMO headquarters will be responsible for regulating all marine activities and help to enforce laws to protect coastal waters.

It will be a centre for marine management, planning, conservation and licensing.

Consultants have been involved in forming the shortlist of locations. The criteria of assessment includes the availability of labour market with appropriate skills, transport links and access to key stakeholders.

Mr Campbell added: “We have a strong lobby from the North East. Nick Brown, Minister for the region, and regional development agency One North East are among those campaigning for this project. This will be a real boost for Tyneside and will show the rest of the country what we have to offer.”

The MMO will be created under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which aims for better protection and development of the seas around Britain.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said: “The effects of climate change and the increasing use of the sea by many competing interests mean we must look after our marine areas for future generations.

“This new system of protection and management of our seas will help to halt the decline in biodiversity and to create clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically-diverse oceans and seas. And all of us will be able to walk along more of the length of the coast and get close to the sea right around England.” (source: www.chroniclelive.co.uk).

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International Niche Job Board Invites Employers and Recruiters To Post Jobs For FREE!!!

Chicago, Illinois, January 31, 2009 – MaritimeJobSearch.com, an international niche job board for the Shipping, Transportation, and Engineering industry, is celebrating its one year anniversary and is providing free job postings. The site www.MaritimeJobSearch.com has been up and running for one year and has positioned itself as a global niche job board for maritime, offshore, and port jobs to be reckoned with.

“MaritimeJobSearch.com started as a hobby project and has grown to an international job board with a quality resume database of nearly 4,000 job seekers in the last year”, indicated Dirk Meuzelaar, Interactive Project Manager at Maritime Job Search. The website www.MaritimeJobSearch.com is receiving much praise for its design and high level of usability “I have to say it is very easy to use and thank you for loading our logo into the Halcyon profile. I am very impressed”, says Heidi Heseltine of Halcyon Recruitment. “I found the usability of the site very good. It is pretty user friendly”, says Charlotte Bollu of KeyPower Consultants.

For additional information about MaritimeJobSearch.com or to start your free job posting trial until 3/31/2009, contact Dirk Meuzelaar.

“Excellent! I found your site very easy to use to post our job. Thanks for offering this opportunity to companies such as ours”, Carolyn Macina of Young Brothers, Ltd.

About MaritimeJobSearch.com

MaritimeJobSearch.com is an international niche job board for the Shipping, Transportation, and Engineering industry. There is the ability to add video and keywords to your company profile and job postings for search engine optimization. In addition, employers and recruiters may gain access and receive daily resume alerts from the resume database with almost 4,000 job seekers.

Information about your apprenticeships/internships can be added to your company profile for FREE. To increase your exposure, all your job postings with MaritimeJobSearch.com are distributed to all major job boards around the world like BaseGoogle.com, Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com, CareerJet.com, JobRapido.com, Recruit.net, etc.

All services for job seekers are FREE. This includes searching and responding to jobs, uploading video and resumes, and receiving daily job alerts.

Overall, MaritimeJobSearch.com is an effective, usable, and well designed site that will fulfill all your needs.

Contact Information

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MaritimeJobSearch.com
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Email: dirk@maritimejobsearch.com

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As the global economy inches closer towards recession, it will trigger a domino effect that will affect the industry.

As much of international trade is carried by seaborne transport, the industry will surely feel the pinch of slumping global consumption, production and trade volume.China, whose economic growth has driven global economic growth in the last decade, will also suffer a drop.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that China’s GDP will grow at a slower pace of 8.5% next year from its earlier projection of 9.3%.

Consumers will also continue to tighten their spending and industries will cut down on production.

This will result in lower demand for goods, materials and components, and lessen the volume of global trade.

And several shipping trades will suffer more than most.

The woes of the bulk trade looks set to continue as demand for bulk items decline further.

The container trade will also suffer a sharp fall, partly also due to the impending entrance of huge new tonnage in the market.

These will cause freight rates, which have taken a severe beating of late, to spiral down further.

It will also drive the prices of vessels down and also affect the net worth of shipping companies, whose valuation will be lowered as the prices of their assets decline.

However, players with deep pockets and huge cash reserves will find plenty of opportunities to acquire vessels on the cheap and expand their fleets.

As a result of the credit crunch, banks are expected to tread more cautiously in the ship financing markets.

Less funds will be made available, especially to small shipping companies.

Shipping companies which manage to secure financing will have to pay higher rates for it.

As funding becomes scarce and expensive, shipping companies will defer from borrowing and delay their fleet expansion programme.

Shipyards will also see demand contraction as shipping firms defer their orders while distressed shipowners are expected to cancel orders.

In addition, the ‘funding freeze’ will also result in banks tightening the issuance of letters of credit and trade finance facilities to importers and exporters, which will adversely affect the volume of trade.

The issue of maritime security will also be keenly monitored as the spate of attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden continue.

Although the surveillance and naval patrols have increased in the strategic sealane that facilitates much of the world’s seaborne transportation of crude, the frequency and intensity of attacks have continued unabated.

A more drastic and effective action should be taken by the international community to eradicate the threat of piracy there.

Due to the rampant piracy cases, insurance underwriters are expected to increase their coverage for ships, crews and cargos.

Shipowners and shippers will have to take up extra coverage such as kidnap and ransom coverage and ‘war risk zone’ premiums in high risk areas such as the Gulf of Aden.

The focus on protecting the marine environment will also become more intense, due to the introduction of new environment conventions and growing public attention and concern on the issue.

Several countries which have introduced stringent laws to protect their maritime areas from pollution by the shipping industry will strictly enforce them, in the wake of several recent high profile incidents.

The imprisonment of the master and chief officer of the Hebei Spirit tanker that discharged oil off the coast of South Korea in December 2007 has provided a precedent that has worried many shipowners and seafarers.

Although no shipping trade is immune to the widespread slump in the demand for shipping services as a result of the global economic woes, the offshore shipping sector should continue to perform well as offshore oil and gas activities continue.

Demand for offshore services vessels, especially, will remain strong as oil majors continue their exploration and production activities in deepwater fields.

The tanker market should remain resilient as global demand for energy continues to grow, albeit at a modest pace.

Economic growth and demand for container shipping services in the Middle East and South Asia are expected to remain buoyant.

Shipping, being a demand-derived service, stands to rebound quickly once consumer confidence, industrial output and the global economy pick up steam (thestar.com.my).

Situated on a sprawling sea side venue at Uthandi, on the East Coast Road in the city, the institution will begin its first academic year in June 2009. Union shipping minister, T R Baalu, who was also present on the occasion, said the university has tied up with Dalian Maritime University for MBA in port management, with Shanghai Maritime University and Antwerp University for MBA in international transportation and logistics management, with University of Malta for a degree in maritime law and with Delft University, Netherlands for a degree course in dredging.The IMU is the first-of-its-kind central university set up by the Department of Shipping through an Act of Parliament. Headquartered in Chennai, the university will have regional centres in Mumbai, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam.

Though the country’s exports and imports account for 24% and 29 % respectively in the GDP, it accounts for merely one per cent of the world maritime business.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone, Karunanidhi used the opportunity to highlight the major projects and achievements of the UPA regime in the state. Thanking the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh for agreeing to implement the Sethusamudram Ship Canal project, the DMK leader said he was ready to fight for the project, which is a dream of Tamils for over a century (source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com).

The recent completion of the world’s first Q-Max LNG carrier, named ‘Mozah,’ marks a step change in LNG shipping by reducing transportation cost, while improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions. The innovative Q-Max ships carry up to 80 percent more cargo, yet require approximately 40 percent less energy per unit of cargo than conventional LNG carriers due to economies of scale and efficiency of the engines.

“The Q-Max carriers break the LNG shipping mold in nearly every way,” said Neil Duffin, President, ExxonMobil Development Company. “The same technology capability that drove us to develop a new class of LNG carrier is driving innovation in all aspects of the LNG value chain.”

The large LNG ship technologies, developed in conjunction with joint venture partner Qatar Petroleum, include a number of industry breakthroughs and significant enhancements, including increased ship size, onboard reliquefaction units, slow-speed diesel engines, twin propellers and rudders, largest ship-board LNG tanks ever built, the latest in hull antifouling protection and improved fire-protection systems. The end result of these new generation ships is a 20-30 percent reduction in transportation cost.

“Qatar Petroleum, with ExxonMobil, led a major technical effort to enable this groundbreaking enhancement in the LNG shipping industry,” said Mr. Faisal Al Suwaidi, Qatargas Chief Executive Officer. “Shipping is a critical link in the LNG value chain that extends from Qatar’s North Field, the largest non-associated gas field in the world with recoverable resources of more than 900 trillion cubic feet, to homes in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. With our innovative technology, we have effectively transformed the LNG business and opened up more of the world for Qatar LNG,” said Al Suwaidi. Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil are shareholders in a Qatar joint venture, Qatargas, that will charter the Mozah and five other Q-Max carriers to supply LNG from new liquefaction trains in Qatar.

For more than 30 years the size of LNG ships remained virtually unchanged with capacity of about 140,000 cubic meters. Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil’s ship operators, hydrodynamicists, naval architects and structural engineers worked closely to develop and rigorously test the larger Q-Max cargo tank designs. Comprehensive evaluation of cargo sloshing was performed to prove that the larger systems were feasible and reliable. The resulting Q-Max carriers are longer than three football fields, tower twenty stories tall from keel to masthead and are equipped with the largest membrane containment tanks ever built. With a total capacity of up to 266,000 cubic meters, each ship carries enough natural gas to meet the energy needs of 70,000 U.S. homes for one year.

In addition to increasing the size of the ship, a major initiative was undertaken to design, test and implement the on-board reliquefaction plant that re-liquefies natural gas that is vaporized during transit, re-injecting it as liquid into the cargo tanks rather than using it as vaporized gas to power the tanker itself – allowing for delivery of nearly 100 percent of the cargo. This is particularly beneficial for the long-haul voyages from Qatar to Europe and the Americas. The on-board reliquefaction facilities created an opportunity to shift from steam boilers and turbines used for propulsion by conventional LNG ships to highly efficient slow-speed diesel engines. The Q-Max ships are equipped with two diesel engines driving twin propellers and rudders. This leads to more energy efficient, reliable and maneuverable ships, reducing fuel consumption by up to one-third.

Recognized by industry veterans as a pioneer in LNG production and technology innovation, ExxonMobil’s joint ventures in Qatar will see the advent of more industry firsts over the next 18 months. In addition to pioneering the industry’s largest vessels to carry LNG to market, ExxonMobil in partnership with Qatar Petroleum is employing new technology in Qatar to build four of the largest LNG production facilities in the world and is participating in the development of LNG regasification terminal projects in Italy, UK and the US (source: marinenorway.no).