Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1988)

World Shipbuilding (continued) around the United Kingdom, the delivery of the 31,000-gt Norsea by

Govan Shipbuilders was one of the most significant. The passenger fer- ry was put into service on the Hull- to-Rotterdam run, along with her sister ship, the Norsun.

During the year, Harland & Wolff of Belfast delivered the 173,000-dwt bulk carrier Ironbridge.

In the Federal Republic of Ger- many, Meyer Werft of Papenburg delivered three 8,400 m3 LPG car- riers, the Grajau, Gurupa and Guru- pi (another MARITIME REPORT-

ER Outstanding Ship) to Petrobras, the state-owned Brazilian oil com- pany. Additionally, Meyer Werft launched the cruise liner Crown

Odyssey.

Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) of Kiel was busy with the construction of five new C-10 Class containerships for American Presi- dent Lines (APL).

In the area of conversion work at

German yards, the big story was the reengining of Cunard's QE2 at

Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven. She was fitted with the world's largest die- sel-electric propulsion plant, con- sisting of nine MAN B&W Diesel engines and two GEC electric pro- pulsion motors.

In Spain, state-owned Astilleros

Espanoles yards struggled in 1987, but now, through a more aggressive management policy, seem to have turned things around. The company now has assured themselves of work well into 1989, and among its orders are six reefer vessels for the Del-

Monte Fruit Co.

In Finland, Oy Wartsila Ab and

Valmet Oy shipbuilding groups merged and formed a new compa- ny—Wartsila Marine Industries

Inc. The new company has contracts to build three 70,000-gt cruisers, among the largest in the world.

Neighboring Sweden's shipbuild- ing industry delivered some notable vessels, foremost of which was the cruise ship Celebration by Kockums

AB of Malmo.

Further south, in Italy and Yugo- slavia, the conditions seemed to prove a better climate for shipbuild- ing. New government subsidy regu- lations in Italy resulted in the or- dering of 11 vessels, comprising two 70,000-gt passsenger cruise liners, three containerships and six fishing trawlers. Fincantieri's Monfalcone works completed the Micoperi 7000, the largest semisubmersible crane vessel ever built.

In Yugoslavia, prospects were even brighter, as eighteen ships were under construction or on order to class. Seven ships delivered dur- ing 1987 collectively registered 265,272 dwt. Brodosplit's Split

Shipyard delivered three 45,308- dwt oil tankers/caustic soda car- riers, among which was the Kriti

Color, a MARITIME REPORTER

Outstanding Oceangoing Ship for 1987. The 3. Maj Shipyard in Rijeka completed an order for three bulk carriers. Uljanik Shipyard delivered a log/bulk carrier early in 1987.

Americas

The U.S. is experiencing an up- turn in certain sectors of the shal- low-draft market, particularly in the cruise vessel area. The U.S. large vessel shipbuilding industry contin- ued to be supported by the ongoing

U.S. Navy and Government vessel construction program. In fact, ac- cording to the Shipbuilders Council of America, government sources ac- counted for nearly 95 percent of the workload in major American yards.

The current U.S. Navy shipbuild- ing and modernization program calls for the expenditure of over $35 billion annually for a total of ap- proximately $180 billion over 5 years (see the U.S. Navy report in this issue for details).

Among the notable deliveries in the commercial sector during 1987 were Bay Shipbuilding's completion of a three-containership contract for

Sea-Land-Corporation, and McDer- mott's delivery of the hopper dredge

Atlantic American.

However, the U.S. industry still suffers from the lack of a compre- hensive maritime promotional pack- age by the government.

North of the border in Canada, domestic shipyards suffered from a lack of commercial orders. MIL

Davie's Lauzon, Quebec, yard began construction of a RO/RO-passsen- ger vessel, the sister ship of the Car- ibou.

Prospects look brighter for the coming year, as the Canadian Minis- try of National Defense plans to ini- tiate a $5-billion nuclear submarine construction program, St. John

Shipbuilding will be working on a $2-billion frigate construction pro- gram for the government, and Ver- satile Pacific will begin plans for a

Polar Class 8 icebreaker for the

Canadian Coast Guard.

In Brazil, orders from the the state-owned oil company Petrobras and from the Brazilian Navy ena- bled the marine industry to main- tain a steady workload.

Outlook

With some qualifications, certain encouraging signs for the 1988 out- look could be seen as the year unfolded. The respective sectors of the shipping industry each seem less overtonnaged than in recent years and with a slimmer orderbook in the dry bulk category, for example, the threat of excessive fleet expansion is correspondingly smaller than earlier in this decade. Successful resolution of trade frictions, together with pru- dent newbuilding activity, could buoy trading conditions.

According to the latest publica- tion from Drewry Shipping Consul- tants Ltd. of London, "Forecast

Tanker Profitability 1987-1992," there is reason for cautious optim- ism for the ship operator in the tanker sector over the next few years. "Forecast Tanker Profitability" bases its optimism on the fact that ship supply will be reduced through scrapping, since 58 percent of the world tanker fleet are between 10-14 years old, so that a significant num- ber of ships will reach their useful trading life during the next few years. •

TANKERS DELIVERED AND TONNAGE ON ORDER OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BY COUNTRY OF BUILD AND YEAR OF DELIVERY AS AT 1st APRIL 1988 (Number of vessels and tons deadweight)

Delivered Country of Build 1988 1989 1990 1991 Total

Jan-Mar 1988

Belgium 2 90,600 & later 2 90,600

Brazil 6 230,000 9 293,000 4 176,000 19 699,000

Bulgaria 1 29,900 1 29,900 2 59,800 2 58,900 6 178,500

China, People's Republic 6 438,200 1 62,200 7 500,400

China, Taiwan 1 103,000 1 32,000 2 515,000 4 650,000 2 141,728 Denmark

Finland

France

Germany, West 3 253,000 3 253,000

India 1 86,000 1 86,000 1 86,000 3 258,000

Italy 1 29,800 1 29,800 3 153,439 Japan 29 2,274,900 20 2,289,500 49 4,564,400 5 395,083 Korea, South

Mexico 35 2 4,059.900 86,000 35 4,562,400 2 560,000 72 2 9,182,300 86,000

Poland 2 59,800 1 82,000 5 201,600 8 343,400

Portugal 1 88,900 1 88,900

Rumania 10 618,300 10 618,300 1 10,039 Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom 5 80,400 4 566,000 2 2 220,000 58,000 11 2 866,400 58,000

United States 1 23,000 4 98,000 1 26,000 1 26,000 7 173,000 4 82,386 Yugoslavia 7 297,800 12 879,100 2 193,700 21 1,370,600 15 782,675 Total 109 8,673,900 89 8,895,700 21 2,068,500 9 372,500 228 20,010,600

Source: Clarkson Research Studies Ltd

TANKERS ON ORDER OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION AS AT 1st APRIL 1988 (Number of vessels and tons deadweight)

Delivered Deadweight Groups 1988 1989 1990 1991 Total

Jan-Mar 1988 & later 1 10,039 10,000/ 15,999 4 46,700 4 53,600 8 100,300 3 48,423 16,000/ 24,999 8 152,600 8 148,600 16 301,200 2 63,391 25,000/ 34,999 13 384,800 12 361,700 8 239,600 7 204,500 40 1,190,600 3 115,682 35,000/ 44,999 26 1,000,800 20 787,300 46 1,788,100 1 59,054 45,000/ 59,999 5 245,600 2 110,000 2 110,000 9 465,600 60,000/ 79,999 9 574,200 1 62,200 10 636,400 2 167,710 80,000/ 89,999 18 1,507,100 4 326,000 3 251,700 2 168,000 27 2,252,800 3 318,376 90,000/119,999 4 415,000 5 524,000 3 330,000 12 1,269,000 120,000/159,999 10 1,363,300 19 2,695,000 29 4,058,300 160,000/199,999 200,000/219.999 220,000/254,999 10 2,465,800 7 1,740,000 17 4,205,800 255,000/319,999 2 518,000 8 2,149,500 4 1,075,000 320,000/& Above 15 782,675 Total 109 8,673.000 89 8.895,700 21 2,068,500 9 372,500 214 16,268,100

Source: Clarkson Research Studies Ltd. 68 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News