Page 28: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1992)

TANKER TECHNOLOGY

Worldwide Tanker Order Book

Hits 15-Year High

Double Hulls Account For 28 Percent Of Tanker Orders

Coast Guard Urges

Unified Federal Spill

Response Regulations

The U.S. Coast Guard is attempt- ing to establish federal oil spill regulations that realize the concerns of the nation's coastal states, there- by avoiding a host of individual state spill laws.

While addressing the Internation- al Association of Independent

Tanker Owners (Intertanko) in

Genoa, William Holt, chief of the

Coast Guard's Marine Environmen- tal Protection Committee stated that his agency intends to "enact sound, strong federal rules so that states will not feel compelled to act on their own."

Acting on their rights under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, most of the nation's 24 coastal states have al- ready instituted strict oil spill legislation, including unlimited-lia- bility, clean-up response and prevention statutes.

Draft rules for vessel response plans will be published only after discussions are first held with inter- ested industry groups, such as tanker owners and operators. This is the first time that the Coast Guard has ever subjected prospective leg- islation to public scrutiny before making it official. "We hope to use our decades of experience in the pollution preven- tion field to provide an example for the states, so that if they decide to enact rules, they will follow our lead and reflect the federal regulations," stated Mr. Holt.

After the Coast Guard's new set of rules are published on August 18th, companies will have six months to submit their oil spill prevention and response plans, or they will risk being banned from trading in the

U.S.

The arrangements will probably include designating a company offi- cial with the full power to authorize oil clean-up operations, an active contract with a shoreside firm for the handling of large oil spills and submitting to the Coast Guard a workable oil spill response plan that details emergency equipment, per- sonnel and their training.

At the Intertanko meeting, Mr.

Holt was instructing tanker owners on how to prepare for the new regu- lations in order to stay in the U.S. oil trade.

Oil Pollution Act Spurs

World Oil Industry To

Drop Substandard Tankers

Regulations stemming from the

United States Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is resulting in a major rethink- ing of tanker industry ship design, equipment, chartering, operations and liability procedures.

At the annual meeting in Genoa of the International Association of

Independent Tanker Owners (Inter- tanko), industry leaders discussed new initiatives that could reshape the global tanker market long be- fore the International Maritime

Organization's (IMO) deadline for new tanker construction takes ef- fect.

The industry generally agrees that the quality of the world tanker fleet must be improved by eliminat- ing substandard shipping from the market, but how exactly this is to be done is a source of controversy.

One of the more important deci- sions to be made was that the results of five-year special ship surveys must be made available to the public. Ac- cording to Capt. William O. Gray, president of Skaarup Oil Corp. of

Greenwich, Conn., this previously confidential information will allow charterers to view important data concerning a vessel's structural con- dition. Exchanging survey information would help to reduce the number of ship inspections car- ried out.

Carrying the data exchange con- cept even further, Lars Carlsson, managing director of the Swedish tanker group Concordia Maritime, suggested that the names of tankers that have been rejected by a protec- tion and indemnity club should be published. By identifying the clas- sification society and marine underwriter responsible for certify- ing the vessel and providing insurance coverage, pressure would be raised for the improvement of ship survey and certification stan- dards.

These and many other recommen- dations discussed during the

Intertanko conference would strive towards the removal of unsuitable ships from the world's tanker fleet, more than half of which are over 16 years old. According to Chevron offi- cials, one-third of all existing tankers can be considered substandard.

Double-Hull Tankers

Being Built To ABS Class

Worldwide (in thousands of dwt)

Builder Qty Dwt

China Shipbuilding 1 40.0

Fincantieri 8 78.0

Fincantieri 2 155.0

Hyundai 8 85.0

Hyundai 4 95.0

Hyundai 3 278.0

IHI (Aichi) 2 142.0

IHI (Kure) 1 148.0

Ishibras 3 132.0

Ishibras 1 148.1

MHI 1 140.3

Samsung 4 95.0

Samsung 3 148.5

Sanoyas 1 94.5

Sanoyasu 1 94.5

SEC 1 12.0

Sumitomo 2 301.8

Stocznia 2 90.2

TOTAL 48 5.8 million

Source: ABS

Despite the fact that oil tanker contracting slowed down consider- ably last year from the 1990, the tanker order book worldwide is at its highest levels in 15 years, ac- cording to the Independent Tanker

Owners Association (INTERTAN-

KO).

At its highest level since 1976, the current tanker order book stands at 363 ships set for delivery between now and 1995. New construction pirces have begun to decline as de- mand for new ships drops. The cost of a new single-hull, 250,000-dwt tanker built in Japan peaked at $95 million in August-September 1991, according to Intertanko. At the end of February 1992, the price report- edly dropped to $87 million. This drop in price was not attributable to currency fluctuation, Intertanko notes.

In 1991, tankers of 12.9 million dwt were contracted to 27.5 million dwt in 1990. Tanker contracting slowed down in 1991, and during the last quarter of 1991, as 3.6 mil- lion dwt was ordered.

Almost all of the 1991 orders for

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) were placed with Japanese and

South Korean shipyards. A large percentage of the VLCC orders were placed as replacement of old ton-

Tankers For Delivery, 1992-1995 (in millions of deadweight tons)

Tanker Size 1992 10,000-50,000 dwt 2.7 50,000-100,000 dwt 4.3 100,000-200,000 dwt 4.8 over 200,000 dwt 7.4 nage and committed to long-term charters. While Suezmax size tank- er ordering dropped considerably in 1991, Aframax size vessel ordering remained very close to the contract- ing levels of 1990.

According to Clarkson Research

Ltd., the oil tanker order book was 40.7 million dwt as of January 1, 1992, up 7 percent from January 1, 1991. This year, 196 tankers total- ing 19.2 million dwt will be delivered—up 70 percent of 1991.

In 1993, 125 tankers totaling 15.2 million dwt will be delivered; and in 1994, 39 tankers amounting to 6.1 million dwt are scheduled for deliv- ery.

About 76 percent of the orders have been placed with Far East yards, 13 percent in Western Eu- rope, 6 percent in Eastern Europe and 5 percent in other regions.

Oil tankers specified with double sides, double bottoms or double skins, account for 28 percent of the order book. This year, 52 of these type tankers, totaling 5.3 million dwt, will be delivered. Next year, 32 others (4.1 million dwt) are sched- uled for delivery; and an additional 10 (1.9 million dwt) in 1994. One double-hull VLCC will be delivered this year, followed by six in 1993 and five in 1994. 1993 1994 1995 & Up Total 1.4 0.4 0.01 4.5 3.0 0.9 0.2 8.4 1.7 — — 6.5 9.1 4.8 — 21.3

Total dwt— 19.2 15.2 6.1 0.2 40.7

Source: Clarkson Research/lntertanko

Age Profile of the U.S. Tanker Fleet (No. of Ships in Each Age Category)

Dwt Total 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 3640 over 40 (in 000s) Ships Vrs. Vrs. Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. 200 & up 14 2 0 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 100-199 21 0 0 13 8 0 0 0 0 0 60-99 46 0 4 18 13 8 1 1 1 0 20-59 137 8 28 11 18 14 9 34 6 9 10-19 13 0 0 2 1 3 3 0 2 2 under 10 82 0 9 14 7 3 3 7 6 33

Total 313 10 41 67 50 28 16 42 15 44

Source: IMA Associates, Inc., "Five-Year Outlook for the U.S. Marine Industry, 1992" 28 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News