Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1996)

Viking Su job welco in Malta

Despite its failure to win the

U.K's Royal Navy Type 23 frigate contract which, after extended debate, was awarded to GEC

Marine (an umbrella company that includes warship builders

VSEL and Yarrow Shipbuilders),

Vosper Thornycroft (VT) has reported pre-tax profits of $41.1 million for 1996 to March 31.

VT profits are 10 percent higher than in 1995, which was a highly profitable period. Success, accord- ing to Chairman Lord

Wakeham, is due to the broaden- ing of the company's business base, independent of the yard winning warship contracts which accounted for 25 percent of the turnover. The company reportedly has $120 million in cash and a healthy orderbook worth more than $675 million.

Lord Wakeham's annual state- ment, however, was quick to rein- force the volatility of the market- place. "Conditions in the warship building industry worldwide remain difficult to predict and continue to be characterized by construction overcapacity and increasing competition," said the

VT executive. However, he added, "Demand in our key export mar- kets is stable and we have some excellent prospects."

VT continues to enjoy the bene- fits of a strategy designed to corn- 16 Maritime Reporter,Engineering News

With five Iranian naval vessels, an LPG carrier, an Acomarit OBO and U.S. naval ship Resolute among the repair work at Malta ship repair facility, Malta Drydocks (MDD), the arrival of Cunard's much damaged Royal Viking Sun added a final fillip to employment prospects at a facility which is currently under strong political pres- sure to make itself pay.

MR/EN1s visit to Malta took place just days before the cruise liner departed from Drydock No. 6, to which she was towed at the end of

May following a collision with a coral reef in the Red Sea while en route to the Jordanian Port of Aqaba. Repairs, totaling around $5 million, were largely due to extensive flooding, but also included fabrication of a new bulbous bow and in situ repairs to the adjacent bow area and starboard bilge keel. Extensive electrical work was also involved. More than 75 electrical motors including A/C com- pressor motors, each weighing 2.5 tons, were removed and packed for transportation to the original manufacturers for special cleaning and treatment.

Both stabilizers were also in need of attention. The port side unit was completely removed for overhaul, and special attention was paid to alignment. The starboard stabilizer, damaged during the grounding, was also removed. Eighty-nine crew cabins, including furniture, furnishings, carpeting and electrical fittings, needed to be refurbished and extensive areas of insulation replaced in floors and bulkheads. Other work involved blasting certain hull areas, open deck swimming pools and painting of the hull from the veranda deck to the keel. Navigation equipment was also overhauled and ballast, fresh water and sewage tanks cleaned, blasted and painted.

Repairs to Royal Viking Sun were the latest in a long line of suc- cessfully completed contracts for Cunard and other cruise line oper- ators, according to MDD's Council Secretary Lawrence Zammit, who claims a 100 percent default-free record for such deals. The vessel was due to depart along with Acomarit's Chickasaw, which had undergone emergency repairs including the replacement of shaft seals, and Resolute, which had received hull treatment and boiler overhaul. As well as the task of refilling the drydocks with repair work, MDD directors and most particularly

Chairman Sammy Meilaq continue to fight long- standing political battles over the yard's financial via- bility. Most significant is the fight to retain the facili- ty's smallest drydock — the No. 1 dock — which, due to its position and means of access, is seen by many in the local community as an ideal location for a pleasure boat marina. Malta Finance Minister John

Dalli has suggested that the dock be traded off against long-standing tax debts, but Mr. Meilaq is standing firm, agreeing only to part with the dock if another is provided. As MDD is in the process of merging with another government owned concern,

Malta Shipyards, (MDD prefers the term 'takeover'), increased pressure can be placed on the need to retain a smaller dock as more work on smaller ves- sels is envisaged. "Conversions will be an ideal means of making best use of all skills and this can prove highly profitable work," explained Anthony de

Gray, MDD's deputy commercial and sales manager.