Page 9: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1996)

W hile running the risk of sound,ng redundant, the maritime industry continues its trend toward consolida- tion. This month — appropriately so — the news involves the workboat market. Seacor Chairman Charles

Fabrikant — a familiar player on the acquisition front these days — announced his company's intention to acquire all offshore supply vessel assets of Smit Internationale for $140.2 million.

This move is just the latest in a trend of the large getting larger, but long-term ramifications concerning how vessels are procured, outfitted and maintained, is significant. Our work- boat coverage, which includes reviews of recently delivered vessels and related news from the worldwide industry, begins on page 52.

Another interesting merger announcement points out the dire need for continued research and devel- opment of safer, faster and more effi- cient maritime transportation.

Specifically I refer to the English

Channel situation, and the fierce com- petition which has ensued between ferry operators and the Channel

Tunnel. Despite the "Chunnel's" well- documented financial difficulties, it has had a swift effect on the prestigious cross-channel ferry service. After two years of rate-slashing, overscheduling and subsequent Losses, The Wall Street

Journal reported that Peninsular &

Oriental Steam Navigation and Stena

Line AB will merge their short sea routes on the channel.

In addition, at press time, the U.K. government had approved P+O's pro- posal to purchase a 50 percent share- holding in North Sea Ferries from

Dutch Royal Nedlloyd.

Technological developments and updates are abound in this edition, from the new "Pick Up Cat" tanker concept (pg. 8) to the repair/rebuild

November, 1996 challenge facing Harland & Wolff in its attempt to make the Sea Empress seaworthy again (pg. 74). In addi- tion, several major engine manufac- turers announced new engine intro- ductions and updates at the recent

SMM exhibition in Hamburg, including MTU/DDC (pg. 41);

Wartsila & New Sulzer (pg. 126); and Scania (pg. 127).

Gregory R. Trauthwein

Editorial Director

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