Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1997)

Stena Line Expects EU

Approval Of Merger

Swedish ferry operator Stena

Line AB said at the end of July that it expects the European Union (EU) commission to approve its proposed merger of cross-channel ferry operations with P&O. The plan involves the two ferry lines pooling resources on Dover-Calais,

Dover-Zeebrugge, and Newhaven-

Dieppe routes to compete mainly with the Eurotunnel.

Stena Line and P&O received a "letter of serious doubts" from the

EU commission in early June regarding the merger.

The cooperation also requires approval from the British govern- ment. The French government has already given its approval. While there is no timeline for expected approval, at press time it appeared that a decision would not be made by the start of August, which is the route's traditional high season.

The new company has estimated total restructuring costs would be $58 million.

The new group's operatio be controlled jointly and eq the British and Swedish ope but Stena Line will own 40 and P&O will hold a 60 p financial stake.

South Korean Ship

Orders Up

South Korean shipyards r ed a new order level almost t the level recorded in the period last year.

According to several sou

South Korean shipbuilders orders for 92 ships totaling million gt for the first six mo of 1997, versus 49 ships tota 1.94 million gt for the first months of 1996.

Backlogged orders at the en

June reportedly totaled 294 sh or 15.1 million gt, compared to ships and 11.9 million gt a y ago.

Industry experts point to aging fleet — particularly VLC — and the growing use of dou hull tankers as helping to dri demand for new ships. T demand for double hulls m increase following the rece

Diamond Grace spill in Japa

The Japanese Shipowne-

Association will reportedly pr mote a switch to double-hulle tankers. This was part of a announcement during which th association also divulged that i planned a review of navigatio conditions for large tankers enter ing congested ports in Japan.

South Korea's annual shipbuild- ing capacity is estimated at about eight million gt, while Japan has a capacity of about 10 million gt.

AESA Wins Offshore

Conversion Contract

Astilleros Espanoles Astano has been contracted by Esmeril of

Brazil to convert a 300,000-dwt

VLCC into a floating, storage and offloading (FSO) unit for $14.4 million.

The converted vessel is sched- uled for delivery in November 1998. The FSO will be moored at a depth of 3,300 ft. (1,000 m) in the

Roncador field for servicing pro- duction units operated by

Petrobras in the Brazilian offshore area.

Astano has also designed and is

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