Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2004)

Leif Hoegh Records

Strong First Quarter

Operating profit before sales gain and depreciation for Leif Hoegh & Co.

Limited (LHC) for the first quarter showed a significant improvement com- pared to first quarter of last year. HUAL experienced a strong first quarter. The car carrier market continues to be very tight, with all operators experiencing space pressure. The strong cargo avail- ability out of the Far East continued. In

February another large PCTC newbuild- ing on long term charter was delivered.

During the first quarter HUAL entered into long term charters for further two

PCTC newbuildings to be delivered in 2007. HUAL was in April awarded as "General Motors Supplier of the Year 2003" for its overall business perform- ance in providing GM with ocean serv- ices. The LNG vessels and the two wholly owned Capesize vessels operat- ed under their long term charter con- tracts without any disruptions.

LHC had 9 open hatch vessels in the

Saga Pool at the end of the quarter after delivery of one vessel to new owner in

January.

HUAL, the Ro/Ro car carrying unit of

Leif Hoegh & Co, is one of the world's leading operators of car carriers with a fleet of 45 Ro/Ro vessels in its commer- cial operation. HUAL has seven large

Ro/Ro newbuildings on order for deliv- ery 2004 to 2007 and further 4 large

Ro/Ro newbuildings will be taken on long term charter (in addition to three already delivered).

BV Launches LNG CAP

Bureau Veritas launched a unique

Condition Assessment Program for

LNG carriers. The CAP works in a sim- ilar way to existing Harmonized CAP programs for oil tankers, but has special requirements unique to LNG carriers.

Speaking at the SIGTTO annual meet- ing in San Francisco, Bruno Dabouis, commercial manager of BV said, "The

LNG market is opening up and there are signs that a spot market for LNG carri- ers may further develop. That means charterers need to be able to demon- strate that they have taken special care when chartering in older vessels, a new phenomenon in the LNG market.

Bureau Veritas, the only classification society present in all types of LNG con- tainment systems and propulsion sys- tems, and with a unique pedigree stem- ming right back to the very first LNG carriers, was well placed to support the current market changes with technical expertise. "BV has brought together its deep research and development into sloshing loads and structural detail, its experience with lifetime structural maintenance, its successful and fully accepted tanker CAP program and its experience with LNG carriers to devel- op a CAP for LNG vessels. It is fair to both owners and charterers, and has been accepted by Shell, BP and Total already."

BV's experience with LNG carriers in service was also instrumental in it win- ning a tender to provide a life extension study, through its Tecnitas consulting arm, for seven existing LNG carriers operated by Nigeria LNG in the

Nigerian Bonny Gas Transport project, working for Shell.

The LNG CAP has already been applied in practice to life extension stud- ies on two LNG carriers.

The LNG CAP is implemented as a voluntary program by shipowners and can therefore apply at any time within the life of the vessels. However, in prac- tice, it is actually more relevant to LNG carriers reaching 20 years old.

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May 2004 57