Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2011)

NSPRP Project Book

The National Shipbuilding Research

Program Project Book Winter 2010 edition is now available. The Project

Book was created as a concise compilation of both major and panel projects funded under the Program with the goal of increasing aware- ness of ongoing work under NSRP, stimulating interaction among proj- ect teams, and accelerating trans- fer of technology throughout the

U.S. shipbuilding and repair indus- try. http://www.nsrp.org

Daewoo Expects 18% Jump in Offshore Orders

According to a report from

Bloomberg, Daewoo Shipbuilding &

Marine Engineering Co., the world’s third-largest shipyard, expects or- ders for drilling vessels and off- shore platforms to increase 18% this year, helped by higher fuel prices.

General Maritime

Sells Tankers

General Maritime Corporation en- tered into an agreement to sell three product tankers, the 2004- built Genmar Concord, the 2005- built Stena Concept and the 2005-built Stena Contest, to affili- ates of Northern Shipping Fund

Management Bermuda, Ltd., an al- ternative capital provider to the shipping and offshore oil service sectors. General Maritime was to receive net proceeds totaling $61.7m for the sale of the three vessels. The sale will fulfill the re- quirement under the amended bridge loan, which is expected to be repaid in the current first quarter of 2011.

The sale is subject to the leaseback of the vessels under bareboat char- ters to be entered into with the pur- chasers for a period of seven years at a rate of $6,500 per day per vessel for the first two years of the charter period and $10,000 per day per vessel for the remainder of the charter period.

As part of the agreement, General

Maritime will have options to repur- chase the vessels for $24 million per vessel at the end of year two of the charter period, $21 million per vessel at the end of year three of the charter period, $19.5 million per vessel at the end of year four of the charter period, $18 million per vessel at the end of year five of the charter period, $16.5 million per vessel at the end of year six of the charter period, and $15 million per vessel at the end of year seven of the charter period. 12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

It might be hard to judge now if the global shipbuilding industry is recovering, but an encouraging story is taking place in China in 2010. According to Clarkson

Research Services, China has overtaken

Korea as the world's top shipbuilder in the first half of 2010 and kept ahead in terms of three major industry indicators, includ- ing new orders, order backlogs and deliv- ery. Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group – a leading private Chinese company – is a significant engine driving the industry.

According to the data, till the end of No- vember 2010, Sinopacific Shipbuilding delivered 54 vessels in 2010, and comple- tion DWT amounted to 1.8 M. In terms of order backlogs, there are nearly 4.2 M

DWT in the pipeline. As a highlight of these achievements, Sinopacific had signed a frame agreement with Bourbon in June worth $1b for building 62 offshore vessels. “In light of our clear corporate position of ‘perfection in simple products, leadership in niche markets’, we provide unique value to our clients. With a strate- gic international vision and strong inte- gration capacity, Sinopacific wins trust and many partnership opportunities from overseas. ” Simon Liang, CEO of Sinopa- cific Shipbuilding Group said.

In the coming 2011, Sinopacific Ship- building Group expects to improve its production efficiency by producing 24 vessels in one dock in one year. There will be more milestones for group’s develop- ment. In the first quarter of 2011, the 100th OSV and several 1st vessels, in- cluding SX130, GPA696, PX105 OSVs and 1st Crown 118 bulk carrier, are sched- uled to be delivered; the steel cutting of the new designed Crown 63 bulk carrier.

A Strong 2010 at

Sinopacific Shipbuilding

NEWS

Chinese Yard Logs LNG Ship Orders

Exxon Mobil and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) selected Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. (Hudong), a sub- sidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, to build four LNG carriers in China. These carriers will provide LNG trans- portation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Gorgon Jansz LNG projects and will be jointly owned by MOL and China

Shipping (Group) Company (CS). On hand for the ceremonial signer were Zhang Guobao, vice chairman, National Development and Reform Commission, and minister, National Energy Administration; Mark Albers, senior vice president, Exxon Mobil Cor- poration; Akimitsu Ashida, chairman, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.; Zhang Guofa, vice president, China Shipping (Group) Company;

Tan Zuojun, president, China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Wang Yong, president, Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group).

Oceanic Consulting Corporation signed a contract with the Atlantic

Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), entitled "Accurate Numerical Simula- tions of Environmental Loads for the

Safe Production and Transportation of

Offshore Oil and Gas." This contract will allow Oceanic to develop engineer- ing software tailored to the needs of the offshore oil and gas industry specializ- ing in harsh environments, which in- cludes ice-covered water and extreme waves. The objective is to accurately predict the forces and resulting motions acting on complete offshore systems (such as drill ships, FPSOs, semi-sub- mersibles, spars, support vessels, and shuttle tankers). Through this initiative,

Oceanic will work to address specific and immediate technical challenges of oil and gas exploration and production in harsh environments. The global chal- lenges of the performance of marine ves- sels in the offshore petroleum industry are reflected in Atlantic Canada: the im- pact of wind, water, and ice on the mo- tions and loads of moored or moving structures; safe passage for tankers and

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers between production site and shore ter- minal/refinery; and safe berthing and maneuvering of vessels in harsh and/or confined waters. Oceanic sees tremen- dous potential for the growth of business in numerical simulation, and this devel- opment work has already resulted in sev- eral commercial contracts which would have been impossible to complete with- out this support from ACOA.

Safe Producton & Transportation of Offshore O&G via

Accurate Numerical Simulations of Environmental Loads