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10Maritime Reporter & Engineering News The General Organization of Sea Ports (GOP) said that the Liberian vessel ? MV Stolt Valor ? was granted permis- sion to take refuge in Bahrain?s waters. The operation to move the tanker to the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) began on June 26, where the ASRY team began preparing it for its onward journey. Prior to the commencement of the tow operation, the GOP submitted a plan of action for approval by representatives from Bahrain?s Environmental Affairs and the Bahrain Coast Guard, after which the matter was presented to the National Committee for the Combating of Disasters and other con-cerned parties for their approvals. The decision to provide refuge for the ship followed a period of intense preparation for the potential transit of the vessel into and through Bahrain?s territorial waters. The vessel, a Liberian chemical tanker, caught fire in the early hours of March 15, 2012, north of Bahrain. The GOP has conducted a full risk assessment of the situation, and is incontinuous contact with all concerned parties, including theBahrain Coast Guard and the Public Commission for the Pro-tection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife (PMEW), the vessel?s Flag State regulator - Bureau of Mar- itime Affairs - Liberia, in order to ensure that the vessel is towed to Bahrain as per the approved plan. ?Most importantly we are committed to protecting thesafety, security and the environment of Arabian waters, to which Stolt Valor posed a risk,? said ASRY Chief Executive Chris Potter. ?Therefore, as the most experienced shipyard in the region, we see it as our duty to bring our 35 years of ex- perience to bear on this challenging repair, where other yards were not willing.? Safety and security of ASRY personnel re- mains the yard?s highest priority, and ASRY?s renowned high standards will be met while undertaking all exploratory in- vestigations. A key factor in approving the vessel for transit to ASRY was the compliance of the vessel?s owner with a number of stringent requirements, including: performing offshore lighterage of all heavy fuel oil, diesel, lube oil and all cargo remaining on board; gas freeing for the entire vessel includ- ing all tanks; structural assessment report for the intendedtow-voyage to the repair yard; confirmation from ASRY for receiving vessel directly to the dry dock; approval to use an inward route to ASRY outside the main channel; and full li- ability for any unforeseen eventualities. ?We are happy to provide refuge for the Stolt Valor vessel in Bahrain, especially since the ship owner has fully com- plied with our requirements,? said Director General of the GOP Hassan Ali Al Majed. ? As the maritime regulator, GOP is committed to complying with the rules and regulations as laid down by the IMO, and we feel it is our duty to provide what assistance we can. The scale of the Stolt Valor opera- tion is unique to the region due to its complexity, however we are confident in the technical expertise of our teams who are all committed towards resolving the situation quickly.? NEWSShip Recycling PricesPlunge 25%Demolition Prices for older tonnagehave fallen by a quarter in 2012 to date,and according to Mark Williams of Braemar Seascope, owners are encour-aged to dispose of recycling candidates sooner rather than later. This was the message from Williams when addressing the 7th Annual Ship Recycling Conference in London on June 19. Williams also told delegates that deflating interna-tional steel prices were likely to translate into lower offers for recycling tonnage in the coming quarters. Simultaneously, there is a rapid reduction in the value of the Indian, Pakistani andBangladeshi currencies against the US dol- lar, causing difficulties for cash buyers and end users struggling to pass on cost in-creases to their own customers, despite long-term strong recycled steel demand growth prospects in the sub-Continent. Forex risk for recyclers has been com- pounded by intermittent limited availabilityof credit. Williams also presented the hypothesis that spikes in scrapping are driven not only by low freight rates, or high scrapping prices, but by credit crunches. ?Credit crunches co- incided with peaks in recycling in 1986 (the year the Biffex bottomed out at 550 points and banks had stopped supporting techni- cally bankrupt owners following the savingsand loan crisis), 1998 (the Asian financialcrisis which led to an Asiawide credit crunch and high scrapping despite relatively low values per LDT) and 2008/09 (theglobal financial crisis)? which is depicted onthe chart above. Get Your MaritimeNews Fix? fast and free ? on Maritime Reporter?s new App, Maritime GlobalNews. Download today via the Apple iTunes store Stricken Tanker Finds Refuge in Bahrain ASRY Assesses Fire Damage VesselsValue.com VesselsValue.com provides data driven ship valuations for tankers, bulkers andcontainerships. These graphs showhow vessel value depends on age forthe major types. Vessels are assumed to have typical size and specificationfor age and high built quality at a toptier shipyard. (Value ($m) (Value ($m) (Value ($m) Fire-damaged chemical tanker Stolt Valor arrives at Bahrain yard, with neighboring countries declining refuge. (Photo: ASRY) (Photo: ASRY) MR#7 (10-17):MR Template 7/9/2012 11:12 AM Page 10