Maritime News Headlines
September 2004
Swiftships has been awarded a sole-source FMS contract valued at $32 million for the construction of six 25m fast patrol craft for Egypt (9/30). Read the DefenseLink announcement here.
Reliable sources also report that First Wave Marine has finally come to the end of the road and has ceased operations (9/26).
Reliable sources report that SeaRiver Maritime has broken off its long-drawn-out negotiations with NASSCO for two TAPS tankers (9/24). In the absence of any other offers, what will they do now? Buy the "Ecology"-class tankers, as suggested here?
Rhode Island shipbuilder SENESCO has finally signed with US Shipping, LLC, for the construction of a 145,000-barrel ATB (9/22). The contract includes two options and the tug is to be built by Quality Shipyards. No price or delivery information yet.
Conrad Industries has secured a $5.6mm contract to build a fish stocking and assessment vessel for the Fish & Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior (9/17). Read Conrad's announcement here.
Much to the fury of Canadian shipbuilders, BC Ferries has executed a contract valued at about C$325mm with Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft, (FSG), to build three 520-foot ferries, capable of carrying up to 370 vehicles and 1,650 passengers (9/17). FSG's price per ship is said to be about 40% below Canadian shipbuilders' prices. Read BC Ferries' announcement here.
Thursday's Baltimore Sun reports that ASN John Young has complained to Northrop Grumman CEO Ron Sugar about the "rapid deterioration" in the company's performance on the first four boats of the ludicrously expensive "Virginia" class of SSNs (9/17). The cost overruns at Newport News are apparently already over $300mm. Read the article here.
Northrop Grumman has appointed Mike Petters to be President of Newport News Shipbuilding (9/17). Petters, a 44-year-old Annapolis graduate, replaces Tom Schievelbein, a 51-year-old Annapolis graduate, who is taking a very early retirement. Read NG's announcement here.
Conrad Industries has secured a $2.8mm contract to build a aluminum firefighting boat for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (9/17). Read Conrad's announcement here.
Polar Tankers has sent "Polar Adventure" for completion at Cianbro's facility in Portland ME (the former Bath Iron Works repair facility) (9/13). Cianbro, which recently completed two semi-submersible drilling rigs there for Pride International, will work off the balance of Avondale's 6000-item deficiency list, an effort that is estimated to require about 100 people for about two weeks. Read about it here.
Marinette Marine has delivered USCGC Alder, (WLB 16), the 16th and last of the Coast Guard's "Juniper" class of seagoing buoy tenders (9/3). Read the Coast Guard's press release here.
Military Sealift Command has awarded GD's AMSEA division a $23.6mm contract for the operation of nine LMSRs (9/3). The contract is for one year, with four option years. Divide $23.6mm by nine and then by 365 to see what the day rate is and wonder at how little money there is in these contracts. Read the DefenseLink announcement here.
The Navy has decommissioned USS Valley Forge (CG 50), (Ingalls Hull # 4502), the first of the "Ticonderoga" class of AEGIS cruisers and the first AEGIS ship of any type, to be retired (9/3). Note that Valley Forge is only 19 years old, a figure which adds a new dimension to the debate over how many new ships the Navy should be ordering every year.
August 2004
"Inside the Navy", a very authoritative source, reports that the Navy is planning a dramatic cut in shipbuilding in FY06, its budget request including only four new ships - one SSN, one DD(X), one LPD and one T-AKE (8/20).
MARAD questions Seabulk's citizenship (8/20). In a letter dated August 9, sent to all MSP tanker program participants, MARAD notes that "Seabulk International, Inc., has not met the citizenship requirements ....", presumably because of CSFB's ownership position.
NCL has announced that it will refund 50% of the service fee it charged passengers on the initial cruises of "Shame of Aloha", and will give them vouchers worth 20% of their ticket value as well (8/20). The reason for this generosity? NCL says that "the service on the initial cruises was generally not up to the standard for which NCL is known."
Avondale has delivered "Polar Adventure", the fourth of five 140,000-dwt crude carriers for Polar Tankers (8/20). No press releases yet.
NASSCO has delivered "Alaskan Frontier", the first of four 185,000-dwt crude carriers for BP Oil Shipping Company (8/15). Read NASSCO's announcement in the News Releases section of their web site here.
The U.S. Maritime Administration has contracted for the scrapping of three more NDRF ships: "Santa Isabel" (built by Sun Ship in 1967), "Mormacwave" (built by Newport News in 1962), and "American Ranger" (built by Sun Ship in 1965), will be scrapped by Esco Marine, in Brownsville TX, for $3.2mm. Read the MARAD announcement here.
Drydock broker Southport Atlantic (www.southportatlantic.com), reports that both AFDB 3 and AFDB 9 are for sale again (8/6). AFDB 3 is a 60,000-ton. WWII-vintage, multi-section dock: it was sold to the State of Maine in the 1980s, for use by Bath Iron Works at its Portland facility, and resold in 2001 to Viktor Lenac shipyard, in Croatia, but VL is now bankrupt and has put it up for sale. AFDB 9 is a 70,000-ton two-section dock: it was built by Sun Ship in the 1970s, sold to the Navy in 1989, leased by the Navy to Metro for 15 years, taken back and sold at auction last year to a speculator for only $169,000, resold to Caldive International, and is now for sale again, at an asking price of $6 million.
Alabama Shipyard has been awarded a contract to build a self-propelled, 12,000-cubic yard, hopper dredge for Manson Construction Company, of Seattle WA (8/6). The dredge, which will be the largest in the U.S. fleet, is scheduled for delivery in October 2005.
Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc., (KPSI), delivered the "Maunawili" to Matson Navigation on July 30 (8/6). The on-time delivery bodes well for the Philly yard's future career of pumping out containerships for Matson and Horizon Lines. Read about it here.
MARAD has approved a proposal by Ensco to transfers the jack-up "ENSCO 95" out of the US registry (8/6). Read MARAD's announcement here.
Parker Drilling has sold five of its seven Gulf of Mexico-based fleet of jack-ups and four platform rigs to Hercules Assets, for $40 million (8/6). Read Parker's announcement here.
The tax imposed in 2000 by the City of Valdez on tankers calling at the TAPS terminal has been declared unconstitutional by a judge of Alaska's Superior Court (8/6). Read about it in the Anchorage Daily News here.
Hornbeck Offshore Services has exercised an option for a third 110,000-barrel tank barge with Manitowoc Marine, for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2005 (8/6). Read Hornbeck's announcement here.
July 2004
Aggressive Rhode Island shipbuilder SENESCO is reported to have signed a contract with US Shipping, LLC, for the construction of a 145,000-barrel ATB, the tug to be subcontracted to C. & G. Boatworks (7/30).
Trailer Bridge, Inc., will pay $32mm for 100% of the stock of Kadampanattu Corporation (K. Corp.), the principal assets of which are two 736-ft triple-deck trailer barges, (7/30). Read Trailer Bridge's announcement here. K. Corp. was the late, great, Malcolm McLean's final business venture.
Oglebay Norton may be sold to its employees (7/30). The largest Great Lakes operator recently got its reorganization plan approved by the bankruptcy court in Delaware but faces an offer of $451mm from Nufleet, LLC, a company representing Oglebay Norton's employees.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $9mm contract to build a towboat to Conrad Industries, for delivery in June 2006 (7/25). Read the DefenseLink announcement here. Interestingly, Conrad apparently intends to build this vessel at its relatively inexperienced Morgan City yard rather than at its towboat specialist, Orange Shipbuilding, but maybe this is an error.
Hornbeck Offshore Services has exercised an option for a second 135,000-barrel tank barge with Leevac Industries, for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2005 (7/25). Read Hornbeck's announcement here.
Seabulk International is reliably reported to be for sale, presumably in three pieces - tankers, offshore and towing (7/23). Click here to go to Seabulk's fleet list. Who will buy what and for how much? Comment later.
The U.S. Department of Defense has once again certified to the U.S. Congress its approval of the sale of three fast missile craft to the Government of Egypt (7/10). The designated shipbuilder for this $565mm contract is VT Halter Marine. The contract was originally executed by Halter in 2000 but had been held up for 3½ years by Halter's financial difficulties and its subsequent sale to Singapore Technologies. Read the Reuters report here.
MARAD has published its annual "Report on Survey of U.S. Shipbuilding and Repair Facilities", a fairly comprehensive overview of the industry. Read it here.
Crowley's ship management subsidiary, MTC, has taken over management of the two FABC containerships "Chesapeake Bay" and "Delaware Bay" (7/5). Read Crowley's press release here.
Malaysian-owned Norwegian Cruise Line has finally reached agreement with Lloyd Werft for the completion of the US-flag cruise ship "Shame of America" (7/5). The new delivery date is June 6, 2005.
Ingalls Shipbuilding has received $250mm in advanced funding for the first of the Coast Guard's new generation of high-endurance cutters, designated not WHEC but WMSL, for Maritime Security Cutter, Large (7/2). Read Northrop Grumman's announcement here.