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(Note: This post originally appeared on gCaptain Jan ‘08)

Three years ago at the World Expo in Aichi Japan SkySails promised a revolutionary design with the ability to reduce fuel consumption aboard ship by up to 24%. Last week the dream became reality. BBC News tells us:

There is something rather magical about being up on deck of a giant cargo ship as it pushes its way out to sea. Ten thousand tonnes of metal heaving through the water, the ship’s giant masts glistening in the winter sun. But there is something even more magical about being aboard MS Beluga SkySails. On the face of it, this vessel - which is carrying parts of a timber production line to Venezuela - looks like any other cargo ship.

MS Beluga SkySails believes its fuel bill will be cut by £800 ($1,560) a day. “We can demonstrate that you can combine economy and ecology,” Verena Frank of Beluga Shipping explains. “Economy, because you can reduce fuel consumption and fuel costs, and on the ecological side of things, we reduce emissions.”

The kite is controlled by computers. One computer helps it to fly in figures of eight in the sky - maximising the power it produces. Another computer adjusts the kite’s direction. If the project is successful, expect to see even bigger kites soon - some up to 5,000sq m (53,820sq ft) in size pulling ships across the seas and oceans. Read More…

Video

Also be sure to watch National Geographic’s Profile of SkySails.

Background [Continue Reading →]

We recently ran across some interesting statistics from a 2005 joint study on manpower from BIMCO and the ISF.

Q: How many officers are currently employed aboard ships?

A: Approximately 466,000

Here’s a chart of the numbers;

Regarding this chart the study notes:

An updated estimate of global seafarer supply has been produced based on the most recent national statistics provided by authorities in almost all principal labor supply and other maritime countries. The worldwide supply of seafarers in 2005 is estimated to be 466,000 officers and 721,000 ratings. The OECD countries (North America, Western Europe, Japan etc.) remain an important source of officers, although Eastern Europe has become increasingly significant with a large increase in officer numbers. The Far East and South East Asia (the “Far East”), and the Indian sub-continent remain the largest sources of supply of ratings and are rapidly becoming a key source of officers.

Here is the age structure of officers from OECD countries;

The study tells us:

The world fleet continues to rely heavily on officers from Europe, North America, Japan and other OECD countries However, over 25% of these are over 50 years old, and well over50% are over 40. Most are in senior positions such as Masters or Chief Engineers. The impact of their retirement, without adequate numbers of well trained and experienced replacements, could be severe.

The study itself discus, in depth, manpower issues facing the industry. You can download the report summary, including more information on the above charts HERE or the full report HERE.

(Originally published June 2007)

The title of one story in this week’s MarEx Newsletter proclaims “Maritime Academy Graduation Heralds the Continuation of Good Times” and nothing affirms this better than a look into the order books of the world’s largest shipyards.

The information the following links comes from the Colton Company: “a small firm of specialized management consultants. Its principal consultant is Tim Colton, an industrial engineer, maritime economist and naval architect, with 49 years of experience in the shipbuilding industry, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Our business is helping your business to grow and to prosper”.

MarineLog tells us:

Tim Colton opens new maritime consultancy
Tim Colton, formerly president of international shipbuilding consultants Colton & Company, has returned to the consultancy biz after three years with Halter Marine. Colton, the perennial moderator of Marine Log’s “Shipbuilding Decisions” conference and a frequent contributor to Marine Log magazine”

Here are the pages of greatest interest:

• Shipyard Activity in 2007. It seems that the Overseas Houston (in Aker’s Philadelphia Shipyard) is the only Unlimited tonnage being built this year.
• Large Cruise Ships on Order. The largest of the large are two more Royal Caribbean’s “Freedom of the Seas” class, the world’s largest (by Gross Tons) cruise ships. They are being built by Aker Turku in Finland and are scheduled to launch in 2009 and 2010.
• Offshore is seeing perhaps the largest growth with 13 Drillships and 39 Semi-Submersibles and 79 Jack-ups on order. View the list here.
• And what is seemingly the Topic of the Day… LNG orders. With an impressive 143 ships ordered we understand the push to build terminals across the U.S.

Of great interest to U.S. Mariners; The U.S. Shipping Fleet. With seemingly every ship under the U.S. flag listed this (along with our own Merchant Fleet Chart) makes for an interesting read. Many thanks to Tim Colton for maintaining this resource. Visit the Colton Company’s Homepage for more valuable statistics.

Here are gCaptain editor’s Top 10 upcoming picks of the week from gCaptain’s Maritime News Discoverer. Please Vote on the ones you like to have them published.

WIGS come to Alaska
This is a big deal. The first use of a commercial WIG is being planned for the Lynn Canal. A 12 passenger $1.2m vessel. Docks and Harbors Board ha read more »

Update on Arctic Expeditions - MAREX
In prior years, the question of who owns the North Pole and the Arctic in general was simply a theoretical one. The territory had been trapped in ice read more »

COAST GUARD CONDUCTING FIRST NORTH POLE FLIGHT
“The northern reaches of the Arctic is a new area for us to do surveillance,” said Rear Adm. Arthur E. Brooks read more »

BIMCO Feature - Feature: The blossoming of LNG shipping
The established, low-key world of LNG shipping is changing out of all recognition as trade volumes mushroom, the supply chain extends and offshore read more »

CNOOC Building Deep-sea Drilling Rig
China will finish its first deep-sea drilling rig with a maximum working depth of three kilometers by 2011, a spokesman for China National Offshore O read more »

Iran to Buy 52 ships by 2010
The Managing Director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines says IRISL has signed a contract for purchase of fifty-two ships. Mohammad-Hosse read more »

Forward Looking 3D Sonar System for Collision Avoidance
FarSounder, Inc. a Warwick, Rhode Island based technology company has been awarded a $2 million grant from the US National Institute of Standards and read more »

Watchkeeper: Getting closer to the crew
There is concern about the quality of seafarers, and of the lack of experience of some given accelerated promotion to fill gaps. read more »

Crew Study Reveals Benefits and Perks Boost Morale and Retention
Amen! ….bring on the lobster tails. read more »

10 Reasons Why Captain’s Sink with the Ship
Whenever a ship sinks due to any reason, the Captain of the Ship prefers to sink with the ship. In my last post “Cargo ships collide in Thessaloniki read more »

Photo by Seth White

The New York Times has the story on a California petition to limit ship emissions:

The California attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups have called for federal regulation to curb heat-trapping emissions from the worldwide fleet of about 90,000 oceangoing ships, including container ships, tankers and cruise ships.

The regulations, sought in separate petitions to the Environmental Protection Agency, would apply to United States territorial waters.

Only six countries generate more emissions of greenhouse gases than the world’s oceangoing vessels, said Michael Hirshfield, a senior scientist with Oceana, an ocean-protection organization.

The group’s petition, whose participants included the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth, argues that “the sheer number of these ships, coupled with operating practices that use fuel inefficiently and poor government oversight, results in carbon dioxide emissions” equal to the emissions of 130 million to 195 million cars. Continue Reading….

Joe Angelo, the deputy managing director of Intertanko, a group representing independent tanker operators, said the best approach was “to reduce emissions worldwide — universally — not just unilateral action in the United States or the European Union.”

INTERTANKO’s solution? Here is a report from their June 2007 study on emissions:

The environmental footprint of ships, which carry 90% of world trade covering over 30,000 billion tonne-miles a year, is extremely light compared to other forms of transport. And yet despite the industry’s tonne-mile efficiency, it has been left behind by other sectors which are already regulated and compelled to use clean, environmentally friendly fuels. This means that the shipping industry has become an easy-to-pick fruit, recently targeted by politicians eager to show that they are still doing something on the environmental front.

A switch from residual fuel to marine diesel oil (MDO) means a comprehensive and practical strategy for an efficient and long-term reduction of air pollution from ships. Should one expect ships to reduce air pollution while still burning residual fuels? These fuels have a significant content of sulphur, nitrogen (that contributes to the NOx emissions and thereby ozone or a greenhouse gas), hazardous components including heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) that combine to create a cocktail of particulate emissions and generated sludge

The proposal that the shipping industry switches to distillate bunker fuel (MDO) according to a timescale that takes into account fuel availability, delivers immediate, real and global reductions in atmospheric pollution (SOx, NOx and PM). It deals with the cause of this pollution rather than the effect – i.e. rather than limiting the rulemaking development to cleaning up the pollution itself. These are among the reasons that this proposal has been gaining support from a number of IMO states – including Norway.

This seems to be in contrast with the California petition which calls for elimination of bunker fuel and a proposed reduction of vessel speed by 20%. Considering our industry lives by the motto “Time is Money” it’s not surprising that INTERTANKO is looking for alternative solutions or fighting any actions that would mandate speed reductions. I may be stating the obvious but wouldn’t speed reductions increase the demand for hulls? Wouldn’t this be in the interests of an organization of ship owners?

This debate is destined to expand in direct relation to the growth of our global warming problems. When the argument is settled, whether by the EPA or IMO, I doubt the solutions will be those suggested in the petition or by INTERTANKO but I’m hopeful the coverage will increase awareness and development of workable solutions… that is if the press can avoid misleading and counterproductive headlines like THIS.

CLICK HERE for Maritime News Discoverer stories on Vessel Emissions.

Related Links;

• The EU’s Ship Emissions Strategy
• Shipping bodies challenge EU pollution rule
• Measures for sustainable shipping (Shipping Gazette)
• A look at Modes of Transportation with regard to emissions