By Scott Eden

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — About half a decade after the first maritime shipping concerns sold shares to the public on U.S. stock exchanges, another fleet of IPOs is preparing to set sail into the capital markets of New York.

Kicking it off on Wednesday is the expected pricing of two new issues — an owner of dry-bulk vessels called Baltic Trading and an oil-tanker outfit called, straight-forwardly enough, Crude Carriers.

Both names have established provenances. Baltic, which will trade under the symbol BALT, was formed by Peter Georgiopoulos, the impresario behind the tanker operator General Maritime(GMR) (the first shipping company to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, back in 2001), as well as the dry-bulk ship owner Genco Shipping & Trading(GNK) and the ship-fuel transporter Aegean Marine(ANW).

Crude Carriers, which will trade under the ticker CRU, was formed by Capital Maritime & Trading, a privately held Greek company that owns and manages tankers as well as dry-bulk carriers. Capital Maritime is the baby of Evangelos Marinkais, who also took public Capital Product Partners(CPLP) in 2007 on Nasdaq. Capital Product owns 19 of the kind of tankers that carry wet cargoes other than petroleum, known in the industry as “product tankers.”

Yet another shipper filed a prospectus in February: Scorpio, an Italian shipping group, hopes to float shares of its fleet of three Panamax chemical tankers under the name Scorpio Tankers.

Some observers have wondered at the timing of this latest IPO push. The first wave occurred during boom times, when global trade was brisk and shipping rates high. Not so in early 2010; only a year ago, the marine transport business had fallen to its lowest ebb in decades. Rates cratered and share prices in the sector have yet to recover.

• Keep Reading
• Baltic Trading shipping IPO dips in NYSE debut

Connecticut Maritime Association’s Shipping 2009 has finally concluded and what an event it was! With more than two thousand delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and honored guests from all over the world, the conference has become CMA’s trademark event and has earned the distinction of North America’s premier International Shipping and Trade Conference for good reason. The opportunity to meet new contacts, see old friends and finally getting to meet some of the people that we have been speaking to for so long was priceless.  While it was our first year of the show, the veterans will tell you that this years was the best one yet.

gCaptain would like to thank Maritime Executive, Faststream, MITAGS, Amver, CMA for hosting this spectacular event, and everyone else who helped make Shipping 2009 such a success.

Be sure to check out Amver Blog and Twitter’s Shipping09 tag for more details. Plus TradeWinds also has video of some of the event HERE.
Did you attend the show?  Tell us what you thought in the comments.

See everyone at Shipping 2010!

Introducing gCaptain’s Google Toolbar buttons.

How do you get them?

• Click on one of the images then…
• if you already have Google’s Toolbar installed then a small anchor button will be added to it.
• if you don’t have the Toolbar then you will be allowed to add it to your browser.

[Continue Reading →]

The data visualization above represents the worlds 10 largest container shipping companies by TEU capacity. We created this chart using IBM’s Many Eye’s project which we enjoy using since it gives us a clear, easy to understand and interactive picture of numeric data. Plus it looks pretty cool.

Want to know which company has the largest number of ships or the highest percentage of the overall market? If so then CLICK HERE for the interactive version.

For those who prefer more traditional data we have provided it below or CLICK HERE for the interactive version:

Source: AXS-Alphliner (February 2009)

Yesterday, Lloyd’s List held their annual Lloyd’s List Asia Awards in Singapore, awarding the best of the best in various sectors of the maritime industry.  You can read a detailed list of the winners HERE, but here is a quick run down of the winner in each category.

The Shipbuilding Award: Hyundai Heavy Industries

The Shiprepair Yard Award: Keppel Shipyard

Container Terminal Operator of the Year: PSA International

The Classification Society Award: Lloyd’s Register

The Ship Manager of the Year: Thome Ship Management [Continue Reading →]

Photo by Oneeighteen

In October of last year the Shipping & Transport College of Rotterdam held the International Maritime English Conference. A key topic of debate was the IMO’s current review of the STCW Convention and its focus on global assessment goals for non-native english speakers. This is of particular concern considering the growing shortage of qualified mariners combined with the unusually high incident rate seen in recent months.

Clive Cole of World Maritime University and Peter Trenkner of Wismar University have proposed implementing a Yardstick “against which student performance can be measured while at the same time providing goals for the tasks and requirements of the seaboard ranks”. Here is the plan as laid out in their position paper:

>The Yardstick >

>When developing the Yardstick below the authors deliberately did not include the identification of Maritime English communication requirements of the different shipboard rating ranks, i.e. the STCW95 Support Level, but restricted themselves to the personnel covered by the STCW95 Operational and Management Level educated and trained at higher MET institutions. >

>The shipping industry, however, may wish to have a Yardstick available for shipboard rating ranks, too. In this case an appendix would need to be developed together with the industry as the Maritime English requirements set out in the STCW95 (Part A, Chapter II, Table A-II/4 and A-III/4) regarding ratings are comparatively vague and need to be considered in the review of STCW95. >

>Furthermore, requirements concerning general English language proficiency have not been included > >expressis verbis > > as in the authors’ understanding a certain command of general English is a basic prerequisite in this respect (cf IMO SMCP 2002). >

> >

> > >

Click HERE to download the full report.

Earlier this week I received a request from our friend Ben Ellison at Panbo to poll our readers on the use of AIS. He was especially concerned with the upcoming release of AIS-B, vessel tracking system for boaters, and how the watch officers of large ships expected to process the increasingly large amounts of data on their radar screens. You can read that post HERE.

While writing the post I was curious about the other side of the equation namely, what do experienced boaters think about us? To answer my questions I contacted our friend Richard Rodriguez of BitterEnd blog, an experienced vessel assist Captain on one of nation’s busiest inland waterways; the Puget Sound. Here is his reply;

1) What should ships worry about when interacting with boats?

That most boats have no clue as to how to interact with ships. In the Licensing Courses I teach, I used to be surprised when folks indicated that they didn’t know ships do not guard channel 16. Ships should be afraid, very afraid, as most boats don’t have a clue, as to what to do or how to do it when they encounter a ship. Easily 1/3 of the boats I tow in the season, can’t give their Lat/Long, even though the have a GPS, let alone know about what to do related to ships. Boats usually run the other way; expect the unexpected.

2) Top 10 things I wish ships did to make boating safer?

1. Call a Securité, on channel 16, to announce a departure from norm.
2. Slowed down, when transiting congested waterways.
3. Occasionally use channel 16 when unsure of a boat’s action.
4. – 10. I’ll let readers fill in the blanks in the comment section.

3) Top 5 close calls I’ve had with ships.

1. Hiding out in the Sep Zone as I was waked by ships on either side of me.
2. Being in restricted visibility with out a radar, before I knew the rules and almost hitting a CG Cutter off the Columbia Bar.
3. Attempting to beat a 900′ USNS RoRo across the lanes. – I lost.
4. – 5. I’ll let readers fill in the blanks in the comment section.

4) Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range… how to tell if a boater is unable to get out of the way.

CBDR – now there’s a concept. Joe Blow thinks that if he bumps the throttle a few hundred RPM’s that he can beat you across the VTS lanes. He has no idea that you’re pumping 20+ kts, five to seven miles away when he starts across the (1.25 nm) lanes at 5.5 kts.

5) Lessons learned from my years boating the Puget Sound.

Conditions change – be prepared for the worst case scenario. Always have a plan B and a plan C.

Practice, practice, practice. Can you navigate with traditional tools? If you’re a sailor – can you make it to your slip under sail? When was the last time you did a man overboard drill?

By all means remember that S**T HAPPENS. If you think that something is about to happen, it is “Deemed to Exist.” Don’t put your head in the sand and boldly keep going.

Also be sure to read his related articles:

• AIS – A Mixed Blessing

• VTS – Working with large vessels

Photo By James Rajotte for The New York Times

The New York Times has an interesting article on the desperate situation in the Great Lakes. Rainfall shortages have caused unusually declining water levels in the countries largest lakes. Low levels are bad news for ships designed and built with a draft meeting operational needs and having tight Under Keel Clearances. The problem is causing each ship to take on less cargo thus increasing the number of ships needed to satisfy the regions transportation need.

The NYTimes continues;

“What we need is some rain,” said Mr. Daniels, director of the Port of Oswego Authority, one of a dozen public port agencies on the United States side of the Great Lakes. “The more we lose water, the less cargo the ships that travel in the Great Lakes can carry, and each time that happens, shipping companies lose money,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s people like you and I who are going to pay the price.”

Water levels in the Great Lakes are falling; Lake Ontario, for example, is about seven inches below where it was a year ago. And for every inch of water that the lakes lose, the ships that ferry bulk materials across them must lighten their loads by 270 tons — or 540,000 pounds — or risk running aground, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, a trade group for United States-flag cargo companies.

As a result, more ships are needed, adding millions of dollars to shipping companies’ operating costs, experts in maritime commerce estimate.

“When a ship leaves a dock, and it’s not filled to capacity, it’s the same as a plane leaving an airport with empty seats: It cuts into their earning capacity,” said Richard D. Stewart, a co-director of the Transportation and Logistics Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

“Because it’s mostly raw materials we’re talking about, the average consumer may see an increase in pennies in the price they pay for, say, a new car or washing machine,” Dr. Stewart said. For major manufacturers or firms managing big projects, however, the increase in transportation costs “is much more significant,” he said.   Continue Reading…

The upside for us mariners could possible be more jobs the downside… increased pressure on the Jones Act.

We know that NORAD, the U.S. Air Force’s North American Aerospace Defense Command, tracks nuclear missile launches, enemy infringement of air space and even Santa Clause but did you know they also track ships?

That’s right, after 9/11 NORAD decided to close the blast doors at Cheyenne Mountain began opening it’s doors to other government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security the Coast Guard and Navy. As part of the new joint operations initiative NORAD’s new, significantly less impressive, home near the famed mountain became the primary location for tracking Maritime Threats. In fact from 2004 until just this March the commander of NORAD has been a Navy Admiral.

Why track maritime threats from an Air Force base? In an interview with The National Defended NORAD Commander Admiral Timothy J. Keating answered the question:

U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is a completely different command with a somewhat similar mission. It’s a much newer command however. We’re only in existence for a couple of years now following the attacks of 11 September. Our task is, very simply, to defend our country against external threats. We have another important mission, and that’s in the event of some catastrophe—if the secretary, for instance, decides that the Department of Defense contributions to the support of civil authorities is appropriate, we provide that support, whether it’s the state, local, federal requests, we are positioned and trained and equipped to provide that support to those civilian authorities in the event of a disaster.

Two commands are co-located, building on the excellent command and control systems in Cheyenne Mountain Command Center and our headquarters building and leveraging 47 years of NORAD experience in defending the continent...

In today’s world it makes sense to discuss potential cooperation in other domains––particularly maritime. Expanding NORAD’s charter beyond aerospace would be a decision to be made by our respective governments.

Currently, however, Northern Command, supported by the Navy and Coast Guard as our primary maritime combat capability, has the lead for maritime homeland defense. Since 9/11, the Coast Guard has created maritime safety and security teams––federal maritime SWAT teams––highly trained, strategically located and specially equipped to provide an extra layer of security to key ports, waterways and facilities.

Our partners in the Coast Guard have also boarded and inspected over 10,000 ships to search for threats and confirm the identity of those aboard. They’ve developed special “sea marshal” boarding procedures where armed Coast Guard personnel were onboard certain ships entering and leaving U.S. ports to ensure they stay safely on course. We continue to work with them to establish and enforce naval vessel protection zones around U.S. Navy vessels in U.S. ports. They have enforced over 100 security zones around sensitive maritime areas and facilities.

A maritime NORAD is a nice concept, but the maritime domain is very different from the air domain. There are no flight plans along predetermined routes, no air traffic control. So we think that it may be unnecessarily restrictive. That is to say we want to be able to work with other partners, principally Mexico, as Mexico reaches their own decisions on the degree to which they want to participate with information sharing. And our good friends in the Southern Command and throughout the hemisphere and then throughout the other geographical combatant commander areas of responsibility, we share information and a common operational picture.

We think maritime NORAD under the construct that we have enjoyed the aerospace NORAD would be unnecessarily restrictive, though that is not to say we would discount Canada’s participation in a maritime NORAD. And the negotiation is ongoing with the State Department in the lead. In the meantime, USNORTHCOM coordinates with National Defense Headquarters in Ottawa for critical bilateral maritime defense response. Read More…

gCaptain friend and Head Designer over at Digg.com, Daniel Burka, bumped up our number of friend request for the social networking / messaging site Pownce.com. Invites will go to the first 25 readers who submit comments below.

What is pownce? The New York Times tells us;

JUST now, the hottest startup in Silicon Valley — minutely examined by bloggers, panted after by investors — is Pownce, but only a chosen few can try out its Web site.

Kevin Rose, the co-founder and chief architect of Digg, a hugely popular news site, announced in late June the introduction of Pownce, a social-networking service that combines messaging with file-sharing. Mr. Rose immediately endowed his latest venture with some mystique by declaring that, for the time being, only those with invitations would be permitted to test his new site.

Within days, invitations were selling on eBay for as much as $10. Mr. Rose has declined all requests to be interviewed about the service, including my own. But as a consolation, he sent me a coveted invitation. I enjoyed the rare thrill of cyberhipness — and got to experiment with the site.

You can also send your friends links, invitations to events, or files like photos, music or videos. Of course, you can already do that on a multitude of file-sharing Web sites. It is the combination of private messaging and file-sharing that makes Pownce so novel.

Om Malik, the author of the technology blog GigaOm, is an enthusiast. “I love it and use it constantly, ” he said in a message sent to me on Pownce. “I like it because it lets me share a lot of different things with the networks of people I really care about.”

Read the full NYTimes article titled “A Social-Networking Service With a Velvet Rope” then comment below for your invitation.

Pownce Profiles of Interest:

• Captain John Konrad’s Pownce Profile
• Unofficial Network’s CoFounder Timothy K
  
• Sea Fever’s Peter M
• Top Digger MrBabyMan – Andrew S
  
• Pownce Designer Daniel Burka

Related Link:

• gCaptain on Digg.com
• gCaptain’s Maritime Facebook Group