The hull structure of a semisubmersible, minus the topsides structure, image courtesy Drydocks World

DUBAI (Dow Jones)–Drydocks World, Dubai’s shipyard arm, is considering the sale of its entire Southeast Asian ship-building and repair operations in an effort to advance the restructuring of $2.2 billion of the company’s debt, three bankers familiar with the situation said.

The bankers said that auditors have conducted an analysis of the Asian assets and are currently reviewing a wide range of candidates interested in purchasing some or all of the operations. They said that Drydocks is preparing to draw up a shortlist of potential bidders, which include ship repair and ship building specialists.

“The company is pursuing a sale of the Southeast Asian business, there are plenty of candidates that have expressed an interest,” said one of the bankers familiar with the talks. Drydock’s Asian operations consist of four shipyards in Singapore and Indonesia, specializing in rig building, shipbuilding, repair and conversion.

In a statement, Drydocks didn’t comment specifically on whether it plans to sell its Southeast Asian business but said it “will continue to explore opportunities and seek to develop the best path forward to its operation.”

“The company has said and from inception that it will re align and rationalize its operation,” the Drydocks statement added.

Drydocks purchased the Southeast Asian assets in 2007 for about $2.2 billion, backed by financing from a wide syndicate of local and international banks. Drydocks, like a number of government controlled companies in Dubai, borrowed heavily to purchase assets just before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. Though its shipyard in Dubai has been thriving, the performance of the Asian businesses has been disappointing, bankers said.

Talks on restructuring the company’s debt have been underway since mid-2010, but progress has been slow. Last year, the Dubai government turned down a request that it provide a guarantee for the debt.

HSBC, Standard Chartered, Lloyds TSB, ING, DBS and Mashreq are the members of a coordinating committee leading the restructuring talks, one of the bankers said, while McKinsey is acting as an advisor to Drydocks.

Bankers said that the sale of the Southeast Asian assets would provide cash to help pay back the Drydocks debt, but it could also raise difficulties in that the company is likely to only get only a small fraction of what it originally paid for the assets in any sale.

The company and its bankers would need to discuss how to bridge the gap between what it can fetch for the Asian business and the original purchase price, the bankers said.

Moreover, valuing the Southeast Asian assets is complicated because potential bidders have signaled interest in different parts of the business. It is also hard to assess the value of the vessels that are currently under construction in the company’s Southeast Asian shipyards, they said.

But a sale of the Asian business, while far from certain, would mean the company’s focus will shift again to the Dubai-based shipyard, which is considered much more commercially viable and therefore could gain easier access to funding for now and once the debt restructuring talks are completed.

Drydocks is a ship-building and repair company based in Dubai and owned by Dubai World, which in turn is controlled by the government of Dubai. Dubai World finalized a $25 billion debt restructuring in 2011 that didn’t include Drydocks.

Drydocks chairman Khamis Juma Buamim was quoted in December as saying that the company hopes to complete a deal on its debt restructuring by the end of March, and is considering joint ventures in Asia to improve the business.

But bankers said that a complete sale of the assets is now the company’s priority. “Establishing joint ventures is still the way forward in the scenario a sale doesn’t materialize,” said one of the bankers familiar with the talks.

-By Nicolas Parasie, The Wall Street Journal

One of the first questions I routinely get asked when people find out I work aboard ship is “Do You Get Seasick”. I find this question rather amusing considering that no amount of monetary compensation can justify the look I’ve seen on the faces of those prone to this ailment. For those in love with the idea of cruise ship travel but unwilling to step foot off the dock architects in Turkey might have your solution. News.com.au tells us:

Situated between the legendary Toros Mountains and the sparkling turquoise Mediterranean in Göynük, the Queen Elizabeth Elite Suite Hotel & Spa is a five-star luxury hotel in the guise of a massive cruise liner.

The hotel has been constructed on a purpose-built harbour, with ship-shaped villas, swimming pools, bars and vistas, as well as theme park rides.

Inside the 325-roomed hotel, guests can relax in saunas, Turkish baths, shock pools, steam rooms and Jacuzzis, while the spa and wellness centre offers a variety of therapies and treatments. (Photo Gallery – Video)

If you are looking for some more a authentic stationary cruise then you will have to wait for the QEII to reach Dubai, where she will become part of the new Dubai Maritime City. You could also just shop in a ship or visit maritime inspired destinations in a city near you.

For those looking to avoid sea sickness aboard a real ship here are a few tips:

Watch what you eat, avoid unusual smells, stay away from those who are prone to getting sick and, if all else fails, get topside and look at the horizon. Sea Sickness is most often triggered by confusion in your brain so, like most activities aboard ship, the best prevention is a relaxed but occupied mind.

For the full list read our post:

What is Seasickness? And 50 Ways Professional Mariners Tackle it!

After 40 year’s in service, the famed Q.E. 2 arrived at Pier 90 early this morning for its 710th and final visit to New York.  The New York Times tells us of her arrival:

With shrill blasts from its three Tyfon whistles and a 39-foot-long red paying-off pennant streaming from the mast — a foot for each year at sea — that traditionally marks the end of a ship’s commission, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (only the actual monarchs warrant Roman numerals, not the ships named for royalty) split the predawn darkness to begin a day of festivities and souvenir photos by the Statue of Liberty and berthed at Pier 90 at West 50th Street on the Hudson River, tying up around 6 a.m.

As she entered the harbor, she was trailed by the grander Queen Mary 2. The two queens paraded to the Statue of Liberty before the Queen Mary 2 split off to return to its dockage at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

The Q.E. 2, which was sold last year for eventual use as a floating hotel in Dubai, will be retired from active service later this year following her final voyage from her home in Southhampton, England to Dubai.  The Queen Elizabeth 2, along with its two sister ships Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, is operated by the British shipping company Cunard Lines, one of the oldest transatlantic shipping companies in the world.

DP World, a Dubai-government controlled holding company and one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world, awarded a £400m contract yesterday to British firm Laing O’Rourke and Belgium’s Dredging International for the development of the first phase of the new port at London Gateway and is the first major contract granted for the £1.5 billion project.

London Gateway will be Uk’s first deep sea container port for over 25 years and offers an exciting opportunity for the UK economy and shipping industry as a whole.  It is set to be the most technologically advanced container port in the world and will be fully integrated with Europe’s largest logistics park.

The 1500 acre site is situated on the north bank of the River Thames near Thurrock in Essex. London Gateway will provide unrivalled shipping access for the world’s leading businesses through an integrated road, rail and sea network.

The project will lead to the creation of over 12,000 new jobs and will eventually handle an estimated 3.5 million TEU’s per year to help meet recognized demand for extra container capacity in the UK.

Actual construction will begin later this year and the logistics park is due to open in the second of of 2010, with the first ships are said to be arriving early 2011.

Sources: DP World, AFP,

Adding to Dubai’s portfolio of lucrative development projects, Dubai Maritime City looks be yet another world first.  Mark Burns from Property-Dubai.tv explains:

Described as the world’s first purpose built maritime centre, Dubai Maritime City is a state of the art development zone, designed to act as a regional hub for the maritime business in Dubai. A genuinely mixed use development, Dubai Maritime City will also offer a range of luxury residential and commercial opportunities ensuring that the area becomes a focal point for the near 5,000 regional maritime companies working in Dubai. As well as the residential, industrial and commercial areas, the development will also include a large maritime research academy, designed to offer the companies in the regional access to the very latest developments and technology within the marine industry.

As with many of the free zone development areas in Dubai, Maritime City is designed to create a regional hub of sector specific companies. Within the development, there will be a focus on six major sectors within the maritime industry: marine services, marine management, product marketing, marine research and education, recreation and ship design and manufacturing. The only facility of its kind in the world, Dubai Maritime City seems set to become a global ‘centre of excellence’ for the maritime industry.

Check out this animated video that describes all Dubai Maritime City has to offer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Upon completion in 2012, Dubai Maritime City will be the world’s largest maritime development.  It will sit on a 2.27 square-kilometer man-made peninsula, consisting of over 30 million cubic meters of dredged sand and over 2.5 million cubic meters of rock, strategically located between Dubai’s Port Rashid terminal and Dubai Drydock.

For more information, check out the Dubai Maritime City official website HERE

Also, check out some more of Dubai’s record breaking buildings and amazing architectural projects HERE

NPR brings us the latest developments from Dubai…

Constructing floating houses or restaurants or even villages is an idea that first came to him in his native Holland, where land to build on is scarce and water is plentiful.

The notion gained momentum for Van de Camp when he realized that rising sea levels from climate change made new ideas crucial. And it’s an idea that’s about to become a reality in Dubai.

Dubai has plenty of desert, but it also has miles of coastline along the Persian Gulf. They’ve built loads of artificial islands offshore, but they’ve run out of sand.

Van de Camp has given them a new option: floating islands.

You can read (and listen too!) the full story from NPR HERE, take a look at the company’s website HERE and watch the movie HERE.

The BBC tells us:

Cunard Lines is to build a 92,000 tonne liner which will be called the Queen Elizabeth.
The ship, which will be based at Southampton, will carry 2,092 passengers and more than 1,000 crew.

Shipping firm Cunard also operates the QE2 liner, which will leave service next year, making this newer vessel the largest of a three-ship fleet.

The decision to build the vessel was prompted by the demand for cruises on Cunard’s new ship Queen Victoria. Read More…

Correction – The BBC has updated the details of the story. Many thanks to Phillip for pointing this out in the comments. Here is the new version of their article:

A shipping company is to build a 92,000 tonne liner which will be called the Queen Elizabeth not the QE3.

The ship, which will be based at Southampton, will carry 2,092 passengers and more than 1,000 crew.

Shipping firm Cunard also operates the QE2 liner, which will leave service next year to become a floating hotel in Dubai from 2009.

The decision to build the vessel was prompted by the demand for cruises on Cunard’s new ship Queen Victoria.