Focus on Copenhagen. Also in this issue: Clipper, Lauritzen, E2, Torm, Carl Bro, Norden, Eitzen, BIMCO and Atlas Shipping.
All text and photographs: Magne. A. Røe, except where otherwise statedDate: 07 February 2008
DNV Copenhagen: Walking the extra mile
Over the past few decades, the maritime industry in Denmark has changed. The frame conditions for the shipping industry have been improved and the fleet controlled by owners and operators in Denmark is growing substantially.
Clipper: The bulk of our business is bulk
“Our core market is Handysize,” says Frank G. Jensen, the managing director of Clipper Bulk A/S. “Our bulk carrier business is relatively young - it started in 1991 - but our shipping traditions go back another 20 years in time to 1972. Through many mergers and acquisitions, we have grown our business to where we are today.”
Lauritzen: 70 bulk carriers for transporting grain, coal and logs
“Our bulk expertise dates back to 1884,” says Jens Ditlev Lauritzen, the fourth generation of Lauritzens to be involved in the J. Lauritzen company and president of Lauritzen Bulkers in Copenhagen. He is the only family member currently working for the company. J. Lauritzen, which was previously listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange, is now 100 per cent owned by the Lauritzen Trust (JL Fondet.)
E2: Turning coal into electricity
Denmark has selected fossil fuels, ie, oil, gas and coal, as its main means of energy production. Coal is the main energy source used by Energi E2, a company which owns and operates a number of power plants in Eastern Denmark and also has a number of wind turbine power plants. To feed the power plants, some 350 vessels call on the discharging stations each year. These are mostly bulk carriers transporting coal but some oil is also unloaded.
Torm: Tonnage providers
“Unlike many other operations in Copenhagen, we are owners, not operators. We provide modern, well kept tonnage to operators in the long-term charter market. We’re not spot traders, we hire our vessels out to professional charterers,” say the two key persons in Torm’s bulk activities, Søren Christensen and Kim Rasmussen, both senior vice presidents of Torm Bulk. “This has been a very successful business for us and our net profit over the past two years has been a record DKK 1 billion.
Carl Bro: Diamond 53 – versatile bulk carrier
The DNV-classed Spar Lyra was the first Diamond 53 bulk carrier design vessel delivered in 2005. So far there are 44 such bulk carriers on order – nine of them already trading. The Diamond 53 design is a new design, new-generation, geared, wide-hatched, 54,000 dwt Handymax Bulk Carrier with a double hull, five cargo holds, end-folding hydraulically operated hatch covers and four 36-ton level-luffing cranes.
Norden: Dampskibsselskabet “NORDEN” aims for customer satisfaction
Dampskibsselskabet “NORDEN”, or Steamship Company NORDEN as the name translates, operates no fewer than 110 bulk carriers globally in the two main segments of Handymax and Panamax. The company headquarters since 1892 are located in Amaliegade 49 in Copenhagen, but the company itself dates back to 1871 and thus celebrates its 135–year anniversary this year – Norden is based on shipping traditions.
Eitzen: Geared for the future.
Eitzen Bulk is “geared for the future” according to its company presentation, and that is exactly the perception we are left with after listening to Niels Jørgen Laustsen, the Managing Director of Eitzen Bulk, and his colleague Per Lange, a Director of Eitzen Bulk. Very dynamic, very professional and very business-oriented.
BIMCO: More than half the global trade is carried out using BIMCO documents
Coffee is put on the table one winter morning in Copenhagen – it is 9 am and and one hour and five cups of coffee later we have written some 14 pages of notes following a “turbo-charged presentation” of BIMCO by its Secretary General Carsten Melchiors. We are more than a little impressed by the knowledge of and expertise in the international shipping industry to be found at BIMCO, which has a great focus on dry bulk shipping.
Atlas Shipping: Atlas expands into ownership
Atlas Shipping (concentrating on Handysize and Handymax) and Atlas Bulk Shipping (concentrating on Panamax tonnage) domiciled and registered in Copenhagen has traditionally been a charterer of bulk carriers and it still is. The Atlas-managed fleet comprises some 23 Handysize and 13 Panamax carriers. The traditional timecharter business has been supplemented by shipowning through its sister company, Atlas Rederi, which up to recently owned two Handysize bulk carriers, the 35,000 dwt M/V Atlas Sky and the 30,000 dwt M/V Atlas Star. However, as a part of a fleet renewal process these vessels have now been sold.
Denmark – a leading European shipping nation
The Danish Shipowners’ Association has 30 members and a total tonnage of 9.6 million dwt, corresponding to 95 per cent of the entire Danish-flagged merchant fleet.
DNV is prepared for the introduction of the Common Structural Rules (CSR) for Bulk Carriers
In December 2005, the IACS Council adopted the Common Structural Rules (CSR) for tankers and bulk carriers. This new standard applies to all tankers longer than 150 metres and all bulk carriers, single or double hull, longer than 90 metres. The new Rules enter into force on 1 April 2006. This standard will apply to all such vessels for which a contract for construction is signed on or after this date.
Modest dry bulk order book may open new window of opportunity
Economic forecasts for different parts of the world have recently been improved slightly despite high oil prices, geopolitical concern and more tension in some conflict areas. Well into the second part of March, Morgan Stanley’s world stock market index had increased by about 6% since the beginning of the year.