Dear my friends, good morning.
The following news is new news. Refer to your business. I always wish you good health and success.
1. FLNG construction starts
Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries is to hold a steel-cutting ceremony for Royal Dutch Shell's first 3.6-mtpa LNG-FPSO (FLNG) unit this month.
In the first half of next year, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering plans to cut steel for Malaysian energy giant Petronas' first 1.2-mtpa FLNG.
As those world's first FLNG units are starting to be constructed, industry players look forward to seeing the innovative FLNG concept turning into reality soon.
Shell and Petronas are proceeding with further FLNG new buildings and Exmar, Excelerate Energy, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Total, etc. are planning a number of FLNG projects.
2. Korean orders shrink
Korean shipbuilders' new order for the first nine months of this year has plummeted by around 60% year-on-year.
During the first nine months of 2012, a total of 763 vessels of a combined 14.34m cgt were contracted in the world, down by 48% in terms of cgt from 1,228 vessels of a cumulative 27.65m cgt year-on-year.
According to Clarkson, during the same period, Korean shipyards inked overall 169 vessels of a combined 5.2m cgt, more than Chinese' 293 vessels of a cumulative 4.98m cgt, in cgt terms.
As for total contract amount, during January-September period, Korea raked in $18.896bn, almost doubling those awarded at Chinese shipyards, $10.191bn. Japanese shipbuilders contracted 89 vessels of a combined 1.66m cgt, $2.8bn.
Korean shipyards' total contract during the first nine months plunged by around 59% comparing with 12.56m cgt ($43.89bn) signed during the same period of 2011.
Chinese shipbuilders' new building order declined by 41% from 8.42m cgt ($16.695bn) year-on-year, as well.
Meanwhile, during the last month, Korean shipyards penned overall 15 vessels of a combined 0.41m cgt, while Chinese booked 21 vessels of a cumulative 0.59m cgt.
But in value terms, Korean contracted $2.479bn, while Chinese were awarded $977m.
As of the end of September, global new building order book stood at 95.21m cgt (4,760 vessels) - Chinese 34.45m cgt (1,905 vessels), Korean 29.49m cgt (856), Japanese 15.23m cgt (759), etc.
3. Cancellations rise in Japan
Japanese shipbuilding industries seem to see growing number of cancellation and contract reexamination this year.
Japanese shipbuilders stood on 28.6m gt of new orders as of the end of August, down by 9.2m gt from the end of 2011, said the Japan Ship Exporters' Association.
During the first eight months of 2012, Japanese shipyards contracted overall 4.8m gt and delivered 11.6m gt new buildings. Besides net loss of 6.8m gt, there has been around 2.4m-gt cancellations.
Also, more ship-owners are reevaluating their previous contracts this year.
4. Kongsberg's K-Master Vessels
With over 80 orders already taken for its sophisticated K-Master aft- and forward-bridge workstation, Kongsberg Maritime has completed development and the pilot course for a specialised training course designed to enable offshore support vessel crew to enhance operational safety and efficiency using this sophisticated control solution.
The course is now part of Kongsberg Maritime’s growing global training portfolio.
Kongsberg Maritime held the K-Master training pilot course at its training centre in its headquarters in Kongsberg, Norway this August. With owners and yards worldwide accepting the K-Master solution as a next generation control technology for innovative vessels, Kongsberg Maritime has taken the ‘training in a box’ approach, first pioneered on courses for the K-Chief automation system, for this new course.
“Training for K-Master lends itself to the portable training course approach, as we are able to mimic its touch screen control system using tablet computers, which are small and very easy to transport,” comments Arnstein Bugge, instructor and course designer, Kongsberg Maritime. “We have developed a portable classroom that can accommodate a full session with eight participants, all while being compact enough to be carried in a small suitcase. This helps us to be flexible as the course can literally be carried out anywhere in the world at quite short notice.”
K-Master is a complete and independent work station, designed to meet strict aft and forward bridge ergonomic considerations regarding the arrangement of working places, instrumentation and the operability of the equipment itself.
K-Master sets a new standard in the integration of navigation, control and maneuvering functions of ships bridges. It provides unique access to all major control systems within easy reach of the seated operator and ensures complete situational awareness.
'5. Rain' on Shipyards
There will be no 'sunny day' for Korean industries, according to weather charts of 10 industries for Q4 2012 reported by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI).
Five industries, including information and communication, machinery, etc., will see 'slightly covered sky', while four industries such as steel, oil refining, etc., are predicted to be 'cloudy'.
Particularly, shipbuilding industry still maintains to be 'rainy'.
Amid low new building investment by extended Euro zone crisis, there will be another round of rain during the fourth quarter, with tougher competition over new building prices.
Moreover, stagnant ship export is expected to continue as well. The amount of ship export would reach around $43bn in overall 2012, down by 23.9% against 2011.
No more news today.
Thank you for your read this.
See you again.
Your friend,
Heun Woo Lee