Quarterly March 2006

Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2006

2 ODFJELL Quarterly March 2006

It’s the cargo stupid ..................................................................................................... 4Behaving the Odfjell way ............................................................................................ 5By the White Sea - Site team Severodvinsk .................................................................... 8Severodvinsk - the birthplace of the S-class .................................................................... 9Enhanced supplier management through performance monitoring ....................... 12PID upgrades to state-of-the-art technology and systems ........................................ 13Radio waves and satellites ........................................................................................... 16New Terminal Management System - Built on a SAP platform ................................. 20Help, I’m being spammed! ........................................................................................... 22Safety Bulletin .............................................................................................................. 24The Corinth Canal ......................................................................................................... 25New container and cruise terminal in Bayport .......................................................... 26Odfjell Quarterly Brainteaser ....................................................................................... 27Greetings from around the world ................................................................................ 28From Singapore to Bergen ............................................................................................ 30Board Member Reidar Lien ........................................................................................... 31The Personnel Corner .................................................................................................... 32Fleet and terminals ....................................................................................................... 34

P.O. Box 6101 Postterminalen

N-5892 Bergen

Norway

Tel: +47 55 27 00 00

Fax: +47 55 28 47 41

E-mail: [email protected]

Internet: www.odfjell.com

EDITOR:

Klaus Walderhaug

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE:

Brit A. Bennett

Tor Johansen

Tor Jürgensen

Siri-Anne Mjåtvedt

Morten Nystad

Ellen Skagen

Anne-Kristine Øen

CORRESPONDENTS:

Manila:

Kjell Johansen

Rotterdam:

Theo Kruithof

Singapore:

Atle Knutsen

Deadline next issue:

June 1st, 2006

Design: MacBox AS

Cover:

M/T Bow Rio at Odfjell

Terminals (Rotterdam).

Photo: Theo Kruithof, OTR

In this issue:

610

The Russians are coming!

Conversion of the KSEC class

Change towards excellence

Durban - the Zulu Kingdom

14Durban - the Zulu Kingdom18

ODFJELL Quarterly March 2006 3

Early February we announced Odfjell’s results for 2005. The results confirm the positive trend that we noticed throughout the year. Timecharter earnings for our ships continued to improve, reflecting a healthy market for the parcel tankers, and the return on our tank terminals was stable. All in all the results are to satisfaction, and let me hereby express my appre-ciation to you all for a job well done.

However, the results are not better than they really should be, given the current favourable market and the high newbuilding prices. Strong re-sults are also necessary for us to be prepared for future challenges and market fluctuations. We have to keep in mind the considerable operating costs in the chemical tanker industry. Bunker prices are currently at an all time high and show no immediate signs of any substantial reduction. It is also more and more expensive to adjust to increasingly stricter require-ments to safety, cargo handling and environmental protection. We further see that docking costs continue to rise, reflecting the tight demand for yard services.

Odfjell makes large investments to meet regulations and customer- specific or flag/port state require-ments. We have currently the world’s largest orderbook of parcel tank-ers, bringing modern, safe and cost-

efficient units to the market despite almost prohibitively high newbuilding prices. Recently we have also decided to upgrade our five 41,000 dwt KSEC class vessels, which currently only have single outer hulls. Starting in April we will install double sides on these 1980s built ships, enabling them to meet new cargo protection requirements. This is a large and expensive project, but necessary to avoid otherwise fine and well maintained ships to become commercially obsolete prematurely.

At Odfjell we are certainly willing to discuss how to further improve the safety and quality of chemical tank-ers, because we agree that safety is not to be compromised. However, we believe we should address the issues that really contribute to reducing the probability and impact of accidents. It is easy to stipulate this and ban that, but in order to get substantial improvements the measures should be systematic and coordinated. An-other relevant topic for discussion is who are to carry the burden of the in-creasingly expensive regulations and requirements. Unless the parcel tank-er industry is sufficiently rewarded for such efforts, the development to-wards enhanced safety and quality is simply not sustainable, neither in the short nor in the long run.

New requirements and changing mar-ket conditions make it necessary for

us to change accordingly. During the last months of last year Odfjell Ship Management went through a major reorganisation, and now Odfjell Seachem and Odfjell Terminals are experiencing a similar process. Such organisational changes are challen- ging and put strain on everyone involved. However, I am certain Odfjell will benefit, and that after a while you will all feel at home within the new structures. I truly appreciate the positive spirit and cooperation with which the employees have responded to the reorganisations.

Positive thinking and cooperation are important elements of the Odfjell company culture, and vital prerequi-sites for business success and a pleas-ant working atmosphere. Other im-portant elements are quality focus, professionalism and high ethical standards. To ensure that we all are aware of what is expected of us in this regard, we have issued a code of con-duct that applies to all employees in the service of the company. I invite all colleagues to get familiar with the code, but also to keep in mind that it is really only a matter of applying common sense, decency and respect in all our business dealings.

Finally, I wish you happy and safe sailing, all around.

Regards,

Terje StorengPresident/CEO

Dear Colleagues...


An article in Lloyd’s List on November 28th 2005 (“Chemical ship safety report is imminent”) suggests that an inter- industry group investigating recent chemical tanker explosions may recom-mend a continuation of IMO’s current requirements for using inert gas on chemical tankers. A conse-quence of this would be that a sizable share of the fleet, main-ly small and old tankers, contin-ues to be exempted from the rules that apply to carrying low flash point chemicals. Obviously this constitutes a safety hazard. As the executive chairman of the leading parcel tanker op-erator, and with painful past experience from the explosion and sinking of our Bow Mariner in February 2004, I have strong opinions in this matter. The issue is one of safety, which does not allow for commercial com-promises. To paraphrase former President Clinton, I would say:

“it’s the cargo, stupid!” Instead of current arbitrary cut-off val-ues in respect of ship age, size and tank volume, IMO should implement rules for using inert gas related to type of product. In other words, low flash prod-ucts should be inerted irrespec-tive of the ship or the tank.

In the late seventies and early eighties, IMO, through the SOLAS con-vention, introduced regulations on the inerting of bulk liquid cargoes. Inerting in this context means saturating the void space in a cargo tank with a non-flammable gas. These regulations apply to tankers of 20,000 dwt and above. For carrying low flash point chemicals, in-erting is required for units built 1986 or later, for tank sizes of at least 3,000 cubic metres. However, according to the so-called “Grandfather Principles”, chemical carriers built prior to 1986 are exempted from mandatory inerting. These limits however hardly have any scientific foundation, but were mainly a compromise between commercial

interests and the, at that time, available inert gas technology.

To my knowledge, no tank explosions have occurred on crude oil carriers since the introduction of mandatory inert-ing. Hence, the use of inert-gas on oil

tankers has proven its worth. On chemi-cal tankers, however, there have been a few explosions, and the industry and the authorities currently discuss how to avoid such accidents and what measures to impose on the industry in terms of equipment standards and operational procedures.

The shipping industry is all for reduc-ing risk. Clearly, both customers and ship owners are concerned that rules and regulations should, if possible, take care of safety without deteriorating operational efficiency. Rules should be easy to understand, implement, moni-tor and enforce, and rules and regula-

tions should not adversely affect the industry’s competitive balance.

A regulatory regime that focuses on the flammability and explosion hazards of the product, instead of the characteris-tics of the ship, would meet these cri-

teria. Whether inerting of a prod-uct is necessary or not would be concluded, once and for all. Most modern chemical tankers are al-ready equipped with nitrogen generators of sufficient capacity, the optimal way of inerting chem-icals. Those that do not can either install such, obtain nitrogen from ashore, or somewhat alter their trading patterns. Thus, these would be only a minor impact in respect of the competitive bal-ance. Ships uneconomical of com-pliance will simply have to engage in the carriage of less flammable products, of which there are plen-ty; non-flammable chemicals, veg-etable oils and other bulk liquids with a high flash point. Competi-tive forces will rapidly take care of the rest, shore-side tank terminal infrastructure included. Tempo-rarily there may be a bit of a two tier market, but with instantly and greatly enhanced safety. Such a simple and unambiguous ap-proach has the added advantage of making it easy for the port ad-ministrations around the world to

enforce compliance. I also believe most national authorities would readily ac-cept the logic of such a straightforward ruling.

To conclude: the Maritime Safety Com-mittee has an easy, practically foolproof and cost-effective solution at hand: only determine which products require inerting, and that’s it. No further delib-erations and arbitrary definitions are necessary, and no further extensions, of course, in respect of unsafe carriage of low-flash products. Procedures on inert-ing is a separate topic, that should be subject to further studies and delibera-tions.

Inerting of low flash products should be mandatory for all tankers

It’s the cargo, stupid...By Dan Odfjell, Chairman Odfjell ASA

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), national maritime authorities, the tanker industry and its customers are currently discussing means to prevent tanker explosions. We hereby have the pleasure of printing the unabridged version of a letter to the editor that Odfjell Chairman Dan Odfjell sent to shipping daily Lloyd’s List.


Code of Conduct

Behaving the Odfjell wayBy Terje Storeng, President/CEO

Odfjell is a truly multinational com-pany that operates and serves clients on all continents. This means that we have to adapt to many cultures, religions and gen-eral customs and

practices. As representatives of the company, we are obliged to behave in a manner that does not in any way of-fend or insult anyone, and of course, that does not violate applicable leg-islation or regulations. We also have to endeavour meeting required and necessary safety and environmental standards. All employees shall enhance Odfjell’s standing by our honest and proper conduct, displaying profession-alism and integrity in the best interest of the company. It is really a matter of applying common sense, decency and respect in all our business dealings.

As this is an issue of great importance to Odfjell, we have prepared an Odfjell Code of Conduct that all employees shall comply with. The code is meant to enforce ethical behaviour in everyday business activities, and as such it merely reflects our established operational standards. It is distributed throughout the organisation, and it is also available on the company Intranet.

The code addresses several areas of par-ticular concern. Confidential and pro-prietary information to Odfjell should only be distributed on a company need-to-know basis except when otherwise required by law. Thus, information pro-duced and stored within Odfjell’s ICT systems is company property. Employees are responsible for keeping their elec-tronic files and archives in an orderly manner, as these form part of company files. Use of information and ICT services shall be governed by business needs.

All employees shall refrain from actions that may be in conflict with Odfjell’s best interests, including business rela-tionships and arrangements with cus-tomers, suppliers or other parties that may impair any decisions taken on be-half of the company. This also includes preventing access and use of insider information, i.e. information not gener-ally known to the public and that might affect the price of the Odfjell stock. The

employees have to comply with both the letter and the spirit of applicable competition laws.

Odfjell’s objective is to prevail on the basis of competitive services and prices, and we are firmly opposed to any form of corruption and bribery. Hence, it is under no circumstances acceptable to offer, give, solicit or receive bribes, kick-backs or any other form of improper or illegal inducement. This applies to our

operations everywhere, also in places where such practice is widely consid-ered “the way of doing business”. Along these lines, the practice of giving and receiving entertainment and gifts should be considered with great care, and is only acceptable to an extent that it does not result in a feeling or expecta-tion of personal obligation.

When Odfjell is represented by a third party, like agents and brokers, it is im-portant to ensure that these are both able and reputable. On the financial side, transactions and accounting must be accurate, timely and objective, and also preventing Odfjell being used as a vehicle for money laundering. At Odfjell we will influence our environ-ment by direct involvement, third party representation or industrial groups. We

will refrain from party politics and as-sociated contributions.

I hope and trust that you will follow the Code of Conduct, so that we com-municate to the outside that we as a company act in a uniform and appropri-ate manner; that we behave the Odfjell way.

The Odfjell logo, a symbol of professionalism and quality


The Russians are coming! Keel laying of the fi rst newbuilding at Severodvinsk

By Klaus Walderhaug

It had just started snowing again as darkness was falling on the Russian city of Severodvinsk on the White Sea. The mid-December afternoon was icy cold, and the large neon sign on the im-pressive main building of the Sevmash shipyard alternated with showing the temperature minus 13º C and the date December 13th. A few people were out in the snow-covered streets, maybe going home from work or doing some shopping, when our minibus drove into town from nearby Archangelsk. Only 15 years ago our presence would have been next to impossible; Severodvinsk was for more than half a century a “closed city” due to its military impor-tance. Now we could without much ado be driven through the gate of the yard that was once the centre of Soviet nu-clear submarine construction, to attend the keel laying ceremony of the fi rst Odfjell S-class chemical tanker.

We were let into an impressive assem-bly building, so large that it was hard to get a clear idea of its size in the dusk. The welcoming committee escorted us through several sections, bustling with

activity, to reach the area where the fi rst keel section was placed on a huge carriage. The hull section was adorned with Russian and Norwegian fl ags to-gether with the company logos of Sev-mash and Odfjell, and as we entered and descended to ground level a mili-tary brass band started to play, further adding to the festive mood. On top of the big keel section and up along the platforms of the hall, several hundred yard employees and what could well be family members were waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The keel laying is an important event to Severodvinsk and the Archangelsk area, as the conversion to civil shipbuilding may offer employment and economic development to a region in need of alternative business and new oppor-tunities. Quite a number of reporters, photographers and camera teams from Russian local and national newspapers and television networks had shown up to cover the occasion, and when the prominent delegates from the shipyard, local authorities and Odfjell entered a temporary podium erected in the hall,

Sevmash Director General Vladimir Pastukhov and Odfjell Chairman Dan Odfjell signing the keel laying protocol

Photo session for the media


the fl ashlights and camera lightingreally illuminated the premises.

The signifi cance of the project, both to the Russians and to Odfjell, and the re-newed Russo-Norwegian cooperation on the heritage of the Pomor trade were common denominators for the speeches delivered at the ceremony, ex-pertly translated between Russian and English. Representatives of Sevmash, of local authorities and Odfjell Chairman Dan Odfjell all expressed the impor-tance of the event and best wishes for a successful cooperation. Finally came the big moment when Sevmash Direc-tor General Vladimir Pastukhov and Mr. Odfjell could mount a memorial plaque to the bulkhead of the double bottom, as a memorial token of the keel laying ceremony. This is a very nice Russian tra-dition, and perhaps in some 30-35 years’ time the captain will enter the double bottom to dismantle the plaque before sending the ship to recycling.

After the ceremony at the yard, Sev-mash invited to a large banquet in their magnifi cent “House of Engineers and Technician Workers” (DITR). The tables were abounded with the most delicious food and drink, as Russians and Nor-wegians gathered for a splendid mid-winter feast. Through speeches and toasting the cooperation and relation-ship were further manifested. Although the language barrier made direct com-munication somewhat diffi cult except with the assistance of one of the excel-lent interpreters, you can come a long way by fi nger language and smiles. A local balalaika orchestra offeredauthentic and appropriate entertain-ment, stressing the Russian culture and heritage. In the evening as we departed for Archangelsk we all felt confi dent that the Russians are coming, the fi rst one already in 2007 to serve Odfjell and the chemical industry for many years.

Mounting the memorial plaque

The work on the fi rst hull continues


By the White Sea Site Team Severodvinsk

By Willie Telfer and Leif T. Årvik

Odfjell’s site office in Severodvinsk was established by Willie Telfer and Leif T. Årvik in October 2005, and together with our secretary Olga Babich we are Odfjell’s crew at Sevmash. More people will successively be added to the team to meet increased activity the coming months.

In addition to building commercial ves-sels, the yard is mainly manufacturing and modifying vessels for the Russian Navy. For that reason the security at the yard is very strict. For instance you need a special permit/invitation to enter both the yard and the town of Severodvinsk. This, in addition to “language challeng-es”, has caused some difficulties and misunderstandings, but so far no prob-lems have been unsolvable and every-one is doing their best to help. To build this type of vessels is a new experience to the yard and hence, we must expect

some challenges, at least in the initial phase. However, we are confident that Odfjell and Sevmash together will solve any problems that may arise and find solutions that suit both parties.

Odfjell’s site office is located in the cen-tre of the town in a building called DITR (abbreviation for House of Engineers and Technician Workers), and lies with-in walking distance both from the yard and our living quarters near the Lenin Square. The DITR building which, in ad-dition to our site office, houses a restau-rant, several conference rooms and a nice concert hall, is used by the yard for special arrangements such as the keel laying reception in December. It is also used for special occasions by the people in town, for instance when celebrating weddings.

Although the range of selection is per-haps not so large, you will find every-thing you need here in Severodvinsk: restaurants, bars, shopping centres, swimming pool, bowling halls and much more. The surroundings offer lots of possibilities for those who like out-doors activities, e.g. fishing. Should you still require more, Archangelsk is only

40 km away. There is also the nearest airport.

We have experienced some severe frost this winter with temperatures below minus 30 C, so we have mostly stayed indoors. Thus, we still have more to “explore” during the warmer months. As a matter of fact, the cold weather has so far been the greatest challenge for inhabitants from mild and rainy Scotland and southwest Norway.

Site team secretary Olga Babic

The DITR building

Balalaika concert at the DITR


Severodvinsk - The birthplace of the S-class

By Leif T. Årvik and Willie Telfer

The banks of the river Severnaya Dvina (North Dvina) were first “discovered” by the Vikings in the beginning of last millennium. English and Norman ships came to the Severnaya Dvina river mouth trading for furs and fish until the 13th century, when global cooling of the climate made navigation in the north seas too dangerous. The water-way from Europe to Severnaya Dvina was forgotten for 300 years, but in Au-gust of 1553 a storm threw ashore an English ship, “Edward Benaventure”, looking for a northern way to China. Richard Chancellor was the captain of the ship and one of the streets of Severodvinsk now bears his name. Capt. Chancellor visited Ivan the Terrible and won his favour, after evaluating all the benefits of discovery of the Russian land. As a result, England was granted trade privileges from the Russian tsar. In 1557 diplomatic relations were opened between England and Russia.

The founders of the city arrived on the boat “Ivan Kalyaev” in June 1936. The first builders of Severodvinsk were a few Komsomol members accompanied by thousands of prisoners taken there as forced labourers. Living in tents among the cold, wet and mosquito infested swamps, they built 50 km of railroad in just four months. The railroad opened in November 1936, and following the railroad, work began on the submarine shipyard. As an award for their hard

work, the USSR Government gave the settlement status of a city and named it Molotovsk on August 11, 1938.

Near the outbreak of World War II, the city already housed 40,000 people, most of who moved there from other areas of the Archangelsk region. 14,000 peo-ple left the city to defend Russia during the war; only 4,000 returned. Women and teenagers replaced men on the plants and factories. Molotovsk sea port was opened just in a few months, in December 1941. Cargo received through lend-lease from England and the US was mainly going through Murmansk and Archangelsk. However, more than half of the ships going to Archangelsk were unloaded instead at Molotovsk, a more convenient port in some respects. After the war, Molotovsk was renamed again, to its current name of Severodvinsk.

Today Severodvinsk is the second larg-est city in the Archangelsk region, with a population of 240,000 people. De-fence, mainly construction and repair of submarines, remains its main indus-try. Severodvinsk serves as the home of the Russian State Center for Atomic Shipbuilding (GRTsAS), which consists of Russia’s two largest shipyards: the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise (better known as Sevmash) and Zvez-dochka. Together these shipyards cover an area of 15 square kilometres, and they hold overall responsibility for the

design, construction, testing, repair, and decommissioning of nuclear-pow-ered ships. The Sevmash yard, which has around 27,000 employees, has been designated by the Russian Navy as the sole nuclear submarine construction fa-cility, whereas Zvezdochka is responsi-ble for nuclear submarine maintenance and dismantlement. The first nuclear submarine “Lenin’s Komsomol” was delivered in 1957. In the beginning of 1980s Sevmash built the world’s largest submarines, the “Typhoon Class”.

Severodvinsk City Monument

The Lenin Square Sevmash


As from 2007, the revision of the IMO MARPOL Annex II regulation will require enhanced hull protection for a number of bulk liquid cargoes. Among the prod-ucts affected we find for instance veg-etable oils that must be carried in tank-ers with double hull, corresponding to recent changes in the requirements to carry mineral oil products. Accordingly, a number of tankers will become com-mercially less suitable.

The KSEC class, built in Korea between 1986 and 1988, has no protection of its wingtanks and thus, we would be fac-ing a reduction in the range of products allowed on these ships. However, as the vessels otherwise have a technical stan-dard that should allow trading for many years, it was interesting to assess whet-her they could be converted and up-graded to comply with the new rules.

Evaluation of the technical feasibility and economics of upgrading the five sister vessels Bow Puma, Bow Panther, Bow Lion, Bow Leopard and Bow Cheetah started in August 2005. The project involved a multidisciplinary

team, including internal and external specialists, as well as required partici-pation by the classification society DnV to review and approve the design. The

initial engineering design was approved this February, and at the same time the Odfjell Board endorsed our recommen-dations for this project.

We received price quota-tions from many potential providers, among which we short-listed four Chi-nese yards. A quickly as-sembled team of Odfjell specialists went on an intense ten-day tour to visit all four. We spent two days at each yard for a comprehensive assess-ment of their facilities and technical expertise, and to ensure that each had a thorough under-standing of the project. All yards really impressed us with their technical capabilities, facilities and the effort that had been put into preparations. However, based on an overall evaluation, COSCO

Double HullConversion of the KSEC class

By Helge Olsen

Bow Puma, one of the five KSEC vessels

Fitting the new double skin blocks to the existing hull


Nantong won the order. We signed the contract on February 15th, within two weeks of receiving the Board approval!

The upgrading of each vessel will in-volve the removal of the existing shell plating in way of the cargo section and replacing it with blocks of prefabri-cated steelwork to create double skin ballast tanks on each side. The width of the new double sides will exceed re-quirements to facilitate operations and maintenance, and the increased scant-ling will enhance the vessels’ strength. Each vessel is expected to spend around 50 days at the yard for this combined upgrading and general docking work. Within this tight schedule, the yard will also blast and repaint the vessels’ entire hull, including necessary restoration of cargo tank coating that is affected by the conversion.

Now we have to focus on getting the job done, on time, together with the yard.

Signing the contract, from left: General Manager Ni Tao (Cosco Nantong) and Helge Olsen

The Odfjell team, from left: Subhanker Dastidar, Laurence Odfjell, Helge Olsen, Karsten Sævik, Jan Bjerkan, Krzysztof Kapucik (Stocznia Szczecinska Nova)


Enhanced supplier management through performance monitoringBy Chris Pronk, Purchase Manager Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam)

Key Performance Indicators of the vendor rating system. Green shows performance according to contract, orange indicates sub-performance, yellow over-performance and red shows bad workmanship

Suppliers do not always perform as agreed. To prevent poor performance and the additional cost of non-qual-ity, and to avoid paying extra for anything not re-ally required, it is

important that we follow and analyse our suppliers’ achievements on a con-tinuous basis. To manage our suppliers’ performance, and to achieve the neces-sary overview and transparency in the relationship with our vendors, in 2004 Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) imple-mented a vendor rating or performance monitoring system. The main purpose of the system is to improve the quality awareness in relation to our target, a zero mistake performance.

Before starting the implementation of the vendor rating system, OTR defined several necessary factors:

Scope, i.e. which products and suppliers to be monitored, making a distinction

between strategic, leverage, routine and bottleneck products

Key Performance Indicators, which are discussed and contractually agreed upon with the relevant suppliers (see graph). Total score variation over time per indicator for each supplier or prod-uct can easily be monitored.

Required (contractual) performance, determining what is over- and sub-per-formance and poor workmanship.

OTR has established a performance monitoring panel, with members from different levels of our organisation. The panel regularly evaluates aspects such as attitude, flexibility, win/win focus, communication, expertise, invoice ac-curacy, in time delivery, product qual-ity, etc. Through using the Intranet and automatically issuing fixed format e-mails, the average time spent per colleague per month for assessing one product/supplier is limited to maximum 10 minutes. Meetings are only necessary to discuss with the supplier how dete-riorating non-performance can be set

right. By using this vendor rating sys-tem, in the near future negative perfor-mance trends may be prevented even before the costs of non-quality occur.

OTR started implementing the vendor rating for ten of our most important core business suppliers. The first evalu-ation was available in 2005, and shows that OTR is capable of linking mon-etary value to supplier performance. This should motivate the suppliers to make the deliveries in accordance with the agreements. We also find that per-formance monitoring makes it easy to adjust these processes quickly and ef-ficiently, thereby preventing or limiting costs of non-quality. Transparency leads to better understanding and communi-cation, because the parties and people involved have the same level of infor-mation. Performance monitoring also contributes to a higher level of overall quality awareness due to the perma-nent focus on supplier quality. Finally, the vendor rating system makes it pos-sible to benchmark our suppliers’ com-petitors, enabling Odfjell to evaluate which supplier is best in class.

Our suppliers are now aware of the ne-cessity to continuously maintain good performance in order to achieve OTR satisfaction, a prerequisite to get new orders in the future.


The Petrochemical Industrial Distil-lation (PID) unit at Odfjell Termi-nals (Rotterdam) has taken in use a new central con-trol room and up-graded the distilla-tion columns from

pneumatic control to a process control system.

The Odfjell PID is an important busi-ness unit, but the original distillation columns, the central control room (CCR) and associated configurations and sys-tems were 1962 design. The pneumatic control system was outdated, and the location of the CCR and PID offices, in the direct vicinity of the site, no longer met applicable safety standards. Conse-quently, the construction of new facili-ties became necessary.

Design constraintsFirst of all, we had to determine the location of the new building. Various criteria had to be considered; mainly the impact of a possible explosion, the requirements for fire prevention, venti-lation and accessibility to the plant by the operations staff. This resulted in the

new CCR being erected against the new main office building, giving a safety dis-tance to the distillation columns of 75 metres. The strength of the building and the PID-operators’ requirements for sufficient daylight, combined with the esthetical necessity of matching it with existing architecture, required careful considerations.

CooperationThe users have had a lot to say when deciding the architecture and func-tional design of the process control. The system is provided by Emerson Process Management who also worked with our internal construction team. Fibre-optic connections and motor controls are also tailor-made in every way.

ExecutionInitially only one distillation unit was connected to the new process control system, still in the old control room. This enabled the Operations department to get familiar with the system. The switch from a pneumatic controlled system to a distributed computer-controlled system is a huge change. Prior to the switch, the operators received extensive training. Once the new CCR was ready, all the other distillation units were con-nected and all systems were switched

over at once. New are also several cam-eras that enable the control room oper-ators to accurately monitor the majority of the activities and key locations at the plant. Since everything was thoroughly prepared, the shut down of the plant was reduced to five days only.

Spare capacityPotential expansions of the control sys-tem and future need for capacity and new units have already been taken into account. We now enjoy ample power with dedicated 25 kV installations and our own transformer.

The cooperation within the construc-tion team and the involvement of operations PID played a big role in the swift, smooth and successful switch of the PID units. Today, the entire process is controlled from a state-of-the-art control room.

These modifications have brought Odfjell PID up to date with the latest technology and prepared it for the fu-ture. We are all very happy with the outcome of this successful project.

PID upgrades to state-of-the-art technology and systems By Hans Luthart, Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam)

The new central control room


The markets for our services and the requirements that are put upon us are constantly changing, and we have to adapt ac-cordingly. At the end of 2005 we announced some

substantial modifications of the Odfjell Seachem and Odfjell Terminals organi-sations, changes that we believe will enable us to handle better the chal-lenges that we will face in the years to come. Such announced reorganisations naturally create uncertainty and even anxiety among the staff, and a natural question for many has been: “how will this process affect my situation and po-sition within Odfjell?”

I am very happy and grateful to note that everyone involved has been both positive and cooperative, and that all colleagues really have made an effort

to contribute to an efficient and suc-cessful reorganisation. Mid February we had the big “relocation day”, when in the course of a few afternoon hours almost everybody at Odfjell Seachem in Bergen moved to new locations within the office. This logistical challenge was planned and carried out without any major problems. My praise goes to ev-eryone involved, and in particular to the ICT staff who managed to connect phones, computers and network access so that the office was kept operational almost throughout.

The new structureFor Odfjell Seachem the new structure involves two organisation pyramids instead of previously just one. We will have separate departments for charter-ing and operations, but obviously they will cooperate as one effective unit. In February Sigmund Larsen joined Odfjell as head of the new Operations depart-ment, and we are really happy to have him on board to further enhance our

operational performance. The operators are now organised in a Western and an Eastern hemisphere group, but will fol-low the ships on a continuous basis. The Chartering department will maintain its “tradelane based” structure, where each business group are responsible for a geographical area. Morten Nystad has been appointed to be in charge of the Chartering department.

Odfjell Terminals has now become a third “pillar” of the new structure, the purpose being to achieve closer coor-dination of ships and terminals. The terminal organisation will be quite decentralised though, reflecting the diversified nature of this business. Thus, Bernt Netland at OTH will be respon-sible for terminals and developments in the Americas, Zeger van Asch van Wijck at OTR for Europe and Atle Knutsen in Singapore for all terminals and projects in Asia. Morten Albriktsen will handle terminal developments in the Middle East, India and Africa. However, the

Sigmund Larsen, recently appointed head of the new Operations department

Change towards excellence

By Jan A. Hammer


terminals will be a more tightly integra-ted part of the transportation services, which also our customers will benefi t from.

For details on the new organisation structure we refer internal readers to the Odfjell Intranet.

What do we want to achieve? The main reason for the reorganisation is to tie things better together. By hav-ing operators designated to the ships and not to a geographical tradelane, we will simplify and improve ship/shore communications. This allows the ship-board management and the operators to establish and sustain a close relation-ship over time. Together with the Ship Management superintendent in charge of the technical maintenance of the ship, they are now expected to form a trio that holds a combined responsibil-ity for the technical and operational running of the ship. This unit will con-tribute to reaching the optimal balance between commercial requirements and operational considerations.

A tighter integration of ships and ter-minals is aimed to give a more unifi ed company profi le and add more edge to our marketing efforts. We also want to enhance our customer service approach, making it even easier to develop tailor-made multimode transportation solu-tions. We also believe a closer coopera-tion between ships and terminals may offer the tools to improve on vessels’ port performance, by limiting time in port, lower the number of shiftings,minimising the likelihood of mistakes and damages and thus, to reduce the overall port costs.

Our intentions and goals are ambitious, and the reorganisation is merely a fi rst step towards achieving these objectives. Nevertheless, to prevail in the market we need to excel, and through these measures we believe to have laid some of the premises for success. However, as they say, the proof of the pudding lies in the eating. Thus, let us all do our best to make our parcel tankers and tank terminals safe, preferred and profi table units also in the future.

Impressions from the relocation day


In the October 2005 issue of Quarterly, I outlined the devel-opment of celestial navigation, bridg-ing coastal voyages with navigation by electronic means. To obtain your po-sition you need

two intersecting position lines plotted on a map. A position line is a line along which you must be situated according to an observation, for example a mag-netic bearing to a lighthouse or a radar distance to an object. This time we will look further into modern methods to determine position.

The start of the 20th century saw major developments in electronic instruments. The radar was one of the first, although it took some time to develop the prin-ciples of transmitting radio waves and measuring time before they bounced

back after hitting an object (thus ob-taining bearing and distance to ob-jects). Most important, it took time to transform new technology into practi-cal devices.

One of the simpler methods, and also early developed, is radio detection find-ing. By using a radio receiver and a di-rectional antenna, you can determine the exact bearing to radio stations. Knowing their position, you can plot such bearings on a map from the shore antenna in your direction and obtain intersections by doing this on two or more radio beacons.

World War II accelerated the develop-ment of radio systems, for example for bomber plane navigation. By setting up several senders and building systems based on time differences between sig-nals and manipulation of the electro-magnetic characteristics, both accuracy and user friendliness improved. The

decades after the war saw the expan-sion of such systems, many of which still mainly had military purposes, into stan-dards available both for civil aviation and the merchant marines. Radio-based systems like Decca, Loran-C and Omega evolved and ended up with the receiv-ers processing signals and providing latitude and longitude figures for the current position in the displays - quick to plot on a map.

Technological development however is ruthless, and sophisticated radio sys-tems soon became obsolete. Further, radio stations and even their frequen-cies were vulnerable to respectively sabotage and jamming in the event of armed conflicts, and the military appli-cations could suffer accordingly.

To increase accuracy and security, space technology was used to launch satellite systems for navigation. The advantages of satellites in general is that they are

Radio waves and satellitesNavigation in modern timesBy Frode Bjørklund

Radar, the widely used navigational equipment


difficult to destroy, and may be optimal-ly positioned (unlike radio-stations who depend on “friendly” territory). The first generation was a US system called TRANSIT, operational for submarines in 1964 and released for civilian use in 1967. However, although sophisticated, and even combined with Loran-C or Omega, the TRANSIT was not able to provide a continuous or real time posi-tion.

The system modern civilisation relies heavily on today is the well known “Global Positioning System” (GPS). Al-though developed in the mid 1970s, a fully functional system was not ready until the end of the 80s. The GPS satel-lites have actually from the beginning also been equipped to detect nuclear explosions on the surface of the earth. The major breakthrough of GPS how-ever, was in the second Gulf War where in fact the troops were provided with civilian receivers due to the lack of mili-tary units. Initially, the GPS signals were coded in a way so that only military receivers enjoyed an accuracy of down to 10 metres. GPS was released for non-military use at the end of the eighties, but the intentional inaccuracy was not turned off until year 2000.

The basic principle of GPS is the twice daily orbit of about twenty-four satel-

lites continuously transmitting signals saying: “my position is xx and the time is yy”. The system includes ground sta-tions ensuring accuracy of the satellites. GPS receivers have clocks that update on the signals and measure how far the sig-nals travel. Thus calculating the distance to several satellites, not only a three di-mensional position can be obtained but also the receiver’s velocity, direction and the accurate time.

Although the GPS technology has built in several features to increase accuracy, it is still not perfect. To optimise avia-tion and navigation, several support systems of reference receivers operate which simply provide continuous cor-rections to the satellite signals.

GPS is not the only satellite based navi-gation system operating. The GLONASS system is managed for the Russian Fed-eration Government by the Russian Space Forces. It features similar tech-nology to GPS, but with less accuracy for common users. Some receiver units use GLONASS as backup and support to GPS. GLONASS is still expanded and im-proved.

The next generation of positioning ser-vices will be provided by a rather inter-national venture behind the GALILEO project. Initiated by the European Union

and the European Space Agency (ESA), GALILEO will be an open civilian system (not under military control) with con-tinuous service and with a higher accu-racy and better (global) coverage than existing systems. About 30 satellites shall be launched the next four years to secure operations by 2010. Countries like China, India, Israel, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are also participating. State-of- the-art technology will allow differentiation in services with the open system providing accuracy down to 4 metres, whilst the fee-based commercial service may be accurate down to 10 cm!

Like the GLONASS complements the GPS, GPS will complement GALILEO, and in the future the latter two systems will offer what may be described as a Glob-al Satellite Navigation System (GNSS), optimizing services and accuracy.

Undoubtedly, the future is one of con-trol – accurate time, position and track-ing will allow sophisticated equipment and seamless automatic services for you and me to aid many of our daily doings. And in the near future, nobody can tell you to “go and get lost”.

Satellite navigation - the modern tool for establishing position. Source: European Space Agency


“Africa’s bewitch-ing seaside play-ground in the sun, Durban has from its earliest days possessed a special charm... a certain mystique that adds ‘something extra’ to the meeting of

warm Indian Ocean, radiant golden sands and lush sub-tropical greenery”, according to the official tourist website under the title “Enchanted Pleasure-Pal-ace”. We have asked our local Commer-cial Manager Mel Pinks to share some of his thoughts of the city, Odfjell’s African representation and a port frequently called by our vessels.

Durban, South Africa’s third largest city and Africa’s busiest port, is situated on the south-eastern seaboard of South Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the east, by the Drakensberg moun-tains on the west and to the south lies the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated in Kwa-Zulu-Natal; one of the nine provinces that divide up South Africa. There are about three million people living in Durban, representing a multitude of

ethnic groups and religions. The main language of business is English, but all the other eleven official languages of South Africa are also spoken here: Af-rikaans, Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Pedi, Sesotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda and Sign language. The literacy rate is 86.4%.

The development of Durban started with the successful navigation of the narrow but well protected inlet known as Port Natal. Portuguese navigators had named the natural harbour Rio de Natal upon their first visit on Christmas Day 1497. However, the bay was one of steaming summers in the shade of dense coastal forests, and was only favoured as a site for European development in 1823 with the arrival of trader Henry Fynn and his party. Their small bush settlement grew into a town named twelve years later af-ter Cape Colony Governor Sir Benjamin D’Urban.

The town grew slowly given the lack of British support, and became a sanctuary for war veterans and renegades. Life in the tropical, untouched environment of the town was made even more perilous by its proximity with the kingdom of the

amaZulu, Nguni settlers from central Africa. The Zulus, there for centuries, did not favour European settlement, clear-ing of large areas of vegetation and trading of goods including ivory, and mis-trust prevailed. Unease for settlers soon turned into attacks against the Zulus with the arrival of the Voortrekkers (migrants from the Cape colony) in 1838, and a series of bloody battles ensued. Increased fighting finally inspired the involvement of the British government and, after the building of what is now known as the Old Fort, the area was finally annexed to the Cape Colony in 1844. The new prov-ince of Natal was developed around the by now rapidly growing town, and free, independent trade and improved ships and busier sea traffic soon rewarded the town’s position, favourable climate and safe harbour.

The British brought thousands of inden-tured labourers from India and other Asian countries to set to work on the area’s prolific sugar cane and tropi-cal fruit industries. The potpourri of Amazulu, Briton, Voortrekker, Indian and the descendants of other cultures has resulted in the city’s distinctly cos-mopolitan feel. Today’s Greater Durban

Durban – the Zulu Kingdom By Mel Pinks

Durban Central Business District

Odf

jell

Loc

atio

ns


Metropolitan is the result of more than three million people imprinting their cul-tures into this sultry, magical coastline. Durban is also known as South Africa’s Miami Beach.

Durban is a fantastic place to visit, busi-ness or pleasure, offering many attrac-tions. There are numerous luxury ho-tels in and around the Central Business District, which is a hive of activity, and the International Convention Centre has been voted Africa’s leading confer-ence centre for five consecutive years. The weather is normally beautiful, and sea bathing can be enjoyed all year as the Indian Ocean rarely falls below 18 degrees. The beaches are fabulous, and shark nets make them amongst the saf-est in the country. Durban’s Golden Mile beach also includes amusement centres, pools and gardens. The City Hall has been declared a national monument. The Durban Cultural & Documentation Centre contains cultural artefacts, and artistic exhibits detail largely the history of the city’s large population, including documents covering the lives of the in-dentured labourers of the 19th century. Along the beachfront you can also take a ride on one of the many rickshaws, run by flamboyant local rickshaw men. Ushaka Marine World is Durban’s most recent attraction, with an aquarium, dol-phinarium and oceanarium and a pio-neer in marine research. There are also two big casinos in Durban for the gam-bling minded, Suncoast casino and the brand new Sibaya casino. The nightlife is bustling, from art cafés to nightclubs. Durban has it all!

Durban hosts annual events throughout the year. One of the most fun festivals is Splashy Fen, a music festival in the Un-derberg. Although not in Durban itself, it is definitely worth going to. In July there is the Mr. Price Beach Pro, which is a huge surfing competition held on Durban beachfront. There is also the July Handicap which is a whole day of horseracing at our Greyville race track. We have just been awarded a three-year contract to host the A1 Grand Prix (the World Cup of motorsport), where For-mula One style standard cars are raced by national teams. And South Africa has been given the honour and pleasure of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Things are looking up!

The city is very important for business, and many of Odfjell’s major South Afri-can customers have offices here. Within the Central Business District is one of Sasol’s main offices. Although their head office is in Johannesburg, the Durban office handles many important functions including but not limited to logistics and management functions for bulk liquid shipping such as chartering, operations, tank storage at the port, surveying and

quality control. In the immediately adja-cent business parks in La Lucia we find Noble Resources, Unilever and up until recently, Foskor. Durban also houses the South African head offices of the major-ity of ship agencies, chandleries, support services, engineering contractors, classifi-cation societies, clearing and forwarding agents, etc.

Like any city in the world, Durban un-fortunately also has its negative aspects. As a traveller you shouldn’t carry large sums of cash on you or have anything of real value on display because muggings do and can happen even during the day. It is not safe to be walking anywhere at night, alone or accompanied. During the day is fine but stay where there are peo-ple, don’t wander down roads and allys you don’t know. Only take advice from Durban’s Tourist Protection Unit or your hotel staff on where to venture out to at night.

There are several different types of game lodges close to Durban, ranging from standard camping to luxury rooms. Some of the lodges have all the game South Africa has to offer like the Big Five (elephant, leopard, lion, rhino, and buffalo), or the parks only keep the non-dangerous animals and are normally situated closely to a neighbouring park that does have all the wildlife. From Durban you can also take many nice tours to experience South African nature and culture. Two of the highly recommended tours are the Valley of a Thousand Hills Tour, showing some of the most beauti-ful sceneries of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Shakaland Zulu Experience that allows you to encounter Zulu traditions and dancing.

Welcome to Durban!

Maydon Wharf

View towards the Drakensberg mountains


New Terminal Management System

Built on a SAP platformBy Tor Jürgensen

In the Decem-ber 2004 issue of Quarterly I pre-sented the proj-ect “New Termi-nal Management System”(TMS). The purpose of this project is to de-velop a common

administrative management system for all Odfjell managed tank terminals. Now it is time to report on status and tell a little about our selected vendor, the well known software provider SAP.

During autumn 2004 the TMS project team mapped requirements of a future system, and we described the scope for the project. Through this process we examined the work processes at the terminals in Rotterdam and Houston to agree on a standard work process model. Thereby we had a conceptual idea of features and functions in a new TMS system.

During the spring of 2005 we assessed a number of potential vendors for such a system, and made a short list of three candidates. At an Odfjell user confer-ence these three presented their best price guidance and demonstrated their solution approach, addressing several operational processes:

• Marine, truck and rail movements• Contract management, order Intake• Planning and scheduling• Inventory, tank calculations• Operations, movements and blending

Based on the proposed solutions and price guidance from the candidates, supplier capabilities, feedback from the user conference and initial negotiations, the TMS Steering Committee finally se-lected SAP with their solution based on the standard software package “mySAP Business Suite” and a vertical solution for the oil & gas industry.

Before year-end 2005, contracts were signed with SAP for supplying the nec-essary software licenses for the TMS. The contracts also include a “blueprint” project that shall transform the func-tional TMS requirements into a specifi-cation on how exactly the SAP software

is to be set up. The blueprint project, which will include construction specifi-cations including time estimates and a cost model for the TMS development, is scheduled to be completed within the end of June 2006.

When the blueprint project is complet-ed we will commence with the software development, where the SAP software is configured according to specifications. This phase of the work is estimated to


last about 12 months. Thus, we expect the new TMS to be implemented at the first terminal late autumn 2007.

SAP is the market leader in its field. The “mySAP Business Suite” includes a com-plete package of administrative soft-ware including Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Manage-ment, Supplier Relation Management and Asset Management. Thus, the SAP software has the potential to be an im-portant software platform for Odfjell in the future. However, before any implementation of new solutions based on SAP, first it must prove its quality through the TMS project.

From the signing of the SAP contract. From left: Øystein Jåtog-Rød, Vidar M. Nordby and Andreas Schmidt from SAP, Tor Jürgensen and Tom Hagesæther (Umoe Consulting)

A SAP login to a preliminary version of the Terminal Management System

SAP is one of the largest software vendors in the market for administra-tive systems, with about 27,000 com-panies in more than 120 countries having implemented SAP systems. A majority of Odfjell customers are SAP clients.

SAP has more than 33,000 employees and more than 1,500 partners around the world. In 2005, SAP had gross revenues of 8,513 million Euros and a net profit of 1,496 million euros.

SAP System Integration AG, the unit responsible for Odfjell’s “blueprint project”, is the consulting division of SAP and includes more than 9,000 highly trained consultants.

About SAP


The e-mail threats

Help, I’m being spammed! By Klaus Walderhaug

“No”, Jan tells me, “technically speak-ing spam is unsolicited e-mails, usually offering some kind of merchandise or to broadcast some political or social commentary. This is an example of a mixture of Scam, i.e. an attempt to trick money out of you, and Phishing, to ex-tract personal or sensitive information, in this case your bank particulars. Other related threats are e-mails with the pur-pose of spreading viruses and worms, and hoaxes, i.e. intentionally deceptive warnings circulating via e-mail about an alleged computer virus risk. But for sake of simplicity, let us use spam as a com-mon name for unsolicited e-mails”.

How large a problem is spam? Jan explains: “Odfjell receives some 400,000 e-mails per month, of which ap-proximately 65-70% is spam. This corre-sponds more or less with the worldwide spam ratio. Thus, in addition to being potentially harmful to your computer, spam also occupies valuable internet re-sources, slowing down the system”.

What is the point of sending spam e-mails? “Simple math”, says Mr. Ottemo. “Sup-pose that one out of 2,000 spam receiv-ers responds, giving the spammer a revenue of $1. If a million spams were sent that day, the spammer would make $500 and the job might have taken only half an hour to set up. That means that only a few hours per week could yield $100,000 a year. Of course, consistent revenues are not guaranteed, but some spammers make a whole lot more than $100,000 every year. In any case, there is ample motivation”.

What is being done to stop this nui-sance? “Slowly we are getting some legal pro-tection against spam. United States is in the forefront in this respect, where 12-

15 states have adopted anti-spam laws. In the US there have also been some spam-related convictions. But in Europe and not least in Norway we are lacking behind”, sighs Jan. “Some have sug-gested imposing a small fee, only a few

cents, on all e-mails sent. This would make spamming prohibitively costly and thus effectively stop the problem. However, it would also make legitimate e-mailing more expensive”.

The “spambuster”, Jan Ottemo of Odfjell ICT

I got an e-mail the other day. Nothing unusual in that, like everybody else I receive many every day, but this one was a bit out of the ordinary. It was from this very friendly guy in some remote country whose uncle had been a senior direc-tor of the national bank or something like that. Now he was stuck with 400 million US$ in a bank account, and he need-ed my assistance to be able to lay his hands on the money. Just a few minor details involving my personal bank account

and a little bit of forwarded expenses, and for that he was offering me 10%. Obviously, 40 million dollars would defi-nitely make a world of a difference to my personal finances. However, when something is too good to be true it is usually exactly that. So instead of forwarding my bank particulars to my alleged benefactor, I contacted Jan Ottemo, responsible for Odfjell ICT security and the company’s main capacity on this field. Was I being spammed?


How do Odfjell protect ourselves against spam? “We have a very good spam fi lter cov-ering all e-mails to and from the com-pany, and this stops more than 95% of all spam. And according to the supplier, only 1 out of 250,000 legitimate mes-sages is wrongfully stopped”.

Is there anything I can do personally to avoid being spammed? “Oh yes, there is a number of precau-tions you should take to limit your ex-posure to spam. Let me list some of the most relevant:

• Limit where you post your e-mail ad-dress. Be cautious about posting your e-mail address on public web sites, and remove your e-mail address from your personal site.

• Use multiple e-mail addresses for dif-ferent purposes. You might set up one for personal use to correspond with

friends, family or colleagues, and use another for more public activities. In ad-dition to your Odfjell address, you can get a private address for free from one of the net providers, such as Hotmail or Google.

• Never respond to spam mail, and don’t reply to mail unless you know and trust the sender. Answering spam just con-fi rms that your e-mail address is live.

• Never respond to messages from com-panies asking for personal information. It could be a spoofed e-mail meant to look like a legitimate one.

• Don’t contribute to charity based on e-mail requests. If it is a charity that you want to support, fi nd their number else-where and call them to fi nd out how you can make a contribution.

• Don’t forward chain e-mail messages. Besides causing more traffi c over the

line, forwarding a chain e-mail message might be furthering a hoax, and you lose control over who sees your e-mail address.

• Never send multiple e-mails (i.e. mes-sages addressed to several receivers) by putting the addresses in the TO-fi eld. Instead you should use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) fi eld so that an addressee cannot see the addresses of other re-ceivers.

• Use spam-fi lters also at home. There are many free fi lters available”.

With such good advice in mind, I hurry back to my desk to delete the message from my “generous friend”. He may have been an honest fellow just want-ing to share a bit of his potential wealth with an unknown northener, but then again he probably wasn’t.

The term spam was suppos-edly coined from a Monty Python comedy sketch in the early 1970s, in which every item on a restaurant menu contained SPAM, and there was nothing a customer could do to get a meal without it. The sketch was derived from the fact that in England dur-ing World War II, SPAM (Hor-mel’s processed meat) was

abundantly available while other foods were rationed. Many believe spam is an acronym for “sales promotional advertising mail” or “simultaneous-ly posted advertis-ing message.”

SPA

MSP

AM

SPA

M


Safe

ty B

ulle

tin

The formal report on the explosion and sinking of the Bow Mariner was com-pleted by the US Coast Guard and pub-licly distributed December 14th 2005. Although the report does not come up with a clear cause or explanation as to what actually caused this tragic acci-dent, it is very thorough and highlights several very important issues. Some of these have been stressed before, and the Bow Mariner accident gave us a strong reminder of their importance. Central issues were: to ensure that pro-cedures are transferred into working routines through proper implementa-tion processes, to focus on the human element and better address training and coaching needs, to focus on ship-board leadership and the importance of preparedness through sufficient train-ing and drills for worst cases. In other words, drill in a “backbone reaction”.

The Bow Mariner explosion is one of several on chemical and product carri-ers lately. A broad industry work group was subsequently established, and a lot of work has been put into identifying common nominators that can form a basis for corrective actions. The group just finished its task and delivered the report and recommendations to IMO for consideration. Lloyd’s List recently printed a letter from our Chairman, Mr. Dan Odfjell, in which he pointed out po-tential weaknesses with today’s regula-tions. Although the general rule today is to inert flammable products, a quite extensive use of exemptions based on the age, type and size of a ship makes today’s system inconsistent from a safety point of view. It is the properties of a product in an enclosed space that should be the main and leading factor and not the age of the steel or volume of the space in which it is stored. Inert-ing of all flammable cargoes will be the

logic way ahead to reduce the possibil-ity of similar accidents in the future.

Nitrogen, which must be used for the inerting of most chemicals, is a very dangerous gas and a significant increase

in its use could potentially increase the risk associated with tank entries to an unacceptable level. Loading of chemi-cals require numerous tank entries by crew and external surveyors. These en-tries often take place in busy ports and during peak workloads. With the great number of tanks on a chemical tanker and the variety of cargoes, some inerted and some not, there is room for human errors and subsequent accidents. The need for external surveyors to enter a tank for cleanliness verification must in my opinion be looked more closely into. Tank cleanliness is the carrier’s responsi-

bility, and failure will result in claims the carrier has to pay, regardless of whether the tank has been approved by an ex-ternal surveyor or not. With the excep-tion of a few very sensitive cargoes, it should be fully possible to make it the

general rule to pass a tank on documen-tary evidence from the carrier, i.e. last cargoes, cleaning, testing, etc. This will take away some strain from the hectic loading phase, and thereby significantly reduce the risk that increased use of nitrogen inerting may create. In my 15 years as Insurance Manager with Odfjell, I have very seldom seen cargo becoming contaminated because of a cleanliness problem in the tank. Oversights and er-rors, cargo lines and unfavourable last cargoes are more frequently causing damage to cargo.

Bow Mariner - the US Coast Guard report

By Toralf Sørenes

Fire drill

As from 2006, Odfjell Ship Management has started with a more dynamic and structured use of key performance indi-cators. These will be addressed in quar-terly reports, and the first report cover-ing 2005 was distributed in January. This initiative is partly triggered by the new Tanker Management and Self Assess-

ment best practise scheme, TMSA. The main driver, however, is increased focus on HSE and performance. Every report will have some action or area that we should put particular focus on. The ar-eas in our 2005 report were to improve LTIF (lost time injury frequency), increase reporting of near accidents, reduce neg-

ative observations during vetting and port state inspections and reduce Hull & Machinery damages. The KPI reports will be very important instruments for making continuous improvement, and it is important that they get the proper attention on all levels.

Performance and KPIs


The Corinth Canal separates Pelopon-nessos from the Greek mainland, and links the Gulf of Corinth in the north-west with the Saronic Gulf in the south-east. The canal is 6.3 km long and has a water depth of 26 feet or about 8 me-tres. Its width varies from a minimum of 21 metres at the bottom to a maxi-mum of some 25 metres at the water’s surface.

Before the canal was dug, ships sailing between the Aegean and Adriatic had to circumnavigate Peloponnessos, add-ing about 185 nautical miles to their journey. Already in the year 602 BC the Corinth tyrant Periander decided to shorten the sea route by a canal, but such a project proved to be beyond the technical capabilities of the times. In-stead they built a stone road on which ships could be wheeled across the isth-mus. Another attempt at building the canal was made around 300 BC by Mace-don King Dimitrios Poliorkitis. However, his engineers claimed that such a canal would have the more northerly Adriatic, mistakenly thought to be higher, flood the more southern Aegean. It was also generally feared that Poseidon, god of the sea, would oppose joining the Aegean and the Adriatic. The same fear also stopped Roman emperors Julius Caesar, Hadrian and Caligula. Emperor Nero made perhaps the most serious at-tempt in 67 AD, bringing in 6,000 slaves for the project, but he was killed before the work could be completed.

In 1830, Capodistrias, the first governor of Greece after the liberation from the Ottoman empire, again wiped the dust of the canal plans. But the budget, esti-mated at 40 million French francs, was too much for the Greek state. Finally, in 1869, the Greek state granted the privi-lege to construct the Corinth Canal to Austrian General Etiene Tyrr, a private company. Work commenced on March 29th 1882, but the capital of 30 mil-lion francs was insufficient for the proj-ect. The work was restarted in 1890 by Greek company Andreas Syggros, with a capital of 5 million francs. The job was finally completed, and the Corinth Canal was opened for ordinary traffic on October 28th 1893.

The Corinth CanalBy Klaus Walderhaug

The Odfjell ships make numerous canal passages every year, mostly through Suez or Panama. However, there are also many other canals, large and small, around the world. One of those is the Corinth Canal in Greece.

Odfjell Quarterly has received these nice pictures from M/T Multitank Batavia, one of the Odfjell Ahrenkiel vessels, taken as the ship passes through the fascinating and beautiful landscape


Whether you visit Odfjell Terminals (Houston) (OTH) by land, or come in on one of our ships by sea, you have probably noticed that OTH is getting a new neighbour. On an area of 1,600

acres (approximately 6.4 million square meters – twenty times the size of OTH), the Port of Houston is soon opening a world-scale container and cruise termi-nal. The attached drawing shows the master plan for the project. The first phase, which is a two-berth (approxi-mately 650 meters of wharf) container facility in the middle part, will be com-pleted in the summer of 2006. The cur-rent plan is to have the first phase of the cruise terminal on the east end of the property operational in April 2007.

Houston’s existing container terminal at Barbour’s Cut is already at capacity, operating well over 1 million TEU’s per year, and the Bayport terminal has been needed for a while. We expect a sharp increase in both rail and truck traffic

through the Bayport area, and currently both road and rail access is being im-proved to handle this.

There will also be an increase in ship traffic along the Bayport Channel. How-ever, with the 2007 addition of a second

turning basin just outside the channel entrance, we do not expect a significant impact for OTH’s ship traffic.

We welcome our new neighbour and wish the Port smooth sailing in the start- up phase.

General overview. The left side shows the existing chemical terminals, and the area immediately to the right of Odfjell is the container terminal. The cruise terminal is to the far right

Work is progressing at the new site

New container and cruise terminal in BayportBy Bernt A. Netland


Shore leave in Guzzler Bay

Santa’s SacksIn the previous issue we asked our es-teemed readers to fi gure out which sack Santa chose to pick a present from (and why), to fi nd how the goblins had moved the sack labels. The point is that the goblins had rearranged the labels so that each label is on the wrong sack. Thus, by choosing a present from the sack labelled ‘Mixed’, he knows that this must be either the ‘Girls’ sack or the one with presents for boys. If the pa-per is red he knows it is the ‘Girls’ sack, and hence that the one labelled ‘Girls’ must be the one with presents for boys. Likewise, if the gift he picks is wrapped in blue paper he knows this sack to be

the ‘Boys’ sack and, con-sequently, that the one la-belled ‘Boys’ to be the sack with presents for girls.

As many of our readers have pointed out, in more or less blunt terms, this teaser was really on the easy side. Nevertheless, at least it had some kind of Christmas touch to it. We have received eleven suggested solu-tions, all correct. The lucky winner this time is Sandra Cao of Odfjell Shanghai. We send our sincere congratulations,

and hope for a lot more answers to the teaser in this issue. Why don’t you give it a go?

Solution to Brainteaser 2005Q4.

After a long and stormy sea voyage, MT ‘Bow Hazard’ under the com-mand of Captain BI Zahr had ar-rived at the small port of Guzzler Bay. The sailors, having been to sea for more than a month, couldn’t wait to get ashore to paint the town red. How-ever, there was plenty of mainte-nance work to be carried out on board before departure the next day, so only a part of the crew was granted shore leave.

The lucky ones gath-ered in the captain’s of-fi ce to get some ‘drynx’ (the local currency) to pay for the evening’s fun. The captain had set aside a sum from the welfare funds, but he had a somewhat unusual way of dis-tributing the money among the sailors. The fi rst one got 10 drynx plus one ninth of what was left. The second one received 20 drynx plus one ninth of what was left, and the third sailor 30 drynx plus one ninth of the remainder. So it continued, each of the sailors waiting in row receiving a fi xed amount of 10 drynx more than the one in front plus one ninth of what was left. However, before ordering the

fi rst round at the fi rst bar, the sailors compared and found that Captain Zahr had given all of them exactly the same amount.

How many sailors went ashore and how much money did they get?

I await your suggested solutions by June 5th 2006 at the very latest. Good luck!


Grey turns into greenBy Theo Kruithof

When driving on the Oude Maasweg, where Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) is located, the dominating view is the dull shape and grey colour of indus-try. But this will change in the near fu-ture, thanks to an initiative from OTR. Inspired by the green surroundings of our Bergen HQ, we had a thought: the Botlek-area must become greener! The view of fjord and mountains can not be copied, but trees, bushes, water…? Yes, that must be possible. Grey has to turn into green.

So, we shared our exciting idea with the Rotterdam Port Authority, the landlord

responsible for the area, and they were enthusiastic about it. The Port Author-ity even informed us they had funds for such a project and would pay for it all. A landscape architect was invited in on the project, and in no time we received an artist impression. Late 2005 the plans were approved by the Port Authority, and early 2006 a gardener commenced cutting ditches and planting the first trees. The water-loving green – reed, alders and willows – has been planted close to the water and will eventually turn the boring and naked landscape into a typical Dutch wetland.

Phase 1 of the project has been com-pleted, whilst the entire project will be ready by the end of April 2006. As from that time, Mother Nature can start do-ing her job. The Rotterdam Port Author-ity has spoken highly about this indus-try-driven initiative by Odfjell. “It shows that the petrochemical industry really cares about the environment.” Sure, be-cause environmental care does not stop at our gate.

The start of what in some years perhaps will be known as the Botlek forest

The large Odfjell tanks will, at least partly, be hidden by lush green

Another successful Odfjell reception in IndiaBy Manisha Desai, Odfjell India

Guests queuing up for some delicious food

Knut Holsen, Odfjell Seachem Bergen, giving an informative speech

The last day of November Odfjell India invited customers and business partners to a reception at the Hyatt Hotel in New Delhi. The outdoor venue turned out to

be a perfect setting despite the cold weather (only 9ºC). Heating lamps and nice cocktails kept our guests warm and in a very upbeat mood throughout the

evening. Some 80 guests from the fer-tiliser and chemical industry attended and graced the occa-sion. It was particularly pleas-ant to welcome a “high-pow-ered” delegation from Foskor, South Africa, but we also had the pleasure of receiving at-tendees from other esteemed customers of ours, e.g. Sabic, Pausupati, Jubiliant, Kundalia, IOC, Finolex and MSK. Let us

convey our special thanks to the Nor-wegian Ambassador, Mr Jon Westborg, for his presence.

Overall we received a good response from the fertiliser and chemical indus-try, demonstrating its confidence in Odfjells’ long-standing presence, ser-vice and commitment in the Indian sub- continent.


Overseas representatives on Bergen training courseBy Manisha Desai, Odfjell India

During week 7, a group of five female col-leagues from some of Odfjell’s overseas offices had the pleasure of attending a training course in Bergen; Sylvia Kim from Ulsan, Yati Sa’at from Singapore, Lonnie Lu from Shanghai, Irene Deklerk from Dubai and myself Manisha Desai from Mumbai.

The organisers had set up a tight daily schedule, with our sessions starting at 9 o’clock in the morning and ending with the common competence sessions around 1600 hrs. Afterwards followed a big social calendar. The programme was a perfect blend of education mixed with some leisure. We learnt how to fetch data from Odysseus, OTIS, Othello and other in-house information tools that we have access to. Screen-based educa-tion by common competence and other IT tools was combined with interesting presentations by the vice presidents of the respective chartering groups. The programme further included informa-tive sessions with various operators,

from whom we learnt a lot more of op-erational issues. We also had the oppor-tunity to meet the various service and staff functions at Minde.

Let us express our gratitude to all in-volved in organising this training course. It’s been great!

The course delegates with Odfjell top management. From left: Terje Storeng (President/CEO Odfjell ASA), Lonnie Lu, Yati Sa’at, Manisha Desai, Sylvia Kim, Irene Deklerk, Jan Hammer (President Odfjell Seachem)

A day in the snow Asia Pacific Operations goes skiing in HemsedalBy Tore Vaagenes, Odfjell Seachem Bergen

To further improve team spirit, late Jan-uary the Asia Pacific Operations group decided to spend a week-end together at Skars-nuten, the Odfjell com-pany cottage in ski-resort Hemsedal. The main pur-pose of the trip was first of all to ski and have fun, but also to identify ways to improve communica-tions between ship and operations.

Friday afternoon 14 operators, charter-ing personnel and marine accountants left Bergen, and after a four-hour-drive, partly along very slippery roads and bumper-to-bumper driving across Hemsedalsfjellet, everybody arrived safely and ready for a long weekend. And as always, the mood was excellent and the adult beverages were enjoyed to the full!

Saturday emerged with a clear blue sky, no wind, fantastic slopes and – 17º C. None of us are ski champions, but we sure enjoyed ourselves. After a long day outside it was time for the professional session.

Set in the new organisation, our team is eager to perform, when we are stuck behind our desks and Skarsnuten is just a nice memory.

At the top. From left Roald, Christine, Jostein and Geir

Preparing dinner


From Singapore to BergenBy Khalid Talil

I have been with Odfjell in Singapore since September 2001. The first years I was with the Operations department, which gave me invaluable experience preparing me for my current work as a broker. When a broker vacancy in Bergen emerged, I saw this as an oppor-tunity for me to further expose myself to a new environment and different markets. Finally getting the assignment at the Middle East desk, I was excited and enthusiastic for the future ahead. Odfjell proved by this to be a truly in-ternational company, and with equal opportunities I believe foreign staff can contribute with a different yet positive work culture, create diversity and inject new ideas.

Before I left sunny Singapore, a farewell party for me was arranged at a local pub with many from the shipping industry including charterers and brokers attend-ing. Within days after, I said goodbye to my family, friends and loved ones and departed for Bergen, ready for the new chapter in my life. Arriving in Bergen on February 26th, my first impression was

the weather; rather cold and about to start snowing, though I came prepared with warm clothes. The apartment was ready when I got here, conveniently lo-cated in the inner city.

What can I say after two weeks in Norway? Tormod Skjeseth of the Middle East Export department has been show-ing me the ropes on this trade, and so far it has been a relatively easy transi-tion except for the weather and food. Spring is coming so I hope the weather improves, but I do miss the local food back home like Nasi Lemak and Laksa. Walking around, Bergen is really a beau-tiful city, surrounded by scenic moun-tains. In the coming months I hope to learn to ski and to snowboard, and in the future to have a chance to see and discover Europe. Along the way I’ll try picking up the Norwegian language.

As a parting note, I will like to thank all my colleagues in Singapore who has provided support and friendship throughout my working years. Thanks also to the staff here in Bergen, who has

given me a warm and much appreciated welcome.

From the farewell party in Singapore

At work in Bergen


Quarterly talks to Board Member

Reidar Lien By Anne-Kristine Øen

Reidar Lien is born and bred in Bergen, and considers himself a bit of a patriot. He is a broadly experienced banker and administrator, and started to work with the Odfjell companies as far back as in his first banking position in 1966. He is a faithful contributor of solutions to the Odfjell Quarterly Brainteaser, and for years he was an active international Bridge player.

You are a member of several local and inter-national boards of di-rectors. What is it like to be on the Board of Odfjell?

“It is extremely inter-esting! I am proud to be on the Board of Odfjell, and I take great pride in doing my best for the compa-ny. My colleagues are all very experienced and dedicated, which I find very stimulating. I think that the Board members complement each other in a very useful way with our different backgrounds and experiences. We work really well as a team and spend a lot of time and effort in our stride to make the right decisions and ac-commodate for the best possible devel-opment for Odfjell. Also, the fact that the company is so well po-sitioned world-wide surely adds to the ex-citement of being on its Board. In conclu-sion I find it very re-warding.”

“I also have to say that I am genuinely impressed by the skill, dedication and good work of all Odfjell employees that I have had the pleasure of being in con-tact with. I have been on the Board since 2001, and during this period the organi-sation has shown that it is also able to function under difficult and unfortu-nate circumstances. Complicated situa-tions put companies to the test, and in my opinion Odfjell passed the test and gained strength in the process.”

For most of his career, Reidar has been a banker. He has had a remarkable career, and over the years this has opened a lot of possibilities to him. On a few occa-sions he has also been offered interest-ing positions abroad.

“Although I love to travel, and to work in an international environment, Bergen has always been the natural base for me

and my family. This is of course also a matter of timing. When the opportuni-ties have turned up it has simply not fit-ted with the rest of my or the family’s programme. But I have no regrets, liv-ing in beautiful Bergen. My wife and I now have three grown-up children and six grandchildren, and we are fortunate to have them all living here in Bergen even today.”

For fifteen years Reidar played on the Norwegian National Bridge Team, and

competed all over Europe. He has won the Norwegian Bridge championship six times, the Nordic Bridge championship three times, and he even has a bronze medal from the Bridge Olympics.

“Bridge is a fascinating game. When playing Bridge you need to exercise a lot of mental skills. To be any good, it is a condition that your analytical, logical

and psychological ca-pacities are all alert throughout the game. In addition to this, communication is of course a vital skill as you continuously have to “read” your partner and your opponents as the game proceeds.”

“However, a few years ago I decided to swap the green indoor play-ing tables with the green outdoor golf courses. Golf is ano-ther exciting game that offers new chal-lenges to me, and ample opportunities for good exercise and fresh air. Additionally, unlike Bridge, if you make a mistake you have got no partner to blame! For many years I deliberately avoided golf, as I realised that this was something that I could easily get very absorbed by. It turned out I was right on that one! I have by the way participated in the local Odfjell Golf tournament here in Bergen a couple of times, and that was good fun.”

You have already won the prize for best solution to the Odfjell Quarterly Brainteaser once, is your next ambition to win Odfjell’s local golf tournament?

“I really see no immediate possibility of that, the company has some very good players. But during the next few years I hope to make substantial progress, so why not?”

Bo

ard

of

Dir

ecto

rs


Lih Chyun Tok FinneDA Analyst, Operational Support01.01.2006

Sigmund LarsenSenior Vice President, Odfjell Seachem Operations13.02.2006

Bente StangelandChartering Assistant, Odfjell Seachem Chartering20.02.2006

Ståle Kyrkjedelen Ship Operator, Odfjell Seachem Operations01.03.2006

Jan Petter RasmussenOperation Assistant, Odfjell Seachem Operations01.03.2006

Headquarters Bergen

NEW HIRESTh

e Pe

rso

nn

el C

orn

er

Odfjell Huston

Tana CroleyOffice Administrator 01.02.2006

Barbara RodeTransshipment Operator20.02.2006

Odfjell USA

Jason AmosOffice Administrator 01.02.2006

Marlon JonesOperator 09.01.2006

Pablo Andres CubisinoTreasury and Adminis-tration Assistant17.11.2005

Odfjell Argentina

Nicole Wai Yin PhoonAccounts Assistant03.01.2006

Xu JunOperations Trainee01.12.2005

Odfjell Singapore

Cris Huijsman C2-operator01.01.2006

Pim Bekkersd-operator 01.01.2006

Pjotr SkotnickiGeneral Manager PID01.01.2006

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam)Odfjell Shanghai

Stefan Klootwijk d-operator16.01.2006

Alexander Van der Tangd-operator01.02.2006

Edwin Bastemeijerd-operator01.02.2006

RELOCATIONS

Khalil Abdul Jalil TalibShip BrokerFrom Singapore to Bergen27.02.2006

Paul Shynett, Jr.Operations Mgr.From Odfjell Terminals (Houston) to Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co. L.L.C. (OOT) 28.02.2006


IN SERVICE FOR ODFJELL

40 YEARS

Jan LodderHead Sample RoomOdfjell Terminals (Rotterdam)07.03.1966

25 YEARS

Frits WaldekkerCustomer representativeOdfjell Terminals (Rotterdam)01.02.1981

MISSING AT SEANOEL O. BULLECER, born 16.12.1972, was chief offi cer on board M/T Bow Hunter, and went missing from the ship en route in the North Atlantic on Febru-ary 22nd 2006. Our thoughts are with his family.

JENNY R. MORALES, born 16.05.1977, was wiper on board M/T NCC Yamamah, and went missing from the ship en route in the North Atlantic on January 8th 2006. Our thoughts are with his family.

Editor’s CornerThe fi rst quarter of the year is quite unpredict-able in these parts of the world. In 2005 it felt we nearly drowned here in Bergen from all the rain. This year we have to go back at least a de-cade to fi nd less precipi-tation during the fi rst

three months, and for the last 3-4 weeks this “capital of rain” has been bathed in cloud-less sunshine. For us working on the south-ern side of the new third fl oor in Bergen it tends to be a bit too warm and bright, and I guess it’s only a matter of time before some kind of water rationing is imposed and the price of hydroelectric power goes skyrocket-ing. Nevertheless, to go to work every day without having to think about raingear or an umbrella is indeed pleasant. If we are pessi-mistic about it, the idea of a fi xed quota of sunny days indicates that we should be fac-ing a wet and dreary summer. Instead I prefer to consider it perhaps as a positive side-effect of global warming, and maybe we from now on will enjoy on a more permanent basis the kind of sunny and pleasant climate that we always have envied everybody else.

This is my 13th issue as editor of Odfjell Quarterly, and looking back on the previous 12 issues and 400 pages we have published I believe there have been some development of the “product”. Whether the changes have been for the good or for bad I leave to oth-ers to consider, but I can assure you that we are always really doing our best to make “the best Odfjell Quarterly ever”. Using the term “we” means that I gladly share any praise and positive feedback with the eager and skilled team of co-editors here in Bergen; Ellen Skagen, Anne Øen, Frode Bjørklund and our proof-reader Matt Duke, and obvi-ously with all the contributors to the maga-zine. Any criticism and negative comments I reserve for myself.

However, 13 has also proven to be an unlucky number for us, in the sense that the fl ow of articles and pictures has been more scarce than usual. In particular I regret to note that we have received very little stuff from the vessels this time. As the corporate magazine of a company operating so many ships, obvi-ously we should have ample coverage of our maritime operations. However, this requires that we receive articles and pictures from our seaborne colleagues. If each of our 90+ vessels on average contributed half a page every third year, defi nitely not an unreason-able request, we would have 3-4 pages of stories from the sea in every issue. So all you sailors, start sharpening your pencils, log on the computers and get out your cameras. It is contribution time for Odfjell Quarterly!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Klaus

Raincoats...By Torill Katinka Ryngøye

All Odfjell employees have recently been given, or are soon to receive, raincoats as a complimentary gift from the company. Bjørn Åge Veivåg of Odfjell Ship Manage-ment in Bergen exhibits how the outfi t might be worn.

Indoors, under an umbrella, even in

rainy Bergen that’s a bit overdoing it...

Odfjell Annual Report 2005Odfjell ASA’s annual report for 2005 will be available as from mid April. In addition to providing the latest fi nancial fi gures, it also con-tains information on our develop-ment and prospects for the future. The report will be available in hardcopy as well as in electronic format on the Odfjell Intranet and on Internet at www.odfjell.com.


STAINLESS NUMBER SHIPS BUILT DWT CBM STEEL,CBM OF TANKS

Owned: Bow Summer 2005 40 036 52 126 52 126 40 Bow Sky 2005 40 005 52 126 52 126 40 Bow Spring* 2004 39 942 52 126 52 126 40 Bow Star* 2004 39 832 52 126 52 126 40 Bow Sun 2003 39 842 52 126 52 126 40 Bow Firda* 2003 37 427 40 515 40 515 47 Bow Chain* 2002 37 518 40 515 40 515 47 Bow Favour 2001 37 438 40 515 40 515 47 Bow Century 2000 37 438 40 515 40 515 47 Bow Fortune 1999 37 395 40 515 40 515 47 Bow Master 1999 6 046 6 878 6 878 14 Bow Mate 1999 6 001 6 864 6 864 14 Bow Pilot 1999 6 000 6 865 6 865 14 Bow Sailor 1999 6 000 6 870 6 870 14 Bow Cecil* 1998 37 345 40 515 33 236 47 Bow Flora 1998 37 369 40 515 33 236 47 Bow Balearia 1998 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Bow Bracaria 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Bow Brasilia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Bow Cardinal 1997 37 446 41 487 34 208 52 Bow Faith 1997 37 479 41 487 34 208 52 Bow Bahia 1996 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Bow Cedar 1996 37 455 41 608 34 329 52 Bow Fagus 1995 37 375 41 608 34 329 52 Bow Clipper 1995 37 166 41 492 34 213 52 Bow Flower 1994 37 221 41 492 34 213 52 Bow Eagle 1988 24 728 32 458 19 662 25 Bow Cheetah 1988 40 258 47 604 - 29 Bow Leopard 1988 40 249 47 604 - 29 Bow Lion 1988 40 272 47 604 - 29 Bow Peace 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Power 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Pride 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Prima 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Prosper 1987 45 655 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Fertility 1987 45 507 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Fraternity 1987 45 507 52 173 2 167 23 Bow Panther 1986 40 263 47 604 - 29 Bow Puma 1986 40 092 47 604 - 29 Angelim (50 %) 1985 10 259 10 136 6 500 18 Araucaria (50 %) 1984 10 259 10 159 6 500 18 Bow Hunter 1983 23 002 25 026 21 031 28 Bow Maasstad 1983 38 039 48 866 - 22 Bow Maasstroom 1983 38 039 48 866 - 22 Bow Maasslot 1982 38 039 48 866 - 22 Bow Fighter 1982 34 982 41 184 6 299 34 Bow Pacifico (50%) 1982 18 657 22 929 10 849 31 Owl Trader 1982 12 450 14 482 8 070 22 Bow Pioneer 1982 23 016 25 965 20 969 28 Bow Viking 1981 33 590 40 956 21 745 36 Bow Lancer 1980 35 100 42 468 6 252 34 Bow Heron 1979 35 289 42 109 5 882 31 Jatai (50 %, LPG) 1979 4 452 4 031 - 3 Bow Lady 1978 32 225 41 354 3 077 42 Bow Condor (50%) 1978 27 950 34 656 21 035 43 Bow Andes (50 %) 1977 28 060 34 756 21 136 43 *Vessel beneficially owned through financial lease. Time-Chartered: Bow Architect 2005 30 058 36 000 36 000 28 Bow Rio 2005 19 990 19 990 19 990 22 Bow Europe 2005 19 727 21 573 21 573 36 Bow Santos 2004 19 997 21 846 21 846 22 Bow Asia 2004 9 901 10 866 10 866 20 Bow Singapore 2004 9 888 10 867 10 867 20 Bow Americas 2004 19 707 22 050 22 050 36 Bow de Rich 2003 12 452 13 300 13 300 22 Bow Wallaby 2003 11 951 13 485 13 485 22 Bow de Feng 2002 12 514 13 289 13 289 22 Bow West 2002 12 503 13 299 13 299 22 Bow de Silver 2000 11 747 12 296 12 296 20 Bow Andino 2000 16 121 17 270 17 270 30 Bow de Jin 1999 11 752 12 296 12 296 20 Bow Wave 1999 8 594 9 225 9 225 20 Bow Wind 1999 8 587 9 226 9 226 20 Multitank Batavia 1998 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Multitank Badenia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Brage Pacific 1997 17 460 18 620 18 620 24 Multitank Bolognia 1997 5 870 5 941 5 941 20 Multitank Britannia 1996 5 870 5 941 5 941 20

Flee

t and

term

inal

s


STAINLESS NUMBER SHIPS BUILT DWT CBM STEEL,CBM OF TANKS

NCC Jubail 1996 37 499 41 488 34 209 52 Brage Atlantic 1995 17 460 19 587 19 587 22 NCC Mekka 1995 37 272 41 588 34 257 52 NCC Riyad 1995 37 274 41 492 34 213 52 Bow Antisana** 1989 8 192 9 899 5 777 22 Bow Gorgonilla** 1989 8 192 9 899 5 777 22 NCC Baha 1988 24 728 32 458 19 662 25 NCC Asir 1983 23 001 24 965 20 969 28 NCC Arar 1982 23 002 24 965 20 969 28 Jacaranda (50%) 1978 9 970 9 924 5 877 17 Bow Orion 1977 28 083 34 656 21 035 43 NCC Yamamah 1977 28 053 34 656 21 035 43 Bow Neptun 1976 28 060 34 656 21 035 43 Bow Saturn 1976 28 030 34 656 21 035 43 Number of ships: 91 2 337 060 2 711 299 1 565 293 **Vessels on bareboat charter YARD DELIVERY DWT OWNER On order: NB Szczecin - B588/III/6 4/2006 39 500 Odfjell NB Szczecin - B588/III/7 10/2006 39 500 Odfjell NB Szczecin - B588/III/8 4/2007 39 500 Odfjell NB Szczecin - B588/III/9 10/2009 39 500 Odfjell Option NB Szczecin - B588/III/10 4/2010 39 500 Odfjell Option NB Sevmash #1 9/2007 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #2 6/2008 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #3 11/2008 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #4 6/2009 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #5 10/2009 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #6 6/2010 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #7 10/2010 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #8 6/2011 45 000 Odfjell NB Sevmash #9 45 000 Odfjell Option NB Sevmash #10 45 000 Odfjell Option NB Sevmash #11 45 000 Odfjell Option NB Sevmash #12 45 000 Odfjell Option NB Kitanihon 3/2006 30 000 Time-charter NB Kitanihon 9/2006 19 800 Time-charter NB Kitanihon 11/2006 19 800 Time-charter NB Fukuoka 12/2007 19 900 Time-charter NB Shin Kurishima 6/2008 32 500 Time-charter NB Kitanihon 8/2008 33 000 Time-charter NB Kitanihon 10/2008 33 000 Time-charter NB Kitanihon 12/2008 33 000 Time-charter NB Fukuoka 12/2008 19 900 Time-charter NB Shin Kurishima 6/2009 32 500 Time-charter NB Usuki 11/2006 19 900 Variable t/c NB Usuki 1/2007 19 900 Variable t/c NB Usuki 6/2007 19 900 Variable t/c NB Usuki 8/2007 19 900 Variable t/c Number of newbuildings: 31 1 090 500

TANK TERMINALS STAINLESS NUMBEROwned terminals LOCATION SHARE CBM STEEL, CBM OF TANKS

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) BV Rotterdam, NL 100 % 1 540 000 31 000 300Odfjell Terminals (Houston) LP Houston, USA 100 % 270 563 81 902 92Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) Ltd Dalian, China 50 % 59 700 5 750 35Odfjell Terminals (Korea) Co Ltd Onsan, Korea 50 % 109 500 2 850 39Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Ltd Singapore 50 % 213 000 5 700 51VOTTN Ltd (Ningbo) Ningbo, China 12.5 % 63 500 7 900 36

Total 2 256 263 135 102 553

Associated terminals

Depositos Quimicos Mineros S.A. Lima, Peru 23 680 3 200 29Granel Quimica Ltda Santos, Brazil 97 720 19 879 99Granel Quimica Ltda Rio Grande, Brazil 32 800 2 900 24Granel Quimica Ltda Sao Luis, Brazil 25 600 0 18Granel Quimica Ltda Ladario, Brazil 8 000 0 6Odfjell Terminals Tagsa S.A. Buenos Aires, Argentina 51 105 535 101Odfjell Terminals Tagsa S.A. Campana, Argentina 31 936 10 100 51Terquim S.A. San Antonio, Chile 32 840 0 25

Total 303 681 36 614 353

MAIN OFFICEOdfjell ASA - Odfjell Seachem ASConrad Mohrsv. 29, P.O. Box 6101 Postterminalen5892 Bergen, NORWAYTel: +47 5527 0000Fax: +47 5528 4741Fax: +47 5527 9070(Chartering/Operations)

INTERNATIONAL OFFICESOdfjell USA LP12211 Port RoadSeabrook, TX 77586, USATel: +1 713 844 2200Fax: +1 713 844 2211

Odfjell Singapore Pte Ltd6 Shenton Way, # 27-08/09 DBS Tower 2SINGAPORE 068809Tel: +65 6349 1300Fax: +65 6224 2285

Odfjell Japan LtdOgawa Bldg. 8F2-2 Uchikanda 1-ChomeChiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0047, JAPANTel: +81 3 3259 8555Fax: +81 3 3259 8558

Odfjell Netherlands BVOude Maasweg 6, P.O. Box 50103197 XC Rotterdam-BotlekThe NETHERLANDSTel: +31 102 953 666Fax: +31 102 953 668

Odfjell Brasil LtdaAv. Paulista 460 - 18 andarCEP 01310-000 Sao Paulo SP, BRAZILTel: +55 11 3549 5800Fax: +55 11 3549 5808

Odfjell ShanghaiSuite B, 13/FHuamin Empire Plaza,728 Yan An West Road,Changning District,Shanghai 200050, P.R. ChinaTel: +86 21 5239 9469Fax: +86 21 5239 9897

Odfjell Argentina SAAlicia Moreau de Justo 1960Office no. 202 - Puerto Madero1107 Buenos Aires, ARGENTINATel: +54 114 313 7837Fax: +54 114 313 4619

Odfjell Australasia Pty LimitedSuite 4, Level 1443 Little Collins StreetP.O.Box 1279Melbourne VIC 3001 AUSTRALIATel: +61 3 9642 2210Fax: +61 3 9642 2214

Odfjell IndiaA-26, Nandbhuvan Industrial EstateMahakali Caves Road, Andheri (East)Mumbai 400093, INDIATel: +91 22 5695 4701Fax: +91 22 5695 4707

Odfjell Seachem South Africa Pty LtdThe Sharaf House2 Sinembe CrescentLa Lucia RidgeDurban 4051, SOUTH AFRICATelefon: +27 31 583 4470Fax: +27 31 583 4488

Odfjell Korea Co. Ltd.13th fl. Dongbu-Dadong Bldg.#103, Da-Dong, Chung-KuSeoul, KOREATel: +82 2 775 9760Fax: +82 2 775 9761

Odfjell Manilac/o Magsaysay Maritime Corp.5th floor, 520 t.m. Kalaw StreetErmitaManila, PHILIPPINESTel: 63 2 526 9773Fax: 63 2 525 7720

Odfjell Dubaic/o Sharaf Shipping AgencySharaf Building, Al Mina RoadP.O. Box 576,Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESTel: +971 4 351 9785Fax: +971 4 351 9756

Odfjell (UK) Ltd14 Headfort PlaceLondon SW1X 7DHUNITED KINGDOMTel: +44 207 823 0605Fax: +44 207 823 0606

National Chemical Carriers Ltd CoRoom 301, 3rd Floor, Al-Akariyah Bldg No 1Sitteen Street, Malaz AreaP.O. Box 8931Riyadh 11492, SAUDI ARABIATel: +966 1 477 3934Fax: +966 1 476 4328

Terquim SABlanco Encalada 840Dept 702, San AntonioCHILETel: +56 35 211 050Fax: +56 35 211 161

REGIONAL OFFICESOdfjell Asia Pte Ltd6 Shenton Way, # 27-08/09 DBS Tower 2SINGAPORE 068809Tel: +65 6349 1300Fax: +65 6224 2285

Odfjell Ahrenkiel Europe GmbHGurlittstrasse 11Postfach 100 22020001 HamburgGERMANYTel: +49 40 24838 307Fax: +49 40 24838 319

Flumar Transportes de Quimicos e Gases LtdaAv. Paulista 460 - 18 andarCEP 01310-904 Sao Paulo SP, BRAZILTel: +55 11 3549 5800Fax: +55 11 3549 5807

TANK TERMINALSOdfjell Terminals (Houston) LP12211 Port RoadSeabrook, TX 77586, USATel: +1 713 844 2300Fax: +1 713 844 2355

Odfjell Terminals (Rotterdam) BVOude Maasweg 6, P.O. Box 5010Harbour Number 40403197 KJ Rotterdam-BotlekThe NETHERLANDSTel: +31 102 953 400Fax: +31 104 384 679

Odfjell Terminals (Dalian) LtdNo. 3 Binhai North RoadZhongshan DistrictDalian 116001, P.R. CHINATel: +86 411 8262 9701Fax: +86 411 8262 3707

Odfjell Terminals (Jiangyin) Co, LtdJiasheng South Road 1Economic Development Zone (West)Jiangyin 214446Jiangsu ProvinceP.R. CHINATel: +86 510 8666 9111Fax: +86 510 8666 9110

Odfjell Terminals (Korea) Co, Ltd136, Cheongyong-RiOnsan-Eup, Ulju-GunUlsan, KOREATel: +82 522 311 600Fax: +82 522 376 636

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminal Singapore Pte Ltd1 Seraya AvenueSINGAPORE 628208Tel: +65 6473 1700Tel: +65 6479 4500

VOTTN, Ningbo LtdNo. 1 Zhaobao Shan RoadZhenhai DistrictNingbo 315200, P.R. CHINA Tel: +86 574 2769 5638Fax: +86 574 8627 5931

ASSOCIATED TANK TERMINALSTAGSA S.AAv. Alicia Moreau de Justo 1960,piso 4 Of.4021107 Buenos AiresARGENTINATel: +54 11 4001 9700Fax: +54 11 4001 9701

GRANEL QUIMICA LtdaAv. Paulista 460, 18 andarCEP 01310- 000 São Paulo, SPBRAZILTel: +55 11 3549 5800Fax: +55 11 3549 5832

TERQUIM S.ABlanco Encalada 840Dept 702, San AntonioCHILETel: +56 35 21 1050Fax: +56 35 21 1161

DQM S.AJr. Huascar 251, Urbanizacion ChacaritasCallaoPERU Tel: +511 429 4651Fax: +511 429 0637

Offi

ces

and

addr

esse

s

w w w . o d f j e l l . c o m

Documents

Quarterly March 2006