Singapore 2013

A holistic guide to shipping’s centre of gravity

Taking the pulse of maritime sectors

in the Lion Republic

Market Report 2013

An Asia Shipping Media publication

www.SeaShipNews.comSingapore

wherever you sail...

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Contents

The leading source on Southeast Asian maritime and offshorewww.seashipnews.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sam Chambers [email protected]

CHIEF CORRESPONDENT Katherine Si [email protected]

CORRESPONDENT Jason Jiang [email protected]

ECONOMISTGary Bowerman

All editorial material should be sent to [email protected] or mailed to Office 701, 9 Renmin Lu, Zhongshan District, Dalian, China 116001

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DESIGN Tigersoft Pte LtdPrinted in Singapore

Copyright © Asia Shipping Media Pte Ltd (ASM), 2013.

Although every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this review is correct, the publishers accept no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions that may occur. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner. For reprints of specific articles contact [email protected].

3 LinkingBradPitttoshippinginSingapore

4 Thestateofthenationaleconomy

7 Tuasshiftfortheport

9 Howtherepublic’syardsarecopingamidstgrowingcompetition

12Shipfinanceaspirations

Majulah Singapura13 Legaldebate15 LNGhubinthemaking

17 Shipownersplatform

21 Offshoreinterviews

24 Thosewhohavejusttouched down

31 Shipmanagementmargins squeezed

32 Choppytimesforbunkering

1www.seashipnews.com

Editorial

The Brad Pitt of shipping

What’s Brad Pitt’s picture doing here

instead of your ugly editor’s mug, and

what the hell does he have to do with

our industry? Read on!

Singapore’s rise to the top table of shipping has

been well detailed; an enticing blend of incentives

has brought thousands of maritime firms to its

shores. Where it actually sits at the table is now a

hot topic. Has it even surpassed mighty London,

home to many of the top shipping organisations in

the world?

London, feeling chastened by the rise of so

many Asian maritime centres, got its act together

this September organising a highly successful

shipping week. Nevertheless, Singapore was the

elephant in the room throughout the week. Much

discussion focused on shipping centres and who

was top of the pile, something that quickly came

down to a straight shoot out between London and

the Lion Republic.

Denis Petropoulos, director at Braemar

Shipping Services, said that Singapore was without

doubt the preeminent maritime centre in Asia and

was snapping at London’s heels. He said Singapore

“has become the world’s most important shipping

centre after London”.

Nevertheless, Petropoulos had special praise

for the British capital. “London is not a maritime

capital, London is the maritime capital,” he said.

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers held a

seminar on the London versus Singapore debate.

Heidi Heseltine, managing director of Singapore

and London based specialist shipping recruitment

firm Halcyon Recruitment, made a very strong

case for Singapore being the main shipping hub

following the substantial growth in its shipping

sector over the past decade. However, this was not

enough to persuade the audience that London

had completely lost its crown, and Alan Marsh, the

former ceo of Braemar Shipping Services, was able

to demonstrate that key elements of the London

market will continue to play a dominant role going

forward.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the International

Chamber of Shipping, Masamichi Morooka, was

adamant that London is, without doubt, “still the

shipping capital of the world”.

Taking a sensible point of view on the debate

was Frontline’s Jens Martin Jensen, who stated:

“It’s London and Singapore, not London versus

Singapore.”

One of the world’s leading maritime recruitment

experts sees Singapore as the hottest place on the

planet for shipping at the moment.

When quizzed as to which place was the most

vibrant shipping centre in the world based on the

amount of HR movements, Phil Parry, chairman of

UK maritime recruitment firm Spinnaker, was in no

doubt. “Singapore wins through as the Brad Pitt of

shipping in the recent boom," he tells us.

London then is perhaps the Laurence Olivier in

this alternative maritime movie universe.

SeaShip News is the leading daily news service covering Southeast Asian

maritime and offshore. This publication serves as the definitive annual

on how the Lion Republic is faring shipping-wise. Contained on every

page is a useful timeline of key events that have shaped Singapore’s

shipping year. For further daily updates check www.seashipnews.com .

TheSingaporeannual


4 www.seashipnews.com

GaryBowermangetscaughtbetweenthebullsandthebears

Economy

Mild expansion

Although Singapore’s government has been

steering the city-state’s economy towards

less turbulent waters of late, its outlook

remains decidedly cautious. In August, the Ministry

of Trade & Industry noted that “risks to the global

growth outlook” prevent a more upbeat 2013 GDP

growth forecast than 2.5–3.5%, which was slightly

revised from a previously broader range of 1–3%.

That said, a sluggish first quarter suggested

choppier seas ahead for an economy that has been

buffeted by the icy winds blowing from European

and US export markets. Singapore’s economy grew

by 3.8% year-on-year in the second quarter – a

major relief from the paltry 0.2% recorded between

January and March.

The finance and insurance sector played

a pivotal role in Q2, expanding by 13.1%.

Manufacturing growth remained slow, at 0.2%,

although that was offset against a 6.7% decline

in Q1. Construction was up by 5.1%, while

transportation and storage increased 2.5%,

following a 0.9% contraction in the previous

quarter. Total exports recorded negative growth for

the fourth consecutive quarter, although the 0.1%

drop was relatively good news compared to Q1’s

8.7% reverse.

Clouds have also hung over the stock market,

with the STI down by 1.86% year to date in

mid-September, while the usually upstanding

Singaporean dollar came under pressure, though

it admittedly fared better than its struggling

Southeast Asian counterparts. Its bumpy fall

against the US dollar began at the turn of the year,

but it recovered some ground in the first half of

September. Singapore’s deep foreign exchange

reserves and a robust current account, however,

suggest the central bank’s currency policy will not

require retouching in the near term.

The outlook for the second half of 2013 is

one of measured hope, although even the most

Analystsworryaboutthegrowthdifferentialbetweenservicesandmanufacturing

January

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HK’sWallemannouncesbigSingaporeexpansionBWGasordersitsfirstLNG-FSRU

MasssackingsatChemoil


Singapore’s GDP by sector, Q2 2013 v Q1 2013

Absolute Value Q2 2013 (US$m) Q1 2013 (US$m)

GDP at Current Market Prices 90,166.1 87,090.8

Goods Producing Industries 22,594.7 19,895.8

Manufacturing

Construction

Utilities

Other Goods Industries

17,548.3

3,654.2

1,365.7

26.5

15,086.2

3,653.2

1,128.5

27.9

Service Producing Industries

Wholesale & Retail Trade

Transportation & Storage

Accommodation & Food Services

Information & Communications

Finance & Insurance

Business Services

57,717.9

14,025.5

6,378.9

2,116.2

3,108.1

10,900.2

12,463.5

57,940.6

13,436.6

5,929.2

2,092.3

3,096.1

10,912.6

12,267.5

Other Services Industries

Ownership of Dwellings

8,725.5

4,058.5

10,206.3

4,015.1

Source: Singapore Ministry of Trade & Industry

upbeat analysts worry about the growth differential

between services and manufacturing. The bulls are

pinning their hopes that stronger recent industrial

output data from China, in particular, Japan and

Korea, plus increased export and import figures for

Singapore in July, are indicators of rising global

economic sentiment. Singapore’s manufacturing

output increased 2.7% year-on-year in July, while

transport and engineering output increased 13.9%,

and marine and offshore engineering posted a

19% gain, largely due to rig building and ship

conversion projects.

More positively, July saw the largest monthly

number of vessel arrivals (11,992) and shipping

tonnage (204,455,000 gt) so far in 2013, while

monthly discharged air cargo has only been

bettered once this year, in March.

Inflation is being carefully managed, despite

strong wage pressure. For 2013, core inflation is

predicted to average 1.5–2.5%, while manufactured

product prices were weighted at 97.2 in July,

compared to 100.0 in December 2012.

By contrast, bearish observers question the

validity of attributing too much value to a positive

single month – transport and engineering, after

all, posted a 2.2% decline year-on-year in the first

seven months of 2012 – and ponder from where

Singapore’s sustainable manufacturing uplift will

emerge.

The result is a mixed bag of indices that do

not fully indicate that the waters around the Lion

City are becalmed. Achieving the upper end of the

government’s 2.5-3.5% GDP growth band would

represent a healthy return from 2012’s laggardly

1.3%, but would still be well down on the 4.9% of

2011. As the Monetary Authority of Singapore noted

in early September, barring any external shocks,

steering the economy towards a “mild expansion

path” is probably the best to be expected.

TheusuallyupstandingSingaporeandollarhascome

underpressure

Economy

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PSA_Powering_A4_FA.indd 1 20/3/2012 1:14:38 PM


Port

Singapore’sboxportistoshifttoTuas,freeingupalargechunkofprimerealestate

Terminals, Version 2.0

In decades past when a port lost its pre-eminence

it meant only one thing, a slow, one directional

decline. Not so, however, with Singapore. The

world’s top boxport until 2010, when Shanghai

overhauled it, has not been moping about the loss

of its crown, the focus is very much on the future.

Under trying circumstances, Singapore’s port

has had a solid year with throughput in the first ten

months up 2.6% to 27.13m teu, putting it on course

to sail very close to Shanghai’s 2013 volumes,

anticipated to be in 33m teu range.

However, 2013’s volumes are insignificant

compared to what prime minister Lee Hsien

Loong has planned for the republic’s terminals –

a wholesale shift from the city centre to Tuas at

a cost estimated in the region of $8bn to nearly

double port capacity and free up 1,000 ha of prime

real estate.

Lee said this August the first berths in this

dramatic port relocation would be operational by

2022. Transport minister Lui Tuck Yew says the

new site will be able to handle 65m teu.

“Tuas provides a suitable location because of

its sheltered deep waters and proximity to both our

major industrial areas and international shipping

routes,” Lui said earlier this year.

Josephine Teo, senior minister for finance

and transport, speaking at this year’s Singapore

Shipping Association annual dinner, stressed

that the government viewed developing maritime

infrastructure and business as a priority. In the

coming decades a new airport will come up in the

east of the republic, while the port will be shifted to

the west of the country, Teo outlined.

“We will build capacity ahead of time to

ensure the maritime sector remains a very

important part of our economic landscape,” Teo

said.

Singapore upping its container terminal game

comes at a time of acute pressure for transhipment

business in the region with neighbouring Malaysia

and Indonesia both touting new port projects and

Myanmar outlining terminal plans too.

Dr Jonathan Beard, managing director of GHK

and one of the best known names in ports analysis,

sees “intense competition” in Southeast Asia for

transhipment volumes, something that is only set

to grow.

“Increasingly it is a very tough game,” he

comments. “These ports have to invest a lot but

revenues per teu are not going up.”

Indeed, the yield per teu for PSA, the dominant

port operator in Singapore, is around 50% of its

fellow Southeast Asian terminal operator ICTSI,

thanks to its heavy dependence on transhipment

cargoes, according to statistics compiled by GHK.

Wewillbuildcapacityaheadoftime

CH CHING Property developers are delighted with the port’s move from the city centre

1 5 9 13

CambridgeAcademyofTransportlaunchesinSingaporeFebruary

21 18

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Singapore’stwomainshipbuildersareextendingtheirexpertiseacrosstheworld

Global footprint

Singapore’s dominant two

shipbuilding conglomerates,

both renowned for world class

operations, are building global empires.

Singapore continues to defy the odds,

churning out vast amounts of high

tech offshore infrastructure as well

as competing globally on the ship

repair front. Were the sun to set on the

republic’s shipyards, however, their

global footprint, linked invariably to

energy intensive areas, will ensure

Singaporean shipyard know-how will

continue for generations.

Keppel already has facilities in the

United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Brazil,

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, the

Philippines, Indonesia, the US and the

Netherlands – an unmatched global

reach. Nevertheless, it continues to

search for more opportunities around

the world. In September Keppel opened

a second yard in Azerbaijan in a joint

venture with the State Oil Company

of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and

Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC).

Named Baku Shipyard, the new

62 ha yard is designed to undertake

the construction of a wide range of

specialised vessels and merchant

ships including subsea vessels, anchor

handling tug/supply vessels and

multipurpose offshore support vessels

such as platform supply vessels, as well

as tankers and cargo vessels. The yard

also has ship repair and conversion

capabilities.

Baku Shipyard adds to Keppel’s

existing footprint in Azerbaijan where it

has been operating the Caspian Shipyard

Company (CSC), also a joint venture

between Keppel and SOCAR, since 1997.

Tong Chong Heong, ceo of Keppel

Offshore & Marine, said, “The new yard

reinforces Keppel O&M’s Near Market,

Near Customer strategy and enables

us to unlock synergy in our Caspian

operations.”

In October Keppel O&M signed

a memorandum of understanding

with Mexico’s PEMEX Exploracion

y Produccion (PEP) and P.M.I.

Norteamérica, S.A. de C.V. (PMI), both

subsidiaries of Mexico’s national oil

company, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).

The MoU is to jointly develop, own

and operate a yard facility in Mexico,

the first phase of which is to support

the construction of six KFELS B class

jackup drilling rigs for PEP. To be located

strategically in the Port of Altamira along

the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the

proposed yard will cost around $400m,

with the first phase estimated at about

$150m.

Not to be left behind is Sembcorp

Marine, which already has yard presences

in Brazil, India, the US, the UK and

China. In August the company signed

a memorandum of understanding with

Saudi Aramco and National Shipping

Co of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) to prepare

a detailed feasibility assessment on

developing a shipyard in the Arab nation.

The planned maritime yard would provide

engineering, manufacturing and repair

services to rigs, platforms, commercial

vessels and offshore service vessels.

1 3 69

1211

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Shipcollision,onedeadOttoMarinegetsfirstshipordersfor2years

SecondshipcollisionkillsoneMaxHartvigsenresignsaspresidentofJayaOffshore

Keppel and Sembcorp yards around the world, including proposed ones


Yards

Cheapprices,aggressivefinancingtermsandearlydeliveryslotshaveseenChinasurpassSingaporeinjack-upconstruction,writesSamChambers

Rig crown stolen

While 2013 will go down as

another very strong year for

Singapore’s offshore building

yards there is an ominous portent of

things to come, something blowing in the

wind from China.

This year has been a “momentous”

one for China’s offshore ambitions as a

mixture of available slots, cheap prices

and generous financing will see the

People’s Republic surpass Singapore

in the number of drilling rigs built,

according to research from Religare

Capital Markets. Speaking at Marine

Money’s Singapore event this September

Vincent Fernando, a director at Religare,

said China accounted for 34% of the

market share for drilling rigs in the

year to date, with Singapore on 23%, the

first time China has surpassed the Lion

Republic in this field. Korea is still top

with 41%.

“In 2013, China will have stolen the

market share crown from Singapore,”

Fernando said. This huge change

happened far faster than most expected,

he admitted.

Chinese yards are offering very

aggressive payment terms – with just 10%

needed up front, where as the best that

Singapore can offer is 28%.

Chinese prices for jack-ups have been

reported as around 30% cheaper than in

Singapore.

“Chinese yards are not focused on

short term profits. They just want to shift

the market to China,” Fernando said,

noting how since they were predominantly

state run they had very deep pockets.

This has begun to impact Singaporean

shipbuilders’ financials, with both Keppel

and Sembcorp mentioning Chinese

competition impacting margins in their

latest quarterly results.

“The downside of margins of

Singaporean yards will get worse going

forward,” Fernando said.

Audra Low, head of origination and

structures at Clifford Capital, warned that

Singaporean yards would find it “very

hard” to challenge those who are not

profit orientated.

Despite the sudden leap by Chinese

yards, quality remains an issue, said

Jesper Andresen, ceo of Axis Offshore.

“Building is much harder in China.

China is not for everybody,” he said,

Chineseyardsarenotfocusedonshort-term

profits

suggesting owners ordering in the

People’s Republic need to have extensive

shipbuilding experience and a big team

on the ground.

It is not simply down to price for this

year’s astonishing turnaround. Aksel

Olesen, managing director of Pareto

Securities Asia, maintained that investors

still favour Singapore, but the problem

is that the earliest slots of the Southeast

nation’s land constrained yards is in

2016, where as China still has 2015 slots.

Fernando concurred, saying:

“Singapore does not have the land

capacity at its yards to compete.”

Olesen maintained: “The Chinese will

dominate in the years to come.”

The leading offshore players in China

have also poached staff from Singapore

and Korea to boost their capabilities.

A silver lining was offered by Jens

Taubken, vice president at DVB bank, who

noted importantly that Singaporean rigs

command a higher price in resales.

16 1918 222625

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March HalliburtonopensgiantcentreinJurongManagementreshuffleatOttoMarine

NOLnameslargestship,APLTemasek TanotoShipyardfire,3die


Finance

Ownerscontinuetoflocktothiscountrythankstotheeaseandspeedwithwhichcapitalcanberaised,notesJasonJiang

Readily available

Is Singapore the easiest place to raise shipping

funds in the world? The continued decamping of

shipowners to the Southeast Asian nation lends

credence to this idea. In addition to more than 20

major banks with shipping finance portfolios, there

is a wide array of alternative financing options,

including shipping trusts and listings on the

Singapore Stock Exchange.

DNB Bank’s recently appointed head of Asia,

Vidar Andersen, reckons the republic is racing

ahead of its rivals.

“I see Singapore as uniquely placed as a

global maritime hub,” he says, adding: “It covers

the whole value chain from education through

manufacturing and services to finance better

than any other city or region in the world. In

today’s market where liquidity is prevalent in

Asia, especially compared to Europe, Singapore

obviously has a stronger position also as a ship

finance hub than only a few years back.”

Comments Abhishek Pandey, head of

shipping, Southeast & South Asia at Standard

Chartered Bank: “Singapore offers a pro-

business environment given its well-regulated

banking sector, excellent infrastructure, cost-

competitiveness, highly skilled labour force, fast

business start up times, competitive tax regime,

strong investor protection and high levels of

transparency and governance.”

Manish Singh, who runs consultancy

Ideocean, notes the considerable strengths of

the wider banking sector, which ensures all

ancillary expertise are present for shipowners.

Also, important is the existence of ship finance

structuring and legal expertise along with other

functions like credit risk assessment.

To cap it off, everything is in walking distance

of each other, making sealing a deal a veritable

stroll compared to many other shipping centres.

Singaporecoversthewholevaluechainbetterthanany

othercityintheworld

UP AND UP The local stock exchange is one of the most vibrant in the world for shipping

1 5 8 1015 16 19

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Law

BIMCO’sdecisiontogivethenodtoSingaporeasanarbitrationcentreayearagoisrevolutionisingthecitystate’smaritimelegalsetup

Advantage hammered home

In November last year, the global shipping

association BIMCO adopted Singapore as the

third seat of arbitration in its Standard Dispute

Resolution Clause alongside London and New

York. Singapore Maritime Chamber of Arbitration

(SCMA) rules become default procedural rules

when Singapore is selected.

“This is major game changer,” argues Lee Wai

Pong, executive director of the SCMA, “and is

expected to tilt the balance of arbitration related

work more towards Singapore from the hitherto

dominant centre of London.”

Against this backdrop, SCMA hosted its third

annual conference at the Supreme Court on 4

September to more than 150 delegates. Guest of

honour was the chief justice Sundaresh Menon

who in his keynote speech highlighted the

continued support of arbitration development by

the judiciary and legislature and provided valuable

insights for SCMA in the development of its future

roadmap. He noted the unique nature of maritime

arbitration as compared to mainstream practice

and suggested that the divergence be preserved

and further refined in order to better suit the

requirements of the maritime industry.

SCMA has seen strong growth in the number of

case references, panel of arbitrators and requests

by parties for appointment of arbitrators. The

diversity of cases registered is also spreading

beyond disputes arising from traditional shipping

contracts into contracts related to the commodities

and the oil and gas industries.

As a mark of its international acceptance,

more than 50% of the disputes registered non-

Singaporean parties. New procedures streamlining

arbitration for disputes involving collision liability

apportionment and settling of survey fees will be

launched soon.

Thisismajorgamechangerandisexpectedtotiltthe

balanceofarbitrationrelatedworkmoretowardsSingapore

fromLondon

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LNG

AfirstimportterminalinJurongisupandrunningwhileanLNGinvestmentvehiclehasalsobeenformedasSingaporelookstoleadAsia’sgasdash

Gas hub ambitions

Build it (throw in a bundle of incentives) and

they shall come has been the maxim that has

worked wonders for Singapore’s maritime

and commodities scene in the past 15 years. The

same tactics are now being lavished on liquefied

natural gas to ensure the republic becomes the

leading regional gas hub.

“In the commodity markets, location, location,

location can be more important than production—

strategically as well as geographically,” argues

June Ho, director at legal firm Pan Asia Wikborg

Rein. “Singapore understands this concept better

than most,” she continues, “and has already

demonstrated this by creating internationally

recognised hubs in insurance, financial services,

capital raising, shipping, O&G construction, and

refining. Now LNG is in Singapore’s sights.”

Singapore LNG inaugurated the city-state’s first

gas terminal this May, seven years after the plan

was first mooted. Costing an initial $1.4bn, the

facility, located in Jurong, will eventually be able to

handle 9m tons of gas a year.

What the authorities realised early on is that

building infrastructure is but one part of the

jigsaw, being a lynchpin in buying, selling and

distribution is what makes a hub. Pavilion Energy

was formed this year by sovereign wealth fund

Temasek Holdings to this end. The new firm

is headed up by technology entrepreneur and

innovator Seah Moon Ming, who joined Temasek

from ST Engineering, where he was deputy

ceo. Hassan Marican, former ceo of Malaysia’s

Petronas, has been appointed chairman.

Pavilion Energy is investing globally across

LNG-related businesses, including LNG trading

and exploration as well as storage, processing and

shipping.

“We will acquire assets across the full LNG value

chain by building strong relationships with key

partners, investing and co-investing in gas acreage,

liquefaction plants and assets, shipping and

regasification,” Seah said this September.

“I can say with confidence that Singapore will

devote itself into a major LNG trading hub soon in

the region. I believe we have what it takes to attract

growing LNG volume into Asia, and will be in a

position to set LNG prices in the region,” he added

In November Pavilion Energy paid $1.3bn for a

20% stake in three gas blocks offshore Tanzania in

East Africa.

“As Singapore continues to expand its global

presence in the marine and offshore industry and

through initiatives undertaken by the government,

we will certainly see continued growth in the LNG

market. This will provide many new opportunities

in the fields of engineering, finance and brokerage

for Singapore-based companies,” concludes Derek

Novak, vp of operations at class society ABS.

Inthecommoditymarkets,locationcanbemore

importantthanproduction

FUTURE FUEL Singapore’s LNG terminal is set to handle 9m tons a year

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StenaBulk_ad_180x128mm_SWEA.pdf 1 2013-10-25 12:06

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Owners

SeaShipNewsmakesitaprioritytobeintouchwithtopshipownerseveryday.Belowaresomeoftheirthoughts

Opportunities abound

Kenneth Glenn,

president of

containerline

APL, shrugs his

shoulders and

looks fairly non-

plussed when asked

by SeaShip News his thoughts on how

the new P3 alliance will change his

business. The grouping of Maersk, MSC

and CMA CGM has been the container

shipping story of the year, but for Glenn

it is something he’s prepared for. “It’s

inevitable,” he says, “the whole industry is

scaling up and these days to operate you

have to have big ships.”

To this end APL took delivery this

March of the first of ten 14,000 teu ships,

which followed on from ten 10,000 teu

vessels it took in the last couple of years.

Glenn was speaking to SeaShip News

at the annual megabash that is the

Singapore Shipping Association (SSA)

dinner. Speaking at the event, having

been reelected as SSA president, senior

Evergreen employee Patrick Phoon said

shipping was in

“reasonably good

shape” despite all

the problems it

faced.

From a long

term point of

view, Phoon warned he felt the global

orderbook was still “alarmingly high”,

while scrapping was slowing down.

“Personally, I think there is too much

eco legislation coming out at the moment,”

Phoon said.

On the domestic front, Phoon said

Singapore, as a shipping hub, remained a

“very competitive” place to do business.

Elsewhere in the world of container

shipping, another senior member of the

SSA is making quite a splash.

Were Esben

Poulsson to carry

a set of cards for

all the boards and

associations he sits

on he would have

little spare space in

his hand luggage.

As well as his commitments to the

SSA, the Singapore Maritime Foundation,

the International Chamber of Shipping,

Epic Shipping, AVRA International and

Straits Tankers, the former Torm man is

chairman of Enesel Pte Ltd, a Singapore

management company for a fleet of

newbuilding containerships delivering

during 2013 and 2014.

The Singapore offshoot of the Athens-

based Enesel SA is charged with looking

after the owning companies of a series of

large boxships delivering from Hyundai

Heavy Industries. In total, Enesel has

ordered ten 13,800 teu ships, which are

going on charter to Taiwan’s Evergreen

and four 9,400 teu ships which will go on

charter to Hamburg Süd. The first ship was

named and delivered to Evergreen on 17

September.

On Enesel’s business model for

Singapore, Poulsson says, “There will not

be any speculative ordering. The company

will only order with reliable and trusted

end users secured.” Having said that,

Poulsson admits, “There is an appetite for

more.”

Top gasOne of shipping’s blue chip names, BW

Group, has undergone a remarkable

transformation since the onset of the

downturn in 2008, ditching its former

bulk reliance for a far greater exposure

to gas.

Andreas Sohmen-Pao, the ceo of the

company, casts his mind back five years

ago and compares his fleet then and now.

“We have shifted more emphasis into

gas,” he says, adding that more than 50%

of BW’s portfolio is now gas-related, the

fastest growing area of business for the

fleet.

BW Gas ordered four plus two options

of very large gas carriers (VLGCs) at

Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea this

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August. Clarkson data puts the 84,000 dwt

quartet as due for delivery in 2015.

BW Gas’s LPG fleet is now in the throes

of an IPO in Oslo, something that is set to

land the group more than $500m.

Elsewhere in the Singapore LPG

landscape, Petredec, one of the world’s

largest LPG traders, is moving its sights

towards more downstream and storage

operations as it gears up to be a full LPG

logistics leader. Founded in 1980 Petredec,

now shifting more than 12m tons annually,

is in a period of rapid expansion. Its fleet

consists of 18 owned ships, two bareboat

chartered, five on order and 32 on time

charter. Giles Fearn, chief executive, says

more newbuild orders will follow.

“Petredec is in

a period of high

investment in

both shipping and

downstream/storage,”

says Fearn, adding:

“We are looking to

build with all sectors of the LPG shipping

market.”

“The LPG market is in a state of

revolution,” Fearn says confidently. “New

supply is constantly being discovered

most notably in the US with its huge shale

gas finds. The fundamentals would appear

to be positive, but as with every shipping

sector it is cyclical. Margins are high

currently and therefore outside investors

are entering the newbuild market. This will

lead to a fall in margins further down the

road.”

New bulk contendersNicholas Fisher will

use his experience

gained in diversifying

Oman Shipping

Company to broaden

the revenue base for

Singapore’s Masterbulk, having taken on

the ceo role a couple of months ago.

“Diversification in dry bulk activities

will be key for Masterbulk’s business

going forward,” Fisher says.

Plans for the medium term include

strengthening the company’s position in

the forest products market.

Masterbulk owns 20 open hatch gantry

crane-equipped vessels, 16 of which are

technically managed through its own

shipmanagement activity in Singapore,

and four of which are managed through

Westfal-Larsen Management in Bergen.

On the markets, Scandinavian Fisher is

cautiously confident, saying: “Indications

are that a gradual recovery is around the

corner.”

Another Scandinavian firm, Stena

Bulk, is among the most active bulk-wise

in the Lion Republic. In February, Stena

Bulk and Indonesia’s Golden Agri-

Resources (GAR) set up a product tanker

joint venture, Golden Stena Bulk. The jv

has since ordered six product tankers at

Guangzhou Shipbuilding International.

In June 2012, Stena Weco – the joint

venture between Stena Bulk and Danish

Dannebrog – formed a 50-50 joint

venture with GAR. The joint venture,

Golden Stena Weco, was aimed at

providing an overall solution for GAR’s

international transportation of its palm oil

products.

“Golden Stena Bulk can be seen as the

second step in our collaboration with

leading palm oil plantation company, GAR.

For us, it’s also a gateway to Asia,” says

Erik Hanell, president and ceo of Stena

Bulk. “Such strategic partnerships are

a well-tried concept for us and involve

coordinating complementary assets,

know-how and experience. With GAR’s

robust network and intimate knowledge of

the region, this strategic partnership gives

us greater access to the Southeast Asian

market as well as to local competence.”

In other Stena news, Erik Lewenhaupt,

general manager and head of Stena Bulk

Singapore, is to leave his post in the Lion

Republic after 6.5 years to go back to

headquarters in Gothenburg in Sweden.

Lewenhaupt, a well known face among

Singapore shipowners, will take on a

senior marketing and communications

role within the group.

As a replacement Stena has hired

Nicolas Duran, former head of sale and

purchase for Fearnleys Singapore.

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Offshore

SoutheastAsiaremainsoneofthefastestgrowingplacesforoffshoreoperators.SeaShipNewspridesitselfonitsaccesstoleadingplayersinthesector,aswitnessedoverthenextcoupleofpages

Red hot

Stock exchange announcements are

testament to the booming oil and gas

scene in the region, with not a day

going by without some big new deal signed

or local offshore players celebrating

record results.

The region is one of the hottest for

offshore developments in the world.

Thailand and Malaysia are deemed

especially scorching areas for the

booming offshore support vessel (OSV)

market, says one of the region’s top

brokers. Mike Meade, ceo of Asia’s largest

independent offshore brokerage, M3

Marine, reckons the capital expenditure

for exploration and production (E&P) in

Asia will grow by 53% between 2013 and

2017, with an “above average spend” in

India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“We are seeing an increase in activity

across the board,” he says, “with notably

jack up utilisation - and rates - increasing

and the subsea sector described by many

as hot.”

Setting his sights high, Marco Polo

Marine’s ceo has outlined plans to become

a “significant” group in offshore oil and

gas marine logistics and support in the

region.

What’s more, Sean

Lee says he has “plans

and the wherewithal”

to be one of the

larger offshore

support vessel (OSV)

owner-operators in

Indonesia, specifically in the mid-sized

anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS)

segment where he says his company has

the “early-mover advantage”.

Marco Polo Marine has 11 sets of

tugs and barges and four OSVs while

its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Pelayaran

Nasional Bina Buana Raya Tbk (PT BBR)

has 35 tugs, 32 barges, one self-propelled

barge and three OSVs. PT BBR listed on

January 9 this year.

With regard to ship chartering, the ceo

says Marco Polo Marine will still be active

in Asian and Australasian waters including

Thailand and Australia – “our bread and

butter” – as well as exploring new projects

in Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Back of the net for ChellseaChellsea, one of Singapore’s newer

entrants into the offshore support vessel

(OSV) scene, is undergoing a period

of significant expansion. Part of the

Kishinchand Chellaram (KC Group)

of shipping companies, Chellsea was

set up by Gautam Chellaram two years

ago as part of the group’s strategic

diversification, with, he says, modestly, “a

blank piece of paper”. Said blank piece of

paper has since transformed into a fleet

on a rapid rise. “Our focus is on building

the infrastructure,” says Chellaram.

The Chellarams

traditionally have

focused on dry bulk

via Hong Kong’s KC

Maritime, but saw

the coming offshore

explosion and bought

a platform supply vessel in 2011, kicking

off new firm Chellsea. A sister ship was

added last year. Both ships are “high

quality”, stresses Chellaram, and aimed at

the North Sea market.

“The strategy for Chellsea in ordering

these vessels,” says Chellaram, “is to order

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high spec and build quality vessels, with

a focus on winning long-term business.

There is no compromise in quality, which

is what will win us long-term business with

oil majors.”

The Chellarams

would do well to take

heed of the thoughts

of Indonesian

national Rony

Sudjaka, the chairman

and md of Singapore-

based OSV specialist

Pacific Richfield Marine and arguably the

man with the longest and broadest OSV

experience in the world.

Wearing a trademark cap Sudjarka says

of the firm that he founded in 1989 that

while there is plenty more competition

in his sector all of a sudden he is not

worried as the ships he builds and owns

are “higher class” with big engines and

more back up systems. Sudjaka has a long

history of building OSVs, but had quit

the practice for a number of years before

returning to it in 2008, when he found he

was unable to get ships built at other yards

because they were so busy. He made the

decision to rent a yard in Singapore and

started churning out high spec ships.

Sudjaka now owns 55 ships. His

shipyard has one dock and is able to build

eight ships every 18 months.

Sudjaka’s father worked in Hong Kong

at the old Taikoo Shipyard from 1926,

before moving back to Indonesia to do

contracting work. Sudjaka himself, now

77, has been in the OSV business now for

more than half a century.

Making headlinesIn the news more

than most this year

on our site has been

Singapore’s offshore

contractor Otto Marine,

for better and for

worse. Garrick Stanley

has been in the role of group ceo for just

over four months now trying to continue the

process of making the firm more profitable

with an eye to increasing the company’s

fleet of offshore support vessels.

Stanley joined Otto subsidiary Go

Marine Group back in 2007 as managing

director and has over 18 years experience

in the industry.

The shipyard has been through a “cost

cutting and efficiency consolidation stage

whereby fats are trimmed and resources

redeployed,” Garrick says. Nevertheless, the

upshot is that the yard is now ready to take

on new projects, it bagged its first orders

for two years towards the beginning of the

year, for instance, and has received further

deals since.

Garrick is keen to portray the group’s

full range of offerings beyond just the

shipyard.

“The company has definitely developed

into a marine services company with a

shipyard,” he stresses.

“Our shipping business has now

refocused to renew, expand and upgrade

our own fleet whilst the shipyard increases

our offshore fabrication capabilities and

ship repair,” Garrick explains.

Group revenues are currently

dominated from Otto Marine’s fleet of 63

vessels operating around the world.

“We are seeing an increase in demand

for our fleet and increasing day rates and

utilization,” says the new ceo.

Finally, in our offshore roundup we

come to Nordic Maritime, one of myriad

Scandinavian shipping companies that call

Singapore home. The offshore specialist

is increasingly carving a niche out of

Indonesia to cement its strong Southeast

Asian business.

Founded in 1999, Nordic Maritime now

operates seven vessels – both owned and

under third party management. The fleet

is made up of five seismic vessels and two

survey/chase support vessels.

There’s also a DP2 multipurpose supply

vessel under construction for delivery

late this year plus two DP2 400-men

accommodation/construction vessels

coming into the market next year.

Also of interest

being built is a

catamaran hybrid

design under

construction for

seismic support

operations which is

due out in the third quarter of next year.

“This is an exciting project which can be

very interesting for the Southeast Asian

market with a low fuel consumption and

high functionality to support the seismic

survey vessels,” claims Kjell Gauksheim,

Nordic Maritime’s ceo.

Gauksheim, who joined Nordic Maritime

in 2006, says the plan going forward is

to grow the company’s seismic and DP

accommodation fleets.

“For certain OSV vessels the market

is already facing an overcapacity and

supply,” he says, concluding: “However, we

are very focused on our two segments and

have strong belief in these.”

Offshore

12

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AUGUST

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New Entrants

Making the cut

Singapore plays home to arguably

more senior positions in shipping

than anywhere else on Earth. Its

business friendly, incentivised maritime

environment sees business class

planeloads regularly touching down to set

up shop in the Lion Republic.

Among the highest profile switches

was in the middle of the year when Ken

Cambie, former chief financial officer

of Hong Kong’s OOCL, joined Quantum

Pacific Shipping Services as finance

chief. Quantum Pacific is a new maritime

venture created by Israel’s richest man,

Idan Offer, headquartered in Raffles Place

in the heart of Singapore.

Quantum Pacific has been formed

to handle various divisions of the Ofer

shipping empire, including overseeing the

existing Tanker Pacific fleet along with

ships transferred from Zodiac.

Epic gas creation

The Lion Republic has a new gas carrier

operator following the merger this January

of Epic Shipping Holdings and Pantheon.

The new creation, Epic Pantheon

International Gas Shipping, has, including

vessels on order, a very rapidly built up

fleet of 31 ships.

It has significant new backers

including Jeffries Capital Partners, DVB

Bank and Diamantis Pateras Maritime. The

company also has investment from one

of the region’s canniest shipping players,

former Pacific Basin boss, Chris Buttery,

who in November became chairman of the

company. In May, Epic appointed shipping

industry veteran Lars Vang Christensen as

its new ceo.

MOL bolsters presenceEmploying more and more people in

Singapore is one of the world’s largest

shipowners, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines.

Speaking on the occasion of MOL’s

129th anniversary in April, the president

of the Japanese line, Koichi Muto, was

fulsome in his praise of business in

Singapore.

In January 2013, MOL transferred its

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dry bulkers to Singapore, a place Muto

described as “a key hub of customers and

information”.

“The move to Singapore has restored

cost competitiveness to the dry bulker

fleet, which had been operating at a loss,

laying a strong foundation for restoring

profitability,” Muto said.

Looking ahead, the MOL boss added:

“We will accelerate business expansion

from our hub in Singapore through

business reforms designed to capture

growth primarily in emerging markets.”

At a cocktail reception it organised

in November, MOL said it was likely to

transfer a significant tranche of its tanker

fleet to Singapore too.

Maersk, Singapore’s largest owner

A.P. Moller-Maersk, famous

for its containerline switching

ports from Singapore to

Malaysia over a decade ago, is

already the largest shipowner

by fleet size in the Lion Republic,

and is set to get a whole lot

bigger here.

Singapore is

now the company’s

biggest base outside its

Danish headquarters.

According to

Bloomberg,

Maersk has around 120 ships under the

Singapore flag, the most after 180 in

Denmark.

Most of Maersk Line’s large orderbook

of newbuilds are set to fly the Singapore

flag, according to Thomas Knudsen,

president of Maersk Line Asia Pacific.

“There’s a maritime cluster around

Singapore where you have access to

pretty much all the different aspects of

shipping,” Knudsen told Bloomberg. “The

last five years we have really cleaned up

to concentrate on fewer flags to get the

economy of scale. You can definitely get

lower cost if you go to Panama or Liberia,

but we feel that Singapore is a good

combination of cost and quality.”

Grieg Star in the ascendant

Grieg Star is part of the privately owned

Grieg Group and is a fully integrated

shipping company and owner of one of

the world’s largest open hatch fleets. On

July 1 the firm opened a branch office,

Grieg Star Shipping Singapore, headed up

by Audun Baardensen.

In addition to operating one of the

largest open hatch fleets in the world,

Grieg Star also operates about 15 - 20

geared bulk carriers in the supramax

segment through Grieg Star Bulk.

Grieg Star Shipping Singapore is the

company’s branch office and “lengthened

arm”, according to Baardensen, in

Southeast Asia, carrying out all kinds of

marketing, operational and commercial

services.

“We intend to establish

ourselves in Southeast Asia

by keeping in close

touch with existing

and new

customers and clients,” Baardensen tells

SeaShip News.

Crowley’s local solutionsThe solutions group of America’s Crowley

Maritime Corp is opening a project

management office in Singapore and

building two new heavylift deck cargo

barges for dedicated use in the region.

The company also has an option for the

construction of two additional barges.

“This move not only allows us to

broaden our geographical reach, but

will also allow for more efficient turnkey

solutions within the areas in which our

customers are focused,” says Craig

Tornga, Crowley’s vice president of

solutions. “It is also important for us to be

able to support the operation and market

growth with dedicated equipment, which is

why we are investing in the construction

of two new barges for the region.”

Rickmers goes it aloneAt the start of the year Rickmers-Linie

established a new company – Rickmers-

Linie (Singapore) – to strengthen its

presence in Southeast Asia. The new

company, which has taken over all

responsibilities for Rickmers-Linie’s

activities from its former agents, Horizon

Shipping, is operating out of offices co-

located with Rickmers Shipmanagement at

11 Keppel Road. Rickmers-Linie’s ceo is

the former head of Neptune Orient Lines,

Ron Widdows.

Wallem takes aimLeading Hong Kong shipmanager Wallem

set up a new shipmanagement operation

in Singapore that complements its long

standing ship agency business and the

recently formed NW Ship Management

company. “This will double the size of

New Entrants

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Wallem’s business in Singapore during

2013 and will be adding many new jobs to

the local maritime sector,” a spokesperson

in Hong Kong said.

The new shipmanagement operation

commenced operation in April with all

Wallem businesses in Singapore moving

into one office in Alexandra Road.

Wallem has had a presence in

Singapore for more than 50 years as

a leading ship agency and logistics

company.

Offshore developmentsIn March Halliburton opened its newly

constructed Completion Technology and

Manufacturing Center in Jurong.

“Halliburton is the leading supplier of

completion products and services globally,

and the Singapore facility is a flagship for

our Completion Tools manufacturing in

the Eastern Hemisphere,” says Dave Lesar,

Halliburton chairman, president and ceo.

The new state-of-the-art facility is

located on about 43 acres in Jurong

Industrial Park and includes more than

500,000 sq ft of manufacturing and

administrative space.

Australia’s Toll Group opened its

redeveloped S$300m Offshore Petroleum

Facility in May, describing it as “an

effective interface between air, land and

sea for companies in the marine, offshore,

oil and gas industry”.

Meanwhile, the MacArtney Underwater

Technology Group has opened a new

group subsidiary in Singapore.

MacArtney Singapore offers local

access to extensive stock and capacity,

giving prompt delivery to underwater

technology customers in Singapore,

Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,

Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Norwegian offshore broker Westshore

has created a joint venture with Raffles

Shipping Projects forming Westshore

Raffles. The operation is headed up by

Norwegian national Alexander Pettersson.

Initially Westshore Raffles’ focus will

centre around sale and purchase and

newbuildings. Eventually chartering will

also be included. Westshore already has

offices in Norway and Brazil.

“One of the main reasons for this

step was to provide the link between

Asian shipbuilders and investors and the

abundance of activity in Brazilian waters,”

comments Sølve Høyrem, Westshore’s

managing director. “Great synergies can

be seen between these two markets. In

addition to this the offshore market has

become more global and competitive than

it was 12 years ago. This has being clearly

demonstrated by Asian shipyards that are

now in a position to actively compete with

European yards on most levels."

Redolent of the booming offshore

scene in the region Australia’s Energy

Human Resources formed this June Energy

HR Asia Pacific, a joint venture with the

M3 Marine Group, based in Singapore.

Energy HR Australia, founded by

Sarah-Jeanne Fraser in 2008, has come

up with a “unique fee structure and

business model”, the company said in a

release, which has proven popular across

Australia. The same model is now coming

to Southeast Asia.

Service providersA leading UK private maritime security

company (PMSC) that has set up in the

Lion Republic tells SeaShip News that

shipowners in the region need to watch

out for myriad firms who are charging

incorrectly for their protection services.

Freddie Hall, who relocated in April

as business development manager for

REDfour Maritime Security Solutions in

Singapore, warns: “Reputable PMSCs are

aware of the need to limit costs and will

work with clients to achieve this. However,

it’s important to keep in mind that there

are some providers that are quoting

unsustainably low in order to win transits

and it’s these, less reputable companies

that can cause problems.”

On the rationale to set up an office in

Singapore at Suntec City to go alongside

REDfour’s hq in London and its Sri

Lankan outpost, Hall notes the “seeping

migration” of shipmanagement from the

UK towards Asia.

International Paint, part of AkzoNobel,

the world’s largest paints and coatings

company, officially opened its new

global marine coatings headquarters in

Singapore this February.

Elsewhere, Martek Marine ceo Paul

Luen outlined growth plans including a

new office in Singapore. The tech firm

plans to double in size over the next

three years with a key component being

the expansion of Martek in Singapore by

moving into new, larger premises.

Geir Sjurseth, managing director

of DVB bank’s offshore division, who

moved to head up the bank’s Singapore

operations this year, is bullish on offshore

as a whole.

“In particular subsea and construction,

drilling and floating production see good

prospects,” he tells SeaShip News.

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“It has become evident over the years

that the offshore industry is driven by very

different demand drivers versus traditional

sea going shipping transportation,”

Sjurseth says, adding that the size of DVB’s

offshore business has grown relatively

more than conventional shipping, thus

justifying a separate division. The bank’s

offshore division caters to the OSV market,

subsea, construction vessels, seismic

operators, accommodation units, drilling

and floating production units.

One of the region’s best-known names

in the lubes industry made a return to

the sector this year. Caroline Huot’s work

has seen her head up lube sales for top

names such as Total and Gulf Oil Marine.

Now, after a stint in Africa with UBI Oil,

she has returned to Asia, to Singapore

where bunkering giant KPI Bridge Oil has

tasked her with setting up a global lubes

operation.

“Lubes require a different type of

relationship with customers as it’s a much

longer term business,” Huot tells SeaShip

News. She will be bringing in a specialised

team as well as using KPI’s existing

network.

Similar to what she created at Gulf

Oil Marine Huot is determined to build a

global network offering 24/7 service.

Lubes are the fourth biggest expense

for owners after bunkers, crew and

insurance, Huot claims.

Lifting upIn a big shift for one of Europe’s best

known marine equipment manufacturers

MacGregor moved to Singapore. The

subsidiary of Finland’s Cargotec is

increasingly focused on the Lion

Republic.

“Due to its closeness to our Asian

customers and partners, we are confident

that Singapore is the best location for

the domicile. Since more than 70% of

MacGregor’s sales are already generated

in Asia Pacific, we feel that establishing

our domicile in Singapore would

represent a natural development for our

operations,” comments Mikael Mäkinen,

president of MacGregor.

Cargotec is proceeding with listing

its marine division on the Singapore

Exchange. Moreover, it has just

announced that it will look to list

MacGregor, best known for its ship

cranes, in Singapore too, subject to market

conditions.

In January Cargotec tapped Finnair for

its new ceo to replace Mikael Maekinen

who moved to Singapore in October last

year to lead the company’s Asian listing

likely to take place next year.

Another leading crane manufacturer,

Austria’s Palfinger, is raising its presence

in Singapore.

“We are currently working on a new

Singapore setup which will cover the

whole Asia Pacific,” Karl Oberreiter, head

of Palfinger Marine, tells SeaShip News.

Class growthClass society ABS is upping

investments in Singapore

that will strengthen engineering and

survey capabilities and lay the foundation

for strategic global initiatives. ABS is

expanding its operational workforce,

increasing research and development

(R&D) efforts and establishing a Global

Performance Center in Singapore.

“ABS has worked alongside industry,

academia and government in Singapore

for more than 50 years,” says ABS

president and ceo Christopher Wiernicki.

“We are moving in step with Singapore

as it continues to expand its presence in

global trade. These investments represent a

continuation of our long-term commitment

to Singapore, elevating its significance as

an integral part of ABS’ future.”

ABS will create its Singapore

Innovation and Research Center (SIRC).

SIRC will expand R&D activity to include

marine operations and performance

management.

Meanwhile, FutureShip, Germanischer

Lloyd’s (GL) maritime engineering and

consultancy subsidiary, announced the

unveiling of its ECO Research Centre

in Singapore this May. The centre aims

to conduct research to strengthen

FutureShip’s energy efficiency solutions

for its Asian clients.

Finally, there’s news that Singapore-

headquartered DNV Petroleum Services

(DNVPS) has been taken over by European

private equity firm IK Investment Partners.

Founded by Norwegian classification

society DNV in 1981, DNVPS is a global

provider of fuel management services for

the maritime and power sector. DNVPS,

this May, set up a dedicated laboratory to

focus on R&D and specialised tests.

16 19 22 2524

27 3029

October MiclynExpressOffshorebuys50%ofthesharesinThailand’sUniwiseTowagefromSvitzerAsia

NTUannouncesitisestablishinganadvancedmaritimeenergytestfacility

New Entrants

When four cruise ships had to berth in Singapore in a single day.Wallem delivered.

www.wallem.com

Delivering Maritime Solutions


ManagingshipsoutoftheLionRepublicisincreasinglytrickyfromaprofitpointofview

Cost issues

Shipmanagement, a fine margins game at the

best of times, is being squeezed ever more in

Singapore. That has not stopped the republic

seeing the number of shipmanagers increase, but it

certainly has many on edge. The fact is; Singapore

is expensive.

Office space, for instance, in Singapore’s central

business district is the eighth most expensive

in the world and nearly as costly as midtown

Manhattan. And there is likely no let up here with

Macquarie Research forecasting Grade A rent to

rise 5% next year to S$10 per sq ft per month.

Similarly salaries are a major issue. Pay for

well qualified shipping practitioners now easily

surpasses Hong Kong and most other Asian cities.

Once again, there’s bad news on this front too with

two separate recent surveys suggesting the average

Singapore salary will rise by 4.5% next year.

Phil Parry, chairman of UK maritime recruitment

firm Spinnaker, says: “Singapore has become a

victim of its own success in that the huge growth in

the number of shipping employers there has led to

a war for talent.”

Summing up the republic’s HR issues, Parry

says: “Singapore’s problem is that with so many

newly landed companies, demand for locals or

foreigners with existing permanent residence

outstrips supply. Something has to give and that’s

either in the way of salary inflation or conceding

that sometimes it’s necessary to look overseas for

staff.”

Manish Singh, chairman of consultancy

Ideocean and former high flier with V.Ships, says

the rapid escalation in costs means managers must

seek back office solutions elsewhere in places

like India or the Philippines. The intensifying

scramble for a limited supply of local talent is also

a headache for managers, he says, something that

has not been helped by a slight tightening in the

country’s immigration policy.

For Simon Doughty, the head of Hong Kong’s

Wallem Group, competition is the biggest challenge

in Singapore, a country Wallem has significantly

bolstered its presence in this year.

“There are many shipmanagement companies in

the island vying for the same business,” he says.

Wallem’s head in Singapore, shipmanagement

veteran Deepak Honawar, says the cost of living

in the republic is now higher than other maritime

cities such as Hong Kong, Hamburg and Athens.

Nevertheless, new entrants continue to roll in.

Theintensifyingscrambleforalimitedsupplyoflocaltalent

isaheadache

Shipmanagement

SKY HIGH Singapore office rental prices are now on a par with Manhattan

When four cruise ships had to berth in Singapore in a single day.Wallem delivered.

www.wallem.com

Delivering Maritime Solutions 1 42 35

November PacificBasinfoundersChrisButteryandPaulOverjoinEpicShippingTanBoyTeebuysintoVikingOffshoreandMarine

PSAbuysastakeintheChineseportofLianyungang

SembcorpMarineofficiallyopensfirstphaseofitshuge206hayardinTuasBalticExchangeholdsfirsteverboardmeetingoutsideoftheUKinSingapore


Bunkering

Atrickyyearformanyhasseenthenumberofbunkersupplierscontract,writesKatherineSi

Mixed bag

Singapore, the world’s largest

bunkering hub, has seen the sector

contract considerably this year. The

number of companies now licenced by the

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

(MPA) has slipped by around 10 this year

to just over 70 bunker suppliers. This was

a result of certain firms failing to adhere

to the MPA’s terms and conditions while

others simply did not renew their licence

as competition and operating conditions

have been fierce of late.

Due to slack demand and extortionate

storage prices many bunker traders in

Singapore are seeking alternative places

to carry out their business.

Both BP and Swiss trader Gunvor

Group are giving up their fuel oil storage

space at the giant 2008-opened Universal

Terminal in Singapore. With VLCC rates

so low, and Singapore land prices so

astronomical many are choosing storage

at sea while others are looking at Malaysia

to set up shop.

However, there have been others who

have strengthened their position in the

Lion Republic this year. A good example is

Dynamic Oil Trading, the lube and bunker

firm, which celebrated its first anniversary

this October.

In the 12 months since its

establishment, Dynamic Oil Trading has

expanded rapidly and now has a ten-

strong bunker trading team based out of

its global headquarters in Singapore. The

company is also launching a new office in

Dubai to serve its customers in the Middle

East with plans for further expansion in

Asia and Europe.

New bunker players that came to

Singapore this year include Pacific

Bunkering and Norwegian Oil Trading

(NOT), the latter majority owned by Hesnes

Holding and NYK Trading Corporation.

ManybunkertradersinSingaporeareseekingalternativeplacesto

carryouttheirbusiness

Singapore has made progress in the

development of the practical operational

procedures and standards for LNG

bunkering operations.

The Maritime and Port Authority

of Singapore (MPA) and its appointed

consultant, Lloyd’s Register, have

completed a study on the technical

standards and procedures for LNG

bunkering in the port of Singapore.

Following the completion of the

study, MPA will be organising industry

consultation sessions to share the

results of the study with the maritime

industry and seek their feedback.

With the industry feedback, MPA will

subsequently finalise the LNG bunkering

standards for the port of Singapore.

“There is an increasing need for the

shipping industry to look at alternative

sources of fuel and LNG is a promising

option that we should consider. The

completion of the study is an important

milestone in the development of LNG

bunkering in the port of Singapore and

we would like to share this significant

progress with the industry,” said Captain

M Segar, MPA’s assistant chief executive

(operations).

LNGplans

6

8 10 13 15

PavilionEnergyspending$1.3bnfora20%stakeinthreeblocksoffTanzania

KreuzHoldingsandasubsidiaryoftheHeadlandPrivateEquityFundconcludeamanagement-ledleveragedbuyoutofKreuzHoldingsforS$446m

PacificRadianceIPOnets$154.7mNovember

For more information, please visit:Anastasia EmelianovaT: +44 207 596 5011E: [email protected]

Documents

Singapore 2013