- Windsor Knutsen
- Cape Martin
- NYK Vesta
- A new President for CSC
- Columbia team joins charity run
- Enviromental News - ISO 14001
- CSM Singapore Office
- CSM Personnel office - Batumi
- Faloremo Project Announcement

Welcome to M/V “Windsor Knutsen”

The ship was delivered from Daewoo shipyard in South Korea on 18th May to her owners Messrs. Knutsen OAS. It is the biggest vessel in the KOAS fleet.  She has a deadweight of 162,000 tons, is 280.5 meters long and 50 metres wide. The tanker has enhanced ice class 1A and meets all the requirements of international conventions in the sphere of navigational safety. It is designed to carry crude oil from the Northern regions of the Baltic Sea year-round. MV“Windsor Knutsen” is a tanker of optimum capacity for operation in the Baltic Sea, a so called Baltimax-type. The design draught allows the tanker to take 1 million barrels of oil on board, which is 1.5 times more than other tankers operating in this region can carry. This allows a reduction in the intensity of maritime traffic in the area and strengthens the safety of navigation.

The ship meets all the requirements of the Port of Primorsk. It was specially designed for the transportation of oil from this Russian port which is considered to be one of the most advanced, state-of-the-art facilities of its kind. The vessel’s cargo tanks are fully coated with Sigma epoxy paint, 300 microns dft hence the ship of its kind can carry Clean Petroleum Products also.

The tanker is double-hulled and is equipped with an a bow thruster to improve the vessel’s maneuverability and with four blades controllable pitch propeller (CPP). The direction and speed can be changed by the adjustment of the propeller’s blades which diminishes the risk of damaging the propulsion system when operating in ice conditions.

The tanker is also equipped with an electronically controlled type main engine 7S70ME-C, having a capacity of 29540 BHP at 91 RPM. The electronic control contributes to optimum performance and to the reduction of exhaust gas emissions.
 
The vessel’s wheelhouse is of a totally enclosed wings type to make the work of the seamen more comfortable in cold climates. The ship has DNV Class Notation 1A1 ICE-1A Tanker for Oil ESP SPM E0 VCS-2 DAT(-30 °C) TMON NAUTICUS(Newbuilding) allowing her to operate in ice at outdoor temperature - 30° C. Her ballast tanks are equipped with heating coils which are placed horizontally in the tanks at loaded and ballast draft levels. All P/V valves, doors outside of accommodation, hydraulic oil tanks for deck machineries, fresh water tanks and even EPIRB equipped with electrical/steam heaters. The engine room ventilation system has possibility to re-circulate air while the ship trades in cold climates. The accommodation has cabins for 36 crew members including ice pilots, radio officers, hydrologists and Suez crew. Captain Pavel Kukanov took over command of the vessel, with his crew consisting of 21 experienced seafarers.

Upon delivery from the yard the ship changed her Liberian flag to NIS and port of registry from Monrovia to Haugesund. This is a new challenge for Columbia and our crew to work with a reputable Norwegian shipowner. The naming ceremony of the ship was on 11th May 2007 where the top management of Knutsen OAS, shipyard and our crew participated. The lady sponsor was Ms. Synnve Seglem, daughter of Mr. Trygve Seglem, Managing Director of Knutsen OAS.

Key Events:
           
            Shipbuilding Contract    February 5, 2004
            Steel Cutting     August 8, 2006
            Keel Laying      December 22, 2006
            Launching         March 24, 2007
            Naming            May 11, 2007
            Delivery            May 18, 2007

Viktor Shipilov
Fleet Manager, Technical Dept.
Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus)

M/V CAPE MARTIN
DELIVERY AND CHRISTENING

Mr. Schoeller appointed me to represent Columbia Shipmanagement and Schoeller Holdings at the delivery and christening of the CS 2700 hull no.129 to be named Cape Martin at Aker MTV yard on a cold 25th of January 2007 in Wismar, Germany.

The vessel was initially ordered by Koenig & Cie, a good partner of Columbia in a number of projects for his own account and was only later agreed to become a joint project (reference is made to the 23rd edition of the COMPASS). This is also the reason why you will notice Cape Martin in the pictures in an unusual CSM container ship look with a red hull instead of the usual green paint.

The supervision for Cape Martin was done, as for a number of vessels delivered from Aker MTV or Peene yard in Germany before, by the experienced supervision team built up around Egon Mahncke. This ensured that the good design of the yard was also continued by good quality construction. It was a pleasure to see this nice vessel waiting at the lay-by berth of the yard to be christened. Captain Andrey Kulpin together with the Chief Engineer Aleksejs Belozjorovs and their crew had done a great job to have the vessel prepared for its future task.

Mrs. Stefanie Dumat working for Koenig & Cie, being just a few days before her maternity leave, was chosen as Godmother and mastered her task in great fashion.

Hanse Bereederung GmbH had done the crew a special favour – they managed to charter Cape Martin for a year plus 12 month option into the “Trident Service” being an around the world service from Europe via North America going even to New Zealand. This might not be the dream of all you onboard anymore but just remember back to being a boy – this was one of the parts of the seafaring dream and I hope glances of this dream are fulfilled on Cape Martin again.

Cape Martin is already the 9th vessel of this series Schoeller Holdings is involved in but displays one difference to the predecessors by having a Mitsubishi main engine, type 7 UEC 68 LFE with 20.580 kW/h instead of a MAN B&W 7L70 MCC with 21.770 kW/h. It will be interesting to see if the performance of the vessels will differ.

Cape Martin is managed by Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd., Cyprus and is flying the Cyprus flag. I wish Cape Martin safe journeys and that she will make some of the dreams about seafaring come true.

Carsten Sommerhage
Managing Director
Columbia Deutschland GmbH

NYK VESTA

NYK VESTA is a New Building of 8600 TEU having been built for NYK Line in the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard at Ulsan, South Korea.

The supervision team consisting mainly of NYK personnel was supplemented with CSM Chief Engineer Thomas Zinnert on the 8th January 2007. He was closely followed by 2nd Engineer Danilo Reyes and Electrician Predrag Koprivnjak on the 21st of January.  The Columbia influence had started. Captain Alan Haakestad joined the team on the 5th February and Chief Officer Hans John Katindoy the next day.

Preparations to ensure the vessel was delivered on time were at fever pitch. Delivery was expected to be 6th February and delays were not an option for NYK or Columbia. Schedules had to be met, loose ends tidied away and jobs sighted as completed; the days were passing very quickly.

On the 26th February 2007 at 1100hrs the christening ceremony of New Building No: 1716 took place. The birth of NYK VESTA occurred in the presence of the following distinguished guests; Mr & Mrs Aritomi, President and sponsor of NB No: 1716, Mr & Mrs Kusakari, Chairman of NYK Line, Mr & Mrs Ishida, Executive Vice President of NYK Line, Mr Alan Turtle, CSM Technical Manager for NYK Group of Vessels, Captain Alan Haakestad, Master of NYK VESTA and Mr Tomas Zinnert, Chief Engineer of NYK VESTA .

On completion of the traditional breaking of the champagne bottle the group returned to NB No:1715 (NYK VENUS) for “Tape cutting” in the wheelhouse and followed by whistle blowing of both vessels. Mr Aritomi, sponsor of NYK VESTA presented Captain Haakestad with a gift for the vessel at the luncheon in honor of the naming ceremony.

The remainder of the crew all arrived by the 2nd March. Captain Lough, Company Security Officer arrived on the 1st March to conduct the Initial Ship Security Assessment as required by the ISPS Code. Germanischer Lloyd attended the vessel on the morning of the 5th March to conduct the Initial Verifications for SMC and ISPS, as the ships complement were all established employees they were already familiar with Columbia’s SMS and ISPS requirements and procedures. After an intense day with the surveyor the vessel was issued with valid Interim SMC & ISSC certificates.

The NYK VESTA was delivered to her Owners at 0900hrs on the 6th March, with Pilot onboard the vessel slipped her mooring’s at 1000hrs and commenced her sole purpose in life, to transport cargo around the world. The vessel was waved good bye to by Alan Turtle, Technical Manager, NYK Fleet.

Her vital statistics are; capacity 8600 TEU, which can include 800 reefer containers. If you joined all of them end for end the distance stretched would be 51.6km, that’s the same distance from Pareklisia to Larnaca. She is 338.1mtrs in length and 45.6mtrs wide. The height is 65.2mtrs which is equivalent to a 21 storey building. The vessel is equipped with the latest technology, main engine output is 87,060 hp (64,033kw), 12 cylinder two stroke turbo charged engine. Maximum sea speed is 26.65kts and burning 220MT of “fossil juice” (HFO 500).  The total capacity for bunkers is 10,000MT which is the same amount of cargo carrying capacity the Cape Egmont has.

On departure of Ulsan the vessel set sail for Dalian to load her first cargo of containers, subsequent ports of call would be; Xingang, Quindao, Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Singapore, Port Kelang, Jeddah, Suez Canal transit, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Southampton before returning to the Far East via Suez to her place of birth.

Captain Alan Haakestad
Master – NYK VESTA

On the day, the weather was not Hamburg’s finest but the event was filled with a party atmosphere with thousands of people on the sidelines cheering on the runners!   Our COLUMBIA team was supported along the sidelines by Ognyan Bogdanov, Maxim Kolesnikov, Marina Kolesnikova, Marina Gavetskaya, Nikita Kolesnikov and Ursula Groß.  
The charity run was broadcast on local TV, station: N3.  Each team was also published in a special edition of the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper on Monday the 4th of June 2007.

It took the COLUMBIA team 25 minutes to complete the run.  Hand in hand, with a smile and a loud scream our team crossed the finish line!  Everyone really enjoyed the experience of being part of Hamburg’s biggest charity run. Later the team collected their HSH T-Shirts and went over to a pub for a well deserved pint!  The next day all runners were fine, without suffering from aching legs or sore feet. 

The COLUMBIA team plans to join next year again, hopefully with more runners.

Arscha Elbekoglu
Columbia Objekteinrichtungs-Gesellschaft mbH

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

ISO 14001 The Environmental Management Standard

We can all help to reduce our load on the environment … use a mug or glass instead of plastic cup…print on both sides of a sheet of paper….walk instead of taking the car…use the stairs and not the lift….it just takes a little planning and determination.

Columbia has decided to work towards certification to the ISO Environmental Management System to show our commitment to our environment.

To achieve this certification we have to review where our business interacts with the environment and set improvement targets for those environmental impacts which are found to be significant.

A start was made last year when three photographs from the competition were chosen and turned into the posters which you may see around the CSM Cyprus Office.   Our goal is to take this further by creating an Environment Management System (EMS) Team in the office and introducing Environmental Officer Roles on board our ships. Initially the Cyprus and Singapore Offices will be involved as well as all our fully managed ships and we hope to achieve certification in 2008.

As always our success depends on the dedication and commitment of all our employees.  We can all start to save our environment in small ways.  Each small saving does count.  For a start try to:

-Switch off the lights when you are not in a room

-Do not leave electrical items on standby – switch them off

-Type this message at the bottom of your emails ‘Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail’

-Reduce what you use, reuse and then  recycle.

Remember…

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

Christina Ison
QA Superintendent
Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus)

CSM SINGAPORE OFFICE

With the global economy seeing an ever-increasing growth in the Asian markets, the shipping industry in particular has seen a shift towards the east in the past two decades. To illustrate this development in the container sector, it is worth noting that in 2006 the world’s six busiest container ports and all of the container ports recording year-on-year growth in excess of 20% were located in the East Asian market. Thus, it is not surprising that about a third of container traffic today is of “intra-Asia” nature. Realizing the tremendous potential of Southeast Asia in particular, Columbia opened its third ship management office in Singapore in 2000 to continue to be close to its current and future stakeholders.

CSM Singapore (SG) was established as a branch office to service Schoeller Holdings owned/chartered ships trading in the South East Asian region in an efficient manner. The decision for Singapore was largely made due to its importance in the shipping industry, being the largest container port in the world and the infrastructure that comes with it. In addition, the aggressive initiative of the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) to attract ship owners and liner companies to run their vessels under Singapore flag and benefit from very competitive tonnage tax schemes has lured companies into the city state. Considering the stable legal environment, a government focused on economic growth and the local maritime infrastructure, CSM’s choice for Singapore remains a positive one in retrospect as well.

Currently, CSM SG employs three technical superintendents in Frankie Tan, Frederico Vargas Jr. and Tonci Glavas and three purchasers in Irene Tan, Sean Kiew and Stephanie Li. Furthermore, there are three accountants, Belinda Shim, Noorhayati Abdul-Rahman and Rusebel Han, with Marie Cheong acting as Administrative Officer. The team is led by Managing Director Ruben Oggel, General Manager Demetris Chrysostomou and Technical Manager Steffen Kohler. Due to the above mentioned macro-economical and local developments, we see significant growth potential for our team in Singapore. After taking on their first third party vessels from our partners at Lloyd Fonds AG late last year, plans for further growth are in place.

Given the exposure to the worldwide third party market, Columbia’s reputation, our formidable location in Singapore’s sizzling economy and our proactive expansion of the office, any addition of new vessels under management will be easily absorbed while maintaining the highest level of quality ship management.

Ruben Oggel, Managing Director of CSM Singapore gave us his views on some of the current issues surrounding Singapore, the shipping market and Columbia Shipmanagement Singapore.

In retrospective, what do you consider milestones in the development of this office?

In recent times, certainly the move towards 3rd Party Shipmanagement with the Lloyd Fonds AG vessels. Milestones ahead will be the founding and coordinating of new departments such as the Marine and Crewing Department, which we are looking to implement on a small scale. Coinciding with that will be an increase in the number of office personnel, the amount of ships in full management and potentially the first ships under crewing management contracts. 

Looking even further ahead, new challenges might include the offering of ancillary services such as new building supervision, management of new types of ships, for example anchor handling vessels, or even more difficult types of ships such as LPG, LNG, FPSO or Floating Gas Production Vessels.

How do you see Singapore’s standing and future prospects in the Asian shipping market and next to its major competitors, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong?

Singapore has positioned itself as one of the easiest places to do business in South East Asia, if not worldwide.  This is not only applicable for shipping but for the entire business community.  The local government is very keen to listen to business. This is evident with the various policies undertaken to attract new businesses to Singapore by easing up bureaucratic procedures and providing extensive monetary benefits, such as tax exemptions.

As you mention it is in heavy competition with Hong Kong. In a recent move for example, Singapore lowered the corporate tax rate to 18%, trailing Hong Kong now by only 0.5% in this regard, while Hong Kong has moved to abolish its estate tax. In Shanghai for example, local authorities have established a designated area in which shipping companies get a 5% tax rebate. Due to its location, Shanghai and Shen Zhen are more direct competitors with Hong Kong rather than with Singapore. Shanghai or Shen Zhen have a price advantage over Hong Kong, on the other side they trail in the services sector where skills and experience are key.

Ship repair yards in Singapore historically have an excellent reputation as well. Although their services are priced rather high they are known to complete their tasks in a timely manner while being able to provide the specialist knowledge required for the most difficult problems. This is the advantage of having a very educated workforce within the local economy. Oil and gas rig producers have discovered this advantage for their purposes as well and have heavily expanded their services catered towards the maritime sector.

How do CSM clients benefit from Columbia’s presence in Singapore?

Our clients benefit from a sound, efficient and reliable manager which has its roots from services it has been doing in Cyprus and Germany. Being in Singapore we are able to directly service the ships of the customers in this region, give them the necessary attention so that they do not feel that there are left on their own.  We always want to give the customers based in this region our complete attention and quick responses to their questions regarding their vessels.

Additional factors are Singapore’s drive to becoming the prime Asian shipping finance city as well as insurance capital, both of which are still in the making.  CSM Singapore will be able to piggy back on these drives to obtain advantages over other more established markets. 

What does the future hold for CSM SG?

The office for CSM SG will more and more be pushed to become focused on dealing with Third Party Clients. This diversification will make us less reliant on our main clients.  We also believe that traditional shipping locations will see more and more difficulties to compete with the newly developing centres of excellence, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. But very soon, others are likely to join the competition, offering English speaking staff who can manage ships at a reasonable cost. 

Timothy Scheller
Schoeller Holdings Ltd.

A new Director for CSM Personnel office - Batumi 

The aim for our Personnel office in Batumi is to provide a link between our 200 Georgian seafarers employed in our fleet and our head office.  We are also liaising closely with the Maritime Academy in Batumi regarding our current cadet program.

In a brief talk to Compass, Captain Beso mentioned he especially enjoys working with Georgian seafarers in the community and is looking forward to the challenge ahead.  His message for all Georgian seafarers is “Gmerti Kpharavdet” (God bless you).

Please do not hesitate to contact our new office for any queries or whenever visiting Georgia to say hello:

Tel:   +995 222 76206
Email:    Columbia@csmge.com

Susanne Meyer
Director Human Resources
Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd (Cyprus)

Faloremo Project Announcement

As reported in our last Compass, an exciting new project is underway in Limassol, Cyprus – the latest addition to Faloremo Trading Ltd’s portfolio.  Faloremo are a subsidiary of Schoeller Holdings Ltd, who acquired the PizzaExpress franchise in Cyprus in 1998.   

For this project, Mr. Vakis Hadjikyriacou is the chosen architect whose past designs have  included the Columbia Pissouri Beach Resort, Columbia Pissouri Beachotel renovations, and the interior design for all four Pizza Express restaurants in Cyprus. 
Mr. Hadjikyriacou spoke exclusively to Compass, explaining the ideas behind his inspiration.  We are pleased to introduce the artist impressions on these pages in public for the very first time.

On a town planning level, Limassol has improved greatly over the past two years.  A pedestrian and cycle path has recently been completed along the seafront and is now enjoyed by cyclists, families, rollerbladers and joggers.  In the forthcoming academic year, the University of Cyprus will open 7 Technical buildings to students in the old historic centre of Limassol.  Building of a new marina in Limassol is also about to commence - change is in the air!

A search began for a suitable leisure complex site within Limassol last year; eventually a derelict building complex was located in the centre of town.  It had once been a 1960’s landmark, previously housing a Hilman car showroom and garage.  The site is surrounded by neighbouring streets, including the well loved St. Andrews street by Limassol library.   

The Faloremo project began four months ago, with the demolishing of parts of the old site and reinforcing existing structure in line with today’s anti-seismic regulations giving this important landmark a new lease of life. 

The complex will be the first of its kind in Limassol, and include:

1. an Argentinean steak house (with specially imported Argentinean steaks), featuring  a rusty red colour scheme accenting the link to South America (vibrant terracotta  colours; a tango flavour) 
2. a modern restaurant for lunches and dinner

  -    a 200 seated conference area/ banqueting hall/ exhibition hall
  -    a piano lounge, where friends can meet to enjoy music 
-      a small cinema, available for private hire
 -     a fine wine cellar
 -     a small cigar lounge
-      indoor covered parking facilities
-      12 terraced loft style townhouses

Residents and visitors alike can look forward to a new cultural hub – something which has been missing in the old town until now.  An open air piazza within the complex will provide a relaxed area to dine al fresco, away from traffic. 
Inside the conference hall, another point of interest will be a 40 metre long display of marine collectables.  The concept is to raise awareness of shipping through the eras, with reference to the shipping community of Limassol. 

In terms of architecture, there will be use of steel and wooden boardwalks, with deep shades to shield visitors from the Mediterranean sun.  Mr. Hadjikyriacou told Compass how his design had been influenced by the history of Limassol as well as by current architecture.    The design is modern in approach, aiming to combine present day whilst still respecting the older buildings of the neighbourhood. 

Glass walls will help connect the inside with the outside, offering an understated invitation to enter.  The main elements of the complex will consist of wood, colour, steel and water; deriving from the shipping influence reminiscent of the large ocean liners (wooden decks).  A focal point will be the corridor of water running between the restaurant and piazza areas. 

Provision of car parking facilities will relieve pressure on the town infrastructure, and bring people back to the heart of town.  Our aim is to make a culturally rich contribution to Limassol.  The opening date will be in ten months time – for now, the name of the complex will remain undisclosed.  It is not often a project of this scale and vision occurs – we look forward to reporting on future developments. 

Once again, Columbia is setting the standards.   

Vakis Hadjikyriakou - Architect
Natalie Sey - Editor

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