The Philippines joins elite 20,000 TEU club

The Philippines celebrated another step towards the elite of shipbuilding with the delivery of its first 20,000 TEU class boxship.

South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction-Philippines Inc. (HHIC-Phil) recently unveiled the CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery, the first 20,600 TEU container vessel built in Subic Bay Freeport, the largest ship ever built in the Philippines and one of the biggest ships ever built in the world.

The CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery is the first of three 20,600 teu boxships that HHIC-Phil is building for France’s leading liner group.

The ship has an overall length of 400 meters, a width of 59 meters, depth of 33 meters and gross tonnage tipping at 217,673 tons.

With a deck as big as three football fields combined, the CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery is considered one of the biggest ships in the world today, HHIC-Phil officials said during the completion ceremony held at the firm’s Redondo Peninsula shipyard.

The mammoth container vessel, which was named after the French aristocrat and literary icon Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was built over a period of one and a half years, from February 8, 2016, when the first steel cutting was made, to its launching in August 19 last year.

The CMA CGM Antoine de Saint Exupery is the first of three 20,600 TEU container ships that HHIC-Phil has committed to build for the French container transport and shipping firm CMA CGM (Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement-Compagnie Générale Maritime, translated as Maritime Freighting Co.-General Maritime Co.).

Two other vessels of the same size and type are in advance stages of shipbuilding at Hanjin’s 326-hectare shipyard here.

The vessel completion ceremony here on Thursday was graced by noted government officials, led by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, under whose administration the Hanjin shipyard was launched.

According to HHIC-Phil President Gwang Suk Chung, the delivery of the Antoine de Saint Exupery “represents a breakthrough in global shipbuilding,” as the Korean company’s cutting-edge technology complemented by the skills of Filipino workers successfully launched vessels of higher tonnage and value.

Chung also recalled that “the intensive support of the Philippine government” gave the Korean a robust head start in the country’s shipbuilding industry.

HHIC-Phil officials said that the firm still has a number of high-value commercial vessels on order with their launchings and deliveries spread across 2018 and 2019. These include liquefied petroleum gas carriers and crude-oil carriers, among others. In January last year, the HHIC-Phil marked another milestone with the delivery of Gener8 Hector, the first “very large crude carrier” ever constructed in the Philippines. The vessel was delivered to the United States-based crude-oil shipping company Gener8 Maritime.

In her speech, Arroyo cited the $2.3-billion investment by HHIC-Phil in the Subic Bay Freeport. She also noted that the Korean firm had also built a massive training facility for local workers.

Meanwhile, SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma thanked HHIC-Phil on behalf of President Duterte, pointing out that the Hanjin shipyard had played a vital role in national economic growth.

“With the 113 ships that Hanjin has delivered since it began operations in 2007, Hanjin’s presence in the Subic Bay Freeport has made the Philippines the fourth-biggest shipbuilding nation in the world,” she said.

Eisma also urged the Korean firm to look after its Filipino workers, who are an integral part of the success of the company. “We ask you to protect our people, to look after our facilities, because Subic is our home,” she added.

Last year HHIC-Phil delivered its first VLCC. It also has LPG vessels on its orderbooks. In terms of area size, HHIC-Phil is among the very largest shipyards in the world. Its parent, Hanjin Heavy in Busan, South Korea, took the decision to expand overseas 12 years ago as its own facilities were too cramped at a time where ship sizes were growing rapidly.

Other notable shipbuilders in the Philippines are Tsuneishi and Keppel cementing the Philippines' position as the world’s fourth largest shipbuilding nation.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/hanjin-delivers-first-subic-made-20600-teu-class-container-ship/

http://splash247.com/philippines-joins-elite-20000-teu-club/

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No need to worry, Garcia assures Hanjin-Subic workers

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia has assured workers of Subic shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction-Philippines (HHIC-Phil) that their company is not affected by the problem besetting Hanjin Shipping Corporation.

“I think that the Hanjin workers in Subic have nothing to worry about because the financial woes affecting Hanjin Shipping has no impact on Subic,” Garcia said.

The Hanjin shipbuilding facility at the Subic Bay Freeport (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

“They can rest assured that the Hanjin company in Subic is a separate entity and the one here is very stable,” Garcia added.

The Subic official issued the statement following inquiries from workers at HHIC-Phil’s Redondo Peninsula shipyard in this free port after Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd., reputedly the world’s seventh largest shipping line, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States last Friday.

Accordingly, the Korean shipping line was left bankrupt when creditor-banks rejected its debt-restructuring plan. Lately, Hanjin Group, which is its parent company, has announced it will out up $90 million to bail out the shipping line.

Garcia pointed out that the shipbuilding firm Hanjin in Subic Freeport and the bankrupt company Hanjin Shipping are two separate entities.

“HHIC-Phil is not related to Hanjin Shipping, so there is no need to worry,” he said, pointing out that the Subic shipbuilder has separated from the Hanjin Group in 2005.

Earlier, HHIC-Phil Managing Director for External Trade Yoo Hoan Jo also said that the Subic shipbuilding firm remains financially healthy and stable.

“Despite what is happening in the shipping industry, orders for container ships are still coming,” Jo said in a statement. He said the new orders include three Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) that will have the capacity to carry 20,600 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers in one hauling.

The HHIC-Phil official added that the new projects “would likely mean additional workers for the completion of these three ULCVs.”

Jo said that “the tried and tested Filipino workers at the Subic shipyard” has helped Hanjin deliver 91 vessels since it started full operation at the Redondo Peninsula in 2008.

He added that the company has delivered 16 vessels last year and has numerous orders this year, including the three ULCVs.

Jo also said that the Subic shipbuilder now has 35,000 direct and indirect employees working on various operations at HHIC-Phil’s Subic facility. (JRR/MPD-SBMA)

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Hanjin hiring more workers for shipbuilding projects

Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction – Philippines (HHIC-Phil) plans to hire more Filipino workers for its shipbuilding facility here to accommodate the growing number of orders from seafaring nations.

Hanjin top officials said that by next month, it will start building three Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs).

These ULCVs will have the capacity to carry 20,600 twenty-footer equivalent unit (TEU) containers in one hauling.

The ULCVs were ordered by France’s shipping conglomerate CMA CGM.

Each ship has a measurement of 400-meter in length, 59-meter in breadth and depth of 33 meters, with a deck as large as four soccer/football fields combined.

HHIC-Phil Managing Director for External Trade Yoo Hoan Jo said that the new orders would likely mean additional workers for the completion of these three ULCVs.

The company has already delivered 91 vessels since it started its operation at the Redondo Peninsula, Subic Bay Freeport in 2008, boosting the country’s export portfolio over the years.

The company has delivered 16 vessels last year and has numerous orders this year including the three ULCVs.

“The synergy between Hanjin and the Filipino worker is really a great formula not just in shipbuilding, but in nation building as well. The company believes in the craftsmanship and hard work the Filipino is known for, and will continue to utilize the Filipinos’ capabilities in shipbuilding for years to come,” Jo said.

The company recently gave back to the community by donating P5 million to help the National Anti-Poverty Commission’s (NAPC) priority projects for the marginalized Filipinos.

The turnover of the donation was done last month at the NAPC office in Diliman, Quezon City.

The donation is part of the company’s thrust to help uplift the Filipino people.

Jo personally turned over the check to NAPC Secretary and lead convenor Jose Eliseo Rocamora, following the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two parties.

The MOA stipulates that the P5-million donation from Hanjin would be disbursed specifically to support NAPC’s priority projects for post-Yolanda fisher folk settlement in Palawan and Sicogon. (Jonas Reyes, Manila Bulletin)

PHOTOS:

[1] HHIC-Phil shipyard at the Redondo Peninsula in Subic Bay Freeport Zone (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

[2] Made in Subic: A ship being built at HHIC-Phil's Subic shipyard. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

[3] HIC-Phil prides itself for having a Filipino workforce highly skilled in shipbuilding. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)

http://www.mb.com.ph/hanjin-hiring-more-workers-for-shipbuilding-projects/

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Subic shipyard to build world’s largest vessels

HANJIN HEAVY Industries and Construction Philippines Inc., operator of the biggest shipyard in the country, secured a contract from a European company to build three of what would be the world’s largest container vessels.

According to the Korean shipbuilder, its shipyard in Subic, Zambales, will be building three 20,600 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) container ships for CMA CGM, the biggest shipping company in France, and the third largest in the world.

“Signing a contract to build 20,000 TEU-level ultra large container ships with CMA CGM … confirms the world-class shipbuilding technology and capability of HHIC (Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Holdings),” the company said in a statement.

The company hopes to start delivering the container ships from the Subic shipyard by the second half of 2017.

According to HHIC, the Hanjin Subic shipyard is capable of building two 20,000-TEU container ships at the same time.

In response to the clients’ requests however, HHIC will reinforced the hull structure, such as fatigue design life, to build 26,000-TEU container ships.

The company has likewise focused on the improvement of environment-friendly performances, including the installation of the latest high-efficiency engine, propeller design and development of an energy-saving system.

According to Hanjin, the order from CMA CGM will be an ultra-large container vessel measuring 400 meters in length, 59 meters in breadth and 33 meters in depth. It will be capable of carrying 20,600 20-foot containers.

The deck alone is as large as four football fields. If the loaded containers were to be lined up end-to-end, these would span about 126 kilometers, Hanjin said. (Amy R. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/190462/subic-shipyard-to-build-worlds-largest-vessels#ixzz3XozmvKIR
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Hanjin Subic enters world’s top 10 shipyards

According to Clarkson Research Studies in the U.K., the world’s leading shipping services provider, HHIC-Phil’s Subic Shipyard ranked 10th in the world for the first time in terms of Compensated Gross Tonnage (CGT) with 1,757,000. This landmark was hit in five years since it was launched in April 2009, the company said in its press release.

It has no doubt that HHIC has been a pioneer in domestic shipbuilding industry, building Korea’s first steel vessel, oil rig, Asia’s first membrane LNG carrier, air cushion vehicle, cable ship and icebreaker. Because of economic crisis in 2008, emergence of Chinese shipbuilders and competitive competition, however, it felt behind.

Thanks to the completion of HHIC-Phil’s Subic Shipyard, the Korean shipbuilder was finally able to overcome its limitation in building high value-added vessels. Empowered by the improvement of mid- and long-term competitiveness, HHIC has established its ground to develop into the world’s leading shipbuilder.

Last month, HHIC-Phil’s Subic Shipyard won the bid to build the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) for the first time. In the past, HHIC didn’t even attempt to participate in this kind of bid due to its narrow shipyard in Yeongdo.

Entering this year, in particular, HHIC has been successful in several bids including 300,000DWT VLCCs and over 10,000TEU VCLSs. So far, the company has book advance orders (nearly US 3.2 billion dollars, 50 ships in total) for three (3) years. Now, HHIC is treated as one of the world’s leading global shipbuilders.

HHIC-Phil’s Subic Shipyard is a global shipyard (900,000 pyeong) situated in Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ). It features all kinds of state-of-the-art facilities including two huge docks, 4km-long quay, four ultra-large gantry cranes and 1km-long automated assembly lines. In particular, the world’s largest dock (Dock 6, 550m in length, 135m in width, 13.5m in depth) is capable of building six container carriers at the same time.

An official from HHIC said, “We believe that we would be able to move higher with the Subic Shipyard.” He added, “We are going to develop HHIC-Phil’s Subic Shipyard into a global hub for shipbuilding and make Yeongdo Shipyard concentrate on passenger & cargo carriers and special-purpose vessels to evolve into a global shipbuilder.” (PortNews)

http://en.portnews.ru/news/181257/

Photo: http://www.hhic-phil.com/aboutus/shipyard1.aspx

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Hanjin starts building VLCCs, rolls off three more ships

Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction’s shipyard in Subic Bay will start building Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) for the first time.

Navig8 has ordered four 300,000 dwt VLCCs there while another unspecified European owner has committed to build two more.

The 300,000 dwt newbuilding measures 333 m in length, 60 m in breadth with 30 m of height.

The ships will start delivering in the second half of 2016. Hanjin’s Subic yard is now busy through to 2017. Hanjin’s own yard in Busan is too small to handle ships of VLCC size.

New Ships

Meanwhile, three newly built container vessels were rolled off at the Korean shipbuilding facility.

The vessels were ordered by the German shipping company Bernhard Schulte Gmbh and Co. KG last week.

The order for these three 5,400 TEU Container Class Carriers is due to the growing number of German manufacturing orders in February, mostly coming from domestic orders.

Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction–Philippines (HHIC-Phil Inc.) held the unveiling at their state-of-the-art shipyard facility in Subic as the three vessels were christened as M/V Christ Schulte, M/V Clemens Schulte, and M/V Carl Schulte. (Jonas Reyes, Manila Bulletin)

http://seashipnews.com/News/Hanjin%E2%80%99s-Subic-yard-starts-VLCC-construction/3w3c2077.html

http://www.mb.com.ph/national-newsbits-for-april-8-2014/

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Vale, SBMA launch Subic Bay iron ore transshipment operations

Brazil’s Vale Shipping Holdings Pte. Ltd. (VSH), along with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), formally launched a partnership for the transshipment of iron ore from this free port.

In a ceremony held at the Lighthouse Marina Resort here on June 1, VSH executives led by Jose Carlos Martins, executive officer for ferrous minerals operations, and officials of the SBMA led by Chairman and Administrator Roberto Garcia, announced the start of Vale’s transshipment business here.

VSH is an affiliate of Vale SA, the world’s largest producer of iron ore, which also controls the largest share of the seaborne market for iron ore.

The company will carry out iron ore transshipment operations from its Valemax mother vessel to be anchored in Subic Bay, and then supply ore to smaller daughter vessels or feeders, which are either Panamax or Capesize types.

The project is expected to boost Subic’s port revenues by up to P70 million in the first year of operations alone.

In his message during the project launch, Martins thanked the SBMA for its warm reception of the project and expressed hope that the partnership between his company and the SBMA would continue to grow and benefit both the Philippines and Brazil.

“The Philippines is growing now at almost the same pace with China, and the Philippines is emerging in the world economy,” Martins noted. “With this opportunity, now is our time — now is the time for countries like Brazil and the Philippines.”

Garcia, meanwhile, said that the Vale project will help thrust the Philippines forward in the maritime industry and stressed its importance to the SBMA.

“In our strategic plan, we were very dead-set in continuing to promote the maritime business, and the Vale project is an important pillar of our strategy to maximize the use of Subic Bay,” he said.

“We have a very good future here,” Garcia added, pointing out that the Philippines is in a current state of rapid development, having achieved a 6.4 per cent GDP growth rate this first quarter compared to 4 per cent last year. “And what is outstanding is the fact that it is the second highest growth rate in the region, second only to China,” he added.

For his part, SBMA director and treasurer Joven Reyes said that the agency is much honored that VSH had chosen Subic Bay as its major transshipment port.

“We hope even more that your business continues to move from success to success and that this partnership, which we are officially launching today, would lead to better and greater developments for Vale, Subic Bay, and of course our country down the road,” Reyes said.

The Vale project began in late 2010 when SBMA and Vale proposed a solution that matched Vale’s transshipment operations model with SBMA’s logistics business model.

Stefani Saño, SBMA senior deputy administrator for business and investment development, said that Vale needed to optimize its large-scale iron ore distribution and delivery system and the SBMA offered the bay as a suitable offshore location.

“This logistics model would allow Vale’s huge vessels to tranship the commodity with maximum efficiency in terms of time and cost, given the scale of operations required,” Saño added.

Saño also said that apart from Vale, the SBMA is also trying to attract more logistics companies to invest in the Freeport. He said that at least two logistics companies engaged in different line of commodities for offshore-based distribution operations have expressed interest in locating at Subic Bay. (FMD/MPD-SBMA)

PHOTO:
SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia welcomes Jose Carlos Martins, executive officer for ferrous minerals operations of the Vale Shipping Holdings Pte. Ltd. ( VSH), during the June 1 ceremonial launch of the Vale iron ore transshipment operations in Subic Bay. Looking on, at left, is SBMA chief operating officer Joven Reyes.

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Brazil’s Vale invests to get around Chinese megaship ban

Brazilian diversified mining major Vale, the world’s number two mining group in terms of market capitalisation, has announced that it is to establish a second floating iron-ore transfer station, in Subic Bay, in the Philippines.

This station will transfer iron-ore from the miner’s giant Valemax bulk carriers to smaller Capesize and Panamax ore carriers, which will then convey the ore to ports in China.

The first of these floating transfer stations, also in Subic Bay, started operations in February and cost the Brazilian group $52-million.

The Valemax ships are the largest bulk carriers in the world. Each of them has a length of 362 m, a beam of 65 m and is able to carry 400 000 t of iron-ore. Each Valemax can carry three times the cargo of a Capesize bulk carrier – Capesize ships currently carry 80% of the world’s seaborne iron-ore.

Vale has ordered 35 Valemax ships, of which eight have been delivered. But Chinese shipowners, alarmed by the competitive threat they pose, have persuaded the Chinese authorities to ban them from that country’s ports.

The floating transfer stations are Vale’s response. They allow the company to deliver its iron-ore some 85% of the distance from Brazil to China on board the more cost-efficient Valemax ships, and then conclude the last 15% on the smaller vessels.

In addition, Vale has an operational land-based distribution centre in Oman and is building a second such centre in Malaysia. Together, these floating transfer stations and the distribution centres will be able to absorb the total capacity of all 35 Valemaxes, which comes to 60-million tons of iron-ore a year.

However, Chinese steelmakers, eager to benefit from the cost reductions the Valemax ships could bring, are reported to be pressurising the Chinese government to lift the ban on the vessels. One of the first Valemax ships successfully docked at Dalian last year, before the ban was imposed.

Moreover, nearly half of the Valemax ships – 16 out of 35 – are being built in China by Rongsheng Heavy Industries, an order worth $2.1-billion. (The rest are being built in South Korea. One of the South Korean ships recently developed cracks in its hull on its maiden voyage, but Rongsheng states its ships are very safe.) Not all the Valemax ships will be owned by Vale, but those that are not owned by the group will be on long-term lease to it.

Should the Chinese government change its policy and allow the Valemax ships into its ports, this will not render the floating transfer stations superfluous. As each transfer station is actually a modified bulk carrier, they will simply be moved to new locations to serve other markets in Asia and South-East Asia.
The development and deployment of the Valemax ships has had a severe impact on the value of Capesize vessels. The website VesselsValue.com last month reported that new Capesize ships that had been worth $69.9-million in April 2010 were now worth $39.9-billion. The website also reported that, as a result of the Chinese ban, the value of Valemax ships had fallen by 36%. But, for Vale, it is the value of the iron-ore and the utility of the ships that are important; the book value of the vessels is a secondary issue.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Brazilian miner’s Mozambican operation has ordered 33 200 railway sleepers from agriculture and forestry company Montara Continental, which operates in Mozambique and Tanzania and is 75%-owned by the British Obtala Resources group. The railway sleepers will be delivered over the next seven months and will be used in the upgrading of Vale-owned railways in Mozambique and Malawi and in the construction of a new line in Malawi. (Keith Campbell, Creamer Media's Mining Weekly)

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Brazil's Vale offers spot iron ore from Subic Bay, Philippines

SINGAPORE - Brazilian miner Vale has offered spot iron ore for tender Monday, sailing from its Floating Transfer Station at Subic Bay, Philippines, market participants said Monday.

Previously, most of Vale's spot offers have been for cargoes loaded on vessels passing through Singapore within two weeks from the date of sale, but the shipment sailing from Subic Bay will be able to reach the Chinese port of Qingdao in a shorter time span of four-and-a-half days.

Vale is offering a 175,000 mt cargo of 65%-Fe Brazilian sinter feed Carajas fines in a tender closing Monday, 1730 Beijing time (0930 GMT) on a CFR China basis. The cargo will load from the Floating Transfer Station at Subic Bay by Wednesday.

China's Ministry of Transport in January applied stricter administration procedures for large dry bulk vessels. Those with a capacity of more than 350,000 dwt have to go through new demonstration-appraisal-approval procedures before they can call at Chinese ports.

Sources said the Carajas fines spot cargo offered was probably unloaded from Very Large Ore Carrier, or Valemax, vessels at Subic Bay before being loaded into smaller Capesize vessels prior to sailing for China.

"It is the first time I heard Vale offering an iron ore spot shipment that sails straight from Subic Bay," a Hong Kong-based trader said.

Another Singaporean trader said: "Shorter traveling time between the Philippines and China will be popular among steel mills who need very prompt loading cargoes, but it may not be equally popular with traders who have a shorter time to sell their cargoes."

Vale wasn't immediately available to comment. [Melvin Yeo, (Platts) Singapore]

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