Maritime Reporter, October 1993

<BODY> <div> Japan Shipyards To Increase Imports To Compete Various market factors includ- ing the surging yen and fierce com- petition from European and Korean yards are forcing Japanese yards to reevaluate current procedures. A number of the major yards have set up project teams in order to raise the imported content of vessels, ac- cording to the Japan Ship Centre. For example, Sumitomo Heavy In- dustries (SHI) has established a team at its Oppama yard to increase imports to 10 percent of total equip- ment machinery, and Ishikawajima- Harima Heavy IndustriesI has es- tablished a similar team. Other yards are improving and expanding links to overseas yards. For example, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (MES) has a technical agreement with Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai and has plans to im- port cargo access equipment from Samsung of Korea. MHI has estab- lished a joint venture with Jiangnan Shipyard of Shanghai for manufac- ture of marine equipment, machin- ery and steel. SHI also has a joint venture in Shanghai, which includes plans of importing low-priced ma- rine equipment. A recent report from the Kaiji Press reports that Terushi Nishiguchi, the newly appointed general manager of IHI, has called for drastic restructuring of the nation's shipbuilding indus- try. Reportedly IHI plans to pro- cure seven to eight percent of ship machinery and equipment overseas when building certain vessels. And unless further orders are secured, the Kobe building dock of Kawasaki will be empty for nine months following the floating out of a 70,000-dwt bulker at the end of February 1994, until the keel lay- ing of an LNG carrier in December of that year. According to the Japan Ship Centre, the future product mix in Japanese yards is difficult to pre- dict, as it is with any yard, but all indications are the yards will: ag- gressively pursue VLCC construc- tion, as many have recently com- pleted investment programs aimed to ensure efficient double hull tanker construction; and seek LNG carrier orders. the Straits of Malacca, Japan's Min- istry of Transport and Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will jointly set up a council comprised of Japanese shipping and oil industry bodies. The council, which is reportedly expected to be formed before the end of the current fiscal year ending March 31, is aimed at creating an information network of related groups such as the Petroleum Asso- ciation of Japan and the Japanese Shipowners' Association. Oil Spill Financial Responsibility To Increase The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published an Advance No- tice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register advising all operators of facilities handling oil and oil products located in, on or under the navigable waters of the U.S. that they will need to provide evidence of financial responsibility. OPA 90 mandates the develop- ment of new regulations to imple- ment provisions of the law that in- crease financial responsibility re- quirements for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) operators handling oil from $35 million to $150 million. For the first time, all operators in, on or under navigable waters of the U.S. and its territories will face new regulations establishing the identi- cal $150 million requirement. "The law contains provisions aimed at strengthening oil spill pre- vention, response capability and clean up efforts, as well as ensuring payment of damages resulting from oil spills should they occur," said MMS director Tom Fry. Raytheon Acquires Exclusive Distribution Rights For Kannad EPIRB Raytheon Marine Company has acquired the exclusive distribution rights for the Kannad 406 MHz EPIRB in North America. The Kannad EPIRB complies with IMO and GMDSS requirements for Cat- egory I (float-free) and Category II (non float-free) systems. The Kannad EPIRB will alert search and rescue authorities to pinpoint a ship's location within one nautical mile anywhere in the world, and is the only one to be simultaneously type approved by the four founding members of the COSPAS/SARSAT program. The Kannad EPIRB is available in two versions: a 406S manual, and a 406FH float-free. For free information from Raytheon on the Kannad EPIRB, Circle 76 on Reader Service Card ABS Launches New SafeHull System: Designed To Provide Long Term Safety, Savings American Bureau of Shipping Chairman Frank Iarossi an- nounced the launching of the class society's SafeHull System for the design and evaluation of ship struc- tures. "SafeHull resulted from an ambi- tious three-year, $4 million research and development undertaking to improve ABS Rules (Rules for Build- ing and Classing Steel Vessels), the largest R&D effort ever undertaken by ABS," Mr. Iarossi said. "With the availability of the ABS SafeHull System, shipowners, operators, builders and designers will have the capability to thoroughly quan- tify the dynamically induced stresses that could exist in a ship structure. This new capability will lead to a more optimum distribu- tion of steel in a ship's structure, which, in turn, will lead to a signifi- cant reduction of structural failures due to the effects of yielding, buck- ling and fatigue." Included at the unveiling, which was held at a spe- cial news conference held in New York City, were comments from Dr. Donald Liu, ABS senior vice presi- dent-technology, under whose direc- tion SafeHull was developed. "In essence, by uniquely combining an engineering first-principles ap- proach with our experience and tech- nology, ABS has finally been able to (Continued on page 46) UFESAVER AND COSTSAVE R From the world's largest manufacturer of inflatables comes a full line of liferafts with unsurpassed ZODIAC quality and reliability. U.S.C.G. approved, they come in a complete range of Coastal and S.O.L.A.S. liferafts carrying 6 to 25 people. ZODIAC manages to beat the competition in price as well as quality. ZODIAC OF NORTH AMERICA, INC. P.O. 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