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FAR EAST UPDATE Softening Yen Provides Boost To Japanese Builders With regard to the Japanese shipbuilding industry, price levels have become much more competitive the yen's sgftening against the JJVS. dollar. The National Shipping Co. jtif Saudi Arabia INBCSA) took delivery of its fifth VLCC, named Safaniyah, during early January, from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). NKK's Tsu Shipyard has recently undergone an automation upgrade. MHI has also delivered a new high-speed car ferry capable of cruising at 35 knots. The single- hulled, 1,500-grt ferry, measures 331.4 x 49 x 34-ft. (101 x 14.9 x 10.3-m), and has a capacity of 423 passengers and 106 vehicles. The followi-ftg' ' iTrst-^yessel was built at the ShimonoSeki yard, and delivered to Tokyo-based "ferry operator East to the microprocessor-based LAN The scheme reflects the company'! bid to boost its newbuilding com petitiveness and productivity. Three, 1,950-TEU cellular con- tainerships on order with Imabari Shipbuilding are to be chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL). The three newbuildings, based on a self-sustainirfg 'design^ incorporat- Japan Ferry for development on ipg two deck cranes, are due to be the Aomori and Hakodate service, completed between the second half It can reportedly covering.km in just two hours. Naikai Zosen Corp., an affiliate of Hitachi Zosen, is to invest $13.8 million in new technology over the next two years at its Hiroshima yard. The project entails a 3-D computer-aided design and manu- facturing system, and an extension Built for Extremes Engineered for Reliability SK66KOM BLOCKS AND FORGINGS Since 1890 Skookum • Ulven • RopeMaster • BCM MARINE - LOGGING MINING-OFFSHORE FISHING - CONSTRUCTION Made in U.S.A. 1 -800-547-8211 For a Dealer Near You P.O. 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Tokyo-based Hitachi Zosen Information Systems will merge with Osaka- based Hitachi Zosen Computer. Hitachi hopes the merged compa- ny, which will be capitalized at about $146 million, will better use management, personnel and tech- nological resources. The merged unit has sales targets of 20 billion yen its first year. Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. has ordered a 74,000-dwt Panamax bulker from Imabari Shipbuilding for use by the-1 Taiwan-based shipowner Kee Yeh Maritime. The project re-estab- lishes a link the Taipei company, Itochu and the Japanese yard forged nearly 12 years ago/ The latest contract, calling for delivery in May 1999, follows the comple- tion in April of a slightly smaller Panamax unit for the/Itochu/Kee alliance. / NKK Corp. has started work on a 2,050-grt research Japan Fisher Constituting a high! single-vessel project pr5 bulkers, crude carriers .•vessel for the Agency, specialized, ction of LNG tankers, the survey vessel ^ is intended as a replacement for the 13,630-grt Shoyo Maru. Following scheduled delivery in spring 1998, the vessel will be deployed in migratory fish research and ocean- ic environmental surveys around the world. Japan's Sanko Steamship has confirmed an order for five 49,000- dwt, open-hatch, box-shaped dry bulk carriers with Namura Shipbuilding in Osaka. Industry Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
