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Germany • SMM Preview Flensburg Makes its Mark Again Flensburger has significant experience in delivering advanced combined carriers, as evidenced by its RoRo 2700, a 13,300-dwt, 22-knot, 2,700 lane meter ship. By David Tinsley, Technical Editor In a further display of hard-earned competitiveness tempered by pure industrial will, Flensburger Schiffbau- Gesellschaft has brought another export shipbuilding contract to Germany at a time of ever-more determined incur- sions by oriental yards into the European market. The Flensburg yard's sealing of a deal with Belgian shipping and logistics company Cobelfret for two container/RoRo (ConRo) vessels has strengthened its standing as a builder of large, RoRo equipped vessels for demanding shortsea trades. The Cobelfret newbuilds have been dubbed the Humbermax type, having been optimized for North Sea service linking the company's new Killingholme terminal on Humberside, in eastern England, with Zeebrugge and Rotterdam in the Low Countries. The five-deck design offers a RoRo stowage of about 3,900 lane-m, corresponding to about 258 trailers, and a container intake of 848-TEU on four of the cargo decks. The capacity and flexibility of the design is intended to allow Cobelfret to meet forecast traffic growth. The RoRo volume is akin to that of the new generation of DFDS Tor Line trail- erships of the Tor Magnolia class. Flensburger's success in landing the Belgian order has been preceded this year by a commitment by DFDS to a sixth example of the Tor Magnolia type, and by the award of a repeat contract from Turkish Client UN RoRo(formerly UND Ro-Ro) for two RoRo freight ves- sels of 3,700 lane-meters. In cementing the deal with Cobelfret, the Flensburg shipyard has achieved a remarkable sales tally of 25 RoRo equipped vessels since the end of the 1990s. Its modest facilities at the head of Flensburg fjord, centered on a single, fully-enclosed slipway building berth, belie its standing as Europe's most pro- lific producer of large ro-ro tonnage, and attest to a preoccupation with yard organization, build practice and design added-value. The latest contract takes the delivery program into the second quarter of 2007 and, at the time of writing, the yard was understood to be chasing a Canadian ferry project. Circle 38 on Reader Service Card SMM 2004: Ready for the World SMM 2004 • 21st International Shipbuilding Fair in Hamburg, September 28 -October 2, 2004 SMM 2004, arguably the largest and most influential gathering of the marine industry in the world, is set to convene again in Hamburg, and according to many indicators, the exhibition should be a larger success than ever. World shipbuilding figures are hitting record heights in the run-up to the the 21st Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology, International Trade Fair Hamburg, which is scheduled to be held at the Hamburg Fair site from September 28 to October 2, 2004. According to the statistics of Clarkson Research, the shipyards delivered 1,034 newbuildings world- wide, with a total of 36 million GT and 21.7 million CGT (Compensated Gross Tons.) Asia underscored its position in international ship- building, with a total of 16.7 million CGT, equivalent to the total newbuilding tonnage of the previous year. South Korea's shipbuilding industry completed 229 vessels with 6.9 million CGT. Thus South Korea accounted for 31.8% of world production in 2003, and reaffirmed its leadership a little ahead of Japan, whose yards produced 325 newbuildings with 6.8 million CGT (31.3%). The duel between these two leaders could soon become a three-way contest, as demonstrated by fur- ther growth in China's market share. The shipyards of the People's Republic had an output last year of 142 newbuildings with 2.4 million CGT. a share of 11.1%. They were followed a long way behind by the Europeans Germany (4.1% CGT market share), Italy (3.7%), France (2.3%) and Spain (1.8%). Among the newbuildings delivered in 2003, crude oil tankers were in greatest demand, with 159 newbuild- ings and 13.3 million GT/4.9 million CGT, that is a share of 22.6% measured in CGT. There were 179 con- tainerships with 6.2 million GT/4.4 million CGT, that is 20.3% of CGT tonnage, followed by product/chemi- cals tankers (3.1 million CGT/14.4%), bulk carriers (3.0 million CGT/13.8%) and passenger ships and fer- ries (2.0 million CGT/9.2%). In terms of orders received by shipyards in the past year, Korea increased its lead with 531 newbuilding orders/17.6 million CGT, to a market share of 41.2%. Japan's shipyards received orders for 526 units with 12.5 million CGT, a share of 29.3%. China moved closer with 352 newbuildings/5.9 million CGT and a market share of 13.8%. German shipbuilders received orders for 83 ships with 1.5 million CGT (3.5% market share). Taiwan rounds out the Top Five, taking 32 newbuilding orders with 0.9 million CGT (2.1%). The newbuilding orders are also characterized by an unbroken boom in containerships, which lead the order lists by far with 499 units and 15.7 million CGT (36.8%). They are followed by crude oil tankers (272 ships/7.8 million CGT/18.3%), bulk carriers (377 ships/6.8 million CGT/15.9%) and product/chemicals tankers (353 ships/ 5.0 million CGT/11.7%). The SMM 2004 in Hamburg is expecting more than 1,400 companies from over 50 nations, and 40,000 trade visitors from all over the world. The SMM 2004 is the premier fair for the world's shipbuilding industry, with a comprehensive range of maritime high-tech. It is the platform for innovations and knowledge transfer in all areas ot the maritime industry. For more information visit www.smm2004.com 36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
