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HÅØY Appointed President Kongsberg Marine Geir Håøy, 44, has been appointed President of Kongsberg Mar- itime and will join the Group Corpo- rate Management Team in Kongs- berg. Håøy has worked for Kongs- berg since June 1993, holding various management posi- tions since 1996. Håøy succeeds Torfinn Kildal, President of Kongsberg Maritime since 1999. Greenwood Joins Cortland/ Puget Sound Rope Puget Sound Rope announced that Michael Greenwood has joined Cortland/Puget Sound Rope as Technical Sales Manager. He has more than 34 years in the rope indus- try, beginning with the family rope com- pany, Tubbs Cordage Company of San Francisco in 1976. For the last 24 years he has been in sales and sales manage- ment with Samson Rope Technologies. Vale Finances 12 Very Large Ore Carriers Vale entered into agreements with The Export-Import Bank of China and the Bank of China Limited for the financing to build 12 very large ore carriers with 400,000 dwt (Chinamax vessels) at the Rongsheng Chinese shipyard. The two Chinese financial institutions will pro- vide a credit line of up to $1.2b, which corresponds to 80% of the amount re- quired to fund the construction of the vessels. The credit line has a 13-year total term to be repaid, and the funds will be disbursed during the next 3 years accord- ing to the construction schedule. Oil Spill Response Appoints New Global Head of Operations Oil Spill Response appointed Nick Ha- zlett-Beard as its new Global Head of Operations. The appointment follows the departure of Thomas Liebert, who after seven years is leaving for The Interna- tional Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) to oversee external rela- tions and conferences. 48 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News NEWS PEOPLE & COMPANIES Obituary: David Parrot, Founder & Former Chief, TITAN Salvage David Gray Parrot, 65, founder and former chief of TITAN Salvage, passed away last month. Parrot is survived by his wife Penny, sons Hunter and Gage, and a network of friends and family. "On behalf of the entire Crowley organization, I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to David's family, friends and colleagues," said Tom Crowley, Jr., Crow- ley Maritime Corporation's chairman, president and CEO. "He was a re- markable man who founded and helped build TITAN into one of the premier marine salvage and wreck removal companies in the world today. He will be missed by many for his vision, determination and countless contributions, but most of all, for his friendship." Crowley acquired TITAN in 2005. Founded in 1980 by Parrot, TITAN started as an undercapitalized, one- tug towing firm, struggling to expand and make a name for itself. In 1982, TITAN's tug "NESTOR" and her crew were hired as sub-contrac- tors to assist one of the Dutch firms on a salvage/wreck removal in the Caribbean. When the job was no longer economically feasible for the Dutch firm, TITAN successfully took over the operation. This achieve- ment was a milestone for the company, marking the first of a long series of salvages and wreck removal jobs, which continues to this day. Dur- ing the '80s the company acquired more tugs, barges and cranes, enabling it to build a regional salvage and wreck removal business in the Caribbean. Parrot's long-time business partner Dick Fairbanks joined the company in 1988. With a degree in mechanical engineering and years of employment with General Electric's marine steam turbine division, he brought a high degree of technical expertise to TITAN. Equally important were his strengths in business and administration. Over the years, Parrot and Fairbanks found that it was often safer and more efficient to sub-contract certain highly specialized services than it was to provide those services themselves. This combination has proven to be the right approach for TITAN and its clients, namely owners, underwriters and P&I Clubs. Parrot and Fairbanks accelerated the company into the salvage field on a worldwide basis, and it gained even more prominence and stature following the 2005 acquisition by Crowley. Today the company is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Fla., with of- fices in the UK, Singapore and Australia. Håøy Greenwood action to enhance earning per share from the beginning. Achieving this goal, in part, will depend on the extent to which synergies expected from improved operating efficien- cies, optimization of back-office functions, IT investments, procurement, offices and laboratories can be maximized. Ac- cording to Bureau Veritas, the acquisition is expected to cre- ate significant value for shareholders, with the mid-term objective of aligning Inspectorate’s operating margins to those enjoyed by Bureau Veritas. With very few global play- ers, the inspection and testing markets benefit from high bar- riers to entry because of the requirements for a global network of accredited laboratories. As the BV Group con- tinues to diversify its business portfolio, the Inspectorate ac- quisition also further extends its position in the minerals segment, bolstered by a string of acquisitions since 2007 and primarily focused on upstream (exploration and production) activities. Inspectorate's services are positioned further downstream, notably in international trade, and a wider global footprint. One of a Kind: Turnkey Risk Management The transaction positions Bureau Veritas among the top three global leaders in commodities testing and inspection, a 5 billion global market with promising growth opportuni- ties, especially as the world’s financial problems ease and ocean shipping slowly gets its legs back. The move also bol- sters Bureau Veritas’ presence in high-growth economies. Beyond this, the deal represents the first time that a major classification society has established direct ties to a global inspection and testing firm. For shipowners, the combined firm potentially constitutes a turnkey, one-stop shopping source of expertise, especially as the importance of bunker quality, price and quantity meas- urement increases in the face of expanding ECA zones. For bunker and lube oil suppliers, the chance to do business with an inspection company with deep ties to the world’s ship- ping community could also have its advantages. Individu- ally, and before the acquisition, both firms touted their efforts to reduce and mitigate risk for their respective market sec- tors. As a combined group, the new Bureau Veritas will ar- guably have few global peers in its expanded business portfolio. www.bureauveritas.com / www.inspectorate.com/ (Continued from page 47) Bureau Veritas Completes Acquisition of Inspectorate