Japan's first solar cargo ship

TOKYO - THE world's first cargo ship partly propelled by solar power took to the seas on Friday in Japan, aiming to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions when automakers ship off their exports.

Auriga Leader, a freighter developed by shipping line Nippon Yusen K.K. and oil distributor Nippon Oil Corp, took off from a shipyard in the western city of Kobe, officials of the two firms said.

The huge freighter capable of carrying 6,400 automobiles is equipped with 328 solar panels at a cost of 150 million yen (S$2.4 million dollars), the officials said.

The ship will initially transport vehicles being sent for sale overseas by Japan's top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. The project was conceived before the global economic crisis, which has forced automakers to drastically cut production as sales dwindle.

Company officials said the 60,213-tonne, 200m long ship is the first large vessel in the world with a solar-based propulsion system. So far solar energy has been limited to supporting lighting and crew's living quarters.

The solar power system can generate 40 kilowatts, which would initially cover only 0.2 per cent of the ship's energy consumption for propulsion, but company officials said they hoped to raise the ratio.

The shipping industry has come under growing pressure to take part in efforts to curb global warming, which is blamed on carbon emissions.

Estimates say maritime transport accounts for anything from 1.4 per cent to 4.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry remains largely unregulated due to its international nature.

Nippon Yusen, Japan's largest shipping company, has set a goal of halving its fuel consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions by 2010.

Resource-poor Japan has been looking for ways to reduce its dependency on foreign oil. -- AFP

Source: http://www.enn.com/lifestyle/article/38904, 21 Dec 2008


Source: The Star, 22 Dec 2008

Bulk carriers – 6 categories in terms of size

bulk carrier=bulk freighter=bulker
- is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds.

Size categories

Bulkers are segregated into six major 6 or 5 categories:
1) small
2) handysize







3) handymax






4) panamax






5) capesize






6) very large - Very large bulk and ore carriers fall into the capesize category but are often considered separately.

Facts
1) 40% if merchant ships made up by bulkers.
2) >50% of bulkers have Greek, Japanese, or Chinese owners
3) >25% registered in Panama.
4) 82% of these ships were built in Asia.
5) In 1852, first specialized bulk carrier was built
6) Largest single builder of bulkers is Japan.
7) Capesize ships are too large to traverse the Suez or Panama canals and must round the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn to travel between oceans.
8) 93% of capesize bulkers’ cargo is iron ore and coal.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_carrier

Stormy waters for moving freight

The cost of hiring a ship to move freight around the world has fallen by a staggering 99% in the past six months.
In early June, renting a bulk carrier to transport coal or iron ore would have cost $235,000 a day, whereas now it is barely $2,000.

That brings the Baltic Exchange's sea-freight index, known as the Baltic dry index, to its lowest level since 1986.

Peter Norfolk, a director at the London brokers Simpson Spence and Young, explained to BBC World Service's Business Daily that hiring a ship was a complex matter, with companies hiring and then re-hiring to third and fourth parties.

"You might rent a vessel for $100,000 a day for two or three years," he says, "and then hire it out at "$120,000 a day." This market relies so much on the Chinese economy

London broker Peter Norfolk

Unable to hire them out at a profit, some companies are returning their ships early.

Ship owners are now having to lay up their vessels and, apart from a skeletal crew to manage essential electrical and mechanical maintenance, other crew members are being made redundant.


China's crucial role

The collapse in price had been greatest for the biggest ships - called the Cape-size carriers, because they are too big for the Suez Canal and have to go round Cape Horn between Europe and China.

Part of the reversal has been caused by the change in the steel industry, which in the first part of the year was still growing by about 6% annually but which is now experiencing negative growth.
Along with coal and iron ore, grain is shipped by bulk carriers

"For the past five years we have seen a very strong demand for industrial commodities which supported the shipping industry, but all of a sudden the situation has been reversed," says Peter Norfolk.

More than 50% of all bulk cargoes are related to the steel industry, which reflects the fundamental economic growth of most nations.

Grains are also transported by bulk carriers and countries such as China rely on imports to feed its population.

It ought to be good news for the consumer as the cost of shipping goods around the world decreases, but Peter Norfolk warns that if people can't afford to ship goods then there will be an impact on trade.

"This market relies so much on the Chinese economy", he says, "so unless there is some rebound in demand there is unlikely to be much improvement.

Relative calm

Although the market for container shipping has weakened due to the collapse in demand from Europe and America for Asian goods it remains, for the time being, a comparatively healthy sector.
Container ships have yet to feel the full impact of the economic slowdown

At the end of September, there were 4.600 container ships moving around the world whilst only 80 were at anchorage.

However, the world's second largest container manufacturer, Singamas, says it is operating at 60% of its normal level due to the slowdown in Chinese exports.

Meanwhile, companies which have invested in shipyards to build vessels are now facing question marks over their financial viability and many of them are having to reconsider their strategy.

An interview relating to this story can be heard on the Business Daily podcast dated 9 Dec 08

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7777507.stm, 12 Dec 2008

World's second largest container manufacturer = Singamas