Germanischer Lloyd considers takeover bid

The French classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) has made a takeover offer for German rival Germanischer Lloyd (GL) and last week Fairplay quoted a GL spokesman that the offer is under consideration by the company's board, prior to a decision on what recommendation should be made to shareholders.

This news came as GL reported a record-intake of new orders last month, with prolonged and sustained growth continuing. Indeed, the order intake for October 2006 being equivalent to the total order intake for the whole of 1995.

In a press statement, the Hamburg-based society said that over 100 ships under construction with a gross tonnage (GT) of more than 2.1 million were commissioned in October with GL class.

These include container ships amounting to over 1.7 million GT, tankers, bulk carriers, passenger ships and other types of vessels. The record-breaking month of October has seen the highest intake of new orders so far in 2006. As at the end of October 2006, the orders on hand totalled 1,116 ships with 19.6 million GT.

With over 1.08 million GT already in September a disproportionate rise in the orders on hand took place. This means that Germanischer Lloyd has already well before the end of the year greatly exceeded its plans for the intake of orders for newbuilding classification.

At the SMM trade fair in late September, Germanischer Lloyd announced that it had broken a record as regards fleet in service. Over 6,000 ships with more than 60 million GT are inspected by GL for technical safety.

Since SMM in 2004, the number of fleet in service has increased significantly, with an extra 700 ships (a 13.1 per cent rise) with a total of 15.8 million GT being added.

"On the basis of this intake of new orders, we are again expecting a growth in turnover in double figures for 2006," said Rainer Schöndube, Member of the Executive Board at Germanischer Lloyd.

This positive trend is also reflected in the increasing number of employees. In 2005, almost 400 new employees were taken on worldwide and so far this year 283 new employees have been hired. Germanischer Lloyd now employs more than 3,200 persons worldwide.

GL is owned by about 50 shareholders, including ship owners, shipyards, equipment supply companies, banks and insurers.

Following the sinking of the RINA-classed, Maltese-flagged oil tanker Erika, in 2000 and other losses during a spate of environmentally sensitive, high-profile, accidents, BV made no secret of its belief in the need for a strong European society, perhaps as a result of merged interests.

This, it felt, would help minimise risks associated with movement of hazardous cargo by the adoption of clear safety rules enforced by such a European society.

At that time, the Italian society Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) was under threat of expulsion from the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and was also considered a candidate for takeover, with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) making an offer.

RINA survived, but change has since simmered beneath the surface within IACS with posturing evident among the larger members.

Observers believe that if the BV-GL takeover goes ahead, further classification society mergers may be in the offing, with the possibility of just three or fewer IACS European societies remaining, from the present five.

NOL group's third-quarter profit falls

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has posted a net profit of $314 million for the first three quarters of 2006, a decrease of 51 per cent over the same period last year. The result included a favourable adjustment from non-recurring items totalling $25 million.

The company's net profit before non-recurring items was $289 million, 53 per cent lower than in the first three quarters of last year and the group said in a statement that consolidated revenues were in line with the previous year at $5.28 billion.

However, for the third-quarter period from July 1 to September 22, 2006, NOL posted a net profit before non-recurring items of $108 million, 55 per cent lower year on year. Meanwhile, the group's revenue in the third quarter amounted to $1.76 billion.

"NOL's third-quarter results reflect significantly more challenging market conditions than existed a year ago," said new group president and chief executive officer, Dr Thomas Held.

Clean Globe Gulf opens in Oman

Clean Globe Gulf LLC has opened it doors in the Sultanate of Oman for the provision of oil spill response to a level of Tiers I and II (A regional response).

The company is the Middle East arm of Lamor and Clean Globe International that is a prominent provider of oil spill services in Europe, holding contracts within the area of the European Union Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and representing well over 70 per cent of the European region.

General Manager Kirk Davis said Clean Globe had been invited to Oman in recognition of their international spill-response capabilities and because they could meet the challenges presented by the geography found in Oman.

Davis said the coastline of Oman is relatively lengthy and shares half of the Straits of Hormuz. This makes the Sultanate one of the most vulnerable countries to major oil spills in the region and in view of this, the Gulf of Oman is to be designated a special environmental area by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), joining the waters of the Arabian Gulf that already has this status.

He added that while most companies and vessels adhere to anti-pollution legislation, concern still exists due to risk of accidents and pollution from less-professional ship operators.

"These are the main reasons that Oman's Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water awarded Clean Globe the contract to provide effective oil-spill response," he said.

The writer is a marine consultant based in Dubai.