Giant Vale ship completes maiden journey to China

Of the 35 Valemax ships either delivered or under construction, Vale planned on owning 19 ships and chartering in 16 owned by other ship operators.   Recently Vale has reportedly sold four of its Valemax ships to other owners with provisions for long terms charter back by Vale.

Vale has faced stiff opposition by both Chinese shipowners and the steel industry.  Both groups were concerned that the new fleet of ships would give the Brazilian mining company too much market control.  Vale’s efforts to enter the China market were also set back by reports of structural failures on the maiden voyage of the Vale Beijing.

China opens world’s longest sea bridge

Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge

The marathon-length Qingdao Haiwan Bridge would easily span the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana.

The vast structure links the centre of the booming port city of Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province with the suburb of Huangdao, spanning the wide blue waters of Jiaozhou Bay.

The bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day and will cut the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by between 20 and 30 minutes.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing on the You Tube video.

Concrete evidence of China’s naval ambitions

China has secretly built a concrete aircraft carrier for pilot training as part of its military build-up, intelligence sources have disclosed.

The large concrete structure, complete with a bridge, landing deck and ski ramp take-off platform has been constructed far inland near the city of Wuhan.

The ”carrier” will allow Chinese navy pilots to practise landing approaches and train ground crew.

It is unclear whether planes have actually taken off or landed on the structure, but secretly taken pictures have shown what appears to be a Su-33 Flanker strike jet and naval helicopters on the flight deck.

Intelligence reports have dismissed the idea that it could be a theme park because it has been built on the roof of a government building. They believe it signals China’s intent to become a global “blue water” naval force and is a direct challenge to America’s supremacy in the Pacific.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the story along.

DAY 3: EXTREME! A major collision, 4 capsizes, 1 broken mast

China overtakes Korea in shipbuilding deliveries

According to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a London-based market research firm, Korean shipbuilding companies came in second after Chinese ones in terms of new orders, order backlogs and delivery, the three indices that determine industry competitiveness in the sector.

In the US, the decline in shipbuilding continues as Northrop Grumman announced that it will be closing its Avondale shipyard near New Orleans and is considering withdrawing from shipbuilding altogether.   Northrop Grumman also owns  Ingalls Shipyard in  Pascagoula, Mississippi   as well as Newport News Shipbuilding, in Newport News, VA.

Northrop Grumman to close Louisiana shipyard, may sell off naval business

Northrop Grumman, one of the Navy’s biggest contractors, said Wednesday that it plans to close one of its seven shipbuilding yards and may sell or spin off its entire naval business, signaling a major shift in its strategy.

The company said it will shut down its shipyard in Avondale, La., near New Orleans, and move all work on amphibious vessels to its facility at Pascagoula, Miss., by 2013. Northrop said it has hired outside advisers to help it evaluate whether selling its shipbuilding line makes sense for its shareholders and government customers.

“Recognizing our company’s long-term strategic priorities, we foresee little synergy between shipbuilding and our other businesses,” Northrop chief executive Wes Bush said in a statement. He said the consolidation to Northrop’s Pascagoula facility will “reduce future costs, increase efficiency and address shipbuilding overcapacity.”

For Northrop, shipbuilding was once seen as core to its business. The company has been a major supplier of destroyers, amphibious assault ships and other vessels for the Navy and Coast Guard. In 2001, it bought Newport News Shipbuilding in a $2.6 billion deal that made it one of the world’s biggest shipbuilders.

But in recent years, the Pentagon’s priorities have changed from complex and costly weapons programs to smaller, more agile technologies that can be used in modern wars against shadowy foes.

A worker struggles to rescue a struggling colleague in the Chinese port of Dalian

Sadly the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not the only ongoing major oil spill.

China oil spill doubles in size, is deemed ‘severe threat’

China’s largest reported oil spill more than doubled in size to 165 square miles by Wednesday, forcing nearby beaches to close and prompting one official to warn of a “severe threat” to sea life and water quality.

The oil slick started spreading five days ago when a pipeline at a busy northeastern port exploded, sparking a massive fire that took more than 15 hours to contain. Hundreds of boats have been deployed to help with the cleanup.

“The oil spill will pose a severe threat to marine animals, and water quality, and the sea birds,” Huang Yong, deputy bureau chief for Dalian, China Maritime Safety Administration, told Dragon TV.

Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off a busy northeastern port after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a massive 15-hour fire.

The cause of the blast was still not clear Wednesday. The pipeline is owned by China National Petroleum Corp., Asia’s biggest oil and gas producer by volume.

Hudson River sloops were developed by the Dutch for the specific conditions in vast tidal estuary that is the Hudson River below Trenton. They are beamy with low freeboard and shallow draft. Their rig is simple  – a huge mainsail to get he most of the often light air on the river.  With such a simple rig they required only a small crew to sail them, though the mailsails could be so large that a shore gang was often used to raise the sail.  The mainsail on the Clearwater for example weights 3,000 pounds.

All of which is long-winded way of saying that a Hudson River sloop might not be one’s first choice to sail intot he Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and Java Sea to China.   Nevertheless that is exactly what the Captain Stewart Dean did with a crew of  only seven men and two boys  on the aptly named Experiment in 1785.  

The voyage was only a modest success due to the ship’s small size.  The problem wasn’t the oceans which the small ship crossed without incident but the Chinese port taxes. “Dean discovered in Canton that the Chinese assessed very high port charges at a flat rate of $3,166 and disregarded the size of the ship. This put his tiny vessel at a severe disadvantage in comparison with other American ships arriving after her and contributed to the low return realized on this venture.”

To read more about this remarkable ship and her voyage to China:

Voyage of the Sloop Experiment

AN “EXPERIMENTAL” VOYAGE TO CHINA