Orion receives double skin handy size bulker

Earlier this month Orion Schiffahrts took delivery of the second of six 31,880 dwt handy size bulkers from Hakodate Dockyard on Japan?s northern island of Hokkaido. The delivery of Patriarch follows the delivery of the first ship Patriot in April. The ships are particularly noteworthy for their double hulls, a rare feature on bulkers and particularly on ones of this size.

“The main advantage is cargo handling and maintenance,” says a source within Orion about the advantages of a double hull over single skin.

He continues to explain that the smooth sides of the hold allow cargo such as steel to be stored right against the wall of the hold with a minimum dunnage requirement. Handling other cargo, such as grain, coal, minerals and fertilizers is also easier because there is less understore to the side of the hatch covers.

The net effect of the easier cargo handling is to reduce time spent in port. The less time spent in port the more is spent at sea on fee-paying duties. Orion says its has three 13,000 dwt double hull bulkers built in the late 1990s by another Japanese builder, Honda Shipyard, which are able to squeeze in one extra voyage per year compared to single skin ships because of the better cargo handling the double hull allows. It admits that as ships get bigger the voyages they conduct become longer so port time as a percentage of overall time reduces, but it still reckons the Hakodate ships will earn extra cash through quicker port turnarounds.

The smooth sides of the holds, with no intruding frames from the outer skin, make maintenance easier, says Orion. It adds that the integrity of the frames of the outer skin is much better because they are protected from damage by cargo handling equipment such as grabs by the wall of the hold.

Furthermore, Orion says the ships are safer with a double hull because a small perforation in the outer skin won?t necessarily result in the hold flooding. The double hull additionally results in a strong tanktop and a stiffer ship, it says.

The company admits that it has had to accept reduced loading capacity because of the double hull, but it says the advantages more than make up for this deficiency. It also says the ships are slightly more expensive than a similar sized conventional ship. “But not more than 5%,” it points out.

Patriot loaded its first cargo ? cocoa ? in Indonesia and transported it to the US. Orion says the double hull helped to insulate the cargo and prevent it from ?sweating?, thus allowing its delivery in a better condition. It says that it was initially concerned at charterers? reaction to the double hull ship, but its fears were quickly allayed. It says there is now good knowledge of the benefits of the double hull bulkers among a large group of charterers meaning there is good demand for the ships.

Asked what the future for double hulls was in bulkers, the source within Orion says: “In general double hulls will be industry standard.”

Orion?s first experience of double hulls was in the late 1980s when it took delivery of a number of small ships, specifically working in the paper trade.