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Navios VLCC Shinyo Ocean deemed beyond repair and sent for demolition

With damaged vessels in Fujaihrah waters dominating shipping headlines this week, there’s news of another tanker that has been deemed beyond repair following a big collision near the UAE port earlier this year.

Navios has taken the decision to scrap the 2001-built Shinyo Ocean, a VLCC that was involved in a sizeable prang when it collided with the LNG carrier Aseem off Fujairah on March 25.

The 155,000 cu m Aseem hit the 281,400 dwt Shinyo Ocean when it was on its way to Qatargas’ Ras Laffan terminal. Shinyo Ocean suffered a major breach on the hull while Aseem also suffered serious damage on its bow.

The cargo tanks of both ships were empty when the incident happened and no injuries were reported.

Local authorities fined both ships AED80,000 ($22,000) each, due to their speed before the collision which was over five knots, as required by the port policy when navigating near the port’s anchorage.

Initial investigations show human error in relying on VHF in communicating between the two vessels before the accident.

Brokers now report Navios has decided to scrap the ship, with Bangladeshis stumping up $435 per ldt for the vessel, which will net Navios around $16.6m from the premature scrapping.

The Shinyo Ocean was originally ordered by Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics before passing hands to a joint venture between Fred Cheng and the late Captain Charles Vanderperre of Univan Ship Management. When Navios took it over, the ship was moved into the Navig8 VL8 pool.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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