He is a highly experienced and driven Ship Delivery Captain. Still, getting the first ship delivery for Svitzer done was a different experience given all the Covid restrictions. All in all, he brings three tugs from Singapore to Australia in a couple of months’ time. Captain Bart Schulting says that “The cooperation was amazingly good in these Covid times. Working with the crew, Svitzer, TOS HQ and the Australian agent is real teamwork!” Three times lucky.
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SHIP DELIVERY ONE: SVITZER NORTH
The first voyage goes really well. It takes a bit to get going though. Given all the Covid regulations, we only had 48 hours to get the ship ready for departure. Normally, it takes about four or five days. Everyone is aware of the tight schedule to get everything we need and provisions on board on time. Svitzer’s first instructions and their preparations are spot on. They installed a freezer that was running so that we can store the provisions immediately. It may seem like a small thing, but it is crucial for our planning. Good cooperation means that we can leave on time. The sea voyage usually takes 12 days. We sail slowly. As the quarantine period for Australia is 14 days, we take 14 days to sail. We attract a lot of attention when we sail into Geraldton. Two tugboats celebrate our arrival and accompany us into the harbour, and the local media report our arrival (link to the press release). Australia is very careful when people arrive because of Covid. This means that we cannot let the new crew familiarise themselves with the ship first. We are accompanied to a hotel. After a Covid test, we can fly home again. Due to COVID procedures in Australia, there is an 8-hour time-window between arriving in Australia and departing from an international airport. In case of Geraldton, this means arranging a private charter flight from Geraldton to Perth in order to stay within this window (a regular taxi/bus would have taken too many hours). For this we had excellent support from local agents to get this arranged. A job well done!
SHIP DELIVERY TWO: SVITZER ABROLHOS
Just before Christmas I leave for Singapore again for the second Svitzer delivery. There, I meet almost the same team: chief engineer Vladyslav, able body seaman Arif and shipmate Ali. Only the cook is new to the team. Within 48 hours we are at sea again. The cook does his best to prepare a great meal for Christmas, but for the rest it is an ordinary sunny day at sea. The weather on this voyage is really lovely. Everything is going well. The agent again prepares well for our arrival. The tugboats bring us in again and after a PCR test and a night in a hotel, we leave for home again following the previously mentioned procedure. That was number two!
SHIP DELIVERY THREE: SVITZER WILU
The third delivery runs like a well-oiled machine: a new ship but the same crew. Wonderful and relaxed people to work with such as Jens Rasmussen in Singapore and agent Wilhelmsen in Australia. We are barely two days at sea and I have the paperwork ready to send to Australia J Practice makes perfect. This time when we arrive there are no tugboats to bring us in. They are too busy. We come in with a huge cargo vessel. But then you are really PROUD when you see your ‘own ship’ the Svitzer Abrolhos in action. Harbour towage is fantastic work!
On top of that, this voyage is a great milestone for me – my 70th ship delivery. I started in 2005 at TOS with ship deliveries for Damen. When the number of deliveries increased, I started keeping a count of them. 70 voyages is quite something! Now it’s time to enjoy the home front. Thank you everyone for three fantastic deliveries!
YOUR DESTINATION IS OUR CHALLENGE
We are experienced in the relocation of all types of vessels. For an all-in price and with clear terms and conditions, we can take care of flag state registration, certification, ISM and instruction of the new crew in preparation of handing over the vessel.
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Mail now Rolf Kievits, Sales Manager Ship Delivery
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