James Fisher Sells Stake in Foreland Shipping

So what you say!
Point Class Strategic RORO, does that jog any bells?
To recap;
The 1998 SDSR recognised the need for a strategic RORO capability in light of increasing expeditionary requirements and likely trends in the commercial shipping sector. In 2000 a contract was let to AWSR Shipping, a consortium comprising Andre Weir, James Fisher, Bibbly Line and Houlder Hadley Shipping after competing bids from Novomar, Maersk and Sealion failed.
Ignoring the inevitable political wailing and gnashing AWSR placed a contract for 6 vessels to an established , but modified, design with the German company;  Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft or FSG for short. FSG were to build 4 and Harland and Wolff, the remaining two.
Hurst Point, Beachy Head, Eddystone and Longstone were the FSG built ships and Anvil Point and Hartland Point built by Harland and Wolff
The design chosen was the RoRo 2700;

Foreland Shipping list the capacities as;

Class:LR +100A1 RoRo Cargo Ship: Ice Class 1A, +LMC, PSMR, SCM, IBS, NAV1, ICC, UMS.
Main engines:2 x 6,300kw MAK; 500 rpm, CPP. 2 x 2,000 kva shaft alternators. 2 x Diesel Auxiliary Generators.(2 x 8,100kw MAK on Beachy Head, Eddystone and Longstone).
Bow thruster:1 x electric drive. 1,400 kw.
Speed /Consumption:18kns on abt 44ts; 17 on abt 38ts; 16 on abt 33ts; 15 on abt 30ts. MGO consumption in port: 4 ts.Beachy Head, Eddystone and Longstone have 9 cylinder engines with speed up to 21 knots.
Main dimensions:LOA: 193m; Breadth: 26m; GT: 23,335; NT: 6,971; DWT 9,921 a 6.6m draft.
Trailer Capacities: 35 on tank top (max height: 5.0m); 62 on main deck (max height: 6.8m); 67 on upper deck (max height: 6.8m).
Containers (on MAFI):72 TEUs on tank top; 272 TEUs (double stacked) on main deck; 324TEUs (double stacked) on upper deck.
Direct stow containers:Approximately 411 TEU (No container fittings in lower hold).
Reefer plugs:60 on upper deck aft to amidships.
Ramps / Access:Straight stern ramp 16.4 long by 17.0m wide. 12 x fingers of 2.70m. Each can be operated independently to enable ship’s operation at narrow link-spans. Internal ramps to all cargo decks. Side Ramp (Located starboard side between frames 160 / 170).
Deck Crane:Located starboard side between frames 140 / 150. 40ts at 25m; max 36ts at 28m.
Driver Cabins:6 off 2 x berth cabins.

The ships were obtained under a £1.25 Billion 25 year PFI, at the time, the largest in defence, with 4 of the 6 being used by the MoD exclusively and the remaining pair being available for commercial charter, the familiar PFI model we know and love so much. When required by the MoD, these two are available to the MoD at 20 and 30 days notice respectively.
The 6 ships replaced the RFA Sea Crusader and RFA Sea Centurion.
Crews are British (when on MoD service) and are Sponsored Reserves in a similar model to that used by the Heavy Equipment Transport PFI.
AWS provide the ship management arrangements, Bibby the crew management, Houlder the finance and construction management and James Fisher a range of other support activities.
18 months ahead of schedule the ships were fully available for service in 2003.
The PFI agreement expires in 2024
The UK offer the residual capacity of the 4 permanently available vessels to NATO;
In March this year the management contract was extended, with Andrew Weir Shipping being the ‘oh, really’ winner
Back up to date.
James Fisher has recently sold its 25% holding to one of the other consortium members (Hadley Shipping) for an initial amount of £11.4m. James Fishers share (25%) of the post tax earnings for last year has been reported as £1.6m.
Not very interesting in the wider scheme of things but still worth noting due to the recent speculation about a reduction in numbers (not true I think) and the coincidence of the Think Defence Ship to Shore Logistics Series.
Which gives me an excuse to show some nice pictures;










Mexeflotes and Medium Girder Bridges, back of the bloody net

Further reading
http://www.maritimeeconomics.com/sites/maritimeeconomics.com/files/downloads/Morten_BERARD-ANDERSEN.pdf
http://navy-matters.beedall.com/roro.htm
http://www.shipgaz.com/old/magazine/issues/2002/11/hurst_1102.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-class_sealift_ship
http://www.james-fisher.com
http://www.bibbyshipmanagement.com/Home
http://www.aws.co.uk/
http://www.foreland-shipping.co.uk/
http://www.houlderltd.com/index.php/articles/show/5http://www.houlderltd.com/index.php/articles/show/5








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