Workshop on Safe Ship Operations in the Arctic OceanFebruary 28th 2014

Nordic Bulk Carriers Facts

• Nordic Bulk Carriers A/S (NBC) was established in 2009. The company is privately owned by Bulk Partners Limited (USA) and the two Danish founders.

• The company is located in Hellerup, Denmark with 14 employees and 3 employees in our subsidiary in Singapore.

• Bulk Partners Limited is located in Newport, Rhode Island. The group has 75 employees worldwide, plus more than 300 crew members working on the vessels.

• Total fleet size is presently 70 time charter vessels with another 14 being owned by the group.

• Newbuilding project at Oshima shipyard for 6 ice classed vessels.

• Traditional base of ice operations is the Baltic and St Lawrence

Nordic Bulk Carriers Northern Sea Route

• Milestones:

- First NSR transit voyage on non-Russian vessel in 2010 – Nordic Barents- First NSR voyage with a panmax bulk carrier in 2011 – Sanko Odyssey

• Transits by year (laden and ballast voyages):

- 4 transits by Nordic Odyssey in 2012- 5 transits by Nordic Orion in 2012- 3 transits by Nordic Odyssey in 2013- 1 transit by Nordic Orion in 2013- 1 transit by Nordic Bothnia in 2013

• Total 16 NSR transits performed by Nordic Bulk Carriers to date.

Nordic Bulk Carriers North West Passage

- Nordic Orion became the first vessel to carry a transit cargo through the NWP

- Nordic Orion is very likely the first cargo vessel to circumnavigate the world usingonly Arctic routes in one season

- The voyage was completed during September which traditionally is the optimum time for transit

- Voyage carefully planned with assistance and cooperation from Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard

- Voyage was performed as expected vis-a-vis the prelimenary risk assesment

- Vessel complied with Nordreg and a Arctic Pollution Prevention Certificate wasissued by DNV.

Arctic Shipping Challenges

• While there seem to consensus on the long term implication of climate changethe condition will vary from year to year.

Arctic Shipping Challenges pt 2

• According to some scientists a cooling trend could start now and the warming of the 1980s and 1990s has come to an end.

• Other scientists believe that the computer models used until now are not able to predict the world temperatures so we are facing even more uncertainty thanbefore.

• As all operations in Polar regions are at the mercy of the ice the yearly variations and uncertain forecasts presents the biggest challenge for commercial shipping

• Uncertain regulatory environment and we of course welcome the Polar Code as it will clear up a lot confusion and uncertainty.

• Different standards in different countries/areas.

Nordic Bulk Carriers Challenges for the Polar Code

• NBC presently owns 4 ice classed ships now and this number will increase to 10 by 2016. These vessel have been upgraded taking our experience from the Arctic intoconsideration. How will that be taken into account when issuing the Polar Certificate?

• What is the benefit of ice class?

• More than just more steel and engine power

• First hand experience

• Risk assessment and management

• Deeper understanding of the challenges of cold weather and ice operations

Nordic Bulk Carriers Challenges for the Polar Code

• Several items are still open

• How will vessels operating with ice breakers be categorised

• A traditional Arctic transit consists of several different ice related challenges

• How to manage the risk of icebergs / growlers / bergy bits when calling ’ice free’ ports

• What is ice free really?

• Consequences of possible ban of HFO in the Arctic

Nordic Bulk Carriers

Thank you for your attention – Questions?