By LISA S. KING

FN Asst. Editor

lisa@nasguard.com

To show appreciation for their long-standing relationship with The Bahamas Oil Refining Company Inter-national Ltd. (BORCO), SMIT Bahamas has christened their newest tug in the name of Onieda Ahumada, wife of BORCO's President Juan Ahumada.

During the ceremony last Friday, employees of SMIT Bahamas and BORCO witnessed the official presentation of SMIT Onieda as the third vessel to serve in SMIT's service contract with BORCO.

SMIT Bahamas presently provides a 24-hour tug boat service to BORCO inclusive of towage, heavy lifting, barge rental and other maritime and management services to offshore and onshore terminals.

BORCO has a 20 million barrel crude and product storage, blending, bunkering and transshipment terminal. The BORCO terminal ranks as one of the largest terminals in the world in terms of barrels handled, number of ships and summer dead weight tonnage (SDWT) capacity.

The terminal comprises of two separate jetty structures lying parallel to each other on piles sunk into the sea bed in the open sea.

On hand for the historic event was Gerald Criel, general manager of Operations at SMIT International, the parent company of SMIT Bahamas.

Criel said the event was special and he was proud that his company has had BORCO as a client for more than 22 years.

"In this long-standing relationship, we hope to have proven to be your marine service partner today, but also for the future," Criel said. "In a rapidly changing world where higher requirements are set with respect to safety of our people, high operating standards and a focus on the environment, we as SMIT don't wanna stay behind, but we wanna set a trend by upgrading our fleet all over the world to the highest standards in the world."

He said SMIT International operates more than 500 vessels in the world in various kinds of work including salvage, transport and heavy life, harbour towage and terminal operations similar to what takes place at BORCO.

"In the coming two years, we will have more than 100 new vessels coming from shipyards located all over the world and which will be operated worldwide in on and offshore activities," he said.

"Many off these vessels are in connection to long term contracts in terminal operations. At SMIT, we are proud to have been awarded this year, the longest LNG marine tug contract in the world and in history."

Going further into detail, Criel said Exxon has agreed to a fixed 25-year contract with SMIT for the first offshore LNG terminal in the world, located offshore Venice, Italy.

"We hope that in the future when our contract is due in 2009, we can again come to a positive contract with our client BORCO," he said. "By this, you as BORCO can write history with the longest steady tug operator providing services for more than 25 years. I hope we can sign by the end of 2009."

Criel said his company is satisfied that SMIT Bahamas operates with a full local crew and that his company has trained approximately 1,000 local people.

"We at SMIT do care for the local employment and in many cases our local crew members have made their way further into our organization as well as crew members in offices worldwide," he said.

"SMIT has a long standing tradition to name ships in connection to rivers, seas, saints from over the world. Today is a special, today is a bit different because Oneida Ahumada, our tugboat will carry your name with proudness and gratitude as from today."

SMIT Bahamas General Manager Peter Koster said that he was happy that his company has honoured its long-time relationship with BORCO by naming their new tug after Onieda Ahumada.

He said the tug was originally called SMIT Marne, but decided to rename her. In fact, he said a similar ceremony was held for tug SMIT Lucaya, when it arrived in Freeport in 2003. The SMIT Oneida, he said, replaced the SMIT Lucaya.

The christening ceremony concluded with enjoyable food and drinks, and a small ride on-board SMIT Oneida through Freeport Harbour.

SMIT International has a proud tradition of 165 years of service in the maritime sector. The company has earned an excellent reputation by combining expertise and experience with high-quality materials and equipment in the more than 30 locations around the world where SMIT is active.

SMIT aims to provide its services in the main to shipping companies, producers in the oil and LNG industries, insurers and governments. SMIT maintains the highest standards in respect of Safety, Health, the protection of the environment and quality.

PROUD MOMENT – SMIT Bahamas held a special christening ceremony last Friday for its newest tug and named the vessel in honour of Onieda Ahumada, wife of BORCO's President Juan Ahumada. Pictured during the event from left to right are: Martin Van de Linde, SMIT Bahamas-based supervisor; Deacon Jeff Hollingsworth; Anne Marie Koster; Peter Koster, SMIT Bahamas general manager; Onieda Ahumada; Gerald Criel, general manager of Operations at SMIT International; and Juan Ahumada, BORCO president.