Joy as round-world cruise rescued

Hundreds of cruise ship passengers are celebrating after being told their world trip will go ahead.

Travelscope Holiday's cruise on the MV Van Gogh, due to leave Falmouth on 4 January, was under threat after the firm went into administration. However, travel organisation Abta (the Association of British Travel Agents) has arranged for the ship to sail. Gloucestershire-based Travelscope went into administration just before Christmas. The company was covered by Abta bond and the Civil Aviation Authority's Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL), meaning those who had traveled abroad with Travelscope were able to continue their holiday. Customers who had booked future trips were also told they would receive full refunds.
Read More

Big swell closes Sydney beaches

Heavy swell is pummeling Sydney's coastline with most metropolitan beaches closed to swimmers.

The 2m-plus waves have been whipped up by a low off the Queensland coast and one of its beaches - Freshwater - were closed. Curl Curl was believed to have been among the most treacherous. Despite the giant swell, the NSW Ambulance Service said there had been few emergency calls.
The rough conditions had closed beaches right up and down the state's coast. The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter was called on to rescue two surfers stranded off Stanwell Park on the south coast about 10am today. The helicopter was also called in to help a surfer in trouble at Curl Curl beach but lifeguards had rescued him by the time they arrived.
Read More

Gazprom sparks 2008 capital spree

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom will increase capital investment by 43% in 2008 to a record level of almost $20 billion as it speeds up development of Arctic fields and new pipelines.

Gazprom has prioritized equity investment over capital expenditures for several years because of massive new asset purchases despite investor criticism over inadequate new -production investment amid stagnant mature-field output in Siberia. The world's largest gas producer said its state-controlled board had approved its capital investments, which will rise to a record of 479.4 billion roubles ($19.41 billion) in 2008 from 335.5 billion roubles in 2007 and 324.9 billion in 2006.The capital investments will be equally split between gas production and transportation. Long-term financial investment will fall by 48% to 230.7 billion roubles from a record of 443.86 billion in 2007 and 133.7 billion in 2006. The company, which has a total long-term debt including affiliates of around $45 billion, making it Russia's most indebted company by far, will borrow 90 billion roubles next year.
Read More

Taiwan's shipbuilding output expected to top NT$50 billion for 2007

The production value of Taiwan's shipbuilding industry is expected to amount to NT$52 billion (US$1.6 billion) for 2007, up 21 percent over the year-earlier level.

This will mark the first time the country's shipbuilding output has topped NT$50 billion, predicting that the production value will further expand to more than NT$60 billion for 2008. For the first 11 months of this year, Taiwan's state-owned shipbuilder -- CSBS Corp., Taiwan -- saw its revenue amount to NT$26.2 billion and its pre-tax net profit hit a record-high of NT$4 billion. Taiwan's largest private-owned shipbuilder -- Jong Shyn Shipbuding Co. -- has invested an additional NT$1.75 billion in expanding existing shipyards and building new facilities this year, and the company's annual turnover is expected to increase to NT$4 billion after the completion of the project.
Read More

Govt giving importance to maritime security: PM

Conceding that the country neglected its maritime security and maritime economy in the past, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the UPA government is paying greater attention to them.

"I do believe that in the past, we have neglected our maritime economy as well as maritime security. The government has been paying greater attention to both," the PM said while addressing the Goa University Convocation ceremony here this morning. "Centre has modernised ports, improved port efficiency and increased investment in port development," the PM said. On the defence forces front, the Centre has increased investment in Coast Guard and Indian Navy. "We are proud of our Navy. It is one of the best navies in the world and today offers maritime security in the waters around our subcontinent," he stated.
Read More

Superior cans Ocean Flow takeover plan

US offshore services group Superior Offshore International has cancelled plans to acquire subsea engineering company Ocean Flow International.

Superior Offshore chief executive Jim Mermis said the companies had however agreed to co-operate in future for large deep-water projects. Ocean Flow is a privately held company specializing in deepwater project engineering and offshore project management services.
Read More

Russia delivers nuclear fuel to Iran

Russia has delivered a second consignment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr power plant.

The second consignment of fuel for the Bushehr nuclear plant arrived in Iran on Friday. Ahmad Fayazbaksh said, adding that the delivery was the same amount supplied in the first consignment on December 17. Russia will deliver a total of 82 tonnes of nuclear fuel to Iran over two months in eight separate consignments. It would take at least a year to start the power station. Iran had said it hoped the 1000-megawatt plant in the southern city of Bushehr could come on line within three months, at up to 200 megawatts before being cranked up to full capacity nine months later. The United States and Israel have voiced fears that Iran's civilian nuclear power program could be a cover for a program to develop atomic weapons, a charge denied by Tehran.

Read More

Joint venture to supply nitrogen to Mexico

Air Products said a joint venture company with its Grupo Infra partner would supply 90 MMscfd of nitrogen to Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion (PEP).

Nitrogen from the gas turbine and steam-driven facility is supplied for injection and enhanced oil and gas recovery from PEP's Jujo-Tecominoacan oil fields near Villahermosa in Tabasco, Mexico. The nitrogen plant project, announced in 2006, began its supply of nitrogen during November as scheduled. In 2006, state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos said it planned to invest 13 billion pesos during 2007-21 in Jujo-Tecominoacan oil field, its second-largest hydrocarbon reservoir in southern Mexico. The investment is to include completing 11 development wells and repairing 34 wells as well as the construction of 6 km of oil-gas pipelines, 25 km of oil pipelines, and 15 km of gas pipelines.
Read More

Fairstar begins Fjord sea trials

The Netherlands-based Fairstar Heavy Transport NV completed the conversion of a semisubmersible barge into a self-propelled heavy transport vessel, Fjord, and it is presently undergoing sea trials offshore Malta.

Fjord is capable of carrying large drilling rigs and similar structures. Fairstar was founded in 2005. The company's business plan is to focus on transporting offshore equipment when it best serves the client, as opposed to voyage timing triggered by the schedule of the transport vessel. In 2008 Fairstar will add a second vessel, Fjell, to its fleet. Fairstar has been embroiled in a shareholder dispute. Earlier this month, Henk van den Berg, a 1.82 percent shareholder in Fairstar Heavy Transport NV, through his company Oude Maas Beheer BV, filed a complaint with the Enterprise Chamber of the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam seeking a judicial inquiry into the affairs of Fairstar as well as petitioning the court to suspend all of the members of the company's Management and Supervisory Boards.
Read More

First pile driven for new

Almost soundlessly, the first steel pile for the 445-metre-long 21-metre-wide mega cruise ship pier was driven into Great Bay on the signal of Port Affairs Commissioner Theo Heyliger and Carnival Corporation Chairman Mickey Arison.

Work on the new pier will be in full swing as of today. The celebratory group aboard the red harbor pilot boat included Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) President Michele Paige and Ballast Nedam Area Manager for the Caribbean and South America Johan Verhagen. The new pier, to be completed at the end of November 2008, will be juxtaposed to the existing Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Pier that was completed in 2001. Two 220,000-tonne cruise ships, slated to debut in 2009, will be able to dock alongside the yet-to-be named pier. The Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities expansion will keep the island on the cusp of cruise tourism development, an industry that has seen a decline in the Caribbean in 2007.

Read More

Frustrated Commodore crosses the line

Matt Allen, the Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the organising club for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, has crossed the finish line in the Rolex Sydney Hobart at the helm of his modified Volvo 70 Ichi Ban.

She crossed at 6:01pm this afternoon, the third boat to finish the race. It has been a frustrating day for Allen and his crew. They were enjoying the best sailing of the race this morning ahead of a fresh northerly when a loud bang signalled the end of their bid for a podium spot. One of Ichi Ban’s twin rudders had snapped off. “We had dropped a spinnaker in the water as a result of a halyard failure half an hour before it broke and the spinnaker underwater did hit the rudder, but we don’t think that would have caused the failure,” Allen said. Volvo 70s have a rudder on either side, and it was the port rudder that went. So, while the boat would continue to handle well on port tack, on starboard tack it would be very difficult to keep the remaining rudder in the water.

Read More

Iraq threatens to stop oil exports to South Korea over its direct dealings with Kurds

Iraq's oil ministry has threatened to stop all crude exports to South Korea if that nation proceeds with a deal it signed with the semiautonomous Kurdistan regional government.

In early November, a consortium led by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp., or KNOC, secured exploration rights from the Kurdish regional government for an oil field in the Northern Province. The Korean consortium includes SK Energy, South Korea's biggest oil refiner, and GS Holdings Corp. The ministry has made it clear that no contracts should be signed until a new national oil law is passed. There was a clear warning to these companies that they will be blacklisted and excluded from any future cooperation with the ministry. Iraq is the sixth-largest provider of oil to the country. The Kurds have signed more than a dozen contracts with foreign oil companies, insisting Iraq's constitution gives them that authority.

Read More

Mariner ties up StatoilHydro Gulf assets

Houston-based Mariner Energy would buy StatoilHydro’s Gulf of Mexico shelf operations for $243 million.

Mariner said it would take over StatoilHydro unit Hydro Gulf of Mexico, which controls the Norewgian giant’s operations in the region. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of next month, includes estimated proved oil and gas reserves of 52.4 billion cubic feet equivalent, of which 95% are developed. The assets also include 24.1 Bcfe of probable reserves. Production from the assets is 58.2 million cubic feet per day from 32 wells, out of which 71% are operated. The deal also includes 256,000 acres including 11 drill sites. The company said the acquisitions, on the Permian basin’s Spraberry field, included production of about 1250 barrels of oil from 348 wells.
Read More

US rig count plunges 27

The number of rigs exploring in the US fell 27 to 1782 this week.

During the same week last year, there were 1710 rigs active. The number of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico rose one to 61, compared with 81 last year. The number of rigs exploring in Canada fell 112 to 260. Last year there were 429 rigs active. There were 365 directional rigs operating along with 443 horizontal rigs and 974 vertical rigs. The number of rigs searching for oil fell 18 to 325 while the number of rigs searching for gas fell nine to 1452. There were five miscellaneous rigs operating, steady with last week. The number of rigs operating in Texas fell 23 to 871, while in Louisiana rig use fell one to 158.
Read More

Shell joins China coalbed methane project

Shell China Exploration and Production Company Limited has acquired a 55% equity interest in a coalbed methane venture in Shanxi Province and will take over as operator.

China’s Ministry of Commerce recently approved an agreement for Shell to acquire Verona Development Corporation’s majority equity position in a 30-year production-sharing contract covering the North Shilou block, an area of 1,015 square kilometres in the eastern part of the Ordos Basin. Verona maintains a 5% interest in the venture with China United Coalbed Methane Company (CUCBM) holding the remaining 40% equity. The exploration period of the PSC will end in December 2010. Following this, the PSC stipulates five years of development and a 20-year production period. The North Shilou block is about 150 km southeast of the Changbei gas field, a joint project between PetroChina and Shell, which is the operator.
A comprehensive appraisal programme, comprising 2D seismic acquisition and the drilling of pilot wells, will start early next year.
Read More

Terri Irwin to launch whale research

The widow of TV wildlife entertainer "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin said she would launch a non-lethal whale research programme in Antarctic waters next year in an effort to show that Japan's scientific whaling cull is a sham.

Terri Irwin announced that the whale-watching programme she started to honor her late husband, who died in a freak stingray attack off Australia's Great Barrier Reef, would expand into scientific research. Tokyo has staunchly defended its annual cull of more than 1,000 whales as crucial for research purposes, and says killing whales is necessary to gather information about their breeding and migratory habits. Environmentalists and anti-whaling nations say the slaughter is commercial whaling in disguise. Japan had planned to kill up to 50 endangered humpback whales this season, but backed away from the plan in the face of strong international condemnation. Irwin says that they can actually learn everything the Japanese are learning with lethal research by using non-lethal research.
Read More

Leading yachts surge into Bass Strait, Slade still hopeful of record

The three maxis leading the Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet entered Bass Strait around 4am this morning with Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI still in the lead.

At 0500hrs the Sydney maxi, which is aiming for a hat trick of line honors wins, held a 9-mile break on Mike Slade’s British maxi City Index Leopard, with Skandia another 6 miles astern. Nevertheless, with the wind now on the nose, Slade is hopeful he may yet wind the local race favorite in. Slade believes that, with the amount of ground the maxis covered in the first 10 hours of the race the record is still a possibility even though the front has slowed them down. At their present speed, City Index Leopard would expect to arrive in Hobart about an hour and a half too late to break the record, but if the breeze freshens during the day “we could easily gain that hour and a half.” Roger Sturgeon’s Farr STP 65 Rosebud is hanging onto fourth as the American boat prepares to enter Bass Strait, narrowly ahead of Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban in fifth.
Read More

Costa Cruises makes Dubai its regional cruise hub.

For the second consecutive year, Europe’s leading cruise operator Costa Cruises has made Dubai its regional cruise hub.

It has also deployed two ships offering six weekly packages to destinations in the UAE, Arabian Gulf and the Middle East regions. For the 2007-2008 cruise season, the Italian group has drafted two huge cruise ships – Costa Romantica and Costa Europa- with a combined passenger and crew capacity of 4756. Last year, the company had deployed only one cruise ship. The regional package covers Dubai, Muscat, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. There is complete passenger exchange programme at each ship during the current season. Costa is one of the world’s leading cruise operators with 11 ships under deployment. A grand reception was organized on board the Costa Romantica at the Dubai Cruise Terminal in Port Rashid Complex on December 22 to celebrate the inaugural cruises for the 2007-2008 seasons in the Gulf region.

Read More

South Korea's Daewoo wins $3 bln in ship orders

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., the world's third-largest shipbuilder, has won a combined $3 billion order to build four ships for three different companies.

Daewoo said in a filing with the Korea Exchange that it would build one floating production, storage and offloading unit for a company in Europe, two bulk carriers for a company in Asia and a drillship for company from the Oceania region. None of the companies was named. It would deliver all the ships by July 2011.
Read More

S.Korea Finds Cargo Ship Wreckage

The apparent wreckage of a cargo ship that disappeared along with 14 sailors has been found, but lay too deep in the water to raise immediately.

The search continued for the missing. The ship, carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid, was feared sunk after it sent out a distress signal off Yeosu, 280 miles south of Seoul. One sailor was rescued. Dozens of Coast Guard and navy boats joined by helicopters continued search and rescue work to find survivors but have so far found only 18 metal drums and several life jackets and boats presumed to be from the ship. The survivor, a 28-year-old Burmese told investigators that he watched the vessel sink before he and the other crew members - 12 South Koreans and two Burmese were swept away.
Read More

Fire shuts Beharra Springs plant

A fire has shut down the gas plant at Origin Energy's Beharra Springs field onshore Western Australia.

Nobody was hurt in the incident, which happened in the condensate/gas separation part of the plant. The fire was successfully extinguished. The cause of the fire is unknown; however, a full investigation has been initiated. Origin, as the operator of the gas plant, will comply with all regulatory requirements to investigate and remediate the incident. It is not known how long it will take to repair the plant but it is anticipated it will be operational again before the end of January.

Read More

Vietnam starts large scale container manufacturing

Vietnam has kick-started its export business with the opening of its first container manufacturing plant - the second biggest of its kind in southeast Asia, according to the official Vietnam News Service.

The plant in the northern province of Hai Duong is expected to provide a yearly capacity of 45,000 TEU and is a joint venture between Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and Toong Goen Enterprise (TGC).

Vietnam's ministry of transport says containers business shows a marked dominance of foreign shipping companies, which weakens the competitiveness of the country's exports.

Growth of container business has increased 50 per cent a year with the transportation business reaching US$1 billion.

Read More

Samsung Heavy to Build 4 Rigs

South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co, said it has secured new orders worth a total of $2.41b.

The company said it won a $1.15b dollar contract to build two semi-submersible floating drilling rigs by September 2010 for a Russian client. Separately, clients in Africa and in Americas ordered two oil drill ships worth 1.26 billion dollars which will be delivered by May 2011.
Read More

USS Port Royal Visits Jakarta

USS Port Royal Public Affairs Indonesian naval officers stood in formation on the pier and a military band played patriotic songs Dec. 20 as USS Port Royal (CG 73) pushed away from her berth at Tanjung-Priok Port in Jakarta, after a four-day port visit to Indonesia's capital province.

The farewell show as Port Royal pulled away from Jakarta was only a small demonstration compared to the festivities during the first hours of her arrival Dec. 17. As local dignitaries welcomed Adler with flowers and fruit, while traditional dancers, fire-breathers and other performers entertained the crew on the pier.

Indonesia's hospitality did not stop at the pier. Local citizens embraced Port Royal Sailors as they ventured off the ship to explore the city and participate in athletic games and community relations events. On Dec. 19, a small group of Sailors loaded boxes of toys and hygiene items into a truck for delivery to the U.S. Embassy warehouse, where representatives from three non-governmental organizations received them for distribution to the city and in Indonesia's rural interior. The boxes were donations from Project Handclasp, which is a program that allows private organizations to donate toys and other items for forward-deployed military units to distribute overseas

U.S. Navy port visits such as Port Royal's visit to Indonesia represent an important opportunity to promote peace and stability in the Asian-Pacific region of the world, demonstrate commitment to regional partners and foster growing relationships. U.S. 7th Fleet forces are tangible proof of the U.S. commitment to peace and stability in the Oceana region, and they directly support U.S. national goals of strengthening alliances, defeating global threats, and preserving the free flow of trade.

Read More

Hopes fade for missing 14 seamen

South Korea today resumed an air and sea search for 14 seamen missing after their freighter sank but officials said it would be a miracle to find anyone still alive.

The chemical carrier Eastern Bright, carrying 2000 tonnes of nitric acid, went down in rough seas off the southern port city of Yeosu before dawn yesterday. A Burmese seaman was rescued about five hours afterwards but 12 Koreans and two Burmese remain unaccounted for. A total of 35 navy and coast guard vessels, including a navy minesweeper equipped with sonar, and four aircraft were searching the area. The navy said the minesweeper late yesterday detected what is thought to be the sunken ship, an 80-metre-long vessel resting on the seabed 60 metres below the surface and some 32km east of Geomun island. Apart from ships searching for the crew, eight vessels were cleaning up a thin oil slick around the shipwreck site from the vessel's fuel. Earlier this month, South Korea suffered its worst-ever oil spill when a tanker leaked 10,500 tonnes of crude off the west coast after being holed by a drifting barge. No one was hurt in that incident.

Read More

Swimmers scatter after shark sighting

Swimmers were sent scurrying from the surf after a shark was sighted at Sydney's northern beaches today.

A lifesaver spotted the 1m-2m bronze whaler 200m from shore at Palm Beach at 10.40am (AEDT), forcing the closure of the packed beach. Palm Beach surf club president Jason Millett said there was up to 70 people in the water and about 200 more on the beach. The beach was reopened after lifesavers shepherded the shark out of the area. Mr. Millett said the shark sighting was routine and that there are no man-eating sharks off the northern beaches. "The water's really clean at the moment so we've got a lot of marine activity around the rocks and they just come in for the small fish they eat," he said.
Read More

Stricken US ship pilot 'novice'

The navigator of a cruise ship that ran aground off Alaska was only 22, had no real knowledge of the area and no training on the boat.

Marino Cattiotti was put in charge for four hours because another navigator was ill, the National Transportation Safety Board report said. More than 200 people were evacuated when the Empress of the North hit a rock 25 miles (40km) from Juneau. It was his first voyage on the ship. The report said instructors believed that "placing a recent graduate of the school with no watch experience outside of a training environment, on watch, at night, in pilotage waters, in an unfamiliar vessel, without any additional preparation and/or supervision, was imprudent". The riverboat-style boat was on the second day of a seven-day cruise when it suffered the accident. The ship's hull was ripped in a number of places and the propeller damaged.
Read More

New Vision VLCC Caught in Recent Atlantic Storm - The Situation is under Control

The tanker VLCC New Vision was caught in the recent severe North Atlantic storm offshore Ireland.

Built in South Korea and delivered in April 1994, the New Vision is a double-hulled VLCC flying the French flag. Operated by V.Ships France, it is time chartered by Total from Norwegian ship owner Viken. The tanker was en route from Mongstadt in Norway to Canaport in Canada. A bow compartment was damaged by the storm, taking the mooring system out of service. The rudder was also damaged. The vessel’s maneuvering ability is unimpaired, and the New Vision is now lying off Portugal, waiting to take on board equipment needed for repairs. The ship owner expects the repairs to be carried out next week. The vessel will then offload its cargo in a European port, where permanent repairs will be performed. The incident did not cause any injuries or pollution.

Read More

Tug skipper body found by divers

The body of the skipper of the Flying Phantom tug has been found by police divers searching the capsized vessel.

Stephen Humphreys, 33, from Greenock, was the last of three dead crewmembers to have been recovered. Search teams had previously found the bodies of his colleagues, Eric Blackley, 57, of Gourock, and Robert Cameron, 65, of Houston, Renfrewshire. Special prayers had earlier been said in churches in Greenock for the families affected by the tragedy on the River Clyde. The Flying Phantom sank while towing a cargo vessel to Glasgow at about 1830 GMT on Wednesday.

Read More

Heavily armed pirates spark regional shipping alert

A worrying trend in the increasing intensity and ferocity of pirate attacks on commercial shipping vessels has put the regional shipping industry on high alert, as attacks on container, vehicle and general cargo ships continue to rise.

Ship Master's, pilots and crew are being warned to be vigilant on the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea by the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Alert service. North Korea's MV Dai Hong Dan cargo vessel was violently hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia late last month. A US Navy destroyer tracked the cargo ship after engaging pirates who had hijacked the vessel, helping the crew to regain control. Three seriously injured crew members have since been transferred to a naval vessel for treatment. Five pirates were captured and two were killed when the US Navy recaptured the ship.
Read More

Russia intends to stay the leading seller of patrol boats and landing ships

Russia has the first place among the suppliers of new boats and the landing ships (29 units worth over US$1 billion).

It also has a growing package of orders: in 2001-2005, it exported 10 ships (US$227 million), in 2005-2010 this parameter will reach 19 units (US$776 million). In 2011-2015 Russia will still strengthen its position in the market. Russian portfolio orders for these five years are already at 21 units (US$760 million). Recently Russia undertook a number of measures aimed at strengthening the positions in this segment in the market, especially in a number of the most perspective countries. In particular, in February 2001 Vietnamese Navy began tests of the first patrol boat PS-500, displacement 530 tonnes, built by Ho Chi Minh shipyard with the assistance of Russia. In the further, it was planned to continue the work on this series with the purpose of their improving and attributing to them the functions of small corvettes. At the order of Vietnam Russian designed corvette of the type SKR-2100.
Read More

Shell and Frontier beef Bully plans

Anglo-Dutch super major Shell and Frontier Drilling are to build a second “Bully rig” drillship, designed for deep-water and arctic drilling.

The pair announced the formation of a joint venture in October to develop the Bully rig concept, with the first vessel to be delivered by early 2010. A second vessel would be designed and built, with delivery also scheduled for 2010. The second Bully will initially be used primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell said. Frontier’s drillships unit will operate both vessels on behalf of the venture under separate management services contracts. The Bully rig ships are designed to offer a lower-cost and more flexible alternative for drilling in ultra-deep and arctic conditions compared with existing new-build rigs of the same capacity. The ships will be capable of drilling in 10,000 feet of water with subsea blowout preventers and 12,000 feet of water with surface BOPs. They will also be equipped with ice-class hulls for arctic drilling.
Read More

Warships back after deployments

Royal Navy sailors have returned to their Devonport base for Christmas.

About 400 people welcomed the HMS Portland warship back after a six and a half month deployment to the Caribbean and North Atlantic. The ship assisted in Belize with the aftermath of Hurricane Dean and intercepted two tonnes of cocaine. HMS Northumberland is due to sail into Devonport on Friday after a four-month-long deployment in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. The ship patrolled the Mediterranean as part of a Nato's Operation Active Endeavour to prevent piracy and smuggling. The deployment included an exercise involving over 40 ships and 19,000 personnel from 12 Nato countries. During its time at sea, HMS Portland travelled 34,908 nautical miles and 40 members of the ship's company went ashore in Belize to help victims of Hurricane Dean.
Read More

Japan plans for new whale factory ship

Japan is planning to build a new, bigger factory ship to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean.

The news came amid unconfirmed reports that Japan would not be killing endangered humpback whales during in its current hunt, as it had earlier declared. The possibility was raised by the US ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, but the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that no agreement to abandon the humpback hunt exists. The stated Japanese plan this year is to hunt 900 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpbacks. The possibility of Japan building a new whaling factory ship to replace the Nisshin Maru, which was damaged by fire earlier this year, was first raised in May in Suisan Keizai, a Japanese fishing industry publication. The Nisshin Maru needs to offload cargo to a companion ship during the annual hunt. Greenpeace quizzed 23 Japanese shipbuilding companies, and believes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been negotiating for the contract to build the new ship.
Read More

Marine protection plan unveiled

Public consultation has begun on proposals to extend protection for marine life around Britain.

Seven areas, totaling 10,000sq km (4,000sq miles) of sea, have been earmarked as sites for the UK's first offshore Special Areas of Conservation. They include habitats of important sea life, such as sandbanks, sand volcanoes and cold-water coral reefs, found in the seas surrounding the UK. Currently, only coastal and inshore areas are protected. The government says areas rich in wildlife further out to sea face a different kind of threat. Jonathan Shaw, the minister for marine, landscape and rural affairs, said: "The UK has one of the richest marine environments in the world.
Read More

Superferry back in service to Maui

The Hawaii Superferry has finally made it to Maui.

Storm damage to the ferry dock at Kahului Harbor had delayed the 'Alakai's' return to service between Oahu and Maui. The 'Alakai' had been docked since late August when a series of court rulings led to suspension of the service. About 100 protesters turned out at the harbor, some carrying signs and yelling at disembarking passengers and vehicles. The protests were peaceful and no arrests were made. The 'Alakai' headed back to Oahu with about 190 passengers on board and carried about 60 vehicles on its trip to Maui and 170 passengers and 50 cars on its return trip to Honolulu. Bad weather delayed the second attempt to return the vessel to Maui.
Read More

Stranded tanker temporarily blocks Suez traffic

Traffic in Egypt's Suez Canal was temporarily disrupted after an oil tanker ran aground in the waterway.

The 150,000-tonne tanker, flying the Maltese flag and traveling from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, rammed the east bank of the canal after its navigation system broke down. No oil spillage was reported from the tanker, which has a double hull. After five hours, tugs managed to free the tanker and traffic was able to resume. The Suez Canal is Egypt's third-largest source of revenue after tourism and remittances from expatriate workers and currently about 7.5 percent of global trade passes through the waterway.
Read More

Japanese floater specialist Modec said it hit full production at the Stybarrow floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) off Australia

Japanese floater specialist Modec said it hit full production at the Stybarrow floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) off Australia’s north-west coast.

The company had started production at Stybarrow, ramping up to full production on 1 December. The Stybarrow unit was built at the Jurong shipyard in Singapore. It was delivered to the field, on the Exmouth sub-basin about 65 kilometres off the Western Australian coast. The floater is capable of producing 80,000 barrels of crude and 45 million cubic feet of gas products per day. It has storage capacity of 900,000 barrels. The FPSO sits in 825 metres of water, linked to the wellhead by a disconnectable turret allowing the vessel to be moved out of the path of seasonal cyclones and storms.
Read More

Japan to drop humpback whale hunt

Japan has suspended its first humpback whale hunt in seas off Antarctica since the 1960s, backing down in an escalating international battle over the expansion of its hunt.

Japan dropped the planned taking of 50 humpbacks, which have been off-limits to commercial hunting since 1966 at the behest of the United States, the chair of the International Whaling Commission, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura. The government has decided to suspend hunts of humpback whales while talks to normalize IWC are taking place. Japan dispatched its whaling fleet last month to the southern Pacific in the first major hunt of humpback whales since the 1960s, generating widespread criticism. Japanese whaling officials said Friday they had not harpooned any humpbacks yet.

Read More

Shell to begin water injection at Ursa/Princess in 2008

Shell personnel have commenced the Ursa/Princess facilities commissioning process to prepare for the initiation of water injection, projected sometime next year.

The Ursa/Princess waterflood project, located in the Mars-Ursa Basin of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, will improve reservoir performance at the deepwater Ursa and Princess fields. The waterflood topsides injection system will inject filtered and treated water via two separate flowlines to three subsea sites. One will go to an existing well site northwest of Ursa, one to an existing well site southeast of Ursa and one to a new well site northeast of Ursa. Producing wells will include three Princess subsea wells and as many as six Ursa tension leg platform (TLP) wells. J. Ray McDermott's Amelia, La., fabrication yard cut first steel on the modules in October 2006. The modules were completed and ready for offshore installation one year later.
Read More

BHP lets Falcon go to Fugro

BHP Billiton has agreed to sell its Falcon airborne geophysical technology to Dutch company Fugro.

BHP said it would retain exclusive use and priority access to the technology for minerals exploration until March 2010. Execution of the sale agreement will be completed by March 2008. The Falcon technology, jointly developed by BHP Billiton and Lockheed Martin, is deployed on aircraft operated by Fugro Airborne Surveys. It has been used for petroleum-related work in Australia, Papua New Guinea and other parts of the world too. BHP have a long and productive relationship with Fugro Airborne Surveys and through this agreement they will continue to use Falcon technology through a world class geophysical service provider, focusing efforts on discovery of new mineral deposits.

Read More

Langsa write-off for Modec

Japanese floating production giant Modec is expecting to book a loss of 2.5 billion yen ($22 million) by writing off its investment in Indonesia's offshore Langsa oilfield.

The Tokyo-based company said Langsa is the only project in the world in which Modec holds the concession. Stable production of oil continues at between 1000 barrels per day and 2000 bpd. To cover for the write-off loss, Modec plans to sell some of the securities it holds, and expects to book a net gain of 700 million yen ($6 million) on both a consolidated and non-consolidated basis. Modec will focus on floating production systems, which shows solid growth, and will continue to expand its businesses as a global leader in this field. The Langsa field has a chequered past, and is currently operated by a joint venture between Indonesia's Medco and Japan's Mitsui, who lease a small floating production vessel from Modec.

Read More

China striving to become global shipbuilding giant

On September 8, 2007, "New Asia", the first 8530TEU ultra large container ship independently designed and manufactured by China, was delivered in Shanghai.

This indicates that China has made great breakthrough on the road of independent design and construction of high-tech ships. The ultra large container ship made in China will show more prominent features of large size and series-oriented. 8530TEU ultra large container ship is on the mainstream of the international container ship type with the characteristic of high technology content, high value-added economy and high construction difficulty. "New Asia" is the first one of the five vessels in same type independently designed and manufactured by Shanghai HuDong-ZhongHua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd for China Shipping (Group) Company. According to statistics made by Ship Industry Management Office of Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense, in the first three quarters of this year, China's ship industry maintained a growing momentum, the production and operation developed fast, and the economic benefit was improved obviously.

Read More

Caspian gas pipeline deal signed

Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have signed a landmark deal to build a gas pipeline cementing Moscow’s control over Central Asia energy resources.

The deal provides for the construction of a pipeline along the Caspian Sea to carry 20 billion cubic metres of gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. The pact dashes the hopes of the United States and the European Union to build an alternative pipeline across the Caspian to bypass Russia. The intergovernmental accord, which follows a preliminary agreement reached in May, was signed in Moscow in the presence of the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev. Describing the agreement as an “extremely important” one Mr. Putin said it “will make a new, important contribution of our nations to strengthening the energy security in Europe Asia and beyond.”

Read More

Gas is the new oil for GCC countries

Gulf countries have pumped billions of dollars to develop their gas sector and are set to keep up spending within long-term plans to expand revenues and meet domestic and external demand.

Qatar, which controls the world's largest gas resources after Russia and Iran, is spearheading such projects to become the dominant liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter when it will pump in excess of 77 million tonnes within five years. The gas projects, a turnaround in the region's policy that had long neglected that sector, have already started to pay off in terms of additional revenue, attracting foreign capital and meeting local and foreign demand. Three members of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) - Qatar, the UAE and Oman - have become major gas exporters and their gas sales have largely boosted their revenues and gross domestic product.
Read More

Penguin cruising ahead with business expansion

Penguin has taken delivery of its second AHTS, 'Pelican Quest', a 55-metre, 5,000 BHP AHTS with a bollard pull of 65 tonnes.

Internal resources and bank borrowings will fund the vessel. The 'Pelican Quest' is built to Fire Fighting Class 1 specifications for external fire fighting, and is equipped for towing and anchor handling duties, as well as transportation of materials, equipment, fuel, water, bulk cement and liquid mud. This is the second AHTS in Pelican's fleet, the first being a similar sized AHTS, 'Pelican 28', which has been on a long-term time charter in Vietnam for the past year, supporting offshore oil and gas production operations. Pelican is an experienced owner-operator of offshore support vessels with in-house expertise and experience to manage all kinds of vessels. This AHTS acquisition is a logical step forwards in the expansion and refleeting of Pelican.

Read More

Petrobras strikes again in pre-salt

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras struck light oil with an ultra-deep water well in the offshore Santos basin.

It provided no reserve estimates. Portuguese company Galp Energia is Petrobras' partner in Block BM-S-21 with a 20% stake. The 1-BRSA-526-SPS (1-SPS-51) well was drilled in water 2234 metres deep found light oil in the pre-salt layer, said Petrobras. The well was not tested due to operational and logistics matters. Last month, Petrobras announced an estimate for recoverable reserves at its giant Tupi field in the sub-salt cluster of the Santos basin of between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels. If confirmed, that would make Tupi the world's second-largest oil find in the past 20 years after Kashagan in Kazakhstan.

Yantai to launch truck-ferry intermodal service to Japan, Korea

A full container load (FCL) truck-ferry cargo service is soon to be launched between Yantai, a city in northeast China's Shandong province and Japan and Korea.

The service allows cargo to be transported on the same truck via ferry directly to its destination without transshipping at the border. Preparation for the new service is undergoing in the three countries.
Read More

Bad weather hits India field

Hardy Oil and Gas has shut down the PY-3 field off India's east coast due to a production equipment problem brought about by bad weather.

Co-venturer Hindustan Oil said production from PY-3 had been suspended due to the breakup of the crude oil import hose occasioned by bad weather conditions prevailing on the south east coast of India. UK-headquartered Hardy is hoping to restart production as soon as there is a weather window. Gross average daily oil production at PY-3 for the six months ended 30 June 2007 was 4948 barrels per day compared to 5913 bpd in the same six months last year. The field is located off the east coast of India in the Cauvery basin with water depths ranging from 40 metres to 200 metres. The project interests in PY-3 are operator Hardy (18%), Tata (21%), Hindustan Oil (21%) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (40%).
Read More

Mexico gets taste for biodiesel

Mexico plans to encourage production of biodiesel from crops like beets, yucca root and sorghum after a new biofuel law comes into effect early next year, said Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas.

"Mexico could develop biodiesel faster than ethanol”, says Cardens. Ethanol, an alcohol used as an additive in gasoline to reduce emissions, is usually made from maize or sugar. But competing with the US, the world's number one maize producer and Brazil, a leader in sugar-based ethanol will be a challenge for Mexico, where cane is expensive to produce and farmers grow less maize than the country consumes. Biodiesel industry would help the country's poorest farmers, and that none of the crops Mexico currently grows for food would be replaced with biofuel plants. Critics say biofuel production hurts the poor as increased demand for crops drives up food prices. The Mexican government pressured maize flour producers in January to cap rising prices for tortillas, a staple corn pancake, amid street protests.
Read More

China Merchant Group receives new tanker

China Merchant Group, the Chinese leading tankers fleet owner, recently has its new tanker delivered from Sumitomo Heavy Industry, Japan.

The christening ceremony was held in Sumitomo's Yokosuka Shipyard. This newly finished Aframax ship is named 'New Advance' and was delivered a month ahead of schedule. 'New Advance' is the first tanker that Merchant Group received after it was listed in Shanghai stock market. With following eleven tankers and seven capsizes to be finished by 2012, China Merchant Group will strengthen its leading role in China resource shipping strategy.
Read More

Russia to release sick Japanese fisherman

Russia plans to release the captain of one of four Japanese fishing boats seized in disputed waters last week because of his poor health, said Japan's Foreign Ministry.

Russian authorities informed Japan through its consulate in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk that they would free Toshigemi Fujimoto. A Japanese Coast Guard ship will be dispatched from the port of Nemuro in northern Japan to pick up Fujimoto, who suffers from an unspecified chronic ailment. The Russian border guard detained four boats last Thursday off the northern coast of Kunashiri Island, one of four islands claimed by both countries. The boats' exact location and activities at the time of their capture have remained unclear. Russian authorities have frequently seized Japanese boats in recent months as they have stepped up patrols in and around the area. Last August, Russian patrol boats fatally shot a Japanese angler and seized a vessel in the disputed northern waters, escalating tensions between the two nations.

Read More

Japan denies dropping whale hunt

Japan has made no agreement to stop hunting humpback whales, said its foreign ministry.

There is no (new) written, diplomatic agreement between Japan and the United States over the current specific whaling mission... and whaling in general,'' said Tomohiko Taniguchi, spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry. He was responding to comments by US ambassador Thomas Schieffer, who reportedly told journalists that Japan and the United States agreed on no harvesting of humpback whales for the time being. Japan's ships set sail last month on the country's largest hunt yet, which for the first time since the 1960s will kill humpbacks, one of the most popular animals for Australian whale watchers. The mission defied warnings from Japan's usual Western allies including Australia.
Read More

Fourth 4000 Class PSV, 'GRAND SLAM' christened and delivered

Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Rigdon Marine Corporation (RMC), Billy Guice, announced the 'GRAND SLAM,' the fourth in the series of ten 4000 Class PVS was delivered by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana.

Mrs. Karen Whitley, wife of RMC's Director of Technical Services, Jim Whitley, christened the hull of the vessel with the traditional bottle of champagne the day before the Rigdon 4000 Class PSVs was named a 'Significant Boat of 2007' at the WorkBoat Trade Show in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 'GRAND SLAM,' is a 58-metre x 14-metre x 5.5-metre, diesel electric, DP-2 PSV, which features a capacity of 4,000 barrels of liquid mud in an oval, self cleaning, segregated tank system. The PSV will also include three x Z-Drives and two x large forward tunnel thrusters. The Rigdon 4000 Class PSVs are capable of serving a wide array of marine applications in all water depths. The remaining six Rigdon 4000 class PSVs will be delivered in approximate forty-five day intervals through the third quarter of 2008.
Read More

Swift flies NZ nest

US independent Swift Energy would sell the bulk of its New Zealand assets to Australia’s Origin Energy and its local unit Contact Energy for about $87.8 million as part of plans to end its operations in the country.

Swift said the deal was effective 1 December this year, with plans to sell of its remaining assets in New Zealand expected to be closed by early next year. Origin and Contact said separately today that they stood to gain Swift’s main producing areas in the onshore Taranaki basin, including the Tariki, Ahuroa, Waihapa and Ngaere fields and the Rimu, Kauri and Manutahi fields, as well as associated production facilities. Swift expects to reap about $100 million to $110 million from the sale of its New Zealand assets. It said the move would result in a non-cash book loss of about $115 million to $120 million. Origin would take over its offices in Wellington and New Plymouth and would offer to employ its local staff.

Read More

Ministry raises pitch for 20% shipbuilding subsidy

The Shipping Ministry is pitching for about 20 per cent subsidy levels for the shipbuilding sector and has floated a Cabinet note with the proposal.

Until mid-August this year, the ship-manufacturing sector used to receive 30 per cent subsidy under the shipbuilding subsidy scheme. The Ministry has proposed continuation of the subsidy for 10 years with review after five years. It has called for maintaining subsidy levels ''in the range of 20 per cent''. Additionally, the shipbuilders may also get subsidies for large vessels only with the Ministry batting for a ''level playing field between domestic and export orders''. In the earlier subsidy regime, if ships were manufactured for exports, all types of ships were eligible for the subsidy provided the Indian firms won orders by meeting certain norms like global competitive bidding process. However, if they were manufactured for the domestic market, the subsidy was restricted to ocean-going merchant vessels that were over 80 metres in length. Thus even if ships are manufactured for the export market, a subsidy would be extended only if the ships are larger than 80 metres.

Read More

Shark caught in nets off popular beach

A rare grey nurse shark has been caught in shark nets off Bondi Beach this morning.

The 2.4m shark - a harmless, endangered breed is dead. It comes after a man caused worldwide headlines after being attacked by a shark off the iconic beach.
That attacker is believed to have been a wobbegong and relatively harmless.
It also follows the more serious biting of a surfer as experts say increased shark activity on the NSW coast is normal for this time of year. The South Australian man surfing near Newcastle this week survived a shark bite on his right buttock, becoming the third person in NSW to have a brush with a shark in the past two months.
Read More

Norwegian Cruise Line Christens New 'It' Girl – Norwegian Gem

Norwegian Cruise Line named Cindy Cardella of Fairfield, N.J., the Godmother of its new 'It' Girl, Norwegian Gem, during the ship’s Christening ceremony held in New York.

Cindy was chosen by NCL and the public among five finalists vying for the Godmother crown following an online video contest hosted on www.gemitgirl.com. In addition to being named Norwegian Gem’s Godmother, a position steeped in maritime tradition, she will receive a seven-day cruise in the ultra-luxurious 5,000-square-foot Garden Villa for her and five of her entourage. Cindy received close to 10,000 votes from the public and was selected based on her ability to show how she embodies the attributes of NCL’s hottest, hippest new ship, as well as the free spirit of NCL’s Freestyle Cruising,” said Colin Veitch, NCL Corporation’s president and CEO. Cindy was also given the honor of officially naming the ship and pulling the lever that released the bottle of champagne to christen the ship.
Read More

Russian nuke fuel shipment strengthens strategic ties: Iran

The first shipment of nuclear fuel for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant by Russia will strengthen strategic ties between Tehran and Moscow.

Iran received its first nuclear fuel from Russia after a long delay on Monday, paving the way for the startup of its 1000-megawatt Bushehr light-water reactor in 2008. Both the US and Russia now say that with the shipment, the Iranians would no longer have any reason to produce enriched uranium that could be used to build a nuclear weapon. However, Iran says it would continue its enrichment activities at a separate facility, in the central city of Natanz, to provide fuel for another light-water 360-megawatt nuclear reactor being built in the southwestern town of Darkhovin. Russian President, Vladimir Putin, finalized the date for shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran during a landmark visit to Iran. Iran says it plans to expand its enrichment programme to up to 54,000 centrifuges at Natanz and is fully within its rights to pursue the enrichment to produce fuel under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Read More

New CotaiJet Hong Kong-Macao ferry launched, then halted by legal dispute

Las Vegas Sands announced in early December that it had initiated its high-speed ferry service between Hong Kong's Macao Ferry Terminal at Shun Tak Centre and Macao's newly opened Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal.

Later on the service was suspended due to legal wrangles for a week and a half later. The operators were forced to suspend their new, high profile, high-speed ferry service due to legal challenges to their right to operate the Macao government-granted concession. The first CotaiJet, dubbed 'The Grand Canal Shoppes', departed from Macao to complete her inaugural voyage to Hong Kong, where she docked at Hong Kong's Macao Ferry Terminal at Shun Tak Centre. The CotaiJet three-vessel service at launch featured 20 sailings per day, ten each from Hong Kong and Macao, with service beginning at 7:00 a.m. each day. Each custom-built catamaran has the capacity to carry more than 400 passengers and operate at top speeds of approximately 42 knots.
Read More

Gulf Craft delivers super yacht Majesty 130

Gulf Craft, the Middle East’s largest boat and yacht manufacturer, is delivering its top-of-the-range super yacht the Majesty 130.

Following successful completion of sea trials, the largest super yacht built in the Middle East is currently on its way to Australia. The proud owner of the 130 foot Majesty Yacht is an Australian businessman who selected Gulf Craft to build the Majesty Yacht which sleeps eight and features four cabins as well as quarters for six crew members plus a separate cabin for the captain. The Majesty 130 is the largest vessel in the Majesty Yachts class, which begins at the entry level Majesty 44. Featuring a twin set of 2000hp MTU engines; the super yacht has a fuel capacity of 33,500 liters with the capacity for extended ocean voyages with a maximum range of 3,000 nautical miles. The yacht will sail to her destination port in Queensland, Australia, via Oman, India, Maldives and Singapore.
Read More

Goss plans wooden boat trip to Oz

Sailor and adventurer Pete Goss is getting ready to hit the water again, by sailing to Australia in a 36ft (11m) wooden fishing boat.

His trip will follow in the wake of seven Cornish seamen who completed the journey in a Cornish Lugger, called Mystery, more than 150 years ago. Mr. Goss is building a similar vessel in honor of the original boat. Devon-born Mr. Goss, 45, who now lives in Torpoint, Cornwall, has called his boat Spirit of Mystery in honor of the original vessel. In 1997, he became an MBE for the dramatic rescue of a fellow competitor in a round-the-world race. He said the project was something he had wanted to do since he heard about the voyage of the Mystery.

Read More

CMA CGM makes US$307 million China deepwater port debut at Haicang

CMA CGM is to invest in the construction of a US$307 million deepwater container port at Xiamen's port of Haicang.

The investment, the French company's first in a Chinese port terminal, will strengthen its position in Xiamen, which it plans to establish as its transhipment hub for the whole of southern China. CMA CGM has a 30 percent stake in the consortium that is to build the new terminal, alongside Xiamen Haicang Investment and Hong Kong-based port infrastructure specialist New World Services. The French group said that the project will be finalized shortly, with the objective of bringing the new terminal into service in 2009.
Read More

New oil and gas fields in Asia-Australia's Kipper to start 2011

A number of new oilfields are expected to start production in the coming years across Asia.

This is a partial list of the biggest known developments. All data are from the fields' operators, unless otherwise stated with an *. Output figures are production targets. Fields that have started are marked "S-". Fields, whose developments are pending approval, are indicated with Oil figures are in barrels-of-oil per-day (bopd). Gas figures are in million cubic feet/day (mcfd). The largest fields, with an oil output of 25,000 bopd or more, and gas output of 100 mcfd, are listed first.
Read More

Captain's fat powers eco-friendly record bid

A New Zealand-built boat that runs on biodiesel - and the fat of the captain - is set to kick off an attempt to break the world speed record for circumnavigating the globe in a motorboat next year.

He 24m Earthrace, skippered by New Zealander Pete Bethune, will set off from Valencia, Spain, on March 1 and traverse the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the Panama and Suez canals in its more than 24,000 nautical mile journey. Bethune will be attempting to break the current world record of 74 days, 20 hours and 58 minutes, established by the Cable and Wireless Adventurer boat in 1998. He has said he believes his trip could help promote biodiesel as a viable alternative to petroleum diesel. One attribute of the Earthrace boat is that it has the ability to "submarine" through waves, going up to 7m underwater, enabling it to maintain a higher average speed through big seas.
Read More

Australia to watch whalers

Australia will send aircraft and a ship to watch Japanese whaling vessels off Antarctica.

The customs vessel that will shadow the Japanese fleet will not be armed. "It will be surveillance, not enforcement, or intervention," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said today. The Australian Antarctic Division would do the aerial surveillance, collecting video and photo evidence. The customs vessel Oceanic Viking would carry out surface surveillance in the Southern Ocean for 20 days. The Federal Government had sought advice over whether it could launch international legal action against Japanese whalers. Australia was also leading a formal diplomatic protest to the Japanese Government. That advice was expected early next year.
Read More

Keppel Verolme lands a double

Rotterdam-based Keppel Verolme, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine has won two contracts totaling S$160 million on the back of an upsurge of offshore activities in the North Sea.

Keppel had secured a repeat order for the outfitting of the floating production, storage and offloading facility Sevan Voyageur for Norway’s Sevan Production. Work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2008. This is the third cylindrical FPSO facility that Keppel Verolme is carrying for the same owner. The world’s first cylindrical FPSO facility, Sevan Piranema, was completed in Keppel Verolme in January 2007. Keppel had also won a contract for the drydocking of the Saipem 7000, a semi-submersible crane and pipelaying DP vessel for Italy’s Saipem. Saipem 7000 is the world’s second largest crane vessel with lifting capabilities of up to 14,000 tonnes.
Read More

Ship's record breaking trip to Arctic

A New Zealand-led ship has sailed further north than any other, after it was deliberately trapped in an Arctic ice floe for 15 months.

The ship Tara, led by Wellington researcher Grant Redvers, 34, used the theory of transpolar drift to make a remarkable journey that began in September last year. Tara is traveling high and dry on an ice pack, relying on a conveyor belt-like phenomenon that drives Arctic ice across the North Pole and down the east coast of Greenland. The journey began last year after the specially built ship with a thick aluminium hull was wedged into ice north of Russia. Tara was designed to overcome the crushing power of the ice by a shape that saw it rise up when caught between plates. Tara is expected to soon pop out of the ice floe and into the Fram Strait between Greenland and Norway's Svalbard archipelago.
Read More

Design and operation of LPG ships

Rina will be holding a new conference in January 2008 relating to the Design and Operation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas ships followed by the success of 2006 International conference.

LPG vessels may have pressurized, semi-pressurized or fully refrigerated cargo systems, able to trade from both pressure and refrigerated storages. Fully refrigerated ships will require a chiller to cool down LPG at the load port or a re-heater to warm LPG discharging into pressure storage. The problematic characteristics of LPG have made it a late developer. Seaborne trade in LPG was less than one million tonnes in 1960, reached 17 million tonnes by 1980 and was in excess of 47 million tonnes by the year 2000. With the great changes expected in the LPG industry, this conference will provide a forum for discussion and a means of professional development for those involved with the design, construction and operation of LPG ships.
Read More

Container Cranes Pass under Bridge with Feet to Spare

Two new container cranes from Japan were delivered to the Port of Los Angeles and carefully navigated under the Vincent Thomas Bridge on the way to the TraPac terminal.

The cranes came within five feet of the bridge's undercarriage but passed under without incident as television helicopters and film crews captured the scene. This delivery, precisely timed for the lowest tide possible, marks the first arrival of cranes under the bridge since 2002. The cranes were delivered on a barge that was lowered to the water line to allow bridge clearance. Upon arrival at the terminal, the barge was raised up to the dock level. The cranes will be rolled onto the terminal over the course of several days.
Read More