Horizon enters Indian market with pipeline project

A subsidiary of Horizon Offshore Inc. has been awarded a contract from Hindustan Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. to supply equipment for a project offshore India, signaling the company's entrance into the Indian market.

Horizon Marine Construction (Mauritius) Ltd. will supply, transport and install an offshore wellhead, platform, topsides and subsea pipeline. Horizon, a Houston marine construction company, said the project calls for the transportation and installation of a four pile jacket and deck, and installation of 57 kilometers gas transportation pipeline.

The pipeline will begin south of Chennai along the east coast of India and end at the PY-1 field located in the northern offshore portion of the Cauvery Basin. Construction is expected to begin in January 2009.

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Maersk starts new far East/West Africa service

Maersk Line said it will begin a direct service between the Far East and West Africa on Sept. 3 and revise the port rotation on an existing service between the regions.

The Far East-West Africa 2 (FEW2) service will connect Port Klang, Malaysia, and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, in the Far East with three West Africa ports. The company has also renamed and revised the schedule of its current WAF 10 service. Meanwhile the Far East-West Africa 1 (FEW1) service will connect Nansha on the Pearl River Delta in China, Hong Kong, and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia with these West Africa portsNamibia, Ghana and Nigeria.

Maersk said it will maintain its own feeder network and own offices in destination and origin countries.

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Singapore shipping firm fined $10m for Alaska spill

An American court has ordered a Singapore shipping firm to pay a US$10-million penalty for an oil spill, after one of its ships ran aground near an Alaskan wildlife haven.

The mishap killed thousands of migratory birds, sparking a US$100-million cleanup. The Malaysian-flagged tanker Selendang Ayu, owned by IMC Shipping, ran aground and sank near Unalaska Island, off the south-western coast of Alaska on Dec 8, 2004. IMC Shipping is the shipping arm of Singapore-based IMC Group, which also has business in property and natural resources development.

On Wednesday, the United States Justice Department said that the company, one of the world's largest privately held shipping groups, would pay the US$10 million criminal fine, of which US$3 million would be for community service in the polluted area, while US$1 million would be used to help the wildlife haven.

Thousands of metric tonnes of soybeans and 1.3 million litres of bunker oil spilled into the sea. Also, six of the 26-member ship crew were killed when a US Coast Guard helicopter crashed during a rescue attempt.

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Mexico reopens 2 of 3 oil ports after Dean

Two of Mexico's three main oil-exporting ports in the southern Gulf of Mexico have been reopened following the passage of Hurricane Dean, but production was still suspended as officials assessed possible damages to offshore rigs.

Dean, which struck the eastern Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 5 hurricane with 265 kph winds, had weakened to a Category 1 storm by the time it arrived in Mexico's main oil-producing region in the Bay of Campeche, on the peninsula's other side. Mexico closed three export ports in the region as a precaution, but reopened two of them as of Thursday morning, port authorities said.

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Rain hampers APEC ship rescue

An Indonesian sailing ship which ran aground on a south-east Queensland beach is unlikely to be towed to port until next week.

The 35-metre vessel Arung Samudera was on its way to Sydney for next month's APEC forum when it encountered the storm that has been lashing the Queensland coast. The sailing ship remains at Inskip Point, where its crew of 18 were forced to abandon it.

Australian Navy Commander Forbes Peters, who is overseeing the operation, said heavy rain was hampering salvage efforts. Cmdr also added that the rudder and centreboard - which keeps the boat upright while sailing - had broken off, but the vessel was otherwise in good shape.

The ship is one of seven tall ships involved in the APEC's Tall Ships program to be held in Sydney and since January 1996 she has been officially registered in the Indonesian Navy.

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Dean loses steam; reclassified as tropical storm

Hurricane Dean has been downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting Mexico for the second time this week.

Dean was a Category Two hurricane with gusts of up to 100mph before it weakened after landing at the eastern state of Veracruz. Wind speeds dropped to 70mph as it lurched inland but concerns remained about potential flash floods. Up to 51cm of rain were expected to swell rivers around villages in mountainous regions prone to mudslides. The Veracruz authorities have evacuated more than 20,000 people from low-lying coastal areas.

On Tuesday, Dean battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, toppling trees and houses and causing flooding. It also damaged houses and flooded streets in neighbouring Belize.

The hurricane initially hit Yucatan as a maximum Category Five storm but quickly weakened. It regained strength over the Gulf of Mexico, where it slammed into oil and gas platforms, but did not cause any significant damage to refineries.

There have been no reports of deaths in Mexico, but the hurricane claimed at least 13 lives in the eastern Caribbean. With hurricane Dean losing its strength all tropical storm and hurricane warnings have been canceled.

Meanwhile the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour made a safe return to its Florida home port on Tuesday, touching down at the Kennedy Space Center following a hectic but successful 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

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IUMI Conference set for September

The 2007 conference of the International Union of Marine Insurance in Copenhagen is set for next month.

The four-day program of committee meetings will witness keynote speeches, presentations, panel discussions and workshops covering all branches of marine insurance. With over two weeks still to go to the start on September 9, the organizing committee from the Danish Insurance Association reports that more than 750 people are expected. The core of this attendance will be 500 marine underwriters from 41 of IUMIs 52 member national associations.

Delegates from London, Norway, the U.S., Germany and France are taking part in the conference. Other important groups will be Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. Speaking in New York, Deirdre Littlefield, president of IUMI, said that the common theme of this year’s conference, Marine Insurance the Technical, Financial and Human Challenge, accurately reflects the problems facing marine insurers now and going forward.

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Tornado and typhoon claims 11 lives in China

Nine people were killed and 60 injured by a tornado in China's Zhejiang Province, with two others being killed by typhoon Sepat in Fujian Province, that hit the state on Monday.

A torrential rain also hit Minqing County, just west of Fujian's capital Fuzhou, causing the train station to collapse and six cars of a cargo train to derail. Typhoon Septat damaged 366 houses, destroyed over 10,000 acres of crops, cut power supplies and caused estimated losses of up to US$9.5 million.

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Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding plans commercial yard

Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co, may set up a new shipyard for commercial vessels to tap demand from the region’s booming offshore oil and gas industry, an official said.

The Abu Dhabi-quoted firm, also known as ADSB, will decide next year whether to set up a separate commercial shipyard based in the Taweelah Port & Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi. Arabain Gulf countries that produce almost a quarter of the world’s oil are boosting investment in offshore production driving up demand for rigs and service vessels in the region. The shipbuilder is hoping to capitalize on a booming offshore industry in Abu Dhabi, owner of the world’s second-largest offshore oil field in the Gulf.

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