Allseas to build world's biggest ship

A Swiss-based shipping group has begun work on what will be the biggest ship ever built.

The Pieter Schelte, envisaged as two supertankers joined in a catamaran design, will be used to decommission oil platforms in deep-water areas. It is the brainchild of Edward Heerema, the president of Allseas, the shipping and engineering group. The ship will be designed so that it can come alongside an oil platform, slice off the top half, then turn around, and pull up the legs from the seabed. Industry sources estimate that the ship will cost more than £1bn to build. It will have a lift capacity of 48,000 tonnes for topsides and 25,000 tonnes for jackets or legs. It will travel at a speed of 12 knots. The current design is for the ship to be 1,200ft long and 400ft wide - making it larger than the world's biggest oil tanker. It will displace 840,000 tonnes, making it the world's biggest ship. Allseas hopes to be able to take delivery of the ship in 2010.
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Sea level rise could be double warning

The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have predicted, according to researchers who looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago, the last time Earth got this hot.

Experts working on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested a maximum 21st century sea level rise, a key effect of global climate change - of about 0.8m. Researchers made the estimate by looking at the so-called interglacial period, some 124,000 to 119,000 years ago, when Earth's climate was warmer than it is now due to a different configuration of the planet's orbit around the sun. That was the last time sea levels reached up to 20 feet 6m above where they are now, fuelled by the melting of the ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica. The researchers say their study is the first robust documentation of how quickly sea levels rose to that level.
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Oceanographic ship for India delivered

Fincantieri's Muggiano shipyard has taken delivery of the 'Sagar Nidhi' (Pearl of the Oceans), an oceanographic vessel ordered for the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Madras.

Present at the private ceremony on board the ship were the director of Niot Dr. S. Kathiroli and representatives from Fincantieri. This highly complex vessel was built, to the customer's great satisfaction, within the contained delivery schedules. The 5,000-tonne ship, whose aft section was built at Riva Trigoso shipyard (Genova), is 104 metres long and 18 metres wide. Equipped with the latest technology for scientific studies, the ship will be used for oceanographic and hydrographic research, including water, ice and core sampling of the seabed. Moreover, the 'Sagar Nidhi', has been built to the highest national and international standards regarding the environment and safety on board.
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L&T to pump in Rs 2,000 cr in three shipyards

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Tuobro has short listed three locations for its next shipyards on which the company will invest up to Rs 2,000 crore.

The new shipyards will be focusing on three segments. One will be for defense ship production, another for niche commercial applications like CNG and LNG carriers while the third activity would be for ship repairing. With the government allowing private sector participation in defense contracts, the company has been eyeing orders from the Indian navy. L&T already has a shipyard at Hazira in Gujarat, which is mainly into building of specialized vessels like survey ships, offshore and multi-support vessels. The company had won its first order for shipbuilding last year from Dutch company Zadeko Ship Management CV for 98 million dollars.
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Exxon likely to bid for oil blocks in NELP-VII

After staying away from the first six rounds, world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company ExxonMobil is likely to participate in the upcoming round of New Exploration and Licensing Policy bidding.

The government launched the seventh round of the NELP on Thursday, offering 57 oil and gas blocks to national and international players. Of the 57 oil and gas blocks, nine are in shallow water, 19 in deep-sea and 29 on lands. Bids for NELP-VII would close on April 11, 2008, and the entire process would be completed within six months. Promotional road shows for NELP-VII were planned in Mumbai, London, Houston, Calgary, Singapore and Perth. All geo-scientific data have been made available online and data centers have been set up in Delhi, London, Houston, Perth and Calgary. India is competing with Africa and South America to attract global oil companies to seek reserves and meet surging demand as decades-old fields in North America and the North Sea begin to dry up.

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Stuart enters Angolan venture

Australia’s Stuart Petroleum has formed a joint venture with Angola’s Giraul Petroleum to explore for oil in the West African nation.

Stuart said the partners would evaluate for oil discovery and development in Angola, with each party participating equally in the venture. Stuart has pre-qualified as an operator for the next bidding round for Angolan oil concessions, which opened on 13 December. The company added that new seismic and exploration techniques are expected to define oil targets in the range of between 3 million and 30 million barrels.
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