Emaar EC and DP World combine for Saudi seaport

Emaar Economic City has signed an agreement with the Dubai-based DP World Limited, a global marine terminal operator, to develop and operate the port at King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia that would be the largest on the Red Sea.

The port, which will be the first in the kingdom to be financed completely by the private sector, would become one of the world's ten largest ports with a capacity to handle 20 million 20-foot containers a year, said Emaar EC, the Saudi Arabia unit of Dubai's Emaar Properties, in a statement yesterday. "With its strategic location on the Red Sea, the KAEC Sea Port will create a regional logistics hub that will further stimulate the Saudi economy through new job and investment opportunities," said Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar EC. The statement said that a multi-purpose cargo terminal is set to be operational by the end of 2010 and a separate terminal capable of handling 1.6 million TEU, or 20-foot equivalent container units, will operate by mid-2011. Afterwards the port's capacity will be increased on several phases. It added that the port, set to extend over 14 square kilometres, would create 15,000 jobs and contribute an average of AED9.8 billion (SAR10 billion) to Saudi Arabia's annual gross domestic product upon completion of the all the work phases. Governor Amr Al Dabbagh, of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), expressed his office's commitment to help transform Saudi Arabia into one of the world's ten most competitive economies by 2010. DP World, the world's fourth-largest marine port operator, has a portfolio of 43 terminals and 13 new developments across 28 countries. It designs, builds and operates ports as well as provides logistics, infrastructure development and consultancy services.

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BHP says Thebe is biggest find in five years

BHP Billiton’s deep-water Thebe gas field off Western Australia is the largest petroleum discovery the company has made in five years, said its petroleum chief executive Michael Yeager.

The field contains between 2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 3 Tcf based on one well, the Thebe-1 wildcat of August last year. BHP is currently drilling the Thebe-2 appraisal well with the semi-submersible Atwood Eagle in about 4000 feet of water in BHP’s 100%-owned Block WA-346-P. Yeager said at the APPEA conference in Perth, Australia, that a number of development options are being eyed for Thebe with liquefied natural gas exports a leading contender. These concepts include a stand alone onshore LNG export facility, a shared liquefaction plant, and floating LNG. Yeager said its 100%-owned Pilbara LNG concept is an option for Thebe processing. Some years ago, BHP progressed Pilbara LNG for receiving gas from the big Scarborough field in which BHP owns a 50% non-operating stake. However, Scarborough operator ExxonMobil did not support Pilbara LNG, so the project went on hold. The Thebe-1 discovery well hit a gross gas column of 240 feet in the Triassic Mungaroo formation.

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Petrobras to build another platform in Brazil

Petrobras, Brazil, has approved the early stage of contracting for platform P-62, slated to be installed in Module 4 at the Roncador Field, in the Campos Basin.

After carrying out several internal technical and economic studies, the company decided the best option was to reuse the P-54 project to build the P-62. In effect, Petrobras intends to "clone" platform P-54. The P-62 will be a FPSO (Production, Storage, and Off-loading) type unit capable of producing 180,000 barrels of oil per day, of storing 1.8 million barrels of oil, and of compressing 6 million cubic meters of natural gas. The unit will be anchored at a water depth of 1,545 metres. The P-54 was built in a period of 41 months after three agreements were signed in June 2004. The gas compression modules were built by the Dresser-Rand and Maua Jurong consortium. The power generation module was made by Nuovo Pignone, while Jurong Shipyard was in charge of the hull conversion, in Singapore, and also of constructing the unit's other modules. Jurong Shipyard was also in charge of integrating the unit at the Mauá shipyard, in Niterói.

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IMO takes slow approach to SOx reduction

The Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved proposed amendments to the MARPOL Annex VI regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships.

The main changes would see a progressive reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships, with the global sulphur cap reduced initially to 3.50% (from the current 4.50%, effective from 1 January 2012; then progressively to 0.50 %, effective from 1 January 2020, subject to a feasibility review to be completed no later than 2018. The limits applicable in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) would be reduced to 1.00%, beginning on 1 March 2010 (from the current 1.50 %); being further reduced to 0.10 % , effective from 1 January 2015. Progressive reductions in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from marine engines were also agreed, with the most stringent controls on so-called "Tier III" engines, i.e. those installed on ships constructed on or after 1 January 2016, operating in Emission control Areas. The revised Annex VI will allow for an Emission Control Area to be designated for SOx and particulate matter, or NOx, or all three types of emissions from ships, subject to a proposal from a Party or Parties to the Annex which would be considered for adoption by the Organization, if supported by a demonstrated need to prevent, reduce and control one or all three of those emissions from ships. In the current Annex VI, there are two SECAs designated, namely, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea area, which also includes the English Channel.

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Navy to christen ship named for Kansas aviator Amelia Earhart

She was known for taking to the skies, but this weekend Amelia Earhart will take to the seas.

The Navy will christen the USS Amelia Earhart on Sunday at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. The ship is the second the Navy has named after the pioneering aviator from Atchison, Kan. During World War II, the Navy had a Liberty ship named after Earhart that was used to transport supplies. The newest ship is part of the Navy's class of support ships that delivers supplies to other ships at sea or provides logistics support. Other ships in its class are named for explorers Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea and astronaut Alan Shepard. Earhart gained fame in 1932 when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

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