Tigers sink ship 'loaded with bombs'

Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger rebels sank a navy vessel while it was moored at the island's east coastal town Trincomalee, hours before the government held elections in the area.

The guerrillas said their Sea Tigers underwater naval commandos launched a pre-dawn attack while it was loaded with explosives to be transported for troops operating in the island's north. "Commandos from Kangkai Amaran unit of the Sea Tigers took part in the naval mission in destroying the 80-metre long vessel," the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said. The Sri Lanka navy said the MV Invicible A-520 logistic vessel sank when an underwater explosion ripped through it, while it was moored at the Ashroff jetty in Trincomalee harbour. "No lives were lost due to the explosion," the defence ministry said. Under a million residents in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara will cast their ballots today to elect officials to run the eastern provincial council. Built in the 1970s, the A-520 was a merchant vessel was handed over to the Sri Lankan Navy, following a court order after it was apprehended while transporting 254 illegal migrants off eastern coast in Tangalle in 2003. Tens of thousands have died since the Tamil Tiger rebels launched a separatist campaign in 1972, to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east.

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MSC Ships Complete at-Sea Offload

Two Military Sealift Command ships completed the at-sea offload of more than 350 pieces of equipment and supplies belonging to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Thailand.

The cargo, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, ammunition and supplies, will be used in Cobra Gold – an annual exercise designed to promote regional stability and security throughout Southeast Asia. Maritime propositioning ships USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez and USNS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin arrived off the coast of Chuk Samet, Thailand April 27. Anchored about three miles from shore, Lopez and Martin offloaded a total of 16 pieces of lighterage – a type of barge used to move cargo from ship to shore – Apr. 27. Six pieces of this lighterage were pieced together to form a 180-foot by 63-foot floating platform called a roll-on/roll-off discharge facility, which was placed at the end of Lopez’s stern ramp. Offload operations began April 28 as rolling stock was driven down Lopez’s ramp onto the floating platform and then onto powered lighterage, which transported the cargo to shore. Containerized cargo was lifted onto the powered lighterage for transport ashore by one of Lopez’s three shipboard cranes. A complex operation, this offload involved multiple Navy and Marine Corps commands including MSC, the 3rd MEF, Naval Beach Group One, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One and Amphibious Construction Battalion One. The ability to offload cargo at-sea is necessary when operating in areas when port facilities are either nonexistent or too damaged or primitive for ships to pull pierside. Martin and Lopez will remain in Thailand through early June to backload their prepositioned cargo.

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Companies in the Gulf are catching a new wave

A popular topic of discussion at the 2008 Offshore Technology Conference at Houston was the Lower Tertiary ultra-deepwater trend in the Gulf of Mexico.

Executives from Shell, Chevron, BP, Anadarko and Devon Energy spoke of the Lower Tertiary as the "new wave" in the Gulf of Mexico, an area with great potential but equally great challenges that could extend the life of the Gulf of Mexico offshore industry, much like the move from drilling on the Shelf to deepwater did. The Lower Tertiary trend includes recent discoveries and projects such as Kaskida, Cascade, Chinook, Perdido, St. Malo and Jack. While operators estimate large reserves at these fields, many of the executives talked about specific difficulties associated with the area. Russ Ford, technical vice president for Shell E&P in the Americas, mentioned the viscous oil and low energy reservoirs of the trend as particular problems, but said Shell looks forward to the challenge. Shell's Perdido project, in 8,000 feet (2,438 m) of water, will feature subsea boosting and expandable casing to exploit resources there. Executives from Devon and Chevron both talked about the Jack and St. Malo discoveries as part of the Lower tertiary wave. Located around 30 miles (48 km)apart in Walker Ridge Blocks 678 and 758, the companies will face the challenge of a lack of infrastructure in the area by developing the two discoveries from a single production platform. Brian Smith, general manager of major capital projects for Chevron, said that the discoveries could come on the front end engineering and design phase by early 2009. Transocean is building two new drillships for Chevron to use on the project.

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India: Larsen and Toubro contemplating cruise ship construction

Indian shipbuilder Larsen and Toubro is contemplating a new shipyard in the eastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for the construction of large, ocean-going vessels including cruise ships.

To be completed by 2010, the IRs3,000 crore (US$722 million) yard would also have the ability to build liquid and gas tankers, FPSOs, military vessels, and offshore platforms. It is the company's stated intention to build cruise ships that has industry leaders sceptical however. "From my point of view, it will be very difficult to catch up with the European players in building cruise ships," said Reinhard Luken, secretary general, Community of European Shipyards Association. "The entry barriers to the production of cruise ships are very high due to technical and commercial risks. Companies in several nations, including the US and Japan, have in the past tried entering this field with no or limited success and stepped out," Luken said. "However, India could certainly become quickly an attractive destination for the cruise industry. If the cruising market would grow fast, I would assume that this could also create opportunities for European and Indian shipyards to cooperate." L&T seems to agree that the technology for building cruise ships is different and have to go in for a tie-up with an established European player for building cruise ships.

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India to float global tenders for six conventional submarines

India will soon float a global tender for six conventional submarines and develop a nuclear powered submarine in Mumbai.

“The DRDO is in the process of developing a nuclear powered submarine, codenamed the 'Advanced Technology Vessel', which could either be equipped with conventional or nuclear weapons, Chief of Naval staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta said. "The DRDO project will demonstrate the technology of these (nuclear submarines) and we hope someone will develop the nuclear powered submarine technology for the navy in future," Mehta said. The Naval chief also said the government would soon float global tenders for six conventional submarines, apart from the six French Scorpene being built at Mazgaon docks here. "In accordance with the plan to keep a certain number of submarines in the force, we will be acquiring six of one type (Scorpene) and six of another type," Mehta said at a press conference, marking the end of the two-day-long naval commanders' conference held here. The six additional submarines that the Indian navy would be looking to acquire would need to be equipped with technology for surface-to-surface missiles to cater to current requirements, the Chief of Naval Staff said. The Indian Navy presently has 16 submarines in its fleet and is looking to lease Akula class nuclear powered submarines from Russia. The ship, which is in good condition, is to take part in the Varuna naval exercise being held off the eastern coast with ships of the French navy.

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