'Earthrace' eco-boat smashes round-the-world speed

‘Earthrace’, the world’s fastest eco-boat, has smashed the world speed record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe, completing the 24,000km journey in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.

The boat crossed the finish line in Sagunto on Friday 27 June and completed the journey using 10 per cent biofuel to demonstrate and draw global attention to the potential for alternative fuel sources. ‘Earthrace’ is a 24-metre tri-hull wavepiercer built in New Zealand, and the record attempt, run by a team of international volunteers from New Zealand, UK, Sweden, Guyana and Hungary, has been completed as a carbon neutral project. The vessel set off from Spain on April 27 in an attempt to challenge the world record that has remained unbroken since 1998, when it was set by the British boat, ‘Cable and Wireless Adventurer’. The finish in Spain by Earthrace was monitored by D Jaime Pérez López, Presidente de la Federación Territorial Motonaútica de la Comunidad Valenciana. ‘Earthrace’, a not for profit enterprise, has overcome many obstacles during its journey, the most challenging of which were the replacement of the boat’s driveshaft and propeller after hitting sea debris in Palau, encountering monsoon conditions in the India Ocean, and bypassing a massive backlog of ships waiting to transit the Panama Canal.’Earthrace’’s success has proved that any form of transport, including marine, can be non-damaging to the environment as well as being high performance.
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First of two 1,740-TEU vessels delivered to Samudera

Samudera Shipping Line received the 1,740-TEU Sinar Sumba from Guangzhou before its maiden deployment from Hong Kong in its new Korea-China-Malaysia service (KMS).

The US$83 million Sinar Sumba was put into service with another vessel and will help the shipping group to attain its long term strategy of providing flexibility in fleet deployment and stability in overall vessel operating costs, said a company statement.
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Sovcomflot and Novoship under one flag

Russia's two largest commercial fleets, Sovcomflot and Novoship, will operate as a single commercial entity from 1 July at Moscow.

The single chartering location will be operated out of Sovcomflot's London office.
Sovcomflot is Russia's biggest shipping company with a fleet of 66 vessels totaling 4.97m dwt which will expand to 130 vessels of 9.3m following the merger with Novoship. An initial public offering for the 15% of the combined entity could happen as soon as the end of this year.

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Keppel rolls out new breed for Ensco

Singapore’s Keppel FELS has completed the first semi-submersible rig in a fleet of six new units for Ensco in a deal worth $2.5 billion in total.

The deep-water rig, the first of the new Ensco 8500 series, has been contracted in the Gulf of Mexico to Anadarko of the US and Italy’s Eni. The Ensco 8500, an enhanced version of the Ensco 7500, is based upon an Ensco proprietary design and is capable of drilling in up to 8500 feet of water and can readily be upgraded to 10,000 feet water-depth capability if required. Enhanced features include a two million pound quad derrick, offline pipe handling capability, increased drilling capacity, greater variable deck load and improved automatic station keeping ability. “We are pleased with the excellent job by Keppel FELS on our first Ensco 8500 series semi-submersible. As she takes on her maiden assignment in the Gulf of Mexico, the Ensco 8500 will be a showpiece of the quality and capabilities of our new deep-water fleet under construction at Keppel FELS,” Ensco’s chief executive Dan Rabun said at a naming ceremony on Saturday.
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