Sunday, July 27, 2008

Aker to build well intervention unit for Island Offshore

Aker Yards has signed a contract with fellow Norwegian company Island Offshore for the building of a well intervention unit.

The vessel will be based on the same design as ‘Island Wellserver’, delivered from Aker Yards earlier this year. The value of the contract is approximately US$240 million included equipment supplied by the owners. The well intervention unit is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2011. The new vessel will be based on the same design as ‘Island Wellserver’, upgraded with increased length, engine capacity, thrusters capacity and topside capacity. The vessel will measure 130.3 metres in overall length with a 25-metre moulded beam, and a depth to main deck midship of 11.2 metres. The well intervention unit will be of Rolls-Royce UT 767 CDL design, and will be built at Aker Yards in Norway.
Read More

Rolls-Royce wins Specialist Vessel Order

Rolls-Royce has won a $33.4m follow-up order to design and equip a specialist well intervention vessel.

The latest order, from Island Offshore, follows the successful delivery of the first well intervention vessel, Island Wellserver, in March this year. The new 130 m long UT 767CDL vessel, which will drill in ultra deep waters, offers single cabins for 97 crew members. As with the UT 767CD Island Wellserver, the vessel meets cruise ship standards for noise and vibration.The vessel, to be delivered in 2011, will be built at Aker Yards, Langsten, Norway. In addition to design, Rolls-Royce will also deliver four main engines, propulsion, deck machinery and automation systems.The contract brings the total number of Rolls-Royce UT Design offshore vessels under construction worldwide to 120. Around 650 of these ships have been built or ordered since the mid 1970s.
Read More

Massive bulker order from Dalian

The Haichang Group, headquartered in Dalian, has placed one of the biggest orders of the year in China.

The firm, founded in 1992, is spending $900m on 20 bulkers to be built at Co has clinched a huge bulker order for 20 panamax ships at a domestic shipbuilder Jiujiang Yinxing Shipyard, according to local news outlet SinoCast. Haichang is also involved in petrochemicals and property. Sea Fortune is perhaps its best known shipping subsidiary. Its last notable order was six years ago for a quartet of 300,000 dwt VLCCs.
Read More

Asian port operators scoop up Greek port tenders

A group including Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), Hong Kong, and Greek pharmaceuticals group Alapis, has made the highest bid to run and upgrade cargo facilities at the Greek port of Thessaliniki.

The Government plans to turn the outdated port facilities into a new modernised facility, with the aim of becoming a regional hub while boosting cargo business. HPH offered US$4.85 billion over the 30-year duration of the project and is guaranteeing 70 percent of the offer prices, even if revenues from the port fall short of expectations. HPH also plans to invest US$766.85 in upgrading the port’s facilities. Meanwhile, COSCO Pacific has won the tender to run Piraeus Port. COSCO Pacific offered US$1.38 billion with a 70 percent guarantee and said it would invest US$519.8 million in upgrades.
Read More

China Coal, China Shipping team up to ship coal

China National Coal Group Corp and China Shipping (Group) Company will cooperate on coal transportation and the establishment of coal transfer centres, the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.

The newspaper also said the two companies would form a joint venture in the future. Chronic transportation bottlenecks have constrained the flow of coal from China's resource-rich north to the south, partly contributing to a serious power shortage. China Shipping, one of China's largest shipping groups, is the parent of China Shipping Development Co and China Shipping Container Lines Co. China Coal Energy Co is the listed arm of China National Coal Group Corp, the country's No. 2 coal producer.
Read More