Long sought and with procedures lasting about one year (or more), finally the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) will be able to use a new Expo Center.
The relative deal was signed yesterday with a consortium comprised by local investors and real estate developers and construction companies, like Lamda Development, J&P-Avax, Damco Energy, Reds SA, Rota Ltd. and Klearxos Routsis SA. Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium, named AEAS, will build and operate the new Expo Center, which will be built in Palataki area of the port zone of Piraeus. The project will cost approximately 90 million euros, funded by the private companies, which will have exclusive earning rights for a period of 25 years. PPA will receive an annual amount of at least 2.5 million euros, as soon as the new center opens its doors. The total earnings for PPA for the whole 25 year period are estimated at about 99 million euros. The old Expo Center didn’t manage to provide PPA with revenues more than 1.5 million euros at its best year. The new center will provide 34.000 sq.metres of space, parking space of 36,000 square metres, roof garden, offices, as well as shops and restaurants. It will also bolster the latest developments in communications technologies, in order to cater the needs of international conventions and conferences, not to mention Expos. Of course, the main goal of the developers will be to have the center ready by June of 2010, when the next “Posidonia” will take place. Many stakeholders of the Hellenic maritime community have called for the return of Posidonia to their natural venue, which is the port of Piraeus, but organizers might be reluctant to head back, given that the timeframe is particularly limited. In other words, if something goes wrong with the construction schedules, they will be left out dry. Furthermore, planning for the next Posidonia has already began, something which means that exhibitors will need to know approximately the available space they will be given, as well as its positioning in the exhibition. This is impossible to be provided for the new Expo Center, since no actual works have taken place yet.
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Friday, October 3, 2008
Full steam ahead for Blue Giant
Blue Marine has launched the Blue Giant ship which is now on its way to Mexico to provide maintenance services to oil platforms.
The €100 million ($138 million) vessel, which was built in Germany, provides well maintenance, dry-dock facilities and workshop facilities. Blue Giant will arrive off the coast of Mexico later this month and provide maintenance services to platforms, smaller vessels and pipe laying services.
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The €100 million ($138 million) vessel, which was built in Germany, provides well maintenance, dry-dock facilities and workshop facilities. Blue Giant will arrive off the coast of Mexico later this month and provide maintenance services to platforms, smaller vessels and pipe laying services.
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Keppel Shipyard wins FSRU and FPSO contracts
Singapore: Keppel Shipyard has secured two follow-on offshore storage contracts including another Floating Storage and Regasification Unit for Golar LNG, to whom the yard recently delivered the world's first FSRU, Golar Spirit.
Work on the vessels is worth SS150m combined and is expected to commence in October 2008. The Golar contract is for the conversion of Golar Winter (VT1), a Membrane Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carrier into a Floating Storage Re-gasification Unit (FSRU). The scope of work includes the installation of a re-gasification plant system, the upgrade of control systems, electrical systems and marine systems. When completed in the second quarter of 2009, the FSRU Golar Winter will be capable of re-gasifying 14 million cubic metres of natural gas per day. Like the Golar Spirit, it will be operated by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras SA, and moored at a pier in the Guanabara Bay, off Rio de Janeiro. Golar Spirit has been moored at the Port of Pecem, northeast of Brazil. The other contract is from Single Buoy Moorings Inc (SBM), for the upgrading and conversion of a tanker into a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO). This will be the tenth FPSO conversion project that Keppel has undertaken for SBM since 2000. To be converted from the 255,272 dwt VLCC MT Accord, the spread-moored P-57 FPSO will be capable of producing 180,000 bopd and undertake gas compression of 71 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d). Keppel Shipyard’s scope of work includes the hull and marine conversion, spread mooring aids installation, accommodation block extensions/refurbishment, fabrication & installation of marine pipe rack, topside module supports as well as part of the topside modules installation. To be supplied in a fixed lumpsum contract by SBM to Petrobras SA, the vessel is expected to leave Keppel Shipyard in the fourth quarter of 2009 for Brazil where the remaining work will be completed, which will account for 65% of the whole project. The vessel will subsequently be deployed in the deepwater Jubarte field in the Campos Basin.
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Work on the vessels is worth SS150m combined and is expected to commence in October 2008. The Golar contract is for the conversion of Golar Winter (VT1), a Membrane Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carrier into a Floating Storage Re-gasification Unit (FSRU). The scope of work includes the installation of a re-gasification plant system, the upgrade of control systems, electrical systems and marine systems. When completed in the second quarter of 2009, the FSRU Golar Winter will be capable of re-gasifying 14 million cubic metres of natural gas per day. Like the Golar Spirit, it will be operated by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras SA, and moored at a pier in the Guanabara Bay, off Rio de Janeiro. Golar Spirit has been moored at the Port of Pecem, northeast of Brazil. The other contract is from Single Buoy Moorings Inc (SBM), for the upgrading and conversion of a tanker into a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO). This will be the tenth FPSO conversion project that Keppel has undertaken for SBM since 2000. To be converted from the 255,272 dwt VLCC MT Accord, the spread-moored P-57 FPSO will be capable of producing 180,000 bopd and undertake gas compression of 71 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d). Keppel Shipyard’s scope of work includes the hull and marine conversion, spread mooring aids installation, accommodation block extensions/refurbishment, fabrication & installation of marine pipe rack, topside module supports as well as part of the topside modules installation. To be supplied in a fixed lumpsum contract by SBM to Petrobras SA, the vessel is expected to leave Keppel Shipyard in the fourth quarter of 2009 for Brazil where the remaining work will be completed, which will account for 65% of the whole project. The vessel will subsequently be deployed in the deepwater Jubarte field in the Campos Basin.
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MSC to raise capacity on Europe-S Africa service
The Mediterranean Shipping Company is revising its Europe-South Africa service by progressively replacing the 4,000TEU vessels with 4,500TEU vessels used on the service with containerships ranging from 5,000- to 6,000TEU.
MSC is using most of the capacity on the service itself, but also carries containers on behalf of Evergreen Line and Hapag-Lloyd. It also transships Med-South Africa cargo at Sines and Las Palmas. While MSC is increasing capacity on its Europe-South Africa trade route, container shipping lines jointly operating the Europe-South Africa SAECS loop 2, namely Maersk Line, Safmarine, DAL and MOL, are reducing capacity. The move is said to have been driven by a seasonal decline in traffic volumes.
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MSC is using most of the capacity on the service itself, but also carries containers on behalf of Evergreen Line and Hapag-Lloyd. It also transships Med-South Africa cargo at Sines and Las Palmas. While MSC is increasing capacity on its Europe-South Africa trade route, container shipping lines jointly operating the Europe-South Africa SAECS loop 2, namely Maersk Line, Safmarine, DAL and MOL, are reducing capacity. The move is said to have been driven by a seasonal decline in traffic volumes.
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Dredging works at entrance to Port Philip complete
Australia: Dredging works at the entrance to Port Phillip as part of the Channel Deepening Project have been completed.
It is the first time in the port’s history the entrance has been deepened without the use of explosives, a practice ceased in 1986. CEO of the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) Stephen Bradford said that, subject to the final sign-off by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, the dredging operations were technically complete. “To carry out this work at the entrance on schedule and within budget is a significant achievement,” he said. Deepening at the entrance represented the most technically challenging aspect of the project, mainly because it is one of the most turbulent and potentially dangerous stretches of water in Bass Strait. Mr Bradford also acknowledged Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster for its dredging works with the vessel ‘Queen of the Netherlands’. “We are pleased modifications made to the technology and work methods were effective, and that turbidity levels continued to remain well below environmental limits,” he said. “We also were able to minimise disruption to commercial shipping which was an important outcome for our exporters and importers,” he added. Mr Bradford said the completion of dredging works did not mean work at the entrance would cease. “In line with the requirements of the project’s Environmental Management Plan, clean–up operations of residual material have occurred to appropriately manage the potential for rockfall at the entrance. “We have conducted underwater video surveillance at the entrance and further monitoring activities are scheduled.” He added that surveying the entrance was scheduled to be on going for the next ten years.
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It is the first time in the port’s history the entrance has been deepened without the use of explosives, a practice ceased in 1986. CEO of the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) Stephen Bradford said that, subject to the final sign-off by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, the dredging operations were technically complete. “To carry out this work at the entrance on schedule and within budget is a significant achievement,” he said. Deepening at the entrance represented the most technically challenging aspect of the project, mainly because it is one of the most turbulent and potentially dangerous stretches of water in Bass Strait. Mr Bradford also acknowledged Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster for its dredging works with the vessel ‘Queen of the Netherlands’. “We are pleased modifications made to the technology and work methods were effective, and that turbidity levels continued to remain well below environmental limits,” he said. “We also were able to minimise disruption to commercial shipping which was an important outcome for our exporters and importers,” he added. Mr Bradford said the completion of dredging works did not mean work at the entrance would cease. “In line with the requirements of the project’s Environmental Management Plan, clean–up operations of residual material have occurred to appropriately manage the potential for rockfall at the entrance. “We have conducted underwater video surveillance at the entrance and further monitoring activities are scheduled.” He added that surveying the entrance was scheduled to be on going for the next ten years.
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