Manila: The Don Dexter Kathleen ferry capsized leaving 39 people dead and 14 missing.
The vessel on day before yesterday, with 119 people listed on board, keeled over after being struck by a freak wind off the island of Masbate, AFP writes, quoting local police chief Senior Superintendent Ruben Sindac. The accident is the latest of a string of ferry disasters in the Philippines. "The Don Dexter Kathleen capsized due to a freak accident, it was hit by a high wind despite fair weather and calm waters," Sindac told local radio. He said rescue services recovered 39 bodies while 76 survivors had been pulled from the water. The navy, coast guard and local authorities were continuing to search the area between Masbate and Sorsogon port in southern Luzon, he added. Sindac did not rule out the possibility that there may have been more people onboard the ferry. According to reports, it is a common practice for inter-island ferries to be overloaded with last-minute passengers boarding without being listed in the manifest. Sindac said the ferry had just left the port town of Dimasalang on the north east coast of Masbate for Sorsogon port 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Collado, the local coast guard chief, said four people were still missing despite fears that there may be more still unaccounted for. Collado said the ferry was hit by a "freak whirlwind" that rose suddenly when the ferry left port. He added 76 people were rescued by boats that rushed to the site and that the navy, coast guard and local authorities are searching for any more survivors. Coast guard chief of staff Captain Efren Evangelista said the weather and waters were calm and that there was no reason for them to stop the vessel from setting sail. "Of course, we will be conducting an investigation of this, but for now we will be concentrating on the search and rescue operations," he added. The accident comes four months after the 23,000 tonne inter-island ferry, Princess of the Stars, capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan carrying 850 passengers and crew. Only 57 passengers and crew survived the accident which was the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines for 20 years.
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Wednesday, November 5, 2008
SCAN's sale, lease-back deal with Ship Finance canceled
OSLO: SCAN Geophysical ASA's sale and lease-back agreement with Ship Finance International Ltd. that was made in March 2007 has been terminated.
In March of 2007, SCAN had agreed to sell its three newbuild, high-capacity, 3-D vessels, including complete seismic equipment, to Ship Finance based on a total price of US$210 million, or US$70 million per vessel. The seismic equipment consists of eight, 3.7-mile (6-km) streamers. The agreement included 12-year bareboat contracts for the vessels, with a charter rate per vessel of approximately US$26,500 per day during the first three years, US$24,500 per day during the second three years, and US$10,000 per day during the final six years. SCAN was also granted fixed price purchase options for each of the vessels after six, 10 and 12 years at approximately US$20 million, US$14 million and US$9 million, respectively. SCAN worked over the weekend towards an alternative solution and has reached a mutual understanding with Singapore-based Pacific First Shipping Pte (PFS), whereby PFS will acquire the vessels with seismic equipment and lease them back to SCAN on bareboat charters. PFS is affiliated with ABG Group, which is the majority owner of ABG Shipyard in India. SCAN plans to raise up to NOK 150 million (US$22.44 million) in new capital provided completion of the sale and lease-back transaction with PFS. The vessels in the agreements are purpose built at ABG Shipyard and are specifically designed for efficient 3-D seismic acquisition with high streamer capacity of 10 tow points and streamer lengths of up to 6.2 miles (10 km) for up to eight streamers, corresponding to a total capacity of 50 miles (80 km) streamers. The vessels, SCAN Empress, SCAN Finder and SCAN Superior, are scheduled for delivery in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2009, respectively.
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In March of 2007, SCAN had agreed to sell its three newbuild, high-capacity, 3-D vessels, including complete seismic equipment, to Ship Finance based on a total price of US$210 million, or US$70 million per vessel. The seismic equipment consists of eight, 3.7-mile (6-km) streamers. The agreement included 12-year bareboat contracts for the vessels, with a charter rate per vessel of approximately US$26,500 per day during the first three years, US$24,500 per day during the second three years, and US$10,000 per day during the final six years. SCAN was also granted fixed price purchase options for each of the vessels after six, 10 and 12 years at approximately US$20 million, US$14 million and US$9 million, respectively. SCAN worked over the weekend towards an alternative solution and has reached a mutual understanding with Singapore-based Pacific First Shipping Pte (PFS), whereby PFS will acquire the vessels with seismic equipment and lease them back to SCAN on bareboat charters. PFS is affiliated with ABG Group, which is the majority owner of ABG Shipyard in India. SCAN plans to raise up to NOK 150 million (US$22.44 million) in new capital provided completion of the sale and lease-back transaction with PFS. The vessels in the agreements are purpose built at ABG Shipyard and are specifically designed for efficient 3-D seismic acquisition with high streamer capacity of 10 tow points and streamer lengths of up to 6.2 miles (10 km) for up to eight streamers, corresponding to a total capacity of 50 miles (80 km) streamers. The vessels, SCAN Empress, SCAN Finder and SCAN Superior, are scheduled for delivery in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2009, respectively.
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BG wins control of QGC
The UK’s BG Group has taken control of 52% of Australian coalbed methane leader Queensland Gas Company (QGC) as it pursues a friendly on-market takeover bid for the company.
QGC said in a statement that BG had taken majority control of the company after shareholders representing 495 million of its issued shares accepted the offer. BG Group is offering A$5.75 per share in an all cash offer for QGC valued at A$5.2 billion (US$3.5 million). QGC said the offer represented an 80% premium to its last-traded share price prior to announcement of the offer. BG’s board has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the offer. BG and QGC are already partners in a plan to develop a CBM-fed liquefied natural gas project on the Queensland coast, targeting exports to Asian markets. As part of the deal, BG already holds a stake in QGC’s Queensland CBM fields. The takeover is the latest step in the rapid consolidation of the Australian CBM sector, and follows a failed bid by BG to take over integrated group Origin Energy.
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QGC said in a statement that BG had taken majority control of the company after shareholders representing 495 million of its issued shares accepted the offer. BG Group is offering A$5.75 per share in an all cash offer for QGC valued at A$5.2 billion (US$3.5 million). QGC said the offer represented an 80% premium to its last-traded share price prior to announcement of the offer. BG’s board has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the offer. BG and QGC are already partners in a plan to develop a CBM-fed liquefied natural gas project on the Queensland coast, targeting exports to Asian markets. As part of the deal, BG already holds a stake in QGC’s Queensland CBM fields. The takeover is the latest step in the rapid consolidation of the Australian CBM sector, and follows a failed bid by BG to take over integrated group Origin Energy.
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Freight rates begin to fall for World Merchant fleet
International seaborne trade in 2007, driven by emerging and transition economies, surpassed a record 8 billion tons, the Review of Maritime Transport 2008 (RMT) reports.
Strong demand for shipping services helped push to unprecedented highs the cost of moving dry bulk commodities internationally, as echoed by the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) through the first quarter of 2008. (The BDI is a composite of shipping prices for various dry bulk products such as iron ore, grain, coal, bauxite/alumina and phosphate, and is a useful indicator of price movements.) More recently, however, the BDI has declined more than 11-fold: from 11,793 points in May 2008 to 891 as of early November. This shows that the unfolding financial crisis has spread to international trade with negative implications for developing countries, especially those dependent on commodities. More than 80% of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and an even higher percentage of developing-country trade is carried in ships. The Review, an annual publication prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat, is an important source of information on this vital sector. It closely monitors developments affecting world seaborne trade, freight markets and rates, ports, surface transport, and logistics services, as well as trends in ship ownership and control and fleet age, tonnage supply, and productivity. The Review contains a chapter on legal and regulatory developments and each year includes a chapter highlighting a different region. In 2008, the focus is on Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Strong demand for shipping services helped push to unprecedented highs the cost of moving dry bulk commodities internationally, as echoed by the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) through the first quarter of 2008. (The BDI is a composite of shipping prices for various dry bulk products such as iron ore, grain, coal, bauxite/alumina and phosphate, and is a useful indicator of price movements.) More recently, however, the BDI has declined more than 11-fold: from 11,793 points in May 2008 to 891 as of early November. This shows that the unfolding financial crisis has spread to international trade with negative implications for developing countries, especially those dependent on commodities. More than 80% of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and an even higher percentage of developing-country trade is carried in ships. The Review, an annual publication prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat, is an important source of information on this vital sector. It closely monitors developments affecting world seaborne trade, freight markets and rates, ports, surface transport, and logistics services, as well as trends in ship ownership and control and fleet age, tonnage supply, and productivity. The Review contains a chapter on legal and regulatory developments and each year includes a chapter highlighting a different region. In 2008, the focus is on Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Jiangmen completes third vessel
Singapore’s Pacific Crest will soon take delivery of the third in a series of 53-metre towing and supply vessels from Jiangmen Shipyard on the Pearl River in Guangdong Province, China.
Enjoying an extensive area with covered build locations including covered graving docks the yard is capable of building an impressive array of vessels at once. In late October 2008 the yard had a ship-docking tug, two or three 40-metre ocean towing vessels, a Robert Allan-designed escort vessel and a small tanker in addition to the 53-meter towing supply vessel nearing completion for Pacific Crest. Fitting out alongside at the shipyard the impressive orange-hulled vessel displayed her versatility with a three-metre by 1.2-metre stern roller, deck mounted sharks jaws, a bow thruster and a substantial double drum waterfall-towing winch from ME Winch of Singapore. A pair of Cummins KTA50 main engines powers each of the three vessels. Each of the 16-cyliner 50-liter engines generates 1,195kW at 1,800rpm and turns into Reintjes marine gears. The first two vessels, ‘Crest Radiant 1’ and ‘Crest Radiant 2’, will be followed into service by the ‘Crest Radiant 3’ to undergo sea trials in November.
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Enjoying an extensive area with covered build locations including covered graving docks the yard is capable of building an impressive array of vessels at once. In late October 2008 the yard had a ship-docking tug, two or three 40-metre ocean towing vessels, a Robert Allan-designed escort vessel and a small tanker in addition to the 53-meter towing supply vessel nearing completion for Pacific Crest. Fitting out alongside at the shipyard the impressive orange-hulled vessel displayed her versatility with a three-metre by 1.2-metre stern roller, deck mounted sharks jaws, a bow thruster and a substantial double drum waterfall-towing winch from ME Winch of Singapore. A pair of Cummins KTA50 main engines powers each of the three vessels. Each of the 16-cyliner 50-liter engines generates 1,195kW at 1,800rpm and turns into Reintjes marine gears. The first two vessels, ‘Crest Radiant 1’ and ‘Crest Radiant 2’, will be followed into service by the ‘Crest Radiant 3’ to undergo sea trials in November.
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ExxonMobil begins drilling Azula well
IRVING, TEXAS: U.S.-based oil major ExxonMobil has begun drilling the Azula well in Block BM-S-22 offshore Brazil using Seadrill drillship West Polaris.
The rig arrived offshore Brazil late last month; drilling operations began after the required inspections and clearances for the rig were completed. Plans to drill a second well on the block are underway and will follow immediately upon completion of the first well. ExxonMobil said it was "pleased to be participating in this exciting new subsalt play and will leverage all of our global experience and industry leading technologies in the exploration program."
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The rig arrived offshore Brazil late last month; drilling operations began after the required inspections and clearances for the rig were completed. Plans to drill a second well on the block are underway and will follow immediately upon completion of the first well. ExxonMobil said it was "pleased to be participating in this exciting new subsalt play and will leverage all of our global experience and industry leading technologies in the exploration program."
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