Dubai: The Indian Navy destroyed a “mother vessel” engaged in piracy in the Gulf of Aden a day after pirates forced a hijacked oil supertanker to enter Somalia’s perilous waters.
The incident took place 285 nautical miles (528 km) southwest of Oman’s port of Salalah on Tuesday. According to the Navy, its warship INS Tabar spotted a ship which was similar to one of the vessels that was suspected of coordinating piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Two speedboats were accompanying the “mother vessel.” The ship threatened to blow up Tabar when it was asked to stop for investigation. Armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades, the pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of their ship. The Navy said Tabar retaliated when the other ship opened fire. Consequently, the vessel caught fire. Loud explosions could be heard, possibly because ammunition stored in the ship went off. In its statement, the Navy added: “Almost simultaneously, the two speedboats were observed breaking off to escape. The ship chased the first boat, which was later found abandoned. The other boat made good its escape into darkness." This is the second major occasion when the Navy encountered pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It prevented the hijacking of the Indian merchant ship, Jag Arnav, and a Saudi vessel on November 11.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008
Platform P-51 leaves BrasFELS shipyard
Angra Dos Reis, Brazil: Floating production platform P-51 has left the BrasFELS shipyard in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, and set sail for the Ilha Grande Bay.
Ilha Grande Bay will undergo final testing and adjustments before starting operations in the Marlim Su field in the Campos Basin for Petrobras. After a 15-day testing period, P-51 will be anchored in the Marlim Su field, 150 kilometers (93 miles) offshore in 1,255 meters (4,117 feet) of water. The platform will be interconnected to 10 oil and gas producing wells and nine water injector wells and begin producing in January. The 480,000-ton platform will have a production capacity of 180,000 b/d of oil and living quarters for 200 personnel. The platform was built entirely in Brazil, with over 75 percent national content. Construction on P-51 marks the production of the first Brazilian semisubmersible hull, and the first deck-mating operation in Brazil, where the upper portion of the platform was connected to the hull. The P-51 was built and integrated by the FSTP consortium of Keppel FELS and Technip in the cities of Niteroi, Itagui and Angra dos Reis.
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Ilha Grande Bay will undergo final testing and adjustments before starting operations in the Marlim Su field in the Campos Basin for Petrobras. After a 15-day testing period, P-51 will be anchored in the Marlim Su field, 150 kilometers (93 miles) offshore in 1,255 meters (4,117 feet) of water. The platform will be interconnected to 10 oil and gas producing wells and nine water injector wells and begin producing in January. The 480,000-ton platform will have a production capacity of 180,000 b/d of oil and living quarters for 200 personnel. The platform was built entirely in Brazil, with over 75 percent national content. Construction on P-51 marks the production of the first Brazilian semisubmersible hull, and the first deck-mating operation in Brazil, where the upper portion of the platform was connected to the hull. The P-51 was built and integrated by the FSTP consortium of Keppel FELS and Technip in the cities of Niteroi, Itagui and Angra dos Reis.
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Financial restructuring to rescue small Korean shipyards
The South Korean Government and creditor banks are to carry out a pre-emptive restructuring for smaller Korean shipyards, which are at risk of folding in the current global financial crisis.
Unlike yards such as DSME, SHI and HHI, smaller shipbuilders are less likely to secure loans from financial institutions, and may be unable to build vessels. A group of creditors have programs on offer, including Korea Federation of Banks (KFB)’s Fast Track program that would mimic the industry-wide restructuring program used successfully in its construction sector. Under these schemes, shipbuilders will enter into an agreement with creditor banks if they want to have their debts rescheduled or receive new loans. But in return, companies will be required to sell assets and take a range of self-rescue measures in a bid to stay afloat. Banks will then screen each firm and provide necessary financing to viable firms but stop extending credit to nonviable ones. Korean shipbuilders are said to have delivered nearly 45% of new ships across the globe last year, earning about 45 trillion won ($31bn). However, data is unavailable for the contribution of small and medium sized shipyards to this figure.
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Unlike yards such as DSME, SHI and HHI, smaller shipbuilders are less likely to secure loans from financial institutions, and may be unable to build vessels. A group of creditors have programs on offer, including Korea Federation of Banks (KFB)’s Fast Track program that would mimic the industry-wide restructuring program used successfully in its construction sector. Under these schemes, shipbuilders will enter into an agreement with creditor banks if they want to have their debts rescheduled or receive new loans. But in return, companies will be required to sell assets and take a range of self-rescue measures in a bid to stay afloat. Banks will then screen each firm and provide necessary financing to viable firms but stop extending credit to nonviable ones. Korean shipbuilders are said to have delivered nearly 45% of new ships across the globe last year, earning about 45 trillion won ($31bn). However, data is unavailable for the contribution of small and medium sized shipyards to this figure.
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Maersk likely to lay up container ships
Copenhagen: Maersk Line has indicated it will "very likely" lay up container ships in 2009 to counter the deepest market downturn in three decades.
The vessels likely would be withdrawn from the market in the first half of 2009, Maersk Line Chief Executive Eivind Kolding was quoted as saying this week in Copenhagen. He added that his expectations for growth of the global container shipping market next year to be zero compared to its 10% annual growth over the past 30 years. Maersk suspended one of its 10 Asia-Europe services for an indefinite period earlier this month. This follows the suspension of another Asia-Europe service in June, which has cut the carrier's capacity on the route by 10% from a year ago. Kolding stressed that Maersk was better placed that many of its rivals to counter the market downturn because unlike them, it has virtually no new ships being delivered in 2009 when the world fleet is set to grew by 13% from 2008. There are reported to more than 80 containerships currently laid up, including a dozen larger vessels of 5,000-8,000teu at anchor off Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
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The vessels likely would be withdrawn from the market in the first half of 2009, Maersk Line Chief Executive Eivind Kolding was quoted as saying this week in Copenhagen. He added that his expectations for growth of the global container shipping market next year to be zero compared to its 10% annual growth over the past 30 years. Maersk suspended one of its 10 Asia-Europe services for an indefinite period earlier this month. This follows the suspension of another Asia-Europe service in June, which has cut the carrier's capacity on the route by 10% from a year ago. Kolding stressed that Maersk was better placed that many of its rivals to counter the market downturn because unlike them, it has virtually no new ships being delivered in 2009 when the world fleet is set to grew by 13% from 2008. There are reported to more than 80 containerships currently laid up, including a dozen larger vessels of 5,000-8,000teu at anchor off Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
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Middle East emerges major opportunity for international investors
The Middle East is currently seeing a surge in investor interest as the region houses the world’s largest oil and gas reserves.
The Middle East and North African (MENA) region has been heavily exploited since 2003, with production rates increasing to meet the continued demand in oil and gas. Douglas Westwood Limited, which conducts market surveys, research and analysis, said that oil prices have increased rapidly in recent years at a gradual and sustained rate, rather than experiencing oil price “spikes” which are caused by geopolitical tension or temporary service disruption. The gradual price increase is said to be caused by the lack of extra production capacity in the oil producing MENA regions. Thus, high oil prices with increasing price volatility are increasingly considered the norm. Other large exporters of oil in the world include Russia and West Africa, However these two regions only produce a total of 50 percent of MENA production outputs. Offshore oil production has grown by 16 percent to nearly 900,000 barrels per day since 2000, but this is small compared with the 290 percent increase in gas production in the region to 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).
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The Middle East and North African (MENA) region has been heavily exploited since 2003, with production rates increasing to meet the continued demand in oil and gas. Douglas Westwood Limited, which conducts market surveys, research and analysis, said that oil prices have increased rapidly in recent years at a gradual and sustained rate, rather than experiencing oil price “spikes” which are caused by geopolitical tension or temporary service disruption. The gradual price increase is said to be caused by the lack of extra production capacity in the oil producing MENA regions. Thus, high oil prices with increasing price volatility are increasingly considered the norm. Other large exporters of oil in the world include Russia and West Africa, However these two regions only produce a total of 50 percent of MENA production outputs. Offshore oil production has grown by 16 percent to nearly 900,000 barrels per day since 2000, but this is small compared with the 290 percent increase in gas production in the region to 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).
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Training ship holds anti-piracy drill
The Japanese coast guard and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) have conducted an anti-piracy / terrorism drill on board MOL’s training ship, ‘Spirit of MOL’.
The exercise was held in the South China Sea on November 17. The training was based on a scenario in which a high-speed boat, suspected of plotting a seajacking, was tailing the ‘Spirit of MOL’. During the drill, the coast guard’s patrol ship ‘Shikishima’ hurried to site, and marine safety officers boarded the ‘Spirit of MOL’. The drill helped establish the effectiveness of MOL’s crisis management programs as well as its communication systems and methods. This drill proved to be an invaluable lesson for the 170 trainees serving onboard the training ship. The trainees were reviewed and tested on the steps they had followed in case of an attack by pirates or terrorists. The trainees sent out security warnings to report a possible seajacking to the vessel’s ship management company, M.O. Cable Ship and the Japanese Coast Guard. To prevent the seajackers from boarding the vessel, the crew sprayed water, locked all doors and conducted emergency vessel handling. Upon receiving the report from the vessel, the ship management company immediately conveyed the information to MOL’s Safety Operation Supporting Center at the head office, which works 24/7 to enhance the safety of all MOL-operated vessels. After receiving the report from the ‘Spirit of MOL”, the coast guard dispatched the ‘Shikishima’, which was on anti-piracy / terrorism patrol in to the training ship’s location.
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The exercise was held in the South China Sea on November 17. The training was based on a scenario in which a high-speed boat, suspected of plotting a seajacking, was tailing the ‘Spirit of MOL’. During the drill, the coast guard’s patrol ship ‘Shikishima’ hurried to site, and marine safety officers boarded the ‘Spirit of MOL’. The drill helped establish the effectiveness of MOL’s crisis management programs as well as its communication systems and methods. This drill proved to be an invaluable lesson for the 170 trainees serving onboard the training ship. The trainees were reviewed and tested on the steps they had followed in case of an attack by pirates or terrorists. The trainees sent out security warnings to report a possible seajacking to the vessel’s ship management company, M.O. Cable Ship and the Japanese Coast Guard. To prevent the seajackers from boarding the vessel, the crew sprayed water, locked all doors and conducted emergency vessel handling. Upon receiving the report from the vessel, the ship management company immediately conveyed the information to MOL’s Safety Operation Supporting Center at the head office, which works 24/7 to enhance the safety of all MOL-operated vessels. After receiving the report from the ‘Spirit of MOL”, the coast guard dispatched the ‘Shikishima’, which was on anti-piracy / terrorism patrol in to the training ship’s location.
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