Saturday, February 14, 2009

Maritime Research Project Complete

The European maritime research project on the significance of risk-based design and approval has been concluded after four years of intensive study.

The multinational research project Safedor (Design, Operation and Regulation for Safety) was co-ordinated by ship classification society Germanischer Lloyd. 53 project partners from all sectors of the maritime industry were working on an innovative design approach to enhance safety at sea. The concluding working meeting took place at Germanischer Lloyd head office in Hamburg were the Safedor members met to discuss and exchange ideas and project results. Seeing safety treated as an objective rather than a constraint imposed by design rules was the initial goal of the EU-funded research project Safedor. In the past four years, the project partners discussed and developed possibilities to enhance the safety of ships. Three major achievements have accomplished: Safedor partners created a framework for risk-based design which is now documented in a handbook for naval architects and marine engineers. The second achievement was the development of an approval process for risk-based ships which is being submitted to IMO. The third pillar of Safedor is applications. A series of innovative ship and system designs were generated that show the practicability of the Safedor approach. To document the current risk level, five formal safety assessment studies for major ship types were conducted and also submitted to IMO.
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Petrobras stalls US Gulf operations

Brazil's state-run Petrobras will delay exploration of some blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, so as to give priority to Brazil's sub-salt projects.

Jorge Luiz Zelada, Petrobras International director, however, said there would be no cancelation of any international project, nor the return of blocks in the Gulf of Mexico to switch investment to sub-salt deposits. "Our international investments are maintained at the same level as last year," he said. Petrobras plans to spend $15.9 billion in the international area, said a Dow Jones Newswire. Some 79% will be set aside for exploration and production, 8% in gas and energy, 7% in refining and petrochemicals and 5% in distribution, the Estado news agency reported today. The diversion of a rig to drill in Tupi field in the Santos basin, off the coast of Sao Paulo State, would cause the main delay of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. That rig originally was intended to drill in deep waters off Mexico. Zelada said that, notwithstanding Petrobras investment priorities in sub-salt and refining, the company would still seek opportunities abroad. The rise in output abroad will come from Gulf of Mexico fields Cascade and Chinook, which will be on-stream in 2010 and should produce 100,000 bpd, he said. Petrobras also expects production to start in its second Nigerian field in 2010.
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Oman has no plans to cut oil production

Oman has no plans to cut oil production this year, said a top oil and gas ministry official after the country managed to arrest six-year production decline.

"We plan to increase the daily production of crude oil and condensates from 757,000 bpd in 2008 to 805,000 bpd this year," Nasser Bin Khamis Al Jasmi, Under-Secretary for Oil and Gas, said in his speech during the annual Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) media briefing at the Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre. He added that the ministry's efforts over the past years, together with those of the PDO and other oil companies operating in the country led to Oman's crude oil and condensates' production rising from 710,000 bpd in 2007 to 757,000 bpd last year. The undersecretary also pointed out that the oil and gas sector, as any other economic sector, was affected negatively or positively by the world market fluctuations. Al Jasmi pledged that the oil and gas sector in Oman will go ahead with projects that have been committed earlier.
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Successful premiere in a difficult economic environment

SMM Istanbul attracts more than 4,000 trade visitors from 66 nations.

The first SMM Istanbul, from 21 to 23 January 2009, set high international standards with more than 4,000 trade visitors from 66 nations and 150 exhibitors from 30 nations. “The premiere was a success, despite the difficult economic environment in a financial crisis which has just now hit the shipbuilding industry’s order books in full force,” said Bernd Aufderheide, CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC), in his summary of the first SMM event abroad. “We would like to thank our Turkish partner Goca Fuar Kongre ve Sergi Hizmetleri Ltd.Şti (Goca Exhibitions), who organised this international trade fair together with us at the centrally located Istanbul site Lütfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC) and implemented the technical concept.” The overall view of Fatih Goca was that “The first SMM Istanbul was much more than a successful launch. We had satisfied exhibitors including the major industry-leading companies; we had international trade visitors and a high-calibre supporting programme which was just right for this event. All of that has laid the foundations for a successful future for this shipbuilding fair, which will in future be held in larger, more modern halls, once the ICEC site has been completed.” Peter Bergleiter, SMM Project Director, added “Like any kick-off event, SMM Istanbul had to face a lot of challenges, but handled them all successfully thanks to the commitment of everyone involved. We are already starting our planning for 2011, with plenty of new ideas, new experience and new contacts!”. The second SMM Istanbul, shipbuilding, machinery & marine technology trade fair Istanbul, will be held at the centrally located site Lütfi Kirdar Convention & Exhibition Centre (ICEC) Istanbul from 26 to 28 January 2011.
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Global LNG fleet to continue growing in 2009

An LNG vessel under construction at DSME, Korea.

During this decade the LNG shipping industry has enjoyed an average growth rate of eight percent a year, Norway-based ship research and analysis company RS Platou’s preliminary estimates have suggested. RS Platou said that the biggest contributor for the increase has been the upsurge in arbitrage trade between the Atlantic and Pacific basin. According to their numbers, the global LNG fleet swelled by 22 percent in 2008, with a record high of 54 vessels delivered. However, only eight new build contracts were inked in 2008 and one Japanese shipyard received a conversion contract. “At the end of 2008, the order book amounted to 80 LNG carriers, of which more than half are due for delivery in 2009,” said the report.
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