Royal Danish Navy takes delivery of second Offshore Patrol Vessel

After delivery from Karstensens Shipyard, Denmark, the second Offshore Patrol Vessel for the Danish Greenland operation entered official command under the Royal Danish Navy.

The vessel, which has been named ‘Enjar Mikkelsen’ (P571), is like its predecessor, and is built for a wide range of arctic and coastal operations. The newbuilding is expected to enter North Atlantic service at the end of February 2009 and follows the first vessel, ‘Knud Rasmussen’ (P570) which was commissioned into the Royal Danish Navy on February 18, 2008. Both vessels have an overall length of 71.8 metres, a beam of 14.6 metes, a draught of 4.95 metres and a maximum speed of 17 knots. The vessels each displace 1,720 tonnes and accommodate 19 persons. Both vessels are powered by twin-engine medium- speed propulsion packages from MAN Diesel. The propulsion engines are two eight-cylinder L27/38 units, resiliently seated, each with a nominal rating of 2,720kW at 800rpm. The engines drive a MAN Diesel Alpha VBS 1080-series CP Propeller and an AVK shaft alternator through a Renk NDSL-2500 twin-in / single-out reduction gearbox. The propulsion equipment is ice-strengthened for operation through an ice thickness of 0.7 metres.

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Saudi frigate foils pirate attack on Turkish ship

A royal Saudi navy frigate foiled a pirate attack on a Turkish cargo ship near the Gulf of Aden, the first announced operation by the Saudi navy.

The Al-Riyadh responded to a distress call from the Yasa Seyhan after the ship was attacked by three small boats in international waters near the Gulf of Aden. "The warship Al-Riyadh, which is in the Gulf of Aden and is part of a multinational force to fight off piracy, provided protection to the Turkish merchant ship Yasa Seyhan." The pirates fled after the arrival of the frigate. More than 150 suspected pirates were arrested by naval patrols in the Gulf in 2008. This year, Danish, Russian and US warships have also detained suspects. Heavily armed pirates operate high-powered speedboats and sometimes hold ships for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship owners. They have been undeterred by the presence of foreign navies patrolling one of the world's busiest shipping routes and more than 100 attacks occurred last year alone.

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Dana Gas announces further gas discovery in Egypt

Dana Gas, the Middle East's first and largest regional private sector natural gas company, has made its second gas discovery of 2009 in the West Manzala Concession in the Nile Delta region of Egypt.

The discovery, named West Manzala-2 (Haggag prospect), has encountered approximately 20 billion cubic feet (bcf) of dry gas. The new well, is located a few hundred meters away from the gas sales pipeline leading from the company's South Manzala gas processing facility. Dana Gas' Upstream Executive Director Mr. Ahmed Al-Arbeed, said that the company is very pleased with this latest success and will continue its aggressive drilling plan in Egypt in the year 2009. "The company has now had four gas discoveries in the last few months and we will continue with this fruitful exploration campaign,". Al Arbeed said that the production from this discovery is expected to start during the second quarter of 2009. "This discovery can be brought on stream very rapidly as it is situated near the gas pipeline, which transports gas to the company's South El Manzala gas processing facility. Drilling of additional appraisal and production wells within the Haggag prospect is also being considered," he said.

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Hyundai Corp wins dry cargo contract from Russia

South Korea’s Hyundai Corporation has won an order for ten 5,000DWT dry cargo vessels from Russia.

Hyundai said that it won the US$120 million order from the Volga Baltic Company, and that its Chinese affiliate, Qingdao Hyundai Shipyard would build the ten ships. Hyundai Corporation is a general trading company based in South Korea and is not part of Hyundai Heavy Industries. “We won a huge order amidst a severe economic downturn in the shipbuilding industry,” the company said.

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Two more Asian liners cease operations

Hong Kong: Two more Asian liners have ceased operating amid the harsh operating environment.

Hong Kong start up Great Ocean Container Lines, not even a year old, has been wound up with bankruptcy underway. Meanwhile, Singapore's intra-Asia specialist New Econ Line has informed customers it is suspending operations during the slump. The eight year old company said it simply could not operate under current conditions. Seatrade Asia Online has learnt rates for the popular China-Japan route are now as low as $30 per teu, a simply untenable amount of cash for many more operators to cope with. Other intra-Asia liner operators to have stopped operating during the downturn are Shandong Yantai International Marine Services from northern China and Korea's C&Line

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