Ocean Services Expands Offshore Fleet

Ocean Services, a member of the Stabbert Maritime Group of Companies, has acquired the Ocean Carrier, an 279 ft X 59 ft deep-water construction vessel in order to expand their commercial fleet.

This new asset marks Stabbert Maritime’s strategic move toward deep-water construction including ROV support, saturation dive support, and core drilling operations. The Ocean Carrier is currently under complete rebuild at Stabbert Maritime’s satellite yard in Houston, Texas. The refit consists of installing a new Dynamic Positioning (DPII) Kongsberg control system, 200-ton crane, and high end interior package. The Ocean Carrier is set for completion on July 15th.
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Philippines asks for ship escorts to fight pirates and protect its seafarers

Manila: The Philippines, the largest single provider of the world's seafarers, urged Pacific Rim transportation ministers Tuesday to aid its ships and sailors through pirate-infested Somali waters amid a slump in global trade.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza appealed to officials from the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation addressing the menace of piracy to the world's merchant ships to provide armed escorts to Philippine ships, said Transportation Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista.The Philippines supplies about 30 percent of the world's 1.2 million merchant sailors, and the Foreign Affairs Department says 81 Filipino seafarers are among Somali pirates' prisoners.A strengthened international naval force has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden since the beginning of 2009 following a surge in hijackings in the area last year.The Philippines is in "Category E," which Bautista said is the lowest priority in receiving naval escorts near Somali waters."The appeal of Secretary Mendoza is for the Philippines to be given additional assistance because we have a lot of Filipinos serving in their vessels," she added.

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Incat delivers new Dover-Boulogne fast ferry

Incat Australia has delivered a new 112-metre high-speed catamaran to France’s LD Lines.

The largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between England and France will enter service between Dover and Boulogne on May 29.‘MGC 66’ will be the first-ever freight-carrying, high-speed vessel to operate across the Dover Straits, and LD Lines will become the first-ever French ferry company to operate high-speed ferries on the short sea routes from Dover. The vessel is also the world’s largest diesel-powered catamaran and it is the first Incat 112-metre to operate in Europe.At nearly 11,000GT, the new craft is one of the largest vessels yet built by Incat.

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Sinopec spuds Great Auk-1 in the Puffin field

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA: Sinopec has spudded the Great Auk-1 exploration well in the Puffin field of the Vulcan-Sub Basin in the Timor Sea off the coast of Australia.

Sinopec is using Seadrill jackup West Atlas to drill the well.Great Auk-1 has multiple targets, which the company previously referred to as Predator and Sea Eagle. More specifically the well is aiming for the Puffin K1a and Upper Vulcan structures, which are the primary and secondary targets, respectively, and possibly deeper sands.The exploration well is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Champagny-1 and 2.2 miles (3.5 km) southeast of Grebe-1. Drilling of the well is likely to take about 30 days, but may be extended subject to the results or the decision to drill deeper.

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VLCC spot rates flat on MEG tonnage over-supply

The VLCC spot market has seen its second week of heightened activity on the back of May requirements, but current rates remain flat as charterers have the advantage of a lingering over-supply in tonnage avails, brokers tell Tankerworld.

Rates had finally climbed last week after a long decline, but levels remain the same this week with brokers reporting MEG-East voyages around WS 35 and MEG-West voyages around WS 25.The Atlantic market, however, saw a rise in rates on the back of increasing volumes used for floating storage which has put a slight squeeze on available VLCCs in the area.Brokers were reporting the benchmark Bonny-Loop route at WS 50 towards the end of last week, compared to WS 42 in the previous week “It's been another active week in the VLCC market as the May cargo program has come under-way in earnest. Ominously for owners, however, they have not been able to capitalise on this to any meaningful degree,” said Bassøe last Friday.

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