GE Shipping signs contract for new vessels

Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd said the Singapore unit of its subsidiary, Greatship (India) Ltd, had signed a contract for building 2 new multi-purpose platform supply and support vessels.

The contract has been signed between Greatship Global Offshore Services Pte Ltd, Singapore and Mazagaon Dock Ltd. The multi-purpose platform supply and support vessels are of 4,600dwt. These vessels are expected to join the company's fleet in the second half of the year to March 2010. The statement also said with this order, Greatship (India) and its subsidiaries have a building order book of 16 new offshore supply vessels and one new 350 feet jack-up rig.

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African oil companies plan JVs in India

African oil majors Sonatach, Nigeria National Petroleum (NNPC), Sudapet and Petrosen are all set for an Indian JV.

While India is eyeing oil and gas resources in 25 African nations including Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Sudan and Egypt, visitors would explore joint investment options with Indian companies like ONGC, IOC, GAIL and RIL. Africa accounts for around 10% of global oil reserves and six countries Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Angola, Sudan and Egypt hold 95% that reserve. Total crude oil production in the continent is about 10,410 barrels per day (bpd), which accounts for 13% of world’s production. Over 100 delegates from 25 African nations are expected to participate in the two-day event starting from November 6 in New Delhi. The two-day event will be inaugurated by minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee. The event has been jointly organised by the petroleum ministry, FICCI and UNCTAD.

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U.S. Navy frees Taiwanese ship from Somali pirates

The U.S. Navy on Monday helped free the fifth ship in a week hijacked by Somalia pirates, attempting to bring security to crucial shipping routes between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.

Pirates released the Taiwanese fishing vessel five and half months after seizing it. The Navy is in contact with two remaining ships held by pirates in Somali waters. The latest fishing vessel freed by the U.S. Navy had two Taiwanese and 12 Chinese crew members aboard when it was hijacked 137 miles off the coast of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, in May. Pirates killed one of the crew members in June, according to Andrew Mwangura, head of Seafarers Assistance Program's Kenyan chapter. Two other boats hijacked by Somali pirates in May were freed after U.S. Navy personnel spoke to them by radio. Somalia's lawless coastlines are a haven for heavily armed pirates who use speedboats with Global Positioning System equipment, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades.

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PetroChina the biggest company

Petrochina yesterday became the biggest company in the world by market capitalization, speeding past ExxonMobil and the first trillion-US-dollar business.

Its crowning as No1 was due to an initial public offering of 4 billion shares on the Shanghai stock market, with the stock soaring to 2.6 times its initial price. The offer was 50 times oversubscribed. Now the list of the top 10 companies in the world includes five corporations owned by the Chinese government and just three US firms. The other non-Chinese survivors are Russia's Gazprom and Dutch-British company Royal Dutch Shell. And PetroChina and ICBC are the only Chinese firms among the top 50 companies in the world by sales.

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Sampson set to join fleet

Sailors man the rails aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson (DDG 102) during a rehearsal for the ship's commissioning ceremony.

Sampson is the 52nd of 62 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and is named for Rear Adm. William T. Sampson (1840-1902), a naval hero during the Spanish-American War. Three previous destroyers have been named for Sampson, and have all been commissioned in Boston. U.S.

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Puffin delivers first crude cargo

AED Oil's wholly owned Puffin oil project delivered its first crude cargo of 328,000 barrels of oil.

The crude cargo was lifted from floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Front Puffin to trading tanker Mayon Spirit. The API gravity for the crude cargo was calculated at 43.6, which corresponds with the previously published API. The next offtake from Puffin is now scheduled for mid-November. AED is completing the commissioning of the production facility, which was put on hold leading up to the offloading. The wells will be tested and oil production optimized after completing the commissioning. Drilling on Puffin-10, first began on Oct. 12, is expected to be complete by mid December.

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Ship flying SAR flag seized with US$2b cocaine

A container ship which was involved in Mexico's biggest cocaine bust is not registered in Hong Kong though it was flying the SAR flag when seized, police said on Friday.

Mexican authorities have so far found 26 tonnes of cocaine worth US$2 billion onboard the Esmeralda after it arrived in the country from Colombia. The head of the Hong Kong police narcotics bureau, chief superintendent Peter Else, said a check with the registry of shipping showed no record of a ship registered under the name of Esmeralda. Police and marines discovered the first cache of 11 tonnes of cocaine on Tuesday after the ship had arrived from Buenaventura in Colombia. The statement said the cocaine was found in more than 21,000 packages and that authorities were still searching the vessel for more drugs. The Mexican government called it the largest drug seizure in the country's history.

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