'Stena Perros' naming ceremony

Concordia Maritime's product tanker 'Stena Perros', a so-called P-MAX tanker, will be named at Brodosplit Shipyard in Croatia.

The 'Stena Perros', like her sisters 'Stena Paris' and 'Stena Provence', both of which were built and named at Brodosplit, has been chartered to the French oil and energy company Total. Stena Perros will be delivered shortly. The godmother of the Stena Perros is Faustine le Guillard, granddaughter of Monsieur Yvon Bonnot, who will attend the naming ceremony. Monsieur Bonnot is the mayor of Perros-Guirec on the French Atlantic coast and a strong proponent of various environmental questions in the area. The guests at the naming ceremony in Split include representatives of, among others, Total, Concordia Maritime, Stena Bulk and Brodosplit. The Stena Perros is the sixth tanker in a series of ten units ordered at the shipyard in Brodosplit.

Read More

Petronas considers a shift in focus

Malaysia's state-owned Petronas is turning to the development of deep-water and brownfield activities in order to sustain its production levels, and is considering ramping up its development of biofuels.

Mohd Zamri Jusoh, senior manager for research development at Petronas Management Uni said with recent oil and gas discoveries, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, the company is focusing on deep-water activities. Meanwhile, Petronas also said it would look at the possibility of developing its commitment to biofuels in view of the growing popularity of the renewable energy source. Petronas is repositioning its research and development division to look at alternative energy sources. Malaysia is planning to make palm oil-based biodiesel development a national policy as it seeks to tap the booming biofuel market and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Read More

StatoilHydro Secures Six Seismic Vessels

StatoilHydro has signed a letter of intent for six seismic acquisition vessels, which will gather data on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The deal's value is estimated at NOK 1.8 billion. Secured seismic capacity includes three petroleum geo-service (PGS) vessels - Ramform Challenger, Ramform Sovereign and Atlantic Explorer, as well as Fugro Geoteam's Geo Celtic, Wavefield Inseis's Geowave Commander and Western Geco's Geco Triton. Bjarte Ydstebø, vice president for drilling and well acquisitions in StatoilHydro says that the six vessels allow us to map large areas and the seismic data will give us a better foundation for finding drilling targets on the NCS. StatoilHydro NCS seismic activity will cover some 6,000 square kilometers of 3-D and 2,500 square kilometers of 4-D surveys.

Read More

Queen 'surprised' as Camilla is invited to launch Victoria

The British Queen has expressed "surprise" as Prince Charles' wife Camilla has been chosen to launch Victoria instead of her.

It is the first time that one of the Cunard's 'Queen' liners will not be named by a Queen. In 1934, Queen Mary launched the original Queen Mary liner and in 1938, Queen Elizabeth -- the Queen Mother -- named the QE1. The current Queen launched the QE2 in 1967 and the Queen Mary 2 in 1994. Camilla will become "godmother" of the 90,000-ton Queen Victoria -- the second-largest ship ever built by Cunard. Prince Charles, who is said to be privately delighted at his wife’s growing public role, will accompany her. The ship, which has a casino, seven bars, seven restaurants, a theatre and two pools, departs on her maiden voyage later this month and it will be the first time three Cunard "Queens" are in service at the same time.
Read More

Somali pirates free UAE-owned cargo ship

Somali pirates freed on Sunday a Comoros-flagged cargo ship owned by businesspersons from the United Arab Emirates.

It was held for six weeks with a 22-man crew since its capture off Mogadishu. The crew were mainly Indian nationals. Piracy has been rife off Somalia since it plunged into anarchy with the 1991 fall of a dictator. Pirates also hijacked a Japanese chemical tanker, the Golden Nori, at the end of October, and are thought to be seeking a ransom of more than $1 million. The Golden Nori’s 23-man crew are from Myanmar, the Philippines and South Korea.

Read More

Indian firms to set up shipyards at Rs 10,000-cr outlay

Scarcity of bulk carriers and offshore supply vessel in the global market has forced several Indian companies to look at setting up large shipbuilding yards in the country at a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

HK Mittal family -- promoter of domestic shipping company Mercator is to set up two shipbuilding yards, one each in Gujarat and Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore. The shipbuilding yards would make specialized offshore vessels, jack-up rigs and chemical tankers, up to 75,000 dead weight tons. Besides the Mittal, engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro, Shipping Corporation of India, SKIL Infrastructure, Good Earth Maritime, Apeejay Shipping have announced plans to enter shipbuilding. The Central Government has announced that it wants to set up two big shipbuilding yards, one in east coast and another in west coast, each attracting an investment of Rs 2,000 crore each.
Read More

Perth basin tight gas up for grabs

The gas-rich state of Western Australia has opened for bidding a large tight gas prospect in the onshore northern Perth basin.

It is hoped to be developed to avert a domestic gas shortage. The release area lies largely within the northern part of the Dandaragan Trough, which is a recognized gas and oil province. The West Erregulla tight gas prospect has attracted increased interest in recent times particularly with increased gas prices and a looming domestic gas shortage. The state's energy minister Francis Logan said the government is encouraging more exploration and development in order to avert a domestic gas shortage between 2008 and 2014. It is expected that supply of domestic gas from large liquefied natural gas projects will begin after 2014. Bids for the West Erregulla area close on 31 January 2008.
Read More