Australia releases offshore acreage for bidding

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA: Australia's Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson AM MP has announced the release of 31 new offshore petroleum exploration areas and two special areas in Commonwealth waters.

Speaking at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association's New Frontiers conference in Darwin, Minister Ferguson said there is nothing more important to the industry and Australia's future wealth than keeping the exploration sector strong and building project development opportunities. Ferguson said, "We must not forget that the long-term outlook for oil and gas is one of enormous demand growth. Investment in exploration and production must continue through the present economic downturn."

Read More

Container market to pick up by year-end: Maersk

Container vessel chartering rates have probably hit bottom and the container ship chartering market is likely to pick up at the end of 2009, said the head of Maersk Broker, one of the world's largest shipbrokers.

The global freight market has been hit hard by slowing trade due to the economic downturn, and container shippers have reported sharp decreases in freight volumes and rates.'In our opinion the container vessel chartering rates have generally reached the bottom. They could remain there for a while, but it won't get much worse than now,' Maersk Broker chief executive Jorn Nielsen told Reuters last week.The privately owned Danish firm's core business includes chartering of container vessels, tankers and bulk carriers, contracting new vessels and sale and purchase of ships.The broker's owner is also the biggest shareholder of world No 1 container shipper A P Moller-Maersk.Mr Nielsen said in an interview he saw the container chartering market stabilising in 2010. 'Our estimate is that, when you get a little further ahead, maybe at the end of 2009, it's beginning to look slightly brighter,' he said. 'We base that on our view of the world economy,' he added.'When we put our ear to the ground, we actually see reason to hope that this crisis is about to settle.'After years of booming business, the shipping industry is struggling with overcapacity as ships ordered years ago have become ready for delivery in the midst of the economic downturn.
Read More

HELMEPA launches 2009 campaign poster

The 27th Annual General Assembly of the members of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA) took place on Monday May 25 and was hosted by member-company Costamare Shipping.

During the meeting, the association presented the new public awareness campaign for 2009. The poster launched bore the message: “Let’s change habits…not the climate!” The Director General, Dimitris Mitsatsos, then presented the activities of the past year focusing on the certification of the maritime sector of HELMEPA as a maritime training centre according to the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Standards.

Read More

Technip gets Princess contract from Shell

HOUSTON: Technip has been awarded a contract by Shell Offshore Inc. for the Princess Gas Lift Flowline project in the Gulf of Mexico.

The gas lift flowline is part of the Princess development which ties back to the Ursa TLP [tension leg platform] on Mississippi Canyon Block 809, in 3,800 feet (1,160 m) of water. The contract covers project management and engineering, weld, non destructive examination and fatigue qualifications, fabrication of a 4.5-inch flowline and a steel catenary riser (SCR), installation of the flowline and SCR section along with a free issue pipeline end termination (PLET), and pre and post lay surveys.Technip's operating center in Houston, Texas, will execute this contract. The flowline and SCR will be welded at Technip's spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama. Offshore installation will use Technip deepwater pipelay vessel Deep Blue.The project follows the successful completion of the Princess Waterflood and Perdido pipeline installation projects carried out by Technip on behalf of Shell and partners in recent years in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read More

Polish shipyards Gdynia and Szczecin are sold off

The government agency in charge of disposing of two of Poland's shipyards yesterday signed an agreement selling the bulk of their assets to the Netherlands-based United International Trust, Financial Times reports.

The yards were forced into liquidation by the European Commission, which found they had received illegal government aid. The Commission ruled that the yards had to be broken up.Stichting Particulier Fonds Greenrights, representing United International Trust, offered 288m zlotys ($89m, €64m, £56m) for most of the yard in Gdynia and 161m zlotys for the Szczecin shipyard.

Read More

Nakilat takes delivery of new LNG carrier

Doha: Nakilat yesterday took delivery of another Q-Max LNG carrier, the 266,000 CBM Al Mafyar.

The vessel, built at at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., shipyard on Geoje Island has been chartered on long term contract to Qatargas Liquefied Gas Company Limited (3). It will be used to ship LNG produced by Qatargas 3, to markets primarily in the United States.'The Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max are a new generation of LNG mega-ships,’ Nakilat said on a statement. ‘The Q-Max has 80% more capacity than conventional LNG carriers with about 40% lower energy requirements due to the economies of scale created by their size and the efficiency of the engines. Q-Max LNG carriers are unique and purpose built for Nakilat and allow for more efficient transport of Qatar's natural gas to markets throughout the world.’

Read More

Changes in Vessel Operations Protects Whales

Years of study and effort by NOAA and the U.S. Coast Guard will pay off this summer when two changes to shipping lanes into Boston are implemented.

Both changes significantly reduce the risk of collisions between large ships and whales.Beginning on June 1, ships 300 gross tons and above will be asked to avoid an area in the Great South Channel from April through July, when right whales face the highest chance of being struck by ships. The channel is a feeding area for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.Also, ships transiting primarily from the south and entering Boston Harbor in shipping lanes will travel a slightly different path. The north-south traffic lanes have been modified to reduce the threat of ship collisions with endangered right whales and other whale species.The width of the north-south portion of the lanes will narrow from a total of four miles to three miles. The width of the east-west portion of the lanes was narrowed and modified in 2007.Implementing the “Area To Be Avoided” and narrowing the “Traffic Separation Scheme” by one nautical mile will reduce the relative risk of right whale ship strikes by an estimated 74 percent during April-July (63 percent from the area to be avoided and 11 percent from the narrowing of the Traffic Separation Scheme).

Read More