Anti-whaling ship renamed the Steve Irwin

An anti-whaling ship has been renamed after the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin as it sets off to intercept Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was given permission to use Irwin's name by his widow Terri Irwin, who was in Melbourne as the ship's 52-member crew prepared to set sail on a two-month protest operation. Previously named Robert Hunter, Sea Shepherd's former Scottish fisheries patrol vessel is now Steve Irwin. It will attempt to intercept a Japanese whaling fleet which for the Southern Ocean a fortnight ago. The Steve Irwin will sail from Melbourne at 3pm (AEDT) , embarking on a $500,000 campaign dubbed Operation Migaloo - named after an endangered albino humpback.

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'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.

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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.

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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.

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