MacArthur record to be broken

Dame Ellen MacArthur believes her solo round-the-world record will be broken by one of two Frenchmen this winter.

Francis Joyon, 51, set sail from Brest last Friday in an attempt to regain the record taken from him by MacArthur in February 2005. Both Joyon and his compatriot Thomas Colville, who is yet to leave, are sailing longer boats than MacArthur's B&Q, which should ensure greater speed.The 31 year old Briton says that she expects her record to be broken by one of them. MacArthur set the record of 71 days 14 hours. Joyon, the 24-hour solo speed world record holder, should beat it in his 97ft trimaran IDEC II, which is 20 feet longer than the boat MacArthur used. Colville, who had briefly to postpone his departure on Friday from Les Sables D'Ollones, has a 15ft advantage on MacArthur's B&Q in his boat, Sodebo.
Read More

Keppel awarded conversion contract for first FDPSO

Prosafe Production Pte. Ltd. awarded Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. subsidiary Keppel Shipyard Ltd. a US$69.3 million contract for conversion of very large crude carrier size tanker MT Europe into the world's first floating drilling production storage and offloading facility (FDPSO).

Following the conversion, the FDSPO will have a storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels of oil and a processing capacity of 60,000 b/d of fluids, or 40,000 b/d of oil, and natural gas compression capacity of 18 MMcf/d. Work on the vessel is expected to be complete by late 2008.The FDPSO will have a moonpool to be used for drilling purposes, with drilling package modules and a derrick integrated into the FDPSO. The drilling packages will be provided by Murphy West Africa Ltd., which awarded Norway-based Prosafe the conversion and operation contract for the FDPSO earlier this month. The estimated contract value of the firm period is US$400 million.

Read More

New reefer container solution significantly reduces CO2 emissions

Maersk Line announces the implementation of QUEST, which will enable a significant reduction in the energy consumption, and CO2 emissions of our refrigerated containers.

QUEST (Quality and Energy efficiency in Storage and Transport) is a software solution, providing a new temperature control regime. Thereby we can cut the energy consumption used for cooling with up to 50 percent without affecting the quality of our refrigeration solutions. Maersk Line estimates that QUEST will lead to CO2 emission reductions of 325,000 tonnes annually when fully implemented during 2008. The solution is the result of a joint development project sponsored by the Dutch Government, and involving amongst others Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, and Maersk Line. The solution is innovative and successfully challenges conventional wisdom.
Read More

Explorer crew and passengers safe

All 100 passengers and 54 crew of the cruise ship Explorer are safe, says the ship’s operator and technical manager Gap Shipping.

They have been transferred from lifeboats to Nordnorge with a smaller vessel, National Geographic Endeavour. No injuries have been reported. A statement released on behalf of Gap Shipping thanked Chile’s and Argentina’s Marine Response Coordination Centres, which had been immediately, advised when the accident happened and were kept in close touch throughout the emergency. Gap Shipping praised the MRCC Services for their speedy and professional response and paid tribute to the masters and operators of the vessels, which responded so speedily to this emergency. The operator pledged a full investigation to discover how the hull was damaged.
Read More

Better Ocean monitoring 'vital'

Warming seas, over fishing and pollution mean it is vital to improve the system for monitoring the world's oceans, says a group of distinguished scientists.

More data is needed to ensure the world is able to respond effectively to any potential threats, say the researchers. An "adequate initial system" would include an integrated network of buoys, research vessels, satellites and tagging marine animals. The scientists want the global scheme to be completed within the next decade. The call for action has been made by the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (Pogo), which includes many of the world's leading oceanographic research centres. A delegation of Pogo members will make their case at the annual ministerial meeting of the international Group on Earth Observations (Geo) in Cape Town, South Africa. The Pogo delegation will present its case on Friday to the GEO ministerial meeting, which will review progress on the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and agree a roadmap for the coming decade.

Read More

Pakistan setback for Shell

Shell's much-anticipated Anne-1 deep-water oil wildcat in Pakistan's Offshore Indus area has ended in disappointment.

The well is plugged and abandoned having seen some minor gas shows, says co-venturer Premier Oil .The well was drilled in water depths of more than 1300 metres using the drill ship Discoverer 534 and the target depth was 3250 metres.The Anne-1 wildcat is located in frontier Block 2365-1 (Offshore Indus E), 150 kilometres south of Karachi. The 7400 square-kilometre block was awarded to Shell in 1998, and was the country's first deep-water acreage to be awarded. Anne-1 was Pakistan's second deep-water exploration well. The first was a duster, drilled by Total in Offshore Indus Block G. Partners are operator Shell (25%), Kufpec (12.50), Premier Oil (12.50%), Pakistan's Oil & Gas Development (30%) and Pakistan Petroleum (20%).

Read More

Drydocks World group to become a marine industry giant

Drydocks World, a subsidiary of Dubai World, has announced that it has successfully completed the setting up of a new group under its umbrella.

Drydocks is now firmly established as a leading and expanding international player in ship repair, conversion, new building and other marine related activities. Drydocks World Dubai is the complete amalgamation of Jadaf Shipyard and Dubai Drydocks. These companies started operations in 1979 and 1983 respectively, and, from humble beginnings have grown to become international and regional leaders in their own fields. Jadaf have always served the smaller vessel owners whilst Dubai Drydocks, with the largest repair docks in the world, have focused on the upper end of the market. The present group includes Drydocks World Dubai, which is an amalgamation of Dubai Drydocks and Jadaf, Drydocks World Singapore, formerly Pan United Marine, Drydocks World Batam, a green field development in Indonesia, Platinum Yachts FZ and Platinum Yacht management.

Read More