Taiwan's shipbuilding output expected to top NT$50 billion for 2007

The production value of Taiwan's shipbuilding industry is expected to amount to NT$52 billion (US$1.6 billion) for 2007, up 21 percent over the year-earlier level.

This will mark the first time the country's shipbuilding output has topped NT$50 billion, predicting that the production value will further expand to more than NT$60 billion for 2008. For the first 11 months of this year, Taiwan's state-owned shipbuilder -- CSBS Corp., Taiwan -- saw its revenue amount to NT$26.2 billion and its pre-tax net profit hit a record-high of NT$4 billion. Taiwan's largest private-owned shipbuilder -- Jong Shyn Shipbuding Co. -- has invested an additional NT$1.75 billion in expanding existing shipyards and building new facilities this year, and the company's annual turnover is expected to increase to NT$4 billion after the completion of the project.
Read More

Govt giving importance to maritime security: PM

Conceding that the country neglected its maritime security and maritime economy in the past, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the UPA government is paying greater attention to them.

"I do believe that in the past, we have neglected our maritime economy as well as maritime security. The government has been paying greater attention to both," the PM said while addressing the Goa University Convocation ceremony here this morning. "Centre has modernised ports, improved port efficiency and increased investment in port development," the PM said. On the defence forces front, the Centre has increased investment in Coast Guard and Indian Navy. "We are proud of our Navy. It is one of the best navies in the world and today offers maritime security in the waters around our subcontinent," he stated.
Read More

Superior cans Ocean Flow takeover plan

US offshore services group Superior Offshore International has cancelled plans to acquire subsea engineering company Ocean Flow International.

Superior Offshore chief executive Jim Mermis said the companies had however agreed to co-operate in future for large deep-water projects. Ocean Flow is a privately held company specializing in deepwater project engineering and offshore project management services.
Read More

Russia delivers nuclear fuel to Iran

Russia has delivered a second consignment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr power plant.

The second consignment of fuel for the Bushehr nuclear plant arrived in Iran on Friday. Ahmad Fayazbaksh said, adding that the delivery was the same amount supplied in the first consignment on December 17. Russia will deliver a total of 82 tonnes of nuclear fuel to Iran over two months in eight separate consignments. It would take at least a year to start the power station. Iran had said it hoped the 1000-megawatt plant in the southern city of Bushehr could come on line within three months, at up to 200 megawatts before being cranked up to full capacity nine months later. The United States and Israel have voiced fears that Iran's civilian nuclear power program could be a cover for a program to develop atomic weapons, a charge denied by Tehran.

Read More

Joint venture to supply nitrogen to Mexico

Air Products said a joint venture company with its Grupo Infra partner would supply 90 MMscfd of nitrogen to Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion (PEP).

Nitrogen from the gas turbine and steam-driven facility is supplied for injection and enhanced oil and gas recovery from PEP's Jujo-Tecominoacan oil fields near Villahermosa in Tabasco, Mexico. The nitrogen plant project, announced in 2006, began its supply of nitrogen during November as scheduled. In 2006, state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos said it planned to invest 13 billion pesos during 2007-21 in Jujo-Tecominoacan oil field, its second-largest hydrocarbon reservoir in southern Mexico. The investment is to include completing 11 development wells and repairing 34 wells as well as the construction of 6 km of oil-gas pipelines, 25 km of oil pipelines, and 15 km of gas pipelines.
Read More

Fairstar begins Fjord sea trials

The Netherlands-based Fairstar Heavy Transport NV completed the conversion of a semisubmersible barge into a self-propelled heavy transport vessel, Fjord, and it is presently undergoing sea trials offshore Malta.

Fjord is capable of carrying large drilling rigs and similar structures. Fairstar was founded in 2005. The company's business plan is to focus on transporting offshore equipment when it best serves the client, as opposed to voyage timing triggered by the schedule of the transport vessel. In 2008 Fairstar will add a second vessel, Fjell, to its fleet. Fairstar has been embroiled in a shareholder dispute. Earlier this month, Henk van den Berg, a 1.82 percent shareholder in Fairstar Heavy Transport NV, through his company Oude Maas Beheer BV, filed a complaint with the Enterprise Chamber of the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam seeking a judicial inquiry into the affairs of Fairstar as well as petitioning the court to suspend all of the members of the company's Management and Supervisory Boards.
Read More

First pile driven for new

Almost soundlessly, the first steel pile for the 445-metre-long 21-metre-wide mega cruise ship pier was driven into Great Bay on the signal of Port Affairs Commissioner Theo Heyliger and Carnival Corporation Chairman Mickey Arison.

Work on the new pier will be in full swing as of today. The celebratory group aboard the red harbor pilot boat included Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) President Michele Paige and Ballast Nedam Area Manager for the Caribbean and South America Johan Verhagen. The new pier, to be completed at the end of November 2008, will be juxtaposed to the existing Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Pier that was completed in 2001. Two 220,000-tonne cruise ships, slated to debut in 2009, will be able to dock alongside the yet-to-be named pier. The Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities expansion will keep the island on the cusp of cruise tourism development, an industry that has seen a decline in the Caribbean in 2007.

Read More