Dana Gas signs Sharjah western offshore concession and gas field development

The work program will include resuming horizontal drilling of two wells originally drilled by Crescent Petroleum.

Dana Gas, the Middle East's first and largest regional and private sector natural gas company, has announced an agreement for the exploration and development of the western offshore concession in Sharjah, UAE, where the company is headquartered. The deal marks Dana Gas' entry into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) exploration and production sector, and is also the first offshore upstream asset for the company in the Middle East. The 25-year agreement was signed by H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council member and Ruler of Sharjah, and Mr. Hamid Jafar, Executive Chairman of Dana Gas, in a ceremony attended by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Sharjah Petroleum Council, and several members of the Board of Directors of Dana Gas. The concession agreement covers a total offshore area of over 1,000 square kilometres, and includes the development of the Zora gas field within Sharjah, which was discovered in 1979. The preliminary costs of the development phase of the project are estimated at US$55 million, while the exploration works are estimated at a further US$65 million.

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Imabari delivers first ever LNG ship

The Imabari Shipbuilding Group has delivered Japan’s largest liquefied natural gas carrier according to tank capacity to Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line) and Mitsui & Co.

The 79,556dwt Trinity Arrow, which has a 154,982 m3 tank capacity, is the first LNG vessel by the group and was constructed at its Koyo Dockyard. The ship establishes Imabari’s position as an established LNG player despite a number of delays in the delivery. The Trinity Arrow boasts the world’s first Trapezoidal Tank in horizontal direction and environmentally friendly Reinforced Polyurethane Foam (R-Puf) for heat insulation, which the builder claims is responsible for the larger capacity of the No.1 tank as well as low boil-off gas rate. The tanker is to be managed by K” Line LNG Shipping (UK) Limited and will be chartered to a subsidiary of American energy company Cheniere Energy.

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Rotterdam to present its plans for a new bulk terminal

The Port of Rotterdam Authority will present its plans for a new terminal for dry bulk to the international producers and consumers of industrial minerals this week.

They will be meeting with each other and logistical service providers during the trade fair ‘Industrial Minerals’ that will take place in Athens from Monday to Wednesday. According to the plans, the terminal will be situated in the ‘Hartelstrook’ on the Maasvlakte. Approximately one third of this location, which was created in part through land reclamation, will be reserved for a dry dock terminal. The new terminal will have a surface area of 12 hectares: 200 metres wide, with 600 metres of quay. The maximum draught is 16 metres. A rail connection is also a possibility, with the Betuwe Route running right next to the location. The new terminal is expected to come into operation in the second half of 2010. For the operation of the terminal, the Port of Rotterdam Authority is currently in negotiations with Van Uden Stevedoring, which currently has a terminal at Merwehaven, an area that has been earmarked for future urban development. The European Union is a highly industrialized part of the world. Therefore, raw materials supply is of key importance for the competitive position of many industrial sectors. Another strong point is the ship-to-ship transshipment provided for by floating cranes. Besides land-based terminals, the port of Rotterdam offers several buoys and dolphins for the ship-to-ship transshipment of dry bulk cargo.
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Huludao Port opens to foreign ships

Securing approval from the State Council, Huludao Port was recently allowed to open to foreign ships.

This new port was founded in 1908, a perfectly natural non-freezing deep water port. Currently there are four berths, including 20,000-DWT and 35,000-DWT groceries terminals, a 5,000-tonne liquid chemical terminal and a 30,000-tonne terminal for oil products.

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Rigdon Marine names fast supply vessel 'Hammerhead'

Rigdon Marine, USA, has named and delivered 'Hammerhead', the first of four proprietary fast supply vessels.

Mrs. Shelley Puckett, wife of Mike Puckett, a vessel manager for Rigdon, christened the 55-metre FSV prior to its deployment in the US Gulf of Mexico. The 'Hammerhead' measures 55 metres by 10.4 metres and produces 5,370kW DP-1 FSV. The vessel has a capacity of 1,001 barrels of liquid mud, 664 barrels of rig water, and has a cargo deck capacity of 400 metric tonnes. The state of the art FSV will include a 185kW drop-down azimuthing bow thruster, and a cargo discharge capacity of 500 gallons per minute (GPM) (1890 litres) of liquid mud, 300 GPM (1,135 litres) of rig water, and 300 GPM (1,135 litres) of fuel oil. The 'Hammerhead' was designed primarily in support of the rigorous deepwater environment where long runs, high payloads and challenging sea conditions are the norm. However, the vessel's speed and safety advantages also provide a competitive advantage versus traditional workboats in shallow water applications. The remaining three Rigdon 181 class FSVs are expected to be delivered in 2008 and early 2009.

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Indian, German Naval warships to hold joint exercises

For the first time, Indian and German warships will hold joint maneuvers off Kochi in the Arabian Sea from April 5.

Three German warships, F220 Hamburg and F211 Koln, both missile frigates and A1411 Berlin, a Naval support vessel will cross swords with four Indian warships to carry out sea domination and anti-submarine warfare maneuvers. The German Naval flotilla, the first ever to visit Indian waters is being led by Rear Admiral F Bollow, who is the Flag Officer Commanding 2nd German flottia. Though Indian warships have conducted war games with Nuclear carriers and submarines from France and US as well with warships from UK, Russia and Singapore, this would be their first interaction with German ships. The Germans in recent years have made rapid strides in building up a modern Naval flotilla, comprising missile destroyers and frigates as well as advanced submarines. The German warships which are on their way for deployment in the gulf would first hold passage exercises with a Navy ship of the Ist training squadron from April nine to 10 and then ships of the Western Naval fleet.

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Recycling Ships Will Make Earth Greener

Green has become a buzzword at KAIST, and its grandest green project is the recycling of aged container ships into mobile water and electricity plants for the poorest regions of the world.

The project, which is led by Professor Lee Jae-kyu of KAIST Business School, is an inter-disciplinary project of 14 KAIST professors from various research fields. They hope that this audacious project will be able to win $25 million in financial support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia over the next five years. According to the plan, retired container ships will be equipped with solar panels, desalination facilities and hydrogen batteries at dockyards. It will then be moved to the Middle East or African countries and will lower its anchor where fresh water is needed. Using a solar generation panel that covers the upper deck, the ship will generate electricity during the daytime and will use the energy to produce fresh water from seawater, then carried through a pipeline inland where it will be used for irrigation and deforestation prevention. The extra electricity will be stored in capacitors, which use certain metals for the storage of hydrogen molecules. At night, the hydrogen in the form of gas will be removed and burnt to keep the desalination facility running. Inspectors from the royal Saudi institution finished their evaluation of the KAIST project and their final decision is due this week. Another major ongoing project at KAIST is the ``mobile harbor.''

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