BW Offshore bids lowest for Tupi FPSO

BW Offshore has placed the lowest bid to provide Petrobras with a compact floating production, storage and offloading unit to perform extended well tests on the giant Tupi discovery and other subsalt fields.

The Norwegian company bid a day rate of $140,432 with a purchase option of $189 million exercisable on the fifth year of the 10-year contract, and is now in-line to pick up its first charter contract in Brazil. Teekay submitted the second lowest bid rate for the Tupi unit, bidding a day rate of $174,000 followed by Bluewater with $179,000 and Modec with $188,000. Modec placed the second lowest purchase price, of $210 million, while Bluewater placed an offer of $265 million and Teekay bid $280 million. BW has put forward its existing unit the turret-moored FPSO Peace, formerly the BW Endeavour. The recently-completed unit offers production capacity of 40,000 bpd, exceeding Petrobras’s specification for 30,000 bpd. Storage capacity is 1 million barrels, higher than the 600,000 requested by Petrobras. The unit is scheduled to start for Petrobras on the Tupi field, in 2009 and is expected to work on the Santos basin subsalt discoveries for at least 10 years.

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Subsea 7 opens North Sea spoolbase

Subsea 7 has opened a North Sea spoolbase at Vigra in Norway.

The base was officially opened by Kristian Siem, Chairman of Subsea 7; Knut Støbakk, the Mayor of Giske Community; Morten Ruud, Executive Vice President of StatoilHydro and Mel Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer of Subsea 7. The US$30 million investment is key to developing Subsea 7's already strong pipelay capability in the North Sea market. Furthermore, it provides a strategic platform for new geographic markets such as the Barents Sea as that region opens up. The spoolbase is located beside the airport on the island of Vigra on the North West coast of Norway, close to the city of Aalesund. The base runs 3.7 kilometres across the island and includes a purpose-built deepwater quay area, covering a total area of 284, 505 square metres. This makes it one of the longest spoolbase facilities of its type in the world. The base will employ up to 75 people when working at normal capacity, rising to 120 in peak periods. The spooling line length (from seaward end of stalk racks to quay) is 2037 metres. The quay is an L-shaped design, enabling the pipelay vessels to moor alongside the 110-metre-long quay for the pipeline spooling onto the vessel. The first project to be undertaken by the base is the fabrication of a 60-kilometre 30.5 centimetre gas pipeline for StatoilHydro.

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World record for MAN B&W brand

MAN Diesel’s Japanese licensee, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. has achieved a new milestone with its cumulative production of MAN B&W branded engines reaching the 60m-BHP mark at the end of last month, a world record for a single brand.

The new record came into being with the completion of an MAN B&W 6S50MC-C Mark 7 engine at MES’s Tamano Works on 26 March. The new mark comes hard on the heels of the 50m BHP mark, which MES reached just three years ago. The company has attributed to the extension of its production facilities within the last few years, pushing its capacity to 5m BHP per year. “Mitsui is one of our oldest licensees and it’s been a pleasure doing business with them over the years,” said MAN Diesel president Peter Sunn Pedersen. “MAN Diesel congratulates MES on reaching this new production milestone and looks forward to many more years of fruitful cooperation in the future.” With over 90 years’ experience in shipbuilding, MES covers all requirements from design to production to meet the modern market’s multifaceted demands. The company built its first MAN B&W engine in 1928, a four-stroke, single-acting, trunk type 6125M unit.

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Dubai World picking banks to arrange $5 bln loan-banker

State-owned investment group Dubai World is appointing banks to arrange a syndicated term loan that will refinance the borrower's $5 billion, 364-day bridge loan signed last year.

Eight banks-Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Calyon, Deutsche Bank , Emirates Bank EBIL.DU, HSBC , ING , Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland are in the arranging group so far, which is expected to be expanded. The loan is expected to consist of a two-year tranche and a three-year tranche, worth $2 billion each, and a $1 billion, five-year tranche. The lead banks are aiming to be left holding $250 million each, leaving $2.5 billion to sell in a wider syndication. The original $5 billion loan backed the borrower's plan to buy into U.S. casino operator MGM Mirage . It paid a margin of 85 basis points (bps) over LIBOR for the first six months, stepping up to 110 bps.Pricing on the new deal will be higher to reflect current market conditions, which have deteriorated since the original loan was signed, and is expected to be 100 bps for the two-year tranche, 125 bps on the three-year and 150 bps on the five-year.

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Cargotec Acquires Offshore Service Company in North America

Cargotec’s MacGREGOR business area providing marine cargo handling and offshore load handling solutions has signed an agreement to acquire US based Platform Crane Services International Inc.

The sales of the company in 2007 were approximately USD 16 million and the company employs 105 persons. The transaction is subject to due diligence. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. PCS was established in 1983 and, as well as its headquarters in Slidell, Louisiana, has offices in Lafayette, Houston and Del Carmen in Mexico. PCS specializes in the service, repair and maintenance of marine and offshore cranes with an emphasis on Gulf of Mexico installations. The product and service offering also includes inspections, load testing and installations. The acquisition complements MacGREGOR's existing offshore service offering in North Sea and Asia Pacific, and increases presence in the important Americas and Gulf of Mexico area.

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Schooner Creek builds Perry-designed 12-metre commuter launch

The 'Woodson', named after an early settler on the island, Schooner Creek's newbuild ferry.

The Little Palm Island Resort & Spa on the Florida Keys commissioned Seattle-based designer Robert Perry to create a new high-speed launch to ferry guests across the 4.8-kilometre channel that separates the resort from highway access at Little Torch Key. The resort's relaxed but luxurious style is based on a 1920s theme that extended to the styling of its new boat. The design is a modern version of the classic "commuter yacht", the type of craft that once whisked Wall Street tycoons out of Manhattan and away to their Long Island retreats. Perry's updated version of the commuter combines a distinctive traditional look above the waterline with an underwater shape and construction methods that are as modern as any today. The historic elements of the hull shape include a traditional cabin profile, plumb bow, tumblehome in the aft sections, and a narrow 3.6-metre beam. Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, Oregon was chosen to build the US Coast Guard-inspected 12-metre vessel using high-tech fiberglass composite construction. The interior features fine mahogany trim and a tongue-and-groove ceiling with concealed lighting. Power is provided by twin 330kW Yanmar 6LY-DTE turbo-charged diesels turning 20 X 26 bronze four-bladed DIX propellers via ZF 301 1.86:1 transmissions. The fuel tank holds 1,320 litres.

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Shanghai port to see 10 percent growth in TEU

The container throughput of Shanghai's seaport is expected to see stable growth of about 10 percent per year until 2010.

According to Xu Peixing, director-general of the municipal port administration, the projected growth is attributed to the booming economy in the Yangtze River Delta and preparations for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Xu said that high value-added port services will be the key focus, supported by the government's investment and financial policies for future development of the port.

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