French Cruise line from Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced it was launching a new French cruise line that will initially operate with a single cruise ship.

The 376-cabin cruise ship Holiday Dream will be transferred to the new line, CDF Croisieres de France, from Royal Caribbean's Spanish cruise line, Pullmantur. After a $60 million renovation and cultural transformation, the ship will become the Bleu de France. Starting in the spring of 2008, the Bleu de France will sail a Mediterranean itinerary, departing from Marseille, and shift to a Caribbean itinerary for winter 2008-2009 sailing out of La Romana, Dominican Republic.

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Melting of ice in Arctic opens up shipping route

The Arctic's Northwest Passage has opened up fully because of melting sea ice, clearing a long-sought but historically impassable route between Europe and Asia, the European Space Agency said.

Sea ice has shrunk in the Arctic to its lowest level since satellite measurements began 30 years ago, ESA said, showing images of the now "fully navigable" route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. A shipping route through the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic has been touted as a possible cheaper option to the Panama Canal for many shippers. Polar regions are very sensitive to climate change, ESA said, noting that some scientists have predicted the Arctic would be ice free as early as 2040.

Almost all experts say global warming, stoked by human use of fossil fuels, is happening about twice as fast in the Arctic as elsewhere on the planet. Countries such as Russia are hoping for new shipping routes or to find oil and gas.

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LNG vessel to join Qatargas fleet

Qatargas announced the naming of the Q-Flex LNG vessel Tembek at a ceremony held at Samsung Heavy Industries shipbuilding yard in Geoje Island, South Korea.

The Tembek will be used to ship LNG produced by Qatargas 2's Train 4 to customers in Europe. It is one of 14 ships that are being built in Korea to service Qatargas Trains 4 and 5. The LNG vessel is owned through a joint venture between Qatargas Transport Company (Nakilat) and Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG), from which Qatargas will charter the vessel.

The Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max are a new generation of LNG mega-ship with about 40 percent lower energy requirements than conventional vessels due to the economies of scale created by their size and the efficiency of the engines.

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CNPC has eye on Oil Search

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is considering bidding up to $5 billion to for Australia-listed Oil Search, reports local media.

CNPC Exploration, a venture between CNPC and its Hong-Kong-listed arm PetroChina, is looking to buy the Papua New Guinea-focused company. Several European energy firms are also considering bids. Oil Search said in a statement it had not received any formal approaches by any party in regards to a take-over. However, the company said it was continuing to discuss potential participation in a range of proposed gas developments in PNG with a number of international companies. Oil Search's large gas reserves in PNG are understood to be the attraction for any potential predator.

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Libya names 35 to contest gas round

Libya has qualified 35 firms, including Western super majors and Russian giants Gazprom and Lukoil, to compete for operator permits in its gas-focused exploration and production licensing round, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.

The list, published by NOC on its website, included US-based ExxonMobil and Chevron, Anglo-Dutch group Shell, France’s Total , Norway’s Statoil, Gaz de France, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Gazprom and Lukoil. Algeria's state-owned energy giant Sonatrach also figures among the 35.

A further 21 companies in which Asian companies were heavily represented were qualified to compete as investors, it said. Libya is offering 41 onshore and offshore blocks. The North African country wants to become a major gas producer and aims to increase production to three billion cubic feet per day by 2010, with a potential for 3.8 Bcfd by 2015.

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Marine equipment makes waves at OTE

More than 70 businesses and other exhibitors took part in the three-day Ocean TechExpo, displaying their products and services.

The business-to-business trade show is, in effect, a marketplace at which technology companies and others show their products and services to scientists, engineers and technical directors. The expo is sponsored by Marine Technology Reporter, a magazine published by New Wave Media, a marine publishing company based in New York.

It is the first time the annual show has been held at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. The expo was geared to businesses, not consumers, said O’Malley and Rob Howard, the show director. Up to 1,300 people from 25 countries attended the three-day event which concluded yesterday.

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Havila signs 10-year contract

Havila Shipping ASA and Phoenix International have signed a 10-year contract, with the option for additional years, for the newly built SubSea Construction Vessel, ‘Havyard 858.'

The dimensions are length 110-metres, width 23-metres and the vessel can accommodate 140 persons. The vessel is scheduled for delivery from Havyard Leirvik during the northern summer of 2008, and will support oil and gas industry initiatives in the US Gulf of Mexico.

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