Strategic Marine Opens Shipyard in Vietnam

Western Australian shipbuilder Strategic Marine officially opened its $16.3m (USD) shipyard in Vietnam, demonstrating that the company is confident it can ride out the current global economic turmoil.

Strategic Marine Chairman Mark Newbold told several hundred dignitaries and guests attending the grand opening that the Vietnamese yard had already won more than $61.8m in orders. Newbold said with three other yards in Australia, Singapore and Mexico, the company was currently constructing 63 fully-financed vessels with an order book value of $164.2m, with an additional 77 vessels already contracted by international clients valued at $80m. He also announced the company had pioneered and funded an apprenticeship scheme which would see 55 Vietnamese undertake a two-year course in a range of specialized shipbuilding skills. “This scheme is expected to boost the National government’s plans to expand and modernize its shipbuilding industry, while helping us to upgrade skill levels,” Newbold said. With its newest facility, Strategic Marine has transformed 136,000sqm of vacant land at Dong Xuyen Industrial Zone in Ba Ria Vung Tau province into a fully functioning shipyard with the capability to construct large steel and aluminium vessels.

Read More

Abu Dhabi wins contract for 34 interceptor craft

Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding (ADSB) has won a contract to supply 34 interceptors to a security firm in Abu Dhabi.

The new 16-metre vessels will be designed by Yonca-Onuk of Turkey and co-produced by the International Golden Group of Abu Dhabi. William Saltzer, CEO of ADSB said that the first vessel would be delivered in twelve months’ time.

Read More

Petrobras spuds well in Iracema prospect

Petrobras has spudded a first well with the newbuild Seadrill semi-submersible West Taurus, targeting the Iracema prospect on the pre-salt Tupi trend.

The drilling operation was reported on the website of Brazilian hydrocarbon regulator ANP. The well is at a water depth of 2210 metres on Block BM-S-11. It is pursuing a prospect that block partners have described as a sub-structure of the giant Tupi find, where Petrobras has estimated recoverable light oil and gas resources at between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels (oil equivalent). The West Taurus arrived in Brazil recently and is chasing a pre-salt target depth of 6275 metres with its first operation for Petrobras. The Brazilian company is partnered by BG and Galp Energia on this block. Petrobras is also drilling an exploration well on the Iguacu North prospect on Block BM-S-9. This area forms part of the giant Sugarloaf structure, where expert opinion suggests that tens of billions of barrels may be accessible. Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Clipper is being used on this operation.

Read More

MOL holds safety conferences

Japanese container line Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has held its 2009 Safety Conference in Mumbai, India and Manila, the Philippines.

The conferences have been held every year since 2007 with the primary objective of explaining and enhancing safety measures and promoting the exchange of ideas and opinions. The conferences were held on February 20 in Mumbai and February 25 in Manila. The next MOL Safety Conference is scheduled for Zagreb, Croatia, in early March.

Read More

North American rig market driven by deepwater demand

After last year brought record oil prices, the offshore oil and gas industry could have been forgiven for an optimistic outlook.

However, a worldwide economic crisis and oil prices slipping to less than US$50 per barrel have made 2009 a very different year.While the market for semisubmersibles and drillships in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has remained fairly strong, the market for jackups has cratered. Facing jackup utilization of less than 60 percent, many drilling contractors are looking to move from the U.S. Gulf to Mexico to find work.So far unaffected by the downturn in activity, another four newbuild drillships and seven semisubmersibles are expected to arrive in the U.S. Gulf by the end of the year, all of which have firm contract commitments in place. Many of the newbuilds have deepwater capabilities, responding to the growing demand for deepwater activity in the U.S. Gulf.

Read More

Wan Hai buying into Chinese line

Taipei: Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines is in talks to invest in a Chinese shipping company to expand its network and offset the severe industry downturn that could cut 30 percent off its revenue this year, Dow Jones reported.

Wan Hai Lines, the largest container shipping firm on intra-Asia routes by market share, has been cutting capacity on the Asia-Europe route and restructuring its network because of the slump in global trade and vessel overcapacity that has decimated freight rates and profit, company president Tony Chow said.An investment in a Chinese shipping firm would allow Wan Hai Lines to capitalize on the expected growth in China's river transport and trade between China and Southeast Asia, Chow told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview."We are positive on the domestic demand stimulus package implemented by the Chinese government, which will also create intra-Asia cargo as China and Asean remove trade tariffs," he said.Chow declined to name the Chinese company, but said a conclusion to the talks isn't imminent as Wan Hai Lines wants a stake of at least 51 percent in the firm."The size of the stake is the main contention point," he added.While Taiwan and China agreed on closer transport links in November, including launching direct daily charter flights and direct shipping links, there are still some restrictions on cross-strait business.

Read More

Major repairs to 'Hercules 170'

Recently established Arabian Gulf oil and gas company ASRY Offshore Services (AOS) has completed its first major contract which involved the upgrading and major repair of Hercules Offshore’s jack-up drilling rig ‘Hercules 170’.

‘Hercules 170’ arrived at ASRY’s shipyard in Bahrain in the second half of 2008 for a work package that included a number of upgrades to increase her performance and drilling capabilities. When diver inspections of the jack-up revealed problems with the spud cans, ASRY also took these repairs on board.

Read More