Yinson, First E&P in USD902mln FPSO Deal

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March 1, 2019

Malaysia’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO)-operator Yinson and Nigerian oil company First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Ltd (First E&P) have executed a contract for an FPSO to be deployed offshore Nigeria.

The contracts worth US$901.79 were entered into via its wholly-owned subsidiary Yinson Nepeta Production Ltd (YNPL) and indirect subsidiary Yinson Operations & Production West Africa Ltd (YOPWAL).

The estimated aggregate value of the contract is based on the assumption that the extension options are fully exercised, comprising the bareboat charter contract of US$617.09mil (RM2.51bil) and the O&M contract of US$284.7mil (RM1.16bil).

The FPSO is expected to commence operations at the Anyala and Madu fields by the fourth quarter of 2019.

Yinson group chief executive officer Lim Chern Yuan said the group would be redeploying one of its existing vessels, FPSO Allan, to Anyala & Madu, and the vessel would be renamed FPSO Abigail-Joseph.

FPSO Allan ceased operations on Jan 31, after a tenure of nearly 10 years at the Olowi Field in Gabon.

"The redeployment of FPSO Allan is a strategic decision that has enabled us to bring forward the project schedule at the same time delivering a more cost-effective solution for our client," said Lim.

Source:marinelink

Höegh LNG Doubles Profit

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March 1, 2019

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Hoegh LNG, a provider of floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) services under long-term contracts, reported a profit after tax of $ 44.98 million for the quarter and year ended 31 December 2018, compared to $ 19.96 million in the same period in 2017.

The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) provider which owns and operates a global fleet of 10 floating LNG import terminals, said in a stock exchange annoucement that its total income reached $122 million for the quarter under review, which compares to $82.3 million in the previous quarter.

The president and CEO of Höegh LNG Sveinung J.S. Støhle said: "The fourth quarter concluded a very active year for Höegh LNG where we have delivered consistent financial results and made significant commercial progress, driven by increasing demand for LNG especially in Asia and a general increase in FSRU contract awards."

Hoegh LNG has signed the agreement with AGL Energy for their FSRU project in Crib Point, Australia, and we continue to make good progress on additional LNG import projects across the Asia-Pacific region.

"our strong financial position enables us to enter the highly complementary small-scale LNG market through our investment in Avenir LNG, which marks an extension of our well-proven FSRU platform,” Sveinung said.

Source:marinelink

VIDEO: Cargoship with drunken Master hits bridge in Busan

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March 1, 2019

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The Master of a Russian cargoship has been detained for sailing under the influence of alcohol after the vessel hit a bridge in Busan, South Korea.

The 5,998 tonne, general cargoship Seagrand veered off course hitting Gwangan Bridge in Busan yesterday afternoon. A video of the vessel colliding with the bridge can be viewed below.

According to reports the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) detained the vessel and its Captain had a blood alcohol content of 0.086%, well above the legal limit of 0.03%. While the Master’s blood alcohol level was high enough for his license to be revoked it is only an offence if he was at the helm at the time of the accident. It remains unclear if he was steering the vessel at the time of the incident.

The Seagrand was bound from Busan to Vladivostock at the time of the accident and is reported to have hit a cruise ship that was moored 40 minutes prior to the collision with the bridge.

Source:seatrade-maritime

China sets eyes on Djibouti’s Doraleh Container Terminal

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March 1, 2019

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China Merchants Port Holdings aims to strengthen its control on a container terminal in Djibouti, East Africa. The port operator will reset operations and infrastructure at Djibouti’s Doraleh Container Terminal, which is vital to China's attempt to control seagoing trade lanes between Asia and Europe.

Namely, China Merchants Port Holdings will assert control of operations at Djibouti’s Doraleh Container Terminal, the Wall Street Journal reports, while China Civil Engineering Construction and China State Construction Engineering have established a multipurpose cargo facility next to handle cars, livestock, steel and other goods.

However, Djibouti is the only one controlling the Doraleh terminal and has told the US that it does not plan to give control of its maritime assets to Chinese state port operators. Despite this statement, some US officials are worried that this stance will not last long.

In fact, China believes that Djibouti could be part of the Belt and Road Initiative, that includes ports in numerous countries, such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Greece and Belgium.

With these ports, Chinese ships have priority handling and lower docking fees, enabling China's carriers to have an advantage in delivering as much cargo as possible in a short time to Europe.

Djibouti is located at the entrance to the Red Sea, from which around 12% of all seaborne trade sails through, via the Suez Canal. Today, there are no other ports along the East Africa with the infrastructure to deal with cargo between ships.

The position of the country also makes it strategically important for countries wanting to influence the region.

Source:safety4sea

A new investor is helping Germany’s Flensburger Shipyard

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March 1, 2019

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A new investor is helping Germany’s Flensburger Shipyard (FSG) to recover from cash-flow problems reports Tom Todd.

FSG – Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft – announced global investment group Sapinda Holding had bought 76% of its business from yard owners Siem Europe – a purchase which reports said came with a €33 million injection of fresh capital.

FSG said the deal with Siem was supported by customers and suppliers alike and “will ensure the continuation of FSG’s business operations”. It came along with news that MD Ruediger Fuchs had been replaced by Alexander Gregg-Smith.

Norwegian based Siem acquired FSG in 2014 when the yard was experiencing earlier financial difficulties. Since then it has brought in considerable new work , particularly offshore-related. The yard on the German-Danish border has long been a global leader in the building of RoRo, ConRo and RoPax tonnage,

Under the deal now with Sapinda, Siem remains an active shareholder and has a majority on the yard’s Supervisory Board. Reports said Siem was also waiving some outstanding FSG debts – further aiding the yard’s recovery.

A spokesman for FSG, which employs about 650, told Maritime Journal that delays in 2018 in Irish Ferries’ €150 million, 54,975gt cruise ferry W.B.Yeats, had caused “considerable losses”. The ship, billed as FSG’s biggest and most complex to date, had been due for delivery last July but was handed over in December. It is being followed by a second, even bigger, cruise ferry in 2020.

Contract penalty payments resulting from the W.B.Yeats delay reportedly depleted funds earmarked for further newbuilding at FSG and could not have come at a worse time for the busy yard. According to Rüdiger Fuchs, nine newbuilds – four RoRo cargo and five RoPax ships worth a total of about a billion Euros – were on order late last year for delivery up to late 2021.

For delivery to Brittany Ferries in May is the 42,200gt Honfleur, described as Europe’s largest LNG cruise ferry and the first French passenger ship powered by LNG with four Wärtsilä DF engines.

Two further LNG-powered DF passenger ferries are also on order with FSG. For delivery in 2021 they are for Australia’s TT- Line and are together costing about €438 million.

Subsea 7 updates project, vessel developments

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March 1, 2019

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Subsea 7 has issued a progress report on its subsea construction projects in its latest financial review.

In the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea, preparations are under way for installation of the flexible pipeline for the Raven gas field, the fifth in BP’s West Nile Delta development.

At the shallow-water PUPP project offshore Nigeria, the focus has been on riser installation and hook-up activities.

The life of field vessel Seven Viking was converted to hybrid battery power ahead of a new five-year inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) contract that started earlier this year. The new dual-power capability should cut the vessel’s fuel consumption by around 12%.

Subsea 7 ended the year with 33 vessels in its fleet, including one under construction, Seven Vega, and two stacked vessels, Seven Phoenixand Seven Mar.

The company sold the DSV Rockwater 2, after it had completed 35 years in service, replacing it with the newly acquired Seven Pegasus.

Going forward the company expects the recent pickup in tendering and awards to continue in 2019 with various large greenfield oil and gas project scopes set to be awarded over the course of the year.

These will require longer offshore campaigns and project pricing should improve. Most projects the company is presently bidding for have breakeven levels well below projected long-term oil price trends, as collaboration and innovation lead to improved economic returns.

Source:offshore-mag

ExxonMobil makes deepwater gas discovery off Cyprus

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March 1, 2019

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ExxonMobil has made a natural gas discovery with the Glaucus-1 well offshore southwest Cyprus.

Located in block 10 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the well encountered a gas-bearing reservoir of about 436 ft (133 m). The well was drilled in 6,769 ft (2,063 m) of water, reaching a final TD of 13,780 ft (4,200 m).

Based on preliminary interpretation of the well data, the discovery could represent an in-place natural gas resource of about 5 to 8 tcf (142 to 227 bcm). Further analysis in the coming months, the company said, will be required to better determine the resource potential.

“These are encouraging results in a frontier exploration area,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co. “The potential for this newly discovered resource to serve as an energy source for regional and global markets will be evaluated further.”

Glaucus-1 was the second of a two-well drilling program in block 10. The first well, Delphyne-1, did not encounter commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.

Block 10 is 635,554 acres (2,572 sq km). ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus (Offshore) Ltd. is operator and holds 60% interest in the block. Qatar Petroleum International Upstream O.P.C. holds 40% interest.

INEOS to overhaul North Sea Forties pipeline

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March 1, 2019

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INEOS plans to spend £500 million ($665 million) on extending the life of the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) in the UK central North Sea into the 2040s.

The company intends to overhaul the reliability of the 500-km (310-mi) pipeline system, modernizing its environmental procedures and installing new technology.

BP originally commissioned and operated the FPS, which came online in 1975. It is designed to transport up to 600,000 b/d of oil from numerous fields in the area to mainland Scotland for refining.

According to INEOS, the system handles 40% of the UK’s oil and gas.

Oil & Gas UK’s upstream policy director Mike Tholen said: “The modernization program will provide operators with a greater degree of certainty when making investment decisions about the future development plans for their assets.”

Source:offshore-mag

APM Terminals opens Costa Rica port

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March 1, 2019

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The inauguration of the delayed APM Terminals Moín yesterday will enable products to be shipped on transatlantic routes to European and Asian markets without transhipment, the port operator stated in a release.

“Without any doubt, we are inaugurating today a new era in international and intra-regional trade in Central America,” said Morten Engelstoft, CEO of APM Terminals, at the inauguration ceremony yesterday attended by the president of the Central American nation.

The $1bn new port is built on a 40 ha artificial island. The terminal has a 650 m long pier and a container yard with the capacity to hold 26,000 teu, including power connection capacity for 3,800 reefers. Refrigeration is essential as Costa Rica is currently the world’s largest exporter of pineapples and third largest exporter of bananas.

“One of the goals of the Costa Rican government is the job creation with a territoriality approach and, with this project that we are inaugurating today, the conditions of competitiveness and economic reactivation are being created for the province of Limón and also for the entire country, ” said Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Costa Rica’s president.

Van Oord sets new record for launching of offshore wind farm

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March 1, 2019

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This week, the first electricity has been generated by the Belgian offshore wind farm Norther. Only 7 months ago, Van Oord started with the installation of the first foundation and already the first power is delivered to the grid, the company said in its release.

As main contractor, Van Oord started the offshore execution in August 2018. The modified offshore installation vessel Aeolus has installed all 45 foundations at the designated locations in a record time. Recently, the placement of the first wind turbines followed. As a result, thousands of Belgian families have already been provided with green energy.

This milestone is a big step towards the final goal. The offshore wind farm will be fully operational in the summer of 2019 and will provide almost 400,000 households with sustainable energy. The Norther offshore wind farm will contribute significantly to Belgium meeting its target of generating 13% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.