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Shell hires recruitment help

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Shell New Energies has picked Taylor Hopkinson to be its preferred recruitment partner for its global onshore and offshore wind activities following a tender.

The initial framework agreement runs for one year with potential to extend beyond 2020.

Taylor Hopkinson chief executive Tom Hopkinson said: “In the 15 years I have been working in the wind industry, a number of oil majors have come and gone.”

“Today, with record low prices for wind turbines and solar panels and the energy transition finally gaining real traction, I have no doubt Shell New Energies are here for the long run this time.”

Hopkinson added: “There are great opportunities for Shell to build on their 15 years’ experience and grow their wind business.”

We are delighted to have been selected from a strong field of competitors to be their global wind recruitment partner; playing our specialist role in an oil major becoming a renewables major as the world continues to decarbonise the energy sector.

In the past decade, Glasgow-headquartered Taylor Hopkinson has completed wind energy assignments and placed contractors throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

Shell formed its New Energies division in 2016 and has committed to invest on average $1-2bn a year in the division until 2020, across solar, wind and gas generation.

Source:renews

HMM Aims Of Building Up Its Capacity To 100 Million TEUs By 2022

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On October 26, HMM HQ employees gathered in the Seoul office to hear CEO C.K. Yoo’s presentation on HMM’s blueprint for the year 2022. Mr. Yoo presented HMM’s target of building up its capacity to 100 million TEUs and posting US$10 billion in annual revenue by 2022.

HMM recently ordered twelve 23,000 TEU and eight 15,000 TEU eco-friendly mega vessels in preparation for the IMO’s sulfur regulations starting from 2022, and to secure competitiveness through economies of scale. The newly ordered mega vessels are expected to deliver from 2020 in sequential order.

In addition, HMM plans to finalize the acquisition of stakes in Hyundai Pusan New Port (HPNT) by the end of this year. Mr. Yoo stated that, “HMM will do its utmost to improve productivity by connecting Block Chain and IoT technology to our services in order to increase customer satisfaction. We need to transform HMM to an IT-friendly company to fulfil our vision of smart shipping.”

Source:marineinsight

Port Of Corpus Christi And Carlyle Group Agree To Develop Major Crude Oil Export Terminal On Harbor Island

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The Port of Corpus Christi Authority (the “Port”) announced it has entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”) to work exclusively to develop a world-class crude oil export terminal on Harbor Island (the “Terminal”), connecting growing crude oil production in the United States with global markets.

The Terminal would be the first onshore location in the U.S. capable of providing export service to fully-laden Very Large Crude Carriers (“VLCCs”) and would further the Port’s position as the preeminent global crude oil export hub.

VLCC access at the Port of Corpus Christi will open the global markets for U.S. oil producers, pipelines, their supply chains and customers. The result could produce up to a $50 billion annual reduction to the national trade deficit. Importantly, the City of Corpus Christi would benefit from the thousands of direct and indirect jobs as well as billions in incremental economic activity.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Port will work exclusively with Carlyle to bring together world-class oil producers, marketers, pipeline operators and marine terminal operators to ensure a significant portion of the new oil production in Texas will have a reliable gateway to international markets. As part of the Agreement, Carlyle agreed to lead the construction and ongoing operations of the Terminal on an exclusive basis. Carlyle also agreed that it would arrange for a private funding solution for a dredging project to bring fully-laden VLCCs to Harbor Island (at least a 75-foot main channel depth).

Construction of the Terminal would require no capital outlay from local taxpayers. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Port will realize significant regular rental payments, volume-based tariff income, land grants and other proceeds that will help the Port fund other aspects of its operations. The Terminal is expected to be operational in late 2020. Carlyle’s equity for this investment will come from its Global Infrastructure Fund.

The Terminal would include the development of at least two loading docks on Harbor Island as well as crude oil tank storage inland across Redfish Bay on land secured by Carlyle, enhancing operational flexibility while reducing the facility’s footprint on Harbor Island itself.

The Project is subject to agreement on definitive documentation between the parties, satisfactory completion of due diligence and final approval from Carlyle’s investment committee.

“A project of this magnitude further underscores the vital role the Port of Corpus Christi plays in the global energy markets and as an important economic generator for the great state of Texas,” said Sean Strawbridge, the Chief Executive Officer of Port of Corpus Christi. “In partnering with such an experienced and well-capitalized firm as The Carlyle Group, the market should take notice and have a high degree of confidence of this project’s success.”

“Corpus Christi is certainly where the incremental barrels want to go as we have deep water, availability of land for development and plenty of capacity to absorb the forecasted U.S. energy production growth in oil and gas. Corpus Christi is open for business,” said Charlie Zahn, the Chairman of the Port of Corpus Christi Commission.

Ferris Hussein, Managing Director on Carlyle’s Global Infrastructure team, said: “Carlyle appreciates the steadfast, prescient leadership provided by the Port of Corpus Christi Authority in advancing this project. Providing VLCC access at the Port is of critical importance to the United States, and we will collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure such service is provided.”

Source:marineinsight

TechnipFMC wins subsea contract for ExxonMobil’s Liza Phase 2

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Subsea engineering firm TechnipFMC has been awarded a contract to engineer, manufacture and deliver the subsea equipment for ExxonMobil's proposed Liza Phase 2 project offshore Guyana.

The equipment supplied will include 30 enhanced vertical deepwater trees and associated tooling, eight manifolds and associated controls, and tie-in equipment.

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited operates the Liza Phase 2 development, located about 193 km offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block in water depths ranging from 1,500 m to 1,900 m.

The project concept involves a floating storage, production and offloading vessel (FPSO) and related subsea equipment, umbilical risers and flowlines, similar to that of the Liza Phase 1 development. The FPSO's production capacity will be an estimated 190,000-220,000 b/d.

TechnipFMC's chief executive Doug Pferdehirt said “We are very pleased that ExxonMobil has selected TechnipFMC to commence engineering for the Liza Phase 2 subsea equipment.”

“We share ExxonMobil’s values of collaboration, trust and overall commitment to operational excellence and the successful long-term development of the project.”

Source:osjonline

Eni, Total partner with Sonatrach for offshore exploration in Algeria

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Italian oil major Eni and French energy major Total signed an agreement with Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach, for offshore exploration in the North African country. In parallel, Eni and Total will also pursue obtaining exploration permits that will allow for the rapid completion of the hydrocarbon potential assessment.

The Chairman and Director General of Algeria’s state oil company Sonatrach, Abdelmoumem Ould Kaddour, the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, and the Chief Executive Officer of Total, Patrick Pouyanné, signed two agreements during the Algeria Future Energy Summit in Algiers on 29 October.

"Together with Sonatrach and Total, we will have the opportunity to explore the deep waters of the Algerian offshore, a virtually unexplored geological province,"…said Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi.

Eni, the biggest foreign oil and gas player in Algeria, said it had also agreed with Sonatrach to take a 49% stake in three oil blocks in the Algerian desert estimated to hold 145 million barrels of oil, Reuters reported.

The licences cover an area in the North Berkine basin where all Eni’s production assets are located and production is expected to start by the end of 2020.

Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and currently participates in 32 mining permits with an equity production in the country of 90,000 boe day, making the company the country's main international player.

Source:safety4sea

Airbus launches project to improve safety of assets at sea

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Airbus Defence and Space has launched Ocean Finder, a service delivering satellite-based detection and identification reports for assets at sea. Ocean Finder aims to ensure safety in hostile areas and support search and rescue operations.

Ocean Finder's goal is to monitor fleets of ships, locate hijacked boats, detect illegal activities, prepare maritime mission and ensure safety in hostile areas and supporting search and rescue operations.

Ocean Finder uses the Airbus satellite constellations, offering Earthimaging data, spanning multiple spectral wavelengths.

The service combines imagery with information sources including AIS and open source data to deliver object-centric or area-centric detection and identification.

The service can be accessed through a web portal allowing users to define the localisation and the surface of their area of interest and task the satellites directly. This can be activated to support planned mission preparation, or support urgent intervention.

Source:safety4sea

Container volumes continued to grow at Port of Rotterdam

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In the first three quarters of 2018, total throughput in the Port of Rotterdam was 0.4% less than in the same period the previous year. However, container volumes continued to grow at a higher pace than the first nine months of 2017.

On the other hand, wet and dry bulk declined in volume, despite the fact that LNG and biomass were two positive outliers within these product segments.

Overall, 350 million tonnes of cargo were handled, a decrease of 1.5 million tonnes compared to last year.

Containers

As for container throughput, it increased by 5.7% (in TEU) compared to the previous year. This led in a total volume of 10,780,204 TEU. August 2018 set a new record with 136,500 tonnes.

Growth rates in the first nine months of 2018 differ from trade route to trade route: along the Asia-Europe trade lane, the volume of incoming loaded containers were up by 10%, while outbound volumes decreased by 7.6%. Overall throughput on the North American trade lane increased by almost 10%, and handling for the South American lane even rose by over 20%.

Liquid bulk

Liquid bulk throughput decreased by over 1%. Crude oil was affected by lower refinery production levels in Germany and Belgium, as well as downtime for maintenance at refining facilities in Rotterdam.

The throughput of mineral oil products handled in Rotterdam in the first nine months of 2018 was less by 1.5% compared to last year. This was mainly caused by the decreased handling of fuel oil. In contrast, other oil products like diesel and petrol showed an increase.

The volume of LNG handled in Rotterdam continued increasing, as September 2018 was a record month, with a total throughput of close to 0.8 million tonnes.

Dry bulk

Total dry bulk throughput reduced by 7.3% compared to the first three quarters of 2017. The strongest decrease was reported in the agribulk and iron ore segments. The total volume of agribulk handled was lower than last year, due to less inbound shipments from South America. In addition, lower wheat prices meant that Europeans consumed more locally produced wheat.

Ore intakes were also lower, as they fell almost 6% short compared to the same period last year. However, intake is expected to increase in the months ahead against the background of increased European steel production combined with low local ore reserves.

Coal throughput fell as well by 4.6%. The demand for fuel coal decreased because of a warm summer, the rising price of CO2 emission allowances and further growth in the renewable energy segment.

Breakbulk

Lastly, Roll on/Roll Off throughput volumes increased by 1.3%. There was no increase in trading volumes on ro/ro services to and from the UK due to the local economic downturn as a result of on-going uncertainty about Brexit.

On the contrary, the volume of cargo transported via ro/ro services to the Iberian Peninsula increased.

The volume of breakbulk handled in Rotterdam recorded its strongest decrease in the first quarter of 2018. Thus, volumes recorded until the end of September still were less by 6.5%. Nonetheless, by the third quarter the volumes had stabilised again.

Source:safety4sea

Euronav Warns that Scrubbers Could Mask Non-Compliance

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On Tuesday, tanker operator Euronav voiced new concerns about the use of SOx scrubbers to comply with the IMO's impending 0.5 percent fuel sulfur content cap, citing low return on investment, the potential impact of flushing stack emission contents into the ocean via wash water – and the potential for scrubber users to avoid compliance. 

After March 1, 2020, only vessels equipped with SOx scrubbers will be permitted to carry non-compliant heavy fuel oil for use on board. Current estimates predict that about five percent of the world's fleet will be scrubber-equipped by 2020. In order to aid enforcement, all other ships will only be permitted to carry low sulfur fuel oil, MGO, LNG or another compliant fuel in their bunker tanks. Euronav warns that this provision could leave a loophole for scrubber-equipped operators on the high seas: they will have HFO on board, and they might choose to burn it without using the scrubber. "Weak regulatory oversight means non-compliance in the open sea, whether through breakdown or malfeasance, cannot be effectively controlled," Euronav said in a statement. "Refiners and oil producers have increasingly made clear that sufficient compliant fuel will be available. Scrubbers are therefore a loophole which makes enforcement of the sulphur ban extremely complex, difficult to enforce and likely to facilitate non-compliance."

The potential for non-compliance extends beyond scrubber-equipped vessels, and independent estimates indicate it may be a larger issue for vessels without this equipment. OPEC predicts that about 25 percent of the world's fleet will continue burning non-compliant fuel in 2020, without installing scrubbers. Goldman Sachs estimates that the initial non-compliance rate will be slightly lower at about 20 percent. 

Euronav also noted that open loop scrubbers will discharge some exhaust gas constituents into the water. "Like plastic contamination over the years, we don’t know what the cumulative effect of this waste water will be or how it will interact with existing seaborne pollutants, particularly in congested sea-lanes like the English Channel, Malacca Straits or Baltic Sea,” Euronav asserted. Scrubber manufacturers argue that treated washwater is safe to discharge into the sea. 

Euronav also believes that the business case for scrubbers may not be as strong as some believe. OPEC predicts broad uptake of scrubber technology, driven by a wide price spread between low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) and HFO – but Euronav expects that the future price of compliant fuel will be much less than predicted.  “Promoters of scrubbers have used marine gas oil (MGO) as a proxy for the price of compliant fuel. Some refiners including Sinochem have recently confirmed that they will sell clean compliant fuel at a price likely to be half the difference between dirty HFO and MGO," the tanker operator said. "So the investment case now has half the returns being promoted."

Source:maritime-executive

Turkey’s First Drillship Begins Exploration in Eastern Mediterranean

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The Turkish drillship Fatih is set to begin its first drilling campaign in the Eastern Mediterranean on Wednesday, a move that is likely to increase tensions between Greece, Turkey and Cyprus over offshore oil and gas rights. 

The first exploration well will be drilled at a location about 35 nm off the town of Alanya, Antalya province, according to Turkish energy minister Fatih Donmez. The area in question is far from the contested region off Cyprus' east coast, where Turkish warships recently blocked Cypriot-backed drilling activity.

“We don’t have an eye on the resources of others; our only issue is to present to our people the riches within our territory,” Donmez said at a launch ceremony on Tuesday. 

Cyprus is divided in two, with the southern half (the internationally-recognized Republic of Cyprus) aligned with Greece and the northern half (the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) aligned with Turkey. Greece and Turkey are both NATO allies, but the administration of Cyprus has been a source of tension between them since the 1970s, when they fought a war over its control.

In February, Turkish warships obstructed the navigation of the Italian drillship Saipem 12000 in order to prevent her from exploring a Cypriot-licensed lease block. Later that month, charterer and leaseholder Eni abandoned its work at the block and sent the drillship to explore a site off western Morocco instead. 

During the blockade, Turkey's foreign ministry asserted that the Republic of Cyprus' exploration lease violated the "inalienable rights on natural resources of the Turkish Cypriot people" and the sovereignty of Turkish Cyprus. Turkey is the only nation that recognizes the sovereignty of Turkish Cyprus. 

On October 18, Turkey alleged that a Greek frigate attempted to interfere with the work of a Turkish survey vessel, the Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa. Donmez warned Tuesday that Turkey would respond if threatened. "If harassment takes place, our naval forces will do what is necessary," Donmez sid. 

Source:maritime-executive

ReCAAP Warns of New Abu Sayyaf Kidnapping Threat

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On Tuesday, the ReCAAP piracy reporting center warned that a faction of the Abu Sayyaf Group is preparing to launch another round of pirate attacks in the waters off Sabah, Malaysia. 

According to ReCAAP, the Philippine Coast Guard believes that a group of about ten Abu Sayyaf members are planning to conduct kidnappings in and around Eastern Sabah "at any opportune time." The ASG fighters do not have specific, pre-identified targets, but are expected to pursue "businessmen or ship's crew of foreign vessels passing through the area." 

The suspected fighters are using an unmarked, blue and white motorized launch of the Malaysian design known as a jungkong. ReCAAP reports that they are heavily armed, with pistols, rifles and at least one grenade launcher. Mariners are strongly urged to exercise extra vigilance when transiting the waters off Eastern Sabah and the Sulu-Celebes Seas, and ReCAAP has long advised ships to avoid the affected area altogether whenever possible. 

Separately, at the nearby port of Zamboanga, the Philippine Coast Guard is deploying additional security teams and K9 units to prevent "entry of lawless elements," according to Lieutenant Commander Noriel Ramos. Zamboanga is a key seaport for travel to and from the Sulu archipelago, the home of the Abu Sayyaf Group. 

Fighting between the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Philippine military continues in the region. On Tuesday, two suspected Abu Sayyaf members were killed on Sulu in a three-hour firefight with Philippine Marines. The Armed Forces of the Philippines estimated the size of the Abu Sayyaf unit in the engagement at about 40 fighters.

The AFP launched a large-scale ground offensive to eliminate Abu Sayyaf bases in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan in 2016. The effort has reduced the rate of Abu Sayyaf hijackings and kidnappings, but firefights and arrests continue. About 125 Abu Sayyaf fighters have surrendered to AFP forces since the start of the year under an amnesty program.

Source:maritime-executive

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