Will 2024 be the Year of AHTS Recovery?
As 2023 is drawing to a close we would once again invite the readers of Offshore Engineer Magazine to gaze into our crystal ball to see what 2024 might have in store for the offshore support vessel industry. Before diving straight into our forward-looking sentiments however, it is important to address some of the main trends in the year that past as these lay the foundation for the year to come.Continuing the market development from the year before, 2023 very much advanced the ongoing recovery for offshore support vessels further.
Wabtec, Marinsa Win 20-Engine Deal for New Panama Canal Tugboats
Wabtec Corporation and Latin American Channel Partner, Marinsa International, signed a contract to supply the primary power for 10 new hybrid tractor tugboats for the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). Wabtec will deliver two 8L250MDA marine engines for each tugboat.“Wabtec is delighted to power the new hybrid Panama Canal tugs with the 8L250MDA marine engines,” said Tammy Gromacki, Wabtec’s Vice President of Marine, Stationary and Drill. “We are honored, through our partnership with Marinsa…
How Serious is Russia's Fuel Export Ban and Who Will be Hit?
Russia said on Sept. 21 that it had temporarily banned gasoline and diesel exports to all but four ex-Soviet states in response to domestic shortages, a move that will disrupt global trade that has already had to adjust to Western sanctions on Russian fuel exports.Russia eased some of the restrictions on Sept. 25, saying it would allow the export of bunkering fuel for some vessels and diesel with high sulphur content. The government has yet to give a timeline for any further easing…
Guyana's Oil Exports Double, with Europe Taking Half of Cargoes
Guyana's oil exports jumped 164% last year, boosted by growing output and demand for the newest Latin American oil producer's light sweet crudes, particularly in Europe, where thirsty refiners ramped up imports to replace Russian supplies.Since a consortium led by Exxon Mobil began pumping in late 2019, Guyana's shipments have soared, bringing the South American nation's oil export income to $1.1 billion last year, according to official figures provided to Reuters.The government's $1.1 billion share of oil revenue was up sharply from a combined $409 million in profit and royalties in 2021.
Venezuela's Oil Exports Fall in Spite of Iranian Assist
Venezuela's oil exports last year declined due to infrastructure outages, U.S. sanctions and rising competition in its key Asia market despite assistance from ally Iran, according to shipping data and documents.Exports this year are expected to get a lift after the United States relaxed oil sanctions by authorizing some partners of state-run firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to resume taking Venezuelan crude.Iran expanded its role in Venezuela last year, sending supplies to boost exports and technicians to repair a refinery.
Chevron Sending Two Oil Tankers to Venezuela Under US Approval
U.S. oil company Chevron Corp is sending two oil tankers to Venezuela, one of which will load the first cargo of crude destined for the United States in nearly four years, according to a person familiar with the matter and shipping data.On Friday, a Chevron-chartered vessel approached the South American country's waters to pick up a cargo of Venezuelan crude. A second tanker carrying a cargo of diluents to a Chevron oil joint venture is due to arrive in Venezuela early next month, the person said.The U.S. last month issued a six-month license to Chevron authorizing it to take an expanded role at four Venezuelan oil joint ventures that produce, process and export oil, and to bring their oil to the United States.The U.S. license will reopen oil flows that were shut by U.S.
Chevron Can Resume Key Role in Venezuela's Oil Output, Exports
Chevron Corp on Saturday received a U.S. license allowing the second-largest U.S. oil company to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the South American country's crude oil to the United States.The decision grants broader rights for the last big U.S. oil company still operating in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela. However, it restricts any cash payments to Venezuela, which could reduce the oil available to export.License terms are designed to prevent state-run oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA PDVSA.UL, from receiving proceeds from Chevron's petroleum sales, U.S. officials said.
Trinidad Designing LNG Hub to Feed the Caribbean
Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned gas company has started work on designing a small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub that could help the Caribbean move away from oil-based power generation, the firm told Reuters.Trinidad is Latin America's largest LNG exporter and the project, expected to be operational by 2025, will have a handling capacity of up to 500,000 tonnes a year, National Gas Company (NGC) said. The facility, capable of storing, handling and shipping LNG for the region…
Cuba Seeks More Electricity Supply from Turkish Powerships
Cuba, mired in an energy crisis that has brought frequent blackouts, is negotiating with a Turkish company to have it double the megawatts it currently produces for the country from shipboard generators just offshore, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.Cuban officials are in talks with Karpowership, one of the world’s largest operators of floating power plants and part of the Turkey-based Karadeniz Holding, the sources said. The company already has five…
UN Deep-sea Mining Rules Unlikely to be Completed by 2023 Deadline, Latam Countries Say
Regulations governing deep-sea mining will take longer to finalize due to the global pandemic, a group of Latin American countries said, creating uncertainty for companies looking to mine the sea bed for metals, including cobalt and nickel.The delayed negotiations also pose a potential difficulty for companies seeking financing from investors to mine the sea floor.The U.N.’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) is working on global rules covering sea bed mining, which is not allowed…
Mexico Sending Navy Ships with Food and Medical Supplies to Cuba
Mexico will send two navy ships loaded with food and medical supplies to Cuba, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blamed the U.S. embargo for fomenting the biggest unrest in Cuba in decades.The ships will leave the port of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, taking syringes, oxygen tanks, and masks along with powdered milk, cans of tuna, beans, flour, cooking oil, and gasoline.The shipments exemplify Mexico's policy of "international…
Lawsuit Challenges ExxonMobil's Exploration and Production Activities in Guyana
A landmark lawsuit filed against Guyana's government, arguing that oil production fuels climate change, could bolster legal action as court cases involving energy companies and state authorities surge, according to lawyers and environmentalists.The constitutional claim - the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean - asserts that oil exploration and production led by U.S. oil major ExxonMobil off the South American country's coast is unconstitutional, said the case's lead lawyer Melinda Janki.Filed by two Guyanese citizens in late May before the tiny nation's constitutional court, the lawsuit centers on the duty of the state to protect the environment for present and future generations…
Keppel Delivers Another LNG Vessel to Avenir LNG
Keppel Offshore & Marine has delivered its second newbuild LNG carrier, the Avenir Accolade, to Avenir LNG.The LNG carrier can also function as an LNG bunkering vessel (LBV), making it the third LBV that Keppel has delivered."The dual-fuel Avenir Accolade attests to Keppel’s growing track record in solutions for the gas value chain and reinforces Keppel’s Vision 2030 to seize opportunities in LNG solutions," said the company which in January announced it would exit the drilling rig building business.The 7…
LNG Tankers to Arrive in Mexico's Ports to Offset Gas Shortage Caused by Cold Snap in U.S.
Two tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Mexico are expected to arrive on Thursday in the country's Altamira and Manzanillo ports, government officials said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed, part of emergency purchases by the government to ease interrupted gas supplies.Mexico resorted to LNG supplies to partially offset a gas deficit for power generation after cold-weather froze several key gaslines crossing the U.S. border. The governor of Texas on Wednesday banned out-of-state gas supplies through Feb. 21 to prioritize the state's utilities.The Latin American nation is also ramping up electricity generation for its…
Metal Shark Delivers Patrol Boat to the Dominican Republic
Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered an 85- by 19.5-foot welded aluminum Near Coastal Patrol Vessel (NCPV) to the Dominican Republic’s Navy under a $54 million U.S. Navy contract to produce up to 13 Defiant-class patrol craft for U.S. partner nations.Christened Betelgeuse in keeping with the Dominican tradition of naming military vessels after constellations, the new patrol craft was built at Metal Shark’s Franklin, La. shipyard and officially incorporated into the Dominican…
US Turns Screws on Maritime Industry to Cut off Venezuela's Oil
Several companies that certify vessels are seaworthy and ship insurers have withdrawn services to tankers involved in the Venezuelan oil trade as the United States targets the maritime industry to tighten sanctions on the Latin American country.U.S. sanctions have driven Venezuela’s oil exports to their lowest levels in nearly 80 years, starving President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government of its main source of revenue and leaving authorities short of cash for essential imports such as food and medicine.The sanctions are part of U.S.
Petrobras Will Not Hire Tankers That Visited Venezuela
Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA has told shippers it will not hire any tankers that have visited Venezuela in the past 12 months, the state-controlled oil company said on Friday, signaling adherence to U.S. sanctions on the Latin American nation.The United States this year blacklisted oil tankers and shipping companies over their dealings with Venezuela, seeking to drain oil revenues that sustain the rule of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Washington has said it could add to its sanctions list…
Two Cruise Ships Dock in Florida After Coronavirus Ordeal
An ocean liner forced by a deadly onboard coronavirus outbreak to languish at sea since mid-March pulled into a South Florida port on Thursday, after authorities settled plans for the vessel and its sister ship to dock and most passengers to come ashore.The Holland America Line cruise ship MS Zaandam and its twin, the MS Rotterdam, docked late in the afternoon at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where medical personnel immediately began off-loading 13 severely ill…
AAPA Elects Cordero as Board Chairman
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has elected Mario Cordero, executive director of California’s Port of Long Beach, to serve as the association’s next Chairman of the Board.Cordero will be installed as Chairman on the final day of AAPA’s 2020 Annual Convention, set for September 13-16, in Québec City, QC, Canada. He will assume the AAPA chairmanship from Gary G. Nelson, executive director of Washington State’s Port of Grays Harbor, who began his term on October 15…
Cargo Ship Captain and Crew Found Guilty in Cocaine Bust
The Russian captain and crew of a cargo ship captured last year in Cape Verde with the biggest cocaine haul ever seized in the country were found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to jail on Friday.The 9.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized in February 2019 after the ship, which was traveling to Morocco from South America, docked at the port of Praia for legal reasons following the death of a crew member.An Atlantic archipelago of 500,000 people off Africa’s west coast, Cape Verde has long tried to tackle gangs trafficking Latin American cocaine to Europe via West Africa.Captain Sergei Kotlovskii said during the trial that he had been…
CaribX Ups Stake in Cape Licence Off Honduras
The Central American and Caribbean specialist exploration company CaribX said that it is increasing its share of the Main Cape Operating contract in Honduras.Following government approval CaribX will hold a 55% interest in the highly prospective licence area.CEO Rory Scott Russell said: "We are pleased to have closed this latest round of funding and delighted to have such a highly qualified and experienced group of explorers and entrepreneurs joining the company. Attracting the team behind Sierra and the giant Zama discovery demonstrates the enormous potential offshore Honduras, and in the region, as well as the subsurface similarities to the super-giant oil fields of Mexico."Rory added: "Combined with Armando Zamora’s experience with regulatory and government affairs…
Venezuela Alters Oil Royalty Formulas, Driven by IMO 2020
Venezuela has changed the formulas for calculating royalties energy companies pay the government to remove references to fuel oil and some crude grades, driven by stricter rules governing marine fuel emissions, according to a document seen by Reuters.A ban by the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), on the use of fuels with a sulfur content above 0.5%, aimed at reducing pollution, has roiled oil markets and caused price volatility for…
Interview: Davide Breviglieri, CEO of Azimut Yachts do Brasil
With 50 years of history, the Azimut | Benetti Group is recognized as the world’s largest motor yacht builder (global orderbook 2019). For nearly 10 years Azimut has been producing a wide range of luxury motor yachts in Brazil. Maritime Reporter´s correspondent in Brazil interviewed Italian executive Davide Breviglieri, CEO of Azimut Yachts do Brasil.Founded in 1969 by Paolo Vitelli, still the main shareholder, the group is present in 70 countries and has a network of 138 sales and service offices, bringing together the successful brands Azimut Yachts and Benetti, each serving different market segments. “The Group offers a huge range of motor yachts, with over 45 models in production, from 34 feet to 100 meter super yachts.