Oil Platforms

World's Biggest Oil Platform May Sink

The world's biggest oil platform, owned by Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras, may sink, sending the death toll to 10 after two powerful explosions rocked the rig earlier Thursday, Petrobras president said. Petrobras President Henri Philippe Reichstul also said the nine workers missing since the blasts have little chance of survival, which would bring the death toll to 10. "The platform is listing 30 degrees and could sink," Reichstul told a press conference in Macae, Rio de Janeiro in a statement reported by Petrobras press department. Early Thursday morning, two powerful blasts rocked the rig, which stood 40 storeys high some 78 miles (125 km) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state in the Roncador oil field in the Campos Basin, which produces most of Brazil's oil. The platform has capacity to produce 180,000 barrels of crude per day, though it was so far only pumping out about 80,000 barrels per day, or 5 percent of Brazil's total. - (Reuters)

SWATH Crew Boat Design for Offshore Industry

Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd has released details of their 41m SWATH specifically designed for the offshore industry, namely the transportation of crew to oil platforms and servicing large Wind Turbines in offshore windfarms. Servicing and supplying crew to offshore oil platforms requires safe and comfortable operation year round in all sea states. The sea states experienced at these offshore oil platform locations are of the same magnitude as those at offshore windfarms

MSD 71 Supports Maritime Security Operations

Forward deployed Sailors attached to Mobile Security Detachment (MSD) 71 are currently deployed to Iraq’s two critical oil platforms, the Al Basrah (ABOT) and Khawr Al Amaya (KAAOT) oil terminals, conducting maritime security operations (MSO). As a part of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 158, MSD 71, based in Guam, arrived on station April 9 to train and work alongside Iraqi marines in point defense operations of the oil terminals.

Experts: Feds Should Increase Offshore Security

Reports indicate that Ottawa, Canada should proceed with a four-year-old proposal to increase security at Canada's offshore oil platforms, according to experts. A federal internal review on stronger security measures at the lucrative facilities, prompted by the Sept. 11 attacks, was completed by Natural Resources Canada in 2002. Since then, the department has sought the advice of the offshore oil industry and provincial governments to draft amendments.

NMCB 4 Seabees Expending Energy on Oil Platforms

From Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 Public Affairs Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 arrived to oil terminals located off the coast of Aug. 23 to work on living conditions and improve platform access. Few Seabees have had the opportunity of working on oil terminals, which are huge suppliers of the exported oil. Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT) and Al Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT) are located in the northern .

Giant Iceberg Drifting Toward Canada

According to an August 10 report from Postmedia News, the Canadian government is planning how to deal with a massive iceberg that broke off a Greenland glacier last week and is expected to drift south over the next two years into East Coast shipping lanes and toward offshore oil platforms. At 250 sq kilometers, the iceberg is the biggest free-floating mass of ice in the Arctic Ocean in 50 years. (Source: Postmedia News)

Oldest Amphib Serves as Base for Iraq’s Future

USS Ogden (LPD 5), the Navy’s oldest active amphibious ship, is currently serving as the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) for the multinational maritime coalition operating in the North Persian Gulf. As the AFSB for Commander, Task Group (CTG) 158.1, the 41-year-old amphibious transport dock is providing logistical support for the various forces that are protecting Iraq’s territorial waters and oil platforms, as well as serving as a training platform for Iraqi sailors and marines

Royal Navy Hands Over Combined Task Force 158 to U.S. Forces

Rear Adm. Garry E. Hall relieved Royal Navy Commodore Nick Lambert as commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 158 and Capt. Paul Severs relieved Royal Navy Capt. Bob Sanguinetti as commander of Combined Task Group (CTG) 158.1 on July 17 aboard Ocean 6, an afloat forward operating barge in the north Persian Gulf. Command of CTF 158 typically rotates among coalition partners Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States.

This Day in Naval History – Jan. 18

1911 - First aircraft landing on board a ship, USS Pennsylvania by Eugene Ely. 1962 - After a flash fire in the Persian Gulf on Danish tanker, Prima Maersk, burned a crewman, USS Duxbury Bay transfers a Navy doctor to help the Danish crewman and USS Soley took him to the nearest hospital at Bahrain Island. 1968 - Operation Coronado X begins in Mekong Delta, Vietnam 1977 - The Trident (C-4) missile development flight test program commenced when C4X-1 was launched from a flight pad at

COSCO Deliver Offshore Tender Rig 'T-15'

COSCO Corporation (Singapore) subsidiary COSCO (Nantong) Shipyard Co., Ltd deliver a tender rig to Seadrill. The tender rig is designed to be placed in close proximity to an oil platform in order to assist in drilling operations. The new delivery is named 'T-15', and the delivery documents were signed by and between COSCO Nantong and Seadrill on 18 December 2012.