Shut Down

Delayed Production Start at Njord after Gas Leak

Production on the Njord platform was shut down on April 24 as a result of operational problems with gaskets in a gas export compressor. Later the same day, during work to resume production, a gas leak was discovered in one of the risers. All production on Njord was immediately shut down and will remain shut down until the cause of the leak has been determined. Production at the Njord field has been shut down since April 1 as a safety measure, while inspection of risers is carried out after earlier discoveries of internal damage to a particular type of flexible pipe. The first instances of damage were discovered during a planned inspection last autumn, and an inspection programme was initiated which is now being carried out. Riser inspection is also being carried out at the Visund field. Risers are the pipes that convey oil and gas from the seabed to the installation, and consist of several layers of plastic and steel. Production at Njord and Visund is planned to be phased in again in due course as inspection of the risers confirms that they are in order, or after they have been repaired or replaced. The Njord field resumed partial production on April 16, but was shut down again on April 24 when manual measurements during a work operation revealed a gas leak from one of the risers after an automatic shutdown. The well was contained when the leak occurred.

Production Resumed on Brage and Veslefrikk

Production on the Brage and Veslefrikk fields has been resumed after the small fire on the Oseberg A platform in the on June 15. The small fire occurred in a high voltage room on the Oseberg A platform which is part of the Oseberg field center.  The high voltage room supplies electric power to the utility systems on the field center.  Both the processing and the transport of oil and gas from the Oseberg field centre were stopped immediately

Oil Prices Fall, Emergency Oil Flows

Newswires reported that oil prices fell 2.4 percent on Tuesday as the energy industry showed signs of recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and industrialized countries prepared to tap emergency supplies to avert a crunch. U.S. crude CLc1> settled down $1.61 to $65.96 a barrel, below last week's peak $70.85. Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast early last week, shutting down nearly all U.S. offshore crude oil production and paralyzing more than 10 percent of refining capacity

Britain Prepares For Next Anticipated Computer Glitch

British maritime authorities have reportedly chartered winter tugboats early to help head off a possible shipping disaster anticipated on Thursday - the ninth day of the ninth month, 1999. The date entry "9/9/99" is a "stop file" in some old computers - a command that could shut down systems on an unknown number of ships plying the open seas, Maritime and Coastguard Agency officials said. The failure of navigation or other operations on large ships is the main concern for the MCA when the

Weather Shuts Down Sydney

Strong winds and high seas forced authorities to close Sydney's port to passenger and cargo ships on Saturday. Winds of up to 59 mph lashed the coast of New South Wales state, bringing down power lines and unroofing a handful of homes. A Sydney Ports spokeswoman said swells of between 22 to 33 feet and wind gusts up to 35 knots inside Sydney Harbour forced the port's closure until at least Sunday. Australian Broadcasting Corp radio said the P&O passenger liner Pacific Sky, with about 1

Hammerfest LNG Plant Resumes Production

The Norwegian LNG plant was shut down due to water ingress in natural gas driers, but is now back in production. Large amounts of natural gas are sent ashore and cooled down at Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya, the world’s most northerly and Europe’s first export facility for LNG from Snøhvit, the first petroleum development in the Barents Sea that has no installations above the sea’s surface.

STN Atlas Trains WIth Modular Simulators

In response to a change in emphasis from certification to verification of competency as per the upgraded Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW 95) convention, the ISM code now calls for additional reliance on simulators for maritime training. STN is complying with these demands for engine room operatives with its new Atlas SES 4000 series of engine room simulators, which are based on real-time physical mathematical modules rather than the conventional look-up tables

St. Francisville/New Roads Ferry Shut Down

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced that the St. Francisville/New Roads ferry crossing is closed because of a fuel tank leak that spilled diesel fuel into the river Saturday, April 25 at 8:30 p.m. The damaged ferry was shut down while the U.S. Coast Guard and National Spill Response Center were notified.  The spill was mitigated by the Marine Spill Response Organization and all diesel fuel was pumped out of the compromised fuel tank as of 2:30 p.m

Potential Port Problems in Nigeria

According to a report on http://www.thenationonlineng.net, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) today threatened to shut down seaports to protest the planned establishment of another body--Maritime Security and Safety Agency. MWUN stated this in a petition signed by its President, Tony Nted and Secretary-General, Aham Ubani, and sent to Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan. The petition, which made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos

Shell: Gas Leak Impacts Supplies to NLNG

Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) has declared force majeure on gas supplies to Nigeria LNG, effective 09:00 hrs (Nigerian time) on Wednesday, May 15 2013. This action is due to production deferment following a reported leak along the Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS-1) right-of-way (RoW) near Awoba in Rivers State. In line with safety precautions, we have shut down our Soku and Gbaran Ubie gas export via the EGGS1 pipeline. Some 1