Marine Link
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

West African News

24 Nov 2023

Eni to Invest $10 Billion in Ivory Coast Baleine Field

Source: Eni

Eni will invest $10 billion in the development of the Baleine field offshore Ivory Coast, which will take place in three phases from 2023 to 2027, Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said on Thursday.The Baleine field, where certified reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was discovered in 2021 by the Italian energy group off the east coast of the West African country.The field's crude oil production should reach 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, compared with 30,000 barrels per day in 2023, the energy minister said."With a tota

05 Oct 2023

How Serious is Russia's Fuel Export Ban and Who Will be Hit?

Credit: borissos/AdobeStock

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…

28 Jun 2023

Concerns Over Anti-Piracy Efforts Raised at UN Security Council

Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs - Department of Peace Operations, while speaking to the United Nations Security Council meeting on June 22.

While piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has been declining since 2021, concerns have been raised about staffing, equipment and finance needed to continue anti-piracy efforts in the region.There are several challenges holding back the full operationalization of the Yaoundé Architecture, said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs - Department of Peace Operations at the United Nations, while speaking to the United Nations Security Council meeting on June 22.

22 May 2023

Boluda Towage Expands Its Services in Togo

Left to right: Mathieu Le Moal, General Manager of Boluda Towage France in Sub-Saharan Africa; Vicente Boluda Fos, President of Boluda Corporación Marítima; Kokou Edem Tengue, Minister of Maritime Economy, Fisheries and Coastal Protection; Caroline Vonie, General Manager of Boluda Lomé and Antonio Bordils, CEO of Boluda Towage. (Photo: MEMPPC)

Marine towage provider Boluda Towage announced it has strengthened its partnership with Togo, highlighting its capacity for expansion, growth, and internationalization in the West African nation.The main purpose of this meeting was to evaluate the effectiveness of the public-private partnership between Boluda and Togo, in the framework of the tugboat activities in the Autonomous Port of Lomé. During the meeting, the management of Boluda Towage also announced the arrival of a new tugboat.By allowing access for larger vessels…

19 May 2023

Asian Spot LNG Prices Slip to Two-year Low

© Nicola / Adobe Stock

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices slipped to their lowest level in two years on weak demand and high inventories, while European LNG prices also fell below the $10 mark amid healthy stock build and limited need for additional supply.The average LNG price for July delivery into northeast Asia was down 6.6% from the previous week at $9.8 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the lowest since May 2021, industry sources estimated."Prices continue to linger sub $10 as general demand remains lacking…

10 Apr 2023

Rare Shipments of North Sea Forties Crude Head to East Coast Refiners

U.S. and Canadian refiners have turned to North Sea "Forties" crude oil for the first time in seven years in the latest sign of changing global oil flows from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Nearly 2.6 million barrels of the crude are set to arrive at U.S. East Coast ports since February, according to Customs data on Refinitiv Eikon. Some of the oil is likely headed to Canada via pipeline. The light, low-sulfur Forties crudes are blended with others to replace Russian crudes that have been barred from the U.S. and Canada. Prior to the ban, about 50% of all crude from Russian ports that landed in the U.S. went to East Coast refineries, the customs data showed. The tanker Sea Turtle in February discharged 770,000 barrels of Forties and Forties blend crudes in Maine, destined for Suncor Energy.

17 Mar 2023

Gabon Transport Minister Resigns in Wake of Fatal Ferry Accident

Gabon's transport minister stepped down on Thursday, the presidency said, one week after more than 20 people were killed in a ferry accident that sparked outrage across the West African nation.The presidency's statement did not say why Brice Paillat handed in his notice.But it followed widespread calls for his resignation over the sinking of the Esther Miracle ferry close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.The boat was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil…

14 Mar 2023

At Least 21 Confirmed Dead in Gabon Ferry Accident

© Ms / Adobe Stock

Search teams in Gabon have recovered the dead bodies of 15 passengers of a ferry that sank off the West African country's coast last week, bringing the provisional death toll up to 21, the coordinator of rescue operations said on Tuesday.The Esther Miracle ferry was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil when it sank close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.Authorities confirmed six deaths on Monday and were still searching for 31 missing people. Air force…

28 Feb 2023

Yinson Bags $5.3B Deal for its First FPSO Project in Angola

Illustration only - ©Ranimiro/AdobeStock

Malaysian company Yinson has secured a firm contract to provide and maintain an FPSO for Azule Energy, a BP-Eni joint venture, in Angola.The contract, awarded by Eni Angola, is for the provision of the FPSO for the  Agogo Integrated West Hub Development Project in Angola (“FPSO Agogo”).According to Yinson, the contract is worth about $5.3 billion in total and has a firm period of 15 years from the date of the final FPSO's acceptance. Azule Energy will have the option to extend for another five years. The FPSO Agogo is expected to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

23 Dec 2022

When Fishing Boats Go Dark, They’re Often Committing Crimes – We Mapped Where It Happens

© illiano / Adobe Stock

In January 2019, the Korean-flagged fishing vessel Oyang 77 sailed south toward international waters off Argentina. The vessel had a known history of nefarious activities, including underreporting its catch and illegally dumping low-value fish to make room in its hold for more lucrative catch.At 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, the Oyang 77 turned off its location transponder at the edge of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone – a political boundary that divides Argentina’s national waters from international waters, or the high seas. At 9 p.m. on Jan.

30 Nov 2022

Venezuelan Oil Exports Flow Using False Documents, Ships Linked to Iran

When the supertanker Young Yong sailed to the Chinese port of Qingdao in September last year, it had quality certificates for its cargo stating it was transporting Malaysian crude oil, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters.But satellite images and photos show the Chinese-owned ship had loaded the oil four months earlier in Venezuela, an OPEC nation in South America under U.S. oil sanctions.The Young Yong is one of three vessels identified by Reuters that were chartered by little-known companies to export Venezuelan oil and used false documents to conceal its origin, according to shipping documents and 11 sources with knowledge of the trade.Two of those tankers, including the Young Yong, were designated this month by U.S.

29 Nov 2022

Nigeria Stowaways Who Survived 11 Days on Ship Rudder Must Return Home - Spanish Police

©Spanish Coast Guard/Twitter

Three migrants rescued in Spain's Canary Islands, after apparently enduring an 11-day journey from Nigeria crouched on the rudder of a fuel tanker, should now be returned home under stowaway laws, a police spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday. In a photograph distributed on Twitter by the Spanish coast guard on Monday, the three stowaways are shown crouching on the rudder under the hull, just above the waterline of the Alithini II.The 183-metre ship, sailing under a Maltese flag, arrived in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria after setting out from Lagos in Nigeria on Nov.

17 Nov 2022

Nigeria to Build its First FLNG Unit

UTM Offshore Signs Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Contract for Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Facility in Nigeria. Image Source: UTM Offshore

Nigerian company UTM Offshore has signed a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the development of an FLNG facility in Nigeria with JGC Corporation, Technip Energies, and KBR.This will be Nigeria's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. Africa currently has two FLNG units in operation, the Hili Episeyo in Cameroon, and, as of recently, the Coral Sul FLNG in Mozambique. In Nigeria, the FLNG unit will be used for development of offshore block OML  204.According to Chief Timipre Sylva…

01 Nov 2022

Ghana's Historic Slave Forts are Being Swallowed by Rising Seas

Cape Coast Castle - Ghana / ©demerzel21/AdobeStock

For 21 years, Fort Prinzenstein's caretaker James Ocloo Akorli has watched the Gulf of Guinea's tempestuous waters eat away at both his livelihood and his heritage.The 18th century Danish citadel, set along Ghana's palm-fringed coastline, was once the last stop for captured Africans before they were forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas.Today, three-quarters of the UNESCO World Heritage site has been swallowed by the sea."There have been mornings after a storm when I have come to find large parts of the fort have just disappeared…

21 Jun 2022

Havfram Bags Senegalese Mooring Pre-Lay Contract from MODEC

(Photo: Havfram)

Offshore services company Havfram announced it has been awarded a contract from MODEC Offshore Production Systems (Singapore) Pte Ltd. (MODEC) for the pre-installation of the subsea mooring system for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) in 2022.MODEC’s parent company, MODEC, Inc., will supply this facility to Woodside, for deployment in Senegal as part of the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 project. This phase will target approximately 230 million barrels of…

14 Jun 2022

West Africa Market Harbors Positive Potential for MODU Operators

Chart courtesy MSI

The region could be a key growth market for the oil and gas industry going forward, writes Joshua Belo-Osagie, Maritime Strategies International (MSI).Improving sentiment surrounds energy market prospects offshore West Africa, the positive mood underpinned by higher oil prices, reformed regulatory frameworks in key markets including Angola and Nigeria and the discovery of major prospects off the Ivory Coast and Namibia.In addition, the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only reinforced some of these pre-existing dynamics…

02 Jun 2022

UN Security Council Calls for Crackdown on Gulf of Guinea Piracy

© Lucia / Adobe Stock

The UN Security Council last week called for greater action to prevent piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, a region posing significant danger for commercial shipping as a hotbed for maritime kidnappings and armed robbery at sea.The council unanimously adopted Resolution 2634 (2022), which calls upon member states in the region to criminalize piracy and armed robbery at sea under their domestic laws, and to investigate, prosecute or extradite, in accordance with applicable international law…

09 May 2022

Senegal: GAS Entec Builds 'World's First' Modular LNG Floating Storage Regasification Unit for KARMOL

Credit: GAS Entec

GAS Entec has completed the conversion of a 125,000m³ LNG carrier into an FSRUfor KARMOL, a joint-venture between Turkey's Karpowership and Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), for deployment in Senegal.The company, a subsidiary of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific International Holding (AG&P), has converted the LNG carrier into an 84 mmscfd Modular Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (M-FSRU) with the capacity to scale from 15 to 300 mmscfd per unit."This M-FSRU is the world's first modular floating LNG regasification terminal…

04 Mar 2022

China Taps Alternative Payments to Keep Russian Oil Flowing

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Chinese refiners are paying for Russian crude oil using cash transfers to maintain imports from Russia’s Fast East, as banks shy away from financing the oil because of sanctions, sources with knowledge of the matter said.Global oil prices have soared to their highest in a decade as banks halted financing Russian oil after the United States and other countries ramped up sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.Spot crude premiums and freight rates also spiked, piling on buyers’ costs.Several European and U.S.

03 Jan 2022

Construction Begins at DP World's $1.1 Billion Port in Senegal

(File photo: DP World)

Senegal President Macky Sall on Monday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a $1.13 billion deep-water port being developed by Dubai's state-owned port operator DP World at Ndayane, around 50 km (31 miles) south of the capital Dakar.DP World Dakar, a joint venture between the Dubai-based logistics provider and the Port Authority of Dakar (PAD), is the biggest private investment in the West African country, Sall said."We are ready for the structural transformation of our economy with this mega project," Sall said.DP World has said the first phase will include 840 metres of quay and

17 Aug 2021

Drones, Navies, Attack Boats: Will They be Enough to Tackle the World's Latest Piracy Hotspot?

© remipiotrowski / Adobe Stock

Helicopters hover above a patrol vessel in Nigeria's frenetic Apapa port as attack boats zoom past. On the dock, drones emblazoned with the Nigerian flag sit ready to deploy – all part of a $195 million U.S.-backed "Deep Blue" initiative to deter pirate attacks in the world's most dangerous area for seafarers.The more than 2.35 million square kilometer (910,000 million square mile) expanse of the Atlantic Ocean that borders some 20 West African nations is known as "pirate alley"…

23 Jul 2021

Ten Men Get 12 Years in Prison for Chinese Ship Hijacking

Credit: Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (File photo)

A court in Lagos sentenced 10 men to 12 years in prison on Friday for kidnapping the crew of a Chinese-flagged merchant vessel last year, the navy said, a verdict that officials hope will help tackle piracy in the waters off Nigeria's coast.Federal high court Justice Ayokunle Faji, who also fined each man 250,000 naira ($608) for each of the three counts for which they were charged, said their actions in kidnapping 18 crew from the FV HAILUFENG II in May 2020, were "an embarrassment…

19 Jul 2021

As Many as 17 Missing in Cargo Ship Sinking Incident off Liberia

A sinking ship - Image for illustration only - Credit: roibu/AdobeStock

As many as 17 people were missing from a cargo ship that sank off the coast of Liberia over the weekend despite being barred from setting sail, the Maritime Commissioner said.The Liberian-registered Niko Ivanka left the capital Monrovia on Saturday for a port in the West African country's south, despite being under a detention order for failing to meet basic safety requirements.The vessel sent out a distress signal that afternoon, notifying the coastguard that it had taken on water.

Subscribe for
Maritime Reporter E-News

Maritime Reporter E-News is the maritime industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email five times per week