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Bay Of Bengal News

08 Nov 2023

Excelerate Energy Secures Long-Term LNG Deal with Petrobangla, Bangladesh

Credit: Excelerate Energy (File image)

U.S.-based LNG firm Excelerate Energy has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla). Petrobangla has agreed to purchase 0.85 to 1.0 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG from Excelerate for a term of 15 years beginning January 2026. Excelerate will deliver 0.85 MTPA of LNG in 2026 and 2027 and 1 MTPA from 2028 to 2040.Excelerate first opened the Bangladesh market to LNG in 2018 with the development of its integrated Moheshkhali LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminal.

08 Jun 2022

Bangladesh Police Investigating Deadly Container Depot Fire

© Lightboxx / Adobe Stock

Police in Bangladesh on Wednesday opened an investigation into eight officials from a shipping container depot after a blaze killed at least 44 people, including 10 firefighters, and injured around 200 others, officials said.Firefighters put out the blaze at the depot in Sitakunda, 40 km (25 miles) from the southeastern port city of Chittagong, on Wednesday, four days after it began late on Saturday, triggering a series of explosions.The investigation was opened into officials who were directly involved operating the depot on suspicion of negligence and mismanagement…

06 Jun 2022

Two Days After Deadly Blasts, Bangladesh Container Depot Still Burns

For illustration only. © vichie81 / Adobe Stock

Firefighters battled for a third day on Monday to control a huge fire that killed dozens when it triggered explosions at a Bangladesh container depot, as officials warned of the risk of further blasts if the flames spread to chemicals stored nearby.Drone footage from the BM Container Depot at Sitakunda, 40 km (25 miles) from the southeastern port city of Chittagong, showed thick columns of smoke still rising from burnt-out containers some 46 hours after the blaze broke out.With the country's poor record on industrial accidents under the spotlight…

20 Oct 2020

What Is the Malabar Exercise, and Why Is It Significant?

File photo: Ships from the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the U.S. Navy sail in formation during Malabar 2018. (Photo: Erwin Jacob V. Miciano / U.S. Navy)

Australia will join three-way naval exercises involving the United States, Japan and India, in a move that could provoke concern from China, which has criticized similar joint drills in the past.Here are some of the most common questions on the Malabar exercise:What is the Malabar exercise?The Malabar naval exercise began in 1992 as a training event between the United States and India. Japan joined it in 2015, but Australia has not participated since 2007.The exercise was conducted…

13 Aug 2020

Indian Solar Ferry Flies Flag for Cleaner, Cheaper Water Transport

(Photo: State Water Transport Department, Government of Kerala)

Over the past three years, P. Ravindran’s commute from his southern Indian village has been about more than getting to work - the SIM card seller sees his daily trip on India’s first solar-powered ferry as doing his bit for the green revolution.“I am proud to be a frequent traveler on the Aditya... I am being part of cleaning the Earth,” said Ravindran, who uses the boat most days to travel to the town of Vaikom on Lake Vembanad.The Aditya’s green credentials have attracted international…

21 Jul 2020

US Holds Naval Exercises with Allies in Asia amid China Tension

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, consisting of flagship USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104), and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), along with Indian Navy ships Rana, Sahyardi, Shivalik and Kamorta, steam in formation during a cooperative deployment in the Indian Ocean July 20. (U.S. Navy photo by Jose Madrigal)

The United States is conducting two military exercises in Asian waters this week involving allies Japan, Australia and India, the U.S. navy said on Tuesday.The exercises come as military rivalry between the United States and China is intensifying and days after the United States said China’s claims of sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea were illegal.The United States has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims on the South China Sea, sending warships regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation.China opposes such exercises and said the U.S.

06 Apr 2020

Malaysia Intercepts Boat Ferrying 202 Suspected Rohingya

Malaysian authorities said on Sunday they had intercepted a boat ferrying a group of 202 people believed to be ethnic Rohingya.Malaysia, which does not recognize refugee status, is a favored destination for ethnic Rohingya fleeing a military-led crackdown in Myanmar and squalid conditions at refugee camps in Bangladesh.The boat was found adrift around one nautical mile from a luxury beachside resort on the holiday island of Langkawi, off the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula, the Malaysian maritime enforcement agency said in a statement.The group included 152 men, 45 women and 5 children. All 202 have been detained at the coastguard's Kedah state headquarters.The group will be handed over to immigration authorities for attempting to enter the country illegally…

27 Sep 2019

Excelerate to Build FLNG Terminal in Philippines

Philippine authorities have given Excelerate Energy LP permission to proceed on plans to develop a floating natural gas import terminal to supply existing and new power generation.Texas-headquartered player in floating LNG regasification solutions, received a notice to proceed (NTP) from the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) to develop Luzon LNG, which would be a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminal in the Bay of Batangas.The project, Luzon LNG, will supply natural gas, sourced from LNG, to existing and new gas-fired power plants in the region that provide electricity to Luzon including the area of Metro Manila. This abundant and secure source of gas supply will augment the existing gas production from the domestic Malampaya fields…

03 May 2019

Cyclone Slams Indian Coast, Millions Evacuated

A cyclone barrelled into eastern India on Friday, bringing down trees and power lines and "extensively" damaging the tourist town of Puri, but there were no early reports of casualties with a million people evacuated before it made landfall.Tropical Cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, spent days building up power in the northern reaches of the Bay of Bengal before it struck the coast of the state of Odisha at around 8 a.m., the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.Howling winds gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph) whipsawed trees, uprooting scores, and driving rain impacted visibility, while streets were deserted in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Puri."Damage in Puri is extensive…

02 May 2019

Bangladesh's 2nd LNG Terminal Begins Operations

Bangladesh has employed its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal with the beginning of operations of floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) 'Summit LNG' offshore Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal.According to Excelerate Energy, the FSRU completed commissioning of the LNG terminal, owned by Summit LNG Terminal, on April 29, 2019. The terminal has a send-out capacity of 500 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) of natural gas.In August 2017, Summit entered into a 15-year charter agreement with Excelerate for the FSRU Summit LNG. In addition to providing the FSRU, Excelerate acted as the Owner's Engineer for Summit in regards to the fixed infrastructure components of the terminal…

02 May 2019

Evacuations Underway as Cyclone Menaces India's Coast

India has evacuated more than 300,000 people along its northeast coastline by boat, bus and train ahead of a severe cyclone due to make landfall on Friday, with many villagers piling household possessions on to trucks before fleeing their homes.Severe cyclonic storm Fani was churning up the Bay of Bengal about 320 km (198 miles) south-southwest of the Hindu temple town of Puri where special trains were put on to evacuate tourists and the beaches were empty.In total, about 1.2 million people are expected to be evacuated from low-lying areas of 15 districts in the eastern state of Odisha to cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings…

12 Feb 2019

Maersk Uses Inland Waterway in India

The world's largest container shipping company Maersk Line began moving 16 containers on the Ganga river from Varanasi to Kolkata, the Shipping Ministry of India said.It will be Maersk's first container movement in the 1390-km inland waterway in the River Ganga from Haldia to Varanasi."Maersk Line will move 16 containers on river Ganga (National Waterway-1) from Varanasi to Kolkata tomorrow. The firm is onboard India's inland waterways for the first time," the ministry said in a statement.The Indian government has been developing National Waterway-1 with technical and financial assistance from the World Bank at an estimated cost of around $790 million.On November 12…

12 Nov 2018

Varanasi Port Receives India's First Inland Cargo Vessel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first multi-modal terminal built on the river Ganga in Varanasi (Kashi). He also received India's first container vessel that sailed from Kolkata on the newly-developed inland waterway.The event marked India’s first inland voyage by a container ship since it gained independence from Britain 70 years ago. The first consignment contained cargo belonged to food and beverage giant PepsiCo India.The 1,390km (863 miles) Ganga watercourse is one of the 111 waterways spanning 20,276km that India is reviving or planning to build. The World Bank-assisted Ganga waterways project—costing  USD…

12 Nov 2018

China to Develop Multi Billion Dollar Deep Sea Port In Myanmar

China and Myanmar are moving ahead with a China-backed deep-sea port project in Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) , 250 miles northwest of Yangon.The framework agreement was signed by Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance and Chairperson of the Management Committee of the Kyaukphyu SEZ U Set Aung and President of CITIC Group Chang Zhenming, stated Chinese state media.This is the third port in India’s vicinity. China is also developing deepwater strategic Gwadar port in Pakistan in the Arabian Sea which faces the Mumbai coast. It has also acquired Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on debt swap in the Indian Ocean. It is also…

20 Sep 2018

Bangladesh Shelves LNG Projects as Others Ramp Up

© Kpics / Adobe Stock

Bangladesh has put aside two smaller liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with trading houses Gunvor and Vitol to focus on two larger LNG import terminals, one of which is already in use while the second will start up in March.Bangladesh has turned to LNG to offset falling domestic gas output to feed industrial demand and electricity generation in a nation of 160 million people where a third have no power supply.It aims to import 17 million tonnes a year of LNG by 2025, which in today's terms would make it a top five importer.

23 Aug 2018

Excelerate Energy Commissions Bangladesh’s First LNG Import Terminal

Excelerate Energy Bangladesh completed the commissioning of its Moheshkhali Floating LNG (MLNG) terminal – Bangladesh’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility – signifying the official commencement of operations for the project.This milestone was achieved approximately 25 months after the execution of project agreements, which took place in July 2016, with the state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) and 13 months following the receipt of all permits required to achieve financial close in August 2017 with its lenders, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).Located offshore Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal…

19 Jul 2018

Massive Outreach by Inland Waterways Authority of India along Ganga

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)  has set out on a massive public outreach initiative along river Ganga on National Waterway-1 to help push rural economy to connect with waterways.As part of a month long dialogue series extending from Varanasi to Haldia , a team of IWAI on 17 -18 July, 2018 held two day long outreach with villagers- farmers and traders, from Zamania, Kataria, Puraina, Sarai Mohammadpur, Chochakpur, Jallapur, Dungerpur in Ghazipur district.The officials disseminated information on the Rs 5369 crore  Jal Marg Vikas Project on river Ganga. Residents who participated in hundreds of numbers shared their enthusiasm and expectations from the project.The community outreach was attended by people from diverse backgrounds – NGOs…

12 Jul 2018

Fire Stricken Box Ship SSL Kolkata Sits Aground

Indian flagged containership SSL Kolkata caught fire and went adrift in the Bay of Bengal on June 13 (Photo courtesy of the Indian Coast Guard)

Responders are facing challenging monsoon season conditions as they work to salvage a containership that caught fire and grounded in the in the Bay of Bengal last month.The stricken containership SSL Kolkata remains aground in soft mud some 7.5 nautical miles off the Indian Sunderbans, Kolkata, West Bengal, after an explosion in one of the containers lit a fire on board the vessel on June 13.An oil spill response team from OSRL has arrived on scene and is the process of managing the counter pollution operations as responders battle challenging weather conditions…

19 Jun 2018

ABB Power and Automation for New Indian Ferries

Rendering of the new 1,200-passenger ferry to be built at Cochin Shipyard in India (Image: ABB)

ABB said it has signed a contract with India’s largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, to deliver a first-ever integrated power and automation package to an Indian shipowner.ABB’s contract with Cochin Shipyard covers two new 1,200-passenger ferries, to be delivered to the Andaman & Nicobar Administration in 2020. In what’s said to be a first for a shipowner in India, these vessels will benefit from a full integration of their power generation, distribution and propulsion systems…

14 Jun 2018

22 Rescued from Containership Ablaze in the Bay of Bengal

(Photo courtesy of the Indian Coast Guard)

The Indian Coast Guard said it has rescued all 22 crew members from a containership that caught fire around midnight in the Bay of Bengal.Coast Guard vessels arrived on scene Thursday morning and rescued all crew and the captain from Indian flagged SSL Kolkata, Coast Guard Commander Inspector General (NE) Kuldip Singh Sheoran said.SSL Kolkata was sailing from Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Kolkata when the fire broke out due to an explosion in one of the containers, local media reported.Sheoran said the ship is carrying 464 containers on board.With all crew evacuated…

04 May 2018

Jumbo Completes Work on Bangladesh FLNG Terminal

Photo: Jumbo Maritime

In 2017 Jumbo was awarded a contract by Geocean for the Moheshkhali Project, which is seeing a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal developed off the shores of Moheshkhali Island in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. It will be the country's first LNG import terminal and is expected to help secure the future provision of energy for Bangladesh.The Moheshkhali floating LNG import terminal will also include a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a subsea buoy system and a subsea pipeline…

12 Feb 2018

Oldendorff Conducts Trial Transshipment in India

German shipping company Oldendorff Carriers has conducted a new transshipment operation of coal between two vessels, in the deep, protected water of the Andaman Islands within the Bay of Bengal, India. The Andaman Islands are an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. There are roughly 300 islands, which are known for their palm-lined, white-sand beaches, mangroves and tropical rainforests. However, it was the deep and protected water that attracted Oldendorff Carriers to the Andaman Islands. "Our geared panamax Trina Oldendorff (75,053 tdw built 2013) loaded 73,086 mt of coking coal from Gladstone, Australia and sailed to the Andaman Islands," a statement said.

07 Feb 2018

Pacific International Lines Start Service in Far East - Red Sea Routes

Pacific International Lines (PIL), Singapore’s leading containership operator, announces two upgraded weekly services on the Far East – Red Sea service route. Done in collaboration with Ocean Alliance, the routes named RSS and RES will commence operations in March 2018, superseding the current three services RSS, RS3 and RS5. The route will be operated with a series of 17 x 11,000 to 14,000TEU vessels including its latest newbuilds, the 11,923TEU P Class in the service. The highly efficient and versatile P Class were purpose-built for Red Sea, with a ballast water treatment system fitted onboard and various energy saving measures implemented in its design. The enhanced Red Sea service will extensively cover North Asia and South East Asia with direct connections to the main Red Sea markets.