Bohai News

Esgian reports fresh finds confirmed in Guyana, China and Norway in its Week 12 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDolphin Drilling has announced the award of a $154 million drilling contract from India's exploration and production company, Oil India Limited (Oil India), to the 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin.Malaysian offshore drilling firm Velesto confirmed Friday it had recently secured long-term contract extensions for three of its jackup rigs with Petronas Carigali…

Chinese ports and marine safety authorities are on high alert as an expansion of sea ice makes it tougher for ships to berth and discharge at key energy product import terminals along the coast of northern Bohai Bay.A cold wave sweeping the northern hemisphere has plunged temperatures across China to their lowest in decades, boosting demand for power and fuel to historic highs in the world's largest energy consumer."The sea ice situation is more severe this year than the same period in previous years," said Wang Jun, a professor specializing in transport issues at Dalian Maritime University."It could impede sailing and docking for vessels, no matter how big they are."Weather officials warned against severe frost this week in the region, with sea ice stretching 45 to 55 nautical miles at Li

Russia's Gazprom Neft has sold its first ever Arctic oil cargo to China to ChemChina, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters on Thursday.This week, Gazprom Neft said it had sent 144,000 tonnes of light Novy Port oil grade to the Chinese port of Yantai on the Bohai Sea from Russia's north-western city of Murmansk, using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through Russia's Arctic waters.The Delta Hellas vessel used part of the NSR, a route requiring icebreakers and ice-class tankers, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, sailing west from Murmansk to reach Suez and then China.Gazprom Neft said this week the delivery took 47 days, without providing the buyer's name.Gazprom Neft and ChemChina did not reply to Reuters requests for a comment.The company regularly supplies ESPO Blend crude oil to China

Chinese shipyard Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard Group has held a steel-cutting ceremony for four new Azimuthing Stern Drive (ASD) tugs."Series of 6000HP ASD tugboats, which built for Liaoning LongyunShunze Tug Ltd. by our company, were carried out steel cutting. Our guests, President Quzhi, General Manager Tianye, attended the ceremony. It symbols milestone of steel cutting of four tugboats," said a press release from the shipbuilding firm.Liaoning LongyunShunzeTug  is mainly responsible for vessels’ entering and leaving port, berthing, berth shifting, pushing and towing in all berths of Liaoning HaihangIndustry, wholly owned by Liaoning…

China's maritime authority has banned the discharge of "wash water" used in ships to strip hazardous sulphur emissions from engine exhaust gases from Jan. 1, in an effort to curb pollution of its coastal seas.The ban on discharges from so-called open-loop scrubbers affects all rivers and ports along China's coastline and includes the Bohai Sea, according to an official from the China's Maritime Safety Administration (MSA).The measure mirrors a similar move made in Singapore ahead of International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that will ban ships from using marine fuels with a sulphur content of more than 0.5 percent from 2020, unless…

While all eyes are on 2020 and the introduction of the IMO’s global sulphur cap, Hong Kong and Taiwan are aligning their emission regulations with the Chinese Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements and will implement a local 0.50% sulphur cap from 1 January 2019, said Gard.A release from the maritime insurer said that the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee’s 73rd session (MEPC73) has just ended, and with it, so did all speculations about a potential delay of the global 0.50% sulphur cap. The rules apply from 1 January 2020 - and they will be enforced.Hong Kong’s current Fuel at Berth Regulation requiring ships to burn fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.50% while at berth is soon to be replaced by one that will extend the standard to ships operating in Hong Kong waters…

Japan's Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd have agreed to share space on their feeder services.As the first step, the cooperation will cover specific Intra-Europe (BAX, NBS, NPX, REX, SDX, ADX, LEX) and Intra-Asia (BHX, HAS, PID) feeder trade lanes. The carriers have already ushered in a new Intra-Asia service, the Bohai Feeder (BHX) in August and will further introduce a new Intra-Europe service, the North Sea Poland Express (NPX), in mid-October to further…

The market for marine exhaust gas cleaning systems, also known as scrubbers, is expected to continue generating momentum in the years ahead amid increasing concern toward maritime pollution and new environmental regulations. The global market share for marine scrubbers is predicted to surpass $8 billion by 2024, according to a report by Global Market Insights.As per the latest International Maritime Organization (IMO) legislation, effective from January 1, 2020, the maximum limit of sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships will be 0.5 percent m/m…

China's Ministry of Transport said on Friday it is soliciting feedback from oil companies, shipowners' and port associations, and marine authorities for a plan to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine bunker fuel.China will expedite the planning and siting of key berths for LNG tankers in the Bohai Bay area of northern China, as well as along its main rivers, the ministry said.The ministry has asked companies and agencies to give feedback by Aug.

China's Ministry of Transport is planning to establish a laboratory specialising in treating oil spills at sea, the first of its kind in the country, local media Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday. China is spending some 200 million yuan a year on researches for emergency treatment of oil spills but the technological expertise has not been widely applied because of lack of such a lab, the report said. The laboratory is planned in northern port city of Tianjin, off the Bohai Bay, with an initial investment 400 million yuan ($63 million).

A unit of China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Friday issued a blue alert for sea ice in a key port area in the north of the country, potentially disrupting commodities shipments, as temperatures in the region plummet. Sea ice in the Liaodong Bay, the northern arm of China's Bohai Sea, now extends 67 nautical miles (124 km) from the shoreline, the North China Sea Marine Forecasting Center said in an 0700 GMT alert. Ice also extends 18 nautical miles out in the northern part of the Yellow Sea, the Center said.

Antwerp Port Authority signed a collaboration agreement with the port of Caofeidian in China. The collaboration forms part of the “One Belt One Road” project in which China seeks to connect its main ports and industrial cities more closely with crucial trade centres elsewhere in the world including Europe. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of the prime ministers of Belgium and China at a ceremony held in Val Duchesse castle where seven other agreements between the two countries were also concluded at the same time. Caofeidian is a very young but also a very dynamic port situated in the North of Bohai bay in China. Last year it handled 260 million tonnes of freight including 36 million tonnes of steel.

Brazil-China rates hit 15-month high for second time this year. Freight rates for large capesize dry cargo ships on key Asian routes could hold steady or slip slightly next week after unexpectedly climbing this week on strong cargo volumes, ship brokers said. "It is a case of two oceans. In the Atlantic, Vale has been active from Brazil, and volumes from Saldanha Bay in South Africa are steady," said a Singapore-based capesize broker on Thursday. "In the Pacific, it's a waiting game with owners and charterers haggling over a 50 cent difference in the freight rate," the broker added. This occurred as capesize freight rates on the Brazil-to-China route on Wednesday hit the highest level since September 2015 for the second time this year following a surge in fixtures.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Corp (ANZ) has agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) for US$1.33bn. China Cosco Shipping Corp and Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development Corp had each agreed to acquire 10 percent of SRCB. The sale comes as the bank moves to shrink its business and scale back its presence in the region. ANZ said the sale will not have a meaningful impact on its balance sheet, with the price broadly in line with the value of the asset in ANZ's annual accounts. No comment was immediately available from China Cosco Shipping or Sino-Poland. State-owned China Cosco Shipping has amassed stakes in several Chinese banks and financial companies, says a report in FT.

Milaha has taken delivery of a new lift boat which will be deployed offshore, particularly in support of field maintenance efforts. Named the Milaha Explorer, the new lift boat was built by Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. at its yard in Liaoning Province in China, and was designed by the China-based Tianjin De-Sail Machinery Equipment Co. Ltd. Milaha Explorer will be the biggest lift boat to be owned by a Qatari company, with a large deck area and variable load capacity, as well as the ability to accommodate 300 persons on board.

Robert Allan Ltd. has been hard at work in the Chinese market for the last few years, not only for various shipyard clients, but also for local owners. In addition to major international ports in China such as the Ports of Ningbo, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen, recent progress has been made on a regional level at the deep-water Port of Cao Fei Dian in northern China’s Bohai Bay in Hebei Province. Cao Fei Dian Port, with an annual cargo capacity over 100 million tonnes, will soon take delivery of its first Robert Allan Ltd. tug from Zhenjiang Shipyard (Group): a customized RAmparts 3300 Class design. Zhenjiang Shipyard, headquartered in Jiangsu Province, has now built 10 tugs of this Class. Six RAmparts 3200WASD tugs are presently under construction at Sanlin Shipyard in Shanghai.

Vessels calling ports in China’s Yangtze River Delta, including Shanghai, will be required to burn low sulphur fuel while at berth from April 1 this year. China’s Ministry of Transport announced in December last year plans to set up three ECAs: the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai-rim waters. The Yangtze River Delta is the first of the three major port areas to make a 0.5 percent ECA compulsory, to be enforced in Yangtze River core ports: Shanghai port, Zhoushan port…

On 4 December 2015, the Chinese government announced that it designated the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Rim waters as the emission control areas, and the limit for sulphur content of fuel oils used onboard ships operating within the aforementioned emission control areas will start to be strengthened to 0.5% m/m. The URL for the official announcement from the Chinese government is available in Chinese only.

The Mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) and the City of Dalian, Liaoning Province in the People’s Republic of China have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) laying the ground work for an official sister city relationship between the two regions and port cities. Like Sydney, Dalian is a port city. It boasts the largest ice free harbor in northern China and is one of the most modern in the world. It is the second largest transshipment hub in China and processes more than 10 million containers a year. Sydney is an active cruise, ferry and bulk cargo harbor.

China’s Ministry of Transport has published new regulations introducing sulphur (SOx) emission control requirements within three Ship Emission Control Areas (ECAs): Pearl River Delta (PRD), Chang Jiang Delta (CJD) and Bohai Rim (BR). These ECAs are not designated under MARPOL Annex VI. The geographical boundaries of the three ECAs are shown in the images at the end of this Class News. ‘Core ports’ have been designated within them. These are: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou, Nantong, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, and Huanghua.

China will introduce tough controls on ship emissions at three key port areas from January to reduce sulphur dioxide which results in acid rain, causing respiratory difficulties and sometimes premature death, said the Ministry of Transport. If strictly implemented the move would force oil suppliers to increase the supply of cleaner marine fuel, industry experts said. The ministry gave no details on how the new emissions rules would be enforced or penalties for non-compliance. The new rules will apply to merchant ships navigating or anchoring in the waters of Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Bay rim, with a goal to cut sulphur dioxide by 65 percent by 2020 from the 2015 level, according to a document issued by the Ministry of Transport.

LOC are setting key objectives for their second decade in China, while celebrating 10 years in multiple port cities across the country. “We are looking ahead to a great many things in China,” says Jon Walker, Regional Director of LOC. “All four of our current mainland China offices, in Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao and Shenzhen, are involved primarily on offshore energy work. This includes recent completion of warranty services for several platforms in the Bo Zhong 28/34 block development,” said Mr Ng. “China is a very important market for us, as it is for almost all of the global offshore and maritime industry, and we are seeing growing demand for our services.

The APM Terminals Global Terminal Network will enter China’s fastgrowing grain import market as part of a joint venture with Qingdao Port International, continuing APM Terminals’ ongoing expansion into port and terminal operations outside containerised cargo handling. The newly developed Qingdao Port Dongjiakou Multi-Purpose Terminal, in which APM Terminals will hold a 20% share, is located on China’s Bohai Rim in the Shandong province, on the Yellow Sea. The Port of Qingdao is one of the world’s busiest ports,ranking seventh globally handling a total of 468 million metric tons in 2014. Qingdao’s new Dongjiakou Port area is set to become a national hub of Chinese bulk and energy cargos, with a projected volume of more than 300 million metric tons handled annually in this new complex.