Dampier Port News

Egypt received a cargo of liquefied natural gas from Australia after the exporter sent two shipments to the region in the past two years, signaling increasing demand, reports The Daily Star. The Woodside Rogers tanker arrived at Egypt's Ain Sokhna terminal Thursday after loading at Australia's Dampier port on May 12, according to ship-tracking data on Bloomberg. The 159,760-cubic-metre cargo aboard the Woodside Rogers loaded at the port of Dampier, which serves as the loading point for two LNG export plants, Pluto and North West Shelf. Both plants are operated by Woodside Petroleum. Egypt has emerged as a major new market for LNG as it looks to ease its worst energy crunch in decades. Falling output and rising demand have transformed it from an oil and gas exporter to a net importer.

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's update at 0600 hours local time today (30 April), Severe Tropical Cyclone Quang has just reached category 4 intensity. The cyclone lies about 785km (425NM) northwest of NW Cape. Further intensification is possible. landfall. Nevertheless, gales may persist in southern quadrants, particularly the southeast, as late as Saturday. The Port of Dampier is currently at Cyclone Response Stage 1 – Monitor, with Pilbara Ports Authority monitoring the weather system and assessing its likely path and potential impact on the Port of Dampier. 1) Engines and machinery are fully operational. 2) Vessel stability, trim, and propeller immersion are appropriate. 3) Manning, stores and bunkers are adequate.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, slipped on Wednesday. The index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, fell 3 points, or 0.53 percent, to 565 points. The Baltic's capesize index fell 26 points, or 5.69 percent, to 431 points. "A cyclone outside Australia is threatening to close the Dampier port and as a consequence miners are withdrawing from booking vessels as their schedules are unclear," RS Platou Markets analyst Frode Morkedal said in a note on Wednesday. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $242 to $4,357.

Dampier Port Authority has advised that there is a high probability of a tropical cyclone forming by late Wednesday or early Thursday between Indonesia and North West WA. It is possible that this cyclone will affect coastal waters including Dampier by the end of the week. Port of Dampier is currently at Cyclone Response Stage 1 – Monitor. The situation will continue to be monitored andupdates witll be issued as the situation becomes more clear. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology states there is an indicated increased risk of tropical cyclone formation by late Wednesday. A tropical low is forming south of Indonesia. There is only a small chance of this low developing into a tropical cyclone on Tuesday.

From July 1, 2014, Dampier Port Authority will be merged with Port Hedland Port Authority to form a new body named Pilbara Ports Authority, GAC reported in its daily hot news report. The Western Australian Government recently passed the Ports Legislation Amendment Bill 2013, introducing structural reforms to its statutory port authorities. The main thurst of the reforms is that, with the exception of Fremantle Port, port authorities will be merged or renamed to create four new regional port authorities: Mid West, Southern, Kimberley and Pilbara. The first to be created, Pilbara Ports Authority, will control and manage the ports of Ashburton, Dampier and Port Hedland. pilbaraports.com.au

The Western Australian Government has unveiled a master plan for a multi-user, multi-commodity deepwater port in the Pilbara, which has the potential to be the biggest port in Australia, reports Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) in its latest Australasia newsletter. The State Government has proposed Anketell Port be built on greenfields land about 30 kilometres east of Karratha, and said the project would boast an eventual export capacity of more than 350 million tonnes a year. If realised, it would be more than double the total exports through the nearby Dampier Port and 20 per cent larger than shipments at Port Hedland, which is Australia's biggest export facility.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) has expanded and upgraded its premises and service station facilities in Darwin in direct response to market demand for the Life Raft Exchange (LRE) program. Geoff Brown, General Manager for the Northern Territory and South Australia said, “This new facility in Darwin will service vessels operating within the region’s growing offshore and oil and gas market ... The new premises are well placed to supply and exchange rafts in major resource ports in Australia’s North West Shelf…