Nadia News

Lenders of the troubled marine seismic contractor Polarcus, which last week took control of the company's vessels after a debt payment default, will sell Polarcus' vessels and all the employees will be let go.Banks last week tool control of Polarcus' subsidiaries that own seismic vessels, with the subsidiaries in question being Polarcus Asima AS, Polarcus Alima AS, Polarcus Amani AS, Polarcus Adira AS, Polarcus Nadia AS, Polarcus Naila AS - bearing the corresponding vessels' names,   and Polarcus Shipholding AS.

The first of many warnings about a deadly cargo in Beirut’s port came in February 2014, about three months after its arrival. It was made by Colonel Joseph Skaf, described by his family as a diligent customs official.Skaf, then the head of the anti-narcotics and money laundering division, informed the customs authority that the shipment of ammonium nitrate was “extremely dangerous” and posed a risk to the public.In his handwritten letter, reviewed by Reuters and authenticated by a source familiar with the case…

Lebanese security officials warned the prime minister and president last month that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut’s port posed a security risk and could destroy the capital if it exploded, according to documents seen by Reuters and senior security sources.Just over two weeks later, the industrial chemicals exploded in a massive blast that obliterated most of the port, killed at least 163 people, injured 6,000 more and destroyed some 6,000 buildings, according…

Polarcus' seismic vessel Polarcus Nadia is on the move, after more than five years in lay-up in the Netherlands, according to information released Friday by Dutch Marine Contractors.The Polarcus Nadia, delivered in 2010, was cold stacked by Polarcus in early 2015 during the previous oil price downturn, in a move to cut operating costs, with little hope it would be reactivated soon. The former CEO Rod Starr said at the time that it cost around $1.6 million per year to cold-stack the vessel, and, up to $40 million to reactivate it.The Polarcus Nadia has been in layup ever since, with limited info on the vessel since the cold-stacking.Dutch Marine Contractors on Friday said: "After a few years of layup, MV Polarcus Nadia departed this morning from Amsterdam to Norway.

Vessel sales for April 2017 (as of May 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

DP World may launch operations in Iran, the company's chairman said on Thursday, as the global ports operator reported a jump in half-year earnings after buying assets from its parent company. Customer demand will dictate what it will spend on developing port facilities on the Caspian Sea, which it is currently exploring with Iranian authorities. "Iran has a good land bridge of rail that will connect the Silk Route from China to Europe," Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said on an earnings call with reporters. "With our ports in the Gulf, we need to go into Iran," he said, without giving a timeframe for the investment. He said DP World officials visited Iran ahead of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in July that could see trade sanctions lifted.

Qatar Navigation (Milaha) said on Thursday its unit Qatar Shipping Company had acquired the remaining 60 percent interest in two firms which own Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers from France's Societe Generale. The two entities, Milaha Ras Laffan and Milaha Qatar, are chartered to RasGas under a 25-year time charter contract, with 14 years and 16 years remaining under the time charter agreement respectively, according to a bourse filing. Qatar Shipping Company owned the other 40 percent in each of the two companies prior to the transaction, for which the deal value was not disclosed. Reporting by Nadia Saleem

Polarcus Limited released its first quarter 2015 financial statements, reporting revenues of $81.1 million, down 33 percent from same quarter the previous year. The company’s gross cost of sales were $68.7 million, down 13 percent from same quarter the previous year. Polarcus reported improved liquidity position by $59 million following an amendment agreement with the banks, as well as an extension of maturity of the $125 million convertible bond by two years to 2018. Rod Starr…

General Dynamics Mission Systems' new TACLANE®-10G (KG-175X) in-line network encryptor is now certified by the National Security Agency (NSA) to secure information at the Top Secret level and below. The NSA certification authorizes U.S. government organizations to order the new 10G encryptor. "The NSA certification of TACLANE-10G is another step forward for General Dynamics Mission Systems' cyber defense capabilities. General Dynamics keeps our customers connected while ensuring their security and advancing their operations. Securing sensitive and critical information is yet another example of how we support our customers," said Chris Marzilli, president of General Dynamics Mission Systems.

Dubai's DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, posted an 11.8 percent rise in 2014 net profit as profit margins grew in all its regions, the company said on Thursday. The firm made a profit attributable to shareholders of $675 million compared with $604 million in the prior year, it said in a statement to the NASDAQ Dubai bourse. Revenue in the 12 months was $3.41 billion, up 11 percent from 2013. DP World invested $807 million across its portfolio during the year, adding 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Mohammed Sharaf, group chief executive, said 2015 was expected to see the addition of about 8 million TEU. This would include new facilities in Turkey, India and the Netherlands, and added capacity at Dubai's Jebel Ali Terminal 3.

Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, 83, passed away today in the company of his family at his home in Oslo. An entrepreneur and visionary of boundless enthusiasm and energy, Jacob Stolt-Nielsen founded Parcel Tankers, Inc. in 1959 and pioneered the global trade for liquid chemicals, ultimately building what is today the world's largest chemical tanker company, Stolt Tankers. worldwide. In 1972, he founded Stolt Sea Farm, a pioneer in salmon farming, which is recognised today as a leader in high-tech aquaculture, focusing on sole, turbot and sturgeon for caviar. A year later, in 1973, he established Stolt-Nielsen Seaway A/S to provide diving and subsea services to the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea…

Polarcus Limited has signed a letter of intent with Perenco Oil & Gas Gabon S.A. for a 3D marine seismic acquisition project offshore West Africa.   The project, to be acquired by Polarcus Nadia and subject to the execution of a service contract, will commence in the first quarter of 2015 and is expected to run for approximately 21 days.

EZW purchase funded from existing cash and loan facilities; DP World will also take about $859 million of EZW's debt. DP World said on Thursday it would pay $2.6 billion to major shareholder Dubai World for its EZW logistics infrastructure firm, easing the burden on the state conglomerate ahead of a $4.4 billion debt repayment next year. The deal is the latest example of Dubai's 'asset shuffle', where profitable state-owned firms have bought assets from those still struggling after the emirate's debt crisis at the turn of the decade. Dubai World is due to repay $4.4 billion in May, but is in negotiations with creditors to bring this payment forward in exchange for more time to meet a much larger payment scheduled for 2018, as well as other inducements.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), one of the world's largest petrochemicals groups and the Gulf's largest listed company, reported a 7 percent rise in second-quarter net income on Sunday, matching analysts' forecasts. It earned 6.46 billion riyals ($1.72 billion) in the quarter, compared to 6.04 billion riyals in the year-earlier period, SABIC said in a bourse statement. SABIC, which is 70 percent state-owned, attributed the rise in profits to higher production and sales volumes as well as higher sales prices. This was in line with the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters, who had predicted a quarterly profit of 6.42 billion riyals. (Reporting by Nadia Saleem; Editing by Andrew Torchia) ($1 = 3.7502 Saudi Riyals)

United Arab Emirates shipper Gulf Navigation said on Wednesday it had cut its capital by two-thirds and written off accumulated losses worth 1.1 billion dirhams ($300 million), key parts of a turnaround plan designed to solve its debt problems. The company's capital has been reduced to 551 million dirhams from 1.66 billion dirhams, it said in a statement on the Dubai bourse, with the reverse stock split effectively creating one share for every three existing shares. The accounting technique allows the firm to use its own capital base to expunge its debts. Dubai's only listed crude oil shipper has been in talks with creditors for months after an ambitious expansion plan at the end of the last decade crippled the company…

The late Nelson Mandela once said: “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.” At the EU-Africa summit in Brussels last month, European leaders urged their African counterparts to facilitate that dream by shouldering more of the security burden in their countries, both onshore and offshore. The summit coincided with reports of renewed piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden; ongoing attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, and explosions and mass arrests in Kenya, all serving to underline the scale of that challenge.

Polarcus Limited received its eighth 3D seismic vessel in June, when Polarcus Adira was delivered at Ulstein Verft in Norway. The vessel is the second of two 12-14 streamer Arctic 3D seismic vessels built at the yard, and is the eighth vessel in the Polarcus fleet of the Ulstein SX134 design, characterized by the sleek Ulstein X-bow hull design. Sistership Polarcus Amani was delivered by the yard at the end of March. Earlier vessels were built under license by Drydocks World Dubai LLC…

Polarcus Limited received its eighth 3D seismic vessel on 21 June 2012 when Polarcus Adira was delivered at Ulstein Verft in Norway. The vessel is the second of two 12-14 streamer Arctic 3D seismic vessels built at the yard, and is the eighth vessel in the Polarcus fleet of the Ulstein SX134 design. The marine geophysical company Polarcus Limited received its eighth 3D seismic vessel on 21 June 2012 when Polarcus Adira was delivered at Ulstein Verft in Norway. The vessel is the second of two 12-14 streamer Arctic 3D seismic vessels built at the yard…

Drydocks World– Dubai delivered a 3D seismic vessel, Polarcus Asima, to Polarcus, a Dubai-based marine geophysical company. Polarcus Asima is the third in a series of six seismic vessels being built at the yard for Polarcus, following the vessels Nadia and Naila. The double-hulled, DP2 class Polarcus Asima incorporates many features to enhance performance with improved safety and comfort elements while ensuring minimum emissions. The 12 streamer vessel has Ulstein SX134 design and is purpose-built for high-end 3D marine seismic operations.

Representatives from the U. S. Navy's Program Executive Office, Littoral Combat Ships Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office and General Dynamics unveiled a quarter-scale model of the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SMCM UUV), known as "Knifefish," at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition being held at the Gaylord National Resort. Knifefish is a heavyweight-class, minehunting, unmanned undersea vehicle designed for deployment by forward operating forces, and will be a part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Countermeasures Mission Package. The SMCM UUV system will allow Navy commanders and sailors to detect and identify mines in high-clutter underwater environments without putting sailors in harm's way.

Drydocks World - Dubai has delivered the Polarcus Nadia, the most advanced seismic vessel built at the yard to date. The vessel, first of a series of four vessels to be built at Drydocks World – Dubai (DDW-D), is to be part of the Polarcus fleet, the Dubai-based marine geophysical company specialising in towed streamer marine data acquisition across the world. The double-hulled, 289.7 ft long Polarcus Nadia is an advanced 3D seismic vessel. The Dubai yard’s all-inclusive expertise was utilized in full force to make the purpose-built vessel meet the stringent demands of offshore seismic operators. The vessel is capable of towing up to 12 steamers. Polarcus Nadia is of Ulstein SX 124 design and incorporates a number of innovative features.

A Marine Evacuation System (MES), consisting of a slide or chute where passengers can evacuate straight into waiting life rafts, can often be found on modern high speed crafts and passenger ships, where weight, space and evacuation times must be kept to a minimum. For the first time, a similar system has now also been developed for Special Purpose Ships (SPS). A close relationship between Norwegian-based Brude Safety AS and Ulstein Design has lead to this new type of space saving MES, designed to fit Special Purpose Ships, such as Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs).