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Oil Installations News

09 Dec 2022

ICEYE to Deliver SAR Imagery to EMSA

ICEYE SAR satellite nighttime image showing vessel traffic on Mediterranean Sea, nearby Malta. ICEYE’s imaging is particularly effective for maritime domain awareness applications enabling persistent visibility into large sea areas up to 50,000 km2 with a single image, despite clouds and darkness. (Image: ICEYE)

ICEYE announced the start of a multi-year framework contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to support their efforts in managing various aspects of maritime operations with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data.Among its many missions, EMSA, a European Union agency, provides technical expertise and operational assistance in reducing the risk of maritime accidents and assisting in response and recovery from marine pollution from ships and oil installations. The agency…

24 Jun 2022

ADS Maritime Holding Buys Into Equinor-bound Shuttle Tanker Quarter

Naming ceremony for Eagle Blane and Eagle Balder in 2019 - Credit: AET

ADS Maritime Holding has agreed to acquire a 5 % shareholding in AET Sea Shuttle AS and AET Sea Shuttle II AS, the owners of four modern shuttle tankers operating in the North Sea, mainly on long term charters to Equinor. The vessels are Eagle Blane, Eagle Balder, Eagle Bergen, and Eagle Barents. Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.The majority partner in the owning companies will remain major Malaysian tanker owner AET, part of the MISC/Petronas Group. "The vessels are operated by OSM Maritime. Sellers are ADS Shipping Limited.

25 Mar 2022

AET's Petrobras-bound Newbuild Shuttle Tanker Named in South Korea

Credit: AET

Tanker operator AET named its new shuttle tanker Eagle Colatina earlier this week in South Korea.The vessel is the first of three purpose-built Suezmax dynamic positioning (DP2) shuttle tankers for a long-term charter to the Brazilian oil company Petrobras based on the agreement signed in February 2020.Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.The DP2 shuttle tanker Eagle Colatina, which AET says is eco-friendly and highly efficient…

05 Jan 2022

AET Takes Delivery of New Shuttle Tanker for Shell Charter in Brazil

Credit: AET

Tanker operator AET has taken delivery of Eagle Campos, the first of another three Suezmax Dynamic Positioning (DP2) Shuttle Tankers purpose built for long-term charter to Brazil Shipping I Limited, a subsidiary of Shell.Shuttle tankers are used for the offloading and transporting oil from offshore oil installations.AET struck a deal with Shell in December 2019 to operate these three Suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers in the international and Brazilian Basin on a long-term charter with Eagle Campos being the first in this series.

08 Mar 2021

Brent Tops $70 after Houthi Attack on Saudi Oil Export Hub

Ras Tanura Facility - Credit:evannovostro/AdobeStock

Yemen's Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security.The Saudi energy ministry said there were no casualties or loss of property from the attacks. The defense ministry said it intercepted an armed drone coming from the sea prior to hitting its target at an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, site…

07 Oct 2020

Mexico Closes Oil Ports Ahead of Hurricane Delta

Š Adobe Stock

Mexico's naval authorities on Tuesday ordered the closure of oil, cargo and passenger ports in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean ahead of Hurricane Delta, expected to sweep the Yucatan peninsula overnight.Ports shuttered to large ships included Dos Bocas in Tabasco and oil installations in Campeche.(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; editing by Drazen Jorgic)

18 Jun 2020

US Warns of Pirates in Southern Gulf of Mexico

Š Mosto / Adobe Stock

The U.S. government on Wednesday issued a warning about the threat posed by pirates to boats and oil installations in the southern Gulf of Mexico, in the latest sign of concern about ongoing security challenges facing Mexico."Armed criminal groups have been known to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms, and offshore supply vessels in the Bay of Campeche area in the southern Gulf of Mexico," the U.S. State Department said in an updated travel advisory.The overall risk level for Mexico remained the same in the bulletin…

12 Mar 2020

Offshore Oil Rig Infection Exposes Coronavirus Dangers

Equinor reported the oil industry's first coronavirus infection on an offshore installation on Wednesday, highlighting the challenge in preventing contamination for thousands of workers living in the close quarters on rigs and platforms.A worker was in isolation on the Norwegian energy firm's Martin Linge oil and gas platform off Norway where production is due to start at the end of this year, the company said. It said it would cut activity at the field, but personnel would remain at installations, while workers would reduce meetings and sit further apart in canteens to prevent further contamination. It has 776 people working on the project spread across three installations, Martin Linge, the Maersk Intrepid drilling rig and the Floatel Endurance accommodation rig.

06 Nov 2019

Seasonality Impacts Chemical Tanker Market

The chemical tanker earnings for the third quarter of 2019 was impacted by the usual seasonal slowdown in volumes while rates remained stable, said Odfjell Group.According to the company specializing in worldwide seaborne transportation and storage of chemicals and other specialty bulk liquids,spot rates were stable to slightly stronger on the front haul routes but strong competition and seasonally lower volumes on the back-haul routes had a negative impact on the overall market.A high share of plant turnarounds and the attacks on oil installations in Saudi Arabia disrupted feedstock for chemical plants and refineries in September, and led to a slower recovery after the summer slowdown than normal.The global chemical tanker orderbook stands at 8.3% of the current fleet.

17 Oct 2019

Tanker Deliveries Up 37%: BIMCO

Delivered tonnage of crude oil tankers have grown by +37%, whereas total fleet demolitions for 2019 have slumped to the lowest in a decade with a reduction of 52% from the year before, says BIMCO, the largest of the international shipping associations representing shipowners.Newbuilding orders have remained low through the year with contracted tonnage down by 48%, it said.Amidst a market filled with uncertainty and geopolitical unrest, BIMCO maintains its bearings and turns to the market fundamentals to cut through the mist of market speculation and uncertainty-driven hype. “Through the first nine months of 2019, delivery activity has picked up substantially from last year, particularly in the crude oil tanker segment where deliveries are up 37% year-on-year.

18 Jul 2019

US to Work "aggressively" for Free Gulf Passage

file image of US Navy assets underway (CREDIT: USN)

U.S. Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie said on Thursday it was talking to other countries about freedom of navigation in the Gulf and would work "aggressively" to find a solution to enable free passage.The United States has beefed up its military presence in the Middle East over a perceived Iranian threat and is asking allies to help protect strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, following attacks on oil tankers in Gulf waters in recent months."We are currently talking…

15 Jan 2018

Search for ONGC Offshore Helicopter Crew Continues

The Indian Navy has widened its search operations for the missing crew members of the Pawan Hans helicopter  (C/s VT-PWA) which crashed off the Mumbai coast on Saturday. The helicopter with seven people on-board, including five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company’s oil installation in the Arabian sea on Saturday. According to NDTV report, on the third day of search in the high seas, the rescuers located the last remaining body - of the missing pilot. Earlier the rescue teams of Indian Navy and the Coast Guard had recovered six bodies on Saturday, including the five ONGC deputy general managers who perished and one of the pilots. However, this is not officially confirmed.

29 Aug 2017

Patrol Vessel Delivered to Nigeria's Homeland

Damen 3307 Patrol Vessel (Photo: Damen)

A Damen 3307 Patrol Vessel has been delivered to Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Ltd of Lagos, Nigeria, taking its fleet of these craft up to three, with a fourth currently under construction. Guardian 3 along with its sister ships Guardian 1 and Guardian 2 is now providing security and other support services to the international offshore oil companies active off the coast of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea, in cooperation with the Nigerian Navy. The Guardian series of 3307 Patrol vessels are themselves unarmed…

27 Jun 2017

Earth, Wind & … Fire Protection

Fire Protection: Staff aboard a floating producer pass several coatings types. (Photo: Øyvind Hagen, Statoil)

Three years ago coatings giant Jotun was buying up real estate for U.S. market access and location savings. The effort to get closer to its shipping and offshore customer base is still underway with research aimed at protecting client assets in frontier areas like the arctic. An R&D expansion at Flixborough in the U.K. and in the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen aims to make active the fire response of passive surface treatments. There’s a need to address fires in enclosed steel workplaces plus high-temperature hydrocarbon fires.

21 Sep 2016

Libya Exports First Oil Cargo From Ras Lanuf Since 2014

Photo: NOC

An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanuf for Italy early on Wednesday with the first crude export cargo from the terminal since at least late 2014, boosting hopes of reviving Libya's battered oil output. The port manager of Ras Lanuf said a second tanker was preparing to load at the terminal, one of four seized on Sept. 11-12 by eastern Libyan forces loyal to military leader Khalifa Haftar. Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) has welcomed a promise by Haftar's forces to allow the NOC to control the ports.

27 Jul 2016

Summer Cruise to North Sea Oil Rigs Amazes Tourists

Bored with palm-fringed beaches and turquoise seas? Then the gigantic oil platforms of the North Sea beckon. The first ever "rig-spotting" cruise just ended off the coast of Norway, and those onboard the four-day trip said it was jawdropping. "I couldn't believe that these big buildings could be made," said passenger Kari Somme, 86, after seeing Statoil's Troll A platform - the heaviest structure ever moved by mankind - towering 200 metres (650 feet) above the surface of the sea. "It's just wonderful, just wonderful. I was so excited because I didn't know much about it. So when I came here and we went from rig to rig, or platform to platform, I was amazed," she said. The North Sea is usually known for its cold and storms.

08 Jun 2016

Refiners Cold, Oil Unsold amid Nigerian Chaos

Refineries from India to the United States are backing away from buying Nigerian oil amid heightened uncertainty about deliveries as the country squares up to militants in the restive Delta region. Their reluctance to buy is limiting the prices Nigeria can get for its oil even as there is less of it - another hit to the finances of a country battling its worst economic crisis in decades. A group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers has staged a number of attacks on oil installations belonging to Shell , ENI and Chevron, pushing output in what is usually Africa's largest crude exporter down past 20-year lows last month. Some oil facilities have clawed back output, but the Avenger attacks have continued and the group has vowed to bring Nigerian production to "zero".

29 May 2016

Strike In France: Implications for Tanker Demand

After the oil industry suffered from a severe drought in Venezuela, forest fires in Canada and rebel attacks on oil installations in Nigeria, it is now facing the consequences of a national strike in France, where members of the trade union CGT have organized strikes at the country’s refineries and blocked oil terminals and fuel depots, says the Tanker Research & Consulting department at Poten & Partners. The situation seems to be worsening as more unions join the CGT and clashes break out between protestors and the police. Six out of France’s eight refineries are either shut down or producing at significantly reduced levels. It is estimated that 40% of the gas stations around Paris and about 20% of the stations nationwide have supply problems.

06 May 2016

Strikes Cause Stoppage in Greek Ports

A 48-hour strike by the Seamen’s Union in Greece is expected to affect all domestic and local ferry routes as well as commercial vessels calling at Piraeus, Aspropyrgos, Eleusis, Pachi and Megara ports for cargo discharging, advises Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS). The Crew Union of Towage and Salvage has also confirmed participation in the strike which started at 6 a.m. local time May 6 and is scheduled to end at 6 a.m. on May 8. A second 24-hour strike is expected to take place immediately after the first strike, from 6 a.m. on May 8 to 6 a.m. on May 9, ISS said. The action has been called by the union in response to the government’s planned changes to labor and insurance rights, pensions and retirement ages.

06 Jan 2016

Four Tanks Ablaze at Libyan Ports

Fires caused by clashes between Islamic State militants and guards near Libya's biggest oil ports have spread to four oil storage tanks that were still burning on Wednesday, a guards spokesman said. Ali al-Hassi said the Petroleum Facilities Guards were in control of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports, but that skirmishes continued. At least nine guards were killed and more than 40 injured in fighting around the perimeter of the area on Monday and Tuesday. Hassi said guards had recovered bodies of 30 Islamic State fighters, and had also captured two military tanks and other vehicles from the militants. Firefighters were trying to control three fires at Es Sider and one at Ras Lanuf. Two blazes were triggered by shelling from Islamic State, and fire had spread to two more, Hassi said.

04 Jan 2016

Islamic State Attacks Libya's Es Sider Port

Islamic State fighters clashed with security forces near Libya's Es Sider oil export terminal on Monday killing two guards and setting an oil storage tank on fire, witnesses and a Petrol Facilities Guard source said. The source told Reuters that the tank had been hit by a rocket during the fighting, causing a huge fire, and that two Islamic State suicide car bombers had attacked the area around the port after which its fighters had retreated. According to Mohamed al-Manfi, an oil official based in eastern Libya, the tank was holding 420,000 barrels of oil. Libya descended into chaos after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and rival governments and the militias that support them are fighting for control of the North African state and its energy reserves.

03 Dec 2015

Strike Causes Delays at Greek Ports

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) is advising of a further 24 hour general strike in Greece on December 3 which is expected to affect vessel movements at many Greek ports and terminals. The public and private sector strike action is scheduled to start at 06:00 local time on December 3 and end at 06:00 on December 4. During the stoppage period, berthing, shifting and sailing operations may be delayed, with local ferries, tug boats, pilots and stevedores at all ports likely to be affected, as well as oil installations at Eleusis–Aspropyrgos and Thessaloniki. ISS Greece said it is working with its clients to minimize delays and will keep them updated.

27 Oct 2015

LR to help China Design Shipborne Nuclear Power

Lloyd’s Register announced a co-operative Framework Agreement with the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC) in Chengdu, to assist in the design and development of a safe and secure floating vessel containing a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) – a first for China. Mark Bassett, Nuclear Director at Lloyd’s Register Energy, says: “NPIC recognises Lloyd’s Register’s unique combination of experience in nuclear, offshore and marine safety and regulation. The first contract under this Framework Agreement is to develop new nuclear safety regulations, safety guidelines, and nuclear code and standards for the floating vessel, that are consistent with Offshore and International Marine Regulations and the IAEA Nuclear Safety Standards.