Marine Link
Friday, March 29, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Pechora Sea News

29 Aug 2019

Revenues Soar at Russia’s PAO Sovcomflot

Sergey Frank, President and CEO, PAO Sovcomflot. Photo: Sovcomflot.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group), which serves the energy shipping and offshore services to the oil and gas industries, reported in the first half of 2019 revenues rose 16.6% ($828m vs. $710.1m), TCE revenue rose 19.1% ($609m vs. $511.3m) and EBITDA rose 42.4% ($381.2m vs. $267.7m) as compared to the first half of 2018.Highlights from the first half included:• Korolev Prospect, Vernadsky Prospect and Samuel Prospect LNG-fuelled 114,000 DWT Aframax tankers added to the fleet.•In March 2019, the Group celebrated the 10th anniversary of the start of LNG shipments from the Sakhalin-2 project.

14 Aug 2019

North Sea Spot Market Remains Challenging

The North Sea spot market has improved during the second quarter of 2019, as a result of increased rig activity, said Viking Supply Ships.However, the Norway-based supply shipping company expects that the overall market conditions will likely remain somewhat challenging.According to Trond Myklebust, CEO and President of Viking Supply Ships, the rig activity in the North Sea is expected to see a modest increase during Q3, before softening slightly during the winter season.The long-term trend within the offshore market is however positive, with a gradual recovery of the rig activity in the region. It is therefore expected that also the OSV segment will gradually improve.The North Sea market has seen increased activity levels during the second quarter.

11 Apr 2019

Gazprom’s Arctic Offshore Platform Hits Milestone

Russian shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF Group) said that the Arctic shuttle tanker Mikhail Ulyanov loaded the milestone 10-millionth tonne of commercial oil produced at Prirazlomnaya offshore platform in the Pechora Sea.The energy shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as the servicing of offshore oil and gas exploration and production said that this cargo of oil has become the 150th shipped from the platform since the transportation began in April 2014.Symbolically, it was also Mikhail Ulyanov who has delivered the very first cargo of oil produced at the platform…

28 Aug 2018

Finland: A Hot-Bed of ICEBREAKER Technology

In 2016 the most recent Finnish icebreaker, Ib Polaris, was built at a cost of EUR123m. Arctia Ltd. received an LNG fueled double-acting PC4 class icebreaker capable of penetrating 1.8m thick level ice with a speed of 3.5 knots. Photo: Tuomas Romu and Arctia Ltd.

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

11 Jul 2018

OIG Group Sells MV Blue Giant

Bremen-based shipping company Harren & Partner announced the acquisition of the offshore construction vessel, MV Blue Giant for an undisclosed price from the English operator, OIG Group. Harren & Partner’s Offshore Department, headed by Robert Fowler ([email protected]) will be responsible for managing the vessel. Peter Harren, Founder and Managing Director of Harren & Partner, explains the strategy behind the purchase: “Although the oil markets are currently still recovering, we have deliberately opted for this investment despite its counter-cyclical nature. “Blue Giant is a cutting-edge vessel which represents an important enhancement of our diversified H&P fleet. It extends our scope of action to provide our customers with comprehensive, yet customised solutions,” says Dr.

11 Jul 2018

Harren & Partner Buys Offshore Construction Vessel

MV Blue Giant (Photo: Harren & Partner)

Bremen-based shipping company Harren & Partner is looking to grow its offshore salvage business with the purchase of the offshore construction vessel MV Blue Giant from English operator OIG Group.“Although the oil markets are currently still recovering, we have deliberately opted for this investment despite its counter-cyclical nature. Alongside our classic offshore activities, we also wish to further strengthen our position in attractive niche markets such as the salvage business…

30 Aug 2017

SCF's Balancing Act in Tanker Market

Despite the turbulent conditions seen in conventional markets, SCF Group has continued to demonstrate resilience whilst remaining able to position itself to take advantage of the future upswing in these markets when it comes. The first half of 2017 was very challenging for global tanker markets, with spot freight rates in all market segments nearing their historic lows. This has impacted severely upon the profitability of those owners focused solely on conventional shipping, said a press statement from SCF Group quoting Sergey Frank, President and CEO of PAO Sovcomflot. “In the first half, the Group continued to implement its strategy and demonstrated its capacity to innovate and break new ground.

18 May 2017

Russia Wants to Sell Sovcomflot to Small-stake Investors

Photo: Sovcomflot

Russia plans to sell part of state shipping firm Sovcomflot next month, hoping to draw in a wide range of small-stake investors rather than a strategic buyer who could threaten Moscow's control of the group, banking and industry sources say. The current era of low tanker market prices is far from the ideal time for Sovcomflot to raise revenue with a share offer, as freight rates were at their highs in 2015. Sovcomflot operates the world's second largest fleet of oil tankers. But…

24 Nov 2016

Sovcomflot Inks $180 Mn Credit for Two Shuttle Tanker

On 23 November 2016, Sovcomflot and Sberbank signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) paving the way for a new USD 180 million long-term credit agreement with a term of up to 15 years. On behalf of the parties the MOU was signed by Sergey Frank, Chairman and CEO of Sovcomflot, and Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank. The credit facility agreement, the subject of the MOU, will finance two Panamax Arctic shuttle tankers within Sovcomflot’s fleet (Mikhail Ulyanov, Kirill Lavrov), built at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg and operated under the Prirazlomnoye project. “The memorandum signed by Sovcomflot and Sberbank is a logical continuation of the successful cooperation between us, both companies being leaders in their respective fields.

03 Sep 2016

Sovcomflot, ABB to set-up Center at Admiral Nevelskoy MSU

PAO Sovcomflot, Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. (ABB) Company and the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University (MSU) have signed an agreement for research, technological and educational partnership. The document provides for the establishment of the Marine Propulsion Simulation Centre at MSU in Vladivostok. The operations of this centre which will be focused on preparing staff for work on vessels equipped with Azipod propulsion units. The agreement was signed by Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, Sergey Ogay, Rector of MSU, and Anatoly Popov, Managing Director of ABB in Russia. As part of this agreement, ABB will provide MSU with the equipment designed to simulate the operation of Azipod vessel electric power and propulsion units and provide further assistance with its installation…

12 Aug 2016

Gazprom Neft Increases Arctic Field Output

Gazpromneft Shelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, brought on production two more wells in Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea, bringing crude oil output to more than 6,000 tonnes/day. The company now has four production wells at its ice-resistant rig, located 60 km offshore, and envisions the commissioning of 32 wells. The first well was commissioned in December 2013. All wellheads are within the platform. Drilling for the four new wells, undertaken by Russia’s Gazprom Bureniye LLC, ran to more than 19,000 metres. Development of the Prirazlomnoye field, under implementation by Gazprom Neft on the Pechora Sea continental shelf, envisages the commissioning of 32 wells, the first production well having been commissioned in December 2013.

17 Jun 2016

Russia Launches ‘World’s Largest’ Nuclear Icebreaker

The launching ceremony for nuclear icebreaker Arktika took place at the Baltijskiy Zavod in St Petersburg (Photo: Rosatom)

Russia has unveiled Arktika, touted as the world’s largest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker, during a launching ceremony on June 16 at Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg. The 173 meter long, 34 meter wide Arktika is the lead nuclear icebreaker ordered by Russia's Rosatom state nuclear agency for navigation through the Northern Sea Route, and more specifically the delivery of hydrocarbons to Asian markets. “There are no analogs of the icebreaker such as the Arktika in the world,” said Rosatom CEO Sergey Kirienko at the launching ceremony.

01 Jul 2014

Rosneft Starts Geological Exploration In Barents, Pechora Sea

Rosneft has started field works at five license blocks of the Barents and Pechora Seas: West Prinovozemelsky, located in the North-Eastern part of the Barents sea near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, Perseevsky, located in the North-Western part of the Barents sea, and at the South Russky, South Prinovozemelsky and West Matveevsky license blocks, located in the Pechora Sea. West Prinovozemelsky - 3D seismic exploration with a volume of 2800 sq. Perseevsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 6500 sq. South Prinovozemelsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 2000 sq. West Matveevsky - 2D seismic exploration with a volume of 2000 sq. Seismic work will be performed by a specialized research vessel simultaneously with the shipboard gravi magnetometric survey.

13 May 2014

Norway Bets on Global Warming in Arctic Oil and Gas Drive

Photo courtesy of WWF

Norway wants to let oil and gas companies drill in Arctic seas that were frozen as recently as the 1980s even though some climate experts say it is too early to trust global warming to keep the ice away. Russia is also showing new interest in the Arctic despite high costs in a region where governments are struggling to set safety rules after BP's 2010 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. Many companies, including ConocoPhillips and Idemitsu…

01 May 2014

Greenpeace Targets Russian Tanker at Rotterdam Port

Photo: Sovcomflot

Mikhail Ulyanov, an ice-breaking shuttle tanker (ice class – ARC6) belonging to OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group), has been the subject of a Greenpeace protest, while at the Port of Rotterdam carrying a cargo of 67,000 tons of crude oil, loaded on the continental shelf of the Pechora Sea, Russia. “We are extremely disappointed that our vessel has been the subject of an irresponsible publicity stunt by Greenpeace, which occurred despite the measures taken by our ship and the port authorities, including the Coast Guard and the Marine Police.

22 Apr 2014

Putin Wants Beefed-up Presence in the Arctic

Photo: Rear Admiral Harley D. Nygren, NOAA Corps (ret.). Courtesy NOAA

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia should step up its presence in the Arctic and challenge other nations in exploring the world's largest untapped natural reserves, days after it started shipping its first oil from the region. Russia's ambitions in the Arctic have for some time been raising eyebrows among other states vying for a presence there, but the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula is likely to put its Arctic plans under greater scrutiny.

22 Apr 2014

Arctic Energy Exploration Efforts Heat Up

The first ever cargo vessel to sail from Murmansk to Shanghai via the Northern Sea Route, without the assistance of icebreakers, recently completed its maiden crossing, cutting a 65-day journey on the return leg down to 19 days. ABB’s Azipod electric propulsion technology helps to make the year-round journey possible. (Photo: ABB)

Oil and gas—and also mining—are the drivers today propelling Arctic maritime operations and the construction of new vessels able to operate in extreme latitudes. While the gas and oil resources can be recovered in the Arctic or far north and shipped to markets by sea or pipeline, the cost of doing must be balanced upon the global market price for those commodities. Ships and marine structures able to operate in the harsh conditions of the extreme latitudes require special designs and construction techniques.

24 Dec 2013

Despite Protests Gazprom Starts Arctic Oil Production

Prirazlomnaya offshore platform: Photo courtesy of Gazprom

Gazprom says it has started producing oil from the Prirazlomnoye field, which is the first Russian project for developing the Arctic shelf and the commencement, they say, of their large-scale activities aimed at creating a large hydrocarbon production center in the region. The Prirazlomnoye oil field [scene of an earlier Greenpeace protest] is located in the Pechora Sea, 60 kilometers off the shore. The recoverable oil reserves amount to 71.96 million tons, projected oil production comes up to some 6 million tons a year (to be reached after 2020).

05 Dec 2013

Despite Protest Gazprom Set to Order Arctic Drill Ships

Photo courtesy of Gazprom

Gazprom Neft is preparing for the construction of another two ice-protected oil platforms designed for the icy waters of the Pechora Sea, placed only few kilometers from the now well-known rig “Prirazlomnaya”, reports Barents Observer. These oil production installations are intended for the Dolginskoye field in the Pechora Sea, which is located in 40 meter depths about 100 km north of the Nenets AO coast, with resources estimated to be up to 235 million tons, reports the Barents Observer, citing Aleksandr Korobkov, head of GazpromNeft-Sakhalin.

12 Nov 2013

Greenpeace's Actic Sunrise Detention: Diplomats Meet

Russian Coast Guard boarding: Image courtesy of Greenpeace

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans informs 'Russia info' that he has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the situation concerning the Greenpeace vessel. Relations between Russia and the Netherlands have been tense recently since an attack on a Russian diplomat in the Hague and the arrest in Russia of the Arctic Sunrise vessel, which sailed under the Dutch flag. On 19 September, 2013, border guards stormed the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship after the conservationists tried to hold a protest on the Prirazlomnaya platform in the Pechora sea.

01 Nov 2013

Russia Fails to Lift Arctic 30 Piracy Charges

Prosecuting authorities in Russia were under fire today after it was revealed that they have failed to lift charges of piracy against the Arctic 30, despite pledging to do so. Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee announced last week that the piracy charges – which carry a 15-year jail sentence – would be replaced with charges of hooliganism. But when the thirty detainees were brought before the Committee over the course of this week, the piracy charge was not withdrawn. Instead each of them was simply served with the additional charge of hooliganism. They now stand accused of both offences, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 and 7 years, respectively.

07 Oct 2013

Thousands Stand Up for Greenpeace Detainees

Photo credit Greenpeace

Thousands of people took part in an emergency day of solidarity protests 5, October 2013, around the world to demand the release of 30 people imprisoned in Russia after they were detained aboard a Greenpeace ship in the Arctic. Peaceful events were held on every continent, in more than 135 locations across 45 countries, from New Zealand to Mexico, from Thailand to Finland and the United States. There are also protests planned across Russia. Earlier, 28 Greenpeace activists, and a freelance photographer and a videographer…

24 Sep 2013

Arctic Protest Ship Arrested, Due Murmansk

Arctic Sunrise approaching Murmansk: Photo credit Greenpeace

Greenpeace's “Arctic Sunrise” is nearing the Russian port on tow from the Pechora Sea, accompanied by a Russian Coast Guard vessel (with the protest crew locked up on board) after an attempt to board the Gazprom drilling rig Prirazlomnaya. The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise is close to arriving in the port of Murmansk after being boarded by Russian authorities last week following a peaceful protest against Arctic oil drilling. The ship has arrived under tow in the fjord near Murmansk  accompanied by a tug boat and the Russian Coast Guard vessel Ladoga…