Cosco Boxship Detained Over Illegal Arms
Colombian authorities detained a vessel operated by China's largest shipping group for illegally transporting thousands of cannon shells, about 100 tonnes of gunpowder and other materials used to make explosives, the attorney general's office said. The Da Dan Xia, operated by Cosco Shipping Co Ltd , was headed for Cuba when it was stopped on Saturday in the northern port of Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, after the materials were detected during an inspection. The cargo was listed in the records of the 28,451 deadweight-tonne ship as grain products. The captain of the Hong Kong-flagged vessel had been arrested, the attorney general's office said.
CNR to Ship Coal Via Public Colombia Port
Goldman Sachs mining affiliate CNR has reached a deal with a public port in Colombia to load its coal shipments which have been suspended for a year after its own docks fell foul of environmental regulations, a port source told Reuters on Monday. CNR or Colombian Natural Resources will export via the Carbosan terminal at the publicly owned Santa Marta port, the source said, but he could not ascertain from when. (Reporting by Peter Murphy; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Odebrecht JV Wins $1.3b Colombia Waterway Contract
Colombia awarded a 2.5 trillion peso ($1.33 billion) contract to a consortium led by Brazil's Odebrecht SA on Friday to improve navigability on the Magdalena River, which the Andean nation has long planned to exploit for cargo transport. Odebrecht will have an 87 percent stake in the joint venture, called Navelena. Navelena was was the only bidder for the contract, which covers a 908 km (564 mile) stretch of the Magdalena, which flows north to the country's Caribbean coast from the southern interior. Colombian construction firm Valorcon holds the remaining stake in the joint venture, Odebrecht said in a statement. The project, focused on building navigation channels in shallower stretches…
Oil Companies Bidding for Blocks in Colombia
Oil companies were bidding on Wednesday for 95 oil areas Colombia is offering for exploration and production in an effort to raise output from around 1 million barrels per day and increase stagnant reserves. Rights for the onshore, offshore and nonconventional or shale oil areas will be awarded to bidders who offer the largest share of production to the government or based on how much companies commit to invest in lesser-explored regions. The government said earlier this year it hoped to attract $2.6 billion in investment into the oil sector through the so-called Colombia Round 2014. Colombia's last oil auction took place in 2012. The blocks on offer total more than 22 million hectares.
Colombia Oil Reserves Rise 2.9 %
Colombia's oil reserves had risen 2.9 percent to 2.445 billion barrels by the end of 2013, up from 2.38 billion barrels a year earlier, taking reserves to their highest despite a missed exploration target, the energy ministry said on Monday. Foreign investment into the Andean nation's oil and gas sector has surged in recent years and the government is preparing to tap non-conventional or shale resources offering such blocks in its 2014 oil auction which concludes in July. Though security has improved massively in the last 10 years due to increased military pressure on the leftist FARC and ELN guerrilla groups, the rebels have intensified bomb attacks on oil pipelines, with 259 attacks in 2013 alone, the oil industry association said.
Royston Earns Solstad Approval
Three weeks of intensive work late last year by engineers from Royston Limited has won praise from the operators of the Normand Installer after it was found to need an urgent engine overhaul before resuming work off West Africa. The 14,506 gt offshore construction support vessel is notable for having a 350 tonne capacity A-frame, 250 and 50 tonne heavy lift cranes, carousel cable/pipe laying system, 500 tonne anchor handling/towing winch system and DP3 dynamic positioning system.
Passing of Molly Murphy Crowley
Molly Murphy Crowley, 71, of Piedmont, Calif., Crowley Maritime Corporation board member, past Portland, Ore. real estate mogul, philanthropist and competitive amateur golfer died March 21 following an illness surrounded by her family at her Indian Wells, Calif. vacation home. Mrs. Crowley was born Nov. 27, 1938 in Portland to Dorothy and Peter Murphy. She was the third of eight children, and attended grade school at St. Thomas More Catholic School and high school at Holy Child Academy in Portland, and college at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y.
