Port Of Okpo News

Tug Fairmount Glacier has delivered rig La Muralla IV in Bay of Campeche, Mexico. The rig has been towed from Okpo, South Korea, via Sunda Strait and Cape of Good Hope. La Muralla IV is a brand new semi-submersible drilling rig for ultra deep water operations, owned by Mexican Grupo R. The rig is constructed by Deawoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea. La Muralla IV is designed to drill up to depths of 10.000 meters. The rig has a length of 118,6 meters and a width of 96,7 meters.

Han Jong-chan assembles the massive blocks used to build ships at one of South Korea's huge and successful shipbuilding yards and has never been happier. Han has worked Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's famed shipyard on remote Koje island here for 18 of his 38 years, recently on night shifts as hefty orders force workers to man giant cranes and welding shops around the clock. Despite a troubled past, a looming dispute with the European Union over subsidies and growing competition from China, the future is looking rosy -- particularly with Korean yards eyeing the potentially lucrative market for cruise ships. The port of Okpo is synonymous with the Daewoo Group and the efforts of its now disgraced founder…

Chevron Corp. is assessing the impact on the development timetable of its North Nemba oilfield off the Angola coast after the sinking of the production platform on route from South Korea. The $175 million dollar structure was being shipped by the vessel Mighty Servant 2 early last week when it capsized near the Indonesian island of Singkep with the loss of four crew members. The so-called topside production platform is 230 ft. long, 105 ft. wide, 150 ft. tall and took 24 months to design and build. The vessel was enroute from the South Korean port of Okpo to Angola, having fueled in Singapore, when it began taking on water and sank. Chevron spokesman Fred Gorrell said the company was fully covered by insurance to replace the platform.