Southeastern Coast News

South Africa's major port of Durban, where operations were disrupted by severe flooding last week, is now functional and a backlog of thousands of containers will be cleared within five to six days, the public enterprises minister said on Tuesday.The floods caused extensive damage to roads leading to Durban port, one of the busiest shipping terminals in Africa and a key hub for exports like metals and agricultural commodities and imports like fuel.Scientists believe the southeastern…

Shipbuilding group Austal announced its Austal Vietnam arm has delivered the new catamaran ferry Maria Galanta Express to Oceanoi Limited of Mauritius. The 41-meter high-speed ferry will be operated by Société de Gestion et de Transport Maritime (SGTM) in the Comoros Islands, situated off the southeastern coast of Africa.Austal was awarded the A$15.5 million (US$10.7 million) contract to design and construct the vessel in January 2020, and construction commenced at the company’s…

Singapore-flagged containership APL England, detained in Australia after losing dozens of containers off the country's southeastern coast in May, has been released and is sailing to China for repairs, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said Friday.The ship departed the Port of Brisbane without cargo and with a new master after AMSA's inspectors attended the ship and determined it is fit to sail. The ship’s previous master who is facing multiple charges relating to the incident…

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that it is backing the new US$ 600 million five-year bond issued by Mersin International Port, the operator of Turkey’s largest port.The Bank has invested US$ 90million in the issuance, helping attract a host of investors, despite a challenging market environment in Turkey.The proceeds of the bond will help refinance Mersin International Port’s 2013 bond, which matures in August 2020, will support ongoing operations of the port and will provide additional stability to the company’s balance sheet while also financing general corporate needs. The continued financing of existing…

Oman’s gas production levels are set to surpass oil by 2023 thanks to an impressive surge in the development of gas fields in the sultanate, according to Rystad Energy, the independent energy research and consulting firm headquartered in Norway.“Gas is on the rise in the Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, and this transition is very timely. Oil output declines over the last two years may indicate a point of no return for Omani oil, but the country’s sliding oil production is set to be replaced by gas,” said Rystad Energy analyst Aditya Saraswat.At peak production in 2016, Oman’s oil output reached 900…

No personnel were injured when a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser and dry cargo ship made contact during an underway replenishment off the southeastern coast of the United States, Feb. 5.USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) and USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) were able to safely operate after the incident. Damage will be assessed when the ships pull into port.The ships had been conducting a replenishment-at-sea when the sterns touched at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern Standard time.U.S. Fleet…

Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam said on Friday that tension in the South China Sea will continue to weigh on its offshore operations this year.The company, formally known as Vietnam Oil and Gas Group targets to produce 12.37 million metric tonnes of crude oil this year, down 11.45 percent from last year's output, it said in a statement.Vietnam and China have been embroiled in maritime disputes in parts of the busy waterway, where China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich maritime territory, which Vietnam calls the East Sea."The complicated developments in the East Sea have h

The government of South Korea decided to invest 1.35 trillion won (USD 1.2 billion) in Korea Ocean Business Corporation (KOBC). The compnay was created in order to help its shipping industry stand on its feet, especially after the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping.Yonhap reported quoting the finance ministry that Cabinet approved a plan to contribute 12.7-percent stakes in each of the country's four port authorities to the KOBC.Earlier this month, the corporation was officially launched in Busan, South Korea's maritime gateway on the southeastern coast, nearly one year after the government proposed setting up the agency. The agency's initial capital base is set at 3.1 trillion won.The government also plans to invest 200 billion won in the agency.

Vietnam wants to give its coast guard more flexibility to open fire at sea, amid tension in the busy South China Sea waterway, a draft law released on Wednesday showed. The law, expected to be voted by lawmakers at the end of this year, would allow greater assertiveness in disputed waters by the coast guard, now armed with modern U.S. and Japanese patrol boats, in a policy likely to alarm neighbouring China. China claims almost all the South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam and four other countries also say they have rights in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam has ordered Spanish energy firm Repsol to suspend its "Red Emperor" project off the country's southeastern coast following pressure from China, the BBC reported on Friday. It would be the second time in less than a year that Vietnam has had to cancel a major oil development in the South China Sea under pressure from China. The move comes as Repsol was making final preparations for commercial drilling. A rig, the Ensco 8504, was scheduled to depart from Singapore for the drill site on Thursday, the report said, citing an unnamed energy industry source. The cancellation could cost Repsol and its partners $200 million in sunk investment, according to the BBC. Repsol and PetroVietnam executives could not immediately be reached for comment.

The U.S. Navy has ordered its Undersea Rescue Command (URC) based in San Diego to deploy to Argentina Nov. 18, to support the South American nation's ongoing search for the Argentinean Navy submarine A.R.A. San Juan in the Southern Atlantic. URC is deploying two independent rescue assets based on a number of factors, including the varying depth of ocean waters near South America's southeastern coast and the differing safe operating depths of the two rescue systems. Three U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III and one U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy aircraft will transport the first rescue system, the Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC) and underwater intervention Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) from Miramar to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The four aircraft are scheduled to depart Miramar Nov.

Matrix Bharat Pte. Ltd. (MXB), a supplier of marine fuels in India, has begun physical operations in Mumbai. In conjunction with this, MXB has commenced operations on Jawahar Dweep, an island off the southeastern coast of Mumbai. MXB is a joint venture between Matrix Marine Fuels and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), one of India’s largest PSU (state owned) oil refining and marketing companies. The company will provide physical products at Mumbai’s Outer Port Limits (OPL), servicing vessels that are waiting to berth, as well as vessels making bunker-only-calls.

Julia regained its designation as a tropical storm as it milled off the southeast coast of the United States on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The center of the storm, which drenched parts of northeast Florida, Georgia and South Carolina earlier this week, was not threatening land as it moved east-southeast about 270 miles (435 km) southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Miama-based center said. Tropical Storm Julia, carrying winds of 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts, was expected to cause rip currents and hazardous wave conditions along the southeastern coast through the weekend, the center said. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 33 Cuban migrants from an overloaded boat taking on water off the southeast Florida coast on Wednesday, two days after 11 Cubans were pulled from the waters off the coast of Miami, officials said. Some of the 33 Cubans jumped in the water when they were spotted on Wednesday morning about 7 miles (11 km) east of Boca Raton, Florida, the Coast Guard said in a press release. "Upon our assets arriving on scene, the suspected migrants were taken aboard Coast Guard smallboat and safely transferred to a Coast Guard Cutter for basic medical attention if needed," the Coast Guard said. Two men are still missing from the group found clinging to debris from their wrecked raft on Monday.

David Evans and Associates, Inc.’s Marine Services Division commissioned its new 82-foot hydrographic survey and scientific vessel Blake in a ceremony held in the vessel’s homeport of Gulfport, Mississippi. At the ceremony, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi broke a Champagne bottle across the Blake’s bow. In addition to remarks by the Senator, Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coast Survey and the U.S. National Hydrographer, and Mayor of Gulfport William Gardner Hewes spoke to attendees.

Armed pirates robbed a petroleum products tanker near Ivory Coast's port of Abidjan, a maritime agency and a private security advisor said on Wednesday, in an indication of the increasing mobility of Nigeria-based gangs. The raid on the tanker came just a day after two failed pirate attacks that occurred just hours apart in waters off Nigeria's southeastern coast, according to the same sources. Pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, a significant source of oil, cocoa and metals for world markets, have almost doubled from last year, jacking up insurance costs for shipping companies. The vast majority of the region's maritime robberies and hijackings are believed to be carried out by criminal gangs based in Nigeria…

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has specified ultra strong, lightweight Dyneema fibers for a complete set of mooring ropes for a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU). Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras has substantial interests in deepwater exploration. Petrobras specifically asked for the ropes to be made with SK78 grade of UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) fibers from DSM Dyneema for its high strength at low weight properties. SK78 grade…

Fast Response Cutter under construction. The Coast Guard awarded a $179.7 million contract option to Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La., September 22 for the production of four more Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). This option award brings the total number of FRCs under contract with Bollinger to twelve, with a current contract value of $597 million. The current FRC contract contains options for up to 34 cutters and is worth up to $1.5 billion if all options are exercised.

Petrobras said that it would contract to build 10 offshore oil production platforms in the coming eight years for a newly found pre-salt oil field. The 10 new units, to operate in ultra-deep waters, will tap the pre-salt oil reserves discovered recently off the country's southeastern coast. According to the company, the first two units will be chartered from third parties. Each will have a daily production capacity of 100,000 barrels of crude and 5 million cubic meters of natural gas. The units will be installed between 2013 and 2014.  Source:  ChinaNews

In order to promote safe navigation and enhance marine conservation, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey and the National Marine Protected Areas Center have partnered to publish key information about the location, purpose, and permitted activities of existing marine managed areas off Alaska's southeastern coast in the United States Coast Pilot Volume 8. The U.S. Coast Pilot is used by the maritime industry, fishermen, the military, recreational boaters, and other coastal users of sensitive marine ecosystems. The southeastern Alaska edition includes marine managed areas between Dixon Entrance and Cape Spencer. It is the first in a series of Coast Pilot publications being produced for all regions throughout the United States. The other eight books of the U.S.

Forbes reported that a Japanese military submarine collided with a civilian vessel during exercises in waters off southern Japan . The Maritime Self-Defense Forces submarine grazed against an unidentified civilian cargo ship during surfacing exercises about 30 miles off the southeastern coast of Miyazaki on Japan's southern island of Kyushu, according to the repot. No injuries were reported among crew members of the submarine Asashio, but officials have found a dent in the vessel's topside. It is said that the submarine apparently hit the vessel's hull while surfacing. The number of crew members and the direction the submarine was heading could not be released The vessel might not have noticed the incident due to the minor impact, he added. source: Forbes

A United Nations commission has officially recognized the Sea of Okhotsk enclave, off Russia’s southeastern coast, as part of the country’s continental shelf, informs Ria Novosti citing the Russian minister of natural resources. Russia will get exclusive rights to the area of 52,000 square kilometers, considered by the government to be an Ali Baba’s cave containing reserves of valuable minerals and other natural resources. The recession of Arctic sea ice in recent years due to…

The Navy's first littoral combat ship (LCS), USS Freedom (LCS 1), has successfully completed another major milestone in preparation for her upcoming maiden deployment. Freedom conducted independent ship deployment training and certification at sea from Nov. 13-21, operating with ships from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group during their Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) off the southeastern coast of the United States. Freedom conducted effective complex training as part of the Maritime Security Surge certification for the ship's Gold Crew…