Java Sea News

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Divers were scouring the waters of the Java Sea on Sunday for 17 fishermen reported missing after their boat capsized following a crash involving a bulk carrier, a spokesman for Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said.Fifteen crew of the fishing boat, the Barokah Jaya, were evacuated after Saturday’s crash, but five divers are searching for the remaining 17, Yusuf Latif, the spokesman of the agency, Basarnas, said in a statement.“We’re still conducting the search,” Yusuf said, adding that an agency rescue ship had taken the survivors aboard.The crash happened at 0930 GMT, Yusuf said.

Indonesia has recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea in January, and the air accident investigator said on Wednesday it could take up to a week to be able to listen to the recording.The CVR could help investigators understand the actions taken by the pilots of the doomed jet, which crashed shortly after take-off on Jan. 9, killing all 62 people on board.A preliminary report by investigators released in February said the plane had an imbalance in engine thrust that eventually led it into a sharp roll and then a final dive into the sea. The report included information from the flight…

Marcon International has announced to report the recent sales of the following two U.S. flag tugs as sellers continue to upgrade their fleets.The U.S. flag, 4,800 HP twin screw, flush-deck, articulated pusher tug “Java Sea” has been sold by Kirby Offshore Marine of Houston, Texas to private buyers. The tug was originally built by the well-respected Main Iron Works of Houma, Louisiana as the “Patriot” (Hull 360) - a 3,000 HP, EMD 12-645E6 powered, conventional twin screw tug with a raised 49.3’ height of eye pilothouse.

Indonesian teams searching a lake for a sunken ferry in the hope of recovering nearly 200 bodies trapped inside have to contend with dangerous currents and cold, murky water far deeper than any scuba diver can ever go.The over-loaded ferry Sinar Bangun sank in bad weather in Lake Toba on Sumatra island on Monday. The lake, in the crater of an ancient supervolcano, is ringed by steeply sloping mountains, and is about 450 meters (1,500 feet) deep.Three people have been confirmed…

Indian Naval Ships Shivalik, Sahyadri, Jyoti and Kamorta of the Eastern Fleet manouvering in the Andaman Sea. The task force is on a routine deployment to Malacca Strait, the Java Sea, Flores Sea, the Arafura Sea and Southern Indian Ocean under the command of Rear Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, YSM, VSM, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. During the course of the deployment, as part of the ‘Act East Policy’, the ships would make port calls at Singapore, Kuantan (Malaysia), Jakarta and Surabaya (Indonesia), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Fremantle (Australia). INS Sahyadri and INS Kamorta would participate in the International Maritime Review at Singapore as part of RSN’s (Republic of Singapore Navy) 50th anniversary celebrations for which Admiral Sunil Lanba…

CMA CGM Otello has arrived Indonesia as the largest container vessel to call the country at the Jakarta International Container Terminal. The occasion also celebrated her impending maiden voyage for the industry’s first direct service from Indonesia to the United States (U.S.) on 24 April. Officiating the event was Minister of Transportation, Mr. Budi Karya Sumadi. He joined some 350 guests including various government officials as well as industry stakeholders at the milestone celebration. The 8,238-TEU vessel is deployed for the Java Sea Express (JAX) service and Pendulum Loop 1 (PE1) service by CMA CGM and APL respectively – two operating brands of the CMA CGM Group.

MT Alex, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned by Belgian tanker company Euronav Ship Management ran aground in Java Sea. The DWT 299,446 vessel, in laden condition, was sailing between Borneo and Sumatra on its way to Ningbo, China under load of crude oil, when she ran aground on a soft mud bottom. No injuries or pollution have been reported while the vessel remains safely aground, in good weather. No breach of hull, water ingress or mechanical failure are apparent in the assessment made by the crew, while the Class surveyor is expected to board as soon as possible. In a statement Euronav said that it has activated its emergency response plan and has notified all the relevant authorities; the emergency team is assessing the options for refloating the vessel.

Asian luxury cruise line Dream Cruises said it will homeport its inaugural vessel, Genting Dream, year-round in Singapore from December 3, 2017. Christened in November 2017, Genting Dream currently sails from Hong Kong or Guangzhou. With the move, the 151,300-metric-ton cruise ship will tap new markets, calling at more than 10 ports in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Significant growth in the Asian cruise industry over the recent years has presented new opportunities for the region, and Dream Cruises said it aims to be a pacesetter in Singapore.

Zycraft announced it had recently completed its longest range and fastest delivery of spares to a vessel in the Indian Ocean with one of its Shomari Long Range Vessels (LRV-17). The Nimble Cheetah traveled a total distance of 980 nautical miles at 25 knots to deliver critical engineering spares to a AHTS vessel that was towing a major oil and gas cargo. The trip to the distressed vessel was achieved in just over 40 hours. This is the fifth time that the Shomari LRV-17 has been called out for long range delivery of spares. The previous record was achieved in 2015 and involved going 700 nautical miles into the Java Sea to transfer critical equipment and personnel to an oil rig that was under tow and heading to Australia.

The handover ceremony of “Seabourn Encore”, the first of two ultra-luxury cruise ships ordered to Fincantieri by the ship owner Seabourn Cruise Line, brand of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, took place today at the Marghera shipyard (Venice). The ceremony was attended for the ship owner, among others, by Micky Arison, Chairman of Carnival Corporation, Richard D. Meadows, President of Seabourn Cruise Line and Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, while Fincantieri was represented by the Chairman, Giampiero Massolo and the CEO, Giuseppe Bono. “Seabourn Encore” was built according to the standards and cutting…

The first of two SIGMA 10514 PKR naval frigates for the Indonesian Navy has successfully completed its sea trials as of September 7, marking a milestone on a project for which the first steel was cut in January 2014. The assessment phase began with seven days of basin trials to ensure that the propulsion and safety systems were fully operational before the vessel made the challenging passage from the PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya to the open waters of the Java Sea. There then followed…

1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service is established by Congress, authorizing the construction of 10 vessels to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling. The service receives its present name, U.S. Coast Guard, in 1915 under an act of Congress that merges the Revenue Cutter Service with the Life-Saving Service, thereby providing the nation with a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation's maritime laws. 1846 - During the Mexican-American War…

1861 - While commanding a gunboat flotilla, Cmdr. James Harmon Ward is mortally wounded by a musket ball while aiming the bow gun of his flagship, USS Thomas Freeborn at Mathias Point, Va. Ward is the first US Naval officer casualty of the Civil War. 1898 - During the Spanish-American War, the 301-ton yacht Hornet captures the Spanish steamer Benito Estenger off Cape Cruz, Cuba. 1916 - At the Battle of Los Trencheros during the Dominican Campaign in the Dominican Republic, the Fourth Marine Regiment withstands an attack by Dominican insurgent forces. 1945 - PV-1 (VPB 142) sinks the Japanese submarine I 165, 450 miles east of Saipan, Mariana Islands. 1945 - USS Blueback (SS 326) sinks Imperial Japanese Navy submarine chaser, (CH 2), north of Lombok, Java Sea.

The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAPP) May 2016 report  says that only eight incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia for the month, down 65 percent from May last year. Between January and May 2016, a total of 38 incidents were reported in Asia, and this accounts for a 56% decrease in overall number of incidents compared to January-May 2015 when 87 incidents were reported. The number of incidents reported during January-May 2016 is the lowest among the five-year reporting period of January-May of 2012-2016. Of the eight incidents reported in May 2016, one was Category 1 incident involving the hijacking of product tanker Hai Soon 12 off Pulau Belitung, Indonesia on 7 May 16.

The U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Adm. The document presents Richardson’s priorities with four “lines of effort” to strengthen naval power at and from the sea; achieve high velocity learning at every level; strengthen our Navy team for the future’ and expand and strengthen our network of partners. It isn’t an earth-shattering document, and perhaps is most telling for what it doesn’t say, as opposed to what is says. The document makes a strong case for forward presence, which has been the raison d’etre for the U.S. Navy for decades.

USS John D. Ford (DD 228) is commissioned. It serves in both the Atlantic and the Pacific during World War II and receives a Presidential Unit Citation, specifically honoring her "extraordinary heroism in action" during the Java Campaign, Jan. 23 - March 2, 1942 and four battle stars. USS Bluefish (SS 222) sinks Japanese oiler Ichiyu Maru in the Java Sea. USS Block Island (CVE 106) is commissioned, serving until decommissioned in 1954. Struck from the Navy list in 1959, ex-Block Island is sold to Kowa Koeki Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Naka, of Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo and scrapped a year later. USS Razorback (SS 394) attacks a Japanese convoy going from Manila to Takao, about 60 miles southeast of Formosa, and sinks the destroyer Kuretake in the Bashi Channel.

The U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) departed from Singapore February 2 after completing her first six-day scheduled preventive maintenance period during a maiden 16-month rotational deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, the Navy reported. Beginning January 19, days after Fort Worth returned from supporting AirAsia search efforts in the Java Sea, the maintenance period included more than 400 checks of engineering, deck and combat systems, the Navy said. Compared to other Navy ship platforms, the littoral combat ship has a relatively small crew. Labor and technical support during Fort Worth's deployment is supplemented with civilian contractors who conduct most of the preventative maintenance schedule (PMS) work.

USS Sampson (DDG 102) and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) concluded their assistance efforts January 15 after contributing more than 650 search hours to the Indonesian-led search effort for AirAsia flight QZ8501, The U.S. Navy reported. Working in coordination with the Government of Indonesia, the U.S. 7th Fleet assigned USS Sampson and USS Fort Worth to the mission shortly after the December 28 crash. USS Sampson departed from Singapore December 29 and arrived on station in the Java Sea December 30.

Indonesia's Directorate General of Marine Transport says the black box of the doomed AirAsia flight QZ 8501 has been found. A team of Indonesian navy divers on Monday retrieved one of the two black boxes from an AirAsia plane that crashed in the Java Sea two weeks ago, killing all 162 people on board, a government official said. Indonesian rescuers have located the second black box too and the search continues for the cockpit voice recorder. Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. Divers began zeroing in on the sites a day earlier after three Indonesian ships picked up intense pings from the area…

Indonesian search and rescue teams plan to start lifting the crashed AirAsia jet's tail off the sea bed on Friday, officials said, raising hopes that "black box" recorders can be retrieved to reveal the cause of the disaster. Scores of divers plunged into the Java Sea on Thursday to search the wreckage of Flight QZ8501, which vanished from radar screens on Dec. 28 less than half-way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors among the 162 people on board. The cause of the crash remains a mystery, with hopes centering on the so-called black boxes - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - providing vital clues. The plane was an Airbus A320-200, which carries the recorders near the tail section.

USS Sampson (DDG 102) is supporting the ongoing Indonesian-led search and recovery operations for the downed AirAsia flight QZ8501 and assisted in locating the crash debris field yesterday. At the request of the Indonesian government, Sampson arrived on station in the Java Sea in the early afternoon on Dec. 30 and began assisting in the search. The ship's MH-60R search and rescue helicopters were launched to assist in the search efforts and the crews, working with multiple Indonesian assets, discovered debris late on the 30th. The ship and her helicopters are still on station and continuing to search in close coordination with Indonesian authorities. "Sampson will remain on station as long as the Indonesian government feels they are providing useful assistance," said Capt.

Objects resembling a body, luggage, a life vest and debris suspected to be part of an AirAsia jet that disappeared over the Java Sea were spotted by a pilot involved in the search operation, domestic media reported on Tuesday. "The body seemed bloated," said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo who was on board a Hercules aircraft during the search operation, reported the Kompas.com website. The sightings were made at around 11.00 Indonesia time, Wibowo said, after searching for around five hours. The suspected remains and debris were seen in the Karimata Strait, west of the Indonesian part of Borneo. An Airbus AIR.PA A320-200 carrying 162 people and operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.