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Cameroon News

30 Oct 2023

World Maritime University Graduates Class of '23

Photo credit: World Maritime University

On 28 October, the maritime leaders of tomorrow - World Maritime University (WMU) class of 2023 - graduated. The WMU 2023 graduating class includes 283 graduates from 71 countries, including a record of 99 women graduates.WMU President, Professor Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., delivered welcome remarks. As a WMU graduate himself, President Mejia reflected on the power of the WMU experience and how it affects the way one thinks, works, plans, and interacts. “You have acquired information that you did not possess before you enrolled here," he said.

11 Jul 2023

Indonesia Seizes Iranian-Flagged Supertanker Suspected of Illegal Oil Transfer

Indonesia's coast guard said on Tuesday it seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, and vowed to toughen maritime patrols.The MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at 4.6 trillion rupiah ($304 million), when it was seized last week, the Indonesian authorities said.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was suspected of transferring oil to another vessel without a permit on Friday, the Southeast Asian nation's maritime security agency said.The vessel was captured after being spotted in Indonesia's North Natuna Sea, carrying out a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, the agency's chief, Aan Kurnia, said.

10 Jul 2023

Nigeria Will Destroy a Vessel it Intercepted Carrying Stolen Crude

(Photo: NNPC Ltd)

Nigeria's state-owned oil firm NNPC Ltd said on Monday an 800,000-liter (211,338-U.S. gallon) vessel carrying stolen crude had been intercepted offshore while heading to Cameroon and would be destroyed as a deterrent to oil theft.Crude theft from pipelines and wells in the Niger Delta has hobbled the country's output in recent years and is one of the biggest challenges to confront new President Bola Tinubu.NNPC said the oil was stolen from a well in south western Ondo state.

14 Jun 2023

Denmark Tops Paris MoU White List

© torstengrieger / Adobe Stock

The Paris MoU Committee has approved the 2022 inspection results and adopted new performance lists for flag States and Recognized Organizations (ROs), with Denmark topping the White List and Cameroon at the bottom of the Black List.The White List represents quality flags with a consistently low detention record. Calculations are based on the number of inspections and detentions during a three-year rolling period for flags with at least 30 inspections over that period. In this period…

05 Jun 2023

Ports in China's Oil Hub Shandong Scrutinizing Old Tankers

© Nicola / Adobe Stock

Ports in China's Shandong province are demanding more detailed information about oil tankers that are more than 15 years old that call at their terminals, sources with knowledge of the matter said, potentially delaying the unloading of crude shipments in the world's biggest oil importer.Last week, the maritime safety administrations at Qingdao and Rizhao, which covers the oil terminals at the port of Lanshan, notified shipping agencies to submit details on their ships' age, where a ship is flagged…

09 May 2023

MODEC Confirms Its First FPSO Order in Guyana

Credit: MODEC

Japan's MODEC said Monday it would proceed with engineering, procurement, and construction on the Uaru FPSO vessel following a final investment decision on the Uaru offshore oil project by ExxonMobil in Guyana last month.The Uaru FPSO is named ‘Errea Wittu’, which means ‘abundance,’ and will be the fifth offshore FPSO in Guyana and the first to be supplied by MODEC. The first four, two of which are now in production in the Stabroek block off Guyana, were/will be delivered by SBM Offshore.Apart from supplying the Errea Wittu FPSO…

15 Mar 2023

Golar LNG Buys NFE's Stake in FLNG Hilli

©Keppel (file image)

Golar LNG has acquired New Fortress Energy's (NFE) stake in FLNG Hilli - also known as Hilli Episeyo. "In return for NFE’s 50% Common Unit holding in Golar Hilli LLC, Golar has transferred its remaining 4.1 million NFE shares to NFE, paid NFE $100 million in cash, and assumed approximately $323 million of FLNG Hilli debt," Golar LNG said. FLNG Hilli (Hilli Episeyo) is currently located offshore Kribi, Cameroon. Its customers are oil and gas company Perenco and Cameroon’s national oil firm, Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH).

21 Feb 2023

Spain Detains Oil Tanker Over Mediterranean Fuel Spill

(Photo: Spanish Ministry of Transport)

Spain has detained and fined a Maltese-flagged oil tanker it says discharged oil in open waters near the northeastern port city of Tarragona, a transport ministry department said.Spain's Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines have become hubs for shipping activity including the transfer of oil known as ship-to-ship (STS) operations, which industry sources say are becoming an increasing safety concern.Spanish authorities said they had intercepted the Lagertha after a discharge of hydrocarbons was detected by aircraft sensors and satellite radar on Feb.

15 Feb 2023

Danish-operated Tanker Banned from Spanish Ports Over Oil Transfer

A ship operated by Denmark’s Maersk Tankers has been banned from Spanish ports, Spanish officials said, after its cargo of oil products was found to have previously been carried by a vessel that was formerly Russian flagged.Trade in oil and oil products linked to Russia has been complicated by the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations' imposition of a price cap on Russian oil in December and separate European Union measures to prohibit the import of Russian crude and oil products into the bloc.Spain's northeastern Tarragona port on Feb. 10 refused entry to the Singapore-flagged Maersk Magellan tanker, saying the vessel had picked…

17 Nov 2022

Nigeria to Build its First FLNG Unit

UTM Offshore Signs Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Contract for Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Facility in Nigeria. Image Source: UTM Offshore

Nigerian company UTM Offshore has signed a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the development of an FLNG facility in Nigeria with JGC Corporation, Technip Energies, and KBR.This will be Nigeria's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. Africa currently has two FLNG units in operation, the Hili Episeyo in Cameroon, and, as of recently, the Coral Sul FLNG in Mozambique. In Nigeria, the FLNG unit will be used for development of offshore block OML  204.According to Chief Timipre Sylva…

12 Jul 2022

Could the US Ship More LNG to Europe?

© Carabay / Adobe Stock

The United States, the world's top natural gas producer, wants to send more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe to help its allies break their dependence on Russian gas after Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.But U.S. exports are limited by the country's liquefaction capacity and an ongoing outage at Freeport LNG's plant after the second-biggest U.S. LNG export facility was hit by fire in June.Russia, once Europe's biggest gas supplier, has already cut exports for various reasons this year…

26 Oct 2021

Russian Navy Destroyer Fends Off Pirate Attack on Container Ship

Credit: Russia's Defence Ministry

A Russian Navy destroyer has fended off a pirate attack on a container ship near the western coast of Africa, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.Destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov received a distress signal from Panama-registered container ship Lucia en route from Togo to Cameroon on Monday, the ministry said in a statement, and dispatched a unit of marines on a helicopter to it.The pirates immediately fled, allowing Russian soldiers to free the ship's crew.The Russian destroyer was part of a group patrolling the Gulf of Guinea to ensure the security of civilian navigation.

16 Aug 2021

From Cameroon to Kingston: NUWC Helps Fund, Hires URI Doctoral Student Specialized in Corrosion

Irine Neba Neba Mforsoh performing an experiment in Professor Arun Shukla’s Dynamic Photomechanics Laboratory at URI. (Photo courtesy of Irine Neba Neba Mforsoh)

For those operating equipment on, under or near the water for commercial or recreational purposes, the corrosive effects of saltwater can be costly. For the U.S. Navy, the ramifications could be much more severe.As a doctoral student in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics at the University of Rhode Island, Irine Neba Mforsoh studied the long-term effects seawater and ultraviolet radiation have on the materials used to coat marine structures.After earning her doctorate in spring 2021…

29 Jul 2021

WER: Near-term Outlook for Floating Production Systems 'Very Positive'

An FPSO in Brazil - Credit: Ranimiro/AdobeStock

The oil and gas sector continues to rebound from the great downturn, though regional surges of Covid-19 have been spooking the market, causing crude prices to be a bit volatile over the past two weeks. But, the near-term outlook remains very positive. This is the conclusion of the in-depth market analysis in the July 2021 Floating Production Systems Report - a go-to database for all things FPSO/FPU - just released by International Maritime Associates/World Energy Reports (IMA/WER).Asked what is driving the positive sentiment…

20 Jul 2021

Perenco, SNH to Increase Utilization of Golar's Hilli Episeyo FLNG

FIle Photo: Keppel

Oil and gas company Perenco and Cameroon's national oil firm SNH have agreed with Golar LNG to increase the utilization of the FLNG Hilli Episeyo - Africa's first FLNG in operation and the world’s first converted FLNG. The Hilli Episeyo FLNG vessel moored offshore Cameroon and producing from SNH and Perenco's offshore gas fields, started producing in March 2018. The initial agreement was for the use of two of the four liquefaction trains and provided Perenco and SNH the option to increase liquefaction production.Back on March 31…

16 Jun 2021

Chevron Marine Lubricants Expands in Africa

Photo courtesy Chevron Marine Lubricants.

Chevron Marine Lubricants announced a plan to boost its presence in African ports, extending its joint venture with Akwa Group. Chevron is now an equal partner in Afriquia Lubrifiants, with plans to extend the blending, distribution, and marketing business beyond Morocco to markets in sub-Saharan Africa.The agreement enables theJV to manufacture Chevron’s premium products locally for the first time, including Chevron Marine Lubricants’ product portfolio. The new roadmap includes the export of lubricant products to 14 countries in North and West Africa: Algeria…

12 May 2021

Mariner Missing from Cuban Tanker en Route to Venezuela

A crew member aboard a Cuba-flagged oil tanker on its way from a Mexican shipyard to Venezuela was reported missing this week, according to a shipping report seen by Reuters, marking the second incident aboard the same vessel in about a year.Sailor Rafael Desiderio Martinez Alonso was not found last Sunday by the doctor onboard oil tanker Petion, which set sail on May 6 from Mexico's port of Veracruz bound for the Cardon terminal in Venezuela's western coast.The report by the tanker's shipping agency to Venezuelan port authorities about the incident said Martinez Alonso, who was one the tanker's fitters, is believed to have fallen into open waters because his shoes were found near the ship's gas plant.

13 Jan 2021

Maritime Security: Neo-colonialism in the Gulf of Guinea

© Lucia / Adobe Stock

Is neo-colonialism in the Gulf of Guinea the answer to West Africa’s maritime crime crisis?In October 2020, China’s transport ministry established an ad hoc workgroup to lay down precautionary measures for ships and seafarers passing through high piracy risk West African waters.The move came as China told its vessels to up vigilance and implement a series of precautionary measures to ensure the security of ocea-going vessels and seafarers amid rising attacks and a surge in kidnaps in the Gulf of Guinea.Plans outlined by Wu Chungeng…

27 Aug 2020

IHC Delivers New Dredge to Cameroon's Port of Douala

Mont Mandara (Photo: Royal IHC)

Royal IHC said it handed over the 3,000m³ trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Mont Mandara to Cameroon’s Port Authority of Douala (PAD) on August 20. The delivery completes the PAD fleet, following its acquisition of an IHC Beaver 50 cutter suction dredger and a DMC workboat in 2019.The new TSHD is an IHC Easydredge from IHC’s standardized range of dredging vessels suited for common maintenance and land reclamation projects. The Mont Mandara offers flexibility to PAD as it can be customized to adapt to its dedicated working environment.

17 Sep 2020

Keppel: Converted FLNGs Have Smaller Carbon Footprint Compared to Newly Built Units

Hilli Episeyo - Credit: Keppel

Singapore's Keppel Offshore & Marine has said that converted FLNG vessels save approximately 33% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to an FLNG new build, citing a study by environmental consultants, Environmental Resources Management (ERM).Commissioned by Keppel O&M, the study by ERM assesses the converted and new build FLNG across three stages of the project life cycle, namely the end of life of the LNG tanker, repurposing, or shipbuilding of the FLNG, and maintenance…

05 Aug 2020

OLT Offshore's FSRU Toscana Receives 100th LNG Cargo

Image Credit: OLT Offshore LNG Toscana

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana's floating regasification unit FSRU Toscana received its 100th LNG cargo via the ship-to-ship from the Bonito LNG carrier on July 31, 2020.Per the owner, OLT Terminal has, over the years, received LNG from the main exporting countries such as: Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.The total quantity of LNG discharged so far is approximately 13.8 million liquid cubic meters…

27 May 2020

First Topside Module Lifted on Coral South FLNG Hull

The Coral South FLNG hull was launched in January - Credit: Eni

Eni-operated Coral South FLNG project is making progress with the first topside module installed aboard the hull of the under-construction FLNG unit destined to develop offshore gas fields in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, Mozambique.Coral FLNG SA, an Eni-led JV developing the project, said Wednesday that the power generation module had been lifted aboard the hull, marking the start of the integration between the hull, launched in January, and the massive topside (12 process modules of around 70…

13 May 2020

Douala Port Authority Orders IHC Dredger

(Image: Royal IHC)

Cameroon’s Port Authority of Douala (PAD) has acquired high-tech equipment from Royal IHC to support its dredging activities, an order that builds on the excellent partnership between both organizations.As part of measures to autonomously manage its dredging activities, the Management of the PAD acquired an IHC Beaver 50 cutter suction dredger and a Delta Multi Craft (DMC) workboat, which were both delivered in 2019. This first order will soon be completed by an IHC Easydredge trailing suction hopper dredger with a 3,000-cubic-meter hopper capacity.