Africa News

JUB Pacific, a Singapore-based provider of specialized offshore liftboat services, has acquired one of the largest liftboats in Africa, said to be perfectly suited for servicing major players in the oil and gas sector within the Africa region.JUB Pacific acquired the Caracal Pioneer liftboat, which shall be renamed to JUB Pioneer, in a strategic move to extend the company’s global reach and solidify its position as one of the leading liftboat players.The unit is well-equipped to support a diverse range of offshore operations which is highly required by large oil companies in Africa…

Classification society ABS said it has granted an approval in principle (AIP) to OceanSTAR Marine & Offshore Investment Pte. Ltd., for its newbuild floating storage and offloading (FSO) design.The OceanSTAR FSO-01 is a shipshape hull design specifically developed to cater to midsize FSOs with a storage capacity to scale up to 750,000 barrels of oil for operational demands in Asia Pacific and African coastal offshore fields. Other features include a larger strengthened deck area…

The first LNG cargo from Eni's Congo LNG project is currently being loaded and will sail to Piombino’s regasification terminal in Italy in the coming days.With the first cargo, the Republic of the Congo enters the group of LNG exporting countries, opening up opportunities for economic growth while contributing to global energy balance.The Congo LNG project, sanctioned in December 2022, came on stream after just one year, in line with the initial timeline.Eni started the introduction…

Altera Infrastructure has hired DOF to install Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit as well as one floating storage unit (FSO) at Eni-operated Baleine oil field offshore Ivory Coast.The project includes the complete installation of seabed mooring systems, flowline between the FSO – a converted shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia - and the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, along with their associated equipment.The contract for the redeployment of the FPSO and the FSO was secured by Altera back in October 2023.Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO…

In January 2024, Boluda Towage commenced towage operations in the Egyptian Abu Qir’s container terminal with three tugs.Vicente Boluda Fos, President of Boluda Corporación Marítima, said, “Abu Qir is a port in full motion, and the port developments perfectly fit with the ambitions of the Boluda Towage Division. The presence in Egypt and the Middle East is a further step towards strengthening and expanding our global activities. We are proud to be part of the developments and that…

Oslo-listed offshore service company Argeo has informed that its DP2 vessel Argeo Searcher completed the deepwater inspection services at Shell’s Bonga field, and is scheduled to set sail to Indian Ocean for a job with India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).In a vessel schedule update, released on January 22, 2024, Argeo confirmed its current backlog includes close to $53 million (NOK 550 million), with a further sales and revenue potential of additional $19 million (NOK 200) million for Argeo Searcher vessel in the second half of 2024.According to the company…

Two next-generation Damen ASD Tugs 2813 have been delivered to the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA).Commissioned during a ceremony on December 14, the newbuilds Capt. Edward A. A. Awuviri and Nestor Percy Galley—named after two former Director Generals—were built at Damen Shipyards’ dedicated tug building facility Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam.The vessels each deliver 83 tonnes bollard pull ahead and up to 77 tonnes astern, making them capable of maneuvering the range of large vessels that use the Ghanaian ports of Takoradi and Tema…

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors eyed the impact on oil supply after attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade and forced companies to reroute vessels.Brent crude futures rose 6 cents to $78.01 a barrel at 0726 GMT. The front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract , which expires on Tuesday, fell 18 cents to $72.29 a barrel. The more active second-month contract dropped 10 cents, or 0.1%…

Eni will invest $10 billion in the development of the Baleine field offshore Ivory Coast, which will take place in three phases from 2023 to 2027, Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said on Thursday.The Baleine field, where certified reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was discovered in 2021 by the Italian energy group off the east coast of the West African country.The field's crude oil production should reach 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, compared with 30,000 barrels per day in 2023, the energy minister said."With a tota

Egypt is expected to resume exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in December or January as domestic demand declines during winter and as it receives more gas from Israel, an executive at Italy's ENI said on Tuesday."Consumption in Egypt is reducing and we would expect by December, possibly January, (LNG) exports could resume," Cristian Signoretto, director for ENI's global gas and LNG portfolio, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in London.Egypt shipped…

The prospect of the EU receiving more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Egypt in the short and medium term looks unachievable due to tight gas balances and reduced imports from Israel, Oxford Institute of Energy Studies (OIES) said.Egypt shipped 80% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe last year as the continent sought to replace Russian pipeline gas after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The European Union in June last year signed a framework deal between the bloc…

The sailaway ceremony for the Tango floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit and Excalibur floating storage unit (FSU) was held Saturday to mark the vessels' sail away from Dubai to Congo, where they will serve Eni's Congo LNG project, whose first phase will start in December 2023.Tango FLNG, which has a liquefaction capacity of approximately 1 billion cubic meters per annum of gas (BCMA), will be moored 3 kilometers offshore along with the Excalibur FSU upon their arrival to Congo.EXMAR is serving as the engineering, procurement and conversion (EPC) contractor for this project, and has desi

Tanzania on Sunday signed agreements with Dubai state-owned ports operator DP World to operate part of the Dar es Salaam port for 30 years, a deal that has previously been opposed by Tanzania opposition and rights groups.Plasduce Mbossa, director general of state-owned Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) which currently manages the port, said DP World will lease and operate four of the 12 berths at the country's largest port.Dar es Salaam also serves landlocked nations in east and southern Africa like Uganda…

The Israel-Hamas war has raised the spectre of a wider regional conflict which could embroil Iran and other regional factions.Analysts and market observers say the conflict could prompt the United States to tighten sanctions on Iran, which may spur Tehran to take retaliatory action against ships in the Strait in Hormuz.The Marshall Islands registry, one of the world's top shipping flags, last week flagged that vessels with links to Israel or the United States may face a heightened threat of attack within Israeli territorial waters…

Altera Infrastructure has been awarded contracts for the redeployment of the FPSO Voyageur Spirit and the shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia for the Baleine Phase 2 project, located offshore Ivory Coast.The vessels are set for deployment on the Baleine field with a 15-year firm contract. The development of the project will be on a fast-track schedule, with a planned start-up date for Phase 2 in the fourth quarter of 2024. The vessels, Voyageur Spirit and Nordic Brasilia, are currently undergoing life extension work and field-specific modifications at Drydocks World in Dubai. Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO, that previously operated on the Huntington field in the North Sea until 2020.

Thungela Resources, South Africa's largest shipper of thermal coal burned in power stations, said its shipments of the fuel have not been impacted by a workers' strike at the country's key coal export hub. Workers at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which is owned by coal exporters including Thungela, Exxaro Resources, Glencore, and Seriti, have been on a strike for the past three weeks. A two-week strike at South Africa's state-owned ports and rail company Transnet last year hit coal shipments…

Maersk Supply Service has secured a contract extension in Angola for its Subsea Support Vessel Maersk Involver for an additional 15 months.The Danish vessel owner said Monday that under the extended contract, the vessel and crew would support various subsea operations off the coast of Angola.

Four major oil ports in Libya have reopened after shutting down on Saturday because of the powerful storm that swept the country, killing thousands of people, port agent Al Omran International Maritime Agencies said on Wednesday. The eastern ports of Brega, Es Sidra and Ras Lanuf opened on Tuesday and the port of Zueitina opened on Wednesday morning, Al Omran said. Oil prices rose on Wednesday, with Brent firming around a 10-month peak reached during trading a day earlier, as…

Interest in methanol as an alternative fuel has grown in the shipping industry, which seeks to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.Below is a list of upcoming methanol bunkering-related projects by companies and ports:COMPANIES:A.P. Moller-MaerskMaersk received the world's first methanol-enabled container ship in July. It has 24 more such vessels on order to help it to achieve its goal of using low-emission fuels to transport a quarter of its volumes by 2030.HD Hyundai Heavy Industries expects to build a dozen more such vessels…

At least 30 commercial ships dropped anchor on Wednesday around Gabon's waters after military officers said they had seized power in the Central African country, according to data and maritime sources.Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, after the country's election body announced that he had won a third term.

The Golar Gimi FLNG unit, being built for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim project in Senegal/Mauritania offshore area, is set to sail away next month.According to Golar LNG, tasked with delivering the unit, the FLNG Gimi conversion works 97% complete. Golar LNG said that FLNG Gimi was scheduled to leave the yard in September 2023. „Final checks, storing up and sea trials will then take place in Singapore ahead of her voyage to Mauritania and Senegal, expected to commence around the end of September/early October…

Sierra Leone's capital Freetown has been hit by power cuts after Turkey's Karpowership switched off the electricity supply due to an unpaid debt of around $40 million, the energy minister said on Friday.Minister Kanja Sesay told Reuters that the outstanding amount "was accrued over time because the government subsidizes more than half the cost the ship charges per kilowatt hour".He said the government had to spend more on the subsidy because it charges consumers in the weak local Leone currency…

Algeria's defense ministry said on Sunday its coastguard fired warning shots before firing directly at a man on a jet ski who entered Algerian waters, in an incident that a survivor said left two dead.The incident took place on Tuesday after five men strayed into Algerian waters on jet skis near the Moroccan coastal resort of Saidia on Algeria's border, according to Mohamed Kissi, who said he survived the shooting.Algeria's defense ministry released its version of events in a statement on Sunday. "After multiple attempts, shots were fired on a jet ski," the ministry said.