Aquila News

U.S. military forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from Caribbean waters, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding that it was the third such interdiction in that region.After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, Washington has escalated its blockade on vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers' group.In a post on X, the U.S. Department of Defense said its forces boarded the Bertha overnight.

U.S. military forces boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, accusing the vessel of breaching Washington's blockade on sanctioned vessels traveling to or from Venezuela."Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident " Hegseth wrote in a post on X. "It ran, and we followed."After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the U.S.

U.S. military forces boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, accusing the vessel of breaching Washington's blockade on sanctioned vessels traveling to or from Venezuela."Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident " Hegseth wrote in a post on X. "It ran, and we followed."After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the U.S.

Esgian provides an update on drilling activity in its Week 26 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsVentura Offshore has been granted exclusive marketing rights from Hanwha Drilling LLC for the newbuild 12,000-ft 7th generation drillship, Tidal Action, for an ongoing tender process in Brazil.Transocean has announced a 365-day contract extension for the 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Asgard with an independent operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Northern Ocean Ltd.-owned 7…

Esgian reports on the many rig movements that occurred last week in its Week 16 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryContractsADES Holding Company has received a letter of award from an international oil company for a one-year firm drilling contract for a jackup offshore Qatar.TotalEnergies has exercised a three-well option for Transocean 12,000-ft drillship Deepwater Skyros offshore Angola at a rate of $400,000, keeping the rig working into December 2025.After initially beginning a short-term job in the US GOM in January 2024…

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…

An arbitration tribunal has delivered a verdict in a drillship order cancellation case involving offshore drilling contractor Northern Drilling and Daweoo Shipbuilding Marine and Engineering (now known as Hanwha Ocean), ruling in favor of Hanwha.Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling canceled the West Aquila and West Libra drillship orders with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021, citing delay of deliveries as well as a repudiatory breach of contract, and said it would seek a refund for installments paid.

Shipowner Diana Shipping on Friday announced it has entered into a pair of time charter contracts for two of its owned bulk carrier vesselsWestern Bulk Carriers AS will charter the DSI Aquila $13,300 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum September 15, 2023 up to maximum November 15, 2023. The charter is expected to commence on November 22, 2022. The 60,309 dwt Ultramax dry bulk vessel was built in 2015.In addition, EGPN Bulk Carrier Co., Limited, will charter the Houston for $13,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period until minimum July 1, 2024 up to maximum August 31, 2024. The charter is expected to commence on November 21, 2022.

At least six tankers set to load liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Freeport LNG this month have been diverted following the June 8 blast that shut the Texas facility, Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data showed.A partial restart of the Quintana, Texas, plant is not expected until at least September, the company said last week, leaving about 40 cargoes to be canceled or re-scheduled. The loss has European LNG buyers and some U.S. shale producers reeling, while rivals Cheniere Energy and Sempra LNG rush to produce more LNG to offset the losses.Freeport accounts for roughly 20% of U.S. LNG processing capacity, drawing 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas, primarily from U.S. shale fields.

On March 3, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Elisa Aquila commercially managed by France LNG Shipping and under a long-term charter contract with Edison SPA, a Milan-based energy company, was delivered.Elisa Aquila will be the second vessel to be chartered to the EDF group, a French electric power company, on a long-term basis (up to 20 years including extension options) and will be engaged in LNG transportation under the ship management of Gazocean, a French ship management company specialized in LNG…

Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling said Tuesday it had canceled a drillship resale contract with the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).In May 2018, Northern Drilling signed agreements with DSME to buy two newbuilding 7th generation DP3 and ultra-deepwater capable drillships DSME known as the West Aquila and the West Libra, for $296 million each with $90 million paid at contract signing and the remainder at delivery. However, Northern Ocean said  Tuesday it had canceled the contract for the West Aquila drillship due to delay of delivery as well as a repudiatory breach of contract.Northern Drilling…

U.S. Coast Guard air and boat crews are searching for one person who went missing aboard the bulk carrier Star Aquila, Thursday, approximately 12 nautical miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report at 4:07 a.m. that a crew member was missing. The 41 year old male was last seen on board the Marshall Islands-flagged vesseo on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.Crew members conducted a search of the vessel with negative results.Star Aquila has been at anchor for eight days and will transit into Mobile, Ala. on Thursday.

UK's Royal Marines lit up Arctic fjords and valleys as they laid down mortar rounds in the dark during winter training in Norway, said a press release from the Ministry of Defence.Illumination shells bathed the striking mountainscape around the small town of Bardufoss – roughly half way between Tromsø and Narvik – in an eerie light as the men of 40 Commando’s Mortar Troop conducted fire missions.The live firing is the latest chapter of the Royal Marines winter deployment inside the Arctic Circle, Exercise Aquila 19, which sees all aspects of the commando’s abilities – in the air, on the water and on the ground – tested so they remain…

European spaceflight services company Telespazio and the shipping company Grimaldi Group have recently signed two contracts to strengthen the satellite communications capabilities of the Neapolitan shipping group on its fleet of cargo and passenger ships.Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo and Thales, said in a press release that the first agreement provides for managing on-board communications for RO/RO, RO/RO multi-purpose and PCTC (Pure Car & Truck Carrier) vessels in the Grimaldi Fleet that operate between Northern Europe, North and South America, West Africa, and the Mediterranean.Specifically, Telespazio will take care of the design and supply of on-board systems for satellite communications and related broadband services, including backup, on a multi-regional scale.

Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd. (“ONE”) is has announced that ONE Columbia, with a carrying capacity of 14,000 TEU, has been successfully delivered at Kure Shipyard of Japan Marine United Corporation. The sublet owner is Nippon Yusen Kaisha. This is ONE’s 4th newly built 14,000TEU magenta containership delivered this year, after ONE Stork (delivery date on 12th June 2018), ONE Minato (26th July 2018), and ONE Aquila (7th September 2018). Currently, 3 more vessels in ONE’s order book are in the construction process and expected delivery is in 2019.ONE Columbia…

Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd. (ONE) announced it has taken delivery of the 14,00 TEU capacity ONE Aquila at Japan Marine United Corporation’s Kure Shipyard in Hiroshima.

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Gibbs & Cox, Inc. said that William E. "Bill" Landay III, President of W.E. LANDAY Consulting LLC, has been elected to its Board of Directors effective June 20, 2017. "[VADM Landay’s] expertise in the areas of foreign military sales, DoD acquisition, and science and technology programs will be a tremendous addition to the future growth of Gibbs & Cox," said President and Chief Executive Chris Deegan. Vice Admiral Landay retired in 2013 after more than 35 years of Naval service. His final assignment was as Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) where he was in charge of the $400 billion DoD program responsible for the sale of equipment, defense technologies, training and other services to foreign governments.

The Caribbean shipyard Grand Bahama Shipyard Limited (GBSL) worked on 49 commercial vessels and 20 cruise ships throughout 2016, with scope of works ranging from major steel fabrication and repairs, to engine and technical systems overhauls, hull treatment and tank cleanings. And looking to 2017 and beyond, the yard reports it has a healthy order book, with docking periods secured as far ahead as three years. VShips USA brought two bulk carriers, CSL Acadian and CSL Argosy, to GBSL to do tank cleaning on both vessels. CSL Acadian also received extensive pipe work.

Seadrill Limited has reached an agreement with DSME shipyard to defer the delivery of two ultra-deepwater drillships, the West Aquila and West Libra, until the second quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019 respectively.   Under the terms of the original construction contracts, the units were to be delivered by the end of the second quarter of 2016, and the total final yard installment for both units of over $800 million was due at that time.   The agreement announced today improves Seadrill’s near term liquidity position by deferring these capex commitments to 2018 and 2019, with no further payments to the yard until that time.

SAFE Boats International announced that Retired Vice Admiral William E. “Bill” Landay III has been appointed as a Director of the Board at SAFE Boats International. Vice Admiral Landay retired in 2013 after more than 35 years of naval service. His final assignment was as Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) from August 2010 until September 2013. DSCA oversees the U.S. Government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program and is responsible for the sale of arms, defense technologies, training and other services to foreign governments.

Two partners in port project have entered administration means that port charges are now higher for other backers. Glencore and five other miners backing the world's most expensive coal port in Australia face extra annual charges of A$150 million after the restructuring of one of their partners this month, the latest to buckle under slumping commodity prices. The additional charge will deal a blow to the remaining backers of the A$2.6 billion ($2 billion) Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal (WICET) in east Australia at a time when they are grappling with floundering coal markets. Mining and trading giant Glencore and seven partners began negotiations to build WICET in 2008 near the height of a coal boom…

The CMA CGM Group said it has decided to anticipate the reduced production during the Lunar New Year period in China starting on February 4, 2014, and to adjust its offer to meet reduced demand on its services out of China. CMA CGM PEGASUS will sail to North China and Korea with calls in Xingang, Dalian, Pusan and Qingdao with transshipment of exports on FAL1 on board CMA CGM Laperouse in Xiamen. Cargo will be charged on MEX1 with additional calls in Genoa. Cargo will be charged on MEX1 with additional calls in Genoa. •    Cancel 1 sailing on REX3 on board Sils in Port Kelang on February 27.

Neda Maritime achieves ISO 50001 certification to join an elite group of tanker owners who are managing their energy use more effectively. After months of close work with Lloyd’s Register, Greek shipowner gains international standard. The Piraeus-based Neda Maritime Agency Co. Ltd has joined an elite group of ship operators who have certified their systems and processes against the ISO 50001 standard, demonstrating the employment of best practice for efficient energy use and conservation throughout their fleet.