Christian Jimenez News

French oil company Total has appointed refining boss Patrick Pouyanne as chief executive to succeed Christophe de Margerie who was killed in a plane crash in Moscow this week. Pouyanne, 51, head of refining, had been considered as possible candidate to succeed de Margerie in the past and has a reputation as a shrewd cost-cutter. The world's fourth largest oil company also named Thierry Desmarest, a former Total CEO, as non-executive chairman. The appointments came less than 48 hours after de Margerie's death.

Riverine Group 1 is testing its first Riverine Command Boat, which gives Riverine squadrons the ability to travel not only in rivers, but also out to bays and coastal regions, expanding the capabilities of command and control and the Riverine squadrons' maritime security reach. RCB-1, which the command received in October, has a primary mission of improving maritime security. With its versatility, the boat offers the ability for use as a primary boat in combat missions, patrolling missions, as a combat information center and can even be configured as an ambulance boat. It is designed to land on a variety of shorelines, including solid rock, to drop off and extract personnel from any area.