Pes News

Damen Naval has expanded Colombian involvement by contracting Georg Fischer for the PES project in LATAM. Under this project, a Damen SIGMA frigate will be built by COTECMAR, at their shipyard in Cartagena. Georg Fischer in LATAM has been contracted for the delivery of all plastic piping for the PES project.Besides the supply of plastic piping, Damen Naval’s procurement contract also includes Georg Fischer in LATAM to provide training sessions for COTECMAR staff at their yard in Colombia. This enlarges exchange of technology and knowledge under the PES project.

Kongsberg Maritime has signed a contract with Damen Naval to supply twin Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) and shaftlines as part of a contract with the Colombian Navy for a new frigate.In September 2022, the Colombian Ministry of Defence announced that COTECMAR and Damen Naval will develop the new frigate. Construction is to begin at the end of 2025, with commissioning expected at the end of 2029 or the beginning of 2030.The new Colombian frigate is based on Damen’s SIGMA design (Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach)…

Damen Naval signed a contract with Nevesbu for the platform engineering scope of the Plataforma Estratégica de Superficie (PES) frigate for Colombia. This scope includes both basic engineering and detailed engineering. The collaboration highlights the strength of the Damen Shipyards Group, with Damen Naval and Nevesbu joining forces as sister companies within the organization.Based on Damen Naval’s SIGMA 10514 series, the PES frigate is designed to combine versatility and combat capability while being tailored to meet Colombia’s specific requirements.

Damen Naval has signed contract with classification society Lloyd’s Register for the delivery of Plataforma Estratégica de Superficie (PES) frigate for Colombia, which will be built by Colombian shipbuilder COTECMAR.Following a successful design study contract with COTECMAR, Damen Naval signed a contract for the delivery of engineering, technical support and the shipbuilding materials and equipment for the first frigate in August 2024.Lloyd’s Register has been involved with the project since the end of 2022…

Damen and COTECMAR have signed the contract for technical support and the supply of components for the construction of the first frigate to be built in Colombia.COTECMAR, short for the Corporación de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo de la Industria Naval, Marítima y Fluvial, will be in charge of the construction, based on Damen’s SIGMA 10514 model.The ship, Plataforma Estratégica de Superficie (PES - Strategic Surface Platform), will have a length of 107.5 meters and a beam of 14.02 meters.After Mexico and Brazil…

Product tanker freight rates softened in the third quarter of 2019 but rebounded strongly at the start of the fourth quarter following an increase in crude tanker rates that began after the attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and accelerated dramatically to multi-year high levels at the end of September when the US imposed sanctions on two subsidiaries of China's COSCO Shipping.Denmark-based TORM said that growth in global demand for oil products generally remained subdued in the first two months of the quarter but showed signs of increased momentum towards the end of the quarter.The particularly heavy refinery maintenance schedule in the second quarter eased in the third quarter…

Refiners from the Midwest United States are fighting for access to a vital Pennsylvania pipeline – a move that could cripple their East Coast competitors and redraw the map for international flows of crude and fuel into coveted coastal markets. The regulatory dispute centers on a proposal by pipeline operator Buckeye Partners’ to that state's Public Utilities Commission. The plan would reverse the flow of fuels on a section of Buckeye’s 350-mile Laurel Pipeline, which currently flows from the East Coast to Pittsburgh. Because pipelines only flow in one direction, the change would effectively block five East Coast refineries from serving Pittsburgh – with Midwest refiners picking up their market share.

Late last November, the tanker Olympic Flag carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude dropped anchor about 7 miles off the coast in Delaware Bay, a seemingly routine shipment destined for a nearby Philadelphia refinery. What happened next was anything but routine. Instead of discharging its cargo within days and heading off for the next port, the ship idled offshore for nearly 11 weeks, discharging the oil at an unaccountably slow rate, according to shipping sources as well as vessel tracking data on ThomsonReuters Eikon. That vessel finally set sail two weeks ago - but by then it had already been joined by five more idling tankers, an unusual and costly congregation that has puzzled experts and traders.

Late last November, the tanker Olympic Flag carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude dropped anchor about 7 miles off the coast in Delaware Bay, a seemingly routine shipment destined for a nearby Philadelphia refinery. What happened next was anything but routine. Instead of discharging its cargo within days and heading off for the next port, the ship idled offshore for nearly 11 weeks, discharging the oil at an unaccountably slow rate, according to shipping sources as well as vessel tracking data on ThomsonReuters Eikon. That vessel finally set sail two weeks ago - but by then it had already been joined by five more idling tankers, an unusual and costly congregation that has puzzled experts and traders.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions plans to start operating a new benzene offtake terminal next month at its 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Philadelphia, two people familiar with the plans said. While most U.S. refiners are either selling benzene or refining it further, Philadelphia Energy Solutions is using the new terminal to help bring the chemical into the facility, according to an IPO document filed last month. The benzene facility is the latest step in building up infrastructure at a plant that was nearly shuttered in 2012. Benzene boosts the octane level of gasoline and reduces knocking in car engines, but is also a carcinogenic and the federal Environmental Protection Agency requires refiners to strip most of it out of the finished product.

As the first U.S. oil condensate exports head to Asia from the Gulf Coast, crude producers and refiners are exploring ways to get around a century-old law that makes it three times more expensive to ship by water between U.S. ports than to sail to a foreign port. The Jones Act, originally passed to protect the U.S. maritime industry, restricts passage between U.S. ports to ships that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed. If oil exports pick up pace while the Jones Act is left in place, U.S.

BMT Designers & Planners, Inc. (BMT), an operating company of BMT Group Ltd, has delivered its training program to assist Port Engineers (PEs) with maximizing investments in the repair and sustainment of their maritime assets. With the complex management of ship repair constantly changing, PEs are tasked with understanding many challenging requirements. These include surface preparation and preservation, drydock evolutions and safety, propulsion system alignment, welding processes and procedures, nondestructive testing, inspections, general shipyard safety and more.

Four U.S. oil refiners, trying to counter growing calls to lift the nation's ban on most crude oil exports, have launched the first major lobbying effort to keep abundant U.S. oil supplies from being sold overseas. Rising U.S. shale oil production has opened the door to a possible revision of the decades-old policy restricting most exports of unrefined petroleum. Various groups and lawmakers favoring exports have been fast out of the gate, seizing on a comment by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in December that it might be time to take another look at the law. Philip Rinaldi, chief executive of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, said the anti-export group Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy, or CRUDE, was formed with the goal of preventing a hasty reversal of policy.

BMT Designers & Planners (BMT), an operating company of BMT Group Ltd, an international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has developed a unique training program to assist Port Engineers (PEs) with maximizing investments in the repair and sustainment of their maritime assets. With the complex management of ship repair constantly changing, PEs are tasked with understanding many challenging requirements. These include surface preparation and preservation, dry-dock evolutions and safety…

STATS Group has appointed two new directors as part of a strategy to double the size of the business. Carl-Petter Halvorsen has joined the pipeline engineering company as business development director while Dave Shand takes up the newly created post of chief operating officer. The dual appointments will strengthen STATS’ management team and free up chief executive officer Pete Duguid to focus on international development of the company’s unique range of piping and isolation tools for the oil and gas industries.

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has announced that Chris Biernat has joined its New Orleans office as a Naval Architect IV. Chris is a recent graduate of the University of New Orleans. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and is currently pursuing his Master's degree at UNO in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. EBDG also announces that two employees achieved Professional Engineer status. Naval Architect, Matt Wichgers earned his PE in Mechanical Engineering (WA).

Stolt Offshore S.A. signed a letter of intent to acquire a majority ownership of Paragon Engineering Services Inc. (PES) of Houston from Kenneth Arnold, the current controlling shareholder. A new holding company, Paragon Engineering Services International (PESI), will be established which will operate from the existing PES office in Houston and through a new company, Paragon Europe (PE), in Paris. This represents an investment by Stolt Offshore of approximately $13 million. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of this year. PES provides front end engineering and design studies, detailed engineering, procurement, construction and project management services to customers for both offshore and onshore production facilities and pipelines.

Stolt Offshore S.A. signed a letter of intent to acquire a majority ownership of Paragon Engineering Services Inc. (PES) of Houston from Mr. Kenneth Arnold, the current controlling shareholder. A new holding company, Paragon Engineering Services International (PESI), will be established which will operate from the existing PES office in Houston and through a new company, Paragon Europe (PE), in Paris. This represents an investment by Stolt Offshore of approximately $13 million. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of this year. PES provides front end engineering and design studies, detailed engineering, procurement, construction and project management services to customers for both offshore and onshore production facilities and pipelines.