North West Australia News

Decarbonization is the greatest challenge facing the shipping industry today.The effort to reduce emissions and environmental impact extends to all sectors and players and will leave no one in the industry unaffected.The IMO’s effort to decarbonise shipping is a numbers game. The goal, as stipulated in the Initial IMO GHG Strategy, is to reduce the average CO2 emissions per transport work by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2008 levels., and to pursue a 70% reduction by 2050.The introduction of the EEXI  is part of the IMO’s latest attempt to achieve this goal.

Shearwater GeoServices, a marine geophysical services company, has been awarded the largest-ever 4D seismic campaign in the Asia/Pacific region covering up to six fields operated by Woodside offshore Australia.According to the 50/50 joint venture between GC Rieber Shipping and Rasmussengruppen  AS, the campaign, planned to commence in Q4 2019, covers new 4D acquisition over the Pluto, Brunello, Laverda, Cimatti and Vincent fields with an option for one additional field.The 4D seismic campaign will improve Woodside’s understanding of the fields’ production performance over time and provide data to guide future field developments. This is the second 4D seismic campaign award by Woodside to Shearwater following the baseline 4D program in Senegal earlier this year.“By using Isometrix…

Dutch dredging company Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has been awarded the contract for the seabed intervention and shore crossing activities for Woodside’s proposed Scarborough export gas pipeline in northwest Australia.The contract awarded by Woodside Energy Ltd. (Woodside), in its capacity as operator of the Scarborough Joint Venture, potentially carries a value of EUR 145 million if all options are called and is subject to a final investment decision which is expected in 2020.The contract is for preparatory activities related to offshore deepwater excavation, pipeline crossing, nearshore and shore crossing works for the export trunkline…

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has received approval in principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for a 250,000-deadweight-ton (dwt) class very large ore carrier (VLOC) fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). HHI, who has been focusing its efforts on LNG-fueled ships ahead of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) SOx emission limitations from 2020, set out on a joint development project (JDP) last year with LR, ship owner and operator ANANGEL and LNG supplier WOODSIDE to develop the LNG-fueled 250,000 dwt VLOC design optimized for the trade route from North West Australia to North Asia, based on the XDF engine.

Trelleborg’s marine systems operation has supplied a suite of products to Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility, the largest offshore facility ever constructed. Prelude, which is 488 meters long, 74 meters wide, and made with more than 260,000 tons of steel, will extract and liquefy natural gas from a site in North West Australia. Trelleborg supplied its gas transfer technology and SafePilot navigational and piloting systems for Prelude. “Our SafePilot solution, SSL, ESL and radio ESD for tandem condensate offload have been used on Shell’s Prelude FLNG…

Trelleborg’s marine systems operation has been awarded the contract to supply complete tandem mooring systems to two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in Angola, West Africa. The Angola-based FPSO tandem mooring projects demanded solutions capable of performing demanding offshore applications, while adhering to project quality documentation processes and Class rules, Trelleborg said. In addition, the projects also required the long-term provision of technical and field support services.

Tank, Fluid Solutions and Bunded Storage for Dangerous Goods and Chemicals Introduced at Gap Ridge, Karratha. Ferguson Group Australia, global specialist in offshore DNV 2.7-1/EN12079 containers, tanks, refrigerated modules, engineering workspace and accommodation modules, has introduced a range of chemical services from its new base in Gap Ridge, Karratha WA. The purpose built base in Gap Ridge, Karratha was designed with integral chemical storage and handling facilities. Gap Ridge is within easy reach of ports, reducing the time taken to transport chemicals offshore.

Aberdeenshire-based oilfield service company ROMAR International has entered a two year agreement with STEP Oiltools to represent the company in the Middle East. This agreement follows on from a successful contract already in place with STEP Oiltools to promote ROMAR’s range of magnetic separation products in South East Asia which has seen the company’s sales increase by 95% in the region. As part of the South East Asia contract, two successful jobs were recently completed in North West Australia and Brunei with a combined contract value of $1.2 million.

Strategic Marine announced today it is constructing two marine infrastructure fabrication projects in its Vietnam shipyard. Both projects are for Australian clients. The first comprises three 60-meter pontoons and three 90-meter gangways for application in Gladstone Port Corporation's new tug base. The second is for Carnegie Wave Energy and comprises three Buoyant Actuators for a renewable wave energy and desalination project off the coast of Perth. Strategic Marine's head office is in Western Australia…

Australian Defense Force (ADF) personnel have completed Exercise IRON MOON 2013, a two week Maritime Counter Terrorism training exercise in the waters off Exmouth and Dampier in North West Australia. The annual exercise involved several hundred personnel from across Defense and Australian federal and state civilian agencies. The exercise is designed to enhance and validate the ADF Maritime Counter Terrorism response capability in the most realistic environment possible. Commodore Peter Lockwood…

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), a maritime services provider, was selected to provide support logistics to the Jan De Nul Group for an offshore energy megaproject in Australia.   The Belgium-based Jan De Nul Group specializes in dredging operations around the world and has appointed ISS Australia as its agent for the importation of 15 vessels into North West Australia.  The business also includes port agency, husbandry services and other logistics support. Working as part of the Wheatstone project in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, one of Australia’s largest resource ventures, Jan De Nul will be involved in a pipeline stabilization project.  To date, eight vessels have already been imported into the country with a further seven vessels due to arrive between now and October 2013.

To protect the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia’s north-west region, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to establish an area ships should avoid. A new AMSA Marine Notice will recommend ships keep at least two nautical miles from the edge of Ningaloo Reef at its narrowest part, and between eight and 12 nautical miles from the reef along the remainder of the Ningaloo Coast section to reduce the risk of shipping accidents and help protect the World Heritage listed region from ship-sourced pollution.

Welaptega Marine was awarded a contract to inspect the mooring system of the Nganhurra floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility operating in waters off the coast of North West Australia. Welaptega has sent a team of specialist engineers to the facility to conduct a Progressive Inspection program using its Rope Measurement System (RMS) and 3D-modeling system (3DM). “Our Progressive inspection philosophy is a guided examination of mooring systems that focuses on known problems and failure modes,” says Tony Hall, President and CEO of Welaptega Marine. Nganhurra FPSO is operated by Woodside Energy Ltd., and is the first oil production facility in the deep waters off the North West Cape.

Keppel Shipyard Ltd  has secured Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) upgrading projects from its long-term partners SBM Offshore N.V. (SBM Offshore) and Bumi Armada Berhad (Bumi Armada). The combined contract value of the two projects is S$170 million. The first project is from SBM Offshore to refurbish and upgrade an existing FPSO vessel, FPSO Xikomba. Work on this FPSO unit is expected to be completed by 3Q 2013. Leased by Eni Angola S.p.A (eni) for 12 years for the development of Block 15/06, offshore Angola, FPSO Xikomba is jointly owned by SBM Offshore and Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola, E.P. (Sonangol), Angola's national oil and gas company.