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Palawan Island News

14 Mar 2023

Philippines Beefs Up Efforts to Contain Oil Leak from Sunken Tanker

(Photo: Philippine Coast Guard)

Philippine authorities have increased efforts to contain an oil spill from a sunken fuel tanker that has affected coastal towns and was still spreading, the environment ministry said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with cleanup challenges.Improvised spill booms made from cogon grass and coconut materials were helping to restrict oil leaking from MT Princess Empress, the Philippine-flagged tanker that encountered engine trouble in rough seas on Feb.

15 Aug 2017

Philippines says China Will Halt Expansion in South China Sea

China has assured the Philippines it will not occupy new features or territory in the South China Sea, under a new "status quo" brokered by Manila as both sides try to strengthen their relations, the Philippine defence minister said. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano also said the Philippines was working on a "commercial deal" with China to explore and exploit oil and gas resources in disputed areas of the South China Sea with an aim to begin drilling within a year. The defence minister, Delfin Lorenzana, told a congressional hearing the Philippines and China had reached a "modus vivendi", or a way to get along, in the South China Sea that prohibits new occupation of islands.

22 Jun 2015

US,Japan, Philippines to Hold South China Sea Naval Drill

The U.S. and Japan are conducting separate military drills with the Philippines near disputed islands in the South China Sea, says a report in Reuters. The naval exercises is not far from the disputed Spratly archipelago, where China's rapid creation of seven island outposts is stoking regional tensions. Japan will dispatch a P-3C patrol aircraft to the South China Sea, to join a military exercise with the Philippines navy. Japanese media quoted Tomohisa Takei, chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as saying that the exercise will take place in high seas north of the Philippines' Palawan Island from Sunday until June 27th. The AFP media agency says that the Philippines will hold a joint military exercise with the US and Japan.

07 May 2013

Boskalis Wins Huge Offshore Philippines Contract

Company flag courtesy of Boskalis

Royal Boskalis Westminster wins a Shell Philippines Exploration contract to install an offshore Depletion Compression Platform. The contract to be executed for the Malampaya Project off the coast of Palawan Island, in the Republic of the Philippines, includes seabed preparation, rock installation, platform transportation and installation work and has a contract value of approximately US$ 60-million. The project relates to the expansion of the Malampaya Gas Field by means of an additional compressor platform next to the existing gas production platform.

25 Jan 2013

Reef Grief for USN Ship

USS Guardian: Photo credit USN

The mine counter-measures ship 'USS Guardian' (MCM 5) still sits on the Tubbataha Reef. Operations to safely recover the ship while minimizing environmental effects are being conducted in close cooperation with allied Philippines Coast Guard and Navy. Prior to leaving port in Subic Bay, Guardian canceled a scheduled fuel stop to Puerto Princesa, thus  the  Guardian departed Olongapo City en route to Indonesia and was transiting the Sulu Sea when the grounding occurred at approximately 2:25 a.m. Thursday, 17, January.

21 Jan 2013

Stranded 'USS Guardian': Crew Taken Off

USS Guardian: Photo credit USN

All 79 crew members have been taken off the mine countermeasures ship, grounded onTubbataha Reef, off Subic Bay, Philippines. Crew members have been temporarily removed and safely transferred by small boat to the nearby support vessels USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62) and MSV C-Champion. After the Sasebo-based Guardian ran aground Jan. 17, initial efforts to free the ship on high tide were not successful. The ship remains stuck on the reef, approximately 80 miles east-southeast of Palawan Island.

17 Jan 2013

USS Guardian Runs Aground in the Sulu Sea

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- No one was hurt when the mine countermeasures ship USS Guardian (MCM 5) ran aground on Tubbataha Reef at 2:25 a.m. local time, Jan. 17, while transiting the Sulu Sea. The Avenger-class ship had just completed a port call in Subic Bay, Olongapo City and was en route to her next port of call when the grounding occurred. The ship is currently stuck on the reef, approximately 80 miles east-southeast of Palawan Island. The crew is currently working to determine the best method of safely extracting the ship. The cause of the grounding is under investigation. Guardian, forward-deployed to Sasebo, Japan, was commissioned Dec. 16, 1989, and has a crew of about 80.   (Source: U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs)

05 Nov 2012

Keppel’s Secure Contracts Worth S$160 Million

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd's (Keppel O&M) subsidiaries, Keppel Subic Shipyard, Inc. (Keppel Subic Shipyard) in the Philippines and Keppel Verolme BV (Keppel Verolme) in the Netherlands, have secured contracts totalling S$160 million. Keppel Subic Shipyard has been awarded a contract from Shell Philippines Exploration BV (SPEX) to build a Depletion Compression Platform (DCP) to support the recovery of natural gas from the Malampaya gas field near Palawan Island, in the Philippines. When completed, the DCP will be deployed next to an existing shallow water production platform. The DCP is designed to maintain the current availability and deliverability of natural gas from the Malampaya field through regulating the gas export pressure and flow rates.

04 Aug 2011

Keppel Shipyard Wins Two Contracts

Keppel Shipyard Ltd has secured two contracts worth a total of S$146 million (over $120 million) to convert a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit as well as to fabricate and integrate an external turret mooring system for an existing FPSO unit. The first contract, from Single Buoy Moorings Inc (SBM), involves the conversion of the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) M/T Concorde Spirit into a FPSO facility, to be named FPSO OSX-2. SBM had been engaged by OSX Brasil S.A. (OSX) to supply the FPSO, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2013 and will be deployed in the OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes S.A. (OGX) field in Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.