MarEx Newsletter | The Economic Impact of the US Drilling Moratorium, BOURBON Crew Kidnapped

Please Click Here if you are unable to view the newsletter September 23rd, 2010 Vol. 8, No. 71 The US Drilling Moratorium --The Economic Impact (Crude Awaking -3) OPED by Tony Munoz, Editor-in-Chief of the Maritime Executive Magazine and MarEx Newsletter The September 16, 2010 US Inter-Agency report on the economic effects of the deepwater drilling moratorium on the Gulf Coast economy begins by stating there has been little impact. This is based on conversations with rig companies and review of unemployment insurance claims (UI) that show only about 2,000 rigworkers have lost their jobs. The Department of the Interior (DOI) estimates there were a total of 80,000 offshore oil production, construction and drilling workers in the GOM, and fewer than 10,000 of these workers were employed on rigs affected by ... Read More>>>Back to Top BOURBON Confirms Kidnapping of Crew BOURBON confirms the kidnapping of 3 French crewmembers from the Addax offshore oil field off the Nigerian coast. In the night of the Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 22nd September 2010, the BOURBON ALEXANDRE and its 16 crewmembers, were subject to a joint assault from several speedboats. Three crewmembers, of French nationality, have been kidnapped; the 13 other crewmembers remain on board and no injuries have been reported. Bourbon Alexandre, carrying a French flag, is an AHTS Vessel (Anchor Handling Tug Supply). BOURBON has contacted all families and will keep them informed. The Crisis Unit of BOURBON in Marseilles, in coordination with the Emergency ... Read More>>>Back to Top Longshoremen Protest Job Losses at Broadway Terminal Two hundred longshoremen picketed at Camden, New Jersey's Broadway Terminal Tuesday, to the loss of more than 400,000 labor hours, the equivalent to more than 200 full time jobs. The loss of work comes after an announcement from Del Monte that they were switching terminals, moving from Broadway to Gloucester Terminals L.L.C., a private family owned terminal. Del Monte plans to send 75 ships a year, 500,000 tons of cargo, to Gloucester Terminals L.L.C. Del Monte typically sailed two ships a week to Camden. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), in an effort to keep Del Monte at Camden, offered to reduce Del Monte's annual lease from ... Read More>>>Back to Top Brazilian President on Hand for Turnover of Reconstructed Flood Damaged Berth at the Port of Itajai APM Terminals will refit the repaired and rebuilt berth for installation of STS Cranes at the Terminal de Containers do Vale do Itajai S/A. Itajai, Brazil – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (known as Lula) visited the Port of Itajai in Brazil's Santa Catarina State on Monday, September 13th, for the official handover of the reconstructed Berth 2 to the Itajai Port Authority. APM Terminals Itajai S/A which owns and operates a terminal concession in that port, will now take over the 273 meter Berth 2 from the Port Authority and continue and finish the reconstruction with the installation of crane rails and electric power infrastructure for quayside ship-to-shore cranes. ... Read More>>>Back to Top UK's Shipping Emissions Six times Higher Than Expected Says New Report The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, recently released the following: Carbon dioxide emissions produced by UK shipping could be up to six times higher than currently calculated, according to new research from The University of Manchester. (Full report, pdf) As the shipping industry's emissions are predicted to continue to grow in the future, the UK will fail to meet its commitment to avoid dangerous climate change if additional cuts are not made to other sectors. According to a University of Manchester study, the global shipping industry, despite being traditionally viewed as one of the most energy efficient means of transport, releases increasing amounts of ... Read More>>>Back to Top Activists Have Now Attached "Survival Pod" to Drill Ship Anchor Greenpeace reports that its activist have climbed aboard a Chevron –operated drill ship off of Britain's Shetland Island to put a halt to its planned drilling operations. Two activists attached themselves to the rung of the anchor chain of the STENA CARRON on Tuesday. The 228-meter drill ship was en route to Lagavulin oil field where it was going to begin exploratory drilling. Greenpeace says this on their website, "Our activists are taking action against a massive oil platform owned by Chevron, stopping it from drilling a deep water well off the Shetland Islands." Wednesday, Greenpeace reported that their two activists had returned to their ship Esperanza. And inflatable ... Read More>>>Back to Top Serial Polluter Fined $4 Million for Covering Up Deliberate Discharge of Oil and Plastics $750,000 of Penalty to Fund Projects Benefitting Chesapeake Bay BALTIMORE - U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Irika Shipping S.A., a ship management corporation registered in Panama and doing business in Greece, today to pay a $4 million penalty, which includes a $3 million criminal fine and $1 million in organizational community service payments that will fund various marine environmental projects. Judge Motz also sentenced Irika to serve the maximum of five years probation, subject to following a compliance program that includes audits by an independent firm and oversight by a court appointed monitor. Judge Motz further ordered today that four crew members that notified authorities about illegal ... Read More>>>Back to Top New Center to Advance Rights of Seafarers Today heralds the launch of Seafarers' Rights International, a unique and groundbreaking resource dedicated to advancing the legal protection of seafarers worldwide. Seafarers' Rights International will use high level research and analysis to raise awareness of the legal concerns of seafarers, and will work to improve the protection of seafarers in national and international laws. It has been funded by a start-up grant from the ITF Seafarers' Trust charity and is an independent organization. David Cockroft, General Secretary of the ITF said: "The success of an independent body such as Seafarers' Rights International is crucial to identifying and tackling the rights of seafarers and that is of interest to ... Read More>>>Back to Top Simmons Urges Oil & Gas Industry to Capitalize on Its World-Class Technology Innovations Oil and gas companies are being urged to harness the opportunities to develop major game-changing technologies. Nick Dalgarno, managing director of Simmons and Company International Limited in Aberdeen, gave advice to the industry when he addressed delegates at a city conference showcasing technology yesterday. (Wednesday, Sept 22). He said the industry must rise above the challenges associated with risk aversion which have historically affected it and which may result from the recent Macondo incident in the Gulf of Mexico to capitalize on the opportunities: "The Macondo incident has inevitably heightened liability issues and will trigger a move towards de-risking projects. In an industry which has always ... Read More>>>Back to Top Steering Blunder Led to the Sinking of the Titanic Louise Patten, granddaughter of Charles Lightoller, the only senior officer to survive the sinking, told the Montreal Gazette, the Titanic hit the iceberg because of a steering mistake. It was always thought that the Titanic hit the iceberg because it was moving too quickly that fateful night but according to Patten, a junior crew member was ordered to turn the wheel left but accidentally turned it right. Patten's grandfather also said that Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, owner of the Titanic, ordered them to continue sailing despite poor visibility. The error was corrected just minutes later, but it was too late and the ... Read More>>>Back to Top Belwind Wind Farm: The Furthest Offshore in the Deepest Waters The Belwind wind farm will be constructed on the Blight Bank, 46 km off the coast of Zeebrugge, Belgium. The wind farm lies farther from the coast than any other offshore wind farm. Van Oord has been awarded the contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the first part of the project. The developer and client is Belwind nv. The activities involve the construction of the foundation of 55 wind turbines, all infield, subsea cables in between the wind farms, the subsea export cable, a 165 Mega Watt offshore high voltage station and placement of 55 turbines. This is Van Oord's second EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract for Offshore Wind ... Read More>>>Back to Top Gibdock Completes Offshore Vessel Upgrade Gibraltar's Gibdock shipyard has successfully completed a challenging maintenance and upgrade program on the 6430bhp DP2 class ROV/Subsea Service and Platform Support vessel, Toisa Vigilant. The 2005-built, 3426dwt vessel spent over three weeks at the yard in July and August this year for a diverse package of works. As John Taylor, Gibdock production director, explains, "This project was essentially two contracts in one as we carried out separate jobs for the owner, Sealion and charterer, WesternGeco, in parallel." For Sealion, Gibdock undertook a series of conventional docking works, including the extensive overhaul of the MAK 8L26 main engines, the two bow thrusters and two stern thrusters. In addition the ... Read More>>>Back to Top GE-Satcom Reveals Triple-Play Service for Merchant Vessels Launch follows successful pilot testing of high-end satellite-based phone, Internet and TV service GE - Satcom has unveiled the commercial launch of a satellite-based communications service designed to support a range of value-added services for merchant vessel operators. The project was originally developed and co-piloted in close collaboration with a Hamburg-based German fleet operator whose insight into the needs of commercial shipping and its crew were critical to the solution design. A six month pilot was first carried out on board a large container vessel operating between ports in Asia, Africa and Europe, and following successful acceptance the service has now been scheduled for commercial roll out to ... Read More>>>Back to Top SAARPSCO Establishes World Headquarters in Victoria SAARPSCO, The South Asia and Africa Regional Port Stability Cooperative, establishes world headquarters in Victoria to protect the welfare of the international maritime community. The Seychelles is achieving international acclaim for leadership in the global effort to predict and prevent threats to maritime security throughout the Indian Ocean region and beyond. SAARPSCO, The South Asia and Africa Regional Port Stability Cooperative, was initiated in 2008 by the United States Coast Guard in close partnership with concerned South Asian and African nations, expressly to combat piracy, enhance port security, thwart human and drug trafficking, enforce lawful fishing practices, create sophisticated vessel tracking systems, promote international maritime communication, and to preserve ... Read More>>>Back to Top Trinity International Services Elevates Dean Burgess to Managing Director Scotland's largest independent catering firm, Trinity International Services, has announced the promotion of operations boss Dean Burgess to managing director. The offshore specialist, which boosted its turnover to more than £14million in 2009, is targeting continued global growth as activity in the energy sector continues to increase following the downturn. Mr Burgess, 59, has extensive global experience having led contracting and operations for a variety of major operators and other service sector leaders in Baku, Azerbaijan; Kazakhstan, and Equatorial Guinea as well as the UK. Having stepped-up to managing director he will continue to work alongside Trinity chairman Stuart C MacBride, and will lead its activities ... Read More>>>Back to Top The Latest News from MAN Diesel & Turbo Follow the links below to learn more about the latest projects and products from MAN Diesel & Turbo. MAN 32/44CR Engine Adopts Selective Catalytic Reduction to Crack Tier-III The environmental performance of its engines is a key consideration for MAN Diesel & Turbo. MAN Diesel & Turbo launches PrimeServLube A range of own-brand PrimeServLube premium lubricating oils launched by MAN Diesel & Turbo is formulated to the group's demanding specifications for high, medium and low speed engines. PrimeServ PIN Intelligently Optimises Maintenance Schedules MAN Diesel & Turbo's PrimeServ after-sales division is choosing SMM 2010 in Hamburg to unveil ... Read More>>>Back to Top Click Here to Unsubscribe Copyright © 2010 The Maritime Executive. 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316