Stena Bulk’s Newest MR Tanker Christened in Rotterdam
Image Courtesy: Stena BulkSwedish tanker shipping company Stena Bulk has named Stena Impeccable, the tenth of thirteen IMOIIMAX tanker newbuildings.The christening ceremony took place at the Port of Rotterdam on June 28 where the 50,000 dwt vessel arrived at the beginning of this week.“The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and our fleet often calls there. That’s why we also have many business contacts in the area and we took the opportunity to gather them in conjunction with this naming ceremony,” Erik Hånell, President and CEO of Stena Bulk, commented.Following its delivery in early March, Stena Impeccable sailed from China to Australia. The newbuild then sailed from New Guinea via Singapore and the Suez Canal to Rotterdam.After the naming ceremony, the vessel left Rotterdam for Brake in Germany.Stena Impeccable was built at the Chinese shipyard Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI) like all the 13 IMOIIMAX tankers ordered by Stena Bulk – both delivered and under construction.The vessel is wholly owned by Stena Bulk, operated by Stena Weco and sails in the company’s global logistics system, which currently employs around 60 vessels.Six of the 13 IMOIIMAX tankers are wholly owned by Stena Bulk, four together with Singapore’s palm oil company Golden Agri Resources (GAR), two by Stena Bulk’s sister company Concordia Maritime and one in partnership with Weco.So far, ten tankers have been handed over to Stena Bulk and its partners, with the remaining three expected to be delivered by 2018.
Point Roberts Marina has started a long-awaited dredging of the marina entrance and channel, according to the company latest update.“Dredging of the marina channel began Monday, October 2nd. The crews will be operating Monday to Friday from 7 am to 7 pm,” the marina reported.It took the marina two years to receive all permits needed for the work from six different agencies, including: Washington state departments of ecology, natural resources, fish and wildlife, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Whatcom County.According to Wayne Knowles, vice president of development for the Point Roberts Marina, the entrance that needs to be dredged every five years, was dredged last time eight years ago in 2009.“In 2009 only 1,500 cubic yards of material was removed from the area. In 2002, approximately 9,000 cubic yards were removed. As the result of the delay, the dredging permits expired and the marina had to apply for new permits from the various agencies,” Knowles said.During the works, approximately 25,000 cubic yards of soil will be excavated and stored on the marina property west of Marina Drive and north of Edwards Drive.Point Roberts Marina expects the entire process will take five weeks to complete. When done, the entrance channel will be -11.5 feet at low tide.[mappress mapid=”24488″]
Australia-based Neptune has been awarded a subsea stabilization services contract by Kreuz Subsea for the Daman field development project in Mumbai High, India.Neptune said on Tuesday it will provide a number of concrete mattresses and offshore grouting services to Kreuz Subsea.The company also said it has established a project supply base to deliver these services locally.Neptune Chief Executive Officer, Robin King, said: “Although the market has seen a downward trend, India remains a place for growth and Neptune is looking forward to utilizing this potential by working with key clients on future projects.”Kreuz Subsea’s involvement in the Daman development project started in January this year with the award of a contract by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). Through this deal, it was agreed for Kreuz to mobilize five vessels to deliver subsea completion works and support L&T who, in turn, is in charge of engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) work on the project.The project is a part of ONGC’s strategy to extract gas from Daman field which is situated in the southwestern part of Tapti-Daman block located some 160-200 km northwest from Mumbai.Following the contract award by L&T, Kreuz Subsea in February hired Seamec’s multi-role accommodation vessel Revelation and in March the Seamec Princess diving support vessel.Offshore Energy Today Staff
UK-based energy giant and LNG player BP reported a sharp increase in profit during the second quarter of the year.BP’s underlying replacement cost profit, the company’s version of net profit, for the second quarter was $2.8 billion, four times the reported $684 million in the corresponding period in 2017.Speaking of the results, BP’s chief executive, Bob Dudley said the company is progressing against its strategy and plans. BP brought two projects online during the period and expanded its portfolio through acquisitions such as BHP’s US onshore assets.“Given this momentum and the strength of our financial frame, we are increasing our dividend for the first time in almost four years,” Dudley said.Dividend was increased 2.5 percent to 10.25 cents a share, the first rise since the third quarter of 2014.Production in the quarter was 3.6 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, while upstream production, excluding Rosneft, was 1.4 percent higher than a year earlier, driven by rising output from new major projects.With start-ups in Azerbaijan, Russia and Egypt, the company has brought three projects online out of the six expected to start in 2018.
French cable maker Nexans has won a contract to provide a subsea export cable system for the nearshore section of Ørsted’s 1.4GW Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm in the UK.The contract is worth over EUR 150 million and will see Nexans supplying 200 kilometres of the 245 kV high voltage alternating current (HVAC) subsea export cable system.Located in the North Sea, approximately 89 kilometres from the Yorkshire coast, the 1.4GW offshore wind farm will be the world’s largest once it starts operating in 2022.To bring the electricity produced by the wind farm onshore, the project will be equipped with Nexans three-core HVAC submarine cables. These 245 kV cross-linked polyethylene insulated (XLPE) cables will be part of the nearshore section of the export circuits linking the wind farm’s reactive power substation to the onshore substation.The circuits will comprise three individual near shore export cables and will follow a similar route to Hornsea 1, for which Nexans Norway has earlier supplied 139km of three-phase 36 kV subsea cable inter-linking a total of 58 wind turbines and connecting them to the offshore transformer station. The route will make landfall at Horseshoe Point from where land cables will feed the power to North Killingholme onshore substation.The cables for the Hornsea 2 project will be manufactured at Nexans Norway site in Halden.The far-shore export cable system will be delivered by NKT. JDR Cables and Prysmian are in charge of delivering the inter-array cables for the wind farm.
Damen Services Brisbane, the Queensland Service Hub for the international Damen Shipyards Group, is set to host a dredging seminar on July 9-10, 2019 at the Damen Service Hub premises in Brisbane. During the seminar, the presentations will be given by Sjoerd de Bruin, Damen’s Sales Manager for Australia, and Oliver Marcus, Product Director Dredging.According to Damen’s announcement, de Bruin and Marcus will highlight developments and trends in the dredging industry and inform on projects executed by Damen dredging gear.Damen Services Brisbane has a long-term working relationship with highly skilled local engineers and contractors thus guaranteeing continuity of service levels. This rapid response team provides assistance to customers throughout the region, reinforcing the global presence of the Damen Shipyards Group.This seminar will also be a great networking opportunity for Damen operators to discuss their vessels and share experiences.Image source: Damen
Oil and gas major Shell has resubmitted an environmental plan for a seismic survey offshore Kimberley, Australia, to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).Factory 3D; Source: NOPSEMAThe initial environmental plan for the Factory 3D marine seismic survey within the Browse and Bonaparte Basin offshore Western Australia was submitted on March 29.NOPSEMA stated in late April that it was not reasonably satisfied with the environmental plan and gave Shell the opportunity to modify it.The timeframe for the seismic survey was extended twice by the operator while the new EP was resubmitted on Wednesday, August 7.The Factory 3D survey will comprise acquisition of approximately 3,750 km2 of 3D seismic data in Exploration Permits AC/P65, AC/P41, WA-534-P, and a very small portion of adjacent acreage for the purposes of acquiring sufficient data to fully-image the prospects on the titles.The Factory Operational Area is located approximately 100 kilometers from the Kimberley coast of northern Western Australia and is around 200 km from the Indonesian archipelago and East Timor.According to NOPSEMA, the plan is for the 3D survey to be carried out over a period of 2-3 months sometime between July 1 and December 30, 2019.Spotted a typo? Have something more to add to the story? Maybe a nice photo? Contact our editorial team via email. Also, if you’re interested in showcasing your company, product or technology on Offshore Energy Today please contact us via our advertising form where you can also see our media kit.
Presbyterian Affirm Media Release 22 August 2012Presbyterian AFFIRM, a widely-supported conservative network within the Presbyterian denomination, is speaking out against the Bill which would allow same-sex couples to marry, declaring its views in a “Statement on Marriage” (see below). Presbyterian AFFIRM believes that “marriage is a unique human institution and treasure” which has “always been about the pairing of a man and a woman”, and that re-defining marriage to include same-sex couples would unhelpfully confuse the meaning of marriage.A spokesman for Presbyterian AFFIRM, Dr. Stuart Lange, said: “We believe, that despite some isolated voices to the contrary, the great majority of active Presbyterians in this country want the definition of marriage to be retained as the union of a man and a woman, and that (as Helen Clark and Tim Barnett said in 2004) ‘marriage is only for heterosexuals’ and ‘Civil Unions are an acceptable alternative’.”STATEMENT ON MARRIAGE Marriage is a unique human institution and treasure, universally recognised as the union of a man and a woman as husband and wife.Marriage has always been about the pairing of a man and a woman, and it is a deeply-embedded human pattern. It is inherently related to the natural male-female capacity for procreation, and to the responsibility for raising children. Marriage is thus unique in its very nature, intrinsically different from any other type of human relationship which society may recognise. The concept of same-sex “marriage” is a contradiction in terms. To change that would in effect re-define marriage itself, and would demean the understanding and practice of marriage held by the vast majority of New Zealanders. It is not a “human right” for a small minority to re-invent marriage for everyone else. Parliament should not agree to such a radical social innovation.Traditional marriage and family is very good for society.Marriage is greatly beneficial to the stability and well-being of society. Stable families with a loving father and mother still generally offer the optimum context in which to raise children. In a country with so many social problems, Parliament must be careful not to allow a further undermining of marriage by confusing its meaning. The claim that the current Parliamentary Bill is about removing “discrimination” is unconvincing.Marriage is freely available, but it is not a right which individual citizens are always able to exercise. Because of the inherent nature of marriage, society rightly licenses couples to marry only if they meet certain conditions: if they are adults, if they both agree, if they are not already married, if they are not closely related, and if they are of opposite genders. That is what marriage is about. Nobody is required to be married. There are also existing alternatives, of equivalent legal status. Society has already made generous provision for same-sex relationships to be recognised in law as effectively equivalent to marriage.If the issue is about “equality”, then Civil Unions should be sufficient, given that they are of equivalent legal status to marriage, with partners in Civil Unions having the same protection under law as married couples (and similar rights except for adoption). Those entering Civil Unions have often regarded them as equivalent to marriage, in effect a “civil” marriage. If in fact there are any inappropriate inequities between Civil Unions and Marriage, Parliament should amend the Civil Union legislation, not the Marriage legislation.The intent of this Bill appears to be a political move to further increase the societal normalisation of homosexual relationships.To proceed, Parliament would need to be sure that advancing such an agenda would be for the good of society as a whole. This Bill may be a strategy to help same-sex couples gain the right to adopt children.Access to full adoption rights by same-sex couples needs to be discussed directly and openly, separately from this Bill, and with primary consideration for the welfare of children.For Christians and many others marriage is sacred, the God-ordained bond of a man and a woman.The Christian ideal of marriage lies behind allNew Zealand’s marriage legislation, and is part of our national heritage that should not be abandoned lightly. Christians believe that marriage is the gift of God, defined by God, and approved by God. On the basis of the teaching of the Bible, Christians believe that God’s intended context for sex, reproduction and family is loving, faithful marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage is not just a social custom or a legal contract which can be drastically re-defined to suit human thinking. Marriage is recognized by the State but does not belong to it. Marriage as given by God reflects the essential complementary role of male and female as created in the image of God. It is grounded in nature, and in basic male-female physiology. The concept of same-sex “marriage” is spiritually offensive to many Christian people, who still constitute a very significant proportion of this country’s population and its voters. It is also objectionable to many cultural minorities and non-Christian faiths. The Church does not seek to impose its convictions on everyone else, but can and must speak up for what it believes is right and true, and for the good of families and society as a whole. Presbyterian AFFIRM, August 2012The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, one of New Zealand’s largest mainstream church denominations, does not currently have a specific policy on same-sex marriage, but since 2006 it has ruled that people who are in relationships outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman should not become ministers or leaders in the church.Presbyterian faction urges vote against same-sex marriageNZ Herald 22 Aug 2012A conservative group within the Presbyterian Church has urged Parliamentarians to reject the same sex marriage bill next week, dismissing the views of other Presbyterians who support the bill as “isolated voices.”http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10828775
The Daily Caller 11 June 2013The lesbian parents of a 14-year-old boy have started a MoveOn.org petition after their son was asked to remove the lipstick, black eyeliner and eye shadow he wore to Meadowlawn Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida. The student, Chris Martin, was also also asked to change out of a shirt emblazoned with an anarchy symbol.The incident occurred last week on the eighth-grader’s last day of school, reports the Tampa Bay Times.Not long after Martin got to school, school officials informed him that he was in violation of the dress code.http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/11/lesbian-parents-start-moveon-org-petition-over-14-year-old-sons-makeup-at-school/
Stuff.co.nz 10 January 2014The mother of a nine-year-old boy who got drunk at a Hamilton skate park wants the adults who provided the alcohol to be charged.She said the ordeal of having her son’s drunken experience broadcast online and in the media had been ”horrible” and ”ugly”.A video posted online showed her son with a can of bourbon and cola struggling to stand, being abusive and slurring his words at Fairfield Skate Park in Hamilton on Tuesday – his ninth birthday.It has been viewed more than 700,000 times and published on dozens of websites around the world.The boy’s mother, whom Fairfax Media has chosen not to name, said the nasty comments online from ”people thinking they know the situation when they don’t” had been hurtful.“People act like it happens all the time in my family. This is like a situation that was a random thing,” she said.”People are just going to judge anyway. Why do I have to justify myself? And the people who are judging are the people who don’t know me, or think they know me.”http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9594624/Boy-symptom-of-booze-culture