Teekay LNG Releases Resolution To China LNG Joint Venture Issues

Referring to the press conference that was issued on the 30th of September, 2019,it was announced by Teekay Corporation (Teekay) and Teekay LNG Partners L.P. (Teekay LNG) that restructuring of ownership on arms lenghths terms has been completed by COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation Co. Ltd. This has thus resulted to Teekay LNG’s joint venture partner, China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Ltd. (China LNG) being not classified as a ‘Block Person’ any more under the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules.

According to this, the joint venture of Teekay LNG’s 50/50 and China LNG that owns four on-the-water ARC7 LNG carriers and two ARC7 LNG carrier newbuildings, is also no more classified as a “Blocked Person” under OFAC rules.

Under the long term contracts of transportation of gas from the Yamal LNG project, the operations of the four already existing ARC7 LNG carriers continues to operate. The other two ARC7 LNG carrier newbuildings are estimated to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2019.

After the resolution of the issue, the Teekay Group is planning to reschedule the investor and analyst meeting that was postponed earlier and is expected to give out the details soon.

 

Reference: teekay

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Total And Zhejiang Energy Join Forces To Develop Growing Low Sulfur Marine Fuel Market

A shareholders’ agreement has been signed by Total with Zhejiang Energy Group (ZEG) that is owned by Chinese state. This is to make a joint venture company that will supply and deliver marine fuels in the region of Zhoushan, China.

A Memorandum of Understanding is followed by the agreement which was signed on the lines of the IPEC Conference in Zhoushan. This MoU was signed by Total and ZEG in April this year in order to find out opportunities for the supply and distribution of energy in China.

49% of the shares in the new company will be held by Total China Investment while the remaining will be held by Zhejiang Zheneng Petroleum New Energy (ZZPNE).

Ningbo and Shanghai ports are both covered by the Zhoushan region. In terms of cargo tonnage, these are the busiest shipping hubs in the world.

The combination of the historical anchoring of ZEG in the energy business and the expertise of Total in the trading and marketing of international bunkers, the new company will aim to contribute in the development of a fast growing market.

This new partnership is fully aligned with our strategy to support and supply our shipping customers wherever they go.” declared Philippe Charleux, Senior Vice-President Lubricants & Specialties of Total. “Providing them with low sulphur fuels fully compliant with IMO regulation in China will further contribute to the transition towards a sustainable shipping industry.”

The development of Total’s business, that started for 40 years ago in China will continue with the creation on the new company.

 

Reference: total.com

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Wärtsilä Retrofit To Reduce Environmental Impact Of Ferry Operating In Ecologically Sensitive Waters

A retrofitting project will be carried out by the technology group Wartsila. This is to reduce the environmental footprint of a ferry that is operating on the Wadden Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage posted area.

The area has high biological diversity and is important for breeding and migrating birds. With the retrofit, the ‘Münsterland’, a RoPax ferry owned by German operator Aktien-Gesellschaft ‘Ems’ (AG Ems), will be able to use LNG as a marine fuel thus, removing the emissions of sulphur oxides and particulates and reducing the emissions of Nitrogen oxide. In July 2019, the order was placed with Wartsila.

At the Koninklijke Niestern-Sander B.V. yard in the Netherlands, the work will take place. The facilities for shipbuilding and repairs are offered by the yard under one roof. These facilities will be used to build an entirely new ship that will be able to accommodate the Wartsila LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control system. The fitting to the new aftship is scheduled to start in September 2020.

Retrofitting project that resembles to this one was done in 2015 on the sister ship of ‘Münsterland, Ostfriesland. That project was a success and thus, became an important consideration for being given this contract.

“There is no greater endorsement of customer satisfaction than repeat orders, and we are delighted to have again been selected to convert an AG Ems owned ferry to LNG fuel operation. The project is fully in line with our Smart Marine approach that emphasises greater efficiency and better environmental performance for customers, as we lead the industry’s transformation into a new era of opportunity,” says Matthias Becker, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Deutschland GmbH.

“Operating our vessels in the most ecologically friendly way possible is of the utmost importance to us. Wärtsilä’s technology is already known to us, so we had no hesitation to contract them again to retrofit the ‘Münsterland’ to allow it to operate without restrictions in the SECA and NECA sulphur and nitrogen oxide controlled areas,” says Bernhard Brons, Managing Director of AG Ems.

Two Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel generating sets and a Wärtsilä LNGPac system will be fitted in the ship. Apart from the environmental benefits, the vessel will also help in operataional cost savings and the better vessel efficiency are the expected outcomes of the project. The equipments will commence to be delivered in spring 2020 and the retrofitting is expected to be completed during Q1 2021.

 

Reference: wartsila

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Sovcomflot Advances Green Shipping Along The Northern Sea Route

Mendeleev Prospect and Lomonosov Prospect, the two Sovcomflot tankers that have a large capacity and use LNG as a primary fuel has completed voyages eastbound along the Northern Sea Route successfully.

At 05:50 Moscow time on the 16th of October 2019, the Lomonosov Prospect reached the easternmost end of the NSR, Cape Dezhnev. On the 19th of October 2019, at 13:00 Moscow time, the Mendeleev Prospect also reached there.

Both the ships are bound to China from the Port of Primorsk. They have a cargo of crude oil and have crossed the complete length of the NSR by using clean burning fuel.

The voyage from Cape Zhelaniya to Cape Dezhnev, a total distance of 2,095 nautical miles, was covered by the Lomonosov Prospect in u days and 20 hours at an average speed of 12 knots. The same voyage was completely by Mendeleev Prospect in 7 days and 5 hours where it covered a distance of 2,104 miles at an average speed of 12.3 knots. Due the availability of favourable ice conditions, both the vessels were able to complete the entire length of the NSR without icebreaker escort.

“t is gratifying to emphasize that there is an ongoing demand for cargo transit along the Northern Sea Route during the period of summer navigation. Using LNG fuel allows for a significant reduction of the tanker’s emission footprint, which is critical given the fragility of Arctic ecosystem,” noted Igor Tonkovidov, CEO of Sovcomflot.

“The transit voyage from Cape Zhelaniya to Cape Dezhnev went smoothly. While in passage along the high-latitude route, the tanker ran exclusively on LNG. The tanker fuel system and other components have proved to be highly reliable. I would also like to highlight the exceptional training and skills of the crew. Special thanks to Sovcomflot onshore personnel who provided all the necessary navigation data and other information to the tanker crew and ensured its safe voyage while running on LNG,” said Mark Lyudnik, the Master of Mendeleev Prospect.

Large capacity ships that use LNG as a fuel will be introduced by Sovcomflot in the Arctic. The NSR westbound was crossed by Lomonosov Prospect in October 2018 where it successfully tested the ship engines Opera and controls of the fuel system by LNG as a fuel in the voyage. Three LNG fuelled tanked of Sovcomflot crosses the NSR eastbound and one westbound in 2019.

At present, there are six LNG fuelled oil tankers of Sovcomflot in operation that were delivered in 2018-19. Gagarin Prospect being the lead ship of the series. Every 113,000 dwt tanker has an ice class of 1A/1B and the length of 250 metres and 44 metres as it’s breadth.

 

Reference: sovcomflot

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Comoros-Flagged M/V “REGGAE” Refused Access To The Paris MoU Region

M/V Reggae was detained in the port of Chioggia (Italy) on the 3rd of October 2019. In the last 36 months this was the third detention in the Paris MoU region. It was a Comoros flagged ship which is currently blackes on the Paris MoU WGB list.

According to the provisions of the Section 4 of the Paris MoU, Article 16 of EU Council Directive 2009/16/EC, the access of the ship to any port and anchorage in the MoU region of Paris will be refused except for a port and anchorage of the State of the ship’s flag.

The access refusal will immediately be applicable after the ship is authorized to leave this port and anchorage.

Since it is the first refusal for the access, the access refusal period will be 3 months.

The provisions of Section 4.4 of the Paris MoU, Article 21.6 of the EU Council Directive 2009/16/EC1 allows access to a specific port or anchorage if there is an incident of force majeure or overriding safety consideration or the reduction or minimization of risk of pollution or to have rectified deficiancies. This is done seeing that adequate measures are provided for the satisfaction of the competent authority of such State that has been put into force by the company or the master of the ship for secure entry.

 

Reference: parismou

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DP World Reports Positive Signs Of Growth In 3Q 2019

17.7 million YEU was handled by DP World PLC across it’s global portfolio of container terminals in 3Q2019 with the gross container volumes growing by 1.1% annually on basis of like-for-like. On the basis of nine-months, the gross container volumes grew by +0.7% on a year on a year to 53.5 million TEU.

3.6 million TEU has handled by Jebel Ali in 3Q2019 which is down by -1. 0% year on year when the volume stabilised after a shift of low-margin cargo. There has been a continuous and great growth in Asia and Africa with the strong growth in ATI (Philippines), Qingdao (China).

Cochin, Mundra and NSIGT (Mumbai) has driven the growth in India. The volumes in Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent has dropped due to the discontinuation to operations in Surabaya (Indonesia) and Tianjin (China).

The terminals handled 10.3 million TEU during the 3Q 2019 when talking about the consolidated level. An improvement of +0.8% has been seen year on year on a like for like basis. The growth in the region of America and Australia of +93.7% is because of the consolidation of Australia and the acquisition of the two terminals in Chile.

Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem commentedcommented, “Our portfolio continues to deliver a steady volume performance which is encouraging given the challenging macro backdrop caused by the global trade dispute. However, despite this uncertainty, it is encouraging to see robust growth in key markets such as Asia Pacific and Indian Subcontinent, while growth in west coast of Americas remains solid. In Europe, London Gateway continues to deliver strong growth due to market share gains. While we have seen volumes stabilising in Jebel Ali (UAE), the outlook remains uncertain given the regional geopolitics and we remain focused on profitable origin & destination cargo.’’

“On our broader portfolio, we continue to make progress in strengthening our product offering, allowing us to connect directly with end customers to deliver a range of unique logistic solutions. We are seeing positive signs of progress in our new businesses that give us encouragement for the future. The near-term focus is on integrating our recent acquisitions, managing costs and disciplined investment to cement DP Worlds position as the logistics partner of choice. Overall, we remain well placed to deliver full year market expectations.’’

 

Reference: DP World

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Jan De Nul Secures World’s Largest Jack-Up Installation Vessel For Dogger Bank Wind Farms

Voltaire is a new offshore jack up installation vessel that has a capacity to lift over 3,000 tonnes and it taller than the Eiffel Tower. Jan De Nul has secured this world’s largest jack up installation vessel.

GE’s Haliade-X, that is the largest offshore wind turbine of the world will be transported and installed by the Voltaire at the Dogger Bank that is 130km away from the Yorkshire coast. After the complete installation, the Dogger Bank will be able to generate energy to supply power to more than 4.5 million homes annually which comes to about 5% of the electricity needs of UK.

This is the first contract for Voltaire that will start servicing in 2022. This vessel is named after thhe European Enlightenment philosopher. It has a highly advanced exhaust filtering system through a Selective Catalytic Reduction System and a Diesel Particulate Filter which makes it the first of its kind having an Ultra low Emission Vessel.

Philippe Hutse, Offshore Director at Jan De Nul Group: “We are delighted to be selected as the transport and installation contractor for the next generation of turbines at Dogger Bank. The size of this giant project coincides perfectly with the capacities of our jack-up vessel Voltaire. It underlines that we are entering into a new phase of OWF construction. We are proud to be at the forefront of offshore wind construction at Dogger Bank.”

Paul Cooley, Director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables: “Dogger Bank is an industry-leading project and we, along with our joint venture partners Equinor, are very excited to welcome another industry leader, Jan De Nul Group, to the development of the largest offshore wind farm in the world.”

Halfdan Brustad, Vice President for Dogger Bank at Equinor: “Dogger Bank represents the leading edge of the offshore wind industry. We and SSE Renewables believe the addition of Jan De Nul Group’s ground-breaking vessel to our project will drive the industry forward and make it more competitive.”

Steve Wilson, Project Director of Dogger Bank Wind Farms: “Jan De Nul Group has a proven track record of transporting and installing new generation offshore wind turbines at scale. Delivering Dogger Bank will be a testament to the skills and expertise of all of our partners in the supply chain, so we are very pleased to welcome Jan De Nul Group on board. Bringing the Voltaire vessel into the Dogger Bank project means we now have the most innovative turbines on the market being installed by the largest jack up vessel ever seen in the industry.”

3.6GW of offshore wind contracts has been given to Dogger Bank in the contracts of the UK Government.

Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B and Teesside A are the projects that have recorded the lowest prices and make up Dogger Bank Wind Farms. Final investment decisions are to be made for this project which is expected in 2020. The development and the construction of the Dogger Bank Wind Farms will be done by SSE Renewables and the operations will be seen by Equinor.

 

Reference: Doggerbank

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