News
e-Books Recount Danish Maritime History
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
A part of Danish maritime history has been preserved by historian Bjarne Rasmussen who has written and edited e-books by retired seamen who sailed with Danish merchant ships in the Arctic/Antarctic waters during the period 1950 - 2000.
These voyages involved ice-filled and sometimes unsurveyed waters. The books, most written in Danish, were collated before it was “too late.” The number of seafarers left from that era is dwindling. The e-books are available free here.
Venezuelan Navy Threatens Aid Ship
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
A Venezuelan Navy vessel threatened to open fire on a ship from Puerto Rico carrying humanitarian aid on Saturday. The vessel had six U.S. citizens on board, and Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló said he has informed the U.S. government of the issue.
The Vanuatu-flagged ship, carrying around 200 tons of food and medicine in nine shipping containers, was threatened after entering Venezuelan territorial waters and subsequently retreated to Curaçao.
Venezuela has face political and economic turmoil over the last few years, and at least 2.7 million people have fled the nation since 2015. Violence continues in the nation where embattled President Nicolás Maduro is facing mounting opposition globally. Maduro, backed by Russia, Cuba and China, has said that aid deliveries would pave the way for U.S. military intervention.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is backed by the U.S. Guaidó declared himself interim president last month after claiming irregularities in the nation's 2018 election render Maduro's leadership illegitimate.
U.S. Senator Rick Scott of Florida, a state with one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the nation, said the U.S. would not tolerate any threats against American citizens. Scott has been critical of the Venezuelan government and issued multiple threats via Twitter over the last week.
The U.S. has already instigated sanctions against the largest state-owned oil company in Venezuela and pledged more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance.
On Saturday, convoys of U.S. aid were blocked at the Venezuelan border by troops loyal to Maduro, although there are also reports of defections among the soldiers too. Around 300 people were injured in associated violence.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to announce “concrete steps” to address the Venezuela crisis when he meets with regional leaders in Bogota, Colombia, on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump has in the past said military intervention in Venezuela was “an option.”
Hull Cracks & Oil Spills From El Faro’s 46 Year Old Sister Ship
by John Konrad
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Thursday morning, shortly after mooring in Oakland, the hull of the 1,727 TEU Matson containership S/S Matsonia cracked spilling heavy fuel oil into San Francisco Bay. The vessel was build in 1973 by Sun Shipbuilding, one year before the doomed El Faro at the same shipyard using the same basic hull design. On Thursday the Matsonia’s […]
N-Sea Announces Multi-Million Pound North Sea Contract Wins
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
UK and Netherlands-based subsea provider N-Sea has announced that it has been awarded two £multi-million contracts.
Managed and supported by N-Sea’s Aberdeen base, the first is a three-year contract, awarded by an international operator. The workscope will take place across a number of the operator’s UK North Sea assets and includes air diving inspection, repair and maintenance, in addition to light construction requirements from its diving support vessels and dive daughter craft.
Additionally, and following an initial framework contract award in 2018, N-Sea will also undertake a two-year project for another North Sea operator, comprising inspection, repair and maintenance on two of its North Sea assets. The project will see N-Sea provide its client with a variety of services similar to the highly successful scopes already provided in 2018.
Commenting on the awards, N-Sea Chief Operating Officer Roddy James said: “Given that the North Sea market is still in recovery phase, we are delighted that we continue to build a genuinely robust orderbook within the region.
“These contracts have been awarded by returning customers and is entirely reflective of the quality and experience provided by our project teams, who consistently deliver above expectation, and maintain a focus on providing safe and efficient operations for our customers. Both contract awards will see N-Sea utilize two dive support vessels for up to 250 days in 2019, which is a great place to be at this point in the year.”
N-Sea specializes in subsea services for the renewables, oil and gas, and telecom/utility industries, as well as for civil contracting communities. With a focus on safe and efficient operations, N-Sea provides near shore, offshore and survey services to asset operators and tier 1 contractors.
Inverse Catenaries and Being Run Over by a 10-meter Weather Buoy
by CW4 MICHAEL W. CARR
Sunday, February 24, 2019
By CW4 Michael Carr – “Sir, the buoy is accelerating, I can make out a bow wake, and it’s heading right up our wake,” reported the Ensign to the USCGC Sweetbrier’s bridge. He was staring at the bright yellow buoy as it moved across the water, possessed it seemed, to ram the 180 foot Coast […]
Maindeck Releases Mobile Dry-Docking Inspection App
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Software provider Maindeck has just released a mobile inspection app that the company built in close cooperation with industry.
What's new
It's the first of its kind in our industry. It gives you access to all project information on the go, and lets you upload images, comments and progress updates. It also functions offline, with automatic upload once your device detects a connection.
The app is currently released on Android and is in private beta on App Store. All Maindeck users get as an add-on in helping them plan and manage dry-docking projects.
Why did we do this
We see Technical Superintendents being dragged down by broken communication and manual work, all of which is getting in the way of actual ship maintenance. We saw that the solutions available in the market were as boring and monotone as the teams that had created them. This is why we are working on make technology so intuitive and impactful that people in ship maintenance want to use it. The mobile inspection app is a part of this, and will help free up teams to collaborate from anywhere.
About Maindeck
Maindeck is a modern cloud-based software empowering ship manager through all service, maintenance and repair projects - but with a special focus on dry-docking projects. Our main focus is building user friendly software that people can actually use and offer both a web app and a mobile app.
Denmark Uses Esri to Chart the Waters of Denmark and Greenland
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, has announced that it has contracted with the Danish Geodata Agency (GST) to implement a modern workflow to more efficiently create and maintain nautical charts of Danish and Greenlandic waters. Esri will assist with installation of and training for the new enterprise production system. Because maritime traffic is increasing significantly and new routes are opening due to melting ice, it is crucial to have accurate charts in support of safe navigation and environmental protection.
GST turned to Esri for a solution when the organization needed to convert the production of navigational charts from a file-based system to a database and to combine cross-agency chart production into one inclusive system. By partnering with Esri and Geoinfo A/S (Esri's Danish distributor) to implement this new chart production system, GST expects to reduce the time it takes staff to produce charts of all Danish waters and enable them to share information across departments and multiple agencies. GST recently created nautical charts for Greenlandic waters using Esri's ArcGIS for Maritime: Charting solution and found that it was able to automate up to 70 percent of the paper chart production work.
"We are very much looking forward to this collaboration with Geoinfo A/S and Esri, who support the Geodata Agency's vision of being the driving force in the digital development in the marine area," said Pia Dahl Højgaard, GST director.
GST is committed to delivering updated and enhanced navigation safety products for use in the waters surrounding Denmark, Greenland, and the Faeroe Islands. The data that the agency produces is used for navigation in support of activities such as shipping, fishing, recreational use, and military marine operations.
"Esri is happy to be a partner in GST's initiative to modernize its maritime charting system," said Rafael Ponce, Esri global maritime consultant. "GST has the vision to become a hydrospatial agency, and the data it produces can ultimately be used to support a complete maritime ‘blue economy’ for Denmark and beyond."
Maritime: Charting is a complete structure for efficiently generating and managing maritime information for navigation and a wide variety of GIS purposes, including planning, analysis, and data sharing.
Iran Fires Missile From Submarine In Gulf War Games
by Reuters
Sunday, February 24, 2019
by Raissa Kasolowsky (Reuters) – Iran successfully tested a cruise missile on Sunday during naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s state media reported, at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Tehran has in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route at the mouth […]
Why Are Supertankers Hauling Seawater Into The USA?
by Bloomberg
Sunday, February 24, 2019
by Julian Lee (Bloomberg) – Supertankers hauling seawater across the Atlantic? That’s just one of the odder results of the U.S. shale boom. Crude oil has always flowed backwards and forwards across the world’s oceans. A typical voyage by one of the global fleet of around 750 of the giant ships currently in service might see […]
Maersk Drilling Demerger Initiated
by The Maritime Executive
Sunday, February 24, 2019
A.P. Møller - Maesk has initiated the demerger and separate listing of Maersk Drilling Holding.
The decision to do so was made in August in last year, and the shares in Maersk Drilling Holding and its subsidiaries will be contributed to a new company with the legal name “The Drilling Company of 1972 A/S.” The company will be known as Maersk Drilling Listco.
Shareholder approval will be sought at a meeting in April. The anticipated first day of trading for the shares of Maersk Drilling Listco on Nasdaq Copenhagen is April 4, 2019.
The Executive Management team of Maersk Drilling, CEO Jørn Madsen and CFO Jesper Ridder Olsen, will also serve as the Executive Management team in the future listed company. In Q4, Maersk Drilling made the progress necessary to ensure that the entity is ready for a demerger. As part of the preparations for the separation, debt financing of $1.5 billion has been agreed. Out of this, $1.2 billion has been released as cash proceeds to A.P. Moller - Maersk.
The group's annual report, released this month, states that Maersk Drilling reported a revenue of $1.4 billion, while EBITDA was $611 million, negatively impacted by several idle rigs and lower day rates combined with costs for the planned separation.
Maersk Drilling signed 12 new contracts and further extended 13 contracts during 2018, adding 4,022 days and $503 million to its backlog. By the end of 2018, Maersk Drilling’s total revenue backlog amounted to $2.5 billion, with forward contract coverage of 69 percent for 2018, 63 percent for 2019 and 37 percent for 2020.
In 2018, Maersk Drilling launched a new strategic ambition “Smarter Drilling for Better Value” with the aim of combining the leading drilling services with new services and innovative business models. The first example was an alliance with Aker BP which aims at lowering the cost per barrel and increasing profitability for the partners while giving Maersk Drilling a preferential right to provide jack-up rigs for Aker BP in Norway. In September 2018, Maersk Integrator became the first rig to be contracted fully under alliance conditions.
In December 2018, Maersk Drilling entered another unique alliance with Seapulse. In this alliance, Maersk Drilling will provide fully integrated services, including the provision of rigs, to remove complexity across the entire value chain for a global 12-well exploration drilling program.
Speaking at the presentation of the group's annual report, CEO of A.P. Møller - Maesk A/S, Søren Skou, said: “In 2018, we made significant progress in implementing our strategy. With the expected listing and demerger of Maersk Drilling in April, the separation of our energy-related businesses will be almost complete. We have successfully integrated Hamburg Süd, accelerated our digital transformation and come together across sales, customer service, delivery and products as one company with customers at the center of our attention. We are starting to see growth both in ocean and non-ocean segments.”
