MOL launches 320,000DWT iron ore carrier

Mitsui OSK Lines, Japan, has launched of one of the world’s largest iron ore carriers, the 320,000DWT ‘Tubarao Maru’.

The naming and delivery ceremony was held at the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Chiba Works. Guests at the ceremony included Nippon Steel President Shoji Muneoka and MES President Yasuhiko Katoh. Mr Muneoka’s wife Yoko cut the rope and Mr Muneoka named the ship. After the naming and rope-cutting ceremonies, the ‘Tubarao Maru’ will go into service to transport Brazilian iron ore to Japan. The new vessel will sail under a long-term transport contract with Nippon Steel Corporation. The ‘Tubarao Maru’ is similar to the world’s largest iron ore carrier, the ‘Brasil Maru’, which was launched by MOL in December 2007. It is the second-generation ship to bear the name, the original Tubarao Maru was launched in 1966. ‘Tubarao Maru’ has a length of 340 metres on a beam of 60 metres and a 21-metre draught. The vessel has an annual transport volume of about 1.4 million tonnes.

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Nakilat ships enter the uk p&i club and gard

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Gas Transport Company will enter the first fifteen of its wholly owned LNG vessels with the two largest P&I clubs in the world – Assuranceforeningen Gard and the UK P&I Club.

The announcement marks the conclusion of a detailed selection process culminating in a closed bid. QGTC is a Qatari listed company formed to co-ordinate the LNG transportation requirements of the State of Qatar. Qatar’s intended program is to become the world’s largest LNG producer. Nakilat currently has an extensive new building program with three Korean yards to build 25 wholly owned LNG carriers scheduled for delivery between 2008 and 2010. These include the Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max, a new generation of LNG mega-ships. The Q-Max has 80 percent more capacity than conventional LNG carriers with about 40 percent lower energy requirement due to the economies of scale created by their size and the efficiency of the engines. The Q-Max LNG carriers are unique and purpose built for Nakilat the sole owner of the vessels. In addition to the wholly-owned ships being acquired by Nakilat, QGTC has an ownership stake (43% on average) in 29 other LNG vessels. Of the remaining ten new ships due for delivery to Nakilat, the P&I insurer for those ships will be decided at a later date.

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Petrobras to deploy Sevan Driller off Brazil

Petrobras has denied that a decision to deploy a Sevan Driller rig in Brazilian waters rather than in the Gulf of Mexico is a sign of a scaling down of international operations.

Petrobras international director Jorge Zelada confirmed that the company has changed the location for using the cylindrical drilling unit, currently under construction at the Cosco Nantong yard in China. The rig is due for delivery in the first half of next year, and is now expected to reinforce the exploration and appraisal effort in the emerging region of pre-salt discoveries in Brazil’s Santos basin. Zelada rejected suggestions that the move was symptomatic of a downgrading of the company’s international investments, in the wake of these huge domestic oil and gas discoveries, with their equally imposing development costs. “I wouldn’t describe this as reducing (overseas investments) but we may postpone exploration acitivity in a given place when the company sees an operation like the one in Brazil as important and there is competition for the rig,” he said. Petrobras recently reached agreement with Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, committing to appraisal plans on undimensioned discoveries such as Carioca and Jupiter. The company is expected to take delivery of four newbuild rigs capable of working in ultra deep waters next year. In the Gulf of Mexico Petrobras is planning for wildcatting on exploration permits and developing the Cascade and Chinook fields.

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