India to scrap duty on crude oil import from Brunei

Mumbai: As a concession in the Free Trade Agreement with the 10-nation trading bloc ASEAN, India is willing to bind zero duty for crude oil imports only from Brunei, writes the Hindu Business Line.

“We have agreed to phase out duties on crude oil over a period of time for Brunei and not for any other country,” an official said. Though India has unilaterally scrapped duties on import of crude oil, it is not a binding commitment. Brunei’s request to scrap duties on crude oil was acceded to since the commodity forms a bulk of its exports, the official said, adding this is not the case with Malaysia. India meets 75% of its crude oil requirements through imports. As an inflation control measure, the Government has scrapped import duty on the commodity. While it retains an option to levy the duty, Brunei will get a different treatment under the FTA even when India decides to restore the import duty. Under the FTA with ASEAN, negotiations for which have been concluded, India will eliminate or substantially reduce duties on 95.65% of the items it trades with the bloc. It would however continue to protect sensitive sectors like textiles and chemicals from the trade agreement. In all, India will keep 489 items out of the tariff cut by putting them in the negative list. Though running late by two years, the formal announcement for conclusion of the talks will be made in Singapore around the month-end by trade ministers from India and other leading ASEAN members. The agreement will finally be signed at the India-ASEAN summit in December in Bangkok, to be attended by the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

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Keppel FELS to build seventh ENSCO deepwater rig

Keppel FELS, USA, has won a contract to build the seventh ENSCO 8500 Series deepwater semisubmersible worth US$560 million.

To be delivered in the second half of 2012, the ENSCO 8506 will be the seventh consecutive semi that Keppel FELS is constructing for ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). The contract follows shortly after the award of the sixth semi, ENSCO 8505, that was announced on June 1, 2008. The first unit in the seven-strong fleet of 8500 Series semis was contracted in 2005 and is on track for shipyard delivery in the third quarter of this year. It has been chartered to Anadarko and Eni for operations in the US Gulf of Mexico. The ENSCO 8506 is capable of drilling in up to 2,590 metres of water. Features include a two million pound quad derrick, offline pipe handling capability, 10,660-metre drilling capacity, and station keeping capabilities meeting DP2 requirements. With these features, the 8500 Series rigs will be especially well-suited for deepwater development drilling. ENSCO, headquartered in Dallas, USA, owns and operates a fleet of offshore drilling rigs servicing the petroleum industry on a global basis.

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CSCL Sao Paulo is the Second of Six Newbuild Vessels Scheduled for Delivery in 2008

Seaspan Corporation (NYS announced today that it has accepted delivery of its 31st vessel, the CSCL Sao Paulo.

The 2500 TEU newbuilding, which was constructed by Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., is the second of its size in Seaspan’s fleet. The CSCL Sao Paulo was delivered August 7, 2008, approximately sixteen weeks ahead of the original delivery schedule. The CSCL Sao Paulo is subject to a time charter with China Shipping Container Lines (Asia) Co., Ltd. for a twelve year period. CSCL Asia is a subsidiary of China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd., the world’s seventh largest liner company in terms of shipping capacity. Under the terms of the fixed-rate time charter, CSCL Asia is responsible for fuel costs and all cargo operating and related expenses. Seaspan owns containerships and charters them pursuant to long-term fixed-rate charters. Seaspan’s contracted fleet of 68 containerships consists of 31 containerships in operation and 37 containerships to be delivered over approximately the next three years. Seaspan’s operating fleet of 31 vessels has an average age of approximately five years and an average remaining charter period of approximately seven years. All of the 37 vessels to be delivered to Seaspan are already committed to long-term time charters averaging approximately 11 years in duration from delivery. Seaspan’s customer base consists of seven of the world’s largest, publicly traded liner companies, including China Shipping Container Lines, A.P. Moller-Maersk, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Hapag-Lloyd, COSCO Container Lines, K-Line and CSAV.

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