Up to 50 dead in latest Philippines ferry disaster

Manila: The Don Dexter Kathleen ferry capsized leaving 39 people dead and 14 missing.

The vessel on day before yesterday, with 119 people listed on board, keeled over after being struck by a freak wind off the island of Masbate, AFP writes, quoting local police chief Senior Superintendent Ruben Sindac. The accident is the latest of a string of ferry disasters in the Philippines. “The Don Dexter Kathleen capsized due to a freak accident, it was hit by a high wind despite fair weather and calm waters,” Sindac told local radio. He said rescue services recovered 39 bodies while 76 survivors had been pulled from the water. The navy, coast guard and local authorities were continuing to search the area between Masbate and Sorsogon port in southern Luzon, he added. Sindac did not rule out the possibility that there may have been more people onboard the ferry. According to reports, it is a common practice for inter-island ferries to be overloaded with last-minute passengers boarding without being listed in the manifest. Sindac said the ferry had just left the port town of Dimasalang on the north east coast of Masbate for Sorsogon port 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Collado, the local coast guard chief, said four people were still missing despite fears that there may be more still unaccounted for. Collado said the ferry was hit by a “freak whirlwind” that rose suddenly when the ferry left port. He added 76 people were rescued by boats that rushed to the site and that the navy, coast guard and local authorities are searching for any more survivors. Coast guard chief of staff Captain Efren Evangelista said the weather and waters were calm and that there was no reason for them to stop the vessel from setting sail. “Of course, we will be conducting an investigation of this, but for now we will be concentrating on the search and rescue operations,” he added. The accident comes four months after the 23,000 tonne inter-island ferry, Princess of the Stars, capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan carrying 850 passengers and crew. Only 57 passengers and crew survived the accident which was the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines for 20 years.

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SCAN’s sale, lease-back deal with Ship Finance canceled

OSLO: SCAN Geophysical ASA’s sale and lease-back agreement with Ship Finance International Ltd. that was made in March 2007 has been terminated.

In March of 2007, SCAN had agreed to sell its three newbuild, high-capacity, 3-D vessels, including complete seismic equipment, to Ship Finance based on a total price of US$210 million, or US$70 million per vessel. The seismic equipment consists of eight, 3.7-mile (6-km) streamers. The agreement included 12-year bareboat contracts for the vessels, with a charter rate per vessel of approximately US$26,500 per day during the first three years, US$24,500 per day during the second three years, and US$10,000 per day during the final six years. SCAN was also granted fixed price purchase options for each of the vessels after six, 10 and 12 years at approximately US$20 million, US$14 million and US$9 million, respectively. SCAN worked over the weekend towards an alternative solution and has reached a mutual understanding with Singapore-based Pacific First Shipping Pte (PFS), whereby PFS will acquire the vessels with seismic equipment and lease them back to SCAN on bareboat charters. PFS is affiliated with ABG Group, which is the majority owner of ABG Shipyard in India. SCAN plans to raise up to NOK 150 million (US$22.44 million) in new capital provided completion of the sale and lease-back transaction with PFS. The vessels in the agreements are purpose built at ABG Shipyard and are specifically designed for efficient 3-D seismic acquisition with high streamer capacity of 10 tow points and streamer lengths of up to 6.2 miles (10 km) for up to eight streamers, corresponding to a total capacity of 50 miles (80 km) streamers. The vessels, SCAN Empress, SCAN Finder and SCAN Superior, are scheduled for delivery in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2009, respectively.

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BG wins control of QGC

The UK’s BG Group has taken control of 52% of Australian coalbed methane leader Queensland Gas Company (QGC) as it pursues a friendly on-market takeover bid for the company.

QGC said in a statement that BG had taken majority control of the company after shareholders representing 495 million of its issued shares accepted the offer. BG Group is offering A$5.75 per share in an all cash offer for QGC valued at A$5.2 billion (US$3.5 million). QGC said the offer represented an 80% premium to its last-traded share price prior to announcement of the offer. BG’s board has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the offer. BG and QGC are already partners in a plan to develop a CBM-fed liquefied natural gas project on the Queensland coast, targeting exports to Asian markets. As part of the deal, BG already holds a stake in QGC’s Queensland CBM fields. The takeover is the latest step in the rapid consolidation of the Australian CBM sector, and follows a failed bid by BG to take over integrated group Origin Energy.

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