Russian shipyard starts building 2nd ice-class oil tanker

Russia’s Admiralty Shipyard has started construction of a second enhanced ice-class tanker designed to ship oil from an Arctic oil field.

The St. Petersburg-based shipyard, Russia’s oldest, is building two 70,000-deadweight enhanced ice-class tankers for Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company. They are intended to ship oil from the Prirazlomnoye field, operated by Gazprom subsidiary Sevmorneftegaz. The Kirill Lavrov follows the first tanker Mikhail Ulyanov, which was moved from a dry dock to a wet dock for the final stages of construction work on October 31. Construction of the Mikhail Ulyanov started in 2007, and is to be completed in the summer of 2009.

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Wärtsilä acquires Vik-Sandvik

Wärtsilä has acquired the global ship design group Vik-Sandvik, an independent group providing design and engineering services to ship owners and the shipbuilding industry worldwide.

The value of the acquisition is $169.9m, with an additional maximum sum of $48.9m to be paid based on the performance of the business over the next three years. In 2007, Vik-Sandvik’s turnover was $70.8 millions and the profitability is on a very good level. The number of employees is 410. The role of ship design is becoming more and more important due to higher performance requirements, more sophisticated systems, and increased integration onboard most vessels. Also, the environmental and emission regulations regarding NOx and CO2 are becoming increasingly stringent. The acquisition is subject to relevant regulatory approvals, which are expected during the third quarter of 2008. Vik-Sandvik specializes in the design of high-end offshore vessels, as well as product and chemical tankers and more specialized vessels.

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Nido makes second oil discovery in the Philippines

Australian company Nido Petroleum has discovered a 119-metre oil column at its Tindalo-1 wildcat on Permit SC54 in the Philippines.

The find has been confirmed by wireline logs and is located in the Northwest Palawan basin. Nido said that as good oil shows were found during drilling, it was possible that an additional 15 metres of oil would be found below the logged zone. Earlier this year, the Perth-based company found a 78 to 93-metre gross oil column which was drilled by Awilco’s jackup rig, ‘WilBoss’.

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