Indian rig fire blamed on supply ship collision

India’s minister of petroleum and natural gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has confirmed that a major fire on the Mumbai High processing platform that led to a number of fatalities was caused when a supply ship collided with the platform. “A major fire accident occurred on Mumbai High North (MHN) processing platform on 27 July, resulting in the loss of the facility,” said the minister’s statement. “The accident took place when ONGC’s multi-purpose support vessel (MSV) Samudra Suraksha, under SCI operation, was engaged in a medical evacuation operation.

“According to available information, the MSV lost control, drifted, and collided with the platform causing a major fire, which also engulfed the MSV. Given the intensity of the fire and consequent damage, the platform was abandoned according to a well-rehearsed abandonment drill used in offshore operations.

The minister said the MHN platform was ‘totally lost’ in less than two hours along with a Pawan Hans helicopter positioned on it.

ONGC support and supply vessels and three chartered helicopters were quickly mobilised for search and rescue operations, and the Indian Navy and Coastguards provided prompt assistance by deploying ships and aircraft.

Tightness in North Sea ERRV market makes life difficult for charterers

Broking sources in the UK have confirmed that the emergency rescue response vessel (ERRV/standby) market remains extremely busy with a continuing lack of availability for charterers, term rates remain in excess of £5,500 (US$9,800) with spot rates reaching as high as £15,000 (US$26,725) on a number of occasions recently.

As also highlighted in the North Sea status report on page 70, Offshore Shipbrokers Ltd (OSL) says this distinct lack of availability is forcing charterers to look at unusual solutions in order to meet their requirements. It noted that Centrica, for example, was recently forced to charter two smaller Esvagt vessels to support the Ensco 101 for circa 45 days instead of sourcing a single ERRV. “With each Esvagt vessel having only a crew of six and one FRC, it meant that two vessels were required to meet the UK requirement of a 12-man crew and two FRCs,” OSL said. “Other charterers have also had to seek dispensation from the MCA to use Norwegian ERRVs with additional manning levels as UK owners repeatedly have little or no tonnage available to offer”.

Another broker, Seascope Offshore, confirmed the tightness in the market, and confirmed that the lack of available UK-compliant vessels had forced Centrica to charter two non-compliant vessel in order to give adequate coverage. Seascope put the aggregate cost for the two vessels at £10,000 (US$17,800).

DNV says class notation reduces accidents offshore

Classification society DNV says a study of all DNV-classed vessels of 6,000gt and above clearly shows the safety value of additional class notation. The accident rate – collisions, groundings and contact damage – for vessels holding ‘nautical’ class notation Naut-AW and Naut-OC built since 1990 has been half that of ships without them.

“Since such events account for about half of all marine accidents, this statistical difference strikingly confirms the value of operational aspects being covered by additional class notation,” said DNV. “Their main focus is on the ‘total bridge system,’ taking into account bridge procedures, the human operator, the technical system and the man/machine interface: all these play a major role in ensuring the safety of a vessel at sea.”

DNV’s approach to ship operation is highlighted by its new guidelines for bridge design on offshore support vessels, forming the class notation Naut-OSV.

Developed in partnership with Norsk Hydro, Statoil and OSV operators including Farstad, DOF, Olympic Shipping, Eidesvik and Solstad, the aim of the guidelines is to optimise the design and layout of bridge equipment and the extent of the information to be handled by bridge personnel in different operations.

Commenting on the joint industry project, Solstad operations manager Knut Lussand said: “We can see advantages in standardising the bridge in that we can both optimise our navigators’ workplace and achieve more standardised bridge solutions. In the future, we can also see opportunities to make direct financial savings during the newbuilding phase as a result of fewer changes being made to bridge designs during the end phase, and the fact that our equipment’s specifications can be reduced as a result of Naut-OSV.”

He continued: “In our experience, standards such as Naut-OSV require sub-contractors to the ships to talk to each other more in order to together be able to meet the requirements stipulated in them. In addition, it is extremely important to test installations and user-interfaces when complicated solutions are used and systematic testing often reveals apparently small errors that can lead to major operational problems.”

Aker Yards’ Sigbjørn Akselvoll said: “We look on it as a major advantage that there are guidelines and standards which enable more bridge standardisation so that we can avoid each new ship being a prototype where many changes are made during the final phase, right before delivery. Such changes are costly, due to both their nature and the time aspect. We realise that this notation at the outset will mean added cost, but we will in the future get cost-savings both on engineering and construction time due to the standardisation.

“In addition, accident statistics show that a focus on the bridge is extremely important and we believe that Naut-OSV will contribute to greater safety and better working conditions for the ship’s officers on the bridge, with more similarity between different ships’ bridge solutions.”

Marine Safety Forum issues safety advice after vessel hits rig

The Marine Safety Forum in the UK has issued a ‘safety flash’ after a supply vessel made contact with a rig while working alongside.

The vessel was in a position 15m from the platform leg, heading into wind and weather. After nine minutes the distance to the leg had decreased to 7-8m and in manoeuvring to increase the distance from the leg, the navigating officer took the vessel ahead to clear the leg. The stern then swung towards the leg and contact was made.

In its root cause analysis of the incident, the forum said that when the vessel set up in Poscon, 150m west of the platform, the navigating officer transferred from manual at the forward console to manual at the aft console to settle the vessel on the required heading and then into Poscon at the aft console.

However, he forgot to set the rudders to amidships; the two rudders were set 15 to 20 degrees to starboard. He then took the vessel alongside the platform for cargo operations. On arrival at the platform, he pressed the ‘cancel rudder’ button on the Poscon console, still failing to notice that the rudders were set to starboard.

The action of the SSW swell on the bow and with the rudders set as they were, while maintaining position under the crane using ahead movements on the main engines, caused the vessel to slowly close in on the platform, and when he pushed the vessel ahead to move away from installation, the rudders caused the stern to swing towards the platform and contact was made.

“The cause was human error,” noted the Marine Safety Forum:

• failing to put rudders amidships upon completion of manoeuvring at aft console

• failure to cancel rudders from Poscon at 150m and perform environmental tests with vessel as would be set up alongside

• failure to spend sufficient time on the environmental checks

• failure to notice when at the platform that rudders were not amidships prior to de-selecting them.

Maersk and Esvagt form venture for safety standby work

The Maersk Company in the UK has confirmed that Maersk and Esvagt, the well known safety standby (emergency rescue response vessel) operator based in Denmark, have formed a new UK-incorporated joint venture, primarily for British and Irish waters. Maersk said the new venture’s main focus would be emergency rescue response for offshore operators.

Esvagt-Maersk already has newbuildings on order which are due to be delivered in
April 2007.

The statement said both shareholders in the new joint venture intend to transfer a number of existing rescue/recovery vessels into the joint venture in the near future, in order to strengthen the company’s position in the market, which is currently experiencing a high level of demand.

Abeer and SvitzerWijsmuller form joint company

Abeer Marine Services (AMS), which is part of the Wilh Wilhelmsen group (WW) group, and Maersk-owned SvitzerWijsmuller (SW), are to form a joint company to be known as Express Offshore Transport Pte Ltd (EOT). WW and SW will each own 50 per cent, and the company will be based in Singapore and have 80 shore-based personnel. The new company will be operational as of 1 November subject to all relevant approvals being given.

EOT will manage a fleet of 55 light supply vessels, ranging from 20m to 41m, of which six are under construction, with the company operating mainly in the crewboat and supply sectors in the Arabian Gulf and Asia.

Siem Offshore merges with Rovde Shipping

Siem Offshore Inc and Rovde Shipping AS in Norway have entered into a conditional agreement to merge.The proposed merger will take the form of the issue of 37,139, 024 shares in Siem Offshore to shareholders in Rovde Shipping AS.

Under the terms of the merger, Rovde Shipping will be responsible for the operation of the six PSVs that are currently under construction for Siem Offshore at Aker Yards.

In a statement, the companies said the merger was undertaken with a view to building a larger company with economies of scale and market strength. The agreement is conditional upon approval by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance of an application for a certain form of tax treatment for the Rovde shareholders.

Hurricane Katrina forces cancellation of International Workboat Show

The organisers of the 2006 International Workboat Show have been forced to cancel the event because of Hurricane Katrina.

On 13 September, Chris Dimmerling, the event’s sales manager, said: “In the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the International WorkBoat Show, scheduled for 30 November - 2 December in New Orleans, LA, has been cancelled”. He announced that next year’s event would take place from 29 November to 1 December 2006.

Full refunds will be given to all companies who have sent monies for the 2005 edition of the International WorkBoat Show. These will be processed as quickly as possible.

“Over the next year, this industry will continue to thrive with relief and rebuilding efforts,” Mr Dimmerling said. “We are proud to be a part of these efforts and are dedicated to ensuring that the Gulf Coast as well as the commercial marine industry rebounds from this horrible devastation.

“We will be contacting you in the days to come with marketing ideas for your business, initiatives for communicating with Gulf Coast companies as the region rebuilds and a contribution programme so we can all help. Now more than ever, we are dedicated in our mission to bring buyers and sellers together for the health of the workboat industry.

Chris Dimmerling’s e-mail: cdimmerling @divcom.com

Keppel Singmarine secures orders for four OSVs and two tugs

Orders for four offshore support vessels (OSVs) and two tugs worth about S$78 million (US$46 million) have been secured by Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) in Singapore.The vessels will be progressively delivered to their owners up to first half of 2007.

Keppel Singmarine has 22 vessels under construction, having delivered nine since the beginning of 2005. Its strong orderbook has secured the company a role as one of the world’s leading builders of OSVs.

Keppel Singmarine will build a total of four anchor handlers for Saudi Arabia companies, two for HADI Establishment (HADI) and two for Zamil Operations and Maintenance Co. A repeat customer since 2001, HADI has ordered a total of nine vessels from Keppel Singmarine, including the latest two vessels. Zamil Operations and Maintenance Co Ltd (Zamil) is a new customer.

Keppel Smit Towage (KST) has placed an order for two Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugboats, designed by the Marine Technology Development (MTD), Keppel Singmarine’s research and development arm.

A joint venture between Keppel Shipyard and Smit International Singapore, Keppel Smit Towage owns, manages and operates tugs to provide marine support services in the
Asia Pacific region.

Hoe Eng Hock, executive director of Keppel Singmarine, said: “Keppel Singmarine’s track records and experiences as a specialised shipbuilder have exemplified its capabilities and confidence in meeting customers’ expectations and requirements. With our commitment to provide quality products and delivery on-time on-budget, Keppel Singmarine creates value for our customers. We are very glad that HADI Establishment, Zamil and KST have chosen Keppel Singmarine as their preferred yard.”

Crowley to acquire Titan Maritime

Crowley Maritime Corporation has reached agreement with the owners of Titan Maritime to acquire the company, Crowley’s chairman, president and CEO, Tom Crowley Jr, announced at the International Salvage Union’s annual dinner in October. The deal was expected to close within 30 days.

Mr Crowley was addressing an audience of about 60 salvors from around the world who had gathered for dinner in Seattle as part of the International Salvage Union’s week-long annual conference. He said additional details would be provided after the closing.

Titan, founded in 1980 by David Parrot, is a worldwide salvage company that is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with offices in Newhaven, UK, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, and equipment depots in Batam, Indonesia and Dubai, UAE. Over the past 25 years, Titan has performed more than 200 salvage and wreck removal projects worldwide.

Oakland-based Crowley Maritime Corporation, founded in 1892, is primarily a family and employee-owned company that provides diversified transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of four operating lines of business: liner services; logistics services; petroleum services and marine services. Other services provided within these business lines include contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response; vessel management, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales.

Eidesvik Offshore listed on Oslo Stock Market

Eidesvik Offshore in Norway is now formally listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange main list. Its first day of trading was 27 June. The offering for shares in the company was reportedly 18 times over-subscribed.

Technip and Subsea7 form venture in Asia Pacific region

Technip and Subsea 7 announced in September that they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whereby their respective affiliates Technip Oceania Pty Ltd and Subsea 7 Singapore Pte Ltd are to form a jointly operated company for subsea offshore activities in the Asia Pacific region
(excluding India and Middle-East).

Under the terms of the MoU, Technip and Subsea 7 will bid for and carry out all engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning and/or maintenance (EPCIM) contracts for the subsea production and transportation of oil and gas within the Asia Pacific region, including the supply of flexible pipe via the Technip/Subsea 7 joint venture.

The head office of this newly formed company will be located in Perth, Western Australia.

Technip and Subsea 7 have demonstrated their capacity to work successfully together on past projects in the region including the Trunkline System Expansion Project for Woodside Energy Limited and are currently executing the Kikeh Subsea EPCI project awarded by Murphy Sabah Oil Company Ltd.

“The combination of the capabilities of Technip and Subsea 7 in the region will enable the newly formed joint venture to better serve its clients, especially for their larger and more demanding projects. The joint venture shall have exclusive and operational control of two vessels: Technip’s CSO Venturer and the Subsea 7’s Rockwater 2, which will remain in the region to perform and support the EPCIM projects in the Asia Pacific region,” said the two companies in a joint statement.

The definitive agreements will be subject to clearances of all relevant regulatory authorities.

Cal Dive completes acquisition of Torch Offshore assets

Cal Dive International has completed an asset purchase agreement with Torch Offshore following early termination of the second review of the transaction by the US Department of Justice. Under the terms of the purchase agreement Cal Dive paid a consideration of US$85 million for two shelf pipelay barges; four shelf diving vessels; the deepwater pipelay vessel Midnight Express; and a portable saturation diving system; together with all equipment, inventory, intellectual property and other assets related to the operations of the vessels.

Martin Ferron, president, stated: “We are very pleased to have concluded this complicated transaction and are now focused on getting the acquired assets back to work, especially given the extra demand generated by Hurricane Katrina. We expect this to happen on a phased basis before the end of the year due to the need to drydock several of the vessels. Midnight Express will be placed in service this year in its present condition, but will require significant upgrade work next year to reach its optimum pipelay capability. We expect the overall drydocking and upgrade budget to be around US$30 million for all of the assets.”

“The deal should add to fourth quarter earnings this year and we expect the acquired assets to generate between US$25-30 million of operating cash flow on a full year basis,” Mr Ferron said.

DeepOcean and Oceanteam complete merger

DeepOcean and Oceanteam in Norway have completed their merger, a deal that will allow the combined group to expand its area of operations to Mexico and to the southern part of the North Sea. DeepOcean CEO Kåre Johannes Lie said the new company was likely to acquire more ROVs and noted that shipowner Østensjø, with whom DeepOcean has a long-standing relationship, has ordered a new IRM vessel for use by the newly merged company.

DeepOcean signed a letter of intent with Oceanteam earlier this summer for the merger of the two companies, a new share issue, and the planned introduction of the merged company on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Oceanteam primarily operates in Mexico with the DP2 vessels Atlantic Challenger, which is owned by Oceanteam) and Arbol Grande, which is chartered on a long-term contract.

The company has about 40 employees and offices in Ciudad Del Carmen in Mexico, Amsterdam and Den Helder in The Netherlands, Norwich and Aberdeen in the UK, and Bergen, Norway. The company co-operates and is partly owned by the subsea company Diavaz, which is one of the larger subsea suppliers to Pemex in Mexico.

Now that the merger has been completed, the new company will remain as DeepOcean ASA, with its head office and group management in Haugesund, Norway, with Kåre Johannes Lie as CEO and Gerhard Skåleskog as chief financial officer.

The new merged DeepOcean ASA will have 140 employees and a turnover of Nkr600 million (US$93 million), which represents an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to 2004.

Odim acquires Hydrakraft

Odim in Hjorungavaag in Norway has entered into an agreement to buy Hydrakraft AS in Ulsteinvik. The company said the aim of the acquisition was to strengthen Odim’s position in the market for handling equipment for offshore support and seismic vessels. “Hydrakraft AS will complement Odim’s capacity and competence and fortify Odim’s position in the market segment”.

The acquisition was due to be completed at the beginning of October. Hydrakraft’s largest shareholder until now was Kleven Maritime.

Fugro strengthens position in seismic market

Fugro has signed a long-term charter agreement with Rieber Shipping ASA, Norway, for the vessel Polar King. The vessel was built in 2000, and will be converted for 3-D seismic acquisition and will be able to tow 8-10 long offset streamers (up to 9km in length). The ship will be ready for deployment in May 2006.

The charter is part of Fugro’s plan to partly replace, modernise and expand the fleet of six seismic vessels that it currently deploys. It is Fugro’s objective to operate with a fleet of approximately eight ships, some owned and some chartered, as of mid 2006.

Fugro has already placed orders for two sets of 3-D streamers, one of which is for Polar King.

• Fugro has also further increased its presence in India and Brazil, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Elcome Surveys Pvt Ltd in India, and says the joint venture which it announced earlier with Oceansatpeg in Brazil became operational as of 1 October. Elcome Surveys Pvt Ltd is located in Mumbai, India, and is a major supplier of survey, geotechnical and oceanographic services offshore India and in the Arabian Gulf. The acquisition will strengthen Fugro’s resource base in the region. The company has 69 employees. The joint venture with Oceansatpeg in Brazil involves some 250 employees. Fugro has a 62 per cent interest in the joint venture.

Chouest plans new yard in Houma

Offshore support vessel operator Edison Chouest is reportedly planning to build a new shipyard in the Houma area of Louisiana. The company has reportedly secured a finance package that could pave the way for the new yard.

The financing could include a package of state economic incentives for Edison Chouest, which plans to build the shipyard on 77 acres along the Houma Navigational Canal, creating around 750 jobs.

“This is going to be a first-class, state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility,” Roger White, Edison Chouest senior vice president told local news media. “This facility will be capable of building vessels larger than the 330ft (100m) length that we are restricted to now.”

Hercules Offshore sets terms for 9.2 million share IPO

Hercules Offshore in the US, which provides drilling and liftboat services to the oil and gas industry, has set its planned initial public offering at 9.2 million shares at an estimated price of US$18 to US$20 per share.

The Houston, Texas-based company said in an amended offering document filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission that it is selling 6.57 million shares, and stockholders are selling 2.63 million.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Citigroup are lead underwriters for the IPO. Simmons & Company International, Deutsche Bank Securities and Howard Weil Inc are assisting in the underwriting. The underwriters will have the option to buy an additional 1.38 million shares to cover over-allotments.

Hercules Offshore expects to receive US$114.9 million in net proceeds, and will use the funds to repay US$45 million of debt, buy eight liftboats for roughly US$44 million, and for other corporate purposes.

The company has applied to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol ‘HERO.’

Stolt Offshore reports solid financial performance

Stolt Offshore has announced its results for the third quarter and nine months which ended on 31 August. The company said it enjoyed solid financial performance, delivering US$24.1 million net income, with US$499 million in contract awards during the quarter.

Post quarter highlights include the CS Pertinacia being taken on charter for a six-year period, with three-year option; and US$366 million in new contract awards announced since quarter end, including the US$280 million Moho Bilondo contract.

Tom Ehret, chief executive officer, said: “Stolt Offshore has continued to make good progress throughout the third quarter, with operational performance and earnings very much as planned. The pace of our backlog build has picked up both during the third quarter and since the quarter end. Our continuing businesses now have high quality backlog cover for some 18 months ahead.”

On 30 August, Stolt Offshore announced the signing of a co-operation agreement to establish a joint venture with SapuraCrest Petroleum, the leading Malaysian oil service company.

As also highlighted in Vessel News in this issue of OSJ, the joint venture, which is subject to Malaysian government approval, will take over the build and operation of Sapura 3000, a newbuild heavy lift and pipelay vessel designed to be the most advanced deepwater construction ship in the growing Asia Pacific region.

“We are now bidding the Sapura 3000 for deepwater construction work in 2007 and beyond. The fixed costs in this region have started to increase reflecting the new business model,” said Mr Ehret.

“With a strong level of activity through the fourth quarter, Stolt Offshore remains confident it will meet expectations for full year financial performance after the one off non-cash adjustments for FAS 133 and the share-based management incentive plan. Now that customers’ exploration and production budgets are showing strong and consistent growth through 2007 and beyond, there is a general consensus that the oil services sector faces a secure long term up-cycle. Evidence of this has been provided by the early cycle players, such as seismic services and drill rig contractors who are exceeding previous peaks of activity. As a mid-to-late cycle player Stolt Offshore is now seeing a steady improvement in market conditions which we anticipate will translate into stronger earnings as our more recently bid contracts are executed over the next two years,” Mr Ehret concluded.

“As the subsea engineering and construction sector is now looking at a number of years of steady growth, asset utilisation should continue to be close to capacity. Stolt Offshore therefore maintains its strategy to selectively grow its fleet with commercially attractive charter and joint venture relationships where these offer substantial up-side in earnings opportunities in the medium term.” OSJ