A Papua-New Guinea (PNG) flagged passenger ship/RoRo sunk yesterday in heavy seas off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea.  350 people are reported to have been on board the vessel.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the MV Rabaul Queen was believed to have sunk while traveling from Kimbe to Lae, in Papua New Guinea, at around 7.30am yesterday morning, Canberra time.

“Our hearts go out to those affected by the sinking of the MV Rabaul Queen,” Mr Rudd said.

“I spoke to my counterpart, PNG Foreign Minister Ano Pala, earlier today to inform him that Australia stands ready to offer all necessary assistance.”

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard

The Australia Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is currently providing assistance to Papua New Guinea and eight merchant vessels remain on scene.  238 survivors have so far been recovered by five of the ships.

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke with reporters in Melbourne yesterday:

“This is obviously a major tragedy.  Given the likely very high loss of life here, I think when this news comes to the attention of Australians around the country they will be thinking about the people of PNG as they respond to this tragedy.”

It is expected that the five ships will passage towards Lae overnight. Arrangements for transferring survivors will be made by PNG authorities.

Earlier reports of fine weather conditions have been contradicted by vessels on scene. There are currently strong north-westerly winds at 40kts, and a five-metre sea swell.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Capt Nurur Rahman, from the National Maritime Safety Authority, said he was hopeful of finding more people alive in the tropical waters.

“People have survived for up to two days,” he told the Associated Press news agency.  He also added that the number of people who were on board may be lower than previously reported – perhaps at about 300.

*UPDATE*
AMSA continues to provide ongoing assistance to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) with coordinating search efforts.

The five vessels, with a total of 238 survivors on board, proceeded to Lae last night, with the first vessel arriving shortly after 1:00am AEDT.

The passengers are being transferred to Lae by the port’s tug, under the coordination of PNG authorities. In addition to the three merchant vessels on scene, four aircraft will participate in this morning’s search – two local helicopters, AMSA’s dedicated search and rescue Dornier aircraft from Cairns and a Careflight lear jet from Townsville.

Today’s search will commence at first light (approx. 7:00am AEDT).

The MV TYCOON, hard aground on Christmas Island taken on the morning of January 10. Photo: Australian Maritime Safety Authority

The following is the latest update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority regarding the MV Tycoon, the Panamanian-flagged general cargo vessel that broke in half after breaking free of its mooring last Tuesday and grounding on Christmas Island in Australia.

Beach cleanup continued over the weekend with the cleaning of oiled rocks. A further two bulk bags of waste have been collected, taking the total to 51 for the response.

The National Response Team Wildlife Coordinator has undertaken a survey of the island and has commenced site inspections. All potential areas of impact from oil have been inspected each day and no oil has been reported.

Areas of potential wildlife impact have also been inspected and no further reports of oiled wildlife have been made. The baby red crabs continue to migrate inland from the sea.

In total 10 people have been deployed from the National Response Team to the island.

The vessel’s condition has not changed in the past couple of days. It is still sitting comfortably on the bottom and further significant structural damage has not been observed. A small amount of residual oil is leaking from the ship.

Government officials are liaising with representatives of the ship’s owners and representatives of the ship’s insurers about the ultimate removal of the vessel from its current location. Those representatives are working with specialist salvage companies to assess the vessel and develop proposals for its removal. This is a complex process and likely to take several months.

The Christmas Island Port remains closed to shipping, due to weather conditions.

Via AMSA

Total and its joint venture partner INPEX Corporation today announced that they have taken the final investment decision for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia, representing an investment of US$34 billion dollars. Total holds a 24% interest in the project which will develop approximately 3 billion barrels oil equivalent of reserves, including around 500 million barrels of condensate. First production is expected at the end of 2016.

“Through this project, Total further increases its presence in Australia and its access to the Asian LNG market, the fastest growing market offering high-value prices,” said Yves-Louis Darricarrère, President of Exploration & Production, Total. “Total and INPEX have a long and successful history of working together all around the world. We are delighted to launch this world-scale project and to support it with our technical expertise and our best-in-class competencies in the management of very large projects.”

At the announcement in Darwin, INPEX Chairman Naoki Kuroda comments:

“The Ichthys FID announced today by INPEX and Total signals the start of construction of one of the world’s largest LNG facilities based on an estimated 40 years of gas and condensate reserves from the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia.  In delivering this important Project into production we will be securing vital long-term energy supply to Japan and our other customers while delivering sustainable economic and social benefits across Australia.”

Mr Kuroda said the Ichthys LNG Project was the cornerstone in the company’s growth strategy into the 21st Century and would be the first time INPEX was leading such a world-scale project as operator.

The Ichthys project consists of the development of the Ichthys gas and condensate field offshore North West Australia (lying in 260 metres of water depth) and the construction of an 889 kilometres gas transmission pipeline together with an onshore LNG plant near Darwin in the Northern Territory.

The offshore facilities will consist of a subsea well development connected to a central processing facility (CPF) for gas treatment and a floating processing, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for condensates. The CPF and the FPSO will both be one of the largest in the world.

The offshore work packages

INPEX confirmed contracts to be awarded for the major offshore work packages, including:

• Central processing facility – Samsung Heavy Industry
• Subsea production system – General Electric
• Subsea flow line construction and installation – McDermott in cooperation with Heerema
• Gas export pipeline – Mitsui-Europipe, Sumitomo, Nippon Steel-Metal One (pipe manufacture); Mitsui-Bredero Shaw (pipe concrete coating); Saipem (pipelay)
• Floating production storage and offloading vessel – to be announced in the coming weeks.

Onshore installations will consist of two LNG trains with a capacity of 4.2 million tons per year each and facilities for the extraction and the export of LPGs and condensate. In addition to its LNG production, the Ichthys project is expected to generate 1.6 million tons per year of LPGs and 100,000 barrels of condensate a day at peak.

Notably, the entire annual production of LNG from the Ichthys project (8.4 million tons per year) has already been sold for 15 years under oil-linked price contracts, mostly directed to third-party consortiums of Taiwanese and Japanese buyers including INPEX. Total Gas & Power Limited, the gas trading subsidiary of Total, will also purchase 0.9 million tons per year of LNG from the project to supply directly its customers.

The plans for development and operation of the Ichthys project have been approved by Australian authorities, and construction will commence in the second quarter of 2012.  Mr. Kuroda said all successful tenderers to the Ichthys LNG Project in Australia had to demonstrate how they will maximise the use of Australian products and services.

“Ongoing compliance and reporting mechanisms will ensure contractors perform to the standards set by the Ichthys Project’s approved Australian Industry Participation plans and contractual obligations, Ichthys will truly be an international collaboration. An estimated 3000 jobs will be needed in Darwin during the peak of construction with a further 1000 offshore. Once the Project is in operation we will require approximately 700 permanent positions.”

Total Exploration and Production in Australia

Total E&P has been present in Australia since 2005 and has interests in nine offshore exploration licenses – four of which it operates – in the Browse, Vulcan and Bonaparte Basins on the northwest shelf.

In addition to the Ichthys project, Total has, in Queensland, a 27.5% interest alongside Santos, Petronas and Kogas in the GLNG Coal Seam Gas to LNG project launched in early 2011. The GLNG project consists of the development of coal seam gas fields, the construction of a 420 kilometres gas transmission pipeline and of a liquefaction plant of 7.2 million tons per year. First LNG will be delivered in 2015.

Total and LNG

Total is a leading producer in the LNG sector, with strong and diversified positions along the LNG chain. Total is active in most of the major LNG producing regions as well as main LNG markets and continues to develop LNG as a key component of its growth strategy.

The Group has interests in LNG projects in Indonesia, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Angola, and Russia.

The Group has also secured long-term access to LNG re-gasification capacity located in key LNG markets.

Whaling ship off the coast of Macquarie Island, a protected world heritage area.

With Christmas Island battling a spill of phosphate and fuel oil making national headlines some of the leading environmentalists are equally disturbed by illegal fishing in the Australia’s protected marine World Heritage Areas.

In a recent call to action the head of the Australian Greens party, Senator Bob Brown, is leading a twitter campaign against the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru III which he claims is now inside Australian territorial waters and the World Heritage area of the subantarctic Macquarie Island.

According to Senator Bob Brown, the activist group Sea Shepherd has informed him that it’s vessel Bob Barker has followed the Japanese harpoon ship into the area between Macquarie Island proper and its off offshore islets, an area which is 4 to 6 miles inside Australia’s territorial waters. Macquarie Island, famous for its huge penguin and seal colonies, is part of Tasmania and was declared a World Heritage area 20 years ago.

“It is utterly embarrassing that the Australian government is allowing this harpoon ship’s incursion. I have sent a message to the Prime Minister urging appropriate action – that is, for Tokyo to have this ship exit immediately,” Senator Brown said via his twitter account @SenatorBobBrown.

The senator also mentioned a new bill to, according to Brown, ”…ensure that there was a patrol boat with the authority of Australia in our Antarctic waters, if the Japanese come south again next season … to engage in the slaughter of hundreds of these warm blooded mammals that Australians want to see protected.”

Environment spokesman Greg Hunt said this week the opposition would consider supporting the Greens bill, although it had yet to see the detail.

Senator Brown’s political party the “Australian Greens” was formed in 1992, however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and is considered one of the world’s first Green parties. The party currently holds 9 seats in the Australian senate, one member in the lower house of the Parliament of Australia and has grown in national importance since the 2010 federal election where the Greens received more than 1.6 million (about 13%) of the Senate vote.

The M/V Tycoon, broken on Christmas Island, Australia

The Panamanian-flagged general cargo vessel MV TYCOON that broke free of its mooring on Tuesday and grounded on Christmas Island in Australia has broken in two.

An update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said that the vessel broke in pounding seas overnight and the bulk of the vessel’s oil and cargo (phosphate) has been released from the breach in the hull.  Initial reports from the master of the MV TYCOON indicated that there are approximately 102 tonnes of intermediate fuel oil, 11,000 litres of lubricant oil, 32 tonnes of diesel oil and approximately 260 tonnes of phosphate cargo onboard the vessel.

As a result the AMSA has activated the Australia’s National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and other Noxious and Hazardous Substances, or the National Plan, and that there are now two salvage and three pollution response experts on-site to assess the situation.

Luckily the crew of 15 was evacuated from the vessel with assistance from the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Federal Police.

Aerial photo. Photo: Australia Customs and Border Protection

The news site The Australian, tells us that the grounding comes as a surprise to local mariners who claim that bad weather is routine and ships are often ordered by port authorities to return to sea when a storm arrives - procedures set in place by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority soon after the 2007 grounding of the ship Pasha Bulker on a popular tourist beach.

Port officials claim that regular checks were conducted on the ship on and its morning lines checked Saturday night. The pilot, an employee of the phosphate mine, checked the ship at 8pm, the local harbor master followed up with a visual inspection at 9pm and the boss of the island’s stevedoring company at midnight. But, in the early hours of Sunday morning concern grew along with a surrounding swell.

At 6:18 the ship’s captain called shore asking to be moved but was told it was too rough to send barges. The navy soon responded with inflatable boats to work the mooring lines but, by the time they arrived, a line parted leaving the ship to scrape the harbour cliffs.

INCIDENT UPDATE:

The following is the latest official update from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority:

• Two pollution response experts and one salvage expert arrived at Christmas Island yesterday, 10 January 2012.
• There are now two salvage and three pollution response experts on-site, as part of the National Plan response.
• Shoreline cleanup commenced yesterday and continues today. There are around 80 registered volunteers working in shifts under the direction of the pollution response experts.
• In addition, there are 11 environmental staff on the island from Parks Australia. They are standing by to support the wildlife rescue team, particularly for any seabird rescue, and to assist island volunteer teams.
• Park staff report that many thousands of young red crabs are emerging from the sea at Flying Fish Cove today, in greater numbers than yesterday.
• Discussions are continuing between government officials and representatives of the ship’s owner and insurer regarding removal of the wreck.
• Sea swells around the island remain moderate.
• The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation team arrived on the island yesterday to begin the on-site investigation.
• The team comprises a Master Mariner and an experienced marine Chief Engineer.
• The team spent yesterday afternoon talking to relevant people including the Harbour Master and the harbour pilot and interviewed the ship’s master, first mate and chief engineer.
• The ATSB preliminary investigation report, presenting factual information about the incident and the investigation, will be available within 30 days.
• An AMSA official has commenced an investigation into whether there were breaches in navigation law.

HMAS Parramatta FFH 154

(Australian Navy) HMAS Parramatta has provided essential life saving assistance to an Iranian flagged vessel in distress on Christmas Eve. Parramatta is on patrol in the Gulf of Aden conducting the Australian Operation Slipper rotation 27 under tasking to Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150).

On 23 December, HMAS Parramatta received the call from a vessel 400 nautical miles off the Eastern coast of Yemen that was stopped in the water and indicating distress. Parramatta immediately increased speed and sailed to the vessel’s aid over the next 24 hours. After the ship’s helicopter and coalition aircraft located the vessel on the morning of 24 December, Parramatta closed in to assess the situation.

“The vessel’s crew were waving to the helicopter and to us and had an orange flag flying at the front of the vessel,” said Commander of HMAS Parramatta, Guy Blackburn.

“These are all recognised international signals of distress and we immediately knew that something must be wrong”.

“The vessel’s Master waved at us and asked us to come onboard to help them. It is a time honoured mariner’s tradition to help those in need on the sea,” Commander Blackburn said.

After receiving assistance from HMAS Parramatta, the vessel was able to make its own way into port. Parramatta transferred more than 700 litres of fuel, life saving water and food to the vessel and its crew, making it safe to proceed to the nearest port.

HMAS Parramatta is deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) as part of Operation Slipper, Australia’s military contribution to the international campaign against terrorism, maritime security in the MEAO and countering piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

HMAS Parramatta was participating in routine duties with CTF 150, one of three task forces operated by the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). CMF is responsible for maritime security operations in the Gulf region, the maritime environment around the Horn of Africa, and counter piracy/terrorism operations in the Gulf of Aden. HMAS Parramatta and her crew of more than 190 personnel remain on patrol and on watch over the Christmas period having been deployed from their homeport since 26 September 2011.

A few details about HMAS Parramatta…

HMAS Parramatta is the fifth of eight Anzac class frigates built for the Royal Australian Navy by Tenix Marine Systems, Williamstown, Victoria.

Parramatta is a long–range frigate capable of air defense, surface and undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. Parramatta is fitted with an advanced package of air and surface surveillance radars, omni-directional hull mounted sonar and electronic support systems which interface with the state-of-the-art 9LV453 Mk3 combat data system. The ship can counter simultaneous threats from aircraft, surface vessels and submarines.

Read more here…

By Enda Curran, Wall Street Journal

SYDNEY—Australia will introduce major tax breaks for shipping companies and a new international register for the 200 billion Australian dollar (US$213 billion) industry, the world’s fourth-largest shipping market by volume.

Some 10% of the global sea trade is managed in Australian ports, employing more than 14,000 people. But although 99% of the Pacific nation’s trade is sea-borne only a tiny fraction is carried in Australian flagged vessels.

At the core of the shipping plans are tax breaks for companies and employees, an Australian international shipping register, a new licensing regime and steps to boost skills development, all set to be implemented from July 2012.

Currently 22 Australian-registered major trading ships operate in the country’s waters, down from 55 in 1995. Just four of these vessels, gas tankers, are dedicated to international trade.

“If we do not act now the Australian shipping industry will be lost forever,” said Anthony Albanese, infrastructure minister in a keynote speech here, citing national security, the economy and environment as key themes behind the reforms.

In the tax changes, Australian resident companies with locally registered vessels won’t pay company tax, qualifying income from shipping and royalty withholding tax will be exempted. In an effort to speed up renewals of an ageing fleet the depreciation rate will be cut to 10 years from 20 years. Roll over relief will also be offered and tax offsets will be available to Australian employers of resident seafarers who work in international trade.

But to qualify for the tax breaks, vessels must be Australian flagged and meet other conditions, including staying in the regime for at last 10 years.

A new International Shipping register will be established to attract companies to boost the number of ships carrying the Australian flag and a range of changes will be made to the existing licensing rules on access to the coast.

Other measures include boosting the skills of sea hands and a new deal between employers and unions.

“We think it’s a pretty good package,” said Llew Russell, chief executive officer of Shipping Australia, a representative body for Australian and international shippers. Unions also backed the proposals. Paddy Crumlin, national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia said the measures will boost Australian based shippers competing offshore.

Have you ever dreamed of owning a Kanimbla class Landing Platform Amphibious ship?  Well today, Australian Minister of Defence, Jason Clare, announced the the Australian Defence Force is about to hold the biggest sale of military equipment since WWII in order to raise enough cash to replace or upgrade up to 85 per cent of its equipment.  Over the next ten years, the Australian Defence Force will sell or otherwise dispose of military aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles and up to 24 ships, among other assets.

Mr. Clare hopes the fire sale will “reduce costs, generate potential revenue and provide opportunities for Defence industry involvement”, and provide an opportunity for the Defence to generate revenue to be re-invested in new military equipment for 2030.

The first part of the sale includes offering 24 Navy ships, including the HMAS Manoora, Adelaide Class frigates and Mine Hunters to private companies or investors in bulk, or as a single ship.   To be considered a qualified buyer, the Australian Defence Force requests a “Request for Proposal” by certain Fall deadlines.  So act now and make that dream come true!

More about the sale can be found HERE.

Today, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS) announced plans for the construction of the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project, the world’s first FLNG facility.  Shell plans to moor the Prelude FLNG some 200 kilometers off the Australian Coast at the Prelude gas field for 25 years, where it is expected to produce the equivalent of 110,000 BOE per day.  Once completed, the Prelude FLNG facility will not only be the world’s first FLNG facility, but will also hold the title of the world’s largest floating object ever constructed.

Just how massive is it?

Fom bow to stern, the Prelude FLNG measures 488 meters long (that’s more than 1,600 feet) and 74m wide  That’s longer than 4 football fields laid end-to-end, including end zones.  That dwarfs the massive Emma Maersk by 300 ft and even the late Knock Nevis supertanker by nearly 100 ft.

When fully equipped and loaded, the Prelude FLNG will weigh around 600,000 tons – that’s roughly six times as much as the largest aircraft carrier.  It will be constructed with 260,000 tons of solid steel – that’s more than three times more steel than the Golden Gate Bridge.  Its tanks can hold the equivalent of 175 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In addition to its impressive size, the Prelude FLNG facility will be strong – able to withstand Category 5 cyclones the area is known for.

Another breakthrough with Prelude FLNG facility is that ocean-going LNG carriers can offload liquefied gas, chilled to minus 162 Celsius and shrunk in volume by 600 times, directly from the offshore facility – something hundreds of engineers spending a cumulative 1.6 million hours to figure out. Until now, the liquefaction of offshore gas has always involved piping the gas to a land-based plant.

The Prelude’s unique design was developed in partnership with Technip and will be constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

More information on the Prelude FLNG can be found at Shell.com.

All images courtesy Shell

Operated by Hurtigruten, the Finnmarken is a Norwegian owned cruise vessel, whose on board residents are mainly dredging crew. The vessel is moored near to Barrow Island which is the site of the Gorgon Project’s gas plant construction. The key advantage of accommodating the workers offshore is that it reduces the environmental impact of the project by removing the need to accommodate these workers on Barrow Island itself, which is a ‘Class A’ nature reserve.

“Wilhelmsen Ships Service is providing a wide range of capabilities across all of our business streams,” explains Nicholas Berry, Account Manager for Wilhelmsen Ships Service in Australia. “Supporting the Finnmarken is the most significant ongoing work we’ve had on the project to date.”

The scope of work handled for Hurtigruten by the company includes making advance arrangements for berthing, unberthing and arranging timely booking of port services to optimise berthing and sailing windows. Wilhelmsen Ships Service also appoints linesmen and any other port services as required, assists with Customs, quarantine and security requirements, and arranges and liaises with surveyors as required by the customer, including P&I surveys.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service additionally books stevedore labourers and liaises with stevedores during discharge operations, and ensures payment of port disbursements and arranges rental of equipment required by Hurtigruten from third party suppliers. The company obtains and arranges safe dispatch of stores and supplies, effects repairs and engages third party contractors. It also arranges delivery of cash to the Master when required and sees to crew change assistance for the Hurtigruten crew and ensures a smooth delivery of spare parts on board, including its clearance and transportation. Coordination of bunkering operations is also handled by Wilhelmsen Ships Service.

The Gorgon Project is developing the Greater Gorgon Area gas fields, located about 130 kilometres off the north-west coast of Western Australia. It includes the construction of a 15 million tonne per annum LNG plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant with the capacity to provide 300 terajoules per day to supply gas to Western Australia. Gorgon LNG will be offloaded via a four kilometre long loading jetty for transport to international markets. The domestic gas will be piped to the Western Australian mainland.

Photo: MS Finnmarken courtesy Cruise Norway