Deepwater Horizon: ecosystem could take decades to recover

The Deepwater Horizon disaster could have a lasting impact on the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new paper suggesting that the region’s deep-sea soft-sediment ecosystem could take decades to recover from the 2010 oil spill.

The authors claim  provides comprehensive results on the spill’s effect on deep-water communities at the base of the Gulf’s food chain for the first time.

The spill resulted from an explosion on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that occurred on April 20, 2010, and resulted in a total of 4.9 million barrels (205.8 million gallons) of crude in what went on to become the largest offshore oil spill in US history.

BP’s internal records for the Macondo project conflicted with numbers sent to drilling regulators and established a pattern of “consistent misreporting” of well pressures, Alan Huffman, a Houston-based petroleum geophysicist, testified for the U.S. government in a trial over claims tied to the 2010 Gulf spill. The fudged numbers allowed BP to continue drilling for oil, he said.

The oil company created “a very misleading impression” about the well’s safety conditions and engaged in drilling operations that “I’ve never seen an operator do,” Huffman told a judge February 27 in New Orleans.

After hearing evidence in the trial, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans will decide who is liable for damages tied to the largest offshore spill in U.S. history and whether BP, Transocean Ltd. (RIG) or other companies that worked on the project were grossly negligent in their handling of the rig and well. His ruling in the nonjury trial on that issue will affect how much each company may have to pay.

[January 14]

Agreement Reached with U.S. Department of Justice on Deepwater Horizon Claims
ZUG, SWITZERLAND-Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) (SIX: RIGN) today announced that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve certain outstanding civil and potential criminal claims against the company arising from the April 20, 2010, accident involving the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.

As part of this resolution, a Transocean subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for negligent discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and pay $1.4 billion in fines, recoveries and penalties, excluding interest.  This resolution will result in the Department of Justice concluding its criminal investigation of Transocean and settling its claims for civil penalties against the company relating to the spill from BP's Macondo well.  The company intends to satisfy its payment obligations over a period of five years, using cash on hand and cash flow from operations.  At September 30, 2012, Transocean had accrued an estimated loss contingency of $1.5 billion associated with claims made by the Department of Justice.

more
[June 15 2010]
IMO number: 8764597
The DEEPWATER HORIZON was a Reading & Bates Falcon RBS8D design semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating in harsh environments and water depths up to 8,000 ft (upgradeable to 10,000 ft) using 18¾in 15,000 psi BOP and 21in OD marine riser. here

Marshall Islands Registry in the hot seat: "The Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico was built in South Korea. It was operated by a Swiss company under contract to a British oil firm. Primary responsibility for safety and other inspections rested not with the U.S. government but with the Republic of the Marshall Islands — a tiny, impoverished nation in the Pacific Ocean." full story
Guardian

BP’s single largest shareholder is the sprawling asset management firm BlackRock, based in New York City, which owned the equivalent of more than one billion shares of BP stock just two weeks before the Deepwater Horizon blowout, according to the financial analysis firm Capital IQ. (Bank of America owns a 34.1 percent stake in BlackRock.)

The second-largest American owner, and third largest over all, is State Street Global Advisors, based in Boston, with 307 million shares. After them are the mutual fund firm Capital Research and Management Company of Los Angeles, with 247 million shares, and the Vanguard Group, based in Malvern, Pa., with 140 million shares. Rounding out the top five is Franklin Resources of San Mateo, Calif., another publicly owned asset management firm, with 131 million shares.

More familiar names crop up further down the list, like Fidelity Investments, with 124 million shares; T. Rowe Price Group, with 93 million shares; and State Farm Insurance, with 79 million shares.

Then there are the banks: as of March 31, JPMorgan Chase held a respectable 76 million shares; Bank of America, 69 million shares; and Goldman Sachs, 42 million shares.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is another a major investor, with nearly 43 million shares.

here

Deepwater Horizon: BP's former chief executive head of Xstrata

 Ivan Glasenberg two years ago selected Tony Hayward to back the group’s initial public offering: the Glencore chief executive sees the former BP chief executive as one of the best in the oil industry.

. They share a lifestyle that involves near-constant travel. Both had to work hard to climb the corporate ladder..

The personal connection was evident Thursday at the maiden annual meeting of Glencore Xstrata as an enlarged company in Zug, Switzerland, with both men seeming at ease with their respective roles as chief executive and interim chairman.

Yet few expect him to stay in the job for long. Genel, his post-BP vehicle, is his primary focus these days: the company is now the largest independent crude producer in Iraqi Kurdistan.

[May 16]

John Bond, a City veteran and former chairman of Xstrata, earlier surprised investors by announcing he had been voted out of the top job at the miner and trader at its first annual shareholders' meeting, which he then asked Tony Hayward, the former chief executive of BP to lead.

Bond, who had been expected to relinquish his role once a replacement was found, gave no explanation for the vote in Zug, Switzerland, which was presumably backed by Glencore executives who still own almost 25 percent of the company.

As interim chairman, Hayward, already senior independent director, is expected to lead the nominations committee which will pick a permanent replacement. The committee had until Thursday been chaired by Bond.

A new chairman is expected to be appointed by the end of the year, a second source with knowledge of the matter said.

For Hayward, who said he felt "demonized and vilified" over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the appointment at Glencore is a return to the top at a major UK-listed resource firm.

[July 25 2010]
Tony Hayward, the embattled chief executive of BP, has agreed to step down and be replaced by Robert Dudley, the company’s most senior American executive who is now in charge of BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a person close to the company’s board.

Marida Marguerite: Economou Chemtanker free

From Flags of Convenience

Marida Marguerite was sailing to safe waters after $5.5m was paid to release the ship. The vessel's owners have not yet commented. earlier

Hellespont Trinity: Papachristidis tanker escapes

Pirates failed to board HELLESPONT TRINITY Marshall Island-flagged tanker [Hellespont Hammonia GmbH & Co. KG ]in one skiff when it increased speed and zigzagged in the Indian Ocean, approximately 220 nautical miles West of Angria Bank, India.


Ship Name: HELLESPONT TRINITY
IMO: 9118458
MMSI: 538090184
Callsign: V7IO3
Flag: Marshall Islands

Category: Tanker
Beam: 46
Length: 270
Draught: 15.1

Istanbul 22.8.2005
IMO No: 9118458
ex Marina M.
built by Samsung Shipbuilding H.I.South Korea.1996

Ownership And Operation
1.20 Registered Owner (Name) MS "Hellespont Trinity"
Gmbh &
Office telephone number VIA OPERATORS
Full address Bleichenbrocke
10,20354 Hamburg,
Germany
Office telex number VIA OPERATORS
Office fax number VIA OPERATORS
Office Email address VIA OPERATORS
Contact person VIA OPERATORS
Contact person after hours tel. no. VIA OPERATORS
Number of years ship owned 2 Years
1.22 Technical Operator (Name) HELLESPONT
HAMMONIA GmbH &
CO. KG
Office telephone number +49 40 27 86 21 31
Full Address 370 Elbchaussee, 22609
Hamburg, Germany
Office telex number
Office fax number +49 40 27 86 21 30
Office Email address managers@hellesponth
ammonia.de
Contact (Designated Person Ashore) Capt. Danezis Pavlos
Contact person after hours tel. no. +30 6944 849559
Emergency callout number +30 6946 503631 Contact details for person responsible for
oil spill response
Capt. Danezis Pavlos
Emergency callout pager number
No. years controlled by technical operator 2 Years
No. of ships operated by this Operator 9
1.25 Commercial Operator (Name) Hellespont Hammonia
GmbH & Co. KG
Office telephone number +49 40 27 86 21 31
Full Address Elbchaussee 370
Hamburg 22609
GERMANY

Samho Dream: vessel at large

On September 14 morning, hijacked MV Samho Dream departed from Somalia
with pirates on board ... the tanker was sighted heading east and 80 nautical
miles from Somali coast. On Sep 5, 2010, new demands of the pirates holding the "Samho Dream" were issued, but rejected by the owners. There are two warships keeping a watch close by, staging mock attacks and caused tension on board, which made the pirates to issue a statement that they would blow up the oil-tanker if the harassment would not stop and no ransom would be paid soon. Though negotiations with the owners are ongoing no conclusion has been reached. The vessel was moved from Hobyo, where she was held since her capture until the advancement of Al-Shabaab spearheaded Hizb-ul-Islam groups, to Garacad, but was returned to Hobyo. The 24-member crew with five Koreans and 19 Filipinos is said to be living in sub-human conditions. The abuses are getting worse as the pirates deprive them of sleep and food and threaten to kill them one by one if a ransom is not paid. The captain expressed frustration towards the Samho Shipping Company's silence over the pirates' latest demands. A Samho Shipping official said that the $20 million demanded by the
pirates is too high.

M.Star: U.S. officials are watching the situation closely

Mitsui releases photos of explosion damage

“We have no information the tanker was attacked,” said State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley... The U.S. will continue to monitor developments, Crowley said. An explosion, which “may have been caused by an external attack,” occurred at 5:30 a.m. Tokyo time, injuring one of the crew, Mitsui said in a statement. The vessel, M. Star, was on its way to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to assess the damage and no oil is leaking, earlier

M.Star: VLCC missile attack in strait of Hormuz?

Vessel's name: M. Star Last updated: Mar 17, 2010
Ex-name(s): Not Applicable IMO number: 9515436
Flag: Marshall Island Call sign: V7QT7
Port of Registry: Majuro Summer DWT: 299994 MT
Type of vessel: Oil Tanker Built: Dec 04, 2008
Type of hull: Double Hull Owner: Probe Shipping S.A. (Panama)
Class Society: Nippon Kaiji Kyokai Operator: MOL Tankship Management (Asia) Pte Ltd

An explosion hit a Japanese oil tanker in the early hours of Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran and Oman, and the crew attributed the blast to an attack. A crew member suffered minor injuries and the ship was heading to port to assess the damage, the company said. The impact to the spot Asian crude market was seen as minimal. The ship, the "M. STAR", was loaded with 270,204 tonnes when the incident occurred in waters off Oman, Mitsui O.S.K. said. It said the ship had been bound for Chiba port near Tokyo.
The explosion occurred at around 00:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday (2030 GMT Tuesday), the transport ministry in Tokyo said. The ministry said there had been no reports of piracy in the area.
There was no leakage of oil from the tanker, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) with 16 Filipino and 15 Indian crew members on board. It was sailing under its own power towards Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates to check the damage, a spokeswoman for Japan's second-biggest shipper said.
Around 17 million barrels per day of oil flow via the Strait of Hormuz, and Middle East crude accounts for 90 percent of Japan's total imports. The location of the explosion near a lifeboat at the rear starboard side of the ship suggested the blast was unlikely to have been caused by oil on the tanker, Mitsui O.S.K. was quoted as saying by the ministry.
"In addition, a crew member saw light on the horizon just before the explosion, so (Mitsui O.S.K.) believes there is a possibility it was caused by an outside attack," the ministry said in a statement. The impact to the Asian spot crude market could be minimal because the tanker would have taken three weeks to arrive in Japan, traders said. This (event) won't stop the flow of crude, so there will be no impact on what is able to be bought," said a Tokyo-based crude trader. The tanker was carrying around 2.3 million barrels of Qatar Land and Abu Dhabi Lower Zakum crudes, industry sources said. "The impact could be limited if there's no severe damage," said a trader with a northeast Asia refiner when asked about the potential impact of the cargo's diversion on the physical crude market. "If there is a spill, that might be different story. But not a big impact," said another trader.
M.Star - IMO 9515436, flag Marshall Islands, dwt 314016, built 2008.


MOL Tankship Management Ltd. Tokyo, MOL Tankship Management Ltd. (London), and MOL Shipmanagement (Asia) Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) will take responsibility for tanker management operations. Last two overseas companies will be renamed MOL Tankship Management (Europe) Ltd. and MOL Tankship Management (Asia) Pte. Ltd., respectively, and these three companies share a common policy and strategy under the leadership of MOL Tankship Management Ltd. Tokyo.MOL Tankship,

Horizon: taking the fifth, resignation

The buck stops here.

Mercado/ Deepwater Horizon/Well site leader Bob Kaluza -- who held the position traditionally known as "company man" -- didn't show up after being listed as witnesses for Tuesday's hearing. Kaluza's lawyer said he was exercising his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Tony Hayward the chief executive of oil giant BP, the leaseholder of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded April 20, 2010 is said to be negotiating his withdrawal.

Deepwater Horizon: take good care of yourself

you belong to me...old song

MARINE SAFETY ADVISORY NO. 45-10- Excerpts



Date: 11 May 2010
1. Operators of Marshall Islands flagged MODUs, regardless of where the unit operates, should:

a. Verify that all well control equipment and procedures are in compliance with applicable coastal State requirements;
b. Review all emergency shutdown and dynamic positioning procedures that interface with emergency well control operations to ensure they are appropriate and that personnel are familiar with them;
c. Inspect lifesaving and firefighting equipment for compliance with Marshall Islands requirements;
d. Ensure that all persons on board are familiar with emergency/firefighting equipment, as well as participate in an abandon ship drill. Operators are reminded that the review of emergency equipment and drills should be conducted after each crew change;
e. Review equipment maintenance and testing procedures to ensure the unit’s emergency source of power is operating properly and is tested regularly.

Filitsa: American helicopters watched ransom

100125-N-4236E-217 RED SEA (Jan. 25, 2010) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Rampagers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 catapults off the flight deck of the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility.

The helicopters were presumed to be American, because EU NAVFOR insisted they had no vessel nearby.

The Fortress Shipping Co. Marshall Islands-flagged Filitsa was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, where it and its crew were to be checked over, then was to continue to Durban, South Africa,

Marshall Island Filitsa: TARP money to Pirates?

With helicopters, presumably from a nearby warship belonging to an international anti-piracy naval mission, circling above, a ransom of between two and three million dollars was air-dropped on February 01 onto a Marshall Island-flagged Filitsa, whose Fortress Shipping Co., beneficial owner Fortress Investment Group, is a TARP recipient. The cargo ship captured by Somali pirates in November but the vessel was not immediately freed, pirates said.

The vessel is currently anchored near the pirate lair of Hobyo.

Pirates in the region explained that the gang holding the ship received the money and went back to shore but left another crew of pirates onboard to foil any retaliatory military action against the original hijackers.

"The ransom money was received this afternoon and the pirates who were holding the ship have left it," Abdi Yare, a pirate leader, said from the nearby coastal town of Harardhere."But they have left some colleagues on board to give them time to vanish with the money," he explained.

"The ship will be free once the money is properly secured but the security of those who received the ransom should be assured by their friends, who will stay onboard until sometime in the evening,"

M/V FILITSA (Marshall Islands) 23,709 dwt Bulk Carrier

A merchant vessel reported a distress call 111737Z 9 November at position 0.35 S/062.40E (approximately 490 nautical miles northeast of Seychelles). At 110206Z, UKMTO reported that M/V FILITSA (Marshall Islands) was assessed hijacked 513 nautical miles NE of Seychelles. UKMTO contacted the owner at 110400Z who had reached the ship. All that was said was “Somali, Somali.” CTF-151 is assessing with high probability the ship has been pirated. Verbal information received from the CSO of the owners indicates the pirates are already onboard and all communication with the vessel has ceased. It is suspected the pirates are in control of the vessel. There are 22 crew members onboard.

Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier MV Delvina

The Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier MV Delvina IMO 9384796 was hijacked with seven Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board.

Vessel's Details:
Ship Type: Cargo
Year Built: 2007
Length x Breadth: 190 m X 32 m
DeadWeight: 53500 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 14.2 / 13.7 knots
Flag: Marshall Is [MH]
Call Sign: V7LN3
IMO: 9384796, MMSI: 538002772

Meadway Shipping Inc./ Medway Shipping Co S.A. is an international shipping company located in Athens, specializing in the transportation of dry bulk cargoes. Delvina Owner: Smart Shipmanagement Inc (Marshall Islands) hence Meadway Shipping and Trading Inc. (Liberia), controlled by the Delaportas and Famelos families.
Classed by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, the Delvina has P&I cover with the London Club.