Hercules Offshore files for voluntary bankruptcy

Hercules Offshore files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to navigate weak crude oil market.Hercules said its net operating days in the United States declined by more than half year-on-year and the average day rate to lease a rig declined from $108,237 during second quarter 2014 to $92,538.

[July 27 2013 Hercules 265: fire out - natural gas leak, then fire]

The natural gas well blowout and fire earlier in the week that spread to a jackup, causing part it to collapse, has gone out. The chain of events began July 23 when Walter Oil & Gas’ A-3 natural gas well in South Timbalier 220, off the coast of Louisiana, suffered a gas leak, resulting in a blowout. That brought about the safe evacuation of 44 rig workers, James Noe, a vice-president with Hercules Offshore, owner of the rig, told Rigzone. The gas that continued to leak from the well ignited around 10:50 p.m. local time Tuesday and the fire spread to the rig, the Hercules 265 (250’ MC) jackup. Several hours later, the rig derrick collapsed and continued to burn, and Walter Oil & Gas began officials thought about drilling a relief well. Before the well owner had to make that decision, the natural flow of sand and sediment into the well bore plugged the well in a process known as “bridging over”. With the flow of natural gas cut off, the well fire soon burned out, and the fire on the rig was contained to the portion of the rig that had collapsed. That fire has since burned itself out, as well.  A portion of the Hercules 265 (250’ MC) jackup has collapsed after catching fire .

“Two firefighting vessels were in the area and re-located a safe distance from the fire. A third vessel equipped with fire-fighting capability and improved monitoring system is enroute and expected to arrive late morning. The 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Pomano is standing by to assess the situation and enforce the security zone. The Coast Guard Cutter Cypress is enroute and will arrive at approximately noon,” the BSEE said in a press statement.There was no fire as of evening at the site, about 55 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but natural gas was spewing from the Hercules 265 drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. No injuries were reported in the midmorning blowout.   The fire started around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday evening, when natural gas leaking from the A-3 natural gas well at South Timbalier Block 220 ignited off the coast of Louisiana. The fire then spread to the Hercules jackup.   Hercules 265 is a 250′ mat-supported cantilevered jackup unit.

Oscar-II cruise missile Russian sub 949 Antei fire out

 Firefighters have put out a blaze on a nuclear submarine,  the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation which runs the Zvyozdochka shipyard said

smoke rising above a dock at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in the north Russian city of Severodvinsk, April 7, 2015

07 Apr 2015  A Russian nuclear submarine has caught fire in a shipyard in Russia's northern province of Arkhangelsk,    The Emergencies Ministry declined comment on the reports of the fire at the Zvyozdochka shipyard, where the agencies said the 500-metre-long 949 Antei submarine was being repaired. There was no word of any casualties.   A source told TASS news agency the submarine's nuclear reactor had been shut down prior to the blaze.   "The active zone of the reactor was unloaded at the start of repairs a few years ago," the source said.   The news agency reports said the fire had started during welding, causing insulation materials to catch fire.

A similar blaze in 2011 nearly led to a nuclear disaster as a blaze engulfed a nuclear-powered submarine carrying atomic weapons, a leading Russian magazine reported months after the blaze, contradicting official assurances that it was not armed.

Project 949 (Granit) and Project 949A (Antey) are Soviet Navy/Russian Navy cruise missile submarines (NATO reporting names: Oscar-I and Oscar-II respectively).  In the late 1990s it completed several new submarines of the third generation Oscar II     Two Oscar II submarines are active with the Northern Fleet and five with the Pacific Fleet.

THE KURSK DISASTER

On 12 August 2000, the Oscar II nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, Kursk (K 141), sank in the Barents Sea, with the loss of all 118 crew. 

[September 13 2013 Oscar-II cruise missile Russian sub Tomsk fire out ]

 Fire started during welding on the Oscar-II cruise missile nuclear submarine Tomsk being repaired at the Zvezda shipyard near Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan.    Only the Typhoon-class Soviet/Russian submarines, the American Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and the Russian Borei-class submarines are larger.   The missiles the submarines normally carries had been removed in 2009 before the repairs began, and the atomic reactors that power it had been shut off and that there was no radiation leak.

It normally carries 24 × P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) cruise missiles with 750 kilograms (1,700 lb) HE or 500 kt nuclear warheads, plus ther armament.

INS Sindhurakshak: snorkel sub has caught fire and sunk

INS Sindhurakshak has caught fire and sunk with about 18 crew on board after an explosion at a port in Mumbai.    Latest emerging visuals are indicating that multiple blasts could have taken place outside 

- India relies on its submarines to conduct a second strike on the enemy in a nuclear war scenario, the navy said in a maritime military strategy report released in 2007.   This sub is equipped with Russian Club-S cruise missile systems.

The 16-year-old Russian-made submarine,had recently returned from Russia after undergoing an overhaul and upgrade.

India has 14 diesel-powered submarines.   Sindhurakshak was constructed in Admiralty Shipyard, St. Petersburg. Construction of the submarine began in 1995. It was launched in June 1997 and delivered in December 1997.


Class & type: Sindhughosh-class submarine
Displacement: 2325 tons surfaced
3076 tons dived
Length: 72.6 m (238 ft)
Beam: 9.9 m (32 ft)
Draught: 6.6 m (22 ft)
Propulsion: 2 x 3650 hp diesel-electric motors
1 x 5900 hp motor
2 x 204 hp auxiliary motors
1 x 130 hp economic speed motor
Speed: Surfaced: 10 knots (19 km/h)
Snorkel Mode: 9 knots (17 km/h)
Submerged: 17 knots (31 km/h)
Range: Snorting: 6,000 mi (9,700 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h)
Submerged: 400 miles (640 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h)
Endurance: Up to 45 days with a crew of 52
Test depth: Operational Depth: 240 m (790 ft)
Maximum Depth: 300 m (980 ft)
Complement: 68 (incl. 07 Officers)[1]
Armament: 9M36 Strela-3 (SA-N-8) surface-to-air missile
3M-54 Klub-S anti-ship and land-attack missiles
Type 53-65 passive wake homing torpedo
TEST 71/76 anti-submarine active-passive homing torpedo
24 DM-1 mines in lieu of torpedo tube

West Delta 32: shallow water rig fire

 West Delta 32 platform went up in flames, with reports that two are dead, four have been airlifted out, and two are missing.

Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, LLC engages in the acquisition, exploitation and development of oil and natural gas properties. The company has producing assets located offshore in U.S. federal waters, and Louisiana and Texas state waters in the Gulf of Mexico. As of December 31, 2011, it held an aggregate net interest in approximately 293,400 net acres under lease, as well as had an interest in 1,222 gross wells. The company also had estimated total proved oil, natural gas, and NGL reserves of 45.2 MMBoe; and estimated net proved oil, natural gas, and NGL undeveloped reserves of 19.5 MMBoe. Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, LLC sells its natural gas and oil to marketing companies...

Stolt Valor: Fire - cargo was Ether

March 27 - The chemical tanker  was carrying methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).   The involvement of MTBE will ring alarm bells as it is the same cargo that exploded on the Bow Mariner in 2004, but the Valor is a larger size of chemical tanker.

LONDON, March 21, 2012 - Stolt Tankers B.V., a subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen Limited (Oslo Børs: SNI) and owner and operator of MT Stolt Valor, reported today that the fire on the ship has been contained.  One crew member is still missing.

The ship is under tow approximately 45 miles off the coast of Qatar. 
[March 16]The tanker Stolt Valor, which was carrying 13,000 metric tons of a substance called “volatile” and “flammable” on the Environmental Protection Agency website, issued a distress call about 2 a.m. local time. The tanker was 48 nautical miles southeast of Farsi Island, The Stolt Valor spent two months anchored off Somalia after being hijack by pirates in September 2008 before later being released. Guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53),  rescued Filipino mariners when their ship, the Hong Kong-flagged motor vessel (MV) Stolt Valor, caught fire in the Arabian Gulf... The 24 rescued Filipino mariners were in good health and did not require medical assistance.  John Paul Jones is assigned to Combined Maritime Forces' Commander, Task Force 152, conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Gulf. 




9274290 STOLT VALOR VRZP5 Chemical/Oil Tanker 25269 2004


Stolt Fleet website: M/T Stolt Valor 2004    25,269 T/C by Stolt Tankers Hong Kong


Owner: Stolt Nielsens Rederi
Haugesund, Norway
Manager: Stolt Tankers
Rotterdam, Netherlands


Q88 - INTERTANKO Standard Tanker Questionnaire (Ver. 3)
Vessel's name: Stolt Valor Last updated: Mar 01, 2012
Ex-name(s): Not Applicable IMO number: 9274290
Flag: Liberia Call sign: D5AF4
Port of Registry: Monrovia Summer DWT: 25269 MT
Type of vessel: Chemical Built: Feb 13, 2004
Type of hull: Double Hull Owner: STOLT VALOR B.V.
Class Society: Nippon Kaiji Kyokai Operator: Stolt Tankers BV

Ekaterinburg:-k-84 Vitko confirms missiles aboard

 Fire in Murmansk on nuclear submarine: Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Aleksander Vitko, has confirmed  that the submarine was brought into dock outside Murmansk without first having the weapons removed.  Sparks from welding were reported to have set fire to wooden scaffolding which spread to the rubber acoustic coating on the submarine’s hull. If any of the torpedoes had exploded, it is likely that they could have set off the fuel in the ballistic missiles or damaged the nuclear reactors.

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Ekaterinburg-K-84: A-warhead R-29 missiles aboard

The respected Vlast weekly magazine quoted several sources in the Russian navy as saying that throughout the fire on 29 December the submarine was carrying 16 R-29 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each armed with four nuclear warheads.

"Russia, for a day, was on the brink of the biggest catastrophe since the time of Chernobyl," Vlast reported. The 1986 disaster in modern-day Ukraine is regarded as the world's worst nuclear accident. back
R-29 Vysota[1] is a family of Russian submarine-launched ballistic missiles, designed by State Rocket Center Makayev. Development of the R-29 SLBMs started in the 1963 and was first launched in 1969[citation needed]. It uses the storable Liquid rocket propellants N2O4/UDMH. Over time different versions have developed listed below. The R-29 is in use with Russian Navy on Delta I, Delta II, Delta III and Delta IV class submarine.
The R-29 can be equipped with nuclear warheads, The R-29 is a two-stage missile storable liquid-propellant, without an interstage section, carrying a single warhead.
The missile had an aluminium magnesium alloy body with integrated fuel tanks. The first stage sustainer and the second stage propulsion system are located inside the fuel tanks, thus reducing the external dimensions of the missile.
The conical blunt shaped re-entry vehicle was also located in the second stage fuel tank, oriented opposite to the flight direction.
The guidance section is located in the conical area of the compartment where the warhead is usually placed.
The propulsion systems of both stages consists of a single-chamber main rocket engine, and dual-chamber control engines with moveable chambers.
The R-29 was the first Soviet SLBM to use a digital computer and an azimuthal stellar monitoring system for improved high accuracy and in-flight course correction.
With a launching weight of 33.3 tons the R-29 missile was capable of delivering a 1,100 kg reentry vehicle to a maximum range of 7800 km, three times greater than the R-27 missile. Thus its patrolling zones were substantially enlarged. According to Western estimates in the 1970s, the SS-N-8 was capable of delivering a 1400-lb reentry vehicle with a 0.6-1.5 MT warhead a distance of 4200 nm with a CEP of approximately 0.5 nm.
The R-29 was equipped with ballistic missile defense countermeasures. Decoys were carried in a cylindrical container in the fuel tank of the second stage, and released during nose cone separation.

Pacific Express: aflame, rescued from pirates

The Cypriot 1981-built merchant ship "Pacific Express", was allegedly target of a kidnapping effort by armed pirates.
This morning the destroyer "Andrea Doria", engaged in the Indian Ocean as part of NATO's anti-piracy operation called "Ocean Shield", has intervened to give support.
IMO: 8009454
Flag: Cyprus
MMSI: 212834000
Callsign: P3KX8
Former name(s):
- Delmas Charcot (Until 2001 Dec 22)
- Pacific Express (Until 2000 Dec 10)
- Pacific Wind (Until 1999 Jun 17)
- Pacific Maru (Until 1996 Jun 21)

Owner: Cyprus Maritime Co. Limited
Athens, Greece
Manager: Cyprus Maritime
Athens, Greece

The Cypriot merchant ship "Pacific Express", was target of a kidnapping effort by armed pirates.
This morning the destroyer "Andrea Doria", engaged in the Indian Ocean as part of NATO's anti-piracy operation called "Ocean Shield", has intervened to give support.
The attack, thwarted by the prompt reaction of the crew which closed itself in the citadel (the protected part of the superstructure), lasted almost all night and also caused a fire on board. Upon its arrival in the area, about 200 miles east of Mombasa, the ship "Doria" approached the merchant, verified the absence of pirates on board, allegedly fled with the view of the military unit, and sent a team of security to free the crew.

Afterwards the commander of the "Pacific Express", given the severity of the fire, said the ship is lost and asked for help to our unity. The destroyer "Andrea Doria" has shipped the entire crew of the merchant ship (Ukrainian commander and 25 Philippine sailors) and headed to Mombasa where they have requested to be landed.

The ship "Andrea Doria", the Control Ship of the NATO's mission Standing NATO Maritime Group 1's , under the command of rear admiral Gualtiero Mattesi, has been engaged since last June 14 in the Indian Ocean as part of NATO's "Ocean Shield" operation to counter piracy.

Orna: living quarters were destroyed. by fire

Hijacked geared bulker ORNA, IMO: 8312162, cargo and the ship's engines were not damaged by the fire.
The crew sent to another seized vessel nearby. back