PCU, Zumwalt: turbine started,first electric-drive surface combatant

Aboard the future USS Zumwalt,  one of the main turbine units was started for the first time on September 23.   The 610-foot-long warship will be the first electric-drive surface combatant built for the U.S. Navy since a line of smaller destroyer escorts in the 1940s.

[November 25][December 21 2013 PCU Zumwalt: formal launch put off to Spring]
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the not-yet-launched Zumwalt-class destroyer he toured here today “represents the cutting edge of our naval capabilities.” The ship, now known as the Pre-Commissioning Unit, or PCU, Zumwalt, will become the USS Zumwalt, named for former Navy Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. Officials said the ship is about a year away from joining the fleet.



[October 21]
USS Zumwalt, the first entirely new ship built  by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, since the original Arleigh Burke was christened more than 20 years ago.The ship is 100 feet longer than the existing class of destroyers.

It features an unusual wave-piercing hull, electric-drive propulsion, advanced sonar and guided missiles and a gun that fires rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. Unlike warships with towering radar-and-antenna-laden superstructures, the Zumwalt will ride low to the water to minimize its radar signature, making it stealthier than other warships.

The ship was envisioned for shore bombardment, but its size and a power plant that can produce 78 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 78,000 homes — make it a potential platform for futuristic weapons such as the electromagnetic rail gun, which uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at seven times the speed of sound.

With so many computers and so much automation, it will need fewer sailors, operating with a crew of 158 — nearly half the complement aboard the current generation of destroyers.

HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 finds gas outside disputed area

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has announced its first deepwater gas field discovery in the South China Sea,. The discovery was made by HAI YANG SHI YOU 981 MO: 9480344 .

The newly discovered gas field, dubbed Lingshui 17-2, is located 150 kilometers south of Hainan — in other words, not in a disputed area of the South China Sea.





[June 23 2011 Marine Oil 981: semisub rig to Spratly Islands]



Marine Oil 981, HAI YANG SHI YOU 981, 船主, will begin testing this week for the first time in preparation for its deployment to the South China Sea in July. 48.1 miles Northeast bearing 66° from Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China
The deployment of the semi-submersible platform comes as tensions rise in the hotly contested South China Sea. Shortly after China announced the completion of the platform — which took more than three years to build and cost more than $900 million. The oil rig is 114 m long, 140 m high and weighs 31,000 t. According to China State Shipbuilding Company, the deepwater platform is capable of drilling in waters up to 3,000 m deep, and of using a drill that goes as deep as 12,000 m.
China's ambassador to the Philippines, Liu Jianchao, has insisted China's intentions were peaceful and said that China was not looking for oil in the disputed waters and, therefore, no other country should. Philippine Daily Inquirer
2009 China Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding H1188 CNOOC Hai Yang Shi You 981 ABS Semi Sub Drilling Rig IMO: 9480344



Name: HAI YANG SHI YOU 981
Ex-names: 6 FMZ AF
MMSI: 413464330
IMO: 9480344
Callsign: BYDG
Flag: China

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American Petroleum Tankers sees flood of domestic and Canadian crude

NASSCO built five product carriers for American Petroleum Tankers, including Empire State, shown here during "float out" day for the hull in September 2009.  APT was then mostly owned by the investment firm Blackstone Group.

To capitalize on a flood of domestic and Canadian crude into the U.S. Gulf Coast, logistics giant Kinder Morgan Energy Partners recently acquired U.S.-flagged tankers that can move crude and products between domestic ports as required under the Jones Act.   They acquired American Petroleum Tankers (APT) and State Class Tankers (SCT) from affiliates of The Blackstone Group and Cerberus Capital Management for an aggregate consideration of approximately $962 million in cash. APT and SCT are engaged in the marine transportation of crude oil, condensate and refined products in the U.S. domestic trade, commonly referred to as the Jones Act trade.    American Petroleum Tankers already has five medium range product tankers in operation, each with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity. In addition a new Jones Act qualified tanker is being commissioned for construction,  and State Class Tankers has ordered four other medium range tankers with expected delivery dates in 2015 and 2016 and the same cargo capacity of 330,000 barrels.   
 General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has entered into a contract with an affiliate of American Petroleum Tankers (APT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP), for the design and construction of an additional 50,000 deadweight ton LNG-conversion-ready product carrier with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity. Construction is scheduled to begin the fourth quarter of 2015, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter of 2017. This new tanker, supported by a long-term charter, will be constructed at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, meeting the Jones Act requirement that ships carrying cargo between U.S. ports be built in U.S. shipyards.
American Petroleum Tankers LLC
State Class Tankers II LLC
State Class Tankers III LLC
State Class Tankers IV LLC
State Class Tankers V LLC
State Class Tankers VI LLC
American Petroleum Tankers Holding LLC
APT New Intermediate Holdco LLC
American Petroleum Tankers Parent LLC
APT Intermediate Holdco LLC

PNS Zulfiqar: attempted hijack of Pakistani frigate stopped

PNS Zulfiqar

An attempt to hijack PNS Zulfiqar [a frigate purchased from China and inducted in July 2009] was stopped by guards.
The attack was carried out by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which said it had inside help.
 Karachi's naval dockyard is about four kilometres from the mouth of Karachi harbor.

Pakistan Navy — a 31,000-man branch of the military – has tried to keep the investigation in its sole control without sharing on the record information with civilian agencies

PNS Zulfiquar (251), is a general purpose frigate built by Pakistan and China for the Pakistan Navy (PN). They are an adaptation of the Type 053H3 frigates of China but include elements of the Type 054 frigates as well.
General characteristics
Type: Frigate
Displacement: 2,500 tonnes (standard)[1][2][3]
3,144 tonnes (full load)[4]
Length: 123.2 m (404 ft)
Beam: 13.8 m (45 ft)
Draught: 3.76 m (12.3 ft)
Propulsion:
CODAD (Combined Diesel and Diesel)
2 × Tognum MTU 12V 1163 TB 83 @ 10.5 MW
2 × MTU cruise diesels @ 6.6 MW
Speed: 29 kn (54 km/h) maximum[1][2]
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km)
Complement: 170 crew
Sensors and
processing systems:
SUR 17 air surveillance radar
SR-60 air/surface search radar
KH 2007 navigation radar
Type 347 CIWS fire-control radar
CIWS electro-optical director
Radar warning receiver suite
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
RWD-8 intercept, NJ8I-3 jammer
Decoy flare, chaff launchers
Armament:
Guns:
1 × 76.2 mm calibre AK–176M main gun
Type 730B CIWS (2 × 30 mm 7-barrel Gatling guns)
Missiles:
1 × 8-cell FM-90N SAM launcher
2 × 4-cell C-802 SSM launchers
Other:
2 × 3-cell ET-52C torpedo launchers
2 × 6-cell RDC-32 anti-submarine rockets
Aircraft carried: 1 × Harbin Z-9EC ASW helicopter
Aviation facilities: Flight deck and enclosed hangar
Notes:
Ships in class include:
PNS Zulfiquar (251)
PNS Shamsheer (252)
PNS Saif (253)
PNS Aslat (254)

[November 2 2008 Saudi-supported Islamists against pirates?


Negotiations between the pirates and the ship's Saudi owners are being conducted through an interpreter on a satellite phone using an outside company that specialises in dealing with kidnaps and ransom demands. Blackwater Maritime Security Services, a division of the firm active in Iraq, is said to be sending it's 183 ft McArthur former NOAA research vessel to the Gulf of Aden from its base in Virginia.

Armed Islamic militants were angry pirates had attacked a ship owned by Muslims. The Sirius Star is owned by a Saudi-controlled company. "The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship," an unnamed local tribal elder said. Militants have entered the port of Haradheere close to where the ship is moored . It is common for Somali pirates to booby-trap vessels they have seized raising the prospect of the Sirius Star being blown up if Islamists start a firefight with those who seized her. Meanwhile, unknown armed young men have started a fierce firefight in the capital. After the Mogadishu attack, another resident Dahir Mohamed said he had seen the bodies of 15 young men.
"They were unfamiliar faces in the our district, so we think they were the insurgents." The Islamists have not commented on the incident.