14.11.10

Deepwater Horizon: normalized activity in 2011












Transocean's "customer relationships have not suffered" because of the company's involvement in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Chief Executive
Steven L. Newman said. Geneva-based Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon, which was leased to BP PLC to drill its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The uncertainty surrounding U.S. offshore drilling, particularly in deepwater, will have a "limited near-term financial impact" on Transocean, which has 12 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, Newman said. The company expects the slowdown in Gulf drilling permits to reduce fourth quarter revenue by about $200 million.

Transocean expects "normalized" activity in the Gulf by mid 2011

The story that has unfolded so far indicated the need for "top to bottom" reform of the companies according to William K. Reilly, co-chairman of the presidential commission.

12.11.10

Arctic Sea: hit man on way to U.S.?
















Colonel Shcherbakov, a branch leader of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, fled Moscow to join his daughter and son in the United States
Kommersant , one of Moscow's most respected newspapers, quoted a source saying of the double agent: "We know who he is, and where he is. He betrayed either for money, or was caught for something. And there's no doubt that a Mercader has been sent for him."

Ramon Mercader was a Spanish Communist sent by Stalin to kill his political rival, Leon Trotsky. In 1940, Mercader visited Trotsky at his house in Mexico City. He killed him with a single blow of an ice ax.

11.11.10

Hannibal II: GMT chemtanker hijacked 860 mi. out









MV HANNIBAL II, a Panamanian-flagged chemical tanker , carrying vegetable oils from Pasir Gudang to Suez was hijacked some 860 nautical miles East of The Horn of Africa, closer to India than it is to Somalia.

Ship Name: HANNIBAL II
IMO: 8011756
MMSI: 372907000
Callsign: 3ELB9
Flag: Panama

Category: Tanker
Beam: 25
Length: 172
Draught: 10.5

Hannibal II (Ex: Merit) 24,105 DWT, Chemical & Oil Carrier, Built 1983
Owners/Managers are Gabes Marine Tankers, Built at Ch. Nord et Med, Double Hull, Panama Flagged, BV Classed, Length Overall of 172.18 m., Length Between Perpendiculars of 163.00 m., Draught of 9.75 m., Beam of 24.80 m., 36.00 Tonnes per Centimetre Immersion, Gross Tonnage of 16,284, Sulzer Engine, Speed of 15.00 kts at 35.00 tonnes per day, Heavy Fuel Oil, Horsepower of 12,000B at 122, Bunker Capacity of 2,761 tonnes.

Gabes Marine Tankers Sarl

Gabes Marine Tankers Sarl (hereafter referred to as GMT) is a Tunisian private limited company


GABES MARINE TANKERS SARL as ship-manager fronts for the owner POLO NAVIGATION LTD - both of Ez Zahra, Tunisia.

Armatore Polo navigation Ltd -Ez Zahra Tunisia
Ship manager GABES MARINE TANKERS

10.11.10

Arctic Sea: 'German' patsy indicted





A criminal case has been referred to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation for approval of the indictment. Earlier, the Moscow City Court has convicted two members of the capture cargo ship "Arctic Sea": Savins sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, Lunev - 5 years imprisonment. Sergey Demchenko, accused of committing a crime under part 3. 227 УК РФ (пиратство). 227 of the Criminal Code (piracy). Demchenko was one of the participants in an organized criminal group, has a grip on the night of 24 to 25 July, 2009 vessel Arctic Sea with the Russian crew. During the criminal investigation Demchenko fully admitted his guilt in the crime, with a pre-trial agreement had been concluded.

But see Dmitrijs Savins, who gets 7 years for hijacking Russian cargo ship Arctic Sea said the hijacking was planned and organized by Estonia's former spy chief, Eerik-Niiles Kross, who was Savin's business partner.

Kross denied the accusation Friday. He told an Estonian newspaper that he was being smeared by Russian authorities for his links to the Georgian government. "I think this invention is linked to the fact that I was a security adviser to the Georgian government -- and Georgia is far from being Russia's best friend," he said.

Kross said he knew Savins, who he said had provided office space. "I know his face, as we sat in the same office," said Kross, who was the director of Estonian intelligence for 10 years, according to the Interfax news service.

Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliament's committee for European affairs, called the accusation against Kross a "disinformation campaign" being waged by Russia against the Baltic country, which has had strained relations with Moscow since its independence from the Soviet Union.

Savins's testimony is unlikely to dampen speculation that the Arctic Sea affair was more than a case of ransoming the ship. The Russian government issued contradictory statements about the hijacking from the beginning and kept the affair top secret, even to the extent of ordering returning crew members not to speak about the events. The cargo was officially described as timber, but numerous theories have emerged that the ship could have been carrying weapons. Washington Post

According to the convict, two other people had been involved in arranging the crime – Sergey Demchenko from Germany and Aleksey Kertsbur from Israel. The man didn’t provide any proof of his accusations. earlier

6.11.10

Samho Dream and Golden Blessing: go 19 million






Think of the web of corporations, law firms, P&I clubs, not to mention varieties of footpads that made this happen. How many cover-me e-mails, memos, and cups of tea, etc.

Samho Dream laden with $170 million worth of oil, and Golden Blessing no doubt carried much the same.

3.11.10

Polar: now at Hobyo






The pirated Panama-flagged MV POLAR has now arrived off the coast of Somalia and is anchored in the vicinity of Hobyo. earlier

1.11.10

Hellespont Protector:Thais let pirate skiff go




With the MV Hellespont Protector increasing its speed, the suspected pirates were unable to catch the merchant vessel and aborted their attack, dropping their weapons into the water in an attempt to escape.

Within minutes, HTMS Similan's boarding team apprehended the skiff and, after taking records, the skiff was forced back to the Somali coast. A warning of suspected pirate activity was issued to fishing boats and commercial ships in the region. earlier