Monday, April 10
2000
Chiles goes
to Keppel for ultra premium jackup
Chiles Offshore LLC has ordered
a KFELS MOD V ``B'' design, cantilevered jackup drilling rig
from Keppel FELS Limited, Singapore. Total construction cost
is estimated not to exceed $110.0 million, including owner-furnished
equipment.
The KFELS MOD V ``B'' is a Keppel proprietary design modeled
on the MOD V harsh-environment jackups and will be delivered
with a leg
length between 475 ft and 545 ft.
Keppel chairman and managing director C.B.
Choo said the order marked the launch of a design intended to
ultimately replace the generation of jackups built in the 1970's.
"The MOD V platform, jacking systems and their configuration,"
he said, "incorporate modern engineering concepts that improve
productivity, enhance safety, and provide added independence
from supply lines and environmental conditions."
Chiles CEO and president William Chiles
said "our goal is to augment our position in the ultra-premium,
deep-water jackup market niche.
We believe, in the next three to five years the demand for high
productivity jackups will increase." He noted that the new
rig will embrace digital technology and state-of-the-art information
and communication systems.
The rig is being ordered through a dedicated
Chiles subsidiary will be funded by a bank loan and new equity
that will be invested by Chiles Offshore, which itself is 58.3%
owned by New York Stock Exchange-listed Seacor Smit. Inc.
CHILES recently took delivery of two ultra-premium,
deep-water jackup rigs, the Chiles Columbus and the Chiles Magellan
from Keppel's AMFELS subsidiary in Brownsville,Texas. Chiles
also, recently bare-boat chartered the Tonala from Perforadora
Central S.A. de C.V. of Mexico.
RINA says Erika cracking could have been controlled
Italian classification society RINA has issued its preliminary
technical report into the causes of the sinking of the Maltese-flag
tanker Erika during a major storm in December. The results
of the RINA internal technical investigation indicate that the
Erika was presumably lost because an initial crack in the low
part of the hull below the water line was misjudged and mishandled,
allowing it to develop until the hull broke up eighteen hours
later. The ship was not lost because of an overall hull girder
collapse but because it suffered a progressive structural failure.
RINA's report, jointly prepared with Three
Quays Marine Services and Studio Tecnico Navale Ansaldo, says
the crack may have originated from a defect or brittle fracture
in way of the bilge.The bilge is known to be one of the most
problematic areas due to the presence of the bile keel, welds
connecting the internal structures to the shell and welds of
building blocks. During the first classification survey of the
ship carried out by RINA when the ship was in Bijela, Montenegro,
in 1998, five access openings were made by the yard on the curved
shell plating in way of the bilge, in way of water ballast tank
No.2, starboard. The presence of a latent defect in that area
cannot be excluded. This might have developed to become an initial
crack. "The matter certainly deserves further consideration,"
says the RINA report.
"Many cases are known of ships whose
structures suffered cracks, but with proper handling, the situation
was kept under control," says Nicola Squassafichi, managing
director of RINA. "This crack, whatever its origin, could
hardly have led, in eighteen hours, to the deterioration of the
situation and the loss of the ship, in the absence of other contributory
factors, in particular the mishandling of the ship and insufficient
support from the shore."
Factors which are also deemed to have contributed
to the ship loss are
- the loading sequence and resulting loading
condition at departure,
- the effect of the heated cargo,
- the bad sea conditions during the last
voyages, and
- the repairs carried out during the ship's
life.
"Based on the internal investigation
concerning the activities carried out by RINA for classification
and statutory purposes, and subject to further investigations
on the origin of the crack, which might have arisen during the
repair works, RINA takes the view that it has substantially complied
with the applicable rules, guidelines and procedures," says
Squassafichi. "It is appropriate to recall that the proper
operation and maintenance of the ship is solely under the responsibility
of the shipowners or the ship managers. As specified by the rules
for ship classification, the concept of class implies that the
ship is loaded, operated and maintained in a proper manner by
competent and qualified crew and shore personnel. Shipowners
or ship managers should ensure proper control, care and maintenance
of the ship in the period between class surveys."
RINA says the events that led to the loss
of the ship and their sequence highlighted the utmost importance
of the competence and preparedness of the crew and the company
in handling emergency situations. RINA is considering this issue
in depth, with the view to proposing further improvements in
the present requirements of the ISM Code and their implementation
to the competent organizations.London Club increases tonnage
and maintains quality
RINA is calling on the EU and all shipping
organizations to campaign for the establishment of a coastal
state regime, which would identify ports of refuge and publicize
the fact that they are equipped and able to handle casualties.
Authorities in such ports should also be able to give proactive
assistance to ships in distress, particularly in situations where
the crew or owners/managers are not responding appropriately
and human lives or the marine environment are at risk.
Cruise
industry employees sentenced for Alaska pollution
U.S. District Judge James Singleton in Anchorage, Alaska, last
week sentenced three Dutch nationals, Nanne Hogendoorn, Hantje
deJong and Dirk Smeenk, for violations of the Clean Water Act.
Each was sentenced to two years unsupervised probation and a
fine of $10,000.
Hogendoorn, Holland America's director
of technical operations in Seattle, is the first shore-based
cruise industry employee ever sentenced for a criminal violation
of the Clean Water Act. DeJong and Smeenk were second engineers
aboard the ss Rotterdam, a Holland America ship that sailed in
the Alaskan Inland Passage during the summer of 1994. Each of
the defendants plead guilty on December 9, 1999, to one count
of negligently violating the Clean Water Act by discharging bilge
water containing a harmful quantity of oil into waters of the
United States.
According to the Department of Justice,
Smeenk and deJong were responsible for discharging oily bilge
water directly overboard, without treating it first by pumping
it through an oil water separator on the ss Rotterdam. At the
time, the vessel's oil water separator often did not work. Although
Hogendoorn was aware of the problems, he did not order repairs
to the system. His criminal liability is based on his failure
to correct the problem, which he knew would result in illegal
consequences.
"The Alaskan coastal waters are some
of our country's most important natural resources," said
Lois J. Schiffer Assistant Attorney General for the Environment
and Natural Resources Division. "It is inexcusable that
Holland America would benefit economically from these very waters
and pollute them at the same time."
In June of 1998, the Dutch corporation
that operated the ss Rotterdam for Holland America, HAL Beheer
BV, was sentenced on charges of felony violation of the Act to
Prevent Pollution from Ships and paid a $1 million dollar fine
and $1 million in restitution.
The investigation of the corporation and
the individuals sentenced last week began following a tip from
a vessel crew member who
refused an order to pump unprocessed oily bilge water overboard.
Federal law prohibits the dumping of this waste into coastal
waters within three miles of U.S. shoreline. Willem Spierens,
also a Dutch national, was the chief engineer aboard the Rotterdam
at the time of the violations and was also charged, but has not
appeared in the United States.
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