Invitation To The Offshore Europe Subsea Event

The importance of the UK's subsea industry is being recognised in a special half day forum to be held on the Friday morning (5th September 2003) of Offshore Europe 2003. It will mark the launch of Subsea UK, a new industry initiative support by DTI. Confirmed keynote speakers include Ian Ball (Shell’s worldwide subsea systems development advisor), who will be giving his views on the prospects for the subsea industry; John Westwood of DWL with forecasts for the World Subsea, Pipelines and Umbilicals markets and Chris Dudgeon of OTM Consulting on the world market for Subsea Processing. A panel session will give you the opportunity to quiz leading figures from the subsea industry. The Subsea UK event will conclude with a lunchtime reception. To sign up for
subsea industry. The Subsea UK event will conclude with a lunchtime reception.
To sign up for this free event contact subseauk@otmnet.com

New Imo Secretary-General Elected

Efthimios Mitropoulos will succeed William O’Neil as the new IMO Secretary-General at the end of this year. Mitropoulos was elected to the post by IMO’s 40-member Council, beating off competition from Iceland’s Magnus Johannesson and Monica Mbanefo of Nigeria.

A new confidential safety reporting system for employers in the maritime sector has been launched in the UK. The Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) will enable individuals to raise safety concerns within their organizations and the maritime community without being identified and will provide seafarers and related personnel access to their own dedicated reporting programme. The CHIRP Charitable Trust is funded by the UK Department of Transport and also manages the aviation confidential reporting programme that has been available to personnel in the UK aviation industry for more than 20 years. Captain Powell, CHIRP Director (Maritime), said: ‘The maritime community has been waiting for an effective confidential reporting programme capable of promoting safety and cultural change across the sector for a considerable period. The positive contribution confidential reporting has made to safety in the aviation industry, coupled with the interest and enthusiasm of the individuals and organizations I have encountered so far in the maritime sector, convinces me that CHIRP is such a programme and it will prove worth the wait.’ Kim Howells, UK Minister for Transport, said: ‘The Government is always keen to improve safety in the maritime sector. A “no blame” confidential reporting programme will ensure the focus is on incident prevention and the improvement of standards.’

The Chantiers de l’Antlantique shipyard, part of the Alstom group, looks set to build a 153 000m3 LNG carrier for the French gas utility Gaz de France (GdF). The order for the EURO290M vessel has still to be finalised, but delivery is likely to be in October 2005. An option for a second vessel is viable until February 2004. This new vessel will utilise an electric diesel-gas propulsion system that Chantiers proposed for the Gaz de France Energy, which is being built a the Saint Nazaire yard. It will feature four diesel engines which will generate electricity using natural gas and will also use the cryogenic membrane containment system developed by Gaztransport & Technigaz. Managed by GdF’s shipping subsidiary Gazocean, the ship will transport gas from Egypt as part of a contract for the purchase of 4.8billion m3 of gas per year from 2005.

North Sea Contract

Aberdeen-based Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd has been awarded a 5-year, multi-million pound contract by TotalFinaElf Exploration UK PLC for the provision of engineering, procurement, construction and ancillary services for all its Northern North Sea (NNS) and Central Graben facilities. TotalFinaElf is the first major operator in the UK to reorganize its contracting approach to place all its engineering and construction work with one major UK contractor. Wood Group Engineering (North Sea), through participation in this contract, will help TotalFinaElf reduce operating costs, enhance production and ensure the longevity of the assets, whilst maintaining the continuous safety programme. NNS includes the North Alwyn & Dunbar installations and the onshore St Fergus North Sea Gas Terminal. Central Graben includes the new Elgin and Franklin fields, considered to be one of the largest high pressure/high temperature developments undertaken in the UK. The two fields, Elgin & Franklin, each have their own wellhead platform and lie approximately 5.25km apart. Both are tied back to the Production/Utilities/Quarters Platform which sits adjacent to the Elgin wellhead platform.

Navi-Sailor ECDIS 3000 systems are to be installed aboard several vessels in the Chilean Navy fleet. The move comes after tests were performed on board a number of warships and auxiliary vessels sailing the extensive Chilean Sea areas. The region is known to present specific navigational challenges, placing strong demands on effective and professional navigation. One of the first systems to be installed will be on the Esmerelda, a training ship which recently left port on an annual training voyage with the next generation of naval trainees and midshipman. The crew will be able to run the system through its paces during their voyage through the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans towards the North and Baltic Seas. The recently DNV type-approved systems have also featured on several of the fleet’s combat units, with full integration into the bridge equipment.

Reefer Replacement Warning

A summary of the prospective orders for new ships that may be placed by reefer owners and operators between 2004 and 2012 estimates 440 new reefers will be required. The report, recently published by GP Wild, a management, marketing and economic consultancy, suggests that the reefer industry must face up to the major issue of fleet replacement. It estimates this will require investment of approximately US$11billion over the next nine years.

Best Maritime Technology Award

The Student - Science, Engineering and Technology Awards 2003 (supported by IMarEST) are Britain's most prestigious awards for science and engineering undergraduates. IMarEST judges for the Best Maritime Technology Award (run by the World Leadership Forum) will be Paul Jukes, David Gatfield and Phil Sayer. The Awards ceremony will take place later this year on Tuesday 9th September at London Guildhall. Next month we will announce the winners

Below is the current list of events organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology itself: