Africa News

Energy and marine consultancy ABL has been appointed by Eni to provide marine warranty survey services (MWS) for the offshore transportation and installation (T&I) campaign for Phase 2 of the Marine XII Congo LNG development project.Phase 2 of the project envisages the fabrication, transportation and installation of a new floating LNG vessel (FLNG), a converted floating separation, storage and booster unit (FSU), wellhead platforms and associated tie-in pipelines and ancillaries…

Severe weather conditions near the Cape of Good Hope has brought container traffic to a halt this week according to analysis by LSEG Shipping Research.Since Monday, daily transit data and vessel location data via the LSEG Workspace Interactive Map show no containerships passing the Cape of Good Hope – adding to congestion and delays exacerbated by the Red Sea crisis. The Interactive Map layer shows marine weather and waves over 10 meters high.Fabrice Maille, Global Head of Shipping & Agriculture at LSEG…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has secured contract extensions with Subsea7 for two of its subsea construction support vessels (CSVs) – Normand Subsea and Normand Energy.Subsea7 has exercised the 2025 optional charter period for the Normand Subsea.The contract is now firm until December 31, 2025, with no further options thereafter.Normand Subsea has been on contract to Subsea 7 since 2009. It is a 113-meter-long vessel, built in 2009, featuring VS 471 design.

Woodside has achieved first oil from the Sangomar field offshore Senegal, marking the safe delivery of the country’s first offshore oil project.The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 is a deepwater project including a stand-alone FPSO facility with a nameplate capacity of 100,000 barrels/day, and subsea infrastructure that is designed to allow subsequent development phases.The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 features the Léopold Sédar Senghor FPSO, named after the first president of Senegal, which is moored approximately 100 kilometers offshore Senegal.

O3S – Oil Senegal Support Services, a homegrown Senegalese operator servicing the country's fledgling offshore energy sector, has ordered a new 36-meter fast supply vessel (FSV) from Singaporean shipbuilder Penguin International. Construction on the new FSV is expected to start later this year, with delivery of the new vessel expected to take place in 2025.The new Incat Crowther-designed vessel will be capable of transporting 28 service personnel as well as 20 tonnes of cargo at speeds of up to 33.5 knots.

Norway-based Höegh LNG has made an agreement with Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) for the deployment of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Hoegh Galleon. The aim of the deployment is to support energy security in Egypt, Höegh LNG said.Hoegh Galleon will be located in Ain Sokhna in Red Sea for a likely period of 19-20 months, after which it is expected to be deployed to AIE’s LNG terminal currently under construction at Port Kembla, Australia.

JUB Pacific, a Singapore-based provider of specialized offshore liftboat services, has acquired one of the largest liftboats in Africa, said to be perfectly suited for servicing major players in the oil and gas sector within the Africa region.JUB Pacific acquired the Caracal Pioneer liftboat, which shall be renamed to JUB Pioneer, in a strategic move to extend the company’s global reach and solidify its position as one of the leading liftboat players.The unit is well-equipped to support a diverse range of offshore operations which is highly required by large oil companies in Africa…

Classification society ABS said it has granted an approval in principle (AIP) to OceanSTAR Marine & Offshore Investment Pte. Ltd., for its newbuild floating storage and offloading (FSO) design.The OceanSTAR FSO-01 is a shipshape hull design specifically developed to cater to midsize FSOs with a storage capacity to scale up to 750,000 barrels of oil for operational demands in Asia Pacific and African coastal offshore fields. Other features include a larger strengthened deck area…

The first LNG cargo from Eni's Congo LNG project is currently being loaded and will sail to Piombino’s regasification terminal in Italy in the coming days.With the first cargo, the Republic of the Congo enters the group of LNG exporting countries, opening up opportunities for economic growth while contributing to global energy balance.The Congo LNG project, sanctioned in December 2022, came on stream after just one year, in line with the initial timeline.Eni started the introduction…

Altera Infrastructure has hired DOF to install Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit as well as one floating storage unit (FSO) at Eni-operated Baleine oil field offshore Ivory Coast.The project includes the complete installation of seabed mooring systems, flowline between the FSO – a converted shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia - and the Voyageur Spirit FPSO, along with their associated equipment.The contract for the redeployment of the FPSO and the FSO was secured by Altera back in October 2023.Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO…

In January 2024, Boluda Towage commenced towage operations in the Egyptian Abu Qir’s container terminal with three tugs.Vicente Boluda Fos, President of Boluda Corporación Marítima, said, “Abu Qir is a port in full motion, and the port developments perfectly fit with the ambitions of the Boluda Towage Division. The presence in Egypt and the Middle East is a further step towards strengthening and expanding our global activities. We are proud to be part of the developments and that…

Oslo-listed offshore service company Argeo has informed that its DP2 vessel Argeo Searcher completed the deepwater inspection services at Shell’s Bonga field, and is scheduled to set sail to Indian Ocean for a job with India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).In a vessel schedule update, released on January 22, 2024, Argeo confirmed its current backlog includes close to $53 million (NOK 550 million), with a further sales and revenue potential of additional $19 million (NOK 200) million for Argeo Searcher vessel in the second half of 2024.According to the company…

Two next-generation Damen ASD Tugs 2813 have been delivered to the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority (GPHA).Commissioned during a ceremony on December 14, the newbuilds Capt. Edward A. A. Awuviri and Nestor Percy Galley—named after two former Director Generals—were built at Damen Shipyards’ dedicated tug building facility Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam.The vessels each deliver 83 tonnes bollard pull ahead and up to 77 tonnes astern, making them capable of maneuvering the range of large vessels that use the Ghanaian ports of Takoradi and Tema…

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors eyed the impact on oil supply after attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade and forced companies to reroute vessels.Brent crude futures rose 6 cents to $78.01 a barrel at 0726 GMT. The front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract , which expires on Tuesday, fell 18 cents to $72.29 a barrel. The more active second-month contract dropped 10 cents, or 0.1%…

Eni will invest $10 billion in the development of the Baleine field offshore Ivory Coast, which will take place in three phases from 2023 to 2027, Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said on Thursday.The Baleine field, where certified reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was discovered in 2021 by the Italian energy group off the east coast of the West African country.The field's crude oil production should reach 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, compared with 30,000 barrels per day in 2023, the energy minister said."With a tota

Egypt is expected to resume exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in December or January as domestic demand declines during winter and as it receives more gas from Israel, an executive at Italy's ENI said on Tuesday."Consumption in Egypt is reducing and we would expect by December, possibly January, (LNG) exports could resume," Cristian Signoretto, director for ENI's global gas and LNG portfolio, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in London.Egypt shipped…

The prospect of the EU receiving more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Egypt in the short and medium term looks unachievable due to tight gas balances and reduced imports from Israel, Oxford Institute of Energy Studies (OIES) said.Egypt shipped 80% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe last year as the continent sought to replace Russian pipeline gas after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The European Union in June last year signed a framework deal between the bloc…

The sailaway ceremony for the Tango floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit and Excalibur floating storage unit (FSU) was held Saturday to mark the vessels' sail away from Dubai to Congo, where they will serve Eni's Congo LNG project, whose first phase will start in December 2023.Tango FLNG, which has a liquefaction capacity of approximately 1 billion cubic meters per annum of gas (BCMA), will be moored 3 kilometers offshore along with the Excalibur FSU upon their arrival to Congo.EXMAR is serving as the engineering, procurement and conversion (EPC) contractor for this project, and has desi

Tanzania on Sunday signed agreements with Dubai state-owned ports operator DP World to operate part of the Dar es Salaam port for 30 years, a deal that has previously been opposed by Tanzania opposition and rights groups.Plasduce Mbossa, director general of state-owned Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) which currently manages the port, said DP World will lease and operate four of the 12 berths at the country's largest port.Dar es Salaam also serves landlocked nations in east and southern Africa like Uganda…

The Israel-Hamas war has raised the spectre of a wider regional conflict which could embroil Iran and other regional factions.Analysts and market observers say the conflict could prompt the United States to tighten sanctions on Iran, which may spur Tehran to take retaliatory action against ships in the Strait in Hormuz.The Marshall Islands registry, one of the world's top shipping flags, last week flagged that vessels with links to Israel or the United States may face a heightened threat of attack within Israeli territorial waters…

Altera Infrastructure has been awarded contracts for the redeployment of the FPSO Voyageur Spirit and the shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia for the Baleine Phase 2 project, located offshore Ivory Coast.The vessels are set for deployment on the Baleine field with a 15-year firm contract. The development of the project will be on a fast-track schedule, with a planned start-up date for Phase 2 in the fourth quarter of 2024. The vessels, Voyageur Spirit and Nordic Brasilia, are currently undergoing life extension work and field-specific modifications at Drydocks World in Dubai. Voyageur Spirit is a cylindrical-shaped FPSO, that previously operated on the Huntington field in the North Sea until 2020.

Thungela Resources, South Africa's largest shipper of thermal coal burned in power stations, said its shipments of the fuel have not been impacted by a workers' strike at the country's key coal export hub. Workers at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which is owned by coal exporters including Thungela, Exxaro Resources, Glencore, and Seriti, have been on a strike for the past three weeks. A two-week strike at South Africa's state-owned ports and rail company Transnet last year hit coal shipments…

Maersk Supply Service has secured a contract extension in Angola for its Subsea Support Vessel Maersk Involver for an additional 15 months.The Danish vessel owner said Monday that under the extended contract, the vessel and crew would support various subsea operations off the coast of Angola.