The "Sona" ran aground in the Volga-Caspian sea Canal on 125.3 kilometer mark on Sep 8, 2011, at 11.25 p.m., draft loss 0.65 meter. The vessel was en route from Olya (Volga river) to Enzeli (Iran), with a cargo of scrap. The canal was closed for all traffic, by morning Sep 10 some 27 vessels queued, waiting for the canal opening. At 2 p.m. on Sep 10 the vessel was refloated with the help of two tugs, and resumed its voyage. No damages, no spill reported. odin.tc

In the Bay of Biscay, the "L'Ulysse" is to replace the "Abeille Languedoc" at La Pallice. Currently the "Abeille Languedoc" has technical stop in Concarneau and after having reached Boulogne will be replaced by the "Ulysse". Last August it was decided to transfer the "Abeille Languedoc" from La Rochelle to Boulogne.

French offshore engineering giant Technip said it will acquire subsea construction and pipe laying specialists Global Industries for $1.07 billion. Technip will pay $8 cash for every outstanding share of Global, a 55 percent premium over the closing share price on Friday. The $1 billion price tag includes assumption of $136 million in debt. Global has two new s-lay vessels, the Global 1200 and Global 1201, which can lay 60-inch diameter, concrete-coated pipelines in nearly 10,000 feet of water. fuelfix.com/blog/...

Mexico's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) said that two of the workers were also found dead and one was still missing. The survivors, meanwhile, were being airlifted to a hospital in Ciudad del Carmen. The 10 workers - four liftboat crew members, three employees of the Texas-based company Geokinetics and three independent contractors - left the Trinity II platform on Sep 8 to escape bad weather caused by Tropical Storm Nate, which has since weakened to a tropical depression. The workers had boarded a liftboat and when the ship became disabled, they then boarded a life raft. Dutch report with photo: www.parool.nl/par...

The Coast Guard suspended the search Sunday at 8 p.m. for a man who fell overboard from the 936-foot Korean-flagged container vessel Mol Explorer 900 miles southeast of Kodiak Saturday. Two Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crews searched an area covering more than 1,500 square miles. The Mol Explorer and crew searched the area, but have since continued their voyage to Tokyo. "The Coast Guard suspended the search because further searching for the man will not improve the probability of success," said Lt. j. g. Eddie Michno, District 17 search and rescue controller. "Based on the information we received from the vessel the man's functional time in the water of that temperature was about eight hours. This was based on wind and water temperatures only and did not include the six-foot to 10-foot seas encountered throughout the entire search." alaska-native-new...

In the afternoon of Sep 10, 2011, around 4.40 p.m., the "Geo Caspian" consulted the Radio Medical Service after a crew member had fallen ill. It was decided to have a medical evacuation by the KNRM. The ship was about 180 km north of Vlieland, coming from Amsterdam. An SAR helicopter was sent and a medical lowered to the ship to prepare the patient for evacuation. Meanwhile, the SAR helicopter landed on an offshore platform to get refuelled there due to the total flight time and distance to the coast. Then the doctor and the patient were taken from the ship. After the return flight, the patient was landed the Naval Air Station De Kooy near Den Helder and taken to a waiting ambulance.

A contract for mooring equipment for a pipelaying barge marks Cargotec’s successful entry to the Vietnamese offshore market In July this year, Cargotec won a contract from the joint stock company Vinh Nam (VAM JSC)/TECMACH to supply mooring equipment outfits for Vietsovpetro’s 110m pipelaying crane barge, Con Son. The 1969-built vessel is currently undergoing a conversion at Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd. More to read at www.oilpubs.com/o...

On Sep 10, 2011, around 1.30 p.m. the "Noordster", sailing between Lauwersoog and Eemshaven, rescued a drowning woman from the water. The woman who had sufffered hypothermia was then transferred to the lifeboat from Schiermonnikoog and transported to the port of Lauwersoog where she was transferred to a waiting ambulance.

Seven of 10 oil workers missing in the Gulf of Mexico were found alive Sunday after three days at sea, according to Mexico's state oil company. Petroleos Mexicanos said in the statement that two bodies also were found but have yet to be identified and one worker is missing. The survivors were four Mexicans, two Americans and a worker from Bangladesh, the statement said. They were found 51 miles off the coast of the gulf state of Campeche. The employees of Houston-based Geokinetics Inc. called for help Thursday afternoon after evacuating to an enclosed life raft in the middle of Tropical Storm Nate, which disabled their vessel, a liftboat called the Trinity II. www.thetowntalk.c...

The sinking of the "Phoenix" ports.co.za/news/...