Daily Archives: July 24, 2017

If the wind is out of the east, the offshore race boats and the onshore rock and roll bands will be audible as far west as Wadhams Road.

There is very little that is quiet and unobtrusive about St. Clairs annual Riverfest, set to run Friday to Sunday in downtown St. Clair.

The event will be generating all manner of electrifying noise pollution as three dozen offshore race boats compete for trophies in the St. Clair River Classic, eight rock and roll bands crank up the riverfront over two nights and a newly expanded mini-midway full of inflatables for kids blooms along M-29, also known as North Riverside Avenue, which will be packed with food, beer, wine and souvenir vendors of all kinds.

The inflatables replace last years carnival, which did not impress organizers.

Weve had a hard time attracting carnivals, which dont want to compete with other events, said Steve Brunner, president of Blue Water Offshore Racing Association. Last year, the carnival didnt bring what it said it would bring, and what it brought was no good.

The two biggest draws of Riverfest are the free music concerts and the boat racing.

Live music

The bands play on the giant Malcolm Marine barge moored to the Palmer Park seawall near the Voyageur Restaurant.

The Kings in Pieces kicks off the concerts, playing from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Friday, followed by Los Gringos at 7 p.m., Heavens Wish at 8:30 p.m. and headliner Skid Row at 10:15 p.m., a metal band that peaked and then was overshadowed by the rise of grunge in the early 1990s.

On Saturday night, Slander get things rolling at 5:30 p.m., with Ezra at 7 p.m., local favorites The Gobies at 8:30 p.m. and headliner The Guess Who at 10:15 p.m., a band with a flurry of psychedelic and blues rock hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Admission to all sets is free.

Not everyone will attend the concerts, no matter which bands open and which classic rock acts headline.

I hate to say it, but I usually go hide, said Bob Currier, secretary and treasurer of BWORA. Im home in Marysville and in bed by 10 p.m. each night.

Currier works the on the control platform at rivers edge for the test-runs on Saturday and the races on Sunday.

All of our officials go through the same physicals and Breathalyzers as the racers, said Currier. I need to be sharp with my feet on the ground in the mornings.

Currier coordinates all the resources on the water during the races.

Offshore boat racing

The 23rd annual St. Clair River Classic offshore boat race will take place at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and, if needed, 5 p.m. Sunday.

The races are sanctioned by the Offshore Powerboat Association.

We wont know exactly what teams will be here until they roll into town, said Currier. But it looks like the boat count will be on the high side of three dozen, which would put us on the topside of counts around the county so far this year.

Race fans can look forward to many of their favorite teams again this year, such as Strictly Business and Wazzup.

After a year off, the Class 1 boat Lightning Jack will be back, said Currier. Chip Millers Team 227, out of Lake St. Clairs Miracle Mile, had some mechanical issues last year, but theyre back strong.

The old Popeyes boat has been sold and is now Bull on the Beach and should be in town as will the black Bat Boat.

There will be a good number of smaller boats in Classes 4, 5 and 6 and a half dozen in the Super Stock class, said Currier. Weve got our fingers crossed that well see Cat Can Do, which had some structural issues after Key West. Miss Geico is confirmed for St. Clair and were hoping for one or two others in the Extreme Class.

Those boats are brawlers, powered by upwards of 3,000 horsepower and capable of 160 mph on good water.

Local driver Ed Smith is unlikely to race this year.

It doesnt look like it, said Brunner.

The boat Smith drives, Cleveland Construction in the Super Cat class, has been racing the Super Boat International circuit, which had a race in Mentor, OH, outside of Cleveland, the week before St. Clair and has one in Michigan City, Indiana the week after. The boats owner is afraid of damaging the boat in an unsanctioned competition, said Brunner.

Racing before the races

There are plenty of boat-related activities leading up to race day. The police department closes off North Riverside at 6 p.m. Thursday, and set up for Riverfest begins in earnest.

The race teams arrive in St. Clair all day on Friday. Race teams and their boats will set up in the dry pits along North Riverside, known as Race Village, which opens at 4 p.m. and closes at midnight. On Saturday, Race Village and the concession stands are open from 10 a.m. to midnight.

All kinds of race-specific activities take place on Saturday, beginning with the setting of buoys marking the four-mile course in the St. Clair River at 7:30 a.m., followed by swim and dunker tests at the city pool, which crew members must pass once a season, ongoing racer registration at the plaza, a racer meeting at the fire hall, and boat inspections in Race Village. The boat ramp in the harbor opens for racers and the crane swings into action on the Pine River at 10 a.m.

BWORA volunteers for the race-side of Riverfest will number 200 to 250. Three dozen private boats will be on the river as volunteer patrol boats, keeping their eyes and ears on pleasure boats and the integrity of the four mile course. The St. Clair Fire Department will coordinate at least six medical rescue boats that will each feature a captain, crewmember, two divers and two medical people. Angel 1, the rescue helicopter, will work the sky with two rescue divers aboard. All of the resources should translate into response times of under a minute in the event of accidents on the water.

The excitement on Saturday starts when the racers test their deep-throated boats on the big river, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., thundering around the course at speeds ranging from 70-160 miles an hour depending upon the classes of the boat.

Race teams sign autograph and take photos with fans from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday in Race Village.

Race day is Sunday and a slew of activities lead up to the opening ceremony at 11:45 a.m. and the first heat at noon. Course buoys are set at 7:30 a.m. Racers take their physicals at the fire hall at 8 a.m. followed by a racers meeting at 9 a.m.

The patrol commander of the race, known as the PATCOM, is Pablo Mendoza, head of the U.S. Coast Guards Station Port Huron. Mendoza of the local U.S. Coast Guard will lead the law enforcement meeting that starts at 9 a.m. in the harbor. The Coast Guard permit for the race is in effect 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The fleet of volunteer course support boats takes to the water at 11 a.m. The post-race award ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. in Plaza Park. In the event of bad weather, the ceremony moves to St. Clair River Lanes.

Brunner is expecting a big crowd at Riverfest 2017.

Attendance has been really good, Brunner said.

Weekend totals topped 120,000 in 2015, according to Fun Fest Inc.

The official hours of Riverfest are 4 p.m. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The only thing we cant control is weather, said Currier. Lets pray for 75 degrees, light wind and sunshine.

Jim Bloch is a freelance writer. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.

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Offshore race boats, onshore rock bands to light up St. Clair - New Baltimore Voice Newspapers

A Greater Manchester international cable seal manufacturer has secured a major deal to support 1.3bn offshore windfarm in the English Channel.

Roxtec designed and supplied all cable seals involved in the Rampion Offshore windfarm, located 13km off the coast of Sussex.

The site has a target capacity of 400 MW and is expected to be completed in 2018. It will occupy an area of 72 square km, close to three times the size of Manhattan Island in New York City.

Roxtec UK managing director Clive Sharp said the Rampion contract adds to a growing portfolio of work in the offshore renewables market, which includes more than 40 projects involving offshore windfarms in Europe.

This contract involved supplying seals for single-core cables, both high and medium voltage, in the bulkhead and deck areas of the platforms, he said.

We designed a customised solution, involving trefoil formation cable seals for medium-voltage switchgear and split plates for high-voltage and export cables. While carrying out the design process our engineers have also delivered training to ensure effective installation and management of the seals.

Roxtec benefits from extensive experience of sealing cables on offshore platforms. Our solutions are particularly suited to this market because they are flexible and versatile."

Link:

Roxtec secures deal with 1.3bn offshore windfarm - Manchester Evening News

These investments require higher investment minimums. The investor must decide on the jurisdiction and fund currency. The investment must be authorised by the Bank and the investors foreign investment allowance applies.

Investors are allowed to take up to R11m offshore per calendar year. For amounts greater than R1m, investors will require a tax clearance from the South African Revenue Service and approval from the Bank. Only natural persons older than 18 years (not legal entities, trusts or firms) are entitled to use the foreign investment allowance.

Direct offshore investments will form part of your estate and you may be liable for estate duty in the jurisdiction in which you invest. Offshore endowment structures are useful for these investments as this will negate the need for probate or an offshore executor.

You may nominate beneficiaries, which means that at your death the investment can either continue offshore or will be paid out in foreign currency to the beneficiaries.

The two investment options are treated differently from a capital gains point of view. In the case of direct offshore investments the foreign loss or gain has to be calculated first before it is translated into rand.

Rand-denominated international investments are always reported in rand, so it is possible to have a capital gain where there has been no offshore asset growth and only a depreciation in the rand.

Like all financial decisions, offshore investments need to be tailored according to your needs. Factors that may play a role include the status of the investor (natural person or trust), family requirements (for example, you may have children living overseas you may want to visit, or if you are able to afford to leave children an inheritance, then it would make sense to base that inheritance in the currency where they are living) and the purpose of the investment (for example, whether you need to draw an income).

Engage an independent, fee-based certified financial planner who will focus on your best interests and provide impartial advice. If you do not have a certified financial planner, visit the website of the Financial Planning Institute on http://www.fpi.co.za to select one.

Bezuidenhout is director and investment planner at Netto Invest (morne@netto.co.za).

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How to invest offshore to reduce risk and expand opportunities - Business Day (registration)

July 24th, 2017 Grant Rowles Asia, Europe, Offshore, Shipyards 0 comments

Songa Offshore has announced that an arbitration tribunal in London has ruled in its favour in an ongoing dispute with South Korean shipbuilder DSME.

DSME first served Songa with notices of arbitration regarding the contracts for the construction of four Category-D rigs at the shipyard in July 2015. The rigs, which were specifically built for and contracted to Statoil, were plagued by delays and escalating costs. DSME claimed that cost overruns and additional work were due to errors and omissions in the design documents. It was claiming $328.8m in costs and damages.

An arbitration tribunal ruled in favour of Songa after a two-day hearing in London.

Songa Offshore considers that the Tribunals interim final award should be determinative of DSMEs claims in respect of the Rigs with an outcome that no payment will be due by Songa Offshore to DSME. It is possible that DSME may seek permission to appeal the tribunals award but if it is determinative of the claims and if no appeal is pursued then this will resolve DSMEs claims leaving Songa Offshore to pursue its counterclaim against DSME in respect of the Rigs for the aggregate amount of USD 65.8 million, the company said in a statement.

Songa Offshore said it has yet to decide on the pursuit of its counterclaims.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrades Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.

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Songa Offshore wins arbitration with DSME - Splash 247

Oilfield giant schlumberger has revealed a slew of new contacts including a deal to supply equipment to the Leviathan field, offshore Israel, and to perform ocean bottom survey work on BP's Clair Ridge field, west of Shetland, UK.

The firm also says that while market strengthening has been around land markets, it is now seeing an increasing number of new offshore projects being prepared for tendering and final investment decision in many of the world's shallow water basins. Schlumberger's Q2 revenues grew 8%, compared to Q1, to US$7.4 billion, or a 4% rise if compared to the same period last year.

BP awarded WesternGeco the data processing and imaging of a state-of-the-art, ultrahigh-density ocean-bottom survey to be acquired over the Clair Ridge field. The survey will become the baseline for future 4D time-lapse studies of the area and includes advanced velocity model building and multicomponent processing and imaging technologies, Schlumberger said in its Q2 results.

Noble Energy Mediterranean awarded Schlumberger a contract for the provision of a measurement and control system for the deepwater Leviathan development. The valves and measurement system will include two large, multirun metering skids, Caldon gas and liquid ultrasonic custody transfer meters, a bidirectional prover, and a building to house multiple natural gas component analyzers and supervisory control systems.

Meanwhile, in the US Gulf of Mexico, OneSubsea and its Subsea Services Alliance member, Helix Energy Solutions, received an expression of interest for rental of the jointly developed 15,000 psi Intervention Riser System, starting in Q4 2017. This system, in which the construction was launched mid-2015, will be the first of its kind available on a rental basis to address the growing intervention needs of high-pressure subsea wells.

Repsol Exploracion Guyana, awarded WesternGeco a 4000sq km survey offshore Guyana near recent major oil discoveries. In addition, Tullow awarded WesternGeco two contractsone for a 2150sq km 3D survey offshore Guyana and the second for data processing of a recently acquired dataset in Uruguay. The Uruguay data will be processed in the WesternGeco Gatwick Geosolutions center using prestack depth migration and a broadband processing flow.

In Bahrain, Schlumberger's Integrated Drilling Services (IDS) was awarded a contract for two offshore exploration wells with a six-month optional extension by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO). The contract includes products and services from the Reservoir Characterization, Drilling, Production, and Cameron Groups. A number of technologies are included in the contract, such as the PowerDrive vorteX powered rotary steerable system, GeoFlex quantitative cuttings analysis and imaging service, FlexSTIM modular offshore stimulation system, and CERTIS high-integrity reservoir test isolation system. Operations began in the first quarter of 2017.

SCS Corporation, a subsidiary of Hyperdynamics Corporation, awarded Schlumberger a drilling master services contract for the Fatala-1 deepwater exploration well offshore the Republic of Guinea. The contract includes wireline logging, measurement- and logging-while-drilling, drilling fluids and solids control, downhole cementing, mud logging, drillbits and reamers, as well as contingency fishing equipment and services. Schlumberger will also provide an IDS project manager and drilling will begin in Q3 2017.

In the US Gulf of Mexico, the Drilling Group used a combination of technologies for Shell to optimize drilling of a challenging salt formation in the Green Canyon Block. Drilling through salt creates very high torque levels and fluctuations that can lead to low rates of penetration (ROP) or tool failures. The technologies included a Drilling & Measurements PowerDrive Orbit rotary steerable system and a Bits & Drilling Tools AxeBlade ridge diamond element bit. As a result, the customer was the first to drill more than 5353ft in a 24-hour period in the Gulf of Mexico and was able to save seven days of drilling time in the 16-in section.

Giving its outlook, Schlumberger said: "While the activity outlook in North America for the second half of the year remains robust, we are now also seeing more positive signs in the international markets with increases in activity and new project plans starting to emerge in several GeoMarkets. The strengthening in the international markets has so far been concentrated around land activity in Western Siberia and in the OPEC Gulf countries but we are now also seeing an increasing number of new offshore projects being prepared for tendering and final investment decision (FID) in many of the worlds shallow water basins."

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Schlumberger sees offshore FID activity - OE Digital