Ruby Field and PETRONAS’s Tale of Woe

Ah, even little brother (MISC) can get on PETRONAS’s nerve once in a while. Apparently there’s a whole story about crappy design methodologies and a design contractor working without proper oversight.

Ruby FPSO replacement - PETRONAS headache

Hopes high for release of second MISC vessel and crew

Taking straight from Malaysia’s The Star:

PUTRAJAYA: Hopes are high that negotiations with Somalian pirates for the release of the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) vessel MT Bunga Melati Dua and its crew members will be successful.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday that negotiations for the release of MT Bunga Melati Dua were still ongoing following successful talks for the release of MT Bunga Melati Lima.

Abdullah said: “All its crew members have been released and the vessel is now heading to Djibouti (East Africa). The crew members are all in good health.

“A medical team from the Defence Ministry comprising doctors, medical assistants and counsellors are providing assistance to the crew.”

…

MT Bunga Melati Dua, with a crew of 29 Malaysian and 10 Filipinos was hijacked on Aug 19 in the Gulf of Aden where rampant maritime piracy is taking place.

One of the Filipino crew members was killed when he was hit by a stray bullet.

Ten days later, the MT Bunga Melati Lima, with 36 Malaysian and five Filipino crew members, was also hijacked while sailing from Yanbu, Saudi Arabia to Singapore.

Malaysia has sent two warships, the KD Lekiu and KD Inderapura, and an offshore patrol vessel, the KD Pahang, to escort MISC ships sailing in the risky waters following the two hijacking incidents.

The last paragraph is a bit strange. Didn’t Malaysia and Indonesia complain when the US proposed to escort marine vessels throught the Melaka Straits using armed vessels and personnel?

Saturday Star 2008-09-06 – Job Opportunities

Sorry for skipping a week. I was out of town. My next few post will have some photos I took on my trip.

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

• Optimal is looking for a Kerteh-based Chemist. Emailand web presence available. A lot of people moved to Optimal when it first started up, though I think the renumeration package isn’t as good nowadays. However, it’s still better than PETRONAS because Dow Chemicals is running interference.
• ExxonMobil is looking for a safe/ risk engineer. Submit CVs by 20th Sept, 2008 at the local web page.
• Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) is looking for a senior project, process control, process consultant and senior safety engineer. There is  a walk in interview on the 18th to 22nd October, 2008 (tempting, tempting) at the JW Marriot, between 0900 to 1700. You can apply via email here. 
• MISC has some positions, though with the recent hijackings, they might expect a drop of takers.
• Shell is looking for some downhole people and well people: Offshore Completion and Intervention Supervisor, Offshore Drilling Supervisor, Well Completion Design Engineer, Well Eng, Well Opns Eng.  Head to their website and follow Professionals & Apply → Job Search → Region → Asia. Closing date’s Sept 21st, so run to your nearest netbook.

 

Jalan Sukajadi, Bandung, Indonesia

Pirates hijack MISC tanker (Update)

From the New Straits Times, dateline 23rd August, 2008:

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shipping firm MISC Bhd had established communications with its hijacked tanker on Thursday and were informed of a “casualty” onboard.

In a statement released yesterday, MISC said communications with the MT Bunga Melati Dua chemical/palm oil tanker had been established at 5.05pm Malaysian time.

Pirates hijack MISC tanker

Quoting from the Star:

PETALING JAYA:The whereabouts of 29 Malaysians and 10 Filipinos on an MISC Bhd tankers remains unknown since the vessel was hijacked by heavily-armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday.

MISC, the world’s largest single owner and operator of liquefied natural gas tankers, confirmed that its 32,025 dead-weight-tonne chemical tanker Bunga Melati Dua which carried palm oil was hijacked by pirates at 10.09pm local time off the coast of Somalia.

Bernama has this to say:

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 21 (Bernama) — Wisma Putra will utilise all diplomatic channels and work closely with countries in the Gulf of Aden region to amicably end the hijacking of Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Melati by heavily-armed pirates on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Wisma Putra would continue to monitor the situation and developments through the Malaysian High Commission in Kenya and the Malaysian Embassy in Yemen.

He said this was to coordinate the peaceful recovery of the vessel and the safe return of all crew members on board.

“The tanker owner, Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC), has communicated to all family members of the crew that it would continue to keep them updated on a timely basis,” Rais said in a press release Thursday.

PETRONAS has 62% ownership of MISC.

Saturday Star 08-08-09 – Job Opportunities

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

• DPS Bristol (M) Sdn Bhd and DPS Consultant Malaysia Sdn Bhd are looking for a lot of engineers. Examples are Project Eng (6 pax), Lead Process Eng (10 pax!), Lead Mech/Pipe (10 pax)… I wish my company was expanding that fast. Anyhow, closing date is 15th August, 2008. You can fax your resume to +603 9206 2626 or email it in.
• MISC are looking for a few engineers. 
• MMHE is looking for engineers. They have a walk in interview at Hotel Grand Continental Kuantan, 16th and 17th August, between 8.30 to 6.00 pm. Visit their site under Career Opportunities, or email your resume in.
• Schlumbergeris looking for a geoscientist / reservoir engineer. Email your resume in before 20th August.
• Newfield are looking for a Geologist / Geophysicist / Completions Engineer / Offshore Installation, Projects Engineer / Onshore Construction, Project Engineer. Email your resume in before 23rd August.
• Nippon Oil is looking for a whole mess of people. I guess they want to staff up a project management team (PMC) for new developments. Engineering positions available: contract, facility, senior production, senior reservoir, DCS & instr, senior opns, senior process, senior maintenance, mech. Snail mail before 31st August, 2008 to Human Resources Section, Nippon Oil Exploration (Malaysia), Ltd, Lot 1168, 3rd Floor, Wisma Interhill, Miri Waterfront Commercial Centre, 98000 Miri, Sarawak. Hey, this is almost exactly the advert that went out 08-04-26. If I were you, I would ask for more money as they didn’t get the people they wanted 4 months ago.
• Oryxin Kuwait has a position for Head of Production, Utilities & Hydrogen Production and Product Workup Units. Another GTL opportunity. They are a JV between the ever loved Qatar Petroleum and Sasol of South Africa.
• Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) is looking for a process, instrument / control system, safety engineers and polypropylene operators. There is  a walk in interview on the 16th to 19th August, 2009. (tempting, tempting) at the JW Marriot, between 0900 to 1700. You can apply via email here.

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

Update: Divers missing in Miri

As reported in Malaysia’s Sunday Star, two professional divers have been missing since Friday. The divers went missing 5 nautical miles offshore Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia while attempting to repair crude oil tanker Bunga Kelana 6.

The Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) ship suffered contact damage in a collision with a Chinese-registered vessel, Tai Po, on December 30, 2007.