Kimbe Queen ordered off PNG waters

By LESLIE OMARO and ELLEN TIAMU
THE passenger ferry mv Kimbe Queen has been ordered into dry dock for inspection by National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) officers after it ran aground on Wednesday.
The inter-island vessel will be allowed to resume operation once the inspectors say it is safe to do, NMSA chief executive officer Chris Rupen said.
“A stop order has been put on the vessel not to operate until inspections are completed and NMSA is satisfied that the vessel is safe to resume operations,” Rupen said.
The vessel ran aground on a reef in Bialla waters off West New Britain on Wednesday morning while sailing from Rabaul to Lae. It had 34 passengers on board.
It was refloated during that same day and then sent to Rabaul with just the crew on board for the NMSA inspection.
Rabaul Shipping legal officer Jaclyn Maribu confirmed in a telephone interview that shipowner Peter Sharp was disappointed with the latest incident. Sharp had flown to the scene in a helicopter on Wednesday.
The vessel’s grounding came just 20 days after sister ferry mv Rabaul Queen sank in bad weather off the coast of Finschhafen, Morobe, with the loss of about 200 lives. More than 180 passengers are still missing.
It led to three of the company vessels being held at Buka wharf, Bougainville, by relatives of the survivors and victims of the mv Rabaul Queen disaster days later.
The three vessels are the Solomon Queen, Kopra and Kopra Four.
Maribu said the vessels were still at Buka and the locals wanted K350,000 before they could release them.
With the company’s fleet reduced in number by five, it raises questions over its ability to provide a vital service that thousands of Papua New Guineans depend on daily.
Rupen said the mv Kimbe Queen would be out of commission until his officers completed their inspection.
He said the vessel was allowed to proceed to Rabaul after an initial inspection and confirmed that it did not sustain any serious damage from its grounding, and was not taking in water.
“NMSA allowed Kimbe Queen to sail to Rabaul on the condition she did not carry any passengers which the owners complied with,” he said.
Security concerns also prompted the decision.
“There were concerns by police in Bialla and Kimbe, as well as the owners, that there was not enough police personnel on the ground to provide safety and security for the vessel (in either location for the inspection) as tension and emotions are still running high after the Rabaul Queen tragedy.”
NMSA inspectors are expected to take two weeks to complete their inspection at the company’s docks.
They will submit their report to the authority headquarters in Port Moresby.
Rupen clarified that there was no pressure from the NMSA on the vessel to suspend operations in the wake of the mv Rabaul Queen sinking.
“NMSA can only stop a vessel if it deems the vessel unsafe for operation,” Rupen said.
Meanwhile a memorial service for the victims of the mv Rabaul Queen will be held at St Mary’s Catholic church in Eriku on Sunday in Lae.
There will also be a boat trip to the site of the ferry sinking the same day

Exec: Airport to go private by 2030

By BOSORINA ROBBY
THE National Airports Corporation expects all airports in PNG to be fully privatised by 2030, according to the NAC 2012-2030 strategic direction plan, The National reports.
Most airports are currently managed by the NAC and the state but could use the private-public-partnership (PPP) concept to move them into the status of private sector ownership.

An artist's impression of what the Jacoson Airport would look like

Managing director Joseph Kintau said yesterday they were working on getting some of the airports to be under some form of PPP, to become a policy model on how they could sustain other airports as well.
“An example of what we are doing is that we are considering a PPP with PNG Sustainable Development Programme for the development of the Daru and Kiunga airports,” he said.
“This would help the government realise its objective to provide services to rural areas, using the PPP.
“At the same time, the objectives of PNGSDP and the others are also met, creating a mutually-beneficial arrangement for all.”
Kintau said even though an airport was under a PPP arrangement or fully-privatised, NAC would still maintain a role in managing the airport or non-aviation related areas of the airport.
He said the main issue in the PPP process was the question of certainty of getting government’s contribution on PPPs.
“To rely on the annual budgetary appropriations is not adequate to give necessary security for the investor or service provider,” Kintau said.
“So we have to now work on a more secure model that will guarantee availability of funding to pay for the services or contracts been procured under PPP arrangements.”
He said the aim was to get all airports to be viable and at the same time enhance the value of assets in respective airports.

LNG pipes spark row

By JEFFREY ELAPA and LESLIE OMARO

A MULTI-BILLION kina liquefied natural gas project faces disruptions to its development after angry landowners complained about the damage to their environment and protected sites, The National reports.
 ExxonMobil, the developer of the PNG LNG gas project, had been accused by the people of Gulf province of breaching an agreement by laying pipelines within five miles of their traditional fishing grounds.
The landowners also want Ex­xon­Mobil to explain the presence of fo­reign vessels in their fishing grounds.
Aitari Huaupe, a public relations officer with the Ihu District Umbrella Landowners Association Inc, claimed that the ships seemed to be laying gas pipelines.
In response, Rebecca Arnold, the lead media and communications adviser for the LNG project, said the ships were not laying pipelines but were supporting the laying of the pipes.
Arnold said the laying of the pipes was done 30km offshore from Caution Bay and not in the coastal waters as claimed by the landowners.
She said the vessels supporting the pipe-laying were located eight nautical miles (15km) south of
Apiope village.
“We are still using the same route off Caution Bay all the way to Omanti as agreed in a permit with the government,” she said.
Gulf Governor Havila Kavo told parliament yesterday that the go­vernment and the developer should review the benefit-sharing agreement in light of the developer’s action.
“I have gone to the area and found that the pipeline came right into the traditional fishing zone,” he claimed.
“As a result, the marine life in the area has been disturbed and will continue to be affected as siltation from the 14 rivers that flow into the Gulf of Papua will be captured, building up sediments and disturbing the prawn cycle in the area.

PNG gas stocks run hot on Australian Stock Exchange

By BRIAN GOMEZ in Sydney

PNG oil and gas stocks ran hot yesterday after Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation agreed to invest US$280 million (K595.7 million) for a 20% stake in nine PNG oil and gas leases held by Canada’s Talisman Energy, The National reports.
 The two companies agreed to work closely to aggregate various natural gas deposits in Western province in support of a venture that could potentially export three million tonnes of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) annually, they said.
The share price of recently listed Kina Petroleum soared by 15% or A$0.03 yesterday to A$0.23; New Guinea Energy rose 12.28% to A$0.64 and Horizon Oil shares surged 6.9% to A$0.31 on the back of the news.
News that the P’nyang South 1 well had shown elevated gas readings at the top of the Toro sandstone interval helped Oil Search to a year’s high of A$7.07, up A$0.11 or 1.58%.
Oil Search has gained more than 10% in the last five trading days.
With hundreds of PNG investors likely to benefit from these gains – more than 27 million shares changed hands yesterday in the four listed PNG oil and gas stocks – the news brightened prospects that condensate exports from the Stanley field could commence by the end of next year.
The Talisman announcement yesterday at its headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, said the farmout agreement with Mitsubishi was subject to approval by the PNG government and its joint venture partners.
“Following the farmout, Talisman and Mitsubishi licenced equity positions will average 40% and 20% respectively in these nine licences,” it said.
Horizon Oil and Kina Petroleum are the two most immediate beneficiaries.
Horizon holds 45% equity in PRL 21, where the Elevala wet gas field is located and 50% in PRL 4, where the Stanley gas-condensate project is currently being
planned. Kina has 15% equity in PRL21.
Talisman, which made its entry into PNG in 2001, is listed on the Toronto and New York Stock exchanges.
It has a market capitalisation of about A$14 billion (K31 billion) compared to around A$8.5 billion for Oil Search.
“Talisman is delighted to have MC as a strategic partner in our onshore licences in PNG,” Paul Blakeley, executive vice-president, International Operations East, said.
“MC brings extensive experience in LNG development and marketing and I am confident they will be a key success factor in helping us unlock the value of our PNG assets.
 “Talisman intends to commence a four-well drilling programme on PPLs 235 and 261 during 2012, as well as ongoing appraisal in PRL 21.”
Mitsubishi has been involved in the LNG industry since 1969.
It operates in 80 countries through a network of more than 500 companies with a 60,000-strong workforce

Government starts Ramu mining awareness

A state team led by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) last week commenced a series of awareness programmes on environmental  and other issues in relation to the Ramu mining project.

The awareness programme which was conducted at Mindre village and the Madang provincial government headquarters was in compliance with the general order from the Madang National Court to inform and consult with the plaintiffs of the court case relating to use of (deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) system by the Ramu mine.

Basamuk landowners listening to the team

Upon handing down its decision mid last year, the court ordered the state to consult with landowners of Basamuk and other areas on environmental issues including DSTP every three months until the closure of the mine.

Provincial director for mines John Bivi said that this exercise by the state team was an important part of the progress of the Ramu mining project.

 He said it was important that the national government carried out such awareness programmes so that people were not left in the dark, especially with regards to environmental matters.

Goro Arigae of the DEC updated the landowners and Madang provincial government officials on where the project was in terms of environmental matters.

He explained to the two parties the environmental permitting processes and also what the various types of permits were, and how they were processed and granted.

He told them that the Ramu mine had been granted an environmental permit and having gone through the court case on DSTP, it was given to approval to use DSTP.

The mine was now awaiting commissioning.

Chairman of Basamuk Landowners Association Lima Mulung, and chairman of Inland Coastal Pipeline Charles Okori, thanked the state team for their efforts in attending to queries from landowners.

Mulung said his people were happy with information on the status of the project and explanation on the government process for granting environmental permits.

He wanted the state team to include others such as inland coastal pipeline people in the awareness programme.

Nautilus launches exploration programme

By ELIZABETH VUVU

NAUTILUS Minerals has launched its 2012 exploration programme in the Bismarck Sea in its exploration tenement areas, The National reports.
 Its tenements included the first commercial development and recently approved licence, the Solwara 1 and 2 projects, located at 1,600m water depth in the Bismarck Sea between New Ireland and East New Britain provinces.
According to a statement from the East New Britain provincial administration, the awareness team visited the province last week from New Ireland and would move on to the other provinces sharing coastlines of the Bismarck Sea as part of their exploration cruise programme awareness.
The Nautilus exploration exercise will begin tomorrow over a period of 90 days aboard mv Duke, a fully-equipped seafarer vessel specially fitted for ocean research and with latest technology on deep sea exploration.
According to project geologist of Nautilus awareness team Kessy Wama, the main objective of the exploration exercise was to identify new targets, assess data on existing finds and assess the new methods of exploration.
She said the deep sea exploration methods were mainly multi-beam and seismic surveys with the latter being the first of its kind to be used by Nautilus in mapping out geological structures beneath the sea floor.
Wama said these activities were low impact and not harmful to marine wildlife and Nautilus would be operating under both the PNG and Australian standards that would be closely monitored by a marine observer who would be onboard the exploration vessel.
She assured that as means of controls and mitigation, all equipment on the vessel were well-tested and designed and manned by very experienced operators.
Deputy provincial administrator-coordination and implementation, Clement Irasua, reiterated the need for compliance to ensure that marine resources were protected at all costs while in operation.
He appealed to maritime communities of East New Britain and New Ireland to understand this awareness programme and cooperate whenever they sighted the mv Duke out on the open seas

Coffee Industry Corporation helps in air-freighting coffee

By AUGUSTINE DOMINIC

COFFEE Industry Corporation stands ready to assist remote coffee farmers air freight their coffee to major towns through its freight surety scheme (FSS), according to chief executive officer Navi Anis, The National reports.
 He said the government had allocated K5 million to CIC under the FSS programme, which farmers from as far as Marawaka, Simbari, Jimi,  Karimui, and other remote areas were currently using to ship their coffee.

Chairman of the Apo Coffee Co-operative Society Nicholas Ello (left) and the Salvation Army’s Care Programme coordinator Henry Bagme  counting the coffee bags freighted by an Adventist Aviation plane into Goroka from Karamui recently using the CIC’s freight surety programme

“Under the FSS programme, CIC will pay upfront for air freighting coffee, and the farmer will repay the freight cost once the farmer sells his/her coffee,” Anis said.
He said the arrangement would depend on the availability of planes, weather conditions and front loads.
Farmers were urged to visit the CIC head office in Goroka, Kundiawa or Mt Hagen to seek the assistance of the FSS programme, or contact CIC marketing analyt on telephone 531 1200 for more information