Oil Billionaire Says It’s Time to Move Focus to Renewables

Posted on 17 September, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

By Mikael Holter (Bloomberg) — Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, who built most of his fortune on oil and gas, says the time has come to start investing more heavily in renewable energy.

The 61-year-old suggested that a tipping point had now been reached in the energy industry while underscoring his conviction that the world will continue to need fossil fuels for years to come.

“A good hunter is a patient hunter,” Rokke said during a webcast panel discussion. He also said that investors who started “too early” has “burned through cash.”

Rokke’s investment company Aker ASA took steps earlier this year to spin off clean-energy units, joining a whirlwind of change that’s sweeping the global oil industry. The new companies have since surged in line with other renewable stocks as investors flock around sustainable assets.

In a rare public appearance at Pareto Securities AS’s Energy Conference on Wednesday, Rokke said he had discussed the timing with Aker Chief Executive Oyvind Eriksen for years.

“The key thing for us is to listen, when you are wrong, admit it, and change direction,” Rokke said. “That’s something that has served us well in this extraordinary shift in the energy sector.”

Aker’s 40% stake in oil producer Aker BP ASA, where BP Plc owns 30%, still makes up more than half of the holding company’s value. Rokke dismissed “doomsday sayers” and said Norway shouldn’t stop producing oil and gas. But he also predicted that other businesses will rapidly rise to make up most of his empire.

In as little as five years, Aker’s exposure to digital solutions and IT, primarily through its majority stake in Cognite AS, could make up between half and two-thirds of the company’s value, Rokke predicted. “Quote me on that five years from now,” he said.

“What we’re doing in the green space is also exciting,” he said. “Less than 10% of offshore wind has been installed so far. We are in the infancy.”

Aker is also working on establishing a separate unit dedicated to hydrogen, Eriksen said in a presentation before Rokke spoke.

PortMiami Set to Continue Record-Shattering Growth Pace

Posted on 14 January, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Discussions are underway for another terminal for Norwegian Cruise Line.

Norwegian Getaway turning in Miami port.

“We do have space. I want that to be very clear, that we have space for growth here at PortMiami,” said Juan Kuryla, port director. “We are growing and need to continue investing.”

Miami is coming off a record year, with 5.3 million cruise passengers, and a similar, slightly better year is expected in 2017-2018. After that, Kuryla is forecasting a continued pattern of record-breaking cruise traffic.

Going from 4.9 million to 5.3 million passengers in a year, the most ever recorded anywhere; Kuryla is juggling multiple projects for a 20 percent bump up in 2019, and even more growth behind that.

“We will likely be at 6.4 million passengers,” he added.

Multiple Projects

The biggest bump up in numbers last year came from Royal Caribbean, with 350,000 more passengers. That figure will grow exponentially when the company opens Terminal A for its Oasis-class ships come 2018.

Talking to Cruise Industry News on a November Monday, there were a staggering seven cruise vessels docked and Kuryla was weeks away from the grand opening of Terminal F, a new facility developed for MSC Cruises and the MSC Seaside.

That terminal is only the beginning, as MSC has bigger plans, including the deployment of the Meraviglia in the Caribbean, sailing from Miami alongside the Seaside in summer 2019.

Discussions are ongoing with Virgin and Norwegian for new terminals.

“Both would be additional to the terminals we have,” Kuryla said. “We are taking some land on the north side from the cargo operations to create a footprint for additional terminals.”

Not to be overlooked, Carnival Cruise Line has been the port’s largest customer dating back to the 1970s and accounted for more than 2 million passenger movements last year. This year the new Carnival Horizon will homeport in Miami after a brief summer in New York.

“We are also in discussions with them on how to work together to accommodate further growth,” explained Kuryla.

‘Total Commitment’

He attributed the growth to a total commitment to the cruise industry not only by the port but by the willingness of elected officials to accept the port’s and cruise line’s recommendations on investments.

New terminal projects must consider not only the space for the terminal, but land infrastructure ranging from parking to utilities, apron needs, traffic patterns and more, Kuryla said.

“The speed at which we need to grow to accommodate new ships is unprecedented,” he continued, “and we are moving quickly.”

Various studies have been conducted on LNG, and the port is moving toward a solution regarding whether bunkering would be a land or water-side operation. Kuryla said he expects Miami to receive its first LNG-powered ship in 2022.

Piraeus Port to invest €294 million to upgrade cruise facilities

Posted on 26 May, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Piraeus Port Authority aims to grow its homeporting business by expanding its facilities (Image: Piraeus Port Authority)

Piraeus Port Authority is to invest €294 million over a five-year period to upgrade its existing cruise infrastructure and boost its appeal to operators sailing in the East Mediterranean.

Currently, Piraeus can berth between nine and eleven cruise ships simultaneously, using a total of 2.8 kilometres of quay. PPA’s expansion plans include adding four new 400-metre cruises berths, adding a total of 1.65 kilometres of quay length and boosting the port’s capacity by roughly 50%.

Other plans include building hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and other auxiliary services to enable Piraeus to become a homeport.

“The planned infrastructure improvements will benefit the cruise sector overall by providing best-in-class customer service experience to the operators of the cruise ships as well as by enhancing the overall experience of their guests,” said Theodora Riga, PPA’s manager of strategic planning and marketing. “New value-added services for the cruise lines and passengers are at the core of PPA’s vision to promote overall product awareness in the Chinese market, and act as a facilitator to capture higher volumes of tourists from the Far East.”