Taean Wind Power, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Vena Energy, has secured a fixed-price offtake contract in South Korea.

The 500MW project is targeting the start of construction in the second half of 2026, with commercial operations expected by late 2029. The project will generate enough clean energy to power approximately 300,000 Korean households annually.

CIP, through its flagship fund Copenhagen Infrastructure V, acquired a 49% stake in Taean Wind Power in late 2024.

South Korea has significant potential for offshore wind and is one of the most promising markets in the Asia Pacific, with an ambitious target of 14.3GW of installed capacity by 2030. The country has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Taean represents an attractive opportunity to increase our offshore wind footprint in Korea. The participation in the Taean project will further strengthen and diversify CI V’s investment portfolio and support our ambition of securing attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors,” said Thomas Wibe Poulsen, partner at CIP.

CIP has been a leading player in Korea’s offshore wind sector since entering the Korean market in 2018. The company is currently developing approximately 5 GW of offshore wind projects in Korea, including Jeonnam Offshore Wind 1, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, led by the private sector.

Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has revealed the charterer behind its recent shipbuilding deal for very large ethane carriers (VLECs) in South Korea.

The Tokyo-based company ordered three 100,000 cu m vessels at Samsung Heavy Industries in late December at around $168m each for delivery by December 2027.

The 230-m-long newbuilds have been fixed long-term to SCG Chemicals, a unit of Thailand’s Siam Cement Group.

The vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel ethane propulsion engines, reducing greenhouse gas, sulphur oxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions compared to conventional heavy fuel oil vessels, MOL said.

The company entered the VLEC business in 2014 and has since expanded its presence in the sector. The latest deal will see the number of VLECs managed and operated by MOL increase to 12 vessels out of about 90 VLECs delivered or on order.

MOL also has three VLECs under construction at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries yard in Ulsan. These 98,000 cu m newbuilds, tied to charter contracts with India’s Reliance Industries, should deliver in the first half of 2027.

A laden Russian-flagged tanker has broken down in the stormy Bay of Biscay off France.

The Unity, a 16-year-old aframax, departed Primorsk on January 16 with Russian oil bound for Mangalore in India. The ship ran into difficulties overnight off the west coast of France. It has lost propulsion during extremely stormy conditions in the Atlantic. 

Shipping database Equasis shows the vessel is owned by Moscow-headquartered Argo Tanker Group, who acquired the ship in September last year.

German authorities had to rescue another laden Russian tanker in the Baltic 14 days ago.  The 19-year-old Eventin, carrying nearly 100,000 tons of Russian oil, broke down and was towed to the German port of Sassnitz.

The Eagle S, meanwhile, the tanker at the centre of the latest Baltic subsea cable cutting incident, failed a port state control earlier this month. Finnish authorities found 32 faults on the ship, three of which are deemed severe enough that the vessel has to get them repaired before it can move again.

“Russia’s use of the so-called shadow fleet poses a particular threat to the maritime and environmental security in the Baltic Sea region and globally,” read a joint statement from the heads of state or government of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden published last week.

Last month stormy seas saw two tankers run into difficulty in and around Russia’s Kerch Strait on the same day, with the resulting oil spills plaguing local coastlines to this day. 

The Volgoneft-212, built in 1969, carrying some 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil, broke in half, while another laden elderly Russian coastal product tanker, Volgoneft-239, built in 1973, ran aground. 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is reporting a suspicious approach to a merchant ship in the Persian Gulf near Iran. 

The master of the unidentified vessel reported his ship was approached by a small military craft and it has been flashing a green laser light towards the bridge. The small military craft continues to hail the vessel.

Splash will be bringing readers updates of this breaking story as they emerge. 

Iran has detained a number of merchant ships in recent years. 

Malaysian offshore services player Tanjung Offshore, part of T7 Global, has won a contract with oil and gas player Hess for the provision of pan-Malaysian offshore maintenance, construction, modification and hook-up commissioning services.

According to T7’s Bursa Malaysia filing,  the contract was for the B3 Package but no financial details were revealed.

Work on the project started back in November 2024 and completion is expected by Nov 10, 2029, with an optional extension of three years, followed by another two years.

This is the company’s third announced deal in January. Tanjung previously stated it won contracts for maintenance, construction and modification services on the PM3-CAA oilfield with Hibiscus Petroleum and Carigali Hess.

Indian owner Great Eastern Shipping is offloading another of its ageing vessels as part of the company’s fleet renewal initiative.

The Mumbai-listed diversified owner has reportedly struck a deal with an undisclosed Chinese buyer for its 2011-built supramax bulk carrier Jag Rishi.

The deal for the 56,700 dwt ship, widely reported by S&P sources, came at $11.9m.

Great Eastern has been busy rejuvenating its fleet last year with several deals that saw older tonnage exit and be replaced by younger models.

Last October, the company agreed to sell its 2005-built MR tanker, Jag Padma, after shipping out the 2005-built suezmax Jag Lalit and another 2011-built supramax bulker, Jag Rani.

Including the ship in the latest sale, which Great Eastern has yet to confirm, the company’s fleet comprises a mix of 26 crude and product carriers, four LPG carriers, and 13 bulkers.

French-based offshore wind developer Oxan Energy has been revealed as the winner of the first Estonian floating offshore wind tender.

The company and its partner SNOW, a financial advisor specialising in renewable power generation, will develop the Saare 1 project with a potential capacity of 900MW and up to 60 turbines.

The two companies will conduct the environmental and technical studies, starting with the environmental impact assessment.

The project will contribute to Estonia’s goal to generate 100% of its electricity from renewable sources.

The Estonian authorities have tendered the zone of Saare 1, located 60 km off the coast of the largest Estonian island, Saaremaa, with a surface area of 88 km and a water depth of up to 85 m.

Given the water depth, the project has the potential to combine floating and bottom-fixed technologies. The layout of the wind farm will be decided after the impact assessment based on the environmental and technical studies. The project is expected to be commissioned in 2033.

Oxan was the only bidder in the auction with an offer of $1.36m, according to Estonia’s Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority.

Three companies qualified to participate in the tender – the Luxcara-owned CI Estonia Wind GmbH & Co KG, Estonia’s OU Utilitas Wind, and Oxan.

This was the second time the Saare 1 area was auctioned out. The area relaunched the competition on January 21 after the initial competitive bidding process resulted in no bids.