News
In disaster’s wake, BP doubles down on deepwater despite surging shale
By Jessica Resnick-Ault (Reuters) – About 300 BP workers commute 150 miles here by helicopter, from the Louisiana coast to a deep-sea drilling platform that can produce more oil in a day than a West Texas rig can pump in a year. On the deck of Thunder Horse, they work two-week shifts, drink seawater
J.A. Rederiet Upgrades Vessels for Offshore Wind Ops
Danish shipowner J.A. Rederiet has upgraded its multipurpose support vessels Susanne A and Mira A to meet the requirements of offshore DP2 and DP1, respectively, so they can carry out operations in the offshore wind industry.
VBMS to Lift Stranded Rampion Excavator
An excavator stranded while working on the Rampion offshore wind project is expected to be lifted on Tuesday, 27 June, according to a Notice to Mariners.
Wood Group scores Greek LNG contract
Aberdeen-based LNG engineer Wood Group has secured a new front-end engineering design contract with Gastrade for the Alexandroupolis liquefied natural gas project offshore Greece. Wood Group’s subsea team will perform the design and engineering definition of the Alexandroupolis floating storage and
SeaBird to source seismic vessel for survey in South America
SeaBird Exploration, a provider of marine acquisition for 2D/3D and 4D seismic data, has signed an agreement to provide a source vessel for an upcoming survey in South America. According to SeaBird’s Oslo Stock Exchange filing on Tuesday, the project is anticipated to start during the third quarter
UK: Offshore caterers balloted on strike action
Unite, Scotland’s biggest offshore trade union, on Monday said its offshore catering members would be balloted on strike action. The union said it would serve formal notice on each of the employers represented by the Caterers Offshore Trade Association (COTA) – Aramark, Compass, Sodexo, Entier and T
Santos inks partnership with Enn and Hony
Australian LNG operator Santos entered into a strategic relationship with existing Chinese shareholders ENN Group and Hony Capital. Gas distributor ENN and Hony, a private equity firm, have an aggregate interest of 15.1% of Santos shares. Based on mutual cooperation and assistance, the new deal will
Thailand’s PTT forms global LNG trading unit
Thailand’s state-owned PTT has launched a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading and marketing arm. PTT said in a statement that its board of directors in May passed a resolution to establish a new joint venture company to carry out business related to LNG, as the first step of investment expans
UK Helps Rescue Crew of Sunken Tanker off Yemen
The UK Coastguard have coordinated a long range rescue after an oil tanker sank 240 miles off the coast of Yemen in the early morning hours on June 26. The coastguard received reports of a mayday distress call issued by the oil tanker, which is registered under a Panamanian flag, reporting that it w
TurkStream deep water pipe laying starts
Russian gas giant Gazprom on Friday started laying the TurkStream gas pipeline in the deep-water area off the coast of Anapa. The operations were launched with the command given by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Pioneering Spirit pipe-laying vessel, according to a Gazprom s
Owners Favor Delaying of BWMS Installation
The fast-approaching implementation date of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) has stirred up a number of questions among shipowners who will be required to install approved ballast water treatment systems starting from September 8, 2017. Under the terms of the Convention, which was adop
BIMCO: Ordering Ramping Up in H1 Is Not What Industry Needs
The newbuild activity for the first half of 2017 has surpassed the same period last year by 20%. A total of 5.9 million DWT was contracted in May 2017 and 3.1 million DWT so far in June 2017, which brings the total amount of newbuild orders up to 19.6 million DWT for 2017, BIMCO’s figures […]
Putin kicks off pipeline work from ‘Pioneering Spirit’
Russian president Vladimir Putin has symbolically launched the process connecting the shallow and deepwater sections of the TurkStream pipeline in the Black Sea. According to the Kremlin statement on Friday, Putin launched the process from aboard the Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest offshore c
Survey: Majority of Seafarers Lack Proper Internet Connectivity When at Sea
Barely six percent of seafarers have sufficient internet connectivity for video calls when at sea, despite often being away from their families for months, based on a Nautilus survey of nearly 2,000 seafarers and shipping industry leaders. By comparison statistics show 91% of UK homes and 85% of Eur