Subsea
Seven Viking Is Ship of the Year 2013 (Norway)
The next generation Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) vessel ‘Seven Viking’, designed and built by ULSTEIN, was announced ‘Ship of the Year 2013’ by the maritime magazine ‘Skipsrevyen’ at Nor-Shipping on 4 June 2013. “This award is testimony to the result of the collective efforts of Eidesvik
Statoil: New Discovery Extends Volve Lifetime (Norway)
The recently completed drilling on Volve has proven additional volumes in the north-western section of the field, which are estimated to comprise between 8.8–9.4 million barrels of oil. This discovery signifies a doubling of the field’s remaining reserves. Volve is situated approximately 200 km west
Van Oord: Marlink’s VSAT for Offshore Rock Placement Vessels
International Dredging and Offshore Contractor Van Oord has chosen Sealink customised VSAT from Marlink to provide data communication services for three offshore rock placement vessels. The five year contract covers Marlink’s provision of end-to-end services and includes facility to provide ad-hoc c
The University of Vigo in Spain Expands HIPS and SIPS Knowledge
The University of Vigo in Spain, recently acquired a small vessel to carry out their own surveys and projects for research purposes. The University is already an existing CARIS HIPS and SIPS user and is planning on going further into data processing and quality control using the new vessel. To suppo
Minister O’Dowd Approves Seismic Survey of Ireland’s Atlantic Margin
Ireland’s Minister for Natural Resources, Fergus O’Dowd, has granted approval for the conducting of a major 2D seismic survey that will go a long way towards revealing the true oil and gas exploration potential of Ireland’s Atlantic Margin. “At a cost of €20 million this is is by far the largest reg
UK: Pelamis Founder Richard Yemm Appointed as CEO
The Board of Pelamis Wave Power has appointed founder and current Commercial Director, Richard Yemm, as Chief Executive Officer. Richard will take up his new function from 1 June 2013 and replaces Per Hornung Pedersen who had been leading the company since September 2011. Per will remain as an advis
Boskalis and VolkerWessels Join Forces in Cable Installation Field
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) and Royal Volker Wessels Stevin N.V. (VolkerWessels) have signed a Letter of Intent to set up a joint venture combining their forces in the field of cable installation. Boskalis and VolkerWessels will each hold a 50% stake in Visser & Smit Marine Contractin
DNV, WWF to Focus on Plastic Debris in Oceans
DNV and WWF have announced ideas on how to develop a research concept vessel that can address the seemingly intractable problems associated with cleaning up the plastic debris that is accumulating in the world’s ocean gyres. The pathways and degradation processes of plastic in the ocean are still la
Nautronix Upgrades Its NASDrill USBL System (UK)
Nautronix announced further enhancement to the functionality and future support of the existing legacy Nautronix NASDrill USBL acoustic positioning systems. The new NASDrill USBL MK II directional interrogate / receive Hydrophone (PN 8010-6200) replaces all previous Hydrophone models and incorporate
Norway: Statoil Accepts Fine for Gullfaks Incident
Statoil accepts a fine of NOK 30 million following the well control incident on the Gullfaks C platform in 2010. Earlier this year, Statoil was fined by the public prosecutor for Rogaland county following the well control incident that occurred on Gullfaks C on 19 May 2010. The company has decided t
Expro’s Safety Measures Recognised by RoSPA (UK)
International oilfield services company, Expro, has been recognised for the ninth consecutive year by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for its outstanding global safety record. Expro has been awarded a RoSPA Commendation for excellence in health and safety at work within the
Subsea Industry Faces Escalating Costs, Subsea 7 Chairman Says
The subsea industry is doing incredibly well, but is facing challenges such as escalating costs. This is the opinion of Kristian Siem, Chairman of Subsea7 and keynote speaker at UTC 2013. – The cost level in the oil industry has risen rapidly, and is out of step with other sectors. As a result, a nu
Nord Stream Conducts Routine Pipelines Maintenance Works
From June 3, 2013 onwards, Nord Stream AG will be conducting routine maintenance works on both pipelines. These long-planned works will be ongoing for about two weeks and require first each line separately, followed by both lines at once to be temporarily shut down during that time. The works includ
TAQA Completes Acquisition of UK North Sea Assets from BP
TAQA, the global energy company based in Abu Dhabi, has completed the acquisition of UK North Sea oil and gas assets from BP. TAQA takes over as operator of the Harding field and production platform in the Central North Sea, complementing the company’s existing assets in the Northern North Sea. The