IHC Engineering Business, part of IHC Merwede, is benefiting from a demand for greater capacity in the pipelay market. It is currently working on five orders from Seabras Sapura for 550-tonne capacity vertical flex lay systems (FLS) to…
A high level of investment creates an opportunity for new entrants into the pipelay vessel market, says Douglas Westwood’s Singapore-based analyst Thom Payne. About 32,000km of offshore pipelines are expected to be installed over the next five years…
UAE-based GMS Offshore Contractors is introducing a new class to its fleet, to further expand the business. The S-Class will be a new self-elevating, self-propelled DP2 jackup barge, bridging the gap between the firm’s existing smaller K-Class and large harsh weather E-Class jackups…
Bourbon announced that it sold three vessels, including a tug, an MPSV (multipurpose supply vessel) from the Subsea Services fleet and a PSV (platform supply vessel), for an approximate total amount of US$38 million generating a total capital gain of approximately US$18 million…
Oceana Offshore will be building two platform supply vessels (PSV) with an option for two additional vessels based on the PX105 design from Ulstein. The vessels will be built at the new yard, Oceana Shipyard in Itajai, Brazil, and are scheduled for delivery in April and May 2016…
The US Coast Guard updated decades old regulations regarding offshore cranes and inspection practices. Anthresia McWashington takes a look at the changes to come. The US Coast Guard (USCG) recently proposed revisions to the design, certification…
Transocean Ltd. announced it has been awarded a five-year contract for a newbuild dynamically positioned, ultra-deepwater drillship by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Shipyard delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2016. After customer acceptance…
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) completed the sale of its Australian harbor towage business to Smit Lamnalco. The sale had already been announced in August 2013 as part of a strategic realignment of the towage activities. Boskalis…
The Caspian Sea is a land-locked interior basin with established oil and gas production that has seen increasing activity since the bordering nations gained independence from the former USSR in the late 1990s. Five nations surround the sea: Russia…
The government of Guyana says the Venezuelan navy has detained the crew of a seismic acquisition vessel in waters disputed by the two South American nations. The Panama-flagged RV Teknik Perdana was acquiring a multi-beam geophysical survey in the Roraima concession block…
Maersk Drilling held a naming ceremony for its first ultra-deepwater drillship at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Geoje-Si, South Korea. The ship, called the Maersk Viking, was named by Nathalie Newman, wife of Harry E. Newman Jr., ExxonMobil Global Drilling Manager…
Wärtsilä has launched its new Bio Seal Ring product for maritime stern tube seal applications. It is the first seal on the market that works with environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL), also known as bio-degradable oils, for a lifetime of at least five years…
The imperative for a holistic United States maritime strategy has never been greater. The National Strategy for the Marine Transportation System was published in July 2008, by the previous administration. The White House, the Congress, and…
Drilling, lifting and subsea solutions firm Huisman has won a new contract from Helix Energy Solutions Group for the delivery of a well intervention system. The new system is for Helix’s new-build semisubmersible Q7000. The system, which…
A busy 2013 seismic acquisition season is continuing in the Barents Sea, with CGG announcing the completion of its second Broadseis campaign and Dolphin Geophysical launching a new survey. The increase in seismic acquisition activity in the area…