ABDON CALLAIS OFFSHORE

“Moratorium” is a Four Letter Word

While ten letters in all, “moratorium” might as well be the foulest four-letter word in the Gulf of Mexico oil patch right now. On May 27, the Obama Administration ordered a halt to drilling in water depths more than 500 feet, effectively cancelling 33 drilling projects and reversing a tide of industry optimism in the region. Bill Foret, president of Golden Meadow, La.-based Abdon Callais Offshore LLC, said the company could have placed 50 OSVs to work on April 19 — a day before BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 crew members and set off a gusher of crude 5,000 feet below the Gulf’s surface for more than 80 days. “The OSV market was showing signs of improving,” Foret said. “And OSVs of all sizes were in high demand.” Kurt Crosby, CEO of Crosby Tugs Inc., based in Golden Meadow, La., agreed. “Things were looking good before this incident,” Crosby said. “Obama had approved drilling in the Eastern Gulf, off the East Coast and Alaska. Things were looking really positive. Now, it’s just uneasy and unsure. We don’t know what will happen next.” More than 100 days after the explosion, BP has capped the well and hopes to kill it for good. However, what many industry watchers call an overarching political stunt by the Obama Administration threatens an entire industry

Offshore Wind Energy Health & Safety Summit Planned

Offshore Wind Health and Safety Summit 2012 to consider how to ensure workers safety in this hazardous industry. The European offshore wind industry is growing exponentially. In the first half of 2012 alone offshore wind power was up 50% on the previous year; 523.2 MW compared to 348.1 MW. EWEA predict that 2012 will be the best ever year for the industry. Along with this installed capacity, 13 offshore wind farms were in construction in the first half of this year.

Operational Management Program for Offshore Industry

ABS Nautical Systems LLC has released a new version of its advanced ABS SafeNet operational and management system software, developed to meet the needs of the offshore industry. The new system has been released as ABS SafeNet Offshore. ABS SafeNet Offshore is equally applicable to mobile and fixed units, to ship shaped drilling and production units, to spars, TLPs, semisubmersibles and platforms. "This is a very flexible program," says Jack Kitchura, president of ABS Nautical Systems

India’s Shipping Companies Look to Offshore Investments

With the boom in the oil and gas exploration sector, fueled by the recent awarding of new blocks under NELP VI, Indian shipping companies are tanking up to sharpen their focus on the offshore segment. Only last month, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) came out with a tender for chartering of around 26 offshore supply vessels, with mobilization requirement up to the third week of November. Shipping companies such as Great Eastern Shipping

MacGREGOR Forms Offshore Division

The MacGREGOR Group recently unveiled details of its new offshore division, a division made possible by the recent acquisitions of Hydramarine in Norway and Plimsoll in Singapore. The Offshore division will comprise more than 660 employees: 160 in Norway and 500 in Asia. In 2006, Hydramarine and Plimsoll had a combined turnover of approximately €104 million and a order backlog of €175 million. Both Hydramarine and Plimsoll are financially consolidated into the MacGREGOR Group as of April

Stolt Offshore To Settle Share Guarantee

Stolt Offshore S.A. announced that, as expected, Vinci, the owner of the 6.1 million Stolt Offshore Common shares issued as partial compensation in the ETPM acquisition in December 1999, has advised Stolt Offshore of its intention to sell all of its Stolt Offshore shares as permitted by the ETPM acquisition agreement. Stolt Offshore has in turn advised Vinci that Stolt Offshore will organize this sale. As advised in our November 26th 2001 press

Dolphin Offshore Lines up Investments

Dolphin Offshore Enterprises (India) Ltd., an offshore construction and ship repair company for the oil and gas industry, has lined up investments worth Rs 1,000 crore over the next 5-6 years, a senior company official said. Dolphin has already invested $35m in the initial expansion plans like acquiring ships. Offshore construction being its main focus, Dolphin is looking at moving up the value chain with bigger contracts and would invest Rs 200 crore for expansion in this field.

Another AHTS for Med Offshore

Med Offshore ordered an AHTS 6615 of the Damen Offshore series. This is the second time Med Offshore orders an anchor handling tug supply vessel from Damen, following the AHTS 6114, Med Otto, which was elivered to Med Offshore in September 2006. Med Offshore, the Italian shipping company owned by the Garolla Family, operates a fleet of supply boats and anchor handlers while the holding company Sarda Bunkers operates a fleet of tankers for the transportation of bunkers and oil products

Rig Utilization Up In GOM

Worldwide offshore rig utilization fell slightly during the week ending January 12, but ticked higher in the U.S. Gulf, according to Offshore Data Services (ODS). The number of worldwide mobile offshore drilling rigs under contract fell by one to 556 of the world's 648. Worldwide offshore rig utilization fell to 85.8 percent. The number of rigs being used in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico fell to 179 under contract out of 208, with utilization down to 86.1 percent

U.S. Gulf rig utilization still climbing

U.S. Gulf rig utilization still climbing U.S. Gulf and worldwide offshore rig demand increased again this week, according to Offshore Data Services' weekly mobile offshore rig count. Offshore rig utilization in the U.S. Gulf is at 85.5 percent. U.S. Gulf rig utilization has not been this high since August 1998. This week the number of rigs under contract rose to 177; only 30 of the region's 207 rigs are available.