Wärtsilä Inks Lifecycle Agreement with P&O Ferries for Two Vessels
Technology group Wärtsilä has signed a Lifecycle Agreement with UK-based P&O Ferries for two of its vessels – the M/V Pioneer and the M/V Liberté.The scope of the five-year agreement the Lifecycle Agreement with P&O Ferries includes parts and maintenance services, as well as maintenance planning, operational support and Wärtsilä’s Expert Insight predictive maintenance service.The predictive service enables issues to be identified before they cause a delay in the schedule. Delays…
Norway Offers $193 Million Funding to Arctic Floating Wind Farm Project
A floating offshore wind farm planned in Arctic waters on Friday received 2 billion Norwegian crowns ($193 million) in state funding, with Norway viewing the still costly technology as a key contributor for industry development and emission cuts.The GoliatVind project in the Barents Sea, consisting of five 15 megawatts turbines and seeking to supply power to the Arctic town of Hammerfest, beat out six other applicants in a tender by government agency Enova.Norway hopes that floating offshore wind will provide an industrial future for its offshore supply industry as well as a means of cutting e
US Gulf Coast Fuel Oil Imports Hit Five-year Low
Imports of fuel oil bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast fell to a five-year low last month as refiners ran more cheap, heavy Canadian crude and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East pressured fuel oil flows.Fuel oil deliveries to the Gulf Coast dwindled in February to just 318,000 barrels per day (bpd), a 20% drop from the prior month and marking their lowest level since February 2019, data from tanker tracking firm, Kpler showed.Heavy fuel oil feedstocks like high sulfur fuel oil…
Japan Continues to Lead Shipowner Rankings
VesselsValue has unveils this year’s top 10 shipowning nations, reviewing the total asset values for vessels by beneficial owner country. From Japan's resolute leadership in the top position with a USD 206.3 billion fleet to the emergence of Hong Kong at USD 44.7 billion, asset values and ownership strategies have changed considerably over the last 12 months, says Rebecca Galanopoulos-Jones, Senior Content Analyst, Veson Nautical.The data provided by VesselsValue and analysed by Veson is valid as of February 2024.
Officials Urge EPA to Remove Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' from the Hudson River
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand earlier this month stood with local leaders and environmental advocates at Albany City Hall to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) take additional action to clean up polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) “forever chemicals” in the Hudson River.PCBs are toxic manmade chemicals that can linger in water and soil for decades. Exposure is associated with a variety of serious health conditions, including cancer.From 1947 to 1977, General Electric dumped 1.2 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson River north of Albany.
Oil Industry, Green Groups Challenge Biden Offshore Drilling Plan
Oil and gas companies and environmental groups on Monday filed dueling legal challenges to the Biden administration's five-year plan to offer drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.The petitions to a U.S. appeals court come four months after the Interior Department unveiled a congressionally-mandated plan for offshore leasing that included just three sales, the lowest since the government began publishing the schedules in 1980.The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade group…
Irish Naval Service Signs Up for Wärtsilä Optimized Maintenance Agreement
Wärtsilä announced it has signed a five-year Optimized Maintenance Agreement with the Irish Naval Service. The agreement, which covers four offshore patrol vessels (OPV), is designed to ensure operational reliability along with long-term cost predictability.“We have had good experience with Wärtsilä over the years, and we have great trust in their capabilities. This agreement will help us to achieve the level of efficiency and reliability that we aim for, which in turn will improve the environmental performance of these ships…
US-flag Great Lakes Shipping Up 6.5% in 2023
Cargo volumes moved by U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters in 2023 increased 6.5% compared to 2022, according to latest figures from trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).The 81.4 million tons of cargo transported by the U.S. laker fleet 2023 was 1.2% above the fleet’s five-year average, LCA said.Iron ore cargos totaled 42.4 million tons, an increase of 13.4% compared to a year earlier, while limestone shipments increased by 3.9% to 24.6 million tons. Sand shipments increased by 12.4%.Coal cargos were down 9.7% to 8.4 million tons.
Bahri Charters Methanol-fueled Tanker Pair
Bahri business unit Bahri Chemicals will charter two newbuild methanol-powered tankers under a five-year agreement with methanol producer Proman. The vessels, which were officially named during a ceremony hosted at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) in China in November 2023 where both ships were built, will be deployed to transport various products globally.The vessels are the final two of an initial six-strong methanol-fueled tanker fleet commissioned through the partnership between Proman and Stena Bulk.
Uncertainty Reins in Ship Recycling Market
Anxiety and uncertainty reign across the shipowning community at large, especially for those with units trading in, or simply passing through the shipping lanes that are currently besieged by Houthi Rebel attacks in the Red Sea, says cash buyer GMS. This is invariably resulting in many owners avoiding the Suez Canal altogether, electing instead to sail around the Cape and subsequently increase voyage times, costs, and inadvertently assist global inflation.On the ship recycling front…
Pertamina Aims to Add Six VLGCs in 2024
Pertamina International Shipping (PIS), a unit of Indonesian state energy company Pertamina, said on Wednesday it plans to add six new very large gas carriers (VLGC) in 2024 as it eyes fleet expansion focused on gas transport.The company this week launched two VLGCs, built by South Korea's Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, and each vessel has a 91,000 cubic metres capacity, which PIS said is among the biggest in the world.The two vessels were designed to transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as ammonia, PIS said in a statement."We plan to add six VLGCs in 2024, starting from the two VL
Esgian: New Contracts, Drilling Activities and Rig Moves Across the World
Esgian's last roundup of the year for the Week 52 puts spotlight on new developments for Dolphin Drilling semisub, Seadrill drillships, as well as Shell’s plans for Australia and ONGC’s new tender for jackups in India.ContractsDolphin Drilling has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with an undisclosed operator for the 1,500-ft semisubmersible Borgland Dolphin to undertake a 500-day drilling campaign in the UK. The drilling campaign is planned to begin directly after the firm part of the contract period with EnQuest, which was announced in late November 2023.
US Gulf of Mexico oil Auction is Largest Since 2015
A Biden administration auction of Gulf of Mexico drilling rights raised $382 million on Wednesday as oil companies claimed offshore acreage for what is set to be the last time until 2025.The auction total was the highest of any federal offshore oil and gas lease sale since 2015, according to a Reuters tally.Shell, Hess, Anadarko, BP, Chevron, Repsol and Equinor were among the 26 companies that participated in the sale.Anadarko had the auction's highest bid of more than $25 million for a block in the deepwater Mississippi Canyon area, according to an online broadcast of the sale by the U.S.
Babcock Awarded More Dreadnought Contracts
Babcock has been awarded two further contracts for work on the UK’s new Dreadnought Class submarine worth a combined £121 million.The contracts include a 4.5-year £66 million contract with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide input into the development of the support solution for the UK’s new Dreadnought Class submarines. The new Class of submarine will replace the Vanguard Class in the early 2030s to maintain a Continuous At Sea Deterrent.Babcock will also provide the MOD with technical and management support…
Reach Subsea Partners with Agalas for New IMR/Survey Vessel
Reach Subsea, a Norwegian subsea services company, has signed a long-term charter contract with Agalas for a modern IMR/Survey vessel to be built in Turkey.According to Reach Subsea, to be hired on three or five-year charter, will has a low emission, smart lifting arrangement and a state of the art equipment package that can be adapted to several market segments, with delivery early 2026.Reach Subsea CEO Jostein Alendal said:"The market for subsea vessels is expected to remain tight for the foreseeable future…
Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Up 8.5% in October
Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 5.1 million tons in October, an increase of 8.5% compared to a year ago, according to latest figures from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA). Shipments were a near match to the month’s five-year average.Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 41.8 million tons, an increase of 23.3% compared to the same point in 2022, LCA said.Through October iron ore loadings are 5.7% above their five-year average for the January-October timeframe, LCA added.
Silverstream Gains AIP from China Classification Society
Maritime clean technology company Silverstream Technologies announced it has signed an agreement in principle (AIP) with China Classification Society (CCS), the primary class society in China that serves the shipping, offshore and related industrial industries.This is Silverstream’s first agreement of this nature with a classification society. The AIP confirms that CCS has reviewed and verified the Silverstream System’s design drawings and provides an independent class verification of its generic system design.
US Sets Date for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale After Court Order
The Biden administration on Thursday said it would hold an auction of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 8 following a court order to expand the sale.In a statement, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the sale would offer about 72.7 million acres on the Outer Continental Shelf, including 6 million acres it had withdrawn from the auction in an effort to protect the endangered Rice's whale habitat.Last month, a U.S. appeals court gave the administration until Nov. 8 to hold the sale, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 27.
Biden Angers All Sides with Scaled Back Offshore Oil Drilling Plan
The Biden administration's plan to slash offshore oil and gas leasing drew fire from both the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists on Friday, with energy companies saying it will raise fuel prices and greens saying it undermines efforts to stop global warming. The criticism from both sides reflects the difficulty Biden's White House has had in dealing with U.S. oil extraction policies, as it seeks to balance national energy security with the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.
US Plans Sharp Reduction in Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales
The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a plan to phase down oil and gas auctions in federal waters with the release of a long-awaited leasing schedule that includes a maximum of three sales in the Gulf of Mexico through 2029.The Interior Department's plan includes by far the lowest number of sales since the agency began producing Congressionally-mandated five-year oil and gas leasing schedules in 1980. Previous programs have ranged between 11 and 41 sales, according to Interior's U.S.
Biden's Five-year Offshore Oil Plan to Have Historically Few Lease Sales
The Biden administration's five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing will not include any sales in 2024 and will feature the lowest number of auctions in the history of the program in the four years to follow, according to three sources familiar with the matter.The schedule for leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for 2024-2028 is due on Friday following several delays and months of battling between environmentalists and drilling advocates over what the policy should…
SEA-KIT Awarded ZEVI Funding to Build Hydrogen-fueled USV
SEA-KIT International has won funding from the U.K.'s Zero Emissions Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition to design and manufacture a hydrogen-fueled uncrewed surface vessel (USV). The company will partner with maritime decarbonization disruptor, Marine2o, for the build of land-based infrastructure to produce green hydrogen, via renewable energy and the electrolysis of water, as part of the project.Dubbed ZEPHR - Zero Emissions Ports Hydrogen Refilling Survey Vessel, the project aims to extend vessel operation for port operators and stakeholders through complete energy transferal…
Great Lakes Iron Ore, Limestone Trades Rise in August
Shipments of iron ore and limestone on the Great Lakes for the month of August both increased compared to 2022, up 8.6% and 4.4% respectively, according to latest figures from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA).The 5.5 million tons or iron ore shipped in August was 3.5% above the month’s five-year average, while limestone cargos were above the month’s five-year average by 3.7%, LCA said. Limestone loadings from U.S. quarries totaled 3.3 million tons, an increase of 5% compared to 2022.