Installs First News

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis has completed its activities in support of the development of Ocean Winds’ 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.As part of its multidisciplinary role in the project, Boskalis deployed six vessels to carry out large number of activities off the east coast of Scotland in the Moray Firth.First, Boskalis’ wholly-owned subsidiary Gardline carried out extensive geotechnical and geophysical survey works prior to the installation work.Then…

Belgium-based offshore installation services company DEME has installed the first XXL monopile foundation at the 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland.DEME used its Orion offshore installation vessel to complete the task, which is part of its work scope that includes both the installation of monopiles and transition pieces.The company’s jack-up vessel Apollo is also joining the effort, taking care of installing the transition pieces.According to DEME, it is using vibro hammer technology, minimizing the environmental impact from vibrations.Apollo vessel previously demonstrated its ex

Value Maritime announced it has completed the first in a series of nine installations of its emissions reducing Filtree systems for product and chemical tanker company Ardmore Shipping Corporation.Taking place in China, this was the first time that Value Maritime has installed its system outside of Europe. The Ardmore Seaventure is also the first Ardmore vessel now fully equipped with Value Maritime’s Filtree system. The remaining installations for Ardmore Shipping are scheduled…

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis said Monday it had completed the installation of the first U.S.-made offshore substation, built for the South Fork Wind offshore wind project.Kiewit built the 1,500-ton, 60-foot-tall substation at its Ingleside facility near Corpus Christi. After installing the foundation and the modular support frame, this week at Ørsted and Eversource’s South Fork Wind, Boskalis' Bokalift 2 offshore installation vessel completed the offshore substation installation work by lifting and installing the topside.

DEME Offshore's recently delivered flagship offshore installation vessel Orion has installed the first monopile at Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm site in the German Baltic Sea to the northeast of Rügen island. Arcadis Ost 1 is a 257 MW offshore wind project developed by Parkwind. "Deploying ‘Orion’,  the newest member of the DEME fleet and the most innovative vessel in the offshore wind industry, DEME Offshore has successfully installed the first XXL monopile at Parkwind’s Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind farm in Germany…

Heerema Marine Contractors' giant semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir has lifted and installed the first new topside for TotalEnergies' Tyra redevelopment in the Danish North Sea.Noreco, TotalEnergies' partner in the project, shared the photos of the installation via social media on Tuesday."The world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir, with an incredible precision, has now lifted off the first new Tyra topside and installed it on the jacket. This is an important step towards what will be a state-of-the-art facility in the North Sea…

A cruise ship has been fitted with the world's first at-sea PCR laboratory to test passengers and crews for COVID-19 as cruise lines look for ways to safely resume voyages amid the prevailing coronavirus pandemic. The full-scale lab installed aboard Viking's luxury cruise ship Viking Star has capacity to perform daily non-invasive saliva tests for every passenger and crew member, the company said on Monday.Viking's announcement comes days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a framework for a phased approach to resume cruise voyages…

Wind Turbine Installation Vessel MPI Adventure installed the first of 72 SWT-4.0-130 offshore wind turbines on the Sandbank offshore wind farm. MPI Adventure is capable of installing 6 of these complete offshore wind turbines per cycle. After MPI Adventure completed its contract to assist with the commissioning of the offshore substation on the Sandbank offshore wind farm, she has re-mobilized for the offshore wind turbine installation works. On July 28th, well in advance of its original schedule, the vessel now completed the installation of the first turbine. MPI was responsible for the design, engineering and manufacturing of the sea fastenings which will be used during the transportation and installation of all the above mentioned turbines.

AccessESP, a leading provider of rigless electric submersible pump (ESP) conveyance solutions for the worldwide oil industry, has successfully installed two of its new Access375 systems on the North Slope of Alaska, the first commercial deployments of this system. Both the first and second installations of the Access375 annular flow permanent completion with 130-horsepower Access375 retrievable assemblies were completed flawlessly, with no lost time in August and October 2015, respectively, saving hours in deployment time when compared to traditional ESP systems. “We are excited to announce that the first commercial installations of our Access375 system were successfully deployed without a hitch,” said David Malone, chief executive officer, AccessESP.

The construction of the new offshore wind farm Luchterduinen entered its final and most noticeable phase yesterday, with the installation of the first wind turbine by Van Oord’s new transport and installation vessel, the Aeolus. The other 42 wind turbines will be installed during the coming weeks. The wind farm is expected to be put into operation in August. The components of the wind turbines (tower, nacelle, blades) shall be transported from their construction location to the port of Esbjerg in Denmark. The Aeolus has sufficient capacity for the transportation and offshore installation of all the components of eight wind turbines at once. It shall take the Aeolus 30 hours to sail from Esbjerg to Luchterduinen wind farm.

1806  - Spring pole cable drilling developed in US. 1844  - Fluid circulating rotary well drilling patented in England. 1845  - Circulated fluid used to remove drill cuttings for first time. 1860  - Fluid circulation rotary diamond coring drill developed in France. 1869 – T homas Fitch Rowland  patents  a “submarine drilling apparatus,” a fixed, working platform for drilling offshore to a depth of almost 50 feet. The anchored tower had telescoping legs, similar to modern offshore platforms. 1878  - First bulk oil tanker begins operation in the Caspian Sea. 1891  - First ocean-going tanker launched. 1897  - Wells drilled off piers in Summerland, Calif. 1905 – Oil discovered in the Caddo Pine Island field in Lousiana. 1911  -  Gulf Refining Co.

Siemens has installed the HelWin1 offshore platform in the North Sea, marking the completion of a stage in German grid connection projects. HelWin1 will link the two offshore wind farms Nordsee Ost and Meerwind to the mainland. Using the Siemens technology installed on the platform, the alternating current power generated by the wind turbines is transformed into low-loss direct current for transmission onto land. Starting next year, this will enable the network operator and purchaser TenneT to supply clean electricity to more than 500,000 German households on the mainland.

Transas supples a simulator to the training centre of Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka in Russia. The system has been designed for training of personnel operating cranes offshore on the Arctic shelf. The platform intended for the operation of the cranes is the Prirazlomnaya platform (the first Arctic-class ice-resistant oil platform in the world) to be used as an offshore platform prototype. The crane simulator models control systems, hydraulics and crane interrior arrangement (systems…

Jumbo’s DP2 heavy lift vessel Jumbo Javelin has successfully installed the first Transition Pieces (TPs) for the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in Denmark. The operation was performed as planned with respect to every detail: transport, installation, accessibility of the TP, grouting and safety. Once again Jumbo proved to have an efficient concept for the transport and installation of wind farm foundations with the use of only one free floating vessel on DP. After loading the first nine Transition Pieces in Aalborg, Denmark, they were transported to the offshore location.

Jumbo Offshore’s engineers and the crew of DP2-vessel Jumbo Javelin have successfully installed their first Transition Piece (TP), off the UK’s south-east coast. This is the first time that a TP has been transported and installed with only one DP2 vessel. The installation trial included leveling and grouting operations and even the removal of the TP. With a workability for critical lifts in wave heights up to at least Hs = 1.5m, Jumbo Offshore is now able to deliver various installation services for offshore wind farms.

Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) announces on Feb. 3 that it has sold its first Iridium-based compliant Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) terminals in partnership with Iridium Satellite LLC. CLS is a provider of satellite-based environmental data collection, location and ocean observation services. Through the CLS-Iridium partnership, CLS also delivered corresponding LRIT Conformance Test Certificates on behalf of the flag administration. The new SOLAS LRIT regulation requiring LRIT capabilities went into force December 31, 2008, and applies to all passenger and cargo ships above 300 gross tons. For months, shipowners worldwide have been testing their onboard equipment for compliance with IMO Circular MSC.1/Circ.1296.

The stumbling economy took its toll on the Great Lakes coal trade in January. Shipments totaled only 778,971 net tons, just half the volume of a year ago, and certainly one of the slowest Januarys in recent memory. With the Lakes now largely closed by winter, the low January coal total could come back to haunt the nation if power plants find themselves short of coal. A recently-released study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that Great Lakes shipping annually saves its customers $3.6b in transportation costs compared to the land-based modes. However, all U.S.-Flag lakers are now in winter lay-up and undergoing annual maintenance, so the fleet would not be able to meet any demand for coal until March at the earliest. Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) announces on Feb.

Transas Eurasia, Transas’ agent for Russia and CIS areas, has installed a VTMS training simulation complex at the Makarov State Maritime Academy (St. Petersburg, Russia). This is the first simulator of its kind installed in Russia, which guarantees the high level of VTMS training required to meet international navigation standards. The new VTMS training complex includes one instructor station, two specialised work places for VTMS operators, a full-scale navigation bridge with real control panels and 135-degree visualisation system, and a navigation bridge with one-channel visualisation. The VTMS simulator permits the use in the exercise of 48 ownship models and 43 sailing areas.

The Navy will field the first Shipboard Protection System (SPS) aboard a naval surface combatant this month. The SPS equips the ship’s commander with organic tools to rapidly assess asymmetric threats and defend against terrorist attacks like the one that severely damaged the USS Cole in 2000. Ultimately, most U.S. naval surface vessels will have an SPS onboard to provide integrated anti-terrorism/force protection capabilities while operating in littoral waters, such as foreign or domestic ports, restricted waterways, and coastal areas, where naval ships might be attacked by terrorist. To transition the technology as rapidly as possible to the fleet…

In August 2002, Transas successfully commissioned its Engine Room Simulator at the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is the first Transas simulator installed in this country. The ERS 2000 Version 5.4.2 supplied to the College comprises one instructor station and three interactive trainee workstations with full set of simulator’s modules. The installation was followed by a standard 3-days operational and instructor’s training course organized by Transas specialists. Transas Marine’s ERS 2000 is a PC-based networked simulator, which includes up to 12 interactive Trainee workstations operating under Instructor control and monitoring.

Houston-based Cal Dive International established another Gulf of Mexico first when it installed a reeled flowline/riser combination for Kerr-McGee in East High Island block A-379 in 350 ft. of water. Cal Dive utilized its newly established Pipe Spool Base at their Morgan City, Louisiana operational headquarters to: weld, x-ray, sand blast and coat 14,000 ft. of 4.5 in. 337 wall pipe with fusion bonded epoxy. The pipe was reeled directly onto an 28.2 ft. installation reel provided by CDI's strategic alliance partner Coflexip Stena Offshore. CDI's procedure is to secure reels on a barge during the spooling process, in order to expedite transportation to the staging area.