Sign Joint News

Artemis Technologies has announced a joint venture with Denmark’s Tuco Marine Group to produce the world’s first zero emissions workboat.Artemis Technologies will collaborate with Tuco Marine Group to integrate its new electric eFoiler propulsion system into an 11m carbon fiber vessel.This will serve as a demonstrator vessel as proof of concept for the innovative technology that will be marketed to the marine trade by Artemis Technologies and Tuco Marine Group, which supplies the ProZero high performance Workboat range.  The hydrofoils and propulsion system for the proof of concept vessel will be manufactured and assembled in Belfast Harbour, following a multi million pound investment in the project.

The German RWE Dea has signed a Joint Study Agreement with Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR) on evaluation of the hydrocarbon prospectivity in an area south of Baku in the Caspian Sea. The main goal of the agreement is to identify further exploration opportunities by conducting geological and geophysical analysis in the study area, which is located between Karadagh and Hamamdagh. It covers approximately 850 square kilometres and lies in shallow waters, with water depths up to 30 metres. The agreement will give an opportunity to deepen knowledge about the subsurface in highly prolific areas of the Caspian Sea. “We are pleased to have such an experienced partner as SOCAR by our side and we are looking forward to continue working with the company,'' said Dr.

Unique Maritime Group, an integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solutions provider, announced a joint venture agreement with OEG Offshore (OEG), to offer the rental and sale of offshore equipment in the Middle East region. The new joint venture company, OEG Unique, which will be based in UAE & QATAR, will provide local access to OEG’s full range of over 200 individual certified designs of DNV 2.7-1 certified Cargo Carrying Units (CCUs) and A60 modules across the GCC countries.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sudamericana Agencias Aereas y Maritimas S.A. (SAAM) for joint harbour towage operations. The partnership would involve two joint ventures and is between SMIT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boskalis, and SAAM. The geographic scope of the first joint venture covers the Brazilian towage market. Both companies are currently active in Brazil and Boskalis with SMIT will have a 51% majority share in this joint venture. The combination with a total of 41 tug boats will form an important  player in the growing market of Brazil. The second joint venture in which SAAM will hold a 51% majority stake relates to the towage activities in Panama and Canada (SMIT) and Mexico (SAAM).

MHI will provide technological support to Sinopacific in the area of commercial vessel construction. MHI is currently promoting expansion of its engineering business mainly through licensing of technology, while Sinopacific is taking steps to strengthen its shipbuilding business through introduction of technologies from advanced shipbuilders. The respective aims of the two companies thus coincide. As their first collaborative work, the two firms will jointly develop an 82…

O'Brien Oil Pollution Service, Inc. (OOPS) and Ulysses Systems, Inc. have signed an agreement to jointly market their maritime consulting services and Ulysses' Task Assistant(TM) applications software for the marine industry. OOPS will continue to provide clients with vessel management plans, procedures and best practices that enhance the quality, environmental and safety operations on-board. Implementing these plans with the Task Assistant(TM) will make them much more readily available and accessible to the people who need to see them on a daily basis. "From our perspective, Ulysses' technical solutions will assist our clients in becoming more efficient and productive in managing the large amount of information necessary to meet today's regulatory requirements for vessel operations…

Petrobras will reportedly sign an exploration and production contract with the local units of Shell, Mobil and Exxon.

ABS has signed an expanded agreement of cooperation with Vietnam Register (VR) covering the provision of a wide range of classification and statutory certification services. Christopher J Wiernicki, ABS President and Nguyen Van Ban, General Director of Vietnam Register signed the agreement at ABS’s Corporate Headquarters in Houston on Monday 14 May. The two societies had been operating under a more limited cooperative agreement, originally signed in 1994 and subsequently amended in 1999. A key element of the new agreement is a program that will be instituted by ABS to train and qualify VR surveyors to ABS standards. The agreement also…

Bay-Houston Towing Co., Suderman & Young Towing Co. LP, and Moran Towing Corporation are pleased to announce they have jointly contracted with the ConocoPhillips Company to provide harbor tug services for LNG vessels calling at the Freeport LNG terminal, currently under construction in the Port of Freeport, Texas. Bay-Houston and Suderman & Young will each provide one 6300 hp Z-Tech tractor tug while Moran Towing Corp. will provide a 5100 hp ASD tractor tug. ABS Escort Service; and ABS Fire Fighting Vessel Class 1. Galveston, Texas will operate the three tugboats. The tugs will deliver a combined bollard pull in excess of 235 short tons. The Z-Techs are powered by two Caterpillar 3516C HD engines providing 6300 hp (4700 kw). Schottel Model SRP 1520 Z-drives.

Seaarland Shipping Management and Nordic Tankers signed a joint venture that will see both of these companies enter the Handysize product carrier market. The joint venture will involve investment in modern second-hand vessels as well as new buildings. The vessels will be jointly owned by both partners in varying proportions. The first acquisition by the joint venture, the 2000-built 35,820 dwt Hanne, is to be concluded soon. Seaarland will be fully responsible for managing the vessels which will be operated in the Handytankers pool, currently made up of vessels from Seaarland, Maersk, D'Amico, Motia and CST.

The government is putting together an action plan to solve a rig shortage crisis in the North Sea, but experts claim that no new rigs are available for hire until the end of 2007, the Sunday Herald reported. Surging demand for equipment is caused by the high oil price, which has made previously abandoned discoveries economically viable again. The shortage of exploring rigs has forced the industry and the Department of Trade and Industry to come up with a plan, yet to be published, which involves the sharing of rigs. Mobile rigs are used to drill for oil and assess the extent of a find. Rigs, which sat disused in the Moray Firth three years ago, in a flat exploration market, are now the hottest properties on the sea.

Lloyd’s Register Asia signed an agreement to establish a joint venture with China Classification Society (CCS). The exclusive agreement was signed by David Moorhouse, Executive Chairman of Lloyd’s Register, and Li Kejun, President of CCS. The joint venture, to be based in Beijing, will enable the rapid roll out of a number of key products and services to the benefit of the maritime industry in China. Lloyd’s Register Asia is keen to introduce more of its established products and services into China, while CCS has a large Chinese client base and wishes to widen its portfolio. The agreement will make it possible for both parties to introduce relevant products and services, in Chinese, in a much shorter time than would otherwise be the case.