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Ultra Deepwater News

22 Jan 2024

Subsea 7 Pipelay Vessel to be Equipped with Huisman’s Crane

(Credit: Huisman)

Dutch company Huisman has secured a contract from Subsea 7 for the delivery of its 500MT offshore mast crane for one of pipelay vessels for deep water installations.The 500mt Offshore Mast Crane will be equipped with a passive and active heave compensation system on the main hoist to counter-act the vessel’s heave motion when landing a product onto the seabed.Huisman has upgraded its heave compensation system with a variety of new control modes to extend the operational window…

17 Jan 2024

Stena Drilling Takes Delivery of Stena Evolution Drillship

Stena Evolution (Credit: Stena Drilling)

Offshore drilling contractor Stena Drilling has taken delivery of its 7th generation Stena Evolution ultra-deepwater drillship from Samsung Heavy Industries.After a decade in the making, Stena Evolution drillship has finally been completed and is ready for its first job.The technologically advanced drillship is capable of operating at water depths of up to 12,000ft (around 3,500 meters) and drilling depths up to 40,000ft (over 12,000 meters).The drilling unit utilizes riser storage in hull to offer extensive deck space with a 24…

21 Dec 2023

Valaris Takes Delivery of Two New Drillships

Credit: Valaris

Offshore drilling company Valaris has taken delivery of newbuild drillships VALARIS DS-13 and DS-14 for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $337 million.VALARIS DS-13 and DS-14 will be mobilized from South Korea to Las Palmas in Spain, where the rigs will be stacked until they are contracted for work.The purchase of the rigs is expected to increase the company’s fourth quarter 2023 capital expenditures by approximately $355 million, representing the purchase price for the rigs and costs associated with preparing the rigs to mobilize from South Korea to Las Palmas…

21 Dec 2023

Will 2024 be the Year of AHTS Recovery?

The new MS Island Victory Water Installation Vessel for Island Offshore with amazing 477 tonnes bollard pull.
Copyright Arild/AdobeStock

As 2023 is drawing to a close we would once again invite the readers of Offshore Engineer Magazine to gaze into our crystal ball to see what 2024 might have in store for the offshore support vessel industry. Before diving straight into our forward-looking sentiments however, it is important to address some of the main trends in the year that past as these lay the foundation for the year to come.Continuing the market development from the year before, 2023 very much advanced the ongoing recovery for offshore support vessels further.

18 Dec 2023

China to Conduct Sea Trials for Its First Ultra-deepwater Drilling Ship

© robinimages / Adobe Stock

China will on Friday conduct sea trials for its first ocean research drilling vessel, capable of drilling at depths of more than 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), a key step towards beefing up the country's deep-sea oil and gas exploration capabilities.It is China's first vessel capable of ultra-deepwater research and drilling, Chinese state media reported on Monday. It can travel 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers) and operate for 120 consecutive days without returning to port.

23 Oct 2023

Arbitration Tribunal Delivers Verdict: Hanwha Triumphs in Deepwater Drillship Dispute

Credit: Northern Drilling

An arbitration tribunal has delivered a verdict in a drillship order cancellation case involving offshore drilling contractor Northern Drilling and Daweoo Shipbuilding Marine and Engineering (now known as Hanwha Ocean), ruling in favor of Hanwha.Billionaire John Fredriksen-owned offshore drilling company Northern Drilling canceled the West Aquila and West Libra drillship orders with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021, citing delay of deliveries as well as a repudiatory breach of contract, and said it would seek a refund for installments paid.

31 Aug 2023

Transocean Awarded $222 Million Drillship Contract

Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 (Photo: Transocean)

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean announced it has been awarded a $222 million contract for one of its ultra-deepwater drillships to go to work offshore India.India's state-controlled Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd awarded the binding notification of award for Transocean's Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1, a sixth-generation drillship built in 2009 by South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries.The 21-month program is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2024, contributing an estimated $222 million in backlog…

14 Aug 2023

FLNG Unit for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim Project Nearing Completion

Credit: BP

The Golar Gimi FLNG unit, being built for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim project in Senegal/Mauritania offshore area, is set to sail away next month.According to Golar LNG, tasked with delivering the unit, the FLNG Gimi conversion works 97% complete. Golar LNG said that FLNG Gimi was scheduled to leave the yard in September 2023. „Final checks, storing up and sea trials will then take place in Singapore ahead of her voyage to Mauritania and Senegal, expected to commence around the end of September/early October…

21 Jun 2023

Transocean's Deepwater Titan Begins Inaugural Contract for Chevron

Deepwater Titan (Photo: Transocean)

Offshore drilling contractor Transocean said its new eighth-generation drillship Deepwater Titan has started its inaugural contract with supermajor Chevron in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Built by Singapore's Sembcorp Marine and delivered to Transocean subsidiary Triton Titan GmBH in December 2022, Deepwater Titan is the world’s second eighth-generation drillship, constructed based on the builder’s Jurong Espadon 3T design.The dual-derrick ultra-deepwater drillship is the first-ever unit delivered with two 20…

19 Jun 2023

Inside the “Hot Demand” for Subsea Construction Vessels

© Arild / Adobe Stock

A rising tide lifts all boats, as the saying goes, and while the offshore industry is currently experiencing a wide-ranging surge, there are vessel types and specific market segments that are expected to benefit more than others.One such segment is the offshore construction vessel (OCV) types, which to an increasing degree have found themselves in hot demand from both oil and gas developments as well as offshore wind activities.While vessel definitions and abbreviations in this space can vary…

27 Apr 2023

Glosten Readies PelaStar for the US Wind Energy Market

(Image: Glosten)

Glosten is growing its PelaStar partner network to prepare for Phase 2 of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Floating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize. The expanded team will focus on identifying facilities and the requisite investment to enable U.S.-based platform fabrication and marine logistics capabilities; creating workforce development plans focused on local manufacturing in underserved communities; advancing engineering readiness for ultra-deepwater sites in the U.S.

03 Jan 2023

2023 Outlook: The Offshore Service Vessel Market

Copyright Ramon Cliff/AdobeStock

The market for offshore support vessels has been through a rather rough few years since offshore exploration and production activity took a nose-dive in 2015 following the oil price crash the year before.The newbuild order boom that came with the ever-greener pastures imagined in the industry ensured that not only was the supply- and demand balance off by an insurmountable degree in the years that followed, but at its peak, in 2017, the oversupply of anchor handling tug supply…

30 Dec 2022

Sembcorp Delivers 8th-generation Drillship Deepwater Titan to Transocean

Deepwater Titan (Photo: Sembcorp Marine)

Singapore-based shipbuilder Sembcorp Marine has delivered Deepwater Titan, the world’s second 8th-generation drillship, to Transocean subsidiary Triton Titan GmBH.Deepwater Titan is the second of two new 8th-generation drillships constructed by Sembcorp Marine based on the group’s Jurong Espadon 3T design. The dual-derrick drillship is the first-ever unit delivered with two 20,000-psi blowout preventers (BOPs), well-control, riser and piping systems for high-pressure and high-temperature drilling and completion operations.

13 Dec 2022

Great Ships '22: Deepwater Atlas, “World’s First Eighth-Gen Ultra-Deepwater Drillship”

A Look inside the Deepwater Atlas, “World’s First Eighth-Generation Ultra-Deepwater Drillship”. Image courtesy Transocean

Marijana Sosic, Manager, Technical Marketing at Transocean, discusses some of the outstanding features of the Deepwater Atlas – Built in Singapore at Sembcorp Marine's Jurong Shipyard and flying the Marshall Islands flag – and sister-ship Deepwater Titan , which together represent an investment of more than $2 billion.The Deepwater Atlas was launched this year in Singapore. What, specifically, is so special about it?The Deepwater Atlas is the first of its kind eighth-generation drillship that will offer 20,000 psi well control capabilities and a 3.4 million pound hoisting capacity.

12 Dec 2022

Ailing Drillship Worker Airlifted in the Gulf of Mexico

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

An ailing worker was medevaced from a Transocean drillship 189 miles south of Port Fourchon, La., on Monday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector New Orleans received a request at 2:21 a.m. from Bristol Search and Rescue Services to medevac a 60 year-old-male who was experiencing stroke like symptoms on board the Deepwater Thalassa.The watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew and a Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew.The MH-60 aircrew arrived on scene…

03 Nov 2022

ExxonMobil Books Maersk Nomad SSV for Operations in Guyana

©Maersk Supply Service

U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has chartered the Subsea Support Vessel (SSV) Maersk Nomad for a minimum one-year contract, supporting its field development activities offshore Guyana.Maersk Nomad will be operating with two ROVs onboard, providing general and subsea support scopes for ExxonMobil’s six ultra-deepwater drillships currently operating offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block. The first charter is expected to start in mid-November 2022, out of Georgetown, Guyana.ExxonMobil…

28 Oct 2022

World's First 8th Generation Drillship Starts Maiden Contract

Deepwater Atlas - ©Transocean (supplied)

Offshore drilling company Transocean said Thursday that its Deepwater Atlas, the world's first 8th generation drillship, had started its first contract.The offshore drilling rig, delivered by Singapore's Sembcorp Marine in June, is under a contract with Beacon Offshore Energy in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.The Deepwater Atlas is the first of two ultra-deepwater drillships based on the Sembcorp Marine's Jurong Espadon 3T design. The second, also owned by Transocean, is the Deepwater Titan.The Deepwater Atlas has a hook-load lifting capacity of three million pounds.

18 Oct 2022

Gallery: Itapu Oil Field FPSO Leaves Shipyard (Brazil)

©Sembcorp Marine

Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz (EJA), a Brazilian subsidiary of Singapore's Sembcorp Marine, has completed the construction of the P-71 FPSO, integrating topsides on the China-built hull.The new FPSO vessel left the EJA shipyard on Tuesday. It will be deployed at Petrobras' ultra-deepwater Itapu field in Brazil’s Santos Basin. When operational, the P-71 will produce up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD).The P-71 measures 316m by 54m and can store 1.6 million barrels. The FPSO can accommodate 166 people.Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz's P-71 work scope included the construction of six modules…

16 Sep 2022

Allseas Founder Edward Heerema Hands Over The Reins to Son Pieter

Credit: Allseas

Edward Heerema, founder and president of the offshore installation services firm Allseas, has decided to step aside after nearly forty years at the helm. His eldest son Pieter will assume the role of president of the Allseas Group. According to Allseas, Edward Heerema will remain as chairman and concentrate on developing and integrating new technological developments. Edward Heerema launched Allseas in 1985 and has since built the company into a global offshore contractor.In a press statement announcing the change at the helm…

12 Sep 2022

Royal IHC Hands Over Converted Amazon J-Lay Vessel to McDermott

Credit: Royal IHC

Dutch maritime equipment and technology firm Royal IHC has handed over the converted J-lay vessel Amazon to McDermott International.Royal IHC said: "For this project, Royal IHC has converted Amazon into the modern and state-of-the-art J-lay vessel it is today. The patented system, with dynamic top tension capacity of 1.500 tonnes, can handle a variety of pipes, including normal flowlines, export lines, and pipe-in-pipe configurations, ranging in size from 4.5 to 25 inches in diameter and inline assemblies.

18 Aug 2022

POSH Buys Boa Deep C Offshore Construction Vessel

Singapore-based offshore energy services provider PACC Offshore Services Holdings (“POSH”) has agreed to buy the 119-meter long, DP-3 offshore construction vessel ‘BOA Deep C’ from Norway's BOA OCV AS. The vessel will be renamed ‘POSH Deep C’ and will join the POSH fleet in October 2022. POSH said the addition of the multipurpose Offshore Construction Vessel (“OCV”), built in 2003, was part of its strategy to increase its service offerings. The financial details were not disclosed."The OCV’s versatility will complement the existing fleet with capabilities including subsea installation works and turnkey towage and installation services for the floating offshore wind and energy sector…

28 Oct 2022

Transocean Takes Delivery of World's First 8th Generation Drillship

Deepwater Atlas - Credit: Transocean

Singapore-based shipbuilder Sembcorp Marine has delivered the world's first 8th generation drillship, the Deepwater Atlas, to its owner Transocean.The Deepwater Atlas is the first of two ultra-deepwater drillships based on the Sembcorp Marine's Jurong Espadon 3T design. The completed drillship features three-million pound hook-load hoisting capacity and, according to the rigbuilder, sets a new frontier for next generation drillships with its ability to accommodate well control systems for 20,000 psi (pounds per square inch) drilling and completion operations.

17 Jun 2022

McDermott's Converted Vessel Amazon Christened

(Photo: McDermott)

McDermott held a christening ceremony for its newly converted vessel Amazon in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Following the conversion, the vessel's upgraded specifications enable highly automated operations, the production of hex joints from single or double joints using an onboard multi-joint facility and a pipe hold capacity of 10,000 metric tons. Its increased level of automation also enables a significant reduction in the crew numbers required to safely perform pipelay operations…

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