Work Vessel

Strong Track-record Wins Repeat MacGregor Orders

A series of new MacGregor offshore winch orders, secured in October, will serve the strong demand for maintenance, hook-up and commissioning services for existing oil platforms within the shallow water region of the Malay basin, says Francis Wong, Director, Segment Sales and Marketing, Offshore.   "As oil prices remain high and oil majors continue to invest in exploration and production activities in the region, this has continued to boost the demand for new businesses relating to these services," explains Mr Wong. "Consequently, maintenance work boats and barges are in high demand to serve the needs of the area's oil platforms, many of which are operated by Petronas and Shell.   "Our equipment has a proven track-record in the area and the majority of these orders are repeat contracts from operators and shipyards. Our service networks within the region are another important strength," he notes. Orders secured in October include two eight-point mooring systems, each with a 90-tonne line pull, a 150-tonne brake holding capability and a 1,500m x 52mm diameter wire drum capacity, for accommodation work barges. The vessels are being built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd, in China, under a subcontract agreement with leading Malaysian offshore support vessel builder, Nam Cheong Dockyard Sdn Bhd. The equipment is scheduled for delivery between the second and third quarter of 2013.  

Houston Ship Channel Reopens Vessel Traffic

The Houston Ship Channel reopened to vessel traffic after being closed for three to four hours after a collision between a towboat and a work vessel in which one person was killed, a U.S. Coast Guard official said. The collision occurred near the Barbour's Cut location on the ship channel, a busy waterway lined with oil refineries and petrochemical plants that links Houston to Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the fatality, five people were thrown into the water

Halliburton Launches State-of-the-Art Vessel for GOM Work

Halliburton Energy Services has deployed a new vessel, M/V Cape Hawke, to Carmen, Mexico to enhance its contract longstanding with PEMEX. The new vessel replaces M/V 221, which has been providing services for PEMEX in the Gulf of Mexico for the last 19 years. M/V Cape Hawke is the second totally new state-of-the-art vessel unveiled by Halliburton this year for work in the Gulf of Mexico. M/V Stim Star, launched in February, serves the frac pack deepwater market

LNG as Alternative Fuel on Workboats Conference Agenda

Leading maritime services experts to debate key technical, environmental, health and safety issues of adopting LNG marine fuel at Middle East Workboats 2011.   The future of LNG as a viable and sustainable alternative marine fuel for working vessels is one of the most eagerly-anticipated sessions taking place at Middle East Workboats 2011, the definitive event for workboat operators, builders and equipment suppliers

C-Vu 3D VTS: New 3D Vessel Tracking System

The new course to follow in controlling port traffic. A step change to enhance safety and improve operational efficiency.   Large ships navigating narrow waterways are always vulnerable to accidents – one only has to think of the Sea Empress tanker disaster at Milford Haven, or more recently the wrecking of the Costa Concordia. Managing their progress, usually in and out of ports and in other restricted channels, has understandably assumed a critical role in ensuring their safety

Shipbuilding Industry Makes a Soft Landing

The  landing has been cushioned by a shift in orders from mainstream-type merchant ships towards specialised offshore segment support vessels. According to the BIMCO analysis the shipyard industry seemed to head straight for the output-abyss just 15 months ago. Today the transition from recent years' record high shipyard output to a more sustainable level of output appears to soft-land with global shipyard output clearly slowing down

Vessel Management Services Christens New ATB Tank Vessel

Vessel Management Services, Inc., a Crowley Maritime Corporation subsidiary and part of its corporate services segment, Friday christened the third of four Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) tank vessels that the company will take delivery of this year. The vessels, 9,280 horsepower tug Ocean Reliance and 155,000-barrel barge 550-3, were built by The Manitowoc Company, Inc. At ceremonies held at the Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wis, Molly Crowley, a director on Crowley's board

FB150 to Bring Large Vessel Connectivity to Small Vessels

Inmarsat announced that it is to expand its FleetBroadband family to offer an entry-level, globally deployable, combined voice and data service targeted at small vessels. The new service, FB150, will deliver voice, IP data up to 150kbps and SMS, and is planned to be available by mid-2009. Inmarsat has developed the new service to address the needs of smaller leisure, fishing and commercial vessels with lower data requirements than the high performance FB250 and FB500

Work Begins on Offshore Substations

The state of the art crane vessel the Oleg Strashnov arrived at the Sheringham Shoal site early last week after a trip to Vlissingen in Holland to pick up further monopiles, and has resumed foundation installations.  Currently persons on board number 162, although this number will fluctuate according to activity.A new vessel operated by Visser and Smit, the Smit Constructor, also arrived on site last week.  The Constructor is carrying out secondary work in support of the windfarm

Passenger Vessel Association Opposes Bill Allowing Foreign-Flagged Ships to Compete with U.S. Passenger Vessels

Alexandria, VA:The Board of Directors of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) yesterday unanimously voted to oppose enactment of a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow foreign-flagged passenger vessels to directly compete with their American-flagged counterparts.   The PVA Board action reaffirmed support of the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) which reserves the commercial carriage of passengers between U.S. ports for vessels that are U.S.-flagged, U.S