Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit News

A deteriorated bollard led to a Valaris drillship breaking away and colliding with a bulk carrier in Pascagoula, Miss. last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.On March 12, 2022, the mobile offshore drilling unit Valaris DS-16 was in the process of being reactivated at the ST Engineering Halter Marine and Offshore Shipyard (STEHMO) when it broke away from the dock in strong winds, drifted across the Bayou Casotte channel and collided with the bulk carrier Akti.

The region could be a key growth market for the oil and gas industry going forward, writes Joshua Belo-Osagie, Maritime Strategies International (MSI).Improving sentiment surrounds energy market prospects offshore West Africa, the positive mood underpinned by higher oil prices, reformed regulatory frameworks in key markets including Angola and Nigeria and the discovery of major prospects off the Ivory Coast and Namibia.In addition, the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only reinforced some of these pre-existing dynamics…

St. CMS operates a range of marine simulation equipment that covers a broad range of marine and offshore activities. Much of the equipment is highly specialized and unique including fully motion capable simulators. The center also provides technical management and support of simulation equipment that is used by other parts of the Marine Institute. CMS simulation activities can be divided into three main areas; Training, Industrial Response, and Applied Research. To support these…

Cathelco will provide a marine growth prevention system (MGPS) for the latest in a series of jack-up drilling rigs to be built by Lamprell, the UAE based  leading provider of fabrication, engineering and contracting services to the offshore and onshore oil and gas and renewable energy industries. This will be the ninth MGPS to be supplied to Lamprell for jack-up rigs constructed at its Hamriyah facility. The order was won by Cathelco Middle East FZC based in Sharjah which was set up in 2015 to provide sales and engineering support for customers throughout the region.

Nearly six years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hollywood takes its shot at recounting the tragedy with a film due this fall aiming to tell the story on the fatal blowout and its aftermath. The oil spill, one of the largest environmental disasters in global history, is depicted in the film Deepwater Horizon, named after the Transocean-operated semisubmersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit which suffered a catastrophic blowout and explosion on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and injuring 16 others…

The Head of Class: Christopher J. The global maritime industry faces myriad challenges in the ongoing quest to run safe, profitable operations in an oftentimes tumultuous environment. More than ever vessel owners are faced with daunting regulatory and technical challenges, and the world’s leading classification societies remain the foundation upon which successful marine operations are built. Last month we visited with Christopher J. Wiernicki, the head of ABS and the newly elected head of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), for insight and analysis.

Fugro’s dynamically positioned multi-purpose drilling, well intervention and geotechnical vessel, Fugro Synergy, will showcase her capabilities on a multi well intervention campaign which recently started in the Gulf of Mexico. The campaign involves utilization of a top tensioned 6 5/8” riser and coiled tubing, and fieldwork for the contract is being undertaken jointly by the Cross Group Inc and Fugro, to employ the MODU (mobile offshore drilling unit). The vessel was designed and built specifically for well intervention services…

In a multi-million pound boost to the Northern Ireland economy, Belfast ship builder Harland and Wolff has secured a contract to carry out major work on an oil rig. Dolphin Drilling Limited has awarded H&W the contract for the drydocking and Renewal/Special Periodic Survey of its Byford Dolphin Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU). H&W Director of ship and offshore unit repair, James Lappin said that this was a significant project for Harland and Wolff and for Northern Ireland. As well as employment opportunities, the supply chain within Northern Ireland will see significant activity in support of the project, he added. Around 1,000 contractors will be employed to overhaul the structure for up to 10 weeks and 60 permanent staff are to be recruited, the Belfast firm announced.

William Cho, Head of MatthewsDaniel Weather, a division of the Bureau Veritas Group, explains why improvements in drilling technologies and weather monitoring systems have made offshore shelf drilling operations in the Arctic Circle increasingly attractive to upstream oil and gas companies and their investors. Rising crude oil prices motivate not only technological innovators to explore cheaper alternative energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, but also upstream oil and gas companies to explore new oil reserves which had not otherwise been economical.

ABS, a global provider of classification services to the marine and offshore industries, announces the opening of a new office in Beijing. This move shows ABS' determination in expanding best-in-class service for the Chinese market. This new office will allow further collaboration with government, industry, academic institutions and research organizations and is part of ABS' continued commitment to serving the growing marine and offshore industries in China. "Since we opened our first China office in Shanghai in 1993…

New SOLAS requirements for enclosed space entry and rescue drills, and draft requirements for portable atmosphere testing. Because of the serious threat posed to people working in enclosed spaces on board ships, the IMO has introduced new requirements to SOLAS Chapter III, regulation 19, which enter into force on 1 January, 2015. From this date, crew members will be required to participate in an enclosed space entry and rescue drill on board the ship at least once every two months.

Drydocks World, the international service provider to the shipping, maritime, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced the completion of a  major refurbishment carried out on National Drilling Company’s (NDC) Offshore Drilling Rig Al Ghallan. The project is part of a series of four rig repair and refurbishment projects signed with NDC in 2013. Before that, eight projects were completed. The numbers of projects carried out for NDC have progressively increased over the years. Drydocks World has a well-established reputation in the rig repair, refit and refurbishment segment. The company has successfully dry-docked, repaired and refurbished 125 Offshore Platform Vessels (OPV) belonging to major companies.

Drydocks World, the international service provider to the shipping, maritime, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced the completion of a major refurbishment carried out on National Drilling Company’s (NDC) Offshore Drilling Rig Al Ghallan. The project is part of a series of four rig repair and refurbishment projects signed with NDC in 2013. Before that, eight projects were completed. The numbers of projects carried out for NDC have progressively increased over the years. Drydocks World claims a well-established reputation in the rig repair, refit and refurbishment segment.

International oil and gas service specialist HSOG has joined forces with the Chowgule Group, a multi-industrial International conglomerate, to offer a full range of maintenance and modification services to the offshore sector to service the international market. HSOG will now offer services to the world offshore market from the Chowgule Groups newly built Lavgan Dockyard, situated midway between Mumbai and Goa on the west coast of India. The $200m shipyard development has been completed over the last five years, and offers full Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) and Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) repair capability from a range of sheltered deep-water quays off the Arabian Sea.

As part of its continuing response to the Deepwater Horizon incident, the U.S. The Federal Register Friday published the U.S. Coast Guard's (USCG) notice of recommended interim voluntary guidelines concerning fire and explosion analyses for mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) and manned fixed and floating offshore facilities engaged in activities on the U.S. outer continental shelf. This notice is part of the Coast Guard's continuing response to the explosion, fire and sinking of the MODU Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico April 20, 2010.

Oil and gas—and also mining—are the drivers today propelling Arctic maritime operations and the construction of new vessels able to operate in extreme latitudes. While the gas and oil resources can be recovered in the Arctic or far north and shipped to markets by sea or pipeline, the cost of doing must be balanced upon the global market price for those commodities. Ships and marine structures able to operate in the harsh conditions of the extreme latitudes require special designs and construction techniques.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Thursday released the report of investigation into the circumstances surrounding the grounding of the mobile offshore drilling unit Kulluk on the eastern coast of Sitkalidak Island, Alaska, Dec. 31, 2012. A series of events contributed to the causal factors that resulted in the grounding of the Kulluk, with the most significant factor being the inadequate assessment and management of risks associated with a complex vessel movement during the winter in the unique and challenging operating environment of Alaska. Among the safety recommendations issued in the report is the recommendation that the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant partner with the Towing Safety Advisory Council to establish a working group to draft and accept a task statement addressing…

Acteon company InterMoor completed decommissioning operations of the Innovator platform in the Gulf of Mexico’s Gomez field, Mississippi Canyon Block 711. Conducted in water depths of 910 meters, the scope of work involved disconnecting 10 risers/umbilicals; disconnecting 12 mooring lines and then towing the Innovator to Ingleside, Texas. InterMoor said it developed special procedures for disconnection and towing, procured rigging and tow equipment for all vessels including the Anchor Handling Vessel (AHV)…

The Tungsten Explorer is an ultra deepwater, dynamically positioned mobile offshore drilling unit (Drillship). The primary areas of activities of the Drillship shall be in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Brazil. The drillship has drilling equipment on the topside with a continuous main deck and forecastle deck. Three engine rooms which house six diesel engines (7,000 kW x 720 rpm) are arranged aft in the hull. Thruster machinery spaces are arranged in engine rooms and in the forward machinery space of the hull…

On the evening of April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon suffered a blowout while drilling in the Macondo Prospect, an area in the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana. The platform caught fire; two days later, it sank. Numerous attempts were made to seal the well, but oil continued to spew into the Gulf until July 15, when a temporary cap was put in place. Relief wells then pumped concrete into the area underneath the wellhead, and the well was deemed permanently sealed in mid-September.

ABS, provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, announced the release of the ABS Guidance Notes on Accidental Load Analysis and Design for Offshore Structures. ABS developed a new and unique Guidance Note for assessing the structural consequences of accidental loads. While conventional design criteria typically take into account such variables as wind, wave, current and weather conditions, they do not include guidance on assessing design integrity under the accidental loads of impact from moving vessels, dropped objects, fire or blast hazards. ABS Guidance Notes on Accidental Load Analysis and Design for Offshore…

An Atwood Oceanics subsidiary has entered into a turnkey construction contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to construct a fourth ultra-deepwater drillship, to be named 'Atwood Archer'. The Atwood Archer is expected to be delivered by December31, 2015 at a total cost, including two blowout preventers , project management, drilling and handling tools and spares, of approximately $635-million. Upon delivery, the new rig will become the seventeenth mobile offshore drilling unit owned by the Company.

ABS hosted its Annual Meeting in New York on April 23, 2013. ABS Chairman, Robert D. In 2012, the ABS-classed fleet reached 193.5 million gross tons, a growth rate of more than 4% year-on-year. ABS also maintained its leading position in the global orderbook with 21% of all vessels on order designated for ABS class. With nearly 70% of all vessels aged ten years or less, ABS has one of the youngest fleets showing a strong foundation for a successful future of the organization.