Rental Equipment News

Independent truckers protesting California's new "gig worker" law blockaded California's third-busiest seaport for the third straight day on Friday, delaying shipments at the state's top agricultural export hub and adding to U.S. supply chain headaches.Truck gates at all four Port of Oakland marine terminals remain closed to truck traffic on Friday. Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT), which handles about 70% of port cargo, restarted some work on ships, a port spokesperson said.Oakland port truckers began actions against the law formally known as AB5 on Monday.

Small shipyards in the U.S. are critical to the nation’s maritime operations and economic security. Typically family-owned and employing less than 1,200 workers, America’s small shipyards support more than 400,000 jobs, employ more than 100,000 Americans directly and contribute tens of billions in gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).In an effort to help support these vital assets, MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program provides funds to help drive efficiency…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced $19.6 million in grants to support capital improvements at 28 U.S. small shipyards as a part of its Small Shipyard Grant program. The grants enable small shipyards to modernize equipment and processes to fuel future growth. “These grants help create jobs in America’s small shipyards, which play a significant role in our country’s maritime sector,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.In 2013, U.S. shipbuilders produced $37.3 billion in gross domestic product.

A ceremony will be held July 29 at Cenac Marine Services headquarters in, Houma, La. To commemorate the christening of its newest vessel, M/V Quincey Cenac, as well as the company’s donation of a spud barge to Terrebonne Parish. The newest addition to Cenac’s growing fleet, M/V Quincey Cenac is the 24th and final vessel in its most recent series. Cenac Marine Services said a new series of vessels is in development for the near future. The donated spud barge will be utilized by the parish to transport equipment for levee conservation and upkeep.

Royal IHC announced it has expanded its activities with the acquisition of Fraser Hydraulic Power (FHP) in the UK and Robbins Technology Group (RTG) in Brisbane, Australia. With these latest acquisitions, IHC has expanded its offshore rental fleet and gained a stronger foothold in the mining market respectively. Founded in 1986, FHP designs and builds systems for laying subsea cables and umbilicals with tracked engines and tensioners, cable carousels, and drum handling systems in its product range. These are supplied to the subsea telecoms, renewables, and oil and gas industries. FHP operates from a recently custom-built 28,000 sq ft unit at the Neptune Energy Park in Walker, Newcastle, which is perfectly located to support its customer base of offshore marine contractors.

Lifting Gear Hire’s (LGH) Kansas City, Mo. warehouse has relocated to a new facility within the city. The new warehouse will help LGH provide faster equipment rental turn-around times for customers in and around the Kansas City area, the company said. In addition, the new warehouse will also provide an expansive selection of rental equipment, larger scale rental equipment choices and more dock space for convenient equipment loading and unloading. Founded in 1990, LGH is an organization devoted exclusively to the provision of lifting and moving equipment for rent and sale.

Schlumberger Ltd, the world's largest oilfield services company, is exploring the sale of its oilfield tools rental unit Thomas Tools, which could be valued at more than $600 million, according to people familiar with the matter. An auction is already underway for Thomas Tools, which has annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of around $80 million, the people said this week. Private equity firms keen to buy the unloved divisions of big conglomerates are among those that have shown interest in Thomas Tools, the people said. Boutique investment firm PPHB is advising Schlumberger on the sale process, one of the people added. The sources asked not to be identified because the process is confidential.

Swire Oilfield Services, global supplier of cargo carrying solutions, modular systems, offshore aviation services and fluid management says it plans to further invest in Southeast Asia with the development of three new operational yards and the arrival of new rental equipment to its fleet. The company, which established its first Southeast Asia base in Singapore in 2010 and has since opened further bases across the region, is the largest supplier of DNV certified cargo carrying units in the Southeast Asia market. To better meet increasing customer demand in the region, the company has invested more than $10 million USD by expanding its cargo carrying unit rental fleet and further developing operating bases in Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand.

Gauthiers’, a Lafayette-based supplier of oil and gas industry containers and support equipment, officially opened the doors to its newly relocated and expanded Houma facility with a community crawfish boil on Friday, April 11. Approximately 200 invited guests dug into more than 1,000 pounds of boiled crawfish, toured the new facility and learned about the company’s newest products. By moving to a larger, 6-acre property and constructing a new facility on Highway 182, Gauthiers’ will substantially expand its capacity…

SBP Holdings, through its wholly owned subsidiary Bishop Lifting Products, has completed the acquisition of Delta Rigging & Tools headquartered in Houston, Texas. Bishop Lifting Products and Delta Rigging & Tools specialize in the fabrication and distribution of slings, wire rope and rigging products, crane and rigging inspection services, engineered solutions and equipment rentals. The combined Company will go to market under the brands Bishop Lifting Products, Delta Rigging & Tools, Delta Rentals & Rigging, and Morgan City Rentals. The Company currently operates 23 branches in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and North Dakota with over 700 employees.

Saltire Energy has announced plans to expand its operations in Aberdeen following a £5 million investment in a 2.6-acre site in Badentoy, Portlethen. Planning permission has been secured for 4,650 sq. ft. of offices, a 12,500 sq. ft. warehouse and a 12,500 sq. ft. workshop on the new site with approximately 75,000 sq. ft. of additional open storage space. The company will retain its two existing facilities which are 10,500 sq. ft. and 22,550 sq. ft. on Badentoy Road in Portlethen and the warehouse space which the company currently leases in Tullos, Aberdeen will also move to Portlethen.

Hoover Container Solutions, a subsidiary of Hoover Group, Inc., has acquired Dolphin Energy Equipment LLC, a leading provider of cargo and waste management rental equipment and related consumables in the Gulf of Mexico region. Headquartered in New Iberia, La., with a distribution and service center in Port Fourchon, La., Dolphin’s assets include a diversified fleet of cargo carrying units (“CCUs”) certified to the highest standards including DNV and API regulations. Dolphin is best known for its offshore baskets, trash compactors, food disposal units, pipe slings and related consumables and services. Hoover’s Chief Executive Officer…

ChukarWaterjet, Inc., a supplier of waterjet parts and waterjet rental equipment, announced the launching of its new website at www.chukarwaterjet.com. ChukarWaterjetsupplies competitively priced quality waterjet parts for all major brands of waterjet cutting and cleaning equipment, including Flow International, Omax, KMT, Jet Edge and WSI. Dedicated to helping its customers reduce downtime and increase productivity, the Minnesota-based company offers same-day shipment and fast delivery of UHP pump parts…

International equipment solutions specialist Ashtead Technology has added to its team with the appointment of Neil Harrap as NDT Market Manager. Neil is a highly experienced nondestructive testing (NDT) specialist having spent 31 years in aerospace engineering with the Ministry of Defence, much of which was spent with the RAF. During this time, Neil’s roles included NDT Equipment Subject Matter Specialist, NDT Field Team Manager, Military Tri-Service NDT School Instructor and Aerospace Engineering Technician. More recently, he has been a lecturer at TWI and provided technical support for one of the world’s leading manufacturers of advanced NDT instruments. The appointment, which is a new position, has added to the company’s capabilities as specialists in NDT.

Mitch Hausman, President & CEO of Delta Rigging & Tools, Inc., discusses his company’s strategy to expand its core business through acquisition, including insights on its largest ever: the purchase this summer of Morgan City Rentals. Delta Rigging & Tools is a provider of a wide range of Industrial lifting, rigging and associated products, serving diverse markets from energy to transportation, maritime and offshore to name but a few. The company is on a mission to grow both organically and through acquisitions…

International subsea equipment solutions specialist Ashtead Technology has added to its management team with the appointment of Tim Sheehan as commercial director. The appointment, which is a new position, comes as part of the company’s strategy to expand its global service offering which includes rental equipment, calibration, repair and maintenance, offshore personnel and bespoke engineered solutions. With more than 30 years of subsea industry experience, Mr. Sheehan takes up his new role following two years as executive vice president commercial at Reef Subsea…

Delta Rigging & Tools, Inc., a provider of lifting and rigging products and related services in the United States, announced the acquisition of Morgan City Rentals, a provider of offshore rental equipment and rigging supply in the Gulf of Mexico. Established in 1970, Morgan City Rentals is headquartered in Morgan City, La., with additional locations in Golden Meadow and Broussard, La. Morgan City Rentals provides a wide range of offshore rental equipment, wire rope, rigging hardware and supplies, sling fabrication and compliance load testing to the offshore oil and gas industry. Combined with Delta Rigging & Tools’ existing operations in Broussard and Houma…

HitecVision acquires 100% of Deep Sea Mooring, a subsidiary of Odfjell Drilling, a privately owned international drilling contractor. Deep Sea Mooring is a significant provider of rented mooring equipment, pre-lay mooring solutions and ancillary services to E&P companies and drilling rig operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The company was established by Odfjell in 2008 as an in-house mooring service company and has become one of three providers of mooring rental equipment, pre-lay mooring solutions and ancillary services to E&P companies and drilling contractors operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Deep Sea Mooring has an estimated 25 market share of the NCS mooring equipment rentals market, serving it through their locations in Mongstad and Kristiansund, Norway.

Ashtead Technology, announces the sale of its North American Instruments business. The Instruments business, which specialises in the rental of onshore environmental monitoring, non-destructive testing and visual inspection equipment, has been acquired by New Jersey-headquartered Pine Environmental Services LLC. Allan Pirie, CEO at Ashtead Technology, said: "The divestment of the North American Instruments business is a key step in our long-term growth strategy to focus on our Offshore business, which has significant growth potential in the coming years.

Kongsberg Maritime Ltd announced at Ocean Business 2013 that it will add a number of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) to its rental pool during 2013 and 2014. The addition of AUV capability will further enhance the existing portfolio of Kongsberg Maritime Ltd rental equipment, which supports customers within the offshore oil and gas, environmental and renewable energy markets. Other leading Kongsberg products available via the rental service include acoustic positioning systems and transponders, multibeam echosounders and DP reference sensors. www.km.kongsberg.com

H2O, Inc., a leading water system equipment provider, has named Ira Pryor Gulf Coast Sales Consultant, announced H2O President Jess Fike. Pryor will focus on the Gulf Coast drilling market. His responsibilities will include sales and coordinating service for H2O’s patented Reverse Osmosis Watermaker Systems and rental equipment. Pryor has more than 25 years of sales experience in the oil and gas industry. He has extensive experience in specialized tools and providing technical support and training to customers.

International oilfield services company, Reservoir Group, has announced the acquisition of Mudlogging Services Inc (MSI), the US-based developer and supplier of the MLogger series of gas detection systems. Founded in 2001, MSI is headquartered in Grand Junction, Colorado. From this base, the company leases its specialised systems and software to a number of major operators and independent oil and gas companies across the US and worldwide, including Mexico, Africa and Eastern Europe.

CEO Appointment Signals Growth Plans. Ashtead Technology Offshore, an international subsea equipment solutions specialist, has announced its move to new global headquarters in Westhill, Aberdeen. The investment in the new premises follows on from the recent appointment of Allan Pirie as CEO. The new facility has doubled the company’s capacity incorporating offices, warehouse, maintenance workshops and a specialised calibration laboratory, representing a £750,000 investment. Ashtead Technology has recruited 15 new staff in 2012 and the new base will enable further recruitment plans in 2013.