Aker Solutions News

Finnish companies have designed about 80 percent of the world’s icebreakers, and about 60 percent of them have been built by Finnish shipyards.Finland is home to a strong and vibrant maritime cluster, with a mix of large, medium and small shipyards, as well as a deep pool of marine engineering expertise and a broad network of vessel equipment suppliers.As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Finland is also home to a fleet of icebreakers that keep imports and exports flowing through its harbors, even during the coldest winter months.

Lifting specialist KenzFigee has signed a contract with Aker Solutions for the supply of an offshore pedestal crane destined for the Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind farm developed by Vattenfall.The delivery involves an electric hydraulic box boom offshore Ram Luffing 2400 type with a SWL of 20t, designed and manufactured by KenzFigee for installation on the Norfolk Vanguard high-voltage, direct current converter station situated off the coast of Norfolk, UK.The crane is designed and verified in accordance with EN13852-1 and certified to DNVGL-ST-0378 lifting requirements…

Crown LNG Holdings AS, a provider of LNG liquefaction and regasification terminal technologies for harsh weather locations, has agreed to merge with Catcha Investment Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, that would result in Crown becoming a U.S. publicly listed company. The combined company, named Crown LNG Holdings Limited (“PubCo”), intends to apply to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “CGBS”.Crown designs and…

In the global quest for achieving net zero emissions and slowing down global warming, carbon capture and storage (CCUS) technology has emerged as an important solution. Among the notable projects being developed in the field is the Northern Lights offshore carbon capture and storage project in Norway, a country with long experience with offshore CO2 storage.The transition to a sustainable energy future requires innovative solutions that go beyond simply halting fossil fuel projects.

After a bumper year for floating offshore wind farm tenders, the nascent industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming decade as countries strive to cut their carbon emissions. But it's unlikely to be all plain sailing. Rising costs and supply chain bottlenecks have hit some projects and without investment in infrastructure to launch the vast turbines and tow them to sea, hopes of harnessing the full power of the ocean's winds to hit climate targets could be dashed, industry experts say.

Malaysian company Yinson has secured a firm contract to provide and maintain an FPSO for Azule Energy, a BP-Eni joint venture, in Angola.The contract, awarded by Eni Angola, is for the provision of the FPSO for the  Agogo Integrated West Hub Development Project in Angola (“FPSO Agogo”).According to Yinson, the contract is worth about $5.3 billion in total and has a firm period of 15 years from the date of the final FPSO's acceptance. Azule Energy will have the option to extend for another five years. The FPSO Agogo is expected to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Dubai's shipbuilding and shiprepair company Drydocks World and Norwegian offshore engineering and construction firm Aker Solutions have established a joint venture to upgrade the Petrojarl Knarr FPSO for Equinor's Rosebank offshore oil and gas field in the UK, the Government of Dubai media office confirmed Friday.The joint venture signed its first contract with FPSO owner Altera Infrastructure to upgrade, refurbish, and electrify the FPSO. The vessel will be redeployed at Rosebank field…

Norway's Aker Solutions will upgrade Altera Infrastructure's Petrojarl  Knarr floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to be redeployed at Equinor's Rosebank field development, offshore the UK. Petrojarl Knarr was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and delivered in 2014. It was operating on the Knarr field offshore Norway from 2015 until May 2022.The development concept for the Rosebank field includes the redeployment and reuse of the existing Petrojarl Knarr FPSO owned by Altera.Under a 'substantial' contract with Altera…

Offshore installation and decommissioning contractor Allseas said Tuesday it had successfully removed and transported to shore Repsol Norge’s 30,000-tonne Gyda platform "in a matter of days."According to the company, Allseas' Pioneering Spirit, the world's largest offshore construction ship, delivered Gyda platform’s 11,000-tonne jacket to Aker Solutions’ disposal yard in Stord, Norway, less than 48 hours after removing it from the southern Norwegian Sea. "The latest job for the vessel’s new jacket lift technology is one of the heaviest ever but well within the system’s 20…

Allseas giant Pioneering Spirit offshore construction ship is back in Stord, Norway, to deliver several decommissioned platform facilities removed from the Aker BP's Valhall field complex, located in the North Sea offshore Norway. The facilities will be recycled.The Pioneering Spirit, dubbed the world’s largest vessel, arrived in Stord on June 9, with the entire production and compression (PCP) platform topsides, upper section of the original drilling platform (DP) jacket, and…

The first floating wind turbine for Equinor's 88MW Hywind Tampen floating wind farm in Noway was assembled last week at Wergeland Group's base in Norway, Wergeland shared via social media.Equinor’s Hywind Tampen will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm once completed later this year.The turbine assembled at Wergeland's base is the first of eleven to be assembled. The towing of the turbines to the North Sea location is expected to start early in the summer.Hywind Tampen will serve as the power source for five of Equinor's offshore oil and gas platforms in Norway…

The Johan Castberg FPSO arrived in Norway on Friday onboard the world’s largest transport vessel Boka Vanguard owned by Boskalis.The vessel reached Norway after a long journey from Singapore, where it was built by Sembcorp Marine. The vessel departed Singapore in mid-February.Upon final completion at Aker Solutions' yard in Stord, the FPSO will be deployed at the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, about 240km from Hammerfest, Norway. The FPSO hull is built to be self-contained for harsh-environment operation…

About 28,500 workers at Norwegian shipyards, oil industry fabrication plants, and other manufacturers will go on strike from April 1, unless labor unions and employers reach a new wage deal, a state-appointed mediator said on Monday.Firms that stand to be affected are suppliers to the oil and gas industry, such as Aker Solutions, where 736 workers may strike; Aibel, with 661 employees, and Kaefer Energy, with 405 employees, the unions said.A strike would affect construction of ships…

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine has delivered the Norwegian Barents Sea-bound Johan Castberg FPSO to Equinor. The FPSO has set off for Norway, loaded aboard Boskalis' Boka Vanguard semi-submersible heavy transportation vessel.Johan Castberg is Sembcorp Marine’s first EPC newbuild FPSO. Sembcorp Marine’s scope of work for the Johan Castberg FPSO vessel comprised the construction of the hull and living quarters.Upon final completion in Norway, the FPSO is scheduled for deployment at the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea, about 240km from Hammerfest, Norway.

Norwegian offshore support vessel owner Solstad Offshore ASA has found work for three construction support vessels, apparently all in the renewables space.Normand Australis has secured a 150-day contract for “Walk to Work” services on an offshore wind project in Asia, starting in March 2022.Normand Cutter has won a 110-day charter for a cable project in Northern Europe with the start-up this month.Also, Normand Fortress has won a 180-day firm contract for “Walk to Work” services on an offshore wind project in Northern Europe. The contract will start in April 2023.

According to Rystad Energy research, the market for floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units almost brushed off the pandemic's effect in 2021, driven mostly by Brazil demand, and is predicted to continue apace in 2022, with 10 new awards expected.Two lease contracts were awarded in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing the total for the year to 10 – up from just three in 2020 – a strong rebound for the FPSO market.Per Rystad, demand for FPSO units in Brazil was a significant contributing factor that drove 2021 growth…

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore is continuing with divestments of non-core vessels and has now sold the Rem Provider platform supply vessel.The vessel, built in 2007, was sold by Solstad Offshore's subsidiary Solstad Rederi AS and the vessel was delivered to the new owner took on Friday. "The sale of the vessel will result in an immaterial accounting effect for Q4 2021," Solstad Offshore said, without sharing further details on the buyer or on the sale value. VesselsValue values the vessel at $3,25 million, with demolition value at around $1,13 million.

Aker Solutions received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract from Equinor, for the FPSO for the Wisting field development in the Norwegian Barents Sea.Wisting is a greenfield development located in the Barents Sea, about 310 km from the Norwegian mainland. Equinor is the operator of the field (35%), with partners OMV Norge AS (25%), Petoro AS (20%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (10%) and Lundin Energy Norway AS (10%).The intended FEED contract includes an option for engineering, procurement, construction and integration (EPCI) of the topside for the FPSO. The scope of the FEED is to provide front-end design- and engineering for a circular floating production…

Chinese shipbuilder Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. has won a contract to build two CO2 carriers for Northern Lights, a Norwegian carbon capture and storage project.Under the contract awarded by the Northern Lights JV, owned equally by Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, the Chinese shipbuilder will build two CO2 carriers, each with a cargo size of 7,500 m3 and a length of 130 meters.The two vessels, designed to transport liquid CO2 with purpose-built pressurized cargo tanks, are expected to be ready for delivery by mid-2024. The primary fuel for the ships will be LNG, keeping emissions low.

A day after the Norwegian company Aker BP on Tuesday said it had installed the HOD B platform topsides in the North Sea, off Norway, Dutch contractor Heerema Marine Contractors shared photos of the installation process.Heerema was responsible for the transportation and installation of the Hod B platform. The installation done was over two phases, with Sleipnir, Heerema's giant semi-submersible crane vessel, first installing the jacket in July and returning later to complete the…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Simon Møkster Shipping has recently won a contract with Equinor for service operation vessel (SOV) services for the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm project in Norway.The 88 MW Hywind Tampen, which will be the world's largest floating wind farm once built, will serve as the power source for five of Equinor's offshore oil and gas platforms in Norway, Snorre A, and B, and Gullfaks A, B, and C.As part of the SOV contract with Equinor, Simon Møkster will deploy its 2014-built Stril Server vessel…

Norwegian group Crown LNG has signed a deal with Aker Solutions as the main contractor to deliver a concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) for Crown’s offshore LNG terminal at Kakinada, India.Under the agreement, Aker Solutions and key subcontractors will first conduct the front-end engineering and design for the LNG terminal. Aker Solutions’ scope includes technical development of the concrete foundation and topsides, as well as the pipeline between the offshore regasification terminal and the onshore gas grid.