Oil And Gas Platforms News

As the U.S. offshore wind industry endures a predictable number of stops and starts during its adolescence, common mantras are ‘learn from the established European model’ and ‘embrace technology transfer from the offshore oil and gas sector.’ In Robert Langford, the American Bureau of Shipping has all of that and more bundled in one neat package.Rob Langford has worked in the offshore industry for more than three decades, ‘cutting his teeth’ in a UK design firm working in the North Sea oil and gas platforms, the holy grail of rigorous conditions in offshore energy production.

Norwegian shipbuilder and ship designer Ulstein has developed a new subsea vessel - ULSTEIN SX232 – designed to service the offshore wind market for floating and fixed installations as well as offshore oil and gas industry.Designed for walk-to-work operations in the offshore energy market, the ULSTEIN SX232 features an optimizes hull based on the ULSTEIN TWIN X-STERN design.The vessel is equipped with smart power and propulsion system developed to minimize energy consumption during DP operations and an integrated energy recovery system utilizing all the waste heat in the machinery systems…

A floating offshore wind farm planned in Arctic waters on Friday received 2 billion Norwegian crowns ($193 million) in state funding, with Norway viewing the still costly technology as a key contributor for industry development and emission cuts.The GoliatVind project in the Barents Sea, consisting of five 15 megawatts turbines and seeking to supply power to the Arctic town of Hammerfest, beat out six other applicants in a tender by government agency Enova.Norway hopes that floating offshore wind will provide an industrial future for its offshore supply industry as well as a means of cutting e

Norwegian oil companies resumed helicopter flights to offshore oil and gas fields on Friday following Wednesday's deadly crash off the country's west coast, operator Equinor and airports said on Friday.On Thursday helicopter traffic was halted to oil and gas platforms following the crash in which one person died and five were injured. Norway said it was considering grounding Sikorsky's S-92A aircraft model while investigating the accident."Based on dialogue with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)…

A Norwegian Navy ship shadowed a Chinese container ship investigated over damage to a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland for about 15 hours as it sailed along the western coast of Norway on Monday, vessel tracking data showed.Finnish investigators on Tuesday said they were looking into the Chinese vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, and a Russian-flagged ship, the Sevmorput, as well as other vessels, present in the area when a Baltic Sea pipeline was damaged on Oct. 8.They said the incident was due to "outside activity" and could have been deliberate.The NewNew Polar Bear is a container ship travelling between Europe and China via the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic.

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Solstad Offshore has officially exited the platform supply vessel business.Namely, the company on Wednesday completed the sale of its PSV fleet to the U.S. offshore vessel firm Tidewater for approximately $580 million. The transaction, first announced in March, was completed Wednesday, with all 37 platform supply vessels, primarily used for transporting essential supplies and equipment to offshore oil and gas platforms and drilling rigs, successfully delivered to Tidewater…

Inspections of Norway's offshore gas pipelines after the Nord Stream blasts found nothing suspicious, an executive at energy major Equinor told Reuters, in the first official word on the security sweep.However, risks remain after last year's still-unexplained explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, warned Jannicke Nilsson, who manages security for Equinor.Europe's largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian flows last year, Equinor also acts as technical service provider for offshore pipelines operator Gassco.

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, sailed into Oslo on Wednesday, a first for such a U.S. ship, in a show of NATO force at a time of heightened tension between NATO and Russia over the war in Ukraine.The ship and its crew will be conducting training exercises with the Norwegian armed forces along the country's coast in the coming days, the Norwegian military said."This visit is an important signal of the close bilateral relationship between the U.S.

When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines, and wind farms, are incredibly vulnerable to anyone who wants to attack these sources in wartime…

Wagenborg Towage confirmed Monday that Jan De Nul had awarded it a contract for transporting 107 monopile foundations for Gode Wind 3 and Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farms in Germany to Eemshaven. Assisted by the tug ‘waterlines’, the first transports arrived in Eemshaven under agency of Wagenborg.In the upcoming months, Wagenborg will perform another 35 voyages with monopiles from Germany and Denmark to the temporary storage in Eemshaven using a specially equipped pontoon…

British union Unite on Friday said several Sparrows offshore services workers have voted to strike at dozens of platforms on the UK continental shelf including those of BP and Shell.Around 150 Sparrows workers across more than 20 oil and gas platforms have voted for strike in a dispute over pay, the union said in a press release.This comes after the union last week announced its Sparrows members working on BP’s Andrew, Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP, Glen Lyon and Mungo installations backed strike action in a separate dispute over pay and conditions.The strike action will hit BP’s platforms from Mar

The U.S. government on Friday received just a single bid, from Hilcorp Alaska, for oil and gas drilling rights off the coast of Alaska the first federal auction in the region in more than five years.The offer of nearly 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet was among the concessions to the oil and gas sector included in President Joe Biden's signature climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).Under the law, the Interior Department is required to hold the sale by Dec. 31.

A platform supply vessel, normally used to deliver goods to offshore oil and gas platforms, is undergoing preparations in the Danish Esbjerg port to carry CO2 containers for storage in the North Sea.Offshore vessel owner Blue Water and offshore energy industry services firm Semco Maritime are rebuilding and upgrading the vessel Aurora Storm to become part of the Danish carbon capture and storage project Greensand.Project Greensand is a group of 23 Danish and international companies…

Norway police on Friday investigated reports of a drone flying over the Kaarstoe [Kårstø] gas plant in southwest Norway on Thursday, while in Arctic Norway a Russian-Israeli citizen was arrested when police found two drones in his car.The Norwegian military Home Guard has been posted at Kaarstoe and other major energy export facilities since authorities boosted security at Norwegian oil and gas installations after the Sept. 26 Nord Stream leaks.At 2130 local time (1930 GMT) on Thursday…

Norway will receive help from Britain, Germany and France to patrol the seas around its oil and gas platforms amid suspicion that sabotage caused leaks in Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, Norway's prime minister said on Friday.Russia's Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines burst this week, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area.The European Union said it suspected sabotage had caused the…

Dutch maritime services firm EMAR Offshore Services has bought two Damen Fast Crew Suppliers (FCS) 2206 for an undisclosed fee.The first vessel, named E-Six, has already begun operations in Angola, supporting the local oil and gas industry, and will be joined by the E-Seven shortly, Damen said.The 22-meter Damen FCS 2206 design features a 25m² cargo deck and the capacity to carry up to 42 personnel plus two crew at speeds of up to 32 knots.The vessels of this design have a range of up to 315nm at maximum speed in its standard configuration but…

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…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star has said it has recently secured new Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV) contracts totaling more than £100 million (around $133.7 million).Under the contracts, North Star said it would support new and existing clients in the UK Continental Shelf with its fast-response emergency fleet, purpose built to protect personnel working on offshore oil and gas platforms.

Offshore installation firm Jan De Nul said Thursday that Les Alizés, its next-gen floating offshore installation vessel had been launched at the CMHI Haimen shipyard in China.The vessel is now ready for the final construction phase, including sea trials, to be completed by H2 2022.Les Alizés will be the largest Heavy Lift Vessel in Jan De Nul’s fleet, able to install XXL offshore wind components, in floating conditions and with ultra-low emissions.The launch started on January 2, by flooding the dry dock in which Les Alizés was built.

SAAM Towage and Caterpillar Marine signed a global services agreement aiming to help boost the efficiency of the fleet of tugs operated by the Americas towage services provider. This will be accomplished using digital solutions for planned and preventative maintenance.According to SAAM’s Technical Manager, Pablo Cáceres, “This partnership will let us continue to focus on providing safe, efficient and more environmentally friendly services. It will also strengthen our digital transformation strategy.”The agreement calls for ongoing review of more than 200 Cat engines…

Damage to oil production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico kept output largely halted on Sunday, a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, according to offshore regulator the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).Energy companies have been coping with damaged platforms and onshore power outages and logistical issues, slowing efforts to restart production. Some 88% of crude oil output and 83% of natural gas production remained suspended.About 1.6 million barrels of crude oil remained offline, with only about 100,000 barrels added since Saturday.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, forcing those who did not flee to brace themselves for the toughest test yet of the billions of dollars spent on levee upgrades following Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago.Ida came ashore near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11:55 a.m. CDT (16:55 GMT), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Hurricane-strength winds extended 50 miles (80 km) out from Ida's eye, forcing New Orleans to suspend…

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…