Alba News

Danish offshore vessel operator Esvagt, which earlier this week took delivery of a newbuild service operation vessel from Havyard Leirvik, plans to deploy the vessel at an offshore wind farm in the UK.The company said Thursday that the vessel, its third SOV offshore service vessel delivered to it by Havyard in nine months. The vessel completes the order for three SOVs ordered to service Vestas in several offshore wind farms.The new vessel is a sister vessel to ‘Esvagt Alba’, working in the Moray East wind farm in the UK…

Norwegian shipbuilder Havyard Leirvik has delivered another offshore wind service operation vessel (SOV) to Danish vessel owner Esvagt.The vessel, Esvagt Havelok, is the third and last of the ‘triplet ships’ built by Havyard for Esvagt. The ship handed over Tuesday was the third in the same series, but it is the sixth wind farm service vessel that the Sognefjorden yard has delivered to the Danish offshore wind pioneer Managing director of Havyard Leirvik, Tor Leif Mongstad, says…

Danish shipowner Esvagt said Thursday its newbuilt offshore wind service vessel Esvagt Alba was set to start its contract in the UK with wind turbine maker Vestas.The Esvagt Alba service operations vessel, delivered last week by Havyard, will be the base for the operation and maintenance of the Moray East offshore wind farm off the coast of Scotland. The newbuilt SOV, ’Esvagt Alba’, arrived Thursday in Fraserburgh, Scotland, for final Marine Surveys before starting work in the offshore windfarm Moray East.The offshore wind farm is being developed by Moray Offshore Windfarm East Ltd (MOWEL)…

Norway-based Havyard Leirivik said Thursday it had handed over a new wind farm service vessel to the Danish shipowner Esvagt.The vessel named ‘Alba’ is the second in a series of three vessels.Havyard's Norwegian Electric Systems has delivered the bridge solution and automation and electric power systems on board. Norwegian Greentech has provided a system for the treatment of ballast water, while HAV Design has been responsible for the ship design.The wind farm service vessel is…

Cruise ships moored in the Maltese port of Valletta will soon be able to plug into the island's energy grid, drawing the power they require to be fully operative without having to keep their diesel engines running. Nidec ASI, head of the Nidec Industrial Solutions platform belonging to the Nidec Group, said it has secured a  €12 million contract with the Maltese company Excel Sis for the creation of a “shore-to-ship” project at the port. Nidec ASI was awarded the supply of power and high-tech systems and all related engineering…

Aberdeen, UK-based Verus Petroleum has secured a 12-fold increase in its production – from 1,500 to 18,000 barrels per day in less than a year – with the closing of three recent acquisitions on the UK Continental Shelf.A press release from the petroleum exploration and production services provider said that it  has recently completed three significant acquisitions; an interest in the Babbage gas field acquired from Premier Oil on 6th December, on the back of completing transactions to acquire Cieco Exploration & Production (UK) Limited and Equinor’s Alba field interest in November.The private equity backed independent operator said that these three deals, each with an economic date of 1st January 2018, were funded by a combination of equity, existing cash reserves and debt.

With four drone types in its arsenal, DNV GL has adapted its survey technology to various ship structures. Recently DNV GL reached a new milestone with its first offshore drone survey. It's a gusty day in Gdynia, Poland, and outside the DNV GL station Leszek Alba is waiting for the wind to change. Alba is one of DNV GL’s 16 drone surveyors. Today, he is testing the Custom drone’s stability in different wind conditions and the stability of the video transmission – an important factor during the inspection of remote structural components in tanks and cargo holds. Since DNV GL carried out its first production drone survey in June 2016, it has become the leading provider in this field.

Pankaj Khanna has been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Rig UDW, a global provider of offshore deepwater drilling services,  effective January 1, 2018. Khanna is 47 years old with 29 years of varied experience in the maritime & offshore industry. He last served as Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Marine Inc, a drybulk company that he founded in 2013. Prior to his position at Pioneer Marine Inc Khanna served as Chief Marketing Officer at Ocean Rig UDW Inc. from January 1, 2012 to October 2, 2012. Mr. Khanna served as the Chief Operating Officer of DryShips, Inc. from March 2009 to October 2, 2012. Prior to joining DryShips, he served in C-Suite roles at Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd and Alba Maritime Services S.A.

Carnival Corporation & plc announced it will sponsor the two-part finale of the upcoming season of NBC’s “The New Celebrity Apprentice” airing next year on February 6 and 13. The sponsorship also features Carnival Corporation launching the Celebrity Apprentice Charity Challenge, supporting the charities chosen by the celebrity contestants while driving consumer engagement with the show. “The New Celebrity Apprentice” premieres on January 2 at 8 p.m. EST on NBC. With “The New Celebrity Apprentice” featuring a component that brings attention to worthwhile charities…

Wood Group has secured an extension to continue to support Chevron Upstream Europe across four offshore assets in the North Sea. Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) will deliver operations and maintenance services to the Alba Northern platform, Alba floating storage unit, Captain floating production, storage and offloading vessel and Captain wellhead protector platform, under the one year contract that extends an agreement in place since 2010. Effective immediately, the contract retains more than 30 jobs and adds to Wood Group's support of Chevron in the UKCS; Wood Group Kenny recently performed the subsea engineering of the trees, wellheads, controls and polymer injection flowlines to the subsea injection wells for Chevron's Captain Enhanced Oil Recovery Project.

P&O Maritime has announced the rebranding of its joint venture company Repasa, the Spanish operator of offshore support vessels for the energy industry. P&O Repasa will become the official brand of the joint venture which has expanded its fleet in the offshore towage market from 8 vessels to 14 in the last year while creating a permanent offshore service hub in Equatorial Guinea in West Africa. P&O Repasa has also won a long-term contract with Marathon Oil in the United States to expand its offshore marine services at the Alba Field, Equatorial Guinea. In addition to the existing fleet of 7 tugs deployed at the LNG production facility, P&O Repasa will provide two Fast Support Vessels (FSV’s) to enable crew changes, field supply and platform standby activities..

Pupils at an Aberdeen primary school were given a rare insight into the depths of the oil and gas industry’s subsea sector after getting to sit in the driving seat of a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) simulator. The Tullos Primary visit to i-Tech was organised by EnQuest as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to encouraging youngsters to consider a career in the oil and gas industry. Around 20 primary five pupils were shown why ROVs are increasingly becoming pivotal to the critical path of subsea operations during the tour at i-Tech, which is a division of Subsea 7 and a global-leading supplier of ROV and intervention tooling solutions.

On December 19, 2014 Heerema Fabrication Group (Zwijndrecht) awarded Imtech Marine a contract to supply the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to the 6,000-metric-ton Alba B3 Greenfield compression platform, which is currently under construction for Marathon E.G. Production Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corporation. Kees de Kruyf, Imtech Marine Sales Director Global Offshore, said, “A dedicated team from Imtech Marine is deployed on the project, many of the engineers have more than 25 years of experience.

OW Tanker, a unit of bankrupt OW Bunker and owner of its marine fuel supply ships, has been taken over by a newly-created company, the fleet manager told Reuters on Wednesday. Henrik Pedersen said the takeover by Alba Tanker ApS, which has the trustees of the bankrupt company on its board, is part of the process of securing assets for the estate. Denmark's OW Bunker had been the largest marine fuel supplier in the world. "We are not a very big part of the company," Pedersen said by telephone. "We're the ship-owning part of OW Bunker and Trading.

RBG, provider of fabric maintenance and construction support to the global energy industry, will deliver its innovative electrical rope access services as part of a new three-year contract with Chevron North Sea. Working on the Alba, Captain and Erskine platforms located in the UKCS, RBG will carry out vital electrical inspection and upgrades across the platforms. As the only electrical contractor with an in-house rope access capability, the company can deliver electrical technicians to all those places that require scaffold, but using rope access techniques instead. The contract, worth a total of $1.7m, will also use level three trained rope access technicians for all safety supervision.

Both organizations are bolstering their work in the areas of composite materials, cryogenics and medical instrument development. The mixed research unit will represent a joint investment of around €200,000 and the engineering firm SENER is building its new corporate building in Parc del Alba, close to the ASCAMM Technology Center. SENER and the ASCAMM Technology Center, a member of the TECNIO network, have signed two new strategic collaboration agreements in the areas of cryogenics and acoustics, respectively. These agreements are part of the strategy of the Joint R&D&I Unit created by the two organizations a year ago, the goals of which are implementing research and development projects and developing technology and innovation in various technological and industrial fields.

Heerema Fabrication Group contracted by Marathon E.G. Production to deliver the new Alba B3 greenfield gas compression platform. The Alba Field is a gas and condensate field located approximately 20 miles north of Bioko Island. MEGPL operates the Alba Field on behalf of itself and working interest partners Samedan of North Africa, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble Energy, Inc.and Compania Nacional de Petroleos de Guinea Ecuatorial. The gas compression platform is to be bridge-linked to the existing Alba B2 platform.

Bibby Ship Management has secured a contract to supply crew management services for Chevron’s floating storage unit, the Alba-FSU. The crew will provide operating, loading and equipment handling services on the Alba Floating Storage vessel. Mark Robertshaw, Managing Director, Bibby Ship Management – Isle of Man said: “This is an important contract for us as it underpins Bibby Ship Management’s continued growth as a trusted business partner in the offshore sector. We invest a great…

The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization, announced that its Annual Tribute to the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Eighth District, The Guardian of the Heartland Dinner, will take place on Friday, April 15, 2011. The event will honor several aircrews from Air Station New Orleans, and Aviation Training Center Mobile for their actions during the explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010. Coast Guard efforts included evacuating the most critically injured rig workers from the Damon Bankston…

Bibby Ship Management announced it has secured two new contracts in the offshore oil and gas sector. Bibby Ship Management Singapore has been appointed as the technical and crewing managers for the OSX 2, an FPSO vessel, working in conjunction with overall project managers Tecnomar & Associates. The office has also secured a contract with Global Samson to take over the management of two Platform Supply Vessels, the newbuild Ocean Turquoise 1 and another vessel which is currently being finalized.

Six vessels and two individual mariners were recognized for courageous acts at sea at the 44th annual United Seamen's Service (USS) 2013 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) attended by more than 700 guests at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City. The AUTOS award was presented to Philip W. J. Fisher, President of Chas. Kurz & Co; U. S. Representative Peter King, Republican of New York; and Emanuel Rouvelas, maritime attorney and partner at K & L Gates. The Honorable…

The number of floating production units grew 5% in 2013. Here we examine the global market and future opportunities. Currently, there are 319 oil/gas floating production units are now in service, on order or available for reuse on another field. FPSOs account for 65% of the existing systems, 75% of systems on order. Another 24 floating LNG processing systems are in service or on order. Liquefaction floaters account for 13%, regasification floaters 87%. No liquefaction floaters are yet in service – all three are on order.

SAM Electronics of Hamburg, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications, New York, has acquired APSS S.r.l. of Italy, a leading supplier of automation equipment and control assemblies to the domestic marine market. Based in Diano d’Alba, APSS is an acknowledged specialist integrator of automation systems and manufacturer of control components. Customers include high-end Italian shipyards building cruiseliners, ferries and chemical carriers. Acquisition of the Italian company enhances the broad international presence of SAM Electronics and its Danish subsidiary, Lyngsø Marine. Additionally, together with its strategic partner, L-3 Valmarine of Norway, APSS provides further opportunities for accelerated growth within the automation sector of the marine industry.