Oil Company Customers News

U.S. marine vessel operators have invested in their fleets, adopted new technologies and switched to cleaner burning engines and fuels to stay in business. In this edition, we take a look at how industry leading marine operators have flourished, sometimes in tough circumstances. At family-run McAllister and Chouest, sons and daughters learned operations from the ground up, while CEO Todd Hornbeck revamped the first version of a company started by his dad. All value their employees and say workplace safety is a priority. Each of these companies is quick to meet customer demands.

Global demand driving consistent year-over-year profits for Tidewater. A more modern fleet riding a rising tide should continue that trend, analysts and company officials say. Tidewater Inc., based in New Orleans, has invested in deepwater, platform supply vessels in recent years, a move that looks to be paying off as demand for those boats improves during a rush to build deep-ocean rigs. The company provides offshore supply vessels and marine support services for the world’s energy industry.

Larry Rigdon, President and CEO of Rigdon Marine, announced the signing of a long-term contract to provide offshore vessel services in the Gulf of Mexico to Terra Seismic Services, a Norwegian oil and gas seismic company. Terra Seismic Services is the first seismic services company to deploy a unique Four Component (4C) Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) data acquisition system for the offshore environment. The system also offers improved and automated in-sea systems handling techniques. These new systems allow Terra Seismic Services to provide oil and gas companies enhanced state-of-the-art seismic data more cost effectively. Terra Seismic Services will employ the ground breaking “VectorSeis Ocean” recording and communication technology system as part of its advanced data acquisition methods.

GlobalSantaFe Corporation reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2002, of $77.1 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, on revenues of $464.0 million. This compares to net income of $40.7 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, on revenues of $274.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2001. The 2001 financial results reflect only historical Global Marine, prior to the merger that formed GlobaSantaFe, so some comparisons to these results may not be meaningful. Santa Fe International into an industry leader," GlobalSantaFe President and CEO Sted Garber said. recording operating income of $97.5 million. largely insulated from the comparatively weak U.S. Gulf of Mexico drilling market.

The first commercial application of a new type of Rolls-Royce tunnel thruster launches a technology which will have a major impact on marine propulsion in the future. Rim Drive is a tightly integrated system combining electrical, mechanical and hydrodynamic elements. The electrical motor takes the form of a thin ring. Its stator is incorporated in the tunnel and its rotor carries propeller blades that point inwards. The first application is on an offshore support vessel, in the form of a tunnel thruster type RT1600 rated at 800kW. will be broadened, and the technology will be used in other types of propulsor. The electro-mechanical part of the technology will also be applicable to winches, steering systems and other Rolls-Royce products.