Abs Harsh Environment Technology Center News

ABS, a leading provider of classification and technical services to the global marine and offshore industries, announces the realignment of its Americas Division operations to create two new regions – Canada and Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. This realignment strengthens localized leadership to help ABS members and clients take advantage of expanding opportunities. “ABS recognizes that the expansion of the Panama Canal, increased Arctic operations and growth in LNG markets present pivotal opportunities for our members and clients, and we are proactively realigning operations to strengthen our world-class service delivery to support them,” says ABS Americas President and COO James Watson. “Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean are areas of tremendous potential.

Industry experts share views on key Arctic R&D issues. ABS, a provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, offers a series of Arctic workshops that aim to help define the region’s most pressing research and development (R&D) needs. The next workshop on the agenda takes place March 19-20 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where approximately 70 Arctic specialists from industry and academia will brainstorm challenges and potential solutions to operating in harsh and frontier areas and identify new joint research opportunities. Over the last year, ABS has organized a series of invitational workshops where technology leaders from industry and academia have gathered to chart a way forward together.

Houston, TX -The Research & Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC) and ABS of Texas have announced a combined $600,000 investment for the ABS Harsh Environment Technology Center and associated research program. This investment will fund research on how ship and offshore structures can be improved to work more effectively in volatile ocean conditions, such as the North Atlantic. “This partnership further demonstrates Newfoundland and Labrador as a recognized leader on the international stage when it comes to research and development of technologies for ships and offshore structures operating in harsh environments,” said Keith Hutchings, Minister Responsible for the RDC. “Worldwide, there is an industry need for this type of research and development.

Dr. Roger Basu has joined the faculty at Webb Institute as Associate Professor of Naval Architecture. Dr. Basu has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the marine industry primarily involved with the analysis and reliability of ship and offshore structures. He recently retired from the American Bureau of Shipping as the Director of Shared Technology where his responsibilities included the lead in establishing the ABS Harsh Environment Technology Center in conjunction with Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Basu is well known in the industry.

(Houston, TX---) ABS, the leading provider of classification services to the global offshore industry, announces the establishment of the ABS China Offshore Technology Center (COTC) in partnership with Shanghai’s Jiaotong University (SJTU). The focus of the center will be on new technology research for offshore facilities. While the research efforts will support development activities in the Greater China region, applied research will also be conducted on a wide range of oil and gas development issues.

The first comprehensive research study released from the ABS Harsh Environment Technology Center (HETC), based at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), examines the challenges and management of water produced in association with energy operations in Arctic environments. Produced water represents the largest volume of waste from oil and gas operations and is associated with significant management costs. Professor Kelly Hawboldt of MUN and her research team explore the effects of produced water on the Arctic environment where cold temperatures, fragile ecosystems and unmanned operations pose unique challenges. The study titled “Review of Produced Water Management and Challenges in Harsh/Arctic Environments” examines produced water characteristics…

ABS announced at the Second Annual Arctic Shipping North America Conference in St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, the creation of the ABS Harsh Environment Technology Center located on the campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). The Center will support the development of technologies for ships and offshore structures operating in harsh environments, particularly the Arctic. Applied research will be conducted to study vessels and units operating in ice covered waters, low temperature environments and severe wave and wind climates. It is envisioned that the R&D facility will become an established fixture on the campus. Large exploration and production field developments in harsh waters have called for ice class guidance for offshore structures.