Bassoe News

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has approved in principle the Bassoe D-Floater, a floating offshore wind turbine foundation.It is said that the Bassoe D-Floater foundations will be able to handle 15 megawatt offshore turbines, which will be among the world's largest. Apart from prototypes being tested onshore, there are no 15 MW turbines installed offshore as of yet. They can be as tall as the Eiffel Tower and can weigh upwards of 2,000 tons.What is more, according to the press statement announcing the ABS AiP…

Offshore drilling rig reactivations have begun as utilization and dayrates continue their rapid recovery, Esgian's Teresa Wilkie writes.We expected it to happen just not necessarily this soon. But now it’s official, several cold-stacked rigs are about to be reactivated for new jobs in the Golden Triangle, and Valaris is taking the lead. Just last week, the driller confirmed that it will reactivate 6th generation, ultra-deepwater drillship Valaris DS-4 for a minimum 580-day deal with Petrobras Brazil.

Italian oilfield services giant Saipem has chartered a newbuild drillship directly from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.Saipem expects the drillship - named Samsung Santorini - to be delivered in November 2021, when the Italian firm will take the 7th generation rig on a two-year charter. No dayrate details have been shared. Recent fixtures for 6th/7gen rigs saw dayrates in the $190.000-$210.000 per day range, according to Bassoe data.While Saipem did not explicitly say it…

Valaris, the world's largest offshore drilling company by fleet size, is set to lose one of the most lucrative contracts in the offshore drilling industry today after it recently accidentally dropped a blowout preventer stack to seabed offshore Angola.The contract, at a day rate of $620,000 per day, is with the French oil major Total for the drillship Valaris DS-8. The Samsung GF12000 designed drilling rig has been drilling for Total since 2015.As previously reported, Valaris earlier in March said it had accidentally dropped Blowout Preventer Stack to the seafloor of Angola, while the rig was moving between well locations. It then warned the customer might seek to terminate the contract as a result of the incident.In an update on Thursday…

The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist, there appears a clearing on the horizon.The fate of Offshore Service Vessels (OSVs) is, naturally, closely tied to the price of oil. Seacor Marine’s John Gellert, in reviewing its Q2 results, said: “Activity levels in the U.S.

CIMC Yantai Raffles in China and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in Korea have selected extensive dynamic positioning (DP), automation, new generation safety system, integrated navigation, hydro-acoustic positioning and latest riser management solutions from Kongsberg. The contracts are in regard to two new Frigstad D90 Design drilling rigs and one Bassoe Technology BT-UDS Design drillship. The total value of the contracts is in excess of MNOK 150. The contracts have options for a total of 8 additional units.

CIMC Yantai Raffles in China and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in Korea have selected extensive Dynamic Positioning (DP), Automation, new generation Safety System, Integrated Navigation, Hydroacoustic positioning and latest riser management solutions from Kongsberg. The contracts are for two new Frigstad D90 Design drilling rigs and one Bassoe Technology BT-UDS Design drillship. The total value of the contracts is in excess of MNOK 150. The contracts have options for a total of 8 additional units. The rigs are destined for operation in the burgeoning Brazilian offshore oil and gas sector and Gulf of Mexico. Both projects are design according to DnV Dynpos Autro, IMO DP Class 3, and will operate in water depths up to 3000 meters.

ABB, a power and automation technology group, has secured an offshore marine industry contract covering electrical power and propulsion systems onboard a DP class 3 Drill Ship to be conferred with "Enhanced Reliability" and  Dynpos Autro notation from Det Norske Veritas(DNV). The contract covers installations onboard a BT-UDS dynamic positioned ultra-deep water drill ship ordered by Sigma Drilling, the joint venture between Norway’s Skeie Technology and Houston-based Vantage Drilling, from STX Offshore and Shipbuilding. The vessel, to be built at South Korea’s STX Jinhae yard, is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2015. The new Dynpos ER class notation for Enhanced Reliability from DNV recognizes advances made in flexibility…

At the 150th Annual Meeting of the Members of ABS, three industry leaders were elected to the ABS Council. Following the Annual Meeting, the ABS Council met and elected industry leaders to both its Marine and Offshore Technical Committees. Individuals serving on the ABS Council and the Technical Committees help guide the class society in fulfilling its mission of promoting the security of life, property and the natural environment. “Classification represents the concept of self-regulation for the marine and offshore industry,” said ABS President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki.

Oil freight costs that have fallen sharply from record peaks two months ago are helping reduce energy import bills already eased by lower crude prices. Tanker market experts said freight charges that rocketed to unexpected heights in November looked set to remain under control over the next six months at least. Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) delivering crude to Japan and Singapore from the Middle East now charge about Worldscale 85, $1.40 per barrel, having peaked last November at W190, $2.65 a barrel. Supertanker rates to the United States also are lower at about $2.30 a barrel from the Gulf $3.20 a barrel in November. "More new ships will be coming in…

Crude tanker rates from the Arabian Gulf to Asia on 2mn-barrel tankers fell to its lowest in more than six weeks as the ships available at the end of August outnumber cargoes, according to a Bloomberg report. In less than a month freight rates for VLCCs reportedly have dropped 40 percent as charterers held back from hiring vessels, allowing a surplus to build up. GS Caltex Corp, South Korea’s second-largest oil refiner, booked a VLCC, Hebei Mountain to load crude on August 23 at WS 62.5, as measured in Worldscale points, shipbrokers including Oslo-based PF Bassoe said in notes to clients. GS Caltex’s rate is 5.5 points, or 8 percent, down from yesterday on the benchmark route to Japan, Bloomberg data show. Transport costs on the route are $1.10 a barrel compared with $1.20.

Royal Dutch Shell plc and BP plc, Europe’s largest energy companies, were the leading hirers of oil tankers last year as crude prices rose to records. Shell hired 762 crude oil tankers for single voyages in 2005, accounting for 7.5 percent of the global total, according to figures compiled by New York-based shipbroker Poten & Partners. BP rose from fifth in 2004 to second, with a share of 4.9 percent. Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s top energy company, came third in the survey. Oil producers and traders hire tankers to ship oil from producing regions to refineries around the world. Shell and BP lease ships from owners including Front line Ltd and Teekay Shipping Co, the world’s largest oil tanker companies.

According to a report from Norway's Bassoe Shipbrokers, large scale tanker scrapping in the immediate future is the only solution to cure an ailing freight market. Deliveries of new VLCCs, at 13 so far this year, have matched sales of older tankers for demolition, 14, according to tanker Intertanko.

Low tanker rates are pushing increasing numbers of old VLCCs to the scrapyard, but not enough to counter deliveries of new vessels, shipping brokers said. "Depressed VLCC rates seem finally to be taking a toll on the mid 70s built fleet of large tankers," Norwegian broker Bssoe said in a report for November. Nine VLCCs were sold for demolition during November, taking the total this year to 29 units, compared with 14 by the same time last year, the broker said. But 25 new VLCCs have been delivered this year and a further 10 are expected. "The supply side of the VLCC equation is more or less unchanged," the broker said. Brokers have been praying for higher scrapping levels this year as freight rates have tumbled. But despite incentives being available, tanker demolitions have not taken off.

Large tanker rates will increase during the first half of 2000 but freight prices will ease in the second period as new VLCCs are delivered, Norwegian shipbroker P.F. Bassoe A/S & Co. said. Bassoe predicts that tanker demand will increase by 2.6 percent over 2000 on the basis that OPEC output restraints would remain in place until March 2000 and a gradual production increase will follow. Increased crude exports would be driven by rising Asian demand and a slight increase in U.S. imports, the broker said in its report for 1999. The creation of a 38 strong pool fleet of VLCCs early this year by a group of six major tanker owners could also help lift rates, Bassoe said.

RigBase, a web-based resource for the offshore drilling industry, is launched today by Bassoe Offshore Consultants. RigBase is a rig market information system that provides subscribers with continuous, rolling worldwide rig market news -- all taken from primary sources, access to Bassoe Offshore Consultants' (BOC) comprehensive offshorerig database, regular regional email newsletters and professional opinion and analysis. RigBase is available by subscription. Users of RigBase receive regular updates of a personal choice of news stories and database queries by email. Users also have options including rig market analysis and feature stories, oil and gas prices, access to Bassoe's rig market database as well as reports and publications.