Construction Contractors News

Since our last market update in the subsea space about a year ago both our current market view and forecasts have strengthened significantly.While the demand picture is looking solid and arguing for a strong multi-year upcycle, the supply side has also started to wake from its slumber albeit ever so slightly at the time of writing. Moreover, we register an interesting dynamic on the shipowner side, where everyone is trying to position themselves for the impeding market boom.Please note that vessel definitions and abbreviations in this part of our industry can vary…

A new labor forecasting tool (LFT) is predicting around 16,000 additional workers could be needed in the UK’s offshore wind industry by 2030, and 12,000 extra workers will be needed specifically for carbon capture and hydrogen projects by 2027. It also highlights a significant increase in demand for workers in the West of Shetland oil and gas basin.The new resource, the first of its kind to focus on the engineering construction industry (ECI), provides insights into workforce numbers across regions and sectors…

A historic Great Lakes car and passenger ferry will be sidelined the rest of the season due to damages it suffered in July. Lake Michigan Carferry said Tuesday that the SS Badger's daily crossings between Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis., have been suspended indefinitely.“We have made the difficult, and unfortunately unavoidable, decision to suspend our daily crossings for the remainder of the season,” said Mark W. Barker, president of Ohio-based Interlake Maritime Services, parent company of the Lake Michigan Carferry.

The U.S. Navy's engineering systems command has awarded a $2.8 billion contract for the construction of a new concrete dry dock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF).The $2,839,880,250 firm-fixed-price task order, which falls under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract, was awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific to a joint venture between Dragados, Hawaiian Dredging and Orion. Four…

The Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Port of Baltimore, officially joined the Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety (CDMCS), a national unified safety voice for the dredging and marine construction industry.The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest seaports in the United States, handling every type of cargo at its public and private terminals. Currently, Baltimore is in the execution phase of more than $200 million in marine construction, dredging and infrastructure upgrades at Seagirt, Dundalk and Locust Point Marine Terminals.

Golar LNG has informed that force majeure events have been lifted on the GIMI FLNG the company is building for Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project in Senegal/Mauritania offshore area, and that the project would be delayed for 11 months compared to the original schedule.Golar and BP in February 2019 signed a 20-year deal for the charter of a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, Gimi, for the project in Senegal/Mauritania, with the expected start-up in 2022. Golar then tasked Keppel with the conversion of the LNG carrier Gimi into an FLNG unit.

Heavyweight oilfield service providers like Saipem and Baker Hughes are moving past just oil and gas projects and embracing more renewable energy projects going forward.In 2014, non-upstream oil and gas activities accounted for 22% of revenues among service suppliers. This share grew to 27% in 2018.According to Rystad Energy, the trend to accelerate in the next decade.“If pure-play contractors within drilling, well services and seismic – which don’t have much to offer outside the upstream oil and gas industry – are removed from the equation, activities outside of upstream accounted for nearly 30% of last year’s revenues,” says Audun Martinsen…

Companies with workers repairing and refurbishing ship components utilizing sand blasting have become the subject of a new U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard.All employers and employees in the maritime industry need to be aware of the new requirements as OSHA continues efforts to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to breathable silica dust. The new application of the "Respirable Crystalline Silica" standards requires…

The Kwispaa LNG Project achieved a significant milestone in its development this week as Kwispaa LNG signed a contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) of two At-Shore LNG hulls.This follows the recent Invitation to Tender to shortlisted EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractors for the FEED work on the At-Shore LNG topsides, marine facilities, pre-treatment, and balance of onshore plant facilities. EPC contractor tenderers include Black & Veatch / Samsung Heavy Industries / PCL Industrial Management Inc.…

The world of dredging is defined by the vast diversity of each assignment that contractors perform on any given day. Fortunately, DSC’s standard lineup of dredge equipment can be modified and customized to meet just about any job that needs doing. It wasn’t too long ago that retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Jim Loy told me, “If you’ve seen one port, well, you’ve seen one port.” That now-famous declaration was made in reference to port security in a post-9/11 world, but the quip is as valid now as it was when he said it during his tenure as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Similarly, it can also be said that if you’ve seen one dredging operation, well, then you’ve seen one dredging operation.

The mantra of recent times has been the worldwide trend to ‘mega’. Mega container ships created the need for mega ports which required mega dredging projects. These in turn demand mega dredging vessels. All this is true but disregards another development: the consolidation of the major dredging contractors into larger companies with long-term strategies that have resulted in diversification. Today’s major dredging contractors do more than dredge. They are partners in the development of a project.

The Central Administration of Customs in Mexico has authorized McDermott International, Inc. to operate its Altamira fabrication facility near Tampico, Mexico as a free trade zone. Located on the Gulf of Mexico coast and serving both PEMEX domestic requirements and export work for international clients, Altamira is now the first fabrication facility licensed to operate as a free trade zone in Mexico. “The benefits of operating as a free trade zone to McDermott’s international clients is through the ability to import components…

Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH has managed to win several orders in Australia and New Zealand. During the last few weeks four luffing jib cranes from the HC-L series and a top-slewing crane from the EC-H series have left Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH for the voyage down under. Liebherr's exclusive distributor in Australia, Morrow Equipment Co. L.L.C. based in Caringbah, NSW near Sydney, has expanded its crane fleet. Morrow continues to expand its hire fleet with the purchase of two new 542 HC-L 18/36 Litronic cranes and a used 540 HC-L model. The high level of usage of the existing hire fleet, positive signals from the market and several pending large projects in the cities of Sydney and Brisbane were the reasons behind the purchases.

AVEVA announced that TOTAL E&P Nigeria Ltd. (TEPNG) has adopted AVEVA’s Engineering & Design solutions as part of an Integrated Engineering & Design approach. TEPNG is the operator of a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The Company has invested in acquired licenses for AVEVA PDMS, AVEVA Instrumentation, AVEVA Electrical, AVEVA Engineering, AVEVA Diagrams and AVEVA Review and has fully implemented the software across its local site modifications and repair projects. “This investment in AVEVA’s solutions demonstrates the value our products deliver to Owner Operators engaged in complex engineering projects,” said Fredy Ktourza, Senior Vice President, Western Europe and Africa, AVEVA.

The American Maritime Partnership (AMP) announced the election of Thomas Allegretti as its new Chairman. Allegretti is President & CEO of The American Waterways Operators. He succeeds James Henry, Chairman and President of the Transportation Institute. Henry will now serve as AMP’s Vice Chairman. As AMP Chairman, Mr. Allegretti leads a coalition  to represent the domestic maritime industry. Its 450-plus members span the country and its territories and include vessel owners and operators…

New addition to the AVEVA Enterprise Resource Management product family offers fast, multi-disciplinary creation and maintenance of accurate Plant and Marine catalogue information. AVEVA has  announced the launch of AVEVA Catalogue Manager, a ground-breaking new product set, to save significant man-hours in large capital projects through the rapid, streamlined generation of accurate and consistent part numbers, component specifications and bulk material catalogues. AVEVA Catalogue…

McDermott International announce that Tony Duncan is to join the company as Vice President & General Manager, Subsea. Tony has a broad offshore oil and gas industry background, including holding senior and executive management roles for the last 15 years, after progressing through engineering, project and operations management positions. He has served in various positions with global marine engineering and construction contractors Subsea 7, Technip, CSO and Aker Maritime. His experience covers developing…

AVEVA showcases latest design and resource management software for the offshore industry at Texas conference. AVEVA has announced  that it will once again sponsor the Opening Night Networking Reception at the upcoming Topsides Platforms & Hulls Conference and Exhibition 2013 (Topsides). AVEVA will also showcase its newest software technology including AVEVA Everything3D (AVEVA E3D) which enables Plant Design for Lean Construction, and AVEVA Enterprise Resource Management (AVEVA ERM), a complete application suite to optimise the materials management, planning and construction process. The conference runs February 5 to 7, 2013, at the Moody Gardens Convention Center in Galveston, Texas.

It appears that the long-held promise of deepwater offshore discovery and recovery is well-positioned to pay off, particularly in the face of $30+ barrels of oil. As technology has increasingly allowed oil companies and offshore drilling firms to more accurately find and evaluate potential drilling hot spots, there has been a fervor for the development of deepwater drilling equipment and design of offshore supply vessels to support the operation. The booming global deepwater oil industry is on course to outpace supply of offshore development hardware in the next two years, according to an analysts' report, as reported in the October 30 edition of Maritime Week, sister-publication to Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.

The booming global deepwater oil industry is on course to outpace supply of offshore development hardware in the next two years, according to an analysts' report. "Deepwater construction capacity will be insufficient to handle anticipated demand requirements in 2002 and particularly 2003-04," said an oilfield and equipment services report by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. "We believe a rush of field development plans will be sanctioned in 2001, followed by major contract awards to marine contractors," it added. With oil prices having tripled in 18 months, companies are loosening constraints on exploration and development spending imposed during a price slump in 1998 and early 1999. But a backlog of potential developments could grow as limits emerge to equipment supply.

American Maritime Partnership (AMP) is the new name for the Maritime Cabotage Task Force, the largest coalition of maritime interests in the United States, which has been in operation since 1995. The new moniker better reflects the coalition’s focus on the domestic maritime industry’s role in promoting national, homeland, and economic security. To increase awareness of itself in the social media world, AMP has launched a new website (www.americanmaritimepartnership.com), and has new social media applications on Facebook and Twitter. “A strong domestic maritime industry is critical to our national security, makes our homeland more secure, and fosters nearly 500,000 American jobs,” said James Henry, President of the Transportation Institute and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AMP.

Whether building piers and docks, repairing bridges or retrofitting port facilities, construction contractors experienced in working along the waterfront are in demand. To help construction contractors manage both the marine and non-marine exposures that come with working in and around the water, Travelers has developed the Marine Construction program, an insurance package that combines specialized underwriting, risk mitigation solutions and claim services. “Construction contractors who work around the waterfront face a number of complex risks when managing marine, non-marine and contractual liability exposures,” said Virginia Cameron, Chief Underwriting Officer, Travelers Ocean Marine.