Crew And Equipment News

Danish company Green Instruments has entered a major agreement with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for the delivery of equipment that detects oil mist and vapor on ships and triggers an alarm before fires can develop and endanger the crew, ship, equipment, and environment.The shipyard now installs Green Instruments’ equipment on every new vessel built.Oil mist is formed by oil droplets floating in the air and can ignite at low temperatures. Green Instruments’ oil mist detector is designed to register the slightest traces of oil mist and vapor from hydraulic oils and bunker fuel…

David Clark Company is best known within the marine market for its wireless and digital headset workboat crew communication systems – the Series 9900 Wireless Marine Headset System and the Series 9100 Digital Marine Headset System. The company has over 20 years of experience designing and manufacturing boat crew communication solutions for a variety of workboats, e.g., patrol boats, fire/rescue craft, and offshore service vessels.But you may not know that David Clark Company started…

A Jones-Act-compliant offshore supply vessel (OSV) has been converted for use as a crew transfer vessel (CTV) in the growing U.S. offshore wind industry.Windea CTV, a joint venture between MidOcean Wind and the Hornblower Group, said the vessel Gateway Endeavor was converted by Hornblower Marine in Bridgeport, Conn. Updates included the addition of a bow platform, forward and aft fendering systems, bow thruster, digital throttle controls, a new electrical system, removable railings and additional seating.

Heavy lift and transport services firm Mammoet said Monday it had secured contracts for two large offshore wind projects for undisclosed clients in the United States, both of which begin in 2023. Together, the two contracts cover a range of port scopes, including the load-in, load-out, handling, and temporary storage of XXL monopiles, plus the pre-assembly of turbines in a US marshaling port."Mammoet’s vast experience in offshore wind, presence in the USA, and long track record in supplying specialized equipment as well as tailor-made solutions have proven decisive to confirm these awards.

Dutch offshore crew transfer equipment specialist Ampelmann said Tuesday it had signed six new contracts in the offshore wind market in the United States for 2023, 2024, and 2025.The contracts set for 2023 have been secured for work on two new offshore wind farms being built off New England's coast."In the coming year, Ampelmann’s motion compensated gangways will assist with the hook-up, cabling and commissioning of turbines on Vineyard and Southfork wind farms, two of the first commercial offshore wind farms in the USA that will provide clean energy to the region…

ABB will deliver the shaft generator system with permanent magnet technology for the first dedicated CO2-storage vessels ever to be built. The vessels will be constructed by the Chinese shipbuilder Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC).Due for delivery in 2024, the two vessels will support the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage (CCS) project by transporting greenhouse gas from industrial emitters to an onshore terminal in Øygarden, Norway. From there, the CO2 will be delivered by pipeline to dedicated reservoirs 2…

Vestdavit said Monday it had secured a contract to deliver its docking-head davit technology on a construction service operation vessel (CSOV) being built for Rem Offshore by Norwegian shipbuilding group VARD.The order for a PAP-15000 davit with painter boom has been secured with contractor Mare Safety for the first of two firm newbuild CSOVs that is due to be delivered in the first half of 2023 from Vard Søviknes.The PAP-15000 has an anti-pendulation system with a fully integrated docking head that is compensated for movement in three dimensions…

Oil and gas company VAALCO Energy has hired DOF Subsea to perform subsea construction and installation services offshore Gabon, where the company operates the Etame field.The contract is for the support of the subsea reconfiguration associated with the replacement of the existing Floating Production, Storage and Offloading unit (“FPSO”) with a Floating Storage and Offloading vessel (“FSO”) at the offshore field.VAALCO in 2021 said it had struck a charter deal with the FSO owner World Carrier Offshore Services Corp for the Cap Diamant, a double-hull crude tanker built in 2001, which will be converted to an FSO for operations at the Etame field.By deploying the FSO at the field…

Maersk Maker, the sixth and last of a series of six anchor handlers for Maersk Supply Service A/S, was delivered from Norwegian shipyard Kleven on Thursday.Built for operation in deepsea depths, the M-series vessel Maersk Maker had a naming ceremony at Kleven yard, with Rikke Eskjær as godmother. The vessel will leave Kleven in a few days, heading to Aberdeen and the spot market in the North Sea.Maersk Maker is of the Salt 200 type and has an open deck area of more than 800m2, with 102m2 covered deck area as well. She is also equipped with anchor handling winch of 450 tons.

The National Workboat Association (NWA), the trade, skills and safety standards association for the workboat industry, has launched  Edition 2 of The Workboat Code, a document that will redefine working practices and standards for vessel operators across numerous maritime sectors.This much-anticipated Code of Practice, published in December 2018 and introduced at the NWA’s AGM in January 2019, has been developed in direct collaboration with workboat operators to better reflect…

At least 136 bodies have been retrieved after a ferry sank on Lake Victoria, Tanzania's top police official Simon Sirro said on Friday, and scores more were still feared missing as rescuers searched for survivors on the morning after the disaster.The ferry MV Nyerere capsized on Thursday afternoon just a few meters from the dock on Ukerewe, the lake's biggest island, which is part of Tanzania.Initial estimates suggested that the ferry was carrying more than 300 people.Thirty-seven people had been rescued from the sea…

Offshore energy support vessel (OESV) operator, Seacat Services, has secured a further charter agreement at Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm (Beatrice). This latest 2-year contract will see Seacat Mischief and her sister vessel, Seacat Magic, provide logistical support to manufacturer and service provider Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (Siemens Gamesa) throughout the operations and maintenance (O&M) phases. The pair of 23-meter jet propulsion catamarans will be based out of Wick Harbor in Scotland, with Seacat Mischief arriving on site in mid-August, and Seacat Magic in April 2019.

Marine News contributor Robert Kunkel asks: Are we ready to support the farms? On August 19, 2016, we watched as the fifth tower and associated nacelle was raised on the Deepwater Offshore Wind Farm approximately 3 miles offshore of Block Island, Rhode Island. This is the first Offshore Wind farm erected in the United States and, without a doubt, a huge step forward for this controversial project and alternative energy supply. The Block Island Wind Farm has a total generating capacity of 30 megawatts and is projected to produce approximately 125,000 megawatt hours annually.

The first US-built and operated offshore wind farm crew transfer vessel will be named at an official christening ceremony in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Following the Christening the ‘Atlantic Pioneer’, owned and operated by Atlantic Wind Transfers, the commercial wind support services arm of Rhode Island Fast Ferry, will embark on the first phase of a 20-year charter to support the construction and operation of the Block Island offshore wind farm. The Block Island site, currently under construction by developer Deepwater Wind off the coast of Rhode Island…

Agreement enables high-speed catamaran ferry company Rhode Island Fast Ferry to commission first US-built crew transfer vessel, to be built by Blount Boats, and launch Atlantic Wind Transfers, its commercial wind support services division. This long-term charter services agreement is the first deal of its kind to be signed in the United States and marks another milestone in the development and deployment of US offshore wind. Expectations within the North American offshore wind market have escalated in recent months…

Gondan Shipyard has signed a new contract with the Norwegian shipowner Østensjø Rederi AS for the construction of three tugboats that will join its fleet in Melkøya terminal of the Norwegian oil company Statoil. These three new escort tugs will operate in icy environments of up to -20º C, what means a demanding design and quality construction to protect crew and equipment from the weather. They are designed by the Canadian naval architectural firm Robert Allan Ltd. With 40m length and 16m beam, they will have a bollard pull of 100 tons and escort steering force of 155 tons.

Harvey Gulf International Marine recently deployed Advanced Logistics’ marine management system SAMM and preventative maintenance module Preventer on its fleet of marine transportation vessels. The software allows a vessel to generate operational reports onboard and transmit the data to shore in real time. The technology includes electronic logs, safety and crew management, commodity tracking, fuel and lube management, GPS mapping, preventative maintenance and more, coupled with an interactive web based interface for easy access to data.

CWind, a provider of services to the offshore wind industry, have signed a three-year contract to provide crew and equipment transfer for DONG Energy and Scottish Power at the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm. The contract, which includes an optional extension for a further two-year period, is valued to CWind at £5.5 million. The Lieutenant P, the first of four CWind vessels to serve at West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm this year, is already working on site. She is one of three CWind 20T MPCs scheduled to work on site, which later this year, will be joined by the newest addition to the CWind fleet, the CWhisper 20m SWATH.

James Fisher Marine Service (JFMS) announces the successful completion of the SMV 24 vessel’s maiden charter and immediate subsequent charter at Round Three wind farm sites. The vessel accomplished its first charter working with offshore wind energy developer Forewind to support the Dogger Bank development, and the second charter was to RES Offshore delivering services to Hornsea wind farm. Both projects delivered support to critical metrological masts for the Round Three wind farm sites, transferring crew and equipment to carry out installation and maintenance activities.

SafeEdge from Rustibus is a new and innovative system that provides safety for the crew and equipment when working around open manholes. This product is specifically designed to prevent injuries associated with open manholes onboard vessels or offshore platforms. Current manhole practices are often unsafe, impractical and time-consuming, and a lack of best practices is unsustainable. There have been several incidents that have caused bodily harm and injuries due to unmarked or poorly secured manholes.

Damen Shipyards Group is set to deliver the fifth Platform Supply Vessel in a series of six to World Wide Supply of Norway. World Opal is a Damen PSV 3300 CD. The first ship, World Diamond, was delivered in July and the last in the series World Sapphire is due to be delivered mid-December. Delivery of the new design involved extensive CAD/CAM modeling by Damen Shipyards itself and model testing at Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN). The 3300 is part of an entire new range of Damen PSVs. With an 80.1m length, the PSV 3300 has a deck load of 1,500 metric tons.

The offshore market continues to be a significant driver for marine innovation, as vessels and their operators are critical factors to ensure that offshore operations – increasingly conducted in deeper, more hostile waters further from shore – are conducted in a safe and efficient manner. Here Maritime Reporter examines some notable recent designs, developments and deliveries. Eastern Shipbuilding Group, which has been extremely busy of late in the offshore sector, delivered M/V HOS Red Rock (Hull 202) to Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC.

Announced in June 2011, Bourbon and CGG entered a five-year charter agreement for a series of six custom newbuild seismic support vessels. Now more than two years later, the third ship in the series, Bourbon Gannet, is due to enter service in the early part of 2014, following the launch of the first two vessels, Bourbon Petrel and Bourbon Fulmar, in summer and autumn 2013, respectively. The remaining three sister vessels are under construction in Dubai’s Grandweld Shipyard, also slated for launch in 2014.