Darling News

Industry trade group the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) announced the addition of four CEOs to its board of directors.The new board members include Wes Bordelon, Chief Executive Officer, Bordelon Marine; Stacy Jo Stanley, Chief Executive Officer, Offshore Oil Services, Inc.; David Dantin, Chief Executive Officer, Odyssea Marine; and Lasse Petterson, Chief Executive Officer, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock."With the addition of these four executive leaders, OMSA pays homage to its roots while welcoming expanded opportunities in emerging energy frontiers…

Tidewater Inc., the world's largest fleet operator in the offshore support vessel (OSV) industry, has signed a Global Value Agreement (GVA) with engine manufacturer Caterpillar to ensure comprehensive parts, service, monitoring and maintenance support to help reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase uptime and availability.Tidewater’s fleet of more than 200 OSVs, including platform supply vessels (PSV), anchor handler towing supply vessels (AHTS), offshore tugs and crew boats…

UK-based offshore vessel operator North Star has awarded a new contract to Great Yarmouth-based shipbuilding Alicat Workboats Ltd for the construction of two new offshore wind daughter craft.The hybrid-propulsion workboats 5 & 6, designed by Chartwell Marine, will be integrated into North Star’s renewable fleet. They will complement the two new SPS 120 CSOVs under construction with Vard. The crafts combine diesel and electric outboard propulsion.Last week, North Star delivered…

UK-based offshore vessel owner North Star this week held a naming ceremony for the Grampian Tyne service operation vessel (SOV) which will be deployed at work at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK.The vessel was named at a ceremony at Equinor’s Port of Tyne base in the North East of England (UK), ahead of its early handover to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.The traditional good luck celebration, involving the customary champagne bottle being smashed against the hull of the ship…

Global oil companies are pumping billions of dollars into offshore drilling, reversing a long decline in spending on the decades-long projects, including some in the remote iceberg waters far off Canada's Atlantic coast.Surging oil prices are encouraging the investments, along with Europe's mounting energy demand as the Ukraine-Russia war drags on. Offshore production sites are more expensive to build than onshore shale, the last decade's investment darling. But once they are up and running…

North Star’s new UK-built hybrid-powered daughter craft, specifically designed for the offshore wind market, has been launched at a naming ceremony held at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht club in Lowestoft, adjacent to the firm’s regional operations hub. The vessel was christened ‘Grace Darling’ in honor of a famous lighthouse keeper’s daughter from the North East of England who risked her life in 1838 to save the stranded survivors of a wrecked merchant ship traveling from Hull to Dundee.

ION Geophysical Corporation announced its climate-smart, digital platform, Marlin SmartPort, has successfully fulfilled its role to help monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the Data-Led Emissions Management (D-LEMA) project.The D-LEMA project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) launched in March 2021, funded by the Department for Transport, and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of the CMDC, the Department allocated more than £23 million…

Applied Satellite Technology Ltd. (AST) appointed Andrew Peters as Group Managing Director.“Andrew’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for AST, his experience in the technology sector and knowledge of our industry and markets will spearhead our Group in the next stage of our growth," said Gregory Darling, Founder and Chairman.Andrew has held leadership roles in several telecoms and technology organizations, including CEO of Deutsche Telekom UK and Telefonica UK, with significant experience in M&A and business integration.In 2013…

This week, OneWeb's Maritime team had a long-awaited in-person meeting with colleagues at The AST Group.OneWeb's Maritime team – Carole Plessy, Dave Bell and Alexandra Kenworthy got to have that long-awaited in-person meeting. They met colleagues at The AST Group – Gregory Darling, Stuart Castell and Barney Gray. The main business of the day was to plan the smooth onboarding of The AST Group as we move closer to undertaking customer beta trials and delivering fixed services to support remote connectivity in Northern Europe before the end of the year.Together…

Maritime satellite communications solutions provider Applied Satellite Technology (AST) is partnering with The Liberian Registry as the first authorized service provider of the Iridium Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) for Liberian flagged vessels.As a Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) convention recognized system, the Iridium GMDSS maritime emergency and distress service helps keep mariners safe in emergency situations at sea, prevent accidents via receipt of Maritime…

Agreement marks next step in accelerating LEO connectivity for the global shipping and offshore industriesAs part of its mission to deliver low latency, ‘fiber-like’ connectivity to the maritime and offshore industries, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company OneWeb, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The AST Group (AST), a global leader in satellite communications systems.By working together, AST and OneWeb will offer fixed-land and maritime customers access to OneWeb’s fast…

U.S. offshore support vessel company Tidewater has announced the promotion of two key members of the company’s executive team, Sam R. Rubio and David E. Darling, to the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively.Rubio has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, following his accomplishments serving as the Company’s Chief Accounting Officer and Controller since joining Tidewater following the combination with GulfMark Offshore, Inc. in 2018. Prior to joining Tidewater he served as GulfMark’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, after holding the position of Chief Accounting Officer for over 10 years.

The town of Haugesund, Norway, home to busy waterways dotted with fishing and shipping vessels, was home to a maritime 'world first', with the announcement of the world’s first commercial Iridium GMDSS installation.The Norwegian trawler Trygvason has put to sea following installation of two Lars Thrane LT-3100S GMDSS terminals by local marine services company Brommeland Elektronikk A/S, with Iridium GMDSS service provided by remote communications solutions provider, Applied Satellite Technology (AST). The terminal manufactured by Lars Thrane A/S is the only GMDSS terminal paired with Iridium’s global network.“When it comes to safety and communications…

Gregory Darling and Applied Satellite Technology (AST) works with shipowners to help them use their bandwidth more efficiently for ship business and crew needs.When Gregory Darling, Group MD, AST, worked in the marine industry in the 1980s with a marine survey company, he needed to get word to one of his ships off of West Africa to recalibrate its course and head off to a new job. But the ship had left port, and radio calls to the ship went unanswered, resulting in two days of lost time and revenue.“That was frustrating and costly…

Applied Satellite Technology (AST) Marine Sciences said it has been awarded a three-year contract with the Welsh government to supply an advanced inshore vessel monitoring solution (iVMS) for the Welsh inshore fleet of 400 under-12-meter fishing vessels.The Welsh government are proactively future proofing their fleet in preparation for the upcoming legislation that will soon require all inshore fleets and fishers to have this technology on board.AST’s Group Managing Director, Gregory Darling said…

Intelligent remote communication solutions provider Applied Satellite Technology Ltd (AST) said it has entered into a joint venture with Wright Technologies, a provider of marine electronics services to the South Pacific markets.AST Group Managing Director, Gregory Darling, said the companies will jointly offer remote data applications through new technology and software to improve operational effectiveness.The newly formed company, AST Wrights Ltd, has its headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand, with offices in Auckland and Christchurch.The combined companies bring expertise in remote monitoring and control of fixed and mobile assets, extension of coverage beyond GSM, integration of radio and satellite networks.

Florida-based SeaRobotics Corporation, which specializes in small, smart vessels that are remotely or autonomously operated, has completed its factory acceptance testing of its new entry into the autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) workboat market — the SR-Endurance 7.0 meter (22.96′) system.According to a press release from the the innovator behind the HullBUG, a groundbreaking hull cleaning ROV, and the HYCAT, the system is optimized for sonar research through the utilization of an optionally manned helm configuration and a serial diesel electric propulsion system.Outfitted with an instrumented launch and recovery system (LARS), and supporting hydrographic winch system…

Global satellite solutions and projects company, The AST Group, has recently opened new offices in Sydney, Rotterdam, Ecuador and Norwich, U.K. These new locations provide strategic bases for expansion in the maritime and land sectors and increase geographic reach.The company said Australia continues to be a success story, with growth gravitating to the East of the continent with Sydney becoming AST’s third Australian office.AST Marine Networks, a maritime solutions division of AST, has moved into larger premises based in Norwich, Norfolk to accommodate expansion in the maritime VSAT and L-Band sectors as well as opening an office in…

Tidewater has strengthened its management team with the appointments of David Darling as VP and Chief Human Resources Officer and Mark Parker as Vice President, Corporate Taxation. Darling joins Tidewater with over 24 years of domestic and international human resources experience, most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Gulfmark Offshore, Inc., where he was the Human Resource Director since 2007. Prior to Gulfmark, he served in executive human resources roles with Rigdon Marine and a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Darling has additional offshore vessel industry experience as a Vessel Master and Operations Manager.

Four new fast ferries, owned and managed by Manly Ferries and operating in the busy waters of Sydney Harbour, will use Simrad technology for safe navigation. The owner has specified a range of Simrad bridge equipment for its latest vessels, including an NSO Evo2 quad-core marine processor, a 4G broadband radar with beam sharpening and target separation, an Autopilot AP28, and Simrad MO16T widescreen monitors with sunlight viewable screens and multi-touch capability. The four new vessels, two 24-m fast catamarans and two 33-m fast catamarans, will be operating on several busy routes linking Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour with locations including Darling Harbour, North Sydney, Pyrmont Bay and Harbour Beaches.

The Australian National Maritime Museum’s new “Action Stations” attraction officially opened in Darling Harbour, Sydney, on Sunday, offering guests a uniquely dynamic “Immersive Cinema Experience”. The $12 million (AUD ) Action Stations attraction, located in a new waterfront pavilion, highlights the history of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and its people, the various periods of engagement from World War I to the present day and brings to life the human stories behind the uniform and the fleet.

FLNG deal-making has been sporadic since Woodside Petroleum at the end of 2013 delayed a final investment decision for the giant Browse FLNG project off Northwest Australia. The previous year had seen go-aheads for most of the floating liquefied natural gas projects (FLNG) underway today, including Shell’s Prelude FLNG — Woodside’s choice, it seems, of a liquefaction solution for fields 200 kilometers offshore. Yet Prelude, “the first project out”, might not be first to produce.

Dutch engineering services company Royal Imtech has been declared bankrupt and its Marine and Nordic divisions are being sold to private investors, the company and its administrators said on Thursday. Imtech, which employs 22,000 people in 35 countries and has annual sales of roughly 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion), filed for protection from creditors on Tuesday after its German unit filed for insolvency. The break-up of Imtech, once a darling of the Amsterdam stock exchange, capped more than two years of financial turmoil triggered by accounting fraud at its Polish and German units. No figures were given, but Imtech said the sale of the two units would secure 7,300 jobs.