Equipment Transportation News

Most of the media coverage of offshore wind development in the United States focuses on the leases of the offshore areas where the wind turbines will be located. However, equally important is the landside dimension of these projects, including the manufacture, installation, maintenance and operation of the turbines. Several awards made in the last two rounds of funding under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) show how offshore wind now offers an additional direction of port development for which funding is available.

KR Hellas, a subsidiary of the Korean Register (KR) has been accredited as a quality management system (ISO 9001) certification body, by the Greek National Accreditation Body (ESYD).ISO 9001 is an international standard that stipulates the requirements of a quality management system applicable to all industrial fields and activities, and the certification is awarded by an independent third party to those organizations that meet the specified requirements.KR acts as a comprehensive certification body…

A naming ceremony was held for two custom tugs built by Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld for De Boer Remorquage SARL, a joint venture between Dutch Dredging and Iskes Towage and Salvage. The ceremony took place in the port of Cayenne in French Guyana.According to the shipbuilder, both vessels represent innovative solutions and one of them has additional modifications that enable it to undertake dredging and other associated activities.Present at the event where representatives from a number of French government agencies and the port authorities…

A busy market, fraught with risk, needs specialized protection. The marine construction business is booming in the United States for many reasons. Nationwide, ports are expanding, deepening their channels to accommodate the bigger, so-called post-Panamax vessels. And, that means more than just deepening the channel. Docks, piers, cranes and other shoreside infrastructure need to be bolstered in order to stand up to heavier vessel impacts. Other infrastructure and bridges also need updating to be brought into the 21st century.

Greg Hewitt (MBA, B.Sc.) has over 25 years of versatile experience from industrial equipment, transportation, major appliances and retail businesses. He has worked as President and CEO in Heil Trailer International, as Vice President & General Manager in Komatsu North America, Construction Division, and as Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service at Jacobsen, a Textron Company. "Greg Hewitt will be focusing on the development of our sales and service and customer interfaces in the Americas region, with the target to increase Kalmar's market share in the region. We are delighted to welcome him to the team," says Olli Isotalo, President of Kalmar.

In an effort to spread out oil and gas production to other parts of the country and increase overall oil production, Brazil has finally intensified hydrocarbon exploration along its northeastern and northern coasts. These are some of the poorest regions in the country and infrastructure for oil and gas exploration is minimal, yet significant discoveries and seismic indicators of large reservoirs are tantalizing and have attracted major local and foreign investors. Potential for oil discoveries in the area is proven, yet players will be faced by many challenges offshore and on land in order to uncork reservoirs at the Northern Frontier.

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.

In 2011, Bourbon entered a five-year charter agreement with CGG for a series of six new seismic support vessels, an industry first. Two years later, the Bourbon Petrel and the Bourbon Fulmar are already in service in the Black Sea and Northern Europe, and a third vessel, the Bourbon Gannet, will also be operational in the near future. The Grandweld Shipyard in Dubai is building the vessels and delivery of the remaining sister ships is scheduled for 2014. These custom-built vessels were designed to provide fuel…

As increasingly strict government and international maritime regulations are phased in to reduce harmful emissions produced by workboats and tugs, the need for onboard, in-use testing services capable of delivering accurate, continuous emissions data needed has also come about. Monitoring emissions such as NOx, SO2 and particulate matter is fast becoming not just the right thing to do; it will soon become a requirement, as well. Although much work has been done to clean up ports and marine terminals…

Testing delivers data needed to clean up tugs and workboats. As increasingly strict government and international maritime regulations are phased in to reduce harmful emissions produced by workboats and tugs, the need for on board, in-use testing services capable of delivering accurate, continuous emissions data needed has also come about. Monitoring emissions such as NOx, SO2 and particulate matter is fast becoming not just the right thing to do; it will soon become a requirement, as well.

SAL Heavy Lift has opened the doors of its new head office at Brooktorkai 20 in HafenCity, Hamburg. The premises sprawl over the 6th floor, and 116 employees are working there. SAL Heavy Lift, a member of the Japanese “K” Line Group, is one of the leading heavy lift shipping companies worldwide. For more than 30 years, SAL Heavy Lift had been based in Steinkirchen on the Lower Elbe, 40 kilometers outside of Hamburg. From now on, SAL Heavy Lift will operate its fleet of 16 heavy lift vessels from Hamburg’s HafenCity. At the beginning of this year a new Offshore Department was founded to serve the expanding markets of heavy equipment transportation for the oil and gas industry as well as the installation of offshore wind parks.

Iberdrola chooses Areva Wind as preferred supplier for its Wikinger Offshore Wind Farm in German waters. Under the terms of the agreement, with construction scheduled for 2016 and 2017, Areva Wind will support Iberdrola on foundation and tower design optimization, project logistics, installation concept and project certification with regulator Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH). The Wikinger offshore wind project, currently being developed in German territorial waters of the Baltic Sea, will have approximately 400 megawatts (MW) installed capacity. The M5000, the first 5MW wind turbine designed exclusively for large-scale offshore wind farms, will be manufactured at Areva’s facilities in Bremerhaven (Germany).

Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA) has completed the design development of a new SWATH (Small Waterplane Area, Twin Hull) vessel that the designer says lends itself to a variety of operation options. The proposed vessel will be 92 ft. long with a 46.6-ft. beam and a displacement of 240 LT. The new vessel's design is based on a variation of the technology used by ACMA's in the development of the 120-ft. Stillwater River, a SWATH crewboat built for Trico Marine Operators, Inc., that has been successfully operating for Petrobras offshore Brazil for the past five years. The operational speed of ACMA's new SWATH has been reduced from more than 28 knots to 20 - 25 knots to accommodate a variety of conventional propulsion system combinations (diesel/reduction-gear w/CP or FP wheels).

Hornbeck-Leevac Marine Services, Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a new vessel construction program for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hornbeck Offshore Services, LLC. This is the company's third such program since its inception five years ago - the first two were seven and six vessel programs, respectively. The current plan is to build eight additional state-of-the-art, deepwater OSVs, with construction of four 240-ft. DP-2 Class vessels to commence as soon as a definitive agreement has been signed with the selected shipyard. The company has signed a letter of intent for the first four vessels with one of the shipyards currently constructing vessels for Hornbeck and, therefore, anticipates prompt contract execution.

Todd Hornbeck, who has quickly yet judiciously built a sizeable marine company at Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. in just five years, shares with MarineNews the secrets of his success. Upon meeting with Todd Hornbeck, President and CEO of Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. at the literal epicenter of big oil dollars - the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston - one is continuously struck with the contrasts of the man and mission. "Cutting edge, but very conservative and practical in our approach to business" is his description of the company. The son of a successful entrepreneur who survived the devastating oil downturn of the early to mid 1980s…

Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA), a leading naval architecture and engineering firm, recently completed the design development of a new SWATH (Small Waterplane Area, Twin Hull) vessel that lends itself to a variety of operations options. The proposed vessel will be 92 feet in length, with a beam of 46 feet - 8 inches and displacement of 240 LT. The new vessel's design is based on a variation of the technology used by ACMA's in the development of the 120-foot STILLWATER RIVER, a SWATH crewboat built for Trico Marine Operators, Inc., that has been successfully operating for Petrobras offshore Brazil for the past five years. The operational…