Falkland Islands Government News

BigOceanData has been awarded a contract to provide the Government of the Falkland Islands with its vessel monitoring system (VMS) capability for another five years. For the first time the system will include AIS data, which will be integrated with existing Inmarsat tracking data from the fishing vessels. BigOceanData has been supplying the Falkland Islands government with its vessel monitoring system (VMS) for over 10 years. The system is based on an in-house client/server enterprise IT system and Inmarsat cooperative tracking.

Two of the major British players in Falkland Islands offshore oil development, Premier Oil and Rockhopper Exploration, cancelled a joint venture contract with Ocean Rig UDW. In June 2014, the companies entered into a contract with Ocean Rig for the provision of the Eirik Raude for an exploration drilling campaign in the Falkland Islands. However, following a number of material "operational issues" with the rig, Premier and Noble Energy issued a termination notice to Ocean Rig on Thursday, terminating the contract with immediate effect. "As a result, Premier will no longer be drilling the Chatham exploration well during the current campaign.

Military assets deployed in support of Falkland Island government in cruise ship rescue. In support of the Falkland Island Government, British forces based in the Falkland Islands yesterday responded to a distress call by the 10,000 tonne cruise ship ‘Le Boreal’. The ship reported suffering a major engine room fire, which caused the loss of all power and left the ship drifting. A north-westerly gale placed the ship in real danger of grounding on Cape Dolphin, East Falkland. The master ordered the ship, with 347 passengers and crew, to be abandoned early yesterday morning. Working closely with the Falkland Islands Government, British Forces enacted a major search and rescue plan.